Southwest Notes: Anderson, Parsons, Green
GM Daryl Morey said the Rockets tried to trade for Ryan Anderson multiple times over the past few years, adding that the team was “obsessed” with his game, as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer writes. Houston signed the power forward to a four-year, $80MM deal during the offseason.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Chandler Parsons, who signed a max contract with the Grizzlies over the summer, missed 25 games this season because of injuries and he’s shooting a career low 34.7% from the field in the 11 games he has been able to play. However, Parsons remains optimistic that he can turn the season around, as he tells Sam Amick of USA Today. “I’m obviously not hitting at a high rate, and I’ve been an efficient player my entire career,” Parsons said. “But it’s the law of averages, man. Let me keep playing. I ain’t gonna shoot this bad for the rest of the year.”
- JaMychal Green has played well for the Grizzlies this season, but Joe Mullinax of SB Nation wonders if Green should be part of the team’s long-term plans. Green will be a restricted free agent this offseason and Mullinax speculates that the power forward will command an annual salary of at least $10MM, a figure that could be too pricey for Memphis.
- Andrew Bogut acknowledges that coming off the bench can be a “little disparaging,” but he’s willing to try new things if it helps the Mavericks win more games, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com passes along. “If that’s the way things are going to go to try to get us wins, I’m all for it. If it doesn’t get us wins, then we have a conversation in five or six games,” Bogut said. “It’s no secret that that lineup just doesn’t work. [Harrison Barnes] at the 4 with Dirk at the 5 or myself at the 5 is way more effective. You don’t have to look at analytics to see that. You can see that with the way the floor spacing is and all of that. We’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.”
Paul Millsap Wants To Remain With Hawks
Paul Millsap hears the trade rumors surrounding his name and told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) that he wants to remain with the franchise. “Everybody knows where my heart is and where I want to be,” Millsap said referring to Atlanta.
The Hawks will reportedly entertain trade offers for Millsap between now and the deadline, but the team doesn’t feel it necessarily has to make a move, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports. The team isn’t going to simply take what it can get for Millsap with a source telling Kyler that Atlanta would want real value in exchange for the big man. The source added that the team would want players who can help the it win games this season rather than prospects and future draft picks.
The 31-year-old is set to make slightly more than $21.47MM next season, but he may opt out of his current deal once the season ends in search of a new contract. If he becomes a free agent, he’ll be eligible for 35% of the salary cap, which is currently projected to be $103MM in the 2017/18 season.
Community Shootaround: What Should Hawks Do?
A weekend report suggesting that the Hawks are open to listening to trade offers for Paul Millsap has generated plenty of discussion and speculation over the past couple days, but Millsap isn’t the only Atlanta player who could be available. Reports have indicated that the Hawks are open to talking about anyone on an expiring contract, which means Kyle Korver, Thabo Sefolosha, Tiago Splitter, and Kris Humphries figure to be involved in trade rumors as well.
Of course, just because the Hawks are fielding incoming calls and are receptive to trade ideas, that doesn’t mean the team will actually make a move. Millsap has been the subject of trade speculation for years, and hasn’t gone anywhere — it’s more likely than not that he’ll remain in Atlanta through the deadline once again this season.
Still, the Hawks’ upside with the current roster isn’t exactly sky-high. The team got off to a hot start in 2016/17, running out to a 9-2 record to open the season, but a 1-10 stretch followed. Recently, the club has bounced back a little, sitting now at 18-16, good for a No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Hawks aren’t a viable title contender, and moving a few players before they get a chance to walk in free agency could help the team retool its roster.
The asking price in any Millsap deal will reportedly be huge, even though he’ll have a chance to opt out of his contract a few months from now. Any team willing to make a play for him will have to be confident that he’ll strongly consider re-signing in July. That’s not necessarily the case for the Hawks’ other trade candidates.
What do you think? Should the Hawks seriously consider making a trade or two to shake up their roster? Will their approach depend on how they play over the next few weeks, or should they make a move regardless? If they decide to move Millsap, what sort of package should they need to get back? Jump into the comments section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
New York Notes: Knicks, Porzingis, Lin
It was a rough night for the NBA’s New York teams on Monday, as both the Nets and Knicks suffered double-digit losses on their home courts. While Brooklyn lost to a strong Utah club that’s in the midst of a winning streak, the Knicks’ defeat came at the hands of an Orlando team that ranks below them in the standings. In the wake of that loss, Jeff Hornacek delivered “his most damning assessment” of his club’s defensive issues, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
“I don’t think our guys aren’t trying — maybe they’re not capable,” said the Knicks head coach. “I don’t know. That’s what we have to figure out. Maybe play some other guys and mix the lineup somehow. … We have to find someone to play some defense. You can’t come out at the beginning and their first three baskets are 3s. You have to have better pride than that. … I think they’re trying — they must not be good enough defensively.”
With Hornacek sounding ready to make some changes to his lineup, let’s round up a few more notes out of New York…
- Nagged by Achilles pain, Kristaps Porzingis missed his second straight game on Monday, and may see his minutes reduced going forward as the Knicks try to keep him and their other starters fresh and healthy. As Berman details in a piece for The Post, Porzingis isn’t thrilled with the plan, telling reporters with a smile that he wants to play all the minutes he can. However, he deferred to Hornacek and said he’d go along with what’s best for the team.
- Speaking of Porzingis, he remains on the shelf for now, with Hornacek telling reporters today that the big man is doubtful for the Knicks‘ next game on Wednesday (Twitter link via Ian Begley of ESPN.com).
- There’s no specific timetable for Jeremy Lin‘s return to the Nets, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Lin admitted that it has been discouraging to have to battle health issues so far this season after he joined a new team on a new long-term deal in the summer.
- We passed along a few Knicks and Nets notes on Sunday and Monday as well.
Hornets Waive Aaron Harrison
12:40pm: The Hornets have made it official, issuing a press release this afternoon to announce that they’ve waived Harrison.
10:40am: The Hornets are opening up on a spot on their roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Aaron Harrison will be waived today by the team. It’s not clear if Charlotte is eyeing a replacement or if the club will move forward with an opening on its 15-man squad for now.
Harrison, who joined the Hornets as an undrafted free agent last season, has only appeared in 26 total games for the franchise, despite being in Charlotte for the last year and a half. In those 26 games, he averaged a measly 4.2 minutes per contest. The Kentucky product has been solid in D-League action, averaging 20.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 3.2 APG this season in 14 games for the Greensboro Swarm.
Harrison had been playing on a non-guaranteed contract this season, and his salary for 2016/17 would have become fully guaranteed if the Hornets hadn’t cut him by this Saturday, so the timing of the move doesn’t come as a real surprise. Treveon Graham, who has also played sparingly in Charlotte, is the team’s other non-guaranteed player — a decision will be required on him this week as well.
Assuming Harrison’s release becomes official today and he goes unclaimed on waivers, he’ll become a free agent on Thursday, at which point he’ll be a candidate for a 10-day NBA deal or a D-League contract. Meanwhile, the Hornets will carry a cap hit of about $376K on their books after cutting Harrison, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).
Pelicans Sign Donatas Motiejunas
After a free agent saga that lasted more than six months, it appears Donatas Motiejunas finally has a home. The Pelicans have officially signed the free agent big man to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Rod Walker of The Advocate first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides reached a verbal agreement.
It has been an odd year for Motiejunas, who was involved in both a February trade and a December free agent contract that were scuttled. A 2016 deadline deal that would have sent the 26-year-old from Houston to Detroit was vetoed due to concerns about his back. In July, D-Mo became a restricted free agent, but was unable to find a deal for about five months due to similar health concerns.
Eventually, the veteran power forward signed a four-year offer sheet with the Nets, which Houston matched. Following a dispute about the incentives in that offer sheet, Motiejunas and the Rockets came to a new agreement, but that deal fell apart as well, resulting in the team renouncing its rights to the former first-round pick and making him an unrestricted free agent. Motiejunas visited the Lakers and Timberwolves before talks with the Pelicans became serious over the weekend.
Although Motiejunas struggled to stay healthy last season and his production took a significant hit, he looked like a player on the rise in 2014/15, when he averaged 12.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG to go along with a .504 FG% and a .368 3PT%. While there’s some long-term uncertainty about how his back will hold up, he is believed to be healthy now, and could immediately find a role in the Pelicans’ rotation.
As Justin Verrier of ESPN.com recently detailed, the Pelicans have found success lately with small-ball lineups, resulting in Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca dropping out of the team’s regular rotation. Motiejunas is a seven-footer, but his ability to shoot three-pointers should allow him to carve out a role in those small-ball lineups.
As for the details of Motiejunas’ new contract with the Pelicans, the exact terms aren’t yet known, but a one-year, minimum-salary pact seems likely. The team also still has $808K of its room exception available, so doing a deal using the rest of that exception would allow for a slightly larger payday for Motiejunas. Still, it’s a significant drop-off from the $7-8MM annual salary he had been seeking. Presumably, the idea is to rebuild his value in New Orleans this season before returning to the open market as an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Checking In On Traded 2017 Draft Picks
Depending on how active this year’s trade deadline is, we could see a number of first- and second-round draft picks change hands next month. But even if that doesn’t happen, there will be plenty of 2017 picks on the move. Many of those traded picks come with certain protection criteria, as we detailed back in September when we took a closer look at the first-rounders and second-rounders that have already been dealt.
With the 2017 draft inching closer and the February trade deadline just several weeks away, it’s worth checking in to see how this year’s standings have affected those traded picks. If a team knows it will likely have an extra pick or two coming its way in 2017, it could impact what sort of moves that club is willing to make at this year’s deadline.
So, using our 2016/17 Reverse Standings, here’s a breakdown of how the traded draft picks for 2017 would look if the season ended today and the lottery standings held to form:
First Round:
Conveyed:
- Celtics would swap No. 21 pick for Nets‘ No. 1 pick (swap rights).
- Sixers would receive No. 7 pick from Lakers (top-3 protected).
- Bulls would receive No. 15 pick from Kings (top-10 protected).
- Nuggets would receive No. 23 pick from Grizzlies (top-5 protected).
- Raptors would receive No. 24 pick from Clippers (top-14 protected).
- Jazz would receive No. 30 pick from Warriors (unprotected).
Not conveyed:
- Sixers would not have opportunity to swap No. 2 pick with Kings‘ pick (swap rights; 11-30 protected). Sacramento’s obligation to Philadelphia would be extinguished.
Second Round:
Conveyed:
- Hawks would receive No. 31 pick from Nets (unprotected).
- Pelicans would receive No. 32 pick from Sixers (unprotected).
- Grizzlies would receive No. 33 pick from Heat (41-60 protected).
- Celtics would receive No. 36 pick from Timberwolves (unprotected).
- Rockets would receive No. 39 pick from Nuggets (unprotected).
- Rockets would receive No. 40 pick from Trail Blazers (unprotected).
- Sixers would receive No. 41 pick from Pistons. May be No. 42 pick, depending on coin flip.
- Jazz would receive No. 43 pick from Knicks.
- Knicks would receive No. 46 pick from Bulls (unprotected). May be No. 47 pick, depending on coin flip.
- Nets would receive No. 51 pick from Celtics (31-45 protected; contingent on Celtics swapping first-rounders with Nets).
- Nuggets would receive No. 52 pick from Thunder (31-35 protected).
- Nuggets would receive No. 53 pick from Grizzlies (31-35 protected).
- Celtics would receive No. 54 pick from Clippers (unprotected).
- Knicks would receive No. 57 pick from Rockets (unprotected).
- Celtics would receive No. 58 pick from Cavaliers (unprotected).
- Sixers would receive No. 60 pick from Warriors.
Not conveyed:
- Hawks would not receive No. 33 pick from Heat (31-40 protected). Miami would owe Atlanta its 2018 second-round pick (unprotected).
- Timberwolves would not receive No. 38 pick from Pelicans (31-55 protected). New Orleans’ obligation to Minnesota would be extinguished.
- Magic would not receive No. 45 pick from Kings (31-55 protected). Sacramento’s obligation to Orlando would be extinguished.
- Nets would not receive No. 46 pick from Pacers (45-60 protected). Indiana would owe Brooklyn its 2018 second-round pick (45-60 protected).
- Spurs would not receive No. 49 pick from Hawks (31-55 protected). Atlanta’s obligation to San Antonio would be extinguished.
RealGM.com’s database of traded draft picks was used in the creation of this post.
Southwest Notes: Finney-Smith, Harrell, Forbes
Undrafted Mavericks rookie Dorian Finney-Smith has started 25 games so far this season despite barely making Dallas’ roster out of training camp. With the former Florida Gator’s partially-guaranteed contract set to guarantee on January 5, the fact that he’s managed to hold onto his spot in the starting lineup even with Dirk Nowitzki healthy bodes well.
In 22.8 minutes per game this season, the 23-year-old Finney-Smith has emerged as a capable perimeter defender for the Mavericks – even if that means being thrown into the deep end against NBA superstars like Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.
“It’s great experience for young guys,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said of his rookie’s recent baptism by fire. “They learn a lot in a very short period of time. And some of it is very painful. But this is how you get better.”
As Eddie Sefko of Dallas News writes in the same article, the 15th and final addition to the Mavericks roster last fall has already beaten the odds.
That’s not all out of the Southwest Division:
- Veteran Gary Neal, who signed a contract to play in the D-League last month, has been traded to the Texas Legends says Chris Reichert of The Step Back. The Legends are the affiliate of the Mavericks.
- Rockets big man Montrezl Harrell has filled in admirably for the injured Clint Capela and head coach Mike D’Antoni is pleased with what he’s seen so far. A video published by ESPN’s Alykhan Bijani over Twitter shows the Houston coach shutting down any concerns that he’s worried about the center’s relatively low rebounding numbers (7.8 rebounds per 36 minutes versus Capela’s 12.0).
- Undrafted rookie Bryn Forbes has thrived with the D-League affiliate of the Spurs this season, writes Jeff Garcia of News 4 San Antonio. In games for Austin, the Michigan State product is averaging 23.4 points per game and shooting an impressive .563 from the field. Forbes remains behind Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Jonathon Simmons on the depth chart, but will likely see time in and out of San Antonio as the year progresses.
Celtics Already Have Star In Isaiah Thomas
When Danny Ainge traded Marcus Thornton and a draft pick to the Suns for Isaiah Thomas, few regarded it as a franchise-altering deal. Fast forward to 2017, however, and the 5’9″ scoring point guard has made a name for himself as both the Celtics’ most dependable option and perhaps the team-leading star they’re so often said to be seeking.
Even with the addition of Al Horford, who signed a max contract to play in Boston last summer, Thomas has stepped up and carried the team on a regular basis. According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, he’s the biggest source of star power in Beantown since the end of the Big Three era.
Perhaps most interesting about Thomas’ ascent as an All-Star in Boston, however, is his abnormally cheap contract — especially considering the raises that have been doled out in the years since the point guard signed his deal with Phoenix in 2014.
As Washburn explains, Thomas’ contract comes in the form of an extremely team-friendly $6.6M salary, with that value even dropping slightly in 2017/18. He’ll be eligible to sign a contract extension this summer, but a straight extension would only allow for a 20% pay increase, a pittance of what he’d be worth on the open market. If Boston has cap room available, the team could renegotiate the deal, giving Thomas a larger raise.
“It may not be in Thomas’s best interest to sign an extension now,” Washburn adds, “but it’s worth it for the Celtics to begin talks, and it would give Thomas the impression that the organization believes in him long term“.
Worth noting is that Ainge has long been a fan of Thomas’, even before the 2015 trade through which he acquired him. As Thomas told Josue Pavon of WEEI 93.7FM, Ainge was the first executive to come calling during the 2014 free agency period.
Southeast Notes: Reed, Zeller, Magic
Heat big man Willie Reed has seen his role increase with Hassan Whiteside out nursing an eye injury and the sophomore’s yeoman-like play could very well earn him a spot in the team’s long term plans. This summer, with the salary cap slated to rise dramatically, Reed could opt out of his player option for $1.6M and look to cash in.
Such a decision, coupled with Josh McRoberts‘ player option for $6M and Dion Waiters‘ for $3M, could factor heavily into how the Heat approach the offseason. As Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes, clearing cap space is a top priority for the club given the Chris Bosh situation, and the time is fast approaching that Pat Riley and company “accept the reality that the long view might be the only remaining perspective for this season.”
In 11.9 minutes per game for the Heat, Reed has averaged 3.9 points and 4.0 rebounds, figures that translate to 12.2 and 12.5 per 36, respectively.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Injury woes continue for the Hornets who most recently saw Cody Zeller go down Monday versus the Bulls. As Rick Bonnell writes for the Charlotte Observer, the team has placed the center in the NBA’s concussion protocol, with no timetable for a possible return.
- Head coach Erik Spoelstra signed a contract extension to remain with the Heat last week and Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders has written about just how important continuity can be in NBA clubhouses. Spoelstra is already the second-longest tenured coach in the league behind only Gregg Popovich.
- The Magic were reminded of what they could have had with the No. 5 pick in the 2015 draft on Sunday. Pacers big man Myles Turner dropped 23 points and 12 rebound on his former coach Frank Vogel, while Mario Hezonja – the player Orlando did select – failed to crack double-digits in minutes for the 13th time in 14 games since November 9.