Pacific Notes: Cousins, Johnson, Green
DeAndre Jordan changed the first game of the Spurs series in a positive way for the Clippers, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register chronicles, and his continued presence will be key in Game 2. Of course, whether Jordan is a presence for the Clips beyond this season isn’t known, since he’ll be a free agent, but it’d be tough for L.A. to let him go, since the team already has some $58MM on the books for next season and is without much cap flexibility to replace him. Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- Vivek Ranadive foresees an active offseason for the Kings but can’t envision a DeMarcus Cousins trade, and the Kings owner seemed annoyed Monday that Cousins’ name has been in trade rumors of late, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter links). “I don’t know why that stuff is out there,” Ranadive said.
- Wesley Johnson suggests the constantly changing roles throughout his NBA career have led to his inconsistency, while coach Byron Scott believes part of the problem is “between the ears,” observes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. In any case, the Lakers are on the fence about re-signing Johnson, who’s started 121 games for them the last two seasons, even though he’d like to come back, as Medina details.
- Draymond Green is proving his value once more for the Warriors in their first-round series against the Pelicans, as SB Nation’s Tom Ziller examines. The Warriors have indicated they plan to match any offer for the soon-to-be restricted free agent.
George Lucas To Enter Draft
Brazilian point guard George Lucas will enter this year’s draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Lucas, aka George de Paula, is the 30th-best prospect in this year’s draft according to Givony, but he’s only 59th in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings. Lucas joins two more prospects from overseas entering the draft — fellow Brazilian Lucas Dias, also known as Lucas Dias Silva, and German-born Paul Zipser, both combo forwards, as Givony also reports (Twitter links).
Lucas, who’ll turn 19 next month, has a decent chance to follow the footsteps of Bruno Caboclo from the Brazilian team Pinheiros/Sky to the first round of the draft. The 6’6″ Lucas has size, but he’s played only a total of 26 minutes across six games for Pinheiros/Sky this season, scoring 15 points. He put up three points in nearly 13 minutes of action at the recent Nike Hoops Summit.
Zipser is an athletic small forward who can shoot and defend well, according to Givony, who lists power forward as another NBA positional fit. At 6’8″ and 21 years old, he’s the No. 73 prospect on Givony’s list, while Ford ranks him 99th.
Dias, another Pinheiros/Sky player, saw more action for the team, averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game. The 6’9″ 19-year-old is this year’s 75th-best prospect, according to Givony, while Ford doesn’t have him within his top 100.
International prospects have until June 15th to withdraw from the draft, as our list of draft-related deadlines shows. It wouldn’t be surprising if one or more of these three entrants decide to pull out after taking part in workouts and showcases, though that’s just my speculation. Lucas and Dias intend to participate in the NBA combine and the Adidas EuroCamp if invited, Givony tweets.
Phil Jackson On Draft, Free Agency, Carmelo
The triangle, the presence of Carmelo Anthony, and the past success that Phil Jackson‘s staff has enjoyed will be the selling points for the Knicks in free agency this summer, Jackson said today to reporters, including Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Of course, that staff didn’t have much success this season, a 17-65 debacle for New York, and Jackson acknowledged that he doesn’t expect to suddenly win a title next year, notes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). Instead, the Zen Master is shooting for a playoff berth and a winning record, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal relays (Twitter link). Here’s more from his chat about his plans for achieving that:
- The Knicks will look for defenders and a player who can get to the basket, Jackson said, as Begley notes in a pair of tweets. Jackson also suggested that the team sorely needs a rim-protecting big man, Herring adds (on Twitter).
- Jackson suggested he would be more likely to trade New York’s first-round pick if it falls to fifth, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link). There’s a 12.3% chance the Knicks end up with the fifth pick after the lottery, as the odds show. Should the Knicks keep their pick, a big man will be the priority, Jackson said, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Jackson also indicated that he likes the depth of the draft through the top 15 prospects, as Zagoria passes along (Twitter link).
- Regardless of how the draft shakes out, Jackson doesn’t expect to end up with an immediate game-changer, as Herring relays (Twitter link). “[Our pick] isnt going to step on the court immediately and be an MVP,” Jackson said. “So a lot of our contingencies are on free agency. They have to be.”
- The Knicks may have to “sit on our hands” for a year as their top draft pick develops, Jackson suggested, as Zagoria chronicles in a full piece. “So we’re certainly not going to walk away from a situation like that even if it takes the fact that we might have to sit on our hands for a year in the growth process and watch Carmelo come back off an injury and then regenerate for another year after this, provide more support as we go forward,” Jackson said.
- Jackson seemed to convey a measure of displeasure about Anthony’s decision to play in the All-Star Game despite the ailing knee that kept him out the rest of the season, as Herring relays (Twitter links). Anthony “pushed himself” to play, Jackson said, according to Herring. “[Him playing in the All-Star Game] wasn’t that important to us, but it was important to him,” Jackson said.
- Jackson responded affirmatively when asked if he’d be OK with merely setting the foundation for the Knicks to win a championship rather than winning a title during his time with the team, Herring tweets. Jackson just completed the first year of a five-year contract, and there have been hints that he might not stay the entire term.
Caris LeVert To Stay Out Of Draft
Projected first-round pick Caris LeVert will stay for another year at the University of Michigan rather than enter this year’s draft, the versatile 20-year-old junior announced through the school. LeVert was the No. 24 prospect with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and No. 29 in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles.
The news isn’t altogether surprising, since he suffered a season-ending broken left foot in January, though with Syracuse’s Chris McCullough headed to the draft despite a torn ACL, LeVert wouldn’t have been alone among prospective draftees recovering from serious injuries. LeVert averaged 14.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 35.8 minutes per game to go along with 40.5% three-point shooting for the Wolverines in 18 appearances this season. At 6’7″, he’s a utility player, with Givony listing him as a point guard and a shooting guard while Ford has him as a small forward.
LeVert’s still relatively young and won’t turn 21 until August, so NBA teams will be disinclined to look askance at his age when he’s automatically eligible for the draft as a senior next year. He’s among more than a dozen prospects who were within either Ford’s or Givony’s top 60 to decide against the draft, as our early entrants tracker shows, but few of them were regarded as likely first-rounders like LeVert.
Mike Budenholzer Wins Coach Of The Year
Mike Budenholzer has won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, the league announced. The Hawks bench boss edged first-year Warriors head man Steve Kerr for the honor. Bucks coach Jason Kidd finished a distant third.
Budenholzer took an injury-hit club that finished 38-44 in the regular season to a seventh game against the top-seeded Pacers last season, a playoff performance that foreshadowed what was to come in 2014/15. The Hawks zoomed to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 17-0 January, and they won 19 games in a row, the fifth-longest single-season winning streak in NBA history. Atlanta accomplished those feats and won 60 games without a player widely considered a superstar, and only Al Horford, who makes $12MM, earning as much as $10MM this season.
The success that Budenholzer had on the bench was even more impressive considering the turmoil surrounding the franchise. Controlling owner Bruce Levenson self-reported a racially-charged email and decided to sell the team, and GM Danny Ferry has been on a leave of absence in the wake of his own racially insensitive remarks, leaving Budenholzer as the acting GM in his place. Budenholzer is up for Executive of the Year honors as well, though Hoops Rumors learned that it’s displeased some other executives around the league who wanted the chance to vote for Ferry.
Still, there’s no denying Budenholzer’s qualifications for Coach of the Year in just his second season as an NBA head man. None of the top four finishers, including fourth-place vote-getter Brad Stevens, have more than two years of NBA coaching experience. Fifth on the list is the long-tenured Gregg Popovich, under whom Budenholzer served as an assistant before taking the Hawks job. Budenholzer, Kerr, Kidd, Popovich and Tom Thibodeau were the coaches who received first-place votes. Media members cast the ballots, and the full results are here.
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Bogdanovic, Varnado
Lou Williams paid dividends for the Raptors, and it seems he believes the trade that brought him to Toronto this year was mutually beneficial. The guard reiterated Monday after winning the Sixth Man of the Year award that he wants to re-sign with the Raptors in free agency, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca observes.
“[Staying in Toronto] would be ideal for me,” he said. “Just the culture that they’re building here, just the identity that this team and this town has, I really want to be a part of it. I look forward to it. I don’t want to say hopefully we get something done, I’m really positive that we will get something done. I don’t see why not, at this point. So I just look forward to the future here.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Bojan Bogdanovic struggled in his NBA playoff debut, but a player who has European postseason experience, as Bogdanovic does, has a measure of added value, notes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Bogdanovic is in his first NBA season after signing with the Nets for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception in the summer.
- Jarvis Varnado, who was in camp with the Sixers this past fall, has signed to play in Puerto Rico with Piratas de Quebradillas, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. Varnado also spent time with the Lakers D-League affiliate this season.
- The Sixers, who’ll pay Furkan Aldemir nearly $2.837MM in guaranteed salary next season, didn’t invest much in the former draft-and-stash prospect, but it still seems like too much for a player who showed limited skills, as John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com examines.
And-Ones: Smith, Vipers, Skiles, Lottery
Josh Smith‘s father complimented the Rockets for welcoming his son, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 (second Twitter link). “I cannot speak too much about how well this organization has accepted us as a family and him as a player,” Pete Smith said. “It’s an awesome thing. Now I know what the NBA is all about.” Houston claimed Smith on waivers in December after he was let go by the Pistons. He will become a free agent this summer.
There’s more from around the world of basketball:
- The Rockets have cut ties with D-League coach Nevada Smith of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Vipers are coming off a 27-23 record in Smith’s second season running the team.
- Scott Skiles has tried to campaign a little for the Magic head coaching job, but he wants a measure of personnel control, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. He doesn’t want to replace GM Rob Hennigan, but rather seeks approval over player personnel moves, a job that currently rests with Magic CEO Alex Martins, Kyler explains. Meanwhile, Kyler figures that Michael Malone will interview for both the Magic and the Nuggets coaching jobs, but sources tell him that Malone isn’t as high on either team’s list as some other candidates are. Neither Vinny Del Negro nor Billy Donovan is expected to get serious consideration for either job, Kyler also writes.
- NBA owners refuse to address the problem of tanking, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. He noted that owners passed on a chance to address the issue during a meeting in New York last week. They also nixed proposed reforms to the draft lottery process in October. He speculated that owners might be delaying action until they can study the effects of an upcoming $24 billion television deal and the escalation of the salary cap.
Western Notes: Clippers, Williams, Thunder
Whether the Clippers win or lose their first-round series against the Spurs, don’t expect major changes this summer, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He notes that the team’s stars, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, both have trade kickers in their contracts that would impede any deal. Paul is signed for two more seasons at $44MM total, with a player option for a third. The trade kicker would inflate his salary by 10%. Griffin is under contract for two more years totaling nearly $40MM, also with an option for a third. He has a 15% trade kicker. Deveney says the team has little choice about keeping free agent center DeAndre Jordan, which could involve a five-year commitment topping $100MM, even though the Clippers would be over the luxury tax for the third straight year and would incur a repeater tax if they paid the tax again the next year.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Pelicans coach Monty Williams said he was joking with comments about the noise at Oracle Arena, according to Tom Haberstroh of ESPN. In a press conference before tonight’s playoff game, Williams downplayed comments he made earlier in the day that he wasn’t sure the arena’s decibel level was “legal.” Because Williams is a member of the NBA’s competition committee, his statement could be construed as more than just an idle threat. “It was more of a compliment more than anything,” Williams explained. The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons were punished in February for using artificial noise in their stadium.
- The Thunder’s trade for Enes Kanter solved one problem but created another, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City finally got the post-up scoring threat it needed, but weakened its defense in the process. Kanter came to OKC from the Jazz in a three-team deal at the deadline. Tramel estimates that, even with Kanter’s defensive shortcomings, it will cost the Thunder $12MM to $15MM a year to keep him when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
Pistons Rumors: Drummond, Green, Dinwiddie
The Pistons’ most important offseason negotiations may not involve free agents Greg Monroe or Reggie Jackson, according to David Mayo of MLive. Andre Drummond is about to enter the final year of his rookie contract, which is open to extension through October 31st. Owner Tom Gores recently expressed his desire to keep Drummond in Detroit long-term, calling him “a maximum player.” The tough part may be convincing the young center that he can win if he remains a Piston. “It was a tough situation for us,” Drummond said of the just-completed 32-50 season that was marked by frequent roster changes. “We lost Brandon [Jennings], our chemistry was a little messed up. I’m just going to come back ready for next year and have a good summer.”
There’s more from the Motor City:
- The first item on Drummond’s wish list is Golden State’s free-agent-to-be Draymond Green, writes Kirkland Crawford of The Detroit Free Press. Early Sunday morning, Drummond put up a post on his Twitter account saying, “I want @Money23Green on my team …….,” referencing Green’s Twitter handle. Drummond later deleted that tweet. Green, a former star at Michigan State, has expressed interest in playing for the Pistons, but it will likely take a maximum or near-max offer to acquire his services.
- A knee injury limited him to 34 games, but Spencer Dinwiddie is satisfied with the progress he made in his rookie season, Mayo writes in a separate story. The Pistons used a second-round pick on Dinwiddie, even though he was rehabbing from a major knee injury at Colorado. They signed Dinwiddie to a three-year deal last summer, giving him $700K for the first season and the league minimum for the next two. Coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy said Dinwiddie showed promise as a distributor, but needs to work on his shot. “I don’t think he’s mainly going to be a scorer, but he’s got to make the shots that he gets,” Van Gundy said.
Eastern Notes: Cavs, Riley, Harkless
The Cavs improved their win total over last season’s by 20 games and appear to be the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. LeBron James returning to Cleveland was a huge factor in the team’s improvement, but GM David Griffin deserves credit for the moves he made during the last 14 months, as I wrote in his Executive of the Year Candidate piece.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- President of Basketball Operations Pat Riley may have taken a jab at LeBron James during the Heat’s season ending press conference today, Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald writes. “No more smiling faces with hidden agendas, so we’ll be going in clean,” Riley said in response to a question about the draft. When ask to clarify if that comment was about James, he said, “that could be anyone across the board. I’ve already got about half a dozen emails from people I don’t even know recommending [a player], and somewhere in that email or text is always a smiley.”
- Maurice Harkless regressed during his third season in the league and Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida believes he is unlikely to remain in Orlando long-term. The forward is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
- The Cavs have recalled Joe Harris from their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, according to the team’s website. To date, the guard has played in 48 games for Cleveland this season while seeing only 9.1 minutes per game.