Eastern Notes: DeRozan, Nets, Jefferson, Curry
Coach Dwane Casey isn’t quite sure why DeMar DeRozan has been playing better of late, but the Raptors nonetheless believe his improved shooting and overall play are sustainable, based on an uptick that dates back to this past March, observes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. DeRozan has a player option worth slightly more than $10MM for next season, but it seems a near-certainty that he’ll decline it and hit free agency in the summer. See more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Nets CEO Brett Yormark spoke about the need for the team to play better in an interview with Crain’s New York Business, and while his remarks weren’t particularly substantive, they demonstrate a continued increase in Yormark’s basketball chatter, NetsDaily points out (Twitter link). Yormark, if given basketball decision-making power, would like to offer “everything under the sun” to bring John Calipari back to the Nets, as Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post wrote in a chat last week (hat tip to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops). However, owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to make CSKA Moscow team president Andrey Vatutin the next Brooklyn GM, with current GM Billy King‘s contract up after the season, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net reported earlier today.
- Al Jefferson‘s history of injuries juxtaposed against a rising salary cap suggest that the Hornets face a difficult choice as they ponder whether to re-sign him in free agency this summer, writes Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders.
- Stephen Curry has no shortage of affection for Charlotte, where he grew up, but a multitude of reasons that extend even beyond his idyllic basketball situation with the Warriors convince Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that Curry won’t give the Hornets a second thought when he hits free agency in 2017.
And-Ones: McCalebb, Looney, Chandler
Bo McCalebb, who was cut by the Pelicans during the preseason, has signed with the French club Limoges CSP, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). McCalebb, 30, has played overseas since going undrafted in 2008, save for a summer league stint with the Kings in July of that year and his time this fall with the Pelicans. He was the top scorer in the Euroleague in 2011/12, notching 16.9 points per game for Siena of Italy. McCalebb played for FC Bayern Muenchen of Germany last season, when he averaged 4.8 assists per game to go along with 12.4 points in 25.7 minutes per contest.
Here’s more from around the league:
- In light of the season-ending injury that point guard Eric Bledsoe suffered, the Suns need to focus on developing younger players like Devin Booker, T.J. Warren and Alex Len, Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM writes. Phoenix should consider trading center Tyson Chandler, whose signing made sense when the team was pursing LaMarcus Aldridge over the summer, but now the veteran only serves to cut into Len’s playing time, Tjarks adds.
- The Warriors have assigned combo forward Kevon Looney to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via a press release. The rookie becomes the first player Golden State has sent to Santa Cruz on the season.
- Sixers coach Brett Brown noted that new team executive Jerry Colangelo was the one who orchestrated the signing of veteran forward Elton Brand, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports relays (on Twitter).
- The Raptors plan on utilizing their D-League affiliate to help Anthony Bennett work through the back issues he is currently experiencing, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net tweets. The combo forward has made two trips to the Raptors 905 on the season thus far.
Western Notes: Pierce, Knight, Morris, Jackson
Paul Pierce has re-emerged as a starter for the Clippers, save for his game off for rest Saturday, and his basketball IQ is helping fuel a resurgence for a team that struggled to start the season, even with Blake Griffin injured, as TNT’s David Aldridge examines in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Pierce enjoyed his time with the Wizards last season, but the chance to play in his hometown was too enticing for him to pass up the chance to sign with the Clips in the summer, as he tells Aldridge.
“I think that I looked at the team and I thought that they really had the chance to win the championship, and for me, on top of that, my family,” Pierce said. “It was a combination of things.”
The Clippers have won six straight have only a Wednesday game at Portland before a five-game homestand that begins Saturday. See more from the Western Conference:
- The Suns erred when they put Brandon Knight and Markieff Morris in leadership positions and should have made retaining Goran Dragic a greater priority, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding argues.
- Players on D-League teams affiliated with Pacific Division clubs dominate the list of 10-day contract candidates that Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders compiled. Elliot Williams (Warriors), Earl Clark (Suns), Erick Green (Kings), Terrico White (Suns), Darington Hobson (Warriors) and Vince Hunter (Kings) are among the names on Taylor’s list. We went in-depth on 10-day contracts earlier today in advance of Tuesday’s start of the 10-day signing period.
- Former NBA second-round pick Pierre Jackson has signed with the D-League, where the Jazz affiliate holds his rights, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Jackson impressed in the D-League during the 2013/14 season but suffered a torn Achilles tendon the following summer. The Sixers, who picked him 42nd overall in 2013, have signed him each of the past two offseasons, but he’s failed to appear on Philly’s regular season roster.
Pacific Notes: Cousins, Chandler, Walton
The Kings are at a critical point in relation to the direction of the franchise, and the question must be asked if center DeMarcus Cousins is the player the team should be building around, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. Cousins is on his fifth coach since entering the league and Sacramento has yet to eclipse the 30 win mark with the big man as the focal point, which isn’t a glowing endorsement of his ability to be the franchise’s anchor going forward, Amick notes.
Coach George Karl is also questioning the team’s demeanor and the roster’s lack of defensive-minded players, Amick adds. “My thought, and I told the team my thought, is inconsistent intensity, inconsistent focus, inconsistent toughness and mental discipline,” Karl said. “Too many times we’ve come out on this court and we’ve been the quiet team, or the soft team, or the cool team, and not the man team. My feeling is we have too many offensive players. We don’t have enough guts to make stops.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns find themselves in a difficult spot regarding rebuilding the roster, and with approximately $110MM committed to the backcourt duo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight through 2018/19, the team’s best course of action would be to attempt to deal Tyson Chandler and Markieff Morris in order to clear cap space, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. Phoenix should also consider waiving small forward P.J. Tucker and his partially guaranteed pact this offseason, which would free up an additional $3.7MM in cap room, Greene adds.
- Warriors interim coach Luke Walton was the perfect choice for the franchise to fill in for Steve Kerr while he recovers from back surgery, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Leung cites Walton’s humble demeanor and excellent preparedness as reasons why he was able to find immediate success, though Golden State’s talented roster certainly was a major benefit for the young coach as well.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Landry, Curry
The Suns miscalculated during the 2013/14 season when the team dealt away Marcin Gortat in an effort to speed up the rebuilding process by bottoming out, but instead won 48 games, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes. “We were never trying to lose games,” team owner Robert Sarver told Lowe. “We were trying to play young players who we thought could be part of the next great Phoenix team, and some of them just played a lot better than we thought they would.” It was the unexpected success of that campaign that led Phoenix to chase immediate wins at the expense of long-term team-building, Lowe adds, which is a major reason for the mess the franchise is currently in. The ESPN scribe also opines that coach Jeff Hornacek shouldn’t necessarily be held accountable for the team’s woeful record this season, and for the sake of continuity he should be allowed another opportunity in 2016/17.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Nik Stauskas and Carl Landry, both of whom were traded by Sacramento to the Sixers, say that they harbor no ill will toward the Kings organization for shipping them away, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “There’s no hard feelings,” Landry said. “The organization and the owner [Vivek Ranadive] and the vets, everybody in that organization gave me an opportunity. I am not going to go out there and try to score more points than needs to be scored. I’m just going to go out there and try to get a win. That’s it. Nothing personal.” Stauskas laid the blame for being dealt on himself, Pompey adds. “I didn’t play the way I wanted to my rookie year,” Stauskas said, “and obviously they felt like they wanted to go in a different direction. That’s the way the NBA works.“
- Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has taken some surprising criticism for the way he plays potentially “ruining” young players who attempt to emulate him. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle strongly disagrees, and compares the point guard to Apple visionary Steve Jobs, Michael Florek of The Dallas Morning News writes. “He’s changed the way we live,” Carlisle said of Jobs. “He and Bill Gates have done that. Steph Curry is changing the way the game is going to be played in the future. I’m sure of it. That’s a historic thing. The way AAU coaches and kids coming up are going to view the game, I’m confident it’s going to have a big influence. He’s an exciting guy to watch, and he’s a menacing guy to game plan for.”
And-Ones: Kerr, Knicks, D-League
There seems to be a slim chance that Golden State head coach Steve Kerr could resume his duties with the Warriors as soon as this weekend, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. Kerr took his first road trip of more than one game when he accompanied the team to Texas for its games against the Mavs and Rockets on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, MacMahon notes.
“It’s obviously a possibility,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters, including MacMahon, of Kerr’s potential return to the bench this weekend. “He hasn’t said he’s going to. To be honest, I don’t think he knows yet. I think that’s part of why he’s on this road trip, to see how his body handles the travel and getting into Houston at 1 a.m. tonight to turn around and play again then get on another plane and fly home and get in late again. So that’s part of why he’s here on this trip, whether or not this weekend is a realistic return or not.”
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Cleanthony Early getting shot in his right knee early this morning does not exactly endear New York City to soon-to-be free agents, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News opines. Since April, there have been four highly publicized crimes involving NBA players in the greater New York area, as Isola points out. For the Knicks, who are hoping to be major players this summer, the string of recent incidents likely makes New York City a tougher sell, Isola surmises.
- The Hawks assigned center Edy Tavares to D-League, the team announced in an emailed press release. Tavares is headed to the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League, pursuant to the flexible assignment rule, because the Hawks do not have their own affiliate.
- The Spurs recalled Ray McCallum from their D-League, the team announced on its website. McCallum is averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in 13 appearances this year with San Antonio.
- The Celtics recalled Jordan Mickey from their D-League affiliate, Boston announced (on Twitter).
- The Bulls will send Cristiano Felicio to the D-League on Thursday, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports (on Twitter). The power forward has not appeared in a game since November 27th.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 12/27/15
The positive momentum the Suns gathered from nearly landing LaMarcus Aldridge this past summer was short-lived. Markieff Morris demanded a trade later in the offseason, and though he seemingly recanted that at the start of training camp, Phoenix has apparently engaged in serious talks about dealing him away, and coach Jeff Hornacek is reportedly in danger of following him out the door. Eric Bledsoe isn’t going anywhere, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be on the court anytime soon, as the initial belief is reportedly that he’ll be out until the All-Star break is through with an injured left knee.
Suns ownership and management has been reluctant to fire Hornacek, but owner Robert Sarver and GM Ryan McDonough had one-on-one meetings with Suns players today to try to understand why the team has fallen to 12-20, a record that includes an ugly home loss to the Sixers on Saturday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Assistants Mike Longabardi and Earl Watson are possible replacements if the Suns oust Hornacek, Wojnarowski writes. A source with ties to the Suns who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck a few weeks ago speculatively predicted that the Suns would get rid of Hornacek and go after Warriors interim coach Luke Walton in the offseason (Twitter link). Morris is in the middle of a two-game suspension the team handed down after he threw a towel that connected with Hornacek during Wednesday’s game, though Morris says he didn’t mean to hit the coach.
It all leads to our question for the day: What do the Suns need to do to fix their issues? Should they fire Hornacek? If so, with whom should they replace him for the short term and long term? Should they trade Morris? If so, who or what should they realistically try to obtain in return? If they keep Hornacek and Morris, what’s the solution to their problems?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
Pacific Notes: Green, Jordan, Bledsoe
The Warriors own a record of 28-1 and a major reason for the team’s success is the play of Draymond Green. While Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson receive much of the attention, Green, who re-signed with Golden State for $82MM over the five years, is the team’s most valuable player, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post argues. The Michigan State product is averaging 14.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.1 assists to go along with 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game this season.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers understood that landing DeAndre Jordan was considered a longshot, but they believed that signing the big man would have turned around the franchise’s fortunes, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times writes. “We just talked to [Jordan] about what this organization has achieved. It’s all about championships here,” coach Byron Scott said. “Basically, it [would have been] a fresh start for him … with some young talent. Kind of help them guys develop and hopefully when we get a couple other guys to go along with him, that we would have been a team that could definitely vie for a championship.”
- Scott added that the team plans to make next year’s meetings with free agents more about basketball, Bresnahan writes in the same piece. “I guess this summer we’ll sit down and talk about our approach as far as the guys that we’ll target this year. But that’s seven, eight months away,” Scott said.
- Eric Bledsoe, who was the subject of trade chatter during the offseason, has improved in many areas this season and Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders believes he should be considered a top-tier point guard. Bledsoe is averaging 20.4 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while sporting a 20.9 player efficiency rating.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 12/26/15
ABC analyst Mark Jackson is taking heat from fans, players and media in the wake of comments during Friday’s telecast that reigning MVP Stephen Curry has “hurt the game” because of his shooting prowess. Jackson, who coached the Warriors before being replaced by Steve Kerr prior to last year’s championship season, theorizes that young players are too focused on trying to shoot like Curry rather than developing their all-around talents.
This is the complete quote from Jackson, as reported by Marissa Payne of The Washington Post: “Steph Curry’s great. Steph Curry’s the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this. To a degree, he’s hurt the game. And what I mean by that is I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids and the first thing they do is run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of the game.”
Jackson’s broadcast partner, Jeff Van Gundy, also a former NBA coach, came to Curry’s defense, saying, “Those shots that he takes, if some high school joker takes them, and it’s allowed by their coach, shame on them.” Sam Moses, an AAU coach in the Oakland area, tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that Curry is a “perfect role model,” adding, “If a kid comes in and says they want to be like Steph, they talk about ball-handling more than his 3-ball. He gets to the basket more than he shoots 3-pointers. You would think kids just want to work on the long ball, but they’re working on their dribbling.”
After Friday’s game, Curry expressed confusion about the comments from his former coach. “I have to talk to him,” Curry said. “I don’t know what he means by that. If you can shoot, shoot. If you can’t, stop.”
This brings me to the topic for today: Does Curry’s remarkable shooting actually “hurt the game” because of its influence on young players? And are there other current or former players you can say the same thing about?
For decades, youths on playgrounds or in high school gyms have been dreaming about dunking like Michael Jordan, passing like “Magic” Johnson, blocking shots like Hakeem Olajuwon, rebounding like Moses Malone or handling the ball like Pete Maravich. When youngsters see their favorite players with an exceptional skill, it’s natural for them to try and copy it. Does that limit their overall development? Does Jackson have a legitimate point, or is he is speaking out of bitterness over how his tenure in Golden State ended?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Warriors, Dawson, D-Will, Bulls
Luke Walton has helped the Warriors get off to 26-1 start in Steve Kerr’s absence, but as Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report suggests, it’s been a more difficult task than it might appear on the surface. “When an assistant becomes a head coach, players hate it,” said Andre Iguodala, who went on to praise the job Walton has done at finding a balance between acting as head and assistant coach. As we wait to see if the Warriors can extend their historic start against the Cavs tomorrow, let’s have a look at a few items from around the NBA.
- The Clippers have recalled Branden Dawson from the D-League, the team announced on its website. Dawson averaged 4.9 points across seven contests while on assignment with the Grand Rapids Drive.
- Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post summarizes Deron Williams’ disappointing tenure in Brooklyn. Williams was supposed to be the face of the franchise, but he had a difficult time staying healthy and his performance on the court suffered as a result. “I felt like I didn’t know if I was ever going to be healthy again,” Williams said to Bontemps. The Mavericks signed Williams to a two-year, $11MM deal this summer.
- Jimmy Butler’s comments directed toward Fred Hoiberg have some fans wondering if one of the two will be ousted from Chicago, but Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in a mailbag column that he’s confident both members of the pair will still be with the Bulls next season.