VP of player union tweets that a nba season could begin. source http://www.slcdunk.com/2011/9/7/2411440/roger-mason-jr-and-the-case-of-40404-not-found

Ronald Tilleryof theMemphis Commercial-Appeal reportsthat the Memphis Grizzlies are holding a player-run minicamp of sorts this week and that Portland Trail Blazers guard Elliot WIlliams is participating. -------------------------------- [Mike] Conley, Rudy Gay, Tony Allen, O.J. Mayo, Zach Randolph, Xavier Henry and Sam Young reunited at a local gym early Tuesday. Ish Smith and second-round draft pick Josh Selby were expected to join the group Wednesday. ... Local products Jeremy Hunt, Lester Hudson and Portland Trail Blazer Elliot Williams are also participating in the sessions. -------------------------------- Williams is a native of Memphis and transferred back to play for the University of Memphis after spending one year at Duke. Williams missed the entire 2010-2011 NBA season following knee surgeries.Via HoopsHype-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Patty bruised his way to 20 points in a scrappy game in the fiery Oceania Championship. If you've watched enough Flight of the Conchords you know exactly how intense this rivalry between nations can be. This series is being undersold and overshadowed by Eurobasket 2011, but those of us in the know...we're clued in. Despite the general universal ambivalence these two squads continue to fight quite literally for that spot in the Olympics. If Patty and the Boomers want to make it to London they'll bring this same intensity on Friday.

John CanzanoofThe Oregonian tweets... -------------------------- Spotted at Taylor Swift concert... Blazers interim GM Chad Buchanan. -------------------------- One of Swift's most popular songs,You Belong With Me, includes the following lyrics... -------------------------- "Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find / that what you were looking for, has been here the whole time / If you can see that I'm the one who understands you / Been here all along, so why can't you see -- ee -- ee / that you belong with me -- ee -- ee" -------------------------- Sources close to the situation tell Blazersedge that Buchanan may or may not have stood up from his seat at the Rose Garden and requested that song during the show, dedicating it to "Seattle Paul." Buchanan isn't the only member of the Portland Trail Blazers family to dabble in musical appreciation during the lockout. Guard Brandon Roy ishomies with Lil Wayne. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

"The NBA world has been consumed with finding the next MJ ever since he retired, and the MVP award has gone to a perimeter player in each of the last four years -- Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Derrick Rose. But the real story has been in the paint, as the last four titles have been won by teams with super-sized front-lines featuring two near seven-footers. Knowing that the road to a championship went through L.A., the Dallas Mavericks furiously upgraded their front-line in the last two years: adding Brendan Haywood (7'0 with a 7'6 wingspan) and Tyson Chandler (7'1 with a 7'2 wingspan) at center. While many believe the Mavericks blueprint is too unique to replicate, Dallas was following in the footsteps of L.A. and Boston before them: their success revolved around playing two seven-footers nearly the entire game. So while perimeter players dominate the off-season hype and post-season accolades, the road to a championship still goes through the paint." Via SBNation

Rob DausterofBallinIsAHabit.com catches upwith Portland Trail Blazers and former Duke Blue Devil guard Nolan Smith to get his thoughts on social media and its importance in connecting with fans and portraying the right image. --------------------------- "Coach K trusted us to carry ourselves the right way," Smith said. "And if I was a college coach, that would be the first thing [I'd talk to my team about]. On the first day of team meetings, its something that you have to address. If you have facebook and twitter, be smart. Don't let people take pictures of you out at a party and put them on facebook. The same thing with twitter, don't go saying dumb stuff at three or four in the morning. They warned us about little stuff like that, and that one warning on the first day was all we needed." "For college players, if they're on twitter and they're handling themselves the right way, they make [their school] look good. They make some fans say 'Duke has some really cool players, they connect with their fans.'" "Be smart. It shows the character and the class that you have, and if you don't have that, don't get on it. Twitter's not for you." --------------------------- The NBA should let Smith give a speech at the annual rookie symposium. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Chris SheridanofSheridanHoops.com(以前的ESPN.com和美联社(Associated Press)reportsNBA正考虑一些重大改变its annual draft. -------------------------------- SheridanHoops.com has learned that NBA owners have proposed adding a third round to the annual draft, a proposal that the players’ union has countered by offering an array of changes to the draft that would help address the owners’ desire for more competitive balance. According to sources involved in the league’s collective bargaining discussions, the union has proposed various changes to the draft. Under one proposal, the 15 teams with the worst records would continue to pick 1st through 15th, but then would also have the 16th through 30th picks. The teams with the top 15 records would have the first 15 picks of the second round, then would have the 44th through 60th picks, too. Under this proposal, the Chicago Bulls (whose 62-20 record was the league’s best last season) would have the 45th and 60th picks instead of the 30th and 60th picks. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who had the NBA’s worst record (17-65), would have their lottery pick and the 16th pick, but would no longer have the first pick of the second round — No. 31 overall. -------------------------------- The Portland Trail Blazers would be among the teams most adversely affected in the short term by the implementation of this reported re-shuffled system. Rather than picking No. 21 and No. 51 in the 2011 NBA Draft, for example, they would have selected No. 36 and No. 51. Teams that sneak into the playoffs would get it the worst; teams that just miss the playoffs would get it the best. There would definitely be the possibility for some serious tanking if this setup was adopted. Let's say, hypothetically, the Blazers were jockeying with the Golden State Warriors for the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds next season. If the Blazers finished with a better record, their reward is a first round date with the Los Angeles Lakers and the No. 31 and 46 picks. If they finished with a worse record, they would receive the No. 14 (potentially with a lottery opportunity to move up?) and the No. 29 picks. That's a significant difference in access to talent. As for a third round of the draft, there aren't 90 NBA-ready prospects each year. If an extra round gets added, it's to bolster the D-League's talent pool or to make it less burdensome for teams to acquire the rights to international players. So many teams already don'treallycare about the second round of the draft that it's difficult -- at least at first glance -- to envision a third round. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

With Labor Day now come and gone, it feels like I spent half my summer writing up news items on NBA players --current and former -- getting in trouble with the law in serious and non-serious ways. Icompiled a listt以来发生的各种各样的轻率之举he NBA lockout went into effect on July 1 and found that former members of the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers kept popping up. Former Blazers on the list: Derek Anderson Darius Miles and Zach Randolph. Current or former Lakers listed: Andrew Bynum, Shaquille O'Neal, Matt Barnes, Samaki Walker, Jay Vincent and Javaris Crittenton. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter