Ray Allen Unsure About Future With Celtics
Ray Allen came close to being traded out of Boston last month, and will again face the possibility of changing teams this summer. Talking to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald about his impending free agency, Allen suggested that he'd prefer not to settle for a one-year deal this offseason.
"I don’t want to go into this season, like I have in past seasons, worrying about whether I was going to be traded or not," Allen said. "For all of us, you deal with that over the course of your career, but wherever I end up after this summer, that has to be the No. 1 mandate. At this time I owe it to my family to be ultimately selfish, because I’ve been a very unselfish team player, and I’ll always do that. But when it comes to myself and my family, I have to make sure that I don’t rock their worlds or put them off kilter in any fashion."
Allen is in his fifth season as a Celtic, having signed a two-year deal in July 2010 to remain in Boston. Asked about whether he'll be wearing a Celtics uniform next season, The 36-year-old said it's "hard to say" and acknowledged that his best chance to earn one final ring could come in another city. Whatever happens this summer, the veteran sharpshooter definitely wants to continue his career, and isn't ready to talk about retirement yet.
"The landscape always changes over the summer," Allen said. "Just from what I see around the NBA, there’s a lot of teams that look forward to having me. I just want to be somewhere where I’m valued, cherished and I can go out and play."
Dwight Howard Out For Season
Dwight Howard will miss the rest of the 2012 season, including the playoffs and upcoming summer Olympics, upon undergoing surgery Friday morning to repair a herniated disk in his back, the center's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com's Ric Bucher.
The injury has already forced Howard to miss eight games this season, which is one more than he missed in his first seven seasons combined. His total of 621 games and 22,471 minutes is the most by a center in his first eight seasons in the modern era of the NBA, Bucher writes.
With this news, the Magic are almost surely a one and done team once the playoffs start, but looking at it from a wider angle, how Howard's health holds up after surgery may now slightly alter his stature as one of the NBA's most sought after free agent acquisitions in 2013. According to Howard, doctors have told him he'll be ready to play basketball in four months, in time for next season's training camp. (Twitter link.)
After exercising his player option at this year's trade deadline, the center will remain under contract with the Magic next season, but beyond that remains a mystery. Howard averaged 20.6 PPG and a league leading 14.5 RPG in one of the most tumultuous seasons a player has endured off the court in recent memory.
Trail Blazers Deny They’ve Inquired About Kupchak
In a report by the Associated Press, the Trail Blazers denied having contacted the Lakers about their general manager, Mitch Kupchak. An earlier report suggested that the Blazers were interested in interviewing the Lakers GM for Portland's open position, but so far at least, the Blazers don't seem to have asked permission for an interview.
Portland president Larry Miller said the team will not disclose any specific candidates, but said no person has been interviewed for the position by owner Paul Allen yet. The team is currently under the supervision of interim GM Chad Buchanan, who took over for current Bobcats GM Rich Cho last year. With approximately $25MM in cap space this offseason, the possibility of two lottery picks, a loyal fan base, and a franchise player in LaMarcus Aldridge, being the general manager of the Trail Blazers would appear to be a desirable position, but Allen's unpredictable and unexpected front office personnel decisions in recent years has made the situation quite volatile.
Miller doesn't see it that way. "I think people realize that we're in a good position going into the offseason with the picks that we potentially have, with the cap space that we have. I think it's an attractive situation for somebody. I've gotten no feedback from anyone that people are concerned with where we are. To me, if anything, it's just the opposite."
Odds & Ends: Parker, Collison, Magic
In an article by the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins, Stan Van Gundy explained that the injury to Hedo Turkoglu has caused major defensive issues for the Magic that the team should be able to overcome by the playoffs.
- With Darren Collison suffering from a groin injury that could force him to miss the start of the playoffs, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel isn't sure if Collison will get his starting job back once he returns.
- SI.com's Sam Amick writes about Tony Parker, and how his recent play has gone beyond anybody's greatest expectations.
- FoxSportsOhio.com's Sam Amico does his most recent mock draft.
- Alan Anderson and the Raptors could have a relationship that goes beyond this season.
- Deputy commissioner Adam Silver says that despite the success in attendance and ratings the league has seen with its shortened season, the NBA still prefers an 82-game regular season as opposed to this year's 66.
- Despite the Pistons decision to switch their lineups around in a peculiar way, head coach Lawrence Frank says they aren't tanking games on purpose, according to MLive.com's David Mayo.
- Nate Robinson says he'd love to stay with the Warriors next season and beyond (Twitter link), but isn't getting his hopes up. The guard has played for four teams in the past three years.
- Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari has had some rough shooting nights in recent games, but as long as his team wins game, he couldn't care less, according to Nuggets.com's Aaron J. Lopez.
Celtics Close To Signing Sean Williams
With a notoriously depleted front court that's forced Kevin Garnett to man the center position, the Celtics are close to signing free agent center Sean Williams, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. To make room, Boston will waive Jermaine O'Neal.
After playing eight games with Dallas earlier this season, Williams was waived by the Mavericks on March 22. The timing fortuitously came just one day before the league's deadline to give Williams eligibility to play beyond the regular season and into the playoffs for the Celtics.
With the foul prone Greg Stiemsma serving as Garnett's backup, and the recently signed Ryan Hollins filling in as the team's emergency big man, the signing of Williams gives Boston an athletic 25-year-old center to help in case the team suffers yet another injury during the postseason.
Cavaliers To Part Ways With Lester Hudson
As Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer speculated as a possibility earlier today, the Cavaliers have decided not to renew Lester Hudson's contract for the rest of the season (Twitter link). It appears the combo guard could be headed to another team, although it's not certain where at this time. One of this season's more successful 10-day contract signings, it's believed that Hudson and his representatives felt as though he was deserving of a guaranteed contract beyond the rest of this season, and, clearly, the Cavaliers felt differently.
The 27-year-old Hudson is averaging 12.7 PPG on 39.1% shooting since joining the team with his first of two 10-day contracts on March 30. The Cavs are 3-10 since he came aboard to help shore up a backcourt that has seen rookie of the year favorite Kyrie Irving go down with a shoulder injury, and his former backup, Ramon Sessions, off playing for the Lakers.
Odds & Ends: Magloire, Curry, Hudson, Stiemsma
A few Thursday odds and ends from around the Association….
- The Raptors hope to bring Jamaal Magloire back next season, coach Dwane Casey tells Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
- Stephen Curry told reporters, including Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, that "it would be great" if he and the Warriors could work out a contract extension this year. However, he acknowledged that it may be difficult for the two sides to agree on his value right now, given his injury-plagued 2011/12 campaign.
- Lester Hudson's second 10-day contract with the Cavaliers has expired and Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wonders if he'll be re-signed. It's believed that Hudson is drawing interest from teams besides Cleveland, says Reed.
- If you're going to tank to score a good draft position, this is the year to do it, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
- Greg Stiemsma is "absolutely" interested in returning to the Celtics next season, as he tells Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com.
- Hornets GM Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams deserve to be retained by new ownership, writes John DeShazier of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Blazers Have Strong Interest In Mitch Kupchak
In their latest report for ESPN.com, Chris Broussard and Marc Stein introduce a new name to the list of candidates for the Trail Blazers' general manager opening: current Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. According to the report, the Blazers have "strong interest" in interviewing Kupchak for the position.
The Blazers re-opened their search for a permanent GM late last month. The team has been interviewing candidates for the position, though presumed top choice Steve Kerr has said he's not interested.
It's not known whether Kupchak would have interest in the Blazers' job or whether the Lakers would be open to granting permission for an interview. Kupchak has served as the Lakers' GM since 2000, though as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out (via Twitter), he doesn't necessarily have the same decision-making power as some other GMs, due to the presence of Jim Buss. The Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel is widely considered to have the deciding vote on basketball decisions.
Latest On Dwight Howard, Stan Van Gundy
After reporting earlier this week that Dwight Howard no longer wants to play for coach Stan Van Gundy and may sit out the playoffs as a result, David Pingalore of WKMG 6 in Orlando now says Howard called Magic owner Rich DeVos to say he wouldn't play for Van Gundy anymore.
Pingalore was the first to report that Howard had asked the Magic to fire Van Gundy, and his story earlier this week wasn't initially disputed. However, a number of outlets are refuting his latest report. ESPN.com's Michael Wallace hears from multiple sources that Howard didn't make such a statement to DeVos, with one of D12's representative calling it a "completely made-up, BS story."
Sam Amick of SI.com also hears from sources "close to the situation" that Pingalore's report is inaccurate, while the Orlando Sentinel reported that "Howard’s camp is adamant that the All-NBA center wants to return for the postseason."
I believe Howard's herniated disc is a serious enough health issue that it could prevent him from playing in the postseason, no matter how badly he wants to return. If he sits out in the playoffs, I don't necessarily think it'll have anything to do with Van Gundy. But even if there's no truth to the latest rumblings of discord between the Magic coach and superstar, it's very hard to imagine the pair coexisting in Orlando past this season.
Early Bird Rights
Ideally, if a team is interested in re-signing its own free agent at any cost, the player will have earned Bird rights, allowing his club to offer up to the maximum salary to retain him. However, there are also salary cap exceptions available for signing players who have yet to earn full Bird rights. One lesser exception is the Early Bird, available for players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
Whereas the Bird exception requires a player to spend three seasons with his club without being waived or changing teams as a free agent, Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three. Players still see their Bird clocks restart by being claimed off waivers, changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves limits on contract offers. While Bird players can receive maximum salary deals for up to five years, the Early Bird exception cannot be used to offer a max deal. The most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent is 175% of his previous salary or the league-average salary, whichever is greater. These offers are also capped at four years rather than five.
One example of a player who will earn Early Bird rights after this season is the Knicks' Landry Fields. Fields is in his second season in New York without having being waived, and isn't on a rookie contract. As such, the Knicks could use the Early Bird exception this summer to offer up to the league-average salary to keep Fields in New York for up to four more years. While Fields likely won't receive an offer that large, having the ability to use this exception means the Knicks won't have to dip into their mid-level to retain the 23-year-old.
The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.