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And-Ones: Hield, Pelicans, Drummond

January 31st, 2016 at 2:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The rapid improvement of Buddy Hield‘s 3-point shot leaves Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com skeptical that Hield will bring his record setting accuracy to the NBA level, as Pelton writes in a collaborative piece with ESPN.com’s Chad Ford. The Oklahoma shooting guard is taking 8.3 shots from behind the arc and converting 52.4% of them. The senior hasn’t made more than 39% of his 3-pointers in any other season for the Sooners. Still, both scribes project Hield to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Hield would be a good fit for the Pelicans and he is a realistic target for the team in the upcoming draft, Jeff Duncan of The Time-Picayune opines. The Pelicans are 18-28 on the season, owning the seventh worst record in the league, as our Reverse Standings page shows.
  • The Hawks are expected to recall center Edy Tavares from the Austin Spurs of the D-League as soon as today, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
  • Andre Drummond, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, was the first Piston to be selected to the All-Star game since Allen Iverson, who was voted in by the fans in 2009, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. Ellis notes that Drummond’s accomplishment represents a sign that the team is taking the right steps forward. The last time the Pistons had an All-Star was also the last time they made the postseason.
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Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/30/16

January 30th, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans have been among the NBA’s most active teams in trade talks heading into the February 18th deadline. It was reported this week that New Orleans has been listening to offers for starting point guard Tyreke Evans, who is still battling the effects of arthroscopic surgery conducted on his right knee in October. Evans is signed through the 2016/17 season and will make nearly $11.7MM next year.

Evans isn’t the only Pelican on the trading block, as reports have indicated. The team has also been gauging interest for shooting guard Eric Gordon, who will miss another three to five weeks after breaking his right ring finger, and stretch forward Ryan Anderson. They are both on expiring contracts. In addition, New Orleans has been trying since December to find a taker for center Omer Asik, who signed a five-year deal worth approximately $53MM over the offseason.

It’s no surprise that the Pelicans, who have been among the league’s most disappointing teams, are active in trade discussions. Expectations were high after the team claimed a playoff spot last season, and with Anthony Davis serving as the franchise cornerstone and new coach Alvin Gentry bringing an up-tempo approach, New Orleans was expected to have a bright future.

However, injuries and other factors led to a disastrous 1-11 start before the Pelicans began a slow climb out of the Western Conference basement. They are currently 18-28, good for 12th place in the West, sitting three games behind Portland for the final playoff spot. They have won seven of their last nine games after beating Brooklyn tonight and are just two behind the Blazers in the loss column.

That brings me to tonight’s question: What moves should the Pelicans make between now and the trade deadline? Should they deal Evans, Gordon or Anderson? Is it possible to find someone willing to take on Asik’s contract? Should they go all out to grab a playoff spot this season or should they focus on the future?

Take to the comments section to voice your opinion on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

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Central Notes: Noah, Anderson, Turner

January 29th, 2016 at 7:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls would have preferred to have traded Joakim Noah rather than Taj Gibson, hoping to extract value of some sort from Noah before he has the chance to depart in free agency this summer, executives from around the league said to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The injuries to Noah and Nikola Mirotic have made a Gibson trade even less likely, sources confirmed to Stein. Noah is expected to be out four to six months while Mirotic isn’t likely to return until after the All-Star break.

Here’s the latest from out of the Central Division:

  • The Pistons have interest in Ryan Anderson as a free agent this summer but not as a trade candidate, preferring not to have to relinquish assets to snag him, sources tell Stein in a separate piece. ESPN colleague Zach Lowe of ESPN.com previously reported that Detroit was eyeing the Pelicans stretch four.
  • The Pacers have elected to go with a bigger lineup after experimenting with a small-ball approach earlier in the season, a move that has benefited 2015 draftee Myles Turner, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star notes. “You don’t know when you’re dealing with a rookie, a 19-year-old player, how soon it’s going to come,” coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s going to be some ups and some downs but if you look at this at what we think Myles can be. … This is what this team should look like out there.“
  • The Bulls‘ backcourt tandem of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler are still working on developing on-court chemistry, since the two haven’t shared much time on the floor together thanks to Rose’s many injuries, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes. Butler is excited about the potential of the duo, telling Johnson, “I love playing with him [Rose]. He’s super aggressive. He’s taking great shots. That’s what we need. As long as I follow his lead in that attacking style, we’re going to be really good.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Dead Money: Southwest Division

January 29th, 2016 at 6:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.

There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!

Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Southwest Division, including Jimmer Fredette, who appears on more than one team’s ledger:

Dallas Mavericks

Total= $1,898,129

Houston Rockets

Total= $88,187

Memphis Grizzlies

Total= $1,394,377

New Orleans Pelicans

Total= $115,771

San Antonio Spurs

Total= $507,711

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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Teams Showing Interest In Kings’ Gay, Belinelli

January 29th, 2016 at 5:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There is significant interest around the league regarding multiple players on the Kings’ roster, including Rudy Gay and Marco Belinelli, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relays. Sacramento hasn’t indicated that it is willing to become a seller sitting at 20-26 on the season, Ham adds. With the franchise just a half game out of the final playoff slot in the West, the team would prefer to be buyers at the trade deadline if the right offer were to materialize, Ham notes.

Gay, 29, is owed $13,333,333 next season and possesses a player option for 2017/18 worth $14,263,566. The swingman is enjoying a solid-enough season, though his scoring average is down to 18.0 points per contest after notching 21.1 points per outing in 2014/15. The Pelicans had reportedly offered Sacramento Eric Gordon and Alonzo Gee in exchange for Gay previously, which was obviously declined. New Orleans also reportedly turned down an offer of Gay for Ryan Anderson. Gay has been linked to the Bulls and the Clippers in the past, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. The former No. 8 overall pick out of UConn owns career averages of 18.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists to accompany a slash line of .452/.343/.764.

Belinelli, 29, signed a three-year, $19MM deal with the Kings in July, but he has shot the ball poorly, only connecting on 38.4% of his shots overall. Despite his rough start in Sacramento, Belinelli is a known commodity around the league, Ham notes. His track record of success has teams willing to overlook his slow start, but according to Ham’s source, the team hasn’t been offered much of substance in return for the veteran. Belinelli has made 46 appearances on the year, including one start, and is averaging 10.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.3 minutes per night.

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2016 NBA All-Star Game Reserves Announced

January 28th, 2016 at 6:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA has officially announced the reserves for the 2016 All-Star game, which will be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, February 14th. The names of the reserves were first reported by Carron J. Phillips of The News Journal and confirmed by Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution (All four Twitter links). The starters for both conferences were announced last week, with Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard voted to tip off the exhibition in the West and LeBron James, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Kyle Lowry slated to represent the East.

While the starters are selected by the fans, reserves are chosen by the coaches in each conference, though they are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Listed below are the reserves for the 2016 NBA All-Star game for each conference:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Who was the biggest surprise among the All-Star reserves announced tonight? Share your thoughts with a comment.

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And-Ones: Raptors, Holiday, Middleton, Asik, Draft

January 28th, 2016 at 2:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Attracting a major free agent to Toronto comes down to the team’s success on the court, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri believes, and Toronto is holding up its end of the bargain so far this year, as Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com examines. The Raptors are in second place in the Eastern Conference, thanks in part to a lineup of Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson, offseason signees Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo, and the recently extended Terrence Ross that outscores opponents by a whopping 32.6 points per 100 possessions, Arnovitz notes.

“It’s simple: Win,” Ujiri said. “If you have a good culture, you can attract free agents. We have a very unique opportunity here.”

See more on the Raptors amid the latest from around the NBA:

  • Jrue Holiday has shown flashes of his peak form, and that’s perhaps partly because the Pelicans restricted his minutes earlier in the season as he recovered from a stress reaction in his right leg, writes Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. Would-be trade suitors have been “petrified” about Holiday’s leg issues, though the Pelicans are reluctant to deal him, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote this week. “I think it helped me mentally, for one, preparing mentally to feel good,” Holiday said of the minutes restriction, since lifted. “Not to second-guess myself if I’m making a cut or doing a move, especially when it comes to the point where I’m playing back-to-back and playing a lot of minutes. And physically, I do feel really good right now.”
  • The five-year, $70MM deal that Bucks leading scorer Khris Middleton signed this past offseason is the NBA’s most trade-able contract, opines Keith Smith of RealGM, while Pelicans center Omer Asik‘s five-year pact worth nearly $53MM, also signed this past summer, is the league’s least trade-able deal, Smith writes in a follow-up piece.
  • LSU combo forward Ben Simmons unsurprisingly tops the latest draft rankings from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, with Duke small forward Brandon Ingram second and Providence point guard Kris Dunn third.
  • Raptors D-League power forward Ronald Roberts, who’s averaging 18.4 points in 34.4 minutes per game, tops the latest D-League prospect rankings.
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Pelicans Size Up Market For Tyreke Evans

January 28th, 2016 at 9:47am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans are listening to trade offers for Tyreke Evans and gauging his market value, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports wrote earlier this month that the team had discussions about trading Evans, but it wasn’t clear if the talks were internal or involved other teams.

The former Rookie of the Year has been serving as the starting point guard for New Orleans with Jrue Holiday now in a sixth man role. Evans has dealt all season with the lingering effects of an October arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, as Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate details. Still, an MRI this week was negative, with tendinitis the only issue, according to fellow Advocate scribe Brett Dawson (Twitter link).

New Orleans has also reportedly had talks with other teams involving Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, though Gordon is expected to be out for another three to five weeks with a broken right ring finger, and it appears the team prefers to hold on to Anderson. Those two are on expiring contracts, while Evans, who’s making nearly $10.735MM this season, has one more year left on his deal. Omer Asik‘s name has also reportedly come up in talks, and Scotto wrote in December that the team had made him available to potential trade partners.

It’s been a profound disappointment of a season for the Pelicans so far, as they stand at 16-28, but they’re just three and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Evans is the team’s third leading scorer at 15.2 points per game and shooting 38.8% from 3-point range this season, by far the best percentage of his career.

What should the Pelicans ask in exchange for Evans? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Love, LeBron

January 27th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron
The Cavaliers had talks with the Pelicans about a potential Timofey Mozgov trade, but it didn’t go anywhere, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports in his latest edition of “The Vertical” podcast (audio link, scroll to 53-minute mark). Omer Asik was involved in some talks as well, but Cleveland had no interest in doing a deal, Wojnarowski adds. The Yahoo Sports scribe reported earlier this month that the Cavs had begun to explore the market for Mozgov, who’s making $4.95MM this year in the final season of his deal. See more on the Eastern Conference leaders:
  • No one has wanted to acquire Kevin Love more than Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, Wojnarowski says in the same podcast (scroll to 51-minute mark). Still, podcast guest and Yahoo colleague Chris Mannix suggests it’s too soon for the Cavs to trade Love, who just re-signed with the Cavs to a five-year max deal this past summer. Cavs GM David Griffin wants a versatile, defensive-minded wing player, Mannix hears, speculating that Jae Crowder would fit that bill.
  • Griffin has indicated in the wake of David Blatt‘s firing that the onus is on the players to put the team first, though with little recourse for major roster changes, new head coach Tyronn Lue would likely be the one to face the consequences if the Cavs don’t perform up to their potential, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt examines. “Our most glaring need is to understand and communicate role delineation and team sacrifice,” Griffin said. “We have to have group buy-in and team-first habits in order to become the team that intend to be. We don’t have to concern ourselves with expectations of a destination. We need to work towards tomorrow and honor one another with total commitment every single day.”
  • LeBron James was pointed in his denial that he’s ever undermined a coach in the wake of rumors that he was behind the dismissal of Blatt and sought to have Erik Spoelstra fired, saying that it “does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be.” Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has the details.
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Northwest Notes: Hayward, Durant, Plumlee, Davis

January 26th, 2016 at 9:47am CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz are “poking around” the market for a point guard, several league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. It’s not entirely clear if such efforts are related to the team’s reported 10-day deal with Erick Green, though it would seem given the timing of that agreement, so soon after Raul Neto suffered a concussion Monday, that the team had already been looking. The Heat reportedly rebuffed Utah when it tried to engage them in Mario Chalmers trade talks over the offseason, but the Jazz’s interest in Chalmers was minimal, according to Lowe. The ESPN scribe speculates about other options, including Jrue Holiday, whose leg issues leave teams “petrified” and whom the Pelicans are reluctant to deal, anyway, Lowe reports. Lowe also believes Jeff Teague would be a fit for Utah, but reports that the Hawks have had “major trust issues” with backup Dennis Schröder and are focused on contending this season. In any case, the Jazz appear reluctant to pilfer from their store of future picks, which includes the Warriors unprotected 2017 first-rounder as the relative cost of rookie scale contracts becomes cheaper amid the rapid salary cap escalation, Lowe writes.

“Picks are that much more valuable,” GM Dennis Lindsey said to Lowe.

See more from Utah:

  • The impending financial realities threaten the core of the Jazz, as Lowe details in the same piece, and Gordon Hayward, who can opt out after next season, acknowledged to Lowe that they cast a shadow on his future. “I’m constantly thinking about that,” Hayward said. “Contracts are so short now. A lot of our guys are on their rookie deals, and they’ll come up for extensions. It all might determine whether or not I stay in Utah.”
  • The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater examines the surprising lack of legitimate rumors about Kevin Durant‘s impending free agency, writing that the idea of the Thunder star signing a deal that would allow him to opt out after just one season “has gained traction.” It’s not clear whether that idea is growing on Durant himself or if more people are simply realizing that it would likely represent the most lucrative path for the former MVP. That would allow him to take advantage of a projected $108MM cap for the summer of 2017 and a higher maximum-salary tier, since he’d be a 10-year veteran.
  • The playmaking ability of Trail Blazers offseason acquisitions Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis has helped alleviate the pressure from incumbent guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, as Mike Richman of The Oregonian examines. Plumlee will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
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