Minor Moves: Wright, N’Diaye
The D-League All-Star game will be a part of festivities tomorrow in Orlando, and we'll track any news coming out of the lead-up tonight here:
- Julian Wright, the 13th pick in the 2007 draft, has signed a D-League contract and will be assigned to a team by Monday, according to Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside. Wright hasn't played in the NBA this year after spending his first three years with the Hornets and last year with the Raptors. The 6'8", 225-pound small forward was a part of the playoff rotation in New Orleans when the Hornets pushed the Spurs to seven games in the conference semifinals in 2008, but never developed beyond that point. He's averaged 3.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 14.7 MPG in his NBA career.
- Schroeder says in the same piece that Hamady N'Diaye has signed with the D-League as well. N'Diaye was a second-round pick of the Timberwolves in 2010 who has spent time with the Wizards the last two seasons. He's played a total of 19 NBA games, averaging 0.7 PPG and 0.4 RPG in limited minutes. The Wizards waived the 7'0", 235-pound center earlier this month.
Trade Candidate: Kevin Martin
Yesterday we heard Kevin Martin tell Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle he disputes a report by Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld suggesting he’s dissatisfied with his situation in Houston. Regardless of whom you believe, it’s reasonable to suspect Martin could be on the trading block, since he was part of the ill-fated three-team deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers in December. The Rockets find themselves at 20-14, tied with the Lakers for fifth in the Western Conference after a surprisingly successful first half, but are apparently still pursuing a shakeup. Ingram, in his report, points to tension between the players and new coach Kevin McHale, who on the outside seems like a candidate for Coach of the Year.
Martin has a reputation as an all-offense, no-defense guy, but he’s consistently put up impressive numbers. He’s averaged at least 20 PPG the last five seasons, even though most of his time has been spent on lottery-bound teams in Houston and Sacramento. At 6’7”, he does give you length at the shooting guard position, an asset that teams with undersized backcourts, like Golden State, might covet. His scoring is down this season, at 18.0 PPG, partly the result of almost one fewer shot per game (6.0) compared to last year (6.9). Nonetheless, he makes a fairly attractive option to teams like the Cavs and Wolves who are in need of shooting guard help. His contract, which has 11.5MM guaranteed for this year and $12.4 for next, is a little pricey, but it’s not a long-term commitment.
The Clippers could also use a shooting guard, but they don’t appear to have the tradable assets required to get a deal done. Ingram mentioned the Wolves as a potential partner, and this ESPN Trade Machine idea, a three-teamer that includes the Warriors, could be a possibility. Warriors GM Larry Riley seems keen on making a deal, and if he decides to retool with the future in mind, he might go for a trade like this. The future is also a key component of this deal for the Rockets, who would essentially swap Luis Scola for David Lee and get Derrick Williams, the second pick in the 2011 draft, for Martin.
That said, teams exceeding expectations don’t deal away proven 20-point scorers all that often. Martin might be on the block, but the Rockets seem to be in firm control of the market.
League To Make 13-Man Rosters Permanent
The hectic post-lockout schedule will be gone next year, but one vestige of the 2011 lockout looks like it will remain. Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops reports the league's competition committee will recommend to the NBA Board of Governors that the 13-man active roster be made permanent.
Sheridan notes all 30 team representatives on the committee voted in favor of the change, in response to coaches and general managers who like the added flexibility they've experienced this year. The 13-man active roster was implemented earlier this season to help with the compressed schedule, but the roster size was originally supposed to go back to 12 at midseason. The league then said in January that the 13-man would stay in place throughout the season and the playoffs.
Traditionally, only 12 active players have been allowed each game, though teams could carry between one and three additional inactive players on the roster.
“The sentiment amongst the committee is you’re required to have a 13-man roster as it is, and if you’re required to have a 13-man roster, you should be able to dress and have their services available,” NBA vice president Stu Jackson said, according to the Sheridan report.
The committee is also recommending that waivers be allowed to process on the weekend. As it is, a player waived after the close of business on a Friday would not clear waivers until Tuesday.
Josh Powell Drawing Interest
Josh Powell is back from China and will likely sign with a team after the All-Star Break, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Several teams are taking a look at the 6'9", 225-pound power forward, according to Kennedy.
