DeAndre Jordan On Chris Paul, Mavs, Clippers
DeAndre Jordan is scheduled to address the media today for the first time since he spurned the Mavs for the Clippers, but he got a jump start on explaining his story via The Players’ Tribune. Half of the piece is written and the other half is presented in a video, one in which Jordan’s struggle with his decision is apparent as he reflects on the events of two weeks ago. The entire piece is well worth your time, but we’ll pass along some of the most noteworthy quotes from the big man here:
On Chris Paul, with whom he reportedly had a rift:
“I love Chris, man. Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you’re competitive — especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they’re about one thing: winning.”
On the doubt that crept into his mind following his commitment to Dallas:
“I woke up Monday morning [July 6th] feeling like there was something missing, like something that I didn’t do, something that was not covered. And that’s why, and that’s when I started to begin to have second thoughts. I feel like we’ve all had decisions in our lives where we’ve had second thoughts about things and have gone back and had to revisit a situation, and I definitely feel like that this was one of those times for me.”
On the Mavs:
“Originally, I said yes to the Mavericks because I thought I needed change. I thought I wanted change at that point in time. And they had a great presentation. They have a great owner, great coach, a championship team, but, at the same time, I felt like I didn’t give it all of my thought. At the end of the day, we’re basketball players and these great athletes, but we’re also human, and we make mistakes. We have emotions and feelings, just like everybody else.”
On the Clippers:
“I decided to stay with the Clippers because I’ve been with this team for seven years, and being on one team for my entire career was definitely important to me. I’ve been here since I was 19, so this is what I know. I love the city, I love the fans, I love my teammates and I love this organization.”
On the difficulty of breaking his deal with the Mavs:
“A lot of the guys who I was talking to during the process, they were friends of mine. That’s what made it so tough. Talking to these guys and really wanting to maybe partner up with these guys and play, and then not wanting to, it’s definitely a tough situation it puts you in. It puts you in [it] because you want to make the right decision, but you also don’t want to step on toes.”
Pacific Notes: Pierce, Clippers, Suns
Paul Pierce, a native of California, is happy to be back home after signing with the Clippers, but the Lakers would have never been an option, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Pierce signed a three-year deal for approximately $10MM.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to come home, finally,” Pierce said. “I grew up a Laker fan but playing on all the Boston Celtic teams . . . there’s no way I could go there — so this was the next best choice. And it’s always been a dream to play in front of my family and friends.”
Here’s more on the Clippers and Pacific Division:
- Despite reports that indicated a rift between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan played a role in the center agreeing to sign with the Mavericks before ultimately re-signing with the Clippers, Paul said he’s delighted to have the big man back, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com writes. “DeAndre, he’s like my big little brother. We talk a lot more than people realize,” Paul said. “It doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is we brought in [Pierce], who I’m probably the happiest about because of his championship pedigree, being that voice in our locker room. We brought in [Lance Stephenson], Wesley Johnson, brought Austin [Rivers] back, Josh Smith. Big summer for us.
- Suns president Lon Babby said re-signing Brandon Knight was the team’s most important move, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic tweets. Knight, who signed a five-year, $70MM contract with the Suns, said he did not talk to any other teams, Coro also tweets.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr expects James McAdoo, who is expected to compete for a reserve spot with the Warriors in training camp in late September, to contribute next season, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes. McAdoo split time between the Warriors and D-League last season.
And-Ones: Gallinari, Belinelli, Jazz, Harrellson
Danilo Gallinari confirmed to Italian media that he and the Nuggets are discussing an extension, as Dario Vismara of Rivista Ufficiale NBA tweets (translation via Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last week that the team intended to begin talks. The Nuggets can open about $6MM in cap room if they waive both Pablo Prigioni and Kostas Papanikolaou, whom they’re reportedly about to acquire in the deal for Ty Lawson, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks points out (on Twitter). They could use the cap room to give Gallinari a renegotiation and extension, as they did with Wilson Chandler, a maneuver that would be more lucrative for Gallinari than a simple extension. While we wait to see if that’s the route the Nuggets take, here’s more from around the NBA:
- The Pelicans, Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Spurs and Warriors all made offers to Marco Belinelli, who instead signed with the Kings, as he said at the same gathering of Italian media, Vismara notes (Twitter link).
