Kanter: “Get Me Out Of Here” If I’m Not Playing
Enes Kanter‘s frustration with his diminished role in the Knicks‘ rotation reached a boiling point on Wednesday night after he received his first DNP-CD of the season in the team’s loss to Houston. As Marc Berman of The New York Post relays, Kanter said that what the Knicks are doing to him is “pretty messed up.”
“They told me this morning that I’m starting,” Kanter said of the Knicks’ coaching staff. “Now I come to the game and I didn’t even play. I’m trying to be a good teammate, but I want to play basketball. If you’re going to play me here, play me. If not, just get me out of here.”
With his minutes fluctuating over the last month or so as the Knicks focus more on developing their young players, Kanter has already expressed annoyance about his role multiple times. However, he took it to a new level on Wednesday by calling on the club to “get me out of here” if it doesn’t plan to play him.
With Luke Kornet sidelined due to an ankle injury, Kanter appeared set to return to the starting lineup and play regular minutes going forward. However, New York instead opted to start Noah Vonleh at center, with Mitchell Robinson backing him up. The duo handled all the center minutes during Wednesday’s tough four-point loss to the Rockets, leaving Kanter to vent to reporters after the game.
“It’s so frustrating,” Kanter said, per Berman. “In the meeting, [head coach David Fizdale] said I was starting. Now it’s coming here and coming to the game ready to go and I sit on the bench. … I deserve way better. They didn’t explain me anything. I’m just going to let my agent handle it. I love the Knicks, don’t get me wrong. I love the crowd and MSG and have love for this city, but I want to play basketball. Either play me or just let me play someplace.”
Although Kanter is on an expiring contract, he’s earning $18.6MM+ this season, which will make him difficult to move, since the Knicks don’t want to take on any extra 2019/20 money. The Knicks and Bulls have reportedly discussed a deal involving Kanter and Jabari Parker, who has a $20MM expiring contract of his own, but they’ve been unable to find a third team willing to take Kanter.
The Mavericks were among the teams that turned down the chance to be the third team in such a deal, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Presumably, Wesley Matthews‘ expiring salary – which is identical to Kanter’s – would have been included in that proposal.
Central Notes: Oladipo, Pacers, Dunn, Bucks
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo knew right away that the injury he suffered tonight was significant, tweets Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. There are concerns that Oladipo may need surgery on his right knee that will keep him out for the rest of the season, but the team will await the results of an MRI tomorrow before making a decision.
“I just slipped and knew it was serious,” he told reporters after tonight’s game. “We’ll see what tomorrow shows and go from there. My teammates stepped up earlier this season and everyone has the utmost confidence going forward.”
Oladipo is Indiana’s top scorer at 19.2 points per game and leads the team in steals with 1.7 per night. He made the All-Star Game for the first time last season and was in contention for another trip this year.
“It’s tough watching our best player go down,” teammate Darren Collison said in a video tweeted by the Pacers. “Not just because he’s our best player but because he’s one of the best people to be around.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- The Pacers have two weeks until the trade deadline to figure out how they want to proceed without Oladipo, writes Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. Indiana is third in the East at 32-15 and making the playoffs shouldn’t be a concern, but Woo states that it’s hard to see the Pacers having any postseason success without Oladipo. He notes that they have roughly $59MM in expiring contracts in Collison, Tyreke Evans, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Cory Joseph and Kyle O’Quinn that could be moved for future assets if they decide to play for next season. Indiana will be in position to offer a max contract this summer, but Woo notes that the team’s bargaining power with free agents could be reduced if Oladipo’s rehab stretches into next season.
- Bulls point guard Kris Dunn had extra motivation in his matchup with Hawks rookie Trae Young tonight, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Even though Chicago’s front office assured Dunn that he was the team’s point guard of the future, they brought in Young for a pre-draft workout and had legitimate interest in selecting him, Cowley writes. Dunn prevailed in the individual matchup, holding Young to a 1-for-12 shooting night, but Atlanta won the game.
- Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers become a minority investor in the Bucks when he bought a 1% share of the team last year, but he tells Jim Owczarski of Packers News that he might be interested in expanding his role in the future. “When I’m done playing, there’s going to have to be something to fuel the competitive juices,” Rodgers said, “and being involved in sports would be great as long as it’s not commenting or maybe a GM. The ownership part seems a little more my speed and what I want to do when I retire from sports.”
Suns Notes: Arena, Bender, Trade Candidates, Kokoskov
The Phoenix City Council approved a $230MM deal tonight for improvements to Talking Stick Resort Arena that will ensure the Suns remain in the downtown facility through 2037, writes Jessica Boehm of The Arizona Republic. Under the agreement, the city will cover $150MM in renovations, while the team will be responsible for $80MM, plus any overruns.
Council also agreed to put $2MM per year into a renewal and replacement fund over the next 12 1/2 years to cover future renovation needs. The Suns will contribute $1MM each year over that same time frame. The franchise will continue to be in charge of operations and maintenance for the arena and will pay rent to the city based on annual proceeds.
The Suns will also build a practice facility with an estimated cost of $25-$50MM. The team pledges to remain at Talking Stick Resort Arena for the next 18 years with an option to extend the lease through 2042. The Suns could be fined up to $200MM if they break that lease.
There’s more Suns news to pass along:
- With Deandre Ayton and Richaun Holmes both injured, Dragan Bender may be looking at his last chance to prove he can be a contributor in Phoenix, notes Gina Mizell of The Athletic. Bender posted double-doubles in back-to-back starts and is showing glimpses of why Phoenix made him the fourth overall pick in 2016. He’s still averaging just 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per night in 16 games. “You have to (be) really, really hard mentally on yourself,” Bender said, “and be able to tell yourself each and every day to push through it. It’s a rough business. You can sit for 45 games, and then two guys went down with injuries — which is unfortunate — but it’s time to get in the game and show what you can do.”
- Troy Daniels, Josh Jackson, Elie Okobo and T.J. Warren are the most likely Suns to be traded before the deadline, Mizell adds in a separate story. Daniels has only appeared in 22 games, playing mostly when others are injured; the acquisition of Kelly Oubre has lessened the need for Jackson; Okobo may be shipped out in the search for a point guard; and Warren might fetch a nice return in the middle of his career-best season. She adds that Bender, Holmes and Jamal Crawford may be enticing because they have expiring contracts.
- Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic examines the performance of Igor Kokoskov in his first season as an NBA head coach.
Heat Notes: Ellington, McGruder, Grizzlies, Olynyk
Trading Wayne Ellington would give the Heat just enough cap relief to escape the luxury tax, writes salary cap expert Albert Nahmad for HeatHoops. Miami currently projects to be $6.2698MM over the tax line and Ellington’s salary is $6.27MM, so if the Heat can find a deal in which they don’t take any money back, they would be in the clear by $159.
However, Nahmad notes that won’t be easy to accomplish. Only six teams have the ability to make such a trade with Miami, but the Hornets and Pistons would put themselves into tax territory, the Thunder and Wizards are already over the threshold and may not want to take on more salary and the Kings aren’t likely to be interested in using their cap room because they already have Buddy Hield.
Nahmad identifies the Nuggets, who are $6.9MM below the tax line and have a pair of trade exceptions worth $12.8MM and $13.8MM, as the most likely team to take on Ellington. His salary would be pro-rated at $2.2MM if he’s acquired at the February 7 deadline, and the Heat can trade up to $5.3MM in cash to help offset that.
However, it’s not certain that another shooter is Denver’s top priority. Any other club that trades for Ellington would have to send out at least $3.5MM in salary, which means a third team would have to get involved to make it work for Miami. Nahmad cites the Lakers, Rockets and possibly the Thunder as other potential contenders for Ellington.
There’s more news from Miami:
- The Heat have been working on deals to ease their overcrowded roster and Rodney McGruder may be a candidate to get traded, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The source adds that McGruder would be a good fit for the Celtics, who could use an all-around role player and wouldn’t mind adding his expiring $1.5MM contract. The Heat may not get more than a second-round pick for McGruder, but won’t be in a great position to re-sign him this summer because of their cap situation.
- In the same story, Jackson states that the Heat don’t seem like a good fit for the Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol or Mike Conley, who are reportedly now available on the trade market. Jackson cites Conley’s $32.5MM salary for next season and $34.5MM in 2020/21 as too much for Miami to take on, while Memphis may not be interested in the collection of players — James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk and Dion Waiters — that would need to be included to match the salaries of Gasol and Chandler Parsons, whom the Grizzlies would like to move in a trade involving the center.
- Olynyk is the latest player to fall out of the Heat’s frequently changing rotation, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The backup center didn’t play in the second half Saturday, then was held out of Monday’s game. “You look at the game saying, ‘I definitely think I can help out there. I can make an impact, make a difference,'” Olynyk said. “But Coach has to do his job and I don’t envy him, because it’s not an easy job.
“Serious” Knee Injury For Victor Oladipo
8:00pm: The Pacers are afraid that Oladipo’s injury will end his season, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Based on a preliminary examination, team doctors believe he will require surgery to repair the damage.
Indiana can’t seek a disabled player exception to replace Oladipo because the deadline to apply was January 15, adds ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
7:36pm: Victor Oladipo suffered a “serious” injury to his right knee during tonight’s game and will undergo an MRI tomorrow, according to a tweet from the Pacers. No further details will be given on his condition until after the procedure.
The All-Star guard left the court on a stretcher after hurting the knee in the first half of a game against the Raptors, an ESPN story relays. Indiana’s trainers placed a towel over his leg to hide the damage, while players from both teams surrounded him in concern.
Fans gave him a standing ovation as he was wheeled off the court, and he responded with a thumbs-up gesture even though he had tears in his eyes, according to ESPN.
The NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player, Oladipo is coming off his first All-Star appearance. He’s putting together another fine season, posting a 19.2/5.7/5.3 line through 35 games and leading the Pacers to third place in the East.
Several players tweeted out messages of support for Oladipo, including former Pacers star Paul George, who missed nearly a full season after breaking his leg in 2014.
Celtics Notes: Grizzlies’ Pick, Irving, Trade Deadline, Smart
If the Grizzlies commit to rebuilding, the Celtics could wind up with a valuable trade asset, writes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. The Celtics are owed a future first-round pick from Memphis that will have declining protections over the next three seasons.
The selection, which was acquired in a three-team deal in 2015 that also involved the Pelicans, is top-eight protected this season, top-six protected in 2020 and completely unprotected in 2021. Memphis got off to a 12-5 start this year, but is just 7-23 since November 21 and has fallen to sixth in our latest Reverse Standings.
A report out of Memphis this week indicates that the organization is listening to trade offers involving veteran stars Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. If the Grizzlies launch a youth movement, the Celtics could end up with an asset similar to the 2018 Nets pick that they sent to Cleveland as part of the Kyrie Irving deal. It could give Boston an edge in the pursuit of Anthony Davis or any other elite player who might become available.
There’s more out of Boston:
- Several of Irving’s former teammates in Cleveland talked to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com about whether he might go back on his verbal commitment to re-sign with the Celtics this summer and if he might consider teaming up with LeBron James again as a Laker. “Anything is possible,” said Tristan Thompson. “One day he could wake up and think about it. Just the possibility for y’all to think about it. There’s a method to the madness.” However, a league sources tells Vardon that an L.A. reunion is unlikely because Irving hasn’t changed in his desire to be “the man” wherever he plays.
- Jay King of The Athletic examines the Celtics’ options at the trade deadline and how they could be impacted by free agency. Marcus Morris will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, Al Horford and Aron Baynes both have player options and Terry Rozier and Daniel Theis will be restricted. King states that management may check into offers for Rozier and Theis, but believes they will keep both as insurance in case someone gets hurt during the playoffs.
- King also considers whether the Celtics might try to get underneath the luxury tax this season, considering the sizable payments looming in the future. With the team projected to be about $3MM over the tax line, that would mean sending out Rozier’s contract in a salary dump, which King doesn’t expect to happen.
- Marcus Smart was fined $35K for charging after the Hawks’ DeAndre’ Bembry in an altercation in Saturday’s game, the league office announced.
Anthony Davis May Return Next Week
Anthony Davis received some good news after meeting with specialists today about his injured finger, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Davis will be evaluated again on Friday and could return to the court by next week, according to his agent, Rich Paul. “It’s a better outcome than we originally feared,” Paul said.
The diagnosis is a volar plate avulsion fracture to the left index finger, and Paul told Wojnarowski that Davis will be “re-evaluated every 48 to 72 hours” after Friday’s examination (Twitter link). “It’s more of an injury of pain tolerance,” Paul explained. “They need to see the swelling go down and the range of motion increase.” He added that the plan is to “proceed with caution” in determining when it’s safe for Davis to start playing again (Twitter link).
Davis displayed “significant improvent” in his range of motion during today’s exam, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Davis’ doctors and the Pelicans‘ medical staff reached the same diagnosis on the injury, he adds.
Davis was hurt last Friday and was projected to miss one to two weeks of action. A complete fracture could have kept him out for a month or longer. The Pelicans need Davis back as soon as possible to keep their playoff hopes alive as they trail the eighth-place Clippers by three games, but are stuck in 12th place.
Reaching the postseason may be crucial to their hopes of a long-term arrangement with Davis, who will be eligible for a supermax extension this summer and can become a free agent in 2020.
Bulls Notes: Carmelo Trade, Boylen, Forman, Rose
The Bulls will receive $1,566,570 in cash from the Rockets in the Carmelo Anthony trade, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). As was the case with the deal the two teams completed earlier in the month involving Michael Carter-Williams, Houston will send that cash in installments — 10 payments of $66,657 will be followed by a lump sum of $900K before July, according to Pincus, who adds that Chicago didn’t require Anthony to pass a physical or report to the team to finalize the swap.
Each NBA team is permitted to send and receive no more than $5.243MM in trades during the 2018/19 league year. As our breakdown of traded cash shows, Houston is now nearly at its limit, with only about $566K still available to send out. Chicago, meanwhile, could still receive up to about $2.61MM.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago identifies a number of important issues the Bulls will be evaluating during the second half of the season, including whether or not head coach Jim Boylen should return next season, Kris Dunn‘s potential to be the club’s long-term answer at point guard, and whether Bobby Portis deserves a lucrative new deal in the offseason.
- In a column for The Chicago Sun-Times, Joe Cowley makes a case for why the Bulls need to strongly consider replacing general manager Gar Forman.
- Meanwhile, over at The Chicago Tribune, K.C. Johnson argues that this offseason is the right time for the Bulls to bring former MVP Derrick Rose back home to Chicago.
- During an appearance on Nate Duncan’s Dunc’d On podcast, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports revisited the near–revolt that took place early in Jim Boylen‘s tenure as Bulls head coach, noting that Zach LaVine was “kind of running things” and that Robin Lopez was the veteran who helped hold things together.
NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Northwest Division
Over the course of the 2018/19 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.
The Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Jazz are wild cards, but the Northwest could end up being one of the least active divisions at the trade deadline this season. While the division-leading Nuggets and Thunder hold large trade exceptions and could use reinforcements as they continue their postseason push, they probably lack the financial flexibility and movable assets to do anything too drastic.
Here’s our latest look at a few possible trade candidates from the Northwest…
Anthony Tolliver, F
Minnesota Timberwolves
$5.75MM cap hit; unrestricted free agent in 2019
After falling out of the rotation earlier this season, Tolliver has once again been a regular since Robert Covington went down at the start of January. Still, Tolliver’s 15.3 minutes per game are the fewest he has played since his rookie year, and most of his other numbers are below his career rates too. It’s also not clear whether he’ll continue to see consistent minutes when Covington returns.
I don’t imagine Tolliver plays a major role in Minnesota’s long-term outlook, and he’s not necessarily doing a lot to help the Wolves in the short term — the team has a -5.8 net rating when he plays and a +1.5 rating when he sits. Even if the Wolves want to remain in the playoff hunt on February 7, it might still make sense to send Tolliver, who has an affordable expiring contract, to a team more in need of a player with his skill set.
A stretch four, Tolliver continues to hit three-pointers at a rate (37.9%) that’s in line with his career percentage (37.6%). That could be valuable to a team seeking more shooting from its frontcourt, such as Oklahoma City or Philadelphia.
Maurice Harkless, F
Portland Trail Blazers
$10.84MM cap hit; $11.51MM guaranteed salary for 2019/20; UFA in 2020
Harkless has shown he can be an effective complementary contributor on the wing when he’s healthy, having shot 50.1% from the floor and 37.5% on three-pointers during the two seasons prior to 2018/19. Knee problems have slowed him down over the last year, however, resulting in multiple stints on the shelf so far in ’18/19.
With Portland in need of a big-bodied wing who can be trusted to stay on the court down the stretch and in the postseason, the club should consider dangling Harkless as a trade chip. A trade partner looking ahead to next season could better afford to play it safe with Harkless, making sure he’s fully healthy for 2019/20 — especially if the Trail Blazers were willing to attach another asset in the deal.
A swap like Terrence Ross for Harkless and a draft pick makes some sense to me, though Orlando may be reluctant to pull the trigger on any trades that weaken this season’s roster, and the Blazers may want to target a player more capable of guarding bigger bodies.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, G/F
Oklahoma City Thunder
$1.54MM cap hit; UFA in 2019
The Thunder currently have an open spot on their 15-man roster. In fact, that spot has been open all season, by design. With the NBA’s most expensive roster, Oklahoma City won’t add another salary to its books and increase its projected tax bill unless the team badly needs reinforcements.
Rather than filling that 15th spot, the Thunder might actually look to reduce their roster count prior to the February 7 deadline. Trading Luwawu-Cabarrot and his $1.54MM cap hit in a money-saving deal similar to the ones Houston has made with Chicago would make some sense for OKC, since TLC doesn’t have a role for the team (he has played 11 total minutes since the start of December) and will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
The Thunder aren’t allowed to stay at 13 players all season, but with Luwawu-Cabarrot off the books, they could carry 13 players for up to two weeks at a time, and could potentially address the 14th spot using 10-day contracts or a rest-of-season deal for a veteran on the buyout market. Taking that route would save Oklahoma City a little money and would potentially allow the club to add a player that has a better chance of contributing in the postseason.
Previously:
- NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Northwest (12/5)
- NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Northwest (11/8)
- The rest of our NBA Trade Candidate series
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Notes: Tsai, Faried, Russell
Nets minority owner Joseph Tsai has officially completed the purchase of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, the league announced today in a press release. The franchise was previously controlled by Knicks owner James Dolan.
“We are fortunate to welcome Joe Tsai to the WNBA family at a pivotal time for our league,” interim WNBA president Mark Tatum said in a statement. “We thank Jim Dolan and The Madison Square Garden Company for their incredible support of the WNBA over the past 22 years and for their commitment to finding the right owner for the Liberty. As active participants in the New York community, Joe and his team are very well-positioned to take the Liberty to exciting new heights.”
Tsai’s investment in the city’s WNBA franchise is the latest signal of his commitment to New York basketball. While Tsai is technically only a minority stakeholder in the Nets for the time being, he owns 49% of the franchise and his agreement with Mikhail Prokhorov will give him the opportunity to assume controlling interest in the team by 2021.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Although Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson consistently praised Kenneth Faried‘s attitude and work ethic during the big man’s time in Brooklyn, Faried called his Nets tenure “frustrating” and felt that the club wasn’t being straight with him, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News relays. Faried said he got the impression that the Nets didn’t trust him, and eventually decided he’d welcome a move. “That was the perception. The, ‘I don’t know you yet,'” he said. “A lot of beating around the bush as to why they wouldn’t play me. So it was like, if we figure something out then let’s immediately make that move. Because I don’t want to hinder y’all, and y’all hindering my career, pretty much.”
- With restricted free agency looming this summer, D’Angelo Russell is playing the best basketball of his career, writes Greg Joyce of The New York Post. That’s an opinion shared by both Russell and his head coach. “He’s playing at an All-Star level, quite honestly,” Atkinson said. “And physically he looks great. I told him, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it, because you look fast, you look recovered, you look spry.'”
- While the Nets don’t have the Knicks’ history and don’t play in the world’s most famous arena, Brooklyn is establishing itself as an appealing free agent destination, opines Newsday columnist Barbara Barker.