Hoops Rumors Originals 9/27/15-10/3/15
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- I handed out 2015 Draft Grades to the teams of the Northwest Division.
- As a part of our continuing series, “The Beat,” Chuck Myron interviewed John Reid of The Times Picayune and Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- I broke down the 2015/16 salary cap commitments for the Jazz and the Wizards.
- Zach interviewed Anthony Puccio of SBNation’s Nets Daily as a part of our Top Bloggers series.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- I answered reader questions in our Weekly Mailbag.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- We asked readers to rank where each NBA team will finish the 2015/16 campaign. Here are the results for teams No. 23, No. 22, No. 21, No. 20, and No. 19.
Atlantic Notes: Thomas, Knicks, DeRozan
Knicks coach Derek Fisher is focusing on his squad’s intangibles and professionalism, rather than lament the fact that New York didn’t land any of the top names in free agency, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “Character, professional mindset,’’ Fisher said when listing the team’s strengths. “You’re not in the NBA if you’re not talented. We don’t have to get into who’s talented. The character of our group and the way we’re approaching what’s going on daily, those are going to be the strengths. We’ll have rough nights, rough stretches. We have the beginnings of at least a group able to handle some of the adversity and setbacks that come with a long NBA season. The basketball part will take care of itself as long as we become a team. We have the type of guys that are interested in being a team.’’
When asked if the professionalism he was speaking of was an improvement over last season’s team, Fisher said, “It’s just different. Until the season starts and we figure out who we are, you can’t really say it’s better. But it’s different. We’re all different. Teams have different strengths and weaknesses. The strength of this particular group is not in having what people consider the sexy names or guys who didn’t come play with our team, but guys who truly want to be here. I think it’s going to help us.’’
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers owner Josh Harris admits that while he wishes that his team was further along in its rebuild, he is content with the progress that is being made, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think we are making progress,” Harris said. “I’m an impatient person at heart. I would rather get to the end point as fast as possible. But at the same time, the goal is still the same goal: to be an elite extremely competitive team that goes deep in the playoffs. But at the same time, there aren’t shortcuts to it. So you have to react to the realities . . . I certainty wish it was going faster. But at the same time, I’m happy with the progress.“
- Since being acquired at last season’s trade deadline, Isaiah Thomas has been the Celtics‘ best player, and this coming season will provide him with an opportunity to take the next step toward being recognized as one of the top players in the league, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes.
- DeMar DeRozan is eligible to opt out of his current deal with the Raptors and become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but he is adamant about wanting to focus on the coming campaign, and not his next pact, Eric Koreen of The National Post relays. Discussing the wealth of questions he receives about next season, DeRozan told Koreen, “I hate that, honestly. I never speak about it. With me, I’ve always been that one player: I’ve been loyal. I’ve been every single thing you can think of here. I think people don’t understand how much pride I take in playing [in Toronto]. A lot of times when I do get asked that, it kind of frustrates me. Everyday I wake up, I take pride in being the longest Raptor here. People bring up third or whatever in franchise scoring — there is so much stuff like that.”
Week In Review 9/27/15-10/3/15
Markieff Morris surprisingly declared “I want to be here” as he addressed reporters at Suns media day earlier this week, declining to otherwise address his tumultuous offseason relationship with the team. Morris had demanded a trade in August, weeks after the team dealt his twin brother to the Pistons. Morris had said even as he made his trade demand that he would show up for camp, but it’s a bit surprising to see him seemingly put his frustration with the Suns behind him after not backing down in early September, tweeting that, “My future will not be in Phoenix.” That remark earned Morris a $10K fine from the league.
The former 13th overall pick had indicated that he planned not to talk to the Suns front office and to answer coach Jeff Hornacek only with one-word responses, but he appears to have changed that stance after making his media day declaration. In any case, he’s due $8MM this season in the first year of a four-year, $32MM extension that he signed at the same time his brother inked a four-year, $20MM extension with the team in the hopes that the pair would be together for the long term.
Here’s more from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- The Sixers signed J.P. Tokoto, T.J. McConnell, Jordan McRae and Christian Wood.
- The Raptors signed Anthony Bennett.
- The Hawks waived the retiring Jason Richardson.
- The Heat signed John Lucas III.
- The Heat signed Tre Kelley.
- The Bulls signed Marcus Simmons and Jake Anderson.
- The Cavaliers signed Michael Dunigan.
- The Hawks signed Arsalan Kazemi.
- The Bulls signed Stefhon Hannah.
- The Pacers agreed to a deal with Kadeem Jack.
Western Conference
- The Grizzlies signed Yakhouba Diawara, Ryan Hollins, Michael Holyfield, Lazeric Jones and Daniel Nwaelele.
- The Spurs signed Rasual Butler and Deshaun Thomas.
- The Warriors signed Ben Gordon.
- The Nuggets signed Mike Miller.
Overseas
- Michael Beasley signed with Shandong of the Chinese Basketball Association.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Waivers
- The Sixers waived Gerald Wallace.
- The Nuggets waived Kostas Papanikolaou.
- The Blazers waived Mike Miller after reaching an agreement on a buyout.
Contract Options
- The Rockets reportedly intend to exercise their team option to keep center Clint Capela on his rookie scale contract for the 2016/17 season.
- The Raptors exercised their team options for 2016/17 on the rookie scale contracts of Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira.
- The Trail Blazers exercised their rookie scale team options for the 2016/17 season with C.J. McCollum, Mason Plumlee and Noah Vonleh.
- The Wizards exercised their team option on Otto Porter‘s rookie scale deal for 2016/17.
D-League News
- Second-round pick Andrew Harrison will sign with the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies.
- Heat assistant Dan Craig was officially named as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Miscellaneous News
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is taking a leave of absence from the team in order to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation from back surgery. Luke Walton will act as interim head coach.
- The Bucks signed John Henson to a four-year contract extension.
- The Bucks hired longtime NBA executive Rod Thorn as a special consultant.
- The Lakers hired Hall-of-Famer James Worthy to work with the team’s coaching staff.
- Cavaliers swingman Iman Shumpert will miss the next 12-14 weeks because of a wrist injury.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 10/2/15
The Warriors announced on Thursday that head coach Steve Kerr will take a leave of absence from the team in order to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation from back surgery. The length of Kerr’s absence is unknown, and it will be determined by the speed of his progress, according to the team. Luke Walton, the team’s lead assistant, will serve as the interim head coach. Kerr underwent surgery on his back to repair a ruptured disc in late July and then had follow-up surgery in early September.
“After the first two days of training camp, I realized I need to take a step back and focus on my rehabilitation in order to be ready for the grind of another NBA season,” said Kerr. “As I noted last week, my summer was difficult and no fun due to the multiple back surgeries. At this point, I simply want to get healthy and back to my normal daily routine on and off the court.”
It’s unclear at this time if Kerr, who led the Warriors to the NBA title last season, his first as a coach, will return in time for the start of the regular season. “At this point, the most important thing is to make sure Steve is healthy, completely recovered and ready for not only the rigors of a long NBA season, but day-to-day life in general,” said Warriors GM Bob Myers. “We don’t anticipate the recovery process will be long term, but as of today we don’t know the exact timeframe. We’ll evaluate his progress daily and provide updates as necessary.”
So here’s the topic/question of the day: How much would a prolonged absence for Steve Kerr affect the Warriors’ chances of repeating as NBA champions?
While the NBA is certainly a player-driven league, one cannot discount the positive impact that Kerr had during his initial season as an NBA head coach. Walton, while well-regarded around the league as an assistant, has zero head-coaching experience to rely on as he holds down the fort in Kerr’s absence.
But what are your thoughts on the matter? Will Kerr’s absence sink the team early in the season, or will the Warriors’ wealth of talent allow them to carry on without a hiccup? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Gudaitis, Iguodala
Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson has chosen Jeff Austin and Chris Emens of Octagon Sports to represent him, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News reports. Clarkson was previously represented by Mike George of Excel Sports Management, which reportedly broke off its relationship with the young guard back in September. The young combo guard was reportedly frustrated with the agency’s communication and felt he received conflicting information about marketing opportunities, according to an earlier report by Medina. Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press first reported the split. Clarkson is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lithuanian big man Arturas Gudaitis, whose draft rights are held by the Kings, said that Sacramento has expressed interest in signing him for next season, according to a report by Donatas Urbonas of 15min.It (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Gudaitis, who is signed to a multi-year deal with the Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas, said his dream is to play in the NBA, and that he will travel to Sacramento to work out for the team after his season is completed, Urbonas notes.
- The Warriors intend for veteran swingman Andre Iguodala to continue his role as a top reserve during the 2015/16 season, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. “Nothing is set in stone, but we won 67 games, so I don’t think we’ll change the starting lineup to start the season,” coach Steve Kerr had said prior to taking his leave of absence due to back related issues. “Why would we? Why would we change what we did last year when we had as much success as we did?“
- Jamal Crawford has been the subject of numerous trade rumors throughout the offseason, but he says that his time spent in New York as a member of the Knicks prepared him for the daily barrage of questions from the media, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. “That time [in New York] prepared me for this,” Crawford said. “It’s a business and in a day, you can only control what you can control and worry about how you can get better.” The veteran shooting guard also noted that he is extremely happy to still be a member of the Clippers, Carr adds. The franchise was reportedly exploring trades involving the two-time Sixth Man of the Year shortly before the draft, with other reports this summer indicating that the Heat, Cavs and Knicks have held interest, but Doc Rivers recently said that the team was unlikely to deal Crawford.
Texas Notes: Carlisle, Ayres, Fredette
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle‘s contract status beyond this season is up in the air, but even so, owner Mark Cuban said Friday on 103.3 FM ESPN that he hasn’t lent much thought to the matter, given what he described as mutual interest in a continued partnership, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Carlisle signed a four-year deal prior to the 2012/13 season, though at least one report at the time indicated an option for a fifth season was involved. “We obviously want to keep Rick and he doesn’t want to go anywhere, so I don’t see it being an issue,” Cuban said.
Here’s more from out of the Lone Star State:
- Power forward Jeff Ayres, who made 51 appearances for the Spurs last season, has been waived by Shanxi of the Chinese Basketball Association, international journalist David Pick reports (via Twitter). Ayres had inked a one-year deal with Shanxi worth a reported $1MM back in early September. The 28-year-old averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 7.5 minutes per game during the 2014/15 season for San Antonio.
- While he may be a long shot to make the regular season roster, Jimmer Fredette was signed by the Spurs to help replace the outside shooting that was lost with Marco Belinelli‘s departure to the Kings via free agency this summer, Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com writes. “He’s a shooter,” coach Gregg Popovich said about Fredette. “He’s a scorer, and we’re looking for that type of thing to add to the team. People always look at the big guys. But we started last season thinking that not having Patty Mills is going to be a big factor for us. And it was huge. First of all you don’t have him for the first half, and then it took him a long time to get back into the flow. And this year Marco not being here is important. He came off the bench and helped us in a lot of games and I think that’s a big concern.”
- Fredette also noted that he was surprised that the Spurs were interested in him, Pandian adds. “I just hadn’t heard that [the Spurs] were a team that was necessarily on our radar,” Fredette told Pandian. “We always loved the Spurs organization and the team but it was kinda just a call that my agent told me was out of the blue. As soon as we got it, I was obviously extremely excited. I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to be on a good team and also it fits my style of play well. They move the ball well, they share they ball, lots of movement, play uptempo, so I’m excited to be part of this organization. Hopefully it will work out well.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Poll: 2015/16 Team Power Rankings (No. 19)
NBA training camps have officially begun, and teams are now finalizing their preseason rosters. Every new season brings with it the hope for each franchise that it will conclude with the hoisting of the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. But for the more jaded fans — or practical, depending on your outlook — not every team has a realistic shot at making the playoffs, much less at being the last team standing when all is said and done and the playoffs have concluded.
We at Hoops Rumors want to know what you, the reader, think about each team’s chances this coming campaign. To help facilitate that, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking you to vote on where in the standings each franchise is likely to end the season. So please cast your vote below for the franchise you expect to end the season with the nineteenth best overall record. But don’t end your involvement with the simple click of a button. Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on why you voted the way that you did. We look forward to what you have to say.
Previous Selections:
- No. 30: 76ers
- No. 29: Knicks
- No. 28: Nuggets
- No. 27: Lakers
- No. 26: Nets
- No. 25: Timberwolves
- No. 24: Trail Blazers
- No. 23: Magic
- No. 22: Pistons
- No. 21: Kings
- No. 20: Hornets
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.
Atlantic Notes: Anthony, Smith, Bargnani, Scola
Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is not known as a vocal leader, which is something that he doesn’t intend to change, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I lead in my own way,” Anthony told Begley. “I will speak up from time to time, but that’s just not who I am, that’s not my personality.” Anthony’s leadership takes on other forms, like him organizing offseason workouts in Puerto Rico back in August, Begley notes.
“That’s definitely leadership,” teammate Lance Thomas, who participated in those workouts, said. “Him putting us in a position where we can start the season before the season starts is big time. Getting to know everybody on the squad, everybody becoming familiar with each other, it’s important.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers allowed Ish Smith to depart via free agency this summer despite him being the team’s most productive point guard last season, because the franchise wanted to develop its younger players, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News. “It’s hard to deny that Ish was good for us,” coach Brett Brown said. “We decided to go younger and try to uncover somebody that can be with us for a long time, maybe because of the age aspect, and I support the club’s decision to do that. We’ll all be better able to make more accurate assessments in a month or so. Nobody’s really jumped ahead of the pack yet.“
- After missing a total of 191 games over the last five seasons, Nets offseason signee Andrea Bargnani‘s goal is to remain healthy for a full campaign, Roderick Boone of Newsday relays. “The main thing I’m looking for is being healthy, and being on the floor and contributing to the team’s success,” Bargnani told Boone. “I just want to be a part of it. We have a great group of players and I want to be on the court. I want to be able to help them. Sitting out, obviously, was very frustrating and so I really don’t want to do that again. I just want to be healthy and stay on the court. That’s it.“
- Luis Scola is looking to be more than just a mentor to his younger teammates on the Raptors, and he feels that he has plenty left to contribute on the court for his new squad, writes Mike Ganter of The Toronto Sun. “I am sure my experience can help but I also believe I can help on the court as well,” Scola said. “To me if I am helping I am happy in whatever aspect of the game. If it’s in the court, outside the court, or both or in the locker room, all those things would be welcome to me.” The 35-year-old inked a one year deal with Toronto back in July.
Steve Kerr To Take Leave Of Absence
3:29pm: Walton tempered Adams’ remarks a bit, saying that a return for Kerr within a few days would be the best-case scenario and that his absence could still stretch on for weeks, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 10:28am: Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams expects Kerr to return in only a few days and that he will certainly be back in time for the team’s regular season opener on October 27th, which takes place at home against the Pelicans, Adams told SiriusXM NBA Radio this morning (Twitter links or hear the audio).
THURSDAY, 3:26pm: Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will take a leave of absence from the team in order to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation from back surgery, the team announced in a press release. The length of Kerr’s absence is unknown, and it will be determined by the speed of his progress. Luke Walton, the team’s lead assistant, will serve as the interim head coach.
Kerr underwent surgery on his back to repair a ruptured disc back in late July and then had follow-up surgery in early September. “After the first two days of training camp, I realized I need to take a step back and focus on my rehabilitation in order to be ready for the grind of another NBA season,” said Kerr. “As I noted last week, my summer was difficult and no fun due to the multiple back surgeries. At this point, I simply want to get healthy and back to my normal daily routine on and off the court.”
It’s unclear at this time if Kerr, who led the Warriors the NBA title last season, his first as a coach, will return in time for the start of the regular season. “At this point, the most important thing is to make sure Steve is healthy, completely recovered and ready for not only the rigors of a long NBA season, but day-to-day life in general,” said Warriors GM Bob Myers. “We don’t anticipate the recovery process will be long term, but as of today we don’t know the exact timeframe. We’ll evaluate his progress daily and provide updates as necessary.”
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 10/1/15
Cavaliers swingman Iman Shumpert will miss the next 12-14 weeks because of a wrist injury, the team announced on Tuesday. Shumpert, who re-signed with the Cavaliers for four years and $40MM this summer, recently suffered a ruptured extensor carpi ulnaris sheath in his right wrist, according to the team’s statement. The 25-year-old reportedly hit his wrist on the rim during a workout last week but continued to play through it, GM David Griffin said. The injury will force Shumpert out for training camp and the first two months of the regular season.
The Cavs don’t have immediate plans to address the injury with a roster move, Griffin said, according to a report by Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, but he didn’t rule out doing so at some point. “I think we look at this as a very similar situation to what we went through in the playoffs last year: Next man up,” Griffin said. “We have a roster we feel is deep enough to withstand one injury like this, and so we’re going to give people a chance to kind of absorb it from within, but obviously we’ve been paying attention to a lot of opportunities that we may be able to [use] to improve the group. We’ll just play it by ear.”
This brings me to the question/topic for today: Do the Cavaliers need to make a roster move to replace Iman Shumpert?
Will the Cavs be able to weather the storm with J.R. Smith as the starter and Joe Harris and Mo Williams as the backups? Or should the team make a move to fortify the position either via trade or free agency? If you think the team needs to add another wing, who should they target? Take to the comments below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.