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Odds & Ends: Draft, Oden, Greene, Kings

February 27th, 2013 at 7:01pm CST by Alex Lee

The news of the night so far in the NBA is that Pacers' Roy Hibbert and Warriors' David Lee have each been suspended one game without pay for their roles in last night's skirmish (Twitter links from Yahoo's Marc Spears).  In addition, Lance Stephenson, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were each fined $35,000 for "escalating the altercation."  Hibbert already told Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star that he will pay Stephenson's fine for being a good teammate, tweets Wells. 

Lee will serve his suspension tonight, as the Warriors visit in the Knicks in one of 10 games on tonight's schedule.  Mark Jackson, back in Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Warriors, has already expressed his displeasure with the league's decision, tweets Adam Zagoria of NBA.com.  Here are some other odds and ends from around the league:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN released his latest draft blog, available to insiders only and complete with an updated top 30.  Ben McLemore of Kansas tops his big board but as Ford asserts, this year's top 10 promises to be as ever-changing as any in recent memory.
  • Greg Oden will not decide on his next team until July, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports.  This agrees with last week's report from Marc Spears of Yahoo that Oden won't sign until the offseason, though it sounds like this came directly from Oden's agent, Mike Conley.  Amico writes that Oden came close to signing with the Cavaliers earlier this month, but an agreement couldn't be reached.  Conley believes that once Oden works his way into game shape, he will again have All Star potential.
  • Free agent forward Donte Greene, now healthy after fracturing his ankle in August, will work out for teams at Eastern Michigan University on Sunday, tweets Marc Spears of Yahoo.  Spears reported last week that the Nets, Pacers, Hornets, Spurs, Bulls, Knicks, Magic, Rockets, and Cavaliers have all checked in on Greene, who played the last four seasons in Sacramento.  Citing a league source, Nets Daily has reported the Nets are not currently interested in filling their open roster spot by adding Greene.
  • As was rumored yesterday, it appears that Kings minority owner John Kehriotis does in fact intend to submit a "back-up offer" to the Maloofs to buy the Kings, reports Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee.  Kehriotis apparently has the capital to match the offer from the Seattle group and believes he has the legal right to counter their attempt to buy the team, according to the report. 
  • Meanwhile, the Sacramento city council voted on Tuesday night to approve the request made by city officials to begin negotiations over the financing of a new arena, reports Bizjak.  These negotiations are a crucial element to Sacramento's bid to keep the Kings. 
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Draft Notes: Bennett, Smart

February 2nd, 2013 at 5:51pm CST by Michael Pina

NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper interviewed one NBA executive who believes UNLV's freshman forward Anthony Bennett could end up as the number one pick in the 2013 draft, and that several decision makers believe it could happen. 

  • In the same Sulia link, Howard-Cooper goes on to discuss the number one pick, and how it's expanded beyond three players (Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad, and Ben McLemore) to include Bennett. 
  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com tweets that Oklahoma State freshman point guard Marcus Smart has established himself as the top point guard in the draft after an impressive performance against Kansas.  
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Odds & Ends: Lakers, Bulls, NBPA, Suns

January 25th, 2013 at 4:32pm CST by Luke Adams

So far, the 2012/13 Lakers season has been packed with one low point after another, with repeated promises of fresh starts and silver linings. However, according to Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register, the nadir may still be on the way for the Lakers, if not this season, then down the road. Ding reports that Jerry Buss' children, Jim and Jeanie, haven't been on speaking terms since the Lakers chose to hire Mike D'Antoni rather than pursue a reunion with Phil Jackson. Jerry Buss turns 79 this weekend and won't be around forever, making the long-term future of the Lakers' ownership, which includes Buss' 66% share, uncertain, writes Ding.

Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • Appearing on ESPN Chicago 1000, Bulls executive VP John Paxson said he remains open to exploring potential trades, but expects the return of Derrick Rose to be the team's impact "move" (link via ESPNChicago.com).
  • Bulls fans still have plenty of ideas about possible deals for the team, and Sam Smith of Bulls.com addressed many of them in his latest mailbag.
  • The New York Attorney General's office is looking into the reports released last week on Billy Hunter and the NBPA, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
  • ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) examines possible targets for the Suns in June's draft, concluding that Ben McLemore of Kansas may be the perfect fit.
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Ford’s Latest: Bargnani, Kings, Granger, Draft

January 23rd, 2013 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Chad Ford's latest chat at ESPN.com includes a handful of trade-related inquiries along with plenty of draft questions. Let's dive in and check out the highlights from both categories….

  • While the Raptors would likely move Andrea Bargnani for any decent offer, Ford hasn't spoken to any general managers that are excited about making an offer for the former first overall pick.
  • The Kings could still be active before the trade deadline, but the Maloofs are still in charge of any decisions until the NBA Board of Governors makes a decision on the sale of the franchise. As such, most rival teams view the Kings' assets as "essentially frozen" for now.
  • Danny Granger is receiving assurances from the Pacers that he won't be traded, but Ford thinks Indiana would change that stance if the right offer came along. A young power forward or point guard could interest the Pacers, says Ford.
  • Ford spoke to five different NBA GMs this week who said they'd take Kansas guard Ben McLemore first overall next June.
  • Ford also adds that McLemore would be at the top of his personal top-five list for 2013, with UNLV's Anthony Bennett and Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State right behind him.
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Odds & Ends: Nolan Smith, Beverley, Draft

January 4th, 2013 at 11:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

It was an active day around the Association, and it might be that way for a while. Monday is the start date for 10-day contracts and the final day teams can waive players on non-guaranteed deals in time for them to be off rosters by January 10th, when those contracts would become guaranteed for the balance of the season. Come Monday, we'll also be just two weeks and a month from the trade deadline. As we count down, here's the latest NBA scuttlebutt.

  • Nolan Smith has fired agent Joel Bell, who asked the Blazers to trade his now former client, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports. Smith said he has never asked for a trade himself, and as we passed along earlier, he also spoke with Haynes about his upcoming free agency, professing his love for Portland in the process. Sam Amick of SI.com identified Smith as a trade candidate earlier today. 
  • Sean Deveney tweets financial details on Patrick Beverley's $850K buyout from Spartak St. Petersburg. The Rockets, who are expected to sign Beverley, paid the maximum $550K while Beverley chipped in the rest out the $700K in earnings he had already drawn on his $1MM contract with the Russian club.
  • Chris Mannix of SI.com mentions Kansas freshman shooting guard Ben McLemore as a darkhorse for the No. 1 pick and ranks the top 20 draft prospects for June, with Kentucky center Nerlens Noel atop the list. 
  • Hornets coach Monty Williams said the team wants to have the flexibility to bring in new players at small forward, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune notes, and presumably that's why New Orleans waived Dominic McGuire today. Williams has been unpleased with the play of the team's threes since before McGuire signed last month, and now the coach is calling for improvement from Al-Farouq Aminu, who'll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer because the Hornets declined his fourth-year option prior to the season.  
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