Central Notes: Bynum, Alexander, Gibson
Will Bynum, who is now the longest-tenured member of the Pistons, couldn’t be happier with the arrival of Stan Van Gundy, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. “Stan is straightforward with me and in return I’m the same way,” he said. “I’m all business, all work when we’re here. I’m trying to be the first one in everything that we do, every single day, I’m the one challenging, talking, keeping the guys motivated and I’m trying to take on the leadership role. I’ve been here the longest. My character fits a leader because I’m always going to be the one that works the hardest. That’s what Stan is. Stan’s a worker. He’s a basketball guy, he’s on the court, and I’ve learned a lot just in the short amount of time being here.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- E’Twaun Moore is expected to provide the Bulls with backcourt depth, Adam Fluck of NBA.com writes. “E’Twaun is a young guard who we really like and he’s got a lot of potential,” said Chicago GM Gar Forman. “He’s shown that he’s got some versatility given he can play at both the one and two. He can also shoot the ball. We feel he’s absolutely our kind of guy—he’s a worker and we are confident he’ll be a good fit with our roster.” Moore also considered the Cavs and the Grizzlies before choosing the Bulls, Fluck notes.
- With the signings of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic the power forward position is getting crowded in Chicago. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders believes the Bulls should consider dealing Taj Gibson since he might be more valuable as a trade asset since his minutes and production are likely to decline this season.
- Former Bucks lottery pick Joe Alexander has auditioned for a number of NBA teams, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). Alexander has been out of the NBA since the 2009/10 season when he appeared in eight games for the Bulls.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Ryan Hollins Signs With Kings
THURSDAY, 3:28pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
WEDNESDAY, 7:13pm: Ryan Hollins has agreed to a deal to sign with the Kings, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Exact contract details aren’t yet known, but it is a one-year, fully-guaranteed deal according to Spears. The Lakers, Bulls, Heat, and Spurs had also expressed interest in the twenty nine year-old seven-footer out of UCLA. This will bring Sacramento’s preseason roster count to 19.
As for what he brings to Sacramento, Hollins will compete with Reggie Evans and Sim Bhullar for minutes as DeMarcus Cousins‘ backup. He offers the Kings high-percentage shooting, defense, and rim protection, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors points out in his Free Agent Stock Watch article on the veteran center.
Hollins spent last season with the Clippers, where he appeared in 61 contests, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG. His slash line was .736/.000/.625. In eight seasons in the NBA, Hollins’ career numbers are 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG.
Bulls Reach Deal With E’Twaun Moore
THURSDAY, 12:17pm: The Bulls officially announced the signing.
TUESDAY, 1:25pm: Moore’s deal is for two years, and his salary is partially guaranteed for 50% of its value for the coming season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. The partial guarantee might signal that the team is still leaving the door open to the possibility that free agent target Ray Allen might choose to come to Chicago, but that’s just my speculation.
12:16pm: The Bulls have signed E’Twaun Moore, according to Moore’s Priority Sports agency (Twitter link). Chicago has yet to confirm the signing with an official announcement, but a report from last month indicated that the move was expected. The terms of the deal aren’t immediately clear, but it almost certainly won’t be for any more than the minimum salary, since the Bulls are among the teams limited to that amount.
Moore had a deal to play in Italy earlier this summer, but he hesitated to sign a contract when a pair of NBA teams emerged with interest. The Cavs appeared to be one of them, but the Mark Bartelstein client from suburban Chicago will instead play as close to home as possible. Moore expressed interest this spring in returning to the Magic, but they didn’t appear to reciprocate that desire too strongly and made him an unrestricted free agent after declining to tender a qualifying offer at the start of the offseason.
The 25-year-old combo guard was a part of the rotation during his two seasons in Orlando after he saw sparing minutes as a rookie with the Celtics. Moore averaged 7.1 points and shot 34.6% from three-point territory in 20.7 minutes per game in two years with the Magic.
Moore’s production suggests he’ll warrant a full guarantee, though it’s not clear whether the Bulls committed that to him. Chicago had been carrying 12 players, all of whom have guaranteed pacts. The Bulls appeared to have interest in Denzel Bowles, though the team would likely see him as an addition for camp and nothing more. Chicago hasn’t had more than 13 men on the roster for opening night in any of the past three seasons.
And-Ones: Hawks, Douby, Heat
The league’s players have mixed opinions on whether or not they would consider signing with the Hawks, Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report writes. The majority of players polled agreed with Carmelo Anthony‘s assessment that players would avoid signing with Atlanta in the wake of GM Danny Ferry and majority owner Bruce Levenson’s racist remarks, notes Bucher. But there were a few that said they wouldn’t let the incident get in the way of their potential earnings, but also added that they “wouldn’t shake Ferry’s hand” when the deal was completed.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Former Rutgers star and NBA player Quincy Douby has signed with the Tianjin Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to his agent Bill Neff, Zach Links of Hoops Rumors reports (Twitter link). Douby last appeared in the NBA during the 2008/09 season with the Raptors.
- The partial guarantee on Khem Birch‘s two-year deal with the Heat is worth $50K, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Keith Smart and Chris Quinn have been added as assistant coaches to Eric Spoelstra‘s staff with the Heat, the team announced.
- The Bulls are hoping for a healthy season out of Derrick Rose, and that their new additions of Pau Gasol and Doug McDermott will help them contend in the Eastern Conference. The crew over at Basketball Insiders previews the upcoming season, and the majority opinion is that Chicago will finish second in the Central Division.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Thompson, Moore, Oden
Klay Thompson was one of many Warriors players who expressed support for Mark Jackson in the days leading up to Golden State’s firing of its former coach, but the extension-eligible Thompson tells USA Today’s Sam Amick that he’s optimistic about working with Steve Kerr. “It was tough seeing Coach [Jackson] go, but at the end of the day the front office did what they felt would be best for us to win,” Thompson said. “They’ve made great moves in the past, so no reason not to trust them on this move. I’ve talked to Steve and he seems really good, like a guy who is really going to open it up for us. I’m excited to work with him.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The salary in the second season of E’Twaun Moore‘s deal with the Bulls will become guaranteed if he remains on the roster beyond a certain date in July 2015, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.
- Executives with two NBA teams were optimistic that Greg Oden could still prove a useful NBA player after seeing him with the Heat last year, as they told Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. Still, his chances of finding work in the NBA anytime soon are in serious doubt as he faces a felony domestic violence charge stemming from an incident last month, as another exec tells Wallace.
- The Celtics have hired Scott Morrison, the longtime coach at Lakeland University in Canada, to coach their D-League affiliate, the team announced.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Multiple Teams Interested In Ryan Hollins
Free agent Ryan Hollins has had contract talks with the Lakers, Kings, Bulls, and Spurs as a potential signing, the center told SiriusXM NBA Radio (transcription via Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times). The seven-footer has also been in talks with the Heat, the only team previously linked to his services this summer.
Aside from the Kings and Spurs, each of the teams considering Hollins as an addition are limited to offering the minimum salary. It would be shocking for Sacramento to exercise their biannual exception to spend more than the minimum, however, since the team has been working to stay beneath the luxury tax line for 2014/15. Hollins’ name is among a handful of big men drawing interest from many of the same teams looking to fill out their frontcourt depth. Gustavo Ayon and Emeka Okafor are other frontcourt pieces generating interest from overlapping teams, but an overseas commitment and injury concerns make the paths for both to land on an NBA team more complicated than that of Hollins, respectively.
It’s unclear if Hollins is close to reaching an agreement for guaranteed money, or if he’s facing the prospect of competing through training camp on a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contract. While unspectacular, Hollins is a proven commodity, playing a very specific and useful role, as Chuck Myron detailed in our Free Agent Stock Watch article on the veteran center. The Stealth Sports client has career averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG.
Pistons Work Out Denzel Bowles
The Pistons are putting free agent center Denzel Bowles through a workout today, and there’s a distinct possibility the former James Madison standout will be auditioning for the Bulls, too, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
The 6’10” Bowles has played overseas each of the past three seasons after going undrafted in 2011, with stops in Lithuania, the Philippines and China. He joined the Nuggets for summer league in July, averaging 5.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per contest. His numbers were more impressive in China last season, when he put up 26.0 PPG and 8.6 RPG in 32.5 MPG in 34 appearances with the Jilin Northeast Tigers.
The Pistons wouldn’t offer Bowles much opportunity to make the opening night roster if they were to add him for training camp, since they’re already carrying 16 guaranteed deals, as our roster counts show. It’s possible that the Pistons envision bringing Bowles to camp so they can get an extended look at him for down the road and so that they can retain his D-League rights for their new one-to-one affiliate. The Bulls have only 12 guaranteed pacts, but they haven’t carried more than 13 players on opening night in any of the last three seasons, as I pointed out. Chicago is among a host of teams targeting Ray Allen, and it would make sense that the contending Bulls would prioritize adding a veteran.
And-Ones: Deng, Knicks, Dragic, West
The Luol Deng report from the RealGM scouting service that was the source of the racially charged statements that Hawks GM Danny Ferry said aloud in a June conference call contains several tidbits of collateral information on storylines surrounding Deng the past couple of years. One of the anonymous sources quoted in the report points to hard feelings Deng had toward the Bulls as they allegedly pushed him to play through injury and played hardball with an extension offer. The same source cites “major locker room issues” that existed between two Cavaliers during Deng’s tenure there, and while the names are redacted, many accounts have pointed to tension between Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. The report also pointed to interest in Deng from the Hornets, Suns, Mavs and Lakers around last year’s trade deadline. Aside from the most explosive racial comments, the report contains a few mild criticisms of Deng’s ability on the court and his persona off of it, but mostly serves to paint Deng as a valuable player and an upstanding character. While the fallout from the Hawks saga continues, here’s more from other corners of the league:
- Knicks president Phil Jackson tells Scott Cacciola of The New York Times that he and owner James Dolan didn’t speak in August and have otherwise been having only a couple conversations a month as Dolan keeps his promise not to interfere. An agent said to Cacciola that when he appealed to Dolan when Jackson wouldn’t budge in negotiations, he found the owner unwilling to provide recourse behind Jackson’s back, and Dolan insists to the Times scribe that he won’t change his ways if the team starts losing this season.
- Zoran Dragic acknowledged that playing in the NBA appeals to him but said he’s on his way to training camp with Spain’s Unicaja Malaga, as he told Gal Zbačnik of Kosarka.si (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Dragic’s contract with the team reportedly gives him until October 5th to find an NBA deal, and several teams appear to be in pursuit.
- Delonte West has agreed to return to China on a one-year deal with the Shanghai Sharks, reports Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer (on Twitter). West, who hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2012/13 preseason, spent last year with China’s Fujian Sturgeons.
Bulls Interested In Ray Allen
The Bulls are believed to be among almost a dozen teams to have contacted free agent Ray Allen and his representatives, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Plenty of teams have probably reached out to the guard’s camp, but this is the first we’ve heard of Chicago putting a call into his people.
The Bulls could make sense for Allen on a few different levels. The veteran was coached by Tom Thibodeau in Boston, so there’s a pre-existing relationship between the two. Also, the Bulls are probably the only significant contender pursuing Allen who do not have a true starting two guard. Jimmy Butler is slated to start at shooting guard but Chicago might prefer to move him to the three, start Allen at shooting guard, and move Mike Dunleavy Jr. to the bench.
Allen, who pretty much has the pick of the litter amongst NBA contenders, has been in contact with a number of teams including the Cavs and Clippers. The Wizards were added to the mix with a report last week indicating that the club reached out to Allen soon after free agency got underway. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com wrote that Allen likely would be willing to accept a minimum-salary deal and Smith hears the same. Most clubs only have the minimum to work with but the Spurs are one team with the full $5.305MM mid-level exception at their disposal.
Allen is coming off of the worst season of his career statistically but he’s still a dangerous threat from the outside and could serve as a strong veteran presence for a top team. The 39-year-old averaged less than double figures for the first time with 9.6 PPG and also shot 37.5% from beyond the arc, down from ~42% the season before. Allen could come back to the hardwood in an effort to play more like his old self or he could opt to retire instead. In a poll last month, nearly 85% of you said that Allen would play in 2014/15.
Trade Retrospective: Aldridge To Blazers
In professional sports, one of the most exciting things that can happen from a fan’s perspective is a blockbuster trade. These deals can alter not just the fates of the franchises involved, but can shape the direction of the entire league. The biggest deal of this offseason so far was the trade that sent Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for the last two No. 1 overall picks, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, plus the Wolves also landed Thaddeus Young from the Sixers as part of the transaction.
It will be years before we can accurately judge who won the trade, but if the Cavs hoist the NBA Championship trophy next Spring they will certainly be thrilled with the results. The Wolves haven’t been to the playoffs the last 10 seasons, so for them the deal was about building for the future and trying to change the losing culture in Minnesota.
I’ve been taking a look back at some of the bigger deals that have transpired in recent NBA history. So far I’ve examined the trades that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers; Deron Williams to the Nets; Kevin Garnett to the Celtics; Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks; Chris Paul to the Clippers; Stephon Marbury to the Knicks; and the trade that sent Shaquille O’Neal from the Lakers to the Heat.
Not all big trades involve established players and stars, but they still carry a high risk. Trading away prospects and draft picks ramp that risk up even higher than when dealing away established NBA talent, since it is so difficult to accurately predict how a player’s production will transition from college to the pros. It’s with this in mind that I look back at the June 2006 Draft night trade between the Bulls and the Blazers that landed LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland.
I’ll begin by running down the players involved:
- The Bulls received the rights to Tyrus Thomas along with Viktor Khryapa.
- The Blazers received Aldridge’s rights and a 2007 second-rounder (Demetris Nichols).
The Bulls were infatuated at the time with Thomas’ athleticism and defensive potential, which led then-GM John Paxson to take a chance and deal Aldridge, whom the Bulls selected with the No. 2 overall pick, for Thomas, who was selected No. 4 overall. The Bulls were more enamored with Thomas’ physical tools and potential, but this trade shows the risks involved when dealing away draft picks prior to seeing them perform at the next level.
The Bulls were just beginning to climb out of the post-Michael Jordan era blues at the time of the trade. Here’s a look at their records in the seasons leading up to this deal:
- 2001/02: 21-61
- 2002/03: 30-52
- 2003/04: 23-59
- 2004/05: 47-35 (Lost in first round to the Wizards)
- 2005/06: 41-41 (Lost in first round to the Heat)
The acquisition of Thomas was supposed to strengthen the Bulls’ frontcourt and help the franchise take the next step back toward contention, but Thomas never lived up to his potential and has been outperformed by Aldridge every season of their careers.
Here are Thomas’ career stats:
- 2006/07: 5.2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 0.6 APG, and 1.1 BPG. His slash line was .474/.000/.606.
- 2007/08: 6.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.2 APG, and 1.0 BPG. His slash line was .423/.167/.741.
- 2008/09: 10.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.9 BPG. His slash line was .451/.333/.783.
- 2009/10: 9.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.6 BPG. His slash line was .462/.000/.687.
- 2010/11: 10.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.7 APG, and 1.6 BPG. His slash line was .471/.000/.787.
- 2011/12: 5.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 0.6 APG, and 1.1 BPG. His slash line was .367/.333/.759.
- 2012/13: 4.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.7 APG, and 0.6 BPG. His slash line was .353/.375/.839.
The Bulls’ records for the seasons that Thomas was on the roster were:
- 2006/07: 49-33 (Lost in second round to the Pistons)
- 2007/08: 33-49
- 2008/09: 41-41 (Lost in first round to the Celtics)
- 2009/10: 41-41 (Lost in first round to the Cavs)
Thomas was injured four games into the 2009/10 season, and he missed nearly six weeks with a fractured forearm. During this stretch he was replaced in the starting lineup by Taj Gibson, who performed well enough to make Thomas expendable. On February 18, 2010, Thomas was traded to the Hornets for Flip Murray; Acie Law; and a 2014 first-rounder (Jusuf Nurkic).
That offseason the Hornets signed Thomas to a five-year, $40MM deal. Thomas would spend another three seasons with Charlotte, averaging double-figures in points only once. His time in Charlotte and his NBA career would come to an end on July 10, 2013 when the Hornets waived Thomas using the amnesty provision to make room for the franchise to sign Al Jefferson.
Murray only appeared in 29 games for the Bulls, and averaged 10.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG. This was his last season in the league and he’s since split time between the NBA D-League and playing overseas.
Law appeared in just 12 games for the Bulls, averaging 5.5 PPG and 1.3 APG. After the 2009/10 season he became a free agent, signing a one-year deal with the Grizzlies, who would release him after 11 games.
The first-rounder that Chicago had acquired from Charlotte was part of the 2014 NBA Draft night trade with the Nuggets that sent the rights to Doug McDermott and Anthony Randolph to the Bulls for Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, and the least favorable of the Bulls’ pair of second rounders in 2015 (Chicago has both its own second-round pick and Portland’s second-rounder that year).
Viktor Khryapa didn’t provide much of a return for the Bulls. In parts of two seasons with the franchise, he appeared in a total of 42 games, averaging 2.9 PPG and 1.9 RPG. Khryapa only played an average of 9.3 minutes per contest while in Chicago. He expressed to management his frustrations about his lack of playing time, and in February of 2008 he and the team reached a buyout agreement. Khryapa has been out of the NBA ever since.
From the Bulls’ side of things, this is a deal that I’m sure they would like to change if they could. It’s hard to predict what the team’s won-loss records would have been the first two seasons after the trade was made, and if Chicago would have still been in line to draft Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose in 2007 and 2008, respectively, if it was Aldridge and not Thomas manning the power forward position. But when simply comparing the assets that changed hands, the Bulls have to regret this deal when looking back.
The Blazers were floundering as a franchise in the seasons prior to this trade. Here’s a look at their records prior to acquiring Aldridge:
- 2001/02: 49-33 (Lost to the Lakers in the first round)
- 2002/03: 50-32 (Lost to the Mavs in the first round)
- 2003/04: 41-41
- 2004/05: 27-55
- 2005/06: 21-61
Portland had quite a busy draft night back in 2006, acquiring Aldridge as well as Brandon Roy in a separate deal with the Wolves. Roy would go on to win Rookie of the Year honors for the 2006/07 season, when he averaged 16.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 4.0 APG. Aldridge didn’t begin his career quite as successfully, but by his second season he already began to show flashes of being the star player that he has evolved into.
Here are Aldridge’s career numbers:
- 2006/07: 9.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.4 APG, and 1.2 BPG. His slash line was .503/.000/.722.
- 2007/08: 17.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.2 BPG. His slash line was .484/.143/.762.
- 2008/09: 18.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.0 BPG. His slash line was .484/.250/.781.
- 2009/10: 17.9 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 0.6 BPG. His slash line was .495/.313/.757.
- 2010/11: 21.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.2 BPG. His slash line was .500/.174/.791.
- 2011/12: 21.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 0.8 BPG. His slash line was .512/.182/.814.
- 2012/13: 21.1 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.2 BPG. His slash line was .484/.143/.810.
- 2013/14: 23.2 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.0 BPG. His slash line was .458/.200/.822.
Here’s how the Blazers have fared since acquiring Aldridge:
- 2006/07: 32-50
- 2007/08: 41-41
- 2008/09: 54-28 (Lost in first round to the Rockets)
- 2009/10: 50-32 (Lost in first round to the Suns)
- 2010/11: 48-34 (Lost in first round to Mavs)
- 2011/12: 28-38
- 2012/13: 33-49
- 2013/14: 54-28 (Lost in the second round to the Spurs)
Aldridge has been a big part of the turnaround in Portland, which has had a few setbacks, most notably the selection of Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant back in 2007, and Roy’s retirement due to injuries back in 2011. Aldridge is on track to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season, and even if the Blazers don’t re-sign him, they still win this deal.
The second-rounder that Portland acquired from Chicago was used in a trade with the Knicks, which saw New York receive Zach Randolph; Dan Dickau; Fred Jones; and the pick that was used to select Demetris Nichols. In return, the Blazers received Steve Francis; Channing Frye; and a 2008 second-rounder that was used to select Omer Asik.
As far as trades go, the Aldridge one wasn’t a multi-player deal involving numerous teams, but it was still a rather important one–especially for Portland. The Blazers haven’t advanced past the second round during Aldridge’s tenure in Portland, but it’s difficult to argue that he is the cause. The Bulls most likely lament this deal, especially since Thomas is out of the league altogether, while Aldridge is entering his prime and has made three consecutive All-Star games. But in all fairness, had Derrick Rose not fallen under the injury bug, Chicago may well have won an NBA title in the last few years.
It’s interesting to see the difference in production each franchise received from players taken a mere two selections apart. It also makes one wonder which of this year’s draft night trades will be looked back at as being steals or huge misfires. Will the Cavs regret dealing away Wiggins? If Cleveland fails to win the title, Love doesn’t perform up to his previous levels, or if he leaves as a free agent after the season, then they absolutely will. But if they finally hang a championship banner from their rafters, then they will consider it absolutely worth doing.
As for some of the other teams that took a gamble this year, time will tell if the Nuggets will regret trading McDermott to the Bulls, or if the Magic will rue dealing Dario Saric to the Sixers for Elfrid Payton. As the Aldridge-Thomas trade has demonstrated, a few spots in the draft order can yield remarkably different results down the line. It’s a risk anytime a deal is made, and sometimes it’s even more so when gambling with draft selections. Cleveland certainly better hope that Wiggins doesn’t become a superstar, or they need to win at least a couple of titles if he does. Otherwise, there will be some angry Cavs fans in a few years.
Note: If there’s a particular trade that you would like to see me take a look back at, please feel free to sound off in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito.