Atlantic Rumors: Calderon, Sixers, Darko, Nets
Each of the five teams in the Atlantic Division is arguably improved from last season, which might make it the league's best. That doesn't mean that the division's GMs are done moving, and there's news on transactions past and, perhaps, future.
- Jose Calderon isn't likely to ask for trade, but Raptors coach Dwane Casey probably won't try to get him extra minutes by playing him alongside fellow point guard Kyle Lowry, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes in his mailbag.
- Andrew Bynum is in the final year of his contract, but new Sixers GM Tony DiLeo already has plans to build around him, as John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com looks at how Darko Milicic is trying to remake his image with the Celtics. Kevin Love accused Milicic of bringing "bad blood" to the Wolves locker room, as we heard earlier today.
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post looks back the busy offseason for the Nets, and Newsday's Roderick Boone breaks down the question marks for the team as training camp begins.
Northwest Rumors: Kirilenko, Kahn, Darko, Batum
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune details the reasons why some of the Timberwolves' free agent acquisitions wound up in Minnesota, including Andrei Kirilenko, who signed with the Wolves in part because of his memories of coach Rick Adelman's old Kings teams. "Those Sacramento teams were some of my favorite teams," the former Jazz forward said. "I like that style. It's more like how we play in Europe." We passed along comments about the makeup of the Nuggets from coach George Karl earlier today, and there's more news out of the Northwest Division.
- In the same piece, Zgoda says it's likely the Wolves must make the playoffs for GM David Kahn to keep his job. Minnesota has been a lottery team in each of Kahn's three seasons in charge of the front office.
- Kevin Love told Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer press in July that he was glad the Wolves were rid of what he called "bad blood" in the locker room. Zgoda identifies amnestied center Darko Milicic as the player to whom Love was referring.
- Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum is ready to live up to the four-year, $46.5MM deal he signed over the summer, as he told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. "I signed an All-Star-type contract and now it's up to me to play up to that level," Batum said. "I got team goals and personal goals I want to accomplish and becoming an All-Star one day is one of them. I want to be an NBA champion, I want to be a three-point champion. It's all about winning in this league and I'm ready for that next step in my career."
Odds & Ends: Thibodeau, Celtics, Green, Lakers
Tonight's look around the Association..
- Even if the Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau are unable to reach agreement on an extension, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes that it won't be a distraction for the hyper-focused coach. While many would expect a coach of Thibodeau's caliber to secure a deal well in advance of its expiration, Johnson notes that Thunder coach Scott Brooks and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle both coached out their last contracts before re-signing.
- Despite concerns about his health after missing last season with a heart issue, Celtics coach Doc Rivers says that forward Jeff Green has some of the best conditioning on the team, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Many have questioned the wisdom of giving Green a four-year, $36MM deal, particularly since it does not offer some type of insurance should his heart condition resurface.
- Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register previews the Lakers with five questions surrounding the team as they enter the 2012/13 season. Chief among them is how Kobe Bryant and the newly-acquired Steve Nash will co-exist together in the backcourt. For the offense to run smoothly, Ding opines that Bryant will have to take a backseat at times in order to allow Nash and Dwight Howard to operate effectively.
Camp Rumors: Howard, Hornets, Murray, Miller
It's looking more like the Lakers will have Dwight Howard in the lineup to start the regular season, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports hears the big man is determined to be ready for opening night, and that the progress he's made in recent weeks has upped his chances. Howard says his surgically repaired back is at 85%, Wojnarowski reports. The Lakers still don't have a timetable for his return, but it's just one more reason for optimism in L.A. The mood is upbeat all around the league this time of year, as teams start fresh in training camp. Here's a roundup of news from camps across the Association.
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune hears that Hornets GM Dell Demps will work in tandem with executives Mickey Loomis and Dennis Lauscha on the team's basketball-related decisions. It's unclear exactly what role everyone will play, but I imagine Demps will continue to function in the day-to-day role of most GMs.
- Ronald "Flip" Murray, who has an agreement to join the Grizzlies, was not on the camp roster released by the team today, but Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says the journeyman guard will indeed be in camp (Twitter link).
- This could be the last training camp for Heat swingman Mike Miller, who hinted at retirement after last season and wants to see how his back responds before promising anything beyond this year, Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida writes (Sulia link). Miller's deal has more than $13MM left on it and runs through 2015, with a player option in the final season.
- Many of the Celtics veterans have been working out together since early September, while the rookies have been in Boston for most of the past three months. That's led to better chemistry as camp starts, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes.
Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Knicks, Allen, Nets
The Celtics have won the Atlantic Division five straight years, but the Nets and Sixers made changes this offseason that they hope will put them over the top. The Knicks have been active as well, and that's the club that wears the bullseye in the mind of Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, as Peter May writes in the New York Times. "My favorite games in this league are going down to Madison Square Garden and beating those guys," Grousbeck said. "We don’t always do it, but that’s my favorite experience of all — going to New York and beating the Knicks." Coach Doc Rivers acknowledged the division will be tough, but says he's primarily focused on beating the Heat, the team that kept the C's from the Finals last season. There's more from Boston and the rest of the Atlantic Division today, and we'll round it up here:
- Ray Allen spoke about his departure from the Celtics, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes. "You always felt you had one foot in, one foot out," he said, referring to trade rumors he'd been a part of during his time in Boston. Still, he said the decision to leave the Celtics was more difficult than the choice he made to sign with the Heat.
- Allen responded to comments Kevin Garnett made to reporters at Celtics media day, including Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com. Garnett said that he no longer has his former teammate's phone number. "That's a shame," Allen told Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com and other reporters following the Heat, saying he still considers Garnett a friend. "I'm a good person to talk to on the phone."
- Nets GM Billy King believes his team's backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson is the best in the league, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday.com, who sizes up the Nets as they begin training camp.
- Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld, writing for USAToday.com, briefly examines the potential impact of Rasheed Wallace, who's expected to sign with the Knicks.
Odds & Ends: Atlantic, Previews, Draft
Here are a few odds and ends from around the NBA on Friday night:
- Dei Lynam of CSN Philly goes "Around the Atlantic," touching on Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett and a glowing quote from Keyon Dooling on Rajon Rondo.
- Here is the index page of HoopsWorld's team-by-team season previews for the upcoming season.
- We are a long way away from the 2013 NBA Draft, nine months to be (close to) exact, but I can't help myself. After dubbing LeBryan Nash the top NBA prospect in the Big 12 a few days ago, Draft Express rounds out their top five with Myck Kabongo, Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson and Pierre Jackson respectively.
- More draft news, as Joe Kotch of Sheridan Hoops published his top 10 list for the 2013 event. As we all know, this will change exponentially as the draft approaches. Now entering the 2012-13 season, be sure to use us to look back on the 2012 draft this past June.
Odds & Ends: Dentmon, Curry, Williams, Wright
Here are a few Friday odds and ends from around the Association, with opening night just over a month away:
- After we rounded up a few highlights from the Celtics' media day earlier this afternoon, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com adds a few more, courtesy of Kevin Garnett's podium appearance. KG discussed Ray Allen, the Heat, and his decision to re-sign with the Celtics, among other topics.
- Justin Dentmon has signed with Fujian Quanzhou in China, agent Bill Neff tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Last year's D-League MVP had brief stints with the Spurs and Raptors in 2011/12.
- Asked once again about his contract situation in a Q&A with Jason McIntyre of Big Lead Sports, Stephen Curry reiterated that he hopes to remain with the Warriors long-term, adding: "I’m an NBA junkie and I know all of the latest news and contract situations. But I won’t base my decision on 'Oh, this guy makes a certain amount, I need to make more' or that kind of thing. It’s about timing in the NBA and the right situation, and winning more than money. But yeah, I know everybody’s contract, that’s common knowledge, but it doesn’t impact my situation."
- The Trail Blazers must decide by October 31st whether to pick up Elliot Williams' $2.37MM option for 2013/14, and with Williams' season over due to a ruptured achilles tendon, he's not sure what the team will do. Either way, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, Williams intends to be ready and healthy for the '13/14 season.
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside wonders which former D-Leaguers on camp invites have the best odds to earn regular-season NBA roster spots.
- We heard earlier this week that Julian Wright was closing in on a deal with Israel's Maccabi Rishon, but David Pick of Sportando says (via Twitter) Wright may be having second thoughts after agreeing to terms with the club.
- In a piece for the Detroit Free Press, Dan Feldman of PistonPowered says Joe Dumars' willingness to look overseas to acquire a player like Slava Kravtsov is a good sign for the Pistons.
Celtics Notes: Dooling, Pierce, Garnett, Cap
A week after the Celtics announced his surprise retirement, Keyon Dooling opened up to Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com about his motivations for ending his playing career early. Camerato's piece is extremely engaging, and is worth a read for any NBA enthusiast, Celtics fan or otherwise. Here are the rest of today's Celtics notes from the team's media day in Boston:
- If Kevin Garnett had retired or signed with another team this summer, Paul Pierce would have seriously contemplated retirement, Pierce told the media today (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com). The longtime Celtic says he didn't want to endure another rebuild.
- Pierce's plan now is to retire when Garnett does, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. That could happen in the summer of 2015, when KG's newly-signed deal expires.
- While GM Danny Ainge says he had some doubts about whether Garnett would be back (Twitter link via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com), head coach Doc Rivers was skeptical about the big man's retirement talk: "He told me that all year; it was a bunch of crap. I never believed him" (Twitter link via Forsberg).
- Ainge says the Celtics don't have the bi-annual exception available, based on money committed thus far, according to Forsberg (via Twitter). That news is surprising, since it was believe the Celtics signed players using either Bird rights, the mid-level exception, or the minimum-salary exception. Like the Bulls, the Celtics are hard-capped at $74.307MM because they used the non-taxpayer MLE, so perhaps the team is just getting uncomfortably close to that hard cap.
- As we noted earlier today, the Celtics have formally announced the signings of Darko Milicic, Rob Kurz, and Micah Downs.
Celtics Sign Darko Milicic
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 10:16am: The Celtics have officially signed Milicic, according to a team release.
SEPTEMBER 20TH, 10:27am: According to Blakely, Milicic's deal with the Celtics is expected to be a one-year, minimum-salary pact. It will also be guaranteed, giving the C's 14 guaranteed contracts, says Blakely.
9:20am: Two months after being amnestied by the Timberwolves, Darko Milicic will be joining the Celtics, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (via Twitter). Blakely confirms the news that a Novosti.rs report (English link via Sportando) suggested earlier today.
It appears Milicic will sign with the Celtics on a minimum-salary contract, rather than getting a portion of the team's bi-annual exception. As I mentioned in this morning's post, Milicic is still receiving a salary from the Timberwolves, so while Boston would only be paying him the veteran's minimum, he would be earning much more than that overall.
Milicic, 27, has played in 467 total NBA games with the Pistons, Magic, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Timberwolves since entering the league in 2003. He had one of his worst seasons in Minnesota in 2011/12, averaging just 4.6 PPG and 3.3 RPG while posting a 9.0 PER, his worst mark since 2004/05. Still, while the former second overall pick has never lived up to expectations, his 12.3 PER is respectable for a backup big man not expected to receive huge minutes.
If and when the Celtics finalize their agreement with Milicic, he'll be the 18th player under contract for the team, though only 13 of those deals are fully guaranteed. It appears Milicic will be competing with Dionte Christmas, Jamar Smith, Kris Joseph, and Rob Kurz for one of those final two roster spots, though Darko's size (7'0") and experience should give him an edge.
Celtics Sign Micah Downs
SEPTEMBER 28TH: The Celtics have officially signed Downs, according to a team release. The team also officially announced the signing of Rob Kurz, within the same press release.
SEPTEMBER 20TH: Micah Downs will sign with the Celtics and will be present at the team's training camp next month, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. After agreeing to sign Darko Milicic earlier today, the Celtics have now reached agreements with 19 players, giving them space to sign one more player in addition to Downs and Milicic, if they so choose.
Downs, 26, played his college ball for Kansas and Gonzaga before going undrafted in 2009. He has spent his playing career primarily overseas since then, playing last season for Assignia Manresa in Spain. The 6'8" swingman appeared to be headed to Russia for the coming season, but he and Nizhny Novgorod broke off their contract agreement earlier this month.
While terms of Downs' deal aren't known, it's almost certainly a non-guaranteed pact, making it very unlikely he'll earn a spot on the Celtics. He could be a candidate to play for the team's D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.