Eastern Notes: DeRozan, Young, Vucevic
DeMar DeRozan has improved in every facet of his game this season, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders contends in a piece that breaks down the shooting guard’s season to date. DeRozan’s ability to drive to the rim has been remarkable this season. Blancarte notes that he leads the league in drives to the rim this season with 11.8 per game and he is generating .99 points per possession, which is the seventh most in the league. DeRozan holds a player option for the 2016/17 season, but he will reportedly turn down his option and become an unrestricted free agent.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Nets combo forward Thaddeus Young dismissed the rumors about being traded to Detroit, which he first heard about from his wife, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “She don’t want to go to Detroit, I know that,” Young said. Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy shot down those trade rumors earlier this week.
- Center Nikola Vucevic believes the Magic shouldn’t make any trades before the deadline this year, Brian Schmitz or The Orlando Sentinel writes. “That’s no reason to think we need to change anything. We have to find a way within each other to get back to what we were doing early in the year,” Vucevic said. The Magic are 21-28 on the season, going 1-9 over their last 10 contests.
- The Heat own a record of 29-22, but Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM believes the team is underachieving. With Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade set to enter free agency this summer, Miami doesn’t have much time to figure out if this is the core it should invest in for the long term, Tjarks adds.
Latest On Nets GM Search
The Nets will begin formally interviewing candidates for their vacant GM position on Monday, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com reports. Nets team owner Mikhail Prokhorov will attend the sessions along with chairman of the Nets board of directors Dmitry Razumov, Prokhorov’s Russian confidant Sergey Kushchenko, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Brett Yormark and president of ONEXIM Sports & Entertainment Irina Pavlova, Mazzeo notes. The interview process is expected to take a few days, according to the ESPN scribe.
The search committee’s interview candidates are expected to include Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin and former Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Mazzeo writes. The inclusion of Ferry in this group runs counter to a report filed by Brian Lewis of the New York Post which relayed that Ferry was no longer a viable candidate for the vacant post. Mazzeo also implies that Bryan Colangelo, who’s reportedly been under strong consideration, will receive an interview, too, though he doesn’t say so directly.
Not among the names listed in Mazzeo’s report is Wizards senior VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard, whom Brooklyn reportedly asked the Wizards for permission to interview. Washington had denied a June 2014 request from the Grizzlies to interview Sheppard, as Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis reported at the time, so there’s no guarantee that the Nets were given the green light to speak with him regarding the position. The Nets have received permission to speak with Karnisovas and Rosas from their respective organizations.
The Nets reportedly want to hire a GM before the trade deadline, which is less two weeks away. All signs point to the organization hiring someone by that target date, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post relays in a series of tweets. Bontemps also notes that Brooklyn is expected to hire someone with previous GM experience, though there are some candidates who don’t fit that prerequisite who are also being considered. Assistant GM Frank Zanin has been running the front office since the team removed Billy King from the GM job nearly a month ago.
And-Ones: Celtics, Sixers, Bender, Free Agency
The unprotected first-rounder that the Nets owe the Celtics for this year’s draft is available for the right price, Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Thursday in an appearance on the “Dale & Holley with Thornton” show on WEEI radio. That price is high, Ainge cautioned. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote earlier this week that the pick was “definitely not available,” but while that might not technically be true, it sounds like that’s effectively the case for all but the most enticing offers.
“It would have to be, certainly, a very good player. And also it probably wouldn’t be someone in their 30s,” Ainge said to the radio hosts. “That would have to be a good young player, because again, even if we had a 5% or a 10% or a 15% chance at one of the top picks in the draft, that’s worth keeping.”
The Nets pick is No. 3 in the lottery order for now, as our Reverse Standings show, so if that position holds, it would give the Celtics a 17.8% chance at the No. 1 pick and about 50-50 odds of picking somewhere in the top three. See more from around the NBA:
- Brett Brown understands the Sixers front office has the task of improving the team for the future, and the roster he has isn’t exactly a coach’s dream, but he would prefer that Philadelphia stands pat at the trade deadline, as he told Tom Moore of Calkins Media. “All coaches beg for consistency,” Brown said. “You feel like your teaching message, your purpose, your points of emphasis have a chance to resonate and be delivered and improved upon better with time.”
