Clippers To Work Out Six Prospects
- In addition to A.J. English, whose scheduled workout was previously reported, the Clippers will take a closer look at Gary Payton II, Malcolm Brogdon, Danuel House, Marshall Plumlee, and Josh Scott on Wednesday, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.
Clips To Work Out English
- A.J. English has worked out for the Lakers , Zagoria reports (Twitter link). The Iona product will work out for the Clippers on Wednesday and the Mavs on Thursday
Draft Notes: Ingram, Maker, Briscoe
One league executive told Chad Ford of ESPN.com that Brandon Ingram’s future in the NBA will be at the shooting guard position. “Back when the Pacers used to play Paul George at the 2, I felt like that was his best position,” the executive told Ford. “I feel the same way about Ingram. That’s where he can be devastating and his lack of strength won’t come back to haunt him. If he becomes a superstar, I think it will be because he developed the ability to play that spot.” Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors profiled Ingram earlier today.
- Thon Maker will play the five spot as he develops in the league, one anonymous GM tells Ford, as he writes in the same piece. Ford speculates that the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers and Suns may look to draft the Australian. All four of those teams have multiple first round picks.
- Most scouts aren’t optimistic about Perry Ellis’ chances of hearing his name called on draft night, though some have him going in the second round, Ford adds in the same piece.
- Isaiah Briscoe has worked out for the Wolves today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Briscoe will also work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, Zagoria adds.
Pacific Notes: Curry, Blatt, Shaw, Crawford
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry has earned a raise, but the Warriors can’t afford to renegotiate, writes Danny Leroux of The Sporting News. Curry will receive a little more than $12.1MM next season in the final year of his contract, about half of what other top stars make. Working out a new deal over the summer would prevent Curry from reaching free agency, but it would also upend the team’s salary structure, Leroux warns.
Curry is eligible for a new contract because he will be entering the fifth year of his current deal. However, any raise he receives — and it would surely be a maximum contract starting in the neighborhood of $25.9MM — would drain Golden State’s cap space. The Warriors plan to operate under the cap this summer, and a new contract for Curry could cost the team Harrison Barnes or Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli. Also, the NBA limits renegotiated extensions to four seasons, which would include 2016/17. If Curry waits until free agency next summer, he can receive a five-year contract that would run through 2021/22, and he could receive even more money if max deals are increased as part of a 2017 labor renegotiation.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- David Blatt is not on Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s short list to become his top assistant, tweets Monte Poole of CSNBayArea. Kerr was interested in Blatt for the position two years ago.
- Brian Shaw is nearing a return to the Lakers as lead assistant, but the rest of Luke Walton’s staff is uncertain, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Shaw, who was an assistant in L.A. under Phil Jackson from 2005-11, was also rumored to be a candidate for assistant posts with the Pacers and Magic, Oram reports. He adds that no one knows if any members of former head coach Byron Scott’s staff will be retained, as Walton may seek coaches with ties to the Lakers or he may try to lure other assistants from Golden State, where Walton had been serving as lead assistant.
- Shaw’s hiring is imminent, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News, who says the two sides are finalizing the contract.
- It wouldn’t take a playoff team to pry free agent combo guard Jamal Crawford away from the Clippers, tweets Noah Coslov of CineSport. “Definitely money, situation, could be a team on the rise,” Crawford said in listing his priorities in an interview on Bleacher Report Radio. “Doesn’t have to be contender.”
Latest On 2016 NBA Draft
- Indiana junior small forward Troy Williams is still undecided on whether or not he will remain in this year’s NBA draft, Scott Agness of VigilantSports tweets. Williams, who is the No. 86 overall prospect according to Givony, has upcoming workouts with the Lakers, Clippers, and Pelicans, Agness notes.
- Working out for the Clippers on Wednesday will be Isaiah Taylor (Texas), Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson) and Robert Carter (Maryland), Dan Woike of The Orange County Register tweets.
Ben Bentil Working Out For Lakers, Clippers
- Providence forward Ben Bentil will audition for both Los Angeles teams this week, working out for the Lakers and Clippers on Wednesday and Thursday, a source tells Zagoria (Twitter link).
Doc Rivers Talks Offseason, Green, Stephenson
In a conversation with ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Clippers head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers discussed a handful of interesting topics, including the Blake Griffin-Matias Testi incident, his relationship with Austin Rivers, and J.J. Redick‘s podcast.
Rivers also weighed in on some of the possible personnel decisions facing the Clippers, and addressed the impact of some decisions that he and the club have made in the past. Here are a few of the more notable quotes from Doc’s conversation with Lowe:
On whether he boxed the Clippers into a corner by saying the team won’t trade its top three players (Chris Paul, Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan):
“I don’t worry about the corner thing, ever. I’m always gonna do what’s good for the team. You don’t ever do anything but that. But I feel like the best thing for the team right now is to keep them together. Can that change? Of course it can change. But I don’t think it will.”
On whether Jeff Green will be the Clippers’ starting small forward in 2016/17:
“We gotta sign him first. … We don’t need a superstar [small forward]. We have superstars at other positions. We need guys who are complementary players. Jeff is terrific in that role.”
On Lance Stephenson and why he didn’t work out for the Clippers:
“He played great for Memphis. He wasn’t a great fit for us. Defensively — that’s where I was more disappointed, and shocked. I look at that body, and that athleticism, and I think: That’s a prototypical great defender. And he’s not that. … But I’ll tell you one thing — he’s not a bad kid. He gets cast as this malcontent bad kid, and Lance was never that. I thought he was funny. The guys liked him. But Lance wants to score every time he touches the ball, and he’s not that type of guy.”
On whether Rivers is concerned that the Clippers have given up too many draft picks:
“Yeah. I am. I think we had to because of the cap situation we inherited, but we’re starting to get some back. The best thing to happen to us is we get the Brooklyn pick at the start of the second round. That’s a big deal for us. So now, I think we have a chance to get healthy, get picks and keep building our team.”
Draft Combine Update: Friday Afternoon
The Celtics have a tentative workout scheduled with Duke small forward Brandon Ingram, a prime contender to become the No. 1 pick, reports Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The outcome of the lottery will determine whether it takes place, according to Murphy, and presumably, the Celtics will have to land one of the top two selections. Ingram is the top prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and second in the listings Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles.
See more draft news on day three of the combine:
- Syracuse shooting guard Malachi Richardson and Kansas forward/center Cheick Diallo have told teams they’ve decided to stay in the draft rather than pull out by May 25th to retain their college eligibility, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The Pacers, Warriors, Spurs, Wizards, Rockets and Mavericks are among the teams that have spoken with Syracuse swingman Michael Gbinije, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson has interviewed with the Suns, Spurs, Kings, Trail Blazers and Bucks, observes Rod Beard of The Detroit News, who also cites Jackson’s previously reported interview with the Pistons.
- Villanova shooting guard Josh Hart has worked out for the Clippers and has another workout scheduled with the Hawks on May 24th, as Zagoria relays. He’ll also work out for the Celtics and Spurs, and his previously reported workout with the Sixers takes place Monday, Zagoria reveals. The Knicks, Wizards, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Pacers, Grizzlies and Jazz interviewed Hart at the combine, according to Zagoria.
- Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan has the Pistons, Hawks, Wizards and Suns among the teams on his interview list, Zagoria tweets.
Clippers To Work Out A.J. English
- Former Iona combo guard A.J. English has workouts scheduled for later this month with the Pistons, Mavericks, Lakers and Clippers, Josh Thomson of The Journal News relays.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Clippers
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Clippers made eight assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending two players to the D-League for a total of 165 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Los Angeles for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 5th: Assigned Branden Dawson (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- November 5th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- December 4th: Assigned Branden Dawson (2nd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled December 24th
- December 16th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (2nd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled January 9th
- January 3rd: Assigned Branden Dawson (3rd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled January 31st
- February 22nd: Assigned Branden Dawson (4th) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled March 12th
- March 6th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (3rd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 16th
- March 22nd: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (4th) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 28th
Here is how the Clippers’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Branden Dawson: In 29 games, Dawson averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 21.1 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .518/.444/.576.
- C.J. Wilcox: In 21 appearances, Wilcox averaged 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32.7 minutes per night. His shooting line was .458/.417/.836.