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Northwest Rumors: Thunder, Blazers, Batum

October 24th, 2012 at 10:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

When GMs were polled recently on their thoughts about the upcoming season, the only two teams who received consideration to win the Western Conference other than the Lakers were the Thunder and Nuggets. The nod to Oklahoma City is no surprise, but the mention of Denver might have raised a few eyebrows, since the Nuggets haven't gotten out of the first round the past three years. Nuggets coach George Karl would be pleased if his team notched 50 wins, but with Andre Iguodala on board, he believes this year's squad has a chance to break the franchise record of 54 victories, as Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com writes. Here's the latest on a couple of the Nuggets' division rivals.

  • The Thunder have 14 players on fully guaranteed deals, and another four with partial guarantees, meaning the team will likely owe money to at least three players who don't make the team. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman gives reasons why he believes Daniel Orton will edge out DeAndre Liggins for the final regular season spot, adding that it's a decision that may pit GM Sam Presti against coach Scott Brooks (All four Twitter links).
  • Mayberry also believes there's a chance the Thunder could trade Daequan Cook or Lazar Hayward to free up a spot for both Orton and Liggins, but thinks finding a taker for either would be a tough task (All Twitter links).
  • With Demonte Harper and Dallas Lauderdale reportedly about to be waived and sent to the D-League, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian identifies Coby Karl, Adam Morrison and Justin Holiday as other camp invitees the Blazers will probably cut. 
  • Nicolas Batum signed for about $12MM less in his four-year deal than Eric Gordon is getting his four-year contract, but Blazers GM Neil Olshey hopes Batum can increase his scoring this year in a manner similar to 5.4 PPG jump Gordon took from his second year in the league to his third, writes Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. 
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Nuggets Exercise Options On Faried, Hamilton

October 22nd, 2012 at 5:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The Nuggets announced that they have exercised their third-year options on forward Kenneth Faried and guard/forward Jordan Hamilton.  The two players were taken with the 22nd and 26th pick, respectively, in the 2011 draft.

Faried will earn $1.348MM in 2012/13 and will see his salary rise to $1.442MM in 2013/14.  Hamilton will see a similarly modest pay increase as he goes from $1.153MM in his sophomore campaign to $1.234MM in 2013/14.  Faried made a name for himself heading into the draft as a tough rebounder and didn't disappoint as he averaged 7.7 RPG to go along with 10.2 PPG.  Hamilton didn't see the same kind of playing time as his fellow rookie, averaging 4.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 9.9 minutes across 26 games.

You can keep up with all of this offseason's decisions on 2013/14 rookie contract options by using our handy tracker. 

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NBA GMs Weigh In On 2012/13 Season

October 22nd, 2012 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

The results are in on NBA.com's annual survey of the league's general managers, with all 30 NBA GMs weighing in on dozens of questions about the 2012/13 season and the 2012 offseason. We won't round up all of their answers here, so feel free to check out the full results at NBA.com, but here are a few of the more notable responses:

  • 70% of respondents believe the Heat will repeat as NBA champs, while 96.7% think Miami will win the Eastern Conference. Since GMs aren't allowed to vote for their own teams, that means the rest of the league's 29 GMs picked the Heat to come out of the East.
  • The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West, earning 60% of the votes. The Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%) were the only other teams mentioned.
  • LeBron James is the player most GMs would start a franchise with, earning 80% of the votes.
  • 86.2% of GMs believe the Lakers made the best offseason moves, with Dwight Howard (70%) and Steve Nash (20%) earning the most votes for the summer addition who will make the biggest impact. Los Angeles' sign-and-trade for Nash was also voted the summer's most surprising move.
  • Besides the Lakers, the other teams receiving votes for the best offseason roster moves were the Nets, Hawks, and Warriors.
  • The Nets (62.1%) ran away with the votes on which team will be most improved, while Andre Iguodala (16.7%) topped the choices for most underrated acquisition — the Celtics' duo of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee also received support in that category.
  • Anthony Davis (76.7%) and Gregg Popovich (80%) were the runaway picks for rookie of the year and the NBA's best coach, respectively.
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Northwest Notes: Kirilenko, Carroll, Faried, Kanter

October 21st, 2012 at 9:57pm CST by Alex Lee

While the Thunder's 108-101 win over the Nuggets in Oklahoma City was the only Northwest game action tonight, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty going on within the division.  Here are some other things happening in the Northwest:

  • Blazers coach Terry Stotts said that the team's final roster decisions will not be made until next week, tweets Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge.  The Blazers haven't made any cuts of late, and their roster still stands at 21.  They need to get to 15 by October 31. 
  • David Harkins of the Winnipeg Sun writes that Andrei Kirilenko has begun to get comfortable in Minnesota, and the 6'9" Russian is extremely excited for the upcoming Timberwolves' season.  
  • DeMarre Carroll and his improved jump shot are vying for a spot in the Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin's regular rotation, says Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune.  "Last year, Utah gave me a chance and I took advantage of my opportunity," Carroll said.  "This year, coach has me in the rotation and I want to keep giving him faith that he can put me in the game — at any time of the game."
  • The play of Enes Kanter has been a pleasant surprise for the Jazz this preseason, and at least some of it can be attributed to the mentorship of fellow big man Al Jefferson, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.  Oram adds that with Jefferson set to be a free agent after the season, Kanter's development will be a major factor in what the team decides to do.
  • After a successful rookie season, it is apparent that Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried has the tools and attitude to become one of the NBA's best rebounders, writes Benjamin Hockman of the Denver Post.  Faried averaged 7.7 rebounds in only 22.5 minutes per game, but figures to get increased playing time this season.  In seven playoff games, he averaged 10.0 rebounds in 27.4 minutes.
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Odds & Ends: Howard, Ellis, Barnes, Sleepers

October 21st, 2012 at 7:53pm CST by Alex Lee

The news of the night is that Dwight Howard will make his Lakers debut tonight at the Staples Center against the Kings, tweets Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski.  The offseason's biggest storyline was rumored to be on track to play tonight, but it is now official.  Tip off is just over a half hour away.  Here are some other odds and ends from around the league:

  • Monta Ellis, who was traded to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut this past season, has a new outlook in Milwaukee, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.  Ellis is through worrying about personal accolades, he says, and is concentrated only on winning with his new team.  Charania says that Ellis and Brandon Jennings are building chemistry, while adding that Ellis is expected to opt out of his deal after the year and Jennings could be a restricted free agent.
  • Given the Clippers roster, Matt Barnes didn't seem like the best fit when he signed with the team in September.  But Barnes has been raising eyebrows in training camp and preseason, Broderick Turner of the LA Times writes.
  • The team of writers at HoopsWorld looks at which NBA team will be this years' biggest sleeper.  Believe it or not, all five guys chose different teams.  Here is the list: Raptors, Bucks, Nuggets, Warriors and Wizards. 
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Ingram On Beasley, Carter, Martin

October 19th, 2012 at 5:40pm CST by Sean Highkin

Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld has a new column which covers several issues around the Western Conference. Here are the highlights:

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Stein On Extension Candidates, Boozer, Paul

October 17th, 2012 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this week, TNT's David Aldridge shared the latest rumors and rumblings he'd heard about this year's fourth-year extension candidates. ESPN.com's Marc Stein follows suit today, and while much of what he's hearing is along the same lines as Aldridge's updates, there's still enough new info that it's worth rounding up the highlights….

  • Despite chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's apparent aversion to early extensions, it's still likely that the Bulls and Taj Gibson work something out this month, and that the team will eventually release Carlos Boozer using the amensty clause.
  • An extension for Ty Lawson remains more a question of "when" than "if," sources tells Stein.
  • The Raptors seem to "want to be wowed" by DeMar DeRozan in the 2012/13 season before committing to him long-term.
  • The Bobcats aren't expected to lock Gerald Henderson up to an extension unless the terms are very team-friendly.
  • Although the Hawks like Jeff Teague, they'll likely hold off on committing future cap space to a point guard until they're 100% sure they can't lure Chris Paul to Atlanta.
  • Extensions for Darren Collison and Rodrigue Beaubois can safely be ruled out as the Mavericks attempt to preserve next summer's cap room.
  • Stein also believes Stephen Curry and James Harden are likely to be extended, and that a new deal for Jrue Holiday is possible. However, he classifies the rest of this offseason's extension candidates as unlikely to receive long-term contracts by Halloween.
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Odds & Ends: Stone, Ellington, Pistons, Kings

October 15th, 2012 at 4:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Julyan Stone, recovering from hip surgery, could be out until January, Nuggets coach George Karl tells Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post. Stone's contract is only partially guaranteed for $100K, so it's possible the team decides to cut him, but Hochman stresses that the Nuggets "love" the second-year point guard, suggesting he's still part of their plans going forward. Here are a few more updates from around the NBA:

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Aldridge On Extension Candidates

October 15th, 2012 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

The latest Morning Tip piece from TNT's David Aldridge is up at NBA.com, and focuses on the first round of the 2009 draft class, most of whom are eligible for contract extensions this month. However, Aldridge doesn't expect many new deals to be inked, since the new CBA doesn't give players a ton of incentive to sign early.

"Now (that) you can only give the same amount of years that they can get next summer, the player isn't as interested," one team executive told Aldridge. "Now, you have no advantage. I used to be able to say 'I can give you a year more today than you can get next year. So let's talk about a deal and maybe the number is more realistic.' But they've taken that away."

Here's what Aldridge has heard on a number of extension candidates:

  • The Kings will "probably not" be offering Tyreke Evans an extension, Aldridge hears from a source.
  • Things are "pretty quiet" on the Brandon Jennings front, and Aldridge isn't expecting him to work out a long-term extension with the Bucks.
  • DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors aren't close to a deal, but have been talking for weeks. Aldridge cautions not to rule out the possibility of the two sides reaching an agreement.
  • Aldridge does, however, essentially rule out extensions for Austin Daye (Pistons) and James Johnson (Kings).
  • Jrue Holiday's agent will touch base with the 76ers later this week about a possible extension.
  • Ty Lawson of the Nuggets is the one player that everyone around the league believes will sign a long-term deal by Halloween.
  • The Hawks are talking to Jeff Teague about a new deal, but Aldridge thinks it's unlikely the team commits to anything yet when it could have so much cap space available next summer.
  • Agent Mark Bartelstein on Taj Gibson and the Bulls: "They've made it clear they'd like to sign Taj. They're making an effort, and so are we… if we can get something done that everybody feels good about, great. If not, I'm sure he'll have a great year."
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Latest On Negotiations Between Lawson, Nuggets

October 15th, 2012 at 9:12am CST by Luke Adams

For much of the offseason, Ty Lawson and the Nuggets have expressed optimism about working out a long-term extension before November. Just over two weeks remain until the October 31st deadline, and Lawson continues to believe he and the Nuggets will reach an agreement, as he tells Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld.

"I’m still confident," Lawson said. "My agent is working with [GM] Masai Ujiri and [president] Josh Kroenke so I feel like in the next couple of weeks something will get done. We’ll see."

According to Koutroupis, the Nuggets' current offer is somewhere in the neighborhood of four years and $44MM, which figures to be a little short of what it'll take to get a deal done. Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post recently wrote that a five-year, $65MM contract could be in play, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lawson signs for slightly less than that. As Koutroupis writes, the two sides seem close enough that an agreement by Halloween looks likely.

Lawson is one of a handful of point guards who will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer if they don't work out extensions with their current clubs. Jrue Holiday, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, and Darren Collison are among the others.

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