Knicks Sign Langston Galloway To 10-Day Deal
WEDNESDAY, 1:43pm: The signing is official, the Knicks announced (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 4:43pm: The Knicks are set to sign Langston Galloway to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Galloway was playing for the Westchester Knicks, New York’s D-League affiliate. The Knicks currently have 15 players on their roster, so a corresponding move will need to be made. It was reported that New York was likely to release at least two of the three players they acquired in the three-way trade with the Thunder and the Cavs Monday night.
New York had acquired Lance Thomas, Louis Amundson, and Alex Kirk in the deal that sent Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to Cleveland, and the speculation was that Thomas would be the only one of the three to be retained. The Knicks have until 4pm central time on Wednesday to decide who they will keep, or else they will be on the hook for the remainder of the players’ salaries for the season.
Galloway has appeared in 19 games for Westchester this season, averaging 16.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while logging 36.8 minutes per contest. His slash line in the D-League this season was .447/.358/.830. The 6’2″ guard was with the Knicks during the preseason after going undrafted out of St. Joseph’s.
Western Notes: Jackson, Ledo, Lakers
Thunder guard Reggie Jackson was under the impression that he was headed to the Knicks in Monday night’s deal, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes. “I thought I was traded,” Jackson said. “I was just thinking I was going to go home and pack and that was it.” Jackson had heard all the rumors, but said that his nerves were calmed when he didn’t get a call from his agent Aaron Mintz and brother/manager Travis Jackson, Spears adds.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Mavericks have recalled Ricky Ledo from the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reports (Twitter link). This was Ledo’s seventh trek to the D-League this season.
- One of the beneficiaries of the Rajon Rondo trade is Richard Jefferson, who is seeing more playing time with Mavs now that Jae Crowder is in Boston, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “He [coach Rick Carlisle] didn’t really have me in the rotation,” Jefferson said. “It was just a matter of me staying a professional and waiting on the opportunity. It was always tough for me just because I’d never been in that situation. Now I’m starting to feel more comfortable and showing that I can do things a little more consistently.”
- Lakers president Jeanie Buss sees no benefit in Los Angeles tanking this season, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times writes. “The draft pick [the Lakers owe] to Phoenix, if we don’t give it to them this year, we have to give it to them next year, so I don’t really see what the logic would be,” Buss said. “Try to tank to keep it this year, because we’d just have to give it away next year — that doesn’t resonate with me,” she continued. “I think it’s impossible to tell your coach and tell your players, ‘Try not to win.’ That goes against everything an organization is about.“
- The Thunder‘s signing of Anthony Morrow to a team-friendly deal this offseason paved the way for the team to acquire Dion Waiters, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. Morrow’s first-year salary of $3.2MM kept Oklahoma City from triggering a hard cap that likely would have prevented this trade from being made, Mayberry notes.
Pacific Notes: Corbin, Lakers, Wilcox
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro confirmed that Tyrone Corbin would indeed coach Sacramento for the remainder of the season, as the GM said in a radio interview Monday on KHTK-AM, Bill Herenda of CSNBayArea.com notes. When Corbin took over for the fired Mike Malone, it was assumed that he would merely be the interim coach, notes Herenda, but the team intended to have Corbin finish out the season all along. D’Alessandro did admit that he spoke with George Karl after Malone was fired, but D’Alessandro said the organization supports Corbin fully, Herenda adds.
Here’s the latest out of the Pacific Division:
- The Clippers have assigned C.J. Wilcox to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, the team has announced. This will be Wilcox’s first trip of the season to the D-League, and he is the first player that the Clippers have assigned this season.
- Blazers guard Steve Blake still has warm regards for the Lakers, with whom he spent four years of his career before being dealt to Golden State last season, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. Blake said that he “absolutely” had interest in re-signing with the Lakers this offseason, Medina notes. Blake also relayed that he and the Lakers talked at the beginning of free agency, though Los Angeles was waiting on the decisions of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. “As soon as the Blazers made me an offer, I took it pretty quickly,” Blake said. “There were a lot of questions for the Lakers to answer before they could get around to someone like me. I wasn’t the first option. A lot of those things didn’t clear themselves up until it was too late.”
- In the same article by Medina, Chris Kaman, who didn’t mesh well with former Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni‘s system, blamed himself for signing with L.A. “I can point fingers all day long. But it was my choice where I went,” said Kaman. “I made the call and thought it would work. I don’t think that Mike D’Antoni purposely tried to [expletive] anybody over. It’s just the way he wants to play people.”
- Kaman also blames the Lakers‘ delay while waiting for ‘Melo and LeBron for why he didn’t return to Los Angeles, Medina notes. “Mitch Kupchak [Lakers GM] took forever trying to wait for Carmelo,” Kaman said. “I think that was [executive] Jimmy Buss. They lost a lot of opportunities personally by waiting that long. They lost a bunch of guys that went the other way. My guess is Jimmy said we want to wait for those guys so they can try to make a run at it.”
Eastern Notes: Jackson, Napier, Thomas
Knicks president Phil Jackson won’t prove that he’s worth the $12MM per year salary that team owner James Dolan is paying him until he lands some meaningful free agents this summer, Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com opines. The problem for Jackson is that the top free agents are likely to stay with their current teams, O’Connor notes. The best Jackson can hope for is to possibly ink Greg Monroe and Goran Dragic, nice hauls, but not quite championship caliber players, the ESPN scribe adds.
Here’s more out of the East:
- The Heat have recalled Shabazz Napier from the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their D-League affiliate, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel reports (Twitter link). This was Napier’s second journey of the season to Sioux Falls.
- The Knicks may waive Lance Thomas to create an additional roster spot, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link). Thomas, who was acquired in Monday night’s three-way deal with the Cavs and the Thunder, was reported to be the one player whom New York was looking to retain of the three it had garnered in the deal.
- With the trade market beginning to heat up, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders looks at the players who are most likely to be dealt prior to the February trade deadline. Players who Kennedy opines could be on the move include Deron Williams (Nets), Jeff Green (Celtics), Andrei Kirilenko (Sixers), and Brandan Wright (Celtics).
Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Waiters, Shumpert
The Cavs aren’t receiving a “flat no” when they ask the Nuggets about trading for Timofey Mozgov, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears. Cleveland picked up an asset for the future in the form of the Thunder’s protected 2015 first-round in Monday’s trade, and the Nuggets are reportedly drawing closer to the realization that they won’t make the playoffs this year.
Here’s more out of Cleveland:
- Dion Waiters was displeased with what he construed as favoritism from Cavs brass toward Kyrie Irving, Amico reports in the same piece.
- Iman Shumpert is the player that will benefit the Cavaliers the most from last night’s trade, but his durability remains a question, Terry Pluto of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. Pluto also declares Cleveland the clear winner in this trade, considering that it netted Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and a first-rounder, while not giving up that much in return.
- Despite their newly acquired personnel, the Cavs haven’t changed all that much, Tom Ziller of SB Nation writes. Shumpert’s reputation as a defender may be inflated, Smith’s volatility could become an issue, and the team did nothing to address its primary weakness–interior defense, Ziller opines.
- Waiters didn’t fit with the Cavs’ new, more accomplished and urgent core, and the team dealt him to acquire depth, perimeter defense, and future flexibility, Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report writes. The third-year guard wasn’t ready at his age, and at this stage of his career, to make the sacrifices to his game that the team required of him, and his style of play didn’t mesh well with the role the Cavs had placed him in, Skolnick adds.
- Entering Monday night’s game, the Cavaliers didn’t have the roster of a team that could contend for an NBA championship, and the Waiters trade didn’t do much to change that, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. Until Cleveland acquires a rim protector, its fortunes aren’t likely to change despite the newly acquired players.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Jazz Waive Patrick Christopher
The Jazz have waived Patrick Christopher, the team has announced. With Utah set to sign Elliot Williams to a 10-day contract, and the Jazz’s roster count at the league-maximum 15 players, the team needed to clear a spot, and Christopher appears to be the player it chose to release. Christopher’s deal was non-guaranteed, so Utah will not be on the hook for any additional salary.
Christopher, 26, spent last season in the D-League, averaging 13.6 points in 33.5 minutes per game while nailing 44.6% of his three-point shots. He averaged 15.0 points in 36.4 MPG, and made 39.0% of his attempts from behind the arc in seven D-League appearances this season.
The 6’5″ guard out of California appeared in four games (including one start) for the Jazz this season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.3 minutes.
Knicks Notes: Jackson, Anthony, Murry
Team president Phil Jackson demanded a five-year deal and a promise that owner James Dolan wouldn’t meddle before the Zen Master agreed to join the Knicks this past spring, and that’s looking like a wise bargain from Jackson’s end, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News believes. Jackson has the leeway necessary for the tear-down he’s undertaking, one that’s necessary for the Knicks to once again contend for titles, Deveney opines.
