Odds & Ends: Draft, Lowry, Brown, Rodriguez
ESPN.com’s Chad Ford spoke to multiple sources from the NBA’s current lottery teams to attempt to determine which player those clubs would select first overall in the 2014 draft, if given the opportunity. Detailing the results in an Insider-only piece, Ford reveals that the majority of the 13 clubs (Denver currently has two lottery picks) would likely take Jabari Parker. The Nuggets, Sixers, and Magic would probably lean toward Andrew Wiggins, while the Cavs and Lakers may prefer Joel Embiid, in Ford’s view.
Here’s more from around the NBA on a Thursday afternoon:
- Kyle Lowry certainly doesn’t look like the trade candidate he did a month ago, with Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star suggesting that Raptors management has confidence that the point guard will be willing to re-sign in Toronto this summer. Toronto may reconsider its options if it starts losing, but a Raps source tells Kelly that the club isn’t expecting to backslide.
- The 76ers re-assigned Lorenzo Brown to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Brown was recalled from the Delaware 87ers on Monday and saw some playing time in Philadelphia’s last two games, recording seven points and seven rebounds in 27 total minutes of action. Sixers coach Brett Brown expects the 23-year-old to be brought back to the NBA tomorrow after playing with the 87ers today, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Spanish team Real Madrid announced today that the club has extended the contract of Sergio Rodriguez through 2018 (Twitter link). Rodriguez was selected 27th overall in 2006, but returned to Spain when his rookie contract expired, and it appears he’ll remain there for the foreseeable future.
- Jazz guard Diante Garrett was nervous about Tuesday’s contract guarantee date, but tried not to think about it and ultimately survived the cut, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News details.
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Deng’s Agent On Bulls’ Offer, Cavs Negotiations
Luol Deng‘s agent, Herb Rudoy, believes the Bulls purposely low-balled his client with their take-it-or-leave-it extension offer. Rudoy tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bulls likely knew Deng would turn down the offer, which gave the team a motive to trade him.
“I think the purpose of it was for us to say no,” Rudoy said of the offer. “They probably had some deal in the process already. That was the purpose — to make an offer that we absolutely would turn down without question, and then get into their trade process. Again, that’s fine.”
Deng told the Chicago Tribune yesterday that he was upset about a report suggesting he had been seeking $15MM annually from the Bulls, since his asking price wasn’t that high. Rudoy backed up those comments, admitting that he likely would’ve been seeking “a lot of money” for the free-agent-to-be, but telling Cowley that he never got the opportunity to get into specific figures.
“We never asked for anything,” Rudoy said. “Let me make that clear. We talked with them just before the start of the season, and we were told they weren’t interested in doing an extension, which was fine with us. Then I got a call this past weekend from [Bulls GM] Gar [Forman] giving me a three-year offer, and one he said was non-negotiable. It was their final offer, take it or leave it, and Lu decided to not accept it. I was never given an opportunity to propose a dollar figure. Never once. Never had that discussion.”
GM Chris Grant and the Cavaliers have already expressed a desire to keep Deng in Cleveland on a new contract, and while Deng said he hopes there’s a long-term future for him with the Cavs, he declined to comment on the prospect of extension talks. According to Rudoy, it’s still a little too early in the process to start negotiating an extension with Deng’s new club.
“Today was the first day of the rest of his life, so that wasn’t discussed,” Rudoy said. “We met the owners, they’re terrific guys. They’re like Jerry Reinsdorf, who was very good to [Deng] all his years in Chicago. I met with them just to say hello, and at some point there will be a discussion about [an extension]. But there have been no discussions at all.”
Deng, who is earning about $14.28MM this season, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension by then. The Cavs are allowed to extend his contract by three more years if the two sides reach an agreement before July, whereas the team could sign him to a five-year deal in free agency. Rival suitors could offer Deng up to four years.
Keyon Dooling Retires
Keyon Dooling has completely retired as an NBA player and has moved on to the next phase of his career, he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (all Twitter links). According to Spears, Dooling is now a certified life coach, subcontracted through the NBA to mentor troubled NBA and D-League players, and is also writing a book.
If word of Dooling’s retirement sounds familiar, it may be because he made a similar announcement in September 2012. The 33-year-old eventually decided to return to the NBA and signed with the Grizzlies last spring, before reportedly drawing interest as a free agent over the summer. It seems unlikely that another comeback is on the offing this time around, however.
In 13 NBA seasons, Dooling served primarily as a backup guard for the Clippers, Heat, Magic, Nets, Bucks, Celtics, and Grizzlies. The former 10th overall pick averaged 7.0 PPG and 2.2 APG in 728 overall contests (19.4 MPG). His best season probably came in 2008/09 in New Jersey with the Nets, when he recorded career-highs in PPG (9.7), APG (3.5), and 3PT% (.421) to go along with a 13.6 PER, the second-best mark of his career. According to Basketball-Reference, Dooling earned more than $30MM over the course of his playing career.
While Dooling’s on-court numbers may not have been exceptional, his story off the court qualifies as such. Following his initial retirement, the longtime point guard opened up to Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com about the “meltdown” he experienced in the summer of 2012 that led to his decision, as well as the adversity he’d overcome in his life, including emotional, mental, and sexual abuse. At the time, Dooling indicated that he wanted to share his story as a way of helping others in similar situations cope, so his new career path doesn’t come as a surprise.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Magic Rumors: Vaughn, Trades, Free Agency
With no championship aspirations this season, the Magic must evaluate Jacque Vaughn‘s performance as head coach on intangible factors, such as leadership, communication, and how he has helped develop young players, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. And by those standards, the team is very happy with his work, and plans to keep him as its coach for the foreseeable future, according to general manager Rob Hennigan.
“We’re very proud of the job that Jacque has done,” Hennigan said. “His leadership has set the foundation. He understands the process. He isn’t in a rush to skip steps. He’s a great teacher. He’s done a noteworthy job of being unselfish, realizing we’re building for the long haul…. He knew what he was signing up for as I knew what I was signing up for. We believe in the foundation we’re establishing.”
Here are a few more items of interest from Schmitz’s conversation with the Magic’s GM:
- None of the Magic’s veteran players have asked to be traded, says Hennigan.
- Orlando intends to explore its options as February’s trade deadline approaches, but the front office is “not looking to shake up the team.”
- Hennigan, on whether the Magic intend to wade into the free agent pool in 2014 after not making a splash in 2013: “We haven’t even looked at the water in the pool, haven’t even put in the chemicals yet. We’re ready if an opportunity presents itself.”
- Asked whether the best way to continue improving the Magic is through free agency, the draft, or trades, Hennigan suggested there’s no exact blueprint or perfect model the club will follow.
Rockets To Target Mike Dunleavy?
The Rockets have interest in acquiring Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy, reveals USA Today’s Sam Amick. According to Amick, Houston GM Daryl Morey is interested in pushing his team to the elite level, and he believes acquiring Dunleavy will help bolster the team’s depth off the bench and provide relief for star guard James Harden.
Dunleavy is earning a modest $6MM over the next two seasons and is held in high regard by the Bulls front office, so it’ll be difficult to pry the three point specialist away from Chicago GM Gar Forman. Amick hears that the Rockets have yet to inquire about a possible deal, but apparently Dunleavy is “high on their wishlist.” So far this season, Dunleavy has averaged 10.7 points per night in 28.7 minutes.
Amick also hears the Rockets are likely to keep Omer Asik past the trade deadline. Earlier this season, Houston set a self-imposed deadline to move the disgruntled center by December 19th. The Rockets couldn’t find a way to put together a deal to their liking with another club, and they eventually wound up retaining him. However, Amick says this deal is unrelated to any potential Asik moves. Instead, the desire to acquire the veteran forward proves that Morey wants to push his team to the next level, and apparently he sees a potential Dunleavy acquisition as the first step in doing so.
Odds & Ends: Kidd, Acy, 2014 Draft, Williams
Because of their similar career paths, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson has been a role model for Jason Kidd, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. In wake of the criticism Kidd has received for his performance as head coach of the Nets, Jackson recently spoke out and defended Kidd:
“He’s been a coach on every team he’s been on. He won a championship being an offensive coordinator [in Dallas], with all due respect to [Dallas coach] Rick Carlisle, but I’m sure Rick will tell you the same thing.”
Here are some miscellaneous tidbits from Wednesday night around the NBA:
- Quincy Acy has been a pleasant surprise for Kings coach Mike Malone, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I knew he was talented,” said Malone, “but he’s better than I thought he was.” Acy was obtained in the trade that sent Rudy Gay packing from Toronto.
- Ian Levy of HickoryHigh uses a formula to determine the similarity between the 2014 draft class’s top prospects and current NBA players.
- By waiving Shawne Williams on Tuesday, the Lakers will end up saving about $1.1MM in player salary and tax expenses, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Williams earned about $475K during his stint with the Lakers.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News doesn’t see the Mavericks as a realistic suitor for Andrew Bynum. Sefko notes the Mavs won’t have as much money to offer the recently waived center as the Heat. Beyond that, the addition of Bynum would threaten to affect team chemistry, possibly in a negative way.
Eastern Notes: Magic, Knicks, Deng, Bulls
There haven’t been any updates on potential deals involving Andre Miller or J.R. Smith, so let’s have a look at the Eastern Conference in the meantime:
- Despite diminished frontcourt depth, the Magic won’t be signing a player to a 10-day contract in the near future, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The club waived Solomon Jones yesterday, and starting center Nikola Vucevic is suffering from a concussion, but apparently team management is confident in the club’s bench.
- It’s been a tough season for the 12-22 Knicks, but head coach Mike Woodson still believes his club could hang with the Heat if his players were healthy. Fred Kerber of the New York Post passes along this quote from Woodson: “Absolutely and I still believe that [we could hang with the Heat], if we could ever get back whole… I’m not taking anything away from the players who have been consistently in uniform for us, but it’s hard to judge our team.“
- Over at USA Today, a panel of sports writers takes a look at various issues surrounding the trade that sent Luol Deng from the Bulls to the Cavaliers. Among the issues discussed: the future of Chicago’s organization and the potential direction of Andrew Bynum‘s career after he was waived yesterday.
- Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald opines that the Derrick Rose Rule is the reason that the Bulls couldn’t retain Deng. McGraw argues that Chicago couldn’t offer Deng a big enough extension because they had so much tied up in the contract that Derrick Rose was allowed to sign as a result of his early-career success.
Kupchak On D’Antoni, Kobe, Potential Trades
Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News spoke with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak earlier today and discussed a number of the issues Lakerland is facing. The club currently sits at 14-21, just three games ahead of the Western Conference’s last place Jazz. Even worse, their losing roster was still an expensive one to assemble, and the team is currently slated pay around $11MM in luxury tax this offseason on top of a team salary that figures to be roughly $79MM. Still, the longtime GM seemed optimistic about the team’s future and scoffed at the concept of blowing up the roster. Let’s have a look at some of the more notable Kupchak quotations from Medina’s piece:
On Mike D’Antoni‘s performance as head coach this season:
“Six weeks ago, I thought he would’ve been candidate for coach of the year… A month and a half later, our record is what it is. I know I’ll get criticized and he’ll get criticized. But the coaches in this league can’t win without players. That’s my job. I thought we were deep enough in the backcourt. Maybe we weren’t. But you can’t win in this league without players.”
On Kobe Bryant‘s recent injury:
“His most recent injury had nothing to do with Achilles… If he had blown out his Achilles, you might think why did he come back so quickly. But you can’t do that. The knee just hyperextended and that’s very natural. It’s not a major injury. He’ll be back and better than ever.”
On whether or not any players on the roster are untouchable in trades other than Bryant:
“I don’t even want to single out one person… I’ll leave you to speculate. I think it’s pretty easy. I trust your ability to look at our roster and think this guy might not be going anywhere. If there’s an opportunity to help us win right away, or an opportunity to help us plan for next year or the year after, then we’ll look at those opportunities.”
On the importance of planning around the luxury tax:
“It is a factor in planning. It is a business. The new collective bargaining agreement is such as that you have to be careful what you allocate and where… Strategically, it’s a factor. But with Dr. Buss and present ownership, it has never been a driving force that interferes what is best for the organization in terms of providing for our TV partners, radio partners and our fans.”
On the possibility of tanking for a high draft pick:
“That’s the worst thing an owner, general manager, coach or player can even consider. I can’t imagine going into a locker room or having a closed door meeting with a coach to say I want you to lose… I can’t imagine doing that. It’s almost un American.“
Kings, Nuggets Discuss Miller, No Formal Offers
6:54pm: League sources say that while it’s true there have been talks, the Kings have yet to make any formal offers for Miller, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Jones also tweets that Sacramento is reluctant to include draft picks in any potential trade.
4:40pm: The Kings have continued their pursuit of Andre Miller, presenting the Nuggets with three different trade scenarios for the veteran point guard, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Berger reports that one offer from the Kings includes Marcus Thornton and a second-round pick, while another involves Jimmer Fredette and a future second-rounder. It’s not clear who is part of Sacramento’s third proposal, but executives at the D-League Showcase in Reno believe it probably revolves around Jason Thompson, says Berger. Those execs also believe the Kings are showcasing Thornton, who moved back into the team’s starting lineup last night for the first time since early November.
Neither Thornton nor Fredette could be swapped straight up for Miller ($5MM), since Thornton ($8.05MM) is earning a higher salary than the Nuggets guard, while Fredette’s cap hit ($2.44MM) is significantly smaller. Thompson’s salary ($5.64MM) could accommodate a one-for-one deal, however.
The Kings have reportedly been seeking a pass-first point guard to complement starter Isaiah Thomas since sending Greivis Vasquez to the Raptors as part of the package to land Rudy Gay. Miller, who would fit that bill, has recently fallen out of favor in Denver following a confrontation with head coach Brian Shaw.
According to recent reports, the Nuggets have engaged with the Warriors and Timberwolves, among other teams, in an attempt to find a taker for Miller by the end of the week.