Eastern Notes: Thornton, Wroten, Wood
The Wizards brought in Marcus Thornton because they needed someone healthy, coach Randy Wittman said, but Thornton is hoping that he’s more than just a stopgap measure, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post relays. The two-guard is on a minimum-salary deal through the end of the season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms, but Thornton indicated that he’d like to re-sign once he hits free agency in the summer.
“It’s about me going to some place I can fit in right away,” Thornton said. “And it could be long term. … Hopefully I could find a home here.”
He’ll be asked to make an impression with his shooting, observes J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Thornton is a career 35.9% 3-point shooter. See more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Knicks team president Phil Jackson confirmed the team will sign Tony Wroten but conceded that he “needs a lot of medical attention” and probably won’t play in a game this season, notes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Reports a week ago indicated Wroten and the Knicks were poised for a two-year deal.
- The Zen Master’s stance that an all-out pursuit of a point guard this summer isn’t necessary doesn’t augur well for the Knicks, given the presence of an outstanding point guard on the teams with the top records this season, contends Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- Christian Wood returned to the D-League affiliate of the Sixers following the early termination of his 10-day contract, notching 23 points and eight boards Sunday, notes Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). Philadelphia has released Wood twice this season.
And-Ones: Ulis, Dawson, Lawson, Budinger
University of Kentucky coach John Calipari this week erased nearly any doubt that sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis will enter this year’s draft, telling reporters he’ll be drafted this year, as Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal relays. The 20-year-old, who today won the SEC Tournament MVP award, hasn’t made a formal announcement, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him among those “officially” in the draft, for what it’s worth. Ford ranks Ulis as the 25th-best draft prospect this year, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 37th on his top prospects list. See more from around the NBA:
- Clippers rookie Branden Dawson is in custody on $50K bail after police arrested him this morning on felony domestic violence charges, reports TMZ Sports. Dan Woike of the Orange County Register confirmed the arrest (Twitter links). The team recalled Dawson, last year’s 56th pick, from the D-League on Saturday.
- The contract Ty Lawson signed with the Pacers was a prorated minimum-salary deal that covers just the rest of this season, meaning he’s still on track to hit free agency this summer, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. He’ll see $265,068 from Indiana, meaning he came out slightly ahead after giving up $225K in his buyout with the Rockets.
- Pincus also lists the Pacers with a $5MM cap hit for the waived contract of Chase Budinger, indicating that he didn’t give up any of his salary to secure his release. Previous reports referred to the parting of ways as a buyout.
Texas Notes: Cuban, Martin, Goudelock, Holt
The Mavericks haven’t been a real contender for a few seasons, but owner Mark Cuban isn’t ready to shift gears and begin the rebuilding process, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Dallas lost Saturday to the Pacers to drop to .500 and just two games up in the loss column on ninth-place Utah.
“We’ll always be opportunistic,” Cuban said. “It takes a little bit of luck. I don’t care who it is. Then you look at the teams that said, ‘OK, let’s just blow it up.’ Who’s it worked for lately?”
The Mavericks are nonetheless stuck on the mediocrity treadmill, having no clear path to becoming legitimate contenders, MacMahon contends in the same piece. MacMahon examines the team’s decisions since winning the title in 2011 and doubts that Dallas can attract marquee free agents during the upcoming summer due to the plethora of teams set for ample cap flexibility. See more on the Mavs amid news from the Lone Star state.
- Kevin Martin was linked to the Mavs, Rockets, Cavaliers, Hawks, Heat and Thunder as he worked a buyout with the Timberwolves a couple of weeks ago, but he said the Spurs were his choice all along, according to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater (Twitter link). “There was only one team I’d do a buyout for and it was here [San Antonio],” Martin said.
- Andrew Goudelock believes he significantly expanded his game in the nearly three years that passed between the end of his time with the Lakers in 2013 and his signing with the Rockets this week, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “My basketball IQ has grown,” Goudelock said. “I’ve seen a lot of different things. I’m able to read offenses and defenses better. I’m able to handle the ball a lot better. I’m able to play both guard positions. I’m able to see things on the floor I wasn’t able to see before. I was just a scorer. That’s all I brought to the game. Now, I’m passing the ball and defensively I’ve gotten a lot better. I’ve come a long way defensively. That was one of the knocks on me. I’m a pretty decent defender now.”
- Critics could argue that Peter Holt, who transferred control of the Spurs to his wife this past week, simply rode the wave of success that coach/president Gregg Popovich built, but Holt’s faith in Popovich amid difficulty early in his coaching tenure shows that the outgoing owner deserves credit, opines Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
D-League Boots Robert Upshaw For Drug Violation
The D-League has tossed Lakers affiliate player Robert Upshaw from the league for violating its anti-drug program, according to Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). The big man was a highly touted college prospect, but his checkered past caused NBA teams to pass on him in last year’s draft. He was with the Lakers for the preseason and joined their D-League team shortly thereafter. It’s unclear what the terms of Upshaw’s punishment are, with the D-League saying merely that his playing services had been terminated for the drug violation.
Upshaw, 22, didn’t see the court much in the D-League this season, as he averaged only 15.6 minutes per game over 28 appearances, but he was impressive on the boards, snagging 4.5 per outing in that limited playing time. The 7-footer remains a work in progress on the offensive end, averaging 7.3 points to accompany a slash line of .477/.200/.610.
The center failed to impress the Lakers during the preseason, nabbing just 3.0 rebounds while scoring 2.5 points in 14.1 minutes per contest in four appearances this past fall. Upshaw pocketed a $35K partial guarantee from that contract, one that took several weeks to finalize. The team had set “offseason off-court goals” for him to meet before officially signing him, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times.
Atlantic Notes: Rambis, ‘Melo, Carroll, Ainge
Knicks president Phil Jackson acknowledges he has a close relationship with Kurt Rambis and that he talks more frequently with the interim coach than with former coach Derek Fisher, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays from the Zen Master’s chat with reporters today (Twitter link). Jackson wouldn’t commit to keeping Rambis beyond the season but hinted that he’d like to see him earn the removal of his interim tag, observes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter), which jibes with an earlier report that Jackson was pulling for Rambis to win the permanent job when he named him interim boss. Jackson didn’t appear eager to move on from Carmelo Anthony either, saying he still feels as though ‘Melo is a franchise cornerstone, Begley relays (Twitter link). Jackson cited the team’s system when he said he’s not going to obsess over chasing an elite point guard in free agency this summer, according to Begley (via Twitter), so the triangle remains at the heart of all things Knicks. See more from the Atlantic Division:
- DeMarre Carroll is likely to return later this month, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, though the Raptors didn’t give a timeline today after he visited his surgeon, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange notes (Twitter link). Some questions existed about whether Carroll would return to play at all this season after he underwent right knee surgery in January, but it appears that dire outcome won’t come to pass.
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is the best negotiator Rockets GM Daryl Morey says he’s come across, tweets Jake Fischer of SI Now, relaying Morey’s comment from the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference today. Ainge and Morey have only pulled off one trade, a three-teamer with the Trail Blazers in 2012 that sent Courtney Lee to Boston.
- The Celtics have recalled Coty Clarke and Jordan Mickey from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). The pair, along with James Young, went to D-League Maine on Thursday for what turned out to be a one-game stay. Clarke, a 10-day signee, had a team-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting while Mickey scored 14.
Many Trade Acquisitions No Longer With Teams
The November 10th deal that sent Mario Chalmers to the Grizzlies came remarkably early in the NBA season, and its effects lingered for a remarkably short period of time. All four players involved in the swap are no longer with their respective teams, now that Memphis has waived Chalmers to create roster room after he tore his Achilles tendon. In fact, none of those four are on any NBA roster, as all of them have cleared waivers at one point or another since the trade.
They’re among the 12 players acquired via trade this season who are no longer with the teams that traded for them. Some worked buyout deals with their new clubs. Others wound up in subsequent trades, including Jarnell Stokes, who was in that Chalmers deal and in another swap on deadline day. Only 29 players were traded in the time between opening night and the deadline, not counting the rights to draft-and-stash prospects. That means 41.4% of this season’s trade acquisitions didn’t even last to the middle of March.
Here’s a look at all the in-season trade acquisitions who are no longer with the teams that traded for them:
- DeJuan Blair, Suns — waived
- Mario Chalmers, Grizzlies — waived
- Jared Cunningham, Magic — waived
- James Ennis, Grizzlies — waived
- Joe Harris, Magic — waived
- Kris Humphries, Suns — waived in buyout deal
- Steve Novak, Nuggets — waived in buyout deal
- Brian Roberts, Heat — traded again, to Trail Blazers
- Jarnell Stokes, Heat — traded again, to Pelicans
- Jarnell Stokes, Pelicans — waived
- Beno Udrih, Heat — waived in buyout deal
- Anderson Varejao, Trail Blazers — waived
And-Ones: George Karl, Spurs Ownership, Draft
The overwhelming sense in the Kings organization is that George Karl is in his final weeks as coach, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. That jibes with earlier reporting that cast doubt on the idea of Karl remaining in his position beyond this season, even though he made it through a near-dismissal last month. Players say the 63-year-old doesn’t appear to have the energy or vocal cords necessary to continue to face the challenge of coaching DeMarcus Cousins, whom the Kings suspended Thursday for his latest verbal clash with Karl, Voisin adds. Karl nonetheless downplayed the implications of Thursday’s cancer treatment, which removed squamous cell carcinoma on the left side of his neck, as Voisin relays. The columnist proposes moving Karl into the front office as a solution, and it’s an idea to which GM Vlade Divac is open, Voisin notes. See more from around the NBA:
- Peter Holt’s decision to step down as owner of the Spurs was surprising, and the timing was odd, coming in the midst of another run at a title, but it’s in line with the 67-year-old’s gradual tapering of his professional responsibilities, sources tell Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio-Express News. Holt’s past history of alcoholism wasn’t a factor in his decision, said new co-CEO Rick Pych, who promised that he doesn’t plan any significant change for the organization, given his longstanding history with Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford. New primary owner Julianna Hawn Holt, Peter Holt’s wife, long ago established herself with the team, minority-share owner Stephen Lang told Orsborn, lending further credence to the idea that no major overhaul is coming.
- Louisville sophomore center Chinanu Onuaku will declare for the draft, coach Rick Pitino said, as Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal notes. That doesn’t mean he’s necessarily draft-bound, as new rules allow underclassmen to again “test the waters” and take part in the NBA combine while still maintaining their college eligibility should they decide to withdraw from the draft. Onuaku, the younger brother of Arinze Onuaku, is the 51st-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and comes in 58th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
- Ford gives his take on the most likely pick for each team currently slated for a lottery pick in an Insider-only piece.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Hardship Provision
The ability for NBA teams to surpass the 15-man regular season roster limit has come into focus this week, with the Pelicans and Grizzlies applying for hardship provisions. Both teams are dealing with multiple injuries that have made it difficult for them to field competitive lineups, but the league provides relief, in certain circumstances.
The term “hardship” used to be a common part of the league’s vernacular in reference to players who entered the draft before exhausting their college eligibility, but it has a completely different meaning in regard to the size of NBA rosters. The NBA’s Constitution and By-Laws, in their definition of hardship, give the board of governors the power to approve special provisions counter to the NBA’s roster limits with a majority vote. It’s rare for the board of governors to get involved, but the rule also spells out circumstances in which injury and illness would allow teams to receive extra roster spots without board of governors approval, instead leaving the matter at the commissioner’s discretion. This is the more well-traveled route.
In these cases, a team must have three players who have missed at least three straight games because of injury or illness, plus a fourth player who is also unable to perform. The team can apply for the hardship, and it’s up to the commissioner’s office to determine, using an independent doctor if it so chooses, that all four of those players will continue to be unable to play for at least two weeks. If so, the commissioner can grant the hardship and the team can acquire an extra player.
The rules are vague about the mechanics of the hardship provision, but reports about the several instances in which teams have expanded their rosters beyond 15 players in the past couple of seasons have shed light on its parameters. Each provision lasts 10 days, regardless of whether it comes before or after January 5th, the first day each season that teams can sign players to 10-day contracts. Players who go into extra roster spots don’t necessarily have to be on 10-day contracts, and they may stick around past the expiration of the hardship as long as the team offloads someone else. That was the case when the Thunder waived Sebastian Telfair last season instead of hardship signee Ish Smith to reduce their roster to 15 players. Teams are also allowed to reapply for provisions as they expire, meaning they can carry a roster of more than 15 players for longer than 10 days if the league allows it. The NBA doesn’t limit the number of provisions a team may apply for at any one time, allowing teams to have as many players as they need, at the league’s discretion, though it’s rare for any roster to go beyond 16.
A sharply limited amount of time exists for teams to take action when the league grants a hardship. They have two days to acquire an extra player, giving front offices motivation to have deals lined up in advance. Still, complications sometimes arise. The Pacers scuttled their deal with Gal Mekel last season when a visa issue would have kept him from signing until a day after the Pacers were ready to put pen to paper. That extra day would have pushed the Pacers past the two-day window, so they signed A.J. Price instead.
The hardship isn’t the only mechanism by which a team can acquire an extra player. Lengthy suspensions also give teams the ability to do so, and that happened twice last season, when the Grizzlies signed Kalin Lucas and Hassan Whiteside to move to 16 men while Nick Calathes was serving a league suspension, and when the Sixers traded for Jared Cunningham, who was briefly their 16th man while Andrei Kirilenko was on a team suspension. The rules are slightly different for a league suspension, which requires that the player have served at least five games of the suspension before a team can add an extra player, and a team suspension, in which case the player has to have missed only three games. The ability to carry an extra man goes away once the suspended player returns.
