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Latest On Tyus Jones, Draft

April 10th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones is “proceeding toward plans” to declare for this year’s draft and is setting up meetings with agents, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Jones is No. 21 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and No. 24 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. The Minnesota native, who turns 19 next month, told Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune on Wednesday that he hadn’t made up his mind about leaving school, fresh off his Most Outstanding Player award-winning performance in the Final Four. NBA personnel recently told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that Jones’ stock doesn’t stand to climb much higher than it already is, making the case that he should declare this year.

The 6’1″ Jones has averaged 11.8 points in 33.9 minutes per game this season, but he’s been most impressive with his skills as a pure point guard, juxtaposing 5.6 assists against 1.9 turnovers per contest. He’s also displayed a decent outside touch, hitting 37.9% of his three-pointers for the season, though he could stand to work on his perimeter shooting, as Eddie Scarito wrote as he ranked him 20th in the latest Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Power Rankings.

The Pistons, Pelicans, Sixers, Magic and Rockets have paid particularly close attention to Jones, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has reported. Jones breaks the mold of recent highly regarded NBA prospects from Duke, almost of whom have played other positions. Fellow point guard Kyrie Irving came from Duke, but he saw action in only 11 games in his lone season as a Blue Devil.

Draft Notes: Kentucky, Poeltl, Jones

April 9th, 2015 at 10:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kentucky University will attempt to set a new record this year by having seven players drafted by NBA teams this June. Kevin Pelton, Fran Fraschilla, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) released their scouting reports on Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Trey Lyles, all of whom announced that they will be leaving Kentucky. Also declaring for the draft today for the Wildcats were Dakari Johnson, Aaron Harrison, and Andrew Harrison.

Here’s more from the college ranks:

Utah freshman center Jakob Poeltl is still undecided about entering the 2015 NBA draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Poeltl is the No. 11 overall prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Ford (Insider subscription required) places the big man at No. 14.
Auburn senior guard Antoine Mason, son of former NBA player Anthony Mason, has signed a deal with agent Keith Glass, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Mason is a longshot to be selected in June and doesn’t appear amongst the top 100 prospects in either Givony’s or Ford’s rankings.
Tyus Jones, Duke’s freshman point guard, hasn’t made up his mind regarding entering this year’s NBA draft, Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune writes. “I don’t have a timeline,” Jones told Scoggins. “I’m just going to take it slowly and weigh both options. Ultimately just make the right and smart decision. I don’t have a timeline. I’ll sit down with my family, sit down with my coaches and talk about everything and get as much information as possible.” Jones is ranked No. 21 by Givony and No. 24 by Ford.
The Rockets are one of the teams that are looking at selecting Jones if he were to enter the draft, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets. Houston owns the Pelicans‘ first-rounder this year, which is likely to fall in the No. 14-18 range, Wolfson adds, which is where the team could target Jones.

Western Notes: Howard, Anderson, Parsons

April 8th, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Dwight Howard says that his desire is for an extended career similar to that of Tim Duncan‘s, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. The Rockets‘ big man told Creech, “That’s always been my goal- to play 20 years in the league so I think it can be done. It would be great. Tim [Duncan] is still playing great basketball. He has migrated to different spots on the floor instead of just the post. When you play that long, you get an opportunity to do a lot of different things. God willing, I will play this game as long as I can. It brings a lot of joy to myself and to other people around me. Hopefully I can continue to play at a high level.” This is currently Howard’s 11th season in the NBA.

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

The Spurs have recalled Kyle Anderson from their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. In five jaunts to Austin this season Anderson has made 26 appearances, averaging 21.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 40.0 minutes of action per contest.
The Mavericks are hopeful that Chandler Parsons can return from injury in time for the playoffs, though no timetable has been set, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “He’s doing better. He’s just not there yet,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’d like to get him back to play a game or two before the playoffs, if it’s possible. But nothing is for sure. He’s doing better each day and there are some encouraging signs. But beyond that, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen.” Parsons is out of action courtesy of a balky right knee.
The Wolves have announced (Twitter link) that Nikola Pekovic underwent a successful debridement and repair of his right Achilles tendon this morning. The center will remain out of action indefinitely. In 31 appearances this season Pekovic averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per contest.

Donatas Motiejunas To Miss Rest Of Season

April 8th, 2015 at 2:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets power forward Donatas Motiejunas will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs with an injured back, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Motiejunas has been out since March 25th. It’s disappointing news for a team with aspirations of a deep playoff run in spite of having lost Patrick Beverley to a season-ending injury of his own last month. The injury to Motiejunas simply hasn’t improved as the Rockets, who initially believed he’d be back before season’s end, had hoped, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Houston, in spite of the losses of Motiejunas and Beverley, doesn’t have enough injuries to qualify for an extra roster spot via hardship, and with a full 15-man roster, there’s little the Rockets can do to offset their losses, at least from a player movement standpoint. The 7-footer was in the midst of his finest NBA season since he became the 20th overall pick in 2011, having started in 62 of his 71 appearances and averaged career highs of 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 28.7 minutes per game. His absence will put more pressure on Terrence Jones, who’s been starting in his place, and midseason signee Josh Smith to perform.

The injury is also ill-timed for Motiejunas personally, since he’ll become eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. Jones, too, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension, and Smith will be a free agent, so Houston has some key decisions to make at power forward.

Southwest Notes: Ellis, Rockets, Leonard

April 7th, 2015 at 10:53pm CST by Will Joseph

Monta Ellis, who has a player option for the 2015/16 season, has “contract numbers for next year in his head” and he’s “very replaceable,” Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes in a chat. Ellis has seen a decline in points per game, assists per game and field goal percentage since the All-Star break. Still, he’s a proven scorer who can carry a team on any given night. If he opts out of the final season of his contract, his Early Bird rights allow the Mavericks to make an offer with a starting salary of up to $14.63MM. If Rajon Rondo flees via free agency, locking up Ellis would be a decent fallback plan. If the Mavs kept Rondo, Sefko adds he would be stunned if Ellis also wound up back with the team as well.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

A more experienced and mature roster seems to be making a difference for the Rockets as they head into the playoffs, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. In the offseason, the Rockets added Jason Terry and Trevor Ariza. Then, Corey Brewer, Josh Smith and Pablo Prigioni were each acquired during the season and have added strong work ethic and sound basketball knowledge, Creech notes.
Kawhi Leonard, who is set to be a restricted free agent this summer, continues to get overlooked as a star, but with him back in the lineup after the All-Star Break, the Spurs are playing very similar to the way they did last season, which, of course, bodes well for a deep playoff run, Ben Golliver of SI.com writes. San Antonio is 27-10 since Leonard returned from a hand injury in mid-January.

Western Notes: Parsons, Harden, Ellis

April 5th, 2015 at 10:03pm CST by Will Joseph

Rockets GM Daryl Morey still thinks extremely highly of Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons, who left Houston and signed a three-year $46.085MM deal with Dallas in the summer. Parsons, 26, was a restricted free agent. The Rockets, of course, chose not to match the Mavericks’ offer, but Morey said that had little to do with Parsons’ ability.

“To me, that’s all in the past. We thought Chandler could be a part of our future,” Morey said during a spot on The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley on KESN-FM 103.3, as transcribed by The Dallas Morning News. “Restricted free agency; it doesn’t always work out to where you can keep them.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

James Harden blossoming into an MVP candidate, the emergence of Steven Adams and Mitch McGary‘s potential are among 13 reasons the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry listed for why the Thunder–Rockets trade in 2012 will never go away. While Harden’s ascension is obvious — he’s the league’s leading scorer — there are several other parts of the deal that still make it compelling. For example, from Oklahoma City’s perspective, Adams has played so well this season that the Thunder said he was off-limits at the deadline. McGary, who is signed through the 2017/18 season, is a long-term asset that should be a vital piece of the Thunder for years to come, Mayberry adds.
Monta Ellis has never played a major role on any team that has won a playoff series, so the 10th-year veteran is a big question mark as the Mavericks enter the postseason, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News opines. Ellis, who will make about $8.4MM this season, would benefit from a strong playoff run because he has a player option for the 2015/16 season. If he opts out of the final season of his contract, his Early Bird rights allow the Mavericks to make an offer with a starting salary of up to $14.63MM. His stats have declined since the All-Star break, as Sefko notes.
Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, who are both signed through the 2017/18 season, have been rare bright spots for the Timberwolves this season and the young players are learning and improving despite losses accumulating, Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. Wiggins, who is the favorite for Rookie of the Year honors, also wants to add some size before next season, Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.

Southwest Notes: Capela, Papanikolaou, Powell

April 4th, 2015 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rockets rookie center Clint Capela is getting personalized instruction from Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Capela, the 25th pick in last year’s NBA draft, has spent most of the season in the D-League and has seen little NBA action until recently. But the Rockets think Olajuwon, the NBA’s career leader in blocked shots, can give him a greater presence on the defensive end. “I can be effective on blocked shots on the weak side,” Capela said. “I can be more active. I think he will help me for sure. He is always at the game here. He saw me play the last game. He saw my game, how I play. Today he told me how I can be more helpful for the team. I’m sure it will help.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets‘ Kostas Papanikolaou is getting closer to returning from a sprained ankle, according to Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. Papanikolaou, who has been sidelined since hurting the ankle in warmups prior to a February 23rd game, hopes he can be ready to play next week. He is set to make more than $4.6MM next season, but his contract is non-guaranteed if he is waived before September 28th.
Tyson Chandler should be the Mavericks‘ top priority in free agency, opines RIck Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News in his weekly chat. Dallas will have eight free agents this summer, but Gosselin says a skilled rebounder is a necessity on a team filled with shooters, and the Mavericks learned how hard it is to replace Chandler the last time they let him go.
The Mavericks have recalled Dwight Powell from the D-League, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Powell has appeared in eight games for the Texas Legends, averaging 28.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.

Rockets Plan Push To Re-Sign Patrick Beverley

March 31st, 2015 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets are “determined” to re-sign Patrick Beverley this summer amid no shortage of interest from other clubs around the league, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes in a report on the latest surrounding the point guard’s season-ending wrist injury. Beverley, whom the Rockets have employed as their starting point guard for just the minimum salary, is set for restricted free agency this summer.

It will take four months for Beverley to recover from the surgery he underwent today, league sources tell Wojnarowski. There was a “fleeting hope” prior to surgery that Beverely could have been back to play in the Western Conference Finals if the Rockets made it to that round, according to Wojnarowski, but that’s not to be. A four-month timetable would mean he wouldn’t be ready until August, a month after free agency begins, but Beverley is expected to be near full recovery by the time he hits the market, Wojnarowski writes.

Houston has reportedly held interest in fellow soon-to-be free agent Goran Dragic since before the season began, though he apparently didn’t make them a preferred trade destination at the deadline because he worried that the Rockets would seek to trade him if he signed a long-term deal with them. The Rockets likely would have given up Beverley in a trade for Dragic, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, and when Houston was close to signing Chris Bosh last summer, the Heat were poised to target Beverley in sign-and-trade talks, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported.

Still, it appears that absent a desire from Dragic to sign with the Rockets, Houston is prepared to recommit to Beverley, and according to Wojnarowski, the Rockets want a long-term deal. Beverley has expressed contentment in playing for the team. The BDA Management client has a reputation as a strong defender, though he’s down the list of point guards on ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus ratings and of guards as ranked by Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus/Minus. Still, he averaged a career-high 3.4 assists this season, and he shot 35.6% from three-point territory.

Patrick Beverley Out For Season, Playoffs

March 30th, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:49pm: The Rockets confirmed the news in an official announcement.

12:40pm: Patrick Beverley will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs after deciding to go ahead and have surgery to repair ligaments in his left wrist, a source told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The news is no surprise, particularly after Rockets coach Kevin McHale said Sunday that the point guard probably wouldn’t return to play in 2014/15. GM Daryl Morey said on ESPN Radio’s NBA Insiders show Sunday night that a final decision on Beverley’s season was expected today, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Surgery was inevitable, but it was just a matter of whether Beverley could play through it, Stein adds (Twitter link).

Beverley’s been out of action for the past week as the wrist has undergone evaluations. It’s a tough blow for the Rockets, and though Morey acknowledged that it would be more difficult without him, he said in his ESPN Radio appearance Sunday that he believes the team could still win the title, notes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. That’s in spite of Houston’s relative lack of depth at the point, where he and Pablo Prigioni are the only true one-guards on the roster. The Rockets have used combo guard Jason Terry as the starting point guard in Beverley’s stead, with Trevor Ariza, Corey Brewer and Nick Johnson also seeing some duties at the position, Feigen points out.

Houston already has 15 players on the roster and the team is limited to handing out the minimum salary, with the deadline to apply for disabled player exceptions long since passed. Beverley, Kostas Papanikolaou and Donatas Motiejunas are all expected to miss extended periods of time, and Terrence Jones is out indefinitely, so there’s a chance the NBA would grant the team a 16th roster spot via hardship. That would only be a temporary fix, however, and Houston would be hard-pressed to replace Beverley’s production.

The third-year veteran is known for his aggressive defense, but he also nailed 35.6% of his three-point shots while averaging 10.1 points per game, his second straight season as a double-figure scorer. The BDA Sports Management client is due for restricted free agency this summer, though several reports have identified the Rockets as having interest in soon-to-be unrestricted free agent point guard Goran Dragic. Still, Beverley figures to be fairly sought-after if not by his incumbent team, then by others around the Association, in spite of his injury.

Western Notes: Beverley, Nuggets, Kanter

March 29th, 2015 at 10:13pm CST by Will Joseph

Rockets coach Kevin McHale told reporters, including Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, that injured point guard Patrick Beverley will “probably” miss the rest of the season. Beverley tore ligaments in his left wrist in a game against the Pacers on Monday. Beverley has been seeking opinions of specialists to determine whether he can play with the injury or would need surgery, Feigen added. Multiple sources close to the situation told Feigen on Sunday that no decision has been made.

Here’s more on the Rockets and the Western Conference:

Rockets rookie Nick Johnson has seen an uptick in minutes because of injuries like Beverley’s and his role in the point guard rotation will likely continue, Feigen writes in a separate story.
Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post believes the Nuggets could make a run at acquiring Nets big man Brook Lopez after the season if Lopez decides to opt out of his $16.7MM player option for the 2015/16 season. The Nets reportedly made attempts to trade Lopez at the deadline. The Nuggets had interest in landing Lopez before the deadline, Dempsey added.
Enes Kanter, who will become a restricted free agent this summer, is back to enjoying basketball because the Thunder have the big man playing to his strengths, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. Kanter was traded from the Jazz, at his request, in a deadline-day move. Kanter is averaging 17.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 17 games with the Thunder as opposed to 13.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game in 49 games with the Jazz earlier this season. Elhassan writes that the improved production with the Thunder is a result of fewer spot-up opportunities in Oklahoma City, more offensive rebound opportunities and a much higher pick-and-roll efficiency.