D-League Notes: Jones, Brackins, Warriors, Acy
In addition to the usual assignments and recalls, we've got a couple more D-League links of note to share. Let's round them up….
- Perry Jones III has been recalled from the Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder announced today in a press release. The 2012 first-round pick will be available for tonight's game in Oklahoma City vs. the Jazz.
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders have acquired former first-round pick Craig Brackins, the D-League squad formally announced today (Twitter link). Brackins, who played in Italy earlier this season, was the 21st overall pick in 2010, but only appeared in 17 games over two season for the Sixers before failing to find an NBA job last summer.
Earlier updates:
- The Warriors have recalled Kent Bazemore and Malcolm Thomas from the D-League, a day after their respective assignments, the team announced today in a press release. Bazemore and Thomas combined for 24 points and 26 rebounds in Santa Cruz's 110-103 win over Reno last night.
- Kevin Jones has been re-assigned once again to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers announced today in a press release. Jones' D-League assignments this season have typically just lasted one game, so I imagine he'll return to the Cavs after playing for the Charge in tonight's game against the Bakersfield Jam.
- With Andrea Bargnani officially ruled out for the season by the Raptors, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun anticipates that the team will recall Quincy Acy from the D-League (Twitter link).
- Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lacob, who is also the GM of the team's D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, spoke to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside about developing players and the relationship between the organization's D-League and NBA teams.
- Ken Rodriguez of Spurs.com takes a look at Cory Joseph's journey to the D-League and back to the Spurs.
Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Warriors, Livingston
A look at a few random notes from around the league:
- The Mavericks have had an extremely tough year, but after a win over the Bucks tonight find themselves only a couple games out of the eight seed in the Western Conference. The Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw gives his take on what they need to do to make the playoffs.
- Warriors.com gives a detailed look at what exactly the Warriors need to do if they want to stay where they're at and make the playoffs.
- Cavaliers guard Shaun Livingston faced off against the Wizards tonight for the first time since they waived him earlier this season, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.
Western Notes: McGuire, Iguodala, Kings, Mavs
As we look forward to an eight-game evening slate that includes Dwight Howard's return to Orlando, let's round up a few of today's stories relating to Western Conference clubs….
- The Warriors elected not to sign Dominic McGuire after the trade deadline using one of their open roster spots at least in part because coach Mark Jackson didn't want McGuire taking minutes away from rookie Draymond Green, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (via Sulia).
- Andre Iguodala admits to Paola Boivin of the Denver Post that his 2013/14 player option is in the back of his mind, but says he won't make a concrete decision on whether or not to exercise it until after the season.
- Despite David Stern's insistence that the Kings sale won't result in a bidding war, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the Sacramento group may be in trouble if the Seattle group "keeps pushing up the price."
- Part of the reason the Mavericks released Dominique Jones was to give him an opportunity to find playing time with another club, as GM Donnie Nelson explains to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The playing time that Dominique probably deserves wasn’t here and available," Nelson said. "Hopefully that presents itself with another team some place."
- Darren Collison isn't complaining about coming off the bench for the Mavericks, but when he becomes a free agent this summer, he'll hit the market believing that he's capable of being a starter somewhere, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
Raptors May Target Carl Landry In Offseason
Last Wednesday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Raptors would look to flip Andrea Bargnani for a "proven scoring post player" this summer. However, according to Spears' latest report, it sounds as if the Raps could also turn to free agency in search of the post player they covet. Spears hears from a source that Toronto may target Carl Landry if he declines his player option with the Warriors.
Landry, who signed a two-year contract with the Warriors last summer, is earning $4MM this season and has an option worth the same amount for 2013/14. Presumably, he'd only opt out if he felt that he could earn more than $4MM in '13/14 or if he thought he could get a similar annual salary on a longer-term deal. As such, it's hard to see the Raptors as a realistic fit.
Assuming the Raptors turn down John Lucas III's modest team option, the club will still have more than $71MM on next year's books for 11 players. Amenstying Linas Kleiza and his $4.6MM salary would get the team out of the tax, but would still make it difficult to use the full mid-level exception. As we saw with the Bulls this season, using more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE means that a club will be restricted by a hard cap for the remainder of the season. If the Raptors don't have the full mid-level available, it will be very difficult for them to make a competitive offer for Landry.
Of course, if the Raptors are able to clear more salary in other moves, the team could create enough flexibility to offer Landry the full mid-level, or perhaps try to acquire him in a sign-and-trade. But even then, I wouldn't be surprised if there were rival suitors prepared to make stronger offers.
Warriors Assign Bazemore, Thomas To D-League
Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with any further moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- The Warriors have assigned Kent Bazemore and Malcolm Thomas to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Thomas is on a 10-day contract with Golden State, so either his D-League stint will be brief or the team has a longer-term plan for him — perhaps both. For Bazemore, it's his fifth assignment to the Santa Cruz Warriors this season.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Nash, Gasol, Patterson
The latest news and notes from around the Pacific Division on Saturday morning:
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com discusses the importance of David Stern's implication that the Maloofs have no leverage in the sale of the Kings to the Seattle or Sacramento groups.
- Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that Steve Nash is growing increasingly comfortable in his new role on the Lakers.
- Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports that Pau Gasol is still at least two weeks away from returning to action.
- Ric Bucher of CSNBayArea.com writes that the Kings traded for Patrick Patterson in part because of his close relationship with DeMarcus Cousins dating back to their time as teammates at the University of Kentucky.
- Wendell Maxey of RidiculousUpside.com chronicles Malcolm Thomas' journey from Israel to the D-League to the Warriors.
Warriors Rumors: Harden, Free Agents, Ellis, Lin
The commissioner is in attendance at Golden State's game against the Rockets tonight, but David Stern's comments about the fate of the Kings overshadowed talk of the other team in Northern California. Nonetheless, there's plenty of Warriors-related news this evening, as we share here:
- Sources told Grantland's Bill Simmons that the Thunder and Warriors talked about a James Harden deal last year, but Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group hears differently, tweeting that he was told the rumor wasn't legitimate.
- The Warriors were considering Maalik Wayns, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Childress, Dominic McGuire, Chris Wright (the forward from Dayton, not the guard from Georgetown) and Mickell Gladness before they decided to sign Malcolm Thomas to a 10-day contract, reports Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. Some of those names could conceivably resurface if the W's don't keep Thomas around, though Wayns signed a 10-day deal with the Clippers.
- Monta Ellis has benefited from the trade that sent him from the Warriors to the Bucks a year ago, as Thompson writes, while fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Tim Kawakami ponders what might have happened if the Warriors had held on to Ellis and Jeremy Lin.
Warriors Sign Malcolm Thomas
2:52pm: The Warriors have officially signed Thomas to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.
9:46am: Despite a Monday report indicating that the Warriors weren't planning to fill their open roster spots in the near future, the club is expected to sign Malcolm Thomas to a 10-day contract, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).
Thomas, 24, made his NBA debut last season with the Spurs, appearing in three games with the team before being released. After a standout summer league performance with the Bulls last July, Thomas signed a contract with Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv, but received limited playing time overseas, averaging just 15.6 minutes per game in 15 contests. The 6'9" forward made his 2012/13 D-League debut on Wednesday, posting 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Because the Warriors had a pair of open roster spots, after having traded Charles Jenkins and Jeremy Tyler at the deadline, they won't need to waive anyone to clear a spot for Thomas. A 10-day deal also won't add significantly to Golden State's team salary, as the team looks to remain below the tax line.
Western Notes: Harden, Warriors, Kings, Mavs
After looking at the NBA's most cap-friendly deals a week ago, Grantland's Bill Simmons returns today with his picks for the league's top 30 worst contracts. Within the piece, Simmons passes along an interesting nugget regarding the Thunder's James Harden trade talks.
Multiple sources tell Simmons that the Warriors were the first team Sam Presti called when he explored a Harden deal, as Oklahoma City hoped to land Klay Thompson. However, Golden State, wary of future tax bills, wanted the Thunder to take back Richard Jefferson or Andris Biedrins, rather than cheaper or shorter-term contracts, which resulted in Presti exploring other options and eventually reaching an agreement with the Rockets.
While the Warriors would have been in line for a huge tax bill for 2013/14 if they'd extended Harden to go along with all the other big-money contracts on their books, it's hard not to be intrigued imagining what a Harden/Stephen Curry backcourt would have looked like.
Here are a few more Friday notes from around the Western Conference:
- Sports marketing expert David Carter spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today about the Kings sale, exploring whether Sacramento is a better basketball market than Seattle, why a public subsidy in Sacramento's arena proposal could appeal to the NBA, and a handful of other topics.
- ESPN.com's Chris Broussard explains why he believes it's in Dwight Howard's best interests to re-sign with the Lakers this summer.
- Another busy summer is in store for the Mavericks, as the team continues to seek a talent that would make Dirk Nowitzki the second-best player on the roster, writes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- Despite the team's projected cap space, the future isn't looking particularly bright for the Mavericks, according to Gil Lebreton of the Star-Telegram.
Pacific Notes: Warriors, Kobe, Richmond, Kings
Following their loss last night in Denver, the Clippers added a 15th man to their roster, signing ex-Sixer Maalik Wayns to a 10-day contract. That's the top headline out of the Pacific so far today, but let's check in on a few other stories from the Clips' division rivals….
- Warriors sources recognize that the team could use an "explosive offensive player" who can make plays off the dribble, according to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. That's one of the reasons Golden State had interest in Dion Waiters at last year's draft, says Kawakami.
- Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, Kobe Bryant was asked when he'll retire and said it would happen "soon," although he didn't specify exactly how soon, as Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register writes.
- Mitch Richmond isn't just hoping to keep the Kings in Sacramento and invest in the franchise. He's also eyeing a possible front-office position, writes Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
- Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee have the latest details on the Sacramento group's PR effort in its quest to save the Kings.