Eastern Notes: Bosh, Celtics, Smith
The Heat’s roster is still full of talent, post LeBron James, but it will take time for all the new pieces to come together, writes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Chris Bosh, who signed a five year, $118,705,300 contract this offseason, understands that the circumstances this season will be different.
“It’s a process, and every time we step out on the floor we’re used to being extremely successful and for things to come a little easier,” Bosh said. “We haven’t had this process in a very long time. We’re used to the same guys coming back, and we know our rotations and it’s just a matter of getting in shape. We’re used to knowing where the ball is going to go. We knew everything and now is a time when we have to really be patient with it because even though we’re out there playing, we have to remember that we’ve only played eight preseason games together and we’re not going to be where we need to be.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck says that he has received “two serious offers” to sell the team in the last two weeks, writes Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe. However, he and Steve Pagliuca have no interest in selling, and Grousbeck would not say if those offers came with dollar amounts attached to them.
- Former Knicks guard Chris Smith has entered the D-League draft with the hope of getting another opportunity to play in the NBA, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. The younger brother of J.R. Smith says that he has drawn interest from some D-League teams as well as clubs overseas.
- Even with LeBron James returning to Cleveland, the Heat will still be one of the better teams in the East, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes in his preview of the Southeast Division.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Raptors, Stiemsma, Celtics, Sixers
The Raptors are one of 13 teams in the league without a one-to-one setup with a D-League affiliate, as our table of affiliations shows. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri said that it’s difficult to establish their own D-League affiliate because it’s difficult to find a suitably close location, Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun reports (Twitter links). Ujiri also said that it was a mid-term goal and not a priority, notes Wolstat. For now, the franchise will continue to utilize the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which is the only D-League team that’s not in a one-to-one partnership at this time.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Raptors like Greg Stiemsma for his ability to block shots, Wolstat writes in a separate piece. Stiemsma, who won the team’s 15th and final regular season roster spot, has blocked 2.8 shots per 36 minutes over his three year NBA career.
- Although many would call the Celtics’ strategy rebuilding, GM Danny Ainge doesn’t refer to it as anything besides progress and believes coach Brad Stevens is right man to lead the inexperienced team, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “We don’t really look at it as rebuilding or changing direction, we’re trying to build a championship,” said Ainge. “We have some really nice players and I know Brad is really understanding the NBA game and all the things that come from making the transition to coaching in college. I couldn’t be happier with Brad and his staff. I think he’s done a great job of communicating to all the players.”
- While the rest of the league may look down upon the Sixers‘ rebuilding plan, GM Sam Hinkie only cares about winning an NBA title and isn’t worried about the perception of the team, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It is really important, I think, not to take your eyes off what matters,” Hinkie said. “And what matters is not feeling great about yourself the third of March, but to give yourself a chance to feel good about yourself on the third of June.”
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Spurs Sign Robert Vaden, Fuquan Edwin
The Spurs have signed Robert Vaden and Fuquan Edwin, the team has announced. The length and terms of the deals were not disclosed, but they’re likely minimum-salary arrangements with perhaps small partial guarantees. These moves bring San Antonio’s preseason roster count up to 18 players, leaving the team three over the regular season maximum. Both players were likely signed with an eye on sending them to the D-League, as teams can retain the D-League rights for up to four players.
The 6’5″ Vaden technically has one year of NBA experience, even though he’s never appeared in a regular season or playoff game. The Thunder signed him to a multiyear deal in the final days of the 2010/11 season and traded him the following preseason to the Timberwolves, who cut him before opening night. He was most recently with Belfius Mons-Hainaut in Belgium where he appeared in 10 games, logging 9.0 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 27 minutes per night. Vaden was originally drafted with the No. 54 pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Hornets (then known as the Bobcats). In four college seasons split between Indiana and UAB, Vaden averaged 15.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG. He also spent two seasons in the NBA D-League for the Tulsa 66ers, averaging 11.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
Edwin went undrafted this year after spending four seasons at Seton Hall. In 127 career games for the Pirates, he averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.4 APG while playing 30.3 minutes a night. Edwin played for the Thunder in the summer league, appearing in three games, and notching 1.3 PPG in 7.5 minutes per night.
Southeast Notes: Stephenson, Nelson, Wizards
The Magic have more money that counts against the cap for players who are no longer with the team than any other NBA franchise this season, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That $14.2MM figure is likely to escalate soon with partial guarantees out to four of the team’s camp invitees. It also doesn’t include the cash going to the amnestied Gilbert Arenas, which doesn’t affect the cap. Still, Orlando isn’t alone, since “dead money” is piling up around the league as teams make cuts in advance of opening night. There’s more on the Magic amid the latest from the Southeast Division:
- Lance Stephenson admits he wanted to re-sign with the Pacers, but he told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star that he wasn’t ready to commit when the team set a tight deadline for him to accept its offer. The team quickly moved on and struck a deal with C.J. Miles on the second day of free agency, depleting its limited room against the luxury tax line, and that sealed Stephenson’s departure, as the new Hornets guard said to Buckner. “They didn’t have nothing else. They had no more money or anything. That was basically it right there,” Stephenson said. “Soon as I said no to that offer, they went and signed C.J. I figured they thought I had no chance of coming back, they just went on and signed C.J. … I felt like it was a wrap after that.”
- The Pacers did follow up their five-year, $44MM offer to Stephenson with offers of three and four years, Buckner writes, refuting an earlier report.
- Jameer Nelson‘s agent, Steve Mountain, said as recently as June that the point guard wanted to remain with the Magic for this season, but Nelson tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he instead felt it was time to leave Orlando. The Mavs signee referred to his departure from the Magic, who waived him at the end of June, as a mutual decision.
- Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld doesn’t think the lack of a one-to-one D-League affiliate significantly hinders his team, but he nonetheless told Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post that the Wizards are looking into the possibility of having a D-League partner for future seasons.
And-Ones: Thunder, Raptors, D-League
Although the Thunder have sustained a rash of injuries, the team will only keep 14 players on the roster, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Slater also notes that Michael Jenkins, Richard Solomon, Talib Zanna and Lance Thomas have all played vital roles in the preseason, yet it is unlikely any of them force the team to consider filling their 15th and final regular season roster spot before opening night.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Raptors still have 17 players on their preseason roster, and haven’t decided on who will make the final cut. Head coach Dwayne Casey said the final roster decisions would come down to the wire, Jay Satur of NBA.com reports.
- The Wizards signing of Paul Pierce was a short-term fix with the franchise hoping that Otto Porter can develop into a valuable contributor in the coming season, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. With the injury to Bradley Beal, and with Trevor Ariza departing as a free agent to Houston, Porter may be called upon to log heavy minutes early in the season.
- Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is against maximum individual salaries for NBA players, writes David Mayo of MLive. “If it were more of a free-market system, I think things would change,” Van Gundy said. “I think you’d see greater parity in the league — especially having the (salary) cap and no individual max.”
- Teams are finding ways to get around the D-League’s individual maximum salary restrictions to entice players to sign with their affiliates, writes Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). This preseason, many NBA teams have signed players to their active roster only to release or waive the player shortly thereafter. By doing this, the team obtains the player’s D-League rights and the player can sign a partially guaranteed contract that trumps the D-League maximum salary which is slightly less than $26K per year. Elhassan points out this loophole would motivate fringe NBA talent to play in the D-League rather than take international offers.
- Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links) disputes the notion that the Kings had interest in Jordan Crawford prior to him heading over to China to play. The two sides never had serious discussions, and if Sacramento was interested in signing a veteran shooting guard they would have preferred MarShon Brooks, who played well for them in Summer League, Jones notes.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Pierce, Vucevic, Stephenson
Paul Pierce figures coach Jason Kidd‘s departure from the Nets helped dampen the team’s enthusiasm to re-sign the forward to a new deal this summer, as Pierce tells reporters, including Andy Vasquez of The Record. Pierce cites Kidd as one of the primary reasons he encouraged the Celtics to trade him to Brooklyn in 2013, as Vasquez notes. There’s more on key figures who changed places as well as one who’s committed to stay where he is among the news from around the Eastern Conference:
- Nikola Vucevic is careful to point out that he hasn’t put pen to paper on an extension with the Magic, but he nonetheless made it clear that he’s ecstatic about the agreement that agent Rade Filipovich and the team have reached, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel details.
- Representatives for Lance Stephenson urged the Pacers to offload other players to find room for the shooting guard under the tax line this summer, with the names of Luis Scola and Donald Sloan arising in the talks, but Indiana held firm against doing so, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The Alberto Ebanks client has said he cried when he told the Pacers he was signing with the Hornets instead, but Stephenson tells Charania that he hasn’t spoken to Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird since he made up his mind to join Charlotte.
- Charania also hears from a source who confirms that Jason Maxiell is the leading contender for a regular season roster spot among the Hornets camp invitees, as the RealGM scribe writes in the same piece. Coach Steve Clifford seems in favor of keeping Maxiell, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Christian Watford will play for the Celtics‘ D-League affiliate assuming he clears NBA waivers, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). That means the C’s are following through on their plan to keep Watford’s D-League rights, though Pick hears that the power forward turned down many offers from European teams to instead go to the D-League.
- Phil Jackson shared his scouting report on every Knicks player with Charley Rosen, writing for ESPN.com. The coach-turned-executive admits camp invitees Langston Galloway and Travis Wear are destined for the D-League.
Western Notes: Wolves, Budinger, Nelson
The Spurs have been a hallmark of stability over the years, but perhaps never more than they are now, with 14 of the 15 players who were on the team during the Finals last year still on the team, as Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick examines. While we wait to see if familiarity breeds success or stagnation, here’s more from around the Western Conference.
- It seems at this point that Glenn Robinson III will remain with the Wolves for opening night, and J.J. Barea continues to impress the team with his preseason performance, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears (Twitter link). The Pistons are probably the “team to watch” regarding Minnesota’s apparent efforts to trade Chase Budinger, Wolfson adds.
- Robbie Hummel is expected to make it to opening night with the Wolves, but with a guaranteed salary of just $880K, that’s not a certainty, and Hummel knows it. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune has the details. “We have a lot of good players and camp has been real competitive, so every opportunity to get on the court is important,” Hummel said. “You try to stay ready, but it’s hard when you don’t play for a couple games, but it’s part of the job … even if there’s 15 guaranteed contracts, you want to go out and play well. Every night is an audition for another team.”
- Jameer Nelson has a player option for the final season of the two-year deal he signed with the Mavs this summer, but he says he plans to stick with the team for the long term, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News observes.
- Former Clippers owner Donald Sterling is streamlining his legal efforts, having withdrawn a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against his wife, the NBA and Adam Silver to concentrate on his federal antitrust suit against the league, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. Sterling also faces the NBA’s counterclaim against him, Fenno notes.
- A desire to have Sean Kilpatrick play for their D-League affiliate fueled the Warriors‘ decision to sign the undrafted shooting guard Monday, tweets Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Eastern Notes: Bradley, Celtics, Harkless
Avery Bradley credits the D-League as a huge factor in his success playing for the Celtics, explains Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. “I was able to learn a lot up [in Maine],” says Bradley. “I didn’t take it as punishment at all. That’s one thing I do remember. At first I was disappointed, and being a young guy, it’s kinda overwhelming at first [in the NBA] seeing all the superstars, all the guys you watch watch on TV, and now you’re practicing and I had the injury. I got down on myself a lot, but the D-League gave me a chance to get that confidence back.” Bradley hopes to take his game to new heights after signing a new four year, $32MM deal this offseason.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- While many experts have picked the Celtics to finish near the cellar of the Eastern Conference, Jeremy Gottlieb of Boston.com sheds some optimism on Boston’s upcoming season. While Gottlieb admits that the idea of the Celtics contending for a playoff berth is far-fetched, he cites the presence of coach Brad Stevens, the potential financial motivations of some of the players on the roster, such as Rajon Rondo and Evan Turner, and the weakness of the Eastern Conference as reasons not to underestimate this team.
- Although the Celtics were never in contention to acquire Kevin Love due to a lack of an ability to create a package that Minnesota coveted, co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is confident that GM Danny Ainge will turn the franchise’s assets into a winning team, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “I’ve got confidence that with all these picks and these young guys and our willingness to spend money that we can get there,” said Grousbeck. “We’re a patient group. We will take a multiyear plan if that’s what it takes. But I think this June there could be some fireworks. I think this June we’ve got so many pieces to this puzzle that we might be able to shake loose a real piece or two for this team going forward. So, I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later.”
- Magic forward Maurice Harkless is playing with more confidence this year, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Coach Jacque Vaughn has praised Harkless for his continued development. “There’s some areas that he’s improving, and he still can improve some more. But overall his confidence and feel on the floor has definitely grown,” said Vaughn.
And-Ones: Cavs, Rockets, Mavs, D-League
Stephen Holt is heading to the Cavs‘ D-League affiliate, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. This would presumably mean that Cleveland will waive Holt and exercise their rights to him in the D-League. With Holt’s non-guaranteed contract out of the way, Cleveland’s remaining five camp invites on non- or partially guaranteed contracts would have a better shot at one of the team’s three open roster spots–outside of Anderson Varejao‘s lock to make the team on his partially guaranteed deal–for the regular season. Here’s more from around the league:
- Rockets coach Kevin McHale indicated to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that Houston’s first- and second-round draft picks, Clint Capela and Nick Johnson, respectively, will both spend significant time with the team’s D-League squad.
- While the Mavericks have high expectations for this season, coach Rick Carlisle will have the challenge of meshing multiple new pieces for the second consecutive year. Carlisle tells Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News that high turnover for veteran players is a league-wide trend. “I view it as one of the realities of our business right now. Teams are going to try to keep their young core players together,” Carlisle said. “There are going to be some financial and basketball decisions that are going to be unavoidable.”
- Keegan LaBlance has entered his name into the 2014 NBA D-League Draft, according to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. The point guard will hope to be selected on the November 1 draft and begin a journey toward an NBA career.
- Chadrack Lufile is also hoping to be selected in the D-League draft, telling Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com that he turned down offers to play overseas this summer. “A large reason why I wanted to stay here is actually because my mom got really sick. I want to stay nearby,” said Lufile. “My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA, and it doesn’t matter how I get there, but I feel like the D-League is a great way for me to do so.”
And-Ones: Mudiay, TV Deal, D-League
The league had better enjoy the windfall of their TV deal while it lasts, because big money deals like this are likely to disappear in the future, Steve Ginsburg of Reuters writes. Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist warns that the point of sports saturation on television in the United States is rapidly approaching. “At the end of the day, we have a lot more sports programming than we’ve ever had,” Zimbalist told Reuters. “And we’ve had pretty much the same number of household television sets. Ultimately what has to happen is that supply and demand have to meet at a lower price.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- David Arseneault Jr. was officially named head coach of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings‘ D-League franchise, the team announced.
- With the NBA’s new $24 billion TV deal set to take effect in 2016 player salaries are likely to reach new heights. For now, the league’s star players will have to continue to make ends meet with the current CBA salary structure, and the crew at FOX Sports Ohio runs down the top 25 player salaries for the 2014/15 season. Topping the list are Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, and Amar’e Stoudemire.
- One prospect who NBA franchises will be keeping an eye on this season is Emmanuel Mudiay, who chose to play over in China rather than attend college this season. Mudiay played his first game yesterday and notched 20 points and five assists in 27 minutes. One of his opponents was former NBA player Pooh Jeter, who relayed his impressions of the 18-year-old phenom to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Mudiay is currently slotted second in Givony’s prospect rankings.