Heat Notes: Wade, Spoelstra, Allen, Point Guards
One of the reasons the Ray Allen signing was such a coup for the Heat is concern about Dwyane Wade's left knee, which required arthroscopic surgery July 9th and forced him out of the Olympics. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel rounded up Wade's comments about his recovery as he makes the rounds to promote his book, "A Father First: How my life became bigger than basketball." Winderman also has a few more tidbits from the defending champs today, and we'll pass them along here:
- Wade was optimistic during his appearance on "The View," saying, "I'm doing great. I'm ahead of schedule. The knee's OK, so I'm ahead of schedule," as Winderman notes. Wade was more cautious in his remarks to a Houston radio station, and indicated it could be a while before he's 100%. "That's my goal, to be full strength," Wade said. "Obviously, coming off surgery, even in the beginning of the year, [the goal is] to continue to work your way into things and hopeful hit your stride some point midseason, where you feel your best."
- Coach Erik Spoelstra, who turned up the tempo last season, spoke on WQAM's Jorge Sedano Show today and said he'll try to get the team to play even faster this year, as Winderman notes. Spoelstra also shared his excitement about adding Allen to the mix. "He's a Hall of Fame-type catch-and-shoot player," the coach said. "We haven't had that element before in our offense. So it's been a lot of fun, trying to X-and-O and come up with new ways to get him open. I don't want to overthink it. I don't want to totally change what we do, but that's a great element to have, that type of weapon."
- In the same interview, Spoelstra also gave his take on the moves that the Lakers and other teams took to try to knock the Heat from the top of the mountain. "We knew this would be a big summer, one way or another, that there were a lot of teams out there with money, that had an opportunity to make big moves, and some teams did, some teams did improve," Spoelstra said. "The Lakers certainly did, and that's going to make it all the more fun."
- A third point guard would provide insurance in case either Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole misses any time this season, but the Heat seem willing to experiment with Terrel Harris in that role if the need arises, Winderman says in his mailbag column. Harris remains unsigned, but he's in talks with the Heat about a return.
Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Warriors, Blazers
Let's round up a few Tuesday afternoon odds and ends from around the league:
- Recent signees J.R. Smith, O.J. Mayo, and Carl Landry are among Lang Greene's picks for players that could significantly boost their stocks heading into free agency next summer. Check out Greene's piece at HoopsWorld for his full list.
- A number of former Suns are still available in free agency, so Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic decides to round up the reports to date on Leandro Barbosa, Louis Amundson, Matt Barnes, and the rest.
- Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com explores whether the Mavericks' bench production will experience a drop-off with Jason Terry no longer on the team.
- On a Warriors team that hopes and expects to contend for the playoffs this season, Richard Jefferson's postseason experience could be valuable, argues Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com.
- Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld identifies five international prospects whose names could be announced in next June's NBA draft.
- Sekou Smith of NBA.com recaps the Trail Blazers' summer and looks ahead to the coming season, writing that the team has basically started the rebuilding process from scratch.
Teams Using Taxpayer MLE For 2012/13
When it comes to team payroll, NBA clubs can essentially be broken down into three groups: Teams using cap space, over-the-cap (but under-the-tax) teams, and taxpaying teams. Yesterday, we looked at the franchises that fall into the former two categories, including 12 teams using cap space and 13 teams with access to the full $5MM mid-level exception.
That leaves just five teams in the Association that no longer have access to cap space or the full mid-level for 2012/13. It's not out of the realm of possibility that one or more of these teams could dip back below the tax threshold over the course of the season. But since their payrolls have exceeded $74,307,000 already, they're ineligible to use more than the $3.09MM taxpayer mid-level exception from now until next July.
Here's a look at the five teams that fall into this category, and where their payroll situations currently stand:
- Brooklyn Nets: Their offseason spending spree resulted in an overall 2012/13 payroll of about $81.8MM, which included using the $3.09MM mini mid-level on Mirza Teletovic. In their first year in Brooklyn, the Nets are unlikely to try to cut costs, so I'd expect that $81.8MM figure to increase, if anything.
- Los Angeles Lakers: Despite sitting at almost exactly $100MM in player salaries this season, the Lakers actually still have about half of their MLE to use, after spending $1.5MM+ on Jodie Meeks. We'll have to see if the Lakers are done spending or if they're ready to head well into triple-digits and increase their tax hit even more.
- Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies are the likeliest of these teams to try to sneak below the tax threshold later in the year. Their $74.9MM payroll isn't far above the apron, and most of their players are on reasonable salaries, making a deadline deal a possibility. The team's approach will probably depend on how the ownership situation is looking by the new year.
- Miami Heat: Like the Nets, they're slightly over the $80MM mark, and don't figure to be cutting salary as long as they have a shot at the title. They used their entire $3.09MM mini MLE to sign Ray Allen.
- New York Knicks: For all the hand-wringing this summer about the Knicks' future tax payments if they'd retained Jeremy Lin, their 2012/13 payroll isn't catastrophic — the team is below the $80MM mark, and that includes some non- or partially-guaranteed deals, which could reduce payroll a little more by season's end. The Knicks used their $3.09MM taxpayer mid-level on Jason Kidd.
Clippers Promote Gary Sacks
The Clippers have officially named Gary Sacks the team's vice president of basketball operations, according to a team release. While Sacks, the Clips' former director of player personnel, won't formally hold the title of general manager, he'll essentially assume the GM role for the club. As Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets, Los Angeles will move forward with a three-man brain trust of Sacks, president Andy Roeser, and coach Vinny Del Negro.
"Gary has been a valuable and loyal member of our organization for the past 18 years," said Roeser in the team's statement. "His recent role this very productive summer, as well as his many contributions during the course of his tenure made it clear that he is the right person to lead our basketball operations department."
Sacks' promotion had been expected for the last few weeks, after he helped lead the way on the Clippers' offseason moves. Blake Griffin, who signed a long-term extension to remain with the Clips earlier this summer, expressed his support for Sacks last week:
"He did an unbelievable job, Gary Sacks did, along with Coach Del Negro. I think they both kind of teamed up and I think we have a lot of respect for Gary. As far as the players go, we have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s been able to do. I know a lot of us are pulling for him to get that GM job and definitely hope he gets it."
Kevin McHale Talks Rockets’ Roster, Outlook
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is the primary member of the team's front office responsible for an unusual offseason that saw Houston lose its two point guards (Kyle Lowry via trade, Goran Dragic via free agency), sign two restricted free agents (Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik) to big three-year deals, amnesty Luis Scola, and stock up on power forwards. When the season gets underway though, it'll be coach Kevin McHale that's responsible for actually coaching the players that ended up with the Rockets.
With training camp still a few weeks away, Jason Friedman of Rockets.com spoke to McHale about the construction of Houston's roster and his expectations for the coming year. The piece is the first of a two-part series, so we can look forward to hearing more from McHale on Wednesday. In the meantime though, the first half of Friedman's discussion with the head coach provides plenty of worthwhile tidbits. Let's round up a few of them.
On the team's young core:
"It’s the team that we have. To be honest with you, I wish we had more veterans. I’m very competitive. I want to win. We can still win but it’s always much more difficult to win on a consistent basis in this league with young guys…. But there is an exciting element of taking kids and teaching them how to play the right way in the NBA, teaching them how to be pros every single day, teaching them how to just get better on a daily basis and how to deal with the ups and downs of the NBA."
On dealing with the roster overhaul that occurred this summer:
"When I look at our team right now we’re probably only going to have four guys who were on the team last year, with Chandler [Parsons] and [Patrick Patterson] and [Kevin Martin] and Marcus [Morris]. So we’ll probably have 11 new faces to figure out, 'What can this guy do? How can I put him in situations to succeed?' There’s going to be a lot of trial and error and that, to me, isn’t the fun thing. That, to me, is always the scary thing because there’s so much unknown. Everything works on a white board and everything works when you’re sitting around with a bunch of coaches, but when you get a bunch of guys you’ve never been around before you have to figure out what actually works on the floor. So I just hope we can narrow that down quickly."
On what style of play he expects from his squad:
"Ideally if you asked me how I’d like to play I’d say that I’d like to have a big guy to throw the ball to and pound the hell out of the other team. If you don’t have those guys then it’s very hard to do that…. So we’re just going to have to do whatever fits our team the best. If our best playmaker is our two-man then we’ll run a ton of stuff that will allow him to make plays. If our best playmaker is our four-man, then we’ll run a ton of stuff for him to make plays. The object is not to run your offense, the object is to run an offense that fits your team. I’m not playing, so it doesn’t matter what I like; it matters what these guys can and can’t do."
On one of the team's three first-round draft picks, Royce White:
"He’s unique: He can handle the ball, he can make passes, he can make plays. He’s going to have to take care of the ball a little bit more and understand that the holes in the NBA are all smaller and what was a good pass in college is no longer a good pass in the NBA because guys’ arms are longer, they’re quicker to the ball and they’re smarter. So it doesn’t matter really if you play Royce at the point guard, off guard, whatever – he’s going to play the same way. So now we’ve just got to figure out how we can get him the ball in those situations and be effective."
Howard Hints At Long-Term Future With Lakers
Before the Lakers acquired Dwight Howard from the Magic last month, reports suggested that Howard would be amenable to a long-term stay in Los Angeles. However, since the blockbuster four-team trade was consummated, nothing has materialized on that front.
Yesterday though, there was a hint from Howard himself that he may be leaning toward remaining in Los Angeles for the next few years. Howard tweeted a photo of himself and Lakers Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, adding: "Me and @kaj33 together. For many years to come." Abdul-Jabbar posted the same photo on his own Twitter account, writing: "Laker Nation is in great hands for years to come."
