Northwest Notes: Roberson, Jazz, Grant
Thunder swingman Andre Roberson is excited to see what changes Billy Donovan, the team’s new coach, will bring to the franchise, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. “He’s a great guy,” Roberson said. “I think he’ll be a great fit for us. A guy that definitely knows the game. He’s willing to learn. And he’s all about the program. I think that’s what we need. And I’m glad he’s a part of this Thunder organization.” Roberson isn’t sure if his role as a starter will change under the new regime, Mayberry adds. “We’re going to have to see,” Roberson continued. “Nobody knows where they’re set besides Russell [Westbrook], Kevin [Durant] and Serge [Ibaka]. It’s going to be a new coach, new system. I think we’re all up for the challenge. We’re all in this together. So it doesn’t matter if I’m starting, whether I’m not starting, I’m going to go out there and do what I do every night and provide for my team. So it’s going to be good.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders, who had previously been leaning toward selecting Jahlil Okafor with the No. 1 overall pick, is now enamored with Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Mark Heisler of Forbes.com relays. The change in Saunders’ thinking occurred after watching Towns work out last week, Heisler adds.
- Penn State guard D.J. Newbill took part in a group workout held by the Thunder on Wednesday, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
- Steve Starks, the president of Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment, wants to return the Jazz franchise to the success it had enjoyed back in the 1990s, Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune writes. “It’s no secret that we want to build a consistent championship-caliber team,” Starks said. “Our ultimate goal is to raise a banner. I wake up in the morning thinking about how we do that.“
- The Thunder traditionally like to carry three point guards, and Notre Dame playmaker Jerian Grant could fit the bill when the team selects at the No. 14 overall pick this June, Mayberry writes in a separate piece. One of the concerns NBA scouts have relating to Grant is his age, 22, which somewhat limits his ceiling compared to a number of other point guards in this year’s draft, Mayberry notes. “I work harder than anyone in this draft so I know that I’m going to continue to get better,” Grant said. “Me being old, I think, is just I’m ready to go right now. I’m ready to help a team right now. But at the same time, a few years down the road I think I’ll be even better [able] to help a team.”
Eastern Notes: Kirk, Boylen, Porzingis
The Pistons got an early jump on their offseason today, acquiring Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks in exchange for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams. Milwaukee GM John Hammond had nothing but praise for the departed big man, Charles F. Gardner and Matt Velazquez of The Journal Sentinel write. “Ersan always represented this organization and this community in a first-class manner,” Hammond said. “He gave 100% night in and night out. We wish Ersan nothing but the best as he continues his career in Detroit.” Here’s more out of the East:
- The Bulls are pursuing San Antonio assistant Jim Boylen to become the top assistant on coach Fred Hoiberg‘s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Chicago has received permission from the Spurs to speak to Boylen, league sources told Wojnarowski. Chicago has expressed a willingness to discuss the title of associate head coach with Boylen, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
- The Nets held pre-draft workouts today for Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), George Lucas (Brazil), Lucas Dias Silva (Brazil), Josh Gasser (Wisconsin), and Luis Montero (Westchester CC), Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
- Center Alex Kirk worked out for the Knicks today with the hope he can earn an invite to training camp, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. “I’m not going to come in and try to score 30 points and try to do some of these amazing things that these other guys are going to try to do,” Kirk told Basketball Insiders (video link). “I just want to come in and be Alex Kirk and try to play as hard as I possibly can and hopefully that turns into some training camp offers and just see where that goes from there.” Kirk was waived by New York shortly after being acquired from the Cavaliers this past season.
- The Knicks will be one of a number of teams attending a workout for Kristaps Porzingis in Las Vegas this Friday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays (Twitter links). This is likely to be Prozingis’ only pre-draft showcase, Begley notes. Also participating in the workout will be Myles Turner (Texas) and Jarell Martin (LSU), the ESPN scribe relays.
- Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre plans to work out for the Heat in the near future, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. You can see our full prospect profile for Oubre here.
2015/16 Roster Counts: Detroit Pistons
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Pistons’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Detroit’s roster.
