Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/12/16
The window to cast votes for the the 2015/16 NBA All-Star game closes on January 18th, and the starters for both conferences will be announced on Thursday, January 21st. The league revealed the latest standings this past Thursday, and Kobe Bryant, who is set to retire at season’s end, leads all players in fan votes by a solid margin. While it may be virtually impossible to argue that Bryant deserves to be an All-Star, much less a starter, based on his play this season, the All-Star game is an exhibition for the fans, and by that standard the Mamba should certainly deserve an invite.
The inclusion of Bryant will likely mean that a more deserving player, based on performance this season, will be watching at home rather than participating. But this is hardly a unique situation, and deserving players are omitted every season. Such are the difficulties in playing in a talent-laden league like the NBA. The All-Star game is also a fan-driven event, and as a result there are occasionally some players voted in due to their popularity who haven’t quite performed like All-Stars. This makes for an opportune time to segue into the question/topic for today:
Which Eastern Conference frontcourt player listed below is the LEAST deserving of All-Star consideration?
Listed below, courtesy of the NBA’s official press release, are the top frontcourt vote recipients along with their vote totals:
- LeBron James (Cavaliers) — 636,388
- Paul George (Pacers) — 457,554
- Andre Drummond (Pistons) — 261,158
- Carmelo Anthony (Knicks) 255,536
- Pau Gasol (Bulls) 209,006
- Chris Bosh (Heat) 194,429
- Kevin Love (Cavaliers) 172,517
- Hassan Whiteside (Heat) 168,549
- Kristaps Porzingis (Knicks) 160,170
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) 48,768
- Jonas Valanciunas (Raptors) 30,023
- Marcin Gortat (Wizards) 27,185
- Joakim Noah (Bulls) 23,121
- DeMarre Carroll (Raptors) 22,797
- Paul Millsap (Hawks) 21,625
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
Bucks Interested In Kevin Martin
11:09pm: Milwaukee and Minnesota had talks about Martin, but the Bucks merely wanted to explore the idea, sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, adding that one source described the talks merely as due diligence (Twitter links). The Bucks, like other teams interested in Martin, have reservations about his player option, Scotto also tweets.
10:44pm: The Bucks have expressed interest in acquiring shooting guard Kevin Martin from the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (Twitter link). The 32-year-old was reportedly made available on the trade market by Minnesota last month. The Wolves had spoken with two unnamed teams about Martin earlier this season but were reluctant to move him after getting off to a promising 8-8 start, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, who reported Martin’s availability last month, after Minnesota fell off its early-season pace. The team wishes to clear up more playing time for its younger wing players like Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, according to Krawczynski.
Milwaukee’s interest in Martin is curious considering that the Bucks are currently the 13th ranked team in the Eastern Conference and seemingly out of playoff contention, though the team has been looking to add some veteran leadership, which Martin could certainly help provide. The Bucks were reportedly interested in acquiring Caron Butler, but they have since apparently cooled on pursing the swingman, and they have also met with power forward Carlos Boozer multiple times in recent weeks, according to reports. The Kings are also interested in Martin, as Wolfson reported earlier, and the Bulls and Grizzlies have looked into trading for him, too, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. However, Memphis has resisted attempts from Minnesota for a swap of Martin for Courtney Lee, as USA Today’s Sam Amick relayed. The shooting guard was also the subject of trade talk last winter, when a series of reports identified the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls, Kings and Rockets as interested parties, though late Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders didn’t appear willing to part with Martin at the time.
Martin has appeared in 29 games for the Wolves this season, including 12 starts. He is averaging 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just 23.8 minutes per game, which is his lowest amount of playing time since his rookie campaign of 2004/05. Through 688 career regular season games, Martin is averaging 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists to go along with a shooting line of .438/.385/.870. The veteran is earning $7.085MM on the year and possesses a player option for 2016/17 worth $7,377,500. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined Martin’s trade candidacy earlier this week.
And-Ones: Morey, Smith, Prigioni
The Rockets have improved as of late, but the franchise still views the current campaign as a disappointment and GM Daryl Morey believes the team needs to demonstrate more consistency on both sides of the court moving forward, Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post writes. “We’re just volatile,” said Morey. “We’re not very consistent. That’s something we need to keep improving on. We aren’t as good as we need to be on both sides of the ball. Defense is the bigger area we need to improve on, in all facets, especially transition-D and defensive rebounding. Offense – we’ve had better moments lately but we have had long stretches of droughts. A lot of what we were able to do was have our defense turn into offense last year and that has been less prevalent this year.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Ish Smith has performed exceptionally well since being acquired by the Sixers, who are his ninth NBA team in five seasons. While the point guard isn’t sure why he has been unable to stick with one team, he does believe all the movement has made him a better player, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “You might have to make that phone call to all those GMs, don’t ask me,” Smith responded, when asked why he thinks he has been on the move so often. “I just think it’s part of the process. Everybody has their story. I thank God for what I went through. It’s made me who I am. I wouldn’t want it any other way. When I went through the process, I didn’t understand it. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. But you just have to trust the process. Not everybody is a lottery pick who plays for the same team for 13 years. My story couldn’t be that. Is that the easy way or is that the ideal way? Absolutely. But that’s not my story.“
- Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has been impressed with the intangibles that veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni has brought to the team, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Post-Telegram writes. “He’s been great,” Rivers said of Prigioni. “He’s just been solid. He runs the team and that’s so important. I think if you just looked at him, or looked at his numbers, you wouldn’t be that impressed. He goes yesterday without a shot, he goes games without shots; he has assists. But he just knows how to play. He gives that second unit more craftiness.”
Western Notes: Karl, Davis, Cotton
Kings coach George Karl admits that the comment he made at the end of last season that any player on the roster was tradeable didn’t get his relationship with DeMarcus Cousins off to a great start, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. “I just can’t stand summer talk,” Karl said. “I mean, free agency, all the money, teams think they saved their organization by signing this guy or making this trade. You have all these obnoxious predictions and it doesn’t mean anything. We got off into that trade innuendo, and I think it hurt Cuz [Cousins]. And I think I made a mistake in making the comment that no player is untradeable. That’s something I might believe, but I shouldn’t have said it. So everything kind of snowballed in the wrong way at the end of last year.”
“My belief was, I never, ever thought I was not going to coach Cuz this year,” Karl continued. “Did you have philosophical discussions? We talk about everything. We meet for 2-3 hours every day and talk about every scenario in the world. And I think Cuz worked his tail off this summer. [Team executive] Vlade [Divac] and I got together with Cuz in the summertime. Vlade’s done a good job of being a good bridge between he and I.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Baron Davis, who agreed to join the NBA D-League earlier today, worked out for the Mavericks last Saturday when the team was in Los Angeles, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), but coach Rick Carlisle laughed off the report, as SB Nation’s Tim Cato relays (on Twitter).
- Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff continues to learn while on the job, something that is vital if he hopes to remain in the position on a long-term basis, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “Every day you learn something,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s the same as assistant coach and the same as a head coach. You should continue to learn. You watch so much basketball you should see something somewhere from somebody different all the time. I hope I continue to learn. If I don’t then I know everything.“
- Bryce Cotton, whom the Suns waived prior to the leaguewide contract guarantee date, has rejoined the Austin Spurs in the NBA D-League, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor.
Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, Roberts, Noah
The Pistons intend to keep point guard Spencer Dinwiddie with their D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids for the remainder of the season, Peter J. Wallner of MLive relays. “I landed on red eye and was headed to the practice facility and [GM] Jeff Bower called me and said I was going down for the rest of the season, and I said OK,” Dinwiddie told Wallner. As for his reaction to the news, Dinwiddie may not agree with the decision, but he understands it is part of his development process, Wallner adds. “There’s nothing really more to say about it,” Dinwiddie continued. “A lot of people ask me for extended thoughts and I honestly just said, ‘OK.’ When you have a job and your employer tells you to do something, you go do it. You don’t have time to second-guess it because you like your job and want to keep it.”
Here’s more from the East:
- A number of NBA teams have expressed interest in Raptors preseason cut Ronald Roberts, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays (Twitter links). The power forward turned down an offer to join the Israel club Maccabi Tel Aviv in hopes of landing an NBA deal, Spears adds.
- The return of Bulls center Joakim Noah from injury could aid in the development of rookie forward Bobby Portis, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com opines. Goodwill notes that pairing Noah and his passing skills alongside Portis’ outside game could make for a potent combo, an assessment that coach Fred Hoiberg agrees with. “They’ll be out there some, together in the second unit,” Hoiberg said. “I think they’ll play well with each other. They’ve developed a really tight relationship and a good bond. Jo has really taken him under his wing and taught him a lot early in Bobby’s career, so I know those two are looking forward to playing with each other.”
- The presence of rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who has exceeded expectations thus far with his play, has allowed Carmelo Anthony to become more of a team player, which has the Knicks heading in the proper direction as a franchise, writes Kevin Kernan of The New York Post.
Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Varejao, Jones
Cavs center Timofey Mozgov is struggling this season, and even LeBron James is at a loss for what it will take to snap the Russian big man out of his funk, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I’m not sure,” James said when asked what’s wrong with Mozgov. “I’m not sure where he’s mentally. Only he knows that. As a leader of the team, you just give him as much positive energy, give him as much positive notion about what he needs to do for our team. But at the end of the day, like I told you guys last year about Kevin Love, you can give a guy so much but at the end of the day, you got to figure it out yourself too sometimes. I think he’s at that point.”
Mozgov’s name has surfaced recently in trade rumors, though the Cavs’ front office prefers to keep the big man through the remainder of the season with the hope that he can turn his play around, McMenamin adds. Cleveland could save between $15-20MM in tax penalties by dealing away Mozgov prior to February’s trade deadline. Here’s more from Cleveland:
- Anderson Varejao is averaging a career low 8.8 minutes per game this season, but the center says that he won’t request a trade, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “If I go anywhere else and win a championship, it’s not going to be the same,” Varejao said. “I want to win a championship in Cleveland. That’s where I want to stay. I love Cleveland.” When asked why he wouldn’t welcome an opportunity to play more, even with another team, the center responded, “Because Cleveland’s been loyal to me and I’ve been loyal to the team. I had a chance to leave when the team was really bad, going through a rebuilding process when we were losing almost every other game, and it was tough. I said, ‘I’m not leaving Cleveland. I want to win a championship in Cleveland’ and I know now we have a chance.”
- Damon Jones, who is currently an assistant coach for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate, credits James for his newfound career path, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports writes. “He’s been very instrumental,” Jones said of James. “He was the reason why I got the opportunity last [season]. He felt comfortable in me helping him in any way possible. It gave me an avenue to get back in the game. Not only right now, but even when I played we had a great relationship and he did a lot of things for my career. Without him, I don’t know if the opportunities I’m receiving right now would be received.”
Baron Davis To Join NBA D-League
Veteran point guard Baron Davis has signed with the NBA D-League, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor reports (Twitter link). Davis will be subject to the D-League’s waiver process to determine which team he’ll play for. The point guard is likely headed to the D-League in order to showcase himself to NBA scouts for a potential 10-day deal.
The 36-year-old last played in the NBA during the 2011/12 campaign when he made 29 appearances for the Knicks, averaging 6.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 20.5 minutes per night. Davis has also played for the Hornets, Pelicans, Warriors, Clippers and Cavaliers over the course of his career, and he owns career averages of 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists to accompany a slash line of .409/.320/.711.
Davis was reportedly preparing himself for a return to the NBA back in July, telling Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report that he felt like he could play 15-20 minutes per game this season. The veteran also noted at the time that he felt that the Clippers and the Warriors would be the best fits for him based on their systems.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 1/9/16
Thursday was the final day for NBA teams to waive players signed to non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals without their contracts becoming fully guaranteed. Only six players were waived this week, which means that most players who were on the bubble had their salaries lock in for the season. Listed below, courtesy of Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron, are all the players whose contracts became fully guaranteed on Thursday:
- Cliff Alexander (Trail Blazers)
- Cameron Bairstow (Bulls)
- Tarik Black (Lakers)
- Matt Bonner (Spurs)
- Rasual Butler (Spurs)
- Ian Clark (Warriors)
- Robert Covington (Sixers)
- Jared Cunningham (Cavaliers)
- Toney Douglas (Pelicans)
- James Ennis (Grizzlies)
- Cristiano Felicio (Bulls)
- Tim Frazier (Trail Blazers)
- Langston Galloway (Knicks)
- JaMychal Green (Grizzlies)
- Aaron Harrison (Hornets)
- Marcelo Huertas (Lakers)
- Chris Johnson (Jazz)
- Luc Mbah a Moute (Clippers)
- James Michael McAdoo (Warriors)
- T.J. McConnell (Sixers)
- Luis Montero (Trail Blazers)
- Eric Moreland (Kings)
- JaVale McGee (Mavericks)
- Mike Muscala (Hawks)
- Lamar Patterson (Hawks)
- JaKarr Sampson (Sixers)
- Donald Sloan (Nets)
- Ish Smith (Sixers)
- Hollis Thompson (Sixers)
- Jeff Withey (Jazz)
- Metta World Peace (Lakers)
While none of the players listed above possess cap crippling salaries, retaining them could potentially restrict their respective team’s flexibility to make trades or to add players via 10-day contracts for the remainder of the season. Which brings me to the topic/question for today: Which of the players listed above should have been released by his team prior to Thursday’s leaguewide contract guarantee date?
Who do you feel should have been jettisoned by their team, not only to clear their salary off the books, but to allow for a roster slot for a potential 10-day signing or addition via trade in the future? If you are an eternal optimist and feel that all of the listed players should have been retained, who do you believe will make the biggest impact over the remaining games this campaign? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
Pacific Notes: Randle, Brown, Mbah a Moute
One of the Clippers‘ unsung heroes this season has been combo forward Luc Mbah a Moute, whose contract became fully guaranteed when he remained on the team’s roster past Thursday’s leaguewide deadline, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register writes. “Luc is the most under-appreciated person on our team, in all honesty,” point guard Chris Paul told Woike. “We used to talk about DJ [DeAndre Jordan] all the time, but everyone sees what DJ does on a nightly basis. But Luc is the guy. He does everything. He defends. He cuts. He does everything a coach would appreciate but a fan has no idea that he’s doing.”
Coach/executive Doc Rivers is also a big fan of Mbah a Moute’s game, Woike notes. “What I love about Luc also is Luc can play a lot of minutes in a game or he can play very little minutes in a game, there’s still no body language change or anything like that,” Rivers said. “He understands there are nights we need offensive guys on the floor, we need floor-spacers. There are nights where we need a stop, and Luc does it. I’ve always thought it’s easier for guys who are defensive-minded to accept their roles, because that’s what they do. I think Luc does that well.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Despite the reports that their relationship is strained, Lakers coach Byron Scott insists that he and power forward Julius Randle are on the same page, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If you want to believe all the reports out there, we have a terrible relationship,” Scott said. “But if you want to know the truth, we have a great relationship. Without all the popular demands on me being not a great communicator with my young guys, him and I have a great relationship. I care so much about him as a basketball player and a person, I’m going to be hard on him. I expect him to be disappointed in certain things. But I expect him to be a great player.“
- Suns 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown is thrilled to be joining former college teammate T.J. Warren in Phoenix and noted that the two had dreamed of playing together in the NBA during their time spent at North Carolina State, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. When asked what impact he hopes to make for the Suns, Brown told Petersen, “Just to win. Get defensive stops and score when I have the opportunity. I’ll do whatever I can to help us win.“
Knicks Notes: Anthony, Porzingis, Lopez
Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony is playing with unexpected maturity and unselfishness this season and the primary difference from 2014/15 is that Melo has faith in the roster around him, writes Steve Popper of NorthJersey.com. “I’ve always been asking for the help to take that burden off me, to have to go out there and score 25, 30 and 35 points a night just to have a chance to win the basketball game,” Anthony said. “That becomes a big burden on your shoulders. I realize the guys that are on this team; they can take some of that burden off. It’s not going to be every night. Some nights it calls for me to have a game like I had at home against Atlanta – 11 points, [nine] rebounds and [five] assists. There’s going to be some nights where I have to score the basketball. It’s a fine line between that and I have to kind of gauge that throughout the game.”
Here’s more from New York:
- Anthony also noted that he’s willing to pass the torch as the franchise’s marquee player, much like the way Tim Duncan has done with Kawhi Leonard in San Antonio, and all signs point to that player being Kristaps Porzingis, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. “If I have those players on my team, somebody to pass the torch, of course I’m willing to do that,” Anthony told the Newsday scribe. “I think [Duncan] realizes that he wasn’t going to be able to do it by himself. Some days he has it, some days he doesn’t, but I don’t think he worries about that because he’s got other guys on his team who can carry that load. You have to want to do that. You have to be willing to do that. If you talk about sacrifice, that’s the ultimate sacrifice.”
- Center Robin Lopez is still adjusting to being used as a post player in the triangle offense, a role he wasn’t tasked with by his previous teams in the NBA, Marc Berman of The New York Post notes. “I hadn’t posted up since college,’’ Lopez said. “It had been awhile. I was learning everyone’s tendencies and learning the triangle. I still have a lot to learn. I thought I rushed myself in Atlanta. They have a lot of confidence in me. My teammates are putting me in good position.“