tlongII
07-13-2010, 09:59 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/nate_mcmillan_says_guard_wesle.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/matthewsjazzjpeg-1f70deeae446337a.jpeg
Utah guard Wesley Matthews (23) scores over Denver forward Kenyon Martin (4) during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoff series on April 30.
LAS VEGAS -- During his weakest moments, Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan allows himself to imagine the possibilities.
Wesley Matthews is a defensive-minded, sharp-shooting 6-foot-5 perimeter player who's had to fight his way into the league. He's a talent who would upgrade the Blazers in a variety of ways, including one of McMillan's most prized characteristics -- adding what he calls "scrappiness."
"He's a talented player," McMillan said. "I don't deal with the offers. I deal with the talent. And I think he's a good talent."
But McMillan's weak moments are fleeting, and he refuses to let himself get carried away. After all, Matthews is a restricted free agent. And even though the Blazers have signed him to a five-year, $34 million offer sheet, the Utah Jazz has a week to match the offer.
As was the case with Paul Millsap last year, the Blazers very well could lose one of their main offseason targets.
"We'll see what happens in seven days, whether or not he'll be in a Blazer uniform," McMillan said at the Las Vegas Summer League. "I'm surprised I'm sitting here talking about it because he's not mine."
McMillan, who met with Matthews when he visited Portland, seems most enamored with the defensive potential Matthews possesses. After watching postseason video of the shooting guard, McMillan left impressed with Matthews' efforts in guarding Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony -- and with the fact that Utah coach Jerry Sloan trusted Matthews enough to give him those assignments.
McMillan said Matthews would fit nicely into the Blazers rotation at both shooting guard and small forward.
"He'll be a wing defender," McMillan said. "A guy who can play the two and the three. I looked at some tape of him in the playoffs. He had the assignment of guarding Carmelo and Kobe. You don't stop those guys, but I think that says a lot about him when Coach Sloan feels ... that he's strong enough to take that challenge."
McMillan also likes the fact Matthews has not traversed a traditional path to the NBA. He went undrafted out of Marquette but blossomed into a contributor as a rookie, averaging 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in the regular season, and 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in the playoffs. When McMillan sat with Matthews in Portland before the Blazers signed him, the coach was impressed by the fact that Matthews told him he had a lot of room to improve as a player.
Will that improvement come with the Blazers, who signed Matthews to a deal that reportedly features a hefty front-loaded bonus/salary of $9.2 million next year? McMillan will have to wait until next Monday to find out.
Matthews signed the offer sheet Saturday. The Blazers sent the paperwork that night, but Utah didn't receive the documents until Monday, meaning it has until July 19 to make a decision. Blazers President Larry Miller said the Blazers have been given no indication whether Utah will match or pass on the offer.
Search for assistants continues: As hesitant as McMillan was to discuss Matthews, he was even more reluctant to talk about his ongoing search for new assistant coaches.
The Blazers did not retain assistants Joe Prunty and Dean Demopoulos, and Maurice Lucas will not return because of health reasons. So McMillan has been hunting for replacements for weeks. He has been coy about the search throughout the process, and that continued in Las Vegas.
"The staff will be in place, we've got that taken care of," McMillan said, when asked how the search was going. "I haven't finalized it. But that staff will be in place. Don't worry about it."
Pressed for specifics, McMillan refused to divulge details.
"The staff will be in place," he said, repeatedly.
Miller takes GM search to Vegas: Miller said he plans to interview two candidates this week in Las Vegas for the team's vacant general manager position, after which he will make a recommendation for which of four candidates will interview with owner Paul Allen.
Radio station KXTG (95.5) reported Monday that Oklahoma City assistant general manager Rich Cho will be one of the candidates to interview with Miller in Las Vegas, but the Blazers president said he would neither confirm nor deny that report.
The search is entering its third week, and Miller said he has had several phone conversations with candidates and their agents, but the only face-to-face interviews have been with former Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry and former Miami general manager Randy Pfund.
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/matthewsjazzjpeg-1f70deeae446337a.jpeg
Utah guard Wesley Matthews (23) scores over Denver forward Kenyon Martin (4) during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoff series on April 30.
LAS VEGAS -- During his weakest moments, Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan allows himself to imagine the possibilities.
Wesley Matthews is a defensive-minded, sharp-shooting 6-foot-5 perimeter player who's had to fight his way into the league. He's a talent who would upgrade the Blazers in a variety of ways, including one of McMillan's most prized characteristics -- adding what he calls "scrappiness."
"He's a talented player," McMillan said. "I don't deal with the offers. I deal with the talent. And I think he's a good talent."
But McMillan's weak moments are fleeting, and he refuses to let himself get carried away. After all, Matthews is a restricted free agent. And even though the Blazers have signed him to a five-year, $34 million offer sheet, the Utah Jazz has a week to match the offer.
As was the case with Paul Millsap last year, the Blazers very well could lose one of their main offseason targets.
"We'll see what happens in seven days, whether or not he'll be in a Blazer uniform," McMillan said at the Las Vegas Summer League. "I'm surprised I'm sitting here talking about it because he's not mine."
McMillan, who met with Matthews when he visited Portland, seems most enamored with the defensive potential Matthews possesses. After watching postseason video of the shooting guard, McMillan left impressed with Matthews' efforts in guarding Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony -- and with the fact that Utah coach Jerry Sloan trusted Matthews enough to give him those assignments.
McMillan said Matthews would fit nicely into the Blazers rotation at both shooting guard and small forward.
"He'll be a wing defender," McMillan said. "A guy who can play the two and the three. I looked at some tape of him in the playoffs. He had the assignment of guarding Carmelo and Kobe. You don't stop those guys, but I think that says a lot about him when Coach Sloan feels ... that he's strong enough to take that challenge."
McMillan also likes the fact Matthews has not traversed a traditional path to the NBA. He went undrafted out of Marquette but blossomed into a contributor as a rookie, averaging 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in the regular season, and 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in the playoffs. When McMillan sat with Matthews in Portland before the Blazers signed him, the coach was impressed by the fact that Matthews told him he had a lot of room to improve as a player.
Will that improvement come with the Blazers, who signed Matthews to a deal that reportedly features a hefty front-loaded bonus/salary of $9.2 million next year? McMillan will have to wait until next Monday to find out.
Matthews signed the offer sheet Saturday. The Blazers sent the paperwork that night, but Utah didn't receive the documents until Monday, meaning it has until July 19 to make a decision. Blazers President Larry Miller said the Blazers have been given no indication whether Utah will match or pass on the offer.
Search for assistants continues: As hesitant as McMillan was to discuss Matthews, he was even more reluctant to talk about his ongoing search for new assistant coaches.
The Blazers did not retain assistants Joe Prunty and Dean Demopoulos, and Maurice Lucas will not return because of health reasons. So McMillan has been hunting for replacements for weeks. He has been coy about the search throughout the process, and that continued in Las Vegas.
"The staff will be in place, we've got that taken care of," McMillan said, when asked how the search was going. "I haven't finalized it. But that staff will be in place. Don't worry about it."
Pressed for specifics, McMillan refused to divulge details.
"The staff will be in place," he said, repeatedly.
Miller takes GM search to Vegas: Miller said he plans to interview two candidates this week in Las Vegas for the team's vacant general manager position, after which he will make a recommendation for which of four candidates will interview with owner Paul Allen.
Radio station KXTG (95.5) reported Monday that Oklahoma City assistant general manager Rich Cho will be one of the candidates to interview with Miller in Las Vegas, but the Blazers president said he would neither confirm nor deny that report.
The search is entering its third week, and Miller said he has had several phone conversations with candidates and their agents, but the only face-to-face interviews have been with former Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry and former Miami general manager Randy Pfund.