Hoops Links: Lawson, Suns, Sixers, Nuggets
Twenty-eight years and one day ago, a rookie named Michael Jordan debuted for the Chicago Bulls against the Washington Bullets. MJ had 16 points as the Bulls rolled to a 109-93 victory on their home floor. Jordan would ramp things up even further in his rookie campaign, averaging 28.2 PPG and 6.5 RPG while shooting 51.5% from the floor.
If you have a great blog piece that you think we should feature in Hoops Links, then send it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..
- Wages Of Wins pits Ty Lawson against Russell Westbrook.
- The NBA Geek sticks up for the Suns.
- Hoops Addict believes that this is a big year for the Sixers.
- Smooth's Hoops offers a blueprint for how the Nuggets can win 50+ games this year.
- SB Nation asks if the Wizards overdid it with their culture change.
- Hardwood Paroyxsm rolled out their 2012/13 season preview guide.
- Basketball Prospectus looks at the Jazz's frontcourt logjam.
- Bright Side Of The Sun looks at the roster crunch in Phoenix.
- Rufus On Fire fired up the camera to break down the Bobcats in 2012/13.
- The Basketball Post takes a trip out to Greece.
- SLC Dunk isn't thrilled about Paul Millsap's preseason play.
- Blazer's Edge had a lot of takeaways from Portland's preseason.
- Raptors Republic wonders how Dwane Casey is going to divy up frontcourt minutes.
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Raptors Waive Jerel McNeal, Chris Wright
The Raptors announced that they have waived guard Jerel McNeal and forward Chris Wright. McNeal played in just one preseason game, while Wright was a DNP-CD for all six games. Toronto's roster now stands at 16.
Both players hooked on with the Raptors roughly one month ago on non-guaranteed deals. Wright, 24, appeared in 24 games for the Warriors in his rookie season but notched just 186 minutes in total. The 6'8" forward also played in 13 D-League games, averaging 17.8 PPG and 8.8 RPG.
McNeal, 25, has never appeared in an NBA game despite signing a 10-day contract with the Hornets in 2011. The former Marquette standout averaged 19.4 PPG in 47 games for the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2010/11 and spent last season in the Italian league.
Odds & Ends: Rivers, Pierce, Grizzlies, Magic, Heat
The Hornets suffered a scare earlier this evening as rookie guard Austin Rivers injured his surgically-repaired right ankle in the first quarter of tonight's preseason game against the Mavericks. The 20-year-old was helped off the floor and was unable to put weight on the right leg, writes Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune. Thankfully, Rivers' postgame X-rays came back negative, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Here's more from around the league…
- Celtics star Paul Pierce confessed to CSNNE's Mike Gorman that he considered moving on from Boston after last year's exit at the hands of the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Pierce now says that he has a hard time envisioning himself in another uniform.
- Robert Pera's bid to own the Grizzlies will be on the agenda Wednesday at the NBA's Board of Governors meetings in New York City, sources familiar with the process told Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal. To finalize the transaction, Pera will need to receive approval three-fourths of the league's majority owners. Pera has already made waves with a celebrity cast of minority partners including Justin Timberlake and Ashley Manning, the wife of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the roster crunch facing the Magic as the deadline approaches. Swingman Chris Johnson and point guard Armon Johnson are near locks to be cut in the coming days. That leaves combo forward Justin Harper, power forward Josh McRoberts and swingmen Christian Eyenga, DeQuan Jones, and Quentin Richardson to battle for the final two spots on the roster.
- Heat guard Dwyane Wade admitted that it's going to be a challenge to get all of the team's new talent to mesh, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. “We have a lot of guys that are so used to being kind of the main focus and not a lot of us are going to be the main focus now,’’ Wade said. “So that’s a challenge to see how we all can incorporate ourselves within our offense and keep each other happy.’’
Pacific Notes: Warriors, Curry, Lakers, Scola
Earlier today, NBA.com released their annual survey of the league's GMs and the Lakers were voted as the favorite to come out of the Western Conference with 60% of the vote over the Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%). Not surprisingly, 86.2% of GMs had the Lakers as the team with the best summer moves, but the Warriors were also among those receiving votes. Here's more out of the Pacific…
- The Warriors and Stephen Curry decided to table contract talks until the end of preseason, but his situation seems more uncertain after being held out of the last two preseason games, writes Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com. Golden State has kept Curry on the sidelines out of concern for his ankle, the same injury that caused him to miss 40 of last year's 66 games.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter) thought that Chris Douglas-Roberts had a chance to make the Lakers as his size could have allowed him to contribute at multiple spots. With Douglas-Roberts now out of the picture, Pincus sees Robert Sacre as the guy who makes the cut (Twitter link). Andrew Goudelock is also in the mix but coach Mike Brown is looking to develop him as a point guard while the club already has four players at the one.
- Suns forward Luis Scola had hoped to retire with the Rockets, but says that he's happy being in Phoenix, writes Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. Scola was amnestied by the Rockets over the summer to remove the $19.4MM that would have been owed to him through 2013/14 from the cp. The final year of his deal was worth $11MM but just $1MM of that amount was guaranteed.
Pacers Won’t Look To Move Danny Granger
The Pacers are set to enter the 2012/13 season with their strongest lineup in the post-Malice at the Palace era, but some around basketball still question how far the team can get with Danny Granger as their star player. However, General Manager Kevin Pritchard told Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld that he believes the team can accomplish much more with the forward in the fold.
“Danny was put into a position a few years ago where he needed to score a lot and now we don’t need his scoring as much, we need his overall game and he’s a heck of an overall player…He’s shown to be very unselfish, he’s given up a lot of his offense to be a better defensive player last year," the GM said. We got the fifth-best record in the league last year, you don’t just say, 'We don’t need him.' That’s a bunch of baloney. I don’t believe that.”
Granger, 29, has two years remaining on a five-year, $60MM contract extension inked on Halloween of 2008. The deal was backloaded with 10% escalation in each season, putting Indiana on the hook for $13.06MM this season and $14.02MM in 2013/14.
Granger has seen his PPG average steadily dip across the last four seasons, from 25.7 in 2008/09 to 20.2 last season. However, as Pritchard eluded to, the current makeup of the club demands less shooting out of the forward. In 2011/12, Granger averaged 16.4 shot attempts per game versus a career high of 19 in 2008/09.
Nuggets Exercise Options On Faried, Hamilton
The Nuggets announced that they have exercised their third-year options on forward Kenneth Faried and guard/forward Jordan Hamilton. The two players were taken with the 22nd and 26th pick, respectively, in the 2011 draft.
Faried will earn $1.348MM in 2012/13 and will see his salary rise to $1.442MM in 2013/14. Hamilton will see a similarly modest pay increase as he goes from $1.153MM in his sophomore campaign to $1.234MM in 2013/14. Faried made a name for himself heading into the draft as a tough rebounder and didn't disappoint as he averaged 7.7 RPG to go along with 10.2 PPG. Hamilton didn't see the same kind of playing time as his fellow rookie, averaging 4.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 9.9 minutes across 26 games.
You can keep up with all of this offseason's decisions on 2013/14 rookie contract options by using our handy tracker.
Southeast Notes: LeBron, Heat, Cole, Beal
Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss confirmed earlier this week that the Lakers are indeed looking to make a major splash in the free agent market in 2014. That's the summer in which Kobe Bryant's deal expires and a certain Heat superstar also hits the open market. Here's more on the next summer of LeBron and other notes out of the Southeast Division..
- It's not surprising to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that the Lakers are allowing the current narrative of LeBron James leaving for Los Angeles to stay alive. The buzz can only enhance the odds of getting Dwight Howard to re-up and is essentially a tamper-proof way of both seducing LeBron and securing Dwight.
