Odds & Ends: KG, Pierce, D12, McMillan, Kanter
Draft rumors are dominating headlines today, but there are a few other stories and links we don't want to let slip through the cracks. Let's round them up….
- As talks between the Celtics and Nets progress, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the C's also raised the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce package to a Western Conference team, but few, if any, other clubs would go all-in like the Nets.
- Perhaps that Western Conference team was the Timberwolves? Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears that Garnett's name, at least, has come up in Minnesota (Twitter link).
- The Warriors are hoping to meet with Dwight Howard in free agency, and D12 figures to give them an audience, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
- Nate McMillan is finalizing an agreement to become the top assistant on Frank Vogel's Pacers staff, tweets Wojnarowski.
- Enes Kanter will not be traded tonight, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News gives the Mavericks a 28% chance of landing Howard this summer, and thinks Andrew Bynum and Monta Ellis could be among the team's backup plans.
- Ty Lawson and Brian Shaw met to discuss the Nuggets' future, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post details.
Kennedy On Magic, Noel, Len, McLemore, Cavs
Here's the latest draft buzz from Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (all links go to Twitter)..
- It sounds like the Magic are really high on Nerlens Noel, Kennedy tweets. If the Cavaliers select Alex Len at No. 1, Orlando may go with Noel.
- If Noel is gone, the Magic will likely select Ben McLemore or Victor Oladipo. Many people are assuming Oladipo will be the pick in that case, but Kennedy is not so sure.
- Some sources tell Kennedy that Shabazz Muhammad will slip out of the lottery, which lines up with him not being invited to green room.
- There are still questions about Oladipo and teams are intrigued by McLemore's upside. Kennedy has been told that the Indiana product could slip all the way to the Suns at No. 5.
- The Mavs continue to shop the No. 13 pick. The Wolves and Thunder want to move up while the Grizzlies, Rockies, Warriors, and 76ers want to add a first-rounder.
Draft Updates: Wednesday Evening
On the night before the draft, three "people of importance" in the Cavs front office have differing views on whom the team should take first overall, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. This is shaping up as one of the most compelling drafts in years with all the unknowns, even if the talent at the top is subpar. Here's the latest draft-related scuttlebutt:
- Nets GM Billy King tells Fred Kerber of the New York Post that there's "about a 60% chance" that the team will trade the No. 22 pick, perhaps in pursuit of a frontcourt player (Twitter link). The Nets are reportedly in three-way talks with the Cavs and Wolves.
- Shabazz Muhammad has at least one fan in the Wolves front office, but it isn't anyone at the top of the organization, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who says he'll be surprised if the team takes the UCLA small forward.
- The Cavs' first preference has been to trade the No. 1 overall pick, but failing that, it looks like it's down to Nerlens Noel and Alex Len, with Anthony Bennett as a dark horse, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer writes.
- The Sixers worked out second-round hopeful Dwayne Davis on Wednesday, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Earlier updates:
- The Kings, Pistons and Timberwolves like Shabazz Muhammad and may draft him earlier than most executives be believe he'll go, which is between Nos. 13 and 20, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
- The Heat have been told they could possibly trade for a late lottery pick, but team president Pat Riley says if the team trades for a selection, it will be one of the early picks. "After the first 10 or 12 picks, I'm not so sure there's that player out there," Riley said, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes.
- Sergey Karasev wants to play in the NBA next season, so he won't be a "draft-and-stash" pick, tweets Berger, who hears Karasev may go as high as No. 12 to the Thunder. Chad Ford of ESPN.com wrote earlier today that he could go to the Sixers at No. 11.
- Several teams are trying to move up in order to draft Victor Oladipo, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy hears (Twitter link). One of those teams appears to be the Timberwolves, as Marcus Fuller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press examines.
- There's a "decent chance" the Warriors will try to trade cash for a pick in the middle of the second round, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
- Alex Lee unveiled the latest version of the Hoops Rumors Mock Draft earlier tonight.
Carl Landry Opts Out, Will Become Free Agent
7:22pm: The Warriors confirmed via press release that Landry has declined his player option.
2:20pm: Carl Landry has decided to turn down his 2013/14 player option and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Landry tells Thompson that he would like to stay with Golden State, which made the decision, which was due by today, a tough one.
By opting out of the final year of his contract, Landry will forgo a guaranteed $4MM in search of a larger deal. The decision doesn't necessarily preclude a return to the Warriors, but given the team's proximity to the tax line and its desire to re-sign free agent point guard Jarrett Jack as well, Golden State may not have the cap flexibility to bring back the veteran forward.
An in-season report suggested that the Raptors would have interest in pursuing Landry this summer, though Toronto will likely have plenty of competition. I would guess that Landry will be seeking a slight upgrade in his annual salary, and will prioritize multiyear offers.
Agent Mark Bartelstein had confirmed last week that Landry was leaning toward opting out.
Kyler’s Latest: Bledsoe, Marion, Warriors, Deng
With the 2013 draft now just two days away, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld tackled some of the most frequently mentioned trade rumors, passing along the latest updates he's heard on Eric Bledsoe, Shawn Marion, and others in today's NBA AM piece. Here are the highlights:
- A rumored deal that would send Bledsoe and Caron Butler to the Magic in exchange for Arron Afflalo may also include Andrew Nicholson and/or a 2015 draft pick going to the Clippers, says Kyler. L.A. appears to be exploring all its options for Bledsoe, but if no team tops Orlando's offer, a trade could happen on draft night.
- While the Mavericks are denying that Marion would be attached to a deal involving the No. 13 pick, Kyler is hearing that there are two scenarios on the table that include Marion and the pick. One is with the Cavaliers, while the other is with the Pelicans. A Marion deal isn't necessarily Cleveland's top priority, however, and the fact that Marion has yet to officially exercise his 2013/14 player option may also be complicating discussions.
- The Warriors would like to trade into the draft and pick up a late first-round pick, but given the team's proximity to the tax line, adding a guaranteed rookie salary to the books may not make sense for Golden State.
- Breaking down the latest Luol Deng rumors, Kyler notes that it makes sense for Deng to play out the final year of his contract with the Bulls, but adds that he's heard a couple sources describe an eventual Deng trade as "inevitable."
- Following up on the rumor that the Cavaliers tried to acquire LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyler says there are rumblings the Suns made a play for Aldridge as well. It seems unlikely that the Trail Blazers would move the big man at this point, but there's certainly a market for him.
- Kyler confirms that the Timberwolves, who have been very aggressive over the last few weeks, tried to make a play for MarShon Brooks involving the No. 26 pick.
Odds & Ends: Celtics, Gentry, Cavaliers, Warriors
A few random notes from around the league:
- Now that his head coach for the past six years is with the Clippers, there's a growing belief Kevin Garnett will play at least one more season with the Celtics before retiring and joining his former coach, Flip Saunders, in a ceremonial ownership role with the Timberwolves, according to Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.
- Also in that same report from Wojnarowski, the Celtics will likely hold onto Paul Pierce instead of waiving him before June 30th, with the hope that a team will offer a first-round pick for his services between now and the trade deadline.
- Former Suns head coach Alvin Gentry could join Doc Rivers' staff with the Clippers, according to a tweet from Wojnarowski. Gentry is also still a candidate to become head coach of the Grizzlies or an assistant with the Lakers.
- Hoopsworld.com's Jabari Davis lists six free agent possibilities for the Warriors to pursue this offseason.
- The Cavaliers aren't enamored with all the first overall pick has to offer, and they've considered trading it since the lottery. Cleveland.com's Mary Schmitt Boyer dives deep into some possibilities the team might have.
- If Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is selected before the Bucks make their first round pick (15th overall selection), the team could look to pick Jamaal Franklin, writes JournalTimes.com's Gery Woelfel.
Western Notes: Warriors, Suns, Nuggets
A few notes from around the NBA's Western Conference.
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com tweets that Warriors assistant coach Bob Beyer is going to the Bobcats.
- The Suns could be interested in selecting a point guard with the fifth overall pick in this week's draft, writes AZCentral.com's Paul Coro. The team already has Goran Dragic, who they signed to a four-year deal last summer, and drafted Kendall Marshall with their first round pick last season.
- The Nuggets reached out to Boston over the weekend to discuss making Rivers their head coach by dangling a first round pick, but Rivers had no interest in coaching that team, tweets SI.com's Chris Mannix.
Agent: Carl Landry Leaning Toward Opting Out
The Warriors have already seen three players facing possible free agency opt in for 2013/14, either by way of exercising a player option (Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush) or waiving an early termination option (Andris Biedrins). One option decision still remains though, as Carl Landry weighs whether or not to exercise his $4MM player option. According to agent Mark Bartelstein, he and his client are leaning toward turning down the option, making Landry an unrestricted free agent.
"He's worth a lot more than the contract he has and the direction (we're moving) toward is him opting out," Bartelstein told Kyle Bonagura of CSNBayArea.com. "Things can change, but that's where it's leaning."
As Bonagura notes in his piece, both Landry's camp and the Warriors recognized that the deal the forward signed last summer was likely to end up being just a one-year pact. Warriors GM Bob Myers acknowledged that he and the team "didn't think we'd get Landry on the number that we did."
Even if he does opt out, that doesn't mean Landry can't or won't re-sign with the Warriors, as he expressed a desire earlier in the season to remain in Golden State long-term. However, as I outlined in my preview of the Warriors' offseason, the team won't have a lot of cap flexibility to bring back free agents like Landry or Jarrett Jack, so it may require some creativity to re-sign Landry at a fair price.
Draft Notes: Trades, Plumlee, Blazers, Warriors
Here is the latest circulating about next Thursday's NBA Draft:
- We know that the Cavs are shopping the top pick, and while Sam Amico of Fox Sports tweets that interest in No. 1 is building, teams are more interested in the Magic's second pick and the Wizards' third pick.
- Sean Meagher of Oregon Live posts a video of Mason Plumlee, in town for a workout with the Blazers, where the former Duke star says he can help a team right away. Chris Haynes of CSN Northwest writes that Plumlee, who expects to get better despite his advanced game, is on a mission to prove he is the best big man in the draft.
- Meanwhile, the Blazers will host bigs Steven Adams and Rudy Gobert for a workout on Thursday, tweets Haynes.
- The Warriors, well aware of the value of young players, are looking to acquire a draft pick, writes Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Golden State, who had four draft picks a year ago, has none at the moment for next Thursday's draft.
Odds & Ends: Hawks, Draft, Mark Jackson, Bulls
As we look forward to what could be the final game of the 2012/13 season tonight, let's check in on a few odds and ends from around the NBA….
- Hawks GM Danny Ferry was noncommittal when asked by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution if the team planned to extend qualifying offers to Jeff Teague and Ivan Johnson. I'd be pretty surprised if Teague didn't receive a qualifying offer, considering he's unlikely to accept the one-year offer and it could always be rescinded if Atlanta needed to clear cap space.
- In addition to Dario Saric, Norvel Pelle, and the 14 international prospects we identified in yesterday's post, Viktor Gaddefors and Joshua Simmons also withdrew from the 2013 draft, the NBA announced today.
- Warriors head coach Mark Jackson tells Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link) that he and the team haven't had any recent talks about a contract extension, and he's fine with that.
- Although the Mavericks were recently named as a potential suitor for Monta Ellis, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com thinks the veteran guard is "far from a perfect fit" for the Mavs.
- The Bulls could go in a number of different directions on draft night, but the most likely outcome will see the club drafting a big man, says Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
- They may not have reached a trade agreement with the Celtics, but the Clippers still figure to be very active this offseason, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.