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Eastern Notes: Cavaliers, Henson, Wade

January 1st, 2015 at 4:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers have some roster flexibility after being granted a disabled player exception on Wednesday, and Nick Borges of ESPN.com [Insider subscription required] suggests a number of players it could be used to acquire. In recent weeks, there have been rumors linking the team to Timofey Mozgov of the Nuggets, Kosta Koufos of the Grizzlies and Robert Sacre of the Lakers. Borges also suggests Brandan Wright of the Celtics, Jerome Jordan of the Nets, Joel Anthony of the Pistons, Ekpe Udoh of the Clippers, Jeff Withey of the Pelicans, Cole Aldrich and Samuel Dalembert of the Knicks, Dewayne Dedmon of the Magic, Joel Freeland of the Blazers and Ryan Hollins of the Kings. The DPE gives Cleveland an extra $4,852,273 to use for a trade, free agent signing or waiver claim through March 10th.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • LeBron James understood what he was getting into when he opted to return to Cleveland, opines Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Kyler notes that James said “I’m not promising a championship” when he announced his decision in July. With a massively overturned roster and James’ problems with a sore back and aching knees, he was realistic about what his first season back with the Cavaliers might look like.
  • A rash of injuries has given the Bucks‘ John Henson a chance to show off his skills, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. With Jabari Parker, Ersan Ilyasova and Larry Sanders out of action, Henson has responded with 10 blocks in his last two games. “He brings another dimension to our team and it’s not just defensively,” said teammate Kendall Marshall. “He’s very good offensively, making plays, being in the right spots at the right times.” Henson is under the Bucks’ control through the 2016/17 season.
  • Dwyane Wade gave up approximately $10MM in salary by opting out of his deal and then re-signing with the Heat, but despite Miami’s struggles this season it isn’t something he laments over, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes. “I’ll be all right,” Wade said. “It cost me a lot. But it wasn’t ‘The Decision’ [James’ return to the Cavs] that cost me. It was my decision. I opted out for the better of the team, not for any individual. I opted out for the better of the team and it cost me some money. I’m not concerned about it. Not overly concerned, anyway.”

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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D-League Notes: Dinwiddie, Vonleh, Suns

December 31st, 2014 at 8:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The D-League is becoming an integral part of the NBA’s process of developing younger players, as well as a source for locating hidden gems to bolster rosters during the course of the season. You can easily stay on top of which players are coming and going from the D-League all season by checking out our 2014/15 D-League Assignments, Recalls tracker, which is updated daily. You can also find this page anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”

Here are the latest D-League moves:

  • The Pistons have assigned Spencer Dinwiddie to the Grand Rapids Drive, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Dinwiddie has appeared in eight games for Detroit this season, averaging 3.0 points and 12.4 minutes per game.
  • The Suns have recalled Tyler Ennis, T.J. Warren, and Archie Goodwin from the Bakersfield Jam, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was the second trip to Bakersfield of the season for Ennis and Warren, and Goodwin’s inaugural journey.
  • Noah Vonleh has been recalled from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, the Hornets have announced. Vonleh saw action in two games with the Mad Ants, averaging 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block in 13.0 minutes per game. With Al Jefferson set to miss at least a month, Vonleh will likely see increased action with Charlotte.
  • Toure’ Murry has been assigned to the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz‘s D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This will be Murry’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League. In six games for the Stampede, Murry has averaged 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.3 steals in 31.5 minutes of play.
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Eastern Notes: Butler, Pistons, Bass, Woodson

December 30th, 2014 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jimmy Butler is keeping up his stellar play, and as he seems poised to cash in during restricted free agency in the summer ahead, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau made it clear on Monday that the team remains committed to keeping him, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes.

“I think all of us that have been around him know who Jimmy is and we all value who he is,” Thibodeau said. “Those are business decisions that he [and] his agent have to make. Our organization feels very strongly about him. We want him here for a long time so that’ll all take care of itself in the end.”

While we wait to see how it works out for Butler, who went from unranked to the No. 5 position in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The offers the Kings made to the Pistons for Josh Smith weren’t as clear-cut as they’ve been reported, sources have told MLive’s David Mayo. Van Gundy blundered when he gave Smith too much responsibility in the team’s offense, opines Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, and that he didn’t alter that even as he was mulling the idea of waiving Smith throughout the month of December is even more perplexing, Mayo believes.
  • Brandon Bass let it be known that he has no desire to follow Rajon Rondo out of Boston, saying he isn’t “into looking and searching for a team to go to win a championship,” observes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Bass, on an expiring contract worth $6.9MM this season, nonetheless remains an intriguing trade chip for the Celtics if they wish to move him. His playing time has dipped significantly since the acquisition of Brandan Wright in the Rondo trade, notes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
  • Mike Woodson called his time coaching the Knicks a “wonderful experience” as he spoke Monday to reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post. Woodson, now a Clippers assistant coach, said he was intent on taking this season off until Doc Rivers, a friend, prevailed on him to join his staff, as Berman also notes.
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Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Corbin, Van Gundy

December 30th, 2014 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

There’s been only one coaching change in the NBA so far this season, but stability has never been a hallmark of the coaching profession. The Cavaliers are reportedly concerned about David Blatt, and while there’s no sign that his job is truly in jeopardy, the rumors have already begun. Here’s more from around coaching circles:

  • Several GMs around the league believe that the Cavs coaching job is the one that Mark Jackson would like to have, as those execs have told Chris Mannix of SI.com, who passes along the tidbit in a video report. People around the league reportedly believe that LeBron James wouldn’t want Jackson to coach the team, though they are both clients of agent Rich Paul. Jackson over the summer denied reports that the Cavs had spoken to him about the job before they hired Blatt, and more recently Jackson said that a meeting he had with Kings brass didn’t have to do with coaching that team, either.
  • Tyrone Corbin has signed a new contract that calls for him to be the head coach of the Kings through the end of the season, a source tells James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom. Corbin had been on a two-year deal as an assistant coach for the team. He took over head coaching duties earlier this month when the Kings fired Michael Malone.
  • Stan Van Gundy says the Pistons job will be his last coaching position and that he promised his wife he’ll retire at age 60, tweets John Denton of Magic.com. Still, the 55-year-old Van Gundy said he’s leaving the door open to coaching beyond his current contract, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). His deal with the Pistons runs through the 2018/19 season, and Van Gundy, who runs basketball operations for the team in addition to his coaching duties, will turn 60 in August 2019. Van Gundy also promised his wife that he won’t relocate again, Robbins adds (on Twitter). Still, he thought his job with the Magic would be his last, Denton notes (Twitter link).
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And-Ones: Pistons, Heslip, Clippers, Bulls, Cavs

December 29th, 2014 at 1:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pistons coach president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy made it a priority to dedicate an unusual amount of manpower to pro scouting, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details. The ability to prepare has Van Gundy more comfortable about the team’s prospects in free agency this coming summer as opposed to this past offseason, when he was new on the job, Langlois notes.

“You don’t want to make a mistake in the draft, but the way it’s set up now, if you make a mistake in the draft at least it’s low cost,” Van Gundy said. If you’re going to go out and spend $14MM a year, $15MM a year on a guy and you make a mistake, now you’re really hurting. So I just want to weight [pro scouting] a little bit more.”

It’ll be interesting to see how that emphasis plays out with the Pistons poised for a high draft pick in 2015. Here’s more from around the league.

  • Timberwolves camp cut and D-League leading scorer Brady Heslip will sign with Banvit of Turkey, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Heslip, who’s been playing for Sacramento’s affiliate, had drawn interest from the Clippers, according to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (on Twitter). The Kings were reportedly giving him strong consideration for a spot on their NBA roster before they fired coach Michael Malone.
  • Clippers players aren’t getting along, a source close to the team tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The Clips, who have title aspirations, are 20-11 and in sixth place in the Western Conference.
  • Tom Thibodeau pushed the Bulls to sign Aaron Brooks this past summer as he worried that Derrick Rose would struggle at the start of the season, Aldridge writes in the same piece. Rose hasn’t quite looked his former MVP self, averaging 18.1 points and 4.8 assists and missing 10 of the team’s 30 games, while Brooks has performed capably as a backup, putting up 11.3 PPG and 3.3 APG in 20.3 minutes per night.
  • There’s little doubt around the league that David Blatt can coach, but the question was always about whether the Cavs would accept his coaching, and it appears they haven’t been doing so, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com believes (All Twitter links). Stein wonders whether the players, and LeBron James in particular, have given Blatt a fair chance.
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Central Notes: Blatt, Jerebko, Hansbrough

December 29th, 2014 at 8:53am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls and Cavaliers, who many assumed were on their way to a clash in the Eastern Conference Finals, would meet in the first round as the respective No. 4 and No. 5 seeds if the playoffs began today. No. 4 signifies a much different fate for the Pistons, who are in line for the fourth-best chance at the No. 1 overall pick, as our Reverse Standings show. Detroit’s win over Cleveland on Sunday was just one more oddity among a season filled with them for Central Division teams. There’s more on the fallout from that amid the latest from around the division:

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Eastern Notes: Cavaliers, Celtics, Pierce

December 27th, 2014 at 7:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Brendan Haywood may be the Cavaliers‘ best trading chip for replacing Anderson Varejao, reports Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer, which is ironic because Varejao’s contract is structured similar to Haywood’s. Because Haywood makes $2MM this season and a non-guaranteed $10MM next year, he is considered attractive to teams wanting to shed salary. Varejao, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles, has the same type of contract, with $10MM non-guaranteed for 2017/18, the final year of his deal.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The trade that brought Brandan Wright from the Mavericks has created a logjam for the Celtics, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The addition of Wright, who came to Boston along with Jameer Nelson and Jae Crowder, has left coach Brad Stevens with five big men who deserve playing time. The situation will undoubtedly result in Boston getting phone calls about their availability before February’s trade deadline. “Sometimes I think it’s better not to play somebody and communicate that than to play guys four minute spurts,” Stevens said. “I think that’s tough. I don’t think it’ll be anything we settle on anytime soon.”
  • The Wizards‘ Paul Pierce lamented the Rajon Rondo trade, telling Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post that “the last of the Mohicans is gone.” Pierce was the star of the Celtics team that won the NBA title in 2008, but that squad has been dismantled, with Rondo leaving as the last piece. “When you have a star player, an all-star-caliber player and if you aren’t able to put the other star players around him or you have other young guys, you’re either going to build with him or you build without him,” Pierce said. “… since they probably couldn’t find the necessary pieces to put around him, they decided to move forward and build around the young pieces that they have.”
  • Rodney Stuckey spent the first seven years of his career as a member of the Pistons, and he points to the trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets as a critical misstep for the franchise, observes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. “I wish they wouldn’t have traded away Chauncey, to be honest with you,” Stuckey said. “I wish they would’ve took the San Antonio Spurs philosophy of keeping all their vets and get younger guys around their vets and doing it that way. You see how successful they are.”

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

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And-Ones: Allen, Pistons, Pierce, Mensah-Bonsu

December 27th, 2014 at 5:08pm CST by Charlie Adams

Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders compiled a list on his take of who the best available free agents are. At the the very top is Ray Allen, who we learned earlier today is mulling retirement. We’ll look at the latest on Allen and round up more from around the league below:

    • The news that Allen is considering retirement is hardly surprising to Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk, who heard as early as last summer that the veteran guard would be unlikely to move on to Cleveland with LeBron James since it would require relocating his family and living in a cold climate.
    • Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy isn’t shy about praising team owner Tom Gores, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reveals. “I’ve said this for a few months, I absolutely mean it: I’ve got confidence that over time here we’re going to get this turned around, but if we don’t it ain’t gonna be on Tom Gores,” Van Gundy said. “He’s doing absolutely everything anyone can do. I can’t imagine an owner doing more or even close to what he’s been willing to do.“
    • Long-time Celtics player Paul Pierce understands Boston’s decision to trade Rajon Rondo, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. “It was either ‘We’re going to build around him’ or ‘We’re going to build for the future,’” Pierce said. “That’s what most teams do. When you have a star player, an all-star-caliber player and if you aren’t able to put the other star players around him or you have other young guys, you’re either going to build with him or you build without him.. They decided to move forward and build around the young pieces that they have.“
    • The Greek club AEK Athens is finalizing a deal with Pops Mensah-Bonsu, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). The only hurdle at this point is his physical exam, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia tweets. Mensah-Bonsu, who was briefly in training camp with the Nuggets this fall, has been free since Hapoel Jerusalem released him earlier this month.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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Eastern Notes: Williams, Marble, Tolliver

December 26th, 2014 at 7:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets point guard Deron Williams returned to action today but didn’t start the game out on the court. Williams said that he’s fine with coming off of the bench as long as the starters play well,  Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I’m all for the team. It doesn’t really matter to me,” said Williams. “I’m still trying to get my rhythm back and obviously I’m on a minutes restriction right now, so I’m all for it.” Williams has been the subject of trade rumors involving the Kings recently, but he did not want to address the subject, saying, “When a trade is final, then I’ll talk to y’all about trade rumors. How about that? When a trade happens I’ll talk about trade rumors because then it’ll actually be a trade.”

Here’s more from the East:

  • The Magic have assigned rookie Devyn Marble to the D-League, the team announced. Marble will join the Erie BayHawks after appearing in just five minutes of action for Orlando all season.
  • Cavs big man Anderson Varejao underwent successful surgery to repair his torn left Achilles tendon today, the team has announced. Varejao is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
  • Stan Van Gundy called the Pistons’ acquisition of Anthony Tolliver a “no-brainer” and labeled the veteran sharpshooter as a “solid pro with a very good contract,” notes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

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Central Notes: James, Boozer, Jerebko

December 26th, 2014 at 9:10am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers felt the absence of Anderson Varejao in Thursday’s loss to the Heat, writes Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. In its first game since the announcement that Varejao would miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, Cleveland suffered a 10-point loss. Vardon noted the Cavs were late on defensive rotations and were slow getting to the kind of loose balls that Varejao typically chases down. “Guys just have to step up and do a little bit more than what they’ve been doing before,” said LeBron James, “but you can’t replace him.” 

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • The Heat’s Dwyane Wade continues to defend James’ decision to leave Miami, telling Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that a different standard exists for players and teams. “It’s tough in this league,” Wade said. “When a player makes a decision, and however you make it, there is always backlash. But when an organization makes it, it’s the right thing for an organization to do. And it’s fine. Josh Smith just got cut. It was the right thing for the Pistons to do. It’s fine. LeBron James or players make decisions in free agency, then it becomes a different situation.”
  • Another player who didn’t have a happy homecoming Thursday was Carlos Boozer, reports Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com. The Lakers’ forward returned to Chicago for the first time since being amnestied by the Bulls over the summer. Despite an unfriendly reception — Boozer was booed repeatedly by the Chicago crowd — Boozer still has a fondness for the Windy City. “This is like a second home for me,” he said. “I know everybody here. We became like a family over the years.”
  • Jonas Jerebko could benefit from all the turmoil in Detroit this week, according to Brendan Savage of MLive. The veteran Pistons’ forward, whose contract expires at season’s end, sees an opportunity to pick up more playing time after the release of Smith. “Obviously, with a 4 man gone — I see myself as a 4 man — a lot more minutes open up in practice and in games,” Jerebko said. “I feel like I’m ready to take that step and I’m ready to go in there and battle for them.
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