California Notes: Kobe, Green, Craft, Rivers
Although Kobe Bryant contends he’ll likely play through his current contract, which expires after the 2015/16 season, he admits that he’s at least considered hanging it up at the end of this year, relays Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. “I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Bryant said of retiring. “Right now I doubt it … but anything’s possible… You have to find new challenges, not playing for a championship, it’s pretty tough.” The Lakers sit near the bottom of the Western Conference at 12-29, but Bryant says the team would never consider tanking, going as far as to call the practice “sacrilegious,” notes Plaschke.
There’s more form the California-based teams:
- Lessons that the Warriors‘ Draymond Green learned at Michigan State are going to lead to a huge contract this summer, suggests Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group. A second-round pick three years ago, Green has blossomed into one of Golden State’s leaders and will be a restricted free agent this summer. “The guy really is a coach’s dream,” said Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry. “You can’t place a value on that. Use every cliché you can. His teams always win. The squad you put him on in a scrimmage, his team is going to win.”
- Aaron Craft has generated a positive buzz as a result of his performance at the D-League showcase, observes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, who adds that the 23-year-old guard out of Ohio State is on NBA teams’ radars (Twitter link). Craft was cut from the Warriors out of training camp and currently suits up for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s D-League affiliate.
- The Clippers‘ Doc Rivers and Austin Rivers are trying to downplay their father/son and coach/player relationship, reports Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times. “I’m over it,” Austin Rivers said. “[Friday] night was about the son thing and I’m done with that. Now it’s basketball for me.” Los Angeles acquired Rivers from the Celtics Thursday in a three-team deal involving the Suns. The younger Rivers “jumped at the opportunity” to join L.A., as he tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Multiple Teams Eyeing Damion James
At least four teams are considering bringing aboard former Nets and Spurs forward Damion James, according to Shams Charania of RealGM, who identifies the Bulls, Pistons, Wizards, and Clippers among the teams with interest (Twitter link). The former 24th overall pick has put up impressive numbers for the Texas Legends of the D-League this season after failing to make Washington’s roster out of training camp.
James, 27, appeared in five contests for the Spurs last season. He signed a 10-day deal with San Antonio in April and inked a pact that covered the remainder of the season once his first contract was up. The 6’7″ Texas alum hasn’t been able to make much of an impact in the NBA after four strong years playing for the Longhorns.
An earlier report indicated that the Wizards have been keeping an eye on James. Washington’s roster stands at 14 players, one short of the league maximum, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team ink James to a 10-day contract. He was reportedly a better bet to make the team than Rasual Butler out of training camp before the veteran guard impressed Washington brass.
Grizzlies Acquire Jeff Green In Three-Team Trade
3:16pm: It’s a 2017 first-rounder headed from Memphis to Boston that’s top-10 protected, reports Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). If the Grizzlies don’t convey it in 2017, it’s top-12 protected for 2018, top-eight protected for 2019, top-six protected for 2020, and unprotected for 2021.
10:33am: The Grizzlies acquired forward Jeff Green from the Celtics in a three-team trade that also includes the Pelicans, the teams announced in three separate press releases (Grizzlies, Celtics, Pelicans), Memphis had drawn close to acquiring the high-scoring Green Friday. In addition to Green, the Grizzlies land Russ Smith from New Orleans. Boston acquires Tayshaun Prince and a protected first-round pick from Memphis in exchange for Green, and they also receive Austin Rivers from New Orleans. The Grizzlies send Quincy Pondexter to the Pelicans along with a 2015 second-round selection. This trade will help further Boston’s rebuilding process, which has already seen the team deal Rajon Rondo to the Mavs and Brandan Wright to the Suns.
Green has one season left on his current deal, but was reported to be considering turning down his $9.2MM player option for 2015/16 in order to test free agency and secure a long-term contract. He’ll add some scoring punch to Memphis’ offense, something the Grizzlies have been seeking. In 33 games this season, the 28-year-old Green has averaged 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per game. His career numbers over six seasons are 14.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG, with a slash line of .440/.340/.788.
Smith, a rookie out of Louisville, has appeared in just six contests for the Pelicans this season after being selected 47th overall in last June’s draft. By contrast, Prince, who’s leaving Memphis, is a 12-year NBA veteran who appeared in 25 contests for the Grizzlies. The 34-year-old’s large expiring contract is likely what appealed to the Celtics, who are clearly looking toward building for the future rather than contending in the present.
The 26-year-old Pondexter has appeared in 30 games for the Grizzlies this season, including two as a starter. His season averages are 4.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. He still has three years remaining on his contract and is scheduled to make $3,382,023 in 2015/16, $3,617,978 in 2016/17, and $3,853,931 in the deal’s final season. The sharpshooting swingman out of Washington missed almost all of 2013/14 with a stress fracture in his foot and suffered an MCL sprain in 2012/13 that cost him a good chunk of that season as well.
“The New Orleans Pelicans are thrilled to welcome back a high character person like Quincy Pondexter to our organization,” Pelicans GM Dell Demps said in the team’s statement. “Quincy is a two-way player, a multi-position defender that will add toughness along with an offensive skill set that we anticipate will help the Pelicans win games.
Rivers heads to Boston, where his father, Doc Rivers, enjoyed remarkable success as the Celtics coach before heading out west in 2013. However, there have been indications that the former 10th overall pick’s stay in Boston will be relatively short, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the the Clippers, for whom Doc Rivers serves as coach and head of basketball operations, are interested in acquiring the young shooting guard.
“It was difficult to trade Austin Rivers and Russ Smith,” Demps said. “Russ was only with the team for a short time while Austin is an intense competitor that is continuing to improve. We will miss Austin and Russ on and off the court. We thank Austin and Russ for their contributions and wish them success in the future.”
Los Angeles GM Dave Wohl and assistant coaches Lawrence Frank and Mike Woodson have encouraged Doc Rivers to try to trade for his son Austin, even if the move might be publicly viewed as family favoritism, Wojnarowski writes. Rivers will become a free agent after this season, since New Orleans declined his third-year player option back in October.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reported that the sides had come to an agreement, though Wojnarowski maintained that there were still moving parts and later reported the final structure of the deal. The pair added numerous details along the way, and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, John Reid of The Times Picayune, and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today also reported details.
Southeast Notes: Pierce, Hawks, Gasol, Heat
The two best teams in the Southeast Division also occupy the top of the top three spots in the Eastern Conference standings. We’ve got news on both of them below, along with a piece on a struggling Miami club that had lost seven of its last 10 before today’s big win in L.A..
- One of the biggest benefits that Paul Pierce has provided to the Wizards since signing last summer is his strong leadership in the locker room, as team president Ernie Grunfeld tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Although Pierce has played well this season, the 17-year veteran says he’s going to discuss with his family whether or not he’ll continue playing beyond 2014/15, Bulpett notes.
- Part of the reason that many notable free agents aren’t interested in joining the Hawks is the team’s history of less-than-stellar attendance, as one agent relays to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com. “All things being equal, it’s not a place you choose to play unless there’s a good reason,” said the unnamed agent. “They just don’t rate.” Atlanta offered Pau Gasol more money than Chicago did last summer, according to Arnovitz, but the big man still opted to sign with the Bulls.
- Despite inconsistency at the point guard position this season, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel compels Heat executives not to pull the trigger on a quick fix. Taking back salary that inhibits long-term flexibility won’t stand to help the team’s ultimate goal of winning another championship, Winderman believes, even if it helps Miami win a few more games in the interim.
Celtics Notes: Rivers, Ainge, Clippers, Draft
The Celtics have been among the most active teams on the trade market this season, already completing two deals with a third reportedly forthcoming. As more activity appears to be looming, we’ll round up the latest out of Boston:
- Rumors have indicated Austin Rivers might soon be playing for his father, Doc Rivers, in a Clippers uniform. The elder Rivers told reporters, including Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, that his son almost played under him when he was the coach of the Celtics, as Boston team president Danny Ainge made an attempt to swing a deal for the former 10th overall pick during Doc’s tenure in Beantown (Twitter link).
- Rivers admits he’s glad that he can now discuss trades with Ainge again since the one-year ban the NBA imposed on trade talks between the Celtics and Clippers has been lifted, notes Bolch (on Twitter). The league forbade the two franchise from making trades for a season after Boston agreed to trade their then-coach Rivers to Los Angeles for a first-round pick.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com has a look at some of the different ways the Celtics might use their huge stockpile of draft picks over the next two years. Boston is in line to have 14 selections in the upcoming two drafts.
And-Ones: Murphy, Belinelli, Smith
Kevin Murphy has signed a deal to join Zhejiang Guangsha in China, as Priority Sports, the agency that represents Murphy, announced on Twitter. We had already heard that the former Jazz camp invitee was leaving the D-League to pursue an opportunity to play overseas. We’ll round up more international news and have a look at what’s happening around the rest of the NBA below..
- Marco Belinelli, a free agent at season’s end, wouldn’t comment on whether or not he was interested in re-joining the Spurs next season, reports Riccardo Pratesiba of La Gazzetta dello Sport (translation via Basketball Insiders). Still, it’s fair to assert Belinelli would have some interest in returning to San Antonio, where he’s enjoyed quite a bit of success over the past two seasons.
- MLive’s David Mayo has never witnessed the sort of “mental and spiritual turnaround” that the Pistons have seemed to experience since waiving Josh Smith. Mayo sees the decision to part ways with Smith as a similar move to the one that sent Rudy Gay from the Raptors to the Kings,
- Anthony Tolliver‘s partially guaranteed 2015/16 contract seemingly makes it less likely that the Pistons retain Jonas Jerebko next season, Mayo argues in the same piece. Given the relatively similar characteristics of the two players, Mayo thinks it’s likely the Pistons hang on to Tolliver rather than Jerebko, who is a free agent at year’s end, since they already have Tolliver under contract and can cut him loose for only $400K if he doesn’t meet expectations.
- Turkey’s Istanbul BSB has officially announced (via Twitter) the signing of Sasha Vujacic along with three other players (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Vujacic played two games for the Clippers last season on a 10-day contract before signing a deal to play in Europe.
Hawks Ownership Agrees To Sell Entire Team
All three of the Hawks ownership groups have agreed to sell their respective shares of the team, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, meaning that 100% of the franchise will be available for purchase. Vivlamore hears that the NBA has approved of the sale and that the Hawks are being valued by interested parties at upwards of $600MM, while Grantland’s Zach Lowe was told by a league source that the organization might be worth anywhere from $750MM-$1 billion (Twitter link). Still, Lowe cautions that the club’s value is more likely on the lower end of that spectrum.
Controlling owner Bruce Levenson and his partners agreed to sell their 50.1% stake in the team in late September, shortly before a racially charged email from GM Danny Ferry was leaked and a controversial message Levenson had written in 2012 went public after an internal investigation. The Hawks’ other two ownership groups, led by Michael Gearon Jr. and Steven Price, were initially undecided on whether or not they would sell their stakes in the team, but reports from this summer had indicated that prospective purchasers wanted the entire franchise to exchange hands rather than just a portion of it.
There have been several parties reportedly interested in purchasing the Hawks, including former players Dominique Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber. Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien and attorney Doug Davis have also reportedly expressed interest. Whoever ends up with controlling interest in the team likely won’t have the opportunity to relocate the franchise out of Atlanta, Vivlamore notes, because the NBA would not want to lose a team in a top-10 market.
The sale of the Hawks franchise will put a finish to an unforgettable saga in Atlanta that changed the image of the organization and sent Ferry on an indefinite leave from his post at GM that he’s reportedly unlikely to ever return from. Multiple players indicated they would feel uncomfortable joining a team led by Levenson and Ferry after hearing the racially fueled comments the duo made, so perhaps the change in direction will help mend the view of the franchise going forward.
The Clippers were sold for a record $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in August after a similar, albeit much more controversial, situation unfolded in Los Angeles when then-owner Donald Sterling was caught making inflammatory remarks about Magic Johnson and African Americans during a recorded conversation with his girlfriend. The Bucks were purchased by an ownership group spearheaded by Marc Lasry and Wes Edens last April for $550MM. The Hawks sound likely to land somewhere in between those two figures, with more prospective buyers sure to surface in the coming weeks.
And-Ones: Allen, Pistons, Pierce, Mensah-Bonsu
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders compiled a list on his take of who the best available free agents are. At the the very top is Ray Allen, who we learned earlier today is mulling retirement. We’ll look at the latest on Allen and round up more from around the league below:
- The news that Allen is considering retirement is hardly surprising to Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk, who heard as early as last summer that the veteran guard would be unlikely to move on to Cleveland with LeBron James since it would require relocating his family and living in a cold climate.
- Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy isn’t shy about praising team owner Tom Gores, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reveals. “I’ve said this for a few months, I absolutely mean it: I’ve got confidence that over time here we’re going to get this turned around, but if we don’t it ain’t gonna be on Tom Gores,” Van Gundy said. “He’s doing absolutely everything anyone can do. I can’t imagine an owner doing more or even close to what he’s been willing to do.“
- Long-time Celtics player Paul Pierce understands Boston’s decision to trade Rajon Rondo, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. “It was either ‘We’re going to build around him’ or ‘We’re going to build for the future,’” Pierce said. “That’s what most teams do. When you have a star player, an all-star-caliber player and if you aren’t able to put the other star players around him or you have other young guys, you’re either going to build with him or you build without him.. They decided to move forward and build around the young pieces that they have.“
- The Greek club AEK Athens is finalizing a deal with Pops Mensah-Bonsu, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). The only hurdle at this point is his physical exam, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia tweets. Mensah-Bonsu, who was briefly in training camp with the Nuggets this fall, has been free since Hapoel Jerusalem released him earlier this month.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
D-League Notes: Capela, Ledo, Powell, Magic
As we wait to see if D-League standout Brady Heslip gets signed by an NBA club before he accepts an offer from a team overseas, let’s round up the latest from the NBA’s official minor league:
- The Rockets have sent Clint Capela to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced on Twitter. The 25th overall pick from last June’s draft hasn’t been able to get much burn in Houston’s crowded frontcourt, tallying just 12 minutes of action this season, so he’ll have a better shot to demonstrate his skills in the D-League.
- Ricky Ledo and Dwight Powell have been assigned to the Texas Legends, the Mavs announced. The pair will have a chance to see more time in the D-League than they otherwise would with the title hopeful group of veterans in Dallas.
- Magic coach Jacque Vaughn made it clear that Orlando values the one-to-one affiliation that the team has with the Erie BayHawks, its D-League club, as John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com details. The Magic assigned Devyn Marble to the D-League yesterday in order to get him some playing time while recovering from an injury.
Reggie Williams To Join Thunder D-League Team
The Oklahoma City Blue, the D-League affiliate of the Thunder, has reached an agreement to bring aboard Reggie Williams, according an official release from the team. Williams spent training camp with the Heat but was waived shortly before opening night after signing a non-guaranteed, minimum salary pact with Miami in mid-August.
The 28-year-old swingman out of VMI signed two 10-day contracts with the Thunder last season, but only appeared in three contests for Oklahoma City. Since a strong rookie year when he posted 15.2 points in 32.6 minutes per game with the Warriors, Williams hasn’t had much of an opportunity to prove his worth on the hardwood. His minutes per game have steadily dropped each year since his rookie campaign in 2009/10.
It’s fair to infer that the Thunder will be keeping a close eye on Williams, given his history with team and the fact that his deal with its minor league affiliate comes in a season when Oklahoma City has struggled to stay healthy.