Western Notes: Crawford, Clarkson, Rubio
Jamal Crawford returned to practice with no restrictions and will likely play in Tuesday’s game against the Lakers, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. Last month it was reported that the reigning Sixth Man of the Year could possibly miss the rest of the season. The 35-year-old has been out since March 2nd with a calf injury and the Clippers have gone 11-5 without him in the lineup.
Here’s more from the Western Conference.
- With Jordan Clarkson developing into a potential long-term piece, the Lakers have a good point guard situation even if they can’t land Rajon Rondo, Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders opines. Earlier in the week, it was reported that the team will likely pursue Rondo as well as Goran Dragic.
- Ricky Rubio will miss the remainder of the season because of a sore left ankle that he originally injured on November 7th, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports. Minnesota is only two games behind New York for the worst record in the league, as our Reverse Standings show.
- Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune believes the clock is ticking on Ricky Rubio’s development. The 25-year-old has only played about 65% of the games during his first four seasons because of various injuries and hasn’t shown the consistent improvement that the team expects.
And-Ones: Kentucky, Ballmer, Clarkson, Burke
There should be a mass exodus of Kentucky players to the NBA after Saturday’s loss in the NCAA semi-finals, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He speculated that the list of departing Wildcats should “minimally” include Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Dakari Johnson and Devin Booker.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Steve Ballmer’s bold $2 billion bid to purchase the Clippers last year was an “outlier,” writes Mike Ozanian of Forbes. Ozanian notes that Mikhail Prokhorov has been unsuccessful in his attempts to sell the Nets and the Barclays Center, while the highest current bid for the Hawks is $800MM.
- The “Gilbert Arenas provision” applies to the Lakers‘ Jordan Clarkson after next season, note Eric Pincus and Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times, giving the Lakers an edge in keeping the young point guard long-term. Because Clarkson was a second-round pick, the provision limits the offers other franchises can make to four years and a projected $57MM. With a non-guaranteed contract for 2015/16 at the league minimum for a second-year player ($845,059), Clarkson is almost certain to return to the Lakers next year.
- Jazz point guard Trey Burke is part of the reason the future is bright in Utah, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The second-year player out of Michigan has been a key part of the team’s second half surge, and he is looking forward to improving this summer. “I know that I have a high ceiling and have more potential to grow,” he said. “Like I said, this summer and this offseason will be very big for me. I look forward to coming back even stronger and even better next season. Being a young player, I know that these offseasons are really important in how much I’ll grow.” Burke is still on his rookie contract, which runs through 2016/17, and he’s under the team’s control through 2017/18.
Pacific Notes: Robinson, Bullock, Ellington
The Clippers are keeping close tabs on the health of guard Nate Robinson, and if he is healthy enough to play by next week the team will consider re-signing him, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets. Robinson has already had two 10-day contracts with the team, so any new deal would need to cover the remainder of the season. Los Angeles currently has 15 players on its roster, so a corresponding personnel move would be required. The most likely candidate to go would be Lester Hudson, who is inked to a 10-day pact that expires on Tuesday.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Reggie Bullock is finally getting some playing time for the Suns, and the swingman is using the exposure to show Phoenix why he should be part of its plans for next season, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I wanted to play when I first got here but I’m still a young player in this league,” Bullock said. “The coaches know what I’m capable of, defending and shooting the ball. I’m just staying ready for when my name is called and continue to build and take this confidence to next season.“
- Injured Lakers guard Wayne Ellington is done for the season courtesy of a separated right shoulder, and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Los Angeles’ coach Byron Scott says that the team’s rebuilding plan hinges on the NBA draft and pursuing marquee free agents, but the Lakers’ front office would “absolutely” consider re-signing Ellington, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes.
- When Sim Bhullar signed his 10-day deal with the Kings he made history as the first NBA player of Indian descent, the significance of which is not lost on the big man, Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press writes. “It’s a big moment in the history of the NBA and the history of my country in India,” Bhullar said. “I know my family’s going to be proud of me and everybody’s going to be proud of me and cheer me on the court.”
Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Crawford, Len
The Lakers believe they have a potential All-Star in Jordan Clarkson, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles News writes. “The more he gains experience, he will learn the pace of the game, how to slow it down and use his speed when he has to do so,”coach Byron Scott said. “His ceiling is pretty high.” Clarkson will make roughly $845K next season, although his salary is non-guaranteed.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Jamal Crawford is nearing a return to the court, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. If the shooting guard continues to progress the plan is for Crawford to play against the Lakers on April 7th, according to Markazi. The 35-year-old has missed the last 14 games because of a calf injury and it was previously reported that there was a chance he wouldn’t return at all this season.
- Alex Len is expected to miss a week because of a broken nose, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. Len should only miss two games, but the team doesn’t have an easy path to add a free agent big man if they find it necessary. The Suns currently have a 15-man roster, after inking Jerel McNeal to a 10-day contract earlier today. Phoenix is four and a half games behind Oklahoma City for the eighth seed in the conference with seven games remaining.
- Eric Bledsoe started more games this season than in his first four seasons combined and the team believes he is still getting acclimated to the increase in playing time, writes Paul Coro in a separate piece. “Sometimes, you just don’t have the energy. We ask him to do a lot defensively and offensively. The great players will do it and they’ll bring it every night. He’s on that verge,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. Bledsoe has played 2.1 more minutes per game since the Suns dealt Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas at this year’s deadlines.
Eastern Notes: LeBron, Irving, Stevens, Shved
The relationship between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving was “rocky” at points earlier this season, Irving admits, but it’s grown into a bond that appears much stronger than the one between James and Kevin Love, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. Love and James say it doesn’t matter whether they become as tight as Irving and James are as long as they can develop a greater on-court connection, Vardon writes.
“People get so infatuated with the best of friends, things of that nature,” James said. “First of all, I’ve got three very good friends in this league, and that’s Carmelo [Anthony], and that’s C.P. [Chris Paul], and that’s [Dwyane Wade] Wade. And after that I have a bunch of teammates. I have guys I ride for every day. But Kyrie is a guy I understand how important he is to this team, how important he is. And the same with Kev as well.”
James and Love can opt out to hit free agency this summer, while Irving will enter year one of his five-year extension next season. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS hears “some Brad Stevens chatter” in connection to the University of Texas coaching job (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether there’s interest on either side, though Texas athletics director Steve Patterson has spoken with NBA coaching agents of late, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Davis identifies Avery Johnson as a possible sleeper for the job. Stevens is just finishing up the second season of a six-year, $22MM deal and there have been no indications that he wants to leave the Celtics. Further, the Celtics would probably deny him permission to go, as Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com surmises (Twitter link).
- Alexey Shved loves playing for coach Derek Fisher and is open to re-signing with New York after his contract expires this summer, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). The Knicks can make Shved a restricted free agent if they tender a qualifying offer of nearly $4.103MM.
- The Cavs have assigned Joe Harris to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the eighth time Cleveland has sent last year’s 33rd overall pick to its affiliate, though none of the seven previous assignments have lasted as long as a week, as our leaguewide assignments/recalls log shows.
Pacific Rumors: Robinson, Kings, Bhullar
Nate Robinson‘s sore left knee is improving and he could return to the Clippers since coach Doc Rivers was pleased with what he saw from him, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Robinson was not signed for the remainder of the season after his two 10-day contracts expired because of the injury but he’s expected to be cleared to play by week’s end, Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Rivers indicated to Bolch that Robinson’s return was a strong possibility when he’s ready to play. “I liked what Nate brought us,” Rivers said “I liked his energy.” However, Robinson’s return could be delayed until Lester Hudson‘s 10-day contract expires. Hudson was signed on Sunday to take the roster spot vacated by Robinson, whose last 10-day contract expired on Thursday. The 30-year-old Hudson was the Chinese Basketball Association MVP the last two years before joining the Clippers.
In other news around the Pacific Division:
- Kings owner Vivek Ranadive wants to put an end to the discord in the team’s front office, league sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Jones writes about Chris Mullin, the Kings adviser who is reportedly expected to accept an offer to instead become the coach at St. John’s University and who, according to fellow Bee scribe Ailene Voisin, opposed the hirings of coach George Karl and new Kings exec Vlade Divac.
- The Kings are also hopeful Sim Bhullar will eventually make their NBA roster as his conditioning improves, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee reports. Bhullar, a 7-foot-5, center, has been playing for the Kings’ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, after getting waived by Sacramento during training camp. Bhullar came to camp at nearly 400 pounds and has since shed approximately 45 pounds, according to Voisin. Ranadive is intrigued by Bhullar’s skill set but feels Bhullar still needs to drop another 40-50 pounds, Voisin adds. “He needs to get in much better shape,” Ranadive told Voisin. “That will help him get up and down the floor, and he’s been working on that.”
And-Ones: Lakers, Robinson, Draft
Opposing players, according to Byron Scott, have told the Lakers head coach that they’d love to play in the purple-and-gold, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. Scott would not name any players because of tampering rules and did not say how many potential free agents expressed interest to him in joining the Lakers, Medina noted. Still, Scott believes the Lakers “will have a real good summer,” in terms of free agency, according to Medina.
“You have a lot of free agents out there who would love to play for us. They’ve been making it pretty clear,” Scott said. “You have guys during the games come by the bench saying, ‘Hey Coach, I would love to be in L.A. next year.’ That makes you feel good there are players out there that want to be here. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we’re taking it in a different direction. They know this organization and the history of the organization is going to be back.”
Here’s more from around the NBA:
- There’s still a chance that the Clippers could sign Nate Robinson for the rest of the season after a 10-day evaluation of Lester Hudson, according to Arash Markazi of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Naturally, their decision on what to do with Robinson will hinge heavily on how Hudson performs.
- France’s Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot said he would withdraw his name from the 2015 Draft if he deems workouts with teams after the NBA season unsuccessful, as he told the French outlet Be Basket and as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia transcribes. The 19-year-old is averaging 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 19 minutes per contest for the Olympique Antibes, according to Carchia. The swingman announced in February he planned to enter this year’s draft.
- Daemen College big man Gerald Beverly, who was recently named a Division II All-American, signed with agent Roger Montgomery of the Montgomery Sports Group, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Clippers Sign Lester Hudson To 10-Day Deal
12:35pm: The signing is official, Woike tweets.
8:56am: Guard Lester Hudson will sign a 10-day contract with the Clippers today, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Hudson, who had been playing with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in China, will be available for today’s game with the Celtics.
He has spent parts of three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics, Grizzlies, Wizards and Cavaliers, with his last NBA action coming in 2012. His career averages are 4.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 10.3 minutes of playing time.
Hudson gained fame in college when he recorded a quadruple-double at Tennessee-Martin. He was twice named Player of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference before being drafted 58th overall in 2009 by the Celtics.
The signing probably means that Nate Robinson won’t be issued another 10-day contract. Robinson’s balky knee had limited his playing time, and his first deal expired March 16th. It also raises questions about the availability of Jamal Crawford for the rest of the season.
Pacific Notes: Love, Lakers, Sacre, Len
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook teaming up and playing for the Lakers is a real possibility, opines Nick Dudukovich of Fansided.com. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com discussed the rumors of Love leaving Cleveland either this season or next on his podcast, which airs on ESPN Cleveland. Windhorst notes that out of all the stars in the league, the player that Love has the best relationship with is Westbrook.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Robert Sacre would like to play for Los Angeles next season, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I would love to be back here. It would be fun,” said Sacre. “You’re a Laker. What else can you ask for? There’s no other franchise like it. It’s an honor to wear purple and gold.” Sacre has a non-guaranteed salary for the 2015/16 season, which is worth slightly more than $981K.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic believes that Alex Len is the center of the future for the Suns. Phoenix picked up Len’s rookie scale option before the season and the team is likely to make the same decision regarding Len’s 2016/17 option, although that is just my speculation.
- Pablo S, Torre of ESPN The Magazine chronicles Jeremy Lin‘s time to date for the Lakers and his career up to this point. Lin is in the last season of a three-year deal worth slightly over $25MM that he originally signed with Houston. The point guard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Hoops Rumors Weekly Mailbag 3/22/15-3/28/15
In addition to our weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have added a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap, or the NBA draft? Drop me a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com or @EddieScarito on Twitter. Now for this week’s inquiries:
“Do you see DeAndre Jordan commanding a max salary in free agency?” — Phil B.
I can certainly see Jordan seeking a max deal, but I’m not sure that he gets one. He’s having a great season, but the league doesn’t revolve around centers the way that it used to. Jordan will certainly be in line for a raise from the $11.4MM he is making this season. I just can’t see him being worth a $17MM+ annual salary. $15MM per feels about the right ballpark for him, though even that is a risk given how poorly big men age in the NBA.
The big unknown involved here is how the 2016 salary cap increase will change teams’ approaches this summer. There may be a few more franchises that will be willing to go into the luxury tax in 2015/16, knowing that the cap will increase significantly the following year. Plus, if upper tier salaries are going to jump as much as some speculate, Jordan inking a max deal this summer could end up looking like a bargain in three years time.
“What are the chances that John Calipari ends up coaching the Knicks next season?” — Tim
I’ll go with slim-to-none on this one. I just don’t see Calipari and Phil Jackson working well together. Plus, Calipari would likely ask for some level of control over personnel moves as part of his contract. That’s a likely deal-breaker in New York right now. I also don’t see the team giving up on Derek Fisher after a single season unless there are some serious philosophical differences that pop up between the coach and the front office. Plus, if Calipari actually wants to leave Kentucky, he can do much better than the Knicks for an NBA gig. Flip Saunders may want to get off of the sidelines in Minnesota and Coach Cal has a bit of experience developing young talent…
“Will both Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo be in Dallas’ starting backcourt next season?” — Randall J.
It’s not looking good right now for the two to re-team next season in Dallas. The team’s offense has been flowing better with Rondo on the bench — not a great sign when talking about a point guard. I was willing to give the two players the benefit of the doubt, but it’s looking more and more like Ellis and Rondo just aren’t compatible. Rondo’s clashes with coach Rick Carlisle aren’t a great incentive for Rondo to want to return either. So there’s all of that.
But the factor that is usually the true determining one in these situations is money. Rondo is likely to seek a maximum salary deal, which isn’t something he’s likely to be worth at this stage of his career. I don’t see the Mavs offering that level of financial commitment to retain Rondo. With the Knicks and Lakers both set to have cap space and tons of desperation this summer, Rondo could be one of the beneficiaries. I think Rondo leaves Dallas for more zeroes on his paycheck.
As for Ellis, he has a tougher decision to make. The veteran guard has a player option worth $8.72MM for next season. It’s not clear yet whether or not he’ll opt out and try to secure a long-term deal. The cap is set to jump in 2016, so opting in and hitting the market that summer may hold more appeal. Out of the two players, Ellis is the one who is more likely to be back.
“Does J.R. Smith opt out of his deal this summer? Do you see him staying in Cleveland long-term?” — Alex V.
A couple of months ago I would have been sure that Smith would opt in on his $6,399,750 player option for 2015/16. I’m not so certain any more. That’s what competing for a contending team will do for a player’s energy level and stat line. Smith has fit in rather well in Cleveland, so there’s that to consider. He could opt in and try to cash in when the cap jumps during the summer of 2016. That would be the safe play. But if Smith has a stellar playoffs and can control his antics, he could be looking at a number of long-term offers. I’d speculate that the Mavs would be interested in signing Smith if Ellis departs as a free agent. My guess is that barring a spectacular individual playoff run, Smith opts in or works out a long-term deal with the Cavs.
“Give me your mock draft for the top five picks (using the current standings as the draft order)” — Aaron
It’s still a bit early to make an accurate mock draft. Quite a few things can change during the pre-draft process. But now that I’ve blanketed myself in the warmth of a disclaimer I’ll answer the question. Using Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings to determine the draft order, here’s how I see the first five picks shaking out…
- Knicks — C Jahlil Okafor (Duke)
- Timberwolves — F Karl-Anthony Towns (Kentucky)
- Sixers — G Emmanuel Mudiay (China)
- Lakers — G D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State)
- Magic — F Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia)
That’s all the space I have for this week’s inquiries. Please keep all the submissions coming and I’ll be back next Saturday with more thoughts and opinions.