Western Notes: Morris, Jones, Leonard
Suns power forward Markieff Morris apologized to his teammates and the coaching staff and was allowed to return to the team after serving his two game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during a game last week, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “We kind of put it out there what we wanted from him, what we expected,” Hornacek said. “He’s been good for us in the past. We want him to get back to playing like he did last year. It’s been a struggle this year. We basically tried to get a feel if he was good for that. He said he wanted to get back and help his teammates and help us win.”
”We definitely had a successful meeting and I’m just happy to be back,” Morris said. The forward also indicated that he regretted the comments he made over the summer regarding his desire to be traded, Coro notes. “I could’ve did that different based on the fans,” Morris said. “I think I owe the fans an apology for saying some of the stuff I said. They deserve better.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Wolves point guard Tyus Jones is hopeful that his time spent in the D-League this season will translate into more minutes at the NBA level, writes Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “You do go down there trying to prove a point,” Jones said. “Trying to make a statement. I think I played pretty well down there.” The rookie is averaging 24.7 points and 5.0 assists in six contests for the Stampede this season.
- After re-signing with the Spurs this past offseason, small forward Kawhi Leonard has taken on an increased role in San Antonio’s offense, much to the delight of coach Gregg Popovich, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. “He’s a lot more demonstrative scoring-wise,” Popovich said. “When he gets the ball, he tries to make opportunities for himself. I don’t have to call his number. In transition offensively, he’s looking for situations where he can post up. Mismatches more. Those are probably the main things. More aggressive offensively and understanding that he can do some things that people can’t guard very well. And yeah, there’s been a incremental increase in the volume of his language.”
- The Kings need to suspend center DeMarcus Cousins for his latest outburst that resulted in his ejection from Monday night’s contest against the Warriors, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee opines. Voisin believes that the organization needs to stop treating Cousins with kid gloves and force him to mature, and she also believes that any suspension should be initiated by the organization and not the league if it is to truly register with the big man.
Pacific Notes: Cousins, Morris, Nance Jr.
In an interview with Tzvi Twersky of Slamoline.com, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins said that he believes because he’s been on a struggling team for his entire career he doesn’t get the credit for being a tough leader the way that the Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett has. “This is what I’ve come to conclude: Winning covers up everything,” Cousins told Twersky. “If KG was always losing and was the same person, they would think he was the worst guy ever. That’s basically the situation I’m in. Since I’m losing, no one loves a loser—everyone loves a winner. That’s how it goes. I don’t see a difference between me and Joakim Noah. If anything, I feel Joakim has more crazy moments than I do—but his is passion, mine are an attitude or anger problems.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- It’s unclear if and when the Suns will look to trade disgruntled forward Markieff Morris, but there are a number of teams that are intrigued with the combo forward and his reasonable contract, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays (Twitter links). There is likely too much bad blood between Morris and the Suns organization for that relationship to be salvaged, but there is belief around the league that Morris can thrive in a different environment than Phoenix’s, Mannix adds.
- The Lakers have moved rookie Larry Nance Jr. into the starting lineup thanks to his energy and versatility, but he’ll need to look for his shot more often if he wants to continue in that role, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “I talked to him today that again when you have an open shot, you got to take the shot,” coach Byron Scott said. “[I told him] ‘You have a nice enough stroke’ and if he can make them on a consistent basis, the defense will start to respect him. But he moves the ball. That’s the only thing about Larry. He doesn’t take a lot of shots; he doesn’t even take the ones that are open. That’s one of the main reasons we changed the starting lineup – to get more ball movement.“
Western Notes: Morris, Howard, Harden, Wolves
The saga of trade candidate Markieff Morris in Phoenix took another turn Wednesday when Morris threw a towel in coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction while verbally directing his anger at the coach during the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s loss to Denver, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Hornacek, who’d just taken Morris out of the game, tossed the towel back at Morris as he shared his own angry words with the power forward whom the Suns have reportedly had serious discussions about trading.
“He’s mad about not playing,” Hornacek said after the game, according to Coro. “I look at the stat sheet. He’s a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he’s better than that. Show me.”
Hornacek said a discussion will take place among team officials about possible discipline for the towel-toss, which evoked memories of Robert Horry throwing a towel in coach Danny Ainge’s face during a game in 1997 when they were with the Suns. See more from the Western Conference:
- Coach J.B. Bickerstaff met with Dwight Howard and James Harden about their leadership roles and how they can function together, and the two stars have begun to work more closely with each other in practice, observes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. Howard has on multiple occasions denied a report that he’s upset with playing a secondary role to Harden. “It’s been great,” Howard said of his practice work with Harden. “The thing we are trying to build on the most is chemistry between me and James. We have played together for two years, but the best way to build chemistry is to have those individual workouts together. That’s what we have done the last couple of weeks and we have gotten better at reading each other and the more we do it, the better we will become.”
- Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is an investor in Steve Kaplan’s bidding group for a 30% stake in the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Conflicting reports emerged in November about whether Levien was involved. The Kaplan group is reportedly progressing toward a deal that would see them eventually take over a controlling interest in the team.
- Losing to the Suns last week prompted the Pelicans to hold a players-only meeting, Anthony Davis said Wednesday, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans has won both of its games since then. The team has gone 8-8 after an 1-11 start under new coach Alvin Gentry, who criticized the effort of the players after the Phoenix loss, as Reid points out.
And-Ones: Howard, Roberts, Jones, Kidd
Rockets center Dwight Howard recently turned 30 and hopes he can continue to play in the NBA into his 40s, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays. “That’d be fun if I was to play this game [that long],” Howard told Feigen. “That was always my goal, to play 20 years, 20-something years in this league. I’m extremely happy and blessed to have been able to play this game for as long as I have been so far. I have played a lot of minutes. I’ve been doing a lot since I came into the league. I’m thankful. I’m not going to complain about it. I’m happy that I’ve been able to play 12 years so far. A lot of NBA players never played this long so I am very happy and blessed that I’ve been able to play 12 years in the NBA. Hopefully, I can play another 10, but the time I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed it.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Several NBA teams have expressed interest in Raptors preseason cut Ronald Roberts, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter). In 10 appearances for the Raptors 905 this season Roberts is averaging 17.9 points and 13.0 rebounds on 67% shooting.
- Timberwolves rookie point guard Tyus Jones believes his recent stint in the D-League will help him to contribute more at the NBA level, Jace Frederick of The Pioneer Press writes. “That definitely helped me out and definitely prepared me even more than I was, and it’s just helped my process,” Jones said. “I think it did prepare me a little bit better to help this team out.”
- The Knicks‘ trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers was a move met with displeasure by the team’s fanbase, but it has worked out well for both sides so far, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “We made the decision,’’ Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. “It seems like it’s worked out well for both. J.R. and Shump, they seem happy. We like our team as it is at this point. I think our team would be OK if they were here or not because of what [habits] we’re doing every day.’’
- Bucks front office officials would have liked to have drafted Bobby Portis with the 17th overall pick this year, but coach Jason Kidd went with Rashad Vaughn instead, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link via Twitter at 57-minute mark). Kidd is calling the shots on personnel, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times told us in a recent edition of The Beat. People around the league wonder whether Kidd’s leave of absence for hip surgery is the first step toward him dropping the coaching job and moving into a full-time front office role with the team, Wojnarowski hears.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Malone, Leonard, Jones
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry declined to discuss how much contact he had with the Nuggets over the summer regarding Denver’s then open coaching position, which ultimately went to Michael Malone, but firmly believes the franchise made a good choice in its hire, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “They got themselves a really, really good coach, a guy that works his butt off,” Gentry said. “I don’t think there’s anybody out there that works any harder [than Malone] or understands the game. He’s been around it his whole life. So, I think they did great.“
Malone noted that Emmanuel Mudiay‘s recent ankle injury is related to the injury the rookie sustained while playing in China last season, Dempsey adds. When asked when Mudiay might return to game action, Malone said, “We trust our athletic training staff to tell us when he can get back on the floor to start practicing. And then obviously he’ll have to get through a practice before he can play in a game. To be honest, I think he’s probably a little ways away from that. So we’ll be cautious. It’s an injury he sustained while in China, and it’s kind of come back a little bit.“
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The reports that Blazers big man Meyers Leonard was offered and turned down a four-year, $60MM extension from the team are “grossly inaccurate,” according to Jason Quick of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). Leonard is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer provided Portland extends him a qualifying offer worth $4,210,880.
- The Timberwolves have recalled point guard Tyus Jones from the Idaho Stampede, the team announced. The rookie had been with the Jazz’s D-League affiliate since December 5th as part of the league’s flexible assignment program.
- The Grizzlies have assigned James Ennis, Jarell Martin and Russ Smith to their D-League affiliate in Iowa, the team announced. This will be Ennis’ fifth stint with the Energy and the second for both Martin and Smith.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Leonard, Rubio
Kevin Durant admits that it’s a different era now with players changing teams so often, but he believes a winning a championship helps alleviate the desire to call another city home, as Royce Young of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
“There’s still some guys that stay with one team, but there are some guys that move,” Durant said. “Kobe [Bryant], he’s done it, Tim Duncan‘s done it. Just as far as staying with one organization when you win a title with them makes it easier to ride it out, and that’s what those guys have done. Dirk [Nowitzki], guys like that. It’s good to see a few player that’s on the out that had long careers that’s been with one team and still doing pretty well.”
Here’s more out of the Northwest:
- Meyers Leonard reportedly turned down a “considerable” extension in November and there’s chatter around the league that the offer was of four years and $60MM, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com writes.
- The season for Leonard hasn’t gone the way he anticipated, but despite his struggles, he still has the support of his team, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian writes. “I just want him to know that we’re in his corner,” Damian Lillard said of Leonard. “There’s no cracks in our confidence in what he can do for the team. Sometimes you need to hear it. It wasn’t a big deal. I just want him to know that I’m behind him and I believe in him. I always tell him that, that I believe in what he can do. It’s just a matter of him clearing his mind and doing it.”
- Michael Rand of the Star Tribune isn’t optimistic that Ricky Rubio, who is shooting an icy 27.5% from behind the arc this season, will ever be an adequate shooter. Rubio signed a rookie scale extension in 2014, which went into effect this year. He’s slated to make $55MM over the next four seasons.
Western Notes: Howard, Harkless, Jones
Despite the reports that he is unhappy playing second-fiddle to James Harden, Rockets center Dwight Howard insists that he’s committed to the team and disputes any notion that he’s projecting negativity that is affecting his teammates, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays. “The one thing that I don’t want to happen is people to assume that because things are not going quite well for us that I’ve quit on the team and take away from all the positive things we have done, despite the loss, making the city feel like they’re unwanted,” Howard told Feigen. “There’s a lot of negativity going around. I haven’t caused it. I haven’t said anything negative to anybody about this team or this situation. I’ve just been trying to find ways to make this situation better, trying to grow as a man, as a basketball player. You just try to laugh at it. I don’t want to go out and persecute the people that persecute me. That’s the hardest part. The first reaction is to go back at them. You just have to respond with love.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Wolves rookie point guard Tyus Jones has been assigned to the D-League since December 5th, and he is expected to return to the team after the Idaho Stampede’s game on Saturday, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune relays (Twitter links). The reason that Jones will be recalled this weekend is due to Idaho not having another scheduled contest until after Christmas, Zgoda adds.
- Maurice Harkless has been struggling thus far this season, his first with the Blazers, but coach Terry Stotts thinks it would be unfair to make any judgments on the young swingman with so much of the 2015/16 campaign left to play, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian writes. “It takes time,” Stotts said. “That’s why this season is a season of growth for everybody. I think it’s difficult to assess [his play] a third of the way in as far as road blocks and things like that. I think it’ll come and I think too many times players are evaluated by their box score. I think he’s doing his best to fit in the best he can.“
- The Kings have assigned power forward Duje Dukan to the Reno Bighorns, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Dukan’s fourth jaunt to Reno on the season.
Kings Eye Kevin Martin
The Kings are high on Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (Twitter link). This comes on the heels of the overnight report from Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press that Minnesota has made Martin available in trade discussions. The Wolves are reportedly looking to free up more minutes to aid in the development of Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad and Zach LaVine, according to Krawczynski.
This isn’t the first time that Sacramento has shown interest in the 32-year-old shooting guard. Last winter the Kings were mentioned as part of a series of reports identifying them along with the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls and Rockets as interested parties for Martin’s services. No deal was struck, obviously, due to late Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders‘ apparent unwillingness to trade Martin or arrange for a buyout at the time. Martin played for the Kings from 2004-2010, though his time in Sacramento ended years before owner Vivek Ranadive bought the team and later installed Vlade Divac atop the basketball operations department.
Sacramento could certainly use some help at shooting guard, with neither former lottery pick Ben McLemore nor offseason signee Marco Belinelli playing particularly well thus far in 2015/16. The Kings are currently over the salary cap and without a trade exception, so Sacramento would need to send back matching salary to Minnesota in any deal. Martin is making $7.085MM this season with a player option for nearly $7.378MM next year.
Timberwolves Make Kevin Martin Available
The Timberwolves have made Kevin Martin available in discussions about potential trades, a source told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Minnesota wants to find more time for younger perimeter players Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, according to Krawczynski. The potential that LaVine has shown to become a scorer and the increased amount of time Wiggins is seeing at shooting guard, plus the eight losses in nine games that the team has suffered, have helped prompt GM Milt Newton and company to put the 32-year-old Martin on the block and focus on Wiggins, LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad, Krawczynski explains.
Minnesota spoke with two teams about Martin early this season but was reluctant to move him amid a promising 8-8 start, Krawczynski writes. He began the season on the bench but the team made him a starter in late November to help him break out of a shooting slump, according to Krawczynski. The 12th-year veteran is nailing only 36.7% of his field goal attempts, a career low. Martin didn’t play in the team’s loss to the Knicks because of a sprained right (shooting) wrist, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, and he’s questionable for Friday’s game against the Kings.
Martin was a part of trade talk last winter, when a series of reports identified the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls, Kings and Rockets as interested parties, though late Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders didn’t appear willing to trade him or work a buyout. The Mavs, who signed Wesley Matthews in the offseason, were no longer interested as of October, according to a report at that time from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, and it’s unclear if any of the other teams linked to him almost a year ago are still eyeing him.
Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca speculates the Raptors might have interest, citing Martin’s track record as a scorer and an asset to team chemistry as well as his relationship with a few of Toronto’s players, though he suggests his contract could be a stumbling block (Twitter links). Martin is making $7.085MM this season with a player option for nearly $7.378MM next year.
What team do you think would make sense for Martin? Leave a comment to let us know.
Kaplan Moving Toward Deal For Stake In Wolves
Private equity investor and Grizzlies minority owner Steve Kaplan is progressing toward a deal with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor that would see him purchase a 30% share of the Wolves and eventually take over a controlling interest from Taylor, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. The sides have reached agreement on the 30% stake and the purchase price for it, Zgoda writes, but Taylor cautioned to Zgoda that the deal is not yet done. Kaplan’s side must complete its vetting process, and the sides still need legal documentation and NBA approval, Taylor said to Zgoda. Kaplan must also sell his portion of the Grizzlies, Zgoda adds.
The 30% share is larger than the approximately 20% that the sides were talking about last month, when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first reported the discussion, though that’s no surprise, since the idea of a higher percentage came up in the conversations around that time, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Taylor said shortly thereafter that he was also speaking to other prospective buyers, but he’s negotiating solely with Kaplan and his group now, Zgoda reports. Taylor has said that anyone who would take controlling interest from him must agree to keep the team in Minnesota, as Zgoda points out. It’s unclear when Kaplan would take over controlling interest as part of any would-be deal.
Kaplan had interest in buying the Hawks earlier this year before Antony Ressler purchased the franchise, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Forbes magazine pegged the value of the Wolves at $625MM, second lowest in the NBA, in January, though that number has likely changed since then.