Grant Jerrett Tops Field Of D-League Draftees
The Thunder’s D-League affiliate used the No. 1 overall pick in tonight’s D-League draft on Grant Jerrett, allowing the Thunder to closely monitor a player whose NBA rights also belong to them. Oklahoma City traded for Jerrett shortly after the Blazers took him 40th overall in June’s NBA draft. A report in September indicated Jerrett had signed with the Thunder-owned Tulsa 66ers, but as I pointed out at the time, he’d have to enter the D-League draft rather than sign with Tulsa outright. The 66ers pulled off a trade yesterday to acquire the No. 1 pick in the D-League draft, positioning themselves to secure Jerrett’s D-League rights.
The Pelicans didn’t do the same with the second-rounder they picked up in the Jrue Holiday/Nerlens Noel trade. Pierre Jackson, the 42nd overall pick in the NBA draft, went fourth overall in the D-League draft to the Idaho Stampede, the affiliate of the Blazers.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the one-to-one affiliate of the Rockets, took four-year NBA vet James Johnson second overall tonight, while Quincy Douby, who has three years of NBA experience, went at No. 3 to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the affiliate of the Heat. The Texas Legends, who are affiliated with the Mavs, rounded out the top five with their selection of C.J. Aiken, who was in an NBA camp with the Kings last month after leaving St. Joseph’s in the spring.
Ricky Davis was perhaps the most well-known figure selected, as the Erie BayHawks, the affiliate of the Knicks, drafted him in the sixth round, signaling that the Knicks liked what they saw when the 34-year-old worked out for them in September. Other notable picks include former Magic and Thunder swingman DeAndre Liggins, who went to the Skyforce at seventh overall. Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the brother of Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo, went at No. 9 to the Delaware 87ers. Check out the entire list of draftees right here.
Some D-League clubs were involved in draft day trades. The Santa Cruz Warriors came into the draft already stocked with Stephen Curry‘s brother Seth Curry, whose D-League rights Golden State had protected after cutting him at the end of camp. Santa Cruz swapped a second-round pick for Mychel Thompson, brother of Golden State sharpshooter Klay Thompson, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes, giving the Warriors’ affiliate their own version of the big club’s “Splash Brothers” duo.
Players with prior D-League experience who were cut from NBA camps can re-enter the D-League and go back to their old teams without entering the draft. That’s what James Nunnally, fresh off a camp appearance with the Suns, has decided to do, as he’ll return to the Bakersfield Jam, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The Suns are one of five NBA teams affiliated with the Jam, as our list of NBA/D-League affiliations shows.
Odds & Ends: Mavs, D-League, Collins, Dragic
Dirk Nowitzki publicly questioned Mark Cuban‘s approach to retooling the Mavericks back in January, and the team struck out on its top target again this summer when Dwight Howard decided to join the Rockets. But Nowitzki tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he’s pleased with the roster Cuban and Donnie Nelson put together this offseason, and he’s encouraged by the club’s direction.
“I think as a franchise, we’ve moved on,” Nowitzki said of the failed attempts to recruit star free agents. “We didn’t go for the whole cap space deal again, like we did last year, so I was obviously pleased to see that.”
Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends:
- With the D-League draft set to get underway at 6:00pm CT tonight, the Iowa Energy traded the third overall pick as part of a deal with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Heat camp invitee and NBA champion Jarvis Varnado headed to Iowa in the move, as Keith Schlosser writes at Ridiculous Upside.
- One player who won’t be playing on a D-League squad anytime soon is free agent big man Jason Collins, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Stein hears from a source that Collins isn’t considering playing overseas or in the D-League, since he still believes he’s an NBA player and prefers to continue his workout regimen at home in Los Angeles.
- In a separate ESPN.com story, Stein writes that the Suns are comfortable with Eric Bledsoe heading into free agency next summer. However, it sounds like Phoenix hasn’t ruled out the possibility of facilitating a sign-and-trade involving Bledsoe in July if he gets too pricey, so the team likely won’t shop Goran Dragic for now.
- John Jenkins tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld it “feels great” that the Hawks elected to exercise his third-year option for 2014/15 yesterday.
- $14MM over four years is a reasonable price for Quincy Pondexter, but he’ll have to continue to develop for his new contract to be a good investment for the Grizzlies, says Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
- DeShawn Sims, who was in camp with the Celtics in October, has signed with Galil Gilboa in Israel, agent Mike Silverman tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- Since being released by the Rockets, Tim Ohlbrecht has remained in the U.S. in hopes of landing another NBA job, but continues to consider overseas offers, according to Schlosser at Ridiculous Upside.
Pacific Notes: Jimmer, Bledsoe, Warriors, Kings
After reporting yesterday that about six clubs had shown some level of interest in trade candidate Jimmer Fredette, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that the number of teams with substantive interest is “closer to two.” The Kings elected to turn down their option on Jimmer for 2014/15, meaning he’s on an expiring contract now, which will make him more movable, according to Amick.
As the Kings mull what to do with their 2011 lottery pick, let’s check in on a few more items from around the Pacific Division….
- Eric Bledsoe will head to restricted free agency in 2014 after not reaching an extension agreement with the Suns prior to October 31st. One league source tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that Phoenix probably won’t get a discount next summer: “He is probably going to want a max deal. If he plays the way he thinks he is going to, he will get it, too.”
- Warriors camp invitees Seth Curry, Dewayne Dedmon, and Joe Alexander have joined Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The three players, whose D-League rights were retained by Golden State, were considered likely to head to Santa Cruz when they were cut by the NBA’s Warriors.
- The Kings‘ new management group didn’t just take over a mess when it came to business and fan relations, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com. In Ziller’s view, former GM Geoff Petrie‘s rebuild of Sacramento’s roster may require a rebuild itself.
Draft & D-League: Top Five, Smart, 66ers, Czyz
With David Stern putting all his weight behind the positive evolution of the D-League, it’s only natural for that avenue of player development to be contrasted with the more traditional one. Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s news and notes from the draft and the D-League here:
- The kickoff of the NBA season isn’t complete without our first wave of NBA mock drafts. Chad Ford provides ESPN insiders a look at what the first round might look like in June 2014. In what some pundits are dubbing the best draft since 2003, Ford predicts a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid and Dante Exum.
- Speaking of Oklahoma State’s Smart, the sophomore point guard is still unsure that he made the right decision to return to school last April, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Considering the shocking results of last June’s draft, it probably isn’t far fetched to say that Smart would have been the best player on the board when the Cavs went on the clock.
- The Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, have acquired the number one pick in tomorrow night’s D-League draft along with Ben Uzoh in a three team deal with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Along with other picks tomorrow night, Diante Garrett and Lorenzo Brown were also involved in the deal.
- Polish forward Olek Czyz has signed a deal to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Sportando reports on Twitter. The Bucks, who use Fort Wayne as their D-League affiliate, cut Czyz on Saturday after he spent training camp with the team, indicating that they protected his D-League rights. Czyz played at Duke and Nevada before going undrafted in 2012. He played last season for Virtus Roma of the Italian League.
Eastern Links: Knicks, Sanders, Cavs, Heat
As we look forward to Derrick Rose and the Bulls hosting the Knicks in Chicago tonight, let’s round up a few Eastern Conference notes….
- For the Knicks to become a legit title contender, the team has to acquire a second star to complement Carmelo Anthony or hope that Iman Shumpert develops into that second star, writes Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com.
- In his Q&A with Larry Sanders, Grantland’s Zach Lowe spoke to the Bucks big man about his contract extension, the lawsuit filed against his new agency by old reps, and his goals for the coming season.
- Dan Gilbert called his team’s signing of Andrew Bynum “a pretty easy decision” shortly before Bynum appeared in a game last night for the first time in more than 17 months. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has a full transcript of Gilbert’s comments.
- Heat camp invitees Justin Hamilton, Larry Drew II, and Jarvis Varnado have joined the D-League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (via Twitter).
- Early returns could indicate whether the Nets‘ star-studded approach will fulfill its promise, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
D-League Notes: Draft, Douby, Liggins, C’s
The NBA D-League has released the official list of players eligible to be selected in tomorrow’s draft, which is set to take place at 7:00 pm ET in New York. There are plenty of intriguing names among the 180+ players hoping to be drafted, including a couple 2013 NBA draftees whose NBA rights are still held by their respective teams — Pierre Jackson (Pelicans) and Grant Jerrett (Thunder). Here’s more on the 2013 D-League draft class:
- Potential top-10 picks include James Johnson, DeAndre Liggins, and Quincy Douby, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Johnson and Liggins were recently released by the Hawks and Thunder, respectively, while Douby averaged 31.6 PPG in China last season, including one 75-point game.
- There are a handful of international players eligible to be drafted, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother Athanasios Antetokounmpo, tweets Givony. Givony adds in another tweet that there are prospects from Croatia and Japan in the draft pool as well.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside notes that former NBA veterans Ricky Davis and Salim Stoudamire are among the draft hopefuls.
- The Maine Red Claws, the Celtics‘ D-League affiliate, announced 11 players on their camp roster today, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). That list features Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, and Kammron Taylor, who were in camp with Boston this month.
Central Links: Cavs, Pistons, Bulls, Quinn
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert held court with Cleveland-area reporters before tonight’s opener, touching on a variety of topics, as we noted this evening. Gilbert said he has yet to begin talking about a contract extension for Kyrie Irving, who’ll be eligible for one next summer. Of course, we’re a year and a day away from the deadline for the Cavs and Irving to strike a deal, so Gilbert has plenty of time. Here’s more from another NBA owner as we look around the Central Division:
- Pistons owner Tom Gores followed up on his comments to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News with an address today before the media, including MLive’s David Mayo. He expressed support for Joe Dumars but says he doesn’t want to discuss an extension to the GM’s contract, can’t envision selling the Pistons at any point, and isn’t keen on the idea of moving the team downtown.
- Gores also believes his own recruitment of free agents “has made a difference, in terms of folks coming on board, in knowing that ownership does care and we don’t just use our basketball players as assets.”
- We heard from Shams Charania of RealGM.com earlier that Patrick Christopher will join the Bulls‘ D-League affiliate after failing to make Chicago’s opening-night roster, and the same is the case for Kalin Lucas, who’ll also play for the Iowa Energy, Charania reports. The Bulls waived both on the second day of training camp, leading Mark Deeks of ShamSports to speculate that the team signed them only to facilitate an out in case its other camp invitees got injured. It seems now that Chicago didn’t entirely view them as pawns, since the team apparently wants to keep an eye on their development.
- The Cavs waived Chris Quinn this summer after he briefly reappeared in the NBA last season, and it looks like the 30-year-old is transitioning into his post-playing career. He’s joined the coaching staff at Northwestern, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Western Links: Camby, Lakers, Suns, Jazz
Much of today’s NBA discussion has centered on the surprising opening night result at the Staples Center, where the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers upset Doc Rivers and the Clippers. When the Hoops Rumors team revealed its predictions for the season yesterday, all of us had the Clippers finishing into the top three in the West, while none of us expect the Lakers to make the playoffs.
As we look forward to whatever surprises tonight’s slate of games will bring, let’s check in on a few items out of the Western Conference….
- Although Marcus Camby was waived by the Rockets earlier this week, he hasn’t gone anywhere. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that Camby was back at Rockets practice yesterday, taking the team up on its invitation for him to work with players as he recovers from a foot injury.
- The Lakers‘ Plan B this offseason after they missed out on Dwight Howard was dicey, but it looked awfully good on opening night, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- Paul Coro’s latest column for the Arizona Republic focuses on Channing Frye‘s comeback, the rise of offseason acquisition Miles Plumlee, and the team’s plans for newest Sun Emeka Okafor.
- Timberwolves camp invitee Lorenzo Brown requested and received a trade from the D-League’s Iowa Energy, who sent him to the Springfield Armor, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Minnesota will no longer hold any form of rights, D-League or otherwise, on the 2013 second-rounder.
- Brad Rock of The Deseret News examines Tyrone Corbin‘s job security and argues the Jazz must make the playoffs this season to be considered a success. If that’s the benchmark the team uses, Corbin might not be around much longer.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Westbrook, Kobe, Carney, Rosas
There’s some auspicious news for the Thunder on opening night, as it appears Russell Westbrook could be back as early as two weeks from now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Thunder originally projected he’d miss at least the first month of the season. Here’s more from the West:
- Kobe Bryant addressed extension talks with the Lakers during a Q-and-A session with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, indicating that discussions have yet to begin but will soon. Lakers co-owner Jim Buss said last week that negotiations had already begun.
- Bryant also told Spears that he hasn’t spoken to Carmelo Anthony about free agency next summer. A recent report suggested Anthony would be open to a recruiting pitch.
- Rodney Carney, fresh off a camp stint with the Pelicans, has signed to play in Puerto Rico with Capitanes de Arecibo, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports.
- It appears philosophical differences were at the root of Gersson Rosas‘ decision to resign as Mavs GM today, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, while Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears the Mavs shared the concerns Rosas had about the fit.
- Jazz CEO Greg Miller says he’s OK with the front office’s plan to endure a rough season this year as long as it helps move the team toward a title down the road, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune examines.
- Wolves camp invitee Othyus Jeffers is set to join the team’s D-League affiliate, while second-round pick Lorenzo Brown, whom the team also cut last week, will not, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Celtics Rumors: Brooks, D-League, Osby
Jared Sullinger got some good news and bad news today, as Celtics GM Danny Ainge indicated that the team would pick up the forward’s third-year option for 2014/15. However, the team also announced that Sullinger would be suspended for a game to start the ’13/14 season. While Sullinger had domestic charges against him dismissed in court, the club elected to suspend him for one game for “failing to meet the high expectations we have for all Celtics employees.” As Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes, the former Buckeye understand and accepts the club’s decision.
Here’s more from out of Boston:
- The Celtics don’t intend to exercise MarShon Brooks‘ fourth-year option, as we heard earlier today, and Forsberg has more details from Ainge on the team’s decision: “With MarShon, we haven’t enough chance to evaluate him in a fair way and so we probably won’t pick up his extension. But we will retain his Bird Rights and I’m sure he’ll get plenty of opportunities this year to see if he fits our system.”
- According to Forsberg, Ainge would be open to all four Celtics camp invitees – Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, DeShawn Sims and Kammron Taylor – joining the team’s D-League affiliate. NBA clubs are only allowed to retain the D-League rights for three players, but the Maine Red Claws already held Sims’ rights. Those players have yet to decide on whether to play in the D-League or pursue overseas jobs, so it’s not clear yet which ones will land in Maine.
- The Red Claws are also trying to add another team’s camp invitee, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who reports that the Celtics’ D-League affiliate is attempting to obtain the rights to Romero Osby. Because Osby attended camp with Orlando, his rights belong to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, but the Magic share their D-League affiliate with five other NBA clubs, so their influence is limited. According to Charania, Osby is finalizing a D-League deal, and while the Celtics are in the lead to acquire his rights, the Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, and Nets have also expressed interest.
- Ainge also suggested today that Jordan Crawford won’t be extended by Thursday, but a new deal for Avery Bradley is still a possibility.