Western Notes: Griffin, Mitchell, Suns
Nearly half of the Timberwolves roster has expressed concern regarding the performance of interim coach Sam Mitchell, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press relays. The players’ concerns stem from issues with Mitchell’s outdated offensive system, his tendency to platoon his rotations and a lack of personal accountability for the team’s struggles, Krawczynski notes. Point guard Zach LaVine answered tersely when asked if Mitchell’s tough love approach was making him a better player, the AP scribe adds. “It’s not fun. Sometimes unfair,” LaVine said. “But he’s the coach, I’m the player and sometimes that’s what you have to deal with. You can’t really do anything about it but play good on the court.”
Team owner Glen Taylor doesn’t appear overly concerned that some members of his roster may be frustrated with the coach, Krawczynski notes. “I talk to the players. I talk to the coaches,” Taylor said. “I’m glad that they’re frustrated. I’m sure they’re trying very hard in practice to improve their skills. I know they want to win. I’m confident that it’s just going to be some game that we win against somebody that probably has a better team than us and it just kind of gets us going.”
Here’s what else is happening out West:
- The NBA’s punishment for Blake Griffin, who was involved in a fight with Clippers equipment manager Mathias Testi, may not be known for some time, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times writes. The Times scribe cites the duration it has recently taken the league to mete out discipline to Grizzlies small forward Matt Barnes and former Hornets small forward Jeff Taylor as examples of the NBA’s propensity to take its time. Griffin’s injury status will also complicate matters, as any potential suspension he would face would not begin until he was medically cleared to play, notes Bresnahan. The power forward is expected to miss approximately four to six weeks after undergoing surgery this week to repair a fracture in his right hand.
- With backcourt mates Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight out due to injury, the Suns are now looking to go big with their lineups, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “The court looks smaller,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Length makes a difference in this league when you have a bunch of it.”
Eastern Notes: Skiles, Noah, Winslow
Magic coach Scott Skiles, when asked about his tenure as Bucks head coach, said he considered his time there a failure, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel relays. “Any time you’re someplace four or five years, you have friendships,” Skiles said regarding his time spent in Milwaukee. “We have a sailboat on Lake Michigan. We had a good time this summer here — all six weeks of it. That was a fun year [in 2010]. But like all coaches or like anybody in sports, you’ve got to be judged by wins and losses. From a personal standpoint because we weren’t able to sustain that, I look at it as a situation where I failed.” Skiles’ regular season record as Bucks coach was 162-182.
Skiles did add that the lack of All-Star level talent contributed to the Bucks difficulties, Gardner notes. “From year to year, things change,” Skiles told Gardner. “It’s hard. The teams that can sustain it, it’s not a secret why. They typically have two or three All-Stars that stay for a long period of time and a really solid core, and they just plug other guys in. If you don’t have that, it’s very hard, because other teams are getting better. Everybody’s goal is to have those guys, but there aren’t that many of them.” The last Milwaukee player selected to the NBA All-Star game was Michael Redd, way back in 2004.
Here’s more from out of the East:
- Bulls center Joakim Noah has dealt with injuries and having his playing time drop this season, the last on his current deal, but he hopes to show the league he can still be a valuable contributor going forward, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com writes. “It’s not easy, but I know there’s people out there who it’s a lot harder for, so I’m not complaining,” Noah said of his pending free agency. “These are my cards right now. And it’s all about how you bounce back. I just want to prove that I have a lot more basketball in me.“
- The Heat want to continue to expand the role of rookie Justise Winslow and view him as player who can be utilized at multiple positions, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. Winslow, for his part, embraces the variety, Winderman adds. “I mean, that’s the type of player I was growing up, and at Duke, especially, versatile, just trying to do everything,” Winslow said. “I had a post up [Tuesday], knocking down a 3-pointer and playing a little point, just doing a little bit of everything.” The 19-year-old is averaging 5.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists over his 43 appearances this season.
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.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:02pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: The Cavs set the NBA world abuzz with their coaching change Friday, overshadowing the Josh Smith trade and Steve Kerr’s long-awaited return to the Warriors, both of which happened the same day. A broken hand, reportedly self-inflicted, for Blake Griffin has cast more doubt on the Clippers title hopes, while the Hawks, a year removed from their perfect January of last season, are apparently considering a major move. We can talk about all that and more in today’s chat.
And-Ones: Griffin, Horford, Bazemore, Walton
People who work for the Clippers are “miserable” about the embarrassment that the reported altercation between Blake Griffin and equipment manager Mathis Testi has brought upon the franchise, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes. Griffin, who’s expected to miss four to six weeks recovering from the broken hand he apparently suffered in the incident, issued a statement of apology through his verified Twitter account.
- The Hawks aren’t entirely sure that Al Horford will re-sign in free agency this summer, and they’re making it a priority to re-sign fellow soon-to-be free agent Kent Bazemore, too, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports says in the latest edition of his “The Vertical” podcast (audio link, scroll ahead to 48-minute mark). Wojnarowski and Yahoo Sports colleague Chris Mannix also elaborated on the Atlanta’s trade talks involving Jeff Teague.
- Luke Walton said that he had fun as interim Warriors head coach but acknowledged that he still has much to learn as he spoke in a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game. Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group has the partial transcription (Twitter links). “I’m not in a rush to go out and do anything different,” Walton said. “I enjoy the assistant role too … I’d love to be back again next season.”
- Matthew Dellavedova was “definitely shocked” when the Cavaliers fired David Blatt and said to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he’s sure he’ll cross paths with the coach again. “Coach Blatt was huge for me,” Dellavedova said. “He gave me a great opportunity. He really believed in me and 100% supported me. It was really great for my career, so I’m always going to be appreciative for what he did for me.” Dellavedova is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Love, LeBron
- No one has wanted to acquire Kevin Love more than Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, Wojnarowski says in the same podcast (scroll to 51-minute mark). Still, podcast guest and Yahoo colleague Chris Mannix suggests it’s too soon for the Cavs to trade Love, who just re-signed with the Cavs to a five-year max deal this past summer. Cavs GM David Griffin wants a versatile, defensive-minded wing player, Mannix hears, speculating that Jae Crowder would fit that bill.
- Griffin has indicated in the wake of David Blatt‘s firing that the onus is on the players to put the team first, though with little recourse for major roster changes, new head coach Tyronn Lue would likely be the one to face the consequences if the Cavs don’t perform up to their potential, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt examines. “Our most glaring need is to understand and communicate role delineation and team sacrifice,” Griffin said. “We have to have group buy-in and team-first habits in order to become the team that intend to be. We don’t have to concern ourselves with expectations of a destination. We need to work towards tomorrow and honor one another with total commitment every single day.”
- LeBron James was pointed in his denial that he’s ever undermined a coach in the wake of rumors that he was behind the dismissal of Blatt and sought to have Erik Spoelstra fired, saying that it “does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be.” Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has the details.
Team-By-Team First-Round Pick Trade Restrictions
First-round picks are valuable currency on the trade market. They allow teams to make significant talent upgrades for the near term, to clear salary obligations, and sometimes, especially when packaged together, to land a superstar. The picks are valuable in and of themselves, especially given their increased relative cost-effectiveness amid a rising salary cap, and they can also be crucial bargaining chips as executives talk swap this time of year.
Alas, for the Grizzlies, Mavericks and Heat, trading one of their first-round picks isn’t an option. That’s because all three have traded other picks that make it impossible for them to deal a first-rounder that falls within the stipulations of the Ted Stepien rule and other pick-trading regulations.
The Stepien rule is a fairly well-known measure that keeps team from trading consecutive future first-round picks. It doesn’t apply to previously traded first-rounders, so the Pelicans, who traded their first-round pick last year, can trade their 2016 first-rounder. The Stepien rule doesn’t cover trades that happen immediately after the draft, either, so teams barred from trading their 2016 first-rounders now can do so in June. That won’t help much at the February 18th trade deadline, however.
The other key stipulation at play holds that teams can’t trade picks for more than seven drafts in the future. That means picks in the 2022 draft are the latest currently up for grabs, and no team can trade a 2023 pick until after this year’s draft.
Thus, the Heat, who’ve traded their 2016, 2018 and 2021 first-round picks, have no way to trade any other first-rounder. Dealing away their 2017, 2019, 2020 or 2022 pick would entail two traded future first-rounders in a row and run afoul of the Stepien rule. Those four are the only picks the team has left in the next seven years, so in this regard, the Heat are stuck.
So too are the Mavericks, but for a different reason. Their 2016 first-rounder is the only one they owe. That begs the question of why Dallas can’t trade their picks for 2018 through 2022. The answer is that the protection attached to the 2016 pick the Mavs owe the Celtics makes it possible that the pick won’t convey until 2021. The next pick the Mavs could trade in that case would be for 2023, one year too late. Even though the pick could convey any year between 2016 and 2021, the mere chance that it might happen in one of those years prohibits the Mavericks from trading any of their picks in those drafts.
Had the latest possible transfer of that pick been 2020, the situation would be much different. Dallas could simply trade its 2022 first-rounder in that case, or the Mavs could trade a 2018 first-rounder with the condition that it can’t change hands until two years after they actually deliver the pick they owe Boston.
That’s why you see two years on the list for some teams below, with one of them representing the earliest year those teams can trade a pick and the other the earliest those teams can promise that the pick will convey.
All 30 teams are accounted for below, with a brief line of information describing what they can and can’t do with their future first-round picks.
Bucks
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Bulls
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus an extra one from Sacramento.
Cavaliers
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2018, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2021.
Celtics
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extras from Brooklyn (2), Dallas, Memphis and Minnesota. (Can also trade swap rights with Brooklyn’s 2017 pick).
Clippers
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2019, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2021.
Grizzlies
- Can’t trade a first-round pick.
Hawks
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus an extra one from Minnesota.
Heat
- Can’t trade a first-round pick.
Hornets
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Jazz
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extra ones from Golden State and Oklahoma City.
Kings
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2020, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2021.
Knicks
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2018.
Lakers
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2020, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2021.
Magic
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus an extra one from the Lakers.
Mavericks
- Can’t trade a first-round pick.
Nets
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2020.
Nuggets
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extras from Houston, Memphis and Portland. (Can also trade swap rights with New York’s 2016 pick).
Pacers
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Pelicans
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Pistons
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Rockets
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2018.
Raptors
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extra ones from the Clippers and either New York or Denver.
Sixers
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extras from the Lakers, Miami, Oklahoma City, and Sacramento. (Can also trade swap rights with Golden State’s 2016 pick and Sacramento’s 2016 and 2017 picks.
Spurs
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
Suns
- Can trade any of their first-round picks, plus extra ones from Miami (2) and Cleveland.
Timberwolves
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2020, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2022.
Thunder
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2020, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2022.
Trail Blazers
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2018, and they can’t promise a first-rounder until 2019.
Warriors
- Earliest first-round pick they can trade is for 2019.
Wizards
- Can trade any of their first-round picks.
The RealGM future traded pick database was used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Notes: Durant, Anderson, Heat, LeBron
Some executives around the NBA expect that the Knicks will at least “get an audience” with Kevin Durant, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who points out that New York will likely have to maneuver to create enough cap space to place a max offer on the table for him. Durant praised the Knicks’ roster construction, mentioning Kristaps Porzingis, Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams, as well as coach and former Durant teammate Derek Fisher, notes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, but in spite of Durant’s much-publicized “unicorn” comment about Porzingis, the Thunder have a strong roster and a unique player of their own in Russell Westbrook, observes Royce Young of ESPN.com. See more on a few of New York’s Eastern Conference rivals:
- Alan Anderson is expected to return to game action around the All-Star break, a source told Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The Wizards signed the swingman in the offseason thinking he’d be ready to start the season on time, but he wound up needing a second surgery on his injured left ankle, and he’s yet to suit up for the team.
- Heat majority owner Micky Arison has been trying to buy out minority share owner Ranaan Katz for years, and Heat employees have long been barred from talking with him, according to Dan Le Batard of ESPN, who adds that the assertion that LeBron James tried to have Erik Spoelstra fired is untrue (Twitter links). Katz reportedly made that assertion, but he denies that, claiming that what he said on a radio show hosted by Ofira Asayag on ONE.co.il’s 102 FM in Israel was incorrectly translated from Hebrew to English, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). For what it’s worth, international journalist David Pick provided a full transcription for Bleacher Report, which depicts Katz saying that Riley’s refusal to fire Spoelstra was the primary reason James returned to Cleveland and that the Heat drafted Shabazz Napier in 2014 because James wanted them to. Katz also denies that he said LeBron was the catalyst for the Cavs firing David Blatt, as Pick notes in an addendum to the transcription.
- James said today that he never hesitated to give his opinion but that he’s never undermined a coach, adding that he’s never met Katz, note Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter links). James has indeed met Katz, counters Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, who points out that Katz sits next to the visitors bench for every Heat home game (Twitter link).
Hawks Solicited Offers For Teague, Schröder
The Hawks are talking with other teams about Jeff Teague, reports Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team had been soliciting offers for Teague as well as backup Dennis Schröder, but they’ve recently been focused more heavily on Teague, Mannix adds (on Twitter).
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reported earlier this week that the team has “major trust issues” with Schröder, and that the Hawks were focused on contending this season, hints that the team would prefer to hang on to Teague. However, coach/executive Mike Budenholzer put recent games against the Kings and Suns in Schröder’s hands, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes. Soon-to-be free agent Al Horford praised the team’s point guard play, and particularly Teague’s value to the Hawks, after Monday’s win against the Nuggets, Vivlamore relays.
“It was huge,” Horford said. “Jeff’s energy, his activity, I’ve said this before. When he plays at that level, it changes our team completely. It was true last season. It’s true now. I was very happy to see him give us some really good minutes. Dennis as well. They both really set the tone.”
Schröder raised eyebrows before the season when he told the German magazine Sport Bild that he would “explore other possibilities” if the Hawks didn’t give him a chance to start, though he also made it clear that he likes playing in Atlanta, and the relationship between Teague and Schröder is solid, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders reported in October. Schröder has started just six of Atlanta’s 46 games this season, though his PER of 16.8, up from 15.7 last season, indicates the third-year veteran is becoming more efficient even as he plays just 21.5 minutes per game. Teague’s minutes are down this season, from 30.5 to 28.3, and his PER of 16.3 is off significantly from last year’s career high of 20.6.
Teague is making $8MM this year and is set for the same next season on the four-year offer sheet he signed with the Bucks in 2013. Atlanta matched that bid, reeling him back in just weeks after drafting Schröder 17th overall. The 22-year-old German native is pulling down about $1.763MM this year on his rookie scale contract, which, like Teague’s deal, runs out after next season. Both are eligible for extensions this summer, though rookie scale extensions are much more common than veteran extensions.
Lowe speculates that the Bucks will take another look at Teague (Twitter link), and he theorized in his Tuesday column that the Jazz would be a fit. SB Nation’s Tom Ziller suggests that trading for Teague is an intriguing alternative for teams planning a bid for a point guard in free agency, given how shallow this year’s free agent point guard class will be (Twitter links).
Do you think the Hawks should trade Teague or hang on to him? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/26/16
According to a recent report by Russia’s TASS news agency, former Cavs coach David Blatt is “priority one” for the Nets as they seek a new head coach. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders first reported that the Nets were interested in Blatt, but an article by Fred Kerber of the New York Post this past weekend relayed that Tom Thibodeau was Brooklyn’s probable top target. Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly wants to hire a GM before he hires a coach, and the team’s goal is apparently to have a GM in place before the February 18th trade deadline. Blatt has also been linked to the Lakers and Timberwolves, though both teams have publicly stated that they are committed to their current coaches.
Tony Brown has been serving as Brooklyn’s interim coach since the team fired Lionel Hollins earlier this month. It is highly unlikely that he will land the position on a long-term basis, though that is merely my speculation. Prokhorov, like TASS, is from Russia, and Blatt used to coach the Russian national team, which has received significant financial backing from Prokhorov in the past. That could give Blatt a leg up on his competitors for the position, provided he’s interested of course.
Earlier reports have linked the Nets to Luke Walton, John Calipari, Monty Williams and Chris Mullin, but Prokhorov has so far reportedly balked at Calipari’s price tag. The owner has also expressed a preference for a separate GM and coach, which isn’t the dual role that Calipari is reportedly seeking to make the jump back to the NBA. This brings me to the topic/question of the day: Which of the potential targets for the Nets listed above would be the best hire for the franchise? Why?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.