The tweets don't mean anything on their own, of course, and plenty could change between now and next July. Still, it appears that Howard is prioritizing a long-term future with the Lakers, even if he and the team won't talk about a new deal until after the season, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes.
As I noted when I examined potential contract scenarios for Howard and next summer's other big free agents (Chris Paul and Andrew Bynum), D12 could earn a guarantee worth more than $117MM by re-signing with the Lakers next summer. If he signed an in-season extension, his guarantee would cap out at about $66MM, whereas a free agent contract with another team next July could earn him up to about $87MM.
Bulls Remain In Mix For Anthony Tolliver
When we got our last update on Anthony Tolliver last Monday, the free agent forward was said to be in "constant contact" with four teams: the Hawks, Wizards, Pacers, and Timberwolves. Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida reports (via Twitter) that those four clubs are still in play for Tolliver, and adds the Bulls to the mix as well.
The Bulls were previously linked to Tolliver this offseason, but it appeared the team had essentially removed itself from consideration as it approached the hard cap of $74.3MM. If they're still in on Tolliver, as Tomasson suggests, the Bulls would not only have to clear a little salary from their books to make room for him; they'd also have to sign the the 27-year-old to a minimum-salary deal, since they used most of their mid-level exception on Kirk Hinrich and their bi-annual exception on Marco Belinelli.
Since agent Larry Fox has indicated that his client isn't "in the minimum game," and the Bulls have no obvious way of clearing salary, it seems like a long shot that Chicago lands Tolliver. The T-Wolves would also have to move salary to sign Tolliver for more than the minimum, so the Hawks, Pacers, and Wizards would appear to be better bets. The Hawks have their $1.957MM BAE to work with, the Pacers have their $2.575MM room exception, and the Wizards still have over $3MM of their mid-level left.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, Teletovic, Holiday, Rondo
The Nets will be playing their home games at the Barclays Center for the first time this season, but it doesn't seem as if many Nets will be sticking around Brooklyn for too long after the buzzer sounds. Howard Beck of the New York Times writes that the team will continue to practice in New Jersey and will live outside of Brooklyn for the coming season. Due to the location of the team's practice facility, a handful of players will live in New Jersey, while a few more, including Deron Williams, will live in Manhattan. Here are the rest of the Tuesday morning items out of the Atlantic Division:
- Nets offseason signee Mirza Teletovic has yet to find a new home stateside, but he's been turning heads at the 2013 EuroBasket Qualifier, as Wendell Maxey of Ridiculous Upside notes. In six games for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Teletovic has averaged more than 25 PPG.
- Max Rappaport of Sixers.com passes along a TrueHoop piece by Beckley Mason and Tom Haberstroh, which theorizes that Jrue Holiday could be a major beneficiary of Andrew Bynum's arrival in Philadelphia. Holiday is eligible for an extension this offseason, and when I looked at his case, I argued that it would probably take a breakout year in 2012/13 to earn him the maximum salary he's reportedly seeking.
- Chris Forsberg and Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com preview Rajon Rondo's season by predicting whether the Celtics point guard will go over or under certain statistical benchmarks.
Bobcats Looking At Tracy McGrady?
A week after they displayed "exploratory" interest in Josh Howard and worked him out, the Bobcats may take the same approach with Tracy McGrady, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell tweets that the unrestricted free agent "might work out with the Bobcats some" in the near future.
As Bonnell notes in a second tweet, McGrady didn't look bad in limited action for the Hawks in 2011/12. His 13.6 PER wasn't great by his standards, but given the players remaining on the free agent market, the veteran wing actually looks like one of the more appealing options. In 52 games for Atlanta, T-Mac averaged 5.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 16.1 minutes per contest.
This is just my speculation, but I would think McGrady should be drawing interest as a minimum-salary player from teams more appealing than the Bobcats. If that's the case, perhaps he's hoping Charlotte would be willing to sign him using leftover cap space or their room exception, rather than on a minimum-salary deal.
Allen Iverson Considering Playing In China
While the possibility looks slimmer with each passing day, Allen Iverson still hasn't given up hope on a return to the NBA. If that doesn't work out though, the former MVP is considering playing overseas in the Chinese Basketball Association, according to a report by NetEase Sports (English translation via HoopsHype).
"I definitely want to return to the NBA, but if I can't get back there, I'm hoping to play ball here [in China]," Iverson said, according to HoopsHype's translation. "China is still one of my choices, but the team that wants me to join has got to show me that they really mean it, like 'Hey, we really need you.'"
Iverson, who hasn't appeared in an NBA game since February 2010, reportedly turned down offers from teams in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela last season. However, if the 37-year-old recognizes that an NBA team is unlikely to take a flier on him, China could be a realistic option — when AI was asked in April about playing in the CBA next season, he didn't rule out the possibility.