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NBA Announces 2017/18 All-Rookie Teams

May 22nd, 2018 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its First and Second All-Rookie Teams for the 2017/18 season. Ben Simmons of the Sixers and Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz – widely viewed as the top two contenders for this season’s Rookie of the Year award – were the only two players to be unanimously selected to the First Team. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum received 99 of 100 potential First Team votes.

Listed below are the NBA’s All-Rookie teams for 2017/18, with the player’s vote total in parentheses. Players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.

First Team:

Ben Simmons, Sixers (200)
Donovan Mitchell, Jazz (200)
Jayson Tatum, Celtics (199)
Kyle Kuzma, Lakers (193)
Lauri Markkanen, Bulls (173)

Second Team:

Dennis Smith Jr., Mavericks (96)
Lonzo Ball, Lakers (87)
John Collins, Hawks (76)
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kings (75)
Josh Jackson, Suns (45)

Jackson, who received one First Team vote to go along with 43 Second Team votes, narrowly beat out Bam Adebayo of the Heat for the final spot on the Second Team — Adebayo finished with 44 points.

Outside of Adebayo and the 10 players who earned spots on the All-Rookie teams, 14 other players received votes, with De’Aaron Fox (Kings), OG Anunoby (Raptors), and Jarrett Allen (Nets) leading the way among that group.

Shane Battier Expected To Get Second Interview With Pistons

May 22nd, 2018 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat director of basketball development and analytics Shane Battier is expected to interview with the Pistons for a second time, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). We initially heard last week that the Heat had granted Battier permission to meet with Detroit about a possible front office role.

According to Jackson, the Pistons were “impressed” by Battier during that first meeting, resulting in a probable second interview later this week.

While Battier isn’t believed to be in consideration for the top job in Detroit’s front office, the Pistons could offer the longtime NBA forward a promotion from his current role in Miami. The Heat are believed to be grooming Battier for a higher-level front office job down the road, but if things go well with the Pistons, the 39-year-old could accelerate that timeline and potentially join his hometown team — Battier was born in Birmingham, Michigan.

Having parted ways with Stan Van Gundy earlier this month, the Pistons are on the lookout for a new head of basketball operations and a new head coach, and are said to be focusing on the front office job first.

NBA executive VP of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe, Grizzlies executive VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, and Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon are among the candidates reportedly receiving consideration from the Pistons for the top basketball ops job, with former players Battier and Brent Barry said to be in the mix for front office positions too.

Heat Notes: LeBron, Draft, Haslem, T. Johnson

May 20th, 2018 at 11:41am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat are often mentioned as a potential destination for LeBron James if he decides to leave Cleveland, but Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel doesn’t believe such a move is realistic. Miami, of course, is where James went the last time he parted ways with the Cavaliers. He spent four seasons with the Heat and combined with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to reach the NBA Finals each year.

However, a reunion is extremely unlikely, Winderman notes. The Heat don’t have any cap space to work with and would need to have a massive sell-off or have James opt in and engineer a trade. Winderman estimates Miami would have to part with Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Bam Adebayo and the high salary of either Hassan Whiteside or Goran Dragic, which would leave LeBron with a worse supporting cast then he has now in Cleveland.

There’s more news from Miami:

Without a pick in this year’s draft, the Heat can’t get prospects to come to Miami, so scouts are going on the road to see them, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Team representatives are headed to Bradenton, Florida, New York City, Atlanta and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week to attend workouts being held by agents and trainers. Next week, the scouting staff will be at seven workouts in Los Angeles and one in Las Vegas. “We go there not only to watch that workout, but we also would use that as a mini-Chicago [draft combine], where we interview players,” VP of Player Personnel Chet Kammerer explained. “It’s not us running the workouts, but we’re going to get to look at as many people as we can among our staff.”
At age 38, Udonis Haslem hasn’t decided if he will return for another season, but he continues to work out as if he’ll keep playing, Winderman relays in another story. “When you get to this stage of your career and life, you either do it or you don’t,” Haslem said. “You can’t really turn it on and off. It becomes a lifestyle.” Interviewed Saturday, Haslem repeated that he has no interest in coaching but would be intrigued by a front office position.
Tyler Johnson won’t try to change his game to live up to the salary increase that’s about to kick in, writes Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald. The backloaded offer sheet Johnson received from the Nets two years ago increases from $5.88MM this year to $19.25MM in each of the next two seasons. “It doesn’t bother me,” Johnson said. “It’s just a nicer paycheck when I go home.”

2018 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 17th, 2018 at 10:49am CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers were knocked out of the 2018 playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the underdog Celtics, few teams are better positioned in this year’s draft than Philadelphia. The 76ers own six of the 60 picks in the 2018 NBA draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

As our full 2018 draft order shows, the Sixers are one of seven NBA teams that holds more than two selections in this year’s draft. On the other end of the spectrum, eight teams have just one pick in 2018, while two teams – the Heat and Raptors – don’t have any selections.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2018 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Philadelphia 76ers (6): 10, 26, 38, 39, 56, 60
Phoenix Suns (4): 1, 16, 31, 59
Atlanta Hawks (4): 3, 19, 30, 34
Dallas Mavericks (3): 5, 33, 54
Orlando Magic (3): 6, 35, 41
Denver Nuggets (3): 14, 43, 58
Brooklyn Nets (3): 29, 40, 45

Teams with two picks:

Sacramento Kings: 2, 37
Memphis Grizzlies: 4, 32
Chicago Bulls: 7, 22
New York Knicks: 9, 36
Charlotte Hornets: 11, 55
Los Angeles Clippers: 12, 13
Washington Wizards: 15, 44
San Antonio Spurs: 18, 49
Minnesota Timberwolves: 20, 48
Utah Jazz: 21, 52
Indiana Pacers: 23, 50
Los Angeles Lakers: 25, 47
Oklahoma City Thunder: 53, 57

Teams with fewer than two picks:

Cleveland Cavaliers (1): 8
Milwaukee Bucks (1): 17
Portland Trail Blazers (1): 24
Boston Celtics (1): 27
Golden State Warriors (1): 28
Detroit Pistons (1): 42
Houston Rockets (1): 46
New Orleans Pelicans (1): 51
Miami Heat (0)
Toronto Raptors (0)

Shane Battier Gets Permission To Interview With Pistons

May 16th, 2018 at 7:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Shane Battier has received permission from the Heat to discuss a possible front office job with the Pistons, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.

Battier was among several candidates revealed earlier today to be under consideration for positions in Detroit. He currently serves as director of basketball development and analytics in Miami.

Battier is being groomed for a high-level position with the Heat and may even run the organization someday if he stays there, according to the Five Reasons Sports Network (Twitter link). However, team president Pat Riley is expected to remain in place for several more years, and Battier’s connections to Michigan may be enough to lure him to the Pistons.

Latest On Pistons’ GM/Front Office Search

May 16th, 2018 at 3:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons continue to conduct separate searches for a new head coach and a new head of basketball operations, and while it’s possible they’ll hire a coach sooner rather than later, they prefer to address their front office opening first. That would allow the new head of basketball operations to have a say in the head coaching hire.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provides an update on Detroit’s front office search today, reporting (via Twitter) that NBA executive VP of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe, Grizzlies executive VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, and Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon are among the candidates the Pistons are eyeing to run their basketball operations department. Current GM Jeff Bower also remains a candidate to be promoted, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

Most of those executives have received consideration for top front office jobs in the recent past. Rosas, for instance, was cited as a contender for the Hornets’ GM opening this spring. Stefanski was said to be in the mix for the Bucks’ GM vacancy last summer, while Langdon received consideration for the Hawks job around the same time.

In addition to considering those aforementioned candidates for their top basketball operations job, the Pistons are also targeting TNT analyst Brent Barry and Heat director of basketball development and analytics Shane Battier for front office roles, according to Wojnarowski.

Although Bower is currently running the Pistons’ basketball operations department, his contract is set to expire on June 30, so Detroit could end up making several new hires this spring. Should Bower depart, the Pistons may hire a new president of basketball operations, a new GM, and a new head coach.

Kings Announce Sacramento Summer League Schedule

May 14th, 2018 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have made official what was reported last week, announcing today in a press release that they’ll host a three-day Summer League this July called the California Classic Summer League.

The Sacramento Summer League will effectively take the place of the Orlando Summer League, which was cancelled this year. Like the Utah Summer League, the California Classic will serve as a precursor to the league’s main event, the Las Vegas Summer League. All 30 teams are set to play in Vegas this July.

The Sacramento event, which will take place at the club’s Golden 1 Center, will begin on July 2, with games also taking place on July 3 and July 5. No games will take place on Independence Day.

The Lakers, Warriors, and Heat will join the Kings in Sacramento for the inaugural California Classic, with each team playing every other club once. The Kings, who will play the late game all three days, will face the Lakers on July 2, the Warriors on July 3, and the Heat on July 5, with the remaining two teams playing in the earlier game on each of those days.

LeBron's Decision Could Create Trade Market For East Teams

May 13th, 2018 at 8:39pm CST by Austin Kent

The fate of the Eastern Conference depends on what LeBron James decides to do this offseason. If he heads west, it could open new opportunities for other contenders. If the 15-year veteran decides to return to the Cavaliers, it could precipitate a trade market in which teams like the Heat and Wizards could be involved, Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel writes.

Heat Notes: Dragic, Haslem, Spoelstra, Lottery

May 13th, 2018 at 10:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Goran Dragic has retired from international basketball, but he might be persuaded to change his mind for the 2020 Olympics, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. After helping Slovenia capture the European championship last summer, Dragic plans a much more relaxed offseason this year.

“The people from the federation have been here in Miami; they tried to persuade me,” Dragic said. ‘We had a good meeting. I said my body at that time, I need to think about myself and my career. I gave to my country everything I had. Now it’s time to end.”

Dragic, who turned 32 last week, is hoping a few months of rest will pay off next season. He played 75 games this year, but his numbers declined across the board in scoring, assists and field goal percentage.

There’s more today out of Miami:

Udonis Haslem appeared in just 14 games this season, but Dragic says the intangibles he provides makes him worth a roster spot, Jackson adds in the same story. “It’s really tough to explain to people outside what he means to this team,” Dragic said. “Everybody is looking, ‘OK, he’s not playing’ but they don’t know how much he brings to this team, especially with his experience and leadership. A lot of guys in this locker room need leadership like UD, especially Hassan [Whiteside]. I think UD can provide that. He’s there where usually some guys would not be, in the toughest moments, when you need something, he’s there. That’s why everybody loves him.” Haslem, who will turn 38 in June, is headed into free agency and hasn’t decided if he wants to play another season.
Don’t expect a coaching change in Miami as long as Pat Riley remains the team president, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Erik Spoelstra is closely tied to Riley’s philosophy, Winderman notes, and the current roster probably wouldn’t fit together without him in charge.
The Heat won’t be involved in Tuesday’s lottery, but the results could affect them for years to come, Winderman points out in a separate piece. The lottery will help determine the balance of power at the top of the East, with the Cavaliers owning the Nets’ unprotected first-rounder and the Lakers’ first pick headed to either the Sixers or Celtics. Those teams could add to their talent base or they could use a high lottery pick as a bargaining chip if the Spurs decide to trade Kawhi Leonard.

Rodney McGruder Hopes To Win Back Spot In Rotation

May 12th, 2018 at 2:00pm CST by Clark Crum

Heat swingman Rodney McGruder is looking forward to returning to the hardwood next season and working to win back a spot in the rotation after missing 64 games during the 2017/18 campaign, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel.