Bynum Considered Retirement, Unsure Of Future
Earlier today, we relayed a report out of Cleveland which revealed that Cavaliers center Andrew Bynum had considered retirement in the past and still thinks about it occasionally. Taking a closer look at the original piece from Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, it appears that those thoughts stem from the frustration of not enjoying the game because he currently isn’t the player he once was:
“(Retirement) was a thought, it was a serious thought,..At the moment, it’s tough to enjoy the game because of how limited I am physically. I’m still sort of working through that…I’m a shell of myself on the court right now, I’m struggling mentally. I’m trying.”
Bynum, taken tenth overall by the Lakers during the 2005 NBA Draft, also revealed that there weren’t any discussions about re-signing with the 76ers this past summer after he had missed all of the 2012/13 season. Lloyd writes that this was the first instance in which Bynum had spoken about contemplating retirement, and adds that Cavs head coach Mike Brown hasn’t had any conversations with the 7’0 center on that subject. While Lloyd says it was difficult to determine just how serious Bynum was about his comments or if he’d just been having a bad day, it was clear that the one-time All-Star is mentally exhausted from having to deal with his physical limitations:
“Battling pain is annoying…I’m not able to do the things I used to be able to do and it’s frustrating…I feel like I can still be a double-double guy in this league, but it’s just going to take some modifications to my game and whether or not I want to accept the challenge and do that.”
Through four of Cleveland’s first five games thus far, the New Jersey native is averaging 5.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.3 BPG in 12.8 MPG. He is currently signed to a partially-guaranteed contract with the Cavs through 2014/15.
Zach Randolph Wants To Retire With Grizzlies
During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph made it clear that he’d like to remain in Memphis until he decides to retire:
“I’d like to be here. I’d like to retire here. You never know. If I’ve got to make some sacrifices to be here, I would. I still can play. I can still help a team out. I want to win a championship. I’ve made all the money in the world. I just want to win. I don’t know yet [about opting in or opting out], but Memphis is my home. If they trade me tomorrow, I’m here. I just bought a new house. My daughters go to school [in Memphis]. That’s my home.”
Randolph will make $18.24MM this season and has a player option for 2014/15 worth $16.94MM. The Grizzlies will have a handful of important decisions to make in the near future, especially with Ed Davis slated to become a restricted free agent in July and Marc Gasol due for a new contract in the summer of 2015. Memphis currently has three guaranteed contracts on their books for 2015/16 totaling about $21MM, so you’d have to wonder if/how much they’d be willing to spend to accommodate the 32-year-old Randolph’s desire to stay as well as how many years they’d offer.
Odds & Ends: Hayward, Jazz, Nash
While the Jazz and Gordon Hayward fell short of agreeing on a contract extension last week, both Hayward and the franchise are still interested in getting something done eventually. Hayward told Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: “(Not reaching an agreement) in no way changes the way I feel about Utah at all…I love being here. I love playing for them…Hopefully (an extension) will get worked out next summer.”
Utah GM Dennis Lindsey had this to say about Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein and future negotiations: “Mark’s been one of the best agents in the business because he negotiates hard. He was fair. He played by the rules. He’ll continue to play by the rules. We’ll be fair as well, and we’ll come back and start talking in July…Just because (Hayward) said no to our last offer, his character hasn’t changed. He is an outstanding person…He’s someone we can see being in a Utah Jazz jersey until he retires. That’s our hope. We think we’re great fits.”
We have a handful of miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight, and you can read them below:
- ESPN LA’s Arash Markazi weighed in on some of the rumblings which suggest that Steve Nash could eventually wind up in Toronto, saying that a deal between the Raptors and Lakers makes sense but isn’t sure if something gets done. Markazi opines that L.A. would like to clear Nash’s salary off their books while the Raptors would enjoy increased ticket sales by bringing the Canadian legend back to his home country (All Twitter links).
- Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld tweeted a list of players who may be traded this season, including: Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Glen Davis, Evan Turner, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Bass, and Gerald Wallace.
- Kennedy also shared what 76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams told him about his chances on winning the Rookie of the Year Award: “I think I have a pretty good chance at it. I’m just going to go out there, play my game and hope for the best” (Twitter link).
- Entering tonight’s game with a record of 1-2 before their win against the Wizards, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade acknowledged that some minor chemistry issues are affecting the team (Michael Wallace of ESPN.com). More specifically, Wade had this to say: “Let me give you an example…If you’re in a relationship with a woman for a long time, you start getting comfortable. You stop doing the little things that you should do, that you did in the beginning. It’s just like a relationship. We got a little comfortable. Now we have to get back on that edge a little bit.”
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes that Knicks forwards Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin will have their own individualized schedules as far as playing or sitting out games, a decision meant to preserve the health of both in the long run.
- Mavericks point man Jose Calderon appears to be regaining his groove after a sluggish start to the season, writes Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a rundown of original content published by our Hoops Rumors staff this past week:
- Luke Adams hosted a Hoops Rumors chat this past Monday.
- Our Hoops Rumors writing team released their individual 2013/14 NBA predictions.
- Luke pointed out which teams still have open roster spots.
- Chuck Myron provided a list of Eastern Conference teams ranked according to the least amount of roster turnover from last season, with the Heat topping the list at 12 returning players. The Spurs led the Western Conference in the least amount of player departures with 12 returnees as well.
- Nearly 27% of you picked Miami to repeat as NBA champions in 2013/14.
- As far as your picks to win this season’s MVP award, LeBron James garnered nearly 26% of your votes, while Kevin Durant received about 25%.
- Chuck recapped Friday evening’s NBDL draft.
- Luke listed the fourth-year players who removed themselves from upcoming free agency by signing extensions this summer as well as those slated to hit the open market in July.
- Chuck highlighted the current free agents who were playing on $5MM+ contracts last season, recapped the rookie scale option decisions, and provided a team-by-team breakdown of players who have a no-trade clause in their contract.
- Jonathan Nehring wondered who among this summer’s notable restricted free agents will end up getting a maximum contract. 36% of you agreed that it would be Greg Monroe, while 34% didn’t believe that anyone listed would receive a max deal.
- As part of our Offseason In Review series for each NBA team, Chuck Myron took an in-depth look at the Heat did over the summer.
- China appears to have the highest amount of players among recent NBA veterans playing overseas.
- Charlie Adams polled our readers on who they believed would finish this season with the fewest amount of wins, and the Celtics received the highest amount of votes.
- If you haven’t already, check out our Hoops Rumors 2013 Free Agent Tracker.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
- Chuck explains how D-League assignments work.
- You can keep up with player movement in non-NBA professional leagues overseas with our International Player Movement Tracker.
Week In Review: 10/28/13-11/3/13
Here’s a recap of the top stories from this past week:
- Allen Iverson officially announced his retirement.
- Carmelo Anthony and Knicks GM Steve Mills agreed to shelve any talk of a possible extension or Anthony’s early termination option for the time being. Later in the week, Carmelo went on record saying that he’d like to retire with the Knicks.
- The Raptors are reportedly exploring trade options and are willing to deal anyone on their roster other than Jonas Valanciunas.
- There is some belief that the Magic would prefer to trade Jameer Nelson immediately if another team offered a first-round pick.
- The Grizzlies signed Quincy Pondexter to an extension worth $14MM over four years.
- The Knicks exercised their fourth-year option on Iman Shumpert, thus keeping him under contract through 2014/15.
- The Spurs picked up the fourth-year options on both Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph, therefore keeping them under contract through 2014/15.
- The Jazz exercised their 2014/15 options on both Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.
- The Nuggets exercised their 2014/15 options on Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier. There was no word on Jordan Hamilton, who had been eligible for a fourth-year option worth $2.1MM.
- The Rockets picked up the 2014/15 options on Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas.
- The Bulls picked up their 2014/15 options on Jimmy Butler and Marquis Teague.
- The Celtics picked up their 2014/15 option on Jared Sullinger, but declined to exercise their option on MarShon Brooks.
- In addition to declining their 2014/15 option on Jimmer Fredette, the Kings opted to forego extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson.
- The 76ers exercised their 2014/15 options on Arnett Moultrie and Tony Wroten.
- The Bobcats picked up their 2014/15 options on Bismack Biyambo, Kemba Walker, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
- The Hawks decided to pick up their 2014/15 option on John Jenkins, but declined to do so for Jared Cunningham.
- The Knicks’ Chris Smith, Magic big man Kyle O’Quinn, the Nuggets’ Quincy Miller, and the 76ers’ James Anderson all saw their contracts for this season become fully-guaranteed.
- Gordon Hayward and the Jazz failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension by Thursday’s deadline, thus making the 23-year-old small forward a restricted free agent this upcoming summer.
- Just three months after being hired, Gersson Rosas resigned from his post as GM of the Mavericks.
- We heard that Clippers owner Donald Sterling almost nixed the three-team deal which included sending Eric Bledsoe to the Suns and acquiring in J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley, but later consented after Doc Rivers convinced him to change his mind.
- Bobcats owner Michael Jordan offered his thoughts on the topics of tanking and the new CBA.
- The Rockets waived Reggie Williams and Marcus Camby.
- The Wizards released Shannon Brown, Kendall Marshall, and Malcolm Lee after acquiring them along with Marcin Gortat via trade with Phoenix last week.
- Darnell Jackson, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Toney Gaffney are all headed overseas to play basketball after being released from their respective teams,
- Josh Powell, Vander Blue, and JaMychal Green are bound for China, Israel, and France respectively after failing to stick on an NBA roster this fall.
- The 76ers signed Brandon Davies.
- New York is making an attempt to acquire Jeremy Tyler‘s D-League rights from the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Western Notes: Westbrook, Nash, Lakers
Rejoining Oklahoma City for his first game since getting injured during last season’s playoffs, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook sat down with NewsOK’s Darnell Mayberry to discuss his return. When asked if he feels just as explosive as he was before the injury, Westbrook replied:
“Yeah. I feel great. I feel I’m in a good spot. I’m happy and blessed to be able to be able to play basketball again and go on the floor and fight for my teammates. First, I want to thank all the fans and all my family and friends and maybe some of you guys for your support throughout this period. It’s been a tough one, but I’m happy to be back.”
With that aside, here are some more links to share from around the Western Conference tonight:
- Though Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld had earlier intimated that Steve Nash has little trade value as of now, Alex Kennedy (also of Hoopsworld) tweets that the former MVP could indeed be traded and hears from multiple sources that the Raptors are a possible landing spot.
- Responding to his followers on Twitter, Kyler downplayed the likelihood that Pau Gasol and/or Nash get traded this season. Kyler reasons that Gasol and Nash make too much money for other teams to be interested, and that clearing Pau’s salary off their cap next July is much more valuable to the Lakers than shopping his expiring contract at the trade deadline (All Twitter links).
- Sam Amick of USA Today talks about what Westbrook’s return means for the Thunder.
- Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times provides a brief parallel between Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and the Rockets’ Dwight Howard as far as struggling to mesh with their respective coaches last season and being in better situations now. On a much lighter note, Howard credited “playing slower songs in his head” for his recent minor streak of improved shooting from the free throw line (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets).
- Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw might consider re-shuffling his starting lineup to include Kenneth Faried at power forward, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Eastern Notes: Davis, Douby, Carmelo
Though NBA veteran Ricky Davis was drafted by the Erie Bayhawks (which serves as the Knicks’ D-League affiliate) during this week’s NBDL draft, it doesn’t appear that Davis is part of any larger plan after head coach Mike Woodson didn’t seem to be aware of the move (SNY.tv’s Adam Zagoria via Twitter). New York brass had auditioned the 34-year-old swingman in mid-September but did not ultimately extend a training camp invite.
With more than half of the Eastern Conference set to compete tonight, here are some links to pass along from that side of the NBA:
- Recently drafted by the NBDL’s Sioux Falls Skyforce (a direct affiliate of the Heat), Quincy Douby tells Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld about how he’s matured after playing internationally for the last several years and that demonstrating how much he’s grown will hopefully lead to another opportunity in the NBA.
- With regard to some of New York’s struggles offensively so far, Carmelo Anthony -who insists that he feels good and is just trying to get back into rhythm himself – thinks that his team needs to be more willing to shoot more three-point shots when the opportunities present itself: “I think we’re showing a different dynamic part our team. Last year we took a lot more 3-pointers than we took (now). We got to get guys to used to being in those spots and wanting to shoot those. (We) got guys like Bargnani not used to playing a position like that outside the line taking 3s.’’ (Marc Berman of the Post provides a Sulia link)
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune touches upon the Bulls’ uncharacteristic struggles on the defensive end (subscribers only).
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com writes about Maurice Harkless‘ improved mindset as a second-year player.
Odds & Ends: Kobe, LeBron, Cavs
T.J. Simers of the OC Register writes that Lakers executive Jim Buss believes he has an understanding with Kobe Bryant regarding next summer, in which he’ll let him hit free agency, spend the money accordingly on free agents, and offer whatever’s left to the Lakers’ star afterwards. When Simers asked him to elaborate, Kobe “vaguely” responded: “We’ve probably talked (about it)…but I’m putting off any thought of that.”
In another piece, Kobe spoke with Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times about his inability to mesh with Dwight Howard last season: “We saw different ways of going about leading this team…Dwight wanted to do it one way and he felt like it was effective. I wanted to do it another way. It was constant tension the second half of the season.”
Here are a handful of tonight’s links to pass along from around the Association:
- LeBron James remained diplomatic when asked if winning a third consecutive ring would provide an answer to whether or not he’ll stay in with the Heat beyond this year: “When that bridge comes, I’ll cross it with my family…And we’re going to make the right choice. We’ve been in this position before, I’ve been in this position before, and I’ll be excited about it, but we’ll see what happens” (Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald).
- LeBron was also quick to assert that his focus is on the upcoming season, and later emphasized Dwyane Wade‘s health as the key to Miami’s success: “Winning, that’s my only concern right now, winning…I want to put a third ring on the guys that have two. I want to put a first ring on the guys that don’t have any and I want to put a fourth on [Udonis Haslem] and D-Wade. So, that’s my goal…Without (Dwyane), this ship doesn’t continue to move without him, and I hope he knows that,..I think he knows that because he’s a big part of what we do.”
- Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is still undecided about how he’ll handle the rotation at small forward this season, having been torn between Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark: “Nobody’s really separated themselves drastically from the other guy…One game, one guy’s played pretty good, then another guy’s played pretty good. … I told those guys, it can go into the regular season, just keep yourself ready to go in case your number’s called” (Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer).
- Steve Nash spoke with Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com about the challenges of staying healthy at this point in his career.
- USA Today’s Sam Amick goes over what he’s learned so far after watching the pre-season.
- Jody Genessy of the Deseret News says that the Jazz’ signing of Jamaal Tinsley makes Lester Hudson and Scott Machado longshots to make the final cut.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Anderson
According to Zach Braziller of the New York Post, Knicks coach Mike Woodson plans to meet with GM Steve Mills and team brass either tonight or tomorrow to determine the five cuts he has to make before Monday’s deadline. In another piece, Braziller writes about how Carmelo Anthony took it upon himself to have a heart-to-heart talk with J.R. Smith about the importance of staying focused and keeping out of trouble moving forward.
You can find more of tonight’s links out of the Atlantic Division below:
- Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston notes that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is “very proud” of Rajon Rondo‘s progress in rehab: “I think he’s working as hard as he can. I’ve been very proud of him of how he really wants to get out there and I think he wants to get out there, not for his own benefit, but he wants to really help the team. He sees how he’s missed and he just loves to play. He wants to get back for all the right reasons.”
- Ainge also elaborated on why he wants to keep the team under the luxury tax: “Right now we’re barely under the luxury tax, so we really have no choice…If there are deals made later in the year, that would open up roster spots and open up to keep us under the tax. But we will stay under the tax this year. We have to. As we’re rebuilding, not just from a standpoint of the financial budget, but as a competitive advantage.”
- Yesterday, we heard that James Anderson was one player who had “all but wrapped up” a spot on the 76ers’ roster. Today, Tom Moore of The Intelligencer discusses how Anderson secured a spot in Philadelphia after establishing himself as a starter and the team’s top perimeter threat.
- Former NBA executive and current NBA analyst Steve Kerr explains why he thinks the Knicks are the fifth-best team in the East (Justin Terranova of the New York Post).
- Clippers coach Doc Rivers took time to defend current Nets Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the criticism hurled at them by LeBron James last week, who insinuated that they had abandoned Boston: “Paul and Kevin were traded…They were traded. Paul was traded whether he wanted to be or not. Kevin was the only one who had to agree to be traded even though he had already been traded. He had to agree to the trade. That’s completely different…You could make more of a case for me leaving than Paul and Kevin” (Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News [hat tip to ESPN Radio in Miami]).
Bulls Notes: Rose, Butler, Deng
While on “The Waddle and Silvy Show” on ESPN Chicago 1000, Bulls vice president John Paxson described Derrick Rose‘s pre-season performance as “fearless” and doesn’t think that any restrictions will be put on the former MVP: “Unless he would come up with something that would concern us, but we have no concerns right now. You look at his preseason, and I think [coach Thibodeau] has done a really nice job of kind of amping up his minutes. He’s played six games. In reality he is only averaging about 27 minutes a game in this preseason, and he has looked terrific. Right now there is no reason to think that there will be any restrictions, and we’re not anticipating that at all” (hat tip to ESPNChicago.com).
Here are some more rumblings to share out of Chicago tonight:
- Rose’s ability to create for his teammates will lead to plenty of offensive opportunities, especially for teammate Jimmy Butler, who is still looking to find his niche on that end of the floor (K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune).
- In another piece from Johnson, head coach Tom Thibodeau sang Luol Deng‘s praises amidst his noteworthy production so far in the pre-season: “He’s a complete player…He does whatever you ask. He’s very disciplined. He stays in great shape, prepares himself to guard multiple positions, moves without the ball…He does so many things that make your team better that never appear in a box score. He’s a hard guy to measure statistically, even though his statistics are very good. He’s invaluable to us.”
- Johnson also adds that Joakim Noah is still questionable for the team’s regular season opener next week, and that guard Kirk Hinrich has been medically cleared from the concussion he suffered last Friday.