Eastern Notes: Sanders, Bulls, Contract Years
Let's round up a few Wednesday items out of the Eastern Conference….
- According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter), there were some Bucks officials who wanted to cut Larry Sanders a year ago, making his lucrative new four-year extension with the club even more remarkable.
- The Heat will head into 2013/14 as the favorites to come out of the East for a fourth straight year, but Lang Greene of HoopsWorld warns that sleeping on the Bulls, despite their fairly quiet offseason, would be a mistake.
- Ira Winderman's latest mailbag at the South Florida Sun Sentinel includes questions on the Heat's inactivity and on whether Mikhail Prokhorov's willingness to go deep into the luxury tax will have an effect on the league's other owners.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, David Thorpe poses "burning questions" facing the five Atlantic Division teams.
- Danny Granger (Pacers), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), and Paul Pierce (Nets) are a few of the players in contract years who Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld believes are worth watching.
Vogel On East, Offseason, Granger, Hibbert
Pacers head coach Frank Vogel was a guest on ESPN Radio in Indianapolis today and Scott Agness of Pacers.com transcribed much of the interview for us. Vogel hits on a number of topics, but specifically discussed the offseason developments at the top of the Eastern Conference, including those within his own team. Here are a few key points from Vogel:
- Vogel mentioned the Bulls and Nets as the two teams that have taken big steps forward this offseason; Chicago with the return of Derrick Rose and Brooklyn with their bevy of additions. Vogel lauded the bench additions of Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko in Brooklyn, and said he expects good things from Jason Kidd as an NBA coach.
- The Pacers' addition of Luis Scola will really help the team's bench, Vogel said, adding that Scola is one of smartest and most creative players in the league. Vogel said that Solomon Hill, drafted 23rd by Indiana in June, is "ready to contribute right away" and also mentioned C.J. Watson and Chris Copeland as useful additions to his squad.
- Of course, the piece most likely to elevate the Pacers to the next level is the return of Danny Granger, who missed all but five games last season with knee issues. On Granger, Vogel said, "It’s really exciting. Danny is on schedule, looks really good, he’s making progress each week and we’re hoping that we're going to be having a full-strength Danny Granger this year to add to this team that made a lot of noise last year."
- Roy Hibbert has concentrated on bulking up this summer, according to Vogel. Hibbert, who established himself as an elite physical presence in last season's playoffs, is adding bulk mainly in hopes of improving on the offensive end, Vogel said.
Odds & Ends: Brewer, Bucks, McGrady, Heat
Ronnie Brewer considered signing with the Bulls, Jazz and Lakers before ultimately choosing the Rockets, the 28-year-old swingman tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. He also reiterated his assertion from June that the Thunder were in play to re-sign him, too, but Houston's up-tempo style of play helped sway him. Despite having only a partially guaranteed deal on a team with a league-high 19 players under contract, he's not worried about getting cut. "If I come in and I do what I'm supposed to do, all of that goes out the window," he said to Berman. As Brewer gets set to officially sign his contract, here's more on the league's comings and goings with about a month to go before training camp:
- The Bucks have hired David Morway as assistant GM and Jim Cleamons as the team's top assistant coach, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel.
- So much of Tracy McGrady's talent vanished long before he announced his retirement today, and he went underappreciated in Orlando during his peak years, as John Denton of Magic.com argues. The Magic, Raptors and Rockets are all left wondering what might have been, the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat writes.
- Toure Murry still hasn't committed to the Knicks nearly a month after the club extended him a training camp invitation, but the 6'5" guard is expected to pick a team later this week, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
- In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman discusses the Heat's luxury-tax situation, their mid-level exception, and the possibility of the team signing Richard Hamilton.
- Now that 14 NBA teams have one-on-one relationships with their respective D-League affiliates, the remaining 16 teams are sharing three D-League clubs. Nonetheless, those squads with five or six NBA affiliations can still help young NBA players develop, as Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside outlines.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Reaction To Antawn Jamison’s Deal With Clippers
Minimum-salary signings usually don't generate much buzz, but when it's a player who averaged double-figure scoring for 13 consecutive seasons, the rules are different. Antawn Jamison put up a career-low 9.4 points per game last season in 21.4 minutes per contest, another low watermark, but he felt capable of a larger role. Here's more on his L.A. switch from the Lakers to the Clippers, as we detail here:
- The Clippers have had interest in signing both Jamison and Lamar Odom, but the effect that recent rumors of personal trouble for Odom will have upon his chances of joining the club is unclear, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Even with Jamison, the Clippers have an open spot on the regular season roster.
- Jamison was "hardly" interested in rejoining the Lakers, Medina writes in the same piece. The forward was turned off by infighting among his teammates and he didn't have the best relationship with coach Mike D'Antoni, who made him a healthy scratch for six straight games last season.
- The Bulls and Grizzlies had interest in Jamison, as a weekend report indicated, but his preference all along was to join the Clippers, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Jamison's meeting with Doc Rivers earlier this month essentially cinched the deal, as Rivers prioritized bringing aboard a veteran without an ego who's eager to win a championship, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). The Clippers envision Jamison as a mentor for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, Shelburne adds in a separate tweet.
- Jamison is joining a contender, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors predicted. “This is a good fit for me. Hopefully, I’m the player that can help take the team over the edge (for a title),” Jamison told Spears (Twitter link).
Clippers Nearing Deal With Antawn Jamison?
8:56pm: The Clippers have expressed renewed interest as of late, but there's no offer yet, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter). The Grizzlies and Bulls are also in the mix.
8:21pm: The Clippers are closing in on a deal with free agent Antawn Jamison, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter). The Clippers have been in talks with the veteran for much of the summer. Terms of the deal are not yet known but the Clips can only offer Jamison the veteran's minimum.
Jamison, 37, spent last season with the Lakers, averaging 9.4 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 21.5 minutes per contest. It was a noticeable step back from the forward's previous career averages of 19.5 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 36.3 minutes per game. Jamison's new club might not give him the opportunity to shine as he has in years past, but it will save him a bit in moving fees.
The Clippers were said to be waiting on other options, namely Lamar Odom, before signing Jamison. In fact, they told Jamison as much nearly two weeks ago when he thought he was on the verge of a deal.
The UNC product is represented by the Wasserman Media Group, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
Extension Candidate: Luol Deng
Luol Deng fits the profile of the rare veteran eligible for a contract extension who might actually sign one. He could be overlooked among the impressive potential class of free agents next summer if he allows his contract to expire, which may make it difficult to secure a long-term deal. Still, he remains a valuable player for the Bulls, the only NBA club he's ever suited up for. Those are conditions that generally favor extension talks, and indeed, Chicago GM Gar Forman says he's begun to discuss an extension for Deng, even though Deng's agent, Herb Rudoy, denies any such conversations have taken place.
The 27-year-old delivers on both ends of the floor, often using his 7-foot wingspan to help him shut down the opposing team's best wing player in Tom Thibodeau's vaunted defense while averaging 16.0 points per game for his career on the other end. He exceeded that mark slightly in 2012/13, when he poured in 16.5 PPG, and added a new wrinkle last season, averaging a career high 3.0 assists per game in the absence of the injured Derrick Rose. He's incorporated the three-pointer into his arsenal since Thibodeau has been his coach, knocking down 35.8% of his 3.1 long-range attempts per game the past three seasons, even though he had an off year from behind the arc in 2012/13.
Last season ended in frightening fashion for Deng, who fell ill and had a spinal tap to test for meningitis. The spinal tap caused a life-threatening infection, knocking him out of the playoffs but thankfully subsiding so he could recover this summer. It was a rare absence from the court for Deng, who not only led the league in minutes per game the past two seasons, but appeared in 89.1% of his team's regular season and playoff games the last four years. Deng has shown durability in the face of taxing minutes and Thibodeau's demanding defensive schemes, and, at 28, he doesn't show signs of slowing down anytime soon.
The South Sudanese native shows up to play, but the emergence of Jimmy Butler last season might have helped fuel Chicago's exploratory talks with the Wizards about swapping Deng for the No. 3 pick and Emeka Okafor. Forman and executive VP of basketball ops John Paxson may also have been influenced by statistics that say the Bulls were better when Deng was off the court last season than when he was on it. Chicago outscored its opponents by 0.9 points when Deng wasn't on the floor, and the team was outscored by 0.2 points when Deng was playing, per NBA.com. Even though Deng played nearly 75% of the 3,966 regular season minutes he possibly could have, that still leaves about 1,000 minutes when he wasn't on the floor, indicating a sample size large enough for study. Of course, the stat isn't infallible — it doesn't account for the other four guys on the floor with him, nor does it factor in the lineups other teams are countering with. Still, it suggests that Deng isn't a linchpin for the team's success. Indeed, the same measurement shows the Bulls were better off without Deng on the floor in 2011/12, too.
Executives around the league have pegged Deng's market value at anywhere between $11MM and $14MM. Deng is entering the final season of a somewhat backloaded six year, $71.06MM contract that he signed under the old collective bargaining agreement. He'd be limited to a five-year deal from the Bulls in free agency under the current CBA, and he can only tack on three extra years via an extension. Just as he couldn't match the length of his current deal, he'd also be hard-pressed to equal his $14.215MM salary for this season. Productive players in their prime don't often take significant paycuts, so that might drive Rudoy and Deng away from the bargaining table in hopes that Deng can land a deal worth closer to $14MM than $11MM in free agency.
Chicago's willingness to entertain the idea of trading Deng for a package headlined by the No. 3 pick in a weak draft may show that the team isn't going to consent to an extension for Deng unless it involves a hefty reduction in salary. News of extension talks came out a day after the trade rumor, which might simply mean the Bulls are trying to offer an olive branch to a long-tenured part of their team. Weeks later, Forman said conversations about an extension were continuing, perhaps with the Bulls hoping that Deng would become anxious and accept the guarantee of long-term money rather than play out the season and risk serious injury or a decline in performance. That doesn't seem likely in this case, given Deng's track record of durability, as well as his consistency. Some of the trappings of what makes veteran extensions happen are there with Deng and the Bulls, but I don't think they're enough for a deal.
Bulls Invite Dexter Pittman To Training Camp
After being released by the Grizzlies in April, Dexter Pittman will join a new NBA team in hopes of earning a roster spot for the coming season. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports that Pittman has turned down an offer from an Italian club in favor of a training-camp invite from the Bulls.
Pittman, 25, has spent most of his three-year NBA career with the Heat, winning a title with the team in 2011/12. However, he was sent to Memphis in a deadline deal back in February, and was cut by the Grizzlies just before the club's playoff run started. In 48 career NBA contests since 2010, Pittman has averaged 2.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG, while those averages increase to 13.6 PPG and 8.4 RPG in 37 D-League games over the same period.
With Pittman's addition not yet official, the Bulls only have 12 players under contract, so there definitely should be room for the former second-round pick on the regular-season roster if he earns a spot. Still, I'd imagine Pittman's deal will be fully non-guaranteed, affording the club some flexibility.
Odds & Ends: Union, Lucas, Draft, Brown
With the offseason winding down, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identified who the real contenders will be in 2013/14. The back-to-back champion Heat top the list with some of the other usual suspects, including the Spurs and Thunder. The Bulls should be vaulted back into contention with the long-awaited return of Derrick Rose. The Clippers are a bona fide contender after re-signing Chris Paul, landing Doc Rivers as coach, and adding J.J. Redick. The Nets, who now boast the most expensive roster in the NBA by far, hope to be among the league's elite with first-time coach Jason Kidd at the helm. And of course, the Rockets will be one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on after luring Dwight Howard away from L.A. Here's more from around the Association..
- NBPA executive committee member Jerry Stackhouse told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron James' comments about the union felt like a "kick in the stomach". "I don't think he's had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is," Stackhouse said. "To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed."
- Point guard John Lucas III was a safe choice for the Jazz, in the sense that he won't threaten Trey Burke or expect to be the main one-guard for the long-term. However, Utah believes they have more than a capable stop-gap and more than a positive locker room influence in the veteran, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) runs down the 2014 NBA Draft and notes that its remarkable depth could make it the best ever. Ford's latest big board has Andrew Wiggins at the top, followed by Kentucky's Julius Randle, Australian Dante Exum, Duke's Jabari Parker, and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News gives his immediate and long-term outlook for the league's 13 new coaches. The list starts with the latest hire, 76ers coach Brett Brown.
- Jordan Hill's summer assignment is to become the stretch four that the Lakers need, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Hill missed 53 games last year, mostly because of back and hip trouble.
Several Teams In Mix For Anthony Tolliver
FRIDAY, 2:58pm: Rather than narrowing down his list of suitors, Tolliver seems to be heading in the other direction. The Magic, Spurs, and Knicks are also interested in him, according to Tomasson (via Twitter). Still, Tolliver expects to make a decision next week.
THURSDAY, 3:16pm: The Lakers have entered the mix for Tolliver, writes Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Sulia). According to Tolliver, talks with the Lakers are still preliminary, but he's considering them alongside the Bobcats, Bulls, and Jazz. Tolliver added that he visited Charlotte on Monday and the team made him a minimum-salary contract offer.
WEDNESDAY, 1:08pm: Anthony Tolliver has narrowed his free agent decision down to three teams, and is expected to finalize a deal this weekend, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Sierra reports that Tolliver will likely sign with either the Bobcats, Bulls, or Jazz.
Tolliver, 28, spent the 2012/13 season with the Hawks, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 62 contests (15.5 MPG). The last report we heard on Tolliver came nearly a month ago, and suggested that the 6'8" forward was in talks with five teams, including Atlanta.
Utah still has a little cap space left, along with its room exception, but Charlotte and Chicago appear to be capped out. As such, it looks like Tolliver will sign another minimum-salary deal, unless the Jazz outbid the other two finalists.
Adrian Griffin Out Of Running For Sixers’ Job?
Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin is out of the running for the Sixers head coaching position, reports Dei Lynam of CSN Philly, citing an NBA source with knowledge the situation. Griffin was one of four coaching candidates scheduled to interview a second time with the Sixers this week.
The Sixers are finally nearing a decision in their summer-long quest to find Doug Collins' replacement, and it sounds like Michael Curry, Brett Brown, Jay Larranaga, Kenny Atkinson and David Vanterpool are currently the only ones left standing.