Clippers Owner Nearly Scuttled Redick Trade
TUESDAY, 9:13pm: Rivers has confirmed Wojnarowski’s story, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 9:02pm: Clippers owner Donald Sterling instructed team president Andy Roeser to call off the team’s three-team swap that brought in J.J. Redick on a sign-and-trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Sterling only consented to the deal after Doc Rivers appealed to him to change his mind.
Front office executives from the Bucks, Suns, Clippers, along with Redick, whose willingness to join the Clippers in the sign-and-trade was at the center of the deal, reached an agreement on July 2nd, but Sterling called Roeser the next day to veto the trade. Sterling had OK’d the deal on July 1st, but had a change of heart. That left Rivers “beyond embarrassed and humiliated,” Wojnarowski hears, as Rivers feared the failure of the trade would short-circuit his credibility in his new role as Clippers senior vice president of basketball operations. Redick and agent Arn Tellem were incensed, as well, since the sharpshooter’s other suitors had moved on once the news that he was headed to the Clippers had emerged.
Rivers heard appeals to bring Chris Paul along with him to lobby Sterling, but Paul ultimately wasn’t involved, Wojnarowski writes. Rivers never threatened to resign when he spoke with Sterling, but a source tells Wojnarowski that Rivers stepping down was a possibility.
Ultimately, the mercurial Sterling changed his mind before the league’s July Moratorium ended on July 10th and allowed the deal to go through. The incident showcases the volatility of any trade before it’s officially announced, but it also casts suspicion on the level of trust between Sterling, Rivers and the rest of the front office. Sterling was fond of Eric Bledsoe, who went to Phoenix in the swap, and some believe he questioned the wisdom of awarding Redick a four-year, $27.755MM contract when he’s often been a bench player, according to Wojnarowski. Still, it’s unclear what made Sterling hesitate and ultimately change his mind.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Anderson
According to Zach Braziller of the New York Post, Knicks coach Mike Woodson plans to meet with GM Steve Mills and team brass either tonight or tomorrow to determine the five cuts he has to make before Monday’s deadline. In another piece, Braziller writes about how Carmelo Anthony took it upon himself to have a heart-to-heart talk with J.R. Smith about the importance of staying focused and keeping out of trouble moving forward.
You can find more of tonight’s links out of the Atlantic Division below:
- Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston notes that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is “very proud” of Rajon Rondo‘s progress in rehab: “I think he’s working as hard as he can. I’ve been very proud of him of how he really wants to get out there and I think he wants to get out there, not for his own benefit, but he wants to really help the team. He sees how he’s missed and he just loves to play. He wants to get back for all the right reasons.”
- Ainge also elaborated on why he wants to keep the team under the luxury tax: “Right now we’re barely under the luxury tax, so we really have no choice…If there are deals made later in the year, that would open up roster spots and open up to keep us under the tax. But we will stay under the tax this year. We have to. As we’re rebuilding, not just from a standpoint of the financial budget, but as a competitive advantage.”
- Yesterday, we heard that James Anderson was one player who had “all but wrapped up” a spot on the 76ers’ roster. Today, Tom Moore of The Intelligencer discusses how Anderson secured a spot in Philadelphia after establishing himself as a starter and the team’s top perimeter threat.
- Former NBA executive and current NBA analyst Steve Kerr explains why he thinks the Knicks are the fifth-best team in the East (Justin Terranova of the New York Post).
- Clippers coach Doc Rivers took time to defend current Nets Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the criticism hurled at them by LeBron James last week, who insinuated that they had abandoned Boston: “Paul and Kevin were traded…They were traded. Paul was traded whether he wanted to be or not. Kevin was the only one who had to agree to be traded even though he had already been traded. He had to agree to the trade. That’s completely different…You could make more of a case for me leaving than Paul and Kevin” (Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News [hat tip to ESPN Radio in Miami]).
Western Notes: Hayward, Durant, Miller, Rivers
With the countdown until the NBA’s opening night down to five days, let’s round up a few Thursday items out of the Western Conference….
- The Jazz and Gordon Hayward are working toward a lucrative extension, but if no deal gets done, he figures to have no shortage of suitors. Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who’s also in charge of player personnel, says he has a “man-crush” on the 6’8″ swingman, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- Kevin Durant laughed off Jalen Rose’s prediction that the star forward would join the Rockets when his deal with the Thunder expires, as Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman writes. Durant told Mayberry that he’s not thinking “that far down the line” and that he loves playing in OKC.
- At one point it looked like back issues might force Mike Miller into early retirement, but now he says he feels as good as he has in five years, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. After having been amnestied by the Heat in July, Miller acknowledges that his old team remains the frontrunner heading into the season, but adds that he and the Grizzlies have championship aspirations as well.
- Doc Rivers has yet to coach a regular season game for the Clippers, but he already has the respect and trust of his players, as Arash Markazi details in a piece for ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Odds & Ends: Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Jazz
Clippers coach Doc Rivers sits down with Harvey Araton of the New York Times to discuss the scrutiny that accompanied his exit from Boston and his willingness to accept the responsibility if things don’t go well in Los Angeles: “But when (the opportunity to coach the Clippers) presented itself, I thought, ‘Wow, this would be a unique situation for me…If there’s a mistake, it’s my fault. I don’t want to blame someone else. I want to blame me.”
Rivers also commented on how the free throw shooting struggles of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin has been somewhat of an achilles’ heel for the team in the past: “Blake and D. J., they missed a couple, and their whole game changed…Blake would stop driving, stop attacking, because he didn’t want to get fouled. D. J. didn’t even want to touch the ball. Then he would take all that defensive energy he had and throw it out of the game.”
Here are the rest of tonight’s miscellaneous links:
- Despite the tumultuous way in which their working relationship ended in Orlando, former coach Stan Van Gundy still thinks that the Magic should retire Dwight Howard‘s number, writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel (Subscribers only).
- Jazz camp hopeful Lester Hudson values his opportunity to stick in the NBA after being a career journeyman since entering the league (Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune). In another Utah-related piece, John Lucas III talks about being fueled to secure his NBA future after his international and D-League experiences: “Every time I step on the court, (I think), ‘I don’t want to go back to Italy. I don’t want to go back to Spain. Don’t want to go back to China (or the) D-League…I feel like I’m at home. I just have that in the back of my head all the time, so when I step on that court I give it everything I have” (Jody Genessy of the Deseret News).
- Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston answered a few questions from his readers in his newest edition of “Celtics Mailbag.”
- Bucks head coach Larry Drew spoke about the importance of having a veteran like Zaza Pachulia around the team, especially with their familiarity together stemming from their history in Atlanta (Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel).
Ainge On Pierce, KG, Rivers, Stevens
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge presided over a summer of drastic change for his team, trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets, arranging a deal that saw Doc Rivers head to the Clippers, and making the surprise hire of new coach Brad Stevens. Ainge spoke with Grantland's Bill Simmons about those moves and other subjects for a podcast, and NetsDaily provides a transcript that covers the Brooklyn-related items. We'll pass along some of the highlights from that, along with a few more of Ainge's quotes:
On how the trade with the Nets came to be:
"Like a lot of trades, it evolved from something completely different into a bigger deal. (It was) something that I really didn't think would happen, simply because it takes sort of a special, unique circumstance in order for a trade like that to go through, and the tax ramifications of Brooklyn are I would call unique in today's day and age in the NBA right now with the new CBA. But (the Nets were) a team that was really going for it, and money was not an object, and that was probably the reason why we got a better offer today than we would've even gotten two or three years ago."
On the influence agent Jeff Schwartz had on the Nets deal:
"I also think that Paul has a connection with having the same agent as Deron Williams and Jason Kidd, and I think there probably was some discussion going on there. I don't know that for sure, but my guess is that they had some conversation about it. I know that Paul was the one who talked KG into wanting to do the deal or letting go of his no-trade clause to make the deal happen and that took some convincing to do."
On the current value of Pierce and Garnett:
"I just think it came to the point where those guys as the best two players on a team aren't going to go very far. Those guys as a 3rd and 4th, or 4th and 5th, however you look at it, are pretty dang good still, and I think (Brooklyn) is going to have a terrific team next year."
On losing Rivers:
"I thought Doc would be our coach for a long time. When Doc signed his new contract (with the Celtics), we'd even talked about him being Jerry Sloan, and Gregg Popovich, and breaking Red Auerbach's all-time record as a Celtic coach. We knew that our guys were getting older, but we thought that this time might come, so I had anticipated Doc being around for a long time. I never had any idea that he would want out, but I understand it, and I understand the Clippers have much more to offer right now than we do on the court. I just thought that Doc wanted to continue to participate with me and (owners) Wyc Grousbeck and (Stephen Pagliuca) and (continue) to try to rebuild this thing as we had done before. At the same time, I do understand that that's not fun, and that's not fun (for) coaches."
On his pitch to Stevens and the new coach's lengthy contract with the C's:
"I think that a six-year commitment might have made a difference. I'm not sure. We never had a negotiation. His wife was his agent, and his wife wanted to understand the language in one paragraph that we explained to her, and that was basically the entire negotiation."
Western Notes: Batum, Rivers, Clippers
In an interview with Jorge Sierra of Hoopshype, Nicolas Batum said he likes what the Trail Blazers have done during this offseason and thinks a playoff berth is the most realistic goal for the team heading into this year. When asked about rumors that LaMarcus Aldridge had privately requested a trade from Portland, Batum had this to say: "I heard that too and I laughed when I read that. He doesn't want to get traded, he wants the team to get better. LaMarcus is a winner
Asked if Aldridge had told him that directly, Batum continued: I mean, I know that's what he wants. We had two bad seasons and missed the playoffs and wants the team to improve. I think he didn't ask for a trade. He wants to stay and win with the Blazers. He just wants a better team around him so we can get back to the playoffs."
Here's more out of the Western Conference tonight:
- Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times touches base with Clippers head coach Doc Rivers on the team's high expectations this year, how he's reached out to his players this summer, what he wants to carry over from Vinny Del Negro last season, and what he'd like to change.
- Kevin Arnovitz and Jordan Heimer of ClipperBlog join ESPN.com's Henry Abbott and Ethan Sherwood Strauss, along with Royce Young of the Daily Thunder to talk about how the Clippers will fare next season (ESPN LA's Clippers podcast).
- J.A. Adande of ESPN praises the election of Chris Paul as union president, saying it "signals a level of commitment to the union by prominent players that hadn't existed in recent years." He also looks at what Paul has positively brought to the Clippers organization as a promising sign of how he can effectively lead the NBPA.
- Hoopsworld's Jabari Parker believes the Lakers can win between 44-47 games next season and thoroughly discusses how the team and the franchise overall should function in order to get back on track.
- The purple and gold also unveiled their new black alternate jerseys for next season (hat tip to USA Today).
Atlantic Rumors: Rondo, Rivers, Pierce, Celtics
Training camps are still about six weeks from opening, but some Nets and Knicks are already gearing up in preparation for another crosstown battle. Nets players are organizing voluntary workouts this week in Los Angeles, with Deron Williams and Paul Pierce the driving forces, Josh Newman of SNY.tv reports via Twitter. Meanwhile, Raymond Felton expects the entire Knicks roster to get together for workouts shortly after Labor Day, the point guard tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Here's more as the offseason starts to dwindle away:
- Pierce tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that Rajon Rondo's presence wasn't the force that prompted Doc Rivers to leave the Celtics, and says his goal is to outlast his contemporaries in the NBA, naming Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Nets teammate Kevin Garnett among those he hopes will precede him in retirement.
- A source familiar with the Celtics tells Washburn that the team is in dire need of an assistant coach who can form a strong relationship with Rondo. The C's are reportedly targeting an ex-player for the coaching staff, with James Posey a leading candidate, and fellow Globe scribe Baxter Holmes identifies Walter McCarty as another possibility. Boston is also seeking at least one more front office executive to assist GM Danny Ainge, Holmes adds (All Twitter links).
- Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams of the Sixers plus Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics are three Atlantic Division rookies among the five draftees from this June whom HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram believes could outperform their draft position.
Eastern Notes: Knight, Pierce, McMillan
A few notes from around the Eastern Conference.
