SH Blog: Williams says Nets “want to run New York”; Lakers sign X. Henry

Yesterday’s blog included an interview with Tracy McGrady, which got me thinking about the first basketball game I ever went to.It was February 22, 1998, and I was five years old. My dad had tickets to a Raptors game for some reason, and we sat in the upper deck and watched Doug Christie and company take on the Vancouver Grizzlies. Neither team would win 20 games that season, but in my mind, they were all superstars, especially Damon Stoudamire (who had actually been traded a few weeks earlier). I don’t remember much from that game, just a blur of teal and purple jerseys milling around, except for one shot that got stuck between the rim and the backboard, which I’ve still only seen a handful of other times in my entire life.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, though, I found that box score, and noticed that Chauncey Billups, who I don’t even remember playing for the Raptors (I somehow remember Zan Tabak, though), put up 27 points and Marcus Camby blocked four shots. Must have been a good game, in the way that late-February games between two terrible teams can sometimes be entertaining. I wonder if there’s a tape of it somewhere.

Now let’s get to the latest news and rumors from around the NBA:

• Deron Williams is jumping into the Nets-Knicks battle for New York… kind of. Writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com: “Asked about teammate Paul Pierce’s assertion that the Nets will eventually take ownership of New York from the Knicks, Williams told ESPNNewYork.com, “That’s my teammate so I’m with him. Of course we want to run New York. The Knicks are our rival. I don’t get into too much of the talking. We’ll decide all that on the court. We have four games to play against them and then the playoffs so I’ll let Paul do the talking and I’ll just go out there and play.” The Knicks and Nets have engaged in a war of words ever since Nets forward Pierce told ESPN New York 98.7 FM in August, “I think it’s time for the Nets to start running this city.” That sparked responses from Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith, who called Pierce “bitter” and added that there “will be consequences” for his words.”

• I’m hearing Sky Sports have agreed a deal to broadcast the NBA in the UK and Ireland this coming season. No details on times, etc. yet.

  — Mark Woods (@markbritball) September 15, 2013

   

• The Lakers have signed Xavier Henry, writes Gary Bedore of KUSports.com: “Former Kansas University basketball guard Xavier Henry, whose rookie contract expired at the end of the 2012-13 season, will try to resurrect his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers at the still-young age of 22. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder from Oklahoma City averaged 3.9 and 5.3 points a game the past two seasons with New Orleans after averaging 4.3 points a game his rookie season with Memphis. He recently signed a contract with the Lakers that various websites have said is contingent on his making the squad in training camp. However, spotrac.com indicates he has been guaranteed a one-year salary of $916,099. He made $1.7 million, $1,809,700 and $1,936,000 his first three years in the league. “During the free-agent process, I was working hard and when I started to get feedback from teams, we thought (the Lakers) was a good fit for me,” Henry told Lakers.com. “When the deal got done, I was excited. There’s not one thing you can say wrong about the Lakers — their history, the players, the coach. They have one of the greats in Kobe (Bryant) that you can learn from every single day.””
• Gary Payton talked to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe about his departure from Seattle, and the ownership switches he blames for the franchise’s move to Oklahoma City: “It’s been 10 years since Gary Payton was traded from the Seattle SuperSonics to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a golden era in the Northwest and essentially choking the life out of basketball in Seattle. Five years after Payton’s departure the Sonics were gone, hustled to Oklahoma City by owner Clayton Bennett just two years after he purchased the team from Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz. Payton’s exit, although the deal included former Celtic Ray Allen, extinguished the personality of the franchise. While Allen and Rashard Lewis helped the Sonics to the Western Conference semifinals in 2005, the franchise never regained the swagger and identity it possessed during the Payton years. … “When the Ackerleys sold the team it went from being a family team to a business,” said Payton. “The people who took over the team ran their team like a business, like how they made their money, and you can’t do that. The Ackerleys ran the team like a family. When we had problems, they would call us in and talk to us. They would call us in and ask us what’s the problem, not try to trade you and tell you, ‘No, you don’t need a contract.’ You see where [Schultz’s style] got us, leading to another owner moving the team. And we knew he would move it to Oklahoma, we knew that. The Schultz group should have known that, too. We were the longest-standing team in Seattle and we let a guy just come in here and take it.” “

• Jonas Valanciunas is averaging 8.7 ppg in just 18 mpg at the Eurobasket. Good thing is he’s doing it taking four shots per game on average.

  — HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 15, 2013

   

• Can confirm Raptors will be inviting Afrobasket MVP Carlos Morais, a 6-foot-3, scoring guard to training camp competing for last roster spot

  — Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) September 15, 2013

   

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Dan Malone is in his fourth year as a journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent this summer as a features intern at the Cape Cod Times. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.