Odds & Ends: LeBron/Melo, J.R. Smith, Deng
Both Al Iannazzone of Newsday and Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News passed along some of LeBron James‘ comments on Carmelo Anthony with regards to free agency:
“You got to do whatever makes you happy…When you’re happy, the game of basketball is going to be fun for you. Strive to be great every day and live with whatever else happens. So we’ll see.”
Asked further if he’d recommend Anthony leave some money on the table when he signs his next contract, LeBron had this to say:
“I recommend it to me…It doesn’t work for everybody. The way I live my life don’t work for everybody. All I care about is winning. I came to Miami to win. Money didn’t make me happy. Winning made me happy, and it still does. That’s what matters to me.”
We’ve got more links to pass along out of the Association tonight, and you can find them below:
- Not surprisingly, George Karl deplored J.R. Smith‘s recent behavior, telling Michael Kay on 98.7 ESPN radio in New York that his former player is going to wake up one day and realize how much he’s wasted great opportunities because of this “mockery he brings to the game.” In spite of that, Karl added that Smith still has a “skill that championship teams need” and suggested that a team like the Heat or Spurs may be able to corral the erratic shooting guard: “There’s that possibility…I think right now that’s the position if I was J.R.’s agent [I would take]. I would be looking at a culture where there would be more peer pressure…I know San Antonio has always liked (J.R.) and I know they’ve thought about bringing him in…San Antonio doesn’t make a lot of mistakes” (Ian Begley of ESPN New York).
- Although Luol Deng‘s agent Herb Rudoy didn’t expand upon how far apart the numbers were with the Bulls regarding contract extension discussions, he mentioned Andre Iguodala‘s contract with the Warriors (four years, $48MM) as one that would be commensurate with Deng’s ability, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago.
- When asked about a potential return to Chicago for his client in the near future, Rudoy responded: “Never discussed…I have no idea. We didn’t talk about it.”
- Tom Haberstroh of ESPN explores the topic of whether or not Andrew Bynum would be a good fit with the Heat (Insiders only).
- Ian Begley and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York, Robert Silverman of Knickerblogger, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of TrueHoop, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN have a roundtable discussion on the Knicks and Nets‘ chances of making the playoffs, winning the Atlantic Division, getting to the second round of the playoffs, and which has the brighter future.
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune goes in-depth about how the Deng trade presents an enormous opportunity for Bulls rookie Tony Snell (Subscribers only).
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Brooks, Nets
ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell is joined by fellow ESPN writers Scoop Jackson and Doug Padilla to weigh in on a few questions surrounding the Bulls, particularly the likelihood of using the amnesty clause on Carlos Boozer, who won the Andrew Bynum–Luol Deng swap, and what the team’s next move should be.
Here are a few more miscellaneous links to share out of the Eastern Conference this evening:
- The Celtics have recalled guard MarShon Brooks from the NBDL today, the team announced via press release. Brooks had been lighting up the D-League as of late, averaging 27.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, while shooting 37.5% from long range through five games with the Maine Red Claws.
- While four games appears to be a small sample size, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes about how Jason Kidd may have found the right formula to win with the Nets by opting to utilize smaller lineups. With that being said, Brooklyn is currently riding a four-game winning streak.
- Jared Sullinger has been a starter for the majority of the 2013/14 season, though he began Wednesday night’s game against the Clippers as a reserve because of Kris Humphries‘ standout performance recently. Sullinger doesn’t have an issue with his role change, telling Mark Murphy of BostonHerald.com: “That’s absolutely fine with me…(head coach Brad Stevens) said there may be times when they change things with me coming off the bench.”
- Knicks head coach Mike Woodson wants to move past the topic of J.R. Smith‘s disciplinary issues, telling the media before tonight’s game against the Heat: “I’m not addressing anything else with JR. Just not gonna do it” (Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv via Twitter). During a local radio interview with ESPN yesterday, Woodson was critical of Smith’s recent on-court antics, which earned the nine-year-veteran a $50K fine from the league for “recurring instances of unsportsmanlike conduct” (Ian Begley of ESPN New York).
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports takes an in-depth look at the Cavaliers’ newest All-Star acquisition, Luol Deng.
Odds & Ends: Draft, Lowry, Brown, Rodriguez
ESPN.com’s Chad Ford spoke to multiple sources from the NBA’s current lottery teams to attempt to determine which player those clubs would select first overall in the 2014 draft, if given the opportunity. Detailing the results in an Insider-only piece, Ford reveals that the majority of the 13 clubs (Denver currently has two lottery picks) would likely take Jabari Parker. The Nuggets, Sixers, and Magic would probably lean toward Andrew Wiggins, while the Cavs and Lakers may prefer Joel Embiid, in Ford’s view.
Here’s more from around the NBA on a Thursday afternoon:
- Kyle Lowry certainly doesn’t look like the trade candidate he did a month ago, with Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star suggesting that Raptors management has confidence that the point guard will be willing to re-sign in Toronto this summer. Toronto may reconsider its options if it starts losing, but a Raps source tells Kelly that the club isn’t expecting to backslide.
- The 76ers re-assigned Lorenzo Brown to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Brown was recalled from the Delaware 87ers on Monday and saw some playing time in Philadelphia’s last two games, recording seven points and seven rebounds in 27 total minutes of action. Sixers coach Brett Brown expects the 23-year-old to be brought back to the NBA tomorrow after playing with the 87ers today, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Spanish team Real Madrid announced today that the club has extended the contract of Sergio Rodriguez through 2018 (Twitter link). Rodriguez was selected 27th overall in 2006, but returned to Spain when his rookie contract expired, and it appears he’ll remain there for the foreseeable future.
- Jazz guard Diante Garrett was nervous about Tuesday’s contract guarantee date, but tried not to think about it and ultimately survived the cut, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News details.
Deng’s Agent On Bulls’ Offer, Cavs Negotiations
Luol Deng‘s agent, Herb Rudoy, believes the Bulls purposely low-balled his client with their take-it-or-leave-it extension offer. Rudoy tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bulls likely knew Deng would turn down the offer, which gave the team a motive to trade him.
“I think the purpose of it was for us to say no,” Rudoy said of the offer. “They probably had some deal in the process already. That was the purpose — to make an offer that we absolutely would turn down without question, and then get into their trade process. Again, that’s fine.”
Deng told the Chicago Tribune yesterday that he was upset about a report suggesting he had been seeking $15MM annually from the Bulls, since his asking price wasn’t that high. Rudoy backed up those comments, admitting that he likely would’ve been seeking “a lot of money” for the free-agent-to-be, but telling Cowley that he never got the opportunity to get into specific figures.
“We never asked for anything,” Rudoy said. “Let me make that clear. We talked with them just before the start of the season, and we were told they weren’t interested in doing an extension, which was fine with us. Then I got a call this past weekend from [Bulls GM] Gar [Forman] giving me a three-year offer, and one he said was non-negotiable. It was their final offer, take it or leave it, and Lu decided to not accept it. I was never given an opportunity to propose a dollar figure. Never once. Never had that discussion.”
GM Chris Grant and the Cavaliers have already expressed a desire to keep Deng in Cleveland on a new contract, and while Deng said he hopes there’s a long-term future for him with the Cavs, he declined to comment on the prospect of extension talks. According to Rudoy, it’s still a little too early in the process to start negotiating an extension with Deng’s new club.
“Today was the first day of the rest of his life, so that wasn’t discussed,” Rudoy said. “We met the owners, they’re terrific guys. They’re like Jerry Reinsdorf, who was very good to [Deng] all his years in Chicago. I met with them just to say hello, and at some point there will be a discussion about [an extension]. But there have been no discussions at all.”
Deng, who is earning about $14.28MM this season, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension by then. The Cavs are allowed to extend his contract by three more years if the two sides reach an agreement before July, whereas the team could sign him to a five-year deal in free agency. Rival suitors could offer Deng up to four years.
Eastern Notes: Magic, Knicks, Deng, Bulls
There haven’t been any updates on potential deals involving Andre Miller or J.R. Smith, so let’s have a look at the Eastern Conference in the meantime:
- Despite diminished frontcourt depth, the Magic won’t be signing a player to a 10-day contract in the near future, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The club waived Solomon Jones yesterday, and starting center Nikola Vucevic is suffering from a concussion, but apparently team management is confident in the club’s bench.
- It’s been a tough season for the 12-22 Knicks, but head coach Mike Woodson still believes his club could hang with the Heat if his players were healthy. Fred Kerber of the New York Post passes along this quote from Woodson: “Absolutely and I still believe that [we could hang with the Heat], if we could ever get back whole… I’m not taking anything away from the players who have been consistently in uniform for us, but it’s hard to judge our team.“
- Over at USA Today, a panel of sports writers takes a look at various issues surrounding the trade that sent Luol Deng from the Bulls to the Cavaliers. Among the issues discussed: the future of Chicago’s organization and the potential direction of Andrew Bynum‘s career after he was waived yesterday.
- Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald opines that the Derrick Rose Rule is the reason that the Bulls couldn’t retain Deng. McGraw argues that Chicago couldn’t offer Deng a big enough extension because they had so much tied up in the contract that Derrick Rose was allowed to sign as a result of his early-career success.
Cavs Hope To Keep Luol Deng Long-Term
WEDNESDAY, 3:35pm: Asked today about re-signing, Deng said that he hopes Cleveland can be a long-term destination, but declined to go into further deal, as Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer outlines.
Deng also tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that he and his reps were never seeking $15MM annually in extension talks with the Bulls, and while he’s not upset with the organization, he’s bothered by that figure leaking (Twitter links). For what it’s worth, only one report suggested Deng was seeking $15-16MM per year, while most others pegged his desired figure in the $12-13MM neighborhood, as we noted below.
TUESDAY, 3:53pm: The Cavaliers didn’t waste any time today talking about how much they want newly-acquired Luol Deng to be a part of their future. While Deng has yet to put on a Cavs uniform, GM Chris Grant has already indicated that the goal is to keep the veteran forward around “long-term,” according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Deng reportedly turned down a three-year, $30MM extension offer from the Bulls, but the Cavs are expected to revisit the topic of a contract extension with the 28-year-old. Still, negotiations won’t begin immediately, according to Grant, who says he wants Deng to get acclimated in Cleveland first (Twitter link via the Plain Dealer).
If the Cavs offer Deng an extension, they’ll only be able to tack on three years to his existing deal. While that could work for the team, Deng may prefer to hit the open market, where he could receive a five-year offer from Cleveland or four-year offers from rival suitors.
In his piece today evaluating the swap between the Cavs and Bulls, Grantland’s Zach Lowe noted that finding the right price point for Deng in free agency won’t be easy. Lowe suggests that the Cavs shouldn’t make a five-year offer, and should probably only go up to four years if that final season is at least partially non-guaranteed. With Deng’s Bird rights in hand though, Cleveland is now invested in finding a workable deal for the former Bull, who is said to be seeking at least $12-13MM annually.
Ford On Young, Cavs, Lakers, Bulls, Draft
As usual, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford devoted half of his weekly chat to NBA talk and the other half to draft chatter. He provided a handful of interesting tidbits this week on both subjects, so let’s check in on several of the highlights….
- According to Ford, the Cavaliers flirted with acquiring Thaddeus Young from the Sixers in a deal for Andrew Bynum, but Philadelphia wanted Cleveland’s own 2014 first-rounder, which was a non-starter.
- Danny Ainge keeps saying the 2014 draft class is overrated, which Ford interprets to mean that the Celtics GM actually loves it.
- The Lakers are “living in a fantasy land” when it comes to their asking price for Pau Gasol, says Ford, adding that L.A. wanted more from the Cavs for Gasol than what the Bulls got for Luol Deng.
- Ford doesn’t think the Bulls are done dealing, noting that there have been a lot of trade whispers about Kirk Hinrich, Joakim Noah, and Carlos Boozer. I imagine Chicago would be much more inclined to part with Boozer and/or Hinrich than Noah.
- NBA execs who value advanced metrics are concerned about Julius Randle‘s lack of steals this season (one in 385 minutes). While NBA teams still like Randle a lot, no GM or scout has suggested recently to Ford that his team would take the Kentucky big man first overall.
- The Magic and Kings “really like” Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart.
- “Virtually every GM in the league is in love” with Joel Embiid, who remains in the mix for the first overall pick.
- Ford hears that a Mormon mission after this season isn’t out of the question for Jabari Parker, which prompted him to ask several GMs where they’d take the Duke forward if he declared for the draft and announced he was going on a two-year mission. Surprisingly, a few still said they’d take Parker first overall, says Ford.
Central Links: Bennett, Rose, Bulls, Bucks
The Bulls won their first game since trading Luol Deng, beating the Suns 92-87 last night, but the victory, Chicago’s third straight, didn’t pull the club any closer to the division-leading Pacers, who also won their third in a row. Indiana’s 13-game lead in the Central is by far the biggest margin between any division leader and second-place team in the NBA. Let’s round up a few items from out of that Central Division:
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wonders why the Cavaliers have yet to assign No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett to the D-League to help him develop, a topic which has been discussed among executives at this week’s D-League Showcase in Reno.
- Derrick Rose and his camp don’t have a leg to stand on if they’re unhappy with the Bulls‘ decision to trade Deng, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Publicly, team management has indicated that Rose has shown no indication of being upset with the Bulls’ direction, despite whispers that the star point guard wouldn’t be on board with a rebuilding period.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel is skeptical that the Bulls will be a serious candidate to land LeBron James this summer, but acknowledges that Chicago will likely be linked to many players leading up to free agency.
- Klay Thompson tells Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) that he thought there was a 90% chance he’d end up being drafted by the Bucks back in 2011.
Possible 10-Day Contracts From The D-League
With the D-League Showcase under way in Reno, more league attention has been turned the direction of the young players outside the NBA. The Showcase alone is not the reason for the shift in focus. All of the players on NBA rosters are now guaranteed salaries for the remainder of the season, and teams are now able to sign players to 10-day contracts. Below are a few of the players that have already drawn attention around the league.
- Ike Diogu is playing well at the D-League Showcase and league sources say he could draw interest from Lakers, Clippers, Thunder and Pelicans, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter links).
- James Nunnally of the Bakersfield Jam is a D-League call-up candidate and has had meetings with the Cavs, Bulls, and Thunder at the D-League showcase in Reno, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick later tweeted the Hawks are also a team interested in Nunnally.
- James Southerland has met with at least three teams this week, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. He has played one game with the Bobcats and spent the summer with the 76ers and Warriors.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Kennedy On Gordon, Rockets, Cavs, Hawes
The Bobcats are shopping Ben Gordon, league sources tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Sulia). Charlotte has talked to many teams about the guard and is trying to move Gordon’s $13.2MM expiring deal for a player who can help the team win now. The Bobcats, sitting at No. 7 in the East, are expected to be buyers at the deadline, because they want to make the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history. More from Kennedy..
- In addition to the Bobcats, the Rockets and Suns have also been identified as buyers as the deadline approaches. Phoenix may be open to trading a draft pick or a young asset if it means making the team better today and ensuring a playoff berth.
- The Cavaliers have been termed as the most active team in the league in terms of trade talks, but they’re quieting down after landing Luol Deng and unloading Andrew Bynum. It’s still possible that they make another move before February 20th, but they want to see how their team looks with Deng before working the phones again.
- The Pistons aren’t sure whether they should be buyers or sellers at the deadline, according to league sources. They had playoff expectations entering the season after adding Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings and Chauncey Billups among others, but they have struggled early on. Within the organization, it sounds like there are some people who want to be buyers in order to ensure a playoff berth, but there are also some who don’t believe the pieces fit together very well and think Detroit should sell.
- In addition to Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes and other 76ers players are available.