Nets Notes: FA Mini-Camp, RFA Market, LeVert
The Nets hosted a three-day mini-camp this week for veteran free agents, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype (Twitter link), who identifies former Thunder guard Semaj Christon and 2016 first-round pick Brice Johnson as a pair of the participants.
Per Kennedy (Twitter link), other players with previous NBA experience who took part in Brooklyn’s mini-camp include Xavier Silas, Josh Gray, Naz Mitrou-Long, Jarrod Uthoff, and Byron Mullens. Walt Lemon Jr., who saw a little action with the Pelicans this season, was also in attendance, tweets NetsDaily.
While the Nets may not end up adding any of those players to their roster for next season, the mini-camp gives the club a chance to get a closer look at some players who might have flown under-the-radar, and perhaps some candidates for two-way contracts next season.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- The Nets have been the NBA’s most active club in restricted free agency over the past two years, with little success. The club signed Allen Crabbe, Tyler Johnson, Donatas Motiejunas, and Otto Porter to offer sheets, but saw all four of those offers matched at the time (Crabbe was later traded to Brooklyn). With that recent history in mind, NetsDaily explores whether the club will foray into the RFA market again in 2018, with Aaron Gordon looming as a possible target.
- The first draft pick of the Sean Marks era in Brooklyn, Caris LeVert showed impressive potential and versatility during his second NBA season in 2017/18, writes Michael Scotto of The Athletic. LeVert, who could become a long-term starter for the Nets, won’t be eligible for restricted free agency until 2020.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is on the wrong end of a lawsuit in New York State Court, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post details. Prokhorov is being counter-sued by Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistle-blower who exposed Russian cheating in the 2014 Olympics, for backing a libel lawsuit that Rodchenkov viewed as an intimidation tactic.
Full List Of 2018 NBA Draft Combine Participants
Potential No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton will skip this year’s NBA draft combine in Chicago, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Ayton, Luka Doncic, and Robert Williams are among the potential 2018 lottery picks who won’t be in attendance at the event, which takes place from May 16-20.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
However, the full list of participants obtained by Charania indicates that plenty of top prospects will attend the event, including Marvin Bagley III, Mohamed Bamba, Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young, Michael Porter Jr., Collin Sexton, and Wendell Carter Jr. In total, 69 players are on the list of participants expected to attend the combine.
Via Charania, here’s the full list of combine participants sent out to NBA teams this week, in alphabetical order:
- Rawle Alkins
- Grayson Allen
- Kostas Antetokounmpo
- Udoka Azubuike
- Marvin Bagley III
- Mohamed Bamba
- Jaylen Barford
- Keita Bates-Diop
- Tyus Battle
- Brian Bowen II
- Mikal Bridges
- Miles Bridges
- Bruce Brown
- Troy Brown
- Jalen Brunson
- Tony Carr
- Jevon Carter
- Wendell Carter Jr.
- Hamidou Diallo
- Donte DiVincenzo
- Trevon Duval
- Jacob Evans
- Bruno Fernando
- Melvin Frazier
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Devonte’ Graham
- Devon Hall
- Jaylen Hands
- Kevin Hervey
- Aaron Holiday
- Kevin Huerter
- Chandler Hutchison
- Jaren Jackson Jr.
- Justin Jackson
- Alize Johnson
- George King
- Kevin Knox
- Sagaba Konate
- Caleb Martin
- Cody Martin
- Yante Maten
- Brandon McCoy
- De’Anthony Melton
- Chimezie Metu
- Shake Milton
- Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
- Malik Newman
- Josh Okogie
- Jontay Porter
- Michael Porter Jr.
- Billy Preston
- Jerome Robinson
- Mitchell Robinson
- Collin Sexton
- Landry Shamet
- Anfernee Simons
- Zhaire Smith
- Omari Spellman
- Khyri Thomas
- Gary Trent Jr.
- Allonzo Trier
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- Moritz Wagner
- Lonnie Walker
- PJ Washington
- Austin Wiley
- Kris Wilkes
- Kenrich Williams
- Trae Young
Hoops Rumors’ 2018 NBA Award Picks: Most Improved Player
While the NBA won’t announce this year’s award winners until late in June, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards over the next two weeks.
The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our choices below, but we also want to know which players, coaches, and executives you think are most deserving of the hardware this season, so jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts.
We’re keeping things going today with the award for Most Improved Player. Here are our selections:
Clark Crum: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
This one is pretty easy for me. As I noted within my Executive of the Year pick, Oladipo had largely underperformed as a former No. 2 overall selection in the forgettable 2013 draft before this season. Almost everyone panned the Pacers’ trade for him. Yet, Oladipo came out this year and averaged career-highs in PPG (23.1), RPG (5.2), APG (4.3), FG% (.477), 3P% (.371), and SPG (2.4), a category in which he led the NBA. He may very well be named to both an All-NBA and NBA All-Defensive Team.
I also gave strong consideration to Clint Capela and Terry Rozier, while Montrezl Harrell and Spencer Dinwiddie improved mightily as well, but I ultimately couldn’t see anyone but Oladipo winning this award.
Chris Crouse: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
With Paul George no longer on the team, the Pacers headed into the season with low expectations, viewed by many as more likely to land a top–five pick than make the playoffs. However, Oladipo’s unprecedented improvement, going from fringe starter to All-NBA candidate, gave Indiana life. He carried the Pacers all season and his development makes him more worthy of this award than past recipients.
Arthur Hill: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
Even before he went head-to-head with LeBron James in the playoffs, Oladipo clearly established himself as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Oladipo’s qualifications go beyond the impressive numbers, including a 7.2 PPG increase in his scoring average. He provided the Pacers with an All-Star level performer to take the place of Paul George and enabled the franchise to claim the fifth seed when many thought it would collapse. Not bad for a guy who has been traded the past two summers.
Dana Gauruder: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
The Magic traded away the second pick of the 2013 draft after three ho-hum seasons. The Thunder dealt him after one year to get Paul George, which could very well turn into a one-season rental. Given a lead dog role, Oladipo blossomed in Indiana, not only scoring 23.1 PPG but improving his shooting percentages in the process. Defensively, he doubled his steals rate. The Pacers have a star they can build around, one who doesn’t openly pine to play in Los Angeles.
Austin Kent: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
There are a number of players who made notable improvements this season but Oladipo is the clear–cut top choice for the award. He didn’t simply continue an upward trend that he’d been on for years — he completely changed his perception in the league.
There’s no denying that the former No. 2 overall pick’s value was throttled during his one year in Oklahoma City, but his first year as a Pacer exceeded even the most ambitious outlook one could have had for him out of the draft back in 2013.
Luke Adams: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
While the qualifications for Most Improved Player can be confusing, Oladipo could very well be a unanimous pick this year for the reasons outlined above. So rather than restating his case, I’ll mention a few players whose improvement in 2017/18 also deserves recognition.
Jrue Holiday and Steven Adams elevated their games to another level this season, silencing doubts about their massive contracts. Fourth-year bigs Clint Capela and Aaron Gordon improved all around as they near restricted free agency, while Fred VanVleet, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown, and Domantas Sabonis are among the players who made impressive second-year leaps. E’Twaun Moore and Joe Ingles also deserve credit for becoming key starters after multiple seasons as solid bench players.
Who is your pick for Most Improved Player? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comment section below!
Previously:
Still to come next week:
- Sixth Man of the Year
- Rookie of the Year
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Most Valuable Player
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
And-Ones: G League Mini Camp, Combine, Balls
A number of NBA players with recent big league experience have been named to the G League’s Elite Mini Camp roster. In mid-May, about 40 players from the developmental league will get the chance to strut their stuff in front of NBA personnel.
A total of 13 players from the initial roster have had at least some NBA experience, including the always intriguing likes of K.J. McDaniels and Archie Goodwin.
Other players, like Marcus Thornton and Naz Mitrou-Long who signed 10-day contracts in 2017/18 will look to prove that they deserve another crack at a rotation spot.
While it will be tough for a significant number of these players to make final rosters next season, there are plenty of opportunities between training camp and the regular season, especially now with the introduction of two-way contracts last season.
Jonathon Simmons, the G League is quick to mention, once participated in this event, prior to latching on with the Spurs and spinning that into a role with the Magic last summer.
There’s more from around the league this afternoon:
- While it’s become commonplace for highly regarded draft prospects to skip out on the combine, a number of reputable players from last year’s class were in attendance, including Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo. Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype broke down some of the best players from this year’s rookie crop that are actually expected to participate in the pre-draft event later this month.
- The dust has settled after LaVar Ball‘s decision to move his non-Lonzo sons to Lithuania. According to Donatas Urbonas of 15min.It, LiAngelo Ball may have been slightly underrated prior to arriving in Europe while LaMelo Ball isn’t prepared to perform at the pro level yet. Urbonas connected with USA Today’s Andrew Joseph to discuss the Ball family’s Lithuanian adventure.
- The NBA offseason is a lot closer than you might think. In fact, players like Cory Joseph and Wesley Johnson have already made key decisions on contract options for the 2018/19 campaign. For a rundown of what we expect from each team’s pending free agents, check out your respective team’s recap in our Free Agent Stock Watch series. Similarly, Hoops Rumors writers have ranked who we think the top available 2018 NBA free agents are.
Southwest Notes: Forcier, Capela, Rondo
The Grizzlies are finalizing a deal to bring Chad Forcier aboard as the lead assistant to recently appointed head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports writes.
Forcier most recently spent two years with the Magic but bounced around between some formidable Pistons, Pacers and Spurs teams from 2001 to 2016. In 2014, he won a title with San Antonio.
The Grizzlies formally announced their decision to give former interim head coach Bickerstaff the permanent head coaching gig earlier this week.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- For the fourth consecutive season, Clint Capela has rounded out his game. Now the 23-year-old plays a pivotal role for the contending Rockets and has established a foundation of trust with teammate James Harden, Tim MacMahon of ESPN documents the big man’s rise ahead of his pending free agency.
- Veteran point guard Rajon Rondo sounds open to the idea of returning to the Pelicans, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated writes. Rondo has played for four teams since 2014 but has performed particularly well, especially in the postseason, with New Orleans. Still, it may be tricky for the team to bring him back if he requires a sizable raise, since the Pelicans only hold his Non-Bird rights.
- There’s no denying that Ben McLemore‘s first season with the Grizzlies was somewhat underwhelming but the 25-year-old remains convinced that his best basketball is ahead of him. Michael Wallace of Grind City Media writes that, in his defense, the swingman has had six head coaches in six seasons but notes that the Grizz may be wise to move on from the $5.5MM they owe him next season if possible.
David Fizdale Notes: Assistants, Reactions, More
With David Fizdale and the Knicks in agreement on a four-year contract that will make the former Grizzlies coach the new head man in New York, Fizdale will now be tasked with filling out his coaching staff.
Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com recently suggested that Fizdale could recruit some of his old Grizzlies assistants to join him elsewhere, and Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News agrees with that assessment, tweeting that a list of potential Knicks assistants should start with Bob Bender, Keith Smart, and Nick Van Exel.
Meanwhile, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype attempts to identify a few more candidates to join the Knicks as assistants, including Juwan Howard, who spent plenty of time with Fizdale in Miami.
Here are a few more items related to the Knicks’ decision to hire Fizdale:
- An NBA source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the Knicks are prepared to open cap room this summer in the event that LeBron James shows any interest in heading to New York. While Fizdale has a good relationship with James and it may technically be possible for the Knicks to create cap space, that scenario is an extreme long shot. As Mitch Lawrence of Forbes writes, the Knicks hope Fizdale’s popularity among NBA players with help them in free agency, but they’re probably looking ahead at least to the 2019 market.
- Before he accepted a four-year offer from the Knicks, Fizdale turned down a four-year offer from the Suns to become their new head coach, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic.
- There has been no shortage of praise for the Knicks’ decision to go with Fizdale. As Marc Berman of The New York Post relays, ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups referred to Fizdale as the “best coach on the market,” while Jalen Rose called him the “right fit” for the Knicks. Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post agrees that Fizdale is the right man for the job, and Enes Kanter told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that he likes the ex-Grizzlies coach “a lot.”
- Still, not everyone is bullish on the Knicks’ hire. Dan Feldman of NBC Sports believes the optimism on Fizdale is misplaced, arguing that there are still too many issues within the Knicks’ organization to expect success from any new head coach.
- Ian Begley of ESPN.com takes a look at the next steps for Fizdale and the Knicks as they attempt to turn the page on years of dysfunction.
Bucks To Interview Messina, Clifford, Williams
The Bucks’ head coaching search is underway, as the team is scheduled to meet with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, former Hornets head coach Steve Clifford, and former Pelicans head coach Monty Williams within the next several days, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Clifford and Williams were identified as part of Milwaukee’s initial group of candidates on Thursday, as was David Blatt, who also intends to meet with the Bucks about their head coaching vacancy, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link).
It’s not clear if and when the Bucks will interview Mike Budenholzer, the other name mentioned on Thursday, but Wojnarowski suggests that the club may meet with as many as 10 candidates. That would put them about in line with the Knicks and Suns, the two teams so far who have filled their head coaching openings after conducting full-fledged searches. New York reportedly interviewed 11 candidates, while Phoenix met with 10.
Messina and Clifford have both received consideration for other head coaching jobs this offseason. Messina met with the Hornets, whose search is ongoing, while Clifford talked to the Suns before they hired Igor Kokoskov.
This will be the first reported interview this spring for Williams, who was identified as a possible frontrunner for the Milwaukee job way back in January. Having served as the Spurs’ vice president of basketball operations since 2016, Williams last coached as an assistant for the Thunder in 2015/16. He took a leave of absence from that position when his wife Ingrid was killed in a car crash, and hasn’t returned to coaching since.
Hornets’ Polk Talks HC Search, Kupchak, Outlook
Hornets vice chairman and managing partner Curtis Polk is described by Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer as Michael Jordan‘s “eyes in Charlotte” for both the basketball and business side of the franchise. That makes him an important figure in the Hornets’ management hierarchy.
So, with new head of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak not saying much publicly about the club’s ongoing head coaching search, Bonnell went to Polk to get a sense of what the Hornets are looking for in their next coach. Polk also weighed in on a few other topics, so let’s round up a few highlights…
On the most important trait for the Hornets’ coaching hire:
“In today’s NBA, one of the important things, particularly in a market like Charlotte (which can’t live off free agency), is player development: getting those draft picks and developing them.
“It’s an 11-month business. Maybe at some point if you’re out of the playoffs, or after free agency, you have sort of a slow month, but this is 11 months of high-intensity work where you have to pay attention to what your players are doing in the offseason. Make sure they are following a training program so that they don’t come into training camp out of shape or picked up any bad habits. It’s really something that has become a premium: What are the players doing in the offseason?
“That is going to become a very important quality to our coaching hires – that they came from an environment where there was a big premium on player development, and where they’re able to articulate to Mitch what sort of program they plan to put in place with us.”
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
On whether Kupchak has full autonomy to make personnel decisions:
“Mitch is our guy. Mitch has the authority to make all the decisions relative to basketball. When I say decisions, he’ll go through a process, just like he is right now with the coach. He will bring to ownership the decision he wants to make. But for the most part, I can’t imagine we’ll disagree with the things he recommends, based on the fact that he’s doing quite a bit of homework and we keep abreast of the process.
“I think Michael and I fully want to support his decisions. We might ask him some questions, but for the most part, it’s for him to put together a plan to get us back on track.”
On how close the Hornets are to where they need to be:
“I think a change here or there, maybe looking at how we get balanced offensively and defensively again with our new coaching staff. We won 36 games. There were a lot of close games that we lost. I feel like (by) putting a priority on developing young talent – that’s really key for us in developing a pipeline of players who after a few years can be significant contributors – I think we’ll be fine.”
On whether the Hornets would ever go through a rebuild similar to the Sixers’ “Process”:
“I think there are times when everybody goes through some version of that. That seems to be an extreme example. I can’t think of another one that extreme. In 2011, we went through our own little version of that for two seasons. It’s more of a (matter of) degrees. Right now, Mitch is still getting his arms around everything and we still don’t have a coach in place. I’m hopeful we won’t have to make dramatic changes to get this thing back on track.”
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Central Notes: Love, Van Gundy, Pistons, Parker
The Cavaliers lead the Raptors in their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup, 2-0, as the series shifts to Cleveland. Kevin Love helped his case with 31 points in a Game 2 victory after struggling for most of the playoffs. As the postseason progresses, the Cavaliers’ coaching staff will need to monitor Love’s play at the center and power forward position, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes.
“We’ve been very successful with Kev at the 5, but we have to listen to what Kev needs as well,” teammate LeBron James said. “If there’s times throughout the postseason or a game where he’s feeling a little worn down because he’s battling with a lot of bigs, then we’ve got to make the substitution properly. I think Coach Lue has done that, obviously with the start of Game 7, being able to start Double T at the five and allow Kev to play his natural position.”
Check out more Central Division notes:
- The Pistons would like to bring back Stan Van Gundy, but with an adjusted role. After missing the playoffs for the past several seasons, it may be time for both sides to part amicably, Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News opines.
- There were 12 teams that had the chance to draft Donovan Mitchell before he fell to the Jazz and had a historically great rookie season. Looking back, the Pistons not selecting Mitchell is right up there with the Darko Milicic blunder from 2003, Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press writes.
- After two torn ACLs and a frustrating showing in the postseason, Jabari Parker‘s value is not at an all-time high heading into the summer. As a restricted free agent, it’s possible Parker’s tenure with the Bucks is over. Frank Urbina of HoopsHype breaks down Parker’s four best choices in free agency.
- As the Lakers enter the summer with major cap space and an eye on the NBA’s premier free agents, Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago examines the possibility of the Bulls pursuing Brandon Ingram in a trade.