Grizzlies Test Market For Jeff Green, Courtney Lee
The Grizzlies are gauging the trade market for soon-to-be free agents Jeff Green and Courtney Lee, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who cautions that the team isn’t shopping them. Rather, they’re doing what they’re “supposed to do” with players on expiring deals and seeing what they could get in return before they have the chance to walk away in the summer, Stein writes. Still, it appears the team has more willingness to trade Green and Lee than fellow veterans Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, whom they have no interest in sending away, according to Stein.
The 29-year-old Green, who makes $9.45MM, doesn’t appear to be the most popular teammate in Memphis, where one prominent Grizzlies player “wanted to wring his neck” after a loss two weeks ago, expressing profound frustration with the combo forward, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal reported. Green’s attitude hasn’t been stellar, either, according to Tillery. His play has left much to be desired, as his 11.4 points per game are his fewest since he posted 10.5 as a rookie in 2007/08. Coach Dave Joerger recently removed him from the starting lineup.
Memphis reportedly turned away entreaties from the Timberwolves about a swap of Lee for Kevin Martin, so it doesn’t appear that Lee will come cheaply. The 30-year-old who’s a career 38.2% 3-point shooter started the season in a troublesome slump from behind the arc, canning just 22.0% of his treys through November, but since then, he’s nailed 44.4% of them. He’s seeing a $5.675MM salary this year.
Complicating matters for the Grizzlies is that they’re only about $2MM shy of the luxury tax threshold. They sit fifth in the Western Conference at 27-20 following early-season questions about Joerger’s future. It’s not entirely clear what sort of offers they’d find most enticing in exchange for Green and Lee, though it doesn’t seem the club is ready for a tear-down.
What do you think the Grizzlies would be able to get for Green and Lee? Leave a comment to give your input.
And-Ones: Snyder, Wiggins, Parsons
Jazz coach Quin Snyder isn’t focused on trade talk regarding his team and is instead concentrating on winning games, Jody Genessy of The Deseret Times relays (Twitter links). “I really like our group so much, so it’s easy for me to stay focused on the present,” Snyder told Genessy. The coach also noted that he’s “not in that world” where trade talk occurs, Genessy adds. “I’m more concerned about the guys we have,” the coach relayed. Utah has been “poking around” the trade market for a point guard recently, according to a recent report by Zach Lowe of ESPN.com.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Wolves camp cut Nick Wiggins, who is the older brother of Andrew Wiggins, has signed with the Canterbury Rams of Australia’s National Basketball League for the remainder of the season, the team has announced (h/t to Sportando). Wiggins had been playing for the Raptors‘ D-League affiliate and averaged 4.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10 appearances before the team waived him about a month ago.
- Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons can opt out of his current deal at the end of the season and become an unrestricted free agent, a move that Parsons is likely to make. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link) predicts that Parsons will end up re-signing with Dallas on a four-year, approximately $80MM deal. The value of Parsons’ player option for 2016/17 is $16.023MM.
- Joe Johnson has looked like a rejuvenated player under Nets interim coach Tony Brown, Brian Lewis of The New York Post notes. “I enjoy the game of basketball, period,” Johnson said. “In the heat of the battle, in the game, we have our frustrations in the moment; but I enjoy playing. I love the game. I hate to lose, but unfortunately we’re in a tough situation. We’ve got to play, and make do with what we’ve got. If we put it all out there on the line, we can live with the results.’’
Dead Money: Northwest Division
Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.
There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!
Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Northwest Division, with the exception of those who had 10-day contracts that ran to term:
Denver Nuggets
- Nick Johnson (Waived) — $845,059
- Joey Dorsey (Waived) — $815,421
- Pablo Prigioni (Waived) — $440,000
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Waived) — $350,000
- Erick Green (Waived) — $100,000
Total= $2,550,480
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Anthony Bennett (Waived) — $3,650,000
- Lorenzo Brown (Waived) — $75,000
Total= $3,725,000
Oklahoma City Thunder
- None
Portland Trail Blazers
- Mike Miller (Waived) — $3,083,181
Total= $3,083,181
Utah Jazz
- Grant Jerrett (Waived) — $947,276
- Elijah Millsap (Waived) — $362,878
- Treveon Graham (Waived) — $75,000
- J.J. O’Brien (Waived) — $75,000
- E.J. Singler (Waived) — $50,000
- Phil Pressey (Waived) — $11,144
- Eric Atkins (Waived) — $6,178
Total= $1,527,476
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Western Notes: Griffin, Mitchell, Suns
Nearly half of the Timberwolves roster has expressed concern regarding the performance of interim coach Sam Mitchell, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press relays. The players’ concerns stem from issues with Mitchell’s outdated offensive system, his tendency to platoon his rotations and a lack of personal accountability for the team’s struggles, Krawczynski notes. Point guard Zach LaVine answered tersely when asked if Mitchell’s tough love approach was making him a better player, the AP scribe adds. “It’s not fun. Sometimes unfair,” LaVine said. “But he’s the coach, I’m the player and sometimes that’s what you have to deal with. You can’t really do anything about it but play good on the court.”
Team owner Glen Taylor doesn’t appear overly concerned that some members of his roster may be frustrated with the coach, Krawczynski notes. “I talk to the players. I talk to the coaches,” Taylor said. “I’m glad that they’re frustrated. I’m sure they’re trying very hard in practice to improve their skills. I know they want to win. I’m confident that it’s just going to be some game that we win against somebody that probably has a better team than us and it just kind of gets us going.”
Here’s what else is happening out West:
- The NBA’s punishment for Blake Griffin, who was involved in a fight with Clippers equipment manager Mathias Testi, may not be known for some time, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times writes. The Times scribe cites the duration it has recently taken the league to mete out discipline to Grizzlies small forward Matt Barnes and former Hornets small forward Jeff Taylor as examples of the NBA’s propensity to take its time. Griffin’s injury status will also complicate matters, as any potential suspension he would face would not begin until he was medically cleared to play, notes Bresnahan. The power forward is expected to miss approximately four to six weeks after undergoing surgery this week to repair a fracture in his right hand.
- With backcourt mates Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight out due to injury, the Suns are now looking to go big with their lineups, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “The court looks smaller,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Length makes a difference in this league when you have a bunch of it.”
Northwest Notes: Roberson, Gallinari, Onuaku
Andre Roberson will miss at least three weeks with a right knee sprain, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater reports, and because of the timing of the All-Star break, it means he’s not expected to play again until February 19th at the earliest. The Thunder will seek to find ways to mitigate the loss of Roberson’s defensive prowess in the meantime, with Kyle Singler seemingly his most likely replacement in the starting lineup, Slater writes. The trade deadline is February 18th, one day before Roberson would return. See more from the Northwest Division:
- Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post rates Danilo Gallinari below only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony among NBA small forwards, placing Gallo above Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gay and Harrison Barnes as he writes in his mailbag column. The Nuggets signed Gallinari to a renegotiation-and-extension this past summer that gives him $45.15MM from this season through 2017/18.
- Former Timberwolves power forward Arinze Onuaku has decided against signing in the D-League, according to international journalist David Pick, who hears he might be headed for the Philippines instead (Twitter link). Onuaku, who joined Minnesota with a week to go in the 2014/15 season, had been set to return to the D-League affiliate of the Cavs.
- The Timberwolves have assigned Adreian Payne to the D-League affiliate of the Magic, Minnesota announced (Twitter link). The plan the Wolves have for the former 15th overall pick is for him to play five D-League games before returning to Minnesota, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Orlando’s affiliate is involved because the Wolves don’t have a D-League team of their own.
Central Notes: Blatt, LeBron, Dunleavy, Boatright
David Blatt‘s camp believes that LeBron James was the sole catalyst for the Cavs coaching change, and the belief is much more than simply a fringe theory among people around the league, reports TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip for NBA.com. Still, plenty of other reasons for Blatt’s dismissal exist, including the team’s poor performance against top Western Conference contenders and the need for immediate results, that suggest that the team isn’t simply serving LeBron’s wishes, Aldridge contends. Regardless, the Cavs cast Blatt back onto the job market, and while the Timberwolves have been linked to Blatt, the team has no intention of pursuing him for a job on interim coach Sam Mitchell‘s staff, league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). See more from the Central Division:
- Mike Dunleavy is targeting a return sometime next month from the back injury that’s kept him out all season so far, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s essentially at the same point in his recovery that he was before suffering a setback in late November, but he’s more confident this time that he’ll be able to take the final steps toward getting back to game action for the Bulls, according to Johnson.
- Ryan Boatright impressed with the Nets during the preseason, but he didn’t carry that level of performance over to his tenure with the D-League affiliate of the Pistons, which waived him last week. Boatright is now poised to sign with Orlandina of Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Pistons briefly had Boatright on their NBA roster on the fall, a maneuver designed to secure his D-League rights.
- The Pacers have recalled Shayne Whittington from the D-League, the team announced. He’s played in just two games at the NBA level this season but has appeared in 19 contests for Indiana’s D-League affiliate after re-signing with the Pacers this past summer.
And-Ones: Cavs, Wiggins, Nets
The Cavs will add veteran assistant Mike Longabardi to new head coach Tyronn Lue‘s staff, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports. Lue and Longabardi spent four seasons together on Doc Rivers‘ staff in Boston, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes (on Twitter). Longabardi is expected to take over the defensive specialist role that Lue held, Windhorst adds. The Suns fired Longabardi, who is known as a defensive specialist, from his role as assistant coach in late December.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Andrew Wiggins has not spoke candidly about his feelings regarding the Cavs, the team that shipped him to the Wolves as part of the deal for Kevin Love, and instead has preferred to let his play speak for itself, Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune writes. Wiggins has performed particularly well against the Cavs, as Youngblood points out.
- One of the top assistants in the league, like Sean Sweeney of the Bucks, would be a sensible fit for the Nets‘ coaching vacancy because it would be wise for Brooklyn to avoid the long term implications of a flashy hire, Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders argues.
- Center Salah Mejri, who was recently coming off the bench in the D-League, found himself starting for the Mavs in place of the injured Zaza Pachulia and is making the most out of his opportunity, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News relays.
- Arinze Onuaku, who was with the Wolves at the end of last season, will be signing with the D-League, international journalist David Pick reports (on Twitter). Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv released Onuaku, Pick adds.
Northwest Notes: Garnett, Towns, Durant, Jazz
The Wolves‘ Kevin Garnett had glowing words for rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns, but sidestepped a question on interim coach Sam Mitchell, according to Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “Next question,’’ the veteran forward said when asked if Mitchell is the right coach for the team’s future. But he had much more to say about Towns, who is among the favorites for Rookie of the Year honors. “He’s very smart,” Garnett said. “He has a high IQ. He understands basketball. Sometimes [it’s] a little difficult teaching him because he is so smart. I guess that’s a young thing. But he gets a lot of things you teach him very quickly.’’
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Towns’ skills weren’t fully appreciated coming out of college because he was sharing minutes on a deep, talented Kentucky team, writes Jonathan Tjarks of Real GM. Tjarks compares Towns to a larger version of the Hawks’ Al Horford and says he has a chance to be like Garnett, only with the ability to play center and hit 3-pointers.
- Although Brooklyn seems like an improbable free agency destination for the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com warns not to count out the Nets entirely. Durant’s representatives are Roc Nation Sports and Jay Z, who used to hold a minority ownership stake in the Nets. Also, Roc Nation’s president/chief of branding and strategy is Michael Yormark, whose twin brother Brett is CEO of the Nets. If Durant decides he wants to play in a big market and get away from the Warriors and Spurs in the Western Conference, Mazzeo believes Brooklyn could be on his radar.
- There is a bright side to the injuries that have limited the Jazz to a 19-24 start, claims Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. With Dante Exum out for the year and Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors missing big chunks of the season, rookies Trey Lyles and Raul Neto have gotten valuable playing time. Neto has emerged as the starting point guard and is averaging 5.8 points and 2.4 assists per game, while Lyles overcame a slow start to become an effective scorer and 3-point shooter.
Latest On David Blatt
Fired Cavaliers coach David Blatt is already drawing interest from the Nets, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link). Chatter is connecting him to the Timberwolves, notes international journalist David Pick, and Kyler says Blatt’s name has also been linked to the Lakers (Twitter links). Blatt and Brooklyn have a natural connection, given his time as coach of the Russian national team and the presence of Russian Mikhail Prokhorov as Nets owner.
Cleveland GM David Griffin said it was behind-the-scenes issues rather than on-court performance that doomed Blatt, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs compiled a 30-11 record through the first half of this season, but Griffin was unhappy with the atmosphere in the locker room and thought a change was necessary. “I’ve never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be,” Griffin said. “We’ve only been galvanized when expectations were not high and circumstances were somewhat artificial. Otherwise, we’ve been a group of tremendous individual talent with individual hopes and dreams. That’s not a winning formula. I’m not leaving an unprecedented team payroll and all of the efforts of everybody that works in this organization to chance.”
Speaking to the media tonight, new coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavaliers don’t enjoy playing the game, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal. Lue also made an appeal for Blatt to be the Eastern Conference coach in the All-Star Game, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but a league source who spoke with Haynes shot down that possibility (Twitter link).
The reaction to Friday’s firing continues to pour in from around the league:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has been an outspoken critic of the move, writes David Mayo of MLive. Van Gundy expressed dismay that Blatt was let go despite taking the Cavs to the NBA Finals last year and compiling the best record in the East this season. “You can’t even make a flimsy case for the fact that the guy wasn’t meeting expectations,” Van Gundy said. “So obviously, there’s something else going on, and that’s what I’m saying — none of us now has any clue, whatsoever, what the expectations for coaches are.”
- To be successful, Lue needs the full support that the Cavaliers were never willing to give to Blatt, contends Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. As a former player and respected assistant coach, Lue has the advantage of being an NBA insider, which Zillgitt believes will make it easier for him to relate to players than it was for Blatt.
- Blatt turned out to be the wrong coach at the wrong time, and the Cavaliers wasted a year and a half of James’ career by not firing him sooner, writes Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group. He contrasts that with the situation in Golden State, where the Warriors dumped Mark Jackson after the 2013/14 season even though they knew it would upset Stephen Curry because they believed Steve Kerr would be a better coach for their star.
Chuck Myron contributed to this story.
And-Ones: Del Negro, Lue, D-League
The rash of injuries the Heat have suffered this season are taking a toll on the players, who have been asked to log significantly more minutes than normal as a result, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “The toughest part about it is that you always worry about the health of your teammate, first and foremost,” Chris Bosh said. “You always want guys to be as healthy as possible, but when it’s another guy going down, it’s just tough. Two weeks ago, we were going into a West Coast road trip, really trying to prove ourselves with a whole roster and now we’ve got six guys out. It’s just a tough pill to swallow.”
While the situation is far from ideal, Bosh did note that the team’s younger players were benefiting from the increased playing time, Kennedy adds. “We’re constantly just trying to digest what’s going on, take the hit on the chin and then regroup,” Bosh continued. “Our young guys are trying [to fill in], but they’re inexperienced and they’re really learning on the fly. I think the best part about it is it’s going to help us in the long run because these guys are getting minutes under stressful situations, and that’s how it’s going to be later on.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Celtics big man Jared Sullinger is a big fan of new Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, and he raves about the former Boston assistant’s demeanor and knowledge, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “I like Ty Lue,” Sullinger told Blakely. “He knows a lot about the game. He helped me out big-time when he was here, as far as helping me stay calm, staying confident and just staying ready at all times.”
- Vinny Del Negro expects to coach in the NBA again, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports in an appearance on the “The Vertical” podcast. Del Negro confirmed that he has had interviews with the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Cavaliers since the Clippers let him go in 2013, adding that he had extensive player personnel duties in his final year with L.A. “From Jamal Crawford to Matt Barnes to Chauncey [Billups] to Grant [Hill] to everyone, doing the sign-and-trade for Willie Green, everything that was involved. All the front office did was the paperwork,” Del Negro said (audio link, scroll to 28-minute mark).
- The Rockets have assigned Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Harrell’s third trek to Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth on the season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.