Atlantic Notes: Davis, Jackson, Young
The Sixers have shown an increased willingness to add veterans to their roster since Jerry Colangelo was hired for a front office role, but the team isn’t currently thinking about signing Baron Davis, David Aldridge of NBA.com writes. Davis recently joined the Sixers’ D-League affiliate in Delaware, but Philadelphia wants to observe his play over a period of time prior to making a decision, Aldridge adds. “I have great respect for what he used to do,” coach Brett Brown said regarding Davis. “I don’t ever remember rushing home to watch a playoff series like I did to watch that Dallas-Golden State series [in 2007]. And I get flashbacks of that every time I hear his name. But we have not talked much about that, if at all.”
“I’d characterize it as, it’s an 87ers’ move, not a 76ers’ move, but consistent with our strategy,” said Delaware GM Brandon Williams of signing Davis. “I was told we want to identify, develop, and give opportunity to talent. For the first couple of years, we’ve kind of been devouring the market for young prospects, that maybe people have passed over. We took a chance with Earl Clark, a guy that people know. But there’s still some game there. Is there enough? Is he still thirsty enough, is he still hungry enough, can he help a team? Then we take a chance with Baron. He says, ‘the last time I left a court, it was on a stretcher.’”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks team president Phil Jackson didn’t land center DeAndre Jordan when he was an unrestricted free agent last summer, but the big man says he came away impressed with the executive after their meeting, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. Jordan noted his time with Jackson included a discussion of off-court topics, the executive’s vision for the team and a pitch regarding the triangle offense, Begley adds. “They showed me some things, how I’d fit in in that offense and what I would do to excel as a player and what we’d do to excel as a team,” Jordan said. “The message [from Jackson] was just for me to be an all-around player and improve my game as much as I could. Phil was great; it was one of my best meetings. He’s such a smart man, such a deep thinker, that you want to be a part of that. He’s won, he proven it. … He made it tough to say no.“
- The Celtics have assigned swingman James Young to their D-League affiliate in Maine, the team announced. This will be Young’s ninth stint of the season with the Red Claws.
And-Ones: Weems, Mirotic, Augustin
The Sixers acquired swingman Sonny Weems to reach the salary floor but they plan to take a hard look at him, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The Sixers claimed Weems from the Suns on Monday, allowing them to reach the minimum team salary requirement for the season since they’ll get credit for his full $2.814MM salary, even though they’ll only have to pay less than $700K, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (Twitter link). The Sixers made similar moves to reach the floor last season, including a claim of power forward Thomas Robinson, whom they did not re-sign, Pompey notes. Weems may be a different case. Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas and Hollis Thompson are the only true wing players on the roster, and thus Weems should get some opportunities to play, Pompey adds. A league source conceded to Pompey that it looks unseemly for the Sixers to work the system to meet the salary floor two years in a row but argued that the team has a legitimate need for a wing player that Weems can fulfill.
In other news around the league:
- Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic has to prove he’s part of their future, now that he’s returned from an appendectomy, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times opines. He endured major growing pains during his second season with the team prior to the injury and he now has to work his way back into shape and be productive, Cowley continues. “You can’t play scared that if you get hit, something may happen, or you’ll have a setback,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg told Cowley and other members of the Chicago media. “You just have to go out there and react and play. I think it was big step for Niko. Now it’s a matter of getting his lungs in shape and getting his wind back.’
- Point guard D.J. Augustin has revived his career with the Nuggets, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes. Augustin averaged 12.8 points and shot 54.3% on 3-point attempts in his first nine games with Denver after he was acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Thunder. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City has averaged 16.4 turnovers, fourth-most in the league, since the trade, Horne notes.
- The Warriors recalled power forward Kevon Looney from their D-League affiliate, as the Santa Cruz Warriors tweet.
- The Thunder assigned forwards Josh Huestis and Mitch McGary to their D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, according to the team’s website. Huestis has already appeared in 16 D-League games this season, while McGary has played 17 games with the Blue.
Eastern Notes: Anthony, Lawson, Carter-Williams
- Ty Lawson‘s relationships with Pacers star forward Paul George and point guard George Hill, along with the team’s uptempo style, convinced him to sign with Indiana following his buyout agreement with the Rockets, according to Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star. Pacers coach Frank Vogel views the remainder of the regular season as an audition for the veteran point guard, both for this season and his impending free agency, Taylor adds in a tweet. Vogel spoke with Lawson’s former Nuggets coach and ex-Pacers assistant Brian Shaw before the signing and that helped sway Vogel that Lawson deserved a clean slate, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star reports (Twitter links here).
- Bucks point guard Michael Carter-Williams tried to play through his hip injury but it reached the point where it needed to be addressed, Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press tweets. A source told Krawczynski that Carter-Williams felt discomfort since late December and doctors finally determined that season-ending surgery was required, he added in a separate tweet.
- The Celtics recalled rookie shooting guard R.J. Hunter from the D-League’s Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. The late first-round pick has appeared in 28 games with Boston this season.
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Satoransky, Dedmon
Goran Dragic is pleased with the Heat‘s shift to more of an up-tempo attack in the wake of Chris Bosh‘s latest blood-clot issues, though he believes the team would have resolved its issues even if Bosh were healthy, as Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald examines. The point guard’s improved play amid the faster pace has made it far less likely the team seeks to trade him and pursues Mike Conley to replace him this summer, The Herald’s Barry Jackson posits. The Heat aren’t better simply because Bosh isn’t there, Jackson cautions, writing that they nonetheless must figure out why they didn’t play better with Bosh in the lineup. See more from the Southeast Division:
- Wizards draft-and-stash prospect Tomas Satoransky has signed a four-year extension with Barcelona of Spain, the team announced (Twitter link). It’ll keep him from the NBA until 2017, as international journalist David Pick reports the deal includes NBA outs for each year from then on (Twitter link). Rumors of such a deal have been around since January, though a report in August indicated that the Wizards expected they’d be able to sign him in the summer of 2016, which evidently won’t happen.
- The Wizards aren’t enamored with analytics, and coach Randy Wittman has a particular lack of fondness for them, but their traditional approach isn’t hurting them, argues Quinten Rosborough of SB Nation’s Bullets Forever. Owner Ted Leonsis has the coach’s back in this regard, Rosborough notes.
- The Magic have recalled Dewayne Dedmon from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). The big man had asked for the assignment so he could get some playing time, notes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (on Twitter).
Atlantic Notes: Rambis, Wright, Sloan, Early
Phil Jackson hoped Kurt Rambis would prove the right choice to keep the Knicks head coaching job for the long term when he installed him as interim bench boss last month, league sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, and Rambis has to win to secure his position, Begley writes. A desire to better the team’s record this season is why Rambis is shying away from playing Kristaps Porzingis at center, even though the coach admits the idea intrigues him, as Begley relays. Rambis said he’s spoken to management about whether to give rookie Jerian Grant more playing time but added that the team’s brass hasn’t signaled that it wants to shift focus strictly to player development yet, according to Begley. See more on the Knicks, who’ve reportedly struck a deal with Tony Wroten:
- Delon Wright has barely played for the Raptors this season despite having been the 20th overall pick last year, with just 75 total minutes under his belt, but that doesn’t mean coach Dwane Casey is down on him, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. “I think he’s going to be a heck of a player in this league,” Casey said. “His defense is lagging his offense right now. Offensively, he’s an excellent pick-and-roll player, but there’s two sides to the game. … Guarding the speedsters in the NBA is going to be his next challenge on the defensive end. He’s improved tremendously with his shooting, his 3-point shooting.”
- Soon-to-be free agent Donald Sloan has been the starting point guard for the Nets since mid-January after fighting in the preseason simply to make the opening-night roster, but he’s not upset with Brooklyn for making him work for his opportunity, telling Steve Simineri of NetsDaily that he didn’t feel “shafted” at any point. The fifth-year NBA veteran has been the most productive among Brooklyn’s cheap finds this past offseason, Simineri observes, positioning himself for more job security to start next season.
- The Nets passed on Wroten earlier this season under the direction of former GM Billy King because the Sixers had him under minutes restrictions as he came back from injury and because of his high rate of turnovers, tweets NetsDaily. He’s averaged 3.7 per game the past two seasons.
- Cleanthony Early appears closer to a return to game action from having been shot in his right knee in late December, as the Knicks have assigned him to the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Anthony, Marks, Lucas, Tavares
Five years later, no clear-cut winner exists in the blockbuster trade that sent Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets to the Knicks, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. The teams have combined to win just one playoff series since the 12-player deal, Bondy notes, when New York defeated the Celtics in 2013. The Knicks got the superstar they wanted, but Denver wound up with two young but frequently injured players in Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. The Sixers benefited, as the Knicks’ first-rounder was sent to Denver, which later traded it to the Magic, which dealt it to Philadelphia, which ended up with the rights to Dario Saric.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Sean Marks, whom the Nets hired as GM last month, said he has tried to learn something important during every stop in his NBA career, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. As a player, Marks spent two seasons under current Heat president Pat Riley from 2001 to 2003. “The vision of it’s not about me,” Marks said. “Pat Riley’s, ‘The disease of me,’ I’ve obviously taken that from him.”
- John Lucas III, who played briefly with the Pistons last season, has been waived by the Pacers affiliate in the D-League, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor. The move took place because he has plans to sign with an overseas team, Reichert hears.
- The Hawks sent center Edy Tavares to the Austin Spurs in the D-League, the team announced today. Tavares has appeared in 12 games with Austin this season, but also two with Canton and two with Bakersfield because the Hawks don’t have a direct affiliate. He is averaging 9.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in D-League play.
- The Clippers have assigned guard C.J. Wilcox to the Cavs affiliate in the D-League. The Clippers also don’t have a direct affiliate, so Wilcox has played for Canton and Bakersfield in two prior D-League stints this season. His D-League averages are 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 15 games.
Atlantic Notes: Kilpatrick, Fredette, Schröder
Sean Kilpatrick has impressed since joining the Nets on a 10-day contract and NetsDaily envisions the shooting guard re-signing once his deal expires Tuesday night. The team could opt to sign Kilpatrick to multiyear deal given the 26-year-old’s play during over the last four games, the NetsDaily scribe adds. Kilpatrick is averaging 9.8 points per game while shooting 50% from behind the arc in four games with Brooklyn this season.
Recently hired GM Sean Marks previously expressed his desire to find players for next season via 10-day contracts. The Nets have an open roster spot after agreeing to a buyout with Joe Johnson last week, so signing Kilpatrick would not hinder the team’s ability to add more talent via 10-day deals.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Jimmer Fredette has returned to the Westchester Knicks, New York’s D-League affiliate, and he is expected to play in today’s game, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays on Twitter.
- The Sixers flirted with the idea of adding Dennis Schröder in exchange for Ish Smith, Nik Stauskas and a 2016 first round pick at the deadline and Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine believes the team would have benefited from the deal, provided the pick wasn’t the Lakers’ pick or Philadelphia’s own selection. There were rumblings last month that Philly believes Schröder is worthy of a max deal, which is something Bodner doesn’t agree with at the moment.
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo, Lucas Nogueira and Delon Wright from their D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, per the team’s Twitter feed.
Western Notes: Collison, Martin, Davis, Beasley
His partnership with Rajon Rondo may be temporary, but Kings point guard Darren Collison is trying to make it work, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento brought in Rondo on a one-year contract and anointed him the starting point guard. Collison has adapted his game and is getting increased minutes in the shooting guard role. “If I couldn’t start for teams, it probably wouldn’t matter as much,” he said. “Winning is still the No. 1 goal, if I had a list, and I’ll go from there. The way I’ve been playing the last couple of years, obviously starting is very fun to me.” While the Kings aren’t sure if Rondo will be back next season, they don’t have to worry about Collison. He is signed for 2016/17 at $5,229,454.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kevin Martin was one of the last remaining links to the competitive Wolves teams of two seasons ago, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. Martin, who was waived this week in a buyout agreement and is waiting to sign with the Spurs, was a key component on the 2013/14 squad that still had Kevin Love and a mix of veterans such as Ronny Turiaf, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham.
- After watching the Pelicans suffer through a disastrous, injury-filled season, Anthony Davis is determined to prevent it from carrying over into next year, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “You try to establish a culture that you want to have around the locker room, around this organization,” Davis said. “You set it now, to finish out the rest of the games.”
- The Rockets believe Michael Beasley matured while playing in China and is better able to handle the NBA lifestyle, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Our intel – and our intel in China we feel is as good or better as any team’s – is he is someone focused on his career,” said Rockets GM Daryl Morey. “I can’t speak to the past. I can say that based on our intel he is someone just focused on career and family at this point.” (Twitter link). Beasley received a two-year deal at the minimum, but next season is non-guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Houston will be $200K under the hard cap after signing Andrew Goudelock, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
- The Rockets recalled Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team announced today.
Eastern Rumors: Bucks, Bosh, Lawson, Dedmon
Bucks owner Wes Edens denies rumors of dissension within the ownership group, which also consists of principal owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal-Sentinel. Milwaukee has been among this season’s most disappointing teams, carrying a 26-36 record after last year’s playoff appearance. Regardless, Edens insists that ownership believes in Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker as the foundation for its future. “It’s definitely disappointing where we are; that’s the bad news,” Edens said. “The good news is, especially since the All-Star break, you look at the team of Giannis and Jabari and Khris, and others of course, and it’s not hard to imagine what this thing could really turn into.”
Edens added that no trades were given serious consideration before last month’s deadline and that any decision on a contract extension for coach Jason Kidd will be made after the season. “We can’t change what happened but we can improve on what’s going to happen,” Edens said. “That’s for the off season. Jason has been a big part of our involvement with the Bucks since we became owners, and I expect him to be a big part of our involvement with it going forward.”
There’s more news from the Eastern Conference:
- Heat center/forward Chris Bosh held a workout today and tweeted encouraging news about his health. “Feeling good! Feeling great!” he wrote as questions continue to linger about his availability for the rest of the season. Bosh hasn’t played since he missed the All-Star Game with a calf strain that was later reported to be a blood clot. Bosh is rumored to be on blood-thinning medication, just as he was last year for a blood clot in his lungs, though neither the condition nor the medication has been confirmed by him or the team.
- Point guard Ty Lawson is expected to sign with the Pacers on Monday and be in uniform for that night’s game, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Lawson agreed to sign with Indiana after the Rockets waived him Monday in a buyout agreement.
- The Magic have assigned Dewayne Dedmon to the Erie Bayhawks of the D-League, the team announced today. The fourth-year center is averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 38 games with Orlando.
Pacific Notes: Brown, Kings, Curry
The reputation of the Kings organization has suffered another blow in the wake of a flubbed D-League move. The D-League forced the affiliate of the Kings to forfeit a game because it played Duje Dukan, who was on assignment from Sacramento, during the All-Star break, report Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports and Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (All five Twitter links here). The D-League upheld a protest that the Suns affiliate filed after losing to Sacramento’s D-League team on February 16th, a game in which Dukan took part, according to Spears. NBA players weren’t allowed to play for D-League teams from February 11th through February 16th because of the NBA All-Star break, Reichert notes. So, the Reno win became a Bakersfield win instead, as Spears points out. The Sacramento front office under GM Vlade Divac has drawn criticism for its lack of knowledge about the finer points of rules governing personnel movement, though the Kings reportedly interviewed cap expert Bobby Marks on Thursday.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers rookie small forward Anthony Brown is expected to miss at least a month due to a stress reaction in his right foot, the team announced (Twitter link). Brown, 23, was the No. 34 overall selection out of Stanford in the 2015 NBA draft. He has appeared in 29 contests for Los Angeles, including 11 starts, and is averaging 4.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 20.7 minutes per game. Brown’s shooting line on the season is .310/.286/.850.
- Brown, prior to his injury, was struggling to adjust to the NBA on offense, which frustrated the Lakers coaching staff, though head coach Byron Scott has praised the rookie’s acumen as a defender, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “Defensively he has a world of confidence that he can guard most people he has to guard,” Scott said. “I want that to translate on the other end as well.” For his part, Brown seems to understand why his shot selection and accuracy has vexed his coaches, Oram adds. “Obviously, as a coach you want to be able to know what you’re going to get consistently from a guy offensively as well as defensively,” Brown said. “And that’s something I’ve got to continue to work on.”
- Seth Curry hasn’t seen much action for the Kings this season despite being a solid defender, an area the team is poor in, which has the combo guard mildly frustrated, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “It’s tough,” Curry said. “I think mentally the toughest part is trying to stay involved and try to keep that competitive edge. It’s pretty easy to work out and keep your skills right, but I think mentally and being in good shape is the hardest part.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.