Around the NBA: New roles could create Cavalier controversy
Coach Tyron Lue has determined that Dwyane Wade will be in the starting lineup for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, hardly a surprise given his experience playing alongside LeBron James.
But it did not sit well with J.R. Smith, who loses his job to Wade. Smith gave it the old “it is what it is” treatment when he expressed disappointment with losing his job.
Who knows if that will effect team chemistry. With Tristan Thompson on the bench, there’ll be two new starters. And the Cavs have shut down LeBron James for the rest of training camp due to ankle soreness. There’ve been better times around the Cavaliers.
A NICE SYMMETRY: The Detroit Pistons are moving into the brand new Little Caesars Arena this season and it’s apparently a lovely new building right in downtown Detroit.
The Pistons open the regular season in their new digs Oct. 18 against the Charlotte Hornets, which is fitting since the last time the Pistons debuted in a new home, they played Charlotte on Nov. 5, 1988, at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Oct. 18 game will also be the first the Pistons have played in Detroit proper since May 19, 1985; they were at the Silverdome in Pontiac before moving to Auburn Hills.
BATTLE OF SLOGANS: The Raptors have gotten all kinds of mileage out of their “We The North” campaign since it was unveiled back in time for the 2014 NBA playoffs.
But here come the Minnesota Timberwolves, perhaps encroaching on the sentiment. The Timberwolves are in an aggressive marketing phase that coincides with a new uniform look and extensive renovations to the Target Center.
They’re going with “All Eyes North” this season, a geographically correct notion indeed.
GETTING HIS DUE: There are few players more associated with one NBA franchise that Fat Lever is with the Denver Nuggets and he’ll be honoured in December when the team retires his number 12 jersey.
In six seasons, he had 36 tripledoubles and averaged 17 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. He still ranks first in steals, second in assists and seventh in total points for the team.
Lever’s number will join the No. 2 of former Raptors assistant coach Alex English among those hanging from the rafters of the Pepsi Center.
TAKING HIS SHOTS: If the seasonopening game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics needed a bit more juice, Kyrie Irving has provided it.
The one-time Cavaliers point guard, traded to Boston in an off-season blockbuster, took a bit of a shot at his old home in a story in the Charlotte Observer this week.
“Boston, I’m driving in and (thinking), ‘I’m really playing in a real, live sports city?”’ Irving said Wednesday. Doug Smith