Pacific Notes: Rivers, Butler, Russell, Randle
Doc Rivers said the slow start for the Clippers is “on me” and insisted that the team doesn’t have chemistry problems in spite of heated conversation in the locker room after Sunday’s loss, which dropped the team to 6-7, notes Jovan Buha of Fox Sports (All Twitter links). Rivers’ coaching took some criticism from Hoops Rumors readers in Sunday’s Community Shootaround, as did the roster he assembled as the team’s president of basketball operations. Still, it’s early, and the Clippers have had the poor luck of running into the still-unbeaten Warriors twice so far this season. See more from around the Pacific Division:
- Caron Butler credits the team meeting the Kings had amid the tumult and rumors after they started 1-7 for sparking the club to a 4-2 record since, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. “Behind closed doors we addressed some things and we came together. Because of that, we’re playing great basketball right now,” Butler said. “It’s about camaraderie; when things go bad, you figure it out. Whatever it is, you figure it out and you move forward, and that’s what we did.”
- Butler has been a free agent four times, but he hasn’t returned to the Lakers since the team traded him away in 2005. Still, he considers Kobe Bryant a “brother for life” and remains in contact with his long-ago Lakers teammate, as he details to Pincus for the same piece. “Being up under the wing of Kobe Bryant and the relationship that we built over that time, I learned a lot about the game of basketball,” Butler said. “I took the things that I learned from him, and that’s why I had the success that I had in my career.”
- Lakers coach Byron Scott is urging patience with top-10 picks D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, pointing to the end of next season, notes Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. The Lakers are under pressure to win in the near future, as Jeanie Buss is holding brother Jim Buss to three-year timeline for a return to contention. “With D’Angelo, it might be sometime toward the end of next season where he says, ‘Man, I’m starting to get it.’ Same thing with Julius. We’re going to just be patient and keep working them the way we’ve been working them and try to bring them along,” Scott said.
Atlantic Notes: Smart, Carroll, Vaulet, Okafor
Celtics coach Brad Stevens admits that a return in two weeks for Marcus Smart from his lower left leg injury is the most optimistic timetable, and a doctor unaffiliated with the Celtics or Smart who spoke to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com believes a more likely period of recovery is four to six weeks. The C’s have a deep stable of point guards, but none of them can defend the way Smart can, as Forsberg examines. The Celtics are one of a surprising 11 Eastern Conference teams with winning records thus far, so it would appear they face a more daunting path back to the playoffs than expected. See more from the Atlantic Division:
- Injuries have contributed to some sluggishness in Toronto’s play to start the season, but with offseason signees DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph and Luis Scola all coming through when they’re on the floor, the 9-6 Raptors haven’t disappointed this season, argues Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Jonas Valanciunas, who signed a four-year, $64MM extension this summer, was also in top-notch form, Lewenberg observes, before suffering the broken hand that’s reportedly expected to keep him out for six weeks.
- Nets draft-and-stash prospect Juan Vaulet believes he has a long way to go before he’s ready for the NBA, but the owner of the Argentinian team Vaulet plays for wouldn’t object to Vaulet coming stateside in spite of their contract, reports Fernando Rodriguez of La Nueva (translation via NetsDaily).
- Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel each do much better when the other isn’t on the court, as Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com examine in an Insider-only piece, leading Ford to speculate that the Sixers might trade Okafor this season, given his relatively high value around the league.
Hoops Rumors On Social Media/RSS
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Martell Webster Out For Season
FRIDAY, 3:55pm: Webster underwent successful surgery today and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season, the Wizards announced.
11:32am: It’s usually an eight-to-10 month recovery timetable, a person with knowledge of the situation told Castillo for an updated version of his story. It was Webster who cited four to six months.
9:28am: The injury will knock him out nine to 10 months, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, threatening his availability for training camp next season. The Wizards will apply for a disabled player exception, Michael adds.
WEDNESDAY, 9:14am: Wizards small forward Martell Webster will have surgery Friday on his ailing right hip and expects to miss four to six months, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The news is not entirely surprising, since he told reporters last month that surgery was among the solutions in play to address the issue, which entailed a bone spur that had caused a tear in his labrum. The injury affects him financially, since he had to play in 70 games this season to bump the $2.5MM partial guarantee on his salary next season to a full guarantee of more than $5.845MM. Webster was determined to try to play through it, going so far as to use balance-correcting glasses to keep him from leaning too heavily on his right side, but he has yet to make it into a game so far this season.
“We tried everything else and I just wasn’t getting the results that I wanted,” Webster said, according to Castillo. “So I wanted to go out and get it taken care of rather than playing this season in some discomfort and then wait until the offseason to get it taken care of and then rehab the whole offseason and then try to find a rhythm come training camp. I’d rather take care of it now.”
Webster was adamant that he won’t retire because of the surgery, noting that a doctor told him that he has an 85% chance of returning to play at some point, Castillo writes. The early end of his recovery timetable would have him back by late March, though six months would likely wipe out his season.
Doctors would have to determine that Webster is likely to miss the season for Washington to be able to apply for a disabled player exception worth half of Webster’s nearly $5.614MM salary this season. The Wizards have a full 15-man roster, and Alan Anderson is out until sometime next month. Still, Washington doesn’t qualify to apply for a hardship provision of a 16th roster spot.
Coaching Changes Prior To New Year’s Day
Houston’s firing of Kevin McHale this week came as a shock, but neither McHale nor NBA teams are unfamiliar with early-season coaching changes. McHale took over the Timberwolves for a fired Randy Wittman in December 2008, just 19 games into the 2008/09 season. It was one of just 14 times since 2005, including the Rockets’ move Wednesday, that a team changed coaches before New Year’s Day.
Each such occasion is listed below, with the date of the change, the coach’s record, and the names of the coach, or coaches, who followed him in the position that season. Only Pat Riley, who replaced Stan Van Gundy as Heat coach in 2005, went on to win the championship with his team.
- November 9th, 2012: Lakers, Mike Brown (1-4) — Bernie Bickerstaff/Mike D’Antoni
- November 12th, 2009: Hornets, Byron Scott (3-6) — Jeff Bower
- November 18th, 2015: Rockets, Kevin McHale (4-7) — J.B. Bickerstaff
- November 21st, 2008: Thunder, P.J. Carlesimo (1-12) — Scott Brooks
- November 24th, 2008: Wizards, Eddie Jordan (1-10) — Ed Tapscott
- December 3rd, 2008: Raptors, Sam Mitchell (8-9) — Jay Triano
- December 8th, 2008: Timberwolves, Randy Wittman (4-15) — Kevin McHale
- December 12th, 2005: Heat, Stan Van Gundy (11-10) — Pat Riley
- December 13th, 2008: Sixers, Maurice Cheeks (9-14) — Tony DiLeo
- December 15th, 2008: Kings, Reggie Theus (6-18) — Kenny Natt
- December 15th, 2014: Kings, Michael Malone (11-13) — Tyrone Corbin/George Karl
- December 22nd, 2010: Bobcats, Larry Brown (9-19) — Paul Silas
- December 24th, 2007: Bulls, Scott Skiles (9-16) — Pete Myers/Jim Boylan.
- December 28th, 2006: Grizzlies, Mike Fratello (6-24) — Tony Barone
The following coaches would have appeared on the list above if the 2011/12 season had started on time. Instead, the lockout pushed opening night to December 25th, 2011. Within a month, these two moves took place:
- January 5th, 2012: Kings, Paul Westphal, (2-7) — Keith Smart
- January 24th, 2012: Wizards, Flip Saunders (2-15) — Randy Wittman
Pacific Notes: Green, Kobe, Scott, Malone
There was no way of knowing Draymond Green would develop into a player making in excess of $16MM a year on his new five-year, $82MM deal, Warriors GM Bob Myers remarked recently, and Green admits he didn’t know how valuable he would become, either, observes Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com. Green was the 35th overall pick in 2012 and made the minimum salary last season.
“Yeah, I was thinking, like, maybe $7, $8MM,” Green said, according to Strauss. “Who saw this coming?”
The free agent market is never quite predictable, but the Warriors seem to have a handle on it even amid the rapid cost escalation for Green, as I examined earlier this week. See more from the Pacific Division:
- Kobe Bryant said this summer that he could envision himself playing overseas after his NBA career, but that’s not in his plans for now, as he told Marc Stein of ESPN.com within the past week. The Lakers star also said this week that he doesn’t see himself playing beyond the season, barring a change.
- The demanding nature of coach Byron Scott makes for a challenging adjustment, Nick Young posited as he talked about the struggles of offseason signee Lou Williams. Bill Oram of the Orange County Register has the details.
- Michael Malone cited the trouble the Kings have faced after his firing in response to a question about Houston’s dismissal of Kevin McHale this week, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I can only speak to my experience [in Sacramento],” Malone said. “It was loud and clear that I didn’t lose the locker room. Once I got fired, the organization lost the team in a weird way.”
Kings Would Make Lieberman Interim Coach?
1:36pm: There’s “no way” the Kings would replace Karl with Lieberman, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. The team isn’t going after Calipari, either, a league source insists to Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV in Sacramento (Twitter link).
11:55pm: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive would like to make assistant coach Nancy Lieberman the interim head coach if the team elects to fire George Karl during the season, sources tell Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher for a video report. Such a move would make Lieberman the first woman ever to serve as head coach of an NBA team. Vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac would lean instead toward Corliss Williamson, another current Kings assistant, in the event of a Karl firing, Bucher adds, though Divac said last week that Karl would remain the coach throughout the season. Ranadive continues to eye John Calipari as a would-be long-term successor to Karl and plans to make the Kentucky coach an “offer that Calipari simply cannot refuse,” according to Bucher.
Lieberman became just the second female ever to hold a full-time assistant coaching position in the NBA when the Kings hired her over the summer. She previously served as head coach of the Mavs D-League affiliate, leading the Texas Legends to the D-League playoffs in 2010/11, the only time the team has ever made the postseason. She also served as a head coach and GM in the WNBA after a decorated playing career.
Williamson is a former Kings player and teammate of Divac who rejoined the franchise as an assistant in the summer of 2013, a few months after Ranadive bought the team. Williamson served as a head coach at the University of Central Arkansas prior to joining Sacramento’s staff.
Ranadive’s interest in Calipari has grown stronger in recent months, as Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead reported last week. The Kings denied a report this summer that they reached out to Calipari, and while the one-time Nets coach has insisted time and again that he doesn’t want to leave Kentucky, rumors that he wants back into the NBA have been persistent.
Does Lieberman deserve a shot as an NBA head coach? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Westbrook, Burks, Towns
Kevin Durant describes his friendship with Russell Westbrook as “really tight,” and it came into focus Thursday, when Durant chose Westbrook to present him for induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater details. The bond between the Thunder teammates looms large, with Durant poised to hit free agency this summer and Westbrook to follow in 2017.
“There’s times where we go at it,” Durant said about Westbrook in a Q&A with Slater. “There’s times I don’t like what he’s doing out on the court, there’s times where he hates what I’m doing out on the court. There’s times where it’s Russ, you gotta control your attitude or KD, you gotta stop, you gotta speak up, whatever. There’s times we cuss each other out, but that’s a part of being brothers. Because I know if I need something, he’ll be there and if I need to talk to someone outside of basketball, he’ll be there. It’s a real brotherhood type relationship. We’re like family.”
Durant also makes note of the continued relationship that he and Westbrook have with former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who’s on a one-year deal with the Pelicans, as Slater relays.
- Alec Burks is playing at a more controlled pace and making better on-court judgments, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, and that’s helped him come back better from the shoulder injury that prematurely ended last season than he was before it, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune examines. Much of his improvement is in the details, the coach also asserts, according to Falk. “There are a lot of little things, habits that are hard. Literally, which foot do you want forward? … All those things that maybe you don’t see add up,” Snyder said.
- Jazz draft-and-stash signee Raul Neto isn’t quite seeing starter’s minutes, but he’s in the starting lineup and impressing Snyder, as Falk details in a separate piece. “I think he’s handled it great,” Snyder said. “If you look at a lot of international players, and particularly the guards, there’s an adjustment period. I think he’s way ahead of that.”
- The Timberwolves have a long way to go, and the front office surely knows it, but the defensive play of their starting lineup has been top-notch and No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns is showing offensive versatility with his shooting and post-up game, observes Evans Clinchy of Hardwood Paroxysm.
The Beat: Tony Jones On The Jazz
Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.
We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last time, we spoke with Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times about the Clippers. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.
Today, we gain insight on the Jazz from Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. You can follow Tony on Twitter at @Tjonessltrib, and check out his stories right here.
Hoops Rumors: Just how good is Rudy Gobert? How valuable is he to the Jazz?
Tony Jones: He’s quite valuable. You know, the Jazz are a team that, if they miss one of their top four players for an extended player of time, it’s going to affect them greatly. So, if [Rodney] Hood goes out, or if Gobert goes out, or if [Derrick] Favors goes out, or if [Gordon] Hayward goes out, they’re going to be adversely affected by it. With that being said, I mean Gobert is, he’s very, very good, and he’s very valuable. He’s a great rim protector, but he’s really a great team defender. He’s a lot more than a rim protector. He’s a deterrent in the lane, he plays pick-and-roll coverages really well. He’s communicative in the back of the defense. So, he really does a lot. He’s just a lot more than somebody who blocks shots. I think that he’s very good. I actually think that he has a chance to be a generational-type defender, somebody like [Dikembe] Mutombo. So, he’s going to get better, and he’s going to continue to get better. He’s really young, but he’s certainly on his way.
Sergey Karasev Wants Nets To Trade Him?
FRIDAY, 10:22am: Karasev said today that he doesn’t want a trade and hasn’t asked for one, tweets Brian Lewis of the New York Post. He added that he “loves” the Nets, that he respects the opinion of his father but doesn’t share it, and that he’s spoken to Hollins about his father’s criticism of the coach, Lewis also notes (Twitter links). Hollins told Karasev not to worry about it.
THURSDAY, 12:49pm: Sergey Karasev wants the Nets to trade him, as his father said in an interview with Russia’s SovSport and as a league source confirms to NetsDaily. The Nets declined their team option on the fourth year of his rookie scale contract earlier this month, setting him up for unrestricted free agency in the summer ahead. His father said the swingman has begun to talk about trade scenarios, as NetsDaily relays from its translation of the SovSport report, but it’s unclear if he or agent Andy Miller has discussed the issue with Nets management.
Karasev, 22, has played just six total minutes across three games so far this season. His father blasted the Nets and coach Lionel Hollins for his scant playing time, pointing to his full recovery from a right knee injury that prematurely ended last season and wondering if “political” issues are at play, NetsDaily notes. Karasev and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov are both Russian.
Any team that trades for Karasev this year wouldn’t be able to re-sign him to a contract that gives him more than $2,463,754 next season, the value of the option that the Nets declined. His father acknowledged the possibility that Karasev will play in his native Russia come 2016/17, following in the footsteps of Russia’s Alexey Shved, who signed a deal worth $10.2MM over three years with Khimki Moscow this past summer that made him the highest-paid player in Europe, NetsDaily adds.
The Cavs originally drafted Karasev in 2013, and he played sparingly as a rookie, averaging 1.7 points in 7.1 minutes per game across 22 appearances. Cleveland shipped him to the Nets in a three-team trade that cleared the cap space necessary for the team to sign LeBron James in the summer of 2014. Hollins gave Karasev the starting nod in 16 of the 33 games he played last season, a year in which he posted 4.6 points in 16.8 minutes per contest with just 29.6% shooting from behind the arc.
It would be tough for the Nets to pull off a trade any time in the next four weeks, since most of the players who signed new contracts in the offseason won’t be eligible for inclusion in trades until December 15th. That doesn’t directly apply to Karasev, since he didn’t sign a deal this past summer, but finding other components for a swap prior to the middle of next month would likely prove troublesome. So, that ostensibly gives the Nets some time to try to repair their relationship with Karasev if they’re interested in doing so.
Which team do you think should try to swing a deal for Karasev? Leave a comment to let us know.