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Latest On Pelicans Front Office

January 11th, 2016 at 1:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

An increasing volume of chatter indicates that it’s “only a matter of time” before the Pelicans hire former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars to run their front office, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, who also oversees the NFL’s Saints, has exerted greater control of the team lately in his role, which puts him above GM Dell Demps, but rival executives say that’s only temporary, with one exec calling him a football guy, not a basketball guy, according to Berger.

Dumars, a Louisiana native, has a close relationship with Pelicans owner Tom Benson, Berger notes. Loomis and other Pelicans officials reportedly met multiple times with Dumars in the fall of 2014, though the team said in May that it hadn’t had talks with Dumars about any potential job. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote shortly thereafter that people around the league had believed for a while that Dumars would eventually replace Loomis atop the Pelicans basketball hierarchy, and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote in early May that Dumars was in play for a role that would place him above Demps in the organization. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher said a year ago that Benson was eyeing Dumars as a possible future hire. Demps said this spring, on the day that the team fired coach Monty Williams, that Loomis had told him the rumors about Dumars were untrue.

The Pelicans are enduring a nightmare season after a rash of October injuries laid waste to many of new coach Alvin Gentry‘s plans. New Orleans is 11-25, though the team appears to be resisting the notion of trading soon-to-be free agent Ryan Anderson, despite reports of talks with the Suns that involved Anderson and Markieff Morris. The Pelicans, who have an open roster spot, reportedly expressed interest in trading for Solomon Hill, though that was more than a month ago. The team has since traded Ish Smith to the Sixers for a pair of second-round picks.

Dumars had high-profile hits and misses in his nearly 14-year tenure in charge of the Pistons, constructing the 2004 NBA champions and drafting Darko Milicic. He stepped down from atop the team’s front office in April 2014.

To find out more about Loomis and his future with the Saints, check out the rumors pages dedicated to Loomis and the Saints on our sister site, Pro Football Rumors, and follow @pfrumors on Twitter.

Western Notes: Evans, Clippers, Mavericks

January 9th, 2016 at 8:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Tyreke Evans is still having difficulty adapting to the offensive system of first year coach Alvin Gentry, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. Reid notes that Gentry’s system requires quick ball movements and at times, Evans is holding onto the ball too long instead of making quick passes. New Orleans is averaging 98.8 points per 48 minutes as a team, but with Evans in the game, the pace drops to 95.6 points per 48 minutes. Evans missed the first 17 games of the season while he was recovering from knee surgery, and the team understands it’s going to take time for him to pick up the system.

”He didn’t have the luxury of even being in training camp or playing in any preseason games,” Gentry said. ”It’s still fairly new to him. It’s not like he doesn’t want to do it. He played a style of basketball we got to try and convert to another style. That’s not easy to do on his part either. I know he wants to do it, I don’t have any doubt about that. We just got to keep working on it. I think we also have to do as coaches adjust and put him in situations also where he’s comfortable.”’

The Pelicans are 11-24 on the season, but they remain only four games back of the Jazz for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Here are some notes from a few teams above them in the playoff race:

The Clippers could use a small forward upgrade and they should look to the trade market to find it, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders argues. The team has won eight straight, but if Los Angeles is going to compete with the upper echelon of the Western Conference, it needs to add another play-maker on the wing. The scribe names Lance Stephenson, Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith as realistic trade assets.
The Mavericks could also use small forward help with Chandler Parsons struggling to find his mid-season form, Greene opines in the same piece. Aside from Parsons, Dallas doesn’t have a true small forward on the roster and Greene adds that it could realistically dangle Devin Harris or Raymond Felton in order to find some wing depth.
Coach Rick Carlisle believes that Parsons, who could become a free agent this offseason if he declines his player option, is making progress on the court, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “I liked his aggression [in New Orleans],” Carlisle said of Parsons’ 21 point performance against the Pelicans on Wednesday. “It’s another step along the way. I said it’s probably going to be late December, early January before you can start keeping stats on him with any accuracy because of the comeback and rehab and conditioning. I feel now that it’s going to be the All-Star break before he really has his legs under him. There are going to be some ups and downs, but we’re seeing a lot more ups than downs.”

