what's this about the magic giving up on duncan? maybe we can trade allan houston and mcdyess for duncan later on?

any summer league inside info?

here it is...

The Boys of Summer
by Chad Ford


The NBA's annual rite of passage, the summer leagues, got underway Sunday night in fitting fashion.

Jerry West's too-young-for-prime time Grizzlies duked it out against Jerry West's showtime Lakers. The result wasn't very surprising. Even without Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers stomped the Grizzlies 90-74.

After the game, West lamented about the state of his lowly Grizzlies -- even their summer league team. Despite all of the promising young players on this squad, it still takes a beating.

"I'm behind. No question I'm behind," he told the L.A. Daily News. "I didn't have the chance to focus on the [draft], and we could have done a better job bringing in summer players. We need to be able to put a representative team out there, and right now we just aren't good enough to compete ... the secret to winning is talent, and we don't have enough."

West then promised fans that the days of 20-win seasons are behind them.

"We can't put a team out there that wins 23 games," he said. "It's not acceptable to me and nor should it be for the fans. But we need to have better players if we're going to compete at a high level."

If the NBA draft is soley about potential, then the summer leagues are the first attempt at mining a little of it for the regular season. But what it often produces is fools gold -- false hope that leads to unrealistic expectations for the regular season.

Kwame Brown the savior of the Wizards? It sure looked that way at times last summer. Zach Randolph the second coming of Elton Brand? He put up better numbers than Brand did his rookie year or just about anyone else for that matter. Charlie Bell the undrafted gem of 2001? Despite averaging over 19 ppg in the summer, he got in only five games for the Suns.

While you can clearly get some idea whether a guy can play, you can't get a great feel for what he'll do against top competition. Just take a look at Insider's first and second teams from last year's summer league:

First Team

F Zach Randolph, Blazers
Summer 2001: 26.2 ppg and 9.0 rpg
2001-02 Season: 2.8 ppg and 1.7 rpg
F Darius Miles, Clippers
Summer 2001: 26.8 ppg. and 7.4 rpg.
2001-02 Season: 9.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg
G Michael Redd, Bucks
Summer 2001: 19.7 ppg
2001-02 Season: 11.4 ppg
G Raja Bell, 76ers
Summer 2001: 21.7 ppg on 61% shooting
2001-02 Season: 3.4 ppg on 43% shooting
G Jeff McInnis, Clippers
Summer 2001: 24 ppg
2001-02 Season: 14.6 ppg, 6.4 apg

Second Team:

F Kwame Brown, Wizards
Summer 2001: 15.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg
2001-02 Season: 4.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg
F Jumaine Jones, Cavs
Summer 2001: 19.7 ppg and 7.5 rpg
2001-02 Season: 8.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg
G Dion Glover, Hawks
Summer 2001: 18.8 ppg
2001-02 Season: 8.9 ppg
G Charlie Bell, Suns
Summer 2001: 19.2 ppg and 5.2 apg
2001-02 Season: 1.6 ppg on 0.4 apg
G Tony Parker, Spurs
Summer 2001: 19.5 ppg and 9.0 apg
2001-02 Season: 9.2 ppg on 4.3 apg

Of the top 10 summer players of 2001, only Miles, Redd, McInnis and Parker turned into something special. Rajam Bell, Brown, Jones and Glover all struggled to find their groove last season. Randolph and Charlie Bell never found their way off the bench.

So before you get too excited over Drew Gooden's 14 points Sunday night or too down on Kareem Rush's lackluster nine-point outing, remember, it's all relative.

What's important for teams is to get young draft picks familiar with the offense and plays they run and to get a good look at a few undrafted free agents who may be able to fill a hole on the roster. Everything else is gravy.

This year there are four NBA summer leagues.

The first started in Los Angeles Sunday -- the Summer Pro League. The Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Lakers, Mavericks, Rockets, Suns and Warriors will participate, as will several other current and former NBA players for "agent" teams.

Among the top players expected to be in Los Angeles: Baron Davis and Jamaal Magloire (Hornets), Jeff McInnis and Quentin Richardson (Clippers); Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and ZhiZhi Wang (Warriors); Drew Gooden (Grizzlies), Caron Butler (Heat), Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire (Suns); and Eddie Griffin and Bostjan Nachbar (Rockets).

One other summer league starts this week -- the Magic's Pro Summer League. The league runs from July 9-13 and features summer league teams from Orlando, Detroit, Indiana, Miami, Milwaukee and New Orleans.

