Hoops Links: MCW, Meeks, Pistons
On this date in 1993, Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice. Lewis, who played six years for the C’s and earned an All-Star nod in 1991/92, was just 27 years old.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- Red Rock Fantasy Basketball makes the case against Michael Carter-Williams.
- Six Championship Drive likes the Pistons’ signing of Jodie Meeks.
- Detroit Bad Boys pitches some Pistons-themed sitcoms.
- The Bird Writes talks corporate knowledge.
- Legion Report turns in their summer league notes.
- SLC Dunk looks at rookie head coaches.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
And-Ones: Wade, Warren, Smith, Woodbury
Dwyane Wade has a new favorite opponent to square off against in LeBron James, write Brandon Di Perno and Surya Fernandez of SB Nation. Wade said, “Well, it used to be Kobe Bryant…the second best all-time…now, I have a new favorite player to play against…my former teammate, LeBron.” The 2014/15 NBA schedule won’t be released until next month, but one of the highlights is sure to be the first contest between the Cavaliers and James’ former team, the Heat. Here’s more from around the league..
- Rookie T.J. Warren‘s game is well-suited for the Suns, writes Jesse Biancarte of Basketball Insiders. Warren played in five games in summer league for Phoenix and averaged 17.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 24.8 minutes. His only noticeable weakness during this stretch was his outside shooting, something he’ll have to work on.
- Former Duke guard Nolan Smith is working towards a two-year deal with Turkish club Galatasaray, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Smith was reportedly entertaining partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and Thunder in late April.
- Former Georgia and D-League swingman Terrance Woodbury worked out for the Nets, but he’ll instead be heading to Nicaragua to join up with Raptors de Matagalpa, a source tells Enea Trapani of Sportando (on Twitter). In his senior year at Georgia (2008/09), Woodbury averaged 14.0 PPG and 4.6 RPG while shooting 43.1% from downtown, but he went undrafted the following summer.
Atlantic Notes: 76ers, Celtics, Love, Clark
Philadelphia sports fans are notoriously impatient, but Tom Moore of The Intelligencer has found that many are taking a glass-half-full view of things with the Sixers under GM Sam Hinkie. “There is no guaranteed path to a title,” one fan said to Moore. “But I like that they have a plan and are sticking to it. I choose optimism.” Here’s more out of the Atlantic..
- The Celtics could get in the mix for Kevin Love or another superstar, but they won’t make a deal that they don’t feel is worth it, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “Danny [Ainge] has been very disciplined,” Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca said. “He could have made a lot of deals by now, but not for the kind of player we want.” And while C’s owner Wyc Grousbeck famously predicted that there would be “fireworks,” Pagliuca says that refers more to Ainge’s tireless efforts to improve rather than a guarantee of a blockbuster deal.
- Because the Celtics are in rebuilding mode, Ainge can now afford to bring in players with either soiled reputations, tradeable contracts, or the ability to blossom. That thinking has led the C’s to Evan Turner, who should be a strong fit for Boston, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Agent David Falk believes that Turner and coach Brad Stevens will be a particularly solid match.
- Earl Clark has received interest from a number of teams since free agency started three weeks ago, but he continues to weigh his options, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “I’ve been hearing from a few teams, but it’s not anything that I’m jumping at right now,” said Clark, who spent last season with the Knicks and Cavs. “It’s been different, man. I’ve been a free agent a few times and this summer seems like it’s going in slow motion. I’m just giving it time and going through the process. I just want the right situation and the opportunity to play. That’s all I want – the opportunity to get out there, play, help the team and prove myself again.”
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Chuck Myron ran down the teams limited to paying the minimum salary.
- Here are the teams with hard caps for 2014/15, courtesy of Chuck.
- Wondering how the Cavs/Jazz trade worked financially? Chuck has the deetz.
- Chuck gives us a reminder of how summer contracts work.
- I asked Hoops Rumors readers who will have the better 2014/15 season: Evan Turner or Danny Granger.
- Eddie Scarito asked readers if the Cavs should trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love. Most of you said no.
- Chuck explained Exhibit 9 contracts.
- If you’re not using the Hoops Rumors 2014 Free Agent Tracker, you should be. Get caught up here.
- Play nice, everyone. Review our commenting policy here.
- Here are the players who have signed qualifying offers.
- Here’s an update on the remaining restricted free agents.
- If you missed out on this week’s chat, check out the transcript here.
Week In Review: 7/21/14 – 7/27/14
The Bulls are offering a package of Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott for Kevin Love, but the Wolves say the Cavs’ offer is still their favorite. Still, even though they prefer Cleveland’s package, it wasn’t enough to woo them to move Love just yet. More from the week that was..
- The Sixers, Nuggets, and Celtics are among the clubs trying to line themselves up as a third team in a Love swap. Meanwhile, Love may be pushing for a trade to Cleveland.
- The Lakers and Byron Scott appear to be nearing a deal.
- The NBPA executive search has been shaken up.
- The Pistons are telling Josh Smith that the trade rumors involving the Kings were inaccurate, but that might not be the case.
- Chris Paul is mulling a boycott if Donald Sterling stays. Doc Rivers is having similar thoughts.
- Ray Allen is still mulling retirement but is leaning towards joining up with the Cavs.
- The Cavs signed Andrew Wiggins and they can’t move him for 30 days from the date of signing.
- The Hawks and Shelvin Mack have struck agreement on a three-year, $7.3MM deal.
- The Mavs added Jameer Nelson.
- The Nets signed draft-and-stash prospect Bojan Bogdanovic.
- Three teams are eyeing Dahntay Jones.
- The Sixers remain interested in Dion Waiters.
- The Celtics added Evan Turner.
- The Kings will sign Omri Casspi to a one-year pact after he cleared waivers.
- The Mavericks have nullified their contract with Rashard Lewis after a right knee injury requiring surgery was discovered during his team physical.
- The Bulls told Nikola Mirotic that they won’t trade him.
- The Rockets signed rookie guard Nick Johnson to a three-year deal.
- The Nuggets signed Jusuf Nurkic.
- The Bulls signed Aaron Brooks.
- The Bulls also inked first-round pick Doug McDermott.
- The Hawks signed No. 15 overall pick Adreian Payne.
- The Hornets signed Noah Vonleh.
- The Rockets will sign Clint Capela.
- The Thunder and first-round pick Josh Huestis cut a D-League deal prior to the draft.
- There’s mutual interest between the Rockets and Francisco Garcia.
- The Wolves re-signed Robbie Hummel.
- The Suns waived Dionte Christmas.
- The Mavs will sign Al-Farouq Aminu.
- Top 2015 draft prospect Emmanuel Mudiay will play in China.
- The Heat and Pacers like Chris Singleton.
- The Knicks waived Shannon Brown.
- The Cavs acquired three players on non-guaranteed deals from the Jazz.
- The Kings arena plan has cleared its final legal hurdle.
- The Pistons and second-round pick Spencer Dinwiddie have agreed to a three-year pact.
- The Cavs and Raptors are eyeing Will Cherry.
- Free agent shooting guard Patrick Christopher has agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Grizzlies.
- The Raptors will sign Lucas Nogueira.
- Former Raptors point guard Dwight Buycks has signed with Valencia of Spain rather than sign in the NBA.
- The Nuggets signed Erick Green.
- The Nets signed Markel Brown as well as Cory Jefferson.
- The Sixers have signed point guard Pierre Jackson to a partially guaranteed one-year deal.
- The Pelicans signed Patric Young.
- The Cavs signed Joe Harris.
- The Bulls signed Cameron Bairstow.
- Seth Curry is weighing overseas options.
- Michael Jenkins will join the Nets for camp.
- The Magic signed second-round pick Devyn Marble.
- D-League president Dan Reed resigned.
And-Ones: Scott, Prigioni, Parker
While he believes that Byron Scott is a good coach, Tom Ziller of SB Nation doesn’t think Scott will solve the Lakers problems. Ziller also believes Los Angeles made a “typical coaching carousel signing” in picking up Scott, whom Ziller describes as “an undervalued, affordable coach” despite the team’s ability to afford any coach they wanted.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Donatas Motiejunas, when discussing former teammate Chandler Parsons who left the Rockets to sign a three-year, $46.08MM deal with the Mavericks, told Simonas Baranauskas of Lithuania Basket (Twitter link), “He’s a good player, but would it be logical for management to pay him more than James Harden?” Houston declined to match the offer sheet Parsons had signed with the Mavs.
- With the NBA discussing extending the All-Star break to seven days, Zach Lowe of Grantland (Twitter links) thinks the league should first look to adjust the amount of regular season games played, and doesn’t think the longer break would be a positive if it meant more back-to-back games, or beginning the season at an earlier date.
- Pablo Prigioni is glad to be re-united with former Spanish League teammate Jose Calderon on the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Prigioni believes Calderon will be able to help New York, saying, “We played together in Spain and we did really well. He is a great player and very good professional, a great 3-point shooting guy. He can run the team and read the game very well and is a good defender. He has all that a good point guard must have.”
- In the same article, Prigioni also expressed his positive feelings towards Carmelo Anthony re-signing with the Knicks, saying, “When I saw Melo re-sign, the first thing I did was send him a message saying that I was so happy to have a chance to still play with him. And I told him that I’m sure we will play much better next season.”
- Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders believes that Bucks first-rounder Jabari Parker will have the biggest impact of any rookie this coming season, as well as take home Rookie Of The Year honors.
Poll: Should Cavs Deal Wiggins For Love?
Heading into this offseason, the chances of Kevin Love heading to the Cavaliers were slim. But that was before LeBron James decided to return his talents to Cleveland. When LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Cavs, he preached patience, and in a move to lower expectations, implied that the team wouldn’t expect to contend for a championship this coming season.
But acquiring a player of Love’s caliber could certainly accelerate that timetable, which is one reason that Cleveland has seemingly been burning up the phone lines trying to work out a deal to acquire the stat-sheet-filling power forward. The feeling is apparently shared by Love, who, as recently reported, may have formally requested a trade to Cleveland via his agent.
Numerous other teams have been attempting to work out a deal, including the Warriors, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls and Knicks. Golden State still appears to be Cleveland’s main competitors for Love, but the Warriors have expressed an unwillingness to include Klay Thompson as part of the deal, which has stalled talks between the two franchises.
The potential blockbuster deal between the Wolves and the Cavs is being complicated by the insistence of Minnesota coach and president of basketball operation Flip Saunders that Cleveland include No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as part of any package for Love. Wiggins recently signed with the Cavs, so they will have to wait 30 days before they can officially deal him away. But that is only a minor issue if both franchises are serious about making a trade.
Should the Cavs relent and include Wiggins if it nets them Love? Wiggins has a wealth of potential and could turn out to be a superstar, and the type of player you can build a champion around, but he has yet to play a minute of regular season action. Whereas Love has career averages of 19.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He’s also only 25 years old and just entering his prime. The knock on Love of course is that in six seasons he has yet to lead his team to the playoffs, and that he is a subpar defender.
As for Wiggins, his value is more theoretical at this point. There have been numerous players, including first overall draft picks, who enter the league being touted as franchise changing talents, only to disappoint and underperform. The ceiling on the rookie appears to be incredibly high, but is holding onto him and gambling he’ll turn out to be a better player than Love worth the risk?
The other aspect to factor in is the leverage that Cleveland may have gained in the trade talks if Love indeed told the Timberwolves that he would opt out after the 2014/15 season and would not re-sign with the team. And if Love also specifically requested a trade to Cleveland, that could complicate matters further.
Cleveland could also decide to hold off on depleting its young assets and simply play out this season with its current roster, then try to clear enough cap room to sign Love next summer outright. This might allow them to keep Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and whichever other pieces, including draft picks, that they would have had to ship to Minnesota to get this deal done, but it would still be a challenge. The Cavs already have more than $48MM in commitments for 2015/16, assuming James opts in and the team picks up its option on Dion Waiters.
So now it’s time for you to step into Cavs GM David Griffin‘s shoes and make the call. Do you relent and include Wiggins if it will bring Love’s talents to Cleveland? Or do you draw a line in the sand and refuse to offer Wiggins, even if it potentially costs you a LeBron-Love pairing?
Should The Cavs Deal Andrew Wiggins For Kevin Love?
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No way. Wiggins is too valuable a piece. 40% (2,113)
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Absolutely. Why is this even a discussion? 40% (2,112)
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Yes, but I might live to regret it. 20% (1,081)
Total votes: 5,306
Latest On Byron Scott
There have been conflicting reports as to whether or not Byron Scott‘s deal to coach the Lakers has been finalized yet. It would appear that an agreement is imminent though. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link) reports that the franchise was impressed by Scott’s reputation as a disciplinarian, and believe his temperament is perfect for a younger team.
More reactions to Scott’s possible hiring:
- In an article by Sam Amick of USA Today, Scott weighed in on potentially returning to the Lakers franchise as a head coach, saying, “It feels fantastic. This is a dream come true. I always wanted to coach the Lakers, especially when I got to coaching. It’s so unreal. I have to thank (Lakers general manager) Mitch (Kupchak), (Lakers president and governor) Jeanie (Buss) and (executive vice president of player personnel) Jim Buss to give me this opportunity. I really believe that they wanted to do the diligence and to make sure that I was the right guy…I know there were other candidates out there, and I felt like that with each meeting I thought was better and better, and I felt like they had a better understanding of what I was all about. I thought that the last few hires in their minds, they were a little hasty with, and so on this one, they took their time to make sure I was the right guy for this situation. Again, I think it worked out well for both sides.”
- Carlos Boozer supports the Lakers potential hiring of Scott, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Boozer said, “Well if [Scott] is the coach, that’s terrific. Obviously, he was a great player – you know – a ‘Laker Legend’ of course, but also was a good coach in the NBA for a long time and for a couple different teams. He brings great experience, and obviously knows the NBA very, very well. I think that he could add a lot to our team. I’d be interested to have a conversation with him to find out how he views our team and how he wants to utilize all of us.“
- In Kennedy’s article, Kobe Bryant also weighed in on Scott, saying “We’ve had a tremendously close relationship throughout the years. So, obviously I know him extremely well. He knows me extremely well. I’ve always been a fan of his.” Scott an he were teammates during Bryant’s rookie year.
- Hiring Scott was the only move the Lakers could have made to try and salvage a “disastrous” offseason, writes Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register.
And-Ones: Beasley, D-League, Dellavedova
Had Steve Mills not taken a front office job with the Knicks, he’d still be a leading candidate to take over the head of the NBA Player’s Association, writes Keith Schlosser of the Knicks Blog. The strong working relationship Mills has built with Phil Jackson seemingly makes it unlikely he’d consider bowing out from his job in New York to pursue an opportunity with the NBAPA, says Schlosser. Here’s a roundup from around the league:
- Several teams have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Michael Beasley, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Front offices are intrigued by the efficiency and maturity that the former second-overall pick put on display with the Heat last season, hears Kennedy.
- One potential fit for Beasley might be the Lakers, opines Kennedy, who notes that the forward is currently working out with Kevin Durant in Los Angeles (Twitter link).
- Two rule changes are being discussed that would further push the D-League toward a future where one-to-one affiliate relationships exist for every NBA team, sources tell Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. One of the potential changes would expand the amount of players cut from training camp a team could protect with assignment rights, and the other would eliminate the ability for D-League clubs to add players by tryout, tipping the scales further toward one-to-one roster building that more closely resembles a minor league system.
- Pilato adds that the outcome of the Thunder‘s handling of Josh Huestis is a significant factor in whether the D-League, currently without a president, will be further pressed into a one-to-one structure.
- Matthew Dellavedova’s minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed for this season when the Cavs elected to keep him through Friday, according to the data that Mark Deeks of ShamSports compiled.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders looks at the few teams with the mid-level exception still at their disposal, and a handful of free agents that are hoping to be signed in that value range.
Charlie Adams and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Love, Miller, Lakers, Clippers
Kevin Love and the Wolves were likely on the same page regarding his decision to sit out this summer’s Team USA activity, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix gets the sense that both sides were in favor of a cautious approach so that an injury won’t throw a wrench in the trade market for Love. Here’s more from out West:
- The Wolves’ chance to convince Love to remain in Minnesota beyond this season has passed, writes Charley Walters of St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters says the power forward will not be persuaded at this point, and that his preference is to play with LeBron James in Cleveland, which aligns with the rumored trade request we passed along this morning.
- Darius Miller‘s deal with the Pelicans is a two-year, partially guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, according to the New Orleans salary sheet updated by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Pincus grades the Lakers offseason, giving the team poor marks for striking out on their free agent targets, in a piece for the Los Angeles Times.
- Fellow Los Angeles Times scribe Broderick Turner judges the Clippers‘ offseason a modest success. Turner thinks it’s possible the addition of Spencer Hawes could help nudge the team closer to the very top of the Western Conference.