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Odds & Ends: NBPA, James, Datome, Love

April 25th, 2013 at 9:01pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets that the U.S. Attorney's office has indicted Prim Capital for falsifying a document to defraud the NBPA of $3MM. Wojnarowski provided a link to the full press release earlier as well. Prim Capital, in which the son of former NBPA executive director Billy Hunter was vice president, previously had a consulting contract with the player's union that was later deemed fraudulent by the U.S. Attorney's office. Here are more of tonight's odds and ends:

Knicks guard Jason Kidd credits Kenyon Martin for "saving our season," writes Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York. It is difficult to imagine where New York would have been without Martin's contributions, especially as the team has dealt with plenty of injuries in their frontcourt.
Eric Koreen of the National Post outlines the top ten legacies that are on the line during the NBA playoffs.
Jon Humbert of KOMO tweets that the Longshore Union filed an appeal over the land use challenge for the Seattle arena. Last month, a report from The Seattle Times (via the Associated press) said that the Longshoremen have been in staunch opposition of an arena being built near the Seattle waterfront, due to the congestion of the area that would be caused by athletic events.
Mike James proved to be a viable pickup for the Mavericks this season, averaging 8.1 PPG and 4.2 APG while helping the team finish 15-8 over their final 23 games. Although James said recently that he'd like to play two more seasons with the Mavs, Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas discusses why the Amityville product doesn't figure to be in the team's long-term plans.
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace is expected to travel to Rome next week to scout Gigi Datome, according to Sportando.net (hat tip to Il Corriere dello Sport).
Following up on a hypothetical trade proposed by Grantland's Bill
Simmons, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com examines the possibility of
the Bulls trying to trade for Kevin Love, exploring whether a package of
Carlos Boozer, Jimmy Butler, the rights to Nikola Mirotic, and
Charlotte's first-round pick would be more than Chicago would be willing
to give up.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld looks at the evolution of Paul George into an All-Star and a leader in the Pacers locker room.

Wojnarowski On LeBron, Cavs, Grizzlies

January 31st, 2013 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies' decision to trade Rudy Gay is the latest sign that the NBA's era of three-star "super-teams" is coming to an end, writes Adrian Wojnarowski in his latest piece for Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski had harsh words for the Grizzlies' new ownership and management groups following the Gay deal, arguing that the new CBA ensures that team owner Robert Pera can "mismanage the Grizzlies into oblivion and still make money on the enterprise." Here are the rest of the notable items from Woj's piece:

LeBron James' agent, Rich Paul, has been privately discussing the idea of LeBron returning to Cleveland as a free agent in 2014 for the last two years. Wojnarowski notes that James will ultimately make his own free-agent decision, but says Paul figures to be one of the most important voices in his ear.
As one "high-level associate" of LeBron's inner circle tells Wojnarowski: "[Heat president Pat] Riley has never given them the run of the place in Miami, and they could all be back in business together in Cleveland. For Rich and [business manager] Maverick [Carter], they all see the benefits of getting the credit for bringing LeBron home again."
Front offices around the NBA were "incredulous" after the Grizzlies dealt Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, and Josh Selby, along with a future first-rounder, for cap relief, says Wojnarowski. Many league executives believed Memphis could have waited until closer to the deadline and potentially received a better return on Speights and Ellington individually.
Said one Eastern Conference GM on the Grizzlies' trade with the Cavs: "Beyond a panic move. Cleveland would always be there with that deal."
Although GM Chris Wallace made a statement in the Grizzlies' press release announcing the Gay trade, Wallace had little to do with the process, according to Wojnarowski. Wallace isn't making calls to teams and isn't consulted by the new management group — he's simply waiting until they reach an agreement on his "inevitable parting," says Wojnarowski.

Southwest Notes: Wallace, Hollinger, Ross

December 14th, 2012 at 10:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

While previous reports have indicated that GM Chris Wallace's role with the Grizzlies wouldn't change after the hiring of John Hollinger and Stu Lash, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Wallace, Hollinger and Lash are expected to have equal input with CEO Jason Levien, who'll have final say on basketball matters. While Wallace expressed a willingness to work in the new environment, Tillery wonders if this might signal the end of Wallace's tenure in Memphis, writing that "only time will tell" how long he stays on board. Here's more on the Grizzlies front office and other news from the Southwest Division.

Tillery notes the Grizzlies hiring of Hollinger isn't the first time the team has employed an analytics specialist in the front office. Aaron Barzilai, who's now with the Sixers, worked for the Grizzlies as a consultant for several years.
Beckley Mason of The New York Times wonders if the Spurs have been sitting Matt Bonner, with whom they're more efficient than when he's not on the floor, to give more minutes to DeJuan Blair in an effort to showcase Blair for a trade.
The Mavericks had interest in Terrence Ross before the Raptors took him eighth overall this June, reveals Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter link). The Mavs held the 17th pick in the draft before trading it to the Cavaliers, so that means they were either thinking of trading up or believed Ross might slip out of the lottery.
Chandler Parsons was a steal for the Rockets in the second round of the 2011 draft, but the 6'9" small forward was convinced he was headed elsewhere, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle details. "I thought I was going to go to the Celtics, 100 percent," Parsons said. "That was probably my best workout. I killed it."
We went in-depth on the summer moves made by the Mavs and Hornets today as part of the Hoops Rumors Offseason in Review series.