Trevor Ariza is featured in the most recent issue of ESPN The Magazine and in an article written by Sam Alipour, he discusses how he came to sign with Houston instead of staying put and re-signing with the Lakers. (Insider subscription required.)

That script began to be rewritten at the toll of free agency, 12:01 a.m. on July 1, one minute into the day after Ariza’s birthday. He was still celebrating with family when he received a call from his agent, David Lee. “He said, ‘The Lakers called, and they think you’re worth only the midlevel,’ ” or $5.8 million a year, Ariza recounts. Technically, it wasn’t even an offer. Says Lee of the Lakers GM, “Mitch Kupchak’s exact quote was, ‘We want Trevor on the cheap, and we’re not going to make an offer. Find what the market will bear and come back to us.’ ”

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Per ESPN…

Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, has made a takeover bid for the New Jersey Nets, the tycoon confirmed on his blog on Tuesday.

Prokhorov, a former nickel mining baron, boasts that if his move is successful, it would be the first time a National Basketball Association club would come under foreign control.

Prokhorov’s proposals, sent to existing Nets shareholders over the weekend, would see his Onexim group provide a loan to build a substantial part of a new arena, according to a post on his Web site.

Onexim would also receive a controlling stake of the NBA team for a “symbolic” price, the post said. Sources close to the billionaire have previously estimated the overall value of any deal at $700 million.

It’s not immediately clear how much this is going to help the Nets’ move to Brooklyn, which has been delayed by legal disputes, issues with financing and problems with the local community.

Prokhorov is flush with cash because he sold his assets prior to the global financial meltdown. His interest in the Nets is a testimony to just how far the American economy has declined.

The Associated Press reports that Michael Beasley is participating in voluntary workouts with the Miami Heat after spending a month in a rehab facility in Houston. Details of his treatment are unknown.

Beasley worked out for two months prior to entering rehab and reportedly looks “bigger” and is in “phenomenal shape.” The Heat had representatives with Beasley on a daily basis while he was in Houston and head coach Erik Spoelstra personally visited three times.

The News-Herald follows up on the Delonte West shotgun-in-a-guitar-case story.

Timberwolves guard Sebastian Telfair was suspended for three games for having a loaded gun in his possession.

Don’t be shocked if West is not eligible to play for several games this season. Could his possible suspension be as long as 10 games? Are you glad the Cavs signed Anthony Parker now?

He’s not a bad guy. He’s not a Pacman Jones. He’s a guy who has issues.

Ironically, West was within his rights to carry the shotgun. It’s the two handguns that have him in trouble.

I agree that West is not a bad guy. He’s odd, but likable, and he’s a key player for the Cavs. He’ll likely serve a suspension, and may serve some time.

The Baltimore Sun describes the strange scene…

Cavaliers guard Delonte West was arrested after officers pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle while carrying two loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case strapped to his back

ESPN adds that West left the Cavaliers’ training camp last summer to seek help for a mood disorder that dates back to childhood. At that point he was in therapy and on medication.

West has always been quirky, but driving around (on a motorcycle, no less) carrying loaded weapons across state lines is troublesome.

West recently blitzed the blogosphere with his freestyle rap while waiting for his order in the parking lot of a KFC. (Video after the jump.)

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Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm wrote a nice piece about how Navarro relates to Rubio’s decision to stay in Spain for two more seasons.

The impression you get from interviews with Navarro is that he just didn’t care that much about the NBA. He loves Spain. It’s his home. And versus the States, where there will be constant questions about his style, his ability, and his talent simply because he hasn’t played in the AAU tournaments or Rucker Park or the NCAA Tournament, in Spain, he’s considered mega-successful. Would you rather be a pauper in heaven or a prince in Hell? What if Hell was actually your home, and instead of the brimstone pits, it was nice beaches, beautiful women, amazing food and way more money than you can make in heaven? The assumption that every great basketball player in the world will always have the competitive fire to be the best no matter the cost is, I’m sorry, a gigantic crock. It’s a fallacy brought upon us by Jordan, Garnett, and Nike.

Moore goes on to discuss how Navarro’s experience might affect Rubio.

In an interview a few weeks ago, Navarro was talking about giving Rubio advice. You have to wonder how that’s going to play out for Minnesota. From all accounts, which Wolves fans will happily remind you of every thirty seconds, Rubio wants to play in the NBA more than anything in the world. It’s his dream, whatever that means. That certainly wasn’t the case with Navarro, who was always kind of like, “eh.” So even if Navarro is trying to warn him off of going to a terrible team for less money, he may not listen. Plus, the Wolves are in much better shape than the Grizzlies were in 07-08. But the fact remains that everyone talks about Rubio’s game developing as he gets older. What about his personality? What if he learns to really love his life in Spain as he gets older and gets to enjoy being a young man making millions of dollars in an awesome city?

I lived in Memphis for three years and visited Barcelona on a whirlwind trip through Europe, and I can say that there is a lot of truth to Moore’s words. The NBA is clearly the best league in the world, but the European leagues have improved and the money is about the same (or in JCN’s case, much more). Why would a Spaniard in his mid-twenties choose to take less money to play for a bad team in Memphis instead if playing ball in beautiful Barcelona?

Ricky Rubio was faced with a similar decision this year, only it was Minneapolis, not Memphis. And he chose to stay in Spain for a while. Will he ever come over? Probably. As the post states, it has always been Rubio’s dream to play in the NBA. He may not play for the T-Wolves, but I think he will eventually join the league.

Gilbert Arenas said he’s doing great with his knee rehab, but criticized the Wizards for — get this — letting him play when he said that he could play.

“If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he’s your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself,” Arenas told the newspaper. “If I’m saying I feel good and you know it’s supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run … they should have held me back. Rather than saying, ‘Let’s let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets’ — sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don’t feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don’t judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did.”

Man, that takes balls, doesn’t it? Sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. Give me a break.

Athletes come back early from injuries all the time. Sometimes it backfires and sometimes it doesn’t. If Arenas told the team he was ready to go, it’s not the Wizards’ fault that he wasn’t. It’s his fault.

Had the team pressured Arenas to get back on the court, then this criticism would be justified. But for Arenas to blame the Wizards for his mistake is pure projection.

I’ve written about this ad nauseam, but the Bucks elected not to match Minnesota’s offer for up-and-coming point guard Ramon Sessions.

Even with the whole Ricky Rubio/Jonny Flynn mess strategy, this is a nice move by the Timberwolves. Sessions can play a little off guard, but he and Flynn will have some battles in practice and should ultimately make each other better. He’s just 23 and has proven that he can be productive in limited minutes, and now that he’s locked into a reasonable contract, he’s going to be a valuable asset for the T-Wolves.

Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal…

Free-agent guard Allen Iverson informed the Grizzlies this morning that he will accept a one-year offer to bring his explosive scoring to FedExForum this season, according to an NBA source.

Iverson’s decision came following a Monday night meeting in Atlanta with Griz owner Michael Heisley, general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Lionel Hollins. Iverson, a 34-year-old, 13-year veteran, will play for a contract that pays $3.5 million (what the Griz have left under the salary cap) and the deal will be loaded with incentives.

Iverson confirmed his decision on Twitter.

Iverson will join MIke Conley and O.J. Mayo in the Grizzlies’ backcourt. Coming off the bench hasn’t worked for AI in the past, so I’d expect a deal was made that would have Iverson start, likely alongside Mayo.

AI is a veteran with a unique skill set, so the fact that he landed with the Grizzlies instead of joining a contender is a testament to the current state of the economy and his unwillingness to accept a lesser role to play for a winner.

Yes, according to ESPN’s sources.

Knicks president Donnie Walsh said he doesn’t think a Lee sign-and-trade is possible. Even though the Knicks like Lee, Walsh said he is not interested in signing the forward to a long-term contract at this point; he wants to maintain as much payroll flexibility as possible for next summer, when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and other prominent players will be free agents.

“We can’t get a deal” for Lee, Walsh said.

Contract discussions are expected to heat up next week. Many league officials think the deal will fall in the $6 million-to-$8 million range, but the two sides will exchange more concrete numbers soon. Lee could be rewarded more generously since it will be just a one-year contract.

When Walsh says that he “can’t get a deal” for Lee, he means that he can’t get a deal that either 1) brings them a player they covet, like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire, or 2) brings them an asset of value (a first round draft pick, a young cheap player) while still allowing for financial flexibility next summer, when they hope to make a run at LeBron James and/or Dwyane Wade.

This is a nice move by the Knicks, who will reward Lee for his performance thus far while at the same time reserving the right to trade him during the season if a deal comes along that they like. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and the Knicks could bring him back or he could sign elsewhere.