Eastern Notes: Stoudemire, Odom, Cavs
Amar’e Stoudemire is thinking about leaving the NBA after next season to instead play for the team he owns in Israel, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Stoudemire is part of a four-man group that holds a 60% stake in Hapoel Jerusalem.
“We’ll see,’’ Stoudemire said. “You can’t rule anything out. The future is unknown and so if I have an opportunity to [play in Israel] and am still in great health, it would be great. I have one more year left on my deal and we’ll go from there.’’
Stoudemire seemed more enthusiastic about the idea in other remarks, saying he’s “absolutely” considering the possibility and that there’s a “high chance” he’ll go through with it, observes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter links). He has an early termination option on his contract for 2014/15, but he’ll almost certainly opt in and collect the more than $23.4MM coming his way in the final season of his deal with the Knicks. Here’s more from the East:
- The Knicks apparently had interest in Lamar Odom even before Phil Jackson arrived, as coach Mike Woodson told reporters today that the 34-year-old’s name came up in the team’s conversations earlier this season, Berman notes via Twitter.
- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is upset with his team’s performance, and a source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Cleveland will make a significant trade this summer. That’s a sign that Gilbert is no fan of his roster, Amico concludes.
- People around the league indicate that the Pistons will likely hire someone from outside the organization to replace Joe Dumars, Amico writes in the same piece.
- Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News lays out some of the issues that will confront the new head of basketball ops for the Pistons.
Sixers To Re-Sign Casper Ware
TUESDAY, 8:09am: Ware and the Sixers have agreed to a deal for the rest of the season, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News reports at the end of his latest piece.
MONDAY, 10:31am: Point guard Casper Ware is practicing with the Sixers today even though his second 10-day contract with the team expired Sunday night, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News note (Twitter links). That appears to signal that the Sixers are signing him for at least the rest of the season.
The former Long Beach State standout has averaged 12.6 minutes per game with the team in seven appearances after it signed him out of Italy. Ware’s posted 4.1 points and 1.1 assists per contest, though defense is his strong suit, and he’s notched an impressive 1.1 steals per game in his limited playing time.
Ware is one of a half-dozen players who’ve signed 10-day contracts with the Sixers this season, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Jarvis Varnado is the only one who’s received a deal covering the rest of the season so far, though the team’s 10-day deal with Adonis Thomas carries through the final day of the regular season. Varnado received a four-year deal that isn’t fully guaranteed beyond this season, a contract structure that GM Sam Hinkie has employed liberally in his first season on the job. The Sixers probably have a similar long-term arrangement with Ware, though that’s just my speculation.
Lakers, Suns Interested In Luol Deng
The Lakers and Suns are among the teams interested in soon-to-be free agent Luol Deng, sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. There were conflicting reports in February about Deng as an offseason target of the Lakers, but the Suns appear to be a newcomer to his list of suitors. Both teams will have plenty of cap flexibility this summer for the Herb Rudoy client, who’s rumored to be eyeing salaries of more than $13.5MM.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote shortly before the trade deadline that there was increasing doubt the Lakers would make a run at Deng in the summer. Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times countered soon afterward with a report that the Lakers are high on Deng, but that they don’t want to overpay him, with the franchise’s focus primarily on 2015’s free agent class. Around the same time, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News put the Lakers on a list of teams likely to pursue Deng in free agency that also identified the Mavs, Celtics, Magic and Bobcats.
Deng has appeared unlikely to re-sign with the Cavs almost since he arrived from the Bulls in a January trade. The Cavs explored flipping him at the trade deadline, but other teams were wary of taking him on without an assurance he would re-sign. Deng, who turns 29 on Wednesday, is No. 8 on the Hoops Rumors 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Draft Rumors: Williams-Goss, Clarkson, Towns
There’s been a flurry of draft-related news today, with reports indicating Aaron Gordon, Jerami Grant and Glenn Robinson III are all entering the draft, while Montrezl Harrell took to Twitter to announce that he won’t be in this year’s draft. Our list of early entrants is up to date, and you can follow all of this year’s draft-related news on this page. Here’s the latest:
- Washington point guard Nigel Williams-Goss has decided against entering this year’s draft, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The freshman was a 2013 McDonald’s All-American while in high school, but he’s just the 178th-best draft prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him outside his top 100 prospects, rating him as the 23rd-best freshman in this year’s class.
- A source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Missouri combo guard Jordan Clarkson has signed with Mike George of Excel Sports Management (Twitter link). That contradicts an earlier report suggesting that Clarkson is going with ASM Sports. The move remains unofficial, so it remains to be seen which agency Clarkson ultimately picks.
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports profiles Karl-Anthony Towns, a 7-foot high schooler headed to Kentucky next year who’s a potential 2015 lottery pick.
Bulls Sign Greg Smith
12:50pm: Smith’s contract is fully guaranteed for next season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. It’s for the minimum salary both this year and next, since the capped-out Bulls are out of exceptions.
12:30pm: The Bulls have signed former Rockets center Greg Smith, the team announced. The move comes just a half hour after the team waived Tornike Shengelia, presumably to make room. Smith is likely out for the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee in January, and that motivated Houston to cut ties. He’s ineligible to play in the postseason for Chicago since the Rockets waived him last week, long after the March 1st deadline for him to retain the ability to take part in the playoffs with another team. Given his unavailability for this season, Chicago’s contract with Smith probably extends into next season.
Chicago strongly pursued the retired Kurt Thomas, but wound up inking Smith and, last week, Lou Amundson instead, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That might have accounted for the lag between the team’s announcements today.
Smith appeared in only 11 games for the Rockets this year, in part because of injuries and in part because of a crowded frontcourt that includes Dwight Howard and Omer Asik. He was in the team’s rotation last season, averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game across 70 appearances, 10 of which were starts.
Jerami Grant To Enter Draft
Syracuse sophomore Jerami Grant is planning to announce today that he’s entering this year’s NBA draft, tweets Pete Thamel of SI.com. The small forward is No. 17 in the prospect rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com puts together, and No. 21 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Grant averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game for the Orange this season, but he rarely took a shot from behind the arc, failing to nail a single trey all year. He started only 20 of 32 games this season, but it was still a much more significant role than he had as a freshman, when he started just nine times and notched 14.3 minutes per contest.
The 6’8″ Grant helped Syracuse to a 25-0 start, but Dayton eliminated the Orange in the NCAA tournament’s round of 32. He went scoreless in a late-season loss to Virginia, and he had just four points in what appears to have been his final college game.
Bulls Waive Tornike Shengelia
The Bulls have waived Tornike Shengelia, the team announced via press release. The team hasn’t announced a corresponding move, making Shengelia’s dismissal a bit curious even though he hasn’t been a part of Chicago’s rotation since coming over from the Nets in a January trade. Shengelia is on an expiring contract that pays him the one-year veteran’s minimum salary of $788,872, but unless a team claims him off waivers, that money will remain on Chicago’s books. It seems less likely that Shengelia, on an expiring deal, would warrant a waiver claim like former Bull Erik Murphy did, as Murphy’s contract includes a non-guaranteed 2014/15.
Shengelia saw a total of just 17 minutes for the Bulls, who acquired him in a cost-cutting move for Marquis Teague, who makes $1,074,720 this season. The difference was not insignificant to Chicago, which has struggled to create room beneath the luxury tax threshold in case Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah trigger bonuses that force the team into the tax for the second year in a row. That would set the team up for the league’s steep repeat offender tax rates if the team made it three straight taxpaying seasons in 2014/15.
The 22-year-old saw slightly more playing time while with the Nets, who acquired him shortly after the Sixers drafted him 54th overall in 2012. He averaged 1.5 points in 8.1 minutes per game in 17 appearances for Brooklyn this season, and 1.6 PPG in 4.9 MPG in 19 contests for the Nets as a rookie.
Montrezl Harrell Declines To Enter Draft
Louisville sophomore Montrezl Harrell has decided against entering this year’s draft, he’s announced via Twitter (hat tip to Chris Mannix of SI.com). His decision counters an earlier report that he would declare for this year’s field, and it comes as a surprise, given his solid first-round stock. The big man is the 15th-ranked prospect with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 20th.
Harrell averaged 14.0 points and 8.4 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game this season for Louisville, which lost in the NCAA Tournament sweet sixteen to Kentucky. He stepped into a starting role this year after serving mostly as a reserve last season when the Cardinals won the national championship. He’ll look to improve his free throw shooting as a junior after making just 46.4% of his shots from the line this year.
The news is no doubt a disappointment to teams projected to end up with a mid first-round pick, particularly those looking for an inside player. The 6’8″ Harrell is somewhat undersized at power forward, but it hasn’t hurt his production on the boards in college.
Pistons, Joe Dumars Part Ways
The Pistons have officially announced via press release that Joe Dumars “will step aside” from his job as president of basketball operations, effective immediately. That suggests that Dumars tendered his resignation, as he’d reportedly planned to do, though reports Sunday indicated the team had told Dumars they wouldn’t renew his contract, which was set to expire in the offseason. In any case, the move ends Dumars’ nearly 14-year tenure atop the Pistons basketball operations department. He’ll remain with the team as an adviser, as expected. Director of basketball operations Ken Catanella and assistant GM George David will assume the responsibilities that had been Dumars’ while the club searches for a formal replacement.
“Joe Dumars is a great champion who has meant so much to this franchise and this community,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in the team’s statement. “We are turning the page with great respect for what he has accomplished not only as a player and a front office executive, but as a person who has represented this team and the NBA with extraordinary dignity.”
The 50-year-old Dumars was the longest-tenured executive in charge of day-to-day basketball operations in the league, with the possible exception of Pat Riley, who’s split much of his more than 18 years with the Heat between the front office and coaching. Dumars became president of basketball operations in Detroit in June of 2000, and he’s been with the Pistons in some capacity since 1985, when he began his Hall of Fame playing career with the club. His time as an executive included the 2004 championship and six straight conference finals appearances, but also the drafting of Darko Milicic at No. 2 overall in 2003 and an ongoing string of five non-playoff seasons.
“It’s time to turn the page on a wonderful chapter and begin writing a new one,” Dumars said as part of the press release. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people throughout the last 29 years as both a player and executive, and I’m proud of our accomplishments. Tom Gores and ownership is committed to winning and they will continue to move the franchise forward.”
Dumars will reportedly have the ability to seek GM jobs with other NBA clubs, and he figures to be much sought after. A report earlier today indicated he already has a gig lined up with another team. The Pistons have already begun their search process for a new head of basketball operations as well as a new coach, since John Loyer is filling in only on an interim basis for Maurice Cheeks, whom the team fired in February.
Gores has appointed a pair of executives with Platinum Equity, his investment firm, to oversee the club’s searches. Those execs, Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, will also supervise Catanella and David, and Norment, in the team release, says the club has developed a preliminary list of candidates to replace Dumars.
Pelicans Sign Melvin Ely, Waive Greg Stiemsma
The Pelicans have signed Melvin Ely and waived Greg Stiemsma, the team announced. Ely, an eight-year NBA veteran who last saw regular season NBA action in 2010/11, has been playing with the D-League affiliate of the Mavs. Stiemsma’s one-year, $2.676MM contract was about to expire anyway, so the Pelicans won’t take much of a financial hit even if he goes unclaimed off waivers. It’s unclear whether Ely is joining the team simply for the final three days of the regular season or has a non-guaranteed 2014/15 tacked on to his deal.
Ely was the 12th overall pick in the 2002 draft, but he never averaged as many as 10 points per game in the NBA. The 35-year-old has averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per contest with a 10.6 PER over his NBA career. The Byron Irvin client was with the Grizzlies in preseason this past fall and was briefly on the preseason roster of the Mavs in 2012. He produced 15.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 28.9 MPG for the D-League’s Texas Legends this season.
Stiemsma is something of a curious cut for the injury-ravaged Pelicans, who’ve been using him as a starter of late. The 28-year-old is averaging 2.9 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 18.3 MPG overall, but those numbers aren’t much different in games he’s started. New Orleans is carrying 16 players thanks to special permission from the league, as I detailed when the team signed James Southerland last week.