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Southeast Notes: Heat, Beasley, Hawks

September 18th, 2014 at 2:47pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier this week, we learned that the Magic are bringing Seth Curry, younger brother of Stephen Curry, in for training camp.  Curry had reportedly been weighing overseas opportunities earlier this summer, but he’ll try to stick in Orlando instead.  More out of the Southeast Division.. 

  • In today’s mailbag, a reader suggests to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that former Heat forward Michael Beasley could become a superstar under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich if he signs in San Antonio.  The Spurs have found a way to make things work with guys like Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson that didn’t fit elsewhere, so Winderman could see Beasley enjoying a career renaissance in San Antonio.
  • The Hawks have dominated NBA headlines in recent weeks but in-fighting amongst their ownership has been going on for years, as Mike Tierney of the New York Times writes.  Tierney noes that a year after the current ownership group took over, managing partner Steve Belkin blocked a trade for Joe Johnson that had been negotiated by GM Billy Knight and was favored by Belkin’s colleagues. The dispute wound up in court and Belkin finally sold his share of the team after five long years of bickering.
  • Even though the Heat‘s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, is still without a head coach, recent hires Chris Quinn and Octavio De La Grana figure to have a hand in the club’s operations, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside.
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And-Ones: Hawks, Douby, Heat

September 17th, 2014 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The league’s players have mixed opinions on whether or not they would consider signing with the Hawks, Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report writes. The majority of players polled agreed with Carmelo Anthony‘s assessment that players would avoid signing with Atlanta in the wake of GM Danny Ferry and majority owner Bruce Levenson’s racist remarks, notes Bucher. But there were a few that said they wouldn’t let the incident get in the way of their potential earnings, but also added that they “wouldn’t shake Ferry’s hand” when the deal was completed.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Former Rutgers star and NBA player Quincy Douby has signed with the Tianjin Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to his agent Bill Neff, Zach Links of Hoops Rumors reports (Twitter link). Douby last appeared in the NBA during the 2008/09 season with the Raptors.
  • The partial guarantee on Khem Birch‘s two-year deal with the Heat is worth $50K, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
  • Keith Smart and Chris Quinn have been added as assistant coaches to Eric Spoelstra‘s staff with the Heat, the team announced.
  • The Bulls are hoping for a healthy season out of Derrick Rose, and that their new additions of Pau Gasol and Doug McDermott will help them contend in the Eastern Conference. The crew over at Basketball Insiders previews the upcoming season, and the majority opinion is that Chicago will finish second in the Central Division.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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And-Ones: McGuire, Heat, Garnett

September 16th, 2014 at 9:26pm CST by Alex Lee

Here is what’s going on around the league on Tuesday night:

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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And-Ones: Thompson, Moore, Oden

September 16th, 2014 at 6:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Klay Thompson was one of many Warriors players who expressed support for Mark Jackson in the days leading up to Golden State’s firing of its former coach, but the extension-eligible Thompson tells USA Today’s Sam Amick that he’s optimistic about working with Steve Kerr. “It was tough seeing Coach [Jackson] go, but at the end of the day the front office did what they felt would be best for us to win,” Thompson said. “They’ve made great moves in the past, so no reason not to trust them on this move. I’ve talked to Steve and he seems really good, like a guy who is really going to open it up for us. I’m excited to work with him.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The salary in the second season of E’Twaun Moore‘s deal with the Bulls will become guaranteed if he remains on the roster beyond a certain date in July 2015, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.
  • Executives with two NBA teams were optimistic that Greg Oden could still prove a useful NBA player after seeing him with the Heat last year, as they told Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. Still, his chances of finding work in the NBA anytime soon are in serious doubt as he faces a felony domestic violence charge stemming from an incident last month, as another exec tells Wallace.
  • The Celtics have hired Scott Morrison, the longtime coach at Lakeland University in Canada, to coach their D-League affiliate, the team announced.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Eastern Rumors: James, Chalmers, Nets, Bosh

September 15th, 2014 at 8:46pm CST by Cray Allred

The Wizards struck a deal with one wing player for training camp, as Xavier Silas has agreed to spend the preseason with Washington for the second year in a row, and the team is nearing a deal with Damion James, another wingman, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post confirms, echoing the report we passed along earlier today from J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Here’s more from the East:

  • Heat GM Andy Elisburg called Mario Chalmers before he re-signed with the team this summer to assure him that he was still in their plans and that they just needed to see what LeBron James would decide before circling back to them, as Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick writes. Before that, Chalmers had been full of doubt about his free agency, as he tells Skolnick. “I didn’t think I’d be back,” Chalmers said. “I didn’t think that at all. I didn’t even think the Heat would want me back, to be honest. That’s how I felt like my playoff performance was, that they didn’t want me back, they wanted to go another direction. So that was in my mind, too, but I was, like, if it happens, it happens.”
  • Deron Williams told reporters including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that he hasn’t spoken with Jason Kidd since the former Nets coach left Brooklyn for Milwaukee. “I think it surprised everybody,” Williams said. “I don’t think anybody saw that coming. It was out of nowhere. I don’t even know enough about the situation. I’ve heard a lot of things, as you guys probably have, so I don’t know exactly what happened, but we’re excited about Lionel Hollins being our next coach and we wish J-Kidd the best of luck in Milwaukee, but we’re excited about Lionel.”
  • Hollins told reporters including Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that Kevin Garnett will be the Nets‘ starting power forward this season (Twitter link). All indications have been that the veteran big will play this season, and this should put to bed rumblings of an early retirement for good. The coach said that retirement hasn’t even been a point of discussion with Garnett, tweets Bondy.
  • In a mailbag answer, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel suggests that the Heat will have overpaid for Chris Bosh if he doesn’t return to the player he was in Toronto. Miami inked Bosh to the second-biggest contract of the summer once LeBron decided to head back to Cleveland.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Multiple Teams Interested In Ryan Hollins

September 15th, 2014 at 6:09pm CST by Cray Allred

Free agent Ryan Hollins has had contract talks with the Lakers, Kings, Bulls, and Spurs as a potential signing, the center told SiriusXM NBA Radio (transcription via Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times). The seven-footer has also been in talks with the Heat, the only team previously linked to his services this summer.

Aside from the Kings and Spurs, each of the teams considering Hollins as an addition are limited to offering the minimum salary. It would be shocking for Sacramento to exercise their biannual exception to spend more than the minimum, however, since the team has been working to stay beneath the luxury tax line for 2014/15. Hollins’ name is among a handful of big men drawing interest from many of the same teams looking to fill out their frontcourt depth. Gustavo Ayon and Emeka Okafor are other frontcourt pieces generating interest from overlapping teams, but an overseas commitment and injury concerns make the paths for both to land on an NBA team more complicated than that of Hollins, respectively.

It’s unclear if Hollins is close to reaching an agreement for guaranteed money, or if he’s facing the prospect of competing through training camp on a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contract. While unspectacular, Hollins is a proven commodity, playing a very specific and useful role, as Chuck Myron detailed in our Free Agent Stock Watch article on the veteran center. The Stealth Sports client has career averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG.

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Southeast Notes: Hawks, Heat, Ferry

September 14th, 2014 at 6:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The Heat may take a step back this season, but on an individual level, Mario Chalmers‘ father says that his son is excited about his role for the coming season, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “As sad we all are to see LeBron [James] go, Mario’s excited to go back to his natural position. He loves being a playmaker. And there will be more opportunities to score,” said Ronnie Chalmers.  Here’s more out of the Southeast Division..

  • Despite the controversy surrounding the Hawks and the racist comments made by owner Bruce Levenson and GM Danny Ferry, Atlanta will continue to be a free agent destination, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com opines.  Blakely believes that the organization will distance themselves from the incident and people involved as quickly as possible, and players will use the departures of those involved as justification for signing with the team.
  • The Heat are still looking at backup veteran centers, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter).  Miami recently signed undrafted power forward Khem Birch but their search for size is not yet through.
  • The Hawks‘ issues are a matter of league-wide importance, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.  Beyond the very obvious problems with what went on in Atlanta, former union executive director Charles Grantham wonders aloud if teams are sharing negative information on their players to reduce their worth.  Ferry reportedly received negative information on Luol Deng from another club and then mentioned it on the now infamous conference call.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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Heat Sign Khem Birch

September 14th, 2014 at 11:23am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 14th, 11:23am: The signing is official, the team announced.

8:24pm: Birch’s deal is partially guaranteed, agent Mike George confirms to Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com.

SEPTEMBER 2nd, 1:22pm: Undrafted power forward Khem Birch will join the Heat on a camp deal, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Birch will almost certainly be making the minimum salary should he stick until opening night, just like Andre Dawkins, who also appears headed to Miami, as another report indicated within the hour.

The Wizards were also high on Birch, Wolstat tweets, and it wouldn’t be surprising if still more teams were pursuing the former UNLV standout who entered this year’s draft as the No. 42 prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him going at No. 58 in his final 2014 mock draft, so he sits at or near the top of the best undrafted talent still available from this year’s class.

The 6’9″ Birch made his mark on the boards in a breakout campaign for the Runnin’ Rebels this past season, averaging 10.2 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game. He grabbed 5.7 RPG in 19.5 MPG with the Wizards summer league team in July.

Miami’s roster is poised to swell to 19 with the addition of Birch and Dawkins, one shy of the preseason limit. Reports have linked the Heat to several veteran shooting guards and big men in recent weeks, but it appears as though Miami is close to finishing its offseason pickups.

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And-Ones: Lakers, Bosh, Collier

September 13th, 2014 at 12:47pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kobe Bryant will return to the Lakers starting five this season, but his supporting cast hasn’t improved much. In his pre-season rankings, Adi Joseph of USA Today predicts that Los Angeles will take a step back in the win column, and finish with a record of 22-60 and end up in the NBA Draft Lottery for the second-straight year.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Undrafted free agent Devon Collier turned down an NBA camp invitation to accept a deal with Israeli team Bnei Herzliya, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.
  • Now that LeBron James is in Cleveland and Chris Bosh has become the highest-paid player with the longest contract on the Heat, it’s time for him to become a more vocal locker room voice, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes.
  • Alessandro Oliveira has joined the Nets as assistant trainer, replacing Nixon Dorvilien, who followed Jason Kidd to the Bucks, the team announced (twitter link).

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

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Latest On Zoran Dragic

September 12th, 2014 at 8:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 8:36pm: Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic adds the Cavs to the list of teams interested in Dragic, and reports that Dragic’s current salary is approximately $1.4MM. It would take upwards of $2MM in annual salary to pry the younger Dragic guard from his current club in Coro’s estimation, considering the earnings and covered living expenses provided by his current team. The Arizona Republic scribe pegs Dragic’s NBA escape clause at $1.1MM, which lines up with an earlier report that the buyout exceeds $971K.

WEDNESDAY, 7:49am: The Suns, Pacers and Kings are the teams most aggressively going after Dragic, Stein tweets, expanding on his report about Phoenix’s heavy pursuit from a few days ago. Talks are expected to intensity now that Dragic’s World Cup obligations are over, Stein adds (Twitter links). Phoenix, Indiana and Sacramento all have the capacity to exceed the minimum salary.

TUESDAY, 4:51pm: The Heat, Magic, Spurs and Mavs are maintaining dialogues with Spanish-league shooting guard Zoran Dragic, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote earlier this week that the Suns were one of the three teams with the most interest in signing the 25-year-old, but it’s not clear if they remain in the running. The Pacers, too, have appeared to be in pursuit of Dragic of late, while the Rockets were reportedly the leading contender for him in May.

Several NBA teams scouted Dragic in the World Cup the past couple of weeks, Charania writes, a run that ended when his Slovenian team lost this afternoon to Team USA. New teams are inquiring about him with each passing day, the RealGM scribe adds. Dragic is the younger brother of Goran Dragic, who appears poised to opt out his deal next summer and hit free agency, and teams are already lining up to try to poach Goran from the Suns.

Zoran Dragic averaged 10.6 points in 20.3 minutes per game for Unicaja Malaga this past season but he reportedly possesses a strong desire to come to the NBA. He’d have to sign with an NBA team by Oct. 5th, according to Charania, and cover a buyout greater than the equivalent of $971K to break free from Unicaja Malaga this year, as Stein wrote in his report this week. That would appear to give the Spurs and Magic an edge on the Heat and Mavs, since Miami and Dallas can’t exceed the minimum salary and thus can’t give him more than the Excluded International Player Payment Amount of $600K toward his buyout.

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