Central Notes: Granger, Thibodeau, Pistons
A few notes from around the Central Division.
- Lang Greene of HoopsWorld spoke to a leading surgeon and sports medicine expert about Danny Granger's health, and how it will affect his on-court contributions going forward.
- According to the Detroit Free Press' Keith Langlois, the Pistons likely won't invite any more than the 15 players they currently have under contract to training camp.
- Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau speaks to HoopsWorld.com's Yannis Koutroupis about the new challenges his team will face this season, including improved competition in the Central Division.
Western Notes: Spurs, Jackson, Johnson
A few notes from the Western Conference.
- The Spurs have named Ken McDonald the head coach of the team's D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, the team announced today in a press release. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first had the story (Twitter link).
- Pierre Jackson, whose NBA rights are held by New Orleans, has left his team in France to return to America, according to a report from Le Progres (translation via Sportando). It's not clear whether the Pelicans could fit Jackson into their plans immediately, so he may end up playing elsewhere this season.
- Lakers.com reporter Mike Trudell writes about new Lakers forward Wesley Johnson, and what sort of impact the former lottery pick should have on the team this season.
Heat Working Out Roger Mason Jr.
The Heat will work out veteran guard Roger Mason Jr., according to South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Ira Winderman. The two-time defending champions currently have 13 players under contract, and 18 total players coming to camp.
The 33-year-old Mason Jr. was recently elected vice president of the player's union, and spent last season, his ninth in the NBA, with the Pelicans, averaging 5.3 PPG in 69 appearances.
A career 38.4% shooter from behind the three-point line, Mason Jr. could potentially become another reliable shooter on a team that amnestied Mike Miller earlier this offseason.
Odds & Ends: 2014 Draft, 2015/16 All-Star Games
- In a pair of pieces for ESPN.com, Jeff Goodman makes a case for why Julius Randle could challenge Andrew Wiggins for the No. 1 spot in the 2014 draft, and—along with a few of his colleagues—tackles five questons related to next year's draft.
- The NBA will hold a press conference tomorrow where the league is expected to announce that the Nets and Knicks will both host All-Star weekend in 2015, according to a tweet from Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling.
- In other All-Star weekend news, Ryan Wolstat from The Toronto Sun is reporting that Toronto will host the event in 2016.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu To Join Wizards For Camp
The Wizards are working to complete their camp roster this week, having reached an agreement with a fourth invitee, according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Lee tweets that Pops Mensah-Bonsu will attend camp with the Wizards, along with three other players who had previously been reported: Josh Childress, Xavier Silas, and D'or Fischer.
Mensah-Bonsu, 30, has played in parts of four NBA seasons for five different teams, but hasn't been linked to any NBA teams lately. As our archive of Mensah-Bonsu news and rumors shows, he has bounced around among international teams in recent years, finishing last season in Italy, where he recorded 8.0 PPG in nine games with EA7 Milano.
The 6'9" forward becomes the 19th man on the Wizards' roster. As I pointed out earlier today, because Washington has 15 guaranteed contracts on its books already, earning a roster spot will be an uphill battle for any of the team's camp invitees, including Mensah-Bonsu.
Bobcats Notes: Jefferson, Zeller, Biyombo
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer spoke to Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins and GM Rich Cho today about a few of the team's offseason moves, including the signing of Al Jefferson. Let's dive in to Bonnell's piece and check out the highlights from the Bobcats brass….
- Kemba Walker, who shares an agent with Jefferson, played a significant role in helping to recruit the former Jazz center to Charlotte, reaching out to him prior to the July free agency period. According to Higgins, when the team president told Walker that Jefferson had agreed to sign with the Bobcats, the point guard said that he "almost shed a tear."
- Higgins suggested that Charlotte's decision to amnesty Tyrus Thomas opened up the door to land Jefferson: "Once we decided to amnesty Tyrus Thomas, ownership gave us the green light to find a difference-maker. [Jefferson] is a difference-maker."
- Discussing Cody Zeller, Cho raved about the big man's basketball IQ, and said the NBA player who reminds him most of Zeller is LaMarcus Aldridge.
- Signing Jefferson and drafting Zeller doesn't mean the Bobcats are losing faith in the development of Bismack Biyombo, according to Higgins. "Biz fits in well with us. He’ll get opportunities to grow," Higgins said. "Biz still has a tremendous upside."
Kings Links: Shaq, Cousins, Ranadive
There was plenty of news coming out of Sacramento yesterday, as it was reported that Shaquille O'Neal had bought a stake in the Kings and would join the franchise's ownership group. Additionally, fourth-year big man DeMarcus Cousins appears to be closing in on a long-term extension with the club, and there's a chance something could be done in time for camp. Today's Kings links deal primarily with the fallout from those two stories, so let's dive in….
- Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro confirmed today that extension talks with Cousins are progressing, but didn't offer any specific details or a timeline for the deal, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- The Kings held a presser today to introduce O'Neal as a minority shareholder, and Shaq suggested that when he looks at Cousins, he sees "a young Shaquille O'Neal" (Twitter link). We heard yesterday that the former Laker hopes to "teach [Cousins] a few things to add to his game."
- Shaq's share of the Kings will amount to between 2-4%, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com weighs in with five thoughts on the seemingly inevitable Cousins extension, discussing, among other things, Vivek Ranadive's role in negotiations and whether the Kings would be better off waiting until next summer.
- As Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes, O'Neal will continue as a TNT analyst, but plans to spend a "significant" amount of time in Sacramento.
Sixers Sign Michael Carter-Williams
The 76ers have officially signed rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams, according to the team's director of public relations Michael Preston (Twitter link). The Sixers also formally confirmed the signing of Nerlens Noel, which we heard about last week.
Noel and Carter-Williams had long been the only two first-rounders who remained unsigned, with the exception of those players who are spending the 2013/14 season overseas. Now that both players are officially under contract, the Sixers are carrying 11 players on guaranteed deals. At least six more players with partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed contracts will be in camp with the club starting next week.
Carter-Williams, the 11th overall pick out of Syracuse, is set to earn about $2.2MM in his rookie season, assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of his cap hold. Our breakdown of rookie-scale salaries has the details.
Hawks To Bring Adonis Thomas To Camp
Undrafted rookie Adonis Thomas will join the Hawks for training camp, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Vivlamore had reported earlier in September that the team would likely add Thomas to its camp roster.
Thomas, 20, left Memphis this spring after his sophomore year, a decision that was questioned at the time by Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Goodman's ESPN colleague Chad Ford ranked Thomas 65th among 2013's prospects, so it wasn't a surprise when no team called his name on draft night. Still, the 6'6" forward should get the chance to compete with a handful of other players for a regular-season roster spot in Atlanta.
As Vivlamore points out, the addition of Thomas will increase Atlanta's camp roster to 20 players, making the Hawks the first team to reach the offseason limit. However, only 12 of those players are on fully guaranteed deals, which means the regular-season roster isn't set in stone yet. Eric Dawson, Royal Ivey, James Johnson, David Lighty, Shelvin Mack, and Damien Wilkins are also on non-guaranteed contracts, while Mike Scott has a $100K guarantee.
Knicks Sign Cole Aldrich
The Knicks have officially signed free agent center Cole Aldrich to a contract, the team announced today (Twitter link). Al Iannazzone of Newsday tweets that Aldrich's deal will be non-guaranteed.
Aldrich has underwhelmed in limited minutes during three NBA seasons with the Thunder, Rockets, and Kings, averaging 2.0 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 89 contests (7.9 MPG). However, given his size (6'11") and his pedigree (11th overall pick in 2010), there's still a chance the 24-year-old could contribute to an NBA team as the last big man off the bench.
We heard just yesterday that the Knicks intended to bring Aldrich back for a second workout, so it seems the team liked what it saw from the former lottery pick. Aldrich worked out for the Kings and other NBA clubs earlier in the summer, before landing with the Knicks.
With Aldrich on board, New York is set to bring at least 19 players to camp, including seven on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. With only 12 players seemingly assured of roster spots, there should be some competition in the next several weeks for the team's last two or three openings.