Southwest Notes: Vasquez, White, Mavs, Dirk
With the Spurs attempting to mitigate Tony Parker's ankle injury, the Grizzlies and Rockets firmly in the playoff picture, and the Mavericks attempting to stay out of the lottery, the Southwest Division is one of the more fascinating in the league currently. Here is a roundup of the latest updates:
- Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune writes that Grievis Vasquez is thriving in an increased role for the Hornets.
- Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune profiles Rockets rookie Royce White, who is attempting to carve out an NBA career for himself while managing an anxiety disorder.
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is demanding accountability from his rookies, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
- Dirk Nowitzki is excited to have another native German in the NBA in Rockets rookie Tim Ohlbrecht, Sefko writes.
- Jan Hubbard of SheridanHoops.com writes that Jerry Colangelo should hire Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to coach Team USA.
Hornets Expected To Sign Henry Sims
The New Orleans Hornets are expected to sign center Henry Sims of the D-League's Erie Bayhawks to a 10-day contract, John Reid of the Times Picayune reports.
Following the announcement that Jason Smith would miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum, it was reported that the Hornets were looking to add another big man.
Sims has averaged 17.1 PPG and 9.0 RPG with the Bayhawks this season and has never played in an NBA game.
Hornets Looking For A Center
The Hornets are likely to add another player soon, according to Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune, and coach Monty Williams says the Hornets are looking for someone who can put in minutes at center now that backup Jason Smith is out for the season, tweets Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com. New Orleans has a 13-man roster, giving them two open spots and plenty of flexibility. Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out that the team made heavy use of 10-day contracts last year, so it seems they may go that route again unless there's someone they know they'd like to keep around for the rest of the season.
The Hornets have a pro-rated portion of their room exception available, worth about $1.787MM at this point, if they want to sign someone for more than the minimum salary. That could be an option if they go after someone bought out of his contract before tonight's 11pm deadline, but it seems more likely they'll use a 10-day deal on someone. Anthony Davis will miss tonight's game with a bone bruise in his left shoulder, leaving New Orleans with 11 healthy players, none of whom is a center, aside from Robin Lopez, as Eichenhofer notes (Twitter link).
Free agent centers with NBA experience include Luke Zeller, whom the Suns let go to make room for Marcus Morris at the trade deadline, Earl Barron, who was waived by the Wizards in December, and D.J. Mbenga, who last appeared in the NBA with the Hornets in 2010/11.
Among the prospects in the D-League are Henry Sims, notching 17.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for the Erie BayHawks, and Jerome Jordan, putting up 12.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG with the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Western Notes: Hornets, Jamison, Mavs, O’Neal
When I looked earlier this week at teams with open roster spots, only four clubs had more than one opening. Since then, the Celtics have filled their two open spots, leaving the Hornets, Warriors, and Grizzlies as the NBA's only teams carrying just 13 players. Now, the Hornets will find themselves with one fewer player available, as the team announced today that Jason Smith will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum. As one club that took full advantage of 10-day contracts last season, it may be only a matter of time before New Orleans brings in some young players on 10-day deals to add some roster depth.
Here are a few more Friday updates from around the Western Conference:
- Antawn Jamison turned down a three-year, $11MM offer from the Bobcats to sign for the minimum with the Lakers last offseason, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The veteran forward also has no intention of retiring after this season, as Shelburne tweets. "I don't think this is my last run," Jamison said. "I can still compete with these young guys."
- Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks aren't interested in playing the what-if game when it comes to misses in free agency, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes. "In free agency, we can’t always get what we want," Nowitzki said of the team's pursuit of Deron Williams. "It’s not a Wish concert. It didn’t go the way we wanted so we have to move on as a franchise."
- After a bounceback 2012/13 season with the Suns, Jermaine O'Neal can count on drawing more interest as a free agent this coming summer than he did last year, says Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld.
- In a piece for Grantland, Bill Simmons lists his choices for the NBA's best contracts, and three of his top 15 belong to the Spurs.
Teams With Open Roster Spots
Since the trade deadline, a pair of contenders have taken advantage of having an open roster spot, with the Knicks adding Kenyon Martin on a 10-day contract and the Thunder agreeing to sign Derek Fisher for the remainder of the season.
For New York and Oklahoma City, adding a veteran as a 15th man makes sense for depth purposes, and we may see a few more playoff contenders take the same approach as Friday's buyout deadline nears. For non-contenders, a D-League pickup or two may be more likely, as teams take a look at players who may be able to contribute beyond this season.
Clubs carrying fewer than 15 players are more likely to add free agents at this point, since they won't have to release a player on a guaranteed contract to clear space for a pickup. So with the help of our constantly-updated roster counts page, let's take a quick look at the list of teams with at least one open roster spot. The number of available spots is indicated in parentheses.
Eastern Conference:
- Boston Celtics (2)
- Brooklyn Nets (1)
- Charlotte Bobcats (1)
- Chicago Bulls (1)
- Detroit Pistons (1)
- Miami Heat (1)
- Orlando Magic (1)
Western Conference:
- Golden State Warriors (2)
- Houston Rockets (1)
- Los Angeles Clippers (1)
- Los Angeles Lakers (1)
- Memphis Grizzlies (2)
- New Orleans Hornets (2)
- Sacramento Kings (1)
Odds & Ends: Dell Demps, Chris Paul, Mark Cuban
Here's the latest news and headlines from around the league with a weekend chock full of games awaiting…
- Hornets GM Dell Demps says not making a trade at the deadline stems from his belief in his core players even if they struggle to accumulate wins, says Terrance Harris of The Times-Picayune. Demps was presented with a variety of different offers but none of them made sense for his team's future.
- Clippers point guard Chris Paul believes his team is capable of winning a championship even without making a splash at the trade deadline, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. “Let me tell you right now,” he said. “If I didn’t feel like it was, I wouldn’t be playing. I don’t play just for fun. We’re playing to win a championship.”
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban made comments on Friday insinuating that the Lakers should consider using their amnesty clause to rid themselves of Kobe Bryant's contract for next season. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter) points out Bryant's brand value means even more to the Lakers than his contributions on the court and that Cuban would never amnesty a player like the Black Mamba for that reason.
Trade Rumors: Knicks, Lakers, Pierce, Pistons
With so many trade rumors swirling around in the hours leading up to the deadline, we're scrambling to keep tabs on them all. Here's the latest:
- The Knicks won't make a major move, but they're exploring make a trade to clear a roster spot for an eventual free agent pickup, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times is fairly confident the Lakers won't make a move today (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
- Although the Celtics continue to discuss Paul Pierce, they're seeking a big package of expiring contracts and draft picks, which is unlikely, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. The Nets are "on the outside looking in" when it comes to Pierce, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
- TNT's David Aldridge was told unequivocally that the Rockets won't flip Thomas Robinson in a second trade. Houston "loves" Robinson, according to Aldridge (Twitter link).
- "Nothing at all" is happening on the trade front for the Pistons, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, though he notes there's still some time for that to change (Twitter links).
- The Warriors and Suns are on Eric Gordon's list of desired destinations, tweets Amick. While there's a chance Gordon is moved today, a deal down the road, perhaps this summer, is more likely — Gordon isn't even eligible to be traded to Phoenix until July.
- Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News is hearing that the consensus is the Spurs' asking price for DeJuan Blair remains too high.
Odds & Ends: Bulls, Warriors, Kings, Gordon
Just to make sure they don't slip through the cracks, here are a few odds and ends from overnight and this morning, as the trade deadline creeps closer….
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com expects the Bulls to stand pat at the deadline, since Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton aren't drawing a ton of interest.
- The Warriors are shopping Jeremy Tyler, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, while Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group says (via Twitter) Charles Jenkins is also being shopped. I would guess Golden State has discussed both players with Sacramento, as the Warriors attempt to get below the tax line.
- Spears also tweets that Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins have been given the impression by the Kings that they won't be moved today.
- If they don't move Eric Gordon today, the Hornets will likely revisit trade talks this summer, writes John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- Teams with the draft rights to players currently overseas could find those guys to be valuable trade chips, and A.J. Mitnick of SheridanHoops.com profiles the top five assets stashed away in Europe.
- The Thomas Robinson trade between the Rockets and Kings came together in about 48 hours, having been initially hatched on Monday, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Odds & Ends: Dwight, Cavs, Blair, Wizards, Gordon
As the hours tick down to tomorrow's 2:00pm Central trade deadline, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News is already starting to look ahead to free agency, and he writes that the Cavaliers believe they could make a longshot bid to sign Dwight Howard. That one seems hard to believe, and even Lawrence intimates that it's a little far-fetched. Still, the Cavs were reportedly in the mix for Andrew Bynum last year, and they'll have plenty of cap space this summer, so I suppose it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
In the meantime, there's more on potential deadline deals, and here's the latest:
- We've already heard that Danny Granger is staying put, and TNT's David Aldridge hears that's likely the case for Spurs big man DeJuan Blair, too (Twitter link).
- An Eastern Conference executive tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post he believes there's "very little" the Wizards can get for Jordan Crawford.
- The Wizards reportedly gave up on acquiring Josh Smith because they aren't willing to give up any of the players the Hawks would want in return, and HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy identifies John Wall, Bradley Beal and Nene as the three players the team wants to keep in any deal.
- With a deadline trade to the Warriors unlikely and his knee still not 100%, it looks like Eric Gordon will stay put with the Warriors past the deadline, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune, who hears from a source who said "nobody wants" Gordon.
- The Suns agreed to a deal to acquire Marcus Morris for a second-round pick tonight, but considered trading a first-round pick for Morris when the Rockets took him on draft night. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has the details.
- The Magic have been trying to unload Al Harrington's contract, but the power forward figures he's not going anywhere, since other teams are likely wary of his health, as John Denton of Magic.com tweets.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times identifies Devin Harris as a trade candidate and tweets that the Wisconsin product would mind playing for the Bucks, though I think if he ends up in Milwaukee, it's more likely via free agency this summer than in a deadline deal.
Gordon-Thompson Deal Unlikely Before Deadline
7:19pm: A deal sending Gordon to the Warriors won't happen before the deadline, sources tell Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game, who adds that the trade could resurface in the summer (Sulia link).
12:45pm: Yesterday, John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that, while the Hornets aren't actively shopping Eric Gordon, they would be interested in a deal with the Warriors that included Klay Thompson. And according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio, those two teams have engaged in discussions that a source classifies as "more than exploratory" (Twitter link).
In Reid's report yesterday, he noted that the Warriors are reluctant to part with Thompson, since the team feels he's a young emerging star. Gordon has also had injury issues over the last couple years, and is in the first year of an expensive long-term contract. If talks between the two sides progress, I'd imagine the Warriors would push the Hornets to take on at least one of Golden State's bad contracts — Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins are earning $10.16MM and $9MM this season, respectively, and are certain to exercise their equally pricey player options for next season.
ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported yesterday that the Hornets had made Gordon available in trade talks, though potential suitors have some concerns about his health. The 24-year-old shooting guard would also have the opportunity to veto any deal, since the Hornets matched his offer sheet in restricted free agency last summer.