Suns GM On Dragic, Chemistry, Point Guards
The departure of Goran Dragic from the Suns became contentious, with Dragic saying the day before the trade deadline that he didn’t trust the team’s front office, prompting executives Ryan McDonough and Lon Babby to fire back the day after trading him to the Heat. Isaiah Thomas, another of Phoenix’s starting-caliber point guards shipped out on deadline day, also takes issue with a recent McDonough remark. The Suns GM shared more of his side of the story Monday with Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, whose piece provides a fascinating look at the dynamics at play with one of the most active teams at the deadline. Washburn’s entire interview with McDonough is worth a read, but we’ll share a few highlights:
On Dragic:
“I think the one thing that we took issue with more than anything else was one of our former players saying we lied to him. We didn’t lie to him. Maybe he forgets those comments. Maybe he doesn’t, you’d have to ask him but I feel like we’ve conducted ourselves with honesty, integrity. I feel like this is a place players like to come and want to do well. That was the thing that set us off and led to the comments that may have seemed a bit harsh.”
On the way the team meshed (or didn’t mesh):
“Heading into the All-Star break, we didn’t love the vibe around our team. I feel like there was a little more selfishness than there was last year. I think there’s some guys probably more concerned about their stats or individual contract status than team success. That’s one thing we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to build a culture, trying to find the core guys, the key guys to build around. I feel like we’re getting closer.’’
On the team’s experiment with Dragic, Thomas and Eric Bledsoe all together:
“Sometimes the players look at it and the agents look at it and say, ‘What’s best for my client?’ As a player, ‘What benefits me the most?’ That was a bit disappointing. [The three-guard offense] certainly didn’t succeed. It certainly didn’t fail but we’re fine with that.”
Pacific Notes: Thomas, Warriors, Green, Karl
Isaiah Thomas insists he didn’t verbally push the Suns to deal him to the Celtics last week, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald relays. Suns GM Ryan McDonough said Thomas’ desire to start was the catalyst for last week’s swap, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
“They said that? I did want to start, who doesn’t?” Thomas said. “I don’t get that. I was a team player, didn’t complain about anything. The guys who complain, you see it in the media. I didn’t say anything. For the most part, it was good. When we did play together it was positive and it worked, but it’s tough to do when you have three talented point guards who need the ball to be effective. It’s three point guards that want the ball.”
Thomas qualified that remark, saying that he would have liked to have played more, according to Coro. He called the Phoenix backcourt “a tough situation” that’s “not what I expected” in November, but later made comments indicating he was pleased with the setup. Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob reiterated that he’s willing to pay the luxury tax next season, telling Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard that the team has no choice but to do so barring “some massive deal.” “[GM] Bob [Myers] keeps saying I must have the only owner in the NBA who says, ‘Stop worrying about the luxury tax,’” Lacob said. “Even today I said, ‘I don’t care about the luxury tax.’ I don’t want to make decisions based on the luxury tax. We want to get better. Our job is to get better. Secondarily, we’ll worry about the money.”
- Lacob wouldn’t address soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green directly but said to Ballard, “It would take a lot to not sign our core players. Does that answer your question?”
- George Karl said he spoke with Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro about the idea of adding a point guard but added that he’d prefer not to make any more changes, observes Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee. Darren Collison has missed the last six games with a right hip flexor strain and doesn’t appear on his way back anytime soon, so Karl has turned to Andre Miller and is giving him a much greater role than he had with the Wizards, as Kawahara examines.
- Karl’s reps impressed upon the Kings during negotiations earlier this month that the coach would likely have other opportunities in the offseason, putting pressure on Sacramento to hire him as soon as possible, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
And-Ones: Embiid, Johnson, Spurs, Thomas
The Sixers were willing to trade rookie center Joel Embiid for a high draft pick, according to Mark Heisler of Forbes.com. Philadelphia drafted Embiid third overall last June, but he had offseason surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot and has yet to take the court for the Sixers. Philadelphia was unable to work out a deal for Embiid, but did send reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to the Bucks in a three-team deal that brought back the Lakers‘ top-five protected first round pick for this year.
There’s more news from around the league:
- The Rockets announced that they have recalled Nick Johnson from the D-League, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter). Johnson’s assignment was his fourth trip down this season, as our assignments/recalls log shows. The 22-year-old guard has seen time in 18 games for the Rockets this season, averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.3 RPG in 10.3 minutes per contest.
- Some people, like Charles Barkley, aren’t so wild about analytics. However, Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express News writes that the Spurs are undeniable proof that analytics can help to build a tremendous roster.
- New Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas did his best to squash rumors that he was unhappy with his role while with the Suns, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets. “The guy that complained, you seen it in the media. I didn’t say anything,” Thomas said.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Griffin, Knight, Nash, Karl
Blake Griffin has reached a significant milestone in his recovery from a staph infection in his right elbow, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. The Clippers star is out of his elbow brace and his stitches have been removed. Woike also reported that Griffin can start working out, but he won’t be joining the team on its upcoming road trip (Twitter link). Griffin, the Clippers’ leading scorer at 22.5 points per game, had surgery on the elbow February 9th.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Suns guard Brandon Knight has moved around quite a bit, but he sees that as a positive, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I know if I would’ve been playing terrible or not playing as well as I was, I wouldn’t have been able to be moved for three players,” Knight said. “It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing. I’m never going to try to play bad, but playing as well as I did put me in this position to be traded.”
- The Lakers‘ Steve Nash hasn’t lost his desire to play, reports Scott Stinson of The National Post. Nash had planned for this to be his 19th and final season in the NBA. but nerve damage in his back prevented him from ever stepping on the court. Instead, Nash has become involved with projects such as filmmaking and a fitness center, and it’s uncertain whether he would give the league another try next season at age 42. “It’s tough,” he said. “I still wanted to play, but my body wouldn’t let me.”
- George Karl has returned to coaching with the Kings because basketball is his calling, according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Karl still has a desire to teach the game the “right way,” which is the Dean Smith way he learned at North Carolina. That’s especially true with a talented but volatile young player like DeMarcus Cousins, who evokes memories of the relationship Karl had with Gary Payton in Seattle two decades ago.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Nets To Sign Thomas Robinson To 10-Day Deal
1:49pm: Robinson has agreed to sign a 10-day contract, though the Nets are expected to eventually sign him for the rest of the season, Wojnarowski reports in a full story.
1:26pm: Nets officials changed their minds about Robinson this weekend after they were initially uninterested in signing him, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Twitter link).
12:57pm: Robinson confirmed the agreement to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, as Kennedy relays in a pair of tweets.
12:47pm: The Nets and Thomas Robinson have agreed to a deal that will see the big man join the team after he clears waivers from the Nuggets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Denver released him Sunday after agreeing to a buyout deal, so he’s poised to clear waivers Tuesday. It’s something of a surprise to see Brooklyn end up with the former No. 5 overall pick, since a report late Sunday indicated that the Nets weren’t interested. That ran counter to an earlier dispatch from Shams Charania of RealGM that said Brooklyn, along with the Spurs, Suns, Heat and Hornets, had engaged in talks with Robinson.
Brooklyn has an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required. The Nets are limited to paying the Tony Dutt client no more than the prorated minimum salary, which is less than the other teams reportedly in discussions could offer, as I explained. Still, it’s not a shock to see him settle for the minimum, as he’s struggled to live up to his lofty draft position, and Brooklyn is poised to become his fourth team in fewer than three NBA seasons. The Blazers declined their team option on the fourth year of his rookie scale contract before trading him to Denver at the deadline on Thursday.
Robinson was one of three prospects the Nets were particularly enamored with when they traded their 2012 lottery pick to Portland, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). That pick came in sixth, which the Blazers used to select Damian Lillard, so Brooklyn wouldn’t have had a chance to nab Robinson, since the Kings took him fifth. Since then, Robinson has displayed proficiency on the boards, hauling in 11.7 per 36 minutes for his NBA career, but he’s otherwise failed to make much of an impact.
Atlantic Notes: McGee, ‘Melo, Thomas, Brown
The Sixers don’t want a buyout with JaVale McGee, and he doesn’t want one either, notes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Still, coach Brett Brown indicated that the center has to prove his worth.
“We are coming into this whole thing with an open mind,” Brown said. “He is around a bunch of genuine people, coaches that care. That will give him every chance to keep moving and to be as good as he can be. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But it’s not going to be on us.”
McGee, who’s making $23.25MM combined this year and next, has four points and five rebounds in 24 total minutes across two games with the Sixers so far. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The reason that Phil Jackson estimates that Carmelo Anthony will be out of action for four to six months instead of the eight-week timetable Anthony mentioned previously is because of a partial tear in Anthony’s left patellar tendon, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks star played with that tear most of the season, according to Berman.
- The first call Danny Ainge placed to a free agent this past July was to Isaiah Thomas, Ainge told reporters, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Of course, the Celtics lost out on Thomas this summer but wound up with him via Thursday’s trade with the Suns.
- Lionel Hollins has consistently expressed enthusiasm about rookie Markel Brown in spite of his lack of playing time for the Nets, but now injuries to others and a stylistic shift have Brown seeing more minutes, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines. The shooting guard drafted 44th overall this past June is without guaranteed salary for next season.
Atlantic Notes: Prince, Celtics, Sixers
Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy says Tayshaun Prince should blame the Celtics, not Detroit, if he is unhappy about not receiving a buyout, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The Pistons acquired Prince in a deal shortly before Thursday’s trade deadline, sending Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome to Boston. Now there are rumblings that Prince would like a buyout, even though he would be giving up money, so he can join a contending team. “The reason Boston made the trade was to save money,” Van Gundy said. “We’re paying Tayshaun more money. If he was going to get bought out, he should have done it in Boston. … We weren’t told of this until after we made the trade by Tayshaun’s agent.” In a separate story, Ellis noted that Prince didn’t seem thrilled when he learned he was going back to Detroit. “Reggie [Jackson] was really, really excited,” Van Gundy said. “I think Tayshaun was — not unhappy, but he was sort of trying to figure out what the hell happened, and I understand that.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics‘ trade deadline deals brought the number of players who’ve been on Boston’s roster this season to 39, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Since July 2014, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has made 11 trades involving 25 players. “The constant change, it’s certainly a challenge,” said coach Brad Stevens. “But it was anticipated, too, [20] months ago when I took the job. I didn’t know it would be quite this much, or quite this consistent.”
- Even Ainge was surprised by the trades the Celtics made Thursday, reports Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. The GM said two deals materialized within an hour of the deadline. In addition to the trade with Detroit, Boston sent Marcus Thornton and Cleveland’s first-round pick in 2016 to Phoenix for Isaiah Thomas. “Things were quiet for us, and then some opportunities opened up,” Ainge said. “There was the possibility of the Detroit trade, but I just didn’t think the Phoenix deal was going to happen. I think it was just the other stuff going on there [the Suns’ dealing of Goran Dragic to Miami and their pick-up of Brandon Knight from Milwaukee] that changed that.”
- The Sixers‘ desire to take “big leaps” was behind Thursday’s deal that sent Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. GM Sam Hinkie moved the reigning Rookie of the Year in a three-team trade that saw Phoenix send Philadelphia the Lakers’ 2015 draft pick, which is top-five protected. “We don’t think it’ll necessarily be linear, that each year you will add five wins and after 10 years you will get to 50,” Hinkie explained. “… You have to be prepared to put yourself in a position where you might be able to take big leaps.”
Five Teams In Talks With Thomas Robinson
Thomas Robinson has had conversations with the Spurs, Nets, Suns, Heat and Hornets in the wake of his buyout deal with the Nuggets, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The former No. 5 overall pick went to Denver in the deadline-day trade that sent Arron Afflalo to the Blazers.
The Suns can spend the most, with more than $3.247MM in cap room. Miami has a disabled player exception worth nearly $2.653MM it can spend. The Spurs have a prorated portion of their mid-level, worth about $2.4MM, while the Hornets have their room exception, which comes to about $2MM at this point. The exceptions that San Antonio and Charlotte possess reduce in value daily. The Nets are limited to the minimum salary, which also prorates on a daily basis.
Robinson has seen his minutes decline each season after his rookie campaign, when he was traded midseason from the Kings to the Rockets. Portland acquired him when Houston sent him out in a cap-clearing move that helped the Rockets sign Dwight Howard, but at each stop, the power forward has failed to live up to his draft position. Still, he’s an efficient rebounder, averaging 4.2 boards in 12.2 minutes per game this season.
Suns Sign Earl Barron To 10-Day Deal
SATURDAY, 2:02pm: The deal is official, the Suns announced.
FRIDAY, 3:35pm: The Suns will sign eight-year veteran center Earl Barron to a 10-day contract, as league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM and as agent Andre Buck confirms to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Barron, who was on the Suns roster during the preseason, had just returned to Phoenix’s D-League affiliate after a brief stint playing in China, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes (on Twitter).
Barron, 33, last saw regular season NBA action in 2012/13, when he split a dozen games between the Wizards and Knicks. He spent most of this season with the Suns’ D-League team, racking up 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per game. He’s averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 14.8 MPG over his NBA career.
Phoenix has only 13 players after Thursday’s trio of trades, and only 10 of them are available for tonight’s game, Coro notes (on Twitter). It’s unclear how quickly Barron will be able to suit up. Both Charania and Spears indicate that he’s already put pen to paper, though there’s been no official announcement from the team.
Western Notes: Bryant, Anderson, Prigioni
The Lakers don’t intend to focus on building around the aging Kobe Bryant, and won’t mortgage their future to give Bryant one final shot at a championship, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “To jeopardize the next five or seven years,” GM Mitch Kupchak said, “To bring in old veterans that make a lot of money, just to win one more year, because that’s Kobe’s last year or could be his last year, I’m not sure that fits into doing it the right way.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Spurs have recalled Kyle Anderson from their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. In two trips to Austin this season, Anderson has appeared in 10 games, averaging 22.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.10 blocks in 41.0 minutes per contest.
- The Timberwolves used a tiny portion of their mid-level exception rather than the minimum-salary exception to sign Lorenzo Brown to his two-year deal, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Brown makes $283,367 this season and a non-guaranteed minimum salary next year, as Pincus shows on his salary page for the Wolves.
- There’s a very good chance that Pablo Prigioni, who was acquired by the Rockets on Thursday, will play in Spain next season, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Prigioni is under contract for 2015/16, but only $290K of his $1,734,572 salary for next season is guaranteed, making him a candidate to be waived or reach a buyout arrangement, though that is merely my speculation.
- The Suns‘ deadline deals were made in an effort to improve the team’s chemistry, Matt Petersen of NBA.com notes. “This is a team sport,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough said. “We’re looking for team-first guys. This isn’t singles tennis. The guys who will be here are the guys who will buy in and play the right way. Those that don’t will be gone.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.