Texas Notes: Butler, Capela, Walker, Doncic
The Rockets haven’t given up hope on trading for Jimmy Butler, but they’re planning for the season with their current roster, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Houston has been among the most persistent suitors for Butler, but hasn’t come close to meeting the Timberwolves’ asking price, which reportedly remains very high.
The Rockets’ front office is skeptical that Minnesota is serious about dealing away Butler, Amick adds. There is a belief that Wolves coach/executive Tom Thibodeau still hopes Butler can be convinced to stay despite his public trade request and the ongoing tension in the locker room. This comes on the heels of a similar report out of Los Angeles that the Clippers have tried to make a deal and objections from Miami about Minnesota’s asking price.
There’s more NBA news from the Lone Star State:
- His teammates are now calling him “Swiss Bank,” but Rockets center Clint Capela insists he won’t be changed by the five-year, $80MM contract he signed this summer, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. A restricted free agent, Capela was hoping to receive a maximum or near-max offer sheet. Although that never came and negotiations dragged on for nearly a month, he wound up with a sizable deal to stay in Houston. “The money is not weighing him down, I can tell you that,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s been great. I think he looks about how he looked halfway through the year.”
- The torn meniscus that is expected to keep Spurs rookie Lonnie Walker out for six to eight weeks is the second one of his career, notes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express News. He suffered the same injury last July before his freshman season at Miami and was ready for the opening game in November. Walker will have knee surgery Monday and a more exact timetable will be set for his return.
- Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic has drawn rave reviews during the preseason, but he needs to cut down on turnovers, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Doncic has given the ball up eight times in 60 minutes of action, with four of those coming on traveling calls. “The behind the back [passes] and all that is good when it goes well,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He threw one of them to somebody over in the second row one time. We’ve got to correct that. He’s adapting to the different ways they call traveling in the NBA. In Europe, they had a different interpretation of it.”
Heat Official: Price Too High For Butler
Jimmy Butler trade talks between Miami and Minnesota have fallen apart again, and an unidentified Heat official tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that the Timberwolves are asking way too much in return.
The source says the Wolves have unreasonable expectations and joked that they want “the first born of all our kids.” He added that a deal could still be completed if Minnesota eases up on some of its demands.
Jackson hears that the Wolves are seeking several of Miami’s most valuable assets, a list that includes Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Kelly Olynyk, Justise Winslow and the Heat’s No. 1 pick for 2019. Miami refused to make Richardson available at first, but has changed its mind, a source tells Jackson.
The Heat would like to find takers for Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson, but Waiters’ injury history and the huge contracts for Whiteside and Johnson make them difficult to move. The Timberwolves apparently don’t have any interest in those players, but may be willing to take on some salary for the chance to unload backup center Gorgui Dieng, who is owed more than $48MM over the next three seasons.
The Heat have offered Dragic to Minnesota, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Adrian Wojnarowski, his ESPN colleague, has said Minnesota is willing to accept some protections on Miami’s 2019 first-rounder.
The Heat have been the most aggressive team in trying to acquire Butler since he issued a trade request last month. They are also reportedly Butler’s preferred destination, although the list he gave to Wolves management included the Knicks, Nets and Clippers.
Jackson also relays a tweet from ESPN’s Stefano Fusaro, who claims Butler’s level of frustration with Minnesota’s front office has reached “an all-time high.” Many teams who were once interested in Butler have become skeptical that the Wolves really want to get a deal done.
Heat-Wolves Trade Talks Collapse Again
11:28am: The Heat have been willing to include Josh Richardson in potential deals with the Wolves, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, he adds that Minnesota doesn’t appear to be close to a trade involving the All-Star forward.
10:22am: The Heat and Timberwolves were close to a Jimmy Butler trade this weekend, but negotiations have “fractured,” tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Owners from both teams were involved in trade talks and reached an agreement they were prepared to finalize, but the deal fell apart when Minnesota asked for more, sources tell Wojnarowski. The Wolves shared Butler’s medical records with the Heat, including the condition of his right wrist following offseason surgery.
Wojnarowski doesn’t provide any details about what other players or draft picks would have been included in the proposed deal.
The Wolves haven’t gained traction with any other organization since Butler made his trade request last month, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). Nearly all the teams that originally expressed interest have backed off because of Minnesota’s asking price and a belief around that league that Butler will wind up in Miami.
Coach/executive Tom Thibodeau is reportedly hoping to patch things up with Butler and keep him on the team, but owner Glen Taylor hasn’t changed his orders to the front office to work out a trade, according to Wojnarowski.
Butler hasn’t practiced with the team since training camp opened. Although he hasn’t wavered in his desire to be traded, there are reports that he won’t sit out regular season games if his wrist has recovered enough for him to play.
Heat Sign Charles Cooke, DeAndre Liggins
The Heat have signed guards Charles Cooke and DeAndre Liggins and waived Marcus Lee and Malik Newman, the team announced on Twitter.
Lee and Newman are both expected to wind up with Miami’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat already have 14 players with guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible that Cooke and Liggins will eventually be joining them.
Cooke was a two-way player with the Pelicans last season and got into 13 NBA games, playing less than 3 minutes per night. He became a free agent when New Orleans elected not to make him a qualifying offer.
Liggins has bounced around the league since 2011, seeing brief stays with seven franchises, including one game with the Heat in 2013/14. He split last season between the Bucks and Pelicans and was waived by New Orleans at the end of August.
Knicks Waive Paul Watson
The Knicks once again opened a spot on their training camp roster by waiving a player who appears destined for their G League team, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. This time it’s Paul Watson, a shooting guard from Fresno State who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the team Friday.
Watson follows Tyrius Walker, John Jenkins and Billy Garrett, who have all been signed and quickly waived in the past week.
Watson played for New York’s Westchester affiliate last season, so the Knicks already owned his returning G League rights. However, the Exhibit 10 clause gives him the chance for a $50K bonus if he spends at least two months in Westchester this season. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 45 games last year.
Pacific Notes: Ball, James, Canaan, Marjanovic
Lonzo Ball is expected to make his preseason debut Wednesday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, which will also mark his first time on the court with LeBron James as a teammate. The Lakers have been careful with Ball as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, even as they have raved about his progress. Ball and James were both held out of tonight’s contest against the Clippers, but coach Luke Walton plans to use them in the next game against the Warriors.
“That’s one of the things I still need to see that we haven’t had is what lineups look like when both of those guys are playing,” Walton said. “I’m excited and hopeful, but again, we’re going to take it day by day. If any setbacks or whatnot, then we won’t rush it, again. But I would expect Wednesday that happens.”
Ball has received medical clearance to play and participated in full-court, four-on-four matchups with contact this week. The Lakers have been resting James, playing him about 15 minutes in the first half of each of their first three games.
There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns‘ inexperience at point guard has been on display through the preseason, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. With no established veterans at the position, coach Igor Kokoskov has been using a committee approach, giving playing time to Shaquille Harrison, Isaiah Canaan and rookies Elie Okobo and De’Anthony Melton. The results have been ugly as Phoenix is averaging more than 20 turnovers per game and had power forward Ryan Anderson handling the ball for part of Friday’s contest.
- Canaan was on the court Friday for the first time since fracturing his ankle in January, writes Cody Cunningham of NBA.com. Canaan, who had 11 points for the Suns in 32 minutes and drilled three 3-pointers, was grateful to be back in action. “I could barely sleep last night just knowing that I would have the chance to play again,” he said. “It just means a lot to me personally and I just give a lot of credit to this organization and to this training staff for doing an unbelievable job getting me, not only back on my feet, but also competing at a high level.”
- It shouldn’t be hard for Boban Marjanovic to increase his playing time with the Clippers this season, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Marjanovic averaged 8.3 minutes in 20 games after coming to L.A. in a January trade, but coach Doc Rivers said all he has to do for more court time is “Just keep being big.”
Northwest Notes: Roberson, Ingles, Timberwolves
With Andre Roberson now out until at least December, the Thunder won’t rush into the free agency market to find a replacement, according to Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Coach Billy Donovan plans to give closer evaluation to players who have either been injured or haven’t been used in prominent roles during training camp, such as Abdel Nader, Alex Abrines and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
“That’s something [general manager] Sam [Presti] and I will probably talk about together with [assistant GM] Troy [Weaver], the three of us would,” Donovan said, “but right now having the number of players that we have on the roster for training camp, there’s enough.”
Oklahoma City has 14 players with guaranteed contracts, so a roster spot is available if the team opts for the free agent route. The Thunder are well over the luxury tax line with a team salary in excess of $145MM, but they cut their tax bill by about $20MM by waiving and stretching Kyle Singler. OKC has its entire $5.6MM taxpayer mid-level exception available.
There’s more tonight from the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t willing to brush aside his team’s slow starts as a product of the preseason, relays Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Minnesota’s first unit fell behind 34-22 in Wednesday’s game against the Clippers and 31-20 after one quarter Friday against the Thunder. “You can fall into a trap thinking it’s preseason, we’ll get it, we’ll get it,” Thibodeau said. “That fact of the matter is, we open in 12 days. So the urgency has to be there.” Part of the problem, of course, is that the Wolves are missing a key member of their starting five as Jimmy Butler has remained in limbo since issuing his trade request.
- Jazz forward Joe Ingles believes he’s among the league’s best shooters, relays Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. He has the statistics to back up that statement, shooting 44% from 3-point range over the past two seasons. “The numbers I’ve shot, the percentages, they obviously are what they are and people are going to dissect everything,” Ingles said, “but, I honestly feel like they’re all going to go in when I shoot the ball.”
- The Timberwolves have announced a few promotions, naming Todd Checovich as scout/GM for the G League Iowa Wolves, Nick Restifo as senior basketball operations analyst and Troy Sutton as head strength and conditioning coach.
Billy Garrett Signs With Knicks
2:26pm: The Knicks have officially signed Garrett, the team announced today (via Twitter).
8:44am: The Knicks will sign former DePaul guard Billy Garrett to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.
Garrett was part of New York’s summer league team this year and played for the organization’s G League affiliate in Westchester last season. He appeared in 50 G League games, posting an 11.9/2.7/2.5 line.
The Knicks have made a series of roster moves this week to secure the rights of players for Westchester, waiving Tyrius Walker, signing and waiving Phillip Carr and signing John Jenkins. They are currently at the 20-man roster limit and will have to waive somebody before adding Garrett.
The Knicks also have a reported deal with Jeff Coby, so another opening will have to be created before his signing becomes official.
Southwest Notes: Chriss, Okafor, Grizzlies, Mavs
The Rockets hope Marquese Chriss will develop into the type of backup center they thought they acquired when they signed Brandan Wright late last season, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Wright got hurt quickly and only played one game for Houston, but the team sees Chriss as the same style of player, a mobile big man who can attack the rim on pick-and-rolls.
Chriss was acquired from the Suns at the end of August in the trade that sent Ryan Anderson to Phoenix. The former eighth overall pick had a solid debut for the Rockets on Tuesday with 11 points and four rebounds and welcomes a more defined role.
“The difference is they know what they want me to do,” Chriss said of the Rockets. “They’re asking me to do a specific job. I’m trying to do it to the best of my ability. There really is no question about what they want my role to be. They made it straightforward to me when I first got traded here. I embraced it, and I’m working to do it as best as I can. Being on the Suns, it was kind of touch and go what we were capable of doing or I was able to show.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Jahlil Okafor‘s ankle injury won’t prevent him from making the Pelicans‘ roster, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Okafor is expected to miss a week or two after spraining his right ankle late in Sunday’s game, but coach Alvin Gentry said that won’t affect his decision on Okafor’s status.
- The Grizzlies should have plenty of minutes for both rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. and JaMychal Green, the returning starter at power forward, writes Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian. Jackson attracted more attention at media day, but Green is entering the final year of his contract at nearly $7.7MM and has incentive to put up big numbers heading into free agency.
- Mavericks‘ forward Ding Yanyuhang hasn’t practiced yet because of knee tendinitis, but may be able to make his preseason debut in his home nation of China, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Coach Rick Carlisle said Ding has been ruled out for the team’s game in Shanghai, but he may practice and play in Shenzhen. Carlisle also said the next update on Dirk Nowitzki‘s condition will come October 12 (Twitter link).
Knicks Notes: Lee, Trier, Robinson, Ntilikina
An injury is hampering Courtney Lee’s efforts to earn a spot in the Knicks’ rotation, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Lee sat out his second straight preseason game Wednesday while recovering from a neck strain he suffered while being fouled on a layup last week in training camp.
“I’m losing my conditioning — I was in top shape,’’ Lee said. “With the conditioning drill and how we are playing fast, I was in elite shape. That’s the main thing I’m missing now is my wind. All the things they are putting in with plays and sets I’m picking up. It’s about building the chemistry that I’m missing right now.’’
Lee, who calls it “a little whiplash,” is receiving treatment and hopes to return soon. However, he’s falling behind in the competition for playing time as new coach David Fizdale has declared an open competition at all positions. The Knicks explored trade offers for the 33-year-old Lee this summer, and he doesn’t seem to be in their long-range plans.
There’s more today out of New York:
- Rookie Allonzo Trier put on a show with 20 points in the first half of Wednesday’s game, Berman adds in a separate story. Trier finished with 25 points in 26 minutes, causing Fizdale to say afterward that he’s “got a chance” to make the 15-man roster. Trier signed a two-way contract with the Knicks in July after being passed over in the draft. New York probably would have taken him with the 36th pick if Mitchell Robinson hadn’t been available, according to Berman.
- Fizdale is defending Robinson after a clash with Markieff Morris that resulted in the Wizards’ forward being ejected, Berman writes in another piece. Morris made derogatory remarks about Robinson after the game, but Fizdale liked the way his rookie center handled the situation. “I’m always going to protect my guy,” he said. “… I like the fact he didn’t back down. But I felt like he was the one who kept his composure — the one who showed the maturity.”
- The Knicks are still searching for the best role for second-year guard Frank Ntilikina, notes Steve Popper of Newsday. He has been used off the bench in three-guard lineups in each of the first two preseason games and has been assigned to guard small forwards. Trey Burke, who was picked up from the G League last year and has an expiring contract, has been getting the starting nod at point guard.