Western Notes: Grizz, Pleiss, Clark, Kings
Grizzlies owner Robert Pera indicated that the decision to keep Chris Wallace in charge of the team’s basketball operations had to do with more than just on-court matters, as Pera said today before assembled media, including The Associated Press.
“When you are looking at this team in Memphis, I think you’ve for to look at the general manager in two respects,” Pera said. “One is the basketball performance. The other I’ve learned with Memphis the past couple of years is this idea of community involvement. And everybody loves Chris in Memphis. He is a special person for the Memphis community.”
Here is what else is going on out West:
- The Thunder made an attempt this summer to bring seven foot German Tibor Pleiss, a 2010 draft-and-stash selection, to the NBA this season but the price of the buyout was ultimately prohibitive, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Oklahoma City will again try to bring the 31st selection of the 2010 draft to the states for the 2015/16 season, a possibility Woj calls “likely”, but the big man will play for FC Barcelona this year. (Twitter links)
- Making his weekly radio appearance, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said that the team has a few things to take care of before deciding on the contract of shooting guard Ian Clark, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Clark played 23 games in Utah as a rookie last season after signing a two-year deal with the Jazz last July. His salary for the upcoming season is not guaranteed.
- After years of frustration, construction finally began Friday on the Kings new arena in Sacramento, writes Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee. The agreement on the arena site, facilitated by new owner Vivek Ranadive, was a critical factor in the NBA rejecting the franchise’s relocation to Seattle. The $477MM structure is scheduled to be ready for the 2016/17 season.
- Back in Sacramento this week, Suns guard Isaiah Thomas provided plenty of juicy quotes to Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty, indicating that he knew he probably wouldn’t be returning to the Kings when he saw his former team had inked fellow point guard Darren Collison. “When they did that, I knew I wasn’t coming back,” Thomas said. “If you bring in somebody, a draft pick or somebody that’s just not better than me I feel like it is disrespectful. When they picked Darren Collison, I felt like it was time for me to move on.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Several NBA Teams Eyeing Dahntay Jones
AUGUST 1ST: The Wizards were indeed present at the workout, but they don’t have interest in signing Jones, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
JULY 30TH: The Kings, Cavs, Spurs, Thunder and Wizards were all in attendance at a workout that Jones held today in Las Vegas, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Between 15 and 20 NBA clubs were set to take a look at him this week, as Kennedy reported earlier this month.
JULY 21ST: Ten-year NBA veteran Dahntay Jones is set to work out for the Knicks and Sixers this week, and in addition to a reported meeting with the Clippers earlier this month, he also worked out for that team, too, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports. The shooting guard and Mark Bartelstein client is close with former Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony, though New York’s addition of Jones would only add to a logjam at the two-guard that Knicks GM Steve Mills has already publicly acknowledged.
The Knicks are apparently discussing trades involving J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to clear up that position, as we noted Sunday. New York also worked out Jones this past February, seemingly the closest brush that the now 33-year-old had with the NBA last season after the Bulls waived him early in the preseason. Still, that was before the arrival of Knicks team president Phil Jackson, and what attracts the team to Jones now is his competitiveness and leadership, according to Isola.
The Knicks, now as they were in February, are limited to the minimum salary, and the Clippers are similarly hamstrung. The Sixers have ample cap room to use on Jones, but it’s nonetheless unlikely that he’ll warrant any better than a guaranteed minimum-salary contract. He’s averaged 5.6 points in 16.3 minutes per game over his career, and put up 3.4 PPG in 13.0 MPG in 2012/13, his last NBA season.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Westbrook, Williams
Kevin Love has been the hottest name in rumors of late, but Tuesday, another Northwest Division star began to generate some buzz. Kevin Durant spoke openly of the possibility that he’ll sign with his hometown Wizards when he becomes a free agent in 2016. He also chalked up his decision not to negotiate an opt-out clause into his current five-year deal to a mixture of naivete and his love for Oklahoma City, as The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry notes. Durant said it would “definitely be tough” to leave if the Thunder were to win a pair of championships in the two years remaining before he can hit free agency, as USA Today’s Sam Amick observes. With the onus on GM Sam Presti to put his team over the top, there’s more on the Thunder and their stars amid the latest from the Northwest:
- The general assumption is that Russell Westbrook will look to leave the Thunder when he becomes a free agent in 2017, but that’s no certainty, as Durant impressed upon reporters Tuesday, including Amick, who shares the tidbit in the same piece.
