Central Notes: Blatt, Van Gundy, Bulls
Cavaliers coach David Blatt isn’t a fan of the idea that Monday’s blowout loss to the Warriors signaled deep-running problems for his team, as Tom Withers of The Associated Press details. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com suggested that Blatt’s job security depends on the team’s performance in the second half of this season, and other columnists have opined that the Cavs face a crossroads. Blatt said he doesn’t appreciate “far-reaching conclusions,” Withers notes.
“It’s about my team,” he said. “It’s about my guys and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. My guys are out there fighting for the Cavaliers and doing the best job they can in a tough NBA — very tough — especially because this is a team that night after night has a target on its back. They go out there and they fight and they play and they deal with adversity like we’ve had to deal with all year. We are far from perfect and we are still not at our best, but it’s not for lack of effort.”
See more on the Cavs and other Central Division teams:
- SB Nation’s Tom Ziller also suggests the ramifications of the loss aren’t as severe as they’ve otherwise been portrayed, since it isn’t a given that the Warriors will get to the Finals and because the Cavs have little recourse to affect roster changes that would help them better match up with Golden State anyway.
- Pistons owner Tom Gores has committed more money and energy into the Pistons than it initially seemed reasonable to expect, and he’s made strong hires, particularly with coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, opines Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News. “There’s still gonna be a lot of ups and downs, but I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re on the right path and making progress,” Van Gundy said. “There’s also no doubt there’s still a long, long way to go.”
- The Bulls might not be a title favorite, but they’re still close enough to that level that they need not tear down the roster, contends Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.
And-Ones: Williams, Love, McLemore
Shooting guard Elliot Williams, whom the Grizzlies didn’t sign to a second 10-day contract after his first expired on Sunday, has declined multiple offers from overseas teams as he awaits another NBA team to come calling, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). Williams averaged 1.6 points on 20% shooting in nine minutes per contest across five appearances for Memphis. The Grizzlies instead signed center Ryan Hollins to a 10-day contract today, filling the roster spot Williams had been in.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Bulls are a team in disarray, which is a byproduct of parting ways with former coach Tom Thibodeau, Colin McGowan of RealGM writes. Chicago wanted a coach who was more respectful of the chain of command, and it got that in new coach Fred Hoiberg, but the team has looked sluggish on offense and disinterested in defense far too often this season as a result of the switch, McGowan contends.
- Kings shooting guard Ben McLemore‘s playing time has suffered due to the offseason additions of Rajon Rondo and Marco Belinelli, and the third-year player is still trying to adjust to his new role, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “I think I’m still trying to find my flow on this team,” McLemore told Jones. “I know what I need to do. I’m just trying to figure it out. Last year I figured it out pretty fast. Now I need to get over this hump and push from there.”
- If the Cavaliers are to maximize their potential this season, power forward Kevin Love will need to fully embrace his role as the team’s third star, Kevin Cottrell Jr. of NBA.com writes. Love has struggled with his touches and role being reduced since arriving in Cleveland, something that Chris Bosh, a former teammate of LeBron James, cautioned could become an issue when the trade for Love was first announced, Cottrell notes.
- LSU’s Ben Simmons tops the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider subscription required). The combo forward is followed on Ford’s list by Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Croatian big man Dragan Bender, who round out the top three.
Cavs Notes: Love, LeBron, Blatt
The Cavs held a meeting before practice Tuesday to clear the air following Monday’s blowout loss to the Warriors, and Kevin Love had a major bounce-back performance Wednesday, posting 17 points and a whopping 18 rebounds in 31 minutes as the Cavaliers rolled to victory over the Nets, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details. It came on the heels of a miserable performance Monday in which he had only three points and six rebounds, and Love said Wednesday that he didn’t intend for a comment he made following the Warriors game in which he appeared to call out LeBron James to be perceived as a shot at the four-time MVP, McMenamin notes.
“All I meant was that LeBron is our leader and we follow him at the end of the day,” Love said. “We all got to be better for each other, him, our fans, our organization, each and every player on this team, our coaches.”
James said he believes Love’s contention that he didn’t mean to be critical, according to McMenamin, but the fallout from Monday’s wake-up call of a loss remains. See more:
- Love was at a loss for words after Monday’s game when asked about what his role on the team is, and he’s not an easy fit on the Cavs roster, argues Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Cleveland already has fellow power forward Tristan Thompson, who, like Love, is just starting a five-year deal, and James, who also excels at power forward, as Bontemps points out.
- David Blatt‘s continued employment as coach of the Cavs depends largely on how well Love performs down the stretch this season, opines Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- James isn’t as singularly dominant as he once was and his teammates aren’t giving him the on-court support he needs, contends Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, who believes James simply isn’t as relevant on the NBA landscape as he has been in the past. Still, a disappearance from center stage would suit James just fine, he said Wednesday, as McMenamin relays in his story. “I actually wish they continue to forget about us. Completely forget about us,” James said. “For the first time in my career I could fly under the radar. For us, we as a basketball team, we just got to go out and prove it to ourselves. It’s not about what everybody else thinks. We need to be with each other and get better every night. I think tonight it was very easy to look each other in the face and know that we got better out there.”
Central Rumors: Portis, Love, Jackson
Rookie power forward Bobby Portis will be the biggest beneficiary of Joakim Noah‘s shoulder injury that will likely cost him the season, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed to the media, including Hoops Rumors. Noah will be sidelined up to six months after undergoing surgery for his dislocated left shoulder. Portis will become a rotation regular in his absence. Power forwards Cameron Bairstow and Cristiano Felicio will also receive more playing time. “It’s a great opportunity for some other guys,” Hoiberg said. “Bobby, his minutes were a little inconsistent after that stretch where he played when Jo was sitting out [with a previous shoulder sprain]. He knows now he’s going to play extended minutes pretty much every night. And other guys are going to have to step up. Cam and Cris are going to have to be ready to go out there and give us some minutes.” The Bulls are 9-2 in games Noah has missed but Hoiberg brushes aside that statistic. “I don’t think you’ll find one guy in that locker room that would say we’re a better team with Jo not in the lineup,” he said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score. He’s a guy we’ll absolutely miss the rest of the season.”
In other news around the Central Division:
- Finding a way for power forward Kevin Love and point guard Kyrie Irving to coexist is paramount for the Cavs to have any hope of winning the NBA title this season, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com opines. Love’s stats have declined since Irving returned from the knee injury that kept him out until late last month. Love was averaging 17.6 points on 43% shooting without Irving this season, compared to 13.4 points on 37% shooting with Irving back in action. Cavs players reportedly wouldn’t mind a trade for Suns power forward Markieff Morris, though the front office doesn’t share their enthusiasm. The Cavs could try to go small more often with Love at center and deal Timofey Mozgov, who has seen his playing time decline dramatically, but making major roster moves could also backfire, Berger adds.
- Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is frustrated by the team’s inability to put together a winning streak, as he told the media, including Hoops Rumors. Detroit handed the Warriors their fourth loss of the season on Saturday, then had a low-energy performance while losing to the Bulls Monday. “We’re a consistently inconsistent team,” Jackson said. “We’ve shown we play well at times. We play to the level of our opponent quite a bit. We’ve shown the world that we have flashes of being a good team and then we show flashes of being not so good.”
- Shooting guard Dionte Christmas, who spent training camp with the Cavs this fall, will have his contract with AEK Athens guaranteed for the season, international journalist David Pick tweets. Christmas previously signed a one-month deal with the Greek team, Pick adds. Christmas, who was waived after playing four preseason games with Cleveland, signed with Israel’s Hapoel Holon in December and then was released from that contract to play in Europe.
Eastern Notes: Cavs, Sixers, Larkin, Pistons
The Warriors have young stars and younger players in position to develop, but they already appear to be a step ahead of the Cavaliers, as Monday’s blowout win and last year’s Finals demonstrate, observes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Cleveland has to be concerned, with 31-year-old LeBron James showing signs of exiting his prime and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combining for just 11 points Monday, especially since the Cavs don’t appear to have a lot of ways to improve their roster aside from drastic moves, Bontemps opines. The Cavs have a deep bench, but the status quo isn’t working, contends Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal. James chalks it up to inexperience for Irving and Love, and the four-time MVP said “young guys” on the team are putting too much stock in what they read about themselves, according to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
“We’ve got some inexperienced guys that haven’t played enough meaningful basketball games where they can fall back on,” James said. “When it gets a little tough sometimes, it’s not like they can kind of fall back on previous experiences to try and help them get through it.”
See more from the Eastern Conference:
- Sixers ownership was worried last summer that drafting Kristaps Porzingis, who was largely shrouded in mystery at the time, would have alienated fans amid GM Sam Hinkie‘s slow rebuilding process, so they wanted the team to draft one of Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell or Jahlil Okafor with the No. 3 pick, sources have indicated to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Philadelphia took Okafor, of course.
- Nets offseason signee Shane Larkin was experiencing a breakthrough year, but he’s slumped this month and has lost his starting job to journeyman Donald Sloan, notes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Interim coach Tony Brown cautioned that the team isn’t “down on” Larkin, however.
- MLive’s midseason grades for the Pistons range from an A-minus for soon-to-be restricted free agent Andre Drummond to a D for Reggie Bullock. That’s even though the team privately wishes Drummond played harder, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The Pistons picked up Bullock’s team option for next season after his strong play in October, which Bullock has failed to carry over into the regular season. Stan Van Gundy and his coaching and front office staffs received a B-plus.
Cavaliers Explore Trade Market For Mozgov
The Cavaliers have started to gauge the market for center Timofey Mozgov, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Mozgov’s playing time has been cut from 25 minutes per game after coming to Cleveland last season to 17.8 this year. As a result, his scoring has fallen from 10.6 to 6.1 points per game and his rebounding average has dipped from 6.9 to 4.3. He’s earning $4.95MM in the final year of his contract.
Phoenix has tried to put together multi-team trades to get rid of Markieff Morris, who has expressed displeasure with the Suns organization since his brother Marcus was traded to the Pistons during the offseason, Wojnarowski writes. He cites league sources who say Cleveland could act as a facilitator in one of these deals.
Several teams have reportedly contacted the Cavaliers about a possible deal for the 29-year-old Mozgov. Cleveland could save an estimated $15MM to $20MM in tax penalties by moving Mozgov before the February deadline, although the front office had been leaning toward keeping him in hopes that he could start contributing the way he did last season.
Cavs Seek Three-And-D Wing Player
Influential Cavs players are open to trading for Markieff Morris, but the front office is instead looking for a defensive-minded wing player who can effectively shoot spot-up jumpers from long range, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer hears. Cavs higher-ups want that three-and-D wing to back up Iman Shumpert, concerned that the way Shumpert plays will again leave him injured, just as he was to start the season with a wrist issue that cost him the team’s first 21 games, Haynes reports.
The Suns have made Morris “very available” for a trade, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote last month, amid a losing season, a benching, and a back-and-forth that included a summer trade demand, a media day backtracking, and a suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek. Cavs players nonetheless think he’d be solid if veteran voices LeBron James, Richard Jefferson and James Jones were in his ear, according to Haynes. However, the Cavs brass is worried Morris would upset team chemistry, Haynes hears. The players also like the idea of adding Morris as insurance behind Kevin Love, Haynes writes. Love, like Shumpert, has had trouble with injuries in the past.
The Cavs have an open roster spot after trading Joe Harris to the Magic this week, a move that helped reduce Cleveland’s massive projected tax bill. The team is nonetheless in line to shell out about $170MM between payroll and taxes, and trading for Morris and his $8MM salary using its $10,522,500 trade exception would send that figure about $25MM higher, putting the Cavs in position to break the record of the 2013/14 Nets, who laid out more than $193MM, for the most money spent in a single season. The alternative would be to send matching salary to Phoenix, but either way, the Suns would likely want assets the Cavs simply don’t have, Haynes posits. The Suns are reportedly looking for young players or draft picks in exchange for Morris, and the Cavs have unloaded many such assets since going into win-now mode upon LeBron’s 2014 return.
Three-and-D wing players are tough to find on the trade market. The Suns have rugged defender P.J. Tucker, a career 35.5% 3-point shooter, but they’ve given no indication that they’re prepared to deal him yet.
Which do you think the Cavs need more, a three-and-D wing or Morris? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Eastern Notes: Brown, James, Pistons
Nets forward Thaddeus Young pulled no punches when discussing the difference in playing for interim coach Tony Brown versus former coach Lionel Hollins, who was fired on Sunday, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays (via Twitter). When asked his feelings about suiting up for Brown, Young said, “When your coach is not panicking and he’s staying positive and he’s continued to motivate us, it’s huge for us as far as an energy standpoint. It makes us continue to want to go out there and continue to play, and it doesn’t keep us thinking about what happened before as much. But Tony’s mentality is, forget what happened before this and let’s try to push and try to win this game. That’s huge for us as a team. It says a lot that he believes in us, that he wants us to compete.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith notes that the team’s excellent work ethic comes from following the example set by LeBron James, whose dedication has rubbed off on his teammates, as Marc Narducci of HoopsHype relays. When asked what it has been like to play alongside James, Smith told Narducci, “For one, he elevates everybody’s game and holds everybody to a higher standard. He makes you hold yourself to a higher standard. This is the first team I have been on where everybody stays after practice to work on their game. Everybody wants to be better every single day and a lot of that has to do with him. He is a credit to that. He holds himself to a high standard. We see how hard he works each and every day. If your best player is working twice as hard as the next person, it gives you enthusiasm and drive to work harder.”
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is using the Spurs’ track record of consistency as an organization as a model for how he wants to build Detroit’s roster, John Niyo of The Detroit News writes. “I do think, looking forward, one of things we’ve talked about in trying to build this team is we have a chance for continuity,” Van Gundy said. “And I think you see it when you see a team like San Antonio, that over time it allows you to build on what you’re doing.”
And-Ones: Baron Davis, Jeff Green, Magic, Draft
Baron Davis is drawing NBA interest, his agent tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link), cautioning that he has not yet signed with the D-League, as reported, but plans to do so. The Todd Ramasar client has full confidence the D-League will lead him back to the NBA, where he hasn’t played since the 2011/12 season, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher details.
“When someone asked me [when I’d make my comeback] before, I didn’t want to answer,” Davis said to Bucher. “If I make it in the NBA or wind up playing overseas, I will be at peace. I know the NBA is the place for me because I have the game and now I have the confidence in my body. The last six years I was hurt and in pain and I wasn’t myself. I’m moving a lot faster and better than I did then.”
Davis spawned confusion two summers ago when he made a film that appeared to poke fun at the idea of him returning to the NBA, Bucher notes. Multiple NBA executives thought Davis wasn’t serious about a comeback, though one assistant GM told Bucher that as long as Davis is engaged and in shape, he merits consideration. The Mavs have been linked to him, but owner Mark Cuban has said the team’s interest exists only at the D-League level. See more from around the NBA:
- Jeff Green has frustrated at least one prominent Grizzlies teammate, as a “guy who matters” on the team “wanted to wring his neck” Tuesday, when Memphis lost to the Rockets and Dave Joerger benched Green for the second half, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal said in a podcast. Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk has the transcription. Green has struggled on the court and his attitude “hasn’t been the best,” Tillery also said.
- The Magic accepted cash via trade for the third time since July 1st on Tuesday, when the Cavs gave them $934,614 in the Joe Harris deal, but they still have $1,286,686 remaining against the $3.4MM limit for the season, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links).
- The NCAA’s rule change to push back the date underclassmen can withdraw until 10 days after the NBA combine is a sensible move because it helps players more than it hurts college coaches, opines Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell wonders if it will also lead NBA officials to start working out underclassmen at their colleges instead of having the prospects go to NBA sites, since the NCAA probably wouldn’t want NBA teams paying the travel costs for players who could return to play in college.
Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Varejao, Jones
Cavs center Timofey Mozgov is struggling this season, and even LeBron James is at a loss for what it will take to snap the Russian big man out of his funk, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I’m not sure,” James said when asked what’s wrong with Mozgov. “I’m not sure where he’s mentally. Only he knows that. As a leader of the team, you just give him as much positive energy, give him as much positive notion about what he needs to do for our team. But at the end of the day, like I told you guys last year about Kevin Love, you can give a guy so much but at the end of the day, you got to figure it out yourself too sometimes. I think he’s at that point.”
Mozgov’s name has surfaced recently in trade rumors, though the Cavs’ front office prefers to keep the big man through the remainder of the season with the hope that he can turn his play around, McMenamin adds. Cleveland could save between $15-20MM in tax penalties by dealing away Mozgov prior to February’s trade deadline. Here’s more from Cleveland:
- Anderson Varejao is averaging a career low 8.8 minutes per game this season, but the center says that he won’t request a trade, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “If I go anywhere else and win a championship, it’s not going to be the same,” Varejao said. “I want to win a championship in Cleveland. That’s where I want to stay. I love Cleveland.” When asked why he wouldn’t welcome an opportunity to play more, even with another team, the center responded, “Because Cleveland’s been loyal to me and I’ve been loyal to the team. I had a chance to leave when the team was really bad, going through a rebuilding process when we were losing almost every other game, and it was tough. I said, ‘I’m not leaving Cleveland. I want to win a championship in Cleveland’ and I know now we have a chance.”
- Damon Jones, who is currently an assistant coach for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate, credits James for his newfound career path, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports writes. “He’s been very instrumental,” Jones said of James. “He was the reason why I got the opportunity last [season]. He felt comfortable in me helping him in any way possible. It gave me an avenue to get back in the game. Not only right now, but even when I played we had a great relationship and he did a lot of things for my career. Without him, I don’t know if the opportunities I’m receiving right now would be received.”