Eastern Notes: Pistons, Varnado, Sims, Mirotic

If new commissioner Adam Silver gets his wish and changes the NBA draft’s age minimum from 19 to 20, he will have two dissenters in the PistonsBrandon Jennings and Josh Smith, both of whom would have been affected had such a rule been in place when they entered the league. “I just feel like if a kid’s ready, he’s ready to – why two years?” Jennings told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. “Then if I’m a kid that’s talented and you expect me to go to college and eat McDonald’s all the time. I’m not rolling.”

Let’s take a look at what else is going on in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night:

  • Mississippi State product Jarvis Varnado, who inked a multiyear deal with the Sixers earlier this month, was adamant he’d stick in the NBA earlier this season despite being on a 10-day contract, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who talked with Varnado in his time with the Bulls.
  • Henry Sims has been a bright spot for the Sixers since coming over from Cleveland in the Spencer Hawes deal, and may have a future in Philadelphia, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders breaks down the salary cap implications of Chicago bringing over Nikola Mirotic this offseason from Real Madrid, who the Bulls took with the 23rd pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. The move would involve a buyout of over $3MM as well as enough money to entice Mirotic to want to leave Europe.
  • Al Jefferson signed with the Bobcats just eight months ago, but he’s already prepared to recruit others to Charlotte, as he tells Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated“It’s on me to let other free agents know, ‘Why not Charlotte?’,” Jefferson said.
View Comments (0)