Western Notes: Deng, Lee, Gordon
Ryan Anderson underwent successful surgery today to repair his herniated disc per a Pelicans team announcement. Anderson sustained the injury in a scary collision in early January, and it cost him the remainder of his season. The hoops world is hoping for a full recovery for one of the game’s best stretch forwards. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Pelicans coach Monty Williams doubts that Eric Gordon will play again this season, he tells Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. Gordon’s ongoing health issues have made his contract one of the least movable deals in the league, with over $30MM left in salary over two years beyond this season, assuming the shooting guard picks up his player option in the final year.
- John Zitzler of Basketball Insiders takes a look at what it will take to fix the Pelicans next year, including questions surrounding Gordon and teammate Tyreke Evans.
- Concerns are growing around the Warriors that power forward David Lee will miss the remainder of the season, or even some or all of the playoffs, per Carl Stewart of The San Jose Mercury News. Draymond Green, Lee’s replacement in Golden State’s rotation, tells Stewart he’s embracing filling the void, however long it lasts. “I am trying to bring more of what I do at a higher rate and for a longer period of time,” says Green.
- The Lakers have Luol Deng on their radar as a potential free agent target this summer, Sam Amick of USA Today says in a video. Deng, who reportedly doesn’t have much interest in returning to the Cavs, has been linked to the Lakers before.
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News thinks the Mavs also have their eye on Deng.
Amico’s Latest: Allen, Battier, Rivers, Kerr
Ray Allen appears unlikely to return to the Heat next season, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. League insiders nonetheless believe that if the Heat’s trio of stars return, there’s a strong chance the team will try to re-sign Allen, too, so it seems his future is contingent on what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decide to do. Indeed, those three will have much to say about what happens in free agency leaguewide, and Amico has more on the summer ahead and another member of the Heat as we highlight here:
- Several teams are expected to court Heat forward Shane Battier for an executive job or a gig related to player development, Amico hears. Battier recently reiterated his plans to retire at season’s end.
- The emergence of Brian Roberts has strengthened the belief around the league that the Pelicans will trade former lottery pick Austin Rivers this summer, according to Amico. Roberts is set to become a restricted free agent.
- Sources tell Amico they wouldn’t be surprised if several teams aside from the Knicks try to convince Steve Kerr to run their basketball operations. Kerr has expressed a desire to coach, but it looks like the leaguewide interest in him is as an executive, the role he held with the Suns from 2007 to 2010.
- Boris Diaw, Luol Deng, C.J. Miles, Marvin Williams, Luke Ridnour, Kris Humphries, Devin Harris and Jimmer Fredette are other free agents who appear unlikely to be back with their respective teams, Amico writes.
Mavs Want To Re-Sign Vince Carter
Samuel Dalembert apparently isn’t the only member of the Mavs the team intends to bring back next season, as GM Donnie Nelson says the club is interested in re-signing Vince Carter, observes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Carter, a free agent at season’s end, said last week that he hoped to return and that he felt he’s made his case to do so, and it seems the team agrees.
“The feeling is absolutely mutual,” Nelson said. “When you’ve got that kind of veteran leadership, we’re a better team. It’s better for the younger guys. Those are the kind of guys you want in that locker room carrying that baton and eventually passing it along.”
Just how anxious the Mavs are to retain the 37-year-old remains to be seen. Nelson says Carter has exceeded the value of the three-year, $9.27MM contract he signed with the team in 2011, pointing to the diversification of his game. Carter has taken 46.1% of his shots from behind the arc the past two seasons, more than ever before, and he’s nailed 40% of them.
The Mavs will have Carter’s Bird rights, so they have plenty of flexibility in how much they can dole out to him. Dallas has slightly more than $30MM in commitments for next season, a number that includes Dalembert’s full salary but not a new contract for Dirk Nowitzki. Carter could be an attractive option for taxpaying teams with a focus on winning now, as he remains a productive sixth man despite his advanced age and seems a fit for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, which Dallas used to sign him three years ago.
Carter could make a starting salary of $3.278MM on that exception, which calls for deals of up to three years in length. That could net the Kurt Schoeppler client more than $10MM in total. I think most teams, including Dallas, would make a portion of that amount non-guaranteed, since he’d be 40 by the end of such a deal, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mavs use some of their cap space to bring the salaries up a touch and give themselves a financial advantage.
Mavs To Retain Samuel Dalembert
Samuel Dalembert‘s contract with the Mavs is only guaranteed for $1.8MM of its full value of nearly $3.9MM for next season, but Dallas doesn’t intend to waive him and pocket the savings, GM Donnie Nelson tells Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Dalembert will “absolutely” return for 2014/15, Nelson says, though the exec admits that the team signed him because there were few other palatable options after Dwight Howard and others went elsewhere.
“It was like the prom and we were the last two ones standing by the wall,” Nelson joked. “Well, you want to do this thing or not?”
There’s plenty of time for the Mavs to change their minds about Dalembert, whose contract won’t become fully guaranteed until January 7th, 2015. For the time being, it appears Dallas is content to enter the summer with the 6’11” center on their books at full price. The Mavs still have plenty of flexibility, as Dalembert’s entire salary would push their commitments only slightly above $30MM. Still, that figure doesn’t count a new contract for Dirk Nowitzki, whose deal is up at season’s end.
The Mavericks had reportedly discussed the notion of trading for Dalembert for years before signing him, believing he’d be an effective complement to Nowitzki, so Nelson’s suggestion that the team signed Dalembert merely as a last resort conflicts with that. The 32-year-old Dalembert has played just 20.3 minutes per game this season for the Mavs, but owner Mark Cuban recently called him the “steal” of last year’s free agent class.
And-Ones: Nowitzki, Draft, Parker
Dirk Nowitzki eschews an agent and has mentor Holger Geschwinder negotiate his contracts for him, but the Mavs star isn’t fond of free agency, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Nowitzki reiterates that he fully intends to re-sign with Dallas this summer.
More from around the league:
- Despite Nowitzki’s stated intent to re-sign with Dallas, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders believes Dirk would be well-served to explore his options. Kennedy cites Nowitzki’s desire to be on a championship contender as the primary reason, and believes if he was willing to take a pay cut, he could fit in nicely with a number of teams that offer him a better chance to win than the Mavericks.
- Rich Paul was mentioned earlier as a possible agent for Andrew Wiggins. Paul might also land Duke’s Jabari Parker if he declares for the draft, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Deveney also lists former NBA player B.J. Armstrong as a possibility to represent Parker.
- Western Michigan Senior Shayne Whittington has signed with agents Ronald Shade and Herb Rudoy of Interperformances, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Whittington is currently ranked 195th by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, and is a projected second round pick at best.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Livingston, Canales, Dalembert
Kings coach Michael Malone tells Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders that he hopes Sacramento can retain both Isaiah Thomas and Rudy Gay beyond this year. Thomas is set to be a restricted free agent, and Gay has a $19.3MM player option on his deal. Here’s more from out west:
- Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee looks at the steep price the Kings would have to pay to keep Thomas and Gay, since their deals would coincide with DeMarcus Cousins‘ extension kicking in.
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities thinks the Timberwolves should target Nets guard Shaun Livingston in free agency, noting that Brooklyn doesn’t own his Bird Rights and that he shares an agent with Nikola Pekovic (Twitter link).
- Jeff Caplan of NBA.com sees parallels between Mavs assistant coach Kaleb Canales and the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra. The 34-year-old Canales was the interim coach for the Trail Blazers in 2012, and a finalist to become the permanent head coach alongside Terry Stotts, who eventually won the job. Caplan believes Canales could get another head coaching opportunity. “Obviously, looking down the road, I would love to have that opportunity again one day,” Canales told Caplan. “But that’s not where my concern is right now. I understand how blessed and fortunate I am, and I don’t take that for granted.”
- After some struggles and a benching early in the season, Mavs center Samuel Dalembert has stepped up his play and earned the trust of his coach and teammates, he tells Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “It was a challenge in the beginning,” Dalembert said of the first portion of the season. “But after the All-Star break, I kicked it up a little and really figured out how to contribute before my time is up.”
Western Notes: Tucker, Aldridge, Carter
P.J. Tucker has made it known that he wants to re-sign with the Suns this summer, albeit at a higher salary than the veteran’s minimum he has been playing for the last two seasons, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Tucker said, “The love I have for this organization will always be. They gave me a chance to prove myself and actually to prove that I’m a player in this league. It’s almost emotional for me to think about everything I’ve been through and for them to give me an opportunity to do it. Not just to be on the team, but in two seasons, I’ve started a whole year and a half for the team on a minimum contract. That doesn’t happen. When I sit back and think about it, which I never do, it’s too much. So I’ll always be indebted.” The article notes that Tucker was named by Forbes magazine as the most underpaid player in the league with his $884,000 salary. In 72 games, Tucker has averaged 9.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 30.9 minutes per game.
More from out west:
- Sean Highkin of USA Today analyzes the Trail Blazers performance with and without LaMarcus Aldridge in the lineup.
- Vince Carter hopes to return to the Mavericks next season, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “I think I’ve earned the right to stick around,” Carter said. He will be an un-restricted free agent after this season when his three year, $9.3MM deal expires.
- We rounded up the news from the Pacific Division earlier today, and had the latest on Kevin Love.
Western Notes: Love, Papanikolaou, Jazz
There are rumors circulating that the Lakers will attempt to use this year’s high lottery pick to assemble the sort of trade package that finally convinces the Timberwolves to part with Kevin Love and end the uncertainty that hangs over this franchise even before the 25-year-old enters the final year of his contract, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Many in NBA circles believe that Love will eventually end up in Los Angeles, either via trade or free agency. He grew up in California, attended UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers, notes Stein.
More from out west:
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is in Barcelona scouting Kostas Papanikolaou, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. The rights to the former second round pick of the Knicks were acquired from the Trail Blazers as part of the Thomas Robinson deal. Berman believes Papanikolaou will be in the NBA next season.
- Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examines what the Jazz need to do in order to rebuild the franchise into a winner.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that Samuel Dalembert was the “steal” of last year’s free agent class, writes Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dalembert is averaging 6.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.17 BPG in 20.2 minutes per game.
- Holger Geschwindner, who has mentored Dirk Nowitzki since he was a teenager in Wurzburg, Germany, believes the 35-year-old Mavs star can play at a high level for “three or four more years easily,” barring serious injury, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Nowitzki has stated on several occasions that he intends to re-sign with Dallas at a significantly reduced salary after he becomes a free agent this summer. The 16-year veteran, who is projected to finish the season among the top 10 scorers in NBA history, has repeatedly said that his next contract will be for two or three years, writes MacMahon.
Western Notes: Mavericks, Lakers, D’Antoni
With their loss tonight, the Nuggets were eliminated from playoff contention, ending a 10-year streak of postseason action in Denver. Here’s more from out West:
- Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW writes that the Mavericks will prioritize the center and small forward positions in free agency this summer, looking for cheaper options to fill their other gaps.
- In a video with HoopsHype, Mark Heisler says the Lakers front office has a rebuilding plan in place, but that everyone with important ties to the organization has lost confidence in the plan. Heisler is pessimistic that the Lakers can truly turn the team around until the 2015/16 season or later, when they could start landing marquee free agents.
- Heisler also speculates that coach Mike D’Antoni won’t last beyond this season, even though he will be a scapegoat for problems he isn’t responsible for.
Western Notes: Buss, White, Mekel
The Lakers ownership and decision making has been complicated since the passing of Jerry Buss, but Jeanie Buss has stated emphatically that she’s the “boss”, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. In an interview on the “Mason and Ireland”show, Buss said, “I am responsible ultimately for anything with the team and decisions that are made. In my position, I empower people that are in positions to do their jobs. [Executive vice president of player personnel] Jim Buss and [general manager] Mitch Kupchak are responsible for all basketball decisions. They are empowered to do that. My job is to make sure, as a boss, that I provide them the tools to do the job successfully. But it’s up to them to make the day-to-day decisions on how they operate their area of the business.”
More from out west:
- Royce White may finally achieve his dream of playing in the NBA tonight when the Kings take on the Spurs, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. White has had a tumultuous career since being taken 16th overall by the Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft. Mental health issues have taken their toll and kept him off the court. In regards to those issues, White said, “I think (the issues) kind of resolved themselves over time. Just me being in the league for a year and a half and having things be on the table with the league and the union and discussing it put this organization in a better position to handle things. It’s been so good we haven’t even had a discussion about anything. That’s exciting.”
- The Mavericks have recalled Gal Mekel from the NBA D-League, the team announced. In 31 appearances for the Mavs, Mekel has averaged 2.4 PPG, 0.9 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 9.4 minutes per game.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to Santa Cruz in the D-League, the team announced. Kuzmic has compiled averages of 6.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG in 21.4 minutes per game over nine games for Santa Cruz this season.