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Central Notes: Haywood, Martin, Bulls

January 10th, 2015 at 4:57pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There are a number of executives around the league who believe that the Cavaliers aren’t finished reworking their roster, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Cleveland is most likely going to try and trade center Brendan Haywood, whose $10.5MM contract for the 2015/16 season is non-guaranteed, Kennedy notes.

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

Cleveland’s salary cap outlook has changed markedly with all of its recent additions, and Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders took an in-depth look at how the Cavs‘ finances and cap space were altered by these deals. Duncan also notes that Haywood’s contract could be used as a trade piece, but adds that Cleveland would likely have to add another asset as a sweetener in any deal, something its previous deals have left in short supply.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd doesn’t think it will take long for Kenyon Martin, who was recently inked to a 10-day contract, to acclimate to his new team, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “Just in shootaround, you could see the difference in his voice, helping guys out,” Kidd said. “We want to put him in a good position so if the game presents itself where he can get a couple minutes, yes. He’s not shy, so that helps for these young guys understanding what it takes to win.”
The Bucks would like to keep Martin for the remainder of the season, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times reports (Twitter link). Teams can ink players to a maximum of two 10-day contracts per season before they either have to release them or sign them to a guaranteed contract that covers the rest of the season.
One issue that the Bulls still need to address is finding a reliable backup for swingman Jimmy Butler, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes.
The Pistons‘ sudden winning ways have altered the team’s immediate plans to give rookie Spencer Dinwiddie more NBA playing time, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “They’re playing really well,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We’ve had to change our approach from early in the year. That was a change in approach at 5 and 23. So right now, that whole thing with Spencer has to be on hold right because of how well we’re playing. You’re always adjusting within a game and within a season. This has been sort of a crazy first half of the season, in terms of you lose 13 in a row, then you win seven in a row. It’s sort of hard to wrap your head around, quite honestly.“

Southwest Notes: Smith, Koufos, Spurs

January 9th, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets coach Kevin McHale is using Josh Smith in a reserve role rather than as a starter due to Smith’s preference, not his own, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. “The biggest thing is about getting him comfortable,” McHale said. “He has to get where he’s comfortable. He felt more comfortable with that second team. He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. I’ve sat him down and said, “Ok, are you more comfortable coming off the bench? Are you more comfortable starting? Where are you at, because this is about you being comfortable, not me being comfortable?’ I just sit over on that bench. I don’t have to be comfortable.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Smith is happy for his former Pistons teammates and the success that they have enjoyed since his departure to the Rockets, Feigen writes in a separate piece. Smith also isn’t fazed by the criticism levied against him in regards to being the reason that Detroit was a losing team, Feigen adds. “I have no hard feelings,” Smith said. “I felt great about the opportunity that was given to me and I looked at it more as a blessing than anything. No. 1, I think I was signed under Joe Dumars. You come in with a new group, a new situation. I knew he [Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy] probably wanted his guys in there. There were a lot of young guys that needed to be groomed. They were more in the rebuilding stage. He didn’t want to string me along for the process because he was understanding this is my 11th year and I should have an opportunity to play for a good team.”
Grizzlies big man Kosta Koufos is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and Koufos will have to decide whether staying in Memphis as a reserve or leaving to pursue a starting role with another team will make him happier in the long-run, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders writes. “I do want to play a lot more,” Koufos said. “You know, who doesn’t [want to play more]? But right now I’m not thinking about the summer. I’m thinking about the now, and right now I’m with the Memphis Grizzlies trying to help them win as many games as possible. That’s my goal. You have to feel confident. This [is] my role right now so I have to go with it.”
In the midst of disappointing stretches, both the Spurs and the Thunder are in danger of sliding to lower playoff seeds, or out of the postseason entirely, Jeff Caplan of FOX Sports Southwest writes.

Bucher’s Latest: Kings, Pelicans, Cavs

January 9th, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no secret that the Nets trio of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available on the trade market, and they’re among a long list of players that GMs say teams are open to trading as the February 19th deadline approaches, according Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Jeff Green, Brandan Wright, Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Brandon Jennings, Goran Dragic, Nik Stauskas, Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson, Arron Afflalo and most of the other Nuggets are also on that list, with Bucher, in many cases, confirming earlier reports. Still, Bucher hears plenty of new rumbles, as he passes along in his piece, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive unilaterally made the decision to fire former coach Michael Malone, sources tell Bucher, even though GM Pete D’Alessandro claimed the decision as his own. Most of the Kings organization was pleased with the direction the team was headed in and believed the team was overachieving, though there were doubts that Malone was the long-term solution, Bucher writes.
Ranadive wanted to make a splash with Malone’s successor, but Kings front office executives prevailed upon him to keep Tyrone Corbin as head coach, according to Bucher. Ranadive would relish the chance to turn the screws on the Warriors, of whom he used to be a part-owner, by hiring Mark Jackson, the ex-Warriors coach, a source tells Bucher, who nonetheless believes that the team won’t hire Jackson during this season.
Talk “circulating around the league” suggests that Pelicans owner Tom Benson is eyeing former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson if he decides to make changes, Bucher writes. Still, Pelicans sources tell Bucher that the club hasn’t contacted either Dumars or Johnson, and that there are no signs that Benson is definitively displeased with either GM Dell Demps or coach Monty Williams.
Several executives from around the league don’t believe the pair of trades the Cavs made this week assure the team of any more than a second-round appearance, according to Bucher. One exec tells Bucher that the Cavs “overinflated” the market with what they gave up for Timofey Mozgov.

And-Ones: Cooley, Ford, Upshaw

January 8th, 2015 at 10:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

ESPN.com draft guru Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) opines that two tiers of talent appear to be forming in the lottery portion of the upcoming NBA draft. The upper tier includes Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis, all of whom are currently projected as top five selections, Ford notes. The second tier consists of Kevon Looney, Justise Winslow, Willie Cauley-Stein, Myles Turner, Kelly Oubre, Mario Hezonja, Stanley Johnson and D’Angelo Russell, and they will make up the likely No. 5 to No. 12 overall selections, Ford adds.

Here’s more from around the league and the college ranks:

Ford has also released his most recent “Big Board,” which has Oubre cracking the top 10, and has Jerian Grant of Notre Dame making a big leap from No. 27 to No. 19.
A league source told Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twiitter link) that there is a lot of NBA interest in Jack Cooley, and there is a strong possibility that he could be inked to a 10-day contract shortly. Cooley currently plays for the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz‘s D-League affiliate.
Former Pistons assistant GM George David was hired as director of basketball operations for Wasserman Media Group, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports (Twitter link).
One college player starting to catch the eye of NBA scouts is Washington’s Robert Upshaw, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “I would agree that he was a sleeper to start this season, maybe,” one league scout told Deveney. “He is not a sleeper anymore.” The 7’0″ center is averaging 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds so far this season, and he is drawing interest as a potential first-rounder, Deveney notes.
The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, the team announced in a press release. This will be Kuzmic’s fourth trek of the season to the D-League.

Central Notes: Pistons, Love, Bostic, Cavs

January 8th, 2015 at 7:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons have now won more games this season without Josh Smith than they did with him. This successful run isn’t a coincidence, but there are other factors involved beyond Smith’s departure, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. Lee also points to the sudden resurgence of Brandon Jennings and Jodie Meeks‘ return from injury as major reasons why Detroit is suddenly on a roll.

Here’s the latest out of the Central Division:

The Pistons recalled guard Spencer Dinwiddie from the Grand Rapids Drive, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced (Twitter link). This was the first assignment of the season for Dinwiddie, and in four games with the Drive he averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per contest.
One of the Cavaliers‘ continuing struggles this season has been finding a way to properly utilize Kevin Love, Lee opines in a separate piece. With Love able to opt out of his deal at season’s end, it is imperative that coach David Blatt make the big man feel comfortable in Cleveland’s system, Lee opines.
Pistons camp invitee Josh Bostic inked a deal with the Belgian club Proximus Spirou, Eurobasket.com reports. Bostic was playing for Detroit’s D-League affiliate, averaging 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 15 appearances this season.
Newly acquired big man Timofey Mozgov brings two valuable assets with him to the Cavs: his ability to protect the rim, and a familiarity with Blatt’s system, Seth Partnow of BBallBreakdown.com opines. Blatt coached Mozgov when both were with the Russian national team, Partnow notes, which will help the big man acclimate to his new surrounding much quicker.
The cost for the Cavs to add Mozgov to the roster, including remaining salary owed and the luxury tax hit, will be approximately $9.3MM, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com notes (Twitter link).
In a separate piece, Windhorst broke down all the machinations and moves Cleveland made, beginning with the 2014 NBA draft, which led to the Mozgov deal.
Cavs GM David Griffin acknowledged the team’s recent deals were costly, but were necessary if the team wanted to contend this season, Chris Fedor of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “We feel like we’ve done it without completely mortgaging the future,” Griffin said. “People look at the number of picks we’ve given away, and everybody thinks, ‘oh my goodness, you’ve given away the farm.’ Well, we had an unbelievable farm. So we were putting it to work. And we’re really pleased with where we are now.”

Knicks Notes: Stoudemire, Draft, Kidd

January 5th, 2015 at 10:35am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks have lost 11 straight games, which is one shy of the franchise’s worst streak ever, and things don’t appear likely to improve. Amar’e Stoudemire certainly didn’t envision things turning out this way back in 2010, which is when he inked a five-year, $100MM deal with the team, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “When I first signed with New York, that wasn’t the game plan,” Stoudemire said. “But the past is not here. And neither is the future, so we’ve got to deal with the now, and I think we’ve just got to continue to try to get better as a team and as players, try to keep improving.”

Here’s the latest out of the Big Apple:

The Knicks’ multitude of injuries are forcing the team to field a D-League caliber squad, Filip Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “Six of the guys who played tonight [Sunday night] barely played in the NBA before,” coach Derek Fisher said. “Losing isn’t enjoyable. From an emotional standpoint, you have to manage what you can manage and what you can control.” Bondy also believes that New York should shut down Carmelo Anthony for the remainder of the season due to his knee issues, but believes that the franchise is holding off until after the All-Star game, which is in New York, to do so, as not to hurt the game’s festivities and the team’s television ratings in the interim.
With a record of 5-31, the smart money is on the Knicks missing the playoffs this season, but those looking for hope can look to the Nets’ turnaround last season under former coach Jason Kidd, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I think obviously, different teams, different circumstances, different rosters,” Fisher said. “But I think a better example is what the Detroit Pistons have done … the team starts feeling better about who they are. Whether the Pistons make the playoffs or not, it doesn’t take forever to start to feel better about who your team is and what you’re trying to do. I think there are those types of examples that we can look to our team compared to Brooklyn’s team last year.”
The only thing left for the Knicks to do this season is to try and lose as many games as possible in order to garner a higher draft pick, Kevin Kernan of The New York Post opines. Kernan also adds that re-signing Anthony was a huge mistake, and the team would have been better off in the long run if it had let ‘Melo leave in free agency.

Poll: Can The Pistons Make The Playoffs?

January 3rd, 2015 at 9:17pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Addition by subtraction is an overused phrase in the sports world but sometimes it holds true. The Pistons were struggling during the first two months of the season, and the team decided that a change was necessary. Josh Smith signed a four-year, $54MM contract with the Pistons during the 2013 offseason but after playing just 105 games with the team, Detroit waived him.

At 5-23, the 2014/15 season seemed to be a good opportunity for Detroit to tank and end up with a valuable pick in the 2015 draft. However, the team responded by winning four straight games and its unified play has drawn comparisons to the Raptors of last season. Toronto traded Rudy Gay midseason and earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference with stellar play in the second half of the 2013/14 campaign. It’s early but the Pistons are only four games behind the Heat for the eighth seed and only four teams in the Eastern Conference have longer win streaks than Detroit’s current four game streak.

There remains a lot of uncertainty with this team. Although starting point guard Brandon Jennings has emerged as a leader since Smith’s departure, the 25-year-old is reportedly on the trade block. There have been rumors of Greg Monroe being dealt since he signed his qualifying offer, but the fifth-year forward would have to approve any trade since he essentially has a de-facto no-trade clause in his contract. After the shocking release of Smith, it’s clear that Stan Van Gundy isn’t shy about moving on from players whom he inherited from the previous regime.

Still, the Eastern Conference isn’t strong beyond its top five teams and to earn a lower seed, teams will most likely not even need a record above .500. The Pistons have the talent to compete with any contender for the eighth seed and 35 of their 49 remaining games are against Eastern Conference foes. Will Detroit keep up its current play and reach the postseason this year?

And-Ones: Murphy, Belinelli, Smith

January 2nd, 2015 at 3:26pm CST by Charlie Adams

Kevin Murphy has signed a deal to join Zhejiang Guangsha in China, as Priority Sports, the agency that represents Murphy, announced on Twitter. We had already heard that the former Jazz camp invitee was leaving the D-League to pursue an opportunity to play overseas. We’ll round up more international news and have a look at what’s happening around the rest of the NBA below..

Marco Belinelli, a free agent at season’s end, wouldn’t comment on whether or not he was interested in re-joining the Spurs next season, reports Riccardo Pratesiba of La Gazzetta dello Sport (translation via Basketball Insiders). Still, it’s fair to assert Belinelli would have some interest in returning to San Antonio, where he’s enjoyed quite a bit of success over the past two seasons.
MLive’s David Mayo has never witnessed the sort of “mental and spiritual turnaround” that the Pistons have seemed to experience since waiving Josh Smith. Mayo sees the decision to part ways with Smith as a similar move to the one that sent Rudy Gay from the Raptors to the Kings,
Anthony Tolliver‘s partially guaranteed 2015/16 contract seemingly makes it less likely that the Pistons retain Jonas Jerebko next season, Mayo argues in the same piece. Given the relatively similar characteristics of the two players, Mayo thinks it’s likely the Pistons hang on to Tolliver rather than Jerebko, who is a free agent at year’s end, since they already have Tolliver under contract and can cut him loose for only $400K if he doesn’t meet expectations.
Turkey’s Istanbul BSB has officially announced (via Twitter) the signing of Sasha Vujacic along with three other players (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Vujacic played two games for the Clippers last season on a 10-day contract before signing a deal to play in Europe.

Southwest Notes: Rondo, Smith, Dorsey, Spurs

January 2nd, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he wasn’t concerned by negative comments about Rajon Rondo before last month’s trade, reports Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. “Contrary to what a lot of people say about him,” Carlisle said, “he’s thirsty for knowledge. He’s a sponge. He wants to learn as much as possible about our team.” Rondo returns to Boston tonight for the first time since the December 18th deal. Through six games with the Mavericks, the team’s defense has improved with Rondo, but the offense has slipped.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets have already seen the good and bad side of Josh Smith, opines Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. Houston signed Smith last Friday after he was waived by the Pistons, and he played a key role in a victory at Memphis that night. But he has also displayed the poor shot selection and questionable judgment that got him run out of Detroit. Blinebury writes that until GM Daryl Morey makes another move, the assimilation of Smith will determine whether the Rockets can become an elite team.
To make room for Smith, the Rockets waived center Tarik Black, which has created more playing time for Joey Dorsey, writes Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. “It was tough to let go of Tarik, but Joey is coming off the bench, he is giving great energy and great effort and that’s exactly what we want,” coach Kevin McHale said. “Any errors that he is having aren’t for lack of effort, and that’s all you can ask for.” Dorsey signed a two-year deal last summer worth nearly $2MM after spending three seasons overseas.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is concerned that age may finally be catching up with his team, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio fought through a difficult December schedule and a rash of injuries — particularly to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard — and at 20-14 the team isn’t a lock to reach the playoffs. “People have been calling us old for, like, 10 years, it seems like, but it’s true,” Popovich said. “We are getting older and those injuries take a toll the older you get. You don’t come back the same way. It’s not just, ‘If we’re healthy, we’re fine.’ What level of health will we be if we don’t take care of some of these? But it’s out of your control, so we just move along.”

And-Ones: LeBron, Thunder, Fisher

January 1st, 2015 at 10:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LeBron James is expected to miss the next two weeks of action thanks to injuries to his back and left knee, the Cavaliers have announced. Coupled with the season-ending injury to Anderson Varejao, Cleveland suddenly finds itself a bit short-handed. The league has approved the franchise’s request for a disabled player exception, but with the league maximum 15 players already on their roster the Cavs would need to waive or deal a player to be able to utilize it.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Thunder are edging closer toward the summer of 2016, which is when Kevin Durant can elect to depart Oklahoma City as a free agent, and the speculation is that it will take an NBA title to keep him in town beyond then. The team’s play as of late has gotten it back on track for the season after enduring a multitude of injuries, Jeff Caplan of FOX Sports Southwest writes. “I’m excited. Obviously we need everybody healthy,” coach Scott Brooks said. “But I like the fact that our guys compete regardless of who’s on the floor. They get out there and compete. We haven’t had as many wins as we would like, but we’re competing every night. We put ourselves in a position to win games and we have a no-excuse mentality.”
Derek Fisher said that the Lakers never reached out to him after last season, and the Knicks were the only offer he had to become a head coach, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “I never had any conversations with the Lakers of coaching the team,’’ Fisher said. “This was the only one. It doesn’t disappoint me in any way. I never pretended to run the Lakers or make decisions for them. I did the best I could when I played. They don’t owe me anything. I don’t owe them anything.’
Brandon Jennings has emerged as a leader since the Pistons released Josh Smith, Brendan Savage of MLive.com writes. “Brandon has noticeably gotten back to probably what is his natural personality,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He’s really having fun. He’s talking a lot, joking with guys, things like that. I think he had been suffering. He hadn’t been playing real well, we hadn’t been winning. He had gotten really quiet.” There were conflicting reports regarding Detroit shopping the veteran point guard prior to Smith being released.
The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, the team announced in a press release. This was Caboclo’s first D-League assignment of the season.