Eastern Notes: Irving, Anthony, Embiid, Raptors
The Cavaliers‘ Kyrie Irving is being cautious about his return to basketball after fracturing his left kneecap in the NBA Finals, writes Chris Fedor of The Northeast Ohio Media Group. Irving had surgery the day after suffering the injury in Game 1, and the team estimated his recovery time at three to four months. That should have him ready for the start of training camp in late September, but the star guard isn’t focused on that timetable. “I’m honestly not putting a date on anything,” Irving said. “People are going to put a date regardless. I’m just continuing to be on the journey I’ve been on and that’s continuing to get better every single day and rehabbing my leg.” Irving said he expects the Cavaliers to be even better next season after adding veterans Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson through free agency.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Knicks have given their approval for Carmelo Anthony to attend a USA Basketball minicamp next month in Las Vegas, according to Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News. It’s the latest indication that Anthony will be healthy in time for training camp after February’s surgery on a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. The August 11th-13th event will bring together players who have participated in the USA Basketball system. Non-contact workouts are planned with an informal all-star game capping off the proceedings. Anthony, who is still recuperating from the surgery, is not expected to participate in all the events.
- If Joel Embiid had slipped to the sixth pick in the 2014 NBA draft, there is a good chance the Celtics would have taken him, reports Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. “[The Celtics] did have the go-ahead from their medical staff to make that pick,” said an unidentified source. “They weren’t going to say no to him.” The Sixers recently announced that Embiid will undergo another surgery on his right foot and probably miss a second consecutive season.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star compares the Raptors‘ philosophy under GM Masai Ujiri to the team’s under former GM Brian Colangelo in the writer’s latest mailbag. Smith believe the main difference is that the current regime tends have more patience with the team and lets things develop longer.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Youssou Ndoye, Spurs Agree To Camp Deal
The Spurs will sign Youssou Ndoye for training camp, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The expectation is that the center will play for San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.
The St. Bonaventure product was reportedly willing to sign overseas and become a draft-and-stash prospect had an NBA team selected him in last month’s draft. He had worked out for several teams, including San Antonio, but he was not selected.
Ndoye has a lot of upside as former Nets executive Bobby Marks tweets. He played for the Spurs in this year’s summer league in Vegas. The big man averaged 3.17 points and 0.5 blocks in just 9.4 minutes per game. With such low minute totals, perhaps the Spurs didn’t want to showcase the center’s upside in the summer league and risk another team swooping in to offer him an NBA deal, although that is just my speculation.
Larry Drew II To Play In France
Larry Drew II has signed a deal with AS Monaco Basket in France, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The point guard played for the Pelicans in this year’s summer league.
Drew II signed two 10-day contracts with the Sixers in January of last season, but was not re-signed for the remainder of the year. Philadelphia was pleased with the production it received from the University of California product, but the team didn’t want to tie up an additional roster spot before the trade deadline.
“Flexibility,” coach Brett Brown said last season when asked why the team didn’t sign Drew for the rest of the 2014/15 campaign. “The trade deadline is coming up, and we need flexibility. We may see [Larry] again. Who knows? What I do know is he was an ‘A’. He did everything and some, and it doesn’t prohibit us from revisiting him [in the future] at all.”
The 25-year-old has shown play-making ability, but his inconsistent jumper needs improvement if he is going to have a career in the NBA. He averaged 3.8 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 15.4% from behind the arc during his 12 games as a Sixer last year.
Celtics Notes: Randolph, Rozier, Ainge
Earlier in the week, the Celtics agreed to a training camp deal with Levi Randolph, who appears willing to play for the team’s D-League affiliate. You can check out all of the moves that were made last week in our Week In Review page.
Here’s more from Boston:
- Terry Rozier‘s motor was a major factor in the Celtics selecting him in the first round, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. “We had him in for two workouts. And he came in on his second workout and he had been to 18 different workouts. He still had a burst and a desire and a drive that was not going to be thwarted by fatigue. Here’s a guy that had been all over the country, had every reason to be less than his best, but just was striving to get what he ultimately wanted and that’s to be not only an NBA player, but to be a good NBA player,” coach Brad Stevens said.
- Rozier joins Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley to give the Celtics a trio of defensive-minded guards. Despite the overlap in skills, President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge believes they made the right call with the No. 16 overall pick, Ian Thomsen of NBA.com writes. “We were picking the best guy available,” said Ainge of his unpredicted investment in Rozier. “I like tough guys that can defend. In order to win playoff games you’ve got to have guys that can match up with the [Stephen] Currys and Kyrie Irvings and James Hardens – there’s a lot of really good offensive players. Our three guys are really good defenders, and I think their offense is progressing.”
- Rozier, R.J. Hunter and Jordan Mickey are all likely to be on Boston’s opening day roster, Thomsen adds in the same piece.
Rockets, Jason Terry Near Deal
4:00pm: Terry says he is close to a deal with the Rockets, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.
2:28pm: The sides are starting to close in on an agreement, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
JULY 20TH, 2:08pm: The Rockets have offered Terry a contract, a source told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Terry has Bird rights with Houston, so the team doesn’t have to use its mid-level exception to complete a deal.
JULY 19TH, 9:18pm: The Ty Lawson trade agreement, in which the Rockets are giving up guards Pablo Prigioni and Nick Johnson, among others, improves the chances that Terry re-signs with Houston, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Terry confirmed to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston that the sides are in talks (Twitter link).
JULY 13TH, 9:46pm: Free agent guard Jason Terry is progressing toward a deal to re-sign with the Rockets, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Terry finished the 2014/15 season as the team’s starting point guard after Patrick Beverley was sidelined because of a wrist injury.
Terry and the Mavs reportedly had conversations about a reunion in Dallas. The 37-year-old played half of his 16 NBA seasons for the Mavs.
Terry played well last season and was a contributor during Houston’s playoff run to the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 9.2 points while shooting 35.4% from behind the arc during 17 playoff games.
Latest On Bucks’ New Arena
WEDNESDAY, 6:18pm: The Milwaukee State Senate passed the arena funding bill by a vote of 21-10, and now the proposal will go before the State Assembly for ratification, Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of The Journal Sentinel report. “This deal has taken a lot of work but the Bucks are big bucks for Wisconsin,” said Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), who voted for the plan. “It’s not been easy. It’s not been pretty. But finally we’ve all been at the table.” Bucks team president Peter Feigin released this statement on behalf of the team: “Today’s vote is a significant step forward in our collective effort to build a new sports and entertainment district in Wisconsin. We appreciate the bipartisan leadership in Madison for bringing this transformative partnership one step closer to reality. We’re optimistic that this financing package will receive support in the Assembly and look forward to working with state, county and city officials.”
MONDAY, 10:55pm: Plans for a new Bucks arena in Milwaukee face another key hurdle, with the Wisconsin State Senate poised to vote as early as this week on whether to approve the latest public funding proposal, TNT’s David Aldridge writes as part of his Morning Tip column for NBA.com The league previously received a commitment from new owners Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, as part of the Bucks’ 2013 sale agreement, that they would work out a deal with the city and state to build a new arena in Milwaukee by 2017, and the league remains committed to the deadline, Aldridge notes. If a new arena is not ready by opening night of the 2017/18 season or doesn’t appear to be on track to meet that goal, the league has the right to buy back the team and put it on the open market, which would presumably include buyers who would move the team out of Milwaukee.
The current ownership group has combined to pledge $150MM toward the construction of the building and former owner Herb Kohl has pledged $100MM toward it. Those totals represent roughly half of what a new arena will cost, so funding remains an obstacle.
The state legislature removed the arena bill, which called for $250MM in public funds to be used toward construction of the arena, from the state’s budget process last week, Aldridge notes. The budget was passed, but the funding of a new building for the Bucks was not addressed, as Aldridge details.
Bucks President Peter Feigin told the state assembly last week that if there is no agreement with the city and state in place over the next few months, the likelihood of the team ultimately moving out of Milwaukee is strong, Aldridge notes.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who officially entered the 2016 presidential race earlier today, several weeks ago announced the latest plan, which would use various public funding mechanisms to help foot the cost of the arena on a site north of the team’s current arena, according to Aldridge. Getting a deal done was always a goal of Walker’s. With his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination, keeping the team in Milwaukee, along with the good press that it would bring, may be an even greater priority for him, although that is simply my speculation.
The proposal would have the city of Milwaukee kicking in $47MM, with Milwaukee County kicking in another $55MM, Aldridge notes. The bulk of the remaining funding would come through new debt issuance by the Wisconsin Center District, a governmental body in charge of several downtown Milwaukee venues, Aldridge explains. That Center District funding is estimated to be $93MM, Aldridge writes.
The majority of the Republican-controlled state legislature supports the arena measure, Aldridge adds, but the bill will need the support of several Democratic state senators. Among their concerns is the new debt that would be assumed by the Center District, Aldridge notes.
Potential buyers of the Bucks, should the team be put on the open market, are keeping a close eye on the situation, as Aldridge points out. Hedge fund billionaire Chris Hansen, who led the group in 2013 that nearly bought the Kings and relocated them to Seattle, is working to bring an NHL team to Seattle. Hansen’s hope is that if he can get a new arena built to house the NHL team, it would help the city bring an NBA team back to town.
The Bucks understand the deadline that the NBA set is fast approaching.
“I don’t think this is a well-kept secret in the state of Wisconsin,” Feigin told Aldridge. “…The NBA, as part of the purchase agreement, put language in to make us build a new arena within a set time frame. That is not new news. We’ve been up front about that. I think the timing of it, and the reality of it when it’s the ninth inning, that people might misconstrue that as leverage or threatening. It’s not. It’s just the fact that for the Bucks to stay in the state of Wisconsin, we will need to construct a new arena.”
The Bucks have taken huge strides in becoming a legitimate contender. Every day that goes by without a funding deal for a new arena in Milwaukee increases the likelihood that this up-and-coming team will reach its peak in a different city.
Kings Sign Kosta Koufos
July 13th, 9:58pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 4th, 10:01pm: The Kings will sign Kosta Koufos to a four-year deal worth $33MM, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal will include a player option after the third season that will allow him to return to free agency during the summer of 2018, Stein adds (Twitter link).
The center had previously received interest from the Mavs, Magic, Celtics and Lakers in addition to the Kings. Koufos is the second center the team has added this offseason. Sacramento drafted Willie Cauley-Stein with the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft. The moves seem to correspond with DeMarcus Cousins‘ insistence to play more minutes at the power forward position. The team now has the depth to accommodate such an arrangement. The signing also gives Sacramento a back-up plan if the Cousins-George Karl relationship is found to be unsalvageable and the team opts to trade the 24-year-old. Koufos previously played under coach Karl for two and a half seasons as a member of the Nuggets.
Koufos averaged 5.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game last season. The 26-year-old was the ninth best center defensively, according to ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus.
Sixers Notes: Wroten, Bogans, Embiid
The Sixers didn’t approach this summer with any more urgency to improve than in previous offseasons, as GM Sam Hinkie tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
“Not a lot,” Hinkie said when asked if he felt an immediacy to win more games this season. “We try to be opportunistic year-round, not just summer-to-summer, but year-round. We try to predict what opportunities might come our way and think ahead of time about what opportunities we might be interested in and what ones we would clearly let pass. The flow of those opportunities is uncertain. We don’t ever know when they’ll come but we try to be out in a lot of those situations to understand what might happen.”
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- Tony Wroten is expected to return from a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the start of the upcoming regular season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Wroten had season-ending surgery last February.
- Keith Bogans said Philadelphia never called him when he was traded to the Sixers prior to last season, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com tweets. Two weeks later, Bogans was waived and didn’t receive a call from the franchise about that either.
- Tom Moore of the Calkins Media examines the news of Joel Embiid‘s latest setback from an optimistic point of view. Moore argues that Embiid’s missed time will allow the Sixers to see if Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor can co-exist on the floor together.
Southeast Notes: Anderson, Millsap, Tavares
Alan Anderson, who the Wizards signed to a one-year, $4MM pact using part of the their mid-level exception, said the Nets, Hornets and Hawks were also interested in him, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweets. Anderson also said there was one other team that had shown interest during his free agency, but he forgot which team it was.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Paul Millsap‘s salary for next season will be just over $18.67MM, which is below the maximum, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The total value of the forward’s three year deal will be slightly under $60.22MM and it contains a player option in the last season.
- Walter Tavares, also known as Edy Tavares, chose Atlanta over several European teams that offered lucrative contracts, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “For me, it’s a dream come true to sign with Hawks,” Tavares said. “It was difficult because I had good offers in Turkey, in Madrid, in Barcelona. It was difficult decision for me but I think I worked every week to be here with the Hawks. The Hawks came to Gran Canaria to talk to me, to speak with me, to motivate me to work. That was part of the decision to come because of the way they support and motivate me.”
- Tavares will make slightly over $3.01MM over three years with his new deal, as Basketball Insiders’ Hawks Salary page shows. The last year of his deal is non-guaranteed.
Pistons Acquire Steve Blake
7:01pm: The trade is official, according to a Brooklyn press release.
6:37pm: The Pistons have acquired Steve Blake from the Nets in exchange for forward Quincy Miller, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. Charania adds that Brooklyn is likely to release Miller, whose salary is non-guaranteed if waived before Wednesday.
The Nets acquired Blake during last month’s draft in the Mason Plumlee trade. It was reported last week that the Nets were contemplating whether or not to try to negotiate a buyout with the point guard. Blake salary is slightly more than $2.17MM this season. Detroit will absorb Blake’s salary into its cap space, since the team’s signing of Reggie Jackson has yet to become official, former Nets Executive Bobby Marks tweets.
The trade is another cost saving move for Brooklyn this offseason. The team waived forward Cory Jefferson earlier today and used the stretch provision to waive Deron Williams over the weekend.