Odds & Ends: Dwight, Expansion, Thunder
The storyline on the Lakers tonight is their makeshift starting backcourt of Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock, but as soon as their season ends, the attention will no doubt shift back to marquee names, and Dwight Howard in particular. HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram, with an assist from colleague Eric Pincus, breaks down the numbers to show that Howard would make more money in the first four years of a contract with the Rockets than he would in as many seasons with the Lakers, thanks to differing tax rates. Still, L.A.'s ability to offer a fifth season, enhanced endorsement opportunities and the cachet of the purple and gold provide varying levels of motivation for Howard to re-sign with the Lakers.
As we wait for yet another Dwight decision, there's plenty of news from around the league:
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com suggests David Stern's stance on expansion may be softening somewhat (Sulia link). Stern had been adamant that the league won't try to solve the Kings dilemma by adding a team, though Spurs owner Peter Holt, chairman of the Board of Governors, said the issue isn't off the table.
- In an Insider piece, Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com argues the Thunder shouldn't regret the James Harden trade in the wake of Russell Westbrook's injury as much as the deadline move that sent Eric Maynor away.
- A team executive who saw Greek swingman Giannis Adetokunbo practice tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News that while he's a project who probably won't see significant playing time for two or three years, he's still worth a first-round pick (All Twitter links).
- Martell Webster is open to coming off the bench if he re-signs with the Wizards, notes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The Wizards and Webster, whom I tabbed one of the season's best mid-level exception signees, appear to have mutual interest in a return.
- Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv wonders what would have happened if Kenyon Martin were on the other team in the Knicks–Celtics series. Martin was close to a deal with Boston earlier this season.
Bulls Interested In Re-Signing Nazr Mohammed
Nazr Mohammed has played well in limited minutes during the first three games of the Bulls' first-round series against the Nets, and that appears to have GM Gar Forman hoping the 35-year-old big man will be back with the team next season. Forman told Mohammed on Friday that he should "buy, not rent," as Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes. Mohammed, a Chicago native, seemed pleased to hear it, saying he'd love to end his career in the city where he grew up.
Mohammed has averaged 13.3 minutes per game in the playoffs this year, giving the ailing Joakim Noah some rest, and has made six of his nine shots from the floor. That's in contrast to a regular season when Mohammed shot just 36.7% in 11 MPG, his worst field goal percentage since his rookie season. Still, his per-game plus-minus was just -0.2, meaning the Bulls were at least able to tread water while he was on the floor, a decent result for a minimum-salary signee. Despite his age and relatively short 6'10" stature, as centers go, he averaged 1.7 blocks per 36 minutes, better than his career rate of 1.4.
The Bulls probably don't envision bringing Mohammed back on anything more than another minimum-salary contract, especially since he seems motivated to stay in his hometown. If they do give him a raise, they could use his Non-Bird rights to extend him a contract worth up to 120% of his salary this season, which would mean an offer of $1,622,617.
Wolves Owner Undecided Between Kahn, Saunders
8:22pm: Sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press that Taylor has yet to decide who'll run the team's basketball operations next season. Saunders told KFXN-FM in Minneapolis that he has not yet been formally offered a job with the Wolves.
6:24pm: Kahn responded to the report in a text message to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, saying that he and Taylor have held conversations about the team's offseason plans, including free agency. Kahn's understanding is that he and Taylor will meet regarding his job status once coach Rick Adelman makes his decision about whether to return for next season.
10:19am: Flip Saunders is expected to return to the Timberwolves as the team's president of basketball operations, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, who reports that the move could become official as soon as next week. Saunders would replace David Kahn as the team's head of basketball operations, with Kahn's 2013/14 option not being exercised, says Aschburner.
The move would come as a bit of a surprise, since last month a report suggested Kahn's option for '13/14 would be picked up by the Wolves. Rumors have been swirling for several weeks that Saunders was being considered for a front office role with the Wolves, but owner Glen Taylor indicated earlier in April that he and Saunders hadn't discussed that.
Saunders had been representing a group interested in buying the T-Wolves from Taylor, though there didn't appear to be any serious progress on that front. However, one source who spoke to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link) speculates that if Saunders does replace Kahn, it could mean that Taylor is closer to selling the franchise, perhaps to the group Saunders represents.
If Kahn doesn't return to Minnesota for '13/14, it would be the end of an up-and-down tenure for the Wolves GM. Although he has added plenty of talent during the team's rebuild, he has also been panned for a handful of moves, including drafting Jonny Flynn and not signing Kevin Love to the five-year extension Love had been seeking.
According to Aschburner, Saunders has been negotiating a contract that could run through the 2017/18 season and be worth more than $9MM, if option years are exercised.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Mike Dunleavy
Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis and J.J. Redick will no doubt garner the most attention when the Bucks make their offseason plans, but once their futures are decided, Milwaukee may have to fend off other teams for another of their free agents. HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler touched on Mike Dunleavy this week, writing that the Bucks might see Dunleavy as a fallback option in case the team doesn't retain as many of its top three guards as it would like. The 32-year-old has never lived up to his promise as the third overall pick in the 2002 draft, but he's found a niche as a long-range shooter with plenty of size.
Dunleavy set a career mark with 42.8% three-point shooting this season, helping make up for the mediocrity of his teammates. Despite the presence of Ersan Ilyasova, who led the team by making 44.4% of his treys, and Redick for half a season, Milwaukee ranked just 13th in both three-point percentage and three-pointers made. Dunleavy could be particularly useful for the Bucks if they retain Jennings and Ellis but not Redick, since he'd help keep teams from packing the lane. The Bucks tried the Jennings-Ellis-Dunleavy combination fairly frequently, putting it on the floor for 10.4 minutes per night over 67 games. The Bucks were +0.8 in point differential with those three on the floor, compared to their season plus/minus of -1.5. The Bucks also improved from three-point range with that combination on the floor, shooting 37.3% compared to 36.0% for the season as a whole.
Dunleavy isn't the defender that Luc Mbah a Moute is, so I don't think the Bucks would be anxious to start Dunleavy at small forward, particularly alongside Ellis. Dunleavy has never been a full-time starter for a playoff team, and that probably isn't about to change now. Still, Milwaukee could run out the 6'9" Dunleavy as a backup two-guard and pair him with Mbah a Moute at times, giving the team plenty of length.
As I detailed earlier this evening, many of the best mid-level exception signings this year involved three-point shooters who came off the bench. The Bucks used cap space to ink Dunleavy to a two-year, $7.5MM deal in 2011, but that sort of contract would fit for a team that wanted to use part of its non-taxpayer's mid-level. The Duke product is probably in line for another such deal, though a slight paycut could be in order given his age. Accepting that might put several contending teams in play for him, since the taxpayer's mid-level includes a starting salary of $3.183MM for next season, only about $600K less than Dunleavy is making this season. The Heat, Thunder, Knicks and Spurs, the teams that grabbed the top two playoff seeds in each conference, all finished among the top five teams in three-point percentage this year, so Dunleavy might fit right in with a club that has title hopes.
Dunleavy's father, Mike Dunleavy Sr., wants to coach again, and is interested in joining a team with the financial wherewithal to make a title run. If he winds up with a coaching job, Dunleavy Jr. would probably be hard-pressed not to follow him, especially if he's with a playoff team. That could throw a wrench in the Bucks' plans to re-sign him, and Milwaukee could conceivably strike out with all four of their wing players this summer. That seems unlikely, though, and depends on several hypotheticals. And just because Dunleavy Sr. says he wants to coach, it doesn't mean he's headed for a sideline anytime soon. A reasonable expectation is for the Bucks to sign one or two out of Jennings, Ellis and Redick, and that sets them up to bring Dunleavy Jr. back, perhaps on another two-year deal. If they want to fend off the title contenders, I think keeping him on at his current salary would get the job done.
Best Mid-Level Exception Signings Of 2012/13
Thirteen teams made use of the mid-level exception this year, going with different strategies as they did so. Some teams deployed the full mid-level, with a starting salary of $5MM, while others used the taxpayer's mid-level of $3.09MM, which allowed them to exceed the $74.307MM tax apron. Many teams committed all of their mid-level to one player, while some split it up to sign multiple guys.
Still, a couple of common themes developed. Most of the best signings involved players who came off the bench and shot well from behind the arc. We'll chronicle this year's top mid-level signings here, in no particular order:
- Louis Williams, Hawks (three years, $15.675MM): Atlanta committed its full non-taxpayer's mid-level to the former Sixer, and he carried his off-the-bench scoring punch to the Hawks, averaging 14.1 PPG in 28.7 MPG until he tore his right ACL in January.
- Kyle Singler, Pistons (three years, $3.135MM): Usually, teams use their mid-level exceptions for veterans, but occasionally they use a part of them to lock up their second-round picks, and that's what Detroit did with Singler, their 2011 second-round selection who spent last season overseas. Singler started 74 games and displayed a decent stroke from outside, hitting 35% of his three-point attempts.
- Carl Landry, Warriors (two years, $8MM): Golden State became a playoff team thanks in part to Landry's contributions as the first big man off the bench. He averaged 9.3 rebounds per 36 minutes, his best rate since he was a rookie.
- Jamal Crawford, Clippers (four years, $21.35MM): His final two seasons are partially guaranteed, which prevents the deal from being the best possible mid-level arrangement for a player, but Crawford sure looks like he deserved all he could get. He made a push for an All-Star berth and the Sixth Man of the Year award, and led the team in points per 36 minutes, with 20.3.
- Ray Allen, Heat (two years, $6,319,050): Miami used its full taxpayer's mid-level and got just what they were looking for in Allen, a sharpshooter who came off the bench and enhanced the team's floor spacing on offense. He shot 41.9% from three-point land, bettering his career mark.
- Randy Foye, Jazz (one year, $2.5MM): The small size and short length of this contract have as much to do with its inclusion on this list as Foye's performance. Still, the former No. 7 overall pick started 72 games this season, the most in his career, and he shot 41% from three-point range. The Jazz still might have been better off if they had been able to bring Foye and his shooting off the bench, as other teams did with their mid-level signings this year.
- Martell Webster, Wizards (one year, $1.75MM): Few would have predicted that Webster, a cousin of Jason Terry, would have outperformed his relative, but that's what happened this season. Webster set career marks in PPG (11.4) and three-point percentage (42.2%), prompting the Wizards to prioritize re-signing him this summer. They'll probably need to give him a raise to make that happen.
Honorable mention: Jodie Meeks, Lakers; Draymond Green, Warriors; Jason Kidd, Knicks; Boris Diaw, Spurs.
Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.
Raptors Planning Run At Phil Jackson?
5:44pm: Leiweke told reporters, including USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, that he and Jackson have spoken this week, but only about the city of Toronto and not basketball matters. Still, he acknowledged that he and Jackson are friends (Twitter links).
3:48pm: Stein and Ramona Shelburne have included a few more details on Jackson and the Raptors in their full story on the subject at ESPN.com. Here are a few of the notable new items:
- Prior to the hiring of Leiweke, the Raptors were leaning toward retaining both Colangelo and coach Dwane Casey. However, Leiweke's presence throws their futures into doubt.
- Sources continue to stress to ESPN.com that it's very likely Jackson will be back in the NBA next season in some capacity.
- One source tells the ESPN duo that Jackson has "far more of an open mind than has been portrayed" with regard to potential job openings, and that he's willing to consider just about any legitimate pitch.
- A reunion with the Lakers remains highly unlikely for Jackson.
- Jackson is well-regarded by Chris Hansen, who is leading the Seattle group trying to buy the Kings. If Hansen's purchase of the franchise is improved, the opportunity for Jackson to put together a coaching staff and front-office team may arise in Seattle.
- The Nets may also make a run at Jackson for their coaching position this summer, since owner Mikhail Prokhorov is believed to want to make a "splashy hire."
1:26pm: Earlier this week, Phil Jackson confirmed that he has spoken to "three or four teams" about possible front office jobs, and now it appears the identity of some of those teams are surfacing.
Yesterday, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio reported that the Bobcats may be considering offering Phil Jackson a chance to run Charlotte's basketball operations. Today, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) he has been hearing "rumbles all week" that the Raptors are planning to make a run at Jackson, potentially offering him the team presidency.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the majority owner of the Raptors and the NHL's Maple Leafs, among other Toronto sports teams, announced today that Tim Leiweke will become the company's new president and CEO, effective June 30th. Leiweke had previously held a similar role at Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns a portion of the Lakers and other Los Angeles franchises. As Stein points out (via Twitter), Leiweke gives the Raptors a "major player with L.A. ties" who could make a pitch Jackson would consider.
Current Raptors president Bryan Colangelo has one year remaining on his contract, but the team has yet to formally exercise its option on Colangelo for 2013/14.
Eastern Notes: Dalembert, Adetokunbo, Cavs
We rounded up a few Western Conference notes earlier today, so let's head east and check in on the other conference….
- Although Samuel Dalembert has expressed some interest in signing with the Heat this summer, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel doesn't see Dalembert as more than a "fallback option" for Miami. Winderman isn't sure whether Dalembert would fit the Heat's culture, and thinks any interest from Miami would come later in free agency, if at all.
- The Pistons are expected to scout Greek prospect Giannis Adetokunbo for the first time this weekend, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Hopefully they'll have better luck than scouts for the Spurs, Heat, Hawks, and Grizzlies — Sportando contributor David Pick reports they failed to secure game passes to watch Adetokunbo today and were refused credentials. Representatives from the Cavs and Jazz did get in, however (Twitter links).
- New Cavs head coach Mike Brown has a long list of potential assistant candidates, and will begin getting in touch with them next week, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines the merits of hiring Brian Shaw for the Sixers, noting that as of earlier this week, the team had yet to set up any interviews with potential coaching candidates.
Marcus Smart To Return To Oklahoma State
APRIL 26TH: According to Aran Smith of NBADraft.net (Twitter link), "word on the street" suggests that Smart is second-guessing his decision to forgo the draft. While Smith says not to be shocked if Smart changes his mind, for now the junior guard remains on track to return to Oklahoma State. He'll have until Sunday night to finalize his decision.
APRIL 16TH: We just heard that the Oklahoma State basketball program scheduled a press conference for tomorrow afternoon and now we know why. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Cowboys guard Marcus Smart will return to Stillwater for his sophomore season (Twitter link). This is a big surprise because, as Wojnarowski points out, Smart was on his way to being a top five selection in June. This makes an already weak top of the draft even weaker.
Chad Ford of ESPN thinks that Smart would have gone top three, tweeting that he is the first player since Blake Griffin to return to school with that high a draft projection. Ford calls Smart a "different" kid who values winning and college experience. With Smart out of the mix, Ford will elevate Trey Burke to the top point guard spot on his board (Twitter links).
Alvin Gentry Interested In Bobcats Job
Since the Bobcats parted ways with Mike Dunlap on Tuesday, we've heard multiple reports suggest that Charlotte's coaching opening actually has appeal, given the team's cap situation and its collection of young players. One potential candidate who feels that way is former Suns coach Alvin Gentry, who tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he'd like to be considered for the job.
"It reminds me a little bit of the teams I had in L.A. (with the Clippers): Young players, very energetic guys," Gentry said. "Kemba [Walker] and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist have a lot of potential and [Gerald] Henderson has started to really establish himself as a pro…. I’ve seen a lot of their games. Yes, they’ve struggled at times, but that’s a situation where you could make a big change in a year or so. I know that player development is really important to that job."
ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweeted on Wednesday that Gentry's resume, presence, and local ties made him a logical candidate for the Bobcats. As Bonnell notes, Gentry was born and raised in Shelby, North Carolina, and played college ball for Appalachian State University.
Gentry has coached four teams in parts of 12 NBA seasons, including stints with the Heat, Pistons, Clippers, and Suns. His most successful season came in 2009/10, when he helped lead the Suns to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual NBA champions, the Lakers. For his career, Gentry has a 335-370 (.475) record as a head coach.
Nets Sign Billy King To Multiyear Extension
FRIDAY, 12:37pm: The Nets have officially signed King to a contract extension, the team announced today in a press release. Details on the years and dollars involved in the deal weren't disclosed.
"Billy has been a great asset to the Nets organization over the last three years," owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement. "He has shown he is not afraid to be bold and take risks, and, as a result, we have a playoff team with a world of potential. We are glad we will have the opportunity to continue our work together and realize that potential."
THURSDAY, 1:10pm: The Nets and Billy King are in the process of finalizing a multiyear contract extension for the general manager, whose current deal is set to expire this summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. A formal announcement from the team is expected sometime in the near future, according to Wojnarowski.
King, who assumed his current role with the Nets in July 2010, has rebuilt the club into an Eastern Conference contender since then, with the help of a free-spending owner in Mikhail Prokhorov. King and the Nets were the NBA's biggest spender last summer, when the team signed Deron Williams and Brook Lopez to maximum contracts, inked Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace to eight-digit, multiyear deals, and assumed Joe Johnson's hefty contract in a trade with the Hawks.
Prior to becoming the Nets' GM, King spent more than nine years in Philadelphia as general manager of the 76ers.