Clippers Notes: Griffin, Rivers, Smith, Tskitishvili
Clippers forward Blake Griffin will be out of action for at least two weeks after suffering a partially torn left quadriceps, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. That means Griffin will miss at least six games before being re-evaluated two weeks from now. The team is hoping that rest and physical therapy will be enough to treat the injury, a source told Dan Woike of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). A source close to Griffin tells Ken Berger of CBS Sports that the Clippers are confident two to three weeks of that treatment will be sufficient for Griffin to recover (Twitter link). “Tough break,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. “Blake was playing so well. We just have to keep pushing forward until his return.” The five-time All-Star is averaging 23.2 points and 8.7 rebounds through 30 games.
There’s more Clipper-related news out of Los Angeles:
- Rivers is taking a calm approach to the team’s 17-13 start, Woike writes in a separate story. The Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference standings but have been disappointing against the league’s best clubs, compiling just a 5-11 record against teams that currently hold playoff spots. Still, the coach said immediate changes aren’t needed. “I’ve had some teams where I would be panicked now,” Rivers said. “I’d have some teams where I’d go to sleep right now, they’ll be fine. So I think it depends on your team. This is a team that is just a team in motion. We made a lot of changes. It takes time.”
- The Christmas Day win over the Lakers marked the second straight game in which Josh Smith was left out of the rotation, Woike notes in the same article. Smith signed a veteran’s minimum deal with the Clippers in July, but he’s struggled to find a role with the team. He is averaging just 5.9 points and 14.6 minutes of playing time this season. Rivers gave Smith’s normal minutes to Cole Aldrich Friday night.
- Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who spent part of training camp with the Clippers, will soon be joining Champville in Lebanon, tweets international journalist David Pick. Tskitishvili has spent parts of this season in China and Japan after L.A. waived him in early October.
Western Notes: Griffin, Morris, Nowitzki
The Clippers have been a disappointment thus far this season after the franchise added numerous offseason pieces in an attempt to bolster its depth, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post writes. “We haven’t won any big games,” said power forward Blake Griffin. “We haven’t won the games you go into it thinking, ‘Okay, this is one we have to get.’ We’ve lost all those games.” Griffin also notes that the team trying to get all its new personnel on the same page can no longer be used as an excuse, Bontemps adds.
“That was kind of the narrative early on,” Griffin told Bontemps, when asked if trying get everyone on the same page was still a legitimate excuse. “But after however many games, you can’t keep saying that over and over. At a certain point, it can’t be about new guys. It’s just got to be about buying in. Every team has some new guys. Most teams have some new guys. We have to figure something out. We have to be better than this. We are better than this and we’re not showing it.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Suns GM Ryan McDonough said that the team would have disciplined any of its players the same way as Markieff Morris, whom the club handed a two-game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during Wednesday’s game, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “We try not to be punitive with these kind of things,” McDonough said. “We try to be fair. That’s why we consulted with the league. Sometimes, these things do get emotional. We asked for their opinion. There was precedent for these kind of situations but we would’ve done the same thing if it was any of the other 14 players on the roster.“
- Despite the Mavericks‘ attempts to add big name players, power forward Dirk Nowitzki still remains the face of the franchise and the team’s best player, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “The names [on the scoring list] he’s passed and continues to creep up on are the greatest legends in the history of our game,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re very fortunate to be able to see a guy like this play. And we’re doing everything possible to keep him playing at a high level and keep him playing as long as possible.”
- The Rockets have assigned K.J. McDaniels and Montrezl Harrell to their D-League affiliate, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reports.
Los Angeles Notes: Smith, Free Agents, Russell
The Lakers have whiffed on signing big name free agents over the past few years, but Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers still believes the franchise is a prime destination for players, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “I think they’re always going to be an option,” Rivers told Holmes. “I think the two teams in L.A. will always be an option for everyone else. You see the traffic every day, right? People like living here. Really. Despite the taxes, they still like living here. It tells you something, and the Lakers have a ton of money. So I think they’re a free agent destination for a lot of people.”
