Cavs Eye Kosta Koufos, Dangle Dion Waiters
The Cavs have been asking the Grizzlies about their willingness to trade Kosta Koufos, whose camp has let the Grizzlies know about their dissatisfaction with the center’s playing time this year and last, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Cavs have told teams around the league that they’re willing to part with Dion Waiters if they can net a “difference-making center” in return, and Koufos would fit the profile, Stein writes. That advances an earlier report from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who’s heard that the Cavs have been open to moving Waiters.
The Cavs are also interested in Grizzlies small forward Tayshaun Prince, as Brian Windhorst, Stein’s ESPN.com colleague, reported last week, but it’s unclear whether Memphis is ready to tinker with its roster amid a 16-4 start. The Grizzlies reportedly tried multiple times this past summer to trade Prince, but there’s been no such chatter surrounding Koufos, even though his minutes have declined in each of the two seasons since Memphis acquired him via trade from Denver. Koufos started 81 games and averaged 22.4 minutes per contest for the Nuggets in 2012/13 and saw that playing time cut to 16.9 MPG in his first season with the Grizzlies. That figure is down to 14.1 MPG this year, and he’s seeing less time on the court than fellow backup big man Jon Leuer. Koufos is making $3MM in the final season of his contract this year, a figure that would fit into the nearly $5.286MM trade exception the Cavs possess and that Windhorst expects Cleveland to use between December 15th and January 10th.
His impending free agency makes Koufos an easier trade target than his former Nuggets teammate, Timofey Mozgov, whose affordable contract runs through 2015/16 and whom Denver appears unwilling to give up, Stein posits. Mark Termini, the agent for Koufos, negotiates contracts for the Klutch Sports Group, an agency with close ties to the Cavs.
The Cavs have reportedly sought rim protection as well as a defensive stopper on the wings in recent months, apparently having had interest in Corey Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko for their perimeter in addition to Prince. Waiters has made his mark primarily on the offensive end, and while he’d like to start, as Stein notes, he’s been coming off the bench since the second week of the season. The Sixers have reportedly held interest in Waiters, a Philadelphia native, at multiple points over the last 12 months, and the Cavs reportedly discussed him with an unknown team picking in the top 10 in the draft this past June. He’s making $4.062MM in the third year of his rookie scale contract.
Will Cherry To Play In Lithuania
SUNDAY, 2:00pm: Zalgiris Kaunas confirmed the deal via Twitter.
FRIDAY, 4:55pm: Free agent Will Cherry is finalizing a deal to join the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). Cherry was waived on November 30th by the Cavs in order to clear a roster spot so that Cleveland could claim A.J. Price off waivers. Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported earlier today that Cherry was headed overseas rather than intending to rejoin the D-League.
Pick also tweets that the deal isn’t likely to be completed until Monday, which is when Cherry would clear D-League waivers, which he is expected to do. The point guard had signed a D-League deal with the affiliate of the Cavs shortly after the Raptors let him go at the end of the preseason and before Cleveland signed him for the big club in the first week of the regular season. The Cavs affiliate rescinded its rights to Cherry so that he wouldn’t have to pay a buyout to head overseas, according to Pilato (Twitter link).
The 6’1″, 23-year-old Cherry appeared in eight games for the Cavs this year, averaging 1.9 points and logging 8.6 minutes per night. Cherry had notched 12.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG while playing 25.3 minutes per contest in five games for the Cavs Summer League team in Las Vegas. He had also played for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate last season, when he provided 11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 30.4 MPG.
Eastern Notes: Irving, Parker, Van Gundy, Celtics
Lost amidst all the publicity surrounding the Cavs with LeBron James making his return to Cleveland was just how important it was for the team to sign Kyrie Irving to a contract extension, Terry Pluto of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. The Cavs needed Irving to be “all in” so that they could attract James and other free agents, which is why the team pushed to get Irving to re-sign for the maximum five years, Pluto adds.
Here’s the latest from the East:
- If Jabari Parker continues to develop his game, the Bucks will have landed a player whose talent is on par with Paul Pierce and Carmelo Anthony, two players whom Parker’s game has been compared to, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops writes. “I think Parker will end up closer to Pierce later in his career,” an Eastern Conference scout told Scotto. “I think the comparisons fit better when Anthony is playing a small four instead of the three. I think Jabari is going to have success in the league more as a small four than a three.”
- Re-signing with the Celtics is Rajon Rondo‘s free agent preference this summer, but if that scenario falls apart, then Los Angeles would move to the top of the point guard’s list, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com says in a video report.
- Pistons president and head coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t very flattering of himself when assessing the job that he has done in Detroit thus far, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “If I were only the president, I’d fire the coach,” Van Gundy said. “Clearly I’m not doing a great job. I need to coach guys. I need to make sure we’re getting to things quicker. I need to take responsibility for things going on.” Detroit is off to a 3-16 start this season, which ranks the Pistons 14th in the Eastern Conference.
- James Young and Dwight Powell of the Celtics have been re-assigned to the Maine Red Claws, the team announced. This is the fourth D-League assignment of the season for both players. The Red Claws are scheduled to take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce this evening.
Durant, ‘Melo, Love Spoke Of Playing Together
Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love have discussed the idea of one day playing together, whether it be in the NBA or on Team USA, Love tells Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. The subject came up when the three 2012 Olympic teammates were with each other as they trained this summer in a Los Angeles gym.
“I think naturally being around each other this summer and the Olympics and just in common passing, we have always talked about the opportunity to obviously play against each other but playing with each other as well,” Love said. “It is always something fun to think about when you have a bunch of guys in the gym this summer. And if not on our respective teams, then maybe at the Olympics.”
It would seem the next Olympics would be a much more likely venue for a reunion than the NBA, given Anthony’s new contract with the Knicks, which runs through 2018/19 with a player option for that season, and Love’s continued insistence that he plans a long-term future with the Cavs. Durant has given no clear signal of what he intends to do when his contract with the Thunder runs out in 2016, but it would be a “long shot, likely even a pipe dream” for the Knicks to land a superstar of Durant’s caliber to play alongside Anthony, Youngmisuk writes. The Knicks are reportedly pessimistic about their chances of attracting Marc Gasol this summer.
Love spoke of his admiration for New York basketball over the summer, as Youngmisuk notes, and the power forward called the Knicks “a great franchise to be a part of” in a recent interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post, though he made it clear to Serby that he wants to stay in Cleveland. Love can opt out of his deal this summer or opt in and align his free agency with that of Durant’s in 2016. Still, there seems little chance that he’d end up leaving the Cavs.
Cavs Notes: Irving, Allen, Miller, Cherry
The Cavs and Kyrie Irving shook hands on a five-year extension this summer without knowing that LeBron James would return to Cleveland, sources insist to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, but Irving has had no problem adjusting his game to support LeBron’s, as Windhorst examines. Irving took a backseat to no one Thursday, popping for 37 points while James dished 12 assists in Cleveland’s fifth straight win. Here’s more on a Cavs team that’s finally on a roll:
- Ray Allen is telling teams to talk to him in January and that he’ll make a decision about his future in February, tweets Ryen Russillo of ESPN Radio. The Cavs remain the favorite to sign him, according to Russillo, though Allen and his camp have continually insisted that he’s unsure whether he wants to play, much less which team he’d want to play for.
- Mike Miller thought coming into the summer that he’d re-sign with the Grizzlies and spend the rest of his career in Memphis, as he tells Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams, but the team’s decision to sign Vince Carter derailed that plan, Abrams writes. He was reportedly close to a deal with the Nuggets, who offered him three years and $12MM, according to Abrams, but he chose instead to join the Cavs for two years and nearly $5.587MM. “The history of this city [Cleveland], if they go on to win one and I’m somewhere else — that’s the decision I couldn’t live with,” Miller said. “So when it came down to the money, unfortunately I left a lot on the table again. It is what it is, but I’d have a hard time [waking up] every morning if I would have went somewhere else and not had the opportunity to win [a title].”
- It’s unclear where Will Cherry will play next, but it won’t be in the D-League, as a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that the point guard is heading overseas in the wake of his release from the Cavs this past weekend (Twitter link).
