Texas Notes: D-League, Mitchell, Dorsey, Spurs
The Spurs have officially announced that they have renamed their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs. The team was formerly known as the Austin Toros. “The rebranding of the Austin franchise is a terrific opportunity to capitalize on the substantial equity of the Spurs brand,” said Spurs Sports & Entertainment President of Business Operations, Rick Pych. “The name change creates an instantly recognizable link between the two franchises and is a natural progression based on the important role the Austin team plays in the development of young players, general managers and coaches who are on their way to reaching their dream of making it to the NBA.”
Here’s more from the “Lone Star” state:
- Akil Mitchell and Robert Covington have not been with the Rockets for several days, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. It was previously noted that Houston intended to part ways with Convington, and was exploring possible trade options for the player. Feigen also speculates that Houston intends to send both Covington and Mitchell to their D-League affiliate. Teams can retain the D-League rights for up to four players that they waive, and the Rockets preseason roster count currently sits at 20.
- Joey Dorsey is still working his way back from foot and ankle issues that have caused him to miss extended time during Houston’s training camp, Feigen writes. “I have just been trying to figure out the guys on the team and not look for my shot,” Dorsey said. “One of the coaches told me, ‘Joey, just go out there and play. Do what you do. Do what you did in Europe.’ I was like, ‘OK, forget it. I am going to look to score. If I look to score and they double-team me, then I will kick it out for a shot.’ That is the biggest thing. He told me to just go out there and stop trying to worry about playing perfect and just go out and play.”
- Despite their sustained run of excellence, one thing the Spurs have never accomplished is winning back-to-back titles. Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) breaks down San Antonio’s anticipated regular season roster as the team sets out to defend its crown.
- The Spurs have remained contenders for so many years thanks to their ability as a franchise to turn players no one anticipated into stars, such as Kawhi Leonard, opines Kevin Spain of USA Today.
Western Notes: Thompson, Holiday, Jazz
Klay Thompson tells J.A. Adande of ESPN.com that he’s more interested in securing an extension with the Warriors now than signing a single year contract next summer to prepare for the 2016/17 free agent market, when the league’s new TV deal will kick in and boost player salaries. “It really is tempting to do all that,” said Thompson, who admitted that seeing Paul George‘s shocking injury with Team USA has affected his outlook. “But I’d rather have the security right now, you know?” Adande gets the sense from both Thompson and the Warriors that a deal will get done before the October 31 deadline. Here’s more from Golden State and the rest of the West:
- 25-year-old Justin Holiday has faced a tough road to crack an NBA roster, but tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that his experience in international and D-League play has been formative. “I don’t need to go out here and do the jobs of Steph [Curry] and Klay. I understand that,” said Holiday, who hopes to earn one of the two open regular season roster spots with the Warriors. “That’s what a team is about: playing together and using each guy’s strengths in order to win… I want to help and lead on defense. You can’t control your jump shot every night, but you can control your effort on defense all the time.”
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke highly of Holiday’s ability, telling Simmons, “He’s an unbelievable guy. He’s a great worker, he’s smart and he’s a team guy. Justin belongs in this league.” Kerr has expressed similar non-committal praise for fellow Golden State camp invite Jason Kapono.
- Veteran Jazz newcomers Trevor Booker and Dahntay Jones tell Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune that Utah’s roster is at an advanced stage for a rebuilding team, having witnessed successful rebuilds in their time with the Wizards and Pacers, respectively.
- Though the Jazz have waived Dee Bost and Kevin Murphy, they still have interest in adding the pair to their D-League team, Falk notes.
And-Ones: Calipari, Kentucky, D-League
Some 90 NBA team employees attended the first day of a weekend combine that University of Kentucky coach John Calipari has arranged for league personnel to observe the team’s prospect-laden roster, notes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv note (Twitter link). It originally seemed as though Calipari would keep NBA scouts and executives away from his team for most, if not all, of the season following the combine. But, the coach said today that he would only bar access for the next two or three weeks, and he suggested that he may even let a few NBA types in during that window, as Zagoria and SNY.tv colleague Josh Newman relay (Twitter links). As many NBA eyes as possible will focus in on Lexington this year with nine players in the DraftExpress top 50 on the Wildcats roster this year, so while we wait to see how they all perform, here’s more from around the NBA:
- The D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants have reached out to the GMs of the 13 NBA teams with which they’re affiliated to discuss how to manage the odd setup this year, as Mad Ants coach Conner Henry tells Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside.
- Kentucky’s weekend combine is more about advertising for Calipari than for the scouts to take a special look at the Wildcats’ players, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News opines. Scouts get access to practices anyway, but with the cameras rolling Calipari has another chip to use as a recruiter, Deveney notes. “I don’t think any of our people there are necessarily going to learn anything we would not learn in the usual ways,” one NBA GM said. “And I don’t think any of these kids are going to dramatically affect their stock one way or the other.”
- One player whom scouts at Kentucky’s combine are sure to pay extra attention to is freshman big man Karl-Anthony Towns, notes Deveney. “I think you have to watch the way that Towns moves,” one league source told Deveney. “He’s a unique commodity. He is a 7-footer, but he doesn’t play like it, he doesn’t have a lot of thickness and strength. But he isn’t a guy you look at as a project — he is already an NBA-style big man. He can shoot from the perimeter, he is way ahead of the curve on that. He can pass, he sees the floor. These are all the things that we complain about when we see young college kids going to the NBA, that they don’t have these dimensions. This guy has already got that.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Butler, Caven, Jefferson, Macklin
Jimmy Butler is focusing on basketball rather than becoming a restricted free agent next summer, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Friedell adds that Butler may seek more than the $9.7MM annual salary that former Bulls teammate Luol Deng received this offseason from the Heat. When the topic of the new TV deal was broached, Butler deflected the question, saying, “I don’t know nothing about a TV deal. I just know that it’s my contract year, and I got to play well and I want to help us win. That’s all that I know.” Butler will be one of the first players to sign a deal in the new cap era, Friedell notes.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The contracts of D.J. Mbenga (Knicks), Jason Kapono (Warriors), and Yuki Togashi (Mavs) are all non-guaranteed, minimum salary camp deals, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Kapono’s deal is for one season, Pincus notes on Golden State’s salary page.
- One of Europe’s top prospects, Joonas Caven, a 6’11” big man from Finland, will enter the NBA D-League Draft this year, according to his agent K.C. Callero, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reports (Twitter link). Caven is targeting the 2015 NBA Draft and the D-League will act as a showcase for his talents, notes Carchia.
- The Pelicans waived Vernon Macklin so that he could pursue an opportunity to play in Europe, John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports (Twitter link).
- One of the newest members of the Mavs, Richard Jefferson, accepted a veteran’s minimum deal this offseason, but that doesn’t mean he is willing to settle for a minimal role, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. MacMahon adds that Jefferson understands that he won’t be a starter but he is determined to find his niche on the team. “I like to believe myself to be an everyday contributor,” said Jefferson. “Whether it works out that way remains to be seen, but my job is just to stay ready.“
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Nedovic, Gasol, Faried
Nemanja Nedovic said that the Warriors haven’t given him any indication on whether or not the team’s third-year option on his contract will be picked up, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Golden State has until October 31st to decide on Nedovic’s option.
Here’s more from out west:
- Pau Gasol doesn’t have fond memories of being a free agent this past summer, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Talking about the process that led him to sign with the Bulls, Gasol said, “It was a difficult decision; it was a difficult process to go through and I don’t wish to go through it again because it was just very stressful. My phone was blowing up. It got to points in the day where I just didn’t want to be by my phone so I just put it away. I don’t know who called at those times. I tried to return the calls and the messages as much as I could, because I was trying to be respectful and appreciative of the people that had interest in me. I did not expect nor anticipate that it was going to be that hectic and that stressful. So first it was hard for me to make the decision to move on from the team that I’ve been a part of and been through so much with – the Lakers. Then, after that, it was, ‘Okay, where do I want to play?’”
- The Kings have hired David Arseneault Jr. as head coach of the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, the team announced via a press release. Arseneault was previously working as an assistant at Grinnell College, a Division III program. The Kings presumably hired him to implement and teach Grinnell’s high-scoring offensive system, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes.
- One of the big worries with signing players to big dollar contracts is if the pressure to live up to the numbers will hamper the player. Kenneth Faried isn’t letting his new windfall from the Nuggets affect him, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. When asked if he was feeling added weight because of the contract extension, Faried said, “No, I really don’t care. There’s no pressure, it’s just money. It’s not a big deal. I love the game so I’m going to continue to play the game like I’ve been playing. My mind has been at ease and I’ve been grinding.”
And-Ones: D-League, Bucks, Cuban, Faried
NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to as many as four of the players they cut at the end of the preseason, up from the previous limit of three, Hoops Rumors has learned. Still, if a team keeps the D-League rights to fewer than four such players, it can claim the D-League rights of someone it waives during the regular season, another new wrinkle that Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported last month. Such decisions are among the many that teams will have to make around the end of the month, when they face rookie scale extension and option deadlines and must set their regular season rosters. Here’s more from around the NBA as those key dates approach.
- The Bucks have hired Deluxe Entertainment Services Group executive Peter Feigin as team president, the club announced. It appears as though he’ll handle business affairs for the Bucks while GM John Hammond will continue to run the team’s basketball operations.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban downplayed the financial impact the league’s new TV deal will have on teams, but he suggested that the majority of owners won’t attempt to “cry poor” when they negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with players. Jeff Caplan of NBA.com has the details, including Cuban’s prediction that most players won’t seek one-year deals this summer in an effort to time their free agencies with an influx of TV money in the summer of 2016.
- Kenneth Faried must continue his development and become a star to make his four-year, $50MM extension worthwhile for the Nuggets, argues Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post, who’s loath to bet against the power forward after a year of rapid growth.
New York Notes: Nets, Pierce, Knicks, Executives
The Nets and Knicks will renew their intracity rivalry this season as both teams hope to get off to faster starts than they did in 2013/14. Each club figures to be in the mix for a playoff spot again this season, so while we wait to see if we’ll have a subway series come the postseason, here’s the latest from the Big Apple:
- Nets GM Billy King insists the team is still doggedly pursuing a championship and isn’t focused on making financial cutbacks, telling reporters, including Newsday’s Rod Boone, that he still has permission from owner Mikhail Prokhorov to make expensive acquisitions. King made his remarks in response to Paul Pierce‘s assertion that the team was no longer willing to spend to win. ” . . . We have some younger guys like Mason Plumlee who are under rookie contracts, and that helps your payroll. But [Prokhorov] hasn’t wavered in pursuit of what he wants,” King said.
- That seems to conflict with King’s admission last month that money was a factor in the team’s decision not to re-sign Pierce and that the club doesn’t want to repeat its more than $190MM expenditure on players and luxury taxes last season. Pierce’s representatives with Excel Sports Management asked the Nets for a two-year, $24MM deal this summer, but the Nets didn’t want to pay that much, according to Boone.
- Former Magic GM John Gabriel‘s influence is growing within the Knicks front office, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Gabriel, who holds the title of director of basketball operations, is on the upswing while former Nuggets GM and current Knicks director of player personnel Mark Warkentien is losing sway, and assistant GM Allan Houston doesn’t have the pull that he once had, either, Berman adds.
- The Knicks have hired former D-League assistant and small college head coach Kevin Whitted as head coach of their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Whitted went to college with Houston, who serves as the GM of the Knicks D-League affiliate in addition to his duties with the big club.
Southeast Notes: Ariza, Bosh, Magic, Curry
The presence of mainstays Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem is a decided advantage for the Heat, as each of them turned down lucrative player options for the betterment of the team and re-signed with Miami for less this summer. Coach Erik Spoelstra believes that franchises that have players like that are in an even better position under the latest collective bargaining agreement, one that’s brought about shorter contracts and rapid-fire player movement, as Spoelstra explains to Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Indeed, that sort of loyalty is hard to come by, and it helps explain why either the Heat, Spurs, Lakers or both have appeared in each of the last 16 NBA Finals. Here’s more on the Heat and their Southeast Division rivals:
- Trevor Ariza insists the lack of state income tax in Texas was significant enough financial motivation for him to sign with the Rockets for the same four years and $32MM that the Wizards offered, as he tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Until the finances got in the way, Ariza says to Lee that he was fully expecting to return to the Wizards. “I thought I was going to be a Wizard for a long time, but when that didn’t happen [the Rockets] definitely pursued me the hardest,” Ariza said. “Everything happens for a reason. It’s a business. So sometimes, teams make business decisions and you’ve got to live with that. I grew up in this league, obviously, I was 19 [when he was drafted]. So I’ve matured. So in life, I moreso understand the business of things and accept it.”
- Chris Bosh was one of several players who signed long-term deals this summer that carry through 2016, the first year that the new TV contracts kick in, but he told reporters today that the allure of guaranteed max money for five years was too much to pass up. Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald tweets the details.
- The Magic‘s D-League affiliate traded for the D-League rights to Seth Curry today, the club announced. Curry is in NBA camp with the Magic, but it’ll be tough for him make the opening-night roster on his partially guaranteed deal. So, the D-League swap signals that Orlando would like to keep a close eye on Curry should he decide to play in the D-League in the likely event that the Magic waive him at the end of the preseason.
And-Ones: Boucek, Delfino, Lottery
Dallas doesn’t have any openings on their coaching staff, but that didn’t stopping them from welcoming WNBA coach Jenny Boucek to participate in training camp, reports Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “With Becky Hammon’s hiring [as a Spurs assistant], [female NBA coaching candidates have] become a reality,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. “And I believe it’s going to become even more of a reality going forward, because there are some women who are qualified and Jenny is one of them. A qualified female could bring a unique perspective and perhaps a different set of communication skills.” Here’s more from around the league:
- Free agent Carlos Delfino will miss significant time after having foot surgery, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports (on Twitter). Delfino hopes to be recovered by February, but doesn’t have a timetable for his return. Delfino missed all of last year while under contract with the Bucks due to injury, and the Clippers waived his 2014/15 salary under the stretch provision after receiving him in the Jared Dudley trade. That timeline will almost surely prevent Delfino from signing anywhere very soon, and he might become a target for 10-day contract offers if and when he recovers, although that’s just my speculation.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com predicts that one of the proposed changes to the NBA lottery system is sure to get approved, and hopes that the league makes the change speedily for the good of the sport.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders writes that many of the training camp invites around the league are playing more for a roster spot on a team’s D-League than a regular season role with their NBA club. Pincus notes that players with partial guarantees are likely to be cut and receive D-League invites from their current teams, including Bryce Cotton, JaMychal Green, Josh Davis, and John Holland on the Spurs and Peyton Siva, Seth Curry, Kadeem Batts, and Drew Crawford on the Magic.
And-Ones: Barea, White, Johnson, Walker
J.J. Barea has been the odd man out in Minnesota, especially after the Wolves signed Mo Williams back in July. But the veteran guard believes there is a roster spot for him on the team, Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press writes. “I see the players and know this team could use me,” Barea said. “I could help them a lot.” Barea is in the final year of his contract and there has been speculation that Minnesota would attempt to deal or reach a buyout arrangement with him.
Here’s what else is happening around the league:
- Also from Greder’s article, Williams said that he would like to try his hand at coaching once his career is over, though he did say that he still has a few more years left in him as a player.
- Former NBA player DJ White has inked a one-month deal with Baskonia of the ACB, the team announced via their website (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 6’9″ power forward spent the last two seasons playing in China, but did appear in two games for the Hornets in 2013/14 after signing a 10-day contract. In six NBA seasons White’s numbers are 5.9 PPG and 3.2 RPG.
- The Reno Bighorns, the D-League affiliate of the Kings, are hiring former NBA player Darrell Walker as head coach, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
- Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has prioritized continuity on his roster, but the team’s plans for Amir Johnson aren’t clear, Eric Koreen of The National Post writes. With Patrick Patterson under contract for three more years, Ujiri might decide against giving long-term contracts to both players since their games are so similar, opines Koreen.