Gani Lawal's NBA resume is about as scant as can be, having totaled two minutes in one game for the Suns in the 2010/11 season. That could be about to change, as a strong showing in Europe this year has prompted the Pacers, Raptors and Magic to schedule workouts with the 6'9" power forward, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Four or five other teams have also discussed bringing Lawal in for a look, Charania adds.
Lawal has spent this season in Italy with Virtus Roma, notching 13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. According to Charania, the 24-year-old has lost weight and added strength since his stint with the Suns, who drafted him with the 46th overall pick out of Georgia Tech in 2010. He was in training camp with the Spurs in 2011, but San Antonio cut him before the start of the regular season.
I'd expect him to be in line for another training camp invitation this time around, perhaps with a small partial guarantee. That he's sparked interest this early in the offseason suggests he could be one of the top free agents from outside the NBA, but I don't think he'll merit much more than the minimum salary unless he's especially impressive in his workouts. That's just my speculation, of course, and Lawal appears to be in line for plenty of opportunities this summer to show NBA teams what he can do.
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:
Stan Van Gundy is indicating to teams that he doesn't want to return to coaching for the 2013/14 season, and he hasn't had any formal interviews, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. That conflicts with the news we heard earlier today that Van Gundy had formally interviewed with the Hawks. He was also reportedly in Milwaukee a week ago to meet with the Bucks, though a later dispatch said that he declined to interview with that team. Robbins writes that Van Gundy has merely accepted calls from a pair of GMs.
There appears to be plenty of demand for the former Magic boss, who has also been linked to the Nets and Clippers in recent weeks. One rumor suggested that he's holding out to see whether the Clippers job will come open, but Robbins' piece doesn't make it seem as though that's the case. Van Gundy did some college basketball broadcasting work this past year, but has otherwise appeared content away from the game.
Robbins laments that Van Gundy's unwillingness to return will extinguish any chance that Van Gundy and Dwight Howard will reunite in the near future, perhaps with the Hawks. The coach and player, combatants in a war of words last season in Orlando, appear to have made amends, and Howard would benefit from the chance to work with Van Gundy again, Robbins believes.
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:
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:
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:
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski looks back to June 2011, when Warriors' GM Bob Myers had worries about not being able to select Klay Thompson knowing that either the Spurs could possibly trade up in the draft to get him or that the Bucks were planning to select him with the 10th overall pick. As it would turn out, San Antonio would wind up trading for the 15th pick (Kawhi Leonard) and the Kings landed the 10th pick to select Jimmer Fredette, leaving the sharpshooting Washington State forward right into the hands of Golden State. Here are a few more miscellaneous notes to share along this evening:
Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.
While fans of playoff teams are watching to see if their favorite clubs can make it through to the second round, fans of lottery teams are still playing the waiting game. May 21st's draft lottery is still almost three weeks away, but at least this year's draft class has been finalized, with the NBA announcing this year's complete list of early entrants yesterday. As lottery teams continue to look ahead to the combine and lottery on the way later this month, here are a few draft-related updates:
J.R. Smith is likely to opt out of his deal for next season with the Knicks, and once he does, he'll be looking for a long-term deal, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. While Smith's comments suggest he'd favor the Knicks over other teams, New York can't do any better than a four-year deal worth about $25MM, since they only have his Early Bird rights. As our Ryan Raroque surmised when he looked at Smith's free agent stock, the Sixth Man of the Year will be able to command a hefty raise on his $2.8MM salary this season. We'll soon find out whether the Knicks' best offer will be enough.
Washburn has more on the NBA as part of his weekly column, and we'll round that up along with other Sunday afternoon tidbits here:
The Cavaliers bringing Mike Brown back as coach in an effort to woo LeBron James in the summer of 2014 is just the latest example of the NBA being a player's league, writes Jan Hubbard of Sheridan Hoops. Of course, Brown was fired three years ago in an effort to appease James, but since the star appears to be fond of him once again, Cleveland hopes that the hire will be enough to move the needle in their direction. Here's more from around the league..
Here's a look at the Southeast Division as the Heat look to go up 2-0 on the Bucks..
The playoffs are under way, and the Knicks have drawn first blood, going up 1-0 in their series against the Celtics. That's not the only playoff game in the Big Apple today, as the Nets take on the Bulls tonight in Brooklyn for Game 1 of their series. We rounded up news on New York's pair of NBA teams this morning, and we'll broaden the focus to the Eastern Conference as a whole here:
The future of the Kings was far from the only issue on the table at the NBA's Board of Governors meeting this week. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt rounds up the other issues that owners discussed, including human growth hormone testing for players, the effect of widespread reliance on three-pointers, and the possibility of a joint bid for the 2015 All-Star Game between New York and Brooklyn. Here's more from the Association on the eve of the playoffs:
With the 2012/13 season officially over for 14 NBA teams, it's been a busy Thursday around the league, as teams look toward the offseason changes on the way in the coming weeks and months. Three Eastern Conference teams have parted ways with their head coaches, but that's not all that's going on in the conference today. Here are a few more Eastern updates:
There's a race to the bottom in the Southeast Division tonight, with the Magic and the Bobcats vying for the greatest number of ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. The Hawks have playoff seeding at stake, but judging by their effort in a loss against the Raptors last night, they may not have any more motivation to win than Orlando and Charlotte do. While we wait to see how it all turns out, here's the latest from around the Southeast:
As Tuesday night winds down, here are some odds and ends from around the NBA:
Kevin Love seemed optimistic about being able to bounce back from a difficult season with the best offseason of his life, writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. He also spoke about his desire for Rick Adelman to continue coaching the team, saying: "We need to have him back...I know his family comes first, but hopefully we can sit down and talk to him. This year has given us a lot of perspective, and hopefully he can see we have the making of a very good team here. We can make a push and have a special year next year...I think he’ll come back.”
You can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links below:
This time last year, it seemed Bucks GM John Hammond's job was on the line as the team chased the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The team fell short last year, but Hammond kept his job, and now the Bucks are in line for that eighth seed in the East. In the meantime, Hammond has been busy, having changed coaches, signed a three-year extension, and traded for J.J. Redick. There's plenty more work ahead, as the team's top three guards could all hit free agency this summer, and a decision on an extension for Larry Sanders looms. HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram caught up with Hammond, who reflected on some of what he's done.
On the Redick trade:
"We were hoping to make the playoffs. We thought adding a piece like J.J. Redick could help solidify that opportunity for us and he has. He’s been a great addition to our team. We’re also happy to have Gustavo (Ayon) and Ish Smith. It might be easy to forget about Gustavo and his abilities. We like him as a player, but it was a difficult trade to make to say the least. To move a piece like Tobias Harris and Doron Lamb; we like both those players, both good young players, but we felt at that time it was the right thing for our organization."
On Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles as head coach in January:
"Jim’s done a nice job with the team and I think we’re all seeing these situations that have occurred. It’s not a rarity in the NBA to have something like this happen. It’s not normalcy, but it’s not rarity by any stretch, so it happens. Most of the times when these sort of things happen, the situation goes south and goes south very quickly, but Jim has done a great job of working with our guys and communicating with our guys and motivating them to play hard. He deserves a lot of credit."
On the development of Sanders, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate:
"You draft Larry with the 15th pick and you’re hoping that when you used a first-round pick on a player that they turn out to be a location guy or better yet a starter, and Larry has turned out to be a significant piece of our team and a part of our team. Obviously, he’s one of the better shot blockers in the NBA. It’s been great for Larry, but he’s just taking advantage of the opportunity, and I think his game still has a chance to change and grow, and he’ll continue to develop as a player."
After failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2000, the Mavericks will be opportunistic as they look to upgrade their roster this summer, Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, vowing that the team will be better next year.
"We maximized for the first generation of Dirk [Nowitzki]'s golden years to win a championship," Cuban said. "So we'll do our best for his second generation of golden years and then the next generation and the next generation until he runs out of golden years."
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA: