Jared Dudley Talks Kuzma, Griffin, Knicks, More
Jared Dudley isn’t one of the NBA’s best players, but he’s one of the league’s best interview subjects, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic, who notes that Dudley is willing to talk to virtually any reporter about virtually any subject.
In his own Q&A with Dudley, Oram asked the Lakers‘ forward about his music tastes, his favorite current teammate, his least favorite NBA cities, how he spends his off days, his biggest fears, and much more.
If you have an Athletic subscription, the conversation is definitely worth checking out in full. But here are a few of Dudley’s more noteworthy comments:
On Kyle Kuzma‘s mini-controversy related to his trainer’s anti-LeBron James comments:
“Not only have I talked to him (about it), other players have talked to him. So when it comes to Kuz, this has been good for him, his maturity and having to deal with it. When I heard he was meeting with the media (on Saturday), that’s something I would do. I would have gone to social media right then and there. ‘He don’t speak for me. Yes I’ve trained with him, but this is where I view it at.'”
On his least favorite current or former teammate:
“I don’t get along with Blake Griffin now. When I was with him I didn’t have a bad relationship with him. That team (the 2013/14 Clippers) was the most toxic team. It was weird because it was a bipolar type team. We were somewhat cool off the floor; we weren’t cool on the floor.
“I just don’t like his personality and attitude. I think he’s a great basketball player and I think you can differentiate the two. It’s easy to be the greatest teammate when you’re winning. How about when you’re losing? How about when you’re down 20? And that’s the biggest thing with that team. It was the biggest front-running team. You’re up 20, everything’s good, throwing lobs. Down 20, people want to fight, bickering. I don’t want to say my least favorite … That’s a teammate right now that I don’t talk (to), don’t get along (with), words aren’t exchanged on the court, yada yada.”
On how he has weighed taking the most lucrative contract offer vs. playing for a contender:
“I never have taken a discount because, for one, I’m never going to get that back. I never believed on that. That being said, I signed a one-year deal (with the Lakers). I might have potentially been able to get a two-year deal somewhere else, but I wanted to come to the Lakers because this not only benefits me this year to win a championship but long-term. Media, dealing with you guys. If I try to become a head coach or a GM, I’ve now played with LeBron, I’ve been on a championship-caliber team. It helps my whole resume going forward.”
On the first change he’d make for the Knicks if he were in position to do so:
“I’d be getting rid of that practice facility in Westchester. Nobody wants to live there, no one wants to commute there. You have to get as close to the city as possible. That’s why Brooklyn got Kevin Durant. I told DeAndre Jordan who told Kevin Durant: The (Nets’) practice facility is two minutes from (Barclays Center). They didn’t even know that. I lived in the city. It took me 12 minutes to get to the practice facility. That’s a huge bonus. People bash the Knicks, but I definitely wouldn’t bash the Knicks. I would have gone there if the Lakers wouldn’t have offered me, or Brooklyn. If it was my third or fourth option, sure.”
Warriors Among Teams Keeping Eye On Towns
Less than a week after one report indicated the Knicks are monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns‘ situation in Minnesota in the hopes of eventually making a play for the Timberwolves star, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic writes that the Warriors are doing the same.
According to Strauss, Towns’ situation was a popular topic of conversation among team executives at this month’s G League Showcase, with some of those execs believing that the 24-year-old is unhappy in Minnesota.
Towns has been better than ever this season, averaging a career-best 26.5 PPG to go along with 11.7 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.3 BPG, and a .514/.418/.796 shooting line. However, the Timberwolves have slumped after a strong start and currently have an 11-20 record, good for 13th in the Western Conference.
Despite the Wolves’ struggles, the franchise is extremely unlikely to consider trading Towns anytime soon, as Darren Wolfson of SKOR North tweets. The big man is in the first season of a five-year, maximum-salary contract and can’t reach the open market until 2024.
Even if Towns expresses dissatisfaction with his circumstances, the Wolves are more likely to make moves to improve their roster around him than to send him elsewhere. So while the Knicks, Warriors, and the rest of NBA will continue to keep an eye on Minnesota, Wolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas figures to remain focused on acquiring upgrades that can make a Towns-led squad a contender.
Skal Labissiere To Miss Time With Knee Injury
The Trail Blazers will be down another big man this week, as beat writer Casey Holdhal reports (via Twitter) that the MRI on Skal Labissiere‘s injured left knee this weekend was inconclusive. According to Holdahl, Labissiere has been ruled out of Monday’s game with left knee inflammation and won’t travel with the team on its five-game road trip, which begins on Wednesday in New York.
Labissiere barely played for Portland last season and wasn’t initially expected to have a major role for the club in 2019/20. However, with Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins both on the shelf due to long-term injuries, the former No. 28 overall pick has had the chance to play regular rotation minutes. Labissiere had logged double-digit minutes in 23 consecutive games before leaving Saturday’s loss to the Lakers in the first quarter.
For the season, Labissiere has averaged 5.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in 17.2 minutes per contest (33 games). He’ll undergo a second MRI and be re-evaluated once his inflammation subsides, according to Holdahl (Twitter link).
While it’s possible that Labissiere could rejoin the Blazers’ during their road trip, it sounds as if the club expects him to miss that entire five-game stretch. If that’s the case, the earliest date he could return to action would be on January 11, when the Blazers return home to host the Bucks.
Labissiere, 23, will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.
Community Shootaround: NBA All-Decade Team
We’re just two days away from turning our calendars to 2020, which means the topic of the NBA’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s has been a popular one as of late.
Picking three All-NBA Teams for a full decade is even more complicated than selecting them for a single season. Longevity comes into play — if a player was only active for half the decade, but excelled during those five years, does that outweigh a solid 10-year run by another player? And how should consistent statistical stardom over a 10-year stretch by a player who didn’t win a title compare to someone who won three championships but didn’t necessarily post incredible numbers?
Among those who have shared their All-Decade Teams is Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, whose picks followed the usual All-NBA format — Rohrbach selected three teams comprised of two guards, two forwards, and one center each.
The First Team is made up of the usual suspects. LeBron James and Stephen Curry lead the way, with Kevin Durant and James Harden joining them in the frontcourt and backcourt respectively. Those four players combined to win seven of 10 MVP awards since 2010, and six of the 10 champions this decade featured at least one of those four stars. James, Durant, and Harden are also the NBA’s three leading scorers over the last 10 years, while no player has a higher win-share rate than Curry since the start of the 2013/14 season.
No centers have dominated the decade from start to finish, so Rohrbach filled out his First Team with Anthony Davis, who may be the NBA’s best center right now, even if he prefers to play the four.
Rohrbach’s Second Team picks are guards Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul, forwards Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and center Dwight Howard, who was a perennial All-Star for the first half of the decade.
Rohrbach’s Third Team features a few more players whose best years of the decade came in the first half of the 2010s, with guards Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant making the cut, along with center Tim Duncan. Forwards Paul George and Draymond Green fill out the Third Team.
While Rohrbach’s 15 selections are certainly worthy of recognition, a handful of noteworthy stars didn’t make the cut. Forwards Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who combined for 16 All-NBA nods in the 2010s, only earn honorable mention, as do guards Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, and Kyrie Irving, and centers DeMarcus Cousins, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, and Joel Embiid. Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, and Rudy Gobert were also considered.
I would’ve given Kyle Lowry serious consideration for a backcourt spot on the Third Team, so I’m surprised he didn’t even show up in Rohrbach’s honorable mentions, but otherwise I can’t quibble with too many of his picks.
We want to know what you think though. Are there any glaring omissions you’d like to see on the list? Do you think any players on Rohrbach’s Second or Third Teams should be bumped higher, or eliminated from the top 15 altogether?
To help refresh your memory on the full decade, here’s a list of every player who has earned multiple All-Star nods since 2010, sorted by win shares per 48 minutes, via Basketball-Reference.
Let us know in the comment section below who you think belongs on the NBA’s All-Decade Teams for the 2010s!
NBA Dates, Deadlines To Watch In January
Near the start of the 2019/20 campaign, we looked ahead and identified several dates and deadlines to watch on the NBA calendar throughout the rest of the season. While that list covered the general highlights, it’s worth taking a closer look at some of those key dates to keep an eye out for in January, which should be a busy month.
Let’s dive in…
Non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed
January 10 is the date that all non-guaranteed NBA contracts for 2019/20 will officially become guaranteed, but January 7 is really the day to watch. If a team wants to avoid having a salary become guaranteed, the player must clear waivers before January 10, which means he needs to be cut by January 7, at the latest.
Many players without fully guaranteed salaries are in no danger of being waived within the next week, but some teams will take the opportunity to save a little money and open up a roster spot.
Teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts
Around the same time that some NBA clubs will be opening up a roster spot by waiving a player on a non-guaranteed salary, teams will also be able to use those newly-created openings to sign players to 10-day contracts. Those 10-day deals, which can be signed as of January 5, give teams the opportunity to pick up a short-term injury replacement, or perhaps to get a brief look at a standout G League player.
We extensively outlined the details of 10-day contracts and explained how they work in our glossary entry on the subject.
More players become trade-eligible
A huge percentage of the NBA’s offseason signees became eligible to be traded back on December 15, but there are still many players who can’t be dealt. By the end of next month, that list of players ineligible to be traded will shrink further, since there are 25 players currently on track to have those restrictions lift between now and January 31.
January 15 is the key date, with 20 players becoming trade-eligible as of that Wednesday. That group is primarily made up of players who almost certainly aren’t going anywhere, such as Klay Thompson and Kristaps Porzingis. However, a handful of players on that list could be involved in trade rumors in 2020, including Nene and Rudy Gay.
A few other offseason signees have unique trade-eligible dates in January, since they were signed sometime after September 15 or inked an offseason extension. Those players are Dwight Powell (January 6), Caleb Martin (January 19), Jalen McDaniels (January 20), Wenyen Gabriel (January 21), and CJ McCollum (January 30).
Two-way contract deadlines
NBA teams will face a pair of key deadlines relating to two-way contracts in January. The first of those dates arrives on January 15, which is the last day that a team can sign a player to a two-way contract this season.
Most teams have already filled both of their two-way slots. Still, it’s safe to assume that a number of clubs will make changes at those spots within the next couple weeks, while the one team with a two-way opening – the Suns – will likely fill it.
On January 20, all players on two-way contracts will have their G League salaries for the season become fully guaranteed.
Other odds and ends
There are a few other dates in January that are worth mentioning, despite the fact that they’ll likely come and go without much fanfare.
On January 10, mid-level and room exceptions – along with other cap exceptions like the bi-annual exception – will start to prorate for the year, meaning a team with its full room exception available would no longer be able to offer the full $4.767MM amount to a free agent. Exceptions will decline in value by 1/177th per day, starting on January 10.
January 15 is the last day that teams can apply for a disabled player exception to replace an injured player who is deemed unlikely to return this season. A disabled player exception can give a club extra cap flexibility, though that team may still have to open up a roster spot to add a player using its DPE.
Our glossary entry explaining the disabled player exception can be found right here, while our list of 2019/20 DPEs is here. The Wizards, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Nets have been granted DPEs this season.
A series of modest trade exceptions created in trades last January will expire within the next month. Two small Rockets TPEs will expire on January 7 and January 22, while the Mavericks will lose the smaller of their two TPEs on January 31 if it goes unused.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings’ Dewayne Dedmon Confirms Trade Request
11:40am: The NBA will investigate Dedmon’s comments to determine whether he’ll be fined, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. As noted below, the league’s CBA prohibits players from publicly requesting a trade.
8:55am: Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Friday that Kings center Dewayne Dedmon, who has fallen out of the team’s rotation after signing a three-year, $41MM contract in the summer, wants to be dealt. Speaking on Sunday to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, Dedmon made no effort to deny Charania’s report or downplay his desire to be moved.
“I would like to be traded,” Dedmon confirmed. “I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.”
Dedmon, 30, was coming off two solid seasons in Atlanta when he reached unrestricted free agency this past offseason. In 2018/19, he averaged a career-best 10.8 PPG to go along with 7.5 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG, and a .382 3PT%. That performance made him a popular target on the open market and resulted in a lucrative contract offer from Sacramento.
However, Dedmon was outplayed by bigs like Richaun Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica in the early going this season. With Marvin Bagley III and Harrison Barnes also in the frontcourt mix, head coach Luke Walton hasn’t found minutes for the former Hawk as of late — Dedmon, who is making just 41.9% of his shots from the field this season, has only played seven total minutes since December 6, and is frustrated that he hasn’t gotten more of a chance to reverse his slow start.
“I’m not the only person struggling with my shot, so if that’s a factor then it’s kind of crazy,” Dedmon told Anderson. “If you’re not allowed to shoot through your slumps, I don’t know how you’re supposed to make shots.”
Dedmon is earning $13MM+ this season and has another fully guaranteed year left on his deal, so the Kings may still want to get him back into the rotation at some point to rebuild his value and salvage their investment. However, the veteran big man sounds skeptical that things will turn around for him in Sacramento.
“I definitely appreciate (the Kings’ investment), but I want to be somewhere where I get to play,” Dedmon said. “That’s my biggest thing. I’m trying to play and I’ve been told I’m no longer in the rotation here, so there’s really nothing to wait on.”
According to Anderson, the Kings are listening to offers for Dedmon and there may be a market for his services, but the front office will insist that any deal must make sense for the team’s future. Sam Quinn of CBS Sports recently speculated that teams like the Clippers, Celtics, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Hawks could be fits for Dedmon. Anderson adds the Mavericks and Magic to that list of hypothetical suitors.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits players from making public trade demands, so we’ll see if the league responds to Dedmon’s comments. Anthony Davis was fined $50K last winter when agent Rich Paul publicly requested a trade.
And-Ones: I. Taylor, Wiseman, Draft, World Peace
Free agent guard Isaiah Taylor was one of the Raptors’ final cuts this fall, having been waived just two days before the regular season began in order to create room on the roster for the team to retain Malcolm Miller. Now, Taylor is headed to the G League, where he has joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ NBAGL affiliate, a source tells JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
Taylor, who received a $50K guarantee from Toronto on his training camp deal, has logged 71 regular season NBA games. Most of those came in 2017/18, when he appeared in 67 contests with the Hawks, but the other four occurred in 2016/17 with the Rockets. Taylor has previously signed multiple NBA contracts with Houston and has spent time with the Vipers, so he’ll be re-entering a familiar environment as he looks to play his way back to the NBA.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- James Wiseman, a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, has officially left the University of Memphis and signed with Excel Sports for representation, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). Woj notes that the seven-footer met with several agents before deciding on Excel.
- Speaking of the 2020 draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently shared some of the draft-related tidbits he heard of this month’s G League Showcase. According to Vecenie, draft evaluators are split over who should be the top pick — Anthony Edwards was mentioned most, but Wiseman and LaMelo Ball also have backers.
- According to a report out of Puerto Rico relayed by Alessandro Maggi of Sportando, Puerto Rico’s new Mets de Guaynabo expansion team was interested in Metta World Peace as its head coach, but the former NBA forward declined an offer.
2019/20 NBA Reverse Standings Update
Throughout the 2019/20 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on what the 2020 draft order will look like. Our 2019/20 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, is updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.
Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2020’s draft order would look like with no changes to lottery position. We’ve noted each club’s odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick, based on the league’s current lottery format.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Draft Lottery]
In instances where two non-playoff teams or two playoff teams have identical records, the order in our standings isn’t necessarily definitive — for draft purposes, the NBA breaks ties via random drawings, so those drawings would happen at the end of the year. Of course, the 14 non-playoff teams all draft before the 16 playoff teams, even if some non-playoff teams have better records than playoff teams. Our reverse standings account for that.
Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Cleveland’s pick says that the Cavaliers will send their pick to the Pelicans if it’s not in the top 10. As of today, Cleveland has the NBA’s fifth-worst record, meaning that pick wouldn’t change hands, even if several teams were to leapfrog the Cavs in the lottery.
A handful of the NBA’s worst teams have been playing fairly well as of late. The Knicks have a winning record over their last nine games; the Cavaliers have won four of their last five, as have the Warriors; and the Pelicans are currently riding a four-game win streak of their own. As a result, the 6-27 Hawks are currently in the driver’s seat for the most favorable pick in this year’s draft. Atlanta has a 2.5-game “lead” over the NBA’s second-worst team.
While the league’s bottom three teams will all have an equal chance at the No. 1 overall pick and a top-four selection, finishing atop the reverse standings would still benefit the Hawks — the NBA’s worst team can’t fall further than the No. 5 pick, while the third-worst team could end up selecting as low as No. 7.
Our Reverse Standings tracker can be found at anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protection will be changing hands in 2020. So be sure to check back often as the season progresses!
Note: Mobile users are advised to turn their phones sideways when viewing the Reverse Standings in order to see team records and lottery odds.
Southwest Notes: Clemons, Moore, Favors, Barea
Chris Clemons‘ new three-year contract with the Rockets features a guaranteed minimum salary this season, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Since it’s prorated, Clemons will have a cap hit of $563K for the rest of this season if the deal is officially finalized on Friday.
MacMahon adds that Clemons’ 2020/21 salary will be non-guaranteed, while 2021/22 will be a team option — both years will also be worth the minimum. Assuming the rookie guard continues to impress and plays out his full contract with the Rockets, he’ll be on track to become a restricted free agent during the summer of 2022.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Following a victory in Portland on Monday, Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry told reporters that he took the blame for limiting E’Twaun Moore‘s minutes in recent weeks (Twitter link via Scott Kushner of The Advocate). Moore, who started 36 games and averaged 27.6 MPG last season, has fallen out of the rotation at times in 2019/20, which is a contract year for him. He has averaged 11.5 PPG in 22.9 MPG in two games this week, both Pelicans wins.
- The reintegration of Derrick Favors into the Pelicans‘ lineup has been another factor keying the team’s improved play as of late, writes Will Guillory of The Athletic. A free agent at season’s end, Favors could be a trade candidate this winter.
- Mike Piellucci of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at Mavericks guard J.J. Barea and the work he has put in to make it back from an Achilles tear at age 35 when he could have easily called it a career.
Latest On Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert
Nets point guard Kyrie Irving remains on the shelf, but head coach Kenny Atkinson refuted a report claiming that Irving is suffering from thoracic bursitis, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes.
“Whatever that report said is not true,” Atkinson said. “We’re still in the same place the last time I talked. Like I said, the thing is we haven’t gotten to the contact with him. We’re on-court workout situation but the contact just hasn’t been cleared yet. I think that’s the next hurdle. I wish I could tell you when that is. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Asked if Irving’s lingering shoulder issue would require surgery, Atkinson said that the team doesn’t believe that’s necessary, adding that the six-time All-Star remains focused on his rehab process.
Although Irving’s return doesn’t appear imminent, today’s update on fellow injured guard Caris LeVert was more positive. According to Malika Andrews of ESPN, LeVert told reporters that he was able to go through 5-on-5 work on Tuesday and again on Thursday.
Atkinson was unwilling to commit to getting LeVert back in the lineup during the Nets’ upcoming road trip to Houston (Dec. 28), Minnesota (Dec. 30), and Dallas (Jan. 2), but also didn’t rule out the possibility of LeVert playing in one or more of those games, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“Of course you want to push me. I’m afraid I’m going to say yes and then it doesn’t happen, so I’m not going to go there,” Atkinson said, explaining why he wouldn’t commit to a specific date. “I’d just say, he’s getting really close.”
With LeVert expected to return before Irving does, Atkinson also left the door open for LeVert to play a backup point guard role when he’s healthy.
“Yeah, he’s done it before. Completely comfortable with that. And yes that’s something we’ll think about,” the head coach said. “That’s something we’re going to need, and he’s really good at it, so that’s going to help us when he comes back.”
Brooklyn has been hit hard by injuries as of late and could badly use some reinforcements after tonight’s 12-point home loss to the Knicks. Spencer Dinwiddie was the only Net to score more than 10 points in that game.