Latest On Pistons, Joe Dumars
The parting of Joe Dumars and the Pistons isn’t coming about via a resignation from Dumars, but rather the team’s decision not to renew his contract, reports David Mayo of MLive. Detroit’s longtime president of basketball operations has accepted the team’s offer to remain as an adviser, as we passed along last night from Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The Pistons have already begun looking for someone new to lead their basketball operations, Mayo writes, with assistant GM George David set to lead the team in the meantime, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Director of basketball operations Ken Catanella will also play a leading role in the team’s draft and free agency preparations, Goodwill tweets.
Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth of owner Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity investment firm will lead the search for Dumars’ replacement, according to Mayo, who adds that Gores is looking for stability and someone who, like Dumars, will stay atop the team’s basketball operations for many years. It’ll probably be someone with a background in analytics who won’t shy away from the spotlight and will be the public face of the franchise, Mayo writes.
The Pistons are already screening candidates to become the team’s new head coach, Mayo reports, though it’s unclear if the team is considering interim coach John Loyer for the long-term job. The team is likely to deliver a list of finalists to the new head of basketball operations, who’d make a choice from that list, Mayo adds.
Dumars will serve in a capacity similar to Jerry West‘s job with the Warriors, according to Berger, though Mayo contradicts that, writing that he’ll have a “non-basketball role.” Sharp says Dumars will have no say in the daily operations of the team. Berger says the advisory gig won’t preclude Dumars from seeking a GM job with another NBA team, and Berger’s sources expect him to draw interest from clubs around the league. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears Dumars might have another such job lined up already, though he seconds a tweet from Matt Dery of Detroit Sports 105.1 and says it’s not with the Cavaliers, who were linked to Dumars in February.
Dumars still has the respect of owner Tom Gores, Berger hears, and source tells him the organization considers it important that his dismissal be carried out in a dignified manner. The Pistons consider the appointment of Dumars as an adviser to be a respectful compromise, but still a condemnation of his oversight of the team during five consecutive non-playoff seasons, Sharp writes.
Freshmen Outnumbered In Recent NBA Drafts
The perception inherent in commissioner Adam Silver’s rhetoric about his desire to raise the NBA’s minimum age is that the draft is overrun with college freshmen. One-and-dones nonetheless represent only 20.7% of the first-round picks from the last five seasons. Juniors outnumbered all other classes during that span, meaning a significant portion of first-round picks entered the league more than halfway through college.
Each college class represents between 16.7% and 24% of the first-rounders in the last five years, indicating balance throughout the collegians. The sample size is somewhat limited, and it doesn’t count players picked in the second round or who go undrafted, but it reflects the most current trends in the NBA, and shows that NBA teams aren’t choosing to load their benches with talent just a year removed from high school.
Here’s how the past five years break down by class:
2013
- Freshmen: 6
- Sophomores: 7
- Juniors: 7
- Seniors: 3
- International: 7
2012
- Freshmen: 8
- Sophomores: 11
- Juniors: 6
- Seniors: 4
- International: 1
2011
- Freshmen: 6
- Sophomores: 4
- Juniors: 8
- Seniors: 7
- International: 5
2010
- Freshmen: 7
- Sophomores: 8
- Juniors: 9
- Seniors: 5
- International: 1
2009
- Freshmen: 4
- Sophomores: 6
- Juniors: 8
- Seniors: 6
- International: 6
Five-year totals
- Freshmen: 31
- Sophomores: 36
- Juniors: 38
- Seniors: 25
- International: 20
And-Ones: Hoiberg, Knicks, Pelicans, Magic
The final Friday night of the NBA’s regular season features 13 games, and 12 of them have some sort of playoff implications. The other is a key contest for the Bucks, who can clinch pole position for the NBA draft lottery with a loss and a Sixers win. Here’s the latest from around the Association:
- Iowa State has hiked coach Fred Hoiberg‘s annual salaries to $2.6MM from $2MM in an effort to keep him, writes Luke Meredith of The Associated Press. The sought-after NBA head coaching candidate is unlikely to take the Wolves job, as we noted earlier today.
- Knicks GM Steve Mills said in Thursday’s radio interview that owner James Dolan wanted to make sure he and Phil Jackson could work together before the team hired the Zen Master, and Marc Berman of the New York Post takes that as a positive sign for Mills’ job security.
- James Southerland‘s contract with the Pelicans only runs through the end of the season, but coach Monty Williams isn’t ruling the small forward out of the team’s plans for the future, notes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. “If he plays well here [in the last week of the season], he could be in our discussions come summer league, if it works out,” Williams said. “We’ll see.”
- E’Twaun Moore is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason, but he says he “most definitely” would like to return to the Magic, observes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
- The desire for maximum flexibility probably played a significant role in the Rockets‘ decision to waive Greg Smith, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for the Score.
- The Oregonian’s Mike Tokito explains how the NBA divvies up the $14MM it awards in playoff bonuses.
Alex Kirk Declares For Draft
New Mexico junior Alex Kirk has officially declared his intent to enter this year’s NBA draft, the school announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com was the first to report the news. The center is No. 132 in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, and he’s on the list of the top 100 prospects that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts together. Givony has him as the 28th best prospect among college juniors.
The decision is surprising, and while it’s possible that he could still withdraw between now and Tuesday’s deadline to do so, there’d be little reason for him to declare at this point and pull out so soon. Kirk averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game for the Lobos, who lost their first game of the NCAA tournament to Stanford, a contest in which Kirk scored just three points before fouling out.
The 7-footer has struggled with back issues, as Ford points out, though he’s appeared in at least 32 games in each of his three college seasons. His signature performance this year was a 32-point, 11-rebound, five-block effort against Massachusetts, a fellow NCAA tournament team, Borzello notes.
Players With Early 2014/15 Guarantee Dates
Most teams have the benefit of waiting until the draft and free agency to start making decisions about what to do with their rosters for next season. The Nuggets don’t have such a luxury with Quincy Miller.
His contract dictates that his salary for next season becomes partially guaranteed for $150K if he isn’t waived on or before the date that falls seven days after the team’s final game, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The Nuggets aren’t headed to the playoffs, so that means the team has to either waive him by the end of the day on April 23rd or take a cap hit next season for a player who’s seen action in just 56 games since Denver picked him 38th overall two years ago. Denver recently moved Miller into the starting lineup, knowing that the time to evaluate him is running perilously short.
Several other players on non-guaranteed contracts for next season have guarantee dates that come up before July. Almost all of their guarantee dates are on June 30th, four days after the draft. That suggests that some of the players could find themselves in trades around draft time, given their value to teams looking to clear cap space for next season. The early guarantee dates put a little extra pressure on GMs, who can’t wait until the free agent landscape starts taking shape to decide on these players.
Here’s a complete list of players who have 2014/15 guarantee dates that come up before the books close on the 2013/14 season. The 2014/15 salaries are currently non-guaranteed, unless otherwise noted.
- April 23rd: Quincy Miller, Nuggets — Becomes partially guaranteed for $150K
- June 28th: Andre Miller, Wizards — Already $2MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $4,625MM
- June 29th: Tyler Hansbrough, Raptors — Already $1MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $3,326,235
- June 30th: Jamal Crawford, Clippers — Already $1.5MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $5.45MM
- June 30th: Jeffery Taylor, Bobcats — Becomes fully guaranteed for $915,243
- June 30th: Kosta Koufos, Grizzlies — Already $500K guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $3MM
- June 30th: James Anderson, Sixers — Becomes fully guaranteed for $981,084
- June 30th: Tony Parker, Spurs — Already $3.5MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $12.5MM
- June 30th: Austin Daye, Spurs — Already $250K guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $1,063,384
- June 30th: John Salmons, Raptors — Already $1MM guaranteed; becomes fully guaranteed for $7MM
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Western Rumors: Bazemore, Camby, Rockets
The loss the Warriors suffered to the Nuggets on Thursday puts them just two games up on the ninth-place Grizzlies, and the Jazz, who own Golden State’s first-round pick, will surely be rooting for the Warriors to lose in the season’s final days. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kent Bazemore is set to become a restricted free agent at season’s end, and while his value appears to have surged since he joined the Lakers at the trade deadline, he’s not simply looking to cash in, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News observes. “I’m all about the basketball aspect of things. I don’t want much. I’m not a guy who’s going to chase money on a bad team. I want to win,” Bazemore said. “This is the Los Angeles Lakers. I don’t see many people turning down an opportunity to be here.”
- The Rockets gauged Marcus Camby‘s interest in rejoining the team several weeks ago, only to learn that he would be unavailable to return to the NBA this year as he tries to come back from a left foot injury, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey confirmed that the conclusion that Greg Smith will miss the rest of the season led the team to waive him and sign Dexter Pittman, as Feigen passes along in the same piece.
- The Rudy Gay trade muted the effect of Sacramento’s acquisition of Derrick Williams, who’s seen his playing time continue to decline of late, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Kings coach Michael Malone wants to give Williams more minutes, but his lack of consistency dissuades him from doing so, Jones writes.
Joonas Caven To Declare For Draft
Finnish power forward Joonas Caven will enter this year’s draft, agent K.C. Callero tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 6’11” 21-year-old shoots well, though neither Givony nor Chad Ford of ESPN.com have him among their top 100 prospects for this year’s draft. Givony ranks Caven the fifth-best prospect among those born in 1993.
Caven plays for FIATC Mutua Joventut, a team in Spain’s top-flight league. He joined the team midseason after having played for CB Prat Juventud, a Spanish minor league team. Caven has averaged just 2.0 points in 5.4 minutes per contest for his current team, nailing 36.4% of his 1.8 three-point attempts in a small six-game sample size.
International early entrants can withdraw any time before the June 16th deadline, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Caven pull out. He’ll be automatically draft-eligible next year, but declaring this year gives him a chance to go through predraft workouts an extra time, if nothing else.
Fred Hoiberg Unlikely To Coach Wolves
The Wolves reportedly plan a strong push to make top NBA coaching prospect Fred Hoiberg their next head coach, but he’s always been unlikely to join the team in that capacity, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. There are reportedly many close to the Wolves who feel as though Rick Adelman will step down after the season, and Wolfson believes it’s likely that happens early in the two-week window that both Adelman and the team have to exercise their mutual option for 2014/15 (Twitter link).
Hoiberg has won plaudits from NBA circles for his work at Iowa State, where he became coach nearly four years ago after serving as an executive for the Wolves, one of three NBA teams for which he played during his 10-year career. He and Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders have a close relationship, and owner Glen Taylor is an admirer, too. Saunders and Taylor feel the same way about Tom Izzo, but he seems a longshot to leave Michigan State.
The 41-year-old Hoiberg last year received a 10-year, $20MM deal to remain at Iowa State, though he’d only need to give the school $500K to buy his way out of the deal and take an NBA job. It sounds like it’ll take a long-term commitment from an NBA team to pry him from the Cyclones, but executives around the league are enamored with him.
Pelicans Sign James Southerland
FRIDAY, 10:10am: New Orleans has formally announced the signing on the team’s website. The Pelicans haven’t announced a corresponding move, so the team has indeed taken advantage of the league’s permission to expand its roster to 16 players.
THURSDAY, 3:10pm: The Pelicans have received clearance from the league to add Southerland without waiving a player, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The NBA lets teams carry 16 players on a temporary basis if they have four or more players who have missed the past three games and who will continue to be unavailable to play. The Wolves received the same allowance last season. Southerland’s deal won’t carry into 2014/15, Charania adds.
2:00pm: The Pelicans will sign James Southerland, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Southerland has been playing for the D-League affiliate of the Lakers. New Orleans has a full 15-man roster, so the team will have to waive someone to accommodate Southerland, who was with the Bobcats at the beginning of the season.
The 6’8″ small forward appeared in just one game for three minutes for the Bobcats, who waived him in December after carrying him through preseason and the first six weeks of the regular season. Charlotte let him go largely to clear room for Chris Douglas-Roberts, who could more readily step in for an injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and coach Steve Clifford spoke highly of Southerland, who once more drew NBA interest in early January.
Southerland went undrafted out of Syracuse this past summer, and he’s averaged 14.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game in the D-League. The Pelicans announced today that Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon will miss the rest of the season, so perhaps New Orleans is adding Southerland to bolster its roster for the final week. I think it’s more likely that the Pelicans have the future in mind, and that his deal will cover next season with non-guaranteed salary.
Central Notes: Varejao, Bulls, Deng, Pistons
The Pacers, for all their second-half struggles, have a chance to put themselves firmly in control of the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a win on the road this evening against the Heat. The Bulls are in a tight race of their own against the Raptors for the No. 3 seed, and Chicago can help itself tonight with a home win against the Pistons. While we look forward to those games, here’s the latest from around the Central Division:
- The Cavs have a choice to make about Anderson Varejao this summer, since only $4MM of his more than $9.7MM salary for next season is guaranteed. The 31-year-old Varejao would be set up for free agency in 2015 even if Cleveland keeps him this summer, but he said he’d like to spend the rest of his career in Cleveland, observes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
- The Luol Deng trade turned out to be a significant offensive boost for the Bulls, as Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times points out, noting that the team has made slight improvements defensively, too.
- MLive’s David Mayo answers reader questions in a Pistons-themed mailbag column, looking back on the death of former owner Bill Davidson as a key turning point in the tenure of Joe Dumars, who plans to resign from the team soon.