- John Wall is already expressing support for the idea of Durant joining the Wizards in two years, calling him “like an older brother” and saying, “It’d be great to have him back home,” as Amick notes.
- Had the Trail Blazers wanted to re-sign Mo Williams this summer, “in all retrospect, they could have,” Williams said in a pair of tweets. The guard has instead agreed to a deal with the Timberwolves.
Durant On Gasol, LeBron, 2016 Free Agency
Following a Team USA training camp session earlier today, Kevin Durant answered a few notable questions from the media about the free agent movement this offseason as well as the summer of 2016, when he’ll be set to hit unrestricted free agency. The Thunder made a few ripples this summer after reeling in Sebastian Telfair and Anthony Morrow on the free agent market, but neither compare to the wave that would have resulted from netting Pau Gasol, who ultimately decided on joining the Bulls. When asked how close he thought Oklahoma City was to signing the two-time NBA champion, Durant told Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles that the chances were slim.“Obviously (it wasn’t) that close, (but) I did my work. That was my first time recruiting.” (Twitter link).
You can read more of Durant’s answers below, courtesy of a separate piece from Shelburne.
On LeBron James‘ decision to return to Cleveland:
“I thought it was well-thought-out. It was classy. It was a great move to do it as a letter…That was pretty cool. It’s funny seeing guys think about more than just basketball for once. He thought about the city where he comes from, about Northeast Ohio and how he can affect so many of the kids just being there playing basketball. I love that. So many guys get criticized for making the decision that’s best for them instead of what’s best for everybody else.
On becoming a free agent in 2016 and possibly choosing to return to his hometown of Washington D.C. and play for the Wizards:
“I’m going to do what’s best for me…It’s hard to talk about that right now when I’ve got two years left in Oklahoma City. I’m just going to focus on that. I’m not going to make a decision based on what anybody else does.
On his ties to Washington D.C. and people asking him about a potential homecoming:
“I grew up watching the Bullets/Wizards. I grew up taking the train to that arena, all the time, to watch Georgetown, the Bullets, the Washington Mystics. That whole city is a part of me. It’s in my blood. I love going back home, seeing my family and playing there, but I love Oklahoma City, too.”
“(The idea of me coming home has) been talked about. Everybody’s asked me about it every time I go on Instagram or Twitter. All my friends ask me about it…So I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m naïve to the fact that people think about that stuff. But I just tell everybody that I’m here in Oklahoma City, I love it here. Who knows what will happen. I never close the door on anything. But I like where I’m at right now. So I can’t answer that question.”
And-Ones: Beasley, D-League, Dellavedova
Had Steve Mills not taken a front office job with the Knicks, he’d still be a leading candidate to take over the head of the NBA Player’s Association, writes Keith Schlosser of the Knicks Blog. The strong working relationship Mills has built with Phil Jackson seemingly makes it unlikely he’d consider bowing out from his job in New York to pursue an opportunity with the NBAPA, says Schlosser. Here’s a roundup from around the league:
- Several teams have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Michael Beasley, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Front offices are intrigued by the efficiency and maturity that the former second-overall pick put on display with the Heat last season, hears Kennedy.
- One potential fit for Beasley might be the Lakers, opines Kennedy, who notes that the forward is currently working out with Kevin Durant in Los Angeles (Twitter link).
- Two rule changes are being discussed that would further push the D-League toward a future where one-to-one affiliate relationships exist for every NBA team, sources tell Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. One of the potential changes would expand the amount of players cut from training camp a team could protect with assignment rights, and the other would eliminate the ability for D-League clubs to add players by tryout, tipping the scales further toward one-to-one roster building that more closely resembles a minor league system.
