Wizards Notes: Horford, Mahinmi, Smith, BIG3
Boston’s Al Horford could have been in the visiting locker room as the Eastern Conference semifinals get under way this afternoon, writes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Before signing a four-year, $113MM deal with the Celtics last summer, Horford narrowed his list to three finalists that also included the Wizards and Rockets. Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld and VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard flew to Atlanta to make a personalized pitch to Horford. Point guard John Wall also joined in the recruiting process.
“Me and him had a great conversation,” Wall recalled. “He told me it was down to [us], them and I think Houston. He made his final decision after that, you’ve got to move on. It would’ve been great to have him on our team, but he’s with the Celtics. They had a great season this year. He had a heck of a season and we’re competing against him now so all that texting, all we had is out the window.”
There’s more today out of Washington:
- The Wizards have announced that back-up center Ian Mahinmi won’t be available for today’s game (Twitter link). That isn’t suprising, Michael tweets, because Mahinmi hasn’t gone through a full practice since straining his left calf two weeks ago. He has ramped up his individual workouts over the past week, but isn’t ready for game action. Mahinmi played just 31 regular season games after signing a four-year, $64MM deal last offseason, as knee problems limited him to just five games before the All-Star break.
- There’s better news about reserve big man Jason Smith, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. Coach Scott Brooks said Smith will be ready for today’s game. He has been dealing with a left calf strain, but played 11 minutes in Friday’s closeout game against the Hawks.
- Four former Wizards players are hoping to be part of the BIG3 league this summer, relays CSNMidAtlantic. Etan Thomas tweeted Saturday that he was at the league’s draft combine along with DeShawn Stevenson, Kwame Brown and Michael Ruffin. The new league, which features three-on-three competition among former NBA players, will hold its draft today in Las Vegas.
Vince Carter Wants To Play Two More Seasons
At age 40, Vince Carter believes he still has two more years left in the NBA, according to Real GM.
Carter remained productive in his 19th professional season, averaging 8.0 points in 73 games with the Grizzlies. He started all six playoff games against the Spurs and played 32.5 minutes per night.
“I said to myself ‘I want to play 15 years’. I don’t know where I got that from,” Carter said. “And then I got to 15 years and I kept going. I never capped it, but at the same time I’ve had a lot of players remind me of things I’ve said. I’m still saying ‘two more years and I’m done.'”
Carter will be a free agent after making a little more than $4.26MM this year. He came into camp with only a $2MM guarantee, but managed to stay on Memphis’ roster the entire season.
The Grizzlies haven’t indicated whether they plan to bring Carter back, and the team faces difficult decisions with Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and JaMychal Green also headed toward free agency. With big contracts for Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons and Marc Gasol already in place, Memphis enters the offseason with only about $6MM in cap room.
But Carter insists that he will be ready if he does return to the Grizzlies, saying, “I could play three more rounds of basketball right now.”
Warriors Notes: Fraser, Kerr, Barnes, Livingston
Having to get by without Steve Kerr for the first 43 games of last season has made the transition easier this year, assistant coach Bruce Fraser tells Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News. Ongoing complications from Kerr’s 2015 back surgery forced him to miss Games 3 and 4 of the Trail Blazers series and have put his availability in question for the next round and beyond. Former NBA coach Mike Brown has taken over the team on an interim basis and “has been really good with letting our culture stay intact,” Fraser said.
Fraser adds that helping Kerr get healthy is the organization’s primary concern. “I used to ask him a lot at the beginning how he was doing and I could tell after a while he just didn’t like that question,” Fraser said. “He hides it from everyone. I’m no different. But he also doesn’t want you to feel sorry for him. He doesn’t want it to be a crutch for himself or a hindrance to the team or us. He learned how to manage it pretty well. So he was really good with it all–some moments better than others. It just got worse. We just need to get him back.”
There’s more Warriors news this morning:
- Brown brings a different tone to Golden State’s huddles, but he is maintaining the same philosophies that Kerr employs, Kevin Durant says in the same piece. “They’re two different voices, two different personalities,” Durant said. “They work well with each other and they learn from each other I can tell. But we play a certain way and we’ve been playing that way the whole season. It’s not like coach Brown is coming in trying to change anything up. He’s coaching us within the flow of the game and whatever he sees he’s going to help us out.”
- The Warriors are hoping to have Matt Barnes and Shaun Livingston available when their second-round series starts Tuesday, relays the Associated Press. Barnes, who has been out since April 8th with a foot injury, has been upgraded to probable for Game 1. Livingston remains questionable with a sprained finger on his right hand that he suffered in the opener against Portland. Durant is expected to play without the minutes restriction that was imposed when he returned from a strained left calf for Game 4 against the Blazers.
- Center Zaza Pachulia talks the experience of being surrounded by mega-stars in the “Warriors Plus-Minus” podcast with Kawakami.
Pelicans Still Evaluating Gentry, Demps
Coach Alvin Gentry and GM Dell Demps remain on “day-to-day” status in New Orleans, and there’s not a set deadline for the organization to make a decision about their future, writes Scott Kushner for The Advocate.
The choice will be made by owner Tom Benson and senior VP of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, who are weighing a number of factors in deciding whether to keep both men. The Pelicans would seemingly want to have the issue addressed well before the June 22nd draft and the July 1st start of free agency, but Kushner notes that seven years ago, Demps was hired on July 20th.
Demps has held the job through three ownership groups, producing mixed results. Under his reign, the team has a 237-321 record with playoff appearances in 2011 and 2015. Demps drafted Anthony Davis in 2012 and got him to agree to an extension through 2021. He also swung a huge deal for DeMarcus Cousins at this year’s All-Star break, which may buy Demps some time in his position if the franchise waits to see how the Davis-Cousins pairing pans out.
“We certainly saw an uptick in the energy around the team since [Cousins] got here,” team president Dennis Lauscha said last month. “We’ve seen a big uptick in renewals, and we’ve seen an uptick in sponsorships already. Listen, he’s been great for the organization. He’s a great guy, and he’s already volunteered to do community stuff. We love having him as a part of our organization.”
However, Demps also has several prominent mistakes on his record, such as giving Omer Asik $58MM over five years in 2015 and giving up five of the team’s last six draft picks in deals for veterans.
“I walk in here every day excited about my job,” Demps said after the season ended. “I don’t ever feel the pressure or anything like that. Right now, we’re in evaluation mode. We’re going to sit back and meet with Alvin. We’re going to sit back and go over the whole season. I think we’ve had a lot of challenges this year. But I do like the direction and path that we’re headed [on].”
Week In Review: 4/22/17 – 4/29/17
The playoff picture is clearing up as the offseason arrived for seven teams earlier than they expected. Here are this week’s stories that played out against the backdrop of the postseason.
Transactions
- Larry Bird is stepping down as president of the Pacers.
- The Pelicans‘ Dante Cunningham declined his player option.
- The Hawks‘ Paul Millsap discussed his intention to opt out.
- Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey confirmed that Festus Ezeli won’t return next season.
- Stephon Marbury left his Chinese Basketball Association team in Beijing.
- Andrea Bargnani parted ways with his Spanish team.
Injuries
- Lingering health problems from his 2015 back surgeries forced Warriors coach Steve Kerr to miss the final two games of the series with the Trail Blazers, and he remains out indefinitely.
- Golden State’s Kevin Durant was held out of Game 3 with a calf injury.
- Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic was able to bounce back from a fracture in his leg and play in Games 3 and 4.
- Jazz center Rudy Gobert overcame a knee injury and returned to the series with the Clippers in Game 4.
- Clippers guard Austin Rivers returned for Game 5 on a minutes restriction.
News
- Duke point guard Frank Jackson declared for the NBA draft, but hasn’t hired an agent.
- The Bulls’ Rajon Rondo and the Rockets‘ Patrick Beverley were each fined $25K for their actions in playoff games.
- Joel Berry, Theo Pinson and Tony Bradley of North Carolina elected to test the draft waters.
- French point guard Frank Ntilikina declared for the draft.
- Bam Adebayo of Kentucky and Jaylen Johnson of Louisville hired agents and will stay in the draft.
- Kristaps Porzingis says he wants to stay with the Knicks.
- Pat Riley wants one more title with the Heat before retirement.
- The Pelicans trimmed their list of possible D-League affiliates to six cities.
- The D-League announced its all-league teams.
- The NBA confirmed 182 early entrants for this year’s draft.
- Shabazz Muhammad hired a new agent.
- Rockets owner Leslie Alexander was fined $100K for confronting an official during a playoff game.
- The Nuggets announced surgery for rookie guardd Jamal Murray.
- The Knicks will send assistant Joshua Longstaff to Latvia to monitor Porzingis as he plays for the national team.
- Russell Westbrook expressed a desire to remain in Oklahoma City.
- The Raptors‘ affiliate won the D-League championship.
Rumors
- A teammate says Paul George has talked openly about joining the Lakers.
- Draft-and-stash prospect Zhou Qi hopes to join the Rockets next season.
- Kevin McHale is among the candidates to be the next president of the Magic.
- Orlando plans to offer the president’s post to Cavaliers GM David Griffin.
Indiana’s Thomas Bryant To Remain In Draft
Thomas Bryant, a sophomore center from Indiana, will sign with an agent and remain in the NBA draft, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.com.
The 6’10” Bryant declared for the draft April 11th, but wasn’t sure until now whether he planned to stay in. He informed new Hoosiers coach Archie Miller of his intentions today, Daniels reports.
Bryant is ranked 42nd on the DraftExpress list of Top 100 prospects and 45th by Chad Ford of ESPN.com. He averaged 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game this season.
Bryant was among the players invited to the draft combine next month in Chicago.
Invitations Issued For May Draft Combine
Earlier today, we passed on Lonzo Ball‘s decision to skip the draft combine, which will be held May 9-14 in Chicago. The UCLA point guard, who is expected to be among the first three players selected, may not be there, but Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com has compiled a list of known invitees.
Alphabetically, they are:
Bam Adebayo, Kentucky
Rawle Alkins, Arizona*
Jarrett Allen, Texas
Kadeem Allen, Arizona
Ike Anigbogu, UCLA
OG Anunoby, Indiana
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Jordan Bell, Oregon
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson
Tony Bradley, North Carolina*
Isaiah Briscoe, Kentucky
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Thomas Bryant, Indiana*
John Collins, Wake Forest
Zach Collins, Gonzaga
Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky*
Tyler Dorsey, Oregon
Damyean Dotson, Houston
P.J. Dozier, South Carolina
Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Harry Giles, Duke
Josh Hart, Villanova
Isaiah Hicks, North Carolina
Jonathan Isaac, Florida State
Wesley Iwundu, Kansas State
Frank Jackson, Duke*
Josh Jackson, Kansas
Justin Jackson, Maryland*
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Andrew Jones, Texas*
Luke Kennard, Duke
Kyle Kuzma, Utah*
T.J. Leaf, UCLA
Tyler Lydon, Syracuse
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Frank Mason, Kansas
Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina
Eric Mika, BYU*
Donovan Mitchell, Louisville*
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Johnathan Motley, Baylor*
Semi Ojeleye, SMU*
Cam Oliver, Nevada*
Justin Patton, Creighton
Davon Reed, Miami
Devin Robinson, Florida
Kobi Simmons, Arizona
Dennis Smith Jr., N.C. State
Edmond Sumner, Xavier
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue*
Jayson Tatum, Duke
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Moritz Wagner, Michigan*
Thomas Welsh, UCLA
Derrick White, Colorado
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
D.J. Wilson, Michigan*
Omer Yurtseven, NC State*
*-participating in five-on-five action
Alternates, according to Goodman, are Deng Adel of Louisville, Chris Boucher of Oregon,
Trevon Bluiett of Xavier, L.J. Peak of Georgetown and Derrick Walton of Michigan.
The annual event gives potential draftees an opportunity to work out for teams, conduct interviews and undergo medical tests. Players have until May 24th to withdraw from the draft if they don’t like what they hear at the combine.
Hawks Notes: Howard, Millsap, Bazemore, Workout
Dwight Howard expressed anger today after his exit interview about his deteriorating role with the Hawks, relays Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Howard saw less playing as the season wore on, then averaged just 26.2 minutes per game during the playoff series with Washington. Coach/executive Mike Budenholzer believed the offense worked better without Howard and frequently opted for a smaller lineup with Paul Millsap at center. This comes just months after the Hawks gave Howard $70.5MM over three years to return to his hometown. “It was very difficult,” Howard told reporters. “I want to play. I want to be out on the floor. I want to make a difference. I want to make an impact, and I can’t do that on the bench.”
- Earlier today, we told you that Millsap intends to opt out of his nearly $21.5MM deal for next year. Even though he’s hitting the open market, the 32-year-old power forward says his first choice is to remain in Atlanta, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Eventually I probably will opt out, yes,” Millsap said. “But I want to be here. I think talks have been pretty good, so we’ll see what happens.” Millsap led the Hawks in scoring this season at 18.1 points per game, and was second in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Vivlamore expects him to get maximum offers this summer, but Atlanta has the advantage of Bird rights. The Hawks can offer five years at up to $205MM, while other teams will be limited to four years at $158.4MM.
- The Hawks’ efforts to keep Millsap will stretch from the front office to the locker room. Owner Tony Ressler has said the organization will make “every effort imaginable” to re-sign Millsap, and Charles Odum of The Associated Press writes that teammates will be involved as well. “I’m definitely recruiting Millsap to come back,” said Kent Bazemore.
- Utah’s Kyle Kuzma was among the players at the Hawks’ pre-draft workout this morning, Vivlamore tweets. The junior power forward is ranked 59th in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony at DraftExpress.
- Rookies Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry are definites for summer league, according to Budenholzer, and they may be joined by Isaia Cordinier, a second-round pick in 2016 who spent this season in France (Twitter link).
Hoops Rumors Originals: 4/22/17 – 4/29/17
The Hoops Rumors team produced a lot of original content again this week. Take a look at some of our favorite pieces and give us your response.
- We responded to questions involving Carmelo Anthony, the Sixers‘ draft prospects and a possible return of the SuperSonics in this week’s mailbag.
- Luke Adams examined salary guarantee dates for this summer.
- A poll asked readers to forecast first-round playoff upsets.
- We looked at the offseason cap situations for the Pacers, Trail Blazers, Thunder and Bucks.
- A Community Shootaround asked readers what the Clippers should do about Blake Griffin.
- Another posed the question of whether the Hawks made an error in signing Dwight Howard.
- If you missed last week’s Hoops Rumors Originals summary, you can catch up here.
- Don’t forget to download the Trade Rumors app for iOS and Android.
Bulls Notes: Wade, Hoiberg, Rondo, Portis
Dwyane Wade doesn’t feel the need to “ring-chase” as he considers his options for next season, relays Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. Wade has a $23.8MM player option and is in no hurry to make a decision. He plans to take a vacation, then meet with GM Gar Forman and VP of basketball operations John Paxson to discuss their plans for the team’s future. Wade’s first season in Chicago after 13 in Miami didn’t turn out the way he hoped, with the Bulls struggling to make the playoffs, then getting dispatched in the first round. Still, he likes being in Chicago and stands by the choice he made last summer. “If I could say anything, one word I could pull out, it’s just ‘different,’ as I expected to be different,” Wade explained. “Only playing in one organization my whole career [prior to this season]. The biggest thing, I came here and I was embraced, not only by the city. Up top, I was embraced by the coaches, the players, and it was some good moments and bad moments. Just like every season. But I don’t regret my decision at all.”
There’s more today out of Chicago:
- If Wade does return, he wants Fred Hoiberg to be with him, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Wade defended his coach today and criticized the fans who chanted “Fire Hoiberg” during Friday’s Game 6 loss. “I definitely don’t agree with the chants that were going on in the arena,’’ Wade said. “I definitely believe [Hoiberg] got better throughout this year. And I think you have more a grasp moving forward with what he wants to do with this team. You have to give people a chance.’’
- Rajon Rondo missed his exit interview today, but it’s not a Kristaps Porzingis situation where he’s protesting the state of the team, Friedell tweets. Rondo had a family commitment and plans to reschedule the interview for next week. His future in Chicago remains uncertain as the Bulls decide whether to pick up his $13.397MM option for next season. Several young players expressed their admiration of Rondo in today’s exit interviews (Twitter link).
- Second-year power forward Bobby Portis was playing with a severely burned foot since March 4th, Friedell reveals in a separate story. The burn was caused by a heat pack that Portis used before a game, and he kept it secret so it wouldn’t threaten his spot in the rotation. “I had a third-degree burn on my foot,” Portis said. “On top of my foot. Every time I tied my shoe up, it was right there on the spot. After the game, it would be bloody and nasty.”
- Paul Zipser plans to play for the Bulls’ summer league team, but isn’t sure if he will join the German National Team after that, Friedell tweets.