Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Aldridge, Turner
Tommy Heinsohn of CSNNE sees a bright future for former Celtics star Paul Pierce when his playing days are through, but he isn’t sure exactly what he’ll be doing. “He’s liable to be a broadcaster for all we know,” Heinsohn joked. “Paul Pierce is a perfect example of a guy that’s made for an organization. He’s a very, very team oriented person. He’s a self motivator, so every time you put that type of individual into an organization, they’ll find a way to get the best out of them. I don’t know what he’ll end up being, but they will surely want him to be involved.”
- Pending free agent LaMarcus Aldridge is unlikely to join the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Aldridge, he explains, seems to be after a five year deal and the Knicks cannot offer more than four.
- After disappointing stints with the Sixers and Pacers, Evan Turner may have found a comfortable NBA role with the Celtics, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. Turner, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, is averaging nearly nine points per game as a versatile sixth man for Boston. Coach Brad Stevens talked about playing to Turner’s strengths. “He’s a mid-range guy,” Stevens said. “He’s a better mid-range player than he is a three-point shooter at this time. But his three-point shot is getting better and will continue to get better.”
- While the criticism of Knicks coach Derek Fisher and president Phil Jackson is mounting, one league personnel director told Berman that not much was expected of the new regime in year one. “You’ve got to be patient,’’ he said. “You got a coach who’s never coached and a president who’s never built a team.’’
- The struggling football coaches in New York can’t say the same, but Fisher has job security despite the Knicks‘ lousy play, writes Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a look back at the original reporting and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. This week, Eddie ran down the salaries at point guard and shooting guard.
- Team salaries are on the rise this year, as Chuck Myron writes.
- The Suns aren’t afraid to get a bit unconventional, writes Chuck.
- Chris Crouse asked Hoops Rumors readers if the Hornets should trade Lance Stephenson. Nearly 60% of you said yes.
- I looked back on the Thunder’s relatively quiet offseason.
- Eddie reflected on the Clippers’ summer.
- Chuck, meanwhile, looked across the hall at the Lakers.
- Here are the players who were claimed off waivers since the end of the last season and how they’re doing so far.
- For a team without draft picks, cap space, or any members of its starting five entering free agency, the Warriors made some potentially franchise-altering decisions this past offseason, as Chuck writes.
- You might be surprised by all of the minimum-salary players seeing 20+ minutes per game.
- Download the Trade Rumors app today!
- If you missed out on this week’s chat, get caught up with the transcript.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and your RSS feed.
Week In Review: 12/1/14 – 12/7/14
Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love have discussed the idea of one day playing together, whether it be in the NBA or on Team USA, Love told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. Don’t get too excited, though. Anthony is under contract through 2018/19 with a player option for that season while Love continues to insist that he wants to stay in Cleveland for the long haul. Here’s our look back at the week that was..
- The Hawks and Knicks are set to pursue Greg Monroe this summer.
- It sounds like the Jazz have entered the Andrei Kirilenko trade picture.
- Ray Allen is telling teams to talk to him in January and that he’ll make a decision about his future in February.
- The Cavs have interest in Tayshaun Prince.
- The Pelicans signed Gal Mekel and also Dante Cunningham. They replaced Patric Young and Darius Miller, who were let go earlier in the week. Young is going to Turkey.
- The Hornets have been active in trade talks.
- A report indicated that Victor Claver is pushing to leave the Blazers, but the forward issued a denial.
- The Sixers signed Malcolm Lee and waived Drew Gordon.
- Will Bynum has signed with China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers, replacing Emmanuel Mudiay.
- It appears that Galatasaray has agreed to let go of Furkan Aldemir, ostensibly paving the way for him to join the 76ers.
- Sebastian Telfair is heading to China.
- Former Pacers and Kings swingman Orlando Johnson is going to the D-League.
- Scotty Hopson is joining the D-League affiliate of the Heat.
- Ivan Johnson will join the Mavs’ D-League team.
- Will Cherry is headed to Lithuania.
- High-flying swingman D.J. Stephens agreed to join Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg.
