Friday, June 22

Northwest Report

Time for this week’s Northwest Report, brought to you by the good folks at Nussbaum Nursery (see their special this week on Molly Ann rhododendrons).

UTAH:
Utah Jazz Blog is looking for draft candidates, and Arran Afflalo is at the top of the list (remember when we used to make selections at the end of the first round? Ah, those were the days ...) ... Harpring Sucks scoffs at nbadraft.net’s comparison of Yi Jianlian to Pau Gasol. After all, “Yi could never grow a lumberjack beard like Pau's.” ... Rachel Hamblin at All Jazzed Up gives Andrei Kirilenko some rather poor marks on his employee evaluation.

MINNESOTA:
The Timberwolves Den is so exasperated with Mark Blount, they’re willing to give him away for a bag of Funyons ... I Heart KG tries to keep up with the seemingly neverending Kevin Garnett rumors. Just curious: Would they have to change the name of the blog to I Heart TREC (Theo Ratliff’s Expiring Contract) if the deal is consummated? ... Before the Celtic rumors got out of hand, Twolves Blog pondered a possible Minny-Phoenix deal involving Mr. Garnett ...


DENVER:
As crazy as things get in the offseason, it’s worth noting that the passenger in JR Smith’s car that wound up dying in the car accident (Andre Bell), wasn’t just some guy, he was Smith’s best friend. And now, Smith will possibly spend a decade in jail contemplating how he 1) was responsible for killing his best friend and 2) destroyed his chance at becoming a multi-multi millionaire, all in one New Jersey evening ... Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports George Karl won’t say no to acquiring a first-round pick (Denver is sans picks this year), and Kareem Rush may wind up playing for a NW Division team after all, just not the Sonics.

PORTLAND:
Blazers Blog worries that Portland is starting to think an injury-free Kevin Durant trumps a bad-back Greg Oden, while Casey Holdahl relays a quote from Kevin Pritchard that that is definitely not the case ... Blazers Edge poses a hypothetical question: If you knew whether Durant or Oden was the better pick because you knew the future, would you want that power, in that it would destroy the surprise of watching the next 10 years’ worth of games? Is it me, or do these Portland people just get a little bit too much into their team? ... Blazers Evangelist acknowledges the obvious, “Let’s face it. Life as we know it in Portland is over.” (And he means that in a good way).

And just two quick bits of Sonic news:

1. According to a Sacramento newspaper, Scott Brooks interviewed for the Sonics’ head coach opening on June 15 with Sam Presti
2. According to draftexpress.com, Ramon Sessions, a 6’4” point guard out of Nevada, has received assurances that he won’t last past the Sonics’ second pick of the second round (#35 overall). Interesting that the Supes would make that commitment (if the rumor is true), in that it indicates they aren’t trading the pick, either alone or in combination with their other second round pick.

4 comments:

  1. I really don't understand why you guys don't have a coach yet, at least from a talent standpoint. Maybe it's incompetent ownership, but I'd think that coaches would rather be in Seattle with Oden/Durant, Ray Allen, and possibly Rashard Lewis than in Memphis with Pau Gasol and Mike Miller's headband or in Sacramento with Brad Miller and Mike Bibby. What gives?

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  2. You can send your questions to Lenny Wilkens, c/o Seattle SuperSoncis Branch Office, East Jesus, Washington.

    Seriously, it's all in Lenny's lap. From what I understand, Bennett had thought Wilkens was working hard at finding a GM, when in fact Lenny wasn't doing much of anything, other than finding a job for his son and interviewing People Who Know Lenny from When Lenny was Lenny. That's a harsh judgement, but the fact is that Bennett pretty much kicked Lenny to the curb to jump-start the GM-hiring process. Because that part was so delayed, it's delayed everything else. I'd be shocked if they don't have a coach by Tuesday of next week.

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  3. ben, I have been thinking the same thing. I wanted Iavaroni as a coach since he'd be a refreshing new type of coach but still have the pedigree working under Pat Riley and Mike D'antoni. Then he picked the Grizz.

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  4. Ugh. Sounds like you guys have been totally mismanaged. I hope it all works out. I've always liked the Sonics -- Gary Payton was my favorite player WAY back in the day, and their uniforms are among the best in the NBA.
    Well, not the yellow ones. But still.

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