Western Notes: Westbrook, Nash, Lakers
Rejoining Oklahoma City for his first game since getting injured during last season’s playoffs, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook sat down with NewsOK’s Darnell Mayberry to discuss his return. When asked if he feels just as explosive as he was before the injury, Westbrook replied:
“Yeah. I feel great. I feel I’m in a good spot. I’m happy and blessed to be able to be able to play basketball again and go on the floor and fight for my teammates. First, I want to thank all the fans and all my family and friends and maybe some of you guys for your support throughout this period. It’s been a tough one, but I’m happy to be back.”
With that aside, here are some more links to share from around the Western Conference tonight:
- Though Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld had earlier intimated that Steve Nash has little trade value as of now, Alex Kennedy (also of Hoopsworld) tweets that the former MVP could indeed be traded and hears from multiple sources that the Raptors are a possible landing spot.
- Responding to his followers on Twitter, Kyler downplayed the likelihood that Pau Gasol and/or Nash get traded this season. Kyler reasons that Gasol and Nash make too much money for other teams to be interested, and that clearing Pau’s salary off their cap next July is much more valuable to the Lakers than shopping his expiring contract at the trade deadline (All Twitter links).
- Sam Amick of USA Today talks about what Westbrook’s return means for the Thunder.
- Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times provides a brief parallel between Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and the Rockets’ Dwight Howard as far as struggling to mesh with their respective coaches last season and being in better situations now. On a much lighter note, Howard credited “playing slower songs in his head” for his recent minor streak of improved shooting from the free throw line (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets).
- Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw might consider re-shuffling his starting lineup to include Kenneth Faried at power forward, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Eastern Notes: Davis, Douby, Carmelo
Though NBA veteran Ricky Davis was drafted by the Erie Bayhawks (which serves as the Knicks’ D-League affiliate) during this week’s NBDL draft, it doesn’t appear that Davis is part of any larger plan after head coach Mike Woodson didn’t seem to be aware of the move (SNY.tv’s Adam Zagoria via Twitter). New York brass had auditioned the 34-year-old swingman in mid-September but did not ultimately extend a training camp invite.
With more than half of the Eastern Conference set to compete tonight, here are some links to pass along from that side of the NBA:
- Recently drafted by the NBDL’s Sioux Falls Skyforce (a direct affiliate of the Heat), Quincy Douby tells Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld about how he’s matured after playing internationally for the last several years and that demonstrating how much he’s grown will hopefully lead to another opportunity in the NBA.
- With regard to some of New York’s struggles offensively so far, Carmelo Anthony -who insists that he feels good and is just trying to get back into rhythm himself – thinks that his team needs to be more willing to shoot more three-point shots when the opportunities present itself: “I think we’re showing a different dynamic part our team. Last year we took a lot more 3-pointers than we took (now). We got to get guys to used to being in those spots and wanting to shoot those. (We) got guys like Bargnani not used to playing a position like that outside the line taking 3s.’’ (Marc Berman of the Post provides a Sulia link)
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune touches upon the Bulls’ uncharacteristic struggles on the defensive end (subscribers only).
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com writes about Maurice Harkless‘ improved mindset as a second-year player.
Poll: Who Will Finish With The Fewest Wins?
The Philadelphia 76ers surprised NBA fans when they started out 3-0 after many analysts suggested they had the potential to be the worst team in the league. Marc Stein of ESPN ranked the Sixers dead last in his preseason power rankings, but that didn’t stop Michael Carter-Williams and company from taking down the Heat and the Bulls.
Each one of the preseason predictions crafted by the Hoops Rumors writing team featured the Bulls and/or Heat playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, so Philly’s hot start has a lot of analysts reevaluating their outlooks. ESPN’s Eric Goldwein admits that although the Sixers are a long way from contending for a playoff spot, they don’t appear to be the league’s worst team.
The question that arises then: If Philadelphia isn’t the worst team in the NBA, who is? The Phoenix Suns were projected by Stein to finish at the bottom of the West, but they’ve quietly started out undefeated at 2-0. The Utah Jazz sit winless in the cellar of the Northwest Division, but their losses came from allowing a buzzer beater versus the Suns, playing a 3-0 Rockets team, and facing a Thunder squad that figures to fight for a Western Conference title. With Rajon Rondo missing extended time, many fans expect Boston to tank this season, but strong early season play by Jeff Green and Brandon Bass suggest there’s still a glimmer of hope in Beantown.
Which team do you see losing the most games in the NBA this season?
Who Will Finish With The Fewest Wins?
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Celtics 25% (182)
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Bobcats 15% (110)
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Suns 14% (104)
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76ers 11% (79)
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Jazz 9% (68)
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Bucks 8% (57)
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Magic 7% (48)
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Another team 5% (37)
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Kings 5% (35)
Total votes: 720
Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Pondexter, Kings, Mills
Here are a few notes from around the league as the NBA’s first week comes to a close:
- Jamaal Tinsley‘s one-year minimum-salary deal with the Jazz is entirely non-guaranteed, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports revealed today when he updated Utah’s team salaries.
- Quincy Pondexter‘s four-year, $14MM extension with the Grizzlies starts at close to $3.15MM next year and has gradual raises in each subsequent season, according to Deeks.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro acknowledges that the decision not to pick up Jimmer Fredette‘s 2014/15 option was “agonizing,” but tells James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom that he ultimately decided the added flexibility for next season was too enticing to pass up.
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee wonders if Fredette could prove more productive on a team that plays a style more suited to him and applauds the Kings for declining his option and giving themselves more time to evaluate him before they make a further commitment.
- Ian Begley of ESPN New York reports that first-year Knicks GM Steve Mills is happy with the current state of New York’s roster: “I think we like the roster we have right now. And I think we want to give it some time and see how they come together on the team and how guys gel together.“
- Keith Schlosser of SB Nation’s Ridiculous Upside breaks down the 2013/14 NBA D-League draft and highlights the most intriguing selections round-by-round.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Nuggets Notes: Kroenke, Ujiri, D’Alessandro
The new-look Nuggets have yet to win a game in the 2013/14 season and find themselves underneath the Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Thunder in the Northwest Division. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, and the Nuggets are surely looking forward to Ty Lawson‘s health improving and the return of forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari down the road. Here’s some Denver-related notes from around the league:
- Nuggets president Josh Kroenke isn’t satisfied with the mild success his team has enjoyed in recent years, but Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post argues the team needn’t strip down the roster to build a true contender, instead advocating the team pool its assets and trade for a star.
- The Nuggets came close to trading for a high draft pick this past June, Hochman reveals in the same piece.
- The departures of Masai Ujiri, Pete D’Alessandro and others from the Nuggets front office this summer is an affirmation rather than an indictment of Kroenke and the Denver organization, which is already drawing raves for its new hires, as fellow Post scribe Christopher Dempsey observes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Stephenson, Jordan, Marshall
Lance Stephenson is off to a hot start for the Pacers, further underscoring the dilemma the team will face in the summer when the shooting guard’s bargain contract runs out. Stephenson nonetheless swears to Mark Montieth of Pacers.com that he’ll be back in Indiana, despite the team’s cramped financial picture.
“I don’t think about that,” Stephenson said about his impending free agency. “It’s a long season, I’m not thinking nothing about contracts. I’m going to stay with the Pacers, so I’m not even thinking about the contract.”
It’s not uncommon for a player to declare allegiance to his franchise when he’s months away from free agency, only to change his mind when the money’s on the table. While we wait to see if Stephenson is true to his word, here’s more from the NBA:
- Bobcats owner Michael Jordan wants to see the NBA implement rules that would compel more draft prospects to work out for teams, and is encouraged that the new collective bargaining agreement is making it tough on superstar-laden clubs. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer shares that and more from Jordan in the leftovers from their interview this week.
- Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, in his weekly roundup, believes the recently-waived Kendall Marshall could interest a rebuilding team, but counts the Celtics out as a possibility, given their luxury tax concerns.
- Whether Michael Beasley and Greg Oden have an effect on the Heat won’t be evident until later in the season, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, who wonders if Chris Andersen has the stamina to produce all year long.
China Has Most Recent NBA Vets Overseas
The regular season is underway in the NBA and for leagues around the globe, creating the opportunity to look back on the full scope of an offseason of player movement. One tool that helps accomplish that is our International Player Movement Tracker, compiled by Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro. The tracker documents the flow of players in and out of leagues worldwide, including the NBA. Using the filter function, we can see all of the players who had NBA contracts at the end of last season but find themselves out of the league as 2013/14 gets going. In this post, we’ll narrow that group even further to look at guys who went from the NBA to overseas leagues.
China is the leading destination by a wide margin, boasting eight players who were in the NBA just this past spring. The Zheijian Chouzhou Golden Bulls made the most profound splash, grabbing Ivan Johnson, perhaps the most significant NBA talent making the jump to China this year, as well as Jerel McNeal, a late-season addition to the Jazz. The haul the Golden Bulls took in equals the number of recent NBA players signing in Italy, Russia and Turkey, the only countries other than China to make multiple such acquisitions. The Spanish ACB league, long considered the league with the most talent outside the NBA, brought in just one NBA import: Tyler Hansbrough‘s brother Ben Hansbrough.
Note that this list doesn’t include Jeremy Pargo, who signed with Russia’s CSKA. Pargo didn’t finish last season on an NBA roster, falling just short when the Sixers waived him on April 1st.
China
- Earl Barron, Knicks — Qingdao
- Donte Greene, Grizzlies — Dongguan
- Hamed Haddadi, Suns — Sichuan
- Ivan Johnson, Hawks — Zhejiang Chouzhou
- Jerel McNeal, Jazz — Zhejiang Chouzhou
- Johan Petro, Hawks — Zhejiang Guangsha
- Shavlik Randolph, Celtics — Foshan
- Sebastian Telfair, Raptors — Tianjin
Italy
- Kim English, Pistons — Montepaschi
- James White, Knicks — Reggio Emilia
Russia
- Luke Babbitt, Blazers — Nizhny Novgorod
- Mickael Gelabale, Timberwolves — Khimki
Turkey
- Linas Kleiza, Raptors — Fenerbahce
- Terrence Williams, Celtics — Turk Telekom
Croatia
- Nolan Smith, Blazers — Cedevita
France
- Kevin Murphy, Jazz — Strasbourg
Serbia
- Charles Jenkins, Sixers — Crvena Zvezda
Spain
- Ben Hansbrough, Pacers — Gran Canaria
Ukraine
- DaJuan Summers, Clippers — Budivelnik
Atlantic Rumors: Nets, Anderson, Hardaway
One outgrowth of the Nets‘ record spending spree is depth, and that was on full display on Friday when Brooklyn knocked off the Heat. Paul Pierce, one of the team’s veteran starters who stands to benefit from a bench capable of allowing him to play fewer minutes, acknowledged the advantage to Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News.
“It was huge,” Pierce said. “One to 10, one to 15, we match up pretty much with anybody in the league and we have more depth than anybody in the league, especially when you talk about Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans, Andrei Kirilenko, Shaun Livingston, Alan Anderson.”
Here’s more on a member of the Nets bench and other notes from Brooklyn’s Atlantic Division rivals:
- Anderson was the last piece of the Nets regular season roster to join the team, but his versatility has allowed him to produce like he was one of the team’s first priorities, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines.
- Tim Hardaway Jr. lasted until the 24th pick this past June, but the Knicks rookie is already making an impact in J.R. Smith‘s absence, notes fellow Post scribe Fred Kerber.
- We heard yesterday that Sixers camp invitee Gani Lawal was close to signing in Italy, and agent Errol Bennett tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com that Lawal has put pen to paper with Olimpia Milano, turning away interest from a Turkish team in the process.
Offseason In Review: Miami Heat
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Chris Andersen: Two years, $2.85MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Second year is player option.
- Roger Mason Jr.: One year, $1.27MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed.
- Michael Beasley: One year, $1.03MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed.
- Greg Oden: One year, $1.03MM. Signed via minimum salary exception.
Trades
- Acquired No. 50 pick in 2013 from the Hawks in exchange for a 2017 second-round pick (31-40 protected).
Draft Picks
- James Ennis (Round 2, 50th overall). Playing overseas.
Camp Invitees
- Larry Drew II
- Eric Griffin
- Charlie Westbrook
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Norris Cole (4th year, $2.04MM): Exercised
Most NBA executives spend their time trying how to figure out how to build a championship team. The task for Heat president Pat Riley is figuring out how to keep a two-time champion together. Riley may have trademarked the term “three-peat,” but he’s never overseen one as a coach or an executive. This could be the last chance for Riley, now 68, to do so, and the last chance for him to show he’s capable of providing LeBron James with a place where he can continue to compete for titles before the four-time MVP can opt for free agency next summer.
Making the task more difficult is the luxury tax, which for the first time includes escalating incremental rates that make it more than a dollar-for-dollar arrangement in 2013/14. Heat owner Micky Arison appears OK with paying some tax penalties, but there is a limit to the depth of his pockets. So, the Heat sacrificed Mike Miller, using the amnesty clause to get rid of the final two years and $12.8MM of his contract. Miller’s $6.2MM salary for this season alone could have cost the team more than three times as much, considering the tax.
The Heat could have saved a more modest amount if they’d chosen to amnesty Joel Anthony and the two years and $7.6MM remaining on his deal, but neither Miller nor Anthony were mainstays in the team’s rotation during the team’s back-to-back championship seasons. Of course, Miller proved his value during the playoffs, but the odds that he could resurface with a heroic performance at just the right time for a third season in a row were low enough to convince the Heat that they were better off removing his salary from their books.
The team’s new austerity kick showed up in its deal with Greg Oden. Riley convinced Oden to take a one-year, minimum-salary contract rather than a two-year pact that included a player option. That allowed the Heat to reduce the cap hit for Oden’s five-year veteran’s minimum to the equivalent of a two-year veteran’s minimum, a savings of a few hundred thousand dollars that makes it easier for the team to carry 15 players rather than the minimum 13 to begin the regular season. Those extra men on the roster could prove handy as Oden continues to recover at a slow pace from the injuries that derailed his career. The former first-round pick may make a negligible contribution to the Heat, but Riley’s ability to twist his arm into accepting less when the volume of his suitors suggested he could have commanded more shouldn’t be understated.
Chris Andersen wound up re-signing for a two-year deal with a player option, the kind of contract that Oden gave up, but he, too, probably sacrificed what might have been more money after his energetic play off the bench last season invigorated the bench and revived his career. The Heat have been keen on such reclamation projects of late, and took on another this summer in Michael Beasley. There was little wrangling required to get him to accept a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal that amounted to a training camp invitation, but Oden’s sacrifice helps the Heat keep him on the roster as the regular season dawns. Beasley’s contrition for his past transgressions has been the other key to his continued presence on the roster, but ultimately, as with Oden, there are few expectations that he’ll make a difference on the court this year.
Roger Mason Jr., the Heat’s least-heralded new addition, could be the most important. He played a fairly significant role for New Orleans last season, averaging 5.3 points and 41.5% three-point shooting in 17.7 minutes per game over 69 contests, 13 of them starts. He, more than anyone else, could wind up the replacement for Miller’s occasional sharpshooting, and the 33-year-old’s veteran presence and leadership ability as a union executive should offset the addition of Beasley and his questionable demeanor to the locker room. Like Beasley, he’s essentially a training camp invitee, so the Heat could cut his non-guaranteed deal anytime before January 10th.
Perhaps the most significant move the team made was to give coach Erik Spoelstra an extension. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who revealed that the deal is for four years, argues that the deal is an important step toward convincing James to stay, given the close relationship between coach and superstar. It nonetheless ensures some stability for the franchise in what could be some tumultuous years ahead.
The ability for James to opt out of his contract after this season will hang over the franchise all year. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh also have early termination options, meaning it’s possible that the Heat could look much different in a year’s time. Riley and the rest of the front office have prepared as best they can, saving money on little-used players, strengthening the bond with LeBron’s trusted coach, and largely maintaining a championship roster. James has said he won’t spend the season giving hints about his next move, so we’ll have to wait until the summer to know whether the Heat have done enough to convince him to stay. For now, the task is how to help James cement his legacy — no matter how much more time he’ll spend building it in Miami — with that “three-peat” that’s proven so elusive for Riley.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
L.A. Rumors: Gasol, Henry, Green
Let’s head to Hollywood for the latest on the Clippers and Lakers:
- Pau Gasol addressed his upcoming free agency in a video with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “It’s going to be the first time that I’m going to be a free agent (to) see what’s out there, what’s the best situation,” Gasol said. “My career, the years that I have left are very few. So I have to be conscientious of that and maximize my time and opportunities. At the same time, I’d love to stay with the (Lakers) and stay with a franchise that has given me so much. We’ve been through so many different things, and I want to continue. That’s kind of my desire.”
- Another current Laker who will be gaining attention for a new contract next summer is current training camp invite Xavier Henry. Henry is taking full advantage of his fully unguaranteed minimum salary contract as he is currently the Lakers’ third-leading scorer, albeit over a small sample size. Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times examines Henry’s sudden relevance.
- Clippers guard Willie Green has switched agents and is now represented by Aaron Goodwin and Muhammad Abdur-Rahim of Goodwin Sports Management, tweets Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. According to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database, Goodwin Sports Management also represents fellow Clipper Matt Barnes along with other notable clients — DeMar DeRozan, Nate Robinson, and current Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard.