Draft Updates: Jallow, Holman, Molson, Reese
German prospect Karim Jallow has entered his name in the 2018 NBA draft pool, his agency Lumani10.7 announced today (story in German; English link via Sportando).
A 6’7″ small forward, Jallow has spent the season playing for Bayern Munich’s second team in Germany. He has been the club’s leading scorer in 22 German League games, averaging 18.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 2.1 SPG. Jallow currently ranks 71st on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com.
Here are a few more draft-related notes worth passing along:
- Mississippi State forward Aric Holman, the 84th prospect on Givony’s 2018 big board, is entering the draft without hiring an agent, reports Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com (Twitter link). In his junior year, Holman established new career highs in PPG (10.9), RPG (6.7), FG% (.573), and 3PT% (.440) despite playing slightly less than he did in his sophomore season.
- A pair of Canisius underclassmen are testing the 2018 draft waters this spring, with the program announcing that freshman guard Takal Molson and sophomore guard Isaiah Reese will both enter the draft without hiring agents. The backcourt mates were Canisius’ second- and third-leading scorers in 2017/18, with Reese posting 16.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.7 APG, while Molson averaged 12.6 PPG on .442/.369/.685 shooting.
- Charleston Southern guard Christian Keeling is testing the NBA draft waters, he announced this week (via Twitter). Keeling is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 17.6 PPG and 5.2 RPG.
Wizards’ Jodie Meeks Faces 25-Game Suspension
2:01pm: Meeks has issued a statement to ESPN indicating that he’s surprised by his suspension and intends to fight it, as Wojnarowski relays.
“Because I have never used a drug of any kind I am absolutely heartbroken and perplexed with the news today,” Meeks said in his statement. “Let me clear: I have never taken anything whatsoever for a performance-enhancing reason. I respect the game of basketball too much.
“I look forward to exercising my rights under the (NBA’s) collective bargaining agreement to bring this matter to arbitration and to clear my name in relation to this wrongful accusation.”
12:25pm: The NBA will suspend Wizards sharpshooter Jodie Meeks for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug program, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Barring an unexpectedly lengthy postseason run for Washington, the ban will keep Meeks out of action until sometime in the 2018/19 season.
Meeks tested positive for two banned compounds, Ipamorelin and Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2, sources told Wojnarowski. The veteran guard intends to fight the suspension, lawyer Ben Levine told Wojnarowski.
“It is regrettable that the NBA has prematurely taken action against Jodie today,” Levine said. “Accordingly, we will appeal the suspension and vigorously defend Jodie’s rights. Unfortunately, under the CBA, a player is guilty until proven innocent and while Jodie’s appeal is pending he will be forced to sit out the playoffs.”
Meeks, 30, was a regular contributor off the Wizards’ bench this season, averaging 6.3 PPG on .399/.343/.863 shooting in 77 games (14.5 MPG). Washington will have to look elsewhere to fill those minutes during the club’s first-round series against the top-seeded Raptors.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the suspension will cost Meeks just shy of $30K per game during the postseason, with the Wizards picking up about $22K per game in tax savings. Meeks would serve the remaining games on the suspension to open the 2018/19 season. Assuming he exercises his $3.5MM player option to stick with the Wizards, Meeks would lose about $31K per game via the suspension next season, Marks notes.
Per the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, most suspensions only cost a player 1/145th of his annual salary per game, but bans that exceed 20 games – like Meeks’ – cost the player 1/110th of his salary per game.
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Gordon, Heat, Hawks
Dismissed during the 2017/18 season by the Grizzlies, David Fizdale figures to receive plenty of interest this spring from teams on the lookout for a new head coach. One possible landing spot for Fizdale is Charlotte, according to NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence (Twitter link), who hears from sources that the Hornets had started doing their homework on Fizdale even before announcing that Steve Clifford would be dismissed.
Fizdale, who has been considered a potential top target for the Suns, is also viewed as a leading candidate for the Hornets’ job, says Lawrence.
Here’s more from around the Southeast division:
- Asked what his “ideal” contract would look like, RFA-to-be Aaron Gordon said he’d love to get a maximum-salary deal from the Magic. “Ideal is max,” Gordon said, per Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “That would be ideal. Three letters. … Definitely here.”
- Longtime Heat big man Udonis Haslem isn’t sure whether he’ll continue his career next season, suggesting that he’ll probably talk about it with Dwyane Wade before making it a decision, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “Each decision is individual, but it will affect the outcome of the other’s decision,” Haslem said. “It’s not that I can’t play. I just might want to put that energy somewhere else. I still have a lot to give this team and give to this game. Physically and mentally, I can still contribute.”
- As for Wade, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel believes that the playoffs will go a long way toward determining whether the veteran guard will continue his career with the Heat next season.
- The Hawks will head into the offseason as one of the few NBA teams projected to have significant salary cap room. However, don’t count on GM Travis Schlenk making a splash in free agency, says Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As Cunningham details, Schlenk has said the plan is to look for trades that would allow the Hawks to acquire assets while absorbing salary.
Stephen Curry Targeting Second-Round Return
Stephen Curry, who remains sidelined with an MCL injury, will look to get back on the court sometime during the Western Conference Semifinals, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Curry, who sprained his left MCL sprain in March, was initially ruled out at least three weeks, and his three-week re-evaluation will occur this Saturday, as Charania observes. While the two-time MVP had wanted to return for the Warriors’ first-round series, it sounds like he’ll remain on the shelf for at least a couple more weeks.
That timeline matches up with comments made by head coach Steve Kerr in the wake of Curry’s initial diagnosis. Kerr told reporters at the time that there was “no way” Curry would play in the first round, while the star guard responded to those comments by saying he hoped to prove his coach wrong.
Assuming Curry isn’t able to play until the second round, the Warriors will have to get by the Spurs without him in round one. For their part, the Spurs appear likely to take the court without their own star — no recent updates have been provided on Kawhi Leonard, who last played three months ago today, on January 13.
Revisiting 2017/18 NBA Over/Under Predictions
Before the 2017/18 NBA season got underway, we polled Hoops Rumors readers on the win totals for each of the league’s 30 teams, using over/unders from major betting sites. From the Warriors (67.5) to the Bulls (22.5), our readers made their picks for whether each team’s win total would land over or under the projected figures.
The results of our polls suggested that the respondents were generally bullish on most NBA teams heading into 2017/18, with the “over” winning the vote for 23 teams, compared to just seven for the “under.” As I noted at the time, that outcome wasn’t technically impossible, but the unbalanced split indicated that we were probably a little too optimistic about some teams.
Nearly six months later, let’s check in on the results, comparing our over/under voting to each club’s actual win-loss record for 2017/18:
Western Conference:
- Golden State Warriors: Over 67.5: ✖️ (58-24)
- Houston Rockets: Over 55.5: ✔️ (65-17)
- San Antonio Spurs: Over 54.5: ✖️ (47-35)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Over 50.5: ✖️ (48-34)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Over 48.5: ✖️ (47-35)
- Denver Nuggets: Under 45.5: ✖️ (46-36)
- Los Angeles Clippers: Over 43.5: ✖️ (42-40)
- Portland Trail Blazers: Over 42.5: ✔️ (49-33)
- Utah Jazz: Over 41.5: ✔️ (48-34)
- New Orleans Pelicans: Over 39.5: ✔️ (48-34)
- Memphis Grizzlies: Over 37.5: ✖️ (22-60)
- Dallas Mavericks: Under 35.5: ✔️ (24-58)
- Los Angeles Lakers: Over 33.5: ✔️ (35-47)
- Phoenix Suns: Over 28.5: ✖️ (21-61)
- Sacramento Kings: Over 27.5: ✖️ (27-55)
Total record: 6-9
Eastern Conference:
- Boston Celtics: Over 55.5: ✖️ (55-27)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Over 53.5: ✖️ (50-32)
- Toronto Raptors: Over 48.5: ✔️ (59-23)
- Washington Wizards: Over 47.5: ✖️ (43-39)
- Milwaukee Bucks: Over 47.5: ✖️ (44-38)
- Miami Heat: Over 43.5: ✔️ (44-38)
- Charlotte Hornets: Over 42.5: ✖️ (36-46)
- Philadelphia 76ers: Under 41.5: ✖️ (52-30)
- Detroit Pistons: Over 38.5: ✔️ (39-43)
- Orlando Magic: Under 33.5: ✔️ (25-57)
- Indiana Pacers: Under 31.5: ✖️ (48-34)
- New York Knicks: Under 30.5: ✔️ (29-53)
- Brooklyn Nets: Over 27.5: ✔️ (28-54)
- Atlanta Hawks: Over 25.5: ✖️ (24-58)
- Chicago Bulls: Under 22.5: ✖️ (27-55)
Total record: 6-9
The lesson here? As always, don’t bet against Vegas. We made some nice calls, with our “over” picks on the Raptors, Trail Blazers, Jazz, and Pelicans turning out particularly well. But we were way off on several other teams — the Grizzlies missed their “over” projection by 16 games, while the Pacers missed going “under” 31.5 wins by a staggering 17 games. In total, we had a 12-18 record on over/under predictions.
So our overall results weren’t great, but did our “best bets” do any better? Let’s take a look. These were the five predictions that received the largest share of the vote:
- Orlando Magic: Under 33.5 (75.24%): ✔️
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Over 50.5 (71.77%): ✖️
- Washington Wizards: Over 47.5 (71.29%): ✖️
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Over 53.5 (68.82%): ✖️
- San Antonio Spurs: Over 54.5 (67.74%): ✖️
Our Magic pick looks good, but our optimism for the Thunder, Wizards, Cavs, and Spurs went unrewarded. Injuries played some part in Washington and San Antonio falling short of their projections, with John Wall and Kawhi Leonard missing significant time. But Cleveland and Oklahoma City were mostly just too inconsistent over the course of the season to reach their projected win totals.
Looking back at the preseason projections, along with our predictions, which team surprised or disappointed you the most? Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Grizzlies Rumors: Wallace, Bickerstaff, Evans, Gasol
The Grizzlies were viewed as a borderline playoff contender coming into the 2017/18 season, but dealt with injuries to key players like Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons, and ultimately finished the year as the league’s second-worst team. Despite Memphis’ disappointing results – and some questionable draft decisions and roster moves in recent years – GM Chris Wallace says he’s not expecting ownership to make any major front office changes this offseason.
“I understand the frustration of this past year,” Wallace said, per Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “But, I’m not going to take sole credit for this, the front office teams I’ve presided over won the most ever games in the history of this franchise. We were seven straight years in the playoffs. We also brought in four of what I call the extended Mount Rushmore or six most important players in of the franchise. One year out of the playoffs doesn’t necessarily mean we’re out of touch and no longer capable of doing the job.”
As for Wallace’s expectations for the coming offseason and the 2018/19 campaign? He fully expects the Grizzlies to bounce back from a dismal 2017/18 showing.
“The plan on the short-term side of it is to get back in the swing of things,” Wallace said. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t be a very viable competitive team next year. … I’m excited about next year. I think we’ll be a pretty good team next year.”
The Grizzlies’ end-of-season sessions with the media resulted in a few more interesting tidbits, so let’s round them up…
- As Tillery details, star players Conley and Marc Gasol both endorsed J.B. Bickerstaff, the Grizzlies’ interim head coach, who is considered a strong candidate for the permanent job. “He’s done a tremendous job with the tools he was given and with what he was allowed to do,” Gasol said. “Through all the mess and the situation, he’s done a great job.” Conley simply told reporters that Bickerstaff “deserves this job.”
- Wallace didn’t commit to sticking with Bickerstaff for 2018/19, but he offered praise of his own for David Fizdale‘s replacement, per Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal. “I thought guys developed, they got better, and I give him credit,” Wallace said. “It’s not an easy assignment they were given in difficult circumstances. … The losses obviously piled up, you can’t point to any gaudy record, but you watch them day to day, step by step, practice by practice, there was improvement and everybody stayed on point and did not wallow in the fact that it was a difficult situation.”
- According to Tillery, the Grizzlies remain hopeful that they’ll be able to re-sign Tyreke Evans using their mid-level exception this July. That was the plan reported back in February when Memphis opted to hang onto Evans through the trade deadline.
- With Robert Pera poised to remain the controlling owner of the Grizzlies, Gasol plans on meeting with him this offseason to discuss the direction of the franchise, according to Calkins. “You want to hear what – now, knowing that Robert has full control again, and that he’s fully committed, not only to the team, but to the city — you want to know what direction we’re headed, what do you want out of this, what kind of team are you trying to put together?” Gasol said. “I want to know what he has to say and how he feels.”
- While a trade is probably unlikely, Wallace acknowledged that the Grizzlies will keep all their options with their lottery pick, which will be a top-five selection (Twitter link via Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com).
Suns Rumors: Coaching Search, Booker, Knight
As we relayed earlier today, the Suns reached out to former assistant Dan Majerle to see if he’d have interest in the head coaching position in Phoenix, but were turned down. Despite Majerle’s lack of interest, the club should have no shortage of candidates for the position. GM Ryan McDonough said this week that there are at least five to 10 names on the Suns’ list of targets, per Bob Baum of The Arizona Republic.
While it’s not clear just how quickly the Suns intend to conduct interviews and narrow down their list of candidates, McDonough said that he’d like to have a head coach in place before the draft combine and lottery in May. The lottery is scheduled for May 15, with the combine to follow from May 16-20, so we can probably count on the Suns making a hire within the next month or so.
Here’s more out of Phoenix:
- In the wake of another losing season, Devin Booker says he’s “done with not making the playoffs,” as Baum details. “I’m serious. This is probably my last year ever not making the playoffs. If that’s putting pressure on myself, I’m going to take this summer and work that hard so that it doesn’t happen again.”
- Speaking of Booker, he’ll become extension-eligible for the first time this offseason. While the standout guard didn’t formally commit to inking a new deal in the coming months, he dismissed the speculation that he’s unhappy in Phoenix, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. “Don’t believe in nonsense,” Booker said. “With TV, they need something to talk about. I’ve always mentioned since my first day here that I fell in love with this city, I fell in love with the fan base and the dedication they showed to the team.”
- Brandon Knight is looking forward to getting back on the court in 2018/19 after missing the entire 2016/17 season with a torn ACL, Baum writes. Knight still has two fully guaranteed seasons on his contract, so he figures to be a part of the Suns’ rotation going forward. “I’m just trying to help the Suns in any way I can,” Knight said this week.
- Having finished first in the lottery standings, the Suns are assured of a top-four pick in the first round of this year’s draft. McDonough said this week that he wouldn’t trade that selection unless it’s for a young superstar, tweets Bordow.
Hornets Fire Steve Clifford
The Hornets have relieved head coach Steve Clifford of his duties, the team announced today (via Twitter). Clifford had been scheduled to meet this morning with new Hornets president and GM Mitch Kupchak, and he and his staff had been expecting this move, per Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Clifford, who was hired by Charlotte in 2013, had been the NBA’s seventh-longest-tenured head coach. He led the franchise to a 196-214 record (.478) during his five years on the sidelines. The Hornets earned playoff berths twice during those five years, but were eliminated in the first round in both 2014 and 2016.
Since the regular season ended on Wednesday, three head coaches of Eastern lottery teams have been dismissed, with Clifford’s firing coming on the heels of the Knicks and Magic parting ways with Jeff Hornacek and Frank Vogel, respectively.
In each instance, a new management team has been installed within the last year, and those front offices will now have the opportunity to hand-pick their own head coaches. In Charlotte, Kupchak was formally hired just days ago, so finding a new coach will be his first major task with the franchise. It’s not yet clear what the list of candidates may look like for the Hornets.
Clifford stepped away from the Hornets for a little over a month earlier this season for health reasons. However, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Clifford has “fully recovered” from the headaches and insomnia that forced him to take a leave of absence.
Despite his rough year in Charlotte, Clifford remains well regarded in coaching circles, and it may not take him much time to find a new job elsewhere. As Mannix notes, there’s a chance that both Clifford and lead assistant Stephen Silas will be in the mix for head coaching openings this spring.
In addition to the Hornets, Knicks, and Magic, the Suns, Bucks, and Grizzlies are also expected to conduct head coaching searches this spring — those three teams currently have interim coaches in place.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dan Majerle Turns Down Meeting With Suns
It appears the Suns can take one name off their list of potential head coaching candidates. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Grand Canyon head coach – and former Suns star – Dan Majerle has turned down a request from the club to meet about the head coach position.
“(Suns GM) Ryan (McDonough) reached out and asked to meet, but I told him that I was going to stay at Grand Canyon,” Majerle said, per Richard Obert of The Arizona Republic. “I’m not ruling it out in the future. But there are still things I want to do here.”
As Obert notes, Majerle has some history coaching the Suns, having served as an assistant from 2008 to 2013. He left the team on bad terms in ’13 when Lindsey Hunter was named the interim head coach in Phoenix. Majerle blasted the organization on his way out, criticizing the Suns for passing over him and Elston Turner for the job and calling the process a “charade.”
Of course, that situation played out under an old regime in Phoenix, led by then-GM Lance Blanks. According to Obert, Majerle’s messy exit from the team in 2013 has nothing to do with his decision to turn down an opportunity in 2018 — the former Suns All-Star says his relationship with the franchise was repaired by McDonough two years ago.
The Suns were said to be getting an early head start on their head coaching search in March, so Majerle certainly isn’t the only candidate to hear from the club so far. Reports have suggested that Phoenix is likely to reach out to David Fizdale, Jason Kidd, and Jay Wright, among others. Interim coach Jay Triano will also be considered for the permanent job.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 4/12/18
Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Spurs recalled guard Derrick White from their G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, for the final time this season, the team announced in a press release. White helped lead Austin to the 2018 G League Championship over the Raptors 905. White averaged 24.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.75 SPG and 1.75 BPG during Austin’s G League postseason run. In 17 games with the Spurs, White averaged 3.2 PPG and 1.5 RPG.