Northwest Notes: Ingles, Plumlee, OKC, Roberson
The Jazz have several crucial roster decisions to make this offseason, including a couple that could be very expensive decisions. George Hill‘s contract will expire, Gordon Hayward can opt out and become an unrestricted free agent, and Rodney Hood and Dante Exum will be extension-eligible for the first time.
As Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune details in a mailbag, Utah will also have another key under-the-radar decision to make on Joe Ingles. In Jones’ view, Ingles has “outplayed the Jazz’s hopes for his ceiling as an NBA player.” While that’s good news, it will also make it tricky to keep him beyond this season, since he could be a hot commodity as a restricted free agent. Jones expects the Jazz to do everything they can to keep the veteran forward, even if it means moving someone else’s salary.
Here’s more from around the NBA’s Northwest division:
- Much has been made of Jusuf Nurkic‘s impact in Portland over the last few weeks, but the Nuggets have liked their end of that February trade with the Blazers too. Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post takes a closer look at Mason Plumlee‘s play for his new team, including the big man’s defensive impact (mailbag link), and his fit alongside Nikola Jokic (column link).
- Taj Gibson has fit nicely into the Thunder‘s starting lineup, and the team’s bench has been more productive since the trade deadline, but questions still remain about OKC’s rotation, writes Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman.
- Michael Pina of Vice Sports makes a case for why Thunder forward Andre Roberson deserves Defensive Player of the Year consideration.
- The $125MM renovation project for the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Utah will begin on Monday after the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, according to a Deseret News report. The brunt of the construction will take place during the NBA offseason and is expected to be complete in time for the Jazz‘s 2017/18 season.
Central Notes: Love, Wade, Sanders, Pistons
Kevin Love has been activated and will be back in action on Thursday, according to team’s official Twitter feed. The Cavaliers have played without their starting power forward for over a month, as he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on February 14th. Love told reporters, including Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that he was anxious to return after practicing on Wednesday. “I’m 28 years old, I feel like I’m just coming into the league again because I’m so antsy to get back,” Love said. “It’s good. You’ve got to trust the process, respect the process and give that leg time to heal, give injuries time to heal. But it’s not for lack of wanting to be out there.”
In other news around the Central Division:
- The Bulls can hit the reset button if Dwyane Wade opts out of his contract, ESPN.com’s NBA analyst Kevin Pelton opines. The club could have significant cap space this summer if Wade, now out for the remainder of the regular season with a fractured elbow, turns down his $23.8MM player option and becomes a free agent again. That cap space could grow to approximately $50MM if the Bulls waive Rajon Rondo and stretch out his guaranteed money while also renouncing the rights to their other free agents, Pelton explains. Wade would probably have to settle for much less on the free agent market but opting out would allow him to join a contender such as the Cavaliers or Clippers, Pelton adds. The Spurs or even Warriors could be other possible suitors if Wade goes that route, according to the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, and the Bucks and Nuggets would also check in on him since they showed interest last summer.
- Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue had to get permission to play newly-signed center Larry Sanders on Wednesday, according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Lue sent a ball boy into the stands during the team’s blowout victory over the Pistons to ask GM David Griffin if it was OK to play Sanders, who was supposed to get some work in the D League before making his Cleveland debut. Sanders wound up playing two minutes. “I really just wanted to introduce him to the crowd and have him get in, give him a chance to have a standing ovation,” told reporters including Vardon. “I thought it was good for him.”
- The Pistons have only two players — Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — remaining on the roster since Stan Van Gundy became head coach and president of basketball operations. The only current rotation player that he drafted is backup swingman Stanley Johnson. That’s not a coincidence, since Van Gundy is more comfortable acquiring proven players. “It’s easier with pro guys in trades and free agency than it is with college guys in the draft,” he told the assembled media, including Hoops Rumors. “You get these one-and-done guys and you’re trying to figure it out to what they’re going to be four or five years down the road. That’s a lot more of a challenge. At least [with experienced players], they’ve got a body of work and they’ve been in NBA systems. You’ve seen them play. You can get pretty good information on them, so you have a better idea of what you’re getting than you do when you go in the draft.”
Nemanja Bjelica Out For Rest Of Season
The Timberwolves saw a key reserve go down on Wednesday night, as Nemanja Bjelica left the team’s game against Boston with a left foot injury. After Bjelica underwent an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury, the Wolves announced in a press release that the forward will miss the rest of the season.
The exact nature of Bjelica’s injury wasn’t specified by the Wolves in their announcement today. However, the team did say that the 28-year-old will seek medical opinions from “appropriate specialists” in order to determine his options for treatment.
A second-round pick in 2010, Bjelica finally arrived stateside for the 2015/16 season, and has appeared in 125 games for the Wolves since making his NBA debut, coming off the bench in all but one of those games. The 6’10” Serbian has been a steady presence for Minnesota’s second unit, averaging 5.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 18.1 minutes per contest over the course of his career. Bjelica had been playing even better as of late, with four double-doubles since the All-Star break.
Bjelica remains under contract with the Wolves for at least one more season. He’ll make just under $4MM in 2017/18, then will face a decision on a player option in the summer of ’18.
Celtics Notes: Thomas, Yabusele, Stevens, Ball
As the Celtics look to make a push for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they’ll have to do so this weekend without star point guard Isaiah Thomas. The C’s announced today (via Twitter) that Thomas, who is dealing with a right knee bone bruise, won’t join the club on its road trip to Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
The Celtics are scheduled to play the Nets on Friday and the Sixers on Sunday, so Thomas will miss those two games. It’s not clear if his absence will extend beyond that. Boston has a big game on tap for Monday with the Wizards, who will be looking to gain ground in the standings and win their season series with the C’s, so Thomas is likely aiming to get back on the court for that contest.
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- The 16th pick of the 2016 draft, French forward Guerschon Yabusele, has signed a D-League contract and will join the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s NBADL affiliate, tweets Chris Reichert of The Step Back. As we noted on Wednesday, Yabusele has arrived in America following a season with the Shanghai Sharks, and the Celtics will get a chance to take a closer look at him in the D-League down the stretch, as long as his sprained ankle cooperates.
- With the NCAA tournament getting underway today, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was asked about the possibility of colleges attempting to pry him away from Boston. As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe details, Stevens suggested that NCAA programs know better than to think he’d leave the Celtics anytime soon. “The only thing people usually call me for is to ask questions about candidates,” Stevens said. “Everybody has a pretty good idea of where I stand, and I think ultimately I’m going to be here. I think that’s pretty well known.”
- There have been questions recently about whether Lonzo Ball‘s outspoken father, LaVar Ball, would negatively impact the UCLA guard’s draft stock among NBA teams. For his part, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said this week that he would “never hold a player’s family against a player if I like a player,” per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Celtics may be in position this spring to draft a player like Ball, since they’ll have a top-four pick.
- For more Celtics news and rumors, be sure to check out their team feed, which includes an item from earlier this week on Yabusele’s fellow 2016 first-rounder, Ante Zizic.
Hornets Sign Johnny O’Bryant To Multiyear Deal
1:15pm: The Hornets have formally confirmed O’Bryant’s new deal, which is a multiyear contract, according to a team release. Details haven’t been reported, but the pact likely includes a non-guaranteed salary for 2017/18.
9:08am: Johnny O’Bryant‘s second 10-day contract with the Hornets expired overnight, but the veteran forward won’t have to seek out a new team in free agency. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Charlotte intends to lock up Bryant with a deal for the remainder of the 2016/17 season.
O’Bryant, 23, spent time with the Nuggets earlier this season before catching on with the Hornets. He has been sidelined as of late with a sprained ankle, but has been decent in limited action during his time with the Hornets, averaging 4.5 PPG on 53.3% shooting in just 8.5 minutes per contest (four games).
Assuming O’Bryant signs for the minimum salary and his new deal is finalized today, it would count for $161,483 on the Hornets’ cap. Charlotte still has its prorated room exception available, so the team isn’t necessarily limited to the minimum salary, but I’d be surprised if O’Bryant gets more than that.
The Hornets will have a full 15-man roster once O’Bryant officially re-signs, though they could have a roster spot opening soon — Briante Weber‘s second 10-day contract with the team expires this weekend, so Charlotte will have to decide whether to retain him for the rest of the season as well.
Jeff Hornacek’s Job Not In Jeopardy
The Knicks are on track to miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year, and this result’s will be particularly disappointing after a series of offseason splashes that saw the team acquire Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and others. However, head coach Jeff Hornacek‘s job is safe heading into the summer, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Although the Knicks have an unimpressive 27-41 record this season under Hornacek, the Knicks’ coach has maintained a “strong rapport” with team president Phil Jackson and associate head coach Kurt Rambis, an NBA source tells Berman. As Berman explains, Derek Fisher‘s dismissal as head coach of the Knicks last season was prompted in part by Fisher’s lack of communication with Jackson and his resistance to Jackson’s involvement in aspects of coaching — Hornacek has been an improvement on both of those fronts.
Jackson recently took to the Knicks’ practice court to teach the triangle offense to the team’s guards in a hands-on manner. While that was viewed by some observers as the team president stepping on the head coach’s toes, Hornacek – who has suggested the triangle could help attract free agents – said he didn’t mind Jackson’s involvement.
“We talk about stuff all the time,” Hornacek said, per Berman. “When he comes out and demonstrates for guys, he’s so used to being out on the court. It’s fun for him to do. Guys getting another look at it from a guy who’s run it for years and years.”
If Jackson and Hornacek are on the same page regarding the triangle offense for next season, the Knicks’ coaching staff could undergo some changes, according to Berman, who notes that none of the assistants Hornacek brought in “knew the triangle from a rhombus.” And while not all of the Knicks players appear to be on board with the triangle, there may be less confusion next season if the club isn’t jumping back and forth between Jackson’s triangle and Hornacek’s hybrid offense.
“We’ll look at a lot of different things,” Hornacek said of the offense for next season. “Go back, step one. A lot of footwork and basic fundamental stuff as the season goes on you notice. Next year when we go into it, it’ll be more to that stuff before you even touch a basketball.”
Dwyane Wade Out For Regular Season
12:00pm: Wade said today that if the Bulls make the playoffs and he gets medical clearance, he intends to return for the postseason (Twitter link via Friedell). However, those are both big ifs.
11:50am: After leaving Wednesday’s game with a right elbow injury, Dwyane Wade was diagnosed today with a sprain and a small fracture in that elbow, the Bulls announced (via Twitter). According to the team, Wade will be out for the rest of the regular season.
The Bulls’ announcement explicitly states that Wade will miss the rest of the “regular” season, so it’s not clear if he’d have the opportunity to return in the playoffs if the club were to sneak in. Given how poorly Chicago has played lately even with Wade in the lineup though, that may be a moot point. Having lost six of their last seven games, the Bulls currently have a 32-36 record. That puts them one game back of the Heat and the Pistons, who are tied for the No. 8 seed in the East.
Wade, who inked a two-year, $47MM contract last summer, has averaged 18.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.9 APG in his first year with the Bulls, shooting a career-worst 43.4% from the floor. If the veteran guard doesn’t suit up again for Chicago this season, it’s possible he has played his last game with the team. Wade will have to make a decision this offseason on a $23.8MM player option for 2017/18.
Wade’s health figures to play a part in his decision on that option. According to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), Wade told reporters today that he won’t undergo surgery to repair the break in his elbow. Nick Friedell of ESPN.com adds (via Twitter) that the 35-year-old will be re-evaluated in a week.
Sixers Sign Shawn Long To Multiyear Contract
10:38am: The Sixers have officially re-signed Long, the team confirmed today in a press release. The announcement didn’t reveal the terms of the contract, but it’s believed to be a three-year deal, as noted below.
9:28am: As expected, the Sixers will re-sign Shawn Long after his first 10-day contract with the team expired overnight. In fact, Long won’t merely receive a second 10-day deal from the club. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links), the 76ers are expected to sign the young power forward to a contract that runs for an additional two years after this season.
Over-the-cap teams are generally limited to tacking on one extra year to rest-of-season deals at this time of the season, since the minimum salary exception doesn’t allow deals of more than two years. However, the Sixers can take advantage of having leftover cap room by signing Long to a longer-term pact. According to Pompey, Long’s new deal is expected to include a partial guarantee for 2017/18.
After spending training camp with the Sixers in the fall, Long was waived and landed with Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers. The Louisiana-Lafayette alum was one of the D-League’s most productive players in Delaware, averaging 20.3 PPG and 11.2 RPG with a .538 FG% and earning another look from the Sixers. In four games with the NBA club so far, Long has averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.3 RPG in just 7.8 minutes per contest.
With Long back in the mix, the Sixers will once again have a full 15-man roster. The team could be eligible for a roster exemption to add a 16th man, since four players on the roster have long-term injuries. However, recent reports have suggested Tiago Splitter is getting closer to returning to the court, so Philadelphia may be content to stand pat with 15 players.
Suns Shut Down Eric Bledsoe For Season
It appears that Eric Bledsoe has played his last game of the 2016/17 season. The Suns held Bledsoe out of their lineup on Wednesday night, and according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, the team intends to shut down him down for the season. Doug Haller of AZCentral (Twitter link) confirms as much, noting that the point guard has been battling knee soreness.
While Bledsoe’s knee issue may have played some part in the Suns’ decision, the club’s record almost certainly played a larger part. As our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, Phoenix currently has the NBA’s third-worst record at 22-46. A few extra wins down the stretch would put the Suns at risk of passing the Magic and Sixers in the standings, reducing their odds of landing a top draft pick.
The Suns are the second Pacific team in the league’s bottom three to shut down veterans for the season. Earlier this week, reports indicated that Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng likely won’t play again for the Lakers in 2016/17, despite the fact that they’re healthy.
Of course, Mozgov and Deng haven’t produced at nearly the same level for the Lakers that Bledsoe has for the Suns this season. The seventh-year point guard has established new career highs in several categories this season, including PPG (21.1) and APG (6.3). Without him in their lineup, the Suns figure to lean more heavily on rookie guard Tyler Ulis, among others.
Brandon Knight, another veteran who had apparently been shut down by the Suns in recent weeks, could also see some minutes in Bledsoe’s absence, though there are hints that he hasn’t been thrilled by the way the team has handled his role. According to Gambadoro, the Suns asked Knight to play on Wednesday night and he told the team he was suffering from back spasms — Gambadoro expressed some skepticism regarding that self-diagnosis.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls 3/15/17
Here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Grizzlies assigned center Deyonta Davis to their affiliate in Iowa, the team announced on its website. The rookie has played 29 games for Memphis, averaging just 6.6 minutes per night.