Pacific Notes: Williams, Nwaba, Watson, Evans
The Lakers need to find a new crunch-time scorer after last week’s trade that sent Lou Williams to the Rockets, writes Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. Williams inherited the job after Kobe Bryant retired, but there’s no clear favorite to take his place. D’Angelo Russell has been productive since Williams left, averaging 23.3 points in the past three games, and he made two 3-pointers in the final minute of Tuesday’s loss to Charlotte. “They still have a problem with scoring down the stretch. As a team, they’ll have to figure out who is their go-to guy,” Williams said. “A few of them have it. But it’s a matter of collectively who they’re going to put the ball in whoever’s hands and live with that guy.”
There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:
- David Nwaba made a positive impression in his first game as a Laker, relays Joey Ramirez of NBA.com. Last fall, Nwaba landed a spot with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate at a tryout, and he signed a 10-day contract on Tuesday. Nwaba, who comes to the NBA with a strong defensive reputation, saw five minutes of playing time late in Tuesday’s game. “It was a good experience,” he said. “I took the challenge. I wasn’t afraid of the challenge. I’m just trying to showcase my skills on the defensive end. I think I did an OK job about it.”
- Suns coach Earl Watson believes his team is in need of a tough guy to watch out for its scorers, according to ESPN.com. Watson was angry after Tuesday’s loss in Memphis, particularly about an elbow from Vince Carter that knocked down Devin Booker. Carter was ejected, but Watson said the incident changed the momentum of the game and highlighted the Suns’ need for an enforcer. “We have to find someone in free agency or the first chance we get who can protect our top offensive players,” he said.
- Kings guard Tyreke Evans is excited to be back in Sacramento, where he won Rookie of the Year honors seven years ago, writes Shahbaz Khan of NBA.com. Evans, who was part of the deal that sent DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans, says he has become a different type of player. “I’m more mature now,” he said. “Now, it’s about me knowing how to make the right play and I think that I’ve gotten better at that.”
Knicks Notes: Anthony, Jackson, Rose, Porzingis
Carmelo Anthony wants another face-to-face meeting with Knicks president Phil Jackson after the season, according to Fred Kerber of The New York Post. Anthony is seeking clarity on his future in New York after the team reportedly discussed trading him to the Celtics, Cavaliers or Clippers before last week’s deadline. Any of those deals would have required Anthony to waive his no-trade clause.
Anthony wants to address the rest of this season before discussing his next move. “I don’t think right now,” he said. “Right now we’ve got to sit down and kind of finish these games and go back down to the drawing board after this season.”
There’s more news out of New York:
- Anthony wasn’t notified before Brandon Jennings was waived on Monday, but said he understands not being part of every personnel decision, Kerber relays in the same piece. Jennings had requested the move and agreed to a buyout so he could join a contender. He signed with the Wizards earlier today. “As players we don’t really know what happens behind closed doors unless they bring it to us,” Anthony said. “That wasn’t something that they brought to us.”
- Derrick Rose‘s desire to play for a winner will affect his decisions in free agency this summer, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Rose plans to address that topic with Knicks management during his exit meeting. “We had extremely high expectations for this team,” Rose said. “The reality is, I can’t get mad at it. If anything it’s a learning experience. I have to learn from it.’’ Rose can sign an extension with New York before the start of free agency July 1st, but the team has been disappointed with his performance since last summer’s trade with Chicago and may not want to make a long-term commitment.
- Coach Jeff Hornacek has incorporated Jackson’s triangle offense more frequently as the season wears on, and big man Kristaps Porzingis believes that’s the right approach, Berman writes in a separate story. “We should’ve been playing it from the beginning of the season,’’ Porzingis said. “We’re a little behind. I don’t know when we can finally start using it properly and making an impact.”
Trail Blazers’ Ed Davis Out For Season
Portland center/power forward Ed Davis will undergo shoulder surgery and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, tweets Chris Mannix of the Vertical.
The procedure will fix an injured labrum in his left shoulder. It will be performed Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to radio station KXL-FM in Portland. A Blazers spokesman says says Davis first hurt the shoulder last season and it has gotten steadily worse since then.
Davis appeared in 46 games this season, averaging 4.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per night. He has one year left on his contract worth more than $6.35MM.
Community Shootaround: Rookie Of The Year
The Sixers announced today that center Joel Embiid will miss the remainder of the season. The good news is that the bone bruise and meniscus tear in his left knee are not related to the foot problems that robbed him of his first two NBA seasons. Embiid should be fully recovered well before the start of training camp.
The announcement signals an end to a rookie season that saw Embiid establish himself as one of the league’s best big men. His impressive numbers included 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game with a restriction that limited him to about 25 minutes per night. Adjust those numbers to 36 minutes and they turn into 28.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks, which would have him squarely in the race for MVP.
But the number that might cost Embiid the Rookie of the Year trophy is 31, which is how many games he was able to play. Voters will have to decide if a player can earn a major award in just 38% of a season. Patrick Ewing holds the record low among ROY winners with 50 games in 1985-86 and Bill Walton was named MVP in 1977-78 despite playing just 58 times, so voters have a history of forgiving injuries when players are dominant.
Embiid’s major competitor for Rookie of the Year honors is Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon, who averages 9.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists through 58 games. He has become an important part of the Bucks’ rotation, but his stats don’t begin to match Embiid’s. Others who might be considered include Sixers forward Dario Saric and Lakers forward Brandon Ingram.
So how would you vote? Are 31 games of brilliance enough for Embiid to win the trophy? Or should the voters value quantity as much as quality?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. We look forward to what you have to say.
Warriors Sign, Release Jose Calderon
7:13 p.m.: Golden State has officially released Calderon, the team tweeted.
5:28pm: The Warriors have signed former Laker Jose Calderon, filling a promise to the veteran point guard, but he’s not expected to be with the team by the end of the day.
Golden State tweeted an announcement about the signing, which it pledged to Calderon when he agreed to a buyout with L.A. on Monday. However, after Kevin Durant suffered a knee injury Tuesday night that may keep him out for the rest of the season, the Warriors felt they needed a bigger player to take his place, so that roster spot will eventually go to Matt Barnes.
Golden State will waive Calderon later today to allow him to sign with another organization and still be eligible for the postseason. He will receive the guaranteed rest-of-the-season contract that he was originally promised and will go back on waivers for 48 hours. The Hawks are reportedly among the teams interested in signing Calderon once he clears waivers again.
Cavaliers Notes: McRae, Bogut, Dellavedova, Williams
Second-year guard Jordan McRae expressed no bitterness on his way out the door after being waived today, relays Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. He was released to open a roster spot for the signing of free agent center Andrew Bogut. McRae appeared in 37 games for the Cavs this season, starting four, but was only playing about 10 minutes per night. He will receive all of his nearly $1.15MM salary. “All smiles here,” McRae posted on his Instagram account. “Not a bad thing to say about any player or anybody that has anything to do with this organization. I’m proud to say I am a part of Cleveland’s first-ever NBA championship. The memories I will take with me for the rest of my life. Best of luck to this great group of guys, brothers for life love you guys. Thanks Cleveland.”
There’s more tonight out of Cleveland:
Brandon Jennings Signs With Wizards
6:10pm: Jennings will receive $1.2MM for the rest of the season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. However, because the Knicks will save half of any amount over $875K, Jennings will wind up with a net of about $1MM, notes cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link).
5:45pm: Former Knicks guard Brandon Jennings has cleared waivers and signed with the Wizards, the team announced. As expected, rookie guard Danuel House was waived to clear a roster spot.
Washington is Jennings’ fourth team in the past two seasons. He signed a free agent deal with the Knicks last summer and averaged 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds over 58 games before agreeing to a buyout on Monday. He is expected to be the new backup to John Wall in Washington.
“Brandon gives us playmaking ability and experience at the guard position while adding another scoring option as well,” said Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld. “His presence, along with the recent acquisition of Bojan Bogdanovic and the continued progression of Ian Mahinmi, will help our team as we continue our push towards the playoffs.”
Hawks Eyeing Jose Calderon, Other Point Guards
The Hawks are looking at several point guards as they search for point guard depth, and Jose Calderon has emerged as one “prime” target for the team, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Atlanta currently has one open spot on its roster after waiving Lamar Patterson.
Calderon, who was bought out by the Lakers after the trade deadline, cleared waivers today and became an unrestricted free agent, though he may go back on waivers soon. Calderon and the Warriors reached an agreement over the weekend, but after Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury, the team changed course and will instead sign Matt Barnes.
The Warriors reportedly still intend to honor their agreement with Calderon, signing him to a guaranteed rest-of-season contract and then waiving him to sign Barnes. However, if Calderon gets an offer from the Hawks or another team, perhaps he won’t feel compelled to finalize his deal with Golden State after all. (Update: Calderon was later signed and waived by the Warriors, so he’s back on waivers).
As Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported earlier today, the Hawks are considering both 10-day contracts and rest-of-season deals to fill their 15th roster spot. The team is also in the market for more of a pure point guard, after having experimented with adding a combo guard (Gary Neal) earlier in the season.
“We obviously brought in a guy like Gary who is more of a (shooting guard, point guard),” head coach and president of basketball operations Mike Budenholzer said, per Vivlamore. “I think the 15th guy has to have some point guard in him, if not just a stone-cold point guard, which is probably more likely.”
Dennis Schroder has reliably handled the starting point guard position for the Hawks this season, but the club doesn’t have much depth at that spot, with rookie Malcolm Delaney serving as Schroder’s primary backup.
Latest On George Hill, Jazz
The Jazz and point guard George Hill engaged in renegotiation-and-extension discussions prior to Tuesday’s deadline, but were unable to reach an agreement. Shortly after news of those failed talks broke, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reported that Hill had been advised that he’ll be able to land a better deal this summer than what Utah could offer now. MacMahon followed up on that tidbit today with an in-depth piece on Hill, writing that the veteran guard has a chance to receive a maximum-salary offer in free agency.
As MacMahon writes, a four-year max contract for Hill this summer would be worth in the neighborhood of $132MM, which is an extraordinary price for a player who is earning just $8MM this season and has never made an All-Star team. However, sources tell MacMahon that Hill’s camp believes he may able to command such a deal in the offseason.
After being acquired from the Pacers in an offseason trade, Hill has battled injuries this season, appearing in just 35 games for the Jazz. When he has been healthy though, he has been a major part of the club’s success, recording a career-high 17.6 PPG to go along with 4.1 APG and a .403 3PT%. Utah has a 25-10 record when Hill takes the court, compared to a 12-13 mark when he sits, a fact that hasn’t been lost on his teammates.
“I think the statistics for us as a team and for him individually kind of speak for themselves,” Gordon Hayward said of Hill. “He’s obviously come in and been a leader in the locker room, too, [and] a leader out on the court for us. He plays with toughness, plays with poise offensively. He’s a big part of why we’ve been successful this year.”
If the Jazz are unable to lock up Hill during July’s free agent period, Deron Williams may be a fallback option for the team, writes MacMahon. Utah inquired on its former star point guard prior to the trade deadline, when Williams was still a Maverick, and according to MacMahon, D-Will is “definitely intrigued by the possibility of finishing his career in Utah.”
For more on Hill, be sure to check out the latest piece from Michael Lee of The Vertical, who spoke to Hill about the trade that sent him from his hometown Pacers to the Jazz, and the impact he has had in Utah this season.
Wizards To Waive Danuel House
Rookie shooting guard Danuel House will be in the odd man out in D.C. with Brandon Jennings close to finalizing a deal with the Wizards, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the club will waive House to open up a spot on the roster for Jennings.
Earlier today, word broke that Trey Burke didn’t made the trip to Toronto with the rest of the Wizards due to a personal matter, creating speculation about whether Burke would be the roster casualty. As I noted at the time, the former lottery pick has averaged a career-low 12.4 minutes per contest and was reportedly being shopped prior to the deadline. However, the Wizards will hang onto Burke, opting to part ways with House instead.
An undrafted rookie out of Texas A&M, House received a partial guarantee from the Wizards last summer and earned a spot on the club’s regular-season roster. However, after appearing in just one NBA game, House suffered a fractured wrist, which has essentially wiped out his rookie year. In addition to the very brief action he saw with the Wizards, House has also played in seven D-League games for the Delaware 87ers, averaging 13.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG.
House’s contract with the Wizards ran through the 2017/18 season, but next year’s salary was fully non-guaranteed, so the team won’t be on the hook for any money beyond this season after waiving him.