Wheels is filling in for Mike Rice for awhile tonight, hosting along with Mike Barrett. If you want to call, the phone number is 503-963-4595, or 1-877-475-4595, or e-mail at Courtside@blazers.com. They are discussing Sacto taking on Bonzi Wells being a little risky although he only has one year at $8 Mil on his contract. They are giving up a lot for him, including a fan favorite in Bobby Jackson. Sergei Monya arrived in Portland today; has his VISA. Nash will be on shortly to discuss that, as well as his visit with Juan Dixon and Damien Wilkins. September games are going to be exciting to see; Monya and J. Jack play, long before training camp starts in October.

     Seattle is going to lose Jerome James. John Nash is on now: The CBA getting closer to being finalized, maybe by Monday or Tuesday. Question: What is "new" in this agreement? Ans: Not a significant difference. The length of contract goes to 6 years for your own team; 5 years for other teams. (Before it was 7 yrs. for own team and 6 for other teams). We'll be under the luxury tax and can take advantage of the rebate. Money will be a little tighter for teams due to luxury tax. Nothing really helps with Joel's situation; won't be able to offer him more than the MLE to Joel. The length goes from 15 days down to 7 days for restricted free agents, so teams won't have to wait 2 weeks for a decision when they go after a FA. Monya exhausted, flew in from Moscow today. Nash was going to take him to dinner tonight but will wait until tomorrow now. When Nash went over there for the Final 4, he felt that Monya has improved on trying to understand English; he's been working on it. Nash saying we could use some linguist in the NBA right now. Question: What about FA's? Ans: We had Antonio Daniels down for a visit. It was apparent he wanted to play here, but Nash wasn't comfortable with the length of contract he wanted. Now he's gone. Nash really impressed with Damien Wilkins in the playoffs last year. Has tremendous upside. Unfortunately, we have a lot of players in that position. Juan is a combo guard. He's from U of Maryland . They had a serious interest in (no way I can spell this European player's name, but he was the MVP in the Final 4) but he was interested in going to Indiana . Regarding SAR, we haven't gotten a big name player for him, but John is comfortable that we will obtain a 1st round draft pick in 2006 for him. Mike Rice has just joined them. He mentioned that Salim Stoudemire scored 39 points in the Utah Summer League and got to the foul line 19 times, and may just be the steal of the draft.

     Mike Rice was playing golf (with ex-Blazer Bobby Gross included in the group) and left 3 holes early to get to Courtside. Rice said that the #2 guard position is the hardest to fill. Cutino Mobley, Ray Allen, etc., all got good contracts for playing that #2. Too many times teams try to convert a #3 to play the #2. This brings Rice to discuss DA. Rice is saying we have "a new coach - a new sheriff in town", we should see what DA can do, because the #2 is very difficult to fill. Wheels is saying that we may have to offer that amnesty to DA so we can go after Damien Wilkins or Juan Dixon. Blazers will have to make a choice. Can't keep DA and go after one of those guys. Nash did say they would be under luxury tax, so they will have to choose which way they'll go.

     Lead Asst. Coach, Dean Demopoulos is guest on now. He's very happy to be here in Portland . Been in this business almost 30 years. Nate is a good friend. Coach Duane Casey is too, and he had a choice of who to go with and chose to come down to Portland to be with Nate. One of Dean's attributes is to work with young players. Question: What do you think of these young players here? Ans: The NBA as a whole is getting younger. He enjoys and is successful working with, developing and cultivating young players. He's excited about Telfair, Zach, Outlaw, and all of them. Nate is a very fundamental coach, pays attention to detail. Dean is here now looking around at neighborhoods trying to decide where to live. He also said that Nate is a fine coach, he understands what it takes to win; he's an honest and sincere person. Ray Allen is an excellent leader. Portland needs to have a strong leader rise up. Nate is excellent at pulling out leadership. Ques: How close are we to signing Damien? Ans: "I don't think I can discuss that." Rice: "On Courtside you can." (lots of laughter). He and Nate are so excited, and each day they will work at getting better; thinks everyone will be pleased with results.

     Well, they need a few more pieces to fill in the coaching staff. Johnny Davis will be going to Minn. Antonio Harvey interested in talking to Nate. Regarding Miles' wedding: 300 people were there. SAR and Theo attended, but not sure if Zach was there or not - didn't see him, but he may have been there hanging back. Oh, five players were mentioned as the surprise in summer league and Travis Outlaw was one of the five. (sorry, not sure what publication, but I "think" it they said ESPN).

      Mr. Miller's (owner of Jazz) response to getting back Ostertag was "Geeze". (ha ha). Courtside said he also said, "We'll see what happens." Ostertag's comments were "They must have needed somebody to blame it on." (ha - not sure if that is true or if Courtside guys were just mocking what they thought he was thinking). Kirk Snyder was included in that trade; Rice & Barrett are surprised because he was a big part to their success. They speculate that he must have done something that they "soured on" because he was mentioned in lots of trade scenarios, so he must have been on the outs. They view this trade that brings Bonzi to Sacto as "desperation" move.

     Trading for FAs was going to be able to begin on Thursday, but now cannot happen until Monday or Tuesday, when CBA gets finalized. Mark from ESPN.Com and Sacramento Bee is on. He's saying that this is a "gift" for Bonzi. Very questionable, risky move. Remember he was "barred from the building and not allowed in by the refs if you come to the door". ha ha. Is Bonzi nuts? Mark said that one of the ongoing gripes in Memphis was playing time. That won't be a problem in Sacto. That will be removed because Rick Adelman plays his starters deep. He'll get 36 mins there. What happened to Bobby Jackson? Was it a case to where they had it with him; didn't come back from injuries soon enough? Ans: Two playoffs ago, there was a strong feeling he should have been on the floor. But he had a groin injury, and he is high energy, tough defense, diving on floor, going into fans, etc. Bobby felt if he couldn't play that way, he'd just as soon not play. They exercised his option on his contract, wanted to keep him. But his history was that he couldn't "stay up right"; couldn't overcome injuries. Pressure on Rick: He's on a short leash as it is. Has had 7 years (eternity in NBA). Rick wasn't informed that Portland inquired about him. They keep throwing guys at him saying, "He didn't play for last coach, but make him play for you." Last year of contract, doesn't have extension. Everything is out there; no secrets right now. Ques: Has Jeff Petrie lost satisfaction in Rick's coaching ability? Ans: His support of Rick is the same; work well together. Slightly amazed Rick doesn't get more praise. After 7 years it is not unusual to make a change in coaching. You get hired to get fired. If he's done in Sacto, he'll be coaching somewhere else. New ownership group; rich and powerful, like busting moves. They'll aggressively look elsewhere; even looked to Phil Jackson. What is status of new arena in Sacto? Moving team? Ans: Could the move? Absolutely. Unless Stern changes his views about no NBA team in Vegas, they'll never move there. Complete standoff on no new arena - every effort has failed. Tickets are sky high - 3rd highest in the NBA. Waiting list is way down. But if they give up season tickets, people are afraid they will move the team.

     Joe Johnson will be signed to the Hawks for $70 Mil. Joel Przybilla would have no chance with a team like the Suns. If he looks at the youth and the direction the Blazers are going, that is attractive. Suns and Kings have some problems; they are going to have trouble keeping their talent. Next year we'll be under the cap, we can add Joel. He can see where we're going. (sorry - phone rang. I just heard Rice ask Wheels, "So you think we can get both in the trade?" And Wheels said, "Yes, I think we will get both." Can anybody say who were they talking about? It was just a split second but I missed it - sorry. Ok, Larry Brown as early as tomorrow will sign for a 5 year, $60 Mil contract with the Knicks. However, he's not wild about the roster they have put together, but regardless - $60 Million! They aren't impressed with Isaiah Thomas; hasn't done much, spends too much money. Reminds them of Bob Whitsitt. Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury will definitely butt heads. His tendency to shoot more than pass is not to Larry's liking. They asked wasn't it Larry who wanted to send Marbury home from the Olympics? Yeah, they have conflict between them.

     Rice wants to win games. We have a lot of focus on building - 3 draft picks next year. Rice said Charles Smith plays great along with Telfair. Rice is asking if we want to put the pressure of winning games on the young guys? What veterans do we have? What rebounders do we have? We have to address those weaknesses. Rice says that Reggie Evans is a tough rebounder that would be good. Wheels said it's too early. There will be guys to look at as summer goes along; Brian Grant is a natural PF. Rice: Brian Grant is old. Jarret Jack is getting lots of interest from other teams. Rice's son said he is one of the best. In the month of Sept., we'll get to see him. Is he someone we should hold on to, or get someone good in a trade? Rice: "In early Sept., we'll find out what DA is going to give us. If he is willing to play for Nate McMillan, fine...if not, amnesty - boom, he's gone."

     Question: Where does Sergei Monya fit in on this team? Rice: "They will get a tremendous look at Monya and will be able to tell." Rice also said he is a big fan of Khryapa. These guys are hungry and eager to compete. Rice thinks we will be the surprise team in the NBA, if they get them all in early Sept. and begin the work. Defense rebounder is critical. Nate said the first time Ruben runs back early, he'll be sitting next to him on the bench. A big question mark is Miles. Will getting married settle him down? Will he come in shape? Will he be willing to work hard? Nate will want to know how much can he count on Darius Miles to fit into his plan for this team? The guys wish they were a fly on the wall during that first meeting between Nate & Miles. Nate will command the respect that Cheeks didn't. "He won't hesitate to use the hammer if he has to", per Wheels.

     Steve Jones is making a nice recovery and back in Portland. He's still a little tired, but on his way back. They are laughing about "Sleeper Jones" instead of "Snapper Jones". What about Damon to Houston? Rice said this is what Houston wants: They are waiting for Dallas to release Finley through Amnesty. They would like to pick up Damon for the low level exception, and then pick up Finley. If that happens, they would become the favored NBA team in the West. But then Barrett said, "Yeah, but you forget even with Amnesty, they still have to pay him." And with that, my friends, they said good night. So that concludes tonight's Courtside show.

-BBfan4life