Western Notes: Capela, Brunson, Kings, Roberson
Clint Capela‘s thumb injury could cost him a $2MM bonus, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes. The Rockets center has a 2,000-minute criteria tied into the team reaching the Western Conference Finals and for a defensive rebounding percentage above 30%. He has another bonus for attempting 150 or more free throws and a free throw percentage above 65%. He is currently shooting 62.6% from the line. Through 42 games, Capela has played 1,436 minutes. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- Mavericks rookie Jalen Brunson and veteran Devin Harris will pick up the minutes vacated by backup point guard J.J. Barea, who suffered a torn Achilles on Friday, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. Brunson played 30 minutes against the Warriors on Sunday but Harris will see his role expand as well. “He’s going to be ready and he’s going to be there for us,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Harris.
- Kings assistant coaches under Dave Joerger are having their options for next season picked up by the front office, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. That group includes Bryan Gates, Elston Turner, Bob Thornton, Jason March, Duane Ticknor, Larry Lewis, Bobby Jackson, Phil Ricci and Dan Hartfield. It’s a way of aligning the contracts of the staff with Joerger’s deal. The surprising Kings are currently a game above .500.
- Kings GM Vlade Divac warned members of the executive board to stop meddling in the team’s affairs, Sam Amick of USA Today reports. Divac made the pronouncement during a conference call with 13 members of the executive board, along with lead owner Vivek Ranadive. Divac has been frustrated by internal complaints and used the forum to demand respect, Amick adds.
- Thunder shooting guard Andre Roberson remains sidelined indefinitely, coach Billy Donovan told Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman and other media members. “He’s worked hard, he’s doing all he needs to do but he’s still in the rehab process.” Roberson suffered a season-ending left knee injury last January and suffered a setback in late November when an MRI revealed an avulsion fracture in the knee.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/14/19
Here are Monday’s NBA G League assignments and recalls from across the league:
- The Rockets recalled center Isaiah Hartenstein from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Mark Berman of KRIV tweets. Hartenstein has appeared in 22 games with Houston this season and adds frontcourt depth with Clint Capela sidelined for 4-6 weeks with a thumb injury. Hartenstein is averaging 17.3 PPG, 14.2 RPG and 3.9 APG in 11 appearances with the Vipers.
Pistons, Suns, Magic Pursuing Dennis Smith Jr.?
9:19pm: The Mavericks are also searching for deals that would include veteran shooting guard Wes Matthews, who is making $18.6MM in the final year of his contract, Wojnarowski reports in a follow-up story. Also within that story, sources tell Woj that Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle has “often been frustrated with Smith’s decision-making.”
Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says that Phoenix has no interest in Smith, despite Woj’s report that the Suns have been active in talks with Dallas.
9:00pm: The Pistons have also talked to the Mavs about Smith Jr., longtime NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence tweets.
8:30 pm: The Mavericks are ramping up trade discussions for point guard Dennis Smith Jr., ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The Suns and Magic are involved in talks with the Mavs, Wojnarowski adds.
Smith Jr. has missed the last three games with a sore back.
There’s tons of buzz regarding Smith Jr., ESPN’s Zach Lowe confirms in a tweet. However, it’s unclear what kind of package the Mavs are seeking for the 21-year-old.
The ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft seemed like a star in the making during his rookie campaign. He averaged 15.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 5.2 APG in 69 games. The North Carolina State is shooting at a more efficient rate this season, improving his overall field goal percentage from 39.5% to 44.3% and his 3-point success from 31.3% to 37.5%. Still, his slash line of 12.6/2.6/3.9 reflects how he’s struggled to find chemistry alongside rookie sensation Luka Doncic.
Smith has also been turnover prone, coughing it up at a rate of 3.1 per game compared to 2.8 last season despite averaging two fewer minutes.
Community Shootaround: 3-Point Shooting
Many current NBA fans have never seen a game without 3-pointers. There was a time when every shot counted the same, until the NBA adopted a 3-point line prior to the 1979/80 season.
For a long time, the 3-point shot ranked almost as a gimmick. There were a few long-range specialists sprinkled around the league but it was mainly used as a means to play catchup.
Just 20 seasons ago, the Kings led the league with 18.9 3-point attempts per game. The 76ers attempted the fewest that season at 7.4 per game.
Reliance on the long ball gradually increased over the years. The Knicks attempted the most 10 seasons ago at 27.9 per game, while the Thunder chucked up a league-low 11.6 per contest.
Once analytics became a major component in the way the game was played, teams couldn’t seem to fire up enough 3-pointers. Mid-range shooting has been replaced by a flurry of long balls.
This season, the NBA skies are filled with more 3-pointers than ever. The Rockets are launching them at a rate of 43.2 per game, while the Spurs rank last at 24.4. Yes, the team ranked at the bottom of the league in attempts would have been close to the league lead just 10 years ago.
It may be the right way to play according to the numbers, but it’s fair to question whether this is a good or bad thing. Has it come to a point where this is basketball at its best or has the game strayed too far from its roots?
That brings us to tonight’s topic: Should the league take steps to eliminate or reduce 3-point shooting or do you like the game the way it is?
Please take to the comments to weigh in on this issue. We look forward to your input.
Lakers Notes: Walton, Meeks, Ingram, Ball
Controlling owner Jeanie Buss holds the key to Luke Walton‘s future as head coach, Bill Oram of The Athletic opines. If team president Magic Johnson urges Buss to make a coaching change in the near future or at the end of the season, she would have to choose between her loyalty to Johnson and her faith in Walton, Oram continues. There is growing uneasiness about Walton’s job security following a loss to the woeful Cavaliers, making the team 3-7 with LeBron James sidelined by a groin injury. Johnson’s unpredictable, ultra-competitive nature and his concerns about the staff increase the possibility of him pushing Buss to make a move, Oram adds.
We have more on the Lakers:
- Free agent shooting guard and former Laker Jodie Meeks is a potential roster addition as the team looks to improve its outside shooting, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. The career 37.2% 3-point shooter worked out for the Sixers on Monday. The Lakers, who have an open roster spot, rank 27th in long-range shooting at 33.5%.
- Andre Ingram set a G League record for most career games played over the weekend, according to a G League tweet. Ingram, currently with the South Bay Lakers, played his 402nd game on Saturday. The 33-year-old guard made his NBA debut last season with the Lakers, appearing in two games.
- Lonzo Ball would rather lead by example because he’s not as vocal as veterans like James, Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN reports. Ball has stepped up his efforts to be a leader with James and Rondo nursing injuries.
Bulls Notes: Lopez, Boylen, Portis
Robin Lopez‘s shaky status with the Bulls led to some tense moments during practice on Monday, according to a series of Chicago Sun-Times tweets. Lopez was told prior to practice that his minutes might be reduced and he showed his irritation on the court, exchanging words with guard Kris Dunn, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Coach Jim Boylen removed him from practice for approximately 10 minutes because Boylen felt he was getting too chippy. No punches were thrown, but the incident displayed how frustrated the veteran center feels about being in limbo. He and his expiring $14.36MM contract are on the trading block but the market for him is currently quiet after a potential deal fell through last week.
Chicago is hoping to get at least a second-round pick for Lopez without having to take back anything but another expiring contract to match up the salaries, Andrews adds. The Bulls have so far resisted buying out Lopez in the hopes that a trade can be worked out before the deadline.
We have more on the Bulls:
- The re-negotiation of Boylen’s contract was mainly a show of support by management rather than a firm commitment, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune explains. Boylen had his salary doubled from what he was making as an assistant to $1.6MM. He also received a $1MM guarantee for his $1.6MM salary next season. That still might make him the lowest-paid coach in the league and doesn’t preclude him from getting fired if management has an unexpected change of heart, Johnson continues. It does show that the brass recognizes Boylen is trying to implement his philosophy without the benefit of a training camp or hiring his own staff, Johnson adds.
- Forward Bobby Portis felt Kevin Durant intentionally injured him on Friday, Chelsea Howard of the Sporting News relays. Portis sprained his elbow when he got tangled up with the Warriors superstar. “If I would have done that, I would have got a foul call on me, defensive foul,” Portis said. “I guess it’s just who you’re playing against. Everything is officiated different toward whoever it is, but if you look back at the video at the time, it was obvious.”
- The Knicks have considered moving disgruntled center Enes Kanter in a deal for Bulls forward Jabari Parker. Get the details here.
Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Free Agency, Porter
The Mavericks haven’t had much luck recruiting star free agents to Dallas over the last several years, but it’s possible that Luka Doncic could help change that, Sean Deveney writes in his latest Sporting News article. With longtime star Dirk Nowitzki on his last legs, Doncic looks like the Mavs’ next franchise player, and the idea of playing alongside the young star could appeal to players considering Dallas in free agency.
“It’s always hard to make that pitch and get over the hump with free agents,” a league source said to Deveney. “But they (the Mavericks) didn’t really have a chance with those guys. Players mostly like (owner Mark) Cuban, and they were always a compelling enough franchise to get in the room with LeBron (James) and Dwight Howard and other stars. But they could not present themselves as a team with a great future.
“They can do that now,” the source continued. “Not sure they can push a star to put his name on the line, but ‘Come play with Luka,’ it’s a better message.”
As that source hints, it still seems unlikely that the Mavs will be a serious player this summer for elite free agents like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, or Klay Thompson. However, Deveney believes that it might be worth the effort for the team to make an offer to one or more of those players. The franchise will have significant cap room this summer and it would serve as a reminder that Dallas can still be an appealing destination for top players. Khris Middleton and DeMarcus Cousins could also be targets, Deveney adds.
Here’s more out of Dallas:
- Michael Scotto of The Athletic previously reported that the Mavericks have interest in Otto Porter, which Deveney confirms. According to Deveney though, the Wizards seem uninterested in moving Porter as a pure salary dump, and Dallas likely wouldn’t want to include draft picks or Dennis Smith Jr. as part of an offer to Washington.
- Count Dirk Nowitzki among those optimistic about the Mavericks’ future, as Deveney relays. “We’ve been through some tough years — a lot after the championship — but the last couple, extremely tough,” Nowitzki said. “But we feel like we have got some great young guys. We drafted Dennis last year and we drafted Luka this year. Those are some great young guys we can build around. They’re both only 20 years old or so. We have some cornerstones we can build on. Hopefully this franchise is going in the right direction.”
- Jalen Brunson and Devin Harris are among the guards who could see increased workloads with J.J. Barea sidelined for the rest of the season, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. As Caplan details, head coach Rick Carlisle called Barea’s torn Achilles a “gut-wrenching” injury.
- The Mavericks applied for a disabled player exception as a result of Barea’s injury. Here’s our full story on what exactly that means.
Knicks Sign Kadeem Allen To Two-Way Contract
2:41pm: The Knicks have officially signed Allen to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
9:24am: The Knicks will fill their open two-way slot in advance of Tuesday’s deadline by signing G League guard Kadeem Allen, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). New York started the season with Isaiah Hicks and Allonzo Trier on two-way deals, but promoted Trier to its 15-man roster last month.
Allen, who will turn 26 tomorrow, began his NBA career as a second-round draft pick for the Celtics in 2017. As a rookie, the former Arizona standout appeared in just 18 games (5.9 MPG) for Boston while on a two-way deal. He was waived in July and caught on with the Knicks for training camp, but didn’t make the club’s regular season roster.
After being released by New York in October, Allen headed to the team’s G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, averaging 13.7 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 5.2 RPG with a .470/.386/.822 shooting line in 25 games (30.8 MPG) for the club.
The Knicks had been one of just four NBA teams with two-way contract slots open — the Trail Blazers (both spots), Bucks, and Pelicans are the others. Tuesday is the deadline for teams to sign two-way contracts for the 2018/19 season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Portland, Milwaukee, and New Orleans makes moves today or tomorrow. There may also be another small group of teams who make changes to their two-way slots, perhaps promoting certain players to standard contracts.
NBA Concludes McCaw Investigation, Finds No CBA Violations
The NBA announced today in a press release that it has concluded its investigation into the Cavaliers‘ signing – and subsequent release – of Patrick McCaw. According to the announcement, the league found that there was no violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, including the anti-circumvention rules.
McCaw, the final restricted free agent of 2018’s class, held out for most of the first half of the season before signing a two-year, $6MM offer sheet with the Cavaliers. The offer sheet was non-guaranteed, but was signed just a week and a half before all salaries for 2018/19 would become guaranteed — if the Warriors had matched, they would have had to pay McCaw his full $3MM salary for this season or waive him within about a week, putting him in line for unrestricted free agency.
Golden State opted not to match the offer sheet, so McCaw became a Cavalier. However, his stint in Cleveland only lasted for about a week, as the Cavs released him before the league-wide salary guarantee deadline. The third-year shooting guard subsequently signed a minimum salary contract with the Raptors once he became an unrestricted free agent.
Once the Cavs parted ways with McCaw, it looked suspiciously like the team had done his agent a solid, paving the way for the 23-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent. It also didn’t hurt that Cleveland’s series of transactions cost the rival Warriors an asset.
The NBA looked into the matter and could have levied fines or lost-draft-pick penalties on the Cavs if there was evidence of wrongdoing, but that outcome was always unlikely. Given their injury-ravaged roster, the Cavs had a clear motive for signing McCaw. And given his poor audition for the team – 1.7 PPG on 22.2% shooting in three games (17.7 MPG) – Cleveland also had an obvious motive for moving on from him last week.
Even though the Cavs have been cleared in this instance, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the league and the players’ union revisits this issue at some point. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggests (via Twitter) that it might make sense, in the next CBA, to require the first year of offer sheets to be fully guaranteed. Another option, per Marks, would be to prohibit a player from re-signing with the team that waives him after signing him to a non-guaranteed offer sheet (ie. McCaw would have been ineligible to re-sign with the Cavs after being cut).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mavericks Apply For Disabled Player Exception
The Mavericks have applied for a disabled player exception after J.J. Barea underwent season-ending surgery on his torn right Achilles, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
If a player is seriously injured, his team can request a disabled player exception to replace him. In order for the exception to be granted, an NBA-designated physician must determine that the player is “substantially more likely than not” to be sidelined through at least June 15. If granted, the disabled player exception allows a club to sign a replacement player for 50% of the injured player’s salary, or for the amount of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, whichever is lesser.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Disabled Player Exception]
In Barea’s case, the exception would be modest — 50% of his $3,710,850 salary works out to just $1,855,425. Still, their request will likely be approved and the exception would provide Dallas with one more possible path to upgrading its roster in the second half.
Unlike mid-level, bi-annual, or trade exceptions, the disabled player exception can only be used on a single player. However, a team can use it in a variety of ways — the DPE can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. Because it’s designed to replace an injured player for a single season, a DPE can only be used to sign or acquire a player on a rest-of-season contract.
A disabled player exception doesn’t provide a team with an extra roster spot, so the Mavericks – who are carrying a full 15-man roster – would have to create an opening in order to use it.
The deadline for teams to apply for disabled player exceptions is January 15. The Wizards, who lost John Wall for the season, appear to be the only other team with a DPE request pending. The Suns applied for one for Darrell Arthur back in the fall, but waived him a few days later, rendering them ineligible for a DPE — their request seemed unlikely to be approved anyway.