NBA Approves Changes To Playoff Seeding
The NBA’s Board of Governors unanimously approved changes to how teams qualify for the playoffs and how they will be seeded, the league announced in a press release. The eight playoff teams in each conference will now be seeded based on the order of their regular-season records. Previously, every division winner was guaranteed a top four seed in its conference regardless of record but did not receive home-court advantage if its playoff opponent had a better regular season mark. The new seeding structure will commence this season.
The Board also approved changes to tiebreaker criteria for playoff seeding and determining home-court advantage. Head-to-head results have become the first criteria to break ties for playoff seeding and home-court advantage between two teams with identical regular season records, with the second criteria being if a team won its division. Under the old system, a division winner was awarded the higher seed and received home-court advantage in series between two teams with identical records.
One aspect of these alterations that will be interesting to observe is whether or not the regular season schedule will also be changed as a result. Previously, the league employed an unbalanced schedule that saw teams have more games against opponents within their respective divisions than against those outside them. With winning the division now de-emphasized as a result of these approved changes, teams that play in weaker divisions could now end up having a distinct advantage over those who play in some of the deeper, tougher ones.
Western Notes: Bryant, Gates, Malone
With Kobe Bryant entering the final year of his current deal, the Lakers were hampered by the Mamba’s $25MM salary when trying to rebuild their roster this offseason, and as a result this season will be more of a farewell tour for the superstar than a run at a final title, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in his season preview of the club. Powell also notes that while Bryant has a reputation as someone willing to do anything to win a championship, if that was indeed the case he would have pushed to join a contender for what could end up being his final NBA campaign. So instead, Powell opines that Bryant is willing to win, but only on his terms.
Here’s more out of the West:
- Former Pelicans assistant coach Bryan Gates, who wasn’t retained when Monty Williams was fired, has been added to Flip Saunders‘ staff with the Timberwolves, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link).
- New Nuggets coach Michael Malone acknowledged that he was consulted by the team’s front office prior to troubled point guard Ty Lawson being traded to the Rockets, Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes. “We’re a team. There’s no separation between church and state,” Malone said of his relationship with Denver’s front office. “We’re together, we’re one, we communicate, and I think that’s so important. But at the end of the day, Tim’s [Connelly] job as GM is to make those decisions, obviously with the blessing of [team president] Josh Kroenke. They asked my opinion, I gave it, I tell him what I feel and believe in, and then whatever decision they make I roll with it.”
- The Trail Blazers will have to take a committee approach to try and replace the rim protection that was lost when Robin Lopez departed for the Knicks in free agency this Summer, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.
Poll: 2003 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 13)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
We are in the process of taking you on a journey back to June of 2003, and revisiting a draft that saw the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh available to potentially change the fortunes of a few struggling franchises. Wade was the first of that group to win an NBA championship, though James and Bosh would later join him in Miami and go on to win multiple titles together years later, while Melo is still seeking his first trip to the NBA Finals. Detroit, which owned the No. 2 overall pick that season, chose to go with Darko Milicic, who didn’t work out so well for the Pistons. Not all picks pan out, but that one is especially painful given the talent that the Pistons passed over to select the big man, who owns career averages of 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, and has been out of the NBA since making a single appearance for the Celtics back in 2012/13.
We continue our revisionist history with the Celtics, who had acquired the No. 13 pick from the Grizzlies in a draft day deal. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Boston’s pick and check back Tuesday night for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Thunder, or Sonics, as the team was known back then, will select with the No. 14 overall pick that they had acquired from Milwaukee. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 13 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.
Previous Picks
- Cavaliers: LeBron James
- Pistons: Dwyane Wade
- Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony
- Raptors: Chris Bosh
- Heat: David West
- Clippers: Kyle Korver
- Bulls: Mo Williams
- Bucks: Chris Kaman
- Knicks: Boris Diaw
- Wizards: Kirk Hinrich
- Warriors: Jose Calderon
- Thunder: Josh Howard
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.
Hoops Rumors Originals 8/30/15-9/5/15
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- In his weekly column, Sam Amico, the founder and editor of AmicoHoops.net and a broadcast journalist for Fox Sports Ohio, looked at the state of the Atlanta Hawks.
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- Chuck Myron listed each 2015 offseason NBA addition who played his last professional game with an overseas team, categorized by country.
- I handed out 2015 NBA Draft grades to the Central Division‘s teams.
- As a part of our ongoing series “The Beat,” Chuck interviewed Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. You can follow Chris on Twitter at @ChrisBHaynes, and click here to check out his stories on Cleveland.com.
- I broke down the 2015/16 salary cap commitments for the Magic, Thunder, Knicks, and Sixers.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- Chuck looked at how teams fared in re-signing their own free agents this offseason.
