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Latest On Celtics, Tayshaun Prince

January 28th, 2015 at 10:43am CST by Eddie Scarito

JANUARY 28TH: Sources tell Bulpett that Prince will push to leave the Celtics, a notion that the forward hinted at publicly.

“Obviously I want to be in a winning situation,” Prince said. “Everybody wants to be in a winning situation, make no mistake about it, especially toward the end of your career. But at the end of the day, it’s about doing what’s right and going out there and having fun. If you get to the point where I am in my career after all these years, you just want to go out there and have a chance to win and do the right things.”

JANUARY 24TH: The Celtics still wish to trade Prince prior to the February deadline, and are seeking a future draft pick in return, Bulpett reports. There have been reports that Boston would attempt to work out a buyout deal if they failed to find a taker for Prince. But Celtics coach Brad Stevens may lobby for the team to keep the forward if a trade fails to materialize, Bulpett adds. Stevens believes that Prince can help the franchise with both with his talent and leadership, Bulpett notes. Stevens also added, “I think there’s no question about his value, but also there’s the fact that he’s a veteran who knows how to,” the coach said. “The other thing is he just has such great poise and presence. Tayshaun just knows how to play. There’s a lot of things that come very natural to him. I think natural is right, but also he’s been in the league for 13 years.”

JANUARY 19TH: A buyout deal with Prince is likely in the event the Celtics don’t end up trading him, Bulpett writes.

JANUARY 18TH: The Celtics are expected to attempt to trade Prince, and perhaps do a buyout deal if they can’t find a taker, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Prince told reporters including Bulpett that all options remain in play, adding that talks about his future with Boston took place today for the first time. The Clippers and Prince reportedly have mutual interest, though the Clips would rather sign him post-buyout than trade for him.

“But the most important thing is, even though all options are on the table, my job is to be a Boston Celtic at this point in time and help where help is needed,” Prince said. “So that’s the main thing, and I can’t have one foot in and one foot out the door right now — even though everything’s on the table. That would be wrong on my behalf. So we’ll see how it plays out.”

4:40pm: Ainge and Prince will meet in Los Angeles during Boston’s upcoming trip to the West Coast to discuss Prince’s future with the club, and it’s not out of the question that Prince would remain with the Celtics, Murphy tweets.

JANUARY 15TH, 9:14am: The Celtics are exploring potential trades involving Prince as they seek more draft picks, and a buyout is a “secondary option,” according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. They can’t aggregate his salary in a swap, since they just acquired him via trade, but they’re otherwise still allowed to flip him.

JANUARY 13TH, 6:44pm: Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link) reports that “no substantive talks” have taken place between Prince and the Celtics regarding a buyout yet.

6:27pm: Prince is unlikely to ever don a Celtics uniform, and the two sides are making progress on reaching a buyout agreement, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe reports (Twitter link).

4:43pm: The Celtics continue to reshape their roster with an eye on the future. Boston and newly acquired forward Tayshaun Prince are negotiating toward a buyout arrangement, Chris Mannix of SI.com reports (Twitter link). No agreement has been reached just yet, Mannix adds. Prince is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and is making $7,707,865 in the final year of his deal.

Prince came to Boston as part of the three-way deal between the Celtics, Grizzlies, and Pelicans that sent forward Jeff Green to Memphis. But with Boston obviously building toward next season and wanting to get a better look at younger assets, Prince seemed like an obvious candidate to be dealt to a contending team or to reach a buyout arrangement that would allow him to try and catch on with a squad in the playoff hunt. The Cavs have been reported to have interest in the 34-year-old if he were to become a free agent.

In a career spanning 908 games, Prince has averaged 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. His slash line is .455/.368/.758. He was averaging 7.3 PPG and 3.2 RPG for Memphis this season prior to being dealt.

Bucks Sign Jorge Gutierrez To 10-Day Deal

January 28th, 2015 at 10:19am CST by Eddie Scarito

10:19am: The deal is official, the Bucks announced. Milwaukee makes no reference to a corresponding move in its statement, so it appears that they indeed moved Sanders to the suspended list to create room to carry 16 players.

WEDNESDAY, 9:43am: Milwaukee will take Gutierrez into a roster vacancy the team can create by moving Sanders to the suspended list, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (All Twitter links). Sanders served the fifth game of his league-imposed suspension Tuesday, so the Bucks are allowed to move him to the suspended list.

TUESDAY, 11:53pm: The Bucks intend to sign Jorge Gutierrez to a 10-day contract in the near future, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reports. The Bucks currently have 15 players on their roster, including Kenyon Martin, whose second 10-day contract is set to expire this week. Martin is expected to be signed by Milwaukee to a deal that covers remainder of the season by the end of this week. If the veteran is signed as expected, this will require the team to waive or release a player in order to add Gutierrez to its roster.

The need for a point guard arose when Kendall Marshall was lost for the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Their sudden shortage at the one spot could potentially make the Bucks regret their decision to waive Nate Wolters in order to add Martin to the team. Wolters has signed two consecutive 10-day deals with New Orleans since being released by the Bucks. Center Larry Sanders is also currently serving a drug-related suspension that will last a minimum of 10 games, further adding to Milwaukee’s roster woes.

Gutierrez has been playing in the D-League for the Canton Charge, the Cavs’ affiliate. He opted to enter the D-League after being waived by the Sixers earlier in the season. This was shortly after Philadelphia had acquired him from the Nets in the deal for Andrei Kirilenko. In 10 NBA appearances with Brooklyn this season, Gutierrez has averaged 1.6 points in 4.4 minutes per game.

In six D-League appearances with Canton this season, Gutierrez has averaged 15.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 35.6 minutes per contest. His slash line is .456/.143/.621.

And-Ones: Smith, Pelicans, Hornets

January 27th, 2015 at 10:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

J.R. Smith believes that being away from the nightlife of New York will help improve his game and focus, TNT’s David Aldridge, writing in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com reports. The Cavs guard said, “I think this is the best situation for me, ’cause there’s nothing but basketball. There’s nothing you expect but basketball. There’s nothing, there’s no going out, there’s no late nights. There’s video games, basketball and basketball. So it’s a great thing, ’cause I go back to where I came from. When I grew up, I never, I wasn’t allowed to go out.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Smith also intimated that he wished things would have worked out with the Knicks, and wanted to become successful in the triangle offense, Aldridge adds. “I wanted to be one of the players that understood it, that got it,” Smith said. “The two greatest players in the world at my position played in it [Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant], and thrived in it, got all the accolades and championships and whatever else came with it. I wanted to be a part of that significant group. Not that I think I’m like those two guys in any way, but to be a part of the building process that that’s the base of, and go from there.”
Pelicans and Saints owner Tom Benson is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit that his heirs have filed regarding the control of the two franchises, Brett Martel of The Associated Press writes. Benson’s legal stance is that he made a “deliberate, reasoned and difficult decision” to change his succession plan so that Gayle Benson, his wife of 10 years, inherits control of the team, Martel notes.
The Pacers have assigned Shayne Whittington to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star reports (Twitter link). This will be Whittington’s initial D-League assignment of the season.
Hornets GM Rich Cho isn’t willing to sacrifice any long-term assets in his search for a backup point guard, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I think one of the worst things you can do is lose [draft] picks and flexibility and then get caught in a corner,” Cho said. “That’s one of the challenges of this job: You’ve got to balance winning now with winning in the future.”

Southwest Notes: Rockets, Terry, Mavericks

January 24th, 2015 at 8:33pm CST by Charlie Adams

What are the Rockets‘ chances of luring free-agent-to-be Goran Dragic? As good as anyone’s, the Suns’ guard tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Every team in the NBA is an option to me, because it is a privilege to play for any team in the NBA,” Dragic said. “When the time comes I’m going to sit down with my family and my agent and try to make the best decision for myself.” Dragic, who is expected to opt out of a $7.5MM player option and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, insists he has no resentment toward the Rockets for letting him go in 2012.

There’s much more from the Southwest Division:

At age 37, Rockets guard Jason Terry has no thoughts of retirement, Feigen reports. “I think I can play until the age 40,” Terry said. “That’s my goal, something that I set out to do when I first came into the league. My idol is Gary Payton. He played 20 years. Hopefully I can do the same.” Terry is making nearly $6MM this season and will become a free agent in July.
The uncertainty currently surrounding the Pelicans‘ ownership is just the latest example of the instability that has plagued the franchise, Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune writes. The intra-family dispute regarding who will be in charge of the team could potentially scare off prospective free agents from signing long-term deals, Smith opines. With the franchise bereft of draft choices for the immediate future, New Orleans’ growth as a team could be severely hampered as a result, Smith adds.
Forbes valued the Mavericks franchise at $1.15 billion, good for 10th highest of any NBA team, but Mark Cuban thinks the figure is off by “about 150%,” as Corbett Smith of the Dallas Morning News details. Still, Cuban adds that any valuation is irrelevant since the team isn’t for sale.
Cuban said former Maverick Shawn Marion can have a job with the team when his playing days are over, Smith reports in a separate story. Marion, now with the Cavaliers, said Wednesday he will retire when this season is over.

Charlie Adams contributed to this report.

Pelicans Sign Wolters To Second 10-Day Deal

January 24th, 2015 at 11:12am CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 11:12am: The signing is official, the Pelicans have announced via a press release.

8:58pm: Karnes has confirmed the deal via his Twitter account.

THURSDAY, 8:52pm: The Pelicans are expected to sign guard Nate Wolters to a second 10-day contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The first is set to expire at the end of Friday. New Orleans will have to decide whether to keep the 23-year-old for the rest of the season at the end of his next 10 days with the team, since clubs can only sign any one player to two 10-day contracts in a single season.

Wolters has seen fewer minutes per game for the Pelicans than he did with the Bucks before they released him to sign Kenyon Martin instead, but that figures to change with New Orleans starting point guard Jrue Holiday sidelined for two to four weeks. The Pelicans have given Wolters 10.5 MPG, but the Jared Karnes client started 31 games as a rookie last season for Milwaukee.

A need at the point guard position has cropped up for the Bucks since they let Wolters go, as Kendall Marshall tore his ACL last week, knocking him out for the season. Still, Milwaukee apparently intends to keep Martin around as its 15th man, as the Bucks have reportedly agreed to a deal for the rest of the season with him, even though his second 10-day contract just began on Monday. Wolters has been occupying the 14th spot on the New Orleans roster, so the Pelicans remain flexible.

Benson Family Sues For Control Of Pelicans

January 22nd, 2015 at 2:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tom Benson’s daughter and two of his grandchildren have filed suit seeking control of the Pelicans and the National Football League’s Saints in response to Benson’s announcement today that his wife will control the teams upon his death, reports Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. The filing in Orleans Parish Civil District Court claims the 87-year-old Benson is unfit to manage his teams and seeks to install Gayle LeBlanc, Benson’s daughter, as the executor of his sports and business affairs, with granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc in a secondary position, as Duncan details. Benson LeBlanc was to inherit the teams prior to Benson’s announcement earlier today. Benson grandson Ryan LeBlanc is also one of the petitioners in the suit, Duncan notes.

The suit alleges that Benson’s wife, Gayle Benson, is attempting to take advantage of her husband, and it claims that the owner’s health is in much worse shape than publicly known, according to Duncan. Tom Benson has conceded that his health has declined over the last year after two knee surgeries, as USA Today’s Jim Corbett wrote earlier today.

The Pelicans are the third-least valuable team in the NBA, according to Forbes, which released its annual survey of team values this week. Still, the franchise’s $650MM worth represents a sharp increase over last year, when Forbes pegged it at $420MM.

The Pelicans suit is reminiscent of the battle over the Clippers this past summer. Shelly Sterling successfully wrested control of the Clippers from husband Donald Sterling after claiming that he was no longer fit to manage the franchise and sold the team for $2 billion for former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Western Notes: Holiday, Aldridge, Goodwin

January 21st, 2015 at 8:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday is expected to miss two to four weeks of action after tests revealed that he has developed a stress reaction in his lower right leg, the team has announced. The injury is in the same leg that required surgery during the 2013/14 campaign. In 37 appearances this season, Holiday is averaging 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 33.7 minutes per game.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Josh Davis, who was in training camp this season with the Spurs, is leaving the D-League to sign a contract with the Meralco Bolts in the Philippines, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Davis has appeared in 22 games for Austin, San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, averaging 13.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 34.0 minutes per contest.
The Suns have informed inquiring teams that Archie Goodwin is a big part of the franchise’s future, Charania writes in a separate article. Goodwin’s comments about being frustrated with his playing time were taken out of context, according to his agent, Charles Briscoe, Charania notes. “Archie doesn’t want out of Phoenix,” Briscoe said. “His words have been twisted in a recent article: We’re willing to wait for Archie’s opportunity. Any player in the NBA wants to play immediately, but we understand that Phoenix is in a playoff push. If we have to wait for next year, we’re OK with that. We know he will get his opportunity, and he’ll be ready.”
A number of league executives have brought up the possibility that LaMarcus Aldridge could sign with the Spurs this summer, something that Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News thinks is highly unlikely to occur. Either Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili would need to retire for San Antonio to free up enough cap space to sign Aldridge, and neither player is a safe bet to stop playing, McCarney notes.. Aldridge would also have to sacrifice roughly $30MM in salary to leave the Blazers, which is also improbable, McCarney adds.
The Clippers have recalled C.J. Wilcox from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League, the Mad Ants have announced. Wilcox has appeared in five games for Fort Wayne this season, averaging 13.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest.

Western Notes: Young, Clippers, Lin, Waiters

January 21st, 2015 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nick Young wants to help the Lakers recruit marquee free agents this summer, but he was worried that there wouldn’t have been room for the club to re-sign him this past offseason if the Lakers had landed a star then, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Young said. “I was nervous and scared. I wanted to be here, but I kept hearing all the Carmelo [Anthony] rumors and Kobe [Bryant] having dinner with Carmelo. I knew once they paid him all that money, there would be none for me.”

Young, who inked a four-year, $21.326MM deal with the Lakers in July, told Medina that the Pelicans, Mavs and Bulls also had interest in him, and agent Mark Bartelstein told Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com this summer that there had been contact with the Hawks. There’s more from L.A. amid the latest from the Western Conference:

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers expects to use his pair of open roster spots on veterans next month, writes Arash Markazi of ESPN.com, suggesting that the team will again target the post-buyout market as it did last year.
Dion Waiters, who’s up for a rookie scale extension this summer, says he “couldn’t ask for a better situation” than the one he finds himself in since the trade that sent him to the Thunder, as he tells The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry. “They brought me in since Day One with love,” Waiters said of his new teammates. “It seems like I’ve been here forever. It seems like I’ve been playing with them forever, too. When I came here, we clicked right away.”
Jeremy Lin has his moments for the Lakers, but he continues to struggle to live up to the backloaded three-year, $25.124MM deal he signed with the Rockets in 2012, much less his dazzling “Lin-sanity” run with the Knicks, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register examines. Lin is set for free agency this summer.

Southwest Notes: Jones, Green, Pelicans

January 19th, 2015 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Two months after fearing his NBA career would end prematurely, the Rockets‘ Terrence Jones is preparing to return, reports Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. Still recovering from a nerve issue in his left leg, Jones has been going through intense workouts and plans to start playing again soon, though no firm date is set. “I am more active than I’ve been in so long,” Jones said. “Being on the court feels real good and it’s a blessing to be able to get up and down and finally move my leg a little and jump and do things with the basketball that I couldn’t do two months ago at all.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Jeff Green has fit in smoothly since the January 12th trade that brought him from the Celtics to the Grizzlies, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Green’s versatility and feel for the game have made an impression in Memphis. “He’s extremely smart and he’s picked up our stuff very quickly,” coach Dave Joerger said. “Now we’ve just got to keep building the chemistry amongst the players.”
Mike Conley said Green could be the missing ingredient the Grizzlies need to win the Western Conference, reports Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. “I think with us adding a guy like [Jeff] … but even before him, I thought we had a chance,” Conley said. “But now with him, I feel it gives us that much more of a boost, that extra confidence that we belong, we can really do it now for sure.”
Pelicans coach Monty Williams tells John Reid of The Times-Picayune he has been doing a lot of self-evaluation as he tries to bring a winner to New Orleans. The Pelicans are 20-21, but haven’t managed three straight wins during the first half of the season. “I’ve always felt you should always look at yourself first as it applies to helping your team,” Williams said. ”Obviously our guys know if you play a certain way, it equals great success for us. At the same time, I have to make evaluations on what I’m doing and that’s not giving us a chance to be consistent. As frustrating as it is as a coach, I have to stay the course and make sure I get the right guys in the game.”

And-Ones: Onuaku, Jackson, LeVert

January 19th, 2015 at 7:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Six NBA teams have shown interest in power forward Arinze Onuaku, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Onuaku, who was briefly with the Pelicans and Cavs last season and spent camp this past fall with the Pacers, recently turned down an offer to play in the Philippines as he continues his dialogue with NBA clubs, Kennedy adds (Twitter links).

Here’s more from around the league:

Reggie Jackson is open to signing his qualifying offer this summer in an attempt to align his unrestricted free agency with the summer of 2016, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Most league executives reportedly assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM. Jackson is on pace to invoke the starter criteria, which would lift the value of his qualifying offer from to nearly $3.223MM to almost $4.434MM.
Michigan’s Caris LeVert will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his foot during Saturday’s contest against Northwestern, the university has announced. The junior is scheduled to undergo surgery this week to repair the damage. This will be the second such procedure on LeVert’s left foot, as he had a similar injury last May. LeVert is currently the No. 14 ranked prospect by DraftExpress.
ESPN’s Chad Ford (Twitter link), who has LeVert slotted No. 30 in his draft rankings, still projects the guard to be a late first round to early second round pick come this June, provided LeVert is healthy in time for his pre-draft workouts.
Former Kings coach Michael Malone isn’t expected to remain with the Wolves past Wednesday’s game against Dallas, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune reports (Twitter link). Malone has been acting as a special observer with the Wolves, but Flip Saunders, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, doesn’t see Malone having a role with the team past this stint, Zgoda notes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.