D-League Notes: Motiejunas, Dunleavy, Whittington
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.
Here are the D-League happenings for today:
- The Pacers recalled center Shayne Whittington from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Whittington has appeared in 24 games for the Mad Ants, averaging 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game during his four stints with the team this season.
- The Bulls have recalled small forward Mike Dunleavy from the Warriors’ D-League affiliate, where the Bulls had sent him via the flexible assignment rule, the team announced via press release.
- The Grizzlies recalled James Ennis and Jarell Martin from their D-League affiliate earlier today and later reassigned the pair to the Iowa Energy, the team announced. This will mark Ennis’ eighth jaunt to the D-League on the season and Martin’s fifth.
- The Jazz recalled big man Tibor Pleiss from the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced.
- The Rockets have reassigned Donatas Motiejunas to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. As was the case with his previous assignment this season to Rio Grande Valley, both Motiejunas and the NBPA had to sign off on the move because he is a fourth-year veteran.
Pacific Notes: Russell, Hornacek, Kerr, Morris
In an interview with David Aldridge of NBA.com, Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell admitted that he still has much to learn about the game but lamented that the lines of communication between him and coach Byron Scott aren’t more open to help facilitate his growth. When asked by Aldridge if he and Scott communicate freely, Russell responded, “At this day and age, you kind of have a feel for what you did wrong. It might sound weird, but you don’t know what to ask. So like, I turned the ball over. I know I turned the ball over and I’m coming out of the game. I’m not sure if that’s why you’re pulling me out, but I’m not sure what to ask. ‘Cause I know I turned it over. There’s nothing that you can possibly say that’s going to bring that turnover back, or anything that I can possibly do. But it’s like, I don’t know what to ask. It’s like, he wouldn’t, I don’t know, tell me if I don’t ask. So that’s where it’s kind of a blur. ” Russell has previously expressed his frustration at not being on the court late in games and Scott has come under scrutiny for not playing the team’s younger players more this season.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Suns GM Ryan McDonough noted that one reason former coach Jeff Hornacek was fired is because the players no longer responded to his leadership, Bob Baum of The Associated Press writes. “I realize Jeff was in a tough spot [because of the injuries],” McDonough said, “but at the same time the team wasn’t competing how we hoped it would or how we think it is capable of competing.“
- McDonough recommended firing Hornacek to Suns owner Robert Sarver, but admits it was difficult to do so because of his close relationship with the former coach, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays (via Twitter).
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr has not allowed his prolonged absence, nor the team’s stellar record, to curb his fire, and the coach is demonstrating just how valuable he is to the franchise by challenging the team to continue to improve, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
- Suns interim coach Earl Watson intends to make Markieff Morris the focal point of the team’s offense and show him that the organization cares about him as a person, Coro relays. “He is the main focus of our offense moving forward,” Watson said regarding Morris. “I had a feeling that if we gave him positive encouragement and let him know that no matter what we love him, no matter what happens beyond basketball, and gave him an opportunity to play and let him know he is going to play. … Some things are bigger than basketball so when you reach out beyond basketball, players tend to respond well.”
Central Notes: Mirotic, Mahinmi, Blatt
The Bulls originally believed Nikola Mirotic would return after the All-Star break, but that timeline is now up in the air after the forward underwent hematoma removal surgery over the weekend, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. Mirotic was originally out of commission due to an appendectomy he underwent on January 27th. “He’s still in the hospital,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He developed a hematoma, which is a collection of blood, that he had to go back in and have a second surgery to remove. He’s on a liquid diet right now. He’s in quite a bit of pain, but his spirits are OK. Hopefully he’ll get out of the hospital soon and just get him back. As far as a timetable for Niko to get back on the floor, we just don’t know yet. But he had the complication, got it fixed. Hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”
“It’s still too early to tell,” Hoiberg said, when asked about the post-All-Star break timeline. “We’ll have a better idea once Niko gets out of the hospital and just gradually have to get his strength back. Hopefully he’ll be out in the next day or two, out of the hospital. Hopefully Niko will recover quickly from it, but you got to be careful any time you’re dealing with surgery. Not just one, but two, you got to be a little bit careful.”
Here’s more from the NBA’s Central Division:
- The struggles he’s had dealing with injuries thus far this campaign have Pacers center Ian Mahinmi calling 2015/16 one of his difficult seasons as a pro, Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports notes. “Yeah, it’s been a little bit of a tough year as far as injuries [for me],” Mahinmi, a free agent at season’s end, told Agness. “When you look at it, I only missed a few games. I probably missed like, what, five games this year. So overall, it’s not crazy. That’s the behind-the-scenes thing that fans and people that work the game don’t really know about it. How much your body goes through. It goes through a lot. You got to keep playing games, and you got to keep practicing every day. It’s been tough. It’s been one of the toughest years for me. Knock on wood — it hasn’t been anything bad, injury wise.”
- Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith appreciates the opportunity former coach David Blatt gave him in Cleveland and believes Blatt will be a head coach in the league again, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I mean, I think he’s a good coach,” Smith said. “I think he has an opportunity to get another job somewhere. I think somebody will give him a shot given the circumstances. I think before he took the [Cleveland] job, it was pretty much he was going to coach a different team until LeBron James and Kevin Love and everybody came to the situation. So it was kind of weird, I’m sure, for him from the start for him because he was expecting just to have Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and before you know it, you got all these other guys. So, I think he has a good chance of getting a job somewhere else. It’s just a matter of time.”
Western Notes: Howard, Durant, Morris
Despite the reports that the Rockets are entertaining trade offers for Dwight Howard, GM Daryl Morey insists the team hasn’t given up on the season and the center is needed if Houston wants to make a playoff push, Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle relays. “We’re just focused on this season,” Morey told reporters. “So is Dwight. If we as a team and he as a player plays like we know he’s capable and has been this year and was last year, all that stuff takes care of itself. There’s no way we make the conference finals last year without Dwight and there’s no way [we] are making the solid playoff push this year without Dwight.
The Rockets haven’t had any meaningful dialogue about a Howard trade since December and aren’t looking to trade him, one source told Calvin Watkins and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, a dispatch that conflicts with earlier reports. Here’s more from out West:
- Houston plans to make a big push this offseason to sign unrestricted free agent Kevin Durant, and the front office believes it has a legitimate shot to sign the Thunder star, Watkins and Stein note in the same piece. Rockets officials believe privately that they will have as good a chance as any team to lure Durant away from Oklahoma City because of his strong relationship with former teammate James Harden and the room Houston has to pay Durant max-contract money while also re-signing Howard, the ESPN duo note.
- The Suns have indicated they plan to make Markieff Morris the focal point of their offense, a move that is geared to showcase him to teams potentially interested in trading for the power forward, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines.
- Nuggets coach Michael Malone raves about the potential of big man Nikola Jokic and believes the sky is the limit for the 20-year-old, Harrison Wind of BSNDenver.com relays (via Twitter). “You can talk about some of these very young bigs who are very talented. I know Nikola Jokic and wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the world,” Malone said. “He’s a special young man, he’s a special young talent and he’s only going to get better as he continues to get stronger. But he’s a heck of a young talent. I give a lot of credit to [GM] Tim Connelly and the front office for finding him and making him part of this organization.”
- Former Hornets point guard Jannero Pargo, who signed with the D-League earlier this week, was claimed off waivers by the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor tweets.
Atlantic Notes: Hinkie, Jerebko, Johnson
Stan Van Gundy, who holds a dual role with the Pistons as executive and coach, says if the Nets intend to hire separate people to fill their vacant GM and coaching slots they should begin with finding a GM, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I don’t think you can hire — if you’re going to hire two people, you can’t hire the employee before the boss,” said Van Gundy. “That just doesn’t make any sense to me. And that’s immediately going to create tension, right there, [that] the guy that’s your boss, that you report to … didn’t hire you? I mean, we see it in college coaching all the time. It’s tenuous, anyway, but if you were there before and there’s a new AD [athletic director] coming in, good luck to you. The guy’s looking for the first sign [to fire you]. Whereas if the guy hires you, he’s got a little more tendency to give you the benefit of the doubt because it reflects upon him. So if you’re going to hire two, to me you’ve got to hire the GM first. He’s got to have say in who he has as a coach.”
Here’s the latest from out of the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers GM Sam Hinkie says that he views new team executive Jerry Colangelo as a co-worker who is on equal footing as himself and not necessarily as his boss, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays. When asked if he viewed Colangelo as a potential threat to his position, Hinkie said, “I’m a big believer in the meritocracy of ideas, and your idea had better stand up to scrutiny from all sides. You’d better know your opponents’ arguments better than they do if you want to truly understand what’s best. So I don’t mind the thought that there might be debate about any particular topic.“
- Despite seeing sporadic playing time early in the season, Raptors power forward James Johnson has been a model teammate and has continued to work hard to contribute on the defensive end, Ryan Wolstat of The National Post writes. Johnson is on an expiring contract.
- Jonas Jerebko insists he has no regrets about re-signing with the Celtics this past offseason despite averaging only 13.7 minutes per game this season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “Like I’ve said before, I just want to stay ready when my opportunity comes,” Jerebko told Blakely. “You know with coach [Brad] Stevens that sooner or later, you’re going to get your chance. It’s just a matter of being ready for it and making the most of it. That’s what I try to do every chance I get to play.”
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
In addition to our regular weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Saturday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 2/2/16
The Suns parted ways with coach Jeff Hornacek on Monday and named Earl Watson as interim coach. The move didn’t come as a major surprise, as Hornacek’s job was reportedly under immediate threat back in late December, but the team instead fired assistants Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting and shifted fellow assistants Watson and Nate Bjorkgren to more prominent roles. The future of the 52-year-old Hornacek was up in the air even as the season commenced, with a contractual decision on his team option for 2016/17 looming. Little had gone right since, as the Suns notched a 14-35 record in spite of preseason hopes that they would make the playoffs for the first time since losing the Western Conference Finals in 2010.
In its search for a new head coach the franchise may look to its past to find someone to lead it into the future. The team will reportedly consider former coach Mike D’Antoni for the vacant post, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. D’Antoni, who has recently returned to the NBA as the lead assistant for the Sixers, took Phoenix to consecutive Western Conference Finals during a successful run as Suns head coach from 2003-08. Also rumored to be in the mix is Steve Nash, a former star player for the franchise, according to Stein. Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports noted that Nash should be expected to emerge as a candidate for the position, citing owner Robert Sarver’s fondness for the retired point guard. Sarver and Nash recently bought controlling interest in the Spanish soccer club Real Mallorca, Mannix noted.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Suns look to their past and hire either Mike D’Antoni or Steve Nash as their new head coach, or should the franchise look for a new face and voice with its next hire?
D’Antoni has not met with much success since departing Phoenix back in 2008, but his Suns teams were some of the most exciting and entertaining the league has seen. The coach does have a reputation of eschewing defense in favor of a fast-paced offense that is heavily reliant on strong point guard play. With both Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight on the roster, the team could thrive under the coach, though how well D’Antoni’s system is geared for postseason success is certainly up for debate.
As for Nash, he would be an intriguing choice, but he has zero head coaching experience and is reportedly reluctant to become a full-time coach. Hiring former players, specifically point guards, as coaches is a popular trend in the league right now, and while Nash is one of the best to have played the position, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s suited to run a team full-time. Hiring Nash, without him spending some time as an assistant learning the ropes, would seem more like a PR move to me than a solid basketball one at this time.
But that’s merely my opinion and now we’re looking for yours. Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on a potential reunion between Phoenix and D’Antoni or the possibility of Nash calling out sets from the sideline. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Gallinari, Barnes, Johnson
Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes has heard the rumors regarding Golden State being the favorites to land Kevin Durant if he were to depart the Thunder as a free agent this summer, but he isn’t fazed by the rumblings, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle writes. “Oh man, that’s part of the business,” Barnes said. “He’s a great player. If that’s the move they want to make, you know, hopefully, it works out. It’s always something, right?” The first summer, it was Dwight Howard. The next summer, it was Kevin Love. Every single year, there’s always been somebody who the Warriors wanted or somebody who wanted to come here. That’s part of the business. That stuff happens. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, great. At the end of the day, I’ll still get the chance to be in the NBA and still get to play.”
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- Danilo Gallinari became eligible for a trade today, six months after he signed his renegotiation-and-extension with the Nuggets, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports notes (Twitter link). Players who sign extensions that exceed the limits placed on extend-and-trade transactions can’t be traded for six months, and Gallinari fell into that category.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised injured point guard Tyler Johnson for his toughness, and indicated that the team had explored numerous alternatives to surgery for the young player, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “He took it as far as a human being could possibly take it,” Spoelstra said. “And he’s been dealing with his shoulder for a long time, even since college. But last year, this summer, we’ve tried every solution other than surgery. We pushed everything as far as you possibly could. His level of toughness and commitment was to do everything done to this point, but the human body can only go so far. So it was just no other course of action once it got to this point.” Johnson, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, is expected to miss at least two months of action after undergoing surgery this week.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Rockets Notes: Howard, Jones, McHale
Rockets combo forward Terrence Jones, who is reportedly a trade candidate, has had his playing time reduced after the acquisition of Josh Smith. Jones has struggled mightily lately, something interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff blames himself for, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes. “He’s had a tough streak and I think it’s because of the trade that we made, the inconsistent minutes,” Bickerstaff said regarding Jones. “He hasn’t changed his routine. We had early success with Josh coming in. We won those three games in a row so Josh was getting more and more of those minutes. I’ll take the responsibility for his inconsistency because his minutes have been inconsistent. That’s on me. We have to blend those guys. When healthy, we have a lot of bigs that can help and contribute. Terrence believes in himself. We believe in Terrence. His confidence isn’t wavering.”
Jones readily admits the role change has been difficult for him, Feigen adds. “It’s tough not knowing and it’s tough to mentally prepare,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to … get wins. Whether he is comfortable playing me the first four minutes or the last four minutes, I can’t control that. The only thing I can control is being there for my teammates and going as hard as I can when I get in. But I definitely believe it’s hard to have a strong roll with inconsistent minutes.” The 24-year-old is eligible to become a restricted free agent after the season.
Here’s more from Houston:
- The NBA suspended Dwight Howard one game for shoving the arm of an official during Saturday’s game, as the league announced and as Feigen reported (Twitter link). The punishment costs Howard $203,267 but saves the Rockets about $150K in projected luxury tax payments, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Houston has saved about $725K in projected tax this season through suspensions to Lawson and Howard, Marks adds.
- The more games the Rockets play without Kevin McHale on the sidelines, the better the former coach looks, Jerome Solomon of The Houston Chronicle opines. The team entered the 2015/16 season with unrealistic expectations based on McHale getting more out of the roster last season than he should have, which then led to his termination after that level of performance wasn’t replicated this campaign, Solomon adds. Without McHale, whose ability to balance old-school values alongside managing modern player egos was underrated, the team has taken on a propensity to blame outside forces for its woes, the Chronicle scribe argues.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Bogdanovic, Looney, Majerle
With the continued struggles of the Lakers, there is a danger that the losing may have a negative long-term impact on the team’s younger players, something the coaching staff will try to stave off, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “I think the challenge for our young guys is to stay the course,” said coach Byron Scott. “Continue to think positive. Continue to work their butts off and good things will happen. But if we can’t figure it out from a mental standpoint at times too, then we’re going to continue to struggle. And I think we’ve all talked about the lack of experience being a factor, and sometimes the game is a little too fast for some of our guys; and they’ve just got to step that part up, and it’s going to take time.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The cap hold for Suns 2014 first-rounder Bogdan Bogdanovic will impact the team’s salary cap in July, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports in his trade deadline primer for the team. Phoenix can clear the hold, worth $963K by officially notifying the league that it doesn’t intend to sign Bogdanovic, but if the Suns did so, he would be ineligible to ink a deal with the team during the 2016/17 season, Marks notes.
- Former Suns player Dan Majerle, who was an assistant coach with the franchise during Alvin Gentry‘s tenure, doesn’t expect to be under consideration for the team’s vacant coaching position, Richard Obert of The Arizona Republic relays. Majerle, who is the head coach at Grand Canyon University, when asked if he had a shot at the Suns’ post, said, “We’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it. I doubt that we will. But if it happens, I’ll have to sit down and think about what’s best for me. I’m extremely happy being at GCU. I’ve got no reservations or no thoughts about leaving here.“
- The Warriors have recalled Kevon Looney from their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Looney has appeared in seven games with Santa Cruz this season, notching averages of 9.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest.