Northwest Notes: Blazers, Westbrook, Hood, Nelson
In a conversation with The New York Times’ Marc Stein, Carmelo Anthony explained that his decision not to waive his no-trade clause for the Trail Blazers was rooted in logistics, not basketball, reports John Canzano of The The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“We had a fair bit of discussion about Portland…,” Stein said of his talk with Anthony. “… He did say that it meant a lot to him how badly those guys wanted him. I think it really was the distance (that caused him to not be interested). I don’t think it was about Portland, the place… I don’t think it was about Portland, I think it was about family… presumably his wife and son are going to stay in New York for the bulk of the year. He was in constant contact with (Damian) Lillard and (C.J.) McCollum.”
Here’s more news from the Northwest:
- The Thunder’s Russell Westbrook scored only six points on 2-of-11 shooting to go along with seven turnovers in Saturday night’s 96-87 loss to the Utah Jazz. As reported by ESPN’s Royce Young, Westbrook appears to still be adjusting and adapting to the acquisitions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony; however, Westbrook insists that this season is no different than any other. “It’s the same thing [as last season],” Westbrook said. “Basketball’s been the same for years. It’s still the same game. Obviously different players, but the game still tells you what to do. If you need to score, you score, if not, you don’t. It’s very simple.”
- Despite not playing Saturday night against Oklahoma City as the result of a calf injury, Rodney Hood of the Jazz is primed to make his return to the court sooner than originally feared, as reported by Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Despite the initial concern after Hood had to be helped off the court by teammates, Jazz coach Quin Snyder was apparently never too worried. “I’ve kind of conditioned myself to not jump to conclusions about those things one way or the other,” Snyder said when asked about being relieved the injury wasn’t worse. “Sometimes when they don’t look as bad, you kind of feel like, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad,’ and then it ends up to be worse.”
- Jameer Nelson tweeted out a thank you to the City of Denver and the Nuggets early Friday morning after being released by the team on Wednesday. The Nuggets would have been on the hook for the entirety of Nelson’s $4.74MM salary if he had remained on the free agent market. However, as noted by Bobby Marks of ESPN, Denver will have the right to set-off approximately $470K at season’s end as a result of Nelson signing a pro-rated minimum salary contract with the Pelicans on Saturday.
Central Notes: Pistons, Rose, Wade, Markkanen
Despite a disappointing 2016/17 campaign, in which the Pistons finished 37-45 and missed the playoffs, owner Tom Gores still has confidence in coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, reports Ansar Khan of MLive.com. “Do I believe in Stan? Absolutely,” Gores said. “He works hard. He told me the other day how hard this team is working. They practice hard. The game is one thing, but practice is important, so Stan really feels good about it … We’re seeing this through, absolutely.”
Gores also touched on the Pistons’ return to Detroit after spending the prior 29 seasons in Auburn Hills. “Back in Detroit. I think that’s a big deal. The city’s worked really hard for this. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure exactly how to express it other than I’m just so happy for you guys, for the community … I feel really fortunate to be here.” Despite last season’s frustration, the Pistons are off to a 2-1 start; enough to place them atop the Central Division in the early going of the 2017/18 season.
Here’s more news from the Central:
- Derrick Rose is unconcerned about his left ankle injury that kept him out of the Cavaliers’ 21-point loss against the Magic on Saturday night, relays Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. In fact, Rose seems more concerned about the effect his absence may have on his conditioning level rather than the ankle itself. “It’s a mild sprain, nothing too serious,” Rose said. “Been getting lot of treatment since this morning, actually (Friday) night. They’re staying on top of it. Like I said, I just don’t want to lose my conditioning because I feel like I’m in great shape right now.”
- While Rose looks to make his return to the court in the near future, teammate Dwyane Wade is still trying to find his rhythm on the court with the Cavaliers, reports Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Wade is averaging a mere 5.7 PPG on 28% shooting in his first three games with the Cavaliers. “I’m trying to find it, man,” Wade said. “It’s very different, different than I’ve ever played. Just trying to find my way, as we go on, see how I can be best for this team. Everything’s happened so fast.”
- In the midst of a rebuilding year and an embarrassing altercation between teammates, the Bulls seem to have found at least one bright spot in rookie Lauri Markkanen, reports Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago. Scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in Saturday night’s loss to the Spurs, Markkanen received high praise from a future Hall-of-Famer, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “Markkanen is a wonderful player. He’s aggressive, he’s smart and obviously, he can shoot the ball. He’s just going to get better and better as he figures things out.” With both Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic out for the next several games, at least, Markkanen will continue to have an opportunity to showcase his talent against the rest of the league.