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And-Ones: Bledsoe, Ayon, Gallinari

September 6th, 2014 at 9:41pm CST by Cray Allred

Derrick Rose continued to struggle offensively in Team USA’s victory over Mexico today, but both Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau insisted to reporters including K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that his passiveness and shooting woes will not carry over in the Bulls‘ season.

“Being here is great,” said Rose. “It’s getting me a chance to really get in condition and get in that rhythm I’ve been talking about. Me getting better individually defensively and seeing how I can read the game and affect the game without scoring.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Despite looking into sign-and-trade options for disgruntled restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, the Suns are still prioritizing signing the point guard long-term, and would likely increase their four-year, $48MM offer if negotiations were revisited, reports Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Bledsoe’s agent has been unwilling to discuss any deal for less than the max.
  • Gustavo Ayon is still in contract discussions with Real Madrid, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The big man is deciding between a variety of NBA and international opportunities.
  • Danilo Gallinari tells La Gazzetta dello Sport (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando) that he regrets having The Steadman Clinic of Vail perform the surgery on his torn ACL in late 2012. The Nuggets small forward was expecting a relatively quick recovery, but ended up sitting out all of last season after needing additional surgeries. Gallinari referenced Russell Westbrook‘s repeat surgeries with Steadman, along with other athletes’ bumpy recoveries, as another strike against the clinic’s reputation.
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And-Ones: Bledsoe, Monroe, Augustin

September 5th, 2014 at 10:34pm CST by Cray Allred

Nothing has changed in the standoff between Eric Bledsoe and the Suns, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the point guard’s agent is holding firm on his demand for no less than a max offer. Here’s more from around the league, including more on the floor general some have dubbed the “mini-LeBron:”

  • On his Instagram profile, LeBron James himself challenged the Suns to up their offer to Bledsoe, presumably to the point guard’s desired max salary (H/T Micah Peters of For The Win ). James, like Bledsoe, is represented by Klutch Sports Group agent Rich Paul.
  • Chris Mannix of SI.com thinks Greg Monroe‘s decision to sign his qualifying offer with the Pistons is a bold, “high risk, high reward” choice, citing variables that could work against him including injury, diminished play, or reduced playing time under new coach Stan Van Gundy (on Twitter).
  • D.J. Augustin tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com that he wasn’t let down by the two-year, $6MM contract he signed with the Pistons this summer. “Anything can happen in free agency or in this business, period,” said Augustin. “So I had no expectations because it could go either way. I was just happy to be signing with a good organization, a good team and getting the opportunity to play again.”
  • The point guard credits Tom Thibodeau, who most recently coached him with the Bulls, for rejuvenating his play. “Not only did he give me the opportunity, he actually brought my love for the game back,” Augustin said. “You kind of lose that a little bit, your passion for the game, throughout the years in the NBA depending on playing time and different situations you may be put in…I owe him a lot. I give him credit for bringing my passion for the game back and wanting to learn and play hard. [Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy] reminds me a lot of [Thibodeau]. They’re both good coaches. He’s putting us on the right track to be a good team.”
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Rockets, Lakers Eye Goran Dragic For 2015

September 3rd, 2014 at 1:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets are considering a pursuit of Goran Dragic if he turns down his $7.5MM player option to hit free agency next summer, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Lakers are one of many teams around the league also likely to push for Dragic and Eric Bledsoe if they both become unrestricted free agents a year from now, Stein also hears. The prospect that the pair would hit free agency, which hinges on Bledsoe accepting his qualifying offer from the Suns, would prompt teams to go after the guards based on the idea that the Suns would have trouble re-signing both of them in the same summer, as Stein explains.

The apparent worsening relationship between Bledsoe and the Suns makes it tough to envision him re-signing with the team if he takes the qualifying offer, Stein writes. That makes sense, since only one of the 16 players to hit unrestricted free agency the year after signing a qualifying offer re-signed with his team. Bledsoe and the Suns are both pursuing sign-and-trades that would ward off the qualifying offer, according to Stein, but time is running short, since the qualifying offer expires on October 1st, a date that will force a decision.

Dragic would garner increased leverage if Bledsoe inks the qualifying offer, since the Suns almost certainly don’t want to lose both members of their dynamic starting backcourt, as Stein points out. Dragic flourished like never before in coach Jeff Hornacek‘s system this past season, but he’ll turn 29 in May, so there’s a decent chance that the client of BDA Sports Management will never have a better chance to cash in and take the most lucrative deal on the table. Dragic spent parts of two seasons with the Rockets in between stints with Phoenix, and Houston is among the teams with interest in signing his brother, who apparently envisions coming to the the NBA before long.

The Lakers reportedly had interest in floating a lucrative offer sheet to Bledsoe this summer before deciding against it. They can open roughly $30MM in cap space next year, while Houston is set up for only about half of that amount. Still, the Suns only have about $17MM in commitments for 2015/16, so they have plenty of room to accommodate the demands of Bledsoe and Dragic, should they choose, and they’d also have Bird rights on the duo.

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Rondo Tells Celtics He Wants Out

September 1st, 2014 at 2:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

2:58pm: An ESPN spokesperson released a statement to Hoops Rumors via email explaining why the video was removed.

“Around the Horn producers felt they had put Jackie in a difficult position since the discussion was being characterized externally as reporting rather than as an informed conversation among our panelists. For this reason, the decision was made to remove the video,” the statement read.

MONDAY, 9:42am: ESPN appears to have removed the video that featured MacMullan’s comments from the “Around the Horn” YouTube account, though it doesn’t look like the network has given a reason just yet.

SUNDAY, 10:51pm: A spokeswoman for Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, told Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald that both men deny that the guard has demanded a trade.

10:05am: Rajon Rondo has informed the Celtics that he wants out of Boston, as ESPNBoston.com writer Jackie MacMullan said in a recently published video featuring excerpts from the ESPN show “Around the Horn” (hat tip to Jay King of MassLive.com). In the video clip, MacMullan responded to a question about whether or not Boston should trade Rondo, to which she answered, “Oh, I hope so. Just get it done. And it will happen because he’s told them he wants out. And no one believes me, but that’s the truth.”

This conflicts with previous reports that Rondo was content in Boston. Rondo had been quoted as saying, “I don’t like change much” and “I wouldn’t mind staying here the rest of my career,” writes Jay King of MassLive.com. The Celtics organization has also maintained that they intend to keep Rondo, in part because they’re eager to see how he plays at the beginning of this season, when he’ll be more than a year and a half removed from tearing his right ACL. If Rondo shows he’s still capable of performing at his peak level, then the team could potentially garner a larger return for their star player.

If Rondo presses the issue and the Celtics are forced to trade him prior to the season, the Kings appear to be the number one suitors for Rondo’s services, MacMullan notes. The Kings have enough enticing pieces to catch Boston’s interest, but according to MacMullan, Rondo has already told the Kings that he would not re-sign with them. It remains to be seen if Sacramento would be willing to make the deal knowing that Rondo intends to leave as a free agent next summer. The Kings were willing to trade for Kevin Love without such assurances, so it’s possible they could take the same gamble with Rondo.

During the video, the potential scenario for Rondo to join the Clippers was broached, to which MacMullan responded, “He [Doc Rivers] doesn’t like Rondo, remember that. I mean, he’s done with Rondo. They went a good, long way together, but that guy — Rondo drives him nuts. And then (the Clippers have) Chris Paul anyway, they don’t need him.”

As for the rest of the potential trade market for Rondo, MacMullan speculated that teams like the Knicks, Rockets, and Mavericks would be interested, but wouldn’t be able to offer Celtics GM Danny Ainge enough to get a deal done. She also listed the Lakers as a possibility, though Rondo might not be willing to re-sign with them either. The other possibility she raised was a sign-and-trade deal with the Suns for Eric Bledsoe, but he’s also looking for a max contract, which the Celtics would most likely be hesitant to agree to.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Trade Retrospective: Stephon Marbury To Knicks

August 30th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the Kevin Love trade saga now finally over, fans of all the teams involved are left to wonder whether or not their franchise got the better end of the deal. The Wolves dealt away their franchise player for a number of intriguing pieces, and the Cavs nabbed another star to pair alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, while the Sixers chances to nab the No. 1 overall pick have improved markedly. It’s always a risky undertaking when dealing a top-tier player away, as many past trades have demonstrated. It’s with that in mind that I’ve been looking back at other blockbuster trades and how they have worked out for all involved.

So far I’ve examined the trades that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers; Deron Williams to the Nets; Kevin Garnett to the Celtics; Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks; Chris Paul traded from the Pelicans to the Clippers; and the trade that sent Shaquille O’Neal from the Lakers to the Heat. Next up is a look at a trade that occurred on January 5th, 2004–the deal that sent Stephon Marbury from the Suns to the Knicks.

I’ll begin by running down the assets involved:

This trade had all the makings of a great story–a hometown star returns to change the fortunes of the Knicks franchise. Marbury was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and was a lifelong team fan. The Knicks were firmly mired in mediocrity, and this trade was intended to be a major step towards reversing the franchise’s fortunes.

Here are the Knicks’ records prior to trade:

  1. 2000/01: 48-34 (Lost in first round to Raptors)
  2. 2001/02: 30-52
  3. 2002/03: 37-45

The Knicks used this trade to acquire the star point guard they desperately needed, plus it also helped correct the less-than-stellar results of the franchise’s big move from the year before. I’m referring to the ill-fated deal that sent the draft rights to Nene; Marcus Camby; and Mark Jackson to Denver for Antonio McDyess and Frank Williams. McDyess was intended to be an anchor for the franchise, but instead he just added to his injury history, and only played in a total of 18 games in New York. Nene and Camby were much more productive over the years, and this trade ended up being one of the more imbalanced ones that you’ll see.

When New York made the Marbury deal, which was the first major move made during the Isiah Thomas regime, the Knicks hoped this would lead to a change in culture and a reversal of fortune. Things didn’t quite work out that way. Here are the Knicks’ records during the Marbury years:

  1. 2003/04: 39-43 (Lost in first round to Nets)
  2. 2004/05: 33-49
  3. 2005/06: 23-59
  4. 2006/07: 33-49
  5. 2007/08: 23-59

Not all the blame can rest on Marbury’s shoulders for the franchise’s lack of success. The Knicks didn’t have much talent around him, and a number of personnel moves ended up backfiring spectacularly during this era. But Marbury didn’t exactly perform up to the levels he did in Minnesota and New Jersey, either. Here are Marbury’s numbers during his time in New York:

  1. 2003/04: 19.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 9.3 APG. His slash line was .431/.321/.833.
  2. 2004/05: 21.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 8.1 APG. His slash line was .462/.354/.834.
  3. 2005/06: 16.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 6.4 APG. His slash line was .451/.317/.755.
  4. 2006/07: 16.4 PPG, 2.9 RPD, and 5.4 APG. His slash line was .415/.357/.769.
  5. 2007/08: 13.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 4.7 APG. His slash line was .419/.378/.716.

His first two years with the Knicks were excellent statistically, but he tailed off significantly starting with the 2005/06 campaign. Marbury’s lack of productivity led to him spatting publicly with then-coach Larry Brown.

Brown claimed that Marbury refused to take responsibility for his part in the team’s disastrous 2005/06 season. Marbury responded by saying, “I think it’s personal now. I don’t think it’s about basketball anymore. Now it’s to the point where he’s [Brown] putting his 30-year career against my 10-year career. You know, coach is a great coach is what everyone says. We’re supposed to be better than what we are. Did it happen now? No.”

Brown responded by saying, “So, you’re the best guard in the league and the team is 17-45, yeah, it’s the coach’s fault. I don’t know why you play a team sport and not be concerned about making your teammates better and helping your team win games. That’s the only thing that really matters, and if you’re the best player, surely you’re going to have some effect on the game’s outcome.”

That was Brown’s only campaign on the New York bench, and he was replaced the following season by Thomas, who also ended up clashing with Marbury, whose popularity was on the decline with the Knicks’ fan base thanks to all the issues and losing seasons. This player-coach feud culminated with rumors that Marbury and Thomas had allegedly gotten into a physical altercation at practice. Marbury further angered the organization and fans when he elected to have season-ending ankle surgery in February of 2008, which the team had deemed unnecessary at the time.

The Knicks explored potential trades for Marbury, but there wasn’t much interest in the then-31-year-old guard, who still had two years, and nearly $42MM remaining on his contract. Mike D’Antoni took over as head coach in 2008, and New York signed Chris Duhon as a free agent, and Duhon in turn won the starting point guard job during training camp. Marbury was placed on team’s inactive list. He and the team debated over his role and playing time, and when they were unable to come to an accord on a potential buyout, Marbury was banned from attending any practices or games.

The Knicks and Marbury finally reached a buyout arrangement in February of 2009, and after clearing waivers, he signed with the Celtics. Marbury finished out the season with Boston, averaging 3.8 PPG and 3.3 APG. The Celtics offered him a contract for the veteran’s minimum of for the 2009/10 season, which Marbury declined. He has been out of the league ever since.

Penny Hardaway was a shell of the superstar player he was during his years with the Magic. Injuries had taken their toll on his production and ability to remain on the court. Hardaway hadn’t lived up to the seven-year, $86MM contract he had inked in 1999 as part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent him from Orlando to Phoenix.

Hardaway was productive for the remainder of the 2003/04 season, and he played well in the Knicks’ first round playoff series loss to the Nets, averaging 16.5 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.5 steals. After that he would only appear in 41 contests over the next two seasons due to injuries. Hardaway’s numbers with the Knicks were:

  1. 2003/04: 9.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.9 APG. His slash line was .390/.364/.775.
  2. 2004/05: 7.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 2.0 APG. His slash line was .423/.300/.739.
  3. 2005/06: 2.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.0 APG. His slash line was .286/.000/1.000.

His time in New York ended in February of 2006 when he was traded back to Orlando, along with Trevor Ariza, for Steve Francis. Hardaway was then waived by the Magic in a cost-cutting move.

Cezary Trybanski only appeared in three games for the Knicks, averaging 0.3 PPG. He was then traded to the Bulls along with Othella Harrington; Dikembe Mutombo; and Frank Williams, for Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams. Trybanski was waved by Chicago prior to the start of the season and he has been out of the league ever since.

The Suns made this deal to free up cap space for the summer of 2004, when they hoped to make a splash in free agency and build around their core of Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, and Shawn Marion.

The Suns records prior to the trade were:

  1. 2000/01: 51-31 (Lost in first round to the Kings)
  2. 2001/02: 36-46
  3. 2002/03: 44-38 (Lost in first round to Spurs)

This deal is an odd one in that the Suns gave up the best player, didn’t receive much long term value in return, essentially squandered the draft picks they acquired, yet still came out ahead in the end. This is all thanks to the free agent signing of Steve Nash in July of 2004. All Nash did was win the MVP award in his first season and lead the Suns to the Western Conference Finals.

The Suns’ records post trade:

  1. 2003/04: 29-53
  2. 2004/05: 62-20 (Lost conference finals to Spurs)
  3. 2005/06: 54-28 (Lost conference finals to Mavs)
  4. 2006/07: 61-21 (Lost in second round to Spurs)
  5. 2007/08: 55-27 (Lost in first round to Spurs)

Howard Eisley finished out the rest of the 2003/04 season with Phoenix, averaging 7.1 PPG and 3.4 APG, then reached a buyout arrangement with the Suns for the remaining two years of his deal. Eisley then signed a one-year, $1.1MM contract with the Jazz that summer.

Charlie Ward was waived the day after the trade by Phoenix and was picked up shortly after by the Spurs for the rest of the 2003/04 season, when he averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.3 APG. Ward appeared in 14 games for the Rockets during the 2004/05 campaign, and then retired after the year.

Milos Vujanic was originally selected by the Knicks with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. He never appeared in an NBA game, and played eight seasons in the Euroleague and Italian League before retiring in 2009.

Maciej Lampe was another second-round selection by the Knicks, taken with the No. 30 overall pick back in 2003, but he never appeared in a game while with New York. After the trade Lampe averaged 4.6 PPG and 2.1 RPG for the Suns. Lampe’s time in the desert came to an end in January of 2005, when he was traded along with Casey Jacobsen and Jackson Vroman to the Pelicans for Jim Jackson and a 2005 second-rounder (Marcin Gortat).

Antonio McDyess finished out the 2003/04 season with the Suns, averaging 5.8 PPG and 5.8 RPG. After the season he became a restricted free agent and signed with the Pistons, where he stayed for five seasons, and he became a valuable contributor off of the bench.

Both first round draft picks that the Suns acquired in the Marbury trade were later packaged along with Tom Gugliotta and a 2005 second-rounder (Alex Acker) and sent to Utah for Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten. This ended up being a terrible trade for Phoenix, as neither Clark or Handlogten appeared in an NBA game after being acquired by the Suns.

Utah used the 2004 first-rounder to select Kirk Snyder with the No. 16 pick. Snyder was a bust and was traded after one season to the Pelicans. His career numbers in four NBA seasons were 6.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.1 APG. Some notable players that Utah could have had with that selection instead of Snyder were Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, and Trevor Ariza.

It’s the other draft pick from the Marbury trade that is more haunting to both Knicks and Suns fans. With the No. 9 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Jazz selected Gordon Hayward. Let’s look at Hayward’s numbers since entering the league:

  1. 2010/11: 5.4 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.1 APG. His slash line was .485/.473/.711.
  2. 2011/12: 11.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.1 APG. His slash line was .456/.346/.832.
  3. 2012/13: 14.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 3.0 APG. His slash line was .435/.415/.827.
  4. 2013/14: 16.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 5.2 APG. His slash line was .413/.304/.816.

Hayward signed a four-year, $62,965,420 offer sheet with the Hornets this summer, which the Jazz quickly matched in order to keep Hayward in Utah for the foreseeable future.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is an odd trade in how it worked out. This became another failed deal during the Isiah Thomas years for the Knicks. The franchise could have benefited long term from retaining those two first-rounders, and saved themselves a number of headaches and public relations hits that resulted from Marbury’s presence on the team.

The Suns came out OK here, despite not receiving any long term assets besides salary cap room. Their signing of Nash away from the Mavs was a turning point in the franchise’s fortunes, and it wouldn’t have been possible if Phoenix hadn’t dealt away Marbury’s and Hardaway’s contracts. But it’s still hard to give them too much credit, seeing as they later gave up the two valuable first rounders they had acquired to Utah for essentially no return.

The Suns win this by default, but it’s interesting to imagine what might have happened had they held on to those picks and nabbed Josh Smith and Hayward instead. That would have truly been a landslide victory for them in regards to this deal, rather than winning it by default. The Marbury trade is a prime example of the risks involved for all franchises when making blockbuster deals. Knicks fans are still feeling the pain from all the misfires during 2000s, which included this one.

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Poll: Should Bledsoe, Monroe Sign QOs?

August 29th, 2014 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Monday will mark two months since the start of free agency, and still two of the top five players on the 2014 Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings remain unsigned. The restricted free agencies of Eric Bledsoe and Greg Monroe have dragged on longer than it seemed reasonable to expect, even though teams and their restricted free agents often engage in protracted negotiations, as the Wolves and Nikola Pekovic did last year. There’s little doubting the game-changing ability of either, but the power for Phoenix and Detroit to match all other offers for their respective young stars appears to have effectively short-circuited the market.

Reports have indicated that both Bledsoe and Monroe are prepared to sign their qualifying offers, the standard one-year offers that teams must make at the start of free agency to retain matching rights on their restricted free agents. One report amid a series of dispatches earlier this month indicated that Monroe had already let the Pistons know he would accept the qualifying offer, though other reports conflict with that notion. Bledsoe is insisting that he either receive a max deal or he’ll take the qualifying offer, according to the latest we’ve seen on him.

Signing the qualifying offer would represent a drastic step. Monroe’s QO is worth a shade less than $5.48MM, while Bledsoe would make just $3.727MM this season if he signed his. The Pistons and Suns appear to have made long-term offers that would pay much more than that. Phoenix reportedly has four years and $48MM on the table for Bledsoe, while the Pistons are apparently willing to give Monroe more than $54MM over four years. Still, the max for both would be a five-year, $84,789,500 contract, and it seems neither would be satisfied settling for less. Sign-and-trades remain a possibility, but it doesn’t appear as though there’s much traction toward one for either of the free agents stuck in limbo.

Bledsoe and Monroe could hit unrestricted free agency in a year if they sign their qualifying offers, and while it would seem that both would field more competitive offers from teams who would no longer have to worry that the Suns or Pistons would match, there are no guarantees. Bledsoe has only started 78 games in his career, and it appears few around the NBA regard Monroe as someone worthy of a maximum-salary contract. Only 17 players have signed qualifying offers in the past two decades, and none have carried cachet of either Bledsoe or Monroe, underscoring just what an unusual move it would be.

Let us know whether you think signing the qualifying offer, and the chance to hit unrestricted free agency in a year that comes with it, would be worthwhile for Bledsoe and Monroe, or if you think they should take the more lucrative long-term deals in front of them. Weigh in on your choice in the comments.

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And-Ones: Thomas, Wiggins, Drew

August 26th, 2014 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA is creating more room around the basket stanchions and reducing the number of photographers along the baseline, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press reports. The league planned the changes before Paul George was hurt, league president of basketball operations Rod Thorn tells Mahoney, and that’ll prevent another injury of the sort that befell George, but that’s of little comfort to the Pacers at this point.

Here’s the latest from around the league:

  • Isaiah Thomas tells Jeff Caplan of NBA.com that he never requested trade from the Kings, who wound up participating in the sign-and-trade that sent him to the Suns. “I was always professional about every situation,” Thomas said. “I always came in with my hard hat on willing to do whatever is best for the team. When they signed Darren Collison, I knew I was going in a different direction.”
  • Larry Drew said that he was blindsided by the events which led to him being fired and replaced by Jason Kidd as coach of the Bucks, writes Howie Kussoy of The New York Post. Drew also said, “From their [the owners’] standpoint, there’s no set time for these type of things. It caught me in a position when I least expected it. But I know how these things work. I don’t have any hard feelings, any grudges against anybody. [Owner] Marc [Lasry] called me and I just wished him luck. I’ve got to keep moving forward.”
  • Andrew Wiggins just wanted to play for a team that wanted him, and called the completion of the deal that sent him to the Wolves a big relief, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press.
  • Former NBA player Dominic McGuire has signed with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli League, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). McGuire’s last NBA action came during the 2012/13 season with the Pacers, Pelicans, and Jazz. In six NBA seasons, he has averaged 2.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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And-Ones: Drew, Antetokounmpo, D-League

August 25th, 2014 at 10:33pm CST by Cray Allred

Former Bucks coach Larry Drew was blindsided by his ouster from Milwaukee, telling Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was taken aback by the process. New owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens were already in discussions with Jason Kidd, who supplanted Drew on the bench, while he was participating in rookie Jabari Parker‘s introductory press conference.

“The whole Jabari thing, putting me in that position, I don’t think it was very professional. I wish it wouldn’t have happened that way, but it did,” said Drew, who is now an assistant with the Cavs. “It caught me in a position when I least expected it. But I know how these things work. I don’t have any hard feelings, any grudges against anybody.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Thanasis Antetokounmpo‘s agent tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that the forward turned down a two-year, $550K offer to play in Italy in order to accept the $25K salary he will receive with the Knicks‘ D-League affiliate. Agent Tim Lotsos says the sacrifice was made because his client is eager to prove himself as NBA-ready. “To my surprise, he passed on it,” said Lotsos. “He’s very ambitious and determined to make the NBA. I didn’t try to force him. I wanted him to make his own decision.”
  • A D-League expansion draft for returning player rights will take place on September 1, reports Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. The draft will supply the Knicks‘ new affiliate with a starting roster, and each existing team will protect up to 12 current D-League players that the Westchester Knicks can’t obtain.
  • In the same piece, Pilato does a mock selection draft, projecting which players he sees each D-League team protecting and which players wind up in Westchester.
  • Plenty of people believe rookie Cavs coach David Blatt will become one of the best coaches in the league, writes Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders in his look at rising coaching names. Brigham views Mike Budenholzer, Steve Clifford, Dave Joerger, and Jeff Hornacek as fellow up-and-comers in the NBA ranks.
  • In a LeBron James-centric mailbag column, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel asserts that it was James’ contract preferences that led to the Cavs receiving draft picks from Miami in 2010 through a sign-and-trade, and that it was also his contract desires that prevented the Heat from receiving any picks when he returned to Cleveland this summer.
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Pacific Notes: Thomas, Beasley, Ballmer

August 25th, 2014 at 5:57pm CST by Cray Allred

Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM expects plenty of suitors to pursue Eric Bledsoe next summer if he accepts the Suns one-year qualifying offer and aims for a max deal as a free agent. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Isaiah Thomas tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that while many found it puzzling he would join a loaded backcourt in Phoenix, the Suns‘ belief in his talent made it an easy decision to leave the Kings as a free agent. “I went on one visit, with the Phoenix Suns, and they just pulled out the red carpet for me and in the end I just felt wanted,” said Thomas. “I always felt like [Sacramento] didn’t appreciate me as much as they should. I’m not saying the fans [didn’t]–the fans loved me and the city of Sacramento loved me. But it’s a business. They felt like they could get somebody better and I don’t blame them; that’s on them, and it’s their loss.”
  • The Lakers like what they saw from Michael Beasley‘s workout with the team, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, but their abundance of forwards could motivate him to prioritize other options.
  • We learned earlier that the Lakers have signed their second-round pick Jordan Clarkson.
  • Mark Cuban said he thinks new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer will bring positive energy to the league, telling ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM’s “The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley” that Ballmer will be good for the NBA (transcription via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com). “I’ve known Steve for a long time, going back into my twenties, and he’s always been this way,” Cuban said. “So this isn’t Steve Ballmer getting hyped just for the Clippers. This is just the way he is. He’s going to be great for the league.
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And-Ones: Barea, Bledsoe, Bonner, Beasley

August 25th, 2014 at 2:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs are probably better off for having lost LeBron James in 2010 than they would be if he had never gone to Miami since it gave them the chance to accumulate assets through rebuilding, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller argues. That helps explain why the Sixers, one of the other teams in the Kevin Love deal, are so aggressively stripping their roster, Ziller suggests. Still, Cleveland was remarkably lucky in the lottery, nabbing three No. 1 overall picks in four years, so it’s tough to say that another team can easily mimic the path of the Cavs. Here’s more from around the league:

  • The only players on the Wolves who are off-limits for a trade are the ones who just came aboard in the Love deal, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes within a chat with readers. J.J. Barea remains on the block after the Wolves failed to convince the Sixers to take him on in the Love trade, Zgoda also writes.
  • The Wolves like Eric Bledsoe quite a bit, but it’s tough to see a scenario in which they’d sign-and-trade for the Suns restricted free agent, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Phoenix reportedly made a last-ditch effort at a Bledsoe-for-Love swap, but Minnesota rejected that idea.
  • Backcourt mate Goran Dragic is hopeful that Bledsoe will be back with the Suns next season, as he tells Erildas Budraitis of RealGM.
  • Matt Bonner says there were several teams that inquired about him during his free agency this summer, but he let all of them know that he was waiting to see about a deal with the Spurs first, as he tells Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. Bonner re-signed with the Spurs last month to a one-year deal for the minimum.
  • The Heat let Michael Beasley know they wouldn’t rule out re-signing him, but that’s standard practice for the team, which hasn’t made any offer to the forward, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Heat isn’t high on bringing him back for several reasons, Jackson hears.
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