Latest On Chris Bosh
Despite failing his most recent physical and not being cleared to participate in training camp, Chris Bosh still wants and intends to continue his NBA career, though, it appears he’s resigned to the fact that it won’t be in Miami, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.com relays. Team president Pat Riley told reporters during Miami’s media day, “I think Chris is still open-minded. But we are not working toward his return We feel that, based on the last exam, that his Heat career is probably over.” In response to that, Bosh addressed the matter in a video post today:
“Got the news. I was in disbelief for a couple seconds, then I threw my phone down and I stormed out the room… But I’m glad I didn’t break my phone. I wanted to break it, but I didn’t….I guess my career in Miami is done. My career is not done. I did not expect that at all…. That does not mean my NBA career is over. There are 29 other teams, it’s a whole league. One team does not make up the opinion of everything.”
Bosh also took a shot at Riley and the team, saying, “I want to tell everyone in Miami this is not how I planned it to be. They don’t want to hear Dwyane Wade is gone. They don’t want to hear, ‘oh yea, Chris is never going to play for the Miami Heat again.’ People don’t want to hear that. I just feel for the fans. I wanted to give them more, I wanted to give them something better. Because they deserve better than what they’re getting right now.”
The forward also penned a letter to Heat fans on his personal blog, writing:
“It’s funny how things change. All I have right now associated with basketball are my friends and memories. And I’m so thankful for those things. I remember just a few years ago when the Big 3 were together and we were having a ball playing the game we love with some of the most professional, talented guys the NBA has ever seen. I remember the fans of Miami coming out to see the show every night. The love, the compassion and the energy we felt was second to none. I want to thank the city of Miami from the bottom of my heart because things may change but the good times will last forever in my memories. Thank you!
Things are different now and Miami has incredible young talent with a tremendous upside. These are not only talented ball players but great people and friends. I enjoyed playing with those guys and doing my best to mentor them by being an upstanding role model and veteran player. It’s their time to go through the ups and downs of the game with this great city. I want to thank not only the fans of Miami but everyone around the world who has supported our team and who has supported me through this time. I see you posting with #BoshRebuilt on social media every day and I receive the love that you give me. Thank you so much. I couldn’t make it without your support.“
Offseason In Review: New York Knicks
Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the New York Knicks.
Free agent signings:
- Joakim Noah: Four years, $72.59MM.
- Courtney Lee: Four years, $48.003MM.
- Lance Thomas: Four years, $27.55MM. Fourth year non-guaranteed.
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas: Two years, $5.773MM.
- Brandon Jennings: One year, $5MM.
- Marshall Plumlee: Three years, minimum salary. Second and third years non-guaranteed.
- Maurice Ndour: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed.
- Lou Amundson: One year, minimum salary.
- Sasha Vujacic: One year, minimum salary.
Draft-and-stash signings:
- Willy Hernangomez: Four years, $5.865MM. Fourth year non-guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Ron Baker: One year, minimum salary ($75K guaranteed)
- Chasson Randle: One year, minimum salary ($100K guaranteed)
- J.P. Tokoto: One year, minimum salary ($100K guaranteed)
Trades:
- Acquired Derrick Rose, Justin Holiday, and the Bulls’ 2017 second-round pick from the Bulls in exchange for Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, and Jerian Grant.
Draft picks:
- None
Departing players:
- Arron Afflalo
- Jose Calderon
- Cleanthony Early
- Langston Galloway
- Jerian Grant
- Robin Lopez
- Kevin Seraphin
- Derrick Williams
- Tony Wroten (waived)
Other offseason news:
- Hired Jeff Hornacek as head coach to replace interim head coach Kurt Rambis. Rambis retained as associate head coach.
- Signed Amar’e Stoudemire to a ceremonial contract so he could retire as a Knick.
Check out our salary cap snapshot for the New York Knicks right here.
The Knicks entered the offseason as a franchise at a crossroads, needing to choose between hitting the reset button and building around Kristaps Porzingis, or attempting to maximize Carmelo Anthony‘s few remaining productive seasons by adding veterans who could step in and contribute immediately.
Team president Phil Jackson chose the latter, adding a number of talented players who have the potential to help New York return to the postseason, but carry with them significant injury concerns. Are the Knicks a better team on paper than a season ago? Absolutely. But just how many games the team can expect to get out of the trio of Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings and Joakim Noah remains to be seen.
