Odds & Ends: Paul, NBPA, Butler
In discussing Chris Paul's election as the new NBPA president, ESPN's Brian Windhorst writes that neither Paul nor former union vice president Jerry Stackhouse would commit to a timetable nor discuss whether a search firm was in place to find a replacement for ex-NBPA executive director Billy Hunter. Stackhouse, who will remain active with the union in an advisory role, said they aren't in a rush but have already identified a number of candidates. Windhorst also says the union would ideally want a new executive director in place by February 1st, when Adam Silver is set to begin his job as the new commissioner. Here are more of tonight's miscellaneous news and notes, along with more from the above piece:
- Some comments from Paul: "I've been thinking about (running) for a while on and off…I've had a lot of dialogue about it with committee members. I wouldn't have taken on the role if I was going to do it alone."
- There are a few specific issues that were tabled during the 2011 CBA which still need to be resolved, especially blood testing for performance enhancing drugs (including human growth hormone) and the current age limit to declare for the NBA draft.
- Lakers guard Steve Blake and Bobcats forward Anthony Tolliver were added as new members to the executive committee, joining Paul, Roger Mason Jr., Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, James Jones, Matt Bonner, and Willie Green.
- The union has turned to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services to examine its structure and will make necessary changes, such as adding a human resources and information technology department (J.A. Adande of ESPN.com).
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today notes that the NBPA has hired Reilly Partners to help with restructuring and forming a job description for the executive director position, and that two names have surfaced as potential candidates for the opening: former NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson and former NBA and Madison Square Garden executive Steven Mills.
- Suns forward Caron Butler says he's looking forward to being a mentor to teammate Michael Beasley, gives his thoughts on the Clippers, and talks about how he's approaching the upcoming season in Phoenix. Butler adds that no one from the Clippers front office has spoken to him since he was notified by his agent about being traded, but insists there's no ill will: “I don’t leave with bitterness or anything, but a phone call would have helped the situation…But it’s cool, it’s no hard feelings because that’s the nature of the business" (NBA.com's Jeff Caplan).
- Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy looks at a list of 11 of the top 13 players drafted this past June and discusses their chances at winning Rookie of the Year.
- In the same piece, Kennedy relays a clip from Gary Payton's interview on FOX Sports, in which the Hall of Fame point guard reveals that he may have had something to do with Allen Iverson's "practice" rant on the 76ers several years ago: "(Iverson) asked me…'How do you keep your body is so good of a shape, and don’t get hurt, and stay always on the court?’ And I just told him for real, my coach George Karl didn’t let me practice. So that was it. I said, ‘You have to stop practicing." While watching the actual rant, Payton recalled thinking: ‘Don’t say it like this! Don’t do it like that, Allen…When he said it, I said, ‘No, that was not our conversation.’”
Pelicans Audition Terry, Powell, Childress
Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York has heard from a source that the Pelicans have worked out Reyshawn Terry, Josh Powell, and Josh Childress over the past two days. Hoopshype also relayed the news from a source who confirmed Powell's audition for New Orleans today (Twitter links).
After officially announcing the signings of Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku earlier today, the Pelicans currently have 15 players under contract. It's worth noting that only 13 of those deals are guaranteed, which means that the final two roster spots are still up for grabs.
Powell last played in the NBA as a member of the Hawks during the 2010/11 season, averaging 4.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and shooting 45.2% from the field in 12.1 MPG. Last November, he signed with the eventual champion Olympiacos Piraeus of the Euroleague after a few short stints in China and Puerto Rico. The 30-year-old power forward enjoyed two championship seasons as a reserve on the Lakers in 2008/09 and 2009/10, and his most productive NBA season to date appears to be with the Clippers in 2007/08, where he posted career bests of 5.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 19.2 MPG in 64 games played.
Childress, also 30 and a former member of Olympiacos, is looking to land with another NBA team after an underwhelming season on the Nets last year. The former sixth overall pick of 2004 played in just 14 games with Brooklyn, averaging 1.0 PPG and 28.6% shooting overall in 7.1 MPG before being waived in late December. Childress showed some promise in 2007/08 before leaving for Greece over the next two seasons, averaging 11.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 29.9 MPG and shooting an incredible 57.1% from the field in 76 games for the Hawks. However, upon returning to the league three years ago, the 6'8 swingman is still trying to regain his niche in the NBA.
Terry may not have much NBA experience other than his summer league cameos with the Mavericks and Trail Blazers in 2008 and 2010 respectively, but he brings a wealth of international experience to the table. After being selected as the 44th overall pick in 2007, the 6'8 forward headed overseas for the next six years, playing in Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Ukraine, and most recently in Lebanon. Zwerling (via Twitter) noted the opinion of one scout who likened the former North Carolina Tar Heel to "a better version of Chris Copeland," and added that the 29-year-old swingman got off to a late start this summer after being hurt. As a member of Champville SC in Lebanon for 17 games last season, Terry averaged 19.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 36.6 MPG while shooting 56.0% from inside the arc and 37.5% from long range.
Deshaun Thomas To Play In France This Season
FRIDAY, 3:59pm: French team JSF Nanterre has officially announced the addition of Thomas, as Sportando notes via Twitter.
THURSDAY, 6:15pm: According to Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch, Deshaun Thomas will opt to play in France this season (hat tip to Sportando). The 6'7 forward was selected 58th overall by the Spurs in June and averaged 12.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG while shooting 41.4% overall and 37.5% from long range in five summer league games. Thomas wasn't immediately sure of the name of the team he signed with, but acknowledged that he'll be playing in Paris.
The former Ohio State Buckeye candidly spoke about his decision to play overseas, telling Baptist:
“(The Spurs) didn’t know what they want to do with their 15 (roster) spots . . . and I needed to make a decision…In this business, you have to think about family. I still could have gone to (training camp) and tried to make the (Spurs’) roster, but with my son and a family to provide for, I had to look at that. And developing a year ain’t going to hurt."
Western Notes: Kobe, Young, Mavericks
Sitting outside of Staples Center tonight with late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant says that he'll never accept being called the greatest Laker ever from Magic Johnson considering that he learned so much from him. As for his injury timetable, he's not sure if he'll be back by opening night at this point but is trying his best to get ready (ESPN Los Angeles' Arash Markazi via Twitter). Here are the rest of tonight's miscellaneous tidbits from the Western Conference:
- Markazi and ESPN LA's Ramona Shelburne relay that Kobe would have picked North Carolina instead of Duke had he not decided to make the jump to the NBA out of high school, and shared that the Clippers feared they wouldn't be taken seriously if they drafted a 17-year-old despite telling him that he'd given them the best workout they've ever had (All Twitter links).
- Flabbergasted that his team was projected to finish 12th in the West this year, Nick Young is "upset and ready for the season," writes Markazi: "How are you going to be ranked that low with Kobe and Pau and Nash? There’s always going to be haters and we just have to keep proving them wrong."
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW thinks that the seventh or eighth-seed will be the best-case scenario for the Mavericks if all goes well this year. Jarret Johnson of the Star-Telegram looks at why there's optimism surrounding the team heading into the season.
- Noting that six general managers around the league have previous ties with the Spurs along with four former coaching assistants now leading teams of their own, Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation describes why San Antonio's structure is a model that many teams want to follow but will find hard to duplicate.
- Timberwolves' president Flip Saunders says that Kevin Love is now 242 lbs after playing last season at 250 (Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press via Twitter).
- Paul Coro of AZ Central tweets a picture of the Suns' new uniforms, which were debuted tonight.
Eastern Notes: Wade, George, 76ers
Heat superstar Dwyane Wade, like teammate LeBron James, can potentially opt out next summer and become a free agent, but told reporters on Thursday that there really isn't much to make of it right now and made it clear about where he stood: "Everyone knows where I want to be…That's what it's all about to me, is making sure we focus on this season, winning this championship…I want to be in Miami and I have nothing else to talk about. So there won't be (any) exciting news over here" (Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel). Wade also touches upon his health and is excited about the addition of center Greg Oden. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Pacers' swingman Paul George is ready to lead Indiana as the team's "No. 1 guy" (Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star).
- Despite the thought that the 76ers could trade Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, or Spencer Hawes if the right deal presents itself, newly hired head coach Brett Brown raved about what each of them can bring to the court for him (Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer).
- Knicks head coach Mike Woodson specifically mentioned Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler, and Carmelo Anthony when asked about his starting five for next season, but was non-committal when asked if third-year guard Iman Shumpert would be included in that group at shooting guard, notes ESPN New York's Ian Begley. With that being said, Begley suggests that Woodson may look to continue starting Pablo Prigioni alongside Felton while sliding Shumpert to small forward and offers more thoughts on the rest of the team's rotation.
- ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg rounds up a few predictions from the Celtics blogging community on how the 2013-14 season will play out, and the majority appears to imagine a finish anywhere in or between the ninth and twelfth seeds in the Eastern Conference.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com thinks the Wizards are primed for a playoff run this year.
Clippers Tell Jamison They’re Waiting On Odom
According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, one source says the Clippers have notified free agent forward Antawn Jamison that they are waiting for an answer from Lamar Odom, who is the more preferred target of the two at this point. Yahoo's Marc J. Spears (via Twitter) says that Jamison was led to believe he'd be joining the Clips before being notified of the team's pursuit of Odom today.
The Clippers are willing to offer the veteran's minimum of $1.4MM, and although Odom would prefer more money, no other NBA team has made a higher offer (Twitter links). In addition to a strong recommendation from Vinny Del Negro, Spears tweets that head coach Doc Rivers is patiently waiting to sign the 6'10 forward after getting rave reviews of how great of a teammate he is. The 14-year-veteran appeared in all 82 contests for LAC last season, averaging 4.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 19.7 MPG. Odom's shooting percentages (39.9% overall and 20.0% from three) were far below his career averages, although he did hit long range shots at a higher clip in the postseason (35.7%).
Kupchak On D’Antoni, Kobe, Nash, Lakers’ Future
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak participated in a radio interview with ESPN's Colin Cowherd earlier today to discuss a few topics surrounding the franchise. He acknowledged that the transition from Mike Brown to Mike D'Antoni last season was "clumsy" and admitted that there was some feeling that Phil Jackson would coach the team during 2012-13 before eventually handing over the job to D'Antoni. We'll relay more of Kupchak's noteworthy comments, and you can read them below (credit goes to ESPN Los Angeles' Ramona Shelburne and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times):
On the health of Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant:
"Steve, to my understanding, is close to 100 percent, but he's not as young as he once was and Kobe's a big question mark. We're very optimistic, he's getting treatment every day, he's in the facility right now, but he hasn't been on a basketball court. Uncertainty going forward, I guess with our health status would be the biggest question mark."
Regarding any talks of a contract extension with Kobe:
"There really (have) been no discussions beyond next year for obvious reasons…You have a player who is up in age and just had a devastating injury. Obviously, we created an environment with our team where were looking to have financial flexibility a year from now, so that plays into it."
On the possibility of Pau Gasol remaining a Laker beyond this season:
"We're in a cycle…We're hopeful that within a year from now, we'll have enough flexibility. We're hopeful that Pau and Kobe can continue to play and we'll have options to rebuild the team."
Thoughts on the idea of tanking for a lottery pick in 2014:
"The ping-pong lottery thing, even if you have the very worst team in the NBA, you're not guaranteed to get the first pick…I'm not sure getting into the lottery and ending up with 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 is going to give us a top one or two pick in the draft…We still may end up drafting 12, 13 or 14, which is not a great place to draft if you just look back on drafts in this league."
More comments about the 2014 offseason:
"We'll have a lot of financial resources a year from now…I don't know if we'll get a star player to leave his home team to come here like (Dwight Howard) did to go to Houston. He took a huge financial hit just to do that…We have a pick next year, which is going to be a very good draft. We're very comfortable with the flexibility…It just doesn't mean you get free agents you can take players [via trade]. There are a lot of things you can do with cap room."
Odds & Ends: Pietrus, Knicks, Johnson
Mickael Pietrus's agent Bill McCandless tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that the 6'6 forward has a workout scheduled with an undisclosed NBA team in September, and that two other teams have shown interest in bringing him in for a look as well. The 31-year-old swingman last played for the Raptors in 2012-13, averaging 20.3 MPG, 5.3 PPG, and 34.7% shooting from the field in 19 games. McCandless added that Pietrus is currently working out in France and is "100% healthy." Here are a few more news and notes from around the NBA:
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter) confirms that undrafted point guard Myck Kabongo has left agent Rich Paul and will now be represented by Bill Duffy, who also represents Lakers guard Steve Nash.
- Citing a source familiar with the Knicks' plans, Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York tweets that the Knicks could possibly be looking to add another big man, but it isn't clear if they're looking to do so now or during veteran's camp (Twitter link).
- Along with most free agents right now, Ivan Johnson isn't making much progress on any contract talks, as Zwerling (via Twitter) relays a source close to the situation who says that things are still in "slow motion right now."
- Grantland's Jonathan Abrams writes an excellent piece which revisits the circumstances that contributed to Jonny Flynn's struggles with finding a niche in the NBA and the hip injury in Minnesota that stifled his development. Despite the lack of opportunity with the Clippers in this year's summer league, the 24-year-old guard is still determined to make it out of an NBA training camp in the fall. However, he could possibly opt for China or Spain if it doesn't work out.
- Jeff Caplan of NBA.com thinks the change of scenery from Milwaukee to Dallas could be just what Mavericks guard Monta Ellis needed to become more efficient and consistent at this point in his career.
Odds & Ends: Hill, Team USA, Cousins
Opting to stick around for youth basketball camps he sponsored in Texas, Pacers guard George Hill understands that his decision to forego his commitment to Team USA training camp on short notice could hurt his chances at future invitations (IndyStar.com). USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo's reacted to Hill's decision: "We expected him here, and he withdrew…Until I really get the answer, I don't know what else to tell you. I just don't think it's fair to comment one way or the other until I have facts, out of courtesy and respect."
Here are a few more miscellaneous rumblings to pass along from tonight:
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter) hears that the Kings will be meeting with DeMarcus Cousins' agent Dan Fegan in the near future to discuss a contract extension.
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets that early next year, Colangelo will announce another pool of 25-28 players for next summer's World Cup competition.
- Though he almost chose the Mavericks at the request of his son, Jermaine O'Neal passed on the chance to return home and ultimately chose to join the Warriors for the opportunity to be a part of something special (Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News).
- Eric Koreen of the National Post introduces us to Bill Bayno, Jesse Murmuys, and Jama Mahlalela – some of the new faces on the Raptors' assistant coaching staff. In another piece, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun gathers some of head coach Dwane Casey's thoughts on Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan and their improvement this summer.
- Zach Harper of CBS Sports is puzzled by Cavaliers center Andrew Bynum's statement to Cleveland media that he's never played for a city that really supported their team, coming from someone who developed and enjoyed plenty of success with the Lakers.
Warriors Plans For San Francisco Move Delayed?
After speaking with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the team's plans to move to an arena in San Francisco at Piers 30/32 by 2017 could be pushed to 2018 or beyond.
Back in May, city mayor Ed Lee and members of the Golden State franchise had officially announced the intention to move the team in time for the 2017/18 season. Though there were some expected difficulties with regard to the politics and logistics of building an arena on that site, Kawakami writes that those issues – coupled with other unexpected obstacles – stand in the way of bringing the plan to fruition by the original intended target date.
Based on his conversation with Lacob - who thinks it's too early to tell whether or not the plan will be delayed, but conceded to the possibility that it could be - Kawakami also notes that the franchise isn't completely set on Piers 30/32 location, as Lacob and co-owner Peter Guber have acknowledged the possibility of re-starting talks with the San Francisco Giants about building an arena in Lot A next to AT&T Park. Though Lacob rules out Pier 50 as another location worth considering, Kawakami doesn't think it's completely out of the question either.
The team's current lease at the Oracle Arena is set to expire in 2017, and an alternative temporary option could include extending that lease for the standard of five years (or fewer, based on discussions) according to Kawakami. Lacob says that the franchise will have the next 18 months to receive an approval to start building in 2015, though with the likelihood that the building project could take more than two years, it paints a much clearer picture of why a move into the city by the 2017/18 season might not be as realistic as it used to be.