College Notes: Hoiberg, Russell, Johnson
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg was the victim of an upset loss in the NCAA tournament, but he’s been a popular head coaching candidate in NBA circles of late, and the sense around the league is that he’ll be selective and won’t take just any NBA job, tweets Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com. He was a leading candidate for the Warriors job this past offseason, but once the team’s brass interviewed him, they shifted their focus to Steve Kerr, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
Here’s more from the NCAA:
- D’Angelo Russell has had a monster season, and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders believes the point guard should declare for the draft. The freshman had previously expressed uncertainty about whether or not he would leave Ohio State after this semester. Kennedy compares Russell’s impending decision to the decision that Jabari Parker made last season. Parker ended up being selected by Milwaukee with the No. 2 overall pick. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors has Russell as his second best player in his latest Prospect Power Rankings.
- Dakari Johnson hasn’t received much attention due to the amount of talent on Kentucky’s roster, but Ryan Wolstat the Toronto Sun believes the center could become a star. Wolstat mentions several prospects, including Johnson and fellow Wildcat Trey Lyles, that may be available late in the first round, where the Raptors‘ pick is projected to land.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Beasley, Bucks, Celtics
Michael Beasley‘s latest stint with the Heat has been a success, writes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Miami signed him through at least the remainder of the season, after his second 10-day contract expired on Tuesday, and coach Erik Spoelstra believes he can be a contributor down the stretch. “Michael has been very good, and with all the changes and moving parts, we are very fortunate to add a player who is familiar to us and our system,” Spoelstra said. “He has improved a great deal and he has helped us, so he has made the most of the opportunity, and we’ll go from there.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Beasley confirmed that his contract for next season will be a team option, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
- The Bucks have signaled that they won’t pony up any more than the $250MM they’ve already committed toward the construction of a new arena in Milwaukee as legislators continue to haggle over public funding, as Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details.
- The Celtics may be on the verge of making the playoffs, but Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com (video link) is looking ahead to the offseason to see which free agents might land in Boston. Toscano believes it would be wise for the franchise to look at Draymond Green and Wesley Matthews as possible free agent targets. Toscano also names Greg Monroe as someone who the team could conceivably land.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Robinson, Goodwin, Kuzmic
Nate Robinson‘s energy off the bench played a vital role in earning his second 10-day contract, which he signed on Tuesday, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. The guard hasn’t played his best lately, but he believes he can contribute to the team without touching a basketball. “Doc [Rivers] gave me a great opportunity to come in and showcase my talent and be here for these guys and be a veteran leader,” Robinson said. “That’s what I’m working on now, maturing myself and my game and helping our younger guys and leading by example by just playing hard. Everything else will take care of itself.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic examines the development of 2013 29th overall pick Archie Goodwin, who’s seeing more playing time for the Suns of late, a couple of months after he vented about his lack of minutes. The Suns drew trade suitors for Goodwin but let them know that he remains a significant part of their plan.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to their D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to the team’s Twitter feed. To date, the 7’1″ center has only played in 16 games this season, totaling 72 minutes of NBA action.
- Chris Paul elevated his game and kept the Clippers afloat in the Western Conference while Blake Griffin was out due to an injury. Tom Ziller of SB Nation believes Paul deserves to receive the NBA’s MVP award. Ziller points out that in addition to scoring 18.4 points per game, the point guard creates 23.4 points per game off of his assists. This, along with Paul’s low turnover rate and quality defense, makes the 29-year-old a dark horse contender in the wide open MVP race.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Wallace, Nogueira, Robinson
Gerald Wallace plans to play out the last year of his contract during the 2015/16 season, but he will spend this summer deciding whether he will play past then, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I would love to continue to play, but it’s more about my family and my kids,” he said. “I’m only 32 years old and I’ve been in here 14 years. That’s almost half of my life in this league. My kids are getting older. They’re starting to play high school sports now. It depends on if they’re comfortable with me still playing or they’re ready for me to come home and be part of their lives.” Wallace will make slightly over $10.1MM next season as part of a four-year, $40MM contract he signed with the Nets in 2012. About a year later, the forward was dealt to the Celtics, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors notes in his latest piece.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors have recalled Lucas Nogueira from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, according to the team’s Twitter feed. To date, the Brazilian center has only seen 23 minutes of NBA action this season.
- Thomas Robinson, an unrestricted free agent after the season, stopped short of saying he’d like to return to the Sixers, but he said that a team that includes him as well as Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid would be “scary” in a good way, observes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers can’t re-sign him to a starting salary of greater than $4,660,482 since the Blazers declined their fourth-year rookie scale team option on him this past fall.
- Mason Plumlee, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams were among the Nets to praise Kevin Garnett as they prepare to face him for an opponent for the first time since Brooklyn traded him for Young at the deadline. Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News and Tim Bontemps of the New York Post have the details. “He meant a lot to this organization and to the team in the short time he was here,” Williams said. “I said it a million times — he’s a guy that you just learn so much from, just watching him every day, his work ethic, his leadership ability and he’s just a great guy to be around.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post
Multiple Teams Interested In Eric Griffin
The Jazz, Clippers and Celtics are all showing interest in a possible call up of Eric Griffin, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Griffin is currently playing for the Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate of the Mavs. Dallas signed the 24-year-old last summer but released him right before the season began. Griffin is averaging 17.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in the D-League this season.
Utah currently has a full 15-man roster. With the exception of Jack Cooley, who signed his second 10-day contract today, all of the players are signed through at least the end of the season. Boston also has a full 15-man roster.
Los Angeles makes the most logical destination for the 6-foot-8 forward, as its wings are arguably its greatest area of weakness. The team currently has a 14-man roster, and is expecting to sign Jordan Hamilton for the rest of the season. Hamilton sprained his ankle on Sunday, the last day of his 10-day contract and Doc Rivers said that the injury won’t affect the team’s decision to retain him the rest of the way. Griffin is more likely to replace Nate Robinson, who isn’t signed through the season, although that is just my speculation.
Celtics Notes: Stevens, Zeller, Thomas
The Celtics are in the heat of the playoff race and the Boston’s success in back-to-back games has been key to the team remaining in contention, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. After Saturday’s win over the Pacers, the team owns a record of 9-5 in the tail-end of back-to-back games this season. Boston is 29-36 on the season, which is a half game behind Charlotte for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more out of Boston:
- Brad Stevens doesn’t have the great win-loss record in the NBA that he had in the college ranks, but this season’s success has proven that he is more than capable to coach at any level, opines Mark Montieth of Pacers.com. The Celtics traded their top two players in Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green and lost Jared Sullinger, who was arguably the team’s third best player, for the season due to injury. As a result, Stevens was left with a team mostly full of young, yet unproven talent and he put the team in good position to be playoff bound.
- Tyler Zeller is having a solid season for the Celtics and, as Zach Lowe of Grantland notes (Twitter link), Boston used its cap flexibility to acquire the center last offseason. The team used a trade exception from the Paul Pierce deal worth nearly $10.3MM to obtain Zeller, Marcus Thornton and a protected first-round pick. At the trade deadline this season, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge dealt Thornton and that draft pick to acquire Isaiah Thomas from the Suns.
- Boston is 9-5 since dealing for Thomas. The 26-year-old is averaging 21.4 points and 5.4 assists per game and I believe that he will be the team’s starting point guard next season. Thomas will make slightly more than $6.91MM next season as part of a four-year, $27MM contract that he signed last offseason. In comparison to the salaries of other starting point guards, which can be found on our 2015/16 Salary Rankings, that deal looks to be extremely team-friendly.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Kanter, Gasol
Kevin Durant has returned to practice for the first time since his latest surgery, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman reports. “ [Durant] Went through some of the practice today,” coach Scott Brooks said. “Did some 3-on-3.” Oklahoma City is 18-20 on the season without Durant in the lineup. Russell Westbrook has played in 22 of those games and the team has gone during 12-10 during those contests.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division
- Since his arrival in Oklahoma City, Enes Kanter is playing more minutes at the center position and the big man is happy with his role, Slater notes in the same piece. “Only thing I want to do is give confidence to my teammates,” Kanter said. “Every time down the court I want them to take those shots. I want the point guards, the forwards to feel free to take those shots and know that the big is down there trying to get that rebound.” Kanter is averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game since becoming a member of the Thunder.
- The Thunder made a hard push to sign Pau Gasol last offseason. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Scott Brooks all met with Gasol in Los Angeles in an attempt to recruit him to Oklahoma City, but, as the big man tells Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman, he’s happy with the decision he made. “At some point I had to make a decision on where I thought I would fit better as a basketball player,” Gasol said. “And I think so far it’s been proven that I made a pretty good choice.” The 34-year-old ended up signing a contract with the Bulls that will pay him roughly $22MM over three years.
- Justin Hamilton has fit in well since arriving in Minnesota, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “He knows how to play,” President of Basketball Operations and coach Flip Saunders said. “Sometimes you need to put some guys in there who won’t screw it up for somebody else. Sometimes you just need a guy you can put in there. He’s a 7-foot Robbie Hummel. He’s going to go in there, know every coverage and what he needs to do. If he gets beat, it won’t be because he made a mental mistake.” The Wolves claimed Hamilton after the Pelicans waived him earlier this month.
Bucks Likely To Match All Offers For Middleton
The Bucks are likely to match any offers that restricted free agent Khris Middleton receives during the offseason, according to Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times. One NBA assistant general manager tells Woelfel that he estimates Middleton will receive a multi-year contract that averages around $7MM per year, while another NBA source predicts the 23-year-old will earn $8MM per year.
Those figures would be a dramatic raise over his current league minimum salary, which is slightly more the $915K. The forward has played well for the Bucks this season, averaging 12.9 points per game while shooting 43.8% from behind the arc. Middleton has expressed his desire to remain in town long-term. “I definitely want to stay here,’’ Middleton said. “We got a nice team, a good organization, a great city to play in. I want to be here in the future.’’
Woelfel notes that Middleton is represented by Jeff Schwartz, who is a friend of Bucks owner Marc Lasry. Schwartz also represents coach Jason Kidd as well as several other Bucks players. The forward arrived in Milwaukee during the 2013 offseason as part of a package that sent Brandon Jennings to Detroit. The Bucks also received Viacheslav Kravtsov as well as Brandon Knight, who, at the time, was considered the main prize of the deal. Middleton, who was perceived as merely a throw-in, is the only member of the trade remaining on the team’s roster.
Central Notes: Jackson, Bulls, Love, Pacers
The Pistons are only 1-10 since Reggie Jackson made his debut. The team parted with D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler to obtain the point guard at this year’s deadline and Jackson hasn’t been spectacular since coming to Detroit, especially on the defensive end. However, I believe the team’s woes have just as much to do with losing Singler as they do with Jackson’s struggles. The Pistons did not have much depth before the deadline and making a two-for-one trade further diminished an area of weakness. Detroit sits at 23-43 on the season, which is seven games behind Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls have lost four out of their last five games and coach Tom Thibodeau is concerned about how the team is playing, writes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. “Everyone is going through the same thing right now, you’re headed down the stretch,” Thibodeau said. “So if your house is not in order now, you’re in trouble.” Chicago currently has a 14-man roster, as our Expanded Roster Counts Page indicates. Adding someone, even on a 10-day contract, to help the team while Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler recover from their respective injuries, may be something the team should look into.
- The Cavs‘ recent stretch of success has helped Kevin Love cope with his struggles this season, writes Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. “Everything is easier when you’re winning,” Love said. “So you can have some really good games, and then some tough times. The rotation might be different. But as long as you’re winning, it kind of makes up for everything. And that’s the kind of way it’s been here.” In my latest poll, nearly 60% of Hoops Rumors’ readers believe Love will leave Cleveland in the offseason.
- Paul George‘s return may be dominating headlines in Indiana, but the team is focused on making the playoffs with the players currently on the court, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com. “Honestly, we’re not even thinking about Paul right now,” coach Frank Vogel said. “How effective is he going to be having not played in a year? This is a serious injury. He still has a lot of hurdles to pass before he even gets back on the court. We’re trying to become the best possible team we can be without him and if he gets back, that’s just going to be a bonus.” The Pacers own a record of 30-35, which is good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Brown, Bhullar
The Warriors could have traded Klay Thompson in a package for Kevin Love and GM Bob Myers deserves praise for the move he didn’t make. Myers is one of a few candidates that Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors mentions in his latest poll that asks who should win the Executive of the Year award.
Here’s more from the Pacific Conference:
- The Knicks have a leg up on the Lakers in the rebuilding process because Carmelo Anthony chose New York in free agency last summer, opines Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Ding adds that the Lakers have the edge in young talent because Los Angeles has Julius Randle and New York lacks a prospect with that level of talent.
- Jabari Brown has impressed the Lakers so far during his 10-day contract, which he signed on Tuesday, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. “Out of all our guys, I thought Jabari played the best,” said coach Byron Scott. “I thought he did a pretty good job, for being just kind of thrown in there for that many minutes.” Brown made three of four baskets during 18 minutes in his debut against the Knicks on Thursday.
- Sim Bhullar could be the next great big man in the league, opines Daniel O’Brien of Bleacher Report. The 360-pound center is averaging 7.84 rebounds and 3.62 blocks per game for the Reno Bighorns, the D-League affiliate of the Kings.