Southeast Notes: Magic, Hawks, Heat
Magic GM Rob Hennigan told reporters, including John Denton of NBA.com, that some of the motivation behind the Magic’s buyout of Glen Davis was an attempt to open up more playing time for developing young players. Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Per Denton, Hennigan also said that the Magic is considering signing one or two players to 10-day contracts now that they have just 12 players on the roster, one shy of the league minimum. The team already has agreements in place with Adonis Thomas and Dewayne Dedmon, so presumably he’s referring to those guys. Hennigan can’t mention them by name until the signings are official.
- Hennigan also said that the decision to waive Davis was not based worries that Davis wouldn’t respond well to giving Magic youngsters more playing time, as Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel notes. “I don’t think it was a concern,” Hennigan said. “I think it was more about when we’re moving in a different direction and we have a player who probably doesn’t fit the long-term plan. We want to make sure we do right by all of our players.”
- The Magic players were told that the rest of the season would be focused on youth, and that roles will change, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter).
- Matt Moore of CBS Sports finds the trade deadline inactivity of the Hawks puzzling, and wonders if GM Danny Ferry is comfortable coasting for the rest of the season. The Hawks have fallen to the eight seed and could drop into the lottery, but without shipping out any of their talent it’s unlikely that they will lose enough to wind up with a high draft pick. And without adding any talent, the team is probably doomed to a swift first-round exit should they make the playoffs.
- James Ennis, the Heat‘s second-round pick from the 2013 draft, will play professional ball in Puerto Rico this spring now that his season in Australia is over, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Winderman thinks the odds are long that Ennis gets any chance with the Heat before next offseason.
- In the same article, Winderman says that the Heat‘s deadline inactivity was less illuminating for Miami than the moves that other teams in the East did or didn’t pull off, including the Pacers, Bulls, Raptors, Wizards, Knicks, and Pistons.
Hawks Sign Dexter Pittman To 10-Day Deal
5:38pm: The deal has been officially announced in a team release.
5:12pm: The Hawks have signed Dexter Pittman to a 10-day contract, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). The deal hasn’t been officially announced yet, but Vivlamore tweets that Pittman will be available for Atlanta in tonight’s game.
The decision to add Pittman comes along with the Hawks’ decision to waive Jared Cunningham and sign Cartier Martin, although Martin’s contract is a guaranteed deal through the rest of the year. Pittman, a client of Impact Sports Basketball per our Agency Database, stands at 6’11” and will hope to get an opportunity in the frontcourt to earn another deal. The Hawks’ only other active centers are currently Gustavo Ayon and Pero Antic, as Al Horford is out for the season from a torn pectoral muscle.
The 25-year-old center was waived by the Bulls before the regular season this year, and hasn’t played in the NBA since last year, when he was used in 11 total games as a member of the Heat and Grizzlies during the season. His career high in minutes is 8.6, coming in Pittman’s sophomore season with the Heat in 2011/12. He has scored 114 total points over his three-year career.
Cavs Sign Onuaku To 10-Day Contract
The Cavs have signed Arinze Onuaku to a 10-day contract, the team announced today. Onuaku inked a deal with the Pelicans last summer, but the club waived his non-guaranteed contract in November. Onuaku went undrafted out of Syracuse in 2010, but executives around the league have been praising his abilities for at least a year, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
After parting with New Orleans, Onuaku hooked up with the D-League affiliate of the Cavs, the Canton Charge. While in the D-League, he put up impressive averages of 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and caught the attention of acting Cavaliers GM David Griffin.
This move will help further supplement Cleveland’s frontcourt depth after acquiring Spencer Hawes at Thursday’s trade deadline. The Cavs will be looking to make a late run to sneak into the playoffs, as the club currently sits four games back from the eighth and final playoff seed. With this signing, Cleveland’s roster now sits at a league maximum 15 players.
Warriors Sign Hilton Armstrong To 10-Day Deal
The Warriors have signed Hilton Armstrong to a 10-day contract, per a team press release. The 29-year-old center entered the NBA in the 2006/07 season and has averaged 3 PPG and 2.6 RPG over his career. This will be his second stint with Golden State this year, after not playing a minute of NBA action in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 season.
In his first stretch with the Warriors, Armstrong played well in small minutes over seven games, before Goldsen State waived his non-guaranteed contract. The big man has been playing as an unrestricted free agent in the D-League since that release, averaging 12.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 1.8 BPG for the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Jason Terry Out For Season
SATURDAY, 12:21pm: The Kings have officially announced Terry’s choice to rehab rather than join the Kings for the remainder of the year, via their official site.
FRIDAY, 11:03pm: Kings coach Michael Malone said on his weekly radio interview that the recently acquired Jason Terry will not join the team for the remainder of the year, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Terry has opted to rehab in preparation for next season, saying he has yet to recover from a knee surgery he underwent in the offseason. Jones also reports that the team has no plans to buy out Terry’s contract, which was a rumored possibility. Terry’s contract has one year remaining beyond this season at approximately $5.5MM.
The 36-year-old’s 2013/14 season will go down as the worst of his career to this point, with career-low averages in nearly every major statistical category. Terry came to the Nets from the Celtics, in the summer blockbuster deal that also sent future Hall-of-Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn. Once one of the premier sixth-man scorers in the league, he has failed to make much of an impact with the Celtics or Nets in recent years.
Terry was acquired by the Kings at the trade deadline along with Reggie Evans, in exchange for shooting guard Marcus Thornton. The Wasserman Media Group client will need to show significant improvement next year if he wishes to extend his career at all, a career that has included 11 seasons above 15 PPG and a crucial role in the Mavs’ 2011 championship season.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Suns
Clippers coach Doc Rivers will actively recruit bought out players that L.A. wants to sign in the coming days, he tells reporters including Arash Markazi of ESPN LA. “You always do. I’m not going to say any names, but there’s more than one team that wants all these guys, at least a lot of the guys. You have to talk to them, for sure.” Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Rivers also discussed Glen Davis per Markazi, who was recently bought out and is expected to pick between the Clippers and Nets for the rest of the year. In Davis’s case, Nets veteran Kevin Garnett is reportedly in a recruitment competition with Rivers. This doesn’t surprise Rivers, who coached both players to a championship with the Celtics: “I think they always liked him. It doesn’t surprise me at all. That group won a title together and came one game away from winning another one. You’d think there’s a kinship.”
- In the same piece, Markazi suspects the Clippers need to add multiple players to bolster their title hopes, even if Davis is the most noteworthy name on the market. Injuries to J.J. Redick and the team’s parting with Byron Mullens leaves the team thin in both the backcourt and frontcourt.
- The Suns went through Thursday’s trade deadline without making any changes, and players, coaches, and management all echo their comfort level with the team as constructed to Matt Peterson of Suns.com. Head Coach Jeff Hornacek is happy the team that has surprised with success will remain intact, saying, “It’s great that the team stays the way it is and we just keep going.” GM Ryan McDonough adds, “Unless there was a superstar or a blockbuster deal, we didn’t want to affect our group because they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do and they’ve played well. We’re 11 games over .500 as we get into late February. We didn’t want to make a move in-season just for the sake of doing something. We’re fine doing nothing because we’re happy with the guys we have.”
- In the same piece, McDonough tells Peterson that the Suns timed their trades for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee, and two first round picks over last summer because they didn’t think picks would be as easy to come by closer to the draft. He appears to be right, considering no first round selections swapped hands in the month of February.
Dario Saric May Not Enter Draft
Dario Saric is only 50/50 to enter the NBA draft this year, acccording to a series of tweets from Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Givony reports that there is a lot of confusion surrounding the Croatian small forward slated at number 9 in Chad Ford of ESPN‘s latest mock draft [subscription only].
A combination of factors are leading Givony to cast doubt on Saric’s draft entry. First, Saric doesn’t feel he’s ready for the NBA. He also isn’t happy with his draft projection and has reportedly fired agents in both Croatia and the US. Finally, the Barcelona GM was spotted at one of Saric’s recent games, fueling speculation that the international team will try and sign him to stay overseas this summer.
Saric would be old enough to join an NBA team immediately if drafted, but it remains a possibility that he could be drafted and play one or two years overseas while the NBA club that drafted him maintained his rights. It’s also possible that he could skip the draft altogether and enter for the first time when he feels more comfortable with his game and his draft stock. The 6’10” scorer/rebounder has produced well this year, and has ball-handling skills unique for a player his size.
Celtics Notes: Rondo, Free Agents
The Celtics and Lakers played last night, but there wasn’t nearly as much at stake as there usually is when the storied franchises meet. Both teams are struggling this season, although it has been more so by design in Boston. Here’s more from the team that usually resides a lot higher in the standings:
- Rajon Rondo wasn’t upset by the trade rumors that spiked around the trade deadline, but he apparently didn’t rule out the possibility that he could be dealt, telling Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe in a subscription-only article, “I didn’t know what was going to happen.” It never appeared that the Celtics were open to moving him for anything in the ballpark of what teams were offering.
- Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald thinks that Rondo’s detached leadership could hurt the Celtics, specifically players who are anxious when they hear their names swirling in trade rumors. Rondo says he doesn’t worry about reassuring players of their value to the team. “I don’t talk much about it,” he said. “We didn’t speak much about it as a team. [Coach Brad Stevens] announced it a couple of times in the meetings, but I didn’t say much about it.” Bulpett thinks Rondo should think more highly of his own voice within the organization, but the point guard doesn’t seem to think his input would change much. “You can’t worry about stuff you can’t control, you know? Everybody’s situation is different. I can’t worry about [Jeff Green] being traded, because it’s out of my control. He can’t worry about if I get traded. That’s just part of the game. It’s not the first trades that a lot of these guys have been through. We’ve all been through them, and when that time comes, it comes.”
- In his “GM for a Day” series, Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider [subscription only] takes a look at the Celtics. Doolittle thinks that GM Danny Ainge is in no danger of growing impatient and trying to jump-start the rebuilding process at the expense of the team’s long-term plan. He also covers decisions that lie ahead for Boston, including whether they will still eventually trade Brandon Bass, if they will waive Gerald Wallace and absorb the remainder of his dubious contract, and the outlook for soon-to-be free agents Jerryd Bayless, Kris Humphries, and Avery Bradley.
Lakers Notes: Young, Bryant, Brooks, Bazemore
In their first game with the Lakers, new trade acquisitions MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore both played a season high in minutes, helping lead Los Angeles to a win over the Celtics. It will be interesting to watch whether the young, athletic guards continue to make the most of the opportunities coach Mike D’Antoni gives them. D’Antoni has built a reputation of giving players a chance to shine, even if they haven’t lived up to previous expectations as in the case with Brooks. Here’s some more from L.A.:
- The main reason Brooks and Bazemore will have opportunity in L.A. is that the Lakers roster has been in shambles all year. Kobe Bryant will miss at least another three weeks, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. He will be re-evaluated again at the three-week mark, so there’s a strong likelihood he misses more time than that. Even a return this year isn’t a given for the 18-year veteran, and the plummeting Lakers don’t have any competitive reasons to rush him back now that they are all but eliminated from the playoff hunt.
- Both Bazemore and Brooks say that playing on Kobe’s team is one of the more exciting aspects of the trade, reports Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times. “That’s a dream come true, growing up idolizing Kobe Bryant,” Bazemore said. Brooks offered, “I grew up a Lakers fan, a big Kobe Bryant fan, so I’m just excited to get to work.”
- Nick Young wouldn’t comment on his player option for next year, which Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak believes the small forward will decline, per Mark Medina of Inside the Lakers (Twitter link). Young’s option is worth approximately $1.2MM, but there is mutual interest for a longer stay in Los Angeles, which will have plenty of cap space to work with should he opt out for a new deal.
- In his “GM for a Day” series, Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider [subscription only] focuses on the Lakers. Doolittle explores upcoming Lakers decisions, including whether to agree to buyouts with veterans they were unable to move or try and squeeze value out of their Bird Rights this summer. He also touches on whether they will waive the beleaguered Steve Nash at season’s end with the stretch provision and whether they’ll re-sign Pau Gasol this summer.
Central Notes: Deng, Pacers, Bulls
Anthony Bennett appears to have turned around his season, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game this month for the Cavs, with a boost in production. “I’m just more relaxed on the court, going out there not really thinking about too much, not thinking about the plays or who needs to get the ball where. I just need to go out there play my game, play hard, rebound and then things will start flowing,” Bennett said, according to Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Here’s a look at what else is happening around the Central Division:
- Cavs guard Jarrett Jack was a heavily discussed trade candidate as the trade deadline came and went, but tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that the rumors didn’t affect him much.
- In the same piece, Luol Deng said that all of the contract talk from this year has been “exhausting,” and that his perspective on the Cavs is incomplete as he heads toward free agency, when he will decide whether to stay with the team that traded for him earlier this year: “It’s just the same thing everybody wants. The guy who brought me here [former GM Chris Grant] is not here, and now we have [current GM David Griffin] and Griff is an interim. Those two guys are who really brought me here. I really don’t know if Griff is going to be the GM or what’s going on. I know the direction the organization is going and how everything has been set up. I’ve been happy with that from day one.”
- The Bulls might be interested in adding Ben Gordon if the Bobcats buy out his contract as expected, per Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Gordon was an impact player for Chicago in his first five seasons in the NBA.
- Speaking of the pool of players being bought out or waived, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said that any player added by Chicago won’t wind up a forgotten man on the end of the bench, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
- The Pacers are sad to lose former face of the franchise Danny Granger after Thursday’s trade with the Sixers, but the team isn’t questioning the front office’s championship-or-bust mentality that brought about the trade, writes Mark Montieth of NBA.com.