Nuggets Sign Sean Kilpatrick To 10-Day Contract
1:15pm: The signing is official, the team announced. Denver has five games in the next 10 days.
8:07am: The Nuggets plan to sign former Timberwolves and Pelicans shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Denver has an open roster spot, since it waived Kostas Papanikolaou last week. Kilpatrick has dazzled for the D-League affiliate of the Sixers this season, and he tops the D-League player rankings that Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor compiled today.
Kilpatrick, 26, is averaging 27.1 points in 38.5 minutes per game with 45.5% 3-point shooting on 164 attempts with the D-League Delaware 87ers this season. The Wizards reportedly gave him strong consideration for a signing last month. New Orleans signed him in September, but he didn’t shoot well from the outside during the preseason, nailing just six of 25 attempts from behind the arc, and the Pelicans cut him before opening night and before any of his salary became guaranteed.
The undrafted former University of Cincinnati standout grabbed his first NBA contract last season in large measure because he was in the right place at the right time. The Timberwolves needed someone to give them the NBA minimum of eight healthy players for a March game against the Knicks in New York, and Kilpatrick was close enough to get to the game on time. He played a fairly prominent role in his brief stint with Minnesota, which signed him to a 10-day contract, averaging 5.5 points in 17.9 minutes per contest, though he made just four of 13 3-point tries.
Kilpatrick reportedly had auditions with the Lakers, Spurs and Hawks, as well as a summer league stint with the Bucks, before landing with New Orleans in the offseason. The Nuggets, right around league average in 3-pointers made, surely hope his D-League shooting numbers are more indicative of his abilities than his NBA shooting numbers are.
Zach Links of Hoops Rumors spoke with Kilpatrick as he transitioned from college to the pros in 2014.
Kings Pay Settlement To Luc Mbah A Moute
The Kings have given Luc Mbah a Moute a financial settlement stemming from the dispute over his voided contract with Sacramento this past offseason, Mbah a Moute said today to reporters, including Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). The 29-year-old combo forward, now with the Clippers, wouldn’t disclose precisely how much the Kings paid him, other than to joke that it would be enough for a fast-food meal, Bolch notes.
The Kings contract was to have been a one-year deal worth $1.55MM, slightly more than the $1,270,964 seven-year veteran’s minimum salary he’s making on his one-year contract with the Clippers, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. It’s unclear if the Kings deal would have included guaranteed salary. Mbah a Moute’s contract with the Clippers was originally non-guaranteed, but he won a spot in the starting lineup and the team kept him past Thursday, the last day the Clips could have waived him without guaranteeing his salary.
The National Basketball Players Association was reportedly poised to file a grievance regarding the voided contract this summer. Kings GM Vlade Divac cited a shoulder issue discovered during the team physical Mbah a Moute took after signing the contract as reason for nixing the deal. However, Mbah a Moute’s agents at the Wasserman Media Group and union officials pointed to independent medical examinations that showed he was clear to play, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported. Mbah a Moute received the medical OK to take part in an NBA exhibition in Africa on August 1st, about two weeks after the Kings voided the deal, and he dunked right after the tip in that game.
And-Ones: Rose, Lillard, Bazemore, Labissiere
Derrick Rose has said in the past that he wants to play with the Bulls for the rest of his career, and while he raised eyebrows with his comments on media day that indicated he was looking forward to hitting free agency in 2017, he recently told Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com he still intends to stay put. The same is true for Damian Lillard, who said Friday that he plans to remain with the Trail Blazers until his playing days are over, calling his relationship with the organization “a hand-and-glove fit” for the way the Blazers have embraced him as a player and a person, as Jason Quick of CSNNW.com notes. Lillard is fresh off signing a five-year extension in the summer, so the matter of his free agency isn’t as pressing as Rose’s, though Lillard’s remarks are nonetheless soothing for Portland, given its history of star defections, Quick posits. See more from around the NBA:
- Rose also told Friedell for the same piece that he doesn’t have any contact with Tom Thibodeau and doesn’t even think about his former coach, despite having had a “good relationship” with him, because he’s focused on adjusting to new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. He also spoke fondly of Jimmy Butler, despite reports of friction between the two, answering affirmatively when Friedell asked if Butler is the most talented teammate he’s ever had.
- The Hawks unsurprisingly view 2016 free agent Al Horford as a building block for the long-term, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, though he’s not the only player the team will have to pay if it wants to retain this summer. Estimates of the starting salary Kent Bazemore will be able to command on his next deal range from the mid-level, which tops out at $5.628MM, to $12MM, according to a dozen league executives to whom Lowe spoke.
- The top three, including LSU combo forward Ben Simmons, are unchanged in the latest 2016 draft prospect rankings from Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider only), but Marquette big man Henry Ellenson is up to No. 4 from No. 6. Kentucky big man Skal Labissiere, who was Ford’s previous No. 4 and once a serious challenger for the No. 1 pick, has dropped to No. 10.
Luke Walton On Nets Coaching Radar
The Nets are eyeing Warriors interim coach Luke Walton, whom they’re likely to consider as they seek a long-term replacement for the fired Lionel Hollins, sources tell Sam Amico of Amico Hoops and Fox Sports Ohio. Other reports have linked the Nets to John Calipari, Monty Williams and, more loosely, Chris Mullin. Nets assistant Tony Brown is serving as Brooklyn’s interim coach in the wake of Sunday’s dismissal of Hollins and reassignment of GM Billy King.
Walton, the NBA’s Western Conference Coach of the Month for November, has the Warriors at 36-2 while Steve Kerr continues to recover from two back surgeries. That’s the best 38-game start in NBA history, and it’s all the more remarkable given Walton’s relative inexperience. He’s just three years removed from having played in 50 games for the Cavaliers in the 2012/13 season, and last season was his first as an NBA assistant. He spent one season as a player development coach for the D-League affiliate of the Lakers in between the end of his playing career and the time Kerr added him to his staff in the summer of 2014.
The 35-year-old has expressed an interest in formally becoming a head coach some day, though it’s “nothing I’m trying to rush into,” as he told Ben Golliver of SI.com in November. Coaching the Nets would seemingly pose a much stiffer challenge than the Warriors do, since Brooklyn is mired in a 10-28 season and without its first-round pick this year. Still, the Nets have $45MM in guaranteed salaries against a projected $89MM cap for this summer, and it would seem likely that the Nets wouldn’t hire Walton until the offseason, though that’s just my speculation.
Walton has a tie to the recently deposed Nets coach. His father, Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton, was a teammate of Hollins’ on the Trail Blazers.
Max Offers Waiting For DeRozan; Likely Batum, Too
Several teams, including the Lakers, are ready to make maximum-salary offers to DeMar DeRozan, and Nicolas Batum is likely to draw max offers, too, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com in a piece on the Raptors. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri “has long been connected” to Batum, as Lowe puts it, and Batum’s camp has spoken in the past about his desire to play for the Raptors, as Lowe reported over the summer. However, Batum was vehement in the wake of that offseason report that he wants to remain with the Hornets, and while the Lakers reportedly have a longstanding interest in Southern California native DeRozan, he’s said he’d like to play for Toronto the rest of his career. Indeed, it appears that the most likely outcome for Batum and DeRozan is that they stay put, Lowe concludes, though it appears they’ll be well-compensated to do so.
The pair are eligible for the maximum-salary tier that would give them starting salaries of a projected $24.9MM each. Their incumbent teams can exceed the salary cap using their Bird rights to give them five-year deals with 7.5% raises, while competitors must use cap space and are limited to four-year offers with 4.5% raises. DeRozan was unlikely to command max salaries as recently as a year ago, but improvement in his pick-and-roll play has changed that, as Lowe details. Batum and DeRozan are both in the midst of career seasons that have no doubt enhanced their respective values.
For what it’s worth, both have lists of suitors that reportedly include the Nets, who have $45MM in guaranteed salaries against a projected $89MM cap, leaving not quite enough room to snag both of them. The Lakers have only about $23MM committed, though it’s unclear if they have strong interest in Batum.
Which would you rather have on a max deal, DeRozan or Batum? Leave a comment to tell us.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/11/16
No team has endured a more disappointing season than the Pelicans.
A glance at the bottom of the conference standings yields few surprises. Teams such as the Sixers, Nets, Lakers, Timberwolves and Suns weren’t expected to make any noise, either because they’re in rebuilding mode or they simply don’t have enough talent. That wasn’t the case with New Orleans, which appeared to be on the rise after making a playoff appearance last season.
Superstar Anthony Davis signed an extension and the Pelicans kept their core group intact, with the expectation they would continue to build chemistry after winning 45 regular-season games. Veteran coach Alvin Gentry was hired away from the NBA champion Warriors to get the franchise to the next level.
Instead of another jump in the standings, the Pelicans have floundered throughout the first 35 games of the season, recording just 11 victories and possessing the Western Conference’s second-worst record.
Injuries are partially to blame. Tyreke Evans has missed about half of the team’s games, Jrue Holiday was eased back into action after a couple of injury-plagued seasons and Davis has sat out all or most of six games with assorted issues. Then came word on Monday that Quincy Pondexter, who hasn’t played this season but was expected back this month, will need season-ending surgery.
That still doesn’t explain away the team’s woeful showing during the first half of the season. The Pelicans rank in the bottom third of the league in defensive field-goal percentage and rebounding, and in the middle of the pack offensively in adjusted field-goal percentage.
New Orleans has four other players besides Davis averaging at least 12.9 points per game — Ryan Anderson, Evans, Eric Gordon and Holiday — yet none has emerged as the clearcut No. 2 option. Anderson and Gordon become unrestricted free agents after the season, with Anderson generally considered to be the team’s most movable piece if they decide to make a significant trade before the February deadline.
Adding to the intrigue is that the Pelicans are reportedly interested in hiring NBA Hall of Famer and longtime Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars for a major front office role.
This leads us to our question of the day: What is the Pelicans’ biggest need in order to reverse their downward spiral and become a perennial playoff contender?
Please take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
Eastern Notes: Sixers, Thomas, Dinwiddie
The Sixers will eventually have to decide between Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, an unnamed league executive told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Daily News. That duo hasn’t played well together, the executive explained, in part because neither has the shooting range to stretch defenses. It will be imperative to shed one of them via trade if Joel Embiid returns next season from foot surgery because it will essentially give Philadelphia three starting-quality bigs, the story continues. In that case, it makes more sense to keep Noel because Okafor and Embiid are limited defensively, the executive opined to Pompey. “They are both centers,” he said. “They both can only guard centers. They can’t defend power forward or stretch fours in this league.”
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- Knicks small forward Lance Thomas could be a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award and that might make it difficult for the club to re-sign him, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Opposing coaches have taken notice of Thomas’ two-way impact off the bench, going out of their way to praise him, Berman continues. Thomas, arguably the team’s best defender, signed a one-year, $1,636,842 contract during the offseason but his price tag going back into the free agent pool this summer is growing and the Knicks will have competition for his services, Berman adds.
- The Pistons plan on keeping second-year guard Spencer Dinwiddie with their D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids for the foreseeable future, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. With the return of Brandon Jennings from his Achilles injury, Dinwiddie is the team’s No. 4 point guard on the roster behind Reggie Jackson, Jennings and Steve Blake.
- The Heat recalled shooting guard Josh Richardson on Monday from their D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team’s website announced. Richardson has played four games with the Skyforce this season and helped them capture the D-League Showcase Championship.
- The Wizards could decide to become sellers nearing next month’s trade deadline if they don’t go on a hot streak or get most of their key pieces healthy before that point, league sources indicated to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Trade Candidate: Taj Gibson
Taj Gibson provides old-school skills at a position that has become increasingly more perimeter-oriented. The Bulls veteran is the antithesis of a stretch four — he doesn’t spread the floor by hanging around the 3-point circle and waiting for a kickout pass.
Gibson’s game is based upon power. He’s a solid rebounder, a superior rim protector and an above-average mid-range shooter.
The Bulls apparently hope that another team that needs a player fitting that description will give them a call. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports raised that possibility last month, reporting that the Bulls are looking to acquire the best possible wing player available, with Gibson or Joakim Noah being the bargaining chip. The Bulls believe they need another shooter at the wing alongside emerging franchise player Jimmy Butler, according to Wojnarowski.
On the surface, that’s surprising since Chicago currently ranks fourth in the league in 3-point percentage. But in their quest to reach the NBA Finals, the Bulls will need all the firepower they can muster to prevent the Cavaliers from making a return trip.
Chicago is hopeful of getting Mike Dunleavy back in action during the second half of the season, which could fill that need. There’s no guarantee that Dunleavy will regain his old form once he completes his rehab of a back injury that has sidelined him all season, so the Bulls could opt for a healthier, younger wing man.
Noah’s return from a shoulder injury on Monday gives the Bulls plenty of frontcourt depth. They have one of the league’s top centers in Pau Gasol, a defensive stalwart in Noah and a stretch four in Nikola Mirotic. They also have an emerging rookie in Bobby Portis, who has skills similar to Gibson’s.
Gibson had been starting and playing heavy minutes in Noah’s absence but the Bulls could easily plug Portis into Gibson’s role if they swing a deal. Sam Smith of NBA.com recently provided a compelling argument against trading Gibson, opining that he’s simply too valuable and reliable to send packing. Moreover, Smith points out, the Bulls’ frontcourt could be thinned considerably following the season. Noah becomes an unrestricted free agent and Gasol, woefully underpaid by NBA standards, will almost certainly opt out of the final year on his contract.
By the numbers, Gibson remains as effective as he’s ever been. His PER has exceeded the league average in three of the last four seasons and it’s currently at 15.54 this season. He’s shooting a career-best 52.8% from the field, his 6.8 rebounding average is as high as it’s been since his rookie season and he’s averaging a career-high 1.5 assists.
According to NBA.com’s advanced stats, Gibson has made 45.5% of his mid-range shots. Gibson has actually had more trouble finishing at the rim (40% on layup attempts), so his offensive production could increase if he can get that straightened out.
Make no mistake, Gibson’s calling card comes on the defensive end. His Offensive Box Plus/Minus Rating, according to Basketball-Reference, has been below zero every season of his career but it’s been more than offset by the positives he puts up in Defensive Box Plus/Minus Rating. His current 2.4 Defensive Box rating is better than it’s been since his second season.
Gibson’s strong season can be attributed in part to improved health. He had offseason surgery that uncovered and repaired a torn ligament in his left ankle and he told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that his mobility is much improved. “I’m completely stronger as far as my lateral movement and being able to switch more to guards,” Gibson said. “I feel a lot faster.”
Noah’s $13.4MM salary, plus his injury history and impending free agency, makes him tougher to deal than Gibson, a Western Conference GM recently told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Gibson is making $8.5MM this season and is locked into an $8.95MM contract in his walk year of 2016/17. Thus, it makes sense that any team dealing for him would want him in its rotation beyond this season. It also figures that his suitor would be a playoff contender, since Gibson doesn’t fit the mold of a young, developing player with upside.
Which playoff contenders need another rebounding big? Start with the Hawks, who rank last in rebounding differential. They have one of the league’s most feared 3-point shooters in veteran swingman Kyle Korver, who is shooting a career-low 36% from long distance. Perhaps a change of scenery could energize Korver.
The red-hot Clippers may not be inclined to do anything at the moment but their team rebounding numbers are surprisingly poor despite the presence of DeAndre Jordan and currently injured Blake Griffin. Another big body could help them down the road and they could offer veteran wing Jamal Crawford, a proven bench scorer.
The Grizzlies are one of the league’s worst 3-point shooting teams but could also use someone to fortify their frontcourt behind Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Courtney Lee is struggling with his shot this season but is a 38.1% career shooter from long distance, so that might interest the Bulls.
These trade proposals are pure speculation on my part but offer a glimpse as to what type of player the Bulls might get back for Gibson. Bear in mind that Chicago is a taxpaying team, so the Bulls can only take in 125% of the salary they trade away, plus $100K, unless they bring in players with contracts that fit within the minimum salary exception.
Don’t forget the Bulls rarely go the trade route to improve their team — they haven’t made one since July 14th, 2014, and lack trade exceptions. But if the Bulls truly want to get another shooter for their playoff run, dealing Gibson would seem to be their best option.
Pelicans Eye Millsap, Johnson, Dejean-Jones
The Pelicans are expected to consider several wing players for 10-day contracts now that Quincy Pondexter is set to miss the entire season, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who mentions free agents Elijah Millsap, Orlando Johnson and Bryce Dejean-Jones by name. New Orleans has been carrying an open roster spot since trading Ish Smith to the Sixers last month.
Millsap cleared waivers last week from the Jazz, who cut him rather than guarantee his contract for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old brother of Paul Millsap had seen his minutes dwindle this season, to 8.6 per contest in 20 appearances, after he averaged 19.7 minutes a night in 47 games with Utah last year.
Johnson, who was the 36th overall pick in 2012, has been playing for the D-League affiliate of the Spurs for the past month, averaging 15.5 points in 32.3 minutes per game, with sizzling 50.7% shooting on 73 attempts from 3-point range. The 26-year-old last appeared in the NBA during the 2013/14 season with the Pacers and Kings.
Dejean-Jones signed with the Pelicans in August as an undrafted free agent after winning a spot on the New Orleans summer league team. He averaged 8.8 points in 18.2 minutes per game during the preseason, but a rash of injuries at other positions helped persuade the Pelicans to cut him before opening night. He’s since joined the Jazz affiliate in the D-League and has posted 18.5 points in 31.5 minutes per contest across six appearances.
Which player makes the most sense for the Pelicans, or is there another name they should consider? Share your thoughts with a comment.
Quincy Pondexter Needs Season-Ending Surgery
Pelicans small forward Quincy Pondexter will undergo season-ending surgery on his left knee in New York on January 20th, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports. Pondexter has not played this season. New Orleans is eligible to apply for a disabled player exception worth $1,691,012, which is half of Pondexter’s salary, though the application deadline is Friday. The Pelicans are expected to consider signing wing players to 10-day contracts using their open roster spot, as Charania also writes and as we cover in more detail here.
He underwent surgery to repair damage in the same knee in May but it obviously didn’t heal as sufficiently as hoped. Pondexter was acquired by New Orleans in January as part of a three-team trade with the Celtics and Grizzlies.
The news comes as a surprise, considering the team recently announced a one-to-two week timetable for his return, Charania continues. He was expected to boost the team’s perimeter defense and provide toughness and stability in that area, Charania adds. The team has been using Tyreke Evans extensively at small forward in his absence.
Pondexter, who averaged 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 43.3% from 3-point range in 45 games for New Orleans last season, remains on a four-year contract extension that he signed in 2013 with the Grizzlies. He’s making approximately $3.38MM this season and has guarantees of $3.618MM next season and $3.854MM the following year.