- Offseason pickups such as Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis may wind up squeezing Norris Cole out of the rotation, Winderman writes. Cole had flashes of brilliance for Miami in his rookie season before hitting the rookie wall.
- Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal looks to be an impact rookie, writes Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld. The 19-year-old obviously has high expectations as the third-overall pick but he is already displaying the poise of a much older player.
Wolves Waive Jermaine Taylor
The Timberwolves waived guard Jermaine Taylor following last night’s preseason game against the Bulls, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). Minnesota now has 17 players remaining on the roster with Taylor out of the picture.
The Wolves have 14 players with guaranteed deals for 2012/13, essentially leaving Mike Harris, Chris Johnson, and Will Conroy to battle over one remaining spot. Harris and Johnson are on make-good contracts while Conroy’s comes with a modest partial guarantee of $100K.
Taylor, 25, last appeared in the NBA in 2010/11 when he spent 34 games with the Rockets and Kings, averaging 6.6 PPG in 14.2 minutes per contest. The former UCF star also had a cup of coffee with the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers last season, averaging 14.2 PPG in 14 games.
Central Notes: Cavs, Pargo, Bulls, Pacers
The latest out of the Central Division..
- Cavs coach Byron Scott says that he could conceivably carry three point guards on the roster, but it would appear that he will only keep either Jeremy Pargo or Donald Sloan, writes Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal. The Cavs still have to cut two more players before the start of the season, but those cuts aren't expected to come until after Tuesday's preseason finale. Sloan is on a non-guaranteed deal while Pargo is guaranteed $1MM.
- Meanwhile, in Chicago, Marko Jaric appears to be a long shot to make the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The guard saw just 52 seconds of playing time in the team's preseason win over his former team, the Timberwolves.
- The Pacers are young and have a promising future ahead of them, but it's also not difficult to see them finishing second in the Eastern Conference this season, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. With intriguing pickups such as Gerald Green, Danny Granger & Co. will look to improve on a team which had the Heat on the ropes in last year's conference semifinals.
Hoops Links: Jennings, Spurs, Wizards, Jazz
On this date in 1976, the Philadelphia 76ers made the best purchase since Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan for $24. The New Jersey Nets were set to join the NBA as a part of the ABA merger and had promised star Julius Erving a pay raise as they made the transition. However, the Knicks demanded $4.8MM in territorial fees, meaning that owner Roy Boe could no longer afford the pay bump for his star player. The Sixers seized the opportunity and when they offered the Nets $3MM for Dr. J's contract, they had no choice but to accept.
Great deals like that are hard to come by, but here at Hoops Links, we have a pretty good offer of our own for quality basketball bloggers. If you have a great piece that you feel is worthy of inclusion, then you can email it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com and be a part of next week's feature. Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..
- Bucksketball has an interesting take on the Brandon Jennings situation.
- Wages of Wins has some bad news about the Spurs.
- Truth About It isn't sweating the preseason too much.
- The NBA Geek attempts to simplify the game a bit.
- SLC Dunk runs down their reasons for loving the Jazz.
- Raptors Republic wonders if Toronto should run with two point guard units.
- Basketball Prospectus explains the SCHOENE system in detail.
- Hoops Addict sees a big opportunity for John Lucas III.
- At The Hive wonders if Darius Miller can contribute this year.
- Bright Side Of The Sun has high hopes for the Suns' wing players.
- Canis Hoopus thinks that Andrei Kirilenko can be a nice complement to Kevin Love.
- Saving The Skyhook believes that Russell Westbrook is just outside the top 10 in the NBA.
- Secret Rival updates us on training camp rosters.
- Fear The Sword has some concerns over Dion Waiters.
- Brew Hoop sees the Bucks in the playoff mix this year.
- Hardwood Paroxysm peers into the future of basketball stats.
- NBA 24 7 365 expects more out of eight players this year.
- RealGM has five teams for you to watch on League Pass.
- Basketbawful breaks down Shaquille O'Neal's smack talk.
- Bullets Forever is anxious to see Kevin Seraphin this season.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.