(Last Updated 3-15-16, 2:35pm)
Fully Guaranteed (14)
- Joel Anthony (C) — 6’9″/32 years old.
- Aron Baynes (F/C) — 6’10″/28 years old. Free agent signing.
- Steve Blake (G) — 6’3″/35 years old. Acquired via trade from Nets.
- Reggie Bullock (G) — 6’7″/24 years old. Acquired via trade from Suns.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (G) — 6’5″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 8 overall pick in 2013.
- Spencer Dinwiddie (G) — 6’6″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 38 overall pick in 2014.
- Andre Drummond (C) — 6’11″/21 years old. Drafted with No. 9 overall pick in 2012.
- Tobias Harris (F) — 6’9″/22 years old. Acquired via trade from Magic.
- Darrun Hilliard (F) — 6’6″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 38 overall pick in 2015.
- Reggie Jackson (G) — 6’3″/25 years old. Acquired via trade from Thunder.
- Stanley Johnson (F) — 6’7″/19 years old. Drafted with No. 8 overall pick in 2015.
- Jodie Meeks (G) — 6’4″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- Marcus Morris (F) — 6’9″/25 years old. Acquired via trade from Suns.
- Anthony Tolliver (F) — 6’8″/30 years old. Acquired via trade with Suns.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (14)
Western Notes: Divac, Grizzlies, Pack
One of the strangest aspects of the Kings‘ hiring of Vlade Divac as the team’s president of basketball and franchise operations is that no one but Divac and team owner Vivek Ranadive actually understood he’d be in a powerful basketball operations position until a few days after the announcement, Tom Ziller of SBNation writes. It was assumed that because Divac had extremely limited prior front office experience, he would be more of a figurehead than being actively involved in personnel decisions, Ziller notes. There were even members of Sacramento’s front office who didn’t realize that Divac had the power to make personnel moves until Divac and Randive relayed that information to the media, the SBNation scribe adds.
Here’s more out of the Western Conference:
- The Grizzlies have workouts scheduled on Sunday for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), Cady Lalanne (Massachusetts), Denzel Livingston (Incarnate Word), Norman Powell (UCLA), J.P. Tokoto (North Carolina), and Maurice Walker (Minnesota), the team announced via a press release.
- The Nuggets are expected to work out Murray State point guard Cameron Payne, who is rocketing up draft boards, this Monday, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post tweets.
- Robert Pack has signed on to be an assistant on the staff of new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link).
- Working out for the Suns today were Bryce Dejean-Jones (Iowa State), Mouhammadou Jaiteh (France), Derrick Marks (Boise State), Michael Qualls (Arkansas), Chasson Randle (Stanford), and TaShawn Thomas (Oklahoma), Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic notes (Twitter links). Qualls suffered an undisclosed injury during the workout, Coro relays, and was replaced by Polish guard Mateusz Ponitka.
- The Kings have added John Welch and Chad Iske as assistants on George Karl‘s coaching staff, Spears reports (on Twitter). Both men were previously with Karl when he coached in Denver, Spears adds.
Central Notes: Ilyasova, Cavs, Bucks
The Pistons got the better end of today’s trade with the Bucks that netted Detroit Ersan Ilyasova, Daniel Leroux of RealGM writes in his breakdown of the deal. While the trade was essentially a salary dump for Milwaukee, the Pistons taking a flyer on Ilyasova without giving up any significant assets was a better outcome than most of their realistic free agent options in July, Leroux opines. In addition to creating some cap flexibility, the Bucks also cleared some minutes for the team’s bevy of young frontcourt players, the RealGM scribe notes.
Here’s the latest from the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers are conducting a group workout today involving Pittsburgh shooting guard Cameron Wright, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter links). Also participating in the workout are Utah’s Delon Wright, Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison, and North Carolina State’s Trevor Lacey, Scotto adds.
- Dealing away Ilyasova will also have an impact on who the Bucks look to select with the No. 17 overall pick in the NBA Draft, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times relays (Twitter link). The franchise could potentially nab Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker or UCLA’s Kevon Looney with that pick, Woelfel adds.
- The Pistons interviewed LSU big man Jordan Mickey via Skype, but there are currently no plans for an individual workout because of scheduling issues, Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press relays (on Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Porzingis, Draft, Griffin
The NBA has reached a deal that will make Nike the new apparel partner of the NBA, Michael Colangelo of USA Today writes. The contract is for eight years beginning with the 2017/2018 season, and is worth roughly $1 billion, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). This deal will increase the league’s basketball related income by approximately $125MM per season, and could potentially have a bearing on the next collective bargaining negotiations, as well as future salary cap figures, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Grizzlies have workouts scheduled on Friday for Andrew Harrison (Kentucky), Ryan Harrow (Georgia State), Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington), Corey Hawkins (UC Davis), Josh Richardson (Tennessee), and Terry Rozier (Louisville), the team announced in a press release.
- St. John’s guard Sir’Dominic Pointer has a workout scheduled with the Heat on Saturday, the Nets on Monday, and the Hornets on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (Twitter links). Pointer wowed the Suns during his workout in Phoenix on Tuesday, sources tell Zagoria.
- Projected lottery pick Kristaps Porzingis will conduct his only pre-draft workout for NBA teams this Friday, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports (Insider subscription required).
- UNLV big man Christian Wood has workouts scheduled next week with the Grizzlies and the Mavericks, Josh Newman of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter).
- Adrian Griffin is being considered for a spot on Scott Skiles‘ coaching staff with the Magic, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune notes (on Twitter).
Pacific Notes: D’Alessandro, Lakers, Suns
With former GM Pete D’Alessandro on his way to a front office post with the Nuggets, Kings executive Vlade Divac is interested in Ryan West, the Lakers‘ assistant director of scouting, Sam Amick of USA Today relays (Twitter links). West is the son of former Lakers great Jerry West, and the younger West has been close with Divac since the big man’s playing days in Los Angeles, Amick notes. The Lakers have been grooming West as a potential replacement for GM Mitch Kupchak, so the Kings may have competition for his services, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
Here’s more out of the NBA’s Pacific Division:
- The L.A. D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, have named Conner Henry as the team’s new head coach, Pincus tweets.
- The Suns held pre-draft workouts today for Ousmane Drame (Quinnipiac), Michael Frazier (Florida), Phil Greene (St. John’s), Jonathan Holmes (Texas), Cady Lalanne (Massachusetts), and Aaron White (Iowa), Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports (Twitter link).
- In discussing the Lakers‘ options with the No. 2 overall pick this June, Kupchak indicated that the team still hasn’t decided on a big man or a guard as its preference, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com relays. “You go back to the [Hakeem] Olajuwon, [Sam] Bowie, Michael Jordan draft. And in years past and maybe even today, it makes sense to build around a big,” Kupchak said. “But you don’t want to take a big because it’s a big and pass up on the No. 3 pick, which turned out to be Michael Jordan. So we’re going to look at the bigs and the guards and see if there’s a guard there that — despite being just a guard — you don’t want to pass on him.“
- Kupchak also indicated that Lakers star Kobe Bryant won’t have any impact on who the team selects in the Draft, Ramirez adds. “I don’t think it’s that big a factor,” Kupchak said. “Kobe is going to have a presence in training camp, and I’m sure he’ll try to impart his approach to the game on the players in camp. He’s never been great with rookies, and rookies have come to expect Kobe’s glare and ignoring them in the locker room and saying things.“
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Wade, Bucks
The Knicks are involved in active discussions to acquire a late first round or early second round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports. New York is offering cash considerations in return for any available selections, Charania notes. The team has worked out several players, including France’s Mouhammadou Jaiteh, selling the potential that the team will push hard to acquire a pick in their projected draft range, the RealGM scribe adds.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- A friend of Dwyane Wade has said that the Heat‘s preference is to sign the guard to a three year deal worth $36MM, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes. The salary structure would be $16MM for 2015/16, and then $10MM for each of the remaining seasons, Jackson adds. These figures are quite a difference from the three-year, $60MM deal that Wade is reported to be seeking, the Herald scribe notes.
- Arizona forward Stanley Johnson has a workout scheduled on Saturday with the Knicks, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays (All Twitter links).
- The Bucks held workouts today for Troran Brown (University of Montevallo), Nedim Buza (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lucas Dias (Brazil), Alex Marzette (Robert Morris), Aaron Thomas (Florida State), and Greg Whittington (Georgetown), the team announced.
- Bucks coach Jason Kidd still holds a small ownership stake in the Nets a year after parting ways with the franchise, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily relays (Twitter links). Though Kidd owns less than 1% of the team, the league still wants him to dispose of the stock, Windrem adds.
- Notre Dame forward Pat Connaughton has a workout scheduled with the Knicks, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets.
2015/16 Roster Counts: Denver Nuggets
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Nuggets’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Denver’s roster.
(Last Updated 3-25-16, 2:45pm)
Fully Guaranteed (15)
- Darrell Arthur (F) — 6’9″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- D.J. Augustin (G) — 6’0″/27 years old. Acquired via trade from Thunder.
- Will Barton (G) — 6’6″/24 years old. Acquired via trade from Blazers.
- Wilson Chandler (G/F) — 6’8″/28 years old. Acquired via trade with Knicks.
- Kenneth Faried (F) — 6’8″/25 years old. Drafted with No. 22 overall pick in 2011.
- Danilo Gallinari (F) — 6’10″/26 years old. Acquired via trade with Knicks.
- Gary Harris (G) — 6’4″/20 years old. Draft rights acquired via Bulls.
- Nikola Jokic (F/C) — 6’10″/20 years old. Drafted with No. 41 overall pick in 2014.
- Joffrey Lauvergne (F) — 6’11/23 years old. Draft rights acquired via Grizzlies.
- Mike Miller (G/F) — 6’8″/35 years old. Free agent signing.
- Emmanuel Mudiay (G) — 6’5″/19 years old. Drafted with No. 7 overall pick in 2015.
- Jameer Nelson (G) — 6’0″/33 years old. Acquired via trade from Celtics.
- Jusuf Nurkic (C) — 6’11″/20 years old. Draft rights acquired via Bulls.
- JaKarr Sampson (F) — 6’9″/22 years old. Free agent signing.
- Axel Toupane (G) — 6’6″/23 years old. Free agent signing.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (15)
Southeast Notes: Carroll, Hornets, Wizards
Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll is the top unrestricted free agent set to hit the open market this summer, and Carroll can expect to command an annual salary in the $14MM-$15MM range, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 28-year-old also believes that his best basketball is still ahead of him, Vivlamore adds. “I think I have a lot more to come,” Carroll told Vivlamore. “I think I can be an All-Star player, like Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard. I see myself as one of those guys, but in order for me to get to being on the elite level, like Paul George, you have to be consistent. People got a glimpse of it this year.”
Here’s more out of the Southeast:
- Though Carroll is happy in Atlanta and with the Hawks, he still intends to test the market this offseason, Vivlamore notes. “A player has few opportunities to hit the free-agent market and get a contract to take care of his family,” said Mark Bartelstein, Carroll’s agent. “However, there are a lot of elements to consider other than pure economics. The Hawks have been sensational with DeMarre’s development in so many ways. They deserve a lot of credit. At the same time, DeMarre’s work ethic and his relentless pursuit of greatness is why he continues to get better every single year, and I know it will just continue. We will weigh everything in making a great decision for DeMarre.”
- The Hornets held workouts today for Devin Booker (Kentucky), Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), Keon Moore (Winthrop), Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga), Travis Trice (Michigan State), and Julian Washburn (UTEP), the team announced (via Twitter).
- Scheduled to work out for the Wizards on Thursday are Brandon Ashley (Arizona), Corey Hawkins (UC Davis), David Laury (Iona), Nikola Radicevic (Serbia), Rashad Vaughn (UNLV), and Dez Wells (Maryland), the team has announced.
- Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre has a workout scheduled with the Hornets on Thursday, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets.