Rockets, Josh Smith Share Interest In New Deal
Josh Smith doesn’t want to leave Houston, and Rockets GM Daryl Morey doesn’t want him to go when he again becomes a free agent this summer, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The deal that Smith signed with Houston in December covers just the remainder of 2014/15, so the sides will have to agree to a new contract to continue their partnership. The Rockets have wanted the versatile frontcourt player since before he left the Hawks in 2013, according to Wojnarowski, and Smith showed why Tuesday, coming two rebounds and an assist shy of a triple-double while scoring 15 points in just 25 minutes in a Game 2 win.
The Rockets have only Non-Bird rights on Smith, meaning that they can’t exceed more than 20% of the $2.077MM they’re paying him this season, an amount that would come to $2,492,400, without using cap space or another exception. The Rockets have about $54.5MM on the books against a projected $67.1MM salary cap for next season, a figure that doesn’t include roster charges, other cap holds and non-guaranteed salary, all of which would make it difficult for Houston to give Smith a significant raise without using its mid-level exception. Smith is set to receive $5.4MM from Detroit each of the next five seasons via the stretch provision, and while a portion of that figures to be set off by the amount that Smith makes on his next deal, it gives him greater leeway to pass up more money elsewhere if he prefers to stay in Houston for less.
The client of Brian Dyke and Wallace Prather has played some center for Houston, and the Hawks and Pistons put him at small forward in the past, but he’s chiefly a power forward, and a renewed commitment to Smith would seemingly complicate the futures of Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas. Those two power forwards are up for rookie scale extensions this summer and would be set for restricted free agency in the summer of 2016 if they don’t get them.
And-Ones: Smith, Vipers, Skiles, Lottery
Josh Smith‘s father complimented the Rockets for welcoming his son, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 (second Twitter link). “I cannot speak too much about how well this organization has accepted us as a family and him as a player,” Pete Smith said. “It’s an awesome thing. Now I know what the NBA is all about.” Houston claimed Smith on waivers in December after he was let go by the Pistons. He will become a free agent this summer.
There’s more from around the world of basketball:
- The Rockets have cut ties with D-League coach Nevada Smith of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Vipers are coming off a 27-23 record in Smith’s second season running the team.
- Scott Skiles has tried to campaign a little for the Magic head coaching job, but he wants a measure of personnel control, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. He doesn’t want to replace GM Rob Hennigan, but rather seeks approval over player personnel moves, a job that currently rests with Magic CEO Alex Martins, Kyler explains. Meanwhile, Kyler figures that Michael Malone will interview for both the Magic and the Nuggets coaching jobs, but sources tell him that Malone isn’t as high on either team’s list as some other candidates are. Neither Vinny Del Negro nor Billy Donovan is expected to get serious consideration for either job, Kyler also writes.
- NBA owners refuse to address the problem of tanking, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. He noted that owners passed on a chance to address the issue during a meeting in New York last week. They also nixed proposed reforms to the draft lottery process in October. He speculated that owners might be delaying action until they can study the effects of an upcoming $24 billion television deal and the escalation of the salary cap.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Brewer, Garnett
Sources close to the Nuggets say money won’t be an obstacle in the search for a new coach, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. He speculated that veterans like Mike D’Antoni and Alvin Gentry could be had at an annual salary of $3MM to $4MM, as the chance to coach again would be more important than haggling over a contract. If they want Billy Donovan, the Nuggets would have to top his $3.7MM salary at the University of Florida and handle his $500K buyout. GM Tim Connelly has stated that he would like to fill the coaching vacancy before the June 25th draft.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Rockets’ Corey Brewer credits the Wolves for their help in finding him a new home, reports Brett Pollakoff of Pro Basketball Talk. Brewer, who has become an important reserve in Houston, said coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders helped him find his way to a playoff team with the December trade to Houston. “We looked at the trade options,” Brewer said of Saunders, “he gave me permission to talk to teams, and it worked out perfectly.” Brewer said the Rockets and Cavaliers were his top choices.
- Saunders is hoping to keep Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, according to Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. A sore knee has limited Garnett’s playing time since he was traded to the Wolves in February, but Saunders said the free-agent-to-be is working hard behind the scenes. “He is doing things right now to get ready to play [next season],” Saunders said.
- After having the best week of his NBA career with the Jazz, Bryce Cotton is returning to the life of a fringe NBA player, writes Brad Rock of The Deseret News. Cotton had a 21-point game Monday against Dallas and scored 14 Wednesday against Houston, but because his contract isn’t guaranteed for next season, he’s looking forward to the summer leagues and a chance to keep proving himself.
Western Notes: McDaniels, Duncan, Brooks
Rockets rookie K.J. McDaniels will likely miss the playoffs due to a fractured wrist, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays (Twitter link). McDaniels has played sparingly since being acquired from the Sixers, appearing in 10 games and averaging 1.1 points in 3.3 minutes per night. The swingman will be a restricted free agent this summer if Houston extends him a qualifying offer worth $1,045,059.
Here’s more news out of the Western Conference:
- Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link) believes that Tim Duncan will put off retirement to return to the Spurs for his 19th NBA season. The 38-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
- Carlos Boozer said he would like to return to the Lakers if the team makes additions to the roster that would allow it to be a playoff contender, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The unrestricted free agent also indicated that he would be open to a role off the bench, Pincus adds.
- Both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook offered support to embattled Thunder coach Scott Brooks, whom the team is reportedly evaluating prior to making a decision on his future, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman relays (Twitter links). When asked about his coach’s performance, Westbrook said, “He did a great job. I don’t think he gets enough credit behind the scenes. Obviously he can’t make players do things they don’t want to do. With the group of guys we have on our team and the guys that wanted to be here, I thought he did a great job of keeping the boat afloat.“
- Trevor Booker, whose $4,775,000 salary for next season is non-guaranteed, indicated that he would like to remain with the Jazz, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News tweets. The forward appeared in 79 contests for the Jazz this season, averaging 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 19.8 minutes per game.
Texas Notes: Beverley, Mavs, Spurs
Patrick Beverley hopes to return to the court if the Rockets make a deep playoff run, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston writes. “Very strong possibility,” the 26-year-old said about his possible return. “Very strong. Let’s hope everything goes right.” Beverley, who will become a free agent at the end the season, also expressed his interest in returning to the team. “I want to be in Houston. I want to be a part of this whole thing that we’ve built since me and James first got here, but that’s not under my control. That’s up to my agent and [general manager] Daryl Morey of the Rockets. It’s going to be interesting this summer. I’m just happy I put myself in a position where I can play basketball and earn enough money to take care of my family,” the point guard said. “The culture, the city is me. A hard-working blue-collar type of city. I embrace that and they embrace me. I will definitely enjoy being here again.”
Here’s more from Texas:
- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News believes this season won’t be Dirk Nowitzki‘s last. Cowlishaw also adds that he could see Tyson Chandler, who will be a free agent this offseason, leave the Mavs. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Dallas’ frontcourt, I’d speculate the team will have both players back for the 2015/16 season.
- San Antonio has assigned Kyle Anderson to its D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. This will be Anderson’s sixth trip to the D-League this season.
- The Spurs are ready to pass the torch to Kawhi Leonard, writes Andrew Keh of The New York Times. “It’s going to be Kawhi’s team, anyway,” 32-year-old Tony Parker said. “[Tim Duncan] transitioned to [Manu Ginobili], Manu transitioned to me, and now it’s going to be transitioned to Kawhi.” Leonard will be a restricted free agent during the offseason and it was reported that the team would almost certainly match any offer sheet that he signs.
Latest On Tyus Jones, Draft
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
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
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
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
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.