Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 10/29/15
The chatter about a potential scenario in which Knicks team president Phil Jackson would return to work for the Lakers and fiancee Jeanie Buss has resurfaced in NBA circles over recent weeks, according to a report by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. It should be noted that Jackson can reportedly opt out of his five-year deal with the Knicks after this season, though that doesn’t necessarily imply that the executive will depart New York at that time. Speculation emerged earlier this year that Jackson wouldn’t finish out his contract, though he did go on record back in June saying that he wanted to stay around long enough to help the Knicks turn around their fortunes.
This brings me to the topic/question for today: Will Phil Jackson depart the Knicks to return to the Lakers organization?
Is a reunion in the cards for Jackson and the Lakers, or will the Zen Master call it a career once he walks away from the Knicks? How much longer do you believe Jackson will remain with New York? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts, predictions, and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
The Beat: Mark Medina On The Lakers
Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.
We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last time, we spoke with Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun about the Raptors. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.
Today, we gain insight on the Lakers from Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @MarkG_Medina, and check out his stories right here.
Hoops Rumors: Is the top priority for the Lakers this season to foster the development of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and their other young players, or is it to make a run at a playoff spot after two non-competitive years?
Mark Medina: As of now, the Lakers hope they can do both. On paper, the Lakers’ young core of players (and Kobe) represent the team’s most talented players. Russell, Randle and Clarkson also represent the Lakers’ long-term future. But they are obviously bound to make some rookie mistakes. And it will be interesting to see how much Byron [Scott] prioritizes maximizing his wins versus giving them room to figure things out. My hunch is Byron will have a shorter leash to start on the season if mistakes continue. If it ever becomes clear the Lakers are not playoff-bound, Byron will change his priority on solely developing the team’s young talent.
Hoops Rumors: What’s Kobe Bryant‘s approach to this season been like so far? Does he appear willing to defer to others, or does he seem to want to put the team on his back and carry it the way he has in the past?
Mark Medina: So far, Kobe is doing the right things. But there are two unanswered questions. Can Kobe stay healthy? How much patience will Kobe have with the young players once they start making mistakes and the team starts losing? The Lakers will try to be conservative with Bryant’s minutes and workload, but that will not guarantee anything about his health. Kobe will look to take a less-is-more approach at the beginning. But Kobe will take matters into his own hands if he feels his teammates are taking too long to develop. For better and for worse, Kobe has not shown a lot of patience with that.
Hoops Rumors: The Lakers have a chance to essentially give Roy Hibbert a one-year audition, since he’s on an expiring contract. What does he need to accomplish this season to make a compelling case that he’s the long-term answer at center for the Lakers?
Mark Medina: Defense, defense, defense. That’s mainly all he was brought here for, since the Lakers were awful in that department last season. It will also help that Hibbert has a good attitude after things soured in Indiana. Roy has played well on defense, but he will need a stronger supporting cast around him. As for his attitude, Roy’s done the right things thus far with embracing his role and inviting teammates out for paintball as a bonding activity.
Hoops Rumors: Jordan Clarkson was a revelation last season, and Mitch Kupchak said he envisions Clarkson and Russell as the team’s backcourt for the next decade or more. What is it that has the Lakers so confident that a player who was only the 46th pick in the draft last year can keep it up?
Mark Medina: Jordan proved that he was ready with the opportunity. And he is an endless grinder that embraces self improvement. Clarkson’s dropping draft stock stemmed from his decline of play at the end of his junior season [at Missouri]. But that coincided with Clarkson grieving over his dad possibly dying of cancer. His dad survived the ordeal, and Clarkson quickly proved that his struggles had nothing to do with his skills. Jordan has a long ways to go with his defense and passing. But he’s a natural scorer and never seems to get tired.
Hoops Rumors: The additions of Russell and Lou Williams and the return of Kobe appear to threaten Nick Young‘s playing time. What sort of role do the Lakers plan for him this season?
Mark Medina: It remains to be seen. As of now, Young will be a backup small forward. And he has said/done the right things in listening to Byron and complementing Lou well. But again, the chapter on this will be written based on Young’s play in games that count as well as how he handles negative circumstances that could possibly include lots of losing and Scott’s demands.
Hoops Rumors: Do the Lakers expect No. 27 overall pick Larry Nance Jr. to contribute in a meaningful way this season, or are they taking it slow with him?
Mark Medina: The Lakers love his energy. He will gradually get more and more minutes throughout the season. He brings a lot on defense and hustle plays, which is something that defines how Byron wants his teams to play.
