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Atlantic Notes: Saric, Rondo, Williams

December 3rd, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Dario Saric‘s father confirmed that the forward intends to opt out of his deal with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes after the season in order to join the NBA, Vedran Modrić of Eurohopes relays (h/t to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). Philadelphia apparently wanted to bring Saric over for 2015/16, and the player shared that desire, according to a report by international journalist David Pick, but his contract contained no escape clause for this season. Saric’s father has reportedly been pushing the Sixers away from his son, but the younger Saric has denied that his father is exerting undue influence upon him regarding his playing career.

Saric was non-committal back in June when he was asked about the possibility of him playing in the NBA in 2016/17. “Next season? I don’t know and I can’t speak about that because I don’t know yet the situation, how things are going to work out,” Saric said at the time. “I can say that I’m happy here at Efes and I’m also happy that people from Philadelphia came here and want me there. That’s all I can tell you right now. I don’t have any information or any feeling regarding what could happen. I’m just focused on the rest of the season. If I stay here or if I go to the NBA, I will be happy [either way]. I don’t know what could happen this summer or next summer. Now it’s not the time to talk about that.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Former Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is thankful for all of the support he received from the team’s fanbase during his years in Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “They know the game. That’s what impressed me most about being in Boston,” Rondo told Blakely. “They know the game. They appreciate it. They’re the best fans. Whenever I was out in public, they always showed me great love, great appreciation. The fans always showed love, even my first year when we lost 18 straight. They’ve been the best fans I ever played for.”
Nets coach Lionel Hollins isn’t surprised by Deron Williams‘ solid play for the Mavericks this season, with Hollins noting that Williams needed to get away from the bright lights of New York in order to succeed, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “He’s played well. I said he’d play well, he’d be more comfortable out of New York,’’ Hollins said. “I said that he’d go down and play in a little different system, but mainly be out of New York and be away from the New York spotlight and expectations that were really unnatural. So I expected him to play better.’’

Atlantic Notes: Winslow, Johnson, Early

December 1st, 2015 at 7:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Heat rookie Justise Winslow is aware of the Celtics‘ reported push to move up in the 2015 NBA in order to select him, but the swingman noted that because Boston’s pick fell in the middle of the first round he had minimal pre-draft interaction with the team, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe relays. Celtics coach Brad Stevens sang the rookie’s praises when asked about Winslow’s potential, Himmelsbach adds. “He’s a super-mature kid who’s just going to get better and better,” Stevens said. “Winning’s the most important thing to him, and he’s got a high ceiling. I think he’ll do well. He’s shown that. I think you can see that whenever you have an organization like this that’s at the caliber that they have been, and they’re playing him at the end of games pretty consistently. That just tells you where he is emotionally.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

The criteria that Joe Johnson finds most important as he thinks about choosing a team in free agency this coming summer is an ominous one for the woe-begotten Nets, as Andy Vasquez of The Record reveals. “Winning. Winning is going to be important to me,” Johnson told Vasquez. “I’ve made enough money, man, throughout my career. So, yeah, winning will definitely be top priority for me.”
The Knicks have recalled Cleanthony Early from their D-League affiliate in Westchester, the team announced. This was Early’s first trip to the D-League this season.
The Sixers anticipate point guard Tony Wroten will return to action within 8 to 10 days, but Kendall Marshall‘s rehab is going “much slower,” Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Afflalo, ‘Melo, Okafor, Porzingis

December 1st, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks knew Kristaps Porzingis would perform well, but they had no idea he would burst out of the gates so spectacularly, GM Steve Mills told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The pick is a potential game-changer for New York, as Lowe examines. Mills said to Lowe that agents have remarked of how players “feel really good” about the Knicks but want to see the team start to win, a sentiment that Arron Afflalo understands. The shooting guard with an $8MM player option for next season contends “the city isn’t enough for people,” but is convinced for himself that the Knicks are for real, as he explained to Lowe.

“I want to finish my career here,” Afflalo said. “Having a good young player and a winning team should help us get other guys.”

Afflalo has been sold on the Knicks for a while, as he and Mills said to Lowe that the Knicks and Nuggets had trade talks last season that would have fulfilled Afflalo’s desire to go to New York even amid last season’s 17-win debacle. See more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics went after the Hornets’ pick at No. 9 with the idea of flipping it to the Knicks, along with another first-rounder, for the No. 4 overall pick, which Boston would have used to take Justise Winslow, sources told Lowe for the same piece. Boston offered Charlotte four first-rounders for the ninth pick, as Lowe reported earlier, but the Hornets refused, putting the kibosh on the scenario in which Boston would have vaulted to No. 4. The Knicks listened to the idea, Mills admits, but a deal was never close, he told Lowe.
The Knicks have “never” thought about trading Carmelo Anthony, Mills insists to Lowe, who nonetheless hears skepticism from other teams that the subject hasn’t at least been the topic of internal discussion.
Knicks president Phil Jackson would have drafted Jahlil Okafor over Porzingis if he had the chance, a source said to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Okafor’s off-court troubles are likely a shock to the Sixers, given the meticulous background checking they did before the draft on the center from Duke, a league executive told Berman for the same piece.
Porzingis decided against working out for the Sixers but wouldn’t have been opposed to playing for them, seeing it as an opportunity to perform in a low-pressure environment and viewing Nerlens Noel as a strong frontcourt complement to his game, a source close to Porzingis said to Berman.

Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Sullinger, Fisher

November 29th, 2015 at 11:48am CST by ChrisCrouse

Jahlil Okafor was pulled over for driving 108 mph roughly three weeks ago, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Okafor was previously involved in two separate nightclub incidents, one in Boston and the other in Philadelphia. Coach Brett Brown addressed the latest news earlier this morning, as Pompey passes along (video via Twitter). “No differently than what we spoke about with the incident in Boston,” Brown said. “It’s part of our responsibility to help him.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The pairing of Okafor and Nerlens Noel hasn’t been successful this season, as the team is scoring just 90.2 points per 100 possessions with Okafor and Noel on the floor together. Despite this, the team isn’t giving up hope that the pairing can work, Pompey writes in a separate piece. “That’s the challenge of growing two players together that are 19 and 21 years old,” Brown said. “We are only 17 games in. It’s a C, and we have to bring it up to a B-plus in the not-too-distant future.”
Through 16 games, Jared Sullinger has grabbed 20.7 % of available rebounds while on the floor, which is good for seventh in the league and coach Brad Stevens believes Sullinger’s success can be attributed to the big man’s awareness, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. “I think, positionally, he’s probably better defensively and that’s probably put him in a position to better rebound,” Stevens said. “As you get more aware, you get more experience, those things slow down for you about where you should be, and once you’re where you should be, talent takes over. And he’s in good defensive position often.” Sullinger will be a restricted free agent after the season.
Derek Fisher will coach his 100th game for the Knicks today and Marc Berman of the New York Post examines how the former player has progressed on the sideline.

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Hornets, Celtics

November 29th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by ChrisCrouse

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has made strides on the defensive end and his team is taking notice, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. “Phenomenal. That kid is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league — KCP locks up,” teammate Reggie Jackson said. “It’s not a fluke. What KCP does on defense night in and night out is not a fluke.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Steve Clifford, who recently agreed to an extension with the Hornets, believes he is lucky to work for Michael Jordan because Jordan has perspective that most owners do not, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “There are things that we do that I feel we’ve improved on because of input I’ve gotten from him. But he’s great,” Clifford said. “I think he may be the easiest owner to work for, and because he has a feel for what four [games] in five nights is, what five in seven nights is, I could give you five or six examples of situations where things have gone badly, where he — because he played — he’ll call and be much more reassuring than, ‘Why did we play so poorly?'”
With Marcus Smart expected to miss a couple weeks, rookie Terry Rozier could see an increased role, A.Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “He’s a guy that I have faith to put in,” coach Brad Stevens said. The Celtics have excellent depth on their roster, but if Rozier can prove he belongs in the rotation, the team could look to trade one of its veterans to open up minutes for the Louisville product, although that is merely my speculation.

