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T-Wolves target Gay, Lee

Per the Pioneer Press

Gay and Lee will make visits this week to the Twin Cities to see what the Wolves have to offer, which includes about $20 million in salary cap space. Gay will arrive today and stay through the middle of Friday, followed by an all-day visit Saturday with Lee, according to Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn.

“Those are the only two people I anticipated calling today,” Kahn said in a conference call late Wednesday after free agency began at 11:01 p.m. “That doesn’t mean that we may not ask others to come in, but they clearly were the two players I felt we wanted to meet and wanted to get to know better and have an opportunity to have a dialogue with.”

Kahn apparently thinks that Lee can play with Kevin Love, which is not unlike trying to play Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn together. Rudy Gay and Wes Johnson are also a curious fit. But Kahn has proven that he is a curious general manager.

One thing is for certain — the T-Wolves’ cap space (~$20 million) won’t be enough to sign both players, so they would have to work out a sign-and-trade with the Knicks or Grizzlies.

Cavs to name Byron Scott head coach

Per ESPN…

The Cavaliers and Scott are finishing the details of a contract that could make him LeBron James’ next coach.

Scott’s agent, Brian McInerney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Scott has agreed to become Cleveland’s next coach.

Cleveland settled on Scott, 49, after strongly considering Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who impressed the Cavaliers during interviews earlier this week.

The timing of this is a bit curious, but Scott’s desire for the job must not depend on whether or not LeBron returns to the Cavs. He did a nice job in New Orleans and was close with Chris Paul. This hire might fuel speculation that the Cavs are trying to land Paul via trade to entice LeBron to re-sign, though it would be tough for Cleveland to put together a deal enticing enough to get the Hornets to bite.

(Yes, that’s Jeremy Piven in the photo. Fotoglif’s selection of Byron Scott photos is limited.)

Owners, NFLPA already working on a new deal

FOX Sports’ Alex Marvez has some outstanding news for football fans, as he’s reporting that the NFLPA has entered negations with commissioner Roger Goodell and the two sides are entertaining a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement that would extend through the 2016 season.

There are still some hurdles that must be overcome before a new deal can be struck, however.

While stating some progress is being made, Smith remains adamant that the NFL provide detailed financial records for its teams before an agreement can be struck. Goodell has strongly resisted such requests and shows no sign of acquiescing.

Such information is especially important to the NFLPA because Smith claims the league is demanding an 18 percent reduction in player salaries. NFL executive vice president/legal counsel Jeff Pash has said Smith’s contention is a “misrepresentation” of the league’s proposal. Pash said the $1 billion generated by a new split of applied revenues between the two parties would be reinvested toward business stratagems designed to produce more money for both sides. Pash also said that player salaries wouldn’t necessarily be affected. The league generated roughly $9 billion in 2009 with a 52-to-48 percent overall revenue split between the NFLPA and NFL.

Click here to read the full article, including a more detailed explanation as to why Smith is demanding that the league shows the union its financial records.

The two sides are unlikely to come to terms on an agreement before some posturing takes place, but with the threat of a lockout coming in 2011, it’s highly encouraging that talks have already begun. Everyone stands to lose a substantial amount of money if there were no football next year, so chances are a deal will eventually get done.

Let’s hope both sides can come to an agreement soon.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

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