Powell signed with the Liaoning Dinosaurs of the Chinese Basketball Association during the lockout after spending the 2010/11 NBA season with the Hawks. He averaged 4.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 0.4 APG in a reserve role last year, similar to his career numbers of 3.9/2.9/0.5. The best of his six NBA seasons came in 2007/08 with the Clippers, when he averaged 5.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG and started 25 games for the Clippers. The North Carolina State product was a bench player on back-to-back championship teams with the Lakers as well.
He could fit into one of many teams with cap space, but he doesn't figure to make much more than the veteran's minimum. He may be an option for teams looking for depth up front who lost out on Joel Przybilla, like the Bucks, Bulls or Heat.
There's no word yet on whether he requires FIBA clearance before a deal can be finalized.
Minor Moves: Smith, Mirotic
Far more attention will be focused on next Sunday's All-Star Game and the competitions the night before, but the D-League also has a major event planned, with its All-Star Game slated for a week from today. Here's the rest of what's going on around the fringes of pro basketball:
- Jordan Hill went down with a knee injury in practice today, and the Rockets have called up center Greg Smith from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League to take his place, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Smith, who was putting up 16.7 PPG and 7.9 RPG for the Vipers, signed a three-year contract with the Rockets earlier this month. Hill, averaging 5.0 PPG and 4.9 RPG for Houston this year, is expected to be out through the All-Star break.
- Nikola Mirotic, a 6'10", 220-pound forward who the Bulls acquired at the 2011 draft after he was taken 23rd overall by the Rockets, is playing well for Real Madrid. He could wind up being a steal for Chicago, writes Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Odds & Ends: Bryant, Cap, Allen
Today's matinee between the Clippers and Spurs, two of the top teams in the Western Conference, highlights a light NBA schedule. Here's what's up around the league:
- Pau Gasol is averaging a career-low 16.6 PPG, and Kobe Bryant believes trade talk is one reason for the uncharacteristic performance, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times notes.
- HoopsWorld's Jason Fleming has a rundown on the available cap space for each team. He notes the Grizzlies, who stand just over the tax line, could get under by making a deal before the March 15th trading deadline. The Kings, meanwhile, must either take on salary to get up to 85% of the cap or distribute that money to their existing players. Fleming has the Pacers in the same boat as the Kings, but James Posey's amnestied $7.6MM salary pushes them above the 85% line.
- Salary cap guru Larry Coon sees J.R. Smith declining his $2.5MM option for next season and heading to another team with more money available. Smith already took the more lucrative option on the table this week when he picked the Knicks for this season over the Clippers. (Twitter links)
- Coon tweets the Clippers may covet Ray Allen, one of the Celtics cornerstones GM Danny Ainge may be willing to trade, but doubts L.A. has enough assets to get a deal done.
- We examined Tyson Chandler's impact as a free-agent signing earlier today. Justin Kubatko of The New York Times takes a closer look at the Knicks center playing in the shadow of Jeremy Lin.
- Fellow Times writer Benjamin Hoffman looks at Brandan Wright, who is one of the centers charged with replacing Chandler in Dallas. The scant $1MM investment is paying off for the Mavs, Hoffman writes.
- Mark Cuban and James Dolan are owners who like to spend money and meddle with their teams, but the similarities end there, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, who believes the Knicks' Dolan should try to further emulate his Dallas counterpart.
- Omri Casspi's numbers are down since the Cavs acquired him via trade last summer, yet Casspi and coach Byron Scott aren't too concerned, notes Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets that the team feels it got the better of the deal, which sent J.J. Hickson to the Kings for Casspi and a first-round pick.
Bucks Looking At Fesenko, Mbenga
The Bucks, without Andrew Bogut for much of the season and now missing Drew Gooden with a sprained right wrist and knee soreness, are thin at center. So, Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the Bucks are considering Kyrylo Fesenko and D.J. Mbenga to fill the void.
The Bucks have had their eye on Fesenko for a while. After being taken in the second round of the 2007 draft, the 7'1", 288-pounder saw limited minutes in four seasons with the Jazz, but filled in as the starter for an injured Mehmet Okur when Utah made their run to the conference semifinals in 2010.
The 7'0", 245-pound Mbenga has eight years of NBA experience, most notably as a little-used backup on championship Lakers teams in 2009 and 2010. He spent last year as a reserve for the Hornets.
The Bucks have been linked to Joel Przybilla, but concerns over his health are reportedly causing teams to back off.
Assessing This Year’s Free Agent Acquisitions
They lacked the sizzle of the LeBron James-led summer of 2010 group, but the 2011 class of free agents still included some accomplished veterans capable of making an impact. With a week left before the All-Star break, let’s take a look at some of the top free agents to change addresses and evaluate the initial returns for their new teams.
- Power forward David West signed a two-year, $20MM deal with the Pacers after tearing the ACL in his left knee late last season with the Hornets. The injury allowed Indiana to snap up the two-time All-Star at a relative bargain, considering he’s averaged at least 18 PPG and 7.5 RPG for five years straight. They’ve been judicious in his use, giving him about 30 minutes a night, the least amount of playing time he’s seen since he became a full-time starter in 2005/06. He’s also getting about two fewer shots per 36 minutes, which helps explain his anemic 12.5 PPG this year. He’s making up for it in other areas. His rebounding per 36 minutes (8.2) is as high as it’s been since ‘07/’08, and he’s been more aggressive on defense, coming away with a steal every 36 minutes, as high a rate as he’s ever posted. The most significant endorsement of the signing is seen in the standings, where the Pacers, who sneaked into the playoffs at 37-45 last year, are 18-12 despite losing six of their last eight.
- When the Knicks signed center Tyson Chandler to a four-year, $55.4MM deal, they envisioned him turning around their defense just as he had done in leading the Mavericks to the 2011 title. New York is giving up just 93.9 points a night after surrendering 105.7 per game last season, but that could be attributed as much to their slowed pace as to Chandler’s presence. Still, he’s averaging a steal per game, which he’s never done, and 1.3 blocks, his most since ‘06/’07. The surprise has been Chandler’s offense. He’s leading the league with a 70.3% field goal percentage, and averaging 11.7 PPG, a tick away from his career high. His greatest contribution may be his health on an otherwise banged-up Knicks team. He has started all 31 games New York has played this season, an auspicious sign for someone whose failed physical scuttled a trade to Oklahoma City three years ago.
- The Blazers were looking for offensive punch in the wake of Brandon Roy’s untimely retirement, and so they turned to Jamal Crawford, signing him to a two-year deal worth more than $10MM that includes a player option for next year. Crawford remade himself into an instant-offense bench player in Atlanta the last two seasons after several years spent mostly as a starter on lottery teams in Chicago, New York and Golden State. He won the sixth-man award in 2010, averaging 18.0 PPG, but that average dropped to 14.2 PPG last year. He’s shot more often in fewer minutes in Portland this season, but a paltry 38.6% field goal percentage is keeping him at 14.5 PPG. He’s giving them some minutes at backup point guard, though he’s primarily a shooting guard, and most of his value can be measured in his scoring numbers. His salary is roughly half of what he was making in Atlanta, but unless he can return to his 2010 form, he won’t be able to claim he’s underpaid.
- The Clippers’ signing of Caron Butler took a backseat to the more ballyhooed trade for Chris Paul and defiant waiver claim of Chauncey Billups, but it’s had a major impact on the sudden rise of L.A.’s “other team.” He’s giving the Clippers a level of production that’s similar to what he was giving Dallas last season before going down with a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. That helps justify the three-year, $24MM deal they gave him that approaches what he was making on his last contract. He’s averaging 15.0 PPG and 3.9 rebounds, and kicking in 1.2 steals every night. The major change in his game has been three-point shooting. He’s taking 5.5 three-pointers every night, almost three times his career average. He’s shooting 37.5% on those bombs, trailing the 43.1% rate he made in much fewer attempts last season, but it still gives the Clippers an outside threat that’s even more valuable now that Chauncey Billups is done for the year. Moving him away from the basket has led to his career-low rebounding numbers, but with Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Reggie Evans and now Kenyon Martin around, the Clippers shouldn’t hurt for boards.
- Coming off a season in which he averaged career lows in points, rebounds and assists (14.0/3.8/2.0), Vince Carter’s value was greatly reduced. Due to be paid $18MM this year, the Suns exercised their right to buy him out for $4MM shortly after the lockout ended. Carter wound up latching on with Dallas for the taxpayer mid-level exception at $3MM a year. If you assess him based on the value of his current contract, and not the 25-points-a-game star he was in Toronto and New Jersey, he’s been a worthwhile bargain so far. He’s taken over as the starting two-guard and provided a much needed scoring threat as Dirk Nowitzki has rounded into shape. He’s not asked to carry too much of a load, but since he returned after missing five games with a sprained left foot, he’s scored in double figures in nine of 12 games, including back-to-back 21-point efforts against the Spurs and Suns.
Seattle Continues Courtship Of Kings
WEDNESDAY, 10:34pm: Steve Miletich and Lynn Thompson of The Seattle Times report that Christopher Hansen will reveal his proposal for building a sports arena in Seattle on Thursday.
MONDAY, 9:03pm: The project manager for Think Big Sacramento, a group tasked by mayor Kevin Johnson to come up with ways to fund a new building for the Kings, believes it's possible the city council could vote Tuesday not to proceed with arena plans, according to J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today. Such a move is not likely, said project manager Jeremiah Jackson, but it could put the prospect of the Kings remaining in California's capital in further jeopardy.
6:07pm: The battle over the fate of the Kings is heating up. A March 1 deadline looms for the city of Sacramento to come up with a plan for a new arena to replace the Power Balance Pavilion, known for years as Arco Arena. Meanwhile, a San Francisco hedge fund manager is teaming with the city government in his native Seattle to help fund a new arena and lure a team to replace the Sonics, who left for Oklahoma City in 2008.
David Aldridge examined the situation today in a column for NBA.com. He notes that Christopher Hansen, the man behind the rumored Seattle building who recently bought a prime patch of real estate downtown, intends to raise more than $375MM of private money to build an arena without using public funds. The idea of public financing, particularly at the state level, is what tripped up the Sonics when they were bidding for a new arena a few years ago.
While Aldridge points out there's skepticism in Seattle that such a plan could be pulled off, Hansen is seen as enough of a credible threat to draw attention from Sacramento arena proponents. According to Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee, the group Think Big Sacramento sent a letter to Hansen, challenging him to a debate with a Sacramento area construction worker, a Power Balance Pavilion arena employee, and a kid who's a Kings fan. Hansen probably won't be engaging in any debates in the near future, but the letter demonstrates a sense of urgency, as does Ailene Voisin's column in the Bee imploring Sacramento to keep the Kings or "be regarded as a underperforming community co-opted by petty politicians and others who couldn't get things done."
Support is one thing, and money is another. Sacramento government's latest plan is to raise $200MM by privatizing the city's parking garages, meters and enforcement, as Aldridge notes. That leaves another $200MM that will likely have to come from private sources, Aldridge says. Principal owners Joe and Gavin Maloof are one the most probable sources for that money, but there are questions whether the brothers, whose bank accounts took a hit in the most recent financial crisis, have the necessary capital.
It all adds up to what are sure to be a nervous next few weeks for both cities, just as Sacramento and Anaheim went through last year when the Kings came close to moving south.
Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Kaman, Lin
D.J. White, whom the Bobcats acquired from the Thunder nearly a year ago, isn't seeing much playing time, and that's because of a glut of power forwards, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. If the Bobcats are overloaded with quality players, it isn't showing up in their record, now 3-25 after a loss to the Sixers tonight. Justin Kubatko of The New York Times examines the ineptitude of the team and deems it a black mark on owner Michael Jordan's reputation. Sixers coach Doug Collins, who coached Jordan with the Bulls and Wizards, wonders how the ultra-competitive Jordan can take it, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports.
More notes from around the NBA on Monday night:
- Pistons center Ben Wallace, 37, is not reconsidering his decision to retire after this season, notes Eric Lacy of the Detroit News.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is upset with the NBA over the Chris Paul trade this year, believing the league-owned Hornets would have been better off having Paul leave via free agency, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area tweets that Hornets center Chris Kaman could be a trade target of the Warriors.
- Warriors GM Larry Riley is one of the many who underestimated Jeremy Lin, predicting he would be a backup at best, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Lin is having a tangible effect on the financial value of his team. Shares of the Madison Square Garden Company, which owns the Knicks, the arena and the TV network that shows the team's games locally, have hit a record high, Ken Belson of The New York Times reports.
- Ben Uzoh, recently signed to a 10-day contract, is impressing Cavs coach Byron Scott, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
- Jerry Reinsdorf's son Michael has been taking a more active role with the Bulls lately, but don't assume that means he'll eventually succeed his father as owner, writes Melissa Isaacson of ESPN Chicago.
- The Heat took a flyer on Eddy Curry before the season, and so far he has contributed little. Still, his slow progress doesn't disturb coach Erik Spoelstra, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.