Solomon Jones Enters Into D-League Pool
FEBRUARY 6TH: Gino Pilato of D-League Digest is reporting that Jones has officially entered his name into the NBA D-League player pool. It is unclear as of now which team will claim the veteran big man. Jones has never played in the D-League before.
JANUARY 22ND: Jones still intends to sign with the D-League, sources tell Pilato, but he’s waiting for a “good situation” before doing so, Pilato writes. My guess is he and Bartelstein are holding off until a preferable D-League team has first dibs in the league’s waiver process, though that’s just my speculation.
JANUARY 16TH: Eighth-year veteran NBA center Solomon Jones will sign with the D-League, according to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. The Magic waived his non-guaranteed contract earlier this month before it would have become guaranteed for the season. It’ll be the first trip to the D-League for Jones, so the circuit’s waiver process will determine which D-League squad he’ll wind up with.
Jones played sparingly for the Magic this season, even though he came back from a torn meniscus in his left knee in less than three weeks. He appeared in only 11 games, averaging 1.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per contest. Those figures aren’t too far off from his career numbers, as the 29-year-old has never put up more than 13.9 MPG in any season.
The Mark Bartelstein client is a candidate to receive a 10-day contract from an NBA team if he performs well in the D-League. He inked a pair of 10-day deals with New Orleans two years ago, as our 10-Day Contract Tracker shows.
Candidates Emerge For Cavs GM Job
9:27pm: A new name has been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Chris Grant. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.com (via Twitter), has heard that TNT analyst Kenny Smith might be considered for the position. Smith had previously had discussions with the Kings about their vacant GM job over the summer. Smith hasn’t commented yet, but when the Kings job was in play, he stated, “Honestly, I’ve been looking at both — coaching, and a lot of things have been coming these last couple of years, and this time I’ve been taking it serious. My kids are at an age where I feel comfortable. And the other years, the kids were just too young. I didn’t want to be in it. But I just started taking it serious.”
2:57pm: Interim GM David Griffin is expected to have a shot at keeping his job long-term, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, but there are already other candidates. The Cavs have performed a background check on Knicks director of pro personnel Mark Hughes, and Cleveland is also expected to reach out to Raptors executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, Berger reports. Berger’s sources also indicate Clippers executive vice president of player personnel Gary Sacks could become a candidate.
Weltman was a finalist for the Suns GM post this summer before Phoenix picked Ryan McDonough instead. He has family ties to the Cavs, for whom his father, Harry Weltman, served as GM in the 1980s. Berger suggests that Sacks could be anxious to seek greater control than he has with the Clippers, who took away some of his powers when they hired Doc Rivers.
Berger also expects the Cavs to pursue Phil Jackson, given owner Dan Gilbert’s affinity for splashy names, but that appears to be merely an educated guess. Berger names a handful of other qualified candidates, though none of them are formally linked to the job.
Western Notes: Kings, McGee, Mavs, Harris
Adam Silver traveled to Sacramento on Wednesday in his first trip as commissioner to check in on the Kings and their efforts to construct a new arena. Silver was effusive in expressing confidence that owner Vivek Ranadive and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson will overcome arena opponents and have the arena ready in advance of a league-imposed 2017 deadline, notes USA Today’s Sam Amick. Here’s more from the West:
- There’s a chance JaVale McGee will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left leg that’s been slow to heal properly, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets have already lost Danilo Gallinari and Nate Robinson for the year.
- The Mavericks are taking a patient approach and aren’t keen on making a splash at the deadline, and any trade they make will be small-scale, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Their priority in any deal appears to be finding a big man or someone who can score, and Kyler mentions Spencer Hawes and Jordan Hill as possibilities. Hawes, for whom the Sixers are demanding a first-round pick, would represent a fairly significant acquisition, though Kyler may merely be speculating about any interest Dallas has in either of those players.
- The Lakers didn’t re-sign Manny Harris when his second 10-day contract expired this week, but they expect him to re-sign with their D-League affiliate if he doesn’t wind up with another NBA deal, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. The shooting guard made quite an impression with 19 points in his final game before the Lakers let him go, and Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside examines his worth.
Lakers Re-Sign Shawne Williams To 10-Day Deal
4:27pm: The team has officially announced the signing.
3:11pm: The Lakers will re-sign Shawne Williams, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The news comes right after the Lakers announced that Nick Young will miss at least two weeks with a non-displaced patella fracture and a bone bruise (Twitter link). Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com speculated earlier this week that Williams, who’s been playing with the Lakers D-League affiliate, would get a look. It’ll be a 10-day contract, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, who says (on Twitter) that the 27-year-old forward will join the team tonight.
Williams was with the Lakers on a partially guaranteed deal until they let him go last month, shortly before the contract would have become fully guaranteed. The Happy Walters client averaged 5.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game in his first go-around with the Lakers this season.
Injuries have wreaked havoc on the Lakers, who had only five healthy players at the end of last night’s game, forcing them to evoke a rule that allowed Robert Sacre to remain in the contest even though he’d fouled out. Williams will fill the team’s open roster spot, but the Lakers are allowed to ask the league for permission to add a 16th man if they expect at least four of their injured players to continue to be unavailable.
