Western Notes: Mavs, Grizzlies, Aldridge, Barea
Charlie Villanueva has impressed Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, who insists Villanueva’s lack of guaranteed money won’t prevent the team from keeping him for opening night, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com chronicles.
“It’s going to come down to who plays the best, who fills needs,” Carlisle said. “And we’ll go from there. Mark [Cuban]’s the kind of owner, he’s not going to let a few dollars get in the way of keeping the right team together.”
Still, it’d cost the Mavs, who have 15 guaranteed contracts plus partial guarantees with Eric Griffin and Ivan Johnson, at least $991,482 in dead money to waive the players necessary for them to keep Villanueva, unless they can work out some sort of trade. While we wait to see just how much Cuban is willing to sacrifice, here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace told Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal that he wasn’t explicitly told not to perform his duties while former CEO Jason Levien was in charge of the team, as Tillery writes in a subscription-only piece. Wallace clarified that he made his own choice to remove himself from player personnel, Tillery notes. Wallace also made a run at openings with the Kings last year and Cavs earlier this year, according to Tillery.
- The new TV deal won’t affect LaMarcus Aldridge‘s plan to sign a long-term deal with the Blazers this summer, a source tells The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman, pointing out that the maximum salary goes up as the salary cap does. Still, it’s worth noting that cap figures only affect the amount of a max contract for the first season of the deal, and since it appears unlikely the cap will rise dramatically until the summer of 2016, there’s still plenty of incentive for Aldridge to sign a short-term deal instead.
- Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders didn’t seem merely to be trying to up J.J. Barea‘s trade value when he said the guard was one of the team’s best performers in camp again this year, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
- The NBA’s national TV deal isn’t the only one due for a sharp increase, as some predictions have the Clippers local TV rights fees increasing to $80MM annually from the $20MM the team receives each year under the current arrangement, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The existing deal is up after the 2015/16 season, Kennedy notes (on Twitter).
And-Ones: Boucek, Delfino, Lottery
Dallas doesn’t have any openings on their coaching staff, but that didn’t stopping them from welcoming WNBA coach Jenny Boucek to participate in training camp, reports Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “With Becky Hammon’s hiring [as a Spurs assistant], [female NBA coaching candidates have] become a reality,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. “And I believe it’s going to become even more of a reality going forward, because there are some women who are qualified and Jenny is one of them. A qualified female could bring a unique perspective and perhaps a different set of communication skills.” Here’s more from around the league:
- Free agent Carlos Delfino will miss significant time after having foot surgery, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports (on Twitter). Delfino hopes to be recovered by February, but doesn’t have a timetable for his return. Delfino missed all of last year while under contract with the Bucks due to injury, and the Clippers waived his 2014/15 salary under the stretch provision after receiving him in the Jared Dudley trade. That timeline will almost surely prevent Delfino from signing anywhere very soon, and he might become a target for 10-day contract offers if and when he recovers, although that’s just my speculation.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com predicts that one of the proposed changes to the NBA lottery system is sure to get approved, and hopes that the league makes the change speedily for the good of the sport.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders writes that many of the training camp invites around the league are playing more for a roster spot on a team’s D-League than a regular season role with their NBA club. Pincus notes that players with partial guarantees are likely to be cut and receive D-League invites from their current teams, including Bryce Cotton, JaMychal Green, Josh Davis, and John Holland on the Spurs and Peyton Siva, Seth Curry, Kadeem Batts, and Drew Crawford on the Magic.
Poll: Which Summer Moves Will Flop?
There’s no more optimistic period for NBA fans than the summer, when draft picks, free agency additions, trades, coaching hires, and other maneuvers boost expectations around the league. Of course, there are no shortage of teams that have deflated those expectations as previous seasons have unfolded. Just last season, the return of Derrick Rose to the Bulls was cut short just 10 games in, the Knicks and Cavs disappointed at the bottom of the standings, the Bucks fell from a postseason appearance to owning the league’s very worst record, and the Nets’ ballooning blockbuster roster started the season 10-21, although Brooklyn managed to mostly salvage the year with a second-round playoff run.
This poll isn’t so much about individual performance as it is team expectations that might go unmet. While teams like the Rockets, Pacers, and Heat appear vulnerable to severe dropoffs this year, their summers have been marked by offseason setbacks. I’ve rounded up some of the teams that are setting their sights higher for 2014/15 than they did last season thanks to offseason successes, with some factors that could potentially cause trouble for each.
- Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James‘ arrival was the NBA’s biggest move since he jumped to Miami four years ago, but the arrival of Kevin Love via trade set expectations in Cleveland even higher. While James, Love, and Kyrie Irving should form a deadly offensive foundation, whether first-year NBA coach David Blatt can manage a newly stirred cocktail of superstar personalities and coax strong defense out of the bunch remains to be seen. Missing the Finals would be a disappointment, and anything short of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance would be considered a massive flop for the star-laden team in the weaker conference.
- Chicago Bulls. They made a slew of additions in place of the amnestied Carlos Boozer, bringing in Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, and Doug McDermott, while a hopeful full season from Rose is a virtual star addition. Mirotic and McDermott are unproven, and some are concerned that Gasol’s production has begun tapering off for good. The team still lacks much offensive pop on the wing or backcourt rotation, continuing the team’s annual need to lean on coach Tom Thibodeau‘s elite defensive guidance to overcome its struggles on the other end of the court. If the team remains a middle-of-the-pack team in the East, fans will be let down to say the least.
- Dallas Mavericks. The team won a lot of headlines this summer, acquiring Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler by outbidding the Rockets and trading with the Knicks, respectively. The team has also lost substantial talent, however, with Jose Calderon, Vince Carter, and Shawn Marion all signing elsewhere. Some think the Mavs could ascend to the upper echelon of the Western Conference, but if either Chandler fails to bring his full projected impact, the team could spend another season fighting for one of the final playoff spots.
- Golden State Warriors. The team’s brass wasn’t satisfied with the job former coach Mark Jackson had done through 2013/14, which concluded with a 51-31 record and a first-round exit from the playoffs. The team pursued Stan Van Gundy before signing Steve Kerr to coach the team to reach the next level. The most notable move from the offseason is the one that Golden State didn’t make: declining to deal for Love so they could hang on to Klay Thompson. While Kerr is expected to bring a more sophisticated offense to the team, the team’s defense might dwindle without Jackson on the sideline. Whether Harrison Barnes makes a developmental leap, Andrew Bogut stays healthy, and new addition Shaun Livingston can fit in will be paramount to the team moving up in the standings, rather than slipping under loftier expectations.
What do you think? Which team’s bubble is most likely to burst as the season unfolds?
Which Summer Moves Will Flop?
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Golden State Warriors 31% (229)
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Dallas Mavericks 30% (223)
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Chicago Bulls 23% (168)
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Cleveland Cavaliers 16% (120)
Total votes: 740
Western Notes: Young, Mavs, McHale, Fesenko
Lakers guard Nick Young has a torn ligament in his right thumb and will miss approximately six to eight weeks, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Young injured the thumb during practice when attempting a steal on Kobe Bryant. He’s scheduled to have surgery this Monday, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. With Young expected to be the Lakers sixth man and provide an offensive boost this isn’t a great start to the season, especially after the team missed a total of 319 games due to injuries last year, which was a major factor in Los Angeles’ rough 2013/14 campaign.
Here’s more from the wild west:
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said that just because a player has a total or partially guaranteed contract doesn’t mean he’ll make the final roster, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (Twitter link). Dallas has a total of 19 players on their preseason roster, with 15 of them carrying full guarantees and two with partially guaranteed deals.
- Kyrylo Fesenko is especially motivated to win an uphill battle for a spot on the Wolves regular season roster because of his desire to move his family out of war-torn Ukraine, as he details to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Fesenko is on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Wolves have their hands full with 15 fully guaranteed deals plus a partial guarantee for Glenn Robinson III, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron detailed.
- Rockets head coach Kevin McHale isn’t concerned that he’s in the final year of his contract despite Houston owner Leslie Alexander’s track record of not handing out second deals to previous coaches like Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. McHale said, “That has no bearing on me. I never believed that. If you’re going to play better in the last year of your contract because it’s the last year of your contract, I question who you are. If you are going to coach better because you’re in the last year of your contract, I question that guy. I’m going to do the same thing I’ve always done. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can with these guys, try to get these guys to be the best possible team we can be and you know what, like as a player, you do the best job you can. If it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southwest Rumors: Jefferson, Mavs, Babbitt
Richard Jefferson admits that while other teams around the league offered him a chance at more playing time and a more lucrative paycheck, he decided to sign with the Mavs because he believes they give him the best chance at winning, as Michael Florek of the Dallas Morning News details. “We have a chance here,” said Jefferson, “Obviously you need to be lucky. You need things to go the right way, have the ball bounce your way, but I believe this was my best chance to win and win now.”
Here’s more from the Southwest:
- Mark Cuban responded to the critical comments made by Rockets GM Daryl Morey, suggesting Morey’s assertion that free agents would prefer to play in Houston over Dallas is flawed. “I’m not sure how he would know that,” said the outspoken owner of the Mavs, who reminded Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that the Rockets have won only a single a playoff series since 1997.
- The Rockets had to scrap Kostas Papanikolaou‘s contract and re-sign him, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The NBA rejected the original agreement, and it’s unclear if any significant changes have been made to the structure of the deal.
- Luke Babbitt was held out of Summer League play by the Pelicans because there was a chance he’d be dealt to the Rockets in the then-looming Omer Asik trade, writes Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune (on Twitter).
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Nets, Knicks, Butler, Magic
When center Brook Lopez was asked if he knew how many different people had coached the Nets since the team picked him in the 2008 draft, he wasn’t too confident in his answer. “Seven?” Lopez asked reporters, including Andrew Keh of the New York Times. “Or eight? Are you counting interim?” The number, interim coaches included, is indeed seven, and the Nets are hoping that new coach Lionel Hollins will stick around for some time. Here’s more from around the league..
- The Knicks appear to be more stable than they did a year ago, and seem to have a clear plan on how they want to build towards being a championship contender, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. “I think it feels much better now,” executive vice president Steve Mills said. “I think the addition of Phil to the team adds a different look in terms of creating a culture. I think that was important to Carmelo and I think it’s important to how we move forward as a unit. So I think there’s a lot more stability. I see the rhythm to how we need to build the team.”
- If Jimmy Butler does sign a long-term extension with the Bulls, it’ll probably come at the last minute as it did with Taj Gibson two years ago, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. It’ll be an especially crucial year on an individual level for Butler if he doesn’t ink a new deal. Butler will look to his long-distance shooting which dipped to 28% last season thanks in part to playing a grueling 38.7 minutes per night.
- The Magic have until October 31st to reach contract extensions with Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic, but it wouldn’t be a crisis if deals aren’t struck, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
- With training camp set to open for the Mavericks this Tuesday, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gives a quick rundown of Dallas’ roster and what each player brings to the court.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Papanikolaou, Liz, Ivey, Gay
Kostas Papanikolaou’s two-year deal with the Rockets is non-guaranteed, surprisingly, but this year’s salary of nearly $4.798MM becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through Sunday, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). His second-year salary of almost $4.6MM becomes fully guaranteed if he sticks through September 28th next year, Pincus adds.
Here’s more from out west:
- Dominican Republic guard Victor Liz is working on a deal to re-sign overseas, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Liz had reportedly been offered a training camp invite by the Mavericks.
- Former Hawks player Royal Ivey will be an assistant coach for the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
- With Rudy Gay picking up his player option to return to Sacramento, the Kings have stability at the small forward position for the first time in years, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southwest Notes: Chandler, Pelicans, Blue
Tyson Chandler said Tuesday that he feels “indebted” to the Mavs for bringing him back to the team, observes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Mavs owner Mark Cuban hinted that he intends to keep Chandler around after his contract expires at season’s end, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com notes.
Here’s the latest out of the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs worked out Vander Blue last week before Blue committed to a camp deal with the Wizards, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Blue was a part of San Antonio’s summer league team in July.
- Cuban is excited about the Mavericks 2014/15 campaign, Price writes in the same piece linked above. Cuban said, “I am so fired up, you have no idea. You know how important I think chemistry is, so just being able to get a feel for how all the guys get together and how they get along [is important]. Everybody’s fired up, everybody pushing each other. Dirk Nowitzki has got a big old smile on his face, so it’s exciting.”
- The small forward position looks to be the Pelicans‘ weakest link heading into training camp, John Reid of the Times-Picayune opines. That’s why newly signed John Salmons has a chance to make an impact this season, and he’ll compete for a starting job with Darius Miller and Luke Babbitt, notes Reid.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Zoran Dragic, Suns Nearing Deal
9:32am: Dragic’s agents have informed the Spanish team that the Suns have a two-year offer on the table and that the guard will buy out his contract, freeing him to head to Phoenix, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 9:11am: Dragic has told Unicaja Malaga that the Suns have made him an offer, Guerra tweets.
TUESDAY, 7:55am: There’s no October 5th deadline in Dragic’s contract with Unicaja Malaga, so he can leave the team to come to the NBA after that date should he choose to do so, reports Rafael M. Guerra of La Opinión de Málaga (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Goran Dragic would likely pick up part of the tab for the buyout necessary to bring his brother to the Suns, Guerra adds.
SUNDAY, 1:30pm: The Suns have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Dragic, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). The guard is likely to land a two year deal, notes Stein.
SATURDAY, 9:21 pm: Zoran Dragic is in advanced discussions with Unicaja Malaga to leave the team and come to the NBA, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. The Slovenian point guard has a buyout clause of $1.1MM to leave the Euroleague team, so presumably he has an agreement in place with an NBA squad. It’s possible that the team could have relinquished its buyout requirement, or that Dragic is paying for it himself, but it is much more likely that an NBA team is set to foot the bill.
The Suns, Pacers, and Kings have been named as the most aggressive suitors for the younger brother of Goran Dragic, although the Cavs, Heat, Magic, Spurs, Mavs, and Rockets have also registered interest. If Phoenix has struck a deal with the 25-year-old, it could have massive ripple effects around the league. The Suns are at a negotiating standoff with restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, and adding another Dragic to the already-stacked Phoenix backcourt could signal their willingness to move on from Bledsoe, who Minnesota would bring on with a max contract if they had the room to do so.
Momentum has been building all summer for the younger Dragic, who has until October 5th to exercise the escape clause before becoming locked into another season overseas. At one point, it seemed like a long shot that the point guard would be coming stateside before next season, but he repeatedly stated his desire to find his way to the NBA amid a strong performance in the FIBA tournament spotlight. The hefty buyout payment, which exceeds the $600K max to not count against the cap, could mean that at least one team believes in him as a player who can contribute immediately. If Dragic fetches more than the minimum from a team willing to invest in his services, the Cavs, Heat, and Mavs are unlikely candidates to have snagged him.
Mavs Notes: Additions, Chandler, Lamb, Analytics
The new-look Mavericks introduced most of their offseason additions today at a press conference, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. In adding Chandler Parsons, Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler, Jameer Nelson, Al-Farouq Aminu and Richard Jefferson, Dallas bolstered a roster that took the champion Spurs to seven games with six veterans that were primary starters on NBA rosters last season, as owner Mark Cuban explained:
“I think we’ve got a group where everybody has had their own personal success but not a lot of team success or great team success,” Cuban said. “So, coming here, we don’t have guys that are looking to just throw up numbers. They’ve already done that and now they’re looking to win. You know, they’re not 21 or 22 anymore, and they’re ready to win. That’s going to have a big impact.”
Here are some other notes coming out of Dallas on Tuesday:
- Cuban also implied today that he made a mistake in allowing Chandler to leave Dallas in free agency in 2011, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. Cuban was responding to a question from a fan who asked whether Chandler, who will again be a free agent next summer, will remain in Dallas beyond this season. Neither Cuban nor Chandler, who also spoke to media, offered many clues as to the answer, though MacMahon indicates that both sides are happy to be reunited.
- As Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms, Doron Lamb‘s minimum-salary deal with the Mavericks covers just one season (via Twitter).
- Many of the Mavericks additions were strategic decisions based on an improving analytical department, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Both Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle discussed the team’s analytics push at length on Tuesday, according to Caplan, who adds that Mavs stats guru Roland Beech was given “carte blanche to hire as needed” in an effort to catch up to the stats-savvy Spurs.