NEWS OF THE MORNING
Union director hopes for smooth sailing with NBA | Winslow ready to transition to the NBA | Karl has Melo experience to help dealings with Cousins | Can Deron reclaim greatness?
No. 1: Union director hopes for smooth sailing with NBA — The negotiations between the owners and player’s union are still over a year away, if that, and both sides have kept things cordial and cooperative for the most part. Michele Roberts hopes it stays that way. The executive director spoke optimistically about her relationship with Adam Silver and how the players have come to trust her leadership. Here’s an excerpt from a Q-and-A interview she gave Sportando …
Q: As soon as you started you declared that the union was divided and not well represented: how is the situation now?
A: “Many players were skeptical on the importance of the union, especially for the behavior of my predecessor.
We regained credibility and players’ confidence.”Q: Who is the most “unionized”?
A: “The desire to be part of the union is a widespread feeling. There are players completely immersed in the union activities (Chris Paul is the president, LeBron James and the first vice President, and in the executive committee there is also the mvp Steph Curry. It would be easy to think that players with huge financial success are not very interested, but it’s just the opposite. ”
Q: How can the potential lockout be avoided in 2017?
A: “Sitting down at a table already now with the NBA to understand what worries the owners and what worries the players. In the past very few attempts to speak in advance of the problems that led to the lockouts have been made. Whether Both commissioner Silver and myself want to do everything possible to prevent the NBA to stop: the only way is to negotiate. We have already started, we will meet again in early September with the hope to announce within the end of the season that the union and the league have solved their problems. ”
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No. 2: Winslow ready to transition to NBA — The Heat found a surprise selection in the summer draft in Justise Winslow, and the rookie guard is doing everything in his power to keep the franchise counting its blessings. Fresh off of winning a national championship at Duke, Winslow says he’s locked into championship mode and hopes to help Miami win another. Here’s Winslow in an interview with Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel …
Winslow operated as a primary ballhandler during summer league, but that was while operating as the primary focus of the offense. The next challenge will be to find his way alongside Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic and Chris Bosh.
“Just playing alongside all the great players, some of the things will be limited,” he acknowledged. “So just trying to find spots where if I’m in the game with Dwyane Wade, Dragic and Bosh, how I can be most efficient?”
In many ways, Winslow’s approach during summer league, especially when he got off to a solid start in the Orlando Pro Summer League, was similar to that of Wade. That could have him featured in a comparable role off the bench, in relief of Wade.
“If not playing a lot of point,” he said, “just playing a lot with the ball in my hands. If I’m with the first unit, second unit, just ball screens at the top of the key, a lot of what I did in summer league out in Orlando.
“It’s going to be good. The way they use me, I think it’s going to be really special and really going to help me showcase a lot of my skills.”
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No. 3: Karl has Melo experience to help dealings with Cousins — At times it was a rocky summer for George Karl and the Kings’ franchise player, DeMarcus Cousins. To say the two didn’t see eye-to-eye would be an understatement. Cousins thought Karl was trying to get him traded, which Karl always denied, and there was a chill in the air. Apprently, the two have patched most of their differences and yet their relationship will bear watching this season. Karl has had a tricky relationship with a superstar before; Carmelo Anthony and the coach had a few disagreements (though it never got personal). Here’s Zach Harper of CBS Sports on how those years with Melo should serve as a springboard to this season with Cousins …
This is how Kings ownership and management want this team to play: Run opponents off the floor and light up the scoreboard.
Problem is, Sacramento’s best player is DeMarcus Cousins, who wouldn’t seem to fit the mold of a player who would thrive in a fast-paced system. So how do the Kings become the team they want to be? How does George Karl find a way to build a fast-paced, highly efficient offense with DeMarcus Cousins as the focal point?
Perhaps the answer lies in Carmelo Anthony.
Karl can indeed look to his final campaign with Carmelo Anthony in Denver as a bit of inspiration for figuring this out. While it’s obvious that Anthony and Cousins are very much different players who occupy different positions, the way in which they attack and the distribution of their respective shots are relatively similar. Prior to trading Melo to the New York Knicks during the 2010-11 season, Denver had the best offense in the NBA with Melo as a primary focus. During that season, Karl found a balance between pushing the ball while also utilizing a high volume scorer.
Cousins actually isn’t the ball-stopper Melo has historically been. In fact, only Joakim Noah, Blake Griffin, and Josh Smith had a higher assist rate as a big man last season than Cousins (20.4 percent). However, he is a high volume scorer and someone the Kings will want to maximize in the half-court while still making sure to push the ball. In the 50 games Melo played under Karl in ’10-’11 and the 19 games Cousins played under Karl in ’14-’15, the distribution of where the two players did the majority of their damage is similar.
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No. 4: Can Deron Williams reclaim greatness? — The easy answer to that is “no.” But Williams will get the chance in his hometown to show that he can have a second life in the NBA. He’ll need to prove not only to himself, but to Dirk Nowitzki and Mark Cuban that the last few years in Brooklyn were a mirage, or at least not totally indicative of what he’s capable of doing. Here’s a report on Williams from Fansided …
The Dallas Mavericks made headlines this offseason with the temporary agreement they came to with Los Angeles center, DeAndre Jordan. Days after agreeing to join the Mavs, DeAndre had a well-publicized change of heart, instead preferring the comforts (and money) of home in LA.
The results of this spurning sent the Mavericks into disarray, as they scrambled to build a roster made with whatever was leftover in free agency. Forced to get creative, the Mavericks started turning their attention to the trade market and waiver wire.
After making some relatively pedestrian moves, the Mavericks were able to lure a former target of their affection, Deron Williams. Williams, an underachiever as well as max contract player, came to a buyout agreement with the Brooklyn Nets. The move freed him to sign with his hometown Mavs, in an attempt to rekindle a once exceptional career.
Exceptional is a strong word, but by no means is it an exaggeration. Deron Williams, 31, was once considered one of the top young point guards in the NBA. He was so good, there was an active debate in NBA circles as to whether he, or Chris Paul, were the best at their craft. If one was “1”, then the other was “1a”.
Deron Williams began his NBA career as the #3 overall pick of the Utah Jazz. The PG from Illinois didn’t take long to make an impression in the NBA, averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting .416% from 3-point range.
The next four years in Utah, Williams averaged over 18 points and 10 assists per game as he established himself as one of the best players in the NBA. From there, the Deron Williams story started to go south.
After increasingly frequent spats with NBA legendary coach, Jerry Sloan, the unthinkable happened. Sloan resigned his post as coach and Deron Williams was traded to the Nets. After testing free agency, Williams opted to re-sign with the Nets, rather than move back to the D/FW area and play for his home team.
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SOME RANDOM HEADLINES: The Clippers will reveal a mascot this season, the first by any NBA team in L.A., unless you count Jack Nicholson … The assistant for Gilbert Arenas has been convicted of stealing millions from the former All-Star
