And-Ones: Popovich, Stephenson, Schröder
NBA coaches would like to see one of their own succeed Mike Krzyzewski as Team USA coach after he steps away following the 2016 Olympics, and Gregg Popovich is the No. 1 choice for that gig, a coaching source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Rick Carlisle appears to have a shot, too, and University of Kentucky coach John Calipari has a strong desire for the job, Berger also hears. See more from around basketball:
- Lance Stephenson first targeted his hometown Nets when he found out the Hornets were exploring the idea of trading him last season, but he’s excited about his opportunity with the Clippers, as he tells Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
- Dennis Schröder‘s rookie scale contract runs through 2016/17, and he likes playing in Atlanta, but he tells Sport Bild magazine that he wants to start and will look elsewhere if the Hawks don’t give him an opportunity, as Sport1.de relays (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, and special thanks to Alan Maimon for the translation). “My goal is the starting job,” Schröder said. “If there’s no progress next season, then I’ll have to talk to my people and explore other possibilities.”
- Players on NBA rosters last season have begun receiving checks related to a leaguewide salary shortfall, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The NBA is obligated to distribute $57,298,826, the difference between total team salaries and the 50.39% of basketball-related income that the collective bargaining agreement mandates the players are entitled to. So, players who were on a team’s active or inactive list for 41 or more games get $124,023, while those on one of those lists for 20-40 games see $62,011, and players on one of those lists for one to 19 games receive $31,005, as Zillgitt details.
- Amerileague president Jonathan Jordan has resigned and some agents have their expressed their doubts about the viability of the startup minor league, as Adam Johnson of D-League Digest details in a pair of pieces. Marcus Bass, the league’s director of basketball operations, tells Johnson that concerns are “getting a little overblown,” pledged to maintain a consistent flow of information, and said the league’s draft will go forward as planned Thursday.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Mack, Webster
Center Hassan Whiteside‘s injury-plagued preseason has prevented the Heat starting five from gaining any continuity, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Miami’s projected starting group of Whiteside, forwards Chris Bosh and Luol Deng, and guards Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic have only played together for one game, Winderman points out. Whiteside has appeared in one preseason game and that has affected the team’s chemistry on the court, Bosh told Miami reporters. “It’s knowing what sets we can go to when things get tight,” Bosh said. “And the only way to kind of do that is to go through what we’re going through, go through different situations, get frustrated, fail a couple of times, and then really go back to the drawing board and be honest with it. But we’re getting there.”
In other news around the Southeast Division:
- Hawks point guard Shelvin Mack had to work himself into playing shape during camp after recovering from shoulder surgery, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Mack, who was cleared for basketball activities at the start of camp, has scored 23 points in the last two preseason games after playing sparingly in the Hawks’ first three games. “I didn’t have a chance to play in the summer; my first day of playing was the opening day of training camp,” Mack told Vivlamore. “I wasn’t able to do a lot this summer.”
- Hawks camp invite Edgar Sosa has reached an agreement with Petrochimi in Iran, international basketball expert David Pick tweets. Sosa, a 27-year-old point guard, played in Germany and Italy over the past two seasons.
- Wizards small forward Martell Webster recently traveled to Nebraska for a second opinion on his ailing right hip, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Webster, who had physical therapy this summer at the same location, hasn’t appeared in any of Washington’s five preseason games and his return remains unclear, Castillo adds. Webster appeared in just 32 regular-season games last season because of a back injury and shot a career-worst 23.3% on 3-point attempts.
Battle For Roster Spots: Southeast Division
Hoops Rumors is taking a team-by-team look at the battles for regular season roster spots going on around the NBA this month, the last before rosters shrink from the offseason limit of 20 to the 15-man regular season maximum. We’ve already checked out the Northwest, Pacific, Southwest, Central and Atlantic division franchises, and now we’ll finish up the series with a look at the Atlantic Division:
HAWKS
13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Tim Hardaway Jr. — $1,304,520; Edy Tavares and Justin Holiday have smaller full guarantees for this season, but their salaries for next season are guaranteed, too.)
Non-guaranteed players
- Earl Barron
- DeQuan Jones
- Mike Muscala — $473,638 partial guarantee
- Lamar Patterson — $75K partial guarantee
- Terran Petteway — $75K partial guarantee
Analysis: Muscala has long been a “lock” for the regular season roster, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has said, so realistically this is a matter of four players competing for one opening night spot. Patterson has seen far more playing time in the preseason than the other three, as Vivlamore pointed out before this weekend’s game against the Heat (Twitter link), and that still holds true. Patterson, who signed as a draft-and-stash prospect this summer after having been the 48th overall pick in 2014, is averaging 4.0 points in 14.3 minutes per game. Petteway is only logging about half as many minutes per contest, and Barron and Jones have seen fewer than five minutes a night.
HEAT
13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Josh Richardson — $525,093)
Non-guaranteed players
- Keith Benson
- James Ennis
- Corey Hawkins
- Tyler Johnson — $422,530 partial guarantee
- Tre Kelley
- John Lucas III
- Greg Whittington
Analysis: Johnson seems like a strong bet for opening night, since half his salary is already guaranteed and he is first in line to become the third-string point guard, a key position given the uncertainty surrounding Mario Chalmers. That ostensibly leaves one open spot, though the Heat, in line to pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they wind up over the $84.74MM tax threshold at the end of the regular season, could save money and keep a spot free beneath the 15-man roster maximum on opening night. Ennis is leading the six Heat players with non-guaranteed salary in minutes per game so far in the preseason, with 17.0 MPG, but Greg Whittington is not far behind, at 16.1 MPG. Making it tricky is that Ennis’ salary of $845,059 would become fully guaranteed on opening night, though in the long run, he’d be cheaper than the other non-guaranteed players, whose full-season salaries would count as $947,276 for tax purposes if they were to stick for all of 2015/16. At least two other teams are interested in Ennis, scouts tell Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel, as we noted earlier, so the Heat might not get the chance to re-sign Ennis later this season if they let him go.
HORNETS
14 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Troy Daniels, Tyler Hansbrough, tie — $947,276)
Non-guaranteed players
- Aaron Harrison — $75K partial guarantee
- Sam Thompson
- Jason Washburn
- Damien Wilkins
- Elliot Williams — $80K partial guarantee
Analysis: The season-ending injury to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist begat the Wilkins signing, seemingly dampening the chances that any of the other four camp invitees will stick around for the regular season. Wilkins saw nearly 24 minutes of action in his preseason debut, his only appearance with the Hornets so far, taking only three shots and scoring five points. Still, through just one game, he’s managed to total more minutes than any other camp invitee on Charlotte’s roster except for Harrison, who’s averaging 3.8 points in 12.5 minutes per contest across four appearances so far. Harrison has a financial edge thanks to his partial guarantee, though $75K isn’t much to deter the Hornets if they’d prefer Wilkins. Harrison and Wilkins are the same height, but Wilkins has a longer wingspan that would allow him to defend better against small forwards, duties that Kidd-Gilchrist normally assumes.
MAGIC
13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Dewayne Dedmon — $947,276)
Non-guaranteed players
- Nnanna Egwu
- Melvin Ejim — $150K partial guarantee
- Devyn Marble
- Greg Stiemsma
Analysis: Marble, the 56th overall pick of the 2014 draft who missed much of his rookie season with an eye injury, is averaging 8.8 points in 19.7 minutes, and both numbers are better than any of the other Magic camp invitees so far. None of the others is seeing double-figure minutes, and while Stiemsma comes closest, this weekend’s exhibition against Flamengo of Brazil was his first appearance of the preseason thanks to an Achilles tendon strain that had kept him from playing in the team’s first five preseason games. Ejim has looked sharp in close to 32 total minutes of play across four games, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds, helping justify his status as the only remaining Orlando camp invitee with partially guaranteed money. However, partial guarantees of $100K apiece didn’t preserve the jobs of Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert, whom the Magic waived this afternoon.
WIZARDS
15 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Garrett Temple — $1,100,602)
Non-guaranteed players
- Josh Harrellson
- Jaron Johnson
- Toure’ Murry
- Jaleel Roberts — $10K partial guarantee
- Ish Smith
Analysis: The opening night roster for the Wizards appears to have been settled for a while, or at least since trade rumors connecting Temple to the Jazz died down. The Wizards seem to be fond of Temple, who’s leading the team in preseason minutes per game, and they’d have to either trade or eat at least $2MM in salary if they were to get rid of anyone else among their 15 fully guaranteed players. Temple is posting an impressive 7.0 assists in 24.1 minutes per game so far in the preseason, though Smith is dishing dimes at an even more efficient rate, with 4.2 APG in 12.4 MPG.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Al Horford Changes Agents As Free Agency Looms
Al Horford has hired BDA Sports founder Bill Duffy as his agent with free agency looming next summer, dropping the Wasserman Media Group, reports Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link). Horford had been with Arn Tellem at Wasserman before Tellem left for an executive position within the Pistons organization, and the Hawks big man had more recently been with Wasserman agents B.J. Armstrong and Jason Glushon. Horford’s contract is up at the end of the season, and he sits at No. 6 on the latest Hoops Rumors 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Duffy represents Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Danny Green and Rajon Rondo, among NBA other clients. Green scored a new four-year, $40MM deal with the Spurs this summer. Duffy also signed Jahlil Okafor, this year’s No. 3 overall draft pick.
The defection of Horford is another loss for Wasserman, which saw LaMarcus Aldridge leave this summer, though he’d already signed for the max with the Spurs by the time he changed agents. Joe Johnson, a former teammate of Horford’s who’s also poised to hit free agency next summer, left Wasserman, too. Aldridge and Johnson signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management.
Do you think Horford will sign a max deal next summer? Leave a comment to tell us.
Eastern Notes: Biyombo, Hornets, Hawks
The Raptors‘ signing of Bismack Biyombo for two years and $6MM appears to be a steal so far because of the center’s defense and how vocal he is on the court, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes. While the Raptors have several capable scorers, Biyombo fills the role of setting screens and grabbing offensive rebounds, which should help the team a great deal, Wolstat adds. Biyombo, as Wolstat points out, is also only 23.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Veteran Damien Wilkins, undrafted rookie Aaron Harrison and third-year player Elliot Williams appear to be the candidates for the Hornets‘ final roster spot, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer details. Wilkins, Bonnell contends, has the best chance to play among the three because of his experience at small forward. The Hornets are thin at the position after Michael Kidd-Gilchrist‘s season-ending injury, as Bonnell points out. Williams likely has the smallest chance because the Hornets are deep at point guard, Bonnell adds.
- Though he was mentored by Gregg Popovich, Mike Budenholzer, who is entering his third season as head coach of the Hawks, has put his own mark on the franchise and its style of play, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. While the Hawks use a system similar to the Spurs, Budenholzer has crafted it to fit his personnel, Vivlamore adds.
- Dahntay Jones, a native of New Jersey, said he always wanted to be on the Nets, but Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes that it’s going to require a surprising move for the team to keep the 34-year-old. That’s because the franchise has made an effort to get younger and there likely just is not a spot for Jones, Bontemps adds. The Nets, as Bontemps includes in his piece, have 13 guaranteed contracts and will likely use one of the two remaining spots on a point guard. The Nets signed Jones to a non-guaranteed deal in September.
Heat Rumors: Deng, Roster, Richardson, Bosh
Luol Deng is convinced that he made the correct move last summer by choosing Miami over Atlanta in free agency, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Deng remains happy with his choice of the Heat, even without considering the alleged race-related comments by former Hawks GM Danny Ferry that led to him taking a buyout deal. Deng could have pursued free agency again this year, but chose to opt in for $10.15MM. “I know I made the right decision,” Deng said of coming to the Heat. “What happened last year was a lot of injuries and ups and downs. I’m happy where I’m at. I love the organization. I love my teammates and I love Miami.”
There’s more Heat-related news this morning:
- Several players who spent time on Miami’s roster last year won’t be in the league this season, Winderman notes in the same story. Henry Walker, Shannon Brown and Shawne Williams failed to sign training camp deals, while Justin Hamilton is playing in Spain, Andre Dawkins is in Italy and Michael Beasley is in China. Walker signed with the new Amerileague, becoming the league’s first player who saw regular season NBA action last year. In addition, Danny Granger got permission from the Pistons to stay in Arizona and rehab his knee, and could be released. Walker signed
- Josh Richardson is too talented for the Heat to give him extended stays in the D-League, Winderman contends in a separate story. In his “Ask Ira” column, Winderman says Richardson should push Tyler Johnson for playing time, although it appears Miami is giving Johnson the first crack at being the third-string point guard behind Goran Dragic and Mario Chalmers. As the columnist notes, Richardson’s contract is fully guaranteed, while Johnson only carries a partial guarantee.
- Chris Bosh understands that he will be judged by the numbers he puts up, even if the balanced Heat lineup isn’t conducive to big numbers, Winderman writes in another story. After receiving a five-year max contract to stay in Miami in the summer of 2014, Bosh had his season cut short by blood clots in his lungs, playing in just 44 games. “I knew what that meant when I signed my name on the dotted line,” Bosh said. “It’s always everybody’s dream, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m going to be the team’s highest-paid player.’ And then, do it, and you expect things that aren’t realistic.”
Southwest Notes: Jenkins, Splitter, Pelicans
John Jenkins is the leading scorer for the Mavericks in the preseason so far, and while that’s in large measure because of the absence of some of the team’s key figures, he’s making a strong impression, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News details. Jenkins, who left the Hawks in free agency this summer three years after Atlanta picked him 23rd overall, just wishes he could have shown off his game sooner, Sefko relays.
“I put in the work for three years and felt I earned a chance in Atlanta,” Jenkins said. “But I didn’t get it. A lot of guys just need an opportunity. I wasn’t a first-round pick for nothing.”
Jenkins is one of 15 Mavs with a fully guaranteed salary for this season, so his place on the roster seems relatively secure, Sefko posits, even though four Dallas players have partial guarantees. See more from around the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs were tense in between the time they agreed to trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks for virtually nothing aside from the cap space necessary to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and the moment Aldridge agreed to sign with San Antonio, writes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News. “We didn’t know what the outcome would be,” coach/president Gregg Popovich said. “But we knew if we wanted to change the team and add talent, it’s something we had to do.”
- The partial guarantee on Bo McCalebb‘s contract with the Pelicans is worth $50K, but it won’t kick in unless he sticks through October 27th, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). McCalebb is on a two-year, minimum-salary deal, Pincus also notes.
- Jerome Jordan‘s deal with the Pelicans is a non-guaranteed arrangement for one year at the minimum, and the same is true of the pact between Mirza Begić and the team, which New Orleans abruptly waived earlier today, as Pincus also shows on his Basketball Insiders salary page.
Southeast Notes: Splitter, Hardaway, Richardson
Tiago Splitter knew that the Spurs were planning a major play in free agency and says he expected that he would be traded this past summer, observes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Sure enough, the Spurs sent him to the Hawks, and Splitter admits that leaving San Antonio was difficult to accept at first, as McDonald relays. Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich struggled with the decision but is optimistic it’ll work out for all involved, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It was very difficult,” Popovich said. “When someone is with you for a while you get close to the family. That’s the business side of the situation that shows its ugly head once in a while. If we wanted to add the talent that we added, you had to do something. You can’t pay everybody. Tiago being here in Atlanta is a perfect fit for both parties.”
The center says he’s since warmed to Atlanta, according to McDonald. See more on another player the Hawks brought in via trade this summer and other items from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks traded for Tim Hardaway Jr. because he offers a combination of upside and experience and because they needed a backup shooting guard behind Kyle Korver, Vivlamore writes in a separate piece. He’s following Korver’s lead as he adjusts to Atlanta’s offense, which is quite different from the triangle he played in last season with the Knicks, as Vivlamore details.
- Justise Winslow isn’t the only Heat 2015 draftee making a strong impression in camp, as second-rounder Josh Richardson is showing his scoring touch and meshing with Justise Winslow, observes Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. The Heat were shocked when Richardson, whom they pegged as the 24th-best prospect in the draft, slipped to No. 40, Lieser notes. “He’s a very competitive two-way player and you just don’t see those types of guys that often that really want to take on the challenge defensively,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Richardson. “He’ll guard multiple positions and stick his nose in their for loose balls. And offensively, he’s got nice poise.”
- Paul Pierce left a leadership void in Washington when he opted out of his Wizards contract and signed with the Clippers, and while trade acquisition Jared Dudley believes he can fill it in one regard, he likes John Wall‘s leadership by example so far, as J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic details.
Eastern Notes: Sefolosha, Rose, Harrellson
While he was originally expected to be cleared to return to basketball activities this week, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is now going to miss the remainder of the preseason, and his availability for the regular season opener is also in doubt, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “They still want him to be a little bit careful just with the swelling, make sure his vision is back to where it was before he got hit, before they want him to get anything going on with his blood pressure spiking is how I understand it,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
“So he’s probably at least a week away from that happening, from where he’s able to get out and work up a sweat, and then hopefully it’s full go from there to where we can get him out into some contact drills, get him back out there running our offense, and hopefully get him ready to play,” Hoiberg continued. “So I think it’s still yet to be determined if we’re going to have him for the opener. But the good news is he’s progressing, he’s getting better. His vision is getting better, and hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- There was concern among Hawks officials who saw Thabo Sefolosha‘s X-rays regarding his basketball future after his incident involving the New York City police, for which he was recently cleared of any wrongdoing, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. The April scuffle left Sefolosha with a broken leg that prematurely ended his season and limited the Hawks in the playoffs, where Atlanta fell in the Eastern Conference Finals. Sefolosha, who is entering the second year of a three-year, $12MM contract, expects to be 100% recovered in time for the season.
- Josh Harrellson, who is signed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Wizards, believes his ticket to a regular season NBA roster spot is his ability to make three-pointers from the power forward position, J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic.com writes. The 26-year-old credits former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni for helping him develop that part of his game, Michael adds. “I shot a lot of threes in my rookie year with D’Antoni because that’s how he played,” said Harrellson. “He spaced the floor with one big so he was the first coach to start playing that style. I thrived in that offense. How the NBA is going I think I can start thriving again.“
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 10/12/15
Every season seems to have at least one team that exceeds all expectations and challenges for the top spot in its conference. Last season, we saw that occur in both conferences.
The Warriors were considered a team on the upswing entering last season but there were still serious doubts about their ability to contend. They had a first-year head coach, Steve Kerr, who had no previous experience running an NBA club. The core of the team was young and talented but had yet to make a deep playoff run. Everyone knew their backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson could shoot but would a perimeter-oriented team thrive throughout an 82-game schedule? Could Andrew Bogut stay healthy for most of the season and carry their interior defense? And just how much more could Draymond Green, a second-round pick, expand his game?
The Warriors answered all the questions with an exclamation point and carried that success over to the postseason during their dream season.
Don’t forget that a similar story unfolded in the Eastern Conference. While the Hawks had a disappointing playoff run, they enjoyed a regular-season run that nearly matched the Warriors’ dominance. The Hawks won 60 games, seven more than the much-heralded Cavaliers.
What made it even more impressive was that the Hawks did it with a core group that even today, most casual fans would have trouble naming. Who considered DeMarre Carroll to be one of the better small forwards in the league prior to last season? How many people thought Jeff Teague and aging gunner Kyle Korver would form one of the league’s most potent backcourt duos? Who thought center Al Horford could make it through a season without another significant injury?
Atlanta’s sudden rise was an eye opener. But that was last year. Somewhere out on the NBA landscape, another team without much hype is about to make a charge toward the top spot.
That brings us to today’s question: Which team will be the league’s biggest surprise and emerge as a contender this season?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Also, be sure to check back later on, as we’ll be responding to readers throughout the evening. We look forward to what you have to say!