A report yesterday suggested that Alonzo Gee and the Cavaliers are still far apart in negotiations on a new contract, but Gee continues to say he wants to re-sign with the club.
"I want to be in Cleveland," he told Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "This is where I want to be. I love the coaches and my teammtes. This is where I want to be.''
It was expected that the Cavs would match an offer sheet for Gee, but so far he hasn't found a deal with another club, — perhaps any team interested in the 25-year-old knows it could be a waste of time to seriously pursue him, with Cleveland poised to match any offer. While Gee waits to sign his next contract, here are a few more Thursday odds and ends from around the NBA:
- In previewing the Cavaliers' 2012/13 roster, Bob Finnan of the News-Herald assumes that either Gee or unrestricted free agent C.J. Miles will be starting at small forward for Cleveland.
- Shannon Brown's new deal with the Suns will provide some continuity for both the player and the team, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- Rick Adelman was surprised by the lengthy back-and-forth between the Timberwolves and Trail Blazers over Nicolas Batum, as he told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. "All that stuff surprised me," said the T-Wolves' coach. "We were just trying to get a player who fit in our system. Unfortunately, it went on and on and on, and I have no control over that."
- Bobcats GM Rich Cho spoke to Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld about Charlotte's offseason moves and the process of improving a team that won a record-low seven games in 2011/12.