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Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Timberwolves, Billups

October 15th, 2014 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder have won the Northwest Division each of the past four seasons, but it’s conceivable that the team will receive a stiff challenge from the Blazers this year if Kevin Durant is slow to recover from the fracture in his foot. While we wait to see if there’s a competitive race in the Northwest, here’s the latest from the division:

Portland’s improvement last year was crucial to LaMarcus Aldridge‘s desire to continue playing for the Blazers, as he admitted in appearance with Justin Termine and Mike Dunleavy Sr. of Sirius XM NBA Radio, as Casey Holdahl of NBA.com’s Forward/Center blog transcribes. Aldridge added that was hoping to cash in on the NBA’s windfall of TV money when he passed on an extension to set up free agency next summer, but he suggests that he won’t try to sign a one-year deal this summer to become a free agent again in 2016, when the new TV deal starts. That jibes with a report from The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman, who heard earlier this month that the TV deal won’t affect Aldridge’s plan to sign a new long-term deal with the Blazers in 2015.
Timberwolves backup guard Mo Williams isn’t a fan of the NBA’s experiment with shorter games, as he tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, who hears similar disdain for the idea from Corey Brewer and J.J. Barea. “I come off the bench, man,” Williams said. “They need to put 50 minutes on that so my minutes would be up. I need more minutes, not less.”
Despite fielding interest from the several different teams, including the Nuggets, about taking on a coaching or front office role, Chauncey Billups has decided to join the ESPN crew as an analyst, reveals Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated. Billups cited a long-term commitment to broadcasting and said he’s not thinking of becoming a coach or executive.

Northwest Notes: Billups, Williams, Matthews

October 14th, 2014 at 6:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The start of the regular season is just two weeks away and franchises are still trying to finalize their regular season rosters. Teams can carry up to 20 players during the preseason but need to pare that number down to 15 by October 27th. In the Northwest Division the current preseason roster counts are Jazz (17); Wolves (18); Thunder (18); Blazers (17); and Nuggets (18). A number of tough decisions still need to be made by GMs, and a number of the players who get waived may end up in the NBA D-League hoping for a shot at some NBA action later in the season.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Nuggets would love to bring Chauncey Billups into their front office, but it is unlikely to happen this season, writes Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post in his weekly mailbag. Billups made his preference to join a front office in some capacity known when he retired this summer.
Mo Williams is focused on contributing to a young Wolves team for the time being, but he admits that he has aspirations of coaching an NBA club one day, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “I’ve got some years left in me,” said Williams. “But absolutely, they know that, a lot of coaches know it just because of my personality. It’s something when my legs say I can’t do it no more and guys like [Zach LaVine] and [Andrew Wiggins] keep coming into the league, I’ll probably have to start coaching.”
Wesley Matthews doesn’t believe the end of his contract this summer will bring an end to his time with the Blazers, as he indicated to Erik Gundersen of The Columbian. “Every year is a contract year,” Matthews said when asked if he’d feel added pressure to perform this year.

Charlie Adams and Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Mozgov, Spurs, Calathes, Scott

October 13th, 2014 at 8:40pm CST by Charlie Adams

Teams asked the Nuggets about potential trades for Timofey Mozgov last winter and throughout the summer, writes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, indicating that the Cavs aren’t the only opposing club interested in the 7-footer. While Mozgov remains in Denver for the time being, the Nuggets’ frontcourt depth might mean the club is willing to ship him away for a lucrative enough return. As we wait and see if Mozgov remains in blue and gold, let’s round up the latest from out west:

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich indicated that camp invitees Bryce Cotton, Josh Davis, and JaMychal Green are likely to remain with the team through the preseason, tweets Jeff McDonald of the Express-News.
Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal doesn’t necessarily see the Grizzlies signing a fourth point guard for depth while Nick Calathes is out with a 13 game suspension. If Memphis does decide to carry a 15th player into the season, however, a one-guard would be the most likely choice. Herrington adds that he’d like to see what Jon Leuer and Jarnell Stokes can do with Kosta Koufos headed towards free agency.
Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report chronicles the events that culminated in the Lakers’ decision to hire new coach Byron Scott. Ding opines that the extensive history Scott has with the franchise will mesh well with Los Angeles’ young cast of players, making him an exceptional hire for the Lakers.

Chuck Myron and Zach Links contributed to this post.

Bradley Beal Likely Out Six To Eight Weeks

October 11th, 2014 at 6:24pm CST by Cray Allred

Bradley Beal suffered a broken wrist to his non-shooting hand in last night’s preseason game, and the Wizards announced in a team release that he will undergo surgery for the non-displaced fracture this evening. While a timetable for return hasn’t been set, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets that the team fears Beal could miss 6-8 weeks, and that a recovery estimate will be established after the surgery is complete within the next two days.

The injury is a blow to Washington’s hopes of contending for a higher playoff seed this season, as it could force them to be without their budding star for 18 games or more. The team is over the salary cap, so it can only sign someone to a minimum salary contract. An additional restraint is the luxury tax line; Washington sits just under $1.4MM short of that number. The team is carrying Damion James and Xavier Silas on non-guaranteed contracts, two wings who could have a better path to earning a regular season spot thanks to the void left by Beal in the lineup.

The Wizards only have 13 of the maximum 15 guaranteed contracts lined up for 2014/15, and they also have room for two more players under the 20-player preseason maximum. Martell Webster is a solid rotation player, but the veteran guard is still recovering from back surgery himself and likely won’t be back, or back to full speed, when the season opens. Behind Webster, Washington is very inexperienced at guard, with unproven wings Glen Rice Jr. and Otto Porter next in line for minutes. Point guard Garrett Temple can man the two-guard spot, but he had his minutes reduced to just 8.2 per contest last year with the Wizards. Veteran wing Rasual Butler is currently with the team on a non-guaranteed deal, but he is at the tail end of his career and only played 7.6 minutes per game last year with the Pacers.

A trade is a possibility, and the team does have two trade exceptions for $1,254,660 and $4,329,089 that could land them a player for more than the minimum without having to match returning salary. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to use much of the exceptions without exceeding the tax line. Zach Lowe of Grantland pegs Jared Dudley and Randy Foye as gettable players for the Wizards to trade for, but expects the team to ride out the injury while adding a player at the minimum (on Twitter). Chris Mannix of SI.com also tweets that he thinks a trade is unlikely.

In his full story, Aldridge suggests that the team will intensify its pursuit of free agent shooting guard Ray Allen, who has yet to signal whether he will retire or return to the court this season. The team would still only be able to offer the minimum salary due to its cap situation, so any increased efforts for Allen would come down to the size of his role, not his contract.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Jackson, McGary

October 9th, 2014 at 8:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NFL is likely to give Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke, who also owns the St. Louis Rams, a 12-month extension on the December 31st deadline by which he must transfer ownership of the Nuggets to his son, Josh, reports Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Daily (hat tip to Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post). Josh Kroenke serves as team president for the Nuggets and is already the team’s representative on the league’s Board of Governors.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Alonzo Gee and Marcus Williams are playing well and making it tough for the Nuggets to decide whom to carry on opening night, coach Brian Shaw admits, according to Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Gee and Williams have non-guaranteed contracts while 15 others have at least partial guarantees on their deals. Dempsey suggests that Gee and Williams are battling Quincy Miller, one of three Nuggets with a partial guarantee, for the final regular season roster spot.
Thunder rookie Mitch McGary is expected to miss at least five to seven weeks with a fracture in his left foot, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman reports (Twitter link).
With Reggie Jackson set to become a restricted free agent next summer, the situation reminds many of when the Thunder traded James Harden to the Rockets rather than commit to a max contract. Jeff Caplan of NBA.com believes Eric Bledsoe‘s situation is a better comparison, seeing as neither player had Harden’s track record of performance prior to hitting restricted free agency.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Nuggets Sign Kenneth Faried To Extension

October 8th, 2014 at 7:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 7:12pm: The deal is official, the team has announced. GM Tim Connelly said of Faried, “We value the energy and excitement that Kenneth brings night-in and night-out and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement on a contract extension. We are truly looking forward to watching Kenneth continue to grow as a player and leader for the Denver Nuggets.”

TUESDAY, 6:52pm: The deal contains incentives that could inflate the total value to $52MM over four years, reports Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (via Twitter).

6:27pm: The deal has been reworked and will be a four-year, $50MM extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The sticking point for the league, as Wojnarowski reported yesterday, was converting the pact from five years to four to comply with the provisions of the Designated Player rule that demand a player receives the maximum salary in the first year of an extension that covers five seasons. (Twitter links).

7:58am: The most likely outcome involves Faried ending up with a four-year, $48MM extension that runs through the 2018/19 season, perhaps with some incentive clauses that could lift the value of the deal, writes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post.

MONDAY, 9:39am: The Nuggets are talking with the NBA about just how the extension can be structured under the rules, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski indicates that the original intention was to make it a five-year extension, but that it could wind up as a four-year deal. The Yahoo! scribe calls the collective bargaining agreement language that mandates the maximum salary in the first season of an extension for a Designated Player “ambiguous, at best.”

8:34am: The Nuggets and Kenneth Faried struck a deal Sunday night on a five-year, $60MM extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s not entirely clear whether Wojnarowski means that the extension will cover five seasons by itself or the four years that follow this coming season. That’s because $60MM almost certainly wouldn’t be enough to cover the provisions of the Designated Player rule that would mandate that Faried receive the maximum salary in the first year of an extension that covers five seasons. In any case, the final season will be partially guaranteed, giving the Nuggets a chance to save $8MM that year in the seemingly unlikely event that they waive the power forward.

The Nuggets jumped into extension discussions with agent Thad Foucher in July, the earliest they could have come to a deal. It appears the conversation was slow-going, but according to Wojnarowski, the sides began to exchange “serious proposals” this week. Faried, who turns 25 next month, no doubt helped his cause with a breakout performance at the FIBA World Cup in late August and early September, when he averaged 12.4 points and 7.8 rebounds in just 21.5 minutes per game for Team USA. I wrote in late July that Faried seemed in line for a four-year, $44MM deal, and a GM told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that he envisioned annual salaries below $10MM for Faried before the World Cup boosted his estimation into the range of Al Jefferson‘s $13.5MM yearly paydays.

The former No. 22 pick had already begun to change perceptions with his improvement last season. His name appeared in a handful of early-season trade rumors, and the Nuggets, worried that Foucher would seek $10MM+ annual salaries, reportedly brought him up in trade discussions at about this time last year. The “Manimal” convinced the Nuggets he was worth that kind of money, setting a career high with 13.7 PPG in 27.2 MPG in his third NBA season, a rate that extrapolates to 18.1 points per 36 minutes, the best mark of anyone on the team who played at least 1,000 total minutes. He also recorded a team-high 19.8 PER. Still, he’s not a strong defender, as Cray Allred of Hoops Rumors noted in August when he examined Faried as an extension candidate.

Nuggets GM Tim Connelly and Faried both expressed interest over the offseason in a long-term future with each other, so it’s not surprising to see the sides come to terms. Depending on how Faried’s $60MM will be spread, the Nuggets will have about $60MM in total salaries for 2015/16. Still, it’s possible that Denver will have cap room that exceeds the value of the largest mid-level exception next summer, particularly if the cap rises to $70MM, as some teams project.

Western Notes: Nedovic, Gasol, Faried

October 8th, 2014 at 5:56pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nemanja Nedovic said that the Warriors haven’t given him any indication on whether or not the team’s third-year option on his contract will be picked up, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Golden State has until October 31st to decide on Nedovic’s option.

Here’s more from out west:

Pau Gasol doesn’t have fond memories of being a free agent this past summer, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Talking about the process that led him to sign with the Bulls, Gasol said, “It was a difficult decision; it was a difficult process to go through and I don’t wish to go through it again because it was just very stressful. My phone was blowing up. It got to points in the day where I just didn’t want to be by my phone so I just put it away. I don’t know who called at those times. I tried to return the calls and the messages as much as I could, because I was trying to be respectful and appreciative of the people that had interest in me. I did not expect nor anticipate that it was going to be that hectic and that stressful. So first it was hard for me to make the decision to move on from the team that I’ve been a part of and been through so much with – the Lakers. Then, after that, it was, ‘Okay, where do I want to play?’”
The Kings have hired David Arseneault Jr. as head coach of the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, the team announced via a press release. Arseneault was previously working as an assistant at Grinnell College, a Division III program. The Kings presumably hired him to implement and teach Grinnell’s high-scoring offensive system, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes.
One of the big worries with signing players to big dollar contracts is if the pressure to live up to the numbers will hamper the player. Kenneth Faried isn’t letting his new windfall from the Nuggets affect him, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. When asked if he was feeling added weight because of the contract extension, Faried said, “No, I really don’t care. There’s no pressure, it’s just money. It’s not a big deal. I love the game so I’m going to continue to play the game like I’ve been playing. My mind has been at ease and I’ve been grinding.”

And-Ones: D-League, Bucks, Cuban, Faried

October 8th, 2014 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to as many as four of the players they cut at the end of the preseason, up from the previous limit of three, Hoops Rumors has learned. Still, if a team keeps the D-League rights to fewer than four such players, it can claim the D-League rights of someone it waives during the regular season, another new wrinkle that Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported last month. Such decisions are among the many that teams will have to make around the end of the month, when they face rookie scale extension and option deadlines and must set their regular season rosters. Here’s more from around the NBA as those key dates approach.

The Bucks have hired Deluxe Entertainment Services Group executive Peter Feigin as team president, the club announced. It appears as though he’ll handle business affairs for the Bucks while GM John Hammond will continue to run the team’s basketball operations.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban downplayed the financial impact the league’s new TV deal will have on teams, but he suggested that the majority of owners won’t attempt to “cry poor” when they negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with players. Jeff Caplan of NBA.com has the details, including Cuban’s prediction that most players won’t seek one-year deals this summer in an effort to time their free agencies with an influx of TV money in the summer of 2016.
Kenneth Faried must continue his development and become a star to make his four-year, $50MM extension worthwhile for the Nuggets, argues Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post, who’s loath to bet against the power forward after a year of rapid growth.

And-Ones: Suggs, Suns, Nuggets, Daniels

October 7th, 2014 at 8:01pm CST by Alex Lee

Let’s take a look at some of the news and notes coming out of the NBA on this Tuesday evening:

Acquiring the D-League rights to Scott Suggs of France’s Chalon-Sur-Saone as part of today’s Seth Curry deal might eventually pay off for the Warriors, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports hears that the former Washington Husky has legitimate NBA talent (via Twitter).
The Suns anticipated a skyrocketing salary cap when they handed out $122MM to Eric Bledsoe, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris last month, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. After accumulating draft picks for years and locking up some of their better players, the team believes they are in an ideal position to add to an already impressive core, Coro writes.
The Nuggets‘ extension of Kenneth Faried projects to be very reasonable in the current cap climate and is a good bet to become a bargain after the inevitable cap adjustment, according to ESPN Insider’s Kevin Pelton. Pelton fully expects teams to put an emphasis on locking up their young players for as long as they can.
Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post provides a player-by-player look at how the inflation of the salary cap would affect the Nuggets, who seem to be well-positioned to build around Ty Lawson and Faried.
Marquis Daniels, who played in the NBA as recently as the 2012/13 season, is in the early stages of a transition to coaching, writes Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders.

Northwest Notes: Arthur, Blazers, Wolves

October 4th, 2014 at 2:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

When asked if he’d like to remain with the Nuggets past this season, Darrell Arthur said, “Oh yeah, for sure. My family loves it here. My mom was just up here for a couple of weeks and she just loves it – loves the atmosphere, loves the people here. I love the organization, everything. It’s a family organization, they welcome you with open arms. I definitely would like this to be home,” Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post relays. Arthur is in the final season of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Here’s more from the west:

NBA TV’s Steve Smith was in Portland covering the Blazers training camp and discussed the contract situations of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, and Robin Lopez. All three players are in the final year of their respective deals and Smith was asked if it would become a distraction and he said, “LaMarcus being the main one. I can’t speak for him, but I think he’ll be the easiest one to figure out. He’ll be all right. I think Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez, financially — I’m not saying they’re not set, we all are, we play in the NBA — but LaMarcus is going to get the max. Now with those other two guys, you have to balance sacrificing for the team and making as much money possible in your career. I think this contract is … the big one for those guys.”
Smith also discussed the offseason additions of Steve Blake and Chris Kaman, saying, “It’s funny. Sometimes you look at moves — and, like you said, they’re not huge as far as names that go across the entire association — but Steve Blake is one of those veterans that just fits well with this team. You can tell just by watching practice. And he makes home here in Portland. So you have a guy who’s comfortable. He’s played here, what, three times? Chris Kaman, if you want to draw up a Portland Trail Blazer, it’s Chris Kaman. He just looks like he belongs. (laughs) And also, I think the pressure is off him. He can come in and be himself.“
Ricky Rubio believes that the departure of Kevin Love to the Cavs will be good for both Love and the Wolves, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. “Of course we had a lot going on last year and the media was talking, they were wondering if Kevin wanted to be here, blah, blah, blah, and that hurt the team and hurt himself,” Rubio said. “Now that he’s not here, the media’s not going to talk about that anymore. I think that’s going to be good for him and for us.”