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NBADL Expects To Add Multiple Teams In 2017/18

January 23rd, 2017 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA D-League is close to finalizing the addition of multiple teams for the 2017/18 season, league president Malcolm Turner tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The NBADL is expected to make an announcement on expansion within the next few weeks, perhaps before this year’s NBA All-Star Game, with the league likely to add at least two new teams.

For now, there has been no definitive word on which cities or NBA teams may be involved in the latest round of D-League expansion, but as of this season, there are only eight NBA clubs without an affiliate, so the possibilities are limited.

The Magic have an agreement in place to buy their current affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, and move the team to Lakeland, Florida. According to Howard-Cooper, there’s speculation that Erie could retain a D-League team, with the Hawks replacing the Magic as the club’s NBA affiliate. Atlanta has an affiliate of its own lined up, but that team isn’t expected to begin play until the 2019/20 season.

According to Howard-Cooper, the Wizards and Bucks are among the other NBA teams currently without affiliates that could have an NBADL team in 2017/18. The Clippers have also explored some Southern California venues, but aren’t expected to be ready to launch a D-League team by next season, Howard-Cooper writes.

Meanwhile, the D-League may also change how it runs its annual showcase event, which took place in Mississauga, Ontario last week. The D-League’s showcase serves as an opportunity for NBA and international scouts to assess the league’s talent in one place without having to travel to scout individual teams and games. Per Howard-Cooper, the league would like to either hold the showcase in the same place every year, or establish a rotation of three or four locations for the event.

“I couldn’t tell you specifically where, but I do think we would like to explore, A, whether or not there is such a thing as a permanent home for Showcase or, B, are there two or three venues that we can have in a rotation to different parts of the country, different parks of North America,” Turner said. “Those are a couple scenarios that we would like to spend a little bit of time understanding.”

Clippers' Window Could Be Closing

January 22nd, 2017 at 10:13pm CST by Austin Kent

The Clippers could soon face the reality that their championship window is closing, writes Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Years of attrition has taken its toll on the club and they may not get many more opportunities to contend for a ring with the current squad.

Griffin Feels Ready To Return Tuesday

January 22nd, 2017 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Blake Griffin plans to be ready for the Clippers game Tuesday at Philadelphia, relays Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Griffin has missed 17 games since undergoing minor knee surgery December 20th. “It’s as close as I can be, I think,” Griffin said Saturday. “It was good to get some contact in yesterday. So it’s good to get some like real work in besides just running and shooting. It’s kind of up to them.”

Clippers A Possibility For Wade?

January 22nd, 2017 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Fiscal realities will probably keep Dwyane Wade in Chicago past this season, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Wade has a player option on next year’s $23.8MM salary, an amount that Winderman doesn’t think he’ll get from any other organization at age 35. If the Bulls opt to rebuild, the columnist believes Wade would consider taking an $8MM mid-level exception to team up with one of his close friends, either LeBron James in Cleveland, Chris Paul in Los Angeles or Carmelo Anthony in New York. A return to Miami is unlikely next season, Winderman states, but could be conceivable for 2018/19.

There’s more news from the Central Division:

Trading Reggie Jackson isn’t the right answer for the Pistons, argues Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News. A rumor made the rounds Friday that Detroit was considering a deal with Minnesota involving Jackson and Ricky Rubio. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy contacted Jackson and assured him it wasn’t true. Wojnowski states that it would be a mistake for the team to trade its floor leader after investing so heavily in him two years ago. “If he traded me, I told him it was news to me,” Jackson said. “I appreciated the text, just let me know I’m his guy. But I don’t really pay attention much to it.”
The Bucks held Jabari Parker out of the starting lineup Saturday as punishment for talking to the media about locker room conversations, discloses Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Parker made comments on a team meeting earlier this week, which is a violation of team rules. “I spoke up for the first time, and it didn’t go my way,” he told the media. “I was getting thrashed, but hey, as long as I give them another perspective, I did my job.”
The Cavaliers‘ need for a backup point guard was on display in Saturday’s nationally televised loss to the Spurs, writes Joe Vardon of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. In the overtime defeat, the Cavs were outscored 17-2 to start the second quarter and 12-1 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Clippers Notes: Griffin, Rivers, Paul, Mavericks

January 20th, 2017 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers are hoping Blake Griffin will be able to play during their upcoming road trip, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. The star forward has been sidelined since undergoing surgery in December to clear some “loose bodies” in his right knee. Griffin underwent stress tests on the knee Thursday and is expected to participate in some contact work today. The team is hoping he will be medically cleared for game action during the five-game trip, which extends through February 1st.

There’s more Clippers news out of Los Angeles:

Coach Doc Rivers suspected a problem with Griffin’s knee when he noticed the All-Star forward wasn’t getting past defenders as easily as he normally does. Rivers told Rowan Kavner of NBA.com that Griffin is starting to regain that ability again. “He looks great,” the coach said. “I don’t think the timeframe has changed. I know he feels wonderful. He looks like he’s explosive again.”
Rivers is planning to use several players to make up for the loss of Chris Paul, who will be out six to eight weeks following thumb surgery, Woike writes in a separate story. That means increased minutes for Raymond Felton, Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick and possibly Austin Rivers. “It’s still next man up,” Doc Rivers said. “You take the top two players from any team, it makes it harder, but I don’t agree that it means that you struggle. You lose two guys, there’s nothing you can do about it. I think our guys have handled it well.”
The Mavericks have a surplus of point guards who might interest the Clippers, suggests Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas could offer Deron Williams, who will be a free agent after this season, Devin Harris, who is signed for one more year at a little more than $4.4MM, or J.J. Barea, who has two seasons left at about $3.9MM and $3.7MM.

Stein’s Latest: Nurkic, Millsap, Gay, Tucker

January 20th, 2017 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The latest column from ESPN.com’s Marc Stein is filled with fresh rumors as next month’s trade deadline approaches. We’ve already shared the Bulls’ interest in Chris Bosh and the Magic’s offer for Goran Dragic. Here are some more intriguing trade tidbits:

Nuggets big man Jusuf Nurkic is almost certain to be traded before the February 23rd deadline. Denver officials admitted that pairing Nurkic with Nikola Jokic didn’t work, and they want to ship him to a team where he has a chance to be a starting center.
Teams are very skeptical about the Hawks‘ assertion that All-Star forward Paul Millsap has been pulled from trade consideration. The 31-year-old has a player option worth nearly $21.5MM for next season and is expected to test the free agent market.
The Kings had numerous offers for Rudy Gay, mostly during the offseason but also more recently, but elected to keep him in hopes of earning a playoff spot. The Thunder, Heat and Blazers were the most interested teams last summer. Gay is out for the season after tearing an Achilles tendon Wednesday night.
The Kings would like to find teams willing to take Ben McLemore and Arron Afflalo.
The Clippers offered the Suns a future second-round pick for P.J. Tucker, but Phoenix is holding out for a first-rounder. The Clippers owe their first-round pick this year to Toronto and in 2019 to Boston, so the next first-rounder they could offer would be in 2021.
Tucker and Brandon Knight are considered the most available Suns. Coach Earl Watson said this week that the team will not trade veteran center Tyson Chandler.
The Nuggets would like to sign Alonzo Gee to another 10-day contract once Mo Williams clears waivers. Gee’s first 10-day contract expired Wednesday, the same day Williams was waived after being acquired in a trade with the Hawks.

P.J. Tucker Drawing Trade Interest

January 19th, 2017 at 10:04am CST by Will Joseph

The market for P.J. Tucker, who is on track for unrestricted free agency this summer, is growing and several teams hold interest in acquiring the veteran small forward, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports. The Clippers, Bulls, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Hawks all have interest in trading for Tucker, who is known for is defensive prowess, Gambadoro reports.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Knicks had interest in Tucker as well, but Gambadoro did not add New York to his list. Gambadoro cautions that a trade may not get done for a few reasons. The main one seems to be that Phoenix is also interested in re-signing Tucker because it does not have another player like him with his defensive and rebounding abilities, Gambadoro writes. Unless the Suns are confident they can re-sign him, however, it makes to shop him around.

The Suns likely aren’t willing to part with Tucker unless they can get a first-round pick or good prospect in return, Gambadoro reports, and for a team like the Clippers, that may be a deal-breaker, considering Tucker is only a marginal upgrade over someone like Wesley Johnson. This is simply my speculation, but of the teams listed, a larger trade would likely have to take place for it to make sense because those clubs do not have much to offer in terms of draft picks or young talent.

Tucker has made only 17 starts for the Suns this season, but has appeared in 41 games. His minutes are down a bit at 27.4 per game. Never known as a particularly strong shooter, Tucker is averaging 6.3 points per game and is attempting 5.7 field goals per game. His 5.7 rebounds per game is lower than any of his averages in that category in his three previous seasons with the Suns.

Clippers Notes: Paul, Rivers, Griffin

January 18th, 2017 at 10:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

J.J. Redick said Chris Paul‘s “spirits are good” after undergoing thumb surgery today, relays Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Paul is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks with the injury that he suffered Monday against the Thunder. The Clippers are hoping to get Blake Griffin back soon from minor knee surgery in December, and coach Doc Rivers said he will adjust the rotation until everyone is healthy. “We still have new guys — Alan [Anderson] is new and Raymond [Felton] is new and Mo [Marreese Speights] and Brandon [Bass],” Rivers said. “This is a good opportunity for them to learn how to execute together. When everyone is back, when you get Chris and Blake back, if this group can execute … I think it makes us better in the long run. This is not the way you want to do it, but this is the way it’s been presented.”

There’s more Clippers news from Los Angeles:

Rivers, who also serves as president of basketball operations, said the team may consider some roster moves to help ease the loss of Paul, Turner adds in the same story. L.A. has four healthy guards right now and three of them — Redick, Felton and Austin Rivers — are starters. “We can’t always do something,” Rivers said about a potential move. “But we always look.”
Paul’s injury could doom the last shot at playoff success for this current group of Clippers, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. L.A. is fourth in the West at 29-14, but could easily fall behind Utah, Oklahoma City and Memphis while Paul is sidelined. That would mean a first-round series without home court advantage. If the Clippers are bounced from the playoffs early again, they may decide not to keep both Paul and Griffin, who can both become free agents this summer. Re-signing them would push the team payroll to around $150MM, plus about $100MM in luxury tax penalties. Mannix notes that Rivers may not want to coach a rebuilding team, something he wasn’t willing to do in Boston, especially with the Clippers not having first-round picks this year or in 2019.
The loss of Paul probably kills any chance of a Griffin trade, according to Mitch Lawrence of Forbes.

Chris Paul Out 6-8 Weeks

January 17th, 2017 at 6:20pm CST by Austin Kent

6:49pm: Paul is expected to undergo surgery to repair the torn ligament, according to ESPN.

6:20pm: Superstar guard Chris Paul has torn a ligament in his left thumb, tweets Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, and is expected to miss six to eight weeks of action for the Clippers.

After leaving Monday’s game against the Thunder early, basic X-Rays came back negative. On Tuesday, Paul was sent for an MRI which revealed the damage to the ligament in his left hand.

In 36 games this year, Paul has averaged 17.5 points and 9.7 assists per game. He’s played a characteristically massive role in the Clippers’ bid for a home-court berth in the Western Conference playoff picture. Even without Blake Griffin since mid-December, Los Angeles has managed to compile a 29-14 record.

Paul is signed to a $22.9MM contract this season and has an early termination option for the final year of his contract next season. Should he return within the quote timetable, he’ll be back on the court for Los Angeles between late February and mid-March.

The news that Paul will miss significant time comes on the heels of reports that the team will soon expect Griffin to make his return.

Paul Injures Thumb, Griffin Regains Explosiveness

January 17th, 2017 at 6:05pm CST by Austin Kent

Another injury has hit the Clippers, this time point guard Chris Paul. After leaving Monday’s game with a thumb injury, Paul underwent a basic X-Ray which came back negative. The guard was scheduled to have an MRI performed on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury. “That’s the one injury we get,” head coach Doc Rivers told Rowan Kavner of the Clippers’ official site. “You know the pain. I’m sure CP was thinking the worst at the time. He’s already got pretty good news with the normal X-ray being negative. You’ve just got to hope for the best.”
Fortunately for the Clippers, good news continues to trickle in about Blake Griffin. “He looks like he’s explosive again,” Rivers told “He looks like he’s explosive again.” Per Woike, Griffin is expected to travel with the team on a three-game road trip starting on Saturday.