New York made its biggest strides as a team this summer by improving on its woeful backcourt of a season ago. The addition of Rose is a gamble that could pay off significantly for the team if the 27-year-old can remain healthy. This is obviously not a given, considering he has averaged just 33 games per season over the last five campaigns. Given his track record, not to mention the grind of back-to-back games that take a terrible toll on players, it isn’t realistic by any means to expect Rose to play in 82 contests. But if he can be a semblance of his former self for 60 to 65 games, which I believe is a realistic target, then Jackson’s gambit of acquiring him in a contract year may end up working in the short term.
With Rose as the starter, the Knicks will need depth at the point — not just in the event that disaster strikes, but to allow him to sit out the occasional game to rest. This is where things get a bit frightening for fans of the team. While I love the addition of Jennings, especially at the bargain price of $5MM for one year, he’s coming off of a ruptured Achilles tendon and is no sure bet to avoid sitting behind the bench in street clothes for stretches of the campaign. The only other point guard currently on the roster is undrafted rookie Chasson Randle, who is probably better suited to log minutes in Westchester for the team’s D-League affiliate this season than in Madison Square Garden. If the franchise is serious about making a playoff push this season, it should seriously consider signing Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole, the two top remaining free agents at the position. If Sasha Vujacic ends up becoming the fallback option as playmaker, ‘Melo may end up regretting not pushing for a trade this summer.
For the second summer in a row, Jackson added a shooting guard via free agency. Last year’s signing of Arron Afflalo failed miserably, with the team essentially pushing him out of MSG, shutting the doors, changing the locks and turning off lights once he opted out of his deal. Courtney Lee should be a much better fit for New York than Afflalo was, especially if new coach Jeff Hornacek is given free reign with the offense and not forced to stick with the triangle as his predecessors, Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis, were. Lee’s solid defense and three-point shooting will be a boon to the team, though inking the 30-year-old to a four-year, $48MM+ deal is a bit of a gamble given his career scoring average of 9.6 PPG.
Speaking of risks, the signing of Noah to a four-year, $72MM+ pact is perhaps the biggest roll of the dice this offseason for Jackson. There’s no denying that Noah, when healthy, can impact the game on both ends of the court. The 31-year-old is almost assuredly going to become a fan favorite in New York, but he has only averaged 63.5 games per season during his nine-year NBA career, and big men don’t generally grow more durable once they reach their 30s. This contract not only has the potential to become an albatross around the Knicks’ necks; it could negatively impact the development of Porzingis, whose best position may ultimately be at center. Anything that could have an adverse effect on the second-year player and potential superstar is a bad thing for the franchise.
It’s in no way a given, but if the majority of their players can remain healthy this season, the Knicks should improve upon the 32 wins they notched in 2015/16. Still, I’d be wary of expecting too drastic an improvement, as the eight seed and 40-42 wins seems like a favorable scenario for New York this year.
With Rose and Jennings each only signed for one year, it’s possible the franchise will find itself rebuilding and/or retooling in 2017. If that’s the case, Jackson needs to look in the mirror and ask himself if making the Knicks a borderline playoff contender this season was worth not tearing down the team and starting anew.
Of course, the Zen Master could be gone next summer, since he has the ability to opt out, leaving the cleanup to someone else. By that time, Anthony will be a another year past his prime and will hold less trade value than he did the past two seasons. It’s been 43 years since the Knicks won an NBA title, and it may be a few more years before fans have another legitimate shot at cheering for a champion.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Southeast Notes: Wall, Beal, Hibbert, Magic
During the Wizards‘ media day on Monday, John Wall walked back his comments from August when he told reporters that he and teammate Bradley Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes. “Whenever you have your two best players and they both want the game-winning shot and they want those types of plays, you’re going to have disagreements on the court. But other than that, we’re fine,” Wall told the media. “We talk. We’ve talked about it. We’re both two grown men. Everybody wants us to dislike each other. No, we don’t dislike each other. It’s just at times any team that has two great players [or] players who want to be great, we’re going to have disagreements from time to time.”
For his part, Beal said he never took offense at Wall’s comments, likening their relationship to that of brothers, Buckner notes. “Sometimes you don’t always get along with your bigger brother or your little brother but you love them at the end of the day. They’re family. That’s how John and I are,” Beal said. “We don’t always agree on the court. You’re not always going to agree with Coach [Scott] Brooks and something that he says but at the end of the day, we’re backcourt mates, we’re teammates, we’re the two leaders of the team. We’re going to help win us games.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Magic are hunting for a location for their new D-League affiliate to call home, with the two finalists being Kissimmee’s Silver Spurs Arena and The Lakeland Center, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel reports. The team expects to finalize its decision within the next month, Robbins adds. “We’re still in final discussions with both, and both have been asked to address some specific issues that we need answers for and direction on,” CEO Alex Martins said. “I believe that within the next 30 days we’ll have a decision made.”
- Center Roy Hibbert is trying to salvage his career after signing a one-year, $5MM with the Hornets this offseason. Assistant coach Patrick Ewing has taken the big man under his wing, believing that much of Hibbert’s decline stems from him buying into the talk that the changes to the game have made him obsolete, Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I think it’s probably mostly mental,” Ewing said of Hibbert. “I know everybody is talking about how the game has changed. I think he’s kind of bought into that.”
- Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer weighed in with his early impressions of rookies Malcolm Delaney, Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays.
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Paul Allen On: Roster, Expectations, Stotts
The Trail Blazers held their first practice of the 2016/17 season today. Afterwards, team owner Paul Allen addressed the media and answered a number of questions regarding the state of the franchise. The entire chat is worth a gander, but some of the highlights are relayed below. Hat tip to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian for the transcription:
On if he had any reservations about the contracts the team handed out this summer:
“Well, [president of basketball operations and GM] Neil Olshey and I go over all those things closely, I think. One of the big decisions was when we discussed signing Evan Turner and that worked out. And to get Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless back, they were all very deliberate decisions we evaluated. The financial consequences are significant, but that’s because we believe in this group of guys. They showed what they can do last year.”
On his expectations for the 2016/17 season:
“I always try not to make, as you know — I think we’ve done this for a while — I don’t make particular predictions on the number of wins and losses. But I think we have a chance to be significantly better than last year. And I think everybody was really encouraged to see how the team came together last year, how well the coaching meshed with the talent. And the guys that Neil brought in, I think, exceeded everybody’s expectations. So that was a very encouraging year last year and hopefully we’ll build on that.”
On the job head coach Terry Stotts has done:
“I think he’s done an excellent job. I think it’s pretty unique to see a coach adjust to the talent he has and maximize the abilities of the players he has and help them keep growing. You have to realize, we’re a very, very young team. I was kidding Neil earlier, I said, ‘Well, there’s other teams that seem to try to perfect the art of using older players to their maximum, whereas our approach is to bring in young talent, in some cases unproven talent, and try to take that talent to another level.’ And I think you saw that in terms of player development last year. So both in terms of development and execution, obviously, and making it out of the first round last year and giving Golden State a real run for their money, that was all extremely encouraging.”
On whether or not he’s willing to pay the luxury tax:
“That darn luxury tax is pretty painful. You have to make those decisions. As you know, at one point, I believe I had the record for the highest luxury tax payments. In the end, that didn’t make sense. So that’s something we’ll have to look at very carefully. Sometimes you can go into the tax for a year or something and then come out of it if it makes sense as you’re transitioning through different player contracts. So it’s something Neil and I will evaluate very carefully.”
On if the league and NBPA can avoid a lockout when the current CBA expires or either side opts out:
“As individual owners, we’re not supposed to speak about CBA negotiations. So I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to say that, given the economics that are in play here, I think it’s in everybody’s — the players and the owner’s — best interest to work something out. So I’m optimistic.”
Josh Kroenke Praises Nuggets’ Direction
Despite only winning 33 games a season ago, the first under head coach Michael Malone, team president Josh Kroenke is extremely pleased with the direction that the franchise is headed in, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. The executive said that this is the happiest with the state of the team he’s been since the 2012/13 squad that won 57 games and was the last Denver squad to reach the postseason, Dempsey notes.
“I feel very confident with the guys we have leading us on a daily basis,” Kroenke said. “I feel confident in the players in the locker room. I feel confident in the front office. I like the direction of the train. I like the speed and direction of the train. We needed to reinvent who we were last year, culturally, in our locker room as well as establish a new identity on the court. I think that historically we’ve always played fast here, and I think that that’s something we want to continue to do, but you can’t do it at the expense of your defense.”
Despite the team finishing fourth in the Northwest Division in 2015/16, Kroenke praised the job the Malone did in guiding what was one of the league’s youngest teams, Dempsey notes. “[GM] Tim Connelly and I, we have a bigger picture that we’re looking at, and I thought [Malone] did an outstanding job last year, with our young players, especially,” Kroenke told the scribe. “I thought Tim and the guys, over the last few years they’ve knocked it out of the park at the draft. I think if you’re drafting well, you’re always giving yourself a chance to compete, whether that’s improvement through trades or simply internal improvement.”
Kroenke displayed his faith in Connelly last season by extending his contract despite the team’s struggles since the GM took the helm, Dempsey writes. “I knew when I hired Tim in the summer of 2013 that we were going to have a good shot at nailing a few drafts. That ultimately takes years to come to fruition,” Kroenke said. “Being able to weigh the present while weighing the future is, I think, the toughest job general managers face based on the roster. And I think Tim and our staff has made very smart trades.”
While Kroenke didn’t guarantee that the Nuggets would reach the postseason in 2016/17, he did note that he expects to see improvement on the court, Dempsey relays. “I think this year is going to be a growth year,” Kroenke said. “Depending on where that growth heads at the end of the year, where we ultimately define success, I guess, is open to interpretation almost. But I’m glad to see that our players are focused on playoffs. I want those guys focused on building toward April. We want to be playing our best basketball on April 1, those last two weeks of the season leading into the playoffs. Then we’ll see where our record shakes out. I like our chances to hopefully leapfrog a team or two this year simply through our continuity and our internal improvement.”
Western Notes: Rockets, Bogut, Barnes
There is a more positive feeling in the Rockets locker room this year, something that team owner Leslie Alexander chalks up to the teams new additions, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com relays. When asked if he sensed a different vibe as the team begins training camp, Alexander told Watkins, “100% — they seem happier. James Harden especially seems happier, and I think they’re all together this year. They’re all in it to win, and the guys we brought over, Nene, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, they didn’t win last year, and they have this tense desire to win.”
When asked what prompted him to make significant changes after Houston’s disappointing 2015/16 campaign, Alexander said, “I wanted to play a different style. I thought defensively we lacked a lot of focus, and I think we brought in a real good defensive guy [assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik], and we brought in three strong players. One of our weaknesses last year was we couldn’t shoot the ball, and we brought two good shooters in, and we changed the team dramatically.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Nuggets executive Josh Kroenke told members of the media that Denver intends to establish a D-League affiliate in the near future, Harrison Wind of BSNDenver.com tweets. “Yes, there has been a lot of dialogue about that,” Kroenke said.
- Mavericks center Andrew Bogut said that he would have asked for a buyout if he was traded to a team other than Dallas this summer, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. The Warriors reportedly gave Bogut the choice of being traded to the Mavs and the Rockets, with the big man ultimately deciding to go to Dallas. The Sixers had also reportedly expressed interest, but Golden State wanted to deal the veteran big man to a team with more realistic playoff hopes than Philly.
- The expectations for Harrison Barnes have increased since he inked a maximum salary deal with the Mavs this offseason and its a challenge the young forward will have to embrace, coach Rick Carlisle told MacMahon in a separate piece. “I talked to him [Barnes] this summer a lot about that. Bottom line is that it’s a challenge that he’s got to love to take on. The important thing is that an elevation in responsibility comes at the right rate,” Carlisle said.
Western Conference Salary Rankings: Shooting Guards
Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the salaries, separated by conference, for each NBA player by position. We’ve already looked at the point guards and centers of the Western Conference and will now turn our attention toward the conference’s shooting guards.
All told, the teams out west have committed a total of $299,460,075 in cap hits this season to the men who man the two spot. The average conference salary for shooting guards this season is currently $4,403,825, with James Harden topping the list with a more than respectable $26,540,100 to account for on his year-end W-2 form.
It should be noted that teams won’t necessarily pay out every dollar listed here. There are quite a few players who have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. Some of those players won’t make it out of the preseason, while others will be sweating it out until January 10th. That’s when teams must waive players with no specific guarantee date written into their contracts to avoid having to guarantee their salaries for the rest of the season. In addition, incentive clauses that a player either triggers or fails to meet can leave a player with more or less money than his cap hit reflects. Still, the purpose of this list is to show the relative pay scale by position, which is why all contracts are included in this post.
I should also add that not every player listed below will play shooting guard this season, as some will likely see some time at small forward or point guard. To maintain uniformity, I used their positions listed on the teams’ official rosters to determine which list to include them on. So if you see a player who isn’t expected to play shooting guard for his team this season listed below, that’s why.
The Western Conference’s shooting guards are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- James Harden [Rockets] —$26,540,100
- Allen Crabbe [Blazers] —$18,500,000
- Wesley Matthews [Mavs] — $17,145,838
- Klay Thompson [Warriors] — $16,663,575
- Manu Ginobili [Spurs] —$14,000,000
- Jamal Crawford [Clippers] —$13,253,012
- Arron Afflalo [Kings] —$12,500,000
- Eric Gordon [Rockets] —$12,385,665
- Tyreke Evans [Pelicans] —$10,203,755
- Alec Burks [Jazz] —$10,154,495
- Danny Green [Spurs] —$10,000,000
- E’Twaun Moore [Pelicans] —$8,081,363
- Garrett Temple [Kings] —$8,000,000
- J.J. Redick [Clippers] —$7,377,500
- Lou Williams [Lakers] —$7,000,000
- Victor Oladipo [Thunder] —$6,552,960
- Andrew Wiggins [Wolves] —$6,006,600
- Alex Abrines [Thunder] —$5,994,764
- Tony Allen [Grizzlies] — $5,505,618
- Langston Galloway [Pelicans] —$5,200,000
- Ben McLemore [Kings] —$4,008,882
- Leandro Barbosa [Suns] —$4,000,000
- Quincy Pondexter [Pelicans] —$3,617,978
- Buddy Hield [Pelicans] —$3,517,200
- Mike Miller [Nuggets] — $3,500,000
- Anthony Morrow [Thunder] —$3,488,000
- K.J. McDaniels [Rockets] —$3,333,333
- Troy Daniels [Grizzlies] — $3,332,940
- C.J. McCollum [Blazers]—$3,219,579
- Jamal Murray [Nuggets] — $3,210,840
- Seth Curry [Mavs] — $2,898,000
- Devin Booker [Suns] —$2,223,600
- Andre Roberson [Thunder] —$2,183,072
- Archie Goodwin [Suns] —$2,094,089
- Vince Carter [Grizzlies] — $2,000,000
- Gary Harris [Nuggets] — $1,655,880
- Malik Beasley [Nuggets] — $1,627,320
- Justin Anderson [Mavs]— $1,514,160
- Jordan Adams [Grizzlies] — $1,465,080
- Malachi Richardson [Kings] —$1,439,880
- Rodney Hood [Jazz] —$1,406,520
- Alonzo Gee [Pelicans] —$1,400,000
- Kevin Martin [Waived via Stretch Provision by Wolves] $1,360,305
- Alan Anderson [Clippers] —$1,315,448
- Lance Stephenson [Pelicans] — $1,227,286
- Elliot Williams [Warriors] — $1,227,286
- John Jenkins [Suns] —$1,050,961
- Ian Clark [Warriors] — $1,015,696
- Toure’ Murry [Wolves]— $980,431
- JaKarr Sampson [Nuggets] — $980,431
- Pat Connaughton [Blazers] —$874,636
- D.J. Kennedy [Nuggets] — $874,636
- Luis Montero [Blazers] —$874,636
- Lamar Patterson [Kings] —$874,636
- Jonathon Simmons [Spurs] —$874,636
- D.J. Stephens [Grizzlies] — $874,636
- Axel Toupane [Nuggets] — $874,636
- Bryn Forbes [Spurs] —$543,471
- Quincy Ford [Jazz] —$543,471
- Patricio Garino [Spurs] —$543,471
- Shaquille Harrison [Suns] — $543,471
- Keith Hornsby [Mavs] — $543,471
- Cameron Jones [Warriors] — $543,471
- Tim Quarterman [Blazers] —$543,471
- Wayne Selden [Grizzlies] — $543,471
- Isaiah Taylor [Rockets] — $543,471
- C.J. Williams [Mavs] — $543,471
- Scott Wood [Warriors] — $543,471
Cavs Consider Adding Point Guard Depth
With Mo Williams announcing his retirement earlier today, the only true point guard on the Cavaliers’ roster to back up Kyrie Irving is rookie Kay Felder. Despite GM David Griffin saying that the team is “comfortable” with the point guard spot, Cleveland is seeking to bolster the position via free agency, Joe Vardon of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. To that end, the Cavs have been in contact with Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, and Kirk Hinrich, Vardon adds.
“We feel very comfortable with where we are at the point guard position, the versatility that we have to absorb that,” Griffin told the media. “We have other people that can guard the position. Because of LeBron James, we have additional people that can also play the position offensively, and frankly we’re really excited about finding out what some of the younger players on our roster can do. This is a training camp that for the first time since I’ve been here I think will be incredibly competitive, relative to roster spots themselves, and we’re really excited about the guys that we have in camp who have a chance to earn a job.”
The Cavs have been in contact with all three of the players mentioned above, anticipating Williams hanging up his sneakers and retiring, a source told Vardon. But the team appears to be in no rush to sign anyone, preferring to let Felder get some experience in training camp and to see if coach Tyronn Lue can make his rotation work without adding a new player to the mix, Vardon relays.
Cole has also drawn interest from the Sixers and Nuggets, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net relays (via Twitter). The 27-year-old made 45 appearances for the Pelicans last season, averaging 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 26.6 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .405/.324/.800.
Chalmers was James’ teammate when LeBron was a member of the Heat. The 30-year-old made 55 appearances for the Grizzlies last season prior to tearing his Achilles in March. He was subsequently waived by the team. Chalmers notched averages of 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 22.8 minutes per night. His slash line was .417/.326/.827
The 35-year-old Hinrich is the oldest of the trio mentioned. He split time between the Bulls and Hawks in 2015/16, making a combine 46 appearances and averaging 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 13.7 minutes per night. His shooting numbers were .380/.387/.938.
Atlantic Notes: Anthony, Paul, Lowry
The Knicks are hoping that the roster changes they made this offseason will alleviate some of the pressure off of Carmelo Anthony and don’t want the forward feeling like he needs to “do everything” in order to be successful, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays. “A lot of times he has a penchant to take the ball himself up the court and slow the play down, the development down, by pushing the ball up the court himself or taking the inbound pass,” team president Phil Jackson told the media. “Those are some of the small things that we asked to look at and maybe we could change. With the outstanding guard corps that we have — Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings, guys who can really push the ball at a certain level — I think he’s going to be much more comfortable allowing them to do what they’re best at.”
“We’re hoping that the level of talent that is on the team will lead to him not thinking, ‘I have to do everything,’” coach Jeff Hornacek added. “He’s a great passer. He’s made great passes in some of these games that we’ve seen. I think when he has that trust in his teammates, he’s going to make those passes, and we’re going to get easy buckets.”
Here’s more from out of the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who can opt out of his current deal after the 2016/17 campaign is complete, told members of the media that he won’t be discussing free agency until the season is over, Eric Koreen relays (via Twitter). Lowry will assuredly command more on the open market than the $12MM he is owed for 2017/18.
- Despite the Sixers bringing 20 players into training camp, Brandon Paul has a legitimate shot to make the opening night roster, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines. The scribe notes that Paul’s contract has more guaranteed money included than the deals of Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson, Jerami Grant, T.J. McConnell, Shawn Long and James Webb. Discussing why he chose to sign with Philly, Paul told Kennedy, “I just felt like, all around, it was the best decision for me to come in and compete. They obviously have a young roster and I kind of bring in a little bit of maturity to that roster. Obviously, I’m relatively young as well. But around those guys, I’m kind of the older one and I’m a little more seasoned because I played overseas and in the D-League. I think I can bring a little bit of toughness and maturity to the roster.”
- Neither the Raptors nor DeMar DeRozan wanted the player to end up anywhere other than Toronto, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who details the free agent process the two parties went through in reaching a five-year agreement this summer.