- The salary cap is set to surge next summer, but the 2016 free agent class doesn’t have much depth beyond Kevin Durant and LeBron James, leaving many teams with a conundrum as they face the prospect of a salary floor of some $81MM, as Marks examines for HoopsHype.
- A work stoppage in 2017 is a “virtual certainty,” an executive from a team recently told Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com, in spite of commissioner Adam Silver’s suggestion to the contrary. Teams are worried that the new TV revenue somehow won’t allow them to keep up with surging payrolls, and clubs that have traditionally relied on revenue sharing figure to take a hit with fewer teams in line to pay into the luxury tax in seasons to come, as Arnovitz details.
- The Jazz are drawing raves from coaches and GM around the league for their home-grown approach to rebuilding and hesitance to sign mid-tier free agents who’d only help the team make incremental gains, Arnovitz writes in the same piece.
- Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tells the story of a handful of summer leaguers who carry divergent credentials, including three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson, who’s willing to be flexible as he tries to make it back to the NBA now that he’s recovered from a career-threatening back injury. “I think I’ll get a camp invite,” Harrellson said. “My main goal is to get a contract out of this. Even if it’s a partial [guarantee], just something.”
Western Notes: Clippers, Gasol, Lawson
Mavs owner Mark Cuban, during an appearance on “The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley” (h/t Dallas Morning News), said that he did everything possible to land free agent DeAndre Jordan, who spurned Dallas to re-sign with the Clippers. “Well no initially you do [look back on it], ‘What could we have done differently?’ and you go through the whole process and unless we just held him hostage, there’s nothing we could have done,” Cuban said.
“I mean literally Monday night I was texting him back and forth talking about players. He was asking for Mavs gear. Monday night everything was fine,” Cuban continued. “Tuesday morning everything wasn’t. And then we flew to — I flew to Houston, and then the next day I was with his agent the whole time. And in my mind, I’m like, ‘of course the guy’s going to want to see his agent and is going to meet with him face-to-face and if he changes his mind, that’s great, but at least he’ll have the counsel of his agent to guide him through it.’ And so if I’m standing there talking to his agent, at least I’ll have a sense of what’s going on. He would text his agent, I don’t know if he actually called him, but he definitely texted him while he was sitting next to me, but he never saw him at all the entire night. I don’t know what else I could have done.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, who suffered his second DUI-related arrest in six months on Tuesday, was ordered to complete a 30-day residential treatment program by a Colorado judge, Kristen Wyatt of The Associated Press reports.
- Thursday’s signing of Josh Smith was the latest splash for the Clippers this summer, but it’s also their latest risk, as Dan Woike of The Orange County Register analyzes. The team has no shortage of players who like the ball in their hands, Smith among them, Woike notes. The Clips didn’t have much room to maneuver financially once they re-signed DeAndre Jordan, so president of basketball operations Doc Rivers had to get creative.
- The five-year contract Marc Gasol signed with the Grizzlies is for the max and will seem him earn a total of $113,211,750, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Austin Rivers‘ two-year deal with the Clippers is worth precisely $6,454,902, Pincus reports (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: NBPA, Hackett, Whittington
NBPA head Michele Roberts released a statement today in response to commissioner Adam Silver’s recent comments where he indicated that several NBA teams were still losing money despite the salary givebacks and enhanced revenue sharing agreed upon in the last CBA (h/t RealGM). “Under the CBA, we do not have a gross compensation system. The players’ 50% share is calculated net of a substantial amount of expenses and deductions,” Roberts said. “New and renovated arenas around the league have proven to be revenue drivers, profit centers, and franchise valuation boosters. That has been the case over the past few years in Orlando, Brooklyn, and New York, to name a few. In some instances, owners receive arena revenues that are not included in BRI. Many teams also receive generous arena subsidies, loans and other incentives from state and local governments as part of their arena deals.”
Roberts concluded by adding, “Virtually every business metric demonstrates that our business is healthy. Gate receipts, merchandise sales and TV ratings are all at an all-time high. Franchise values have risen exponentially in recent years, and the NBA has enjoyed high single digit revenue growth since 2010/11.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- A league source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) that there are approximately 10 NBA teams that are currently losing money.
- Terdema Ussery, a finalist for the union executive director position that went to Roberts, is leaving his position as president and CEO of the Mavericks effective August 30th, the team announced via press release. He’ll join Under Armour, the Mavs said.
- Former Georgetown forward Greg Whittington has three partially guaranteed deals on the table from NBA squads, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. The undrafted 22-year-old has averaged 15.7 points per game during Las Vegas Summer League play, Charania notes.
- Shooting guard Daniel Hackett, who worked out for the Knicks, has officially signed with Olympiacos of Greece, the team announced (translation by Enea Trapani of Sportando).
- Austin Rivers‘ two-year deal with the Clippers will pay him $3.1MM for next season, $3.3MM for the 2016/17 campaign, and the guard has a player option included in his contract for the final season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The deal that Nemanja Bjelica inked with the Timberwolves will pay him $3.95MM for the 2015/16 season, $3.8MM the following year, $3.95MM during the 2017/18 campaign, and all three seasons are fully guaranteed, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
Clippers Sign Josh Smith
8:39pm: The signing is official, the Clippers announced.
5:40pm: The deal is for one year and the veteran’s minimum, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
4:15pm: The Clippers and unrestricted free agent Josh Smith are finalizing a deal that would bring the veteran to Los Angeles for next season, both Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter) and Shams Charania of RealGM report (Twitter links). Smith’s agent, Wallace Prather, confirms that the two sides have come to terms on a one-year contract, Marc Berman of Fox 26 tweets.
The 29-year-old appeared in 55 games for the Rockets last season after he was surprisingly waived by the Pistons, averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 25.5 minutes per contest. His career numbers through 11 seasons in the NBA are 15.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 3.2 APG, with a slash line of .455/.285/.633.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported on Monday that the Clippers were interested in Smith, and the Kings and Mavericks were also reportedly keen on adding the forward to their rosters. Smith had also expressed a strong interest in re-signing with Rockets, who certainly helped him rebuild his career in the wake of his unceremonious exit from Detroit.
The Clippers have been quite active this offseason in addressing their needs for outside shooting. The team also signed veteran small forward Paul Pierce, and acquired swingman Lance Stephenson from the Hornets. Smith can certainly provide depth at both forward spots, though his questionable shot selection has made coaches and fans scream in frustration on numerous occasions throughout his career.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Karl, Cousins, Dawson
The Lakers have seemed to lag behind in the adoption of advanced metrics, so they’re creating a new front office position designed to serve as a liaison between the coaching staff and number crunchers in management, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register details. Assistant coach Clay Moser is expected to transition into that role, Oram reports, noting that the Lakers underwhelmed LaMarcus Aldridge with the basketball side of their presentation while he was reportedly “floored in a good way” by the Rockets’ analytics and on-court projections. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- George Karl was known to have reached out to DeMarcus Cousins on several occasions over the past few months, but before their brief encounter at summer league this week, Karl hadn’t spoken with him for quite some time, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Still, Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac wants everyone on the same page by training camp, and the plan is for Karl and Cousins to have a more extensive face-to-face meeting before that, as Amick details.
- Kings management won’t let Karl hire son Coby Karl as an assistant coach, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears (Twitter link).
- The Clippers are in line to save money on No. 56 pick Branden Dawson even though they gave up $630K to trade for his rights, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks observes (Twitter links). He’ll make the rookie minimum salary of $525,093 this season, but if the Clips had instead signed an undrafted free agent for the minimum, it would have counted as $947,276 for luxury tax purposes, as Marks points out, adding that the Clippers are in line to pay about $1MM less in tax penalties as a result.
Clippers Waive Lester Hudson
JULY 16TH, 7:58am: The Clippers officially waived Hudson, the team announced via press release before the guarantee deadline Wednesday night. He’s reportedly expected to sign in China.
JULY 15TH, 11:13pm: The Clippers will waive Lester Hudson today, a league executive tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Bolch reported Tuesday that the move was likely. Hudson’s non-guaranteed minimum salary, worth $1,015,421, would become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through today.
The 30-year-old joined the Clippers this spring on a 10-day contract, and he later beat out Nate Robinson, who was still recovering from a left knee injury, for a deal that covered the rest of the season. The Clips and Hudson tacked an extra year onto the contract, but the team is poised to let him go, clearing more roster flexibility to add other minimum-salary signees. No. 56 overall pick Branden Dawson just officially signed to a contract that runs two years at the minimum with the first year guaranteed, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
Hudson averaged 11.2 minutes per game in five regular season games and made cameo appearances in seven playoff contests, his first NBA action since the 2011/12 season. He had been playing in China, where he was a major scoring force, pouring in 31.2 points per game for Liaoning this past season before joining the Clippers.
Lester Hudson Expected To Sign In China
Lester Hudson is expected to return to play for Liaoning of the Chinese Basketball Association, assuming he clears waivers from the Clippers, tweets Nick Bedard of Basketball Buddha. The team has yet to officially announce Hudson’s release, but a league executive told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times that the Clippers would waive the point guard today, the last day for them to do so without guaranteeing his full minimum salary for 2015/16.
Hudson spent much of this past season with Liaoning before joining the Clippers for the stretch run. He averaged 31.2 points per game for Liaoning and led the CBA with 3.1 steals per contest. He’d played in China in each of the three seasons since 2011/12, the last in which he’d seen NBA action prior to his time with the Clippers this spring.
Most Hoops Rumors readers predicted that Hudson would end up outside the NBA for this coming season. The early guarantee date that his agents at Priority Sports negotiated with the Clippers affords Hudson the likelihood of free agency before opportunities dry up both stateside and abroad. Any NBA team could claim him using the minimum-salary exception and keep him from returning overseas, but because of the full guarantee that would kick in for him if a team did that, it seems likely that he’ll pass through waivers.
Southwest Notes: Mavs, Williams, Calathes
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spoke Tuesday with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and “it started off more than a little frigid,” as Cuban recounted via Cyber Dust, his social media app, and as the Dallas Morning News relays. That’s not surprising, given the DeAndre Jordan saga, but Cuban said he and Ballmer cleared the air.
“I told him exactly what I told other owners, I didn’t have a problem with his hail Mary approach to keeping a player,” Cuban wrote. “I understood why they did it. And even how they did it. They got their player back. End of story.”
Cuban said he doesn’t have a problem with the July Moratorium, which seemingly helped facilitate Jordan’s reversal, but even if he did, the moratorium doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Deron Williams‘ two-year deal with the Mavs is worth $10MM and includes a player option, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The clock appears to be ticking on an NBA future for Grizzlies restricted free agent Nick Calathes. The point guard denied to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal that he has signed with Panathinaikos of Greece, but he’ll commit to that team if he doesn’t find an NBA deal today, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Calathes is drawing NBA interest, but he’s hesitant to continue as a backup, Pick hears. The Mavericks have reportedly contacted him, though that was two weeks ago. Memphis has the power to match all competing bids from NBA teams, but not from overseas clubs.
- Panathinaikos is close to a deal with center Nikola Milutinov, this year’s 26th overall pick, Sportando’s Enea Trapani writes. Regardless, Milutinov won’t soon be joining the Spurs, the team that drafted him, as San Antonio has informed the NBA that it won’t sign him or 2013 No. 28 pick Livio Jean-Charles during 2015/16, allowing San Antonio to remove their cap hits, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links).
- The Rockets reportedly had hopes of signing draft-and-stash prospect Marko Todorovic this summer, but that won’t be happening, as the big man has signed a three-year deal with Khimki Moscow, the Russian club announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
- Spurs GM R.C. Buford said he and the front office didn’t think that they would have been able to snag Ray McCallum if he’d have been a free agent on the open market, so they were pleased to pull off the trade with the Kings that brought him in, as Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles. McCallum, who’s excited about the deal, earned a $200K partial guarantee on his salary when the Spurs didn’t waive him Sunday.
- A $390,089 sliver of Houston’s Jeremy Lin trade exception expired Monday, though it was essentially too small to use. The Rockets had already used the majority of the exception, once worth $8,374,646, to trade for Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in December.
- Brewer’s new three-year deal with the Rockets is worth precisely $23,420,913, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows.