Latest On Bulls, Tom Thibodeau
2:18pm: Forman once more denied any issues with the coach, as he told reporters, including Johnson (All Twitter links). “While as an organization we try to avoid responding to rumors, there is absolutely no basis to this recent speculation,” Forman said. “We are very proud of what the team and our players have accomplished to this point in the season, and we will not allow anything to detract us from our ultimate goal. The focus of the entire organization from top to bottom is on winning basketball games.”
2:04pm: The tension between the front office and Thibodeau appears to be higher than ever, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
9:18am: The relationship between Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls front office is “beyond repair,” several league sources believe, and many people around the NBA wouldn’t be surprised to see the sides mutually part ways this summer, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Still, the Bulls don’t have any plans to make a coaching change this season, Johnson cautions.
Thibodeau is under contract through 2016/17, though a source told Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops recently that the Bulls wouldn’t mind simply eating the rest of his roughly $11MM in salary if they were to let him go. Executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson feels “lukewarm at best” toward the coach, Sheridan hears, but more recently Paxson publicly backed Thibodeau with a strident response to criticism of the coach. GM Gar Forman dismissed the idea that Thibodeau’s job is in jeopardy, as Forman told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times last week.
Rumors of tension between Thibodeau and Bulls management date back more than a year, and the Knicks, among other teams in the past 12 months, eyed the former Coach of the Year in case he shook free from Chicago. Still, at the beginning of this season there was more talk around the Bulls that the team would end up giving Thibodeau a raise than that the sides would part ways, as USA Today’s Sam Amick reported then.
Thibodeau’s hard-charging style is a challenge for his players, and while many of them have publicly backed their boss, some have felt as though he goes too far, according to Sheridan. The Bulls are in a disappointing fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but they’re only a game and a half behind the second-place Raptors and are coming off a signature overtime win against the Warriors.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Parsons, Randolph
There’s a perception around the NBA that GM Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams are on “thin ice” in New Orleans, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote this week, corroborating an earlier report from Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher that linked the team to former Pistons exec Joe Dumars. Still, the Pelicans are hanging around the playoff race, sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference and two and a half games out of the final postseason spot. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from the Southwest Division:
- Chandler Parsons doesn’t have a role that’s expansive as he envisioned when he signed with the Mavs for three years and $46.085MM this past summer, but he’s not complaining, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details.
- It would be “crazy” for the Mavs to make an offer to Rajon Rondo that even approaches the maximum salary, MacMahon opines in a roundtable piece with other ESPNDallas.com writers, adding that he’d hesitate to give the point guard more than $10MM a year.
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune chronicles the ascent of Dante Cunningham from languishing in free agency two months ago to starter for the Pelicans today. Cunningham signed with New Orleans in early December.
- Zach Randolph would stand to draw offers this summer for more than the two-year, $20MM extension he signed with the Grizzlies last year if he had played out his contract instead, as Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal speculates in a subscription-only piece. Still, the power forward believes the extension was worth signing. “It definitely is, man,” he said. “It’s about sacrificing. I sacrificed. This is what it’s all about, sacrificing for your team, your teammates and your organization.”
- The Rockets have assigned Clint Capela to the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). It’s the fourth time that Houston has sent the No. 25 pick from the 2014 draft to its affiliate.
Kevin Durant Interested In Knicks
12:37pm: An NBA GM cautioned that the Knicks have the same chance at Durant as the Thunder and other contenders, naming the Wizards, Lakers, Clippers and Nets, as the GM said to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
8:38am: Kevin Durant can envision signing with the Knicks when he hits free agency in 2016, a person close to Kevin Durant tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, citing his affection for Carmelo Anthony. Durant is close to Knicks coach and former Thunder teammate Derek Fisher, and, Isola writes, he also admires Knicks GM Steve Mills and assistant GM Allan Houston.
“No question about it,” the person close to Durant told Isola “Kevin loves Carmelo [Anthony]. It could work in New York. But never rule out the Thunder.”
Durant isn’t enamored with Reggie Jackson and is becoming increasingly frustrated with Russell Westbrook, Isola hears. The Knicks tried to acquire Jackson when they and the Thunder participated in a three-team trade earlier this month, and they’re likely to make another run at trading for the guard, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported around the time of the swap. However, the Thunder almost traded Jackson to the Nuggets this week, according to Isola, who says on Twitter that Oklahoma City is “expected” to deal Jackson before the February 19th trade deadline.
Jackson’s set for restricted free agency this summer, while Westbrook’s contract with the Thunder runs one year longer than Durant’s, carrying through 2016/17. Westbrook and Durant have been teammates since the 2008/09 season, but Kevin Love reportedly said that he, Anthony and Durant have spoken, at least casually, about playing together. Love has repeatedly insisted that he’s committed to Cleveland for the long haul, but since the Cavs power forward plans to opt in for next season, that would align his free agency with Durant’s for the summer of 2016, when Anthony will have three years left on his deal with the Knicks. New York only has about $32.3MM in commitments for that summer, when most league executives assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM.
Still, the Knicks will have plenty of competition for Durant, even if he’s indeed growing tired of some of his Thunder teammates. The Wizards, who play in Durant’s hometown, are more than a pipe dream, even if they are a long shot, as TNT’s David Aldridge wrote this week, pointing out a potential income tax savings for Durant if he plays in D.C. and establishes residency in another state. Durant and Kobe Bryant have spoken of mutual interest in playing with each other, though Bryant has said he’ll probably retire after next season, just when Durant is set to hit free agency. Durant has also publicly backed the Thunder, saying recently that he loves playing for Oklahoma City and that, “There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest.”
Northwest Notes: Nelson, Huestis, Robinson
The Thunder nearly dealt Reggie Jackson to the Nuggets this week, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote overnight in a piece linking Kevin Durant to the Knicks, adding that it’s “expected” that the Thunder will trade Jackson before the deadline. Still, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote earlier this week that he’d heard from executives around the league that the Thunder remain on the fence about trading the soon-to-be restricted free agent guard, and that some within the organization want to hang on to him. Jackson’s trade candidacy, which I examined in greater detail last week, looms as a prominent storyline between now and the trade deadline, which is just three weeks away. Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Nuggets want to keep Jameer Nelson around for next season, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nelson has a player option worth nearly $2.855MM, though he isn’t giving an indication of his plans beyond this year, according to Dempsey. The point guard rebuffed Denver’s entreaties in free agency this past summer thinking he would have a larger role with the Mavs, Dempsey adds. Nelson is seeing slightly fewer minutes per game since arriving in Denver via trade this month than he did with the Mavs.
- An NBA GM from outside Oklahoma City tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that he doesn’t think the Thunder‘s D-League arrangement with Josh Huestis will become a trend. The Thunder don’t see this past year’s 29th overall selection as a star, but they do envision him as a potential rotation player, Deveney writes. That suggests that the Thunder will eventually sign him to a rookie scale contract, but Deveney adds that the team has given Huestis no such assurance.
- Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders wishes he had a roster with enough healthy players so he could send Glenn Robinson III on D-League assignment, as Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com notes amid his Rookie Ladder rankings. Minnesota has yet to make any D-League assignments this season.
James McAdoo To Rejoin Warriors D-League Club
James McAdoo, whose 10-day contract with the Warriors expired Wednesday night, will head back to Golden State’s D-League affiliate, a source tells Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). The power forward had been with the Warriors affiliate prior to signing his 10-day deal. He remains eligible to sign another 10-day contract with Golden State later this season.
The Grizzlies reportedly had contact with the Jim Tanner client before he inked his 10-day deal, and they, too, are still eligible to sign him, just like any NBA team, even as he heads back to Golden State’s affiliate. McAdoo appeared in three games during his 10-day stint with Golden State, totaling 14 points and five rebounds. He’s averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per game in the D-League.
The end of McAdoo’s tenure with the Warriors leaves the team with an open roster spot. GM Bob Myers has touted roster stability, and the team seems to have abandoned its pursuit of Ray Allen, at least for the time being.
Heat Sign Tyler Johnson To Second 10-Day Deal
THURSDAY, 10:42am: The deal is official, the team announced.
WEDNESDAY, 12:44pm: The Heat are signing Tyler Johnson to a second 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The guard’s first 10-day deal with the Heat expired a week ago, but a source told Hoops Rumors then that while the club wouldn’t re-sign him for the time being, another deal was a possibility as soon as one week later. Johnson will move back into the open roster spot vacated when his initial 10-day run expired.
Miami had Johnson on its summer league squad after he went undrafted out of Fresno State this summer, and he impressed enough to merit a contract partially guaranteed for $75K so he could join the team for the preseason. He failed to make the opening night roster, but Miami retained his D-League rights, and Johnson averaged 18.5 points in 34.5 minutes per game with 42.6% three-point shooting for the Heat’s affiliate. The 22-year-old had a stint of less than two minutes in one game for the Heat’s big club on his first 10-day contract.
The Heat won’t be able to sign the Pedro Power client to any more 10-day deals once this one expires, so any subsequent contract between the sides this season would have to cover the rest of the season. The other 14 players on Miami’s roster already have contracts for at least the rest of the season, and the Heat’s desire to maintain flexibility in case of a trade factored into their decision to wait on a new 10-day deal for Johnson.
Bucks Sign Kenyon Martin For Rest Of Season
JANUARY 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
JANUARY 28TH, 7:35pm: A source with the Bucks has confirmed that the team will sign Martin for the remainder of the season, Gardner reports (Twitter link).
10:12pm: Martin will be signed to a deal that covers the remainder of the season by the end of the week, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
JANUARY 27TH,1:23pm: Neither Martin nor Kidd acknowledged today that there’s any agreement in place for the rest of the season, as a pair of tweets from Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveal. Kidd said team officials would discuss Martin’s situation, while the big man said he merely hopes the Bucks will re-sign him once his second 10-day contract expires at the end of Wednesday. “I know it’s a business,” Martin said. “Nothing is promised.”
JANUARY 20TH: Martin and the Bucks have already agreed in principle to a deal that covers the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The 15th-year veteran signed his second 10-day contract with Milwaukee on Monday, and since the Bucks can’t issue any more 10-day pacts to him after this one expires, Martin figures to sign the contract for the rest of the season at that point. Charania doesn’t specify how much money is involved or whether the pact will extend into next season, but players who sign after consecutive 10-day contracts almost always do so for the prorated minimum salary.
JANUARY 16TH: The Bucks are likely to retain Kenyon Martin for the rest of the season, as David Alarcón of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link; translation via HoopsHype). Martin is on a 10-day contract that expires at the end of Sunday, and Alarcón indicates that Milwaukee wants to sign him to another 10-day pact and then ink him for the rest of the season. The 37-year-old Andy Miller client would presumably be on board with continuing to play for Jason Kidd, his long-ago teammate, in spite of reported interest from the Cavs and meetings earlier in the season with the Grizzlies and Rockets.
Martin hasn’t seen much playing time during his brief tenure with Milwaukee, totaling 15 minutes spread over three games so far. The Bucks have welcomed back Ersan Ilyasova since coming to terms with Martin, but the team is without starting power forward Jabari Parker for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL, and Larry Sanders continues to sit out with personal issues. So, Milwaukee is still thinner than expected up front.
The team let go of Nate Wolters to open a roster spot for Martin, so keeping Martin would once more limit Milwaukee’s flexibility. The Bucks are nonetheless more than $7MM shy of the salary cap, so they have the financial wherewithal to eat more guaranteed salary if they deem it necessary as they fight for a playoff spot. Milwaukee has climbed to fifth place in the Eastern Conference at 21-19.
Kobe Bryant To Miss Rest Of Season
WEDNESDAY, 5:30pm: The Lakers have announced that Bryant underwent successful surgery today to repair the damage to his rotator cuff. Bryant is expected to be out nine months, which is a longer recovery time than was initially expected.
2:32pm: Scott acknowledged that Bryant is probably done for the season, as Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com relays (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 2:27pm: The Lakers star will undergo surgery to repair his torn rotator cuff, the Lakers announced (Twitter link). The team said it won’t provide a timetable for Bryant’s return until after the operation, but Wojnarowski reported last week that surgery would be season-ending (below). The team generally believes the surgery will require a six-month rehabilitation, but the club will wait for clarification after the procedure takes place on Wednesday, tweets Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.
FRIDAY, 2:33pm: Bryant wants to pursue any avenue he can to play again this season, but there isn’t believed to be any reasonable way for Bryant to remain in the lineup given the significance of the injury to his shooting shoulder, Wojnarowski writes in a full story.
1:47pm: The Lakers and Bryant will wait until Monday to make a decision on his treatment, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Electing surgery would end his season, and there’s still “significant belief” within the organization that he’ll need the operation, but they’re holding off on that call for now, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter).
1:17pm: A final determination on the prognosis for Kobe Bryant‘s torn rotator cuff is still to come, but the Lakers expect Bryant will miss the rest of the season, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). The Lakers announced Thursday that Bryant had suffered the injury to his right shoulder during Wednesday’s game. Still, there’s no fear that the setback will prompt Bryant to retire, and he’s instead more likely to play out his contract in the wake of the injury, Shelburne reported overnight (on Twitter). Bryant recently said he had considered retiring this coming summer, but he’s long been expected to at least play until the end of next season, when his deal expires.
The Lakers can’t apply for a disabled player exception, since the deadline to do so was last week, though the team already has a pair of such exceptions for Steve Nash and Julius Randle. Still, the team has a full 15-man roster, and without others expected to miss a significant amount of time, the Lakers can’t apply for another roster spot via hardship. The team applied for a hardship exception earlier this season, but it expired.
Coach Byron Scott said today that he was worried the injury was a result of his decision to give Bryant heavy minutes earlier this season, notes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Scott added that he reached out to apologize to the 36-year-old star in the wake of the injury and that Bryant told him not to worry about it, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Bryant saw 37.1 minutes per game in December, but that’s tailed off to 30.9 MPG in games thus far in January.
Bryant’s injury can’t do much more harm to the Lakers in the standings, since the team is 12-31 and 13 and a half games out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. However, the loss of the league’s ninth-leading scorer this season seemingly strengthens the chance that the team will keep its first-round pick this year. The Lakers must relinquish it to the Suns if it falls outside the top five, and the purple-and-gold are currently fourth in the Reverse Standings.
The perennial All-Star had never missed 17 games in a single season until he tore his Achilles tendon late in the 2012/13 season. He came back to make only six appearances in 2013/14 before succumbing to a fractured knee, and he’s so far played in only 35 of the Lakers’ 43 games this season.
Wolves Cut Raduljica, Sign Lorenzo Brown
4:36pm: The Wolves have released Raduljica, the team has announced.
WEDNESDAY, 4:02pm: The Wolves have officially signed Brown to a 10-day deal, the team has announced (Twitter link). No official announcement has been made regarding Raduljica being released yet. Unless the Wolves have released Raduljica without making a formal announcement, it seems there’s more to the story, since the team wouldn’t have room on its roster unless the league granted an extra roster spot via hardship
TUESDAY, 11:13am: The Wolves are ending their 10-day contract with Miroslav Raduljica early to clear the way for the team to sign Lorenzo Brown, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Brown has indeed committed to ink with Minnesota in spite of interest from the Pistons as well as the Heat, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links). The team has been planning to sign Brown to a 10-day deal, likely in advance of the team’s game on Wednesday, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Raduljica’s deal isn’t up until the end of Wednesday, but it appears Minnesota will eat the last day or two of his 10-day deal, worth $48,028, to have Brown in place.
Brown rejoins the club that drafted him 52nd overall out of N.C. State in 2013. The Wolves brought him to training camp that year, but they cut him before opening night. The combo guard hooked on with the Sixers, but he saw just 8.6 minutes per game across 26 appearances for Philadelphia, which waived him in March. He’d been averaging 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 31.8 MPG for Detroit’s D-League affiliate this season after the Pistons had him on their NBA roster for the preseason.
Raduljica won’t go on waivers and will simply become a free agent immediately when the team makes the move, as is the case when clubs terminate 10-day pacts. He’s seen just 4.6 minutes per game in five appearances on a pair of 10-day contracts with Minnesota. Raduljica occupies the final roster spot for the Wolves, who have 14 other players signed for the balance of the season, so his deal is the easiest for coach/executive Flip Saunders to let go.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Galloway, Ross, Nets
The idea of waiving Andrea Bargnani looks like it’s off the table for the Knicks until the trade deadline, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks are reportedly shopping the former No. 1 overall pick who’s missed all but two games this season because of injury, but finding a trade partner will be difficult, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined last week. There’s more on the Knicks amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks are trying to find use for the trade exceptions they picked up when they sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavs earlier this month, according to Berman, who writes in the same piece. The Smith exception is worth more than $5.982MM and the Shumpert exception nearly $2.617MM, but they don’t expire until January 5th, 2016.
- Langston Galloway is assured of $275K for next season if he remains on the Knicks roster July 1st, and “well more” than half of his $845,059 salary for 2015/16 would be guaranteed if he’s still under contract at the start of training camp, Berman hears.
- Raptors coach Dwane Casey‘s decision to bench Terrence Ross isn’t a harbinger of a trade, as league sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News the team isn’t making it any easier to deal for the former eighth overall pick.
- Mirza Teletovic is set for discharge from a Los Angeles hospital today, and Nets team doctor Michael Farber expects him to make a full recovery from the multiple blood clots in his lungs discovered shortly after a game against the Clippers last week, the team announced. Teletovic, due for restricted free agency this summer, is out for the year thanks to the blood thinners he’s taking to treat the issue.