Knicks Seek Backcourt Help
Some within the Knicks front office recently said they’re interested in adding a young scorer or a shooter to the backcourt, sources told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Still, New York isn’t near any significant move and don’t intend to bring in anyone who would significantly impinge upon their future cap flexibility, Begley also hears.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson apparently likes Jimmer Fredette, Begley writes, but the former 10th overall pick who’s playing for New York’s D-League team said in the days following his initial arrival to the Westchester Knicks roster that he hadn’t heard from Jackson or coach Derek Fisher. Ticket sales, and not strictly Fredette’s on-court ability, fueled the team’s decision to select Fredette in the D-League draft, as Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote at the time.
Few Knicks players are thought of as all that valuable on the trade market, a group that includes only Kristaps Porzingis, Jerian Grant, Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez, Begley writes. Carmelo Anthony is presumably part of that group, too, but the Knicks have given no indication that they’ve thought about trading him, according to Begley. Anthony has a no-trade clause.
New York reportedly expressed interest in Jamal Crawford this summer, and the Clippers have apparently surveyed interest in him around the league in recent weeks. The Timberwolves have apparently made Kevin Martin available in trade discussions, though it’s unclear if the Knicks are eyeing him, and he has a player option worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, a number that could cut into cap flexibility. Brandon Jennings is on an expiring contract, but he’s only now returning from a torn Achilles tendon and Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said a few days ago that he’d yet to have a single trade conversation about him with other teams.
The Knicks have more than $55MM in guaranteed salary for next season. The team also has an open roster spot, giving them a measure of flexibility most of the league doesn’t have.
Who do you think the Knicks should target? Comment to share your ideas.
Al Horford Returns To Wasserman Agency
10:21am: Horford has rehired Wasserman, the agency he dismissed to sign Duffy earlier this year, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
9:56am: Soon-to-be free agent Al Horford has fired agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports just months after hiring him, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Horford was one of a stream of players to leave the Wasserman Media Group following the departure of high-powered agent Arn Tellem for a job with the Pistons organization. It’s unclear whom the Hawks center will turn to for representation with his contract set to expire at the end of June.
Horford, who’ll be 30 years old next summer, has put up numbers remarkably similar to last year so far this season, averaging 15.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game. However, the Hawks haven’t been nearly as impressive as they were during their 60-win campaign a year ago, with Atlanta tied only for eighth place in the much-improved Eastern Conference with a record of 15-12.
The former University of Florida standout is No. 5 in our latest 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings. He’ll be eligible for a maximum salary of a projected $24.9MM next summer, when he’ll be a nine-year veteran.
Duffy remains a strong force with several other marquee clients, including reigning Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson, whose four-year extension worth more than $68.979MM kicked in this season.
Atlantic Notes: Afflalo, Porzingis, Marshall
Arron Afflalo‘s ability to score and his smooth transition to the triangle offense have proven him an effective offseason addition for the Knicks, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Still, Afflalo’s time in New York could be short-lived, since he can turn down a player option worth $8MM and hit free agency again next summer.
“He’s been really valuable,’’ coach Derek Fisher said. “He has that attacking, aggressive mindset that is contagious. You need guys on the floor who have to play in the moment, willing to make the plays and take the shots.’’
See more on the Knicks amid our check around the Atlantic Division:
- The Afflalo signing, as well as the team’s deals with several other veterans, came with the stewardship of Kristaps Porzingis in mind, Fisher said, as Berman details in a separate piece. One of the moves Fisher mentioned was the surprise addition of Sasha Vujacic, Berman notes. “That was a big part of why we specifically went after certain guys in free agency — Robin [Lopez], Arron, guys who can provide that type of leadership and example,’’ Fisher said.
- Soon-to-be free agent Tony Wroten and offseason signee Kendall Marshall are returning to health for the Sixers, but they’re not a seamless fit, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News examines.
- The Raptors‘ bench has underwhelmed this season, and beyond replacing free agent signee Luis Scola in the starting lineup with Patrick Patterson, Eric Koreen of The National Post suggests a trade for a veteran scorer. Toronto doesn’t have much in the way of mid-level salaries to spare for an easy swap, but it does have extra draft assets, Koreen writes.
