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Eastern Notes: Young, Lowry, Bulls, Heat

April 10th, 2013 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

With just a handful of games left in the 2012/13 regular season, only one postseason club in either conference is locked into its playoff seed — the East's top team, the Heat, remain a comfortable 10 games up on the second-place Knicks, despite the fact that New York has won 13 consecutive contests. The Bucks aren't locked into that No. 8 seed in the East yet, but they'll likely end up there, meaning last night's game in Miami, in which the Heat beat Milwaukee 94-83, figures to be a playoff preview.

Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:

When he hits free agency this summer, a long-term contract will be a priority for current Sixers guard Nick Young, as he tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.
Kyle Lowry called his first year with the Raptors frustrating and disappointing, but believes the team has the talent to bounce back next season, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. As Smith notes, Lowry's contract for 2013/14 is mostly non-guaranteed, but after giving up a likely lottery pick for Lowry and trading Jose Calderon, the Raptors are a mortal lock to bring back the former Rocket next season.
Given Jimmy Butler's emergence, the Bulls should "think long and hard" this offseason about whether to consider shopping Luol Deng, says Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
Earlier this week, Heat president Pat Riley suggested that he wants to keep Miami's Big Three intact for years to come and "have one of those 10-year rides." Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel explores Riley's comments in his latest mailbag.
Pistons coach Lawrence Frank, who may be on the hot seat this summer, expressed some annoyance to Terry Foster of the Detroit News about the way many of his coaching colleagues are criticized.

D-League Moves: Dooling, Wroten, Varnado

April 7th, 2013 at 5:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The biggest D-League news of the day came when the Warriors inked Scott Machado to a 10-day deal, giving the Iona guard another crack in the NBA for the 2012/13 campaign. We'll keep track of today's call-ups and assignments in this thread. If you want to take a look back at all of the D-League assignments and recalls from this year, check out Hoops Rumors' running log. Here's the latest..

The Grizzlies announced that they have recalled Keyon Dooling and Tony Wroten from the Reno Bighorns. Dooling had six points and two steals in his D-League debut. Wroten, making his fourth D-League appearance of the year, had 30 points and eight assists.
The Heat announced that they recalled Jarvis Varnado from the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Varnado averaged 18.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.75 blocks, and 1.75 steals in his eight game stint.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, J.R. Smith, Nets, Collins

April 6th, 2013 at 3:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Depth at guard and the resurgence of Jeff Green have helped the Celtics remain relevant in the wake of Rajon Rondo's injury, as HoopsWorld's Stephen Brotherston details. Brotherston ponders the chances of a Heat-Celtics clash in the first round, and believes the Celtics would relish another playoff series with Miami. I'm inclined to believe Doc Rivers, who told reporters yesterday, including Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com, that he's not trying to match up with the Heat."Listen, I’m not that dumb," Rivers said. "I’m not the brightest guy but come on. Really, you would love to avoid anyone (like Miami)."

While we wait to find out Boston's first-round opponent, there's plenty of other news from the C's and their Atlantic Division rivals:

Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com spoke to a pair of agents, an NBA executive and a longtime scout who agree that there's uncertainty surrounding this summer's market price for Knicks sixth man J.R. Smith. The soon-to-be free agent's inconsistent play and reputation as a frequent partier could hold down his value, but a strong postseason performance could help him, Zwerling writes.
The playoffs will determine the fate of Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who believes the team won't hesitate to go after marquee names like Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
The Sixers have already picked up their team option on coach Doug Collins for next season, and all indications are that the decision on whether he'll return will be left to the coach himself, Stein reports in the same piece.
Petraglia wonders whether midseason pickup Shavlik Randolph — a veteran of four total playoff minutes — could be a postseason factor for the Celtics.
Celtics guard Jordan Crawford clearly has little love lost for his former team. The ex-Wizard twice said, "I don't recall playing for Washington," to reporters Saturday. Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe provides detail.

Southeast Links: Heat, Martin, Bobcats, Hawks

April 5th, 2013 at 10:52am CST by Luke Adams

No division has a larger divide from top to bottom than the Southeast, where the Heat are an incredible 40 games up on the Magic and 40.5 ahead of the Bobcats. There's also an incredible 17-game gap between Miami and the second-place Hawks — none of the NBA's other five division leaders have a lead of more than 6.5 games. Here's the latest out of the Southeast:

The Heat may have missed out on Kenyon Martin when they chose to sign Juwan Howard, but the team "clearly valued chemistry over any other factor," says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, with Miami relying heavily on Norris Cole lately, Winderman questions why there isn't a third point guard on the roster.
Cap expert Tom Penn discusses the Bobcats' cap situation with Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, suggesting that the team ought to be "patiently aggressive" with what could be $20MM+ in cap room.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains how the Hawks are likely to have four draft picks this June, thanks to the Rockets. As our projected draft order shows, if the season ended today, Atlanta would have the 18th, 20th, 48th, and 50th picks this summer.

Odds & Ends: Sims, Babby, Aminu, Robinson

April 2nd, 2013 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Mavericks/Lakers game tonight will have a serious impact on the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, it's not the only noteworthy game on the schedule. The Knicks and Heat have comfortably clinched playoff spots, but New York is still vying for the second seed in the East, while the Heat are looking for a split of the season series with the Knicks. As we wait for those teams to tip off in Miami, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the NBA:

Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside passes along word that Henry Sims will leave the D-League's Erie BayHawks to play in the Philippines. The Hornets signed Sims to a 10-day contract a month ago, but decided not to re-sign him when the deal expired.
Suns president Lon Babby is in the final year of his contract, and Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic wonders whether he'll be back in Phoenix next season, since Babby's future with the team may be linked to the futures of head coach Lindsey Hunter and GM Lance Blanks.
Grantland's Zach Lowe unveils his "I can't believe he's this relevant" All-Stars, which includes a number of players who will hit free agency this summer, including Luke Walton, Marco Belinelli, and Kenyon Martin.
With Al-Farouq Aminu headed for unrestricted free agency in July, John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune asks Hornets fans whether the team ought to re-sign him to a new contract for 2013/14.
Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald makes the case for why it may make sense for the Bulls to re-sign Nate Robinson this summer.
In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses whether the Heat will have the flexibility to bring back Chris Andersen next season.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Dooling, Wizards, Wall

April 1st, 2013 at 9:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs were competitive tonight in Atlanta tonight but ultimately they were unable to pull out a W over the Hawks. Guard Devin Harris turned in a game-high 25 points as the Hawks won 102-94 and improved to 42-33 on the year. Here's more out of the Southeast..

We saw that Keyon Dooling agreed to sign with the Grizzlies this morning. Dooling wanted to return to the Heat, but the team never called, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Since returning from injury, Wizards star John Wall has been turning heads and changing minds this season, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Stan Van Gundy, who was critical of the point guard’s play earlier this year, admits that Wall’s performance of late is proving him wrong night in and night out.
Earlier today we looked at the latest on the Wizards, including comments from Wall on why he believes that he is a max player.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Riley, LeBron, Korver, Kaman

March 30th, 2013 at 11:56am CST by Zachary Links

Last night, Heat president Pat Riley released an official statement to the press that wasn't fit to print regarding Celtics president Danny Ainge. Ainge said that it was "almost embarrassing" that LeBron James complained about the hard fouls he received during the club's loss to the Bulls, and Riley fired back in defense of his star. "[Ainge] needs to shut the [expletive] up and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner when he was playing, and I know that because I coached against him," said Riley, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Was there more to that comment than meets the eye? Here's more on that and other notes out of the Southeast..

The aim of Riley's comment was to show his loyalty to James, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2014, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. While the image-conscious James was reluctant to attach himself to Riley's profane language, he was clearly appreciative of the gesture. "It was big-time to see that," James said after the Heat's win over New Orleans.
The Hawks' Kyle Korver will be a free agent in demand, writes Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld. The veteran believes that he has a good four or five years left and wants to spend them with a winning team.
Chris Kaman could have been a free agent target for the Heat this summer, but it won't happen after recent comments made in a radio interview, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. "I’m not much of a Dwyane Wade fan, but I’m a [James] fan..I just never really got along with (Dwyane Wade). I guess I just don’t like his style or whatever. I didn’t like the year the Mavs lost when he got all the foul calls. I didn’t like that," Kaman told 104.1 FM The Ticket.

Eastern Notes: Turkoglu, Heat, Pistons, Bulls

March 29th, 2013 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

A few Friday notes from out of the Eastern Conference….

Turkey's Fenerbahce Ulker is hoping to add Hedo Turkoglu for the 2013/14 season, according to Can Pelister of TrendBasket.com (via Twitter). Of course, Turkoglu is still technically under contract with the Magic for next year, with half of his $12MM salary guaranteed. But while Turkoglu says he hopes to remain in Orlando, I'd expect the team to part ways with him.
In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman explores whether the Heat will still be able to convince unrestricted free agents to sign in Miami at a discounted rate going forward.
With the Pistons officially out of the playoff hunt for 2012/13, Patrick Hayes of PistonPowered (via the Detroit Free Press) tries to determine which prospects might be good fits for Detroit in the upcoming draft.
As Amare Stoudemire works to get healthy for the postseason, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News looks back at the Knicks' decision to give Stoudemire a fully-guaranteed, uninsured $100MM contract.
Signing Kenyon Martin is the latest in a series of successful moves for Knicks GM Glen Grunwald, writes Moke Hamilton of SheridanHoops.com.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com addresses a number of Bulls-related topics in today's mailbag, including whether the Bulls will trade Luol Deng this summer, or sign Ben Gordon on the cheap, should the Bobcats buy him out — neither possibility is likely, says Smith.

Poll: When Will The Heat Lose?

March 26th, 2013 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Once the Heat won in Boston last Monday, extending their winning streak to 23 games, we expected the team to have a relatively clear path to 27 straight victories, considering the schedule. After surviving a close call in Cleveland, Miami cruised to wins against the Pistons, Bobcats, and Magic, and sure enough, the team has increased its streak to 27.

Having played the East's four worst teams though, Miami is now facing a tougher portion of the schedule. The Heat's next three games are on the road, and two of those are against talented playoff teams, in the Bulls and Spurs. Sandwiched in between those two contests is a game in New Orleans, where the Hornets ended the Nuggets' 15-game winning streak last night.

Logic would dictate that, like the Nuggets did, the Heat will stumble at some point in the next week or two, and fall short of the 33-game record set by the Lakers over 40 years ago. But Miami has also clearly established itself as the NBA's premier team, and figures to be favored in every game going forward.

So today's poll question is this: When will the Heat suffer their next loss? Which team is the best bet to end this incredible streak? Or, at this point, do you expect the Heat to get to 34?

When will the Heat lose?

at San Antonio (3/31) 43.92% (462 votes)

They'll set the win-streak record 20.53% (216 votes)

at Chicago (3/27) 20.15% (212 votes)

vs. New York (4/2) 8.94% (94 votes)

at New Orleans (3/29) 2.76% (29 votes)

vs. Milwaukee (4/9) 1.90% (20 votes)

vs. Philadelphia (4/6) 1.05% (11 votes)

at Charlotte (4/5) 0.76% (8 votes)

Total Votes: 1,052

Eastern Notes: Nets, Raps, Maggette, Heat, C’s

March 25th, 2013 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

With the Bucks currently holding a seven-game lead on the ninth-seeded Sixers for the Eastern Conference's final postseason spot, there won't be a race for the playoffs over the season's final few weeks. But if we flip the standings upside-down, there is a race developing for the best chance at June's first overall pick. A pair of Bobcats wins last week pulled them within two games of the Magic, and the two teams are set to square off in Charlotte this Wednesday. As we, uh, look forward to that contest, let's round up a few Monday items from around the conference:

Following up on the latest report linking John Calipari to the Nets, Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game suggests (via Sulia) that owner Mikhail Prokhorov is too discerning to simply be interested in Calipari because the Kentucky coach is a "big name." According to Bucher, Prokhorov had genuine interest in Phil Jackson, but Bucher thinks the idea of Calipari being a worthwhile fallback option is "absurd," despite the improvements he has made since his last NBA stint.
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun looks ahead to the summer and predicts which Raptors will be back with the team next season.
Corey Maggette isn't entirely sure why he hasn't played in over three months, but he isn't going to complain about his situation, as David Mayo of MLive.com writes. Earlier this month, a report suggested that Maggette and the Pistons were both open to the veteran returning to the team next year via free agency. I have to think he'll at least explore the market in search of an opportunity for more minutes though.
Responding to a reader's question in his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel agrees that Shane Battier has been the Heat's best non-Big-Three signing of this era.
Last summer, the Celtics participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues. However, since the C's aren't expecting to add as many young prospects to the roster this summer, they'll only participate in the Orlando league, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.