Odds & Ends: Bynum, Bulls, Rondo, Sixers
The Bulls are getting calls from clubs as the trade deadline approaches, but that’s no big deal to coach Tom Thibodeau. “The way that works is, when something gets close, they will come to me,” Thibodeau said, according to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. “But every conversation they’re having I don’t know about, nor do I want to know about. It’s important for me to focus on the guys we do have.” More from around the Association..
- Andrew Bynum and his agent are in Indianapolis to meet with the Pacers, writes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. However, agent David Lee says the big man hasn’t signed with anyone yet. As of earlier this week, Bynum is still seeking more than the minimum.
- Rajon Rondo says he’s “intrigued” by free agency, but Celtics GM Danny Ainge isn’t sweating it. “Come on, man! They’re talking about Kevin Durant‘s free agency in 2016 already; Carmelo Anthony. It’s ridiculous,” Ainge told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “It becomes a story because not very many people understand what free agency brings to Carmelo and Kevin Durant and [Rondo]. It gives them (the potential for) five-year max contracts which are way more significant than two-year extensions, three-year extensions. And they have to say these things. From my perspective, it’s like, ‘duh.’ If you’re around the NBA, those are like obvious things.“
- The Sixers have sputtered since their hot start to the season but Hawks big man Elton Brand says they’re working hard and no one could accuse them of tanking, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media.
- Zach Harper of CBSSports.com wonders if Kansas star Andrew Wiggins is starting to justify the hype.
Nate Robinson Out For Season
Nuggets guard Nate Robinson underwent surgery for a torn ACL and will be out for the remainder of the season, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post (via Twitter). The diminutive guard suffered a left knee injury during Wednesday’s game against the Bobcats and was forced to exit early, but the injury wasn’t known to be quite this severe.
The Nuggets’ backcourt is now in disarray with Robinson done for the year, Ty Lawson sidelined thanks to shoulder trouble, and Andre Miller stuck in limbo. With Danilo Gallinari also done for the year, it’s hard to see the .500 Nuggets living up to the expectations set out for them at the beginning of the season.
With their backcourt seriously thinned out, it’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets approach the trade deadline. At the very least, it would be surprising if Denver didn’t scope out the free agent market for a guard in the coming days.
Western Notes: Ledo, Casspi, Jazz
The Mavericks have dominated the Kings when playing in Dallas for more than ten years, but DeMarcus Cousins looked to be their kryptonite earlier this year. Dallas won 15 of 16 home games against Sacramento dating back to 2003 before losing 112-97 on December 9th when Cousins led the way with 32 points and 19 rebounds. Unfortunately for Sacramento, they don’t have Boogie in action tonight in Dallas thanks to his sprained ankle. Here’s tonight’s look at the Western Conference..
- The Mavs announced that they have recalled Ricky Ledo from the Texas Legends of the D-League. The rookie has been assigned to the D-League three times this season and averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.1 minutes per contest across 18 games. In eleven games for the Mavs this season Ledo is averaging 1.7 points in just three minutes per game. He could see action tonight as the club will be without Shawn Marion.
- Omri Casspi is enjoying a career resurgence with the Rockets, but things didn’t go quite as smoothly with the Cavs. The forward spoke with Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer about the tougher times with Cleveland and how he’s enjoying things in Houston.
- Former NBA coach Avery Johnson likes what he sees when he looks at the Jazz but he says that it’s crucial that they re-sign Gordon Hayward this summer. “He’s what I call a valuable asset. The worst thing you can do with a valuable asset is allow a valuable asset to walk without any compensation,” Johnson told Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Meanwhile, Johnson says that Julius Randle would make sense for Utah in the upcoming draft.
D-League Notes: Hairston, Faverani, Siva
Earlier today, Chris Mannix of SI.com reported that executives around the league believe the Cavs are hesitant to send No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett to the D-League because they think it would look like an admission of failure on their part. Meanwhile, the forward still hasn’t turned things around for the Cavs’ varsity squad. Here’s tonight’s look at the D-League..
- P.J. Hairston is impressing scouts and his stock is rising, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Now with the Texas Legends, the former UNC standout is averaging 27.4 ppg and shooting 43% from three-point range in five D-League games. Hairston is currently ranked No. 26 on the most recent mock draft from DraftExpress.
- The Celtics announced that they have assigned center Vitor Faverani and guard Vander Blue to the Maine Red Claws of the D-League. Faverani, a 6’11” center, has appeared in 37 games for the Celtics this season and has recorded 4.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 13.2 minutes per game. Blue, a 6’5” guard, has appeared in three games for the Celtics this season and has totaled five points, three rebounds, and an assist in 15 minutes of play. Faverani is expected to be back with the Celtics on Sunday, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
- The Pistons announced today that the team has re-assigned rookie guard Peyton Siva and rookie forward Tony Mitchell to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League. Siva averaged 12.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.6 steals in five games during his first stint with the Mad Ants from December 28 through January 8. In six games with the Mad Ants, Mitchell averaged 6.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 22.1 minutes per game. They’ll likely be there for two weeks, according to David Mayo of MLive.com.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Bledsoe, Warriors, Kobe
Amazingly, Suns big man Emeka Okafor could be one of the most intriguing trade chips in February even though he’s probably done for the season. Earlier today, our own Chuck Myron examined Okafor as a trade candidate and explained what his sizable expiring contract could do for the club that acquires him. Here’s more from the Pacific Division..
- Eric Bledsoe refused to confirm or deny whether he had a significant operation performed on his torn meniscus in a talk with Shams Charania of RealGM. For a guard with his explosion, a major repair procedure of the meniscus part would bring long-term benefits but would also rule him out for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, it would behoove him to return to the court this season before he hits restricted free agency in the summer. For their part, the Suns have said that they expect the guard to be back in action some time after the All-Star break.
- About a dozen NBA scouts watched Arizona practice at the Warriors‘ facility today, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (via Twitter). Big men Aaron Gordon and Brandon Ashley are getting most of the attention and about 20 NBA GMs have seen at least one Wildcats practice (link). Colleges are now allowed to practice at NBA facilities and scouts are taking full advantage.
- While Phil Jackson admitted during a TV appearance that the Lakers‘ two-year, $48.5MM contract extension for Kobe Bryant was more than he would have given, he also said that he expects the future Hall of Famer to return to prominence, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles,
Suns Sign Leandro Barbosa For Season
TUESDAY, 1:16pm: The Suns have officially announced their signing of the Excel Sports Management client.
MONDAY, 9:54pm: We learned last week that the Suns planned on keeping guard Leandro Barbosa for the rest of the season. After tonight’s win, President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and Coach Jeff Hornacek informed the veteran that he will in fact be with the club for the remainder of the 2013/14 campaign, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The veteran guard admitted to being nervous over being in contract limbo, but he’s breathing a sigh of relief after hearing the good news.
“My shoulder is not 100 percent but I’m trying to help the team,” Barbosa said. “It’s a great, talented team. Very fun. I’m happy that I found out I’m going to stay. I’m going to pray and thank God because it was a hard time for me when I did the surgery. If I look back and see what I’ve been through, many people didn’t believe I could come back and play for the NBA again. Now, they say they want to stay with me for the rest of the year. It’s a great thing. There are more things for me to do. It’s not like I’m going to get the contract and chill. Now I’m going to work really hard because I really want to help the team and I know I can. But, for now, thank you Phoenix.”
The 31-year-old returned to the NBA following some tough injury rehab and a successful stint playing in his native Brazil. While filling in for the injured Eric Bledsoe, Barbosa has put up 8.6 PPG and 2.0 APG with a PER of 10.6 in 21.5 minutes per contest.
Odds & Ends: Stern, Pistons, Augustin, Mavs
In today’s column, David Aldridge of NBA.com recaps the history of commissioner David Stern‘s tenure in office. “The Life and Times of Stern” was culled by talking with people that worked with him, for him, and played in or were a part, directly or indirectly, of his league. As you might expect, not everyone who dealt with Stern was happy with him at the time, but there’s a tremendous amount of respect for what he did from all corners of the game. Here’s more from around the Association..
- The Pistons have lots of questions to address between now and the trade deadline as Vince Ellis of USA Today Sports explains.
- Bulls guard D.J. Augustin has a certain comfort level with his club after joining them about a month ago, writes Adam Fluck of Bulls.com. Since joining the Bulls, Augustin has averaged 30.4 minutes per game. The only time in his professional career he’s seen more playing time was in 2010/11 with the Bobcats , when he turned in his best statistical season, averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 points over 82 games, all starts.
- In a recent radio interview, former Mavericks guard Jimmy Jackson claimed that the club and Stern were guilty of collusion when negotiating his rookie contract, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com. Those accusations were never proven in a court of law, but Ziller writes that it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if they were true.
- Stern has been calling NBA owners to let them know he will be out of sight for a while and Adam Silver is the guy to call/email for all issues, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Stern hasn’t officially handed off the torch to Silver yet, but it sounds like the transition has effectively taken place.
- There are tons of recognizable names still looking for NBA jobs and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders runs them all down by position. Those looking for work include Richard Hamilton, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Chris Duhon, Seth Curry, Josh Howard, Mickael Pietrus, Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson, Marcus Camby, and more.
Warriors GM Bob Myers On Game Plan, Jackson
Warriors GM Bob Myers sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders. In part one of the two part chat, Myers spoke about his approach in building from his hiring in 2011 to their 2013 playoff success. The whole thing is certainly worth a read, but here’s a look at a few of the highlights..
What is really the goal of the organization? Is it being a contender, is it winning one championship, or is it winning multiple championships?
Well it’s the right question. I think winning consistently is the goal of any organization, it’s certainly the goal of ours and when you say winning, you mean winning at the highest level, winning championships. That’s the goal here. We think we’re in a market that can be attractive to players. We know we have ownership that supports spending in the right ways and we’ve got an unbelievable fan base, so we’re set up and positioned to be what we consider a championship contending team if not now, in the future.
That’s what we’re building towards, whether it’s incrementally–we don’t set a timeline as to when it will happen. The way we operate within our front office and ownership, it’s always trying to get better each and every day, and sometimes things happen sooner than you like and sometimes they happen later than you like, but the end goal is and will always remain winning championships and doing it over as long of a period of time as you can. I think that’s the goal of anybody and we’ve seen organizations that have been able to do that, and we would like to become one of those.
Is there an understanding though that certain moves, obviously to contend now, may have a detrimental effect later on and make it harder?
Yeah, you always have to balance, you have to be realistic about where you are as an organization, where your team is. Sometimes organizations can get in trouble when they overreach and make a play that is perceived to be a play towards a championship, but in hindsight you look back and it’ll be looked at as, instead of a play towards a championship, a short-term move that cost you in the future. So you have to be smart. You’d really like to have a roster that’s balanced with youth and veterans so you’re always having players in the pipeline as your organization grows, and having those young players around veterans also helps them develop. But you don’t want to get into a situation where you have an entire roster that’s aging. You also don’t want to be in a situation where it’s all young players. So some type of mix of that is essential. You’re right though, the challenge is to make moves that are prudent and fit your timeline. You have to be realistic about what your timeline is and we think we’re building in the right direction. We don’t think we’re anywhere near where we need to be, but we think we’re going in the right direction.
How did you know Mark Jackson would be a success as coach despite having no previous experience?
Yeah, well it’s hard. It is hard to evaluate anybody, players, coaches, any hires you make are difficult. But in Mark we saw immediately, Joe [Lacob] as well as myself and people in the front office, immediately his ability to lead, his presence, and we think that’s invaluable in the NBA. It’s a long season, it’s a grind, and we knew immediately after talking to him for five, 10 minutes that he would capture the minds of the players. And we also knew that it was rare to find somebody that had the skill set he had in that he could lead and also had tremendous experience within the NBA as a player, as a broadcaster, at the point guard position. So we saw a lot of qualities that really endeared us towards him.
Northwest Notes: Thomas, Roberson, Jazz
Now in his fifth NBA season, Ty Lawson is looking to make his final All-Star push before teams are selected, writes Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com. The Nuggets guard is historically a slow starter, but he has scored in double figures in 39 of his 41 games and is averaging 17.9 points and 8.9 assists – both career-highs. In his past 12 games, Lawson is averaging 18.5 points and 11.1 assists with ten double-doubles. While Lawson hopes to punch his ticket for New Orleans, let’s take a look at today’s news out of the Northwest Division..
- Jazz newcomer Malcolm Thomas has bounced around a bit but he’s hoping to stick with the club so that he can build on what he learns, writes Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. Meanwhile, GM Dennis Lindsey told reporters, including colleague Steve Luhm, that Utah has had the former Spurs forward on their radar for some time. Thomas was in the middle of getting a pedicure when he found out Utah was claiming him, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
- The Thunder announced that they have assigned Andre Roberson to the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League. In 19 games (four starts) with the Thunder this season, Roberson is averaging 1.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game. Roberson has seen action in seven games (all starts) with the 66ers this season and recorded averages of 16.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.86 steals and 1.29 blocks in 37.3 minutes. He’s quite familiar with the drive from OKC to Tulsa, as our running list of D-League assignments shows.
- Lee Benson of the Deseret News writes that outgoing commissioner David Stern helped save the Jazz and the NBA as a whole.
Emeka Okafor Could Be Trade Chip For Suns
As we approach the February 20th trade deadline, notable names like Kyle Lowry and Andre Miller figure to see lots of time on the pages of Hoops Rumors. However, one of the most desirable players on the trade block might be someone you wouldn’t quite expect – Emeka Okafor. The big man has been sidelined all season long with a neck injury, but with insurance picking up the tab on 80% of what remains on his $14.5MM salary, he could bring quite a return for Phoenix.
The Suns, who are determined to make the postseason despite losing Eric Bledsoe to injury, have expressed a willingness to absorb a veteran player on a short-term deal who wouldn’t wreck their future cap space, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. With clubs looking for ways to dump payroll and avoid luxury-tax penalties, Phoenix could have a multitude of deal possibilities to consider over the next few weeks.
The Suns could have up to six first-round draft picks over the next two years, including four in the talent-packed 2014 draft. GM Ryan McDonough has said he is willing to explore using his draft picks, young assets, and cap space (~$5MM) to explore possible deals for All-Star-level caliber players.