Blazers Links: Lillard, Price, Barton, Hickson
Now that Damian Lillard has gotten a taste of what the NBA is like, the Trail Blazers' rookie point guard told CSNNW.com about his experiences so far and what he's learned after a few preseason games. Here are a few more links out of Portland tonight:
- Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes that although Will Barton returned to practice, Ronnie Price could possibly sidelined until the season opener after injuring his ankle against Phoenix on Friday. Tokito adds that J.J. Hickson returned to practice, but is still feeling the effects of the bruised left ribs he suffered against the Lakers on Wednesday. Lastly, he said that coach Terry Stotts doesn't anticipate any roster cuts before next Sunday.
- Will Barton spoke with CSNNW.com about his return.
- In this video, Stotts elaborated on possible lineup changes with Barton and Hickson now active.
- During a post-practice interview, Meyers Leonard offered some thoughts on the aspect of his game he deems the strongest, and what he needs to work on.
Week In Review: 10/8/12 -10/14/12
Here's a recap of this week's top stories:
- Rookie forward Royce White re-joined the Rockets for training camp.
- Kobe Bryant made assurances that there is no timetable set for his retirement.
- The Lakers have made Steve Blake and Chris Duhon available via trade.
- About to enter his 15th season, Rashard Lewis said that his goal is to play for another five years.
- We relayed a few injury updates on Brandon Roy, Dirk Nowitzki, Nene, Jordan Hill, and Chris Smith.
- Although Eddy Curry is currently a member of the Spurs training camp roster, he is drawing interest from several other teams, including the Bulls.
- Tracy McGrady signed a deal with Qingdao of the Chinese Basketball Association
- Former Cavaliers guard Lester Hudson inked a deal in China with the Dongguan Leopards.
- Former NBA MVP Allen Iverson is unlikely to land a deal in China.
- The Warriors' D-League affiliate received approval to move from Dakota to Santa Cruz.
- The Cavaliers waived Kevin Anderson, Justin Holiday, and Kelenna Azubuike. The Trail Blazers later claimed Holiday off of waivers.
- Bucks GM John Hammond says that the team has "good odds" to retain Brandon Jennings after this season.
- The Hornets waived Dominique Morrison.
- The Magic signed Chris Johnson.
- The Sixers waived Xavier Silas and center Mikki Moore.
- The Hawks waived Keith Benson and Ism'ail Muhammad.
- The Spurs waived Tyler Wilkerson.
- The Rockets waived Kyle Fogg and Demetri McCamey.
- The Warriors waived Stefhon Hannah.
- The Timberwolves waived Phil Jones and Seth Tarver.
Odds & Ends: Drummond, Smith, Mohammed, Ariza
A bit of news and notes from around the league on this Sunday afternoon.
- Lang Greene from Hoopsworld.com asks if the Hawks are ready to face a possibly similar situation with Josh Smith as the Magic did with Dwight Howard.
- Pistons.com writer Keith Langlois writes about the community set up around Andre Drummond to make sure he's in the best environment possible.
- Nazr Mohammed is looking to be a stable veteran presence for the Bulls this season, writes CSNChicago.com's Sam Aggrey.
- The Washington Post's Michael Lee writes about the incoming Trevor Ariza, and how he's still trying to fit in with the Wizards roster.
Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Downs, Knicks, Hawes
Here are some notes from around the Atlantic Division.
- Howard Beck from the New York Times writes that Joe Johnson is looking to shed his "iso-Joe" nickname now that he's with the Nets.
- Micah Downs was one of the last players brought into the Celtics training camp not only for his size, but his athletic potential, writes CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely.
- The Sixers are expecting re-signed center Spencer Hawes to be a consistent force at the power forward position for them this year, writes CSNPhilly.com's John Finger.
- Coming off an overtime preseason victory against the Celtics, the Knicks aging backcourt duo of Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni could be an intriguing one this season, writes Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
Bucks Notes: D-League, Gooden
Here are a couple notes on the Bucks, a team that begins the 2012/13 season with playoff expectations.
- Ridiculous Upside's Keith Schlosser takes a look at three players in the D-League who could make Milwaukee's roster. They are Alando Tucker, Orien Greene, and Eddie Gill. A major reason for why these guards have a chance is their collective experience in the NBA, which could be useful as they go through preseason.
- Not all veterans are willing to accept the "mentor" role once their career begins to wind down. However, the Bucks are fortunate in that they have more than one veteran looking to make life easier for the younger guys, writes JSOnline.com's Charles F. Gardner. Players such as Drew Gooden, Mike Dunleavy, and Samuel Dalembert should be great for the Bucks' chemistry as they try to make the postseason.
Camp Rumors: Christmas, Wilkins, Brown, Harper
Much of the news this time of year has to do with players fighting for roster spots, and we've already passed along a few such items today. The Timberwolves and Cavaliers have also made cuts, indicating that time is running out for NBA hopefuls to make an impression. Here's a roundup on camp invitees across the league.
- Dionte Christmas hasn't seen much playing time in the preseason, but he's still the frontrunner to make the opening-night roster among the five Celtics without fully guaranteed deals, according to Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com. At $237K, Christmas has the most partially guaranteed money of the team's camp invitees.
- Damien Wilkins is the most likely camp invitee to make the Sixers, writes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Derrick Brown had a "handful" of other training camp invitations, but chose the Spurs even though they only have one roster spot available because of his affinity for the way the organization is run, reports Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
- In the same piece, McDonald also passed along a comment from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who indicated the battle for the final roster spot is a tight one.
- Justin Harper has a guaranteed deal with the Magic, but it's only for the minimum salary and, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes, he's competing for a roster spot.
- If 6'6" swingman Tony Mitchell beats out three other camp invitees for the last spot on the Kings, it will be because of his defense, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Among several observations from the Heat's preseason loss to the Clippers in China, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if Rodney Carney might have been better served signing with a team that wasn't so deep on the wing.
- Robert Sacre has proven competent as he's started in place of Dwight Howard during the preseason, and Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com argues the Lakers are better off going with younger, cheaper talent for the end of the bench instead of pursuing another veteran.
Cavaliers Waive Kelenna Azubuike
The Cavs have waived Kelenna Azubuike, the team announced via Twitter. Azubuike had a guaranteed minimum-salary deal, meaning the team is still on the hook for $1.07MM. Since his contract covered both 2011/12 and 2012/13, the Cavs have to pay him the full minimum amount based on his years of service, instead of the two-year veteran's minimum of $854,389. The move brings the team's roster down to 17 players.
Cleveland acquired Azubuike in a draft-night trade with the Mavericks, who had signed him in March for the rest of 2011/12 with a team option for 2012/13. The 6'5" shooting guard appeared in just three games for Dallas, scoring a total of seven points in 18 minutes. He saw a little more time with the team's D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.7 minutes over seven contests. Azubuike had his best days with the Warriors, starting 51 games and averaging 14.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG while shooting 44.8% from three-point range in 2008/09.
The decision to let go of Azubuike's guaranteed deal presumably opens up another roster spot for Micheal Eric, Kevin Jones or Samardo Samuels, all of whom have partially guaranteed deals, and Donald Sloan, whose contract is non-guaranteed. Daniel Gibson has a partially guaranteed contract, too, but the team would be obligated to pay him $2.49MM if they let him go, making him less likely to be cut.
Recent Rookie-Scale Extensions
The deadline for teams to reach rookie-scale extension agreements with eligible fourth-year players is a little more than two weeks away. Blake Griffin got the max from the Clippers in July, and Serge Ibaka reached a four-year, $49MM accord with the Thunder in August, but those are the only two players to sign extensions so far this offseason. History indicates there will be more, and all of them don't figure to be as lucrative as the deals Griffin and Ibaka got.
Though some of the rules have changed since the new CBA was implemented in 2011, most notably the stipulation that only one player per team may receive a five-year deal, a look back at rookie-scale extensions from the last several years reveals some clues about the kind of players who might get extensions this year. The volume of secondary players on this list suggests guys like Eric Maynor, Gerald Henderson and Taj Gibson won't be overlooked by their teams, despite most of the extension talk centering around names like James Harden, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings.
While the idea behind a rookie extension is to lock a player up long-term, it doesn't mean the player is a safe bet to finish the contract with his team. Jameer Nelson is the only one of the five players who inked a five-year extension in 2007 who remains with the team he signed with, and he's with the Magic only because he signed a new deal this summer after opting out of the final season of his extension.
The extension recipients are listed below by the year in which they signed. The extensions kick in the season after they're signed, meaning the agreements reached in 2007 didn't show up in the ledger until 2008/09. For more about players eligible for extensions this year, check out our Extension Candidate series.
2011/12 (usual October deadline extended into January because of the lockout)
- Danilo Gallinari, Nuggets (four years, $42MM)
- Kosta Koufos, Nuggets (three years, $9MM)
- Kevin Love, Wolves (four years, $60.826MM)
- Russell Westbrook, Thunder (five years, $78.585MM)
- Derrick Rose, Bulls (five years, $94.315MM)
2010
- Mike Conley, Grizzlies (five years, $40MM)
- Jared Dudley, Suns (five years, $21.25MM)
- Al Horford, Hawks (five years, $60MM)
- Joakim Noah, Bulls (five years, $60MM)
- Kevin Durant, Thunder (five years, $89.163MM)
2009
- Rajon Rondo, Celtics (five years, $55MM)
- Renaldo Balkman, Nuggets (three years, $5.025MM)
- Thabo Sefolosha, Thunder (four years, $13.8MM)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers (five years, $62.5MM)
- Brandon Roy, Blazers (five years, $82.303MM)
- Andrea Bargnani, Raptors (five years, $50MM)
2008
- Danny Granger, Pacers (five years, $60MM)
- Jason Maxiell, Pistons (four years, $20MM)
- Martell Webster, Blazers (four years, $20MM)
- Andrew Bynum, Lakers (four years, $57.2MM)
- Francisco Garcia, Kings (five years, $29.6MM)
- Deron Williams, Jazz (four years, $62.6MM)
- Andrew Bogut, Bucks (five years, $60MM)
- Chris Paul, Hornets (four years, $62.6MM)
2007
- Kris Humphries, Raptors (three years, $9.3MM)
- Al Jefferson, Timberwolves (five years, $65MM)
- Jameer Nelson, Magic (five years, $38.5MM)
- Devin Harris, Mavericks (five years, $43MM)
- Kevin Martin, Kings (five years, $53MM)
- Dwight Howard, Magic (five years, $83.236MM)
Atlantic Notes: Copeland, Bynum, DiLeo, Celtics
It's easy to get carried away with preseason numbers, but Chris Copeland's 21 points in 19 minutes for the Knicks last night might have been enough to earn the training camp invitee a spot on the regular season roster, Mark Berman of the New York Post thinks (Sulia link). Mychel Thompson still has a shot to beat Copeland out, Berman believes, but John Shurna lacks strength and is a longshot to avoid getting cut. As we continue to size up just who will be around on opening night, here's the latest from the Atlantic Division.
- Even without Andrew Bynum, out with a bone bruise on his right knee, the Sixers are a better team this year than last, argues Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
- John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the shortcomings of Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who makes heavy use of analytics, demonstrate why the Sixers were smart to go with Tony DiLeo as GM instead of a numbers guy.
- Celtics basketball operations president Danny Ainge has made it clear to coach Doc Rivers that he wants to see significant minutes from the team's rookies this season, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes.
- The Celtics are in the midst of three games in four days, and Rivers said the team may begin to pare down its 18-man roster once this busy stretch is done, Bulpett notes.
Northwest Rumors: Aldridge, Morrison, Fournier
The Timberwolves have already made news, cutting ties with a pair of training camp invitees, and there are a few other items of interest out of the Northwest Division this morning.
- LaMarcus Aldridge sees himself as a legitimate No. 1 option, and doesn't think the Blazers need to acquire anyone else to play that role, he told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
- Adam Morrison, in camp with the Blazers on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, said he had similar offers from other NBA teams but chose the Blazers in part because of their proximity to his home in Spokane, Washington, writes Joe Freeman of the The Oregonian as he details the comeback attempt of the 2006 No. 3 overall pick. Morrison also said the team let him know it would give him a legitimate shot of making the opening-night roster, but Friday's waiver claim of fellow small forward Justin Holiday adds to the competition for a spot.
- Evan Fournier was the lone international product to be taken in the first round of this year's draft, and though the Frenchman didn't figure to make the Nuggets' rotation when training camp began, the 19-year-old is making a push for regular playing time as a shooting guard, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.