Eastern Notes: Dudley, Crowder, Jack
Jared Dudley was skeptical about coming to play for the Bucks, but after playing with the team for just half a season, the forward is considering staying Milwaukee for the long-term, writes Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times. “I’ve been giving it thought,’’ Dudley said. “For me, it’s about adding more years. You obviously want to play longer. I want to come back here. Definitely. I mean, this team is building each year and will get better.” The 29-year-old is set to make $4.25MM during the 2015/16 season but if he elects the early termination option in his contract, he can become a free agent at the end of this season.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Jae Crowder is fitting in nicely with the Celtics, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSSNE.com. The forward is known for his defense but there is another reason why coach Brad Stevens has been able to give him significant playing time. “What I like is his versatility,” Stevens said. “And coming off the bench you have flexibility of where you bring him.” Boston is 3-1 over its last four games and Crowder is averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds during those contests.
- Jarrett Jack has been one of the major reasons that Brooklyn is still in the playoff hunt, writes Reed Wallach of NetsDaily.com. Last offseason, Jack was acquired as part of a three team trade that was primarily about giving the Cavs financial flexibility. The point guard has not only been able to bolster the Nets‘ bench unit, but he has provided the team with a good starting option when Deron Williams is unable to play because of injuries. Jack has started 25 of the Nets’ 50 games this season.
- James Johnson can be a contributor for the Raptors come playoff time, opines Eric Koreen of the National Post. Koreen notes that although Johnson has shooting issues from the perimeter, he more than makes up for it with his stout defense. Johnson is averaging 1.0 blocks per game and owns a player efficiency rating of 18.4.
And-Ones: Sanders, Antetokounmpo, Porter
Team sources say Larry Sanders has done everything that has been asked of him since he was suspended by the NBA for at least 10 games on January 16th for a drug violation, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The league stipulated that the suspension will remain in effect until he fully complies with his treatment program and there remains no timetable for his return.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens thinks the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo “has a chance to be special,” according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Antetokounmpo has been able to retain his skills and athleticism despite a notable growth spurt since reaching the NBA. “He is unique,” Stevens said. “His length … everyone talks about length as a buzz word in basketball, but then there’s him or a couple of guys like him. There’s not that many.” Antetokounmpo has more than two seasons and $6.82MM remaining on his rookie deal. If he continues to progress, I would speculate that some team offers him a maximum value contract when he becomes a restricted free agent; that is if the Bucks don’t sign him to an extension before then.
- Another member of the 2013 draft class, Otto Porter, is thriving for his team. The Wizards are starting Porter in place of Bradley Beal, who is out of the lineup because of an injury, and the franchise may have found a player who can contribute come playoff time, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Porter has averaged 10.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during his four games as a starter.
- The Hawks have recalled Mike Muscala from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, according to the team’s twitter feed. The big man accrued 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the Mad Ants’ win on Saturday.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Jordan Adams from their D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy, according to the team’s twitter feed. Adams accumulated four points, seven rebounds and four assists during the lone game of his latest D-League assignment.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post
Bucks Sign Jorge Gutierrez To Second 10-Day
The Bucks have signed Jorge Gutierrez to a second 10-day contract, the team announced (Twitter link). Uncertainty over the length of Larry Sanders‘ suspension loomed as a potential stumbling block to a new deal for Milwaukee and Gutierrez, but it appears Sanders will remain on suspension for a while longer, allowing the Bucks to once more carry a 16th man. The point guard’s first 10-day pact expired at the end of Friday.
Gutierrez had been the team’s 16th player, an allowance the league grants when a team has a player on the suspended list, as is the case with Sanders, who served the 10th game of his suspension Friday. The NBA had set the minimum length of the center’s suspension at 10 games and stated that it would end once Sanders is in full compliance with the league’s anti-drug program, so evidently Sanders has not yet satisfied the requirements.
Kidd has given the 26-year-old Gutierrez a fair amount of playing time, including one start, and the second-year NBA veteran has put up 4.5 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 turnover in 14.8 minutes per game over four appearances. He posted similar results in a 15-game stint with the Nets at the end of last season.
Milwaukee will have to either sign Gutierrez for the season or let him sit in free agency once his second 10-day contract with the team expires. He parlayed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Nets into a deal that carried into this season with salary that became partially guaranteed when he remained under contract for training camp, but the Sanders situation figures to again serve as a complication once the latest 10-day deal runs out. The Bucks have the option of terminating Gutierrez’s 10-day contract early if the NBA lifts Sanders’ suspension soon, though they’d still be on the hook for the full amount, likely $48,028, of Gutierrez’s short-term deal.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Central Notes: West, English, Gutierrez
There was less acrimony Thursday when the Magic fired Jacque Vaughn than there was when they ousted Stan Van Gundy in 2012, but the current Pistons coach and executive nonetheless has plenty of sympathy for the latest ex-Magic coach. “There’s no such thing as a longtime Magic coach,” Van Gundy contends, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press relays.
“All those things are the same,” Van Gundy said. “You get in the press conference, they loved Jacque. He did a great job. You listen to all that, and then I listen to [GM] Rob [Hennigan] say it doesn’t fall on Jacque, but he takes full responsibility. I laugh, obviously, because that’s not true. You’re still sitting there with a job, and Jacque doesn’t have one, so I don’t know what full responsibility means. But I would say they left the full responsibility on Jacque.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe heard six weeks ago that the Pacers had become open to trading David West for a first-round pick, but such chatter has quieted, Lowe adds, suggesting teams aren’t willing to pay that price for the power forward.
- Bulls camp invitee Kim English has signed with Guaros de Lara in Venezuela, the team announced (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 26-year-old who played in 41 regular season games with the Pistons in 2012/13 had played in France earlier this season after the Bulls cut him loose prior to opening night.
- Coach Jason Kidd admits that the indefinite length of Larry Sanders‘ latest drug-related suspension complicates Jorge Gutierrez ‘s future with the Bucks, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examines. Gutierrez’s 10-day contract expires tonight, when the Bucks play the 10th game of Sanders’ suspension. The ban was to last a minimum of 10 games, but the league still hasn’t revealed just how long it will last, and once Sanders comes back, the 16th roster spot the Bucks created when they placed Sanders on the suspended list goes away. “We understand this is Jorge’s 10th day,” Kidd said today. “We’ll go back and evaluate and see if we can do another 10-day.”
And-Ones: Stoudemire, Nuggets, Kenyon, Bucks
It’s “quite possible” that Amar’e Stoudemire would return to the Suns when he becomes a free agent this summer, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post, who speculates that the Magic might have interest in the native of central Florida. In any case, he’s not looking to buy out his contract and hit free agency at any point this season, since he doesn’t want to uproot his family and would prefer the Knicks retain his Bird rights and the flexibility that comes with them, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Knicks remain open to trading him, but it’s unlikely that they do, Kyler says, and Stoudemire said Wednesday that he doesn’t anticipate a swap. While we wait to see how it turns out for the big man who’s making more than $23.4MM this year, here’s more from around the league:
- The general belief is that the Nuggets are seeking a first-round pick in return for Wilson Chandler, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. The Blazers and Clippers have interest, as Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last month, but I speculated when I examined Chandler’s trade candidacy that it’s unlikely that Denver reaps a first-rounder for him.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson confronted Kenyon Martin last month shortly after Martin made public comments indicating that the team didn’t have any interest in re-signing him this past offseason, a Bucks official tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- A key figure in the Wisconsin state legislature said Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal for $220MM worth of public funding for a new Bucks arena has “no chance” to receive legislative approval unless the city and county pony up funds, too, reports Scott Bauer of The Associated Press. The NBA can take over the Bucks in 2017 if no arena is in place.
Eastern Notes: Lowry, Pistons, Heat, Kidd
DeMar DeRozan stayed in touch with Kyle Lowry this summer but didn’t try to pressure him into re-signing with the Raptors, and the soft-sell approach worked, as the point guard tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Lowry confirms that the Rockets met with him on the first day of free agency but suggests that the Heat only made contact via email, as Lowry also says to Aldridge. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons GM Jeff Bower looked into trade possibilities as the team sought a point guard, but no amenable deal emerged that would have allowed Detroit to acquire a player on an expiring contract, as president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told reporters today. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has the details. Detroit, which temporarily filled its vacancy with a 10-day deal for John Lucas III today, reportedly had interest in Norris Cole, who’s on an expiring deal, but the team evidently couldn’t work out a deal for him.
- Lucas is willing to stick around if the Pistons want him beyond his 10-day contract, though he acknowledges that the team has made no promises for after the 10 days, as Ellis observes in the same piece.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called 10-day signee Tyler Johnson “the model of player development” today, as Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald tweets, leading Goodman to wonder if the club has long-term plans for the guard. Miami can’t sign Johnson to anymore 10-day deals this season after this one expires at the end of Saturday, so a season-long commitment would be required if he’s to remain with the Heat.
- Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders makes the case that Jason Kidd should be a leading candidate for Coach of the Year thanks to the job he has done in his first year with the Bucks. Kidd is no stranger to surprising turnarounds as a player, since he helped take the Nets from a 26-56 team in 2000/01 to the Eastern Conference title in 2001/02 upon his arrival. We’re only just past the midway point of the season, but Hamilton has Kidd as his top coach of the 2014/15 season, ahead of Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Spears On Prince, Plumlee, Kings, Kenyon
It’s no surprise to see the Hawks and Warriors atop the latest power rankings from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, but Spears doesn’t just list the NBA’s 30 teams from top to bottom. He passes along several tidbits of note with the trade deadline just two and a half weeks away. He seconds an earlier report from Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com that the Knicks are shopping Jose Calderon, but much of what Spears has is new information, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- Boston is unlikely to find a trade for Tayshaun Prince before the deadline, Spears hears from a source. Prince reportedly plans to push for his departure the Celtics, though he’s publicly said that he’s committed to playing for Boston, at least for the time being. A buyout deal appears likely should the Celtics fail to garner the draft pick they’re looking for in a swap, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald wrote last month, though coach Brad Stevens hopes to keep Prince for the balance of the season.
- The Suns aren’t garnering much interest as they try to trade Miles Plumlee, a source tells Spears, though that’s not a shock, since the team is reportedly looking for at least one first-round pick.
- Sacramento continues to pursue an “athletic big man” to pair with DeMarcus Cousins, according to Spears’ source. The Kings are reportedly shopping Derrick Williams, and Jason Thompson is among the Sacramento players the team is apparently open to trading.
- The Knicks didn’t re-sign Kenyon Martin this summer after he spent the previous two seasons with them because the team felt he wouldn’t be a fit for the triangle offense, Spears says. Martin and the Bucks followed a pair of 10-day contracts with a deal for the rest of the season.
Eastern Notes: Vaughn, Pistons, Bucks, Knicks
The Magic believed as recently as a month ago that youth and inexperience were to blame for the team’s struggles, but it’s no longer that the Magic are losing that troubles club officials; it’s how they’re losing, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Still, Jacque Vaughn remains unmoved amid reports he’s close to losing his job.
“I do my job every day,” Vaughn said today. “I don’t abide by the tyranny of other people’s attitudes and moods. I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”
There’s more on the Magic amid the latest around the Eastern Conference:
- The Pistons view a trade as their preferred method to find a point guard to compensate for the loss of the injured Brandon Jennings, tweets David Mayo of MLive. Signing a D-Leaguer is Plan B, Mayo adds. Stan Van Gundy is now saying Monday is the earliest day the team would make any such move as he keeps pushing back the timeline, Mayo notes.
- Coach Jason Kidd has offered Kenyon Martin a chance to remain with the Bucks for next year as an assistant coach, a source tells David Alarcón of HoopsHype (Twitter link; translation via HoopsHype). Martin signed a deal Thursday that keeps him with Milwaukee as a player through the end of the season.
- Some of the Magic‘s veteran acquisitions from this past offseason began questioning the on-court decision-making, and the doubt spread to some of Orlando’s younger players as the team failed to gain confidence in Vaughn, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Vaughn didn’t earn his team’s trust, Kyler believes, but the Magic nonetheless dealt the coach a losing hand, as Kyler also opines.
- The Knicks have sent Cleanthony Early to the D-League, the team announced. The assignment is to allow the rookie to work on his conditioning following knee surgery, but he’s expected back with the big club by Sunday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter links).
- The Celtics recalled Andre Dawkins from the D-League on Thursday only to quickly send him down again, the team announced in a pair of tweets. The team brought the 10-day signee up to Boston merely for a practice, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com details.
And-Ones: Rivers, Howard, Green
JaMychal Green is going to rejoin the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, Gino Pilato of D-League Digest tweets. Green recently completed a single 10-day contract with the Spurs, with whom he averaged 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in five appearances. The 24-year-old has reportedly garnered interest as a possible 10-day signee from the Grizzlies, Knicks, Bulls, Bucks and Blazers.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Austin Rivers is beginning to hit his stride with the Clippers, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “He’s just getting comfortable and trying to figure out his spots,” Los Angeles president of basketball operations and coach Doc Rivers said. “We’re trying to get him to [be more aggressive]. He’s a guard, so he’s trying to facilitate, and we need his aggression. It was funny — C.P. [Chris Paul] grabbed him and said, ‘You can get to the basket, we need you to attack.’ He listened to him, which was good.”
- The Clippers have missed the bench production of Darren Collison, who signed with the Kings as a free agent this past offseason, and are hoping that Rivers can fill that void, Markazi adds. “He doesn’t do the pick-up [like Collison], but where he’s better is once the ball crosses half court,” the elder Rivers said. “He’s 6’5″, so he gives us length and speed and that’s been good for us.”
- Rockets big man Dwight Howard has been advised to obtain a second medical opinion regarding his injured right knee, and he could miss an extended period of playing time, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.
- Free agent guard Gal Mekel is thinking about returning overseas to play, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Mekel had reportedly passed on numerous overseas offers after being released by the Pelicans, and he was hoping to land a spot with another NBA team.
Central Notes: Pistons, Thibodeau, Martin, Cavs
The Pistons have talked about trading for a point guard, but coach/executive Stan Van Gundy remains firm about the sort of future assets he doesn’t want to give up in any deal, as MLive’s David Mayo notes. Detroit hasn’t won since Brandon Jennings tore his Achilles tendon last week.
“It has to be on our terms,” Van Gundy said of any potential trade. “We’ve already decided what we would and wouldn’t give up, and right now, people obviously want more than we’re willing to give up.”
Van Gundy also backed off an earlier assertion that the team would make a move by today and said he won’t rush to make any decision. Here’s the latest from around the Central Division, as Detroit slips back down the standings:
- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau‘s coaching style is once more drawing criticism amid renewed rumors of tension between him and the front office, but Thibodeau tells USA Today’s Sam Amick that he has no intention of slackening his demands on players. Derrick Rose tells Amick that he has no issues with the coach, as Amick writes in a separate piece, echoing his report from earlier that opposing teams are keeping an eye on how the situation plays out in Chicago with the hope that Thibodeau will become available.
- It’s been “a little different” playing for friend and former teammate Jason Kidd on the Bucks, as Kenyon Martin admits. Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the details, with the Bucks having signed Martin today for the rest of the season. “The respect is there,” Martin said. “He respects me and I respect him to the utmost. Him having me here is an honor.”
- Joe Harris is headed back on D-League assignment just one day after the Cavs recalled him, the team announced. It’s the fourth time in nine days Cleveland has sent the rookie, whose deal is guaranteed through next season, to the Canton Charge.