DeMarcus Cousins Wants To Sign Extension
DeMarcus Cousins plans to sign an extension with the Kings this summer, he said on an interview with ESPN’s SportsCenter that was relayed by the network’s Ramona Shelburne. Cousins indicates he’s happy in Sacramento and would like to spend his entire career there, Shelburne continues.
Cousins will be eligible in July to sign a five-year extension worth well over $200MM. He’s making $16,957,900 this season and $18,063,850 next season in the final year of his current deal.
A report surfaced last month that Kings management would try to lock up Cousins when the new designated player extension becomes available after the new Collective Bargaining Agreement goes into effect in July. With Cousins now on board to sign that extension, the possibility of the big man getting traded before this month’s deadline seems even more remote.
Cousins has in the past been critical of Kings management but appears to believe they will make the necessary moves to turn the franchise into a contender. GM Vlade Divac has taken steps recently to convince Cousins that he wants him to remain the franchise player for years to come.
Cousins is optimistic about the team’s playoff chances despite the season-ending injury to second-leading scorer Rudy Gay last month.
“I think we’re on the right path this season,” Cousins said. “We’re playing the best basketball of the season so far. Our team is extremely confident.”
He’s averaging 27.8 PPG and 4.8 APG — both career highs — along with 10.6 rebounds this season.
Celtics Rumors: Ainge, Smart, Bradley, Ibaka
Celtics GM Danny Ainge is not interested in a quick-fix deal and is driving a hard bargain when it comes to his best trade assets, he said during a radio interview posted by CSNNE.com. Ainge doesn’t want any “band aids” for the final 25 regular-season games. “We’re trying to build something that’s a little more sustainable than we are to rent a player,” he said. The Celtics have the ability to dangle some tantalizing draft picks, as well as young players, to acquire the “long-term” impact player that he’s seeking. Boston has the right to swap first-rounders with the Nets this season and also owns Brooklyn’s 2018 first-rounder. Ainge says “there’s a lot of interest in” the Nets pick, though he didn’t clarify whether he was referring to one or both. “Everybody knows the assets we have and the young players we have, so that’s the challenge,” he said. “In any conversation we have, the price is a lot because of what we have in the bank.”
In other notable developments regarding the Celtics:
- Combo guard Marcus Smart‘s strong play has made Avery Bradley expendable, Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com argues. Smart has averaged 12.3 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.0 RPG and 2.3 SPG over the past 12 games and the team has gone 11-1 during that stretch, Petraglia notes. Bradley, sidelined the last 15 games with a sore right Achilles, has one more year left on his very affordable four-year, $32MM deal and could be packaged with draft picks to land an All-Star caliber player like Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Carmelo Anthony or Andre Drummond, Petraglia adds.
- Bradley believes he’ll be ready to go right after the All-Star break, as he told Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com and other reporters. “I’m feeling really good. I wish I could be back now, but I just have to do whatever is smartest at the moment,” Bradley said. “The medical staff thinks it’s smarter for me to just wait until after the All-Star break.”
- The team did not make a push for power forward Serge Ibaka last summer because they had no interest in signing him to a long-term deal, a source told Kyle Draper of CSNNE.com. Boston did not want to get into a bidding war for Ibaka, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Ibaka was shipped by the Thunder to the Magic in a draft-night blockbuster, and then moved by the struggling Magic this week to another Eastern Conference contender, the Raptors.
NBA D-League Recalls/Assignments: 2/16/17
- The Heat assigned power forward Okaro White and small forward Marcus Georges-Hunt to Sioux Falls, Chris Reichert of The Step Back tweets. This will make both eligible for the D-League All-Star game, Reichert adds. White has appeared in 14 games with the Heat, averaging 4.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG while impressing enough during 10-day contracts to earn a two-year deal. Georges-Hunt signed a 10-day contract on February 8th after spending most of the season with the D-League’s Maine Red Claws, where he averaged 16.4 PPG.
