And-Ones: D-League, Cavs, Age Limit
It appears the NBA and the D-League are thinking about reinstituting a limit on the number of D-League assignments an NBA team can make, as Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside hears. The move would be made to address the logjam possible if 13 NBA teams end up sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants next season. Here’s more from around the league:
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer pegs the odds at 50% that the Cavs hold onto their No. 1 draft pick, rather than swinging a deal for an established premier talent such as Kevin Love.
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer doesn’t get the sense that the Cavs are spending much energy trying to orchestrate LeBron James‘ return to Cleveland, and thinks a move to acquire Love without the assurance of him re-signing with the team would be foolish.
- Tom Ziller of SB Nation sees the draft age-limit as one of the player union’s only bargaining chips to leverage for the next CBA discussions, and thinks the players should push to reduce team control over rookie scale contracts in order to give its best young players more power.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Magic To Partner With Erie BayHawks
MAY 19TH: The deal is now official, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
MAY 9TH: An official announcement of the new arrangement will be made the week of May 19th, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest.
APRIL 15TH: The Erie BayHawks will serve as the Magic’s D-League affiliate in a one-to-one relationship next season, sources tell Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The Knicks announced this spring that they’re ending their hybrid partnership with the BayHawks after the season and starting a D-League expansion team that will serve as their affiliate. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported in February that the Magic had been in talks with an existing D-League team about forming a one-to-one relationship, and Zillgitt reveals it was indeed the BayHawks.
The Magic are one of six teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season, and they haven’t made a D-League assignment in 2013/14, even though their roster is full of young, developing players. GM Rob Hennigan and company apparently want to make better use of the D-League, despite the approximately 1,000-mile distance between Orlando and Erie, Pennsylvania that will make it tough for the club to liberally shuttle players back and forth as many teams with closer affiliates do. Still, it’s only about half the distance separating the Heat from their one-to-one affiliate in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
There were 14 NBA teams this season with a one-to-one D-League affiliation. The Pistons will also join that list next season, while the Blazers are ending their relationship with the Idaho Stampede and will share an affiliate in 2014/15. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another team strike a direct partnership with the Stampede before next season. The number of teams with one-to-one affiliates has grown in the past few years, and the D-League hopes someday to have a club lined up with each NBA team.
The hybrid partnership means the Magic will run the basketball operations for the BayHawks, while Erie’s owners will take care of the business end of the club. There are seven NBA franchises that have similar arrangements with a D-League team this season, while other NBA clubs own their affiliates outright.
And-Ones: Johnson, Williams, Draft
Kevin Johnson has made it a point to include Player Agents in the search for the new head of the NBA Player’s Association, writes Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. This approach differs from former NBAPA head, Billy Hunter, who was known to exclude agents from the decision making process.
More from around the league:
- The rapid turnover in coaches and executives is thinning out the candidate pool and forcing teams to get creative in their searches, writes Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. This trend is leading to more coaches getting hired without previous experience, and fewer coaches getting second chances if they didn’t succeed at their first job, opines Lloyd.
- Terrence Williams has reached an agreement to play in the Philippines with the Meralco Bolts, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The former NBA player has played this season with Turk Telekom Ankara, Guayama and the L.A. D-Fenders of the NBA D-league. Williams’ career numbers are 7.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 19.1 minutes per contest.
- Heading into the draft, the player with the biggest mystery surrounding his game is Dante Exum, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Exum said, “I guess they all have an idea of what I’m about. They’ve seen some of the college players play 40 game seasons, and they haven’t seen me a lot. So I guess when they are trying to look at tape, they can’t see a lot of me.” Exum is projected as an early lottery pick.
- Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com profiles draft prospects Markel Brown and Nick Johnson.
- More than ever, team executives are looking for prospects with solid character when making their draft selections, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Talent still rules the decision making process, but if all things are considered equal, teams will seek out the player destined to provide them with the “fewest headaches,” notes Ellis.
- Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press looks at Kentucky swingman James Young‘s path to the pros and his thoughts on the draft process. You can also check on my draft profile on Young here.
And-Ones: Hairston, Wolves, Draft
One player whose draft stock might benefit from the pre-draft interview process is P.J. Hairston, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. In 26 games this past season with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, Hairston averaged 21.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG in 32.3 minutes per contest.
More from around the league:
- The Timberwolves plan on interviewing Aaron Gordon, Gary Harris, and James Young this week at the Chicago Combine, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). All three players are projected lottery picks and you can check out our prospect profiles on each here.
- RealGM takes a look at the Lakers lottery history.
- The draft combine is crucial to the Magic despite the big names not showing up, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. The Magic are set to interview the league maximum 18 players while in Chicago, the article notes. These names will likely include Dante Exum, Julius Randle, Gordon, Noah Vonleh, and Marcus Smart, per Robbins.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (video link) breaks down draft prospect C.J. Wilcox. The senior guard from Washington averaged 18.3 PPG this season and is a projected second-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
- The Thunder, Bobcats, Lakers, and Cavaliers were among the teams that met with Rodney Hood at the draft combine, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- Jarnell Stokes met with the Knicks and the Hawks today, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Stokes is projected as a second-round pick.
Eastern Notes: Van Gundy, Knicks, Cavaliers
Stan Van Gundy hit a home run when he interviewed in Los Angeles with Pistons owner Tom Gores and representatives from his Platinum Equity firm, as Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press details. He broke down every player on the roster and presented a detailed plan for his first 100 days as he convinced the team he could handle the front office and coaching duties at the same time, Ellis writes.
More from the east:
- The Knicks have officially named their new D-League team the Westchester Knicks, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer breaks down the coaching candidates for the Cavaliers head coaching position.
- Balancing coaching with running the Pistons might prove too difficult for Van Gundy, writes Drew Sharp of USA Today. Sharp looks at the reasons why he thinks things could get ugly for Van Gundy as an executive in Detroit.
- Now that Steve Kerr is headed to the Warriors, Al Iannazzone of Newsday looks at some coaching candidates that Phil Jackson might turn to next.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Warriors, Pelicans, Jazz
The Warriors could hire one of the known coaching candidates, but Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area Newsgroup (Twitter link) thinks team owner Joe Lacob would love to do a “stealth hiring” if he’s unable to lure Steve Kerr. Kawakami also tweets that just because certain names keep being mentioned, that doesn’t mean those are the only ones in play for the position.
More from out west:
- When Stan Van Gundy met with the Warriors, the Pistons had already presented him with their plan of a dual executive/coach role, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Van Gundy wasn’t a product of the team’s search committee, led by Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, but owner Tom Gores forged ahead, according to Lowe, who says Van Gundy has told the Pistons he’ll take an analytical approach to both his front office and coaching jobs.
- The Pelicans have no interest in trading for Josh Smith, Lowe writes in the same piece.
- The Jazz‘s one-to-one affiliation with Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League still remains likely, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link). The Jazz shared the Bakersfield Jam with four other NBA teams this season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Suns To Have Own D-League Affiliate
MAY 13TH: The Suns have officially partnered with the D-League’s Jam on a one-to-one affiliation, the league announced.
MAY 8TH: Paul Coro of Azcentral.com reports that the Suns are expected to finalize an agreement with Bakersfield next week, and that it will indeed be a hybrid one-to-one relationship as previously reported.
APRIL 30TH: Sources tell Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that they expect the Suns will partner with the D-League’s Bakersfield Jam next season (Twitter link). It would be a “hybrid” arrangement in which the Suns would control the basketball operations for the club while the Jam would continue to be independently owned.
Phoenix only made a pair of D-League assignments this season, as our log shows, having shared the Jam with the Hawks, Clippers, Raptors and Jazz. Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby and GM Ryan McDonough would apparently like to make more frequent use of the D-League next year. That stands to reason, given that the Suns are set to have four or perhaps five draft picks in June, with the potential for another extra pick coming their way as early as next year.
The Jam were one of only three D-League teams aligned with more than one NBA franchise this season. It appears as though there will be just two D-League squads to cover the NBA clubs without one-to-one affiliations for next season, even as the Knicks are creating a new D-League team that will be the league’s 18th. The Magic are taking over the Erie BayHawks, the Knicks’ former affiliate, and there’s a strong possibility that the Jazz will partner with the Idaho Stampede, with whom the Blazers are ending their partnership. That means the Nets, who lost their one-to-one affiliate to the Pistons, will join the Hawks, Clippers, Raptors, Bobcats, Pacers, Grizzlies, Bucks, Bulls, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Wizards and Blazers in sharing D-League teams in 2014/15, unless one of them strikes a new agreement.
Eastern Notes: Kerr, Anthony, Jackson
Steve Kerr is seeking a five-year deal worth $30MM from the Knicks, notes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com. The article speculates that Kerr wants his deal to be the same length as Phil Jackson‘s, and he wants a salary comparable to Mike D’Antoni‘s $6MM per season when he was the team’s head coach. Kerr is expected to decide next week if he’ll become the next coach of the Knicks.
More from the east:
- The main storyline in New York this summer is going to be whether or not Carmelo Anthony re-signs with the team. Amar’e Stoudemire isn’t sure if ‘Melo will be a Knick next season, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Stoudemire said, “My gut feeling is that Carmelo will be staying. That’s my gut feeling right now today but I’m not totally sure.”
- Pat Delany, who coached the Sioux Falls Skyforce to the NBA D-League’s playoff semi-finals, has joined the Heat‘s playoff coaching staff, reports Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
- The Pistons should give Mark Jackson serious consideration for their vacant head coaching position, writes Perry A. Farrell of The Detroit Free Press. Jackson’s career situation reminds Farrell of Rick Carlisle‘s when he was fired after winning 100 games in two seasons with the Pistons, partly due to how he treated people in the team’s administration.
And-Ones: Draft, Bulls, Pacers
Solomon Jones has signed on with Dongguan Snowwolf in the NBL, and will play the next few months in China, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Jones played in 17 games with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA D-League this season. In 17 games, Jones averaged 8.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 1.4 BPG. He also appeared in 11 games for the Magic this year, averaging 1.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 7.7 minutes per contest. Jones will likely be considered for an NBA Summer League roster spot this summer, opines Pilato.
More from around the league:
- The staff at Basketball Insiders released their first Mock Draft of the year.
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com examines the relationship between the Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau. The article looks at what compensation the Bulls would ask for if Thibodeau wanted to leave for another coaching job, and if the two sides can co-exist for the three years remaining on his contract.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News released his latest Mock Draft.
- With the earlier report that Andrew Bynum‘s was out for the rest of the post season, the Pacers experiment with him would appear to be over, writes Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. The move didn’t work out on the court, notes Aschburner, but it also might have rattled Roy Hibbert‘s confidence and trust, which may explain his tailspin towards the end of the season. The article also notes that sources said coach Frank Vogel upset Hibbert when he ran plays to get Bynum involved offensively that he rarely called for Hibbert.
- Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders examines what steps the Bobcats need to take to improve the team for next season.
- Andrew Wiggins topped Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s rankings for the top wing prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders thinks the Knicks and Bulls should attempt to work out a sign-and-trade for Carmelo Anthony. In the article he examines what assets it would take to get the deal done.
Grizzlies To Have Own D-League Affiliate
3:13pm: The Grizzlies have formally announced the partnership.
12:52pm: It appears the Grizzlies won’t have to share a D-League affiliate with another NBA team next season, as they’ve struck a deal with the Iowa Energy on a one-to-one partnership, reports Bryce Miller of the Des Moines Register (hat tip to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities). It’ll be a hybrid relationship, meaning the Grizzlies will control the basketball operations while local ownership holds sway over the business side, though Grizzlies minority owner Jed Kaplan takes over the primary ownership role for the Energy as part of the deal.
The Grizzlies have hired Energy GM Chris Makris as director of minor league operations, though he’ll continue to oversee the Energy’s moves, according to Miller. Other Memphis owners will also hold stakes in the Iowa franchise, Miller adds. The Energy has a press conference scheduled later today to formally announce the deal.
Memphis was one of six teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this past season, sending Jamaal Franklin on assignment there three times. They’ll probably make greater use of D-League assignments with Iowa, which saw only brief visits from Shabazz Muhammad, Glen Rice Jr. and Marquis Teague this season as the Energy’s five NBA partners largely shied away from sending players down.
The move likely leaves the Mad Ants as the only D-League club without a one-to-one partnership, assuming the Jazz partner with the Idaho Stampede as rumored. The Nets, Hawks, Clippers, Raptors, Bobcats, Pacers, Bucks, Bulls, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Wizards and Trail Blazers are all in line to share a D-League affiliate next season, though it would seem as though an arrangement involving that many teams would be untenable. I wouldn’t be surprised if the D-League, which is adding a Knicks-owned 18th team next season, expands further, though that’s just my speculation.
Other NBA teams may still strike one-to-one partnerships before the shuffling comes to an end, and the Wolves are on the lookout, according to Wolfson (Twitter link). They had talks about a one-to-one deal with Iowa, but they never got serious, Wolfson notes.