Cavs Notes: Love, J.R. Smith, Kaun, Harris
Kevin Love reiterated his plan to remain with the Cavaliers in an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show today, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group relays. Rumors that Love will opt out and sign elsewhere this summer have dogged the power forward for months, even though he’s said he plans to opt in for next season and avoid free agency altogether this year. Still, Love stoked the flames in comments he made on Patrick’s show (video link) and on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike (audio link) in which he said he wouldn’t vote LeBron James for MVP and admitted his relationship with James could be better.
“You know, we’re not best friends, we’re not hanging out every day, but we see each other every day, whether we’re at the practice facility, whether we’re on the road or going to a game,” Love said on Mike & Mike. “I think our relationship is also evolving. I could say the same with each and every coach, coach [David] Blatt, and each and every player on the team. But, that’s part of the NBA.”
Most of the Hoops Rumors readers who voted in a recent poll believed Love will be playing for another team next season. Here’s more from around the big man’s current home:
- J.R. Smith has embraced the role of catch-and-shoot three-point shooter that Dion Waiters was reluctant to fill, which is part of the reason the Cavs made the trade that shipped out Waiters and brought in Smith, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. James was fully supportive of the acquisition of Smith and has been key in keeping the mercurial swingman focused, and Blatt is ecstatic with results, Lloyd notes. Smith has a nearly $6.4MM player option for next season.
- Cavs draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Kaun expressed interest in playing in the NBA and having Cavs center and fellow Russian Timofey Mozgov as a teammate in an interview with Leo Savary of Championat (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Kaun wouldn’t confirm an earlier report that he’s already told his Russian team, CSKA Moscow, that he’s leaving.
- Kaun and Mozgov are both centers, and the Cavs haven’t really discussed Kaun since they traded for Mozgov, according to Lloyd, who writes in the same piece, running counter to a report that the team is thinking of signing Kaun this summer. Some speculate that Kaun’s camp is planting the idea of interest from the Cavs to drive up his price for CSKA Moscow, Lloyd adds.
- The Cavs have recalled Joe Harris from the D-League, the team announced. The rookie averaged 10.0 points in 29.0 minutes across two weekend games for the Canton Charge while on the D-League assignment, which began Friday.
And-Ones: Kilpatrick, World Peace, Ellington
Sean Kilpatrick was in the right place at the right time to get a 10-day contract with the Timberwolves, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. The short-handed Wolves were looking for a player who could get to Thursday’s game in New York quickly, so they turned to Kilpatrick, who was 45 minutes away in Delaware, where he played for the 87ers of the D-League. Despite missing shootaround, Kilpatrick played 10 minutes. “I was just trying to fit in,” he said. “You just go out there and try to play defense. You want to do the right things to stick out and that’s something I wanted to do.”
There’s more from around the world of basketball:
- Metta World Peace will sign with Pallacanestro Cantu of the Italian league, according to his brother, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia relays. The one-time NBA player, formerly known as Ron Artest, reached an agreement by phone and will leave Wednesday for Italy, his brother said. World Peace last played in the NBA with the Knicks in 2013/14.
- Lakers coach Byron Scott said the team will “absolutely” consider bringing back free agent Wayne Ellington, according to Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Scott noted Ellington’s improved shooting and defense, but said the Lakers still have to set their priorities in the draft and free agency. “He made himself a valuable part of this team,” the coach said. “We don’t know what next year holds. But he has shown 30 teams he knows how to play the game.”
- The time may be right for Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones to enter the NBA draft, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Zagoria quotes an unidentified NBA scout who says, “He should leave because his stock will never be higher.”
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Noel, Knicks, Young
The Sixers are doing themselves no favors by winning games, argues Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Even after an 0-17 start and trades that sent away Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia could wind up with more wins than it had last season. Moore writes that each victory jeopardizes the team’s position in the draft lottery. The Sixers are currently third in Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings, one game above the Lakers.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers‘ Nerlens Noel is making a strong case for Rookie of the Year votes, Moore writes in a separate column. After missing all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, Noel leads all rookies in rebounds, blocks, steals and double-doubles. “I feel that award should probably go to the best player,” Noel said, “who helps their team win games and keeps them in games and affects the games in so many different ways. I continue to get better and better.”
- The Knicks can’t go wrong if they land the first or second pick in June’s draft, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Zagoria talked to NBA legend Magic Johnson, who said Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns both have a chance to be stars. The Knicks currently have the league’s worst record at 14-55.
- The Celtics have recalled guard/forward James Young from Maine of the D-League, the team announced in a press release. He has played 11 games with the Red Claws this season, averaging 22.4 points and 4.9 rebounds. His averages in 29 games as a Celtic are 3.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.4 minutes of playing time.
Western Notes: Collison, Jones, Powell
The salary cap could jump from $90MM in 2016/17 to as much as $105MM the year after, league sources tell Zach Lowe of Grantland.com. With all the buzz surrounding Kevin Durant, Lowe notes that the increase could give the Thunder another chance to add talent without going into the luxury tax. Although, he adds that giving Serge Ibaka a maximum salary contract on his next deal could limit their flexibility.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Thunder‘s injury woes continue as coach Scott Brooks informed reporters that Nick Collison is expected to miss at least 10 days with an ankle injury, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman relays. Collison joins Durant, Ibaka and Enes Kanter on the injured list, Mayberry notes. “One thing I do know is our guys are going to continue to fight and rally and our crowd is going to continue to support our guys because they give effort,” Brooks said. “We’ve never, ever given up and felt sorry for ourselves. Our team’s going to continue to rally around each other and help each other fight through it. We’ve had some tough moments this year. That has never stopped us from competing, never stopped us from trying to improve.”
- Rockets players have missed a combined 137 games this season due to injury or illness thus far, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes. The latest Houston player to sustain an injury is Terrence Jones who suffered a collapsed lung during Thursday night’s contest. Jones will be out of action indefinitely as a result of his injury, Feigen relays. “Guys have to step up,” coach Kevin McHale said. “I sure wish Kostas Papanikolaou [who has been out for 13 games with a sprained ankle] was ready to play, but he’s not ready to play, either. We just have to deal with it and go.“
- The Mavs have re-assigned Dwight Powell to the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release.
And-Ones: Lottery, Monroe, Harris
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said changes to the draft lottery favored by the majority of teams will likely be postponed because the NBA Players Association recently turned down the league’s smoothing proposal regarding salary-cap increases, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. The dramatic increase in the salary cap from $63MM to an estimated $90MM during the summer of 2016 makes changes to the lottery system unfeasible, Silver told Houston-based reporters on Thursday. “What I am hearing from some of the general managers in the league is that because it’s unclear how the cap will operate with a massive amount of cap room in ’16 and ’17 and potentially in the year after that it may be premature to change the lottery until we have a better understanding of what the changed behavior will be, so it’s something we are going to continue to look at,” Silver said.
In other news around the league:
- The Pistons are unlikely to sign and trade Greg Monroe this summer, David Mayo of MLive.com opines. Mayo doubts that any team interested in signing Monroe, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, would give up anything of value for him. The Pistons would probably have to take back a bad contract to execute such a deal, which makes it unwise for them to make such a move, Mayo continues. The only party who would truly benefit from a sign-and-trade deal would be Monroe, who could get a bigger contract without having to return to Detroit, Mayo concludes.
- Dirk Nowitzki is averaging 20.3 points on 52.4% shooting from the field for the Mavericks over the last three games and a less taxing schedule is the primary reason for the veteran forward’s recent outburst, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Nowitzki said to the team’s beat writers that longer stretches in-between games has made him feel fresher, “Going into the break, I think we had the most games in the league,” Nowitzki said. “Then coming out of the break, we had the shortest break and then we had five games in seven days. A brutal stretch for us, but finally it slowed down a little bit. It allowed us to get a little healthy, mix in some good rest with good work. I think it helped us and helped me.”