Kings Rookie Malachi Richardson Out 4-6 Weeks
Kings rookie shooting guard Malachi Richardson will miss approximately 4-6 weeks with a partial thickness tear of his right hamstring, according to team press release.
The injury, which Richardson suffered late in the fourth quarter against the Warriors on Wednesday, was diagnosed after an MRI was performed on Thursday.
The No. 22 overall pick in last June’s draft was selected by the Hornets, then shipped to the Kings in exchange for veteran guard Marco Belinelli.
This is yet another injury-related setback for the Kings, who lost second-leading scorer Rudy Gay to a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture last month. Richardson’s playing time had perked up since Gay’s injury, as he appeared in the last 16 games. He played a season-high 27 minutes against Golden State, posting 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. He scored a season-high 12 points in 14 minutes against the Cavaliers on January 25th.
Overall, Richard is averaging 3.6 PPG and 1.0 RPG in 10.6 minutes over 22 games.
This leaves the Kings even thinner at the wing positions. Garrett Temple has been sidelined this month with a partially-torn hamstring. Sacramento will have to lean more heavily on Arron Afflalo, Ben McLemore, Matt Barnes and perhaps Omri Casspi in the interim, though Casspi has been hampered by a calf injury.
The wave of injuries could force the club to make a depth-related move before the trade deadline. The Kings entered Thursday 1 1/2 games behind the Nuggets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Jeff Ayres Bolts D-League, Heads To Japan
Ayres, 29, had been playing for the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the D-Fenders. He has left that team to pursue overseas opportunities, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Ayres appeared in 22 games this season, averaging 12.5 PPG and 7.2 RPG.
He had another overseas journey last year, signing with CSKA Moscow, but the Russian team decided not keep him. Ayres changed agents — hiring BDA Sports — after that experience and then hooked on with the D-League in December.
The fact that Ayres opted to go overseas in the midst of the D-League season was an apparent concession that he wasn’t getting any NBA nibbles, despite his respectable stats.
Ayres, formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph, was part of the Spurs’ 2014 championship team, but wasn’t re-signed after the 2014/15 season. He was the first player selected in the 2015 D-League draft and spent much of the season in Idaho before joining the Clippers last January.
After playing on two 10-day contracts, Ayres signed with the Clippers for the remainder of the 2015/16 season. He appeared in 17 games for L.A., averaging 1.8 PPG and 1.3 RPG in limited playing time. Ayres has also played for the Trail Blazers and Pacers over the course of his NBA career.
Mavericks Notes: Bogut, Draft, Singh
Trade speculation has surrounded Andrew Bogut, but the big man doesn’t believe he will be traded before next week’s trade deadline, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “That’s not a question for me to answer,” he said when asked if he thinks he’ll remain with the Mavs all season. “But I don’t think anything’s going to happen.”
Here’s more from Dallas:
- Denver was able to land a quality center in exchange for a Jusuf Nurkic and a future first-round pick. Sefko believes (separate piece) that the Mavs should be able to land an even better haul for Bogut and one of their picks.
- The Mavs will likely be looking for a point guard in the upcoming draft and the Dallas Morning News takes a look at Frank Ntilikina’s game. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Ntilikina 11th among the prospects eligible for the 2017 draft.
- Satnam Singh, who the Mavs selected with No. 52 overall pick in the 2015 draft, is trying to make it as a wrestler in the WWE, Sefko writes in a separate piece. Singh never got an opportunity to play for the NBA club, but he spent parts of the past two seasons with the team’s D-League affiliate.
Heat Hire Shane Battier To Front Office Role
The Heat have hired Shane Battier as their Director of Basketball Development & Analytics, according to a team press release.
“We believe Shane is an incredible example of our Heat program, not only for the present, but also for the future,” team president Pat Riley said. “He embodies everything that we are looking for in our players and staff. We feel he will help us tremendously with his experience and knowledge of the game. Shane is an out-of-the-box thinker and will bring a fresh expertise that can help us evolve as a franchise.”
Battier, who played three seasons in Miami, will be involved with the development of analytics in evaluating talent and that will include college prospects, free agents, and current players, according to the team.
“I am thrilled to be joining the front office of the Miami Heat,” said Battier. “I look forward to working with the Arison family, learning from a Hall of Fame executive in Pat Riley, General Manager Andy Elisburg and of course my old coach, Erik Spoelstra. My goal, as is the entire organizations, is to bring another championship back to Miami.”
Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 2/16/17
Click here to read the transcript of today’s Hoops Rumors live chat.
Central Notes: George, Jackson, Ferrell
The Pacers have lost five straight games and Paul George believes it could be a result of the way the roster in constructed, Nate Taylor of USA Today passes along. “Maybe it’s changing schemes up in how we guard these spread teams,” George said. “This is a new league, a new NBA. I think we might have to go a different route and work on that as oppose to trying to make changes during games where we’re kind of not really sure how to guard something.”
George added that the team may need to make some changes going forward. “I think we just build for where the league is headed and just work on that because it’s not going to get easier,” he said “We’re going to keep facing teams that give us this challenge of spreading around the perimeter. That’s really where we’re losing.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy remains confident in Reggie Jackson, Aaron McMann of MLive writes. “It’s an adjustment period for all of us, and I don’t have any doubts he’ll come back to playing the way he was before,” Van Gundy said. The Pistons reportedly have “quietly explored” the trade market for the point guard.
- The Pistons attempted to sign Yogi Ferrell before the season when the point guard was an undrafted free agent, McMann relays in a separate piece. “He’s a guy on draft night that didn’t get drafted, and we tried to get in the race for some money to have him guaranteed,” Van Gundy said. “But Brooklyn had gobbled him up. He ended up getting cut there and has really latched on and played very, very well for Dallas.”
- Jabari Parker underwent successful surgery on his left knee and the Bucks are expected to be without the former No. 2 overall pick for 12 months, Chris Mannix of The Vertical tweets.
- Cristiano Felicio‘s development is a major plus for the Bulls’ front office, Mark Schanowski of Comcast Sportsnet writes. Felicio will be a restricted free agent in the offseason and Schanowski believes the team will have tough competition for his services.
Kupchak: Lakers More Active In Trade Talks This Year
Although the Lakers’ recent hiring of Magic Johnson as an advisor appears to have complicated their front office structure, that hasn’t stopped the club from being actively involved in trade discussions this month, according to general manager Mitch Kupchak. Kupchak tells Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times that the Lakers are always active, but that their growing number of trade assets has created more opportunities this year.
“Quite frankly, compared to the last three or four years, we have a lot of talent on this roster that I think a lot of people have interest in — varying levels of interest,” Kupchak said. “I would think there’s more meaningful discussions this year than there have been the last two or three years.”
While Kupchak and Jim Buss have made the roster decisions for the Lakers in recent years, Johnson’s presence figures to shake things up. The Hall-of-Famer hasn’t been shy about voicing his desire to “call the shots” for the franchise, and has spoken to reporters about what he’d do if he were in that position, including offering Kobe Bryant a job. Johnson is scheduled to meet with Kupchak and Buss on Monday, at which point the Lakers’ decision-makers figure to discuss their approach to the deadline.
As Kupchak, Buss, and Johnson mull potential options for the Lakers, they’ll have to consider how any deals will affect the team’s performance on the court. The Lakers have plenty of incentive to remain near the bottom of the standings, since they’ll send their 2017 first-round pick to Philadelphia if it falls outside of the top three. Currently, L.A. has the league’s third-worst record, as our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show. A desire to remain in the bottom three in the standings may push the club to move someone like Lou Williams, who has been the Lakers’ leading scorer this season.
[RELATED: Lakers shopping Lou Williams]
Although Kupchak suggested there have been more “meaningful” trade talks to this season, he reiterated a point he made earlier in this season, telling Ganguli that he’d be perfectly happy to stand pat as well.
“I really like this group,” Kupchak said. “They get along really well together, the guys that are here as mentors and leaders are doing a great job. The young players are showing growth. So it’s all good.”