Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Brown, Johnson
Sixers coach Brett Brown expects Joel Embiid to be ready to play in the preseason, as he tells Zach Lowe of ESPN.com on his podcast (h/t to Rob Tornoe of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “Physically, mentally, recent medical scans, everything is pointing in the right direction. We’re just very excited,” Brown said. Embiid has yet to play in a game since being drafted with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Brown feels the Sixers are in a good place as a franchise right now, as he discusses on that same podcast. “There’s a real feel good mentality right now in our city. I think everybody’s starting to get excited,” Brown said. “Obviously, this is just one more phase, one more wave on how we build our program. But we have such fantastic young, talented pieces to try to put that puzzle together. Everybody’s excited here in Philadelphia.”
- Amir Johnson has established himself as a good defender and if he reaches his ceiling on the defensive end, he could end up making an All-NBA defensive team, A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet argues. Johnson, who signed a two-year, $24MM deal with the Celtics last summer, will be a free agent after the 2016/17 season.
Team USA Notes: Coach K, Durant, Anthony
Team USA will play in the gold-medal game later today against Serbia. The Serbian team, which only has one NBA player on the roster (Nikola Jokic), is led by Milos Teodosic, who is one of the best guards in Europe and could easily play in the NBA. As we await the highly anticipated match-up, let’s take a look at some notes surrounding Team USA:
- Mike Krzyzewski, who will coach his last game for Team USA today, has helped Kevin Durant deal with some of the backlash of signing with Golden State, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. “He’s more of like a father figure slash mentor than he’s a coach,” Durant said. “On top of being a coach, when you have that combination, that makes for just an incredible leader.”
- NBA players have truly embraced playing under Krzyzewski, Stein adds in the same piece. “I hate to say it [as a Kentucky guy],” DeMarcus Cousins said. “But I really have enjoyed playing for K.” Durant never considered playing for Coach K in college, but after his Team USA experience, he wishes he had looked at that option. “Once I got to play [for] him, I was like, ‘Wow, I should have looked at Duke a little bit more than I did,” Durant said.
- Being together on the 2008 gold medal team fortified the bond that Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade share, Michael Lee of The Vertical writes. “I think, being on the team in ’08, it kind of brought us together a little bit more and we started to realize what was important and what wasn’t important and taking those things into consideration, of forming that brotherhood that people didn’t want to see,” Anthony said.
- James recently said that he wouldn’t rule himself out for the 2020 Olympic games and Anthony would welcome playing with him again if they both travel to Tokyo four years from now, Lee writes in the same piece. Anthony hasn’t yet decided whether he will play in those games. “That’s too far ahead for me be thinking,” Anthony said. “That’s too far ahead. This decision was hard to come back this year. I think it was just the timing of what was going on in the world, what was happening here [in Brazil], what was happening in our country. Also taking into consideration family, or being healthy.”
- Anthony will likely become the most decorated Olympic men’s basketball player ever with a win in today’s championship game and the 32-year-old wouldn’t trade his international success for a ring in the NBA, Lee passes along in the same piece. “I wouldn’t trade, hopefully my three gold medals, in for nothing,” Anthony tells Lee. “I always say, ‘Winning is winning is winning.’ No matter what level you win on. Hopefully, I do get an NBA ring, but that’s two things.”
Jeff Adrien To Play Overseas
Jeff Adrien has signed with Israel’s Bnei Herzliya, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The club, which was founded in 2002, is in the country’s top league, Ligat HaAl.
Adrien was out of basketball during the 2015/16 season. He found himself in several run-ins with the law in his time away from the NBA, including one where he was arrested for stealing a Mercedes from a valet. In a separate incident, he was arrested for getting into a physical altercation with a hotel security guard. He was later arrested again for refusing to comply for police during a routine traffic stop in which Adrien lost his cool and pushed the arresting officers, per TMZ.
Adrien previously played overseas for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2014/15 season. He was with the Pelicans for their training camp last fall, but was waived prior to the season. In six seasons since going undrafted out of the University of Connecticut, Adrien has played for five NBA franchises and he sports a career player efficiency rating of 15.0.
Maverick Notes: New Additions, Barnes, Powell
The Mavericks made several new additions this offseason and coach Rick Carlisle envisions the team playing a different style than it did last season, as he said on 103.3FM ESPN (h/t to Earl K. Sneed of NBA.com). “We’re more physical,” Carlisle said. “You know, [Chandler] Parsons was a guy that is a different kind of player than Barnes, and Parsons was a very good ball-handler and playmaker. You know, I think [Harrison] Barnes can develop into a playmaker, but that has not been his DNA and that has not been what’s been asked of him in Golden State. What I found spending five days in the gym working out with him is that he’s a better ball-handler than most of us would expect, but we’re going to have to ease him into those situations and just kind of go from there.”
Here’s more out of Dallas:
- Dwight Powell signed a four-year deal worth $37MM this offseason, but he remains motivated to improve his game, as Sneed writes in a separate piece. “My job is to be ready for whatever opportunity I find myself presented with and be ready to perform at the highest level,” Powell said. “For me, it’s business as usual. Just in the gym grinding. Hopefully it says that I’m an NBA player, that I belong in the league and that I’m able to perform. I’m willing to work and do whatever it takes to get better. I’m willing to put in the time and the effort and sacrifice to do that to help a team win. Hopefully it’s a positive. I mean, I do work. That’s something I’ve done my whole life and something I was taught at a young age, so it’s part of who I am.”
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News takes a look back at the key members of the Mavericks‘ 2011 championship team and examines where they are in their careers now.
Paul Pierce Plans To Play This Season
Paul Pierce is planning to put off retirement and play for the Clippers during the 2016/17 season, multiple sources tell Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Daily News. Woike notes that Pierce has been conflicted with his decision all summer and cautions that another change is possible.
Pierce signed a three-year deal worth roughly $10MM last offseason. It was never his intention to play the entire deal out in Los Angeles.“I don’t have much basketball left — whether it’ll be this year or another year. To come home and play in front of family and friends and possibly win a championship, it’s like a dream come true,” Pierce said last year. “If we win this year, win a championship, I’ll probably be done with basketball to be honest.”
He struggled to make a major impact during his first year in Los Angeles, averaging just 6.1 points per game. The veteran said he didn’t want to make an emotional decision after the Clippers lost in the first round to the Blazers, but added at the time that “every heartbreak makes you want to come back.”
Community Shootaround: Ricky Rubio
Earlier today, it was reported that the Wolves may deal Ricky Rubio with Sacramento lurking as a possible destination. Minnesota drafted Kris Dunn with the No. 5 overall pick and he looked the part of a starting caliber point guard during his time in Vegas this summer. With Tyus Jones also in the fold, the team could afford to swap out a point guard for a player at another position.
Adding Rudy Gay may be a possibility in a trade with the Kings. Sacramento lost Rajon Rondo in free agency and Darren Collison, the team’s current starting point guard, faces domestic violence charges and will likely be suspended for some portion of the 2016/17 season. Even if Collison avoids missing games, Rubio would serve as an upgrade in the starting lineup.Read more
Nuggets Sign First-Rounder Jamal Murray
AUGUST 9th: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 19th: The Nuggets have reached an agreement with No. 7 overall pick Jamal Murray, as Malika Andrews of The Denver Post relays. Murray will make slightly under $6.6MM over the first two seasons, per the rookie scale, as our breakdown of salaries for 2016 first-rounder shows. The contract includes a team option on year three and four.
Murray may be the best shooter in his draft class, as I mentioned in his Prospect Profile. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com had the combo guard ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the draft.
The 19-year-old averaged 20.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists during his lone season at Kentucky. He shot 40.8% from behind the arc and 50.2% from the field overall.
And-Ones: Jones, Buycks, Stephenson
Perry Jones III has agreed to play in Russia this upcoming season with Khimki Moscow, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). Jones spent last season with the Iowa Energy of the D-League after being waived by the Boston Celtics. He was selected by the Thunder with the 28th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Dwight Buycks will play in China for Fujian Quanzhou, Pick reports in a separate tweet. Buycks played for the team last season before coming stateside to join the Oklahoma City Blue of the D-League.
- Lance Stephenson may have to look overseas if he wants to play next season, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Washburn contends that Stephenson has the talent to play in the NBA, however, his personality may be scaring teams away.
- Stephenson made a bet on himself back in 2014 when he bypassed a five-year, $44MM deal from the Pacers in favor of a shorter deal with the Hornets. Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders revisits the shooting guard’s decision and examines the decisions of other players whom have taken shorter deals with the hope of cashing in on a big payday only to be disappointed by what the market offers.
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Smith, Ellington
Owner Tom Gores has no problem paying the luxury tax should the Pistons need to cross the apron to keep their young core together, as he tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
“Look, if we weren’t building a core, there’s really no point in paying the luxury tax,” Gores said. “Because we are building a core, would I do it? Yeah, absolutely. This is a tremendous team. If you go down the line, player by player, and especially our young folks, these are real players…So you say go into the luxury tax for nothing, then that would be silly because then we’re putting the franchise behind. But given that we have such a good core, if that’s what it took, and we feel we’ve made such progress this year, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it because we want to keep getting better.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Gores believes executive/coach Stan Van Gundy has done an excellent job for the Pistons‘ front office because of his communication skills, as he tells Ellis in the same piece. “I’ve seen him be a president and a coach, but also a leader and an executive that really understands how to run a business. He’s running the business of basketball,” Gores said. “I’ve heard people say is he better GM than he was a coach.”
- The Celtics could have made an offer to J.R. Smith this offseason, but that door closed when the team used most of its remaining cap space to re-sign Tyler Zeller, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes.
- Wayne Ellington could end up being more of a 3-point specialist than he expected when he signed with the Heat this offseason, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel speculates. Winderman believes earmarking minutes for Josh Richardson on the wing will be a priority for the franchise due to his upside. That, along with the signing of Dion Waiters, may leave Ellington on the bench for the majority of games.
New York Notes: Allen, Lopez, Foye
Ray Allen is seriously considering a return to the NBA and Longtime Knicks fan Spike Lee has been trying to persuade Allen to sign with New York, Ian Begley of ESPN.com passes along. “Spike Lee has been trying to recruit me,” Allen said. “We’ve been texting.” Begley adds that it’s not clear whether the team has interest in bringing the shooting guard aboard. New York has 16 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates, though only 14 of those deals are fully guaranteed.
Here’s more from New York:
- Brook Lopez helped recruit free agents to the Nets this offseason and the big man finds himself enjoying his place on the team, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. “It’s abnormal,” Lopez said. “It’s a good feeling. I know they’ve been harping on the culture and all but it’s a completely unique feel this time, like we’re moving in that right direction. It’s something people actually want to be a part of.”
- Randy Foye, who signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Nets, believes he could have signed a better deal elsewhere in free agency, but GM Sean Marks‘ vision for the franchise compelled him to come to Brooklyn, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. “There was more talk about building a culture,” Foye said. “A lot of places you go, they search and look for superstars to fill voids every year. But I think this here is more of a culture. And just see how the Spurs and how they build a culture, they have three guys and have other guys come in and are a part of that culture and help build that culture. And that was one of the most important reasons for me signing here.”
- Foye added that he is coming to the Nets “with no ego” and he has no expectation of starting, Bondy passes along in the same piece.