Southeast Notes: LeBron, Bosh, Hornets
LeBron James says it would have been more difficult for him to leave the Heat if they’d beaten the Spurs in the Finals this year and that he hadn’t envisioned returning to play in Cleveland until the end of his career. James made his comments to CNN’s Rachel Nichols, who released a preview of the full interview, which airs Friday (video link).
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- With LeBron gone Chris Bosh will become the focal point of the Heat‘s offense, something the player is greatly looking forward to, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report writes. Bosh’s former coach Sam Mitchell believes his former player will answer the bell, saying “Pat Riley gave him the contract that said, ‘You’re going to be the guy. People think Chris is not that guy. When the offense is running through him, they’re going to find out, I guarantee you. One of those Big Three in Miami had to take a backseat and check his ego at the door. If Chris hadn’t done it, they may not have two championships. Now, I think Chris is going to play even better than he did in Toronto. I really do, because now he has something to prove all over again.”
- Hornets GM Rich Cho said there have been some initial discussions between the franchise and Kemba Walker about a possible extension, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports (Twitter link). Walker can become a restricted free agent next summer.
- The Wizards enter the new season with higher expectations than usual, Joseph White of USA Today writes. Coach Randy Wittman embraces the pressure that comes with those expectations, saying, “Listen, as a coach, you want to have these expectations. I’d much rather be sitting here talking about high expectations than you so-called experts thinking we might win 15-16 games. Last year doesn’t mean nothing. Last year we’ve got to use. Are we going to use it as a stepping stone to this year? When I say we’re back to ground zero, everybody’s 0-0 right now.”
- Embattled Hawks GM Danny Ferry is slowly gathering supporters around the league, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. But this support may not ultimately help Ferry keep his job, notes Vivlamore, and the executive’s fate most likely rests with whomever the new controlling owner of the franchise is.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Celtics Waive Babb, Johnson
The Celtics have waived Chris Babb and Chris Johnson, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reports (Twitter link). The team has confirmed the moves via a press release. Neither of the players’ deals carried any guaranteed money for the 2014/15 season.
These releases came in the wake of the deal that sent Keith Bogans and two future conditional Sacramento second round picks to the Cavaliers for Dwight Powell, John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas, Erik Murphy, and Cleveland’s second-rounders in 2016 and 2017. The Celtics still have deals with 22 players, including Evan Turner, whose deal has not been officially announced yet, so they will still have to clear two more players prior to training camp beginning.
The 24 year-old Babb appeared in 14 games for Boston last season, averaging 1.6 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 9.4 minutes per night. Johnson, also 24 years old, played in 40 contest for the Celtics last season, putting up 6.3 PPG and grabbing 2.4 RPG while averaging 19.7 minutes per.
Cavs Acquire Keith Bogans
8:25pm: The trade is official, the Celtics announced via a press release.
8:20pm: More details about the trade are rolling in, with Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) noting that the Celtics sent the Cavs the rights to the Kings’ 2015 and 2017 second-rounders, both of which are top-55 protected. Marc Stein of ESPN.com also adds Dwight Powell to the list of players heading to Boston.
8:00pm: The second-rounders going to the Celtics will be Cleveland’s 2016 and 2017 selections, notes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
7:41pm: The Celtics will also get a $5.3MM trade exception as part of the deal, notes Goodman (twitter link).
7:20pm: The Cavs will waive guard Chris Crawford once the deal is official, tweets Chris Haynes of The Plain Dealer.
7:16pm: The Celtics are also receiving two second round draft picks as part of the deal, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
6:52pm: The Cavaliers and Celtics are in discussions on a trade that would send Keith Bogans to Cleveland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com is reporting. The Cavs are expected to package the non-guaranteed contracts of Erik Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas in return for Bogans, notes Stein.
The acquisition of the 34 year-old shooting guard out of Kentucky would suggest that Cleveland has either received word from free agent Ray Allen that he isn’t interested in signing with the team, or that he intends to retire, though that’s just speculation on my part. Whatever the case is, it would seem that Bogans is taking the role that the Cavs were intending Allen to fill.
Bogans has played 11 seasons in the league after being selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Bucks. His career numbers are 6.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG. Bogans’ career slash line is .394/.353/.716. He has two years remaining on his contract, both non-guaranteed, and he is scheduled to make $5,285,816 this coming season.
As for the Celtics, they currently have 21 players on their roster, including Evan Turner, whose signing has not been officially announced yet. So it’s highly likely that Boston will waive all three players once the deal is completed.
Cavs Waive Chris Crawford
The Cavaliers have waived Chris Crawford, according to the RealGM transactions log. Chris Haynes of The Plain Dealer was the first to report that Cleveland intended to waive the player (Twitter link). Crawford’s two year deal he signed just under two weeks ago included a guarantee of $20K for this season, but his 2015/16 salary was non-guaranteed.
This move comes on the heels of the Cavs acquiring Keith Bogans from the Celtics, which made Crawford expendable at the shooting guard position. The Cavs will have 16 players remaining on their roster after parting with Dwight Powell, John Lucas III, Erik Murphy, and Malcolm Thomas.
The 6’4″, 22 year-old Crawford went undrafted out of Memphis, where he put up career averages of 8.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG. His career slash line was .391/.367/.753.
Northwest Notes: Jackson, Wolves, Penberthy
The Thunder have no plans to deal Reggie Jackson if the two sides are unable to reach a contract extension by the October 31st deadline, GM Sam Presti says in an article by Royce Young of ESPN.com. Presti expanded on that thought, saying, “We don’t look at [Jackson] as anything other than a core member. We want to invest in Reggie. There’s not a lack of clarity in that regard. Figuring out how best we do that is my job. And I’m going to do everything I can because I believe that he’s a great example of a lot of things that we try to do here. He was drafted, he’s been developed by our coaches and our support staff and the next step is to keep him with us for a long time.”
Here’s the latest from the Northwest Division:
- The Timberwolves officially announced the hiring of Mike Penberthy as the team’s shooting coach. Penberthy played parts of two seasons for the Lakers, averaging 4.9 PPG for his career on 41.5% shooting. His primary focus will be to continue working with Ricky Rubio on improving his outside shooting, according to the article.
- As for what Penberthy brings to the organization, coach Flip Sanders told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, “I don’t even want to pigeon-hole him as a shooting coach because i think there are other things he’ll be able to help us with. That will be his main emphasis. Ricky enjoyed working with him, even though it was only for a week. I think if Ricky had a chance to spend a month with him or six weeks, I believe we could have seen some good changes. We’ll let his role evolve. It’s important for him to see how we want to play and where guys are going to get shots and how he can incorporate that into our shooting.”
- With training camps set to begin each division has a number of questions heading into the new season. Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders looks at the issues facing teams in the Northwest Division.
- The Thunder have big expectations this season after making it to the Conference Finals last year. GM Sam Presti spoke with reporters today regarding Oklahoma City’s 2014/15 campaign and NBA.com had the highlights.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Sanchez, Nets
The Celtics versatile roster offers coach Brad Stevens a wealth of rotation possibilities, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com notes. “If you go through it, like really go through it, there’s about 150 variations of this you can go with. And more so than last year,” said Stevens. “I thought last year we were pretty hard to figure out. It’s been a fun puzzle to think about. But it’s a puzzle that’s going to figure itself out once we start practice.” The Celtics used 24 different starting lineups last season, which isn’t a great recipe for success in the NBA.
Here’s what else is happening in the Atlantic Division:
- If Orlando Sanchez doesn’t make the Knicks opening night roster, one possibility is for him to join the New York’s D-League affiliate in Westchester, Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv writes.
- Sanchez is loving the triangle offense that the Knicks are implementing this season, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Sanchez said, “I think my game fits the triangle very well. I’ve picked it up quickly so far. My ability to shoot, handle and pass shows in this offense. I would like to make the Knicks roster out of camp, but I also understand going to Westchester is a possibility. I think it would be a positive situation, because the team will practice at the Knicks facility and I can develop with the coaching staff.’’
- The Nets are bringing 17 players to training camp this year. Reed Wallach of SB Nation runs down the names of the recent invitees and what they bring to the court.
No Deal For Sixers, Drew Gordon
SEPTEMBER 29TH: Gordon is not among the players listed on the preseason roster the team sent via press release, so presumably the deal is off.
SEPTEMBER 25TH: The Sixers and power forward Drew Gordon have agreed to a deal, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando reports. Length and terms of the agreement were not disclosed but it’s likely a non-guaranteed training camp invite for the 6’8″, 24 year-old out of New Mexico. This signing would put Philadelphia’s preseason roster count at 19, with only eight of those deals being fully guaranteed, and four others carrying partial guarantees.
Gordon went undrafted in 2012 after splitting his college time between UCLA and New Mexico. His career numbers were 10.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG. His career slash line was .541/.500/.689. He played for Philadelphia in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League where he averaged 6.6 PPG in six appearances.
The Sixers roster is wide open with the team having purged itself of most of its veteran talent, so there is a chance that Gordon could make it onto the opening night roster. The starter at power forward figures to be either Nerlens Noel, if he doesn’t man the pivot, or Luc Mbah a Moute. Gordon will be competing with Arnett Moultrie and Jarvis Varnado for minutes as a backup.
Pacific Notes: O’Neal, Clippers, Warriors
According to Warriors GM Bob Myers, it doesn’t appear that Jermaine O’Neal will be returning to Golden State, Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle notes (Twitter link). When discussing the bigs on his roster, Myers said the team would be sticking with Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Ognjen Kuzmic for training camp. O’Neal had been giving some thought to retirement but there was talk that the Warriors had interest in bringing back the 35 year-old center.
Here’s the latest out of the Pacific Division:
- Longtime Clippers executive Andy Roser, who’d been on an indefinite leave of absence since May, will not return to the team, a source tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. Roeser was briefly in charge of the franchise after commissioner Adam Silver banned former owner Donald Sterling for life.
- The team president that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is seeking to run the team’s day-to-day operations would oversee the business side, as Bolch clarifies. So, that ostensibly means the hire wouldn’t dabble in the basketball operations department that’s the domain of coach/executive Doc Rivers. Roeser, who had previously occupied the team presidency, was part of a triumvirate of executives in charge of player personnel before Rivers came aboard last year.
- Having David Lee back on the court might not be the best thing for the Warriors, Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM opines. Former coach Mark Jackson was forced to get creative when Lee was injured during the playoffs in 2013, and the changes he made maximized the team’s strengths, Tjarks notes.
- One thing that Ballmer should do is to find a way to welcome Elgin Baylor back to the organization in some capacity, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com opines. Baylor lost his wrongful termination suit against the franchise, but recent events certainly seem to add credence to his claims that racism played a part in his firing by the team.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Pietrus, Parker, Bjelica
After a one-year break, free agent Mickael Pietrus is healthy and ready to return to the NBA, Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. One league executive told Haynes that Pietrus has looked good in workouts and can help an NBA team immediately. The executive added, “You can tell right away that he can still be a productive player. His movements are crisp and the athleticism is there. It’s all about finding the right fit for him but he definitely belongs in the NBA.” Pietrus has already worked out for the Kings, and has more showcases lined up in the future.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Serbian player Nemanja Bjelica has signed with Wasserman Media Group, Liz Mullen of Sports-Business Journal reports (Twitter link). The Timberwolves hold the NBA rights to the 2010 second-rounder.
- Free agent guard Charlie Westbrook has signed with Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket in France, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Westbrook went undrafted back in 2012 and was in training camp with the Heat last year before spending the rest of the season in the D-League.
- Bucks rookie Jabari Parker said he was more comfortable playing power forward when asked which position suited him best, Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. In an interview with Nancy Lieberman of Sirius XM NBA Radio, Parker said, “As of right now I’m more comfortable with the 4 position. That’s where I played previously, before getting drafted, at Duke. I played a lot of 4. Even in high school. I know this is a different level. But in coach’s style of play, it’s more a stretch 4. That’s where I like to play my game, even though I like to post up a little. Just being on the perimeter, setting screens and popping, that’s what we’ve been doing so far. That’s what coach Kidd has been anticipating me playing that role.”
Eric Bledsoe Re-Signs With Suns
10:48pm: The deal is official, the team has announced.
10:45pm: Bledsoe’s first-year salary starts at $13MM and the deal has annual raises of $500K, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets. Coro also adds that the agreement contains no trade kickers or early termination options, and confirms the earlier information that there are no player or team options.
4:49pm: The Suns and Eric Bledsoe have come to terms on a five-year, $70MM deal, Brian 
Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The deal is fully-guaranteed and contains no options, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes. The max that the Suns could have given Bledsoe over five seasons is $84,789,500, so it appears he’s taking significantly less than that, given the reported $70MM figure. Still, it’s more total money than the $62,965,420 over four years that Bledsoe could have received in an offer sheet from another team, so Bledsoe can claim that victory.
This will conclude a Summer-long impasse that began when Bledsoe balked at Phoenix’s initial four-year, $48MM offer, and relayed his unwillingness to re-sign for anything less than superstar money. The former first-rounder out of Kentucky had expressed a willingness to sign the Suns’ $3.7MM qualifying offer rather than settle on a contract below the max. This would have been a dangerous gamble by the Rich Paul client given that he is coming off of a serious knee injury that limited him to 43 games last season.
Bledsoe reportedly hasn’t been in Phoenix since the season ended in April, and team management had relayed that there had not been much direct communication between the player and the team since then. There were concerns that the relationship between the two parties had fractured and the point guard’s departure after this season would be almost assured. This signing puts those concerns to bed, but now Bledsoe has to live up to the figures he will be paid.
The 24-year old was enjoying a breakout season before injuring his meniscus, averaging 17.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 5.5 APG. His slash line was .477/.357/.772. But this was such a small sample size that it’s difficult to predict what Phoenix can expect out of Bledsoe the next five years seeing as his previous best was 8.5 PPG for the Clippers during the 2012/13 season when he was Chris Paul‘s backup.
Teams were reluctant to sign Bledsoe to an offer sheet, especially at max money. As the Summer wore on and most teams had used most if not all of their available cap space, the player’s options seemed extremely limited, which makes this signing a coup for Bledsoe’s camp. The Timberwolves were the only team to go on record as being willing to offer Bledsoe max money in a sign-and-trade deal, though Phoenix indicated they had no interest in letting Bledsoe go for anything less than a star player. With Kevin Love already departed for Cleveland, this left the Wolves with little to offer the Suns outside newly acquired Andrew Wiggins, who wouldn’t have made much sense for Minnesota to deal after their marketing campaign for the upcoming season centered around the No. 1 overall pick’s presence on the roster.
The hope in Phoenix is that Bledsoe’s performance wasn’t a contract-year fluke, and that he will regain his pre-injury form that made the starting backcourt of he and Goran Dragic so explosive. Phoenix is stacked in the backcourt with Bledsoe, Dragic, the recently signed Isaiah Thomas, and first-round draftee Tyler Ennis, so Bledsoe’s minutes and production may decline as a result.