Eastern Notes: Harris, Biyombo, Lamb

November 27th, 2015 at 9:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Bucks coach and current Magic coach Scott Skiles said he was never in favor of trading power forward Tobias Harris to Orlando, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Sentinel. Skiles didn’t give Harris a lot of playing time as a rookie and second-year player but liked Harris’ potential and attitude, the story continues. Harris was dealt from the Bucks to the Magic on Feb. 21st, 2013 in a six-player swap. None of the players Milwaukee acquired are still with the team. “At that time, we just felt (Luc) Mbah a Moute was a better defender and (Mike) Dunleavy was a better offensive player, and Tobias didn’t get as many minutes. But we were high on him,” Skiles told Gardner. “Not that anybody would have listened to me, but if I would have still been the coach, I would not have been for moving Tobias.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Bismack Biyombo‘s stint as Jonas Valanciunas’ injury replacement is off to a strong start, Lori Ewing of The Canadian Press reports. Coach Dwane Casey likes what Biyombo brings to the starting unit as the new Raptors starting center after he had 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Cavs this week, Ewing continues. “He set the tone for us defensively,” Casey told the Toronto media. “Protecting the paint, talking, being physical, being a deterrent at the rim and that was big for us.” Valanciunas is out approximately six weeks with a hand injury.
Jeremy Lamb could be a serious candidate for the league’s Sixth Man and Most Improved Player awards if he continues to produce at his current level, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com write. The Hornets shooting guard is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage. Lamb, who agreed to a three-year, $21MM extension, has surprised coach Steve Clifford with his passing ability, Aschburner continues. “I knew he could shoot — I mean, he can really shoot — but I had no idea how well he could pass the ball,” Clifford told Aschburner. “He can pass off the dribble. He makes good decisions, so he’s a better pick-and-roll player than I thought. And what he’s done for us, he’s given us a lot of drive-and-kick plays that I didn’t know he was capable of doing.”
The Celtics have assigned rookie power forward Jordan Mickey to the D-League’s Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. Mickey, an early second-round pick out of LSU, has played a total of just five minutes with Boston.

2016/17 Salary Cap Projection: Boston Celtics

November 27th, 2015 at 10:01am CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league prior to the official numbers being announced had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM. Many league executives and agents believe that the salary cap will escalate to a whopping $95MM for 2016/17, a higher figure than the league’s last projection of $89MM. This significant bump is a result of the league’s new $24 billion TV deal that kicks in just in time for next season.

The increase in the salary cap will almost assuredly set off a flurry of activity in the free agent market next summer, and it will also make it easier than ever for teams to deal away their higher-priced stars. Prudent executives are acutely aware of exactly how much cap room they have to play with, not just for the current campaign, but for next season and beyond as well. While the exact amount of 2016/17’s salary cap won’t be announced until next summer, it always pays to know just how much salary is on the books for each franchise. With this in mind, we at Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the projected 2016/17 financial commitments for each franchise, and we’ll continue onward with a look at the Boston Celtics:

Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $33,971,629
Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $0
Non Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $17,000,000*
Total Projected Salary Cap Commitments: $50,971,629

*Note: This amount will become fully guaranteed if both Amir Johnson ($12MM) and Jonas Jerebko ($5MM) remain on the team’s roster past July 3rd.

If the salary cap were to fall in line with the projection of $89MM, Boston would have approximately $38,028,371 in cap space, or $44,028,371 if the cap were to be set at the higher mark of $95MM. Again, these are merely predictions until the exact cap amounts are announced, and they are not meant to illustrate the exact amount that the team will have available to spend this coming offseason.

Boston will also need to make decisions regarding Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger, both of whom are eligible to become restricted free agents next summer. If the Celtics wish to retain the right to match any offer sheets the two players were to receive the team would need to submit qualifying offers to both, with Zeller’s being worth $3,695,169 and $3,270,004 for Sullinger. This would increase the team’s projected cap commitments by a total of $6,965,173, though that number would merely be a place holder until the players either inked new deals or signed their qualifying offers, which would then set them up for unrestricted free agency the following offseason.

Trades and long-term free agent signings made during the season will also have a significant impact on the figures above, and we’ll be updating these posts to reflect the new numbers after any signings and trades have been made official.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

And-Ones: Mudiay, Mickey, Henderson

November 25th, 2015 at 9:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Blazers swingman Gerald Henderson has struggled as he makes his way back from hip surgery in July, and he says that he still needs time to round into form, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com writes. “You know, it’s tough. I’m coming back from surgery, trying to implement myself into what we are doing … and I just haven’t found my rhythm yet,” Henderson admitted. “It will take me a while to get into the type of shape I’m used to being in. You missed pretty much the whole summer, the preseason, and the start of the year … like I said, I’ve got some catching up to do. It’s nothing more than that.’’ Henderson was acquired by Portland from the Hornets over the summer as a part of the Nicolas Batum trade, and he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

Here’s the latest from around the league:

The Thunder have recalled Josh Huestis from the Oklahoma City Blue, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Huestis has appeared in four games during his three D-League assignments this season, averaging 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 31.3 minutes per game.
The Celtics recalled power forward Jordan Mickey from the D-League, the team announced (via Twitter). This was Mickey’s fourth assignment to the Red Claws this season.
Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay has played the second most minutes out of any rookie thus far this season, and it will be an interesting case study to see how the increased minutes impact his development, observes Brett Koremenos of Real GM in his look at the young point guard. The 19-year-old is averaging 12.5 points and 6.3 assists in 30.0 minutes per contest through 15 games.

Northwest Notes: Garnett, Towns, Waiters, Kanter

November 25th, 2015 at 10:47am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge admits he was careful about the sort of young players he brought around Kevin Garnett, who “could be intimidating — and destructive — if the player didn’t respond in the right way,” he tells Jackie MacMullan of ESPN The Magazine. That’s evidence that Minnesota’s plan to use Garnett as a mentor for its host of young players isn’t foolproof, but the intense Garnett and No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns have taken to one another, and Garnett has accepted his purpose as a team leader, even giving Towns uncharacteristic advice to ease up at times, as MacMullan details. The edginess that Garnett brings to the Timberwolves has been a positive, GM Milt Newton tells MacMullan, and the late Flip Saunders cited Garnett’s ability to work well under Sam Mitchell when Saunders reacquired Garnett for Minnesota last season, MacMullan notes. See more on the Wolves and other Northwest Division teams:

Jahlil Okafor outplayed Towns this week in a matchup of two of the top three picks, but the Timberwolves still chose wisely when they went with the former Kentucky big man, opines Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune. “It was an off-game for Karl,” Mitchell said, “but you look at the other 11, 12 games that Karl has played, he’s been unbelievable.”
Kevin Durant lifts the performances of many around him, but that’s especially so with Thunder teammate Dion Waiters, notes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Both are set to become free agents at season’s end, and Waiters has denied rumors that he wants to jump to the Sixers to play in his hometown of Philadelphia, a most unlikely destination for Durant.
Enes Kanter elicited questions about his maturity from some executives around the league in the wake of pithy comments he made about the Jazz after they fulfilled his request for a trade last season, but the Thunder big man is contrite these days, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater observes. “I think that I was a little, you know, harsh,” Kanter said. “But I just want to clear, I have no problem with the players or the fans. I respect the guys and they helped me a lot with my career. They helped me a lot in my first three and a half years.”

Atlantic Notes: Larkin, Sullinger, Brown

November 24th, 2015 at 9:42am CST by Chuck Myron

Shane Larkin spoke of his displeasure with the triangle offense this summer after leaving the Knicks to sign with the Nets, and he feels the results so far this season, in which he’s scored more points in fewer minutes per game than he did last year, prove his point, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post chronicles.

“Yeah, it’s a much better fit for me in a lot of ways,” Larkin said. “You can see my numbers have been better. I’m just playing better overall, because I’m more comfortable in a pick-and-roll system or an up-and-down system, doing different things rather than coming down and setting in the triangle.’’

Still, Brooklyn’s reserves have been one of the NBA’s least effective bench units statistically, Lewis points out. Sunday’s win over the Celtics, which also saw a strong contribution from fellow former Knick Andrea Bargnani, was an exception, as Lewis details. See more from the Atlantic Division:

The best is yet to come for soon-to-be restricted free agent Jared Sullinger, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com in a Q&A. Ainge criticized the fitness level that offseason trade acquisition David Lee had at the start of camp but praised Lee’s work since then, and the exec cited his team’s depth for its strong defensive play thus far, as Forsberg relays. Ainge also referred to coach Brad Stevens as “a keeper.” “Jared has played really well,” Ainge said to Forsberg. “I know what he’s capable of doing. I think Jared is still so young. I think that his best basketball is still ahead of him. But I do see a lot of great progress from Jared.”
Sixers coach Brett Brown wishes he sometimes had more of a veteran presence on the team, but he accepts much of the responsibility that would usually fall to experienced players for himself, observes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Carl Landry is the only Sixer with more than three years of service. “It’s on me,” said Brown, a former Spurs assistant. “I’m privileged to have seen five NBA [Finals] and won four of them. … I like sharing stories like that with my players.”
The radical rebuilding plan the Sixers have undertaken comes with no guarantees and requires plenty of patience, but the team has largely controlled what it can as it’s stockpiled the assets necessary to pounce on a superstar when the opportunity arises, argues Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine. Still, it’s possible the team erred when it selected Jahlil Okafor instead of Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 3 overall pick, as Bodner examines.