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<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LAS VEGAS -- Free agent guard Antonio Daniels is considering an opportunity to rejoin the Trail Blazers and said Wednesday he hopes to be able to make a decision by the end of the week.
Daniels and his agent had dinner Tuesday night with Blazers general manager John Nash, player personnel director Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan.
McMillan coached Daniels the past two seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, and the two talked briefly after McMillan took the Portland job last week.
"I played my best basketball under Nate, and I don't think that was by accident," Daniels said while watching some of Wednesday's Vegas Summer League games at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. "As a former player, he understands a lot about the game, and one thing I love about him is he finds a way to bring out the best in his players.
"And he's always straight up with me. I'm being honest; you can't take that for granted."
The Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland, Toronto, Utah and Washington also have shown an interest in the 6-foot-4 point guard and eight-year veteran, who averaged a career-high 11.2 points and 4.1 assists in a reserve role last season.
Nash rated the Blazers' interest level as "real" but downplayed the notion that an agreement with Daniels is imminent. He said Tuesday's dinner meeting with agent Tony Dutt was more of an "exploratory conversation, and we're still assessing the situation, trying to determine what options we have."
The Blazers have committed to an estimated $58 million in salary for next season and have a mid-level exception worth a projected $5.2 million to spend. If the Blazers decide to use all or some of that on Daniels, it could push their payroll over the luxury-tax threshold, which Nash said the team wouldn't do. </div>
Source
With Sebastian Telfair having a strong summer, and the Blazers drafting Jarrett Jack and Martell Webster, I don't see this happening unless the Blazers can make a trade to clear up the logjam at guard.
Daniels and his agent had dinner Tuesday night with Blazers general manager John Nash, player personnel director Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan.
McMillan coached Daniels the past two seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, and the two talked briefly after McMillan took the Portland job last week.
"I played my best basketball under Nate, and I don't think that was by accident," Daniels said while watching some of Wednesday's Vegas Summer League games at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. "As a former player, he understands a lot about the game, and one thing I love about him is he finds a way to bring out the best in his players.
"And he's always straight up with me. I'm being honest; you can't take that for granted."
The Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland, Toronto, Utah and Washington also have shown an interest in the 6-foot-4 point guard and eight-year veteran, who averaged a career-high 11.2 points and 4.1 assists in a reserve role last season.
Nash rated the Blazers' interest level as "real" but downplayed the notion that an agreement with Daniels is imminent. He said Tuesday's dinner meeting with agent Tony Dutt was more of an "exploratory conversation, and we're still assessing the situation, trying to determine what options we have."
The Blazers have committed to an estimated $58 million in salary for next season and have a mid-level exception worth a projected $5.2 million to spend. If the Blazers decide to use all or some of that on Daniels, it could push their payroll over the luxury-tax threshold, which Nash said the team wouldn't do. </div>
Source
With Sebastian Telfair having a strong summer, and the Blazers drafting Jarrett Jack and Martell Webster, I don't see this happening unless the Blazers can make a trade to clear up the logjam at guard.
