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Draft Notes: Rozier, Looney, Timberwolves

May 25th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA draft is just one month from tonight. The lottery and the combine are finished, so team workouts will be the main focus from now until draft night. Now that we know where every team will pick, we debuted our mock draft this weekend, and we’re continuing with our Prospect Profile series. Here’s more on the draft as the event starts to get close:

Louisville point guard Terry Rozier has made a habit of overcoming the odds, and he didn’t disappoint in his workout with the Jazz this weekend, according to Utah vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, as Carter Williams of the Deseret News examines. The Jazz were one of 17 teams scheduled to audition Rozier, Williams writes, a group that apparently includes the Rockets and Spurs.
Kevon Looney added the Nets, Wizards, Jazz, Suns, Bulls, Cavs, Raptors, Hawks and Knicks to the list of the teams he interviewed with at the draft combine earlier this month, as the UCLA power forward revealed to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Looney is a raw prospect, but even though he feels he could have improved if he’d stayed in college, he tells Medina that he’s confident he can also develop at the NBA level.
Connecticut point guard Ryan Boatright, LSU power forward Jordan Mickey, Texas combo forward Jonathan Holmes and Louisville swingman Wayne Blackshear are among the players tentatively scheduled to work out Friday for the Timberwolves, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Van Gundy, Hoiberg, Morey

May 23rd, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The lure of Anthony Davis may be enough to get Jeff Van Gundy back into coaching, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein confirmed Friday that Van Gundy has interest in coaching the Pelicans. He is being considered among the top candidates, along with Alvin Gentry and possibly Tom Thibodeau. Van Gundy, a popular TV analyst with ESPN and ABC, last coached with the Rockets in 2006/07, but Stein writes that the chance to mentor a young superstar like Davis could be enough to bring him back him back to the sidelines.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Bringing Van Gundy on board would be the Pelicans‘ best personnel move to date, contends Jimmy Smith of NOLA.com. Smith notes that Van Gundy’s experience coaching big men like Patrick Ewing and Yao Ming would be valuable in molding Davis into an elite center. Smith also argues that Van Gundy is a big enough name to create excitement throughout the franchise and command the respect of players, along with being a progressive thinker who can adapt to the modern NBA.
Although he has been rumored to be a coaching candidate in New Orleans, the Pelicans have not made contact with Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, writes John Reid of NOLA.com. An ISU spokesman confirmed that the school has not received a request from New Orleans or any other NBA team. The 42-year-old Hoiberg has a 115-56 record at Iowa State and runs an up-tempo offense that should transfer well into the NBA, according to Reid. Hoiberg also has NBA ties — 10 years as a player and four years in the Timberwolves’ front office, where he spent one season as vice president of basketball operations and three as assistant general manager.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Warriors GM Bob Myers have taken non-traditional approaches to building the Western Conference finalists, writes Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle. Myers, the NBA’s Executive of the Year, and Morey have both put together deep rosters that fit well with the way the game is played today.

And-Ones: Mudiay, Llull, Anderson

May 23rd, 2015 at 12:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It is difficult for NBA scouts to accurately gauge how good 2015 NBA Draft prospect Emmanuel Mudiay is because of his decision to play in China this past season, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. But Mudiay thinks his experience overseas has prepared him for the rigors of the NBA just as well as attending SMU would have, Pompey adds. “I got out of it what I wanted,” said Mudiay. “It definitely was a great experience. I wanted to do it for my mom at first. But after I made the decision and made sure she was financially stable, I just wanted to go on and pursue it, a basketball mind-set. It can definitely help me out in the NBA.“

Here’s more from around the league:

Rockets draft-and-stash prospect Sergio Llull has been rumored to be in line to receive a three-year deal worth a total of at least $17MM to join the NBA next season, though Houston GM Daryl Morey denied that was the case. For his part, Llull isn’t too concerned about whether or not he plays in the U.S. in 2015/16. In an interview with Gigantes.com (translation by Enea Trapani of Sportando), Llull said, “The NBA is there, but I’ll sleep well in any case. I want to win titles and I’m in the best place to do that.” Llull currently plays for Real Madrid in the Euroleague.
Virginia forward Justin Anderson can be looked at as “Tony Allen with a jump shot,” and the swingman is firmly on the Celtics‘ radar heading into the 2015 NBA Draft, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. Anderson enjoyed his sit down with Boston coach Brad Stevens at the draft combine, Blakely adds. “What stuck out to me most, is him [Stevens] and his relationship with his guys,” Anderson said. “Just coming out of college, playing for him would be similar to playing for coach [Tony] Bennett.”
Pistons TV analyst and former NBA player Grant Long wants to become an NBA coach, and he is making the rounds this offseason hoping to land an assistant position to realize that dream, Terry Foster of The Detroit News writes. “What’s odd is when I was playing I heard all the time from coaches what a wonderful coach you would make,” Long said. “And when I finished playing I got nothing. Sometimes it’s just lip service until you get in. I know I am not ready to be a head coach, but I feel in time I will. That is why I want to be an assistant first. I know the game. I can convey it to players to make them better. I can motivate people and can relate to younger players.“

James, Curry, Harden Lead All-NBA Teams

May 21st, 2015 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James and Stephen Curry finished atop the voting for the All-NBA Teams, with James Harden, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol joining them on the first team, the league announced via press release. Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Paul, Pau Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins comprise the second team. Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Tim Duncan, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving make up the third team.

Curry, the league’s MVP, and James each received 645 points through a system in which five points are awarded a first team vote, three points go for a second team vote and one point is given for a third team vote. The duo garnered 129 first team votes each, making them unanimous first team selections. They were followed closely by Harden, with 125 first team votes and 637 points, and Davis, who had 119 first team votes and 625 points. Marc Gasol, who’s heading into free agency, wasn’t as widely seen as a first-teamer by the media members who cast their ballots, rounding out the squad with 65 first-team votes and 453.

Every member of the second team received at least one first team vote, and Thompson and Irving were the only members of the third team not to get a first team vote. Al Horford also received a first team vote even though he didn’t make any of the teams. The NBA will soon display the votes of each media member on its website, but the league has already distributed the information via press release, so click here to check it out in PDF form.

Western Notes: Rockets, Clippers, Game 7

May 17th, 2015 at 10:28am CST by ChrisCrouse

Glen Davis, who will become a free agent at season’s end, attempts to impart his wisdom from earlier in his career to the Clippers, Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram writes.

“We have our leaders on this team and so me, I just try to pick and choose when I feel like the moment’s right to lead from my experiences, so I just go out there and do what I can with my actions and try to help my team as much as possible,” Davis said. The LSU product also talked about the difficulty of closing out a playoff series. “The focus level has to go to a whole other level,” he said. “You know, attention to detail, energy. It’s a whole bunch of stuff that goes in a bag in order to finish a game.”

The Clippers will take on the Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals later today. Here’s some notes from both teams:

Spencer Hawes has only played in six of the Clippers‘ 13 postseason games because he had a poor regular season rather than an injury, writes Morales in the same piece. Coach Doc Rivers still has faith that the big man can become a contributor. “He’s starting to play better. Spencer Hawes can play. Like I’ve said it all year, whether this year or the playoffs are going well for him or not, I still know he can play and I still believe he’ll be a better player for us this year, next year. I’ve never doubted that.,” Rivers said. Hawes signed a four-year deal worth nearly $22.7MM with Los Angeles last offseason.
The Rockets need James Harden to dominate if they are to win today’s game, Calvin Walkins of ESPN.com opines. The shooting guard understands that he must put his teammates in a position to succeed. “That’s what it’s about: It’s about being unselfish, and you’re not going to get credit for every play,” Harden said. “So that’s what you have teammates for, and those guys showed a great case of that, especially in the fourth quarter. At this point, it’s about winning and doing the small things to get your team to victory.”
Jason Terry hopes his Game 7 experience will rub off on his teammates, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. “My biggest advantage is I’ve been in two Game 7s and I’m undefeated,” Terry said. “I’m very confident going in. I understand what it takes to come out with a victory, how I have to approach it and hopefully my teammates will feed off of that.” Terry will become a free agent this offseason.

Rockets Notes: Terry, Depth, Bosh

May 13th, 2015 at 8:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

With the Rockets only one game from playoff elimination, 16-year veteran Jason Terry is aware he doesn’t have many championship opportunities remaining in his career, Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle writes.

“I don’t want it to end, obviously not knowing how many more opportunities I’ll get at going deep in the playoffs and making a run at a championship,” Terry said. “I’m going to leave everything I have out there on the floor. And I’m going to do it again, because I’ve still got plenty left.”

Terry will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. Here’s more from his current team in Houston:

Fran Blinebury of NBA.com doesn’t believe Houston can win a title with the roster that is currently constructed. Blinebury cites James Harden‘s lack of supporting cast outside Dwight Howard, who has been inconsistent himself, as reason for the pessimism. The Rockets have roughly $54.4MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 season, as our Salary Commitment page shows. That figure doesn’t account for the cap holds of Josh Smith and Patrick Beverley. Re-signing one or both of these players will likely eat away at any available cap space, so if GM Daryl Morey is going to make significant upgrades, he is going to have to be crafty. Morey leads one of the most active front offices in the league, so a lack of available cap space shouldn’t preclude the team from making a substantial acquisition.
Chris Bosh was nearly a member of the Rockets and Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report wonders what could have been had the team landed the All-Star forward. Ding also notes that while having Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik on the team would help Houston during this playoff run, dealing them away in order to secure the salary cap space to sign Bosh was worth the risk.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons

May 12th, 2015 at 11:05am CST by Chuck Myron

The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:

People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.

Rockets Hope To Sign Marko Todorovic

May 11th, 2015 at 10:21am CST by Zachary Links

The Rockets are pushing to sign big man Marko Todorovic this summer, according to the player who spoke with Catalan newspaper L’Esportiu (translation via Aris Barkas of EuroHoops.net). Todorovic, whose draft rights are owned by Houston, is in the midst of a strong season for Bilbao Basket of the Spanish ACB League while on loan from Barcelona.

“The Rockets want me and in the summer I will [make] my decision. I believed that my style of play doesn’t fit the NBA, but the interest of the Rockets made [me] change my mind,” Todorovic said.

Barkas also hears from sources that Houston intends to make an offer to the 6’11” forward/center. Todorovic was originally drafted by the Blazers with the No. 45 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Just a couple of weeks later, he was sent to the Rockets in a deal that brought Thomas Robinson to Portland while giving Houston enough cap space to sign Dwight Howard.

Barkas also hears that the buyout on Todorovic’s deal is fairly close to the maximum allowed by the NBA’s CBA before it would count against the salary cap. That figure is $625K for 2015/16 but, if necessary, a team could exceed that amount by using cap room or an exception.

Todorovic is currently averaging a career high 11.5 PPG with 4.4 RPG in 27.3 minutes per contest. In March, Todorovic was named the ACB league’s player of the month (Spanish link).

Western Notes: Kings, Harden, Griffin

May 10th, 2015 at 8:33pm CST by Will Joseph

Two years into his majority ownership of the Kings, Vivek Ranadive admits he has made several mistakes — including hiring former coach Michael Malone before assembling a front office and selecting a general manager in 2013 — but said he expects success in the future for the franchise, and also clarified Vlade Divac‘s role in the front office in an interview with Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

“Vlade makes the decisions,” said Ranadive, adding that Divac’s title as vice president of basketball and franchise operations positions him above GM Pete D’Alessandro. “Two people report directly to me. Chris Granger, who runs the business side, and Vlade from the basketball side. I want to make that clear as we move forward. We have a lot of work to do, and we are all in this together.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

In the same piece, Divac tells Voisin that he doesn’t expect the Kings to be a lottery team next season. “[It’s the] last time [in the lottery],” said Divac, who will represent the Kings at the proceedings on May 19th. “We’re going to move fast, and like Vivek said, we are all in this together. Me, coach, Pete, Mike [Bratz]. No separate agendas. Our only agenda now is to win.”
James Harden is averaging 27.4 points per game this postseason, but the skilled scorer also leads the NBA in postseason turnovers, at 40, and produced plus/minus in the negative and the Rockets need him to elevate his game in the team’s series against the Clippers, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes.
Rockets coach Kevin McHale was complimentary of the Clippers‘ Blake Griffin and the star’s improvement this postseason, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. As Feigen points out, Griffin’s averages of 25.1 points per game, 13.5 rebounds per game and 7.3 assists per game through his first 10 playoff games are all playoff career bests. “You either improve or you stay the same. If you stay the same, they draft other people at your position and you go get a job being an Uber driver or something,” McHale said. “He improved. That’s what you got to do. If you’re not better in your third or fourth year than you were in your first year, there’s something wrong with you.”

Southwest Notes: Rockets, Bertans, Pelicans

May 10th, 2015 at 1:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets‘ defense, which was bolstered by the midseason acquisitions of Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, has floundered in the playoffs, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. During the regular season, Houston ranked sixth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions at 100.5. But against the Clippers, that number has ballooned to 110.6, the highest of the eight teams in the second round of the playoffs. “We have to get back in transition,” Brewer said after Friday’s loss in Game 3. “They just ran it down our throats all night.” Both Brewer and Smith will be free agents this summer.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Davis Bertans, a Latvian player whose rights are owned by the Spurs, is rehabbing from a knee injury in San Antonio, tweets David Pick of Basketball Insiders. A source said Bertans’ progress is “inspiring.” He suffered an ACL tear in his right knee during a March game.
LaMarcus Aldridge would be the perfect addition to keep the Spurs‘ dynasty alive, contends Dave Leonardis of Bleacher Report. He estimates San Antonio would have to offer about $81MM over four years to lure the Texas native away from Portland.
The midseason additions of Dante Cunningham and Quincy Pondexter were vital to the Pelicans‘ playoff push, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Cunningham was signed as a free agent in December; Pondexter came from Memphis in a three-team deal in January. Reid notes that they gave New Orleans the flexibility to survive when a stress reaction injury knocked Jrue Holiday out for more than half the season.