Central Notes: Butler, Bucks, Irving
The Pistons are just a game out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and if they continue their surge, four Central Division teams will be in line to make the postseason. The Central was supposed to boast the class of the East in the Bulls and the Cavs, but as they languish in the middle of the playoff pack, here’s the latest from around the division:
- The Bulls will match any offer sheet that Jimmy Butler would sign this summer, as executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson said in appearance Thursday on ESPN Chicago radio’s Waddle and Silvy program, notes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since the Bulls reportedly plan to make Butler a maximum-salary offer of their own that they hope will forestall the restricted free agent from negotiating with any other team. Paxson also confirmed that the Bulls are interested in Ray Allen and have been in contact with his agent, Jim Tanner, notes Bear Heiser of Fox Sports West (on Twitter).
- Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear to Seattle mayor Ed Murray that the NBA envisions the Bucks staying put, dispelling Murray’s notion that the Bucks were a candidate to move if the team failed to make progress on a new arena in Milwaukee, as Murray tells Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The Bucks have until fall 2017 to have an arena in place, and if they don’t, the NBA has the option to take control of the team from its new owners. Seattle investor Chris Hansen is facing a November 2017 deadline to secure an NBA team for the city, lest a promise of civic funding expire.
- Kyrie Irving finished fourth in fan voting for the two Eastern Conference starting backcourt spots in the All-Star Game, so he missed out on his best chance to trigger the Derrick Rose rule and up the salaries on the five-year extension that kicks in for him next season. That rule allows players who sign rookie scale extensions to make a starting salary worth approximately 30%, instead of just 25%, of the salary cap. Irving agreed to take only 27.5% if he were to qualify, which can now happen only in the unlikely event he wins MVP this season.
Central Notes: Bulls, Pistons, Cavs
The Bulls are dealing with an identity crisis, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Lee cites the arrival of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic as well as Jimmy Butler‘s transition from role player to All-Star caliber performer as reason the team has become less blue-collar and slightly more finesse in its on court approach. This is different from the style of play that fans are used to seeing from a team coached by Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls’ recent poor play has led some to wonder if the coach should be fired. Talk of replacing Thibodeau seems drastic as Chicago remains in good position to make the postseason with a record of 27-16; however, the Bulls sit eight games behind Atlanta for the No. 1 seed that many expected the team to earn this season.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Getting Joakim Noah and Mike Dunleavy back from injury will be key for the Bulls to resume contender status in the Eastern Conference, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago. Chicago has gone just 2-6 in its last eight games. “Here’s the thing,” Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve had our starters for 15 games. That’s not a lot of games. It’s missing a lot of games. So when the starters have been intact, [the record] has been very good. Our issue has been when they’ve been out, can we hold the fort?” Chicago is 12-3 in games that Noah, Dunleavy, Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler all start.
- A mutual trust between Stan Van Gundy and Pistons owner Tom Gores has been key to the team’s turnaround, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. The Pistons are 17-26 on the season and 12-3 since they released Josh Smith. Earlier in the month, I asked if the Pistons could make the playoffs and over half of Hoops Rumors readers believed the team will make the postseason.
- The Cavs are starting to figure out how to play as a team and win games, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today points out in a short video. Cleveland has won four straight games, which includes wins over playoff-caliber teams like the Clippers and Bulls. The team currently resides in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 23-20.
Wizards Most Aggressive Suitor For Ray Allen
The Wizards are making numerous calls on Ray Allen and they’ve been pushing the hardest to sign the 39-year-old free agent, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). Allen is still unsure of what he’ll do this season, in spite of his hints earlier this week that he intends to return to the NBA, and while he’s working out at his home in Miami, he’s also enjoying time with his family, Kennedy cautions (on Twitter).
Washington has planned to keep up its pursuit until the Jim Tanner client gives the team a definite no, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com wrote earlier this month. Michael described the team’s contact with Allen as “routine” and said that it was nonetheless a long shot that the sharpshooter would end up with the Wizards. Washington only has the prorated minimum salary to offer, and Allen has signaled a strong desire for more than that, but the Wizards do have an open roster spot.
LeBron James reportedly paid a recent visit to try to recruit Allen to the Cavs, who’ve seemingly been the front-runners to land him. Others from the Cavs organization have kept in contact with the league’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, too, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com wrote.
The Warriors appear to have ceased consideration of Allen, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group indicated overnight, but several other teams have been connected to Allen over the past several months. The Warriors were among the most recent teams to have been linked to him, a group that includes the Clippers and Grizzlies, and the Bulls and Spurs have reportedly been eyeing him, too.
Central Notes: Allen, Mozgov, Whittington
LeBron James paid a visit to Ray Allen recently to try to recruit the free agent sharpshooter to the Cavs, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Fellow Cavs James Jones and Mike Miller, as well as Cavs assistant coach Tyronn Lue, have also remained in contact with Allen, who this week hinted that he’ll play this season. The Cavs have plenty of competition for the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shot maker, though the Warriors are no longer mulling a run at him amid the emergence of Justin Holiday, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. While we wait to see if Cleveland winds up with yet another of its targets, here’s more from the Central Division:
- Timofey Mozgov has had a tangible positive effect on the Cavs, and LeBron is quite pleased with the big man, as USA Today’s Sam Amick and Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group detail. “When we made the trade, everything that he brings us is what we needed and wanted,” James said about Mozgov. “He’s going to be huge for our team. Very, very skilled offensively and understands defensively. Just a smart basketball player and great playing with him.”
- Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel have spoken about giving more playing time to rookie Shayne Whittington, notes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Whittington is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
- Pistons owner Tom Gores insists he never second-guessed his decision to hire Stan Van Gundy, even as the team stumbled to a 5-23 start before its recent turnaround, MLive’s Brendan Savage observes. “Never,” Gores said. “Never. You got that on the record? Never. We have an amazing guy. I’m so, so proud that we got him here to Detroit.”
Eastern Notes: Alexander, Seraphin, Harris
Joe Alexander has been labeled as a bust after lasting just two seasons in the league following his selection by the Bucks with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, something that doesn’t sit too well with the player, David Pick of Basketball Insiders writes. “I don’t think there is a hard definition of what a ‘draft bust’ is,” Alexander told Pick. “Ultimately not being in the NBA is on me, but as far as ‘who is a bust?’ you have to look at Milwaukee and the management that drafted me. If you want to label anyone with the term ‘bust’ — it’s the Bucks. When Milwaukee drafted me, I was touted as a ‘project’ and someone with a lot of potential who could contribute had I learned to play the game. That’s what the Bucks told me. I needed time. I didn’t start playing basketball until I was 16 years old, but I was the most athletic guy in the entire draft. The Bucks knew that. Everyone understood this. I could’ve been drafted by any other team in the league and they would’ve given me time to develop.”
While injuries definitely affected Alexander’s NBA career, he firmly believes that he was also the victim of a dysfunctional regime in Milwaukee, Pick adds. “I had a normal, mediocre NBA rookie season,” Alexander said. “If you look at my per-36 numbers, I was on par with every player in the draft except for Derrick Rose. There are players in the league who a few years ago played spotty minutes and made mistakes, but were able to learn from them. That’s an opportunity I wasn’t given in Milwaukee.”
Here’s more from the East:
- Kevin Seraphin is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the big man would like to re-sign with the Wizards, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders writes. “I’ve been here for five years,” Seraphin said. “For sure. For sure I’d like to be here long term, a very long time. Especially now that our team is good. Why wouldn’t I want to be here?”
- Sixers coach Brett Brown hasn’t completely ruled out injured rookie Joel Embiid playing this season, Tom Moore of Calkins Media tweets. But Brown did add that there would be no chance of Embiid returning to the court prior to the All-Star break, Moore adds.
- The Cavaliers have recalled Joe Harris from the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was Harris’ first trip of the year to Canton.
Knicks Notes: Smith, Prigioni, Galloway
Carmelo Anthony believes that the trade that sent J.R. Smith to the Cavaliers was the best thing that could have happened to the former Knicks guard, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “I’ve seen him play a couple of games,’’ Anthony said. “He’s playing well. I know the type of game he has and what he can do. He looks comfortable out there, looks like he’s settling in very well. I’m actually happy for him — a change of environment for him, a new thought process, new mindset mentally. It looks like he has some clarity right now. I believe LeBron [James] will help him make that adjustment that much better.’’
Here’s more out of the Big Apple:
- ‘Melo didn’t necessarily dispute Smith’s parting statement that the Knicks’ players were “walking on eggshells” under the franchise’s new regime, Berman adds. “I don’t know exactly what he meant by that,’’ Anthony said. “I’ve heard him say that before in conversations we’ve had. Anytime something is new, trying to incorporate something, everybody’s trying to do the right things, so it can be a tense situation where you can feel like walking on eggshells. Because you don’t want to do the wrong thing. You want to impress the coaches, want to impress the front office, impress your teammates. If that’s what he’s coming from that standpoint, I agree with it.’’
- With 10-day signee Langston Galloway continuing to impress, Pablo Prigioni has seen his playing time wither, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the veteran is done with the team, Berman adds. “I don’t think it’s where we are in the season,’’ coach Derek Fisher said. “It’s just continuing to find ways to help the team be successful. Sometimes that means personnel changes and adjustments. It’s the way it’s working right now. It doesn’t mean it will stay that way. It’s just the way the last couple of games have worked. If I feel it’s something that can stay that way for a while, I’d try to pull them to the side and let them know it’s the direction we’re going.” The Knicks are reportedly looking to deal Prigioni for a second round draft pick.
- Clarence Gaines Jr., team president Phil Jackson‘s top adviser, deserves much of the credit for bringing Galloway to New York, Berman writes in a separate article. Gaines first noticed Galloway during a pre-draft camp last spring, and he believed the undrafted rookie fit the profile of the type of player whom Jackson sought, Berman adds.
Shawn Marion To Retire After Season
Shawn Marion will retire after this season, as he tells Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The 36-year-old is on a one-year contract with the Cavaliers. The 16th-year veteran believes he could play three more seasons but instead prefers to spend more time with his 8-month-old son, who is his first child, as Marion explains to Coro. His desire to be closer to his son, who’s in Chicago, helped lead him to accept a minimum-salary offer from the Cavaliers, as Marion has said in the past, even though he could have netted more money elsewhere. Marion mulled retirement this summer, according to Coro, as his free agency stretched on for several weeks.
Marion’s defensive versatility has long been his calling card, but Cleveland hasn’t found as much use for him as other teams have in the past, in spite of the defensive shortcomings the Cavs have struggled with this season. Marion is averaging a career-low 22.8 minutes per game despite making 22 starts, and his 5.6 points per contest represents the first single-digit scoring average of his career.
The ninth overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft is a four-time All-Star selection who enjoyed his best days with the Suns, where he was a force on both ends of the floor and on the boards. He peaked with averages of 21.8 PPG and 11.8 rebounds per game in 2005/06, helping Phoenix to a second consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance. The Suns traded him to Miami in February 2008 in the deal that sent Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix, and the Heat shipped Marion to Toronto a year later. Another trade that summer took him to Dallas, and Marion enjoyed a career renaissance with the Mavs, winning his only title in 2011.
Dallas sought to continue their partnership when his five-year deal worth almost $39.88MM expired this past summer, but the tug of his family drew him north, and surely the presence of LeBron James and Cleveland’s looming acquisition of Kevin Love helped influence his decision. Marion’s financial sacrifice this year makes more sense in the context of the greater than $133.488MM he’d already earned over the course of his career, according to Basketball-Reference. He’ll add this year’s $1,448,490 to that total.
D-League Notes: Anderson, Harris, Green
The D-League is becoming an integral part of the NBA’s process of developing younger players, as well as a source for locating hidden gems to bolster rosters during the course of the season. You can easily stay on top of which players are coming and going from the D-League all season by checking out our 2014/15 D-League Assignments, Recalls tracker, which is updated daily. You can also find this page anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”
Here are the latest D-League moves:
- With Iman Shumpert set to return from his shoulder injury and expected make his Cavs debut this week, Cleveland has assigned Joe Harris to its D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, the team has announced. This will be Harris’ first stint of the season in the D-League.
- The Nuggets have assigned Erick Green to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team has announced. Green becomes the first player of the season assigned by Denver to the D-League.
- The Spurs have assigned Kyle Anderson to the Austin Spurs, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Anderson’s second trek of the season to Austin, where he logged 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in 41 minutes of action in his only D-League appearance.
- The Grizzlies have re-assigned Jordan Adams, Russ Smith, and Jarnell Stokes to the Iowa Energy, the team has announced. This will be each player’s fourth D-League sojourn of the season.
- John Jenkins was recalled from the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz‘s D-League affiliate, the Hawks have announced. The third-year shooting guard wound up with Idaho via the new rules that allow the Hawks and the dozen other NBA teams that share the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as their D-League affiliate to assign players to other affiliates if the Mad Ants are out of room. In 11 D-League games this season, Jenkins is averaging 18.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.4 minutes.
And-Ones: Onuaku, Jackson, LeVert
Six NBA teams have shown interest in power forward Arinze Onuaku, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Onuaku, who was briefly with the Pelicans and Cavs last season and spent camp this past fall with the Pacers, recently turned down an offer to play in the Philippines as he continues his dialogue with NBA clubs, Kennedy adds (Twitter links).
Here’s more from around the league:
- Reggie Jackson is open to signing his qualifying offer this summer in an attempt to align his unrestricted free agency with the summer of 2016, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Most league executives reportedly assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM. Jackson is on pace to invoke the starter criteria, which would lift the value of his qualifying offer from to nearly $3.223MM to almost $4.434MM.
- Michigan’s Caris LeVert will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his foot during Saturday’s contest against Northwestern, the university has announced. The junior is scheduled to undergo surgery this week to repair the damage. This will be the second such procedure on LeVert’s left foot, as he had a similar injury last May. LeVert is currently the No. 14 ranked prospect by DraftExpress.
- ESPN’s Chad Ford (Twitter link), who has LeVert slotted No. 30 in his draft rankings, still projects the guard to be a late first round to early second round pick come this June, provided LeVert is healthy in time for his pre-draft workouts.
- Former Kings coach Michael Malone isn’t expected to remain with the Wolves past Wednesday’s game against Dallas, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune reports (Twitter link). Malone has been acting as a special observer with the Wolves, but Flip Saunders, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, doesn’t see Malone having a role with the team past this stint, Zgoda notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Cavs Back Off Interest In Jordan Farmar
MONDAY, 5:07pm: The Cavs won’t pursue Farmar beyond their initial inquiry, Haynes tweets.
FRIDAY, 3:59pm: The Cavaliers have made inquiries about point guard Jordan Farmar, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. The talks were classified as a “feeling out process,” according to Haynes’ sources. Farmar reached a buyout agreement with the Clippers earlier today, and barring the unlikely event that another team claims him off waivers, then Farmar could sign a deal with a new team as early as Sunday. The Cavs have also been mentioned in connection with free agent Nate Robinson, who reached a buyout agreement of his own with the Celtics recently.
Cleveland is seeking to add a backup point guard, Haynes reports. A.J. Price, who was the team’s third point guard on its depth chart, was waived earlier this month, leaving Matthew Dellavedova the lone backup on the team. The Cavs roster currently stands at 14 players, which means no corresponding roster move would be needed in order to sign another player. “We’re at 14. We’d like to address something there at that position,” Cavs GM David Griffin said. The Cavaliers are not in a rush to fill that last roster spot, but at the opportune time, they plan to snag another playmaker, Haynes adds. According to Haynes’ sources, Cleveland will be extensively evaluating point guards who are on the verge of being waived or bought out.
Farmar, 28, has career averages of 7.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists over 490 games. His career shooting numbers are .423/.374/.734. In 36 appearances for the Clippers this season, he has logged 4.6 PPG and 1.9 APG in a career-low 14.7 minutes per game.