Rockets, Hornets Talk Dwight Howard Swap
4:15pm: Charlotte doesn’t have interest in cashing in its assets for Howard, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports hears, noting that despite the connection between Howard and Hornets coach Steve Clifford, who were together with both the Magic and Lakers, the sides don’t see a path to a deal (Twitter link).
3:48pm: The talks have been exploratory, Stein writes, adding that one source close to the discussion was pessimistic about a deal getting done. The Rockets are seeking at least one first-round pick in any Howard trade, Stein adds.
3:05pm: The Rockets and Hornets have discussed the possibility of sending Dwight Howard to Charlotte, but the sides haven’t been able to find a workable trade idea, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Hornets earlier today reportedly agreed to trade for Courtney Lee after news broke that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out for the rest of the season.
Howard’s salary of more than $22.359MM, which would become $22,970,500 if the Rockets deal him because of his trade kicker, is a likely stumbling block, since it would require the Hornets to send Houston at least $18,296,400 in salary to make a legal deal under the NBA’s salary matching rules. Charlotte couldn’t include Lee in any trade that aggregates his salary with another player’s once the deal to acquire him from Memphis becomes official, presenting a further complication.
Nets Likely To Part Ways With Andrea Bargnani
TUESDAY, 6:59am: Colangelo and Rosas are still in the race for the GM job, Wojnarowski clarifies (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 11:24am: Andrea Bargnani is among the players almost certain to work a buyout with their respective teams if they’re not traded by Thursday’s 2pm Central deadline, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. It’s not surprising to see David Lee and J.J. Hickson as the other names on Wojnarowski’s short list of buyout candidates, since Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck reported earlier this month that the Celtics intended to either trade Lee or do a buyout, while the Nuggets have apparently been shopping Hickson. Bargnani is in the first season of a two-year deal for the minimum salary that includes a player option for next season and is averaging only 13.8 minutes per game, by far the fewest of his 10-year NBA career.
Still, it’s difficult to gauge just what the Nets will do with their personnel, since they’re in the midst of hiring a new GM. Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas and Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks continue to talk with the team as it moves toward second interviews this week, league sources told Wojnarowski. The general consensus around the NBA as of Friday held that former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo would ultimately emerge with the gig, as Beck reported then, though Colangelo and Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas aren’t necessarily out of the running, Wojnarowski indicates. Chris Broussard of ESPN on Thursday identified Colangelo, Karnisovas and Marks as the front-runners for the job that’s been vacant since the Nets removed Billy King from the position last month.
Regardless of whom the Nets choose as GM, he’ll be only one part of a committee that will hire the team’s next coach, Wojnarowski also writes. Various reports have indicated that some combination of team chairman Dmitry Razumov, board member Sergey Kushchenko, CEO Brett Yormark and owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s holding company president Irina Pavlova comprise the committee in charge of the GM search. The new GM will join that group in its efforts to find a coach, according to Wojnarowski. The Nets hope to draw from a pool of coaching candidates that includes NBA head coaching veterans Jeff Van Gundy and Tom Thibodeau and Spurs assistant Ettore Messina. Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein reported last month that Brooklyn had strong interest in Thibodeau, and Stein later identified Messina as a candidate, but this appears to be the first legitimate link between the Nets and Van Gundy.
Whomever ends up coaching the Nets likely won’t have Bargnani, unless the team speeds through the process. March 1st represents the de facto buyout deadline, since it’s the last day any player can hit waivers and still be eligible to play for another NBA team in the postseason.
Atlantic Notes: Patterson, Hinkie, Ainge
The Atlantic Division figures to be among the most interesting corners of the NBA to watch as the trade deadline approaches, with the Celtics stuffed with assets, the Raptors apparently looking for a power forward, the Knicks having just changed coaches, the Sixers a continued mystery, and the Nets in a continued search for a GM. See what’s going on around the Atlantic:
- Many teams are high on Patrick Patterson, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports in his trade deadline preview for the Raptors. Patterson’s name is one of those linked to the Nets in reported talks regarding Thaddeus Young.
- Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News interprets Sixers chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo‘s remarks about perhaps adding to the front office and his intention that the Sixers make noise in the playoffs within three years as further signals that the power of GM Sam Hinkie is significantly reduced.
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge must be careful not to offer too many of the team’s draft assets at the trade deadline this week, contends Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The C’s nonetheless have an opportunity to further their case for free agents with a strong finish this season, an endeavor that a trade for a short-term upgrade would help, Bulpett also argues.
- The time is now for team president Phil Jackson to start delivering for the Knicks, opines Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, urging him to help the team make a strong play for this year’s postseason.
Cavaliers Rumors: Mozgov, Trades, James, Lue
The odds are against the Cavaliers re-signing center Timofey Mozgov in free agency if they aren’t able to trade him, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto cites Cleveland’s salary cap issues and Mozgov’s declining performance as reasons that he might be moved. In addition, Mozgov suffered through early-season knee problems and doesn’t fit the faster-paced system favored by coach Tyronn Lue. With Anderson Varejao, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Sasha Kaun all on the roster, there may not be room for Mozgov beyond this season.
There’s more news out of Cleveland:
- Cavaliers GM David Griffin is seeking another “wing player,” Pluto writes in the same story. Griffin’s priority is defense, although he would like to find someone who can shoot as well. Pluto mentions the Hawks’ Thabo Sefolosha and the Kings’ Ben McLemore as possibilities, adding that Cleveland may also have interest in Joe Johnson if he gets bought out by the Nets. Pluto’s Plain Dealer colleague Chris Haynes reported that the Cavs would jump at the chance to sign Johnson for the minimum if he works a buyout.
- Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour has LeBron James thinking about the inevitable end of his basketball career, according to Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. The 13-year veteran isn’t sure if he wants a farewell tour like Bryant’s, but he indicated that he would like to leave the league while he’s still among its best players. “All the respective greats try to play at the highest level they can,” James said. “I’m going to give it my all obviously until I can’t. One thing I won’t be, I don’t ever believe or think that I’ll be an embarrassment to my fans or my family.”
- Lue said unusual circumstances have contributed to make the midseason coaching change in Cleveland more difficult than it might have been, Ridenour writes in a separate story. Lue is considered a villain in Israel after being chosen to replace David Blatt on the Cavaliers’ bench, and he is belittled by some people for being selected as an All-Star Game coach with so little experience. “I’ve been able to block it out, but it’s still tough,” Lue said. “You’ve been in this league for 18 years and people who know you and your family know that you’re not that way. It’s tough for people to talk about you in that sense. But it’s OK, I can get over it.”
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Ujiri, Johnson, Nets
Adding Jerry Colangelo to their front office has changed the Sixers‘ timetable for success, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia hired Colangelo in December as chairman of basketball operations and gave him a three-year contract to run the team. That’s the deadline he has imposed for being “very competitive,” which he defines as more than just reaching the playoffs. The Sixers are 8-45, but will have plenty of opportunity to improve this summer. The franchise will have lots of cap space and as many as four first-round draft picks. “I would hope that the Sixers are in a lot better shape than what they were from the time I started,” Colangelo said. “That only means if I can help contribute to an improvement of the franchise. That’s why I’m there.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is working to make a deal before the deadline, but is concerned about disrupting team chemistry, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. At 35-17 and trailing only Cleveland in the East, the Raptors are on pace for the best season in team history.
- Toronto should hang on to the first-round picks it owns from New York and Denver, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Both picks have a chance of landing in the lottery, which could make the Raptors an elite team for years to come. Marks believes Toronto should listen to offers for its own first-rounder, along with small forward James Johnson, who will be a free agent this summer.
- The Clippers currently have the sixth-best record in the NBA, which will affect the Nets in the draft if it holds, tweets NetsDaily. The Clippers have the right to swap second-round picks with Brooklyn, but only if their own pick falls between 31 and 55. If L.A. stays where it is now, the Nets will have to trade the 33rd pick for the 55th.
Heat Rumors: Whiteside, Wade, James, Bosh
There will be plenty of shooters on the trade market this week, but the Heat may have to give up center Hassan Whiteside if they want a more complete player, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Three-point shooting has been a problem in Miami all season, and Winderman lists the Thunder’s Steve Novak and Anthony Morrow, the Kings’ Omri Casspi and the Nets’ Wayne Ellington as possibilities if the Heat want an inexpensive solution. But he points out that coach Erik Spoelstra rarely relies on one-dimensional shooters, and says the Miami front office may be looking for something more. With Marc Gasol out indefinitely, the Grizzlies might have interest in Whiteside, even though he is only months away from free agency, Winderman posits. Whiteside and filler [such as Chris Andersen] could bring back Courtney Lee, Winderman speculates, while throwing in some more salary could be enough to land Jeff Green.
There’s more news out of Miami:
- There is an increased feeling in the front office that trading Whiteside might be the best move for the franchise, Winderman writes in the same story, but he adds that Whiteside’s representatives aren’t expecting a deal.
- Even before Whiteside made waves with his nationally televised ejection this week, Heat officials were having doubts about signing him long-term, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami expects Whiteside’s next contract to start at $17MM or more, and there are questions within the organization about whether that’s a wise investment. Jackson cited two sources who say the team is considering a Whiteside trade.
- A reunion with LeBron James in the All-Star Game — the first time they have been teammates since James left the Heat in 2014 — is bringing back memories for Dwyane Wade, writes Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Miami’s Big Three was almost completely back together, but Chris Bosh had to pull out of tonight’s game with a strained right calf. Wade said the roster upheaval in Miami has changed the atmosphere in the locker room. “We all can deal with each other’s success and failures and family things a lot differently than what we deal with now with younger teammates that grew up watching us play like fans,” he said. “It was cool playing with our peers, guys that we came into the league with. That’s a totally different relationship.”
And-Ones: Nets’ GM Search, International Players
The team could hire their next GM in the coming days, but no specific deadline is in place, according to Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal.
The general consensus around the league is that the job is Bryan Colangelo’s to lose. Other candidates include Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry and Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks. Raskin notes that all the candidates have a background in international basketball, something that will be important for the Nets. Brooklyn doesn’t control its own draft pick until 2019, so acquiring talent through atypical means will be key to putting together a successful roster, Raskin opines.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Owner Mikhail Prokhorov expects to be personally involved with the interviewing process while in Brooklyn on Wednesday when the Nets officially open their new training center, Raskin reports in the same piece.
- The Spurs were able to trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks last offseason in part because they had targeted Boban Marjanovic as his replacement, Raskin adds in the same piece. Marjanovic, who went undrafted in 2010, signed a one-year, $1.2MM deal with San Antonio in July.
- The Nuggets‘ second round gamble on Nikola Jokic during the 2014 draft is paying tremendous dividends, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post contends in a piece that examines the Serbian’s journey to the NBA.
Latest On Nets GM Search, Lopez, Young
SATURDAY, 12:15pm: Prokhorov has a reputation of courting “secret” candidates and the owner is known to be a big fan of Spurs GM R.C. Buford, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays in a series of tweets. While it is highly unlikely the Russian would be able to pry Buford away from San Antonio, it explains the franchise’s interest in Marks, Stein adds. Prokhorov’s admiration of the Spurs organization is also a reason that San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina is a potential head coaching candidate for Brooklyn, Stein also notes.
FRIDAY, 4:17pm: An air of intrigue surrounds the Nets GM search, but the general consensus around the league is that Bryan Colangelo will land the job, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report relays in an extended series of tweets. The Nets intend to have a new GM in place by the February 18th trade deadline and are in the process of conducting interviews this week. The team is still conducting interviews and there doesn’t appear to be a sense of urgency to make a decision despite the self-imposed deadline, Beck notes. The last time Nets team owner Mikhail Prokhorov conducted a GM search, he had a private “A” list, something that league executives believe is the case once again, Beck relays.
Despite the general belief that the job is Colangelo’s to lose, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas is still considered a strong candidate for the vacant spot, Beck notes. Karnisovas is well-regarded around the league and speaks Russian, which could be a selling point with Prokhorov, who is Russian, Beck adds. The presence of two strong candidates could lead to Brooklyn going with some combination of the two in its front office, the Bleacher Report scribe relays. Karnisovas is said to earn a six-figure salary in Denver, a number that Prokhorov would likely have no qualms about exceeding based on his past track record, Nets Daily tweets. The Nets have also reportedly targeted former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant, current Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas and Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin. Brooklyn has interviewed Zanin for the GM post, sources tell Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), even though he’s already been running the front office on an interim basis since the team removed former GM Billy King from the job last month.
With the trade deadline less than a week away, Prokhorov is not 100% committed to retaining center Brook Lopez and combo forward Thaddeus Young, Beck also relays (Twitter links). The owner had indicated previously that he wants to keep Young and Lopez, believing the team can surround them with free agents in the summer and quickly return to contention, according to an earlier report by Beck. Nets CEO Brett Yormark recently mentioned Lopez and Young as among the team’s building blocks. Lopez scored a three-year deal for the max this past summer in spite of the multiple foot injuries he suffered in his first seven NBA seasons. Young, a ninth-year veteran, re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal.
New York Notes: Dolan, Jackson, Nets GM Search
An “animated” meeting that involved Knicks owner James Dolan, team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills took place after New York’s home loss to the Celtics on February 2nd, six days before the team fired Derek Fisher, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Isola’s source was the same who earlier said Dolan was angry about comments Fisher made in a recent radio appearance on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM indicating that missing the playoffs wouldn’t be a disappointment. The loss to Boston was New York’s sixth in seven games, and the Knicks have lost four straight since. Isola speculates that Lakers assistant Mark Madsen is among those up for the head coaching job in New York and further wonders if Steve Kerr‘s lingering health problems will lead to top candidate Luke Walton taking over for Kerr in Golden State on a formal basis. The Daily News scribe also finds the question in one of Carmelo Anthony‘s statements since the Knicks coaching change disconcerting.
“You have to continue to put your trust into Phil,” Anthony said. “At this point, what could you do?”
See more on New York’s teams:
- No major deals are likely for the Nets before the deadline, given Brooklyn’s unsettled front office situation and the lack of time before the deadline, sources told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The team would be even less likely to make a move if it hires a GM who’s never headed a front office before, league sources said to NetsDaily. Bryan Colangelo is the only former front office chief among the three candidates ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported as front-runners for the vacancy. The Nets have reportedly reached out to the Hawks about Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap.
- The Nets would like to hire a GM before Thursday’s trade deadline, but they won’t rush to do so, a league source told Broussard.
- Interim Knicks coach Kurt Rambis is one of Jackson’s closest friends, and the Zen Master believes strongly in how well Rambis knows the game, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes. Rambis, who excels at teaching big men, has had a significant role in helping offseason signee Robin Lopez deliver this season, according to Ding. The interim boss is already showing that he’ll be more quick to criticize Knicks players than Fisher was, having pointed to Jose Calderon‘s defensive shortcomings in particular after Tuesday’s game, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post
Latest On Nets GM Search
THURSDAY, 6:56pm: The Nets intend to narrow their list of candidates down to two or three names by this weekend and Colangelo, Karnisovas and Marks are currently the front-runners for the vacant post, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter).
WEDNESDAY, 7:37am: Marks appears to be the strongest among the most recently reported candidates and has leaped in front of many of the candidates, reports NetsDaily. That’s even though Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich said Tuesday that he was unaware that Marks was in the mix for the job, according to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). He’s one of about 20 candidates the club has spoken to, a league source told NetsDaily, though it seems not all of them have received formal interviews. See more on Marks here.
TUESDAY, 10:53pm: The Nets intend to have a new GM in place by the February 18th trade deadline and are in the process of conducting interviews this week, with former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant and current Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard both under consideration for the vacant post, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post reports, citing league sources (via Twitter). They join Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks, former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, and Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin as candidates.
Grant was fired by Cleveland in February of 2014 and replaced by David Griffin, who eventually assumed the position full-time after initially being named interim GM. Grant first joined the Cavs as assistant GM in 2005 before taking over as GM on June 4th, 2010, roughly a month before LeBron James departed for the Heat as a free agent. Grant was responsible for the selections of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Anthony Bennett during his time with the Cavs franchise.
Pritchard was Blazers GM from March of 2007 through June of 2010 and was responsible for the ill-fated selection of center Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA draft. After being fired from his post in Portland, he joined the Pacers as director of player personnel. The executive was promoted to GM in June of 2012 and has held the post ever since. Brooklyn would have had to request and receive permission from Indiana to speak with him about its available position.