Odds & Ends: Perkins, Gay, Walton
With the season barely underway, should teams getting off to a slow start be concerned? HoopsWorld ran down the league’s winless club and assessed their own level of concern. The writing staff isn’t too worried about the Jazz as they’re anxiously awaiting the return of highly touted point guard Trey Burke. The level of concern for the 0-2 Nuggets is at medium since they’re not at full strength at this stage. Meanwhile, it could be time to worry in D.C. as the Wizards are 0-3 and can’t blame a John Wall injury for their slow start. Here’s tonight’s look around the league as the Celtics failed to get in the win column..
- Kendrick Perkins took to Twitter tonight to clear the air on his tweet from earlier today where he said it was “time for a change“. “Let me clear something up. I wasn’t talking about leaving OKC. I was talking to some of my family members. I love playing here,” tweeted the Thunder big man.
- Rudy Gay is working to recapture his budding stardom with the Raptors, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. Meanwhile, the forward refutes any notion that the Grizzlies were a better and more savvy team without him on the court.
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the D-League affiliate for the Lakers, announced that Luke Walton will join the team as a player development coach. Walton says that he still hopes to continue his playing career and his arrangement with the D-Fenders will allow him to work out with the team and stay in shape.
- Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo readily admits that he has outpaced his own expectations for his basketball career, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News. “Let me tell you the truth: No. I did not think I would be in the NBA, it was just a dream. How could I think this would happen? And happen now? But I am here now. So I am happy,” said the rookie.
Odds & Ends: Osby, Nash, Perkins, Wittman
The Celtics‘ D-League affiliate in Maine has acquired a pair of players who were in NBA camps last month, according to a release from the team. 2013 Magic draftee Romero Osby and Bobcats camp invitee Abdul Gaddy are now on the Red Claws’ roster. While the deals ensure that Boston’s D-League team will get a first-hand look at the two young players, there’s nothing stopping either player from signing with an NBA team besides the Celtics.
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends as the NBA regular season enters its second week….
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star is the latest writer to dismiss a rumor connecting Steve Nash and the Raptors, tweeting that it took “about four minutes” to debunk.
- While he quickly removed the tweet, Kendrick Perkins said last night after playing a season-low 16 minutes against the Suns that it “might be time for a change.” Royce Young of Daily Thunder passes along a screenshot of the deleted tweet.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com predicts the Wizards‘ Randy Wittman will be the first head coach fired this season, and suggests three potential replacements for Washington. Sam Smith of Bulls.com also identifies Wittman’s seat as the hottest among NBA coaches.
- Quincy Douby was drafted 19th overall in 2006, but only lasted three seasons in the NBA before bouncing around among several international teams over the last few years. Now, he’s back in America and will play for the Sioux Falls Skyforce to start the D-League season. As he tells Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld, Douby is hoping the skills and maturity he has developed overseas will help him land an NBA job.
- A subpar group of 2014 free agent point guards will ensure that Eric Bledsoe and Greivis Vasquez make out well on their next contracts, despite not inking extensions last week, writes Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops.
- Oliver Braun, the GM of the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany, spoke to a German outlet about the tumultuous negotiations with the Hawks over Dennis Schröder‘s buyout, and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando provides a translation of some of Braun’s comments.
- Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival breaks down the offseason player movement among the NBA and the leagues considered to be the top European domestic leagues.
Western Notes: Westbrook, Nash, Lakers
Rejoining Oklahoma City for his first game since getting injured during last season’s playoffs, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook sat down with NewsOK’s Darnell Mayberry to discuss his return. When asked if he feels just as explosive as he was before the injury, Westbrook replied:
“Yeah. I feel great. I feel I’m in a good spot. I’m happy and blessed to be able to be able to play basketball again and go on the floor and fight for my teammates. First, I want to thank all the fans and all my family and friends and maybe some of you guys for your support throughout this period. It’s been a tough one, but I’m happy to be back.”
With that aside, here are some more links to share from around the Western Conference tonight:
- Though Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld had earlier intimated that Steve Nash has little trade value as of now, Alex Kennedy (also of Hoopsworld) tweets that the former MVP could indeed be traded and hears from multiple sources that the Raptors are a possible landing spot.
- Responding to his followers on Twitter, Kyler downplayed the likelihood that Pau Gasol and/or Nash get traded this season. Kyler reasons that Gasol and Nash make too much money for other teams to be interested, and that clearing Pau’s salary off their cap next July is much more valuable to the Lakers than shopping his expiring contract at the trade deadline (All Twitter links).
- Sam Amick of USA Today talks about what Westbrook’s return means for the Thunder.
- Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times provides a brief parallel between Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and the Rockets’ Dwight Howard as far as struggling to mesh with their respective coaches last season and being in better situations now. On a much lighter note, Howard credited “playing slower songs in his head” for his recent minor streak of improved shooting from the free throw line (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets).
- Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw might consider re-shuffling his starting lineup to include Kenneth Faried at power forward, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Western Rumors: Kings, Martin, Bledsoe
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro said the lack of extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson and the team’s decision to decline its fourth-year option on Jimmer Fredette aren’t necessarily a reflection of the way the club feels about those players.
“With Jimmer, we spoke to him and his representatives throughout the process,” D’Alessandro said, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee observes. “And they’re not easy decisions to make. We have these deadlines that are at an awkward time, Oct. 31, especially at a time when we just got our positions here.”
We heard earlier that the Kings are enamored with Vasquez and intend to match any offer he gets in restricted free agency this summer. Here’s more on free agents past and future, with a Western kick:
- There were times last season when Kevin Martin could tell his stay with the Thunder would be a short one, he tells reporters, including Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Martin also reveals that free agency was much more stressful than he imagined, but he says he’s glad he wound up in “the perfect spot” with the Timberwolves.
- Eric Bledsoe isn’t saying whether he envisions staying with the Suns for the long haul after failing to strike a deal on an extension, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- The rift between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant was real and profound on the Lakers last season, as former teammate Antawn Jamison explains to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Meanwhile, Howard is relaxed, engaged, and confident that he made the right decision to sign with the Rockets, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes.
- J.J. Hickson isn’t pleased about the way his Blazers tenure ended, as we noted last night, but after signing with the Nuggets in part because of an opportunity for playing time, he’s seeing plenty of minutes, as Hoopsworld’s Joel Brigham details.
Grant Jerrett Tops Field Of D-League Draftees
The Thunder’s D-League affiliate used the No. 1 overall pick in tonight’s D-League draft on Grant Jerrett, allowing the Thunder to closely monitor a player whose NBA rights also belong to them. Oklahoma City traded for Jerrett shortly after the Blazers took him 40th overall in June’s NBA draft. A report in September indicated Jerrett had signed with the Thunder-owned Tulsa 66ers, but as I pointed out at the time, he’d have to enter the D-League draft rather than sign with Tulsa outright. The 66ers pulled off a trade yesterday to acquire the No. 1 pick in the D-League draft, positioning themselves to secure Jerrett’s D-League rights.
The Pelicans didn’t do the same with the second-rounder they picked up in the Jrue Holiday/Nerlens Noel trade. Pierre Jackson, the 42nd overall pick in the NBA draft, went fourth overall in the D-League draft to the Idaho Stampede, the affiliate of the Blazers.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the one-to-one affiliate of the Rockets, took four-year NBA vet James Johnson second overall tonight, while Quincy Douby, who has three years of NBA experience, went at No. 3 to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the affiliate of the Heat. The Texas Legends, who are affiliated with the Mavs, rounded out the top five with their selection of C.J. Aiken, who was in an NBA camp with the Kings last month after leaving St. Joseph’s in the spring.
Ricky Davis was perhaps the most well-known figure selected, as the Erie BayHawks, the affiliate of the Knicks, drafted him in the sixth round, signaling that the Knicks liked what they saw when the 34-year-old worked out for them in September. Other notable picks include former Magic and Thunder swingman DeAndre Liggins, who went to the Skyforce at seventh overall. Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the brother of Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo, went at No. 9 to the Delaware 87ers. Check out the entire list of draftees right here.
Some D-League clubs were involved in draft day trades. The Santa Cruz Warriors came into the draft already stocked with Stephen Curry‘s brother Seth Curry, whose D-League rights Golden State had protected after cutting him at the end of camp. Santa Cruz swapped a second-round pick for Mychel Thompson, brother of Golden State sharpshooter Klay Thompson, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes, giving the Warriors’ affiliate their own version of the big club’s “Splash Brothers” duo.
Players with prior D-League experience who were cut from NBA camps can re-enter the D-League and go back to their old teams without entering the draft. That’s what James Nunnally, fresh off a camp appearance with the Suns, has decided to do, as he’ll return to the Bakersfield Jam, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The Suns are one of five NBA teams affiliated with the Jam, as our list of NBA/D-League affiliations shows.
Four Players’ Salaries Become Fully Guaranteed
Many players on non-guaranteed deals didn’t survive October’s roster crunch, and no longer find themselves under contract with an NBA team, but plenty of clubs are still carrying non-guaranteed players. The majority of those players will see their salaries for 2013/14 become fully guaranteed if they’re not cut on or before January 7th. However, a handful of players negotiated earlier guarantee dates, many of which arrived this week.
The most notable name in this group is Chris Smith, whose spot on the Knicks’ roster was questioned by rival agents. By earning a place among the 15 players New York carried into opening night, Smith is assured of a fully guaranteed salary, worth about $490K. The Knicks won’t necessarily have to keep him on their roster all season, but if they release him, he’ll still get paid.
Like Smith, Kyle O’Quinn of the Magic and Quincy Miller of the Nuggets were also on contracts that dictated they’d receive full guarantees if they made their respective teams’ opening night rosters. As second-year players, both O’Quinn and Miller will be in line for salaries worth about $789K.
James Anderson‘s contract with the Sixers didn’t include any details related to opening night, but the guarantee date for his 2013/14 salary was October 31st. Since Philadelphia didn’t release Anderson on or before Halloween, his salary of about $916K has become fully guaranteed.
In addition to the four players whose 2013/14 salaries are now fully guaranteed, Ryan Gomes also received a bump in his partial guarantee by making the cut with the Thunder. Having previously been guaranteed for $50K, that figure increased to $75K when Gomes wasn’t released on or before Thursday, the date of OKC’s first game.
As our schedule of guarantee dates shows, there are now believed to be just two dates prior to January when players’ salaries will become guaranteed. Maalik Wayns will receive his full salary from the Clippers if he’s not waived on or before December 1st, while Jannero Pargo will become fully guaranteed if he lasts beyond December 10th in Charlotte.
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Draft & D-League: Top Five, Smart, 66ers, Czyz
With David Stern putting all his weight behind the positive evolution of the D-League, it’s only natural for that avenue of player development to be contrasted with the more traditional one. Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s news and notes from the draft and the D-League here:
- The kickoff of the NBA season isn’t complete without our first wave of NBA mock drafts. Chad Ford provides ESPN insiders a look at what the first round might look like in June 2014. In what some pundits are dubbing the best draft since 2003, Ford predicts a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid and Dante Exum.
- Speaking of Oklahoma State’s Smart, the sophomore point guard is still unsure that he made the right decision to return to school last April, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Considering the shocking results of last June’s draft, it probably isn’t far fetched to say that Smart would have been the best player on the board when the Cavs went on the clock.
- The Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, have acquired the number one pick in tomorrow night’s D-League draft along with Ben Uzoh in a three team deal with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Along with other picks tomorrow night, Diante Garrett and Lorenzo Brown were also involved in the deal.
- Polish forward Olek Czyz has signed a deal to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Sportando reports on Twitter. The Bucks, who use Fort Wayne as their D-League affiliate, cut Czyz on Saturday after he spent training camp with the team, indicating that they protected his D-League rights. Czyz played at Duke and Nevada before going undrafted in 2012. He played last season for Virtus Roma of the Italian League.
D-League Notes: Draft, Douby, Liggins, C’s
The NBA D-League has released the official list of players eligible to be selected in tomorrow’s draft, which is set to take place at 7:00 pm ET in New York. There are plenty of intriguing names among the 180+ players hoping to be drafted, including a couple 2013 NBA draftees whose NBA rights are still held by their respective teams — Pierre Jackson (Pelicans) and Grant Jerrett (Thunder). Here’s more on the 2013 D-League draft class:
- Potential top-10 picks include James Johnson, DeAndre Liggins, and Quincy Douby, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Johnson and Liggins were recently released by the Hawks and Thunder, respectively, while Douby averaged 31.6 PPG in China last season, including one 75-point game.
- There are a handful of international players eligible to be drafted, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother Athanasios Antetokounmpo, tweets Givony. Givony adds in another tweet that there are prospects from Croatia and Japan in the draft pool as well.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside notes that former NBA veterans Ricky Davis and Salim Stoudamire are among the draft hopefuls.
- The Maine Red Claws, the Celtics‘ D-League affiliate, announced 11 players on their camp roster today, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). That list features Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, and Kammron Taylor, who were in camp with Boston this month.
Western Notes: Westbrook, Kobe, Carney, Rosas
There’s some auspicious news for the Thunder on opening night, as it appears Russell Westbrook could be back as early as two weeks from now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Thunder originally projected he’d miss at least the first month of the season. Here’s more from the West:
- Kobe Bryant addressed extension talks with the Lakers during a Q-and-A session with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, indicating that discussions have yet to begin but will soon. Lakers co-owner Jim Buss said last week that negotiations had already begun.
- Bryant also told Spears that he hasn’t spoken to Carmelo Anthony about free agency next summer. A recent report suggested Anthony would be open to a recruiting pitch.
- Rodney Carney, fresh off a camp stint with the Pelicans, has signed to play in Puerto Rico with Capitanes de Arecibo, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports.
- It appears philosophical differences were at the root of Gersson Rosas‘ decision to resign as Mavs GM today, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, while Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears the Mavs shared the concerns Rosas had about the fit.
- Jazz CEO Greg Miller says he’s OK with the front office’s plan to endure a rough season this year as long as it helps move the team toward a title down the road, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune examines.
- Wolves camp invitee Othyus Jeffers is set to join the team’s D-League affiliate, while second-round pick Lorenzo Brown, whom the team also cut last week, will not, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots
NBA teams are permitted to carry 15 players into the regular season, so now that opening night rosters are set, as many as 450 players could be under contract around the league. Instead, only 439 players are currently on NBA rosters, leaving 11 openings spread out among nine clubs. With the help of our roster count tool, here are the teams bringing open roster spots into the regular season:
Two openings:
- Chicago Bulls
- Memphis Grizzlies
One opening:
- Boston Celtics
- Golden State Warriors
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- San Antonio Spurs
Teams carrying a full 15-man roster know that not all 15 players will see regular minutes in NBA games this season. Still, keeping an extra prospect or two under control, perhaps assigning them to the D-League to get them frequent playing time, could pay off in the long run, and has little downside. Many end-of-bench players are still on non-guaranteed contracts, so they don’t adversely affect a team’s roster flexibility, since they can be easily cut if the team wants to make a trade or signing.
The only real downside of carrying 15 players is having to pay 15 players. That’s why we shouldn’t be surprised to see that many of the teams listed above are either taxpayers or clubs hovering dangerously close to tax territory. For teams like the Bulls and Clippers, who are more focused on title contention than player development, carrying a 15th man all season isn’t worth the extra tax penalties. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies, Celtics, Thunder, and Pacers all have $68MM+ in guaranteed team salary on their books, so paying a 15th player would reduce cap flexibility for those clubs, who are looking to steer clear of the $71.748MM tax line.
We’ll be keeping our list of roster counts up to date throughout the 2013/14 season, so if you’re curious about whether or not a team has room to add a free agent or make an unbalanced trade, keep an eye on that page.