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In all sports. Think about it.

It's not just salary, but also winnings in sports that have that, and income.

Golfers make a lot. The very best in every major sport make a lot. Race car drivers, baseball players, football players ... Out of those thousands of professional athletes, anyone would be lucky to make the top 200.

22 is high. Higher, for instance, than Tom "I'm super famous" Brady.

Answer after the jum...

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• Trevor Ariza's agent is making noises about leaving the Lakers, but he has made noises before. The Cavaliers are said to be suitors -- and I'm of the opinion the Cavaliers need to add an active-bodied perimeter player like Ariza.
• Allen Iverson, on Twitter, saying cryptic things about wanting to play for a coach who knows he'll bring it every night.
• Steve Blake can hit the open jumper, and lead your children through the harsh wilderness to safety. (Via John Canzano)
• Jerry Sloan and the Jazz were surprised to learn that the father of their prized new rookie, Eric Maynor, was once cut by Jerry Sloan.
• Down at the bottom of this post you'll see speculation about Joakim Noah's playing on the French national team.
• How the Jazz became a luxury tax paying team. Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune says that's bad: "When the Jazz push their payroll past $70 million -- and maybe even $80 million -- it becomes much more difficult for Greg Miller to someday sit at a league meeting and advocate for more protections for small-market teams. Why would the owner of a big-market team make concessions in terms of revenue sharing and luxury tax when his team is being outspent by the Jazz in the first place?"
• Rob Kurz is on the loose. Just be warned.
• Hope in Clipperland, a rarity.
• Candidate for Minnesota's head-coaching job: Portland assistant Monty Williams.
• Josh Childress is visiting the Bucks today. Remember, though, he has a very nice contract waiting for him back in Greece, and this is the year of the opt-in. Who would turn down a contract based on sunny 2008 projections for a contract based on dour 2009 projections?
• Very interesting little legal debate surrounding Michael Jordan, Nike, and Michael Jordan gear with Hall-of-Fame logos.
• Ben Gordon on leaving the Bulls.
• You know how Twitter can seem kind of big-time and futuristic? Other times it can seem much more down home and pedestrian, even. For instance, from the Bucks' official Twitter feed: "Luc Mbah a Moute will B @ Pick 'N Save in Burlington from 5:30-7pm 2nite! Its the Pick 'N Save nxt 2 Kohl's on 1008 Milwaukee St. C U 2nite!" Everybody got that? Luc Mbah a Moute, in the canned goods aisle.
• Does Rasheed Wallace have the right temperament for the San Antonio Spurs? If I were to hesitate, his technicals wouldn't be the main reason. It would be because he has often shown a poor ability to handle big pressure games, with blown defensive assignments, disappearing acts on offense, and meltdowns. If things go well for the Spurs, they'll be in a lot of big games.
• Getting harder to stick up for the Grizzlies, as they acquire Zach Randolph. I don't know how the decisions get made in Memphis, but I feel bad for Chris Wallace. He has to go out there and defend all these moves, but you know owner Michael Heisley must be playing a part.
• The internet, where mistakes are well-documented, and sloppy work can haunt you.
• Some insight into the Rockets' love of Marcin Gortat. Is he worth the full mid-level exception. Normally, a mobile, strong and tough big man who keeps improving would be worth more, but I suspect he'll get less.

You can listen to his Cleveland press conference right now.

He says "my sons actually love LeBron more than they love me."

He says he'll be in great shape. "I'll be ready. There's nothing to talk about."

Dwight Howard might notice the wording in this quote: "Orlando has got a pretty good big man, and four shooters."

Remember when the Pistons were the toast of the town? In 2003-2004, they added Larry Brown and Rasheed Wallace and won the title. But the seeds of that team were really planted when the Pistons acquired some players with shaky reputations around the league.

By signing Ben Gordon to big dollars, Joe Dumars has run the same play again. 

But there's a difference this time around. 

In 2000, the team got Ben Wallace as a throw-in, after Grant Hill agreed to sign with the Magic, and the Pistons participated in one of those lop-sided "you got us" trades instead of losing the player for nothing.

The summer of 2002  is when GM Joe Dumars really earned his money. That's when he drafted Tayshaun Prince 23rd overall, and acquired Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups -- neither of whom was seen, then, as likely to contribute to a title team.

Of course, the pieces fit together tremendously well.

Later, working on a story for a magazine, I asked Dumars why he had decided those were the two guards who would make the most sense for his team.

Dumars' answer was very clear, and represented a real philosophy: Those were two guards who could help the team without needing possession of the ball.

The Pistons were going to be a team of ball movement and they were not ball-stoppers.

Hamilton could run around a thousand screens and force the defense to chase, hedge, and help all over the place. Such movement has the potential to get easy buckets for any and all Pistons, from the guy setting the pick to the guy spotting up behind the 3-point line.

Billups, meanwhile, is a good enough shooter to keep a defender near. The team could run its offense with Billups at the top of of the circle. Now and again the ball would be kicked out to him, and he had the skill and mentality to drain the shot if it was open, or swing the ball to the opposite side if he wasn't. 

It worked.

Ben Gordon represents a different approach.

I have never seen good statistics determining which players are the most opposite of what Dumars described. As in, players who can't do jack for you unless they have the ball.

But by reputation, Ben Gordon would be on that list.

So, does this mean Joe Dumars has changed his tune? That he is desperate?

Maybe none of the above. Perhaps it just means that the Pistons have a different roster now, with different needs.

And more likely, it could be a story about hand-checking. The rule changed in 2001, but the following strategic shift is still unfolding. The ball-stopper, time-consuming thing Gordon does  -- creating scoring opportunities for himself off the dribble -- may well be more valuable than it was. That's because such play now comes with frequent trips to the free-throw line, which is the home of the easiest and most efficient points in the NBA. 

(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) 

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the eye of the storm these days, after hiring a new General Manager, firing a coach, trading away some veterans and pulling off one of the most fascinating draft days in a long time.

The TrueHoop Network is pleased to have a good new blog to help you follow all the ins and outs.

Welcome Howlin T-Wolf, founded by Patrick Hodgdon. He's a 23-year-old who has been riding the emotional roller-coaster of following the Timberwolves more or less since the team's founding,  while Hodgdon was in pre-school. He says his man-crush for K.G. carried him through the dark years, but it's optimism for a new direction under David Kahn that inspired him to start a blog.

• Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: "Parting can be sweet sorrow. Or in the case of Ben Gordon, who verbally agreed to join the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, he feels sorry for some of those he's leaving behind in Chicago. 'To the fans, I generally had a great time being here,' Gordon said in a phone interview. 'For my true fans, I feel bad for them. The longtime fans of the Chicago Bulls - I just felt like they're being cheated. Not with me, but just things that happened in the past. I feel like the fans deserve a lot better.' Gordon didn't give any specific examples. Like most professional sports teams, the Bulls have made some moves that worked well and others that didn't."
• Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press: "No other general manager in the NBA has done it. And here is Joe Dumars, trying to do it twice. Dumars built the 2004 NBA champion Pistons without one sure Hall of Famer on the roster. How difficult is that? Those Pistons are the only team in the last 30 years to pull it off. Obviously, Dumars would love to have a Hall of Famer on his team. But they are hard to land. So instead, he is doing what he has done exceptionally well in the past: finding high-caliber, high-character, unappreciated talent that fits into a system, and -- this is crucial -- signing reasonable contracts to maintain flexibility. So Ben Gordon, the Chicago Bulls' best player, has agreed to become a Piston. Charlie Villanueva, a rising talent, has done so as well. Their arrivals put the Pistons back in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, and they allow Dumars to keep maneuvering until he has all the right pieces. Remember, he didn't add the final starter on the 2004 champs, Rasheed Wallace, until February of that season. "
• Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal: "We should have known better. Heisley did what he always does. He went for the cheaper solution. He shopped from the discount bin. Never mind that Randolph doesn't fit into Heisley's three-year plan because -- I hate to be picky -- his contract is up in two years. Never mind that Randolph will have a hard time keeping up with a team that has said it wants to run. If the Grizzlies had signed David Lee as a free agent, they'd have been on the hook for four or five years. With Randolph, it's just two. And the first year won't cost the Grizzlies much because they don't have to pay Richardson's salary. So that gets it down to one year of meaningful spending. That's better than four or five years, right? And it's that math -- the fundamental calculation that is driving the Randolph acquisition -- that makes it difficult to celebrate today. Why does it always have to be about money with this franchise? Why not, just once, go get the guy who fits best? There is nothing that makes Randolph a better fit for the Grizzlies than Lee. But Lee would have been more expensive, so Randolph it is."
• Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "Marcin Gortat, who has never made huge money and wasn't part of a college recruiting process, seemed touched when Morey showed him how hundreds of messages were pouring in. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, Gortat had received more than 2,000 messages telling him how he'd love being a Rocket. There's also a tough-love side to this story. Gortat's agent mentioned wanting a full mid-level exception. That amounts to around $30 million over five years. The Rockets aren't offering nearly that much and apparently aren't prepared to go higher. They've assigned a value to Gortat, and if, say, the Mavericks are offering more, the Rockets are prepared to lose him. While Morey wants a competitive team next season, he seems unwilling to take his eye off the big picture. Unless the Rockets can acquire a superstar this summer, they want to retain their payroll flexibility for next summer, when there'll be a bumper crop of free agents available. That flexibility is Tracy McGrady's best chance of playing another season for the Rockets. As much as the Rockets would like to show him the door, they're not going to trade him unless they get an impact player for the long haul in return. At the moment, no available player fits that description."
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "While there might never be another season like 2008-09 from a statistical standpoint for Wade, it is safe to say Dwyane is capable of about five or six seasons of such personal productivity. Is he willing to surrender one while waiting to see if there is a better 2010 situation during free agency? That, if I was Pat Riley, is what I would hammer home. Make it all about now. Now. Now. The one thing about Riley is that when given the go-ahead, things happen. Shaq extended, suddenly James Posey, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and a championship appeared. Yes, Dwyane has every right to watch and wait, just as LeBron and Bosh are prepared to do. But he's never going to get 2009-10 back. And without a tangible Heat upgrade, he could be looking at a fourth consecutive season without advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The hill in the Eastern Conference continues to get steeper for the Pacers. Washington, Atlanta and Detroit have already made significant moves to improve their roster. You're not about to see president Larry Bird and general manager David Morway suddenly start hammering away on the panic button. The Pacers say be patient, they have a three-year plan. You're probably thinking that's easier said than done, especially since you haven't seen the Pacers in the playoffs since 2006. The Pacers are optimistic they'll be able to sign some good players this summer. They just plan on doing it with a 'Dollar General' shopping mentality. Don't expect the Pacers, who have about $8 million to spend, to overpay a player. They want to add players at bargain prices."
• Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: "Leon Powe, recovering from his third knee surgery, did not receive a qualifying offer from the Celtics by the Tuesday night deadline. As a result, Powe became an unrestricted free agent. Five teams reportedly called with interest in the power forward after midnight, including Miami, Memphis and Orlando. 'Of course I was disappointed, because I want to come back,' he said yesterday. 'I love the fans. It was just a wonderful place to play.' Powe walked away from his conversation believing his time as a Celtic was finished. Asked whether he got the sense the Celtics might be interested in re-signing him later this summer, Powe said, 'I wasn't feeling a vibe like that. I knew they wouldn't (extend a qualifying offer), so I just have to move on. They told me, 'Good luck with another team.' Doc told me that he wanted me there, and he would do whatever he could to make sure I came back, but Danny came to me yesterday saying that they only have a two-year window, and I would be taking up a roster spot for someone else.' "
• Al Iannazzone of The Record: "Yi Jianlian left China more than a month ago and has been on U.S. soil working on his body and his game. The Nets hope it translates onto the basketball court in the fall. Some in the organization are banking on the athletic 7-foot forward producing consistently and picking up some of the scoring slack left by the trade of Vince Carter to Orlando. Yi has had fewer commitments to his national team this off-season and has been able to work on areas of his game that needed improvement. He's up about five pounds, has worked on becoming more effective inside, and looks forward to his third NBA season. 'For me, every year is important,' Yi said Wednesday at the Nets' training facility. 'I have to play better than I did in the second half last year, so this year I get some time in the summer to do some stuff. I think I can improve in the post and be ready next season. If Vince is here or Vince is not here, as an individual I have to improve and play better.' "

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

The last time Quentin Richardson was a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Clips were a promising, young squad that included Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Bobby Simmons and Chris Wilcox. Next week, Richardson will be shipped back to Los Angeles as nothing more than filler in a deal that will send Zach Randolph from the Clippers to Memphis. It's a seemingly inequitable trade -- the 20/10 in Randolph for gimpy, marginal Richardson -- until you look beneath the surface: 

Two Clips passing in the night. (Ray Amati via NBAE/Getty Images)

• The player that matters most in this trade is neither Randolph nor Richardson, but the Clippers' No. 1 pick, Blake Griffin. Randolph is a single-minded post scorer who likes to work on the right block -- precisely where Blake Griffin is slated to build his NBA career as a monstrous big man. For the Clippers, moving Randolph clears the way for Griffin, where he'll play alongside Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Griffin's pal, the intriguing DeAndre Jordan.
  
  
• For the Clippers, moving Randolph isn't just about clearing minutes -- it allows the franchise to press rewind on what was a disastrous cultural acquisition in Randolph. Although Randolph's selfishness, disinterest on defense, and questionable off-court character were no secret, Mike Dunleavy felt he had to find a frontcourt scorer after the Clippers lost Brand to Philadelphia. He pushed all in on Randolph, absorbing three years and approximately $45 million in exchange for a couple of 2010 expiring contracts (Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley). Randolph put up his usual solid offensive numbers, but the Clippers still finished the season with a horrendous 19-63 record.
  
  Worse, the team descended into a lazy funk. Though the blame can't be attributed solely to Randolph, the Clippers had to endure Randolph's sucker punch to Louis Amundson (resulting in suspension) and a drunk driving arrest (also resulting in suspension). For an organization that did an admirable job reshaping its image the preceding half-dozen years or so, 2008-09 was a disheartening setback -- and Randolph was at the crime scene.
  
  
• By shipping Z-Bo out of town, the Clippers move the remaining two years and $33.3 million of his contract. Richardson stands to earn only $9.35 million in 2009-10, and his contract expires at the end of the season. He might get some burn on the wing. With his bad back, he might not. For the Clips, it's of little import. The move gives them significant cap room for the summer of 2010, when both Marcus Camby and Ricky Davis will also come off the books -- nearly $20 million.
  
  
• That brings us to the obvious question: If Randolph is so inimical to an NBA team's rebuilding effort -- as determined by the Clippers, and New York and Portland before them -- why does Memphis want him? The answer, as it was for the Clippers in November of last year, is that there aren't a lot of available power forwards who can score and rebound the way Randolph can, and the Grizz need some production down low.
  
  If you want to take a glass-half-full approach, you can look at a couple of mitigating factors in Memphis. Randolph's worst qualities on the court are his ineffectual interior defense and his tendency to become a black hole in the offense. With Hasheem Thabeet, Memphis has a big man who can protect the rim and compensate for Randolph. And in Marc Gasol, they have a complementary big who knows how to move the ball out of the high post. In addition, if there's one team in the NBA without cap concerns, it's Memphis, which has only $17 million committed in salaries after next season. 
  

Already it seems a thousand articles have been written about the intricate dance unfolding between Ricky Rubio and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

One thing that really impresses me: Minnesota GM David Kahn has skillfully removed the Rubio camp's biggest threat. In any normal situation they would have said give us what we want or we'll stay in Europe. But before the music even really started, right there on draft night, Kahn was assuring everyone that Rubio might stay in Europe and that's just fine. The Timberwolves, he said, are more than willing to wait.

That sends the message to everyone that the Timberwolves are ready for good offers, but not bad ones.

The Rubio camp does still have a big hammer, though, and it's one that has almost never been used.

Rubio can sit out a year, and re-enter next year's draft.

The way the collective bargaining agreement works, the Timberwolves hold Rubio's NBA rights so long as they make him an offer, and he plays professional ball in some FIBA-sanctioned league, which is just about all of the leagues he'd consider playing in.

But if he doesn't play professionally anywhere, then he can be right back in next year's draft.

You can only do this once -- no one can be drafted more than twice.

Clearly, this is an illogical move. To leave his Spanish team, he'd still have a buyout, only now coupled with almost no income at all. (Barnstorming Nike tour, anyone?)

But he could certainly get himself some elite basketball training, maybe a year of being a college student, followed by a career with a team more to his liking. It might at least be worth threatening that, as a way to imbue the Timberwolves with some urgency.

You know what would be just hilarious, though? If Rubio actually did sit out the year, and somehow or another the Timberwolves drafted him again.

48 Minutes of Hell's Tim Varner imagines the Spurs in the 2010 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The series is tight, and all the major players are earning their checks. Then, in a crucial moment, Manu Ginobili gets hot. Goes on one of those Chuck Norris couldn't guard me tears, and Mike Brown is forced to counter. Brown looks to the bench for his cooler. The camera tightens in on one of his sharp-browed what-would-Pop-do stares. He needs someone who can come in and ice Manu. 

Enter Bruce Bowen.

How would that feel, Spurs fans?

And are you all still certain Bowen's not a dirty player?

Yesterday I wondered if teams might be saving more cap space for 2010 than they will be able to spend.

Adam Reisinger of ESPN DB sheds light on the issue. He explains that certainly teams, as a group, have given themselves the potential to reduce salaries over the next few years.

To illustrate this point, he puts numbers on the rock-bottom ... the lowest they could possibly pay, as in the amount teams are already committed to, before you add in all the contracts and extensions to come over this summer and next.

At the moment, the combined contracts committed for 2010 are something like a billion to half-a-billion less than what all teams combined paid last season. Which means teams could hand out a lot more cheddar, while salaries would remain essentially flat or even decline. Of course, given the free agent class next summer, that much and more could well be spent. Reisinger explains:

I just looked at my salary spreadsheets for the next few years, and the difference in salaries committed for 2009-10 vs 2010-11 is more than $500 million.

Obviously this will change as players sign multi-year deals this summer, but there will probably be more one-year deals signed than multi-year deals.

If the $500 million gap persists, it would represent somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of all salaries paid to NBA players this season, which seems high.

Also, it's worth noting that if every team option for 2010 is declined (highly unlikely) and every player option is also declined and every ETO is exercised, the difference is about $1 billion. So there could be plenty of money -- and players -- available.

When Allen Iverson was traded to the Pistons, I wrote a post about how smart the Pistons were. The trade positioned them to be major players in free agency in their choice of years -- 2009 or 2010. With (then) a winning tradition, a big fanbase, a talented roster and a general manager with a stellar reputation, the Pistons looked to be in position to add some extraordinary pieces.

At the time, I threw around names like LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

Now they are a team with a fired coach, several key veterans with one foot out the door, and good players who don't appear to fit well together.

Today the talk is that the Pistons have their sights set on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.

Both players are good, of course. But nothing like Chris Bosh and LeBron James, you know?

I find the Gordon story particularly perplexing. He needs the ball and playing time to do what he does, which is also true of Rip Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey. I can't imagine how this is the first step in rebuilding a champion.

If that's what that cap space turns into ... I take it all back.

I'd like to officially recant my assertion that the Billups trade was a stroke of genius. Thank you.

• Chatter that Amare Stoudemire might not be thrilled at the idea of becoming a Warrior. He has the option of becoming a free agent next season, so any team that would give up a lot to get him presumably would want his assurance that he'll consider staying for more than just the one year. I don't have any special insight here, but I do notice this: It used to be that all kinds of players wanted to play the fun brand of basketball that occurs under Don Nelson. It has been a couple of years since people talked about that coach that way.
• Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune says the first team to reach out to Paul Millsap was the Utah Jazz: "The Jazz's plan seems to be to bite the bullet as luxury tax payers this season -- it's inevitable at this point -- and re-sign Millsap no matter how much that bill climbs. The Jazz seem to acknowledge they can't lose Millsap and Boozer in subsequent seasons."
  
• The Blazers were the first team to call Hedo Turkoglu's agent Lon Babby last night. But GM Kevin Pritchard points out that Turkoglu was not the first player they called ... they first dialed Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, who are both seeking contract extensions. That's good politics.
  
• Alando Tucker has interesting comments for Hoops TV from the Phoenix locker room. First on the the team's cohesion: "In the locker room, the one thing about it with our demeanor as a team, even though from the outside it looked like we had a lot of turmoil, we were really so chill. We're like a unit, like a tight family. Everyone got along, we were always happy, always having fun, even though times were bad. We were trying to keep everyone's spirits up. You have to have some fun in the locker room even when you are losing, otherwise it makes for a very long, drastic season." And on the prospect of losing Amare Stoudemire: "I guess management feels they have to go in a different direction and that's all a part of the business aspect of this League. You establish relationships but you have to know at the same time it can shift any time, you can be moved any time, it's like we're chess pieces."
• John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: "There just isn't a way that Anderson Varejao and Shaquille O'Neal can be effective offensively playing in the same lineup." Sounds true, but we're talking about a team that played the offensively challenged Varejao next to offensively offensive Ben Wallace. 
• There is a little basketball in this PG-13ish account of college life on Basketbawful.
• It's almost like Amare Stoudemire is tampering with himself.
• Etan Thomas -- poet, activist, big man -- wasn't at the center of Wizards' locker room culture.
  

• A. Sherrod Blakely of Booth Newspapers: "All the talk about building a franchise that can consistently compete at the highest level sounds good. But that's not going to happen until this franchise stops acting like a junior college for head coaches who get the boot after a year or two. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars' reasoning for firing Curry was legitimate. Players began to sour on Curry near the end of last season, and Curry didn't make the kind of strides needed to mend those relationships. The Pistons finished 39-43 and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Coaching has as much to do with managing egos as it does managing a player's minutes. But there was a greater concern. There will be a lot of talk in the coming days about the strained relationships between Curry and key Pistons such as Richard Hamilton. But there was an even bigger concern that those same issues might be magnified with a revamped roster that should be bolstered via free agency, which begins today. If the Pistons sign Ben Gordon and keep Richard Hamilton, would both start? If not, who comes off the bench?"
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Happy trails, Hedo. So long, Turk. Farewell, Hedo Turkoglu -- one of the greatest and most beloved players in Orlando Magic history. Amid the ongoing "Vinsanity" of the Magic trading for Vince Carter and the accompanying hype and hoopla of bringing in one of the NBA's most electrifying players, can we take just a few minutes today to give H-Turk the goodbye and Godspeed he deserves? I know, the free-agency period just started at midnight Tuesday and it's not yet official that Turk will sign with another team. I read the article where Magic General Manager Otis Smith hasn't completely shut the door on bringing back Turk. I even spoke with Turk's agent, Lon Babby, who also left the door cracked when he said, 'I'm not ready to talk about Hedo and the Magic in the past tense.' Come on, can we stop kidding ourselves? The chances of Turk re-signing with the Magic are about the same as Bernie Madoff getting elected banker for the Monopoly tournament during board-game night at the federal pen."
• Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail: "The last time the Toronto Raptors made a splash in free agency, they made it fast. Team president Bryan Colangelo and assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini picked up a phone at their Air Canada Centre offices the moment the NBA's free agency period started. Minutes later, then-Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, at home in Atlanta, was linked in on a conference call. Together they made Jason Kapono very rich, using their quick-strike approach to lay a four-year, $24-million (all currency U.S.) contract at the journeyman's feet. The whole deal took about 10 minutes. Times have changed. Not only is Kapono, who agreed to his deal in the wee hours of July 1, 2007, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, but the NBA's economic landscape has shifted so much that players of his pedigree don't get plush offers any more."
• Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic: "Even though Pat Williams directed many successful trades, fans most remember how, as the Philadelphia 76ers' general manager in 1986, he traded Moses Malone - along with Terry Catledge and two first-round picks - for Washington's Cliff Robinson and Jeff Ruland. Philadelphia management erred in thinking Malone's skills were on sharp decline. Malone, 31, went on to play nine productive seasons, while Robinson and Ruland spent much of their time on the bench nursing injuries. A team three years removed from an NBA title missed the playoffs eight of the next 12 years. The lesson? Make sure you have a firm grasp on the state of your player's skills. Stoudemire, of course, isn't Malone. His career isn't as established, and concerns about his health, including the detached retina that sidelined him for half of last season, linger. His desire for a contract extension when he becomes eligible later this summer also clouds the issue. On the other hand, he's 26, an age widely regarded as the start of an NBA player's prime. Many believe his best play is yet to come. 'The point is, with All-Star-caliber players, you need to be very careful before you proceed,' Williams said."
• Doug Robinson of the Deseret News: "Secretly, the Jazz had to be hoping Boozer would opt out and leave town. His return creates many headaches. With Boozer's contract on the books, they face the daunting task of already being over the luxury tax, for the first time in franchise history, and still needing to re-sign Paul Milsap. Then there's this: Milsap has earned more minutes, and he could get them elsewhere, if not here now that Boozer has opted to stay. There are not many upsides to Boozer's return. He has worn out his welcome with fans, if not the Jazz, with his attitude, unreliability and spotty play. And how does a team get behind a player who so obviously doesn't want to be here, his statements to the contrary notwithstanding. Well, if nothing else, the situation will force Boozer to try to bring his best game to the court next season, so he can demonstrate to other teams that he is worth signing or trading for. Meanwhile, Boozer and the Jazz are stuck with each other."
• Phil Sheridan of the The Philadelphia Inquirer: "It seems funny but sad now that the Los Angeles Clippers were ticked off last July when the 76ers lured free agent Elton Brand away with an $80 million contract. The Clips thought they had Brand's word he would re-sign with them. For the Sixers and their fans, it is too painful to think about how differently things might have been had Brand indeed remained with L.A.'s B team. All the bubbling excitement and anticipation that accompanied the Brand deal congealed quickly into a grim reality: Brand didn't look like a particularly good fit with the Sixers before a shoulder injury ended his season. Because he went all-in last year with the Brand deal and an enormous long-term contract for Andre Iguodala, Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski is not holding a full hand as the market opens today. His options are limited. He can sign, sign-and-trade, or not sign veteran point guard Andre Miller. He can offer some journeyman a mid-level exemption deal. He can light a candle in hopes that Brand is both healthy and better adjusted to the Sixers' new offensive schemes. The NBA is an unforgiving place, a league in which a wrong draft choice or a bad free-agent signing can relegate a franchise to oblivion for a decade."
• Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "Wednesday signals the beginning of the NBA's free agency period, and although teams are free to begin courting and negotiating with players, don't expect the Washington Wizards to spring into action. Instead, the Wizards are expected to wait, then comb the leftovers to add the final pieces to their roster. 'We're going to start making calls, and we'll monitor the situation, but the teams like Detroit, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Portland -- the teams with a lot of [salary] cap room -- will be doing the big spending in free agency,' Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said Tuesday. 'The whole situation will shake itself out, and we'll see what presents itself and carefully go from there. I expect this to be a drawn-out process.' The Wizards are expected to use a conservative approach because of the luxury tax and a deep roster at most positions."
• Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "Warren Buffett, a friend of LeBron James and a rather established expert in making acquisitions, can certainly relate to the situation the Cavaliers are now in. One of the billioniare's core philosophies and known quotes is to 'attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.' In listening to sources within the organization and across the league, despite being in a challenging climate for professional sports that has prompted fear with good reason, the Cavs fully intend to be greedy. It seems the team is expected to act quickly to add to their already well-heeled roster in an attempt to win their first title next season, which is famously the last on James' contract. They are going to make their pitch and look to spend about as much as the league rules will allow them, within reason. Their product already has James and now Shaquille O'Neal, and another All-Star in Mo Williams in residence. Plus it owns some of the best facilities in which to play and train in the league, even if it isn't located in a glamour city."
• Ailene Voisin of the The Sacramento Bee: "Mental toughness? Physical toughness? Blue-collar workers? Granted, these are not concepts normally associated with the Kings basketball president, whose conversations are dominated by references to backdoor cuts, ball and body movement, and the fluid beauty of the game -- all elements he still values. But after watching his club's incremental descent to a 17-win season, coupled with its amazing capacity to chase fans out of the building with feeble, uninspired performances, Petrie underwent a not-so-subtle offseason change in philosophy. You can feel it. You can sense it. You can look at the three players drafted by the Kings last week -- Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi and Jon Brockman -- and understand his thinking. The plan is for the Kings to be competitive and entertaining and endearing enough that earplugs once again will be required at Arco Arena."
• John Gonzalez of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Last week, the 76ers mercifully scrapped their unsightly, tricked-out, late-'90s uniforms and logo in favor of returning to the franchise's famous old-school models. A lot of people were happy about that. I was one of them. Some Sixers employees have accused me of being overly critical of the organization, so I'd like to address them directly here. Kudos on a job well done. It was smart to go retro, and you should be commended for it. I just have one nagging question: What's with the bunny? If you're going to erase the hideous black uniforms and outdated, overactive logo, you guys should have gone all-out and retired the mascot, too. To this day, I can't understand what the Sixers were thinking when they came up with Hip-Hop."

Forward Leon Powe played hard for the Celtics on a rookie contract. He helped them win a title. His coach called him a kid who had "done everything right."

And in the course of duty, he severely messed up his knee. Shortly after that, as luck would have it, his contract then came to an end just when he was due to get his first really big contract (his salary has always been six figures, not the seven he had coming).

There is certainly no legal obligation for the Celtics to extend Leon Powe a qualifying offer, to keep him employed as he rehabilitates. But is there an ethical one?

Powe's agent, Aaron Goodwin makes the case that extending a qualifying offer would have been the proper course of action:

What does it say when a player like Leon Powe, a great human being, who played through injury and pain for three straight years for the Boston Celtics, including in a playoff game after tearing his ACL, is rewarded by the team saying to him "we only have a short window to win, and you are not a part of our plans because you are now injured."

It shows you the true state of the NBA.

The Celtics are traditionally a class act. I have great respect for the organization as a whole, but they truly missed it on this one.