Knicks Notes: Williams, Offseason Plans
Knicks team president Phil Jackson views Derrick Williams as part of the team’s future, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. Williams has a player option worth slightly under $4.6MM for next season and the combo forward is undecided about his future with the team, Berman adds.
Here’s more from New York:
- The Knicks have struggled this season, but Pistons executive/coach Stan Van Gundy believes Jackson has New York in a good spot heading into the offseason, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. “This is their big summer, he’s positioned them well and they’ve got flexibility,” Van Gundy said.
- New York isn’t ready to throw away the season and start giving more minutes to its younger players just yet, Stefan Bondy of The Daily News writes. “If management tells me at some point in time we’re there and they want to make that change that’s something I’ll defer to them, but as a coach I’m not there yet. So I’m going to go with the guys I trust and have the experience,” coach Kurt Rambis said.
10-Day Contract Tracker
A renewed flurry of 10-day contracts has taken place around the NBA in the wake of the trade deadline and buyout season, with new roster vacancies prompting the call for short-term trials. Seven teams signed players to 10-day contracts this week, while others are investigating the possibility of more 10-day deals.
The bulk of the signings that take place in the NBA between now and the end of the regular season figure to 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 the 10-day contracts that Jordan McRae has signed this season, enter his last name and first name into the player search box. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Suns have given out this year, just select them from the team drop-down menu. Adjust the year drop-down menu to see 10-day contract information from previous seasons. Plenty of other filters allow you to further customize your look at the data.
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.
Western Notes: Collison, Martin, Davis, Beasley
His partnership with Rajon Rondo may be temporary, but Kings point guard Darren Collison is trying to make it work, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento brought in Rondo on a one-year contract and anointed him the starting point guard. Collison has adapted his game and is getting increased minutes in the shooting guard role. “If I couldn’t start for teams, it probably wouldn’t matter as much,” he said. “Winning is still the No. 1 goal, if I had a list, and I’ll go from there. The way I’ve been playing the last couple of years, obviously starting is very fun to me.” While the Kings aren’t sure if Rondo will be back next season, they don’t have to worry about Collison. He is signed for 2016/17 at $5,229,454.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kevin Martin was one of the last remaining links to the competitive Wolves teams of two seasons ago, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. Martin, who was waived this week in a buyout agreement and is waiting to sign with the Spurs, was a key component on the 2013/14 squad that still had Kevin Love and a mix of veterans such as Ronny Turiaf, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham.
- After watching the Pelicans suffer through a disastrous, injury-filled season, Anthony Davis is determined to prevent it from carrying over into next year, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “You try to establish a culture that you want to have around the locker room, around this organization,” Davis said. “You set it now, to finish out the rest of the games.”
- The Rockets believe Michael Beasley matured while playing in China and is better able to handle the NBA lifestyle, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Our intel – and our intel in China we feel is as good or better as any team’s – is he is someone focused on his career,” said Rockets GM Daryl Morey. “I can’t speak to the past. I can say that based on our intel he is someone just focused on career and family at this point.” (Twitter link). Beasley received a two-year deal at the minimum, but next season is non-guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Houston will be $200K under the hard cap after signing Andrew Goudelock, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
- The Rockets recalled Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team announced today.
Eastern Rumors: Bucks, Bosh, Lawson, Dedmon
Bucks owner Wes Edens denies rumors of dissension within the ownership group, which also consists of principal owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal-Sentinel. Milwaukee has been among this season’s most disappointing teams, carrying a 26-36 record after last year’s playoff appearance. Regardless, Edens insists that ownership believes in Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker as the foundation for its future. “It’s definitely disappointing where we are; that’s the bad news,” Edens said. “The good news is, especially since the All-Star break, you look at the team of Giannis and Jabari and Khris, and others of course, and it’s not hard to imagine what this thing could really turn into.”
Edens added that no trades were given serious consideration before last month’s deadline and that any decision on a contract extension for coach Jason Kidd will be made after the season. “We can’t change what happened but we can improve on what’s going to happen,” Edens said. “That’s for the off season. Jason has been a big part of our involvement with the Bucks since we became owners, and I expect him to be a big part of our involvement with it going forward.”
There’s more news from the Eastern Conference:
- Heat center/forward Chris Bosh held a workout today and tweeted encouraging news about his health. “Feeling good! Feeling great!” he wrote as questions continue to linger about his availability for the rest of the season. Bosh hasn’t played since he missed the All-Star Game with a calf strain that was later reported to be a blood clot. Bosh is rumored to be on blood-thinning medication, just as he was last year for a blood clot in his lungs, though neither the condition nor the medication has been confirmed by him or the team.
- Point guard Ty Lawson is expected to sign with the Pacers on Monday and be in uniform for that night’s game, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Lawson agreed to sign with Indiana after the Rockets waived him Monday in a buyout agreement.
- The Magic have assigned Dewayne Dedmon to the Erie Bayhawks of the D-League, the team announced today. The fourth-year center is averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 38 games with Orlando.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 3/5/16
The NBA’s oldest team picked up more veteran help this week as the Spurs signed point guard Andre Miller and reached a contract agreement with shooting guard Kevin Martin. Both players came off waivers from Minnesota after agreeing to contract buyouts as the Timberwolves turned their eyes toward the future.
They both were experiencing reduced roles before parting ways with the Wolves. Miller averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 assists in just 26 games this season. Martin, who averaged 20 points per game last year, was down to 10.6 as the Wolves cut his playing time by 12 minutes a night.
But the Spurs won’t be looking for much more than spot duty from either player, along with the specialized skills and playoff experience they bring to San Antonio. Miller’s reliable passing and reputation as a floor general, combined with Martin’s shooting touch and ability to spread the floor, can make them valuable in a playoff series.
Turning to veterans is certainly nothing new in San Antonio. The Spurs now have the league’s two oldest players on their roster in Miller and Tim Duncan, who are both 39. In addition, they have Manu Ginobili at 38, Rasual Butler at 36 and Matt Bonner and David West, both at 35. Butler or Bonner may wind up getting waived to open a roster spot for Martin, who is a relative child at 33. The average age of the Spurs’ roster is 31.8, according to RealGM, making them the only team in the league above 30.
The Spurs, of course, were doing just fine without Miller and Martin. They are 52-9 entering tonight’s game and a perfect 29-0 at home. They are firmly entrenched in the second spot in the Western Conference, three and a half games behind the record-setting Warriors. They also have a playoff-tested roster and coaching staff that make them an extremely difficult postseason matchup.
That brings me to tonight’s topic: How much will Miller and Martin help the Spurs over the rest of the season and the playoffs? Do they make San Antonio’s bench even deeper and more dangerous? Will they adjust quickly to the Spurs’ unselfish offense and rapid ball movement? Or is San Antonio in danger of having too many old guys and not being able to keep up with a younger team in a seven-game series?
Please share your thoughts and opinions on the topic in the comments section. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Heat Rumors: Whiteside, Ennis, Stokes, Dragic
Hassan Whiteside may face a choice this summer between money and winning, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat center figures to get a maximum offer from someone, especially with the rising salary cap, but it may not be Miami. Winderman notes the Heat are accustomed to getting hometown discounts from players who want to be part of the franchise tradition and like the idea of being in South Florida. Whiteside said it may be tempting to be the star of another team, but that won’t affect his decision when free agency arrives. “I feel like a lot of people want to be that,” he said. “But I want to win more than anything. I don’t really want to be the face of a losing franchise. You want to be a face of a winning program. And it’s always easier to get people to come to Miami.”
There’s more news out of Miami:
- James Ennis and Jarnell Stokes are on the open market, but league rules keep them off-limits to Miami, Winderman writes in the same piece. Teams are prohibited from reacquiring players that they’ve traded away for a full calendar year or the time their contracts would have expired. The Heat traded Ennis to Memphis on November 10th and dealt Stokes to New Orleans on February 18th. Both are now free agents. Ennis and Stokes can play with the Heat’s summer league team, but neither can sign with Miami until the anniversaries of their respective trades. Stokes is currently with Miami’s D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
- A year after being traded to Miami, point guard Goran Dragic is playing at a more comfortable pace, Winderman writes in a separate story. Coach Erik Spoelstra changed the team’s philosophy after the All-Star break, telling players to run up court and start the offense more quickly. That benefits Dragic, who has always preferred an up-tempo approach. “He’s feeling more comfortable with organization, with the team, with his teammates, the style of play, when to attack,” Spoelstra said. “He’s gaining confidence because he knows his teammates want him to be aggressive.”
- Joe Johnson was immediately impressed with the way his new teammates play defense, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “It’s great they’re defensive minded,” said Johnson, who signed with Miami a week ago. “You don’t see that in young ages. They know and understand to be on the court, they’ve got to make an impact somewhere.”
Thunder Notes: Mohammed, Payne, Cheeks, Durant
After veteran center Nazr Mohammed opted to come out of “semi-retirement” and sign with the Thunder, he explained his decision in a post on Sportsblog.com. The 37-year-old hasn’t played in the NBA this season. His last action was with the Bulls in 2014/15, when he appeared in 23 games. Mohammed said he was considering full retirement before Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti called with an offer. “As a young player, your only desire is to be in the NBA,” Mohammed said. “As you get older, your desire is to play for certain organizations with certain circumstances, making it a little tougher to find the right fit. Mine was a combination of all of the above. Most of the teams that I had interest in didn’t need my services, and I didn’t have the desire to go just anywhere. And some teams just didn’t want me.” The 18-year vet was a member of the Thunder team that reached the NBA Finals in 2011/12.
There’s more out of Oklahoma City:
- The Thunder’s trade at the deadline that brought Randy Foye from Denver has sharply reduced the playing time of rookie Cameron Payne, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Even though Payne is a point guard and Foye is more of a shooting guard, Payne has fallen victim to coach Billy Donovan‘s new substitution pattern that sees Kevin Durant take most of the ball-handling responsibilities when Russell Westbrook is resting.
- The Thunder hoped to have assistant coach Maurice Cheeks, who is recovering from hip surgery, back at practice today, but it will be some time before he can be part of games, Slater tweets. “Standing up and down during games, is that good for his hip?” Donovan said. “I’m not sure what the doctor will tell him.”
- Durant’s best strategy in free agency may be to follow the example LeBron James set, according to Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders. Beer argues that Durant should maximize his earnings by signing a two-year contract with the ability to opt out in the summer of 2017. By then, the cap is expected to rise and Durant will be a 10-year veteran, which significantly increases the amount he can earn. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined the issue in depth last month.
Suns Waive Sonny Weems
4:50pm: Weems has officially been waived, the team announced.
3:36pm: The Suns intend to waive shooting guard Sonny Weems, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). The Suns currently have a roster count of 14 players, including Phil Pressey, who inked his second 10-day deal with the team last Tuesday. This means the team still had an open roster spot, so the move to release Weems wasn’t a necessity unless the Phoenix is eyeing multiple players for potential deals, though that is merely my speculation.
The 29-year-old will hit waivers and it would require $2.814MM of cap space or a trade exception of that amount or greater to claim him, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets. The shooting guard is owed approximately $660,000 for the remainder of the season, a number the Suns will be on the hook for if Weems goes unclaimed. The Sixers still need to reach the minimum salary floor of $63MM, so I would speculate they remain an outside possibility to make a claim on Weems.
Weems appeared in 36 games this season for the Suns and averaged 2.5 points and 1.1 assists in 11.7 minutes per outing. His slash line is .393/.406/.538.
Pacific Notes: Brown, Kings, Curry
The reputation of the Kings organization has suffered another blow in the wake of a flubbed D-League move. The D-League forced the affiliate of the Kings to forfeit a game because it played Duje Dukan, who was on assignment from Sacramento, during the All-Star break, report Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports and Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (All five Twitter links here). The D-League upheld a protest that the Suns affiliate filed after losing to Sacramento’s D-League team on February 16th, a game in which Dukan took part, according to Spears. NBA players weren’t allowed to play for D-League teams from February 11th through February 16th because of the NBA All-Star break, Reichert notes. So, the Reno win became a Bakersfield win instead, as Spears points out. The Sacramento front office under GM Vlade Divac has drawn criticism for its lack of knowledge about the finer points of rules governing personnel movement, though the Kings reportedly interviewed cap expert Bobby Marks on Thursday.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers rookie small forward Anthony Brown is expected to miss at least a month due to a stress reaction in his right foot, the team announced (Twitter link). Brown, 23, was the No. 34 overall selection out of Stanford in the 2015 NBA draft. He has appeared in 29 contests for Los Angeles, including 11 starts, and is averaging 4.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 20.7 minutes per game. Brown’s shooting line on the season is .310/.286/.850.
- Brown, prior to his injury, was struggling to adjust to the NBA on offense, which frustrated the Lakers coaching staff, though head coach Byron Scott has praised the rookie’s acumen as a defender, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “Defensively he has a world of confidence that he can guard most people he has to guard,” Scott said. “I want that to translate on the other end as well.” For his part, Brown seems to understand why his shot selection and accuracy has vexed his coaches, Oram adds. “Obviously, as a coach you want to be able to know what you’re going to get consistently from a guy offensively as well as defensively,” Brown said. “And that’s something I’ve got to continue to work on.”
- Seth Curry hasn’t seen much action for the Kings this season despite being a solid defender, an area the team is poor in, which has the combo guard mildly frustrated, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “It’s tough,” Curry said. “I think mentally the toughest part is trying to stay involved and try to keep that competitive edge. It’s pretty easy to work out and keep your skills right, but I think mentally and being in good shape is the hardest part.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hoops Rumors Originals 2/28/16-3/5/16
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- Chuck Myron ran down what each team had to spend on the buyout market.
- I ran down the updated 2015/16 salary cap numbers for the Hornets, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Nuggets and Pistons.
- Chuck recapped how players fared in the buyout market the past few weeks.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- Chuck looked at the financial impact of the trade deadline and buyout market moves for teams of the Central and Northwest divisions.
- You can keep track of where your favorite team currently stands in relation to the 2016 NBA draft lottery with our reverse standings tracker.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.