Pacers Make Solomon Hill Available For Trade
10:30pm: The Pelicans have expressed interest in Hill, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets.
11:25am: The Pacers have made Solomon Hill available to other teams who might be interested in trading for him, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports within a column. Indiana declined its 2016/17 rookie scale option on Hill before the season, so he’s set for unrestricted free agency in the offseason ahead, when he’ll be just three years removed from having been the 23rd overall pick. The Pacers are ineligible to re-sign him next summer for a starting salary of more than $2,306,019 because they declined the option, which was worth precisely that amount. That restriction would transfer to any team that might trade for the 24-year-old small forward.
Hill led an injury-racked Pacers team in total minutes last season, when he averaged 8.9 points in 29.0 minutes per game, but he’s outside the rotation this year, notching just 6.3 minutes per night across seven appearances. That’s in spite of a revamped Pacers attack that puts a greater emphasis on wing players like the 6’7″ former University of Arizona player, who’s making slightly less than $1.359MM this season.
It’s no shock to see Hill in trade rumors, since all four of the players whose rookie scale team options were declined in 2014 are no longer with the team that declined the option. Hill and swingmen Sergey Karasev of the Nets and P.J. Hairston of the Hornets are the only three players who didn’t have their rookie scale options picked up this year, and trade chatter has already surfaced surrounding Karasev, too, though he denied reports that he wanted the Nets to deal him away. I speculated in a recent mailbag column that Hill would become a trade candidate.
It’s unclear if any team has interest in Hill. He’s eligible to be traded immediately, but most in-season deals don’t happen until the majority of the players who signed in the offseason become trade-eligible on December 15th. The Pacers are more than $12MM clear of the luxury tax threshold, so they have no shortage of financial flexibility.
Central Notes: George, Noah, LeBron, Mozgov
New teammates and a new, more open attack make Paul George harder to guard, coach Frank Vogel contends, and the willingness of C.J. Miles to defend power forwards, a duty George was reluctant to assume, has the Pacers clicking, as TNT’s David Aldridge examines in his NBA.com Morning Tip.
“I would say it bothered me a little bit,” George said to Aldridge about the idea of guarding fours. “I was like, man, I worked so hard to get back, playing the three, and now you’re putting me at a new position. You guys don’t trust me? So it took some time to get that through my head. But now, everything is working out fine, and I’m happy with what we’ve got going right now.”
George, in his interview with Aldridge, called Miles a “lifesaver” for his willingness to step into the power forward role, and Miles, a full-time starter for the first time since 2008/09, doesn’t seem to mind. See more from the Central Division:
- Joakim Noah seemed to make it clear when he spoke to reporters Tuesday that he wants to play more and that he’s frustrated that Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg won’t give him more minutes, but he’s also careful not to publicly criticize Hoiberg, observes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter links). The 2016 free agent who’s now coming off the bench tempered his comments by calling it a “blessing to play for this franchise,” notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (All Twitter links). “I never want to come out,” Noah said. “But I understand this is my role now and I have to accept it and be the best that I can with what I have.”
- LeBron James didn’t think the Cavs would be able to trade for Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert last season, but when they did, he found their acquisitions reassuring signs of GM David Griffin‘s mettle, as the four-time MVP tells Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. Their additions have been part of James’ struggle to change the culture of the Cavs into a winning one. “Coming back has been everything I thought,” James said to Jenkins of his 2014 return to Cleveland, “only a lot harder. I can’t tell you it’s been comfortable. But that’s O.K. I don’t really like to be comfortable.”
Central Notes: Jackson, Thompson, George
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson‘s departure from Oklahoma City last season wasn’t a clean break-up, and his former teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were candid in expressing their displeasure with Jackson taking his desire to depart the Thunder public, Royce Young of ESPN.com recounts. After Friday night’s victory over Detroit, Durant made some interesting comments regarding Jackson’s standing on the Pistons, Young notes. When asked about the job the Thunder did guarding center Andre Drummond, Durant said, “Steven Adams did a great job on their best player, and Andre Roberson did a great job on their second-best player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Russ did his job.”
Jackson, who was booed mightily by the Oklahoma City crowd, responded by saying, “I love to be hated. It’s flattering, the greatest honor of them all. It’s love and spite all at the same time. They wouldn’t boo me if I didn’t do anything and build some memories here,” the ESPN scribe relays.
Here’s more from out of the Central Division:
- Cavs big man Tristan Thompson, a native Canadian, was rumored to be a target of the Raptors if he was unable to agree to a long-term deal with Cleveland over the summer, but the power forward says that he didn’t consider the possibility of joining Toronto during his contract impasse, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal writes. “I never thought about it,” Thompson said. “My whole thing was to focus on getting better and whenever my situation was handled, my business was handled, that’s when I was going to get back on the court. Whenever it was, so be it. I’m glad it’s here in Cleveland.” Lloyd also noted that Thompson doesn’t appear to be overly motivated to play for a Canadian-based team, with Thompson adding, “As a kid I always watched the Raptors growing up and was a fan of the Raptors. When we were in the playoffs our first couple years I definitely cheered them on … But I’m a Cleveland guy and that’s where my heart’s at.”
- Derrick Rose, who knows a thing or two about recovering from a serious injury, is amazed at Pacers swingman Paul George‘s return to an All-Star level this season, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “It’s been great,” Rose said of watching George. “If anything, it gives kids, it gives people that are going through the same situation hope because who would have known that he would have come back this way? Seems like he’s a better player. He’s understanding the game a little bit more, he’s putting the team on his back in situations where he doesn’t let them go and be down big, so he’s taking the right shots. I think it’s helping him grow as a basketball player.“
Declined Rookie Options Cast Players Into Limbo
It’s difficult to say any player move is likely until it’s imminent, but the notion that Sergey Karasev won’t be on the Nets for much longer isn’t far-fetched, even though Karasev denied reports that he wants Brooklyn to trade him. No such rumors have surfaced about P.J. Hairston and the Hornets or Solomon Hill and the Pacers, but neither is a strong bet to stick with his team. They were the only three players this fall with pending rookie scale options for 2016/17 whose teams declined to pick them up. There were four players last year whose 2015/16 options went unexercised, and none of the four is still with the team that declined the option. Three of them wound up changing teams before the end of last season.
All players with rookie scale options on their contracts are former first-round picks who carried significant promise at some point. Rookie scale option decisions are due a year in advance, and when those options are declined, it puts the team and the player in an awkward situation, since it signals that the team has essentially abandoned hope that the player will develop into a worthwhile contributor. The team can’t re-sign the player the following offseason to a starting salary greater than the value of the option, further limiting the chances of a continued relationship.
Here’s a look at what happened to each of the four players whose rookie scale team options were declined last year:
- Shane Larkin, Knicks — Larkin signed with the Nets this past summer on a two-year, $3MM deal. He’s scoring more points in fewer minutes per game this season, an improvement he attributes to no longer playing in the triangle offense.
- Nemanja Nedovic, Warriors — The partnership between Nedovic and Golden State didn’t last even two weeks after the Warriors declined his option, as the shooting guard asked for and received his release from the team in an early November 2014 buyout so that he could sign with an overseas team willing to give him more playing time. That turned out to be Valencia of Spain, which signed him shortly thereafter to a two-year deal. Still, Nedovic only saw 15.9 minutes per game for Valencia, and they parted ways last summer. Nedovic moved on to Spain’s Unicaja Malaga for this season, though he’s seen only 13.5 minutes per game there.
- Austin Rivers, Pelicans — New Orleans traded Rivers to the Celtics in January, and Boston relayed him to the Clippers three days later in another trade. The Clippers re-signed Rivers to a two-year deal worth nearly $6.455MM with a starting salary of precisely the amount of his declined option, which was the most they could pay him this season — $3,110,796.
- Thomas Robinson, Trail Blazers — The Blazers traded Robinson to the Nuggets at the deadline in the Arron Afflalo deal, and Denver waived Robinson shortly thereafter. He reportedly agreed to sign a 10-day deal with the Nets contingent upon him clearing waivers, but the Sixers swooped in and claimed him, foiling that plan. Still, that only delayed Robinson’s trek to Brooklyn, since he signed with the Nets over the offseason on a two-year, minimum-salary deal.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Simmons, Warriors, Pacers, Kings
- The Warriors are leading the small-ball revolution these days, thanks in large measure to the unique capabilities of $82MM signee Draymond Green, who has the skills of a perimeter player and the wingspan of a center, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com examines. The team’s brass admits it didn’t know what it had in Green until Steve Kerr put him in the starting lineup last season in David Lee‘s stead, Lowe notes. GM Bob Myers admits trepidation as late as Game 4 of the NBA Finals last season when Kerr replaced Andrew Bogut with Andre Iguodala and the Cavs sprinted to an early lead before the Warriors caught up and Iguodala won the Finals MVP award.
- Golden State is prompting front offices to re-evaluate the relative value of big men and wing players, but while Pacers coach Frank Vogel told Lowe he isn’t about to line up Paul George at center, he said the change in philosophy that’s prompted him to give George time at the four predates Golden State’s rise. “It wasn’t even about the Warriors,” Vogel said to Lowe. “It was about not being able to overcome LeBron [James] and Miami three straight years. We couldn’t even throw the ball inside. We had a lot of turnovers just trying to do that.”
- The Kings recalled Duje Dukan from the D-League on Monday, according to the RealGM transactions log, though neither Sacramento nor its affiliate made a public announcement. The undrafted combo forward from Wisconsin scored 14 points in 34 minutes in his one appearance with the Reno Bighorns.
Central Notes: Copeland, Blatt, Smith, Vogel
The Pacers didn’t try to re-sign Chris Copeland this past offseason, but they still gave him access to their training staff after his contract ended on July 1st, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. Copeland, who signed a one-year deal with the Bucks on July 29th, is grateful for the help he needed to recover from the injuries that he suffered when he was stabbed outside a New York City nightclub in April, as Buckner details.
“I was just blessed to have guys like [Pacers president of basketball operations] Larry Bird and the training staff who stuck with me way past when they had to,” Copeland said. “Legally by July 1st they’re not obligated to do anything, but those guys took care of me. They did more than they needed to. That’s why I’m forever in their debt. I appreciate the type of people that I was [around] for the last two years.”
See more on the Pacers amid the latest from the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers made it a point to improve their depth in the offseason, in spite of the tax implications, and they’ve benefited from the strategy in the season’s first month, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. “I think that we went through a year last year where we put ourselves in a great position and had a tremendous season and a tremendous opportunity, then at the very end we fell prey to the lack of depth,” Cavs coach David Blatt said. “And we addressed it this summer. Obviously up to this point in the season, it’s really paid off for us because the guys that we brought in are major contributors and the guys that stayed obviously are high-level people and high-level basketball players.”
- J.R. Smith, who re-signed with the Cavs this summer after a midseason trade, credits the team and Cleveland at large for greeting him with a level of acceptance he hasn’t found elsewhere in the NBA, he tells McMenamin for a separate piece, calling it “first place I’ve been where I’ve started off with a clean sheet.”
- Pacers coach Frank Vogel is pleased with the contribution he’s seeing from the back end of his roster, quipping that Bird “gave me too many good players,” notes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.
Jonas Valanciunas To Miss Six Weeks
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas will miss about six weeks with a fracture in his left hand, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. After tests on the hand Saturday, Valanciunas decided against surgery and will count on rest and rehab to heal the injury. During Friday’s game with the Lakers, the center injured the fourth metacarpal in his hand, similar to an injury that cost him 18 games during the 2012/13 season. Valanciunas, who signed a four-year, $64MM extension before the season started, is averaging 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds.
There’s more news from the Eastern Conference:
- The improved play of Glenn Robinson III will lead to some tough decisions for Pacers coach Frank Vogel, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. The second-year forward, who signed with Indiana in July, hit 6-of-7 shots and delivered a career-high 17 points in 21 minutes during Saturday’s blowout of the Bucks. It was the latest in a string of impressive performances by Robinson, who split last season with the Wolves and Sixers, but it may not be enough to keep him in the Pacers’ rotation. His playing time will likely decrease when George Hill and Myles Turner return from injuries. “It’s driving me crazy with all these tough decisions when everybody gets healthy,” Vogel said. “[Robinson’s] got to stop making all his shots. I’ll just harp on the fact that he missed one.”
- Bulls centers Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol are both getting fewer shots in new coach Fred Hoiberg’s offense than they are accustomed to, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Noah turned in his fifth scoreless game of the season Friday and has yet to reach double figures this season. Gasol is averaging 13.8 points per game, barely above his career low. “Physically, I feel good,” said Noah, who will be a free agent next summer. “Now it’s trying to figure out where I can get opportunities offensively and just helping the defense. That’s it. I’ve to be more aggressive when I get my opportunities.”
- Younger and older basketball fans tend to view the Sixers‘ annual tanking differently, writes Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Regardless of perspective, the columnist wonders why things aren’t better yet in Philadelphia.
Eastern Notes: Durant, World Peace, Smith
The early season play of rookie Kristaps Porzingis coupled with Carmelo Anthony‘s return to health has given Knicks fans hope, not just for this season, but beyond. Another benefit the franchise may glean from exceeding expectations is that team president Phil Jackson will have a far more appealing product to sell Kevin Durant when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News opines.
One issue I have with the Knicks potentially adding Durant is that both Anthony and Porzingis are frontcourt players, and unless Anthony shifted to power forward full-time and Porzingis to the pivot, one of the trio would need to come off the bench. Shifting Porzingis to center would also serve to displace Robin Lopez, who the team inked to a four-year, $54MM deal this past summer, which is obviously not an ideal move for New York given its financial commitment to the big man.
Here’s the latest out of the Eastern Conference:
- Metta World Peace, discussing his relationship with Pacers executive Larry Bird, said that he has tried to rejoin Indiana over the years, but he may have burned too many bridges with his disruptive attitude in his younger days for that to occur, Dave Zarum of Sportsnet.ca relays (Twitter link). World Peace did note that Bird was extremely patient with him during his time with the team, and that Bird would often go out of his way to work with him to improve his game, Zarum adds.
- Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith is feeling much more comfortable in the flow of the team’s offense, something he credits to his increased playing time, Jason Lloyd of Ohio.com writes. “It’s hard to just run up and down the court four or five times, then just get one spot shot, then come out of the game, then go back in the game. Getting in a rhythm early is the most important thing,” Smith said. “It’s not even so much to shoot, just to feel the ball, get the motion, get the ‘camaraderie’ within the system. I think that’s big, not only for me but for everybody. It’s not from a selfish aspect, but to feel the ball, feel the flow of the offense a little better.”
- The Cavaliers have recalled shooting guard Joe Harris from the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. You can keep track off all the D-League assignments and recalls made throughout the season here.
Myles Turner To Miss Six Weeks
6:00pm: Turner’s six-week prognosis is the minimum amount of time he’ll miss, as it could stretch beyond that timetable, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Doctors found a torn ligament during the surgery, lengthening the amount of time he’ll need to recover, Buckner adds (Twitter link).
4:36pm: Turner is expected to be out six weeks, the team says in its announcement that he had the surgery today. It’s unclear whether that’s six weeks total or six weeks from today.
MONDAY, 12:17pm: Turner will have surgery this afternoon, and his timetable for a return is four to six weeks from today, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
THURSDAY, 1:57pm: Pacers lottery pick Myles Turner will miss at least the next four weeks after suffering a chip fracture in his left thumb in the first half of Wednesday’s game, the team announced. The 19-year-old had a place in Indiana’s rotation as the backup center and had logged 17.9 minutes per night before his early exit Wednesday. The Pacers are short on interior players, as Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star notes (Twitter link), with Lavoy Allen and Jordan Hill the only experienced big men aside from starter Ian Mahinmi. Shayne Whittington and Rakeem Christmas are also on the roster, but they’re currently on D-League assignment.
The team is thin up front by design, having shifted to more of a small-ball attack this season. Turner, this year’s No. 11 pick, posted averages of 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest prior to Wednesday. He’s dealt with several minor ailments so far this season, helping limit his minutes, but the team has high expectations for the former University of Texas player, as Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star told us in a recent edition of The Beat.
Indiana is without the ability to apply for a disabled player exception, since Turner’s injury isn’t expected to be season-ending, and they’ve been relatively injury-free this year, so they don’t meet the requirement to apply for a 16th roster spot via hardship. The Pacers are without much roster flexibility, as they’re carrying the regular season limit of 15 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. They have their $2.814MM room exception available to give free agents more than the minimum salary, but that’s not likely to be a factor.
How do you think the Pacers should compensate for Turner’s injury? Leave a comment to tell us.
Central Notes: Drummond, Budinger, Dellavedova
Andre Drummond reiterated his intention to re-sign with the Pistons this offseason when he is eligible to become a restricted free agent, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. “I love it here. I plan on being here,” Drummond told Spears. Team owner Tom Gores, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, and Drummond mutually agreed to hold off on signing an extension to allow the team to retain more cap space heading into next offseason in order to make further roster upgrades.
Here’s more from out of the Central Division:
- Small forward Chase Budinger is attempting to carve out his niche on the Pacers after having been acquired from the Wolves this past summer, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. “I’m still trying to figure that out, it’s still a work in progress,” Budinger said. “My role is still trying to evolve and trying to fit into this system and with this team. I’m still trying to find better ways to be more productive.” The 27-year-old has appeared in nine games this season, averaging just 4.1 points in 15.9 minutes per contest while shooting 41.9% from the field.
- Cavs point guard Matthew Dellavedova has used his strong playoff showing from a season ago as a springboard to a solid start to the 2015/16 campaign, Chris Fedor of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “I feel confident,” Dellavedova told Fedor. “I think you should always be more confident in your game and that comes through putting in the work. I think it was a great experience for me playing in the playoffs last year and working hard in the offseason by playing with the national team. In a different role than I usually play here with the Cavs, and [I] have just tried to build on that. I think if you work hard that’s what helps with your confidence.“
- The Bulls lead the NBA in building through the draft, with a league-best 10 draftees currently on the roster, Sam Smith of NBA.com notes in his leaguewide rundown. “The franchise always has had a strong belief in building through the draft and developing our own players,” said Bulls GM Gar Forman. “It starts with [owner] Jerry [Reinsdorf], who always has been a strong believer in the draft.”