Lakers Don’t Intend To Add Point Guard
Last night, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times tweeted that Steve Nash could miss up to four weeks with the fracture in his left leg, rather than the one or two weeks initially reported. While that's not good news for the Lakers, the team doesn't intend to add a point guard for depth purposes, according to Bresnahan.
Considering the depth the Lakers already have at the position, the club's stance makes sense. Steve Blake and Darius Morris have been earning most of the minutes at the point in Nash's absence, while Chris Duhon has seen limited playing time as well. Los Angeles is also carrying a fourth point guard in Darius Johnson-Odom, who has been inactive for each of the Lakers' first four games.
Although the Lakers plan to wait out Nash's recovery with their current group of point guards, there are a number of options available on the free agent market if the team changes its mind. Former Laker Derek Fisher is perhaps the most obvious candidate, while Delonte West and Anthony Carter are among the other unsigned veterans.
Lawrence On Joe Johnson, Hamilton, Sloan
We made note last night of Mitch Lawrence's theory that Mike D'Antoni, whom Lawrence hears is looking to get back into coaching in 2013/14, could be headed to the Rockets, but the New York Daily News scribe shares much more in his four-page weekly roundup. Here are the highlights.
- Rick Sund's decision to step down as Hawks GM this summer may have had an impact on at least two other teams, according to Lawrence. Sund was content to stand pat with the team's core, unlike his successor, Danny Ferry, who shipped Joe Johnson to the Nets quickly after taking the job. Without the Johnson trade, Deron Williams might have signed with the Mavs, opening the door for Dwight Howard to join him in Dallas.
- League revenues declined about $400MM in 2011/12 from the year before, a loss executives were counting on because of the lockout. Though the matter of advertising on jerseys was reportedly tabled at the last Board of Governors meeting, advertising patches will be on jerseys in two years, Lawrence reports, creating an estimated $100MM worth of revenue every season.
- The Bulls aren't finding takers for Richard Hamilton and his $5MM salary this season.
- We heard this summer that Jerry Sloan had removed his name from consideration for the Blazers head coaching job, but before he did, the team offered him the job, Lawrence hears.
Odds & Ends: D’Antoni, Clippers, Lakers
- Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK describes how Kevin Martin is fitting in with the Thunder as he looks to transition from being the main guy in Houston to the sixth man in Oklahoma City.
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post reports that Nets guard Keith Bogans suited up for tonight's game against the Raptors after being out with an injury since February.
- The following three links are all courtesy of the Los Angeles Times: Firstly, Broderick Turner discusses Vinny Del Negro's task of finding minutes for all five of his rotation big men at the power forward and center positions, adding that doing so through the Clippers' first two games was easier because of foul trouble. Secondly, Ben Bolch reflects on current Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey's tenure with the Clippers, his departure, and the ties that Olshey still feels with some of their players. Lastly, Eric Pincus says that today's day off for the Lakers was needed, considering that Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Jordan Hill are all trying to play through injuries. Metta World Peace agreed, saying that the team had already gone through seven or eight straight days on their feet and that it had "hurt them a bit."
- Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press writes about how Nikola Pekovic and his physical play during Timberwolves' practices have played a vital role in the development of Greg Stiemsma.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune talks about how veteran additions Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko have fared in Minnesota so far.
Western Notes: Morris, Murphy, Thunder, Thabeet
With news of Steve Nash's leg fracture keeping him out for another week, Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles thinks that this will be a good opportunity for Darius Morris to prove himself, noting that that his potential is what helped the Lakers decide to keep him over recently-cut guard Andrew Goudelock. McMenamin also cited Mike Brown's postgame comments last night about Morris, who also appeared to be encouraged about the second year point guard's ability to change the tempo of the game and apply good defensive pressure (Sulia link). Here are more of this evening's links out of the Western Conference:
- Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram writes that Troy Murphy's familiarity with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle's system made the 6'11 forward an ideal fit with the team. Although Murphy is not yet in 'great' shape, Price says that he will be expected to help stretch the floor with his shooting ability.
- Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK shared a handful of notes from Thunder practice today, mentioning that Kendrick Perkins should be ready to play the Hawks on Sunday after spraining his ankle last night, discussing the growing confidence of Hasheem Thabeet amidst concerns about the team's depth at center, Serge Ibaka's early shooting struggles, and coach Scott Brooks' effort to get minutes for Jeremy Lamb, among other topics.
- Nick Gallo of NBA.com looks at the Thunder's emphasis on protecting the paint this season and how center Hasheem Thabeet can be used effectively in that role against bigger lineups.
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweeted that Hornets coach Monty Williams credits Knicks center Tyson Chandler for Anthony Davis' development during the London Olympics this past summer. Williams also weighed in on the league's concussion policy, addressing the notion that Davis could miss several games because of league protocol after suffering a mild concussion yesterday: "It's just that now you treat everybody like they have on white gloves and pink draws. It's just getting old, but it's just the way the league is now…I'm not saying I don't like it; we've got to protect our players…but as a coach I’m a baby about it. I want my guys ready to play.'' (John Reid of NOLA.com reports).
Pacific Rumors: Rush, Warriors, Brown, Goudelock
The early signs didn’t appear positive after Brandon Rush suffered a gruesome injury last night, as Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group writes, and agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed the bad news, passing along word that Rush tore his ACL, tweets Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chroncle. Missing a significant amount of time figures to disrupt Rush’s plan to decline the $4MM option on the last year of his contract next summer. Rush was set on continuing his impressive play from last season and parlaying it into a longer, more lucrative contract in 2013, Thompson reveals. There’s more on what the next step could be for the Golden State, as well as other notes out of the Pacific this afternoon.
- The torn left ACL will keep Rush out for the season, according to Simmons, who suggests Josh Howard, Mickael Pietrus and Maurice Evans as possible replacements.
Earlier updates:
- The Warriors could request a $2MM disabled player exception if Rush is ruled out for the rest of the season, but fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Tim Kawakami points out the Warriors may pass on that option, since they’re already above the luxury tax threshold (Twitter link).
- It might be premature to suggest Mike Brown is on his way out of the Lakers coaching job, but Zach Harper of CBSSports.com notices that Brown is already showing signs of desperation.
- Former Lakers guard Andrew Goudelock was taken second in last night’s D-League draft, after JaJuan Johnson, but Ridiculous Upside’s Gino Pilato, in handing out draft grades for every D-League team, calls him “the best recent former NBA talent” in the draft.
- Suns rookie point guard Kendall Marshall doesn’t figure to see much playing time, and with practice time much less plentiful in the regular season than it was in training camp, he and assistant coach Lindsey Hunter are fitting in some one-on-one instruction, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic documents.
- Harper argues that while Clippers offer plenty of flash, their retooled offseason roster still has too many holes.
Marc Stein On Mike Brown, Josh Smith, Thunder
The start of the regular season means the return of Marc Stein's Weekend Dime feature on ESPN.com, and as usual, there are a few notable tidbits within the piece. Stein praises Lakers coach Mike Brown for his refusal to run from "ridiculously early" questions about his job security despite the specter of available names like Phil Jackson and Mike D'Antoni. In response to the notion of D'Antoni taking over the team, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler calls it overreaction (Twitter link), which would seem to carry over to Jackson as well, especially considering the doubts about his desire to coach again. Here's more of what Stein had to say.
- Josh Smith is in the final season of his deal, worth $13.2MM this year, and he could represent an attractive trade chip. Stein nonetheless hears the Hawks will most likely hang on to Smith this year while retaining cap flexibility for what could be an active summer of 2013.
- One of the reasons why the Thunder traded James Harden is because the team is projected to pay, instead of receive, under the league's revenue-sharing model, despite playing in a small market.
- Seven coaches are in the final year of their contracts, including Larry Drew of the Hawks, Avery Johnson of the Nets, Vinny Del Negro of the Clippers, Lionel Hollins of the Grizzlies, Scott Skiles of the Bucks and Alvin Gentry of the Suns. Frank Vogel is the other member of that group, though the Pacers hold a team option on his deal for 2013/14.
Paul, Howard Not Planning To Play Together
Just over a year ago, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard hoped to formulate a plan to team up and form one of the NBA’s most formidable cores. While the two are both playing in the same city and in the final year of their respective contracts, both say that they won’t try to pair up as free agents this summer, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
Starting in 2009, the two began talking regularly and trying to figure out a way to play together. Howard tried to convince Paul to come to the Magic while the guard tried to lure Howard to the Hornets. When they couldn’t come to an agreement, they considered looking for a common destination. Sources close to both players said that destination was Dallas, knowing that owner Mark Cuban could clear cap space for them. The Mavericks tried to trade for both players, but didn’t have enough assets to pull it off.
Paul was willing to opt out of his deal last year with the Clippers in order to join the Mavs, provided that Howard would also commit. When that didn’t happen, Paul chose to stay put in Los Angeles, not unlike fellow star guard Deron Williams in Brooklyn. Whether Paul makes a long-term commitment to his club like Williams remains to be seen, but he doesn’t envision going to a cap-rich club like the Mavs or Hawks with Howard this summer:
“He’s on the other side. I don’t worry about that.“
Mark Cuban Talks Lakers, CBA, Steve Nash
Without Dirk Nowitzki, the new-look Mavericks caught the NBA world off-guard last night, with a 99-91 upset victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles. From Darren Collison to Eddy Curry, the Mavs' offseason additions looked far more in sync than the Lakers' high-profile acquisitions, something that had to please owner Mark Cuban. Before the game got underway, Cuban spoke to reporters about a number of topics related to his team, the Lakers, and Steve Nash. Let's check out the highlights:
- Joking that he just hopes the Lakers "suck" this year, Cuban questioned whether L.A.'s so-called superteam would be able to live up to the expectations, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. "Obviously, Nash is great. He's phenomenal, Dwight [Howard]'s phenomenal, Kobe [Bryant]," Cuban said. "But it takes a team. They've got to come together and play as a team."
- Cuban added that he isn't bothered by the fact that the Lakers were able to add two significant pieces under a CBA that was supposed to limit major market teams.
- More Cuban on the Lakers: "I don't have a problem with it, because until guys start playing until they're 50 (years old), it always comes to an end at some point. Houston went for it when they got (Charles) Barkley and it didn't happen. Guys have shelf lives. They don't play forever, so at some point, you have to re-formulate your team. Everybody's got to go through it."
- The Mavs owner admitted he was wrong about Nash back in 2004 when he let the point guard leave Dallas. The decision to let Nash go "was all based on what we thought physically would end up happening, and it didn’t work out that way," Cuban said, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
- Cuban also said he considered trying to bring Nash back to Dallas this past summer, but wasn't interested in committing to a three-year deal, tweets Price.
Western Notes: Meeks, Tinsley, Roy, Blazers
The NBA released its annual report on the growing international presence on its rosters, noting the Spurs have a record eight players from overseas, notes Art Garcia of Fox Sports Southwest, and that includes players from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy points out (Twitter links). The Timberwolves have five of the league's international players from four different countries, according to the team (Twitter link). As the league continues to attract talent from around the world, here's what's going on around the Western Conference.
- Jodie Meeks couldn't be more content with his decision to sign with the Lakers, even though the Wizards and Bucks offered him more money this summer, Kennedy reports.
- In the same piece, Kennedy also checks in with Jamaal Tinsley, whose deal with the Jazz is non-guaranteed, as we learned last night. The backup point guard is enthusiastic about Utah's veteran offseason additions, but Brad Rock of the Deseret News believes the team's younger players are the key.
- Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press looks at how the Timberwolves plan to use Brandon Roy this season, noting that the plan is for him to see 30 to 32 minutes per game, down from his career 35.6 MPG average.
- The Blazers hired Chris McGowan as team president last night, but he'll take a hands-off approach to the basketball operations side of the franchise, reports Mike Tokito of The Oregonian.
- No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis is set to make his debut for the Hornets on Wednesday against the Spurs, and Davis believes he gained much from going against Duncan as the Hornets conducted voluntary scrimmages against the Spurs in the summer, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.
- The focus is on the present in Memphis, where Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace largely stood pat over the summer with a roster on the fringes of contention amid the ownership transfer from Michael Heisley to Robert Pera, as Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines.
Kupchak Talks Sacre, Johnson-Odom, Thunder
With the Lakers' scheduled to tip off against the Mavericks tonight to start the 2012/13 season, general manager Mitch Kupchak spoke to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com about the team's roster, its second-round picks, and his thoughts on the Thunder trading James Harden. Here are a few of the highlights from the conversation:
On how the team decided which players to keep on its 15-man roster:
"In conjunction with our coach (Mike Brown) and (executive VP of player personnel) Jim Buss, we hashed it out. There is a strategic approach to what you do involving (positions and salary), and amongst the three of us this is where we ended up. I wouldn't think Robert Sacre (being on the roster) is a surprise to anybody; he certainly showed that he deserved an extended look. On the other hand, he's gotten more of an opportunity than anyone else because of the injury to Dwight (Howard), and if you talked to some guys that have been here, they'd say they wish they'd had that opportunity. With that said, they've been here almost 28 days, and we feel like we know them pretty good. We're not always right, and we had to make decisions, and by and large the decisions have to be done at the end of camp."
On the decision to carry the maximum 15 players, including two second-round picks:
"As a later second-round draft pick like (Darius) Johnson-Odom, that's the lowest number that you can be paid of anybody in the NBA. When you look at our payroll, which is approaching $100MM, as a percentage of payroll, it's really not that much. On the other hand, I don't expect ownership to expand payroll, and these contracts do have some flexibility to them in the fact that they are not guaranteed. (Sacre and Johnson-Odom) are going to have to continue to perform at a high level, but for the time being, it gives us some roster flexibility going forward."
On using the Lakers' D-League affiliate to develop Sacre and Johnson-Odom:
"I'd hope with the D-League coming up soon, we'd be able to put one or both of our second-round picks in that situation. You used to be limited to sending a player down three times, but they can go an unlimited number of times now. You could have them practice with the Lakers every day and then still have them play in every D-Fenders game. We intend to take advantage of the new rule with one or both of those players. It's a good development for us, and you're starting to see some more synergy with the D-League and the NBA."
On how the Harden trade will impact the rival Thunder:
"On the surface, the Thunder had a team that was very successful as a group, as a unit. There's a piece of that group that's moving on, so you might take something from that. At the same time, I think by adding Kevin Martin they have a piece that they can use, that's going to get minutes, and he can certainly score. They picked up a lot of (draft picks), plus a kid (Jeremy Lamb) we all liked in college. So you can argue that this year there may be a ding to their chemistry because they'd been together for three years, but Martin could fit right in and Lamb could have a (positive) impact."
On whether any Lakers stood out in training camp:
"I think you saw some flashes of good play from Jodie Meeks, both with his shooting and the other things he can do like get to the bucket to draw fouls and play defense. I think Devin Ebanks had a good preseason and continues to develop. Sacre has been a pleasant surprise. And with Antawn Jamison, I've seen no decline in his athleticism, which you wonder about when you get older guys."