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Kyler On Williams, Nash, Gordon, Mayo, Hibbert

May 4th, 2012 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

In his NBA AM column at HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler shares the latest rumblings on a handful of this summer's top free agents. Here are the highlights:

It's far from a done deal, but the general feeling around the Nets is that they're in the driver's seat for Deron Williams. Kyler names the Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Magic as other teams that figure to aggressively pursue the point guard.
Steve Nash continues to tell people that returning to Phoenix is a "real and viable option." Kyler points out that even if Nash ends up elsewhere, the Suns could work out a sign-and-trade to get something out of it.
It's nearly a lock that Eric Gordon will be retained by the Hornets, but it's not clear how high the bidding will go. The Hornets were unable to agree on an extension with Gordon earlier this season, and while that was due in part to not having new ownership in place yet, there are also questions about the 23-year-old's durability.
According to Kyler, there's a good chance O.J. Mayo doesn't become a restricted free agent this summer, since a qualifying offer would put the Grizzlies over the tax line. If Memphis doesn't extend a qualifying offer, Mayo would be eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Kevin Garnett would like to finish his career with the Celtics.
The Pacers are prepared to match just about any offer for Roy Hibbert, and will let the market set the price for their center.
The Nets hope to deal with Brook Lopez's free agency after working out some of their other situations, but Lopez could disrupt their plans if he signs an offer sheet with another club early in the free agent period.

Southwest Notes: Mayo, Marion, Hornets

May 3rd, 2012 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Coming into the postseason, most pundits figured Utah's frontcourt size could give the Spurs some trouble in Round One, but so far San Antonio has been in complete control of the series. Al Jefferson called last night's blowout "embarrassing" and said the Spurs have an unmistakable swagger, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. I still think the Jazz can take a game or two from the Spurs, but the odds of San Antonio being knocked off by an eighth seed again look very slim.

Here are the rest of the day's updates out of the Southwest Division:

Lang Greene of HoopsWorld writes that O.J. Mayo appears unlikely to re-sign the Grizzlies, and examines some potential landing spots for the former third overall pick.
Mayo was reportedly nearly traded to the Celtics at this season's trade deadline, but he tells Chris Mannix of SI.com that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace never approached him about a possible deal.
Although speculation earlier this season suggested Shawn Marion could eventually be traded or amnestied to clear cap space, Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com argues that the Mavericks need "The Matrix" going forward.
Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune discusses the possibility of rebranding the New Orleans franchise and changing the Hornets nickname.

Odds & Ends: Nuggets, Howard, Hornets, Celtics

April 30th, 2012 at 10:54pm CST by Zachary Links

It was a rough night for the Knicks in South Beach. First, the Heat went up 2-0 in their first round series with a 104-94 win behind 25 points from Dwyane Wade. Later, reporters were held out of the Knicks' locker room as Amare Stoudemire was being tended to for lacerations on his left hand. It appears that the big man took his frustrations out on a fire extinguisher and his status for Game 3 could be in jeopardy. Here's more from around the league..

The Nuggets are using the playoffs to find their center of the future, writes Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post.
Magic GM Otis Smith plans to visit Dwight Howard in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter). There's no word on what the two will discuss upon Smith's arrival, but some have speculated that Howard is once again estranged from the team.
The Hornets got approval for a tax break extension that is essential to keeping them in New Orleans through 2024, writes Ed Anderson of The Times-Picayune.
A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com wonders aloud if Rajon Rondo has what it takes to be the Celtics' leader of the future following his one-game suspension. While Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen may not factor into the C's plans next year, the point guard will be in the mix for the foreseeable future.
Michael Jordan should buck his trend of hiring friends as he did with GM Rich Cho if he hopes to turn the Bobcats' fortunes around, writes Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated.
Blazers center Hasheem Thabeet reiterated his desire to return to Portland next season in a media scrum with outlets including CSNNW.com (video link), but the club has yet to talk about a new deal with the big man. The former second-overall pick came from the Rockets along with Jonny Flynn and a future second-round pick at the trade deadline in exchange for Marcus Camby.
Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee outlined three possible scenarios for the Kings and their stadium situation.
Kobe Bryant acknowledged that this playoff run will be crucial to coach Mike Brown's future in Los Angeles, writes Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Prospect Profile: Andre Drummond

April 28th, 2012 at 3:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Perhaps no player on the draft board gives teams pause quite as much as Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond. He has drawn praise for "other-worldly" talent, but has been called the kind of player whose high-risk, high-reward potential gets GMs fired whether they take him or not. His athletic gifts and rebounding prowess make some scouts drool, while his lack of offensive development and inability to lift his team depress his stock. The latest we hear from Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him going somewhere between third and fifth, with some teams ranking him second only to presumptive No. 1 pick Anthony Davis. No. 2 is where Draft Express has him in their mock draft and list of the top 100 prospects, so the media reflects the dichotomy of opinions that teams have.

A heralded prospect coming out of high school, Drummond was supposed to keep defending national champion Connecticut among the elite teams in college basketball. That didn't happen, as the Huskies struggled through the regular season and lost to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Still, Drummond shouldn't bear the full brunt of the blame for his team's failure's, since UConn had to deal with the health problems of coach Jim Calhoun, uncertainty over their eligibility for next year's postseason because of academic shortfalls, and the loss of Kemba Walker, its best player from the year before.

Drummond averaged just 10.0 PPG, struggling in post-up situations, as Jonathan Givony of Draft Express notes, and settling too often for jump shots, in Ford's eyes. He still shot 53.8% from the floor. He averaged just 7.6 RPG, but 3.4 of them came on the offensive glass. The low numbers are partly attributable to playing just 28.4 MPG. That makes his 2.7 blocks every night that much more impressive. He's listed at either 6'10" or 6'11", but his wingspan is 7'5", according to ESPN.com.

Of the teams likely to draft between two and five, according to the Hoops Rumors draft order tracker, the Hornets seem to be the team most in need of frontcourt help, particularly if they fail to sign free agent center Chris Kaman. They might be more willing to wait for Drummond to develop and learn some offensive moves around the basket now that they have an owner in place. Drummond will be only 18 on draft night, and is the second youngest lottery prospect behind Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If the Blazers wind up with the Nets' pick and Drummond's still around when they're drafting, don't be surprised if they take him, since they'll have plenty of free agent money to spend on immediate upgrades elsewhere. The Wizards seem least likely to take a flier on another underdeveloped big man, as they have Nene Hilario and Andray Blatche locked up long-term, and Washington fans are still haunted by JaVale McGee's inability to pick up on the game's nuances.

Patience will be key for whichever GM decides to draft him. The stats indicate he's just a one-way player right now, and that's a tough sell for struggling franchises looking for someone to help them turn it around.

Assessing The 2011/12 Waiver Claims

April 28th, 2012 at 1:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The vast majority of players placed on waivers go unclaimed and become free agents, but this year, there have been more waiver claims than usual, including a pair of players claimed after their previous teams waived them using the amnesty clause. Last month, Luke Adams provided a rundown on how teams can claim players off waivers, so now let's take a look at how this season's waiver claims have worked out.

The most prominent example is Jeremy Lin, who was twice claimed off waivers this season after originally being let go by the Warriors. The Rockets claimed him December 11th, waived him a couple weeks later, and the Knicks made their claim December 27th. Left knee surgery will likely keep him out for the rest of the season unless the Knicks make a deep playoff run, but he'll wind up averaging 14.6 PPG and 6.2 APG, not too shabby for a player twice on the NBA scrapheap.
Knicks GM Glen Grunwald struck gold with yet another waiver claim in Steve Novak, whom they picked up December 21st. Novak’s rise coincided with Lin’s, as he broke loose for 19 points in Lin’s first start, and has kept up his consistent long-range bombing even without Lin on the floor. He led the league in three-point percentage at 47.2%, but his shooting has never been in question. The difference this year was that he did enough in other phases of the game to warrant significant playing time. A career 4.9 PPG scorer, he averaged 10.4 PPG in 21.7 MPG beginning with that 19-point game on February 6th. We can only imagine how much better the Spurs would have been had they not waived him December 19th.
Waiver claims are so infrequent that teams will sometimes agree to terms with players before they clear waivers. That’s what appeared to happen in March, when J.J. Hickson was dressed in Warriors gear and ready for a shootaround with Golden State when word hit that the Blazers had claimed him. We’ll never know how it would have worked out for him with the Warriors, but Hickson has thrived since joining Portland on March 21st, more than tripling the scoring average he put up in the first half of the season with the Kings (15.1 PPG to 4.7 PPG). He averaged 17.6 PPG and 10.6 RPG as a starter over the final eight games, and will be a sought-after commodity this summer, particularly if the Blazers fail to extend a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Chauncey Billups warned teams not to claim him when the Knicks amnestied him before the season, hoping he could sign with a contender as a free agent, but the Clippers claimed him anyway December 12th. It all worked out, as the Clippers became the sort of contending team Billups wanted to play for anyway when they traded for Chris Paul a few days later. Billups slid over to shooting guard and adjusted smoothly to his new position, averaging 15.0 PPG before going down with a season-ending Achilles’ tendon tear on February 6th.
The Kings had much less success with claiming an amnestied player, saddling themselves on Dec. 17th with Travis Outlaw for $12MM over the remaining four years of his contract. He was even less of a factor in Sacramento than he was for the Nets before they waived him, averaging just 4.3 PPG in 12.8 MPG, his worst numbers since he was a rookie in 2003/04.
The Warriors tried to replace Jeremy Lin when they claimed Ish Smith, another backup point guard, off waivers from the Grizzlies on December 16th. Smith was there for only six games and 63 total minutes before the Warriors put him back on waivers on January 14th. He went unclaimed this time, and was signed as a free agent February 2nd by the Magic, with whom he’s played the rest of the season.
The Blazers quietly let go of backup big man Chris Johnson at the trade deadline, and amid rumors the Celtics were interested, the Hornets snapped him up off waivers March 19th. Depleted as the Hornets were along the front line this year, Johnson still only saw 82 total minutes over seven games before New Orleans put him back out on waivers April 18th. He remains unsigned since.
Rod Higgins, the president of basketball operations for the Bobcats, gave son Cory Higgins quite a present on Christmas Day when the team claimed him off waivers from the Nuggets. The undrafted 22-year-old rookie from Colorado stayed on the Bobcats roster the entire season, averaging 3.9 PPG in 11.1 MPG.

Draft Updates: Mitchell, Robinson, Hornets

April 25th, 2012 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

With just two nights left in the 2011/12 regular season, the draft lottery waters are still fairly murky. While the Bobcats and Wizards are locked in with the league's worst and second-worst records, six teams have between 21 and 23 wins. Games like tonight's Wizards/Cavaliers matchup and tomorrow's Nets/Raptors contest will go a long way to clearing up the lottery picture, with tiebreaking coin flips coming on Friday. Until then, be sure to check out our tentative draft order and our breakdown of just how the lottery works.

Here are today's draft-related items:

Two Tony Mitchells were candidates to be drafted this season, and while Tony Mitchell of Alabama has declared his intent, Tony Mitchell of North Texas will return to school, tweets Jonathon Givony of DraftExpress.com. It was first reported earlier in April that Mitchell had decided to return to North Texas, but he seemed to be wavering after coach Johnny Jones was hired away by LSU. The North Texas freshman had been ranked 26th by DraftExpress' among this year's top 100 prospects.
Thomas Robinson has hired agent Tony Dutt and Rivals Sports Group, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (via Twitter). Robinson will almost certainly be a top five pick in June, and could go as high as number two overall.
In an Insider piece, David Thorpe of ESPN.com examines the Hornets' needs as the team heads into the draft armed with a pair of lottery picks.

Southwest Notes: Gordon, Hornets, Rockets

April 23rd, 2012 at 11:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the second year in a row with their victory over the Blazers tonight. Now they'll concentrate on trying to avoid another upset like the one they suffered against the eighth-seeded Grizzlies last year. Here's the rest of the news from the Southwest Division:

Eric Gordon will be a restricted free agent this summer, and is showing glimpses of why he'll be a commodity even as he's working his way back from injury for the Hornets, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.
The company that operates the New Orleans Arena is seeking an extra $10MM from the Louisiana state government for upgrades to the building or other Hornets expenses, Ed Anderson of The Times-Picayune reports.
With the Rockets eliminated from playoff contention, owner Leslie Alexander and coach Kevin McHale had little to say about where the team goes from here, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who also takes a look at the team's muddied backcourt situation.

Odds & Ends: Heat, Benson, Pacers, Williams

April 22nd, 2012 at 12:37pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Knicks and Hawks are underway in Atlanta with Tyson Chandler receiving the afternoon off in hopes of getting himself healthier for the playoffs. In making his decision to give his center an opportunity to take a breathier, Knicks head coach Mike Woodson decided that there was little chance of catching the Magic for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. With a full slate of Sunday NBA action ahead, let's first take a look around the league to catch up on the latest news and headlines.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Heat should consider signing a point guard for the playoffs and cut Eddy Curry to make room on the roster. Winderman suggests Anthony Carter or Antonio Daniels as viable options to solidify the Heat's backcourt. Carter, 36, was waived by the Raptors on March 15 after posting 2.0 PPG and 1.4 APG in limited action.
Tom Benson's decision to purchase the Hornets is nothing short of a blessing for the city of New Orleans, writes Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post. The Saints owner will ensure the franchise remains in New Orleans, is given a nickname more reflective of the culture of the Crescent City and will foster a commitment to winning thanks to his deep pockets and love for his hometown. Hochman does concede, however, that the team must improve the New Orleans Arena and sign a more favorable television deal in order to reach profitability in what is still a small-market NBA city.
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star wonders if the Pacers can win an NBA championship without having a superstar on their roster. While the Pistons were able to win it all with a star-less starting lineup in 2004, Kravitz mentions that the 1979 SuperSonics were the most recent team prior to Detroit that didn't feature at least one truly dominant player like a Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant. The Pacers should be able to knock off a Magic squad riddled with injuries, but will be tested if they face the Heat in the second round of the playoffs.
Calling this season the toughest of his career, Deron Williams chats with Andy Vasquez of The Bergen Record about free agency and his future with the Nets.

Western Notes: Hornets, Salary Cap, Bryant

April 21st, 2012 at 7:09pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Suns set themselves back in what was once a four-team race for the two remaining playoff spots in the Western Conference by falling at home to the Nuggets, who are now playoff-bound with the win. The Jazz, left to compete with the Suns and the Rockets for the final spot, take on the Dwight Howard-less Magic in Salt Lake City later tonight. Let's check in with the rest of the conference to see what else is making headlines on this Saturday evening.

Hornets head coach Monty Williams plans to give his younger players more playing time in team's final three games of the season, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. Williams hopes the extra minutes will give players such as forward Gustavo Ayon and guard Greivis Vasquez an extensive opportunity to work on fundamentals in an in-game setting rather than practice. The Hornets may be able to get a better sense of their myriad roster needs with a potentially busy offseason looming as the team looks to rebound from an especially trying season.
Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld considers the best and worst case salary cap scenarios for all of the teams in the Western Conference heading into the offseason.
Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake vocally demonstrated their support for current National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher as he faces scrutiny for demanding an independent audit of the union's business practices, reports The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry. “What’s wrong with doing an audit?” Bryant asked. “I’m very curious about that. Extremely. We all should be.” Blake, the Lakers' player representative, reiterated Bryant's sentiments by expressing his confidence in Fisher's leadership skills both on and off the court.

Southwest Links: Rockets, Hornets, Carlisle

April 20th, 2012 at 10:14pm CST by Alex Lee

With the Spurs, Mavericks and Grizzlies in action tonight, here are a few links regarding the Southwest division:

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle says that the down-the-stretch pressure was simply too much for the Rockets, who have folded in April essentially closing the door at any hopes for postseason play.
Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld examines the Rockets' offseason needs, specifically replacing Yao Ming at center. With the futures of Marcus Camby and Samuel Dalembert uncertain in Houston, Ingram says that Houston could turn to Hornets' potential free agents Chris Kaman and/or Houston-born Emeka Okafor this summer. Kaman is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent and while Okafor is under contract, he is considered a viable amnesty candidate.
Mark Cuban says that he would like to retain head coach Rick Carlisle, tweets the Star-Telegram's Dwain Price. Carlisle's contract is up at the end of the season. In his fourth year with the Mavs, Carlisle has led the team to the playoffs every year, winning the Southwest division in 2009-2010 and the NBA title in 2010-2011.