Among the top players expected to be in Orlando: Ryan Humphrey and Stephen Hunter (Magic); Rodney White, Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur (Pistons); Fred Jones, Charlie Bell and Lubos Barton (Pacers); Caron Butler and Will Avery (Heat); Marcus Haislip, Dan Gadzuric and Jamal Sampson (Bucks); and Kirk Haston and Jerome Moiso (Hornets).

Two other summer leagues will get underway next week.

The Shaw Summer League will be held in Boston from July 15-21. Atlanta, Boston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Washington will field teams.

Among the top players expected to be in Boston: Dan Dickau (Hawks); Kedrick Brown and Omar Cook (Celtics); Marcus Haislip, Dan Gadzuric and Jamal Sampson (Bucks); Loren Woods and Marcus Taylor (T-Wolves); Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins (Nets); Frank Williams (Knicks), Ryan Humphrey and Stephen Hunter (Magic); John Salmons and Randy Holcomb (Sixers); and Kwame Brown, Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon (Washington).

Finally, the Rocky Mountain Revue is held in Salt Lake City from July 19-27. Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Memphis, Phoenix, Portland, Toronto and Utah will all field teams this year.

Among the top players expected to be in Salt Lake City: Jay Williams, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry (Bulls); Dajuan Wagner and DeSagana Diop (Cavs); Nikoloz Tskitishivili and Nene Hilario (Nuggets); Drew Gooden (Grizzlies), Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire (Suns); Qyntel Woods and Zach Randolph (Blazers); Michael Bradley and Michael Stewart (Raptors); and Curtis Borchardt (Jazz).

Check back through the next three weeks for Insider's daily coverage of who's hot and who's not in the NBA summer leagues.

props to bbm for the insider

Insider...The Bungling!

Miller time: Have the Cavs crossed the line with Andre?

More damaging details continue to surface about the botched trade that almost sent Andre Miller to the Clippers for Lamar Odom and the No. 8 pick on draft night.

Sports Illustrated writer Ian Thomsen was in the Cavs' war room on draft night and gives the best insight yet into what went wrong.

According to Thomsen, it was Clippers owner Donald Sterling, not the Cavs, who screwed things up. Apparently, Cavs owner Gordan Gund got a verbal agreement for Sterling to do the trade and asked the Clippers to select Caron Butler with the No. 8 pick, but Sterling waited too long to phone it into the war room. Instead, the Clipps took Chris Wilcox and the deal fell apart.

However, the most interesting revelation from the night was a heated debate between Cavs GM Jim Paxson and assistant coach Ron Ekker on trading Miller.

"I'm a little concerned about this talk of trading Andre," Ekker told Paxson. "That can't be a basketball decision."

"We're not going to trade Andre because he wants the max," Paxson responded. "We know Andre. We aren't winning with him. Nobody's coming to our building to see Andre Miller play. I'm not putting Andre down. It's just a fact. You say it's not a basketball decision, but in the future it is. We're only going to trade him if we can get two young players and Wagner and build for the long term."

"That's if we are part of the future," Ekker retorted. "You may put us in a position where we are not part of the future."

"Gordon Gund doesn't want to win 35 games," Paxson said. "He's willing to go this route. You have to trust that."

Unfortunately that route hit the all-too-familiar Clipper dead end. Two weeks after the draft, the Cavs remain stuck between a rock and a hard place. Paxson's comments about Miller will be hitting newsstands this week, likely widening the rift that already exists between them. Now that teams smell blood, Miller's price may plummet. Odom is now on record as saying he'd hate to play in Cleveland and the Cavs have only Dajuan Wagner to add to a disappointing team.

So who will take Miller? The Cavs and Clippers are still talking, but seem to be at an impasse. The Cavs still want Darius Miles but that doesn't look like it's happening. There's some interest in Wilcox, but it isn't the same level as Butler.

Other teams still in the market for Miller include the Pacers, who have offered Jamaal Tinsley and either Jonathan Bender or Al Harrington; the Warriors, who would be willing to part with next year's No. 1 (read another shot at LeBron James) and just about anyone on their roster other than Jason Richardson for Miller; the Bucks, who would give up Sam Cassell and either Glen Robinson or Tim Thomas for Miller; the Magic, who would give up Mike Miller and future No. 1's; the T-Wolves, who still are dangling Wally Szczerbiak and anyone else on their roster; and the Knicks, who are trying to sell the Cavs on the virtues of Latrell Sprewell.

No one, and I mean no one, is going to take Allen Houston. The Knicks are stuck with him unless:
1-He renegotiates
2-NBA salaries increase to the point where his does not look so obscene (A.K.A. Larry Johnson)
3-He has a breakout season (25 PPG)