The Lakers opted not to re-sign Manny Harris earlier this week after his pair of 10-day contracts had expired. Players can’t sign more than two 10-day contracts with a single team each season, so L.A. would have to sign him for the rest of the season if it brought him back. Adding Williams, who hasn’t been on a 10-day contract with the Lakers this year, gives the team greater flexibility.
Pacers Seeking Trade For Bench Scoring
The Pacers would like to trade for a player who can help boost their bench scoring, tweets Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. The team’s regular starters score 106.4 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com, a rate that would be tied with the Suns for the league’s eighth-best offense. Overall, Indiana scores just 102.3 points per 100 possessions, which puts them 18th.
Indiana’s leading scorer off the bench has been Danny Granger, who averages 8.6 points per game, but his expiring contract could be a trade chip, as I examined last month. He makes more than $14MM this season, but extracting a better scorer will be a tall order if Indiana insists on keeping its balance sheet for next season as clean as possible. Suitors have begun to line up for Lance Stephenson, whom one GM believes will command eight-figure salaries in free agency this summer.
It’ll be doubly tough for Pacers president Larry Bird to pull off a deal, since the team doesn’t have a first-round pick to trade. Bird dealt the team’s 2014 first-round pick to Phoenix in the Luis Scola deal this summer, and the Pacers can’t trade any of their other first-rounders because of the Ted Stepien Rule.
Lakers, Bulls, Bobcats Eye Lance Stephenson
The Lakers, Bulls and Bobcats are among the teams who are planning to target Lance Stephenson in free agency this summer, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Deveney hears from a GM who expects Stephenson to draw offers with an eight-figure starting salary. Other NBA executives pegged his annual value at between $7-9MM in December, but his continued strong play this season may be boosting his value.
Stephenson has expressed a desire on multiple occasions to re-sign with the Pacers, who’ve signaled that they’re prepared to offer him a sizable contract. It’ll be a tight squeeze to fit such a deal onto the payroll, given Indiana’s reluctance to pay the luxury tax. Deveney examines the variables and suggests the Pacers would have to trade away other salaries to pay Stephenson at market value. Some of his calculations are based on the notion that Paul George could wind up receiving 30% of the cap when his extension kicks in next season, but he agreed to take only 27% of the cap if he triggers the Derrick Rose Rule.
In any case, the Pacers will face tough decisions unless Stephenson is willing to take a hometown discount. Deveney suggests trading Chris Copeland and his two-year, $6.135MM as a solution, but finding a team to absorb that deal without sending salary back to Indiana will be difficult, particularly considering Indiana can’t trade any first-round draft picks before this month’s deadline.
Knicks Rumors: Woodson, Williams, Johnson
The Knicks endured another loss Wednesday, and though they put up a fight against a strong Blazers team, New York fell to 19-30, and rumors persist that Mike Woodson could soon lose his job. Here’s the latest:
- The Knicks have discussed making assistant coach Herb Williams interim head coach if they fire Woodson, reports Steve Popper of The Bergen Record. The team would also get rid of most of Woodson’s assistants in that scenario, Popper writes, adding that Larry Johnson is a candidate to serve as an assistant under Williams.
- Woodson’s firing would set up a summer pursuit of Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks would pass over assistants Darrell Walker and Jim Todd, both of whom have head coaching experience, because the team believes they’re too closely allied with Woodson, Berman adds.
- J.R. Smith says he is “without a doubt” fearful that Woodson will lose his job, Newsday’s Al Iannazzone tweets. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com has more from last year’s Sixth Man of the Year. “I love Coach Woodson,” Smith said. “I think he’s done a great job. But it’s out of my hands. So I would hope not [if management opts to make a change], but if it does then we have to live with it.”
- Jeff Van Gundy would want a major payday, control over the team’s basketball operations, and a relaxation of the team’s draconian media rules if he were to agree to coach the Knicks, sources tell ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
- In the same piece, Smith opines that the Knicks should realize how unattractive they are to free agents and trade Carmelo Anthony before the deadline rather than risk him leaving in the offseason.
- Woodson admits the season has been a supreme disappointment, as Ian Begley notes via Twitter. “This year, for me, has been kind of a disaster from a coaching standpoint … and trying to get players to play at a high level,” Woodson said.
Cavs Fire GM Chris Grant
The Cavaliers have officially announced the firing of GM Chris Grant. Cavs vice president of basketball operations David Griffin will replace Grant on an interim basis.
The news isn’t altogether shocking, given Cleveland’s 16-33 record and Kyrie Irving‘s reported discontent with the franchise, though the timing is a surprise, since it comes just two weeks shy of the trade deadline. A weekend report from Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News suggested the team was expected to fire Grant after the season, though it appears owner Dan Gilbert didn’t want to wait that long.
“There is no one in our entire organization who is satisfied with our performance, and to say that we are disappointed is an understatement,” Gilbert said in part, according to the team’s statement. “We all know the great potential of our young talent, seasoned veterans, as well as our recent all-star addition [Luol Deng]. We believe a change in leadership was necessary to establish the best possible culture and environment for our entire team to flourish.”
Cleveland has had numerous misfires of late, including last season’s No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, who’s averaging just 3.3 points and 11.9 minutes per game. Gilbert had reportedly given the team a mandate to make the playoffs before Bennett was drafted, and his poor start, reflected in the team’s record, helped push the team into acquiring Deng last month, but Cleveland has gone just 4-10 with Deng in the lineup.
Last night’s loss to the banged-up Lakers was apparently the last straw. L.A. ended the game with only five healthy players and had to exploit a little-known NBA rule to keep Robert Sacre on the floor even though he had fouled out.
Grant, who first joined the club as assistant GM in 2005, took over as GM on June 4, 2010, about a month before LeBron James decided to sign with the Heat. That forced Grant into a rebuilding period, helped along by his shrewd trade of Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for Baron Davis and an unprotected draft pick that became the No. 1 overall selection in 2011. The Cavs used it to select Irving, and while Tristan Thompson, the No. 4 overall pick this year, has begun to show signs of development, Grant has had little other success in the draft. Dion Waiters, the No. 4 overall pick in 2012, has been relegated to a sixth-man role after starting for most of his rookie season, and Bennett and Sergey Karasev, last year’s first-rounders, have yet to make meaningful contributions.
The Cavs have relied chiefly on the draft during Grant’s tenure, but the club has also endured high-profile free agent misses. Cleveland committed a combined $29.65MM in guaranteed salary to Jarrett Jack, Earl Clark and the since-traded Andrew Bynum this past summer, none of whom have had the desired effect. The shortcomings of wing players Alonzo Gee and C.J. Miles, Cleveland’s most expensive gets of the summer of 2012, were part of the reason the club traded for Deng.
Grant changed coaches this past offseason, parting ways with Byron Scott and moving swiftly to re-hire Mike Brown, whom the club fired in 2010, shortly before Grant became GM. Brown, in the first year of a five-year contract, has so far failed to deliver winning results.
Griffin has earned respect around the league while serving under Grant in Cleveland’s front office the past three and a half years. He was a candidate for the Clippers GM job in 2012.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports was first to report the firing, as well as the news that Griffin was the favorite to be elevated in Grant’s place (Twitter link). Grantland’s Zach Lowe added detail about Griffin, on Twitter.
Celtics Re-Sign Chris Johnson
THURSDAY, 5:54pm: A multi-year contract with Johnson has been announced through a team press release.
WEDNESDAY, 12:29pm: Negotiations continue between the Celtics and Johnson, and Boston is considering attaching an extra season onto the deal, reports Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Johnson’s agent, Marc Cornstein, tells Murphy that other teams have shown interest in his client.
10:00am: The Celtics plan to give swingman Chris Johnson a deal for the rest of the season when his second 10-day contract expires after tonight, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Johnson has impressed the C’s during his stint with the club, but Boston was unsure about keeping him because of its proximity to the luxury tax.
The 23-year-old Pinnacle Management Corp. client jumped into Boston’s rotation in his first appearance after signing his initial 10-day deal, and averaged 7.6 points in 21.5 minutes per game while shooting 40.0% from three-point range. He had his shortest outing as a Celtic last night against the Sixers, playing slightly more than three minutes, but he’s apparently done enough to convince the team to keep him.
Boston is roughly $1MM away from the luxury tax threshold, and the addition of a minimum-salary deal for the rest of the season for Johnson would draw the team $353,717 closer to that $71.748MM line if the contract begins Friday. It would also give the C’s a 14th guaranteed contract, meaning they could only absorb one extra player in a deadline deal.
Adam Silver Wants To Raise Age Limit To 20
Commissioner Adam Silver would like to change the NBA’s minimum age from 19 to 20, and he’ll take the matter up with the union once it hires a new executive director, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The league and the union tabled the issue during negotiations on the current collective bargaining agreement in 2011 with the intent of circling back to the matter, but turmoil in the union appears to have held up discussions since.
The current rule holds that a player must be at least 19 years old to enter the draft, though 18-year-olds may enter if they turn 19 between the draft and December 31st. If the player is from the U.S., he must also be one year removed from high school. The league instituted the age limit in time for the 2006 draft after a decade-long trend of players jumping to the NBA immediately after high school.
It’s unclear whether the union, which doesn’t appear close to naming an executive director to replace the ousted Billy Hunter, would be supportive of changing the rule. Ostensibly, NBA players would support a measure that would delay the influx of talented young players eager to take their jobs, but agents, who have reason to seek as many paydays for their clients as possible, may push against a change. If the age limit does go to 20, it would negatively affect the talent in the first draft for which the new rule is in effect. Still, the 2006 draft, which followed the original imposition of the age limit, produced LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry.
There’s no timetable for when any changes to the age limit, if approved, would take effect. The rule will almost certainly remain the same for this year’s draft, and probably for next year’s draft, too.