Southwest Notes: Adams, Pachulia, D-League
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
- 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.
Southwest Notes: Davis, Smith, Howard
Anthony Davis would trigger the Derrick Rose rule for more lucrative salaries on the extension he signed with the Pelicans this past summer if he’s voted to start the All-Star Game, but so far, he’s only sixth among vote-getters for the three frontcourt positions in the Western Conference (Twitter link via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports). Davis can also earn the higher salaries if he makes an All-NBA team or is named MVP this season.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry praised the effort given by Ish Smith, who was dealt to the Sixers on Thursday, and indicated that the point guard was expendable because of the team’s backcourt depth, John Reid of The Times Picayune relays. “He was great for us,” Gentry said. ”He did everything I asked for him to do. Obviously with Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday coming off restrictions as far as minutes and Norris Cole being healthy, there wasn’t a lot of time for him. This is a good thing for him, too. I think he will play a lot of minutes in Philly. He is a great kid and I think he is going to be in this league a long time.”
- Dwight Howard hasn’t received his customary amount of shot attempts this season with the Rockets, which makes it difficult to judge if the center’s skills are beginning to diminish, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “The more confidence I have on the block, the better I’ll be,” Howard said. “Each day I just continue to work on getting reps, so when I get in the game, I can get to my spot and just finish.” The big man does say that he’s healthy and is trying to limit the distractions any talk regarding his potential free agency next summer may cause his teammates, Watkins adds. “Actually, the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling really good,” Howard continued. “I’ve just been trying to stay free and not allowing any of the noise from the outside, the crazy rumors and all that stuff to affect who I am with my teammates and what we’re trying to accomplish. My body has felt great. I think when you stay stress-free, your body tends to follow.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Ish Smith Trade Fallout: Noel, D’Antoni, Holiday
The Sixers had interest in re-signing Ish Smith this past summer before he signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Wizards in September, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Smith also drew offers of guaranteed money from teams, Calkins writes, indicating that the Sixers were one of them. The deal that Smith inked with Washington is the one he’s still on, since the Pelicans claimed him off waivers in October before trading him to the Sixers on Thursday. See more in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve trade between Philadelphia and New Orleans:
- Nerlens Noel loved playing with Smith last year, so the move will likely please the big man, Moore notes (on Twitter). Noel becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
- New Sixers lead assistant coach Mike D’Antoni is also a fan of Smith and wanted Philadelphia to acquire him, sources told John Reid of The Times Picayune. D’Antoni has a reputation for lifting the performance of point guards, and Smith is set for free agency at season’s end.
- New Orleans plans to keep Jrue Holiday coming off the bench when his minutes restriction is lifted next week, but the team still didn’t envision giving Smith adequate time in the rotation, Reid writes in the same piece.
- The Pelicans created a trade exception equal to Smith’s $947,276 salary, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The exception can help the Pelicans absorb a long-term minimum salary deal they might otherwise be unable to match salaries for, as I explained.