Kyrie Irving Denies Report He Wants Out
10:14pm: According to Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer, Irving emphatically shot down reports that he wants to leave Cleveland. Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com and Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter links) relayed some of his post game quotes on the matter, but you can read a more complete transcript of Irving’s interview with reporters tonight from Schmitt’s piece:
“There’s been so much so-called reports, ‘I don’t want to be here…That’s what you guys get paid to do.’I’m still in my rookie contract and I’m happy to be here…And I’m pretty sure I’m going to be here for a long time…Yes, I’m in Cleveland. I enjoy myself. I enjoy going out there and competing at the highest level for the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about me and it’s not about this controversy surrounding do I want to privately come out when my contract is up. I’m still in my rookie contract and I’m happy to be here and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to be here for a long time. I’m not saying anything to foretell the future, but I’m pretty sure the relationship I have with Dan Gilbert and management extends off the court and I enjoy being here.”
Irving also curbed a question about signing a max-extension this summer and vouched for Mike Brown:
“It’s still too early to (say anything about an extension). I’m still trying to get through this season…Everybody is trying to antagonize this team and put it on me. I’m here for my teammates, I’m here for Coach Brown.”
1:10pm: Kyrie Irving has been confiding in those close to him that he wants to leave Cleveland, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who reveals the news amid a chat with readers. The pressure’s on Chris Grant, as nearly every other NBA decision-maker believes the Cleveland GM will be out of a job this summer if the team can’t reverse its fortunes this season, Ford writes.
Irving will be up for an extension to his rookie scale contract this summer, and if he doesn’t sign one, he’ll become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2015. The Cavs wield all the leverage if they’re willing to sign him for the maximum, since they’d have the ability to match offers that summer. If Irving is determined to leave Cleveland as soon as possible, he could sign a qualifying offer from the Cavs that summer, and that would make him an unrestricted free agent in 2016. Signing the qualifying offer, worth nearly $9.2MM, would be a drastic step, since he would be sacrificing anywhere from $4-7MM that season if he turned down a maximum salary contract to do so.
Irving and agent Jeff Wechsler could also agitate for a trade, although the decision to deal him away would still rest with the Cavs front office. Ford expects Grant to be heavily involved in talks at the trade deadline in an effort to swing deals for players who can provide Irving with immediate help on the court. Cleveland is in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, three games back of the final playoff spot.
Eastern Notes: Irving, Rondo, 76ers
Earlier today, we made note of the rumblings that Kyrie Irving privately wants out of Cleveland. Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that Irving has never approached him to complain about the team or wanting out (Twitter link). Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio may not be sure of what Irving has or hasn’t said behind-the-scenes, but he does know that Drederick Irving – Kyrie’s father – has been very vocal about his irritation with how the Cavaliers are utilizing his son this year. As the plot thickens in Ohio, you can read more of what’s going on elsewhere in the Eastern Conference tonight:
- As recently as Tuesday, Schmitt Boyer writes that Irving came to Brown’s defense when reporters asked if Cavs players were starting to tune out their head coach: “I’m leaving my trust with coach Brown…I’m riding and dying with coach Brown. We’re going through ups and downs together. We’re all in this together, everybody in the locker room. We’re all going through this together. I have my teammates backs and I know they have mine.”
- Howard Beck and Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report discuss Rajon Rondo‘s future and tackle the topic of whether the Celtics should trade or build around the four-time All-Star.
- Marc Narducci and Keith Pompey of the Inquirer talk about Michael Carter-Williams‘ historic rookie season and the mood of the 76ers locker room as the team has gone 3-10 over their last thirteen games. More from Pompey about the roster: “A lot of these (guys) are marginal NBA players and they came here for the opportunity to (showcase themselves) for next year…they know it’s not about wins and losses at the end of the day, it’s about attracting the eye of another GM so you can get another job somewhere else.”
- The Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett says to look for Vitor Faverani to have a two-day stint with the Red Claws on Friday and Saturday before being called up again to the Celtics on Sunday (Twitter link).
Paxson On Rose, Cap Space, Deng, Trades
Derrick Rose has long maintained that he doesn’t like to recruit other players to Chicago, and Bulls executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson doesn’t think that stance puts the team at a disadvantage, as Paxson said on ESPN Chicago 1000’s “The Waddle & Silvy Show.” Paxson said he wouldn’t have been comfortable recruiting during his playing days, either. The sharpshooter-turned-executive had plenty more to say about the state of the Bulls, as we highlight via transcriptions from ESPNChicago.com and Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:
On whether the team will try to clear room to ink a max-salary free agent this summer:
“Not necessarily, because we have other avenues. We still have some short-term contracts that can be used in deals and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. It’s tough to play that game thinking that you’re just going to unload, unload, unload and try to have as much money [as possible]. Sometimes you can have too much, I guess.”
On the team’s motivation for trading Luol Deng:
“The reason for doing the Deng deal has been obvious, we’ve stated it a number of times. It doesn’t put us in a position right now to have max cap room this summer but it does give us the opportunity to have the ability to go out and pursue some guys and look at different avenues, whether it’s through trading players or trading for players.”
On his approach at the trade deadline next month:
“It’s a process. Now if somebody comes — we’ve got three weeks now until the trade deadline and there hasn’t really been any chatter at all from teams yet, but that’s often the case when you’re three weeks away — we’ll listen. But we’re still a team that has played pretty well, and we like a lot of our pieces and we’ll see where the year goes. People know that our guys don’t quit, our coach doesn’t quit and we don’t quit, and we’re just going to keep fighting away.”
On the luxury tax and the perception of the Bulls as being cheap:
“I can tell you about what’s happened recently. We came into the season with a high payroll, in the tax for the second straight year. With Derrick’s injury and other things we made the decision to move Luol and get under the luxury tax this year to give us some flexibility for years going forward. From the business standpoint we felt it was the right thing to do and you have to think that way; it is just a reality of the business. You hear those things [about being cheap], but to feel like you have to go out and respond to everyone, you just end up chasing your tail and it’s really not worth it. I know we work for a terrific owner and an organization that is willing to spend; we just don’t want to spend foolishly, and I think 90 percent of the teams in this league think that way.”
Broussard’s Latest: Carmelo, Rondo, Love
Most of the executives to whom ESPN Insider’s Chris Broussard has spoken believe the Bulls will make a run at Carmelo Anthony this summer. Some are “completely convinced” Chicago will go after him, Broussard writes. A rival GM thinks the team’s confidence in Nikola Mirotic‘s ability will play heavily into the team’s decision regarding Anthony. A report in recent days indicated the Bulls are among the front runners for last year’s scoring champ. Broussard has plenty more in latest piece, and we’ll round it up here:
- Rajon Rondo quickly ended extension talks with the Celtics, and the discussions didn’t even get to the numbers stage, according to Broussard, who says the point guard wants to keep his options open as he seeks a payday and a winning situation. Rondo has expressed his commitment to Boston, but the Knicks, who remain interested in trading for him, view him as the perfect complement to Anthony.
- A GM tells Broussard that it’s “a 100% certainty” that Kevin Love will sign with the Lakers after next season. Most executives who’ve spoken to the ESPN.com scribe also believe the former UCLA star is headed for the purple-and-gold.
- The Lakers might be willing to overpay Eric Bledsoe to bring him aboard via restricted free agency this summer, a source tells Broussard. Suns owner Robert Sarver has indicated he’s willing to match any offer for the point guard, so it’d be a surprise if Bledsoe wound up back in L.A.
- If the Celtics, who are looking to clear cap room, can find takers for Gerald Wallace, Jeff Green and Avery Bradley, “they’re gone,” Broussard says. It’s not a surprise that GM Danny Ainge would be quick to unload Wallace, but his apparent enthusiasm for moving Green and Bradley is noteworthy.
- The Raptors had engaged in trade talk with other clubs about DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry before their run to the top of the Atlantic Division, but Toronto is no longer looking to move DeRozan, barring an substantial offer. Broussard hears the Raptors are not high enough on Lowry to offer him a sizable contract when he hits free agency this summer, but an opposing GM thinks Toronto will hang on to Lowry through the trade deadline because of fears about alienating the fan base.
- The Pacers will only trade Danny Granger if another team “blows them away” with an offer, Broussard writes.
- Broussard detects a strong sense around the league that the Pistons are eager to trade Josh Smith.
- The Sixers would be willing to take back a little bit of salary to acquire draft picks for their veterans, according to Broussard. I assume he’s referring to long-term salary commitments rather than players on expiring deals.
- The strong play of the Grizzlies has quieted chatter surrounding Zach Randolph, Broussard reports.
- The Heat are interested in Andrew Bynum, but they’re unwilling to pay him more than the minumum salary, an executive tells Broussard. Bynum is reportedly holding out for more than that.
- GMs who spoke to Broussard identified the following players as candidates to be traded before the deadline: Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson, Emeka Okafor, Kenneth Faried, Shawn Marion, Dion Waiters, Jarrett Jack, Francisco Garcia and Arron Afflalo.
Eastern Notes: Cavs, Pistons, Sixers
The Cavaliers are going through a bit of a rough patch lately. They’ve just completed a homestand during which they went 1-4. Their overall record is now 16-29, which is good for 11th in the Eastern Conference playoff standings, leaving them 2 1/2 games behind the Bobcats for the eighth seed. Cavs GM Chris Grant tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald and Morning Journal that the team’s lack of effort isn’t acceptable. This view might inspire him to make some moves prior to the trade deadline. Grant also spoke with Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and stated the team would be open to the possibility of dealing, but it would be difficult to predict the market. In regards to the recently acquired Luol Deng, Grant said, “We’re happy with Deng, so if we don’t do anything, we feel like we’ve added a quality player. If there’s an opportunity to improve the team, we’ll take advantage of it.”
Some more notes from around the East:
- Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times had a Q&A session with Emily Gruver of The Sixer Sense.com. Moore opined that the Sixers‘ Evan Turner was more likely to be traded than Thaddeus Young. He also was intrigued by the raw potential of Dewayne Dedmon, who is on his second 10-day contract, and the Sixers have until this Sunday to make a choice on keeping him for the rest of the season or letting him go.
- Knicks coach Mike Woodson was happy to hear La La Anthony’s opinion on her husband, Carmelo Anthony remaining a Knick past this season, writes Fred Kerber of The New York Post.
- There are a number of different people to blame for the Pistons rough season, writes Drew Sharp of The Detroit Free Press, including team owner, Tom Gores. Sharp opines that it was Gores’ “playoffs-or-else ultimatum” that led to the signings of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, and created the “ill-matched” roster they currently have.
Odds & Ends: Mavs, Kings, Draft, Cavs
Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says he’s confident his team is attractive to marquee free agents, the sort he confirms the club will again be chasing this summer, observes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
“The hope is … we’ll be able to [make a marquee hire] sooner than later,” Nelson said. “I think we’ve made an attempt to do that the last two summers. So much for second place. But, yes, that would be the plan and the hope at some level to be able to do that.”
Nelson also suggests the team won’t be aggressive before the trade deadline, and Sefko outlines the reasons why in a separate piece. As we wait to figure out what the Mavs do with the chance to open up roughly $30MM worth of cap space, here’s more on their rivals from around the league:
- A group opposed to a $258MM civic expenditure for a new Kings arena has sued the city of Sacramento, report Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. The legal action has been anticipated since last week, when the city rejected a petition to put the funding up for a public vote.
- The NCAA has cleared draft prospect Chris Walker to play for the University of Florida, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who adds via Twitter that the decision makes it a near-certainty that the small forward will return to school for next season. Walker, ranked as the 25th-best prospect for 2014 on the ESPN.com Insider list and No. 27 at DraftExpress, could become a lottery pick in 2015, Goodman says.
- Cavaliers GM Chris Grant expressed confidence today in coach Mike Brown and said he’s unsure if the team will make any changes to the roster in advance of the trade deadline. Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer has more from Grant’s rare chat with reporters today.
- The Cavs have assigned Sergey Karasev to the D-League, the team announced. Carrick Felix, Karasev’s usual traveling partner on trips to the Canton Charge, is out for the next six to eight weeks with a stress fracture in his left knee.
Danny Granger, C.J. Miles Drawing Interest
A pair of wing players from Central Division teams are drawing interest from clubs around the league as the trade deadline approaches, sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Pacers small forward Danny Granger and, to a lesser extent, Cavaliers swingman C.J. Miles have become targets.
Amico also suggests that the Pacers could pursue Kyle Lowry, though it’s not entirely clear if that news comes from his own sources or other media reports. There haven’t been any legitimate rumors linking Lowry to the Pacers of late, and it’s also unclear whether the Raptors are among the teams with interest in Granger.
Granger and Miles are on expiring deals, with Granger making slightly more than $14MM this season while Miles collects $2.225MM. It would be difficult for the Pacers to re-sign Granger and Lance Stephenson this summer, and that could fuel a desire on Indiana’s part to deal away the former All-Star, as I examined when I profiled Granger’s trade candidacy a couple of weeks ago. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said last month that he’s not seeking a deal for Granger, but he nonetheless left open the possibility that he would consider offers from other teams. The majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in our poll this past weekend said Indiana should trade the 30-year-old.
The rumor mill has been much quieter regarding Miles, whose contract had been fully non-guaranteed before the Cavs opted to keep him beyond the leaguewide guarantee date earlier this month. Miles is averaging 10.1 points in 20.5 minutes per game with a career-high 15.7 PER this year, and he has spent most of the season as Cleveland’s starting shooting guard. Granger is meanwhile putting up some of his lowest numbers as he recovers from nearly a season and a half lost to injury. He’s in a new role as a reserve and has put up 8.6 PPG in 22.2 MPG with a 10.4 PER this year.
Odds & Ends: Pelicans, Cavs, Bennett, Wade
Pelicans owner Tom Benson bought in to the NBA at the right time, writes Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune. The Pelicans, purchased for $338MM by Benson in April 2012, are now worth $420MM. It wasn’t an attendance boost that helped fill out Benson’s wallet even further but rather the new Collective Bargaining Agreement which is more owner-friendly than the previous one. More from around the league..
- The Cavs announced that they have recalled Carrick Felix and Sergey Karasev from the D-League. Both players were recalled and re-assigned to the Canton Charge last week but are back in the fold with the varsity squad today. Felix has played in nine games for the Charge this season, averaging 11.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.7 minutes per game. Karasev has appeared in six games for the Charge and is averaging 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 28.8 minutes per game.
- Meanwhile, NBA executives are stumped as to why the Cavs won’t demote Anthony Bennett, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft picked up yet another DNP-CD tonight.
- In today’s mailbag, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wonders if Dwyane Wade might take a financial sacrifice for the Heat by opting out and re-working his deal. Instead of taking $40MM over the next two seasons, Winderman suggests a five-year, $60MM deal for the veteran.
Cavs Rumors: James, Deng, Irving, Bennett
The Cavaliers will take the court this evening against the Suns, but prior to the game, two of Cleveland’s beat writers discussed the current state of the Cavaliers. Here are a few takeaways from their discussions:
- It is unlikely LeBron James will return to Cleveland, according to Bob Finnan of The News-Herald. Finnan is hearing from many around the league who “now think Heat forward LeBron James will take a pass on returning to the Cavaliers in free agency this summer.” Finnan thinks it becomes “extremely tough” for LeBron to leave Miami if the Heat are able to win a third consecutive NBA title this season.
- Finnan also dismisses the rumors that the Cavaliers may try to sign Luol Deng and James this offseason. According to him, there isn’t a way for the Cavaliers to do that without “dump[ing] some major contracts this summer.” It is Finnan’s opinion that Cleveland’s best odds of resigning Deng are through an extension this season, but he believes Deng does not seem interested in that option.
- Kyrie Irving will likely have the chance to sign a max extension this summer with the Cavaliers, but Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal wonders if he has earned that contract. Lloyd examines Irving’s value similar to how Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune evaluated Kevin Love last night and points out the Cavaliers are 80-193 since Irving’s arrival. Lloyd places partial blame on Cleveland’s failure to provide Irving much help of late but reiterates the All-Star has to take some of the blame if “he is truly the leader.” Lloyd urges the Cavaliers to begin holding Irving accountable instead of “anoint[ing] him the Big Man on Campus immediately upon [his arrival].” This summer’s negotiations between the Cavs and Irving will be a strong indicator as to what level of accountability the organization will place on the 21-year-old.
- It seems the Cavaliers are not alone in their surprise as to how Anthony Bennett‘s season has transpired. In a separate piece, Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal has heard from teams around the league that they had Bennett as a top 10 draft choice and “no one has [told Lloyd] they saw this coming.” Lloyd also adds that for the current time Bennett is “not going [to the D-League], period.”
Cavaliers Rumors: Waiters, Trade Deadline, Zeller
The Cavaliers bested the Bucks last night in a 15 point home victory. Sure, Milwaukee has the worst record in the NBA, but Cleveland will take any wins they can get. The Cavs sit 11 games below .500 and are set to face a tough Suns team on Sunday. Here’s the latest on the Cavs:
- Dion Waiters was the subject of several early season trade rumors after a report surfaced alleging that Waiters had a contentious relationship with Kyrie Irving. Months have passed, and Waiters remains a member of the Cavs. Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer hears that despite earlier reports, Waiters isn’t a locker room disturbance, and he probably won’t be shipped off unless Cleveland receives an “amazing” offer for him.
- In the same piece, Schmitt Boyer speculates that the Cavaliers are likely to be buyers at the upcoming trade deadline since they haven’t given up on their playoff hopes yet. The team is 4-4 in games that recent acquisition Luol Deng has played in, and they sit just two games out of a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference.
- Tyler Zeller has been a valuable piece off the bench for Cleveland, and his teammates have started to take notice. Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer passes along this quote from Irving: “[Zeller’s] been playing out of his mind… It’s not just about points or anything like that. He’s been doing everything we need him to do and everything we ask of him – and some.” Since Andrew Bynum was traded, Zeller is averaging five more minutes per night. The Cavaliers exercised their 2014/15 team option for Zeller in October.