- Eric Gordon said “chemistry” is a major reason why the Rockets are succeeding this season, as he tells Michael Lee of The Vertical. “Everybody gets along. Everybody is on one task. We’re all here to win. Nobody cares what anybody else says on the outside. Everybody is locked in on one goal and that’s trying to win games and win a championship.”
The new CBA will not allow for players to sign contract extensions in back-to-back offseasons, but the agreement will include a provision that will allow James Harden and Russell Westbrook to do exactly that, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reports. The new labor agreement will grandfather Harden and Westbrook into the pool of players eligible to be designated for the super-max contracts by their respective teams.
Both players signed contract extensions this past offseason, but the league and the union agreed that neither player – nor the Rockets or Thunder – should be penalized for operating within the current framework, as the teams and players were not aware that the new CBA would offer such a benefit for waiting just one more season.
Westbrook could sign a five-year, $219MM extension with the Thunder that would begin in the 2018/19 season, according to Wojnarowski. Harden could sign with the Rockets for an additional four years and $171MM on top of the $58.7MM he is set to receive over the next two seasons.
Wojnarowski hears that out of the two players, Westbrook is more likely to sign another extension this summer. Harden may prefer to wait until closer to the end of his current deal to gauge whether or not Houston is able to truly become a title contender.
Harden’s current deal includes a player option for the 2019/20, meaning he could become an unrestricted free agent during the 2019 offseason. At that time, Harden will be entering his 10th year in the league, which is another reason he needed to be grandfathered as an eligible player. The new Designated Player Veteran Exception rule covers players entering their eighth or ninth years of service, per Wojnarowski.
- Eric Gordon tells Michael Lee of The Vertical that his transition to the Rockets has been “smooth sailing.” Gordon has made the second most 3-pointers in the league this season (behind only Stephen Curry) and he credits coach Mike D’Antoni‘s system as part of the reason for his success. “It’s a little bit of everything,” Gordon said. “Style of play, and playing with a guy who can really pass the ball, and like I said, it’s a free-flowing system where everybody is able to get good shots and I’m just taking advantage and knocking down shots.”
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
3:21pm:
- After participating in the Raptors 905 game at the Air Canada Centre today, Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet were recalled to the NBA squad, the Raptors announced (via Twitter). The D-League game at the ACC set a new league record for attendance, with more than 15,000 fans in the building.
- The Kings have assigned rookies Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere to the D-League, according to a press release issued by the club. Fellow first-rounder Malachi Richardson apparently won’t be joining them on their latest NBADL assignment, as he has multiple times this season.
11:53am:
- With Clint Capela sidelined due to a fibula fracture, the Rockets have recalled 2016 second-rounder Chinanu Onuaku from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (Twitter link). Onuaku, who had been on his latest D-League assignment for nearly a month, has averaged 10.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 16 games for the Vipers this season.
- Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee have been assigned to the D-League by the Knicks, according to the team (Twitter link). The duo will join the Westchester Knicks in time for New York’s NBADL affiliate to take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders tonight.
- The Thunder have sent Josh Huestis back to the D-League, according to a press release issued today by the team. Huestis, who has been shuttled back and forth frequently between the NBA and NBADL, has appeared in nine games for the Oklahoma City Blue, but has yet to play this season for the Thunder.
With Clint Capela expected to be sidelined until late January due to a leg injury, the Rockets are probing the trade market for available bigs, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). Since the trade deadline is still more than two months away, teams may not be compelled to deal quite yet, so the most likely scenario is that Houston gives Capela’s minutes to players like Nene and Montrezl Harrell, per Wojnarowski.
While Nerlens Noel has been the most-discussed trade candidate over the last few days, there are several big men around the NBA believed to be available. Greg Monroe has long been on the block in Milwaukee, and players like Kosta Koufos, Andrew Bogut, and Kenneth Faried have been mentioned as trade candidates in recent months, though their teams aren’t necessarily looking to move them right now. As Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer details, a handful of teams around the NBA have frontcourt logjams, so there could be a few potential matches for Houston.
Free agency is also an option for the Rockets, though the team would have to open up a spot on its 15-man roster to sign someone. The most notable big man on the free agent market also seems unlikely to sign with Houston — Donatas Motiejunas is now an unrestricted free agent, after enduring a contract standoff with the Rockets that lasted several months.
While it’s worth keeping an eye on the Rockets in the coming weeks, the team would probably be more inclined to make a move if Capela’s injury was projected to keep him out for most or all of the season. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Houston is still waiting for “final medical intel” on Capela’s injury, but is expecting him to miss about four to six weeks. That timeline would put him on track to return well before the February 23 trade deadline.
- Veteran Wolves guard John Lucas III is squaring off against his father tonight for the first time in his NBA career, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Lucas III earned a roster spot in Minnesota in the preseason, while the elder Lucas serves as head of player development for the Rockets.“It’s good to see him being back doing the thing he loves to do, being around the game. He’s enjoying it. I like seeing him back out there, passing on his knowledge,” Lucas III said.
The Warriors entered the 2016/17 season as significant favorites to come out of the Western Conference and win the NBA Finals, and little has changed during the first couple months of the season. Golden State isn’t quite on a 73-win pace again this season, but the team is 23-4 and its offense is producing at a historic pace.
Although the Warriors haven’t looked invincible, they also haven’t had to endure many growing pains as they’ve incorporated prized offseason signee Kevin Durant into their rotation. It will be an extremely tall order for any Western Conference team to beat Golden State four times in a seven-game playoff series, but a handful of teams in the conference have looked good so far.