The NBA takes a careful approach to granting teams permission to expand their rosters. Not every team with four or more injuries receives a hardship provision, since making an accurate prognosis about whether an injured player might return to action within a two-week window is a tricky enterprise. The Pelicans received a hardship and used it to sign Orlando Johnson this week, but it’s unclear whether the Grizzlies got one, given the confusion over the time at which they signed Briante Weber. Thursday’s release of Mario Chalmers suggests the league didn’t give the OK, or at least hasn’t yet, because his season-ending torn Achilles would otherwise count toward the number of injuries necessary for the provision. The league doesn’t “hand those things out like candy,” as the late Flip Saunders observed.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (or in this case, the NBA’s Constitution and By-Laws). Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Reports from Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times and Marc Stein of ESPN.com provided background information for this post. An earlier version appeared on November 28th, 2014.
Central Notes: Blake, Motiejunas, McRae
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy downplayed the idea of a Brandon Jennings trade in the weeks leading up to the deadline, but Steve Blake nonetheless readied himself for more playing time in case a Jennings trade happened or a deal that sent Blake himself to another team took place, MLive’s David Mayo notes. Of course, the Pistons traded Jennings to the Magic and kept soon-to-be free agent Blake, who’s glad he’s stuck around.
“I easily could have ended up somewhere else,” Blake said, according to Mayo. “I was praying it wouldn’t happen but I knew it could happen. I knew it was a possibility.”
Reggie Jackson is a fan of his backup, acknowledging that he seeks advice from Blake, a 13th-year veteran, as Mayo also relays. See more on the Pistons amid news from the Central Division.
- The Pistons aren’t worried about the implications of a grievance that the union is reportedly giving strong consideration to filing in the wake of the voided Donatas Motiejunas trade, Van Gundy said, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The Pistons want to cultivate a reputation as a player-friendly organization, but they don’t think the flap over the failed deal, which prompted some harsh words from Motiejunas, will hurt the team.
- Jordan McRae‘s potential to develop was one of the reasons the Cavaliers signed the 58th overall pick from 2014 to a two-year deal this week, GM David Griffin told Sam Amico of Amico Hoops. The sides decided against a second 10-day contract to strike a long-term deal after only a single 10-day stint. “He has fit in well, understands his role and embraces the opportunity he has to improve,” Griffin said. “Jordan has a unique combination of length and scoring ability, and we are intrigued by his versatility and upside.”
- The Bulls have fallen flat this season, but injuries have played a major role in that, and the team would be unwise to execute a major overhaul in the summer, argues Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Jimmy Butler is a legitimate centerpiece and Derrick Rose is probably better than anyone they could trade him for, so the Bulls should concentrate on marginal changes instead, using their rookie contracts and Taj Gibson as trade bait, Berger contends.
Knicks Notes: Anthony, Williams, Fisher
Carmelo Anthony would reportedly give strong consideration to approving a trade to the Clippers if he decides to waive his no trade clause, and Marc Berman of the New York Post makes the case for the Clips as Melo’s top choice outside the Knicks. Still, ‘Melo says he’s laughing off such talk, Berman notes.
“My name is always associated with L.A., whether it was earlier with the Lakers, now it’s the Clippers,’’ Anthony said. “I try not to pay attention to that. I laugh it off. People always try to make scenarios and situations. But nothing’s happened.’’
He’s not the only Knick associated with L.A., as we examine amid the latest on the blue-and-orange:
- Derrick Williams says the Lakers showed heavy interest in him this past summer when he instead signed with the Knicks, the combo forward told Berman for a separate piece. The Southern California native is anxious to return home for games at the Lakers and Clippers this weekend, but he called New York “home away from home,” as Berman relays, adding that the Knicks are hoping he opts in to his $4.598MM salary for next season. “I felt like I picked the right spot where I wanted to be — that was New York to play with Carmelo, I knew they had a great pick in [Kristaps Porzingis], all the pieces we have here,” Williams said. “We haven’t played well the last month, but I don’t think it sums up our whole season.’’
- Derek Fisher‘s essay addressing his preseason encounter with Matt Barnes left many questions unanswered, opines Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (All six Twitter links right here). The ex-Knicks coach comes off poorly as he blames the media and not Barnes for the story’s continued presence, Isola opines, wondering why the coach didn’t explain why he was away from the team when the incident took place. Fisher nonetheless deserves praise for his work with Porzingis, Isola believes.
- Anthony isn’t alone in a desire to cash in, but his quest for lucrative paydays over the years helps explain why he’s on a losing team, contends Shaun Powell of NBA.com.