Odds & Ends: D-Will, Kenyon, Blake, Thunder
The Magic have given a higher percentage of their minutes to players who weren't on their roster last season than any other team in the league, notes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Orlando has given 66% of its minutes to newcomers, while the Rockets are second, with 64% of their minutes going to players who weren't with them in 2011/12. Both clubs made a blockbuster deal before the season, and both were involved in smaller swaps at the trade deadline, further altering their compositions. Here's more on players coming and going from around the league:
- Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld revists Deron Williams' choice of the Nets over the Mavericks, opining that Dallas wouldn't have been a playoff team this year even with D-Will. Ingram also caught up with J.J. Redick and Stan Van Gundy.
- Kenyon Martin didn't play in tonight's game and has only seen five minutes of action more than halfway through his 10-day contract, but as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com observes, Knicks coach Mike Woodson indicated the team is likely to keep him around after his current deal expires. "Kenyon's not going nowhere, he's here," Woodson said (Twitter link).
- Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors identified him as an amnesty candidate earlier today, but as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com chronicles, Blake has recently been playing some of his best ball as a member of the Lakers.
- The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel, with the help ofSalary Cap FAQ contributor Jon Hamm, examines the Thunder's payroll for the next few seasons and looks at how they can minimize their tax hit.
- Fellow Oklahoman scribe Darnell Mayberry praises the subtle moves the Thunder made at the deadline, and expects such tweaking to become the norm with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka occupying so much room on the payroll.
Western Notes: Hornets, Jamison, Mavs, O’Neal
When I looked earlier this week at teams with open roster spots, only four clubs had more than one opening. Since then, the Celtics have filled their two open spots, leaving the Hornets, Warriors, and Grizzlies as the NBA's only teams carrying just 13 players. Now, the Hornets will find themselves with one fewer player available, as the team announced today that Jason Smith will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum. As one club that took full advantage of 10-day contracts last season, it may be only a matter of time before New Orleans brings in some young players on 10-day deals to add some roster depth.
Here are a few more Friday updates from around the Western Conference:
- Antawn Jamison turned down a three-year, $11MM offer from the Bobcats to sign for the minimum with the Lakers last offseason, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The veteran forward also has no intention of retiring after this season, as Shelburne tweets. "I don't think this is my last run," Jamison said. "I can still compete with these young guys."
- Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks aren't interested in playing the what-if game when it comes to misses in free agency, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes. "In free agency, we can’t always get what we want," Nowitzki said of the team's pursuit of Deron Williams. "It’s not a Wish concert. It didn’t go the way we wanted so we have to move on as a franchise."
- After a bounceback 2012/13 season with the Suns, Jermaine O'Neal can count on drawing more interest as a free agent this coming summer than he did last year, says Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld.
- In a piece for Grantland, Bill Simmons lists his choices for the NBA's best contracts, and three of his top 15 belong to the Spurs.
Western Notes: Spurs, Marion, Mayo, Collison
Stephen Curry absolutely went off at the Garden on Wednesday night, dropping 54 points via 11 treys on the Knicks in the game of the night. Despite Curry's efforts, the Warriors still came up short, losing by four. Here are some other notes from around the Western Conference:
- Gregg Popovich says that the Spurs, as always, will do their due diligence in scouring the post-March 1st buyout market, but with their roster already 15 deep, he doesn't expect anything to come of it, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News answered a few questions about the Mavericks roster in a chat on Tuesday. Sefko doesn't see the Mavs dealing Shawn Marion next season just to free up cap space, opining that Marion is still a starting caliber player that warrants something worthwhile in return.
- Sefko also considers re-signing O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison critical to the team's chances of luring whatever big name free agents they'll set their sights on, largely due to their youth. Keeping both players, who have had nice seasons in Dallas, will be difficult without overpaying, Sefko says.
- Pau Gasol, likely still a month from returning, has been cleared to work out on an elliptical machine, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Gasol tore his plantar fascia three weeks ago and the Lakers are sticking to their original timetable of six-to-eight weeks for his return.
Atlantic Links: Gay, Bargnani, Curry
Today has already been a pretty busy day in the Atlantic division. With the Knicks and Raptors underway, let's continue to monitor all news coming out of the division here:
- Toronto head coach Dwane Casey says that Rudy Gay is the exactly the weapon that the Raptors were lacking in crunch time of tight games, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports. Through 11 games in Toronto, Gay is averaging 20.1 points per game, many of which, Casey says, are coming when it matters most. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld tweets that Gay has been a "great fit" since coming over in the deal from Memphis.
- In a separate report, Amico adds that the Raptors will trade Andrea Bargnani in the offseason unless they absolutely cannot find a taker for the two years and $23MM remaining on his deal. Amico hears that the Sixers are very interested, and lists the Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs, Bucks, Jazz, Hawks, Suns and Blazers as other potential destinations.
- Following Doug Collins' rant last night, sources tell Ric Bucher that should Collins resign or be let go, Sixers assistant Michael Curry will not only take over, but be considered a legitimate candidate to coach the team for the long term. Curry was last a head coach in Detroit, where he was fired in June of 2009 after a one-year 39-43 stint with the Pistons.
Odds & Ends: Coach K, Howard, Harkless, Rookies
A roundup of the latest news and notes from around the NBA on Tuesday evening:
- Mike Krzyzewski has issued a statement refuting recent reports that he will return as head coach of Team USA, reiterating that he intends to stay retired (Reuters report via the New York Times).
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Mavericks should be an attractive free-agent destination for Dwight Howard this summer.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld is impressed with Maurice Harkless' recent play as he has been given a greater opportunity for minutes on the rebuilding Magic.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News ranks the best rookies of this season, headlined by Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard.
- Erik Gundersen of TrailBlazers.com chronicles the relationship between Trail Blazers guards Wesley Matthews and Eric Maynor, dating back to their rookie season together in Utah.
- Amir Johnson praises Cavs big man Tristan Thompson to Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com wonders whether the Celtics could have traded for Marcus Morris from the Rockets.
Northwest Notes: Jazz, Maynor, Fisher
The latest news and notes from around the Northwest Division on Tuesday evening:
- Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune examines the futures of Jazz big men Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, both of whom were rumored to be dealt at the trade deadline and will be unrestricted free agents.
- John Rohde of the Oklahoman explains how the Thunder's trade of Eric Maynor to the Trail Blazers freed up the necessary money to sign Derek Fisher.
- Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman writes that several Mavericks players are suspicious of Fisher's motivations for signing with the Thunder after asking to be waived by Dallas earlier in the season.
Brandon Jennings Interested In Joining Mavs
Over the weekend, the New York Daily News reported mutual interest between Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings and the Dallas Mavericks. Now, Jennings has acknowledged his admiration for the Mavs' roster and owner Mark Cuban, and his willingness to play in Dallas, in an interview with Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News:
“Yeah, of course,” Jennings said when asked if he could see himself fitting in Dallas. “You’ve got Dirk Nowitzki, you’ve got O.J. Mayo, Elton Brand, Chris Kaman.
“Who wouldn’t want to play in an environment like this every night? You’ve got an owner who’s so into his team and everything like that. Every time you see the Mavs, you see [Cuban] cheering or going crazy. They won a championship. They’re about winning.”
Jennings is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Bucks will have the ability to match any offer the fourth-year guard signs. He is averaging 18.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 6.1 APG this season.
Odds & Ends: China, Bynum, Fisher, NBPA, Draft
In a piece for SheridanHoops.com, Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall.com previews the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs and recaps the standings for the season. Pastuszek also makes note of the American players who had been playing in China, some of whom could be candidates to return stateside and catch on with an NBA team. So far, Terrence Williams has signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics after his stint with the Guangdong Southern Tigers, while D.J. White is set to sign with the C's as well.
Here are a few more Tuesday afternoon odds and ends:
- The Sixers know what Andrew Bynum is capable of when he's healthy, which is why John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that the club should shut down the big man for the rest of this season.
- In his latest mailbag, Ian Thomsen of SI.com cites one rival executive who expects the Sixers to re-sign Bynum this summer, negotiating language into his contract that gives the team some level of protection in case his knee issues continue. "If they don't sign him, then we'd all better run the other direction," said the exec. "Because they'll know his situation better than everybody."
- While the Mavericks' front office was reportedly "agitated" to see Derek Fisher sign with the Thunder, Mavs players didn't seem too shocked by the move, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details. "It wasn't a big surprise," one Mavs veteran said. "We expected him to end up with the Lakers or OKC."
- Fisher told Oklahoma City reporters today that he's not necessarily planning to retire at season's end, according to Royce Young of Daily Thunder (via Twitter).
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld runs through all 30 NBA head coaches in an attempt to determine which ones are safe and which ones might be on the hot seat.
- The NBPA moved quickly to remove Billy Hunter from his exectutive director position, but finding a replacement figures to be a longer process, tweets Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal.
- 21 NBA scouts and one general manager, the Thunder's Sam Presti, were in France today to watch Rudy Gobert match up against Mouhammadou Jaiteh, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link). Gobert ranks 12th on Givony's list of top 100 prospects, while Jaiteh is 32nd.
Western Notes: Rockets, Clippers, Garnett, Mavs
Here's the latest from around the Western Conference, where the Lakers are three games back of the Rockets for the eighth seed and three and a half back of the seventh-place Jazz:
- Although his plan was being openly questioned in NBA circles eight months ago, GM Daryl Morey continues to build the Rockets into a team with strong long-term potential, observes Grantland's Zach Lowe. Within his piece, Lowe writes that Morey and assistant coach Kelvin Sampson were both fixated on acquiring James Harden, and that the team would like to add a defense-first wing to the roster.
- The Clippers were "closer than people think" to acquiring Kevin Garnett for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan last week, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News questions whether the Mavericks ought to try to build a team around Dwight Howard, even if the All-Star center is willing to sign in Dallas this summer.
- Although Dirk Nowitzki indicated recently that he hopes to play for a few more years, his focus for now is more on the short term, as he tells Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. "[Mark Cuban]’s obviously said his bank’s open, so we’ll see what happens this summer," Nowitzki said. "It’s going to be a big summer for us. We want to get back to winning ways. We always competed and were part of the playoffs, so we’ll see what happens this summer. It’s going to be a big summer for this franchise."
- The Thunder decided to bring back Derek Fisher for the stretch run because they know exactly what they're getting in the veteran point guard, writes Susan Bible of HoopsWorld.
Western Notes: Fisher, Mavericks, Conley, Nash
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has kept mum about Derek Fisher signing with the Thunder, but one league source told Jeff Caplan of NBA.com that the best way to describe the mood of the Dallas front office is “agitated." The source said that the veteran and his representatives never contacted the Mavs during his decision-making process to discuss a possible return to Dallas, the team that, in good faith, initially signed him. Fisher asked for and received his release from the Mavs on December 22 so he could spend more time with his family. Here's more out of the Western Conference..
- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News doesn't see Dwight Howard as the answer for the Mavericks as they look to once again build themselves into contenders. Cowlishaw argues that despite his immense talent, his poor foul shooting and subsequent inability to be counted upon in crunch time cancels out much of it.
- Mike Conley is averaging 2.3 steals per contest and if he keeps up his thieving ways, he'll be in line for a contract bonus at the end of the year, notes Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. To cash in, the Grizzlies guard has to finish top five in steals. He currently ranks second behind Chris Paul of the Clippers.
- Salary cap guru Larry Coon (via Twitter) believes that it's possible that the Lakers will trade Steve Nash this offseason, but he doesn't see them actively pursuing a deal.