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Northwest Notes: Thunder, Nuggets, Blazers

November 22nd, 2015 at 3:45pm CST by Will Joseph

Kenneth Faried, who had some issues with former Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, likes the direction the team seems to be headed in and is surprised by the decent record so far under new coach Michael Malone, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post details.

“Coming out, I felt that we were going to struggle at first,” Faried said. “And we’ve had our struggles, but we’re 6-6. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season, ‘Oh, the Nuggets will be 6-6 and ahead of a lot of people in the West,’ I would have said ‘all right.’”

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

The Thunder recalled small forward Josh Huestis from the D-League, the team announced in a press release. Huestis has appeared in three games in the D-League this season, averaging 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game.
Noah Vonleh, on whom the Blazers exercised their rookie scale team option for the 2016/17 season in September, is one of the team’s younger players who has developed through putting in extra practice time, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com writes in a three-part series on how the team is improving. While the team’s younger players show up well before practice, the veterans have logged hours after practice and both groups are vital parts of the Blazers’ rebuilding process, Quick adds.

Mavericks Rumors: Cuban, Ex-Jazz, Iguodala

November 22nd, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expects the soaring salary cap to bring significant changes to the league next season, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. In a wide-ranging interview, Cuban touched on the planning implications that come with an increased cap. “It’s going to change a lot,” Cuban said. “More from a strategy perspective, it makes the value of draft choices go through the roof because they’re pegged at a certain price. Minimum contracts will go through the roof. Anybody that signs for the mid-level, the value goes through the roof.” He added that it will be more difficult for teams to assemble multiple stars when they’re each making more than $30MM per season.

Cuban also addressed this week’s firing of Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who guided the team to the Western Conference Finals last season, but stumbled to a 4-7 start. “So I’ve said it before, the hardest thing for an NBA owner to do is hire a coach,” Cuban said. “The easiest thing to do is fire a coach. The reason it’s hard to hire a coach, coaches are great at date-face, they know exactly what your weaknesses are and they know exactly how to sell to those weaknesses, so it’s really difficult to pick it right and it’s 90% luck.”

There’s more news out of Dallas:

After adding Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews and Jeremy Evans over the summer, the Mavericks are taking on the look of the old Jazz teams, writes Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Devin Harris is the fourth former Utah player on the roster, which Evans said helped to ease the transition when he signed with Dallas. “We always have something we can talk about — when we were in Utah, the times that we were together, the teammates there and what happened that year,” Evans said. “We know those guys and have fun here.”
Cuban insists the team was “20 minutes away” from acquiring Andre Iguodala from the Sixers in 2012, tweets Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Instead, Philadelphia traded Iguodala to the Nuggets.
The Mavericks have recalled Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri from the D-League, the team announced today. Anderson, a 6’6″ guard, is averaging 3.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10 games with Dallas, while Mejri, a 7’2″ center, hasn’t scored and has five rebounds in four games.

Erick Green Joins Kings D-League Team

November 21st, 2015 at 1:51pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former Nuggets point guard Erick Green has signed with the NBA D-League and has been claimed via the league’s waiver process by the Reno Bighorns, the Kings’ D-League affiliate, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor reports (Twitter link). Green will still be free to sign with any interested NBA team if offered a deal.

Green was cut loose by Denver earlier this month in order to clear a roster slot so that the team could re-sign Kostas Papanikolaou, whose services were sorely needed after injuries had sidelined Wilson Chandler, Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets were high on Green’s potential, with GM Tim Connelly saying of the point guard, “He lives in the gym, everyone in this building has a positive impression of Erick, not just him as a player but him as a person. He’s a fantastic person, and he’s going to be back in the NBA, ASAP. He’s a guy we’ll keep close tabs on. You never close the door, especially for a guy who has done as much as Erick and worked as hard as he has.”

The 24-year-old was the No. 46 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. He has appeared in a total of 46 contests over two seasons with Denver, averaging 3.2 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists. Green’s career NBA slash line is .374/.292/.833.

Western Notes: Chandler, World Peace, Durant

November 17th, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nuggets small forward Wilson Chandler underwent successful surgery today to repair a labral tear in his right hip, the team announced via a press release. Chandler initially suffered the injury during the preseason and he will be out for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign. Despite missing approximately 133 games since 2011 due to hip injuries, the veteran, who signed a four-year, $46.5MM renegotiation and extension with Denver back in July, recently told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post that he isn’t contemplating retirement.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Lakers have assigned small forward Anthony Brown the the L.A. D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This is the first trip of the season to the D-League for Brown, as our D-League assignments and recalls tracker shows. The rookie has appeared in three games for the Lakers this season, averaging 1.7 points in 3.0 minutes of action per contest.
By not signing Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli to rookie scale extensions prior to this season’s deadline, the Warriors have left open the possibility of swinging a sign-and-trade deal for Kevin Durant this offseason, Danny Leroux of the Sporting News posits. Leroux also runs down a number of other scenarios that could result in Golden State potentially trotting out one of the greatest offensive teams of all-time, though the scribe does note that Barnes and Ezeli, both of whom are eligible to become restricted free agents next summer, would have the right to decline any sign-and-trade agreement.
Lakers coach Byron Scott was worried that Metta World Peace‘s body wouldn’t hold up through training camp, but the 16th-year veteran who just turned 36 says he’s in better shape than when he was with the Lakers the first time, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. World Peace is seeing occasional starting assignments and 19.1 minutes per game. “You have to give him a lot of credit for somebody who was out of the league for a couple of years,” Scott said. “He worked as hard as he worked to get back into the league and be able to be a vital part of what we’re trying to do. It’s been great.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Chandler, Kings, Spurs

November 15th, 2015 at 7:15pm CST by Will Joseph

Wilson Chandler, who is out for the season because of a labral tear, is not thinking about retirement despite hip problems that have been a recurring issue for the Nuggets small forward, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post relays. Chandler, 28, signed a four-year, $46.5MM extension with Denver in July. Chandler told Dempsey that he knew he had a labral tear prior to the Nuggets’ season opener at Houston, but hoped that rest and an anti-inflammatory injection would help him be able to play. Counting this season, according to Dempsey, hip injuries will have cost Chandler 133 games since 2011.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

It’s been an interesting start to the season for Ben McLemore, whom the Kings exercised their $4,008,882 team option on in October. He lost his role as the team’s starting shooting guard and then reportedly voiced frustration about Kings coach George Karl. Now, however, Karl has shown more trust in McLemore and has twice let the third-year player start the second half, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee details.
The Thunder have recalled Josh Huestis from the D-League, the team announced in an emailed press release (and on Twitter). The small forward has not appeared in a game for the Thunder this season.
The Spurs‘ decision to trade reserve guard George Hill to the Pacers for a package centering around Kawhi Leonard in 2011 was not a popular move among San Antonio’s players at first, Spurs GM R.C. Buford told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. McCarney examines the trade in an interesting look back. George Felton, the Spurs’ director of college scouting, was high on Leonard, who, McCarney writes, was viewed as “a prototypical Spur.”

And Ones: Gasol, Nuggets, Drummond, Hawks

November 14th, 2015 at 10:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bulls‘ Pau Gasol could miss out on a major payday if he doesn’t opt out of his current deal next summer, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Gasol has a player option on the final season of a three-year, $22.3MM contract that brought him to Chicago in 2014. He is owed a little less than $7.77MM for 2016/17, when increased TV revenues are expected to greatly raise the salary cap. Two unidentified executives from rival teams told Johnson that even at age 36, Gasol could land two more years of guaranteed money if he becomes an unrestricted free agent. “I’ll wait to make that decision,” Gasol said. “All I’m focused on now is trying to play the best I can so that if I do opt out and explore, I have options. If I have the best season possible and work on my body and stay healthy and help this team accomplish its goals, I’ll go from there.”

There’s more from around the world of basketball:

The league has taken steps to reduce the unique home-court advantage the Nuggets possess because of Denver’s location and altitude, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Denver is at least a two-hour flight from nearly all NBA cities, which gives the home team a decided advantage against an opponent playing back-to-back games, especially when the thin mountain air is factored in. “I didn’t like it when I had to come here,” said Michael Malone, who is in his first season as Nuggets coach. “But I love it now.” Dempsey reports that the NBA has tried to cut into that edge by making Denver the first stop for teams traveling from the east and building an off day into the schedule for teams coming from the west.
The Pistons‘ Andre Drummond tops a list of six players exceeding expectations compiled by Jonathan Concool of Basketball Insiders. Drummond was averaging 20.3 points and 20.3 rebounds per game heading into Saturday’s action. Rounding out the list are the Blazers‘ C.J. McCollum, the Pistons’ Marcus Morris, the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Magic’s Evan Fournier and the Lakers‘ Jordan Clarkson.
The Hawks will recall Edy Tavares and Lamar Patterson from the D-League Sunday, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Both are expected to be in Atlanta in time for the game with the Jazz.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, Smith, Lawson

November 14th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t made up his mind about when he’ll retire from the game, but he isn’t shutting the door on the possibility that he may play beyond 2016/17, which is the final year on his current deal, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “I always said that when the body is hurting every day, and when you’ve got to do all this extra stuff to just play, I think that’s when it’s time to go,” said Nowitzki. “But I feel good. I feel good right now and I felt good this summer. I mean, we had a five-games-in-six-days for the [Eurobasket], and I got through that just fine. … I felt good. I don’t need to pop a thousand pills to play or practice. So as long as that’s still good, and it’s still fun to go. I’m going to definitely ride this contract out [this season and next]. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens after that.”

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Ish Smith, who was claimed off waivers from the Wizards back in October, has been forced to play major minutes because of injuries to Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans, and he has impressed the Pelicans‘ coaching staff with how quickly he has acclimated to the team’s system, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. ”It’s really tough, especially just coming in,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”It would have been different if he had been in training camp and had gone through the whole situation. But you just pick a guy up and then throw him out there, I thought he responded great. I just think it’s a situation and [GM] Dell [Demps] and I talked about it and we just got to keep our head above water. We just got to keep playing hard and competing.”
Ty Lawson made his return to Denver Friday night, which was his first game back in the city after being dealt to the Rockets during the offseason. While his tenure with the Nuggets didn’t necessarily end well, the point guard had nothing negative to say about his former team, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “It was pretty great,” said Lawson of his time with the Nuggets. “I had a good couple of years here. This team gave me my first opportunity and chance. So I have nothing bad to say.” When asked if he wished things had turned out differently for him in Denver, Lawson responded, “Things happen for a reason. God has a plan, so I’m going to follow it.”
Mavericks point guard Raymond Felton has signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports and Entertainment, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (Twitter link). Felton was previously represented by Wasserman Media Group.

Northwest Notes: Taylor, Leonard, Mudiay, Huestis

November 13th, 2015 at 11:15am CST by Chuck Myron

The idea that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is looking to sell a minority interest in the team is “old news,” as Taylor put it in a comment to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, confirming that he’s had contact with Steve Kaplan, with whom he’s reportedly engaged in serious talks (All four Twitter links). Taylor said he’s also spoken to others, but some of them want to move the team and Kaplan doesn’t, Wolfson points out. Kevin Garnett is interested in someday owning the Wolves, but Taylor refused comment on any potential involvement for KG, Wolfson relays. Kaplan would really prefer to become a majority owner, but with few teams on the market, it makes sense that he would buy a smaller stake and position himself to purchase the controlling interest later, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). See more from the Northwest Division:

The dislocated shoulder that Meyers Leonard suffered in Wednesday’s game will probably sideline him for at least four weeks, and it’s conceivable that he ends up having surgery that would knock him out for the season, an orthopedic surgeon without ties to Leonard or the Trail Blazers told Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. The Blazers have yet to release an official timetable for the big man, who recently turned down a “considerable” extension offer to set up restricted free agency next summer.
Bucks coach and one-time legendary point guard Jason Kidd believes the Nuggets scored with their pick of Emmanuel Mudiay at No. 7 in this year’s draft, predicting that Mudiay will be better than he was, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “He’s better already,” Kidd said. “Being able to run an NBA team at 19 is not easy. You look at some of the greats — Magic [Johnson] was able to do it. And you’re looking at this kid Mudiay, who has the opportunity to do something special. So, I would encourage him to be better than me, and I think he will be at the end of the day.”
The Thunder have assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced. Huestis spent last season in the D-League in an unusual draft-and-stash arrangement, but this time, he’ll continue to draw NBA paychecks while in the D-League after signing with the Thunder on a rookie scale contract this past summer.

Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

November 12th, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Chuck Myron

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

Wilson Chandler To Miss Remainder Of Season

November 11th, 2015 at 7:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler has been diagnosed with a labral tear and will undergo hip surgery early next week, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports and the team confirms via press release. He initially suffered the injury during the preseason and he has missed the team’s first seven games. Chandler will miss the remainder of the season as a result of the surgery, but he is expected to make a complete recovery after a six-month rehab, sources tell Wojnarowski.

“I’m incredibly disappointed at this point, I put in so much work over the summer to make myself a better player,” Chandler said in the team’s statement. “I was really looking forward to this year, being out there battling with my teammates, being a part of the change. I dedicated my whole summer to self-improvement and all I had on my mind this off-season and preseason was ‘this was my year, I was going to help this team win.’ So this is very frustrating and heart-breaking to say the least. I just want to say thank you to the whole organization for supporting me at a time like this.”

Chandler signed a four-year, $46.5MM extension with Denver during the offseason and he was expected to play a major role for the team. The 28-year-old had been the subject of frequent trade rumors over the past year and by virtue of being a veteran on a rebuilding team, those rumors were likely to continue, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors noted in Denver’s Offseason in Review.

The Nuggets started the season with a record of 3-4 with quality wins over the Rockets and Blazers despite Chandler missing from the line-up. It’ll be hard for the team to keep up that win pace without the forward returning to reinforce the roster. The team was already thin in the frontcourt with injuries to Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic. Those injuries, coupled with the news of Chandler missing the season, could mean that Kostas Papanikolaou, whom the team signed last week, remains in Denver through the season, although that is just my speculation.

If the Nuggets go over the cap, which they’re almost $1.5MM under, they would become eligible to apply for a Disabled Player Exception worth $5,224,719, a figure equal to half of Chandler’s salary. However, the Nuggets already have a full 15-man roster, with Papanikolaou the only player without fully guaranteed salary. The team doesn’t currently have enough players with long-term injuries to apply for a 16th roster spot via hardship.