Atlantic Notes: Nets Draft, Stevens, Jackson
The Celtics and Sixers account for one-sixth of the 60 total draft choices this year, as we pointed out last week (Twitter link), but the rest of the Atlantic Division isn’t so replete with picks. The Nets have two picks, though they won’t be picking as highly as they would have in the first round had they not allowed the Hawks to switch picks under the terms of the Joe Johnson trade. The Knicks, who fell in the lottery, and the Raptors only have one selection apiece. Here’s more on the draft and other matters from the Atlantic:
- NetsDaily’s Reed Wallach examines needs the Nets can fill through the draft, writing that Brooklyn would be likely to use a higher pick on a point guard if the team indeed trades up as GM Billy King said he would try to do. The Nets have the 29th and 41st picks.
- Danny Ainge is firmly in control of the draft process for the Celtics, yet Brad Stevens takes an interest and was more engaged than many of his counterparts on other NBA teams at the draft combine, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald examines.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson expressed fond wishes for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Pablo Prigioni (on Twitter), all conference finals participants whom the Knicks traded away this season, citing his desire for them to find their “comfort zones.” That led Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com to wonder why they couldn’t find comfort zones on Jackson’s Knicks.
Draft Notes: Rozier, Looney, Timberwolves
The NBA draft is just one month from tonight. The lottery and the combine are finished, so team workouts will be the main focus from now until draft night. Now that we know where every team will pick, we debuted our mock draft this weekend, and we’re continuing with our Prospect Profile series. Here’s more on the draft as the event starts to get close:
- Louisville point guard Terry Rozier has made a habit of overcoming the odds, and he didn’t disappoint in his workout with the Jazz this weekend, according to Utah vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, as Carter Williams of the Deseret News examines. The Jazz were one of 17 teams scheduled to audition Rozier, Williams writes, a group that apparently includes the Rockets and Spurs.
- Kevon Looney added the Nets, Wizards, Jazz, Suns, Bulls, Cavs, Raptors, Hawks and Knicks to the list of the teams he interviewed with at the draft combine earlier this month, as the UCLA power forward revealed to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Looney is a raw prospect, but even though he feels he could have improved if he’d stayed in college, he tells Medina that he’s confident he can also develop at the NBA level.
- Connecticut point guard Ryan Boatright, LSU power forward Jordan Mickey, Texas combo forward Jonathan Holmes and Louisville swingman Wayne Blackshear are among the players tentatively scheduled to work out Friday for the Timberwolves, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Offseason Outlook: Brooklyn Nets
Guaranteed Contracts
- Joe Johnson ($24,894,863)
- Deron Williams ($21,042,800)
- Jarrett Jack ($6,300,000)
- Bojan Bogdanovic ($3,425,510)
- Sergey Karasev ($1,599,840)
- Mason Plumlee ($1,415,520)
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Earl Clark ($1,185,784)1
- Darius Morris ($1,015,421)2
- Markel Brown ($845,059)3
- Cory Jefferson ($845,059)4
Options
- Brook Lopez ($16,744,218 — Player)5
- Thaddeus Young ($10,221,739 — Early Termination)6
- Alan Anderson ($1,333,484 — Player)7
Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- Mirza Teletovic ($6,399,390) — $4,210,125 qualifying offer
- Jerome Jordan ($1,147,276) — $1,147,276 qualifying offer)8
Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- (Andray Blatche $1,788,285)9
- No. 29 pick ($950,200)
- (Jason Collins $947,276)9
- (Jerry Stackhouse $947,276)9
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (29th overall)
- 2nd Round (41st overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $58,678,533
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,891,323
- Options: $28,299,441
- Cap Holds: $12,179,703
- Total: $103,049,000
Mikhail Prokhorov knows how to have a good time. When he’s not counting his billions, the Nets owner is busy partying with “a phalanx of [20] beautiful women in the French Alps” or heli-skiing in Vancouver. He also knows how to hit it off with NBA superstars, like Carmelo Anthony. In 2011, the two met as the Nets were pushing Anthony (then with the Nuggets) to sign off on a trade sending him east and agree to a three-year extension.
“It was a fantastic meeting, trust me,” Prokhorov told Darren Rovell of CNBC. “No words, live music, excellent atmosphere. We looked into each other’s eyes. Just real man talk.”
It might have been for the best in hindsight – that deal would have cost the Nets Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, and four first-round picks – but the man talk of the evening did not sway Melo. Months later, the Nets parlayed Favors, Harris, and two first-round choices into Deron Williams, who would later be re-signed to a contract that stands as one of the worst in the NBA today. Williams, Celtics stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Joe “Jesus” Johnson, and Brook Lopez were brought together to form one of the league’s best starting units, but the Nets didn’t get very far with that group. In five years, Prokhorov’s Nets have employed four coaches and made zero conference finals appearances.
Prokhorov knows how to have a good time, but it remains to be seen if knows how to bring a championship to Brooklyn, especially with the purse strings pulled considerably tighter than they were two years ago.
There are several bad contracts on the Nets’ roster but Williams’ aforementioned deal is, without question, the most onerous of the bunch. The guard is owed ~$43MM over the next two seasons and that’s a rate that would be high even if he reverted back to his Utah form. Now, Williams is a temperamental veteran with two surgically-repaired ankles and the deal is an absolute albatross. Nets GM Billy King claims that there is a market for Williams, but, frankly, that’s hard to imagine at this point, unless the Nets are willing to take back an equally bloated contract. The Nets also aren’t interested in a buyout, and that will likely lead them to turn their attention to Williams’ backcourt mate.
Set to earn $24.9MM in 2015/16, Johnson doesn’t come cheap either. However, with one less year and probably more quality basketball left in the tank, Johnson holds more trade value than Williams, if only by default. Last season, Johnson averaged 14.4 PPG while shooting 43.5% from the floor and 35.9% from beyond the arc, all significant dips from his career averages. That dip in production was reflected in his PER as well. Johnson was never an efficiency darling outside of his best years in Atlanta, but his 14.1 PER in 2014/15 rates him as a below average player. Much like Williams, any dispatching of Johnson will call for the Nets to take back a bad contract and get little else, if anything, in the way of value.
Brooklyn may be stuck with Williams and Johnson and, at this point, it seems a safe bet that they’ll be in black and white in October. The same can’t be said for other Nets notables like Lopez, Thaddeus Young, and Mirza Teletovic.
Lopez is one of the most offensively gifted centers in the NBA when he’s healthy, but unfortunately he’s spent a ton of time on the sidelines in recent seasons. In 2011-12, Lopez broke his right foot and missed the first 32 games of the lockout-shortened season and his return saw him play five games before a sprained ankle shut him down for good. Two years later, a foot injury cut his season short after just 17 games. The injury bug reared its head a bit again this past season, but Lopez mostly weathered the storm and played 72 games, averaging 17.2 PPG and 7.4 RPG in less than 30 minutes per game. This summer, Lopez will have to decide whether to exercise his $16.74MM player option or to opt out in search of a long-term deal. On one hand, Lopez might want to jump at a comfortable multi-year pact given his injury history. On the other hand, a longer deal would preclude him from truly cashing in after the league’s next big TV contract. It’s not hard to envision a scenario in which Lopez goes the safer route while staying put. The 27-year-old could very well opt out of his deal and immediately sign a max-level contract with Brooklyn.
Young, by all accounts, has been rather happy in Brooklyn following the trade that sent him from the Timberwolves to the Nets. “It was the perfect situation for me, especially with me being good friends with Billy [King], just knowing him and him drafting me in Philly,” Young said.“So it was a good situation, plus they had the right mix of players for me and I felt like I could be a great complementary piece to a lot of guys on this team.” Earlier this month, in his exit interview with the press, Young hinted to reporters that his agent, Jim Tanner, has advised him to opt in. Young’s option for 2015/16 would pay him $10.2MM and while he could get a longer deal, Tanner would like to see him wait until the summer of 2016 when the salary cap rises.
Teletovic is a restricted free agent this summer but he recently told the Bosnian press that his “desire” is to stay with the Nets. Last season was a trying one for the sharpshooter as he was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in his lungs in January, ending his season early, save for three playoff appearances. It was a year the 29-year-old would probably like to forget, but he expressed major gratitude towards the Nets for the medical care they provided him during that time. That’s a critical issue for players, and as we saw with Luol Deng and the Bulls, it’s an issue that can make or break a relationship. The Nets can match competing bids for Teletovic, who was averaging 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds across 40 games before he was shut down, if they tender a qualifying offer worth $4,210,125, and they intend to do so.
While Lopez and Young will wrestle with their decisions a bit, Alan Anderson already knows what he’s doing. “I’m free,” Anderson said earlier this month, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. “I mean, I would love to stay in Brooklyn, but I am a free agent. So I will be free.” The Nets will have Anderson’s Early Bird rights, so they’ll have some additional flexibility to re-sign him. Still, they may only go so far to retain the veteran. Anderson, like Lopez and Young, has until June 29th to make the call.
The Nets have publicly said they’re willing to go into the repeater tax to keep Lopez for next season and beyond, but there isn’t a ton of financial flexibility for them to work with this summer. Normally, the Nets could find themselves a difference maker in the draft after finishing with a pedestrian 38-44 record, but the Johnson deal of 2012 calls for them to switch first-round picks with the Hawks, leaving them with the No. 29 selection rather than the No. 15 pick.
Even though it would create a logjam, the Nets might look to grab a point guard in the draft in order to get some foot speed back at the position. With Williams and Jarrett Jack (who has had some very strong stretches in Brooklyn) at the one, the Nets were torched by Atlanta’s Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder in the playoffs. The likes of Cameron Payne and Jerian Grant will probably go earlier in the draft – you know, where the Nets were supposed to pick – but other options like Delon Wright and Terry Rozier could be available. The Nets can also be expected to target shooters given the uncertain futures of Teletovic and Anderson. Eastern Washington’s Tyler Harvey might be a bit of a one-way player, but he knows how to score and he’ll likely be there at No. 29.
Whoever the Nets take with their first-round pick had better be solid considering their lack of draft choices going forward. Brooklyn owes its 2016 and 2018 first-round picks to the Celtics thanks to the blockbuster deal of 2013 and the C’s can swap picks with the Nets in 2017. The Nets can’t afford not to get this one right and, frankly, King will have to do better than he has in years past.
Cap Footnotes
1 — Clark receives a $200K guarantee if he remains under contract through October 26th.
2 — Morris receives a $25K guarantee if he remains under contract through July 1st.
3 — Brown receives a $100K guarantee if he remains under contract through July 1st, a $150K guarantee if he remains under contract through July 15th, a $200K guarantee if he remains under contract through September 1st, and a full guarantee if he remains under contract through September 29th.
4 — Jefferson receives a $100K guarantee if he remains under contract through July 1st and a full guarantee if he remains under contract through September 29th.
5 — The cap hold for Lopez if he opts out would be the lesser of $23,578,593 or the NBA’s maximum salary for a player with seven years of experience. It’s likely to be the latter.
6 — The cap hold for Young if he opts out would be $14,491,304.
7 — The cap hold for Anderson if he opts out would be $1,658,879.
8 — Jordan’s cap hold would be $947,276 if the Nets decline to tender a qualifying offer.
9 — See our glossary entry on cap holds for an explanation why these players listed in parentheses technically remain on the books.
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post. Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Young, Nets, Celtics
The Sixers hold the third overall pick in this year’s draft and the team will select the player that they believe will be the best player long-term rather than the player who’s more NBA ready now, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes.
“We’ll spend all the available time between now and then to try to gain all the information we can to make good decisions,” GM Sam Hinkie said. “By design, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of June. I think it’s really a mistake to make one sometimes much, much earlier.”
Many executives believe the Sixers will take D’Angelo Russell, but selecting Emmanuel Mudiay remains a possibility due to his potential. Moore wonders what the team will do if either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns fall to the third pick. He believes the team would keep Towns, but it would look to trade Okafor, potentially to the Knicks for their fourth overall pick and an additional asset. New York cannot trade a first round pick until 2018, but that might work for Hinkie, who appears to be one of the most patient executives in the league.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Joseph Young will work out for the Nets, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the Oregon product as the 40th best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the 53rd. Brooklyn holds the No. 29 and No. 41 picks in this year’s draft.
- The Celtics need to improve their talents and cannot afford to pass on free agents this summer, Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe opines (Video link). MacMullan concedes that a top target, such as LaMarcus Aldridge, could be difficult to obtain, but even if that is the case, the team needs to add players from the next tier of free agents. She suggests Khris Middleton and Tobias Harris as potential targets. DeMarre Carroll could be another option, as Boston reportedly has interest in the forward. The Celtics have slightly more than $40.4MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 against a projected $67.1MM salary cap. The team could sign a few mid-tier free agents in order to improve on their 40-win campaign.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Sullinger, Hollins
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie may exceed the 75 players he worked out last year, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Philadelphia had already talked to more than a dozen players before Tuesday’s lottery, which saw the team land the third overall pick. If Hinkie targets a certain player — Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell for instance — the front office will contact the player’s high school and college coaches, along with rival college coaches and players. Then comes a workout, followed by an interview process that can last for several hours. “We’ll spend all the available time between now and then to try to gain all the information we can to make good decisions,” Hinkie said. “By design, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of June. I think it’s really a mistake to make one sometimes much, much earlier.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers will likely pursue the best player — not the best fit — with their first-round selection, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Loaded with big men but in need of backcourt help, the Sixers probably won’t have a tough decision if Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor are the first two players selected. However, if the Lakers make a surprise decision with the second pick, Philadelphia could face a choice between a much-needed guard and a suddenly available big man. Pompey notes that Joel Embiid missed his entire rookie year due to injury and Nerlens Noel enjoyed success at center, where he won’t play once Embiid returns.
- The Celtics‘ Jared Sullinger is eligible for an extension this summer, but Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes that serious contract talks are more likely to happen when he becomes a restricted free agent in 2016. Sullinger, who will make $2.3MM next season, is trying to meet Boston’s front office challenge to get in better shape. “I think it’s just, they want me to go one step further,” he said. “I think that’s what it is — one step further. That’s pretty much what I’m doing [this offseason], every day at Ohio State.”
- The Nets‘ need for stability at coach should work in favor of Lionel Hollins, writes Daniel LoGiudice of netsdaily.com. LoGiudice gives Hollins a C grade for his first season behind Brooklyn’s bench, saying the coach will need to fix his rotations and rely more on analytics to succeed long-term.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Lopez, Mudiay
The next logical step in the Sixers‘ rebuilding plan would be to begin adding high-value free agents to the team’s cache of draft picks and role-players, but that phase could still be a ways off, Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Ford also opines that any expectation that Philly will contend for anything special in the next two seasons is probably overly optimistic. “There are things you can look at on our roster and assume to be solidified. Our overall roster churn in terms of minutes was much less this year than last year. Maybe it will be less next year as opposed to this year. We’re not really sure,” GM Sam Hinkie said.
Here’s more out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:
- Hinkie also acknowledged the frustrations voiced by fans of the team as being justified, Ford adds. “Our fans ought to demand some change. They ought to demand that we be looking [around] and changing,” Hinkie said. “I don’t think the Warriors fans should demand a whole lot of change. I think people would be really upset if they changed the top set of those players. But I think we should always be looking. People tease us about the players who are here two weeks or a month, but then there’s Robert Covington who’s here all year . . . and is an NBA rotation player. If those players we bring in have a 25% chance of being a rotation player, you ought to expect it takes four of them to find one.”
- Numerous mock drafts, including my own, have the Knicks selecting Emmanuel Mudiay with the No. 4 overall pick, a development that would sit well with the young guard, Roderick Boone of Newsday writes. Speaking about playing alongside Carmelo Anthony, Mudiay said, “I would love to, but I don’t know where I’m going to end up. He’s a superstar in this league and somebody that knows the game in and out, so he would definitely give me some good advice if I was to go there.“
- The Nets are still waiting on Brook Lopez‘s decision regarding his player option worth $16,744,218 for next season. Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily took a look back at Lopez’s 2014/15 campaign where he averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, and was the subject of numerous trade rumors.
And-Ones: Max Players, Clippers, Bulls, Payrolls
The benefits to this summer’s max-level free agents of signing a short-term deal to re-enter free agency when the cap surges in the next couple of years outweigh the risks, argues Louis Roxin of RealGM. A couple of executives who spoke to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders take the opposite viewpoint, arguing that the specter of a decline in production, a major injury, or both make it too difficult to pass up a four- or five-year deal (Twitter links). Of course, team executives probably want to avoid paying a premium if they can avoid it, but how it all plays out this summer will be fascinating to watch. Here’s more from around the league:
- Clippers reserve Dahntay Jones insists there’s no rift between DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul, as had been reported, telling TMZ that everyone on the team is united in their desire for Jordan to re-sign in free agency this summer. “Those guys are brothers, man,” Jones said of Jordan and Paul. “They sit with each other on the plane, on the bus. If you don’t like a guy you stay away from him.”
- The Bulls front office was miffed when Tom Thibodeau left his last contract extension unsigned for months and think he hasn’t given them enough credit for building the roster, while some in the organization feel the coach wants more power, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com hears. Friedell provides a timeline of the breakdown in the relationship between the coach and the Chicago brass.
- The Nets have the highest 2014/15 payroll, but their paltry $351K in money to the waived Brandon Davies pales in comparison to the $24.8MM the crosstown Knicks spent on six players no longer on the roster, including Amar’e Stoudemire, as Pincus examines.
Atlantic Notes: Towns, Marks, Qualls
Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns said that playing for the Knicks would be a childhood dream come true if the franchise selects him in the NBA Draft, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “It would be an honor, not only as a player, but as a Knicks fan, to be able to play for that organization,” Towns said. “It’s gonna be, I guess a childhood dream — rooting for the Knicks all this time, and the next thing you know, you hear an organization call your name to go out there and give it your best shot. I think it would very cool, and really very honored and blessed to be able to play for them.” You can view our full prospect profile on Towns here.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Towns also indicated that he’s more than willing to learn the triangle offense if he becomes a member of the Knicks, Begley adds. “It’s a system that works. If you don’t believe it then say it to Phil Jackson’s rings,” Towns said. “I just feel like anyone going into the offense, it takes time. It’s a very complicated offense and you also have to be able to make stuff happen out of it. It just takes time. It would be an honor and blessing to play in that offense and I’d try my best at it.“
- Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks‘ contract option for 2015/16 wasn’t picked up by the team, and Brooklyn has now given Marks permission to explore other opportunities, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com tweets.
- Arkansas junior guard Michael Qualls, a projected second-rounder this June, believes he could make an impact on the Sixers next season if the team drafts him, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I feel like I can help right now,” Qualls said. “I can be a force right away to help change that atmosphere and [turn] that program around.“
- The Knicks‘ front office is torn over whom to select in the draft should the team not snag one of the top two picks in June, Begley writes in a separate piece. “As of today, it looks like Jahlil Okafor would be the second choice. While he doesn’t have the defensive skills of Towns, his ability to play right away and his dominance on the offensive end will make him difficult to pass. After that, the Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell battle rages in the Knicks’ front office the same way it’s raging in front offices around the NBA,” ESPN Insider Chad Ford told Begley.
Latest On Spurs, Duncan, Ginobili, Leonard
TUESDAY, 1:30pm: The Spurs haven’t received any indication about what Duncan and Ginobili plan to do, and the prevailing belief within the organization remains that Duncan will likely decide to play again and that Ginobili is leaning toward hanging it up, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. San Antonio’s plan is to quickly reach a five-year max deal with Leonard, which shouldn’t be a problem, a source tells Berger, and then let him join Duncan in recruitment of Aldridge. Of course, San Antonio probably wouldn’t officially re-sign Leonard before signing a marquee free agent from another team, since Leonard’s cap hold, much smaller than a max salary, affords the Spurs greater flexibility. In any case, Berger largely seconds a report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Spurs will first go after Aldridge, who’s seen as more obtainable, before pursuing Gasol.
MONDAY, 3:43pm: All indications are that the Spurs are planning for Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to return for next season, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says (video link). Team officials haven’t formally met with the pair of mainstays to discuss their intentions for next season, and they won’t do so for another couple of weeks, Bucher cautions. It remains to be seen just how much either of them would demand on a new deal, since San Antonio’s contracts with both expire June 30th. Still, the Spurs continue to plan to pursue a marquee free agent from another team, an enterprise that would require Duncan and Ginobili to take deeply discounted deals, barring salary-clearing trades, as I examined when I looked at the offseason ahead for San Antonio.
The Spurs are reportedly expected to make a pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge before doing the same to Marc Gasol, given that Aldridge appears to be the more readily obtainable of the two, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported today. Bucher suggests that the team will target Brook Lopez, too, though it’s not entirely clear whether or not that’s merely Bucher’s speculation. Lopez has a player option for next season and appears likely to opt out but re-sign with the Nets.
Ginobili, who turns 38 in July, said recently that he’d take the rest of May to make up his mind about returning, and he indicated that Duncan’s decision would have a heavy influence on his. Duncan, whose 39th birthday passed last month, offered little insight into his thinking in the wake of San Antonio’s playoff ouster a few weeks ago. Duncan remains productive, having posted the same 22.6 PER this season as he did as a rookie, while Ginobili’s mark in that category this year, 16.2, is even better than the one he put up in his first NBA season.
San Antonio only has about $34.2MM in salary committed for next season against a projected $67.1MM salary cap, but that doesn’t include a cap hold of more than $7.2MM for soon-to-be restricted free agent Kawhi Leonard. A max salary for Aldridge, Gasol or Lopez would check in at around an estimated $19MM next season. Only five Spurs have guaranteed contracts for next season, so building a team around a maximum-salary acquisition would take some financial gymnastics.
Atlantic Notes: Russell, Sixers, Nets
D’Angelo Russell could wind up as a top-two pick if the Knicks or Sixers are that position after the results of the draft lottery on Tuesday, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. While it’s widely assumed that Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor will go 1-2 in the draft, there was some speculation by rival executives at the draft combine that Philadelphia or New York may opt instead to transform to its backcourt with the Ohio State guard, Berger reports.
In other news around the Atlantic Division:
- Michael Qualls (Arkansas), Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), Ryan Boatright (Connecticut) and Terry Rozier (Louisville) are scheduled to work out with the Sixers on Tuesday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Philadelphia brought in Julian Washburn (Texas-El Paso), Seth Tuttle (Northern Iowa), Terran Petteway (Nebraska), Marcus Thornton (Georgia), Stanton Kidd (Colorado State), Juwan Staten (West Virginia) and Shannon Scott (Ohio State) for workouts on Monday, Pompey adds.
- Mike Conley and Kevin Love, if he does not opt out this summer, are potential free agent targets for the Nets in 2016, according to NetsDaily.com. The Nets will undergo many changes this offseason as they try to get under the luxury tax but they need to remain a playoff-caliber team to attract future free agents, the story adds.
- A shakeup of Dwane Casey’s staff is underway as the Raptors parted with assistants Bill Bayno and Tom Sterner today, sources told Berger (Twitter links).