Thoughts on the Portland Diamond Project, Kevin Love and Payton Pritchard, Bill Schonely, Jermar Jefferson, Hamilcar Rashed and a new book by Ben Golliver …
Hamilcar Rashed Jr. (Courtesy of Oregon State Athletics)
Questions on your mind, for which I have answers …
• What’s going on with the Portland Diamond Project? It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about the bid for major league baseball in the city.
A: A lot, says PDP managing partner Mike Barrett.
Mike Barrett
“We’ve been crazy busy,” Barrett tells me. “I can’t give you any specifics. Hopefully, we’ll be in position to be able to speak publicly on it soon, but we’re in a sensitive time right now.
“To imply that (the MLB-to-PDX movement) is dead wouldn’t be accurate. The pandemic has slowed things but hasn’t stopped us. Rest assured, we are grinding. Our enthusiasm has not been tampered. We’re as confident as ever.”
COVID-19 has been the biggest factor in putting a pause on expansion. But there’s no question the destruction in downtown Portland that has taken place over the past year has negatively impacted PDP’s lobbying efforts. A meeting with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and his people in Portland was canceled, in no small part due to the regrettable condition of the downtown area.
Maury Brown writes in Forbes that expansion from 30 to 32 teams will happen but is yet years away, and that Manfred’s current price for an expansion fee is about $2.2 billion. Tack on construction of a new stadium, and that puts the bill for a team in Portland at about $4 billion. That’s if it were to happen today.
If those numbers are correct, relocation of a team would make the most sense financially for Portland. For the past three years, the Oakland A’s have seemed the logical candidate to move. The A’s, who have been trying to get a new stadium built for 15 years, are now hopeful the Oakland City Council will vote for their proposal to construct a new ballpark at Howard Terminal, not far from where Oakland Coliseum stands.
Sources say that PDP’s proposed majority owners are still “in” and that the group’s No. 1 concern now is identifying a stadium site. I believe the Lloyd Center is the primary target now instead of the Terminal 2 site along the Willamette River near the Pearl District. There may be possibilities outside the city limits as well.
Nobody from PDP, unfortunately, is saying much.
“We’re on it,” is all Barrett will say. “We’re doing all we can on our end to make it happen.”
• Why is Kevin Love misbehaving in Cleveland?
A: The Lake Oswego native has taken plenty of heat for his actions of late with the Cavaliers, including a head-scratching incident in a recent game against Toronto. After a basket by the Raptors, Love — evidently upset with a couple of non-foul calls — intentionally slapped the ball at a referee but to an open area in bounds. It was picked up by a Raptor, who turned it into an open 3-pointer.
It was a puzzling display of petulance by Love, who didn’t help matters with a rambling “apology” two days later. He did not take questions from the media but spoke for 13 minutes, saying that he knew he screwed up but “my intent wasn’t to disrespect the game … It was a moment that I got caught up in. … I didn’t realize how bad it looked until after the game — I truly didn’t. … I apologize for that lack of judgment because that wasn’t me. I never want to that to be who I am. I truly believe all the good that I do should outweigh the bad.”
Love, 32, went on to say he feels guilt in “missing games and letting my teammates down.” But it sounded as if he were making excuses for his behavior more than anything.
Love has missed 43 games due to injury this season and is averaging 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds on a Cleveland team that is 21-43. Two games after the Toronto debacle, he took no shots in 22 minutes in a 122-93 loss to Washington — the first time that has happened in his 13-year NBA career. Not the kind of performance you’d expect from a player in the second year of a four-year, $120-million contract.
Joe Vardon of “The Athletic” writes that over the last three years, Love has gotten into at least two shouting matches with Cavs GM Koby Altman, embarrassed point guard Collin Sexton by taking the ball from him and chucking it at Cedi Osman’s feet during a game, and slammed the bench in a display of anger at former coach John Beilein.
There’s no question the last two seasons in Cleveland have been a come-down for Love, whose distinguished career includes five All-Star selections, an NBA championship with the Cavs in 2016 and a spot on U.S. teams that won gold at the 2010 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.
I’ve known Kevin since he was a phenom at Lake Oswego High. He’s always been a pleasant young man, thoughtful in interviews and proper in deportment. I’m sure he is dealing with frustration right now in playing for one of the NBA’s worst teams. I was a bit surprised when he chose to re-sign with Cleveland two years ago, but I guess it’s hard to turn down that kind of money.
I was also surprised this week when Love told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports he’d love to play with the Trail Blazers at some point. That’s not what he had indicated to those in Portland’s management team in the past.
Love has been outspoken on the subject of his own depression and has received plaudits for his motivational efforts with others dealing with mental health issues. It may be that his own issues are playing into what’s going on with him right now.
I’d like to see Love get traded to a contender before his career is through. Perhaps Portland would be an advantageous destination after all.
• What kind of impact has Payton Pritchard made in Boston in his rookie season?
A: Considerable. The West Linn native, taken with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2020 draft, is averaging 7.7 points and 1.8 assists while shooting .452 from the field, .418 from 3-point range and .907 from the foul line in 19.4 minutes a game. In Sunday’s 129-119 loss to Portland, Pritchard totaled 13 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes, hitting 4 of 6 shots, including 3 of 5 on 3-point attempts.
Pritchard is making more of an impact as the season has gone along. He has scored in double figures in seven of the Celtics’ last 10 games. In a 119-115 win over Oklahoma City on April 27, Pritchard poured in 28 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Two games prior in a 109-104 loss to Brooklyn, he had 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 6 for 7 on 3’s. Pritchard’s assists total is low (107) but he has only 51 turnovers in 59 games, showing poise and good decision-making with how he takes care of the ball.
The way I’ve underestimated Pritchard — listed generously at 6-1 but probably straining to get to 6 feet in reality — reminds me of doing the same thing with Darwin Barney 20 years ago.
I marveled at the way Darwin — also vertically challenged — played in Little League but wondered how much success he’d have in high school. After starring at Southridge, I wasn’t sure how good he would be in college. He was Pac-10 Freshman of the year and then All-Pac-10 as Oregon State won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and ’07. After being taken by the Chicago Cubs in the fourth round of the MLB draft, I wondered if Barney — now coaching at his college alma mater — would ever make it to the bigs. All the sure-handed second baseman did was play for eight seasons, winning a Gold Glove in 2012 while matching the MLB record for consecutive errorless games.
I watched Pritchard as he started for West Linn as a freshman and was a key cog in the Lions’ four straight state 6A championships from 2013-16. Loved his game but wasn’t sure how that would translate to success at the college level. All Pritchard did was start four straight seasons at Oregon, helping the Ducks to the Final Four as a freshman and earning Pac-12 Player of the Year and the Bob Cousy Award as the nations’ premier point guard as a senior.
OK, but how would that translate to NBA success? Early returns are favorable. As friend Mike Riley likes to say, the proof is in the pudding.
Bill Schonely
• What is Bill Schonely up to?
A: “The Schonz,” who turns 92 on June 1, is awaiting surgery on an ailing hip that has bothered him for some time. He has not been able to attend any of the Blazers’ games this season because of COVID-19 restrictions for everybody other than essential staff members, which has left the Blazers’ broadcaster emeritus and good-will ambassador a bit lonely and plenty bored.
The Naismith Hall of Famer got a mental boost last week, though, when Carr Subaru and Subaru of America presented a check for more than $62,000 to the Providence Child Center for “Bill’s Kids.”
“They’re a major sponsor of the Blazers,” Schonely says. “For every Subaru sold between Thanksgiving and January 1, they donated $250 to charities. One of the charities is our kids fund. This is the seventh year they’ve been involved. Through Subaru’s ‘Share the Love’ program, we’ve raised nearly $700,000 for the cause. I’m very proud of that.”
During the late 1980s, Schonely was with Blazer coaches, players and employees when they made a visit to medically fragile children at the PCC around the holidays. Providence Childs Center is the only 24/7 pediatric nursing home for children in the Northwest.
“The kids need 24-hour care, because after awhile, the parents just can’t take care of them,” Schonely says. “When I visited the first year, I also noticed the (PCC nurses and medical staffers), the ones who work so hard to take care of the kids. It hit me in the heart.”
Schonely has been involved with what has been called the “Bill’s Kids” fund since then.
“Bill has more than three decades of being an advocate of the Child Center,” says Crystal Logan, regional development officer/women’s and children’s health, Providence Foundations of Oregon. “He has been able to connect with his circle of influence to convince people to invest in caring for children living with special health care needs. He has made it one of his life’s works.
“There are so many relationships he has leveraged and given his personal endorsement to, saying this is a worthwhile charity. That is invaluable to an organization that exists solely on philanthropy. We are operating constantly with a (financial) shortfall.”
Schonely recently resigned from the foundation’s board of directors after 25 years of service. His years of commitment is just another of many contributions made by one of our community’s most prized citizens.
Jermar Jefferson (Courtesy of Oregon State Athletics)
• Why did Jermar Jefferson go late in the seventh round of the NFL draft to Detroit, and why did Hamilcar Rashed go undrafted?
A: I figured Jefferson would be chosen somewhere between rounds three and five, but what do I know? Jefferson evidently didn’t do well in the pre-draft testing, and perhaps scouts were concerned about his breakaway speed. I believe the former Oregon State standout, who projects to go into training camp as the No. 4 running back, will make the Lions’ 53-man roster, and I won’t be surprised if he one day becomes a starter.
Rashed, meanwhile, left the OSU program a year late. After a banner junior season in which he led the nation in tackles-for-loss and was third in sacks for the Beavers, the linebacker shockingly had no sacks in seven games during an injury-impacted senior campaign. He has great size (6-4 and 245) and can run. Rashed signed a free-agent contract with the New York Jets. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make at least the Jets’ practice squad next season.
• What’s the next sports book on my reading list?
A: “Bubbleball: Inside the NBA’s Fight to Save a Season,” by Portland’s own Ben Golliver.
Congrats to my friend Ben, now the national NBA writer for the Washington Post, for his first book. It provides insight and details from a skilled journalist who was on the inside of the NBA’s “bubble” last season. Can’t wait to read it and provide a review for our website’s readers.
