HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Closing The Deal? Ken Berger of CBSSports.com is reporting the long awaited sale of the Detroit Pistons could finally be coming to a close.

Billionaire investor Tom Gores is expected to close on the transaction in the coming weeks with the NBA Board of Governors likely to vote on the completed transaction in mid-April.

Gores and current Pistons’ owner Karen Davidson have been negotiating for several weeks, and both sides seemed close to a deal last month, with some insiders expecting a deal to be announced during NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles where Gores’ Platinum Equity is headquartered.

It’s believed the deal will close in the neighborhood of $400 million, a bit less than the $425 million Davidson and her advisors were seeking when this process started.

Closing this transaction will be welcomed news on the basketball operations side of things, however with the Pistons looking at another 26-28 win season the financially handcuffed front office in Detroit may not get a chance to fix the mess they find themselves in.

While current Pistons’ president Joe Dumars has never been on the hot seat under current ownership, there is a growing sense Gores will look to clean house once he owns the team and that could mean both Dumars and current head coach John Kuester could be out this summer as Gores looks to take the team in a new direction.

Once financial terms on a sale are reached, the NBA’s Board Of Governors must approve every new majority owner. Gores will be subjected to a lengthy background check and be required to answer questions from the Board. Once satisfied Gores is a suitable owner he can begin operation of the team and that could happen as early as April 14th.

On Dwight: There has been some renewed talk about the future of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic and while I generally don’t put out a lot of personal conversations, the news coming out on Dwight bears a rebuttal.

For months now in this space we have discussed the mentality of Orlando’s Dwight Howard – he genuinely wants to win a championship in Orlando. He wants to be the guy that gets done what other high profile players could not do. Shaq. Penny. Grant Hill. Tracy McGrady. None of them got the job done in Orlando.

Dwight has two years remaining on his contract. Noted Collective Barging Agreement guru Larry Coon said Howard was eligible to sign a contract extension in July, two years after inking his current extended contract. However when presented with this concept Dwight Howard was adamant, almost belligerent he could not sign anything until this summer and the soonest he could even look at a deal was this upcoming summer.

Is Dwight Howard 100% happy with how things have played out in Orlando? No. And there is some honesty to that.

This current Magic roster is not ideal. It’s not magically cohesive like the 2009 NBA Finals squad was but Howard is far from unhappy with his teammates and still believes he and his team can contend as constructed if they play the right way.

Howard is also increasingly annoyed with the idea he has one foot out the door.

When I presented him with where that "news" was coming from, he was again adamant that "it wasn’t coming from me or anyone close to me" – which may or may not be genuine, but Dwight has been clear the talk of him leaving Orlando anytime soon was 100% media driven and he has done his best to try and quell the storm.

With that in mind it’s important to understand the dynamic… Howard’s agent is Dan Fegan, one of the top agents in the business and it’s because he tends to make what his clients want to happen, happen. Fegan is not the kind of agent that "directs" his clients. He will present all of the options, give his clients all of the information and let them choose. Once that decision is made, Fegan is absolutely ruthless in getting his guys what and where they want to be.

So this brings it back to Dwight. His agent is not going to urge him out of town. It will ultimately be Dwight Howard’s decision on where he wants to be going forward, and he has been pretty clear he’s not to that point yet.

Dwight has made no secret of the fact that for the balance of his career he wants to contend for a championship. It’s up to Orlando to surround him with the players and the environment to do that.

Dwight says the earliest he could sign an extension is this summer and he’ll look at that. Dwight is equally adamant that he has not talked with anyone about going to L.A., New York or anywhere other than Orlando. Take that for what it’s worth.

There is no doubting Dwight is approaching an option year in his contract and a chance to pick his future, however Dwight is adamant he’s made no decisions about the future. Whether that’s true or not is on Dwight, but I’ll take him at his word because he was pretty passionate about it.

Dwight Howard’s first goal is to win a championship in Orlando. As long as that’s reasonably possible, Orlando has a better than average chance of landing a signature on a new deal.

A lot about Dwight’s future may get decided this post-season, but to believe Dwight has one foot out the door doesn’t line up with what Dwight has said and it was a pretty honest conversation.

To predict what the future will hold is tough, because if you look at the landscape of the NBA today who would have predicted even nine months ago Chris Paul would still be in New Orleans and Deron Williams would be the one traded to New Jersey?

A lot can happen in a year and Orlando has the power to retain Dwight, assuming they surround him with the right pieces, that is going to matter more than anything else.

Wearing Down: The New York Knicks have logged 17 games so far in March with one more to go before wrapping up a grueling 18-game stretch that included five back-to-backs and just 14 off days.

Knicks All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire has endured the brunt of a brutal schedule logging an average of 37.6 minute per game in March, with six games of 40 or more minutes

"It’s been maybe the hardest month I’ve played in my career," Stoudemire said to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. "So many games, so many back-to-backs. And then they threw in the makeup game in this month.

"So it was very, very tough. And on top of that, we’re trying to get used to our new teammates. So it was a tough one for us."

As brutal as this stretch of games has been for the Knicks, its not the worst month of the season for Stoudemire who averaged 39.5 minutes per game in November and saw seven games of 40 or more minutes. However, there were just 13 games for the Knicks in November and only two back-to-back games.

The road gets a little easier for the Knicks as they have just eight games remaining on the schedule and just two-back-to-backs in that span.

The Knicks will get three off days later this week - maybe Amar’e can squeeze in a nap in that span.

Anaheim Gets Its Cash: In a series of unanimous votes, the Anaheim City Council cleared one more hurdle in their pursuit to land the Sacramento Kings, securing permission to issue $75 million in bonds to private investors.

{AUTHOR_BOX}The bonds will be issued privately, and be repaid from revenues related to the 41 home games the Kings would play at the Honda Center, with all risk on the investment being put on the investors not the city. The bonds are expected to have a 10-year term.

The deal provides $25 million for Honda Center improvements and $50 million in working capital for the Kings who will face some hefty relocations costs if the NBA’s Board of Governors approves the move.

The entire deal is contingent on the NBA approving relocation, but assuming that occurs during the April 14th Board of Governors meeting the monies could be made available within 180 days of approval.

As part of the deal the Kings would use the American Sports Center in Anaheim as a temporary practice facility until a permanent facility can be constructed.

The $25 million in Honda Center upgrades will include build out of NBA-suitable locker rooms and treatment facilities as well as standard NBA amenities such as a courtside seating and luxury clubs.

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