Fallout From Spurs’ Release Of Stephen Jackson
Usually, roster moves this time of year involve tweaks to the end of the bench, so San Antonio's decision to waive Stephen Jackson, who averaged close to 20 minutes per game this season, comes as a surprise. We're beginning to hear some of the reasons why the team let Jackson go, as well as some reaction from the locker room.
- The timing of the move was strategic, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. Jackson and the team had discussed a release prior to the trade deadline, but the Spurs preferred to wait until after the March 1st deadline for him to have been eligible to play for another team in the postseason.
- Jackson has made just one appearance of at least 20 minutes in the last month, so his lack of minutes made it easier for the team to make the move. Still, it was a risk, since Jackson was popular with his Spurs teammates, notes Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
- Danny Green, one of Jackson's now-former teammates, expressed shock as he explained his feeling about the move. Dan McCarney of the San Antonio News-Express has the details in three Twitter links.
- Gregg Popovich addressed the move with reporters this evening, and fellow Express-News scribe Jeff McDonald shares some of his remarks. "Tough decision, because on a personal basis, I’ve known him a long time and I enjoy him very much," Popovich said of Jackson. "But you’ve got to make decisions that are tough sometimes. We thought this was best for our group." (Twitter links)
- Popovich also called the move "a basketball decision and a family decision." Jackson took the news in a "classy" manner, Popovich added, though the coach wouldn't answer whether he thought Jackson had been disgruntled (Twitter links).
- The move caught Jackson off-guard, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Spurs felt Jackson had begun to have a negative influence on the team's younger players, and the team's brass didn't feel like Jackson's play of late was justifying the disruption.
- The Spurs front office knew what it was getting with Jackson and had wanted to add "edge" to the locker room when the team acquired him last season, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
Wolves Owner On Adelman, Kahn, Saunders, Sale
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor identifies the uncertainty surrouding the future of coach Rick Adelman as his top offseason concern, but his comments to Ray Richardson of St. Paul Pioneer Press seemed to dispel this week's report that Adelman is likely to retire. Taylor plans on Adelman coming back, and doesn't have a contingency in place if Adelman steps down. The owner said he isn't sure if assistant Terry Porter, who filled for Adelman during his absence, would be the choice. "If Rick were to leave, I would want to think about all options we have available to us. My thought process right now would be to not look at just one person," Taylor said.
Richardson's Q&A with Taylor is worth a read in its entirety, but we'll hit the highlights here:
On the future of GM David Kahn:
I haven't come to the time to make a decision on that. Let's finish the season first. I want to find out about my coach first. I don't have a time frame to address David's situation. He and I have been talking about the draft and other things as we go into the offseason. At some point, I know I need to make a decision.
On his relationship with Flip Saunders:
First of all, Flip was just trying to help a friend who had an outside group, but that group never submitted a bid. I have a coach and I have a GM. Me and Flip have not talked about those things. What we talk about mostly is his work at ESPN and what's going on in the league. I have maintained a friendship with Flip. We kept in touch when he was at Washington and Detroit.
On a potential sale of the team:
I haven't come up with anybody who meets all the needs. One of my problems is that I haven't found anybody who lives in Minnesota or has a Minnesota background. The interest has come from people outside the state. I'm interested in a local person buying the team on a limited partner basis. Right now, I don't have a strong feeling that I want to get rid of the team. I still enjoy it. I was thinking of a long run to try to find a successor, but I might keep things the way they are.
On Nikola Pekovic's restricted free agency this summer:
I want him to stay, and he has told me he wants to stay. It's to our advantage to try and work something out with him. We know and he knows he's able to test the market. When he tells me he wants to stay, I take him for his word, but agents play a big role in all of this.
On the notion that the team's signing of Brandon Roy was a mistake:
It's fair criticism … for me and David. We did take a risk, and it was proven to be a wrong risk. There were other players out there with some experience who we could have gotten, who would have helped us at a position (shooting guard) where we needed help. We're out of the money this year ($5.1MM), but based on the contract we have, we don't have to pay him next year if he doesn't play.
Knicks Sign Solomon Jones
5:25pm: The Knicks have announced the signing, tweets Howard Beck of The New York Times.
5:03pm: Jones' deal covers next season as well, and becomes guaranteed for 2013/14 if he's not waived by a certain date, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link).
1:40pm: The Knicks are signing Jones rather than Singleton because Singleton didn't receive FIBA clearance due to a procedural delay with his Chinese team, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
11:12am: The Knicks will sign big man Solomon Jones to a contract for the remainder of the season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Jones, who played in China this year, received his FIBA letter of clearance today, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).
Unless the Knicks intend to waive a second player in addition to Kurt Thomas, the signing of Jones may indicate that the team's agreement with James Singleton fell apart, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweets. Jones, a 6'10" big man, would give New York a little more size than Singleton, a 6'8" forward, in what has become an injury-depleted frontcourt.
Jones, 28, played for the same CBA team as Josh Akognon, who is currently on a 10-day contract with the Mavericks. In 19 games for the Liaoning Jiebao Hunters, Jones averaged a double-double, recording 15.8 PPG and 10.4 RPG. The former second-round pick, who has appeared in 268 contests in parts of six NBA seasons, played for the Clippers and Hornets in 2011/12 and was in camp with the Suns in the fall.
Spurs Release Stephen Jackson
5:13pm: The Spurs have sent out a press release officially announcing that they've waived Jackson.
4:50pm: Jackson and head coach Gregg Popovich had been "sparring" about Jackson's role with the Spurs all season, according to Wojnarowski. The two sides discussed a potential release prior to the trade deadline, but agreed to move forward for the rest of the season. However, the disagreements resurfaced this week, says Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
4:24pm: With just over a week until the postseason gets underway, the Spurs have waived Stephen Jackson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). It's not clear yet why the Spurs are parting ways with Jackson, but one source tells Wojnarowski that it's been "brewing for a few days" (Twitter link). Art Garcia of FOX Sports Southwest first tweeted word of the roster move.
Jackson, 35, hadn't been having a strong season on the court, with his averages of 6.2 PPG and 8.1 PER the lowest he has posted in over a decade. Nonetheless, given the timing of the move and his place in the Spurs' rotation, I would assume he's out of work for off-the-court rather than on-court reasons.
Jackson had been playing out the final year of his contract, earning more than $10MM this season. He won't lose any of that money by being waived, though he will hit free agency a few months earlier than expected. Since he was released after the March 1st buyout deadline though, he'd be ineligible for the postseason, making it unlikely that he catches on with another team next week.
As for the Spurs, they had been carrying a full roster of 15 players, so the move opens up a spot for a free agent, should they choose to make an addition.
Southwest Links: Kaman, Mavs, Hollins, Rockets
The Southwest's three playoff teams will battle for playoff seeding tonight, as the Spurs look for a win over the Kings to keep pace with the top-seeded Thunder, while the Grizzlies play the Rockets in Houston. As we look forward to a busy night of NBA action, let's check out some more updates out of the division….
- Speaking to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Chris Kaman reiterated that he'd like to return to the Mavericks next season, a stance he has conveyed before. "I'd love to be back, but I don't know what's going to happen with the organization,'' Kaman said. "It's up to the owners and the coaches and all that — whoever decides all that stuff."
- ESPN.com's Marc Stein appeared on 103.3 KESN FM in Dallas this week to address the Mavericks' top offseason targets, and the Dallas Morning News has a couple key quotes from the ESPN.com scribe.
- Following up on a report from the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Lionel Hollins' job status, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer takes an in-depth look at whether Hollins will, and should, be back on the Grizzlies' bench next season.
- Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld spoke to Rockets GM Daryl Morey about the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, noting that "a good Portsmouth seems to help players a lot more than a bad Portsmouth hurts them." Morey said he usually arrives in Portsmouth with a list of six to 12 key players to watch.
Sacramento/Seattle Updates: Friday
The Maloofs' deadline for Sacramento's investment group to submit a formal offer for the Kings will arrive later this afternoon. While various reports have suggested that deadline is of no real consequence, it still appears as if the group will submit its final offer to the NBA and the Maloofs today. As we wait for news on Sacramento's offer, let's check in on the latest updates on the Kings saga….
- Sources close to the Maloof family indicated to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee that if the Sacramento group submits a matching offer that satisfies the NBA's other owners, the Maloofs will "embrace" keeping the Kings in Sacramento.
- The Sacramento group has yet to deliver a formal bid to the Maloofs or the NBA, which must happen to give the league real cause to reject the sale to Chris Hansen's Seattle group. One source told Voisin: "We're giving Sacramento every opportunity to keep the team, but they keep blowing every deadline. We haven't seen anything in writing."
- Regardless of whether the Kings ultimately end up, the Maloofs are eager to move on, according to Voisin, who says the family is interested in pursuing an NHL or MLB franchise. Voisin reports that the Maloofs have met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and have looked into buying an NHL franchise for months, with Las Vegas as one possible destination. We had heard previously that if the Seattle deal is shot down by the NBA's Board of Governors, the Maloofs could decide to regroup and not immediately sell to another group. However, Voisin's report seems to suggest the family wants some resolution one way or another.
- Former Facebook executive Chris Kelly has joined the Sacramento group bidding for the Kings, according to Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.
- A King County judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Seattle investment group, saying the case is not yet ripe, tweets Chris Daniels of KING TV. The suit alleged that Seattle's arena proposal violated the terms of Initivate 91, which places restricitons on sports subsidies in the city. The suit figures to resurface if and when the arena comes closer to construction.
- Sacramento will publish its Notice of Preparation for the arena today, which will start 30 days of public review, tweets Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com.
Knicks Release Kurt Thomas
1:25pm: The Knicks have officially waived Thomas, according to the team's PR Twitter account.
FRIDAY, 11:40am: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has reported that the Knicks will waive Thomas to clear a spot to sign Solomon Jones. While Wojnarowski doesn't explicitly mention Singleton in his report, the implication seems to be that the Knicks' agreemeent with Singleton fell through, leading them to turn to Jones instead.
If the Knicks were to waive another player in addition to Thomas, they could clear room for both Singleton and Jones. It's possible that there were complications with Singleton's letter of clearance from China, though that's just my speculation.
WEDNESDAY, 6:38pm: The Knicks will waive Thomas, Isola tweets. Thomas, 40, will have surgery on his foot next week. Thomas has been the league's oldest player this season, a distinction that will fall to Grant Hill of the Clippers, who is one day younger.
5:52pm: The Knicks will sign free agent power forward James Singleton, a source confirms to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Frank Isola of the New York Daily News first tweeted the news that a deal was close. Kurt Thomas, in the last season of a two-year contract for the minimum salary, will likely be waived to create room on the roster, according to Isola.
Singleton signed in November with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese league after turning down a minimum-salary offer last summer from the Wizards, with whom he played 12 games last season. The 6'8", 31-year-old Singleton averaged 15.2 points and 11.1 rebounds as a part-time starter in 21 games for Xinjiang this season, down slightly from the 17.8 PPG and 11.9 RPG he produced while playing in China during 2011/12. He's seen much more limited playing time with the Clippers, Mavs and Wizards in parts of five NBA seasons, notching 8.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG with Washington last year.
Begley reported earlier today that the Knicks were looking at free agent big men in the wake of Kenyon Martin's injury last night. The Knicks have been especially hard hit with ailments to their front line, Thomas included. He suffered a stress fracture in his right foot last month, and played with the injury in a game against the Jazz before shutting it down with hopes of returning for the playoffs. That game, Thomas' last appearance, was the first win in New York's current 13-game winning streak, Isola points out (Twitter link).
Jamaal Franklin To Enter Draft
San Diego State junior Jamaal Franklin has elected to enter this year's NBA draft, forgoing his remaining year of college eligibility, the school announced today in a press release. Franklin will hire an agent, meaning he won't have the opportunity to withdraw.
Franklin, 21, projects as a likely first-round pick in June, ranked 18th among prospects by ESPN.com's Chad Ford and 25th by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. The 6'5" guard played well in the NCAA Tournament, recording 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals in San Diego State's loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the round of 32. For the season, Franklin averaged 17.0 PPG, along with 9.5 RPG, an exceptional rebounding rate for a shooting guard.
Franklin becomes the second underclassmen to declare his intent today, with Myck Kabongo of Texas also headed to the NBA. You can keep tabs on all of this year's early entrants right here.
Myck Kabongo To Enter Draft
Sophomore guard Myck Kabongo has declared his intent to go pro, and will forgo his remaining two years of NCAA eligibility, the University of Texas announced today. Kabongo is scheduled to meet with local media later this afternoon.
Kabongo, 20, was forced to miss most of the 2012/13 season after the NCAA suspended him when questions arose about his relationship with NBA agent Rich Paul. The point guard ultimately appeared in 11 games for Texas, averaging 14.6 PPG and 5.5 APG, but the lack of court time this season likely put a dent into his draft stock.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford's ranking of Kabongo (No. 33) seems to suggest the sophomore still has first-round potential, though Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has him down at No. 47 on his big board.
Nets Re-Sign Kris Joseph For Season
The Nets have signed Kris Joseph for the remainder of the season following the expiration of his 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Because Joseph was released by the Celtics long before the March 1st buyout deadline, he'll be eligible to play for the Nets in the postseason.
During his first 10 games with the Nets, Joseph saw limited minutes in three of the team's five games, though he failed to record a single point, missing both of his shots from the field and a pair of free throws. Joseph, who was selected 51st overall last June by the Celtics, spent a good chunk of this season in the D-League, playing 27 games in total for the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws. The 24-year-old averaged 18.6 PPG in those D-League contests.
Now that they've locked up Joseph, the Nets have a full roster of 15 players on guaranteed contracts as the postseason approaches.