Rockets Eager To Swing Trade Soon
The Rockets are in active talks involving 10 or 12 different trade targets in an effort to use their nearly $8.4MM trade exception soon, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It’s a shift in strategy for the team, which had been expected to wait until closer to the trade deadline, or least December 15th, when most offseason signees become eligible for inclusion in trades, Feigen writes. A report this weekend identified Corey Brewer as one of Houston’s targets, and while there were conflicting reports last month about whether the Rockets were eyeing fellow Timberwolf Chase Budinger, the identities of the other players that GM Daryl Morey and his staff are discussing are unclear.
Houston’s brass believes that quickly acquiring a rotation-level player, regardless of position, would put the Rockets in a stronger position to swing another deal at the deadline, as Feigen details. Houston depleted its depth in the offseason with trades that sent out Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, though it was the Lin deal that netted the trade exception that Houston is eager to use. The exception would allow the Rockets to acquire a player who makes a 2014/15 salary equal to or less than $8,474,646, which is $100K greater than Lin’s cap hit for this season, without giving up any salary in return. It doesn’t expire until July, but it seems as though the Rockets won’t push that deadline.
Houston is in a flexible position, possessing not only the trade exception but roughly $10MM in room beneath the luxury tax threshold. They have 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus a partially guaranteed pact with Tarik Black and a non-guaranteed deal with Patrick Beverley. They owe their 2015 first-rounder to the Lakers as long as they make the playoffs, thanks to the Lin deal, but the Pelicans owe the Rockets a protected 2015 first-rounder from the Asik trade. Houston also has as many as five additional second-round picks coming its way between now and 2017, further lining the team’s nest of trade assets.
Goran Dragic Not Sold On Re-Signing With Suns
Goran Dragic plans to explore his options in free agency next summer and isn’t sure he’ll re-sign with the Suns, sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Dragic said this past offseason that he plans to turn down his $7.5MM player option for 2015/16. A report at the time indicated that he would do so with the idea of signing a new contract with Phoenix, but he doesn’t necessarily want to commit to the team at this point, Deveney hears, suggesting that the club’s crowded backcourt is playing a role in Dragic’s thinking. The Sporting News scribe seconds a September dispatch from Marc Stein of ESPN.com indicating that the Rockets plan to pursue The Dragon and that the Lakers figure to do so as well.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough said shortly after re-signing Eric Bledsoe that he and his staff “fully anticipate taking care of” Dragic, who’s coming off of a career year in 2013/14. The 6’4″ former second-round pick averaged 20.3 points on 40.8% three-point shooting last season, when he played part of the time alongside Bledsoe, a fellow point guard, and the rest as the team’s lone elite playmaker with Bledsoe hurt. Dragic’s numbers and minutes are down in the early going this year as the Suns have tried to shoehorn him along with Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas, yet another high-level point guard, into their attack. The Suns also possess Tyler Ennis, this year’s 18th overall pick, as a fourth point man, while shooting guard Gerald Green, averaging 20.8 minutes per game this season, eats up playing time in the backcourt. Dragic’s brother Zoran Dragic, a shooting guard whom the Suns signed to a guaranteed two-year deal seemingly in an effort to keep Goran around, has played just two minutes this season.
Goran Dragic, a BDA Sports Management client, plans to give the Suns the first pitch meeting this summer, Deveney writes. Still, it appears that he intends to listen to others, too, and at No. 8 on the initial Hoops Rumors 2015 Free Agent Power Rankings, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more teams join Houston and the Lakers in the mix for the seventh-year veteran who turns 29 in May.
Western Notes: Thomas, Johnson, Hayward
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers admits he was mystified when the Suns signed-and-traded for Isaiah Thomas this past offseason, adding that he thought Phoenix was merely insuring itself against the loss of Eric Bledsoe, relays Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Rivers has gained appreciation for the Suns‘ three point guard strategy since then. “When you think of those three guards they have, it’s amazing,” he said. “It’s hard for everybody to guard. I didn’t see it but now I do.”
Here’s the latest from the Western Conference:
- Tyrus Thomas‘ workout with the Lakers is scheduled for this Thursday, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Thomas also gave the Grizzlies a look at his skills last week, though he left without receiving a contract offer.
- The Rockets have assigned guard Nick Johnson to the Rio Grande Vipers, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. The rookie has appeared in three games for Houston this season, totaling two points and a rebound in 11 minutes of action.
- Gordon Hayward‘s contract with the Jazz is based more on what he’ll become than what he has done thus far in the league, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. But with continued improvement and the new TV deal set to kick in, there’s a decent chance the deal will look like a bargain in the near future, Powell adds.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Heat Notes: Bosh, Williams, Chalmers
Part of what dissuaded Chris Bosh from signing with the Rockets was the prospect of forming yet another “Big Three,” this time with James Harden and Dwight Howard, and inviting the expectations that would come along with it, as Bosh tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
“I could see where people would think that’s an attractive site,” Bosh said of Houston. “They were trying to win right away. And I was really happy to be touted that I possibly could’ve been out there. But you know, that doesn’t guarantee anything, and I know that. All that guarantees is a bunch of pressure.”
The Rockets have been just fine without Bosh so far, Monday’s loss to the Grizzlies notwithstanding, while Bosh and the Heat broke out of a slump in a win against the Nets. Here’s more from South Beach:
- Among the myriad reasons Bosh chose to remain with the Heat was that he was simply used to living in Miami, as the big man explained to Berger for the same piece. “I’m familiar with people,” Bosh said. “I know how to get to work. And if there’s traffic, I know the shortcuts. It’s those small things that I really love about the city and I love about being comfortable that guided me back. And you know, if you can make a couple of dollars on the side, then it works out.”
- Shawne Williams had played just 61 NBA games in the three years before he joined the Heat this past offseason, but coach Erik Spoelstra has long been a fan of his new starting power forward’s game, notes Francisco Rivero of Heat.com. “I’ve liked him for three or four years,” Spoelstra said. “His skill set, his toughness, that in the right situation and the right commitment to his conditioning and his weight and strength, he could be a guy that fits in our style of play. And I think that’s what you’re seeing right now. He looks totally different. He remade his body this summer.”
- Much has changed in Miami, but the Heat remain a dangerous team thanks in part to their decision to bring back Bosh, Mario Chalmers and others from their battle-tested core, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines.
Western Notes: Brewer, Jackson, Gay
Tonight’s matchup between Memphis and Houston is a good one, but it’d be hard to fault fans looking forward to Wednesday night’s clash between the defending champion Spurs and the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. Sam Amick of USA Today writes that the Cleveland faithful should thank the Spurs for their part in sending James back to his hometown club, as few dispute that a Miami victory last June would have prevented the offseason’s biggest shakeup.
We’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see if the Spurs get their due from the Quicken Loans Arena crowd. Until then, let’s see what else is going on out West:
- While Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders tried to downplay the Corey Brewer rumors earlier today, it sure appears that interest in the veteran swingman is legitimate. However, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities isn’t getting the sense that a trade is imminent (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle questions whether the Rockets would use their traded player exception this early in the season (via Twitter). As our Outstanding Trade Exceptions guide shows, Houston obtained a trade exception of nearly $8.4MM when they sent Jeremy Lin to the Lakers.
- With superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the shelf, Thunder guard Reggie Jackson has had the spotlight to himself in Oklahoma City recently, averaging 21.5 points in the team’s first 11 games. Jackson and the Thunder broke off extension talks in October and the fourth-year guard is set for restricted free agency this summer. One guy who knows what it’s like to be the third fiddle in OKC is James Harden, who told Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman that Jackson should take advantage of this opportunity. “I fell into the same situation, and that could have been my only contract. And I’m sure Reggie feels the same way. He has to get the money that he’s earned and that he’s worked his whole life for. It’s the nature of the business. It’s going to happen every single year and it’s going to continue to happen.”
- Rudy Gay and the Kings are perfect for each other, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Ziller considers the extension agreed upon yesterday to be mutually beneficial, with Sacramento keeping a good player at a reasonable price while Gay pockets a nice chunk of change in the short term without totally sacrificing his ability to take advantage of the league’s new TV money. Assuming his success continues in Sacramento, Gay can decline his player option for 2017/18 and cash in one year after the cap explodes skyward in 2016.
And-Ones: Howard, Waiters, Johnson, Pacers
Dwight Howard makes several candid comments in an EPIX.com documentary about his departure from the Magic, his year with the Lakers, and the 2013 back injury that one of his surgeons believes had a decent chance to end his career, notes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Howard also delved into his relationship with Kobe Bryant.
“Before I got to the Lakers, I would talk to him [and] he would really help me out on the [down] low about how to become everything that I said I wanted to be. And I looked up to him and I looked up to everything he, as a basketball player, stood for,” Howard said, as Stein transcribes. “… [By the end of that season] I just felt so hurt and disappointed in the fact that the guy that I was expecting to be somebody who was gonna pass the torch, somebody to say, ‘Dwight, I’ll take you under my wing and I’ll show you how to get it done’ … it was none of that.”
Howard remains a fascinating figure even as his long-term deal with the Rockets has quieted the rumors that surrounded him. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Cavs shopped Dion Waiters this past August but found no takers, according to Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com, who writes in an Insider-only piece. That conflicts with a report from early August that indicated the Cavs weren’t trying to trade the shooting guard.
- Ivan Johnson has drawn offers from NBA teams and clubs overseas, a source tells HoopsHype’s David Alarcón (Twitter link and translation). He plans to make a decision about whom to sign with in the next couple of weeks, Alarcón adds.
- Frank Vogel believes Lance Stephenson would have chosen to re-sign with the Pacers if he’d known Paul George would suffer his broken leg, as Vogel tells Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. “I think he probably — and we probably — would have approached it differently,” Vogel said. “The money would have to have been right, and we would’ve had to figure that out. But he would have had much more incentive to stay.”
Grizzlies To Audition Kenyon Martin
WEDNESDAY, 8:10am: Today’s meeting is about a coaching position, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter links). Given the conflicting reports, it seems possible that the Grizzlies have interest in Martin both as a player and as a coach, though that’s just my speculation. Player-coaches aren’t allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement, so the Grizzlies and Martin would have to choose one or the other.
TUESDAY, 11:42pm: The Grizzlies are set to work 14-year veteran Kenyon Martin on Wednesday, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). No signing is imminent, Tillery cautions, but Memphis nonetheless apparently wants a close look at the former No. 1 overall pick who’s a month and a half shy of his 37th birthday.
The Andy Miller client met with the Rockets last month, though there were conflicting reports about whether the visit was in connection with a possible roster spot or a coaching gig. There’s otherwise been paltry interest in Martin since last season, when he finished up his second year with the Knicks. In April he expressed a desire to return to play for New York and suggested that he had no intention to retire just yet.
Memphis has only 14 players after waiving Kalin Lucas this weekend, so the team has the flexibility to take on Martin without letting anyone else go. The Grizzlies have a sliver of the mid-level exception left over, but it’s not enough to accommodate Martin, whose prorated minimum salary would exceed that amount. The team is less than $1MM shy of the luxury tax line, and while it appears as though a prorated minimum salary contract for Martin would fit beneath that threshold, it would severely limit the Grizzlies’ flexibility to make other moves unless it were a non-guaranteed arrangement.
Lakers, Others Pursue Quincy Miller
NOVEMBER 11TH: Miller is set to work out for the Lakers later this week, Charania tweets. The team recently received its disabled player exception for Randle, though it’s unclear if Los Angeles is targeting Miller for more than the minimum.
NOVEMBER 1ST, 1:16pm: Two other teams interested in potentially signing Miller are the Rockets and the Pacers, Charania reports
OCTOBER 31ST, 9:25pm: The Lakers are the leading team among the several that are going after former Nuggets forward Quincy Miller, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The Nuggets waived Miller just before the deadline for teams to cut their rosters to 15 players this week after trying to find trade partners who’d take him on. It appears clubs were waiting to have a crack at the player drafted 38th overall in 2012 without having to give up anything in a swap, given the high volume of interest that Charania indicates.
Miller, who turns 22 on November 18th, finally recovered last year from a torn left ACL that he suffered as a high school senior, averaging 4.9 points in 15.2 minutes per game across 52 contests after he made only seven appearances as a rookie the season before. He was the fifth-rated high school prospect in the country in 2011, according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, and front offices are apparently interested to see if his renewed health will allow him to finally realize that potential.
Injuries have taken their toll on the Lakers, who are without Steve Nash and Julius Randle for the rest of the season. They have 15 players on the roster and are limited to paying no more than the minimum salary, but they’re planning to apply for a disabled player exception for Nash that would allow them to spend close to $4.851MM on a free agent. They could also apply for such an exception based on Randle’s injury that would be worth about $1.499MM.
That smaller amount would likely be enough for Miller, and it would still be somewhat surprising to see a team commit more than the minimum salary to him. The more pressing concern for the Lakers might be the roster spot that adding Miller would cost them. Point guard Ronnie Price and shooting guard Wayne Ellington are the team’s only players without fully guaranteed contracts, and their non-guaranteed pacts become partially guaranteed if they’re still on the roster at the end of November 15th. Additional serious injuries could put the Lakers in line to apply for a hardship provision that would allow them to add at 16th player, but that’s not in play for now.
Southwest Rumors: Felton, Powell, Capela, Davis
It’s possible the Mavs don’t activate the injured Raymond Felton prior to the Dallas’ matchup versus the Kings tomorrow, reveals Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram. Once activated, Felton can begin serving the four-game suspension he was slapped with this summer after pleading guilty to a gun charge. While we wait for the 30-year-old to get healthy enough to begin serving his punishment, let’s have a look at the latest from around the Southwest..
- Josh Powell is committed to his role as player development coach for the Rockets and has turned down multiple offers to play overseas, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports passes along amid his weekly power rankings. Powell appeared in a single game for Houston last year after failing to secure an NBA contract during the previous two seasons.
- The Rockets have assigned Clint Capela to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Capela, the 25th overall pick in the 2014 draft, will join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers after appearing briefly in just one of Houston’s first six contests.
- Ed Davis rejected a long-term rookie scale extension offer from the Grizzlies last October that would have paid him $5MM to $6MM annually, reports Ronald Tillery of the Commerical Appeal in a subscription only piece. The big man found himself in a difficult situation playing for Memphis last year, as he saw few minutes in a stacked frontcourt. Tillery observes that Davis doesn’t hold any ill will against his former team, but the Commercial Appeal scribe’s perceived lack of bitterness from Davis runs in contrast to the words that the 22-year-old had about the Grizzlies, which we passed along earlier tonight.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Raptors, Uzoh
The Sixers should add another big man to their 15-man roster with Nerlens Noel sidelined with an ankle injury, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Henry Sims, along with Noel, is the only other player at the center position. Moore opines that the roster is set up to lose and finding a player on it to release in order to make room for a new big man shouldn’t be difficult. Philadelphia started the season 0-6 and with its upcoming four-game road trip against the Raptors (5-1), Mavericks (4-2), Rockets (6-0) and Spurs (2-2), going 0-10 looks like a real possibility.
- The Sixers are using international leagues to stash talent in their attempt to build a contender via asset accumulation, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The team owns the rights of five players who play in leagues overseas including 2014 draftees Dario Saric, Vasilije Micic and Jordan McRae. Pompey argues that the defending champion Spurs, who own the rights to 11 players overseas, have proven the strategy works.
- Despite starting the season with a record of 5-1, the Raptors have plenty of room to improve, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Wolstat identifies team defense, rebounding and assist totals as areas the team should look to improve. The piece isn’t entirely pessimistic as Wolstat cites the team’s chemistry as superb even with James Johnson and Lou Williams as new additions.
- Ben Uzoh is hopeful he can return to the NBA after mysterious ailment nearly derailed his career, writes Marc J Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Uzoh, who has been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, played parts of his first four NBA seasons while losing feeling in his right shooting arm. Now that the condition is diagnosed, Uzoh can focus on basketball. “I feel so much better just knowing how to manage,” Uzoh said. “I’m still finding myself, retooling, reviving the connection that I was never able to feel. I am getting better each week. I am in great shape. But the reality is I don’t want my arm to go out on me anymore. I am getting feedback on it still.” Uzoh last played in an NBA game for the Raptors in 2012.