And-Ones: Draft, Bulls, Pacers
Solomon Jones has signed on with Dongguan Snowwolf in the NBL, and will play the next few months in China, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Jones played in 17 games with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA D-League this season. In 17 games, Jones averaged 8.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 1.4 BPG. He also appeared in 11 games for the Magic this year, averaging 1.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 7.7 minutes per contest. Jones will likely be considered for an NBA Summer League roster spot this summer, opines Pilato.
More from around the league:
- The staff at Basketball Insiders released their first Mock Draft of the year.
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com examines the relationship between the Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau. The article looks at what compensation the Bulls would ask for if Thibodeau wanted to leave for another coaching job, and if the two sides can co-exist for the three years remaining on his contract.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News released his latest Mock Draft.
- With the earlier report that Andrew Bynum‘s was out for the rest of the post season, the Pacers experiment with him would appear to be over, writes Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. The move didn’t work out on the court, notes Aschburner, but it also might have rattled Roy Hibbert‘s confidence and trust, which may explain his tailspin towards the end of the season. The article also notes that sources said coach Frank Vogel upset Hibbert when he ran plays to get Bynum involved offensively that he rarely called for Hibbert.
- Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders examines what steps the Bobcats need to take to improve the team for next season.
- Andrew Wiggins topped Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s rankings for the top wing prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders thinks the Knicks and Bulls should attempt to work out a sign-and-trade for Carmelo Anthony. In the article he examines what assets it would take to get the deal done.
Warriors Contact Stan Van Gundy
The Warriors have contacted Stan Van Gundy about their head-coaching vacancy, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Van Gundy has interest in the position, but an interview hasn’t been scheduled yet, reports Spears. The coaching position became available after the team fired coach Mark Jackson earlier this week.
Van Gundy has been mentioned in connection with some of the other vacant positions, but Spears mentions that Van Gundy has no interest in coaching either the Lakers or Timberwolves.
He had a 371-208 combined record coaching the Heat and Magic. Van Gundy guided the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Lakers. He has compiled a career playoff record of 48-39.
Van Gundy was a Bay Area high school star at Alhambra High School in Martinez, Calif., and has been doing some radio color commentary during the NBA playoffs, notes Spears.
Western Notes: Draft, Clippers, Warriors
With the 2014 NBA Draft approaching, college coaches and player agents are relieved that Clippers owner Donald Sterling received a lifetime ban, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. A number of coaches Zagoria spoke to said there wouldn’t be an issue for any players the Clippers draft now that Sterling is gone.
More from the west:
- The Jazz announced that they will hold pre-draft workouts tomorrow for Joe Jackson, Justin Cobbs, Fuquan Edwin, Cameron Clark, Travis Bader, and Josh Huestis (Twitter links).
- Bryce Cotton is going to work out for the Jazz and the Kings this week, per a tweet from PL Sports Management. The point guard is currently ranked 62nd on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board.
- The Warriors are intrigued by both Lionel Hollins and Mike D’Antoni for their vacant head coaching position, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
- Golden State hasn’t reached out to either Steve Kerr or Jeff Van Gundy yet for their coaching position, reports Zagoria (Twitter link).
- On the possibility of re-signing with the Grizzlies, Mike Miller said, “as long as everything is done fairly, I’m definitely going to be back here,” tweets Rob Fischer of Sports 56 WHBQ. Miller is an unrestricted free agent.
Sefko On Mavs: LeBron, Chandler, Draft
Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News addressed a number of topics regarding the Mavericks in his weekly chat earlier today. Here are some of the highlights:
- If LeBron James opts out of his contract with the Heat this summer, Sefko believes the Mavs will get a chance to make their best pitch thanks to the presence of owner Mark Cuban.
- Sefko believes it’s a long shot that the team swings a deal for the Knicks Tyson Chandler. He believes that other teams, such as the Thunder, would have more to offer New York if they put Chandler on the trading block.
- He doesn’t believe the Mavs will make a trade to move into the first round of the draft. Sefko says the current indications from the front office are that the talent available in the 20 to 40 range are very similar. The Mavericks have a high second-round pick which they received from the Celtics in the Kelly Olynyk trade and they believe they can find value there, according to the article.
- The four most likely free agent targets for the Mavs this summer, opines Sefko, are Luol Deng, Spencer Hawes, Marcin Gortat, and Trevor Ariza.
- Sefko doesn’t think that Jason Terry is a likely target for a return to the team.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Hawks, Brand, Mack
The Bucks‘ Brandon Knight doesn’t have a preference to who the team chooses if it lands the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Knight said, “That’s for our team to decide. I just want a guy, whoever he is, to come in and work hard and understand the type of year we had last year. He [the draft pick] wasn’t a part of it, but understand we can’t repeat that type of season and that none of the guys here will be in a mood where that will be repeated. Our mind-set is going to be totally different. We’re going to approach the game differently. We’re going to remember how this year went for us and use it as motivation.”
More from the east:
- Elton Brand will take a couple of months before deciding if he will return for a 16th NBA season, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brand will be an unrestricted free agent after playing out his one-year $4MM contract with the Hawks. In 73 games this season, Brand averaged 5.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.0 APG in 19.4 minutes per game.
- Vivlamore also notes that Shelvin Mack, who is a restricted free agent, would like to return to the Hawks. Mack said, “I would like to be back. I’ll continue to work and improve my game and let my agent and everyone else deal with that. Of course (I want to return). I feel like it’s a great situation for me.” In 73 games this season, he averaged 7.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 20.4 minutes per contest.
- The Hawks have a de-facto team option on Pero Antic, whose $1.25MM non-guaranteed salary for next season becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 15th. Team intends to keep him past that date, according to Vivlamore (Twitter link). Antic appeared in 50 games and averaged 7.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 18.5 minutes played.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Nuggets And Faried To Discuss Extension
The Nuggets plan to make Kenneth Faried a part of their long-term plans by opening contract extension talks with the power forward and his agent, Thad Foucher, this summer, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nuggets GM Tim Connelly said, “We’ll talk to his representation. I think Kenneth is happy here. I think he’s really embraced what (Coach) Brian (Shaw) is trying to instill. Those are the type of guys that deserve to get paid.”
Connelly also said, “Kenneth was great this year. I think there was an adjustment period with Kenneth and Brian. And for the last couple of months he was playing at as high a level as anybody. He’s the heart and soul of our team. His consistent energy and toughness, I was really happy to see. I think he grew this year. I think he really improved on both ends, not just the offensive end. He’s a guy that’s going to play a huge role in our success moving forward.”
Faried is coming off his best season as a pro, during which he averaged a career-high 13.7 PPG and 8.6 RPG while shooting 54.5 percent from the field, which was eighth best in the NBA. Dempsey opines that it was Faried’s post-All Star break performance that helped solidify him as a key cog in the team’s future. After the All-Star game he averaged a team-high 18.8 PPG and 10.1 RPG. The Nuggets were 17-10 in games in which he recorded a double-double, notes Dempsey.
Coach Brian Shaw was adamant after the season that he wanted Faried back on the team, reports Dempsey. “I definitely want to have him back and expect to have him back,” Shaw said. Faried was the subject of a number of trade rumors during the course of the season.
Faried is entering the final year of his rookie-scale contract, which will pay him $2.2MM during the 2014/15 season. The extension cannot be signed until the July moratorium ends, and would have to be completed by October 31st. Dempsey believes that Faried will seek a deal in at least the $10MM-$11MM per season range.
Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Kerr, Karl, Izzo
Mark Jackson addressed the circumstances regarding his former Warriors assistant coaches Brian Scalabrine and Darren Erman in an interview with the NBA’s Sirius XM radio station earlier today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of SI.com). Of Scalabrine, Jackson said, “The one that was demoted [Scalabrine], I would have had handled it six weeks, a month, two months earlier. The things that took place from his side, I would have nipped it in the bud initially. That’s my fault for allowing it to go on. I’m pretty much a guy, just like ministry, I try to show you a different way of handling it. Hope that seeing me handle your disrespect, you’ll come around and realize this isn’t the way to handle it. Fortunately for me, it works for a lot of folks, there are some folks that just won’t get it and you have to handle them differently. I would do that differently.”
In regards to Erman, Jackson said, “As far as assistants, you have to pick people who are loyal and dedicated. It’s inexcusable what the second assistant [Erman] did. That cannot be tolerated. For folks to say, two situations, it’s obviously documented that they both were 100 percent wrong. The only fault I got is hiring those guys. I would use wisdom in who is around me.”
More from around the league:
- Steve Kerr is only focusing on the Knicks and Warriors and isn’t thinking about the Jazz, who reportedly have interest, or other openings, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who also reiterates his earlier report that Kerr prefers to stay close to his home on the West Coast.
- George Karl said he felt bad about what happened to Jackson with the Warriors, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Karl said he’s interested in any other team with an opening, and mentioned the Pistons and Knicks specifically, according to Amico’s tweet.
- Karl was roommates with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak in college, and though he hasn’t heard from the team yet, he expects to, reports Amico (Twitter link).
- The Timberwolves first choice to become their next head coach is Tom Izzo, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. The team is waiting for a definitive no from Izzo before looking at other candidates, reports Wolfson.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Stein On Grizzlies Offseason
The Grizzlies lost to the Thunder last night by a score of 120-109 which eliminated them from the playoffs. Marc Stein of ESPN.com looks at a number of the offseason issues that Memphis faces. Here are some of the highlights from his article:
- The Grizzlies still aren’t sure whether or not Zach Randolph will exercise his $16.5MM player option for next season, notes Stein. Randolph has said for much of the season that, at 32, he hasn’t quite worked out whether it’s best to opt out now to hit the open market in July or put off free agency for one more summer, according to the article.
- Stein notes that the general sense around the team is that the Grizzlies want to keep Randolph, but at a friendlier price point. A three-year deal worth $30MM to $35MM is believed to be Randolph’s market price.
- One of the team’s offseason priorities should be to acquire a shooter to play in the backcourt next to Mike Conley, opines Stein.
- Another question for the team, notes Stein, involves what to do with Ed Davis, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. The inconsistent playing time Davis received in his first full season in Memphis would suggest that there is some uncertainty within the organization whether or not he factors into their long term plans. In 63 games this season, Davis averaged 5.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 0.4 APG in 15.2 minutes per contest. The Grizzlies will have the opportunity to match any offer that Davis receives.
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Cavs, Bradley
Two openings in the Pistons organization that aren’t getting much press coverage are the GM and coaching positions for their new D-League team in Grand Rapids, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The Pistons are turning to Grand Rapids after a long-time relationship with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. Pistons assistant GM George David said of the new arrangement, “One of the things we’re most excited about is the proximity. We did a tremendous amount of research with some of the other D-League teams and saw the intrinsic value for the teams that had a driving-distance proximity to their D-League team. It does make a big difference.”
More from the east:
- With the Cavaliers being unlikely to re-sign Luol Deng this summer, the team’s focus will turn to finding a small forward in the NBA Draft, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto breaks down a number of the small forwards available in the draft and how they might fit alongside Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.
- Gerry Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link) notes that the owners approval of sale of the Bucks has begun to drag on.
- Avery Bradley‘s future with the Celtics is up in the air, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Bradley is an unrestricted free-agent and his injury woes make it unlikely the team will offer him anything close to the four-year, $24MM extension that was on the table prior to this season, opines Murphy. In 60 games this year, Bradley averaged 14.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 30.9 minutes a night.
Stein On Hawks Offseason
The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Pacers last night by a score of 92-80, eliminating them from the playoffs. Marc Stein of ESPN.com weighed in on some of the issues the team will deal with this offseason. Here are the highlights:
- Stein opines that GM Danny Ferry will let other teams around the league know that they have lots of assets and are willing to use them in the trade market if the opportunity presents itself.
- The Hawks want to acquire another major piece for their roster. The team knows that they need at least one more star player even if Al Horford makes a full recovery from the shoulder separations he’s endured these past two seasons.
- That piece might be Pistons restricted free agent Greg Monroe, opines Stein. The article notes the close ties between Monroe’s agent, David Falk and Ferry, who Falk used to represent.
- One of the Hawks priorities this offseason will be the continuing development of Dennis Schröder, who never emerged as the backup to Jeff Teague that they hoped he would become. In 49 games, Schröder averaged 3.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG in 13.1 minutes per contest.