- Pilato adds that the outcome of the Thunder‘s handling of Josh Huestis is a significant factor in whether the D-League, currently without a president, will be further pressed into a one-to-one structure.
- Matthew Dellavedova’s minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed for this season when the Cavs elected to keep him through Friday, according to the data that Mark Deeks of ShamSports compiled.
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders looks at the few teams with the mid-level exception still at their disposal, and a handful of free agents that are hoping to be signed in that value range.
Charlie Adams and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Contract Details: Nelson, Tucker, Roberts
Wednesday was the last day that teams with outstanding qualifying offers out to restricted free agents could unilaterally withdraw them. Clubs can still withdraw qualifying offers, but doing so would require the player’s consent, and it would require the team to renounce any form of Bird rights on the player. No team withdrew a qualifying offer before the deadline, though that’s not entirely surprising, since there are only five unsigned restricted free agents left. We ran down the latest news on each of them earlier this week, and not much has changed since then.
As we wait for the last of the restricted free agents to make their decisions on where to sign, let’s have a look at the latest contract details that have leaked out from around the NBA..
- As expected, Jameer Nelson is slated to make $2,732,000 for the Mavs next season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Nelson’s deal features a $2,854,940 player option for the 2015/16 campaign, adds Stein.
- The three-year contract P.J. Tucker signed with the Suns will pay him $5.7MM in 2014/15, passes along Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who goes on to reveal that the deal is worth $5.5MM and $5.3MM during the following two seasons, with only $1.5MM guaranteed in year three (Twitter link).
- Brian Roberts‘ two-year, $5.6MM contract with the Hornets will be fully guaranteed without any player or team option, reports Pincus (via Twitter).
- James Ennis signed a three-year deal with the Heat that’s mostly non-guaranteed, save for a $200K partial guarantee for this season, according to Mark Deeks of Sham Sports. The first year will become fully guaranteed if he sticks through opening night.
- The Knicks gave Cole Aldrich one year at the minimum salary when they signed him earlier this month, Deeks reveals.
- Grant Jerrett‘s contract with the Thunder runs four years at the minimum salary, with full guarantees on the first two seasons and no guarantees for the last two, Deeks notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Huestis, Kings, Hamilton, Hill
The idea of having Josh Huestis sign in the D-League in exchange for becoming an NBA first-round draft pick came from his representatives rather than the Thunder, agent Mitchell Butler tells SB Nation’s Mike Prada.
“This was the perfect team and the perfect storm,” Butler said. “This isn’t for everyone.”
Butler also told Prada that the Thunder haven’t said whether they plan to sign Huestis to an NBA deal next summer or at a later point. There’s more on Huestis among the latest from the Western Conference, as we detail:
- The union sees the Thunder‘s arrangement with Huestis as a positive, as interim executive director Ron Klempner said to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. “This is an example of the player flipping the script,” Klempner said. “The player essentially drafted his team.”
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro said he’s on the lookout for rim-protection and particularly shooting to round out the roster in an attempt to make the playoffs this season, as he told Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report.
- Richard Hamilton tells David Alarcon of HoopsHype that he’s fielded a couple of calls from NBA teams and that while he considered retirement, he’d like to return to the NBA with a contending team. The 36-year-old, who last played in 2012/13, said that the Timberwolves showed interest in signing him early last season, but he declined to specify any teams that have spoken with him more recently.
- Jordan Hill‘s two-year deal with the Lakers contains a team option for the final season, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
And-Ones: Salary Cap, Huestis, Allen, Hornets
Executives from teams around the league believe the NBA will attempt to prevent any sharp jump in the salary cap from one year to the next when heightened TV revenues come in by gradually increasing the cap, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. The union would have to consent to any such effort, Lowe tweets. Some teams project that the cap will be as much as 30% higher two years from now, as Lowe adds in his full piece.
Let’s take a look at what else is brewing around the league on Wednesday night:
- Josh Huestis should accept the required tender the Thunder are obligated to make to retain his draft rights rather than follow through on a promise to sign instead in the D-League, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports argues in a piece for Hoop365.com.
- Ray Allen, currently vacationing in China, told a Chinese news outlet that he will return home on Thursday to get MRIs on both of his legs before making a decision about the 2014/15 season, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who adds that multiple teams are interested.
- Hornets head coach Steve Clifford indicated that he’d like to add some depth at center behind Al Jefferson and Bismack Biyombo, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell adds that such an addition would likely be a veteran on a minimum salary deal (Twitter links).
- After a number of years in the lottery, the Jazz have assembled the type of young and promising core that should make them a threat in the near future, opines Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
Chuck Myron contributed to the post.
Thunder, Huestis Cut D-League Deal Before Draft
The Thunder and representatives for Josh Huestis made an arrangement prior to the draft in which Huestis agreed to sign with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate for this season in exchange for the Thunder taking him 29th overall, agent Mitchell Butler tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman originally reported this weekend that Huestis was likely to sign with the Thunder’s D-League team.
Huestis was projected as a second-round pick at best, coming in 44th in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him as only the 90th best draft prospect. Butler told Lowe that he wasn’t sure that his client would be drafted at all and saw the deal with Oklahoma City as the best way to make sure that a team would pick him (Twitter link). Huestis didn’t want to play for a European team and was on board with the D-League idea, Butler added, noting that Huestis wouldn’t have gone for the plan if any other NBA team had asked him to do so, with the exception of the Spurs (Twitter link). Butler also contends that the arrangement doesn’t violate the NBA’s rules against discussing potential compensation with a prospect prior to the draft, as Lowe also tweets.
The small forward from Stanford is in line for a fraction of the more than $1.1MM that he would have received this season if he were signing an NBA rookie scale contract for the standard 120% of the rookie scale amount, as our table of likely first-round salaries shows. D-League salaries top out around $25K. It’s not clear whether the Thunder have promised to sign Huestis next summer as part of the deal or if it’ll be up to him to prove his worth in the D-League this year. Huestis expressed confidence in his abilities when he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors prior to the draft.
The Thunder also moved to cut costs last year with their first-round pick, doling out only 80% of the scale amount to 2013 26th overall pick Andre Roberson. A change in D-League rules for this year allows NBA draft picks to sign directly with the affiliate of the team that holds their NBA rights, helping pave the way for Oklahoma City’s Huestis plan. The Thunder had to work trades last year to acquire the first pick in the 2013 D-League draft to grab the D-League rights to No. 40 overall pick Grant Jerrett, moves they won’t have to undertake this time around.
And-Ones: Love, Wiggins, Sterlings, Durant
The Cavs aren’t dangling Andrew Wiggins in trade talks with the Wolves about Kevin Love, at least for the time being, a source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who was the first to report last week that Cleveland was open to the idea of parting with Wiggins. So, while no one involved would guarantee Finnan that Wiggins wouldn’t wind up in a Love deal, it sounds like that idea is on the backburner for now. Here’s more from around the Association:
- Testimony has resumed today in the probate trial between Clippers owners Donald and Shelly Sterling after the judge made a pair of decisions Friday that appear to help Shelly Sterling’s case, as USA Today’s David Leon Moore details. The judge has the power to allow Shelly Sterling to go forward with her sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, if he rules in her favor, even if Donald Sterling decides to appeal, according to Moore.
- A member of the players association’s executive committee told TNT’s David Aldridge that the union will discuss the idea of taking action should the Sterlings continue to own the Clippers at the start of next season, as Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
- Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe, whom Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has reportedly lured to serve as a Knicks assistant, was the member of the Oklahoma City staff whom Kevin Durant trusted the most, Aldridge notes in the same piece.
- A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Knicks GM Steve Mills recently pulled his name from contention for the union’s executive director vacancy. Mills re-emerged as a candidate this spring after having been the apparent front-runner last summer prior to taking the Knicks job.
- The final two seasons of the four-year contract between Devin Harris and the Mavs are a little more lucrative than previously reported. He’ll make nearly $4.728MM in year three and nearly $4.903MM in the final season, which is partially guaranteed for almost $1.34MM, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details on his Mavs salary page.