- The Cavaliers assigned guard Joe Harris to their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, Cleveland GM David Griffin announced Friday on the team’s official website. Harris has appeared in 47 games with the Cavs this season, averaging 2.5 points in 9.2 minutes per game. He has played in seven games for the Charge, averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 32.3 minutes per game.
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Durant, Jazz
President of basketball operations Flip Saunders says signing Sean Kilpatrick came down to proximity, according to Alan Horton, who is the play-by-play announcer for the Wolves (Twitter link). Minnesota played the Knicks tonight and Kilpatrick was playing for the Delaware 87ers, the D-League affiliate of the Sixers. After a three hour car ride to New York, the Cincinnati product was in uniform for the Wolves. Minnesota had only eight healthy players active, the league minimum, in the game tonight.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Kevin Durant had a setback at practice today and isn’t playing in Friday’s game against the Hawks, according to Royce Young of the TrueHoop Network. “Just he experienced some soreness,” coach Scott Brooks said. “I think when you go through rehab, we all know through the rehab process you’re going to have some peaks and valleys, and you just have to adjust accordingly. That’s why he was off today, and he’s definitely not playing tomorrow. That’s all part of the process with his rehab.” Durant has missed 17 of the last 23 games, including 13 straight, because of a foot injury.
- The Jazz have one of the youngest rosters in the league and Ben Detrick of Grantland.com chronicles how the franchise turned itself into a team with one of the brightest futures in the Western Conference. Detrick points out that Utah’s success lately is partially a result of trading away Enes Kanter. The move cleared up a jumbled frontcourt situation and gave Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors ample playing time. Of the power forwards in the league, only Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis have a higher PER than Favors’ 22.4 rating this season.
- The Jazz have recalled Grant Jerrett from their D-League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, according to the team’s website. The Arizona product appeared in four games for the Stampede, averaging 12.8 points and 1.5 blocks per game.
Sean Kilpatrick Signs 10-Day With Timberwolves
Sean Kilpatrick has been signed to a 10-day contract by the Timberwolves, the team’s public relations staff tweets. Minnesota had a full roster but was granted an NBA hardship exception for a 16th roster spot in order to add Kilpatrick, the tweet adds. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported the deal minutes before the announcement (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves applied for the hardship exception after a dealing with a number of injuries. Shabazz Muhammad required season-ending finger surgery last month and Robbie Hummel and Anthony Bennett have also been out for an extended period. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception expired in January, so Minnesota did not receive any extra salary flexibility to replace the second-year swingman.
Kilpatrick, an undrafted rookie guard out of Cincinnati, was playing for the D-League’s Delaware 87ers and could give the Timberwolves a perimeter boost. He was averaging 15.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals for the 87ers in a 20-game stint while shooting 48.7% from the field and 42.1% on 3-point attempts. Kilpatrick told HoopsRumors.com during the draft process that he could defend as well as score.
Kilpatrick passed through two other organizations before the Timberwolves signed him. He was on the Sixers’ summer-league team, then was signed by the Warriors during training camp. He was released before the start of the season and hooked on with Golden State’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where he remained until he was traded to the 87ers in January.
Pacific Notes: Robinson, Goodwin, Kuzmic
Nate Robinson‘s energy off the bench played a vital role in earning his second 10-day contract, which he signed on Tuesday, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. The guard hasn’t played his best lately, but he believes he can contribute to the team without touching a basketball. “Doc [Rivers] gave me a great opportunity to come in and showcase my talent and be here for these guys and be a veteran leader,” Robinson said. “That’s what I’m working on now, maturing myself and my game and helping our younger guys and leading by example by just playing hard. Everything else will take care of itself.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic examines the development of 2013 29th overall pick Archie Goodwin, who’s seeing more playing time for the Suns of late, a couple of months after he vented about his lack of minutes. The Suns drew trade suitors for Goodwin but let them know that he remains a significant part of their plan.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to their D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to the team’s Twitter feed. To date, the 7’1″ center has only played in 16 games this season, totaling 72 minutes of NBA action.
- Chris Paul elevated his game and kept the Clippers afloat in the Western Conference while Blake Griffin was out due to an injury. Tom Ziller of SB Nation believes Paul deserves to receive the NBA’s MVP award. Ziller points out that in addition to scoring 18.4 points per game, the point guard creates 23.4 points per game off of his assists. This, along with Paul’s low turnover rate and quality defense, makes the 29-year-old a dark horse contender in the wide open MVP race.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Clippers, Green, Stokes, Rondo
Doc Rivers confirmed to reporters, including Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, that the Clippers could look to add another small forward in wake of the hamstring injury to Matt Barnes (Twitter link). Los Angeles has been reportedly keeping a close eye on the health of Jordan Hamilton, who sprained his ankle on the last day of his second 10-day deal with the club, as well as monitoring Eric Griffin, who’s currently playing in the D-League. While we wait to see if either player inks a deal with the Clippers in the near future, we’ll round up more from out West..
- Earlier reports suggested the Warriors have given “every indication” that they’ll match any offer sheet presented to restricted free agent Draymond Green this summer, and Mychal Thompson – Klay Thompson’s father – spoke with a team executive whose testimony jibed with that notion (Twitter link via Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group).
- The Grizzlies are sending Jarnell Stokes on his sixth D-League assignment this season, the team announced via press release. Stokes will re-join the Iowa Energy, with whom he’s averaged impressive marks of 18.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in six games.
- Although Rajon Rondo hasn’t put up All-Star-caliber numbers for the Mavericks thus far, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News argues that a package consisting of Jameer Nelson, some bench pieces, and a first-round pick wasn’t too high of a price to pay for player with Rondo’s pedigree.
Atlantic Notes: Noel, Knicks, Young, KG
Rookie Nerlens Noel is already essentially the centerpiece of the Sixers, and he has no complaints about the team’s radical rebuilding, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com examines.
“I love the direction that we’re heading in,” Noel said. “I love what [GM] Sam Hinkie is doing with our team: building through the draft, getting young guys and being very particular about the pieces that he brings into this organization. I think this is going to be a very solid team in the next few years and we’re just going to continue to grow together.”
Noel, unlike many other rookies who were drafted in the first round, is set for free agency in 2017, and not 2018, because he signed his rookie scale contract before sitting out the entire 2013/14 season with injury. So, it appears he’ll benefit from a cap surge instead of a potential cap drop like his fellow rookies, as I examined. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The amount of cash the Knicks sent the Pacers this past June for the rights to 57th overall pick Louis Labeyrie was $1.5MM, a league source told Marc Berman of the New York Post. That counted against New York’s 2013/14 traded cash limit and doesn’t apply toward the $3.3MM the team can send out in trades between the end of the regular season and June 30th this year. Labeyrie recently signed a one-year extension with Paris Levallois in France, so a buyout would have to be paid for him to sign with the Knicks for next season, according to Berman.
- The Nets‘ acquisition of Thaddeus Young for Kevin Garnett helped the team get younger, but it doesn’t erase the ill-fated trade for Garnett and Paul Pierce from 2013, opines Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Garnett did fill a leadership role, but no one has stepped into that void in his absence, Bondy also argues.
- Brooklyn owes its first-round pick to Boston in 2016 because of that Garnett-Pierce trade, and Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines how that dynamic and others makes Young’s decision about his player option for next season a crucial one for the Nets.
- The Celtics have once more assigned James Young to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the 10th time that Boston has sent 2014’s 17th overall pick on D-League assignment this season, though none of his previous nine trips have covered more than three days.