Central Notes: Bucks, Knight, Pistons, Pacers
The Bucks made waves at the trade deadline in 2013 when they shipped Tobias Harris out in the swap that brought in J.J. Redick on an expiring contract, but that sort of move is “not who we are today,” GM John Hammond tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe. The team’s new owners have instead focused on building around the club’s youth, particularly Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo, though co-owner Marc Lasry insists to Lowe that the team doesn’t just want to see young players get minutes and that the goal is to make the playoffs this year. Still, it would appear that the days of sending recent first-round picks away in trades for short-term help are over in Milwaukee. Lowe has more on the Bucks in his piece, as we’ll highlight amid the latest from the Central Division:
- Lasry is confident that the Bucks will secure financing for a new arena and said to Lowe that he and fellow co-owner Wesley Edens won’t think about moving the team to a West Coast city.
- The Bucks are high on Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson, and Kendall Marshall, and coach Jason Kidd is especially enamored with Ilyasova, Lowe writes. The Grantland scribe nonetheless believes that Ilyasova and Henson still seem like intruguing trade candidates.
- The Bucks would like to retain Brandon Knight at a “reasonable” price, according to Lowe, who pegs that range at $10-12MM a year. Still, the Bucks aren’t completely sold on the idea of Knight as a point guard, as Lowe explains.
- Stan Van Gundy has faith that his team can play better, but he acknowledges that it’ll be tough for the Pistons to meet their loftiest of goals this season, and he pointed to a four-day break in the schedule later this month as a point of reckoning, MLive’s David Mayo observes. Van Gundy may use the off days only to make rotation changes, but it wouldn’t be surprising for him to pull off a deal, as Mayo explores.
- The Pacers treaded water while many of their players were out early this season, but they’re still missing Paul George and George Hill, and their absences combined with the departure of Lance Stephenson continue to haunt the team, writes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com. Offseason signee C.J. Miles, who’s begun to rediscover his outside shot, is a bright spot, Montieth notes.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Heat, Mahinmi, Murphy
Phil Jackson maintains that the Knicks aren’t ready to turn their focus to the draft, despite their 4-18 start, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Still, people on the “non-playing side” of the organization believe the team doesn’t have many players who can master the triangle, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Carmelo Anthony says he and his teammates must “kind of be comfortable with being uncomfortable” as they learn the triangle, as he told Aldridge last week. Comfort is tough to find on the court or off in New York for now, and we passed along more on the Knicks earlier today. Here’s news from the rest of the Eastern Conference:
- The Heat wouldn’t have built this season’s roster the way they did if they knew going into July that LeBron James wouldn’t re-sign, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes amid his mailbag column. James announced his decision on July 11th, more than a week into NBA free agency.
- Ian Mahinmi will be out six to eight weeks with a torn left plantar fascia, the Pacers announced. Mahinmi suffered the injury in the first half of Friday night’s contest against the Kings.
- Former Bulls big man Erik Murphy, currently with the Spurs affiliate in the D-League, is in talks with Turkish club Galatasaray, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Murphy, who spent most of last season with Chicago after the Bulls chose him 49th in the 2013 draft, was last on an NBA roster with the Celtics, who let him go at the end of the preseason.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Will Cherry To Play In Lithuania
SUNDAY, 2:00pm: Zalgiris Kaunas confirmed the deal via Twitter.
FRIDAY, 4:55pm: Free agent Will Cherry is finalizing a deal to join the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). Cherry was waived on November 30th by the Cavs in order to clear a roster spot so that Cleveland could claim A.J. Price off waivers. Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported earlier today that Cherry was headed overseas rather than intending to rejoin the D-League.
Pick also tweets that the deal isn’t likely to be completed until Monday, which is when Cherry would clear D-League waivers, which he is expected to do. The point guard had signed a D-League deal with the affiliate of the Cavs shortly after the Raptors let him go at the end of the preseason and before Cleveland signed him for the big club in the first week of the regular season. The Cavs affiliate rescinded its rights to Cherry so that he wouldn’t have to pay a buyout to head overseas, according to Pilato (Twitter link).
The 6’1″, 23-year-old Cherry appeared in eight games for the Cavs this year, averaging 1.9 points and logging 8.6 minutes per night. Cherry had notched 12.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG while playing 25.3 minutes per contest in five games for the Cavs Summer League team in Las Vegas. He had also played for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate last season, when he provided 11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 30.4 MPG.
And-Ones: Rondo, Waiters, McMillan
With the trade speculation regarding Rajon Rondo heading to Los Angeles swirling again thanks to a seemingly innocent breakfast with Kobe Bryant, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders examines the potential trade market for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Koutroupis believes the two most likely teams to acquire Rondo would be the previously mentioned Lakers, or the Kings, whom he believes could offer Boston the best possible combination of assets.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio runs down some of the bigger names whom he believes could be dealt prior to February’s trade deadline. His list includes Arron Afflalo (Nuggets); Dion Waiters (Cavs); Patrick Patterson (Raptors); and Lance Stephenson (Hornets).
- Waiters has been struggling to find his role on the Cavs this season, and his difficulties led to him getting on the court for just nine minutes Tuesday night against Milwaukee. But the young guard is trying to remain positive, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I think all of us, we know he’s a very, very good basketball player,” teammate LeBron James said. “And when his number is called, I think the best thing is to come in with a lot of energy and effort and you can’t worry about the ball going in. All of us, we all know that. We can’t control it. It’s a make-or-miss league. One thing you can control is how hard you play and how much you give to the team, how much you sacrifice for the team and we’re all trying to do that.”
- Former head coach and current Pacers assistant Nate McMillan is happy being out of the spotlight that comes with being the man in charge, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. “I’ve enjoyed it,” McMillan said of being an assistant coach. “You learn a lot and really the enjoyment for me is you get to coach and you don’t have to deal with the other stuff. I coach and I get to go home. Frank [Vogel] has to coach and come talk to the press. You’re able to coach and work with the guys and do all of those things, but the other part, you don’t have to do.”
Western Notes: Kobe, Love, Baynes, Sessions
The Western Conference is a remarkable 68-27 against the Eastern Conference this year, though only eight Western teams have winning records as of today. The Nuggets, Kings and Pelicans are all outside the playoffs as it stands with .500 records, but those marks are better than only one team in the top eight in the East. While we wait to see how it shakes out with plenty of season left, here’s the latest from the West:
- Kobe Bryant says the idea that he’s impatient with the Lakers is off-base and praises the Buss family in a conversation with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Bryant doesn’t rule out playing past his current deal, which expires in the summer of 2016, Wojnarowski notes. The Yahoo! columnist also suggests that it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Kevin Love would bolt the Cavs for the Lakers, in spite of his insistence otherwise, and that Bryant will join the Lakers’ pitch to recruit him. A recent report cast Bryant as a turn-off for such star free agents, but the dispatch, which indicated that Paul George signed his extension with the Pacers last year in part because he didn’t want to join Bryant on the Lakers, left George “mortified,” Wojnarowski writes.
- Aron Baynes is on pace to prove his one-year, $2.077MM deal a bargain for the Spurs as he improves offensively and contributes physical play in the absence of Tiago Splitter, opines Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News.
- Offseason signee Ramon Sessions has had an uneven start to his first season with the Kings and needs to improve or else he’ll risk losing his minutes to Ray McCallum, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “He’d [Sessions] be the first one to admit he hoped and wished he was playing better and at a more consistent level,” coach Michael Malone said. “He’s had some games where he’s played very well for us, he’s had some games where he hasn’t played as well, but I still believe in Ramon. I know what he is capable of doing. So I’m going to give him some opportunity to grow into that backup role and feel comfortable and confident in that role.”
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Cavs Claim A.J. Price, Waive Will Cherry
6:14pm: The Cavs made it official with a press release.
4:32pm: This time, it’s Price displacing Cherry from the Cavs’ roster. The Cavs have waived Cherry, according to Chris B. Haynes of Cleveland.com (via Twitter).
Cherry, 24 in February, appeared in eight games and played a total of 69 minutes for the Cavs this season. In that limited time, he averaged 1.9 PPG and 1.0 APG. Cherry signed a two-year, non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary with Cleveland just weeks ago.
The guard averaged 12.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG while logging 25.3 minutes per contest in five games for the Cavs Summer League team in Las Vegas. Cherry also played for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate last season, when he provided 11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 30.4 MPG.
4:27pm: The Cavs have claimed A.J. Price off waivers, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The guard was let go by the Pacers last week.
It’s a return to Cleveland for Price, who opened the season on the Cavs roster only to be let go within the first week of the regular season in favor of Will Cherry. The 28-year-old performed well in his brief 10-game stint with the Pacers, averaging 10.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.0 turnover in 19.3 minutes per contest.
Even though Price played well, someone had to go in Indiana as the team’s hardship provision for a 16th roster spot had expired. Pacers coach Frank Vogel was complimentary of Price and said that he’s deserving of an NBA roster spot somewhere. The Excel Sports Management client has acknowledged that going overseas could be a possibility for him, but he’s undoubtedly happy to stay in the Association.
Central Notes: Bulls, Noah, West, James
The Bulls believe in their starting five, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com, but they’re hoping to see it together more often. Injuries have limited Chicago’s starting unit of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, Mike Dunleavy and Pau Gasol to four games together this season. “It’s kind of frustrating a little bit because we know how good we can be,” Rose said. “And we know that it’s a long season. And we’re just trying to stay consistent with everything that we’re doing knowing that we have a pretty, pretty good team. Right now defensively, we’re not where we want to be.”
There’s other news from the Central Division:
- A key component of that starting unit may be Joakim Noah putting injury woes behind him, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. A surgically repaired left knee forced him to miss Tuesday’s game in Denver, but he bounced back with 15 points and 14 rebounds Friday in Boston. “There’s no question in my mind — 100% — that I can get to where I want to be physically this season,” Noah said. “I have to be positive. I know how far I’ve come in just the last month.”
- David West has changed his attitude about the new-look Pacers, writes Mike Montieth of Pacers,com. With Paul George missing the season with a broken leg and Lance Stephenson gone through free agency, West seemed down on Indiana’s situation during media day. But the 34-year-old forward, who missed the season’s first 15 games while rehabbing a sprained ankle, had a different outlook on his teammates after returning to the court Friday. “These guys compete and play hard, and they do that at a very high level,” he said. “They’ve won some tough road games by being competitive and engaged and having a fight about them, which is one of the reasons I was anxious to get back out there.” West has a player option next season worth $12.6MM.
- His teammates aren’t the only ones missing Paul George, writes Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The Cavaliers‘ LeBron James regrets that he won’t have any epic matchups with George this year. “Us competing against each other the last few years throughout the second round and Eastern Conference Finals and things of that nature definitely has helped it,” James said of the rivalry. “So it’s mutual respect, but I’ve always respected him, just him as a person.”
Pacers Waive A.J. Price
The Pacers have waived A.J. Price, the team announced. The move is no surprise, since the team’s hardship provision for a 16th roster spot had expired, and with players on their way back from injury, the team apparently elected not to attempt to renew it. Price joined the team as its 16th player earlier this month, presumably on a non-guaranteed contract, though that detail was never confirmed. His release brings Indiana back to 15 players.
Price was a capable fill-in during his 10-game stint, averaging 10.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.0 turnover in 19.3 minutes per contest. The 28-year-old opened the season on the Cavs roster, but Cleveland let him go within the first week of the regular season to sign Will Cherry instead. A Chinese team reportedly made an offer to Price, and he was just “days away” from signing it when the Pacers swooped in, writes Wheat Hotchkiss.com of Pacers.com. The Excel Sports Management client has acknowledged that he’s ready to play overseas, though he’d like to land another deal in the NBA and Pacers coach Frank Vogel has said that he’s deserving of an NBA roster spot somewhere.
The league gave the Pacers a pair of 10-day clearances to carry 16 players, since they met the criteria for such a provision, which required the team to have four players who were expected to miss time with injury after three had already sat out at least three games. Paul George is likely to miss the entire season, George Hill continues to be out indefinitely with a bruised left knee, but Vogel said today that David West will return to action tonight against the Magic, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Roy Hibbert will miss the game with a sprained left ankle, Robbins also notes, but C.J. Watson will return, according to Autumn Allison of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Still, the Pacers could have spared Price and selected another player to release to trim the roster to the conventional 15-man limit, as the Thunder did when they cut Sebastian Telfair rather 16th man Ish Smith when their hardship exception ran out.
Eastern Notes: Price, Stephenson, Raptors
A.J. Price has probably played his last game with the Pacers, since the 10-day window of Indiana’s second hardship provision for a 16th roster spot has expired and the team’s injured players are on their way back, observes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
“I’m optimistic it’ll work out, if not here then somewhere else,” Price said. “Everything’s an option at this point. You can’t rule anything out at this point. If I’m not able to get a job here in the NBA, then overseas is definitely an option.”
Of course, the Pacers don’t have to waive Price, whom they picked up when the league granted the extra roster spot, just as the Thunder decided to keep their hardship addition, Ish Smith, and waive Sebastian Telfair instead. While we wait to see how it shakes out in Indiana, here’s the latest from around the Eastern Conference:
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford has been reluctant to give Lance Stephenson crunch-time minutes in part because he doesn’t think the shooting guard has developed into a marquee player yet, despite the three-year, $27.405MM contract the shooting guard signed this summer. Michael Wallace of ESPN.com has the details. “To be fair, one of the things that’s made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar,” Clifford said. “He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years.”
- This summer’s trade for Lou Williams was a win for the Raptors, as they snatched a player who has proven valuable on both ends of the floor so far in Toronto and whose departure has left the Hawks with an underwhelming bench, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
- The Hawks plan to send John Jenkins and Adreian Payne to the D-League on Friday, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It’ll be the second trip to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for Payne, as our log of D-League assignments and recalls shows, and the first of the season for Jenkins, though he went on assignment in each of the past two seasons.
And-Ones: Realignment, Jones, D-League, Draft
Mavs owner Mark Cuban has come up with a proposal to level the playing field between the NBA’s two conferences that involves realignment, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports. In Cuban’s plan, the Spurs, Rockets, Pelicans and Mavs would shift to the Eastern Conference, and the Bulls, Pacers, Pistons, and Bucks would relocate to the west. Cuban acknowledged that Dallas could benefit from the shift, but added, “It’s not like it’d be the first time we’ve ever realigned. It’s happened many times before, so there’s precedent and I just think it shakes things up and makes things interesting. It’s not like you’re reducing competition. You keep Cleveland, Washington and other good teams in the East. It kind of shakes things up in terms of not just interest but also in terms of how people rebuild.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Fort Wayne Mad Ants have acquired the rights to Dahntay Jones through the D-League’s waiver process, the team announced today. Jones last appeared in the NBA during the 2012/13 season when he appeared in 50 games for the Mavericks, and he spent the preseason last month with the Jazz. His career NBA averages are 5.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
- With the Lakers receiving a disabled player exception for the season-ending injury to Steve Nash, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times ran down the long list of players who are mathematically attainable via a trade using the $4.851MM exception the league granted the franchise.
- With an increase in higher-profile players entering the D-League’s player pool, it is lowering the incentive for fringe players to remain in the league, writes Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. A D-League team source told Pilato, “If you’re in there right now [player pool] and were either undrafted or cut in camp and not picked up yet, there’s no reason to stay. And with an abundance of guys either coming back early from Europe or deciding that the D-League is the best option, there are just too many new faces coming in to really consider the guys that other teams have already decided don’t have what it takes to play in this league.”
- ESPN.com draft guru Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) runs down eight college prospects who have raised their draft stock with excellent early-season play, including Kevon Looney (UCLA); Justise Winslow (Duke); Buddy Hield (Oklahoma); and Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina).