Odds & Ends: Griffin, Sacks, Harden, Davis, Nash
Blake Griffin believes the Clippers have become a "free agent destination," and he thinks player personnel director Gary Sacks is the right man to pursue them from the GM's chair, according to comments he made to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Sacks, along with team president Andy Roeser and coach Vinny Del Negro, have shared the GM duties since Neil Olshey jumped to the Blazers, but Griffin made it clear which one he wants to assume the job full-time. "With the moves that the front office made — and now with Gary Sacks, who hopefully steps into that GM role — that made it easy for me and I think this is the place where everybody wants to come," Griffin said. "I think Gary has a great relationship with all the players and the players like him. If he is finally named GM, I think that's just the icing on the cake of having a franchise that is complete." We've got more weekend rumblings right here:
- James Harden believes Serge Ibaka deserved his four-year extension from the Thunder, and while saying he's unsure if he and the team will reach a similar accord this summer, Harden expressed a desire to stay in Oklahoma City, where he feels at home with his teammates, as he told the Spanish website Marca.com (translation via HoopsHype).
- Hornets No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis dishes about his time with the U.S. Olympic team, his similarities to Kevin Garnett, and his thoughts on playing with Eric Gordon in a Q&A with Joe Brescia of The New York Times.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star examines the relationship between Lakers point guard Steve Nash and Blazers assistant coach Jay Triano, who are teaming up to lead the Canadian national team as GM and head coach, respectively.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at whether it's worth it for the Magic to wait to make a big splash in free agency until 2016, when Kevin Durant becomes a free agent. Putting aside the connection Durant has with Magic GM and former Thunder executive Rob Hennigan, that seems like an awfully long time to wait.
New York Notes: Nets, Knicks, Machado
When the Clippers traded for Chris Paul last season, on the heels of the Lakers' failed deal for the superstar point guard, it made Los Angeles a true two-team city like never before. The clubs battled for first place in the Pacific Division throughout the season, with the Lakers edging the Clippers for the division title, and home court advantage in the playoffs, by one game. Fans without a stake in the matter can only hope for a similarly tight race between the Knicks and Nets this season, both of whom will be playing in the Big Apple this year. Here's the latest out of the city that never sleeps:
- The Nets agreed to add Donte Greene to their impressive free agent haul this week, and those moves plus the trade for Joe Johnson have some in Brooklyn thinking championship right away, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the team's marketing staff seem to be taking aim at the Knicks, as Bondy observes via Sulia. Yet Carmelo Anthony, who tells Newsday's Roderick Boone he's excited to see the results of Amare Stoudemire's offseason work, and the Knicks don't appear to be fazed. "There's no rivalry between us and Brooklyn right now," Anthony said during his youth camp at St. John's. "It starts on that first game. We'll see what happens with that first game. But as of right now, we are focused on ourselves. We are not really focused on nobody else."
- Former Iona guard Scott Machado drew some second-round consideration before going undrafted in June, and saw some time in the summer league with the Rockets. Now he appears to be drawing interest from overseas, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando indicates.
Extension Candidate: Gerald Henderson
It's tempting to write off everyone from the woeful 2011/12 Bobcats as unable to contribute to a winning NBA team, but at least a few of the players from the NBA's all-time worst outfit have futures in the league. There are no superstars in this bunch, but the team might want to hang on to Gerald Henderson, the team's leading scorer last year at 15.1 points per game. The 12th overall pick from 2009 has shown consistent improvement in his three years in the league, and for a team that found it difficult to attract even middle-tier free agents like Carl Landry and Antawn Jamison this offseason, developing and retaining its lottery picks must be a priority.
Henderson came to the Bobcats with a sterling basketball pedigree, having played three seasons at Duke after learning the game from his father, 13-year NBA veteran Gerald Henderson Sr. He saw limited run in his rookie season, and spent 2010/11 as a part-time starter before landing in the starting lineup for all 55 games in which he appeared last season. His increasing role led to healthy jumps in his scoring average the past two seasons, but he's backed that up with improvements in his shooting percentage, which he lifted from 35.6% in his rookie year to 45.9% last season, and true shooting percentage, up from 45.3% his first go-around to 51.1% in 2011/12. His PER has gone up in each successive season as well, from 9.7 as a rookie to 14.0 last year. Henderson isn't an effective distributor, averaging 2.3 assists and 1.8 turnovers last season, and his per-36-minute rebounding numbers have declined two years in a row. That's not too disconcerting, since wing players aren't often tasked with heavy rebounding or assist-making duties, but his outside shooting is cause for greater worry. He made just 23.4% of his three-point attempts last year, and that was a career high. Teaming him with fellow lottery picks Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, neither of whom is an outside shooting threat, might prove difficult.
The Bobcats will surely give Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, every chance to prove he can hold down the starting small forward spot in Charlotte. Walker likely has a future with the team as well, but at 6'1", he'll probably have to prove he can handle the point guard position to become a full-time starter. Point guard Ramon Sessions is around for this season and next at $5MM a year, and 6'7" Jeffery Taylor, the first pick of the second round this past June, will be in the mix among wing players as well. The team has options when it comes to outside players, but Henderson looks like the best bet at two-guard. Shooting aside, his blossoming scoring punch complements Kidd-Gilchrist's defensively oriented game, and new coach Mike Dunlap's up-tempo attack could allow Henderson's athleticism to flourish. The Bobcats figure to be a lottery team for a while, so they could always look for another two-guard in the draft, but early returns on the next two draft classes don't offer much hope.
Henderson certainly isn't going to see anything close to a maximum extension, but the Bobcats might be wise to offer something in the neighborhood of $5MM a year for three or four seasons before the October 31st deadline. That would be roughly the equivalent of the mid-level exception and the annual salary of Sessions, Charlotte's lone veteran free agent signing this summer. Locking up the 24-year-old Henderson would be like signing a middle-tier free agent, but with more upside. Henderson could be in line for more money as a restricted free agent next summer if his improvement continues, but it probably wouldn't be too much more. Long-term security has its own value, particulary for a player who's started only 85 NBA games.
Checking In With Last Year’s 10-Day Signees
The 10-day contract opens a slight crack in the window of opportunity for NBA hopefuls, but few are able to slip through to stay. Of the 32 players who received at least one 10 day contract last season according to our 10-day tracker, only three have signed as free agents so far this summer. Each of those players signed two 10-day contracts followed by a deal for the rest of 2011-12.
- Gerald Green, after hooking on with the Nets last year, signed with the Pacers for three years, $10.5MM.
- Cartier Martin re-signed with the Wizards for the minimum salary.
- Alan Anderson re-signed with the Raptors for the minimum salary.
Green, of course, is the standard-bearer for last year's group of 10-day signees, averaging 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 25.2 minutes per game with a 15.8 PER in 31 contests for the Nets in his first NBA action since a 38-game stint with the Mavs in 2008/09. It was an inspiring comeback for the 18th overall pick in the 2005 draft, but his story is far from typical.
Aside from those three, there were another three 10-day signees who impressed their teams enough to warrant contracts that kept them from this summer's free agent market. The Rockets picked up Courtney Fortson's minimum-salary team option for 2012/13, guaranteeing his salary for this season. Donald Sloan has a non-guaranteed deal for this season with the Cavs, as does Lance Thomas with the Hornets. Others had non-guaranteed deals but were waived, as was the case with Jerome Dyson, who was used for salary-matching purposes in the Robin Lopez three-team swap before getting waived by the Suns.
Still others have found jobs overseas, as Ben Uzoh, Morris Almond and Justin Dentmon have all done. It appears Darryl Watkins is heading overseas as well.
Of the remaining free agents who signed 10-day contracts last year, Terrence Williams, who we heard this week is drawing interest from the Wizards, is probably the most likely to get another NBA deal before training camp, with Mike James and Bobby Simmons distinct possibilities as well. There's still time for more of them to sign, but guaratanteed contracts don't come easy at this stage of the offseason, and those who do sign will likely have to battle for a roster spot in training camp. That would essentially put them back where they were when they signed their 10-day contracts, once more in a position where they have to prove their worth as NBA players.
Southwest Rumors: Rookies, Mavs, Lopez, Duncan
NBA.com conducted a survey of 39 rookies, and to no one's surprise, Anthony Davis was the pick for Rookie of the Year, as NBA.com's John Schuhmann writes. The No. 1 overall pick by the Hornets also topped the list of rookies who'll have the best career, but lost the best defensive honors to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Bobcats. Perhaps most revelatory is the ranking of players who are most overlooked. Tony Wroten of the Grizzlies tied for first with Draymond Green of the Warriors, Perry Jones of the Thunder and Andrew Nicholson of the Magic. Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com takes a look at how Mavericks rookies fared in the survey, and we have plenty more from Dallas and the rest of the Southwest Division:
- Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com wonders whether the Mavericks might shift their focus for next summer from pursuing marquee free agents to a plan that involves re-signing their own players and going after second-tier stars, a la Josh Smith.
- Andy Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com takes a stab at guessing the framework of the aborted Mavs–Lakers deal from 2007 that would have brought Kobe Bryant to Dallas, which Mavs owner Mark Cuban made public earlier this week. Jason Terry, Josh Howard and Devin Harris seem the most likely players to have been headed to L.A. in that near-deal, Kamenetzky says.
- We heard a little from Robin Lopez earlier, but the 7'0" center had more to say Thursday as he met with New Orleans media for the first time. He said he hopes to bring some intensity, fire and toughness to the Hornets, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com chronicles, and had high praise for Anthony Davis, saying, "From what I’ve seen, he looks like a great player, with great instincts, and he’s freakishly athletic. I’m especially looking forward to playing with him on the defensive end. I think we both can definitely make a strong impact there."
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News notes that Tim Duncan's per-36-minute stats last season were remarkably similar to those from his rookie year, one possible reason the Spurs were willing to offer Duncan the three-year, $30MM deal he signed last month.
Atlantic Rumors: Green, Zarren, Sixers, Nets
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald hears insurance issues were part of the reason Jeff Green's deal with the Celtics was held up for more than six weeks until it finally became official yesterday. The new CBA and side issues also played a part in the delay, agent David Falk told Bulpett.
- Gary Dzen of the Boston Globe has more from Green on what kept him from going elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent this summer. "They helped me along my route," Green said of the Celtics. "It was a no-brainer for me to come back and support the fellas and the whole organization as a whole. They were there for me through my stress of going through the surgery. I did whatever I could to pay them back by being there to support those guys, trying to be a helping hand around the team. They searched high and low for the best doctor, for the best clinic to go to handle the procedure. Everything that I needed. I didn't want the surgery. I didn't want to have this, to have to miss the season. They made it easier every step of the way."
- Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren played a key role in the complicated details surrounding Green's contract, Falk told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, and Blakely has more on what the Sixers could gain, and the Celtics would miss, if Philadelphia hires Zarren, who's interviewing for the Sixers' GM job.
- A sports investment banker estimates the Nets are worth $575MM, 60% greater than a Forbes estimate last season and more than double the initial purchase price that owner Mikhail Prokhorov paid for the team in 2010, Josh Kosman of the New York Post reports. The team is projected to make between $10MM and $15MM this year, the franchise's first profit in a decade, Kosman adds.
Virginia Beach Trying To Attract Kings
2:52pm: According to a Comcast-Spectator statement, "No specific team from any league has been identified as the potential tenant," Bizjak tweets.
2:27pm: Kings co-owner Joe Maloof tells CBS13 in Sacramento that he and his brothers have not spoken with Virginia Beach, while a Comcast-Spectator spokesman said the company would not comment until it is at the Virginia Beach city council meeting Tuesday. No representative from the Kings will be at that meeting, Bizjak tweets.
1:40pm: A source tells Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee that an arena will be part of discussions at Tuesday's city council meeting in Virginia Beach, but there's no word whether the Kings will part of that discussion. A Kings official would not confirm talks with Virginia Beach or other cities (Twitter links). The NBA says it's gotten no information from the Kings about Virginia Beach and the team has not applied for relocation, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
1:03pm: No announcement about a move is planned for next week, Sam Amick of SI.com hears (Sulia link).
12:49pm: A source tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee the Kings are not moving to Virginia, so it seems the area still has some work to do before any plans are made official. (Twitter link).
12:35pm: The Kings have been mentioned as a possible tenant for a proposed new arena in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a source tells Aaron Applegate of The Virginian-Pilot. A group of sports and entertainment companies has approached the city of Virginia Beach about forming a partnership to build an 18,000-seat arena. One of those companies, Comcast-Spectator, has guaranteed mayor Will Sessoms that it will deliver a professional sports team to the arena if it is built.
A report by Philip Newswanger and Bill Cresenzo of Inside Business, a business journal covering the Virginia coast, reports that Kings owners will be in town along with Comcast-Spectator officials for a presentation in front of city council Tuesday night, with an announcement that the team will move to Virginia Beach slated for Wednesday. It appears as though any such move would be contingent on the arena getting approval from city officials, however. A source tells Applegate that arena talks are still "very preliminary," and said assistance from the state would likely be necessary to finalize any deal.
Kings co-owner George Maloof Jr. wouldn't directly address the Virginia Beach proposal in his comments to Inside Business, saying last week that, “We have been approached by several cities over several years about moving the Kings and we will not comment other than that.”
Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectator owns the Wells Fargo Center, the home of the Sixers. The company also owns the NHL's Flyers.
The Virginia Beach area was also considered by the Hornets back in 2001 before they moved to New Orleans. The Hornets decided against moving to Virginia because there was no suitable place to play during the two years it would have taken to construct a new building, as Applegate writes.
Odds & Ends: Team Canada, Harrellson, Magic
A handful of players with NBA ties have been invited to a weekend training camp that will take place soon to give Team Canada officials a first glimpse at candidates for their national team, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Sulia link). Tristan Thompson of the Cavs, Joel Anthony of the Heat, Cory Joseph of the Spurs, Andrew Nicholson of the Magic and Kris Joseph of the Celtics are on the list. Robert Sacre, the 60th pick in this year's draft by the Lakers, remains unsigned, but he's been invited as well. The team has officially named former Raptors head coach and current Blazers assistant Jay Triano as head coach, Wolstat also writes, and Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will also be an assistant with Team Canada. Lakers guard Steve Nash, serving as Team Canada's GM, said he wouldn't have accepted the position if Triano wasn't coming aboard, too, Wolstat notes. Here's more from around the Association this afternoon:
- The Heat conducted a workout with Josh Harrellson today, as we heard earlier, but the Timberwolves have no interest in the 6'10" University of Kentucky product, as they prefer a center with more length, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Harrellson is just one of several big men the Heat are considering (Sulia link).
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the options the Magic have at power forward to replace Ryan Anderson.
- The Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors all have some significant injury issues with training camp about a month away, and Sam Amick of SI.com checks in on the status of Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and others.
- Robin Lopez is recovering from left knee surgery that took place a week after the Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade, but he's expected to be ready for training camp, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports. Lopez expressed his enthusiasm about coming to New Orleans, saying, "I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a young, energetic group. The good thing is we’ve got some youth that has a little bit of experience as well. Hopefully we can parlay that into something special.’’
- Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations, traveled overseas with assistant GM George David to watch Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in FIBA Eurobasket qualifying, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.
Odds & Ends: Clippers, Jackson, Scola, Cavs
The Clippers had a breakthrough season in 2011/12, but their ability to build on that will be compromised by their offseason health issues, writes Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups are expected to miss the entire preseason, while Lamar Odom, who's working his way back into playing shape, and Blake Griffin figure to be limited training camp participants. That means the Clippers will likely start the season having to play catch-up, Markazi says. That's compounded by Vinny Del Negro's task of having to integrate five new free agent acquisitions in the lineup while also juggling part-time GM duties. Here's more from around the Association tonight:
- Stephen Jackson spoke fondly of his return to the Spurs to Jared Ainsworth of the Beaumont Enterprise, saying, "If things work out in San Antonio I wouldn't mind finishing my career there. But you know it's a business and I'm one of those guys that doesn't mind going to play somewhere else. I've been on seven different teams."
- Luis Scola donned his Suns uniform Wednesday for an introductory press conference and photo shoot, and talked about his adjustment to life in Phoenix and his experience with the Argentinian team at the Olympics, as Stefan Swiat of Suns.com writes.
- The Cavs acquired Jeremy Pargo via trade with the Grizzlies last month, but Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio expects the Cavs to find another point guard to bring to training camp, with Pargo and Donald Sloan currently the only backups for Kyrie Irving (Sulia link). Amico also passes along word that most coaches and executives he's talked to project the Cavs to win between 28 and 35 games.
- Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com grades every team's offseason. The Clippers, despite their injuries, and Lakers get A+ marks, while the Pistons and Magic get F's.
Extension Candidate: Jeff Teague
This will be a critical season for Jeff Teague, which might make the remaining two months of the offseason even more important. The Hawks brought in serious competition at the point guard position when they traded for Devin Harris. The pair put up similar numbers last season, with Harris averaging 11.3 points, 5.0 assists and 1.9 turnovers per game with a 16.0 PER for the Jazz, while Teague put up 12.6 PPG and 4.9 APG to go with 2.0 turnovers per game and a 15.8 PER. GM Danny Ferry gave an initial vote of confidence to Teague, as Lang Greene of HoopsWorld wrote earlier this summer.
“He’s still a young player,” Ferry said. “Last year was the first time where he just played. He got to play, totally green lighted. It will be interesting to see how he matures this year and continues to develop with things. It will be more his team. We don’t have Joe (Johnson). We don’t have Marvin (Williams). It will be more of Jeff’s team than it has ever been. I think he’s capable of stepping in and doing a good job with that.”
Teague was third behind Joe Johnson and Josh Smith in minutes played last season, so between that and Ferry's statement, it appears he'll get the initial nod as starter during training camp. That arrangement might not last. Johnson has suggested he and Harris could play together in the backcourt, as Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote, but with Lou Williams and Kyle Korver around, minutes at the two-guard spot will be tough to come by in Atlanta. The uncertainty should be enough to prompt Teague and agent Mike Conley Sr. to gauge Ferry's interest in a long-term extension before the October 31st deadline to do so. Though it would be a hedge against the 24-year-old's continued improvement in his fourth NBA season, an extension could provide security and a leg up on Harris, who's set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Teague's case centers around his play since the 2011 playoffs, when he stepped in as the starter for an injured Kirk Hinrich and averaged 11.8 PPG and 3.5 APG while shooting 51.4% in six postseason contests. He remained in the starting lineup for all 66 games last season, even when Hinrich was healthy, and drastically outdid his numbers of 4.2 PPG and 1.8 APG in 11.9 minutes per game over his first two seasons. His peripheral statistics demonstrate that his increased production has not simply been a function of more playing time, as his true shooting percentage (.551), turnover percentage (15.1) and win shares per 48 minutes (.131) were all better last season than in either of his first two years.
Despite that improvement and Ferry's stated confidence, the Hawks are likely to be a reluctant partner in extension talks. The team appears set on clearing space for the future, with only about $18.484MM committed for 2013/14. Harris, a former All-Star, has struggled in recent seasons, but at age 29 is still a reliable option at the point capable of delivering a career year. Given their similarities, it would seem wise for the Hawks to sit back and let the play of Harris and Teague this season dictate who they'll re-sign this summer. Even if Teague, given his age, appears to be the better long-term option, he'll be a restricted free agent next summer, when Chris Paul, Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, Jose Calderon, Darren Collison and others could all be part of a crowded buyer's market.
Teague's agent needn't look far for a comparison, as son Mike Conley Jr. averaged 12.0 PPG and 5.3 APG with 2.1 turnovers per game and a 16.8 PER in his third season back in 2009/10, numbers similar to Teague's last year. Conley got a five-year, $40MM extension from the Grizzlies, but that was under the old CBA. Teague isn't eligible for a five-year extension in the current set-up, and given the Hawks' leverage, I doubt they'd go for $8MM a year. If Teague would be willing to settle for $6MM a year over three seasons, a deal that would bring him to unrestricted free agency at age 28, I think that might get the job done.