And-Ones: Draft, LeBron, Roberts
LeBron James continued his march up the NBA’s All-Time scoring list tonight, passing Celtics great Robert Parish who had 23,334 career points, to take over possession of the 24th spot. The next target on the list for James is Charles Barkley, who sits at No. 23 with 23,757 career points. So congratulations to LeBron on his achievement, but he still has quite a ways to go to claim the top slot from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using James’ career 27.5 point average as a guide, it would take him roughly 6.6 more seasons at that pace to eclipse Abdul-Jabbar, though with LeBron’s propensity for sharing the ball it would likely take a bit longer, as well as requiring continued good health on his part.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Despite all the hype that the draft class of 2014 received, the top three selections are off to slow starts to their careers, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes. There’s no telling if the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid will play this season, Andrew Wiggins is averaging 10 points for the Wolves, and Jabari Parker is logging 10.9 PPG for the Bucks. While all three are likely to develop into excellent players, this should serve as a cautionary tale for franchises looking to improve themselves through “tanking,” Schmitz opines.
- The 2015 NBA Draft class isn’t being as highly-touted as 2014’s group, though there are a number of players with star potential. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News runs down 10 players who NBA scouts are keeping a close eye on, including Jahlil Okafor, Kelly Oubre, and Myles Turner.
- NBPA head Michele Roberts’ recent salvo fired against the concept of the salary cap may needlessly antagonize the owners and make the 2017 CBA negotiations more difficult than they need to be, opines Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. The salary cap isn’t going away anytime soon, something Roberts is aware of, notes Beck, and her statements were more likely intended to gain trust with the players and their agents who have long distrusted the union.
Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Bucks
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Jerryd Bayless: Two years, $6MM. Signed via cap room.
Extensions
- None
Trades
- Acquired a 2015 second-round pick from the Hawks in exchange for 2014 pick No. 48.
- Acquired Jared Dudley and the Clippers’ 2017 first-round pick (top-14 protected) from the Clippers in exchange for Carlos Delfino, Miroslav Raduljica and the Clippers’ 2015 second-round pick that they’d given up in a previous trade (as long as it falls between picks 31-50).
Waiver Claims
- Kendall Marshall: Claimed from the Lakers. One year, $915K remaining.
Draft Picks
- Jabari Parker (Round 1, 2nd overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
- Damien Inglis (Round 2, 31th overall). Signed via cap room for three years, $2.65MM. Third year is non-guaranteed.
- Johnny O’Bryant (Round 2, 36th overall). Signed via cap room for three years, $2.425MM. Third year is non-guaranteed.
Camp Invitees
- Micheal Eric
- Elijah Millsap
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (third year, $1,953,960) — Exercised
- John Henson (fourth year, $2,943,221) — Exercised
When your NBA franchise has only had one winning season out of the last 10 and your city isn’t quite the draw for free agents that a warm weather locale is, nor is seen as a major mecca such as New York or Chicago, turning your fortunes around isn’t quite so simple. This is the position that Bucks GM John Hammond finds himself in while attempting to bring winning basketball to Milwaukee.
The Bucks had a rather quiet offseason for a team that only won 15 games a season ago. Only one free agent was inked, and while I’m a fan of Jerryd Bayless‘ game, he’s not a transformative sort of player for the franchise. He also plays the same position as the team’s only other veteran addition, Kendall Marshall, who was claimed off waivers after being let go by the Lakers, who could sure use his services this season, and the Bucks’ current leading scorer, Brandon Knight.
Generally speaking, teams that lose 67 games have much greater issues than filling up the bottom tiers of their point guard depth chart, though both Bayless and Marshall were solid, inexpensive additions. Still, if an NBA title is going to come to Wisconsin, it’s going to take quite a bit more to make that happen.
But just because the team didn’t throw money at a number of veterans this year, it doesn’t mean the Bucks aren’t headed in the right direction. This is a franchise that will need to build itself up through player development and the NBA draft, and that plan, while not likely to fully pay off this season despite the team’s 4-4 start, is well underway.
The biggest addition this summer arrived in the form of No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker, one of the most intriguing talents in the draft. While Parker may not have the above-the-rim athleticism of Andrew Wiggins, nor the sky-high potential of Dante Exum or a healthy Joel Embiid, Parker is arguably the most NBA-ready of the entire 2014 draft class.
Parker’s NBA position isn’t quite defined yet, and he’ll rotate between both forward positions for the time being. He’s a bit of a tweener and may not be athletic enough to guard some of the league’s more dynamic small forwards, and he isn’t strong enough yet to play with the big boys down in the paint. But Parker is a talent, and talent will always find a place in this league. I can see Parker being used eventually like Carmelo Anthony is in New York when the Knicks go to their smaller lineups and ‘Melo mans the four spot. Parker isn’t in Anthony’s class as a scorer, nor do I think he’ll ever be, but he has the potential to be a multidimensional stat-sheet filler for the Bucks, and was a great addition to the franchise.
The most important cog in the Bucks’ future already resided on their roster heading into the offseason in the 6’11” form of Giannis Antetokounmpo, bane of arena announcers and basketball writers across the league. The “Greek Freak” is a major work in progress whose physical ability and highlight-reel plays far outdo his current level of production. Antetokounmpo has all the tools to be a major star in the league for years to come, but will need more than the 23.8 minutes per game he currently receives to get there.
One obstacle that worries me in regard to the Bucks’ handling of Antetokounmpo is the team’s preseason experiment with him at point guard. While he may have the physical tools to play the position, and while it would be amazing to watch a near seven-footer man the one-spot on a nightly basis, this could derail his development. Point guard is by far the most difficult position to learn, and doing so at the NBA level against the ridiculous talent that exists in the league at that position is no easy task. There are enough fundamental holes in Antetokounmpo’s current game that he doesn’t need the added level of difficulty that a position switch would bring about.
Milwaukee wisely exercised exercised both Antetokounmpo’s and John Henson‘s rookie options this offseason, but the team passed on working out an extension with Brandon Knight. Knight isn’t a pure point guard and is much more comfortable as a scorer than as a ball-distributor. His turnover rate is extremely high this season at 4.0 per game, up from his career average of 2.7, but he’s only 22 years old, and is a dynamic offensive player. If Knight keeps up his averages of 17.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 6.9 APG, he’ll definitely garner interest when he becomes a restricted free agent next summer and could be costly for the Bucks to retain.
Thanks to their young, exciting core of players, the Bucks’ outlook is quite positive. A number of player-friendly contracts on the books will nonetheless hamper the franchise’s ability to improve over the next few seasons. Milwaukee has $46,849,680 in guaranteed salaries already committed for the 2015/16 season, and this doesn’t include a new deal for Knight, nor the $4.25MM salary for Jared Dudley, who has an early termination option for next season.
The Bucks agreed to tether themselves to Dudley’s 2015/16 salary in a trade that sent out Carlos Delfino and Miroslav Raduljica, both of whom had non-guaranteed salary for that season. It signaled a willingness to take some pains in the near future for the rare opportunity to net a first-round pick, the price the Clippers paid to facilitate the deal. The lottery-protected selection won’t come until 2017 at the earliest, and it will probably fall in the 20s barring an unlikely decline in Clipper fortunes over the next few years. It’s still quite a valuable asset to receive for some short-term cap burden, a future second-round pick and two players who weren’t contributing much. It’s a signal that new Bucks majority owners Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan are much more willing to focus on the future than longtime former owner Herb Kohl, who always seemed committed to competing in the near term, even if it mired the franchise in mediocrity.
Center Larry Sanders‘ $11MM annual salary is the most significant blight on the team’s balance sheet, and he is in no way worth that amount of money. The best hope the franchise has is if he can return to form and build up his trade value, though with Sanders averaging 5.9 points on 38.2% shooting, a horrid number for a 6’11” inside player, it will be extremely difficult to obtain anything of value for him.
The $16MM that the Bucks owe to O.J. Mayo between now and the end of 2015/16 isn’t helping the team, either. Mayo’s 12.1 PPG average isn’t setting the league on fire, and at 27 he’s not likely to break out anytime soon. The less-than-stellar contracts of Ersan Ilyasova ($7.9MM per year) and Zaza Pachulia ($5.2MM per year) are additional albatrosses the team will have to deal with through next season. Neither of those two big men are worth that chunk of cap space on a young rebuilding squad like the Bucks.
Another change worth noting for the Bucks this past offseason was the hiring of Jason Kidd as the new head coach after a courtship that took place while Larry Drew was still employed in the position. Bringing in Kidd cost Milwaukee 2015 and 2019 second-round draft picks, which were sent to Brooklyn as compensation. Kidd’s lone season in Brooklyn was anything but smooth, with the Nets organization seemingly all for parting ways despite the team making it to to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Kidd was reportedly pushing for more front office control in Brooklyn, something the team apparently wasn’t too keen on granting. Add that to the reports of locker room strife and it remains to be seen how Kidd will fare switching from a veteran-dominated team to a much younger squad. It is a much different task to develop players while losing than to step in and take over a team that was built with the intent to challenge for an NBA title.
Fortunes in Milwaukee aren’t likely to turn around this season, but the groundwork has been laid for incremental gains, and if the team continues to draft well and the young talent reaches its potential, Bucks fans will have more to cheer about in the coming years. It will nonetheless continue to be difficult to lure upper-tier free agent talent to the city, and the Bucks will need to rid themselves of a number of bloated contracts to make themselves more competitive for the second-level free agents that hit the market. But for now, Milwaukee can enjoy watching the development of Antetokounmpo and Parker. The team must pin its hopes on being able to sign them for the long term when their rookie deals are up, and that years of losing basketball don’t take a toll on their pair of gems in the meantime.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post. Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: LeBron, Waiters, Jennings, Knicks
LeBron James endorses Dion Waiters‘ new sixth man role for the Cavs, writes Chris Haynes of The Plain Dealer. “For the best of the team, that should be Dion’s role,” James said. “Dion comes off the bench and brings us that scoring mentality but more than that, he brings us another defender off the bench, which we need. Someone that’s tough, someone that can guard one through three. It’s a new role, but it’s a good role for him.” Waiters is beginning to embrace his role as well. “I got to do whatever I got to do for the better of the team,” Waiters said. “If it’s starting, if it’s coming off the bench, if it’s the water boy, I got to do it. Whatever is best for the team.” Some have suggested that Waiters was not ready to sacrifice for the betterment of the team; perhaps this is a step in the right direction for the Cavs.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- LeBron’s pleas for patience regarding the Cavs early season struggles go against a number of moves the organization has made this past offseason, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. If Cleveland was truly taking the long-view approach, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett would still be on the roster instead of in Minnesota, and the team wouldn’t have added so many aging veterans, Winderman opines.
- Brandon Jennings doesn’t dwell on his past with the Bucks, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gardner notes that Jennings could have had more success in Milwaukee if Andrew Bogut hadn’t gotten seriously injured during Jennings’ rookie year or if Monta Ellis hadn’t left the team in free agency. Both players are arguably in better situations than Jennings is after leaving the Bucks, but the point guard is being patient with the Pistons this season. “I’m just staying positive,” Jennings said. “It’s a long season. We’re still trying to find our identity with a new coach, a new system. It’s definitely going to take time.”
- The Knicks‘ early-season struggles are more about team chemistry than learning the triangle offense, opines Harvey Araton of The New York Times. Araton points out that missing Jose Calderon, who was set to be the team’s starting point guard, as well as the team’s lack of long-term options in the frontcourt hinders New York’s ability to implement the offense that Phil Jackson has won 11 titles with. The Knicks have no players at the center or power forward positions signed past this season with Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, Jason Smith, Quincy Acy, Travis Wear and Samuel Dalembert all set to become free agents at the end of the season.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Allen, Wear
The Raptors, Wizards and Bulls are in a three-way tie atop the Eastern Conference, a pair of them clash tonight with Washington in Toronto. The two surprise teams from last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs took somewhat divergent paths this past summer, as the Wizards replaced Trevor Ariza with Paul Pierce while the Raptors retained Kyle Lowry and are mostly intact from 2013/14. We’ll have an early read on which approach was better by night’s end, but for now, here’s the latest from around the Eastern Conference:
- Bucks majority partners Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, along with former owner Herb Kohl, have pledged an estimated $300MM toward the roughly $420MM cost of a new arena in Milwaukee, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. That’s up from the approximately $200MM the current and former owners were set to invest in the building when the sale of the team took place this past spring. The new total includes a “major” contribution from Dinan, who joined the partnership this summer, as well as additional money from Edens and Lasry, and the Bucks are expected to raise yet more funding through a naming rights deal, Woelfel writes. The NBA has the right to take control of the Bucks if there isn’t significant progress toward construction by fall 2017, but it appears most of the arena will be privately financed, as Woelfel points out.
- The Bulls have remained in contact with representatives for Ray Allen, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes in his mailbag column. An early September report identified the Bulls as one of many suitors for the Jim Tanner client, who recently made a non-basketball-related trip to Chicago.
- Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders recounts the journey of Travis Wear, who went from 2009 McDonald’s All-American to undrafted this past summer before the Knicks, who’d begun to eye him even before the draft this year, gave him a chance. Voluntary workouts prior to training camp were the key to Wear’s ability to win a spot on the opening-night roster, as Beer details.
Eastern Notes: Napier, Dellavedova, Sixers
The Sixers are keeping their eyes open for another big man to sign, Tom Moore of Calkins Media reports (Twitter link), though, according to Moore, no move is imminent. Philadelphia currently has 15 players on its roster so someone would need to be waived or dealt before another big could be added. The top bigs available currently are Dante Cunningham, Rashard Lewis, Ivan Johnson, Jeff Adrien, and Bernard James. With the Sixers in full-on rebuild mode, they may look to the D-League for a player with upside rather than a veteran, though that is just my speculation.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The trade for Shabazz Napier on draft night has worked out very well for the Heat so far, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. While Napier is only averaging 5.0 PPG and 3.0 APG, he’s been the point guard on the floor for Miami during crunch time, which is a strong indicator of his standing on the team, notes Winderman. “The thing about that is that whatever opportunity I get, I’m going to try my best, and I expect a lot from myself no matter what,” Napier said. “And I’m fortunate enough that Coach puts me in the fourth quarter. So I’m going to do whatever I can possible do.“
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t thrilled with the new experimental rules that are to be tested in the D-League, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Spoelstra isn’t a fan of all the play stoppages the league currently has, and said, “I don’t think any of that stuff matters until we figure out what’s going on with replays. Replays are what’s extending the games 20, 30 minutes each game.” One of the new rules being tested are coaches challenges which would serve to increase the amount of time officials spend looking at replays during games.
- The Bucks have fired Skip Robinson, longtime VP of player development, Gerry Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times reports (Twitter link). The reason for Robinson being dismissed is unknown at this time, Woelfel adds.
- Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova has been diagnosed with a grade two MCL sprain and is expected to miss up to six weeks, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. In three games Dellavedova is averaging 2.7 points, 1 rebound and 2.3 assists. Cleveland recently waived A.J. Price and signed Will Cherry, who will most likely see increased minutes with Dellavedova out for an extended period.
- Former Celtic Leon Powe has been observing Boston’s practices and meetings with an eye on a potential move to a front office position in the future, Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News reports (Twitter link).
Bucks Notes: Knight, Marshall, Extensions
Brandon Knight is disappointed that he and the Bucks were not able to come to terms on an extension by the deadline, Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times notes (Twitter link). Knight said, “It’s unfortunate. I wanted to get something done.” By failing to come to terms on an extension Knight will become a restricted free agent next summer.
Here’s more from the land of beer and bratwurst:
- Knight relayed that he doesn’t feel any extra pressure to perform well this season despite not inking an extension with the Bucks, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “It’s no pressure. You either get it [a contract] now or get it later, one or the other,” Knight said.
- There is no animosity between the two sides, notes Gardner, and the team has said they intend to try and reach an agreement with Knight this summer. When asked if there was any tension between he and the team, Knight said, “No. If we’re going to revisit it [the negotiations], it’s definitely not. I haven’t really spoken a whole lot to my agents about it. They said they were talking. I love the Bucks. It’s a great organization and we’re continuing to improve as you see. It’s definitely something I would like to be a part of. When we revisit it in the future, hopefully it will work at that time.”
- When the Bucks decided to fully guarantee Kendall Marshall‘s $915K salary for this season it demonstrated their commitment to the young point guard, Gardner writes in a separate article. “It’s a sense of comfort to see that the organization has that trust in me,” Marshall said of his contract being guaranteed. “I haven’t really seen too much of that since I’ve been in the league. It’s just the beginning. I see it as a great foundation for me and for where I want to be with this team. The main thing is team success. My college coaches always told me, ‘Winners get the awards and the rewards.’ If we take care of things as a team, everybody will look good.”
Extension Rumors: Thompson, Cavs, Butler
Tonight’s 11:00pm Central deadline for rookie scale extensions is fast closing in. Here’s the latest on talks around the league, with any additional updates that come in throughout the evening added to the top:
- Final-hour talks are taking place between the Cavs and representatives for Tristan Thompson, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). The team has offered more than $40MM, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (on Twitter). A deal was a 50-50 proposition as of this afternoon, as Amico heard (Twitter link).
- Butler struck a somewhat different tone before the Bulls‘ game against the Cavs tonight than his agent did when he indicated that talks were through (below), as Sam Smith of Bulls.com relays. “We still want a deal,” Butler said. “I still want to be here. I still want to have nothing to worry about. So we have until 11:59 [Eastern time] to figure it out. I’m not a personal guy. I don’t take everything to heart. I understand it’s a business. I just have to be a great basketball player. I think this team is really good, championship caliber. I am a part of this team; I am going to produce. I’m going to guard. I will take care of myself. I think there’s not too much I can do right now. I’m done talking about it.”
- Still, Bulls GM Gar Forman said that both sides had agreed to end discussions for now and pick back up again in restricted free agency next summer, Smith notes.
- Butler also said that he believes he’ll remain with the Bulls whether it entails signing an extension or a new deal next summer, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
5:40pm updates:
- Butler has rejected the Bulls‘ “final offer” and plans to enter restricted free agency next summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Butler’s agent, Happy Walters, said, “All the [rookie extension] deals done so far have shown that teams are building around their stars of the future, and they’re compensating those players as such. I was under the impression Jimmy was also viewed as one of those future building blocks with the Bulls. We tried like heck to get something done, but ultimately, the Bulls wanted a ‘hometown’ discount. While understandable, I doubt their GM or coaches give Mr. Reinsdorf a discount when negotiating their own deals.”
- Butler had told his teammates that he was willing to play out the season unless the team upped their “final” offer, K.C. Johnson tweets.
- The Wolves and Rubio are making progress on a four-year extension, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski’s sources, there’s optimism, but no deal in place yet.
3:58pm updates:
- The Wolves are now willing to go higher than $52MM in four-year offers to Ricky Rubio and the team is on board with a deal as long as Rubio is, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune believes that a deal would have to be for at least $55MM over four seasons (Twitter link).
- The Bucks and Brandon Knight weren’t too far apart in extension talks before ending them today, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
- Conversely, the gap appears wide between the Bulls and Jimmy Butler, and the chances of a compromise don’t appear to be high, as Goodman also hears (Twitter link). Chicago has been willing to consider a player option in his deal, something the franchise doesn’t ordinarily do, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter), but talks aren’t progressing, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
Bucks, Brandon Knight Call Off Extension Talks
The Bucks and Brandon Knight have ended negotiations about an extension, setting up the fourth-year point guard for restricted free agency in the summer, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). An extension had reportedly been unlikely even though the team and agent Arn Tellem planned to keep talking until the deadline. They took discussions close to tonight’s 11:00pm Central cutoff, but it appears there’ll be no deal.
Milwaukee’s brass appeared enthusiastic early this month about reaching an agreement as the sides opened talks, and coach Jason Kidd spoke of his desire to keep the player taken eighth overall in the 2011 draft. Knight nonetheless had seemed an odd candidate for an extension based on his inability to establish himself as a front-line point guard during his first three seasons in the league. He scored 17.9 points per game last season, but they came for a Bucks team that finished with the league’s worst record.
I suggested that Tellem would attempt to capitalize on Milwaukee’s desire to reach an extension with proposals involving eight-figure salaries, though it’s unclear just what sort of numbers were on the table from either side. The Bucks made an unusual commitment this week to Knight’s backup, Kendall Marshall, when they guaranteed what had been a non-guaranteed contract for the former 13th overall pick. Perhaps that’s a sign that Milwaukee decided at some point that it prefers to evaluate his performance against Knight’s, with both poised to hit free agency in the summer, though that’s just my speculation.
Extension Rumors: Butler, Rubio, Thompson
The 11:00pm Central deadline for rookie-scale extensions is only about half a day away, and there’s sure to be action in the hours ahead as decisions loom for the remaining eligible players. Here’s the latest as of this morning:
- The Bulls and Butler were apart by $2.5MM in average annual value as they talked Thursday, Johnson reports. Butler’s camp doesn’t see a deal happening before the deadline, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter), which isn’t surprising considering the gap.
- The Wolves are willing to sign Rubio to a four-year extension worth $52MM, and the team would perhaps be on board with going up to $54MM, according to Wolfson (Twitter link). Agent Dan Fegan has reportedly been seeking the maximum salary for his client, which would likely entail at least $66MM over four years, but Rubio would take $58MM, Wolfson says.
- There’s “plenty of pessimism” surrounding the talks between Tristan Thompson and the Cavs as a gap remains in their proposals, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- Ricky Rubio is more likely than not to sign an extension with the Wolves as advanced negotiations have taken place between the sides over the past few weeks, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That echoes an earlier report from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who heard from people outside the organization who believed Rubio and the team would ultimately settle on a four-year, $52MM deal.
- Agent Brian Elfus has been in San Antonio negotiating with the Spurs this week, as Stein writes in the same piece, but Kawhi Leonard is nonetheless unlikely to sign an extension, Stein says, seconding a report from ESPN colleague Chris Broussard. Stein hears the Spurs prefer to take Leonard to restricted free agency next summer to maintain maximum financial flexibility. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote earlier this week that the Spurs were reluctant to give Leonard the maximum salary he’s seeking.
- Talks are continuing between the Warriors and Klay Thompson and the Cavs and Tristan Thompson, Stein reports.
- Brandon Knight and Norris Cole appear unlikely to receive extensions, according to Stein, though talks are still going on between the Bucks and Knight’s agent, Arn Tellem, a source tells Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Stein seconds earlier reports indicating that Jimmy Butler, Reggie Jackson and Iman Shumpert also seem unlikely to sign extensions.
- The Bulls are going to have to increase their offer to Butler to entice him to sign, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. It’s unclear what the Bulls have on the table, but as of a week ago the sides were “millions apart,” as Johnson wrote then.
And-Ones: Allen, Thabeet, NBPA
In response to commissioner Adam Silver’s statement that a third of the teams in the league are still losing money, new NBPA head Michele Roberts said, “The NBA’s cries of poverty will not work this time,” Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes.”I can say that I was more than surprised,” Roberts told Yahoo Sports. “I am not suggesting that Adam is telling a lie. I am sure that the owners told him that. But it’s difficult for me to believe that, especially after looking at the 2011 CBA negotiations and seeing all the money the players don’t have now. There’s $1.1 billion that the players would’ve been otherwise entitled.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban left open the possibility that Dallas could add either Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis later on in the season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News reports. “We haven’t talked to him, but I think he’s doing it the right way,” Cuban said of Allen. “He’s waiting to see who’s doing well. If it comes down to it, we’d always consider it. We’re always open to improving the team. But you don’t want to mess up a good thing, either. That’s when Caron Butler got hurt and Roddy [Beaubois] got hurt. But Peja Stojakovic is a good example of us adding a veteran in season.” In regards to Lewis, Cuban added, “Rashard Lewis is working out here. We’ve stayed in touch with him and worked with him.”
- Hasheem Thabeet has passed on playing in Europe and instead will play for Grand Rapids in the NBA D-League this season, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). It appears that the Pistons, who had waived Thabeet, will retain his D-League rights as franchises can retain the rights of up to four players that they have waived.
- The NBA D-League Draft is scheduled to be held this Saturday and the crew over at DraftExpress ran down the complete list of eligible players.
- The Bucks will keep working toward an extension with Brandon Knight up until Friday’s deadline, David Alarcón of HoopsHype tweets. It’s unclear how far apart the two sides are in their discussions, but in his look at Knight in our extension candidate series, Chuck Myron opined that the two sides could compromise on a four-year, $41MM arrangement similar to what the Sixers gave Jrue Holiday two years ago.