Western Notes: Teletovic, Wolves, Grizzlies
Mirza Teletovic wondered if his career was over after experiencing blood clots in his lungs that led to his hospitalization last January, notes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Teletovic was initially expected to miss at least the rest of last season for the Nets, though he returned for the playoffs. He wound up signing a one-year, $5.5MM contract with the Suns in the summer that looks like a bargain now that he’s playing a prominent role in the Phoenix rotation and is leading all NBA big men in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage, Coro points out.
“I never have got the chance that I’ve got here and the chance [coach] Jeff [Hornacek] has given me,” Teletovic said.
That’s a vote of confidence for the Suns coach, who’s job was reportedly in jeopardy a few weeks ago, from a soon-to-be free agent. See more from the Western Conference:
- The sale of 30% of the Timberwolves to private equity investor and Grizzlies minority owner Steve Kaplan is on track to be complete by the end of next month, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The transfer is reportedly a precursor to Kaplan and his partners eventually taking over majority control from Glen Taylor, though the stipulation that the team remains in Minnesota would be a part of any deal, Walters notes.
- The Wolves initially operated on the premise that the late Flip Saunders would be back coaching sometime in November after he took his leave of absence in September to recover from cancer treatment, as interim coach Sam Mitchell recently revealed to Britt Robson of MinnPost. Saunders died in October.
- Jeff Green didn’t play in the second half of the Grizzlies‘ loss to Memphis on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the trade that brought him to Memphis, a signal that the time has come for the team to trade him, argues Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal.
Nets Coaching Turnover Under Mikhail Prokhorov
No team has had more head coaches than the Nets have during Mikhail Prokhorov’s time as owner, even though Prokhorov downplayed the coaching turnover in Monday’s press conference that followed the Sunday firing of Lionel Hollins and installation of assistant coach Tony Brown as his interim replacement. Brown is the fifth head coach to have served under Prokhorov, joining Hollins, Jason Kidd, P.J. Carlesimo and Avery Johnson. The owner elected not retain Kiki Vandeweghe when he hired Johnson shortly after formally buying the team in 2010, so in some sense, Prokhorov has had six coaches.
Andy Vasquez of The Record cited six when he asked Prokhorov whether his new coach could be secure in his job, as Brian Fleurantin notes in his full transcription of the press conference for NetsDaily. Prokhorov responded that he only dismissed two coaches, since Kidd left of his own volition in 2014 and Carlesimo was an interim replacement for Johnson. Vandeweghe was also an interim coach, though it was the team’s decision not to retain him, just as it was with Carlesimo.
In any case, only the Kings, Lakers and Pistons have had as many head coaches as the Nets have since the start of 2010/11, Prokhorov’s first full season as owner. That includes interim coaches but not substitute coaches, like Luke Walton of the Warriors and Joe Prunty of the Bucks, since they’re serving because their respective head coaches are ailing, not because their teams decided to make a change.
Here’s a breakdown of every team’s coaching turnover since 2010/11:
Five coaches
- Kings — (Paul Westphal, Keith Smart, Michael Malone, Tyrone Corbin, George Karl)
- Lakers — (Phil Jackson, Mike Brown, Bernie Bickerstaff, Mike D’Antoni, Byron Scott)
- Nets — (Avery Johnson, P.J. Carlesimo, Jason Kidd, Lionel Hollins, Tony Brown)
- Pistons — (John Kuester, Lawrence Frank, Maurice Cheeks, John Loyer, Stan Van Gundy)
Four coaches
- Bucks — (Scott Skiles, Jim Boylan, Larry Drew, Jason Kidd)
- Hornets — (Larry Brown, Paul Silas, Mike Dunlap, Steve Clifford)
- Magic — (Stan Van Gundy, Jacque Vaughn, James Borrego, Scott Skiles)
- Nuggets — (George Karl, Brian Shaw, Melvin Hunt, Michael Malone)
- Timberwolves — (Kurt Rambis, Rick Adelman, Flip Saunders, Sam Mitchell)
Three coaches
- Cavs — (Mike Brown, Byron Scott, David Blatt)
- Jazz — (Jerry Sloan, Tyrone Corbin, Quin Snyder)
- Knicks — (Mike D’Antoni, Mike Woodson, Derek Fisher)
- Rockets — (Rick Adelman, Kevin McHale, J.B. Bickerstaff)
- Suns — (Alvin Gentry, Lindsey Hunter, Jeff Hornacek)
- Trail Blazers — (Nate McMillan, Kaleb Canales, Terry Stotts)
- Warriors — (Keith Smart, Mark Jackson, Steve Kerr)
Two coaches
- Bulls — (Tom Thibodeau, Fred Hoiberg)
- Celtics — (Doc Rivers, Brad Stevens)
- Clippers — (Vinny Del Negro, Doc Rivers)
- Grizzlies — (Lionel Hollins, Dave Joerger)
- Hawks — (Larry Drew, Mike Budenholzer)
- Pacers — (Jim O’Brien, Frank Vogel)
- Pelicans — (Monty Williams, Alvin Gentry)
- Raptors — (Jay Triano, Dwane Casey)
- Sixers — (Doug Collins, Brett Brown)
- Thunder — (Scott Brooks, Billy Donovan)
- Wizards — (Flip Saunders, Randy Wittman)
One coach
- Heat — (Erik Spoelstra)
- Mavericks — (Rick Carlisle)
- Spurs — (Gregg Popovich)
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:04pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: The Nets are in a state of flux after firing coach Lionel Hollins and removing Billy King from the GM role Sunday, with John Calipari, Bryan Colangelo, Luke Walton and Monty Williams among the candidates for their new vacancies. Brooklyn was one of the teams linked to DeMar DeRozan and Nicolas Batum, who are reportedly likely to elicit max offers in free agency this summer, and while reports of Brooklyn’s interest in the pair emerged before the team’s shakeup, owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s assertion that the Nets are only one or two players away from title contention makes it clear the team will aim high. Whether the Nets achieve their lofty goals is another matter, of course.
Southwest Notes: Withey, Cunningham, Green
Former 39th overall pick Jeff Withey is seeing significant minutes with the Jazz this season after a parting of ways with the Pelicans that cast him into uncertainty, as Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders details. Executives from other teams have speculated about whether the Pelicans dealt fairly with the center, who said GM Dell Demps told him during the playoffs that the team wanted him back, Dowsett reports. The team made a qualifying offer to him but withdrew it shortly before re-signing Alexis Ajinca, making Withey an unrestricted free agent and leaving him “really confused,” as he said to Dowsett. Withey ultimately landed with Utah on a partially guaranteed deal that last week became fully guaranteed for the rest of this season, and he’s pleased with his new surroudings.
“In New Orleans, it was a tough place for me, just because the coach [Monty Williams], he didn’t really give me a shot, you know what I mean?” Withey said to Dowsett. “Even if I was playing, if I screwed up one time or anything like that, he would just take me right out. Here, Coach [Quin Snyder], he’ll come to you … it’s just a different type of coaching. More player-friendly, for sure.”
Withey has one more year left on his deal, with a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season. See more on the Pelicans and the rest of the Southwest Division:
- Dante Cunningham is shooting more 3-pointers than ever this season, and while he’s making a passable 30% of them, it’s still not enough to give the Pelicans the spacing necessary to prevent double teams on Anthony Davis, as John Reid of The Times Picayune examines. New Orleans re-signed Cunningham in the offseason to a three-year deal worth nearly $8.935MM. Backup and fellow offseason signee Alonzo Gee is nailing just 27.3% of his 3-point looks, compounding the absence of Pondexter, as Justin Verrier of ESPN.com examines.
- The Raptors were one of the teams that pursued Danny Green this summer, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. Given the four-year, $58MM deal that Toronto gave fellow wing player DeMarre Carroll, it seems Green was liable to end up with much more than the $40MM over four years he got from the Spurs, Harvey writes. However, unlike other places in the NBA, San Antonio affords him the comfort of knowing the team has a history of supporting him through slumps like the one he’s in now, as Harvey details.
- Baron Davis, who’s set to play in the D-League, reportedly worked out for the Mavs recently, but coach Rick Carlisle laughed off the notion and owner Mark Cuban clarified that the team has an “open door” as far as its D-League affiliate goes but doesn’t harbor NBA-level interest in him. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News relays Cuban’s comment.
Beal Likely To Have Minutes Cap For Rest Of Career
Bradley Beal acknowledged to reporters today that he’ll “probably” have to deal with a minutes limit for the rest of his career as he continues to have trouble with injuries, according to TNT’s David Aldridge and J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com (Twitter links). Concern about his health reportedly played a role in Washington’s part of a mutual decision not to extend his rookie scale contract this past fall, though Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported then that the Wizards were planning to offer Beal a new maximum-salary contract when he hits restricted free agency in July.
The minutes limit will keep Beal to no more than 35 minutes per night going forward, Michael hears (Twitter link), a fairly generous cap that nonetheless represents fewer minutes than he’s averaged this season and in both of Washington’s postseason appearances the past two years. Beal hasn’t played in a game since December 9th because of what the team called “the beginnings of a stress reaction in his lower right fibula,” though it’s likely that he returns to action tonight against the Bucks, Michael tweets. Beal told reporters that he could play tonight as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks during a pregame workout, Aldridge tweets.
Beal is only 22 years old, so any notion of an injury that affects the balance of his career is disconcerting. The fourth-year pro missed 26 games his rookie season, nine the next year and 19 last year with various ailments, though it was a high right ankle sprain Beal played through as a rookie that led to the stress reaction he’s dealing with now, as Michael explains in a full story.
John Lucas III To Play For Pacers D-League Team
WEDNESDAY, 11:46am: The affiliate of the Pacers has claimed Lucas from the player pool, tweets Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.
MONDAY, 11:32am: Eight-year NBA veteran point guard John Lucas III has entered the D-League player pool, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, meaning he’s signed a contract with the league and will end up on an NBA’s team’s affiliate via the D-League waiver process (Twitter link). Lucas, who’ll remain eligible to sign a deal with any NBA club regardless of the D-League team he ends up on, met late last month with Sixers coach Brett Brown, a couple of weeks before Philadelphia signed fellow long-tenured vet Elton Brand.
Lucas, 33, was with the Heat for the preseason but appeared in only one exhibition game and didn’t make the opening night roster. He spent much of last season with Fujian of China after canceling a scheduled workout with the Lakers to sign instead with the overseas club, but he returned to the NBA last February on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Pistons that preceded a deal for the rest of the season. One of those 10-day deals was technically a 13-day arrangement, as we explained.
The Pistons, as well as the Magic, Spurs, Mavericks and Clippers, had interest in signing Lucas this past summer, as Stein reported then, but he didn’t end up with a deal until he hooked up with the Heat in late September. He’s four years removed from having recorded NBA career highs in points (7.5) and minutes per game (14.8) with the Bulls in the 2011/12 season.
Joel Embiid Changing Agents
Injured former No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid is expected to sign with Leon Rose of the Creative Artists Agency, sources told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, after parting ways with the Wasserman Media Group, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported (Twitter links). Wasserman agent Darren Matsubara had been the representative for the Sixers big man. Philadelphia picked up its team option for next season on Embiid’s rookie scale contract this past fall even though he didn’t play last season and is likely to miss all of this season, too, with a lingering right foot injury.
The earliest he can negotiate an extension would be the summer of 2017, and he isn’t due for restricted free agency until the summer of 2018, casting doubt on whether Embiid’s change in representation has to do with his playing contract. Philadelphia has another team option on the final year of his deal, worth slightly more than $6.1MM for the 2017/18 season, and a decision is due on that in the fall.
Sixers coach Brett Brown recently touted improvements to Embiid’s mental approach to his recovery, and he’s displaying greater maturity and seriousness than in the past, as TNT’s David Aldridge wrote in November. Questions arose in October after Brian Geltzeiler of SI.com’s The Cauldron blog reported that Embiid was paying little attention to his rehabilitation and physical condition and that the Sixers were frustrated about it.
It’s the latest defection in a tough stretch for Wasserman, which has lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Jabari Parker, Danilo Gallinari and Joe Johnson since power agent Arn Tellem left to take a job in the Pistons organization this past offseason. Embiid is another prominent name on Rose’s client list, which includes Carmelo Anthony, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jonas Valanciunas. Rose is also a co-agent for Kevin Durant.
Russ Smith To Play For Sixers D-League Affiliate
WEDNESDAY, 11:14am: The affiliate of the Sixers has claimed Smith’s D-League rights, so he’ll play for the Delaware 87ers, Reichert hears (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 10:50am: Former Grizzlies and Pelicans point guard Russ Smith has signed with the D-League, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has spent plenty of time on D-League assignment during his season and half in the pros, but this is the first time he has a D-League contract instead of an NBA deal, so the D-League waiver system will determine which affiliate he plays for. He’ll remain eligible to sign with any NBA team regardless.
Memphis waived Smith on December 29th, despite the existence of a full guarantee on his minimum salary, to clear room for Ryan Hollins, whom the Grizzlies released about a week later. Still, the team filled the roster spot with Elliot Williams on a 10-day contract instead of re-signing Smith. The Grizzlies reportedly believed as of early this season that Smith wasn’t ready to ascend to the role of primary backup behind Mike Conley, which helped precipitate the Mario Chalmers trade. Smith saw playing time in only 21 NBA games for Memphis in between the time it acquired him from the Pelicans in the Jeff Green trade a year ago today and the time of his release. He made it into only six games for New Orleans prior to that deal.
Still, he was a consensus First Team All-American in his senior season at Louisville in 2013/14, when he averaged 18.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 29.3 minutes per game. The Sixers drafted him 47th overall in 2014 and dealt his rights to the Pelicans shortly thereafter.
Do you think we’ll see Smith back in the NBA this season? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Nets Strongly Considering Bryan Colangelo For GM
The Nets have quickly begun to give former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo serious consideration to fill their vacant GM job, report Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. His emergence as a legitimate candidate isn’t a shock, as NetsDaily anticipated that he’d be in the mix (Twitter link). Colangelo’s name has come up often in regard to front office openings since the end of his Raptors tenure in 2013, most recently with the Sixers, who last month hired his father, Jerry, as chairman of basketball operations. Assistant GM Frank Zanin is running the Nets front office while the team conducts its search.
John Calipari is also connected to the Nets as a possibility for both the coaching and GM jobs, but owner Mikhail Prokhorov has indicated a desire to separate those positions between two people. Nets CEO Brett Yormark continues to make it clear he’s enamored with the University of Kentucky coach, but it’s uncertain whether anyone else among the Brooklyn higher-ups wants to pursue Calipari, Stein and Mazzeo write. Nets chairman Dmitry Razumov and Irina Pavlova, president of Prokhorov’s ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment holding company, are conducting the search for the team, with Nets board member Sergey Kushchenko growing increasingly influential, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported earlier this week.
Bryan Colangelo became GM of the Suns in the mid-1990s, shepherding the roster from the end of Charles Barkley’s time with Phoenix to the recruitment of Steve Nash in free agency. He directed the Raptors to their first two playoff appearances in the post-Vince Carter era in his first two seasons as GM in Toronto, but the team failed to make it back to the playoffs before it replaced Colangelo with current GM Masai Ujiri in 2013. Still, Colangelo is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year award winner, having come away with the honor in 2005 with the Suns and 2007 with the Raptors.
Do you think Colangelo would be a wise choice for the Nets? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
10-Day Contract Tracker
Teams were allowed to start signing players to 10-day contracts last week, and so far, a trio of deals have taken place. Elliot Williams signed a 10-day deal with the Grizzlies, Lorenzo Brown inked 10-day pact with the Grizzlies and Sean Kilpatrick secured a brief stay with the Nuggets. Other teams are investigating the possibility of adding someone on a 10-day, and after four dozen players signed 10-day contracts last season, more moves are almost certainly on the way.
The bulk of the signings that take place in the NBA between now and April will be of the 10-day variety, and we’ll keep on top of all of them. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to track every 10-day signing all season long. The 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed from the 2006/07 season on, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. Just be sure to write a player’s last name first if searching in that field. You can even see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, and if the short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season.
For instance, if you want to see how many 10-day deals that former lottery pick and current D-League standout Earl Clark has signed over the course of his career, you can find that information here. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Cavs, who just opened a roster spot, have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the Tools menu at the top of the page, or in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.