Pistons Notes: Stuckey, Drummond, Monroe
The latest news and notes on the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon:
- Rodney Stuckey is frustrated by his inconsistent play this season, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
- David Mayo of MLive.com writes that Andre Drummond is not angry over his limited minutes, saying that he trusts Lawrence Frank.
- Mayo writes in another column that Drummond and Greg Monroe will play together when Monroe matures as a player.
Celtics May Look To Move Pierce
In light of the news that Rajon Rondo has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season, focus is already turning to the decisions the Celtics face at the trade deadline. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter) that executives around the NBA expect the Celtics to seriously consider moving Paul Pierce before the February 21 trading deadline.
Pierce is due to be paid $15.3MM next season, but only $4MM of it is guaranteed. That number will become $5MM if he plays in 50 percent of his team's total games, including regular season and playoffs. Barring any injury, that is likely to happen.
Rajon Rondo Tears ACL
Rajon Rondo has torn his right ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2012/13 season. He was a late scratch from the Celtics' Sunday game against the Heat, and his injury was previously reported as a hyperextended knee. However, ESPN's Doris Burke reported during the telecast that Rondo was informed by team doctors that he had in fact suffered a torn ACL.
Boston's point guard duties will be manned primarily by Avery Bradley and Leandro Barbosa. It is unclear whether the Celtics will look for more point guard help, or whether this affects their plans to possibly move Paul Pierce.
Celtics Fear Rajon Rondo Has Torn ACL
Celtics officials fear Rajon Rondo has torn the ACL in his right knee, according to David Baumann of Bright House Sports Network (Twitter link). Rondo is sitting out today's game against the Heat with what the team is calling a hyperextended right knee, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes. Rondo, who hurt himself in Friday's loss to the Hawks, will undergo a precautionary MRI.
An ACL for Rondo, which would surely knock him out for the rest of the season, could be a knockout blow to the Celtics, who sit at 20-23, just two games in front of the Sixers for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception came and went earlier this month, but such an exception, worth half of Rondo's $11MM salary, wouldn't have been much use to the Celtics, who are less than $3MM beneath their hard cap.
Rondo, who had recently been elected an All-Star starter, is in the third season of a team-friendly five-year, $55MM deal. He's shown durability throughout his career, never missing more than 14 games in any of his six seasons prior to this year.
Atlantic Notes: Vucevic, Sixers, Shumpert, Lopez
It was a night of missed oppotunities Saturday in the Atlantic, where the Nets could have crept to within a half game of the division-leading Knicks with a win over the Rockets. The Raptors would have stood three and a half out of the last playoff spot if Kyrie Irving hadn't drained a clutch trey for the Cavs. The only team to make hay was the Sixers, who blew out the Knicks and pulled two games behind the Celtics for eighth place in the East. Here's more from the Atlantic Division:
- Nikola Vucevic is paying dividends as he develops for the Magic, but even he wouldn't have hesitated to make the deal that sent him away from the Sixers, the 22-year-old tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I would have traded me for Andrew Bynum," Vucevic said.
- Iman Shumpert talked with Steve Serby of the New York Post about the effect Mike Woodson and the Knicks' offseason acquisitions have had on the team.
- Amid continuing speculation that he could be traded for Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez is establishing himself as a star, with the league's fourth-highest PER. Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger catches up with the Nets' $60.8MM center and wonders if he has become the league's best at his position, All-Star snub notwithstanding.
Hornets Recall Darius Miller From D-League
We'll round up the day's D-League assignments and recalls in this post, with the latest moves on top.
- The Hornets announced they've recalled rookie Darius Miller from the D-League's Iowa Energy. In his nearly monthlong assignment, the 6'8" small forward didn't exactly light it up for Iowa, averaging 9.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 27.2 per game over 11 contests. Still, the Kentucky product has seen a fair amount of playing time for the big club this year, getting in 23 games and posting 2.0 PPG in 13.6 MPG.
Was Drafting Royce White Worth The Risk?
Royce White and the Rockets reached an agreement last night that will bring the rookie back on the court after a nearly three-month absence. The 6'8" forward will report February 11th to the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers and ostensibly make his NBA debut shortly thereafter. Presumably, the 16th pick in this past year's draft is finally back on track after grappling with the team over how to handle his psychological ailments.
Still, there's not much reason to believe this is the last bump in the road for White, who has threatened retirement and misled the team about his fear of flying in the leadup to the draft, according to GM Daryl Morey. The GM admitted to Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard that drafting White was a calculated risk, and that the club believed he had the talent of a top-five pick. He also knew White might not work out, though I'm not sure he anticipated quite the saga that's played out this season.
The Rockets had three first-round picks last year, and one of them, No. 12 selection Jeremy Lamb, was sent away as part of the trade that netted James Harden. The wealth of picks may have justified the team's willingness to go out on a limb with White, but as the Rockets collect assets in search of another star to accompany Harden, a draft bust wouldn't help matters.
Regardless of White's troubles thus far, Houston may have one of the most talented rookies in the league on its team soon. Does that justify the risks involved? Let us know.
Was Drafting Royce White Worth The Risk?
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No 65% (586)
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Yes 35% (313)
Total votes: 899
Kings/Seattle Rumors: Sunday
With the future of the Kings in limbo, we'll round up today's rumors in this post, with any additional updates at the top.
- If the Kings leave Sacramento, the city is owed $77MM from loans it floated to the team 15 years ago, but a legal expert tells Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee that the new owners could get off the hook for less.
- The $525MM price tag set in the agreement between the Maloofs and the Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer Seattle investors represents a 75% jump in the value of the team over the figure that Forbes magazine estimated last year, notes the Bee's Tom Couzens. That's the largest jump in value for any team this year. We passed along the full list of Forbes valuations earlier this week.
- The Bee's Ailene Voisin hears that the Maloofs received a $425MM offer last year, and wonders why they decided now was the time to sell.
- Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game confirms that Mark Mastrov and Ron Burkle are teaming up for a bid (Sulia link). Still, Bucher says it would be hard to imagine the Seattle group would agree to a $30MM refundable payment without assurance from people more powerful than the Maloofs that the sale would go through.
Finnan On Cavs, Varejao, Draft Targets, Speights
Bob Finnan of The News-Herald hears that Cavaliers GM Chris Grant could be looking to deal Luke Walton, Daniel Gibson, Omri Casspi (all expiring contracts), or even Marreese Speights (citing ESPN's Marc Stein) by the February trade deadline. He also shared a few more noteworthy tidbits in his NBA Notes piece:
- One reason why the team won't look to move Anderson Varejao is that he could be one of LeBron James' preferred counterparts should the current Heat star look to eventually return to Cleveland.
- Indiana's Cody Zeller, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, and Maryland's Alex Len are among the top talented big men that the Cavs could target in June's NBA draft. Finnan adds that the addition of Marreese Speights has no bearing on the team's interest in drafting a big man during the offseason.
- Due to his ability to veto his inclusion in a trade, Speights lost his Bird Rights, which essentially prevents Cleveland from being able to exceed the cap to re-sign him. The 6'10 forward owns a $4.5MM player option for next season, but could end up pursuing a multi-year deal this summer if he plays well for the rest of the year.
Western Notes: Kobe, Ridnour, Odom
- Earlier today, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler answered some of his followers' questions on Twitter, saying that he doesn't think the Lakers aren't looking to move Dwight Howard before the deadline, Mike D'Antoni's job isn't necessarily safe right now, and that the Grizzlies aren't currently looking to make a deal with the Celtics (All Twitter links).
- Luke Ridnour has been a productive and dependable stop gap for the Timberwolves in spite of all the injuries he's handled this year, notes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro wants Lamar Odom to be more aggressive on the offensive end, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Another 6'10 forward has been making waves in Los Angeles, albeit for the purple and gold. In another article, Ben Bolch examines Earl Clark's breakout year as a starter for the Lakers.
- Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin tells Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune that he wants to groom Gordon Hayward into a player who can be counted on to close games.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says there's no doubt in his mind that Dirk Nowitzki will be an All-Star again, writes Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW.
- Jason Smith has played with
a reckless abandon that has earned the attention and respect from his
teammates and the Hornets coaching staff, observes John
Reid of NOLA.com. - Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post makes a case for why Warriors guard Stephen Curry was the biggest snub of this year's All-Star game.