Tellem has been working with Gores on the reconfiguration of the Pistons' basketball operationsNBAE/getty images
In Detroit, Gregg Krupa notes Palace Sports & Entertainment Vice Chair Arn Tellem's "immersion into the on-court and in-the-front office details of the Pistons parallels the work of fully locating the team in Detroit, including the development of a practice facility two blocks south of the landmark Fisher Building in the New Center." The Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center, scheduled to open next summer, will "include a training center, community activities spaces and offices for the Pistons, a sports medicine center managed by the Henry Ford Health System, and public spaces for community relations and team events." Tellem said, "Since the end of the season, the vast majority of my time has been spent working with [Pistons Owner] Tom Gores really focusing on the reconfiguration of our basketball operations, from the front office to the coaching staff. And that continues" (DETROIT NEWS, 7/6).
BACK TO THEIR OLD WAYS? In DC, Thom Loverro writes Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld "appears to have resurrected the Wizards' knucklehead movement" with the signing of free agent C Dwight Howard. Howard is a "locker room nightmare" who has "played his way out" of the Lakers, Rockets, Hawks and Hornets since '12. The signing is "disturbing on many levels -- first, that the Wizards are so desperate to attract players to play for this organization that they have to settle for one of the most radioactive players in the league" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 7/6).
KING'S COUNTRY: In Las Vegas, Mick Akers noted tickets for the Oct. 10 Lakers-Warriors exhibition at T-Mobile Arena "rose to an average of $156" after LeBron James' signing with the Lakers, with prices "ranging from $83 to $2,800, on StubHub." Face value for last year's "exhibition between the Lakers and Kings, by comparison, fell between $22 and $145." According to StubHub, 71% of the game's ticket sales so far have "occurred in the three days after James' announcement" that he would join the Lakers (LASVEGASSUN.com, 7/5).
