Atlantic Notes: Moultrie, Sixers, Rondo
Here’s the latest from Atlantic Division that doesn’t involve Phil Jackson and the Knicks:
- Evan Turner told reporters. including Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com, that he has no animosity toward the Sixers, who traded him away to the Pacers at the trade deadline.
- Turner was surprised that the Sixers traded him and Lavoy Allen for just a second-round draft pick and the now-bought out contract of Danny Granger but said he’s confident Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has something “up his sleeve.” Turner said it takes guts to commit to rebuild in a city like Philadelphia, per Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter links).
- The Sixers are sending Arnett Moultrie to the D-League, a league source tells Moore (Twitter link).
- Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe he wants Rajon Rondo to stay with Boston beyond his current contract. “I love the guy. I love his championship ring when he was the young kid. I love his growth.” said Grousbeck. “It reminds me of Paul Pierce. Growing from the moments in his younger days and making progress toward being an all-time Celtic and a leader. I am always hopeful that a guy like that is going to stay around.”
- Rondo appreciated Grousbeck’s comments, he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe (All Twitter links). “It means a lot, especially coming from the head guy,” said Rondo. “With all the rumors swirling, the criticism that I was having throughout the past couple weeks, he stuck his neck out. (Wyc) didn’t have to say anything, but he did. I’ve talked to Wyc since then. Everything is what it’s supposed to be.”
- Jerryd Bayless echoes Grousbeck’s appreciation of Rondo, and writes on his personal blog that he hopes to play with him as Celtics teammates beyond this season (H/T Alex Kennedy). “It seems like transitioning to being the team leader has come pretty naturally for Rondo,” Bayless writes. “I think he has been preparing for it for a long time, and it shows. He’s a great leader, I’ve had a great time being able to get to know him in the last couple months, and hopefully, we can grow as teammates for a long time.” Bayless will be a free agent after this season.
- Recent Suns acquisition Shavlik Randolph told Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com that he was shocked and disappointed when the Celtics released him last summer, but he understands Boston’s decision (Twitter links).
Southeast Notes: Clifford, Haywood, Hamilton
In an interview with Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Bobcats coach Steve Clifford discusses player development, culture change, defensive difficulties, and more in Charlotte. Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Clifford assumes that Bobcats backup center Brendan Haywood will miss the rest of the season, he tells The Charlotte Observer. “I just think it will be difficult,” for him to play this season, Clifford said. “Even if he progressed to the point where he could get on the floor, it’s been a long time and he’s a big man. It’s hard to be out that long and get your rhythm to play.”
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Miami moved quickly to sign Justin Hamilton as soon as he became available in order to add some balance that was lost when they traded away Joel Anthony, per Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald (Twitter links). Hamilton agreed to a two-year contract with the Heat earlier today.
- The Heat were impressed with Hamilton this past summer, and considered him for their 15-day roster before the big man broke his nose in the preseason, Goodman writes.
Chris Paul Addresses Union Criticisms
Following agent Jeff Schwartz’s op-ed criticising the union’s lack of transparency in selecting its next executive director, union president Chris Paul has responded with an op-ed of his own at ESPN. The whole piece is worth a read, but here are some of the highlights:
On changes already in progress to make the union more transparent:
“Working with our Acting Executive Director Ron Klempner, we’ve spent the past year reviewing and reforming the core policy infrastructure of our union, creating an organization that is strong, strategic, transparent and absolutely accountable to our players.”
On where the union is in the selection process:
“In an effort to conduct a thorough and professional search, we partnered with outside consultants to identify over 200 professionals from the worlds of sports, law, labor and business who might be qualified to lead our union. Our Executive Committee has devoted the time, resources and energy necessary to narrow down this quality pool of potential candidates. During our All-Star Weekend Winter Meeting, we devoted virtually all of our time together to discussing the process that we’ve engaged in, and the procedures for considering and voting on our next Executive Director. We also heard from our leading candidates for the position to date, and players attending were able to take their measure.”
On the criticism the union has received:
“I’ve been encouraged by the passionate interest in the outcome of these deliberations — player agents, corporate sponsors, team owners, sports journalists and NBA fans. And while some of these interests have been critical or skeptical of the very deliberate steps we’ve been taking in this process, it’s a testament to the commitment and passion we all have to protect our players and ultimately the game we all love so much. But make no mistake, the decision about our next Executive Director will be made by NBA players, in a process that has been and will continue to be open, transparent, painstaking and professional.”
On why the process has taken so long:
“One of our greatest challenges as an organized group of players is managing the logistics that require us to be constantly moving throughout the country. However, we’re in the last stages of implementing a plan that will allow every player to consider the candidates, discuss their merits with teammates and fellow union members and very soon, vote on new leadership for the NBPA. The process has taken time, but we know it has been time well spent.”
Phil Jackson Revelations and Reactions
We learned earlier that Phil Jackson has signed an agreement to become the Knicks president of basketball operations. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweeted that the contract being finalized is a five-year arrangement without any stake in ownership, to pay the coaching legend $12MM a year. The press conference announced by the Knicks for next Tuesday will indeed be the official introduction of Jackson as the new head of New York’s front office, a source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Now that the news is more or less final, reactions to the deal are flooding in around the league.
Jackson’s discussions with the Knicks had been going on for several months before becoming a reality, reports Shelburne. Shelburne says that the Lakers had multiple internal discussions on the prospect of hiring Jackson, but never contacted his representatives because they knew they wouldn’t be willing to offer the amount of power that the Knicks were. A source tells Scott Cacciola of The New York Times that it was current Knicks GM Steve Mills who first met with Jackson to discuss him joining New York.
Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith all expressed different levels of excitement and anticipation to meet Jackson and hear about his vision for the future of the team, per Peter Botte of The New York Daily News. Anthony says Jackson’s arrival won’t “have any effect” on his looming free agency decisions this summer, but Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com thinks ‘Melo should stick around since Jackson has shown himself capable of unlocking greatness in stars.
Some people are puzzled over the signing. One NBA executive told J.A. Adande of ESPN that Jackson’s relationship with Knicks owner James Dolan is doomed. “Phil and Dolan will not work. Like, never,” the exec said. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports thinks the Jackson signing is a confusing move for the Knicks. In a video segment, Spears predicts that there will be similarities to Larry Bird‘s setup in Indiana, where Jackson provides the final yes or no on team activities, but other team employees do the bulk of the front office “grunt work.” Spears doesn’t think Jackson will return to coach at any point, but he does think there will be constant pressure from Knicks fans to do just that, similar to the constant speculation of Pat Riley‘s return to the bench during Erik Spoelstra’s first seasons with the Heat.
Others are more optimistic about the deal. Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post thinks that characterizations of Jackson as successful only due to coaching the best talent are wrong, and that he has turned around imperfect teams like New York before. Zach Lowe of Grantland argues that the Knicks don’t actually need a complete overhaul in their front office because there are already good, progressive basketball minds in New York. Rather, Lowe says the Knicks need Jackson to add a calming personality to the team and put an end to their pattern of caving in to agents and making knee-jerk moves that undermine their otherwise smart team-building decisions. Lowe doesn’t think Jackson will relax his emphasis on the triangle offense in building the Knicks, pointing out that the system goes beyond Xs and Os for Jackson, connecting to his deepest philosophical beliefs. Howard Beck of Bleacher Report agrees with Lowe’s take, seeing this as the “Zen Master’s” opportunity to mentor an entire, unstable franchise, not just a handful of players.
Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Lakers
An NBA executive told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) that how college players perform in the NCAA tournament plays a large role in how NBA scouts view them leading up to the draft. As more teams secure their spots in March Madness this weekend, let’s take a look at the rumors surrounding this year’s draft class:
- The same exec told Amico that junior LaQuinton Ross and senior Aaron Craft of Ohio State are both on his draft board in the early second round (Twitter link).
- As Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweets, Andrew Wiggins has surpassed his Kansas teammate Joel Embiid atop his latest mock draft. As we learned last night, Embiid’s back issues will undoubtedly put the microscope on the talented center when it comes time for medical testing at the draft combine.
- Scouts agree with Givony’s projection according to Adam Zagoria, as the SNY insider cites ESPN’s Chad Ford and NBA scouts in a tweet indicating that Wiggins has risen back to the top of many draft boards in light of his 71 combined points in the Jayhawks’ last two games.
- One executive that likely saw Wiggins hang 30 on Oklahoma State yesterday was Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak, who is in Kansas City this week for the Big 12 tournament according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Along with Wiggins and Embiid, Ding mentions the Cowboys’ Marcus Smart as a potential target, also adding that scouting director Jesse Buss (youngest son of Jerry) and assistant scouting director Ryan West (son of Jerry) aid Kupchak in the team’s draft process.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Lakers Rumors: D’Antoni, Gasol, Jackson
The latest out of Los Angeles..
- The Lakers lost 131-102 to the Thunder last night, but bigger problems are looming for L.A., writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Kobe Bryant reportedly isn’t wild about coach Mike D’Antoni, but the Lakers are reluctant to part ways for a number of reasons. First, they think he’s a capable coach and they don’t want to be known as a franchise without coach stability. Perhaps more importantly, the club doesn’t want to pay him $4MM to not coach them after making a similar move with Mike Brown. In another interesting wrinkle, many of the club’s younger players enjoy playing in D’Antoni’s offense because their inflated scoring totals give them more value as they look ahead to their next contract.
- Pau Gasol supports Kobe’s open criticism of the Lakers, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I’m glad that he spoke his mind,” Gasol said. “He wants to win. He’s got two years under contract with the franchise. He wants to be in the best possible position to win. Whether you do that publicly or internally, that’s totally up to you. He spoke his mind and you have to respect him for that.” The big man reportedly isn’t a fan of D’Antoni’s either.
- On Wednesday, both Kobe and Magic Johnson made public pleas to Lakers management to hire Phil Jackson, but a Lakers source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that team VP Jim Buss has little interest in bringing back the Hall of Fame coach.
Knicks Notes: Jackson, Woodson, Kerr
The Knicks hiring Phil Jackson to oversee their basketball operations is the next best thing to James Dolan selling the team, opines Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com. Jackson isn’t buying the Knicks, but he’ll effectively be renting them for the next five years, which is about as much as fans can ask for. Meanwhile, one league official feels that Dolan will be handicapping Jackson if he forces him to keep neophyte GM Steve Mills on the basketball side. Instead, the official says, Jackson should be allowed to hire Steve Kerr to fill that role. More out of MSG..
- The Knicks announced that they will have a major announcement at a Tuesday press conference, presumably to introduce Jackson.
- WIthin his story about Knicks coach Mike Woodson wanting a sit-down with Jackson, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that Jackson’s contract technically hasn’t been signed yet. A press conference is expected to take place on Tuesday and could possibly include fellow Knicks legends Bill Bradley and Willis Reed.
- If the Knicks oust Woodson, he would be a top candidate at his alma mater of Indiana University, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Of course, that would mean current coach Tom Crean not returning to the Hoosiers.
- For his part, Woodson told reporters, including Adam Zagoria of SNY (on Twitter), that he was unhappy with the report tying him to Indiana. Meanwhile, Isola (Twitter links) notes that Woodson has a history of playing coy when it comes to this sort of thing.
- Count Charles Oakley among the former Knicks players who believes that Jackson will do a great job in his new role, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. “He’s someone with a brand, an ex-Knicks player, 11 championships — he’s got he whole resume,” Oakley said. “Having him is like taking a test and already having the answers. You can’t go wrong when his hand is involved in what you’re trying to do.“
- Jackson shouldn’t be concerned about not being cut any media slack from the get-go, writes Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News.
Texas Notes: Parker, Larkin, Carmelo
At the start of every game, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle‘s gameplan is rather simple: get the rock to Dirk Nowitzki. “We want to get him touching the ball early in the game in every game,” Carlisle said, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “If it doesn’t happen, I blame myself for it. We want to play a flowing, random type game as often as we can because we feel it’s a strength, but the ball has to move through the best players. When it doesn’t, I have to intervene and make play calls to get him involved touching it, to get Monta involved touching it, things like that. But we’re at our best when we’re playing a free-flowing game without play calls with good recognition.” More out of the Lone Star State..
- In an update to his earlier report, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) now hears that only Shane Larkin and Ricky Ledo are headed to the D-League, not Gal Mekel. To keep up with all of this year’s D-League assignments, check out our running list.
- In an era of tumult and turnover, the Spurs‘ Big Three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili has managed to stay together, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Spurs are humble about what they’ve accomplished over the years, but fans should stop and admire what they’ve done, even if the team won’t.
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Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter) wonders if Carmelo Anthony would ditch New York for Houston and if the Rockets would give up Terrence Jones or a future first round pick to pull it off. A report yesterday linked the Knicks star to Dwight Howard & Co. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News explains why it’s a long shot from a financial standpoint.
Heat Sign Justin Hamilton
1:30pm: It’s a two-year deal containing guarantee dates for next season, league sources tell RealGM’s Shams Charania (on Twitter).
1:25pm: Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) hears Hamilton has been signed for the remainder of the season and not a 10-day deal.
12:18pm: The Heat have signed former second-round pick Justin Hamilton to a 10-day contract, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reported yesterday that Miami had their eye on the big man.
Hamilton, a 7’0″ LSU product, just wrapped up a 10-day deal with the Bobcats and saw a grand total of four minutes on the court. Before that, he was with the Sioux Falls SkyForce of the D-League and averaged 19.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 2 BPG in 35.2 MPG over 37 games.
The soon-to-be 24-year-old was drafted in the second-round in 2012 by the Sixers and subsequently traded to the Heat for the rights to Arnett Moultrie. The Heat then waived Hamilton back in October of 2013, but today’s move brings him full circle, at least for a week and change.
Heat Release DeAndre Liggins
The Heat have released DeAndre Liggins, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The move will make space for Justin Hamilton, whom the Heat just signed to a 10-day pact.
Liggins signed consecutive 10-day contracts with the Heat and his second deal was set to expire on March 18th. The wing appeared in 39 games with the Thunder last year, after playing in 17 contests with the Magic in his 2011/12 rookie season. However, the Thunder cut ties with him after some legal troubles came up. The Heat decided to pick him up earlier this month after those charges were reduced.