Eastern Notes: Bynum, Pacers, Heat
A quick look at the Eastern Conference..
- The Pacers are a team that highly values and thrives with team chemistry, which would lead many to assume they wouldn’t target a player like Andrew Bynum. But that might not stop them from pursuing the free agent big man: ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter) confirms Indiana is a potential suitor, backing up The Plain Dealer’s Mary Schmitt Boyer, who first mentioned the possibility yesterday.
- Stein says (Twitter link) that the Pacers‘ interest in Bynum is likely motivated more by a desire to keep him off of the rival Heat‘s roster than to tinker with the Pacers’ chemistry.
- Pacers veteran Rasual Butler was among those who managed to keep his job following last week’s contract guarantee deadline, notes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. “People had written him off,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “He made up his mind that he wasn’t done yet, that he was going to keep working and keep trying. . . . It’s a good story.“
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Drake, Raptors, Cavs, Bynum
In September the Raptors and rapper Drake agreed to a partnership in preparation for the Raptors 20th anniversary and the 2016 All-Star game. A product of that partnership was tonight’s game being labeled “Drake Night” featuring among other festivities, Drake announcing Toronto’s starting line up. Prior to the evening, Drake held a press conference in which he disclosed (Twitter Link) to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that he has weekly discussions with Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and CEO Tim Leiweke. Whether Drake is the one advising the Raptors to “start from the bottom” and draft Andrew Wiggins next summer is still to be seen.
- Speaking of Raptors transactions, Sean Highkin of USA Today describes how Toronto has changed for the better since the Rudy Gay trade. Additionally, Highkin points out the Raptors aren’t the only one doing better as Gay himself has improved since joining the Kings.
- Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times examined the contract situations for the impact players on the Sixers to preview what next year’s lineup could look like. Moore is of the belief that the current roster, two lottery picks, and $30MM in available free agency money isn’t enough to solve the Sixers missing pieces.
- Now that the dust has settled from the Cavaliers trade for Luol Deng, Bob Finnan of The News-Herald details what Deng will be seeking in free agency next summer. Finnan believes the Cavaliers won’t be able to keep Deng around if he becomes an unrestricted free agent so Cleveland will have to try their best to extend Deng for the maximum three-years, $49.5MM before June 30th. Deng has already shown by turning down Chicago’s extension offer that he believes his value is above $10MM per year but has repeatedly denied ever asking for a deal near $15MM a year.
- Finnan also evaluates what Andrew Bynum‘s options may be with his upcoming free agent decision. It looks like the Heat may still be a favorite. The Pacers and Rockets are also being rumored as options according to Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer.
- Cavaliers GM Chris Grant didn’t rule out the possibility of another trade prior to the deadline but he did tell Boyer of The Plain Dealer that his preference is to not be active and let the guys “settle in and learn”. In relation to settling in, Boyer also believes the Cavs plan to stick long term with both Anthony Bennett and Anderson Varejao.
Bynum Options: Clippers, Heat, Pacers, Hawks
The dust has barely settled from the Bulls waiving Andrew Bynum this afternoon before teams are beginning to be rumored as possible landing places for the All Star center. Here are a few of the teams rumored to be in the lead for his services.
- The Heat and Clippers have been rumored to be Bynum favorites even before he was traded and waived. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald confirmed those rumors in a tweet this evening. The Heat and Clippers are both already in the luxury tax, so signing Bynum would cost those teams more than just his salary. The Clippers would only be able to sign Bynum to the minimum salary ($1.19MM) whereas the Heat still have their full $3.2MM mini mid-level exception remaining.
- In the same tweet, Finnan speculates the Pacers may also try to sign Bynum purely to ensure the Heat can’t sign him. The Pacers are below the luxury tax but would only be able to offer up to $2.15MM to Bynum via their mid-level exception.
- With center Al Horford out for the season, and a freshly opened roster spot, the Hawks are in the running for Bynum, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Amico adds that Bynum has also previously lived in Atlanta. Due to Horford’s season-ending injury, the Hawks could request the disabled player exception from the league. If Atlanta is granted this exception, the club could offer Bynum up to $5.15MM in salary for a one-year deal.
Players Whose Contracts Will Be Guaranteed
As we outlined earlier today, players on non-guaranteed contracts who aren’t released by 4:00pm central time will have their full 2013/14 salaries guaranteed. We’ll be keeping tabs in this post on players who have been informed they’ll remain on their respective teams’ rosters, with new updates added to the top of the list throughout the afternoon:
- Barring an unexpected development, the Pacers will guarantee Rasual Butler‘s contract today, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
Earlier updates:
- The Timberwolves don’t intend to make any roster moves today, which means the contracts for A.J. Price and Robbie Hummel should become guaranteed, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
- As anticipated, the Lakers plan to keep Ryan Kelly, Xavier Henry, and Kendall Marshall, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (via Twitter).
- Ronnie Brewer‘s contract will be guaranteed for the remainder of the season by the Rockets, says Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
- The Bobcats will retain Jeff Adrien beyond today, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports (via Twitter) that Chris Douglas-Roberts‘ contract will become guaranteed, as the Bobcats won’t cut him today.
- Kent Bazemore is also safe, with the Warriors informing him he’ll remain on the roster, tweets Haynes.
- The Spurs have informed Malcolm Thomas that he won’t be waived, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Eastern Notes: Pacers, Young, Harrellson
The Pacers announced their recall of Solomon Hill from the D-League today, a move that came none too soon for the rookie, as Scott Agness of Pacers.com details. Hill averaged 29.5 minutes in two games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, about 10 fewer minutes per game than Pacers teammate Orlando Johnson saw during his assignments to the D-League last season.
“The D-League is for developing talent and I didn’t get a chance to play,” Hill said. “I sat the whole fourth quarter. It’s like, is it really a developmental league? I’m very grateful for the opportunity to play with the Mad Ants organization, but in order for me to try to develop, I have to be on the floor. That just makes me think about my next trip, if I want to go back down there. I’m kind of not tempted to go back down there now just because if I go down there and play 25 minutes after a two-hour drive, it’s like, am I really developing?”
Hill went on to say that he still feels like he got something from the experience, but it’s a reminder that the continued growth of the D-League will face some resistance. Pacers coach Frank Vogel doesn’t believe in sending players to the D-League if they don’t want to go, so don’t count on seeing Hill in Fort Wayne again. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Any team in the league would love to have Thaddeus Young, an NBA executive tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, who calls the forward the Sixers‘ best trade chip. Young says to Cooney that he wants to be in a winning situation, but he laughs off the notion that he’s disgruntled with the Sixers.
- This time around, Josh Harrellson doesn’t have to worry as much about Tuesday’s contract guarantee date, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. The Pistons forward didn’t survive the cut with the Heat last season, but this year, he’s a rotation player and much more likely to stick.
- As the Cavs ponder their options with Andrew Bynum, the Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto implores the team to make a move to upgrade its roster and stick to its plan of striving for a playoff berth this season.
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if the Heat should consider making a run at the recently waived Hedo Turkoglu. Rashard Lewis more or less already has the role that Turkoglu would fill as a big man with range, even if there’s no such thing as too much three-point shooting, Winderman writes.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Central Links: West, Pistons, Bucks
No Central teams are in action tonight, but that doesn’t mean none of them are in the news. Let’s round up a few Friday updates from out of the division….
- In a conversation with Grantland’s Zach Lowe, David West reveals that another team contacted him on the first day of free agency last summer before he re-signed with the Pacers, but West doesn’t identify which team made that call.
- Despite the team’s recent slump, David Mayo of MLive.com doesn’t think the Pistons will trade Greg Monroe anytime soon, since they’ve set up their cap so that they can afford to keep Monroe, Andre Drummond, and Josh Smith for at least a couple more seasons.
- The Bucks weren’t sure if Giannis Antetokounmpo would average more than three or four minutes a game this season, and yet the 15th overall pick from this past June is in Milwaukee’s starting lineup, observes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- Jazz forward Marvin Williams has a fan in Bucks coach Larry Drew, who previously coached Williams in Atlanta. While Williams isn’t likely to be traded to Milwaukee, it sounds like Drew would love to coach the former No. 2 pick again, as he tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: “He’s my guy. I love that kid. He’s just a good basketball player, but he’s (also) a terrific kid…. He was one of my favorites while we were in Atlanta.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Pistons, Copeland, Hill
The failure of Cleveland’s Andrew Bynum experiment has dominated headlines this weekend across the NBA, but while the Cavs have their share of problems, so do most of their rivals in the Central Division. Only the Pacers, with a 24-5 record that’s tied for the league’s best, are any better than four games beneath .500. We’ll pass along a couple of takes on Bynum here amid a larger look at the Central:
- The tension between Josh Smith and Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks that led to Smith’s benching for the second half last night is an ominous sign for the team, as Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News examines.
- Chris Copeland sought the counsel of his then-Knicks teammates as he contemplated his free agency last summer, and Jason Kidd was particularly helpful, Copeland tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. The Pacers forward is confident that Kidd, who’s struggling in his first year as coach of the Nets, has the leadership ability to do the job.
- The Pacers have assigned Solomon Hill to the D-League, the team announced. Hill says via Twitter that he asked for the assignment (hat tip to Buckner). Coach Frank Vogel has said that the team didn’t have plans to send Hill down, but the rookie guard has been on the inactive list since Danny Granger returned from injury, Buckner notes (All Twitter links).
- None of the moves the Cavaliers made this past offseason have worked out, including the Bynum signing, and that doesn’t bode well for the franchise after one of the most important summers in its history, opines Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
- Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding argues that Bynum’s free-spirited personality will keep him from once more overcoming his creaky knees and becoming the All-Star he once was, and Ding imparts some of the blame on coach Mike Brown.
Odds & Ends: Magic, Stephenson, Warriors
Shortly after playing in his first game back since he suffered a torn meniscus, Solomon Jones told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel he is enjoying more than being able to return to playing for the Magic. Jones, who is playing on a minimum salary contract this season, has enjoyed living close to his childhood home and his family. Averaging almost eight minutes in the games he has played, it will be seen whether Jones will play his way into another season near his home town.
A few other notes around the league.
- According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter Link), rival NBA executives are predicting that Pacers guard Lance Stephenson will be worth between $7-9MM per season when he enters free agency next summer. While the Pacers and Stephenson have both expressed interest in re-signing with each other next season, a $9MM price tag would almost guarantee they will only be able to re-sign either Stephenson or fellow Pacer free agent, Danny Granger.
- The Warriors have assigned center Ognjen Kuzmic and guard Nemanja Nedovic to their NBA D-League team, the Santa Cruz Warriors. In a team announcement, the Warriors said both rookies will be able to play in tonight’s D-League game. Kuzmic has missed most of this season with a hand injury but has averaged 4.1 MPG in the games he has played with the Warriors. Nedovic has appeared in all but 10 of the Warriors games averaging 6.4 MPG, and 1.1 PPG.
- According to Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal, the Cavaliers biggest need this season is at the small forward position. Former head coach Byron Scott told Lloyd in the summer of 2012 that the Cavaliers have been trying to resolve that position for some time but have not been successful to date. Aware that Cleveland spent their first overall pick on small forward Anthony Bennett, Lloyd still thinks the Cavaliers are looking to fill that hole and could do so in this season’s trade market. The only issue according to Lloyd is every inquiring team wants Dion Waiters in any trade they do with Cleveland which is a move the Cavaliers are unwilling to make.
- Although we knew Brook Lopez‘s season is over, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York reports that Brook Lopez will undergo surgery on his foot January 4th officially ending his 2013/14 campaign. Unless the Nets trade him, Lopez will be back for Brooklyn next season continuing the 4 year contract he signed back in 2012.
Eastern Links: Nets, West, Deng, Shumpert
Nets players are reportedly confused about their roles on the team amid an organizational lack of patience with Jason Kidd, but Deron Williams tells Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that he thinks the players still support their coach.
“If we were losing some close games and he was making some bad decisions, that would be one thing, but that’s not the case,” Williams said. “We got blown out [Wednesday]. He can’t make us outrebound teams, he can’t make us put the extra little bit in to get over the hump. That’s on us as players to come out and play better.”
There’s more news on the Nets amid our look at the Eastern Conference:
- Pacers power forward David West considered signing with the Nets after the lockout in 2011, but the Teaneck, N.J., native tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that the team wasn’t interested because of fears regarding his recovery from a torn ACL.
- The Bulls aren’t keen on the idea of trading Luol Deng and if they did, they’d need a piece that solidifies their future, which means they’d require someone better than Iman Shumpert of the Knicks, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.
- The Raptors are looking to the future and would ideally like to build with the draft, but in a strange twist of fate, they’re winning games and they may not get that choice lottery pick, writes Howard Beck of the Bleacher Report. Part of the reason for their success could be that several players — as well as coach Dwane Casey — are in their walk years.
- The Heat are off to a strong start and so is their D-League affiliate, notes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Carmelo, LeBron, Korver, Butler
Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Eastern Conference:
- Carmelo Anthony is a free agent at the end of the season, but Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports the Knicks are quite confident they’ll re-sign the All-Star forward. Said one executive: “They’re one confident bunch… To listen to them, they expect to have Carmelo re-signed and have another star with him in another year. They’re so sure about it you’d think they already know what will happen.“
- The Heat’s LeBron James is another potential free agent, but Kennedy reports in the same post that James isn’t giving next summer much thought: “I’m so zoned in on what my task is here this year that it’s hard to think about anything else.” James can exercise the early termination clause in his contract and become a free agent at the end of the year, but he certainly sounds content in Miami: “What is there not to like about Miami?” James said. “It is a home. My family is very happy; I’m very comfortable.”
- Hawks GM Danny Ferry has been pleased with Kyle Korver‘s production this year, revealed Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. Korver re-signed with Atlanta this offseason. In her piece, Boyer passes along a few fond words that Ferry had about Korver: “I respect him. As we build our culture, our environment here in Atlanta, having Kyle back as a part of that was exciting.”
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Rasual Butler hasn’t always had a reputation as an asset in the locker room, but Frank Vogel insists that hasn’t been the case during the veteran’s time with the Pacers, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star observes. Butler didn’t make the team out of camp solely because Danny Granger had been slow to recover from injury, Vogel adds.
- The Pistons announced today via press release that they have assigned rookies Tony Mitchell and Peyton Siva to the D-League. The duo will get to see minutes playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.