Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Celtics, Clark
Sixers draftee Joel Embiid‘s weight is finally getting down into the range that the team is comfortable with, which pleases coach Brett Brown, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “He’s ticking boxes in regards to increased time on the court and reduced weight,” Brown said of the rookie center. “His weight is going down. His needle is clearly pointing in the right direction. And you heard me say this a lot lately, he’s setting the stage for a great summer. He sees his reward will be summer league, trying to get ready to actually play again.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein would fit with the Knicks. Herring posits that New York could look to select the big man if they fall out of the top three picks in the draft lottery.
- Celtics team president Danny Ainge believes that he’ll learn a lot about the makeup of his players whether or not Boston secures a playoff spot this season, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com writes. “I’m not really hanging on [making the playoffs]. I think it’s a great opportunity for me to evaluate and Brad [Stevens] to evaluate what we’re made of, who can step it up, players that can play meaningful minutes,” Ainge said. “And our young guys can learn through this, you don’t judge them from one game to the next, but see how our guys react and bounce back from difficult losses and bad performances. So far our guys have passed the test. So I’m excited about the next ten games, like you said. We do control our own destiny. We have a tough schedule ahead of us still and I’m excited about that.“
- Earl Clark, who inked a 10-day deal with the Nets today, says that he’s surprised to be with the team, Rod Boone of Newsday tweets. Clark says that he was at home working out when his agent called and told him to pack for Brooklyn, Boone adds.
Poll: Do Thunder Need Upgrades To Win In 2016?
Kevin Durant is done for this season thanks to the broken foot that had already limited him to just 27 games, leaving just one season for Durant to help the Thunder to a title before his contract expires. There’s little clarity on whether he’s leaning toward re-signing with the team or not, so uncertainty clouds the summer of 2016, when the salary cap is projected to jump to near $90MM, with most teams possessing enough cap flexibility to lure Durant with a max offer.
What is clear is that the Thunder aren’t trading Durant out of fear that he’ll leave them, with GM Sam Presti having recently referred to the idea as “ludicrous.” That signals that the Thunder will keep trying to build around him, as they’ve done for the past several years to mixed results. The Thunder made it to the Finals in 2012 with a core of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka, but the decision to trade Harden before the next season began has turned out poorly, and Oklahoma City hasn’t been back to the Finals since.
Harden has developed into an MVP candidate, but so has Westbrook, and Durant won the MVP last season. The Thunder went over the tax threshold to acquire Dion Waiters in January, and while that move hasn’t exactly been a revolutionary upgrade, Presti kept tinkering, sending out Reggie Jackson for fellow soon-to-be restricted free agent Enes Kanter and bench help at the deadline. Kanter’s performed well offensively and on the boards, having put up 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds in 16 games as a member of the Thunder. Oklahoma City will have to pay to keep the young big man, who turns 23 in May, and with more than $78MM in guaranteed salary already committed for next season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows, the cost of keeping the Thunder together is high.
So, too, would be the psychological and historical cost to the franchise if Durant leaves without having delivered a Larry O’Brien trophy. The Thunder have 13 players on guaranteed contracts for next season, an unusually large number. It would be easy to re-sign Kanter or match another team’s offer sheet for him, bring back everyone else and make a run at the 2016 title with a healthy Durant. But the Thunder probably wouldn’t be the favorites to win it all if they did that, not with LeBron James leading another supercharged Cavs team and the Warriors well-positioned to keep on winning.
So, perhaps Presti should get aggressive this summer. There are trade rumors surrounding DeMarcus Cousins, so maybe the Thunder should see what it would take to shake him loose from Sacramento. The past two No. 1 overall picks and the reigning Rookie of the Year have all been traded with the past seven months, so elite young talent could be available. The Warriors were similarly capped out in 2013 when they worked a sign-and-trade that netted Andre Iguodala, who’s one of the keys to a roster that’s the best in the Western Conference this season. So, the Thunder aren’t necessarily out of the mix for this summer’s top free agents.
Tell us what you think. Should Presti bring back Kanter, keep the rest of the team intact and prepare for one more run with a largely unchanged cast? Or should he be bold and make a play for a better complement to Durant before the star forward’s contract runs out? Let us know, and elaborate on your choice in the comments.
Should The Thunder Make Big Changes Around Kevin Durant For Next Season?
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Yes 59% (196)
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No 41% (134)
Total votes: 330
Draft Notes: Mudiay, Maker, Russell, Looney
Emmanuel Mudiay isn’t sure he’d recommend playing overseas to other top draft prospects, particularly those who wouldn’t merit the kind of high-dollar deal he received, but he has no regrets about his decision to play in China instead of at SMU, as he tells Evan Daniels of Scout.com.
“I was playing against 30-year old men that are trying to feed their family,” he said, answering affirmatively when Daniels asked if he feels he has an edge on prospects from the NCAA. “In college, they are trying to get an education and try to get a job after that. I was put in a job position.
Mudiay told Daniels that he’s heard that elite 2016 draft prospect Thon Maker is thinking about playing overseas, though Mudiay’s not sure if that’s the case. Either way, here’s more on the draft, with just 12 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament:
- Chris Mannix of SI.com looks at Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell, Mudiay’s primary challenger to become the first point guard drafted in June and a prospect who’s impressed at least one NBA GM with a level of court awareness beyond his years.
- There’s a wide range of opinion on the draft stock of UCLA power forward Kevon Looney, whom Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks as the seventh most well-regarded prospect while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 19th. Ford and ESPN.com colleague Kevin Pelton debate the merits of the 19-year-old who’ll probably take a while to develop regardless of his potential, as they write in an Insider-only piece.
- Stanley Johnson doesn’t have flashy numbers, but he and his game have matured in his freshman season at Arizona, as Zach Hefland of the Los Angeles Times examines. The small forward is the No. 6 prospect in Givony’s rankings and No. 12 with Ford. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors has him sixth in our Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
- Nigel Williams-Goss makes a habit of outperforming expectations, and while he isn’t a highly regarded NBA prospect, there are at least a few people around the game who are confident he can make it in the pros, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. The University of Washington sophomore told Haynes that he isn’t sure whether he’ll stay in college another year or declare for the draft.
Cavs Notes: Gilbert, Irving, J.R. Smith, Lue
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is a nine on a scale of one to 10 in terms of an owner’s involvement in his team, with the ubiquitous Mark Cuban a 10, a prominent agent tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Gilbert was the only Cavs representative in his pitch meeting to LeBron James when the four-time MVP was a free agent last summer, and the owner was alone with GM David Griffin when they helped convince Kevin Love to accept a trade later this past summer, according to Windhorst. Gilbert insists he’s not so hands-on, but his ballooning net worth and willingness to spend it on the Cavs has played a major role in the team’s rise to prominence, as Windhorst details. Here’s more from around Cleveland:
- Kyrie Irving hasn’t had nearly the trouble meshing with James as Love has, Fred Kerber of the New York Post examines. That’s surely a relief for the Cavs, who committed a five-year extension to Irving this past summer that won’t kick in until next season.
- The Knicks’ division championship of two years ago is but a memory to J.R. Smith, who isn’t high on the return the Knicks got when they traded him to the Cavs in January, as Kerber notes in the same piece. “It seems extremely distant, like one of the first years I was in the league, that’s how far back it seems,” Smith said. “Honestly, I don’t really think about it. If anything, it’s their fault for making a bad business move, I guess.”
- Assistant coach Tyronn Lue has been instrumental in keeping the Cavs’ locker room together, as Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that tabs Lue as one of the league’s top head coaching prospects. Cleveland made Lue the highest-paid assistant of all-time this past summer. “He respects the work that’s required to do the job and he has the gift of being able to verbalize things to players in a straightforward way without being offensive,” said Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, Lue’s former boss. “He sees things in games a lot of people can’t see. He’d see opportunities for us — in games, watching film, observing — and would bring them to me. He has a chance to be very special.“
Wizards Sign Will Bynum To 10-Day Contract
The Wizards have officially signed Will Bynum to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release, a statement that also formalized the termination of Toure’ Murry‘s second 10-day contract with the club. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post originally reported both moves late Thursday. Bynum and the Wizards have been linked for quite some time as the point guard had seemingly been the team’s top target since at least the beginning of February. Shams Charania of RealGM first reported in January about Washington’s interest in Bynum, who’d been playing for China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Bynum, 32, signed his Chinese deal, a guaranteed arrangement reportedly worth more than a $1MM, in December after spending about a month as a free agent following his release from the Celtics just before opening night. Boston had acquired the seven-year NBA veteran from the Pistons, his longtime team, via trade earlier that month. He put up 22.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.2 turnovers in 32.1 minutes per game for Guangdong, which strung together the majority of its 26-game winning streak with Bynum on the roster. There was reportedly mutual interest that developed between the Cavs and Bynum while he was overseas, but Cleveland’s addition of Kendrick Perkins, who filled the team’s last open roster spot, seemingly put the Cavs out of the mix. A hamstring injury had Washington looking at Bobby Brown and eventually led the Wizards to Murry, but the team never lost interest in Bynum.