- Versatility and an underrated toughness are some of the qualities that make Dragan Bender easily the top overseas prospect for the 2016 draft, but as the draft’s youngest prospect, his frame isn’t close to being ready to handle the NBA, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Still, he’ll almost certainly enter the draft this year, Givony hears, and his vast potential has him No. 3 in Givony’s prospect rankings.
- The ability to match competing bids in the summer, an understanding of the player’s contract demands from the extension window, and low rookie scale salaries are reasons why soon-to-be restricted free agents are intriguing trade candidates, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller posits, offering a few names as particularly interesting cases.
Eastern Notes: Van Gundy, Kidd, Smith
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy vehemently shot down a report that stated Detroit was engaged in trade talks with the Nets regarding a potential Brandon Jennings for Thaddeus Young swap, Van Gundy told members of the media, including Hoops Rumors. “I got my email from [GM] Jeff [Bower] with all the discussions that have gone on and there was no mention of Brooklyn and no mention of Brandon,” Van Gundy said. “But the way you guys make [things] up at this time of year, it’s always interesting to me to find out stuff that you guys know we’re talking about that we don’t know we’re talking about. I find it interesting and amusing. 99.9% of the stuff that’s out there will never happen, mostly because 98% of it is just made up.”
Here’s more news and rumors regarding the East:
- Bucks coach Jason Kidd places much of the blame for his team’s struggles this season on Milwaukee’s youthful roster, Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. When asked about the difference between this season’s Bucks squad and 2014/15’s version, Kidd said, “One had age with it and being in the right spot. The longer you’re in this league, you understand what positioning and being in the right spot means. When you say it in those terms, younger players don’t quite understand that, of being at the elbow to get out, and not being out to get in. It takes time and that’s what we’re going through right now.“
- Despite the strong early returns from the acquisition of Ish Smith, Sixers team executive Jerry Colangelo is non-committal about Smith being the long-term answer at the one spot, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays. “Where he was picked [an undrafted free agent], because he’s bounced around quite a bit, and it’s a great story that finally maybe he’s landed somewhere where he could do a lot more than fit that description or that role,” Colangelo said. “And I think you always have to keep your options open on everything. I would say this. A month ago, we really had a big need. That need is a lot less today because of what he’s shown he’s capable of doing.“
Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Afflalo, Williams
All four Nets who have player options for next season are planning to opt out, as NetsDaily hears (Twitter links). None of them have particularly lucrative options, with Wayne Ellington‘s nearly $1.568MM topping the list, followed by Shane Larkin at $1.5MM, with Andrea Bargnani and Thomas Robinson at minimum salaries of close to $1.552MM and almost $1.051MM, respectively. Their agents believe the inflated salary cap will yield a market too fertile to pass up, NetsDaily adds. Brooklyn has about $45MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season against a projected $89MM salary cap, so the opt-outs would allow the team to retain flexibility. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks consider Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams core players, while Robin Lopez and Lance Thomas are also part of the team’s “inner circle,” writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Afflalo and Williams have player options for next season, worth $8MM and $4.598MM, respectively, that the team is hoping they’ll pick up, while Thomas is on a one-year contract. Lopez is in the first season of a four-year deal.
- The Sixers have given executive Brandon Williams more latitude on player development, agent relations, recruiting and other areas as part of a promotion to a new chief of staff position, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Williams, who had been GM of the team’s D-League affiliate while serving as an assistant GM of sorts to GM Sam Hinkie, will retain his D-League duties and continue to report to Hinkie, as Wojnarowski details. The team has yet to make an official announcement.
- P.J. Tucker might help the Raptors as a stopgap option at small forward, but Markieff Morris isn’t the long-term solution the club’s needs at power forward, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Wednesday that the Raptors are interested in both Suns players.
