Western Rumors: Rondo, Knight, Neal
Rajon Rondo considers it an “honor and a compliment” that Kobe Bryant is trying to recruit him to the Lakers, but the point guard said Sunday that his focus is on the present day with the Mavericks, notes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Rondo on Sunday didn’t deny interest in playing for the Lakers, Holmes adds in a separate piece, but Bryant downplayed the significance of his conversations with Rondo on Sunday when the Lakers star chatted with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. There’s more on the Mavs’ most significant in-season acquisition amid the latest from around the West:
- The Celtics had “serious doubts” about whether Rondo was worth the max before trading him in December, and that was one of the reasons Boston pulled off the swap, sources told Holmes for the second of his two pieces linked above. That echoes a recent dispatch from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who heard that it’s unlikely the Mavs point guard receives a full max deal in free agency this summer.
- Several GMs who spoke with Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops believe Brandon Knight is worth $12MM a year. The Suns traded for Knight, a restricted free agent at season’s end, at last month’s deadline.
- Gary Neal was reportedly angling for a buyout from the Timberwolves last month, but he said this weekend that he’d love to stay with Minnesota, observes Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders hinted at interest in a long-term future with the guard whose deal expires this summer, as Hartman also relays. “A lot of people questioned whether we were going to keep him, but I said from the beginning he was a guy that we traded for that we liked,” Saunders said. “We wanted him to come in and we were hoping it could be a long-term-type situation, but we’ll wait and see.”
Pacific Notes: Green, Griffin, Lakers, Bryant
The Warriors‘ Draymond Green should be Defensive Player of the Year, argues Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. It’s a somewhat surprising choice, given the widespread opinion that the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan is the front runner for the award, but Dowsett contends Green’s versatility and performance against the pick-and-roll make him the league’s most valuable defender. If he were to win DPOY, it would strengthen Green’s bargaining position heading into restricted free agency this summer.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders wonders if Green is worth a max contract. At 6’7″ and 230 pounds, the Warriors’ standout is a uniquely stocky small forward who can also play power forward effectively and guard every position except for center. However, his per-game stats fall below what you’d expect from a max level player.
- Clippers coach Doc Rivers says there’s still no timetable for Blake Griffin to return from his staph infection, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The timetable remains the same as it was before for Griffin, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com adds (on Twitter). The original estimate was 4-6 weeks, and Monday will mark four weeks since his surgery.
- The Lakers will have plenty of options in June’s draft, writes Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders. Los Angeles, of course, needs to have its pick fall in the top five or it will be transferred to Philadelphia. Assuming the Lakers keep their pick, Davis writes that Duke’s Jahlil Okafor or Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns would form a solid front-line nucleus with injured rookie Julius Randle. If they decide to go for backcourt help, options include Emmanuel Mudiay of the Chinese Basketball Association and Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell.
- It may not be a coincidence that Kobe Bryant was on the Lakers‘ bench tonight for the first time in many games, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The Lakers are hosting the Mavericks, and Bryant may want a closer look at soon-to-be free agent Rajon Rondo.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Southwest Notes: Rondo, Pelicans, Howard
Rajon Rondo is still open to re-signing with the Mavs, writes Marc J, Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “It’s a player’s organization. Players first, from our plane, the way we travel. I don’t take that for granted. We eat good. We stay at the best hotels. Of course, it’s the NBA. But this organization has the best. They have PlayStation in the lockers. I don’t play games, but it’s nice to know I got a PlayStation. TVs in your own locker. I heard about it – [Brandon Bass] and J-Terry [Jason Terry] told me – but seeing it and experiencing it,” Rondo said. “I love it here. I don’t dislike anything. I’m not uncomfortable. Of course, the system is different, but I’ve been here for two months. It’s going to take time. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies are leading the division with a record of 44-18 and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times believes that Memphis’ style of play is key to the team’s success. Playing defense has been the Grizzlies’ calling card for the past few seasons. This year, Memphis has the best defense in the league, allowing only 95.6 points per game.
- The Pelicans are a half game behind the Thunder for the eighth seed in the Western Conference and Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune wonders whether the team has the right mentality to make the playoffs. Coach Monty Williams is a proponent of a relaxed, one game at a time approach, but Smith believes the team needs to look at the big picture and take every game with a little more urgency.
- Dwight Howard has begun his on-court rehabilitation, which is the next step in coming back from his knee injury, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “He’s starting to do a combination of treadmill/floor stuff, which is a good sign, but they’re going slow. They want to make sure they have a handle on it. It’s bothered him really all year,” coach Kevin McHale said. The Rockets are 43-20, which currently puts the team in third place in the conference. The Rockets have a nine game lead over the Pelicans, the conference’s ninth place team, so rushing Howard back for the sake of winning regular season games shouldn’t be a priority.
Western Notes: Ellis, Smith, Lee
Monta Ellis has no regrets about his relationship with the Warriors, the team he spent his first seven seasons with, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “I don’t live in the past,” the Mavs guard said. “I mean, the situation was best for both of us. Me being in Dallas is a great situation for me. Them going with him to be with the face of the team and franchise worked out good for them. And it’s working out good for me. I don’t live in the past. I always go ahead.” There is some belief that Ellis will reportedly opt-out of the third year of his team-friendly deal given his level of play this season.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Josh Smith insisted he has moved on from his tenure with the Pistons before he had eight points and seven rebounds for the Rockets Friday night in his second game facing the team that released him, Brendan Savage of MLive writes. “It’s water under the bridge,” Smith said. The veteran forward who’ll be a free agent this summer, signed a one-year deal with the Rockets after the Pistons surprisingly waived him.
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has been impressed with how well Smith has played with the Rockets, Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle writes. Smith is hitting 44.1% of his shots since arriving in Houston, compared to the 39.1% he logged this season in Detroit. “I think when they moved him to the bench, he has played very well in that role for them,” Van Gundy said. “Coming off the bench, he is helping them offensively and rebounding the ball. His shooting percentage has gone up.”
- It’s been easy for David Lee to accept his role as a reserve because the Warriors are winning and his replacement Draymond Green is playing well, writes Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. “It’s not frustrating at all. It’s just a role change,” said Lee, who missed 24 of the Warriors’ first 25 games due to injury. “If we were losing a bunch of games I probably would be saying to Coach [Steve Kerr], ‘Hey maybe we should try something different.’ But the way we are playing as a group and the way Draymond is specifically playing, this is the way it’s supposed to be right now.”
Will Joseph contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Mudiay, Bhullar, Alexander
Emmanuel Mudiay has shown significant physical development during his injury shortened season in China, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. According to Knicks radio broadcaster Mike Crispino, who came away unimpressed when he checked out Mudiay at the beginning of the CBA season, said that Mudiay has developed more of an NBA body, Berman relays. “He looked totally different, he filled out, hit the weight room, he looked more like a grown man — if you can say that about a 19-year-old,’’ Crispino said. “He was more confident. But he’s still doing a lot of things that are just mistakes — that you wouldn’t do if you had experience under your belt. He’s still very inexperienced as a basketball player on the professional level.’’ Mudiay is one of the players who New York will consider selecting with its first round draft pick, Berman notes.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Sim Bhullar, the 7’5” center of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings’ D-League affiliate, who leads the D-league in field goal percentage and blocks per game, said he is surprised by his quick success in an exchange with the Indian media relayed by Jason Wise of NBA.com. The big man was in training camp with the Kings this season but failed to make Sacramento’s regular season roster.
- NBA draft prospect Lovro Mazalin has committed to a long-term deal with Cedevita Zagreb of the Euroleague, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Mazalin,17, is a 6’6″ small forward from Croatia. It isn’t clear if Mazalin’s deal overseas includes any NBA out provisions.
- The Mavs have re-assigned Dwight Powell to the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release.Powell has appeared in 19 games for Dallas this season and is averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.
- 2015 draft prospect Cliff Alexander will be sidelined indefinitely as the NCAA investigates the Kansas freshman for allegations that his family members received impermissible benefits from an NBA agent, Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports reports. Alexander is the No. 25 prospect according to DraftExpress and ESPN.com ranks him 34th.
Will Joseph contributed to this post.
Southwest Notes: Rondo, Smith, White
The Rajon Rondo–Mavericks relationship isn’t working and the poor fit is responsible for tension, opines Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). Before acquiring Rondo, Dallas’ offense was scoring almost 114 points per 100 possessions, because it operated with plenty of ball and player movement where a system created shots for players, Elhassan added. Since January 1st, however, Dallas has allowed 102 points per 100 possessions defensively, while the offense has scored 103 points per 100 possessions, Elhassan notes. Dallas acquired Rondo on December 18th.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Houston legend Hakeem OIajuwon was surprised to see Josh Smith get released by the Pistons, but he’s very glad to see him with the Rockets and he believes that Smith came to the right team, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter links).
- Former Rockets first-round pick Royce White took to Twitter recently to make it known that he is not through playing basketball. White has been out of the NBA since he went through a pair of 10-day deals with the Kings in 2013/14.
- The Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ affiliate, has acquired the rights to Nate Wolters via the D-League’s waiver process, but the team may decide to trade him, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Wolters makes his return to the D-League after the Pelicans declined to sign him for the remainder of the season after Wolters’ second 10-day contract ended.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Multiple Teams Interested In JaVale McGee
10:06pm: Teams that are still interested in signing McGee also include the Rockets, Raptors, and Heat, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
FRIDAY, 8:48pm: The Mavericks are still interested in McGee, but other teams that could offer the big man more playing time could be more appealing, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas is unable to offer McGee more than a minimum salary contract for the remainder of the season, Sefko adds.
11:48am: There’s “no way” the Raptors would cross the $76.829MM tax line to sign McGee in spite of GM Masai Ujiri‘s affection for him, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. The Raptors have a team salary for tax purposes of $76.096MM, as I pointed out earlier. A prorated minimum-salary contract until season’s end for McGee would only cost the team $231,503 if he signed today, after he clears waivers at 4pm Central time, so presumably the club can still bring him in and avoid the tax. So it follows that the Raptors won’t engage in a bidding war, Wolstat adds (on Twitter). However, the Raptors may be closer to the tax line than it appears based on incentive clauses in player contracts, which aren’t always fully reported.
WEDNESDAY, 10:10am: The Raptors are thinking about pursuing McGee, Stein tweets.
5:27pm: The Warriors have expressed major interest in McGee, and view him as an insurance policy for Andrew Bogut, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 3:59pm: The Mavericks are “seriously interested” in JaVale McGee, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, but the sense is he won’t rush to choose a team should he clear waivers as expected on Wednesday, Stein adds (Twitter links). Plenty of other teams are interested, Stein notes, echoing a Monday report from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports indicating that no less than 10 teams are in the mix. It’s nonetheless somewhat surprising to see Dallas emerge as one of them, since the Mavs earlier today committed their final open roster spot to a contract through season’s end Bernard James.
The teams that are in the mix for McGee reportedly envision him as a third-string center and won’t offer the big man more than the league minimum to sign. The Heat are among those interested in the oft-injured veteran, Stein tweets. While the remainder of the teams considering making a run at McGee are not yet known, the Wizards are not one of them, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post notes.
The 27-year-old appeared in just seven contests for the Sixers after being acquired from Denver, averaging 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per contest. In 382 career games McGee has averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. His career slash line is .540/.200/.587.
Mavs Re-Sign Bernard James For Season
The Mavericks have re-signed Bernard James to a contract that covers the balance of the season, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets and as the team announced via press release. The news is no surprise, since Mavs owner Mark Cuban said even before the club’s second 10-day contract with James was official that he would eventually sign him for the rest of the season. That second 10-day pact expired Monday. Neither the team nor Sneed indicate that it’s a multiyear pact, which suggests that it doesn’t contain any non-guaranteed salary for next season as such contracts often do.
The move locks Dallas into 15 contracts that run until at least season’s end, so the team would have to eat one of them to make another signing. So, that likely precludes any lingering chance that Jermaine O’Neal would join the team, and the Mavs don’t appear likely to end up with JaVale McGee, either.
Of course, Dallas didn’t mind taking the full hit for James’ guaranteed full-season minimum salary when the Mavs waived him at the end of the preseason to make room for Charlie Villanueva, who was then on a non-guaranteed pact. Still, James, a 30-year-old former Air Force Air Force staff sergeant, filled a prominent role for the banged-up Mavs on his 10-day deals, averaging 4.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game across five appearances, two of them starts. That’s significantly more minutes a night than the Happy Walters client saw in either of his first two seasons in the NBA, both of which were with the Mavs.
Kyler’s Latest: Love, Monroe, Gasol, Leonard
The trade deadline is in the past and the focus is shifting to the draft and this year’s class of free agents. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders takes a broad look at free agency for the summer ahead, passing along a number of noteworthy tidbits from his conversations around the league. His entire NBA AM piece is worth a read as he examines the outlook for several teams, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- The Celtics are planning to target marquee free agents this summer, with Kevin Love atop their list, followed by Greg Monroe, Kyler writes. Marc Gasol and restricted free agents Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are others in Boston’s sights, sources tell Kyler. It appears the Celtics will look to re-sign Brandon Bass to a salary lower than the $6.9MM he’s making this season, Kyler suggests, also indicating a likelihood that the Celtics renounce Jonas Jerebko‘s rights. That wouldn’t preclude a new deal with Jerebko, something that Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported earlier that the Celtics would like, though it does indicate that the C’s aim to open cap space. That’s a path of questionable merit, as I examined.
- There’s a “sense” that the Sixers will make a play for Monroe, too, as well as Butler, Tobias Harris and Reggie Jackson, according to Kyler.
- Monroe, Love and Rajon Rondo are at least willing to meet with the Lakers this summer, Kyler hears, though Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge are long shots for the team, the Basketball Insiders scribe cautions. Still, chatter is connecting the Lakers to just about every would-be free agent, including Jackson and Brandon Knight.
- It’s unlikely that Rondo gets a full maximum-salary deal in free agency this summer, league sources tell Kyler, who surmises that teams would float short-term max offers instead. A full max from the Mavs would entail a five-year deal with 7.5% raises, while other teams can offer four years and 4.5% raises.
- Sources also tell Kyler that they believe Monta Ellis will opt out this summer, which is no surprise given his level of play and the $8.72MM value of his player option.
- Kyler also gets the sense that Paul Millsap is content with the Hawks and would like to stay for the long term, though it appears Atlanta is eyeing an upgrade at DeMarre Carroll‘s small forward position.
- The Spurs will make Gasol their top free agent priority this summer, Kyler writes, though the team will have trouble signing him if Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili return at salaries comparable to the ones they’re making. In any case, San Antonio was believed to be the team with the most interest in Monroe last summer, Kyler adds.
Western Notes: Allen, Grizzlies, McDaniels, Shaw
The Mavericks, who currently hold the sixth seed in a tight Western Conference, must improve their level of play and toughness in order to make the playoffs, opines Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. After losing two straight, the Mavericks will face the Pelicans on Monday in a game Sefko called “urgent,” given the level of competition the Mavericks play against afterward. The Mavericks play winning teams in 10 of their next 12 games.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Ray Allen will not be joining the Grizzlies, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). Late last month, Tillery reported that Memphis was still maintaining interest in the veteran guard. Of course, at this stage, it’s not clear if Allen will sign with anyone at all. If he does come back, he apparently won’t be suiting up for the Cavs, either.
- K.J. McDaniels bet on himself last summer by turning down a four-year contract from Sixers GM Sam Hinkie and instead signing for a single season, as Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com writes. Over the first portion of the season in Philly, the Clemson product was getting tons of playing time and exposure. Now with the Rockets, he’s not seeing nearly as much playing time and isn’t getting a chance to really showcase himself.
- It sounds like the Nuggets players are still restless under head coach Brian Shaw. In the fourth-quarter late into Denver’s 104-82 loss to the Jazz, the team broke a huddle with the phrase, “1-2-3…six weeks!,” according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Of course, there are roughly six weeks to go in the regular season.
Will Joseph contributed to this post.