Eastern Notes: Noel, Maxiell, Bird
Jason Maxiell hasn’t played in the Magic’s last nine games and has only one appearance since January 29th, but he’s trying to maintain a positive outlook, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Maxiell stated, “I’m respecting that this is a year for the young guys to develop and improve for next year. With the coaching staff and [general manager] Rob [Hennigan] and [assistant general manager] Scott Perry, I think more of the bigger picture is moving forward for next year and having a mixture of experienced young guys mixed in with some vets.” Robbins mentions that the lack of playing time could hurt Maxiell in the long run because of his contract. He signed a free-agent contract with the Magic during the offseason, and his salary of $2.5MM for next year is non-guaranteed and he won’t be owed anything if the team waives him before mid-July.
More from the east:
- On Sunday the Sixers’ Nerlens Noel tweeted “4-4-14”, which hinted at a possible NBA debut date for the injured player. Marc Narducci and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer discuss the likelihood of seeing the big man on the court this season.
- On Thursday night, Zaza Pachulia will return to Atlanta for the first time since signing with the Bucks this summer. The former Hawks fan-favorite sat down with Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to answer some questions about his thoughts on his change of teams and what the future holds for him.
- Larry Bird might be in charge of the Pacers, but the Celtics will always be a part of him. He still pays close attention to his former franchise and has quite a few complimentary things to say about GM Danny Ainge and point guard Rajon Rondo, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
- Speaking of the Celtics, team owner Wyc Grousbeck joked that he wants Andrew Wiggins in this years draft, tweets Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News. This was said in response to commissioner Adam Silver noting there were already two Canadians on the Celtics roster. Wiggins is projected as a top-3 lottery pick in this year’s draft and the Celtics currently rank sixth in Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings.
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Pacers, Hawks
With the Pacers going through a bit of a rough patch, team president Larry Bird expressed his frustration with the team’s players and coach Frank Vogel to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. “I’m sort of going to Frank’s side because he’s had so much success by staying positive,” Bird said. “We do have to stay the course. But I also think he’s got to start going after guys when they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do. And stay on them, whether you’ve got to take them out of the game when they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do or limit their minutes. I will say, he hasn’t done that enough.”
More from around the east:
- Bulls management doesn’t regret its deal with Carlos Boozer, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reveals as he answers reader questions in his mailbag column.
- Joakim Noah believes that the Bulls season was saved when D.J. Augustin was acquired in December, but Augustin believes that deal saved his career, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He cited coach Tom Thibodeau and a locker-room culture that he had never experienced in his five previous NBA seasons as the reason for his turnaround.
- The Hawks were looking like a playoff lock in the weak Eastern Conference until Al Horford‘s season-ending injury. Now, even if the team maintains its hold on the eighth seed they aren’t realistic title contenders, which leaves GM Danny Ferry in a player evaluation mode to see who is in their long-term plans. Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders analyzes the roster and gives his thoughts on each player’s future with the team.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Kobe, Lakers, Woodson
The Lakers are expected to officially declare Kobe Bryant out for the rest of the 2013/14 season, as per Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. The 35-year-old guard is still dealing with discomfort after fracturing the tibial plateau in his left knee back in December. Ding adds that while the superstar guard has expressed hope in the team significantly re-tooling this summer via free agency, all signs point to the front office planning accordingly to have cap flexibility for the summer of 2015.
You can find more of tonight’s noteworthy links below:
- With Kobe, Steve Nash, and Robert Sacre presently listed as the only guaranteed contracts for next season, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times looks at the rest of the current roster to determine who has the best chance of sticking around after this year.
- Mike Woodson‘s reported mistrust of Steve Mills partially stems from the Knicks executive’s presence in coaches meetings, practices, and road trips for large chunks of the season, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. According to Kyler, Woodson’s camp viewed it as meddling in the process and casting doubt on the coach’s job from the start.
- Marco Belinelli doesn’t hold a grudge against the Bulls for declining to make him an offer this past summer, but his first choice would have been to re-sign with the Bulls, in spite of Tom Thibodeau’s efforts to convince the team to do so. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News has the details, noting that when Gregg Popovich called Thibodeau for a recommendation, Thibs gave the shooting guard an endorsement.
- Paul Millsap says he didn’t go “kicking and screaming” from the Jazz when they parted ways over the summer, adding that he respected the team’s decision not to pursue re-signing him, as Brad Rock of the Deseret News observes.
- J.J. Hickson has hired Muhammad Abdur-Rahim and Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management as his new agents, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). They replace Andy Miller of ASM Sports, whom the Nuggets big man jettisoned earlier this season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Grizzlies, Hawks, Jazz Interested In Joe Ingles
The Grizzlies, Hawks and Jazz are interested in point forward Joe Ingles, who is considering exercising an NBA escape clause in his deal with an Israeli team this summer, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (All Twitter links). The 6’8″ 26-year-old rejected a two-year offer from Memphis last summer, Pick tweets. The Pacers, Bucks and Clippers also reportedly had interest at that time.
“I’m definitely thinking about the NBA,” Ingles told Pick (Twitter link). “Every year I don’t go, it closes the door a little more.”
The native of Australia added that he’s not yet ready to shift his focus from helping Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague, as Pick also tweets. Despite all the intrigue from NBA clubs, his numbers in Israel aren’t eye-popping. He’s averaging 8.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game this year, though he is shooting 39.1% from three-point range. He put up similar stats in his previous two seasons playing in the Spanish ACB league.
He went undrafted in 2009, so he’s free to sign with any NBA team once his escape clause kicks in at season’s end.
And-Ones: Bosh, Korver, Jones, Lakers
The NBA is always in flux, and Hoops Rumors isn’t afraid of change, either. Our roundups of news from around the league have been called Odds & Ends since our inception, but from now on, you’ll see the name “And-Ones” attached to these posts. It falls in line with “Quick Hits” on MLB Trade Rumors and “Extra Points” on Pro Football Rumors, our sister sites. While the name may have changed, our commitment to bringing you news from around the NBA hasn’t. Here’s our latest glance at the Association:
- Chris Bosh, who turns 30 later this month, says he’ll play until he’s 36, observes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Bosh, who occupies the third spot in our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, could re-sign with the Heat this summer on a five-year deal that would leave him less than a year shy of his 36th birthday, though he has plenty of time to change his retirement plans.
- Kyle Korver‘s NBA record streak of 127 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer ended Wednesday, but the accomplishment highlights the wisdom of his decision to re-sign with the Hawks last year, opines Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
- Former Cavs power forward Kevin Jones is leaving Cleveland’s D-League affiliate to sign a deal with the San Miguel Beerman of the Philippines that covers the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Jones played 32 games in the NBA with the Cavs last season, but he wasn’t with any NBA club for training camp.
- The Lakers have just three players on guaranteed contracts for next season, plus Nick Young, who has a player option. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News examines the upsides and drawbacks of having so many others in their walk years.
Eastern Rumors: Jackson, Riley, Muscala
The Eastern Conference’s glut of struggling teams means the worst clubs in the Western Conference have an advantage as they jockey for lottery position, explains Tom Ziller of SB Nation. East teams don’t have to play as many heavies as their Western Conference counterparts do, leading to more wins and fewer ping-pong balls. That helps perpetuate the East’s mediocrity year after year, Ziller writes. Here’s more from the NBA’s weaker side:
- Phil Jackson tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he remains an “unpaid adviser” to Pistons owner Tom Gores. Jackson, who reiterates that he doesn’t want to coach again, helped the team with its search for former coach Maurice Cheeks, who was fired a couple of weeks ago.
- Another championship coach is feeling no urge to get back to the sidelines, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel observes. “I’m six years out of coaching right now,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “Look at me, man, I’m full of vitality to have some fun. Six years ago, when I was coaching, I would wake up 5:00 a.m. and it was dark and I was depressed. Not anymore.”
- The contract that Mike Muscala signed with the Hawks last week is a four-year pact for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals. This year is fully guaranteed and next season is partially guaranteed for $408K, but the deal otherwise contains no guaranteed salary, Pincus tweets. There’s a team option on the final year.
- Gerald Wallace expressed his displeasure with winding up on a rebuilding Celtics team when the Nets traded him to Boston this summer, but the veteran says he enjoyed his first year in green, as he tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. “I just hope the fans didn’t take offense to me saying I didn’t want to be here as me not wanting to be a part of the organization,” said Wallace, who’s out for the season with a knee injury. “My main thing was the rebuilding process, I didn’t want to go through a whole rebuilding process where you have to start all over 13 years into my career.”
Odds & Ends: Hawks, Raptors, Buyouts
The Hawks are close to adding five investors to their ownership group, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The NBA’s approval process for the addition is underway, and should complete in mid-March. Here’s more from around the league:
- Sources tell Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun that the Raptors are not planning to add any bought out players to the team (Twitter link). This falls in line with earlier reports of Toronto’s lukewarm interest in the buyout market.
- Tim Bontemps of The New York Post takes a look at which buyout players will work out the best for their new team between Glen Davis, Danny Granger, Caron Butler, Jimmer Fredette, and Beno Udrih.
- The Rockets attempted to sign Kostas Papanikolaou mid-season this year, according to Rigas Dardalis of EuroHoops.net. Houston owns the rights of the power forward currently playing in Spain, and will reportedly try to sign him again next summer.
Eastern Notes: Muscala, Jennings, Raptors
Updating an earlier note, former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo reveals that the 2011/12 season is when he tried to tank the team’s performance for a better draft pick, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. Colangelo says the losing mentality was limited to the roster’s assembly. “I didn’t ‘come out and say, ‘Coach (Dwane Casey), you’ve got to lose games.’ I never said that. I wanted to have him establish a winning tradition and a culture and all of that, but I wanted to do it in the framework of playing and developing young players, and with that comes losing.” Here’s more from the Eastern Conference, home to a few teams suspected of tanking this year:
- Dwane Casey is still the Raptors coach, and declined to comment on the tanking season in retrospect, per Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun (via Twitter).
- Mike Muscala spoke with Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constituation about joining the Hawks earlier than expected. “I was surprised. I was playing in Spain and my agent called me and told me about it last week. My whole thought process was to play the entire year (in Spain) so it was definitely a surprise.” Muscala said he is pushing through nerves, uncertainty, and inexperience in an NBA system to gain the most from the final stretch of the season. “I’m not sure in terms of a role but what I should be focusing on is putting more pressure on the rim offensively and defensively, getting rebounds offensively and defensively, playing with the skill I have in the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situation.”
- Brandon Jennings doesn’t think fired Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks received a fair shot before Detroit let him go, he tells David Mayo of MLive.com. “You give a coach a half-a-season, with new faces and new chemistry, that’s not enough time, I don’t think. I felt like he was basically in a losing situation.” Jennings is frustrated with Detroit’s struggles this season, after an offseason that was meant to turn them into a playoff team. “It’ll be very disappointing and kind of embarrassing, the fact that with myself coming over here, and Josh coming over here, and us making these moves, and we don’t get it done–it’s going to be real disappointing.”
- Jennings also told Mayo he doesn’t know whether the rumors of Chauncey Billups and Josh Smith playing a part in Cheeks’ firing are true.
Gustavo Ayon Done For Season
Center Gustavo Ayon had surgery today on his right shoulder and he’ll miss the rest of the season, the Hawks announced. The news is a blow to a team that’s perilously thin on the front line as it fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are already without Al Horford for the rest of the season, and they’re missing Paul Millsap and Pero Antic, who are out with short-term injuries.
Atlanta recently signed bought center Mike Muscala out of his Spanish league contract and signed the 2013 second-round pick Thursday to shore up the team’s inside presence. The team has lost 10 out of 11 games to fall from third place to eighth in the East. The Hawks hold a lead of three and a half games on the Pistons for the final playoff spot, and they’ve been using DeMarre Carroll as a small-ball power forward in the starting lineup, with Elton Brand at center.
The Hawks still have a $5.15MM trade exception for Horford they could use to add a player between now and March 10th. It seems unlikely they’ll use the exception unless an intriguing big man comes available on the buyout market, since most free agents at this point would command no more than the minimum salary.
Ayon has been out since February 18th, when he injured the shoulder against the Pacers. He’s making $1.5MM this season in the final year of a three-year contract, and he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer if the Hawks make a qualifying offer worth $1.875MM.
Eastern Notes: Sixers, Anthony, Johnson
The Sixers wound up with only a second-round pick in return for Evan Turner, thanks to their buyout deal with Danny Granger, but a team offered GM Sam Hinkie a first-rounder for Turner at last year’s draft, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). With Granger now waived, the team came away with a significantly lower return for Turner at the trade deadline.
More from the east:
- Carmelo Anthony says whether or not the Knicks make the playoffs this year won’t be among a litany of on-court and off-court factors that will play into his contract decision this summer, as Mark Berman of the New York Post examines.
- The Hawks and Antawn Jamison had mutual interest in a parting of ways when the team waived him shortly after the trade deadline last week, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders writes.
- The multiyear contract that Chris Johnson signed with the Celtics was originally reported as a three-year deal, but it’s actually a four-year arrangement that runs through 2016/17. Only this season is guaranteed (Twitter link).
- Mark Montieth of Pacers.com, in his mailbag column, casts the likelihood of Orlando Johnson returning to the Pacers this summer as greater than the odds of Indiana reuniting with Danny Granger.
- The Bucks are eyeing D-Leaguers and the overseas market for someone who can fill Caron Butler’s roster spot on a 10-day contract, tweeted Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.