Nets Interested In Tommy Sheppard For GM Job
The Nets have requested permission to interview Wizards senior VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard for their GM vacancy, a source said to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. He joins Bryan Colangelo, Arturas Karnisovas and Gersson Rosas as contenders for the position, Lewis notes, having reported earlier this week that Danny Ferry was no longer a viable candidate. John Calipari is a long shot candidate, but remains a possibility because of his strong support from CEO Brett Yormark, according to Lewis.
Brooklyn already reportedly received permission to speak with Karnisovas and Rosas. Washington denied a June 2014 request from the Grizzlies to interview Sheppard, as Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis reported at the time, so it’s no lock that the Nets will have the chance to pursue him. Sheppard has been with the Wizards for 12 years and assumed his current position under GM Ernie Grunfeld shortly before the 2013/14 season.
The Nets reportedly want to hire a GM before the trade deadline, which is two weeks from today. Assistant GM Frank Zanin has been running the front office since the team removed Billy King from the GM job nearly a month ago.
Atlantic Notes: Hinkie, Jerebko, Johnson
Stan Van Gundy, who holds a dual role with the Pistons as executive and coach, says if the Nets intend to hire separate people to fill their vacant GM and coaching slots they should begin with finding a GM, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I don’t think you can hire — if you’re going to hire two people, you can’t hire the employee before the boss,” said Van Gundy. “That just doesn’t make any sense to me. And that’s immediately going to create tension, right there, [that] the guy that’s your boss, that you report to … didn’t hire you? I mean, we see it in college coaching all the time. It’s tenuous, anyway, but if you were there before and there’s a new AD [athletic director] coming in, good luck to you. The guy’s looking for the first sign [to fire you]. Whereas if the guy hires you, he’s got a little more tendency to give you the benefit of the doubt because it reflects upon him. So if you’re going to hire two, to me you’ve got to hire the GM first. He’s got to have say in who he has as a coach.”
Here’s the latest from out of the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers GM Sam Hinkie says that he views new team executive Jerry Colangelo as a co-worker who is on equal footing as himself and not necessarily as his boss, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays. When asked if he viewed Colangelo as a potential threat to his position, Hinkie said, “I’m a big believer in the meritocracy of ideas, and your idea had better stand up to scrutiny from all sides. You’d better know your opponents’ arguments better than they do if you want to truly understand what’s best. So I don’t mind the thought that there might be debate about any particular topic.“
- Despite seeing sporadic playing time early in the season, Raptors power forward James Johnson has been a model teammate and has continued to work hard to contribute on the defensive end, Ryan Wolstat of The National Post writes. Johnson is on an expiring contract.
- Jonas Jerebko insists he has no regrets about re-signing with the Celtics this past offseason despite averaging only 13.7 minutes per game this season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “Like I’ve said before, I just want to stay ready when my opportunity comes,” Jerebko told Blakely. “You know with coach [Brad] Stevens that sooner or later, you’re going to get your chance. It’s just a matter of being ready for it and making the most of it. That’s what I try to do every chance I get to play.”
Nets To Interview Rosas, Karnisovas For GM Post
7:55pm: Brooklyn has also received permission from Denver to interview Karnisovas, NetsDaily reports. Karnisovas, 44, was a member of the NBA’s basketball operations office from 2003 to 2008. He then spent five seasons as an international scout for the Rockets, an experience that holds high value to the Nets, who want to ramp up their international scouting ties, according to Wojnarowski. The executive was named assistant GM of the Nuggets in July of 2013.
6:39pm: The Nets have requested and received permission from the Rockets to interview their executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas for the team’s vacant GM post, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Brooklyn’s interest in Rosas was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The Nets are also reportedly considering Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas for the position.
Brooklyn reportedly wants to hire a GM before the February 18th trade deadline, which is two weeks from Thursday, and the Nets plan to begin formal interviews shortly, according to Wojnarowski. Nets officials want a greater emphasis on international scouting, feeling as though the team lacked that under former GM Billy King, the Yahoo scribe relayed. Rosas, a native of Bogota, Colombia, has been with the Rockets’ organization for 13 years, and has been the franchise’s Executive VP for the past five years. He was previously hired as Mavericks GM in 2013, but Dallas envisioned him as a clear subordinate to president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, something that apparently didn’t sit well with Rosas, who resigned just three months into the job.
Rosas played a prominent role in the Rockets’ reshaping of their roster in the post-Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady seasons, when the franchise traded McGrady for multiple draft picks and built up the required assets to acquire James Harden via trade and sign Dwight Howard in free agency, according to Wojnarowski (h/t NetsDaily). He also played a major part in bringing Patrick Beverley from Europe as a free agent and drafting small forward Chandler Parsons, as Wojnarowski noted in his profile of the executive.
Heat Eye Joe Johnson For Post-Buyout Market
Joe Johnson would stir the interest of the Heat if he buys his way off the Nets, Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald hears (Twitter link). Johnson said today that he doesn’t know whether he’ll negotiate a buyout but didn’t rule out the idea and added that he’ll have a talk with agent Jeff Schwartz in the next week, as the swingman told reporters, including Andy Vasquez of The Record. The 34-year-old Johnson is making close to $24.895MM, a difficult salary to fit in a trade, and it doesn’t appear as though the Heat see him as a trade target.
The Heat are without combo guard Tyler Johnson, who’s scheduled to undergo rotator cuff surgery this week, for at least two months, and they don’t have an open roster spot to make an addition. Miami could always waive a player and risk eating his salary, but that would be a risky proposition financially. The Heat are faced with either clearing about $5.5MM in salary, likely via trade, or paying repeat-offender luxury tax penalties at season’s end.
Midseason signees usually end up with the prorated minimum salary, though particularly attractive buyout candidates sometimes command more. The Heat have about $2.85MM on their taxpayer’s mid-level exception to spend, but doing so would impose a further financial burden. Johnson is averaging 11.3 points per game, his fewest since the 2002/03 season, and shooting a career-worst 39% from the field, but he put up 13.5 points a night and shot 48.5% in January. Johnson has said multiple times this season that he’ll prioritize finding a winning team when he next hits free agency, and the Heat, at No. 3 in the Eastern Conference, would seemingly fit that bill.
Would Johnson help the Heat? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Joe Johnson Not Dismissing Buyout Idea
Joe Johnson said today that he doesn’t know whether he’ll ask for a buyout from the Nets but added that he plans to talk with his agent in the next week, notes Andy Vasquez of The Record (Twitter links). The new Jeff Schwartz client said when reports asked whether he would request a trade that his situation isn’t ideal but that he’s not “forcing anything,” according to Vasquez. Johnson is pulling in the league’s second-largest salary this season, nearly $24.895MM, making any trade cumbersome to pull off, but the prospect of a buyout has been the subject of frequent speculation. However, no indication existed at the time of the team’s coaching change last month that the 34-year-old wanted a buyout, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported.
Such a move would entail Johnson giving up a portion of his salary, so he has financial incentive to stay put even though he said in December that he’ll prioritize winning when he next becomes a free agent, which is currently slated to happen at season’s end. The 15th-year veteran reiterated today that he plans to look for a winner in free agency and added that he wants to play two or three more seasons after this one, Vasquez relays (Twitter links).
“A winning situation. It’s not going to be to no highest bidder or nothing like that, I just want to make sure the situation’s right for me,” Johnson said.
Still, the swingman didn’t rule out the possibility that he’d re-sign with the Nets, according to Vasquez (on Twitter). Johnson expressed confusion in September about why Deron Williams bought his way off the Nets this past summer, saying, “It’s not that bad here.” That was before the Nets embarked on what’s been a miserable 2015/16 season so far, as the team is 12-37 so far and without its first-round picks for 2016 or 2018. Brooklyn made the playoffs in all three of the previous seasons that Johnson was a part of the team.
It would be difficult for the Nets to negotiate a buyout at this point, since they don’t have a GM, as Vasquez points out (Twitter link). Assistant GM Frank Zanin is running the front office while the Nets conduct a search, reportedly with the hopes of making a hire before the February 18th trade deadline. Johnson and the team essentially have until March 1st to negotiate a buyout, since that’s the last day that a player can be waived and be eligible to take part in the postseason with another team.
Should Johnson push for a buyout or stay put, collect his checks, and wait to hit free agency in the summer? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.