Sacramento Putting Together Offer To Keep Kings
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has worked feverishly to hold on to the Kings over the last few years and despite this weekend's agreement for the club to be sold to Seattle investors, Johnson is not ready to give up his fight. The mayor called a presser this afternoon to announce that he has put together a group of perspective owners and hopes to unfurl his plan in full soon, possibly by the end of the week, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.
Johnson originally hoped to line up three to five local owners for the Kings but in three days he has already found 19 people to commit at least $1MM to buying the team (Twitter link). There is a sense of urgency about the committee and Johnson says that he even 86'd plans to attend President Obama's inauguration to help put together the plan, Aldridge tweets.
You can check out the rest of today's news on the future of the Kings right here.
Pacific Notes: Gasol, O’Neal, Suns, Lakers
Lakers big man Pau Gasol is less-than-thrilled about coming off of the bench, but he says that he still wants to stay in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, it’s not his call. Here’s the latest out of the Pacific Division with the latest Gasol trade speculation..
- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com asks if the Mavericks should be interested in Gasol. While MacMahon believes that Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki would make for a strong combo in the frontcourt, he doesn’t believe that it would be wise for Dallas to compromise their cap flexibility this summer by dealing for Gasol.
- Suns center Jermaine O’Neal and General Manager Lance Blanks engaged in an expletive-laced confrontation in the coach’s office on Monday, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. It was initially reported today that O’Neal missed practice with a medical issue and wouldn’t make the team’s trip to Sacramento. The veteran is on a one year deal for the veteran’s minimum.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel looked at packages the Heat could put together to pry Gasol away from the Lakers. The salaries would match up in a deal sending Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, James Jones, and Dexter Pittman to L.A., but one has to imagine that the Lakers can do better.
- The shakeup in Phoenix continues as Dan Majerle will not return as a Suns assistant, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Meanwhile, assistant Elston Turner‘s future is still up in the air, Coro tweets.
- Unless the Lakers want to move one of their future Hall of Famers, they won’t be able to make an impact move before the deadline, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Aldridge On Hawks, Smith, Batum, LeBron
NBA.com's David Aldridge has his new weekly column up, and as usual, it's packed full of interesting notes, quotes, and stories. Let's take a look at some highlights….
- The Hawks' Larry Drew was the NBA's Coach of the Month in December, but as we saw with Avery Johnson, that doesn't always guarantee job security. The Hawks have dropped eight of their last ten and there has been speculation around the league that GM Danny Ferry is waiting for the end of the season to remove Drew and hire Mike Brown. For his part, Ferry says that he has enjoyed working with Drew and plans to discuss his future with him after the season.
- Ferry acknowledged that he made decisions this summer with the idea of freeing up cap space down the line. It was a plan that he knew wouldn't yield a world-beating Hawks team in 2012/13. "I had no preconceived notions," Ferry said. "We were in a situation where we had six guys back and we were going to have to fill the roster with six guys to stay under the tax. Ownership gave me permission to go over the tax, but I didn't think there was anything we were going to be able to do to be a contender even over the tax."
- Prior to his suspension, Josh Smith told Aldridge that he had a great deal of confidence in the Hawks' core and believed that they could be a couple pieces away from contending.
- Nicolas Batum's says that his lucrative new deal hasn't put pressure on him and has instead left him feeling liberated. The forward is averaging 16.8 PPG with 5.9 RPG per game this season which are both career highs.
- There has been some buzz about a possible return to the Cavaliers for LeBron James in 2014, but Aldridge believes that Cleveland will still be more than two years from contending with a core including Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.
Wolves Sign Chris Johnson
5:11pm: Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press reports that Johnson was signed to his 10-day contract before the team's shootaround this morning. He also mentions that with the NBA's permission to exceed the 15-man roster limit due to their injury situation, Minnesota's official roster number is now at 16.
10:10am: The Timberwolves are set to sign Chris Johnson to a 10-day contract, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter). The move means that Minnesota will be passing on Jerome Jordan, who they were also considering.
Johnson, 27, signed with the T'Wolves over the summer on a non-guaranteed deal but did not make their roster. The center hooked on with the D-League's Santa Cruz Warriors in December and put up 10.9 PPG and 6.1 RPG in roughly 26 minutes per contest.
Minnesota gained the ability to sign another player to a 10-day contract when they were awarded an injury exception yesterday. The T'Wolves also signed Mickael Gelabale to a 10-day deal this week.
Odds & Ends: Andersen, Knicks, Gay, Bobcats
The Birdman has likely flown across the Knicks' radar, but the club has yet to engage Chris Anderson in serious talks or bring him in for a workout, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). The free agent has obvious Knicks ties thanks to his time playing with J.R. Smith in Denver and his ties to GM Glen Grunwald. Here's more from around basketball on this Saturday afternoon..
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links) wonders if the Bobcats are willing to take on Rudy Gay's sizable contract. The forward will earn $17.9MM next season and $19.3MM in 2014/15. Charlotte is reportedly very interested in the Grizzlies star.
- Meanwhile, GM Rod Higgins tells Bonnell (on Twitter) that there is no limit as to what the Bobcats might try to do before the deadline.
- After their recent west coast swing, it's safe to say that this Heat roster is more than qualified to win another title as currently assembled, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
- The Raptors need to seek out talented veterans with winning experience in the opinion of Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Star (via Twitter).
- The Suns' front office is responsible for the club's woes, not former coach Alvin Gentry, opines Tom Ziller of SB Nation. I had a similar take in this morning's edition of Hoops Links.
Stein On Heat, Bosh, Gay, Mavs, Smith
In his Weekend Dime, Marc Stein of ESPN.com runs down his picks for this year's All-Star reserves. On Stein's ballot, the Nets get a representative in Houston, but it's not star point guard Deron Williams, who is barely shooting 40% from the floor. Instead, it's center Brook Lopez who has given the Nets the kind of steady offense that Williams hasn't been able to. Here's more from Stein's column..
- No matter how much TNT's Charles Barkley clammors for a major trade in Miami, the Heat just aren't looking for that sort of shake-up. Sources familiar with the club say that they aren't prepared to part with Chris Bosh, not only out of fear of a major change, but because it would make things umcomfortable from a player-relations perspective to break up the star trio.
- Sources close to the situation tell Stein that the Mavericks are not among the teams that have expressed interest in Grizzlies' Rudy Gay. The Mavs were previously mentioned as being among the clubs interested in the forward. Meanwhile, we learned yesterday that the Bobcats are aggressively pursuing him.
- The "Bank of Cuban" may be reopening its doors in Dallas, but the Mavericks still want to preserve their wiggle room this offseason. That's why even though the Mavs can offer cap relief to teams at the trade deadline, Stein doesn't expect them to take on significant contracts. Instead, they're more likely to trade Vince Carter to a contender that could use an extra shooter, or move Brandan Wright to a team in need of another big man. That could yield them some picks or perhaps allow them to shed even more salary.
- While the Hawks could move Josh Smith for an impact player, Stein is skeptical that they would want to sacrifice their cap space this summer.
Hoops Links: Bradley, Bucks, Bobcats, Bulls
Yesterday, the Suns announced that they have decided to part ways with coach Alvin Gentry. Phoenix owns the worst record in the Western Conference at 13-28 and team president Lon Babby says that he expected considerably more out of the club in 2012/13. "I think we gave him a team that was better than the way they were playing," Babby said. "But I don't put that all on him. I don't even put the lion's share on him. That's not what this is about. It's not about winning enough games."
While Babby exonerated Gentry from much of the finger pointing, he says point blank that he believes that his team is capable of achieving more as assembled. That's an interesting take, considering that many NBA scribes predicted that the Suns would finish the year in the league cellar. The Suns made a splash over the summer when they signed unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic, but their second-biggest signing in the post-Steve Nash era was troubled forward Michael Beasley. So far, that three-year, $18MM pact has yielded them 9.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and a 10.08 PER, good for 50th amongst small forwards. Gentry might not have been the right man for the job, but it's important to remember that he's wasn't the man in charge of filling out the roster. The next time the ax swings in Phoenix, it won't land on the bench.
If you have a great blog piece that you think we should feature next week, then send it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..
- Bleed Green examines the Celtics' bench.
- True Sports Blog previews the February trade deadline.
- The Basketball Post sees the Bucks at a crossroads.
- The NBA Geek presents the all-unsung team.
- Rufus On Fire is skeptical of the Bobcats' rise in attendance.
- Blog A Bull isn't thrilled with Tom Thibodeau's playcalling in the fourth quarter.
- Hardwood Paroxysm talks Gentry.
- Hoops Addict looks at the rebuilding era in Orlando.
- SLC Dunk is pleased with the passing in the Jazz frontcourt.
- Truth About It caught up with Bradley Beal.
- Utah Sports Net sat down with C.J. Miles.
- Bright Side Of The Sun says that change was necessary in Phoenix.
- Celtics Life plays 5-on-5.
- The Brooklyn Game remembers Anthony Morrow's time with the Nets.
- Red94 tries to quantify effort in the NBA.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.
Pistons Not Shopping Tayshaun Prince
THURSDAY, 3:23pm: While the Pistons say they're not shopping Prince, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio says the team has made exploratory calls (Twitter link). There hasn't been much interest so far, according to Amico.
SUNDAY, 10:58pm: Tayshaun Prince is the lone holdover from Detroit's glory days in the aughts and one might think that the Pistons would look to move him for assets to help the club build for the future. However, neither Prince nor the Pistons front office are pushing for a trade, writes RealGM's Shams Charania.
Agent Bill Duffy says that Prince has been assured the Pistons won’t field trade offers for him and the two sides have “never” discussed a deal for the forward. The 32-year-old is averaging 12.1 points and 4.7 rebounds this season. Prince says that he's committed to helping the Pistons, even though the losing bothers him.
“I know there are a lot of contending teams that I can help,” Prince said. “But right now, this is the team I have to help. Everybody wants to be in the position where they have a chance of winning a championship every year, but obviously it doesn’t work that way.”
Prince has two more years on his contract beyond 2012/13 worth nearly $15MM.
J.J. Hickson Drawing Trade Interest
A handful of teams have expressed exploratory interest in Trail Blazers power forward/center J.J Hickson, a source close to the situation tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. However, these clubs haven't made contact witb GM Neil Olshey. Instead, they've been reaching out to Hickson's agent Andy Miller, according to the source.
Teams are checking in with Miller first because Hickson is a Bird Rights player on a one-year, $4MM deal and he has the power to veto any trade that is proposed. The big man will lose his Bird Rights if he signs off on any deal, meaning that it would have to be the right team and situation for him to give the green light.
For his part, Hickson sounds enthusiastic about what the next few weeks might hold, regardless of how it shakes out.
“Yeah, I'll be lying if I said it wasn't an exciting time in my life,” Hickson said. “It's also exciting to play on this team that everybody counted us out at the start. We're making a lot of noise in the Western Conference. I'm trying to make this playoff run if I'm here after the trade deadline. Obviously, I'll be happy either way because I can veto any trade.”'
The 24-year-old has played well thus far in 2012/13, averaging 12.2 PPG and a career-high 11.0 RPG in 29.4 minutes per contest. Now that he has played at a high level for 39 games this season versus a strong 19 games to close out last season, his stock is higher than it was when he hit the open market last summer.
Odds & Ends: Europe, Draft, Harden, Blatche
Recently, NBA commissioner David Stern said that he could see a franchise in Europe sometime in the next couple of decades. While the idea of a team on the other side of the pond, perhaps in England, remains a possibility, it won't happen right away, writes Oliver Holt of the Daily Mirror. “We have more intensity,” Stern said. “We play 82 games in 171 days. For us, it would not work unless we had multiple teams in Europe who could play against each other regularly…There are long-term strategic issues that mean it will not be happening any time soon. But the UK remains a very intriguing market to us.” Here's tonight's look around the league..
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com revealed his first big board for the 2013 NBA Draft and placed Kentucky's Nerlens Noel at the top of the list. Maryland center Alex Len, who some have speculated could be the No. 1 pick in the draft, checks in at No. 4 on Ford's list.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld runs down the best moves so far as we approach the midway point of the season. The best trade acquisition of the year goes to the Rockets for the James Harden trade while the Nets get the nod for best free agent pickup for big man Andray Blatche.
- Count former NBA big man Shaquille O'Neal amongst those who is against the current "one-and-done" system in college basketball for players ascending to the pros, writes the Associated Press. If it were up to O'Neal, there would be a "three-and-done" mandate in place before college players could enter the NBA.