Sonny Weems, Quincy Miller To Play In Israel
THURSDAY, 1:19pm: Miller’s deal is a two-year, $2.1MM arrangement that includes an escape clause that would allow him to return to the NBA, a source tells Pick (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 1:51pm: Recent Suns and Sixers swingman Sonny Weems is putting the finishing touches on a two-year guaranteed deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Philadelphia released Weems late last month a few weeks after claiming him off waivers from Phoenix, which signed him this past summer to a two-year deal worth about $5.755MM. The second year on his NBA contract was non-guaranteed.
The Israeli team, poised to lose Dragan Bender to the NBA draft, has also reached agreement with three-year NBA veteran Quincy Miller, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi reports. The club had been a heavy favorite to land Miller, as Pick reported earlier this week (Twitter link). The Nets waived Miller in October, but he quickly latched on with Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.
Weems, 29, is headed back overseas after what appears to have been a brief return to the NBA. He started 29 games for the Raptors in 2010/11 but spent the next four seasons playing for Zalgiris in Lithuania and later CSKA Moscow. He put up 2.5 points in 11.7 minutes per game for the Suns this season, failing to secure a more significant role even amid a rash of injuries. The Sixers reportedly intended to take a hard look at him even though they acquired him chiefly to eclipse the minimum team salary, but his playing time in Philadelphia was almost identical to what it was in Phoenix as he averaged 2.4 points in 11.1 minutes.
Miller is only 23 and less than four years removed from having been the No. 38 pick in the 2012 draft, but he’s made it into only 69 NBA games, 10 of which came last season, when he split time between the Kings and Pistons. Detroit traded him to Brooklyn last summer for Steve Blake.
Willie Reed Leaves Team Due To Personal Reasons
- Power forward Willie Reed has left the Nets for personal reasons and isn’t likely to rejoin the team this season, Brian Lewis of The New York Post tweets. The 25-year-old has reportedly been upset with his lack of playing time under interim coach Tony Brown. Reed is eligible to become a restricted free agent this summer provided Brooklyn tenders him a qualifying offer worth $1,215,696. He’s appeared in 39 games for the Nets this season and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per outing.
Nets Sign Henry Sims For Rest Of Season
The Nets have signed center Henry Sims for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. His second 10-day contract expired overnight. The move restores Brooklyn to a 15-man roster, with every player signed through at least the end of the season. It’s not entirely clear whether the new deal for Sims extends into next season, but unlike the press release Brooklyn sent about its multiyear contract with former 10-day signee Sean Kilpatrick, the Sims press release refers only to the rest of the 2015/16 campaign. Thus, it appears Sims will once more become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Sims has seen plenty of opportunities in his brief time with the Nets, averaging 17.1 minutes per contest across nine games, two of which he started. The 26-year-old turned in arguably his finest Brooklyn performance Sunday, when he started and delivered 12 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Those numbers closely match the 11.8 points and seven rebounds he averaged in 26 games down the stretch for the Sixers in 2013/14.
Philadelphia gave him 32 starts last season, but he went unsigned for most of this past offseason until he hooked up with the Suns on a non-guaranteed deal in late August. Phoenix waived him before opening night and he spent the majority of this season with the D-League affiliate of the Pistons before the Nets gave him another shot at the NBA last month.
Nets Assistant GM Frank Zanin Steps Down
Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin has resigned, as he announced via Twitter (All Twitter links; hat tip to Jake Fischer of SI Now). Zanin was in charge of the front office for more than a month this season in between the time Brooklyn removed Billy King from the GM job January 10th and the February 18th hiring of new GM Sean Marks. Zanin has been one of two assistant GMs for the team since Marks added Trajan Langdon in that position last month.
“I would like to thank the Brooklyn Nets for allowing me to be a part of their organization for the past six years,” Zanin wrote. “After speaking with Sean this morning I have decided to step I down from my position of Assistant GM. This will allow Sean to fill out his staff and give me a chance to pursue other opportunities.”
The Nets didn’t make a roster move while Zanin was in charge, but rival executives nonetheless praised him for his handling of the team, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, who suggests Zanin will be a strong candidate for front office vacancies elsewhere (Twitter link). The Kings are looking for an experienced hand under GM Vlade Divac, though they appear to be zeroing in on David Morway. More openings figure to emerge after the season.
Zanin ascended to Nets assistant GM in July 2013, when the team promoted him after he spent three seasons as pro personnel scout and director of player procurement. He was with Philadelphia for several years before that as an assistant coach, scout, video coordinator and originally a video intern, having joined his hometown Sixers upon graduating college in 1999. It’s no shock that he and the Nets are parting ways given his ties to King, who was the GM of the Sixers during Zanin’s time with them. King remains in the Brooklyn front office, but Marks likely wants to place his own imprint on the organization.
Carrino: Nets May Have Interest In Afflalo
- Nets radio broadcaster Chris Carrino’s comment Friday suggesting Brooklyn might have interest in Afflalo appears to have been speculative, but Afflalo’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, is friendly with Nets management and worked with Brooklyn on the Deron Williams and Joe Johnson buyouts within the past year, NetsDaily points out.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 4/3/16
Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young aren’t injured, but Nets GM Sean Marks announced today that they will be held out of games for the rest of the season. The Kings began resting their best players earlier this week, and coach George Karl said Friday that DeMarcus Cousins won’t play any more road games this season.
Sacramento has incentive to protect its first-round draft pick, which will go to Chicago if it falls outside the top 10. The Kings are currently seventh in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings with a 31-46 record, but only one and a half games separate them from 11th-place Orlando. The Knicks, Nuggets and Bucks are also in that mix. That’s likely why Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay were held out of last Monday’s game, along with Marco Belinelli, who has an aching right foot.
Brooklyn doesn’t have to worry about its first-rounder, which is already pledged to Boston with no protection. The Nets are more concerned about possible injuries to Lopez and Young, who are their most productive players and best potential trade assets. “I think two people had gotten injured playing in meaningless games finishing up the season,” Lopez said to ESPN.com’s Mike Mazzeo. “So [Marks] just wanted to take sort of a precautionary angle going forward.”
Resting healthy players isn’t a new issue in the NBA. Contending teams have been doing it for years, especially once their playoff fates are sealed. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been willing to risk league discipline for giving his stars a night off when he believes a grueling schedule calls for it. In 2012, he was famously fined $250K for leaving Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green in San Antonio for a televised game in Miami.
But resting players to keep them fresh for the playoffs is different than keeping them out to avoid losing a draft pick or to prevent a late-season injury. There are ethical concerns, especially when fans pay high ticket prices to watch stars perform. That leads us to tonight’s question: Should the NBA adopt new rules to prevent the resting of healthy players and should the Nets and Kings be punished for their actions?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Players Get Late-Season Chances
The Nets are using what’s left of this season to determine who they want back next season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Interim coach Tony Brown has been juggling his lineups, as Thomas Robinson, Sergey Karasev, Henry Sims and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson all made starts this week. “It’s an opportunity for you to show people what you can do,” Brown said. “As far as I know, we don’t have a bunch of long-term-contract guys, so this is an opportunity for them to show themselves to the organization and possibly to the league. So use your time wisely and help yourself when you play.”
- The Celtics could benefit from Brooklyn’s decision to shut down Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season, according to NetsDaily. Boston owns the Nets‘ unprotected first rounder, and Brooklyn is currently fourth in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, one game behind Phoenix. If the Nets move past the Suns, Boston’s chance at the No. 1 pick improves from 11.9% to 15.6%.
LeBron James Praises Hollis-Jefferson
- The 2015/16 campaign has been a disappointment for the Nets, but Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has been a bright spot for the team, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. The rookie wing even received praise from James after Brooklyn’s recent win against the Cavs. “I think he’s going to be a really good player for them,” James said. The Nets acquired Hollis-Jefferson’s rights on draft night last June.
Heat Rumors: Whiteside, McRoberts, Green, Bosh
The Heat have decided they want to keep impending free agent center Hassan Whiteside but are concerned that he’s getting more expensive, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. There were “serious concerns” earlier in the year about giving a huge deal to Whiteside, Jackson hears, but his recent play has taken care of those. Team president Pat Riley and executive Alonzo Mourning have both told Whiteside they’re happy with his progress, but the team can’t hold any formal contract discussions until summer because league rules prevent extensions for players with two-year deals. Whiteside could get a starting salary of approximately $22MM on a max contract, depending on the size of the cap. “I hope [there’s interest],” Whiteside said. “I like the organization. Pat Riley is always going to do a great job of adding people that are going to help you win. It’s not hard to sell to come to Miami. You can always recruit great talent.”
There’s more news from South Beach:
- Miami’s decision on how to handle its two open roster spots could be determined by the team’s faith in Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The columnist says if the Heat believe both veteran forwards can contribute in the playoffs, they will likely fill the spots with players from their successful D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. However, if there is doubt about McRoberts and Green, Winderman thinks the Heat will pursue a more seasoned player, suggesting 30-year-old Dorell Wright as a possibility. Wright, who began his career in Miami, played for the Blazers during the past two seasons but spent this year in the Chinese Basketball Association.
- With the regular season schedule dwindling, it’s becoming unlikely that Chris Bosh will play again before the playoffs, Winderman writes in the same story. Bosh hasn’t been in a game since February 9th because of concerns about reported blood clots in his left calf. With a western trip looming this week, Winderman notes that the team may not hold another practice before April 4th, which limits Bosh’s chance to return.
- Joe Johnson has started riding an exercise bike after games to help build endurance to keep up with Miami’s fast-paced offense, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Johnson chose the Heat over the Cavaliers after agreeing to a buyout with Brooklyn because he prefers an up-tempo style.
Nets Sign Henry Sims To Second 10-Day Contract
The Nets have signed center Henry Sims to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today. Sims has appeared in four games for Brooklyn since inking his first 10-day deal March 17th. He is averaging 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.3 minutes of playing time.
Sims spent most of this season with the Grand Rapids franchise in the D-League after being cut by the Suns in preseason. He also has NBA experience with the Cavaliers and Sixers, starting 32 games for Philadelphia last season.
With the Nets not having control of their first-round picks over the next three drafts, GM Sean Marks has expressed a desire to discover players through 10-day contracts. Once Sims’ new 10-day deal expires, the Nets will have to sign him for the rest of the season if they want to keep him on the roster.