D-League Notes: Johnson, Suns, Kuzmic
The D-League has become 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 Rockets have assigned Nick Johnson to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, their D-League affiliate, Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston reports (Twitter link). This will be Johnson’s third trek of the season to the D-League.
- The Suns have assigned T.J. Warren and Tyler Ennis to their D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam, the team has announced. This will be the fourth sojourn of the season to the D-League for both players. Ennis is averaging 19.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 33.7 minutes in seven games with the Jam, while Warren is averaging 26.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 34.9 minutes in seven contests.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to Santa Cruz, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. In six previous trips to the D-League, Kuzmic has averaged 8.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.20 blocks and 1.6 assists in 29.7 minutes per contest for Santa Cruz this season.
Western Notes: Warriors, Matthews, Mavs
With Rajon Rondo out indefinitely after suffering two facial fractures, the Mavs are in need of some depth, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas may look to add a player on a 10-day contract while it waits for Jermaine O’Neal to decide when and where he resumes his NBA career, Sefko reports. Owner Mark Cuban said that Dallas will be looking at players returning from China as well as those waived by NBA teams, in order to fill its final roster spot, Sefko adds.
Here’s more from out west:
- Soon-to-be free agent Wesley Matthews wants to remain with the Trail Blazers, as he tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders, and the shooting guard makes it clear the team’s success on the court is a factor.
- The Warriors have led the NBA in defensive rating from the opening day of the season, and the team’s dominance on defense can be traced back to two personnel moves that the franchise has made, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com writes. The ESPN scribe points to Golden State’s deal with the Bucks that sent Monta Ellis to Milwaukee and netted the team Andrew Bogut, and the sign-and-trade deal for Andre Iguodala, as major reasons for Golden State’s defensive prowess this season.
- Rival executives have said that the Nuggets would love to add a star player between now and the trade deadline, but if the team is unable to accomplish that goal, it will seek to trade away some of its veteran players for first round draft picks, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes.
- Rudy Gobert has emerged as a defensive force for the Jazz this season, and Wesley Share of RealGM.com profiles the big man’s growth into an impact player.
- Quincy Miller, who is on his second 10-day contract of the season with the Kings, has never been short on talent, but poor timing has slowed his career up to this point, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders writes. Discussing why the Nuggets chose to waive him earlier this season, Miller said, “I think they really wanted a veteran in Alonzo Gee and a defensive player. I don’t think I was the defensive player that they wanted, and I was everything they already had in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari – a shooter/finisher. They wanted to go in a different direction, which is fine, but I just wish it would’ve been different timing.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Warriors, Curry
Many NBA teams are deathly afraid of paying the luxury tax, but Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob says that Golden State has no fear in that regard. The Warriors have more than $77.5MM in salary committed to just eight players for next season, and that doesn’t include a new deal for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green. Still, Lacob & Co. are apparently willing to pay the price if it means being in championship contention. Here’s more from the Pacific Division..
- The Clippers would like to acquire a wing player with more size, but they discovered when they came up empty in their pursuit of Jeff Green that they don’t have trade assets that other teams find attractive enough to part with such a player, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. The Spencer Hawes signing for the full $5.305MM mid-level exception helped drain the team of assets and flexibility, as Lowe explains, adding that most league executives nonetheless praised the Hawes signing when it took place.
- Despite the pull of a Charlotte homecoming, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News believes that Stephen Curry will want to stay with the Warriors for the long term. You never know what can happen between now and the summer of 2017, but Curry seems comfortable in Golden State despite having a new coach and the Warriors are showing that they can win this season.
- Shaun Powell of NBA.com wonders if new owner Steve Ballmer is disappointed with what he’s seen out of the Clippers so far. As an executive, many have wondered if Doc Rivers has been making wise choices. His only meaningful addition has been Hawes, a jump-shooting big man who hasn’t connected all that often this season. Meanwhile, Rivers dealt for son Austin Rivers to help fortify a bench that is thin beyond Jamal Crawford and it remains to be seen whether that will get the job done.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
D-League Moves: Mavs, Warriors, Cavs, Magic
Mavs reserve point guard Ricky Ledo was in a three-way tie for the most D-League assignments this season when I examined D-League trends last week, but he’d been stuck on eight assignments for a while. He’d spent the early part of the season pinging back and forth between the Mavericks and the D-League Texas Legends, but his latest assignment stretched nearly a month. It’s over as of today, as the Mavs have recalled him, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The end of the stint, which began January 9th, is likely tied to Rajon Rondo‘s broken nose and orbital bone that will sideline the All-Star for at least three games. Ledo is far from the only one on the move today, as we detail:
- Festus Ezeli has returned to the Warriors from his first D-League assignment of the season, the team announced. The former 30th overall pick blocked a total of six shots over 42 minutes in two games with the Santa Cruz Warriors, but he averaged only 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.
- The shuttle continues for Joe Harris, whom the Cavaliers have recalled from his fourth D-League stint in the past two weeks, the team announced. The rookie swingman has put up 18.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 34.3 MPG in four D-League appearances this season, all of them since January 21st.
- The Magic have assigned Devyn Marble to the D-League for the second time this year, the team announced. The 56th pick from the 2014 draft, who’s started seven NBA games this season, spent nearly a week in the D-League a month ago, averaging 20.0 PPG in 38.0 MPG.
- Former first-round picks Reggie Bullock and Archie Goodwin are officially back with the Suns after twin D-League assignments that began January 29th, the team announced. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reported Sunday that the recalls would take place.
- The Clippers will reassign C.J. Wilcox to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link). Wilcox has appeared in five games for Fort Wayne this season, averaging 13.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest.
Warriors Willing To Pay Luxury Tax In 2015/16
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group that he’s willing to pay the luxury tax in 2015/16, acknowledging that it’s very likely the team’s payroll will be “substantially” over the tax line. The Warriors have more than $77.5MM in salary committed to just eight players for next season, and that doesn’t include a new deal for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, along with other variables. The league won’t set the tax threshold for next season until July, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote in December that the latest projection pegged it at $81MM.
And you know what? We’re OK with that,” Lacob said to Kawakami about the likelihood the team will pay the tax. “I tell [GM] Bob [Myers] all the time; he keeps asking me, ‘Are you sure?’ We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to win a championship; I’ve said that before. You want to do it when the timing is right. Maybe the timing’s right, right? We’re pretty good. And so, I think we need to take advantage of that and go for it. Our fans, that’s what they want to hear. And the truth is, it’s what I want to hear. And what I want to think. And what our management and ownership … there isn’t one owner that I know of or one person in management here that doesn’t think this way. Luxury tax? It’s not something you want to do, it’s very penal. But [we] can’t be worried about that right now. That is really not the issue. The issue is being the best team we can be and we’re going to do whatever it takes.
Lacob was reluctant this fall to commit to the tax for next season as he negotiated an extension for Klay Thompson, as Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com wrote in October. The owner nonetheless consented to an extension that will pay Thompson up to $15.5MM next season. However, Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote last month that all signs pointed to the Warriors matching any offer for Green, even if it forced them to pay the tax. Green is a bargain on the minimum salary this season amidst a career year in which he’s overtaken the starting power forward spot from David Lee, who’s on the books for nearly $15.494MM next season, the final year of his deal.
The owner told Kawakami that he couldn’t say whether he would re-sign Green or how hard he would pursue a new deal with him, citing NBA rules. Still, Lacob offered that Green was “born to be a Warrior,” as Kawakami notes. “And we love him,” Lacob added. “I certainly think today as we look at our team, he’s part of our core and can’t imagine it being otherwise.”
Most executives around the league assume the salary cap will spike to $90MM for 2016/17, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently, and Lacob believes the rising cap, which lifts the tax line with it, will prevent the Warriors from having to pay the tax beyond next season, as he told Kawakami. The Warriors aren’t taxpayers this season and never have been, so they’re in no immediate danger of triggering the onerous repeat taxpayer penalties that would kick in after three years in the tax. Still, Lacob left the door open to continued tax payments if necessary.
“I can just tell you that the team is performing at a very high level here and as long as we have great players that we can hold onto, we’re going to do it,” he told Kawakami. “You don’t try to do these things for one year. We want to be a great team that hopefully wins a championship soon and that can sustain that over a long period of time. So it is our intention to do that no matter what.”
Golden State already has more than $53.9MM on the books for 2016/17, which is the final season on the contracts for Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala. The next year, the Warriors only have about $17.8MM committed.
Warriors Re-Sign James McAdoo
1:22pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
11:27am: Agent Jim Tanner confirms the deal to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
11:13am: The Warriors and James McAdoo have agreed upon a second 10-day deal, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. The rookie power forward had gone back to Golden State’s D-League team after the expiration of his first 10-day contract last week, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke at that time of McAdoo as someone he hoped would be a part of the club’s future. The Warriors have an open roster spot, so there won’t be a need for a corresponding move.
The 22-year-old was the sixth-ranked player in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school in 2011, but his stock gradually slipped during his three years at North Carolina, and he went undrafted this past summer. The Warriors had him on their summer league team and gave him a $35K partial guarantee on his contract for camp. McAdoo failed to make the opening-night roster, but the Warriors retained his D-League rights, and he’s averaged 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game over 24 appearances for Golden State’s D-League affiliate.
This second arrangement will be the final 10-day contract the Warriors are allowed to give McAdoo this year, so at the end of it, Golden State will either have to sign him for the season or let him sit in NBA free agency and risk another team snapping him up. McAdoo spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors shortly before the draft.
Pacific Notes: Warriors, Barbosa, Hawes, Bryant
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is using the 1990s Bulls as his blueprint for building a winner with Golden State, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Kerr, who won three NBA titles as a player in Chicago, learned about being demanding from teammate Michael Jordan. “I think that’s a standard that championship teams understand — that there’s a bar that’s set and you’re trying to reach that bar each night,” Kerr said. “You’re not so much playing against all these different opponents; you’re almost playing against your own standards.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Despite not playing much, Leandro Barbosa has become a team leader for the Warriors, according to Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle. The 32-year-old guard leads the other reserves in regular competitions after practice and is being credited for helping them improve. “He understands the value and the importance of the work ethic for the guys who don’t see a lot of playing time,” Kerr said. “He started that routine. It’s a shooting contest, competitive and fun. I think it’s a big reason why we’ve had good bench play this year.” Barbosa has a one-year, minimum-salary contract and will be a free agent in July.
- When the Clippers signed Spencer Hawes over the summer, the plan was for the eight-year veteran to play close to starter’s minutes while spacing the floor with his three-pointers. However, Hawes finds himself playing fewer minutes than in any season since he was a rookie. The big man acknowledges that he’s struggling with the transition to being a bench player, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times writes.
- Kobe Bryant may have had his third straight season cut short by injury, but Carmelo Anthony has no doubt the Lakers star will be back next year, reports Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. Bryant had surgery this week to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and is expected to be out of action for about nine months. He will turn 37 in August and has a contract worth $25MM next season. “Oh, he’ll be back,” Anthony said. “He’s going to prove to everybody that he’s coming back. He’ll be back for sure.”
Zach Links contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Silver, Carter, D-League
Mark Cuban had his run-ins with former commissioner David Stern, but the Mavs owner has no shortage of praise for Adam Silver, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays from Cuban. Still, there are challenges ahead for Silver as his first year atop the league comes to a close, and union executive director Michele Roberts has left many around the league believing she’s “looking for a fight.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Lakers have assigned Ryan Kelly to their D-League affiliate, the L.A. D-Fenders, the team has announced. This will be Kelly’s first jaunt to the D-League of the season.
- An MRI performed on Vince Carter has revealed that the Grizzlies veteran has suffered damage to a tendon in his left foot, the team has announced. The 38-year-old is out indefinitely and will be re-evaluated in a week’s time.
- The Pacers have recalled Shayne Whittington from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team has announced. This was Whittington’s first trip to the D-League of the season, and in one appearance he notched five points and four rebounds for the Mad Ants.
- Milos Milisavljevic, who plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s D-League affiliate, is working toward hearing his name called in this June’s NBA draft, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. The Serbian had passed on offers from a number of Euroleague teams so that he could come to the United States and play for Santa Cruz. Milisavljevic chose the less lucrative D-League path in order to demonstrate to NBA executives his high level of commitment to making it into the league, Howard-Cooper notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Kobe, McAdoo, Terrence Williams
The Lakers picked up a rare with Thursday night, but it cost them in the Reverse Standings, where they’re four games back of the No. 2 position. They have to finish with either the worst or second-worst record in the league to assure themselves of retaining their first-round pick this year, which goes to the Suns if it falls out of the top five. The Lakers currently sit fourth in the order, but if a couple of other teams get lucky in the lottery, that would bump L.A. out of the pick’s protected range. There’s more on next year for the purple-and-gold amid the latest from the Pacific Division:
- Kobe Bryant confirms that he plans to return next season and be ready to take part in Lakers training camp, as he told Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Bryant admitted shortly before he tore his rotator cuff that he had considered retiring after this season. Recovery from the injury is supposed to keep him out for nine months, which would force him to miss nearly all of the 2015/16 preseason.
- The Warriors like what they see in James McAdoo and hope that he’s a part of the team’s future, coach Steve Kerr says, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Golden State nonetheless appears to have opted against re-signing McAdoo for now, since he rejoined the team’s D-League affiliate Thursday following the expiration of his 10-day contract with the big club.
- Israel’s Maccabi Ashdod has decided to release former lottery pick Terrence Williams, sources tell David Pick of Basketball Insiders. Williams worked out for the Kings in July and again in late October. He’s in talks with teams from Puerto Rico and the Philippines, Pick hears.
James McAdoo To Rejoin Warriors D-League Club
James McAdoo, whose 10-day contract with the Warriors expired Wednesday night, will head back to Golden State’s D-League affiliate, a source tells Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). The power forward had been with the Warriors affiliate prior to signing his 10-day deal. He remains eligible to sign another 10-day contract with Golden State later this season.
The Grizzlies reportedly had contact with the Jim Tanner client before he inked his 10-day deal, and they, too, are still eligible to sign him, just like any NBA team, even as he heads back to Golden State’s affiliate. McAdoo appeared in three games during his 10-day stint with Golden State, totaling 14 points and five rebounds. He’s averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per game in the D-League.
The end of McAdoo’s tenure with the Warriors leaves the team with an open roster spot. GM Bob Myers has touted roster stability, and the team seems to have abandoned its pursuit of Ray Allen, at least for the time being.