Atlantic Notes: Jackson, Calderon, Celtics
In addition to addressing several Knicks–related topics last week, team president Phil Jackson also touched on the league’s age limit issue, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes.
“When you have 19- and 20 year-old players that are coming in the league, which is what the majority of the draft picks coming into the league right now, it’s really hard to project what that player is going to be in three years, in the first contract situation,” he said. “I think everybody would like to see [an age limit rule] happen, everybody but the agents that are out there making the money. The players’ union is yet to really make a stance in that direction. But they need to do that. I think that’s an important part of it. Once in a while you get a player like a LeBron [James] or a [Kevin] Durant, but that’s few and far between. There are a lot of kids that don’t make it that have to go back and struggle.”
Here’s more on the Zen Master’s team and other items from the Atlantic Division..
- Knicks coach Derek Fisher says the team might shut Jose Calderon down for the season, despite the point guard’s ardent wishes to return to action, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Calderon, who is dealing with a left Achilles tendon strain, will miss his tenth straight game when the Knicks finish their five-game road trip against the Suns. The Knicks have the guard under contract through the 2016/17 season.
- Phil Pressey has rewarded the Celtics‘ faith in him, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. The guard would have been easy to part with given his $816K salary, but he’s still one of the 10 players that remain from the team’s 15-man roster on opening night. The C’s have been so high on Pressey that they’ve parted ways with heftier contracts like that of Vitor Faverani ($2.1MM) and Will Bynum ($2.9MM) in order to keep him in the fold. Now, he’s stepping up big in the absence of deadline acquisition Isaiah Thomas.
- Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside explained how the 76ers struck gold with Robert Covington. Even though the 76ers’ offense has been dreadful on the whole, the D-League standout has had a positive impact on their scoring.
Week In Review: 3/9/15 – 3/15/15
Here’s a look back at the week that was..
- Thunder GM Sam Presti dismissed the idea he’d ever trade Kevin Durant after ESPN analyst and former team exec Tom Penn suggested that he would.
- There’s mutual interest in a new deal between the Pacers and Rodney Stuckey.
- The Bucks are likely to match any offers that restricted free agent Khris Middleton receives during the offseason.
- The union rejected a gradual increase to the salary cap as opposed to a drastic leap for 2016/17.
- Heat president Pat Riley opened up about his reaction to LeBron James‘ departure.
- Despite a projected jump in the salary cap after the 2016 season, Clippers free-agent-to-be DeAndre Jordan has no interest in signing a one-year contract.
- A joint proposal from the NBA, NCAA and the National Association of Basketball Coaches would restore the ability for underclassmen to “test the waters” and retain their college eligibility after declaring for early entry to the NBA draft.
- On Saturday, Bucks coach Jason Kidd said he expected the team to sign Chris Johnson to a second 10-day contract after the first one expires.
- Sergey Karasev is done for the season.
- The Knicks are open to re-signing Andrea Bargnani.
- Rajon Rondo considers it an “honor and a compliment” that Kobe Bryant is trying to recruit him to the Lakers, but the point guard says that his focus is on the present day with the Mavericks.
- Pistons coach/exec Stan Van Gundy hinted at potential interest in Draymond Green.
- The Pistons will sign Quincy Miller to a two-year deal.
- The Nets have backed off their plans to sell.
- There’s mutual interest between the Hawks and Pero Antic in a new deal.
- The Suns signed Earl Barron for the rest of the season.
- The Heat inked Henry Walker to a multiyear deal.
- The Wizards are considering Bobby Brown as they mull options for their lone open roster spot.
- The Lakers signed Jabari Brown to a 10-day deal.
- Jordan Crawford has been acquired by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants via the D-League’s waiver process.
- The Suns signed Seth Curry to a 10-day deal.
- Raptors GM Masai Ujiri vowed to add Canadian players to his roster.
- The Bucks will spread the remainder of Larry Sanders‘ terminated deal over seven years.
- The Pelicans signed guard Elliot Williams to a second 10-day contract.
- Austin Daye will sign a 10-day contract with the Hawks.
- The Wizards signed Toure’ Murry to a 10-day deal.
- Luke Ridnour is considering retirement.
Celtics Notes: Stevens, Zeller, Thomas
The Celtics are in the heat of the playoff race and the Boston’s success in back-to-back games has been key to the team remaining in contention, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. After Saturday’s win over the Pacers, the team owns a record of 9-5 in the tail-end of back-to-back games this season. Boston is 29-36 on the season, which is a half game behind Charlotte for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more out of Boston:
- Brad Stevens doesn’t have the great win-loss record in the NBA that he had in the college ranks, but this season’s success has proven that he is more than capable to coach at any level, opines Mark Montieth of Pacers.com. The Celtics traded their top two players in Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green and lost Jared Sullinger, who was arguably the team’s third best player, for the season due to injury. As a result, Stevens was left with a team mostly full of young, yet unproven talent and he put the team in good position to be playoff bound.
- Tyler Zeller is having a solid season for the Celtics and, as Zach Lowe of Grantland notes (Twitter link), Boston used its cap flexibility to acquire the center last offseason. The team used a trade exception from the Paul Pierce deal worth nearly $10.3MM to obtain Zeller, Marcus Thornton and a protected first-round pick. At the trade deadline this season, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge dealt Thornton and that draft pick to acquire Isaiah Thomas from the Suns.
- Boston is 9-5 since dealing for Thomas. The 26-year-old is averaging 21.4 points and 5.4 assists per game and I believe that he will be the team’s starting point guard next season. Thomas will make slightly more than $6.91MM next season as part of a four-year, $27MM contract that he signed last offseason. In comparison to the salaries of other starting point guards, which can be found on our 2015/16 Salary Rankings, that deal looks to be extremely team-friendly.
Hawks Sign Austin Daye To 10-Day Contract
SUNDAY, 12:07pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
SATURDAY, 12:31pm: Austin Daye will sign a 10-day contract with the Hawks, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. The Hawks needed depth at the forward position after Mike Scott broke the big toe on his left foot this week. Daye was playing for the team’s D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, where he averaged 16.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in 10 games.
Daye was waived in January by the Spurs after appearing in 26 games this season, averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in those contests. Daye, a first-round pick by the Pistons in 2009, has also played for the Grizzlies and Raptors over the past three seasons. Daye can play either forward spot and gives the Hawks another 3-point threat. He’s a 35.2% shooter from long range over his career.
Scott, who was averaging 7.5 points and 2.7 rebounds, is out indefinitely, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The club decided not to re-sign guard Jarell Eddie to a second 10-day contract on Saturday because of Scott’s injury.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Kanter, Gasol
Kevin Durant has returned to practice for the first time since his latest surgery, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman reports. “ [Durant] Went through some of the practice today,” coach Scott Brooks said. “Did some 3-on-3.” Oklahoma City is 18-20 on the season without Durant in the lineup. Russell Westbrook has played in 22 of those games and the team has gone during 12-10 during those contests.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division
- Since his arrival in Oklahoma City, Enes Kanter is playing more minutes at the center position and the big man is happy with his role, Slater notes in the same piece. “Only thing I want to do is give confidence to my teammates,” Kanter said. “Every time down the court I want them to take those shots. I want the point guards, the forwards to feel free to take those shots and know that the big is down there trying to get that rebound.” Kanter is averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game since becoming a member of the Thunder.
- The Thunder made a hard push to sign Pau Gasol last offseason. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Scott Brooks all met with Gasol in Los Angeles in an attempt to recruit him to Oklahoma City, but, as the big man tells Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman, he’s happy with the decision he made. “At some point I had to make a decision on where I thought I would fit better as a basketball player,” Gasol said. “And I think so far it’s been proven that I made a pretty good choice.” The 34-year-old ended up signing a contract with the Bulls that will pay him roughly $22MM over three years.
- Justin Hamilton has fit in well since arriving in Minnesota, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “He knows how to play,” President of Basketball Operations and coach Flip Saunders said. “Sometimes you need to put some guys in there who won’t screw it up for somebody else. Sometimes you just need a guy you can put in there. He’s a 7-foot Robbie Hummel. He’s going to go in there, know every coverage and what he needs to do. If he gets beat, it won’t be because he made a mental mistake.” The Wolves claimed Hamilton after the Pelicans waived him earlier this month.
Bucks Likely To Match All Offers For Middleton
The Bucks are likely to match any offers that restricted free agent Khris Middleton receives during the offseason, according to Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times. One NBA assistant general manager tells Woelfel that he estimates Middleton will receive a multi-year contract that averages around $7MM per year, while another NBA source predicts the 23-year-old will earn $8MM per year.
Those figures would be a dramatic raise over his current league minimum salary, which is slightly more the $915K. The forward has played well for the Bucks this season, averaging 12.9 points per game while shooting 43.8% from behind the arc. Middleton has expressed his desire to remain in town long-term. “I definitely want to stay here,’’ Middleton said. “We got a nice team, a good organization, a great city to play in. I want to be here in the future.’’
Woelfel notes that Middleton is represented by Jeff Schwartz, who is a friend of Bucks owner Marc Lasry. Schwartz also represents coach Jason Kidd as well as several other Bucks players. The forward arrived in Milwaukee during the 2013 offseason as part of a package that sent Brandon Jennings to Detroit. The Bucks also received Viacheslav Kravtsov as well as Brandon Knight, who, at the time, was considered the main prize of the deal. Middleton, who was perceived as merely a throw-in, is the only member of the trade remaining on the team’s roster.
Central Notes: Jackson, Bulls, Love, Pacers
The Pistons are only 1-10 since Reggie Jackson made his debut. The team parted with D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler to obtain the point guard at this year’s deadline and Jackson hasn’t been spectacular since coming to Detroit, especially on the defensive end. However, I believe the team’s woes have just as much to do with losing Singler as they do with Jackson’s struggles. The Pistons did not have much depth before the deadline and making a two-for-one trade further diminished an area of weakness. Detroit sits at 23-43 on the season, which is seven games behind Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls have lost four out of their last five games and coach Tom Thibodeau is concerned about how the team is playing, writes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. “Everyone is going through the same thing right now, you’re headed down the stretch,” Thibodeau said. “So if your house is not in order now, you’re in trouble.” Chicago currently has a 14-man roster, as our Expanded Roster Counts Page indicates. Adding someone, even on a 10-day contract, to help the team while Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler recover from their respective injuries, may be something the team should look into.
- The Cavs‘ recent stretch of success has helped Kevin Love cope with his struggles this season, writes Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. “Everything is easier when you’re winning,” Love said. “So you can have some really good games, and then some tough times. The rotation might be different. But as long as you’re winning, it kind of makes up for everything. And that’s the kind of way it’s been here.” In my latest poll, nearly 60% of Hoops Rumors’ readers believe Love will leave Cleveland in the offseason.
- Paul George‘s return may be dominating headlines in Indiana, but the team is focused on making the playoffs with the players currently on the court, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com. “Honestly, we’re not even thinking about Paul right now,” coach Frank Vogel said. “How effective is he going to be having not played in a year? This is a serious injury. He still has a lot of hurdles to pass before he even gets back on the court. We’re trying to become the best possible team we can be without him and if he gets back, that’s just going to be a bonus.” The Pacers own a record of 30-35, which is good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
And-Ones: Wright, Kuzmic, McAdoo, Cooley
After changing teams twice this season, Brandan Wright hopes his long-term future is in Phoenix, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Wright started the year in Dallas, was traded to Boston on December 18th and then shipped to the Suns on January 9th. He believes he has found a home in Phoenix, even with the team’s recent struggles. “It’s been unfortunate where we’ve had a lot of change around here and haven’t got into the best of rhythms,” Wright admits. “I’m looking forward to the future. Hopefully, I’ll re-sign here and we’ll move forward.”
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- The Warriors recalled center Ognjen Kuzmic from the D-League, the team announced in a press release Saturday. In 24 games with the team’s Santa Cruz affiliate, Kuzmic is averaging 12 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.08 blocks per game. He has been in 16 games with Golden State this season, averaging 4.5 minutes of playing time with 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds.
- James Michael McAdoo, who was sent to the D-League Saturday, is apparently still in the Warriors‘ plans, tweets Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle. “He could absolutely play in the playoffs,” said coach Steve Kerr.
- The Warriors are staying with the original timeline for completion of their new arena, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Majority owner Joe Lacob says the arena remains “on target” for a 2018/19 opening.
- Jack Cooley set a D-League record with 29 rebounds Friday night, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Cooley, playing for Utah’s affiliate in Idaho, is averaging 23 points and 19.6 boards in his last five games. He was with the Jazz on a 10-day contract last month.
Western Notes: Griffin, Jordan, Nurkic, Lakers
The Clippers‘ Blake Griffin will return to action soon, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Griffin, sidelined for five weeks with a staph infection in his right elbow, could be ready for Sunday’s game with the Rockets. If not, the team expects to have him Tuesday against the Hornets. A final decision on Griffin will be made Sunday morning, tweets Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Despite a projected jump in the salary cap after the 2016 season, Clippers free-agent-to-be DeAndre Jordan has no interest in signing a one-year contract, reports Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Jordan, one of the favorites for the Defensive Player of the Year award, is likely to get a maximum deal this summer. “I’m not going to be greedy and sign a one-year deal,” Jordan said. “Nah. I’m just focused on getting it over with and focusing on playing again. I’m just trying to win here.”
- Despite being nearly 7 feet tall and weighing 280 pounds, center Jusuf Nurkic fits into the Nuggets‘ running game, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Interim coach Melvin Hunt has increased the tempo since taking over in Denver, and he says Nurkic has no problem keeping up. “Jusuf Nurkic is built to run,” Hunt said. “Don’t let it fool you with the big body he has. He likes a fast-tempo game. Look at the way he guards the pick-and-roll and look how fast his hands are. He has incredible hands and feet. Sometimes he gets a little bored when it’s a slow-tempo game.”
- Lakers coach Byron Scott described his team as “selfish” and “not very bright” after Thursday’s loss to the Knicks, writes Jovan Buha in a special report for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Scott didn’t mention any players by name, but expressed frustration that his team is losing winnable games. “I thought we came in with a lack of respect for a team that had beaten us in New York,” he said. “We can’t afford to look at teams’ records and think, ‘OK, their record is worse than us, so we’re a better team than they are.’”
Atlantic Notes: Noel, Young, Pressey, Turner
Nerlens Noel hopes to be a part of the Sixers‘ long-term plans, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Noel, technically still a rookie after sitting out last season with an injury, has seen a lot of change during his brief time in Philadelphia. But he hopes the Sixers’ core group will stay together, even if the team brings in someone like Duke’s Jahlil Okafor with a high draft pick. “I really hope nothing happens,” Noel said. “I like this team. I like what we’re building. I hope we can stick together and continue to grow.”
There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:
- Former Sixer Thaddeus Young, now with the Nets, told Moore he hasn’t made up his mind about free agency this summer (Twitter link). “I’m not a free agent [yet],” Young said. “I have to [decline] my option” to become a free agent. Young will make more than $9.7MM next season if he doesn’t opt out.
- An occasional great game helps the Celtics‘ Phil Pressey deal with the frustration of being stuck on the bench, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. The second-year guard may not be in Boston’s regular rotation, but he made his presence known with a 10-point, 10-assist performance Friday against Orlando. Coach Brad Stevens has noticed Pressey’s effort. “He works the right way,” Stevens said. “If he doesn’t play he’s the loudest guy on the bench, and if he does play he’s an energizer. And he’s not going to play perfect, but nobody is, and if you can sustain that and not get down and be confident there’s always a role for him. And that’s a great compliment.”
- Pacers coach Frank Vogel admits current Celtics guard Evan Turner was a bad fit in Indiana last season, tweets Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. “If I needed a guy and wanted to put the ball in his hands 30-40 times,” Vogel said, “he would’ve been the guy.” (Twitter link). But the coach added that wasn’t what the Pacers needed last season. (Twitter link).