Washburn On Martin, Dooling, Draft
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe delivers noteworthy news from around the Association in the latest installment of his weekly column, which blends a review of the top storylines from the past week with fresh news from league sources. We'll pass along the latter here:
- Washburn wonders if Kenyon Martin's resurgence with the Knicks late this season will help his free agent stock in the summer, though the veteran big man isn't looking for a change of scenery. "I would love to stay a Knick," Martin said. "I don’t want to go nowhere. I am proving to this organization what I can be and who I am as a person on and off the court, and I think they see that. I’m here now and I’m going to make the best of this opportunity."
- Keyon Dooling, whom the Grizzlies are reportedly considering, wanted to come out of retirement with the Celtics earlier this season, but he's barred from signing from Boston for a year after the team waived him in September, according to Washburn. I'm unaware of any such restriction under the collective bargaining agreement, but since the CBA isn't a public document, this could be a rule we're simply learning about for the first time.
- Washburn expects several underclassmen who are on the fence about entering the draft to go ahead and do so, given the perceived weakness of this year's field. Of course, not everyone benefits from early entry. Washburn caught up with Hawks point guard Jeff Teague, who believes his brother, Bulls rookie Marquis Teague, should have stayed in college one more year.
Atlantic Rumors: Bynum, Randolph, J.R. Smith
It's starting to look like the Knicks will win their first Atlantic Division title since 1993/94. Brooklyn's loss to the Jazz last night dropped the Nets four games back of New York, and five games back in the loss column. The Celtics are eight games back in the loss column. It remains to be seen whether the Knicks can duplicate another feat they pulled off in 1993/94 and make it to the NBA Finals, but while we wait for that playoff story to unfold, here's the latest buzz from the Atlantic:
- A source tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Andrew Bynum won't give the Sixers any special consideration in free agency this summer, but Mitchell believes the team's best option is to re-sign the oft-injured center and hope he can get healthy for at least a couple of seasons.
- Shavlik Randolph's play, particularly his efficient rebounding, is justifying the Celtics' decision to keep him around, observes Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, who also points to the improved performance of offseason signee Jeff Green.
- J.R. Smith has a $2.933MM player option for 2013/14, but he should be able to command a much greater salary as a free agent if he turns it down. Newsday's Al Iannazzone looks at the career year Smith's enjoying this season with the Knicks.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers reader questions about the Raptors and other NBA issues in his mailbag column.
Odds & Ends: Webster, Wright, Pachulia
In his Weekend Dime piece, ESPN's Marc Stein writes that one of the main reasons for the Wizards dealing Jordan Crawford for Leandro Barbosa's expiring contract – despite Barbosa being out from a season ending injury – was to create more flexibility to increase their chances of retaining Martell Webster this summer. The former Seattle Prep star is arguably having his best pro season in Washington this year, putting up career bests in scoring (11.7), free throw percentage (86.4%), field goal percentage (45.4%), and three-point percentage (43.3%) in 29.3 MPG. Here are a few more tidbits from around the league tonight:
- Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago (via Twitter) expects Mavericks big man Brandan Wright to be an under-the-radar commodity this summer as an unrestricted free agent.
- Hawks center Zaza Pachulia – projected to be out six months after season ending surgery next week – says that he hasn't thought about his future and adds, "I'm still part of this team until July 31," tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
- Derek Page of HoopsWorld held his weekly chat with readers this afternoon, discussing how Nerlens Noel and Cody Zeller are his top overall draft prospects and that the Mavericks won't rebuild until Dirk Nowitzki is finished playing, among other topics.
- Looking back at the summer of 2010, former Suns GM Steve Kerr says that he, along with Phoenix brass and their medical staff, agreed that a large financial commitment to Amare Stoudemire would not have been prudent considering the possible health issues down the line (Frank Isola of the New York Daily News).
Odds & Ends: Collins, Saunders, Martin, Jennings
With 22 NBA teams in action on Friday night, let's round up all of the odds and ends from around the league here:
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports points out, via Twitter, that Sixers coach Doug Collins has never coached longer than three years in his coaching career, which includes stops in Detroit, Chicago and Washington. This is relevant, of course, because Collins in currently in his third year in Philly and the wreckage of the Andrew Bynum disaster has many wondering if he will return next season.
- Flip Saunders is drawing interest from the University of Minnesota as well as the Timberwolves, tweets NBC's Ric Bucher. The return to the Gophers, Saunders' alma mater, would be as the team's head coach while the Wolves are interested in securing their former coach to replace current general manager David Kahn. While Bucher says that current Wolves owner Glen Taylor is tight with Saunders, he thinks that Saunders would rather coach, even in college, than enter an NBA front office.
- The addition of Kenyon Martin has been the last of a series of successful moves by Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald, over the past few years, that have resulted in the team closing in on its first division title in 19 years, writes Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops.
- Brandon Jennings, a restricted free agent come summer, should hope to ink a new deal more commensurate with his potential than his performance, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News. Jennings, who was recently benched, has had his moments over his four-year career and seemed to be nearing a breakout last year when he averaged 19.1 points.
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders have acquired former UCLA Bruin Reeves Nelson, tweets Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times. Nelson hooked on with the Lakers and Houston in the preseason, but was waived by both teams prior to the season.
Eastern Notes: Turkoglu, Heat, Pistons, Bulls
A few Friday notes from out of the Eastern Conference….
- Turkey's Fenerbahce Ulker is hoping to add Hedo Turkoglu for the 2013/14 season, according to Can Pelister of TrendBasket.com (via Twitter). Of course, Turkoglu is still technically under contract with the Magic for next year, with half of his $12MM salary guaranteed. But while Turkoglu says he hopes to remain in Orlando, I'd expect the team to part ways with him.
- In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman explores whether the Heat will still be able to convince unrestricted free agents to sign in Miami at a discounted rate going forward.
- With the Pistons officially out of the playoff hunt for 2012/13, Patrick Hayes of PistonPowered (via the Detroit Free Press) tries to determine which prospects might be good fits for Detroit in the upcoming draft.
- As Amare Stoudemire works to get healthy for the postseason, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News looks back at the Knicks' decision to give Stoudemire a fully-guaranteed, uninsured $100MM contract.
- Signing Kenyon Martin is the latest in a series of successful moves for Knicks GM Glen Grunwald, writes Moke Hamilton of SheridanHoops.com.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com addresses a number of Bulls-related topics in today's mailbag, including whether the Bulls will trade Luol Deng this summer, or sign Ben Gordon on the cheap, should the Bobcats buy him out — neither possibility is likely, says Smith.
Atlantic Links: Martin, Celtics, Datome, Prigioni
A pair of Atlantic teams heading in opposite directions met last night in Boston, with the Knicks extending their winning streak to five games, while the Celtics lost their fifth straight. If the season ended today, the two clubs would square off in the first round of the postseason, though hopefully by the time the playoffs roll around, injured bigs like Tyson Chandler and Kevin Garnett will have returned to the court. As we look forward to seeing whether Boston's and New York's current streaks will come to an end later tonight, let's round up a few Wednesday morning notes out of the Atlantic….
- Before last night's game, Kenyon Martin told Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com that he and the Celtics were close to reaching an agreement earlier this season. "Doc [Rivers] wanted me and the players wanted me, but in the 11th hour … they didn't pull the trigger," Martin said. "And I'm not talking a few days ago or even a few weeks ago. This was a couple of months ago."
- Yesterday, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passed along word that Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo was in Italy to scout a handful of players, including forward Gigi Datome. Today, Carchia shares a few comments Colangelo made to Italy's Il Corriere Dello Sport about Datome.
- Pablo Prigioni has recently been inserted into the Knicks' starting lineup and the move has paid dividends so far, as Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes. Prigioni suggested earlier this month that he wasn't sure what his future holds beyond this season, but if he continues his solid play, he should receive NBA interest this summer.
Atlantic Notes: Martin, Knicks, Nets, Pietrus
Deron Williams was bested by the Chris Paul-led Clippers on Saturday night but he bounced back in a major way yesterday against the Suns. Goran Dragic gave the Nets all they could handle, but D-Will's 20 point, 11 assist performance pushed Brooklyn to a 102-100 victory. It wasn't a pretty win, but the Nets will take it, especially considering that they were without Joe Johnson in Phoenix. Here's more from the Atlantic..
- Kenyon Martin told reporters, including Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter) that he has thoughts that he "probably can’t say on camera" about teams that ignored him as a free agent. However, he says that he is now "in a happy place." Martin sat on the sidelines for most of the 2012/13 season before hooking on with the Knicks.
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post spoke with former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy about his thoughts on the Nets and he's not as enthused as some about the club's prospects going forward. “[There are] significant things that they have to find out about their team to try to make that next step up to what they want to be, which is a championship-caliber team,” said Van Gundy.
- Raptors forward Mickael Pietrus wants to finish out the season strong and show that he is once again healthy, writes RealGM's Shams Charania. Pietrus will be a free agent after this season when his one-year, minimum salary contract expires.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Martin, Sixers, Turner
After struggling to find an NBA team for much of the season, Kenyon Martin has found a home with the Knicks. The veteran forward has proven to be a vital piece for New York down the stretch and K-Mart says that he wants to return next season. While one would have thought that he would have gotten a return invite from the Clippers last year, it’s hard to see the Knicks not making an effort to re-sign Martin if he keeps playing like this. Let’s head over to 7th Ave and work our way out to the rest of the Atlantic..
- Knicks coach Mike Woodson sounds confident that Jason Kidd can play out the remaining two years on his contract, but the point guard isn’t quite as sure, writes Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “We’re going to revisit [it],” he said. “We [would] love to make it to 42, but we have to be realistic. If the body and mind can’t compete at the same time, then I got to move to the side and watch these younger guys play. But I feel great.”
- While the Sixers‘ biggest decision this summer may be in regards to Andrew Bynum, they’ll also have to figure out what their future will be with Evan Turner, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Turner doesn’t merit a deal like Jrue Holiday‘s four-year, $44MM contract and he probably won’t want to take something signficantly cheaper. Philly can trigger Turner’s $8.7MM qualifying offer for 2014/15 to give them the right to match anyone else’s deal.
- With the Nets, Kidd and Martin used to get notoriously fired up to beat the crosstown rival Knicks. Martin never imagined that the two would be reunited in blue-and-orange, but he’s happy about it nonetheless, writes Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press.
Martin “Would Love” To Re-Sign With Knicks
Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets that Kenyon Martin plans to play next year and "would love" to re-sign with the Knicks. In ten games with New York, the former number one draft pick has been averaging 7.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG. 1.1 steals per game, and nearly one block in 22.7 minutes per night.
It had been a rough year for Martin, who started the season looking for a contract worth the mini-mid level exception but found no takers. Even after he conceded to playing for a minimum contract, the 35-year-old forward struggled to find an offer before New York managed to clear a roster spot to sign him earlier this month. Now Martin's production could not have come at a better time, as the team has been dealing with injuries to Amare Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, and Kurt Thomas.
Odds & Ends: Yi, McGrady, Turkoglu
- In that same piece, Sheridan says that former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady is mulling a return to the Qingdao Flying Eagles for another season.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says that it's "highly likely" the Magic will part ways with Hedo Turkoglu during the offseason. The 34-year-old forward doesn't appear to fit into the team's long-term plans, and only $6MM of his $12MM contract next year is fully guaranteed.
- Dave McMenamin and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles report that Lakers reserve Antawn Jamison will play through pain after suffering a slight tear in his shooting wrist during Friday night's loss to the Wizards.
- Knicks coach Mike Woodson thinks that Jason Kidd could "absolutely" play two years after this one (Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets).
- Despite all the media attention converging onto Miami nowadays, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel doesn't think that the Heat approaching the NBA's all-time winning streak has created any unneeded pressure.
- Marc D'Amico of Celtics.com examines Jeff Green's performance against the Heat last Monday, calling it a game indicative of a potential superstar.