And-Ones: ‘Melo, Grizzlies, Stotts, Frye
The intersection of exit interviews for teams that missed the playoffs and a steady stream of draft-related news has made for a busy Thursday around Hoops Rumors. We’ll catch up on the latest from around the league here:
- Carmelo Anthony suggested today that he’s considered opting in for 2014/15, but he believes he’s better off hitting free agency this summer rather than waiting, according to Scott Cacciola of The New York Times (Twitter link).
- Zach Randolph‘s failure to make the All-Star Game and trigger a $438,333 bonus that had been considered likely gave the Grizzlies the flexibility to claim Beno Udrih off waivers without going into tax territory, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for the Score.
- Blazers coach Terry Stotts appears nervous about his future with the club, which has yet to pick up its option on him for next season, as The Oregonian’s Jason Quick observes, wondering if the coach’s fate will be tied to the team’s postseason performance.
- Channing Frye has a $6.8MM player option for next season, but whether he opts in or not, Ryan McDonough would like to have him back, as the Suns GM said Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, notes Dave Dulberg of ArizonaSports.com. Frye wants to negotiate an extension with the team.
- The league is considering a proposal that would tie an increased NBA age minimum to better D-League pay, sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Some D-Leaguers could earn between $100K and $200K per year under the plan, Deveney tweets.
- Pelicans GM Dell Demps said in a press conference Wednesday that he likes the team’s core and wants to see more of those players on the court together after an injury-plagued 2013/14, notes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. Demps also said it would be unfair to judge coach Monty Williams, given all the injuries.
- Williams indicated Thursday that he’d like to see the Pelicans make a move to bolster their defense, particularly in the paint, as Eichenhofer writes in a separate piece.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to the D-League, the team announced. The rookie center will assist the Santa Cruz Warriors in their playoff game tonight, fresh off his best performance of the year for Golden State on Wednesday.
Celtics Notes: Rondo, Trades, Draft, Humphries
Rajon Rondo declined an extension offer from the Celtics, as president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said today on WEEI radio. That’s no surprise, given that Ainge said in January that they’d spoken about an extension but that the discussion had ended. Most veterans in Rondo’s position don’t sign extensions, since the collective bargaining agreement makes free agent contracts much more player-friendly, though Ainge said in January that he’d continue to try to strike up talks as the point guard’s 2015 free agency approaches. Ainge made plenty of remarks today on WEEI and 98.5 The Hub, and we passed along Ainge’s willingness to bring back Paul Pierce earlier today. Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com chronicled Ainge’s comments today, and we’ll hit the highlights. All links go to Rohrbach’s Twitter account, unless otherwise noted:
- Rondo’s name has also appeared in trade rumors, and while Ainge said that he can envision the point guard back in Boston next season for the final year of his contract, he also said no one on the roster is off-limits for a trade.
- Ainge and his staff will consider trading this year’s lottery pick, and Ainge added that he doesn’t have patience for another losing season.
- The team might bring back soon-to-be free agent Kris Humphries, too, Ainge says, but at a pay cut from his $12MM salary this season. Ainge nonetheless suggests that he might include Humphries in a sign-and-trade that would benefit him financially.
- Ainge isn’t putting a timetable on the team’s return to title contention after a rough 2013/14, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com chronicles.
James Young To Enter Draft
Kentucky freshman James Young is headed for this year’s NBA draft, the school announced. The swingman is the No. 16 prospect in the rankings that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts together, and 17th on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com list.
Young was a three-point gunner this season for the Wildcats, knocking down 82, the second most ever by a Kentucky freshman. However, he needed 5.9 three-point attempts per game to hit that mark, and he was only a 34.9% shooter from behind the arc. He averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game.
The 6’7″ 18-year-old is the first Kentucky underclassman to declare for the draft this year, though a few more will likely follow. Young is one of five Wildcats in Givony’s top 60 prospects. Willie Cauley-Stein had been the sixth, but he’s decided to return to school.
Knicks Rumors: ‘Melo, Woodson, Jackson
Carmelo Anthony offered another qualified endorsement of the Knicks today in his exit interview with reporters, saying “I want to come back. I want to come back. But I also want to win,” as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes via Twitter. There’s more from ‘Melo amid our look at the latest from the aftermath of a disappointing season for the Knicks:
- Anthony said that he doesn’t know if he “can afford another season of losing,” and added that he’s “not at the point in my career where I want to rebuild,” as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com pass along via Twitter.
- The Knicks star said at the All-Star break that he’d take a discount to re-sign with the Knicks under the right circumstances, and he reiterated today that money isn’t his priority, Isola tweets.
- Anthony would endorse Mike Woodson if the Knicks consult him about the coach’s future, as Marc Berman of the New York Post observes.
- A source tells Berman that Knicks president Phil Jackson doesn’t intend to “clean house” and make sweeping changes to the team’s front office personnel, as the Post scribe writes in a separate piece. Jackson has brought former Bulls scout Clarence Gaines Jr. aboard to help him, but Gaines has no official role with the team yet, Berman notes.
- Kenyon Martin‘s one-year contract is up, but he’d like to remain with the Knicks, as Berman observes in the same piece in which he covered the front office news. “I’ve got a lot of basketball left and I hope it will be here,’’ Martin said.
Wolves Rumors: Love, Saunders, Coaching
The end of Rick Adelman‘s tenure as Wolves coach appears imminent, as we passed along earlier today from Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. Even once that situation is clarified, there will be plenty of others for the team to resolve. Here’s more from Hartman and others on what lies ahead for Minnesota:
- Wolves owner Glen Taylor tells Hartman that the team isn’t “pushing” for an extension with Kevin Love and says he doesn’t think Love would be interested in signing one. Still, that’s probably not a reflection of a lack of interest from either side in a long-term deal at some point, since Love isn’t eligible to sign an extension until next January, and even then, it would only tack two additional years onto his deal.
- Love told reporters after Wednesday’s game that he continues to have faith in the future of the Wolves, notes Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Sure. Of course,” Love said.
- The Wolves will surely consult with Love about their next coach, but they won’t give him the power to make the choice for them, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Wolfson wouldn’t rule out a scenario in which Flip Saunders takes over as Wolves coach and grooms an up-and-coming assistant to replace him (Twitter link).
Jabari Parker Declares For Draft
Jabari Parker has decided to enter this year’s draft, as he writes on SI.com in a piece with Jeff Benedict. There was less clarity about Parker’s decision than with anyone else projected to go in the top half of the lottery, as the possibility of playing with AAU teammate and top 2015 prospect Jahlil Okafor at Duke next season tugged at his heart. Ultimately, Parker, the No. 2 prospect in the rankings of Chad Ford of ESPN.com and the third-best with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, has opted to head to the NBA after his freshman year.
Parker says the decision came down to his conclusion that the NBA gives him the best opportunity for growth on and off the court, as he writes in the piece. He also acknowledges that he considered going on a two-year Mormon mission rather than playing basketball, but he’s chosen not to do that.
The combo forward averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game for Duke, which suffered an upset loss to Mercer in the NCAA tournament. Teams consider Parker and the Kansas duo of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid as the primary contenders for the No. 1 overall pick, though many prefer the greater upside that Wiggins and Embiid have, as our Charlie Adams noted when he examined Parker’s stock last month.
In any case, today’s news is a relief to teams with significant chances at one of the top two or three picks in the draft, as well as those farther down the lottery order, since the absence of Parker from the draft would further commoditize the other top prospects. Parker notes in his piece that he’s sent official paperwork to the NBA, and Wednesday was the final day that underclassmen could withdraw from the draft and still retain their college eligibility, so there’s finally clarity surrounding the top of the 2014 draft.
Draft Notes: Parker, Saric, Ennis, Gordon
There were dozens of scenarios in play for June’s draft order entering the final night of the regular season, as I outlined Wednesday, but many of them remain unresolved. Random drawings set for Friday will break the four ties shown in our Reverse Standings, while the May 20th draft lottery looms for the top of the order. Until then, here’s the latest on a handful of the top prospects:
- Jabari Parker would go right to the top of the 2015 prospect rankings if he chooses to stay at Duke for his sophomore year, opines Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who answered reader questions in a chat Wednesday.
- Dario Saric’s agent said the matter of whether his client will remain in the draft or withdraw will have much to do with their confidence that he’d be drafted in the top 10 or 14 picks. However, most teams would want to know for sure that he’d play in the NBA next season before committing a top-10 pick to him, as Ford writes in the same chat.
- Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis is going with agent Mike George of Excel Sports Management for his representation, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Another projected lottery pick, Arizona forward Aaron Gordon, is set to sign with BDA Sports, reports Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star (Twitter link).
- Purdue sophomore A.J. Hammons will return to school rather than entering this year’s draft, the Boilermakers announced. The center is the 40th-best prospect on the list that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compiles, while Ford puts him 72nd.
Nemanja Dangubic To Enter Draft
Serbian shooting guard Nemanja Dangubic has declared himself eligible for this year’s draft, agent Misko Raznatovic tweets (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress doesn’t include Dangubic in his top 100 prospects, but he lists him as the seventh-best international prospect born in 1993. He’s unranked in Chad Ford’s listings for ESPN.com.
Dangubic is variously listed as either 6’5″ or 6’6″. He’s played for KK Mega Vizura in his home country the past two seasons, averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per contest this year. He’s not a long-range shooter, having connected on just 28.2% of his three-point attempts in 2013/14.
He won’t be automatically eligible for the draft until 2015, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dangubic go through a few workouts with NBA teams and withdraw before the June 16th deadline for players from overseas. If he remains eligible and goes undrafted this year, he’ll be a free agent capable of signing with any NBA team, so perhaps he and Raznatovic prefer that flexibility.
Celtics Open To Return Of Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce can envision playing for the Celtics again, and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge can see Pierce returning to Boston, too, if the price and circumstances are right, as Ainge said this morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, tweets Ben Rohrbach of WEEI. The 36-year-old Pierce becomes a free agent in the summer, though the Nets would like to re-sign him, too.
Pierce spent all 15 of his NBA seasons with the Celtics before they traded him to the Nets this past summer. He talked teammate Kevin Garnett into waiving his no-trade clause to help facilitate the move, but Pierce was emotional upon his return to Boston to play against the Celtics this season, and said he never wanted to leave. Much of Pierce’s decision this summer might come down to whether Garnett, who has one more year left on his contract, retires at the end of this season.
The Nets have Pierce’s full Bird rights, though it’s almost certain that he’ll have to take a pay cut from his current salary of more than $15.3MM. The Celtics have about $45MM in commitments for next season, though that doesn’t include the rookie salary for Boston’s lottery pick and a $3.8MM player option for Joel Anthony that he’s almost certain to exercise. Anthony and the rookie would give the Celtics nine players and roughly $10MM worth of cap flexibility, plus some form of the mid-level exception, so there’s probably a path back to Boston for Pierce if both sides are motivated enough to get a deal done.
No Chance Adelman Returns As Wolves Coach
There is no chance that Rick Adelman will be back as coach of the Timberwolves next season, one of the team’s decision-makers tells Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. It’s certainly not a surprise, given that many around the Wolves have believed that the 67-year-old would retire after the season. Fellow Star Tribune scribe Jerry Zgoda said last month that if Adelman didn’t leave, the Wolves would turn down their mutual option to retain him. Still, it seemed at the time that there was at least a remote chance the longtime coach would be back with the team.
Adelman is set to meet today with owner Glen Taylor and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, with a final decision on the coach’s future to come as soon as this week. Both the team and Adelman have two weeks to exercise the mutual option. The Wolves have reportedly discussed him staying on with the club as a consultant, though it’s unclear if that will happen. Adelman’s wife has suffered from seizures over the past few years, and her health weighed on his mind before he decided to coach this season.
The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs in three seasons under Adelman, even though they made a nine-game improvement this year. He’s otherwise been a successful NBA coach, compiling a 1,042-749 record and winning raves for his offensive innovations.
The Wolves had apparently envisioned a strong pursuit of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, but he’s unlikely to join the Wolves, and while Taylor and Saunders like Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, too, he’s also a longshot, Hartman writes. Taylor doesn’t want Saunders to coach because he’d prefer his top basketball executive and his coach not to be the same person, Hartman writes. Saunders reportedly would like to return to the bench, and Hartman thinks Saunders can convince his boss to let him do so.