Pistons Notes: Ilyasova, Jennings, Drummond
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is very much interested in keeping Ersan Ilyasova in Detroit next season, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press relays (on Twitter). Ilyasova has a non-guaranteed deal worth $8.4MM for next season. The 28-year-old power forward is averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Detroit acquired Ilyasova in a trade with the Bucks in June and Van Gundy recently said he has been thrilled with the move.
“He’s a very good player on a very good contract,” Van Gundy said, per Ellis. “I don’t really see a scenario where we wouldn’t.”
Here’s more news concerning Detroit:
- Brandon Jennings still needs time to get back to full speed, but his return so far has impressed Reggie Jackson, who assumed Jennings’ role as the Pistons’ starting point guard, David Mayo of MLive.com details. “They really haven’t dropped off with Brandon coming in, a guy we all know can get hot and get it going, but as well, probably doesn’t get enough credit for being able to see the floor, and his passing ability,” Jackson said. “I think it really showed tonight. He got hockey assists, got kick-outs, really got to the paint, and was attacking. I’m happy to see him doing well and helping lead our second unit to help lead our team to get wins.” Jennings has yet to start a game since returning from a torn Achilles last week.
- Former Piston and current Wolves small forward Tayshaun Prince returned Thursday to Detroit, where he spent 11 of his 14 seasons, but he’s not ready to say it was for the final time, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes. “When people tell me I’m done, I look at them like they’re crazy because throughout my whole career when we won, and even when we didn’t win, the things I did on the floor didn’t show up in the stat sheet,” Prince said. “No matter what, I can still impact the game, and I know I can still do that for a long time.”
- Andre Drummond‘s inconsistency can be attributed to a lack of focus and engagement during games and has nothing to do with conditioning, according to Van Gundy, Rod Beard of the Detroit News writes.
Central Notes: Jackson, Jennings, Cavs
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson opened up on why he turned down the Thunder’s four-year, $48MM extension offer last year, telling Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (link to Podcast) that he was unhappy with his role on the team and wanted to start (the interview was transcribed by Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman here). Jackson made it clear before last season that he wanted to start at point guard and after his agent, Aaron Mintz, requested that the Thunder make a trade, the Pistons acquired Jackson in February. Jackson also said he was not surprised by the critical reactions to the five-year, $80MM deal he inked with the Pistons in July, but he didn’t pay much attention to them.
“I knew it was going to wow some people,” Jackson said. “Definitely it was going to wow the general population of the world. I had an idea it was going to be an eye-opener.”
Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- Speaking of the Pistons, Marc Berman of the New York Post speculates that Detroit point guard Brandon Jennings would be a good fit for the Knicks. Jennings played against the Knicks Tuesday night in his season debut. His name comes up in trade speculation because he is set to be a free agent this summer and the Pistons are already financially committed to Jackson. Backup Steve Blake has played well, too, as Berman points out. “I’m not really worried about contracts,’’ Jennings said. “I’m just worried about getting into the flow of basketball. My first game back, hopefully I’ll be blessed to play rest of season with no injuries.’’
- LeBron James made headlines when he said Kevin Love was the “focal point” of the Cavs coming into the season, but now the reality is setting in that Love has been inconsistent and as long as James is in his prime, he’ll always be the main point of the offense, Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Love, however, should be able to understand now, in his second year with the Cavs, that James has his support, Haynes adds.
- After recovering from his broken leg, Paul George is producing perhaps his best season and that is something the Pacers star intended on doing, Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports relays. “I really came into this season wanting to be here, wanting to be on top of the league now,” George told Lee. “I didn’t see it no other way.”
Knicks Notes: Early, Jennings, Conley
Knicks small forward Cleanthony Early was shot once in his right knee early this morning, Thomas Tracy of The New York Daily News reports. The injury occurred when a taxi Early was riding in was set upon by four to six armed men wearing ski masks, who then robbed the player, according to the Daily News’ report. Early was wounded during the course of the robbery and his injury is reportedly not life-threatening, though no prognosis has been released regarding its potential effect on his NBA career. The Knicks released an official statement on the matter which read, “We are aware of what occurred with Cleanthony Early this morning and are relieved that he is not in a life-threatening situation. We will not comment any further until we receive more information.”
Early is the second Knicks player to have allegedly been targeted by grifters in recent days, with combo forward Derrick Williams having reportedly been robbed of approximately $600K to $750K in jewelry by two unidentified women this past weekend, albeit not at gunpoint. Here’s more from New York:
- The Knicks should seek to acquire Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings prior to this season’s trade deadline, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News opines. Though Jennings’ season debut on Tuesday night was merely average, Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy still believes Jennings can make an impact in the league, Isola notes. “Oh yeah, I don’t think there is any doubt,” said Van Gundy. “Brandon is coming back well off of the injury and he’s a guy who just absolutely loves to play, loves to be in the gym. He’s still young, he’s still 26. I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll be a starting point guard in this league again.”
- Acquiring Jennings could be problematic for New York, Isola adds. The Knicks don’t have much in the way of talent or draft picks to offer Detroit, and the team may want to hold off adding a playmaker since the Grizzlies’ Mike Conley is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Daily News scribe notes. There is no guarantee that Conley will leave Memphis, but his talent level may warrant the Knicks taking a pass on Jennings, Isola writes. It should be noted that Jennings’ contract is set to expire at the end of this season, so there wouldn’t be any salary cap implications for 2016/17 if the Knicks acquired him, unless Detroit insisted on New York taking on a less than desirable contract as part of any trade.
And-Ones: Bryant, Van Gundy, Nets
Kobe Bryant claims that former Hornets coach Dave Cowens told him that Charlotte wasn’t interested in him during the 1996 draft, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com reports. Bryant was shipped to the Lakers for Vlade Divac soon after the draft. “Cowens told me he didn’t want me,” Bryant told reporters in Charlotte. “It wasn’t a question of me even playing here. They had a couple of guards already, a couple small forwards already.” Cowens refuted Bryant’s account of his draft-night odyssey to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. Cowens told Himmelsbach that the Hornets were more concerned at the time that Bryant would play professionally in Italy, as his camp threatened if he didn’t wind up with the Lakers or Knicks. Cowens also denied telling Bryant the Hornets didn’t have a spot for him. “I’d never say anything like that to a player,” Cowens told Himmelsbach. “I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me. It wasn’t about him not being able to play for us. It was just [the trade] was already worked out.”
In other news around the league:
- Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy expects a lot of volatility in the Eastern Conference standings this season. Detroit is among 10 conference teams above the .500 mark. “Cleveland hasn’t created a lot of space but they’ve sort of separated themselves as the team at the top of the East. But then everybody else, it’s sort of gone up and down,” he told the assembled media, including Hoops Rumors, last week. “The standings change every single day. We’ve played enough now to say there’s a good chance it stays like that throughout most of the rest of the year. There’s a lot of parity.”
- The D-League’s experiment with coaches challenging an official’s call is still a work in progress, as Adam Johnson of the D-League Digest examines. In its current structure, a coach can only challenge fourth-quarter calls. They lose a timeout if the challenge fails. Limiting challenges to the final quarter is just one of the complaints about the system, Johnson adds.
- The Nets are expected to play more than a dozen doubleheaders next season with their new D-League affiliate’s games preceding the NBA game at Barclays Center, team officials told NetsDaily. The Long Island Nets will begin their inaugural season next November. Barclays will curtain off parts of the arena during D-League games, the report adds.
Central Notes: Pachulia, Jackson, Butler
Zaza Pachulia had mixed feelings when the Bucks dealt him to the Mavericks during the offseason but he wound up in a better situation, Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. Pachulia has thrived with his new club, while Milwaukee has floundered without his leadership on and off the court, Gardner continues. “I really was sad to leave all that we were doing last year,” Pachulia told Gardner. “I had such a great relationship with these guys and the coaching staff. … I remember how sad they [Bucks players] were when they heard I got traded. I was making the game easier for them. So I was thinking I was doing something right.” Pachulia would have backed up the Bucks’ prized free agent, Greg Monroe, at center but has emerged as a starter with Dallas, averaging a double-double, Gardner adds.
In other news around the Central Division:
- Point guard Reggie Jackson came to the Pistons during the trade deadline last season with questions about his character after complaining about his role with the Thunder. That didn’t give Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy any concerns when he made the deal. “You look at Reggie’s situation, there was really nothing bad there,” Van Gundy told the assembled media last week, including Hoops Rumors. “He was a guy that was looking for an opportunity to play more and he was sort of villifed for that. I guess people wanted him to be happy being a backup his entire career.”
- Jimmy Butler has put himself in a sticky situation by trying to become the Bulls’ leader with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah still in the locker room, Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com opines. Butler’s power play shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a problem but it remains to be seen how he handles being the team’s best player, Feldman adds. Feldman was commenting on an assertion by ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell during a podcast with Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post that Butler has “really rubbed some people the wrong way ” with his recent actions and that Butler has not earned the trust of his teammates to be their leader.
- The Bucks’ interest in veteran small forward Caron Butler is now “on hold,” Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The Kings had promised to try and trade Butler, who played 78 games for the Pistons last season but has appeared in just nine with Sacramento.
Central Notes: Hill, Morris, Portis
Pacers small forward Solomon Hill has maintained a positive attitude despite falling out of coach Frank Vogel‘s regular rotation, which could have been an issue for the player seeing as he’s in the final year of his contract, Mark Montieth of NBA.com writes. “I have to keep being upbeat,” Hill said. “If I was down in the gutter and C.J. Miles went out and I was thrown out there and I’m not ready, it’s just going to show why I shouldn’t be playing. It’s days like this that show my hard work is paying off.” Hill also noted that he’s aware that he has been mentioned as a potential trade candidate, but insists he doesn’t want to leave Indiana, even if it would mean more playing time, Montieth adds. “I’m an Indiana Pacer,” he said. “They drafted me. I’d definitely love to be here and be part of something great with this team. We have the makings of a special team. We have the potential to be one of the top two teams in the East.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Marcus Morris is excelling for the Pistons and he should be given a larger role in the offense, David Mayo of MLive.com argues. Morris isn’t pushing for more shots, as he thinks more opportunities will come within the offensive system. “At the end of the day, coach does a great job of getting me the ball, finding spots for me to get the ball in my isos and my posts, so I’m not really too worried about whether I’m going to get my shots up, because half the time I know they’re going to come,” Morris said. “It’s more just the ball-movement thing.”
- With so many players returning from injury, the Cavs realize it’s going to take time for the team to gel, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. “Just because guys are coming back doesn’t mean everything is going to be right,” LeBron James said. “It’s going to take time because for the first eight weeks we had built chemistry, we knew who was playing, we knew who wasn’t playing. We had rotations, Coach had rotations down, so we got to get back to that.”
- The solid play of rookie Bobby Portis for the Bulls will make it difficult for coach Fred Hoiberg to sit him when Joakim Noah returns from injury, writes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. “He’s not afraid of the moment that’s for sure,” Hoiberg said of Portis. “To be 20 years old and go out there, big minutes against Oklahoma City in a game on Christmas Day on ABC, it shows you what the kid’s makeup is all about. The kid’s got no concern, just thrives and has all kinds of confidence. You love to see that. He’s not gonna back down from anybody.”
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Pistons, Robinson, D-League
Brandon Jennings declared himself ready to play for the Pistons, but with backup point guard Steve Blake playing so well, the team has a good problem, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “It’s a tough thing to weigh,” coach Stan Van Gundy said of possibly taking minutes away from Blake. “It’s a dilemma a little bit. But Brandon has looked good.” The 35-year-old realizes he will most likely lose minutes once Jennings returns to the rotation, but that is something that was expected.
“That was an understanding of mine coming here,” Blake said. “Coach Van Gundy and I talked about that. There will be times when I’m playing well while he’s injured. When he comes back, the chance of me going to the bench and him playing at some point was an understanding of mine. He’s working his way back to where he wants to be and when that time comes, that’s fine with me. It’s a team thing. I don’t see it as him and I as competition. We’re teammates playing against other people, so when that time comes, that’s totally fine with me.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Pacers like Glenn Robinson III and they can envision the 22-year-old carving out a role with the team, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star writes. Robinson appreciates the team communicating with him about his future. “They’ve done a great job of talking to me. They haven’t really given me a definite timeframe or when it’s going to come, but they’re saying that that point is going to come,” Robinson said. “Just knowing my moment is coming, I think that really locks me in, too. That keeps me going. So that’s a good thing to hear, especially from Larry [Bird].”
- The Spurs have recalled Ray McCallum from their D-League Affiliate, the Austin Spurs, per the team’s website. McCallum is averaging 18.0 points, 4.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in five D-League games this season.
- The Grizzlies assigned forward Jarell Martin to the Iowa Energy, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to the team’s website. This will be Martin’s third stint with Iowa this season.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Jennings, James, Hoiberg
Bulls VP John Paxson admitted that Fred Hoiberg is still learning how to survive in the NBA, but noted that the team is firmly behind its new coach, Teddy Greenstein of The Chicago Tribune writes. “Fred has a lot to learn,” Paxson said. “He’ll acknowledge that. We all will. The system he wants to implement offensively is taking some time to really come to fruition. And when you don’t have certain players in terms of spacing the floor like [the injured] Mike Dunleavy — and that’s not an excuse it’s just our reality — that can slow the process as well.”
Paxson did add that Hoiberg’s calm demeanor on the sideline has impressed him, Greenstein relays. “I played for Phil Jackson. He sat most of the game. He was laid-back but intense. You see some coaches who are maniacs on the sideline,” Paxson said. “The last thing as a player you need when there’s stressful situations is to look to the sidelines and there’s a guy over there going nuts. I see that in college all the time.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings insists that he’s ready for action immediately, but understands the team being cautious with him as he makes his return from an Achilles injury suffered back in January, Terry Foster of The Detroit News relays. “I’m fine, I’m ready,” Jennings said. “However, this is not my decision. This is my coach’s decision, so I wait and see.” Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy indicated he’s waiting to see how Jennings responds to back-to-back practices before settling on an exact return date for the veteran playmaker, Foster adds. “Our whole team needs work but it’s good for Brandon,” Van Gundy said. “We practiced before but it was more four-on-four. He got up and down. I think this is the first time he will get two practices in a row to get his legs underneath him.“
- LeBron James has called for more clarity and consistency in the Cavaliers‘ rotation this season, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. “For us to have a full unit, we’ve got to practice, we’ve got to play some games where we know what we want to do, what lineups we want to play out there,” James said. “It’s an adjustment period. It’s not just going to happen – you plug a guy in there, plug two guys in there and it automatically happens. It’s going to be an adjustment period, but we’ll be fine. We’ll be fine toward February and March.“
- The Pacers have recalled Joe Young and Glenn Robinson III from Fort Wayne, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Indiana also assigned center Shayne Whittington to the Mad Ants, the team noted in the same press release.
Eastern Notes: Nets, Pistons, Pacers
During the 2010 offseason, the Nets had dreams of drafting John Wall and luring LeBron James and Chris Bosh via free agency, but the team ended up drafting Derrick Favors and signing veterans Travis Outlaw and Johan Petro, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com details. The Nets ultimately traded 11 first-round picks — including Favors and pick swaps — with the hopes of winning a championship, but the team has won just one playoff series since 2010.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Nets hope to make a significant splash in free agency at the end of the season, Mazzeo adds in the same piece. Brooklyn has slightly over $50.5MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2016/17 season, as our Salary Cap Projection page shows.
- The Pistons‘ trade for Ersan Ilyasova has worked out for Detroit, but the team’s best trade during the offseason was for Marcus Morris, David Mayo of MLive opines in his latest mailbag. Mayo believes Morris’ four year, $20MM extension, which he signed while a member of the Suns, will prove to be valuable to the team during its lifetime.
- The Pacers have assigned Glenn Robinson III and Joseph Young to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s D-League affiliate, according to the team’s website. The team also recalled Shayne Whittington from the Mad Ants.
Eastern Notes: Johnson, Celtics, Anthony
The Celtics have taken great pains in their player evaluation process to avoid off the court issues similar to what Sixers rookie Jahlil Okafor has experienced this season, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. “We have player development, and then we have veteran players and coaches work with them,” Celtics executive Danny Ainge said. “And I spend a ton of time talking with our players about life issues and challenges. The league does constant seminars throughout the season, and then we do them also internally as a team. You try to prepare them, and a lot of guys listen — and a lot of guys don’t, and they learn the hard way. We’ve had a large group of young players that have come through, and some listen and they get it. They understand their place in life, their place in the NBA, what’s ahead of them, the risks. They just get it; they grasp it. And some just don’t. Some just have to learn the hard way.”
Here’s more from the East:
- Heat point guard Tyler Johnson strongly considered heading overseas after going undrafted out of Fresno State, but he ultimately decided to pursue his NBA dream stateside, a move that is paying off for both the player and the team, Jared Zwerling of NBPA.com writes. “The only reason why I even talked about overseas was people could see me more and people could have more footage, because [Fresno State] didn’t play national TV games,” Johnson said. “We barely played any TV games, so it can be written off, like, ‘Oh, he’s not in a very strong conference.’ I just needed an opportunity.”
- Center Joel Anthony understands that his role as a veteran on a young Pistons team is to provide leadership for the other players, a task Anthony says he embraces, Aaron McMann of MLive.com relays. “Just as a vet. I feel grounded now saying that I’m the vet and older one. It’s weird how fast that happens, that I’m the older one among the much younger guys. It’s been good for me. I’ve gotten a chance to work with some of the young guys and try to help them out, try to help them get better,” Anthony told McMann.