Eastern Notes: Noel, Maxiell, Bird
Jason Maxiell hasn’t played in the Magic’s last nine games and has only one appearance since January 29th, but he’s trying to maintain a positive outlook, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Maxiell stated, “I’m respecting that this is a year for the young guys to develop and improve for next year. With the coaching staff and [general manager] Rob [Hennigan] and [assistant general manager] Scott Perry, I think more of the bigger picture is moving forward for next year and having a mixture of experienced young guys mixed in with some vets.” Robbins mentions that the lack of playing time could hurt Maxiell in the long run because of his contract. He signed a free-agent contract with the Magic during the offseason, and his salary of $2.5MM for next year is non-guaranteed and he won’t be owed anything if the team waives him before mid-July.
More from the east:
- On Sunday the Sixers’ Nerlens Noel tweeted “4-4-14”, which hinted at a possible NBA debut date for the injured player. Marc Narducci and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer discuss the likelihood of seeing the big man on the court this season.
- On Thursday night, Zaza Pachulia will return to Atlanta for the first time since signing with the Bucks this summer. The former Hawks fan-favorite sat down with Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to answer some questions about his thoughts on his change of teams and what the future holds for him.
- Larry Bird might be in charge of the Pacers, but the Celtics will always be a part of him. He still pays close attention to his former franchise and has quite a few complimentary things to say about GM Danny Ainge and point guard Rajon Rondo, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
- Speaking of the Celtics, team owner Wyc Grousbeck joked that he wants Andrew Wiggins in this years draft, tweets Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News. This was said in response to commissioner Adam Silver noting there were already two Canadians on the Celtics roster. Wiggins is projected as a top-3 lottery pick in this year’s draft and the Celtics currently rank sixth in Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings.
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Pacers, Hawks
With the Pacers going through a bit of a rough patch, team president Larry Bird expressed his frustration with the team’s players and coach Frank Vogel to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. “I’m sort of going to Frank’s side because he’s had so much success by staying positive,” Bird said. “We do have to stay the course. But I also think he’s got to start going after guys when they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do. And stay on them, whether you’ve got to take them out of the game when they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do or limit their minutes. I will say, he hasn’t done that enough.”
More from around the east:
- Bulls management doesn’t regret its deal with Carlos Boozer, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reveals as he answers reader questions in his mailbag column.
- Joakim Noah believes that the Bulls season was saved when D.J. Augustin was acquired in December, but Augustin believes that deal saved his career, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He cited coach Tom Thibodeau and a locker-room culture that he had never experienced in his five previous NBA seasons as the reason for his turnaround.
- The Hawks were looking like a playoff lock in the weak Eastern Conference until Al Horford‘s season-ending injury. Now, even if the team maintains its hold on the eighth seed they aren’t realistic title contenders, which leaves GM Danny Ferry in a player evaluation mode to see who is in their long-term plans. Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders analyzes the roster and gives his thoughts on each player’s future with the team.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Sixers Sign Jarvis Varnado To Multiyear Deal
5:05pm: Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) reports that it’s a three-year deal. The rest of this season is guaranteed, but the next two seasons are not.
WEDNESDAY, 9:17am: The Sixers have formally announced their new deal with Varnado, via press release. The team doesn’t specify the terms of the agreement, as is usually the case, but the release doesn’t refer to the agreement as a 10-day deal, so it appears that it covers at least the rest of the season.
TUESDAY, 11:19am: The Sixers will re-sign Jarvis Varnado to a multiyear contract with guaranteed money for 2014/15, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The team had workouts lined up for today with at least four players who were presumably vying for Varnado’s roster spot, but the team has apparently decided the incumbent is the best choice. Varnado had been with the club on a 10-day deal that expired Monday night. Wojnarowski’s tweet indicates that Varnado has already signed his new contract, but the team has yet to make a formal announcement.
Sixers coach Brett Brown said Monday that he’s “thrilled” with Varnado, who nonetheless saw short minutes on his 10-day contract. He averaged 2.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game over five appearances. Varnado’s strengths are rebounding and shot-blocking, and his per-36 minute numbers with the team suggest fairly strong production, albeit over a minuscule sample size. He’s notched 9.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per 36 minutes for Philadelphia.
The 6’9″ 26-year-old has played in just 19 career NBA games, but he’s been well-traveled, splitting them among four teams. He signed a 10-day contract earlier this season with the Bulls and spent parts of last season with the Heat and Celtics. The Impact Sports Basketball client is probably receiving a minimum-salary arrangement, though Philadelphia has the cap room necessary to give him more. There’s a decent chance it calls for non-guaranteed seasons in 2015/16 and 2016/17, as Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has locked up several players on four-year contracts with little guaranteed money. Wojnarowski says that next year is a team option, but that would preclude the guaranteed money he refers to, and team options are rare in free agent contracts. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “option” Wojnarowski is referring to is actually a partial guarantee.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Kobe Bryant Wants Mike D’Antoni Fired
Kobe Bryant has “no interest” in playing for Mike D’Antoni next season, and the Lakers star wants the team to change coaches, sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Bryant took several shots at Lakers management during a press conference today, but apparently his greatest frustration is with D’Antoni, whose contract runs through 2014/15. Bryant said today that he can’t understand why the Lakers haven’t brought former coach and soon-to-be Knicks executive Phil Jackson back to the franchise.
