Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Rondo, Celtics, Knicks
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri believes that he should let his team continue to grow, stocked as it is with plenty of young players around 28-year-old Kyle Lowry, as he tells Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. It’s more or less the same stance he’s taken ever since the Rudy Gay trade, which went down one year ago today,
“This is the time to let it sit and play itself out,” Ujiri said to Grange. “It’s not the time to play poker, not now.”
Of course, deception is often the key to a skilled poker player, and the Raptors have reason to act now if they’re going to make a move, since a trade exception worth more than $4.583MM that’s left over from the Gay trade expires at the end of today. Nonetheless, it seems only logical to take Ujiri at his word with the Raptors at 16-5 heading into tonight’s clash with the Cavs. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Scouts and player personnel officials tell Shaun Powell of NBA.com that Rajon Rondo is no longer the sort of player who can command a blockbuster return in a trade. That’s mostly because of a market flooded with quality point guards, Powell writes, wondering if the Celtics would have received more if they had traded Rondo around the time of this year’s draft.
- The Celtics have sent rookies James Young and Dwight Powell to the D-League again, the team announced (Twitter link). It’s the fifth time that each has been on assignment to the Maine Red Claws this season. Young and Powell are the top two scorers for Boston’s D-League affiliate, checking in at 23.3 and 22.3 points per game, respectively.
- Phil Jackson is being careful not to step into coach Derek Fisher‘s territory, but closer interaction between the Zen Master and Knicks players couldn’t hurt, opines Marc Berman of the New York Post.
And-Ones: Cousins, Clifford, Knicks, Covington
We heard yesterday that DeMarcus Cousins has been out for the past two weeks with a case of viral meningitis and could miss another week or two as he recovers. Kings head coach Michael Malone said today that Cousins is out “indefinitely,” reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). After a 9-5 start, Sacramento has lost four of five without its emerging superstar. Let’s take a look at what else is going around the Association:
- The Hornets‘ playoff appearance last season automatically triggered a team option for the third year of head coach Steve Clifford‘s contract, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Clifford, hired in May 2013, signed a three-year, $6MM deal with Charlotte that is now officially fully guaranteed through next season.
- While the disappointing Knicks might not be ready to turn their focus toward the draft, team president Phil Jackson also said that he doesn’t plan to make any in-season moves that might jeopardize the team’s long-term flexibility, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. “I’m not going to make movement for movement’s sake,” Jackson said. “There is sometimes addition by subtraction but I don’t see anybody that doesn’t want to be part of this organization, doesn’t want to play with his teammates, doesn’t want to learn… What we have to do is protect our future… If we evaluate a player and see he’s going to be a long-term player who is going to fit in our organization, we’ll do that.”
- Duke center Jahlil Okafor remains the top prospect in the latest update to Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, while high school senior Jaylen Brown, a small forward, is No. 1 on Givony’s 2016 mock draft.
- Robert Covington has quickly worked his way into Brett Brown‘s rotation in Philadelphia, writes Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers added Covington in mid-November and he has averaged 9.5 points in 11 games since arriving in Philly. However, the Tennessee State product has scored 63 points and played significant minutes in Philadelphia’s last three contests, two of which the success-starved Sixers have won.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Heat, Mahinmi, Murphy
Phil Jackson maintains that the Knicks aren’t ready to turn their focus to the draft, despite their 4-18 start, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Still, people on the “non-playing side” of the organization believe the team doesn’t have many players who can master the triangle, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Carmelo Anthony says he and his teammates must “kind of be comfortable with being uncomfortable” as they learn the triangle, as he told Aldridge last week. Comfort is tough to find on the court or off in New York for now, and we passed along more on the Knicks earlier today. Here’s news from the rest of the Eastern Conference:
- The Heat wouldn’t have built this season’s roster the way they did if they knew going into July that LeBron James wouldn’t re-sign, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes amid his mailbag column. James announced his decision on July 11th, more than a week into NBA free agency.
- Ian Mahinmi will be out six to eight weeks with a torn left plantar fascia, the Pacers announced. Mahinmi suffered the injury in the first half of Friday night’s contest against the Kings.
- Former Bulls big man Erik Murphy, currently with the Spurs affiliate in the D-League, is in talks with Turkish club Galatasaray, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Murphy, who spent most of last season with Chicago after the Bulls chose him 49th in the 2013 draft, was last on an NBA roster with the Celtics, who let him go at the end of the preseason.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Knicks Rumors: Trades, Free Agency, Fisher
Knicks team president Phil Jackson delivered a rather somber state of the union for his 4-18 team as he spoke with gathered media this afternoon. The Zen Master addressed the possibility of trades and looked ahead to offseason free agency, as we highlight below. All of the links go to Twitter, unless otherwise noted:
- The Knicks aren’t going to make a trade for someone who wouldn’t be a long-term fit, and the desire continues to be to preserve flexibility for the future, Jackson said, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com passes along. Intriguing trade opportunities haven’t become readily apparent at this point, Jackson added, according to Mark Berman of the New York Post. The team won’t make “movement for movement’s sake,” Jackson said, adding that he doesn’t “see anyone who doesn’t want to be part of this organization,” as Newsday’s Barbara Barker transcribes. Still, “sometimes there’s addition by subtraction,” the Zen Master reminded, as Berman notes.
- Jackson worries that the Knicks’ losing ways might negatively influence the way free agents see the team, Begley observes.
- Jackson once more insisted that he has no desire to coach the Knicks, Barker notes. He said that he reviews each game with Derek Fisher and top assistant coach Kurt Rambis, but the Zen Master added that he hasn’t spoken to the team as a group in three weeks, according to Begley. Jackson also lent his support to Fisher, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News relays. “He’s a remarkable character. … I think he’ll make it work,” Jackson said of Fisher.
- The Knicks have suffered from a resistance to discipline, order and culture change, Jackson said, as Isola and Berman pass along, echoing earlier comments from Fisher, who senses that his players have lingering doubt about the triangle offense, as Begley wrote in a full piece.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Aldridge, Turner
Tommy Heinsohn of CSNNE sees a bright future for former Celtics star Paul Pierce when his playing days are through, but he isn’t sure exactly what he’ll be doing. “He’s liable to be a broadcaster for all we know,” Heinsohn joked. “Paul Pierce is a perfect example of a guy that’s made for an organization. He’s a very, very team oriented person. He’s a self motivator, so every time you put that type of individual into an organization, they’ll find a way to get the best out of them. I don’t know what he’ll end up being, but they will surely want him to be involved.”
- Pending free agent LaMarcus Aldridge is unlikely to join the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Aldridge, he explains, seems to be after a five year deal and the Knicks cannot offer more than four.
- After disappointing stints with the Sixers and Pacers, Evan Turner may have found a comfortable NBA role with the Celtics, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. Turner, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, is averaging nearly nine points per game as a versatile sixth man for Boston. Coach Brad Stevens talked about playing to Turner’s strengths. “He’s a mid-range guy,” Stevens said. “He’s a better mid-range player than he is a three-point shooter at this time. But his three-point shot is getting better and will continue to get better.”
- While the criticism of Knicks coach Derek Fisher and president Phil Jackson is mounting, one league personnel director told Berman that not much was expected of the new regime in year one. “You’ve got to be patient,’’ he said. “You got a coach who’s never coached and a president who’s never built a team.’’
- The struggling football coaches in New York can’t say the same, but Fisher has job security despite the Knicks‘ lousy play, writes Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Pierce, Covington, Knicks
Paul Pierce will always be a Celtic, no matter what uniform he wears, Clippers coach Doc Rivers told Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Pierce will make his first trip to Boston today as a member of the Wizards. He spent last season with the Nets before accepting a $5.3MM offer from the Wizards with a $5.5MM player option for next year. “He’s a Celtic playing for other teams,” said Rivers, who coached Pierce for nine years in Boston. “That’s exactly the way I look at Paul. I’ll never look at him as a Wizard. That’s just not going to happen. He’s just a Celtic playing for the Wizards, and we all know that.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics have recalled Dwight Powell and James Young from the D-league, the team announced in a press release. Powell is averaging 22.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in three games with the Maine Red Claws, while Young is averaging 23.3 points and 6.8 rebounds.
- The Sixers‘ Robert Covington is seizing the opportunity he has in Philadelphia, writes Max Rappaport of Sixers.com. The second-year forward had 25 points in Detroit Saturday as Philadelphia picked up its second win of the season. Covington signed with the Sixers November 15th after being waived by the Rockets before the season started. “I have my sights set on everything that I want to do to prove that I belong here,” he said. Covington is under the Sixers’ control through the 2017/18 season.
- There’s plenty of blame to be shared for the Knicks‘ 4-17 start, opines Al Iannazzone of Newsday. He cites a mediocre roster assembled by team president Phil Jackson, questionable decisions from first-year coach Derek Fisher and a lack of production at the point guard, power forward and center positions.
And-Ones: Knicks, Mekel, Mirotic, Kerr
The Knicks have started the season with a record of 4-17, but there is upside to the team’s horrendous start, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Ending up in the early part of the lottery could lead to the addition of a franchise changing player to the team either by the draft itself or by a trade that sends the pick out in a package that lands the Knicks an elite talent, like the Cavs did with Kevin Love this past offseason. Isola points out that the Knicks haven’t been the most patient franchise when it comes to developing talent and notes that the last two Knicks’ draft picks to make the All-Star team were David Lee, who was drafted in 2005, and Mark Jackson, who was selected in the 1987 draft.
Here’s more from around the Association:
- Gal Mekel‘s two-year, non-guaranteed deal he signed with the Pelicans will pay him $639K this season, and he’ll earn $947,276 during the 2015/16 season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). That means the deal is a minimum-salary arrangement.
- The Bulls‘ three-year wait for Nikola Mirotic brought back memories of a similar saga with Toni Kukoc two decades ago, writes Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. But while Kukoc was publicly dissed by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Mirotic has gotten a friendly reception from Chicago’s current stars. “He can put it on the floor, he can make plays for people, he can get to the basket,” Mike Dunleavy said of Mirotic, who is in the first season of a three-year, $16.6MM deal. “Defensively he’s pretty good — blocks shots, gets his hands on a lot of balls. As he gets used to everything a little more, he’ll foul less and be a pretty effective defender.”
- Steve Kerr, who has the Warriors off to the NBA’s best start in his first season behind the team’s bench, tells Sam Smith of Bulls.com that his coaching style borrows from every coach he ever played under. Kerr played for two of the league’s most successful coaches ever in Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, but said he learned something everywhere he went. “Cotton Fitzsimmons and Lenny Wilkens and Lute Olson; you sort of take a little from each person,” Kerr said. “But what they all told me was to be yourself. They said you have to be yourself, that players will know if you are trying to do something that is not you.”
Arthur Hill and Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Hawks, Knicks To Pursue Greg Monroe
The Hawks and Knicks are set to pursue Greg Monroe in free agency this coming summer, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Over a dozen teams should have the necessary cap space to attract Monroe, who will almost assuredly be seeking a max contract, notes Charania. The Knicks see him as a secondary target if they can’t convince Marc Gasol to leave Memphis and come to New York, Charania adds, and landing Gasol is prospect they’re reportedly pessimistic about.
Monroe took the risky route this offseason when he signed Detroit’s one year qualifying offer after he and the team were unable to come to terms on a new long-term deal. The fact that Monroe spurned the Pistons’ attempts to lock him up for the long term and that he was willing to accept a salary of approximately $5.48MM for 2014/15, which is definitely below the market value for a player of Monroe’s talents, suggest that he has no intention of returning to Motown next season, Charania notes.
Monroe’s camp was also reportedly active in seeking sign-and-trade deals this past summer rather than attempting to secure offer sheets, with the fear that the Pistons would match and he would then be forced to stay in Detroit. Despite speculation that big-market teams like the Lakers and Celtics were pursuing Monroe, neither were an interested party when Monroe was seeking suitors, Charania’s sources told him. For their part, the Pistons rejected the proposed sign-and-trade offers, and they instead decided to take their chances that new president of basketball operations and head coach Stan Van Gundy could convince Monroe during the course of the season that Detroit was indeed a desirable place for him to continue his playing career.
The Knicks’ interest in Monroe furthers the notion that New York is focused on adding a center via free agency next summer. Monroe is the No. 4 player on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, and he’s the third-ranked center behind Gasol and Al Jefferson, who holds a $13.5MM player option for the 2015/16 season. The Knicks certainly will have enough cap flexibility to offer Monroe a maximum-salary deal, with roughly $25.9MM to spend. I do question how well Monroe would fit into the triangle offense that New York is transitioning to, since he is not known as a willing and competent passer, something that is required of big men in that system.
As for the Hawks, Monroe would be a curious fit alongside Al Horford and Paul Millsap and could find himself in a situation similar to the one he is now in with Detroit, where the Pistons’ experiment with an oversized frontcourt has not worked out well for any involved. Millsap is set for unrestricted free agency this coming summer, too, so Atlanta’s interest in Monroe could portend that the Hawks are either not confident in re-signing Millsap, or that they would prefer to add Monroe to their squad instead. Atlanta is expected to have more than $24MM in cap flexibility available next summer.
Atlantic Notes: Young, Fisher, Rondo, Brown
James Young has been lighting up the scoreboard during his D-League appearances this season but he’s still waiting for his opportunity with the Celtics, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com writes. “You never know what’s going to happen with your team first and foremost with regard to injuries or whatever the case may be,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “So he’s always got to stay ready and be ready. I think the biggest thing for James is he’s got to continue to play and get those opportunities in Maine, continue to practice extremely well, and then when that opportunity presents itself to take advantage of it. Do I have a timeline for that? When he beats those other guys out, then that’s the timeline. And I think that’s the right way to look at it.”
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Amid the Knicks‘ early season struggles, head coach Derek Fisher‘s calm demeanor has helped stabilize his players, but the franchise might need the former player to show more fire on the sidelines, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal opines. The Knicks, who have been whistled for more fouls than any other NBA team while getting to the line less than any other team, need Fisher to depart from his relaxed, mild-mannered state with the officials, Herring adds.
- Despite the rumors that resulted from Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo having breakfast together, the Celtics aren’t likely to deal Rondo, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News hears. The point guard remains a player who the team wants to build around even after he hits free agency this summer, and Boston sees Rondo as a means of attracting one of the crop of talented big men who will be available on the free agent market this summer, Deveney adds.
- Sixers coach Brett Brown shouldn’t be judged by his won-loss record thanks to being saddled with a roster intended to lose, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. But Philadelphia’s woes do weigh on Brown despite the lower expectations, and the coach also worries about how losing affects his players, Lee adds. “I am prideful. You care a lot. But I didn’t accept this job to boost my resume,” Brown said. “I am 53 years old. You get used to winning 50 games every one of my San Antonio years. And so I need to make sure that [the players] feel good about themselves, that there is a difference between losing a game and losers.”
Durant, ‘Melo, Love Spoke Of Playing Together
Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love have discussed the idea of one day playing together, whether it be in the NBA or on Team USA, Love tells Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. The subject came up when the three 2012 Olympic teammates were with each other as they trained this summer in a Los Angeles gym.
“I think naturally being around each other this summer and the Olympics and just in common passing, we have always talked about the opportunity to obviously play against each other but playing with each other as well,” Love said. “It is always something fun to think about when you have a bunch of guys in the gym this summer. And if not on our respective teams, then maybe at the Olympics.”
It would seem the next Olympics would be a much more likely venue for a reunion than the NBA, given Anthony’s new contract with the Knicks, which runs through 2018/19 with a player option for that season, and Love’s continued insistence that he plans a long-term future with the Cavs. Durant has given no clear signal of what he intends to do when his contract with the Thunder runs out in 2016, but it would be a “long shot, likely even a pipe dream” for the Knicks to land a superstar of Durant’s caliber to play alongside Anthony, Youngmisuk writes. The Knicks are reportedly pessimistic about their chances of attracting Marc Gasol this summer.
Love spoke of his admiration for New York basketball over the summer, as Youngmisuk notes, and the power forward called the Knicks “a great franchise to be a part of” in a recent interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post, though he made it clear to Serby that he wants to stay in Cleveland. Love can opt out of his deal this summer or opt in and align his free agency with that of Durant’s in 2016. Still, there seems little chance that he’d end up leaving the Cavs.