Teams With The Most 2014 Draft Picks
The Sixers were not afraid to employ rookies this season, and they’re in line for another influx of NBA neophytes in 2014/15. Philadelphia will have a pair of first-round picks this year, barring a lucky bounce of a lottery ping-pong ball for the Pelicans, and five second-rounders, giving the Sixers a league-high seven draft choices in 2014.
Whenever a team is holding that many picks, there’s a strong chance it’ll trade one or more of them. The Sixers are in the midst of a rebuilding project, but even so, it’d be difficult for them to find room for seven rookies on next season’s opening-night roster. Likewise, Suns GM Ryan McDonough has spoken on multiple occasions about packaging his team’s slew of first-round picks in a trade. Most teams aren’t in Phoenix’s enviable position and are increasingly reluctant to part with first-round picks, so second-rounders are becoming valuable trade fodder, too.
The final draft order won’t be determined until the May 20th lottery, but you can check out the projected first-round landscape here, and teams are ranked below by the volume of 2014 picks they possess, showing which teams might be looking to deal. There’s a chance the lottery will take a few picks away from some teams and give them to others, so we’ve noted those potential scenarios here. The number of first round picks is in parentheses to the left of the slash, with the number of second-rounders to the right.
Seven picks
- Sixers (2/5) — There a 4% chance they won’t receive the Pelicans’ first-round pick, which would leave them with six picks.
Four picks
- Suns (3/1) — There’s a 2% chance they’ll receive the Timberwolves’ first-round pick, which would give them five picks.
- Timberwolves (1/3) — There’s a 2% chance they’ll have to send their first-round pick to the Suns, which would leave them with three picks.
- Bucks (1/3)
Three picks
- Bulls (2/1)
- Jazz (2/1)
- Nuggets (1/2)
- Raptors (1/2)
- Spurs (1/2)
Two picks
- Celtics (2/0)
- Magic (2/0)
- Thunder (2/0)
- Bobcats (1/1) — There’s an 18% chance they’ll receive the Pistons’ first-round pick, which would give them three picks.
- Cavs (1/1)
- Hawks (1/1)
- Heat (1/1)
- Pistons (1/1) — There’s an 18% chance they’ll have to give their first-round pick to the Bobcats, which would leave them with one pick.
- Rockets (1/1)
- Mavericks (0/2)
One pick
- Clippers (1/0)
- Grizzlies (1/0)
- Kings (1/0)
- Lakers (1/0)
- Pacers (0/1)
- Wizards (0/1)
Zero picks
- Pelicans — There’s a 4% chance they’ll get to keep their first-round pick from going to the Sixers, which would give them one pick.
- Nets
- Warriors
- Knicks
- Trail Blazers
Knicks Rumors: Jackson, ‘Melo, Kerr
Knicks owner James Dolan isn’t allowing team president Phil Jackson to make peripheral changes to the organization, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, but it’d be a stretch to call it the end of Jackson’s honeymoon with the Knicks, Isola cautions. The personnel that Jackson targeted for removal were likely members of the team’s front office, medical or media relations staff, Isola posits, though that’s unclear. Jackson addressed the report in a press conference today, saying that Dolan has “been very true to his word” about giving Jackson complete control over basketball decisions, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com documents. We’ll round up more from Jackson’s talk here:
- Carmelo Anthony has spoken about a willingness to take a discount if he chooses to re-sign with the Knicks, and Jackson hopes he’s “true to his word” about that, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Jackson said he views the decision of Miami’s trio of stars to take less money as a precedent and believes it’s difficult to assemble a title-winning roster unless players make financial sacrifices.
- If Anthony doesn’t re-sign, the Knicks are prepared to move forward, Jackson said, according to Botte.
- Jackson said he plans to talk to Steve Kerr about the coaching job in the next week or two, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post, That conflicts with the report that they’re deep into discussions about the job.
- There are other candidates in the mix for the job, Jackson said, but he wouldn’t name them, and he gave the impression that Kerr is indeed the front-runner, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Jackson’s fiancee, Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss, tried to encourage him to coach the team himself, but he reiterated today that he will not return to the bench. In any case, Jackson isn’t looking for a retread, Berman adds, but it does appear he wants his coach to run the triangle, writes Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger.
