Odds & Ends: Randolph, Rockets, Lakers, Siva
Since a report surfaced this week suggesting the Grizzlies are shopping Zach Randolph, team sources have adamantly denied that the big power forward is on the block. Nonetheless, Randolph has heard the rumors and admits to NBA.com’s Fran Blinebury that he can’t altogether ignore them.
“It bothers me. It hurts a little bit. I can’t deny that,” Randolph said. “But it goes to show you that there ain’t no loyalty in this game. It seems like you only get loyalty in certain organizations. You see it in winning organizations like the Spurs, the Lakers, the Heat.”
Here’s more from around the league on a Saturday afternoon:
- GM Daryl Morey and the Rockets have used their D-League affiliate as a “laboratory of sorts” to test ideas and strategies that could be used in the NBA, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com writes (Insider-only link). This season, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers are pushing the pace and shooting three-pointers at a record rate, prompting Pelton to wonder if we’ll see the Rockets employ a similar approach soon.
- Jabari Davis, Joel Brigham, and Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld weigh in with their thoughts on Kobe Bryant‘s two-year extension and how it affects the Lakers‘ short- and long-term future.
- Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim questions whether tanking is really worth it for NBA teams this season, since he views this year’s top freshmen as talented, but not “transcendent” players. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv has the details.
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Pistons rookie Peyton Siva says he has Louisville coach Rick Pitino to thank for his smooth transition to the NBA, writes Brigham in a separate HoopsWorld piece. “[Coach Pitino] prepares you mentally for everything that’s coming up ahead. He’s a great coach when it comes to that mental preparation,” Siva told HoopsWorld. “A lot of players lose focus and break down mentally, but he makes sure you stay alert, stay on task and builds a great work ethic in you.”
Southwest Notes: Asik, Casspi, Mavs, Thomas
On the heels of last night’s loss in Portland, the Rockets will face another tough test tonight, as they travel to Golden State to face the Warriors. Houston is one of four Southwest teams in action tonight, as the Spurs host the Timberwolves while the Grizzlies play the Pelicans in New Orleans. Here’s the latest out of the division:
- The Rockets will almost certainly move Omer Asik within the next week, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle expects it to be a three-team deal (Twitter link).
- Omri Casspi spoke to Feigen about how a summer voice mail from coach Kevin McHale boosted Casspi’s confidence and acted as a catalyst for his signing with the Rockets.
- According to GM Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks have no plans to add a veteran guard to the roster while they wait for Devin Harris to continue his recovery from toe surgery, writes Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Spurs have recalled Malcolm Thomas from the D-League, the club announced today in a press release. In his two-game stint with the Austin Toros, Thomas averaged a double-double (19.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG).
Odds & Ends: Gay, Pau, Fisher, Jenkins
Rudy Gay spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today about being traded for the second time in the calendar year, and indicated that he had yet made up his mind about his 2014/15 player option. Gay suggested he’ll make his decision with championship contention in mind, adding, “It’s really not as much about the money as you’d think.” If that’s truly the case, his decision to opt into the final year of his contract won’t be the lock that many expect.
Here’s more from around the NBA, as another week nears its end:
- I appeared on the latest episode of The Baseline podcast to discuss the Kings‘ acquisition of Gay, along with a handful of other topics, including the Raptors‘ next move, Omer Asik trade rumors, and the Clippers‘ signing of Stephen Jackson. You can listen right here.
- We heard earlier that the Lakers have been listening to offers for Pau Gasol, in part because he and coach Mike D’Antoni aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and D’Antoni’s remarks today likely didn’t help mend any fences. Responding to Pau’s recent comments about being frustrated by his role, D’Antoni said, “That’s a classic, ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’ Well, you don’t have trouble getting up to the paystub line. You know what you need to do to get your check. You know what to do. They will. They’ll figure it out.”
- Derek Fisher is planning to retire at season’s end, and isn’t sure what his post-playing career will bring, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News: “I’m not going to want to necessarily just sit around the house, but I’ll take a step back from the grind of the NBA schedule and see where my heart and passion takes me.”
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for SBNation.com why the window between December 15th and 19th could result in high trade activity.
- In a separate piece for The Score, Deeks examines a number of intriguing unsigned forwards who could help NBA teams this season. Deeks previously looked at guards and bigs.
- The Hawks recalled John Jenkins from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Since being assigned to the Bakersfield Jam a week ago, Jenkins appeared in four games, averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He’ll be in uniform for Atlanta tonight against the Wizards.
Central Notes: Neal, Teague, Cavs
This past offseason, the Spurs extended then-restricted free agent Gary Neal a qualifying offer worth about $1.1MM, which was significantly below the two-year, $7.5MM agreement he eventually reached with the Bucks. According to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio-Express News, Neal believes he got a fair shake from Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford and understood that he wouldn’t be retained if he wanted more than what San Antonio was initially offering:
“I figured after three years, the Spurs benefitted me, and I benefitted the Spurs…But it’s a business. I kind of knew after Game 7 in the Finals, unless I signed a qualifying offer, I wouldn’t be back…I have no complaints…If (they didn’t give me the opportunity), they could have found another guy one of those summers to shoot 40 percent from three,..I thank Coach Pop a thousand times for that.”
Here’s more out of the Central Division:
- The rest of the league is confused why the Bulls aren’t willing to give Marquis Teague more playing time, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Chicago reportedly dangled Teague in trade talks during the preseason.
- The Cavaliers have recalled Carrick Felix, Sergey Karasev, and Henry Sims from the D-League, as per the team’s official website.
- Pistons forward Gigi Datome is determined to play for the Italian national team next summer, whether it’d be during the FIBA World Cup or the Eurobasket Qualifying Round, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (hat tip to Tuttosport).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Zwerling On Randolph, Anderson, Gordon
The latest dispatch from Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling is chock full of rumors. Let’s dive in:
- The Grizzlies are shopping Zach Randolph, with Ryan Anderson of the Pelicans as the primary target, Zwerling reports. Memphis wants to see Ed Davis continue to develop, and that may help push Randolph out the door. The Pelicans would have to add salary to such a deal to make it work, and Zwerling mentions Austin Rivers as a possibility, noting that he’s dissatisfied with his lack of playing time and is open to a trade.
- A source tells Zwerling that he believes the Pelicans will trade Eric Gordon at some point this season.
- Zwerling hears conflicting reports on whether a rumored Kenneth Faried/Iman Shumpert swap is a possibility for the Nuggets and Knicks, but he says the Knicks are currently reluctant to move Shumpert.
- It’s unlikely the Suns trade either Marcus Morris or twin brother Markieff Morris, according to Zwerling.
- The Sixers would trade Evan Turner for Dion Waiters “in a heartbeat,” a source tells Zwerling, though Cavs owner Dan Gilbert reportedly doesn’t want to trade his shooting guard. The Sixers are worried about what Turner may command in restricted free agency this summer. The Suns could be another landing spot for Waiters, Zwerling writes.
- Courtney Lee, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries are on the market in Boston. The Celtics offered Avery Bradley a four-year, $24MM extension this fall, but the guard turned it down, looking for a deal with annual salaries of $8MM.
- The Rockets “adore” D-Leaguer Troy Daniels, Zwerling writes. Daniels is displaying a three-point stroke to go with his 25.1 points per game.
Odds & Ends: Collins, Augustin, Mavs, Cavs
Jannero Pargo‘s contract with the Bobcats became fully guaranteed when the team didn’t waive him yesterday, and A.J. Price passed his contract guarantee threshold with the Timberwolves this weekend. That means the rest of the players with non-guaranteed contracts won’t have their deals fully guaranteed unless they remain on their teams until the leaguewide guarantee date of January 10th. We’ll continue to track non-guaranteed contracts here until that date. Here’s more from around the league:
- Free agent center Jason Collins told Michael K. Lavers of the Washington Blade that he doesn’t pin the reluctance of NBA teams to sign him on his sexual orientation. Collins, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since publicly revealing last spring that he is homosexual, says he hopes a team will sign him by March 1st.
- The Bulls are zeroing in on D.J. Augustin, and the move would give them four point guards, not including the injured Derrick Rose. They probably won’t be carrying all four by the end of the season, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
- With Devin Harris suffering a setback in his rehab, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News wonders if the Mavericks will go after Augustin.
- The Cavs have assigned Carrick Felix, Sergey Karasev and Henry Sims to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. It’s the first assignment for Karasev, while Felix and Sims are making return trips to the Canton Charge.
- Other teams reportedly expect the Nuggets will soon trade Jordan Hamilton for little in return, but the third-year small forward has earned the trust of coach Brian Shaw, according to Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com.
- Shelvin Mack is making the most of his non-guaranteed contract with the Hawks, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution examines (subscription required).
One-Day D-League Assignments
The D-League season is only a few weeks old, but a few trends involving the way NBA teams use their D-League affiliates are already developing. Six NBA teams have so far assigned a total of 10 players to the D-League for just a single day, as our list of D-League assignments and recalls shows. In many cases, such moves demonstrate an organizational willingness to shuttle players back and forth in an effort to maximize their playing time in the D-League and practice time with the big club.
Sometimes, a one-day assignment is more by happenstance than design, as with Marquis Teague‘s abbreviated stint with the Iowa Energy. Mike James suffered an injury while Teague was en route to join the D-League team, so the Bulls recalled Teague as soon as his plane landed. His was the only D-League assignment the Bulls have made all year, and it was the team’s first assignment since the 2010/11 season, so despite the relative proximity of Chicago to the Energy’s home base in Des Moines, it’s unlikely the Bulls will make a habit of such one-day stints.
The Bulls are one of five teams sharing the Energy as an affiliate, and most of the NBA clubs that shuttle players back and forth have one-to-one affiliations with their D-League partners. That’s the case with every other team that’s made a one-day assignment so far this season. All five of Golden State’s D-League assignments have lasted just a single day, and the Warriors lead the league in this category, making frequent use of their affiliate in nearby Santa Cruz.
The Lakers took the concept a step further last month, recalling Elias Harris and Ryan Kelly the same day they were assigned. It helps that the D-Fenders, the D-League affiliate of the Lakers, play their games at the Toyota Sports Center, the same complex where the Lakers practice.
The Thunder were one of the leading practioners of the one-day assignment last season, but they haven’t pulled off the trick so far this year, keeping Andre Roberson with the Tulsa 66ers for six days in the team’s only 2013/14 assignment. That figures to change as the season wears on, and other teams will likely join this list as well. Still, early returns help show which clubs are exploiting the NBA’s burgeoning player development system to its fullest.
Warriors (5):
- November 24th: Assigned Dewayne Dedmon (Recalled November 25th)
- November 24th: Assigned Nemanja Nedovic (Recalled November 25th)
- November 19th: Assigned Dewayne Dedmon (Recalled November 20th)
- November 19th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled November 20th)
- November 19th: Assigned Nemanja Nedovic (Recalled November 20th)
Spurs (4):
- December 8th: Assigned Aron Baynes (Recalled December 9th)
- December 8th: Assigned Nando De Colo (Recalled December 9th)
- December 1st: Assigned Aron Baynes (Recalled December 2nd)
- December 1st: Assigned Nando De Colo (Recalled December 2nd)
Lakers (2):
- November 23rd: Assigned Elias Harris (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 23rd: Assigned Ryan Kelly (Recalled November 23rd)
Bulls (1):
- December 3rd: Assigned Marquis Teague (Recalled December 4th)
Kings (1):
- December 6th: Assigned Hamady N’Diaye (Recalled December 7th)
Nets (1):
- November 10th: Assigned Tornike Shengelia (Recalled November 11th)
Bobcats Sign Chris Douglas-Roberts
WEDNESDAY, 11:13am: Charlotte has made the signing official, announcing the addition of Douglas-Roberts in a press release. The four-year NBA veteran is a Creative Artists Agency client, as the Hoops Rumors Agency Database shows.
TUESDAY, 8:43pm: The Bobcats plan to sign Chris Douglas-Roberts from the D-League’s Texas Legends, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In six games with the Legends this year, CDR is averaging 18.7 points, 4.3 boards and 2.8 assists per contest. He’s playing 34 minutes per night and is shooting over 47 percent from the field.
The Memphis product played for the Legends last year as well, and also appeared in six games for the Mavericks. He was in camp with the Knicks this preseason but was waived in late October. As Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets, the Bobcats are likely looking for depth given the injuries to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeff Taylor and the inexperience of rookie James Southerland (Twitter links).
D-League Updates: Gladness, Marshall, Diogu
Here is a look at a few D-League moves that went down on Tuesday:
- The Reno Big Horns have acquired Mickell Gladness in a three-team trade with the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Maine Red Claws, the D-League announced. The Red Claws will receive Zeke Marshall from Reno and a second round pick from Santa Cruz. The Warriors will receive a first round pick from Maine. Gladness averaged 6.3 points and 6.1 rebounds in 49 games with the Warriors last year.
- The deal is pending physicals for Gladness and Marshall. As the Red Claws website indicates, Marshall is a rookie out of Akron who most recently averaged 12.7 points and four rebounds in the Taiwanese Super Basketball League. The center is the all-time leading shot blocker in the history of the Mid-American Conference.
- Forward Ike Diogu has been claimed by the Bakersfield Jam, tweets ESPN New York’s Ian Begley. We heard the Arizona State project, who was in camp with the Knicks this offseason, was D-League bound earlier today.
Minor Moves: Diogu, Nogueira, Kennedy
It’s been an active past couple of days in the Association, and there are plenty of rumblings on other circuits, too. Here’s the latest on players with NBA ties:
- Knicks training camp invitee Ike Diogu will join the D-League, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Diogu, the ninth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, last appeared in an NBA regular season game with the Spurs in 2011/12, though the Knicks reportedly considered bringing him back last month after Tyson Chandler‘s injury.
- Lucas Nogueira has exercised a provision in his contract with Spanish club Estudiantes to suspend the deal while he seeks outside medical opinion on his ailing knees, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Hawks retain the NBA rights to Nogueira, the 16th pick in the draft this June.
- D.J. Kennedy has left Gravelines of France and is on the radar of Italy’s Reggio Emilia, reports Prima Pagina (translation via Carchia). The Italian team may view him as a replacement for Coby Karl, who appears to be on the outs with the club. Kennedy was in camp with the Mavs this fall.
- Kevin Murphy and French team SIG Strasbourg are in negotiations about a split, according to a L’Équipe report passed along by Catch-and-Shoot (translation via Carchia). Murphy signed with the club in August, shortly after the Warriors let him go.