Western Notes: Grizzlies, Stockton, Sterling
The Thunder will look to even up the series against the Grizzlies tonight in Memphis. A loss would put Oklahoma City down three games to one, and although Kevin Durant and company will be heading back home after tonight for game five, the Grizzlies have already proven themselves capable of winning on the road in the postseason. Here’s more from the West:
- Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com recaps the moves that the Grizzlies made in order to cope with injuries and craft a playoff squad while still managing to stay under the luxury tax threshold. The decision to claim Beno Udrih off of waivers was particularly important, opines Windhorst, pointing out how important the veteran has been to the team in wake of Nick Calathes‘ suspension.
- Hall of Famer John Stockton spent his entire 19-season playing career with the Jazz, and Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune thinks he would be the ideal candidate to fill Utah’s head coaching vacancy. The fans, media, and team would all be on board to bring in Stockton, says Monson, but he also adds it still doesn’t seem likely.
- The NBA is undergoing an investigation to determine whether racially insensitive comments in an audio recording obtained by TMZ were made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the league announced. Sterling, who has been criticized for racial remarks in the past, could face punishment from the league. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today rounds up the situation.
Draft Rumors: Saric, Diop, Hall
Dario Saric officially declared for the draft today, but the verdict is still out on whether or not he’ll remain in the player pool past the June 16th deadline to withdraw. Let’s round up the latest on the 2014 draft:
- Jonathan Givony of Draft Express released his latest mock draft last night, and he figures Andrew Wiggins will be taken with the first overall selection, followed by Joel Embiid and Jabari Pakrer, respectively.
- Ilimane Diop, projected to be selected 17th by DraftExpress in the 2015 draft, went through the feedback process for this summer’s draft before deciding against declaring, revealed a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that the prospect from Senegal is undecided on whether he will declare next year.
- Mercer’s Langston Hall has signed with agent Roger Montgomery of Montgomery Sports heading into the draft, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The senior guard isn’t projected to be selected in either round.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Dario Saric Declares For Draft
APRIL 26TH, 1:24pm: Raznatovic announced that Saric has officially declared for the 2014 draft (Twitter link, hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
APRIL 16TH, 8:29am: Dario Saric‘s new agent, Misko Raznatovic, says his client will declare for the NBA draft, as he tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Still, Raznatovic isn’t sure whether Saric will withdraw by the June 16th deadline, as he did last year, or remain in this year’s field of early entrants, suggesting that if he and Saric feel that the 6’10” forward will go within the top 10 to 14 picks, Saric won’t pull out. Saric nonetheless believes that he’ll sign with a European team and remain overseas for another year or two regardless of whether he’s drafted this year, though he hasn’t made a final decision about that, as Raznatovic explains.
Saric is No. 9 in Givony’s prospect rankings, and No. 14 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, though Ford says he’d have Saric higher if it were clear that he’d play in the NBA next season. That seems to indicate that Saric will be drafted high enough to meet Raznatovic’s threshold for remaining in the draft, making him a likely “draft-and-stash” player. Some teams have been burned when they’ve used high draft picks on overseas players unwilling to immediately come stateside, most notably the Magic, who spent the 11th overall pick in 2005 on Fran Vazquez, who’s yet to play in the NBA. Raznatovic insists that Saric won’t go down that path.
“I really believe that after talking for five minutes with Dario, that doubt will be gone,” Raznatovic said. “He cannot wait to become a NBA player, and this is his ultimate goal. He will be in the league no later than 2016, and with good chances to start earlier.”
The agent, who announced that he’d signed with Saric last week, is the latest to dispute a report late last month that Saric had agreed to a deal with a team in Turkey that wouldn’t allow him to go to the NBA until 2016. Raznatovic suggests that his ties to Dusan Ivkovic, another client of his who’s rumored to become the next coach of the Turkish team, fueled erroneous speculation that Saric was headed to Turkey.
Saric’s professional future has been clouded with mystery in recent weeks, with back-and-forth fueled by his father and a former agent, among others. Raznatovic downplays the significance of comments from Saric’s father, who’s advocated that his son stay in Europe, saying that the elder Saric isn’t anti-NBA and is just looking out for his son’s well-being. Raznatovic promises that the instability surrounding his client is over, though I suspect there will continue to be speculation about Saric until he signs with an NBA team.
And-Ones: Daniels, Robinson, Mills
Hoops Rumors readers are some of the few wise enough to keep close track of the D-League’s impact on the NBA game, but last night the D-League made a big splash on the national stage. Troy Daniels, recalled by the Rockets two weeks ago, stepped up and hit a game-winning three to keep Houston from going down 0-3 to the Blazers. “To be honest, the D-League has prepared me for this moment,” Daniels told reporters after the game, including Sam Amick of USA Today Sports. “You can say whatever you want about the D-League, but I wouldn’t have hit that shot if I wasn’t in the D-League a couple weeks ago… It’s a dream come true. Plain and simple.” Here’s more from around the league:
- League sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM that the Bulls, Bucks, and Magic all closely monitored Daniels as a prospect, but Rockets GM Daryl Morey made the necessary moves to accommodate bringing the unproven guard’s talents to Houston.
- Thomas Robinson tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle that he is happy to play his current role with the Blazers, but won’t be content until he improves his game. “Right now, I do what I’m supposed to do for my team,” Robinson said. “My game will evolve. I love what I am right now. It’s not what I’m going to settle for. That’s when the summer time comes in. I can stay in the league doing what I do now, but I want to be at the top of the league by progressing, improving my game. I plan to be an All-Star.”
- The NBPA isn’t close to hiring an executive director, and Steve Mills is just one candidate among many at this point, per a tweet from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Mills re-emerged as a strong candidate for the job yesterday.
- Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report talked with Isiah Thomas about the decision players face each postseason: to play hurt in high-stakes playoff games and jeopardize their long-term health, or to rest and hurt their team’s chances to advance.
Eastern Notes: Nene, Cavs, Heat, Pistons
Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer looks at Cavs interim GM David Griffin‘s track record from when he worked with Steve Kerr in the Suns front office, noting his success and his preference for building exciting, high-scoring teams. Pluto would expect Griffin to target offensive firepower if he became a permanent GM by reuniting with Kerr on the Knicks, or by losing the interim tag in Cleveland. Such an offensive bent runs counter to coach Mike Brown‘s determination to win through defense. Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders thinks that both Brown and Griffin are likely to be brought back since they haven’t been fired yet, but notes that a decision hasn’t been made (Twitter link).
- There was some ambiguity as to whether Phil Jackson will want to retain Herb Williams when he hires the next Knicks coach, but Kyler expects Williams will be gone (Twitter link).
- Vince Ellis of Detroit Free Press expects the Pistons GM search to be a lengthy process. Detroit’s front office considers the draft and free agency “artificial” deadlines, and will be thorough and patient while evaluating candidates, many of whose schedules are loaded from working for teams still in the playoffs.
- Nene is in danger of facing a one-game suspension for his altercation with Jimmy Butler in last night’s Wizards loss to the Bulls, per Mike Wise of The Washington Post.
- Stu Jackson of NBATV used to make disciplinary decisions for the league, and he says that the thrown punch from Nene merits a suspension according to the rules (Twitter links).
- Ira Winderman of Sun Sentinel looks at the likelihood that the Heat will pay a steep repeater tax bill in the coming years if they manage to keep LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.
- Winderman lays out a variety of scenarios in which Heat players could help the roster stay intact and under the salary cap, by opting out of their deals to accept longer contracts with lower annual salaries.
- We looked at Wade’s tricky contract situation in our latest Free Agent Stock Watch feature.
Coaching Rumors: D’Antoni, Kerr
While a report of the Lakers retaining Mike D’Antoni for next season may have been premature, Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News tweets that the Lakers have been leaning toward keeping the coach for a month. Here’s more on the coaching front:
- In a series of tweets, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders says Lakers brass are partial to D’Antoni because of the way he handled young players this season. Kyler thinks that the Lakers have “kicked the tires” on other named possibilities, but have determined that there are no hires that would be a guaranteed upgrade.
- A source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that D’Antoni hopes to meet with the Lakers next week in regards to his fate, but no date has been set (Twitter link).
- Steve Kerr will likely meet with Knicks president Phil Jackson this weekend to discuss New York’s head coaching job, per Peter Botte and Frank Isola of New York Daily News. Kerr is in town to broadcast the Nets/Raptors game on Sunday.
- Kerr would be open to discussing a job with the Warriors, should Golden State act on their rumored preference for Kerr over Mark Jackson, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Dwyane Wade
A three-time champion, Dwyane Wade could find himself in a peculiar position this summer. This offseason will be the first of two opportunities for the guard to get out of his contract early, and his decision will likely be tied to what he and teammates LeBron James and Chris Bosh decide to do collectively. All three players have early termination options this offseason and player options for 2015/16, a structure they formed by design when they joined forces in hopes of forming a dynasty before the 2010/11 season. NBA executives reportedly expect the trio to terminate their contracts but re-sign with Miami next season. While they made moderate sacrifices to squeeze into Miami’s salary books together, they aren’t expected to give up millions of dollars in salary to benefit the Heat cap structure this time around.
Ranked ninth in our latest Free Agent Power Rankings, Wade would risk the most by becoming a free agent before his six-year, nearly $108MM contract runs its full course. While James and Bosh could find max contracts in a number of cities, it seems doubtful that teams would be jumping at the chance to offer over roughly $20MM in annual salary to a 32-year-old who missed 74 games over the last three seasons due to knee injury and regimented rest. It’s unlikely that there are many teams, if any, outside of Miami that could afford to regularly rest a player of Wade’s caliber while paying him more than most or all of their other players.
Wade could play it safe and ride out his contract, but he would then face an even more precarious scenario at the age of 34. A team that believed in his talents enough to pursue him in free agency would presumably think he is still capable of performing as one of the best guards in the league for years to come. It could be worth accepting an annual pay decrease if it means securing a lengthy extension that guarantees more money overall. There haven’t been any teams legitimately linked to Wade at this point as the league waits on the Miami trio to makes their moves. The last time Wade was on the open market, his hometown Bulls made a serious play for his services.
Wade’s game has transformed significantly since taking a backseat to LeBron in the Heat offense. The year before the big-three era began, Wade averaged 30.2 points per game and stood tallest among the Heat legends. His scoring average has decreased each year since, with his 19.0 clip this season a career low outside of his rookie season. His 2013/14 per-game averages in minutes played, field goals attempted, free throws attempted, steals, and blocks are also at career-worst levels for Wade, not including his rookie year. On the other hand, he has adapted to his reduced role with improved efficiency. His true shooting percentage of .588 this season is a career high, as is his field goal percentage of .545, well above his career average of .492.
Wade has always been an abysmal three-point shooter, and he hasn’t improved at all as a veteran. He only took 0.6 threes per game this year, and only hit on 28.1% of those attempts. As his knee issues continue to be a concern, his reliance on a brutally physical offensive game is somewhat troubling. All aging players lose athleticism, and if Wade’s knee problems cause his driving and slashing abilities to decline more quickly than with most players, he doesn’t have a long-term skill set to fall back on. Shooting guards that can’t shoot from distance aren’t common in the NBA, and typically have to play defense at an elite level to stay on the floor. Wade is one of the best instinctive defenders in the game, but deteriorating athleticism would damage his defensive ability as well.
Wade has built his Hall-of-Fame career in Miami, and he has expressed a desire to play there until he retires. Kobe Bryant‘s latest extension fortified Wade’s inclination to stay, but many around the league pilloried the wisdom of such a lucrative deal for a player on the downside of his career. It would be difficult for the Heat to avoid repeat-offender tax penalties if they extend Wade significantly above market value and they also retain James and Bosh.
If Wade does opt out, my guess is that Wade’s fate as a free agent will be influenced as much by Miami’s thinking as his own. Pat Riley has been shrewd in building a championship roster without incurring enormous tax bills, but the repeater tax looms if the team moves forward with three max contracts. It would certainly be unpopular with the fan base, but if Wade’s departure would open the door for Miami to free up space for better role players or even another, younger star to complement the final stretch of LeBron’s prime, the Heat might just walk through it.
And-Ones: McHale, Harris, Blair
Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram thinks Devin Harris is proving that he deserved the initial three-year, $9MM contract that the Mavs revoked when a post-agreement physical revealed a foot injury. Harris and Dallas agreed to a one-year minimum deal instead, which is paying dividends for both the Mavs’ playoff performance and the point guard’s market value. Here’s more from around the league:
- DeJuan Blair is taking the Mavs first round matchup with the Spurs personally, he told reporters including Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “This is something that’s a dream, to always go against somebody who knows you well, just like you know them,’’ said Blair, who left San Antonio as a free agent after being bumped from the rotation last season. “I’m just excited like everybody else.”
- The Rockets haven’t picked up coach Kevin McHale‘s option for next season yet, but sources tell ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein that there is support for the coach within the organization, including from key players and owner Les Alexander. The ESPN scribes report that there has been an understanding that this year’s roster needs more than a year together to become a contender, so a first-round exit wouldn’t be alarming enough to let McHale go.
- Arash Markazi ESPNLosAngeles.com says the Lakers fans’ displeasure with the team’s decision not to fire coach Mike D’Antoni could build to a mutiny (via Twitter).
- Lee Jenkins of SI.com profiles Ron Howard, the 31-year-old D-League standout still hoping for a shot at the NBA. Howard, who was told by Scott Skiles that he was good enough to play in the league while with the Bucks for the 2008/09 preseason, admits that it’s frustrating to thrive in the developmental league while hundreds of younger players get called up.
Eastern Notes: Vasquez, Sixers, Magic
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer details how Steve Clifford‘s preparation and demeanor has impacted his players and brought credibility to the Bobcats in his first season as coach. “He doesn’t screw around,” Charlotte’s president of basketball operations Rod Higgins tells Bonnell. “There’s no such thing as a loose shootaround, a loose practice, a loose film session. There are so many things you can’t impact [as a coach]. He makes sure not to waste an opportunity with what he can.”
- Greivis Vasquez, headed for restricted free agency this summer, is “having a blast” as a member of the Raptors, writes Eric Koreen of the National Post.
- Mark Deeks of SB Nation looks at the steps ahead for the Sixers, who have a wealth of draft picks and trade flexibility heading into the summer.
- Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel looks at the Magic‘s odds of landing Dante Exum in the draft [subscription only], taking into account Orlando’s likely draft position and the Australian point guard’s willingness to play for a team other than the Lakers.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Rumors: Warriors, Kerr, Kings
The Pacific Division isn’t represented in any of tonight’s playoff matchups, but the winner of the Clippers/Warriors series will hope to stay relevant deep into the postseason. Here’s the latest from the west coast:
- The Warriors will canvass their fans about the notion of changing their name from the Golden State Warriors to the San Francisco Warriors with a move across the bay forthcoming, team president and CEO Rick Welts tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that they believe Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob would prefer Steve Kerr as coach rather than Mark Jackson, as Stein notes amid a 5-on-5 with other writers. We’ve heard before that Lacob holds Kerr in high regard, and there have been plenty of rumors surrounding Jackson’s job security, but it remains to be seen whether Lacob is inclined to pursue a change.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro discussed his mindset heading into this year’s draft with Katie Cracchiolo of Kings.com. Among other notes, the GM said that Ray McCallum‘s strong play at point guard won’t affect the team’s plans to select the best player available, regardless of position.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.