Lakers Still Considering Backcourt Upgrade
With Pau Gasol set to return to the lineup tonight, and Steve Nash on track to follow him back on the court by this weekend, the level of panic in Lakerland has gone down a tick. L.A. is carrying a modest two-game win streak into their game against the reeling Bobcats tonight, but that doesn't mean the Lakers have withdrawn from their search for help. The team is still studying its options as it seeks to improve the backcourt, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Nonetheless, signing Delonte West isn't in the team's immediate plans, Shelburne reports (Twitter links).
West, Mike James and Jonny Flynn were reportedly potential targets for the Lakers, who've been without Nash as well as Steve Blake, who'll seemingly be out for at least another month, judging from the timetable given when Blake underwent abdominal surgery. If the team wants a better backup for the 38-year-old Nash in the meantime, it may look elsewhere, but since the Lakers have a full complement of 15 players, they'd have to waive someone to bring a free agent on board. The likeliest to go would be either Darius Johnson-Odom and Robert Sacre, both of whom are on non-guaranteed deals, but the Lakers might not want to give up on one of this year's second-round picks so soon just to make a temporary fix.
According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the team's top target is Jose Calderon, but that would require a trade that would significantly shake up the roster. The timing isn't right for the Raptors, who are in need of Calderon while starting point guard Kyle Lowry recovers from a torn triceps. The Lakers have maintained that they want to get a look at the team with Gasol and Nash together, so it makes sense that they would hold off on making a move, particularly a drastic one, until they've played at least a few games at full strength.
Offseason In Review: Memphis Grizzlies
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team's offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Darrell Arthur: Three years, $9.7MM. Signed via Bird rights. Third year is player option.
- Marreese Speights: Two years, $8.72MM. Signed via Bird rights. Second year is player option.
- Jerryd Bayless: Two years, $6.14MM. Signed via taxpayer mid-level exception. Second year is player option.
- Hamed Haddadi: Two years, $2.7MM. Signed via Bird rights. Second year is partially guaranteed.
Trades and Claims
- Acquired Wayne Ellington from the Timberwolves in exchange for Dante Cunningham.
- Acquired D.J. Kennedy from the Cavaliers in exchange for Jeremy Pargo, a 2014 second-round pick, and cash.
Draft Picks
- Tony Wroten (Round 1, 25th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
Camp Invitees
- Michael Dunigan
- Ronald Dupree
- Jarrid Famous
- Jerome Jordan
- D.J. Kennedy
- Flip Murray
- Kyle Weaver
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Quincy Pondexter, $2.23MM: Exercised
The Grizzlies got a new owner over the summer, but despite the fast start Memphis has enjoyed this season, the team did little to help vault itself from the fringes of the title chase into serious contention. Former owner Michael Heisley's unwillingness to pay the luxury tax played a role in the team's unwillingness to bring back O.J. Mayo, which might have been a mistake given his early-season scoring output for the Mavericks. It had been obvious for a while, though, that Mayo was on the way out, and Heisley went above the tax line to retain other free agents before handing the team over to Robert Pera's new, celebrity-laden ownership group.
When Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors previewed the team's offseason, he predicted the Grizzlies would shop Rudy Gay over the summer, suggesting that a trade prior to the draft would be beneficial, since they could swap him for a high lottery pick without having to take back any salary. Such a move would have saved significant cap space that the team could have used to re-sign Mayo and seek out another free agent, since Gay is due more than $53.6MM through 2015. Memphis reportedly tried to move him, but Heisley denied that was the case, and the draft came and went. Still, many around the league maintained the belief that the Grizzlies wanted to get rid of Gay's salary, and GM Chris Wallace fielded lowball offers for him over the summer, rejecting them all. The team remains open to trading Gay, according to HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, though that possibility appears more remote given the team's winning ways this season.
With Gay still in the fold once the draft was done, the Grizzlies declined to tender a qualifying offer to Mayo in advance of the June 30th deadline to do so, turning Mayo from a restricted free agent into an unrestricted one. That meant Memphis no longer had the right to match offers for Mayo, and while that may have seemed like a drastic move to take with someone who had been a critical piece on back-to-back playoff teams, it probably wound up saving the Grizzlies a lot of money for a player they didn't want. Mayo's qualifying offer was $7.39MM, which would have meant significantly more for him this season than the $4MM he gets as part of the two-year, $8.22MM deal he signed with Dallas. The Grizzlies almost traded Mayo to the Pacers on at least two occasions, and came close to a deal at the trade deadline last season that would have sent him to the Celtics for Ray Allen. Wallace and company seem to have decided long ago that Mayo wasn't a fit, so given that context, the non-tender isn't surprising. Mayo's strong start this year might make the move seem a little puzzling in hindsight, but it's likely the Grizzlies wouldn't have given him the opportunity to carry the offensive load he's taken on with the Mavs, so he would probably be doing less for more money if he were still in Memphis.
The Grizzlies turned to another would-be restricted free agent for Mayo's replacement as sixth man. Jerryd Bayless had initially been tendered a qualifying offer by the Raptors, but Toronto later withdrew it, making him an unrestricted free agent. Bayless posted career highs in minutes and points per game last season, and his 17.7 PER, also a career best, indicated he was markedly more efficient than the average player. The Grizzlies gave him the taxpayer mid-level exception, which means he'll make about $1MM less than what Mayo's earning this year. The deal might have been a springboard for Bayless, who has a player option for next season and can opt out for a more lucrative deal on the open market if he puts up numbers similar to last season. Yet the problem for Bayless and the Grizzlies is that he's so far been nowhere near the player he was in Toronto. Multiple injuries limited him to just 31 games last season, and that's not much of a sample size. It could be that last year's performance was an aberration, in which case the Grizzlies could once more find themselves tethered, for this season and next, to a backup guard they don't want.
The team did tender qualifying offers to its other restricted free agents, using almost precisely the amount of money that would have been tied up in Mayo's offer for the first-year salaries that backup big men Darrell Arthur and Marreese Speights will make in their new deals. Memphis also re-signed unrestricted free agent center Hamed Haddadi. It seems odd that they would hold on to all those inside players, since that's an area of strength for the team anyway, but coach Lionel Hollins likes to keep two bigs on the floor as often as possible, and significant injuries to Arthur and Zach Randolph last season challenged his ability to do so. Of the three, the deal for Arthur appears the most dubious, particularly since it's also the longest. He's missed more than half the team's games from 2009/10 through 2011/12. His valuable contributions in the middle season, the year the Grizzlies upended the Spurs in the playoffs thanks in part to Arthur's career year, obscure the much less encouraging story of his track record as a whole.
The Grizzlies divested themselves of one of their big men, shipping Dante Cunningham to the Wolves for Wayne Ellington in a rare one-for-one trade facilitated by their nearly identical salaries this season. Cunningham has a team option for 2013/14 and Ellington is set to hit restricted free agency, meaning both are essentially under team control for one more season. They were taken just five picks apart from each other in the 2009 draft, but their resumes since then do not match up nearly as well as their contracts. It's difficult to compare a power forward to a shooting guard, but one way to do so is using PER, a catch-all statistic that Grizzlies fans will no doubt become quite familiar with now that its inventor, John Hollinger, has joined the front office. Cunningham put up a career-best 14.9 PER in his single year in Memphis, and his career PER of 12.8 entering the season was significantly better than Ellington's 9.2. Ellington's skill set is a better fit than Cunningham's for a team seeking depth on the wing, but I don't think the Grizzlies had to sacrifice as much production as they did to address that need.
The other trade of the offseason looked like a straight salary dump, as they swapped Jeremy Pargo, who saw nearly 10 minutes per game as Mike Conley's backup, and his guaranteed $1MM salary to the Cavs for D.J. Kennedy, a veteran of all of two NBA games who had a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal. The Grizzlies also gave up a second-round pick and cash in the deal, a tipoff that Memphis simply wanted to rid Pargo's salary from the books. Kennedy was waived in September, re-signed a week later, and let go again shortly after training camp began. The signing of Bayless, who can play point guard as well as shooting guard, apparently gave Wallace and company enough leverage to give up Pargo, though Pargo's strong showing for Cleveland early this season for Cleveland when Kyrie Irving was out, coupled with Bayless' lackluster play, makes this one hurt.
Pera officially took over the team the day the regular season opened for the Grizzlies, and quickly installed Jason Levien as CEO. Despite the team's cost-cutting moves, Heisley left the Grizzlies about $4MM above the tax line, and did so with the blessing of the new regime, Levien told Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer. Levien is wary of becoming a repeat taxpayer, which would trigger additional penalties under the new CBA, but he expressed a willingness to pay the tax this year if it's necessary to do so for the team to win. The salary figures used to compute the tax are the ones on the ledger at season's end, so Levien will have the opportunity to get the Grizzlies under the tax line if he wants to.
The decision on shedding salary or paying the tax may come down to whether or not Memphis can be considered a legitimate contender when the February 21st trade deadline hits. Regardless of where the team finds itself in the standings, I wouldn't be surprised if the Grizzlies try to save some money by swapping Haddadi, Arthur or Speights for a draft pick at the trade deadline if all their big men stay healthy this season. They may also shop Bayless, though getting rid of him would leave them thin at guard unless rookie Tony Wroten makes some strides in the next couple of months. In any case, we'll learn a lot this season about the Grizzlies, both on the court and in the executive suite. This might have been Wallace's last summer at the controls, as there are rumors he may be on his way out, and at the very least he appears to have less power under the new owners. If that's the case, he may regret an offseason filled with tinkering that left only mixed results, as well as the organization's misplaced disenchantment with Mayo.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
D-League Moves: Selby, Wroten, Plumlee, Joseph
We'll keep track of all the day's D-League comings and goings with this post. Catch up on all the season's D-League movement with our roundup here.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Josh Selby to the Reno Big Horns and recalled Tony Wroten from the team, Memphis announced in a press release. Selby has seen only 15 minutes of action in five games with the Grizzlies, while Wroten, a rookie, has logged even more scant playing time — eight total minutes in three games.
- Miles Plumlee is back in the NBA after the Pacers recalled him from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced via Twitter. The 6'10" Plumlee, the 26th pick in the draft this year, has appeared in just four games for a total of 16 minutes, and has been passed over in the team's big man mix in favor of Jeff Pendergraph, among others.
- The Spurs have assigned Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros for the third time this season, the team announced. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News noted via Twitter a few minutes prior to the announcement that the team planned to send the second-year guard down so he can get some playing time. He's logged 65 total minutes over nine games for the Thunder this season, averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 assists per game.
- The Thunder have brought back Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton from their D-League assignments, the team announced via Twitter (hat tip to John Rohde of The Oklahoman). They were sent down on Friday, and both appeared in back-to-back games for the Tulsa 66ers this weekend. Lamb notched 24 and 26 points, respectively, in the two outings while Orton averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in the pair of D-League contests. Oklahoma City has made liberal use of relaxed D-League assignment rules this season, as this represents the third time both Lamb and Orton have been sent down and recalled this year.
Aldridge On Raptors, Varejao, LeBron, Thunder
TNT's David Aldridge checks in as usual on a Monday with his Morning Tip column at NBA.com, and this week's edition is full of trade rumors as talk heats up around the league. Here's a digest of Aldridge's latest scuttlebutt, with a heavy focus on the Raptors.
- While Andrea Bargnani's elbow injury will keep him out for a month, delaying trade talk, one rival GM is convinced he'll eventually be leaving the Raptors, feeling as though there's no doubt GM Bryan Colangelo will trade him.
- The Raptors are leery of adding another international player, according to Aldridge, which would make them reluctant to trade for Pau Gasol.
- Aldridge speculates the Raptors won't deal Jose Calderon to the Lakers, and instead ship him somewhere for a draft pick to create a massive trade exception. Aldridge writes that such a trade exception would be $15.6MM, but I believe it would be closer to $10.6MM, reflecting Calderon's salary.
- A league executive speculates that the Cavs will hold on to Varejao through the summer of 2014, when LeBron James can become a free agent, so they can make a pitch to their erstwhile superstar. In any case, the Cavs have set Varejao's asking price too high for other teams' tastes, as they often do with their many of their players, according to Aldridge.
- Though the Thunder are reportedly content to stand pat for now, Aldridge believes they could try to move the Raptors pick they got from the Rockets in the James Harden trade, speculating that one of their targets could be Varejao.
- Aldridge spoke with a GM who joins the seeming consensus that the Jazz are more likely to deal Paul Millsap than Al Jefferson. The GM believes Jefferson is a better fit with Derrick Favors.
- The Bucks want an upgrade at small forward, and Aldridge thinks the team is more likely to move "one of its undersized four or oversized threes" than trade Brandon Jennings or Monta Ellis.
- The Wizards are open to trading one of their big men for veteran help at the point, where they're woefully thin in John Wall's absence.
- The Pacers are willing to tinker, but aren't putting Paul George or George Hill on the table.
- No one aside from Jrue Holiday is off-limits as the Sixers seek a big man, though it would take a lot to pry Thaddeus Young or Evan Turner from their hands.
Kyler On Varejao, Spurs, Gordon, Calderon
HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler took to Twitter to reveal the career-threatening nature of Al Harrington's staph infection, and he also let loose with plenty of trade rumors along the way. We'll round up the juiciest tidbits here (all links via Twitter).
- The Spurs asked the Cavs about Anderson Varejao, but talks didn't proceed too far.
- The Hornets expect Eric Gordon back around Christmas, and aren't biting on any trade offers.
- The Raptors would be a willing partner in a trade that sends Jose Calderon to the Lakers, but Kyler isn't sure the purple-and-gold would be interested.
- Kyler hears Kevin Love "isn't remotely available," echoing what Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio wrote over the weekend, in spite of Love's critical comments about the Wolves last week.
- The Thunder, at a league-best 19-4, are understandably pleased with the season thus far, and they aren't looking to make any moves at the moment. As for the future, a strong playoff run could drive up Kevin Martin's price in free agency this summer, Kyler believes.
Lowe On Clippers, Celtics, Bledsoe, Jazz, Mozgov
Grantland's Zach Lowe looked at several players who became eligible to be traded this weekend, and shares a litany of observations based on his analysis and what he's heard from around the league. Here's a look at some of his rumors:
- Ryan Hollins has fallen behind Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf in the Clippers rotation, and he might be available for a team looking for cheap interior players, suggesting the Celtics, for whom Hollins played last season, as a potential suitor.
- Though Odom and Turiaf are ahead of Hollins, they're still "limited players," according to Lowe, who believes the Clippers could look to upgrade their frontcourt.
- An Eric Bledsoe trade "feels almost inevitable," though it doesn't have to happen this season.
- Lowe expects the Jazz would be more willing to trade Paul Millsap than Al Jefferson, and believes that might make them a fit with the Lakers in a potential Pau Gasol deal, piggybacking on an idea advanced by ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh (Insider only).
- Echoing a Friday report by Mark J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Lowe hears Timofey Mozgov is "among the most available players in the league."
- Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas are the only pieces the Knicks have who are both "useful and tradeable," Lowe contends, adding that the Knicks would be reluctant to unload any of their backlog of bigs onto Eastern Conference rivals.
Al Harrington Likely Out For The Year, May Retire
Magic power forward Al Harrington has been out all season recovering from a staph infection in his right knee, and Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld hears that he probably won't play this season and is considering retirement because of the knee issue (Twitter link). Harrington underwent routine arthroscopic surgery in May to repair torn meniscus cartilege in the knee, and was expected to return to the court within six weeks, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel documented last month. Instead, he began feeling sick two days after the procedure, and has since undergone four more surgeries. He's considering suing the doctors who performed the original surgery, Kyler tweets.
Just last week, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reported that Harrington was intent on returning before the February 21st trade deadline, and had expressed a desire to play five more seasons. Kyler notes that the latest news about Harrington hasn't been confirmed by the team or Harrington himself (Twitter link). The Magic acquired the 32-year-old power forward as part of the Dwight Howard trade this summer. Harrington is making $6.687MM this year and has two seasons and more than $14.7MM left on his deal through 2015, though the final two years are only 50% guaranteed.
If Harrington retires, the Magic may be ineligible to apply to have Harrington's salary taken off their books, as teams can do in cases of medical retirement, because the infection first occurred while he was still a member of the Nuggets. The same could be true if the Magic try to pursue a disabled player exception, which would allow them to sign a replacement for Harrington at 50% of his salary this season if he is to miss the entire year. It would be up to the league to determine whether the severity of the issue was known, or should have been known, at the time of the trade.
Hawks Remain Uninterested In Pau Gasol
Multiple reports over the last month or so have indicated that the Hawks aren't interested in trading for Pau Gasol, and HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler notes that it continues to be the case, as Hawks officials find the idea they would think about such a trade "laughable." Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times wrote this weekend that the Hawks had asked the Lakers over the summer about their interest in trading Gasol for Josh Smith, adding that the Lakers rejected the idea. Bolch speculated that the Lakers might be warming to the idea of acquiring Smith, but Kyler says the Hawks have never wanted to trade for Gasol.
Such a deal would run counter to GM Danny Ferry's course of clearing cap space, and Kyler hears the Hawks also haven't had talked to the Lakers about Smith. The Hawks have been in steady communication with Smith and believe he's content in Atlanta, and know that they have the "inside track" to re-sign him when he hits free agency next summer, according to Kyler. The Hawks view Smith and Horford as the pillars of the franchise, and plan to use their newfound flexibility to build around them, as Kyler writes.
The HoopsWorld scribe also notes that the Lakers continue to look for upgrades to the end of their bench, and are shopping Devin Ebanks, though there has been little call for his services around the league. Because Ebanks accepted his qualifying offer this summer, he can veto any trade.
Nets Pursuing Ersan Ilyasova
Ersan Ilyasova is off to a disconcerting start after re-signing with the Bucks for five years and $40MM this summer, having been benched amid declines in just about every statistical category. It would be reasonable to expect that the Nets, one of Ilyasova's suitors in the offseason, would feel thankful they're not the ones stuck with his contract, but according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, Brooklyn is still trying to acquire the 6'9" Turkish big man. Woelfel spoke about the Nets' renewed pursuit with Robert Haack Diamond of WSSP radio in Milwaukee, and NetsDaily provides the transcript.
Woelfel speculated that the Bucks might want to take back MarShon Brooks and Tyshawn Taylor as part of the deal, though there'd have to be more players going the Bucks' way to make the salaries match. Brooks "would love coming to Milwaukee," Woelfel said, suggesting that would still be the case even if Brooks hadn't seen his minutes cut drastically with the Nets this season.
The Nets turned their attention to Kris Humphries over the summer once Ilyasova was off the market, but Humphries, too, has been a disappointment and finds himself benched after signing a two-year, $12MM contract. He might be someone the Nets send the other way in a deal, though that's merely speculation as well. If Humphries were part of the deal, the Bucks would be the team that had to add players to the mix in order to make the salaries match.
Most players who signed a contract became eligible to be traded on Saturday, but Ilyasova is one of several players who can't be traded until January 15th. He's averaging 8.9 points per game, down from 13.0 last season, 5.5 rebounds per night, off from last year's 8.8 RPG clip, and he's shooting just 39.9% after hitting on 49.2% of his field goal attempts in 2011/12. Though he's only 25 years old, Diamond and Woelfel went over a few of the other names in the Bucks frontcourt, reasoning that Milwaukee might prefer to go with Larry Sanders, John Henson, Tobias Harris and Ekpe Udoh, all of whom are the same age or younger than Ilyasova.
Steven Gray Signs In France
Steven Gray, who was in training camp with the Wizards, has signed with Chorale Roanne in France, according to the team's website (translation via Sportando's Emiliano Carchia). Gray, a 6'5" combo guard, went undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2011, but hooked on with the Wizards summer league team this past offseason. He played just 17.3 minutes per game in three summer contests, but nonetheless earned the invitation to Washington's camp.
Gray was with the Wizards until shortly before opening night, but the team didn't look his way when they switched out point guards last month, replacing Jannero Pargo with Shaun Livingston. They also didn't bring him in to work out along with Ben Uzoh and Blake Ahearn when they went auditioned the pair of point guards last week after A.J. Price suffered a broken hand.
The journey to France is a return to Europe for Gray, who spent last season with BK Ventspils of Latvia. On Chorale Roanne, Gray joins Ryan Reid, who appeared in five games last season with the Thunder.