Tim MacMahonofESPNDallas.com reportsthat the Dallas Mavericks have signed coach Rick Carlisle to a new contract.Brad TownsendofDallasNews.com reportsthat the contract will run four years. Carlisle, a former Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach, had beenlinked briefly (and loosely)to Portland's open coaching job in rumors in recent months. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Chris HaynesofCSNNW.com reports波特兰开拓者的代理Nicolas Batum will not delay restricted free agency negotiations to aid the Portland Trail Blazers, who hope to spend their cap space prior to re-signing him. --------------------- "The first good offer we get, we're going with that," Bouna Ndiaye of Comsport Management told CSNNW.com. "We're not waiting for anything." Trail Blazers' acting general manager, Chad Buchanan, wouldn't disclose if he has asked Batum's agent to hold off on signing an offer sheet promptly from another team in order to give them time to improve their roster via free agency. ---------------------ed: text edited, bumped to front page

Javier MaestroofEncestando.es reportsthat the GM of ACB club Valencia believes forward Victor Claver will be with the team again next season rather than make the jump to the Portland Trail Blazers. ------------------------------------- Valencia's general manager makes himself clear when talking about Victor Claver potentially going to the Blazers: "Claver will continue to play with us next year." ------------------------------------- Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanansaid recentlythat he hoped Claver -- a 2009 first round Draft pick -- would join the Blazers for the 2012-2013 season.Hat tip: HoopsHype forthe translation ed: text edited, bumped to front page

Just wanted to post this link, because it's one of those rare articles that gives you a feeling for what's going on in a game beyond "so-and-so" went off for 25 points.

Howard Beckof theNew York Times reportsthat the National Basketball Players Association is seeking clarification from an arbitrator on a contract stipulation that could impact the Portland Trail Blazers and free agent forward J.J. Hickson. ----------------------------- The case concerns what are known as "Bird rights," which allow a player to re-sign with his team, without regard to the salary cap. The league contends those rights are lost when a player changes teams through waivers. The union is challenging that interpretation. ... The case could also affect J.J. Hickson of the Portland Trail Blazers and Chauncey Billups of the Los Angeles Clippers. At issue is whether a player retains his Bird rights when he is claimed off waivers, as Lin, Novak, Hickson and Billups were this season. The union contends that a claimed player on waivers should retain all contractual benefits, just as a player does when he is traded. The league disagrees, based on a clause in the labor agreement that indicates Bird rights are lost when a player is waived, even if another team claims him. ----------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

本Golliver在某人帮助我们国家工作室New York with some recap and analysis of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semis between the Heat and Pacers. Rumor has it he'll be our point of contact for the Lakers-Thunder series as well. Thanks Ben! Also, BE denizens, am I correct to assume you all are pulling for the Thunder in that series?

Tom ZillerofSBNation.com writesthat former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan is the No. 3 head coach on the free agent market. ------------------------------- McMillan was pushed out in the Great Portland Shake-Up Of 2012 as the team struggling to survive, y'know, the most awful string of career-killing injuries in history. Everyone acknowledges that he's a talented coach, despite the molasses-slow pace his teams employ and the fact that he hasn't had a whole lot of playoff success. (The 2005 Sonics are the best response to that complaint. Seattle smoked a good Sacramento team in five in the first round and gave the eventual champs, San Antonio, more than they wanted in a six-game second-round series.) The question is whether there's a proper fit in both directions. You can't see Mac packing up for a team as green as Washington or Charlotte, can you? He's got to want some squad ready to win, like the Knicks or (A+ fit alert) Clippers. Conditions: The Blazers are unfortunately ruled out. ------------------------------- Former Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson and former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan top McMillan. Ziller also writes that Brian Shaw and Flip Saunders could be options for the Blazers. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allenrespondedto aJohn Canzanocolumnthat floated Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson as a possible buyer of the Blazers anda lengthy reaction piecebyDwight Jaynesthat, among other things, encouraged Allen to sell the team. ------------------------ Dwight & Canzano get played by unnamed sources & show true colors lobbying for a sale of the Portland Trail Blazers. The team is not for sale period! ------------------------ The war of words continues. Allen wentback-and-forth with Canzanorecently with regard to anonymous sources, using pictures of sea creatures to make his point. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Onthis week's episodeofThe Overdose,The Basketball Jonescrew ofJ.E. Skeets,Tas MelasandTrey Kerbyreacted to the news that Portland Trail Blazers guard Jamal Crawfordreceived three third place votesfor 2012 Sixth Man of the Year. ----------------------------- J.E. Skeets: "How the hell did Jamal Crawford get three third place votes?" Tas Melas: "The Portland fans wanted to kill Jamal Crawford all year." J.E. Skeets: "I know! Didn't he have one of his worst seasons ever?" Trey Kerby: "Yeah." J.E. Skeets: "That just shows you some of the guys filling these out either don't give a **** or are that clueless. I hope it's the first one." Tas Melas: "You would think it would end because all of these are scrutinized after it happens. But with every single award there are one or two that are really dumb votes. You would think it would end because they are all scrutinized enough that they would give enough of a crap not to vote for Jamal Crawford." ----------------------------- The crew also briefly discussed the最近奥登面试．-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Dwight JaynesofCSNNW.comhasposted an extended reactionto thefloating of Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulsonas a possible buyer of the Portland Trail Blazers. The piece includes some thoughts from Blazers COO Sarah Mensah, who offers some explanations for why there are so many rumors about the team being up for sale. ------------------------------- "We hired (Goldman Sachs) to do a (financial) evaluation of our team a year ago," she said. "There was an entire audit on the Trail Blazers and the Rose Garden. Paul does that with all his companies constantly. Whether that was done for the Seahawks, I'm not sure. "But this could just be an old story related to that. It wasn't done because he was looking to sell. But these rumors could be associated with that. We are not looking to sell. I really don't think there would be any reason for Paul to deny it, if he was going to sell." ... "Now more than ever, small-market teams are within the grasp of (more potential buyers)," she said. "The new CBA has made it possible for people, with good management and good decisions, to make money with their teams. You don't have to be a billionaire anymore. Franchises like Portland have become more coveted." ------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter