Celtics Sign Andre Dawkins To 10-Day Deal
FRIDAY, 11:47am: The deal is official, the team announced, adding that it has assigned Dawkins to the D-League.
WEDNESDAY, 10:44am: The Celtics and Andre Dawkins have reached agreement on a deal for a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Boston has an open roster spot, so no corresponding move would be necessary. The signing is expected to take place Thursday, according to Charania, though Dawkins is likely to spend most if not all of those 10 days on D-League assignment, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reported Tuesday. In any case, it’s no surprise the sides have struck a deal, since the C’s had been planning to bring Dawkins to Boston this week to meet with him as they considered inking him to a 10-day contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Monday.
The 23-year-old joined Miami’s D-League team just last week shortly after the Heat waived him from the NBA roster rather than guarantee his rookie minimum salary for the season. He’s impressed in 11 appearances with the Sioux Falls Skyforce both at this past weekend’s D-League showcase and while on D-League assignment from the Heat, knocking down 53 of 104 three-point attempts to solidify his reputation as a premier outside shooter. The former Duke Blue Devil went undrafted this summer, but he joined the Rockets and Heat for summer league and made Miami’s opening-night roster out of training camp.
The Heat were reportedly interested in bringing back the John Spencer client on a 10-day contract at some point this season, but now it appears they’ll have to wait to see how it turns out for Dawkins with Boston. The Celtics will look to re-sign him to a second 10-day contract if his first one goes well, and he’d spend more time with the NBA team rather than their D-League affiliate on his second 10-day, as Blakely writes in a full story.
Mirza Teletovic To Miss Rest Of Season
Nets forward Mirza Teletovic will miss the rest of the season while he undergoes treatment for multiple blood clots in his lungs, the Nets announced. The 29-year-old left Thursday’s loss to the Clippers after experiencing shortness of breath. He’ll remain hospitalized for the time being, and he’ll go on blood thinners that will make it impossible for him to return in 2014/15, according to the team.
It seemed as though Teletovic had averted major trouble when he said on Twitter overnight that everything was OK following a “small problem,” and he had attributed the issue to fatigue, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets, but the issue is apparently more profound than he thought. The third-year veteran had been seeing more minutes per game this season (22.3) than in his previous two NBA campaigns, though his playing time had been receding with each passing month.
The Nets have an open roster spot, as our roster counts show, but they’re limited to handing out the prorated minimum salary to any free agents, and as a tax team, the cost of any signing would be multiplied. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception was last week.
There were conflicting reports on whether Teletovic’s name came up in conversation between the Nets and Celtics when they apparently discussed potential Rajon Rondo trades earlier this season. The native of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the final year of his contract, making slightly more than $3.368MM, and he said in the fall that he planned to listen to offers from the Nets as well as others after the season. The Nets can make him a restricted free agent if they extend a qualifying offer worth more than $4.21MM.
Latest On Goran Dragic
FRIDAY, 7:43am: Dragic feels better about his situation in Phoenix this year than he did last, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. He’s happy where he isn’t thinking much about free agency, but he’s confident that he’ll attract strong offers this summer, the source also said.
MONDAY, 1:09pm: The Rockets have tried to trade for Goran Dragic this season, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick. It’s unclear how recently GM Daryl Morey has sought the Suns guard, and whether it came before or after Houston’s trade for Corey Brewer and signing of Josh Smith, but the Rockets’ interest in Dragic appears to be longstanding. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported in September that Houston was considering a free agent run at Dragic next summer, when the seventh-year veteran has said he plans to turn down his $7.5MM player option for 2015/16. Dragic reiterated recently to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he intends to opt out, and he wouldn’t rule out playing with any team, including the Lakers, who are known to be interested in pairing Dragic with Kobe Bryant, as Zillgitt and Amick write.
“Any player that is one of the best players in the league would be cool to play with. Kobe is a legend,” Dragic said to Medina. “I know how awesome it is to be around those superstars. If you’re patient enough and you listen, you learn a lot.”
Dragic has had similar praise for the Knicks, as it seems the point guard doesn’t want to close off any potential avenues in free agency, which jibes with what Sean Deveney of The Sporting News heard in November. GMs from around the league told Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher earlier this season that the Suns were open to trading the 28-year-old native of Slovenia. However, rival executives have had the impression that Phoenix would be more willing to part with Eric Bledsoe or Isaiah Thomas amid multiple inquiries on all three, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who wrote last month.
Dragic’s numbers have tailed off this season after a career year in 2013/14, though that’s no surprise given the crowded situation in the backcourt for the Suns, who signed Bledsoe and Thomas to long-term deals this past summer. Suns GM Ryan McDonough said after the Bledsoe signing that he and the Suns “fully anticipate taking care of” Dragic, who’s in his second stint with the Suns after leaving the Rockets to sign with Phoenix in 2012.
Grizzlies Sign Tyrus Thomas To 10-Day Deal
THURSDAY, 3:37pm: The Grizzlies have officially inked Thomas to a 10-day contract, the team has announced in a press release.
WEDNESDAY, 2:49pm: Memphis is expected to sign Thomas to his 10-day deal on Thursday, GM Chris Wallace confirms to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal, who writes in a subscription-only piece.
TUESDAY, 3:59pm: The Grizzlies are signing Tyrus Thomas to a 10-day contract, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Broussard indicates that the former No. 4 overall pick has already put pen to paper, though the team has yet to make any announcement. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier that the sides were talking about such a deal, which will be the first for Thomas since Charlotte waived him using the amnesty clause in the summer of 2013.
Thomas had joined Memphis’ D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy, last week, in an effort to showcase his talents for NBA teams. This move obviously worked, with Thomas averaging 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in two appearances for the Energy. Memphis had an open roster spot, so no additional move will be required to bring Thomas aboard.
In 400 career NBA games, Thomas has averaged 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks. His career slash line is .438/.235/.732.
Benson Family Sues For Control Of Pelicans
Tom Benson’s daughter and two of his grandchildren have filed suit seeking control of the Pelicans and the National Football League’s Saints in response to Benson’s announcement today that his wife will control the teams upon his death, reports Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. The filing in Orleans Parish Civil District Court claims the 87-year-old Benson is unfit to manage his teams and seeks to install Gayle LeBlanc, Benson’s daughter, as the executor of his sports and business affairs, with granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc in a secondary position, as Duncan details. Benson LeBlanc was to inherit the teams prior to Benson’s announcement earlier today. Benson grandson Ryan LeBlanc is also one of the petitioners in the suit, Duncan notes.
The suit alleges that Benson’s wife, Gayle Benson, is attempting to take advantage of her husband, and it claims that the owner’s health is in much worse shape than publicly known, according to Duncan. Tom Benson has conceded that his health has declined over the last year after two knee surgeries, as USA Today’s Jim Corbett wrote earlier today.
The Pelicans are the third-least valuable team in the NBA, according to Forbes, which released its annual survey of team values this week. Still, the franchise’s $650MM worth represents a sharp increase over last year, when Forbes pegged it at $420MM.
The Pelicans suit is reminiscent of the battle over the Clippers this past summer. Shelly Sterling successfully wrested control of the Clippers from husband Donald Sterling after claiming that he was no longer fit to manage the franchise and sold the team for $2 billion for former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Wizards Most Aggressive Suitor For Ray Allen
The Wizards are making numerous calls on Ray Allen and they’ve been pushing the hardest to sign the 39-year-old free agent, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). Allen is still unsure of what he’ll do this season, in spite of his hints earlier this week that he intends to return to the NBA, and while he’s working out at his home in Miami, he’s also enjoying time with his family, Kennedy cautions (on Twitter).
Washington has planned to keep up its pursuit until the Jim Tanner client gives the team a definite no, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com wrote earlier this month. Michael described the team’s contact with Allen as “routine” and said that it was nonetheless a long shot that the sharpshooter would end up with the Wizards. Washington only has the prorated minimum salary to offer, and Allen has signaled a strong desire for more than that, but the Wizards do have an open roster spot.
LeBron James reportedly paid a recent visit to try to recruit Allen to the Cavs, who’ve seemingly been the front-runners to land him. Others from the Cavs organization have kept in contact with the league’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, too, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com wrote.
The Warriors appear to have ceased consideration of Allen, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group indicated overnight, but several other teams have been connected to Allen over the past several months. The Warriors were among the most recent teams to have been linked to him, a group that includes the Clippers and Grizzlies, and the Bulls and Spurs have reportedly been eyeing him, too.
And-Ones: Durant, Heat, Raptors, Bynum, Heslip
The Wizards seem like prime contenders for Washington native Kevin Durant when he hits free agency in 2016, but the thought of a homecoming isn’t on the reigning MVP’s mind, at least yet, as he told reporters, including Royce Young of ESPN.com.
“I’ve never thought about it, to be honest,” Durant said. “I mean, I hear it in the summertime. I heard it for the first time this summer. That’s when it started heating up. I love playing for Oklahoma City, man. There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest.”
The Thunder picked up a key victory Wednesday against the Wizards as they fight to grab a playoff spot and salvage this year’s chance to win a title while Durant remains under contract. Here’s more from around the league:
- Miami won’t re-sign Tyler Johnson to another 10-day contract, at least for the time being, a source tells Hoops Rumors. The Heat want to maximize their flexibility in case of a trade, but it’s possible that they’ll re-sign him later, perhaps as soon as a week from now, the source added. Johnson’s original 10-day pact with the Heat expired after Wednesday.
- The Raptors had interest in Tyrus Thomas before he reached a deal to sign a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- NBA interest is growing in former Pistons point guard Will Bynum, whose Chinese team has won 22 games in a row since he joined the club last month, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Still, the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs threaten to keep him off-limits to NBA teams until March, Wojnarowski notes.
- Wolves camp invitee Brady Heslip will sign with BC Igokea in Bosnia, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt reports (on Twitter). Gino Pilato of D-League Digest first reported that Heslip had left the D-League affiliate of the Kings, with whom he had been playing since Minnesota cut him loose (Twitter link).
- Providence junior small forward Tyler Harris plans to enter this year’s NBA draft, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Harris is the 65th-best NBA prospect among juniors, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have him within his rankings.
Atlantic Notes: Lopez, Kidd, Robinson
The Nets weren’t as close to trading Brook Lopez to the Thunder as they seemed, a league source tells Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, adding that Brooklyn simply didn’t want Lance Stephenson, who would have come from Charlotte in a three-way proposal, or Kendrick Perkins. Still, a Lopez trade remains a possibility, Bucher writes, and the Nuggets are expected to make another run at him, according to Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, just as they did when they reportedly spoke about a package with JaVale McGee as the centerpiece. There’s more on the Nets amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:
- “High ranking sources” in the Nets organization dispute to Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News that Mikhail Prokhorov wants to sell his majority interest in the club, but those same sources tell Abramson that it’s not out of the question that Prokhorov will give up the team.
- The management for Jason Kidd‘s ownership stake in the Nets has asked the NBA for more time to find a buyer, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com. Kidd owns one-sixth of 1% of the Nets, Soshnick notes, but he’s required to divest himself of that share, worth $2.5MM based on the Forbes valuation of the franchise, since he’s now coaching the Bucks instead.
- Nate Robinson gave up $689K of this season’s salary of nearly $2.107MM in his buyout agreement with the Celtics, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- The Knicks and Sixers both have dreadful records this season, but only in Philadelphia’s case is that according to any sort of plan, as Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines.
Update On Traded 2015 First-Round Picks
NBA teams are just about at the midway point of their 82-game schedules, so the sample size is plenty large enough to reasonably project where those clubs will end up in the standings. The playoff picture is starting to come into focus, and the same is true of the draft order.
Half of the 30 picks in this year’s first round have been promised via trade, though in most cases, those picks carry protections that put conditions on whether they’ll be conveyed this year. It’s already safe to assume that the Sixers won’t give up their pick to the Celtics, since Philadelphia, which owns the league’s third-worst record, would have to make the playoffs for that to happen. Conversely, the Rockets would have to miss the playoffs to avoid ceding their first-rounder to the Lakers. Still, there are other protected picks that could easily go one way or another.
Here’s an update on the likelihood of each protected pick changing hands:
Tossups
Team: Lakers (12-31)
Pick traded to: Suns
Protection: Top 5
Current position: 4th
Team: Kings (16-26)
Pick traded to: Bulls
Protection: Top 10
Current position: 9th
Team: Thunder (22-20)
Pick traded to: Nuggets
Protection: Top 18
Current position: 14th
Team: Heat (18-24)
Pick traded to: Sixers
Protection: Top 10
Current position: tied for 15th
Traded picks likely to change hands:
Team: Pelicans (21-21)
Pick traded to: Rockets
Protection: Top 3 and 20-30
Current position: 13th
Team: Rockets (29-14)
Pick traded to: Lakers
Protection: Top 14
Current position: tied for 24th
Traded picks likely to stay put:
Team: Timberwolves (7-34)
Pick traded to: Suns
Protection: Top 12
Current position: 2nd
Team: 76ers (8-34)
Pick traded to: Celtics
Protection: Top 14
Current position: 3rd
Team: Mavericks (30-13)
Pick traded to: Celtics
Protection: Top 3 and 15-30
Current position: 26th
Team: Grizzlies (30-12)
Pick traded to: Nuggets
Protection: Top 5 and 15-30
Current position: 27th
Additional notes:
- The Clippers will send their first-round pick to the Celtics regardless of finish, since there’s no protection on the pick. It’s the No. 23 selection as it stands now.
- The Hawks have the right to swap picks with the Nets, and they likely will, since Brooklyn’s pick is tied for No. 15 and Atlanta’s is at No. 29.
- The Bulls will have the right to swap picks with the Cavaliers, unless Cleveland somehow fails to make the playoffs. Chicago’s record is better by four games, but that margin is still too close to suggest it’s likely that the Bulls will take the Cavs’ pick.
- The Heat’s pick stands five spots away from the top 10, the protected range that would allow Miami to keep the selection, but they’re only a game and a half better than the Pistons, who currently occupy the 10th spot in the lottery order. So, that’s why Miami’s pick is in the Tossups category.
Central Notes: Allen, Mozgov, Whittington
LeBron James paid a visit to Ray Allen recently to try to recruit the free agent sharpshooter to the Cavs, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Fellow Cavs James Jones and Mike Miller, as well as Cavs assistant coach Tyronn Lue, have also remained in contact with Allen, who this week hinted that he’ll play this season. The Cavs have plenty of competition for the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shot maker, though the Warriors are no longer mulling a run at him amid the emergence of Justin Holiday, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. While we wait to see if Cleveland winds up with yet another of its targets, here’s more from the Central Division:
- Timofey Mozgov has had a tangible positive effect on the Cavs, and LeBron is quite pleased with the big man, as USA Today’s Sam Amick and Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group detail. “When we made the trade, everything that he brings us is what we needed and wanted,” James said about Mozgov. “He’s going to be huge for our team. Very, very skilled offensively and understands defensively. Just a smart basketball player and great playing with him.”
- Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel have spoken about giving more playing time to rookie Shayne Whittington, notes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Whittington is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
- Pistons owner Tom Gores insists he never second-guessed his decision to hire Stan Van Gundy, even as the team stumbled to a 5-23 start before its recent turnaround, MLive’s Brendan Savage observes. “Never,” Gores said. “Never. You got that on the record? Never. We have an amazing guy. I’m so, so proud that we got him here to Detroit.”