Indiana SF Troy Williams To Test Draft Waters
Indiana University junior small forward Troy Williams will enter this year’s NBA draft but has no immediate plans to hire an agent, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter links). The school has confirmed the news. The 6’6″ 21-year-old is a fringe second-round prospect, checking in at 83rd in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 86th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Williams plans to get a clearer picture of his draft stock before deciding whether to withdraw or remain in the draft, Wojnarowski adds. He can retain his college eligibility as he takes part in workouts for teams and, if invited, the NBA combine, so long as he pulls out by May 25th and doesn’t hire an agent.
Williams upped his scoring average slightly this season compared to his sophomore year, from 13.0 points per game to 13.3, but his per-game rebounding average dipped from 7.4 to 5.8. Perhaps most importantly, he developed a 3-point game, hiking his number of attempts from 13 to 75 and nailing 34.7% of his looks from behind the arc this year. He connected on five of eight 3-point attempts during a 21-point performance in Indiana’s season-ending Sweet 16 loss to eventual finalist North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
The native of Hampton, Virginia, earns high marks from Ford for his defense. He was 51st in the 2013 Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of prep powerhouse Oak Hill Academy.
Western Notes: Grizzlies, Arthur, KG, Aldrich
GM Chris Wallace says the Grizzlies have skewed toward youth with the players they’ve signed to compensate for injury this season, given the cushion they’d already built for a playoff spot and the opportunity to “catch lightning in a bottle” with a prospect who pans out, as he tells Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Memphis has had success in this regard in the past with JaMychal Green, and Wallace is optimistic that Xavier Munford, who recently signed a two-year deal, will follow in his footsteps. “I’m very proud of both of those guys,” Wallace said. “They were given a golden opportunity to make the case that they’re NBA players. [Green]’s played more games than anybody has for us this year. JaMychal has proven he’s an NBA rotation player. Xavier came from further off the beaten path than JaMychal. Xavier had never been in an NBA training camp. Xavier had never had a call-up. But he’s got good size and is very long and rangy. He’s got good potential defensively. When he’s out there, it looks like he belongs and he does well. The coaching staff and his teammates are getting more and more confidence in him. You always have to be projective with younger players. He’s a major upward curve that’s very intriguing for us in the future.”
See more from the Western Conference:
- Darrell Arthur wants to remain with the Nuggets, and he would like to do so with a new three or four-year deal, as he tells Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Still, the 28-year-old power forward is undecided about whether to turn down a player option worth more than $2.94MM for next season, as he also said to Dempsey. He’d have to opt out to get that long-term deal he wants, since he’s ineligible to sign an extension on the two-year deal he signed with the team last summer. In any case, he fielded strong interest from other teams at the trade deadline, according to Dempsey.
- Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is optimistic that Kevin Garnett will return for next season, the last on his contract, but coach Sam Mitchell, a teammate of Garnett’s from 1995-2002, isn’t so sure the 39-year-old won’t retire this summer, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune relays. “There’s one person who knows his future, and that’s him,” Mitchell said of Garnett. “You know how he is. He’s just not going to tip his hand one way or the other. He has earned the right to do that.”
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Doc Rivers believes the insertion of Cole Aldrich into the rotation in December sparked the Clippers‘ second unit, and he’s thrived in even more playing time of late, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times examines. Aldrich has a minimum-salary player option for next season.
Top Bloggers: Lucas Hann On The Clippers
Anyone can have a blog about an NBA team, but some set themselves apart from the rest with the dedication and valuable insight they bring to their craft. We’ll be sharing some knowledge from these dialed-in writers on Hoops Rumors with a feature called Top Bloggers. As with The Beat, our ongoing series of interviews with NBA beat writers, it’s part of an effort to bring Hoops Rumors readers ever closer to the pulse of the teams they follow. Last time, we spoke about the Rockets with Ethan Rothstein, who is the managing editor of SB Nation’s The Dream Shake. Click here to see the entire Top Bloggers series.
Next up is Lucas Hann, the editor-in-chief of SB Nation’s Clips Nation, a Clippers blog. You can follow Lucas on Twitter at @LucasJHann. Click here to check out his stories.
Hoops Rumors: Paul Pierce retirement talk came up again lately. Do you think Pierce will walk away after the season, and if he does, would the Clippers be better off?
Lucas Hann: I think it’s time for Pierce to walk away from the game. Last season, he was able to contribute as a shooter and he had enough of a resurgence to justify running it back — this year there’s been no such contribution. He’s shot just 30% from deep on a high volume of good looks, and the rest of his game continues to suffer as he ages. It would certainly be best for both the player and the team.
Hoops Rumors: While there is no denying his talent, Blake Griffin has seemingly been more of a distraction than a leader this season. Should the Clippers look to trade Griffin this summer? If so, which team would be the best fit?
Lucas Hann: There is no way on Earth that the Clippers should trade Blake Griffin.
Hoops Rumors: LeBron James has said that he hopes to play alongside Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony at some point in his career. Say Cleveland were to offer Kyrie Irving straight up for Paul this summer. Should the Clippers pull the trigger on this hypothetical swap?
Lucas Hann: I don’t think that an Irving-Paul swap would be advantageous for the Clippers. While Irving is much younger, Paul is still the better player, defender, and leader, and his game certainly seems well-equipped to age gracefully.
Hoops Rumors: Small forward has been the Clippers’ weak spot the past couple of seasons. Whom can they realistically target to shore up the three spot this summer?
Lucas Hann: The reality of the situation is that with three max contract players, the Clippers’ options to fill roster holes have been incredibly limited over the last few years — not just at small forward, but in the search for a third big as well. They’ve had minimum-level players perform relatively well (Wes Johnson, Matt Barnes), but nobody available for the league minimum can really help in the way that the Clippers have needed. In essence, even though he’s less than perfect, Jeff Green has to be the guy at long-term small forward. If the fit is good — and it’s safe to say the jury is still out — his Bird rights will be the best tool they have to acquire any player this offseason. It’s either Jeff Green, or running it back with Wes Johnson and Luc Mbah a Moute (if you can even afford to re-sign those guys).
Hoops Rumors: How would you grade the performance of Doc Rivers as a coach and as an executive?
Lucas Hann: Grading Doc is very hard because it’s a complex situation, and when you’re as close to it as I am, it’s a lot harder to look at the track record and give him an F. The Spencer Hawes signing, Jared Dudley trade, Lance Stephenson acquisition, etc. — they’ve all been flops. Hawes was a waste of the mid-level and became salary dump fodder, and the Clippers had to give up future firsts in trades where they got rid of Dudley and Lance. There have been other, minor mishaps, like the Jordan Farmar signing and the ineffective minimum guys (Antawn Jamison, Byron Mullens, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and a million others). I’m firmly pro-Doc, so let me explain myself: the Hawes/Dudley/Lance moves, while bad in retrospect, seemed anywhere from good to acceptable at the time, not just to me but across the board. We don’t know how the Jeff Green move will pan out yet but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction. The small failures shouldn’t really be considered failures at all, seeing as minimum-salary players can’t have huge expectations. He should also get credit for a few things: creating the J.J. Redick we know today, and finding solid cheap guys like Matt Barnes, Darren Collison, Wes Johnson, and Cole Aldrich. The Reggie Bullock-for-Austin Rivers trade was clearly a good move for the Clippers as well, cries of nepotism be damned.
As far as his draft record, it’s bad but limited. Picks in the 20s have about a 30% chance of turning into NBA players — he’s chosen 2 guys in that range: Reggie Bullock, who is looking like he’s not in that mold, and C.J. Wilcox, who is still a second-year player developing on the Clippers. He also made a move to buy a second round pick and select Branden Dawson, and it makes him look brilliant if Dawson ever becomes something and can’t be held against him if Dawson flares out. I’m of the opinion that it’s too early to label him a “bad drafter,” but he’s running out of leash.
Overall, on the executive side, Rivers has to be given a C. He hasn’t made many indefensible bad moves, and he’s made some minor moves that turned out far better than expected (Rivers/Aldrich). The draft record is bad, but it’s still early. I think that Doc’s concerns lie primarily year-to-year as the coach of this team, and the organization would benefit from a GM with a more long-term, asset management perspective.
On the coaching side, it’s simpler. Rivers remains a very good basketball coach, while probably not top-tier in the NBA. Certain substitution patterns can be frustrating at times (he often refuses to stagger starters with the bench, letting up huge runs) but overall he uses the regular season as an 82-game development course, readying certain players and lineups for postseason minutes. The game-to-game impatience of fans is often a source of valid criticism, but Doc’s playing a different game. I’d give him a B-plus on the coaching front.
Hoops Rumors: Say you were given the ability to alter one decision the Clippers have made the past three seasons, be it a signing, draft pick, trade, hiring or any other move. Which would you change?
Lucas Hann: The easiest redo would be a draft pick — in 2013, Rudy Gobert, Allen Crabbe and a few more serviceable guys went after Reggie Bullock, and in 2014, the story remains true for C.J. Wilcox. That said, I think it would be a cop-out, because every year every team misses on guys. It’s just the nature of the draft. So I’ll be a little more creative and go with the offseason signings of Spencer Hawes and Jordan Farmar in the summer of 2014. The Clippers had two opportunities to add above-minimum level guys to the roster — the mid-level exception and the much smaller biannual exception. They convinced Hawes, a hot commodity who was offered far more and starting roles, to take a pay cut to be a backup on a good team, and brought in Jordan Farmar with the biannual to be a capable backup point guard and provide depth shooting. We know how the story goes — Hawes flares out, shooting poorly and finding himself out of the rotation come playoff time. Jordan Farmar’s fate was worse, exiting the rotation less than halfway through the season before being cut. The Clippers then moved on to win an amazing first-round series against the Spurs before collapsing, fatigued against Houston in the second round. Doc Rivers relied solely upon his starters and three reserves (Rivers, Jamal Crawford, and Glen Davis) in those two series, and the lack of depth was ultimately what did the Clippers in. If they had an opportunity to redo those two signings (or at least the Hawes one, which was more significant salary-wise), they could potentially have had another big-time contributor in those playoff series.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this interview.
Four Overseas First-Round Prospects Enter Draft
11:51am: Raznatovic client and first-round prospect Ante Zizic has also entered the draft, as the agent says and Eurohoops.net confirms (Twitter link). Zizic, a 6’11” center who plays for Croatia’s KK Cibona, is No. 22 on Ford‘s list and No. 26 on Givony‘s. The 19-year-old’s athleticism and frame offer promise, but his offensive skills need work, as Givony examined in February.
8:58am: Swingman Timothe Luwawu, shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz and center Ivica Zubac are the first-round prospects among a group of nine overseas players who’ve entered the draft, as their agent, Misko Raznatovic, revealed (Twitter links). Small forwards Marko Guduric and Rade Zagorac, point guard Ognjen Jaramaz, forward/center Alpha Kaba and centers Emircan Kosut and Jordan Shako are the others who’ve declared. All of them have until June 13th, 10 days before the draft, to withdraw.
Luwawu, a 6’7″ 20-year-old from France, has a decent shot to become a lottery pick as the No. 12 prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings. Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him 19th. His strengths include an emerging 3-point game, passing and intriguing defensive skill, while ball-handling and a lack of willingness to finish inside are his weaknesses, as Givony observed in February. Luwawu plays for Serbia’s KK Mega Vizura.
Korkmaz appears poised to be drafted in the same range. Ford ranks him 13th while Givony has him at No. 18. The 6’7″ 18-year-old combines a well-honed 3-point stroke with impressive athleticism, but his defense lags behind, as Givony also examined in February. Korkmaz is with Anadolu Efes of Turkey.
The analysts are split on Zubac, with Givony pegging him 25th while Ford has him all the way down at 71st. The physical tools of the 7’1″ 19-year-old, along with his offensive upside and productivity, are his strengths while his defensive fundamentals, lack of polish and history of injuries are the trouble spots, as Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress examines in a pair of videos. Zubac is a teammate of Luwawu’s on KK Mega Vizura.
The 6’8″, 20-year-old Zagorac, another KK Mega Vizura player, has the highest ranking among the other prospects, coming in 72nd in Givony‘s rankings, though Ford doesn’t list him. The 6’10”, 20-year-old Kaba is Ford‘s 83rd-ranked prospect and 49th in Givony‘s 2017 mock draft, though Givony doesn’t list him among the top 2016 hopefuls. He along with Jaramaz, who’s 6’4″ and 20 years old, also play for KK Mega Vizura. Guduric, a 6’6″ 21-year-old, plays for a rival Serbian team, KK Crvena Zvezda. Shako, a 6’10” 19-year-old, is with Torrelodones of Spain.
Grizzlies Sign Bryce Cotton For Rest Of Season
11:21am: Cotton won’t be on the playoff roster, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal clarifies (Twitter link).
11:07am: The Grizzlies have signed Bryce Cotton for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. The move, which comes after Cotton’s 10-day contract expired Saturday, gives Memphis 16 players, one over the normal limit. The NBA allowed the extra roster spot via hardship, the Grizzlies say, though it’s unclear if the league will allow Cotton to take part in the playoffs.
Rest-of-season deals normally carry into the postseason, but the press release from the Grizzlies states that he’s signed for the remainder of the regular season and doesn’t mention the playoffs. The team was exploring the possibility of having extra roster spots in the playoffs, but it didn’t seem as though the league would allow it, as Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal wrote last week, shortly before the team waived Ryan Hollins in a move that appeared to signal the NBA wouldn’t provide hardship exceptions for the postseason.
Injuries have beset Memphis this season, leading to the extra roster spots and a flurry of moves. Marc Gasol is out for the season, and the same appears to be true for Mike Conley, Brandan Wright and Jordan Adams. Tony Allen missed Saturday’s game with a sore left hamstring. Memphis has had an NBA-record 28 players at one point or another this season.
Cotton has appeared in three games, but for less than a minute each time. The 23-year-old point guard also made it into three games with the Suns earlier this season before they released him in January. He began this past fall with the Jazz, who waived him in October, about a week shy of opening night.
His new deal with the Grizzlies will have to be a prorated minimum-salary arrangement, since that’s all Memphis has left to give. So, it’ll be worth $14,913, presuming he formally signed the contract today.
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Brand, Ujiri, DeRozan
The hiring of Bryan Colangelo and resignation of Sam Hinkie doesn’t signal “a departure from a process,” Colangelo insisted Sunday as the Sixers introduced him as their new president of basketball operations, as Christopher A. Vito for The Delaware County Daily Times observes. Colangelo nonetheless expects a “summer of change” for the roster, suggesting that with as many as four draft picks this year, all in the first round, the Sixers will consider parlaying some of that youth into more experienced talent. “You can only have so many developing players on your roster at a time, so there may be some decision to defer some of those to a future date, or may be a decision to package some of those things to acquire players that make sense and fit our strategy,” Colangelo said. “… It’s about putting a basketball team together. We’re really changing our focus toward winning. It’s part of a shift in culture, a mindset. I think [coach] Brett [Brown] is excited about shifting that. … There’s going to be a much-greater likelihood that we win basketball games.”
See more from Philadelphia amid news from the Atlantic Division:
- Elton Brand, whose signing earlier this season was one of the team’s first moves away from developing players, thinks he’ll retire at season’s end, Vito notes (Twitter link). Brand, 37, also thought he’d retire this past summer before the Sixers came calling.
- GM Masai Ujiri‘s contract with the Raptors is believed to be worth $15MM, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, so it appears the executive is seeing an average of $3MM annually on the five-year deal. Grange wonders whether the Raptors will explore restructuring the pact, which has two years left on it, now that the Knicks are reportedly eyeing him.
- DeMar DeRozan admitted Sunday to a fondness for playing in Madison Square Garden, but he said he didn’t know whether he would consider the Knicks in free agency this summer, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Of course, it’s par for the course that a soon-to-be free agent would praise the Garden, and all indications are DeRozan will re-sign with the Raptors, as Grange points out, given the shooting guard’s consistent praise for Toronto and the organization.
Pelicans Sign James Ennis For Season
SATURDAY, 3:33pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
MONDAY, 9:53am: The Pelicans are expected to sign James Ennis for the rest of the season after his 10-day contract expires, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune (Twitter link). That contract is up after Friday’s game against the Lakers. New Orleans is also reportedly poised to sign Jordan Hamilton until season’s end, with his 10-day deal having expired overnight. The moves will presumably come via the hardship provision, as the injury-racked Pelicans had 18 players, three above the regular season limit, until Hamilton’s 10-day ran out. The hardship prevents the team from tacking a non-guaranteed salary for next season onto the deal, so these will likely be true rest-of-season arrangements.
Ennis has played a prominent role for the Pelicans in three games so far, averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.7 turnovers in 27.7 minutes per contest. Hot shooting has been a part of that, as he’s gone 8 for 15 from 3-point range. His 83 total minutes have already exceeded the 47 he saw between the Heat and Grizzlies earlier this season, though Memphis gave him extensive time with its D-League team. In any case, Ennis is showing some of the promise that made him the 50th overall pick in the 2013 draft, albeit in a small sample size.
The Pelicans have some exception money remaining, but presumably Ennis will receive the prorated minimum salary, which would give him $24,855. The rest-of-season deal will cover only three games, but it’ll have some lasting value for New Orleans, since it gives the team the chance to make him a restricted free agent and match offers for him this summer. The Pelicans would have to make him a qualifying offer worth $1,080,431 in order to do so.
Six Contracts In One Season For Ryan Hollins
Ryan Hollins has lived a journeyman NBA existence, playing for nine teams in 10 NBA seasons and starting just 76 times, but he’s had a knack for staying in the league. The 31-year-old entered this season having been waived only once in his career, by the Cavs in 2012, and that was reportedly a mutual decision that led to his signing with the Celtics shortly after he cleared waivers. Circumstances changed this year, however.
When Hollins hit waivers Thursday, it was the fourth time a team released him this season. If no team claims his contract, a prorated minimum-salary deal for the rest of the season, Saturday will mark the sixth time he’s become a free agent this year since Memphis originally signed him on September 25th.
The Grizzlies and the Wizards are the only teams Hollins has played for this season, and Washington only signed Hollins to one of the six contracts he’s been on, so much of his whirlwind of movement is courtesy of the Grizzlies. That’s not just because of the injury problems in Memphis, which only became profound over the past six weeks or so.
Instead, several other factors have been at play, as we’ve detailed below as part of this timeline of the moves involving the Todd Ramasar client this season.
- September 23rd — Hollins agrees to a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal with the Grizzlies after fielding interest from multiple other teams over the summer.
- September 25th — Hollins formally signs with the Grizzlies, though the team doesn’t announce it until three days later.
- October 26th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins, keeping Jarell Martin instead.
- October 28th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent.
- November 30th — The Wizards sign Hollins to a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary to replace the injured Martell Webster. The contract includes language stipulating that Hollins’ salary would become fully guaranteed if he sticks through December 27th.
- December 22nd — The Wizards waive Hollins to instead sign Jarell Eddie, though they don’t announce the move until the next day.
- December 24th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent and missing out on the December 27th guarantee date.
- December 29th — The Grizzlies again sign Hollins to a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract, waiving Russ Smith to make room. Brandan Wright‘s injury had created the need for a big man like Hollins, and coach Dave Joerger asked the front office to re-sign him.
- January 7th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins on the final day they could without his minimum salary becoming fully guaranteed, electing to keep James Ennis and guarantee his salary instead. Memphis signs Elliot Williams to a 10-day contract the next day.
- January 9th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent.
- January 21st — The Grizzlies sign Hollins to a 10-day contract, electing not to re-sign Williams on a second 10-day.
- January 31st — Hollins’ 10-day contract runs to term, so he again becomes a free agent.
- February 1st — The Grizzlies sign Hollins to a second 10-day contract.
- February 11th — Hollins’ 10-day contract runs to term, so he again becomes a free agent. The Grizzlies carry an open roster spot into the February 18th trade deadline, filling it through a three-way trade with the Hornets and Heat in which Chris Andersen and P.J. Hairston come in and only Courtney Lee goes out.
- March 2nd — The Grizzlies backtrack on a decision they made nearly a month prior to keep Ennis over Hollins, waiving Ennis and signing Hollins to a minimum-salary contract for the rest of the season. Hollins’ prorated salary is guaranteed through the end of the season.
- April 7th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins again, this time to re-sign Xavier Munford. Memphis had been allowed to carry Hollins and Munford, along with others, via the hardship provision, but it doesn’t appear likely the NBA will allow the team to continue carrying extra roster spots once the playoffs began.
The RealGM transactions log was used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Wright, Pistons, Draft
Villanova coach Jay Wright told Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com that he has a strong desire to remain with the school, but he left the door slightly ajar to the idea of jumping to the NBA. The 54-year-old who just led the Wildcats to the national title values the ability to fade from the spotlight during the offseason in Philadelphia and indicated that if that changes, it would be the most significant reason for him to leave, O’Neil writes. The Suns are reportedly interested in Wright for their head coaching job, but he said no team has made an offer. “I can say right now that in my mind I plan to stay at Villanova,” Wright said. “But I also don’t want to be a liar. I want to stay. I know I want to stay, but I just say I hope I can stay because I’ve learned from the past how crazy things can be. I hope I can stay at Villanova because this is where I want to be.”
See more NBA-related news:
- The Pistons have decided against re-signing Lorenzo Brown and plan to keep a 14-man roster the rest of the season, barring injury, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy told reporters, including MLive’s David Mayo and Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). The Pistons have three healthy point guards aside from Brown, so Van Gundy saw no need to keep him once his second 10-day contract with the team expired Wednesday, according to Ellis. Brown didn’t appear in a game during his 20 days with Detroit.
- Iowa State junior point guard Monte Morris is eschewing a strong chance to become a second-round NBA draft pick this year to instead return for his senior season, the school announced. The 6’3″ 20-year-old was No. 47 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 57th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
- Conversely, long-shot draft prospect Chris Obekpa will at least test the waters, as he plans to enter the draft without an agent, a source told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). NCAA rules required the 6’9″ forward/center to sit out this season at UNLV following his transfer from St. John’s. Ford ranks the native of Nigeria as just the 177th-best prospect, while Givony, whose overall rankings don’t run past No. 100, pegs him as the 71st-best junior. Obekpa can return to college ball if he withdraws from the draft by May 25th as long as he doesn’t hire an agent.
Northwest Notes: Miller, Harkless, Wiggins
Nuggets coach Michael Malone gushed about Mike Miller this week, and the team would like to re-sign him when he again becomes a free agent this summer, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Malone is willing to have him back even as an assistant coach, but Miller believes he can continue to play. The 36-year-old who’s in his 16th NBA season isn’t sure whether he’ll re-sign with Denver and said he’d like to play more minutes than the career-low 7.8 he’s seen this season, an unlikely proposition if he returns to the Nuggets, according to Dempsey. Still, Miller said he’s in a “good situation” in Denver and added that he’s learned a lot from Malone. “I just can’t speak enough about his work ethic, his example that he sets every day,” Malone said. “Even [Thursday]. This was practice No. 118. Even [Thursday], three games to go, Mike Miller is in here, working hard, setting the example. I don’t think you can have enough guys like that. The fact that he has two world championships, sixth man of the year, rookie of the year. … I’d love to have Mike back. I think he’s been a tremendous help for me, the staff and all of our players. I hope he’s a Nugget for a while.”
See more from the Northwest Division:
- An early February injury to Noah Vonleh was the catalyst for the return of Maurice Harkless to the Blazers rotation, and now Harkless is thriving as a starter, notes Jason Quick of Comcast Sportsnet Northwest. It’s fortuitous not just for Portland’s playoff push but for the bank account of the Relativity Sports client who’s eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
- Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell acknowledges that he coaches Andrew Wiggins with more subtle instruction because of the 21-year-old’s mellow demeanor, but GM Milt Newton is confident the former No. 1 overall pick will become an elite player based on his performances against superstars, as Rob Mahoney of SI.com chronicles. The extension window for Wiggins opens in 2017, but, as Mahoney notes, it’s unclear whether Mitchell or Newton will still be in their jobs this time next year.
- The Nuggets will likely look this summer for a stretch four or sizable wing player who can play both forward positions with strong 3-point shooting and defense, but a healthy Wilson Chandler is liable to fit that bill, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Bontemps nonetheless suggests that Chandler also makes for an intriguing trade chip. Chandler is under contract for at least the next two years but missed all of this season because of hip surgery.