And-Ones: Vesely, Age Limit, Woodson
Adam Silver tells Darren Rovell of ESPN.com that the NBA is willing to consider subsidizing costs for collegiate players’ career insurance and basic living necessities, as part of the league’s push to increase the age limit for the draft. “It does, in my mind, need to be a three-way conversation,” Silver said. “You heard college administrators at press conferences around the [NCAA] tournament say that it’s the NBA’s problem or the union is putting up resistance. It’s a more complex problem than that.” Here’s more from around the league:
- Nuggets forward Jan Vesely has many fans among Denver’s brass, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Vesely, who came over to the Nuggets at the trade deadline, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders says that the Bobcats owe most of their dramatic turnaround to the addition of Al Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $40.5MM contract with Charlotte last summer. Kennedy argues that Jefferson’s impact has been worthy of MVP consideration.
- Mike Woodson tells Al Iannazzonne of Newsday that he still hasn’t had a sit-down with Knicks president Phil Jackson, but insists he’s focused on the immediate future and trying to get New York into the playoffs. “I gather he’s kind of staying out of the way and letting me do my thing in terms of trying to get this team in the playoffs,” Woodson said. “That’s okay. I’m sure when the time comes he and I’ll have a chance to sit down and talk and see where we are.”
- Woodson also responded to Larry Brown‘s recent comments, which were critical of the treatment Woodson has received from the Knicks. “Larry’s his own guy and I have a great deal of respect for Larry,” Woodson said. “But Mike Woodson’s his own guy as well. For me, it’s been a roller-coaster year — for all of us. I’ve never shied away from taking responsibility of this team. I’m the coach of this team and I take great pride in that.”
Western Notes: Lee, Gordon, Ledo
The Suns are locked into an exciting battle for one of the West’s final two playoff spots, something virtually no one anticipated before the season. Bob Young of azcentral.com details all of the moves that have panned out for Phoenix this year, leading to their surprising success. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- David Lee tells Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press that there is no timetable for his return, but he does hope to play for the Warriors in the playoffs. After missing postseason action last year due to a torn hip flexor, the power forward is sidelined late in the year again, this time due to nerve damage that has a less straightforward recovery process. “That’s the only thing that has really worried me,” Lee said. “Just the fact that they say sometimes these heal in two days, sometimes it takes two months. We don’t know. But the good thing is, from what they’ve told me, as long as it continues to progress they think it’s going to be weeks still. So I have a good chance of being there when I need to be there.”
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes that rookie guard Ricky Ledo has had moderate success in the D-League this year, and needs a productive summer with the Mavs to earn a spot on the NBA roster next season.
- Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune writes that hindsight has proven matching Eric Gordon‘s four-year, $58MM offer sheet from the Suns was the wrong decision. Smith doesn’t believe the Pelicans can get anything close to equal value for the oft-injured Gordon, but says it’s time to move him out regardless of how little they get in return.
Eastern Notes: Sanders, Sixers, Cavs
Larry Sanders‘ five-game suspension began tonight, per Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sanders was already ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury, but a source tells Gardner that Sanders received medical clearance so that the league would allow his suspension to begin now. The Bucks have five games remaining, so Sanders won’t miss any time to begin the 2014/15 campaign. The Bucks will have Sanders, if healthy, available to start the season, and the big man will lose significantly less in prorated pay by serving the suspension on the last year of his rookie scale deal ($3.1MM) rather than the first year of his hefty extension ($11MM). Here’s more from around the East:
- Coach Brett Brown told Tom Moore of Calkins Media that it’s “really important” that the Sixers find a star in the draft this summer. Philly could wind up with two top-10 picks, one of which could become the No. 1 overall selection if the ping pong balls bounce in their favor.
- Brown also told Moore that it’s too early to project whether rookies Michael Carter-Williams or Nerlens Noel could become stars in their own right. “Stars want to play with stars. And it’s too early to say anything about Michael (Carter-Williams) or what you can project Nerlens (Noel) out to be. Just because somebody’s chosen high in the draft doesn’t mean they’re going to be a star, either,” said Brown.
- In a video spot, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, says that the Sixers should keep Henry Sims around next year. Sims is under a non-guaranteed, $0.9MM contract for next season, and the second-year center has averaged 11.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season.
- The Cavs recalled Scotty Hopson and Sergey Karasev from their D-League affiliate prior to tonight’s game, per a tweet from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Walker, Randle, Parker
The status of this year’s top prospects is still somewhat in the air. Joel Embiid made his entry into the draft official earlier today, while Julius Randle denied reports that he was ready to do the same. Jabari Parker has made housing arrangements at Duke for his sophomore year, a source from the school tells Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). Moore notes that the arrangements don’t rule out a decision by Parker to enter the draft, but they do give credence to Parker’s insistence that staying in school another year is a real possibility. Let’s round up the rest of the night’s draft notes:
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes that Randle’s shot at becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the draft is gone, but that the big man has set himself up to stay near the top of the lottery if he does well in pre-draft workouts.
- In a separate piece, Howard-Cooper ranks his top 30 draft prospects, placing Embiid in the No. 1 spot.
- Chris Broussard of ESPN.com discusses Embiid’s draft stock in an Insider subscription-only video. Broussard says that most GMs that he’s talked to think Embiid will indeed go first overall. If Embiid’s back injury checks out as a non-issue, Broussard thinks the big man will become the odds-on favorite to become the top selection.
- As expected, LaQuinton Ross has signed with agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, per a tweet from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Freshman Chris Walker announced in a tweet that he will return to Florida next year rather than declare for the draft (hat tip to Chad Ford of ESPN.com). The decision doesn’t come as a surprise, as Walker is projected as a lottery pick in the 2015 class by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
- Xavier Thames has signed with agents Colin Bryant and Valerian Owens, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The guard from San Diego State isn’t projected to be drafted, ranked as just the 50th best senior by Givony.
Julius Randle Denies Draft Decision
6:34pm: Randle has denied having made his decision yet in a tweet (H/T Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). Randle says the report is false, and that he hasn’t made the decision with his family at this time.
6:22pm: Sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that Kentucky power forward Julius Randle will declare for the 2014 NBA Draft. Randle has always been expected to follow the one-and-done path that many Wildcats have taken under coach John Calipari in recent years. Goodman’s sources tell him that Randle is a lock to go in the top 10, and is likely to get selected in the top five of the draft.
Warriors Sign Armstrong For Rest of Season
The Warriors have signed Hilton Armstrong for the remainder of the season, per a team release. This will be Armstrong’s fourth contract with Golden State this season, as he has spent time with the team on a non-guaranteed deal and two 10-day contracts. He has appeared in 12 games for the Warriors, averaging 1.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per contest.
It’s likely that the Warriors decided to ink the big man for the stretch run due to concerns over David Lee‘s health heading into the playoffs. Veteran centers Andrew Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal haven’t been very durable over the last few years, although Bogut has managed to play in over 80% of Golden State’s games this year. Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the team has no plans to call up Ognjen Kuzmic or Nemanja Nedovic from Golden State’s D-League affiliate, two players the Warriors brought up for depth earlier in the season.
The 29-year-old Armstrong had spent parts of five seasons with five other NBA franchises before not playing in the league for the entirety of the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The Warriors have kept tabs on him all season; in between stints with Golden State, he has played for their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
Southwest Rumors: Dwight, Jackson, Rockets
Dirk Nowitzki moved into 10th place among the NBA’s all-time leading scorers Tuesday, but it wasn’t until the Mavs let Steve Nash go that he finally realized he was his team’s No. 1 option, as Tim McMahon of ESPN.com notes in an oral history of Nowitzki’s career. Nash made history of his own Tuesday, taking over third place for most assists in league history. Nowitzki’s upcoming free agency isn’t inspiring nearly the volume of rumors as that of another Texas star, whom we hear from amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:
- Dwight Howard tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck that as he endured criticism for leaving the Magic and Lakers, he kept LeBron James‘ move from Cleveland to Miami in mind. “I watched it closely,” Howard said. “Because people don’t understand how tough it is, how tough it was for both of us to make the decisions that we made. And for me having to do it twice in the span of two years, very tough. Because you don’t want to hurt people. And I don’t think LeBron wanted to hurt anybody. And we have that same type of personality, to where we enjoy the fans. We want to be liked. So It’s very hard for both of us to deal with it.”
- Pierre Jackson is parting ways with Fenerbahce Ulker of Turkey, according to Tolga Yenigün of Hurriyet.com.tr (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Jackson signed with the club shortly before the trade deadline, and the deal was supposed to run through June. The guard spent the first half of the season as a dominant force in the D-League, but he and the Pelicans, who own his NBA rights, were unable to come to terms.
- The Rockets have recalled Robert Covington and Troy Daniels from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). The rookies spent the majority of the season with Houston’s D-League affiliate and have combined to play just 26 minutes for the big club.
Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback
We value your input on the news we cover here at Hoops Rumors. That’s why we’re passing along some of the best insight from our comments and the Hoops Rumors Facebook page. Share your reaction to and insight on the news and rumors around the league, and you’ll have a chance to see your name here. Check out what readers had to say in previous editions of Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback.
It’s easy to sign up and start commenting on Hoops Rumors. First, read our Commenting Policy. Then, scroll to the bottom of any post, and you’ll see the word “Login” on the right side atop the comments section. Click the word and choose whether you want to comment using a Disqus account or your existing Facebook, Twitter or Google account. If you don’t have a Disqus account and you want to create one, just choose that option and click “Need an account?” at the bottom right of the box that pops up.
This week, we’ll start with input about a team that, for all its struggles, still has a shot at a No. 1 seed. There’s reportedly an outside chance that Larry Bird will take over the coaching duties for the Pacers before the playoffs. Commenter Kevin Alberda doesn’t think Frank Vogel is the true source of Indiana’s second-half malaise.
“Maybe Larry Bird should look inward and realize that he made a poor trade. [Evan] Turner is a slight improvement over [Danny] Granger at this point, but was it worth messing wtih chemistry? Nah. Hope Bird does go to the sidelines, the Pistons could use Frank Vogel.”
Marvin Williams appeared on a list of free agents who seem unlikely to return to their teams, but rxbrgr cites an earlier report in his rebuttal.
- Seems like Marvin Williams would be a good bet to return to the Jazz … they hold his Bird rights AND refused a first-rounder for him at the deadline. I think other teams would hesitate to give him mid-level money. I’m also surprised to see Boris Diaw, C.J. Miles, Kris Humphries, and Devin Harris on the list. All seem like good fits for the team who’ve made positive impacts there.
Curtis Smith‘s team has endured a long season, but with the Lakers keeping GM Mitch Kupchak around for the long haul, Curtis is optimistic.
- As a Laker fan i agree with this decision to extend his contract. I have full faith in him to rebuild this team and return us back to a playoff team … now hopefully he doesn’t miss on this lottery pick this year. I expect this to be his last trip to the lottery as the Laker GM.
We appreciate everyone who adds to the dialogue at Hoops Rumors, and we look forward to seeing more responses like these from you!
Joel Embiid Declares For Draft
WEDNESDAY, 2:15pm: Embiid formally announced his decision to enter the draft in a press conference today, as the school’s Twitter account confirms.
TUESDAY, 8:57pm: Joel Embiid will declare for the 2014 NBA Draft, sources tell Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Embiid is expected to make his announcement at a press conference tomorrow at 2:00pm Central time. Embiid has publicly maintained that he is undecided on his plans all season, even refuting a recent report that had him headed for the draft. The latest news is more concrete, but we will know by tomorrow whether Embiid is prepared to officially announce his intentions.
We profiled the 7-footer in our Prospect Profile series, whose stock has risen throughout the year. It was unlikely before the season that Embiid could challenge either Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins at the very top of the draft, but now that possibility isn’t out of the question. In a recent Hoops Rumors poll, our readers voted Embiid the third most likely prospect to be selected No. 1 overall this summer.
If he does declare, the most pressing concern for the big man will be proving the back injury that held him out of the NCAA tournament is not serious. Nerlens Noel was projected as the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, but fell to No. 6 after suffering a torn ACL. Former No. 1 overall selection Greg Oden‘s unfortunate, injury-plagued career path is also still on the minds of many front office executives when evaluating incoming centers.
Eastern Notes: Harrington, Siva, Jackson
The Magic didn’t expect Al Harrington would be able to play for them last season after a staph infection in his knee, and they wouldn’t allow him to hang around his teammates, as Harrington alleges in a first-person account with Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling.
“Orlando was more about rebuilding, but they could’ve been more professional about my situation,” Harrington wrote. “In fact, the general manager, Rob Hennigan, told my agent that I was done, saying I ‘cannot play.’ Those were his exact words. And I was like, ‘He has some nerve.’ He’s a 32-year-old young executive, and I’ve been in the league longer than him, I probably know more than him and he’s going to tell my agent I’m done, and not think my agent is going to tell me that. So, to me, it was like he told me that pretty much to my face.”
There’s more from the current Wizards forward among the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- Harrington, a free agent at season’s end, isn’t sure he wants to continue playing, and writes in the same piece that he’d ideally re-sign with the Wizards next season after the All-Star break to save early-season wear and tear on his body. He’d like to remain with the Wizards either as a player, coach, or executive, and says he’s had conversations with the team about his future.
- Rookie Peyton Siva is finally starting to see minutes for the Pistons, and though he doesn’t acknowledge the season’s final weeks as a de-facto audition, that’s exactly what it is, since his contract is non-guaranteed for 2014/15, writes MLive’s Brendan Savage.
- Phil Jackson should up his workload and act more like the team president he is and less like a consultant, opines Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, who thinks the Zen Master should take heed to the recent comments of former Knicks coach Larry Brown.
- Trevor Ariza of the Wizards and Shaun Livingston of the Nets, both set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, are among the most vital-yet-overlooked players in the league, as Michael Pina of Sports On Earth examines.