Week In Review: 2/3/14 – 2/9/14
The Pistons came into the season with high expectations but so far, they haven’t delivered. Earlier today, Detroit canned coach Maurice Cheeks in hopes that they can improve upon their 21-29 mark. As it stands, the Pistons are a half-game behind Charlotte for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Here’s more from around the Association..
- The Cavs fired GM Chris Grant and promoted David Griffin to the interim role. Some candidates have emerged for the permanent job.
- Luol Deng is unlikely to re-sign with the Cavs.
- The Lakers and Suns have discussed Pau Gasol.
- The Knicks could fire Mike Woodson and his staff before the trade deadline.
- The Bucks are turning away suitors for Larry Sanders.
- The Bobcats and Mavs like Evan Turner. So do the Suns, Clippers, and Hawks. The 76ers are intensifying their push to move him.
- Adam Silver wants to raise the age limit to 20.
- The Pacers want bench scoring.
- Jason Smith is done for the year.
- The Kings are likely to be buyers at the deadline.
- Jared Dudley is on the block.
- The Grizzlies signed Darius Morris to a 10-day deal.
- The Clippers signed Sasha Vujacic.
- The Knicks seem to think that Rajon Rondo is more available than the Celtics are letting on.
- Jarvis Varnado is picking up NBA interest.
- John Jenkins is done for the year.
- The Pelicans signed Luke Babbitt.
- Metta World Peace was said to be unhappy in New York but he denied that later on.
- The Celtics inked Chris Johnson to a three-year pact.
- Solomon Jones entered the D-League pool.
- Ray Allen isn’t planning on retirement.
- Johan Petro is likely to sign in France.
- The Lakers brought Shawne Williams back on a 10-day deal.
Pistons Fire Maurice Cheeks
1:21pm: The Pistons won’t conduct a search for their permanent coach right away, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
1:04pm: John Loyer will take over as interim coach, tweets David Mayo of MLive.com.
11:07am: The Pistons have fired coach Maurice Cheeks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.com. Despite back-to-back victories on the weekend, general manager Joe Dumars informed Cheeks of his dismissal on Sunday morning, Wojnarowski’s sources said. Wojnarowski writes that Cheeks was in the first season of a two-year deal, but reports when Cheeks was hired indicated that his contract was a four-year deal, with a team option for the final season.
In a season that has fallen short of his playoff expectations, Detroit owner Tom Gores has been pushing for changes. Detroit is 21-29 and a half-game behind Charlotte for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Wojnarowski also suggests that Gores was behind the firing, while Joe Dumars advocated giving Cheeks more time.
This move comes on the heels of Cheeks’ sideline confrontation with Will Bynum, as well as his admission that he should be doing a better job at preparing the team to play. Cheeks’ firing also marks the first coaching change of the NBA this season.
No interim coach has been appointed for the team, but assistant John Loyer is expected to be frontrunner, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Pistons Notes: Lionel Hollins, Cheeks Fallout
With today’s firing of Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks, this has started the speculation as to who their next coach will be. Assistant John Loyer has been named the interim coach, and coaching sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Lionel Hollins is a prime target (Twitter link) for the job. If there was a good time to fire a coach, it was now, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders.com, as there are a number of qualified coaches available on the market. Hollins has a career record of 214-201, and led the Grizzlies to 56 wins in 2012/2013. Greene also notes that Hollins was offered the opportunity to join Cheeks’ staff this season, but declined. Hollins has also made it well-known that he desires to return to coaching, stating that, “I believe that I’ve established myself as a head coach and I’d like another opportunity to show that my success wasn’t a fluke”. Greene also points to Hollins’ success in developing Memphis’ frontcourt players such as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol as a selling point, considering the Pistons glut of big men.
More on the Pistons coaching change:
- It should be embarrassing to the team that the players had to find out via Twitter, writes Sean Highkin of USA Today. Judging by the reactions he posts in the article, the players were blindsided by the news.
- Hollins has already sounded off on the possibility of him taking the Pistons job, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW (via Twitter). Hollins told him, “Of course I’m interested“, though Hollins also said he had not been contacted yet. Haynes also writes that it’s only a matter of time before the Pistons reach out to Hollins.
- Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter) has also supported the idea of Lionel Hollins coaching the Pistons.
- Brandon Jennings tweeted his support for departed coach Maurice Cheeks.
- Cheeks took the fall for a disastrous run of decisions by GM Joe Dumars, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation.com. Ziller details a number of moves that have derailed the organization, including the Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon signings, the hiring of John Kuester, trading Arron Afflalo, and signings of Josh Smith and Jennings.
Odds & Ends: Trade Deadline, Roberson, Smart
Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders.com looks at three teams that will definitely be buyers at this years trade deadline. The Suns could look to add a big man, such as Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, Omer Asik, or Carlos Boozer. Acquiring a quality big could push the Suns into the second round of the playoffs, according to Ingram. The Knicks will try to add another star quality player to add alongside Carmelo Anthony, and aren’t likely to deal Anthony despite all the speculation. Ingram believes a point guard, such as Rajon Rondo or Kyle Lowry will be their primary target. He also thinks they will attempt to deal Amar’e Stoudemire to the Celtics. Lastly, he writes that the Bobcats will be looking to upgrade their wing position, and could deal Ben Gordon or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to facilitate a deal.
More from around the league:
- The Thunder have recalled Andre Roberson from the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League, the team announced via a press release. During his most recent assignment, Roberson averaged 20.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.5 minutes per contest. In 21 NBA games with the big club in Oklahoma City, the power forward has averaged 1.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 7.2 MPG.
- Former NBA player Johan Petro is set to sign a deal early next week to play in France, according to Matthieu Marot of Le Populaire du Centre (Twitter link; translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). A report yesterday indicated he was close to an agreement. Petro last saw action in the NBA during the 2012/13 season, when he averaged 3.6 PPG in 31 games for the Hawks.
- Last night’s incident in which Marcus Smart shoved a fan is unlikely to result in his draft stock falling, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Smart would have been a top-3 pick if he had entered last year’s draft, but shooting woes and a wealth of talent in this year’s draft have him as the second or third-ranked point guard, behind Dante Exum and possibly Tyler Ennis. Recent mock drafts have him being taken in the 6-10 range now, writes Zagoria. Smart is averaging 17.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 4.3 APG, while shooting 42% from the field and 28% from 3-point range.
Cavs Notes: Gilbert, GM Candidates, Coaching
Dan Gilbert’s basketball people have failed him, which left him no choice but to step in, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. The players aren’t responding to coaching, nor giving maximum effort, which is on them. But at some point, something will have to be done to change the culture, and that could result in the firing of coach Mike Brown, writes Amico. The main issue is that Brown hasn’t gotten them to play his style of defense, which was one of the primary reasons for the hire. The team is currently ranked 25th in points allowed. Amico also writes that the Cavs immediately went from going through the motions to going on a 33-game audition after GM Chris Grant was let go. This goes for all the players, as well as interim GM David Griffin.
More on the Cavs:
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald & The Morning Journal runs down some possible candidates to fill the Cavs GM spot if Griffin doesn’t keep the job. Finnan also traces much of what has gone wrong in Cleveland to their recent drafts. Out of their most recent players selected, only Kyrie Irving has achieved the production level expected from such a high draft pick. Tristan Thompson (No. 4 overall pick in 2011) and Dion Waiters (No. 4 overall in 2012) have been starters, at least occasionally in the case of Waiters, and Anthony Bennett (No. 1 overall in 2013) has struggled mightily.
- Also weighing in on some possible GM candidates is Ken Berger of CBS Sports.com.
- In her weekly Q&A roundup, Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at a number of issues facing the team. She believes that Mike Brown won’t be fired before the end of the season as coach. She also believes that Dan Gilbert’s playoff-or-bust edict placed undue pressure on Brown and the team. Also unlikely, according to Schmitt Boyer, is an acquisition of Greg Monroe, or the hiring of Akron coach Keith Dambrot as a replacement for Brown.
Eastern Notes: Woodson, Bulls, Pistons
Friday night’s win against the Nuggets hasn’t dulled the Mike Woodson job security chatter. The Knicks firing him is now a “when”, not an “if” proposition, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The team’s players appear to know it, both publicly and privately grumbling about Woodson’s strategies and methods. It’s a legitimate topic for debate as to how much of the blame falls on Woodson for the Knicks struggles this season, but firing him won’t fix the team’s issues opines Windhorst. He cites the problems with the team’s roster, as well as multiple players under-performing. A new coach wouldn’t be able to change that, as well as make an impact on Carmelo Anthony‘s decision to opt out of his contract after the season. Windhorst also examines the impact that interim coaches have on a team’s record. After an initial bump, teams usually don’t improve their records, according to the article.
More from around the Eastern Conference:
- Also weighing on on the Knicks flaws not being addressed by firing Woodson, is Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday. He also agrees that many of the players under-performing would not be solved by a coaching change.
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports takes another look at Taj Gibson‘s impact on the Bulls’ luxury tax situation. Gibson has a number of performance bonuses in his contract, that if met, could place the team over the luxury tax threshold. Gibson receives a $250K bonus for making the all-defensive second team, with another $250K if he makes the first team. The Bulls are currently $678,595 under the tax, but still have to add one more player to the roster to meet the league’s minimum requirement of 13. Adding a player, even at the minimum slot of $358,919, coupled with Gibson meeting his bonuses, could force the Bulls to pay the tax, which wouldn’t be worth it for a non-contending team, opines Deeks.
- The Pistons find themselves in their seemingly annual position of deciding to try to win now or tank for the future, writes Terry Foster of The Detroit News. He opines that while it might be necessary to win for President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars and coach Maurice Cheeks to keep their jobs, a better draft would benefit the franchise more in the long run. This goes against team owner Tom Gores’ playoff-or-bust edict, but it’s better for the team if he doesn’t get his wish, writes Foster.
Odds & Ends: Martin, Cavs, Lakers
New NBA commissioner Adam Silver is looking to Jerry Colangelo for help with the collegiate and professional relationship, per Dan Bickley of USA Today. “He wants me to broker everything going forward between the NBA, the NCAA and all the constituents,” said Colangelo, current chairman of USA Basketball. “He wants to lift the bar in terms of youth development and where the game is going.” Silver has already announced his desire to raise the age limit for NBA players another year, but Colangelo says his role is about more than the immediate talent influx for the league. “We want more young people interested in playing the game. I don’t have to tell you that the ball fields and playgrounds—the places were kids used to be all the time—are empty by comparison. There’s more organized activities taking place, but generally speaking, we need to re-engage and re-energize the general population of youth to participate.” Here’s a look around the league:
- Kevin Martin is out indefinitely for the Timberwolves, per an Associated Press release passed on by the Star Tribune. Minnesota’s starting shooting guard suffered a non-displaced thumb fracture and will likely be out at least through the All-Star break. Center Nikola Pekovic has already been out, and likely won’t return before then, either, per Andy Greder of the Star Tribune. Team president of basketball operations Flip Saunders just said that a trade isn’t imminent, but prolonged absence from the team’s starters could force the hand of the front office that is fighting to make the playoffs for the first time in Kevin Love‘s career.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders takes a look at some of the valuable expiring and non-guaranteed contracts that could be moved prior to the trade deadline.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal details a busy six months ahead for the Cavs, a stretch that got even busier following the firing of GM Chris Grant. Now the Cavs are tasked with additional front office personnel decisions to go along with the trade deadline, the draft, free agency, extension talks with Kyrie Irving, and more.
- The Lakers have won two in a row, enjoying some rare success with both Steve Nash and Steve Blake back in the lineup. Mike Bresnahan and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times write that the good times could jeopardize the franchise’s draft outlook. A playoff berth is unrealistic at this point, but the added return of both Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant could boost the team’s performance even further, just enough to significantly hurt their draft lottery chances in a lost season.
- After a 12-year NBA career and multiple stints overseas, Ricky Davis is still hoping his time in the D-League this season will give him another shot in the NBA, telling John Naughton of USA Today, “It’s what’s inside that keeps me wanting to be on the court. I’m blessed to be able to play this game. It’s just a thing that keeps ticking in me.” Davis was once an exciting player, but injuries took their toll on his game. “Now I’m the old man. In my mind, I still feel like I’m a kid. My body’s like, ‘No way, kid.'” His latest recovery has him feeling good, and hopeful about his chances for another shot.
- Players coming to New Orleans for All-Star Weekend festivities are planning to continue the informal tradition of meeting with the league, and seeking an end to the “Tennessee Tax” they incur when playing in Memphis is on their agenda, per Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News. The tax costs up to $7,500 a year for players, and goes directly to Grizzlies owner Robert Pera. NFL players are already exempt from the tax, while NHL players are not.
Poll: Will It Be A Busy Trade Season?
Many expect a lot of deals to go down before the February 20 deadline, with the common assumption that a big trade or two could lead to a domino effect throughout the rest of the league. For the second year in a row, Rudy Gay has been the centerpiece for an early in-season blockbuster. The Luol Deng deal between the Cavs and Bulls followed, and there are many more names on the trading block, many of which we’ve highlighted in our Trade Candidates series. There is also a pretty clear line between teams at the top and bottom of each conference, with a handful of teams on the playoff bubble. Teams with title hopes are generally buyers, and teams that have draft hopes typically sell during the trade season, with an oft-lamented tendency for losing teams to “tank” away their season in order to improve their chances at a higher pick. This disparity is a condition that theoretically makes for easier matchmaking for teams with clear needs.
Timberwolves team president Flip Saunders is skeptical of a lot of movement this trade season, describing a gridlock due to heightened values for draft picks. Teams are certainly hanging on to picks more tightly than they have in some previous eras, careful to build rosters around as many inexpensive contracts as possible to avoid paying the increasingly punitive repeater tax levied under the current CBA against franchises that exceed the luxury-tax line in consecutive seasons. Another dampening CBA component is the Stepien Rule, which prohibits teams from trading away first round picks in consecutive years. This rule prevents a team like the Nets from parting with upcoming picks they hold, even though they would otherwise meet the profile of a team willing to deal picks to bolster their short-term championship window.
Those teams on the playoff bubble could swing league activity, depending on how their next couple weeks go and how strong the commitment to a playoff run is in their front office. The Pistons, for example, have won four home games in a row and edged just a half-game behind the current eighth-seed Bobcats. A run like that could remove the temptation for a team like Detroit to give up on their core and part with any of their players for future assets.
What do you think? Will this trade season be “epic,” as ESPN’s Chad Ford has predicted, or will it underwhelm as it has in many years before?
Will It Be A Busy Trade Season?
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Somewhat, with a handful of significant moves 44% (381)
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No, it will be basically stagnant through the deadline 28% (243)
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Yes, trade activity will be off the charts 27% (234)
Total votes: 858
Draft Notes: Parker, Gordon
Jabari Parker‘s Duke team played at Boston College tonight, and Celtics GM Danny Ainge was spotted in attendance by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, presumably to get a look at the forward (Twitter link). Parker did not disappoint, totaling career highs in points (29) and rebounds (16) for the Blue Devils. Here are some more notes surrounding the upcoming draft:
- Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe covers Parker‘s looming decision to enter the draft or not, and weighs opinions on whether his skill set will translate to the level of an NBA franchise player, potentially for the Celtics.
- Jake Henson of Sheridan Hoops updated his mock draft lottery, slotting Kansas freshman Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins in the first and second slots, respectively.
- Matt Moore of CBS Sports thinks that Aaron Gordon‘s talent level is so high, he could have gone first overall in last year’s draft. Moore gives a thorough rundown for Gordon’s game and stellar upside, while also pointing out some of his current weaknesses.
Eastern Notes: Varejao, Bobcats, ‘Melo
Sixers coach Brett Brown tells Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times that he is confident the team’s struggles this season will pay off with a valuable draft pick. Brown admits that the bottoming out process isn’t fun, “At times, when you’re sitting on a sideline and your team isn’t guarding and your team is losing by a significant margin, you feel like you don’t really want, at times, to go through this.” But Brown is looking forward to brighter days ahead: “I know that if we can ever pull this off, then the city’s going to come right along with us and be proud to grow with us. That’s always been the vision and the plan.” Here’s more from around the East:
- Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders sees Anderson Varejao as the Cavs’ most movable asset, and speculates that Cleveland might become a seller and look toward the draft after the firing of GM Chris Grant. Greene thinks the Suns, Rockets, and Lakers are all teams that could be good trade partners with Cleveland for the veteran center.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer thinks the Bobcats will be active at the trade deadline, but doesn’t think a blockbuster deal is likely. Bonnell notes that while Ben Gordon‘s expiring contract is a nice trade asset, losing the flexibility that comes with his contract could pose problems for the team as it attempts to retain Kemba Walker as his 2015 restricted free agency approaches.
- Howard Beck of Bleacher Report adds to the anniversary analysis of the blockbuster trade between the Nuggets and Knicks that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York. Beck quotes a rival executive that blames Anthony for pushing the trade rather than simply joining the Knicks as a free agent that summer, because financial considerations were Anthony’s top priority. Melo reportedly wanted to secure his maximum contract extension before the new labor deal–and its potential earnings reductions–would be negotiated. That meant that the Knicks had to give up a wealth of player and draft assets to pry the star from Denver, rather than a more moderate sacrifice had he joined as a free agent. Beck traces most of New York’s woes back to Anthony’s “original sin,” which diminished the team’s roster and crippled their ability to bolster it, leading to desperate moves that have not panned out.