Week In Review: 4/15/13 – 4/21/13
Earlier this week, Rasheed Wallace decided to call it a career for the second time. Wallace played in 1109 games for six teams over the course of his NBA career, averaging 14.4 PPG and 6.7 RPG. The 38-year-old big man won't be hurting for money after walking away from the game as he earned roughly $157MM over the course of his NBA career. Here's more from around the league as we enjoy more playoff action..
- The Pistons told Lawrence Frank that he's out as coach.
- Another former Nets coach, Byron Scott, is also out of a job after being let go by the Cavs.
- It's now official – Doug Collins won't be returning to the 76ers as coach. Collins, who walked away despite the club wanting him back for another year, will serve as an adviser to the team.
- Mike D'Antoni will stay on as Lakers coach.
- Phil Jackson is interested in returning to the NBA. The Cavs are planning to make a run at him and a source close to the former coach says that he'll absolutely consider them.
- Meanwhile, it looks like there's mutual interest in a reunion between the Cavs and Mike Brown.
- Things can always change, but right now it looks like Dwight Howard is staying with the Lakers.
- Pat Riley believes that he can keep the Miami core together.
- The Blazers waived Jared Jeffries.
- The Nuggets will tender a qualifying offer to Timofey Mozgov.
- The Spurs signed Tracy McGrady for the remainder of the season. The 33-year-old spent most of the 2012/13 season with China's Qingdao Double Star Eagles, averaging 25.0 PPG and 7.2 RPG in 29 games in the CBA.
- The Knicks also hit the way back machine and inked Quentin Richardson to a contract.
- The Raptors still hope to trade Andrea Bargnani.
- The earliest the league will decide on the Kings will be in the first week of May.
- Maryland center Alex Len is going into the draft.
- Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary are going to return to Michigan. Tim Hardaway Jr., meanwhile, is entering the draft.
- No surprise here, but Shabazz Muhammad is entering the draft.
- After Rasheed retired, the Knicks quickly turned around and signed Earl Barron.
- O.J. Mayo is going to opt out of his deal and test the open market.
- Gary Harris will return to Michigan State.
- Marcus Smart will stay in school.
- Grant Jerrett is entering the draft.
- Georgetown's Otto Porter is going pro rather than helping the Hoyas get some redemption next season.
- It's official: Nerlens Noel is entering the draft. He could go first overall, despite his season-ending ACL tear.
- North Carolina junior Reggie Bullock is going pro, even though he's a borderline first-round pick.
- Marquette's Vander Blue is entering the 2013 draft.
- The Grizzlies signed Donte Greene as well as Willie Reed.
- The Warriors re-signed Scott Machado.
- The Warriors signed Dwayne Jones for the rest of the year.
- Gonzaga junior Kelly Olynyk is jumping in the draft.
- The Hornets are officially the Pelicans.
- Brazilian center Lucas Nogueira says he's entering the draft.
- Georgia's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is leaving school.
Pacific Notes: Paul, Clippers, Kings, Jackson
Chris Paul has kept mum on his future so far, but he may have dropped some very telling hints when speaking to reporters this afternoon. The Clippers star remarked that guard Eric Bledsoe is likely going to wind up elsewhere next year because the club won't have enough money to sign him, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The way that Paul spoke of Bledsoe's future leads Markazi to believe (link) that Paul intends on staying in L.A. for the long-term. It's also worth noting that Bledsoe isn't a free agent this summer – he's under contract next season for $2.6MM. However, the Clippers are expected to shop him when/if Paul re-signs (link). Here's more out of the Pacific..
- An NBA owner expressed his doubts to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com about Sacramento's bid for the Kings, saying, "The check's in the mail, and that's not good enough. The check's got to arrive." Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson nonetheless believes most owners were "blown away" by the competitiveness of the city's offer, as well as the fast pace at which its come together.
- Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News (on Twitter) notes that the three-year, $28MM extension that Stephen Jackson signed with the Warriors is just expiring now after four trades and one release.
- Ike Diogu began the season in training camp with the Suns and played 41 games with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. Now, he's headed to Puerto Rico to play with Leones de Ponce, Sportando's Emiliano Carchia reports.
Latest On 2013 NBA Draft
In recent weeks, we've seen the usual flood of underclassmen declare that they'll be entering the upcoming draft. However, it seems that there are a lot of green youngsters going pro in an effort to take advantage of this year's soft talent pool. Will we see another borderline underclassman declare today? Here's the latest on the 2013 draft..
- HoopsWorld's Yannis Koutroupis looks at some of the prospects who performed well at the Nike Hoops Summit this week, a showcase for top high school talent and international prospects. Perhaps no one performed quite as well as power forward Livio Jean-Charles, who's eligible for this year's draft.
- Connecticut point guard Shabazz Napier is close to deciding to stay in school, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. You can check out the rest of the highlights from Washburn's Sunday column here.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 4/15/13 – 4/21/13
Here's a look back at the original reporting and analysis provided by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Luke Adams caught up with Alan Anderson and looked at his free agent stock.
- I asked Hoops Rumors readers if Phil Jackson will consider coaching the Cavs and most of you said he won't.
- Chuck Myron looked at recent postseason transactions.
- Need a refresher on the amnesty provision? Luke's recent post has you covered.
- Chuck found that the Mavs made the most moves in 2012/13.
- Most of you want to see Seattle end up with the Kings.
- Jeff Withey is the anti-Cody Zeller, Chuck writes.
- Here's a look at all the players who made the jump from China to the NBA this year, as compiled by Chuck.
- Luke explained qualifying offers and the starter criteria.
- Hoops Rumors readers are especially looking forward to Spurs-Lakers and Knicks-Celtics out of the eight first-round series on the docket.
- Alex Lee asked if Marcus Smart made the right decision in returning to Oklahoma State and most of you said no.
- Luke looked at the highest paid players by team for next season.
- Here's a recap of this year's 10-day deals.
- If you missed out on this week's chat with Luke, you can check out the transcript right here.
David Lee Out For Season
Warriors forward David Lee is done for the season after tearing his right hip flexor in last night’s playoff game against the Nuggets, a person with knowledge of the situation told Sam Amick of USA Today. An MRI taken earlier today revealed a Grade 3 tear, according to the source.
The Warriors came just short of beating Denver in Game 1 of their series, losing 97-95. Lee earned an All-Star selection this season and averaged 18.5 PPG while leading the Warriors in rebounding with 11.2 RPG.
Central Notes: Scott, Bucks, Cavs, Pistons
Two of the league's three current head-coaching vacancies are with Central Division teams, and this morning we rounded up the latest on the Cavaliers' search. There's plenty of other news from Cleveland and the rest of the Central today, so let's dive in:
- Former Cavaliers coach Byron Scott will be a candidate for the Bucks job if the team elects not to retain Jim Boylan, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
- The Cavs possess four draft picks this year, but they'll likely try to package their second-rounders, at 31st and 33rd overall, to move up in the first-round, where they have picks No. 19 and, pending the lottery, No. 3, writes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer agrees, and also believes it's possible the Cavs could offer both of their first-rounders in an effort to land the No. 1 overall pick.
- The Pistons may trade their pair of second-round picks (38th and 56th overall) for a late first-rounder, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press believes, perhaps targeting a team reluctant to shell out the guaranteed money required to sign first-round picks.
- MLive's David Mayo surmises that the Pistons structured Lawrence Frank's contract to end in 2014, when they were scheduled to have ample cap space. Freeing themselves from the contracts of Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince to create room this summer accelerated Frank's exit, Mayo opines.
Recent Significant Transactions During Postseason
The NBA usually focuses strictly on basketball during the playoffs, but front offices don't go completely dark during this time of year. Scouts and executives are preparing for the draft and free agency, and sometimes teams get a jump-start on the summer with a key move. Here are five such transactions from the past three springs.
June 20th, 2012: Pelicans (then Hornets) trade Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to Wizards for Rashard Lewis and the 46th pick in the 2012 draft — None of the players in this deal had team-friendly contracts, but New Orleans swapped two years of Okafor and Ariza for one season of Lewis, whose massive $22.7MM salary for 2012/13 was only guaranteed for $13.7MM. New Orleans waived Lewis to save the $9MM difference. The Wizards played well in stretches this season, but Okafor and Ariza failed to help them into the playoffs. Both intend to opt in for next season, at a combined cost of $22.2MM.
May 30th, 2011: Timberwolves sign Ricky Rubio — Rubio and the Wolves ended a nearly two-year wait, finally agreeing on a rookie-scale contract after Minnesota made him the fifth overall pick in 2009. The two-year delay made Rubio slightly more expensive, since he signed for the 2011 scale amount, rather than the figure from 2009, but it also bought the Wolves some time before they have to extend or re-sign Rubio with his next contract, which figures to include a sizable raise. If Minnesota had signed Rubio in 2009, his rookie contract would be up this summer.
April 20th, 2011: Grizzlies extend Zach Randolph — Eighth-seeded Memphis had a 1-0 lead on the No. 1 seed Spurs when the Grizzlies finalized their four-year, $66MM extension. Z-Bo paid immediate dividends, leading Memphis to a series victory over San Antonio and helping push the Thunder to seven games in the next round. The past two seasons haven't been as fruitful, though, as Randolph's scoring has declined to an average of 14.4 points per game in 2011/12 and 2012/13 after four straight 20-PPG seasons.
June 17th, 2010: Kings trade Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni to Sixers for Samuel Dalembert — The Kings sent the 10th pick in the 2007 draft away with one season remaining on his rookie-scale contract for Dalembert, who also had just one season left on his deal. Unlike the affordable Hawes, Dalembert cost $13.4MM that season, and gave the Kings just 24.2 minutes per game. Nocioni had a similar cap hit spread out over two seasons, with $13.5MM left on his deal through 2012, but he never played a significant role in Philadelphia.
April 20, 2010: Trail Blazers extend Marcus Camby — Camby signed a two-year, $17.7MM extension, but after helping the Blazers to their third straight playoff appearance in 2011, Portland traded Camby to the Rockets at the deadline in 2012. In return, the Blazers received only Hasheem Thabeet and Jonny Flynn, neither of whom is with the team anymore, along with a future second-round pick. The Rockets signed-and-traded Camby last summer for a package of three players who are no longer with them, either.
Atlantic Links: Curry, Sixers, Celtics, Iverson
Yesterday was the first day since 1974 that two pro basketball teams held playoff games in New York, and the Knicks and Nets made the most of it. Both came away with victories and 1-0 series leads. The other three teams in the Atlantic Division are making noise off the court, as we detail here.
- Sixers players have spoken positively about assistant coach Michael Curry, who appears ready to become a head coach again after his unsuccessful stint leading the Pistons in 2008/09, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Curry will interview for the head job with the Philadelphia and may do so with the Cavs, but he doesn't appear to be a candidate for Detroit, Goodwill adds (Twitter link).
- John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the Sixers should embrace rebuilding and resist the urge to spend significant cash on free agents this summer in a quick-fix effort.
- With Doug Collins no longer in a position to dictate the direction of the team, the time is right for the Sixers to pursue a marquee general manager, argues fellow Inquirer scribe Bob Ford.
- Ray Allen is pleased that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has given him the license to post up smaller defenders, something he said Celtics coach Doc Rivers did not allow him to do, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- Washburn has heard rumors that the Celtics considered signing Allen Iverson this season, but he says there's no truth behind them.
- HoopsWorld's Stephen Brotherston looks back on the tenure of Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, concluding that the team shouldn't fire him. If Toronto wants to make a change to its front office, it should give more responsibility to Ed Stefanski, its executive vice president of basketball operations.
Rockets GM On Lin, Harden, Free Agency
Rockets GM Daryl Morey oversaw one of the most active front offices during the 2012/13 season, pulling off nine transactions, including a pair of trades at the deadline. None of those moves appear to have been quite as significant as the James Harden trade Morey engineered a few days before the season began. Fittingly, the Rockets match up with Harden’s former team as they begin the playoffs against the Thunder tonight. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle caught up with Morey to look back on a few of his moves and gaze ahead to the summer, when the Rockets are confident they can clear the cap space necessary to go after Dwight Howard. Here are a few of Morey’s comments:
On his initial expectations for the season:
“I had prepared (owner) Leslie (Alexander) for just a horrible season if we don’t get Jeremy (Lin) and don’t make the trade for James (Harden). I actually think Leslie was prepared for it for the first time. I think it was the right approach. We were hoping to avoid a down year, but I don’t see any way we could have avoided it if we don’t have some of the things break our way, Omer (Asik), Jeremy and James, and even getting guys like (Carlos) Delfino on very good deals at the end of free agency. A lot of stuff had to come together.”
On how he expects to improve the team:
“I think we’ll have to do a little more than growth from within. I hope it’s all growth from within. We’ll still take bets on young players, but we also may have to look outside, most likely through free agency than trades. We have that cap room and we like our young players and are reluctant to trade most of them, if not all of them.”
On his plan for pursuing free agents:
“We’re not the first team to be young and hope for the future. We know probably the No. 1 mistake franchises make is in this phase to spend money on the wrong players, and it ties them up. We’ll be real careful. We’re going to be careful in free agency. We’re not going to be straightforward — team need, sign guy, team need, sign guy.”
Cavs Rumors: Brown, Gilbert, Assistants
A majority of Hoops Rumors readers don't believe Phil Jackson will consider coaching the Cavs, even though a source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Jackson would "absolutely" listen if the team called. While the Zen Master is far and away the biggest name associated with the team's search, there are plenty of other candidates, and there's news on several of them this morning:
- The team has had informal conversations with former coach Mike Brown about a reunion, writes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who passes along a report from WKYC-TV in Cleveland that Brown and owner Dan Gilbert will meet Sunday.
- A source tells Finnan that Brown would be the top choice for the Hawks if they decide to make a coaching change. That's no surprise, given the ties between Brown and Atlanta GM Danny Ferry.
- The Cavs aren't expected to discuss the opening with any college coaches, and the hiring process will move swiftly, according to Finnan.
- Finnan adds Melvin Hunt of the Nuggets and Michael Curry of the Sixers to the list of assistant coaches who may receive interviews, which already included Michael Malone (Warriors), Brian Shaw (Pacers) and David Fizdale (Heat).
- The Cavs will indeed interview Shaw, just as they did when they hired Byron Scott in 2010, reports Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer.
- Flip Saunders, Nate McMillan and Avery Johnson have all either directly or indirectly expressed interest in the position, Pluto also writes.
- The Cavs have a chance to make an impression on Kyrie Irving with their coaching hire, so that means much is riding on the team's decision, opines fellow Plain Dealer scribe Bud Shaw.