And-Ones: Brooks, Contracts, Spurs
With the bulk of the offseason free agent signings in the rearview, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders examined whom he believes to be the best values amongst the free agent contracts doled out this Summer. The Cavs‘ re-signing LeBron James snagged the top spot, but Pincus also is a fan of the Celtics inking Amir Johnson, David West signing with the Spurs, and Brandan Wright‘s pact with the Grizzlies. The Basketball Insiders scribe notes that the best aspect of Johnson’s deal with Boston is that the second year is non-guaranteed, making him a potentially valuable trade chip next season.
Here’s more from around the league:
- MarShon Brooks, who last played in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2013/14 season, has signed with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).
- The Rockets sent the Nuggets $440k as part of the trade for Ty Lawson, and the Thunder forked over $1.5MM to the Celtics as part of the trade for Perry Jones III, Pincus relays (Twitter links).
- Danny Green believes that the combination of the Spurs signing free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, and re-signing both Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, will likely keep coach Gregg Popovich from retiring in the near future, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express News relays. “Without LaMarcus and Kawhi I think he’s out the door when Timmy [Duncan] leaves,” Green said. “Them being here I think extends his tenure just a little bit longer. Pop loves the game, obviously. I don’t see him stepping away fully. Even if he ever did he’d always be in the front office, or around or something.”
Western Notes: Harris, Gallinari, Jazz
Devin Harris anticipates a change in his role with the Mavericks after the offseason additions of Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews, and the team’s new deal with J.J. Barea, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “I would consider the backcourt crowded, but I think we got solid pieces — one, two and three,” Harris said. “I don’t know how much of a role change I’m going to have, but I think I’ll probably be playing mostly off the ball, you know, with J.J. coming back and with Deron coming in. But we’ll see what happens throughout training camp. You never know what will happen.” Harris also indicated that the franchise has recovered and moved on from what he termed, “the whole DeAndre Jordan fiasco,” Sneed adds. The center had spurned Dallas after reaching a verbal agreement in order to re-sign with the Clippers.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Danilo Gallinari admits that he was pleasantly surprised by the Nuggets‘ renegotiation-and-extension offer, which he has officially signed, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. “I was very fast in saying yes to this extension,” Gallinari said. “I’m very happy to stay in Denver. This extension came because of the people in Denver, the fact that I’ve been in Denver for a while now and the fact that I love the city.“
- The forward also noted that he was pleased with the Nuggets‘ offseason moves, including the hiring of Michael Malone as coach, Dempsey adds. “I’m very confident in the choices they made this summer in changing the coach and everything,” Gallinari said. “They are doing everything possible in their capacity to win. And I think that they made the right choices, and hopefully we can start winning again starting this season.“
- Despite point guard Dante Exum possibly suffering a torn left ACL on Tuesday, the Jazz are more than likely going to rely on Trey Burke, Bryce Cotton, and Raul Neto at the one spot, rather than signing or trading for a veteran player to bolster their depth, Tony Jones and Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune write.
Poll: 2013 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 1)
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.
The first NBA Draft we’ll tackle is 2013’s, the year that the Cavaliers surprised quite a few people when they nabbed UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick. Quite a few talented players were in that year’s player pool, including Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Rudy Gobert, just to rattle off a few.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll provide a series of reader polls that ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick. We’ll kick this off with the Cavaliers, who owned the No. 1 pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Cleveland’s pick and check back tomorrow night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Magic should have taken at No. 2. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
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Eastern Notes: Afflalo, Hilliard, Bucks
Arron Afflalo, who inked a two-year deal worth $16MM with the Knicks this offseason, told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link) that Carmelo Anthony played a big part in his decision to come to New York. The guard indicated that he spoke with Anthony prior to and during the free agent signing period, and Afflalo believes that Melo was instrumental in his signing with the team, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday, and Afflalo also noted that the Knicks received a glowing recommendation regarding himself from Anthony, who was a former teammate of Afflalo’s in Denver, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News adds (on Twitter).
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Afflalo also indicated that he and Anthony are extremely optimistic about the Knicks‘ chances at making the playoffs this coming season, Begley adds (Twitter links).
- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker plans to sign a bill next week that will provide $250MM in taxpayer money to pay for a new arena for the Bucks, the Associated Press reports. The public funding plan for the proposed arena had previously been approved by the Wisconsin State Assembly by a 52-34 vote.