When asked about the Lakers’ recent history of coming up empty in free agency, Rivers said, “First of all, a lot of guys don’t leave at the end of the day. Not as many as you’d think would leave. A lot of them don’t. Some change their mind, which is terrific. It’s tough. It’s tough getting guys. But they’ll end up doing it right, eventually. They just have too much money. And they’re in L.A.”
Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- Josh Smith has had difficulty cracking Rivers’ rotation with the Clippers and admits that while he’s not pleased with his current amount of playing time, he is striving to remain upbeat, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Press-Telegram relays. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but for the most part I’m a positive individual,” said Smith. “There aren’t a lot of things that can keep me down. When I feel myself getting into the slumps, I just think about my kids, my wife; my father is out here with me. A lot of that takes the weight off my shoulders, getting myself into a place where negativity doesn’t sink in.” The combo forward is currently averaging 14.6 minutes per contest on the season, which is well shy of his previous career-low of 25.5 minutes per appearance.
- Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell has argued that increased playing time and freedom in the team’s offense would hasten his development, a notion that his coach, Byron Scott, disagrees with, noting that Russell has to earn any extra minutes, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If I let him run the show, you would have four other guys pretty [ticked] off every time they’re down the floor,” said Scott, who also noted that Russell looks more for his shot off pick-and-rolls than running the offense. “I want this to be more collective. Then, everybody can try to touch the ball and everybody feels a part of scoring.”
Sixers Release Tony Wroten
4:02pm: The move is official, the Sixers announced via press release.
3:42pm: The Sixers are releasing Tony Wroten to make room for the recently acquired Ish Smith, a source tells Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Philadelphia had been carrying the league maximum of 15 players. The decision to waive Wroten is a bit of a surprise, since he is one of 10 players on Philly’s roster carrying a fully guaranteed contract, so they’ll be on the hook for the remainder of his $2.179MM salary, assuming he clears waivers.
Wroten was in the fourth and final year of his rookie-scale contract. Although he only played in 30 contests last year due to injury, he led the team in points per game, averaging a total of 16.9 each night. His minutes have been cut down quite a bit this season however, as rookie T.J. McConnell has played relatively well manning the point, and Wroten has struggled shooting since coming back from injury, having hit on just 33.8% of his shots.
The Clippers had some interest in Wroten last season, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register points out on Twitter, but they don’t have room on their roster to accommodate a waiver claim or eventual signing, barring a corresponding move. It’s fair to infer the Pelicans passed up on the chance to acquire Wroten, so it appears his value has taken a hit as a result of his poor play this year.
The Josh Smith Waiver: One Year Later
The Pistons stunned the NBA a year ago today when they waived Josh Smith less than a year and a half after signing him to a four-year, $54MM contract. It wasn’t altogether surprising in a basketball sense, as Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond represented an antiquated jumbo frontcourt that ran counter to the league’s prevailing small-ball philosophy, but no one would have guessed the team would have taken such a measure because of the amount of money owed to Smith. The stretch provision helps ease that burden, or at least makes it more manageable on a year-to-year basis, but it also means the Pistons will be paying Smith through the year 2020.
We’re looking back at Smith’s release one year after it happened to see how it affected the Pistons, Smith, and the leaguewide use of the stretch provision:
The effect on the Pistons:
Stan Van Gundy, little more than seven months into his first job as an NBA front office executive, pulled off a remarkably bold maneuver, and the results have proven it a wise move. It didn’t take too long for many to anoint Van Gundy a genius as the Pistons, 5-23 when they released Smith, immediately ripped off seven straight wins. They won 12 of their first 15 games after the move, but Brandon Jennings suffered a torn Achilles tendon in their next outing, and they went only 15-24 the rest of the way. The Jennings injury goaded the Pistons into trading for Reggie Jackson, though the merits of that deal, and the subsequent five-year, $80MM free agent contract the Pistons bestowed upon him this past summer, are only indirectly related to Smith.
The Smith move, and specifically the use of the stretch provision to spread his salary, had a much more attributable effect on the team’s trades for Ersan Ilyasova and Marcus Morris and signing of Aron Baynes. Each of those acquisitions required a sizable chunk of cap space, aided by the extra $8.1MM in flexibility the absence of Smith afforded them. Morris, a former lottery pick, is averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists in his first season as a full-time starter. Ilyasova is the starting power forward and nailing an un-Smith-like 37.3% of his 3-point attempts. Baynes is the backup center and has helped offset the loss of Monroe. Jettisoning Smith didn’t keep Monroe from bolting Detroit in free agency this past summer, but it became apparent last season that almost nothing could. The departures of Smith and Monroe allow the Pistons to embody Van Gundy’s four-out, one-in philosophy, and the team’s 16-12 start represents its best 28-game record since the 2008/09 season, which is also the last time Detroit made the playoffs.
The effect on Josh Smith:
No one was going to claim Smith’s outsized contract off waivers, but once he cleared, he already had a destination lined up, having chosen to sign with former AAU teammate Dwight Howard and the Rockets for the full value of the $2.077MM biannual exception, an amount only marginally above the minimum salary. Of course, Smith didn’t have much choice, since most teams don’t carry cap space into the season, and the money only went on top of what the Pistons still owed him, minus a small amount Detroit recouped via set-off rights. Smith accepted a backup role in Houston, where the Rockets decided to use him mostly at power forward and occasionally as a small-ball center, rather than shoehorn him into small forward, where the Pistons often played him and where he no longer fits in the modern game. He shot more 3-pointers per contest in Houston’s perimeter-oriented offense, but he made a respectable 33.0% of them in the regular season and a proficient 38.0% in the playoffs. It all appeared to click as Smith and the Rockets made it to the Western Conference Finals, and they reportedly had mutual interest in a new deal.
However, the Rockets decided to stay above the cap this past summer, sharply limiting their financial flexibility with Smith, on whom they had only Non-Bird rights. That left them without much ammo to hold off the Clippers, whom Smith found attractive enough to sign with for only the minimum salary. He drew ridicule for overstating the gravity of the monetary sacrifice, but it was nonetheless a deal below market value and one that cost the Pistons a greater return on their continuing obligation to him via set off. In any case, the move hasn’t paid off for either Smith or the Clippers, as he’s averaging career lows in points and minutes per game and has regressed to 31.5% 3-point shooting. The team reportedly gauged the interest that other clubs have in trading for him, though coach/executive Doc Rivers denied doing so. It’s getting worse, though. The 6’9″ Smith, whom the Clippers are using primarily as the backup to DeAndre Jordan at center, took a DNP-CD on Monday, and Rivers indicated that he’ll keep Cole Aldrich as the backup center instead of Smith going forward, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times notes (All Twitter links).
The effect on the stretch provision:
The conventional wisdom would hold that given the revival of the Pistons and the struggles of Smith, more teams would see fit to use the stretch provision, even if they don’t use it in such drastic circumstances. That remains to be seen going forward, but in the year since the Smith waiver, teams have appeared more hesitant to use the stretch provision, at least as measured by the activity around August 31st, a key deadline. That’s the last day that salary for the upcoming season may be spread out. The fact that the Pistons waived Smith after August 31st last year is why his full salary — minus the set off amount — counted against the cap last season. Teams used the stretch provision on four players at the end of August 2014, but it didn’t come into play at all as the deadline approached in August 2015. Still, it’s conceivable that Detroit’s use of the stretch provision inspired the Bucks to do the same with the money they still owed Larry Sanders, who gave up $21,935,296 of his $44MM extension in a February buyout. The length of Sanders’ deal was such that the Bucks were able to cut their obligation to him into $1,865,546 segments they’re set to pay each year for seven years after giving him $9,005,882 last season.
Pacific Notes: Stephenson, Rondo, Karl, Suns
The Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference, but at 16-12, they’re not looking nearly as dominant as they hoped after an offseason of upgrades, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times examines. They only have five wins against teams with winning records, Bolch notes.
“You’ve got to be honest with yourself as a team,” Griffin said. “I think this is the point of the season where either something’s got to change or we’re not going to put ourselves in a good position come playoff time.”
It’s clear that whatever the Clippers are doing right now isn’t working, posits Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. See more on the Clips amid our look at the Pacific Division:
- In spite of the general disappointment about the team’s performance, coach/executive Doc Rivers has expressed satisfaction with Lance Stephenson, who was recently implicated in trade rumors that Rivers denied, as Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times relays (Twitter link). “You don’t know a guy until you coach guy or meet a guy,” Rivers said Friday in praise of the swingman with a reputation for volatile personality.
- Rajon Rondo and George Karl don’t always see eye to eye, Karl admits, adding that the conflict isn’t alarming, and Rondo is eager to have more meetings with Karl and other key figures on the team, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I think he enjoys my philosophies a little bit,” Karl said of the soon-to-be free agent point guard. “Not 100% in agreement, but I’ve always had wrestling matches with most of my point guards – and this is not a bad wrestling match – but we do have our wrestling match going on.”
- The Suns are dealing with more internal strife than they’re letting on, and that transcends the questions regarding the future of Markieff Morris, according to former Suns front office hand Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com, who wrote in a roundtable piece Friday. The team lacks togetherness, ESPN’s Marc Stein observed in the same piece, and they’re active in trade talks, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com noted.
Los Angeles Notes: Randle, Wilcox, Brown
Despite being a major part of the Lakers‘ future, coach Byron Scott has been utilizing Julius Randle primarily as a reserve, a strategy that the second year player has had to come to accept, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “I don’t make decisions with playing time,” said Randle. “The thing that I always tell you guys is I control what I can and I go out there and play hard. I let our coaches decide who’s in and who’s not.” The shift to the bench has yielded mixed results for the power forward, with Randle struggling to find the basket with his shots, but he insists he won’t be discouraged by his recent difficulties, Medina adds. “You guys [media members] were asking if I was discouraged about the shots I was missing,” Randle said regarding his recent slump. “I’m getting those same shots I’m making. I’m never going to get discouraged.”
Here’s more from L.A.:
- When the Clippers want to assign C.J. Wilcox to the D-League, they start down the list of teams with affiliates and place calls to see whether any of them will promise to give him enough minutes while on assignment, and whoever says “yes” first gets him, Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers said, according to Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. The Clippers, who don’t have an affiliate, have sent Wilcox to the D-League teams of the Suns and Cavs so far this season.
- Despite only appearing in five games thus far this season, Lakers small forward Anthony Brown is encouraged by what he is able to glean sitting on the sideline, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. “It’s encouraging,” Brown said. “You can learn a lot, not only sitting, but when guys come off the bench, you can talk to them, pick their brain. It’s pretty good. It’s one thing to be behind the bench, but it’s another to be able to see everything that’s going on. In some ways you’re kind of an assistant coach in terms of being able to watch and learn what to do and what not to do.“
- The Lakers have assigned Ryan Kelly and Tarik Black to their D-League affiliate, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter). This will be the second assignment to the D-Fenders for both players this season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Clippers Reignite Jamal Crawford Trade Talk
DECEMBER 18TH, 2:25pm: Crawford “can be had” before the trade deadline, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
DECEMBER 10TH, 2:53pm: The Clippers are surveying the interest that other teams have in trading for Jamal Crawford, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Crawford was a frequent subject of trade rumors in the offseason, when reports indicated the team explored trading him around draft time and that the Knicks, Heat and Cavs had interest. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports suggested this week that the Clippers remained open to dealing the 35-year-old shooting guard amid a report that the team recently gauged interest in Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers denied on multiple occasions in the past few days that he’s spoken to anyone about Stephenson and Smith, and he said in September that he’d be “very surprised” if Crawford doesn’t remain with the team through the rest of the season. Any trade talk the Clippers are engaging in at this point is exploratory, a source said to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Crawford tweeted during the summer that he wished he were a free agent but said at the start of training camp that he was glad to still be with the Clippers.
The offseason additions of Stephenson, Wesley Johnson and others made it seem as though Crawford, a two-time Sixth Man of the Year, would have a reduced role with the team this season, but so far his minutes have been consistent with the playing time he saw last year. His shots per game are down, from 13.1 to 11.4, and he’s connecting on just 36.8% of his field goal attempts, his worst percentage since his rookie season. The upgraded Clippers bench of which Crawford is a part hasn’t seemed to click thus far, but L.A. is still in fourth place in the Western Conference, at 13-9, and just a half-game out of third.
Crawford is in the final year of his contract, which pays him $5.675MM. He’s eligible to be traded immediately, though many others around the league will become trade-eligible Tuesday, so deals are generally more likely from that date forward. It’s unclear if Miami, Cleveland or New York maintains interest.
What should the Clippers demand in return for Crawford? Leave a comment to give your input.
And-Ones: Howard, McCallum, Payne
- The Thunder recalled Cameron Payne and Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Huestis has appeared in nine games for the Blue this season, averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game, while Payne has made two D-League appearances, notching 23.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.00 steals in 34.0 minutes per night.
- The Jazz have recalled center Tibor Pleiss from the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was the first D-League assignment of the campaign for Pleiss, who has been with the Stampede since November 30th.
- The Clippers assigned C.J. Wilcox to the D-League, the team announced via a press release. Since the team does not have its own affiliate, Wilcox will report to the Canton Charge, the Cavs‘ affiliate, as part of the flexible assignment system.
- The Spurs have assigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. The will be second stint with Austin this season. He logged 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds during his first D-League trip of the campaign.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Scott, Rondo, Len, Chandler
The plan is for Lakers coach Byron Scott to continue the player development strategies he’s using, Scott said Monday, according to Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Scott revealed that he and GM Mitch Kupchak met recently about the issue, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reported they likely would. Part of the team’s plan is to use Kobe Bryant as an example of the sort of work ethic they want their young players to adopt, as Morales details. The front office acknowledges the conflict between Bryant’s high usage and the need for young players to see minutes and touches. See more on the Lakers and other Pacific Division teams:
- Sources who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com are split on whether the homophobic slur Rajon Rondo directed at referee Bill Kennedy, who is gay, will dissuade teams from pushing to sign the point guard when he hits free agency again in the offseason. Multiple executives told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News before the controversy that Rondo was back in the discussion for a maximum-salary deal because of his strong early-season play. The 10th-year veteran who turns 30 in February signed a one-year contract for $9.5MM with the Kings this summer after a disastrous stint with Dallas last year. We made the topic of whether the incident will affect Rondo’s free agency the subject of our Community Shootaround discussion on Monday.
- Alex Len delivered a clunker of a performance in Monday’s game, but his play of late has otherwise been the best of his career, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. That’s led Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to continue starting Len over free agent signee Tyson Chandler, even though Chandler has been healthy the past two games. That’ll likely change, Hornacek concedes, as the team continues to look for a fit between Chandler, Len and offseason acquisitions Jon Leuer and Mirza Teletovic, Coro notes.
- Chandler, in the first season of a four-year, $52MM deal, is one of the most overpaid players in the NBA this season, Deveney argues in a slideshow. Two Lakers — Bryant and Roy Hibbert — and Lance Stephenson of the Clippers also make Deveney’s 15-man list.