Brook Lopez Done For Year
Nets center Brook Lopez is out for the season with a broken foot, an NBA source tells Gary Tanguay of CSNNE.com (on Twitter). Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) has confirmed the news.
The Nets could theoretically apply for the Disabled Player Exception, which would be worth the mid-level exception if they are approved. DPEs aren’t often used, but the Nets are the most bullish spenders in the league and it’s certainly conceivable that they could tack on to their bloated payroll. At the same token, owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly told his front office before the start of his season that he would not add to their payroll, even in the event of an injury. If they do go in that direction, they would be more likely to add a big man via trade than a free agent signing given the lack of quality available talent.
Foot troubles are nothing new for the center, who played in just five games in 2011/12 thanks to his broken right foot, followed by an ankle injury. While the Nets have struggled so far this season, Lopez has been a bright spot, averaging 20.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG off of 56.3% shooting.
The injury to Lopez is a tough blow for the Nets, who are already reeling at 9-17. The Celtics could be a major benefactor, however, as they currently lead the division with a 12-15 mark.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Wizards, Anthony
Here’s our Saturday morning look at the Southeast Division..
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if it would make sense for the Heat to start Joel Anthony in order to audition him to other clubs for a possible trade. That wouldn’t make sense, Winderman argues, because the greater issue is not exposure, but rather the additional season Joel has on his contract beyond this one. The forward is viewed as more of a cap liability than an on-court liability, though his defense could potentially help a team on the playoff fringe.
- Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin says that he’s still working to find his rhythm, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Seraphin will be a restricted free agent following the 2013/14 season. Washington can tender him a qualifying offer at just $3.89MM.
- Dwyane Wade says the attitude of Heat offseason pickup Greg Oden is improving, writes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald.
Odds & Ends: Jefferson, Carroll, Kobe
It’s a lighter-than-usual Friday night slate in the NBA, with only nine games this evening, but it’s been plenty eventful off the court the past couple of weeks. Hoops Rumors readers have pegged Kyle Lowry as the most likely centerpiece of the next major deal, and as we wait to see whether that will be the case, here’s more from the Association:
- Richard Jefferson wouldn’t retract Thursday’s comment that he’ll have “no loyalty” as he seeks to play for a contender, but he told reporters Friday that he’d be “more than ecstatic” to remain with the Jazz, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Jefferson will be a free agent at season’s end.
- Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll was surprised that he and the Jazz couldn’t work out a way for him to return to Utah this summer, but he’s still fond of the organization, Falk observes in a separate piece.
- Kobe Bryant‘s latest injury has turned his extension into a disaster of a deal for the Lakers, who seem unlikely to have what it takes to lure LeBron James this summer, as Mark Heisler opines for Forbes.com.
- Stephen Graham has signed with the Venezuelan team Guaros de Lara, the club announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Francisco Vega of El Impulso first reported the story (on Twitter). The six-year NBA veteran was in camp this fall with the Bucks.
- The Warriors have sent Nemanja Nedovic to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the third assignment to Santa Cruz this season for the 30th overall pick this past June.
Bulls Determined Not To Trade Luol Deng
10:14pm: The Bulls prefer to keep Deng past the trade deadline and try to work out a fair deal on a new contract in the summer, but it’s “misleading” to suggest the team wouldn’t accept any trade offer, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson spoke with an executive from another team who interprets the notion that the Bulls are determined not to trade Deng as a signal that Chicago has been getting lowball offers. The Bulls haven’t initiated any talks, but they’ve fielded calls from front offices inquiring whether they’re anxious to move Deng for financial reasons. The answer the Bulls have given to those questions has been a “no.”
8:48am: NBA teams have been inquiring about Luol Deng‘s availability recently, as the Bulls have lost 13 of 16 games and slipped to 9-16. However, according to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst, the Bulls are “determined” not to trade Deng. Windhorst reports that the Bulls are confident they can re-sign Deng next summer, despite not reaching an extension agreement with him earlier this year.
Given the Bulls’ spot in the standings, the absence of Derrick Rose for a second straight season, and the team’s looming luxury tax bill, league executives felt the Bulls would be interested in offloading some salary prior to the trade deadline, writes Windhorst. But it seems, with two months to go before that deadline arrives, that moving Deng isn’t in the club’s plans.
We heard yesterday that the Bulls weren’t actively shopping Deng, despite the fact that the odds of a contract extension appeared to be “almost nil.” The two sides were about $5-6MM per year apart in contract talks, according to that report, and it sounded as if Deng was bracing for the possibility of a trade. Of course, the 28-year-old is considered one of Tom Thibodeau‘s favorite players, so any deal would open up a new can of worms between the franchise and its head coach.
Deng has played as well as ever so far this season, averaging a career-high 19.6 PPG and 4.1 APG to go along with 7.0 RPG and a 17.8 PER. The veteran small forward is earning about $14.28MM in the final season of a six-year contract.
Southwest Notes: Asik, Rockets, Ajinca
Daryl Morey hinted on SportsTalk 790 radio in Houston that an owner’s veto was to blame for the end of trade talks involving Omer Asik.
“We were definitely trying to move [Asik],” Morey said, according to Alex Kennedy’s transcription for HoopsWorld. “It was trending towards something happening, but sometimes when you get to those last approvals and the owner, I think as Houston fans know from past deals that didn’t come off that looked like they were done, they don’t happen. … You’re obviously never going to do a deal that doesn’t help the team or keep you at least even. And those didn’t present themselves.”
There’s more from the Rockets GM’s radio spot amid the latest from the Southwest Division:
- Morey seemed to suggest that Asik could remain with the Rockets past the league’s February 20th trade deadline, even though that would be a surprising outcome. “It’s pretty likely that Omer is here for quite a long time,” Morey said. “A lot of the dynamics that went into things not working out don’t change, in terms of the contract and things like that. We did feel like we owed it to Omer to give a strong look at it, but nothing ended up materializing.”
- New Orleans wasn’t a latecomer in scouting Alexis Ajinca, as Pelicans coach Monty Williams said GM Dell Demps and the team’s front office “have been talking about him for a while,” observes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. The team officially announced its signing of Ajinca earlier this evening.
- Ajinca’s deal is for two seasons, agent Mark Bartelstein confirms to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
Trade Candidate: Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson has played some of the best basketball of his career this season. Injuries to Anthony Davis and others have left the Pelicans short on big men at times, so Anderson is seeing 36.1 minutes per contest, much more than he ever has. Anderson is averaging a career-high 21.4 points per game after returning from a chip fracture in a toe on his right foot that cost him the first two weeks of the season. Still, his name has been coming up in Omer Asik trade rumors since the summer, and the latest dispatch links him to the Grizzlies in a proposed swap for Zach Randolph.
The Pelicans don’t appear willing to go along with either deal, indicating that rival teams have much more interest in trading for Anderson than New Orleans has in letting him go. GM Dell Demps committed a four-year, $34MM contract to the 6’10” power forward as part of a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2012, just days after the Pelicans drafted Davis. There has been plenty of skepticism since then about the ability of Anderson and Davis to coexist on the floor, since they both seem to fit best at the four spot.
The pairing shared the floor for just 11.4 minutes per game in contests for which they were both active last season, per NBA.com, and opponents outscored the Pelicans by 10.3 points per 100 possessions with Anderson and Davis both in the game. That stat has pulled a 180-degree turn this season. Not counting the Unibrow’s comeback appearance on Tuesday after breaking his hand a few weeks ago, New Orleans has outscored other teams by that same margin of 10.3 points per 100 possessions with the two in the lineup. Anderson has only shared the floor with Davis for a total of 136 minutes over eight games this year thanks to their injuries, but that works out to an average of 17.0 MPG together, a higher rate than last year.
The 6’10” Anderson is a much different player than Davis is, perhaps suggesting their games can complement each other. Anderson led the league in three-pointers made and attempted in 2011/12, when he won the Most Improved Player of the Year award with the Magic. Davis has attempted just six three-pointers in his career, missing all of them. Almost half of Davis’s shot attempts last season came within three feet of the rim, according to Basketball-Reference.com. The Pelicans have been a significantly better defensive team when Anderson has been on the bench the past two seasons, as NBA.com shows, and Davis, drafted as a defensive whiz, is ostensibly around to make up for that.
Coach Monty Williams clearly has some reservations about playing Anderson and Davis together, since it’s not a combination he uses too often. Still, considering the commitment the team has made to both and its reluctance to trade Anderson, it appears as though the plan is for them to share the floor a lot more often. Until the team sees how they mesh in significant minutes together, I’d be surprised if New Orleans traded Anderson. It nonetheless appears there are other clubs that might be high enough on the sharpshooting power forward to make an overwhelming offer to Demps, judging by Anderson’s continued appearance in rumors.
The Pelicans are by no means a finished product, and they have holes at center, unless Williams slots Davis into that position, and small forward. Presuming that Davis returns to the starting lineup at power forward once he’s 100%, that would leave the team with about $20MM tied up in Anderson and Tyreke Evans, both of whom would be reserves. That sort of roster imbalance is difficult to overcome.
Sixers small forward Evan Turner and center Spencer Hawes have been in trade rumors of late, so perhaps there’s a Philadelphia option for the Pelicans. Turner and Hawes are both in contract years, and it might be difficult for Demps to relinquish an asset under team control through 2015/16, as Anderson is, for a pair of soon-to-be free agents. Still, the Pelicans would have the right to match offers for Turner, and they’d have full Bird rights on both players. Hawes, a 43.6% three-point shooter this season, could replace some of Anderson’s floor spacing. The Nuggets, once Danilo Gallinari and JaVale McGee return from injury, might make sense as a trade partner, too, given their glut of frontcourt players and the possibly expendable Wilson Chandler. Still, such ideas are just my speculation.
The Pelicans are certainly in no hurry to rid themselves a player who’s continually improving, so It will probably take an offer that clearly benefits New Orleans to entice Demps to make a deal. Still, the Pelicans are just 11-13 after beginning the season with aspirations of a playoff spot. If the return of Davis can’t spark a turnaround by the February 20th trade deadline, Demps could have the motivation necessary for him to fix a flawed roster. There’s no guarantee that Anderson would be the centerpiece of any significant discussions the Pelicans might have with other teams, but it seems there would be plenty of executives around the league willing to listen if that were the case.
Knicks Rumors: Chris Smith, Woodson, Amar’e
The Knicks have a noon tipoff Saturday against the Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden, so coach Mike Woodson has holed his team up in a New York hotel, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com passes along. The players have a 10:00pm curfew, according to Carmelo Anthony, but asking anyone in a league known for night games and red-eye plane trips to fall asleep before midnight is a tall order. While the Knicks count sheep, here’s the day’s news from MSG:
- There’s plenty of instability surrounding the Knicks, but Chris Smith believes his spot on the roster is safe, as he tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Smith, whose minimum-salary contract is fully guaranteed for this season, has won the support of his teammates with his training habits, Charania notes.
- Owner James Dolan fired Scott Layden from his post as Knicks president three days before Christmas in 2010, so there’s no reason for Woodson to think his job is safe through the holiday, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Isola wonders if the pressure of fighting for his job has begun to negatively affect Woodson’s performance.
- Amar’e Stoudemire says he’ll play Saturday, a further contradiction to Woodson’s statement earlier this week that the team’s highest-paid player would be out “a while.” Stoudemire immediately tweeted a denial of his coach’s assessment, but he says that he and Woodson have “cleared it up and everything is great,” notes Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
Poll: Which Impact Player Will Be Traded Next?
The past few days have been disappointing for those who like to see trades happen. Houston’s much-ballyhooed December 19th deadline to trade Omer Asik came and went without a move, but he’s not the only significant player who appears to be staying put for now. Wednesday we heard that the Lakers aren’t interested in trading Pau Gasol. That news came just a couple hours before a report indicated that the Celtics were similarly disinclined to trade Rajon Rondo. The Bulls are “determined” not to trade Luol Deng, as we passed along this morning.
Still, there are a few noteworthy trade candidates who could be shipped out well in advance of the February 20th deadline. Just about any Raptor seems liable to go, and Kyle Lowry has been the most-discussed Toronto player, even if GM Masai Ujiri isn’t urgently trying to unload him. Iman Shumpert has consistently emerged in rumors for weeks. Dion Waiters and Thaddeus Young have had to beat back reports that they’re anxious to be traded. Jason Thompson is reportedly on the block amid roster upheaval in Sacramento, as our Luke Adams examined this afternoon. Then there’s Asik, who doesn’t seem long for Houston, even if he’s still a Rocket for now.
Let us know which player you think is most likely to be the centerpiece of the next trade. I’ve included “Someone Else” as a choice in case your pick isn’t on the list. If you choose that option, leave a comment to let us know who you have in mind.
Pelicans Sign Alexis Ajinca
FRIDAY, 5:21pm: The Pelicans officially announced the signing, via press release.
TUESDAY, 4:48pm: Former first-round pick Alexis Ajinca is on his way back to the NBA, according to Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of Catch-and-Shoot (French link). Pantel-Jouve writes that Ajinca’s club in France announced that the 25-year-old will be leaving Strasbourg to sign with the Pelicans.
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com confirms with league sources that Ajinca is in the process of finalizing a buyout with Strasbourg and will ink a two-year deal with the Pelicans. According to Berger, the deal is expected to be fully guaranteed, and will be worth the minimum. New Orleans will also pay $575K to Ajinca’s team in France, the standard buyout amount under NBA rules.
Ajinca, who was selected 20th overall by the Bobcats in 2008, appeared in just 71 NBA games for the Bobcats, Mavericks, and Raptors, and hasn’t played in the NBA since 2010/11. However, the big man has been playing well in France this season, averaging 13.9 PPG and 6.9 RPG in just 24.2 MPG (12 contests) for Strasbourg.
The Pelicans opened up a roster spot on Friday by releasing Josh Childress, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to officially add Ajinca.
Northwest Notes: Rubio, Thunder, Williams
George Karl is currently working as an ESPN analyst a year after coaching the Nuggets, but he remains familiar with his former division rivals in Minnesota. Speaking to Andy Greder of Wolves Now, the reigning Coach of the Year gave his thoughts about what the Timberwolves need to do to earn a playoff spot, and praised the team’s acquisition of Luc Mbah a Moute. Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- After talking to a confidant of Ricky Rubio, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities gets the sense that Rubio’s camp expects the point guard to receive a five-year maximum extension offer from the Timberwolves when he becomes eligible for it (Twitter links). While Rubio is a valuable asset, the fact that his numbers haven’t improved noticeably since his rookie season is a cause for some concern.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Tom Haberstroh wonders if the Thunder will soon face a repeat of the James Harden situation, with Reggie Jackson set to become extension-eligible next July. Jackson’s rookie deal doesn’t expire until 2015, which is the same summer Kendrick Perkins‘ contract will come off the books, so Oklahoma City should have more flexibility to lock up their new Sixth Man.
- The Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, will add Reggie Williams to their roster, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Williams, who was waived by the Rockets prior to the regular season, will be free to sign with any NBA team even though OKC holds his D-League rights.