Matt Moore

Posted by Royce Young

Yao Ming missed the entire 2009-10 season with a broken left foot. You know, one of those dreaded foot injuries that absolutely destory big men's careers.

The Rockets expected his return to be set for the season opener and with Yao back, Houston's expectations for the season were obviously high. The Rockets spent money retaining Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola, plus signed an extra big man to team with Yao. But now, it's sounding like Yao might miss the first two months of the season.

Gery Woelfel of The Journal-Times says he's hearing the Rockets don't intend to rush their star back (smart), so missing up to two months might indeed happen.

It's up to the gods of speculation to guess whether or not the Rockets already knew this and thus offered $15 million to Brad Miller. But whatever the case, having Miller as an insurance policy is definitely a godsend at this point for Houston. Yao may never be the same. And if the Rockets have any inclination about getting back to the playoffs, at least one quality center is surely required on the inside. If they can get two, that's just bonus.

Posted by Royce Young

Rich Cho will be the next general manager of the Trail Blazers, The Oregonian reports .

The Oklahoma City Thunder assistant general manager interviewed with the team last week in Las Vegas and will be named today. Cho has built a reputation as a young and bright executive who has degrees in engineering and law.

Cho replaces Kevin Pritchard, who was fired on June 24. Cho will step into a great situation roster-wise in Portland with a star already there in Brandon Roy, a great coach and a number of quality supporting cast players. But besides managing questions about Greg Oden's health and keeping one of the best and most passionate fanbases in sports happy, Cho also has to deal with an ownership group that has been characterized as "meddling". So that should be fun for him.

Cho was known as the Thunder's cap expert and has been with the Thunder franchise for 11 seasons and served eight as assistant GM. He was responsible for contract negotiations, salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement matters, player contracts and all player personnel issues.

Cho is a native of the Pacific Northwest and a member of the Washington State Bar, a graduate of Pepperdine Law School and achieved his undergraduate at Washington State University.

Posted by Royce Young

If you didn't think the relationship between the league and its players was already strained, then sit right down and take a sniff at this story today from Sports Business Journal .

Basically, the Players' Association is strongly considered filing charges against the league and the owners. Why? Last summer the NBA was telling teams that basketball revenue was dropping dramatically and that would mean a cut in the salary cap this year. The league projected the cap could drop below $51 million, but more likely settle in the $53 million range, down from the $57.7 million it was this season.

Where did it land? Up at $58.1 million. That means basketball revenue went up last season. That means the players feel like they were duped by the league. Would the league release low cap projection numbers in an effort to pull down the amount teams could spend on salaries? The players are sort of thinking so. Hence the potential charges.

Last week in Vegas, David Stern said the league lost $370 million. Yet, the NBA recorded all-time highs in revenue. Of course the league credits slashes in ticket prices and merchandise costs, plus other clever ideas to push through the recession.

Then there are things like the recent sale of the Warriors, where a team was purchased for more money than in league history. Players like Nick Collison see that as fishy business. He tweeted :
"Warriors sold 4record 450 million after being bought for119. if nba is "broken" why are teams always sold 4profit? ... Also is the appreciation of the franchises when sold (warriors, Suns, sonics etc) factored into the 400 million loss claim??...no ... My point is these very smart businessmen would not continue to invest is a failing system paying record numbers team after team."
A fair point indeed. All signs point point to the league thriving. But what we keep hearing is that money is flying out by the truckload.

Owners want shorter non-guaranteed contracts. Players want longer, guaranteed contracts. The league says it's losing money. The players see how revenue is at an all-time high. We keep hearing the two sides couldn't be farther apart. And at this point, I'd say they're about as far as east is from west. Right now, there's no avoiding a lockout it seems. Unless something dramatically happens, next summer probably won't be as fun as this one.

Posted by Royce Young

Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer reports and Chris Tomasson of FanHouse confirms that the Cavs and Wolves are talking a trade that would send Ramon Sessions and Kosta Koufos to Cleveland.

Tomasson mentions the Wolves may attain guard Delonte West in return, but waive him since West's $4.6 million contract has only $500,000 of it guaranteed if he's waived by August 5.

Koufos is an Ohio native that attended Ohio State before leaving after his freshman year to be drafted by the Utah Jazz. I don't know why it's always necessary to mention when a guy could be playing near his hometown as if that will make him an immediate star, but it is. Regardless, Koufos has talent, but he's raw and a clear indication that if acquired, the Cavs are rebuilding.

Obviously David Kahn needs to move Sessions with the recent addition of Luke Ridnour. And the Cavs have already pushed for multiple point guards this offseason already but haven't grabbed one they want yet. There was talk on LeBron's Decision Day that the Wolves and Cavs were discussing a deal bringing Jonny Flynn to Cleveland, but the Wolves are intent on keeping Flynn.

Posted by Royce Young

Former Hornets general manager Jeff Bower lost his job because his shopping of Chris Paul reportedly caused some strain with ownership. But as Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes , Paul is "open" to a trade and Bonnell sees Charlotte as a prime destination.

Besides citing the fact that Charlotte is near home for Paul who grew up in nearby Winston-Salem, Bonnell sees it as doable because of the Bobcats ability to offer both financial relief in Erick Dampier's unguaranteed $13 million salary, along with actual talent in Gerald Wallace, Gerald Henderson and D.J. Augustin.

If Paul sours on the Hornets and wants out, Charlotte definitely appears like it could be a prime destination. There's the Michael Jordan connection (CP3 is on the Jordan Brand and grew up in North Carolina), it's close to home and the Bobcats can reconcile the trade by giving the Hornets assets and cap relief.

New Orleans appears to be a mess right now with Bower recently being fired, team president Hugh Weber rescinding a contract to Luther Head for apparently no reason and oh yeah, the roster isn't very good either. So picturing CP3 demanding a way out isn't that hard to do. Owner George Shinn absolutely loves Paul and would probably fight to keep him, but with Shinn selling the team to Gary Chouest, things could change there. It's obviously all wild speculation at this point, but it certainly could become reality.

Hornets new head coach Monty Williams is planning to meet with Paul in the near future to discuss his status with the team. I'm thinking Williams will say something like, "Please don't ever leave me."

Posted by Royce Young

Free agent forward James Jones told the Miami Herald on Sunday he will rejoin the Heat.

Miami bought out the final three seasons of Jones' contract June 30, but he told the Herald he believed there was a possibility he would return.

Jones will earn the $1 million veteran's minimum this season, combined with the $1.5 million buyout sum he is owed for the upcoming season. Not a horrible deal for Jones. Also, reportedly, Jones passed up more money elsewhere. San Antonio was reportedly looking to give him part of its $6 million mid-level exception. But he turned it down to stay in Miami. Ah, the siren song of the new-look Heat.

Why? Jones gives his reasoning:

"I still feel I have unfinished business here," Jones told the paper. "The opportunity to win a championship was too much to pass up. Hopefully, the minutes will be there and I will make teams pay."

Jones, 29, is a situational shooter by trade. He shot 41 percent from 3 last season and in seven seasons he's a career 39.5 percent shooter from distance. Obviously a ton of minutes won't be available for him playing behind Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Mike Miller, but as a specialist off the bench, he'll definitely have value for the Heat. In the report, it's noted Jones understands that is just looking for a spot to contribute.

With Jones, center Jamaal Magloire and point guard Carlos Arroyo all expected re-sign with Miami, the Heat will have 13 players under contract, making them a legal NBA team. That group includes Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, rookie Dexter Pittman, Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers. Free agent Juwan Howard is also expected to sign. Not a bad looking roster by any means. Especially for a group that had two players under contract just over a week ago.

Posted by Royce Young

Even though he was jostled around two straight years at the trade deadline, in the end, Amare Stoudemire wanted to stay in Phoenix.

In an interview with Chris Tomasson of FanHouse , Stoudemire said had Phoenix offered up a fully guaranteed max long-term deal, he wouldn't have left for New York.

"Definitely. If they had done that, I would have stayed,'' Stoudemire said in an interview Saturday with FanHouse at the NBA Summer League. "They only gave me three years guaranteed."

According to Tomasson's story, the Suns wanted to guarantee Stoudemire's final two seasons only if he reached certain incentives regarding minutes played. But Stoudemire didn't want to have to think about not getting the offer he wanted from the Suns. Who could blame him? Stoudemire is a guy that's battled some serious injuries including a major knee issue and two eyes pokes that resulted in a large number of games missed.

So on one hand, the Suns had reason for concern. And on the other, Stoudemire had a fully guaranteed deal from New York and as a guy that's had some bad luck with injuries, it was obviously smarter to go the Knick route. At least in terms of guaranteed money, that is.

Now whether or not Stoudemire actually deserved that max deal in the first place is a whole other story.

Posted by Royce Young

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports Brad Miller has signed a three-year contract with the Houston Rockets worth around $15 million. Stein said the third year is partially guaranteed.

Miller, 34, reportedly had a bunch of interest from other teams. Atlanta, Boston, Miami and Cleveland all pushed pretty hard for Miller, but in the end teaming again with coach Rick Adelman and guard Kevin Martin probably was the kicker. While in Sacramento playing under Adelman, Miller made two All-Star teams.

Houston made a fairly public push for Chris Bosh, but obviously failed in that attempt. Just a few days ago, the Rockets re-signed power forward Luis Scola to a long-term deal. Now with Miller inside and recovering Yao Ming, the Rockets have a fairly formidable front line.

And the Rockets clearly aren't afraid to spend a little. The aforementioned signing of Scola, then matching on Kyle Lowry and now a near mid-level deal to Miller. Daryl Morey is obviously not taking this offseason lightly and intends for the Rockets to return to postseason play in 2010-11.

Last season Miller averaged 8.8 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game last season as a member of the Chicago Bulls.