Rockets Engage Teams About Dwight Howard
FRIDAY, 9:55am: The talk with other teams is more a matter of due diligence than not, Rockets sources tell ESPN’s Chris Broussard, who spoke in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link). One NBA GM tells Broussard that the Rockets have been gauging interest in him for about a month but have been surprised that no team has put forth an overwhelming offer.
3:08pm: The Raptors showed no interest when the Rockets reached out to them about Howard, league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link).
2:41pm: Neither Howard nor Fegan has asked the Rockets for a trade, Fegan said in a statement to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). The agent also said that he isn’t privy to what the Rockets are doing, which would seem to counter the idea that they were working together.
THURSDAY, 1:25pm: The Rockets have engaged teams in trade talk about Dwight Howard and are working with agent Dan Fegan to find a new home for the former All-Star center who intends to opt out of his contract this summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Uncertainty surrounding whether either side wants to continue their partnership has prompted Houston to take action, Wojnarowski writes, noting that Howard is still expected to seek a max deal starting at a projected $29.3MM salary for next season once he turns down his roughly $23.282MM option.
Howard becomes the most significant name on the trade market, though the 30-year-old’s game isn’t what it used to be. He makes more than $22.359MM this season, a difficult salary to match for, and a 15% trade kicker worth about $600K further complicates the matter, as The Vertical’s Bobby Marks notes (on Twitter). Houston would have to pay him that amount in the event of a trade, but it would count as part of Howard’s incoming salary for whichever team would acquire him.
Howard, James Harden and GM Daryl Morey had an extended chat after Houston’s loss to Portland Wednesday, one that dropped the Rockets to ninth in the Western Conference, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN said in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link), and as RealGM transcribes. Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff was also involved, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who notes that Howard made comments about the rest of the season with the Rockets (Twitter link), a hint that he doesn’t expect to be traded. Howard and Harden have no personal qualms, The Vertical’s Chris Mannix tweets, countering earlier reports, which Howard and the Rockets vehemently denied, that Howard was dissatisfied playing a secondary role to Harden.
The Celtics reportedly had a brief exchange with the Rockets about Howard within the past few weeks, but Houston’s asking price has been high, as Mannix reported earlier this month. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald wrote then that the Rockets had made efforts to trade Howard, even if the Celtics talk didn’t go anywhere.
What should the Rockets seek in return for Howard? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
New York Notes: Dolan, Jackson, Nets GM Search
An “animated” meeting that involved Knicks owner James Dolan, team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills took place after New York’s home loss to the Celtics on February 2nd, six days before the team fired Derek Fisher, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Isola’s source was the same who earlier said Dolan was angry about comments Fisher made in a recent radio appearance on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM indicating that missing the playoffs wouldn’t be a disappointment. The loss to Boston was New York’s sixth in seven games, and the Knicks have lost four straight since. Isola speculates that Lakers assistant Mark Madsen is among those up for the head coaching job in New York and further wonders if Steve Kerr‘s lingering health problems will lead to top candidate Luke Walton taking over for Kerr in Golden State on a formal basis. The Daily News scribe also finds the question in one of Carmelo Anthony‘s statements since the Knicks coaching change disconcerting.
“You have to continue to put your trust into Phil,” Anthony said. “At this point, what could you do?”
See more on New York’s teams:
- No major deals are likely for the Nets before the deadline, given Brooklyn’s unsettled front office situation and the lack of time before the deadline, sources told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The team would be even less likely to make a move if it hires a GM who’s never headed a front office before, league sources said to NetsDaily. Bryan Colangelo is the only former front office chief among the three candidates ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported as front-runners for the vacancy. The Nets have reportedly reached out to the Hawks about Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap.
- The Nets would like to hire a GM before Thursday’s trade deadline, but they won’t rush to do so, a league source told Broussard.
- Interim Knicks coach Kurt Rambis is one of Jackson’s closest friends, and the Zen Master believes strongly in how well Rambis knows the game, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes. Rambis, who excels at teaching big men, has had a significant role in helping offseason signee Robin Lopez deliver this season, according to Ding. The interim boss is already showing that he’ll be more quick to criticize Knicks players than Fisher was, having pointed to Jose Calderon‘s defensive shortcomings in particular after Tuesday’s game, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post
Kareem Canty To Enter Draft
Auburn junior point guard Kareem Canty has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft and leave the school, as he revealed on Twitter and Instagram (hat tip to Wesley Sinor of AL.com). He faces long odds to make it in the league despite his status as Auburn’s leading scorer and assist-maker so far. Neither Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress nor Chad Ford of ESPN.com have him within their rankings.
The school suspended Canty on Saturday, citing conduct detrimental to the team. He engaged in a verbal altercation with a member of the coaching staff two days before the suspension, according to Jay G. Tate of AuburnSports.com, a Rivals.com site. Canty had been slumping, knocking down just 5 of 34 3-pointers in his last four games, as Tate notes. That’s otherwise been one of his strengths, as he’s a 36.1% 3-point shooter on the season. He’s dished out 5.3 assists per game but turns it over 3.0 times each outing, and he averages less than a steal per game.
The 6’1″ Canty turns 23 in April, so his age also figures to work against him. He sat out last season after transferring from Marshall, where he put up similar numbers in 2013/14 but shot only 30.4% on 3-pointers.
Canty, like all early entrants this year, will have a chance to get a better read on his stock and attend the NBA combine, if invited, before encountering the last day to withdraw and retain his college eligibility, thanks to a rules change. However, he’d be in less of a position to benefit from pulling out if he’s indeed parting ways with Auburn.
Tyreke Evans Out For Season
THURSDAY, 8:16pm: Evans underwent surgery today and will miss the remainder of the 2015/16 season, the Pelicans announced via press release.
11:38am: Coach Alvin Gentry cautioned that it’s not certain Evans is out for the year, pointing to further tests he’ll undergo this week, notes Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter links). He’s meeting with specialists to gather a second opinion, Gentry said, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune (on Twitter).
WEDNESDAY, 7:58am: Tyreke Evans will likely miss the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. He plans to have surgery this week on his right knee, the same knee on which he had surgery that knocked him out for the first month of the season, Charania notes, adding that he’ll finalize those plans after meeting with specialists this week. It’s also the same knee in which he’s been suffering from tendinitis that’s kept him out for the past seven games. New Orleans had reportedly been gauging the trade market for him, and the 26-year-old swingman is apparently among the players the Cavs have been eyeing. The Pelicans had been showing a greater willingness to move either Evans, Eric Gordon or both than they had with Ryan Anderson, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Gordon is due back soon from the broken right ring finger he suffered last month, but in the meantime, he’s one of three Pelicans with significant injuries at present, joining Evans and Quincy Pondexter, who’s also out for the season. New Orleans would need a fourth injury that’s expected to keep a player out for the next two weeks in order to qualify for a hardship provision of a 16th roster spot.
It’s too late in the season for the Pelicans to receive a disabled player exception for Evans that would allow them additional financial means to acquire someone to replace him. New Orleans is six and a half games behind the Rockets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and with Evans injured, the team’s postseason hopes appear faint.
Evans, making nearly $10.734MM, is the third leading scorer for New Orleans at 15.2 points per game. His 6.6 assists are tops on the Pelicans and match his career high from last season. He’ll make about $10.204MM next year in the final season of his contract.
Western Notes: Kings, Clippers, Rockets, Warriors
The Kings will try to make defensive improvements at the trade deadline, GM Vlade Divac said on “The Grant Napear Show” on CBS Sports 1140 in Sacramento, tweets James Ham of CSN California. The Rockets would prefer to add a shooter via trade, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). The Clippers are expected to assess their need for a backup point guard with Austin Rivers injured, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The Warriors, meanwhile, aren’t looking to fix what isn’t broken, as GM Bob Myers said in a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays (Twitter link).
“It’d have to be something unbelievable to really mess with the chem & the personnel on the team,” Myers said.
See more from the Western Conference:
- Divac acknowledged that he was thinking about making a coaching change and had full authority to do so, but simply decided against it, as he said in an appearance on “The Grant Napear Show” on CBSports 1140 in Sacramento, notes Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV in Sacramento (Twitter link). However, the resistance that Kings minority-share owners put up against eating the rest of George Karl‘s salary also played into the decision to keep the coach, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said today in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link), and as RealGM transcribes. That jibes with an earlier suggestion from Sam Amick of USA Today. Vivek Ranadive owns a controlling share of the team, but it doesn’t constitute a majority of the franchise, Windhorst points out.
- Communication with management didn’t go smoothly for former Kings coach Tyrone Corbin last season, as he said this week on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “NBA Today” show (Twitter link; audio link). “It was a mess. The organization was kind of playing it both ways,” Corbin said.
- Bryce Dejean-Jones and the Pelicans have only slightly different figures in mind, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate hears, advancing his earlier report that the rookie shooting guard is in talks with the Pels and other teams (Twitter links). The shooting guard is seeking a two- or three-year deal following the expiration of his second 10-day contract with New Orleans on Wednesday, Kushner adds. The Pelicans are ineligible to sign him to any more 10-day deals.
- The Rockets offered Josh Smith more money in free agency last summer than the minimum-salary deal he signed with the Clippers, Rockets GM Daryl Morey said on the “Chad, Joe & Lo” show on 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area (audio link; transcription via HoopsHype). Smith wound up with the Rockets anyway via trade.
Raptors Highly Interested In Ryan Anderson
The Raptors have high interest in Ryan Anderson as the trade deadline approaches, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Toronto joins a handful of teams apparently eyeing the soon-to-be free agent for a trade, as well as the Pistons, who’ve reportedly been looking at him but only as a potential offseason signee. The Raptors are seeking power forwards, with Thaddeus Young, Kenneth Faried and Markieff Morris among the names on their radar, according to multiple reports. Toronto has engaged in exploratory discussions about those three as well as P.J. Tucker, another object of their interest, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, though it’s not entirely clear whether those are internal or external talks.
Anderson is making $8.5MM this season, and the Raptors, who are over the cap and without a trade exception, would have to match for that salary to trade for him, a complicated task given the construction of Toronto’s roster, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca has pointed out. Toronto has an extra pick in each of the next two drafts to offer, and GM Masai Ujiri has signaled an intent to eventually trade at least one of those, but any deal would have to involve more than just draft assets going to New Orleans.
Conflicting reports have emerged about the likelihood of an Anderson trade this season, though more of them indicate that he’s not the likeliest trade candidate on the New Orleans roster than the other way around. New Orleans reportedly made Anderson available earlier this season, but the team wasn’t anxious to trade him, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported, adding Wednesday that the Wizards have asked about him. The Rockets “kicked the tires” on Anderson earlier this season, Kyler also reported. New Orleans apparently had talks with the Suns that involved Anderson, while differing reports paint an unclear picture of whether the Pelicans turned down an offer from the Kings of Rudy Gay for Anderson.
The subject of the Raptors and power forwards was the topic for our Community Shootaround on Wednesday.
Cavs Interested In McLemore, Ariza, Joe Johnson
The Cavaliers are one of multiple Eastern Conference teams with strong interest in Ben McLemore, league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland would quickly snap up Joe Johnson if he works a buyout with the Nets, Haynes also hears from league sources, though it doesn’t look like he’s one of the Cavs’ trade targets. Trevor Ariza is also on Cleveland’s radar, Haynes adds, as are Kyle Korver and Jared Dudley, as previous reports indicated, but it’s highly unlikely Cleveland ends up with one of those three, according to Haynes, who paints McLemore as the more obtainable target.
The Kings have so far resisted offers for the shooting guard, Haynes writes, but it’s widely known around the league that agents are pushing to get their players out of Sacramento amid organizational turmoil there, Haynes also reports. Trade candidate Rudy Gay wouldn’t mind a deal that ships him out of town, but the Kings haven’t found any offers for him that pass muster, Haynes hears.
Cleveland isn’t connected to Gay, but it’s a matter of when, not if, the Cavs will make a move of some sort, according to Haynes. The Cavs have been seeking a three-and-D wing player and have been linked to multiple names, including Omer Asik, who’s a center, and Tyreke Evans, who has an injury that threatens to wipe out the rest of his season. They’ve reportedly explored trading Timofey Mozgov, having met with rejection on that front from the Kings and also engaging in talks with the Pelicans that didn’t bear fruit.
Johnson said recently that he wouldn’t dismiss the idea of a buyout from his contract with the Nets, which expires at season’s end, and the Heat, like the Cavs, reportedly want to make a run at him if he shakes free from Brooklyn. One source close to Johnson told Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders that Johnson is “miserable” with the Nets and would welcome a change. His nearly $24.895MM would make a trade difficult, so a buyout appears a more feasible route.
Latest On Markieff Morris
Markieff Morris, Archie Goodwin and interim coach Earl Watson all brushed off an incident during a timeout in Phoenix’s loss Wednesday to the Warriors when Morris shoved Goodwin and teammates had to separate them, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic details. It’s not the first confrontation involving Morris to take place on the Suns bench this season, and while the towel he tossed in former coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction in the midst of a December game resulted in a two-game suspension for the power forward, other teams don’t find it concerning, reports Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports.
“We have to control our emotions,” Watson said, according to Coro. “Other than that, those two are really close. The team is not split. Those two are the closest on the team. They have a bond, a unique relationship. As we’ve seen, unique relationships can lead to something else throughout the league.”
Executives acknowledge that emotions run high and boil over at times during the heat of competition and most say the extra scrutiny surrounding Morris this year magnified the negative public perception of the towel toss, according to Marks. Nevertheless, if such outbursts become common, they could still hurt his trade value, Marks concedes. See more on one of the season’s most significant trade candidates:
- Teams with interest in trading for Morris have wondered if the breakdown in communication between the Suns, Morris and his brother Marcus Morris this summer is a harbinger of similar problems they’d have if they traded for Markieff, as Marks details in the same piece. Those teams have looked into the relationship between Marcus and the Pistons and found no issues, Marks adds.
- Markieff Morris said after Wednesday’s game that he didn’t regret having shoved Goodwin, notes Paula Boivin of The Arizona Republic. The way that Morris and the rest of the team have responded to the incident is baffling, Boivin contends, believing that Morris’ behavior puts the team in a tough position.
- Morris praised Watson for sticking with him, as Boivin relays in the same column, and the coach has been complimentary of Morris since taking over for Hornacek, as his comments before Wednesday game illustrate. “Everybody thought Markieff would be the toughest challenge,” Watson said, according to Coro (Twitter link). “He’s been the easiest challenge.”
Lakers, Suns, Rockets, Kings Eye Luke Walton
The Lakers, Suns, Rockets and Kings are likely to express interest in Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton for their head coaching jobs in the offseason, sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post. Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the Lakers and Suns would target him (Twitter link). They join the Knicks, who reportedly view Walton as a top candidate, even though New York appears a long shot for him, and the Nets, who apparently have the 35-year-old on their radar, at least, as they seek to fill their GM vacancy first.
Remaining with the Warriors for next season is not out of the realm of possibility for Walton, barring the emergence of an enticing offer, a source close to the coach suggested to Berman. That jibes with Walton’s recent remark that he’s in no rush to make a change and would “love to be back again next season” with Golden State. Walton is apparently set on remaining with the team at least through this season, which is liable to stretch well into June for the 48-4 Warriors.
Walton had talks with the Knicks about becoming an assistant coach in 2014, but the team wasn’t ready to make an offer when Warriors coach Steve Kerr pursued him for his staff at Golden State, as Berman details. Walton joined the Warriors that summer for his first job on an NBA bench and only his second season as a coach on any level following a 10-year NBA playing career. He ascended to interim head coach before this season when Kerr took a leave of absence to recover from two back surgeries, and Walton led the team to a sterling 39-4 record before Kerr returned last month.
The Suns, Rockets and Knicks all have interim head coaches, while Byron Scott and George Karl remain in their formal capacities as head coaches of the Lakers and Kings, respectively. However, Scott isn’t assured of lasting past the season and the Kings nearly fired Karl this week.
Which job makes the most sense for Walton? Leave a comment to tell us.
Timberwolves Speak With Tom Thibodeau
Some “cursory contact” has taken place between the Timberwolves and former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, sources tell Brian Windhorst, who made his report in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (video link). Wolves owner Glen Taylor told interim Wolves coach Sam Mitchell that he would have this season to work with and that he would evaluate him after that, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press said to Hoops Rumors in a recent edition of The Beat, so the team faces a decision about its coaching future this spring. Thibodeau has apparently long wanted the Knicks coaching job, and while that appears unlikely, he’s reportedly of interest to the Lakers and Nets and is linked to just about every coaching vacancy that arises.
Nearly half the Wolves roster has expressed concern about Mitchell’s job performance, Krawczynski reported late last month, though he picked up the endorsement of team leader Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves won their 17th game of the season Wednesday with an upset of the Raptors, surpassing the 16 they won all of last season, but they still have the league’s fifth-worst record. That sets up Minnesota for another high first-round pick, making the job all the more attractive, as Windhorst discusses.
It doesn’t appear as though talks have become serious at all, though Thibodeau is anxious to return to coaching, Sam Smith of Bulls.com wrote recently, adding that he believes the former Coach of the Year would want personnel control. GM Milt Newton, like Mitchell, has no assurances beyond this season. The 58-year-old Thibodeau went 255-139 in the regular season and 23-28 in the playoffs with Chicago, which fired him this past spring.
Which team would be the best fit for Thibs? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.