Odds & Ends: Millsap, Del Negro, Dunleavy, Hill
Many believe there's virtually no chance the Jazz will re-sign both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap this summer, and Millsap admits the uncertainty of impending free agency crept into his mind during the season, as Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News writes. "That’s me being honest," Millsap said. "It’s a tough thing to try to put it in the back of your head and not think about it. For the most part, I felt like we did a good job of handling it and the coaches did too." Free agents in the playoffs face even more pressure as they chase a title and their next contract at the same time, and as we watch to see who can take that kind of heat, here's the latest from around the Association:
- Clippers vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks expressed his support for Vinny Del Negro to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, in response to rumors that the team may not retain the coach. Del Negro is in the final year of his contract, and though he and the Clippers have spoken about an extension, both sides have tabled those talks until after the season.
- Mike Dunleavy Sr. wants to coach again, and he's told agent Warren LeGarie to investigate the opportunities, reports Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida. Dunleavy said he'd limit his search to teams that have the "resources" available to win.
- Rival executives have suggested to Chris Mannix of SI.com that Grant Hill could be a fit for the general manager opening in Phoenix. Hill is likely to retire at the end of the season, and he's a favorite of Suns owner Robert Sarver, who employed him as a player for five seasons. Lon Babby, the team's president of basketball operations, is a former agent who used to represent Hill (Twitter link).
- SB Nation's Tom Ziller ponders what might have been if James Harden were still with the Thunder, pointing to numbers that suggest they'd be among the greatest offensive teams of all time.
- Former Illinois shooting guard Brandon Paul has chosen agent Jim Tanner of Williams & Connolly, tweets Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. Paul checks in 57th with Jonathan Givony's ratings for DraftExpress, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 96th.
Northwest Notes: Thunder, Harden, Davis, Jazz
There are a lot of strong matchups in this year's playoffs, but the Thunder squaring off with the Rockets could be the most intriguing of them all. It's a pairing that didn't seem likely until James Harden & Co. started stumbling down the stretch, putting Houston in line for the No. 8 seed. Now, Harden has a chance to make OKC regret their decision to trade him and the Thunder get to show their old friend that they can still be a contender without him. Here's more on that and other items out of the Northwest..
- The parting of the Thunder and Harden absolutely had to happen, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. OKC's four-year, $53MM offer to Harden wasn't enough and there was no way the Thunder could have afforded to pay four players a combined $59MM next season and $61MM in 2014/15.
- Derek Page of HoopsWorld questions if the Pelicans made the right choice in taking Anthony Davis No. 1 instead of Damian Lillard. Teammate and fellow top-10 pick Austin Rivers credited Lillard for having a strong rookie season but said that he is 100% confident that New Orleans made the right call.
- An exciting offseason awaits the Jazz and all of their free agents, writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Sorensen sees Utah letting Al Jefferson go and instead retaining either Paul Millsap or Mo Williams, but not both.
Thunder Recall Jones, Lamb, Liggins
We'll keep track of today's D-League assignments and recalls here..
- The Thunder announced that they have recalled forward Perry Jones and guards Jeremy Lamb and DeAndre Liggins from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. The three players have been jettisoned between Oklahoma City and Tulsa multiple times throughout the season. They'll be back in OKC for the Thunder's playoff run, however.
Northwest Notes: Thunder, Harden, Batum, Blazers
Thunder star Kevin Durant will likely wind up a distant second in MVP voting to LeBron James, but he just completed the most efficient and remarkable campaign of his career, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. This past season placed Durant in the exclusive 50-40-90 club with the likes of Larry Bird and Reggie Miller while also showcasing his versatility and expanding game. Here's more on the Thunder and the rest of the Northwest..
- Oklahoma City's James Harden/Kevin Martin swap with Houston worked out for both sides, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Despite all the focus that there will be on Harden, the fascinating part of the upcoming series is the fact that the Thunder are, as surprising as it may be, a better team with Martin playing Harden's role.
- Blazers star Nicolas Batum is thinking big for 2013/14, writes HoopsWorld's Joel Brigham. “This year we showed we could beat good teams. We beat New York. We beat Miami. We beat Memphis,” Batum said. “But then we lost against Sacramento, Detroit, Washington. If we focus, have a good training camp, and don’t do the same mistakes we made this year, it won’t be crazy if we’re in the top five in the Western Conference next year.”
- Blazers GM Neil Olshey explained the reasoning behind the team's decision to waive Jared Jeffries, and said adding rim protection will be a priority this offseason as he spoke to reporters today. Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge has the transcript.
Thunder Assign Jones, Lamb, Liggins To D-League
The Thunder have assigned Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and DeAndre Liggins to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. The trio will join the Tulsa 66ers in time for the first game of Tulsa's playoff series with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers tonight.
When Jones, Lamb, and Liggins were recalled to the Thunder on Monday after the 66ers defeated the Canton Charge in the first round of the D-League playoffs, I speculated that they could rejoin OKC's D-League affiliate for the second round. We'll see if the three youngsters are recalled for the Thunder's series against the Rockets, or whether the team prefers to have them continue playing major minutes in the D-League postseason.
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Wall, Hunt, Sixers
Here are a few more miscellaneous notes to pass along tonight:
- With the Nets basketball operations staff on expiring deals, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) wonders if Mikhail Prokhorov is preparing to offer Phil Jackson an offer to run the team and make his own hires.
- Wizards guard John Wall tells J. Michael of CSN Washington that he won't be one to recruit free agents, and would rather have players want to join his team.
- RealGM's Sham Charania mentions Nuggets assistant coach Melvin Hunt as someone who could draw interest from teams with head coaching vacancies (Twitter link).
- Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs outlines a list of potential coaching candidates for the 76ers, mentioning team assistant Aaron Mckie, Villanova coach Jay Wright, Michael Curry (who will be interviewed for the head coaching job), Warriors assistant Mike Malone, and Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer as names that could be considered.
- Grantland's Bill Simmons says that when Thunder GM Sam Presti was quietly shopping James Harden last October, he was quickly rebuffed after calling the Raptors to inquire about a deal involving a package centered on Jonas Valanciunas.
D-League Moves: Jones, Lamb, Liggins, Melo
Today's D-League assignments and recalls are listed here, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day. Our complete list of 2012/13 D-League assignments and recalls can be found right here….
- The Thunder have recalled Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and DeAndre Liggins from the Tulsa 66ers, the team announced today in a press release. Unlike Melo's Maine Red Claws, the 66ers won their first-round series in the D-League playoffs, topping the Canton Charge in three games. The OKC trio will rejoin the NBA squad for tonight's game, but perhaps they'll be headed back to Tulsa for the next round of the D-League postseason.
Earlier updates:
- The Celtics have recalled rookie center Fab Melo from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Melo almost certainly won't be a part of Boston's postseason rotation, but he'll available if needed. The 22-year-old had been playing with the Maine Red Claws for the last several weeks. However, the club was eliminated from the D-League playoffs over the weekend, losing in the first round to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets' affiliate. Melo averaged 8.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG in Maine's two postseason losses.
Thunder, Bulls, Hawks May Pursue Nolan Smith
The Trail Blazers aren't going to re-sign Nolan Smith, but sources close to the combo guard tell Joe Freeman of The Oregonian that the Bulls, Hawks and Thunder lead a pack of teams that are likely have interest this summer. The Blazers drafted Smith with the 21st overall pick in the 2011 draft, but after his rookie season, they declined the third-year option on his rookie-scale contract, making him an unrestricted free agent at season's end.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks is Smith's godfather, Freeman points out, and Brooks has expressed confidence in Smith's ability to make it as an NBA player, despite the former Duke standout's inability to consistently become a part of Portland's rotation. Still, Oklahoma City seems well-stocked with backup guards, as they have Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb on guaranteed contracts for next season, along with DeAndre Liggins on a non-guaranteed deal. The Thunder will need to either re-sign or replace Kevin Martin, but Smith probably isn't someone they'd want to fill Martin's sixth-man role.
The Bulls and Hawks will probably have more room for Smith, who could have trouble commanding a salary much higher than the minimum. He's averaged just 3.3 points in 9.9 minutes per game for his career, numbers that have dipped to 2.8 PPG and 7.2 MPG this year. A team may be willing to use a portion of its mid-level exception on him, given his potential as a former first-round draft pick and first-team All-American in college, but he can't expect too much of a raise on the $1.366MM he's earning this season.
Traded 2013 Draft Picks Still Up In The Air
With just a handful of games remaining in the 2012/13 regular season, most traded 2013 draft picks that included some sort of protection have been locked in, with teams' records ensuring those picks will either change hands or stay put. The Bulls, for instance, obviously aren't getting the Bobcats' top-12-protected pick, while the Jazz know definitively that they will receive Golden State's top-six-protected first-rounder.
There are still a handful of picks whose fate remains up in the air, however. For instance, the Suns and Cavaliers are watching the Lakers' place in the standings anxiously, since Phoenix will get L.A.'s pick if the Lakers miss the playoffs, while the Cavs will grab it if the Lakers earn a postseason berth. With the help of our projected draft order, here are the details on that pick and the rest of the selections that still may or may not change hands:
Team: Raptors (30-48)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Thunder if not between 1-3 or 15-30.
Projected landing spot: 10th
Current outlook: The Raptors have a chance to jump into the top three in the draft lottery to keep their pick, but it's a real long shot. Assuming they finish with the league's 10th-worst record, the Raps' odds of landing a top-three pick will be about 4%.
Team: Trail Blazers (33-45)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Bobcats if not in top 12.
Projected landing spot: 12th
Current outlook: With Dallas five games ahead of them in the standings, the Trail Blazers will finish with no better than the league's 12th-worst record. That bodes well for their chances of keeping their first-rounder, since the odds of the 13th and/or 14th teams leapfrogging the Blazers in the lottery (pushing them out of the top 12) are only about 4%.
Team: Lakers (42-37)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Suns if in top 14. If not in top 14, Cavaliers can swap Heat first-round pick with Lakers first-rounder; Lakers then send Heat pick to Suns.
Projected landing spot: 15th
Current outlook: A game up on the Jazz, the Lakers are in the driver's seat in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot, but they'll host the Warriors, Spurs, and Rockets in their last three games, so it won't be a cakewalk. The Jazz hold the playoff tiebreaker and finish with games against the Timberwolves (twice) and Grizzlies. John Hollinger's playoffs odds give the Lakers 73.5% odds to earn the 8th seed, but this could still go either way.
Team: Trail Blazers (33-45)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Nuggets if not in top 40.
Projected landing spot: 42nd
Current outlook: Unlike the team's first-rounder, Portland isn't likely to keep this pick. Even if the Blazers' losing streak continues and they don't win another game this season, two of the Raptors, Sixers, and Timberwolves would have to finish the year with a handful of wins to push Portland's pick into the top 40. That means the Nuggets will probably receive it.
Team: Clippers (52-26)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Pistons if not in top 55.
Projected landing spot: 55th
Current outlook: The Clippers are a half-game up on the Knicks in the NBA standings and are within a game of the Grizzlies and two games of the Nuggets, so this pick remains unsettled. If the Pistons land it, it'd be one more very small asset in an offseason where the team is expected to have a lottery pick and a ton of cap space.
Team: Grizzlies (53-25)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Lakers if not in top 55.
Projected landing spot: 56th
Current outlook: A late-season loss or two for the Grizz could mean this pick ends up in the top 55 and remains in their control, but I don't think either team is losing much sleep over it.
D-League Moves: Jones, Lamb, Liggins, Ohlbrecht
Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and DeAndre Liggins have been assigned to the D-League by the Thunder, the team announced today in a press release. Jones, Lamb, and Liggins, who all rank among this season's most-assigned players, are expected to be in uniform tomorrow night when the Tulsa 66ers open up their playoff series against the Canton Charge.
Earlier updates:
- The Rockets have assigned Tim Ohlbrecht to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today in a press release. As I noted last month, no NBA team has assigned more players to its D-League affiliate than the Rockets — Ohlbrecht becomes the eight player to be sent to Rio Grande Valley this season. The big man, who played with the Vipers for a good chunk of the season, will presumably be in uniform when the team begins its first-round playoff series with the Maine Red Claws on Thursday.