Central Notes: Villanueva, James, Bulls
The Pacers lost to the Heat last night, losing their grip on the one seed in the East. Here’s the latest from the Central Division:
- Charlie Villanueva‘s role as an impact player has evaporated in recent years with the Pistons, and he tells Vincent Good Will of The Detroit News that he hopes his abilities will keep him in the league as he approaches free agency. “People haven’t seen me play in a while, [so] of course it’ll be tough,” said the 29-year old. “If I have to work out [for teams] to show I still have a lot of basketball left, I’ll do it. Whatever it takes. For sure, though, a lot of teams haven’t seen me play.”
- Recent Bulls addition Mike James had to recover from a mid-season MCL sprain to find his way back onto an NBA roster, but the 39-year-old tells K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune his confidence never waned. “I just stayed motivated,” James said. “I kept believing in myself, knowing I still can play this game. When the opportunity comes, I know I can still stop someone and put the ball in the hole.”
- Tom Thibodeau told Johnson that James, Louis Amundson, and Ronnie Brewer were primarily brought in to boost Bulls practices. “It gives you more depth and energy in practice,” said Thibodeau, “and insurance if you take on an injury. That they’ve all been here before is a plus.”
- We rounded up the Cavs notes earlier today.
Cavs Rumors: Hawes, Miles, Bennett
While it is unlikely the Cavs re-sign Luol Deng, whom they acquired in a mid-season trade, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer says that his impact has proven that the team needs to add a productive small forward next year. Here’s more from Cleveland:
- Pluto says that if interim GM David Griffin lasts beyond this season, he will make a strong push to re-sign free agent Spencer Hawes.
- Pluto adds that the Cavs would like to re-sign C.J. Miles, who will also become a free agent this summer.
- The Cavs are expected to retain rookie Matthew Dellavedova, whose contract is non-guaranteed next year, per the Plain Dealer scribe.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio looks at the Cavs options heading into the offseason. They could reboot once again, or stay the course with the current foundation players and personnel.
- The Cavs will likely include all of this year’s rookies on their summer league roster, coach Mike Brown tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. “We’ve talked about it, but there’s nothing formal that we’ve put forth yet,” Brown said Friday. “I think it’s good for first- and second-year guys to go and play with that type of experience.”
- 2013’s No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett would be included in that group, and Brown tells Boyer it could go a long way in helping the under-performing rookie’s development. “I think it’s going to be huge for him, not just summer league, but the time he spends in the weight room, the time he spends conditioning, the time he spends on the floor working out,” Brown said. “[Summer league is] a lot of games in a short amount of time. Because of who he is, guys are going to be coming after him. The ball’s going to be in his hands. It’s going to give him an opportunity to go out there and showcase his abilities.”
Atlantic Rumors: Odom, Young, Thomas
The Knicks beat a tough opponent in the Raptors last night, but didn’t get any help from their division mates, as the Nets fell to the Hawks. New York is now on the brink of playoff elimination. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Part of the Knicks strategy in signing Lamar Odom would be to add trade flexibility, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. The thinking is that an additional non-guaranteed year on Odom’s contract would allow Phil Jackson to include him as a cap consideration in a potential deal down the road.
- While Thaddeus Young has become optimistic about the Sixers future, he tells Jason Smith of CSNPhilly.com that he still wonders whether he will be traded in the offseason all the time. “One thing I’ve always said: Just like upstairs, they put their GM hats on,” said Young. “I put mine on also. It’s not just about basketball. It’s about me as a player. This is a business, and it’s about doing what’s best for my family. It may be here, or it may not be here.”
- Adonis Thomas is playing out the season on a 10-day contract with the Sixers, and tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he thinks he’s making a good impression. “I just wanted to stay aggressive,” Thomas said after his first Sixers appearance. “I think I did a great job. Coach [Brett Brown] put me in there. One of the biggest things they want me to do is be aggressive no matter how much time you get. Just go in there and give your all.”
And-Ones: Knicks, Wolves, Draft
The Knicks won tonight but their playoff chances took a hit when the Hawks also were victorious, reducing their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one. New York has had its share of issues this season, but the one that sunk the team the most was the trade for Andrea Bargnani, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Besides acquiring his large and difficult to trade contract, the team could have potentially used the 2016 first rounder they gave up for Bargnani in a deal for the Raptors Kyle Lowry, writes Berman.
More from around the league:
- The Timberwolves plan to trade for help this offseason, but according to owner Glen Taylor, it won’t be a “big trade”, tweets Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
- The crew at Basketball Insiders take at look at what steps are needed to fix the Wolves.
- The NBA Players Association has formed a brand new search committee to ensure they have a new executive director in place by the start of the 2014/15 season, writes Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports believes that the 2014 freshman class might be better than this year’s highly touted group.
- The next international draft sensation from Switzerland could be Clint Capela, writes Spears. DraftExpress.com has Capela ranked as the 14th-best prospect in this year’s draft. He’s projected as a first-round prospect in the 20-30 range, but he could improve his standing at the Hoop Summit, opines Spears.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Video) breaks down draft prospect Dante Exum.
- Xavier Henry‘s surgeries on his left wrist and right knee were successful the Lakers announced. Henry is a free agent after the season ends.
Latest On Jabari Parker
It’s still unknown as to whether or not Duke freshman Jabari Parker intends to declare for this year’s NBA Draft. It was reported earlier that Parker had applied for housing for his sophomore year. This doesn’t prohibit him from declaring, but it does show that he hasn’t made up his mind definitively to enter the NBA. As for Parker’s draft projection, you can check out his prospect profile for more information.
More on Parker’s situation:
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Video) breaks down Parker’s game.
- Parker still hasn’t made up his mind about leaving Duke, and is set to meet with coach Mike Krzyzewski next week, Ford writes. According to the article, Parker refuted the report that he already has applied for student housing at Duke for next school year. He also doesn’t view a potential return to Durham as risky. Parker said, “I think there’s no risk. I think the community at Duke has really done a good job of taking care of my safety and they make sure that everything is done by the playbook.“
- Parker’s decision is between returning to Duke or entering NBA. He is not considering a Mormon mission, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
- The decision on Parker entering the draft won’t come until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Poll: Experienced Coach Or First-Timer?
As we approach the end of the NBA regular season, it’s the time of year when the annual coaching carousel begins to spin and a slew of faces will end up in brand new places. Heading into the 2013/14 season there were a total of 13 coaching changes, which if you’re keeping score at home, is the most ever in a single offseason.
We won’t know for sure just how many teams will be making a change on their bench until the playoffs are over. Normally you would think a playoff spot would ensure job security, but Lionel Hollins, Vinny Del Negro, and Larry Drew all weren’t retained after reaching the playoffs last year. So the exact number of vacancies are up in the air, but we know there will be some.
If your team is making a head coaching change, which would you prefer in your new hire? Do you want a veteran coach with years of experience to lead your team? One who has a proven track record, but also could be carrying baggage and bad habits picked up throughout the years. Or, would you prefer the energy and new ideas a first-time coach can provide? A new coach has more to prove, and might be more in touch with the pulse and culture of his players, but has no experience to rely on, and no track record to predict future performance.
Let’s look at how this year’s crop of new coaches fared as an example. First up, the ones with prior experience:
- Doc Rivers (Clippers): The team is 55-24, first in the Pacific Division, and the third seed in the playoffs. Last year’s team went 56-26 under Vinny Del Negro, before Del Negro wasn’t retained and the team traded for Rivers.
- Maurice Cheeks (Pistons): He was fired 50 games into the year with a record of 20-29. Detroit was 29-53 in 2012/13 under Lawrence Frank. After the team signed Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off season, owner Tom Gores expected a much better record and for the team to make the playoffs.
- Mike Brown (Cavaliers): The team sits at 32-47, which is good for tenth in the eastern conference. Last year under Byron Scott the team had a record of 24-58 and ended up with the first overall selection in the draft.
