Pacific Notes: Lakers, Draft, Woodson
The Lakers have an 82.8% chance to secure a top five pick in this year’s NBA Draft lottery. But despite those excellent odds, Los Angeles’ GM Mitch Kupchak is stressed about the outcome, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “It’s completely out of our control. But I’m somewhat of a worry-wart,” Kupchak said. “I know our percentage is very high that we end up with a top-five pick, but I have to prepare for if we don’t get it. We’ll be prepared either way.” The executive’s worries stem from the fact that if the pick falls out of the top five it will convey to the Sixers. “If we get a pick, that’s an asset,” Kupchak said. “That’s an asset you can use to trade or work to use it on the player in the draft. If we don’t, we’ll still be able to carry on and move forward.”
Here’s the latest out of the Pacific Division:
- Despite having a roster already loaded with outside shooters the Warriors met with Georgia State gunner R.J. Hunter at the draft combine, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets.
- The Lakers interviewed Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke forward Justise Winslow at the combine, Medina relays (Twitter links).
- Mike Woodson, who is now an assistant with the Clippers, indicated he still hopes to land another spot as a head coach, Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets. “I’ve been a head coach for nine years in this league. Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity,” Woodson said. The former Hawks and Knicks coach has a career record of 315-365.
- Kentucky products Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles interviewed with the Kings, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter links).
- The Suns will consider taking Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky when making their draft selection this June, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I feel like I can fit into multiple roles and help the team on the offensive end,” Kaminsky said. “I don’t think I have as many deficiencies on the defensive end as has been so kindly brought up by so many different people. I think I can fit in with just about any team.“
Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson
At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:
- Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
- Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
- Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
- The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
- Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).
Draft Combine Latest: Upshaw, Russell, Booker
Former University of Washington center Robert Upshaw registered perhaps the most impressive numbers as the NBA measured prospects today at the predraft combine in Chicago. He checked in a 7 feet tall and had the greatest standing reach (9’5″), wingspan (7’5.5″), hand length and hand width, notes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter links). Washington dismissed Upshaw in January for a violation of team rules, but his size will surely make teams think twice. The 21-year-old is the No. 30 prospect with both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more from the combine:
- D’Angelo Russell is interviewing with the Lakers and Pacers today and the Sixers on Thursday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links). The combo guard told Pompey he prefers to play the point and would love to play for the Sixers.
- Stanley Johnson, whom the Sixers are hesitant to peg as either a shooting guard or small forward, already interviewed with Philadelphia today, Pompey tweets.
- Shooting guard Devin Booker and center Myles Turner are also speaking with the Pacers today, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Check out our full profile on Booker here and our profile on Turner here.
- Sam Dekker‘s athleticism stood out as he went through ball-handling and shooting drills Tuesday, as Ford observes in an Insider-only piece. His shooting was solid but not overwhelming, according to Ford, who sees the small forward from Wisconsin going between the 10th and 15th picks.
- GMs who spoke with Ford on Tuesday have shooting guard R.J. Hunter ranked as high as No. 12 and as low as No. 21, as Ford writes in the same piece. The NCAA tournament hero is No. 21 in Ford’s ranking.
- Brazilian prospect George Lucas registered a 7-foot wingspan today, the longest ever recorded for a point guard in the DraftExpress database, as DraftExpress contributor Derek Bodner points out (Twitter link). Lucas, who also goes by George de Paula, is slated to be one of the participants in five-on-five drills this week, as shown on the full list of five-on-five participants that Ford shared via Twitter.
Lakers Expected To Pursue Jimmy Butler
The Lakers are expected to be one of several teams preparing a maximum salary offer sheet for Bulls guard Jimmy Butler, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Chicago reportedly intends to match any offer sheet that he signs, but Charania notes that teams around the league are questioning how Chicago will handle the inevitable max contract for another star player given their pricey commitment to Derrick Rose.
Los Angeles only has slightly under $35.1MM in guaranteed contracts on the books for the 2015/16 season, as our Salary Commitment page shows, against a projected salary cap of $67.1MM. That figure only includes contracts for four players and does not include the non-guaranteed contracts of Tarik Black, Robert Sacre and Jordan Clarkson, which together only total roughly $2.7MM. If the Lakers keep all three on the roster, which I speculate they will, the team could still have enough cap room to sign one player to a maximum contract and another player, perhaps Rajon Rondo, to a mid-sized contract.
Butler, who won this season’s Most Improved Player award, averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 rebounds in 38.7 minutes per game. The guard led his team in minutes per contest and no other Bulls player under the age of 29 played more than 30 minutes per game. Chicago has an aging roster and even with nearly $60.2MM in commitments for next season, the team should look to retain the 25-year-old regardless of cost.
Western Notes: D-League, Donovan, Williams
Billy Donovan‘s track record of success at the University of Florida bodes well for his chances as the Thunder‘s new coach, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald writes. In addition to leading his team to back-to-back championships, Donovan also has proven adept at getting his star players to remain longer than they otherwise would have, Goodman notes. The organization certainly hopes this ability will carryover to the pros, since the pending free agency of Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016 is sure to be a hot-button topic in OKC all season long in 2015/16.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The L.A. D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, informed coach Phil Hubbard that the franchise would not be exercising its team option for him next season, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). The D-Fenders struggled to a record of 17-33 under the first-year coach, though NBA callups for Jabari Brown, Jamaal Franklin, and Vander Blue certainly didn’t help Hubbard’s cause, Spears notes.
- If the Nets and Deron Williams were to agree to a buyout or if the franchise waives him via the stretch provision, the point guard returning to play for the Jazz is a possibility, posits Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). Williams spent the first five and a half seasons of his career in Utah before being dealt to Brooklyn back in 2011.
- Blazers big man Chris Kaman went to Portland with the intention of being a reserve and mentoring the team’s younger big men, but injuries derailed that plan, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes in his review of Kaman’s season. While many players would be thrilled to become a starter, even if it was due to injuries, Kaman wasn’t a huge fan of the change, Young adds. When discussing his role change, Kaman said, “It’s not bad, but it’s not what I came here to do. I knew I came here to back up [Robin] Lopez. And that’s where I see myself and that’s where I feel comfortable.” The veteran has one year remaining on his current deal, though only $1MM of his $5,016,000 salary for 2015/16 is guaranteed.
Cavs Fear Kevin Love Will Leave In Free Agency
8:28am: Love acknowledged not having returned any of Olynyk’s calls, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group wrote after a one-on-one with the Cavs power forward, Love is saving the conversation with Olynyk for later, but Love insists that he’s moved past the incident, Haynes writes.
“Oh yeah. I’m over it,” Love said. “I’m just trying to get healthy.”
8:21am: The Cavs have “a legitimate fear” that Kevin Love will leave the team in free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports said in an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show (video link; transcription via Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk.com). That’s in spite of his his repeated insistence that he plans to remain in Cleveland, a January proclamation that he would opt in, and shoulder injury that threatens to keep him out for training camp next season. Still, rumors have persisted, and before the injury, people around the Cavs and the rest of the league believed the All-Star power forward wouldn’t hesitate to leave Cleveland, as Wojnarowski wrote last month.
The Celtics had closed the gap on the Lakers as a preferred destination for Love before the injury, Wojnarowski reported then, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote this week that the Lakers are well out in front among non-Cavs alternatives. Celtics forward/center Kelly Olynyk caused the injury when he hooked Love’s arm as the two were chasing a loose ball, and Olynyk and his camp have continually reached out to Love and his people in hopes of arranging a chance for Olynyk to apologize to Love in private, Wojnarowski writes in a full story. Love, who had a “legitimate loathing” of the Celtics in the immediate wake of the injury, has turned away the effort so far, according to Wojnarowski.
Love has a player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season, but he would earn an estimated $18.96MM in 2015/16 if he opts out and signs a maximum-salary deal. Hitting free agency in 2016 would let him take advantage of a salary cap that preliminary projections show zooming from $67.1MM to $89MM, but those same projections indicate that another giant leap, to $108MM, is due in 2017. That summer of 2017 is complicated by the specter of the mutual option the league and the players union possess to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement, and there are no guarantees that the structure of the contracts that Love and anyone else could sign would be the same.
Thus, it might behoove the Jeff Schwartz client to either opt in this summer or sign a new contract that allows him an out after one season. If he becomes a free agent this year with the intention of doing so again in 2016, there would be no greater financial advantage to signing with the Cavs this summer as opposed to another team with the capacity to give him the max. The NBA’s built-in edge for incumbent teams applies to raises on multiyear deals and the length of contracts, neither of which would be factors in a single-season arrangement.
Southeast Notes: Carroll, Green, Wall
DeMarre Carroll‘s play for the Hawks this season has likely tripled the value of his next contract, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. But the forward’s age, 28, and his lack of a solid performance track record prior to this season could complicate the market for the unrestricted free agent, Powell adds. Interested franchises will need to determine if Carroll’s best years are ahead of him, or if he is a role-player who took advantage of the Hawks’ system, the NBA.com scribe opines. Powell also believes that the Lakers, Knicks, and Mavs will be competitors for Carroll’s services this summer.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Willie Green, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, wants to return to the Magic next season, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel relays. “I feel like I still have a good maybe three or four years — who knows? — or even more,” Green said. “It’s no secret that I met with [GM] Rob [Hennigan] and I met with the coaches and stuff here, and I expressed to them that I’m definitely open to being back here in Orlando. I like the foundation that the team has. I like our young fellas, and I think I can help them on and off the floor. So if the possibility is open, then I’m definitely open to exploring it.”
- Wizards point guard John Wall‘s elevated play this season is a result of a commitment to film study and a year round fitness regimen, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today notes. “It took us a year or two,” athletic trainer Rob McClanaghan said. “I was straight up with John. I can’t have him come to L.A. for four weeks and say, ‘See you next summer.’ It has to be all year. He loves the film and he loves the extra work. All the work he has put in has made him a much more confident player.“
- Injuries derailed what was a promising first season with the Magic for Evan Fournier, Ken Hornack of FOX Sports Florida writes in his profile of the player. The 22-year-old was acquired last June in a deal with the Nuggets. Fournier appeared in 58 contests this season, averaging 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 28.6 minutes per night.
Atlantic Notes: Love, Sullinger, Tax, Jackson
Kevin Love would be much more likely to sign with the Lakers this summer if he were to leave the Cavs than to sign with the Celtics, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. It’s unclear if hard feelings over Kelly Olynyk‘s role in Love’s injury are at the root of a change or if Deveney is simply hearing different chatter than what Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports heard when he wrote last month that the C’s had closed the gap on the Lakers for Love. In any case, the C’s pursuit of Love last summer made it clear to Boston that a trade package centered around Jared Sullinger won’t be enough to land a star, as Deveney also writes in his look at the Celtics offseason. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets have no interest in paying the luxury tax next season, when they would be in line for harsh repeat offender penalties if they did, league sources have long insisted to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. That’s in contrast to owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s insistence a month ago that the team would pay the tax. In any case, avoiding the tax would almost certainly entail a trade of Deron Williams or, more likely, Joe Johnson, if Brook Lopez re-signs as expected, Bontemps writes.
- In the same piece, Bontemps looks at ways for the Nets to add quickness at the point and more shooting, two areas Lionel Hollins singled out for improvement in his season-ending press conference this past weekend.
- The decision Knicks owner James Dolan made to hire Isiah Thomas as president of the New York Liberty, Dolan’s WNBA team, raises questions about how the dynamic will affect Knicks president Phil Jackson, asserts Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. That’s in spite of the insistence of Thomas that he’ll have no role with the Knicks, whom he used to serve as coach and executive. Harvey Araton of The New York Times thinks it could only be a positive for Jackson, given Dolan’s strong financial commitment to the Zen Master and the notion that Dolan’s insertion of Thomas into the dynamic would absolve Jackson of some of the blame if the Knicks fail to pull out of their tailspin (Twitter links).
Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Green, McNeal, Paul
The Lakers should forget about free agent Rajon Rondo and stick with Jordan Clarkson as their point guard, contends Howard Ruben of Bleacher Report. The rookie out of Missouri showed poise from the time he took over the position, Ruben writes, making Rondo unnecessary. Clarkson is a much more affordable alternative, with a non-guaranteed salary of $845K for next season. Ruben also notes that Los Angeles has a shot to draft D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, either of whom could be a long-term answer at point guard.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Whether they’re able to keep him this summer or not, the Warriors understand the value of Draymond Green, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Green has been a force for Golden State both offensively and defensively this season, as he showed by frustrating the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis in a first-round sweep. “He does everything; he’s a jack of all trades,” coach Steve Kerr said of Green. “On top of that, he’s one of our leaders and the guy who talks the most trash to the other team, to the refs, to his teammates, to me. He’s kind of our life line.” Green is almost certain to command a max deal this summer, but he can cement that by continuing to shine in the playoffs.
- Jerel McNeal hopes to continue his NBA career after earning a late-season spot on the Suns‘ roster, writes Matt Petersen of NBA.com. After an outstanding season with Bakersfield in the D-League, Phoenix signed McNeal to a 10-day contract April 1st, then rewarded him with a two-year deal April 11th, although no money is guaranteed beyond this season. “I’ll probably end up doing Summer League with Phoenix and just use that as another opportunity to show what I can do and go do what the coaching staff asks,” McNeal said. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to stick around.”
- Chris Paul gave the Clippers the kind of moment they were hoping for when they traded for him in 2011, according to Ben Golliver of SI.com. Playing with an injured hamstring, Paul scored with 1 second left to defeat the Spurs in Game 7 of their playoff series. It was a breakthrough moment for Paul, who has often been the target of criticism for his playoff performances. The hamstring problem may force Paul to miss Monday’s opener of the Rockets series, reports Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Lakers
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Lakers utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Los Angeles D-Fenders
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 17-33
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4
Total D-League Assignments: 9
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Jordan Clarkson: 5 assignments, 5 games, 22.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 7.8 APG. .500/.222/.810.
- Xavier Henry: 2 assignments, 2 games, 26.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG. .455/.500/.895.
- Tarik Black: 1 assignment, 1 game, 23.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 3.0 APG. .643/.500/.833.
- Ryan Kelly: 1 assignment, 1 game, 30.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 APG. .444/.333/.917.
D-League Signings
- Vander Blue (L.A. D-Fenders-Lakers affiliate): Signed for the remainder of season on April 13th.
- Dwight Buycks (Oklahoma City Blue-Thunder affiliate): Inked a 10-day pact on April 3rd.
- Jabari Brown (L.A. D-Fenders-Lakers affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 10th; inked 2nd 10-day deal on March 21st; signed multiyear deal on April 1st.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 15th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled November 16th)
- November 15th: Assigned Xavier Henry (Recalled November 16th)
- Novermber 22nd: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 22nd: Assigned Xavier Henry (Recalled November 23rd)
- December 6th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled December 7th)
- December 18th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled December 19th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled January 4th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Tarik Black (Recalled January 4th)
- January 30th: Assigned Ryan Kelly (Recalled January 31st)