Bucks Notes: Bayless, Udoh, Foster
The Bucks might not win a lot of games next season, but there are still intriguing storylines in Milwaukee. Jabari Parker‘s play as a favorite to win Rookie of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s continued development (including ball handling, as the “Greek Freak” spent time at the point in Summer League), and how new coach Jason Kidd handles a young and athletic roster will all be interesting factors to watch. Here’s a rundown of Bucks notes:
- Jerryd Bayless‘ two-year, $6MM contract with the Bucks is fully guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Bayless’ decision to sign with Milwaukee was largely influenced by the presence of Kidd, one of the best point guards in league history, he tells Rich Rovito of The Associated Press. “The thing that was most intriguing was Kidd,” Bayless said. “He can help me in a variety of different ways. There aren’t a lot of guys like him that come around.”
- The Bucks renounced their rights to Ekpe Udoh and Marquis Daniels earlier this week, tweets Pincus. Removing those cap holds, in conjunction with their signings of Bayless and rookie Johnny O’Bryant, leave the team nearly $7MM under the salary cap, as Pincus details in his updated salary sheet for Milwaukee.
- Greg Foster has left the Sixers assistant coaching staff to join Milwaukee as their second assistant, tweets Bob Cooney of Philadelphia Daily News, confirming an earlier report by Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers (on Twitter) of Foster’s move.
Lakers Hire Byron Scott
9:36pm: Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has announced the signing of Scott, reports Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link). Kupchak said, “After an extensive and thorough search, we’re proud to welcome Byron back to the Lakers family as our next head coach.”
9:26pm: Scott has signed the contract and the press conference to announce the deal will be held Tuesday afternoon at 1pm (CDT), reports Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 8:28am: There are minor details left to work out, but the main terms of the deal have been agreed upon, Scott tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
SATURDAY: 10:20pm: Medina writes that Scott was under the impression he had reached an agreement with Los Angeles, while the Lakers are claiming negotiations could take a couple more days to complete.
10:01pm: The Lakers have maintained to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that negotiations are still ongoing with Scott (Twitter link). That would contradict the reported agreement, which Medina had confirmed earlier, presumably with a different source (on Twitter).
9:01pm: The Lakers have agreed to terms with Byron Scott, who will become the new head coach in Los Angeles, as first reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). The deal is for four-years and $17MM, the fourth year being a team option. The deal has been in the works since yesterday, when some reports indicated the team had offered him the job.
As expected, the contract comes in at a lower salary than recent first-year coaching hires Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr, although not dramatically so. The length of the deal would suggest that the Lakers are planning to let Scott guide the team through what will likely be some difficult seasons in the immediate future. Of course, the team has shuffled through two coaches on long-term contracts the past two seasons, so Scott will still need to perform well to truly feel secure. The team is poised to miss the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time in five decades, and barring a major haul in next year’s free agency, isn’t positioned to scale back to the top of the Western Conference next year.
Los Angeles took the most time of any team in filling its coaching vacancy this summer, as the front office committed to a methodical search and an aggressive free agency period. Scott has long considered himself the favorite for the job, and was reported as the Lakers front-runner in late June. Scott’s history with the organization and his relationship with Kobe Bryant were factors that worked in his favor.
Scott will join his fourth NBA team as head coach. The coaching veteran and former Lakers player has compiled a career 416-521 record on the bench. Scott guided the Nets to two Finals appearances early in his coaching career and took New Orleans into the playoffs in consecutive seasons later in his career, but has led losing efforts in every other season. Most recently, Scott’s Cavs teams finished with 24 wins or fewer in each of his three seasons in Cleveland.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Lakers Sign Wesley Johnson
JULY 28th, 4:15pm: The Lakers have officially announced the signing, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter).
JULY 18th: The Lakers will sign Wesley Johnson to a one-year contract, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Broussard’s source sets the deal at $1MM, which is slightly above the minimum for a player of Johnson’s tenure. It’s possible that amount is rounded up from the minimum, although that’s just my speculation.
Recently, the odds seemed low that Johnson would return to Los Angeles. The fifth-year small forward had shown early interest in returning to the purple and gold after having his best season as a pro with the Lakers last season. On a team gutted by injuries, the former No. 4 pick started 62 games, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks per game.
The Landmark Sports Agency, Inc. client has never averaged double-digit scoring in a season, with a disappointing career average of 8.1 PPG. Johnson’s athleticism is still an asset, and he will hope to stick in a rotation that projects to be more complete, if not highly competitive, next year. No other teams had been reported as interested in the wing prior to the news of his return.
And-Ones: Beasley, D-League, Dellavedova
Had Steve Mills not taken a front office job with the Knicks, he’d still be a leading candidate to take over the head of the NBA Player’s Association, writes Keith Schlosser of the Knicks Blog. The strong working relationship Mills has built with Phil Jackson seemingly makes it unlikely he’d consider bowing out from his job in New York to pursue an opportunity with the NBAPA, says Schlosser. Here’s a roundup from around the league:
- Several teams have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Michael Beasley, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Front offices are intrigued by the efficiency and maturity that the former second-overall pick put on display with the Heat last season, hears Kennedy.
- One potential fit for Beasley might be the Lakers, opines Kennedy, who notes that the forward is currently working out with Kevin Durant in Los Angeles (Twitter link).
- Two rule changes are being discussed that would further push the D-League toward a future where one-to-one affiliate relationships exist for every NBA team, sources tell Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. One of the potential changes would expand the amount of players cut from training camp a team could protect with assignment rights, and the other would eliminate the ability for D-League clubs to add players by tryout, tipping the scales further toward one-to-one roster building that more closely resembles a minor league system.
- Pilato adds that the outcome of the Thunder‘s handling of Josh Huestis is a significant factor in whether the D-League, currently without a president, will be further pressed into a one-to-one structure.
- Matthew Dellavedova’s minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed for this season when the Cavs elected to keep him through Friday, according to the data that Mark Deeks of ShamSports compiled.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders looks at the few teams with the mid-level exception still at their disposal, and a handful of free agents that are hoping to be signed in that value range.
Charlie Adams and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Love, Miller, Lakers, Clippers
Kevin Love and the Wolves were likely on the same page regarding his decision to sit out this summer’s Team USA activity, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix gets the sense that both sides were in favor of a cautious approach so that an injury won’t throw a wrench in the trade market for Love. Here’s more from out West:
- The Wolves’ chance to convince Love to remain in Minnesota beyond this season has passed, writes Charley Walters of St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters says the power forward will not be persuaded at this point, and that his preference is to play with LeBron James in Cleveland, which aligns with the rumored trade request we passed along this morning.
- Darius Miller‘s deal with the Pelicans is a two-year, partially guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, according to the New Orleans salary sheet updated by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Pincus grades the Lakers offseason, giving the team poor marks for striking out on their free agent targets, in a piece for the Los Angeles Times.
- Fellow Los Angeles Times scribe Broderick Turner judges the Clippers‘ offseason a modest success. Turner thinks it’s possible the addition of Spencer Hawes could help nudge the team closer to the very top of the Western Conference.
Seth Curry Weighing Overseas Options
Seth Curry is drawing interest from international teams, tweets Chema de Lucas of Solobasket.com (translation via Enea Trapani of Sportando). Curry is weighing interest from NBA teams against that of Spanish club Baskonia and German club Bayern Munich. The younger brother of Stephen Curry is reportedly open to playing in Europe if he is unable to secure an NBA contract.
It is doubtful that the interest from NBA teams amounts to much, if any, 2014/15 guaranteed salary prospects for the guard. Curry is one of may unsigned free agents whose track to an NBA roster this season is most likely through competing in training camp for one of a team’s remaining roster spots.
The Octagon Sports client went undrafted in 2013 and spent most of the year with the Warriors’ D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz. The guard struggled to break into NBA action, only playing a game apiece for the Grizzlies and Cavs on a non-guaranteed contract and 10-day deal, respectively. In the D-League, he averaged 19.7 PPG and and 5.8 APG with a .437/.372/.853 slash line.
Pluto’s Latest: Love, Cavs, Wolves
Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer hears that, unless something changes, the Wolves will not relent on their demand for Andrew Wiggins as part of any trade package with the Cavs for Kevin Love. It will be interesting to see if the rumored trade request from Love would be the kind of change needed to soften that stance. Pluto’s full piece is worth the read, but we’ll run down some of the highlights here:
- Minnesota and Cleveland haven’t had serious discussions about a Love trade for a week, writes Pluto. We heard recently that the trade market for Love was quiet in general, although speculation has continued to proliferate.
- Pluto also hears that the expectation for any would-be Love trade to Cleveland would be that the forward would still decline his player option next season, giving him the ability to re-sign to a longer, more lucrative deal.
- Minnesota is considering the unlikely possibility of keeping Love through the season and then working out a sign-and-trade with another team next summer, per The Plain Dealer scribe.
Pacific Notes: Boozer, Marshall, Casspi
While the Lakers have had an underwhelming offseason, Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News thinks that the hiring of Byron Scott for head coach could at least end the “nightmare” in Los Angeles. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak was surprised when his team wound up winning the rights to Carlos Boozer, figuring another club would come in with a higher bid than the $3.251MM the Lakers put up, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- Kupchak also acknowledged the downside of the move, which largely forced the team to waive Kendall Marshall, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- The Kings skirted the tax line when they decided to wait until Omri Casspi cleared waivers and sign him rather than submit a claim, but they gave serious thought to making that claim anyway and absorbing the extra cost, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Union To Vote On Executive Director Finalists
SATURDAY, 9:35am: Dean Garfield, a tech industry CEO, is the third finalist, tweets Wojnarowski.
9:00pm: Union president Chris Paul had been tight with Johnson, but others on the executive committee weren’t as supportive of the Sacramento mayor, as Wojnarowski details in a full story. Some prominent union members and agents worried that Johnson owed too much to commissioner Adam Silver in the wake of the NBA’s efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento, according to Wojnarowski. Tension had festered for months between Johnson’s search committee and the executive committee, Wojnarowski hears. The union invited Johnson to take part in Monday’s proceedings, but he has no desire to participate, a source tells Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski also pegs the number of remaining candidates at three in his latest dispatch.
7:59pm: Union members are set to choose from a field of three finalists Monday, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick, suggesting that a fourth finalist, as Wojnarowski alluded to, either dropped out or was never truly in the running. About 150 players are expected for the meeting in Las Vegas, as the union has made a strong push for its membership to take part.
7:50pm: Attorney Michele Roberts, who appeared to have been a finalist in February, is another candidate among the three making presentations on Monday, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
7:19pm: Mavs CEO Terdema Ussery is one of the three who’ll make presentations to the union, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter).
6:52pm: Wojnarowski tweets that three finalists will make presentations to the player’s union on Monday, and that a vote will follow.
FRIDAY, 6:32pm: Kevin Johnson informed NBA players via email that he is no longer a part of the search committee designed to find the next executive director of the player’s union, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports in a series of tweets. Wojnarowski describes the email as a “terse” message that reveals an out-of-process committee. Johnson was hired to head the committee this spring.
The Yahoo! scribe’s sources say that the search committee had run into conflict with the NBPA’s executive committee, with the latter desiring to exert more influence in the lead-up to a hire (Twitter link). Wojnarowski’s sources said that the candidates for the job have been narrowed to four in the last 48 hours, although the list was reportedly at just three names in recent days.
The union has been without an executive director since Billy Hunter was ousted in February of 2013. After working with the NBA in the initial stages of the ongoing Donald Sterling scandal, Johnson was presumed to have a favorable chance at landing the union job, a possibility that was disputed based on Johnson’s broader political aspirations.
Kevin Love Requests Trade To Cleveland?
Multiple league sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that Kevin Love has likely requested a trade to the Cavaliers. The sources are uncertain if a formal trade request has been made, but are “under the impression” that he has made his feelings known to the Wolves through his agent.
Such a request would certainly alter the trade landscape for the All-Star, whose fate for this season and beyond has been a constant in the rumor mill since informing Minnesota that he would not opt in to his player option and pursue free agency next summer. Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press tweets that the elite scorer and rebounder has withdrawn from playing with Team USA this summer due to uncertainty about his situation.
A formal request of this nature would seemingly give the Cavs more leverage in their talks with the Wolves. The main sticking point in talks has been whether or not Cleveland is willing to give up No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins as part of a deal. The Warriors were the early favorites to land Love, and the Bulls have regained momentum in recent days, while the Celtics have all but thrown in the towel. Since LeBron James announced his return to Cleveland, the team went from a longshot to acquire the power forward to a strong possibility, as Love was only open to re-signing with the Cavs once James was in the picture.