Kyler’s Latest: Expansion, Faried, Suns, Vucevic
In his latest piece for Basketball Insiders, Steve Kyler addresses a few rumors and reports that have popped up around the NBA recently, providing some perspective and some additional information. Let’s dive in and round up the highlights…
- While a recent report from Kevin Nesgoda of SonicsRising.com suggested that the NBA may be considering the possibility of expansion, Kyler was told by an NBA owner that the idea of expansion has been a “non-starter” at Board of Governors meetings. As Kyler writes, there are certain non-NBA markets with interest in bringing in a team, and some sources may view expansion as inevitable down the road, but it’s not in the short-term plans for the league’s Board of Governors.
- With Kenneth Faried at risk of losing his starting job, league sources tell Kyler that the big man may not be thrilled with a move to the bench, which could prompt the Nuggets to ramp up efforts to trade him this season. The Nuggets will be a team to watch when most offseason signees around the NBA become trade-eligible on December 15, particularly if they get off to a slow start.
- There’s a “growing belief” that Brandon Knight would draw a bigger trade return for the Suns than Eric Bledsoe, given Bledsoe’s injury history, writes Kyler. ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently indicated that Knight would be a more likely trade candidate than Bledsoe for the club. Still, sources tell Kyler that the Suns like the “vibe” and culture in Phoenix right now, and are in no rush to clear their backcourt logjam.
- Magic sources continue to “flatly deny” having any interest in trading Nikola Vucevic. However, Kyler wonders if that stance may become a little more flexible if Orlando’s other bigs are playing well, and the right swingman is available in a potential deal.
Suns To Seek Trade Partner For Brandon Knight?
If the Suns have interest in moving point guard Brandon Knight, a strong start would help create a “palatable” market for him, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com (Links here). Knight, who has four years and approximately $57MM remaining on his contract, has become a backup behind Eric Bledsoe and shooting guard Devin Booker.
The Suns’ current blueprint has Knight, who is not a classic point guard, transitioning into a Jamal Crawford, instant-offense type of role player. That wasn’t the original plan when they gave up a protected first-round pick they possessed from the Lakers and forwarded it to the Sixers, Lowe points out. There isn’t much of a market for Knight now, but that could change if he plays well early on, due to the lack of quality wings around the league, Lowe adds. The club is not interested in moving Bledsoe, sources told Lowe.
In other tidbits offered by Lowe in his two-part article:
- The next Collective Bargaining Agreement will likely tweak the Gilbert Arenas provision, so that matching teams can distribute salary more evenly across the length of certain contracts. Lowe uses the example of Heat guard Tyler Johnson, whose offer sheet from the Nets this summer jumped his salary from under $6MM during the first two years of the contact to $19.245MM in each of the final two years of the four-year offer. Under the current agreement, the team making the offer could use the average salary of the contract to count against its cap, while the matching team has to go with the actual salary figures for each season.
- The Kings are actively involved in trade discussions and since Darren Collison is suspended for the first eight games, they could make a deal for a point guard during training camp, possible as part of a larger package.
- The Bucks are seeking help at the wing positions and a swap with the Kings for shooting guard Ben McLemore – a projected backup with the addition of Arron Afflalo — is a possibility. Milwaukee would like to move either center Greg Monroe or point guard Michael Carter-Williams under the right circumstances, according to Lowe’s sources.
Western Notes: Knight, Diop, Douglas
Suns coach Earl Watson has already named his starting lineup for the regular season and second-year player Devin Booker received the nod at shooting guard, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports. This means that Brandon Knight will shift into the sixth man role, Coro adds. “That’s the starting lineup for the season,” Watson said. “We’re not wasting time. We’re not lingering with inner-competition. Brandon Knight is not a bench player. He’s a starter in this league. He’s sacrificed the most for our group. He took it like the pro he is because he understands the opportunity that we have to be special. Do players like coming off the bench? No, and we embrace that. That’s the inner-competitive nature that we need.”
“I knew at one point in my career I’d be a starter,” Booker told Coro. “I didn’t know it’d be this soon but I have put in that work to be one.” Here’s more from out West:
- The Pelicans waived Chris Copeland earlier today in an effort to free up more minutes for players who are on the bubble to make the team’s regular season roster, according to coach Alvin Gentry, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate relays. New Orleans had two healthy scratches, Robert Sacre and Alonzo Gee, in its preseason opening victory over the Mavericks on Saturday, the scribe notes.
- The Jazz have hired former NBA player DeSagana Diop as a coaching associate, the team announced. As a coaching associate, Diop will assist the Jazz coaching staff in a variety of capacities including work on the court during practices and individual player workouts, video editing and analysis, and other team preparation, according to the press release.
- Toney Douglas, who signed with the Cavaliers earlier today, also drew interest from the Nuggets and the Suns, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net relays (via Twitter).
Pacific Notes: Cousins, Curry, Suns, Warriors
The Kings are losing leverage the longer they hold onto DeMarcus Cousins, contends Shaun Powell of NBA.com. The All-Star center has two seasons left on his current deal, making nearly $17MM for the upcoming season and more than $18MM in 2017/18. Powell believes teams will be less likely to trade for Cousins as his free agency date nears, and Sacramento will have a hard time keeping him if he stays until the end of his contract. The writer isn’t a fan of the Kings’ offseason moves, as they made little effort to re-sign league assist leader Rajon Rondo, drafted two unproven big men, put Rudy Gay on the trading block and signed 30-year-old Arron Afflalo.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Kings made a mistake by letting Seth Curry get away, writes A.J. Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today. Even though Curry has only appeared in 48 NBA games, he showed promise at the end of last season, averaging 16.4 points, 5.3 assists and 3.3 three-pointers per night over his final seven games. Curry signed a two-year, $6MM deal with the Mavericks in July.
- Devin Booker‘s great rookie season has created a logjam in the Suns‘ backcourt, according to Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com. Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight both see themselves as lead guards, and Booker has earned starters’ minutes with his performance in 2015/16. Bledsoe and Knight are signed for the next three seasons and Booker is under team control for the next four years, so Phoenix has time to work out the situation if all three players are willing to share minutes. Otherwise, Feldman suggests it’s a good situation for a trade.
- Things aren’t perfect for the Warriors, even after winning 73 games and signing former MVP Kevin Durant, cautions Monte Poole of CSNBayArea. Coach Steve Kerr is concerned about the defensive dropoff after losing centers Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli. Golden State added Zaza Pachulia in free agency to help compensate for their departure. “The thing that’s different will be a lack of rim protection,” Kerr said. “We had great rim protection from Bogut and Ezeli, and both those guys are gone. Zaza’s a very good defender, but he’s more of a positional guy than a shot blocker.”
Western Notes: Nowitzki, Wiggins, Knight
Mavs owner Mark Cuban was never concerned that Dirk Nowitzki would elect to head elsewhere this offseason, as he detailed to Brandon Robinson of CBSSports.com. “Dirk wasn’t even in the country and people couldn’t even reach him when free agency started,” Cuban told Robinson “I basically told him, look, you tell me the price and it actually started lower. His agent said ‘how about this much’ and we said ‘we’ll have a little more money, we’ll give you more’ and as the numbers started getting bigger and bigger, it was like ‘what about this number?’ ‘We’ll give you more.’ Finally, it was like ‘this is what we got left, take it!’
We wanted to make it a two-year deal with a team option so that people wouldn’t speculate that he was going to retire because Dirk is the type of guy, he’s just a good guy. He would hate going city to city to city and everyone asking him if he was going to retire because he has no intention of retiring after this year and, with the team option that we have, he gave us the flexibility that said ‘if we find somebody that we can send the money to that he likes, we all like, then let’s do it and if not, let’s give the money to Dirk again which I’m fine with too.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Andrew Wiggins expects big things this season from himself and his Wolves teammates, adding that the addition of Tom Thibodeau as coach and executive will make him a better player, Martin Rickman of Dime Magazine relays. “We’ve done a lot of good things this year. And we beat a lot of good teams – we can beat any team out there on a given day,” Wiggins told Rickman. “But we’re getting stronger. We’re getting older. We’re getting more experienced. And we’re building chemistry. We’re just getting better every game. We have a lot of things to accomplish this coming year. We’re all looking forward to it, and our expectations are getting higher. We want more. We’re young, and hungry, and we want to see the playoffs.“
- The Suns are excited about what Brandon Knight can do in 2016/17 if he remains healthy, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “He has the ability to play either guard spot,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough said of Knight. “He can play the 1. He can play the 2. He’s an elite shooter. People who just saw Brandon playing last year when he was a little bit banged up and wasn’t 100% probably don’t realize how well he shoots the ball when he’s healthy and right. We think, with our top four or five guards, they will be interchangeable. They’ll be able to play either spot. We have at least four, maybe five guys now, who can get in the paint, break down defenses and kick to open shooters.“
Western Notes: Bogdanovic, Lacob, Greer
Suns 2014 first-round pick Bogdan Bogdanovic won’t be joining the NBA next season, electing instead to remain overseas with the Turkish club Fenerbahce, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. Remaining overseas for one more season makes fiscal sense for the swingman. Bogdanovic would have been required to sign a rookie contract that would give him a salary of about $5.7MM over four years. By waiting until 2017 to make the jump to the NBA, Bogdanovic is now free to negotiate any amount, starting with his draft year’s rookie salary scale.
Here’s more from out West:
- Warriors owner Joe Lacob acknowledged the franchise’s role in popularizing a small-ball approach around the NBA, but says now that numerous teams are attempting to copy their style of play it is time to evolve once again, Jennifer Elias of The Silicon Valley Business Journal writes. “We drove this idea of small ball, and it’s a different style of play,” Lacob said. “Having said that, I think it’s important to know that whenever everyone else starts doing things, it’s time to start doing what’s next. We’re on to the next idea — How can we iterate to evolve to get an advantage? I can assure you we’re very forward thinking in that regard.”
- Raptors assistant coach assistant Andy Greer is leaving Toronto to join Tom Thibodeau‘s staff with the Timberwolves as lead assistant, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter).
- George Hill is thrilled with Wednesday’s trade that saw him shipped to the Jazz, his agent, Bill Neff, told Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. “This is a good fit for George,” Neff said. “One, George likes it in Utah. Two, George has a close relationship with Gordon Hayward [both are Indianapolis natives]. Three, [GM] Dennis Lindsey was largely responsible for bringing George to San Antonio. George has worked with [Jazz coach] Quin Snyder. This is one of the teams George has always wanted to play for.“
- The Suns made an attempt to pry Hayward from the Jazz, offering Eric Bledsoe and a lottery pick in exchange, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. There is a growing sense around the league that Phoenix will move either Bledsoe or Brandon Knight prior to the start of next season, Stein adds (Twitter link).
Western Notes: Knight, Harrell, Dukan
Point guard Brandon Knight underwent successful surgery to treat a sports hernia on Thursday, the Suns announced. Phoenix had already shut down Knight for the remainder of the season as he sought a second medical opinion after being limited to just 52 appearances on the campaign. No timetable was given for Knight’s return to action, but he is expected to begin his rehabilitation immediately, according to the press release. The 24-year-old finishes the 2015/16 season with averages of 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 36 minutes per outing. His slash line was .415/.342/.852.
Here’s more from out West:
- Rockets rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell, who has been suspended for five games without pay by the D-League for shoving an official, contends that he was unaware in the heat of the moment that he was pushing a referee and has apologized for his actions, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today relays (via Twitter). The NBPA is reportedly challenging the suspension.
- Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry noted that while no definitive decision has been made, it is highly unlikely that Ryan Anderson or Norris Cole will play again this season, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Jrue Holiday, Alonzo Gee, Anthony Davis, Quincy Pondexter, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Tyreke Evans are all already on the shelf for the year in what was a nightmarish season for New Orleans from an injury standpoint.
- The Kings have recalled power forward Duje Dukan from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Dukan has appeared in 27 contests for Reno this season and is averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists to accompany a shooting line of .403/.371/.722.
Western Notes: Jazz, Anderson, Young
- Mavs rookie small forward Justin Anderson has made an impact with his shot-blocking and rebounding since he was inserted into the lineup four games ago, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle has also been impressed by Anderson’s hustle, as he told Sefko and the gathered media. “He’s a guy that just goes hard and he never gives up on a play,” Carlisle said. “In a transition situation, he sees it as an opportunity and a challenge and not something like, oh well, I guess he’s going to score. You love that fighting sort of spirit and that’s what we need right now.”
- Lakers shooting guard Nick Young has lost his mental focus and dropped out of the team’s rotation as a result, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Young has kept a low profile since a gossip site leaked the video of rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell secretly taping him talking about his personal life. “Right now he’s not here with us mentally and there’s no need for me to put him out there on the floor as well,” Lakers coach Byron Scott told Bresnahan and other media members. The team shopped Young this season and will continue to do so in the offseason, Bresnahan adds.
- Suns point guard Brandon Knight has been shut down the remainder of the season because of a sports hernia, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. Knight will get a second opinion this week to determine if surgery is needed for the injury, which has limited him to 52 games this season, Coro adds.
Bucks Notes: Howard, Antetokounmpo, Knight
If the Bucks are looking to make a splash in free agency for the second straight summer, Dwight Howard could be the player to target, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The Rockets’ center has expressed his intention to turn down a player option for next season worth $23.282MM and seek a maximum contract starting at about $30MM. Milwaukee was among the teams that expressed interest in acquiring him before last month’s trade deadline, and Howard said he was intrigued by the possibility. Bontemps believes Howard would be the kind of defensive anchor that Greg Monroe failed to become after he signed with the Bucks last offseason. Depending where the salary cap is set, Milwaukee could have more than $20MM to spend if it doesn’t re-sign Jerryd Bayless, Greivis Vasquez and O.J. Mayo.
There’s more news out of Milwaukee:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo could be in line for a maximum contract extension over the summer, Bontemps writes in the same piece. Coach Jason Kidd recently anointed Antetokounmpo as the Bucks’ starting point guard for next season, and the franchise could reward him with a max deal. At age 21, the third-year pro has blossomed in Milwaukee, averaging 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game since the All-Star break.
- The Bucks had to make a choice last season between giving a long-term contract to Khris Middleton or Brandon Knight, according to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee shipped Knight to Phoenix in a three-team trade in February of 2015 and re-signed Middleton at $70MM over five years. “We had a good time while we played,” said Knight, who on Wednesday returned to Milwaukee for his first game there since the deal. “I think we [the Bucks] were just scratching the surface. Who knows where we could have went to?”
- Wednesday marked the first game for Vasquez since November 27th, Gardner notes in a separate story. The backup point guard had surgery on his right ankle in December and was sidelined for 58 games. “You miss that many games, and the coach gives you an opportunity to play the game that you love, it means a lot to me,” Vasquez said. “It also shows what a class act this franchise is, because they’ve been with me the whole time.” Vasquez is headed toward free agency after earning $6.6MM this season.
Pacific Rumors: Bledsoe, Karl, Clippers
The loss of Eric Bledsoe to a season-ending knee injury has forced Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to make several adjustments to his rotation, Greg Esposito of the team’s website reports. Brandon Knight has taken over the role as the main floor leader with Ronnie Price and Bryce Cotton backing him up. Rookie Devin Booker gets the nod at shooting guard, with Sonny Weems and Archie Goodwin in reserve, Hornacek told Esposito. The Suns nearly upset the Cavaliers on Monday and Hornacek felt his new backcourt played reasonably well in Bledsoe’s absence. “Without Eric in the game, it was a little different,” Hornacek told Esposito. “We had gone over a few plays that might be good for the guys. I thought they really came out and executed it. Defensively, we gave up a lot of 3-point attempts that we need to get better at. Some of it was closing out that we need to get better at.”
In other news around the Pacific Division:
- Kings coach George Karl has found it difficult to connect with his players and is frustrated by their lack of consistency, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Karl can no longer be as fiery as he once was because of the way current players react, so he has tried to appeal to them in other ways, Jones continues. “Just tell stories,” Karl told Jones. “You try to bring up situations. My explanation the last couple of weeks is just trying to explain to them how difficult this league is, how tough it is to be successful in this league.”
- The Clippers used a three-guard alignment against the Wizards on Monday and coach Doc Rivers liked the results, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports. Rivers played reserves Jamal Crawford, Pablo Priogioni and Austin Rivers during the first half and the Clippers extended their lead. His son’s versatility allows the three-guard set to work, according to the coach. “The reason we get away with it is because Austin can guard the one, two or the three,” Doc Rivers told the assembled media. “We just put him on them and then we put Pablo on the second-best guy and put Jamal on the third guy. And so it works for us.”
- Chris Paul is impressed how the Clippers are playing without Blake Griffin, according to Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. The Clippers won their first two games after Griffin suffered a partially torn quad tendon. “I just think we’re fighting,” he told Morales. “We know we’re a big man short and so everyone knows that they have to be involved in the game.”