Odds & Ends: Warriors, Dwight, Davis, Brewer
It's an eight-game night in the NBA, and while not much attention will be focused on the Bobcats–Wizards tilt, it's certainly a change to find the 6-5 Bobcats on the other side of a game in which a team is starving for a win. While we wait to see if Washington can get its first victory in 11 tries this season, here's more from the Association.
- In a guest editorial for the Bay Area News Group, former Warriors and Grizzlies executive Andy Dolich expresses doubt that the Warriors will be able to open their arena on the San Francisco Bay by 2017, given the lengthy environmental impact review process that must take place (hat tip to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com).
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com wonders if Dwight Howard, a free agent this summer, will question his commitment to the Lakers if the team's struggles continues (Twitter link).
- Glen Davis is looking forward to getting his first win against the Celtics, who traded him to the Magic before last season, notes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Corey Brewer has bounced around the league since he was picked seventh overall in in 2007, but with free agency looming next summer, the Nuggets' system has helped him finally live up to his promise, observes Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link).
- Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times wonders what might have been if the Nets had kept their 2012 first-round draft choice and used it to select Damian Lillard, just as the Blazers did with the pick after they landed it in the Gerald Wallace deal.
- Lillard is atop the rookie rankings compiled by Chris Bernucca of SheridanHoops.com.
- Rookie Jae Crowder has been impressive at times for the Mavs, but his transition to the NBA has not been seamless, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram examines.
Western Notes: T-Wolves, Douglas-Roberts, Kings
After a Thanksgiving Thursday that didn't feature any NBA games, the season resumes in earnest tonight, with 12 games on the slate. Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the evening involves the Lakers, still finding their rhythm under new coach Mike D'Antoni, traveling to Memphis to face the Grizzlies.
Yesterday, I suggested that the Grizzlies, Clippers, and Knicks have all shown signs of being ready to make the leap and become legit title contenders this season. The poll results are still very tight, but for now, the Clippers narrowly edge the Grizzlies as your choice for the club most ready to take that next step.
Here are a few of Friday's updates out of the Western Conference:
- The Timberwolves signed Demetris Nichols and Troy Hudson late in October and quickly cut them, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter links). The purpose of the moves was to ensure that the T-Wolves' D-League squad could add Nichols and Hudson as "affiliate" players. Sure enough, both guys are currently on the Sioux Falls Skyforce roster.
- Chris Douglas-Roberts was another player whose D-League affiliate rights were acquired by the Mavericks toward the end of the preseason. Douglas-Roberts, who is now a member of the Texas Legends, Dallas' affiliate, spoke to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News about the D-League experience: "Sometimes, the NBA isn’t just about basketball. It’s about business and it’s about being in the right place at the right time and the right system at the right time. I feel I’m an NBA player. So instead of going overseas and chasing the money, I’m going to be here for however long I’m here."
- Kendrick Perkins still gets emotional when the Thunder head to Boston to play the Celtics, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. "Going against guys that you played with for a long time, won rings, went through wars with, still brothers over there," Perkins said. "But at the end of the day, we're still trying to win games."
- Jake Appleman of the New York Times examines the future of the Kings in Sacramento.
Southwest Notes: Anderson, Lin, Mayo
The Southwest Division boasts the two best teams in the Western Conference, the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. Here are the latest rumblings from around the division:
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News notes (via Twitter) that the newly signed James Anderson will cost the Spurs about half as much to sign for the minimum at as it would have to pick up the option they declined after last year.
- McDonald also tweets that, barring a change of plans, the Spurs plan on keeping their roster at 14 players.
- Richard Dean of Newsday.com talks to Jeremy Lin, who says he is happy playing for the Rockets after being let go by the Knicks this summer.
- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes that O.J. Mayo is proving to be a major bargain for the Mavericks.
Odds & Ends: Kirilenko, Draft, Mavs, Anderson
It's one of the busiest nights of the year on the hardwood in the Association, with a slate of 14 games before the league takes a one-day hiatus for Thanksgiving. There's plenty of off-court news as well, and we've got that covered here.
- Mike D'Antoni will keep all the existing Lakers assistant coaches through the season, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. It looks like D'Antoni won't hire Nate McMillan, as he indicated he would do, Shelburne adds.
- Nuggets coach George Karl believes the Wolves' signing of Andrei Kirilenko was a smart move, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune notes.
- Jeremy Bauman of SheridanHoops.com breaks down the top 10 draft prospects from this week's Legends Classic tournament.
- Dirk Nowitzki hopes when he comes back that he and O.J. Mayo can develop the same rhythm he had with Jason Terry, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details.
- James Anderson, brought back by the Spurs today, wants to copy Danny Green's ability to take advantage of a second chance, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News documents.
- Jim Owczarski of OnMilwaukee.com checks in with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis as the pair tries to answer questions about their ability to play together for the Bucks.
- Sean Williams, who was waived by the Rockets over the summer, lasted just one preseason game with the Foshan Long Lions of the Chinese league after signing this week, tweets Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall, who translated a Weibo report. The team picked up Shavlik Randolph, a Wizards training-camp invitee this year, to replace him.
Atlantic Notes: Evans, Celtics, Kidd, Nets
Nets big man Reggie Evans today became the first, and assuredly not the last, player to draw a fine under the league's new anti-flopping measures, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported and the league confirmed with a link to the video of Evans' violation (hat tip to Howard Beck of The New York Times). If the league's video review catches Evans flopping four more times this season, he'll be suspended for a game, but it's not as if the Nets are in any danger of losing his services soon. We'll round up the rest of the night's items from the Atlantic Division here.
- We heard on separate occasions before the Celtics waived Darko Milicic that they weren't looking to immediately fill his roster spot should he leave, and now that the big man's gone, Celtics coach Doc Rivers reiterated that there have been no discussions about a replacement, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Rivers hasn't spoken to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on the matter. "Danny’s out looking at college players, so that tells you how much of an urgency (filling the roster spot is) for us right now," Rivers said. "We’re not thinking about it at all; we haven’t talked about it at all."
- Jason Kidd picked the Knicks over the Mavs because he thought New York had a better chance to win, and the veteran's presence betters the Knicks chances, writes Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
- Kidd was looking forward to mentoring Jeremy Lin, but is just as pleased about the chance to do so with Raymond Felton, as Iannazzone documents.
- Nets Daily shares Mikhail Prokorov's comments about his Nets on Russian radio station Echo Moskvy.
Dirk Nowitzki Hopes To Play Through 2016
8:13pm: Mavs owner Mark Cuban isn't looking as far ahead as Nowitzki, but won't turn his back on the team's superstar, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I think it’s too early to start thinking about that," Cuban said. "Obviously I’ll keep on signing him."
8:34am: Dirk Nowitzki told reporters yesterday that he likely won't be back on the court for the Mavericks until at least mid-December. While that news isn't good in the short-term for the Mavs, Nowitzki is hopeful that the extra recovery time will bode well for his long-term health. As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes, Nowitzki would like to play for a couple more years after his current contract ends, a timetable that would see him on the court through the 2015/16 season.
"Like I said a couple weeks ago, when I came back two years ago, the championship year, there was really no practice and I came back after three weeks and it took me a long time to kind of get back," Nowitzki said yesterday. "I’m not going to do that this year. I need to make sure everything’s right before I come back. I can’t rush. I’m hoping maybe after these two years (of his current contract) to play a couple more years. So it would be the wrong thing now to push it and come back too early and maybe make something worse for the long term."
Nowitzki is earning a salary of about $20.91MM this season and is in line to make about $22.72MM in 2013/14 before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2014. He'll be 36 years old at that point, with plenty of NBA mileage on his body, but considering the number of players we're seeing continue their careers into their late-30s these days, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see Dirk still playing well at that time. As a point of comparison, Kevin Garnett hit free agency at age 36 this summer and re-signed with the Celtics on a three-year deal.
Texas Notes: Kidd, Pietrus, Spurs, McHale
There's plenty of news coming out of the Lonestar State tonight, where the Spurs, Mavs and Rockets have begun to cool off, to varying degrees, after their hot starts. Here's the latest:
- Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News argues that Jason Kidd had every right to leave the Mavericks this summer, and scolds owner Mark Cuban for giving him the cold shoulder.
- The Spurs made an offer to Mickael Pietrus that included a "one month" guarantee, but Pietrus wasn't interested, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
- According to the French newspaper Le Parisien (translation via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News), Pietrus never received an offer from the Spurs. That's in contrast to Charania's information, as well as an earlier report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com suggesting Pietrus' demand for more than the minimum is what kept him from the team. Le Parisien attributes Stein's report to misinformation from Pietrus' "entourage," according to McCarney.
- Interim Rockets coach Kelvin Sampson, who's subbing for Kevin McHale, said the situation surrounding McHale is improving, but, "It's not out of the woods yet," reports David Barron of the Houston Chronicle. The team has not specified the reason for McHale's absence, but he's believed to be tending to his ailing daughter.
Odds & Ends: Mavs, Kings, Kapono, Williams
The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Tuesday night:
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW.com writes that, despite a hot start, the Mavericks are struggling without the injured Dirk Nowitzki.
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee has a Q&A with Kings GM Geoff Petrie covering the state of the franchise.
- Former NBA guard Jason Kapono is still unsure whether or not he will play in Greece, as he agreed to, citing a family emergency.
- Sean Williams has signed to play in China, according to Jon Pastuzek of NiuBBall.com.
Western Notes: Petrie, D’Antoni, Collison, Batum
Here are a few of today's noteworthy odds and ends from around the Western Conference:
- If the Maloofs are serious about trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento, they need to cut ties with team president Geoff Petrie, argues Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee. According to Voisin, the repeated mistakes made by the NBA's longest-tenured head of basketball operations have "stripped the once-proud franchise of its passion, its identity, its collective soul."
- Coach Mike D'Antoni will make his official debut on the Lakers' bench tonight, he confirmed today to the media, including Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
- As the Mavericks prepare to face former Dallas point guard Jason Kidd and the Knicks tomorrow night, the Mavs' new point guard, Darren Collison is struggling, as NBA.com's Jeff Caplan writes.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com details how Nicolas Batum's offseason trip to Cameroon gave him a new-found perspective on life during his free agent negotiations.
- Andrew Bogut, who has only appeared in four games during his Warriors' career, will miss at least three more contests before hopefully returning to practice next Monday, the team announced today in a press release.
- Another injured star in the West, Dirk Nowitzki, is now aiming to return to the Mavericks in mid-December, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
Odds & Ends: D’Antoni, Roy, Fisher, Gasol, Bucks
Mike D'Antoni was expected to make his debut as Lakers coach tonight, but his balky knee forced Bernie Bickerstaff to continue as interim coach for one more night. D'Antoni, who'll try to hit the sidelines again Tuesday, has told Bickerstaff he'll remain on the staff this season, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. D'Antoni did make one change to the coaching staff, however, bringing brother Dan D'Antoni aboard as expected, the team announced. Here's more from an eight-game day and night around the NBA.
- Knee trouble has kept Brandon Roy out for the past 10 days, and now he'll undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, reports Jason Quick of The Oregonian (Twitter links). Quick doesn't indicate how long he'll be continue to be out, but says he'll miss what would have been his return to Portland with the Wolves on Friday.
- The Mavs aren't interested in free agent point guard Derek Fisher, since owner Mark Cuban wants to see what the current roster can do, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. That means the team will continue to give backup minutes to Dominique Jones, whom the Mavs twice sought to trade earlier this season.
- Larry Coon of HoopsWorld won't rule out a Pau Gasol trade, but doesn't think the Lakers are likely to pull the trigger (Twitter link).
- "Everyone agreed" the Bucks needed a fast start with GM John Hammond and coach Scott Skiles in the final year of their respective deals, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and at 6-2, the team has delivered.
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star calls out Roy Hibbert for his struggles this season, just months after the big man signed a four-year, $58MM deal.
- Before Damian Lillard came into the league, he watched a lot of video of fellow point guard Derrick Rose and picked up a few of the former MVP's habits, observes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.