Pacific Notes: Howard, World Peace, Kings, Clips
Earlier today, the Clippers signed DaJuan Summers for the season, and we passed along word that Grant Hill is likely to retire at season's end. Here are a few more Thursday items from out of the Pacific Division:
- Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Insider-only link) expects Dwight Howard to re-sign with the Lakers, but notes that there are other potentially attractive destinations in play. Broussard breaks down the pros and cons of three likely Howard suitors, the Hawks, Rockets, and Mavericks.
- Metta World Peace's rehab from knee surgery is off to a good start, though his future is still uncertain, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- As Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld explains, when the NBA Board of Governors votes on the future of the Kings, the decision won't necessarily come down to Seattle vs. Sacramento, since the Board can't force the Maloofs to sell to the Sacramento group. The Board of Governors will simply be voting on whether or not to approve the sale to the Seattle group, so if the sale is to be declined, there will need to be real cause.
- In his latest column for the Los Angeles Times, T.J. Simers argues that the immaturity of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is dragging the Clippers down, and says Jordan "blames [head coach Vinny] Del Negro for burying him on the bench."
Clippers Re-Sign DaJuan Summers For Season
The Clippers have re-signed DaJuan Summers to a rest-of-season contract, the team announced today in a press release. Summers had signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the club, the second of which came to an end after last night's win over the Suns.
During his first 20 days with the Clippers, Summers has only appeared in two games, scoring a single basket in seven minutes of action. I don't expect the 25-year-old to be a part of the team's postseason rotation, so I'd imagine his contract includes a non-guaranteed option for 2013/14, giving L.A. a chance to take an extended look at him over the summer.
Now that they've signed Summers and Maalik Wayns to guaranteed contracts, the Clippers have a full roster of 15 players.
Poll: Who Will Be The West’s Final Playoff Team?
Back on March 6th, it appeared to be a four-team race for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference, with the Warriors, Rockets, Jazz, and Lakers jockeying for position. The Warriors and Rockets have since cemented their place in the standings, though neither team has officially clinched a postseason berth yet. And while the Mavericks made some noise in recent weeks, it appears their run will fall short, leaving the Jazz and Lakers battling for the eighth and final spot.
In the poll linked above, nearly 90% of you suggested that it would be the Lakers or Jazz, rather than the Warriors or Rockets, that missed the postseason. And despite the fact that Utah was 2.5 games up on L.A. in the standings at the time, the Jazz were the club that over 50% of voters believed would be on the outside looking in.
With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Lakers (39-36) have overtaken the Jazz (39-37) in the standings, but Utah still has a decent chance to sneak into the postseason. Of Utah's six remaining games, only three are against playoff teams, while five of the Lakers' last seven games are against Western Conference playoff clubs. The Jazz also hold the tiebreaker in the event that they finish with the same record as the Lakers.
The specifics on how each team's schedule breaks down for the rest of the season: The Jazz will host the Thunder and play in Golden State and Memphis, but have a pair of winnable games against the Timberwolves, and also host the Hornets. The Lakers will host the Hornets as well, though their other four home games (Grizzlies, Warriors, Spurs, Rockets) should be more challenging. They'll also hit the road to play in Portland, and face the Clippers in what is technically a Clips home game.
Neither of those schedules is a cakewalk, so it's worth mentioning that the Mavericks (36-38) still play the Hornets twice, and have games against the Kings, Blazers, and Suns left on the slate as well. The Mavs' loss in Los Angeles earlier this week put a serious dent in their chances though, and didn't help them for tiebreaker purposes either, so they're a real long shot in my view.
Of course, it's impossible to say at this point how injuries or teams resting players will affect the outcome of the next two weeks of games, so picking a clear favorite for that eighth seed isn't easy. What do you think? Which team ends up earning a spot in the 2013 NBA playoffs?
Who will be the final playoff team in the West?
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Los Angeles Lakers (39-36) 63% (412)
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Utah Jazz (39-37) 31% (199)
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Dallas Mavericks (36-38) 6% (38)
Total votes: 649
Draft Updates: Thomas, Smart, Nash, Saric, Burke
As we look forward to what should be a fun Final Four in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, let's check in on the latest updates on the 2013 NBA draft….
- Memphis forward Adonis Thomas will forgo his last two years of NCAA eligibility and enter the draft, coach Josh Pastner confirmed to L. Jason Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Thomas, who will hire an agent, is ranked just outside of Chad Ford's top 100 list at ESPN.com, and Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) questions his decision to leave Memphis.
Earlier updates:
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford isn't ruling out the possibility that the No. 2 prospect on his board, Marcus Smart, returns to Oklahoma State, but Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com says Smart is leaning toward declaring for the draft. Within the same tweet, Goodman adds that Smart's teammate, LeBryan Nash, will remain in school.
- Croatian prospect Dario Saric will enter the draft, reports Ford. The 18-year-old is being eyed as a "potential sleeper" by a number of teams, according to the ESPN.com scribe.
- Michigan's Trey Burke is up to 7th on ESPN.com's big board, and could continue to rise with a strong performance against Syracuse this Saturday, according to Ford.
- Gary Harris of Michigan State is believed to be leaning toward returning to school and undergoing shoulder surgery this summer, says Ford.
- Multiple sources tell Ford that Kelly Olynyk is expected to declare for the '13 draft, though the Gonzaga big man hasn't made it official yet.
- College coaches and players are aware that the NCAA's April 16th withdrawal deadline is relatively meaningless, writes ESPN.com's Andy Katz. Last month, we passed along Jonathan Givony's explanation for why that's the case.
- Isaiah Sykes of Central Florida will declare for the draft, but won't hire an agent, giving him an opportunity to withdraw, tweets Goodman.
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Eastern Notes: Thibodeau, Pargo, Teletovic, C’s
With seven playoff spots clinched and the Bucks likely to lock their spot up as soon as this weekend, there won't be much late-season drama in the Eastern Conference. But seeding is still on the line, and a win for the Bulls tonight over the Nets would increase the likelihood of the two teams playing each other in the first round later this month. As we look forward to that game, let's check out a few notes from around the conference….
- Although he and the Bulls agreed to a contract extension way back in October, it took head coach Tom Thibodeau a while to actually sign his new contract, with multiple reports in February and March indicating that he had yet to do so. Thibodeau confirmed today, however, that he has signed the agreement, telling Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com that the delay was a non-issue.
- Jannero Pargo inked a deal yesterday to remain with the Bobcats for the rest of this season, but he'd like to stay in Charlotte beyond this year, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. It's not clear yet whether Pargo's deal with the Bobcats includes a non-guaranteed option for 2013/14, as many late-season agreements do.
- Despite spending the first few years of his career overseas before making the jump to the NBA, Nets forward Mirza Teletovic has no intention of returning to Europe, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes.
- One player who is heading overseas is Samardo Samuels, who was waived by the Cavaliers earlier this season. Despite reportedly drawing some interest from the Nets and others, Samuels didn't land with another NBA team, and is close to signing with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- Celtics president Danny Ainge is also overseas this week, having traveled to Europe on a scouting trip, says Aris Barkas of EuroHoops.net. According to Barkas, Ainge was in Volos, Greece to watch 18-year-old prospect Giannis Adetokunbo, who is expected to enter this year's draft.
Grant Hill Likely To Retire At Season’s End
Given his injury problems earlier in his career, the fact that Grant Hill is still playing at age 40 is remarkable. But while he has a second year on his contract for 2013/14, it appears likely that this season will be his last. Hill tells Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic that there's a "strong chance" he'll retire this summer.
"I’m leaning toward it," Hill said. "I want to get to the end of the year and offseason and think about it, but I’m pretty confident that’s where my mind is right now. I’ve enjoyed it."
Hill, who signed with the Clippers last July, didn't appear in a regular-season game until January due to a bone bruise to his right knee. He has played in 27 games since then, but is averaging career-lows in most key categories, including minutes per game (15.5), PPG (3.2), FG% (.380), and PER (4.2).
According to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, Hill's contract, which would pay him about $2.05MM next season if he remained with the Clips, includes a $500K guarantee. The veteran forward's second year becomes fully guaranteed if he's not waived by July 1st, so I would guess that if he decides to retire, the Clips will release him before that date, saving themselves a little money. As for Hill, he'd still be making out pretty well — according to Basketball-Reference, he has earned over $140MM since making his NBA debut in 1994.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel first reported back in February that Hill was "strongly" hinting he expected to retire at season's end.
Odds & Ends: Kings, Babby, Bynum, 2014
TNT's David Aldridge, writing for NBA.com, delivers a lengthy summary of the fallout from the presentations that competing bidders for the Kings made today before a group of owners. Aldridge concludes that the key issue has shifted from the size of the bids to how quickly each city can build a new arena. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com gives his take on the affair, noting that four of the 12 owners scheduled to attend today's meeting were not present. The Kings saga is the major story of the day, but there's plenty more happening around the Association:
- Even with Bradley Beal out for the rest of the season, the Wizards aren't planning to bring in another guard, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
- Lon Babby's first three years as the Suns' president of basketball operations have included plenty of both hits and misses, but owner Robert Sarver likes the job Babby has done with the franchise, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Babby was offered a two-year extension this past Sunday, and accepted the offer on Tuesday.
- Andrew Bynum isn't ruling out a return to the Sixers in the offseason, agent David Lee tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- A roundtable of ESPN.com contributors debate the best free agents not in this summer's class but in 2014 — a group that apparently won't include Zach Randolph.
- N.C. State small forward T.J. Warren will return to school rather than enter the draft, his father tells Joe Giglio of the News & Observer. Opinions on Warren vary widely, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him as the 31st-best prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked him No. 62.
- Nerlens Noel remains atop many draft boards in spite of his torn ACL, and a Western Conference executive told Chris Mannix of SI.com that with so much medical information available these days, "it's easy to predict that he will be fine." Mannix has more draft-related updates on Steven Adams, Alex Poythress and Cody Zeller.
- HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy provides further insight on why Noel is rated so highly, noting that scouts like Noel's upside while advanced statistics demonstrate his high value.
Luke Adams also contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Frank, Bucks, Scott, Cavs
The Pacers boast the second-longest current winning streak in the NBA at five games, but every other team in the division is on a losing streak, including the banged-up Bulls, who are down to sixth place in the Eastern Conference. There's news about the three Central Division clubs even further down in the standings, as we pass along:
- In response to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski and Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports that Pistons coach Lawrence Frank could be a "strong candidate" for the open coaching job at Rutgers, Frank said he has not been contacted by anyone and added, "I'm very happy as coach of Pistons," tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
- With expansion off the table for the NBA, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler anticipates the Bucks will be the next team in the conversation to move once the future of the Kings is resolved. Kyler cautions that the Bucks have a lease that runs through September of 2017 (All Twitter links).
- Cavaliers coach Byron Scott isn't concerned with rumors questioning his future in Cleveland, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio notes via Twitter. "Not really. … Whatever happens happens," Scott said.
- Amico believes an attitude adjustment, rather than draft picks or cap space, is what the Cavs need in order to turn the franchise back into a winner. He points to the team's 10-game losing streak as a product of an "organization-wide collapse" that can't be pinned solely on Scott or anyone else.
Zach Randolph Likely To Exercise 2014/15 Option
Zach Randolph tells The Oregonian's Jason Quick that he loves living in Memphis and playing for the Grizzlies and will likely exercise his player option worth $16.5MM for the 2014/15 season (Twitter link). His statement has relevance for this summer, since teams probably won't consider Randolph's contract, which pays him $17.8MM next season, as an expiring deal, perhaps making him less attractive as a trade candidate.
Randolph's name surfaced in trade talk before the Rudy Gay swap this year, and Z-Bo was linked to the Kings and Rockets before CEO Jason Levien categorically denied that the Grizzlies had any serious discussions about dealing away Randolph. While Lionel Hollins recently denied rumors of a rift between him and Randolph, it appears both player and team are on the same page in Memphis.
Randolph, who regressed last year as he dealt with a torn MCL, hasn't regained the 20-points-per-game scoring prowess he displayed before the injury. Still, at 31 years old, he's still a consistent double-double threat, averaging 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per contest this season. His contract calls for him to receive a raise next year and take a paycut in his option year. That's a dynamic that wasn't supposed to be allowed under CBA rules, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, but is nonetheless a part of his deal, which he signed in 2011.