Central Notes: Middleton, Harris, Gasol
Soon-to-be restricted free agent Khris Middleton is in line for salaries of around $10MM this summer, several GMs and other executives tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. Middleton said to Scotto that he would love to return to the Bucks but insists he’ll keep his options open. Still, multiple league sources tell Scotto that Middleton won’t be going anywhere, a sign that the Bucks intend to exercise their right to match any offer for him.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- A new arena in Milwaukee has seemed well on its way, but Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times has some doubt for the first time about whether the project will come to fruition, given the resistance that public funding has met in the Wisconsin state legislature. The NBA has the right to seize control of the Bucks if an arena deal isn’t in place by November 2017.
- The Cavaliers have recalled guard Joe Harris from the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Harris has played in three playoff games for the Charge this season, averaging 17.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game.
- Pau Gasol has enjoyed a career resurgence in his first season with the Bulls, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes. “This season has been extremely positive individually,” Gasol said. “I’m just happy that I’m playing at this level and accomplishing things I haven’t done in the past, which is pretty remarkable at this stage of my career. I just want to continue to work and stay focused and extend my level of play as long as I can.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Prospect Profile: Kelly Oubre
When Kelly Oubre committed to attend Kansas last year he was following hot on the heels of Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2014 NBA draft. While Oubre’s arrival in Lawrence didn’t have quite the same amount of hype that accompanied Wiggins’, the expectations for the young wing were high, nevertheless. Unfortunately for the player and the Jayhawks, Oubre never quite lived up to his billing as the No. 8 player in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school last year. It was a roller coaster season for the 6’7″ forward, and one that culminated with Oubre declaring that he was leaving Kansas and entering the 2015 draft.
It’s not a surprise that Oubre decided to end his collegiate career after a lone season since prospects of his particular talent level don’t tend to become sophomores very often these days. But the 19-year-old would have benefited immensely from another season under coach Bill Self‘s tutelage, as well as improved his likely draft position in the process. Oubre’s stats on the season were hardly eye-popping, with the player appearing in 36 contests and averaging 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1.1 steals in 21.0 minutes per game. His slash line for the campaign was .444/.358/.718.
The wing’s numbers weren’t diminished by playing in a platoon system like that of Kentucky’s, but rather because Self made Oubre earn his way onto the court at the beginning of the season. Oubre only logged in excess of 10 minutes in a game twice during his first seven contests, averaging a paltry 2.1 points per game during those cameo appearances. But Self’s reticence to play his young player appeared quite justified since Oubre looked lost on both ends of the court more often than not during this stretch. While he eventually showed flashes of the talent that had him projected as a top five pick prior to the season, Oubre didn’t have a great campaign overall, and ended it with a nine point effort in Kansas’ NCAA tournament loss to Wichita State.
Oubre possesses the prototypical tools for a NBA wing player, opines Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. The swingman’s measurements have him listed as standing 6’7″ in shoes, with a wingspan measuring between 7’1″ and 7’2″, Givony notes. While Oubre isn’t quite an elite athlete, he is a quick and fluid player who moves extremely well without the ball and in transition. He possesses a sweet 3-point stroke and is a strong perimeter defender, a skill that should translate well to the NBA, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes.
Offensively, Oubre’s most NBA-ready attribute is likely his jump-shot, as he has soft touch, natural scoring instincts, a nice follow through, and smooth mechanics when in rhythm, Givony adds. The lefty is bit of a gunner though, and he has a tendency to fire away with ill-advised jump shots instead of trying to beat his man off of the dribble. Oubre doesn’t have a solid midrange game, and he is the kind of player who’s either launching a 3 or dunking at the rim, Ford notes. The ESPN scribe also adds that Oubre’s personality can be polarizing, and he resembles the Cavs’ J.R. Smith in game as well as demeanor.
The 19-year-old isn’t a strong ball-handler yet, and he has a fairly high dribble that slows him down off the bounce and works against his athleticism, Givony notes. Oubre has difficulty driving and finishing with his right hand, which hinders him in half court sets when he tries to get to the rim, the DraftExpress scribe adds. Givony also notes that Oubre is just an average finisher when he does venture into the paint, making only 53% of his shots when around the basket.
While he may have entered college a potential top five pick, Oubre is no longer expected to be taken quite that high come June. ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) ranks him as the No. 12 overall prospect while DraftExpress.com slots Oubre at No. 13. It’s the swingman’s distinct lack of consistency which characterized Oubre’s season, which led to the slide, not a lack of talent. That is a commodity the young player happens to possesses an abundance of, though it will require a patient NBA team to maximize.
In a draft that currently has Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, and Mario Hezonja ranked ahead of him at the wing, Oubre may have been better served to bide his time in school until 2016, which is currently projected to be a weaker draft than this year’s. The pre-draft workouts will be vital for Oubre, especially when he goes head to head with some of the other wings also vying for draft position. Oubre’s ceiling might just be the highest out of any of the rookie small forwards entering the league, but it will likely take Oubre a number of seasons to reach that level. My prediction is that Oubre’s the third wing taken off the board after Winslow and Johnson, and that he’ll hear his name called toward the end of the lottery.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Draft Notes: Harley, Brown, Payne
French swingman Kévin Harley is entering this year’s draft, agent Olivier Mazet announced via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 20-year-old is the 17th-best overseas prospect born in 1994, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, but he’s otherwise unranked by either Givony or Ford. That suggests there’s a strong chance that Harley will withdraw by June 15th, the deadline for international prospects to do so, though that’s just my speculation.
Here’s more new regarding the 2015 NBA draft:
- Stanford senior guard Anthony Brown has hired agent Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports Management, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. DraftExpress.com ranks Brown as the No. 41 overall prospect and ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) places him 61st.
- Murray State sophomore Cameron Payne has hired Travis King of Relativity Sports as his agent, Goodman reports (Twitter link). Payne is the No. 22 ranked prospect by both Ford and Givony.
- In a separate article Ford (Insider subscription required) ran down the 10 best international prospects in this year’s draft, including Emmanuel Mudiay, Kristaps Porzingis, and Zhou Qi.
- Derek Bodner of USA Today looks at a number of early draft entrants and if they made the correct decision to leave school. You can review the full list of early entrants for the 2015 NBA draft here.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Michael Qualls To Enter Draft
Arkansas junior guard Michael Qualls announced via his Twitter account that he intends to leave school to enter the NBA draft. The 21-year-old is a projected second round pick, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com ranking him as the No. 40 overall prospect and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) ranking Qualls as the 47th best player in this year’s draft.
In his announcement, Qualls wrote, “My time at the University of Arkansas has not only helped me grow as a basketball player, but also as a man and I’m very thankful for the guidance the coaching staff and everyone at the university has given me over my three years. After sitting down with my family I felt the best decision for me is to continue my basketball career as a professional. I’m ready to provide for my family and son. I can’t say thank you enough to the Razorback fans. Coming in as a kid from Louisiana they embraced me from the start like I was one of their own and have always shown me an amazing amount of support. That means a lot to me and I’ll forever be a Razorback.”
Qualls saw his scoring average increase with each season at Arkansas, logging a career high 15.9 points per game to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30.2 minutes per contest during the 2014/15 campaign. His career averages are 11.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG. Qualls’ career shooting numbers are .428/.330/.723.
Trevor Lacey To Enter Draft
N.C. State junior shooting guard Trevor Lacey has decided to enter this year’s draft, as he confirms to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). His chances of getting drafted seem slim, as he’s just No. 96 on the list of prospects that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress doesn’t have him within his top 100, ranking Lacey as only the 75th-best college junior.
Lacey put up 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 35.9 minutes per game during his lone season with the Wolfpack after transferring from Alabama and sitting out a year. He nailed 39.2% of his three-point shots, so he showed proficiency in a number of areas. Still, at 6’3″, he doesn’t have ideal size for a shooting guard, and he’s a tweener, as Ford writes in his profile. At 23, his age works against him, too, since NBA teams usually prefer younger prospects with upside.
He helped the Wolfpack to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament this year, scoring 18 points in a loss to Louisville. If Lacey defies the odds and makes an NBA regular season roster, he’ll join Lorenzo Brown and T.J. Warren as NBA perimeter players that N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried has produced in his four seasons at the school. It wouldn’t be surprising to see several teams bring Lacey in for workouts prior to the draft, in spite of his position on draft boards, and even if he isn’t drafted, he figures to have a chance to earn a training camp invitation with a strong summer league performance.
Northwest Notes: Kanter, Billups, Garnett
The Trail Blazers are playoff-bound, though they’ll have a higher seed than their record shows they deserve because they won the Northwest Division. If the Thunder lose or the Pelicans win tonight, Portland will be the Northwest’s only playoff representative. Here’s more from a division that’s proven a drag on the Western Conference’s claim to supremacy this season:
- It was obvious to opposing front office executives that the Jazz were under a ton of pressure to trade Enes Kanter at the deadline, as one of those executives tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, adding that the Jazz were only seeking a pick for the now-Thunder center. Kanter, a restricted free agent this summer, had pushed for a trade, and when Utah accommodated him, the Jazz received a lottery-protected first-rounder, a second-rounder and the rights to a draft-and-stash prospect along with Kendrick Perkins and Grant Jerrett.
- Chauncey Billups tells Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post that Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders reached out to him last spring with the idea of making him the team’s lead assistant this season and its head coach for 2015/16. Billups reiterated to Kiszla that while he’d “never say never,” he doesn’t want to coach. The retired point guard would rather work as a team executive, and Kiszla urges the Nuggets to pursue him for such a role. Denver wanted to hire Billups for a front office job before this season, as the Post’s Christopher Dempsey wrote in October.
- Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune suggests that Minnesota’s trade for Kevin Garnett is more about ticket sales than Garnett’s on-court impact or his influence on prize rookie Andrew Wiggins. Garnett has played only five games since returning to the Wolves.
Key Players Without NBA Contracts In 2014/15
The last day of the regular season is here, and barring a late signing, several noteworthy players will have gone through 2014/15 without an NBA contract. For some, like Ray Allen, it’s a matter of choice. For others, such as Carlos Delfino, an injury kept them out of the league. Still others signed overseas. With many more, it’s primarily a matter of a lack of interest from teams.
Whatever the reasons, we’ll list some of the most prominent free agents who lingered all season. These names include those who were on NBA rosters during the preseason but didn’t make the cut. They’re grouped alphabetically by position below:
Point guards
- Pierre Jackson
- Mike James
- Eric Maynor
- Peyton Siva
- Marquis Teague
- Jamaal Tinsley
Shooting guards
Small forwards
Power forwards
- Andray Blatche
- Antawn Jamison
- Ivan Johnson
- Rashard Lewis
- Erik Murphy
- Lamar Odom
- Arnett Moultrie
- Royce White
Centers
Latest On Greg Monroe, Knicks
WEDNESDAY, 12:19pm: Monroe praised Knicks president Phil Jackson in comments to New York reporters today, but he reiterated that he can envision himself re-signing with the Pistons this summer, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (All Twitter links). “Anyone who has had as much success as [Jackson] has … it’s not hard to be comfortable with the decisions they make,” Monroe said. “[Jackson’s] been where everybody dreams about going when they play in this league. He knows and understands what it takes to win.”
TUESDAY, 9:38pm: Greg Monroe‘s agent David Falk said that his client has yet to make out a list of the teams he is interested in signing with this summer, but indicated strongly that the Knicks are expected to be one of Monroe’s top choices, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. New York’s fans will get a taste of Monroe on Wednesday night when the Pistons and Knicks square off in the final game of the 2014/15 season for both squads.
League executives told Berman that of all the free agents on the Knicks’ radar, Monroe has the best chance of coming to New York. An unnamed NBA executive added that the big man signing with the Knicks is “about as close to a done deal as you can get.” These notions displeased Falk since teams and players cannot officially negotiate with each other until July 1st, Berman adds. “It’s so silly,’’ Falk said. “It’s factually incorrect and completely unsubstantiated.’’ The agent also acknowledged that he intends to discuss his client with New York, the Post scribe notes. “We are well aware the Knicks have cap space and we will sit down with them at the appropriate time,’’ Falk told Berman. “Now is not the appropriate time.’’
Falk also indicated that Monroe has not made up his mind about where he would like to play next season, noting that his client didn’t risk playing for the Pistons’ qualifying offer this season to pass up a shot at exploring all of his options, Berman relays. “He didn’t do what he did so he could short-circuit the process,’’ Falk said. “It goes against the grain of everything we did. We haven’t even made a short list of teams he’s interested in yet. After the season, after he unwinds, we will sit down, have a few dinners, a few drinks, a few meetings and I’ll present him a number of different teams and I’ll find out what fits his priorities. Which team, which geographical area, which coach he wants to play for. The money will be the same everywhere. Does he want to be the best player on a younger team? Or a complementary player on a championship contender?’’
It won’t be necessary for Monroe to visit the cities of the teams that he is interested in, Falk says, since Monroe has already been to all of them during his time in the league, Berman relays. The big man is expected to make his decision within the first 24-48 hours from the free agent signing period commencing in July, the Post scribe notes. “There’ll be no tours, no parades, no balloons,’’ Falk said. “This is a business decision about where he wants to go to work. He’ll have a wide range of teams and options and he’ll start examining them after April 15th.’’
As for how well Falk believes that Monroe would fit with the Knicks’ triangle offense, the agent said, “Do I think he’d be a good fit for the Knicks? Absolutely. He’d be a good fit for 30 teams. Can he work in the triangle? Sure. He played the Princeton offense at Georgetown. He could play in the rhombus. He’d be a great fit for any system.’’
Monroe is set to complete his fifth season in the league tomorrow night after being selected No. 7 overall by Detroit back in the 2010 NBA draft. Through 377 career games the 24-year-old is averaging 14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.6 blocks. His career slash line is .505/.000/.692.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Ellington, Lin, Cousins
Suns GM Ryan McDonough admits the team had no intention of reshaping its roster as much as it did this season, but while he’s disappointed with the way this year has gone, he feels the Suns are still better off than they were two years ago, when he took over, as he tells Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
“We’ve tried to do something that’s not easy to do,” McDonough said. “We tried to turn over the roster with talented, young players who have some potential but probably aren’t ready to win yet at the highest levels. But we also tried to stay competitive in a brutal Western Conference. Usually, teams try to do one or the other. They load up on veteran guys and trade draft picks and go all in or they completely blow up and gut the team and try to acquire and play a bunch of young guys.”
Phoenix will look to achieve more roster balance, among other goals, this summer, McDonough added. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The sense is that Wayne Ellington will largely favor the Lakers in free agency this year, but he’s mindful that the market is uncertain for both himself and the team, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter links), who’s identified mutual interest between the sides. Ellington backed up his end of that, referencing coach Byron Scott and GM Mitch Kupchak during his exit interview with the media Tuesday when he said, “I flat out told coach and Mitch I want to be back,” Medina notes.
- Jeremy Lin seemed lukewarm to the idea of returning to the Lakers during his exit interview, saying that he has “definitely not ruled out” the possibility and that the Lakers wouldn’t be a “last resort.” He said that losing his starting job in December “hurt,” but that his respect for Scott has grown throughout the season. Medina (separate piece), Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter link), Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding (Twitter link) and Bill Oram of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) have the details.
- Trade rumors are partly to blame for the sour mood DeMarcus Cousins has been in of late, but Kings executive Vlade Divac, who’s in charge of the front office, is in awe of Cousins’ talent, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Voisin advises Cousins to get away from the noise now that the season is ending.
Southeast Notes: Malone, Carroll, Deng, O’Quinn
Former Kings coach Michael Malone “would love to coach” the Magic, as Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel hears (Twitter link). Malone has seemingly been a hot commodity since the Kings fired him in December. Orlando has been expected to consider him, and he’s been linked to the Nuggets opening. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders organized a meeting between Malone and owner Glen Taylor earlier this year, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link), and Malone has spent time with the Wolves in an informal capacity on at least three different occasions this season. Schmitz advises the Magic to jump on Malone, draft Willie Cauley-Stein and float a max offer sheet to restricted free agent Draymond Green. While we wait to see if the team’s offseason plays out like that, there’s more on the Magic amid the latest from the Southeast Division:
- One executive from a team estimates that DeMarre Carroll will see annual salaries of $8-9MM on the deal he signs in free agency this summer, the exec tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. The executive believes that most teams will try to convince the combo forward to sign for $7MM a year, adding that if a club comes up with a $10MM offer, the Hawks seem unlikely to match, as Scotto details.
- League sources expressed doubt to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders about Luol Deng‘s ability to find annual salaries better than the nearly $10.152MM he’d have if he opted in with the Heat, as Kyler writes in an NBA AM piece. Still, the possibility remains that Deng would seek a new long-term deal that offers more security, Kyler surmises. Deng is unsure of what he’ll do with the option.
- The Magic intend to make Kyle O’Quinn the qualifying offer necessary for them to be able to match offers for him in free agency this summer, in spite of his recent lack of minutes, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. That qualifying offer would be worth more than $1.181MM.