Pat Riley On Heat Offseason
Heat President Pat Riley spoke to reporters today via a teleconference in regards to Miami’s offseason, losing LeBron James to the Cavaliers, and the franchise’s prospects for the upcoming season and beyond. Ira WInderman of the Sun Sentinel recapped the interview, and here are some of the highlights:
Discussing his re-tooled roster:
“I feel very good about where we are right now, at this moment, with the 12 guys under contract. Unlike a lot of the prognosticators . . . I feel with all the conversations I’ve had with these players, that we’re going to be up to the challenge.”
On the departure of James:
“You recover. I don’t want to go back in history, but after 45 years of being in the league, I think I’ve been around 15 transcendent players that walked out the door . . . and you move on. We were shocked, but we recovered. It was a tough blow to take, but we’ve recovered very well, and I think we will continue to recover.”
Discussing his plan entering this year’s free agency period:
“I went in with the notion that he [LeBron] was coming back. So I was selling it to players. I let him know that prior to free agency, that was the direction I was going. He never said to me, ‘Don’t do that‘.”
Discussing re-signing Dwyane Wade despite his recent injury history:
“When it comes to Dwyane, we’re just going to see where we are with him. And we think with what he’s done this summer, there’s the possibility of Dwyane can return to where he was before he ceded a good part of his game to LeBron, and the same thing with Chris.”
On re-signing Chris Bosh:
“He’s the most versatile big man in the NBA. And that’s what the market was for him, and Micky [Arison] stepped up to the plate. . . . I’ll be [expletive] if I was going to let him walk out the door.”
On signing Luol Deng late in the free agency rush:
“I think the first day that I met with him, I truly believe if we could have signed him, he would have signed. At that time, we were an exception team. We were sort of dealing with the thought we were an exception team. . . . So that discussion had to take a number of meandering roads. But he knew that we wanted him, that we would do whatever we could to get him.”
Todd Mayo Leaving Marquette To Turn Pro
Todd Mayo, the younger brother of NBA player O.J. Mayo, plans to leave Marquette University before his upcoming senior season and pursue professional basketball in the NBA D-League, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Mayo intends to enter next June’s NBA Draft, Charania writes. Mayo is currently not ranked by either Chad Ford of ESPN.com or Draft Express.
According to Charania, Mayo, 23, has received support from his family and the university in deciding to leave school. Marquette officials are expected to make an official announcement within the next two days, notes Charania. Of his decision, Mayo said, “I’m looking forward to the D-League and just learning and getting better.”
In his junior season, Mayo was Marquette’s third-leading scorer at 11.3 PPG, and shot 46.1 percent from the field. The 6-foot-3 guard played 30 games a season ago and was projected as a starter this coming year.
And-Ones: Heat, Wolves, Stokes, Mudiay
Heat owner Micky Arison addressed the team’s fans today to assure them that despite losing LeBron James, the franchise would contend in the east, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Arison said, “We are laser-focused on the present and the task at hand of defending our Eastern Conference championship with the East being described as ‘wide open,’ while also positioning ourselves for maximum flexibility and maneuverability in the future.“
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Grizzlies may have found a diamond in the rough on draft night with their selection of Jarnell Stokes, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Stokes was projected by some experts as a potential late first-round pick, but slipped to Memphis who selected him 35th overall.
- Top 2015 prospect Emmanuel Mudiay said he is skipping SMU for financial reasons, not because of any academic issues at his former prep school, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY. Mudiay reportedly signed for $1.2MM in China.
- The Wolves signing of Mo Williams earlier today will give the team the a player who can create his own shot, which is something the team was lacking, opines Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The signing of Williams could potentially affect a number of players’ roster spots on the team, writes Michael Rand of the Star Tribune.
- When discussing the rumors about any potential trade that would bring Kevin Love to the Bulls, Derrick Rose said, “That’s up to the front office. I’m riding with whatever decision they make. My job right now is to prepare,” tweets Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Rubio, Nash, Thompson
The Wolves are willing to give Ricky Rubio an extension similar to the four-year, $44MM extension Stephen Curry signed with the Warriors two years ago, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Rubio and agent Dan Fegan are asking for the max over five seasons. We took a look at Rubio and other extension candidates earlier today.
More from out west:
- Steve Nash isn’t under any illusions that his career will last much longer, saying in a Sport TV video that he thinks this coming season with the Lakers will be his last, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- Klay Thompson was hoping that he would have worked out a contract extension with the Warriors prior to beginning this summer’s Team USA camp, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. He and the Warriors have until October 31st to strike a deal, or he’ll hit restricted free agency in 2015.
- The Spurs have sent Manu Ginobili a letter denying him permission to participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup later this summer, reports Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation (hat tip to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News). San Antonio GM R.C. Buford cited the eight-week recovery span required for the stress fracture in Ginobili’s right leg as the reason. The injury was first discovered during the team’s exit physicals after winning the NBA Championship this year.
- The Rockets signing of free agent Jeremy Lin back in 2012 was a solid one, opines Randy Harvey of the Houston Chronicle (Video link), who takes a look back at Lin’s time in Houston. Lin was recently traded to the Lakers in a move to clear cap space for the potential signing of Chris Bosh before he decided to return to the Heat.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On NBPA Executive Director Vote
The three finalists for the vacant NBPA Executive Director position are Mavericks CEO Terdema Ussery, Michele Roberts, a trial attorney, and Dean Garfield, the CEO and president of the Information Technology Industry Council. The players are scheduled to vote at 10pm (CDT) this evening in Las Vegas.
Here’s the latest on the upcoming vote:
- Former NBA player Jerry Stackhouse attended the NBPA meeting regarding the Executive Director vote and criticized the process, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). One player told Wojnarowski that Stackhouse was trying to “initiate a divide.”
- The NBPA executive committee believes it will get a vote on a new executive director tonight despite talk of potentially delaying the vote, tweets Wojnarowski.
- Another player told Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that, “This is a cluster. They’re trying to slam a director down our throats.“
Earlier Updates:
- The Kevin Johnson-led search committee interviewed more than 70 candidates for the union’s executive director vacancy, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt reports. The union is set to vote this evening on the three finalists, though Johnson won’t be present after an apparent falling out with the executive committee. Union secretary-treasurer James Jones told Zillgitt that the players would have preferred that he stayed on until the hire was complete, but added that there was little for Johnson and his committee to do once the finalists were identified.
- There have been some rumblings from those present for the vote asking if the vote is happening too quickly given the relative anonymity of the three finalists, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- According to the schedule presented by the union, players will get 45-minute sessions to get to know each of the three candidates and then cast their votes, tweets Stein.
- Stein also tweets that numerous agents, after a conference call earlier today, have advised players to seek a delayed vote to ensure the finalists are indeed the best finalists for the job.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Scott, Prigioni, Parker
While he believes that Byron Scott is a good coach, Tom Ziller of SB Nation doesn’t think Scott will solve the Lakers problems. Ziller also believes Los Angeles made a “typical coaching carousel signing” in picking up Scott, whom Ziller describes as “an undervalued, affordable coach” despite the team’s ability to afford any coach they wanted.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Donatas Motiejunas, when discussing former teammate Chandler Parsons who left the Rockets to sign a three-year, $46.08MM deal with the Mavericks, told Simonas Baranauskas of Lithuania Basket (Twitter link), “He’s a good player, but would it be logical for management to pay him more than James Harden?” Houston declined to match the offer sheet Parsons had signed with the Mavs.
- With the NBA discussing extending the All-Star break to seven days, Zach Lowe of Grantland (Twitter links) thinks the league should first look to adjust the amount of regular season games played, and doesn’t think the longer break would be a positive if it meant more back-to-back games, or beginning the season at an earlier date.
- Pablo Prigioni is glad to be re-united with former Spanish League teammate Jose Calderon on the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Prigioni believes Calderon will be able to help New York, saying, “We played together in Spain and we did really well. He is a great player and very good professional, a great 3-point shooting guy. He can run the team and read the game very well and is a good defender. He has all that a good point guard must have.”
- In the same article, Prigioni also expressed his positive feelings towards Carmelo Anthony re-signing with the Knicks, saying, “When I saw Melo re-sign, the first thing I did was send him a message saying that I was so happy to have a chance to still play with him. And I told him that I’m sure we will play much better next season.”
- Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders believes that Bucks first-rounder Jabari Parker will have the biggest impact of any rookie this coming season, as well as take home Rookie Of The Year honors.
Poll: Should Cavs Deal Wiggins For Love?
Heading into this offseason, the chances of Kevin Love heading to the Cavaliers were slim. But that was before LeBron James decided to return his talents to Cleveland. When LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Cavs, he preached patience, and in a move to lower expectations, implied that the team wouldn’t expect to contend for a championship this coming season.
But acquiring a player of Love’s caliber could certainly accelerate that timetable, which is one reason that Cleveland has seemingly been burning up the phone lines trying to work out a deal to acquire the stat-sheet-filling power forward. The feeling is apparently shared by Love, who, as recently reported, may have formally requested a trade to Cleveland via his agent.
Numerous other teams have been attempting to work out a deal, including the Warriors, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls and Knicks. Golden State still appears to be Cleveland’s main competitors for Love, but the Warriors have expressed an unwillingness to include Klay Thompson as part of the deal, which has stalled talks between the two franchises.
The potential blockbuster deal between the Wolves and the Cavs is being complicated by the insistence of Minnesota coach and president of basketball operation Flip Saunders that Cleveland include No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as part of any package for Love. Wiggins recently signed with the Cavs, so they will have to wait 30 days before they can officially deal him away. But that is only a minor issue if both franchises are serious about making a trade.
Should the Cavs relent and include Wiggins if it nets them Love? Wiggins has a wealth of potential and could turn out to be a superstar, and the type of player you can build a champion around, but he has yet to play a minute of regular season action. Whereas Love has career averages of 19.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He’s also only 25 years old and just entering his prime. The knock on Love of course is that in six seasons he has yet to lead his team to the playoffs, and that he is a subpar defender.
As for Wiggins, his value is more theoretical at this point. There have been numerous players, including first overall draft picks, who enter the league being touted as franchise changing talents, only to disappoint and underperform. The ceiling on the rookie appears to be incredibly high, but is holding onto him and gambling he’ll turn out to be a better player than Love worth the risk?
The other aspect to factor in is the leverage that Cleveland may have gained in the trade talks if Love indeed told the Timberwolves that he would opt out after the 2014/15 season and would not re-sign with the team. And if Love also specifically requested a trade to Cleveland, that could complicate matters further.
Cleveland could also decide to hold off on depleting its young assets and simply play out this season with its current roster, then try to clear enough cap room to sign Love next summer outright. This might allow them to keep Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and whichever other pieces, including draft picks, that they would have had to ship to Minnesota to get this deal done, but it would still be a challenge. The Cavs already have more than $48MM in commitments for 2015/16, assuming James opts in and the team picks up its option on Dion Waiters.
So now it’s time for you to step into Cavs GM David Griffin‘s shoes and make the call. Do you relent and include Wiggins if it will bring Love’s talents to Cleveland? Or do you draw a line in the sand and refuse to offer Wiggins, even if it potentially costs you a LeBron-Love pairing?
Latest On Byron Scott
There have been conflicting reports as to whether or not Byron Scott‘s deal to coach the Lakers has been finalized yet. It would appear that an agreement is imminent though. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link) reports that the franchise was impressed by Scott’s reputation as a disciplinarian, and believe his temperament is perfect for a younger team.
More reactions to Scott’s possible hiring:
- In an article by Sam Amick of USA Today, Scott weighed in on potentially returning to the Lakers franchise as a head coach, saying, “It feels fantastic. This is a dream come true. I always wanted to coach the Lakers, especially when I got to coaching. It’s so unreal. I have to thank (Lakers general manager) Mitch (Kupchak), (Lakers president and governor) Jeanie (Buss) and (executive vice president of player personnel) Jim Buss to give me this opportunity. I really believe that they wanted to do the diligence and to make sure that I was the right guy…I know there were other candidates out there, and I felt like that with each meeting I thought was better and better, and I felt like they had a better understanding of what I was all about. I thought that the last few hires in their minds, they were a little hasty with, and so on this one, they took their time to make sure I was the right guy for this situation. Again, I think it worked out well for both sides.”
- Carlos Boozer supports the Lakers potential hiring of Scott, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Boozer said, “Well if [Scott] is the coach, that’s terrific. Obviously, he was a great player – you know – a ‘Laker Legend’ of course, but also was a good coach in the NBA for a long time and for a couple different teams. He brings great experience, and obviously knows the NBA very, very well. I think that he could add a lot to our team. I’d be interested to have a conversation with him to find out how he views our team and how he wants to utilize all of us.“
- In Kennedy’s article, Kobe Bryant also weighed in on Scott, saying “We’ve had a tremendously close relationship throughout the years. So, obviously I know him extremely well. He knows me extremely well. I’ve always been a fan of his.” Scott an he were teammates during Bryant’s rookie year.
- Hiring Scott was the only move the Lakers could have made to try and salvage a “disastrous” offseason, writes Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register.
Pelicans Sign Patric Young
THURSDAY, 5:42pm: The signing has been officially announced by New Orleans in a team release.
SUNDAY, 8:38am: The Pelicans have signed rookie free agent Patric Young to a two-year deal, reports Adam Silverstein of OnlyGators.com. The signing was confirmed by Young via his Twitter account. In the tweet, Young wrote, “It’s a blessing to announce that I signed a contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. Thank you to everyone that supported me!!!” The terms of the deal were not disclosed but it is likely for the NBA rookie minimum. Young joins a crowded frontcourt in New Orleans that already features Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson, Omer Asik, and Jeff Withey.
The 6’9″ power forward/center went undrafted out of Florida this year and impressed over the last two weeks in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 7.4 PPG and 8.0 RPG in five games.
In four seasons with the Gators, Young averaged 8.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.1 BPG while playing 24.3 minutes per contest. His career slash line was .577/.000/.569.
Lakers Re-Sign Jordan Hill
JULY 23RD: The team has officially re-signed Hill, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (via Twitter), who reports that GM Mitch Kupchak called Hill a “consistent contributor” in a team release.
JULY 11TH: Free agent forward Jordan Hill has agreed to a two-year, $18MM deal to return to the Lakers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Hill joins Nick Young, who agreed to re-sign earlier, in returning to the team, and new acquisition Jeremy Lin, whose trade was agreed upon earlier, too.
In 72 games last season, Hill averaged 9.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 0.8 APG while playing an average of 20.8 minutes a night. His slash line was .549/.000/.685. His career numbers over five seasons are 6.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 0.5 APG.
With all the deals signed today, the Lakers have all but taken themselves out of the running for Carmelo Anthony, and seems to indicate the team will focus on next summer to try to lure a big name to Los Angles. The franchise now only has their $3.27MM taxpayer mid level exception with which to pursue players unless more moves are made.