Eastern Notes: Stevens, Rondo, Copeland, Tyler
Kyle Draper of CSNNE.com provided an abridged transcript of his one-on-one interview with Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, touching base on how he plans to adjust to the NBA game and the team's roster. In the 13-minute video of the full interview included in the piece, Stevens admits that he's not sure of a timetable on Rajon Rondo's recovery, still needs to learn more about the players, and offered this interesting answer when asked if the offense will be tailored to Rondo in his absence:
"That a very good question. Because what he may do well may not be as good a fit for somebody else. So, do you play that way? Start that way knowing that when he is going to come back we don't know yet, or do we change midstream?"
With that aside, let's take a look at what else is brewing in the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery at the beginning of August, Chris Copeland told reporters that his knee is feeling much better and expects to be ready for Pacers training camp at the end of this month (Michael Pointer of IndyStar.com)
- As per the Knicks PR Twitter account, it was announced that forward Jeremy Tyler underwent surgery today to repair a stress fracture in his right foot and is expected to be out for eight to ten weeks (Twitter links). ESPN New York's Ian Begley tweets that according to the timetable, it would sideline the 6'10" big man through at least the first week of the regular season.
- Bucks general manager John Hammond made it clear that Caron Butler was acquired to be a starter and have a significant role on the team, notes Jim Hoehn of the Associated Press (hat tip to the Star Tribune). Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter) says that head coach Larry Drew lobbied heavily for the team to acquire Butler for the type of positive impact he'd make on the team's young players.
Bighorns Name Abelson Head Coach
According to a team press release, the Reno Bighorns – which serve as the D-League affiliate to the Kings – have officially named Joel Abelson as their head coach. This figures into being one of the first major moves of newly appointed general manager Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Abelson, who will usher in the first season of a single affiliation partnership between the Kings and Bighorns, brings experience as head coach of the Sioux Falls Skyforce and had previously served as an assistant for the Idaho Stampede. Two days ago, we relayed that he had reached an agreement with the team.
Western Notes: Ledo, Ellington, Murray
Let's pass along some of tonight's miscellaneous news and notes from the Western Conference:
- Brian Gutierrez of ESPN Dallas evaluates the Mavericks' signing of second-round pick Ricky Ledo and gives the team a "B" grade for the move.
- Although Wayne Ellington wasn't one of the more heralded free agents signings for the Mavs this summer, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com underscores the value that the former UNC standout brings to the table as a shooter.
- Ronald Murray and Dallas Lauderdale will be participating in Jazz mini-camp this week, according to Mary Schmitt-Boyer of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter).
- 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson tweets that former Timberwolves executive David Kahn had spoken with a few teams about front office roles in addition to interviewing for the 76ers' GM opening.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times thinks that Brandon Davies has a legitimate chance to make the Clippers' opening night roster. However, considering the team's luxury tax situation, Pincus is curious to see how the team will ultimately make their decision on him (Sulia link).
Odds & Ends: Roster Spots, Hunt, Mavericks
ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter) points out that the Lakers, Bulls, and 76ers are the three teams that still need to sign players in order to reach the league minimum of 13 players by opening night, although it's worth noting that L.A. is still yet to sign second round pick Ryan Kelly and Philadelphia is in the same boat with Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams. Also, as we pointed out a few days ago, Dexter Pittman accepted a training camp invite with Chicago and could fill that 13th roster spot if they end up offering him a guaranteed contract.
Here are more of tonight's news and notes from around the league:
- Jeff Haubner of ESPN.com offers a two part preview of the upcoming FIBA Americas tournament.
- Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel notes that the Bucks/Suns deal keeps Milwaukee about $1.9MM under the salary cap and saves Phoenix around $5.6MM in cap space. Gardner also has more comments from Caron Butler regarding his happiness with the trade.
- Former 76ers star Charles Barkley isn't happy with the way his former team handled their assistant coaching situation, saying that those who were released upon the Brett Brown hiring had worked for the team the entire summer and therefore didn't have the opportunity to look for another job (Michael Kaskey-Blomain of The Philadelphia Inquirer).
- Keith Schlosser of RidiculousUpside.com takes a look at Kyle Hunt, who while eligible for the D-League draft in the fall is also looking to earn an NBA training camp invite.
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW suggests Mavericks fans should be happy with 45 wins and a 7th seed in the Western Conference next season.
- Ben Couch of BrooklynNets.com provides a brief breakdown of the Nets' depth at the center position, profiling Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche, and Mason Plumlee.
- Former Knick and now a member of the Canadian men's national basketball team, Andy Rautins tells Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun about how prepared he and his teammates feel heading into the FIBA Americas tournament.
- NBA.com posted an article from Atlanta-based freelance writer Jon Cooper about Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer. Though he stressed the importance of forming good relationships with each player up to the 15th man, Budenholzer specifically mentioned Al Horford and Jeff Teague as two players that he's very much looking forward to working with.
- Suns.com passes along an article from the archives which delves into the mind of the late former Suns coach Cotton Fitzsimmons.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Earl Barron
One of the remaining free agents that has drawn interest lately is Earl Barron, who appeared in 11 games for the Wizards and one for the Knicks last season. As we noted yesterday, the 7'0" center has drawn interest from the Pacers, Pelicans, 76ers, and is still under consideration for a return to New York. Barron displayed a few standout performances in 2012/13, including an eight point, eight rebound (four offensive) effort in 16 minutes of action against the Cavaliers, a four-point, four-block, and 14 rebound line over 26 minutes in Atlanta, and 11 points along with 18 rebounds in 35 minutes during New York's final game of the season against the Hawks.
One thing worth paying attention to is the ability he's shown to rebound the basketball at a high-rate, as the 18-rebound performance in April was somewhat reminiscent of Barron's last stint with the Knicks in 2009/10, when he averaged 11.0 RPG along with 11.7 PPG over the last seven games of that season. Although Barron's field goal percentage (35.7%) isn't much to look at, it's arguable that 12 games isn't much of a sample size to work with. Based on his shot charts over the course of several seasons, it appears that he's not shy about taking jumpers from mid-range, and coupled with his rebounding ability, Barron could be an option worth keeping around as insurance in the frontcourt.
With teams looking to fill out roster spots and/or hand out training camp invites at this point, it wouldn't be surprising either way if Barron was offered a guaranteed contract for the minimum or the opportunity to earn a roster spot in the fall on a non-guaranteed deal. Even if he can't make a team before the start of the regular season, he'll certainly be worth keeping an eye throughout the year in case teams find the need to add more depth at center.
Poll: Most Improved Player In The Atlantic?
The Atlantic Division saw plenty of player movement during this offseason, with teams either adding significant rotation players or dealing them away to create bigger roles for their younger ones. Let's take a look at a few players who could continue to elevate their standing next season:
After sitting out the 2011/12 season to recover from open heart surgery, Jeff Green returned to the Celtics last year as a productive contributor and arguably the team's most important reserve, appearing in 81 games (17 starts) and averaging 12.8 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 27.8 MPG while shooting a career best 46.7% from the field and 38.5% from three. Over the final three months of the season, the former Georgetown Hoya put on a tremendous display of efficient shooting, posting scoring averages of 15.3/17.6/17.1 and never averaging less than 48.8% overall and 41.4% from long distance per month. Green could very well be relied on in a primary scoring role next season following the departures of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry – three of Boston's top five scorers last year.
One of the biggest question marks for the Knicks heading into last season was how Iman Shumpert would fare after returning from an ACL injury suffered during the 2011/12 playoffs. After sitting out the first 37 games, the sophomore swingman returned in mid-January, averaging 6.8 PPG and 1.0 SPG in 22.1 MPG the rest of the way. While those numbers may not stand out very much, Shumpert proved to be an intriguing young player within a playoff atmosphere, going for 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting in a closeout win against the Celtics and 6-for-10 (with an uncanny 5-for-6 performance from long distance) in a comeback attempt that fell short against the Pacers in Game 6 of the Conference semi-finals. Although his shooting numbers appeared to have wildly fluctuated at times during last season (26.4% from the field/ 27.2% from three in February followed by 47.9% from the field/49.9% from three in March), Shumpert has also garnered recognition as a strong defensive player, and there is some belief that his development is strongly tied to how far the Knicks can go this year.
With last year's team leading scorer Jrue Holiday now donning a Pelicans uniform and Jason Richardson still rehabbing from knee surgery, Evan Turner will most likely stand as the 76ers' most experienced guard in their backcourt to start the season. The fourth-year player was actually given an enormous amount of minutes last year and put up some of the best numbers of his career thus far – 13.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.3 APG, and 36.5% from long range in 35.6 MPG. A few things to keep an eye out for in terms of Turner's offensive development are how much he can increase his scoring average by, how well he can improve from last season's 41.8% overall shooting average, and if he can get to the free throw line at a higher rate.
Another name to keep an eye out for in Philadelphia is Thaddeus Young, who finished the year as the team's second-leading scorer. The 6'8 forward posted 14.8 PPG on an efficient 53.1% from the field along with 7.5 RPG in 34.6 MPG. While 57.4% from the charity stripe leaves a lot left to be desired – especially considering he shot 77.1% in 2011/12 – Young showed a tremendous amount of promise overall as a scorer in March, going for 16.7 PPG on a 58.0% clip.
A very intriguing name to follow north of the border is second-year center Jonas Valanciunas, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 Las Vegas Summer league. As a rookie, the 6'11 center delivered 8.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 1.3 BPG for the Raptors last season. In what could reasonably have been a preview of what to continue to expect, Valanciunas averaged 11.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG, and 27.1 MPG in March, followed by 14.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.4 BPG, and 31.6 MPG in April. What's even more interesting are his field goal percentages and accuracy from the line over those final two months of the year (62.0%/82.0% and 55.8%/85.2% respectively). With that in mind, the 21-year-old big man figures to have the keys to the starting center position in Toronto.
Of the aforementioned players in the Atlantic Division, who stands to take their game to another level in 2013/14?
Odds & Ends: Abdur-Rahim, Kazemi, Butler
release, former NBA All-Star and Kings' director of player
personnel Shareef Abdur-Rahim has
been named as the general manager of the Reno Bighorns, which serves as Sacramento's D-League affilliate. Abdur-Rahim will be joined by Chris Gilbert,
who was named assistant general manager. Here are some more of this evening's miscellaneous news and notes:
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the 76ers could still send second-round pick Arsalan Kazemi overseas for the coming season.
- Caron Butler is "thoroughly excited" about returning home to Wisconsin to play for the Bucks, writes Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- Suns GM Ryan McDonough issued a statement about the team's trade agreement with Milwaukee, saying that the deal was about creating more cap space (Paul Coro of AZCentral.com).
- Yannis Koutroupis of Hoopsworld profiles this year's rookie head coaches and identifies some challenges that may lie ahead for each of them.
- Later in the same piece, Koutroupis wonders if Marcin Gortat is the next player in Phoenix to be on the move.
- The newly created Delaware 87ers of the NBDL acquired the rights of 16 players via the D-League's expansion draft last night (NBA.com). Among the more notable names on that list with NBA experience are Ish Smith, Sean Williams, Willie Warren, Jerome Dyson, and Josh Akognon. Smith and Akognon remain on NBA rosters, but if they were released and wanted to play in the D-League, Delaware would hold their rights.
Western Notes: Batum, Rivers, Clippers
In an interview with Jorge Sierra of Hoopshype, Nicolas Batum said he likes what the Trail Blazers have done during this offseason and thinks a playoff berth is the most realistic goal for the team heading into this year. When asked about rumors that LaMarcus Aldridge had privately requested a trade from Portland, Batum had this to say: "I heard that too and I laughed when I read that. He doesn't want to get traded, he wants the team to get better. LaMarcus is a winner
Asked if Aldridge had told him that directly, Batum continued: I mean, I know that's what he wants. We had two bad seasons and missed the playoffs and wants the team to improve. I think he didn't ask for a trade. He wants to stay and win with the Blazers. He just wants a better team around him so we can get back to the playoffs."
Here's more out of the Western Conference tonight:
- Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times touches base with Clippers head coach Doc Rivers on the team's high expectations this year, how he's reached out to his players this summer, what he wants to carry over from Vinny Del Negro last season, and what he'd like to change.
- Kevin Arnovitz and Jordan Heimer of ClipperBlog join ESPN.com's Henry Abbott and Ethan Sherwood Strauss, along with Royce Young of the Daily Thunder to talk about how the Clippers will fare next season (ESPN LA's Clippers podcast).
- J.A. Adande of ESPN praises the election of Chris Paul as union president, saying it "signals a level of commitment to the union by prominent players that hadn't existed in recent years." He also looks at what Paul has positively brought to the Clippers organization as a promising sign of how he can effectively lead the NBPA.
- Hoopsworld's Jabari Parker believes the Lakers can win between 44-47 games next season and thoroughly discusses how the team and the franchise overall should function in order to get back on track.
- The purple and gold also unveiled their new black alternate jerseys for next season (hat tip to USA Today).
Maggette Open To Pistons Return
Late last month, there was talk that free agent forward Corey Maggette preferred to play for a contender and could likely be had for the veteran's minimum. Today, the 33-year-old forward told ESPN.com that he wouldn't mind playing for the Pistons again, according to a staff report by the Detroit Free Press. The 14-year-veteran played sparingly for then-head coach Lawrence Frank last season, appearing in 18 contests and averaging 14.3 MPG.
“Overall, I’m just waiting and being patient and see what opportunity comes…You always got to explore your options, but if the Pistons want me back, it’s great, man. I would love to come back.”
Interestingly enough, we heard back in March of the mutual interest between Maggette and the Pistons about a return for 2012/13, but with the team now carrying 15 players under contract, a reunion doesn't seem all that likely at this point.
New York Notes: All-Star Game, Carmelo, Nets
- New York may be hosting two All-Star games between 2015 and 2018,
writes Fred Kerber
of the New York Post. Multiple sources have maintained that the 2015
All-Star game will be played at Madison Square Garden, while the Friday night
and Saturday events will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Although nothing has been finalized, Kerber says the league, along with the Knicks and Nets, are in negotiations about a proposal involving
a reversal of roles in 2017 or 2018, where Barclays takes on Sunday's main
event and MSG hosts the other festivities. - Carmelo Anthony offers his
thoughts on the balance of power shifting toward the Eastern Conference
and gives some insight on his offseason workouts (Jared
Zwerling of ESPN New York). - Ben Couch of BrooklynNets.com provides an infographic of the Nets' depth at power forward, including Kevin Garnett, Reggie Evans, and Mirza Teletovic.