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Central Notes: Bynum, Cavs, Bulls

February 7th, 2014 at 1:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert spoke about the need for a “cultural and environmental change” Thursday after dismissing ex-GM Chris Grant, and comments that Andrew Bynum made Friday to reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star, seem to back that up.

“It wasn’t that it didn’t work (in Cleveland),” Bynum said, “it’s just the atmosphere over there wasn’t the one that kind of promoted positive energy in wanting to come in and really — it was just tough at the end of the day.”

There’s more on Bynum’s former team amid our look at the Central:

  • Cavs owner Dan Gilbert says his team has what it needs to be successful, but he nonetheless believes the club will be active at the trade deadline, observes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. Gilbert wouldn’t say whether the team will be a buyer or a seller.
  • Sam Smith of Bulls.com answers reader questions, explaining why trading Taj Gibson to help the Bulls clear the necessary cap room to sign Carmelo Anthony would be an unnecessary risk.
  • Earlier today, we passed along news that the Bucks are rejecting trade offers for Larry Sanders and the latest on the Cavs.
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Eastern Notes: Bynum, Bobcats, Woodson

February 6th, 2014 at 10:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bobcats are going to be buyers at the trade deadline, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.com. With the Bobcats having exceeded expectations this season, and with the overall weakness of the Eastern Conference, the team will try and bolster their roster for a playoff push. The team has been actively shopping Ben Gordon‘s expiring $13.2MM contract, and would be willing to part with a first-round pick for the right player. Charlotte will surrender their pick to the Bulls if it falls out of the top ten, but might still have two first-rounders in this year’s draft. They are owed the Pistons first-round pick (top-eight protected), as well as the Trail Blazers pick (top-12 protected). According to Kennedy, the Bobcats have already inquired about the Sixers Evan Turner, and the Bulls Taj Gibson.

More from around the East:

  • The Pacers have sent Orlando Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League, the team announced via press release. This is Johnson’s first D-League assignment this season. In the 2012/13 season, he played four games with the Mad Ants, averaging 23.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.3 APG. He’s appeared in 36 games this season for the Pacers, and has averaged 2.5 PPG. and 1.4 RPG, while playing 9.4 MPG.
  • Chris Johnson is “thrilled” that the Celtics are signing him for the rest of the season, writes Baxter Holmes of Boston.com. “I just have to give thanks to Danny Ainge for bringing me in and giving me the opportunity, Brad Stevens for giving me the opportunity to play when guys were injured, and my teammates for just giving me confidence,” Johnson said. In eight games this year, Johnson is averaging 7.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG. 1.3 APG, while playing 21.6 MPG.
  • The issues between Pistons guard Will Bynum and coach Maurice Cheeks might not be over. Bynum and Cheeks had to be separated from a sideline confrontation during Wednesday’s loss to the Magic. Bynum doesn’t regret the incident, writes Brendan Savage of M Live.com. According to Cheeks, the two hadn’t spoken about the incident, and Cheeks became testy when pressed. Bynum said, “I don’t regret it. I regret the fact that maybe I was a bit too passionate about it. But other than that, no.” Bynum also said he has no plans to approach his coach about the matter.
  • Nerlens Noel has ramped up his rehab activities, writes Dei Lynam of CSN Philly.com, but the team still isn’t saying if he’ll make his return to the court this season. The Sixers have 32 games remaining, but there is still a long checklist ahead of Noel before he would make his NBA debut, according to the team. With Spencer Hawes being rumored to be on the trading block, it’s unclear if him being moved would affect Noel’s status.
  • Jeff Van Gundy believes that many Eastern Conference teams have “chosen to be bad” this season, writes Steve Reed of the Associated Press. To be clear, Van Gundy is talking about “tanking” for a better lottery pick. He wouldn’t name specific teams, but observed that the problem was real, and blames the current lottery system for the issue. He also stated, “It doesn’t necessarily mean the guys on the floor aren’t trying hard, but it means teams have put some really bad rosters on the floor. A lot of teams right now are happy with losing and that’s really too bad for the league. That’s too bad for the fans.”
  • Knicks owner James Dolan reportedly met with Carmelo Anthony and at least one player after Wednesday night’s game, writes Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. The topic was the state of the team, and whether or not a coaching change was in order. The team’s front office is divided on keeping Mike Woodson, and there have been multiple reports that the coach is on the hot seat.
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Pacers Seeking Trade For Bench Scoring

February 6th, 2014 at 4:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers would like to trade for a player who can help boost their bench scoring, tweets Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. The team’s regular starters score 106.4 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com, a rate that would be tied with the Suns for the league’s eighth-best offense. Overall, Indiana scores just 102.3 points per 100 possessions, which puts them 18th.

Indiana’s leading scorer off the bench has been Danny Granger, who averages 8.6 points per game, but his expiring contract could be a trade chip, as I examined last month. He makes more than $14MM this season, but extracting a better scorer will be a tall order if Indiana insists on keeping its balance sheet for next season as clean as possible. Suitors have begun to line up for Lance Stephenson, whom one GM believes will command eight-figure salaries in free agency this summer.

It’ll be doubly tough for Pacers president Larry Bird to pull off a deal, since the team doesn’t have a first-round pick to trade. Bird dealt the team’s 2014 first-round pick to Phoenix in the Luis Scola deal this summer, and the Pacers can’t trade any of their other first-rounders because of the Ted Stepien Rule.

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Lakers, Bulls, Bobcats Eye Lance Stephenson

February 6th, 2014 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers, Bulls and Bobcats are among the teams who are planning to target Lance Stephenson in free agency this summer, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Deveney hears from a GM who expects Stephenson to draw offers with an eight-figure starting salary. Other NBA executives pegged his annual value at between $7-9MM in December, but his continued strong play this season may be boosting his value.

Stephenson has expressed a desire on multiple occasions to re-sign with the Pacers, who’ve signaled that they’re prepared to offer him a sizable contract. It’ll be a tight squeeze to fit such a deal onto the payroll, given Indiana’s reluctance to pay the luxury tax. Deveney examines the variables and suggests the Pacers would have to trade away other salaries to pay Stephenson at market value. Some of his calculations are based on the notion that Paul George could wind up receiving 30% of the cap when his extension kicks in next season, but he agreed to take only 27% of the cap if he triggers the Derrick Rose Rule.

In any case, the Pacers will face tough decisions unless Stephenson is willing to take a hometown discount. Deveney suggests trading Chris Copeland and his two-year, $6.135MM as a solution, but finding a team to absorb that deal without sending salary back to Indiana will be difficult, particularly considering Indiana can’t trade any first-round draft picks before this month’s deadline.

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Eastern Notes: Ewing, Gay, Bynum, Celtics

February 5th, 2014 at 4:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Patrick Ewing is the lead assistant coach for the Bobcats, but the Hall-of-Fame 7-footer thinks front offices have a bias against centers that helps keep him from becoming a head coach, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. None of the current NBA head coaches who played in the league were centers, and none of the 10 winningest coaches in league history were true centers, either, as Spears points out. Ewing has long been anxious to take over a team, and Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford says Ewing’s put in the work necessary to break the mold. Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

  • Rudy Gay will face the Raptors for the first time as a member of the Kings tonight, and Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee examines how Gay and his former team have both emerged better for the deal.
  • Andrew Bynum‘s pitch to the Pacers during a three-hour meeting with the team the night before he signed was key to the deal, GM Kevin Pritchard said Tuesday on ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd. Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star provides a transcription.
  • The Celtics have recalled Vitor Faverani from the D-League a day after sending him down, the team announced. He suffered a left knee injury while with the Maine Red Claws on Tuesday, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe details.
  • Philadelphia’s shuttling of Lorenzo Brown continues, as the Sixers today recalled the point guard from the D-League after sending him down Tuesday, the team announced via Twitter. It was his fourth assignment of one day or less.
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Eastern Notes: Waiters, Sanders, Nets, Green

February 4th, 2014 at 9:37pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters has been the subject of quite a few trade rumors throughout the season, and Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer notes that those talks will only intensify as we inch closer to the trade deadline. The second-year guard out of Syracuse insists he isn’t fazed by the possibility that he could be changing addresses soon:

“I don’t worry about that stuff…If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. If not, it’s not. I can’t control that. It’s out of my hands.” 

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

  • During a live chat with his readers earlier today, Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW said that the Bucks aren’t willing to trade Larry Sanders right now because they know they’d be selling low.
  • According to Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders, there isn’t any untouchable player currently on the Nets roster, and in a market where star players are difficult to come by, Brook Lopez, Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, and Joe Johnson could be acquired for less than their true value because Brooklyn will clearly be sellers at this year’s trade deadline.
  • Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston sheds some light on Celtics forward Jeff Green, who aside from showing glimpses of his obvious potential, has struggled to find a comfort zone this year. With the trade deadline looming, Forsberg says it’s fair to wonder if Green is still a part of Boston’s future plans, and that even considering his under-performance as well as his four-year, $36.2MM price tag, there will still be teams interested in his services.
  • In a subscribers-only piece for ESPN Insider, Chad Ford cites an anonymous GM who thinks current Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis will be a more reliable floor general than Kyrie Irving: “If you were to ask me right now whether I’d take Ennis over (Irving), I think it’s Ennis,..He does all the things that help a basketball team win basketball games. You can pick him apart on individual flaws, but I would take this kid right now and trust him to run my team. I think there’s very few freshmen you could ever say that about.”
  • Though some may be skeptical about how Andrew Bynum‘s past behavioral issues could affect the Pacers’ chemistry, Darvin Ham – formerly an assistant with the Lakers in 2011/12 and now an assistant with the Hawks– vouched for Bynum’s ability to remain focused: “I really spent a lot of one-on-one time with him, been in group settings with him…He’s really not a disruptive guy. He just wants to be left alone and left alone to play the game, plain and simple (Candace Buckner of IndyStar.com).
  • While Anthony Bennett has struggled for most of the year, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes that the UNLV product hasn’t been listening to the negative talk about his game and doesn’t dwell on his mistakes as much as he’d done earlier in the season: “I was just worried about making a lot of mistakes, with getting subbed out, all that in the back of my head…Now I’m just going out there and giving it my all. Who cares if I get subbed out? I’m just playing.”
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Odds & Ends: Gasol, Pelicans, Buyers/Sellers

February 4th, 2014 at 5:54pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Earlier today, we heard that the Suns’ interest in continuing talks with the Lakers about a potential Pau Gasol deal hinges on the 7’1 Spaniard’s recovery from a strained groin injury. With news from InsideSoCal.com’s Mark Medina that Gasol’s rehab will keep him out of action for at least another two weeks, this most likely creates another hurdle in trying to complete a potential deal.

Here’s plenty more from around the Association:

  • Kevin Ding of the Bleacher Report (via Twitter) says that because of the injury, Gasol may or may not have played his final game for the Lakers. One certainty, however, is that the Lakers are now more motivated to deal him than before.
  • The Pelicans have been “extremely active” in trade talks over the past few days, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s unclear exactly what sort of deals they’re working on, but they announced last night that center Jason Smith is lost for the season, and they’ve reportedly been seeking a trade for a big man.
  • Regardless of whether or not Andrew Bynum can produce for the Pacers, the decision to bring him aboard represents a pledge from team management to the players that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win a championship, says Jared Zwerling of the Bleacher Report.
  • In the same piece, Zwerling lists several teams who could be among the league’s buyers and sellers at the trade deadline this season, labeling the 76ers, Jazz, Bucks, Lakers and Bulls are potential sellers, while the Bobcats, Warriors, Knicks, Nets, Cavaliers, Wizards, Suns, Mavericks, and Pistons are potential buyers. According to one executive, the Timberwolves and Nuggets could fall into either group depending on what transpires in the next week or so.
  • Cedevita of Croatia has waived Josh Selby after the former Grizzlies guard suffered an injury, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Selby played 10 games in the NBA last season.
  • The NBDL’s Texas Legends’ close proximity to their NBA-affiliate Mavericks has made it easy for both to enjoy a highly active partnership as far as developing the Mavs’ young players, writes Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram. Frisco, Texas – where the Legends are based – is located about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, conveniently allowing the Mavs an option to send someone to play for the Legends one night and then head back for NBA practice the next day.
  • The 76ers announced that they’ve assigned big man Arnett Moultrie and guard Lorenzo Brown to the Delaware 87ers (Twitter link).
  • The Hawks have sent guard Jared Cunningham to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBDL, according to a team press release earlier this afternoon.
  • The Celtics announced that center Vitor Faverani was assigned to their D-League affiliate Maine Red Claws earlier today.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post. 

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Central Rumors: Augustin, Bynum, Cheeks

February 3rd, 2014 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

D.J. Augustin remains the starting point guard for the Bulls even with Kirk Hinrich healthy again, a most unlikely scenario when the Raptors waived Augustin less than two months ago. Still, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says he isn’t shocked to see the former ninth overall pick enjoy a renaissance, observes Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune.

“We knew he had the capability because he already had done it,” Thibodeau said. “His (four) years in Charlotte told you he was capable of playing well. And I thought he had some really good moments in Indiana (last season). … I knew he was hard to guard.”

The Pacers hope their midseason addition of Andrew Bynum pays off just as well, and there’s news on that amid our look at the Central Division:

  • The Heat spoke with Bynum before he signed with the Pacers this past weekend, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who tucks the news into his latest power rankings. Still, Pacers president Larry Bird called the notion that the team inked the center just to keep him from the Heat “about the dumbest thing I ever heard.”
  • Pistons owner Tom Gores said this weekend that he doesn’t think the roster is performing up to its capabilities, and coach Maurice Cheeks admits he should be doing a better job of preparing the team to play, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
  • Cheeks has a guaranteed contract through 2015/16 with a team option for 2016/17, but that probably wouldn’t keep Gores from firing him this summer if the Pistons don’t start performing better, MLive’s David Mayo opines. Mayo also senses pressure on president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, who’s in the final year of his deal.
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Pacers Notes: Bynum, Bird, George

February 2nd, 2014 at 8:40am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pacers didn’t need Andrew Bynum, and this may be the reason why the signing will work out, writes Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders.com. After failed stints with the Sixers and the Cavaliers, the Pacers might be just what Bynum needs to get his career back on track. The team has the best record in the league without Bynum having logged a minute, so there isn’t pressure for him to come in and produce right away. There are also a number of quality veterans in the Pacers locker room who can lead by example and help Bynum adjust to his new team. Ingram also notes that Bynum should be aware that this is his last chance to prove that he can be an effective player and contribute to a winning team.

More on the Bynum signing:

  • Larry Bird disputes the notion that Bynum will be a disruption on the team’s culture and locker room, writes Candace Buckner of IndyStar.com. “We’ve got protection for Roy Hibbert and Ian Mahinmi and we’ll see how it works out,” Bird said. “I think it’s a great upside for us, we don’t do anything that we don’t think is going to help us and I think this is going to help us.” Bynum has agreed to a $1MM deal for the rest of the season, and will return to Indianapolis early next week but will not be ready to play for at least several weeks. Bynum played in 24 games for the Cavs this season, averaging 8.4 PPG and 5.3 RPG. Also, Bird refuted earlier reports that the Pacers were merely interested in Bynum to keep him away from Eastern Conference rival Miami.
  • Also in Buckner’s article, some of the Pacers players weighed in on the signing. Paul George said it’s a big gamble on the team’s behalf, and noted that, “He’ll have to prove a lot to himself, whether he wants to play or not. If he comes in ready to go, ready to put in the work, really buying into our program, we have no problem being there for him.” Ian Mahinmi is the player who stands to be most affected by Bynum’s minutes. He stated, “My only concern is for the team. Whatever makes us better as long as we keep winning and we keep taking steps toward the championship, I’m fine with that.” Not all the players were willing to discuss the new addition. Both David West and George Hill refused to discuss Bynum, and directed any questions towards Bird or coach Frank Vogel.
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Odds & Ends: Bynum, Silver, Boozer, Carmelo

February 1st, 2014 at 2:27pm CST by Charlie Adams

News broke this morning that the Pacers officially signed Andrew Bynum to contract that covers the remainder of the season. The former All-Star didn’t find a fit in Cleveland, and a tweet from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reveals that part of Bynum’s frustration with the Cavs was aimed at Kyrie Irving. A source tells Amico that Bynum didn’t believe the team “knew how to win.” Here are a few tidbits from Saturday afternoon around the NBA:

  • The Bleacher Report interviewed some notable NBA figures to get a bunch of interesting ideas they’d like to see new commissioner Adam Silver tackle, including raising the NBA draft age limit, getting a team in Seattle, and changing salary structures.
  • Mike McGraw of The Daily Herald believes the Bulls will use the amnesty clause on Carlos Boozer, but suggests that more of a shakeup will be needed to sign Carmelo Anthony. McGraw thinks the Bulls need to move Taj Gibson in order to create room for Anthony.
  • Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post thinks Nate Robinson‘s season-ending ACL tear will have two definitive effects: the Nuggets will require a guard in return for Andre Miller (on the trading block), and Robinson will likely pick up his $2.1MM player option for next season rather than testing free agency before proving he’s back on the other side of surgery and rehab.
  • Jodie Meeks tells Mark Medina of L.A. Daily News that he hopes he can stay with Lakers after this season: “I love it here and hope I can stay a long time.” He’s on the last year of a two-year, $3.05MM contract and is one of many Lakers that come off the books for next season.
  • The Warriors announced in a press release that they’ve officially assigned MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore to the Santa Cruz Warriors. This confirms a report we passed along earlier this afternoon that said the duo would be heading to the D-League.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

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