- Still, the Toronto organization doesn’t regret letting Lou Williams leave in free agency over the summer, and while the Raptors‘ bench scoring has fallen drastically, the team’s reserves still have a positive net rating thanks to the front office’s intended defensive upgrades, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
Pistons Assign Brandon Jennings To D-League
2:45pm: The assignment has officially taken place, the Pistons announced via press release.
“This is a great example of the many benefits our D-League team offers, supporting [owner] Tom Gores’ vision to push for a hybrid affiliation with the Grand Rapids Drive,” Pistons GM Jeff Bower said. “It gives Brandon an opportunity to go play in a game, work on his conditioning and compete in a similar system that’s being run by [Pistons D-League coach] Otis Smith and his staff.”
12:41pm: The Pistons will assign Brandon Jennings to the D-League, Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy confirmed today to reporters, including Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link). The news is no surprise, as Jennings said Wednesday that he was 80% certain he’d play Saturday for the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League team, in their game against the Iowa Energy, the affiliate of the Grizzlies. It’s a rehab stint for Jennings, who hasn’t appeared in a game since suffering a torn left Achilles tendon in January. He plans to make his return to NBA action December 29th in Detroit’s road game at New York, as Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com reported.
The assignment requires approval from both Jennings and the National Basketball Players Association, since Jennings has more than two years of previous NBA experience. It’s not unheard of for players and the union to give the OK for D-League trips, and it happened just this past weekend with Jeremy Evans and the Mavericks. Rajon Rondo is the most prominent player to have been assigned to the D-League since the current rule went into place for the 2013/14 season, but his stint with Boston’s D-League affiliate in 2014 encompassed only one practice, and he didn’t appear in a D-League game. The Knicks received approval from Amar’e Stoudemire and the union to send Stoudemire on a three-day D-League assignment in 2012, but he, too, only practiced with the D-League squad. Jennings, who’s making more than $8.344MM this season, will continue to earn his NBA salary while in the D-League, where most of his temporary teammates are making between $13K and $25,500.
He will return to a much different situation in Detroit than the one he was in when he got hurt. The Pistons traded for Reggie Jackson in February and re-signed him to a five-year, $80MM deal in the offseason, leading to speculation that Detroit will trade Jennings, who’s in the final year of his contract. Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors examined his trade candidacy in depth earlier this month. Still, Van Gundy said this week that he’s yet to have a single conversation with another team about dealing him.
Bucks Meet With Carlos Boozer
Bucks management and Carlos Boozer have met about the possibility of a deal, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Sources who spoke with Charania described the tone of the meeting as positive. Boozer has lingered in free agency since going unsigned over the offseason. The meeting took place in Los Angeles, with GM John Hammond and coach Jason Kidd in attendance, Charania adds (on Twitter).
It’s the latest signal of the organization’s desire to add veterans to the roster a few nights after four Bucks players were observed partying at a Los Angeles strip club in the wee hours of the morning on the day of the team’s loss to the Lakers. Milwaukee is also the likely destination for Wisconsin native Caron Butler, whom the Kings have promised to trade, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Wednesday.
Boozer, 34, apparently drew interest from no shortage of teams over the summer, with reports citing the Clippers, Knicks, Rockets, Mavericks, Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat among those eyeing the Rob Pelinka client. Still, Boozer held off, with his market value seemingly having taken a hit since the 2014 offseason, when the Lakers bid $3.251MM to claim him off amnesty waivers from the Bulls.
The Bucks can’t give him any more than the $1.664MM sliver of the room exception left over from signing Chris Copeland to his one-year, $1.15MM deal over the summer, though it would pay Boozer more than a prorated veteran’s minimum deal would. Still, it’s uncommon for any free agent to sign for more than the minimum salary during the season.
A Boozer signing would make it two years in a row that the Bucks picked up a well-known veteran free agent power forward in the middle of the season. Kenyon Martin signed a pair of 10-day contracts last winter and a deal that covered the rest of 2014/15. However, he didn’t last quite that long on the Bucks roster, in spite of his relationship with Kidd, as Milwaukee waived him at the trade deadline.
The team already has 15 players on its roster, and all of them have fully guaranteed contracts, so Milwaukee would have to make a corresponding move to add Boozer. However, the Butler news and Stein’s report from last week that the team is willing to deal Miles Plumlee, one of the players who was later seen at the strip club, indicate that the Bucks are unafraid of a shakeup after a disappointing 10-17 start.
Do you think Boozer could help the Bucks? Leave a comment to let us know.
And-Ones: Durant, Kerr, Walton, J.R. Smith
The Thunder had some concern when Kevin Durant hired Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports agency, but the team and Roc Nation have developed a “positive” and “constructive” working relationship, and those initial concerns have dissipated, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, citing sources. Oklahoma City will base its pitch to Durant in free agency this summer on the the youth of its roster, its track record of spending this season and last, its ability to keep spending and the presence of coach Billy Donovan, as Windhorst details. The Thunder have learned from the mistakes the Cavs made in 2010 as they unsuccessfully tried to keep LeBron James from departing a team that was aging and largely without financial flexibility, and the Oklahoma City organization doesn’t overreact to incremental developments or discouraging rumors, Windhorst explains. While we wait to find out just what happens when Durant hits free agency in six and a half months, see more from around the Association:
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr hopes to return from his leave of absence within two to three weeks, he said Wednesday, according to Janie McCauley of The Associated Press. Kerr attended practice Monday and Tuesday and the team’s shootaround Wednesday, McCauley notes.
- Interim coach Luke Walton figured there was no way Kerr would miss opening night and thought his leave, which began October 1st, would last only a couple of weeks, writes Lee Jenkins of SI.com in a piece that delves into Walton’s background to find explanation for why he’s been so successful with the Warriors this season.
- The Cavs and Jazz have a general reputation as the teams that players least want to play for, J.R. Smith tells of Devin Friedman of GQ.com, admitting he was “petrified” to go to Cleveland when the Knicks traded him there in January. He’s warmed to what he calls an underestimated city since then, re-signing with the Cavs this summer and falling in line with the team’s all-business, no-party approach, as Friedman details. Smith also told Friedman he endures racial slurs from fans when he plays in Utah, joked about marijuana use, and called China, where he played in 2011/12 the “worst place I’ve ever been in my life.”
Traded Second-Round Pick Exchange Scenarios
The effect of the value that some teams place on second-round picks is evident in the number of those selections that have been traded. Eight of the 30 second-round picks in the 2016 draft are promised, without protection, to another team. That’s just the bare minimum among the heavy volume of second-rounders that are liable to change hands this spring, when the draft order is finalized. That doesn’t include any swaps that take place between now and the draft, and surely we’ll see a few now that trade season has begun.
We’ll break down every scenario among the 2016 second-round picks that have already been traded, just as we did earlier with traded 2016 first-round picks. We’ll do so with an assist from our Round-by-Round Traded Picks Register, which Mark Porcaro compiles, and RealGM’s comprehensive database, as well as our Reverse Standings, which are updated daily.
First, here’s a look at the unprotected picks. These exchanges are 100% certain to happen. Note that the Celtics benefit from three of them:
- Cavaliers to Celtics
- Heat to Celtics
- Sixers to Celtics
- Nuggets to Sixers
- Warriors to Jazz
- Wizards to Hawks
- Knicks to Rockets
- Spurs to Kings
This next batch involves picks that appear at least somewhat likely or unlikely to change hands. The simple explanation for the likehihood of each pick exchange is in bold, with details to follow:
- Kings to Thunder (top-55 protected) — Very unlikely to happen: Sacramento almost certainly won’t end up with a top-five record, which would have to happen for this exchange to occur.
- Hornets to Thunder (bottom-five protected) — Likely to happen: Charlotte has been surprisingly successful this season, but it’s doubtful the Hornets end up with one of the league’s top five records, which is what it would take for the team to keep this pick from going to Oklahoma City.
- Hornets to Spurs (top-55 protected) — Unlikely to happen: As noted above, a top-five record is a long shot for Charlotte, so this pick appears destined for Oklahoma City, not San Antonio.
- Trail Blazers to Bulls (Chicago gets the less favorable of its pick and Portland’s pick) — Unlikely to happen: The Bulls are almost certain to end up with a better record than the rebuilding Blazers.
- Trail Blazers to Magic (Orlando gets the more favorable of Portland’s pick and Chicago’s pick) — Very likely to happen: The Portland pick is going to either Orlando or Chicago, and since it probably won’t be Chicago, as we noted in the bullet above, it’ll likely to go Orlando.
- Bulls to Magic (Orlando gets the more favorable of Portland’s pick and Chicago’s pick) — Very unlikely to happen: See above.
Many 2016 second-round pick exchange scenarios are too close to call:
- Mavericks to Celtics (Boston gets the more favorable of Dallas’ pick and Memphis’ pick) — The Mavs and Grizzlies are separated by a half-game, so this one is anybody’s guess.
- Grizzlies to Mavericks (Dallas gets the less favorable of its own pick and Memphis’ pick) — See above.
- Grizzlies to Celtics (Boston gets the more favorable of Dallas’ pick and Memphis’ pick) — See above.
- Celtics to Grizzlies (Memphis gets the less favorable of Boston’s pick and Toronto’s pick) — Oddly, the Celtics and Grizzlies could wind up exchanging picks through two different pick swap scenarios. The Boston-to-Memphis possibility is slightly unlikely as it stands, since the Celtics are two games in back of the Raptors, but that’s not a wide margin.
- Raptors to Grizzlies (Memphis gets the less favorable of Boston’s pick and Toronto’s pick) — See above.
- Celtics to Jazz (Utah gets the more favorable of Boston’s pick and Toronto’s pick) — Whichever pick the Grizzlies don’t get in the previous two scenarios, the Jazz will.
- Raptors to Jazz (Utah gets the more favorable of Boston’s pick and Toronto’s pick) — See above.
- Clippers to Nets (L.A. can swap its pick for Brooklyn’s as long as L.A.’s pick isn’t in the bottom five) — The Clips don’t have a top-five record at this point, but they’re close, and if they’re one of the league’s top five teams at the end of the season, this pick swap won’t happen. Otherwise it surely will, since the Nets are almost certain to finish with an inferior record.
- Nets to Clippers (L.A. can swap its pick for Brooklyn’s as long as L.A.’s pick isn’t in the bottom five) — See above.
- Clippers to Cavaliers (top-55 protected) — For the same reason the Nets/Clippers pick swap is uncertain, this one is tough to predict. It all hinges on whether the Clippers finish with a top-five record.
- Rockets to Timberwolves (top-45 protected) — It seemed at the start of the season that this one would definitely wind up in Minnesota, but with the way the Rockets have struggled this season, we can’t be so sure.
- Heat to Magic (top-55 protected) — The Heat are a quality team and playing well, but whether they’ll finish with a top-five record is a matter of debate. They’re tied for the sixth-best record, just a half-game out of fifth as it stands.
- Kings to Bucks (Milwaukee gets the more favorable of Sacramento’s pick and New Orleans’ pick, as long as Sacramento’s pick isn’t in the bottom five) — We can toss out the possibility of the Kings finishing with a top-five record, but the Pelicans have been perhaps the most disappointing team in the NBA thus far, and it’s no longer a safe bet they’ll end up with a better record than the Kings.
- Pelicans to Bucks (Milwaukee gets the more favorable of Sacramento’s pick and New Orleans’ pick, as long as Sacramento’s pick isn’t in the bottom five) — See above.
- Kings to Pelicans (New Orleans gets the less favorable of Sacramento’s pick and its own pick, as long as Sacramento’s pick isn’t in the bottom five) — See above.
Southwest Notes: Ellis, Randolph, Neal
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the decision not to make an offer to Monta Ellis over the summer came down to a desire to clear cap space, not because of Ellis’ age (he turned 30 in October) or any thought that he was in decline, writes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
“We love Monta as a person, his family. It was one of the times where I went back and forth a lot,” Cuban said. “Not just on the basketball side but on the family side. His wife [plans to attend] law school. His wife has an amazing future as a lawyer and it was hard. That’s the down side of this business.”
Ellis instead signed with the Pacers, though he’s still feeling the effects of offseason surgery, as Buckner also reports and as we passed along earlier. See more from the Southwest Division:
- Zach Randolph, now coming off the bench for the Grizzlies, tells Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com that he’s on board with his reduced role, and Randolph agrees with Jackson’s assertion that a dead-eye shooter in the mold of J.J. Redick is the missing element on the Memphis roster.
- Gary Neal roots for the Spurs whenever he’s not playing them and has plenty of admiration for the team with which he spent his first three NBA seasons, notes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. Neal is on a one-year, $2.139MM contract with the Wizards.
- The Mavs‘ inability to trade a first-round pick for any draft prior to 2018 and the lack of value their expiring contracts have in a market full of teams with cap flexibility for 2016 make it difficult to envision Dallas pulling off any swap that significantly upgrades the roster this season, contends Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
Central Notes: Jennings, Ellis, Bucks
Brandon Jennings plans to return to the lineup for the Pistons on December 29th in a game against the Knicks in New York, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link), but Jennings said Wednesday that an 80% chance exists that he plays on D-League assignment first, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has appeared to publicly encourage Jennings to accept a D-League assignment, which would require both Jennings and the union to consent because he has more than two years of experience, but the point guard appears willing.
“I don’t care. I just want to play, man. I just want to get out there and hoop and see where it’s at,” Jennings said, according to Ellis.
A D-League trip for Jennings would represent the fifth time this season that a veteran player and the union have given the OK to a D-League trip. That happened with three Sixers, as I noted earlier this month, and this past weekend with Jeremy Evans of the Mavericks. See more from the Central Division:
- Pacers free agent signee Monta Ellis is still recovering from offseason knee surgery, he told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star, and he and assistant coach Nate McMillan are confident he’ll start playing better as the season goes on, as Buckner details. Head coach Frank Vogel believes the struggles of Ellis are a result of adjusting to a new role, not his advancing age, Buckner adds.
- Bucks coach Jason Kidd said he spoke with Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton, O.J. Mayo and Miles Plumlee, all of whom showed up in TMZ Sports videos depicting them in a Los Angeles strip club late at night before the team’s loss to the Lakers this week, relays Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Kidd said he didn’t think their partying was a contributing factor to the loss, but, coincidentally or otherwise, the Bucks are reportedly the likely trade destination for veteran leader Caron Butler.
- Bucks preseason cut Marcus Landry has signed with San Sebastián Gipuzkoa of Spain, a source told international journalist David Pick. Radio Marca Donostia first reported the signing would take place (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
Timberwolves Make Kevin Martin Available
The Timberwolves have made Kevin Martin available in discussions about potential trades, a source told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Minnesota wants to find more time for younger perimeter players Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, according to Krawczynski. The potential that LaVine has shown to become a scorer and the increased amount of time Wiggins is seeing at shooting guard, plus the eight losses in nine games that the team has suffered, have helped prompt GM Milt Newton and company to put the 32-year-old Martin on the block and focus on Wiggins, LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad, Krawczynski explains.
Minnesota spoke with two teams about Martin early this season but was reluctant to move him amid a promising 8-8 start, Krawczynski writes. He began the season on the bench but the team made him a starter in late November to help him break out of a shooting slump, according to Krawczynski. The 12th-year veteran is nailing only 36.7% of his field goal attempts, a career low. Martin didn’t play in the team’s loss to the Knicks because of a sprained right (shooting) wrist, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, and he’s questionable for Friday’s game against the Kings.
Martin was a part of trade talk last winter, when a series of reports identified the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls, Kings and Rockets as interested parties, though late Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders didn’t appear willing to trade him or work a buyout. The Mavs, who signed Wesley Matthews in the offseason, were no longer interested as of October, according to a report at that time from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, and it’s unclear if any of the other teams linked to him almost a year ago are still eyeing him.
Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca speculates the Raptors might have interest, citing Martin’s track record as a scorer and an asset to team chemistry as well as his relationship with a few of Toronto’s players, though he suggests his contract could be a stumbling block (Twitter links). Martin is making $7.085MM this season with a player option for nearly $7.378MM next year.
What team do you think would make sense for Martin? Leave a comment to let us know.