- Jackson indicated that a new coach might be in place within the next month, but he said he just wants to make sure someone’s in the job before summer league action starts in July, Berman notes. The Zen Master said that while he’ll allow his new coach to pick a staff, he’ll exercise veto power if need be.
- Hiring someone new for the front office is “not a priority,” Jackson said, as Zagoria tweets.
Latest On Wolves Coaching Candidates
WEDNESDAY, 12:41pm: Saunders reiterated his “never say never” approach to the idea of coaching the team, but said he doesn’t envision that scenario playing out as he spoke on ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike” this morning (transcription via Marc Stein of ESPN.com). He did say his experience as a coach will allow the team to take its time with the search, since he’ll be able to oversee offseason training and development schedules for the players while the position remains open.
MONDAY, 2:58pm: Saunders poured cold water on the idea of Hoiberg’s candidacy for the job, telling Chad Hartman of WCCO-AM that, “He’s [Fred] not at a point where he’s ready to move to the NBA. That’s not happening,” as Wolfson notes via Twitter. Saunders also wouldn’t hire Frank Vogel were the Pacers coach to become available, Wolfson tweets.
1:21pm: Stein suggests that Donovan, Hoiberg and Izzo would all listen to entreaties from the Wolves, but the ESPN.com scribe acknowledges that it would be an uphill battle to convince any of them to take the job. There are mixed signals on whether Saunders wants to coach, and whether Taylor would allow him to, according to Stein, altering the narrative from previous reports about the idea. Stein also points to the lengthy search that Saunders is planning as reason that Van Gundy and brother Jeff Van Gundy may emerge as serious candidates.
1:03pm: A source close to Donovan tells Wolfson that while the Florida coach would consider the NBA, he doubts he’d go to Minnesota (Twitter link).
11:14am: University of Florida coach Billy Donovan is drawing interest from the Wolves as they search for a new head coach, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, while Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports adds former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins to the list of candidates. Sam Amick of USA Today suggests George Karl is also a candidate, though last season’s NBA Coach of the Year reportedly wouldn’t have interest.
President of basketball operations Flip Saunders suggested today that the team will conduct an extensive search that might not be complete in time for the June 26th draft, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). He mentioned experience and clout as criteria he’s looking for in a new sideline boss, observes Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter). Saunders said “never say never” about the notion that he’d become the next coach of the team, or that the Wolves might trade for a coach, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Saunders reportedly would like to coach the team, but owner Glen Taylor doesn’t want anyone to have the top front office and coaching responsibilities at the same time. Fred Hoiberg, Tom Izzo and Stan Van Gundy have also drawn mention as potential Wolves targets, though all three appear to be longshots. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio identified Suns assistant coach Jerry Sichting as a “name to really watch” in regard to the Wolves opening.
Donovan accepted the Magic’s head coaching job in 2007, but quickly backed out. He said in late 2012 that he wouldn’t rule out an eventual jump to the NBA. Hollins appeared to be a candidate for the Pistons coaching job after they fired Maurice Cheeks at midseason, and he had interest in that job. The team still hasn’t named a permanent head coach, with interim coach John Loyer having served as the team’s bench boss for the remainder of the season. It’s unclear if Hollins remains a candidate in Detroit.
Mike D’Antoni Won’t Leave Lakers For Marshall
APRIL 23RD: D’Antoni told Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick that he won’t take the job, reports Chuck McGill of the Charleston Daily Mail. Borzello confirms that it’s unlikely D’Antoni ends up at Marshall next season. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com refutes the part of McGill’s report indicating that D’Antoni has met with Lakers co-owner Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak several times regarding his future with the club (Twitter links). Shelburne says that they haven’t met with him outside of the team’s exit interviews last week, and that his return for next season remains undecided.
MARCH 27TH: 10:16pm: There is mutual interest between D’Antoni and Marshall, a source tells Jeff Borzello of CBS Sports, who also hears that there are donors willing to pony enough up money to woo the current Lakers coach back to his alma mater.
7:09pm: Marshall University has reportedly reached out to Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni to gauge his interest in coaching the team next year, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman and Marc Stein. The program is looking to replace former head coach Tom Herrion, who was recently fired after four seasons. This isn’t the first time that Marshall has pursued D’Antoni to coach their team, and sources tell Goodman and Stein that the latest inquiry was made because the school always “(sounds) him out” any time they have an opening. The 62-year-old coach D’Antoni attended Marshall from 1970 to 1973 before being selected in the second round of the 1973 NBA Draft and continues to be held in high regard by his alma mater.
Though Marshall’s interest coincides with D’Antoni’s uncertain future in Los Angeles, Goodman and Stein hear that it’d be highly unlikely for the embattled coach – who is still under contract for two more years after 2013/14 (one season guaranteed) – to make a move to the collegiate level even if the Lakers parted ways with him this summer.
After leading Phoenix to at least 54 wins each year and topping the 60-win mark twice between 2004 to 2008, D’Antoni has struggled to consistently replicate that success in New York in Los Angeles, respectively. Once coined an “offensive genius” by LeBron James and an “offensive mastermind” by Kobe Bryant, D’Antoni holds just a .430 winning percentage since 2008/09 and is yet to win his first playoff game in nearly six years.
Behanan, Dimsa, Diagne, Vives To Enter Draft
A flurry of second-round prospects are headed into this year’s draft field. A source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that former Louisville power forward Chane Behanan has hired an agent and will declare for the draft this week. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress hears Lithuanian shooting guard Tomas Dimsa, Senegalese big man Moussa Diagne and Spanish guard Guillem Vives are entering the draft, too (All Twitter links). Dimsa’s agent, Sarunas Broga, confirms the news on his client to Givony. None of the four fall within Givony’s top 100 prospects, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has Behanan at No. 100 and Dimsa at No. 111,
Behanan, a junior, was set to transfer to Colorado State for his senior season after Louisville dismissed him from the team in December, but it appears he won’t suit up for the Rams. He’d be ineligible to return to play in the NCAA after declaring for the draft and signing with an agent. He averaged 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game over 12 appearances for the Cardinals this past season.
Dimsa plays for Zalgiris in his home country, averaging just 3.8 points in 16.1 minutes per game this season. Diagne is with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in Spain, where he’s notched 3.3 PPG in 14.7 MPG, though he has come away with 4.8 rebounds per contest. Vives, who’s with Joventut Badalona in Spain, sees more playing time, averaging 28.2 MPG and 8.1 PPG. He also dishes out 4.2 assists per game against 2.3 turnovers.
Goran Dragic Wins Most Improved Player Award
Suns guard Goran Dragic has won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, the league announced. He took the honor by a wide margin over Lance Stephenson of the Pacers, who finished second. Pelicans big man Anthony Davis came in third.
Dragic’s breakthrough season was a key for the Suns, who won 48 games in spite of Eric Bledsoe‘s lengthy absence with a torn meniscus. Dragic averaged 20.3 points, 6.6 more than his previous career high, set just last season. He also recorded a career mark with 40.8% shooting from behind the arc this year. He outperformed his $7.5MM salary, and he’ll make that much again next season before having the chance to opt in for one more season at that salary or hit free agency next summer.
Two other Suns garnered first-place votes for the award, as Gerald Green finished fourth while Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee was the lone voter putting Markieff Morris first on his ballot. DeAndre Jordan, Kyle Lowry, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant were the others who received first-place votes.
Clint Capela Declares For Draft
One of the top European talents appears to be on his way to the NBA, as Clint Capela has officially entered the draft, his French team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The French league power forward is No. 18 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com prospect rankings, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 19.
Capela is 6’11” with a wingspan of 7’4.5″ that helps him defensively and on the boards. He averaged 7.0 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game for Elan Chalon in France, though he isn’t a featured player on offense, scoring 9.7 points on 6.4 shots per game. The native of Switzerland spent nearly half the season coming off the bench.
An NBA team would have to pay $500K to buy him out of his French contract, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier this month, though that probably wouldn’t be a stumbling block. It wouldn’t come out of his rookie scale salary, since it’s less than the Excluded International Player Payment Amount specified in the collective bargaining agreement.
Damien Inglis To Enter Draft
French league forward Damien Inglis is entering this year’s draft, reports Pedja Materic of BeoBasket (Twitter link). Inglis, who turns 19 next month, is the 38th-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him unranked.
Inglis has an intriguing build, with 6’9″ height and a 7’3″ wingspan, and several NBA scouts have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that they’re high on his defensive ability. The native of French Guiana didn’t put up impressive offensive numbers for Chorale Roanne in France this season, scoring just 4.7 points in 15 minutes per game. Still, he shot 38.7% from three-point territory.
Inglis tells Spears that he might withdraw from the draft before the June 16th deadline to do so. He wouldn’t be automatically draft-eligible until 2017.
“I want to develop my game with a good team who is very interested and focused on me,” Inglis said. “I want to play in the league next year but it depends. I don’t really want [to] take my name out.”
Coaching Rumors: Jazz, Knicks
The Jazz do not currently have a timeline set for finding their new head coach, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Genessy adds that GM Dennis Lindsey is entering uncharted territory, as the only time he had been involved in a head coaching search was in 2003 with the Rockets, when he assisted then-GM Carroll Dawson as vice president of basketball operations. Despite his inexperience, Lindsey insisted that the search will be conducted with the “right professional decorum” and later added:
“…we’ll meet quickly, internally…We’ll set some criteria. We’ll look at some objective measures. We’ll look at some subjective measures about coaches and who’s going to be the new leader of the Utah Jazz and define some timelines about who we’re going to interview.”
According to Genessy, the new coaching hire will be decided on as a group that includes Lindsey, Jazz owner Gail Miller, CEO Greg Miller, Miller Sports Properties president Steve Miller, team president Randy Rigby, executive VP of basketball operations Kevin O’Connor, and CFO Bob Hyde.
You can read more coaching-related links below:
- Genessy mentions that in addition to Jazz assistant Brad Jones, Lindsey has close ties with Jeff Van Gundy (who the Rockets ultimately hired to succeed Rudy Tomjanovich in 2003), Suns assistant Mike Longabardi, and Bulls assistant Andy Greer. Along with Jones, Genessy lists Jim Boylen and Ettore Messina as possible candidates, just as we had noted from Mike Monroe of the San Antonio-Express News and ESPN’s Marc Stein earlier today.
- Former Bulls player Bill Wennington tells Newsday’s Al Iannazzone that Steve Kerr and Phil Jackson would fit together well in New York: “Their history together and just the way they work together and have worked together in the past with the offense and everything is a good combination…To me it’s a no-brainer.” Though Wennington admits that he has an interest in coaching, he tells Iannazzone that he hasn’t spoken to Jackson about possibly joining the Knicks.
- Iannazzone lists Frank Hamblen, Jim Cleamons, Bill Cartwright, Scottie Pippen, Kurt Rambis, and Derek Fisher as a few names who could join the Knicks in some capacity at some point. As Marc Berman of the New York Post mentioned earlier, Ron Harper could surface on the team’s radar as well.
Poll: Can Knicks Find Taker For J.R. Smith?
Back in mid-January, we heard that there was reportedly no market for J.R. Smith. The 28-year-old guard was reportedly being shopped around the league at the time as the Knicks had grown increasingly frustrated with his on-and-off the court transgressions. Smith’s first five games of the new year proved to be forgettable while he dealt with criticism, as he averaged just 5.1 PPG on 31% shooting and received a DNP-CD during a 102-92 win against the Heat at Madison Square Garden. His season appeared to reach a low point that night, as Smith told the press during the postgame that he was unsure of his future with the Knicks.
Fortunately, Smith was able to move past those incidents and finish the rest of the season on a strong note, and his scoring averages increased every month from then on. He averaged 12.9 PPG while shooting .431 from the field and .391 from three in January, 14.6/.417/.397 in February, 15.5 PPG/.451/.402 in March, and 23.4/.496/.463 in April. More importantly, Smith delivered standout performances as the Knicks went 16-7 over the final 23 games, falling just two wins short of earning the eighth seed.
Though Smith’s behavioral issues this season might be cause for concern, his former coach George Karl said back in January that the 6’6 guard has a “skill that championships need” and implied that a team with a stronger locker room would make a big difference. Karl specifically mentioned San Antonio as an ideal situation:
“I would be looking at a culture where there would be more peer pressure…I know San Antonio has always liked (J.R.) and I know they’ve thought about bringing him in…San Antonio doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
The nine-year veteran is on the books for about $5.98MM next season and has a player option worth nearly $6.4MM for 2015/16. Last month, a report from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News suggested that the team will look to trade him this summer. There’s certainly the possibility that Smith will be on the opening night roster this November, but considering his play over the final months of the season, will the Knicks be able to successfully trade J.R. Smith this summer?