Washington slides Bynum into its only roster spot not occupied by a player who has a contract that runs through at least the end of the season. It’s somewhat surprising to see the Wizards give the point guard only a 10-day deal, given the team’s longstanding interest, but it allows for maximum flexibility, and it seems likely that the team will retain Bynum once his short-term deal is up, though that’s just my speculation.
Wizards Release Toure’ Murry
FRIDAY, 10:59am: Murry’s subtraction is official, the team announced via press release.
THURSDAY, 8:20pm: The Wizards intend to ink Bynum to a deal, Castillo tweets.
8:13pm: The Wizards intend to release Toure’ Murry, who is on his second 10-day deal with the club, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post tweets. Murry has a sprained ankle and Bradley Beal is expected to miss time with ankle woes of his own, so Washington will need to add some backcourt depth as a result, Castillo adds. The Wizards’ roster count currently sits at the league maximum of 15 players.
There’s a possibility that Washington will try to add free agent Will Bynum to its roster, Castillo adds. The Wizards will look to the D-League for help if Bynum isn’t signed, the Washington Post scribe notes. Bynum came free from his Chinese team at the beginning of March following the club’s playoff elimination. In 353 career NBA games the 32-year-old has averaged 8.2 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. His last appearance in the league came with the Pistons during the 2013/14 campaign.
Murry, 25, saw one single minute of action for the Jazz earlier this season before he was waived, much to the chagrin of his agent Bernie Lee, who didn’t think Murry was given a fair chance in Utah. He appeared in four contests for the Wizards, averaging 1.5 points in 4.3 minutes per game. The Wizards could still look to ink Murry for the remainder of the season if his ankle heals and Bynum isn’t signed, Castillo notes.
Suns Tops In Newcomers Since Start Of Season
The Suns have done a lot of roster shuffling this season to reach more or less the same point. Phoenix was widely expected when 2014/15 began to fall somewhere near the final playoff berth in the Western Conference, just as the team did last year, and that’s right where the Suns are, three games out of eighth place. They nonetheless have a league-high seven players who weren’t around for opening night, thanks in large measure to six trades, including three on deadline day. The likes of Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas have given way to Brandon Knight and Brandan Wright, but the Suns are more or less right where they started.
A pair of new coaches who also run the basketball operations for their teams have been active as well. Stan Van Gundy and Flip Saunders have brought six new players apiece to their respective rosters since the beginning of the season, though neither the Pistons nor the Timberwolves are playoff-bound. The same is true of the Sixers, who have just as many new faces, to no one’s surprise. By contrast, the Heat, whose most significant move was either acquiring Dragic from the Suns or signing Hassan Whiteside midseason, are in position to make the postseason with six players who weren’t around on opening night.
They’re competing for a playoff spot with the Pacers, who clearly haven’t panicked with Paul George out. Indiana picked up A.J. Price earlier this season via the hardship exception, letting him go when some of the team’s other injured players returned. Aside from that, the Pacers have stood pat in the face of a trying season. The Magic haven’t touched their roster all year, instead seemingly placing the blame for their continued struggles on Jacque Vaughn, whom they fired as coach. The Bulls and Raptors have high hopes for deep playoff runs, but neither team has anyone it didn’t have when the season began.
Here’s a look at how each team stacks up in terms of additions since the beginning of the season, categorized by the volume of new players. Those on 10-day contracts have an asterisk by their names.
Seven newcomers
- Suns (Earl Barron, Reggie Bullock, Danny Granger, Brandon Knight, *-A.J. Price, Marcus Thornton, Brandan Wright)
Six newcomers
- 76ers (Furkan Aldemir, Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Glenn Robinson III, Thomas Robinson, Ish Smith)
- Heat, (Michael Beasley, Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Henry Walker, Hassan Whiteside)
- Pistons, (Reggie Jackson, John Lucas III, Quincy Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Anthony Tolliver, Shawne Williams)
Five newcomers
- Celtics (Jae Crowder, Gigi Datome, Jonas Jerebko, Shavlik Randolph, Isaiah Thomas)
- Jazz (Jack Cooley, Bryce Cotton, Grant Jerrett, Chris Johnson, Elijah Millsap)
- Knicks (Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway, *-Ricky Ledo, Alexey Shved, Lance Thomas)
- Mavericks (J.J. Barea, Bernard James, Dwight Powell, Rajon Rondo, Amar’e Stoudemire)
- Thunder (D.J. Augustin, Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, Kyle Singler, Dion Waiters)
- Timberwolves (Lorenzo Brown, Kevin Garnett, Justin Hamilton, *-Sean Kilpatrick, Adreian Payne)
Four newcomers
- Cavaliers (Timofey Mozgov, Kendrick Perkins, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith)
- Rockets (Corey Brewer, K.J. McDaniels, Pablo Prigioni, Josh Smith)
- Pelicans (Norris Cole, Dante Cunningham, Toney Douglas, Quincy Pondexter)
Three newcomers
- Bucks (Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee)
- Clippers (Jordan Hamilton, Dahntay Jones, Austin Rivers)
- Grizzlies (JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, Russ Smith)
- Nets (*-Earl Clark, Darius Morris, Thaddeus Young)
- Nuggets (Will Barton, Joffrey Lauvergne, Jameer Nelson)
Two newcomers
- Hornets (Mo Williams, Troy Daniels)
- Kings (Andre Miller, *-David Wear)
- Lakers (Tarik Black, *-Jabari Brown)
- Trail Blazers (Arron Afflalo, Alonzo Gee)
- Wizards (*-Will Bynum, Ramon Sessions)
One newcomer
- Hawks (*-Austin Daye)
- Spurs (Reggie Williams)
- Warriors (James Michael McAdoo)
No newcomers
- Bulls
- Magic
- Pacers
- Raptors
Nets Sign Earl Clark To 10-Day Contract
The Nets have signed Earl Clark to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release. The 27-year-old had been a free agent following a stint with China’s Shandong Lions. Brooklyn had an open roster spot, so there’s no need for a corresponding move.
The five-year veteran is poised to see his first action of the regular season with the Nets after failing to make it to opening night with either the Grizzlies, who signed him to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp, or the Rockets, who grabbed him off waivers in late October. Houston released him just a few days later.
The combo forward spent a brief time in the D-League with the affiliate of the Rockets, racking up 26.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in 34.3 minutes over six appearances. The Lakers appeared poised to sign him in late November, but they never did, and by the middle of December he was off to China, where the former 14th overall pick once more shined against weaker competition. He put up 26.4 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 32.6 MPG with impressive 44.7% three-point shooting for Shandong.
Clark struggled to find NBA work this season, little more than a year removed from having signed a two-year, $8.5MM deal with the Cavs after a strong season as a member of the Lakers. The Cavs traded him to the Sixers midway through year one of that contract, which was non-guaranteed for year two. That saved the Sixers some cash when they waived him right after the trade. He inked a pair of 10-day contracts soon thereafter with the Knicks, and it was on those brief deals that he saw his last official NBA action.
The Nets, fighting for a playoff berth, will be without Thaddeus Young tonight against the Cavs. There’s a distinct possibility that the injury led directly to the signing. Young is at shootaround this morning and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get into the game, tweets Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
Pacific Notes: Robinson, Clippers, Warriors
On February 6th against the Jazz, Marcus Morris became the first Suns player to have at least 30 points and 10 rebounds off the bench since Danny Manning did so in 1997. In many ways, it was a confirmation of what he and his teammates already knew: Morris was not a fluke in his previous games as a reserve, Ben York of NBA.com writes. Currently, Morris is averaging career-highs in points (10.4 PPG), field goal percentage (44.3%), rebounds (4.5 RPG), and assists (1.6 APG). Here’s more from the Pacific Division..
- Nate Robinson‘s second 10-day deal expired on Thursday and he will not be re-signed by the Clippers just yet due to his sore left knee, a league spokesman told Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. The spokesman said the Clippers will see how Robinson’s knee is recovering before making a decision on whether to bring him back for the rest of the season. The guard averaged 5.1 PPG and 2.2 APG across nine games for the Clippers but had to sit out of Wednesday night’s contest against the Knicks due to the injury.
- Earlier this week, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said “there’s a chance” that Jamal Crawford will not return this season, but the guard doesn’t agree, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times writes. When asked whether he was concerned his calf injury might end his season, Crawford said, “No, I’m not worried. I believe I’ll be fine.” The veteran has averaged 16.4 PPG this season.
- Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com conducted a very interesting Q&A with Warriors GM Bob Myers. The chat touched on his relationship with coach (and former GM) Steve Kerr and the team’s previous pursuit of DeAndre Jordan.
D-League Notes: Powell, Nogueira, Jerrett
The D-League continues to be 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:
- The Raptors have recalled center Lucas Nogueira from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced on Twitter. This concludes Nogueira’s second trip of the season to the D-League, where in four contests he averaged 8.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in 20.0 minutes per night.
- Kyle Anderson has been assigned by the Spurs to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Anderson’s fifth jaunt to the D-League this season.
- The Mavericks have recalled Dwight Powell from the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reports (Twitter link). Powell has made a dozen trips to the D-League this season.
- Grant Jerrett has been assigned by the Jazz to the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the forward’s tenth sojourn of the season to the D-League.
- The Pistons have recalled Quincy Miller from the Grand Rapids Drive, their D-League affiliate, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter link).