Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Knicks, Horford
It doesn’t make sense for the Sixers to bring Joel Embiid back before the end of the season, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The big man has been sidelined for 17 of the past 18 games with a bone bruise and has also suffered a slightly torn meniscus.
At this point all the Sixers will say is that their rookie is out “indefinitely,” an escalation, we suppose, from the “day-to-day” label he’d been sitting under previously. For Embiid, however, the club should just come out and say that he’ll rest for the remainder of the season.
“It would be great for us as a unit to have him out there as we continue to strive forward toward winning as the season concludes,” general manager Bryan Colangelo said. “But at the end of the day, the health and performance of our athletes is first and foremost, we don’t want to jeopardize the long-term health.”
In the games that he did see this season, Embiid impressed, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest. He was named the Eastern Conference rookie of the month in the first three months of the season and even won Eastern Conference players of the week once in January.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks have elected to bring back the triangle offense, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. The club will use the remaining months of the season to determine which players best fit the system. Head coach Jeff Hornacek tells Ian Begley of ESPN that it will be a part of this summer’s player evaluations, too.
- It’s clear that the Celtics believe they need two major pieces in order to compete for a title, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. That explains, he says, why the team didn’t jump on opportunities to nab Paul George or Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline.
- The Raptors‘ defense has been rebranded, writes Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun, and players have already taken notice. “I just know that the defence behind me is strong,” says guard Cory Joseph. “When the pick and roll comes I’m going to get the early calls and will understand exactly what to do. It just allows me to do what I need to do, executing the task at hand and play more aggressively.” The Raps, of course, added Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker prior to last week’s trade deadline.
- Summer acquisition Al Horford hasn’t been utilized as well as he could be, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. The big man is too often left on the perimeter while the Celtics shoot threes. Washburn writes that head coach Brad Stevens ought to devise better ways to get the center involved now that the trade deadline is in the rearview mirror.
Deveney’s Latest: Griffin, CP3, Lowry, Wade
The Clippers delayed the inevitable, opting not to address their cap room situation at the trade deadline and instead leaving it to the summer. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes that head coach Doc Rivers and president of basketball operations would have been wise to do something with either Jamal Crawford or Austin Rivers, who will be owed $26MM in 2017/18.
When the free agency period begins this summer, the Clippers will have the tough task of re-signing Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick. To do so comfortably, they would need to find a way to save money elsewhere. Paul, Deveney writes, could land a deal worth nearly $210MM over five years and isn’t likely to give the franchise a hometown discount.
Of note is that Deveney suggests that the Clippers may not automatically bring back Griffin on such a contract. He writes that if the team doesn’t make progress in the postseason this spring, they may be remiss to invest so much in their oft-injured big man.
Regardless of how the summer transactions play out for the Clippers, they could have been simplified had Rivers opted to address the problem mid-season rather than electing to kick the can further down the road.
There’s more from Deveney:
- The Lakers, Sixers and Nuggets could all make a play for Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry this summer. The veteran playmaker will be due for a significant pay raise after establishing himself as an All-Star and a core component of a winning basketball club. Lowry considered the Lakers in 2014, Deveney writes, and could be partial to returning to his hometown of Philadelphia as well.
- Consider the Nuggets among the frontrunners to pursue Dwyane Wade aggressively should he opt out of the final year of his deal with the Bulls. Though Chicago has been winning recently, the season has been a frustrating one for the organization. Deveney also mentions the Bucks as a possible landing spot because Wade’s alma matter, Marquette, is in Milwaukee.
- The Mavericks have made it clear to newly acquired big man Nerlens Noel that they will meet any offer that the restricted free agent signs with other teams, Deveney says. The Mavs were able to get Noel relatively cheap from the Sixers and it appears they’re eager to factor him into their long-term plans.
- The Wizards are intent on keeping forward Otto Porter in Washington, Deveney writes, even as the suddenly hot 23-year-old commodity, gets pursued by other teams like the Suns and Nets, as expected. As the pool of suitors grows, Porter’s price tag could approach max territory.
Brandon Jennings, Wizards Reach Verbal Agreement
Though he won’t be able to officially sign until waivers clear on Wednesday, Brandon Jennings is on his way to Washington intent on signing with the Wizards. Chris Haynes of ESPN tweeted that the two parties have come to a verbal agreement, while Mike Wise of ESPN initially reported that such a deal was likely. It was Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical who wrote that the guard is already arranging travel plans to be in D.C. tomorrow.
Jennings and other recently bought out players Andrew Bogut and Jose Calderon won’t be able to sign with new clubs until they clear waivers at 5 PM EST on March 1, as ESPN’s Marc Stein reminds us. At that point, Jennings will be eligible to sign with the Wizards and be a part of their playoff run. Washington had previously been linked to Lakers guard Lou Williams but he was ultimately dealt to the Rockets just prior to the deadline. In Jennings, however, the Wiz gets their prolific reserve scorer at the point guard position.
The Wizards currently have a full 15-man roster, so they’ll need to waive a player to open up a roster spot before Jennings’ signing can become official. It also remains to be seen how much Jennings’ deal will be worth — most free agents signing new deals at this point ink minimum salary contracts, but Washington still has a prorated portion of its room exception available. A minimum salary pact would mean a salary worth about $325K for Jennings, while a deal with the room exception could be worth up to about $2MM.
In 58 games with the Knicks, Jennings averaged 8.6 points and 4.9 assists per game.
Central Notes: Pistons, Parker, Rondo
Rumors swirled around Pistons players as the NBA’s trade deadline approached but as Thursday came and went, the Detroit roster went unchanged. Stan Van Gundy spoke with Aaron McMann of MLive about the club’s lack of activity.
“Look, we’re not real happy with how we’ve played up to this point overall, but we still do have a young group,” Van Gundy said of the now 28-31 Pistons.. “And as much as you would like the progress to be steadily up hill, it’s not always. That doesn’t mean that you lose faith in your guys.”
The Pistons have struggled since starting guard Reggie Jackson returned to the lineup in early December, previously he had been recovering from a knee procedure and Ish Smith had stepped in to man the point. Over the course of the past month, Jackson’s name has been linked to the Timberwolves in a possible two- or three- team trade, potentially involving the Knicks.
“You don’t want to get that deal fever where you just want to make a deal so badly that you end up making a bad one,” he said. Considering that Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two names that came up as possible trade candidates at the deadline, are just 23 and 24 years old respectively, patience may still pay off.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Though 2014 second-overall pick Jabari Parker will miss the remainder of this season and part of next season recovering from a torn ACL, his second drastic injury in the past three seasons, the Bucks didn’t consider dealing him at the deadline, tweets Stephen Watson of WISN 12 News. “Absolutely not,” general manager John Hammond told Watson, when asked explicitly.
- It’s not clear whether the Bulls will embrace a rebuild or continue to push to win now and the continued presence of Rajon Rondo in the lineup embodies the organization’s indirection, Nick Friedell of ESPN writes.
- After a pair of 10-day contracts with the Hornets, former Pistons guard Ray McCallum – one of the last cut by the Pistons during training camp – is back in the D-League with Detroit’s affiliate in Grand Rapids. The point guard is averaging 17.8 points and 7.5 assists per game with the Drive so far this season.
Southeast Notes: Gordon, McGruder, Wizards
The trade that sent Serge Ibaka from the Magic to the Raptors opened an opportunity for 21-year-old forward Aaron Gordon to slide from the three to his natural position at the four, writes John Denton of the team’s official website. The third-year man is readjusting to the defensive responsibilities of the power forward position.
“I need to become a better shot-blocker because I missed plenty of opportunities where I could have at least altered shots,” the Magic big man said of his first game back at power forward on Thursday night. “I was unsure of the timing, when to go and my positioning on the court.”
Previously the Magic had been using Gordon as a perimeter defender charged with the task of checking the opposing team’s best scorer. “I’m used to not over-helping and over-committing because I’m usually guarding the best player on the floor,” Gordon said. “Now, that’s not the case and I have the leniency to go help and block shots.”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Undrafted rookie Rodney McGruder is making a name for himself as a scrappy, pest of a player, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel. The forward has played a substantial role on a Heat team that has done nothing but exceed expectations this season. “He’s always head first, nose first into everything,” teammate Wayne Ellington said. “He makes it hard for guys when he frustrates guys.“
- Backup center Willie Reed is day-to-day with ankle bursitis and didn’t travel with the team for Sunday’s matchup with the Mavs. With Reed out, the Heat will turn to veteran Udonis Haslem or an out-of-position James Johnson to handle duties at the five, says Winderman in a separate piece for the Sun-Sentinel.
- The Wizards have some adjustments to make with offseason acquisition Ian Mahinmi back in the lineup and newly acquired Bojan Bogdanovic still settling in, writes J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. “We’re trying to find some consistency,” said head coach Scott Brooks. “Getting Ian back, hopefully we can get him back to a stretch of games where he can play and build a chemistry with the group he’s out there with. Now Bojan so we can have him out there with that group. It’s consistency and understanding where we can get some points. I got to try to figure out what’s the best minute-wise and who plays and the matchups.“
Northwest Notes: Rubio, Jazz, Exum, Blazers
Although there was plenty of speculation that Ricky Rubio could be on the move, the Timberwolves didn’t end up parting ways with the sixth-year veteran. According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, the 26-year-old hasn’t let the rumors impact his game.
“Nothing happened, right? Life goes on,” the point guard told Zgoda. In the Timberwolves’ first game since the Thursday deadline, Rubio has dropped consecutive double-doubles.
Teammate Karl-Anthony Towns cites Rubio’s presence in the locker room as an asset for the young Timberwolves. “Ricky is a big part of our team,” Towns said. “Not even from just a skill and leader standpoint. But just morale. Just seeing him in the locker room lifts us up.”
The Timberwolves currently sit three games back of the Western Conference’s eight-seed and have publicly said as recently as this month that they’re committed to making the playoffs. Holding on to Rubio, as opposed to turning over the offense to rookie Kris Dunn or reserve Tyus Jones, may help them get there.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- The Nuggets should target Jazz forward Gordon Hayward and be happy that they didn’t land Paul George or DeMarcus Cousins, writes Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. Kiszla suggests that the club could pursue Hayward as a replacement for pending free agent Danilo Gallinari.
- Despite having to master a new playbook in the middle of a season and pack enough items to live off of in a new city, the newly acquired Thunder players brought over in Oklahoma City’s Thursday deal are adjusting just fine. “They have a great culture here that they’ve built, starting at the top,” Doug McDermott told Brett Dawson of the Oklahoman. “It makes it really easy for guys like me and Taj Gibson to fit in.“
- The Jazz held off on tweaking their roster at the trade deadline for fear of messing with their team chemistry. The front office wants to see what the roster is capable of when fully healthy, tweets Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Count Jazz guard Dante Exum as one Landmark Sports Agency client that will stay with the firm despite Rob Pelinka‘s decision to accept a position as general manager of the Lakers. The guard trusts Pelinka’s people, tweets Andy Larsen of KSL.
- The Trail Blazers weren’t very active on Thursday, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. “The phones went pretty dead,” general manager Neil Oshey told him. The forward-thinking Blazers did, of course, add Jusuf Nurkic in the days leading up to the deadline, the general manager explained to Cody Sharrett of the team’s official website.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 2/26/17
Here are the D-League transactions for Sunday:
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via Twitter. The forward has seen action in just seven games for Toronto this season, the last coming on January 13.
- The Cavaliers have assigned Kay Felder to their D-League affiliate, the team said in a press release on its official website. Felder has averaged over 30 points per game in three games with the Canton Charge this season.
- The Knicks assigned Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee to their affiliate in the D-League, the team said on Twitter.
- The Nuggets have recalled Malik Beasley from the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team said in a press release on their website. Beasley has played in 17 games for Denver so far this season.
- The Thunder recalled Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team revealed in a press release. Huestis has only seen the court in one game for the Thunder this season.
Week In Review: 2/18/17 – 2/25/17
A wild week in the NBA has just drawn to a close. We started with the All-Star Break in New Orleans and finished with the dawn of buyout season. In between? A particularly active trade deadline day and an exciting few days leading up to it. We all know by now that the DeMarcus Cousins/Anthony Davis is underway in New Orleans but what comes next? Here’s everything you need to know about the week that was.
Traded
- The Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick and a 2017-second-round pick.
- The Sixers traded Nerlens Noel to the Mavs for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut and a 2017 first-round pick.
- The Lakers traded Lou Williams to the Rockets for Corey Brewer and a 2017 first-round pick.
- The Bulls traded Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick to the Thunder for Cameron Payne, Anthony Morrow and Joffrey Lauvergne.
- The Nets traded Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to the Wizards for Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton and a 2017 first-round pick.
- The Sixers traded Ersan Ilyasova to the Hawks for Tiago Splitter, a 2017 second-round pick and the ability to swap another second-round pick.
- The Rockets traded K.J. McDaniels to the Nets for cash.
- The Bucks traded Roy Hibbert to the Nuggets for a 2019 second-round pick.
- The Hawks traded Mike Scott, the draft rights to Cenk Akyol and cash to the Suns for a second-round pick.
- The Suns traded P.J. Tucker to the Raptors for Jared Sullinger, a 2017 second-round pick and a 2018 second-round pick.
Signed
- The Grizzlies signed Toney Douglas to a two-year deal.
- The Pelicans signed Jarrett Jack to a 10-day contract.
- The Suns signed Ronnie Price for the remainder of the season.
- The Cavaliers signed Derrick Williams to a second 10-day contract.
- The Pelicans signed Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract.
- The Mavs signed Quinn Cook to a 10-day contract.
- The Mavs signed Ben Bentil to a 10-day contract.
Waived
- The Mavs waived Deron Williams.
- The Pelicans waived Terrence Jones.
- The Suns waived Jared Sullinger.
- The Pelicans waived Omri Casspi.
- The Kings waived Matt Barnes.
- The Suns waived Mike Scott.
- The Nets waived Marcus Thornton.
Injured
- Sixers forward Ben Simmons has been ruled out for the 2016/17 season.
- Pelicans forward Omri Casspi will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb.
- Raptors guard Kyle Lowry will be out indefinitely with a wrist injury.
News
- The Lakers relieved general manager Mitch Kupchak and Vice President of Basketball Operations Jim Buss of their duties. They then confirmed Magic Johnson, the President of Basketball Operations, will call the shots. Ultimately, the franchise appointed player agent Rob Pelinka their new general manager.
- The Clippers are looking into a new arena in Inglewood.
- Injured Heat forward Chris Bosh will not attempt a comeback this season, he’s signed on as an analyst with TNT.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that he would like to reconsider the league’s age limit.
- The Heat were unable to retain 10-day signee Marcus Georges-Hunt because, with Josh Richardson back in action, they were no longer eligible for the hardship exception.
- The Cavaliers had two traded player exceptions to use this month but they let them expire.
Rumors
- The Rockets are said to be targeting center Andrew Bogut if he is waived, as expected. The Warriors are eligible to sign him, too.
- The Lakers are considering buyout options with guard Jose Calderon.
- The Celtics and Bulls discussed the possibility of a Jimmy Butler trade.
- The Nuggets put together a “monster offer” for Paul George but were rebuffed by the Pacers. George ultimately stayed put.
- The Hawks made aggressive offers for Paul George and Jimmy Butler.
- The Trail Blazers and Sixers were close to a deal involving center Jahlil Okafor but it never transpired. The center was also linked to the Pacers.
- The Pelicans were seeking to trade forward Terrence Jones.
- The Nets decided to lower their asking price for Brook Lopez.
- The Celtics were floated as a possible suitor for Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari.
- The Timberwolves were said to be interested in Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert.
- The Pistons, Knicks and Timberwolves discussed a trade involving Reggie Jackson, Derrick Rose and Ricky Rubio, but those talks stalled significantly.
- The Pacers gauged interest in star forward Paul George.
- The Jazz tested the market for Derrick Favors and the Suns were interested.
- The Pistons listened to inquiries about Andre Drummond.
- Teams were interested in Patrick Beverley but the Rockets didn’t want to trade him.
- Reserve Lakers guard Lou Williams drew interest from the Jazz.
- The Knicks were on the hunt for picks and young players.
- With days left before the deadline, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony still hadn’t decided what do with his no-trade clause. The odds were heavily against a deal.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 2/25/17
Here are the D-League transactions for today:
- The Thunder have assigned forward Josh Huestis to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release. In 23 starts with the Oklahoma City Blue, Huestis has averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
- The Cavaliers have recalled rookie point guard Kay Felder from their D-League affiliate, the team revealed on their official website. Felder has averaged 30.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in his only three stints with the Canton Charge.
Lakers Explore Buyout Options With Jose Calderon
The Lakers are exploring their buyout options with veteran guard Jose Calderon, Marc Stein of ESPN says. Both the Warriors and Rockets would emerge as the most likely suitors, he adds in a separate tweet.
In 24 games this season, Calderon has played sparingly, averaging just 3.3 points and 2.1 assists per game. Just last season the guard played a prominent role with the Knicks and the 35-year-old guard would be a cheap source of leadership and productivity off the bench for a team with eyes on the NBA title.
Calderon is in the last year of a four-year contract, owed $7.7MM in 2016/17.