Central Notes: Drummond, Felicio, Cavaliers
Pistons center Andre Drummond is cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances heading into the 2015/16 campaign, John Niyo of The Detroit News writes. “I feel like now is the time for us to really do what we set out to do every year,” said Drummond. “We say we’re gonna do one thing, and then one thing leads to another and we don’t do it. But I feel like now, this is our time. We’re on the rise, and we’re gonna do it.” The young big man declined to make a specific prediction for Detroit’s fortunes in 2015/16, but he did say, “It’s just words until you do it. I hate losing. I can’t stand it. It’s the worst feeling. People laughing at our team, that’s not a good feeling. I want to rub it in somebody’s face that we’re a great team.”
Here’s more out of the Central Division:
- With the Bulls already carrying 13 players with fully guaranteed deals, power forward Cristiano Felicio, who is in camp on a non-guaranteed pact, could be a victim of the numbers game in his quest to make the regular season roster, but the team is extremely high on his potential, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets. Coach Fred Hoiberg raved about how strong the 23-year-old is, Johnson adds.
- Cavaliers coach David Blatt said that the team intends to carry the maximum of 15 players on its regular season roster, so all of the camp invitees have a shot at making the final cut, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).
- Expect Kevin Love to have a more prominent role in the Cavs‘ offense this season, McMenamin writes in a separate piece. LeBron James noted that Love’s importance to the team was illustrated after Love went down during last year’s playoffs with an injury, McMenamin adds. “I think him being out showed even more of what he means to this team, more than him being on the floor for those three and a half games,” James said. “It would’ve been huge for us obviously if he was in the lineup, but it gave him the opportunity to put things in perspective and see what his presence can mean to our team. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to see how important you are.“
- The addition of Steve Blake, who came to the Pistons via a July trade with the Nets, makes perfect sense given the uncertainty surrounding the health of Brandon Jennings, who isn’t expected to return to action until December, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes. “It’s exactly what we wanted,” president/coach Stan Van Gundy said. “A guy that’s good enough to come out and be your everyday backup and mature enough that, when Brandon comes back, that if there’s not as much or any minutes there, can handle that role.“
Central Notes: Jackson, Parker, Smith
The Pistons will look to Reggie Jackson, who re-signed with the team this offseason for five years and $80MM, to assume more of a leadership role within the franchise, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes. “The best leaders are normally the best followers,” Jackson said. “I have a tendency — I want to do everything perfect. I want to know why it works, why it doesn’t work and everybody’s position on the floor. I like to know what’s going on. Everybody doesn’t deliver the message well, but you have to filter out and listen to the message. I think that goes a long ways. I think a lot of my leadership comes from being willing to listen and in following. If I know how to do things right, then I feel like I’m confident enough to steer you in the right direction without hindering you, questioning myself if I’m giving you good advice.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- J.R. Smith is a fan of Cavaliers coach David Blatt, saying, “Coach really cares about me as a person…I’d run through a brick wall for coach,” Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com tweets.
- Bucks forward Jabari Parker has been medically cleared to participate in training camp activities, but the team will limit how much the second-year player does, Matt Velazquez of The Journal Sentinel writes. “I go within the hours, and whatever I’m able to complete, then you’ll be able to analyze that, but I can’t predict anything,” Parker said about the team’s precautions with him. “I’m just going to give everything I have for the amount of time and opportunity that I get.“
- Before signing with the Cavaliers this summer, Mo Williams sought out and received LeBron James‘ blessing, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group relays. “Yeah, you have to call. This is his team,” said Williams. “That’s no secret. The conversation was made and the feeling was mutual. It was a good conversation.” Williams had been publicly critical of James departing Cleveland to sign with the Heat, but the two have apparently mended fences since then.
- The addition of Greg Monroe as a free agent fits well with the Bucks‘ desire to be a more balanced offensive team, and not to overly rely on the deep ball for offense, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “The game is looked upon as just shooting threes,” coach Jason Kidd said. “For us, last year we were a team that was very successful in the paint. That’s where we scored a lot of our points and hopefully we can continue that. It’s all right to score twos, and if they’re close to the rim that helps. We have guys that can shoot the three, but we want to be able to get the ball in the paint, take the easy shot first and work inside-out.“
Central Notes: Rose, Ilyasova, Hammond, Crawford
It’s not yet clear how long Derrick Rose will be out with his latest injury, an orbital bone fracture suffered during practice, but it’s poor timing, given that new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg must implement his system in camp without him, and Rose’s recent comments about free agency, opines Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The point guard is well-known for his frequent injuries, but he also makes a habit of remarks that antagonize him to fans, Berger notes. The latest such slip of the tongue came Monday when he talked about all the money he could make when he hits free agency in 2017, the summer the cap is projected to hit $108MM. David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune takes Rose to task for coming across as “a tone-deaf millionaire,” though Rose insists he’s just making prudent plans for the future.
“I’m trying to prepare myself and my family,” Rose said, according to Haugh. “It’s all for my son, even though we’re comfortable. You talk about ‘X’ amount of dollars, it raised everybody’s eyebrows. There’s nothing wrong with being overprepared.”
See more on the Bulls and their Central Division rivals:
- Ersan Ilyasova was discontented with the revolving door of coaches he had with the Bucks and has already taken to Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, who traded for him this past summer, as the stretch four tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Van Gundy is entering the second season of a five-year deal. “Me and Stan had this conversation by phone,” Ilyasova said. “It’s a really good thing. I played for a lot of coaches; I never see a coach like this who really cares about you and when you see something like that, you want to give even more. On some level, coach and player, is going to be always issues. The communication is a key all the time and it’s really important. If you have a coach like this, Stan, who is going to explain to you, it helps.”
- Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens said Monday that he felt it important to align the end of GM John Hammond‘s contract with that of coach Jason Kidd, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The deals for both Hammond and Kidd are set to expire in the summer of 2017 following the one-year extension the Bucks granted Hammond earlier this month.
- The non-guaranteed contract that Jordan Crawford signed with the Bulls is for the minimum salary and covers only one season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Camp invitees Jake Anderson and Marcus Simmons are also on one-year, non-guaranteed deals for the minimum salary, according to Pincus.
- Cavaliers coach David Blatt bristled last season whenever someone mentioned that he was a rookie NBA head coach, but he admitted Monday that he didn’t realize how much he had to learn about coaching in the league, observes Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Blatt survived apparent early-season doubts from Cavs brass about his performance before guiding the team to the Finals.
Central Rumors: Granger, Rose, Bucks
Small forward Danny Granger will not join the Pistons for the start of training camp, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Granger, who was traded to Detroit from the Suns as part of the Marcus Morris deal, will remain in Arizona to continue knee rehab under a mutual agreement with Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy, Ellis continues. “I think it’s better for him and for us if he stays right there in Arizona and does his rehab and when he gets to a point that he’s ready to play and compete, then we will bring him in,” Van Gundy said during the team’s media day on Monday. Granger is one of 17 Detroit players with guaranteed contracts so he remains a waiver or trade candidate, Ellis adds.
In other news around the Central Division:
- Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings isn’t close to being game-ready, Ellis writes in the same notebook piece. Jennings, who tore his Achilles tendon in January, is limited to light shooting, jogging in the pool and weight-controlled treadmill work. “We’re hoping sometime in mid-October that he’s be able to start doing drill work out on the floor and then hopefully by mid-November he starts ramping up, actually getting in some five-on-five stuff,” Van Gundy said.
- Derrick Rose made a splash during the Bulls’ media day, saying that he’s already looking toward his next foray into free agency, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago (Twitter links). Rose, who is signed through the 2016/17 season, expects to remain in Chicago for the long term, Goodwill adds. “You see the way all this money will be passed around in this league. My day [free agency] is coming,” Rose said. But while Rose prefers to stay with the Bulls, the notion of leaguewide increased salaries “makes one pause,” Sam Smith of Bulls.com tweets.
- The Bucks hired longtime NBA executive Rod Thorn as a special consultant, the team announced Monday morning via press release. He will work closely with GM John Hammond, the release adds. Thorn most recently served as the NBA’s president of basketball operations, where he oversaw the league’s day-to-day business under commissioner Adam Silver.
- The Cavaliers allowed the remaining $635,816 portion of their trade exception for Keith Bogans to expire on Sunday, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Cleveland dealt Bogans to the Sixers last September and used part of the exception to acquire Timofey Mozgov in January.
Pistons Sign Jordan Bachynski For Camp
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 11:24pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 5:56pm: The signing has indeed taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an announcement.
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 12:14pm: The Pistons and former Arizona State big man Jordan Bachynski have agreed to a non-guaranteed deal, a source tells Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll be the first official NBA contract for the 7’2″ Bachynski, who was with the Raptors and Magic for summer league this year. He’s the 20th Piston with either a signed contract or a verbal agreement to join the team, meaning the Pistons are at the preseason roster limit.
Bachynski, now 26, averaged 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and an impressive 4.0 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game as a senior for the Sun Devils in 2013/14. He played four games with Turkey’s Ekishehir Basket early last season before surfacing stateside with the D-League affiliate of the Knicks. The Westchester Knicks gave him limited burn, as he notched 6.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 2.2 BPG in 19.0 MPG. He managed even less playing him in summer league, averaging 4.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.4 BPG in just 10.0 MPG across eight appearances.
Detroit was one of several NBA teams to work him out prior to the 2014 draft, though he went unselected. Bachynski’s odds of sticking with the Pistons for opening night don’t look strong, since the Pistons have 17 fully guaranteed contracts, more than any other team in the league, as I examined last month. The team also has Adonis Thomas, who has a $60K partial guarantee, and Eric Griffin on a non-guaranteed deal, as our roster count shows.
Do you think Bachynski deserves a spot on an NBA regular season roster? Leave a comment to tell us.
Pistons Sign Eric Griffin To Camp Deal
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 11:23pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
2:30pm: It’s a one-year deal for the minimum with limited injury protection, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That indicates that it’s an Exhibit 9 contract.
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 10:46am: The signing took place Friday, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the Pistons have made no formal announcement.
SEPTEMBER 1ST, 9:34pm: The Pistons have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent small forward Eric Griffin, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are unknown, but Charania does add that the pact is non-guaranteed, which means that it is likely a minimum salary training camp arrangement, though that is merely my speculation.
The 25-year-old will certainly have his work cut out for him in order to remain on the roster for the beginning of the regular season. Detroit currently has 18 players on its roster, which isn’t uncommon this time of the year. What is unusual is that 17 of those players possess fully guaranteed pacts, and if Griffin were to make the final cut, then the Pistons would need to eat a total of three fully guaranteed salaries in order to clear a slot for him. It is possible that Detroit inked Griffin with an eye on sending him to its D-League affiliate for the 2015/16 campaign, though that is merely my speculation.
Griffin went undrafted out of Campbell University back in 2012. He was a camp invitee for the Mavericks last season, and the forward later inked a deal to play in Puerto Rico for Leones de Ponce. He played summer league ball for both the Clippers and the Cavaliers this offseason.
Pistons Notes: Drummond, Van Gundy, Morris
The question of whether to grant Andre Drummond an extension will be key for the Pistons, who would like their cornerstone center to delay signing until next year, David Mayo of MLive.com writes. Drummond is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Pistons have just more than a month to sign him to an extension in the five-year, $120MM range, Mayo adds. If not, he can become a restricted free agent next summer. The reason the Pistons would rather Drummond wait to sign, according to Mayo, is because until Drummond actually signs his contract, only his cap-hold figure of about $8.2MM would be factored into the Pistons’ 2016/17 payroll for salary-cap purposes, not the $21MM he actually figures to make that season. Mayo’s entire list of things to watch is a worthy read.
Here’s more out of Detroit:
- With only three players still remaining on the Pistons from May 2014, which was when Pistons president/coach Stan Van Gundy was hired, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press runs down all of the teams’ moves since then.
- Van Gundy, in an interview with Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, said he understands why Marcus Morris would be upset, but also adds that the situation should not be an issue going forward. Morris has bruised feelings toward the Suns after being traded away and separated from his brother.
Central Notes: Dunleavy, Morris, Bulls
Bulls small forward Mike Dunleavy underwent a successful low back microdiscectomy procedure earlier today at Rush University Medical Center and he is expected to be out of action for 8-10 weeks, the team announced. Dunleavy had experienced some occasional back discomfort over the summer which had recently worsened, according to the release. If his recovery goes as planned, Dunleavy will likely miss between 12-15 contests.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Marcus Morris views his new start with the Pistons as a means to finally carve out a niche for himself in the league, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “In Phoenix, I thought I should have started at the three,” Morris told Langlois. “The guy that’s there now [P.J. Tucker] might have been a better defender, but as an all-around three, I thought I was the best we had. And I thought a lot of players thought that, too. But there’s a lot of opportunity here. I have a chance to come in and start right away. I’ve been in the league for five years. It’s nothing new to me. I have started my share of games. It’s not like I’m new to it. The only thing that’s new is that it’s the East Coast now.”
- The Bulls return virtually the same core as last season, and if the change in coaches from Tom Thibodeau to Fred Hoiberg doesn’t nudge the team to the next level, it may be time for Chicago to attempt to pry Carmelo Anthony away from the Knicks, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. Friedell does note that the size of Anthony’s contract would be a gamble for Bulls, and the team would likely have to part with a number of talented players to make the deal work financially, which would make such a trade a risky proposition for Chicago.
- If the Cavaliers can remain healthy as a unit and are able to secure home court advantage in the playoffs, the team is likely to secure the NBA title in 2015/16, the crew at Basketball Insiders opine in their season preview.
Northwest Notes: Rubio, Donovan, Matthews
Timberwolves GM Milt Newton poured cold water on persistent Ricky Rubio trade rumors, telling Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press that the front office is “not talking to anybody about trading Ricky” and that the team expects the point guard to play an integral role.
“He’s one of the best facilitators in the NBA,” Newton said. “We’ve got a young team of guys that are athletic, that are going to get up and down. And we’re going to utilize those talents that they have. Who better than Ricky to be the one leading the charge, pushing the pace, pushing the ball and getting our guys easy opportunities and getting the ball where they can be their best? We’re looking to him to be that person.”
Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher said earlier this month that the Wolves had lost faith in Rubio and had gauged the market for him, though Bucher added that he heard trade talks weren’t ongoing. Since then, Newton assumed control of the front office from the ailing Flip Saunders, who’s on a leave of absence as he recovers from cancer treatments. See more from the Northwest Division:
- Thunder GM Sam Presti said this week that he didn’t have any influence in Billy Donovan‘s assistant coaching hires, moves that complement the first-year NBA head coach with veterans Monty Williams and Maurice Cheeks, as The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel details. “Billy, great quality about him, he did not know Monty, and he did not know Maurice Cheeks,” Presti said. “He interviewed those guys. He really liked them. He felt like they could help. He was totally aligned with our vision for an organization. One of the things that make him able to do that, he naturally and intrinsically gravitates to those kinds of people. Those guys have been great together. We’re grateful those guys were willing to jump in. Both those guys have accomplished a lot.”
- The Trail Blazers had no reason to pay a premium to retain Wesley Matthews once LaMarcus Aldridge left, given Matthews’ torn Achilles and the rebuilding phase that Portland is entering, contends Shaun Powell of NBA.com in his review of the team’s offseason. Jabari Young of Comcast SportsNet Northwest presented a different take on that in our latest installment of The Beat.
- The max deal Matthews signed with the Mavs appears on the list of the five worst contracts for the future that Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports compiled. Also on the list is Enes Kanter, who signed an offer sheet with the Blazers that the Thunder matched, and former Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson, now on a five-year, $80MM deal with the Pistons.
Pistons Notes: Jennings, Baynes, Anthony
Doctors have cleared Brandon Jennings for full basketball activities, and a return by late November or early December is possible, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link). That’s in contrast to a Monday report that Jennings was not close to receiving clearance as he recovered from his torn left Achilles tendon. Jennings, who’s set to make more than $8.344MM this year in the final season of his contract, has been the subject of trade speculation, though Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has expressed optimism that Jennings and fellow point guard Reggie Jackson can share the floor. See more from Motown:
- Pistons offseason signee Aron Baynes knows he has championship experience to impart from his time with the Spurs, but he has no intention of becoming an overbearing locker room presence, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press details. The Pistons inked Baynes, a career reserve, to a three-year, $19.5MM contract in July.
- Baynes said Monday that he will be ready for the start of training camp a week from today despite undergoing ankle surgery this summer, Ellis notes in the same piece.
- Van Gundy made it clear to Joel Anthony that he wanted him back, so when the Pistons chased others, including Baynes, in free agency, Anthony’s desire to re-sign with Detroit didn’t waver, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com chronicles. Van Gundy plans to use Baynes at power forward against teams that use two traditional big men, Langlois writes, so that would create a role in the rotation for Anthony, who signed a two-year, $5MM deal. “He didn’t have to tell me, ‘We’re trying to get this person,’ as if he has to walk on eggshells with me,” Anthony said of Van Gundy. “I was comfortable with how he was going forward. It’s still a good situation for me. There’s still opportunities for me and that’s what’s important.”