- Despite struggling in his second season as a professional with the Pistons, then getting traded to the Bucks for Brandon Jennings, University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari still believes Brandon Knight can be a successful point guard in the NBA, writes the Detroit Free Press' Perry A. Farrell.
- Doc Rivers says Paul Pierce was extremely hurt after the Celtics traded him to Brooklyn, but that the move could give him a boost, writes Newsday's Roderick Boone.
- Pacers.com writer Scott Agness writes that former Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan believes he's in a great place with the Pacers next season. After spending a year out of the league, McMillan will be on Indiana's sideline in 2014 as an assistant coach.
Rivers On Pierce & Garnett’s Chances With Nets
The Celtics sent Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and GM Billy King a gift-wrapped invitation to the Eastern Conference elite by dealing Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn. Before the mammoth trade went down, though, Doc Rivers was trying to get his two former players to join him with the Clippers.
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe spoke with the new Clippers head coach to ask him about how his former players will do with the Nets and rookie head coach Jason Kidd. Pierce turns 36 in October and Garnett turned 37 in May, so many are wondering how much they have left for a possible Nets title run.
On whether he's given any thought to his Clippers playing the Nets:
"I hadn't thought about the Brooklyn part of it. That's the first time I've been asked that question. I don't know, that's going to be strange. I get very emotional whenever I talk about Kevin and Paul. To see them somewhere else, our business sometimes it's tough. I leave (Boston) and people get upset at me and I don't think there's a lot of difference in their case but it was obvious the Celtics decided to move on.
"So Paul and Kevin had to go and that's a tough part of the business. But that will be strange for me, I want them to do well. For a lot of reasons I want them to do well, they could knock off Miami. But it will be interesting. It will be a while different feeling."
On what sort of role Garnett and Pierce will play for the Nets next season:
"I think obviously Paul's younger and in tune to play more minutes than Kevin. But I think they're still at the top of their games. I think Paul is still one of those guys who can go off for big nights and still have big scoring nights. Kevin is a culture change. He won't play but 20 to 25 minutes a night and there'll probably be nights when he doesn't play but his presence there alone will absolutely change the culture of Brooklyn. There's no doubt about it. I think for some of the young guys, even some of the veteran stars, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, will learn and understand what a winner is and looks like and professionalism and being prepared.
"That's what I was most impressed with Kevin, how every game he prepared himself for games. That's what I told our young guys that I just wanted them to watch him prepare for games. It was why he was so consistent. I thought it was that important."
On how rookie coach Jason Kidd will dole out minutes for Garnett and how assistant coach, Lawrence Frank, will help:
"I think Jason [Kidd] will be fantastic in that because he probably when through that a little bit himself last year He'll be able to relate to that 100 percent. I think Lawrence Frank will be so important for Jason as well. You think about Lawrence, he worked with (the Celtics) staff, so he's worked with Kevin and he's knows Kevin as well as anybody. So I think that combination will be great for Kevin."
Odds & Ends: Morrow, Ellis, Rivers, Collison
Here's tonight's look around the Association..
- The Grizzlies, Warriors, and Bobcats are the latest teams to show interest in Anthony Morrow, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. The Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Rockets, and Knicks have all reached out as well.
- Nothing is imminent at this point between the Hawks and Monta Ellis, but the two sides are engaged in talks, Kennedy tweets.
- Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck took a shot at former coach Doc Rivers, telling Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that "Doc left us, period." Still, Grousbeck is confident his team can rebuild, as Bulpett observes in a separate piece.
- Many around the league are surprised that the Clippers were able to snag Darren Collison for a starting salary of just $1.9MM, Grantland's Zach Lowe tweets.
- The Spurs called 6'8" sharpshooter James Southerland to see if he would consider playing overseas next season if they took him with the 58th pick in last month's draft. Southerland turned down the offer and went undrafted, and is trying to prove himself with the Sixers and Warriors in summer league, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
- Josh Smith's agreement with the Pistons shatters the notion that marquee free agents won't come to Detroit, observes MLive's David Mayo, who examines how Smith fits on the team and what moves might be next for Joe Dumars and company.