International Notes: Ayon, D-League, China, Turkey
With three more NBA training camp invitees out of a job within the last 24 hours, we may soon be hearing about some familiar names winding up overseas. With the 2012/13 season under way in many leagues around the world, here's what's going on internationally.
- Emilio Duran, the agent for Magic center Gustavo Ayon, says FC Barcelona has acquired his client's Spanish league rights from Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, as had been rumored earlier this month, reports Rene Tovar of ESPNDeportes.com (translation via HoopsHype). The move only applies if and when Ayon decides to play outside of the NBA, and Duran said Ayon, whose NBA deal is guaranteed through the end of 2012/13, is content to remain stateside.
- The lure of more money from a team overseas was unusually attractive for D-League players last year because of the lockout, writes Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside.
- China and Turkey are becoming more attractive destinations as leagues in Italy, Spain and Greece struggle amid financial crisis in those countries, as Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports. The caliber of player who could once get $250K annually in the Spanish league is now drawing only $80K to $100K, agent Mark Bartelstein said. "There are no safe places in Europe anymore," according to agent Bill Neff. "FIBA may help but in many, if not most places in Europe, you now spend your time chasing your player's money instead of managing his career."
Lakers Waive Ronnie Aguilar, Reeves Nelson
The Lakers have let go of Ronnie Aguilar and Reeves Nelson, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). The subtraction of the pair, who were on non-guaranteed deals, brings the team down to 18 players.
The 7'1" Aguilar was reportedly mounting a dark horse run to make the team's opening-night roster after he was signed right before training camp. Still, he saw little action in the preseason, totaling just three points in 31 minutes of action over four games, and his dismissal is a further signal that Dwight Howard's ailing back will not be an issue to start the regular season. Nelson, at 6'8", was once seen as a potential first-round pick before his collegiate career at UCLA went sour. He wasn't selected in the draft this past June after the Bruins cut him loose six games into last season, but wound up with the Lakers in early September.
The Lakers have 13 players signed to fully guaranteed deals, and today's moves leave Robert Sacre, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Andrew Goudelock, Darius Johnson-Odom and Greg Somogyi, all of whom have non-guaranteed contracts, to fight for the final two open roster spots.
Atlantic Rumors: Lopez, Brewer, Fields, Lee
The Knicks boast three of the league's top 10 preseason scorers, including Carmelo Anthony, who leads the NBA at 21.3 points per game. Teammates J.R. Smith and Amare Stoudemire come in third and 10th respectively, while Brook Lopez of the crosstown rival Nets is sixth. Lopez is also sixth in another preseason category, and that's a part of our roundup of items out of the Atlantic Division.
- After his rebounding rates declined in each of the last three seasons, Lopez is the league's sixth-leading rebounder in the preseason, averaging 9.0 boards in 27.0 minutes per game. If he keeps it up, Zach Harper of CBSSports.com believes there will be much less reason to think the Nets overpaid him with the four-year, $60.826MM contract he signed this summer.
- The Knicks made a strong recruiting effort to land Ronnie Brewer, who signed a minimum-salary deal with the team in July. The 27-year-old swingman turned down larger offers from other teams to do so, as he told HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy (Sulia link). "At the end of the day, it didn’t come down to money," Brewer said. "It came down to the best situation for me, as a person and as a player. I wanted to go somewhere I could win and have success. I wanted to go to a situation where playing basketball would be fun and I would enjoy doing it."
- Raptors guard Landry Fields said a personal issue hampered his play on the court for the Knicks last season, and isn't surprised the Knicks let him and Jeremy Lin go over the summer, given the team's unwillingness to stand pat, as Marc Berman of the New York Post documents. "The last two years with the Knicks, it’s been such a roller coaster pretty much. I’m used to that. If things were consistent, that would surprise me."
- Courtney Lee's improved defense and diversified offensive game have been pleasant surprises for the Celtics so far, writes Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe.
Odds & Ends: Nets, PEDs, Radmanovic, Invitees
Newsday's Roderick Boone says the Nets are a work in progress, but passes along praise from Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It's like this is a whole new franchise," Rivers said. "It feels like they just plucked this team out of the space, and all of the sudden they've got a hell of a team in our division that wears black uniforms. It's unbelievable. I don't know if they could've done anything better. This is terrific." The Nets also drew admiration from Kevin Garnett, but Brooklyn coach Avery Johnson believes all the talk is just a psychological ploy from the team that's won the Atlantic Division five years in a row, calling it "a straight setup," as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News documents (Sulia link). As the gamesmanship intensifies and the regular season draws closer, here's more from around the league.
- The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency called upon the NBA to institute testing for human growth hormone, and says there are "gaps" in the league's measures to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Henry Abbott of ESPN.com reports.
- Bulls offseason signee Vladimir Radmanovic is having trouble adjusting to the physical demands of playing for coach Tom Thibodeau, and might not be a part of the team's rotation come opening night, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld sizes up the chances each team's training camp hopefuls have of making the opening-night roster.
- Micheal Eric and Kevin Jones haven't seen much playing time in preseason games, which makes practice all the more important for the pair, both of whom are trying to make the Cavaliers on non-guaranteed deals, as Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer chronicles.
- Vince Carter appears to be the favorite to assume the sixth-man role that Jason Terry played for the Mavericks before departing via free agency this past summer, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside identifies six intriguing prospects who are likely to be available in the D-League draft, including Phil Jones, who was in camp with the Timberwolves earlier this month.
LeBron James Brushes Off Lakers Rumors
LeBron James pleaded ignorance before the Heat's preseason win against the Pistons tonight when asked about a report linking him to the Lakers, and he tried to further quell speculation after the game, as Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida notes (Sulia links).
"This is where I’m here now,'' James said, when asked if he has interest in joining the Lakers. "I almost used foul language. I’m not worried about that. That story, I don’t know where it came from. But I understand it came up because of who I am. It’s going to happen but I’m not going to worry about it. I got to continue to make sure I stay focused with these guys and make sure we’re ready for any challenge that comes upon us.’’
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported earlier today that an NBA executive believed the Lakers had timed almost all of their contracts to end in 2014 so they could make a run at James, who can opt out of his contract with the Heat that summer. Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register passed along comments from Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss confirming that the team has structured most of its deals to end by the summer of 2014, though Buss didn't mention James by name, as he is barred from doing so by tampering rules.
While he's focused on the present, James said he's not frustrated by the prospect of renewed public curiosity about his future, as there was prior to his choice of the Heat in 2010.
"Guys are going to make stories every day," he said. "It doesn’t matter to me. I’m true to my teammates. I’m here. And this is what it’s all about, us daily trying to get better as a team and trying to defend our title. So anyone can write a story. You have ESPN and then it becomes credible and you do what you want to do."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stressed a focus on the present in the wake of the reports, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes, while Dwyane Wade, who could also opt out of his deal in 2014, took the rumors head-on, as Tomasson notes via Sulia.
"They can leave my teammate alone, man,'' he said. "I’m going with that. He’s going to be here. We’re straight. So they can go mess with someone else."
Northwest Rumors: Aldridge, Lillard, Wolves
LaMarcus Aldridge didn't hold back in his comments on 1080 AM The Fan in Portland, declaring himself the best power forward in the game, as Ben Golliver documents on Blazer's Edge. He's indicated a willingness to be patient through the Blazers' rebuilding process before, but he doesn't think he'll have much of a wait, a belief he apparently shares with the front office. "I have really good talks with the management, with [GM] Neil [Olshey]," Aldridge said today. "We don't feel like this process is going to be that long. We feel like one year for guys to get better, for myself to also get better. We feel like we should have enough next year to be one of those top teams again. We can always add some good guys through free agency next year." While we wait to see if the Blazers can bounce back so quickly, here's more from Portland and elsewhere in the Northwest.
- Blazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard is trying to find the right balance between passing and looking for his own shot, as The Oregonian's Joe Freeman documents.
- Though Kevin Love could be back in five weeks, sooner than originally expected, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports, his broken hand will shine a spotlight on coach Rick Adelman's influence on building the Wolves roster, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
- Adelman said the specter of injuries helped shape the team's offseason plans, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune notes. "That's one reason we made a lot of changes," Adelman said. "Because we didn't do that last year, that last month [of the season], we got hammered."
Eastern Notes: Heat, Irving, Rasheed, Pistons
We looked at news from the Western Conference already, so here's a trip around Eastern Conference camps, with the start of the regular season just a dozen nights away.
- Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald thought a few days ago that Terrel Harris was a shoo-in for a spot on the Heat roster, but now believes Garrett Temple has a legitimate chance to beat him out (Twitter link). Both guards are on non-guaranteed deals.
- Kyrie Irving did plenty to justify his position as the top pick in the 2011 draft last season, when he won Rookie of the Year honors, but Cavs coach Byron Scott still believes he has a long way to go to realize his potential, as Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes.
- Marc Berman of the New York Post has details on Rasheed Wallace's contract with the Knicks, and confirms that it's without even a partial guarantee.
- Joe Dumars is the league's third-longest tenured executive in charge of player personnel decisions, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out yesterday, and the Pistons president of basketball operations told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com he's never been as impressed with his players' offseason work as he is this year (Twitter link).
- Nets coach Avery Johnson said he expects free agent signee Jerry Stackhouse, a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, to make his primary contribution as a locker room presence, a la Juwan Howard with the Heat the past two seasons, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News tweets.
Western Notes: Fredette, Blazers, Douglas-Roberts
Ben Golliver of SI.com identifies five players on Western Conference contenders who'll be "X-factors" for their teams, meaning their performance this season will go a long way in determining whether their teams will be playing in June. Three of the X-factors are offseason acquisitions: Dwight Howard of the Lakers, Andre Iguodala of the Nuggets and Lamar Odom of the Clippers. A fourth, the Thunder's James Harden, is entering the final season of his contract, while the Spurs have their X-factor, Kawhi Leonard, locked up until 2015 and already talking about staying with the team for a lot longer than that. There's more on others from around the West tonight, and we've got it rounded up here.
- While some Kings teammates say Jimmer Fredette has been the best player in camp, the team has other options at guard that could keep Fredette out of the rotation, as Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com notes. Still, Howard-Cooper makes the case that the Kings still need the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft to play up to his potential.
- Luke Babbitt and Nolan Smith still have multiple seasons left on their rookie-scale contracts, but if the Blazers don't think they'll develop, Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com thinks they could trade one or both of them for draft picks and cap space. Such moves could also allow the team to keep Coby Karl and Adam Morrison, both of whom have impressed Jaynes.
- Blazer's Edge checks in with two-pronged preview of the Blazers, as Tom Ziller looks at what's ahead while Mike Prada gives the team a C for its work this past offseason.
- Chris Douglas-Roberts, in camp with the Lakers on a non-guaranteed deal, talks about his teammates, the challenge of making the regular season roster, and what went wrong during his first stint in the NBA as part of a Q&A with Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
- Free agent signee Jamal Crawford is showing off his ability to score in crunch time for the Clippers, as Eric Patten of Clippers.com observes.
Buss Says Lakers Want To Make ‘Splash’ In 2014
Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss told Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register the team has intentionally designed most of its contracts to end in 2014, when Kobe Bryant's deal is also up and LeBron James and other stars can become free agents. Ding's report adds further credence to Brian Windhorst's ESPN.com story that quotes a general manager from an unidentified team as saying "It's not a mistake" the Lakers' deals all end at the same time. The plan, Buss said, is to "make a big splash in the free agent market."
"We would basically, money-wise, be able to sign the top free agent – maybe even two," he said. "I don't know the numbers exactly, because we're not privy to what the cap is and how much room we have, but it's going to be close to two of the top free agents that year."
The only contract the Lakers have that extends past 2014 belongs to Steve Nash, who'll make $9.7MM in 2014/15. They envision having Dwight Howard around, too, as Ding points out, and if he's on a maximum deal he'd be making more than $22.5MM that season. That would mean a tight squeeze for two more maximum-salary players, but would certainly leave enough room for one.
Ding says if James opts in with the Heat for 2014/15, the Lakers could try to convince Bryant to play one more season and go after James again in 2015. There could also be other options in 2014 if James is unavailable, as Ding lists Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and John Wall among the possibilties, though none seem quite as attractive as James. For a full list of 2014 free agents, check out our list here.
Getting the vast majority of the team's contracts off the books after 2014 could also save the Lakers plenty in luxury tax that they'd have to pay if they brought everyone back, especially since 2014 is when more dire penalties for taxpaying teams kick in under the new CBA. While it's conceivable the team could once more go over the tax threshold with a new group, they'd likely have to get under the cap to bring aboard James or another maximum-salary player, making it difficult to immediately become a taxpayer again.
Heat Rumors: LeBron, Lewis, Chalmers, Blatche
A report by Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com suggesting the Lakers could go after LeBron James in 2014 went out like something of a hurricane watch for South Florida today, and Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com adds to Miami's anxiety, tweeting that the Bulls, too, would go after King James when he comes available. Of course, it makes sense that plenty of teams covet the three-time MVP, and Friedell believes the Bulls rank below the Heat and Lakers on LeBron's wishlist (Twitter link). While the threat that he might leave someday is indeed present, LeBron remains under contract with the Heat for at least two more seasons. As Miami focuses on the present, here are the latest Heat-related rumblings:
- James denied knowledge of Windhorst's story earlier today, responding, "What story? The Marvel Comics story?" when asked about it by reporters, including Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
- Winderman argues that, given Rashard Lewis' minimum-salary contract, any contribution the team gets from him this season should be seen as gravy for a team that already had a successful offseason with the signing of Ray Allen.
- In the same piece, Winderman also suggests Mario Chalmers could become a trade candidate if fellow point guards Norris Cole and Garrett Temple impress.
- The Heat kicked the tires on Andray Blatche this summer, but despite his emergence as the league's fourth leading scorer in the preseason at 17.0 points per game for the Nets, Winderman doesn't believe Miami is missing out, since Blatche would likely have been glued to the Heat bench.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Dwyane Wade is ahead of schedule as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida reports (Sulia link). The last we heard, Wade was hoping to be ready for opening night.