Here’s the latest out of NYC:
- The removal of talent surrounding Carmelo Anthony makes it more likely that the Knicks will have Anthony miss the rest of the season so he can rehabilitate his sore knee, argues Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal.
- While the return that the Knicks received for dealing away J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert was underwhelming, Jackson made the deal because he and his staff feared that if the Cavaliers got hot as a team, they would potentially lose interest in acquiring those players, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Jackson was also afraid that if Smith’s injury lingered, then he would become untradeable, Berman also notes.
- Jackson’s first season as team president will be remembered for all the cap room that he cleared, but his true test as an executive will be how he puts it to use this coming summer, Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post writes.
- The Knicks’ trade of Smith and Shumpert signifies that the franchise is working toward the future once again, instead of angling for a playoff berth, Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press writes. This feels like a repeat of what transpired six years ago, when the Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford to set themselves up for a shot at LeBron James in the summer of 2010, a plan that backfired, Mahoney adds.
- Toure’ Murry is entering the D-League, and the Knicks‘ affiliate is likely to claim him via the waiver process, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Murry, who was recently waived by the Jazz, appeared in 51 games for New York during the 2013/14 campaign, averaging 2.7 points and 1.0 assist in 7.3 minutes per contest.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Larry Sanders Contemplating Retirement?
7:24pm: Kidd told WTMJ’s Sports Central that he expects Sanders will return soon, possibly Tuesday, Gardner tweets.
6:27pm: Agent Happy Walters told HoopsHype that his client is not looking to retire. “I saw that tweet. It is not accurate at all. Rumor unsubstantiated,” Walters said.
4:15pm: Sanders disputes the notion that he told the Bucks that he no longer wanted to play basketball, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). According to Kyler, Sanders has been out with the flu and dealing with some personal issues, and is planning to rejoin the team sometime this week.
3:13pm: Bucks center Larry Sanders has recently told team officials that he no longer wants to play basketball, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times reports (Twitter links). Sanders’ potential lack of passion for the game has been building for some time, as some friends of Sanders told Woelfel last summer that they were concerned that Sanders wasn’t committed to basketball and wanted to explore other options. The 26-year-old big man is currently in the first year of a four-year, $44MM extension.
Sanders was previously reported to have left the team due to personal reasons, and was said to be out indefinitely by coach Jason Kidd. At the time Kidd was quoted as saying, “That’s a good question so you don’t have to ask me tomorrow or Sunday or Monday, so there’s no timetable. Being sick, away from the team, guys go on as you see. Charlotte, we played without him. The other night we played without him [in Cleveland]. It’s nothing new to this ball club. Injuries happen. The train keeps moving forward. It’s just personal. There’s nothing I can give you more. That’s the way the question will be answered.”
The Bucks were reportedly interested in dealing Sanders last season, and the talk began mere months after the team signed him to the extension. This was due in part to Sanders missing extended time during the 2013/14 campaign courtesy of a broken hand that was suffered during a brawl at a nightclub. According to Woelfel (Twitter link), Milwaukee had offered Sanders and Brandon Knight to the Pacers this summer for Roy Hibbert. With Sanders’ alleged lack of desire to play any longer, finding a taker for his contract at this point would likely be a near impossibility.
If Sanders’ issue is primarily with playing for the Bucks, rather than wanting to simply walk away from the game permanently, then Milwaukee would potentially be able to threaten him with a suspension on the grounds of intentional refusal to render the services required under his contract. The team could withhold his pay, which would likely bring the NBPA into the fray. But if Sanders is simply determined not to play any longer, then he could attempt to negotiate a buyout in which he would forfeit all, or most of his salary.
Sanders has made 27 appearances for the Bucks this season, averaging 7.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 21.7 minutes per game. His career numbers are 6.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 1.8 BPG. His career slash line is .480/.000/.550.
Western Notes: Murry, Randle, Green
The Jazz waived Toure’ Murry yesterday, and his agent, Bernie Lee, doesn’t think Murry was given a fair chance in Utah, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports. “Utah just didn’t see value in giving [Toure’] a real opportunity to prove himself, which is their right,” Lee said. “I had a sense things were working against him early when during the Jazz’s first open scrimmage in the preseason the team-employed radio voice used the forum to crush his future NBA prospects. Just an odd situation through and through. He went to Utah as a young developing point guard who played 51 games for an extremely visible team and today leaves Utah having played his last game as an assigned player in the NBADL [D-League] having been asked to play the four. Perspective and opportunity are a funny thing in basketball.”
Lee also added that Murry will explore free agent opportunities if he clears waivers, Sierra notes. “If there isn’t a spot for him immediately, he will enter the NBA D-League and go on to continue to develop and prove himself as an NBA-caliber PG.”
Here’s more from out west:
- Lakers rookie Julius Randle is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday morning to replace the screw in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, the team announced. This injury was a source of concern from NBA teams leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, and possibly caused Randle’s stock to fall, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes. Randle was already out for the season thanks to a broken leg he suffered during his first regular season game.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but praise for Draymond Green, who is almost assuredly set to garner a huge pay raise when he hits restricted free agency this summer, Rusty Simmons of The San Franciso Chronicle writes. When asked if Green could be named Defensive Player of the Year, Kerr said, “I wouldn’t argue with that. Draymond has to be mentioned for a lot of different things because of the impact he’s had. Most Improved Player would be a possibility. I don’t know if he’s going to make the All-Star team, but he would have my vote. He’s just been brilliant, and he represents kind of who we are as a team — the versatility, the scrapping, the toughness.”
- Spurs rookie Kyle Anderson was expected to spend more time in the D-League than in the NBA this season, but injuries to key players have altered those plans, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes.
Knicks To Waive Samuel Dalembert?
4:45pm: The Knicks are actively trying to trade Dalembert prior to Wednesday to avoid facing the decision to retain or waive him on that day, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
8:48am: With the Knicks’ season in a seemingly hopeless freefall, having lost 11 games in a row, and their record currently sitting at a dismal 5-31 overall, the team is considering numerous options for altering its roster. One change that could happen by this Wednesday is the team possibly waiving center Samuel Dalembert, Marc Berman of The New York Post reports.
This coming Saturday, January 10th, is the NBA’s leaguewide contract guarantee date. All players with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts still on team rosters on that date will have the remainder of their salaries guaranteed for the season. But in order for any franchise to clear undesirable or unwanted contracts off of its books, players will need to clear waivers in advance of this deadline. This means that any players, including Dalembert, would need to be placed on waivers by no later than 4:00pm Central time this Wednesday, January 7th. This would allow the requisite two days that players remain on waivers to pass prior to Saturday’s deadline.
The reason that Dalembert’s name has come up as a possibility to be waived is that only $1.98MM of his $4.05MM contract is guaranteed, Berman notes. So New York can save itself a cool $2.07MM by releasing the big man prior to the cutoff date. Waiving Dalembert would open up a roster spot for the Knicks to add a younger D-League player or sign a veteran who was waived by another team, Berman adds. One such player that the Knicks are possibly looking to sign to a 10-day contract is D-League point guard Langston Galloway, though New York is already painfully thin in the frontcourt, something releasing Dalembert and signing Galloway would not rectify.
New York is considering every option currently, Berman reports, which means that the Knicks could retain Dalembert and try to acquire an asset by trading him to a club looking to add a defensive big man for a playoff push, the New York Post scribe adds. There are numerous teams that are desperate to add a rim protecting big man, including Cleveland, Dallas, and Miami, though I’m merely speculating on their potential interest in Dalembert.
Dalembert certainly hasn’t been setting the league on fire with his performance for the Knicks, who were hoping that he could help replace the defensive presence of Tyson Chandler, whom the Knicks traded to Dallas prior to the season, in a deal which netted them Dalembert. In 32 appearances, including 21 as a starter, Dalembert has averaged an underwhelming 4.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 17.0 minutes per game. He hasn’t fit well into the triangle offense that the Knicks are attempting to implement, though judging by the team’s record, he’s hardly the only one.
For his part, Dalembert is currently in the dark about what the Knicks’ plans for him are, Berman notes. “Maybe you know more than me,’’ Dalembert said. “I love it here. I love the team we have. Unfortunately we’re going through what we’re going through right now. It’s a great organization. I would love for my career to finish here, but it’s business. A lot of times it’s beyond your control. I’ll still see how it goes and enjoy the time.’’
Team president Phil Jackson could soon decide the best thing for the Knicks’ long-term future is playing their younger players, which could also affect Amar’e Stoudemire ’s status, Berman also notes. Stoudemire missed his fifth straight game on Sunday night, and he could also eventually be waived to open up a roster spot, Berman opines. There is no immediate deadline to do so for Stoudemire, since the remainder of his $23,410,968 salary for this season is fully-guaranteed, though March 1st is the final date that players can be waived and be eligible to play in the postseason for another team.