Southwest Rumors: Hornets, Allen, Mayo, Kidd
Let's check in on a few Wednesday updates out of the Southwest Division….
- The Hornets are expected to waive Chris Johnson and sign another big man to replace him, reports John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. With Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor likely done for the season, New Orleans is lacking in frontcourt depth, and Johnson hasn't played in over two weeks since he suffered a concussion.
- Following up on the Ray Allen/O.J. Mayo trade rumor from Yahoo! Sports, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says he heard the Celtics' asking price also included Mike Conley, Dante Cunningham, and Josh Selby in a large deal that included draft picks. The Grizzlies didn't want to give up so many assets to rent Allen, says Tillery.
- Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld examines whether or not Mayo has a place in the Grizzlies' future.
- Asked if he could see Jason Kidd becoming a coach when his playing career ends, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle replied, "He'll probably be an owner" (Twitter link via Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
Odds & Ends: Howard, Draft, Hornets, Blazers
Tuesday afternoon links from around the NBA….
- David Pingalore of Local 6 in Orlando, who reported earlier this month that Dwight Howard had asked the Magic to fire Stan Van Gundy, says Howard no longer wants to play for Van Gundy. This situation may end up working itself out: Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel argued yesterday that the Magic should shut down Howard for the rest of the year, and Van Gundy is unlikely to remain the team's coach for next season.
- The latest mock draft from ESPN.com's Chad Ford has received plenty of feedback from NBA scouts and executives, Ford writes. Mississippi State's Arnett Moultrie and Dion Waiters of Syracuse were among the players Ford's sources felt were ranked too low — the latest ESPN.com mock had them coming off the board at 19th and 23rd respectively.
- North Carolina's John Henson has hired Jim Tanner as his agent, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The junior forward announced in late March that he was entering the NBA draft.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld explores the direction of the Hornets now that the team is under new ownership.
- Having been officially eliminated from the playoffs, the Trail Blazers now look like a good bet to score two lottery picks, as Mike Tokito of the Oregonian writes.
Odds & Ends: Celtics, Raptors, Brown, Draft
It's an eventful night in the NBA with 11 games, many of which have playoff implications. There's been plenty of draft news as well, as teams look past the playoffs, and one item concerning the distant future, with the NBA announcing the Hornets will host the 2014 All-Star Game, just six years after hosting the 2008 event. The new ownership of Tom Benson had plenty to do with that, though he's already come up short in his quest to get the Jazz nickname back from Utah, as Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune notes. If Benson ditches the Hornets name, it'll be a while before Charlotte could use it again, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. While nicknames won't be moving for a while, there's plenty of movement on other fronts, and here's the latest:
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com doesn't think free agents Roy Hibbert and Eric Gordon will switch teams this summer, but says the Celtics have interest in both (Twitter link).
- Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun breaks down the Raptors' roster and predicts who'll be there next season and who won't.
- Longtime coach Larry Brown is pursuing the Blazers GM job even as he zeroes in on the SMU coaching gig, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford discusses the possibility that Kentucky senior Darius Miller, currently projected as a second-rounder, could climb up the draft board and make it six first-round picks for the Wildcats (Insider only).
- Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday rounds up Carmelo Anthony's comments on multiple radio shows today about the way new Knicks coach Mike Woodson has held him accountable (Sulia links).
- Mavs cast-off Lamar Odom leads Sam Smith's list of the biggest disappointments this year on NBA.com
- Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida shares the results of an informal survey of 11 former MVPs, who give a slight edge to Kevin Durant over LeBron James in this year's race. The former players won't have official votes for the award; instead, writers and broadcasters will make the selection.
- Roland Beech of 82games.com crunches the numbers and determines Gilbert Arenas, taken in the second round by the Warriors in 2001, was the shrewdest draft choice in recent years (hat tip to Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld).
Odds & Ends: Boykins, Sixers, Frank, Heat
Let's catch up on the latest news and happenings from around the league as Sunday's afternoon action gets underway…
- Mark Berman of FOX 26 Sports reports the Rockets have signed Earl Boykins for the remainder of the season.
- The Sixers have reached the do-or-die moment of the season where they are fighting for their playoff lives, writes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press says Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank is excited for his young players to have the opportunity to further their leadership skills during the NBA Summer League.
- Changes may be coming for the Heat depending on how the team does during the playoffs, suggests Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- According to an official press release from the Cavs, the team has assigned Luke Harangody to the Canton Charge of the D-League after appearing in Saturday night's victory over the Wizards.
- There was no way NBA commissioner David Stern was going to let the city of New Orleans lose another professional basketball team, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune.
- Frank DiGiacomo of the New York Daily News says Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov fully supports forward Kris Humphries as the Russian billionaire ripped rapper Kanye West for stating in a song that he could get Nets minority owner Jay-Z to cut Humphries from the team.
Odds & Ends: Moore, League, Blazers, Heat
At a presser at the NBA Board of Governors meetings yesterday, commissioner David Stern introduced new Hornets owner Tom Benson and addressed a number of other issues. Here's more news out of the BoG meetings and other links from around the league..
- Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld looked at the best and worst case cap scenarios for teams in the Eastern Conference this summer.
- The Warriors might be looking at bringing back Mikki Moore, tweets Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside.
- The league expects that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will not only reduce league losses but will actually result in a profit for the 2012/13 season, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
- In addition to considering advertisements on jerseys to increase revenue, the NBA will also explore opportunities in the secondary ticket market, Zillgitt tweets.
- Delonte West confirmed to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that his former agent Noah Croom did in fact interview for the Trail Blazers vacant GM job. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first reported the news on Tuesday but Blazers president Larry Miller declined comment.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel looks back at the time Lamar Odom and Antoine Walker spent in South Beach. Odom will be looking for a new team this summer while it's the end of the line for Walker.
- Hornets guard Xavier Henry told John Reid of The Times-Picayune (video link) that the team is happy about new owner Tom Benson. Earlier today we learned that Carl Landry is more inclined to sign a long-term deal with the club now that their ownership situation is resolved.
Hornets To Retain Williams, Demps
While New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson will certainly make some changes to the Hornets organization, it seems that he will be keeping his coach and general manager. Benson plans to keep Monty Williams as coach and Dell Demps as general manager, a league source told John Reid of The Times Picayune. Both Williams and Demps were hired by the Hornets in 2010.
With the ownership situation resolved, the Hornets may now have a better chance of keeping forward Carl Landry in the fold. Landry said that he agreed to only a one-year deal last year because of the ownership uncertainty but will now look at committing to the Hornets long term.
"Being a free agent again this summer, the Hornets are a team I’ve been with the last two years and have grown accustomed to. And with the owner now, that definitely will help with re-signing with the team.”
Landry signed a one-year, $9MM deal with New Orleans this offseason.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Odom, Nets, Woodson
The Celtics look to move one step closer to clinching the Atlantic Division and first-round home-court advantage when they play the shorthanded Raptors in Toronto tonight. Here's the latest on Toronto and a few other Atlantic teams:
- Andrea Bargnani will be shut down for the season with a left calf injury, the Raptors announced today in a team release. Considering where the team sits in the standings, the decision likely has as much to do with securing a good draft pick as it does with Bargnani's calf.
- The Mavericks could potentially have avoided a good deal of drama if the Lakers' trade for Chris Paul had gone through in December. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Lamar Odom would have been sent to the Nets if that Paul deal had gone through. The Hornets, knowing Odom wouldn't be happy in New Orleans, had a deal in place to trade Odom for a future first-round pick, says Stein.
- Nets coach Avery Johnson had a two-hour meeting with majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov this week about the future of the team, writes Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
- Making Mike Woodson the full-time coach rather than bringing in a big-name candidate this summer would give the Knicks a chance for stability, says Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Stern On Brooklyn, Ads on Jerseys, Kings, Maloofs
In a press conference today at the NBA's Board of Governors meetings, commissioner David Stern introduced new Hornets owner Tom Benson and addressed a number of other topics. Here are a few highlights, with all links going to Twitter:
- Stern called Benson the "perfect owner" for the Hornets.
- The board formally approved the Nets' move to Brooklyn and the name change to the Brooklyn Nets.
- Advertising on jerseys was discussed, but is unlikely to go anywhere before next season.
- Stern viewed the Kings' arena agreement as non-binding and said it was fair for the Maloofs to back out. He wishes they'd made that decision a little sooner, since it could have saved "a lot of angst and trouble," but he's very protective of their rights as owners to make the decision they did.
- Stern is "hopeful" but "not optimistic" about the talks between Sacramento and the Kings, saying that there was nothing more the league could do. J.A. Adande of ESPN.com notes that the commissioner seemed to be using the past tense a lot in discussing the arena situation.
- While he was respectful of the Kings' owners, Stern used the term "ill grace" frequently when discussing the Maloofs' economist, who argued the arena plan would put Sacramento in dire financial straits. The commissioner added that he believes the Maloofs when they say they want to keep their team in Sacramento, but refused to speculate on whether the Kings would remain in the city past next season.
- Stern's future as commissioner was not discussed with the Board of Governors.
Tom Benson To Buy Hornets For $338MM
The days of referring to the "league-owned" New Orleans Hornets are coming to an end. The NBA has reached an agreement with New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, who will buy the Hornets for $338MM, reports TNT's David Aldridge. Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune first reported that Benson was expected to become the team's new owner, and commissioner David Stern officially made the announcement today.
The NBA's Board of Governors made the decision after having narrowed down the bids for the Hornets to two. Benson and a group led by swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal were vying for ownership of the franchise, which the NBA bought for $318MM in 2010. While the NFL has rules about cross-ownership, the league allows ownership of a team in another league if the two franchises are in the same city, like the Hornets and Saints.
According to Aldridge, Benson will have to pay about 10% of the $338MM immediately. The NBA's Finance Committee is expected to approve the sale today, with final approval coming later in the spring. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reported this morning that a new TV deal for the Hornets has also been consummated.
When Benson takes over the Hornets, he'll have a number of decisions to make. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News reported yesterday that Hornets management was nervous about Bhathal's group taking over, since the group included Mike Dunleavy, who likely would've wanted to clean house. It's not known how Benson will feel about retaining free agents such as Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, and Carl Landry. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that coach Monty Williams and GM Dell Demps are expected to have a good chance to keep their jobs.
The Hornets' arena lease, which Benson will assume, will keep the team in New Orleans through 2024. Whether or not they'll remain the Hornets that long is unknown. Kevin Spain of the Times-Picayune asked readers today whether Benson should keep the name or change it to something that is "more New Orleans."
Hornets Reportedly Close To Sale
The Times-Picayune's Jimmy Smith has a new report that says the New Orleans Hornets could have a new owner in place as soon as Friday, as the NBA is deciding between two potential ownership groups.
The league is currently holding its Board of Governors meeting in New York, and while Sacramento's arena situation is the most high-profile issue still to be resolved, Smith reports that a sale of the league-owned Hornets is also being discussed. One prospective ownership group is headed by California swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal, while the other is led by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson.
On March 16, the Hornets and the state of Louisiana announced an extension of the team's lease, which will keep them in New Orleans through at least 2024, effectively eliminating any prospective buyers who wanted to move the team to another city.