- Larry Drew (Bucks): The Bucks sit at 14-64. which is good for the worst record in the league. In 2012/13 under Scott Skiles and Jim Boylan the team went 38-44.
Now for how the first-time coaches performed:
- Jason Kidd (Nets): The Nets are at 43-35, which is good for the fifth overall playoff seed. Kidd replaced interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, whose team finished 2012/13 with a record of 49-33.
- Brad Stevens (Celtics): Stevens, taking over for Doc Rivers, has gone 23-55, but has the re-building team heading in a positive direction. Last year’s team went 41-40.
- Mike Budenholzer (Hawks): The Hawks have gone 35-43 and currently hold the final playoff spot in the east. Last year’s Larry Drew led squad went 44-38.
- Steve Clifford (Bobcats): Clifford has led the Bobcats to a 40-38 record and the sixth seed in the east. Under Mike Dunlap the team went 21-61 during last year’s campaign.
- Brian Shaw (Nuggets): The Nuggets have been hampered by injuries all season, and sit at 35-44. Shaw replaced coach of the year winner George Karl, who led the team to a record of 57-25.
- David Joerger (Grizzlies): Joerger replaced Lionel Hollins and has guided the team to a record of 46-32, and has the team is one game out of the final playoff spot. Last year the team went 56-26.
- Brett Brown (Sixers): Under Brown the Sixers have the second worst record in the league at 17-61, including a record-tying 26 game losing streak. Last season under Doug Collins, the team went 34-48.
- Jeff Hornacek (Suns): The Suns are one of the most improved teams in the league with a record of 47-31, and hold the seventh seed in the western conference. Last year under Lindsey Hunter and Alvin Gentry the team went 25-57.
- Mike Malone (Kings): Under Malone the Kings have gone 27-52. During the 2012/13 season under Keith Smart the team ended up 28-54.
This means that in their first seasons with their new teams, experienced coaches went 121-164 (.424), and the first-timers went 313-391 (.444). There are many different factors outside a coach’s control that contribute to the team’s final record, but the nature of the NBA is that the coach is the first one to take the heat.
Now it’s time to vote. If your team makes a coaching change this off season, do you want an experienced person hired, or would you prefer the team brings in a brand new face? Cast your vote below and feel free to give your thoughts in the comments section below.
Freshmen Outnumbered In Recent NBA Drafts
The perception inherent in commissioner Adam Silver’s rhetoric about his desire to raise the NBA’s minimum age is that the draft is overrun with college freshmen. One-and-dones nonetheless represent only 20.7% of the first-round picks from the last five seasons. Juniors outnumbered all other classes during that span, meaning a significant portion of first-round picks entered the league more than halfway through college.
Each college class represents between 16.7% and 24% of the first-rounders in the last five years, indicating balance throughout the collegians. The sample size is somewhat limited, and it doesn’t count players picked in the second round or who go undrafted, but it reflects the most current trends in the NBA, and shows that NBA teams aren’t choosing to load their benches with talent just a year removed from high school.
Here’s how the past five years break down by class:
2013
- Freshmen: 6
- Sophomores: 7
- Juniors: 7
- Seniors: 3
- International: 7
2012
- Freshmen: 8
- Sophomores: 11
- Juniors: 6
- Seniors: 4
- International: 1
2011
- Freshmen: 6
- Sophomores: 4
- Juniors: 8
- Seniors: 7
- International: 5
2010
- Freshmen: 7
- Sophomores: 8
- Juniors: 9
- Seniors: 5
- International: 1
2009
- Freshmen: 4
- Sophomores: 6
- Juniors: 8
- Seniors: 6
- International: 6
Five-year totals
- Freshmen: 31
- Sophomores: 36
- Juniors: 38
- Seniors: 25
- International: 20
And-Ones: Hoiberg, Knicks, Pelicans, Magic
The final Friday night of the NBA’s regular season features 13 games, and 12 of them have some sort of playoff implications. The other is a key contest for the Bucks, who can clinch pole position for the NBA draft lottery with a loss and a Sixers win. Here’s the latest from around the Association:
- Iowa State has hiked coach Fred Hoiberg‘s annual salaries to $2.6MM from $2MM in an effort to keep him, writes Luke Meredith of The Associated Press. The sought-after NBA head coaching candidate is unlikely to take the Wolves job, as we noted earlier today.
- Knicks GM Steve Mills said in Thursday’s radio interview that owner James Dolan wanted to make sure he and Phil Jackson could work together before the team hired the Zen Master, and Marc Berman of the New York Post takes that as a positive sign for Mills’ job security.
- James Southerland‘s contract with the Pelicans only runs through the end of the season, but coach Monty Williams isn’t ruling the small forward out of the team’s plans for the future, notes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. “If he plays well here [in the last week of the season], he could be in our discussions come summer league, if it works out,” Williams said. “We’ll see.”
- E’Twaun Moore is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason, but he says he “most definitely” would like to return to the Magic, observes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
- The desire for maximum flexibility probably played a significant role in the Rockets‘ decision to waive Greg Smith, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for the Score.
- The Oregonian’s Mike Tokito explains how the NBA divvies up the $14MM it awards in playoff bonuses.
Alex Kirk Declares For Draft
New Mexico junior Alex Kirk has officially declared his intent to enter this year’s NBA draft, the school announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com was the first to report the news. The center is No. 132 in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, and he’s on the list of the top 100 prospects that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts together. Givony has him as the 28th best prospect among college juniors.
The decision is surprising, and while it’s possible that he could still withdraw between now and Tuesday’s deadline to do so, there’d be little reason for him to declare at this point and pull out so soon. Kirk averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game for the Lobos, who lost their first game of the NCAA tournament to Stanford, a contest in which Kirk scored just three points before fouling out.
The 7-footer has struggled with back issues, as Ford points out, though he’s appeared in at least 32 games in each of his three college seasons. His signature performance this year was a 32-point, 11-rebound, five-block effort against Massachusetts, a fellow NCAA tournament team, Borzello notes.
Players With Early 2014/15 Guarantee Dates
Most teams have the benefit of waiting until the draft and free agency to start making decisions about what to do with their rosters for next season. The Nuggets don’t have such a luxury with Quincy Miller.
His contract dictates that his salary for next season becomes partially guaranteed for $150K if he isn’t waived on or before the date that falls seven days after the team’s final game, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The Nuggets aren’t headed to the playoffs, so that means the team has to either waive him by the end of the day on April 23rd or take a cap hit next season for a player who’s seen action in just 56 games since Denver picked him 38th overall two years ago. Denver recently moved Miller into the starting lineup, knowing that the time to evaluate him is running perilously short.
Several other players on non-guaranteed contracts for next season have guarantee dates that come up before July. Almost all of their guarantee dates are on June 30th, four days after the draft. That suggests that some of the players could find themselves in trades around draft time, given their value to teams looking to clear cap space for next season. The early guarantee dates put a little extra pressure on GMs, who can’t wait until the free agent landscape starts taking shape to decide on these players.
Here’s a complete list of players who have 2014/15 guarantee dates that come up before the books close on the 2013/14 season. The 2014/15 salaries are currently non-guaranteed, unless otherwise noted.
- April 23rd: Quincy Miller, Nuggets — Becomes partially guaranteed for $150K
- June 28th: Andre Miller, Wizards — Already $2MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $4,625MM
- June 29th: Tyler Hansbrough, Raptors — Already $1MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $3,326,235
- June 30th: Jamal Crawford, Clippers — Already $1.5MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $5.45MM
- June 30th: Jeffery Taylor, Bobcats — Becomes fully guaranteed for $915,243
- June 30th: Kosta Koufos, Grizzlies — Already $500K guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $3MM
- June 30th: James Anderson, Sixers — Becomes fully guaranteed for $981,084
- June 30th: Tony Parker, Spurs — Already $3.5MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $12.5MM
- June 30th: Austin Daye, Spurs — Already $250K guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $1,063,384
- June 30th: John Salmons, Raptors — Already $1MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $7MM
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.