Udonis Haslem Wants Another Season In Miami
Veteran forward Udonis Haslem hopes to play at least one more season and he wants to stay with the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
The 37-year-old, who has spent his entire 14-year career in Miami, was motivated by the team’s near miss in its run at a playoff spot.
“I would love to be here,” Haslem said. “I would love to be a part of these guys’ process and maturation. And when the time does come, I want to be in a situation where I was able to help those guys get to the playoffs. Not making the playoffs is not the way I want to end. I’ve still got a lot of gas in the tank. We will see what happens.”
Haslem played sparingly this season, getting into just 17 games and averaging 7.6 minutes per night. But he understands his role as a mentor on a rebuilding team and is willing to continue it to remain in Miami.
Haslem is the last link to the Heat teams that dominated the Eastern Conference in the early part of the decade. He says he was never tempted to look elsewhere, even after Dwyane Wade departed for the Bulls last summer.
Haslem played this season on a one-year, $4MM contract, but will probably have to take a cut in pay if he returns. Between the Heat’s cap concerns and the salary structure in the new CBA, Winderman states that Haslem can expect something close to the veteran minimum of $2.3MM next season.
Keeping a roster spot open for Haslem could also be an issue, depending what happens with the Heat’s large contingent of free agents. However, coach Erik Spoelstra loves having what amounts to a player/coach on hand and is expected to be an advocate for keeping Haslem.
“I love U.D. … How else can I say it?” Spoelstra said. “He’s the last one, the last Samurai from the championship years. He has always embodied everything that we want from a Miami Heat player.”
Haslem will spend the summer working with James Johnson and Dion Waiters, even though they are headed toward free agency, as well as Tyler Johnson.
5 Candidates To Replace Rob Hennigan As Magic GM
Interim GM Matt Lloyd is among the leading candidates to take over for Rob Hennigan in Orlando, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel.
Lloyd, who was named to the position after Hennigan was fired on Thursday, has been running the Magic’s scouting department for the past five years. He has also served as director of college scouting for the Bulls. Owner Alex Martins is keeping his list of potential Hennigan replacements confidential, but he has said Lloyd will be among those considered.
Robbins lists four other potential candidates:
- Travis Schlenk — The vice president of basketball operations and assistant GM in Golden State, Schlenk has spent the past 13 years with the Warriors. He also worked as an assistant coach and video scout. Schlenk has ties to Orlando, breaking into the NBA in 1997/98 with the Magic’s basketball operations department.
- Brian Wright — The assistant GM in San Antonio started as a summer intern with Orlando in 2006. He spent eight years with the Magic and served as director of college scouting before leaving to take an assistant GM’s role with the Pistons.
- Pat Garrity — A former Magic player, Garrity is among the league’s rising stars in the front office. He is currently associate GM in Detroit.
- Michael Zarren — Boston’s assistant GM was recently tabbed by ESPN as among the top candidates to land a full-time GM job. He is a Harvard Law School graduate and serves as lead in-house counsel for the Celtics.
And-Ones: Melli, Sonics, Teodosic
Nicolo Melli is drawing interest from Real Madrid in the Euroleague, but he also has the attention of several NBA teams. Niki Bakouli of Sport24 reports (Twitter links) that the Rockets and Nets are among the teams interested in adding the power forward.
Melli said playing in the NBA is “a dream,” but added that his decision on where to go will depend on what kind of offers he receives.
“I don’t rule out any possibility but I don’t like to talk about the future” Melli said, (via E. Carchia of Sportando). “It is great to draw interest from other teams [Real Madrid is one of the teams] but I did not talk with anyone. My agent and I will think about the future after the season talking with Bamberg. NBA? It is a dream. But it will depend on the offers because I love too much being on the court and playing.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Two different groups are each preparing to spend over $500MM to renovate the Key-Arena in Seattle with hopes of attracting an NBA or NHL team, Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times reports. “Today is an important day in our goal of bringing the Sonics home and the NHL to Seattle,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said. “Two well-known organizations submitted proposals to redevelop KeyArena, totaling more than $1 billion in investments between them. Their interest shows how Seattle has become one of the most desirable cities in America for sports and entertainment.”
- Nets GM Sean Marks is heading back to Moscow to get another look at Milos Teodosic, sources tell international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). It was previously reported that the point guard was unlikely to sign with Brooklyn since the team has not been competitive.
- Amy Trask has been named the CEO of the BIG3, according to the league’s website. Trask previously spent nearly 30 years working the Oakland Raiders organization.
- Mo Alie-Cox, who played basketball at VCU, is trying to break into the NFL and he’s scheduled to meet with six teams, as Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors writes. Be sure to stay tuned to PFR for the latest news and notes on the NFL.
Knicks Notes: Chemistry, Rose, Oakley
Many factors contributed to the Knicks’ disappointing season, though team chemistry belongs near the top of the list, Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes. Earlier in the season, Rose went missing for a game and he addressed his teammates on the following night, apologizing for putting them in a bad spot. Begley hears from a source that after Rose concluded, no one said a word and the scribe believes it’s a testament to the team’s lack of cohesiveness.
Here’s more from New York:
- Prior to Derrick Rose‘s latest injury, the Knicks were still considering him as an option had they missed out on bigger free agent targets, such as Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague, Begley writes in the same piece. Coach Jeff Hornacek recently said the team won’t close the door on a Rose return.
- Rose would be happy to get another shot with the Knicks, but he’s excited to hit free agency for the first time in his career, Lonnae O’Neal of The Undefeated passes along. “I would love to stay here,” Rose said of New York. “I love my teammates, I love the coaches, I love the front office. But this will be the first time that I will hit free agency, so I want to take advantage of everything and just see what the free agency system is all about.”
- Charles Oakley has been arraigned in court on charges stemming from his ejection from Madison Square Garden earlier this season, ESPN.com relays. Oakley has maintained his innocence and declared that he’ll fight the charges.
- Carmelo Anthony is reportedly leaning toward waiving his no-trade clause this summer. Unless he and Phil Jackson can reconcile, New York will look to deal him.
Pelicans Notes: Holiday, Gentry, Cousins
The Pelicans weren’t able to achieve their goal of making the playoffs this season, but GM Dell Demps believes the team is on the right path to reach that pinnacle.
“We have positioned ourselves well for the future,” Demps said (via Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune). “We believe the future is bright. … One of our goals this season was to improve on defense and we did that (from 28th to 8th in defensive efficiency). And there was a time after the All-Star break where our offense started to gel and play better, and we were still playing good defense. So that gives us hope that this team is headed in the right direction.”
Here’s more from New Orleans:
- The Pelicans want to bring Jrue Holiday back, but understand that the point guard has to weigh his options, as Justin Verrier of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). “We love Jrue. We love his family. Obviously, we’d like to have him back. He’s got a tough decision to make. We’re going to let that process play out,” Demps said.
- Demps described the status of the team’s coaching staff as in “evaluation mode,” but added that he likes the direction in which the team is heading, Verrier passes along via Twitter.
- Coach Alvin Gentry hasn’t spoken to ownership about his future in New Orleans yet, Scott Kushner of The Advocate relays (Twitter links). In reference to successfully incorporating DeMarcus Cousins, Gentry said that he “doesn’t think [the team is] going to have to change that much.”
- Demps believes the Pelicans are set up well for the future and a major reason why is the Cousins trade, Kushner adds (Twitter links). New Orleans had a record of 7-10 after making the deal, but Demps blames the lack of success on the big man’s health, explaining that the center played with a sore Achilles post All-Star break.
Nuggets Notes: Plumlee, Trades, Jokic
Denver plans on bringing Mason Plumlee back on a new contract, Christopher Dempsey of Altitude Sports writes.
“Mase brought a lot of what we thought he would bring – intensity, a vertical threat at the rim,” GM Tim Connelly said. “An athletic big. A very good passer. It’s not an easy transition going from a starter to the third or fourth big. … When we traded for him, we traded for him for the purpose of bringing him back. Barring something unforeseen or some dramatic shift, we’re pretty excited to talk to his representatives this summer and figure something out.”
Plumlee, who’s a restricted free agent, came to the Nuggets in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic at this year’s deadline.
Here’s more from Denver:
- The Nuggets are more likely to make major changes via trade since they will have only a handful of open roster spots this offseason, Dempsey adds in the same piece. Connelly believes he has a roster full of players who should be coveted on the trade market because they’ve outperformed their contracts. “I think what’s interesting about our team is we have a lot of good players,” Connelly said. “And I think relative to their contracts, most of our guys outperformed their contracts, which is a testament to our coaching and player development.”
- Denver knows it has a rising star in Nikola Jokic, but it doesn’t want to put too much pressure on him next season, Dempsey relays in the same piece. “He’s only 22,” the GM said. “He’d be the first one to tell you it’s a team game. He’s probably the least stat-aware guy on the team. But certainly we’re playing a certain way now and having success playing that way primarily because of his unique skill set and the coaches confidence in him.”
- Connelly explains how the team has a better sense than it has in the past on which players should be the franchise’s core members, Dempsey passes along in the same piece. “Some of these guys have cemented their place in next year’s role already,” Connelly said. “There’s a handful of guys that you know what you’re going to get, and I think coach trusts them and those are guys we are going to take a long-term approach with and feel good about growing with.”
- Danilo Gallinari is going to take some time to decide whether or not he’ll decline his player option, USA Today relays. “It’s not time right now to make the decision,” said Gallinari. “Right now, it’s time to digest the fact we were not able to accomplish the goal [of the playoffs] that I had, that we had, at the beginning of the season.” The franchise would also like Gallinari to stick around beyond his current deal, but it’s taking a wait-and-see approach with him.
- The Nuggets plan to be aggressive in their attempts to lock up Gary Harris long-term, as we passed along on Wednesday.
Tony Allen Out Indefinitely
Tony Allen has been diagnosed with a strained calf and is out indefinitely, according to a team press release. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical notes (Twitter link) that the timetable for this sort of injury is roughly a month.
The Grizzlies play the Spurs in the opening round of the NBA playoffs and the team’s coaching staff is preparing for the matchup as if Allen will not be available, Wojnarowski adds.
San Antonio is favored to win the series against Memphis and if that outcome occurs, Allen may have played his last game for the team. The 35-year-old will be a free agent this offseason and he stressed that he wants to return. However, the Grizzlies are facing salary cap issues this summer, which could prevent them from offering Allen a fair-market deal.
Allen was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league this season. He ranks third among shooting guards in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus and he ranks eighth among non-bigs in NBAMath’s Defensive Points Saved.
Carmelo Leaning Toward Waiving His No-Trade Clause
Carmelo Anthony is strongly leaning toward waiving his no-trade clause, sources close to the situation tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
While Begley cautions that no decision has made, he adds that some within the organization believe the only way Anthony returns is if owner James Dolan fires Phil Jackson. It was reported today that the Knicks and Jackson “quietly” picked up their respective sides of the mutual option to have him return for the next two years. The Zen Master will sit down with the small forward during their end-0f-season meeting on Thursday. Anthony has previously said that he’s looking forward to it.
Barring a last-minute reconciliation between Jackson and Anthony, the Knicks are committed to moving the 32-year-old this summer, Begley adds.
Some rival executives believe that Anthony’s trade value would be higher if Jackson hadn’t endorsed the Bleacher Report column that was critical of the 32-year-old. “That one was surprising,” Begley was told by an executive of a team who spoke to the Knicks about an Anthony trade. “I think [Jackson] really hurt himself there.”
Anthony no-trade clause, as well as his trade kicker, also hurts the star’s value on the market, as I detailed in his Trade Candidate piece.
Jackson isn’t the only one who Anthony had issues with this season. He and coach Jeff Hornacek got into a verbal altercation during halftime of a mid-March game against the Nets. Hornacek was criticizing the Knicks for how they played the first half and Anthony responded with a rant that questioned the direction of the entire franchise. Begley notes that assistant coach Kurt Rambis fired back by pointing out Anthony’s lackluster defense, which prompted Anthony to respond again. The altercation ended when one of New York’s players lobbied for the team to go back to the court and begin warming up.
The concern over defense didn’t appear out of thin air. Begley relays that some within the organization felt that Anthony’s and Derrick Rose‘s defensive habits were a negative influence on the team’s younger players.
Anthony recently said that he would remain committed to the Knicks if the team was committed to winning. He’ll have the final say on whether he’s on the team next season, but it appears if Jackson has his way, the Knicks will try to win without him.
Lakers Rumors: Young, World Peace, Kobe, Mozgov
Now that the Lakers have played their final regular season game of 2016/17, the first offseason in Rob Pelinka‘s tenure as general manager is underway. As Pelinka said earlier this week to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, it will be an interesting one in Los Angeles, since there are so many uncertainties surrounding the club, starting with whether or not it will keep its top-three-protected pick.
“There are a lot of uncertainties,” Pelinka said. “Do we have our draft pick in June, or do we not? What free agents do extensions? What free agents become true free agents? What players from other teams are teams going to think about trading? There are millions and millions of combinations. It’s almost like a Rubik’s Cube. If you’re trying to solve it, there are many different combinations and turns you could make to get to the end path. You have to really study that board hard and make all the right turns to get there, but there is likely more than one way to get to the end.”
As the Lakers mull their summer options, let’s round up a few more notes on the club…
- Although Nick Young remains undecided on his player option, he suggested today that he may prefer joining a playoff team rather than being one of the lone veterans on a young team, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. As Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News tweets, Young also joked that if the Lakers end up drafting Lonzo Ball, it might be too much for the team to have to deal with the “Ball family and Swaggy P talking crazy.”
- Speaking today to reporters, including Pincus (Twitter link), Metta World Peace said president of basketball operations Magic Johnson told him the Lakers probably won’t re-sign him this summer. World Peace said earlier this week that he hopes to play two more professional seasons, but he sounded less certain today about his plans going forward.
- After initially taking an inside look last month at the legal drama surrounding Jeanie Buss and her family, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com digs back into the story and updates her initial report with new information and quotes from Buss. Shelburne’s newest story on Lakers ownership includes a handful of interesting new tidbits, including one on how Jim Buss tried to offer Kobe Bryant shares in the franchise last year without realizing that the family trust didn’t allow for such a move.
- After being rested for several weeks to end the season, Timofey Mozgov isn’t yet sure what his role will look like next year, but he’s hopeful that he’ll start 2017/18 as L.A.’s starting center, per Medina.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 4/13/17
Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Thunder have assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. The Oklahoma City Blue are in action tonight, as their playoff series against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers gets underway, so Huestis will get a chance to play in that game.
- The Rockets have assigned Chinanu Onuaku, Isaiah Taylor, and Kyle Wiltjer to their D-League squad, according to the team (Twitter link). The trio, of course, will suit up for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and will take on Huestis’s OKC Blue tonight.
- Demetrius Jackson and Jordan Mickey have been recalled from the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics announced today (via Twitter). Boston’s D-League affiliate remains alive in the NBADL postseason, but the team’s series against the Raptors 905 doesn’t get underway until Sunday, so Jackson and Mickey can stick with the NBA club for now.