Central Notes: Pistons, Robinson, Pacers, Cavs
Here are the latest updates from around the Central Division on Saturday night:
- Brendan Savage of MLive.com writes that the Pistons have grown during the preseason and are ready for the challenges the regular season will bring.
- Terry Foster of the Detroit News talks to several Pistons players who believe the team will finish with above a .500 record in 2012/13.
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes that new Bulls signee Nate Robinson is working on his ballhandling and decreasing his turnovers during training camp.
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star writes that the Pacers are more confident in their bench this season than they were last year.
- Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer believes that the Cavaliers are headed in the right direction, even if they don't make the playoffs this season.
Cavs Waive Eric, Jones, Brown
The Cavs have waived Micheal Eric, Kevin Jones and D'Aundray Brown, the team reports via Twitter. The moves bring the team's roster down to the regular-season limit of 15. Eric's deal was partially guaranteed for $300K, while Jones had a partial guarantee of $50K. Brown's contract was non-guaranteed.
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets that Brown appears headed to the team's D-League affiliate in Canton, while it's unclear whether Eric will wind up there. Jones will likely go elsewhere, Amico says.
Cavaliers Sign D’Aundray Brown
While teams around the league are making cuts to pare their rosters down to the regular-season limit, the Cavaliers are actually adding players. The Cavs have signed D'Aundray Brown to a contract, the team announced today in a press release.
Brown, who turned 24 on Sunday, is an undrafted rookie out of Cleveland State. The 6'4" guard averaged 10.8 PPG and 4.5 RPG in his senior year in 2011/12.
The timing of the move is unusual, as Monday represents the deadline for teams to reduce their rosters to 15 players each. Having signed Brown, the Cavs now have 18 players under contract. I would guess the team brought the local product on board in hopes of sending him to their D-League affiliate in Canton.
Eastern Notes: Jennings, DeRozan, Boozer, Jaric
Bucks GM John Hammond said Wednesday the team wants to keep Brandon Jennings around long-term, adding that he'll continue to have talks about an extension with Bill Duffy, the agent for Jennings, until either a deal is reached or the October 31st deadline passes, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. We've got more on another player up for an extension and other notes from the Eastern Conference tonight.
- DeMar DeRozan is eligible for extension before next week's deadline, but the Raptors reportedly "want to be wowed" by his performance this season before signing him to a long-term deal next summer. DeRozan is making strides toward that so far, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun observes.
- Carlos Boozer, an amnesty candidate for next summer, has looked sharp in preseason for the Bulls as he tries to pick up the slack for the injured Derrick Rose, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
- Marko Jaric was waived by the Bulls today, but expressed appreciation for his time in camp via Twitter, and wrote that he hopes he'll be back with the team next month, when it can afford him on a minimum-salary deal under its hard cap (hat tip to Shams Charania of RealGM.com). Until then, Jaric is free to sign with any team.
- When asked by reporters why he re-signed with the Celtics, Jeff Green pointed to Rajon Rondo, whom he called "the best point guard in the league," notes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal weighs the chances Kevin Jones has of making the Cavs opening-night roster. Jones has a diminutive partial guarantee of $50K on his deal.
- John Denton of Magic.com takes a look at Nikola Vucevic, the likely starting center for the Magic after coming over from the Sixers in the Dwight Howard trade.
- The Bobcats were the league's worst offensive team last year, and they haven't been much better in the preseason, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Cavs Pick Up 2013/14 Option On Byron Scott
The Cavaliers have exercised their 2013/14 option on Byron Scott's contract, reports Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Since replacing Mike Brown in 2010, Scott has led the Cavs to a 40-108 record, though the team appears to be on the upswing, having added top-five picks Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, and Dion Waiters in the last two drafts. We heard earlier this offseason that the Cavs and Scott had begun talking about a contract extension for the head coach, who expressed a desire to remain in Cleveland long-term.
"We'll take care of that somewhere down the line," Scott said at the time. "People ask, ‘Do you really like Cleveland?' I love it. The perception of Cleveland is it's the ‘Mistake by the Lake.' I hope I'm here in the next five years. I enjoy what's going on."
Scott may not be locked up for the next five years, but the Cavs' decision on his option means he's now under contract for the next two seasons, at least.
Eastern Notes: Henderson, Sixers, Belinelli
We looked at news from around the Western Conference this morning, and now it's time for the East, where seven lottery teams will look to make their first playoff appearance in awhile this season. The same eight teams made the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2011 and 2012, but at least one of them will have trouble holding onto its spot this year, as the Magic are in full rebuilding mode after the departure of Dwight Howard. Here's the latest on some of the teams trying to take their place, and others hoping they don't follow the Magic's descent.
- The Bobcats are reportedly only interested in extending Gerald Henderson's contract if he signs a team-friendly deal, and offseason trade acquisition Ben Gordon is pushing him for the starting shooting guard job, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports (Twitter links).
- John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com identifies five questions looming over the Sixers as they prepare to start the season.
- Marco Belinelli's rough preseason for the Bulls reminds Steve Aschburner of NBA.com of the struggles Hedo Turkoglu has suffered over the past few seasons (Twitter link).
- Bolstered by former Bulls reserve John Lucas III and other offseason acquisitions, the Raptors bench is shaping up to be the team's deepest in a long time, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio takes a stab at predicting the Cavs' final roster cuts, guessing that the team will waive Jeremy Pargo and Kevin Jones.
- Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com examines the challenge that Celtics coach Doc Rivers faces as he tries to build chemistry on a team that returns just six players from last season.
Central Rumors: Bulls, Sloan, Pargo, Dunlap
NBA GMs were polled recently about their thoughts on the upcoming season, and one of the more intriguing revelations is that the Pacers received more votes to win the Central Division than the Bulls, who have finished with the league's best record two seasons in a row but are now without Derrick Rose. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is unfazed by the prediction, as Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com notes. Here's more from around the Central.
- It doesn't look like both Donald Sloan and Jeremy Pargo will make the opening-night roster for the Cavs, according to Bob Finnan of The News Herald, who believes Sloan has the best chance to survive cuts (Sulia link). That's a little surprising, since Sloan's deal is without a guarantee, while Pargo has a fully guaranteed deal for $1MM this season.
- With the Cavs' first regular season game just a week away, coach Byron Scott said the only players guaranteed a starting spot are Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
- Mike Dunlap seemed like an out-of-nowhere hire when the Bobcats tabbed him as their new coach this summer, but Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that the Bulls interviewed Dunlap for their coaching job in 2008, when they hired current Clippers boss Vinny Del Negro.
Eastern Notes: Holiday, Rasheed, Barron
76ers point guard Jrue Holiday enters his fourth season as the youngest starting floor general in the Atlantic Division, and head coach Doug Collins appears confident in giving him the reigns to Philadelphia's offense: "I want that ball in Jrue's hands…I want our wings getting down the floor, I want Jrue to be the one getting that ball and pushing it. For the most part I want our guys sprinting the floor, getting down the floor and flattening it out and let Jrue come down and make plays." Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com also points out that the team now has more capable perimeter shooters compared to having to rely on multiple playmakers last year, which implicitly benefits the spacing on the floor and allows Holiday more room to operate. Here are a few more notes out of the Eastern Conference:
- Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago chronicles the shooting struggles of Marco Belinelli during the preseason, but Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau doesn't appear too concerned.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun believes that the Raptors could have one of the better combinations of reserve players in the league this season.
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday says that Knicks guard/forward Ronnie Brewer will go through contact work during Sunday's practice and could play as soon as Monday night if he doesn't feel any pain. The 6'7 veteran has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery in early September.
- Heat sharpshooter Mike Miller looks forward to playing a full season this year, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes that he is the healthiest he's been in two seasons.
- Newsday's Al Iannazone provided an update on Rasheed Wallace, who according to Knicks head coach Mike Woodson is still doing conditioning work and will be re-evaluated on Tuesday after the team returns from its current pre-season road trip (Sulia link). Woodson hinted that the team may play Wallace next week in order to get an idea of his progression.
Odds & Ends: Possible Cavs/Heat Cuts, Olshey
- Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer takes a closer look at the decision the Cavaliers have to make on Sloan and Pargo and lists the pros and cons of keeping both. She also notes that Byron Scott believes one of them currently has an edge over the other, but the coach would not elaborate beyond that.
- Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald took to Twitter to speculate on what he calls the Heat's "no-doubt-about-it cut list," listing Rodney Carney, Jarvis Varnado, Mickell Gladness, and Robert Dozier. He mentions that the last two spots could come down to a competition among Josh Harrellson, Garrett Temple, and Terrel Harris, adding that he would keep the latter two (Twitter link).
- Interestingly enough, although Juwan Howard is not part of Miami's training camp roster, Goodman points out that the former Heat player still has a locker.
- Ben Golliver of the Blazers Edge shared a transcript of Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey's in-game interview with CSNNW on Friday. Some notable comments include Olshey's thoughts on Will Barton's potential, Nicolas Batum and the team moving forward after his contract extension, and landing J.J. Hickson.
- In response to a report that Stephen Curry will sit out the rest of pre-season, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News tweets that Curry's long-term extension talks with the Warriors are on hold.
Central Notes: Cavs, Pargo, Bulls, Pacers
The latest out of the Central Division..
- Cavs coach Byron Scott says that he could conceivably carry three point guards on the roster, but it would appear that he will only keep either Jeremy Pargo or Donald Sloan, writes Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal. The Cavs still have to cut two more players before the start of the season, but those cuts aren't expected to come until after Tuesday's preseason finale. Sloan is on a non-guaranteed deal while Pargo is guaranteed $1MM.
- Meanwhile, in Chicago, Marko Jaric appears to be a long shot to make the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The guard saw just 52 seconds of playing time in the team's preseason win over his former team, the Timberwolves.
- The Pacers are young and have a promising future ahead of them, but it's also not difficult to see them finishing second in the Eastern Conference this season, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. With intriguing pickups such as Gerald Green, Danny Granger & Co. will look to improve on a team which had the Heat on the ropes in last year's conference semifinals.