Clippers, Pelicans, Grizzlies Ask About Jeff Green
The Celtics aren’t interested in trading Jeff Green in spite of recent inquiries about the forward from the Clippers, Pelicans and Grizzlies, who view the C’s as sellers, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link). That conflicts with a Wednesday report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who wrote that the C’s were shopping Green in hopes of landing a first-round pick. Boston turned down an offer for Green and Rajon Rondo that included Jordan Hill and a first-round pick, presumably among other assets, from the Lakers, as Zillgitt reported earlier today.
The interest from the Clippers isn’t surprising, given their apparent need at small forward and reported interest in Corey Brewer, among other targets. The Pelicans were reportedly aggressive in trade discussions as of a few weeks ago, and they, too, could use help at small forward. The Grizzlies aren’t blessed with star-quality wing talent, either, but it’s somewhat odd to see them involved given their 21-4 record. It’s unclear what any of the three teams is willing to relinquish to acquire Green.
The 28-year-old former No. 5 overall pick is in the midst of strong year, averaging a career-high 19.6 points per game, and he’s far and away Boston’s leading scorer this season. Reluctance on the part of Boston to move him would seem to indicate that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge isn’t about to undertake an aggressive rebuilding even if he lets go of Rondo, though given the conflicting reports, it’s tough to get a read on the C’s strategy. Green is making $9.2MM this season and has a player option for the same salary next year.
Pacific Notes: Villanueva, Kings, Kobe, Suns
The Clippers have won 11 of their last 13 games and sit at 18-7, but they’d still be without home-court advantage in the first round if the playoffs started today. That helps explain why they reportedly remain interested in Corey Brewer, among others, given how high the bar is set in the Western Conference. Here’s more on the Clippers and their Pacific Division rivals:
- Rick Carlisle‘s willingness to personally conduct workouts for Charlie Villanueva helped sell the veteran on signing with the Mavs this summer when the Clippers were also in hot pursuit, Villanueva said recently on Google Plus, as the Dallas Morning News transcribes. “Not to take nothing away from what the Clippers and Doc Rivers [are] doing, but it just felt right with Rick,” Villanueva said. “It was just a feeling. I went with a feeling in my gut and I feel like I made the right move.”
- TNT’s Kenny Smith is among the names “floating around” for the Kings head coaching job, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, though it’s unclear whether he’s truly a candidate. Smith had conversations with the Kings about a front office position in 2013, as he told Sam Amick of USA Today at that time.
- Mitch Kupchak offered a little more wiggle room for the idea that Kobe Bryant would play past the expiration of his contract in 2016 when the Lakers GM spoke this week with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio (audio link), observes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Kupchak earlier this month appeared to dismiss the notion of a prolonged career for Bryant.
- Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that he and Suns owner Robert Sarver have had conversations about a new arena in Phoenix, observes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Sarver raised the issue publicly earlier this year, though Silver on Wednesday cautioned that he doesn’t believe there’s an “imminent” need for a new building, Coro notes.
- The Warriors have recalled Ognjen Kuzmic from the D-League, the team announced. It was just a one-day stint for the center, who juxtaposed an impressive five blocks against a paltry three points in 28 minutes of action Wednesday for Santa Cruz.
Western Notes: Allen, Kuzmic, Crawford
One of the Warriors’ few weaknesses this season is the backup shooting guard spot, a void that free agent Ray Allen would fill perfectly, Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group opines. Golden State has been having internal discussions about making a run at adding Allen to its roster, should he decide to play this season. With Corey Brewer once again being made available by Minnesota, he could also become a potential trade target, though that is just my speculation.
Here’s more from out west:
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to the Santa Cruz Warriors, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Kuzmic’s second trek to the D-League this season.
- Sources close to the Kings have denied reports that team owner Vivek Ranadive tried to dictate who ex-coach Mike Malone played, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). Although, one known instance of Ranadive suggesting whom to play was this past Saturday when Ranadive suggested that Ryan Hollins start after the death of his father, a move that Malone reportedly agreed with, Broussard adds.
- The Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford has parted ways with agent Andy Miller, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports (Twitter link).
- Crawford has said that the trade rumors regarding himself don’t bother him, and though he would prefer to stay with the Clippers, Crawford intimated that he could play “wherever,” Dan Woike of The Orange County Register tweets.
- Most league executives unsurprisingly believe Brook Lopez will pick up his $16.744MM player option for next season with the Nets, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes amid a broader look at the Warriors and possible trade fits for David Lee.
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu is set to be released by Hapoel Jerusalem, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Mensah-Bonsu, who was briefly in training camp with the Nuggets this fall, was brought in by Hapoel on a month-to-month deal for the EuroCup competition, and is no longer needed since the team has been eliminated from the tournament, Pick adds.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Crawford, Moreland, Brewer
Clippers guard Jamal Crawford is being mentioned quite a bit in exploratory trade talks, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio reports (Twitter link). According to Amico, the Kings, Nuggets, and Thunder may take a run at acquiring the veteran guard, though no serious discussions are talking place just yet. In 23 appearances this season, Crawford is averaging 16.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 26.7 minutes per game.
Here’s the latest out of the West:
- The Kings have once again recalled Eric Moreland from the Reno Bighorns, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was Moreland’s fifth sojourn of the season to Reno, and in seven appearances for the Bighorns he has averaged 13.7 points and 1.4 assists per contest.
- For the second time this season the Rockets have assigned Clint Capela to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate, the team announced. The 6’10” rookie has made four appearances for the Rockets this season, recording a total of six rebounds, one assist, a steal and a block in 12 total minutes of playing time. In his first stint with the Vipers, Capela played in six games averaging 9.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 14.1 minutes per contest.
- The Rockets‘ coaching staff is enamored with Corey Brewer and are still pursing a trade with the Wolves for the swingman, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets. No deal is imminent, Wolfson adds.
- Kevin Durant refuted the notion that players around the league don’t want to play with Kobe Bryant, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. When asked if this perception is why the Lakers have been unable to make a splash in in free agency lately, Durant said, “Excuse my language, but that’s [expletive]. I want to play with a winner every single night, especially somebody who wants to win that bad, who works that hard, who demands a lot, who raises up your level. I’d want to play with a guy like that every day. His style may make people uncomfortable, how he acts and just how he approaches the game, but I love that type of stuff. I think [the accusation] is BS.”
Western Rumors: Turiaf, Clippers, Gasol, Lopez
Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders told reporters today that it’s likely he’ll try to find a way to use Ronny Turiaf‘s roster spot to help the team in the short term, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Turiaf had surgery today on his right hip, and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to return. His contract, which calls for him to make a guaranteed $1.5MM this year, is up at season’s end, as Zgoda notes. Minnesota is already carrying 16 players through a hardship exception granted in part because of Turiaf’s injury, so his extended absence wouldn’t give the team any more ammunition to apply for a 17th roster spot, which it would be unlikely to receive, anyway. There’s more injury-related news amid the latest rumblings from around the Western Conference:
- Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers acknowledged a report that the team is interested in Jermaine O’Neal, telling gathered media, including Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, that he’s casting a wide net (Twitter link). “Hey, count me in for everybody,” Rivers said. “… We’re looking at everything.”
- Jordan Farmar isn’t enamored with his limited role under Rivers, who’s giving him just 15.0 minutes per night, observes Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Farmar’s deal with the Clippers includes a player option worth more than $2.17MM for next season.
- Marc Gasol isn’t tiring of hearing his name in rumors as he nears free agency in the summer ahead, but he once more made it clear that he’s quite pleased to be in Memphis, notes Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). The Raptors are the latest team reportedly gearing up for a run at the Grizzlies big man.
- Robin Lopez is expected to miss the next four weeks after suffering a broken right hand in Monday’s win for the Blazers against the Spurs, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Blazers have 15 fully guaranteed contracts, so they have little flexibility to find a replacement.
Eastern Notes: Dudley, Rose, Magic
Clippers coach Doc Rivers never wanted to part with Jared Dudley, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dudley came to the Bucks via trade last summer after a frustrating season in Los Angeles. “We just had to create roster room,” Rivers said. “We actually really wanted to keep him. He was the one who had the most value. We really haven’t used the [salary] space yet, but we think we may need it at some point.”
There is other news from the Eastern Conference:
- The Bulls‘ Derrick Rose is slowly regaining his MVP form, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Rose scored 31 points in Friday’s win over Portland, his largest outburst since March of 2012. “We all feel he is going to be back to the guy he was,” coach Tom Thibodeau told the team’s official website. “He is going step by step. He has to keep building, keep attacking. When he is aggressive like that, there is no one like him.”
- Magic coach Jacque Vaughn warned his young guards that they have to take better care of the ball if they want to stay in the game, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. The Hawks turned up the pressure in Friday’s game, forcing three turnovers by Victor Oladipo and two by Elfrid Payton. “You try to prepare them with a solution,” Vaughn said. “But you also want them to be able to go through the situation and try to swim their way through it as well.”
- Jared Sullinger‘s sudden scoring slump has hit at the same time as the Celtics‘ three-game losing streak, writes Chris Forsburg of ESPNBoston.com. Sullinger missed all six of his shots from the field in Friday’s loss to the Knicks, but the Celtics are remaining supportive. “Sully’s a really good player who’s had a couple tough games in a row,” said coach Brad Stevens. “I think the most important thing we can do is encourage him, but we certainly need him to be good. But there’s a lot of things when you lose a game that factor into losing the game, and so I don’t think it’s any one person’s play or any two people’s play — it’s a collective effort, win or lose.”
Clippers, Grizzlies, Warriors In Hunt For Ray Allen
8:18pm: Doc Rivers said the Clippers are also interested in Allen, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles had expressed an interest in Allen over the summer, but Rivers said in October that Allen wasn’t a candidate to join the team.
SATURDAY, 3:28pm: Allen’s agent, Jim Tanner, confirmed that their is a wide range of interest in his client around the league, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. In addition to the previously mentioned teams, the Grizzlies have also expressed interest in the veteran free agent, Charania notes.
4:00pm: Warriors GM Bob Myers told 95.7 The Game today that Golden State did reach out to Allen’s representatives, but Allen isn’t sure about what he wants to do, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group tweets.
THURSDAY, 9:01am: Ray Allen‘s name has drawn mention as the Warriors have engaged in internal discussions about their roster, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). The Warriors have been evaluating their options regarding their backcourt, Kawakami also tweets, though it’s unclear if they’re looking at bringing in someone new or just thinking about giving more minutes to players who are already on their roster. Golden State is a league-best 19-2, so it doesn’t seem there’d be much of a rush to make changes, though the Warriors’ position as a legitimate title threat no doubt gives them a leg up with sought-after free agents.
The 39-year-old Allen has lingered on the free agent market since July as he’s mulled whether to play again or retire. The Cavs, Wizards, Bulls and Spurs were among seven teams that still reportedly had interest in signing Allen as of late last month. Multiple reports from the past few weeks have cast the Cavs as the favorites to land the league’s all-time leading three-point maker should he decide to return to the NBA, echoing similar reports since the summer and an apparent belief that Cleveland’s front office had maintained into the fall. Still, Allen and agent Jim Tanner have shot down several rumors and have consistently maintained that Allen has yet to make up his mind. A report last week indicated that Allen has let teams know that he’ll entertain offers in January and decide about his future in February.
Allen said this summer that he wanted to play for an experienced coach, and while he didn’t rule out playing for the minimum salary, he made it clear that he’s not keen on the idea. That would appear to put the Warriors at a disadvantage should they pursue him, since Steve Kerr is in his first season as a head coach and Golden State is limited to the minimum salary. Kerr is nonetheless the first rookie coach in NBA history to win 19 out of his first 21 games. The Warriors are also one of the few teams in the NBA with an open roster spot. Leandro Barbosa and Justin Holiday are on partially guaranteed deals that are de facto non-guaranteed arrangements, since both have earned in excess of the amount of their partial guarantees. Holiday has seen little playing time this season, and Barbosa, who’s averaged 13.6 minutes per game this year, didn’t see action in the second half Wednesday, Kawakami notes (on Twitter).
Eastern Notes: Davies, Weems, Rondo
Sixers coach Brett Brown isn’t happy that Brandon Davies was traded to the Nets, Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com reports. Brown will miss Davies because of the player-coach relationship the two had, which helped ease the sting of enduring the Sixers’ escalating loss totals, Lynam adds. “When you start losing people that you are very fond of and have tremendous respect for … there is a human side of it that bothers me because you are trying to grow chemistry, you are trying to grow a culture,” Brown said. “That takes a hit when teammates lose teammates. There is a respect, effort-wise, of how they go about their business. There is a reality to our job that is just business in the NBA, but it doesn’t mean it has to feel right.”
Here’s more from the East:
- Sonny Weems turned down multiple offers from NBA teams this past offseason, including a fully guaranteed deal from the Hawks, as he tells David Pick, writing for Basketball Insiders. Weems instead remains overseas on a long-term deal with CSKA Moscow that will pay him $10MM over the course of the contract, according to Pick. Money, contract length and timing were some of the stumbling blocks that kept Weems out of the NBA, Pick writes, adding that Weems is widely accepted as the best small forward not in the NBA.
- Rajon Rondo has been receiving his fair share of criticism for the Celtics‘ struggles this season, and he’s been benched late in games recently, but it is something he has downplayed, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. “I’ve been playing here for nine years, I’m one of the best at what I do, and I’m human,” Rondo said. “I make mistakes. I own up to my mistakes and that’s just part of the game. It’s not weighing on me at all. It’s a team effort. I am the captain, but there are 15 guys on this team and we’re all in this together.”
- Prior to leaving Washington, current Clippers assistant Sam Cassell played a major role in helping the Wizards land Paul Pierce this past summer, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. “I talked to him [Pierce], told him how well he’ll do with them two guys John Wall and Bradley Beal] and he viewed it and made his decision,” Cassell said. “He took it seriously. He looked at the roster that we had and he realized it was a pretty good roster. He saw where he could fit in and do well at. Why wouldn’t he come and be a part of the Wizards?”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Sixers Acquire Andrei Kirilenko
12:40pm: The Sixers also receive cash, as Philadelphia announced in its press release. The 2018 second-rounder that the Sixers would send to Brooklyn if the teams swapped second-round picks that year would be Cleveland’s pick, the Sixers also note.
THURSDAY, 12:28pm: The trade is official, the Nets announced via press release. The Sixers get Kirilenko, Gutierrez, Brooklyn’s 2020 second-round pick and the right to swap 2018 second-rounders. The Nets receive Davies, and Brooklyn’s statement also confirms the creation of a pair of trade exceptions. The statement values them at $3.4MM and $916K, respectively, but it would appear as though they’re actually worth precisely $3,326,235 and $816,482, the equivalents of the salaries for Kirilenko and Gutierrez, respectively. The Nets can use them to trade for players with salaries of up to $100K more than those amounts any time between now and a year from today.
WEDNESDAY, 8:18pm: The Sixers and Nets have agreed to a trade that would send Andrei Kirilenko to Philadelphia, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Also heading to the Sixers is the Nets’ 2020 second round pick, the right to swap second-rounders in 2018, and cash. In return the Nets will receive Brandon Davies. The deal is expected to be finalized on Thursday, and Brooklyn is also likely to send another minor player to the Sixers as well, Wojnarowski notes in a separate tweet. That player might be Jorge Gutierrez, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily reports (Twitter link).
Philadelphia is expected to waive Kirilenko and his guaranteed salary, worth more than $3.3MM. The Nets will save themselves nearly $12MM in salary and tax payments as a result of the deal, not counting Davies’ non-guaranteed salary of $816,482. Brooklyn isn’t planning on waiving him immediately, and will give Davies a look, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter links). The Nets are also working on signing a free agent wing player in addition to this trade, Bondy adds.
The 33-year-old Russian’s future is unclear, since Kirilenko has been dealing with undisclosed family issues that kept him away from the Nets, as well as clouded the trade talk surrounding him since it was unclear if he would be willing and able to report to any team that acquired him. The Jazz have been mentioned as potential suitors, though today’s signing of Patrick Christopher increased Utah’s roster count to the league-maximum fifteen players, which means the team would need to make a roster move to accommodate Kirilenko if it was still interested in his services. Wojnarowski’s article also lists the Cavs and the Clippers as teams that may be interested in signing Kirilenko.
In 12 NBA seasons, Kirilenko has averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. His career slash line is .474/.310/.754. He appeared in just seven games for Brooklyn this season, logging just 0.4 points in 5.1 minutes per contest.
The 23-year-old Davies is in his second season in the NBA after going undrafted out of BYU in 2013. His career numbers are 3.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game. His shooting numbers are .417/.225/.640.
L.A. Notes: Kobe, Dudley, Rivers, Wohl
Both Los Angeles teams enter their next games having come off wins, with the Clippers having dusted off their eighth straight on Monday against the Suns and the Lakers topping the Kings on Tuesday. Still, the dichotomy between the two Staples Center tenants couldn’t be more stark. Here’s the latest from L.A.
- A source close to Kobe Bryant says the Lakers star was “adamant” this past offseason about retiring in the summer of 2016, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Bryant hasn’t publicly ruled out the idea of playing beyond next season, even as he’s signaled that he has no plans to do so.
- The Lakers would be hard-pressed to build a championship-level team before the time that Bryant is poised to walk away, but the Black Mamba believes there’s a decent chance that the team’s fortunes will change in a hurry, as he tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post. “I’ve been in this situation before. I don’t fret about it. I don’t think nothing about it,” Bryant said. “I’ve seen, where it seems like this organization is in dire straits and then all of a sudden, we make a couple of moves, make a couple of trades and boom, we’re right back in it. So I just stay patient.”
- The Bucks didn’t make the best offer to the Clippers for Jared Dudley and the first-round pick that the Clips wound up trading to Milwaukee this summer, but Doc Rivers and his staff felt they had to act quickly, multiple sources suggested to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com. Arnovitz’s insider-only piece delves into the front office dynamics for the Clippers, where executives and agents rely on GM Dave Wohl as a conduit to Rivers, Arnovitz hears.