J.R. Smith might have cost himself millions with his poor showing following his suspension in the playoffs this season, but that could make a return to the financially hamstrung Knicks a stronger possibility. He reiterated his desire to retire as a Knick after last night's elimination at the hands of the Pacers, though he still figures to opt out of his $2.9MM contract for next season. With the final Atlantic Division team done for 2012/13, it's time to look ahead to the summer, and that's the focus as we round up the latest from the Atlantic:
The coaching carousel this offseason is personified by Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek. The former Jazz player was a smart shooting guard next to Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, in the backcourt of some consistently excellent Jazz teams. But even with less than three years of experience on the Jazz bench, he's become a go-to interview for teams with a coaching vacancy.
Brad Rock of the Salt Lake City Desert News opines on Hornacek's bonafides as a head coach somewhere in the league, while current head coach Tyrone Corbin is also in a state of flux, but appears set to return to the sidelines next season after a vote of confidence from general manager Dennis Lindsey. In a summer of discontent for 29 NBA teams (and the city of Seattle), there are still plenty of question marks, like Hornacek, with uncertain, yet bright futures. Like the next item on our list...
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Free Agents / Cap Holds
Draft Picks
Cap Outlook
The Celtics apparently have resolution to one of their offseason question marks, with president of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirming that Doc Rivers will be back as the team's coach. There wasn't much doubt about that, but Rivers wavered at the end of the season, and his name surfaced in rumors about the Nets. Much larger decisions remain, with uncertainty surrounding the futures of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Boston has an unusual opportunity with Pierce's contract. The team can save more than two-thirds of his $15MM+ salary if it waives him by June 30th, the day before the NBA's calendar flips over to 2013/14. That would require cutting ties with the player who's scored more points than anybody in Celtic green except John Havlicek. Pierce, at 35, might not be all he once was, as demonstrated by a decline in free throw attempts to his lowest per-game rate since his rookie season, but most of his numbers this season were consistent with recent years. Recognizing a need to help out a team that was weak on the boards, Pierce averaged 6.3 rebounds, his most since 2005/06.
Father time appears to be closer to catching up with Garnett, who turns 37 tomorrow. He played just 29.7 minutes per game this season, the fewest since he was a rookie. He still gets it done on the defensive end, where the Celtics give up just 96.2 points per 100 possessions when he's in the game. His rebounding is tailing off, though, as he grabbed 9.4 boards per 36 minutes, his lowest rate since 1997/98.
Alas, it would be much easier for the C's to part ways with Pierce than with Garnett, who has a guaranteed contract with one of the league's few no-trade clauses. They could try to goad KG into accepting a trade by unloading Pierce and demonstrating that they're in full-scale rebuilding mode, but I don't think Ainge is ready to move on from the "Big Three" era quite yet, if only because there aren't many other intriguing options.
The Celtics could try to trade Pierce, whose contract expires after next season, but that doesn't seem appealing. The cap space the C's can create with Pierce off their books in 2014, when several marquee free agents could be available, is probably more valuable than anything they might get in return for him. Ainge could also dangle Rajon Rondo's team-friendly deal, likely the team's best asset. That could net them draft picks and promising young players, and clear more cap space for a run at one of those summer of 2014 free agents. Boston, despite its rich basketball tradition, has never been a preferred destination for top free agents, however, and that would require Ainge to hit home runs with the youthful assets he would acquire for Rondo, who appears destined to stay put.
The four-year, $36.24MM contract that Jeff Green signed with the Celtics last summer looks like much less of an albatross for the team than it did in the middle of the season. Green's scoring average in games after the All-Star break (17.3) was a whopping seven points higher than it was through the first half of the season. Still, he'll need to show consistency if other teams are to find him an attractive trade asset.
Brandon Bass regressed after a career year in 2011/12, while Jason Terry and Courtney Lee, the two shooting guards the team ostensibly brought in to replace Ray Allen, went through significant declines as well. None of them look like strong trade candidates. Avery Bradley returned from his shoulder injury to play top-notch perimeter defense again, but he regressed offensively and proved incapable of taking over as the team's primary ball-handler in Rondo's absence. That likely limits his trade value, though Ainge probably isn't giving up a starting guard on a rookie contract.
The Celtics are in line to pay the luxury tax unless they waive Pierce, and they'd still be well over the cap even if they save that $10MM+ on him. The team's best bet to upgrade is likely through the mid-level exception. It will be hard to find quality big men on the cheap, particularly if the team is limited to the $3.183MM taxpayer's mid-level instead of the standard $5.15MM exception. Still, someone who can shore up the team's rebounding will no doubt be a priority for Ainge and his staff, which lost assistant GM Ryan McDonough to the Suns. The Heat were the only team to grab fewer rebounds than the Celtics this season, and Boston doesn't have the kind of all-world talent that Miami can call upon to overcome that kind of flaw.
Barring massive improvement by rookies Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo, or midseason acquisitions Shavlik Randolph and D.J. White, the Celtics could also use an inside player to take pressure off Garnett, whose minutes may decline again next season. Ainge acknowledges that the Celtics probably need to add more than a single piece if they're to become a championship contender again. Nonetheless, the clearest path back to the top appears to involve spending the summer on minor changes, rather than an overhaul.
Cap footnotes:
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
As day three of the NBA draft combine comes to a close, updates are still coming in from reporters stationed in Chicago for the event, which runs through Sunday. We covered the news from the first part of the day in this post, and we'll round up additional items here:
Earlier updates:
A Northwest Division team has appeared in the Western Conference Finals four of the last six seasons, but with the top-seeded Thunder on early summer vacation after their loss to the Grizzlies, that trend has come to an end. The focus now shifts to offseason movement, and we've got the latest on a pair of Northwest teams here:
2:52pm: Here are a few more updates out of Chicago:
11:44am: It took us multiple posts yesterday to round up all the tidbits trickling out of Chicago, where the NBA is holding its draft combine this week. We'll see if today is as busy, but in the meantime, here are the latest updates on the 2013 draft:
Let's round up a few Friday morning items out of the Atlantic Division....
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times heard from Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau that Joakim Noah might require surgery on his right foot this summer but will opt for rehab as his first option. Cowley also mentions that Chicago will likely have to find a way to re-tool their bench with several one-year deals again, as Thibodeau said that the market will dictate whether or not they'll be able to carry over several of their key role players - namely Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, and Nazr Mohammed - into next season. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
2:47pm: More afternoon combine updates from Chicago:
1:35pm: We covered the Thursday morning updates from Chicago's predraft camp earlier today, but with so many tidbits surfacing throughout the day, we're starting an afternoon post to round up the latest notes:
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld (via Twitter) hears that David Stern was an active participant in yesterday's vote over Sacramento/Seattle at the Board of Governors meeting. It's worth noting that despite an offer north of $625MM as well as the $115MM relocation fee that would have been included by the Seattle group, Stern was able to sway the vote in Sacramento's direction, even though it appeared that more owners were in favor of Seattle's offer (All Twitter links). Here are a few more miscellaneous tidbits from around the Association tonight:
Celtics GM Danny Ainge has confirmed that Doc Rivers will return to Boston next year as the team's head coach, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). In making the announcement, Ainge added, "We've got a coach everybody would love to have."
While Rivers remains under contract with the Celtics for another three seasons, he cast a little doubt on his future with the club after the Knicks eliminated Boston from the postseason earlier this month. At the time, Washburn reported (via Twitter) that Rivers "wasn't 100% sure" he'd be back with the team next season, and there were also rumors that the Nets would pursue the C's coach if Boston let him out of his contract.
Now that the Celtics know for sure that Rivers will be returning, Ainge and Co. can begin addressing the rest of the questions facing the team. The biggest two question marks involve the futures of Paul Pierce, who has a partially guaranteed contract, and Kevin Garnett, who may end up considering retirement.
11:56am: More A.M. updates out of Chicago:
11:09am: With a number of reporters in attendance at the NBA's predraft camp in Chicago, we're expecting plenty of noteworthy tidbits to trickle in throughout the day. Here's a round-up of the first batch of updates on 2013's draft combine participants:
We could have a fairly clear idea of the two teams that will play for the Eastern Conference title by the end of tonight. The Heat appear on their way to the conference finals with a 3-1 lead against the Bulls, and the Pacers can take a 3-1 lead of their own with a win at home against the Knicks tonight. Of course, we won't know for sure until later this week at the earliest, but if Indiana wins this evening, most of the on-court intrigue will shift to the Spurs-Warriors series in the West. All five open head coaching jobs are in the East, however, and there's news on that along with other notes from around the conference today:
All eyes will be on Clippers guard Chris Paul this summer and while the All-Star has been treated like royalty in L.A. and arguably has been given more pull than any other player in the league when it comes to personnel decisions, it's possible that CP3 will head elsewhere as he looks to win his first NBA title. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld ran down the Clippers' biggest competition and identified the Mavericks, Hawks, Rockets, and Nuggets as the top threats to pull him away from La La Land. Here's tonight's look around the Association as the Clippers gear up for a very interesting summer..
This figures to be a very interesting offseason in Boston and the club may have to turn the page on Paul Pierce and/or Kevin Garnett. Last week, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com ran down some potential offseason targets for the C's, starting with longshot targets like Josh Smith and David West. More realistic possibilities might include O.J. Mayo and Chris Kaman, depending on their cap room situation. Here's more on the Celtics..
After taking a look at the offseason challenges that the Nets will face earlier today, here's more out of the Atlantic..
After spending 17 years playing professional basketball in Europe, Pablo Prigioni has enjoyed his first taste of the NBA this season with the Knicks. Prigioni will be a free agent at season's end, but George Bass, who represents Prigioni, tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that his client is interested in re-signing with the Knicks.
"Pablo really enjoyed himself here, and he has interest in playing again next year," Bass said. "He's fallen in love with New York, there's no doubt. The Knicks are just a first-class organization, so it's been good all the way around."
Here are a few more updates from around the Eastern Conference:
After a night without NBA action, the headlines are a little scarce on this Friday morning. But there are still a handful of notable links to round up, particularly out of the Atlantic Division....
Stan Van Gundy's name has been linked to the head coaching search in Milwaukee and the potential opening in Los Angeles, should the Clippers part ways with Vinny Del Negro, but it doesn't appear he'll be targeted by the Nets. ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported earlier this week that Van Gundy wasn't on Brooklyn's list, and Chris Mannix of SI.com echoed that report on Mike Bianchi's Open Mike radio show in Orlando.
"I've spoken to sources who've told me ... Stan Van Gundy is not a candidate," Mannix said. "It's possible that Jeff Van Gundy could get a call, but from what I understand Stan Van Gundy is not a top candidate for that job."
Here are a few more notes from around the Atlantic Division: