Rockets Assign Montrezl Harrell To D-League
- The Rockets have assigned rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell to the D-League, the team announced. This will be Harrell’s fifth jaunt to Rio Grande Valley on the season.
Dwight Howard, Rockets At Philosophical Odds?
The Rockets have one of the most analytically minded front offices, which has guided them to a perimeter-oriented approach, but Dwight Howard insists the inside-out game isn’t dead, as he tells Sam Amick of USA Today. “I feel like that’s a very successful way of playing. I know [the Rockets] have their opinions or whatever,” Howard said. “[But] for the rest of the season, I’m going to make it an effort just to do what they need me to do offensively and defensively, and not focus on what happened back in Orlando [and] what happened in L.A. [with the Lakers] and just put my mind to finishing this season on a real high note.”
Howard, who plans to opt out and become a free agent this summer, is unlikely to remain with the Rockets unless he doesn’t find a max offer or a promise of an increased role in the offense from another team, Amick believes, though Howard is cognizant of his reputation as someone who walks out on franchises and insisted to Amick that he’s worked to become a part of every NBA community he’s been in.
Motiejunas: Enough Meetings
- The Rockets held another players-only meeting after Wednesday’s lopsided loss to the Clippers, writes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. “This is fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, I don’t know which meeting it is,” said power forward Donatas Motiejunas. “I think talking shouldn’t be the one thing that we do. We shouldn’t talk anymore; we should look at ourselves and try to change some things.” Houston tried to shake things up last month by trading Motiejunas to Detroit, but the Pistons canceled the deal due to concerns about his back.
Knicks Rumors: Anthony, Rambis, Porzingis
Carmelo Anthony understands he can force his way out of New York if he desires, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. In a wide-ranging interview about his career and the state of the Knicks, Anthony acknowledged that he refused to waive his no-trade clause amid rumors of possible deals before last month’s deadline. “I guess I have all the power,” he said. “If I really wanted to get out of this situation I could have waived that no-trade clause. But I’ve stuck with it and I’m still sticking with it.”
How much longer he’ll stick with it is anyone’s guess. The Knicks are looking at another summer of upheaval, with a major decision surrounding the fate of interim head coach Kurt Rambis and possibly a limited return of Phil Jackson to the bench. Whatever happens, Anthony made it clear that his patience with New York management is wearing thin. He’s tired of missing the playoffs, which the Knicks are doing for the third straight season, and he expects the franchise to add at least one big-name free agent this summer. “Now it’s time to start competing for a championship, not just competing for the playoffs,” Anthony said. “Those days for me are over with.”
There’s more news out of New York:
- The time has come for Anthony and the Knicks to part ways, argues Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Anthony expects to be surrounded by veteran stars, and pursuing them isn’t the best strategy for New York right now, Ziller writes. Instead, he says the team should focus on rebuilding around rookie Kristaps Porzingis. The columnist suggests the Lakers, Rockets, Mavericks, Celtics and Wizards as possible destinations for Anthony.
- Anthony offered more fuel for the argument that he’s thinking of moving on, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. “It’s hard to answer those type of questions when you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Anthony said today. “We still have a month left to the season. To be thinking, ‘Am I going to be on this team next [season]?’ That’s for you to speculate. I don’t know what’s going to happen this summer. I can’t predict that.”
- Rambis would prefer that Porzingis skip the Olympics this summer, writes Barbara Barker of Newsday. “I understand players’ commitments to their country and their desire to play for their country,” Rambis said. “But from a selfish standpoint, looking at it purely from a Knicks standpoint, yeah, we’d want him here working with us the whole time.”
Dwight Howard On Choice Of New Agent
Rockets center Dwight Howard isn’t concerned about the perception that he’s following in the footsteps of Shaquille O’Neal once again with his selection of Perry Rogers as his new agent, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “[O’Neal] reached out to me [weeks ago] and felt like this could be something that could really help me in my future,” Howard said. “We talked, more so about basketball. And then we started talking about agents and all that stuff. He said, ‘Hey, I’ve got somebody who really helped change my life and really sculptured the Shaq that you see today.’ He introduced me to Perry. Perry came down to Houston. We had a really good conversation. It was a decision I made on my own. That’s why I liked it, because I decided to make it. There wasn’t anybody who was around, anybody who could say, ‘Yo, what do you think?’ I went with what I felt was right [for] me.”
As for any potential criticism he may receive regarding the agent switch, Howard told Amick, “People are always going to have something to say about anything that we do, but I did it because this guy has no other clients, so he can focus on me solely,” Howard said of Rogers. “That’s one thing that I think is very important. When you can simplify a lot of things and focus on a couple areas of your life, it just makes everything in your life easier. I just felt like it was a great situation. At the end of the day, I can decide whether I’m going to stay long-term, or whatever it may be, with him, but for right now I think this is somebody who can really help me grow on the business side and on the court.” The Rockets center is expected to turn down a player option of more than $23.282MM and test the free agent market this summer.
Dwight Howard To Choose Rogers As New Agent
Dwight Howard will select Perry Rogers as his new agent, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The move will become official when Rogers files paperwork with the National Basketball Players Association, which could happen as early as Friday.
Howard will be the first active NBA player to become a client of Rogers, who gained fame as the representative for tennis star Andre Agassi. He also represents basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, who has carried on a long-running public feud with Howard. Rogers was able to lure Howard by selling him on the marketing possibilities of the “Superman” image that Howard has carried since the early days of his career in Orlando, Charania reports.
Howard parted ways with agent Dan Fegan last month, offering little public explanation other than, “I just made a decision based on what I feel I needed to change.” The Rockets center is expected to turn down a player option of more than $23.282MM and test the free agent market this summer. Fegan was reportedly working with the Rockets last month to find a team willing to trade for Howard, but no deals materialized. Howard fired Fegan about a week after the trade deadline passed.
Southwest Notes: Lee, Pachulia, McDaniels, West
David Lee was excited about pairing up with Dirk Nowitzki even before he formally joined the Mavericks, according to Adi Joseph of The Sporting News. Dallas was Lee’s first choice after he agreed to a buyout with the Celtics, and he signed almost immediately after clearing waivers. Lee has provided a potent scoring punch off the bench, as the Mavericks’ points per 100 possessions are 4.1 higher with him on the court during his time with Dallas. “I saw the possibilities on paper, thought it’d be a great fit on both sides,” Lee said about deciding to join the Mavericks. “But you know, you’ve just got to make it [happen]. It’s still, until you go out there and play, you never know how you’re going to feel with the guys and how things are going to work. But I think it’s been a tremendous fit here, and I’m just excited — excited to be here and excited to give it everything I have for them this year.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Center Zaza Pachulia, who has played well since being acquired in a summer trade with the Bucks, is trying to be a professional about his recent demotion from the Mavericks‘ starting lineup, writes Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Pachulia had started the season’s first 61 games before coach Rick Carlisle adjusted the lineup Monday to try to stop a losing streak. “As a soldier, as a player, of course I had no problem with it, because we were losing and nobody was happy with the losing streak, including me,” Pachulia said. “… It’s not like I haven’t been in this situation. Yes, I have in previous years, but this year was going so different. I just wasn’t expecting that, but you have to be respectful and represent the right way, and that’s what I’m doing. I care about this team more than my personal stuff.” Pachulia is making $5.2MM this season in the final year of his contract.
- Rockets swingman K.J. McDaniels has new representation, tweets Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal. He signed with ASM Sports and his new agents will be Andy Miller and Christian Dawkins.
- David West is happy to be with the Spurs, even though he gave up about $11MM from the Pacers to sign in San Antonio, writes Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. “Every moment, every play means something,” West said. “That’s what I wanted. Every game, every possession means the world to us.”
And-Ones: Horford, Howard, LeVert, Simmons
Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey is unsurprisingly a major fan of soon-to-be free agent big man Al Horford, as Jason Quick of CSNNW.com tweets. Horford will reportedly prioritize the fifth year that the Hawks, and no one else, can offer him in a new contract this summer, but he hasn’t made any commitments despite his fondness for Atlanta, and he reportedly has a degree of interest in the Magic. Portland wouldn’t offer the geographical advantage of no state income tax and proximity to his college home of the University of Florida that the Magic could, but the Blazers have an intriguing backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum to showcase to Horford and other free agents this summer, when the team will have only about $47MM in guaranteed salary on the books against a salary cap expected to be twice that amount. See more from around the league:
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey was mum when ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan asked him whether he planned to re-sign Dwight Howard this summer, as Matt Dollinger of SI.com notes in a roundup of last week’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Agent David Falk regards Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf as the toughest negotiator he’s ever gone against, Dollinger notes in the same piece.
- Positional versatility and a strong overall package make Michigan swingman Caris LeVert an intriguing prospect, but he looks ill-suited to become a go-to guy, and his history of injuries is a concern, write Josh Riddell and Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News sides with LSU combo forward Ben Simmons in the debate over whether Simmons or Duke small forward Brandon Ingram is the top prospect in this year’s draft, listing Simmons atop his first mock draft. Ingram follows, with European power forward Dragan Bender at No. 3.
Kings Rumors: Cousins, Karl, Divac
Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is the latest in a series of stars who have clashed with George Karl during his long coaching career, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee examines. Sacramento GM Vlade Divac suspended Cousins for Friday’s game after his latest verbal tirade directed at Karl. It’s the most recent step in their tumultuous 13-month relationship that started when the Kings hired Karl in February of last year. “I’m the authoritative figure, and when you lose games, frustration evolves in many different ways, and sometimes it crosses the line,” Karl said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had many [difficult relationships] in my career, and fortunately some of them turned out to be very, very good.” He identified Gary Payton, Kenyon Martin and World B. Free as past stars whom he clashed with but now considers friends. Cousins is signed through the end of the 2017/18 season, which is also when Karl’s contract expires, but the coach was nearly fired before the All-Star break and is widely believed to be on the way out once the season ends.
There’s more news out of Sacramento:
- Karl played down the seriousness of a procedure he had on his neck Thursday to treat skin cancer, Jones writes in the same piece. Karl described the event as not “dangerous,” and he coached the next night.
- Cousins’ blowup this week bolsters the argument that Divac should ship him out of Sacremento, contends Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. Furillo says Cousins has long displayed disrespect for the game as well as coaches, officials and other players. He picked up his league-leading 15th technical foul on Wednesday, then had to be restrained from attacking an assistant coach in the middle of a verbal tirade during a timeout. Furillo argues that the Kings need to trade Cousins, even if they can’t get equal value in return, before they move into their new arena next season.
- A dissenting view comes from Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, who says Sacramento’s front office shouldn’t be so desperate to trade Cousins that it accepts a bad deal. Voisin expects Cousins to be sent somewhere this summer, maybe by draft day, and speculates about the Rockets, Mavericks, Celtics, Lakers and Clippers as possible trading partners.
And-Ones: Ulis, Dawson, Lawson, Budinger
University of Kentucky coach John Calipari this week erased nearly any doubt that sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis will enter this year’s draft, telling reporters he’ll be drafted this year, as Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal relays. The 20-year-old, who today won the SEC Tournament MVP award, hasn’t made a formal announcement, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him among those “officially” in the draft, for what it’s worth. Ford ranks Ulis as the 25th-best draft prospect this year, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 37th on his top prospects list. See more from around the NBA:
- Clippers rookie Branden Dawson is in custody on $50K bail after police arrested him this morning on felony domestic violence charges, reports TMZ Sports. Dan Woike of the Orange County Register confirmed the arrest (Twitter links). The team recalled Dawson, last year’s 56th pick, from the D-League on Saturday.
- The contract Ty Lawson signed with the Pacers was a prorated minimum-salary deal that covers just the rest of this season, meaning he’s still on track to hit free agency this summer, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. He’ll see $265,068 from Indiana, meaning he came out slightly ahead after giving up $225K in his buyout with the Rockets.
- Pincus also lists the Pacers with a $5MM cap hit for the waived contract of Chase Budinger, indicating that he didn’t give up any of his salary to secure his release. Previous reports referred to the parting of ways as a buyout.