Cavs Interested In Tayshaun Prince
The Cavs have interest in Tayshaun Prince, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who shared the information this morning in an appearance on ESPN Cleveland radio, as the station passes along via Twitter (hat tip to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com). Windhorst expects the Cavs will use their trade exception, worth nearly $5.286MM, to swing a trade between December 15th, when most offseason signees become eligible for trades, and January 10th, the date that all remaining non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed for the season (Twitter link). Prince’s salary of nearly $7.708MM wouldn’t fit into that exception, however.
The 34-year-old Prince has had an inconsistent presence this season for the Grizzlies, as he’s appeared in only a single game for a stretch of a little more than eight minutes after seeing more than 26 minutes on November 21st. He’s come off the bench three times this season, but he’s only appeared as a reserve in six NBA games since his rookie season in 2002/03. His numbers this season are similar to his production from 2013/14, when he put up just 6.0 points in 25.6 minutes per game, but his calling card has long been defense, an asset that the Cavs have sought along the perimeter in earlier discussions about Corey Brewer.
Memphis reportedly made multiple attempts to trade Prince over the summer. Still, the Grizzlies were apparently never that high on rumored negotiations that linked Prince to the Raptors and John Salmons around draft time in what would have been a salary-clearing move for Memphis. The Grizzlies are 15-3, and though they’re coming off a surprising loss Wednesday to the Rockets, who were without Dwight Howard, they might not be particularly motivated to make a move, considering their success so far this season.
And-Ones: Rondo, Waiters, McMillan
With the trade speculation regarding Rajon Rondo heading to Los Angeles swirling again thanks to a seemingly innocent breakfast with Kobe Bryant, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders examines the potential trade market for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Koutroupis believes the two most likely teams to acquire Rondo would be the previously mentioned Lakers, or the Kings, whom he believes could offer Boston the best possible combination of assets.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio runs down some of the bigger names whom he believes could be dealt prior to February’s trade deadline. His list includes Arron Afflalo (Nuggets); Dion Waiters (Cavs); Patrick Patterson (Raptors); and Lance Stephenson (Hornets).
- Waiters has been struggling to find his role on the Cavs this season, and his difficulties led to him getting on the court for just nine minutes Tuesday night against Milwaukee. But the young guard is trying to remain positive, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I think all of us, we know he’s a very, very good basketball player,” teammate LeBron James said. “And when his number is called, I think the best thing is to come in with a lot of energy and effort and you can’t worry about the ball going in. All of us, we all know that. We can’t control it. It’s a make-or-miss league. One thing you can control is how hard you play and how much you give to the team, how much you sacrifice for the team and we’re all trying to do that.”
- Former head coach and current Pacers assistant Nate McMillan is happy being out of the spotlight that comes with being the man in charge, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. “I’ve enjoyed it,” McMillan said of being an assistant coach. “You learn a lot and really the enjoyment for me is you get to coach and you don’t have to deal with the other stuff. I coach and I get to go home. Frank [Vogel] has to coach and come talk to the press. You’re able to coach and work with the guys and do all of those things, but the other part, you don’t have to do.”
Eastern Notes: Monroe, Celtics, Love, Heat
Friends and former Georgetown Hoyas Greg Monroe and Jeff Green share an agent in David Falk, and Monroe, an unrestricted free agent at year’s end, says they’ve playfully discussed the idea of playing together, observes Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com.
“We joke about it,” Monroe said. “We all joke about it, man, but obviously it’s a lot more than us two coming here [to Boston] or us two talking about it. Right now, I’m just focused on where I’m at. Whenever the time is and if everything is right, then obviously I’ll always weigh my options, but right now I’m not worried about that.”
Boston has enough cap flexibility to offer Monroe a max contract, as Rohrbach points out, but if Green exercises his $9.2MM player option and the Celtics re-sign Rajon Rondo, much of that flexibility would be gone. Here’s more on the Celtics and their Eastern Conference rivals:
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge reiterated his desire to find a rim protector as he spoke this morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, as Rohrbach notes within the same piece. “I’m always trying to get quality,” Ainge said. “We’re trying to get better players, more impactful players. We do have a hole from a rim-protecting standpoint, and you can’t just add rim protection and then give up other things that you have that are solid. So, they’re not easy to find. A quality one, I should say, is not easy to find. Maybe through the draft or free agency, but we will continue to work all the way to the trade deadline to see if we can fix that hole in the meantime.”
- Kevin Love said the Knicks “are a great franchise to be a part of” but reiterated his intention to remain with the Cavs for the long term as he spoke in an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post.
- Alex Kirk is back on D-League assignment, the Cavs announced. It’s the fourth such trip to the Canton Charge for the rookie, though none have last as long as a week, as our log of D-League assignments and recalls shows.
- The Heat assigned Andre Dawkins to the D-League, the team announced late Monday. It’s the first time Miami has sent anyone to its affiliate this year. Dawkins, who made the Heat out of camp, has seen a total of just 13 minutes so far in the regular season.
Western Notes: Love, Stokes, Abrines
Kevin Love has denied all the rumors that suggest he is considering leaving Cleveland after this season to join the Lakers. In an interview with ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” (hat tip to Scott Sargent of WaitingForNextYear.com), Love continued to deny he intends to depart for Los Angeles, saying, “Whether we lose two or three games in a row, or there’s a game where my statistical output isn’t necessarily what it should be, people are always going to talk. Since I was traded to Cleveland this summer, I’ve said since Day one that I’m a Cleveland Cavalier long term and I plan for it to be that way. I want to grow with this team. There’s a lot of guys with a lot of unique talent, one-through-fifteen, on our roster who are going to be here for a long time. If I could end all the speculation now, I would. But people are going to continue to talk no matter what. I just want to continue getting better with this team long term. I’m a Cleveland Cavalier.”
Here’s more from the west:
- The Grizzlies have recalled Jarnell Stokes from the Iowa Energy, the team announced. This was Stokes’ second trip to the D-League this season. The 20-year-old forward has notched a total of eight points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes of action in his six NBA appearances for Memphis this season.
- With Nick Calathes having recently returned to the Grizzlies from his drug-related suspension, members of his camp have told David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link) that the talk of Calathes wanting out of his contract with Memphis so he can play overseas with Fenerbahce of the Turkish league are just rumors.
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Twitter links) has been hearing favorable reviews of Alex Abrines, a second round pick of the Thunder back in 2013 who is playing in Spain. Abrines was selected with the No. 32 overall pick, but if he entered the 2015 draft he would likely be a top-15 selection, notes Howard-Cooper. In 16 contests for FC Barcelona this season, Abrines is averaging 9.8 points on 57% shooting, including a stellar 53.3% from three-point range.
- Though no trades appear to be imminent, the Warriors, despite their 15-2 record, do not necessarily believe that their roster is set, Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group tweets. Golden State is surveying the trade market to see who is available, Kawakami adds.
Central Notes: Butler, Cavs, Antetokounmpo
The Bulls are keeping an eye on the Kings this season, since Sacramento owes Chicago its first-round pick if it falls outside the top 10, and for now Chicago’s in line to receive a lottery pick, as our Reverse Standings show. Still, it might be difficult for the Bulls to squeeze even a rookie scale contract onto their ledger for next season, as we detail amid the latest from the Central Division:
- Several executives from around the NBA believe Jimmy Butler will command the maximum salary in restricted free agency this summer if he keeps up his torrid start to the season, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Butler and agent Happy Walters were asking for $14MM salaries from the Bulls but would have been willing to settle somewhere between $12.5MM and $13MM during extension talks in October, sources tell Deveney. Instead, the team held firm at $11MM over four years, Deveney hears, echoing a report from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, but Chicago appears to have passed up a bargain. The Bulls will court luxury tax trouble if they bring Butler back at the max, with the latest projection putting the tax line at $81MM for next season, according to Deveney, and the Bulls on the hook for nearly $63MM already if Kirk Hinrich picks up his player option.
- Cavs GM David Griffin originally planned to shuttle Joe Harris between Cleveland and its D-League affiliate this season, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Instead, he’s been part of the rotation, complicating matters for Dion Waiters and a suddenly resurgent Mike Miller, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com examines.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo would have been a Mav if owner Mark Cuban had given in to Dallas GM Donnie Nelson‘s desire to draft him 13th overall in 2013, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Antetokounmpo fell to the Bucks at No. 15, and the Mavs swung deals that landed them Shane Larkin, whom they eventually traded for Tyson Chandler.