Bulls Sign Mike James
THURSDAY, 11:59am: The signing is official, the team announced.
WEDNESDAY, 7:56pm: The Bulls will sign veteran point guard Mike James tomorrow, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. The deal will cover the remainder of the season, making James eligible for Chicago’s postseason run. James, a favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau, was expected to sign with the Bulls once Chicago was freed of Erik Murphy‘s salary thanks to a waiver claim of Murphy by the Jazz.
James has played exclusively for the Bulls this season, having his non-guaranteed deal waived early on and, until now, not getting an opportunity to re-sign after a 10-day deal expired in January. James joins recent signings Jimmer Fredette and Ronnie Brewer to bring Chicago’s roster up to 14 players, one short of the league maximum. The Bulls could still add another player now that the team is more comfortably below the tax line for the year.
In his time with the Bulls this season, the Lee Basketball Services client has averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 assists in 7.0 minutes per game. For his career, the 38-year-old averages 9.9 points and 3.5 assists per contest.
And-Ones: Vesely, Age Limit, Woodson
Adam Silver tells Darren Rovell of ESPN.com that the NBA is willing to consider subsidizing costs for collegiate players’ career insurance and basic living necessities, as part of the league’s push to increase the age limit for the draft. “It does, in my mind, need to be a three-way conversation,” Silver said. “You heard college administrators at press conferences around the [NCAA] tournament say that it’s the NBA’s problem or the union is putting up resistance. It’s a more complex problem than that.” Here’s more from around the league:
- Nuggets forward Jan Vesely has many fans among Denver’s brass, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Vesely, who came over to the Nuggets at the trade deadline, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders says that the Bobcats owe most of their dramatic turnaround to the addition of Al Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $40.5MM contract with Charlotte last summer. Kennedy argues that Jefferson’s impact has been worthy of MVP consideration.
- Mike Woodson tells Al Iannazzonne of Newsday that he still hasn’t had a sit-down with Knicks president Phil Jackson, but insists he’s focused on the immediate future and trying to get New York into the playoffs. “I gather he’s kind of staying out of the way and letting me do my thing in terms of trying to get this team in the playoffs,” Woodson said. “That’s okay. I’m sure when the time comes he and I’ll have a chance to sit down and talk and see where we are.”
- Woodson also responded to Larry Brown‘s recent comments, which were critical of the treatment Woodson has received from the Knicks. “Larry’s his own guy and I have a great deal of respect for Larry,” Woodson said. “But Mike Woodson’s his own guy as well. For me, it’s been a roller-coaster year — for all of us. I’ve never shied away from taking responsibility of this team. I’m the coach of this team and I take great pride in that.”
Western Notes: Lee, Gordon, Ledo
The Suns are locked into an exciting battle for one of the West’s final two playoff spots, something virtually no one anticipated before the season. Bob Young of azcentral.com details all of the moves that have panned out for Phoenix this year, leading to their surprising success. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- David Lee tells Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press that there is no timetable for his return, but he does hope to play for the Warriors in the playoffs. After missing postseason action last year due to a torn hip flexor, the power forward is sidelined late in the year again, this time due to nerve damage that has a less straightforward recovery process. “That’s the only thing that has really worried me,” Lee said. “Just the fact that they say sometimes these heal in two days, sometimes it takes two months. We don’t know. But the good thing is, from what they’ve told me, as long as it continues to progress they think it’s going to be weeks still. So I have a good chance of being there when I need to be there.”
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes that rookie guard Ricky Ledo has had moderate success in the D-League this year, and needs a productive summer with the Mavs to earn a spot on the NBA roster next season.
- Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune writes that hindsight has proven matching Eric Gordon‘s four-year, $58MM offer sheet from the Suns was the wrong decision. Smith doesn’t believe the Pelicans can get anything close to equal value for the oft-injured Gordon, but says it’s time to move him out regardless of how little they get in return.
Eastern Notes: Sanders, Sixers, Cavs
Larry Sanders‘ five-game suspension began tonight, per Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sanders was already ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury, but a source tells Gardner that Sanders received medical clearance so that the league would allow his suspension to begin now. The Bucks have five games remaining, so Sanders won’t miss any time to begin the 2014/15 campaign. The Bucks will have Sanders, if healthy, available to start the season, and the big man will lose significantly less in prorated pay by serving the suspension on the last year of his rookie scale deal ($3.1MM) rather than the first year of his hefty extension ($11MM). Here’s more from around the East:
- Coach Brett Brown told Tom Moore of Calkins Media that it’s “really important” that the Sixers find a star in the draft this summer. Philly could wind up with two top-10 picks, one of which could become the No. 1 overall selection if the ping pong balls bounce in their favor.
- Brown also told Moore that it’s too early to project whether rookies Michael Carter-Williams or Nerlens Noel could become stars in their own right. “Stars want to play with stars. And it’s too early to say anything about Michael (Carter-Williams) or what you can project Nerlens (Noel) out to be. Just because somebody’s chosen high in the draft doesn’t mean they’re going to be a star, either,” said Brown.
- In a video spot, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, says that the Sixers should keep Henry Sims around next year. Sims is under a non-guaranteed, $0.9MM contract for next season, and the second-year center has averaged 11.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season.
- The Cavs recalled Scotty Hopson and Sergey Karasev from their D-League affiliate prior to tonight’s game, per a tweet from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Walker, Randle, Parker
The status of this year’s top prospects is still somewhat in the air. Joel Embiid made his entry into the draft official earlier today, while Julius Randle denied reports that he was ready to do the same. Jabari Parker has made housing arrangements at Duke for his sophomore year, a source from the school tells Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). Moore notes that the arrangements don’t rule out a decision by Parker to enter the draft, but they do give credence to Parker’s insistence that staying in school another year is a real possibility. Let’s round up the rest of the night’s draft notes:
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes that Randle’s shot at becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the draft is gone, but that the big man has set himself up to stay near the top of the lottery if he does well in pre-draft workouts.
- In a separate piece, Howard-Cooper ranks his top 30 draft prospects, placing Embiid in the No. 1 spot.
- Chris Broussard of ESPN.com discusses Embiid’s draft stock in an Insider subscription-only video. Broussard says that most GMs that he’s talked to think Embiid will indeed go first overall. If Embiid’s back injury checks out as a non-issue, Broussard thinks the big man will become the odds-on favorite to become the top selection.
- As expected, LaQuinton Ross has signed with agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, per a tweet from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Freshman Chris Walker announced in a tweet that he will return to Florida next year rather than declare for the draft (hat tip to Chad Ford of ESPN.com). The decision doesn’t come as a surprise, as Walker is projected as a lottery pick in the 2015 class by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
- Xavier Thames has signed with agents Colin Bryant and Valerian Owens, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The guard from San Diego State isn’t projected to be drafted, ranked as just the 50th best senior by Givony.
Julius Randle Denies Draft Decision
6:34pm: Randle has denied having made his decision yet in a tweet (H/T Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). Randle says the report is false, and that he hasn’t made the decision with his family at this time.
6:22pm: Sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that Kentucky power forward Julius Randle will declare for the 2014 NBA Draft. Randle has always been expected to follow the one-and-done path that many Wildcats have taken under coach John Calipari in recent years. Goodman’s sources tell him that Randle is a lock to go in the top 10, and is likely to get selected in the top five of the draft.
Warriors Sign Armstrong For Rest of Season
The Warriors have signed Hilton Armstrong for the remainder of the season, per a team release. This will be Armstrong’s fourth contract with Golden State this season, as he has spent time with the team on a non-guaranteed deal and two 10-day contracts. He has appeared in 12 games for the Warriors, averaging 1.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per contest.
It’s likely that the Warriors decided to ink the big man for the stretch run due to concerns over David Lee‘s health heading into the playoffs. Veteran centers Andrew Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal haven’t been very durable over the last few years, although Bogut has managed to play in over 80% of Golden State’s games this year. Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the team has no plans to call up Ognjen Kuzmic or Nemanja Nedovic from Golden State’s D-League affiliate, two players the Warriors brought up for depth earlier in the season.
The 29-year-old Armstrong had spent parts of five seasons with five other NBA franchises before not playing in the league for the entirety of the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The Warriors have kept tabs on him all season; in between stints with Golden State, he has played for their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
Joel Embiid Declares For Draft
WEDNESDAY, 2:15pm: Embiid formally announced his decision to enter the draft in a press conference today, as the school’s Twitter account confirms.
TUESDAY, 8:57pm: Joel Embiid will declare for the 2014 NBA Draft, sources tell Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Embiid is expected to make his announcement at a press conference tomorrow at 2:00pm Central time. Embiid has publicly maintained that he is undecided on his plans all season, even refuting a recent report that had him headed for the draft. The latest news is more concrete, but we will know by tomorrow whether Embiid is prepared to officially announce his intentions.
We profiled the 7-footer in our Prospect Profile series, whose stock has risen throughout the year. It was unlikely before the season that Embiid could challenge either Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins at the very top of the draft, but now that possibility isn’t out of the question. In a recent Hoops Rumors poll, our readers voted Embiid the third most likely prospect to be selected No. 1 overall this summer.
If he does declare, the most pressing concern for the big man will be proving the back injury that held him out of the NCAA tournament is not serious. Nerlens Noel was projected as the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, but fell to No. 6 after suffering a torn ACL. Former No. 1 overall selection Greg Oden‘s unfortunate, injury-plagued career path is also still on the minds of many front office executives when evaluating incoming centers.
And-Ones: Reed, Pistons, Noel
While the names of former NBA head coaches Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Van Gundy pop up each year as rumored candidates for coaching vacancies, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders says that both brothers have promised their families they won’t move (via Twitter). Of course, that doesn’t rule out every opening, and restless coaches often return to the bench despite similar family vows. Here’s more from around the league:
- LaQuinton Ross plans to sign with agents Jeff Schwartz and Sean Kennedy of Excel Sports tomorrow, per a tweet from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The small forward out of Ohio State announced his plans to enter the draft late last month, and is considered a second round talent.
- Daniel Orton reflects on his time with the Maine Red Claws this year, telling Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside that he chose to play in the D-League to give himself a better shot at finding an NBA roster spot. “The decision (to play in the D-League) was all about trying to get back into the NBA,” Orton said. “I’m trying to get a call-up. I had offers to go overseas and make some money, but I’m trying to get back into the NBA more so than anything.” The big man has only managed to play in 51 NBA games across his three-season career, and was waived by the Sixers earlier this year.
- Sixers coach Brett Brown says that Nerlens Noel has made major developmental gains despite sitting out all year. Brown tells Mark Narducci of Philly.com that he envisions Noel becoming polished offensively over a three to five year window. “How many opportunities do you have like this when you have a whole year where you can invest time with somebody?” Brown said. “I think it is a huge part of his development and I am thrilled he is with me and I am glad I am the guy who has the chance to help him.”
- The Kings have recalled Willie Reed from their D-League affiliate, per a team release.
- While the Pistons would never embrace the notion of tanking, interim coach John Loyer tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News that being out of contention does give him some flexibility to play and evaluate younger players. “Like I said the other day, you hope to play some of the younger guys,” Loyer said. “But you see how the game goes, how the matchups go.”
Eastern Notes: Hardaway, Noel, Sixers
It looks more and more likely that Nerlens Noel won’t play a minute in his first year with the Sixers, but the sixth pick from last year’s draft told reporters including Tom Moore of Calkins Media that he’s looking forward to playing over the summer. “It’s going to be a great summer, I feel,” he said. “I’m definitely gong to put a lot of work in this summer and bring my game along. I don’t know all the details to [the summer league], but obviously I’ll be able to play.” Here’s a roundup of the notes coming from the Atlantic:
- Daniel Friedberg of RealGM.com thinks that the Sixers roster, sorely lacking in lasting NBA talent, could contain some worthwhile bench players in Henry Sims and Hollis Thompson.
- Fred Kerber of The New York Post says Tim Hardaway Jr. has proven to be a draft-day steal, and league executives and scouts tell Kerber the Knicks should hang on to the young forward rather than wield him as a trade asset.
- Forward Andrew Nicholson hoped to improve upon his successful rookie campaign this year, but the Magic sophomore has struggled mightily with his shot. The 24-year-old tells John Denton of Magic.com that he is doing his best to keep his confidence. “We’re human, too. So naturally [confidence battles] will happen,” Nicholson said. “I’ve just got to get my rhythm back and go back to what I’m really, really good at. I’ve just got to get back to that, really.”
- Bucks small forward Chris Wright is desperate to prove himself as he plays out his second 10-day contract for Milwaukee, he tells Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel. “If I prepare myself well, whatever is thrown at me, I’ll be able to handle it,” said Wright, who has four games left to demonstrate his worth. “I trust they do have confidence in some of the things I can do. I wouldn’t say I count myself out. At the same time, anything can change. So I’m just ready for whatever happens.”