Kevin Durant Interested In Knicks
12:37pm: An NBA GM cautioned that the Knicks have the same chance at Durant as the Thunder and other contenders, naming the Wizards, Lakers, Clippers and Nets, as the GM said to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
8:38am: Kevin Durant can envision signing with the Knicks when he hits free agency in 2016, a person close to Kevin Durant tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, citing his affection for Carmelo Anthony. Durant is close to Knicks coach and former Thunder teammate Derek Fisher, and, Isola writes, he also admires Knicks GM Steve Mills and assistant GM Allan Houston.
“No question about it,” the person close to Durant told Isola “Kevin loves Carmelo [Anthony]. It could work in New York. But never rule out the Thunder.”
Durant isn’t enamored with Reggie Jackson and is becoming increasingly frustrated with Russell Westbrook, Isola hears. The Knicks tried to acquire Jackson when they and the Thunder participated in a three-team trade earlier this month, and they’re likely to make another run at trading for the guard, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported around the time of the swap. However, the Thunder almost traded Jackson to the Nuggets this week, according to Isola, who says on Twitter that Oklahoma City is “expected” to deal Jackson before the February 19th trade deadline.
Jackson’s set for restricted free agency this summer, while Westbrook’s contract with the Thunder runs one year longer than Durant’s, carrying through 2016/17. Westbrook and Durant have been teammates since the 2008/09 season, but Kevin Love reportedly said that he, Anthony and Durant have spoken, at least casually, about playing together. Love has repeatedly insisted that he’s committed to Cleveland for the long haul, but since the Cavs power forward plans to opt in for next season, that would align his free agency with Durant’s for the summer of 2016, when Anthony will have three years left on his deal with the Knicks. New York only has about $32.3MM in commitments for that summer, when most league executives assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM.
Still, the Knicks will have plenty of competition for Durant, even if he’s indeed growing tired of some of his Thunder teammates. The Wizards, who play in Durant’s hometown, are more than a pipe dream, even if they are a long shot, as TNT’s David Aldridge wrote this week, pointing out a potential income tax savings for Durant if he plays in D.C. and establishes residency in another state. Durant and Kobe Bryant have spoken of mutual interest in playing with each other, though Bryant has said he’ll probably retire after next season, just when Durant is set to hit free agency. Durant has also publicly backed the Thunder, saying recently that he loves playing for Oklahoma City and that, “There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest.”
Northwest Notes: Nelson, Huestis, Robinson
The Thunder nearly dealt Reggie Jackson to the Nuggets this week, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote overnight in a piece linking Kevin Durant to the Knicks, adding that it’s “expected” that the Thunder will trade Jackson before the deadline. Still, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote earlier this week that he’d heard from executives around the league that the Thunder remain on the fence about trading the soon-to-be restricted free agent guard, and that some within the organization want to hang on to him. Jackson’s trade candidacy, which I examined in greater detail last week, looms as a prominent storyline between now and the trade deadline, which is just three weeks away. Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Nuggets want to keep Jameer Nelson around for next season, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nelson has a player option worth nearly $2.855MM, though he isn’t giving an indication of his plans beyond this year, according to Dempsey. The point guard rebuffed Denver’s entreaties in free agency this past summer thinking he would have a larger role with the Mavs, Dempsey adds. Nelson is seeing slightly fewer minutes per game since arriving in Denver via trade this month than he did with the Mavs.
- An NBA GM from outside Oklahoma City tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that he doesn’t think the Thunder‘s D-League arrangement with Josh Huestis will become a trend. The Thunder don’t see this past year’s 29th overall selection as a star, but they do envision him as a potential rotation player, Deveney writes. That suggests that the Thunder will eventually sign him to a rookie scale contract, but Deveney adds that the team has given Huestis no such assurance.
- Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders wishes he had a roster with enough healthy players so he could send Glenn Robinson III on D-League assignment, as Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com notes amid his Rookie Ladder rankings. Minnesota has yet to make any D-League assignments this season.
Western Notes: Gasol, Perkins, Bryant
Pau Gasol is glad to be free of the constant trade rumors that surrounded him in his final years with the Lakers, and he hints that the Lakers won’t be among Marc Gasol‘s preferred destinations in free agency this summer, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes. “Marc wants to win a championship,” Pau said. “That’s what he’s looking for. That’s what’s most important to him. I don’t know if you think the Lakers will be in a position to win a championship next year or not. But he knows what he’ll be looking for as a free agent—or maybe he’ll stay in Memphis because they have built a very good team already there with some very good pieces. He’ll know what he wants, and he will be ready to make his decision.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kendrick Perkins believes that he’s done nothing but help the Thunder improve as a team during his time in Oklahoma City, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “I just have to come out and make sure I do my job,” Perkins said. “I try not to look ahead to free agency. I just try to go out there and compete night in and night out. But ever since I’ve got to Oklahoma City, I feel like I haven’t did anything but help the organization get to where they want to be. The organization has helped me also. So this is a family. If I’m here next year or not, if I leave, I’m going to miss everyone here because we’re like family.” Perkins and his expiring contract were reportedly part of the recent trade talks involving Brook Lopez.
- With Kobe Bryant lost for the remainder of the season, Lakers coach Byron Scott said that the team’s future plans regarding Bryant won’t be known until the summer, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “I got to wait until August until we have a good idea of what we’ve brought in and who we bring back,” Scott said. “Then, we go from there.”
- Scott expects the Lakers‘ star to return to action as soon as is humanly possible, and for Bryant to still be active in recruiting free agents this summer, Holmes notes. “But I think the biggest thing with Kobe, as long as [the media is] saying that he’s done, he’s going to come back,” Scott said. “I think he proved his point this year that he still has a lot left in the tank. He’s still one of the best players in the league.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Cunningham, Galloway, Knicks
Jared Cunningham is now in the third D-League stint of his career after being waived by the Sixers. Philadelphia had released the guard earlier this month, shortly after he was acquired from the Clippers for the draft rights to Serhiy Lishchuk. Cunningham is an intriguing NBA prospect who hasn’t been able to catch on with the right team yet, Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “It’s been a difficult process,” Cunningham said of his journey. “But I’ve been able to keep playing basketball and that’s a blessing. It’s all about just finding the right coach and the right team that believes in me. Once that happens, my game will follow.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- An NBA scout intimated that the Sixers made a mistake when they waived Cunningham, especially now that Tony Wroten may be lost for the season due to injury, Ford notes. “There are a lot of NBA teams that might want to try and let him grow into his game,” one league scout told Ford. “It would have made sense for the Sixers to keep him, but they didn’t. He might not be a pure point guard, but is Tony Wroten a pure point guard?“
- Langston Galloway‘s deal with the Knicks is non-guaranteed for the 2015/16 campaign, but if he’s still on the roster past July 1st, then $220K of his $845K salary will become guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). If Galloway remains on New York’s roster past September 15th, then another $220K of his salary will become guaranteed, totaling $440K, Pincus adds.
- The Knicks should look to sign JaMychal Green to a 10-day deal instead of retaining Lance Thomas or Louis Amundson, Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv opines. Schlosser believes that New York needs to begin taking a look at younger players who have upside, instead of continuing to give minutes to players such as Amundson, whose ceilings have already been established.
- There are two reasons why Kevin Durant isn’t likely to join the Knicks when he hits free agency in 2016, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. Kerber cites Durant’s lack of desire for the spotlight that comes along with playing in a major market like New York and the Thunder’s exclusive ability to offer a fifth contract year as impediments to Durant donning a Knicks jersey via free agency.
Spurs Sign Reggie Williams To 10-Day Contract
11:48am: The deal is official, the Spurs announced via press release.
11:35am: The Spurs are closing in on signing Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The five-year veteran swingman would take the place of JaMychal Green, with whom the Spurs failed to reach agreement on a new deal after his 10-day arrangement expired Tuesday night. Williams has been playing for the Thunder’s D-League affiliate.
The 28-year-old was with the Heat on a non-guaranteed training camp deal, but he failed to make the opening night roster and hooked on with the Oklahoma City Blue late last month. A career 37.1% three-point shooter in the NBA, he’s nailed a sizzling 49.2% of his three-point attempts in 13 D-League games so far this year.
The relationship between the Thunder organization and Williams dates back to last season, when he also played for Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate and was briefly on the NBA roster, but without a current NBA contract, the Herb Rudoy client is free to sign with any NBA team. The Spurs have 14 players, all of whom have contracts that cover at least the rest of the season, leaving a single open roster spot created when they ate the rest of Austin Daye‘s guaranteed contract to sign Green.
D-League Notes: Jerrett, Canaan, Adams
The NBA D-League has given players a chance to shine and few have benefited more this season than Langston Galloway and Larry Drew II. Galloway’s strong play in the D-League led to the Knicks making their first ever call-up in team history on January 7th. The point guard has impressed to the extent that the team may have to guarantee his contract for next season to keep him on the roster when his 10-day contract expires on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Drew has also performed admirably in the D-League, where during his time, he led all players in assists. Drew earned his second 10-day contract with the Sixers earlier today and will get the start tonight against the Pelicans, in place of Michael Carter-Williams, who is out because of an illness.
Here’s some more news from the D-League:
- The Thunder have recalled Grant Jerrett from their D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, according to the team’s website. The Thunder will be without the services of Kevin Durant against the Wolves tonight, which could lead to some unexpected minutes for the inexperienced power forward.
- The Rockets have recalled Isaiah Canaan from their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to the team’s twitter feed. Canaan averaged 21 points and 8.5 assist while on his D-League assignment.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Jordan Adams from the Iowa Energy, their D-League affiliate, according to the team’s website. Adams averaged 23 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 steals in three games during his latest stint.
Eastern Notes: Kobe, Wizards, Durant, Lopez
Kobe Bryant wanted to join the Wizards more than a decade ago when Michael Jordan was with the team, Bryant acknowledged to Michael Lee of The Washington Post. While Jordan was playing with the Wizards, Bryant told him several times that he wanted to come to Washington, assuming that Jordan would again head basketball operations for the Wizards as he did before his comeback, sources tell Lee. Jordan was confident he would sign Bryant when he became a free agent in 2004, Lee hears, but the current Hornets owner never got that chance, since then-Wizards owner Abe Pollin decided against letting Jordan run the front office upon his final retirement from playing in 2003. The Wizards missed out on a star then, but they have their sights set on acquiring one a dozen years later, as we detail:
- It’s a long shot but more than a pipe dream that the Wizards would land Kevin Durant when he hits free agency in 2016, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. A D.C. income tax loophole would allow Durant to save more than $700K per year in tax payments if he played for the Wizards instead of the Thunder, as Aldridge explains. However, the Thunder, who hold Durant’s Bird rights, can offer better annual salary raises than the Wizards or any other team can.
- J.R. Smith got over some initial mixed feelings about the trade that sent him from the Knicks to the Cavs and calls playing for Cleveland “the best situation for me as a person,” as he told Aldridge for the same piece. Smith has a player option worth nearly $6.4MM for next season.
- Trade candidate Brook Lopez would prefer to stay with the Nets, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings.
- Scouts, coaches and GMs at the D-League showcase were puzzled when the Sixers signed Larry Drew II, who had been playing for the Heat’s affiliate, to a 10-day contract earlier this month, as Gino Pilato of D-League Digest hears (Twitter links). Drew put up strong numbers, with 10.1 assists per game and 40.4% three-point shooting in 21 D-League appearances this year, but there were other, more intriguing prospects, Pilato believes. Drew signed his second 10-day deal with Philly earlier today.
Central Notes: Mozgov, Pistons, Bulls
The Cavaliers are suddenly the hottest team in the Central Division, and with their sixth straight win Sunday, over the Thunder, they own the NBA’s longest winning streak aside from the Hawks and their 16 wins in a row. Here’s the latest from Cleveland and the rest of the Central:
- The record will show that the Cavs gave up two first-round picks in their deal to acquire Timofey Mozgov, but in the original structure of the trade, Cleveland never would have held one of those first-rounders, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. The Mozgov swap was supposed to have been part of the team’s three-way deal with the Knicks and Thunder involving Dion Waiters, Haynes reports. A scheduling conflict on Denver’s end broke what would have been one four-team transaction into separate trades, and the Thunder’s protected 2015 first-rounder that was destined for Denver wound up with the Cavs for the two-day period in between swaps, according to Haynes.
- Stan Van Gundy acknowledged that the Pistons are looking for a third point guard to go with D.J. Augustin and Spencer Dinwiddie in the wake of the season-ending Achilles injury to Brandon Jennings, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg tweets. Detroit is looking either to swing a trade or sign a D-Leaguer, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The D-League option would jibe with the team’s reported interest in Lorenzo Brown.
- Van Gundy’s brother, ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy, accused Bulls management on Friday of trying to undermine coach Tom Thibodeau, and Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson shot back Sunday, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Tom Thibodeau isn’t being undermined at all,” Paxson said. “What’s being undermined is the entire Bulls organization by [Jeff] Van Gundy, who has an agenda against our organization for whatever reason and has for years. I guess he thinks he’s trying to protect his friend, but he’s doing just the opposite. It’s pretty pathetic when you think about it, and truth be told he owes Jerry Reinsdorf an apology for his disparaging remarks.”
Northwest Notes: Blazers, Wolves, Nuggets
LaMarcus Aldridge‘s surprise decision to play through an injured thumb, that was reportedly going to sideline the power forward for six to eight weeks, was partially made with the team in mind, as he tells Mike Richman of The Oregonian. “With me not being out there and not having [Nicolas Batum] definitely hurts us even more. So I just wanted to do some things today. Things went well. And I did some things yesterday late and it felt decent so we feel like we have a little plan to wrap it and strap it in and we’ll see, ” Aldridge told Richman. Aldridge played 36 minutes in his first game back from the injury and accumulated 26 points, nine rebounds and two steals in the victory over the Wizards on Saturday night.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The time has come for the Wolves to start looking to next season and maintain their good lottery odds, opines Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda takes a look at the top prospects in the upcoming draft including Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. Minnesota is 7-35 on the season, which puts the team atop our reverse order rankings. If the season ended today, the Wolves would be guaranteed a top four pick in the 2015 draft.
- Ty Lawson remains in the Nuggets‘ future plans at the present time, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Lawson will return to the court after sitting out Friday’s game against the Celtics because of his arrest for suspicion of drinking and driving. The Nuggets sit at 18-25 on the season and remain a long shot, at best, to make the playoffs. Some of the Denver’s key players have been discussed in trade conversations with an eye on the future, including Wilson Chandler, who our own Chuck Myron looked at as a trade candidate.
- Kendrick Perkins is an advocate of his new Thunder teammate Dion Waiters, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. “It doesn’t matter what you heard [in the media],” Perkins said of Waiters. “I’ve been impressed with his ability on the defensive end. The way he gets physical on the defensive end. The way he locks in. I have been more impressed with that. We already know he can score the ball. But I have been impressed with the commitment he’s shown on the defensive end.” Oklahoma City is 5-3 since Waiters’ arrival and in my latest poll, Hoops Rumors readers believe the move was the least impactful of the major Western Conference trades this season.
Western Notes: Bryant, Jerrett, Stokes
There has been speculation that Kobe Bryant‘s shoulder injury could mark the end of his career, something that Lakers coach Byron Scott doubts will be the case, Greg Beacham of The Associated Press writes. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around as far as dealing with injuries and things like that, and being able to come back,” Scott said. “Everybody said he was done after the Achilles, and he came back pretty strong. Knowing him the way I know him, I know he doesn’t want to go out this way. I think he will rehab it if that’s the case, and then we’ll wait and see.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Thunder have re-assigned Grant Jerrett to the Oklahoma City Blue, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced (Twitter link). This will be Jerrett’s eighth sojourn to the D-League this season. The 21-year-old has only made four NBA appearances thus far this season, and has averaged 1.8 points in 6.0 minutes per contest for the Thunder.
- Blazers GM Neil Olshey insisted that he won’t rush to make up for the absence of LaMarcus Aldridge, and that any deals the team makes at the trade deadline will be with the playoffs and not the regular season in mind, Grantland’s Zach Lowe notes.
- Grizzlies rookie Jarnell Stokes is still trying to adjust to not seeing regular minutes after having been the star on every team that he played for prior to arriving in Memphis, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “It was hard for me at first,” Stokes said of not playing. “The first couple games, even just in the preseason, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to have to do this all year?’ It was tough. I was coming home just mad and I had to learn that this is the way it’s going to be and that I can learn from this and that God has me in this position for a reason. I’ll have my opportunity [eventually] and I feel like there are some things I can work on now, so I can get better. I’m just working on those things so I’m ready the next time my name is called.” Stokes spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors last August.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.