Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Terry, Blazers, Howard
Let's round up a few Wednesday afternoon odds and ends from around the league….
- After former Bobcats coach Larry Brown ripped Michael Jordan for surrounding himself with "yes men" who don't challenge him, the Bobcats owner fired back in an interview with Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Jordan denied that his top executives are afraid to tell him no, and suggested that Brown may still be wounded by losing his job in Charlotte.
- Jason Terry, who hasn't been shy about discussing his impending free agency this year, is focusing on the Mavericks' title defense rather than the upcoming summer, says Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com wonders if the Trail Blazers may have the best candidate for their general manager opening right under their noses, in Chad Buchanan.
- The fact that Dwight Howard won't rejoin the Magic this season is the latest indication that "Dwight and the Magic are officially separated and will soon file for divorce," writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Tyson Chandler was happy to hear that the Knicks named Glen Grunwald their permanent GM, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
Minor Moves: Eyenga, Joseph, Wright
We'll track the latest notable international and D-League-related transactions right here, with the newest up top:
- Christian Eyenga practiced with the Lakers today and is expected to play tomorrow in Sacramento, tweets Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. Eyenga, who was acquired along with Ramon Sessions at the trade deadline, had been playing with the D-League's D-Fenders since the deal, but persumably has now been recalled.
- The Spurs have recalled Cory Joseph from their D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, the Spurs announced today. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News first tweeted that the move was expected, noting that it wouldn't bode well for the Toros in the D-League Finals. As our log of D-League assignments and recalls shows, Joseph has been optioned to Austin three times this season, so he won't be able to rejoin the Toros again for the end of their season.
- Former 15th-overall pick Antoine Wright has signed with Venezuelan team Guaiqueries de Margarita, the team announced (hat tip to Sportando). Wright, 28, had joined the D-League earlier this season in hopes of making it back to the NBA.
Latest On Discord In Players Union
The turmoil among NBPA leadership continues to dominate headlines as the Association hopes to turn the focus to its postseason, which will get underway this weekend. Here are today's updates on the conflict involving Derek Fisher, Billy Hunter, and the NBA players union, with the latest up top:
- A lengthy Yahoo! Sports investigation delves deep into how exactly Hunter's relatives are connected to the players union. Adrian Wojnarowski and Rand Getlin report that the NBPA executive director sought a $7MM+ investment from the union for a bank with ties to his son.
- The union's executive committee sent out a memo to player representatives that depicted union president Fisher as a "rogue leader who has been deliquent in his duties since the end of the lockout," reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The memo says the executive committee has become "increasingly concerned" by Fisher's actions and presents a timeline of events that led them to call for Fisher's resignation.
- Hunter defended himself against accusations of nepotism, telling Howard Beck of the New York Times that "there's nothing illegal" about a payroll that includes a number of Hunter's relatives, who he says are highly qualified for their positions.
- At the Huffington Post, Etan Thomas, a member of the executive committee, wrote an open letter to Hunter and Fisher calling out both men for their recent actions and imploring Fisher to resign.
Pacific Notes: World Peace, Olshey, Smart
When the NBA announced yesterday that it had suspended Metta World Peace seven games for his elbow on James Harden, it was a lesser punishment than many expected. Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote last night that the Association missed its chance to send a strong message by hitting the Lakers veteran with a more significant penalty, perhaps banning him from the postseason.
NBA commissioner David Stern defended the league's decision today, saying that a number of factors were considered and that seven games were "larger than some people might have thought from just an elbow" (Twitter links). Stern also hinted that the suspension may have been longer during the regular season, since seven games at this time of year is more significant than it would be earlier in the season (Twitter link).
As we debate whether the punishment for the forward formerly known as Ron Artest was too lenient, too strict, or just right, here are the rest of today's notes out of the Pacific:
- World Peace will forfeit nearly $348K in salary due to the suspension, according to Mike Breshanan of the Los Angeles Times.
- Does Neil Olshey have a chance to win NBA's executive of the year award? Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com examines the case for the Clippers GM.
- Kings coach Keith Smart plans to bring back his entire coaching staff next season, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Most of Smart's assistant coaches were in place before he took over for Paul Westphal.
Draft Updates: Mitchell, Robinson, Hornets
With just two nights left in the 2011/12 regular season, the draft lottery waters are still fairly murky. While the Bobcats and Wizards are locked in with the league's worst and second-worst records, six teams have between 21 and 23 wins. Games like tonight's Wizards/Cavaliers matchup and tomorrow's Nets/Raptors contest will go a long way to clearing up the lottery picture, with tiebreaking coin flips coming on Friday. Until then, be sure to check out our tentative draft order and our breakdown of just how the lottery works.
Here are today's draft-related items:
- Two Tony Mitchells were candidates to be drafted this season, and while Tony Mitchell of Alabama has declared his intent, Tony Mitchell of North Texas will return to school, tweets Jonathon Givony of DraftExpress.com. It was first reported earlier in April that Mitchell had decided to return to North Texas, but he seemed to be wavering after coach Johnny Jones was hired away by LSU. The North Texas freshman had been ranked 26th by DraftExpress' among this year's top 100 prospects.
- Thomas Robinson has hired agent Tony Dutt and Rivals Sports Group, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (via Twitter). Robinson will almost certainly be a top five pick in June, and could go as high as number two overall.
- In an Insider piece, David Thorpe of ESPN.com examines the Hornets' needs as the team heads into the draft armed with a pair of lottery picks.
Kevin Love Will Lobby For Offseason Moves
Kevin Love will be in line for a big raise next season when his new contract extension kicks in, but the Timberwolves should still have some flexibility to make roster moves. If the T-Wolves choose not to retain free agents like Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph or partially-guaranteed players like Martell Webster, the team could have nearly $10MM in cap room, and Love would like to see them take advantage of it.
"I think we just need to make some moves," Love told Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, adding that he will encourage management to be aggressive in acquiring veterans.
Minnesota's own first-round pick will head to New Orleans, but the team will have Utah's first-rounder, which figures to take up some cap room. Between the draft pick and cap holds, the team won't have a ton of space to pursue high-end free agents, and Zgoda believes that a trade may be more likely than a free agent signing for the Wolves, perhaps for a player like the Rockets' Kevin Martin. Still, coach Rick Adelman thinks Minnesota's young core could attract free agents.
"When you look at Kevin and you look at Ricky [Rubio] and the style that we're going to play, it's going to be good," Adelman said. "I think people will look at it. We have some pieces people would like to play with. I mean, this team was pretty good not long ago and let's face it, guys like to get paid. So if you can pay 'em and you have some people around? There are some positives here."
The Timberwolves recently exercised their 2012/13 option on GM David Kahn, so he'll be responsible for attempting to improve a roster that looked like a playoff contender this season, prior to Rubio's season-ending ACL injury.
NBA Draft Lottery
The NBA draft lottery is the league's way of determining the draft order and disincentivizing second-half tanking. The lottery gives each of the 14 non-playoff teams a chance to land one of the top three picks in the draft.
Although the top three picks of each draft are up for grabs via the lottery, the remaining order is determined by record, worst to best. The league's worst team isn't guaranteed a top-three spot in the draft, but has the best chance to land the first overall pick and will receive the fourth overall selection at worst.
The first three picks are determined by a draw of ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14. Four balls are drawn, resulting in a total of 1,001 possible outcomes. 1,000 of those outcomes are assigned to the 14-non playoff teams — for instance, if balls numbered 4, 7, 8, and 13 were chosen, that combination would belong to one of the 14 lottery teams. The 1,001st combination remains unassigned, and a re-draw would occur if it were ever selected.
The team whose combination is drawn first receives the number one overall pick, and the process is repeated to determine picks two and three. The 14 teams involved in the draft lottery are all assigned a different number of combinations, as follows (worst to best):
- 250 combinations, 25.0% chance of receiving the first overall pick
- 199 combinations, 19.9%
- 156 combinations, 15.6%
- 119 combinations, 11.9%
- 88 combinations, 8.8%
- 63 combinations, 6.3%
- 43 combinations, 4.3%
- 28 combinations, 2.8%
- 17 combinations, 1.7%
- 11 combinations, 1.1%
- 8 combinations, 0.8%
- 7 combinations, 0.7%
- 6 combinations, 0.6%
- 5 combinations, 0.5%
If two lottery teams finish the season with identical records, each team receives an equal chance at a top-three pick by averaging the total amount of outcomes for their two positions. For instance, if two teams tie for the league's ninth-worst record, each club would receive 14 combinations and a 1.4% chance at the first overall pick — an average of the 17 and 11 combinations that the ninth- and tenth-worst teams receive.
If the average amount of combinations for two positions isn't a whole number, a coin flip determines which team receives the extra combination. For instance, if two clubs tied for the league's worst record, the team that wins the coin flip would receive 225 of 1,000 chances at the first overall pick, while the loser would receive 224. The coin flip also determines which team will draft higher in the event that neither club earns a top-three pick.
The table below displays the odds for each lottery team, rounded to one decimal place. For our purposes, the first seed is the NBA's worst team. Click to enlarge:
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.
Sacramento, Maloofs Will Meet To Discuss Arena
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings co-owner George Maloof spoke on Tuesday and have agreed to meet later this week to discuss the Sacramento arena deal, reports Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. A Maloof spokesman informed the Bee that the meeting would occur Thursday morning in Sacramento.
Johnson told reporters Tuesday that the meeting figures to be a make-or-break session, determining whether the city's arena deal is back on or whether it has fallen apart permanently. The Sacramento mayor called his outlook "hopeful rather than confident," which is the same language NBA commissioner David Stern used earlier this month when the deal initially collapsed.
Currently, the two sides seem divided on revenue projection associated with the planned downtown arena, but George Maloof insists the Kings owners are "going to do the best we can [to] try to get something done."
Warriors Notes: Lottery Pick, Jackson, Myers
Tuesday was an eventful day for the Warriors both on the court, where they lost to the Hornets on a last-second basket, and off the court, where they announced a front-office shakeup, including the promotion of Bob Myers to general manager. Here's the latest out of Golden State as the team's season winds down….
- The Warriors' loss last night was crucial for the team's chances of keeping its lottery pick, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group outlines.
- The new GM confirmed to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News that Mark Jackson will return next season to coach the Warriors. "He’s good," Myers said of Jackson’s long-term status. "He’s done a great job."
- Myers was in line to replace Larry Riley as the Warriors' GM in "a few years," but it only took 12 months to make the change. According to Thompson, who explains the reasoning behind the front office changes, Myers proved to co-owner Joe Lacob that he was ready to take the reins now
Sasha Vujacic Will Seek Return To NBA
After playing in the NBA for the previous seven seasons, Sasha Vujacic signed a deal with Turkish team Anadolu Efes Istanbul during the NBA lockout. Although his contract keeps him overseas for this season, Vujacic intends to return to the NBA next year, he tells Kosarka.si (Slovenian link, via Sportando).
According to Sportando's translation of Vujacic's comments, the longtime Laker said, "I am happy and satisfied with my experience in Turkey, but my wish is to go back to the NBA next season."
Vujacic, 28, has played in 476 NBA games for the Lakers and Nets, averaging 5.6 points in 15.9 minutes per game over the course of his career. The former first-round pick will be an unrestricted free agent for NBA teams when his contract in Turkey expires.