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Central Notes: Ellis, Cavs, Pistons

January 31st, 2016 at 6:26pm CST by Will Joseph

Monta Ellis, whom the Pacers signed this past offseason, is still averaging the fewest amount of points per game since his rookie season, but he has experienced an uptick in scoring recently because of treatment to his right knee, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays. Ellis, 30, is averaging 18.4 points per game over his last 10 outings. Ellis recently had fluid in the knee drained, according to Buckner.

“It’s been night and day with having that knee drained as far as his energy and just the way he’s moving,” Pacers star Paul George said. “It’s a lot easier, and it’s a lot better for him. He went the whole length of this game of constant pressure on their team. You definitely notice that. I think for Monta, this is something that’s been reoccurring, so he’s dealt with it before, and he knows the difference between the two.”

Here’s more from around the Central Division:

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue has improved the team’s morale because of his straight-forward approach to handling roles, rotations and expectations, Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer explains. On the court, the Cavs are playing faster and have scored at least 110 points in four straight games.
Despite referring to this season as the most difficult challenge of his professional career, Mo Williams is not interested in playing for another team and will not request a trade, Haynes reports in the same piece. The Cavs point guard is out of the rotation and played in only five games in January. “Nah, man. I’ve moved my family around enough,” Williams told Haynes. “I’m sticking this thing out.”
Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings is still adapting to coming off the bench after playing in 17 games so far since returning from an injury, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press relays. “It’s basically just me,” Jennings said. “I have to show up with a lot of energy. My role is different and I know that. I have to approach the game differently. I have to be ready and when my number’s called I have to be able to perform.”

Central Notes: Hoiberg, Lue, Turner, Van Gundy

January 30th, 2016 at 7:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is downplaying the possibility of a major deal before next month’s deadline, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “We’re comfortable with this group,” Hoiberg said. “Unless something earth-shattering comes up, I don’t anticipate anything happening.” Chicago’s trade prospects have been limited by the shoulder injury to Joakim Noah and the acute appendicitis that struck Nikola Mirotic.

There’s more tonight from the Central Division:

Cavaliers GM David Griffin thought Tyronn Lue had the potential to become a great NBA coach ever since Lue’s first interview, according to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Griffin decided to go with 54-year-old David Blatt over Lue, who was 37 at the time, but that first impression stuck with Griffin when he decided to make a coaching change last week. Pluto also notes that Blatt’s problems relating to players carried over into this season, and many players believed Lue was ready to be the head coach.
The Pacers have established an identity by making rookie big man Myles Turner a starter, writes Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star. After spending the first half of the season working toward a small-ball approach, Indiana replaced Lavoy Allen with Turner in the starting lineup Thursday and responded with a blowout of the Hawks. “It’s something I believe will be good for us,” said coach Frank Vogel. “We dominated the glass, dominated with defense, and I think this team will be able to score the ball better than any team we’ve had.”
The Pistons are suffering from “midseason malaise” and coach Stan Van Gundy’s abrasive style is starting to wear on the players, David Mayo of MLive writes in his mailbag column. Mayo says the players and Van Gundy could use some time apart from each other, but the team has a crowded schedule until the All-Star break. The columnist also credits GM Jeff Bower with making the bulk of the personnel decisions, leaving Van Gundy free to concentrate on coaching.

D-League Notes: McCallum, Christmas, McDaniels

January 29th, 2016 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.

Here are the latest NBA D-League assignments and recalls:

The Pacers recalled Rakeem Christmas from their D-League affiliate and assigned Shayne Whittington to the Mad Ants, the team announced. This concludes Christmas’ second stint in Fort Wayne on the season and commences Whittington’s fourth.
The Spurs have reassigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. McCallum will be joining the junior Spurs for the sixth time this season and he is averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 37.7 minutes in seven total appearances.
The Rockets have recalled Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This concludes Harrell’s third stint with Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth.

Central Notes: Noah, Anderson, Turner

January 29th, 2016 at 7:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls would have preferred to have traded Joakim Noah rather than Taj Gibson, hoping to extract value of some sort from Noah before he has the chance to depart in free agency this summer, executives from around the league said to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The injuries to Noah and Nikola Mirotic have made a Gibson trade even less likely, sources confirmed to Stein. Noah is expected to be out four to six months while Mirotic isn’t likely to return until after the All-Star break.

Here’s the latest from out of the Central Division:

The Pistons have interest in Ryan Anderson as a free agent this summer but not as a trade candidate, preferring not to have to relinquish assets to snag him, sources tell Stein in a separate piece. ESPN colleague Zach Lowe of ESPN.com previously reported that Detroit was eyeing the Pelicans stretch four.
The Pacers have elected to go with a bigger lineup after experimenting with a small-ball approach earlier in the season, a move that has benefited 2015 draftee Myles Turner, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star notes. “You don’t know when you’re dealing with a rookie, a 19-year-old player, how soon it’s going to come,” coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s going to be some ups and some downs but if you look at this at what we think Myles can be. … This is what this team should look like out there.“
The Bulls‘ backcourt tandem of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler are still working on developing on-court chemistry, since the two haven’t shared much time on the floor together thanks to Rose’s many injuries, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes. Butler is excited about the potential of the duo, telling Johnson, “I love playing with him [Rose]. He’s super aggressive. He’s taking great shots. That’s what we need. As long as I follow his lead in that attacking style, we’re going to be really good.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Larry Bird On Frank Vogel, Paul George, Roster

January 28th, 2016 at 3:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers, at 23-22 and eighth in the Eastern Conference, are underachieving, and they suffer from having too many “good players, but not great players,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said today to Mark Montieth of Pacers.com and Conrad Brunner from 1070 The Fan. Bird planned for the team to play at a fast pace this season but acknowledges his difference in philosophy with coach Frank Vogel, who prefers a lineup with two traditional bigs and has fielded that sort of team for much of the season. The entire interview is worth a read, especially to get an idea of Bird’s affection for Myles Turner‘s game. We’ll pass along a few highlights here.

On the dichotomy between his vision for the team and Vogel’s:

“We’re halfway through the season. My philosophy is, I’ve been watching this a long time. I’d like to play faster. I thought we might be able to do it. My vision was [Paul George] would play more of the four, not all of the time, but play it more. Paul’s a good rebounder. If he played the four he’d be a better rebounder. But I understand. He’s coming off a serious leg injury. He’s going to hit spurts like he’s hit here. It’s tough sitting out a year and coming back. That’s why I wanted him at the four more [laughing], so he wouldn’t have to guard [on the perimeter]. But I understand what Frank’s saying. I understand what he feels comfortable with.”

On the team’s holes:

“It’s according to how you want to play, and I think everyone knows how I want to play. I’d like to have an athletic big and I’d like to have – whether it’s a point guard or a guy who can get us in the offense and play George [Hill] off the ball a little bit or put Monta [Ellis] on the ball – we’ve got good players, we just don’t have the big athletic guys that we like and need. I think we’ll be able to get that. Paul’s getting through this year and Myles is going to be an outstanding player and [Ian] Mahinmi has had his best year. Mahinmi is playing great. [Against the Clippers], coming off an ankle injury and missing a few days, I thought he was excellent. I thought he played hard and aggressive. We have pieces, but we have some holes and we have to fill them.”

On goals for the season:

“We’ve got to find out who we are and what we’re trying to do here. I can say we’ve got to make the playoffs, and everybody says ‘Why would you want to be the seventh or eighth seed?’ I do. I want to be in the playoffs because you build on that. You build on everything every year and it ain’t going to happen overnight. I think we need to be in the playoffs and then we can put the pieces together and fill some holes and go from there.”

Central Notes: George, Dunleavy, Baynes

January 25th, 2016 at 7:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Paul George is feeling fatigued after playing heavy minutes during the first half of the season and Pacers coach Frank Vogel is mulling a reduction in minutes for his star small forward, according to Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star. George acknowledged to Taylor on Monday that he’s struggling to maintain his optimal performance level because his legs are weary. “I think a lot of it is just being overly confident that I can go out and still do the things I was doing [earlier in the season],” George said. “It’s not the case. It’s hard and it’s weighing on me right now, it’s weighing on my body, it’s weighting on my mental [approach].” George has played at least 30 minutes in every game this month except for one game when he was in foul trouble, Taylor points out. Vogel has rested George in a couple of recent practices and will monitor his minutes during the team’s upcoming homestand, Taylor adds. “It’s definitely something that’s limiting him right now and limiting us and we’ve got to keep a close eye on it,” Vogel told Taylor about George’s energy level.

In other news around the Central Division:

Bulls small forward Mike Dunleavy is targeting a February return from the back injury that has kept him out all season, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Dunleavy will participate in a controlled contact scrimmage Tuesday after joining the team in non-contact practices for weeks, Johnson adds. Dunleavy, who signed a three-year, $14.5MM contract last summer with the final year non-guaranteed, was originally slated to return in mid-December from his offseason surgery until he suffered a setback during his rehab. “The main thing is staying on top of the exercises and the maintenance stuff I’ve got to do for my back,” Dunleavy told Johnson. “I’m not really thinking, ‘Oh, man, is this thing going to go on me?’ I’m comfortable and confident.”
One of the underrated aspects of Aron Baynes‘ game is the hard screens he sets, Rod Beard of the Detroit News writes. The Pistons’ second-unit center, who was signed away from the Spurs during the offseason with a three-year, $19.5MM deal, frees his teammates up with his big body and positioning, Beard adds. “It’s no offense to Andre [Drummond], but Aron Baynes is probably the best screener in the league,” Detroit rookie small forward Stanley Johnson told Beard. “He’s really nailing guys.”

Central Notes: Blatt, LeBron, Dunleavy, Boatright

January 25th, 2016 at 1:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

David Blatt‘s camp believes that LeBron James was the sole catalyst for the Cavs coaching change, and the belief is much more than simply a fringe theory among people around the league, reports TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip for NBA.com. Still, plenty of other reasons for Blatt’s dismissal exist, including the team’s poor performance against top Western Conference contenders and the need for immediate results, that suggest that the team isn’t simply serving LeBron’s wishes, Aldridge contends. Regardless, the Cavs cast Blatt back onto the job market, and while the Timberwolves have been linked to Blatt, the team has no intention of pursuing him for a job on interim coach Sam Mitchell‘s staff, league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). See more from the Central Division:

Mike Dunleavy is targeting a return sometime next month from the back injury that’s kept him out all season so far, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s essentially at the same point in his recovery that he was before suffering a setback in late November, but he’s more confident this time that he’ll be able to take the final steps toward getting back to game action for the Bulls, according to Johnson.
Ryan Boatright impressed with the Nets during the preseason, but he didn’t carry that level of performance over to his tenure with the D-League affiliate of the Pistons, which waived him last week. Boatright is now poised to sign with Orlandina of Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Pistons briefly had Boatright on their NBA roster on the fall, a maneuver designed to secure his D-League rights.
The Pacers have recalled Shayne Whittington from the D-League, the team announced. He’s played in just two games at the NBA level this season but has appeared in 19 contests for Indiana’s D-League affiliate after re-signing with the Pacers this past summer.

Dead Money: Central Division

January 23rd, 2016 at 5:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.

There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!

Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Central Division:

Chicago Bulls

Richard Hamilton (Waived via stretch provision) — $333,333

Total= $333,333

Cleveland Cavaliers

None

Detroit Pistons

Josh Smith (Waived via stretch provision) — $5,400,000
Danny Granger (Waived) — $2,170,465
Cartier Martin (Waived) — $1,270,964
Aaron Gray (Waived via stretch provision) — $452,049
Adonis Thomas (Waived) — $60,000

Total= $9,353,478

Indiana Pacers

Toney Douglas (Waived) — $600,000
Terran Petteway (Waived) — $6,178

Total= $606,178

Milwaukee Bucks

Larry Sanders (Waived via stretch provision) — $1,865,547

Total= $1,865,547

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Central Notes: Pistons, Gores, Noah, Turner

January 18th, 2016 at 5:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons may be returning to downtown Detroit, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Owner Tom Gores confirmed today that the move is being considered, but everything is still in the preliminary stage. Former sports agent Arn Tellem, whom the Pistons hired in August as vice chairman of Palace Sports and Entertainment, has been examining the potential of a new downtown facility. “Arn is doing some heavy lifting on really trying to understand what’s the best thing for everybody,” Gores said today. “I’d say we’re in the diligence process and we’re keeping a close eye on it, but we just made a philosophical decision that we want to do more in Detroit.” The Pistons have been outside the city for nearly four decades, playing at the Pontiac Silverdome before moving to the Palace of Auburn Hills in 1988. Commissioner Adam Silver was in Detroit today and plans to talk with Gores about the potential move.

There’s more news from the Central Division:

As his team hits midseason, Gores likes the chemistry he sees on the court, writes James Hawkins of The Detroit News. The Pistons entered today in the sixth spot in the East, just three games out of second place. They are shooting for their first playoff appearance since Gores became the owner in 2011. “It took [coach/executive] Stan [Van Gundy] a little time to pull it together,” Gores said. “He’s very much based around how chemistry works and certain players being able to work with each other. That’s been the biggest difference [from past teams].”
Joakim Noah‘s shoulder injury is a sign to the Bulls that it’s time to rebuild, contends Steve Rosenbloom of The Chicago Tribune. He argues that the team should try to trade away Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose, if it can find a taker.
The Pacers have gotten a boost from the return of Myles Turner, according to Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. The rookie big man missed 21 games after fracturing his thumb in November, but is starting to show he has a future in the NBA. “I hate sitting out there watching sometimes, especially sitting down and not being able to make an impact on the game,” Turner said. “But now that I’m back and my coach has some trust in me, we keep building that trust going forward.”

Central Notes: Noah, Bucks, Pacers

January 18th, 2016 at 9:45am CST by Will Joseph

Coach Fred Hoiberg does not anticipate the Bulls making a move in the wake of Joakim Noah‘s injury, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com relays. “I don’t think there’s anything serious out there,” Hoiberg said. That is not totally surprising, considering Noah was the big man that Chicago most wanted to trade, executives around the league told Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Bulls recently measured the trade market for Pau Gasol, who has said that he’s leaning toward opting out of his contract this summer.

Here is more out of the Central Division:

It’s conceivable that the Bulls would be able to re-sign Noah, who is set to be a free agent, to a short-term deal because not too many teams are expected to offer significant money to a 31-year-old center coming off shoulder surgery, Mark Schanowski of CSNChicago.com writes. In an interesting stat to note, the Bulls are actually 8-2 this season without Noah, Stein tweets. Surely, however, the Bulls would prefer to have Noah’s presence on the court.
Bucks shooting guard Khris Middleton has found a rhythm with his shot after struggling at the start of the season, Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel details. The resurgence is vital because Middleton, who re-signed with Milwaukee for a five-year, $70MM contract as a restricted free agent last summer, is a key piece for the Bucks’ future, Gardner adds.
C.J. Miles, who is averaging a career-high in minutes this season (26.9 per game), is performing well as a combo forward instead of a shooting guard for the Pacers this season, Andrew Perna of RealGM writes in a profile of the veteran.