Odds & Ends: Jennings, Rondo, Shumpert
Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings admits basketball wasn’t his primary focus during the first four years of his career, but the free agent process this summer jolted him out of complacency, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
“I just wanted a new start,” Jennings said. “Seeing a bunch of my teammates leave, Monta (Ellis), J.J. (Redick), Mike Dunleavy, everybody, the coaching staff I’d been around for four years, everything was different. I felt like they were going in a different direction and I felt like I had do the same.”
Jennings considered signing his one-year qualifying offer from the Bucks to get to unrestricted free agency in 2014, but Milwaukee’s hiring of an unfamiliar coach in Larry Drew dissuaded him from that idea, Jennings says. Still, at least one beat writer doesn’t see him as Detroit’s point guard of the future, as we detail in our league-wide roundup:
- MLive’s David Mayo answers reader questions and expresses confidence that the Celtics will continue to make Rajon Rondo available, and that Pistons president of basketball ops Joe Dumars will keep trying to trade for the All-Star point guard.
- Iman Shumpert didn’t answer a question Thursday about whether he wants to stay in New York, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com notes. Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests some possible landing spots for the Knicks swingman.
- Wherever Shumpert lands, it probably won’t be in Minnesota, since the Wolves aren’t in on any of the trade talks involving him, tweets Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.
- Andre Iguodala started thinking about joining the Warriors even as he and his Nuggets teammates were facing Golden State in the playoffs last season, HoopsWorld’s Alex Kennedy writes. Iguodala fits the needs of the W’s even more than Dwight Howard would have, posits Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.
- Nets GM Billy King is optimistic about his team and coach Jason Kidd in spite of Brooklyn’s slow start, as he reveals in a Q&A with USA Today’s Sam Amick.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, KG, Bargnani, Sixers
Celtics big man Jared Sullinger is “shocked” at how well he has rebounded from back surgery, writes ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg. The 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds over 19.7 minutes per game in seven appearances, not bad for a guy who who underwent season-ending lumbar disk surgery back in February. Sullinger missed Wednesday’s game against the Bobcats with a bone bruise on his right knee, but hopes to be back in the lineup on tonight to take on the Blazers. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division..
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens & Co. tuned out talk from pundits this offseason who said that the club would wind up tanking for a top pick, writes the Associated Press. “Y’all were talking about the lottery. We didn’t even think about that,” Sullinger said after their four-game winning streak came to an end. “We don’t care about that. We want to win, we want to make the playoffs, and we want to make a run. At the end of the day, that was something that you talked about, not us.“
- As much as prized offseason acquisition Kevin Garnett and others are struggling, Stefan Bondy of the Daily News (on Twitter) still believes that Deron Williams is the key to success.
- The Knicks have struggled early on this season, but the play of trade acquisition Andrea Bargnani has been a bright spot, writes Alan Hahn of MSG Network (Sulia link). Since Tyson Chandler‘s injury, the Italian big man has averaged 21.3 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 31.2 minutes per contest.
- Rich Hofmann Jr. of the Daily News looks at the elements of the Spurs system that new coach Brett Brown has brought to the Sixers.
- The Kings appear to have some interest in Knicks guard Iman Shumpert, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Marc Stein earlier today.
Latest On Iman Shumpert
Sources close to the Knicks say that no deal involving Iman Shumpert is imminent, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be staying put in New York, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. More and more people around the league see some sort of Shumpert deal materializing sooner rather than later, given that he’s New York’s only real trade asset at this time.
Talks with the Nuggets didn’t get far because of the Knicks’ insistence on getting Kenneth Faried in the swap, but Denver does have interest in Shumpert. Prying Faried away from Denver would have required the Knicks to include more than one draft pick and the Knicks can’t part with a first-rounder earlier than 2018. Stein also hears that the Kings are gauging how Shumpert might fit in with their squad.
The Knicks are increasingly confident that they can afford to lose Shumpert with J.R. Smith back in the lineup and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. looking solid early.
Atlantic Notes: Lin, Knicks, 76ers, Nets
Jeremy Lin and the Rockets may have gotten the better of the Knicks last night, but George Willis of the New York Post contends that New York still made the right call by letting the guard go to Houston in the summer of 2012. Houston gave Lin a three-year, $25MM offer sheet that was backloaded to pay him $15MM in the final year. That number would have put the Knicks in luxury tax hell, making a return nearly impossible. “Lin is not a $15MM a year player and never will be,” an NBA insider said. “The Rockets don’t even see him as that.” Here’s more out of the Atlantic..
- New 76ers coach Brett Brown never expected his club to get out to a 5-4 start, writes Thomas Moore of the Bucks County Times. The rebuilding Sixers were widely predicted to finish with the worst record in the league this season, particularly after it was announced that Nerlens Noel would be lost for the season.
- The Nets are struggling early on under new head coach Jason Kidd, but star guard Deron Williams insists the wins will come if the team continues to believe in their system, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. A 2-5 start isn’t what the Nets had in mind after breaking the bank to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry this summer.
- New Knicks guard Beno Udrih is singing a similar tune, saying that he’s not ready to panic, though the club has to step up their game. “There’s panic going on because no one expected the season to start the way it has started,” Udrih told Lang Greene of HoopsWorld. “But the regular season has 82 games so there’s still [73] games remaining. We just have to worry about ourselves. Our goal is still to win the [Atlantic Division] and get in a good spot for the playoffs.“
- Former Celtics and Nets guard Terrence Williams split with Turk Telecom due to family reasons, according to a Turkish report passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. To keep up with hoops from around the globe, check out Hoops Rumors’ International Player Tracker.
Knicks Notes: Lin, Bargnani, Smith
Here’s the latest out of MSG, where Iman Shumpert appears to be staying for now..
- Knicks owner James Dolan‘s decision to rid the garden of Jeremy Lin and the Linsanity that came with him has backfired bigtime, writes Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com. Rather than match’s Lin’s three-year, $25.1MM offer sheet from Houston, the Knicks let the talented 23-year-old guard walk for nothing. What O’Connor doesn’t address is the fact that the Rockets’ offer was heavily backloaded, which would have cost the Knicks a bundle in luxury tax penalties. Lin and the Rockets return to the Garden tonight.
- Matt Moore of CBSSports.com isn’t ready to push the panic button and he gives ten reasons why the Knicks fans are going to be just fine. One of Moore’s reasons for optimism is the better-than-expected play of offseason acquisition Andrea Bargnani.
- It looks like Knicks guard J.R. Smith and Pistons guard Brandon Jennings might have a budding rivalry. As recapped on ESPNNewYork.com, Jennings threw a jab at Chris Smith on Twitter, implying that nepotism landed him an NBA gig while Pooh Jeter and Bobby Brown aren’t in the Association. The ever classy J.R. Smith responded by threatening to send his “street homies” to Detroit, presumably to settle the score with Jennings. Many have speculated that the younger Smith was given a roster spot with the Knicks over more worthy candidates as a favor to his brother, who re-signed with the club on a three-year deal this past summer.
Atlantic Rumors: Shumpert, Faried, Williams
Talks between the Knicks and Nuggets on a potential Iman Shumpert/Kenneth Faried swap “were never alive,” a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post, who terms the conversations New York is having with other teams about Shumpert as merely preliminary. The Nuggets would have wanted a first-round pick from the Knicks, but the earliest first-rounder New York can convey is for 2018, Berman notes. Here’s more on Shumpert, the Knicks and their Atlantic Division rivals:
- The Knicks‘ ample depth at shooting guard and the team’s concern over how Shumpert would react to being benched are among the reasons the Knicks appear willing to trade the 23-year-old, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com details.
- A family matter has forced former Celtics swingman Terrence Williams to leave Turk Telekom Ankara after he played just two games with the Turkish team, agent Obrad Fimic tweets (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
- Jason Terry says the Nets are in “desperation” mode after a loss to the Kings last night dropped them to 2-5, observes Sam Amick of USA Today.
- The Spurs regarded James Anderson as a scorer when they drafted him 24th overall in 2010, former San Antonio assistant and current Sixers head coach Brett Brown says. Anderson’s career-high 36 points last night highlight why Brown thinks the Sixers picked up Anderson at the just the right time in the swingman’s career, as Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News examines.
Western Notes: Warriors, Bryant, Jazz
The West has been the stronger of the two conferences so far in the early going of the 2013/14 NBA season. There are nine teams above the .500 mark in the West compared to only three squads with winning records in the East. A conference chock full of winning teams is a recipe for intense and entertaining competition. Here are some notes regarding the West:
- Despite the injury to point guard Toney Douglas, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group hears from team sources that the Warriors are not expected to make a move to bolster their backcourt. Thompson reports that Kent Bazemore and Nemanja Nedovic will be given a chance to come off the bench and run the team’s offense in Douglas’ absence.
- There’s still no timetable for Kobe Bryant‘s return, tweets Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. The Lakers are paying Bryant over $30MM this season, a total almost $8MM greater than the next highest player on the list.
- The Knicks‘ decision to let Jeremy Lin walk away from the team after the 2011/12 season was a surprise to many, including Rockets GM Daryl Morey: “We didn’t really understand it, and we thought for sure that Lin was going to stay. I thought if any team knew what it had, it was going to be New York.” Harvey Araton of the New York Times breaks down New York’s choice not to match the Rockets’ offer sheet.
- Kenneth Faried declined to comment on the rumors implicating him as a possible early season trade candidate: “No comment on all of that. I just play basketball and do my job, and that’s it.” Faried had been linked to a potential trade with the Knicks‘ Iman Shumpert, but the Nuggets wanted more in return than New York had to offer. Read Christopher Dempsey’s full article about Faried at the Denver Post.
- Earlier tonight, Utah Jazz beat writer Jody Genessy revealed (via Twitter) that Diante Garrett was shopping at WalMart when he received the call offering him a spot on the Jazz. Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune provides further insight on Utah’s acquisition of the young guard and what it means for the team.
Odds & Ends: Shumpert, Faried, Suns, Sixers
All day long, media outlets have been reporting that Knicks guard Iman Shumpert might be traded in an attempt to aid the team’s ailing frontcourt. Despite the flux of rumors, Lang Greene over at HoopsWorld reports Shumpert isn’t fazed by seeing his name involved in trade talks: “If it’s going to happen, it will happen. I’m young. I’m an asset. So I’ll be in the [trade] rumors, I guess.” Although a move to Denver has been reportedly ruled out, several teams are still thought to be interested in the third year Georgia Tech product.
Here are some more interesting notes from around the NBA:
- We found out earlier today that the Nuggets weren’t keen on sending Kenneth Faried over to New York, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that there is league-wide interest in the young forward. However, Wojnarowski also notes that despite the interest, the Nuggets don’t appear likely to dish Faried unless he’s involved in some sort of blockbuster deal.
- The Suns and 76ers are off to better-than-expected starts, but Mark Deeks from SB Nation does’t believe that either team should exit rebuilding mode in an attempt to make a playoff run.
- Three projected lottery picks took the court in Chicago last night for the Champions Classic. Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Julius Randle showed off their skills to a packed arena that included 68 NBA scouts. Alex Kennedy from HoopsWorld breaks down how each of the young phenoms performed under the spotlight.
Shumpert/Faried Talks No Longer Active
5:16pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (via Twitter) that there are no active talks involving a Faried/Shumpert swap. The Knicks reportedly proposed the idea to the Nuggets, but Denver rejected the offer. However, judging by Stein and Begley’s earlier report that several teams have expressed interest in Shumpert, it’s still possible that the young Knicks guard ends up playing for a new team.
2:02pm: ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Ian Begley have followed up on Isola’s report, writing that while the Knicks and Nuggets continue to talk, several teams have inquired on Shumpert and New York remains undecided on whether or not to move him.
According to Stein and Begley, the Nuggets are believed to be seeking draft compensation in any Faried/Shumpert swap, which may be too high a price for the Knicks to pay.
12:42pm: On the heels of news that Tyson Chandler would be sidelined for several weeks, Knicks coach Mike Woodson said last week that the team would stand pat for now rather than adding a big man. However, it sounds as if New York is open to the possibility of making a major move to bolster its frontcourt. According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Knicks and Nuggets are discussing a potential trade involving Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried, and talks have “intensified” in recent days.
While there haven’t been any definitive signals that the Nuggets’ new decision-making group is down on Faried, there have been some curious hints over the last several weeks. Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported last month that Denver was gauging teams’ interest in Faried, and predicted a deal would happen. Additionally, after starting all 80 games he played a year ago, Faried has started just four of the Nuggets’ first six contests, and his minutes are down to 23.7 per game (from 28.1).
As for Shumpert, he has never quite fit in New York as well as expected, though there still seemed to be hope coming into the season that he’d develop into a long-term core piece. For now, it seems more likely that he represents the club’s most valuable trade asset. According to Isola, Shumpert has fallen out of favor with Woodson and owner James Dolan.
The match would make some sense for both sides, considering the Nuggets lost defensive wings Andre Iguodala and Corey Brewer in the offseason and are still without the injured Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks’ frontcourt, meanwhile, is aging and hasn’t been very productive in the early going, particularly since losing Chandler. Still, it’s fair to wonder if both sides may be souring on a young player too soon. Both Shumpert and Faried are just 23 years old and are on rookie contracts through 2015.
Of course, it doesn’t look like anything is imminent at this point, as Isola notes. So even if the Knicks and Nuggets are exploring their options, we shouldn’t assume they’ve made any decisions yet. Both teams won 50+ games in 2012/13 and are off to slow starts this season, but it’s probably still a little early to take any drastic measures.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Bulls, Davis, Wolters
Parity has been the story of the first two weeks of the NBA season in the Eastern Conference. Outside of the 8-0 Pacers and the 5-3 Heat, every single team in the East has between two and four wins, and none are separated from the rest by more than two games. If the Knicks make good on James Dolan’s promise of a win tonight in Atlanta, there are scenarios in which Indiana and Miami will be the only Eastern teams above .500 tomorrow. While we look forward to a busy slate of games tonight, let’s check in on a few items out of the East….
- According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Knicks considered signing Louis Amundson before the veteran big man joined the Pelicans, but ultimately decided to pass.
- The Bulls don’t have a shortage of trade chips, but the safe money says they won’t cash in and make a major trade this season, says Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
- In today’s NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler explores Glen Davis‘ trade value, and how it was (or wasn’t) affected by a recent off-court incident.
- The No. 38 pick used to select Nate Wolters was involved in a pair of draft-night deals, and while Wolters never thought he was headed to Washington, he briefly thought he’d be a Sixer rather than a Buck, as he tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
- The Nets have re-assigned Tornike Shengelia to the Springfield Armor, the club announced today in a press release. It’s already Shengelia’s third D-League assignment of the season.