This time, it's not about him

LAS VEGAS -- There are two unmistakable plotlines as USA Basketball gets ready for next month's Olympic qualifier. One is, "We learned from last year." The other is the presence of Kobe Bryant. The two are not unrelated.

Team USA is forced to be here because it did not prevail at last year's world championships in Japan, despite the presence of a new management team (Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski) and a roster led by Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony. This time around, with a distinctly less-imposing field and an upgraded roster, the United States needs only to finish first or second to qualify for Beijing. Given that the US has a 26-0 record in zone qualifiers, that half of Argentina's usual roster is elsewhere, and that the only other team with any cachet is Brazil, the Yanks' chances are, well, as they say here, off the books.

But, of course, to listen to the players and coaches, the future of Western civilization is at stake and, frankly, that is how it should be. The US cannot assume anything anymore in international basketball, even finishing in the top two in a qualifier on its own turf against a field that would have trouble winning the NIT. So, the 2007 team is a lot different than the 2006 team, and it starts with Bryant, who is bleeding red, white, and blue. He missed the Worlds last year because of an injury and has been pointing to this tournament ever since, his first experience with USA Basketball.

"I think he was really down in the dumps last year," Colangelo said of Bryant. "He wanted badly to play and it didn't happen for him. During the course of this year he made it very clear that this was big to him, that this was important to him."

And it is. While Bryant is indisputably the alpha male on the team, Kobe is all USA, all the time right now. So his earlier pleas for help from the Lakers, and the back-and-forth that ensued, is, for now, not up for discussion. Colangelo said simply, "It's not even a conversation piece for us. And it shouldn't be." Bryant deflected most of the Laker-related questions on the first day of media availability, saying he didn't want to be a distraction. You know, just one of the guys for now.

"I understand the interest in the [Lakers] situation, and when the time is right I will address those questions," Bryant said. "The right thing now is to handle it the right way, going forward."

So there. You won't get him dissin' Andrew Bynum (to whom he said he apologized) or wondering why USA Basketball teammate Jason Kidd didn't join him last February (because the Lakers would not surrender Bynum). He did endorse the signings of Luke Walton, Chris Mihm, and Derek Fisher, a close friend. He said he has lost 19 pounds. He admitted that if he had do it over, he would do it differently. Which means, apparently, that he wouldn't call every Los Angeles radio station to rip the Lakers.

But that's as far as he's going to go while wearing the USA shirt. He is taking the proverbial high road.

"At this time, with what we're trying to accomplish here, I want to keep the focus on this team, not take any attention," he said. "I don't want to be a distraction."

But he is a distraction in another sort of way -- a good way for Colangelo and Coach K. Along with Kidd and Chauncey Billups, he adds a veteran hue to this team, something it lacked at the Worlds. And Colangelo said Bryant brings something else.

"There's a toughness and an edge to Kobe and that's something we didn't have last year," Colangelo said. "I think to be really successful on this level you have to have an edge. I think we've got a little bit of that now."

Colangelo also made sure that everyone, including Bryant, had to check their egos at the door. (No small request.) At a team meeting Thursday, Colangelo told the players that while a few had won NBA titles and most have been on All-Star teams, only one of them, Kidd, had a gold medal.

"He's 28-0 [in USA Basketball play]," Colangelo told the group. "Jason turned to LeBron and Carmelo and said, 'Don't mess with that, either. I want to stay undefeated.' "

You just don't know with Yi

The Yi Jianlian story is still one without an ending. Where will he play next season? Will he play next season? Under NBA rules, if Yi decides to take the year off and, well, tend bar in Guangdong, he can go into the draft in 2008. If he plays professionally, the Milwaukee Bucks, who drafted him at No. 6, retain his rights. (According to the NBA Players Association, the Bucks have already made their tender offer to Yi.)

Yi's Chinese team said he would not play for Milwaukee, which drafted him despite not having attended his workouts and despite knowing that the Wisconsin city was not one of Yi's preferred landing spots. (The Celtics, by the way, would have taken him at No. 5 had they kept the pick, said Doc Rivers.)

The NBA is monitoring the situation "through conversations with the Bucks" and will leave it at that. Yi looked out of sorts playing with the Chinese national team at the Summer League in Las Vegas. Maybe that was because of his team being overmatched and having to play five games in six days. Or maybe, as his possible future coach, Larry Krystkowiak, said, "He was walking around with a bull's-eye on his chest. Everyone wanted a part of him. It seemed like he was running around with a pretty heavy heart and it doesn't seem the way it should be."

Yi is in his homeland, practicing with the national team, and will stay there for the time being. He dispensed with the usual "day after draft visit" to Milwaukee and has since denied rumors that his agent, Dan Fegan, is one of the ones responsible for the current state of affairs. There's also the usual palaver from China about the proper development for Yi and his game, as the 2008 Olympics in Beijing approach. Couldn't that development be helped by playing in the NBA with Michael Redd, Mo Williams, Charlie Villanueva, and Andrew Bogut? Krystkowiak thinks so. "I have faith he's going to be in a [Bucks] uniform," Krystkowiak said. "He's reached a goal to get to the NBA and I don't understand what we're missing, what we don't have to offer. I think it's a golden opportunity and I feel really bad for him. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. I truly believe we can help him get where he wants to go and we can provide him with a situation that will be real positive."

GM's moves intended to rocket team up the standings

New Houston general manager Daryl Morey has had an eventful first summer on the job. There was the coaching change, as Rick Adelman replaced Jeff Van Gundy, and Morey then stunned many Rockets fans by selecting Oregon's Aaron Brooks in the draft when the team already had Rafer Alston and Mike James (acquired in a trade for Juwan Howard) at point guard. (Never mind that the Suns had interest in the kid, as did the Spurs.) But last week, the Rockets added veteran Argentine forward Luis Scola -- for three years and $7.452 million -- in a deal with division rival San Antonio.

"They didn't want to trade with us and we didn't want to trade with them," Morey said. "But I think it's safe to say that the Spurs know what they're doing. I think this helped us both out." Scola had been the Spurs' property for years, but remained in Spain to play professionally. But no sooner had the Rockets made the deal than -- voila -- Scola's buyout from his European team (rumored in excess of $3 million) was taken care of and Houston had a power forward whom Morey envisions being in the starting lineup.

"I think we simply made the best offer to San Antonio," Morey said. That was Vassilis Spanoulis, who detested his first year in Houston and wants to play back in Greece, where he is being aggressively pursued by Panathinaikos, for which he played prior to joining the Rockets last season.

The Spurs included Jackie Butler in the deal, an athletic young'un who couldn't find time in San Antonio. The Spurs are basically bringing back the same group from last season, so there were questions whether Scola would play if he did sign. And there also was the possibility Scola would re-sign with his Spanish team to further delay any possible debut in the NBA. So San Antonio acted. The result is that the Spurs may end up with no player, but minus Butler's salary (low $2 millions) and knowing Spanoulis will gladly forfeit his NBA pay so he can get back to Greece. Houston, meanwhile, gets a potential starter and also just added Steve Francis, who signed a two-year, $5 million deal with the second year at his option.

Etc.

Italian job for Bell?
Reports out of Italy indicate that former Boston College star Troy Bell will play next season for Angelica Biella in the country's top league. Bell had been in the NBA's development league last season, hoping to get back to the NBA. One of his teammates could be former Vermont star Taylor Coppenrath, who played for Angelica last season after spending one year in Greece. The Chicago Bulls' Thabo Sefolosha also played for Angelica before coming to the NBA.

Money matters
Details of Rashard Lewis's mother lode with Orlando have started to filter out and the deal, if fully paid out, amounts to around $112.735 million over six years. The sixth year is not fully guaranteed -- although he will get no less than $10 million in 2012-13 -- with Lewis having to meet some conditions and yardsticks along the way to get more. Lewis isn't the only big name to have his last year not fully guaranteed. Chauncey Billups's new deal with the Pistons (five years, $60 million) has only $3.7 million of $14.2 million guaranteed in Year 5, 2011-12. However, he will get all of it if he is still on the roster five days after Detroit ends its 2010-11 season. And in the last year of Vince Carter's new deal (five years, $80 million), only $4 million of the $18.3 million is guaranteed. Carter will get all of it, however, if the Nets don't waive him by July 1, 2011.

Slow delivery
You may recall last February during All-Star Weekend that it was finally (and rightly) resolved that players with three and four years of NBA experience who retired before 1965 will be included in the pension plan. At the time, the players were led to believe that the first lump-sum checks would be out this month, but as of yet nothing has been paid out. The players, many of whom are in need of the money, have been mailed forms to decide how they want the money paid. Once those forms are returned, the league says the players should get the money in three to five business days. The NBA also has hired a search firm to help find players for whom it has no information.

Ryan Gomes is looking for big things next season. "I think Ray Allen will help our team out a lot, but it all depends on how we defend, how we play together, and everyone being healthy," he said. "We have a solid team and a solid group of guys. We should make some noise in the Eastern Conference." Gomes also came out in support of Doc Rivers getting a contract extension ("he deserved it") and said it was obvious that Danny Ainge and Celtics ownership had a lot of faith in Rivers. "We have a lot of faith in ourselves as a team," he said. Gomes made his comments at Stonehill College, where he hosts a basketball camp. He also has announced a partnership between his nonprofit organization, "Hoops for Heart Health," and "Parent Heart Watch" in hopes of raising awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in children and donating defibrillators to schools across the country. Gomes learned about SCA when a childhood friend died from the condition.

New Memphis boss Chris Wallace took in most of the Vegas Summer League with the exception of one Grizzlies game -- when he was back in the hotel putting the final touches on the Darko Milicic deal. "If we hit this, we could conceivably hit it pretty big," he said. Wallace thinks Milicic will flourish under new coach Mark Iavaroni, who had success working with big men in Cleveland, Miami, and Phoenix. Wallace originally pursued restricted free agent Andres Nocioni, making a quick trip to Buenos Aires to court the restricted free agent. But he quickly turned to Milicic when he realized the Bulls were not going to let Nocioni get away, while the Magic were just the opposite with Darko. Wallace also is predictably bullish on rookie Mike Conley, taken with the fourth pick in the draft. "We were sold on his combination of quickness and speed and his pedigree," Wallace said. "The Grizzlies were exposed at the point guard position last year when Kyle Lowry went down. That essentially ended the season."

Brandon Wallace received $100,000 from the Celtics toward a first-year rookie salary of $427,163. The key deadline for him is Dec. 20. If he's still on the roster by that date, the rest of his first year becomes guaranteed. As for year No. 2, which is for $711,517, that is not guaranteed. If the Celtics don't release him by the middle of July 2008, then the second year becomes fully guaranteed.

Peter May can be reached at p_may@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.