Southwest Notes: Gordon, Hornets, Rockets
The Spurs clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the second year in a row with their victory over the Blazers tonight. Now they'll concentrate on trying to avoid another upset like the one they suffered against the eighth-seeded Grizzlies last year. Here's the rest of the news from the Southwest Division:
- Eric Gordon will be a restricted free agent this summer, and is showing glimpses of why he'll be a commodity even as he's working his way back from injury for the Hornets, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.
- The company that operates the New Orleans Arena is seeking an extra $10MM from the Louisiana state government for upgrades to the building or other Hornets expenses, Ed Anderson of The Times-Picayune reports.
- With the Rockets eliminated from playoff contention, owner Leslie Alexander and coach Kevin McHale had little to say about where the team goes from here, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who also takes a look at the team's muddied backcourt situation.
John Hammond Interested In Blazers
Bucks GM John Hammond is interested in taking on the same position with the Blazers, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. We heard a few days ago that the Blazers were eyeing Hammond for the job, so the interest appears to be mutual.
Earlier today, Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge rounded up comments Woelfel made on 1250 AM in Milwaukee, saying that the Blazers' interest is "legitimate" and that they would double Hammond's salary. Hammond is due $2MM in the final season of his deal with the Bucks next year. With Milwaukee out of the playoffs, Hammond's job may be in jeopardy, as Woelfel reported last week. When Jason Quick of The Oregonian tweeted about the Blazers' pursuit, he noted the team has not gotten permission from the Bucks to speak with Hammond, but that could be a moot point soon.
Hammond took over the Bucks in 2008 and was Executive of the Year in 2009/10, the only season the team made the playoffs under his watch. Before that, he assisted Joe Dumars in Detroit. Other candidates for the Blazers job include Steve Kerr and Mitch Kupchak, and the team has indicated it may retain interim GM Chad Buchanan. Portland team president Larry Miller met with Kerr this weekend.
Courtney Lee Wants To Return To Rockets
Courtney Lee will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he'd "love to stay" with the Rockets, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
“Houston is always going to be my first choice," Lee said. "It’s up to those guys, if I get an offer, whether they match it or if they just come out and give me an offer.”
The Rockets acquired the former first-round pick as part of a four-way trade before the 2010/11 season, and used the 6'5", 200-pound shooting guard primarily as a backup until starter Kevin Martin got hurt midway through this season. Lee has averaged 14.2 PPG in 25 games as a starter this year, well above his career mark of 10.0 PPG.
A few teams, including the Pacers, Bulls and Clippers, were reportedly interested in trading for Lee this season, but the Rockets' price was too high. Houston's qualifying offer on Lee is $3.22MM, but he figures to command significantly more than that. The Pacers, in particular, will have plenty of cap room if they are still interested in pursuing him, and other teams in need of a shooting guard, like the Timberwolves, could get involved. The Rockets will have tough decisions to make on Lee and fellow free agent Goran Dragic. Both entered the season as backup guards, but emerged as starters and played well in the second half of the season.
Warriors Rumors: Robinson, Jackson, Jenkins
Last night's comeback victory over the Timberwolves didn't help the Warriors chances of keeping their first-round draft pick, since it must be in the top seven or it goes to the Jazz. The win left them with the eighth-worst record in the league, as our draft order tracker shows. Here's the latest from the team by the bay:
- Nate Robinson's minimum-salary contract expires at the end of the season, and his future with the team beyond that looks uncertain, writes Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.
- Despite the team's lackluster season and failure to make good on first-year coach Mark Jackson's promise of a playoff berth, some key players have Jackson's back, writes Derek Page of HoopsWorld.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com says fans shouldn't fret over the team losing its pick, and believes, with Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut returning from injury, there's enough talent on the roster to make the playoffs next season.
- Monte Poole of the Bay Area News Group thinks rookie point guard Charles Jenkins, who has an unguaranteed minimum-salary contract for next year with the Warriors, could be more valuable to the team than any player in the draft besides Anthony Davis.
- Jenkins, averaging 6.0 APG this month, still isn't satisfied with his performance, promising "drastic change" to his game next season, Thompson notes.
Writers Weigh In On Awards
The regular season isn't over quite yet, but several writers went on record today with their picks for the league's awards. Since media types are the ones whose votes count, their opinions matter. Let's take a look at some players who could be in line for a trophy:
- SI.com's Chris Mannix and Ian Thomsen agree on LeBron James for MVP, Kyrie Irving for Rookie of the Year, and James Harden for Sixth Man of the Year.
- David Aldridge of TNT goes with James for MVP as well, and picks Ersan Ilyasova over Jeremy Lin for Most Improved Player.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio picks Kevin Durant as his MVP, and selects Shawn Marion to unseat three-time winner Dwight Howard as Defensive Player of the Year.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com goes with darkhorse Kobe Bryant for MVP, and thinks former MVP and Coach of the Year Larry Bird should get to add Executive of the Year to his resume as well.
- Hoops Rumors doesn't have a vote (yet), but I'd go with James for MVP, Gregg Popovich as Coach of the Year, Irving as Rookie of the Year, Tyson Chandler as Defensive Player of the Year, Harden as Sixth Man of the Year, Lin as Most Improved Player, and R.C. Buford as Executive of the Year.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, Deron Williams, Sean Williams
The Nets are playing their final game in New Jersey tonight, against the Sixers, and many of the franchise's most prominent figures took part in a ceremony tonight, including Micheal Ray Richardson, Darryl Dawkins, Kenny Anderson and, via video, Jason Kidd. Here's the latest on the Nets of today, as well as other news from the division:
- Nets CEO Brett Yormark talks about reasons why the franchise found the New Jersey market so difficult in a Q&A with Dave D'Alessandro of the Star-Ledger.
- New Jersey governor Chris Christie had harsh words for the Nets upon their departure, saying "there will be no tears shed on my part," as Jenna Portnoy notes on NJ.com. The governor also tweeted a video of his comments (hat tip to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News).
- Avery Johnson is optimistic Deron Williams will re-sign with the Nets, Bondy tweets, though the coach won't say why he feels that way.
- Sean Williams was surprised to learn that the Celtics were interested in signing him, observes Peter May of ESPNBoston.com. Williams is looking to put his troubled past behind him, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Nicolas Batum
Nicolas Batum’s comments last week, in which he called Portland “special” and said he expects to return to the Blazers next year unless a better situation presents itself, represent quite a change from earlier this season. Soon after Batum and the team failed to come to terms on an extension in January, making him a restricted free agent at season's end, Batum’s agent, Bouna Ndiaye, had some harsh words for Blazer management, as Joe Freeman of The Oregonian noted. "They say they love him but they didn't offer him something fair, so that's it," he said. "We tried and there's no deal. On July 1 we're going to look at the market first before we come back to the Blazers. That's for sure."
Whether or not Batum wants to return to Portland, the team resisted trading him at the deadline, and team president Larry Miller has said the team plans on bringing him back, as long as another team doesn't make a "crazy" offer, Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune reported. The Blazers have the right to match any offer, but this indicates there is a ceiling on how much they value Batum. That's subject to change if the team winds up hiring someone to replace interim GM Chad Buchanan, especially since Batum seems like a hard player to properly evaluate. At 23 years old with a 7'1" wingspan, the 6'8" Batum possesses a tantalizing combination of the athleticism to guard multiple positions with an outside shooting touch, having hit 37.2% of his career three-pointers, including 39.1% this year. The problem for Batum, and for general managers, is that this is juxtaposed with inconsistency and less year-to-year improvement than you would expect from a player his age. His per-36-minutes numbers in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks have scarcely budged during his career, and his steadily climbing scoring average, up to 13.9 PPG this year, can be attributed to a corresponding rise in his number of field goal attempts.
The failure of the Blazers to get past the first round of the playoffs in his previous three seasons certainly can't be placed entirely on Batum's shoulders, but in each series, his points and minutes have fallen off from the regular season that preceded it. There are plenty of red flags on Batum's record, but he's still young enough to convince GMs that he can find that extra gear somewhere. He might be a fit for the Jazz, a team with a history of helping young talent develop, or the Raptors, who have coveted a small forward. It all depends on Miller's definition of "crazy," but I still don't think any team is going to go overboard for him. Eggers said he can expect a deal of about $9MM a year, which sounds right for a player of his potential, even if his numbers so far might not support it. Unless the Blazers change course with a new GM, they'll likely bring him back and hope Kaleb Canales or another coach can bring out his best.
Lou Williams To Opt Out
Sixers guard Lou Williams will exercise his early termination option for next season and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, tweets John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He'll turn down the $5.35MM he was scheduled to make in the final year of his contract.
Williams and agent Leon Rose had spoken with the team about an extension before the season, but decided to end those talks with the idea of revisting them at season's end. Williams spoke highly of Philadelphia to Dennis Deitch of The Times Herald last month, and while he may still return to the Sixers, the team will likely have to commit to a long-term deal to make that happen.
Williams, 25, has provided scoring punch off the bench, averaging a career-high 14.9 PPG this season. He made the team as a second-round draft pick out of high school in 2005, and has steadily become one of the league's most reliable sixth men. Still, he's struggled in April, averaging just 12.9 PPG this month as the team has gone 3-7. A tweener guard at 6'2", 175 pounds, he's likely best suited to continuing to come off the bench wherever he winds up.
The move would give the Sixers added flexibility this summer as they look to re-sign center Spencer Hawes and seek a proven crunch-time scorer. Elton Brand also has an early-termination option that could wipe out the $18.16MM he's due for next season, but it's unlikely he'll turn down that payday. Recent Twitter comments by Sixers CEO Adam Aron seem to indicate the team is looking to make changes in the offseason, Mitchell notes.
Deitch compared Williams' prospects for a deal to teammate Thaddeus Young, who's on a five-year, $43MM contract, and Mavs sixth man Jason Terry, who's finishing up a six-year, $57.8MM deal.
Latest On Discord In Players Union
4:15pm: Evans says Fisher did not participate in a conference call the committee set up to give Fisher and Hunter a chance to share their sides of the story following the audit request, according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Evans is upset the union's business has gone public, and says that Fisher has not been absent from many union activities of late.
4:03pm: Derek Fisher remains committed to staying as president of the National Basketball Players Association, even as the NBPA executive committee has voted 8-0 to ask for his resignation. Still, Fisher's opponents seem to have a replacement already lined up, as Maurice Evans tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld that he believes fellow committee member Chris Paul will be the next president.
“He played an intricate role during the lockout and throughout the negotiations," Evans said of Paul. "He has the confidence of a lot of guys on the board and around the NBA. Going forward, we believe that he would do a great job. That has yet to be determined or voted on and we’ll address those matters down the road. For now, we’ll continue to support every member of the executive committee and value every member’s opinions.”
It's unclear what must happen for Fisher to be removed from his post. SI.com's Sam Amick says union bylaws are unclear on whether Fisher can be forced out if he refuses to go. Kennedy writes that Fisher may reconsider if the 30 team representatives join the executive committee in calling for him to resign, but as we heard yesterday, not all the player reps oppose Fisher.
The controversy was stirred earlier in the week when Fisher called for an audit of the union's finances. According to Evans, Fisher alleged that executive director Billy Hunter engaged in misappropriation of funds, poorly handled decisions during the lockout, and allowed nepotism take hold in the union office. Three members of Hunter's family work in some capacity for the union, while a fourth was used as outside counsel during the lockout, Amick reports.
A routine financial audit in February found no issues, Kennedy writes, and Evans rejects the notion that the committee is standing in the way of transparency, calling for the union to move forward with its business. There have been allegations that Fisher worked out a deal on the side between himself and the league during the lockout, and though Evans said some of Fisher's actions have been questionable, he wouldn't specifically confirm claims of a side deal, according to Kennedy.
Minor Moves: Justin Dentmon, Derrick Caracter
We'll round up today's news from the D-League and international circuits here, with the latest up top:
- Guard Justin Dentmon has been named D-League MVP, RealGM.com reports. Dentmon, playing for the Austin Toros, was D-League's fourth-leading scorer at 22.8 PPG, and also racked up 5.5 APG and 1.6 steals a night. As our 10-day tracker shows, the University of Washington product signed a pair of 10-day deals with NBA teams this season, averaging 4.3 PPG and 1.7 APG in a total of six games with the Spurs and Raptors.
- Former Laker Derrick Caracter has signed with the Puerto Rican team Mets de Guaynabo, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports. Caracter, a 2010 second-round pick who appeared in 41 games for the Lakers last year, was waived by the team in February and let go by the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers last month.