Reactions To Hawks Situation
Throughout the day we’ve been providing the latest updates on the Hawks scandal that will spark an ownership change in Atlanta and lead to sanctions against General Manager Danny Ferry. Here are some of today’s reactions to the biggest story in the NBA this week..
- The NBA waited until Donald Sterling lost any shot, however remote, of reacquiring the Clippers before letting word of the Levenson email leak out, writes Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated.
- In a piece for Time.com, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explained that he doesn’t view Bruce Levenson as a racist but rather as a business man who was trying to better cater his product towards his targeted demo. While the Hall of Famer admits that some of what Levenson wrote was cringe-worthy, he feels that he was ultimately just trying to do what was best for his business.
- Not everyone sees things Kareem’s way. Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out the franchise’s shortcomings in recent years and says that the team’s lack of ticket sales has nothing to do with the racial makeup of the crowd. In fact, he argues that Atlanta has as many, if not more, affluent African-Americans as most cities in America and a lot of them don’t go to Hawks games either.
- The NBA has an issue and putting more African-Americans in charge of teams could help, writes J.A. Adande of ESPN.com. However, Adande doesn’t see many African-Americans out there with the kind of wealth to buy a team for somewhere between $500MM and $2 billion.
- While Levenson’s statements were harsh and stereotypical, it’s ridiculous to assume that he’s the only NBA or professional sports owner to discuss racial demographics regarding attendance, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
Warriors Sign Justin Holiday
The Warriors have added Las Vegas standout Justin Holiday to their training camp roster, the team announced. He’ll join 17 others, including 16 who are known to have at least a partial guarantee on their deals, as our roster counts show.
The Warriors D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, traded Scott Machado to the Blazers’ affiliate in exchange for the rights to Holiday back in February. Golden State then got a closer look at Holiday in summer league action where he averaged 14.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG across five games. That performance was enough to make the team want to see even more of the Tony Dutt client this offseason.
Holiday’s lone NBA experience came on a 10-day deal with the 76ers back in 2012/13 where he averaged 4.7 PPG, 1.7 APG, 1.6 RPG, and 15.8 minutes per contest across nine games. After spending time in the D-League, the Adriatic League, and playing for multiple summer league teams in recent years, Holiday will now look to carve out an NBA home for 2014/15.
And-Ones: Exum, Douglas-Roberts, Levenson
Scouts are still evaluating Dante Exum, one of the bigger gambles taken in the NBA Draft lottery. The Jazz selected him without having seen him play against top-level competition and the jury is still out on Exum as a player as he shows his stuff in the World Cup, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. When asked what he’s learned about Exum so far, one Eastern Conference scouting director said, “Not much. He’s not ready for the NBA, that is for sure. But a lot of guys are not ready for the NBA and they have got to learn on the fly. He is no different. But he is not going to jump into the league and all of a sudden average 20 points a game. There’s just no way.” Here’s tonight’s look around the NBA..
- Chris Douglas-Roberts‘ deal with the Clippers is fully guaranteed, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). That doesn’t come as a huge surprise since Ekpe Udoh‘s minimum salary deal is also fully guaranteed for the 2014/15 season. CD-R averaged 6.9 points in 20.7 minutes per game and shot a career-high 38.6% from downtown last season.
- Even before the Donald Sterling situation erupted, there was some talk that Bruce Levenson would explore selling his controlling interest of the Hawks, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
- Whether Levenson’s fate is well-deserved or Orwellian is up for debate, but it’s clear this is a different world in the post-Sterling NBA, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- Supply and demand could keep Reggie Jackson with the Thunder, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Only four teams – the Mavs, Lakers, Knicks, and Heat – currently have a clear need and the necessary cap space to make a run at him next summer. Jackson is after a sizable payday and a starting role, but that could be hard to find in the middle of an extremely talented free agent class.
- The Jazz have several players in the World Cup, including Exum and stashed Brazilian talent Raul Neto, and Dennis Lindsey admits that he is somewhat worried about injuries and fatigue, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. At the same time, he feels that his younger players are also gaining valuable experience in international play.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Latest On Hawks, Bruce Levenson
9:30pm: In an interview with Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said there will be other disciplinary actions taken, including actions against GM Danny Ferry. It turns out the internal review that unearthed Levenson’s email was actually prompted by an incident involving the GM.
When the Hawks held a meeting in early June to discuss free agency, a player was being discussed and Ferry cited a background report that included an “offensive and racist” remark. “Instead of editing it, he said the comment,” Koonin told Vivlamore.
“I support Steve’s leadership and greatly appreciate his support,” Ferry said. “I look to learn from this situation and help us become a better organization.”
6:35pm: Not far removed from the Donald Sterling ordeal, another NBA owner is on his way out of the league thanks to a racial scandal. Hawks owner Bruce Levenson has agreed to sell his team after an inflammatory email from 2012 came to the surface. When word of the email first broke, the identity of the owner was unknown, which left many to wonder if they were the one caught in the crosshairs, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
More than one owner wondered if they were busted for saying something off-color and team executives asked others if it was their club’s owner that was in trouble. Before Levenson’s identity was revealed, Wojnarowski writes, several people around the league were bracing for a severe punishment.
When Sterling’s scandal broke and the NBA was deliberating how to handle the situation, Mavs owner Mark Cuban expressed concern that ousting the then-Clippers owner would set a dangerous precedent going forward. While others didn’t speak out on the issue, Wojnarowski hears that Cuban was not alone in his sentiments.
“Adam [Silver] had far less support on Sterling than anyone knows,” a league source who is in frequent contact with the commissioner told Wojnarowski.
Meanwhile, that same source says that the NBA’s claim that Levenson blew the whistle on himself is simply a matter of semantics. It’s not clear when Levenson truly gave the NBA his mea culpa, but it’s clear that there could be more owners in trouble going forward.
Greg Monroe Avoided Offer Sheets
After a long summer of restricted free agency, Greg Monroe opted to sign the Pistons’ one-year qualifying offer last week. While RFAs usually shop themselves around for the most lucrative offer sheet possible, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports hears that Monroe’s representatives steered other teams from presenting Monroe with an offer sheet because they didn’t want the Pistons to match and keep him for another four seasons.
Now, Monroe will have control over his future next summer, which was apparently his goal this offseason, according to Zillgitt. Zillgitt writes that even if Detroit had offered Monroe a max contract, there was a strong chance he would’ve declined. While the center has likely been frustrated by four losing seasons in Detroit, I have a hard time imagining that Monroe would have rejected a max deal from the Pistons. Still, it’s clear that the center is unhappy with the Pistons and now it seems even more unlikely that he will be with them long-term.
Monroe has career averages of 14.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG and barring a significant regression or an injury, he should be able to cash in next summer. Roughly half the league will have the cap space necessary to give Monroe significant money if things work out for him in 2014/15.
Hoops Links: Durant, Pacers, Bogdanovic
Roughly 35 years ago today, Ann Meyers of UCLA signed a contract with the Pacers. Although Meyers did not make the team, she became the first woman given a tryout by an NBA team, and she worked with the team through training camp.
Recently, women’s basketball star Becky Hammon made history when she was named as an assistant coach for the Spurs. Not only is the six-time WNBA All-Star the first female full-time assistant coach in NBA history, she’s the first female to serve in that capacity in any of the four major professional sports in North America.
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…
- Red Rock Basketball has their head-to-head fantasy top ten, starting with Kevin Durant.
- Indy Cornrows looks at the Pacers’ camp invitees.
- Nets Daily has high praise for Bojan Bogdanovic.
- Posting and Toasting wants to know if the Knicks will defend the outside shot.
- Canis Hoopus has hope for the T’Wolves.
- Roundball Mining Company likes Kenneth Faried‘s play at the World Cup.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Bulls Interested In Ray Allen
The Bulls are believed to be among almost a dozen teams to have contacted free agent Ray Allen and his representatives, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Plenty of teams have probably reached out to the guard’s camp, but this is the first we’ve heard of Chicago putting a call into his people.
The Bulls could make sense for Allen on a few different levels. The veteran was coached by Tom Thibodeau in Boston, so there’s a pre-existing relationship between the two. Also, the Bulls are probably the only significant contender pursuing Allen who do not have a true starting two guard. Jimmy Butler is slated to start at shooting guard but Chicago might prefer to move him to the three, start Allen at shooting guard, and move Mike Dunleavy Jr. to the bench.
Allen, who pretty much has the pick of the litter amongst NBA contenders, has been in contact with a number of teams including the Cavs and Clippers. The Wizards were added to the mix with a report last week indicating that the club reached out to Allen soon after free agency got underway. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com wrote that Allen likely would be willing to accept a minimum-salary deal and Smith hears the same. Most clubs only have the minimum to work with but the Spurs are one team with the full $5.305MM mid-level exception at their disposal.
Allen is coming off of the worst season of his career statistically but he’s still a dangerous threat from the outside and could serve as a strong veteran presence for a top team. The 39-year-old averaged less than double figures for the first time with 9.6 PPG and also shot 37.5% from beyond the arc, down from ~42% the season before. Allen could come back to the hardwood in an effort to play more like his old self or he could opt to retire instead. In a poll last month, nearly 85% of you said that Allen would play in 2014/15.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a look at the original reporting and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week…
- An ESPN spokesperson gave Chuck Myron an explanation for why their Rajon Rondo clip was pulled.
- Hoops Rumors learned that Mike Moser‘s deal with a Lithuanian club does not include an NBA out clause.
- Eddie Scarito continued his Trade Retrospective series with a look back at the trade that sent LaMarcus Aldridge to the Blazers.
- Chuck ran down the unsigned lottery picks on the open market.
- Chuck found that it’s the big men that get the biggest deals.
- I asked readers if the Celtics should trade Rajon Rondo and more than 80% of you said yes.
- If you missed out on this week’s chat, you can get caught up here.
- A lot of you see Kevin McHale on the hot seat this season.
- Don’t expect the Magic to give an extension to Tobias Harris, Chuck writes.
- Chuck checked in on the free agent stock of Earl Clark.
- Charlie Adams asked which free agent is most likely to sign next – Ramon Sessions and Jordan Crawford led the way.
- It’s never too early to look ahead. Here’s the 2016 free agent class.
- Finding the right coach and teammates is more important than money at this point in Jason Maxiell’s career, Chuck writes.
- The stretch provision is so hot right now.
- Here were the starters without deals as of Wednesday.
- The Sixers lead the way in trades dating back to the 2013 offseason.
- If you want to keep tabs on all the stories and updates at Hoops Rumors, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe to our feed through your RSS reader of choice.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players.
Week In Review: 9/1/14 – 9/7/14
Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has dominated headlines all week long. General Manager Danny Ainge has long downplayed any trade talk but at this stage it’s apparent that discussions are taking place on some level. The Celtics say they’re not shopping him, Rondo says he doesn’t want out, but those are all things we’ve heard leading up to blockbuster trades. More from the week that was…
- Greg Monroe signed the qualifying offer.
- The Rockets and Lakers have their eye on Goran Dragic for 2015.
- The Warriors and GM Bob Myers agreed to an extension.
- Bruce Levenson will sell the Hawks.
- Several teams are eyeing Julyan Stone. The Cavs are among those working him out.
- The Sixers waived Hasheem Thabeet.
- The Wizards made contact with Ray Allen soon after free agency began, and they’re still interested in signing the sharpshooter.
- The Clippers added swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts.
- Anderson Varejao wants to stay with the Cavs.
- DeAndre Liggins will join the Clippers for camp.
- The Wolves signed Kyrylo Fesenko.
- Ryan Hollins met with the Heat on Friday.
- The Heat worked out Nazr Mohammed.
- The Clippers also signed big man Ekpe Udoh.
- The Mavs re-signed Bernard James.
- The Clippers are set to sign Hedo Turkoglu.
- The Kings waived Wayne Ellington.
- The Kings are discussing a deal with Dmitry Kulagin.
- Point guard Myck Kabongo could be joining the Wolves for camp, heading to Sweden, or both.
- The Kings signed David Wear for training camp.
- The Heat will bring Khem Birch to camp.
- The Kings waived Jeremy Tyler.
- The Kings will sign Trey Johnson.
- The Raptors signed Greg Stiemsma.
- Recently waived center Miroslav Raduljica has a lucrative offer in Europe but is also talking with several NBA teams.
- The Warriors signed undrafted power forward James Michael McAdoo.
- The Warriors have also signed former University of Buffalo power forward and Israeli league veteran Mitchell Watt.
- The Grizzlies are among the teams looking at Australian small forward Joe Ingles.
- The Spurs auditioned Earl Clark.
- Andre Dawkins will join the Heat for camp.
Clippers, Hedo Turkoglu Nearing Agreement
SEPTEMBER 5TH, 4:26pm: A signing is on track to take place next week, tweets Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.
AUGUST 31ST, 8:57pm: The Clippers and Hedo Turkoglu are nearing agreement on a one-year, $1.4MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Turkoglu didn’t play a major role in Los Angeles after getting his buyout for Orlando, but the Clippers are apparently appreciative of his veteran leadership and like what he can do in limited minutes. The 35-year-old averaged just 3.0 PPG in 10 minutes per contest across 38 games, not quite in line with his best work. For his career, the veteran has averaged 11.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 3.0 APG while nailing 38.2% of his shots from outside the arc.
It has been a busy end of August for the Clippers who extended coach/president Doc Rivers, shipped Jared Dudley to the Bucks, and subsequently waived the players acquired in the trade. The Clippers also re-signed Glen Davis, who, like Turkoglu, joined the club midseason.
Turkoglu will continue his career in 2014/15, but he certainly doesn’t need the money. According to Basketball-Reference, Turkoglu has banked roughly $90MM over the course of his career.