Agent Zero: “Everybody Should Visit Manila”

I came out of a quick retirement for this blog. I wanted to announce that I’m happy to remain a Washington Wizard. Wizards fans, go ahead and renew your tickets. We got the team back, we’re going to be healthy and I don’t know what the slogan is for next year, so I can’t say it. Before I could say like “Ready to Rule” or “Go All In,” but they haven’t told me the new one yet, so I can’t say it. But really, I wanted to blog to tell you all about my trip.

Shanghai, Beijing

I was gone for a total of 12 days. We started out by going to Shanghai, the kingdom of Yao. You know how when you’re on a plane for 13 hours and you start thinking about everything in the world? Well I was watching an episode of Dave Chappelle in Asia and he was like Godzilla compared to everybody so I was having the same little thought process like, Damn, am I going to be like four feet taller than everybody over there?

Wrong. Everybody was tall. I felt short. I was surprised. It wasn’t what you thought. Everybody was tall and long. All the basketball kids were long and lanky. Anyway, when I got to the airport there was probably 100 fans out there, plus media and paparazzi … you know, it felt nice.

D-League Ambassadors Set Roster For Rocky Mountain Revue

The NBA Development League today announced the ten players and three coaches who will comprise the 2008 NBA D-League Ambassadors roster that will play a three-game schedule at the Rocky Mountain Revue presented by StoresOnline, at Lifetime Activities Center on the Redwood Campus of Salt Lake Community College.

“While players from the NBA D-League have always been well represented in the NBA summer leagues, we are excited to formally field a team constituted of D-League players to compete in this great event,” said Dan Reed president of the NBA Development League. “This is yet another opportunity that we provide for the NBA D-League’s up-and-coming player prospects to showcase their skills to NBA executives and scouts.”

The Ambassadors’ roster features former college standouts like Errick Craven (Los Angeles), who led the PAC 10 in steals in each of his first three seasons at USC (2002-04); Glen McGowan (Sioux Falls), who earned All-West Coast Conference honors his junior and senior seasons at Pepperdine (2004-05) and Carl Elliott (Sioux Falls), who concluded his college career at George Washington as the winningest Colonial ever.

Lakers Hand Grizzlies First Loss

Coby Karl tallied a game high 16 points as the Los Angeles Lakers topped the Memphis Grizzlies 85-76 on Sunday, handing the Grizzlies their first loss of the 2008 NBA Summer League Presented by EA SPORTS. The Lakers first half effort was led by Cedric Bozeman with eight points, while Joe Crawford added six. The Grizzlies first half effort was led by Mike Conley with six points.

Los Angeles continued their dominance through the third quarter building their lead to 11 behind Karl’s nine points and in the period. The fourth quarter proved no different than the third as the Lakers built a 16-point lead early in the quarter and held off the Grizzlies late surge. The Grizzlies who have played three straight days were led by O.J. Mayo who tallied 15 points while Ebi Ere added 14 off the bench.

Notes: The Grizzlies will play their fourth game in as many days on Monday as they play the San Antonio Spurs in the final game at Thomas & Mack. The Lakers will take Monday off and will play host to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday at COX Pavilion. Denver Nuggets Head Coach George Karl was among the fans in the crowd watching his son Coby play for the Lakers.

Bulls add Harris, Bickerstaff and Ociepka; keep Myers on coaching staff

The Chicago Bulls announced today that Del Harris, Bernie Bickerstaff and Bob Ociepka have been hired as assistant coaches on Vinny Del Negro’s coaching staff. In addition, Pete Myers will remain in his current role as assistant coach. In accordance with club policy, terms of the contracts were not announced.

“When I first accepted this position, I made it a top priority to surround myself with an experienced coaching staff. Now, with the hiring of Del Harris, Bernie Bickerstaff, Bob Ociepka and current assistant coach Pete Myers, you would be hard pressed to find a staff with the combined number of years experience that we have assembled,” stated Del Negro.

“I already have specific ideas on how to use their past experience in our efforts to get this team where we want it to be,” he added.

NBA Commissioner David Stern Statement on Settlement Between Sonics and the City of Seattle

NBA Commissioner David Stern has issued the following statement:
“We are pleased that the Sonics and the City of Seattle have settled their litigation. While the decision has been made to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City, the NBA continues to regard Seattle as a first-class NBA city that is capable of serving as home for another NBA team.

In order for this to occur, a state-of-the-art NBA arena must be funded and constructed in the Seattle area, a subject that has been extensively debated — but not ultimately acted upon — by local political and business leaders over the past four years. We are pleased that the City remains committed to addressing this fundamental requirement for the return of NBA basketball to Seattle and we hope that other elected officials critical to a solution will support the City’s efforts.

We understand that City, County, and State officials are currently discussing a plan to substantially re-build KeyArena for the sum of $300 million. If this funding were authorized, we believe KeyArena could properly be renovated into a facility that meets NBA standards relating to revenue generation, fan amenities, team facilities, and the like.

Warriors make big offer to Brand, sources say

Now Golden State is hoping to return the favor. Flush with cap space after Baron Davis’ sudden exit, the Warriors have offered free-agent Elton Brand a five-year deal worth $90 million, according to multiple league sources. Brand, like Davis, opted out of the final year of his contract just before Monday’s deadline, giving up a guaranteed $16.4 million for next season. At the time, Brand’s agent, David Falk, told reporters that the move was designed to create cap flexibility for the Clippers to add another top-line player.

The Clippers did just that by agreeing to terms with Davis on a five-year contract worth about $65 million Tuesday. But in order to fit Davis under the salary cap at that number, the Clippers first must renounce their rights to Brand and Corey Maggette, who also opted of his deal Monday.

The most the Clippers could offer Brand is a five-year contract worth about $75 million – or roughly $15 million less than the Warriors’ proposal.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988 in Washington, D.C.) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics.

A 6′9″ shooting guard/small forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year, in addition to being selected as the 2006-2007 Big 12 Player of the Year, amongst other awards. After his freshman season at the University of Texas, Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft,where he was selected second overall by the Seattle Supersonics.

There, he went on to claim the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his debut season. Durant signed an endorsement contract with Nike in 2007[9] and wears size 18 shoes.

Lakers chasing Marcelus Kemp

The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) reports: The Lakers are pursuing Marcelus Kemp, a shooting guard from the University of Nevada. Kemp’s agent, John Grieg, told a Reno newspaper he expected a deal to be struck soon.

InsideHoops.com says: Why do the Lakers always go after such low-profile free agents? They need James Posey, not Marcelus Kemp.

Saglietti, Diez and Romano added to Argentina group

Argentina coach Sergio Hernández has added Nicolás Romano, Alejandro Diez y Marcos Saglietti to his preliminary squad for the Beijing Games. The trio will be in the group that begins the preparations for the Olympics on July 4.

The 1.88m Saglietti is a shooting guard of Libertad Sunchales in Argentina and was named Best Sixth Man and Most Improved Player of the Liga Nacional this past season. Center Nicolás Romano plays for Quilmes de Mar del Plata while Alejandro Diez is a power forward/center who’s on the books of Peñarol de Mar del Plata – the team that Hernandez led to the inaugural FIBA Americas League title earlier this year.

Baron Davis on Verge of Signing with Clippers

Baron Davis is on the verge of signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, a day after the point guard shocked the Golden State Warriors by opting out of the final season of his contract to become a free agent. Though Davis refused to directly confirm an ESPN.com report that he has agreed to sign with Golden State’s Pacific Division rivals, he left no doubt about his upcoming move to Southern California.

Davis already was speaking about the Warriors in the past tense Tuesday night before attending the private Bay Area premiere of “Made in America,” a documentary he produced about gang life in his native Los Angeles.

“It’s tough, but you have to do what’s best,” said Davis, his usually bushy beard trimmed short. “You have to do what’s fair. I’m happy with where I’m going. A big reason is because of the impact and the things that I can do going forward. I knew I could have done them here and created all kinds of good things and positive things in the community, and ultimately, me going home helps me make an impact on young kids.”