The Spurs have the West’s second-best record, at 21-5, though advanced statistics suggest that pace is probably unsustainable, as Mika Honkasalo of HoopsHype writes. The Clippers got off to a hot start and briefly looked like they belonged in the discussion with the Warriors, but a cool stretch starting in late November brought them back down to earth, and they’ve struggled against Golden State in recent years. L.A. has lost its last seven games to the Warriors, and was blown out in the only meeting between the two teams so far this season.
While San Antonio and Los Angeles were expected to be the Warriors’ top challengers coming into the season, another trio of teams has helped form a strong second tier in the conference. The Rockets, led by MVP candidates James Harden and a record-setting barrage of three-pointers, have won nine games in a row and are tied with the Clips at 20-7. The Grizzlies, who surged without their top player (Mike Conley), are right behind them, and the Jazz, who have battled injuries all year, look like they could be a dangerous club if and when they finally get healthy.
What do you think? Which of these teams should the Warriors be most worried about facing in the Western Conference portion of the postseason? Is there another team in the conference that could create problems for Golden State? Weigh in below with your vote!
Which team is the biggest threat to the Warriors?
San Antonio Spurs
38.51%
(541 votes)
Houston Rockets
25.91%
(364 votes)
Utah Jazz
16.09%
(226 votes)
Los Angeles Clippers
12.03%
(169 votes)
Memphis Grizzlies
5.48%
(77 votes)
Another Western Conference team
1.99%
(28 votes)
Total Votes: 1,405
App users, click here to place your vote.
Eric Gordon is enjoying one of the most productive seasons of his nine-year career and while he may not top some of the scoring outputs he registered with the Pelicans and Clippers now that he’s been slotted in as the sixth man of his new club, he’s playing a vital role on a Rockets team in contention for the Western Conference title.
- If there is one individual who has benefited from this week’s Donatas Motiejunas drama, it’s Bobby Brown. The veteran is eager to pick up where he left off with the Rockets prior to being waived ahead of the Motiejunas contract drama, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Prior to being cut initially, Brown had seen minimal action in just five games this year, but his depth of international experience could give head coach Mike D’Antoni roster flexibility as the season progresses.
- Speaking of Motiejunas, the big man left the Toyota Center on Saturday expecting to rejoin the Rockets but that never came to be. Speaking to Feigen, D’Antoni called the 26-year-old a “piece that could have been helpful [from a team standpoint].”
The team that made the most serious effort to sign Donatas Motiejunas this offseason is now the one team that can’t sign him in unrestricted free agency. According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (via Twitter), the Nets still won’t be permitted to sign Motiejunas, whose rights were renounced on Thursday by the Rockets, making him an unrestricted free agent.
The NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits a team that signs a restricted free agent to an offer sheet from acquiring that player for one year if the player’s original team matches the offer sheet. The Rockets initially matched the Nets’ four-year offer sheet for Motiejunas, at which point the 26-year-old failed to report to Houston within the required two-day window.
Eventually, the Rockets withdrew their first refusal notice and worked out a new arrangement with Motiejunas, but that deal was scuttled as well, following a discussion involving the team, Motiejunas’ camp, and the NBA. On Thursday, Houston renounced its free agent rights to the big man, making him an unrestricted free agent — able to sign with any team except for the Nets, who can’t acquire him until next December, per league rules. Zillgitt initially reported on Thursday that the situation could change as the NBA reviews the situation, but it sounds like the league will stick to the rule as written in the CBA.
It’s an unfortunate outcome for the Nets, the one team this year that seemed genuinely interested in adding Motiejunas. The Pistons voided a trade for D-Mo back in February after getting a closer look at the medicals on his back, and the Rockets were unable to agree to terms with the former first-rounder for months due to concerns about his long-term health. At this point, there should be no reason for the NBA or the Rockets to mind if Motiejunas lands on the Nets’ roster, but based on Zillgitt’s latest report, it sounds like the league won’t make an exception.
With the Nets apparently out of the mix, that leaves 29 other teams that could sign Motiejunas. However, most of those teams are over the cap, and the power forward had been seeking a multiyear deal worth at least $7-8MM annually, which will limit his opportunities. Still, now that he’s no longer restricted, he’ll have a few more options. For instance, if he’s unable to find a suitable NBA offer, Motiejunas could decide to play overseas for the rest of the 2016/17 season before returning to the NBA’s free agent market in 2017.
Although it doesn’t look like the CBA rules will be tweaked at all in this case to give the Nets another shot at Motiejunas, it will be interesting to see whether the new agreement between the NBA and NBPA – which is expected to be officially ratified soon – will change this aspect of the CBA at all.
The Rockets‘ Mike D’Antoni is the early favorite to be named Coach of the Year, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. D’Antoni’s up-tempo attack has turned James Harden into an MVP candidate and has made Houston a contender in the West. The Rockets are off to a 19-7 start after a disappointing 41-41 season under Kevin McHale and J.B. Bickerstaff. Stein says a close runner-up to D’Antoni is new Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, whose team is 18-9 despite an injury-filled start to the season.
- The Rockets are 13-2 since Patrick Beverley‘s return from injury and he may be in the running for Defensive Player of the Year, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Houston has improved to 17th in defensive efficiency since it got Beverley back in the lineup, and he has a shot at becoming the first guard to win the award in 20 years. “I feel like I am the best defensive player in the league right now,” Beverley said. “I hope the whole world sees it. If we win games, more and more people see it. But the last guard to get the Defensive Player of the Year award was Gary Payton. Why not me? I have the same type of killer mindset that he had, the lateral quickness and quick hands. The swagger also. That’s one of my goals, my biggest goal. If I can get a goal like that, I will put my team in a position to win a lot of games.”