NBA.com’s David Aldridge noted former NBAers Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman have "joined to put together a bid to purchase” the Hawks, “a group that will also include” former Suns Owner Jerry Colangelo and his son, former Raptors President Bryan Colangelo. Hill “was part of a bid last year to try and buy” the Clippers. Bridgeman also “expressed interest in purchasing the Bucks before they were sold” for $550M to a group featuring investors Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan. The Bridgeman-Hill group has “retained Galatioto Sports Partners, one of the top sports industry advisor groups in the country.” It is “unlikely another significant financial backer will have to join the team in order to make a bid” (NBA.com, 1/8).
MOVING ON UP: In Portland, Joe Freeman noted the Trail Blazers on Thursday signed GM Neil Olshey “to a four-year contract extension" and promoted him to President of Basketball Operations. The extension, which “includes three guaranteed years and a team option, is a just reward for Olshey, who, in less than three years, has transformed the Blazers from an NBA Lottery afterthought in the throes of a roster rebuild into a Western Conference power.” Olshey “not only has been widely successful during his brief stint with the organization, but also has emerged as a stabilizing force for the franchise” (OREGONLIVE.com, 1/8).
TAXING SITUATION: ESPN.com’s Marc Stein noted the Cavaliers’ acquisition of Gs Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and C Timofey Mozgov this week has “hiked their season-ending bill in luxury tax to a projected” $6.7M. The Knicks’ shedding of Shumpert, Smith and C Samuel Dalembert “reduced their projected luxury-tax bill all the way down” to $5.8M, “only the league's third-highest.” There are “only five teams, furthermore, presently on course to pay luxury tax at season's end,” with the Nets “leading the league at a whopping” $26.1M. The Cavaliers and Knicks are second and third, followed by the Clippers at $3.44M and the Thunder at $3.4M (ESPN.com, 1/8).
