Knicks Rumors: Blatt, Porzingis, Ntilikina
David Blatt’s connections to the Knicks front office could land the former Cavaliers head coach in New York during the upcoming season, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Blatt would like another NBA job and he’s close friends with team president Steve Mills and recently-hired front office executive Craig Robinson, both of whom were college teammates of Blatt’s, Isola points out. The Knicks’ schedule could also put current coach Jeff Hornacek on the hot seat before the All-Star break as they play 16 of 20 games on the road right after Christmas, including the Warriors and Spurs, Isola notes.
In other items regarding the Knicks:
- The club should not give up Kristaps Porzingis in order to acquire disgruntled Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News argues. Porzingis is a unique player who should be considered an untouchable, a 7’3” big man who protects the rim and stretches the floor, Bondy notes. Porzingis is not even eligible to become a restricted free agent for another two seasons, and even shedding the contract of Carmelo Anthony or Joakim Noah isn’t worth giving him up, Bondy continues. If Irving wants to play in New York, he can sign with the franchise as a free agent in two years, Bondy adds. Currently, the Knicks regard any attempt by the Cavs to acquire Porzingis as a non-starter in trade talks involving Irving.
- Frank Ntilikina has picked the brains of former NBA players in Europe and believes he’ll have to play more on instinct than he did overseas, he explained to Mike Vorkunov of the New York Times in an in-depth feature. Former Knick Mardy Collins and former Maverick Rodrigue Beaubois instructed him that talent and athleticism rule in the NBA, while the European game is more focused on basketball I.Q. and a cerebral approach. “They told me like when you go here, you don’t have to think too much, because I used to think a lot,” the Knicks lottery pick told Vorkunov. “I used to play the game as a chess game. So they told me when you go there, you just have to play your game and not think too much.” Ntilikina has been studying tapes of top NBA point guards in an effort to refine his game, Vorkunov adds.
Central Notes: Bucks, Williams, Drummond, Pistons
The Bucks have a couple of options beyond making a trade to drop back below the luxury-tax line, as Gery Woelfel of WoelfelPressBox.com points out. Citing sources, Woelfel calculates the current Milwaukee payroll at $120.6MM, which would put it approximately $1.4MM over the tax threshold. The Bucks could shed some payroll by either releasing point guard Gary Payton Jr., who has a non-guaranteed $1.3MM deal, and/or waiving Spencer Hawes’ $6.5MM contract. By using the stretch provision, the Bucks could reduce Hawes’ 2017/18 cap hit by more than $4MM.
In other items involving the Central Division:
- Unrestricted free agent forward Derrick Williams could wind up back with the Cavaliers, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net reports. Williams has drawn little interest in the open market but the Cavs could sign him to a one-year, $2.4MM contract once they decide whether to trade Kyrie Irving, Amico adds. Williams averaged 6.2 PPG and 2.3 RPG on 51% shooting in 17.1 MPG over 25 regular-season games with Cleveland but was used sparingly in the playoffs.
- Andre Drummond has already noticed a significant difference in his breathing and stamina since undergoing sinus surgery this summer to correct a deviated septum, Rod Beard of the Detroit News reports. Playing at a high altitude in the NBA Africa Game in South Africa, the Pistons center said he was breathing much easier on and off the court, as he told Beard. “Just being able to breathe, I can’t even explain how great it feels to sleep easier and breathe easier when I play,” Drummond said. “I’m not worried about gasping for air when I go hard.” Drummond had been breathing mainly through one nostril during his NBA career prior to the surgery.
- Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy will have difficult decisions on his power forward rotation, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Tobias Harris could wind up splitting his time between both forward spots and the rest of the power forward minutes will be soaked up by a combination of Jon Leuer, Anthony Tolliver and second-year man Henry Ellenson. Leuer, who signed a four-year contract last summer, could wind up as the starter despite slumping badly after the All-Star break, Langlois continues. Tolliver signed up for his second stint with the franchise this summer and brings the elements of toughness and 3-point shooting, while Ellenson put his shot-making ability on display in summer-league action, Langlois adds.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Ball, Warriors, Jordan
The decision to remove DeMarcus Cousins from the equation has brought a sense of happiness and hope around the moribund Kings franchise, Nick Zappulla of RealGM opines. The pieces are now in place for a quick turnaround via the acquisition of Buddy Hield in the trade with the Pelicans along with four promising rookies taken in the draft, particularly floor leader De’Aaron Fox and forward Harry Giles, Zappulla continues. Big men Skal Labissiere and Willie Cauley-Stein showed progress once Cousins was removed from the picture and the club also brought in three veteran free agents to facilitate the development of the young players, Zappulla adds.
In other items regarding the Pacific Division:
- The league’s television partners certainly have Lonzo Ball fever, as evidenced by the Lakers’ 35 nationally-televised games next season, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register notes. That’s the fifth-most national broadcasts among all teams despite the franchise coming off a 26-win season. Much of it can be attributed to lottery pick Ball, both for his passing skills and the hype-man routine of his father LaVar, Oram adds.
- The Warriors’ center rotation is unlikely to change next season despite the presence of some promising young players at the back end, Anthony Slater of The Athletic opines. Zaza Pachulia will continue to start with JaVale McGee backing him up and David West getting minutes there at the start of second quarters, according to Slater. Damian Jones, who was inconsistent in summer-league play, or rookie Jordan Bell could force their way into the rotation at some point, Slater adds.
- Center DeAndre Jordan realizes the Clippers won’t be the same team without Chris Paul, but expects point guard additions Patrick Beverley and Milos Teodosic to keep the franchise among the best in the West, Jovan Buha of ESPN.com reports. “Those guys are going to come in and play their style of basketball, and it’s going to be fun,” Jordan told Buha.
Southwest Notes: Rondo, Rockets, Finney-Smith, Mavs
The pairing of Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo in the Pelicans’ backcourt should work out quite well and could turn New Orleans into a spoiler during the Western Conference playoffs next season, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders argues. Holiday has never been hesitant to shoot and he’ll find plenty of good looks at shooting guard with defenses focusing on Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, Davies continues. Davies notes that Rondo has led the league in assists three times and is an underrated 3-point shooter and rebounder for his position who can also contribute defensively by making steals. A quality season would also help convince Cousins, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season, to stay put, Davies adds.
In other news around the Southwest Division:
- Billionaire Dan Friedkin has expressed interest in buying the Rockets, Mark Berman of Fox26Houston.com reports. Friedkin is owner and CEO of Gulf States Toyota and the president and CEO of the Friedkin Group. Forbes lists his net worth at $3.1 billion. Owner Leslie Alexander announced last month that the team was up for sale.
- Forward Dorian Finney-Smith will have to earn a roster spot with the Mavericks by showing improvement in two key areas, according to Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Sefko believes Finney-Smith needs to become tougher around the boards and improve his 3-point shooting or else he’ll wind up in a salary-saving transaction. All but $100K of Finney-Smith’s $1.3MM salary is not guaranteed and the contract doesn’t fully guarantee unless he’s on the roster through January 10.
- The Mavericks need to dramatically improve their rebounding to have any shot at a playoff berth next season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. Dallas ranked last in overall rebounding and grabbed the fewest offensive rebounds in the league. Coach Rick Carlisle told Sneed his frontcourt players have to get more physical. “We’ve got to get some monsters that push and shove, throw people out of the way and go get the ball,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to get more of those guys.”
Earlier Start, Fewer Back-To-Backs Highlight NBA Schedule
An earlier start date and the elimination of four games in five nights for all teams are among the highlights of the 2017/18 season schedule, which was released on Monday night by the league.
At the urging of the NBA Players Association, the league has tried to stretch out the regular-season schedule to allow players more rest in between games. There were 20 instances last season where a team had to play four games in five nights. No team will have to go through such a rugged stretch this year, since the regular season will start two weeks earlier than in previous years. The beginning of the regular season will be Tuesday, October 17.
Back-to-backs have also been trimmed down somewhat from an average of 16.3 per team to 14.4. The league hopes that this will also reduce the number of times that teams rest players during the course of the season.
Last season, there were numerous instances of nationally-televised games where prominent players were wearing street clothes as coaches tried to keep them fresh for the postseason. As Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post tweets, no team playing in an ABC game during the upcoming season has a game the day before or after, which should ensure that healthy players will suit up for those games.
Listed below are links to the full 2017/18 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by Conference and Division:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
Point Guard Norris Cole Headed To Israel
Point guard Norris Cole will sign a one-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Euroleague, international journalist David Pick tweets via a source.
Cole, 28, appeared in 13 games with the Thunder last season after finally landing an NBA job in March. He averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.1 APG in 9.6 MPG and shot just 30.8% from the field. The previous season, he started 23 of 45 games with the Pelicans and averaged a career-high 10.6 PPG and 3.7 APG in 26.6 MPG. He spent his first 3 1/2 seasons with the Heat.
According to earlier tweet from Pick, the contract is worth $700K.
Cole didn’t generate much buzz on the free agent market, though he did work out with the Hornets last month.
Western Rumors: Reed, Cousins, Pelicans, Noel
The arraignment hearing for Clippers center Willie Reed has been set for Sept. 8, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sen Sentinel tweets. Reed was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery over the weekend in Florida and booked in Miami-Dade County. Reed, who played for the Heat last season, signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Clippers last week.
In other news around the Western Conference:
- Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins has expressed on his Twitter feed that he wants the team to trade for Carmelo Anthony, Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype notes. They are teammates on Team USA and Cousins has previously stated his admiraion for the aging Knicks forward. Anthony would have to waive his no-trade clause to join Cousins in New Orleans and the Knicks would either have to agree to a package of role players or get a third team involved to make that happen.
- Jalen Jones‘ two-way contract with the Pelicans is a two-year deal, a league source informed Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). The former Texas A&M forward went undrafted in 2016 and played for the Celtics’ G League’s affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, where he averaged 21.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG. Jones impressed the Pelicans while playing for their summer league team, posting averages of 13.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG in six games.
- Dirk Nowitzki is hopeful that the Mavericks can eventually come to terms with restricted free agent Nerlens Noel, whose contract situation has yet to be resolved. “He’s so young and so athletic. I’d love to keep him,” Nowitzki told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I’m sure that is what the Mavs are thinking. … We obviously traded for him last year with the hope he will stay with this franchise for a long time. … I’m sure [Mavericks owner] Mark [Cuban] and [GM] Donnie [Nelson], the leaders of the franchise, are trying to play the right business move.”
Eastern Notes: Stone, Oubre, Celtics, Bucks
Julyan Stone‘s agent is hopeful of freeing his client from a European contract so that the point guard can sign with the Hornets, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Charlotte has offered Stone a two-year deal to be its third point guard behind Kemba Walker and Michael Carter-Williams but he first must be released from the contract he signed with Reyer Venezia in the Italian pro league. Stone’s agent, Giovanni Funiciello, told Bonnell that he’s hopeful a compromise can be worked out this week so that Stone can remain in the U.S. and be close to his ailing father.
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis hopes that small forward Kelly Oubre develops to the point where he has to pay the 2015 first-round pick “a lot of money,” Chase Hughes of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. Leonsis indicated that Oubre was slowed by a knee injury last season and that coach Scott Brooks believes Oubre “can be a difference maker.” The Wizards are expected to pick up Oubre’s fourth-year option for 2018/19 prior to the start of the upcoming season, setting up Oubre for a potential big payday in the summer of 2019.
- All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas is very pleased with the Celtics’ offseason, highlighted by the free agent signing of forward Gordon Hayward, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com tweets. “We added Gordon Hayward, which is an All-Star-caliber player that’s going to help us get to the next level — and that’s the championship,” Thomas told Forsberg.
- Jordan Brady has been named the first head coach of the Bucks’ G League team, the Wisconsin Herd, the Herd announced in a press release. Brady, 34, served as an assistant coach last season for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s affiliate. He has also been an assistant coach with three other G League organizations.
Former GM Praises Irving, Expects Trade
Former Cavaliers GM David Griffin praised All-Star guard Kyrie Irving for the way he approached his trade request during an interview on ESPN’s The Jump show.
Griffin said Irving’s decision to make the request to owner Dan Gilbert in a private meeting took “courage” and was preferable to feigning that he was happy in Cleveland.
“The absolute worst thing this guy could have done was pretend to be all-in and sink the ship from within,” Griffin said on the show. “Most guys don’t have the courage to do what he did.”
Griffin believes Irving will be traded and that it would be better for both sides if that happens.
“I see this as him looking for a fit for himself, to take the next step in his career,” he said. “I think this is a guy who wants to know how good he can be. LeBron (James) casts a very large shadow over an organization.”
Griffin’s comments could be construed as a veiled shot at the organization, since the court of public opinion has taken Irving to task for requesting a trade from the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. Griffin and Gilbert parted ways right before the June draft when the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract extension.
Irving’s request was made before Griffin was let go and the former GM was exploring trade options in his final days with the franchise, according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops. A trade scenario involving the Clippers and Chris Paul was discussed, according to Amico, but those talks proved fruitless and Paul was eventually dealt to the Rockets.
Irving isn’t close to being dealt, sources told Amico.
Wiggins Can Get Max If He’s Loyal To Wolves
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wants assurances from Andrew Wiggins that he’s committed to the franchise and determined to improve his game before giving the high-scoring forward a max extension, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.
Taylor wants to receive those pledges in a face-to-face meeting with Wiggins, who averaged 23.6 PPG last season.
Wiggins is still working on his rookie contract and the exact amount of an extension is tied to the 2018/19 salary cap. Based on projections, a five-year, max extension for Wiggins would net him slightly under $148MM, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently detailed.
Wiggins’ name has popped up in trade rumors regarding Cavaliers disgruntled point guard Kyrie Irving but Taylor insists he won’t give up Wiggins in the team’s efforts to land the All-Star floor leader. The addition of All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler in a blockbuster deal with the Bulls this summer has made the Timberwolves a popular pick as the most improved team next season.
Wiggins can certainly find areas for improvement beyond his scoring average. His 35.6% shooting from long range last season was the best of his 3-year career but far from elite. He could also become a better rebounder (4.0 RPG last season), free throw shooter (76%) and defender, both man-to-man and in takeaways (1.0 SPG).
If Wiggins is maxed out, the Timberwolves will have five players on the current roster making at least $14MM for the 2018/19 season.