First Cup: Monday

Matt Baker of The Indianapolis Star: "Basketball legend Oscar Robertson said he thinks the NBA hasn't done enough to repair its negative image and is breaking the law by keeping high school players from jumping to the pros. ... 'I think that's illegal, to be honest,' Robertson said. 'If you can go to the army and fight in Iraq at 18, why can't you play basketball? This is something concocted probably by the NBA and the NCAA. It seems like it benefits both. It benefits colleges more than anybody. If you can go fight in a war, why can't you go play basketball? Tennis players do it. Baseball players do it. So why not basketball?'" Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: "One Eastern Conference executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he would not offer Arenas a maximum contract. 'Why would you max him out?' the executive said. 'I think one of the biggest reasons you see teams go to the second round of the playoffs, then fall out of the playoffs, is because they max out players that are not max players. The reason you see some teams sustain themselves, at least in the conference finals or the Finals mix, is because they've maxed out the right players. I can't max him out. I don't want to be one of those teams that's one and out, two and out.' However, an executive who runs a Western Conference team, expressed a different opinion. 'I'm not saying you give Gilbert Arenas max money just to do it, but I do look at it this way: If there is a team that he's a max-type player for, it's the Wizards, as long as he comes back from the knee problems."Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "At 11:01 p.m. Monday [central time], the NBA's free-agent period will open, and the Mavericks will start courting players who no longer have a job. As with every free-agent season, the first order of business is their own. The Mavericks expect to hear today that Eddie Jones is going to exercise his option and be a member of the 2008-09 team. The other choices would be to become a free agent or retire. But at $1.9 million, Jones is a relatively cheap insurance policy and a good outside shooter. He could also be a chip in future trade scenarios." Scott Cacciola of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Darrell Arthur won't be endorsing Claritin anytime soon. He blamed the anti-allergy medication for bloodwork that indicated kidney problems. Arthur said he took the drug at the Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando earlier this month, then the rumors spread. He sought to clear up any misinformation by undergoing additional medical tests in Washington the day before the draft. 'Everything came out fine,' said Arthur, who never missed a game in two seasons at Kansas. "I thought everything would be fine. I thought the teams would have been notified about it, but I didn't know what was going on.'" Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "Even if Dumars had gotten the player he wanted at No. 29 -- be it Jason Thompson, J.J. Hickson or Ryan Anderson -- it would have been a guy who added depth to the front court. So why not roll the dice on a player like Sharpe? By all accounts, this guy has elite-level skill. He's 6-foot-9 with a Tayshaun Prince-like wingspan. He can handle the ball like a guard. He can break defenses down off the dribble and he can shoot from the perimeter. The guy could be the type of dynamic offensive player the Pistons are looking for. He could also be a highly-skilled bust, another Rodney White. The difference, of course, is that Dumars missed on White with the No. 9 overall pick. The risk-reward ratio is completely different with the 29th or 32nd pick." Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post "The last coach that Melo has in the NBA will definitely not be [George] Karl. But, unless the Nuggets reach their potential, Anthony could well be the last NBA star Karl ever coaches."Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Can we all please back off a bit on the Carlos Boozer opt-out hysteria. There's just so much that could happen over the next year before he has to make a decision. It's hard, for example, to believe Boozer would want to enter free agency if he spent the upcoming season battling an injury. That's a 50/50 proposition given his first four years in Utah. It's also hard to imagine Boozer wouldn't re-sign with the Jazz if they won a championship. Everybody expects the Miami Heat to recover this season, but also remember that they went 15-67 last season. Even if they double their victory total, that would still mean finishing 30-52. That would be a tough sell for anyone, Boozer or otherwise." Scott Howard-Cooper of the Sacramento Bee: "From Sacramento and Miami and every surreal place in between comes the reality that the Kings and representatives of Jason Williams, if not Williams himself, will probably be talking within a few days to explore the possibility of his return to the Kings as a free agent. The Kings are prohibited from contact with free agents and any public comments until the market opens tonight at 9 Pacific time. Aware that Williams is an exposed nerve of a topic around Sacramento, and that it could send the wrong message to Beno Udrih, the Kings are hesitant to discuss the scenario even off-the-record. But it has a chance of happening. Not a great chance, for a few reasons that have nothing to do with the past, but an actual chance. It's real."Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News: "There's one more day to wait. One more day before the 76ers -- and every other team -- can officially begin pursuit of free agents. ... But there are Sixers dollars to be spent, whether in free agency or in the trade market. The Sixers have a little more than $11 million under the salary cap. Only the Memphis Grizzlies have a comparable amount, and possibly even more, but they don't seem nearly as likely to spend it. For all the people who screamed blasphemous things when the Sixers traded Kyle Korver -- their best shooter -- to the Utah Jazz for the expiring contract of Gordan Giricek and a future first-round pick, that essentially is the deal that created their summertime leverage." Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times: "Count Shawn Kemp as the latest legend to jump in front of the idling moving van. He rubs the top of his head, which now includes tufts of gray hair, and sighs. Then he turns into a fan advocate. 'They can't complain about a new arena because they're not winning enough games, period,' Kemp says. 'They need to put up or shut up. When I got into the NBA, the thing of it was, if you won, you got a new arena. But if you lost, you had to work to get the arena. You can't be a losing team and get a new arena. That's not fair. That's not fair! That's how I see it.'"Mike Bresnahan and Greg Johnson of the Los Angeles Times: "Magic Johnson consistently has declined to release financial data for his privately held businesses or himself. But a business associate, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak by Johnson, estimated the value of the former NBA star's various holdings at $700 million. This associate estimated Johnson's personal net worth at nearly $500 million. Many star athletes lend their names to bars or car dealerships and say they're in business. Johnson wasn't content with that. Instead, he parlayed his fame into a groundbreaking role in urban development. ... For now, the business remains firmly in Johnson's grip. 'What I'm trying to do [is] leave a legacy for ... minority people,' Johnson said. "I've always considered myself more than just a basketball player.'"Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and other stars in town to begin the final phase of their journey toward what they hope will be a gold medal, U.S. national team coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted to set the mood. So he put on some Marvin Gaye. Krzyzewski made his collection of superstars watch Gaye's stirring R&B rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game before a two-hour practice Saturday at Thomas & Mack Center's Cox Pavilion. The video played in a loop on a big-screen television as players ran through their drills, serving as a reminder for a team seeking to hear its anthem from the top step of a medal stand at a major international competition for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 'Instead of having a fight song, or whatever, that's our song,' Krzyzewski said. 'I wanted them to envision the gold medal game. It's August 24 and they're out on the court. I get chills thinking about it right now.'" more...