- The reigning champion Cavaliers have hit some bumps in the road since the All-Star break. Tom Withers of the Denver Post wrote about how frustration on the court may be starting to seep into the locker room.
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo and Pascal Siakam to the Raptors 905, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to their Twitter feed. Siakam is one of the many 2016 first-round picks who have seen action in the D-League this season, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed.
- The Cavaliers have assigned Kay Felder to the Canton Charge, according to the team’s Twitter feed. The rookie has appeared in 11 games for Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, scoring 29.9 points per contest.
- The Clippers have recalled Brice Johnson from the Salt Lake City Stars, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times relays (Twitter link). Los Angeles doesn’t have its own D-League affiliate, so Johnson played for the Stars via the flex assignment rule.
GM David Griffin, who built the Cavaliers into a championship team, isn’t signed beyond this season but has a powerful advocate in the organization, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
LeBron James, who returned to Cleveland under Griffin’s watch, is among many supporters he has in the locker room. James said Griffin “has tried to make every move happen” to raise the talent level in Cleveland.
“He went out, we needed some interior help, he went out and got Timo [Timofey Mozgov],” James said. “We needed some perimeter defense, some perimeter shooting, he made a trade to be able to get Swish [J.R. Smith] and Shump [Iman Shumpert]. And that was the start of it. We needed more interior depth, he got Perk [Kendrick Perkins]. We got guys. We brought guys in. We needed some more athletic wings, he made a move, I don’t know how he finagled it to get RJ [Richard Jefferson] here. And so on and so on …”
“I mean, all the guys that are here. We wanted a stretch-4 to help [Kevin Love] out, we make a trade to get Channing [Frye]. I mean, I can name all the pieces that he’s been able to [acquire].”
Griffin is working on the final year of his contract after extension talks failed last summer. He joined the organization in 2010 as vice president of basketball operations, was named acting GM in 2014 and got the job on a full-time basis later that year.
In addition to acquiring on-court talent, Griffin made the decision to fire coach David Blatt midway through last season and replace him with Tyronn Lue. Griffin rewarded Lue with a five-year, $35 million extension in July.
James understands that many outsiders believes he really runs the franchise, which causes Griffin to get less respect than he deserves.
“Obviously they always want to bring my name into it and say that obviously, it’s easier because guys want to be here because I’m here,” James said. “But at the end of the day, he still has to press the right buttons because I’m not in the war room, I’m not in the draft room with those [front office] guys. I don’t know how much we may be over the luxury tax or if we have a trade exception here or how that’s going to work there or how many days we got to do this. So, it wouldn’t, seriously, I don’t know why it would make any sense to bring in a new GM. That don’t make no sense.”
While the Cavs have long clinched a postseason spot, LeBron James wasn’t happy with the team’s focus (or lack thereof) in Thursday’s 99-93 loss to the Bulls. James spoke to reporters after the game, emphasizing the importance of finishing the regular season strong.
“We’re just in a bad spot right now,” James told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “I think the effort was there. I just don’t think the concentration for as close to 48 minutes is there yet. Which is unfortunate. Tomorrow’s another day. It’s another opportunity, but we’ve got some work to do. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Indeed, with just eight games left before the playoffs, the Cavs have a limited timeframe to overtake Boston for the first seed in the Eastern Conference. Now 4-6 over their last 10, Cleveland’s late-season struggles have been much publicized.
According to a recent report from Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, veteran James Jones addressed the team following a recent loss, asking his teammates what they wanted out of the season. Additionally, a source told Vardon that a difficult road schedule combined with losing has resulted in “frayed nerves.”
“To be perfectly honest, we’re probably all over the place,” Irving added after last night’s road loss. “It’s no time to kind of back up into the wall and panic. I’m not panicking and I don’t think anyone in this locker room should panic. We’re going to be just fine. It’s ugly right now. It’s real, real ugly. But we’ll get out of this, we’ll be fine.”
Discontent marinates within the Cavaliers‘ locker room and veteran James Jones recently spoke to the team to try to sort out the issues, sources tell Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. After the team’s loss to the Spurs, Jones rhetorically asked players what they wanted out of the season. Vardon adds that neither Kyrie Irving nor LeBron James addressed the team, but a source told the scribe that the losing and travel have “frayed nerves.”
Cleveland owns a record of 6-9 during the month of March and the team has the eighth worst Plus/Minus over that stretch, as I recently mentioned.
Here’s more from The Land:
- Irving holds himself accountable for the Cavaliers‘ struggles, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes. “I had to face it, had to face the music,” Irving said of his performance against the Spurs earlier in the week. “I think we all had to do it. But me more importantly, I had to look in the mirror and just wasn’t doing enough. I need to demand more out of myself and do it at a high level.”
- Irving and James had an extended and emotional conversation after the Spurs loss, Shelburne adds in the same piece. Irving declines to comment on the nature of the meeting, calling it “private.”
- Irving believes getting J.R. Smith and Kevin Love back up to speed has been problematic, but the Olympian said it’s his job to help them, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com relays. “I have to do my best as a point guard to integrate J.R. and K-Love and get our starting five back to having the continuity,” Irving said. “It hasn’t been perfect, to say the least. There’s definitely been some ups and downs and disagreements. But as adults and professionals we just have to figure it out.”
- The Cavaliers have nine games left in the season, including tonight’s tilt with the Bulls, and coach Tyronn Lue feels it’s enough time to right the ship, Fedor adds in the same piece. “I feel like we can get it right,” Lue said. “We’re right anyway. We’re still right there.
- With the postseason around the corner, Tyronn Lue is facing his toughest challenge since taking over as the Cavaliers‘ head coach. Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains.
- Kyle Korver will miss at least the next two games for the Cavaliers. He could miss more time, but he definitely wants to return before the end of the regular season, Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal relays. “No, no, I don’t want to do that at all,” Korver said when asked about missing the rest of the season. “I’m hopeful just a few days here to completely shut down and not trying to test it out and see how it feels today. Take a few days and let it totally calm down and see where we’re at.”
The Cavaliers slipped into second place in the East with Monday’s loss in San Antonio, and the disappointing performance by role players is part of the problem, writes Sam Amico of AmicoHoops. He singles out Deron Williams, who signed with the Cavs after being waived by the Mavericks last month, along with J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. All except Williams have contracts that run beyond this season.
Smith is working his way back from a broken thumb, but Amico contends that he has been ineffective all season. Smith is averaging 8.0 points per game and shooting just 33% from the field after agreeing to a four-year, $57MM deal in October.
There’s more today out of Cleveland:
- Coach Tyronn Lue may be willing to fall farther in the standings if it means getting rest for some of his players before the postseason, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Cleveland is just two games up on third-place Washington and two and a half ahead of fourth-place Toronto. “I know the situation in Boston we had where we was back and forth between the first and second seed and Doc [Rivers] decided to rest [Kevin Garnett], Ray [Allen] and Paul [Pierce] the last seven games,” said Lue, who was an assistant with the Celtics. “We was the four seed and still went to the Finals. He picked health over seed and that was important to us knowing if he had a healthy team we’d be OK. I kind of feel the same way.” However, Vardon says Lue doesn’t remember the situation accurately as the Celtics’ three veterans barely had their playing time changed.
- The Cavaliers are paying the price for resting their stars earlier in the season rather than trying to win every night, charges Bill Livingston of Cleveland.com.
- Kyle Korver will be held out through Friday to get treatment on his sore left foot, writes Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. He missed Monday’s game in San Antonio, and won’t play Thursday at Chicago or Friday against Philadelphia. Korver will be re-assessed after those games and hopes he won’t miss the rest of the regular season. “I’m hopeful just a few days here to completely shut down and not trying to test it out and see how it feels today,” he said. “Take a few days and let it totally calm down and see where we’re at.”
- Cleveland City Council was scheduled to open debate this morning on a proposed upgrade to Quicken Loans Arena, according to Robert Higgs of Cleveland.com. If approved, the project will combine $88MM in city funds with millions from the county and the team. The Cavs hope to start construction this summer and have it complete in time to host the 2020 All-Star Game.
Check out Sunday’s D-League assignment and recalls:
- The Pistons have recalled Henry Ellenson from their D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets. Beard notes that the rookie will be available for Detroit’s matchup with the Knicks on Monday.
- The Cavaliers have assigned Larry Sanders to the Canton Charge, per Sam Amico of Amico Hoops (Twitter link). Sanders has only seen two minutes of action for Cleveland this season.
- The Spurs have assigned Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes to the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. Bertans has appeared in three games for San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, while Forbes has seen action in 18 contests.
- The Mavericks have recalled Manny Harris and Jarrod Uthoff from the Texas Legends, Earl K. Sneed of Fox Sports tweets. Both players will see their respective 10-day contracts with Dallas expire at the end of the day on Tuesday.
- The Rockets have recalled Chinanu Onuaku, Isaiah Taylor and Troy Williams from their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, per the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Grizzlies have recall Wade Baldwin and Deyonta Davis from the Iowa Energy, according to the team’s website. Baldwin has played in 33 D-League games this season, while Davis has seen action in 11 contests.
- The Pelicans recalled Cheick Diallo from Greensboro, the team announced through a press release. Diallo, who has averaged 22.3 points over his last three D-League games, will be available for tonight’s match-up with Denver.
Coach Tyronn Lue is concerned about Tristan Thompson‘s playing time, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, but the Cavaliers have few other options at center. Thompson is playing 30 minutes per night, his highest total in three years, and Lue is concerned that he might get worn down by playoff time. “We just have to try to figure out ways to get him off the floor like last night, getting his minutes down,” Lue said Saturday. “Then getting him off the floor tonight trying to do the same thing. He’s the only center we have. He has to play right now.” The Cavs thought they solved that problem when they signed Andrew Bogut last month, but a broken leg in his first game took him out of the equation.
There’s more news out of Cleveland:
- Free agent center Larry Sanders, who was signed as a replacement for Bogut, appears far away from being ready to help, Fedor notes in the same piece. Sanders has seen most of his action in the D-League since joining the Cavs March 13th. He has played just two minutes in two games at the NBA level. “Well, we have to try to get him in some better shape. Right now his timing and shape is not good,” Lue said. “That’s why he’s been in the D-League playing and trying to get ready. The guys in the D-League say he’s been great. He’s just trying to work and trying to get to that point.”
- Lue said J.R. Smith is going through “training camp” after missing a major part of the season with a fractured right thumb, Fedor relays in a separate piece. Smith, who has shot just 31% from the field in the 10 games since his return, was moved back into the starting lineup Wednesday. “It’s like preseason for him,” Lue said. “Just trying to get these games under his belt to get his rhythm, get his timing, get his legs defensively and lock into what we’re doing. When you miss training camp early in the season and then you get hurt early in the season it’s been tough on him. He’s got to work his way through it and I know he will.”
- Starting Smith has weakened the team’s defense, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscription site). When Iman Shumpert or DeAndre Liggins started, they defended opposing point guards. Since the change, that task has fallen to Kyrie Irving, and the Cavs surrendered a combined 65 points to Kemba Walker and John Wall in back-to-back games.