Southwest Notes: Adams, Pachulia, D-League

January 8th, 2016 at 6:06pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Grizzlies shooting guard Jordan Adams is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right knee this Tuesday and there is currently no timetable for his return to action, the team announced. The procedure Adams will undergo is similar to the one big man Brandan Wright had back in December, and Wright was given a timetable of six to eight weeks for his recovery, Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal notes (via Twitter). The team also relayed in the press release that power forward Jarell Martin sustained a bone bruise in his left foot while on assignment to the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate in Iowa and his condition will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Mavericks center Zaza Pachulia is currently in his 13th season in the NBA and he appreciates all the opportunities that he has been given throughout his career, the big man told Rainer Saban of The Dallas Morning News. “I wouldn’t change anything, honestly. I would just keep everything because there is a reason why I am here at this point,” Pachulia said. “As you know, the average career for an NBA player is 4.5 years, 5 years. I doubled it so I must be doing something right — not only being out here, but I am enjoying playing basketball and I have great teammates, I am in a great organization with a great coaching staff. And we’re winning the games. I am fortunate to be in this situation. I wouldn’t change anything, obviously.“
The Pelicans have been attempting to replicate the fast-paced offense of the Warriors but have experienced mixed results thus far, Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate writes. “I think it’s been OK,” said coach Alvin Gentry, who was the lead assistant for the Warriors last year. “At the end of the day, we still want to play with more pace than we’re playing with.” The Pelicans are currently ranked 10th in the NBA in pace, averaging 98.8 possessions per 48 minutes, Dawson notes.
The Grizzlies have recalled James Ennis and Martin from their D-League affiliate in Iowa, the team announced. Ennis is averaging 20.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal in 38.1 minutes per game for the Energy this season.

Western Notes: Davis, McDaniels, Lawson

January 7th, 2016 at 10:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Anthony Davis‘ maximum salary extension kicks in next season, and the Pelicans will have five years to show the power forward that New Orleans can be a championship contender, though the organization doesn’t feel like it is “on the clock” with its star player, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “If you look at a situation like that where it is five years,” coach Alvin Gentry said when asked if he feels pressure regarding Davis, “and you’ve got five years to make something happen and keep a guy here — the one thing that [GM] Dell Demps and [team executive] Mickey Loomis have done is that they’ve taken Anthony and surrounded him with really good people, really good players. There is an opportunity for us. When we get everybody healthy, we feel like we can compete with everyone. There is time to get things right.”

Though the team has downplayed the notion that Ryan Anderson will be traded prior to February’s deadline, NBA executives believe that if New Orleans is to make any personnel moves this season it will involve the power forward, Deveney relays. “He is really the only one that has value if you’re a playoff team,” one NBA executive said of Anderson. “I wouldn’t say they’re shopping him, as far as I know, but I would say they’re listening [to offers].”

Here’s the latest from out West:

The NBA has suspended Rockets point guard Ty Lawson three games for the second of his two DUI arrests last year, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays. The league previously suspended Lawson for two games after he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in Denver last January, and this latest suspension stems from a DUI arrest last June in Los Angeles.
The Timberwolves continue to suffer from a lack of outside shooting and youthful mistakes and interim coach Sam Mitchell has until the end of the season to turn around these deficiencies if he hopes to be named head coach on a permanent basis, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. Mitchell needs to prove to team management that he is indeed the person best suited to develop the franchise’s young talent, Rand adds.
The Rockets have assigned swingman K.J. McDaniels to their D-League affiliate, Feigen notes (via Twitter). This will be McDaniels’ fourth trek to Rio Grande Valley on the season.

Pelicans To Retain Toney Douglas

January 7th, 2016 at 3:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pelicans intend to retain combo guard Toney Douglas past 4:00pm Central today, when his partially guaranteed contract would become fully guaranteed, league sources told Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter). That means his full $1,164,858 salary will remain on New Orleans’ books, unless the team trades him between now and the February 18th trade deadline.

New Orleans signed the 29-year-old guard back in October after it had waived Nate Robinson. Douglas is currently in his second stint with the Pelicans after signing two 10-day contracts and a multiyear deal with the team last season. The Pelicans had waived him back in July to avoid guaranteeing his salary for this season. Douglas had also spent time during the preseason this year with the Pacers prior to catching on with New Orleans.

Douglas has made 19 appearances for the Pelicans this season and is averaging 6.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 14.7 minutes per night. His career numbers through seven NBA campaigns are 7.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists to go along with a slash line of .406/.354/.824.

Western Notes: Anderson, Gentry, Morris, Butler

January 7th, 2016 at 10:30am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans are unlikely to trade Ryan Anderson this season, according to coach Alvin Gentry, as John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. Reid reiterates his earlier report that Anderson’s name was involved in preliminary talks with the Suns about a Markieff Morris trade, though nothing has materialized on that front, Reid says.

”Everyone knows that Ryan’s name is going to be out there,” Gentry said. ”We have made not one call about trading Ryan, nor will we. So those are the kind of things that’s going to happen that people are going to inquire about. Once you’ve been in the league for a couple of years, everyone knows that’s part of it.”

New Orleans has listened to teams that have inquired about Anderson, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last month, so while the Pelicans might not be making calls, it seems they’ve at least taken them. In any case, see more from New Orleans amid the latest from the Western Conference:

Any trade the Pelicans make will come via mutual consent between Gentry and GM Dell Demps, Gentry also said, as Reid notes in the same post.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough thinks the talent on his roster is better than the team’s record indicates, though he feels some change is necessary, as he said Wednesday on the “Burns and Gambo” show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and as Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com transcribes. McDonough said a Morris trade wasn’t necessarily close but otherwise gave few hints in that regard. “Look, we’re not going to sit here and put our head in the sand and act like everything’s OK and we’re doing everything fine,” McDonough said. “We obviously need to make some changes and we’ll explore those things as aggressively as we usually do.”
Doc Rivers confirmed Wednesday that the Clippers will keep Luc Mbah a Moute and his non-guaranteed contract on the roster past the close of business today, the last day NBA teams have to waive players without guaranteed salary for this season before it becomes guaranteed, notes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Rivers said a few weeks ago that it was “probably safe” to assume the team would keep Mbah a Moute for the rest of the season. The 29-year-old, who’s making the minimum salary, has been in the Clippers starting lineup since late November.
Jabari Young of the San Antonio News-Express gets the feeling that the Spurs will keep Rasual Butler‘s non-guaranteed contract past today, thus guaranteeing his minimum salary (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Rondo, Gentry, Kerr

January 6th, 2016 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One aspect of Alvin Gentry‘s coaching style that has endeared him to his players on the Pelicans is his willingness to hold all players equally accountable, including star power forward Anthony Davis, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”That’s how you get credibility in this league as a coach,” point guard Norris Cole said. ”The top coaches are tough on everybody, including the star players. They always say, it starts at the top, coach is consistent. It doesn’t matter who you are; if he feels he needs to get on you, he will get on you. If you look at all the great coaches, they get on their star players before they get on anybody else. We respect coach and he’s consistent with what he’s trying to bring and what wants out of us.”

Davis welcomes Gentry’s input, even if it means the coach being hard on him, Reid notes. ”He gets on everybody coaches, players,” Davis said. ”He doesn’t care who it is because he wants all of us to be better. If that’s what it takes for us to be better then I’m down for it. Like I said, he got on me during Saturday’s game and I was totally fine. Perk [Kendrick Perkins] gets on me, I don’t care. I know that they have my best interests [in mind].”

Here’s the latest from out West:

Despite his strong individual numbers this season, point guard Rajon Rondo has not improved the Kings‘ offense, and the team has actually been statistically more efficient when the point guard is on the bench, Mika Honkasalo of HoopsHype writes in his analysis of the team. Sacramento has been outscored by 5.4 points per 100 possessions with Rondo on the floor, and the Kings have actually outscored teams by 1.5 points without Rondo, Honkasalo notes.
The Warriors still don’t know when Steve Kerr will be able to return to coaching the team and much still depends on how Kerr’s body responds to travel, Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays. “He’s trying,” GM Bob Myers said. “He wants to get back, but it’s just tough right now. He’s not able to do it, and we hope it will be soon. “So he’s kind of putting his toe in the water, getting on the road with the team to see how he can handle that, handle the travel and the up and downs of the road. If he can get through that OK, then we’ll see. But it’s tough for me. If you had him on right now, he’d probably tell you he doesn’t know [how soon he might be back]. So for me to say anything is just speculation.”

And-Ones: McCalebb, Looney, Chandler

January 4th, 2016 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Bo McCalebb, who was cut by the Pelicans during the preseason, has signed with the French club Limoges CSP, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). McCalebb, 30, has played overseas since going undrafted in 2008, save for a summer league stint with the Kings in July of that year and his time this fall with the Pelicans. He was the top scorer in the Euroleague in 2011/12, notching 16.9 points per game for Siena of Italy. McCalebb played for FC Bayern Muenchen of Germany last season, when he averaged 4.8 assists per game to go along with 12.4 points in 25.7 minutes per contest.

Here’s more from around the league:

In light of the season-ending injury that point guard Eric Bledsoe suffered, the Suns need to focus on developing younger players like Devin Booker, T.J. Warren and Alex Len, Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM writes. Phoenix should consider trading center Tyson Chandler, whose signing made sense when the team was pursing LaMarcus Aldridge over the summer, but now the veteran only serves to cut into Len’s playing time, Tjarks adds.
The Warriors have assigned combo forward Kevon Looney to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via a press release. The rookie becomes the first player Golden State has sent to Santa Cruz on the season.
Sixers coach Brett Brown noted that new team executive Jerry Colangelo was the one who orchestrated the signing of veteran forward Elton Brand, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports relays (on Twitter).
The Raptors plan on utilizing their D-League affiliate to help Anthony Bennett work through the back issues he is currently experiencing, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net tweets. The combo forward has made two trips to the Raptors 905 on the season thus far.

Southwest Rumors: Terry, Davis, Mavericks

December 29th, 2015 at 9:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran Rockets point guard Jason Terry is baffled by his team’s mediocre season, according to Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. Their outings late last week, when they upset the Spurs on Christmas night and then were defeated by the last-place Pelicans the following evening, provide a perfect backdrop to Terry’s befuddlement, Creech continues. “It’s a wake-up call to have a performance like we did against San Antonio and then come back and follow that up with a poor performance against a New Orleans team that has struggled all season,” Terry told Creech. “That was a big step backwards. We have to stop playing in these spurts. It is frustrating but it also makes me optimistic because I know what we are capable of doing.” Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff sees Terry as part of the solution and plans to give him steady minutes after shuffling his point guard rotation, Fran Blinebury of NBA com reports. “I just feel like we need him on the floor,” Bickerstaff said. “There’s times where he needs the rest, obviously. But big moments in big games, he’s one of the guys that I trust the most.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Pelicans star power forward Anthony Davis is frustrated with his team’s spotty effort, Andrew Lopez of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes. Davis vented to Lopez after the team’s loss to the Magic on Monday. “We just don’t play hard all the time,” he said. “That starts with our first unit coming out and setting the pace and setting the tone for the rest of the game and setting the tone for the guys that sub in, especially after halftime. That’s kind of been our thing this year. It starts with the first unit and it starts with me.”
Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons are rounding to form for the Mavericks after their extensive rehab from major injuries, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports. Matthews, who was signed to a four-year, $70M contract during the offseason while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, is averaging 15.2 points and making 41.2% of his 3-point attempts in December. Parsons, who underwent microfracture knee surgery, has averaged 14.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists the past three games after having his minutes restrictions lifted, MacMahon continues. “Both of these guys stated very clearly when their injuries happened that their goal was not only to be back, but to be back better than before,” coach Rick Carlisle told MacMahon and other media members. “To do that, it’s going to be a long-term proposition. … They’re both doing well. And they’ll do better and better and better as the season goes along.”
The Spurs assigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team’s website announced. McCallum, who is averaging 1.6 points in 7.1 minutes in 13 appearances with San Antonio, has already appeared in five games with Austin.

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Benson, Leonard

December 27th, 2015 at 8:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Marcus Thornton is growing frustrated with his fluctuating minutes for the Rockets, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Thornton was an integral part of the Rockets rotation earlier this season, when he started amid injuries, but his playing time has dwindled and become inconsistent.

“It’s very difficult,” Thornton said. “I have to keep myself in the game, see what’s going on from afar from the bench. When I get in, keep doing what I’ve been doing my whole life, put the ball in the basket. I have no reason at all. That’s the frustrating part. You don’t know. You have to go with whatever is going on and be ready.”

Thornton signed a fully guaranteed one-year deal for the minimum salary with Houston before the season. See more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans owner Tom Benson has no intention of selling the team or the NFL’s Saints, as he made clear in a statement responding to a front-page editorial from Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune that argued Benson, 88, should sell the teams because of the legal fight over whom should inherit them upon his death.
Kawhi Leonard won the Defensive Player of the Year award shortly before signing his new five-year max contract this past summer, and he’s further justifying the pact with surprisingly strong offensive contributions this season, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News examines. “He’s an amazing defender and now he’s turning into the same kind of player on the offensive end,” Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich said. “He’s a pretty special young man.”
Nick Johnson will play for the D-League affiliate of the Spurs, a source told Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor, as we passed along earlier. Click here to see more.