Bryant would like to see the Lakers re-sign Pau Gasol, who’s openly feuded with D’Antoni at times since the coach came aboard early last season. D’Antoni also never clicked with Carmelo Anthony when they were together with the Knicks, as Deveney points out, and Bryant wants the team to make significant improvements in the offseason, when Anthony figures to be the best free agent available.
The Lakers have long appeared deferential to Bryant, bidding against themselves when they granted him a $48.5MM extension in November. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote recently that D’Antoni didn’t seem to have much of a future in L.A., and D’Antoni met last week with GM Mitch Kupchak to discuss the state of the team after a blowout loss to the Clippers. Bryant’s most recent comments suggest he doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the team’s brass, but his wishes are nonetheless an ominous sign for D’Antoni, who’s gone 62-74 in his time with the Lakers.
Western Notes: Kobe, Thomas, Hayward
Kobe Bryant didn’t hold back during the press conference that followed today’s official announcement that he’s done for the year. He said he has “not one lick” of patience for suffering through another losing season in 2014/15. With Phil Jackson agreeing to take a front office job with the Knicks, Bryant finds it difficult to understand why the Lakers haven’t hired him back, and he called upon co-owners Jim and Jeanie Buss to resolve their differences. He also wants to be in the loop on the team’s moves and expressed his frustration with the trade of Steve Blake. “I just want to get a phone call when somebody gets traded,” Bryant said (Twitter links via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Beto Duran of ESPN radio Los Angeles, and Bill Oram of the Orange County Register).
There’s more Lakers-related news as we examine the latest from the Western Conference:
- Soon-to-be restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas admits to SB Nation’s James Herbert that he grew up a fan of the Lakers and still likes the team. The Kings point guard calls Bryant his favorite player.
- Gordon Hayward largely stayed out of negotiations between agent Mark Bartelstein and the Jazz on a possible extension this past fall, and he plans to be similarly scarce as Bartelstein talks with clubs this summer, when Hayward will be a restricted free agent. Grantland’s Zach Lowe has more from his interview with the former Butler star, who expresses his fondness for the small-town feel of Salt Lake City.
- A report last month suggested the Nuggets don’t plan to give Kenneth Faried a major payday when he’s up for an extension in the offseason, but the power forward’s improved play will make the team think twice, writes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Cavs Sign Shane Edwards, Release Onuaku
The Cavs have signed D-League forward Shane Edwards to a 10-day contract, the team announced. To make room, Cleveland terminated its 10-day pact with Arinze Onuaku before it was set to expire at the end of Thursday. Onuaku immediately becomes a free agent, since players on 10-day contracts don’t have to go through the waiver process if their teams decide to let them go early. The Cavs remain at the 15-player maximum.
The 6’7″ Edwards went undrafted out of Arkansas-Little Rock in 2009, but he joined the Nuggets for preseason a year later. He didn’t make Denver’s opening-night roster, and he hadn’t signed another NBA deal since, until today. The 26-year-old is averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game across 40 appearances this season for the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s D-League affiliate.
Onuaku signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Cavs, but he saw a total of just five minutes over two games. He seemed mostly an insurance policy for Anderson Varejao, who returned to action early this week against the Knicks. Cleveland twice sent him on D-League assignment.
Kobe Bryant Out For Season
2:09pm: The league’s insurance policy will provide the Lakers with $4.75MM in compensation for Bryant’s absence, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Bryant is making more than $30.45MM, and the full amount still applies to the team’s cap and luxury tax bill.
1:36pm: The Lakers have officially ruled Bryant out for the year, tweets Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. The team also issued a statement announcing the news. Bryant wanted to come back this season, but the team convinced him that sitting out would help his recovery, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
10:48am: Kobe Bryant will remain out for the balance of the season, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The news has been anticipated, and Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding wrote Tuesday that the Lakers would make a formal announcement sometime this week. USA Today’s Sam Amick wrote overnight that Bryant was not expected to return. The Lakers still haven’t confirmed Bryant’s status, but it appears they’ll be without their star guard for the last month of 2013/14.
Bryant has played just six games for the Lakers this year after signing a two-year, $48.5MM extension in November. He returned in December from a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg, but went down again soon thereafter with a tibial plateau fracture in the same leg. His latest malady was only supposed to keep him out for six weeks, but it’s apparently cost him the balance of the season instead.
The Lakers have little to play for at 22-42, in a four-way tie for the fourth-worst record in the league. They probably stand to benefit from Bryant’s continued absence, since every loss helps the team’s draft lottery chances. Lakers management has long shown a strong commitment to Bryant, but the decision to grant him the extension looks even shakier now than it did when the deal was struck. The Rob Pelinka client was set to hit free agency this summer, and a season lost almost in its entirety to injury would certainly have depressed his market value.
Draft Rumors: Minimum Age, Exum, Saric
The NBA’s minimum age won’t change in time for this year’s draft, but if it did, Chad Ford of ESPN.com, writing in an Insider-only piece, thinks Marcus Smart would be the No. 1 overall pick, followed by Doug McDermott, Rodney Hood, Nik Stauskas and Gary Harris. It illustrates how reliant the league has become on freshman talent, and how profoundly a rule change could devastate the draft the year it takes effect. There’s more on the minimum-age front and other news from Ford amid the latest on the draft:
- Commissioner Adam Silver says he’s sought the input of NCAA president Mark Emmert on the effort to raise the NBA’s minimum age, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Silver also wants to discuss the way the draft affects players’ NCAA eligibility, as Michael McCann of SI.com notes via Twitter.
- Ford doesn’t believe teams are too concerned about the notion that Dante Exum would try to force his way to the Lakers, as Ford writes in his latest chat with readers.
- Dario Saric has hurt his draft stock with hints that he might stay in Europe, according to Ford, who suggests in his chat that teams might worry that Saric will become the next Nikola Mirotic. The Bulls have waited while Mirotic has remained overseas for the past three years, meaning he’s no longer subject to the rookie scale and can demand higher salaries to join the team this summer.
- Most of the NBA prospects on Kentucky’s roster, including brothers Aaron and Andrew Harrison, want to enter the draft this year, Ford writes, adding that Julius Randle is nonetheless the only lock to declare.
Reaction To Phil Jackson’s Deal With Knicks
Phil Jackson and the Knicks have reportedly reached an agreement in principle to have the Zen Master join the team’s front office, though the terms of the deal are apparently still in flux. The news has elicited response from Carmelo Anthony and others, as we detail here:
- In an updated version of his story, Berman shares Anthony’s remarks about whether he had any input on the decision to bring in Jackson. “I don’t want to jump the gun as far as being consulted,” Anthony said. “They have to do what they have to do in the front office and make the moves. They brought it to me a couple of days ago. It wasn’t something [where] it was do or die based on my decision. Them guys were going to make the decision regardless of what I said. I kind of let the guys handle the situation, and I focus on basketball and hope and pray we all do the right thing to try to build a team here.’’
Earlier updates:
- Anthony doesn’t believe his free agency this summer hinges on Jackson’s hiring, as the star forward told reporters today, including Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. “I don’t think it’ll have any effect on me, just as far as what I’m thinking or my decision or anything like that,” Anthony said. “Like I said, I haven’t talked to Phil yet, just to get his insight on a lot of things, what’s his plan, what’s his future plan, because everything’s in his hands now.”
- Still, Anthony admitted he’s never spoken to Jackson before, as Marc Berman of the New York Post notes. Anthony said Saturday that the Knicks hadn’t told him about their pursuit of Jackson, but the Leon Rose client said today that the team informed him two days ago. “You can’t take for granted what he knows about basketball, whether he’s on the sideline or in the front office,” Anthony said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll try his best to do what he has to do to build a championship here.’’
- Jeanie Buss, Jackson’s fiancee and co-owner of the Lakers, told Nancy Dillon of the New York Daily News that she had no intention of keeping Jackson from taking the Knicks job, saying, “It’s his decision to make, of course.”
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com can’t envision Jackson making the kind of full-time commitment to the Knicks necessary to change the franchise’s sagging fortunes.
Spurs Made Late Push To Trade For Evan Turner
The Spurs made a deadline-day effort to trade for Evan Turner before the Sixers sent him to the Pacers instead, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. A rival executive made public mention the Spurs as a possible destination for Turner a couple of weeks in advance of the deadline, but aside from that, there wasn’t much chatter connecting San Antonio to the former No. 2 overall pick.
Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star shortly after the deadline that he didn’t think the Sixers were able to find a team willing to give up a first-round pick for Turner, the asset Philadelphia was seeking. The Sixers instead wound up with Danny Granger, whom they later waived in a buyout agreement, and a 2015 second-round pick. It’s unclear exactly what the Spurs offered, but since Philly is left with only a second-rounder to show for Turner at this point, the Sixers might have been better off dealing with San Antonio.
The only deadline move the Spurs made was swapping Nando De Colo to the Raptors for Austin Daye. San Antonio was also in the mix to acquire Granger after he bought his way off the Sixers, but he signed with the Clippers instead. Still, the Spurs sit atop the NBA with a 47-16 record, a half-game ahead of Turner and the Pacers. Turner will become a free agent at season’s end, and if Indiana’s wary that Turner might accept a qualifying offer of more than $8.7MM for next season, the Pacers may decline to make that tender and turn him into an unrestricted free agent. The report linking San Antonio to Turner early last month suggested that the Spurs might have been just as interested in acquiring him via free agency as they were in trading for him at the deadline.