And-Ones: Bulls, Harris, Jackson, Powell
In his latest piece for ESPNChicago.com, Nick Friedell discusses with Jon Greenberg and Scoop Jackson what the Bulls’ offseason plan should consist of if they can’t land Carmelo Anthony. Friedell think bringing Nikola Mirotic from overseas makes the most sense, while Greenberg believes Lance Stephenson would be a great fit with coach Tom Thibodeau. Here’s more from around the Association:
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confesses he regrets rescinding a contract offer he made to Devin Harris last summer that would have locked up the former All-Star for three years, reports Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW. Cuban decided to only offer Harris a one-year pact in wake of the news that the point guard would need foot surgery.
- Bill Bradley was Phil Jackson‘s teammate on the Knicks’ two championship teams of 1969/70 and 1972/73, and he sees Jackson as a perfect fit as team president, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I think he’s got an unparalleled record,” Bradley said, “a good head on his shoulders, knows what’s important in building a winning culture. That’s a great combination“
- Gregg Popovich is known for his tendency to blow off reporters, but the Spurs coach had no shortage of words on how beneficial he thought the hiring of Jackson would be for the Knicks, says Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. “To have somebody of Phil Jackson’s stature back in the mix is just a huge plus for everybody involved, so I think it’s great,” said Popovich. “When you put together a group and there’s synergy between the general manager, a president, as he’s going to be, and a coach… He just has to make sure that synergy exists and I’m sure that he will. He’s a smart man. There will be a system and a culture, for sure.“
- ESPN’s 5-on-5 panel breaks down the NBA prospects they find most intriguing, and Brett Koremenos of Grantland writes that while Stanford forward Dwight Powell is often overlooked, a strong tournament showing by him and his team could boost his standing on scouts’ draft boards around the league.
Western Notes: Kobe, Mavs, Johnson
Kobe Bryant endorses the Knicks hiring of Phil Jackson despite his well-documented disappointment with the Lakers front office for not bringing Jackson back to Los Angeles. In an article by Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles, Bryant said, “I just think his mentorship shifts. I think it goes from having a direct influence on the players themselves to having a direct influence on the coaching staff, which he’s accustomed to doing because that’s how he coached as well. He really had a great rapport with his coaching staff and he was really a great mentor for them, and I’m sure he’ll do the same thing and it will just kind of trickle down from there. It’s really no different from what Pat [Riley] has been able to do in Miami with [Erik] Spoelstra.” According to the article, Bryant also believes that Jackson will be able to help Carmelo Anthony improve as a player. On what Phil can do for ‘Melo, Bryant said, “Phil will be able to provide that knowledge and he’ll learn more about the game and open up dimensions of the game that he never saw before. So, he’ll just continue to improve.”
More from out west:
- The Kings had appeared likely to keep 10-day signee Orlando Johnson for the season, but the team has decided against doing so, notes Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee. Johnson’s second 10-day contract expired Monday.
- The Warriors have assigned Nemanja Nedovic and Ognjen Kuzmic to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA D-League the team has announced. Both players had just been recalled from the D-League yesterday and played in last night’s victory over the Magic.
- If the Mavericks are able to sign a proven big man after the season, the player most likely to lose his roster spot is DeJuan Blair, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Sefko also says that proven big man target is most likely to be Marcin Gortat.
- In a separate article, Sefko writes that he thinks the Mavs would be well served to pursue Gortat as well as Luol Deng after the season. Both players will be free agents and would fit nicely in the team’s system. Sefko also thinks that Kyle Lowry will be another player the team will take a look at signing, and believes he is ready to be a lead guard on a “top-shelf” playoff team.
Lowe’s Latest: Draft Lottery, Wheel, Cuban
The current draft lottery system probably won’t last much longer, writes Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who examines a variety of proposals for changing the system. Perhaps at the root of much of the desire for change is what Lowe identifies as a growing contingent of owners and GMs whose only goal is to win titles, rather than maintaining competitive teams. Lowe goes over several ideas for changing the lottery, and we’ll highlight the ones that appear to be the subject of serious discussion around the league:
- Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren has come up with a new version of his wheel proposal, Lowe reveals. Zarren suggests that randomly selected teams go into “buckets” with picks grouped one through six, 25 through 30, and so forth, with a mini-lottery within each bucket to determine the precise pick that each team ends up with.
- There is serious concern around the league that the wheel will make it difficult for moribund teams to improve. Lowe doesn’t specify which version of the wheel he’s referring to, but I assume the worry is over the original wheel proposal.
- People around the league like the idea of an unweighted lottery system in which each non-playoff team has an equal shot at the No. 1 pick.
- There’s also discussion about the idea of expanding the lottery to include the bottom 22 teams, and guaranteeing high picks to some of the bottom four playoff teams in each conference.
- Many executives like the idea of factoring a team’s record over the last three seasons into the lottery. Mavs owner Mark Cuban is a proponent of giving the lottery team with the best record the greatest chance of winning the top pick, though he thinks it should be less than the 25% chance that the team with the worst record has of winning the lottery under the current system.
- Cuban and others are also high on the idea of having a random draw determine every lottery pick, rather than just the top three picks, as is the case now.
And-Ones: Jackson, Draft, Parker
Agents aren’t pleased with the notion of raising the NBA’s minimum age, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News examines. They feel shut out of the union’s search for a new executive director and they’re worried that whomever the union picks will be hurried to the bargaining table to discuss the age issue, Deveney writes.
More from around the league:
- Pierre Jackson will likely join the Pelicans for summer league action, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who shares the tidbit in his weekly power rankings. Jackson signed for the rest of this season with a Turkish team shortly before the trade deadline.
- Mike Tokito of The Oregonian details Trail Blazers rookie Allen Crabbe‘s up-and-down season, as well as the player’s thoughts on the benefits of playing in the D-League.
- Who will be the first player taken in this year’s NBA draft? Joel Brigham, Alex Kennedy, Jessica Camerato, and Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders debate the issue.
- Speaking of the first pick, Jabari Parker is making a strong case that it should be him, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. He believes that Parker is the most complete player in the entire draft, despite not having “elite” athleticism.
- Pau Gasol is unsure if his pending free agency will be affected by Kobe Bryant‘s recent criticism of the Lakers front office, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban isn’t sure if the Lakers will ever be able to recapture their magic without Jerry Buss around, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Cuban said, “Jerry Buss was the Lakers, so I don’t know if the Lakers will ever be the Lakers. I don’t think there was a smarter owner in the history of the NBA than Jerry Buss. So that’s tough to replace. I don’t think people realize just how good an owner Jerry was.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
D-League Notes: Larkin, Mekel, Reed, Rice
Here’s a quick look at the latest news and notes out of the NBA D-League on Saturday afternoon:
- The Mavericks have recalled Shane Larkin from his D-League assignment, the team announced today in a press release. Gal Mekel will be sent down to take Larkin’s place on the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. It was a quick stint for Larkin, who appeared in just one D-League game after being sent down yesterday afternoon.
- The Sixers have assigned Arnett Moultrie to join the Delaware 87ers of the D-League, the team announced this afternoon. This confirms a report we heard last night speculating that Philly would make such a move.
- Willie Reed is working hard to put up big numbers in the D-League and hoping to catch an NBA club’s attention, writes Scott Rafferty of Ridiculous Upside. Reed was able to sign on with Memphis last April, but he never saw any action and was waived prior to the start of the 2013/14 season.
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com examines Glen Rice Jr.‘s latest trip to the D-League and concludes Rice needs to focus on improving his shooting stroke. Through nine games for the Iowa Energy, Rice has averaged 18.9 points per contest, but he’s shooting just 44% from the floor and 30% from beyond the arc. The Wizards opted send Rice on a minor league assignment after the club inked a deal with Drew Gooden.
Texas Notes: Parker, Larkin, Carmelo
At the start of every game, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle‘s gameplan is rather simple: get the rock to Dirk Nowitzki. “We want to get him touching the ball early in the game in every game,” Carlisle said, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “If it doesn’t happen, I blame myself for it. We want to play a flowing, random type game as often as we can because we feel it’s a strength, but the ball has to move through the best players. When it doesn’t, I have to intervene and make play calls to get him involved touching it, to get Monta involved touching it, things like that. But we’re at our best when we’re playing a free-flowing game without play calls with good recognition.” More out of the Lone Star State..
- In an update to his earlier report, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) now hears that only Shane Larkin and Ricky Ledo are headed to the D-League, not Gal Mekel. To keep up with all of this year’s D-League assignments, check out our running list.
- In an era of tumult and turnover, the Spurs‘ Big Three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili has managed to stay together, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Spurs are humble about what they’ve accomplished over the years, but fans should stop and admire what they’ve done, even if the team won’t.
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Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter) wonders if Carmelo Anthony would ditch New York for Houston and if the Rockets would give up Terrence Jones or a future first round pick to pull it off. A report yesterday linked the Knicks star to Dwight Howard & Co. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News explains why it’s a long shot from a financial standpoint.
Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Butler, Ledo
After Kobe Bryant‘s news conference on Wednesday, the Lakers may have to abandon any strategy not aimed at an immediate turnaround, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Pincus has an intricate plan in mind for the purple-and-gold that entails trading their 2014 first rounder for Kevin Love, waiving Steve Nash, re-signing Pau Gasol and much more, all designed at arming the aging Bryant with running mates capable of staging one last run at a title.
Let’s take a look at what is going on elsewhere in the Western Conference:
- Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried is happy that the trade speculation is behind him, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Faried is having an impressive March, scoring 21.1 points per game and grabbing 10.1 rebounds on 64.5% shooting from the field. Teammate Ty Lawson also believes that the trade talk was hurting his play somewhat, noting that he has been more aggressive since the trade deadline came and went.
- Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe had a lot to do with Caron Butler‘s decision to sign with Oklahoma City this season, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. Sharpe held a similar position at UConn when Butler was there.
- While we pointed out a pair of D-League success stories earlier tonight, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram opines (via Twitter) that Ricky Ledo may have become a high lottery pick with the proper collegiate seasoning. Ledo, who has bounced between the Mavericks and the Texas Legends in his rookie season, attended Providence College though he never played for the Friars. He was selected 43rd overall by the Bucks last June.
Southwest Rumors: Miller, Harris, D-League
Here’s the latest out of the Southwest Division..
- Grizzlies swingman Mike Miller will be a free agent at season’s end, but he calls the experience of playing with Marc Gasol “an absolute pleasure,” just as he found it was playing with brother and fellow soon-to-be free agent Pau Gasol. Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling has more from Miller, who expresses his affection for the Heat, a team he can’t sign with until 2015/16 under the terms of last season’s amnesty waiver.
- Mavericks guard Devin Harris, making the minimum salary, is looking like one of the best values in the league right now, writes ESPNDallas.com’s Tim MacMahon. Factoring in finances, production, and impact for a probable playoff team, D.J. Augustin of the Bulls is the only backup point guard who could make a strong case for being a better value, MacMahon opines. Harris is averaging 8.0 points and 4.0 assists in 18.6 minutes per game while serving as the Mavs’ best backcourt defender.
- The Pelicans and Grizzlies are seeking one-to-one D-League affiliates for next season, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Kyler reiterates an earlier report that the Magic are looking for the same.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Mavs, Lakers, Presti
It doesn’t matter whether the Mavericks go one-and-done, miss the playoffs or end up in the conference finals, the offseason game plan is the same, writes Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News. He says they are going to figure out a way to use the $34MM dollars of cap space they anticipate having to try and add a premier small forward and/or center. Sefko floats the possibility of Luol Deng and Marcin Gortat being their prime free-agent targets. The article also mentions that the deeper the team goes in the playoffs, the more appealing they will become to any free agent, including LeBron James, though Sefko admits that landing LeBron is a long shot at best.
Here’s some more from out west:
- With the news from earlier that Kobe Bryant wants Mike D’Antoni gone, it seems that he’s not the only Lakers player that would feel that way, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He mentions that Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill would also like to see a new coach next season.
- Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times supports Bryant calling out Lakers management. He hopes the star player’s comments bring about the needed changes in the organization. Plaschke also thinks that it’s a good thing for the team that Kobe is done for the year as it will help them secure a higher lottery pick. The article also questions the decision to re-sign Bryant when they did. Plaschke believes that Bryant would have signed for less now in order to free up cap space to help the team sign players to make a run during his final years.
- Thunder GM Sam Presti shared his thoughts on tanking with Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Presti said, “Oddly enough, I think it’s a narrative that was created to tweak the league office, and they are showing to be quite reflexive to it. I’m actually a bit surprised they have fed into it and devoted so much public energy to it given the lack of evidence. The records of the teams in the bottom four of the league are in line with those over the last 20 seasons. If anything, they are actually slightly above those averages. I’m missing the epidemic on this, really. I would hope we’d focus our attention on a lot of the great things our players are ding and that the league has in place now.“
Texas Notes: Ellis, Rockets, Spurs
All three Texas teams have the night off, but we’ve got plenty of news to keep those in the Lone Star state occupied..
- Monta Ellis described his first season with the Mavericks as escaping from “a deep hole,” saying he’s enjoying basketball as much as he has since his second season in the NBA, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “I would have to say my last time feeling like this was 2007, when we made the playoffs,” Ellis said Monday, referring to the eighth-seeded Warriors, who upset the top-seeded Mavs in the first round. “This happy? 2007.“
- The Rockets have been focused on chemistry ever since their busy offseason and coach Kevin McHale believes that the team has made major strides, writes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. “They have much better collective chemistry,” McHale said. “I think that is one of the most underrated things in sports — how well does everybody play with everybody? How well do they know their strengths and weaknesses? And they have a common goal of being really good together and that common goal is overriding any of the little stuff that was happening earlier.”
- The Spurs boast the deepest roster in the NBA, but Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News wonders if that’s a good thing.