Suns, Lon Babby Agree On New Two-Year Deal
2:58pm: The Suns confirmed the news of Babby's new contract, which runs through the 2014/15 season, on the team's website.
"I greatly appreciate the faith that (owner) Robert Sarver and the entire Suns organization have demonstrated with this new contract," Babby said. "We have begun the heavy lifting needed to rebuild our team. While the transition is often painful, I am entirely confident that we are taking the necessary steps to regain elite NBA status. I fully embrace the opportunity to continue on that path."
2:34pm: The Suns and president of basketball operations Lon Babby have agreed to a two-year extension, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The news appears to put to rest speculation about Babby's future, as fellow Arizona Republic scribe Scott Bordow wrote today about questions regarding the team's front office and interim head coach Lindsey Hunter. This had been the final year of Babby's contract.
Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News wrote in January that Babby was "probably done" in Phoenix, and Lawrence figured that might also mean the end for general manager Lance Blanks, who reports to Babby. It appears that Babby will instead be sticking around, but it's unclear what the move means for Blanks, whose contract runs through 2013/14. Hunter took over at midseason for former coach Alvin Gentry, and at least one report seems to indicate Hunter will be sticking around beyond this year. The Suns are in the midst of rebuilding following the offseason sign-and-trade that sent Steve Nash away, and this year's 23-51 record is the worst since the team went 16-66 as a first-year expansion club in 1968/69.
Phoenix could have as little as $44.4MM in commitments for next season, so the team figures to have the flexibility to try to lure more talent to the desert. The Suns have the fourth-best shot at the No. 1 overall pick, as our tentative draft order shows, and thanks to the Nash trade, they could have an extra first-round pick this June if the Lakers fail to make the playoffs.
Draft Rumors: Noel, Zeller, McLemore, Porter
A pair of underclassmen declared their intentions to enter the NBA draft today, with N.C. State's C.J. Leslie and Kentucky's Archie Goodwin entering the mix. Here's more of what we're hearing with the draft now less than three months away:
- The tournament bracket makes it clear which NCAA teams are winners, but Ben Standig of CSNWashington sorts through the March Madness winners and losers as it pertains to the draft.
- Standig cites Kentucky center Nerlens Noel as a winner, and Sean Deveney of The Sporting News agrees, even though Noel has been out since February with a torn ACL (Twitter link). Other contenders to be the No. 1 overall pick, like Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore, Otto Porter and Marcus Smart all faltered, Deveney observes.
- Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com unveils the initial version of his mock draft, and has Noel going first overall, followed by Smart and McLemore.
- A Western Conference GM tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that six or seven members of the 2014 draft class would be in the mix for the No. 1 pick if they were eligible this year (Twitter link).
- A GM who spoke to Dave Telep of ESPN.com echoed that sentiment, citing five potential All-Stars who could be in next year's draft: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle and Andrew Harrison (Twitter link).
Wizards Notes: Wall, Okafor, Beal
Wizards players were among the many notables at the White House this morning for the annual Easter Egg Roll, and while Bradley Beal made his pitch for lower taxes to President Obama, a couple of his teammates appear focused on other ways to keep their bank accounts in order. Here's the latest on Washington's team:
- John Wall believes he's the ninth-best point guard in the league, but tries to explain to TNT's David Aldridge, who writes his Morning Tip column for NBA.com, why he believes he deserves a maximum-salary contract. "Well, I feel like I get what I deserve," the third-year point guard said. "I know what I play like. I think (the Wizards) understand what I've been through the first two years, having what I had. Not to talk bad on any of my teammates or any of the guys I've had. I just feel like some of them weren't very professional about their job. They didn't care about winning, to be honest."
- Wall feels better about his teammates this year, and said Washington's acquisition of veterans in the offseason has helped him warm to the idea of a long-term commitment to the Wizards. All things being equal, Aldridge doesn't believe Wall is a max player, but given the circumstances in Washington, he thinks a five-year deal worth $68.75MM, which would make Wall the team's designated player, would fit the bill.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld also caught up with Wall, who offered further explanation on why he should get the max. "I’m not just going to base it on my play lately," he said. "I’m just talking about me in the future and how I want to change the organization around, making the playoffs and hopefully winning a championship here."
- Unless Emeka Okafor wanted to risk a significant paycut to sign with a contender, there's been little doubt he would elect to stay with the Wizards for next season and collect his $14.488MM salary rather than exercise his early-termination option for 2013/14. Okafor confirms his plan is to stay in D.C., as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com observes.
- Beal gave Grantland's Zach Lowe a wide-ranging interview that touched on his adjustment to the NBA and rumors earlier this season linking him to the Grizzlies in a potential Rudy Gay deal. "It is what it is. It’s a business. But I knew the (team) wasn’t going to trade me," Beal said.
Free Agent Stock Watch: J.J. Hickson
What a difference a year can make. On March 19th, 2012, the woeful Kings waived J.J. Hickson amid a disappointing season for the former first-round pick. It was quite a comedown for a young player the Cavs once viewed as a centerpiece of their future, but Hickson was averaging just 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for Sacramento. The Warriors were poised to sign him when he cleared waivers, but the Blazers pounced with a claim, bringing Hickson to Portland, where he has regained every bit of his promise, and then some.
The Blazers made Hickson a focal point of their offense late last season when LaMarcus Aldridge was injured, and he responded with 15.1 points per game, which would be a career high if it were extended over a full season. He's come close to matching that production in 2012/13, notching 13.1 points and 10.7 rebounds per game as the starting center alongside Aldridge. He's one of nine players in the league to average a double figures in both points and rebounds this season, and aside from Nikola Vucevic and DeMarcus Cousins, who are on rookie-scale contracts, Hickson, on a one-year deal worth $4MM, is the lowest-paid member of that group. Omer Asik is making $8.37MM this year, and the other five double-double guys are drawing eight-figure salaries, so it seems Hickson is in line for quite a raise in the offseason.
The 24-year-old N.C. State product was frequently mentioned in trade rumors, even though he had the right to veto any swap since he was on a one-year deal and will qualify for full Bird rights with the Blazers this summer. It probably wouldn't have been to his advantage to accept a trade, since his Bird rights wouldn't have carried over to his acquiring team. Still, the Pistons, Bobcats and Nets were linked to Hickson in the month leading up to the deadline. Charlotte was also in on Hickson over the summer, around the same time the Warriors appeared to once more be frontrunners for his services.
Assuming Hickson can command an annual salary that's at least as much as Asik's, which seems reasonable, he'd be too expensive for any team without cap room to sign him outright, unless it's the Blazers. A team that's over the cap but under the tax apron could engineer a sign and trade, but teams above the apron, who can't acquire players via sign-and-trade under new CBA rules, would be out of the running. That essentially eliminates the Nets as a possible destination, since Brooklyn is committed to about $84.5MM in salary for next season. The Warriors, depending on the decisions made by the four players on their roster who have player or early-termination options, will probably wind up close to the apron, making another pursuit by Golden State tricky.
The Pistons and Bobcats will have plenty of cap space, so of the teams other than the Blazers who've been linked to Hickson in the past year, they appear to have the clearest paths to sign him. Still, I'd be surprised if there aren't plenty of other teams ready to make a bid for Hickson in the summer. The combination of his youth and the numbers he's putting up this season figure to make him a sought-after commodity, even if there are concerns he could revert to his form in Sacramento. In an ESPN.com Insider piece, Amin Elhassen points to inconsistency and poor defense as reasons why Hickson should get no more than a four-year, $30MM deal. Yet Elhassen cautions that his projections are based simply on the player's on-court value, and not what he can get on the market. Centers are routinely overpaid, and though he might be too short to be a true center at 6'9", I think an annual salary in the ballpark of $10MM seems like a reasonable bet.
The Blazers, with only $43.24MM in commitments for next season, are set up with plenty of cap room to get a deal like that done, but they may prefer to use their space to sign others and exercise their Bird rights on Hickson to re-sign him once they're over the cap. Doing so would maximize their ability to bring talent aboard this summer, though a $10MM deal for Hickson if they're already over the cap would put them close to tax territory. In any case, the Blazers also have the power to spread Hickson's guarantee out over five years instead of the four that other teams are limited to, which could give them an advantage. I'm not sure Hickson, given his youth, would want to tie himself up for an extra year for the same amount of money, but it's clear the Blazers have some flexibility regarding how they can approach his free agency. Much can happen between now and July, but the Blazers will enter the process with a built-in edge.
Sacramento/Seattle Updates: Monday
The next major step in determining the future of the Kings is slated for Wednesday, when competing bidders for the team will make their presentations before a dozen NBA owners. There's sure to be plenty of news in the next 48 hours as we wait for that, and we'll round up today's latest right here:
- Sactown Royalty's Tom Ziller identifies the owners who'll be present at the meeting, which is a joint session of the league's Relocation and Finance committees, and speculates on which of them might be leaning toward either side.
- TNT's David Aldridge, in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com, provides plenty of detail about the meeting, which is in advance of a pair of votes the Board of Governors will take on April 18th. The first ballot will be on whether to approve the deal in place to sell the team to the Seattle group headed by Chris Hansen. Approval of that measure requires a three-fourths majority, meaning eight "no" votes would nix the sale. If that passes, the next vote is on whether to OK the franchise's move to Seattle. That would require a simple majority. Conceivably, that means the Kings could stay in Sacramento but wind up being owned by Hansen's group, though Aldridge doesn't address what would happen in that case.
- Aldridge hears from sources who give him conflicting word on whether the owners are leaning toward the Seattle group or the Vivek Ranadive-led Sacramento bidders.
- Ranadive would have to sell his minority share of the Warriors before assuming control of the Kings, and it's unlikely he'll have unloaded his stake in Golden State by April 18th, Aldridge writes. But the league is likely to give him sufficient time to do so if his group wins control of the Kings, and Aldridge hears that Ranadive likely already had a deal in place to unload his Warriors stake before he got involved with the Kings effort.
Rockets Recall Terrence Jones From D-League
We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls here, with any additional moves added to the top throughout the day.
- The Rockets have recalled Terrence Jones from the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers, tweets Jason Friedman of Rockets.com. The rookie power forward had been with the Vipers since March 21st on his sixth D-League assignment of the season. He's averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in 24 contests with Rio Grande Valley. The 6'9" Kentucky product has only appeared in 11 NBA games for a total of 91 minutes for Houston, which made him the 18th overall pick in June.
Goodwin To Enter Draft; Cauley-Stein, Wiltjer Won’t
Kentucky shooting guard Archie Goodwin will enter the draft, while center Willie Cauley-Stein will stay in school, the university announced, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Fellow CBSSports.com scribe Gary Parrish tweets that Kyle Wiltjer will also remain at Kentucky. Forward Alex Poythress, another Kentucky underclassman, is leaning toward entering the draft, though he has not finalized his decision, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link).
There's no word on Nerlens Noel, the most highly ranked prospect of the bunch, though he seems a decent bet to enter the draft, since he's still in the running for the No. 1 pick despite a torn ACL that prematurely ended his season. Goodwin, Cauley-Stein and Poythress hinted that they might return to school after a disappointing loss to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. That Wiltjer is returning is no shock, considering neither DraftExpress.com nor ESPN rank the sophomore in their top 100 prospect lists.
Goodwin is not hiring an agent, according to Kentucky's press release, so he can still withdraw before the NCAA's April 16th deadline to do so. He's ranked No. 24 on ESPN's list and No. 18 by DraftExpress, while Cauley-Stein checked in at No. 18 and No. 21, respectively. Even though the rankings for both freshmen are roughly equivalent, Goodman praised both for their decisions, citing what he feels is Cauley-Stein's need for another year of seasoning (Twitter link).
Sixers Sign Justin Holiday, Waive Jeremy Pargo
9:48am: The Sixers have officially signed Holiday and waived Pargo, the team announced via press release. The release doesn't specify whether Holiday signed a 10-day contract or a lengthier deal, though according to Mitchell, the deal is for the rest of 2012/13. Pargo departs the team after signing a 10-day contract in February followed by a deal that covered the rest of the season. Philadelphia is on the hook for a prorated portion of the minimum salary for Pargo even though he won't be on the roster anymore. All told, Pargo will make about $265K from the Sixers this year.
MONDAY, 7:59am: Holiday has a signed contract and will be at Sixers practice Monday, according to John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The team will likely waive Pargo or Jenkins to make room.
SATURDAY, 11:29pm: The Sixers will sign shooting guard Justin Holiday, the older brother of All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Sixers are at the 15-man roster limit, so they'll have to waive someone on a guaranteed contract to fit Holiday in. It's unclear whether the deal is a 10-day contract or covers the rest of the season.
Holiday has averaged 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the D-League's Idaho Stampede this season, having spent the year with the club after the Blazers waived him at the end of training camp. The Blazers appeared high on the 6'6" 23-year-old, claiming him off waivers from the Cavs during camp and protecting his D-League rights so they could keep him on their affiliate. Portland never elected to re-sign him during the regular season, however.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Sixers are bringing Holiday aboard on a rest-of-the-season deal with a team option or non-guaranteed year that covers 2013/14. With the team five and a half games out of the playoffs with nine games left to play, there'd be little reason to waive a guaranteed deal just to sign a guy to a 10-day contract, but we'll see. The most likely candidates to go appear to be Royal Ivey, Charles Jenkins and Jeremy Pargo, all of whom are on minimum-salary deals. Damien Wilkins is also making the minimum, but he's been a part of the team's starting lineup of late.
Northwest Rumors: Roy, Gelabale, Johnson
The Trail Blazers and Timberwolves seem to share a link greater than just their placement together in the Northwest Division. They were at opposite ends of a tug-of-war over restricted free agent Nicolas Batum last summer, around the same time former Blazers star Brandon Roy came out of retirement to sign with the Wolves, a move that cost Portland owner Paul Allen $17MM in insurance money. Earlier this season they "amicably" resolved a dispute over a trade the two clubs made back in 2010. Both clubs are in the news again, with news involving Roy and former Blazer and current Wolf Chris Johnson. Here's what we know:
- Wolves coach Rick Adelman hasn't been expecting Roy to return this season, but after spending the last two weeks hard at work in practice, Roy will ask Adelman if he can return to game action, reports Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Roy, who says his oft-injured right knee is improving, will almost certainly hit free agency this summer, since he's played only five games this season and his deal is non-guaranteed for 2013/14. He suggested earlier this year that he'd retire if he couldn't come back healthy by the end of this season.
- Johnson and Mickael Gelabale also have non-guaranteed deals with the Wolves for next year, and they appear to have a shot at returning to the club, notes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. "This summer will be big for them," Adelman said. "We like them both."
- The Blazers will send their first-round pick to the Bobcats if it's not in the top 12, and as our updated tentative draft order shows, Portland is in line for the No. 12 pick, separated by three games from the Mavericks for the No. 13 spot. Despite the motivation to lose and improve the team's chances of keeping its pick, Blazers coach Terry Stotts insists that's something his squad won't do, as The Oregonian's Mike Tokito observes. "We've played every game to try and win," Stotts said. "The draft picks — I just think you start doing that you're (messing with) basketball karma or whatever. I think you gotta be true to the game and true to your players, and that's never been a concern of mine or our team."
Grizzlies Eyeing Dooling, Flynn, Others
MONDAY, 7:46am: Dooling is still the "big favorite" to earn a spot with the Grizzlies, but the team's search for a guard may continue for a couple more days before a signing occurs, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
FRIDAY, 10:56am: In addition to Dooling and Flynn, the Grizzlies are also considering Scott Machado, Courtney Fortson, and Sundiata Gaines, according to Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 10:14pm: Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe received a similar text from Dooling, who says he'll know for sure about a deal with Memphis by Sunday (Twitter link).
10:05pm: Dooling texted TNT's David Aldridge to say that he's been in contact with the Grizzlies, but hasn't signed with the team (Twitter link).
7:20pm: The Grizzlies haven't committed to signing Dooling, a source tells Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal. Memphis is also considering Jonny Flynn as the team looks to add a veteran point guard rather than rely on rookie backup Tony Wroten, according to Tillery (Twitter links).
6:31pm: Former New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey reports that the Grizzlies have signed Keyon Dooling for the rest of the season (Twitter link). If the move becomes official, it would mark an end to Dooling's retirement, which he announced in September while with the Celtics. Presumably, he'd have to leave his job as a player development coordinator for the C's, which he assumed after he retired.
Dooling suffered a nervous breakdown over the summer that stemmed from sexual abuse he endured in childhood, as he detailed last year to Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com and TNT's David Aldridge. Shortly after his retirement, he was linked to the Heat, but denied interest in a return to the league. The 32-year-old guard told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe he was open to coming back in January and said he informed Celtics coach Doc Rivers he was upping his workout regimen, but announced a few days later that he would not return to the NBA this year.
Boston and Dooling agreed to a $400K buyout of his guaranteed minimum-salary contract, so he's represented a small cap hit for the C's all year despite not having been on the team's roster. Dooling couldn't return to the Celtics unless they waived someone else, but the Grizzlies have two open roster spots, so they could accomodate Dooling if they choose.