Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:04pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: The Nets are in a state of flux after firing coach Lionel Hollins and removing Billy King from the GM role Sunday, with John Calipari, Bryan Colangelo, Luke Walton and Monty Williams among the candidates for their new vacancies. Brooklyn was one of the teams linked to DeMar DeRozan and Nicolas Batum, who are reportedly likely to elicit max offers in free agency this summer, and while reports of Brooklyn’s interest in the pair emerged before the team’s shakeup, owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s assertion that the Nets are only one or two players away from title contention makes it clear the team will aim high. Whether the Nets achieve their lofty goals is another matter, of course.
Southwest Notes: Withey, Cunningham, Green
Former 39th overall pick Jeff Withey is seeing significant minutes with the Jazz this season after a parting of ways with the Pelicans that cast him into uncertainty, as Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders details. Executives from other teams have speculated about whether the Pelicans dealt fairly with the center, who said GM Dell Demps told him during the playoffs that the team wanted him back, Dowsett reports. The team made a qualifying offer to him but withdrew it shortly before re-signing Alexis Ajinca, making Withey an unrestricted free agent and leaving him “really confused,” as he said to Dowsett. Withey ultimately landed with Utah on a partially guaranteed deal that last week became fully guaranteed for the rest of this season, and he’s pleased with his new surroudings.
“In New Orleans, it was a tough place for me, just because the coach [Monty Williams], he didn’t really give me a shot, you know what I mean?” Withey said to Dowsett. “Even if I was playing, if I screwed up one time or anything like that, he would just take me right out. Here, Coach [Quin Snyder], he’ll come to you … it’s just a different type of coaching. More player-friendly, for sure.”
Withey has one more year left on his deal, with a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season. See more on the Pelicans and the rest of the Southwest Division:
- Dante Cunningham is shooting more 3-pointers than ever this season, and while he’s making a passable 30% of them, it’s still not enough to give the Pelicans the spacing necessary to prevent double teams on Anthony Davis, as John Reid of The Times Picayune examines. New Orleans re-signed Cunningham in the offseason to a three-year deal worth nearly $8.935MM. Backup and fellow offseason signee Alonzo Gee is nailing just 27.3% of his 3-point looks, compounding the absence of Pondexter, as Justin Verrier of ESPN.com examines.
- The Raptors were one of the teams that pursued Danny Green this summer, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. Given the four-year, $58MM deal that Toronto gave fellow wing player DeMarre Carroll, it seems Green was liable to end up with much more than the $40MM over four years he got from the Spurs, Harvey writes. However, unlike other places in the NBA, San Antonio affords him the comfort of knowing the team has a history of supporting him through slumps like the one he’s in now, as Harvey details.
- Baron Davis, who’s set to play in the D-League, reportedly worked out for the Mavs recently, but coach Rick Carlisle laughed off the notion and owner Mark Cuban clarified that the team has an “open door” as far as its D-League affiliate goes but doesn’t harbor NBA-level interest in him. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News relays Cuban’s comment.
Beal Likely To Have Minutes Cap For Rest Of Career
Bradley Beal acknowledged to reporters today 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 (Twitter links). Concern about his health reportedly played a role in Washington’s part of a mutual decision not to extend his rookie scale contract this past fall, though Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported then that the Wizards were planning to offer Beal a new maximum-salary contract when he hits restricted free agency in July.
The minutes limit will keep Beal to no more than 35 minutes per night going forward, Michael hears (Twitter link), a fairly generous cap that nonetheless represents fewer minutes than he’s averaged this season and in both of Washington’s postseason appearances the past two years. Beal hasn’t played in a game since December 9th because of what the team called “the beginnings of a stress reaction in his lower right fibula,” though it’s likely that he returns to action tonight against the Bucks, Michael tweets. Beal told reporters that he could play tonight as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks during a pregame workout, Aldridge tweets.
Beal is only 22 years old, so any notion of an injury that affects the balance of his career is disconcerting. 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, as Michael explains in a full story.
John Lucas III To Play For Pacers D-League Team
WEDNESDAY, 11:46am: The affiliate of the Pacers has claimed Lucas from the player pool, tweets Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.
MONDAY, 11:32am: Eight-year NBA veteran point guard John Lucas III has entered the D-League player pool, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, meaning he’s signed a contract with the league and will end up on an NBA’s team’s affiliate via the D-League waiver process (Twitter link). Lucas, who’ll remain eligible to sign a deal with any NBA club regardless of the D-League team he ends up on, met late last month with Sixers coach Brett Brown, a couple of weeks before Philadelphia signed fellow long-tenured vet Elton Brand.
Lucas, 33, was with the Heat for the preseason but appeared in only one exhibition game and didn’t make the opening night roster. He spent much of last season with Fujian of China after canceling a scheduled workout with the Lakers to sign instead with the overseas club, but he returned to the NBA last February on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Pistons that preceded a deal for the rest of the season. One of those 10-day deals was technically a 13-day arrangement, as we explained.
The Pistons, as well as the Magic, Spurs, Mavericks and Clippers, had interest in signing Lucas this past summer, as Stein reported then, but he didn’t end up with a deal until he hooked up with the Heat in late September. He’s four years removed from having recorded NBA career highs in points (7.5) and minutes per game (14.8) with the Bulls in the 2011/12 season.
Joel Embiid Changing Agents
Injured former No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid is expected to sign with Leon Rose of the Creative Artists Agency, sources told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, after parting ways with the Wasserman Media Group, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported (Twitter links). Wasserman agent Darren Matsubara had been the representative for the Sixers big man. Philadelphia picked up its team option for next season on Embiid’s rookie scale contract this past fall even though he didn’t play last season and is likely to miss all of this season, too, with a lingering right foot injury.
The earliest he can negotiate an extension would be the summer of 2017, and he isn’t due for restricted free agency until the summer of 2018, casting doubt on whether Embiid’s change in representation has to do with his playing contract. Philadelphia has another team option on the final year of his deal, worth slightly more than $6.1MM for the 2017/18 season, and a decision is due on that in the fall.
Sixers coach Brett Brown recently touted improvements to Embiid’s mental approach to his recovery, and he’s displaying greater maturity and seriousness than in the past, as TNT’s David Aldridge wrote in November. Questions arose in October after Brian Geltzeiler of SI.com’s The Cauldron blog reported that Embiid was paying little attention to his rehabilitation and physical condition and that the Sixers were frustrated about it.
It’s the latest defection in a tough stretch for Wasserman, which has lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Jabari Parker, Danilo Gallinari and Joe Johnson since power agent Arn Tellem left to take a job in the Pistons organization this past offseason. Embiid is another prominent name on Rose’s client list, which includes Carmelo Anthony, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jonas Valanciunas. Rose is also a co-agent for Kevin Durant.
Jarrett Jack Out For Season
JANUARY 13TH, 11:17am: Jack underwent surgery today, and the Nets anticipate that he’ll be ready to play by the start of next season, the team announced via press release.
JANUARY 3RD, 1:05pm: Nets point guard Jarrett Jack will miss the rest of the season because of a torn ACL and a small meniscus tear in his right knee, the team announced on its website. Brooklyn does not specify when Jack will undergo surgery, but NetsDaily reports it will happen on Monday (Twitter link).
The Nets have until January 15th to apply for a disabled player exception on Jack with the exception being worth $3.15MM, notes former NBA executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). It would expire March 10th, Marks adds. The Nets, at 10-23 likely won’t make the playoffs, but Marks tweets that they should apply for the exception anyway because it might help make a difference during the trade deadline.
Jack, who is making $6.3MM this season, has a $500K guarantee for next season, NetsDaily points out in a full story. He averaged 12.8 points and 7.4 assists per game in 32 appearances (all starts) for the Nets this season. With Jack out, Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan will likely see more minutes.
Jack, 32, has been durable over the course of his 12-year career, as Andy Vasquez of The Record notes (on Twitter). Jack is the only player in the league to have played at least 79 games in nine of the last 10 seasons, according to Vasquez.
Russ Smith To Play For Sixers D-League Affiliate
WEDNESDAY, 11:14am: The affiliate of the Sixers has claimed Smith’s D-League rights, so he’ll play for the Delaware 87ers, Reichert hears (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 10:50am: Former Grizzlies and Pelicans point guard Russ Smith has signed with the D-League, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has spent plenty of time on D-League assignment during his season and half in the pros, but this is the first time he has a D-League contract instead of an NBA deal, so the D-League waiver system will determine which affiliate he plays for. He’ll remain eligible to sign with any NBA team regardless.
Memphis waived Smith on December 29th, despite the existence of a full guarantee on his minimum salary, to clear room for Ryan Hollins, whom the Grizzlies released about a week later. Still, the team filled the roster spot with Elliot Williams on a 10-day contract instead of re-signing Smith. The Grizzlies reportedly believed as of early this season that Smith wasn’t ready to ascend to the role of primary backup behind Mike Conley, which helped precipitate the Mario Chalmers trade. Smith saw playing time in only 21 NBA games for Memphis in between the time it acquired him from the Pelicans in the Jeff Green trade a year ago today and the time of his release. He made it into only six games for New Orleans prior to that deal.
Still, he was a consensus First Team All-American in his senior season at Louisville in 2013/14, when he averaged 18.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 29.3 minutes per game. The Sixers drafted him 47th overall in 2014 and dealt his rights to the Pelicans shortly thereafter.
Do you think we’ll see Smith back in the NBA this season? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Nets Strongly Considering Bryan Colangelo For GM
The Nets have quickly begun to give former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo serious consideration to fill their vacant GM job, report Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. His emergence as a legitimate candidate isn’t a shock, as NetsDaily anticipated that he’d be in the mix (Twitter link). Colangelo’s name has come up often in regard to front office openings since the end of his Raptors tenure in 2013, most recently with the Sixers, who last month hired his father, Jerry, as chairman of basketball operations. Assistant GM Frank Zanin is running the Nets front office while the team conducts its search.
John Calipari is also connected to the Nets as a possibility for both the coaching and GM jobs, but owner Mikhail Prokhorov has indicated a desire to separate those positions between two people. Nets CEO Brett Yormark continues to make it clear he’s enamored with the University of Kentucky coach, but it’s uncertain whether anyone else among the Brooklyn higher-ups wants to pursue Calipari, Stein and Mazzeo write. Nets chairman Dmitry Razumov and Irina Pavlova, president of Prokhorov’s ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment holding company, are conducting the search for the team, with Nets board member Sergey Kushchenko growing increasingly influential, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported earlier this week.
Bryan Colangelo became GM of the Suns in the mid-1990s, shepherding the roster from the end of Charles Barkley’s time with Phoenix to the recruitment of Steve Nash in free agency. He directed the Raptors to their first two playoff appearances in the post-Vince Carter era in his first two seasons as GM in Toronto, but the team failed to make it back to the playoffs before it replaced Colangelo with current GM Masai Ujiri in 2013. Still, Colangelo is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year award winner, having come away with the honor in 2005 with the Suns and 2007 with the Raptors.
Do you think Colangelo would be a wise choice for the Nets? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
10-Day Contract Tracker
Teams were allowed to start signing players to 10-day contracts last week, and so far, a trio of deals have taken place. Elliot Williams signed a 10-day deal with the Grizzlies, Lorenzo Brown inked 10-day pact with the Grizzlies and Sean Kilpatrick secured a brief stay with the Nuggets. Other teams are investigating the possibility of adding someone on a 10-day, and after four dozen players signed 10-day contracts last season, more moves are almost certainly on the way.
The bulk of the signings that take place in the NBA between now and April will be of the 10-day variety, and we’ll keep on top of all of them. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to track every 10-day signing all season long. The 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed from the 2006/07 season on, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. Just be sure to write a player’s last name first if searching in that field. You can even see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, and if the short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season.
For instance, if you want to see how many 10-day deals that former lottery pick and current D-League standout Earl Clark has signed over the course of his career, you can find that information here. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Cavs, who just opened a roster spot, have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the Tools menu at the top of the page, or in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.
Eastern Notes: Raptors, Casey, Noah, Pistons
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri can’t envision the team using all of the four of the first-round picks ticketed to come the team’s way in the next two years, as he told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, essentially confirming an earlier report from Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that the team doesn’t plan to add four rookies.
“We already have so many young players,” Ujiri said to Lowe. “And those extra picks over the next two years — we can’t use all those picks. So [a trade] is always something you’re looking at.”
Still, most signs point to the Raptors standing pat for now, with Ujiri believing that increased parity will reduce the volume of swaps, Lowe writes. See more on the Raptors amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are advocates for Dwane Casey‘s continued presence as Raptors coach, Lowe notes in the same piece. Toronto has a team option for next season on Casey’s contract.
- Joakim Noah has returned from his shoulder injury, but he isn’t playing much, and he remains displeased with where he stands in the eyes of the Bulls, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, adding that the center isn’t enamored with coach Fred Hoiberg. The source cautioned that Noah hasn’t been a distraction. The Bulls have reportedly made Noah available for a trade, and I examined his trade candidacy last month.
- Reggie Jackson is entrenched as the starter, Brandon Jennings and Steve Blake are on expiring contracts and Spencer Dinwiddie appears poised to stay on D-League assignment for the long haul, but Stan Van Gundy is once more casting doubt on the idea of trading a point guard, notes MLive’s David Mayo. “I think there’s a very good chance that we don’t move any of those guys before the trade deadline,” Van Gundy said. The Pistons coach/executive added that the team still has hopes for Dinwiddie, who said GM Jeff Bower told him he’ll be in the D-League for the rest of the season, but Dinwiddie has to show he’s “better than just being a roster guy,” Van Gundy said, as Mayo relays.