Western Notes: Kobe, Carney, Blazers
Kobe Bryant didn't inform Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni of his latest trip to Germany for a blood-spinning procedure on his right knee, and at least one other NBA coach sees that as a sign of disrespect, according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News.
Here's more from around the Western Conference…
- The Pelicans announced today in a press release they've waived 6'7" forward Rodney Carney. A product of Memphis, the 29-year-old Carney has been in the league for five seasons, playing in the past for the Sixers, Grizzlies, Warriors and Timberwolves with career averages of 5.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 15.4 MPG.
- Nicolas Batum told CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes today was the first day Blazers coach Terry Stotts let the projected starting lineup of Batum, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez play together. He said they played great (Twitter).
- After suffering a minor injury to his left leg during Blazers practice on Wednesday, Aldridge tells Mike Tokito of the Oregonian that he's feeling better after sitting out Thursday's practice. He was back on the court Friday.
- After coming aboard as the Blazers' GM 16 months ago, Neil Olshey has blossomed into a leader and the voice of a Blazers franchise that needed both, writes Joe Freeman at the Oregonian.
- Scott Rafferty of Ridiculous Upside believes Perry Jones III could use another season in the Development League before being called up to the Thunder.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post
Eastern Notes: Rose, Bobcats, Caldwell-Pope
Mark Stein of ESPN.com reports, via Twitter, that according to the "eyes of a spy I trust," Derrick Rose looks even better now than he did in the past.
Here are a few Eastern notes as fans eagerly await the return of Rose when the Bulls and Pacers tip off at 7 p.m. EST tonight in the first preseason game for each team.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer looks at the Bobcats' bench to show how they can tap into the talents of Ben Gordon, Bismack Biyombo and others.
- Bonnell also talked to Bobcats assistant coach Patrick Ewing after practice today at UNC-Asheville. Ewing doesn't want to be categorized as merely a big man coach, but that hasn't stopped Charlotte's big free agent acquisition, Al Jefferson, from soaking up his knowledge.
- Despite the addition of Chauncey Billups in free agency this summer and the continued presence of Rodney Stuckey, Pistons rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is making his case for the starting job at the off-guard position, writes MLive.com's David Mayo.
- Entering his third year in the NBA, Knicks Journal's Keith Schlosser asks whether Iman Shumpert is under the most pressure to improve his production this coming season if the Knicks are to have a real shot in the improved Eastern Conference.
Central Rumors: Rose, Butler, Bucks, Bulls
The Bulls opened training camp today, and that meant a return to the practice court with a 100 percent healthy Derrick Rose. The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson relayed quotes from coach Tom Thibodeau, Bulls starters Carlos Boozer and others proclaiming the old Rose's return.
Rose was attacking the basket during scrimmages with a ferocity not seen when he was cleared to play in the spring.
“I got confidence in my (surgically repaired left) knee,” Rose told the Tribune. “There’s no testing anymore. It’s going out there and playing hard and attacking.”
“He attacked all day, in fact from the start,” Thibodeau revealed. “He made that clear.” Boozer added that "Pooh" – Rose's nickname – "had it going. It was like old times."
Rose is doing one thing differently from before tearing his ACL at the start of the 2012 Playoffs.
“I’m really taking stretching serious before and after — when I wake up, before I go to sleep. I just try to get my body as loose as possible because when you have ACL tears, your hamstrings will be the first things that go especially when you’re fatigued. Me building that tolerance up on my leg, I think that will help me in the long run.”
Here's more on Rose's return to practice, Jimmy Butler's excellent showing and divisional rivals, the Bucks…
- The sentiments expressed by the players and coach in the Tribune's piece on the first practice of the 2013/14 season were echoed by Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. Derrick Rose is back attacking the rim, and despite some hard fouls was fine with the contact.
- Rose also offered some insight into his decision not to come back for the playoffs last season after being cleared to play. "I knew I wasn’t ready to take on a double team in the playoffs, so I had to make the decision not to come back," Rose said.
- Another player who impressed coach Tom Thibodeau at the first day of practice, was 6'7" swingman Jimmy Butler. Thibs told the Tribune's Johnson "[Butler is] an excellent athlete, very explosive, very quick to the ball. That tells you how he sees the game. His reaction to the ball is special. He's very quick, strong, can think ahead, very strong."
- The former Marquette player won the starting shooting guard spot last season with Chicago after some blanket defense on the wing, and improved 3-point shooting.
- The Sun-Times' Cowley also paid deference to Butler saying that – other than Rose – he got the most attention after the first day of practice.
- After the Bucks were again eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, GM John Hammond started the offseason ready to make big changes, writes the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Charles F. Gardner.
- After hiring a new coach – Larry Drew, formerly of the Hawks – the Bucks traded their point guard Brandon Jennings to the Pistons and let their other guard Monta Ellis leave for the Mavs. Hammond will see what a fresh start can do after the largest roster overhaul in his five years as GM.
Jazz To Sign Nick Covington
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets that the Jazz formally offered a training camp invitation to Nick Covington, who has accepted. The 6'2" guard turned 28 this summer, and last played for alma mater Weber State in 2005/06.
For the last three years he's played in the NBA's Development league for Iowa, Sioux Falls and last season with Erie. With the Bayhawks in Erie last season, Covington averaged 9.4 points, 2.6 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 26 minutes of action per game.
In 47 games total, 38 of which he started, he actually shot worse from the field (39.5%) than he did from beyond the 3-point arc (39.9%).
Northwest Notes: Jazz, T-Wolves, Clibanoff
Tyrone Corbin is entering his fourth year as the coach of the Jazz. We mentioned earlier ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan's belief Corbin is on the coaching hot seat this season, with front court nucleus Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson gone in free agency to the Hawks and Bobcats, respectively.
Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune profiles Corbin as he enters the final year of his contract with the Jazz "where an extension is unlikely." Corbin will shepherd an inexperienced group unlikely to cause much of a ruckus in the tough Western Conference. His place as part of the rebuilding Jazz is murky, at best.
Here's what else is happening around the Northwest division on a jam-packed Saturday night as NBA training camps finally open…
- The Deseret News' Jody Genessy details the 20 training camp Jazz invites, including Justin Holiday, the older brother (Twitter) of Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday.
- Justin Holiday, Genessy adds via Twitter, is one of 7 players who will be in Jazz camp with non-guaranteed deals, as well as the 13 players (Twitter) already with guaranteed deals.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune details the five major issues facing the Timberwolves as they enter training camp. The primary issue is health with their nucleus of Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, all missing time last season as the 'Wolves again failed to reach the playoffs.
- Zgoda also goes through the uncertain contract status of power forward Derrick Williams. If the 'Wolves don't exercise their option paying him $6.33MM next season, the former No. 2 overall pick will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
- With the 'Wolves facing a lot of contract unknowns in the near future Williams place with them is uncertain.
- The Timberwolves' Chase Budinger may miss 6-8 weeks as swelling and discomfort continue in the same left knee that sidelined him for all but five games last season, Zgoda reported earlier today. An MRI revealed, according to coach Flip Saunders, "a little something in there." The news comes fresh after Budinger re-signed with the 'Wolves for three years and $15MM this summer.
- Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman asked Thunder players Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka what nicknames they'd put on their jerseys if the NBA allowed the practice.
- Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the Nuggets have hired Jim Clibanoff as Director of Scouting. Previously, Clibanoff ran a respected private scouting service.
Atlantic Notes: Woodson, Kidd, Sixers, Knicks
Despite the Knicks having their best year since the 1990s, their coach, Mike Woodson, is on the hot seat, writes ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan [subscription only]. Elhassan goes through five coaches entering the 2013/14 campaign on the hot seat, where their team's success could determine whether they're brought back for the 2014/15 season.
The other four coaches mentioned include Mike D'Antoni of the Lakers, Monty Williams of the Pelicans, Tyrone Corbin of the Jazz, and Randy Wittman of the Wizards.
Conversely, when Roderick Boone of Newsday spoke with new Nets coach Jason Kidd, the new face in Brooklyn told him there was "exciting nervousness" as the team entered training camp. It will be the first training camp for Kidd as a head coach and the first training camp he hasn't begun as a player since the summer before he entered the league in 1994.
Kidd went on to explain to Roderick why he's lucky to start as the coach with the veteran-laden Nets:
"The nice thing about this opportunity with this team is guys being able to sacrifice," Kidd told Boone, "and that's another thing with these guys. Maybe sacrifice a shot or two. Maybe even some of the younger guys will say, 'Yeah, I don't mind not playing the fourth quarter,' and that's sacrifice. It's less minutes and less shots and it gets us a win."
Here's more from around the top-heavy Atlantic division…
- Woodson's challenge with the Knicks this season could be even harder if they don't get healthy as Al Iannazzone writes about for Newsday on the eve of training camp.
- ESPN New York's Ian Begley has a power forward preview for the Knicks. Though Carmelo Anthony played a lot at the 4 last season when the Knicks went small, all their offseason moves — acquiring Andrea Bargnani in a trade with the Raptors, picking up Metta World Peace after he cleared amnesty waivers and signing Kenyon Martin as a free agent – mean the Knicks will have a lot of depth to spell Anthony while also avoiding injuries for their reserves.
- Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal has more on the Knicks' decision to promote Steve Mills to GM while demoting Glen Grunwald.
- The Sixers had a low-key first day of practice as they opened training camp today, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Tom Moore of the Intelligencer agrees that new Sixers coach Brett Brown was smart to start things slow in his first official practice as coach.
- The Sixers aren't expected to compete for anything but a lottery pick this season after trading Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans on draft day, but at least they have a plan opines Pompey.
Suns Bringing James Nunnally To Camp
The Suns have added shooter James Nunnally to their camp roster, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The UC-Santa Barbara grad shot 63 percent from 3-point range for Miami during summer league.
Coro adds in his Arizona Republic post that new GM Ryan McDonough believed the Suns needed more perimeter shooting even before trading Caron Butler and Jared Dudley this offseason. McDonough explained the decision to Coro:
“We brought him (Nunnally) in a for a two-day workout recently and we were impressed with him on and off the court. It was competitive with other teams interested in signing him and we recruited him. We were able to get him with the opportunity that he will have here.”
The 23-year-old shot 58 percent from the field and averaged a team-high 13.0 PPG during summer league with Miami. He made quite the impression when he was 5-for-6 from long range for a 21-point second half in a losing effort to the Suns in that time.
Nunnally averaged 15.7 PPG from 2009 to 2012 with California-Santa Barbara and averaged 10.3 PPG and shot 41 percent from 3 last season for Bakersfield, the Suns' D-League affiliate. He'll be the 18th addition to the Suns' training camp, which runs Tuesday through Sunday next week. They won't have to cut down to between 13 and 15 players until the night before the regular season.
Southeast Rumors: Porter, Williams, Wizards
The No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Otto Porter, suffered a right hip flexor injury, reports the Associated Press, and was limited in practice. Fortunately for Wizards fans, Nene Hilario and John Wall are healthy, but as Michael Lee of the Washington Post points out on Twitter, Trevor Booker was also limited in practice with a sore right knee.
Here's more on the Wizards and Hawks…
- As J. Michael of CSN Washington summarizes, the Wizards have been suffering from the injury bug as training camps open around the league. Emeka Okafor (herniated disk) and Chris Singleton (left foot/toe surgery) are already out and now Booker and Porter are limited.
- Wall added to Lee's piece that after watching footage from the 2012/13 season, he's confident of the team's success this coming year. "We know what we're capable of as a team," Wall told him. "We just got to play like we did last year, be a great defensive team, be a faster team, get out in the open court," said Wall.
- On the injury front, the Hawks scoring guard (Lou) Louis Williams has no timetable on a return from the ACL tear he suffered last season, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution [subscription only].
- Vivlamore adds that former Hawk Damien Wilkins is liable to make the team if Williams isn't able to go right away. After suffering the torn ACL in his right knee in January, the recovery period is 9-12 months and Williams has yet to participate in any scrimmaging with the team before training camp opens.
- Vivlamore goes on to include that a new coach, Mike Budenholzer, means there will be a new system in place for even the veteran Hawks to learn in this month's training camp.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes that Kemba Walker, after two years of losing in Charlotte, led a "jump-start" on the Bobcats' training camp.
Andy Elisburg Promoted To Heat GM
The Heat have reshuffled their front office and coaching personnel. On the heel of news announcing the move of Juwan Howard from player to assistant coach, now the Heat are declaring a new general manager to assist team President Pat Riley.
Here is what the Heat said in their press release:
The Miami Heat announced today several front office promotions, including Andy Elisburg to Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations/General Manager, Adam Simon to Assistant General Manager/General Manager Sioux Falls Skyforce, Dan Craig to Assistant Coach/Player Development, Chad Kammerer to Director of NBA Scouting/Advance Scout, Keith Askins to Director of College and Pro Scouting and the hiring of Juwan Howard to Assistant Coach/Player Development.
Elisburg, a Heat original employee of 25 years, will serve as Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations/General Manager. His duties will include assisting CEO Nick Arison and President Pat Riley in the management of all aspects of the Heat's basketball organization including salary cap administration, talent acquisition, league compliance and the day-to-day business of basketball operations.
[…]
Additionally, the HEAT also named Rich Fernando to Executive Assistant to the Coaches, Eric Glass to Video Coordinator and Tim Hardaway to Scout/Community & Corporate Liaison.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, sent a tweet of the promotion earlier today where he noted that Pat Riley will remain the lead personnel executive despite the promotion. Winderman pointed out in his piece for the Sun-Sentinel that Elisburg's promotion makes him the first person to hold the title of Heat general manager since Randy Pfund in September of 2008.
ESPN basketball scribe Brian Windhorst adds in a tweet that Elisburg is known for his salary cap strategies. With the CBA luxury tax strictures already costing the Heat the 3-point shooting of Mike Miller – who was amnestied earlier this summer – Elisburg should be instrumental in keeping the Heat competing for more championships within the strict luxury tax parameters of the CBA.
Lakers Notes: Bryant, Nash, D’Antoni, Gasol
The health status of Kobe Bryant's Achilles' tendon has been the focal point this summer and that didn't change as the Lakers went through their annual media day this past Friday.
After getting off a transcontinental flight from a promotional trip to Dubai, Bryant told ESPN LA's Dave McMenamin, "I don't think we really have a particular timetable as far as where I should be right now, but I'm feeling good."
Here is more from the Lakers, including updates on Steve Nash and Pau Gasol:
- Bryant also told McMenamin, "Everybody was really concerned about this injury, and so was I, but the procedure and the therapy right afterwards and things like that really got me ahead of the curve." Bryant added, "so it feels like the hard part's over."
- As to whether Bryant will play in the preseason or even make the opener on October 29th against the Clippers, head coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't sure. "I'm not expecting anything," D'Antoni told ESPN on Saturday. "I don't know. He's going to do everything he can to try to get back as soon as he can. No one knows. He's day to day."
- D'Antoni will be under a lot of pressure this season in his first full year as the head coach. When asked by Los Angeles Daily News scribe Mark Medina whether he felt he was on the hot seat this season, he answered "Hopefully I can make it to practice this afternoon" (Twitter).
- D'Antoni also told Medina, via Twitter, that in an attempt to keep Nash rested and healthy this season he's been debating between resting him on back-to-backs or limiting his minutes all together.
- McMenamin also found time to speak with Pau Gasol, who told him his knees will be fine despite being unable to participate in the start of Lakers' training camp next week. Pau is continuing to recover from procedures he underwent on both knees this offseason: "We're going to get into practices and get a feel of how the knees react and get into training slowly," Gasol said.
- The Lakers big man was cleared by Dr. Steve Yoon of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic this week to continue to "ramp up" his workouts. Gasol told McMenamin, "I haven't done really a lot of basketball stuff. I haven't done a lot of contact yet. So we'll see how it feels. But the goal is to be ready for opening night, and whichever way it takes to get there, that's what we're going to do."
- D'Antoni told McMenamin, "Pau's probably the best offensive center in the league." The Lakers' coach added that "[Pau is] the most talented big guy in the league. So, all of a sudden he's in his natural position where he'll feel good about it."
- The Sporting News' Sean Deveney spoke with new Lakers center Chris Kaman about Bryant's health. “With a healthy Kobe, if everybody stays healthy, I think we have a great opportunity to make a run at the playoffs,” Kaman said.
- Kaman added, "Are we going to be one of the top three or four teams? I don’t know. The big thing—obviously everybody knows, everybody is talking about it, and they’re going to continue to keep talking about it until he comes back—everybody knows a big part is when Kobe returns. That’s a huge added bonus, and the quicker the better.”