HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Tim Duncan’s Hall of Fame credentials are set. His legacy needs no polishing at this late stage of his magnificent career.
And yet Duncan continues to shine.
He’s doing it this time without even touching the court. By taking a whopping 54 percent pay cut to remain with the Spurs, he abstained from the summer’s free-agent-palooza and allowed the Spurs to maintain their financial flexibility. That helped San Antonio keep its core group intact as it tries to mount one last championship run in the Duncan era.
“I’m an awful negotiator,” Duncan said, chuckling. “My agent was mad at me the whole time.”
Duncan was on hand at the Spurs’ practice facility Tuesday for the start of his 16th NBA training camp. That would have been surprising only if the notoriously casual dresser had arrived in something out of Craig Sager’s wardrobe.
Though technically a free agent for about a week in early July, the 36-year-old Duncan said he never seriously considered retirement and never remotely entertained the idea of playing elsewhere.
“I’ve been here for so long,” said Duncan, who took no calls from rival teams. “This is home for me.”
That’s a welcome statement for NBA observers who still cringe at the memory of Hakeem Olajuwon in a Toronto Raptors jersey or Patrick Ewing in Seattle SuperSonics green.
Taking that pay cut means Duncan instantly became The Big Discount. With his reported $9.6 million salary, Duncan moves from near the top of the league’s earnings list to a new spot behind the likes of Al Jefferson and Carlos Boozer, solid big men who will both earn $15 million this season but won’t rank anywhere near Duncan when their careers are over.
Two Gordons, Eric ($13.6) and Ben ($12.4), will both earn more than Duncan this season, as will Hedo Turkoglu ($11.8), Corey Maggette ($10.9), DeAndre Jordan and even former Spurs swingman Richard Jefferson ($10.1).
That doesn’t include the four amnestied players — Brandon Roy, Gilbert Arena, Elton Brand and Rashard Lewis — all of whom will earn between $21 (Roy) and $15 (Lewis) million for not playing with the teams that owed them that money. Arenas isn’t even on anyone’s training camp roster.
In an era when folks love to poke players for being all about the “Benjamins,” Duncan deserves some credit for being about everything but his own bottom line!
A lot of teams, including the Los Angeles Clippers, are glad that the 2012-13 NBA season is going to start on time. The Clippers have to feel they’re getting a bonus, though, because Chris Paul sounds ready to start on time too.
The All-Star point guard is coming off August surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and said at a GQ promotional event Monday that his rehab has him on schedule for October basketball. Arash Markaziof ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote:
[Paul] went through basketball drills without a protective brace around his right thumb for the first time Monday, and said he anticipates playing in at least one preseason game and being ready for the Clippers’ season opener Oct. 30 versus the Memphis Grizzlies.
“Today was the first day they actually allowed me to shoot layups so today was the best day ever,” Paul told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I hope I get a preseason game in before the season. I probably have to start off the season wearing a brace but I get to wear the brace less and less. I wear it when I go to sleep but I’m on track. I go to rehab every single morning at 6:30 a.m.”
After the Clippers guard injured the thumb during Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas, Paul and teammates thought he might miss the London Olympics. When he learned that surgery was the next step, he opted to tape up the thumb and play for the 2012 gold medal.
“The scariest part was when I injured it in Vegas. During the 30-minute ride to the hospital, me and some of the Team USA staff were acting like we were riding to a funeral,” Paul said.
Now he’s reborn with a freshly stocked Clippers team – Grant Hill, Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes and Ronny Turiaf are among the new faces – and eager to fight for hoops control of L.A. Last season, the Clippers (40-26) finished just one game behind the Lakers (41-25), lost Chauncey Billups to an Achilles injury and, remember, didn’t have Paul until the trade with New Orleans finally cleared league hurdles on Dec. 14. The season began 11 days later. He averaged 19.8 points, 9. 1 assists and 2.5 steals in 60 appearances.
“It’s no secret; everybody in my family knows I wanted to go to the Clippers,” Paul said. “I may be different in a way but I’ve always jumped at the opportunity to do something that’s never been done, and here with the Clippers with Blake [Griffin] and DJ [DeAndre Jordan] and adding these pieces and stuff like that, I’m excited about the opportunities there.”
More than that, Paul will be around and available to chase them.
HANG TIME, TEXAS – Remember how things used to be with the Clippers? They were the NBA’s version of the groundhog, coming out on rare occasion only long enough to see their shadow and then going back into hibernation.
Not anymore, Punxsutawney Phil-breath.
After a thoroughly enjoyable 40-26 season that earned them the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and then a stirring seven-game first-round playoff series win over Memphis, the Clips have hardly spent the summer relaxing on the beach.
The Clippers and free-agent Ronny Turiaf have agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract worth $1.146 million, said NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Turiaf, a 6-10, 245-pounder, will be a backup power forward and center for the Clippers.
He becomes the fifth big man for the Clippers – behind starters DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and reserves Lamar Odom and Ryan Hollins – the 13th player on the roster.
Turiaf played his first three NBA seasons with the Lakers.
He played for the Washington Wizards and Miami Heat last season. (more…)
HANG TIME WEST – The plan from the beginning was the right plan: The Trail Blazers would match any offer sheet Nicolas Batum signed and keep an important part of the lineup in place while they made significant additions through the draft and free agency.
Grow the team with Batum at 23 years old and set at small forward. Protect an asset. It made perfect sense.
But then came Thursday and news that restricted free agent Batum and the Timberwolves had agreed to a four-year, $45-million deal that can top $50 million with incentive bonuses. It came with the kicker that Batum and his agent urged Portland officials not to match.
And suddenly the end result was not so simple. Not the part about the request to let Batum go Minnesota. That is common in these situations, is usually rightly ignored by the original team, and in time becomes a forgotten part of a tangled negotiating process. Same thing with Eric Gordon and the Hornets – he has an agreement with the Suns, he said his heart is in Phoenix, and every indication is that New Orleans will match anyway.
It’s the other part. The one about Nicolas Batum averaging $11.25 million annually.
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The price tag for big men in the NBA, both the stars and the wanna be stars, is always high, just ask guys like the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan or the Mavericks’ Brendan Haywood.
Drafting 7-footer Meyers Leonard didn’t answer all of the Blazers’ big man needs. Adding Hibbert to their mix would, theoretically, give them an ideal frontcourt pairing with LaMarcus Aldridge.
But like the Bulls with Asik, the Pacers have the right to match any offer to Hibbert.
BOSTON — Kevin Garnett wants to play another year. That’s what some of his teammates believe, and even his ex-teammates. As Kendrick Perkins said recently: “I think he will. It’ll probably depend on the money, and if he can win a championship wherever he goes.”
Garnett has looked solid in spurts, even All-Star-like. He remains in solid shape and although his health was an issue in the past, his body hasn’t betrayed him here in this abbreviated season, unlike other players. Because the NBA still puts a premium on big men, it’s reasonable to suspect a handful of teams will inquire about the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. At least those teams who consider themselves title contenders.
Therefore … where does he go?
It’s not totally out of the question that Garnett returns to the Celtics. He wouldn’t have to learn a new system, deal with a new coach, new city, all that. Besides, the Celtics will have plenty of room under the cap to give him a reasonable salary, say $10 million. With Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, they’d be a 45 or 50-win team.
There are other possible landing places as well. Maybe the Lakers? Garnett has a home in Malibu, and the Lakers have Kobe Bryant. What they don’t have is cap room, but that can be resolved if they agree to a sign and trade for Pau Gasol. The Lakers desperately want Gasol’s contract (three years, $60 million) off the cap and tried to trade him last summer. The Celtics, with only Pierce and Rondo making decent money, could take Gasol, although that would likely prevent them from re-signing Brandon Bass.
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Before we let the Clippers slip away into the shadows of teams vanquished on the road to the Larry O’Brien trophy, we have to slather a little praise on the “other” team in Los Angeles for a season full of entertaining basketball, complete with enough Chris Paul and Blake Griffin highlights to last a couple of seasons.
We’d also like to back the critics off of Griffin and his game, which is a whopping 159 games old with this playoff run included. That’s right, Griffin is just two seasons of actual on-court time into his career that has been scrutinized incessantly since he burst onto the scene as dunking machine/pitchman last season.
I saw the Inside crew discussing Griffin’s game (Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaq and Ernie Johnson go at it above) and felt the instant analysis of his long-term prospects was a bit premature. Shaq and Ernie have it right that it’s far too soon to assume we’ve seen the very best Griffin will have to offer during his career.
(Andrew Bynum‘s been in the league for seven years and people are still talking about him being a young player … and this is supposed to be it for Griffin?)
This was Griffin’s first playoff rodeo folks. Why would anyone assume he’s reached his zenith, that he won’t continue to improve in the coming seasons?
LOS ANGELES – Don’t come around Chris Paul’s front door trying to sell him a ladder. He’s not one of those who believe that progress has to come one level at a time.
The Clippers finished a season in which they won a playoff series for only the third time in franchise history, but that didn’t leave the All-Star point guard skipping out the door.
“We had a good season,” Paul said. “I think it’s a good sign for our team that there is no moral victory. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we made it to the playoffs, it’s all good and well.’ We feel like we should still have been playing.
“We are going to keep working. We are going to come back next seson ready to go. I have never been one of those people who believes you have to take stepping stones to get to the next level.”
SAN ANTONIO – It’s usually a difficult choice when you’re playing the Spurs — pick your poison.
So the Clippers swallowed the arsenic and the cyanide. They let the Spurs beat them up on the inside with 42 points in the paint and a 47-34 domination of the rebounding and they also surrendered 13 buckets from behind the 3-point line to seven different Spurs.
At times the Clippers looked like confused rats inside a maze, not knowing which way to run to try to cover up a San Antonio shooter.
“If they don’t pass the ball to an open man, they’re coming out. It’s the bottom line,” said L.A. forward Kenyon Martin. “That’s the way (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) is coaching. I’ve had lots of battles with him. This is my fourth time playing him in the playoffs and it’s always been that way. The open man always hits the shot; that’s what they do well. They do an excellent job of spreading the floor, making plays and guys do an excellent job of being unselfish.” (more…)
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – We won’t bother asking what took the Hang Time Grizzlies so long to figure this out. All that matters now is that we’ve all see it in action and have seen the results.
When the Grizzlies ground and pound, playing through All-Star big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, they look like a completely different team against the Los Angeles Clippers.
If they want to see a Game 7 back on their home floor, they must continue to do more of the same. Because as good as Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and the rest of the Grizzlies’ perimeter operators have been all season, you win games in the paint in the playoffs. Trying to beat the Clippers that way is what led to the 3-1 deficit — well, that and Chris Paul and Blake Griffin outplaying them during critical stretches in the first four games.