- Darrun Hilliard, who the Pistons drafted with the No. 38 overall pick and officially signed to a three-year deal, will have the first year of his contract with Detroit fully guaranteed, and he received a $500k partial guarantee for the second year, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
- Adonis Thomas received a partial guarantee of $60k for the 2015/16 campaign from the Pistons, Pincus tweets. The forward inked a training camp deal with the team in July.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/4/15
In the NBA, the point guard is arguably the most important player on the floor, and in today’s era of small-ball, having an effective floor general is growing increasingly vital to the success of any franchise. There are quite a few superstars who man the one spot around the league, though it is certainly up for debate as to whom the top playmaker currently is. I’d like to approach this subject a bit differently than past topics, and rather than simply asking you to chime in on who you believe to be the top point guard in the NBA, I’m going to present this in a versus format that we’ll run periodically in these Shootarounds throughout the Summer.
Today’s matchup is: Eric Bledsoe (Suns) vs. Reggie Jackson (Pistons). Which of the two point guards would you prefer to start for your team?
Both players began their NBA careers as backups to All-Star caliber point guards and were traded prior to becoming starters. The two players are also similar in that they are score-first guards, rather than pure ball-distributors. Bledsoe has shown himself to be the better defender of the two, which certainly helps his cause, but I’d argue that Jackson’s ceiling as a player offensively is much higher. The Suns’ guard has had two seasons to display his wares as a starter, though his 2013/14 campaign was shortened due to injury, and Bledsoe is likely to continue to put up averages in the range of 17-19 points and 5-7 assists per night. Very respectable stats, though Bledsoe has yet to demonstrate that he has the ability to elevate and carry a team into contention. Bledsoe, 25, made 81 appearances for Phoenix last season, averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in 34.6 minutes per contest, and his shooting line was .447/.324/.800. His career numbers through five NBA campaigns are 10.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 4.1 APG.
Jackson, who is also 25, played in a total of 77 contests split between the Thunder and the Pistons during the 2014/15 season. He notched 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 29.5 minutes per night, with a slash line of .434/.299/.830. Jackson’s career stats through four NBA seasons are 9.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 3.6 APG. The jury is still out on Jackson as a starter, though in a small sample size with the Pistons last season he was quite impressive, notching 9.2 assists in his 27 starts with the team. It remains to be seen if Jackson can maintain those numbers over the long haul, as well as become a leader who can take his squad to the next level.
If you were the GM of a team and were given the choice between the two players, which one would you choose? Why did you pick one over the other? Do you believe each is worth their 2015/16 salary ($13,913,044 for Jackson and $13.5MM for Bledsoe)? Take to the comments section below to sound off with your thoughts and opinions. 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 me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Pacific Notes: Prigioni, Dukan, Lieberman
Pablo Prigioni, who inked a one year deal with the Clippers this offseason, said that Los Angeles was his preferred destination all along, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. “I didn’t even consider to choose another team or to go back to Europe,” Prigioni said. “’I said, I want to go there [to Los Angeles].’ This is a perfect team. This is a team that has a group of guys that are playing together the last four or five years. Now, same coach, add a couple of new guys. This is a perfect team to go to and try to give my best and help with whatever they need to do.”
Here’s more from the NBA’s Pacific Division:
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe figures the range of salaries on a would-be extension for the Warriors‘ Harrison Barnes would fall between those on DeMarre Carroll‘s four-year, $58MM deal with the Raptors and the 2016/17 maximum salary for players with Barnes’ years of experience, projected to come in at $20.4MM.
- Duje Dukan‘s deal with the Kings will see him earn $525,093, which is fully guaranteed, for the 2015/16 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is scheduled to make $874,636 in the second year of the pact, $200k of which becomes guaranteed on August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
- New Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman, in a Q&A with David Aldridge of NBA.com, said one of her biggest challenges will be in knowing when to chime in with her opinions, since all of her previous experience was as a head coach. “Summer League was really important for me. Summer League helped validate that I’m not a pushy broad,” Lieberman said. “I have been a head coach my whole life. I’ve never been an assistant, to be honest. I’m the one that has to do some of the growing here. I have got to learn when to speak, when my voice is required, and quite frankly, when to just shut the heck up. So that part is new for me. That will be new for me. But George [Karl] is a pretty easy guy to be around.”
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, have hired Casey Owens as head coach, Pincus reports (via Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Alexander, Raptors
Andrea Bargnani, in an interview with Malcolm Pagani of il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian newspaper (h/t to NetsDaily), noted that he turned down more lucrative NBA offers this Summer in order to sign with the Nets. “I would have done it [signed with Brooklyn] for free because the money at this time does not matter,” said Bargnani. “I just hope I can have a decent playing time, scoring as many points [as he can] and exceed goals. I do not think I was lucky [last year]. Luck is good health that allows you to prove your talent at the right time. The rest is the work. I made risky choices, indeed extremely risky and I intend to continue to take risks. I accept all the criticism, it is living in a beautiful dream, I know myself. ”
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors have officially announced the promotion of Teresa Resch to Vice President, Basketball Operations and Player Development and Dan Tolzman to Director, Player Personnel. Tolzman will also serve as the GM of Toronto’s new D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, who begin play this coming season.
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe pegs Jonas Valanciunas as a “lock” to demand maximum-level salaries in any extension with the Raptors. The deadline for Toronto and the Leon Rose client to do an extension is October 31st.
- It seems to be shaping up as a player-friendly extension market, as Lowe, writing in the same piece, speculates that the Celtics might pounce on a deal with Tyler Zeller as long as the annual salaries are worth less than a staggering $12MM.
- Former lottery pick Joe Alexander turned down a Summer contract offer from the Celtics and instead has signed a deal with Banco di Sardegna Sassari of Sardinia, Alexander’s agents Doug Neustadt and Mike Kneisley confirmed to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Alexander’s last NBA action came during the 2009/10 campaign when he made eight appearances for the Bulls.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Jazz Fear Dante Exum Has Torn ACL
Point guard Dante Exum injured his left knee today while playing for the Australian National Team, and the Jazz fear that he may have torn his ACL, Jody Genessy of The Deseret Times reports (Twitter link). The injury was a non-contact one, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for a quick recovery for the second-year player. If Exum were to miss significant time, the team will be forced to rely heavily on former lottery pick Trey Burke, who was expected to be Exum’s backup. Utah also has Raul Neto and Bryce Cotton in the mix at the one spot heading into training camp.
The Jazz issued a statement regarding Exum (on Twitter), saying, “Exum suffered a left knee injury today while playing for the Australian National Team in a game against the Slovenian National Team in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Exum was initially treated on site and will now return to Salt Lake City for further medical evaluation by the Utah Jazz medical staff and official healthcare partner University of Utah Health Care.”
Exum, 20, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He appeared in 82 games as a rookie, including 41 starts. His numbers for the 2014/15 campaign were 4.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 22.2 minutes per contest. Exum’s slash line for last season was .349/.314/.625.
The injury to Exum is likely to rekindle the debate regarding whether or not NBA players under contract should be allowed by their teams to participate in National Team games during the offseason. Paul George was lost for all but six contests during the 2014/15 season after breaking his leg during a Team USA intrasquad scrimmage last Summer.
Clippers Ink Pablo Prigioni
AUGUST 4TH, 3:17pm: The signing is official, the Clippers announced.
5:41pm: The deal is a one-year, minimum salary arrangement, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times reports (via Twitter).
JULY 22ND, 5:29pm: The Clippers and unrestricted free agent Pablo Prigioni have reached an agreement on a contract, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are not yet known. The veteran fills the team’s need for a solid backup to starter Chris Paul.
The 38-year-old had been sent to Denver as part of the Ty Lawson deal, and he was waived shortly after so the Nuggets could avoid paying Prigioni’s 2015/16 salary of $1,734,572, which was set to become fully guaranteed if he remained on the roster past Monday. Denver is on the hook for $440K, the amount of Prigioni’s partial guarantee.
In three NBA seasons Prigioni has averaged 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists to go with a slash line of .437/.398/.872.
Hoops Rumors Originals 7/26/15-8/1/15
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- Sam Amico, the founder and editor of AmicoHoops.net and a broadcast journalist for Fox Sports Ohio, will write a weekly feature for Hoops Rumors with news, rumors and insight from around the NBA. He posted his initial column this past week, and it can be found here.
- Chuck Myron looked at how underclassmen fared in the 2015 NBA Draft.
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- Chuck ran down the list of players who were dealt during the 2015 offseason with at least $10MM in guaranteed money left on their respective deals.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- We ran down the list of players who survived past their contract guarantee dates.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- Chuck ran down the number of free agent signings made by each franchise this offseason.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- We reviewed out commenting policy. Play nice everyone.