Berger On Lakers, White, Thunder, Fisher
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has a new column dealing with several high-profile topics from around the NBA. Here are the highlights:
- Berger writes that if the Lakers choose to trade Pau Gasol, they should look for wing defenders and bench depth.
- The Rockets and Royce White appear to be making progress in working through the issues that have prevented the rookie from seeing playing time. Berger reports that White has begun seeing the therapist the team assigned to him to assist with his anxiety disorder.
- Kevin Martin is having a fantastic season for the Thunder, who Berger believes have been vindicated for their decision to trade James Harden.
- Thunder guard Russell Westbrook praised the Mavericks' signing of Derek Fisher, citing the veteran point guard's impact on the Oklahoma City locker room last season.
Odds & Ends: Kings, West, Thunder, Raptors
The Kings are reportedly exploring options for a potential move and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson appears to be running out of patience. "I don't like not being able to fight and not being able to determine the outcome," he said. "The Kings and the owners have to want to be here." The Kings have reportedly spoken with officials in Seattle, San Diego, Kansas City, and St. Louis in recent weeks. More from around the Association..
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes that the Heat should look into signing free agents Kenyon Martin and Delonte West. Both players have picked up less-than-sterling reputations in recent years but would provide Miami with some badly needed defense off the bench. Earlier today we learned that the Celtics haven't checked in on K-Mart despite speculation to the contrary.
- While the Jazz haven't been off to a hot start, they are likely to keep their core in place so long as they are in the mix for the playoffs, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Utah currently sits at 9-10 after losing 105-104 to the Clippers on Monday night.
- It looks like the new-look Thunder are going to be much better than anyone expected them to be, writes Zach Lowe of Grantland.com. Luxury tax concerns were the main reason for the James Harden trade but the club hasn't lost a step thanks to their increased defensive focus.
- It's time for the Raptors to trade Andrea Bargnani in order for both parties to get a fresh start, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. However, Wolstat notes that league chatter indicates that the market for the former No. 1 pick is underwhelming.
- The Lakers' justifications for firing Mike Brown and hiring Mike D'Antoni aren't holding up, writes ESPN.com's J.A. Adande. D'Antoni insists that things will improve upon Steve Nash's return, but Adande points out that he won't help solve their defensive woes.
Latest On Pau Gasol
Despite building chatter that the Lakers will trade forward Pau Gasol, the club may opt to keep him to satisfy guard Steve Nash. The club landed Nash this summer by promising him that he would get to play with the Spaniard, a source tells Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (via Twitter).
Nash, the source says, turned down offers from the Knicks and passed on the opportunity to return to Canada with the Raptors because he was promised that Gasol would stay. It’s possible, of course, that Nash re-thinks his position if the team continues to struggle upon his return.
Agreements such as this aren’t unheard of in the league as Chris Paul made similar personnel demands as part of his agreement to be dealt to the Clippers. Paul demanded that the Clippers would do whatever was necessary to retain restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan.
Yesterday we learned that General Manager Mitch Kupchak recently spoke with Gasol’s representatives and explained that the team will have to explore trade possibilities if his play doesn’t improve. The forward missed last night’s game against the Rockets due to tendinitis in both knees but benching had nothing to do with an impending deal.
Central Notes: Bulls, Gasol, Cavs, Jones
It wasn’t pretty, but the Pacers topped the Bulls last night 80-76 to get back to the .500 mark. The Bulls kept David West in check but Paul George more than picked up the slack with 34 points, 9 rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two blocks. Here’s more out of the Central..
- In an interview on 95.7 The Game, Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com explained how the Bulls have the goods to land Pau Gasol if they want to. Sheridan suggests a three-way deal in which the Hornets send Ryan Anderson to the Lakers, and the Bulls send Taj Gibson, a future No. 1 draft pick owed to them by the Bobcats, plus a little more to New Orleans. That little more could include the rights to Real Madrid forward Nikola Mirotic.
- Despite the optimism surrounding recent D-League callup Kevin Jones, Sam Amico of FOXSportsOhio.com doesn’t see him making a major impact with the Cavaliers this season. In five D-League games, averaged 23.6 PPG and 12.6 RPG in 41 minutes per game. The forward out of West Virginia was projected to be an early- to-mid second-round pick in the 2012 draft but plummeted after an injury forced him to miss workouts.
- The Cavs are hurting without Kyrie Irving in the lineup, but veteran wing C.J. Miles notes that the situation is giving bench players a chance to prove their worth in the league, writes Lang Greene of HoopsWorld. Jeremy Pargo and Donald Sloan have seen more minutes in Irving’s absence but the Cavs are struggling at 4-14.
Pacific Rumors: Lakers, Odom, Clippers, Green
Two days after Kobe Bryant told Pau Gasol to put on his "big boy pants," Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com calls Bryant's latest comments his strongest message of support to date for Gasol, who's struggling amid trade rumors and tendinitis in both knees. "I want him to dig in and be determined, not discouraged," Bryant said. "We should go to him more on the post because he can dominate from there as he has to the tune of two rings. I'm sure we will adjust and figure out a balance when he comes back healthy." Bryant also said he loves Pau "like a brother," but Lakers fans aren't feeling the love from their team so far. While we wait to see if and when the Lakers get it going, here's what the Pacific Division teams on top of them in standings are up to.
- Lamar Odom has become a locker room leader for the Clippers, handing out books to other players a la Phil Jackson, but his most significant impact must come on the court, where he's showing signs of returning to form, argues Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- Mavs center Chris Kaman, who spent eight seasons with the Clippers before they sent him to the Hornets in the Chris Paul deal, believes Clips owner Donald Sterling is growing more serious about winning as he gets older, as Jeff Caplan of NBA.com documents. "You’ve seen since they picked (Paul) up all the guys wanting to be there," Kaman said. "Before he was there no one wanted to be there. It was like people hated themselves for being there."
- Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group details how Draymond Green's toughness, intelligence and obsession with winning have contributed to the Warriors' strong 10-7 start.
Odds & Ends: Ilyasova, Lakers, Rockets, Clippers
One of the more insulting phrases in basketball circles is "sign-and-retire", a clever quip for players who ink lucrative contracts and seemingly transition into cruise control. Today, ESPN.com's John Hollinger (Insider sub. req'd) looked at several players who have been underwhelming so far in 2012/13 after signing big money deals. The Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova signed a five-year, $40MM deal this summer but now has a 9.69 PER to go along with 35.3% shooting from the floor. Other disappointing players highlighted by Hollinger include the Celtics' Jeff Green, the Pacers' Roy Hibbert, and the Raptors' Landry Fields. Here's more from around the Association..
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside looked at players in the D-League who could potentially help the Lakers solve their point guard problem. The Lakers could turn their own affiliate and call upon Darius Johnson-Odom or Courtney Fortson. Pilato also suggests that the Lakers could re-unite with Andrew Goudelock, who is currently playing with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
- When asked if the Clippers can turn the corner, Mavs center Chris Kaman responded, "If [owner Donald] Sterling sold the team they might be able to," Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram tweets.
- Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said that he would like to get a new contract as coach and "be the new owners' guy" going forward, tweets Rob Fischer of Sports 560 AM. The Grizzlies were recently purchased by 34-year-old Robert Pera, who is joined by a group of high-profile minority owners.
- Derrick Caracter has signed a contract with Israel's Bnei Herzliya, according to David Pick of Eurobasket (via Twitter). The former Laker spent last season in the D-League with three different teams and was on the Hawks' summer league team.
Pat Williams On Howard, Bynum, Nets
The Magic scored a tremendously satisfying win on Sunday when they downed Dwight Howard and the Lakers. Powered on the offensive end by Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis, the Magic employed the "Hack-A-Howard" strategy and forced the big man to try and win the game from the charity stripe. Yesterday, Magic senior vice president Pat Williams spoke with 95.7 The Game to about the post-Howard era in Orlando and Steven Cuce of Sports Radio Interviews has the goods..
How’s this year going without Dwight Howard? How’s the transition going?
Well, it cleared up very nicely [Sunday] night in Los Angeles. Oh boy, Orlando Magic fans were dancing in the street last night. That was a beautiful win for us. We’ve been struggling up to that point. The Dwight thing has calmed down. It was tumultuous for 12 months, really, and just difficult. What are you going to do when your great player and top guy says, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore?’ Move me on. It’s extremely difficult and we had to deal with it the best we could. We tried to convince Dwight to stay here and this could be his long-term home and he was … far better off being here, but he didn’t buy it. And New York or L.A. seemed to have the lure for him. We made the best deal we could and it was a big one — a four-team trade and one of the biggest in NBA history. We ended up with six players and five future draft choices. It was a massive trade, but I think it settled here and the fans’ position was if Dwight didn’t want to be here, so be it and we move on and let’s start fresh. So that’s really what we’ve done, and I think we’ve got a nice, young ball club. I think we are going to be OK.”
What made Dwight Howard change his mind last summer after he said in March he wanted to stay with the team?
“Dwight is a pleaser at heart. Deep down he really is a good guy. He had a lot invested here in eight years out of Central Florida and I think the pressure got to him. It was building and building and building. It was trade, trade and trade. As we got to the trade deadline, I think Dwight was just panic-stricken. Where was this all going to lead? The simplest way was just going to be sign this extension. I don’t think his agent had anything to do with it. I don’t think anyone would have advised him that because it was just a few months from free agency, and I just think the pressure was so great that the safest way to break it was just to sign the one-year extension and take the pressure off, and he made a little press conference and a little speech saying, ‘I love Orlando.’ Then, the next thing you know, this back injury takes place and then he disappears and we never saw him or hear from him again until the middle of the summer. We did meet with him and went out to see him and tried to convince him to stay. … It made no headway. It was not on his agenda and it turned out Brooklyn was his first choice. That all didn’t work, and finally the L.A. trade. Now he’s still a free agent after this year, so who knows what’s going to happen or where he is headed next?”
Why didn’t the deal for Dwight Howard with the Brooklyn Nets work out for Brook Lopez?
“I guess there were a lot of ins and outs with that. I just want to say that one of the fears with him was the tendency, as he got hurt, that he’s got a history with feet and ankle problems. He’s out again now. I think that was a big part of it, and then of course people say then, ‘Why not Andrew Bynum? Why didn’t you get Andrew Bynum?’ Well, I don’t think we’d be real happy with Andrew Bynum right now. If he were sitting here it would be a mess. We made the best deal we could with these other pieces that came from around the league, and I think it was the best deal we could have made based on potential of injury and what was best for our team.”
Latest On Pau Gasol
2:17pm: League executives believe that Los Angeles won't have any real discussions for Gasol until Steve Nash returns, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. They also believe that they Lakers will hold off until after December 15th, when players who signed contracts over the summer can be traded.
1:32pm: Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak recently spoke with Gasol's representatives and explained that the team will have no choice but to explore trade possibilities if Gasol is unable to adjust to Mike D'Antoni's system, multiple league sources tell ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin. Gasol, who has been the subject of heavy trade speculation for weeks, will miss tonight's game due to tendinitis in both knees. However, the resting has to do specifically with the big man's injury and isn't being prompted by a forthcoming trade
The former four-time All-Star has career low numbers so far in 2012/13, averaging 12.6 PPG and 8.8 RPG in 34.8 minutes per contest. From a team standpoint, the Spaniard doesn't seem to mesh well in the club's offensive system or make a strong complement to center Dwight Howard. Gasol's mental lapses on the court have also been well documented and have been a recurring problem for the club over the last couple of years.
Kyler On Lakers, Hornets, Anderson, Pietrus
A few tidbits of news courtesy of HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler..
- There has been a lot of speculation that the Lakers are looking to make a move as they sit at 8-9. However, league sources and agents close to players that have been linked to the team say that they haven't been very active or aggressive about making a move. Other teams looking for help have started sending out feelers as free agents signed over the summer can be traded starting December 15th.
- The Lakers have also been linked to free agent point guards following injuries to Steve Nash and Steve Blake, but that doesn't appear to be in the cards as Nash is likely to return in the next few weeks. A signing might not be a good idea for the team's chemistry either and one insider near the situation remarked, “How much more change does that team need?”
- Hornets forward Ryan Anderson has been playing well for a less-than-stellar New Orleans team, fueling speculation that he could be traded. However, the club emphatically denies that he has been talked about in a trade. One Hornets exec pointed out that Anderson's play could get even better alongside a healthy Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis. While the club is obviously zeroed in on its young players for this season, they also see Anderson as a leader for the team this year and beyond. Earlier today we learned that the Lakers would like to land Anderson in a Pau Gasol deal.
- The Lakers were linked to Mickael Pietrus, but his agent says they never reached out to him. Pietrus signed with the Raptors for the minimum salary last week.
Lakers Targeting Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson is the number one target of the Lakers if they decide to trade Pau Gasol, an NBA source told Jabari Davis of SheridanHoops.com. The list of players that they would covet in a Gasol deal is a short one and they see the Hornets forward as the best fit of anyone who could realistically be had.
However, not everyone in the Lakers front office is on board with trading Gasol. General Manager Mitch Kupchak is opposed to such a move while Jim Buss, the man who made the decision to hire Mike D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson, wants to deal him.
“The interest is coming from the Lakers, not New Orleans,” the source said. “[Kupchak] would prefer to keep Pau, as would Kobe. [Buss] would prefer to continue cleaning house, and bring in players able to fit a more fast-paced style of play."
For the Lakers to land Anderson, they'd likely have to find a third team to take Gasol and give the Hornets a replacement for Anderson at power forward plus valuable picks. Davis notes that the Bulls own a Bobcats first-round pick from their 2010 Tyrus Thomas trade. The pick is top-12 protected in the 2013 draft, top-ten protected in 2014, top-eight protected in 2015 and unprotected in 2016.