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Tom Gores On Pistons, Monroe, Team USA

August 10th, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons owner Tom Gores touched on a number of team and league subjects in a recent press interview. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has published the complete transcription, and here are some of the highlights:

The No. 1 topic that has dominated the entire off-season has been Greg Monroe. What are your thoughts on the contract impasse?

“We think Greg is a great player. First of all, he’s done a really great job of establishing himself as a player in Detroit. He’s shown great respect to the city and as a young man he’s really done everything we could ask of him. With Greg we just believe in him. I’d like Greg to really get excited about being in Detroit because he deserves it. He’s really been good to the city. You’ve seen him. He’s good to the city. Stan is going to have to figure out exactly everybody’s role, but we’re believers in Greg Monroe. He’s not just a great player; he also has a good basketball character. I know it’s been a lot of the off-season stuff, but I’m a believer in Greg Monroe.”

There’s a pretty substantial offer on the table (slightly better on a per-year basis than the four-year, $54-million deal Josh Smith signed last summer). Is there any disappointment that it hasn’t resolved itself and he [Monroe] hasn’t taken the offer yet?

“Of course we would like him to do that, but the fact is Greg has to decide what’s exactly right for him and he has great people representing him. We’d like Greg to get on board, but he’s got time to think about it and we should give him that time.”

It’s been a newsy summer from a league perspective and the most recent thing would be the catastrophic injury suffered by Pacers small forward Paul George at USA Basketball camp. You have Andre Drummond and he’s moving on to Chicago to continue tryouts with Team USA. Does George’s injury give you pause?

“It’s always difficult in this kind of situation. As a Detroit Pistons owner you get worried, but at the same time there’s such a valuable experience that comes out of them being together as players, camaraderie for the country, camaraderie for themselves, a different purpose. I think there is a part of it that’s great for the players because it’s just winning for your team. There’s something bigger at stake and they’re not doing it for their contract or this or that. I’m not torn on it. The upside is for the players. Is their downside for teams? That’s possible. As just a business owner? It’s very possible, but at the same time you can take a guy like Andre Drummond who has the ability to have this experience with all these different guys who are going to play for their country and are really superstars, how would I ever take that away from him? At the end of the day, I think the guy should have the experience.”

The [Pistons’] free-agent signings were targeted to address needs but lacked sizzle. Do you in hindsight wish this would have been the approach last summer when you made the splash of signing Josh Smith?

“Everybody has a different approach. One of things that I’ve really enjoyed about what Stan is doing is he’s connecting the floor to the front office, so everything he’s doing is about the way he’s going to coach it and the way he’s going to run this team and the way he’s going to move this franchise forward. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I have personally seen Stan be an executive. He has the ability to do both things. I know a lot of people question this, but I can tell you I’ve seen him in action. We all know he’s a great coach, but he’s a great executive. He’s a great leader. He’s very strategic.”

Eastern Rumors: Deng, Monroe, ‘Melo, Celtics

August 9th, 2014 at 4:15pm CST by Charlie Adams

Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel sat down with a league scout who believes that the Heat had a respectable offseason, even with the loss of LeBron James. The scout sees Luol Deng as a valuable piece for Miami to build around, even if he won’t generally be the club’s first or second scoring option. More from around the East..

Greg Monroe still isn’t sure if he’s going to be playing for the Pistons or not next season, as he tells Matt Dollinger of Sports Illustrated that the he isn’t sure how contract negotiations will end up.
The Knicks have been able to upgrade their roster this offseason, but Carmelo Anthony acknowledged that he doesn’t expect to win a title this season, notes Raul Alzaga of Primera Hora (translation via Basketball Insiders). ‘Melo is looking forward to next summer, when New York will have more cap space to work with, adds Alzaga.
Although the Celtics’ offseason lacked any major player movement, C’s owner Wyc Grousbeck was still pleased with the front office’s effort, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “I said we’d try for fireworks and we tried,” Grousbeck said. “I’m reasonably content that first of all we tried as hard as we could and second of all we added some good pieces. But we have maintained our draft picks and we’ve maintained more building in the future as opposing to firing all the bullets now… We’re going to have to go the more patient route.“

And-Ones: Smith, Motiejunas, Ross

August 9th, 2014 at 10:21am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons are in advanced talks with Otis Smith to coach their NBA D-League team, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Smith was the GM of the Magic during Stan Van Gundy‘s coaching tenure with Orlando, and had stepped down from his position in May of 2012, on the same day Van Gundy was fired as head coach of the team, notes Stein. This continues Van Gundy’s trend of hiring his former associates and players. Tim Hardaway was already brought in as an assistant coach, and Quentin Richardson was hired as director of player development.

Here’s more from around the league:

Chaz Williams has signed with Oline Edirne Basketball of the Turkish League, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 5’9″ point guard went undrafted this year out of Massachusetts, after averaging 15.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 6.9 APG as a senior. Williams had worked out most recently for the Wizards, with hopes of securing a training camp invite from the team.
During an interview with Zip FM radio, Donatas Motiejunas was asked where he’d like to play if he were to leave the Rockets, and his preference was the Lakers, the Basketball Insiders article notes (hat tip to Talkbasket.net). Motiejunas said, “Most likely in Los Angeles because there are no serious bigs and I would likely get chances to play. I mean the Lakers, not the Clippers.“
Former Ohio State forward LaQuinton Ross has signed with Consultinvest Pesaro of the Italian League, the team reported via their Facebook page (translation by Carchia). Ross went undrafted after averaging 15.2 points and 5.9 rebounds as a junior. Ross had been projected as a possible second-round draft pick this year, but showed up 15 lbs. overweight to the scouting combine, and didn’t perform especially well. He played for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League, but only appeared in three games, and totaled just nine points, six rebounds and four turnovers in 31 minutes.

And-Ones: Gay, Clippers, Monroe, Rogers

August 8th, 2014 at 6:48pm CST by Alex Lee

It’s been a rough week for Team USA following the gruesome injury sustained by Paul George and the subsequent withdrawal of Kevin Durant. However, help is on the way in the form of Kings forward Rudy Gay, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Gay was a reserve on USA’s 2010 title squad and joins Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward this time around as the team’s only true small forwards. At tonight’s Hall of Fame ceremony, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told NBA.com’s David Aldridge that a repeat gold medal performance this summer would be the “sweetest win because of the circumstances.” (via Marc Stein on Twitter).

Here is what else is happening around the league on Friday night:

The official transfer of the Clippers could happen at any moment, as attorneys for Donald Sterling claimed in a request for a stay of a probate court decision that affirms Shelly Sterling’s right to sell the team to Steve Ballmer, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. The judge in the probate trial signed the final statement of decision Thursday, clearing the way for Donald Sterling to file the request, as Fenno explains. The sale may proceed once the judge issues a final order, which could come at any time, Fenno adds.
There is a very good likelihood that Greg Monroe is in a Pistons uniform next season according to David Mayo of MLive.com (via Twitter), who puts the chances at 85 to 90 percent. With the sign-and-trade market for Monroe now essentially non-existent, Mayo believes the sides will either come to an agreement on a longer-term deal or that Monroe will sign his one-year qualifying offer. Monroe would become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he chooses the latter route.
The Wizards have added Roy Rogers as an assistant coach, the team announced on their website today. Rogers has six years experience as an NBA assistant under his belt, previously working with the Nets (twice), the Celtics and the Pistons. Prior to reaching the NBA ranks, Rogers coached in the D-League for four years after a seven-year playing career. He joins fellow assistant David Atkins, hired in July, as a newcomer on the staff of head coach Randy Wittman.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Parsons, Heat, Southerland, Pistons

August 8th, 2014 at 2:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chandler Parsons was an all-around contributor for the Rockets, averaging 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists this past season, but that sort of production isn’t why the Mavs gave him a near-max offer sheet that Houston declined to match. They’re confident he can be a “far better” player than he was with the Rockets, as owner Mark Cuban said, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. While we wait to see whether Parsons proves worthy of Cuban’s investment, here’s more from around the league:

The Heat will likely sign a center for the reserve role that Greg Oden played last season, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Andray Blatche is available, but the Heat have shied away from him in the past because they’ve disliked his maturity level and behavior, according to Jackson, who seconds the notion that the Heat are unlikely to re-sign Oden following Oden’s arrest Thursday.
The contract that James Southerland signed Thursday with the Blazers is a one-year, non-guaranteed pact, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. That means it’s a summer contract, as I speculated. It also fits the stipulations required to make it an Exhibit 9 contract, though it’s not necessarily one.
Former NBA players Tim Hardaway Sr. and Malik Allen will serve as assistant coaches for the Pistons next season, the team announced. The Pistons also announced the hiring of former Knicks executive Jeff Nix as assistant general manager. He’ll serve alongside fellow assistant GM Brian Wright underneath president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower.

Pistons Hire Quentin Richardson For Staff

August 7th, 2014 at 5:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:18pm: The hiring is now official, the team announced via press release.

10:20am: Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy plans to hire Quentin Richardson for a role that would include player development and mentorship duties, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Presumably, the job would mark the end of Richardson’s 13-year NBA playing career.

The former McDonald’s All-American emerged as a valuable swingman for the Clippers in the early 2000s, setting a career high with 17.2 points per game in 2003/04. He led the NBA in three-pointers made the next season as a member of the Suns. He averaged 10.3 points and 35.5% three-point shooting during his time in the league that also included stops with the Knicks, Heat and Magic. He played in just one regular season game and five playoff contests during 2012/13, his final season in the NBA, when the Knicks signed him shortly before the postseason. They shipped him to Toronto as part of the Andrea Bargnani deal the next summer, and the Raptors released him before training camp this past fall.

That swap was the sixth trade in which Richardson had been involved during his career, the most notable of which was the one that briefly sent him back to the Clippers in 2009 and allowed the Grizzlies to acquire Zach Randolph. He made more than $63MM as an NBA player, according to Basketball-Reference.

Latest On Greg Monroe, Pistons

August 6th, 2014 at 2:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons recently upped their offer to Greg Monroe from a five-year, $60MM package to one that’s slightly more lucrative than the four-year, $54MM contract that Josh Smith signed last summer, but negotiations have stalled, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The David Falk client remains in limbo, like fellow restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, as Detroit’s power to match any offer from another team appears to have scared off suitors.

Falk has been widely expected to seek a max contract for the 24-year-old big man, though many around the league don’t believe he’s worthy of one. Philadelphia is the only team other than Detroit that possesses the cap flexibility to make such an offer sheet at this point, and there have been no indications that the Sixers are willing to do so.

Monroe’s interest in returning to the Pistons reportedly isn’t that strong, but while the Pistons have explored the sign-and-trade market for him with teams including the Blazers, Hawks and Pelicans, no deals have come close to materializing. The Magic and Cavs were linked to Monroe at the beginning of free agency, but Cleveland has since acquired LeBron James and is zeroing in on Kevin Love, and Orlando’s interest was “lukewarm at best,” as Ellis wrote in July.

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy was in frequent contact with Falk shortly after taking his post in Detroit this spring, and while he reiterated last month that Monroe was still in the team’s plans, Van Gundy admitted the process has left him nervous. Still, the Pistons wield control over where he’ll play next season. That’s true even if Monroe takes the drastic and unlikely step of signing his one-year qualifying offer for less than $5.5MM, a maneuver that would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency in 2015.

Central Notes: George, Butler, Rose

August 2nd, 2014 at 10:32am CST by Eddie Scarito

Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird issued a statement via press release regarding the injury to Paul George last night. Bird said, “Our first thoughts are with Paul and his family. It is way too early to speculate on his return as the No. 1 priority for everyone will be his recovery. Our initial discussions with our doctors and the doctors in Las Vegas have us very optimistic. We are hopeful at some point next week Paul will return to Indianapolis to continue his recovery. There is no question about the impact this will have on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. Our franchise has had setbacks in its history but has demonstrated the ability to recover.”

Here’s more on George and the Central Division:

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement on George’s injury via NBA.com, Silver said, “It was difficult to watch the injury that Paul George sustained tonight while representing his country. The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the NBA are with Paul and his family.”
With the horrific injury suffered by George there will be many who think that star players should cease their participation with Team USA, but Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News disagrees. Sefko is against legislation banning players to take part, and believes it should still be left up to each individual player to decide if they wish to play in FIBA events.
Out of all the moves the Pistons made this off season, the one that might pay off the most is bringing in Caron Butler, writes Kirkland Crawford of the Detroit Free Press. Crawford believes that in addition to his outside shooting, Butler will bring a toughness and strong work ethic to the team.
Derrick Rose has changed his stance on the reports regarding a potential rift between he and Bulls management, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Rose acknowledged speaking to Chicago’s chairman Jerry Reinsdorf by phone after the story broke and also said, “He [Reinsdorf] told me don’t worry about it, just stay focused and, like I said, it’s the past. It’s funny just hearing so many stories about what’s going on, and they’re coming out of, like, kind of nowhere, so it’s funny to hear about them, but it’s nothing that’s going on.’’

Eastern Notes: Caboclo, Antetokounmpo, Murry

August 1st, 2014 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Lee

The Raptors front office staff gave broad support to selecting Bruno Caboclo 20th overall when GM Masai Ujiri brought up the idea to them on draft night, observes Chris Mannix of SI.com. The Mavericks and Celtics were also interested in the unheralded Brazilian prospect, Mannix reveals, and an earlier report indicated that the Jazz and Suns were poised to draft Caboclo, too. Toronto pulled another surprise when it signed Caboclo for this season rather than stash him overseas, even before he impressed in summer league play, as Mannix writes.

“When a guy goes overseas you don’t get to monitor him as closely, to see if he is getting stronger, to see all of what he is doing,” Ujiri said. “Keeping him here, we can do that. When he needs playing time, send him to the D-League. He can play in NBA practices, he can go through a training camp and after the year we will wait to see where he is and what more he needs to develop.”

Here is what else is going on in the Atlantic division on Friday evening:

When the Knicks took Greek guard Thanasis Antetokounmpo with the 51st pick in June, many believed they did so with the intent of stashing him overseas. As Marc Berman of the New York Post points out, the team could also assign Antetokounmpo to their D-League affiliate without giving him an NBA contract, in turn preventing him from taking up one of their 15 NBA roster spots.
The Heat are indeed among the teams with interest in free about Toure’ Murry, a source tells Ian Begley of ESPN New York. Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune suggested as much late last month.
Pistons assistant coach Scott Roth will become the new head coach for Sevilla of the Spanish League, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein, where he will coach 2015 lottery hopeful Kristaps Porzingis. Roth joined the bench in Detroit mid-season in February after three years as an assistant in Toronto. In all, he worked as an assistant on six NBA teams and was also a coach in the D-League. (Twitter links)
Pistons center Andre Drummond is confident that current teammate Greg Monroe will be back in Detroit for the 2014/15 season, writes Vince Ellis of USA Today. We heard this morning that Monroe might not want to return to the Motor City and this isn’t the first time Drummond has addressed his teammate’s status as a restricted free agent. Monroe has the option of signing his qualifying offer from the Pistons and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Wade, Monroe, Bucks

August 1st, 2014 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Dwyane Wade said today that he didn’t try to recruit LeBron James back to the Heat when the two spent time together shortly before the four-time MVP announced his decision to sign with Cleveland, as Wade told reporters, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. James didn’t tell Wade about his decision until after their time traveling back to Miami from Las Vegas, according to Wade, but James dropped enough hints to make his choice apparent.

“We had a long flight back from Vegas,” Wade said. “I probably knew then, without him telling me at that moment. You could tell where someone’s heart is and what they’re thinking. I kind of knew at that moment. As his friend, I’m just supportive. As crazy as that might sound, I’m supportive of my friend doing what makes them happy. Obviously same thing with him in this situation. You’ve gotta do what makes you happy — selfishly do what makes you happy. The decision to go back home was that.”

There’s more from Wade amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Wade also said that he wanted to be with a winning team more than he wanted the money he sacrificed when he opted out of his contract and re-signed with the Heat on a discount deal, as Lieser notes. Wade is convinced that the total of $10.694MM over the next two seasons that the transactions cost him gives Miami a better chance at success. (Twitter links).
Greg Monroe‘s interest in returning to the Pistons isn’t too strong, but while Detroit talked with the Hawks and perhaps the Suns about sign-and-trades involving him, those teams have moved on, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports told podcaster Aime Mukendi Jr. Buddy Grizzard of Hawks/Hoop provides the transcription.
The Bucks gave second-round pick Johnny O’Bryant $600K in the first year of an otherwise minimum-salary contract, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Milwaukee used part of its cap space to complete the deal with this year’s 36th overall pick.