Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Johnson, Brooks
While much of the attention across the NBA has been focused on the struggles of the Nets, they're not the only Atlantic Division team performing below expectations this year. The prevailing wisdom entering the season was that the Atlantic would be the league's toughest division, but entering tonight, only the Knicks had a winning record. Here's more from what might be called the NBA's most disappointing division so far.
- The Knicks, who are at the 15-man roster limit, aren't in the market for another point guard in the wake of Raymond Felton's injury, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
- On Thursday, Avery Johnson thought he and Nets GM Billy King were going to talk about the team's plans for January 15th, when Kris Humphries becomes eligible to be dealt. Instead, King told Johnson he was fired, as Stefan Bondy recounts via Twitter.
- It's unclear how long P.J. Carlesimo will remain interim coach of the Nets, but his presence likely means more minutes for MarShon Brooks, TNT's David Aldridge tweets. Brooks' name has come up as a trade candidate, and he was reportedly among the most disgruntled players in the team's locker room under Johnson.
- Doc Rivers' ability to withstand a pair of sub-.500 seasons before the Celtics went after talent and won the title in 2008 skewed expectations for coaches in similar positions, like Mike D'Antoni with the Knicks and Avery Johnson with the Nets, opines Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Speaking on CSNNE.com's SportsNet Central, Chris Mannix of SI.com advocates a Pau Gasol deal for the Celtics. Boston has had interest in the Lakers big man in the past, but appears to have cooled on him since.
Jermaine O’Neal Wants To Retire With Pacers
Jermaine O'Neal's heyday with the Pacers is far behind him, but the 34-year-old center still carries fond memories of his time in Indiana, and he'd like to end his playing career in a Pacers uniform, reports Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. O'Neal is on a one-year deal with the Suns for the minimum salary.
"I would be honored if the organization would allow me to (retire with them), the city allowed me to do that," said O'Neal, who played with Indiana from 2000 until 2008. "I can go anywhere in the world and people recognize me from my Pacers days. My heart and soul is here, and if I can get an opportunity to retire as a Pacer that would be fantastic."
A Pacers return doesn't seem likely any time soon, since Indiana already has a pair of centers on long-term contracts in Roy Hibbert and Ian Mahinmi. O'Neal, a 17-year veteran, has never won a title, but said he isn't interested in chasing a championship, and just wants to "go somewhere and have fun." O'Neal feels like he's accomplished that so far with the Suns this season.
"The spirit here is great, (though) we’re not where we want to be with the record," he said. "It’s a great atmosphere and makes you feel young all over again."
O'Neal didn't say when he wanted to retire, so he might be interested in returning to Phoenix next season before pursuing a return to the Pacers, as long as the rebuilding Suns would want him back. He's played well in his limited playing time for Phoenix, posting an 18.5 PER and 7.1 points per game in 16.8 minutes per contest. Still, the Suns might want to go with a younger option next year, and O'Neal will be hard-pressed to get more than the minimum wherever he winds up.
Jeff Van Gundy Unlikely To Coach Nets This Year
8:18pm: Van Gundy wants to know more about Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the way the Nets organization functions before determining his interest in the job, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.
6:54pm: Jeff Van Gundy is interested in the Nets job, but he probably wouldn't take it until season's end because he doesn't want to upstage interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nets haven't contacted Van Gundy, but the team's front office holds him in high esteem, and he's on the team's shortlist, Wojnarowski writes. Van Gundy's reluctance to cast his shadow on Carlesimo stems from his background as the son of a small college coach as well as the Knicks' fliration with Phil Jackson when Van Gundy was interim coach of the team.
Van Gundy hasn't coached since 2007, and in 2010 turned down entreaties from the Rockets, Raptors and Nets. According to Wojnarowski, Van Gundy believes the Nets opening is more attractive now than it was when he said no two years ago because the team has made its move to Brooklyn.
If the Nets do bring Van Gundy aboard, he'll likely hire Patrick Ewing as an assistant, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Ewing has openly campaigned for head coaching jobs since the end of his tenure as an assistant with the Magic for Jeff's brother, Stan Van Gundy.
Bulls Rumors: Bogans, 2014, Hamilton, Cousins
The Bulls, at 15-12 following a Christmas Day pasting at home at the hands of the Rockets, aren't too far ahead of the 14-14 Nets, who felt compelled to change coaches. But Chicago is only a half-game behind the Pacers for first-place in the Central Division even without Derrick Rose, so there's a lot more optimism in the Windy City than there is in Brooklyn. We've got more on the Bulls here, including another tie-in with the Nets.
- Former Bulls shooting guard Keith Bogans came close to returning to Chicago in the offseason, telling Shams Charania of RealGM.com that agent Dan Fegan had talks with the Bulls. Bogans has a strong relationship with Tom Thibodeau, and though they didn't talk over the summer about the possibility of his return, the coach pushed the front office to bring him back, Charania reports. When Bogans chose the Nets instead, the Bulls signed Marco Belinelli.
- The Bulls are unlikely to take on any long-term contracts in trades this year, Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in his mailbag column. Smith theorizes that the team has its eyes on the 2014 free agent market, when LeBron James and other flashy names may become available.
- Though the Suns reportedly have interest in trading for Richard Hamilton, Smith doesn't think a swap that would send Hamilton to Phoenix would work for either team.
- Answering a question about whether the Bulls could be players for DeMarcus Cousins as long as he comes cheaply, Smith said he doesn't think the Kings are willing to dump him for a pittance just yet, though he believes Sacramento will be active on several fronts between now and the trade deadline.
Odds & Ends: Wall, Felton, Raptors, Harden
A pair of teams at opposite ends of the standings received news about their point guards that conflicts with the way their seasons have gone so far. John Wall told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he's targeting sometime next month for his return to the Wizards from a left patella injury that's kept him out all season. Raymond Felton of the Knicks, meanwhile, told reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link), that he'll likely have surgery on his broken right pinkie finger that will keep him out four to six weeks. While we don't normally cover injuries at Hoops Rumors, we do so when an absence could have an effect on personnel moves, and there's news on a couple more guys whose health could signal change.
- Raptors officials said that center Jonas Valanciunas will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken ring finger on his right hand, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star notes, which might complicate matters if the team intends to trade Andrea Bargnani anytime soon while remaining competitive this season. With Bargnani still recovering from a torn elbow ligament, Aaron Gray has become a starter.
- Smith also writes that coach Dwane Casey has decided he'll keep Jose Calderon in the starting lineup even when Kyle Lowry returns from a torn right triceps muscle. Calderon has long been a trade candidate, but the team could dangle Lowry instead, as we heard earlier today.
- The Timberwolves had contact with the Thunder about acquiring James Harden, but Minnesota was rebuffed, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. It's unclear how far talks got, but it's no surprise that the Wolves at least made an inquiry, as just about every team surely did this summer while Oklahoma City stared down the dilemma over whether to grant Harden an extension.
- The numbers show top pick Anthony Davis has played more efficiently than any other 2012 lottery selection, and he credits some of that success to the mentorship of Ryan Anderson, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com tweets.
How 2012 Lottery Picks Have Fared So Far
It will be a long time before we can truly discern how well the teams that had high picks last June performed in the draft, but early impressions from the season's first two months can tell us a lot. It's also difficult to judge players who play different positions and get varying amounts of playing time, but former ESPN.com writer (and current Grizzlies executive) John Hollinger's player efficiency rating, or PER, gives us as effective a tool as any to do so.
There's no surprise about which rookie has the highest PER amongst this year's lottery picks, as No. 1 pick Anthony Davis claims the top spot. After him, though, the list bears little resemblance to the order in which the players were drafted. For the most part, the picture isn't a pretty one, either. Only four of this year's lottery picks have a PER better than 15.0, which is the mark of an average player.
Last year's lottery selections are listed below in descending order of their PERs. The pick with which they were taken is in parentheses.
- Anthony Davis, Hornets (1) — 21.2: Injuries have limited him to just 14 games so far, but when he's played, he's been about as impressive as advertised.
- Andre Drummond, Pistons (9) — 21.0: The Pistons have kept their center of the future under wraps, playing him less than 20 minutes per game. In that time, Drummond has looked like a steal.
- Damian Lillard, Blazers (6) — 17.6: He's receiving early consideration for Rookie of the Year, though he may have a hard time holding off Davis as the big man gets more games under his belt.
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2) — 17.3: He was known for his defense coming out of college, but the small forward is shooting better than 50% so far.
- John Henson, Bucks (14) — 14.4: His playing time has been sporadic, as he's made five starts but is averaging only 10.1 minutes per game. Still, Henson is grabbing 10.1 rebounds per 36 minutes.
- Meyers Leonard, Trail Blazers (11) — 13.1: Though he's consistently part of the Blazers' rotation, he's yet to have much of an impact, with season highs of 12 points and nine rebounds.
- Jeremy Lamb, Thunder (12) — 12.5: His inclusion in the James Harden trade that brought him from the Rockets has done nothing for his playing time, as he's totaled just 41 NBA minutes so far.
- Dion Waiters, Cavaliers (4) — 11.8: Waiters has started in all 21 of his appearances for the Cavs, unlike college, where he was a reserve for Syracuse.
- Bradley Beal, Wizards (3) — 11.7: Beal was touted as a long-range shooter, and his 29% three-point shooting is just one of many ugly stats on the team with the league's worst record.
- Terrence Ross, Raptors (8) — 10.3: Injuries to others forced Ross into the rotation, but he's put on an uneven performance.
- Harrison Barnes, Warriors (7) — 10.1: It's a little surprising his PER is so low considering he's started all 28 games for Golden State, but many of his other numbers (8.8 PPG, 40.7% shooting, 31% three-point percentage) suggest his subpar PER makes sense.
- Thomas Robinson, Kings (5) — 9.4: He's seeing only 16 minutes per night, but he hasn't done much while on the floor to earn coach Keith Smart's trust.
- Austin Rivers, Hornets (10) — 6.7: His 35.1% field goal percentage looks even worse when you consider he's shooting 36.7% from three-point range.
- Kendall Marshall, Suns (13) — 0.7: Here's where PER is a little bit unfair, since the sample size covers only 38 NBA minutes. What's more disconcerting is Marshall's 9.6 points and 7.6 assists in 31.0 minutes per game in nine D-League contests.
Southwest Rumors: Mavericks, Gordon, White
Four of five Southwest Division teams are in action tonight, and the Hornets started the evening off on a postive note by breaking their 11-game losing streak with a victory over the Magic. The Mavericks, in the midst of a three-day layoff surrounding Christmas, are probably in a festive mood, considering Dirk Nowitzki saw his first action of the season in Dallas' last outing. Here's more news on the Mavs and another star making his way back into the lineup.
- The Mavs "will be listening to anybody and everybody who wants to make a move" between now and the trade deadline, and they're particularly interested in finding a point guard, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Sefko chatted with readers about a litany of Mavs-related subjects, and says that although the team will look to make moves, it isn't ready to dismantle the core and give up on making the playoffs just yet.
- Hornets coach Monty Williams believes Eric Gordon could make his debut this season as early as Saturday, as John Reid of the Times Picayune notes. Gordon has been out all year with a patella tendon disorder and a bone bruise in his right knee after a contentious back-and-forth between him and the team during restricted free agency this summer.
- The Associated Press reports that Rockets coach Kevin McHale is "unsure" about Royce White's future with the team, though it sounds like McHale simply hasn't been briefed on the very latest concerning the 16th overall pick, who's yet to play for Houston as he works through his generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Latest On Wolves, Anderson, Potential Signings
5:56pm: Coach Rick Adelman said this evening that there are no new updates on the free agent front, adding that he hasn't seen anyone come in yet (Twitter link via the T-Wolves' PR account).
9:36am: The Timberwolves probably won't make a signing until after New Year's Day, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, who confirms that the team is indeed set to work out James Anderson today (Twitter links). Minnesota is compiling a list of targets to replace Josh Howard, whom the team waived after he tore his ACL last week. Donte Greene and Lazar Hayward are reportedly serious candidates for the open roster spot.
Whoever gets the gig will be on a non-guaranteed deal, according to Wolfson, so there could be more movement on the horizon. With the exception of 10-day contracts, which teams can begin signing on January 5th, all contracts on the books become guaranteed for the entire season on January 10th. That means the Wolves could be waiting until the 5th to ink someone to a 10-day deal, or they could bring a player aboard before the 5th on a de-facto 10-day contract and waive him before the 10th.
Minnesota doesn't have any more than the minimum salary to offer, and the team, which has 14 players, probably won't open up a second available roster spot by waiving injured Malcolm Lee, Wolfson tweets. The Wolves are unlikely to seek a disabled player exception for Lee, either, Wolfson notes. That makes sense, since the exception would be worth half of Lee's second-year minimum salary, not enough money to sign anybody, even a rookie making the minimum. The only way the exception would be of any value to the team is if it traded for a minimum-salary rookie. There's no official word on a timetable for Lee, but Wolfson hears the shooting guard is done for the year with a chrondal injury to his right knee.
Atlantic Rumors: Lowry, Raptors, D-Will, Celtics
The Celtics were the only one of three Atlantic Division teams to win on Christmas, beating the division rivals Nets to tie them for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Boston is also the only Atlantic Division club not playing on the road tonight, as they have the day off. But no one will envy the Celtics tomorrow, when they must face the scorching Clippers in Los Angeles. There hasn't been much for Boston to crow about this season, and there's more about that along with other Atlantic Division scuttlebutt here.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes that the Raptors "supposedly would like" to package Kyle Lowry in a trade and hang on to Jose Calderon. I'm not sure about this one, since Lowry's deal, which lasts through next season, is cap-friendly while Calderon's expiring contract is paying him $10.56MM this year. The Raptors have won five of the six games Calderon has started since Lowry went down with a tear in his right triceps, but that's a tiny sample size.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun looks at five questions facing the Raptors, including the matter of who should start at point guard when Lowry returns to health.
- When you’re a point guard, your job is to get others going, but when you’re making the max, as Deron Williams is, you also have to look for your own shot, something Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News urges Williams to do more often after his seven-shot, 10-point effort on Christmas.
- There's more to team-building than simply adding talent, as Brandon Bass of the struggling Celtics attests to HoopsWorld's Lang Greene.
Trade Candidate: Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton seemed like the missing piece for a contending Bulls team in need of some scoring punch at shooting guard when he signed before last season, but the fit hasn't been as comfortable as many foresaw. Injuries have limited the 34-year-old to playing in just 43 of Chicago's 93 regular season games the past two seasons, and he's currently on the shelf with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot. When Hamilton has been in the lineup, he's averaged just 25.7 minutes a night over this year and last. Some of that has to do with coach Tom Thibodeau's desire to shield Hamilton from further injury, but Thibodeau has also gone with others down the stretch for defensive purposes. Defense has always been Thibodeau's calling card, and it's tough to find minutes on the Bulls if the coach doesn't like the way you defend.
Many of Hamilton's stats are down from his days with the Pistons, but his 45.3% shooting percentage as a Bull is slightly above his career mark, while most of his per-36-minutes stats indicate little drop off in performance. He's become a more consistent long-range shooter with age, having shot better than 37% from behind the arc in 2010/11 and 2011/12, the first time he's done so in consecutive seasons. Hamilton has kept it up this year, shooting threes at a 37.5% clip.
Chicago reportedly tried to trade Hamilton over the summer, but found no takers. He's still on the block, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, and as more teams look toward next year, Hamilton's contract may become an attractive trade chip. He's set to make $5MM this season and another $5MM in 2013/14, but only $1MM of next year's salary is guaranteed. That could make him an option for a team in need of a veteran with championship experience in the short-term but with plans to clear cap space for the future. The Hawks and Mavs fit that profile, though Hamilton would probably have to come off the bench for both teams. Hamilton would have a better shot at starting in Minnesota, where the Wolves have had a hole at shooting guard for a while. With the team's final roster spot in flux as it searches for a wing player, Minnesota might make the perfect landing spot for Rip. The Wolves could take on Hamilton in exchange for a draft pick, allowing the hard-capped Bulls flexibility and the chance to avoid paying the luxury tax, something that Johnson points out the franchise has never done. Chicago could sign someone for the minimum salary to get back up to the minimum 13 players on the roster. Still, there are complications. If Minnesota GM David Kahn insists on trying to move Derrick Williams as part of any deal, that would probably scuttle any movement between them and the Bulls.
Plus, the Bulls may insist that they not take any player in exchange for Hamilton, preferring instead a draft pick and the $5.1MM trade exception such a move would create. That would make it harder to deal Hamilton to a team like the Hornets or the Suns, teams focused firmly on the future who might be reluctant to give up picks. In his mailbag yesterday, Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago identified Phoenix as a team with interest, but cautioned that Hamilton may not want to play for a team without a title shot. Hamilton clashed with coach John Kuester on the moribund Pistons in 2010/11, reportedly organizing a locker-room revolt. Teams that would otherwise be attracted to his veteran presence might be wary.
There won't be any call for Hamilton until he returns from his latest injury, so no move appears imminent. I think if he's to be dealt this year, it will be close to the deadline, unless the T-Wolves or another team looking for a wing player gets antsy and gives the Bulls what they want. Chicago is a half-game out of fourth place in the Eastern Conference even without Derrick Rose, so if Thibodeau still thinks Hamilton can help them continue to stay within hailing distance of a high playoff seed, the Bulls will probably be inclined to keep him, at least until Rose gets back. If Hamilton comes back healthy and sees an even greater reduction in minutes, however, I believe he'll finish the season elsewhere.