Pelicans Not Sure They’ll Keep Tyshawn Taylor
The Pelicans traded for Tyshawn Taylor on Wednesday, receiving cash that will be enough to cover his one-year veteran’s minimum salary in exchange for only a European prospect who isn’t likely to play in the NBA. It’s a sweetheart deal that would have been difficult for New Orleans to turn down, and it seems the club isn’t really that sold on Taylor. John Reid of The Times Picayune suggests the Pelicans could buy him out, pointing to comments from coach Monty Williams that indicate Taylor might not have a role on the team.
Taylor has already received about half of his $788,872 salary. As long as he doesn’t agree to a buyout worth nearly the entire amount remaining on his contract, which expires at season’s end, such a severance could be a financial plus for the Jeff Schwartz client if he quickly finds other NBA work. Taylor, the 41st overall pick in 2012, saw 11.7 minutes per game in 23 appearances for the Nets this season, and though he put up a discouraging 5.6 PER in that time, there’s at least a decent chance another team would take a flier on him.
The Pelicans are without starting point guard Jrue Holiday, so Taylor could provide them depth. Still, the injury-riddled team is also missing Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith, and New Orleans is reportedly trying to trade for a big man, and waiving Taylor would open up room on the roster that would make it easier to add an interior player. The Pelicans are currently at the 15-man limit. They could also use an open roster spot to sign Pierre Jackson, the D-League’s leading scorer. New Orleans acquired Jackson’s NBA rights on draft night.
Southwest Notes: Rockets, Belinelli, Taylor
Tonight’s look at the Southwest Division as the Pelicans get set to take on the Kings..
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Tom Haberstroh looks at what the teams outside of the “big four” of the Heat, Pacers, Thunder, and Spurs can do to put themselves in contention. The Rockets, according to Haberstroh, have to find a way to upgrade their turnstile perimeter defense. Wesley Matthews of the Blazers would give them a boost in that department and even though he doesn’t offer the same kind of D, C.J. Miles of the Cavs would also be an upgrade.
- Marco Belinelli says he had more lucrative offers than the two-year, $5.6MM deal he signed with the Spurs over the offseason, but the opportunity to play for one of the best teams in the NBA, alongside long-time idol Manu Ginobili, was too good to pass up, writes Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. “I know money is important,” he said. “But I’m a young guy and I want to improve my game. Money will come. I just want to win.”
- Pelicans coach Monty Williams is unsure about the role that newly-acquired guard Tyshawn Taylor will fill for his club, writes John Reid of the Times-PIcayune.
Nets Swap Backup PGs With Pelicans, Bulls
The Nets have officially announced a pair of trades, acquiring Marquis Teague from the Bulls in a one-for-one swap for Tornike Shengelia, and sending Tyshawn Taylor and cash to the Pelicans in exchange for the draft rights to Edin Bavcic, a 29-year-old big man playing in Greece.
The moves won’t greatly impact any of the teams’ rotations, as none of the active players involved in the trade have averaged as much as 13 minutes per game this season, and each of them has seen multiple D-League assignments. Teague was a first-round pick in 2012, but he struggled to find minutes for Chicago. Shengelia doesn’t figure to be a critical piece for the Bulls, but he is a big body who can potentially provide frontcourt depth off the bench. Shams Charania of RealGM.com tweets the Bulls intend to give him a shot at some minutes. Bavcic was originally a second-round draft choice of the Raptors in 2006, but he’s never played in the NBA, so it appears he’s merely a throw-in.
Sending off Taylor will provide a bit of much-needed financial relief for Brooklyn, which is currently set to face about $80MM in luxury tax penalties in July. Shengelia and Taylor will both earn $788,872 this season, while Teague will make $1,074,720. The move will save the Nets from paying some extra tax dollars this season, but Teague’s contract runs through 2014/15, one year longer than the pacts Shengelia and Taylor are signed to.
Since the Pelicans had an open roster spot and Taylor is on a minimum-salary contract, they can absorb him without giving up a player. Brooklyn creates a vacancy on its roster with the moves, as the Nets had been carrying the maximum 15 players all season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the trades, which were agreed upon Saturday (Twitter links). Originally, it appeared the Pelicans would send the Nets a heavily protected second-rounder, but it looks like the teams agreed on including Bavcic in the deal instead.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Bogans, Bucks, Nets, Rice
A source tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Globe that Keith Bogans intends to “stick it out” with the Celtics this season, seemingly indicating the guard isn’t thinking buyout (Twitter link). The C’s and Bogans agreed to have the 33-year-old stay away from the team as Boston pursues takers for him via trade. It wouldn’t really be a surprise if Bogans doesn’t want to do a buyout, since that would mean giving up some of his more than $5MM in guaranteed salary for the season, the largest take of his career. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Bucks owner Herb Kohl is signaling to the team’s management that he’s ready to give up the pursuit of a playoff berth this season, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in his latest Insider-only “Tank Rank” column. That contradicts what we heard earlier from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who says the team would be “more than willing” to trade for veteran help.
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports breaks down the trade agreement between the Bulls, Nets and Pelicans in a piece for SB Nation, noting that the cash Brooklyn is sending to New Orleans will be enough to cover the rest of Tyshawn Taylor‘s contract, which expires at season’s end. He also says the Nets briefly looked into a deal for Jazz point guard John Lucas III, echoing a report from July.
- The Wizards assigned Glen Rice Jr. to the D-League today, the team announced (Twitter link). It’s a rehab stint for the rookie as he makes his way back from a fractured right wrist, coach Randy Wittman says, according to Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Wittman also says it’s possible the team will send No. 3 overall pick Otto Porter to the D-League at some point, too.
- The Sixers will decide within the next two or three days whether to bring back Dewayne Dedmon on a second 10-day deal, coach Brett Brown told reporters, including Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). The center’s deal expires after Thursday night.
Pelicans Looking To Trade For Big Man
Power forward Ryan Anderson is likely done for the season and center Jason Smith is out indefinitely, and that’s prompted New Orleans to look for a trade that would net the team a big man, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports amid his weekly power rankings. The Pelicans have been starting Anthony Davis and Greg Stiemsma on the front line, and their only other healthy big men are rookie Jeff Withey and the recently signed Alexis Ajinca.
New Orleans is set to acquire point guard Tyshawn Taylor for draft considerations from the Nets, so assuming the Pelicans don’t throw a player into that deal before it becomes official, they would have to include a player in a trade for a big man to stay at the 15-man roster limit. Everyone but Davis and Jrue Holiday is reportedly a candidate to be traded, according to a weekend report from Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, so perhaps GM Dell Demps is willing to engineer a shakeup. The Pelicans are 15-24 in a season that began with playoff aspirations.
Spears also mentions in his report that 6’11” Drew Gooden is working out in hopes of finding a spot on an NBA roster, so the 11-year veteran could be an option for New Orleans if the team goes the free agent route. Still, it doesn’t sound like the Pelicans have any interest in the 32-year-old.
Odds & Ends: Pelicans, Burke, Clippers, Pistons
The Pelicans may be looking to switch things up before the trade deadline according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. With things not going as planned for New Orleans this season it appears everyone but Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis are movable assets for the Pelicans. Sam Amico of FOX Sports points out (via Twitter) that list of movable assets would include Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans.
Other notes on the Pelicans and teams around the league.
- When the Pelicans waived Lou Amundson it was believed the reason was to bring up Pierre Jackson from their D-League affiliate. It appears the recent acquisition of point guard Tyshawn Taylor squelches those rumors and the rumors of Jackson being allowed to seek a trade are more likely. Jackson told Gino Pilato of D-League Digest “it’s a business, and things happen like that. I’m just going to continue to do whatever I can here in the D-League to help this team win games.”
- Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune asks fans to not look at Trey Burke as another “one that got away” because the Timberwolves would have never drafted him if they weren’t planning to trade him away. Minnesota had three point guards at the time (Ricky Rubio, J.J. Barea, and Luke Ridnour) and were drafting him purely to acquire Shabazz Muhammad from Utah. It is the belief that Ricky Rubio is the team’s future at point guard and drafting Trey Burke would have conflicted with that belief.
- It appears the Clippers roster will remain intact for some time. Head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations Doc Rivers told Arash Markazi of ESPN the Clippers aren’t “looking to make changes” right now. This is a team that Rivers likes and he would be fine ending the season with them plus Chris Paul added back from injury.
- While the Clippers roster may be set, the Pistons are expected to be “really active” as the trade deadline approaches. Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News discussed (via Twitter) that he anticipates Detroit will make at least one trade prior to next month’s deadline.
Odds & Ends: Rondo, Bosh, McCollum
Fallout from the two Nets trades earlier today continues into the evening. Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders provides his analysis to the trades. According to Brigham, the deal “makes sense for everyone involved”.
A few other notes around the league.
- The famous trade that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics may have never happened if it wasn’t for Timberwolves‘ owner, Glen Taylor removing his demand for Rajon Rondo. Peter May of The New York Times writes that Celtics’ owner Wyc Grousbeck stayed firm on his offer and wasn’t willing to part with Rondo in any trade with the Timberwolves.
- Regarding current trade possibilities, Chris Bosh has taken a note from Pau Gasol‘s book by trying to find interests outside of basketball when trade rumor volume increases each year. Bosh noted to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that he likes how Gasol can be “comfortable in who he is” and not let the constant rumors bother him.
- C.J. McCollum revealed to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders his friendship with fellow Trail Blazer Damian Lillard extends long before becoming teammates this summer. Lillard was someone McCollum wanted to play like and began learning from the guard prior to his last season at Lehigh University.
Odds & Ends: Tanking, Dwight, Bennett, Ledo
It’s been a pretty busy afternoon around the NBA, as we heard the Celtics might be trying to move Rajon Rondo, and we saw the Nets hook up with the Bulls and Pelicans to dump some salary via trade, Let’s round up some miscellaneous notes from Saturday:
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders examines the two deals from earlier today, and opines the moves make sense for all three teams that were involved.
- While team executives might be interested in intentionally losing games to help raise draft position, players and coaches never are, at least according to former NBA coach Tom Nissalke. Brad Rock of the Deseret News passed along this quote from Nissalke: “I think organizations tank. I don’t think players do. Players know that they’re being auditioned every time they play. If they’re on a bad team, they know they’re not going to be back the next year. There will be some draft picks, some trades made, so the players are always auditioning — and coaches are too.“
- Rockets center Dwight Howard is happy to have trade chatter behind him. “For me I think it (the trade deadline) was different from a lot of players,” Howard told Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders. “A lot of attention was on me and what teams were going to do that day. It’s tough. You have everybody asking what’s going to happen, what you’re going to do, all that stuff. I had a big headache and I was just happy when it was over with.”
- It’s been a disappointing start to Anthony Bennett‘s career, but his former UNLV coach Dave Rice says it’s too early for the Cavaliers to give up on last summer’s number one overall pick. The latest piece by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer passes along Rice’s view on Bennett’s game and how he thinks the forward will develop.
- A Mavericks team press release announced that Ricky Ledo was assigned to the Texas Legends this morning. Ledo has only seen 33 minutes on the floor for Dallas this season so the move will give him the opportunity to see some action on the hardwood. It’ll be his second such assignment this season.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Fisher, Jackson, Turkoglu
Derek Fisher is breathing a little easier today with the news that the judge, Huey Cotton, who is presiding over Billy Hunter’s wrongful termination lawsuit had dismissed most of the allegations against Fisher, and all against his former business manager, Jamie Wior, writes Ken Berger of CBS Sports.com. Hunter had alleged that the two conspired to oust him and seize control of the NBPA during and after the 2011 lockout. Cotton ruled that Hunter’s claims against Fisher regarding breach of contract and intentional interference with contractual relations may go forward, but struck 12 other allegations against the former NBPA president from the lawsuit, including defamation. The judge also ruled that Hunter must pay legal fees for Fisher and Wior related to the claims that were dismissed. The rest of Hunter’s lawsuit is cleared to continue against the NBPA.
Here’s some other notes from around the Western Conference:
- Pierre Jackson still hasn’t been able to reach a deal with the Pelicans, who hold his rights after drafting him 42nd overall in last year’s draft. Not long before Jrue Holiday was ruled out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right tibia on January 10th, Jackson’s representatives requested and received permission to explore trade opportunities. Jackson’s agents, who also represent Holiday, met with Pelicans general manager Dell Demps this week, but Jackson still doesn’t have a contract with the team. This has Jackson and his camp disappointed, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Jackson is currently the D-League’s second-leading scorer at 29.9 PPG, and feels his production warrants some NBA playing time.
- The Warriors will be keeping MarShon Brooks, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Brooks was acquired as a part of today’s three-team trade involving Boston and Miami. An earlier tweet by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe had indicated the team might waive Brooks.
- Spurs guard Nando De Colo‘s agent denied reports that the player was attempting to return to Europe and play for Fenerbahce, as he told French newspaper L’Equipe (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). De Colo is currently averaging 2.0 PPG in limited action.
- The Clippers continue to have interest in Sasha Vujacic even as they near a deal with Hedo Turkoglu, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Southwest Notes: Gordon, Grizzlies, Bynum
Two reports on Friday indicated New Orleans was shopping Eric Gordon, but the Pelicans were quick to tell the shooting guard and Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune that they aren’t pursuing any such deals. Gordon doesn’t appear concerned with the chatter, and even though his field goal attempts and scoring average are down for the third straight season, he’s been uncharacteristically healthy this year, having played in all but three games. Backcourt mate Jrue Holiday is sidelined indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right leg, so I’d be surprised if a Gordon trade happens anytime soon. Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- James Johnson‘s improved conditioning and maturity has turned him into an asset for the Grizzlies just a month after he signed a minimum-salary deal with the team, as Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines. One Western Conference scout tells Herrington that he laments that his team passed on the former 16th overall pick while he languished in free agency.
- Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com weighs the chances that Andrew Bynum could be a fit for the Mavericks, pointing to owner Mark Cuban’s comments about Samuel Dalembert and the state of the team’s centers. “Depends on which Sam we have,” Cuban said. “If we have the Sam of [Friday] night, we’re good. If we have the Sam that isn’t as on key as he was [Friday] night, it’s different. Again, we’re always being opportunistic. Wherever we can improve our team, we will.”
- USA Today’s Sam Amick looks at the way NBA teams are connecting with the coaches of their D-League affiliates, noting that Nevada Smith, who beat out 34 other candidates for the head job at Rockets affiliate Rio Grande Valley, has become the “darling” of the D-League coaching circle.