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
In addition to our regular weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Saturday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Southeast Notes: Clifford, Sefolosha, Magic
The Heat‘s starting five is both a source of optimism as well as concern for the team, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes. “It’s going to be a challenge,” Dwyane Wade said of this starting group, each of whom averaged double figures in scoring last season. “We don’t know how shots are going to be passed out. We don’t know how it’s going to affect someone’s confidence when they’re not getting the opportunities they’re used to. The only thing that scares me about it is that we’ve got a lot of guys who are offensively minded … in that first unit. There’s not a lot of role players in that first unit. It’s a good thing to look on paper saying we’ve got scorers, so you don’t necessarily have to rely every night on one or two guys. But that could be a bad thing, too, because maybe there’s no one willing to sacrifice. When you have a lot of [scoring] depth, sometimes guys like to individually will it.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Thabo Sefolosha suffered ankle ligament damage in the incident in which he also suffered a broken leg at the hands of police outside a New York City nightclub in April, as the Hawks swingman writes in a first-person account for GQ.com. He lost 15 pounds in the month leading up to training camp from worry over his trial, in which a jury ultimately found him not guilty on charges that Sefolosha says could have landed him in jail for two years. The testimony that coach/executive Mike Budenholzer made in that trial sticks in Sefolosha’s mind, as the 2017 free agent makes clear. “It was emotional, hearing him say those things, me feeling that I let the team down and him having my back like this,” Sefolosha wrote about Budeholzer. “He was incredible throughout the whole ordeal.”
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford is in the final year of his contract with the team, but he indicated that he wants to remain in Charlotte long-term, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports writes. Speaking about his coaching future, Clifford told Wojnarowski, “I hope it works out. I really like this place. [Owner] Michael [Jordan] has been great to me. I like the people here. And I love the players. I remember when I first got into the league with the Knicks, seeing the fan-base here. It’s terrific. If we become a consistent contending team, or a playoff team, we can get those fans back and have that same type of environment.”
- The Magic enter the season needing to determine if their young nucleus can be successful together, or if the team needs to head in another direction with its roster, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “Because of the lack of wins so far we have to also be in evaluation mode and see who going forward are guys who can truly be built around,” coach Scott Skiles said. “And that’s hard to know when you’re not winning enough games. It’s really hard to know. We’re high on all the guys. We like all the guys. We think we have good, young talent. All that stuff I’ve said many times before. But until you go out and perform in crunch time and win big games, go on the road and win games — that’s when guys really show themselves to you.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
2015/16 Salary Cap: Charlotte Hornets
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.
With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Charlotte Hornets, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:
- 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
- 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $76,187,752
- Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $155,000*
- Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $450,093
- Total Salary Cap Commitments= $76,792,845
- Remaining Cap Room= -$6,792,845
- Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $7,524,972
*Note: This amount includes the $80K owed to Elliot Williams, who was waived.
Cap Exceptions Available:
- Mid-Level Exception= $5,464,000
Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000
Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000
Last updated: 10/29 @ 8:30pm
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Crowder, McConnell
Knicks 2014 second-rounder Thanasis Antetokounmpo is signing with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s D-League affiliate, for the 2015/16 season, the player’s agent, Nick Lotsos, tweets. This comes as a minor surprise since Antetokounmpo’s camp had previously said that the swingman would not play another season in the D-League. The 23-year-old had reportedly been in contact with European and NBA teams in an effort to strike a deal, but apparently no concrete offer materialized. The Knicks waived Antetokounmpo along with four others last week.
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Derrick Williams‘ play is beginning to justify Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s decision to sign him to a two-year, $8.8MM deal this past offseason, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I don’t know what he hasn’t done [in the past], but I think he’s just playing the game, trusting his instincts, even though he’s still learning a lot of new things on how to play,’’ coach Derek Fisher said. “I don’t think he’s overthinking. He’s making plays in front of him, shooting the ball well. It’s early. He had a really good preseason and was really good [Wednesday night]. He’ll have ups and downs, and it’s how he responds when the shots aren’t going in like they were.’’
- Sixers coach Brett Brown is a big fan of point guard T.J. McConnell, and compares him to a former player who Brown coached on the Australian national basketball team in the 2012 London Olympics, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.”He reminds me of Matthew Dellavedova a lot, who I had a lot to do with,” Brown said. “Somebody says, ‘He can’t shoot. No way can he make it.’ “
- Jae Crowder was concerned after arriving in Boston last season as part of the Rajon Rondo deal that the Celtics would be trying to tank, a worry that was quickly dispelled by the team’s coaching staff and front office, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com relays. “I don’t like losing, man,” said Crowder. “I play this game to win. I never in my life played to lose. I don’t know what that feels like. I don’t play like that. I play to win. I felt like that the locker room here was kind of sulking right when I got here. It was sad to be in a professional locker room like that. I didn’t like it. I just wanted to come in each and every day and put my work in and hopefully make guys feed off my energy and take it from there. When you want to win, man, when you’re in a winning organization, you take pride in it. And when you lose, you let everybody know you lost. You’re not walking around happy.“
Jimmer Fredette Signing In D-League
Combo guard Jimmer Fredette is signing a D-League contract and will be eligible for Saturday’s D-League draft, reports Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter link). The former No. 10 overall pick cleared waivers after the Spurs waived him last week. Fredette will still be able to sign an NBA contract should an offer emerge.
The Jazz, Hawks, Suns and Knicks all reportedly had interest in Fredette, though no contract offer materialized for the former BYU star after being let go by San Antonio. Fredette had signed with the Spurs in late July on a one-year, minimum salary contract that was guaranteed for $507,711, which was half of his 2015/16 salary, giving him a bit of a financial cushion as he awaits another NBA opportunity in the D-League.
Fredette made 50 appearances for the Pelicans last season, averaging 3.6 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 10.2 minutes per contest. His slash line was .380/.188/.956.
Poll: 2015/16 Team Power Rankings (No. 2)
The NBA regular season is now underway and teams have now completed the process of setting down their regular season rosters. Every new season brings with it the hope for each franchise that it will conclude with the hoisting of the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. But for the more jaded fans — or practical, depending on your outlook — not every team has a realistic shot at making the playoffs, much less at being the last team standing when all is said and done and the playoffs have concluded.
We at Hoops Rumors want to know what you, the reader, think about each team’s chances this season. To help facilitate that, we’ve been posting a series of polls asking you to vote on where in the standings each franchise is likely to end the season. So please cast your vote below for the franchise you expect to end the season with the 2nd best overall record. But don’t end your involvement with the simple click of a button. Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on why you voted the way that you did. We look forward to what you have to say.
Previous Selections:
- No. 30: 76ers
- No. 29: Knicks
- No. 28: Nuggets
- No. 27: Lakers
- No. 26: Nets
- No. 25: Timberwolves
- No. 24: Trail Blazers
- No. 23: Magic
- No. 22: Pistons
- No. 21: Kings
- No. 20: Hornets
- No. 19: Jazz
- No. 18: Suns
- No. 17: Celtics
- No. 16: Pacers
- No. 15: Mavericks
- No. 14 Bucks
- No. 13: Pelicans
- No. 12: Raptors
- No. 11: Heat
- No. 10: Wizards
- No. 9: Hawks
- No. 8: Bulls
- No. 7: Grizzlies
- No. 6: Rockets
- No. 5: Clippers
- No. 4: Thunder
- No. 3: Spurs
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Pelicans Waive Nate Robinson
The Pelicans have waived Nate Robinson, the team announced. He was the team’s starting point guard in its opening game Tuesday. However, he only played 19 minutes in that game, and just four in Wednesday’s contest, one in which usual starter Jrue Holiday returned to action. The release of Robinson’s non-guaranteed deal leaves New Orleans with 14 players, one below the regular season limit.
Injuries beset the team during the preseason, and Holiday remains on a minutes restriction. Backup point guard Norris Cole is a couple of weeks into a recovery from a high ankle sprain that’s expected to keep him out for as long as six weeks, and Tyreke Evans, who’s also taken on point guard duties in the past, is about a week into a six-to-eight week recovery from knee surgery. Still, New Orleans has given the majority of its minutes at point guard to Ish Smith, whom the Pelicans claimed off waivers Monday.
The team signed Robinson two weeks ago as part of its effort to offset injuries at the point, but it appears the Pelicans would rather go with Smith and perhaps Toney Douglas, with whom the team is reportedly in talks. In any case, Robinson will receive a sliver of his $1,499,187 for sticking on the roster a few days.
Central Notes: Love, Meeks, Monroe, Noah
The Cavaliers re-signed Kevin Love to a five-year max deal this summer, and LeBron James indicated Wednesday that getting the former All-Star involved is the team’s top offensive priority, notes Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Love is so far the team’s second-leading scorer, at 17.5 points per game, a point behind James.
“We’ll use Kevin however he wants to be used,” James said. “I told you Kevin is going to be our main focus. He’s going to have a hell of a season. He’s going to get back to that All-Star status. He’s the focal point of us offensively. I know I can go out and get mine when I need it. But I need Kev to be as aggressive as he was tonight, and when he rebounds at the level he did tonight, the shots will automatically fall for him.”
See more from the Central Division:
- Jodie Meeks suffered a Jones fracture to his right foot during the Pistons game Wednesday, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy told reporters, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. It’s an injury that some doctors say requires four to six weeks for recovery in some cases, Ellis tweets, though the team hasn’t released a timetable and specifics are scarce, Ellis notes.
- Caron Butler played a half-season for the Bucks in 2013/14 and was briefly on the roster following this year’s Ersan Ilyasova trade, but Milwaukee can thank the native of nearby Racine for his hand in helping the team successfully recruit Greg Monroe, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times details. Butler, now with the Kings, and Monroe were teammates on the Pistons last season. “He grew up around here [Milwaukee] and played here and I listened to what he would say about Milwaukee,’’ Monroe said of Butler. “He had some positive things to say about being here. He also definitely played a role in me coming here.’’
- Joakim Noah came to Fred Hoiberg with the suggestion that the Bulls start Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic instead of him, the new Bulls coach tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Noah was No. 8 in the 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings we compiled before the start of camp, though he figures to drop in the upcoming edition of our rankings now that he’s coming off the bench.