And-Ones: Stackhouse, Labor, Olympics, Garnett
The Raptors are expected to name former All-Star Jerry Stackhouse as head coach of their D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, sources told Chris Reichert of UpsideMotor.com. Stackhouse, who played for eight teams during a career that lasted from 1995-2013, spent last season on Dwane Casey’s staff. He would replace Jesse Mermuys, who is now an assistant to new Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton. Stackhouse coached the Raptors’ Summer League team in Las Vegas last month. Raptors 905 was an expansion team last season and had several players that also saw action in the NBA, including Anthony Bennett, Bruno Caboclo, Delon Wright and Lucas Nogueira, Reichert adds.
In other news around the league:
- NBPA executive director Michele Roberts is optimistic a new labor agreement will be reached before a potential lockout, she told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “Our teams have been in discussions for some months now and we have made progress and we’re inclined to continue along those lines,” she said. “We have meetings this summer and we’re meeting next week and [consistently] after that. We’re trying to get a deal as quickly as we can, ideally before the start of the season.” Roberts added that if an agreement isn’t reached by the Dec. 15th deadline, the union would likely opt out, triggering the possible lockout following the season.
- American fans will get their first look at a lot of foreign players during the Summer Olympics, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. There will be many players whose names are familiar because teams hold their draft rights, such as Croatian star Dario Saric, who recently signed to play for the Sixers next season. Other prominent names include Lithuania’s Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Spain’s Willy Hernangomez, who will both be part of the Knicks; Nigeria’s Michael Gbinije, a second-round pick of the Pistons; China’s Zhou Qi, a Rockets’ second-rounder; Spain’s Sergio Llull, who the Rockets have been trying to convince to come to the NBA, Lithuania’s Domantas Sabonis, who was traded to the Thunder on draft night; and Spain’s Alex Abrines, who recently signed with the Thunder.
- Kevin Garnett met with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor but no final decision materialized regarding Garnett’s future, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. The 40-year-old Garnett, who appeared in 38 games last season, has one year and $8MM remaining on his contract.
- CAA Sports signed NBA free agent guards Sergio Rodriguez and Ish Smith and negotiated deals with their new clubs, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. The Sixers signed the 30-year-old Rodriguez to a one-year, $8MM contract. Smith received a three-year, $18MM deal from the Pistons.
Details On The D-League Expansion Draft
The D-League will add three new teams this upcoming seasons. The Bulls (Windy City Bulls), Hornets (Greensboro Swarm), and Nets (Long Island Nets) are all set to have one-on-one affiliates and the expansion draft will take place on August 24th, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest reports.
The league hasn’t had three teams join at the same time since 2006 and it has made some tweaks to the rules, sources tell Johnson. Previously, teams would be able to select 16 players from the available pool of players, but this year, the expansion teams will only be able to make 12 selections.
The draft will be serpentine and existing D-League teams can protect 10 players currently on their roster, which is down from 12 in previous expansion drafts. One thing remaining the same is where the expansion teams will pick during the D-League draft. The three teams will have the selections between the non-playoff teams and the playoff teams, which this year are the 12th, 13th, and 14th overall picks. The determination of the order in which these team pick during the annual draft will be set by the inverse of the expansion draft order, meaning the team that receives the first pick in the expansion draft will receive the 14th pick in the annual draft and the others will follow in that pattern.
Once a player is selected by the expansion team, that team owns his rights for at least two seasons. Last season, Toronto’s expansion team, Raptors 905, was the only team participating in the draft. Of the 16 players they selected, only Scott Suggs saw action for the team.
And-Ones: Drummond, Seattle, D-League, Griffin
Now that we’re more than two weeks into the 2016/17 league year, Bobby Marks of The Vertical takes a look back at this year’s spending spree and attempts to draw some conclusions about the impact of the $94MM+ salary cap. As Marks outlines, the salary cap spike has resulted in 10 teams with $100MM+ payrolls so far, but has made the luxury tax a virtual non-factor. Marks also observes that if the players’ union had accepted the NBA’s cap smoothing proposal, we likely wouldn’t have seen so much roster turnover this offseason, since more teams would’ve been inclined to keep their own free agents.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the league:
- Andre Drummond‘s new five-year max deal with the Pistons includes an 8% trade kicker, league sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Players earning a max salary can’t exceed that salary via a trade kicker, but with the salary cap set to get another bump next year and in subsequent seasons, Drummond will technically be earning less than his max after the first year of the contract.
- Steve Ballmer, who was part of the group attempting to bring the NBA back to Seattle before he bought the Clippers, doesn’t envision Seattle getting a franchise in the near future. Speaking at the Geek Wire Sports Technology Summit in Seattle, Ballmer said the NBA hasn’t had expansion talks at all recently, and added that the league “has really moved to favor teams staying in their current markets.” Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times has the quotes from the Clippers owner.
- The D-League won’t see the same sort of league-wide salary increase that the NBA will in 2016/17, but the D-League is changing its salary structure, and players will earn more on the whole, as Chris Reichert of UpsideMotor.com details.
- Sam Gardner of FOX Sports takes an in-depth look at former Campbell forward Eric Griffin, whose quest for a spot on an NBA roster was derailed when he was accused of attempted murder — those charges were dropped last month, and Griffin is still looking for a team willing to give him a shot.
Western Notes: Crawford, Ellis, Durant
Jamal Crawford wanted to remain with the Clippers all along, saying Los Angeles feels like home to him, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com relays. “I’ve said it the whole time, I wanted to come back here,” Crawford said. “My wife, we’ve been together 10 years now, but we’ve been in one place the longest here, so this is where she kind of knows from a team aspect. This is kind of like our home as well.” Crawford also noted that the unity throughout the team separated the Clippers from other places in the NBA – from the front office down to the locker room, which is another reason he re-signed with the club, Kavner relays. “That’s kind of unusual in this business,” Crawford said. “I’m not saying everything’s perfect or we don’t have our ups and downs or see things from different points of view; but overall, it’s a family.”
Here’s more from out West:
- The Suns are closing in on hiring Ty Ellis as the head coach of their D-League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Ellis spent the 2015/16 campaign as an assistant on Phoenix’s D-League squad in Bakersfield.
- Nuggets assistant coach Ed Pinckney is no longer with the team, having resigned from his post, and Wes Unseld has been promoted to lead assistant, Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post relays (on Twitter). A team source disputes that Pinckney resigned, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets, but that source did confirm that Pinckney was no longer with Denver.
- Small forward Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors this offseason to compete for an NBA title, but he’ll likely see his off the court earnings increase as a result of the move, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “It’s a huge move for Kevin,” said Eric Schiffer, CEO of Patriarch Organization and the chairman of ReputationManagementConsultants.com. “It’s going to be amazing for him from a financial standpoint. I think he is going to give LeBron James a run for his money there once he gets into the Bay Area. It gives him an almost unfair advantage in terms of marketing. It gives advertisers and brands who want to align with greatness further reason to invest. It’s going to be an economic earthquake. He can really change things there.”
Coaching Notes: Frank, Iske, Lucas, Pistons
The Clippers and assistant coach Lawrence Frank have reached an agreement that will see him promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations, reporting directly to team president and coach Doc Rivers, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. Frank will be tasked with reorganizing the franchise’s front office, including building out the infrastructure of its scouting, sports science and long-term strategic planning, Wojnarowski notes.
Frank, 45, has been a two-time head coach in the NBA with the Nets and Pistons, and had been working toward a transition to the front office in recent years, the scribe notes. As Nets coach, Frank reached the Eastern Conference semifinals three out of his first four seasons on the job. He won 279 games as a head coach, including an 18-20 (.474) playoff record. Frank has been an assistant coach and defensive coordinator for the past two seasons with Los Angeles.
Here’s more coaching news from around the league:
- The Pistons announced via press release that the team has named Jon Phelps as GM and Rex Walters as head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League affiliate. “We’re fortunate to be able to fill these two positions with guys we feel very comfortable with,” said coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. “Jon was in Grand Rapids with the Drive the last two years so there’s familiarity and continuity there. We’re confident he will continue to do a good job and transition well into this new role. “Rex Walters brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and experience and has a passion for developing young players. He’s spent some time with us here and already has a good understanding of how we operate. We look forward to working with both of them.”
- The Wizards will be adding former Kings assistant Chad Iske to Scott Brooks‘ coaching staff in Washington, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post relays (on Twitter).
- Former Wizards assistant coach Roy Rogers has reached an agreement to join Mike D’Antoni‘s staff with the Rockets, Wojnarowski tweets.
- Former NBA player and coach John Lucas is joining the Rockets‘ staff as the head of player development, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays.
International Prospects: Luwawu, Korkmaz, Zubac
Each year, the draft brings questions about which foreign players are ready for the NBA immediately and which ones will remain overseas for a year or more. A few answers were provided tonight:
- Greek center Georgios Papagiannis, drafted 13th overall by the Kings, has a buyout cost with his Panathinaikos club, tweets Sean Cunningham of ABC10 in Sacramento. However, GM Vlade Divac says the price is manageable and promises Papagiannis will be with the Kings next season.
- French swingman Timothe Luwawu, whom the Sixers drafted at No. 24, plans to join the team next season, tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.
- Furkan Korkmaz, the Sixers‘ pick at No. 26, will not be in Philadelphia for 2016/17, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The Turkish forward will be stashed overseas for at least a year.
- The Lakers plan to have Croatian center Ivica Zubac on their roster next season, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. L.A. took Zubac with the second choice in the second round. He had received a “soft promise” from the Lakers if he fell to the 32nd pick, according to Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
- German small forward Paul Zipser will play for the Bulls during the 2016/17 season, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Givony believes the 22-year-old can find a role in Chicago right away.
- Egyptian forward Abdel Nader of Iowa State, the Celtics‘ pick at No 58, has agreed to spend next season in the D-League, according to Givony (Twitter link). Players who agree in advance to be stashed in the D-League don’t count against the salary cap.
Pacific Notes: McLemore, Martin, Barnes
There is interest around the league in shooting guard Ben McLemore and with teams aware that he is available, the Kings have been fielding trade inquiries in advance of Thursday’s NBA draft, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. The 23-year-old saw his playing time diminish this past season under former coach George Karl, with McLemore only averaging 21.2 minutes per outing, down from the 32.6 he notched in 2014/15. If Sacramento does find a taker for McLemore, it would make him the second former lottery pick the team has shipped out in as many years, with the Kings sending 2014 first-rounder Nik Stauskas to the Sixers prior to the start of the 2015/16 campaign.
Here’s the latest from the Pacific Division:
- Fresh off of their crushing defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, pending free agents Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli say they haven’t begun to contemplate their offseason strategy, nor have they thought about where they might be playing next season, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle relays. If Golden State extends the players qualifying offers, with Barnes’ being worth $5,194,227 and $3,013,123 for Ezeli, the duo would become restricted free agents and the Warriors would have the opportunity to match any offer they were to receive.
- The Kings are closing in on an agreement with Darrick Martin that would make him the new coach of the Reno Bighorns, their D-League affiliate, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical relays (via Twitter).
- While the Clippers are expected to look to fill their most glaring roster needs via free agency, coach/executive Doc Rivers has two draft picks to work with for the first time in his tenure with the team and will look to add bench depth with them, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times writes.
Central Notes: Noah, Walters, Draft
Bulls center and unrestricted free agent Joakim Noah is looking forward to the free agent process and being recruited by interested suitors, as he told Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. When asked how involved he is in the free agent process, Noah said, “I’m very focused on free agency. I spent the last 10 years in Chicago, there were good moments and bad moments but now I have an incredible opportunity for a player, being recruited by a team, I definitely want to live that kind of experience. It’s new for me but it’s something very intriguing for a player. I’ll consider every offer on the table, no doubt.”
The big man was also asked if the culture of the team changed under Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg this season, with Noah telling Cauchi, “I don’t think so. I mean, Hoiberg is a good coach, the locker room is something that the players need to make work. It’s on us, not on the coach.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The Pacers have their sixth pre-draft workout scheduled for Wednesday, the team announced. Attendees will include Kellen Dunham (Butler), Jordan Loyd (Indianapolis), Taurean Prince (Baylor), Alex Poythress (Kentucky), Diamond Stone (Maryland), and Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV), according to the release.
- The Pistons are expected to name Rex Walters as head coach of their D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest relays. Walters previously served as the head coach at the University of San Francisco from 2008-16, compiling a record of 126-125 during his tenure. Otis Smith, the current coach of the Drive, is expected to be promoted to a front office position with the Pistons, Johnson tweets.
- The Bucks held a group workout this morning for Max Landis (IPFW), Carrington Love (UWGB), Tyrone Wallace (California), Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Derrick Jones (UNLV) and Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), the team announced. Milwaukee also held an individual workout this afternoon for Marquette big man Henry Ellenson, the team relayed in the same announcement.
2015/16 D-League Usage Reports
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors recapped the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign. Listed below are all the reports sorted by conference and division:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
- Boston Celtics
- Brooklyn Nets*
- New York Knicks
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Toronto Raptors
Central Division
Southeast Division
- Atlanta Hawks
- Charlotte Hornets
- Miami Heat
- Orlando Magic
- Washington Wizards*
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
- Denver Nuggets*
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Utah Jazz
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
- Dallas Mavericks
- Houston Rockets
- Memphis Grizzlies
- New Orleans Pelicans*
- San Antonio Spurs
Note: Teams marked with an asterisk did not make any assignments to the D-League this season.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Jazz
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors have been recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll finish up with the Utah Jazz, whose D-League affiliate is the Idaho Stampede:
The Jazz made five assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending one player to the D-League for a total of 79 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Utah for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 30th: Assigned Tibor Pleiss (1st) — Recalled December 16th
- January 28th: Assigned Tibor Pleiss (2nd) — Recalled February 3rd
- February 4th: Assigned Tibor Pleiss (3rd) — Recalled February 7th
- February 18th: Assigned Tibor Pleiss (4th) — Recalled January 22nd
- February 24th: Assigned Tibor Pleiss (5th) — Recalled April 3rd
Here’s how Utah’s player(s) performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Tibor Pleiss: In 28 appearances Pleiss averaged 12.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.5 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .583/.316/.877.