Jeff Hornacek Talks Defensive Struggles
The Knicks‘ defensive inconsistencies have haunted them all season. Per “Defensive Efficiency,” a metric devised by John Hollinger of ESPN, the Knicks rank 26th in the league with a 108.9 rating. Jeff Hornacek has previously voiced frustration at his team’s defensive effort- in early January he conceded “we just must not be good enough defensively”- but he doubled-down on his criticisms prior to Monday’s match-up with Detroit.
“Defensively, we’ve got a lot of work,” Hornacek told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the Daily News. “We’ve got to try to figure out what’s going to be best for us. The personnel, we were trying to mix things up a little bit, see if we can find something that worked. We never really found anything. But going into next year we need to really stay with one way and keep practicing until we get it right.”
Hornacek alluding to next season is a recent development. Only in mid-March, when the Knicks were already 6.5 games out of the eighth seed, did Hornacek acknowledge “the playoffs may not be in reach.” (Daily News link) Hornacek’s job security appears to be intact, per a March 16 report from Marc Berman of the New York Post.
With Hornacek at the helm for a second season, however, the Knicks will have to make roster adjustments to improve on each end of the court. As Bondy points out, Derrick Rose, Courtney Lee, and Carmelo Anthony have all had bottom-35 defensive ratings around the league.
“We can use some more defensive players. They’ll look at that. Steve (Mills) and Phil (Jackson) and the front office will look at whatever can help us out. We know we need some help there,” Hornacek said.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/27/17
Here are Monday’s D-League assignment and recalls from around the league:
- The Sixers recalled Tiago Splitter from the Delaware 87ers, according to the team’s website. Splitter was acquired by Philadelphia in the Ersan Ilyasova trade at this year’s trade deadline.
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo from their D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, per the team’s Twitter feed. Caboclo has played a total of 89 NBA minutes since being selected with the 20th pick in the 2014 draft.
- The Spurs have recalled Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes from the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. Both players were sent down to the D-League on Sunday.
Latest On Joakim Noah’s Suspension
Joakim Noah will be re-evaluated by team doctors to determine if he’ll be able to practice this week, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). Noah is looking at a 20-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy, but his suspension can not begin until he is “eligible and physically ready to play.” Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter) that the league would want to see Noah go through a whole practice without complications before the suspension starts.
The center underwent microscopic knee surgery last month. He was expected to miss most, if not the remainder of the 2016/17 campaign. The Knicks have nine games remaining this season, including tonight’s tilt with the Pistons. Noah won’t be cleared for tonight’s game, but he could be cleared before the team’s game against Miami on Wednesday. That would allow him to serve eight of his 20 games this season and serve the remaining dozen games at the beginning of the 2017/18 campaign.
Before undergoing surgery, Noah was having a down year by his standards. He was averaging 5.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while sporting 15.2 player efficiency rating.
Bulls Notes: Rondo, MCW, Mirotic
Rajon Rondo‘s first season with the Bulls didn’t get off to a great start. The point guard clashed with coach Fred Hoiberg and the team benched him for five games as a result.
“I tried to stay away from milking what was going on. I didn’t want anybody to feel sorry for me,” Rondo said (via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune). “It didn’t break me down. I didn’t need sympathy calls. People did call and care and send texts. But if you know me, it’s going to be hard to break me.”
Rondo has since re-joined the rotation and he’s been starting over the last eight games. The point guard said he and Hoiberg talk more now than they did earlier in the season. “He’s telling me a lot of positive things. Fred’s a great guy,” Rondo said. “We didn’t talk much when I wasn’t playing. But I was still studying him as a coach. I was watching his moves, when he called timeout, his substitution patterns. I wanted to continue to stay positive and learn a different aspect of the game versus sitting there feeling sorry for myself.”
Here’s more from Chicago:
- Rondo’s salary for the 2017/18 campaign, which is worth slightly under $13.4MM, will become guaranteed if he remains on the roster on July 1. Only $3MM of that amount is guaranteed should the Bulls decide to waive him before that date. Rondo isn’t paying attention to the financial situation, but instead, he’s focusing on getting the Bulls to the postseason, as Johnson relays in the same piece. “I can’t worry about next season,” Rondo said. “I just want to do what I can for this team this season, lead the young guys and make a push.”
- Michael Carter-Williams, who will be a free agent this offseason, wants to remain with the Bulls, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link). Woelfel adds that MCW hasn’t ruled out returning to the Bucks.
- Nikola Mirotic will be a restricted free agent this summer and it’s not out of the question that he re-signs with the Bulls, Johnson writes in a separate piece. Earlier in the month, Mirotic found himself out of the rotation, but he’s played well since earning more minutes.
Stan Van Gundy Talks KCP’s Future
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is expected to see a massive raise on his current salary, which is worth slightly under $3.68MM, once he becomes a restricted free agent this offseason. The Pistons have the right to match any offer sheet that the shooting guard signs this summer. Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy acknowledged that, noting that it will be up to the team to figure out if it wants to keep KCP around at a higher price tag, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News passes along via Twitter.
“We only don’t have [KCP] next year if we decide we don’t want him next year. There’s no team out there that can decide they’re going to have KCP next year–it’s on us,” Van Gundy said. “It will be our decision this summer whether he’s in Detroit next year. Other people can want him but they need us to acquiesce if they’re going to have him.”
The Nets are expected to be “major players” during KCP’s free agency. GM Sean Marks has thrice gone after opposing teams’ restricted free agents, offering lucrative deals, only to see each offer sheet matched by players’ original team. Miami matched Tyler Johnson‘s $50MM offer sheet. Portland decided to pay Allen Crabbe $75MM and the Rockets opted to match Donatas Motiejunas‘ $37MM deal before letting the power forward become a free agent.
At times this season, Caldwell-Pope has proven to be better than any of the aforementioned players, though inconsistencies have plagued him. He’s averaging 14.0 points per game, but he’s had 24 games this season where he’s scored under 10 points and 18 where he scored at least 20. He found some touch from 3-point range this season, shooting a career high 36.8% from behind the arc.
The 24-year-old owns a pedestrian 13.5 player efficiency rating and he has a TPA (Total Points Added—a metric derived by NBAMath to determine a player’s value on the court) of 58.84, which ranks first on the Pistons, but just 60th in the league.
The Pistons have struggled lately, winning just three out of their previous 10 games, leaving some to wonder if the team is tuning out Van Gundy. Despite the stretch of bad games, Detroit enters the day just one game behind the Heat for the eighth seed in the conference, though Chicago is sandwiched between the two teams. Van Gundy said making the playoffs remains the goal, but added he’s more concerned with the way the team is playing, as Beard relays in a separate tweet.
“I just want to see a lot better energy and spirit than what we’ve had the last half-dozen games. If that happens, the result takes care of itself,” Van Gundy said.
Latest On Lakers’ Buss Family Legal Battle
Less than a month after reports indicated that Jeanie Buss had thwarted an attempt by her brothers to take over control of the Lakers, the team’s controlling owner won another victory that will ensure he holds her position atop the franchise’s hierarchy.
As Nathan Fenno of The Los Angeles Times reports, Jeanie Buss and her brothers, Jim and Johnny, have agreed for Jeanie to serve as the club’s controlling owner and head of the board of directors as long as the family owns the Lakers. As part of a legal agreement, Jim Buss – who had been involved in Lakers roster decisions up until he was displaced from that role last month – has agreed to resign as a co-trustee for the four trusts through which the Buss family owns 66% of the franchise.
[RELATED: Rob Pelinka discusses Lakers, GM role, free agency]
Jim Buss will continue to serve as one of the Lakers’ co-owners, but did not receive any sort of financial settlement in exchange for resigning as a co-trustee. Another Buss sibling, Janie, has replaced Jim in that role, joining Jeanie and Johnny Buss as co-trustees, per Fenno.
“Jeanie is captain of the ship,” Janie Buss told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “My sister is the one who finally played her aces. I’m just behind her. I’ve always been behind her. Now she can focus on where the Lakers need to go. … This is a new beginning for us as a team. Now we don’t need to worry about this family stuff. We can focus on the Lakers now.”
Jeanie Buss’s attorney, Adam Streisand, spoke to Fenno and conveyed a similar message regarding the Lakers’ controlling owner: “The message is clear here: Do not underestimate Jeanie Buss. There is not going to be a palace coup. Not now. Not ever.”
A court date had been set for May 15 when it appeared that the family would wage a legal battle, but now that an agreement has been reached, that court date has been scrapped.
Becky Hammon Turns Down Florida Coaching Job
MARCH 27: Hammon has turned down Florida’s offer and will remain with the Spurs, sources tell Mike Robinson of Swish Appeal.
MARCH 24: Spurs assistant coach and WNBA legend Becky Hammon is considering a lucrative offer to coach women’s basketball at the University of Florida, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Per Wojnarowski, Hammon’s offer would be a considerable raise from her current salary with the Spurs.
Currently in her third year as an assistant coach, Hammon aspires to be the NBA’s first female head coach; a factor which makes the Gators’ offer a dilemma.
Hammon’s 16-year WNBA career reached a conclusion after the 2014 season. David Lee, a member of the Spurs who attended University of Florida, vouched for Hammon as a potential boon for the program.
“If anybody’s going to do it, it would be her,” Lee told ESPN. “Knowing the makeup of the campus and how the women’s basketball is there, she’d be a great fit.”
Likely further complicating Hammon’s decision is her close relationship with Gregg Popovich. Hammon has spoken highly of the three-time Coach of the Year, crediting him with her opportunity to coach in the NBA.
“I’m not here unless Coach Pop kind of sees me genderless — he sees me as a person that knows basketball,” Hammon said on the NBA’s YouTube channel. “He didn’t care that I was a woman. What he cared about was, can I help the team and will I do a good job. Pop leaned in for me, big time. You know, I might have been the tool, but Pop, he thrust me through that ceiling. The fact that he invited me into their inner-circle was a huge vote of confidence, and I do believe leadership knows no gender.”
Draft Notes: Carroll, D. Fox, J. Bell, Elmore
Oklahoma State guard Jeffrey Carroll has decided to test the waters for the 2017 draft, tweets Dylan Buckingham of KFOR. Carroll enjoyed a breakout junior season, comfortably establishing new career bests in PPG (17.5), RPG (6.6), and FG% (.537), among other categories. However, he isn’t considered a top prospect for 2017 by DraftExpress. Since Carroll won’t hire an agent, he’ll have the opportunity to withdraw his name from the draft pool before May’s deadline and return to Oklahoma State for his senior year.
Here are a few more draft-related updates worth passing along:
- Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox and Oregon forward Jordan Bell top David Aldridge’s list of 10 prospects who have boosted their NBA stock in this year’s NCAA tournament. Aldridge’s full list is available in his latest Morning Tip column at NBA.com.
- In an Insider article for ESPN.com, draft guru Chad Ford also examines how the tournament’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games affected prospects’ stocks. That list overlaps several times with Aldridge’s, though Ford also provides a list of players whose stocks have slipped a little as of late.
- Marshall junior guard Jon Elmore is expected to test the draft waters without hiring an agent, reports ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (via Twitter). Elmore averaged 20.0 PPG and 6.0 APG for Marshall this season.
- Panathinaikos guard Michalis Lountzis has decided to enter the 2017 NBA draft, a source tells international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). Lountzis, who is just 18 years old, ranks 19th among international prospects born in 1998, according to DraftExpress.
- Antelope Valley Community College center Antone Warren has signed with an agent and will enter the 2017 draft, according to Brendan Walker of JucoRecruiting.com. Warren is one of the top-ranked junior college players of this year’s class, as Walker details.
Hoops Rumors 2017 10-Day Contract Tracker
For the last few months, NBA teams have been eligible to sign free agents to 10-day contracts, and many of the signings that have taken place during that span have been of the 10-day variety. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to keep on top of those deals, tracking every 10-day signing all season long. So far, 35 different players have signed at least one 10-day contract in 2017.
Our 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 also 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 how many 10-day deals current Hornets guard Briante Weber has signed over the course of his career, you can find that information here. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Mavericks have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
A newly-added feature also allows you to see which 10-day contracts are active — players whose 10-day deals haven’t expired are marked with an asterisk in our tracker. At the moment, Manny Harris (Mavs), Jarrod Uthoff (Mavs), Archie Goodwin (Nets), Jarell Eddie (Suns), and Quinn Cook (Pelicans) are on active 10-day contracts.
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.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Knicks, P. Gasol, Raptors
The Sixers‘ announcement last week on Joel Embiid‘s knee surgery sounded like a positive one — the procedure was successful, and the team expects him to resume basketball activities this summer in preparation for the 2017/18 season. Still, as John Smallwood of The Philadelphia Daily News writes, it’s hard not to be a little skeptical, given the way the 76ers have handled injury news this season.
While the Sixers may not have intentionally misled fans on the details of injuries to Embiid and Ben Simmons this season, the team’s handling of both players created more confusion than clarity. And as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, that process seems to be repeating itself with Jahlil Okafor, whose status as of late has raised more questions than answers.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:
- Pau Gasol received plenty of interest in free agency last summer before signing with San Antonio, but he was surprised not to receive a call from the Knicks, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. Knicks president Phil Jackson coached Gasol in Los Angeles years ago, but Jackson had “tunnel vision” when it came to free agent centers last summer, pursuing Joakim Noah without seriously considering Gasol, Berman writes.
- Although the Knicks hope to identify a long-term answer at point guard this offseason, they aren’t a lock to take one with their first-round pick, a source tells Berman. Depending on where New York’s pick lands, it could make more sense for the club to grab a prospect like Kansas forward Josh Jackson.
- With several key players, including Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, on track for free agency this summer, the Raptors will have to think long and hard about their next steps. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer examines a few potential direction the club could go in the coming months.
- The numbers may not show it, but Amir Johnson is a valuable piece for the Celtics, says A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Johnson is in the final year of his contract and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason.