Friday And-1 Links: Toronto’s Amir Johnson rides an elephant

By Kurt HelinAug 30, 2013, 8:20 PM EDT

Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points more than Fox News loves blond female anchors…

• That is the Raptors’ Amir Johnson riding an elephant. What more need be said?

• Knicks fans: Would you be willing to part with Iman Shumpert to move Amar’e Stoudemire? Here are some trade scenarios for you.

• While we’re talking Knicks, here is the best spin on Andrea Bargnani: He could be a better version of Steve Novak. Maybe a better version of Chris Copeland. The two caveats there are: 1) He has to hit his threes again, he hasn’t for a couple of years; 2) Bargnani is going to make $11.5 million this season, Copeland $3 million, is Bargs that much better?

• The best case scenario for Pau Gasol is he’s going to have a really good season without Howard clogging the post. Question is, if he plays well there will be interest from other teams and will the Lakers keep him the full season?

• Great look from Sean Highkin at the USA Today of every NBA jersey.

• Sports Illustrated with a fantastic — and long, and detailed — look at Brad Stevens of the Celtics.

• Interesting stat idea: Total Burden Ratings. The basic idea is how much of an offense does a player take on and how well does he do with it?

• If NBA rookies were on Iron Chef, what would they cook? Not a lot of winning dishes, it seems.

• Negotiations to move a $100 million renovation of the Target Center in Minneapolis are nearly done. The Timberwolves will pitch in $44 million toward the costs.

• Shareef Abdur-Rahim has been named as the general manager of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings D-League team.

• If you haven’t looked yet, here is DraftExpress’ 2014 mock draft.

• Jordan Williams, formerly of the Nets, has signed with Bilbao in Spain. That’s an amazing city, by the way.

• Finally, Jonas Valanciunas and his Kung-Fu defense.

Jimmy Butler still begging Fred Hoiberg to coach him harder

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Jeremy Lin: My race made Linsanity bigger

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By Dan FeldmanSep 27, 2016, 12:34 PM EDT

Jeremy Lin might want to move past Linsanity, but he’ll always be linked to that period in 2012. It was so enthralling for numerous reasons, including:

Lin played unsustainably great basketball, leading the Knicks to a 7-1 record while starting with Carmelo Anthony injured and averaging 25.0 points and 9.5 assists per game in that span.
Lin was excelling in New York, America’s biggest media market.
The Knicks were desperate for success, having not won a single playoff game in the last decade.
Lin was undrafted and relatively unknown before breaking out.
Lin played at Harvard, which is universally known for academics and barely known for basketball.
Lin is Asian-American, a rarity in high-level basketball.

Yes, that last factor mattered.

Lin, via Peter Botte of the New York Daily News:

“In some ways, Linsanity wouldn’t have been Linsanity if I was a different skin color, most likely, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal, and that went to my advantage, too, but if you look prior to that, a lot of the obstacles to even get to that point where I could get to a position of getting on the floor, those were definitely obstacles that were very much stereotypes that I had to fight along the way. So I’ve always understood that there’s good and there’s bad and you have to take them together and just be thankful for it all.”

Linsanity was a culmination of all the elements listed above. Maybe it would’ve happened without one or two, but THE essential factor was Lin’s on-court production. Without that, he never would’ve become a national phenomenon.

Lin’s heritage – he was born in California to Taiwanese-born parents – accentuated his basketball skills, but the basketball skills were the base for his popularity.

And as Lin said, his race was a double-edged sword. It made him less likely to get the benefit of the doubt when rising through the basketball ranks. I believe that coaches, scouts and other players were less inclined to believe in his basketball ability because of his race.

But Lin overcame that and eventually reaped the awards of being an outlier.

Lin has long seemed to possess a keen understanding of himself and a willingness to discuss it. I think he’s spot-on here, and it leads to a better understanding of one of the biggest NBA stories in recent years.

51Q: Will we see what the Trail Blazers saw in Evan Turner?

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By Dan FeldmanSep 27, 2016, 11:17 AM EDT

We continue PBT’s 2016-17 NBA preview series, 51 Questions. For the past few weeks, and through the start of the NBA season, we tackle 51 questions we cannot wait to see answered during the upcoming NBA season. We will delve into one almost every day between now and the start of the season.

Last season, Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey received the most Executive of the Year first-place votes.

This offseason, he signed Evan Turner to a four-year, $70 million contract.

How could someone who engineered such a smart 2015 offseason – nailing move after move – give Turner so much money? He earned the benefit of the doubt by rebuilding on the fly without LaMarcus Aldridge, but Olshey spent a lot of his capital (and Paul Allen’s money) on a mid-level, seemingly ill-fitting small forward.

Is this another example of Olshey outfoxing us, or did he finally get tripped up?

I expected brilliance from Portland this summer given Olshey’s successful retool around Damian Lillard last year, when Aldridge bolted. Olshey traded Nicolas Batum for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson, signed Al-Farouq Aminu (four years, $30 million) and Ed Davis (three years, $20 million) to team-friendly contracts, traded a late first-rounder for Mason Plumlee, practically got Maurice Harkless for free and carved out bigger roles for C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard by letting Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo walk. The Batum trade is the only move that’s not a clear victory, but Batum was headed into unrestricted free agency and might have left Portland empty-handed, and the 21-year-old Vonleh could still develop.

Not only did the younger Trail Blazers come together far more quickly than expected, winning 44 games and a playoff series, they did so under budget. Portland had enough cap space at the trade deadline to extract a first-rounder for eating Anderson Varejao‘s contract – the type of move usually reserved for tankers like the 76ers.

The 2016 offseason brought even more possibilities. Thanks to low cap holds for Crabbe, Leonard and Harkless, the Blazers were flush with cap space.

And they spent a big chunk of it on… Evan Turner.

Turner is an alright player, but I don’t think he’s worth $17.5 million per year in a vacuum – and Portland presents a tough fit.

His strengths – passing for his position, mid-range shot creation – matter less on team where the ball is frequently in Lillard’s or McCollum’s hands. Portland shouldn’t take the ball from Lillard and McCollum to give Turner more touches, either.

When off the ball, Turner’s poor outside shooting is a liability to efficient scoring and floor spacing. He made 24% of his 3-pointers last season and 30% for his career. Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts believes Turner will shoot better in Portland, but that optimism is usually wishful thinking. For his part, Turner sounds more focused on the mid-range, where he’s not efficient enough to take shots from the typical looks generated by Stotts’ space-strong scheme.

Portland could use defensive help, and Turner is fine at that end. But he’s not the stopper his 6-foot-7 frame would suggest. He’s just not quick or bouncy enough to stay with many opponents.

It just doesn’t add up – unless Olshey knows what he’s doing, which he might. After impressing so much in his other dealings, Olshey has put the spotlight on Turner this season – with the rest of us watching to see just how Turner will add $70 million of value to the Trail Blazers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo tells terrible joke at Bucks media day (video)

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