Notable April Extensions
April is a time when most teams have set their rosters and are either making a playoff push or evaluating the assets they have going into the offseason. That doesn't mean front offices are ghost towns this time of year, and last couple of April have featured some notable contract extensions. No such deals are on the horizon this year, but let's take a look back and see how these late-season decisions have panned out for teams and players:
- On April 2, 2010, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers agreed to a three-year, $83.5MM extension that kicked in this season. It's certainly paying dividends for L.A. so far, as Bryant is leading the league with 28.1 PPG and averaging 38.4 MPG, almost five more minutes a game more than last season despite the condensed schedule. Though he's missed the last few games with an injury to his shin, Bryant, 33, has looked as spry and healthy as ever after receiving experimental treatment on his knees in the offseason. The team expects Bryant to continue playing after the extension is up, and seems committed to making him a Laker for life. We'll see come 2014, but for now, it seems Bryant is content and will continue to produce for L.A. as one of the NBA's highest paid players.
- Manu Ginobili and the Spurs agreed to a three-year, $38.9MM extension April 8, 2010. The deal makes him the highest paid player on the Spurs aside from Tim Duncan, giving him more per year than Tony Parker. It took effect last season, when Ginobili became more of a focal point of the offense, taking the second greatest number of shots per game in his career (5.5) and delivering his second highest scoring average (17.4). He also tied a career high with 4.9 APG. A full-time starter last season, he's most appeared off the bench this year, and his numbers have tailed off, in part due to a broken left hand and a strained left oblique that caused him to miss significant time. Still, Ginobili is making a career-best 51.3% of his shots from the floor, and the Spurs continue to win, so the deal continues to look smart for both sides.
- Marcus Camby signed an incentive-laden two-year extension with the Blazers on April 20, 2010. The base pay is $17.7MM, and there was $7.8MM available to Camby if he reached certain benchmarks, though at least $1.49MM of that won't be claimed. The Blazers sent Camby to the Rockets in March, the same month the veteran big man turned 38. He's seen fewer minutes the past two seasons, but will go into free agency this summer having proven he's still one of the league's most effective rebounders. In fact, he's averaged more than 14 rebounds per 36 minutes during the extension, a number he had never before reached. He led the NBA in blocks per game four times, and has averaged 1.8 blocks a night with Houston. His board work and basket protection were certainly assets that helped the Blazers claim a playoff spot last year, and it appears the same will be true for the Rockets this season. Still, his likely incentives push his cap hold to more than $11.2MM this season, and it's probably a stretch to say someone who plays only about half the game and is not much of an offensive factor is worth that amount of money.
- One year to the day after the Blazers extended Camby, Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies agreed to a four-year, $66MM extension that begins this season. The final year is a player option, and the $66MM figure doesn't include $1.25MM per year in unlikely incentives. It represented quite a comeback for Randolph, whom the Clippers saw as expendable before trading him straight up for Quentin Richardson in the summer of 2009. With the ink barely dry on the extension, Randolph powered Memphis to an unlikely playoff run last year, averaging 22.2 PPG and 10.8 RPG in 13 postseason games. A knee injury caused Randolph to miss most of the deal's first year, however, and he's putting up his lowest scoring and rebounding numbers in nine years as coach Lionel Hollins works him back in a bench role. I doubt that, with the money he's making, Randolph will be out of the starting lineup for too long. Injuries happen, but it's disconcerting to see Randolph go down in just the first year of his deal. Even at 30 years old, he carries 253 pounds on his 6'9" frame, and it makes you wonder what condition his knees will be in come 2015.
Tony Mitchell Expected To Enter Draft
North Texas power forward Tony Mitchell is "almost certainly" going pro, reports Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (via Twitter). The move comes on the heels of LSU hiring North Texas coach Johnny Jones to take over its program. Givony says Mitchell may reconsider if North Texas hires one of Jones' assistants, but calls a change of heart unlikely.
The 6'9", 220-pound Mitchell is ranked No. 26 on the Draft Express list of the top 100 prospects. The site projected him to go eighth in the 2013 draft and NBADraft.net has him at No. 7 if he stays in for one more year, so coming out early may adversely affect his draft position. Nonetheless, he could still wind up as a first-round selection, putting him in line for a guaranteed contract.
Mitchell was one of the top players coming out of high school in 2010, but academic issues cost him the entire 2010/11 season. This year, he put up 14.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG and 3.0 blocks per game for the Mean Green, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference.
Pacific Rumors: Whiteside, Odom, Nash, Dragic
The top three teams in the Pacific Division are all scrambling for playoff position in the season's final two weeks, as the Lakers and Clippers go after the division title while the Suns, who get free-agent-to-be Grant Hill back from knee surgery tonight, are just looking to qualify for the postseason. Here's the latest from the West Coast:
- Kings reserve center Hassan Whiteside will miss the rest of the season with a severe ankle sprain, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). Whiteside has two years left on his contract at less than $1M each, but they're not guaranteed if he's waived before July 15. The 2010 second round pick has played in just 19 games for Sacramento, with much of his action coming in the past two months. He's averaged 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in just 6.1 MPG this season.
- Lamar Odom has close ties to Warriors assistant coach Jerry DeGregorio, who was the best man in his wedding to Khloe Kardashian, notes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. Earlier this week we passed along that Odom is on Golden State's radar.
- Point guards Goran Dragic and Steve Nash will both hit the free agent market this summer, but they aren't letting the notion that they may be competing for dollars get in the way of their mutual admiration from their time together with the Suns, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Blake Griffin, who'll be a free agent after next season, has taken some criticism this year, and SI.com's Sam Amick takes a lengthy look at how the reigning Rookie of the Year is dealing with increased expectations of himself and the Clippers this season.
Sacramento Arena Updates: Friday
Yesterday, the Kings' owners began making their case to the NBA's Board of Governors that the Sacramento arena plan should be renegotiated, while 25 Sacramento business people sent a letter to NBA commissioner David Stern asking him to consider new ownership for the Kings. Meanwhile, after initially saying the city wouldn't be represented in New York, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson was expected to fly in to join the meetings between the Maloofs and the league. As the drama continues in New York, we'll follow today's updates here, with the latest up top:
- Moving to Anaheim remains an option for the Kings, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Honda Center in Anaheim is undergoing a $20MM renovation to make it "NBA-ready," and Fox Sports West, which is losing Lakers games after this year, would pay a premium for Kings TV rights if they were to move south, Markazi notes (Twitter links).
- League executives are well aware of the Maloofs' financial struggles and wouldn't mind seeing them sell the team, says Sam Amick of SI.com in this video. Amick predicts the Maloofs will wind up selling, which he says would please Johnson and the Sacramento fans.
Blazers Notes: GM Candidates, Walsh, Thomas
The Blazers are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but they're a team that figures to make plenty of news in the next several months. They could get a high draft pick from the Nets and will have ample room under the cap to sign free agents this summer, but before they address those matters, they probably need to solidify their front office first. Here's the latest from the City of Roses:
- Team president Larry Miller conducted two more interviews for the GM position by phone while in New York for the Board of Governors meeting, reports Jason Quick of The Oregonian (via Twitter). Miller said earlier in the week that he'd already interviewed a pair of candidates, though he insists the team may simply keep interim GM Chad Buchanan.
- Agent Steve Kauffman says veteran GM Donnie Walsh, currently a consultant with the Knicks, has not interviewed for the position, Quick also tweets.
- Kurt Thomas, at 39, is the league's oldest player and hasn't played in the last seven games as the Blazers take a closer look at second-year man Luke Babbitt and impending free agent J.J. Hickson. Still, he's not thinking retirement, and with one more season left on his current contract, he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, "I can definitely see myself playing past this deal, but I'll wait and see how I feel when that time comes.”
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Odom, Nets, Woodson
The Celtics look to move one step closer to clinching the Atlantic Division and first-round home-court advantage when they play the shorthanded Raptors in Toronto tonight. Here's the latest on Toronto and a few other Atlantic teams:
- Andrea Bargnani will be shut down for the season with a left calf injury, the Raptors announced today in a team release. Considering where the team sits in the standings, the decision likely has as much to do with securing a good draft pick as it does with Bargnani's calf.
- The Mavericks could potentially have avoided a good deal of drama if the Lakers' trade for Chris Paul had gone through in December. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Lamar Odom would have been sent to the Nets if that Paul deal had gone through. The Hornets, knowing Odom wouldn't be happy in New Orleans, had a deal in place to trade Odom for a future first-round pick, says Stein.
- Nets coach Avery Johnson had a two-hour meeting with majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov this week about the future of the team, writes Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
- Making Mike Woodson the full-time coach rather than bringing in a big-name candidate this summer would give the Knicks a chance for stability, says Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Prospect Profile: Royce White
When Iowa State forward Royce White declared his intent to enter this year's draft, Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports reported that several NBA executives believed the sophomore had worked himself into the first round. White's strong showing in the NCAA tournament included averages of 19 points and 11 rebounds per game against UConn and Kentucky.
There's no question that the 6'8" forward has first-round talent. ESPN.com's Chad Ford ranks White 20th overall among this year's prospects, while DraftExpress.com has him at 25th. White's versatility is his biggest strength — in addition to averaging nearly 10 boards a game at Iowa State and potentially having the size to play power forward (he's listed between 240 and 270 lbs), the 21-year-old also has the ability to bring the ball up the floor, occasionally acting as a point forward.
While Ford praises White's LeBron James-esque ability to handle the ball, shoot the three, post up, and rebound, he notes that White lacks LeBron's athletic ability. DraftExpress' scouting report also suggests that the Cyclone appears to be a little overweight, though it hasn't seemed to hamper his mobility so far.
His on-court ability would likely make White a mid-to-late first-round pick, but NBA teams will have a couple complications to consider when it comes to White's whole package. For one, White was forced to sit out his freshman year at Minnesota due to legal troubles, raising red flags about his off-court behavior.
More compellingly, White suffers from an anxiety disorder that includes a fear of flying, as Scott Howard-Cooper chronicled in a piece for NBA.com this week. Although White says his panic attacks are less frequent these days, one such attack resulted in him deciding to transfer to Iowa State rather than Kentucky, since the thought of flying to Lexington caused him to call off his decision to become a Wildcat.
While White may not have the lottery appeal that other high-risk, high-reward players like Andre Drummond or Perry Jones III do, he could certainly turn out to be a tremendous value this June. If concerns about his mental status outweigh the appeals of his physical talent, White could slip out of the first round and into the second.
"I think some teams will be discouraged by it," one NBA GM told Howard-Cooper, referring to White's anxiety disorder. "It's kind of one of those things that's almost like a guy that's had a bunch of off-court issues. Does the talent level trump the other issues you're going to have to deal with? I think Royce is a great player, but I'm not sure that the talent level is going to trump some of the other issues. I think some teams will take a pass in that range. I can see him in the second round at the end of the day."
Players have certainly had their NBA careers derailed by less significant issues than White's anxiety disorder, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the 21-year-old find a way to work through his fear of flying and everything else to become a legit NBA contributor.
White is a good bet to be drafted by either a playoff team or a non-playoff team making its second pick, which should reduce the pressure he'll face when he enters the Association. If everything goes right, I can see the Iowa State product developing into a Boris Diaw-like player who can be slotted in at a number of different positions and will fill up a stat sheet with more than just points and rebounds.
Stern On Brooklyn, Ads on Jerseys, Kings, Maloofs
In a press conference today at the NBA's Board of Governors meetings, commissioner David Stern introduced new Hornets owner Tom Benson and addressed a number of other topics. Here are a few highlights, with all links going to Twitter:
- Stern called Benson the "perfect owner" for the Hornets.
- The board formally approved the Nets' move to Brooklyn and the name change to the Brooklyn Nets.
- Advertising on jerseys was discussed, but is unlikely to go anywhere before next season.
- Stern viewed the Kings' arena agreement as non-binding and said it was fair for the Maloofs to back out. He wishes they'd made that decision a little sooner, since it could have saved "a lot of angst and trouble," but he's very protective of their rights as owners to make the decision they did.
- Stern is "hopeful" but "not optimistic" about the talks between Sacramento and the Kings, saying that there was nothing more the league could do. J.A. Adande of ESPN.com notes that the commissioner seemed to be using the past tense a lot in discussing the arena situation.
- While he was respectful of the Kings' owners, Stern used the term "ill grace" frequently when discussing the Maloofs' economist, who argued the arena plan would put Sacramento in dire financial straits. The commissioner added that he believes the Maloofs when they say they want to keep their team in Sacramento, but refused to speculate on whether the Kings would remain in the city past next season.
- Stern's future as commissioner was not discussed with the Board of Governors.
Draft Notes: Kentucky, Leslie, Taylor, Drummond
Two lottery picks officially entered the draft today, in Andre Drummond and Bradley Beal. As the 2012 class continues to expand, let's round up a few of today's draft-related items….
- At Rivals.com, Brett Dawson writes that Kentucky coach John Calipari is anticipating losing five underclassmen to the NBA draft — Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, and Terrence Jones.
- Sophomore C.J. Leslie, ranked 34th among this year's prospects by DraftExpress.com, is undecided on his future, tweets Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. People close to Leslie think he's a good bet to return to N.C. State.
- Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor has signed B.J. Armstrong as his agent, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter). The senior point guard is ranked 68th by DraftExpress.
- A lot of teams rank Kentucky's Davis as a better prospect than former first overall pick Blake Griffin was, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Howard-Cooper spoke to one executive who cited "substance over style" when comparing Davis to Griffin (Twitter link).
- Drummond has "other-worldly" potential and will be a top-five pick, an NBA scout told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Tom Benson To Buy Hornets For $338MM
The days of referring to the "league-owned" New Orleans Hornets are coming to an end. The NBA has reached an agreement with New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, who will buy the Hornets for $338MM, reports TNT's David Aldridge. Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune first reported that Benson was expected to become the team's new owner, and commissioner David Stern officially made the announcement today.
The NBA's Board of Governors made the decision after having narrowed down the bids for the Hornets to two. Benson and a group led by swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal were vying for ownership of the franchise, which the NBA bought for $318MM in 2010. While the NFL has rules about cross-ownership, the league allows ownership of a team in another league if the two franchises are in the same city, like the Hornets and Saints.
According to Aldridge, Benson will have to pay about 10% of the $338MM immediately. The NBA's Finance Committee is expected to approve the sale today, with final approval coming later in the spring. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reported this morning that a new TV deal for the Hornets has also been consummated.
When Benson takes over the Hornets, he'll have a number of decisions to make. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News reported yesterday that Hornets management was nervous about Bhathal's group taking over, since the group included Mike Dunleavy, who likely would've wanted to clean house. It's not known how Benson will feel about retaining free agents such as Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, and Carl Landry. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that coach Monty Williams and GM Dell Demps are expected to have a good chance to keep their jobs.
The Hornets' arena lease, which Benson will assume, will keep the team in New Orleans through 2024. Whether or not they'll remain the Hornets that long is unknown. Kevin Spain of the Times-Picayune asked readers today whether Benson should keep the name or change it to something that is "more New Orleans."