- We asked readers to vote on who they would select if they had the chance to redo the the 2003 NBA Draft. Here are the results for the No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10, No. 11, No. 12 picks.
- Chuck examined the Warriors’ Festus Ezeli and the Wizards’ Bradley Beal, while Dana Gauruder broke down Dion Waiters, as extension candidates.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- I answered reader questions in Hoops Rumors Weekly Mailbag.
- We ran down the players who agreed to deals without any guaranteed salary this offseason.
- Chuck looked at the top non-scale rookie deals inked this offseason.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- Chuck ran down the top 10 transactions that occurred back in September of 2014.
Week In Review 8/30/15-9/5/15
Mikhail Prokhorov is reportedly working toward a deal that would give him 100% ownership of both the Nets and the Barclays Center. The would-be arrangement would entail Prokhorov’s company, which already owns 80% of the Nets and 45% of the arena, forgiving the approximately $31MM debt that former majority owner Bruce Ratner’s Forest City Enterprises owes them. Prokhorov and the Guggenheim Partners apparently had talks a year ago about a merging of ownership, months after a report indicated that Prokhorov was listening to offers for the Nets. Those Guggenheim talks were said to have hit a snag, though rumors that Prokhorov had interest in selling the Nets have persisted. Prokhorov has repeatedly downplayed such talk.
Here’s a look back at more news from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
- The Heat signed undrafted small forward Greg Whittington to a training camp deal.
- The Clippers signed Chuck Hayes.
- The Lakers signed Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas.
- The Bucks reached a contract agreement with Charlie Westbrook.
- The Kings and Eric Moreland reached an agreement on a one-year deal.
- The Rockets agreed to training camp deals with Denzel Livingston, Will Cummings, Remi Yusuf and Chris Walker.
- The Heat agreed to sign undrafted free agent Briante Weber.
- The Pistons agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent small forward Eric Griffin.
- The Sixers agreed to a deal with Kendall Marshall.
- The Bucks agreed to a non-guaranteed contract with Josh Powell.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Miscellaneous News
- Unrestricted free agent Will Cherry officially signed with the German club Alba Berlin.
- The Celtics extended their exclusive affiliation with the D-League’s Maine Red Claws through the 2017/18 season.
- Clippers guard Austin Rivers signed with ASM Sports for representation.
- DeAndre Jordan parted ways with Relativity Sports agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana.
- Unrestricted free agent Landry Fields will miss five months after having labrum surgery on his hip.
- Grizzlies 2015 first-rounder Jarell Martin will be out indefinitely after fracturing his left foot.
- Unrestricted free agent power forward Glen Davis underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments, a cyst, and bone spurs in his left ankle, and he is expected to be out of action for two-to-three months.
- Former Blazers small forward Victor Claver officially signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of Russia.
- The Jazz hired Jordan Brady as an assistant coach for their D-League affiliate.
- Unrestricted free agent Jeff Ayres agreed to a deal with an unnamed Chinese team.
- Former No. 4 overall pick Tyrus Thomas signed with Eisbären Bremerhaven of Germany.
- Jazz point guard Dante Exum underwent successful surgery to repair damage to the ACL in his left knee. He will be out of action indefinitely.
- Platinum Equity founder and Pistons owner Tom Gores is buying his firm’s stake in the team, which would give him 100% ownership of the franchise.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 9/4/15
One of the more challenging aspects of being a first round draftee in the NBA is that you generally have a complete lack of control as to where you will play throughout the duration of your rookie scale deal. Some first year players find themselves in the ideal situation, and their development is hastened as a result. But there are other draftees who are not so lucky for one reason or another, and they begin their careers at a slight disadvantage.
These reasons can include being blocked on the depth chart by already established players, ending up in a system that is a poor fit for a player’s skillset, or even landing smack in the middle of a toxic locker room situation, which can certainly act as a demotivating factor that early in a professional career. There are also some players, who, based on their draft position, are weighted down with unrealistic expectations that they will single-handedly elevate their new clubs into the company of the league’s elite during their rookie seasons.
This brings me to today’s topic: Which 2015 NBA first round draft pick is entering the most difficult situation, and why?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on which 2015 NBA Draft pick’s professional career will have the roughest beginning, and why you believe that to be the case. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot us a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com.
Southwest Notes: Holiday, Aldridge, McGee
Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday has made sufficient progress in his recovery from the surgical procedure he underwent in May that the team expects him to be cleared to participate in basketball related activities when training camp begins, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”What I think we’re trying to do is not push him anywhere,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”We’re going to monitor obviously his practices. I doubt there will be a situation where we’ll let him go two-a-days. It’s just doesn’t make sense right now.” Holiday has missed a combined 90 games over the past two campaigns because of recurring problems with his right leg. The NBA had ordered the Sixers to pay $3MM to the Pelicans last season for not fully disclosing the extent of Holiday’s injury prior to shipping him to New Orleans.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Rick Barnes, who coached LaMarcus Aldridge at the University of Texas, doesn’t think that his former player will have any difficulty adapting his game to the Spurs‘ system, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News relays. “What he wants is to win an NBA championship,” Barnes said. “He’ll do whatever he feels he has to do to make that happen.” Aldridge had expressed some level of concern to San Antonio assistant Ime Udoka about him being more of a scorer than the Spurs typically feature during the team’s recruitment of him, McDonald adds. “He’s a tremendous teammate. He’s a team player,” Barnes continued. “He knows he’s a franchise-type guy, but he also has to have people around him. Credit to him for wanting to be part of something special.”
- Mavs big man JaVale McGee believes that his athleticism will set him apart from the other centers on Dallas’ roster, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “Well, I definitely feel like we’re different players, the centers that we have, so it’s definitely going to be good competition,” McGee said. “But that’s what basketball is for, competition, so it’s definitely going to make us all better. It’s definitely a positive thing, being a leaper as I am and a shot blocker and a dunker, so that’s definitely what teams need. I’m just somebody who keeps it simple, who dunks the ball, blocks shots and is just a presence in the paint. … [coach Rick Carlisle] just wants me to keep it simple, and just play as hard as I can and be a presence in the paint.”
Jeff Ayres To Play In China
Unrestricted free agent Jeff Ayres has agreed to a deal with an unnamed Chinese team, international journalist David Pick reports (on Twitter). The pact will pay the power forward approximately $1MM for the upcoming season, Pick adds.
The 28-year-old appeared in 51 contests for the Spurs during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 7.5 minutes per game. Ayres’ career numbers through five NBA seasons are 3.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.4 APG to accompany a slash line of .554/.500/.766.
Ayres will still have the opportunity to play in the NBA in 2015/16, provided there is any interest in his services, as the Chinese Basketball Association’s season concludes in late February, with the playoffs generally running through March. The forward would be free to sign with any NBA club once his team’s season concluded, or upon its elimination from the playoffs.
Poll: 2003 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 12)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
We are in the process of taking you on a journey back to June of 2003, and revisiting a draft that saw the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh available to potentially change the fortunes of a few struggling franchises. Wade was the first of that group to win an NBA championship, though James and Bosh would later join him in Miami and go on to win multiple titles together years later, while Melo is still seeking his first trip to the NBA Finals. Detroit, which owned the No. 2 overall pick that season, chose to go with Darko Milicic, who didn’t work out so well for the Pistons. Not all picks pan out, but that one is especially painful given the talent that the Pistons passed over to select the big man, who owns career averages of 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, and has been out of the NBA since making a single appearance for the Celtics back in 2012/13.
We continue our revisionist history with the Thunder (who were still the Sonics at the time), who used the No. 12 overall pick to select Nick Collison. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Oklahoma City’s pick and check back Saturday for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Celtics will select with the No. 13 overall pick that they had acquired from Memphis. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 12 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.
Previous Picks
- Cavaliers: LeBron James
- Pistons: Dwyane Wade
- Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony
- Raptors: Chris Bosh
- Heat: David West
- Clippers: Kyle Korver
- Bulls: Mo Williams
- Bucks: Chris Kaman
- Knicks: Boris Diaw
- Wizards: Kirk Hinrich
- Warriors: Jose Calderon
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.
Heat Interested In Joshua Smith
FRIDAY, 1:29pm: Miami is expected to have Smith in for a “workout/tryout” next week, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Smith said recently that he lost 21 pounds in a month, and the Heat have been encouraging him to shed weight, Winderman adds (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 10:34pm: The Heat have had discussions with undrafted free agent center Joshua Smith regarding a potential training camp invitation, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reports (on Twitter). Miami also reportedly agreed to a deal with combo guard Briante Weber earlier this evening, and currently possess one remaining open roster slot.
Smith, 23, finished his NCAA career at Georgetown after spending his first two seasons at UCLA, and he appeared in 33 games as a Senior, averaging 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 20.5 minutes per night. His career collegiate numbers overall were 10.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 0.7 assists, and his career slash line was .591/.000/.613.
Miami may have designs on adding Smith for training camp for depth, and then plans to send him to its D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, though that is merely my speculation. The Heat’s current depth chart at the pivot has Hassan Whiteside firmly entrenched as the starter, with Amar’e Stoudemire and Chris Andersen in reserve. There have been reports that the team is shopping Andersen in an effort to reduce its luxury tax hit, but it has reportedly been finding a soft market for the Birdman’s services. Also in the mix at center for the Heat is training camp signee Keith Benson, though he also is more likely to end up in Sioux Falls than Miami when the regular season tips off.