Odds & Ends: J.R. Smith, Lakers, Nash
- HoopsHype provided their NBA season preview of the Lakers, projecting them to finish with first place in the Pacific division and second in the Western Conference.
- It appears that Lakers guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake are looking to prepare for the season as soon as possible, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLA.com tweets that both have an evening workout with player development coach Phil Handy tonight.
- Derek Page of HoopsWorld lists his top 5 playmakers heading into 2012-13. Steve Nash tops the list, followed by Rajon Rondo and LeBron James.
Knicks Rumors: Isiah, Camby, Giddens
Knicks owner James Dolan would like to have former coach and executive Isiah Thomas formally rejoin the organization in some capacity, but Thomas is reluctant come back, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Thomas might fear media backlash if he is rehired, and he has lingering resentment of some MSG executives from his previous tenure with the team, Isola writes. Thomas, who was college teammates with GM Glen Grunwald and coach Mike Woodson, is serving as an unofficial adviser to the team, according to Isola's report, and an eventual return in a official capacity seems likely. Here's more from the Big Apple:
- We passed along an item about Marcus Camby's enthusiasm for the Knicks roster last night, and in the piece Keldy Ortiz wrote for Newsday, Camby also talked about how close he came to signing with the Heat. Camby said it was a phone call from former teammate and current Knicks assistant GM Allan Houston that persuaded him to come to New York. "I knew that it would have been very hard for me to put on that Miami Heat uniform, especially all the battles we used to have back in the days with Houston and those guys," Camby said. "I'm happy things worked out."
- Camby also spoke about reuniting with some of his old Nuggets and Blazers teammates who are now with him on the Knicks, and adjusting to a bench role after starting for so long, as Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of the New York Post writes.
- Former Knicks guard J.R. Giddens, who the Celtics took with the final pick of the first round in the 2008 draft, could be headed to the Italian league to play for Centrale del Latte Brescia, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Isiah, Raptors
Here's a look at the latest out of the Atlantic Division, starting with the return of a familiar name to the back pages of the New York tabloids..
- LaSalle Thompson is a candidate to join the Knicks as an assistant coach, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Thompson was Mike Woodson's teammate with the (Kansas City) Kings and also worked with Tyson Chandler as a Bobcats assistant.
- Knicks owner James Dolan held a business meeting with Isiah Thomas Friday morning at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, a person familiar with the situation told Marc Berman of the New York Post. The pow-wow comes two days after the resignation of MSG sports president Scott O’Neil, who a source says helped convince Dolan that rehiring Thomas wasn’t a smart move for the Knicks brand. Thomas has pushed for a formal to the organization since he was fired as the Florida International basketball coach last spring.
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) says that Thomas never truly left the Knicks organization and has been in Dolan's ear even after his formal dismissal from the team. Isola also tweets that Thomas had a hand in the team's hiring of Mike Woodson.
- The Raptors have had internal discussions about free agent Mickael Pietrus but are unlikely to sign him as they don't have their bi-annual exception available, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Pietrus' agent insists that his client won't consider a minimum deal but Smith expects the Raptors to inquire on it anyway.
Odds & Ends: Lakers, Young, Heat, Beyer
It has been a busy day and night for the Lakers on this early-September Friday, which is certainly nothing new considering the influx of material since they landed Dwight Howard. Today they signed their second round pick, finalized their offseason coaching staff overhaul and their GM, Mitch Kupchak, spoke with SI.com's Sam Amick about all things Lakers. In addition to the earlier stories, Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles gives his take on three of the small, but meaningful issues facing the team.
But there are 29 other teams in the NBA, so let us round up some of the odds and ends from around the Association here tonight:
- Chauncey Billups is way ahead of schedule in his recovery from a left Achilles injury, writes Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times. Billups hasn't set a target return date yet, but said, "When my body feels right, that's when I'll be back. That being said, I'm far ahead of schedule. It's not even like I had a summer. I've been on the whole time, doing rehabbing and other work every day. I'm looking forward to getting back to playing and being with the guys and resuming my normal life as a player."
- Tommy Beer of HoopsWorld, via USA Today, writes that with the moves that the Knicks made – getting older and wiser – the team should be better equipped to compete and that the window to win is now. One interested tidbit from Beer – there are only five active NBA players over the age of 38 and the Knicks acquired three of them this offseason in Marcus Camby, Jason Kidd and Kurt Thomas.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News evaluates the chances of the Mavericks ending up with Kevin Martin and/or Josh Smith next summer, both of whom are free agents. After striking out this summer in free agency, the Mavericks should be in position to try again in a year with a similar level of financial flexibility.
- Dei Lynam of CSN Philly is doing a player by player breakdown of the revamped 76ers roster, and today she tackles swingman Thaddeus Young. The small forward position is much less crowded in Philadelphia after the departure of Andre Iguodala, and Young has made it an offseason goal to slide into that position as a starter.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside says that while the D-League has been increasingly effective as an NBA farm system, there is additional room for growth. He uses Andre Drummond as an example of a guy who would never be a D-League candidate, but for his development's sake, should be.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel addresses a few questions about the world champion Heat, including his thoughts on what roles of Rashard Lewis and Udonis Haslem may play on the Miami bench.
- The NBA coaching carousel continues as the Warriors have reportedly hired Bob Beyer as an assistant coach, who spent the last five years in Orlando on Stan Van Gundy's staff, says Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area. Beyer will replace Wes Unseld Jr., who joined Jacque Vaughn's staff in Orlando.
Knicks Notes: Brewer, Novak, Chandler
In less than two months, the Knicks will travel across town to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to face the Nets in the 2012/13 season opener. It'll be the start of what the NBA is hoping will be a renewed rivalry, and former Knicks president Donnie Walsh is fascinated to see how it plays out.
"I think it’s going to be an unbelievable rivalry," Walsh told Fred Kerber of the New York Post. "The Knicks still will have their fans but the Nets now have an entire borough. And Manhattan and Brooklyn have always been rivals…. Even when New Jersey was really good, the rivalry wasn’t there. This is fantastic for the city, great for Brooklyn. Knick fans are loyal but there are enough people in Brooklyn to support a second team."
Here are a few more of today's Knicks-related items:
- Howard Beck of the New York Times reports that Ronnie Brewer will miss six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his knee (Twitter link).
- Tommy Beer of HoopsWorld writes that the Knicks will certainly be an older team this season, but it remains to be seen whether or not they'll be a better team.
Earlier updates:
- Walsh also told Kerber that he likes the Knicks' roster, and doesn't buy the popular theory that Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire can't play together.
- In a Q&A with Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, Steve Novak discusses his role, his goals for the season, and the challenge of playing in what could be the NBA's toughest division.
- The Knicks have new attitudes to go along with their new uniforms, according to Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of the New York Post. Within the piece, Tyson Chandler praises his teammates for being willing to give up a month of their summers to participate in a "pre-training camp" starting next week. Chandler also noted that not having to deal with a lockout this summer should put him in far better position heading into his second season with the Knicks.
Eastern Notes: Nets, Heat, Dyson, Pistons
There have been plenty of newsworthy items out of the Eastern Conference today, with the Knicks unveiling new uniforms, the Nets possibly having signed Andray Blatche, and the league's most popular 12th man landing a TV gig with the Celtics. Here are a few more Eastern-related links we've yet to cover:
- The Nets plan to hold a free agent workout with forwards Josh Childress and Dominic McGuire early next week, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo (via Twitter).
- SI.com's Zach Lowe believes that, on a minimum-salary contract, Blatche would be worth the gamble for either the Nets or Heat.
- While we've heard that Mehmet Okur will probably require more than a minimum-salary commitment, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel still thinks he could be a possibility for the Heat.
- Jerome Dyson is the latest player to audition at the Heat's pre-camp tryouts, reports Winderman (Sulia link).
- The Pistons' depth at small forward could mean that a trade is in the team's future, writes David Mayo of MLive.com.
- Former George Washington point guard Tony Taylor Jr. will work out with the Knicks for a second time next week, according to Keith Schlosser of KnicksJournal.com.
- Amare Stoudemire appeared on FOX Sports Radio to discuss a number of topics, including former Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, Jeremy Lin, and the infamous fire extinguisher incident. Sports Radio Interviews rounds up a few of Stoudemire's noteworthy quotes.
- NBA.com's Sekou Smith takes a look at the Bobcats' future after the team set a record for futility in 2011/12.
Eastern Notes: Heat, Celtics, Knicks, Pistons
Earlier tonight, we learned that the Nets have reached an agreement with Andray Blatche on a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract. While that removes Blatche from the equation for the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel thinks it could ultimately benefit Miami, increasing the team's chances of being able to add a "known quantity on the cheap" (Sulia link). Here are a few more evening links from around the Eastern Conference:
- Coming off a season in which the Celtics struggled on the boards, WEEI.com's Ben Rohrbach looks into whether the team improved its rebounding with its offseason moves.
- Steve Novak and the Knicks have organized a "pre-training camp" that's set to begin on Monday, the sharpshooter tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
- In previewing the Pistons' upcoming season, David Mayo of MLive.com examines the position where the team seems to be thinnest: Shooting guard.
- Reggie Miller tells Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star that he wouldn't rule out returning to the Pacers in a front-office role down the line.
- In a Nets press release, the team announced that tryouts for the Springfield Armor, Brooklyn's D-League affiliate, will be held in New Jersey on September 22nd and in Springfield on October 21st.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Raptors, Amare, Celtics
Yesterday, Nets head coach Avery Johnson weighed in on a number of topics, including the uncertainty of this past summer, the move to Brooklyn, and his thoughts on the Mavericks. Here's a look at today's news and notes out of the Atlantic Division..
- MSG Sports president Scott O'Neil is leaving the company, sources tell Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). Isola notes that the Knicks exec had strong ties to the increasingly powerful Creative Artists Agency (Twitter link).
- The appointment of Tom Anselmi as the new president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment should have no impact on the Raptors' basketball plans going forward, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. After talking to several people in and around the Raptors, Smith writes that there is no reason to believe that General Manager Bryan Colangelo's job is in any sort of jeopardy.
- One NBA scout told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that Amare Stoudemire's best weapon in a bid for a bounce back season is the newly-acquired Marcus Camby. While Tyson Chandler tends to attract defenders in the low post, Camby is a greater threat to connect from the perimeter, giving Stoudemire room to score down low for the Knicks.
- Paul Flannery of WEEI.com gives us his five takeaways from the Celtics' offseason, starting with the importance of Kevin Garnett's three-year, $34MM contract. While it's a good amount of money to commit to a 36-year-old, it left enough breathing room for the C's to make other moves to improve the roster.
Teams Using Taxpayer MLE For 2012/13
When it comes to team payroll, NBA clubs can essentially be broken down into three groups: Teams using cap space, over-the-cap (but under-the-tax) teams, and taxpaying teams. Yesterday, we looked at the franchises that fall into the former two categories, including 12 teams using cap space and 13 teams with access to the full $5MM mid-level exception.
That leaves just five teams in the Association that no longer have access to cap space or the full mid-level for 2012/13. It's not out of the realm of possibility that one or more of these teams could dip back below the tax threshold over the course of the season. But since their payrolls have exceeded $74,307,000 already, they're ineligible to use more than the $3.09MM taxpayer mid-level exception from now until next July.
Here's a look at the five teams that fall into this category, and where their payroll situations currently stand:
- Brooklyn Nets: Their offseason spending spree resulted in an overall 2012/13 payroll of about $81.8MM, which included using the $3.09MM mini mid-level on Mirza Teletovic. In their first year in Brooklyn, the Nets are unlikely to try to cut costs, so I'd expect that $81.8MM figure to increase, if anything.
- Los Angeles Lakers: Despite sitting at almost exactly $100MM in player salaries this season, the Lakers actually still have about half of their MLE to use, after spending $1.5MM+ on Jodie Meeks. We'll have to see if the Lakers are done spending or if they're ready to head well into triple-digits and increase their tax hit even more.
- Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies are the likeliest of these teams to try to sneak below the tax threshold later in the year. Their $74.9MM payroll isn't far above the apron, and most of their players are on reasonable salaries, making a deadline deal a possibility. The team's approach will probably depend on how the ownership situation is looking by the new year.
- Miami Heat: Like the Nets, they're slightly over the $80MM mark, and don't figure to be cutting salary as long as they have a shot at the title. They used their entire $3.09MM mini MLE to sign Ray Allen.
- New York Knicks: For all the hand-wringing this summer about the Knicks' future tax payments if they'd retained Jeremy Lin, their 2012/13 payroll isn't catastrophic — the team is below the $80MM mark, and that includes some non- or partially-guaranteed deals, which could reduce payroll a little more by season's end. The Knicks used their $3.09MM taxpayer mid-level on Jason Kidd.
Odds & Ends: Lillard, Leonard, Reggie
Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge.com offered his thoughts on ProBasketballTalk.com's Kurt Helin making the prediction that Damian Lillard would be a good guess for Rookie of the Year award. Golliver essentially agreed with Helin, mentioning that in addition to the explosiveness he displayed at the Las Vegas Summer League, Lillard already displayed more polish than Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose showed as rookies. Despite the level of point guard play to be substantially better than what Lillard faced this summer, Golliver also mentions that the Trail Blazers' lottery pick is in a prime position to succeed alongside veterans such as LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum. Here's more of what we're hearing tonight…
- Trail Blazers rookie center Meyers Leonard says that he's become physically stronger this summer and that he's starting to make a good connection with his fellow rookie teammates Damian Lillard and Will Barton, according to Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge.
- Pacers' legend Reggie Miller talked about joining his sister Cheryl in the Hall of Fame and briefly touched upon what his future holds (Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports). In another piece, IndyStar.com provides an interactive timeline of Miller's storied NBA career. Lastly, Mike Wells of IndyStar.com wonders where Reggie ranks in terms of the best NBA shooting guards of all time.
- Bulls forward Taj Gibson believes that the team can still be competitive while Derrick Rose is recovering and also talks about his role for the upcoming season, says Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago.
- Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York writes that Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire joined Allan Houston, Etan Thomas, and Chris Broussard among others in Harlem last Friday to speak about fatherhood.