Nets Eye Danny Ferry For GM Job
FRIDAY, 8:31am: Ferry “isn’t the likeliest candidate” for the position, a source told Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
THURSDAY, 7:58am: The Nets are looking at Danny Ferry as they search for their next GM, sources tell Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Bondy words his report a bit differently in his full story, where he writes that two sources outside the direct search told him they expect the team to look at Ferry as well as Bryan Colangelo, whom Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com reported earlier that the Nets are considering. Bondy’s tweet says the team is indeed looking at both Ferry and Colangelo. In any case, no one has emerged as the top candidate and the search has just begun, Bondy hears.
It’s no shock to see Ferry emerge as a candidate, as TNT’s David Aldridge pointed to the ties between Ferry and former GM Billy King, who remains with the organization. The Nets are indeed consulting King about the candidates to replace him in the GM job, Bondy hears from sources, confirming an earlier report that owner Mikhail Prokhorov had downplayed. Ferry’s father, Bob Ferry, serves as a scout for the Nets, and Prokhorov interviewed Danny Ferry for the GM job in 2010 before hiring King.
The younger Ferry comes with the baggage of the racially charged comments he uttered in a 2014 conference call while GM of the Hawks that led to a prolonged leave of absence and ultimately a buyout that ended his three-year tenure in Atlanta this past spring. Ferry nonetheless earned plaudits for his construction of last season’s 60-win Hawks team, and his close ties to the Spurs organization, where he served as a player and later a front office official, can’t hurt. He put together rosters that won 66 and 61 games in back-to-back years as GM of the Cavs, a job he held from 2005 to 2010.
John Calipari has also drawn mention as a candidate for the Nets’ front office vacancy as well as their open coaching job, but Prokhorov indicated that he’d rather have separate people in those positions. CEO Brett Yormark, a Calipari advocate, is one of three Nets officials conducting the search, according to Bondy, along with team chairman Dmitry Razumov and board member Sergey Kushchenko, who’s a trusted aide to Prokhorov. That conflicts with a report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who wrote that Razumov and Irina Pavlova, president of Prokhorov’s ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment holding company, were in charge of the search. In any case, Prokhorov wants to hire a GM before he hires a coach, league sources tell Bondy.
Do you think the Nets should hire Ferry? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/14/16
Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal acknowledged that he’ll “probably” have to deal with a minutes limit for the rest of his career as he continues to have trouble with injuries, according to TNT’s David Aldridge and J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Concern about his health reportedly played a role in Washington’s part of a mutual decision not to extend Beal’s rookie scale contract this past fall, though Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported at the time that the Wizards were planning to offer Beal a new maximum-salary contract when he hits restricted free agency in July.
Beal is only 22 years old, so any possibility of an injury that will hinder him for the remainder of his career is alarming, especially for the team that will sign his paychecks. The fourth-year pro missed 26 games his rookie season, nine the next year and 19 last year with various ailments, though it was a high right ankle sprain Beal played through as a rookie that led to the stress reaction he’s dealing with now, according to Michael’s report.
Washington appeared to have every intention of re-signing Beal for the maximum this summer when he is eligible to become a restricted free agent. The Mark Bartelstein client will be able to negotiate with other teams, but the Wizards can match any offer sheet he were to agree to. Beal could also simply sign his qualifying offer, which would be worth about $7.471MM, and hit unrestricted free agency the following offseason, but that would entail a significant discount from his projected maximum salary of $20.4MM for next season. But these choices are dependent upon Washington still being willing to pony up a max offer, or to match another team’s offer sheet worth that amount, which isn’t necessarily a given at this point.
This brings me to the topic/question for today: In light of Bradley Beal’s potential minutes cap and increased risk of injury, should the Wizards follow through with their intent to ink him to a max salary deal?
It was debatable prior to Beal’s minutes cap statement whether or not he was worthy of a max contract, but this latest news certainly makes the Wizards’ decision regarding him much more difficult. Do you feel that the franchise should still take the gamble and lock down Beal for the long term, regardless of the injury concerns? If so, what sort of contract do you believe would be fair for both parties? Or are you a pessimist who believes that the young swingman is no longer worth the risk and that the Wizards should allow him to explore the free agent market, even if it means potentially losing Beal to another team? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
Western Notes: Plumlee, Jones, Garnett
The Pelicans‘ season has not gone as planned and the team has begun exploring its options in the trade market, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. In addition to power forward Ryan Anderson, whom New Orleans has reportedly been listening to offers about, the team has also discussed various trade scenarios involving swingmen Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon, the Yahoo scribe notes. Gordon, who is earning approximately $15.5MM this season, is in the final year of his contract, but Evans’ deal still has one more season on the books valued at $10.2MM. Here’s more from out West:
- Blazers big man Mason Plumlee is still trying to make his case that he has what it takes to be a special player, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com writes. “I’m at a point right now where I still very much feel like I’m trying to prove myself in this league,’’ said Plumlee. “I think there are a lot of guys who think they can hang around because they are big or athletic, but I really want to thrive, I really want to be somebody in the NBA. And I don’t think that’s proven yet.’’ Plumlee points to Warriors forward Draymond Green as an example of a player who wasn’t satisfied with merely making it into the NBA, which is the path he wishes to take, Quick adds. “You look at Draymond: a late draft pick, could have been satisfied with establishing himself in the league,’’ Plumlee continued. “But now, he’s doing special things, becoming a special player. So I ask myself: Do I want to just be a player in the NBA, or do I want to excel and be special?’’
- Rockets combo forward Terrence Jones has turned a corner as a player and may be on his way to fulfilling some of the promise that made him the No. 18 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “The talent is there with Terrence,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We need to get to a point where it’s there every night and we can depend on Terrence because he’s a big part of what we do. He’s a big part of our big rotation up front — he, Clint [Capela] and Dwight [Howard] right now get all the minutes at the big spots for us. This is the type of performance that he had tonight and [Tuesday, when he scored 20 points] that he’s capable of. We just need him to string those performances together.”
- Kevin Garnett is only averaging 14.9 minutes per night for the Wolves, but the veteran has been remarkably efficient during his limited time on the court and his leadership has proven to be a great resource to the team, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune writes. “He’s still very valuable to what we’re trying to do,” interim coach Sam Mitchell said of Garnett. “Those 10 minutes that he plays, he sets the tone. It’s 10 minutes our young guys get a chance to see one of the greatest defenders ever play. They get a chance to play with him. They’re learning experience, whether KG is on the floor for 10 minutes or 17 minutes. It’s invaluable.”
Eastern Notes: Brown, James, Pistons
Nets forward Thaddeus Young pulled no punches when discussing the difference in playing for interim coach Tony Brown versus former coach Lionel Hollins, who was fired on Sunday, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays (via Twitter). When asked his feelings about suiting up for Brown, Young said, “When your coach is not panicking and he’s staying positive and he’s continued to motivate us, it’s huge for us as far as an energy standpoint. It makes us continue to want to go out there and continue to play, and it doesn’t keep us thinking about what happened before as much. But Tony’s mentality is, forget what happened before this and let’s try to push and try to win this game. That’s huge for us as a team. It says a lot that he believes in us, that he wants us to compete.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith notes that the team’s excellent work ethic comes from following the example set by LeBron James, whose dedication has rubbed off on his teammates, as Marc Narducci of HoopsHype relays. When asked what it has been like to play alongside James, Smith told Narducci, “For one, he elevates everybody’s game and holds everybody to a higher standard. He makes you hold yourself to a higher standard. This is the first team I have been on where everybody stays after practice to work on their game. Everybody wants to be better every single day and a lot of that has to do with him. He is a credit to that. He holds himself to a high standard. We see how hard he works each and every day. If your best player is working twice as hard as the next person, it gives you enthusiasm and drive to work harder.”
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is using the Spurs’ track record of consistency as an organization as a model for how he wants to build Detroit’s roster, John Niyo of The Detroit News writes. “I do think, looking forward, one of things we’ve talked about in trying to build this team is we have a chance for continuity,” Van Gundy said. “And I think you see it when you see a team like San Antonio, that over time it allows you to build on what you’re doing.”
Southwest Notes: Davis, Barnes, Perkins
Anthony Davis is still behind in voting for All-Star Game starters, as returns that the NBA released today show, so his chances of triggering higher salaries on the extension he signed this summer are fading. He’d need to make up a deficit of 173,877 votes that separates him from the final starting spot by the close of voting Monday to trigger the Derrick Rose rule, which would give Davis a salary of a projected $24.9MM instead of $20.4MM next season. The difference would amount to $25.875MM over the life of his contract, based on those same projections. He could still invoke the rule if he earns an All-NBA nod or wins the MVP award in the spring.
Here’s the latest from out of the Southwest Division:
- Grizzlies small forward Matt Barnes isn’t optimistic that the appeal the NBPA filed on his behalf regarding the two-game suspension he received for an off-court incident involving Knicks coach Derek Fisher in October will bear fruit, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “I appreciate the support I’ve got from not only my peers throughout the NBA but NFL and from the entertainment world,” Barnes told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “It means a lot that the NBPA has filed an appeal on my behalf, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ve never had so much as a tech rescinded. I highly doubt I’ll be reimbursed a dime of that suspension money!“
- Kendrick Perkins, who signed with the Pelicans as a free agent this past offseason, is frustrated by the lack of effort exhibited by some of his teammates, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. “It’s very disappointing. At the end of the day, this is not what I signed up for,” Perkins told Spears. “I signed up after I looked from the outside, coming in to a good young team that has been making strides in the right direction. We got real comfortable. We ain’t got long to make a push. At this point in time, we are all just searching to find the right lineups and who is going to come out and compete at a high level every night. That’s been our main problem before anything else. We just come out too many nights and don’t compete at the level we need in order to win. What really is the key to everything is our level of competitiveness.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Mickey, Colangelo, Ainge
The Celtics are in no rush to push rookie power forward Jordan Mickey into action at the NBA level and plan to continue his development in the D-League until he is better prepared to compete for minutes with the team’s other frontcourt players, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays. When asked about the organization’s plan for Mickey, team executive Danny Ainge told Blakely, “Jordan is making progress. His minutes in the D-League are very valuable. But until he gets to this level, we won’t really know for sure. In order for him to get to this level of play, Jordan hasn’t proven right now that he’s better than say, David Lee or Tyler Zeller and Kelly Olynyk, and two of those guys [Lee and Zeller] have had trouble getting the kind of minutes they would like. Those guys are certainly better players than Jordan right now. But we’re not in a rush to get Jordan playing. Jordan has been better from the first day of training camp, than we actually thought he would be. He’s really come in with a great attitude. He’s worked hard in the D-League. It’s helping him. Him and Terry Rozier both, we’re real high on them. We know these guys are NBA players. There’s not any question. But to say they’re better than our rotation players now, is a stretch.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Ainge also told Blakely that the team is seeking to make some moves to better balance out its roster. “I just want to do the deals that help us build. It’s all about building up to the team that we want to be,” Ainge said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations and a lot of ideas on how we can improve our team. We have to find other teams willing to do what we want to do. That’s not easy. But we like all the players on our team. We have too many. That’s been a challenge for a few guys in particular.”
- New Sixers executive Jerry Colangelo expects the team to accelerate its rebuilding efforts now that he is aboard, but he did credit GM Sam Hinkie for making a number of shrewd trades, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “The reality is, and I’ve come to understand this, Sam has done a really great job of accumulating assets. If you look at the trades, if you look the draft picks that have been accumulated, it’s all there in place,” Colangelo said. “And now it’s a matter of when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets or any of those assets. As I look at the board, if you will, I see some things that could happen sooner rather than later. That’s because if somebody gets healthy [Joel Embiid]. If the player from Europe comes in [Dario Saric] and is part of the rotation and we will have a very high draft pick. Then using some of those assets to do other things to consider, be it free agency, be it a trade, whatever. This thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand.”
And-Ones: Baron Davis, Jeff Green, Magic, Draft
Baron Davis is drawing NBA interest, his agent tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link), cautioning that he has not yet signed with the D-League, as reported, but plans to do so. The Todd Ramasar client has full confidence the D-League will lead him back to the NBA, where he hasn’t played since the 2011/12 season, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher details.
“When someone asked me [when I’d make my comeback] before, I didn’t want to answer,” Davis said to Bucher. “If I make it in the NBA or wind up playing overseas, I will be at peace. I know the NBA is the place for me because I have the game and now I have the confidence in my body. The last six years I was hurt and in pain and I wasn’t myself. I’m moving a lot faster and better than I did then.”
Davis spawned confusion two summers ago when he made a film that appeared to poke fun at the idea of him returning to the NBA, Bucher notes. Multiple NBA executives thought Davis wasn’t serious about a comeback, though one assistant GM told Bucher that as long as Davis is engaged and in shape, he merits consideration. The Mavs have been linked to him, but owner Mark Cuban has said the team’s interest exists only at the D-League level. See more from around the NBA:
- Jeff Green has frustrated at least one prominent Grizzlies teammate, as a “guy who matters” on the team “wanted to wring his neck” Tuesday, when Memphis lost to the Rockets and Dave Joerger benched Green for the second half, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal said in a podcast. Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk has the transcription. Green has struggled on the court and his attitude “hasn’t been the best,” Tillery also said.
- The Magic accepted cash via trade for the third time since July 1st on Tuesday, when the Cavs gave them $934,614 in the Joe Harris deal, but they still have $1,286,686 remaining against the $3.4MM limit for the season, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links).
- The NCAA’s rule change to push back the date underclassmen can withdraw until 10 days after the NBA combine is a sensible move because it helps players more than it hurts college coaches, opines Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell wonders if it will also lead NBA officials to start working out underclassmen at their colleges instead of having the prospects go to NBA sites, since the NCAA probably wouldn’t want NBA teams paying the travel costs for players who could return to play in college.
2015/16 Trades
The trade deadline is five weeks from today, but some teams are off to a head start. As we did with last year’s offseason trades and the in-season swaps from 2014/15, we’ll be keeping track of all the trades from this season as they become official, updating this post with each transaction.
Trades are listed here in reverse chronological order, with the latest on top. For more details on each trade, click the date above it. For up-to-the-minute news on trades as well as other roster moves as the offseason continues, download our free iOS or Android app or follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.
- The Thunder get Randy Foye.
- The Nuggets get D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak, Oklahoma City’s 2016 unprotected second-round pick, Charlotte’s 2016 second-round pick (bottom-five protected) and $1,169,559 cash.
- The Clippers get Jeff Green.
- The Grizzlies get Lance Stephenson and the Clippers’ 2019 first-round pick (lottery protected).
- The Pistons get Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton.
- The Rockets get Detroit’s 2016 first-round pick (top-eight protected) and the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum.
- The Sixers get Joel Anthony and Denver’s 2017 unprotected second-round pick.
- The Wizards get Markieff Morris.
- The Suns get Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair and Washington’s 2016 first-round pick (top-nine protected).
- The Trail Blazers get Brian Roberts and Miami’s 2021 second-round pick.
- The Heat get $75K cash.
- The Cavaliers get Channing Frye.
- The Magic get Jared Cunningham and Cleveland’s unprotected 2020 second-round pick.
- The Trail Blazers get Anderson Varejao and Cleveland’s top-10 protected 2018 first-round pick.
- The Cavaliers get their own 2020 second-round pick (unprotected; Portland had acquired it in a previous trade).
- The Hawks get Kirk Hinrich.
- The Bulls get Justin Holiday and Denver’s unprotected 2018 second-round pick.
- The Jazz get Shelvin Mack.
- The Pelicans get Jarnell Stokes and $721,300 cash.
- The Heat get New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- The Hornets get Courtney Lee and $542,714 cash (from Memphis).
- The Grizzlies get P.J. Hairston, Chris Andersen, Charlotte’s 2018 second-rounder, Brooklyn’s 2019 second-rounder (from Charlotte), Miami’s 2017 second-round pick (bottom-40 protected) and Boston’s 2019 second-round pick (from Miami, top-55 protected).
- The Heat get Brian Roberts.
- The Pistons get Tobias Harris.
- The Magic get Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova.
- The Rockets get Josh Smith, the rights to Sergei Lishouk and $456,921 cash.
- The Clippers get the rights to Maarty Leunen.
- The Cavaliers get Portland’s 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- The Magic get Joe Harris, Sacramento’s 2017 second-round pick (top-55 protected) and $934,614 cash.
- The Sixers get Ish Smith.
- The Pelicans get Denver’s 2016 second-round pick and Philadelphia’s 2017 second-round pick.
- The Grizzlies get Mario Chalmers and James Ennis.
- The Heat get Jarnell Stokes and Beno Udrih.
Trade archives:
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and the RealGM traded picks database were used in the creation of this post.
Scotto’s Latest: Anderson, Gay, Morris, Motiejunas
The Pelicans rejected a trade proposal from the Kings of Ryan Anderson for Rudy Gay, league sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, a signal that Sacramento is making Gay available. New Orleans has reportedly been listening to offers about Anderson but not shopping him, and coach Alvin Gentry has said it’s unlikely the Pelicans trade him this season. A straight-up exchange of Anderson for Gay trade would move the Pelicans to within $1MM of the luxury tax threshold, so it’s not surprising New Orleans said no. Scotto heard more about Anderson and several other trade candidates, as we’ll summarize here:
- The Pistons are expected to pursue Anderson in free agency, league sources told Scotto. Stan Van Gundy said in October that Anderson, incumbent Pistons power forward Ersan Ilyasova and Kevin Love are in a class by themselves among those who combine effective rebounding and 3-point shooting.
- The Suns, who reportedly engaged in talks with the Pelicans about a swap of Markieff Morris for Anderson, now prefer young players or draft picks in exchange for Morris, Scotto’s league sources say.
- The Clippers are making Josh Smith available for a trade, according to Scotto, essentially a reprise of earlier this season, when Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported the Clips had gauged interest in him. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers denied that earlier report, however.
- The Rockets have taken Donatas Motiejunas off the trade market, but Terrence Jones remains available, Scotto reports. Houston earlier had talks with Phoenix about a swap of Jones and Corey Brewer for Morris, as Scotto revealed, and those discussions were serious, Marc Stein of ESPN.com later added. Brewer becomes eligible to be traded Friday.
- Scotto adds the Mavericks to list of teams with interest in trading for Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin.
Central Notes: Dudley, Morris, Baynes
Jared Dudley believes the Bucks made the right move for themselves when they traded him to the Wizards and Zaza Pachulia to the Mavericks this past summer, even though they did so for virtually nothing in return other than cap space, observes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dudley thinks he came out well, too, lauding the Bucks for placing Pachulia and him in “great situations,” Gardner relays.
“Even if me and Za were there, you have to incorporate Jabari [Parker] back in,” Dudley said. “He still would have been playing 28, 29 minutes. For the long-term approach for them, they’re doing it the right way. You have to see if Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and Jabari can coexist.”
See more from the Central Division:
- Marcus Morris is fond of Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, whom he believes has given him a more clearly defined role than Jeff Hornacek did with the Suns, as Morris told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Morris responded harshly when Washburn asked him about Suns owner Robert Sarver’s criticism of “millennial culture” and Morris’ twin brother, Markieff, saying the owner “doesn’t even know basketball.” Marcus also hinted that the Suns will indeed trade his brother. “He’s in good spirits,” Marcus said to Washburn about Markieff. “Whatever team he ends up going to, he’s still going to be that same player. He’s just excited to see what’s next and where he’s going. Some things were said about him in the press and I know that’s totally wrong. People talk about adversity; coming from where we come from [Philadelphia] is adversity. This is small stuff. He’ll get over it fast.”
- Van Gundy was quick to point to Aron Baynes‘ strong free-throw shooting as one of the reasons the Pistons signed him to a three-year, $19.5MM deal this summer, and that’s indeed been paying dividends to offset Andre Drummond‘s struggles at the line, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press notes.
- The Bulls don’t have enough to put a scare into the league’s true title contenders, so it’s imperative for the team to make a trade, posits Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. No NBA team has gone longer without making a trade than the Bulls, who haven’t pulled off a swap since July 14th, 2014, though they’re reportedly gauging interest in Pau Gasol and others.