And-Ones: Jackson, Hamilton, Fisher, Cavs
Some have painted Thunder guard Reggie Jackson in a negative light due to his desire for a big contract, but he’s showing a team-first attitude, as Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. “It’s a challenge that I’m looking forward to getting used to and hopefully we can be one of the best second units in the league,” said Jackson, who is headed back to the bench with Russell Westbrook back in the fold. Jackson is set for restricted free agency this summer after the two sides broke off extension talks in October, but he sounds like he’s more focused on winning than anything else. More from around the NBA..
- Justin Hamilton‘s partial guarantee on his one-year veteran’s minimum salary with the Heat increased from $408,241 to $612,362 today. Hamilton signed his deal late last season, but since then, the Heat have become more willing to dole out partial guarantees without the luxury tax bearing down on them as in years past, as Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel examines.
- With Derek Fisher at the helm, the Knicks have struggled in close games even more this season than they did last season under Mike Woodson, writes Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. Of New York’s 18 games thus far, a league-high 11 have been separated by five points or fewer entering the final five minutes of play. The Knicks have gone 2-9 in those games.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio doesn’t understand why the Cavs waived Will Cherry and re-signed guard A.J. Price just weeks after doing the reverse. Still, he trusts Cleveland’s judgement and admits that the third point guard role isn’t a terribly crucial one.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Pelicans Work Out Dante Cunningham
3:23pm: Cunningham worked out for New Orleans on Sunday and the club’s front office is looking into the forward’s brush with the law last year as it considers whether to sign him, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune. In any case, the team is likely to make an addition or two this week, Smith reports.
6:18pm: The Pelicans are giving serious consideration to signing Dante Cunningham, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Cunningham worked out for New Orleans over the weekend. The Pelicans currently have a 13 man roster after waiving Darius Miller and Patric Young earlier today.
Cunningham was arrested in April for domestic assault but saw those charges dropped in August. Even though Cunningham has been cleared for some time, agent Joel Bell told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press in October that he hadn’t received so much as a minimum salary offer from an NBA team. At the time, Bell estimated that Cunningham would have otherwise received worth upwards of $4MM per year. While that dollar figure is debatable, there’s no question that Cunningham’s legal situation hurt his free agent market.
Cunningham averaged 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists across 20.2 minutes per night last season for the Wolves. His 12.9 PER was below the league average, but it wasn’t all that bad for a reserve player.
Offseason In Review: Oklahoma City Thunder
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Anthony Morrow: Three years, $10.032MM. Signed via mid-level exception. Third year is non-guaranteed.
- Grant Jerrett: Four years, $3.867MM. Re-signed via Non-Bird rights. Third and fourth years are non-guaranteed.
- Sebastian Telfair: One year, $1.317MM. Signed via minimum-salary exception.
- Lance Thomas: One year, $948K. Signed via minimum-salary exception. Non-guaranteed.
Extensions
- None
Trades
- Acquired 2014 pick No. 55 from the Hornets in exchange for cash.
- Acquired the rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis from the Hawks in exchange for Thabo Sefolosha (sign-and-trade), the rights to Giorgos Printezis, and cash.
- Acquired Philadelphia’s 2015 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Sixers in exchange for Hasheem Thabeet and $100K cash.
Waiver Claims
- None
Draft Picks
- Mitch McGary (Round 1, 21st overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
- Josh Huestis (Round 1, 29th overall). Playing in the D-League.
- Semaj Christon (Round 1, 55th overall). Playing in the D-League.
Camp Invitees
- Michael Jenkins
- Richard Solomon
- Talib Zanna
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Steven Adams (third year, $2,279,040) — Exercised
- Perry Jones III (fourth year, $2,038,206) — Exercised
- Jeremy Lamb (fourth year, $3,034,356) — Exercised
- Andre Roberson (third year, $1,210,800) — Exercised
The Thunder may have been disappointed with the conclusion of their 2013/14 campaign, but they were impressive when taking everything in total. OKC was without star guard Russell Westbrook for nearly half of the season and when the Thunder arrived in the playoffs, they staved off battle-ready teams in the Grizzlies and Clippers before succumbing to the Spurs in six games. They nearly won 60 games and they were a stone’s throw from the Finals, but after years of being on the cusp, this team isn’t satisfied with moral victories.
Oklahoma City didn’t undergo an offseason overhaul, but that’s not to say that it didn’t make a real run at shaking things up. The Thunder were one of several teams that went hard after veteran sharpshooter Mike Miller before he landed with LeBron James and the Cavaliers. They were also hoping to land Pau Gasol, which would have been a monstrous boost to their frontcourt. Just as the Spurs did, OKC went after the Spaniard with the hope that the allure of winning would help distract from an under-market contract offer. Ultimately, however, Gasol found a chance to win with better compensation with the Bulls. Kevin Durant gave it his best shot, but he couldn’t reel in Gasol. “Obviously [it wasn’t] that close, [but] I did my work. That was my first time recruiting,” Durant said in July.
The Thunder had a few holes to fill over the summer. Backup point guard Derek Fisher left to coach the Knicks, Caron Butler moved on in free agency, and Thabo Sefolosha regressed sharply in 2013/14, ensuring his exit. The Thunder couldn’t pull off a flashy signing like Gasol or Miller, so they had to dig a little deeper to reload their roster.
Oklahoma City badly needed outside shooting and its signing of the fearless Anthony Morrow made perfect sense. On a three-year, ~$10MM contract, it’s hard to find fault with the deal given his long-distance acumen and the interest that he had from contenders around the league. Heading into this season, Morrow had only 129 starts on his resume, but he has shown that he can make an impact with his ability to keep opposing defenses honest. Unfortunately for the Thunder, he missed the first seven games of the regular season while healing from a sprained left MCL.
With Fisher out of the picture, the Thunder brought Brooklyn’s own Sebastian Telfair aboard to help soak up some of the backup minutes at the one guard. At the time, the one-year, minimum salary deal seemed like an inexpensive solution to their problem, but things didn’t quite work out. Just recently, the Thunder bid farewell to Telfair and instead opted to keep fellow point guard Ish Smith.
D-League notable Grant Jerrett was brought back on a four-year, minimum-salary deal with the final two seasons non-guaranteed. For the time being, it seems like he’s going to remain a D-League staple, but that’s just fine for the Thunder, who aren’t banking on Jerrett to be a key cog this year. Lance Thomas beat the odds to make OKC’s roster and the Thunder believe that they have found a gem in the former New Jersey high school star. The Thunder carved out space for guys like Thomas by dumping Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet for table scraps, including the rights to Sofoklis “Baby Shaq” Schortsanitis.
The Thunder made moves to try and win a title in the here and now, but they also put a good amount of focus into the draft, where they made two surprising first round selections. First, with the No. 21 overall pick, the Thunder drafted Michigan big man Mitch McGary. McGary decided to go pro early rather than face a one-year suspension and while there was fear that he wasn’t NBA-ready, the Thunder apparently had no such concerns. McGary is still waiting to make his NBA debut after a strong performance in the summer league, but the Thunder must be optimistic about the impact he can make this season.
With the No. 29 pick, the Thunder made an even more surprising selection with Stanford forward Josh Huestis. When Huestis spoke with Hoops Rumors prior to the draft, he projected as a mid-second round pick. Huestis isn’t a tremendous athlete or a top-notch scorer, but he is a textbook hustle player and a super tough defender. Huestis’ camp reached agreement on an unusual deal with the Thunder prior to the draft which ticketed him to play for Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate in his first pro season.
The Thunder didn’t do a whole lot in free agency, but then again, this has never been a team to really build with the open market. Their quiet offseason may have raised some eyebrows, but the Thunder stand as one of the most fearsome teams in the West, when they’re healthy. OKC has all of the answers in house. They just need them on the court.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Wallace, Kirk, Pistons, Draft
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace is glad to be back in the driver’s seat, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. “I basically stepped aside. No one told me to step back,” Wallace explained. “My role was reduced, but I intentionally stepped back from the players and the coaches. I did not want to be seen as someone that was a meddler last year. I went to games, but I did not interact with the players or coaches during that time. I stayed involved in the game. I was watching the college game closely and the NBA game and attending games at both levels, because I planned on getting back. I didn’t know it was going to be here.” More from around the NBA..
- The Cavs announced that they have assigned center Alex Kirk to their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Kirk averaged 23.7 PPG and 9.7 RPG in three games for the Charge this season. He has also appeared in three games for the Cavs this season.
- The Pistons recalled Tony Mitchell from the Grand Rapids Drive of the D-League, according to the RealGM transactions log.
- If the draft was tomorrow, Kansas guard/forward Kelly Oubre might not be a top pick, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Oubre has been seeing limited minutes so far for the Jayhawks, but there’s still plenty of season ahead for the frosh. He’s currently rated No. 5 in DraftExpress’ 2015 mock.
Hoops Links: Warriors, Maker, Rockets, Raptors
On this date in 1990, Celtics forward Larry Bird scored his 20,000th career point in the Celtics’ 123-95 win over the Bullets at the Boston Garden. At the time, Bird became only the fifth player in league history (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West) to accumulate 20,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists in his playing career.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- Pounding The Rock looks at the Warriors and the NBA’s top starting lineups.
- Road To The Association is already abuzz about Thon Maker.
- Nylon Calculus expects the Rockets and Raptors to regress.
- Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues wonders how the Cavs will fare.
- Raptors HQ wonders how the Raptors will fare without DeMar DeRozan.
- Sactown Royalty gives thanks.
- From Russia With Dunk wonders if Mason Plumlee is overrated.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a look at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Here’s a rundown of the projected cap flexibility for each team in the 2015/16 season.
- There are too many similar pieces monopolizing Utah’s cap space, Eddie Scarito writes.
- Blazers GM Neil Olshey hasn’t made blockbuster moves in the last few years, but he has put together a strong team, Chuck Myron writes.
- Chuck writes that even though the Rockets took a step back, they remain a step or two ahead of most.
- Most of you want to see the NBA make some major changes, whether it means having the best 16 teams in the playoffs or some form of realignment.
- Read up on the NBA’s hardship roster rules, our latest entry in the Hoops Rumors Glossary.
- Keep up on the race to the bottom with Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings.
- Eddie recapped the Pelicans’ offseason.
- Chuck ran down the largest player options for 2015/16. LeBron James tops the list while Cavs teammate Kevin Love and Nets center Brook Lopez are tied at No. 2.
- The Spurs’ run as an elite team appears poised to continue for the foreseeable future, Chuck writes.
- If you missed out on this week’s chat, check out the transcript.
- We highlighted the best of your comments in Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback.
Cavs Claim A.J. Price, Waive Will Cherry
6:14pm: The Cavs made it official with a press release.
4:32pm: This time, it’s Price displacing Cherry from the Cavs’ roster. The Cavs have waived Cherry, according to Chris B. Haynes of Cleveland.com (via Twitter).
Cherry, 24 in February, appeared in eight games and played a total of 69 minutes for the Cavs this season. In that limited time, he averaged 1.9 PPG and 1.0 APG. Cherry signed a two-year, non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary with Cleveland just weeks ago.
The guard averaged 12.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG while logging 25.3 minutes per contest in five games for the Cavs Summer League team in Las Vegas. Cherry also played for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate last season, when he provided 11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 30.4 MPG.
4:27pm: The Cavs have claimed A.J. Price off waivers, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The guard was let go by the Pacers last week.
It’s a return to Cleveland for Price, who opened the season on the Cavs roster only to be let go within the first week of the regular season in favor of Will Cherry. The 28-year-old performed well in his brief 10-game stint with the Pacers, averaging 10.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.0 turnover in 19.3 minutes per contest.
Even though Price played well, someone had to go in Indiana as the team’s hardship provision for a 16th roster spot had expired. Pacers coach Frank Vogel was complimentary of Price and said that he’s deserving of an NBA roster spot somewhere. The Excel Sports Management client has acknowledged that going overseas could be a possibility for him, but he’s undoubtedly happy to stay in the Association.