Mavs Notes: Jordan, Marion, Doncic, Mejri, Barea
As part of an ongoing series in anticipation of Mavericks training camp starting later this month, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News asks whether newly-acquired All-Star big man DeAndre Jordan is on the downslope of his career.
Now a 10-year veteran, Jordan actually averaged 12.0 points and a career-best 15.2 rebounds per game last season for the Clippers, but the team did not perform well, finishing 10th in the always tough Western Conference. Moreover, Jordan’s field goal percentage of .645, while still excellent, was his lowest output since the the 2012/13 season.
While it remains to be seen if Jordan’s game is on the decline, the Mavericks at least somewhat hedged their bet by only signing Jordan to a one-year contract for the 2018/19 season, which will allow the club opportunity to see how Jordan meshes with relative youngsters Dennis Smith Jr., Luka Doncic and Harrison Barnes.
If Jordan ends up descending into the twilight of his career, the Mavs can simply let him go next summer. But if he can continue to average a double-double and be near the top of the NBA in rebounds and field goal percentage again this season, Sefko opines that the Mavericks will gladly re-sign Jordan next summer at whatever price tag is needed.
There’s more from Dallas:
- Now that the 2018 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class has been enshrined in Springfield, Joe Nguyen of The Denver Post takes a look at some candidates for election next year. Among the first time candidates is do-it-all forward Shawn Marion, who helped the Mavericks win an NBA Championship in 2011.
- In an appearance on KRLD-FM, Dirk Nowitzki (per Sportando) presented a glowing endorsement of Doncic, admitting that the Slovenian rookie is better than Dirk was at the same age. “Oh yeah (he’s better). I could shoot a little bit but I never had the court vision … the savviness that he brings to the game… He’s going to be fun to watch especially with bigs like DeAndre (Jordan) and Dwight (Powell) rolling to the rim … He’s going to pick defenses apart and it’s going to be fun to watch.”
- In another piece for The Dallas Morning News, Sefko profiles big man Salah Mejri and his role on the Mavs this upcoming season. Mejri, 32, signed a one-year contract for the veteran’s minimum this offseason. And even though the addition of Jordan won’t do any favors for Mejri’s playing time, the Tunisian big man will be ready to play when needed, as always.
- In yet another player profile piece, Sefko opines that backup point guard J.J. Barea may be one of the most underrated Mavericks of all time. Barring injury, Barea will later this season become the seventh player in Mavs history to play in 600 games with the franchise.
Pacific Notes: Booker, Labissiere, Kuzma
The Suns have had a tough go of it over the course of the past three seasons. Now that they finally boast an intriguing young core, however, things may have hit a minor snag. Greg Moore of the Arizona Republic wonders if Devin Booker‘s hand injury could spoil Phoenix’s season.
While there’s no guarantee that Booker even misses regular season time recovering from hand surgery, it’s a distinct possibility. In any event, the up-and-coming Suns star will miss training camp and preseason, that could mean it won’t be until part-way through the 2018-19 campaign that he starts building chemistry with vaunted No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton.
As Gina Mizell of The Athletic writes in a similar piece speculating about the impact Booker’s absence will have, she notes that the Suns could even begin the season without a clear-cut point guard on the roster.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- There’s no shortage of intriguing big men on the Kings roster but one oft-forgotten frontcourt project is Skal Labissiere. Kyle Ramos of the team’s official site writes that this offseason has been 22-year-old’s best since entering the NBA in 2016.
- A much-improved physique will put Lakers sophomore Kyle Kuzma in position to break out in 2018-19, Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype writes. The forward was a surprise success as a rookie last year and will look to make further progress after gaining strength in his shoulder and back.
- There are plenty of things to like about what the Lakers did this offseason and projections for how they’ll fare in 2018-19 vary wildly. One question, James Blancarte of Basketball Insiders wonders, is whether or not the franchise will be able to resist the urge to shake up the roster with a trade if things don’t begin as expected in Los Angeles.
Heat Notes: Draft, Richardson, Wade, Haslem
The NBA appears to be holding off a decision to eliminate the one-and-done rule until the 2022 draft, which would be good news for the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. That would mean Miami wouldn’t miss out on a potential bonanza in the 2021 class with the top college prospects and high school seniors both available. The Heat are the only team that have traded their 2021 first-rounder, sending it to Phoenix in the Goran Dragic deal. The Suns moved it to the Sixers this summer as part of the package to acquire Mikal Bridges.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN recently reported that teams have been told by league executives that no change in the one-and-done rule will occur prior to 2022. The Heat haven’t appealed to the league to make the change in any particular year, Jackson adds.
Jackson shares more from Miami in the same story:
- At least one unidentified team offered a first-round pick to Miami in exchange for Josh Richardson during the offseason. The Heat turned it down and have no plans to part with Richardson, who is entering the first season of a four-year, $42MM extension. The team also prefers to hang onto Dragic, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, James Johnson and Justise Winslow.
- Dwyane Wade has less than two weeks to make a decision before camp opens, but at least one Heat official believes he wants to play this season. Wade has been on vacation in California, but will return to Miami tomorrow to open a restaurant with Udonis Haslem, who has been part of the recruiting effort to get Wade to return.
- Haslem said his “love for the organization” and his teammates was behind his decision to return for a 16th season. “If I was looking for playing time, I could have gone someplace else or played in China or something,” he said. “But at the end of the day, would it have made me as happy as being around this organization and being around these guys? No, I don’t think it would.” Haslem saw minimal action last season, averaging about five minutes per night in 14 games.
Russell Westbrook Has Arthroscopic Procedure On Knee
Russell Westbrook had arthroscopic surgery today on his right knee, according to Royce Young of ESPN. The procedure was done for “maintenance” and the Thunder guard will be re-evaluated in four weeks. He is expected to miss the preseason, and his status for the October 17 opener will be determined at that time.
The operation was successful, the team posted on its website, and the decision to have surgery was prompted by inflammation in the knee over the weekend. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles with medical personnel from the team in attendance.
Westbrook has been remarkably durable since having three surgeries on the knee in a nine-month span in 2013 and has played in 80, 81 and 80 games over the past three seasons. Still, any physical problem is a concern as Westbrook will turn 30 in November and is entering the first season of a five-year, $205MM extension.
Westbrook made his seventh All-Star appearance last season and averaged a triple-double for the second straight year with a 25.4/10.1/10.3 line, leading the NBA in assists.
Heat Exercise Option On Bam Adebayo
The Heat have exercised their third-year option on Bam Adebayo, the team announced on its website. The move locks in his $3,454,080 salary for the 2019/20 season.
The decision isn’t surprising after Adebayo’s impressive rookie campaign. The 14th player selected in the 2017 draft, he made an instant impact in Miami, earning a rotation spot and contributing mostly in a reserve role. The 21-year-old posted a 6.9/5.5/1.5 line in 69 games while averaging 19.8 minutes per night.
Adebayo’s fourth-year option, which the Heat will have to decide on next summer, would pay him $5,115,492 for the 2020/21 season.
Wolves Reportedly Not Interested In Joakim Noah
Even though they’ve assembled a collection of former Bulls, the Timberwolves don’t plan to pursue Joakim Noah if he becomes a free agent, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Minnesota signed ex-Laker Luol Deng this week, adding him to Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson as players who were with Chicago under current Wolves coach/executive Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks are reportedly planning to use the stretch provision to unload Noah if they can’t work out a trade or buyout. With this year’s $18.53MM salary already locked in, New York can turn the $19.295MM it owes Noah for the 2019/20 season into three payments of roughly $6.4MM a year. That would open about $12.9MM in cap room for next summer when the Knicks hope to make a splash on the free agent market.
Noah has been a major disappointment since coming to New York on a four-year, $72MM contract in 2016. Suspensions, injuries and coaching decisions limited him to seven games last season, and he never rejoined the team after an altercation in practice with former coach Jeff Hornacek in January.
While a reunion with Thibodeau may seem like the logical next step for Noah, there’s no guarantee he would have more playing time in Minnesota than he did in New York. Karl-Anthony Towns is entrenched as the Wolves’ starting center with Gorgui Dieng in place as the backup.
Andrew Bynum Works Out At Lakers’ Facility
Andrew Bynum‘s attempted NBA comeback included an appearance this week at the Lakers’ practice facility, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. It wasn’t considered an official workout for the team, but Bynum was permitted to participate in activities at the gym.
L.A.’s current front office has an “open door” at the facility for current and former players, Charania adds (Twitter link). Bynum spent seven season with the Lakers, earning All-Star honors in 2011/12. He is arranging workouts with other teams in his quest to return to the NBA after a four-year absence, according to Charania.
Now 30, Bynum hasn’t had a successful season since his All-Star campaign. The Sixers picked him up in 2012 in the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to L.A., but knee problems prevented him from ever suiting up for Philadelphia. He signed with the Cavaliers in 2013 and played 24 games before being traded to the Bulls, who immediately waived him. Bynum’s last NBA experience was two games with the Pacers late in the 2013/14 season.
Cavaliers Notes: Workouts, Osman, Sexton, Thompson
Kevin Love‘s duties in taking over for LeBron James as team leader include organizing the Cavaliers’ annual pre-camp workouts, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Love, whose leadership role was cemented when he agreed to a four-year, $120MM extension this summer, is hosting the voluntary sessions this week at the University of Miami.
Most of the players who are under contract are expected to attend. Coach Tyronn Lue is in Miami as well, but won’t participate if the players-only tradition continues. Tristan Thompson, Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic are all out of the country to play in World Cup qualifiers.
James, who signed with the Lakers in July, organized the workouts in each of the past four seasons. They are usually held in vacation spots, with coaches and front office personnel accompanying the team but letting the players run things.
There’s more today out of Cleveland:
- Osman can look forward to a much larger role in his second season with the Cavaliers, Vardon notes in a player profile. Osman may inherit James’ role as starting small forward, although Rodney Hood is also a candidate. The 23-year-old saw action in 61 games as a rookie, averaging 3.9 points per night. Osman played several years in Europe before coming to the NBA and appeared much more polished in this year’s Summer League, according to Vardon.
- Collin Sexton will need to improve his shot, especially from long distance, to become a Rookie of the Year candidate, Vardon states in another profile. Sexton tied with Suns center Deandre Ayton as the favorite for the award in a poll among players drafted this year. However, his success could depend on improving his accuracy from 3-point range, where he hit just .336 last year as a college freshman, and just .242 in SEC games.
- Thompson, who owns a championship ring and has made four straight trips to the NBA Finals, hopes to create that same atmosphere of success on the Canadian national team. He has been playing for his home country for nearly a decade and believes there’s an opportunity for Canada to become a major player in international competitions. “Right now we have a wave of really good players in the NBA,” Thompson said, “but who knows? Maybe 15 years from now we have a drought, so while guys are here and at a high level, let’s take advantage of it.”
Matt Williams Signs In Finland
Matt Williams, who held a two-way contract with the Heat for part of last season, has signed to play in Finland, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. KTP-Basket announced the deal with Williams this morning.
Undrafted out of Central Florida in 2017, Williams signed a two-way deal with Miami in mid-October and was waived at the end of December. He appeared in three games at the NBA level, playing 11 total minutes and averaging 1.7 PPG.
Williams was more productive in the G League, averaging 10.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per night in 43 games for the Heat’s affiliate in Sioux Falls.
And-Ones: Sophomores, Future Rankings, Christon
The 2017 NBA Draft class has thus far turned out to be one of the most impressive crops in recent memory. In addition Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum, poised freshmen that played significant roles in the playoffs, there are also a handful of lottery picks with tremendous opportunity for future growth.
ESPN’s Mike Schmitz (Insider) recently profiled a few players from last year’s draft class who showed impressive glimpses during their first year in the pros. Schmitz writes that Lonzo Ball deviated from what made him great at UCLA. If he’s to thrive with the Lakers he’ll need to step up as a spot-up shooter. Last year, the guard spent too much time trying to create in pick-and-roll situations.
Schmitz also discusses Josh Jackson, Dennis Smith and De’Aaron Fox, opting to exclude Markelle Fultz due to the unique circumstances of his rookie year.
There’s more from around the league:
- Sorry Hornets fans, the Charlotte franchise has been ranked as the team with the bleakest forecast over the next three seasons. Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider) writes that turnover in the front office, coupled with limited financial flexibility, won’t bode well for the team heading forward.
- At a time when journalists scrap to be the first media personalities to tweet about player movement in the NBA, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has broken the news for two recent sportswriter job changes. He, alongside CJ McCollum form the most journalistic backcourt the NBA has ever seen.
- After playing one season in China and Puerto Rico, former Thunder guard Semaj Christon is open to playing in Europe, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets.