Eastern Notes: Knicks, Nets, Magic
With the Bulls' win over a listless Mavericks squad putting Chicago in position to secure the Eastern Conference's top seed with one more victory or a Heat loss, we'll check in with the rest of the conference to catch up on the latest stories and headlines.
- Howard Beck of The New York Times says Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald deserves some recognition for the way he has rebuilt the roster, perhaps even the NBA Executive of the Year award. Grunwald made the Knicks more defensively viable with the addition of Tyson Chandler, created buzz and excitement through the stellar play of Jeremy Lin and took a risk in J.R. Smith, who has become a solid contributor off the bench as the team's sixth man, among other key moves. Unfortunately for Grunwald, the award typically goes to an executive on a team near the top of their respective conference, not one struggling just to sneak into the playoffs in the season's final weeks.
- The Nets have many decisions to consider in terms of free agency, the draft and their coaching staff as they head across the Hudson River to Brooklyn, writes HoopsWorld's Alex Raskin. After unsuccessful attempts to acquire talent like LeBron James and Nene, the Nets may look to keep their current roster together and hope to get incredibly lucky during the draft by landing a top-3 pick (otherwise it goes to the Blazers). With regard to Nets head coach Avery Johnson's future, Raskin believes it would be incredibly unfair to judge his performance thus far solely on his record as he should be afforded at least one more opportunity to prove his mettle.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports the Magic are rallying around each other in the wake of Dwight Howard's season-ending injury. Glen Davis has emerged as one of the team's emotional leaders and has brought the locker room closer together as the team has adopted the grammatically-flawed phrase "We all we got." "We can't worry about the media. We can't worry about what's going on. We've got to understand 'all for one, one for all.' That motto and just that saying just puts us in a mind frame of just brotherhood."
Odds & Ends: Amnesty, Magic, Pistons, Blazers
With only six games on the schedule on Friday night, lets take a look at what else is going on in the Association:
- Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson flew to Las Vegas to meet with the Kings' ownership in an attempt to revive arena discussions, says the Sacramento Bee. According to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com via Twitter, a George Maloof spokesman said the talks were "cordial" but "nothing definitive resulted."
- RealGM has published their helpful "2012 Amnesty 2.0 Primer" which outlines every team's amnesty situation, including which players are eligible as well as which are reasonable candidates. Players are only eligible if they are still under contract with the same team when the CBA was reached.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel tweets that Stan Van Gundy has received no indication from GM Otis Smith that the Magic will sign a free agent center to help deal with the loss of Dwight Howard.
- Joel Brigham from Hoopsworld offers a detailed analysis of the Pistons' roster, and their offseason outlook at improving it. Brigham says that while they have some young building blocks, Detroit also has enough overpaid veterans getting enough minutes to impede their progress.
- Dr. Jack Ramsay was on 1080 The Fan in Portland and discussed the Blazers coaching and GM situations as well as their roster. Ramsay was skeptical that they could land a big-time coach and isn't confident that they can improve significantly.
Latest On Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard has been ruled out for the rest of this season, undergoing back surgery that is also expected to remove him from consideration for the Team USA Olympic roster this summer. But just because we've received some closure on D12's on-court status doesn't mean the rumors and speculation about his long-term future will come to an end. Here's the latest on the Magic superstar:
- SI.com's Chris Mannix is one of many reporters shooting down rumors that Howard called Magic owner Rich DeVos to tell him he won't play for coach Stan Van Gundy anymore. Of course, as Mannix points out, that doesn't mean Howard is interested in playing for SVG going forward.
- A league source tells Mannix that Howard believes Van Gundy lied when he told reporters D12 had asked the Magic to fire him, since the Orlando center didn't specifically make that request. Sources close to Howard tell Mannix that it was the Magic front office that first approached Dwight about the possibility of replacing Van Gundy.
- Management's silence on the topic may not sit well with Howard, writes Mannix, noting that perhaps a deteriorating relationship between the team and its star will lead to renewed trade rumors this summer.
- According to Van Gundy, Howard is scheduled for surgery today in the Los Angeles area, tweets Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
Dwight Howard Out For Season
Dwight Howard will miss the rest of the 2012 season, including the playoffs and upcoming summer Olympics, upon undergoing surgery Friday morning to repair a herniated disk in his back, the center's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com's Ric Bucher.
The injury has already forced Howard to miss eight games this season, which is one more than he missed in his first seven seasons combined. His total of 621 games and 22,471 minutes is the most by a center in his first eight seasons in the modern era of the NBA, Bucher writes.
With this news, the Magic are almost surely a one and done team once the playoffs start, but looking at it from a wider angle, how Howard's health holds up after surgery may now slightly alter his stature as one of the NBA's most sought after free agent acquisitions in 2013. According to Howard, doctors have told him he'll be ready to play basketball in four months, in time for next season's training camp. (Twitter link.)
After exercising his player option at this year's trade deadline, the center will remain under contract with the Magic next season, but beyond that remains a mystery. Howard averaged 20.6 PPG and a league leading 14.5 RPG in one of the most tumultuous seasons a player has endured off the court in recent memory.
Odds & Ends: Parker, Collison, Magic
In an article by the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins, Stan Van Gundy explained that the injury to Hedo Turkoglu has caused major defensive issues for the Magic that the team should be able to overcome by the playoffs.
- With Darren Collison suffering from a groin injury that could force him to miss the start of the playoffs, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel isn't sure if Collison will get his starting job back once he returns.
- SI.com's Sam Amick writes about Tony Parker, and how his recent play has gone beyond anybody's greatest expectations.
- FoxSportsOhio.com's Sam Amico does his most recent mock draft.
- Alan Anderson and the Raptors could have a relationship that goes beyond this season.
- Deputy commissioner Adam Silver says that despite the success in attendance and ratings the league has seen with its shortened season, the NBA still prefers an 82-game regular season as opposed to this year's 66.
- Despite the Pistons decision to switch their lineups around in a peculiar way, head coach Lawrence Frank says they aren't tanking games on purpose, according to MLive.com's David Mayo.
- Nate Robinson says he'd love to stay with the Warriors next season and beyond (Twitter link), but isn't getting his hopes up. The guard has played for four teams in the past three years.
- Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari has had some rough shooting nights in recent games, but as long as his team wins game, he couldn't care less, according to Nuggets.com's Aaron J. Lopez.
Latest On Dwight Howard, Stan Van Gundy
After reporting earlier this week that Dwight Howard no longer wants to play for coach Stan Van Gundy and may sit out the playoffs as a result, David Pingalore of WKMG 6 in Orlando now says Howard called Magic owner Rich DeVos to say he wouldn't play for Van Gundy anymore.
Pingalore was the first to report that Howard had asked the Magic to fire Van Gundy, and his story earlier this week wasn't initially disputed. However, a number of outlets are refuting his latest report. ESPN.com's Michael Wallace hears from multiple sources that Howard didn't make such a statement to DeVos, with one of D12's representative calling it a "completely made-up, BS story."
Sam Amick of SI.com also hears from sources "close to the situation" that Pingalore's report is inaccurate, while the Orlando Sentinel reported that "Howard’s camp is adamant that the All-NBA center wants to return for the postseason."
I believe Howard's herniated disc is a serious enough health issue that it could prevent him from playing in the postseason, no matter how badly he wants to return. If he sits out in the playoffs, I don't necessarily think it'll have anything to do with Van Gundy. But even if there's no truth to the latest rumblings of discord between the Magic coach and superstar, it's very hard to imagine the pair coexisting in Orlando past this season.
Odds & Ends: George, Chandler, Pistons
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports that the Pacers' Paul George has signed with Creative Artists Agency, the same organization that represents LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul to name a few (Sulia link).
- Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler is expected to miss the rest of the season, says Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post. Chandler had tried to play through pain on Sunday, but decided after the game that it would be best to shut himself down for the rest of the season.
- Don't expect to see the Pistons participating in the annual Las Vegas Summer League this year, as coach Lawrence Frank has opted to send his team to Orlando Magic Summer League instead (David Mayo of MLive reports). Frank cites the organizational structure and condensed schedule as the deciding factors.
- Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune writes that Jazz guard Blake Ahearn hopes to earn a second contract with the team and finish the rest of the season, as his initial contract is set to expire today. GM Kevin O'Connor says that he won't make a decision until after tonight's game against Portland.
- Lang Greene of HoopsWorld engaged in his weekly chat with fans tonight. A few thought provoking points included his assessment of Harrison Barnes as a player who won't be a franchise changer for a lottery team, the possibility that Austin Rivers slips in the draft, and Kendall Marshall as a player who belongs in the 16-20 pick range, among other topics.
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune examines the emergence of Nikola Mirotic, a 6'10 sharpshooting forward for Real Madrid whose draft rights are currently owned by the Bulls. Johnson also writes that Mirotic could have a legitimate shot to make the Spanish team for this year's Olympics.
- Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune reports that the Louisiana State of Exposition District board of commissioners has approved a long-term lease extension for the Hornets through 2024.
- Billy Witz of Fox Sports takes a closer look at Jerry Colangelo's criteria for assembling Team USA amidst a season of injuries and uncertainty for a number of players who are in his selection pool. Colangelo doesn't appear fazed, implying that the pool is deep enough to counter the potential unavailability of some of his choices for summer.
J.R. Smith Expected To Decline Option
Shortly after he returned from China and signed with the Knicks, J.R. Smith told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida that he anticipated picking up his second-year player option and remaining with the Knicks. I was a little skeptical at the time, since the option will only be worth about $2.5MM, and Smith should easily be able to land a longer and larger deal on the open market.
So it's not a huge surprise to see Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reporting that Smith is expected to turn down his option for 2012/13. According to Kennedy, Smith will seek a multiyear deal, with the Timberwolves, Clippers, and Magic among the teams likely to have some interest.
If Smith does opt out of the second year of his contract, the Knicks will have difficulty re-signing him. Even if New York doesn't pursue a big-name free agent, the team may need to use its mid-level exception to retain Jeremy Lin, leaving little to offer Smith, who wouldn't have Bird rights.
When Smith came back from China, most of his NBA suitors could only offer portions of their mid-level or mini mid-level exceptions, meaning he had to sign for a discount to join the Knicks. In 2010/11, Smith earned $6MM+ for the Nuggets. While he may not find a multiyear guarantee that pays him $6MM+ annually, he should at least be able to easily exceed the $2.5MM on his option year.
Odds & Ends: Howard, Draft, Hornets, Blazers
Tuesday afternoon links from around the NBA….
- David Pingalore of Local 6 in Orlando, who reported earlier this month that Dwight Howard had asked the Magic to fire Stan Van Gundy, says Howard no longer wants to play for Van Gundy. This situation may end up working itself out: Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel argued yesterday that the Magic should shut down Howard for the rest of the year, and Van Gundy is unlikely to remain the team's coach for next season.
- The latest mock draft from ESPN.com's Chad Ford has received plenty of feedback from NBA scouts and executives, Ford writes. Mississippi State's Arnett Moultrie and Dion Waiters of Syracuse were among the players Ford's sources felt were ranked too low — the latest ESPN.com mock had them coming off the board at 19th and 23rd respectively.
- North Carolina's John Henson has hired Jim Tanner as his agent, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The junior forward announced in late March that he was entering the NBA draft.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld explores the direction of the Hornets now that the team is under new ownership.
- Having been officially eliminated from the playoffs, the Trail Blazers now look like a good bet to score two lottery picks, as Mike Tokito of the Oregonian writes.
Southeast Notes: Howard, Mason, Crawford
All five Southeast Division teams were in action tonight, and four of them won, including the Wizards, who stunned the Bulls. No such luck for the hapless Bobcats, however, as they lost their 17th straight. Here's the buzz around the Southeast:
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel proposes the Magic take the bold step of shutting down Dwight Howard for the rest of the season, playoffs included, to protect their best asset should they decide to trade him before his contract runs out after next season.
- Roger Mason underwent surgery to repair a broken left index finger today, and the Wizards waived him. Mason says he could have returned in a week's time, but would prefer to give his finger a little more time to heal, as Michael Lee's blog for The Washington Post explains.
- Jordan Crawford is the Wizards' leading scorer since the All-Star break, but he was disappointed the team benched him in favor of Nick Young earlier this season, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. With Young sent to the Clippers in a deadline deal, Crawford has a more positive opinion of what it's like to play in Washington despite the team's poor record, observes Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld.