Odds & Ends: Brewer, Bucks, McGrady, Heat
Ronnie Brewer considered signing with the Bulls, Jazz and Lakers before ultimately choosing the Rockets, the 28-year-old swingman tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. He also reiterated his assertion from June that the Thunder were in play to re-sign him, too, but Houston's up-tempo style of play helped sway him. Despite having only a partially guaranteed deal on a team with a league-high 19 players under contract, he's not worried about getting cut. "If I come in and I do what I'm supposed to do, all of that goes out the window," he said to Berman. As Brewer gets set to officially sign his contract, here's more on the league's comings and goings with about a month to go before training camp:
- The Bucks have hired David Morway as assistant GM and Jim Cleamons as the team's top assistant coach, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel.
- So much of Tracy McGrady's talent vanished long before he announced his retirement today, and he went underappreciated in Orlando during his peak years, as John Denton of Magic.com argues. The Magic, Raptors and Rockets are all left wondering what might have been, the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat writes.
- Toure Murry still hasn't committed to the Knicks nearly a month after the club extended him a training camp invitation, but the 6'5" guard is expected to pick a team later this week, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
- In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman discusses the Heat's luxury-tax situation, their mid-level exception, and the possibility of the team signing Richard Hamilton.
- Now that 14 NBA teams have one-on-one relationships with their respective D-League affiliates, the remaining 16 teams are sharing three D-League clubs. Nonetheless, those squads with five or six NBA affiliations can still help young NBA players develop, as Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside outlines.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Odds & Ends: SportVU, NBPA, Harrellson, Warriors
Let's round up a few Friday odds and ends from around the Association….
- A tentative agreement has been reached to install data-tracking camera in each of the NBA's 29 arenas, to be used by all 30 teams, reports Grantland's Zach Lowe. The STATS LLC SportVU cameras had previously been used by half the league's teams, with many of the others holding off in hopes that the NBA would cover the cost (about $100K). The Association has apparently decided to do just that, sooner than many of those clubs expected, according to Lowe.
- The NBPA vote that made Chris Paul the union's new president was a close one, writes Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. Prior to the announcement, few people knew that Paul, who was nominated by his peers, was even running for the position, according to Mullen.
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside examines a few of the best current free agents who played in the D-League last season, including Chris Douglas-Roberts, Lester Hudson, and Kris Joseph.
- Josh Harrellson may have been the 15th player added to the Pistons' roster, but he tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com that he hopes to become more than the team's 15th man at the end of the bench.
- In his latest chat at HoopsWorld, Larry Coon addressed a few interesting topics, including Larry Sanders' extension with the Bucks and the question of how the poison pill provision would be applied to a player on a maximum-salary contract.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com hopes that future NBA commissioner Adam Silver takes after David Stern more than NFL boss Roger Goodell.
- The Warriors have named Casey Hill the head coach of their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Odds & Ends: Sanders, Nets, Jazz, McCarty
Larry Sanders has a brand new deal with the Bucks that will make him the face of the franchise after the departures of Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings. However, he'll have to get accustomed to an entirely new system in Milwaukee this season, writes Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld. Many are expecting a drop off from last season based off what the Bucks lost, but if Sanders can take another step forward, they could still be in the mix for a playoff spot. Here's more from around the Association..
- The Nets announced that they have finalized their coaching staff by hiring assistants John Welch, Joe Prunty, and Charles Klask. That brings the total staff count underneath coaching neophyte Jason Kidd to six.
- The Nets also announced that Doug Overton has been appointed as the head coach of their D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor. Overton enjoyed a lengthy playing career that included two stints with the Nets.
- The Jazz announced that Justin Zanik will serve as an assistant GM. Utah GM Dennis Lindsey says that he's excited about being able to draw on the insight of a former agent, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Walter McCarty confirmed to Jeff Goodman of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter) that he'll be joining the Celtics staff as an assitant coach under Brad Stevens.
Flip Saunders Talks T-Wolves, Roster, D-League
It's only been about three and a half months since Flip Saunders took over for David Kahn as the Timberwolves' head of basketball operations, but it's been a very productive few months for Saunders. Since assuming control of the roster, he has added Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, and Ronny Turiaf, as well as locking up Nikola Pekovic and Chase Budinger to long-term deals.
Saunders recently spoke to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune about Minnesota's offseason and about the next steps for the team. Zgoda's entire interview with Saunders is worth a read, but here are a few of the more notable quotes from the Wolves president and minority owner:
On whether there's anything he knows now about his job that he didn't when he was hired:
"I don’t think so. People talk about the importance of the agents and how they can dictate things; I believe my year with ESPN helped me tremendously in dealing with media and even agents. You understand these people have an agenda and you have to respect what their agenda is. It might not be the same as yours, and you might not like what they’re doing, but it’s not out of spite to you. It’s because they have a job to do. You have to respect that. I understand that more now, and I don’t take it maybe as seriously, to be honest, as I would have in the past."
On what's still on the to-do list now that Pekovic has been re-signed:
"Things I feel can help all those players become better: Get our medical staff and our philosophy together and decide long term how we’ll train these guys so they can be better prepared for the season. We’re going to look at another front-office person. We need to get everything together from a scouting — our analytics — standpoint. There are still a lot of things to do."
On whether the roster needs any more tweaking:
"I don’t think we have any needs. Right now, talking to Rick [Adelman], we feel comfortable with the roster we have. Not only is it balanced, but we feel we have talent at every position. I’ve talked a lot about this team and there are pretty good players out there we don’t even talk about right now: Derrick Williams, J.J. Barea, Dante Cunningham. When you put all those guys together with who we’ve added, you’ve got to feel comfortable."
On whether it's harder to make a $60MM contract offer when you own a share of the team:
"No. Listen, I knew one thing coming into this whether you’re a coach, president or owner: Good players are going to get paid. More than likely, the teams that have the highest payrolls are the teams that happen to win. You’ve got to choose the right guys. You want to be sure they have a certain skill. Pek can score on the block, he’s got great strength and he can rebound. I don’t think those things are going to change."
On whether Muhammad or Dieng will spend any time in the D-League:
"I’m a proponent of minor leagues…. It’s not a punishment league. Guys can get better and gain confidence. We’re going to try to utilize it. I don’t think we’ve used it very much here in the past. If we send somebody down, we’ll send somebody from our staff with them so they don’t feel we’ve forgotten about them. That’s the biggest thing: You don’t want anyone that goes there to feel they’ve been forgotten. Now saying that, we might not have anyone go down there this year, but we are very open about it and we’re going to have a very good relationship with our Iowa team. I’ve talked with [owner] Glen [Taylor]. We’re going to entertain the opportunity a year or two down the road here of purchasing a hybrid NBDL team."
D-Fenders Make MacKinnon Head Coach
The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' D-League affiliate, have named Bob MacKinnon as their head coach, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Eric Pincus.
MacKinnon will replace former Laker center Mark Madsen at the position (Madsen was recently hired by the Lakers to serve as a player development coach on Mike D'Antoni's staff), and serve as the sixth head coach in the franchise's history.
In a statement, D-Fenders President and Chief Executive Joey Buss cited MacKinnon's ability to develop young talent that could someday contribute for the Lakers as a key reason for why the organization chose to hire him.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Wizards, Heat, Hawks
The Hawks acquired five players in the Joe Johnson trade last summer, and with their release of DeShawn Stevenson today, none of the five remain on the team's roster, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution points out via Twitter. GM Danny Ferry has radically reshaped the club in little more than a year, and the Stevenson move wasn't Atlanta's only transaction of the day, as we detail amid other news from the Southeast Division:
- Magic owner Rich DeVos is 87 years old, but he has no plans to sell the club, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes in an early Eastern Conference preview. Instead, he has given his four children shares of the Magic with the intent that the family will continue to own the team for decades to come.
- The Magic would like to pursue a one-to-one affiliation with a D-League team that would be stationed in Florida, but obstacles are in the way, Robbins reports in the same piece. Orlando will be one of six teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. Ideally, the Magic want to have a "hybrid" partnership, wherein they'd run the D-League team's basketball operations while local ownership took care of the business side.
- The Wizards seem likely to push for one of the final three playoff spots in the East, and owner Ted Leonsis believes a postseason berth would be a significant help to the team's hopes of signing a marquee free agent, observes Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel believes that with so many teams with an eye on the lottery, buyouts could come earlier than usual this season. Winderman figures the Heat will be active in the market for bought-out players.
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer completed his staff Friday, hiring Jim Thomas as an assistant, the team announced. Thomas had been serving as a scout for the Thunder.
NBA D-League Affiliations For 2013/14
In 2012/13, 11 NBA teams had single-affiliate relationships with D-League squads. That number has increased to 14 this year, with the NBA’s other 16 teams sharing the remaining three D-League clubs. The league officially announced the D-League affiliations for 2013/14 today, so here’s the complete list:
- Austin Toros: San Antonio Spurs
- Bakersfield Jam: Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz
- Canton Charge: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Delaware 87ers: Philadelphia 76ers
- Erie BayHawks: New York Knicks
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants: Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic
- Idaho Stampede: Portland Trail Blazers
- Iowa Energy: Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards
- Los Angeles D-Fenders: Los Angeles Lakers
- Maine Red Claws: Boston Celtics
- Reno Bighorns: Sacramento Kings
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers: Houston Rockets
- Santa Cruz Warriors: Golden State Warriors
- Sioux Falls Skyforce: Miami Heat
- Springfield Armor: Brooklyn Nets
- Texas Legends: Dallas Mavericks
- Tulsa 66ers: Oklahoma City Thunder
Western Notes: Pekovic, Warriors, Blazers, Mavs
As teams continue to finalize trade and free agent agreements, and peruse the market for hidden value, let's round up a few links related to Western Conference clubs….
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link) still fully expects Nikola Pekovic to be back with the Timberwolves, and hears the big man isn't in contact with the Mavericks.
- The Warriors never called the Lakers to discuss a sign-and-trade for Dwight Howard, since they were never told they were a real contender, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. That aligns with comments owner Joe Lacob made to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News earlier today.
- Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey indicated today to media, including Mike Tokito of the Oregonian (Twitter link), that he prefers to keep an open roster spot during the season, so the team could waive Terrel Harris before November.
- According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Grizzlies considered Brad Stevens before he was hired by the Celtics, and a third unknown team was interested in the former Butler coach as well (Twitter links).
- Having lost last season's D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, to a single-affiliation partnership with the Kings, the Jazz will now align with the Bakersfield Jam, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Jose Calderon doesn't believe the Mavericks necessarily need a star center to compete, as he told 103.3 FM in Dallas (link via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com).
Kings Form D-League Alliance With Reno Bighorns
The Kings will take over the basketball operations of the D-League's Reno Bighorns for the next two seasons, tweets Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee. The Kings attempted to buy the Bighorns outright, and though owner Vivek Ranadive fell short of that goal, Sacramento will have the option to purchase the club at a later point, according to Bizjak (Twitter link).
The deal forms the latest hybrid partnership between an NBA club and its D-League affiliate. The Kings will run the basketball operations for the Bighorns, while local ownership in Reno will have control over the business side. The Kings will be the only NBA team affiliated with the Bighorns, after having to share the club with the Grizzlies and Jazz last year.
The Kings join the Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce), Nets (Springfield Armor), Celtics (Maine Red Claws), Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers), Knicks (Erie BayHawks) and Trail Blazers (Idaho Stampede) as the seventh NBA team to engage in a hybrid partnership. A handful of other NBA teams own their D-League affiliates outright.
Odds & Ends: Rivers, Saric, Clippers, D-League
While the big talk in the NBA right now is whether Doc Rivers will wind up coaching for the Celtics or Clippers next season, there's always the possibility that he takes the 2013/14 season off. If that's the case, Rivers could go from behind the bench to back behind a microphone, a source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. "You guys (media) have been around Doc long enough to know that's always been something he's talked about," the source said. "So it shouldn't come as a surprise. And frankly, now is probably as good a time as any for him to go that route." Here's more from around the Association..
- One team picking in the lottery promised Dario Saric that they would draft him this year if he guaranteed he'd play in the NBA next year, but he said no, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Earlier tonight we learned that the Croatian forward will formally withdraw from the draft tomorrow with an eye on the 2014 draft.
- Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld wonders what the next move for the Clippers will be. The Clippers want to be active on the open market, but it's difficult to project how they will fill out their roster with free agents until they’ve taken care of their own players, especially Chris Paul.
- This weekend's D-League tryouts are over, and Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside rounds up the intriguing prospects.
- Before tonight's game, Heat big man Chris Andersen was asked about his thoughts on George Karl's dismissal from the Nuggets. “It’s never a good feeling to get released or get fired, so I can imagine how he feels," the former Nugget said, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.