Donnie Nelson

Texas Notes: Howard, Foye, Powell, Anderson

February 19th, 2016 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks and Bulls were among the teams the Rockets spoke to about Dwight Howard in the days leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, reiterating earlier reports that Houston talked with the Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Heat and Bucks. The Rockets held out for one “frontline player” and a first-round pick in return, sources told Stein, though it’s not entirely clear whether he means “frontline” as in “frontcourt” or as in “of importance.” GM Daryl Morey provided a hint, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays.

“It was going to have to take something significant to make us look at anything and even then we probably wouldn’t have,” Morey said in part.

Morey also said that he believes in the combo of Howard and James Harden and was never close to trading Howard, Feigen notes, but according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, the Rockets understand that Howard and Harden are simply a poor fit on the court. The Rockets and other teams had considerable differences about what a Howard trade would look like, even though executives around the league believe Howard is a better scorer than his numbers in Houston show, Mannix writes. See more from the Texas Triangle:

The Mavericks had some level of interest in Randy Foye before the Nuggets traded him to the Thunder instead Thursday, but the Mavs weren’t going to offer either Devin Harris or Raymond Felton for him, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
The Mavs are always looking for another shooter, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said, according to Sefko, who indicates in the same piece that the team wouldn’t mind signing a big man, either, as the post-deadline buyout market develops.
Teams offered picks likely to fall in the middle of the first-round to the Mavs for Dwight Powell and Justin Anderson, a source tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Presumably that means each of them would have netted that sort of pick individually, and not the two of them as a package.
Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spurs replace former assistant GM Sean Marks with Spurs D-League GM Brian Pauga, also noting that ex-Spurs executive Danny Ferry has been hanging around the team of late (Twitter links). Young made his remarks on the evening before the Nets hired Marks as their GM.

Draft History: Donnie Nelson

June 20th, 2015 at 3:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2015 NBA draft is a less than a week away, and the speculation as to which player each franchise will pin its hopes on for the future is nearly over. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.

With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors have been taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ve been examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll continue onward with a look back at the calls made by Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson.

Mavericks (March 2005-Present)

2005 Draft

No first-rounder. Pick No. 27 (Linas Kleiza) owned by Nuggets.
No second-rounder. Pick No. 57 (Marcin Gortat) owned by Magic.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: David Lee (No. 30), Monta Ellis (No. 40), Lou Williams (No. 45), and Gortat (No. 57).

2006 Draft

No. 28 Overall — Maurice Ager: 82 games, 2.1 PPG, 0.6 RPG, and 0.2 APG. .339/.250/.566.

*Traded No. 58 overall pick (J.R. Pinnock) to Lakers in exchange for a 2007 second-rounder.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Steve Novak (No. 32) and Paul Millsap (No. 47).

2007 Draft

No first-rounder. Pick No. 30 (Petteri Koponen) owned by Trail Blazers.
No. 34 Overall — Nick Fazekas: 26 games, 4.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 0.4 APG. .561/.000/.682.
No. 44 Overall — Reyshawn Terry*: No regular season NBA appearances.
No. 50 Overall — Renaldas Seibutis: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Acquired from Magic in exchange for the No. 60 overall pick (Milovan Rakovic).

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Carl Landry (No. 31), Glen Davis (No. 35), Josh McRoberts (No. 37), Marc Gasol (No. 48), and Ramon Sessions (No. 56).

2008 Draft

No first round pick. Pick No. 21 (Ryan Anderson) owned by Nets.
No. 51 Overall — Shan Foster: No regular season NBA appearances.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Anderson (No. 21), Serge Ibaka (No. 24), Nicolas Batum (No. 25), DeAndre Jordan (No. 35), Omer Asik (No. 36), and Goran Dragic (No. 45).

2009 Draft

No. 25 Overall — Rodrigue Beaubois*: 182 games, 7.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG. .439/.325/.810.
No. 45 Overall — Nick Calathes**: 129 games, 4.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 2.7 APG. .441/.288/.581.
No. 56 Overall — Ahmad Nivens: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Acquired from Thunder along with a 2010 second-rounder (Solomon Alabi) in exchange for the No. 24 overall pick (Byron Mullens).

**Acquired from the Timberwolves in exchange for a 2010 second round pick.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Taj Gibson (No. 26) and DeMarre Carroll (No. 27).

2010 Draft

No. 25 Overall — Dominique Jones*: 80 games, 3.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG. .366/.095/.729.
No second-rounder. Pick No. 57 (Ryan Reid) owned by Thunder.

*Acquired from the Grizzlies in exchange for cash.

**Traded the No. 50 overall pick (Alabi) to the Raptors in exchange for cash and a 2013 second-rounder.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Hassan Whiteside (No. 33) and Lance Stephenson (No. 40).

2011 Draft

Traded the No. 26 overall pick (Jordan Hamilton) and No. 57 overall pick (Tanguy Ngombo) to the Blazers in exchange for Rudy Fernandez and Petteri Koponen. The rights to Hamilton were then dealt by Portland to the Nuggets.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 38), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).

2012 Draft

No. 24 Overall — Jared Cunningham*: 40 games, 1.9 PPG, 0.5 RPG, and 0.5 APG. .353/.304/.710.
No. 33 Overall — Bernard James*: 92 games, 2.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 BPG. .497/.000/.680.
No. 34 Overall — Jae Crowder*: 238 games, 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.0 APG. .414/.316/.735.

*Acquired from the Cavaliers in exchange for the No. 17 overall pick (Tyler Zeller) and Kelenna Azubuike.

**Dealt the No. 55 overall pick (Darius Johnson-Odom) to the Lakers in exchange for cash.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Zeller (No. 17), Evan Fournier (No. 20), Draymond Green (No. 35), and Khris Middleton (No. 39).

2013 Draft

No. 18 Overall — Shane Larkin*: 124 games, 4.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG. .420/.305/.748.

*Traded the No. 13 overall pick (Kelly Olynyk) to the Celtics for the No. 16 overall pick (Lucas Nogueira) and two future second-rounders. Nelson then dealt Jared Cunningham, the rights to Nogueira, and the No. 44 overall pick (Mike Muscala) to the Hawks for the rights to Larkin and cash.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Olynyk (No. 13), Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15), Mason Plumlee (No. 22), Tim Hardaway Jr. (No. 24), and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).

2014 Draft

No first-rounder. Pick No. 21 overall (Mitch McGary) owned by the Thunder.

*Nelson dealt the No. 34 overall pick (Cleanthony Early), the No. 51 overall pick (Thanasis Antetokounmpo), Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, and Jose Calderon to the Knicks in exchange for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: McGary (No. 21), Rodney Hood (No. 23), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).

Donnie Nelson On: O’Neal, Blatche, Sanders

February 27th, 2015 at 8:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson joined Dallas’ 1310 The Ticket today and discussed a number of topics regarding the team. The Dallas Morning News transcribed a number of the highlights from Nelson’s interview:

When asked if the team would still like to add another big man, Nelson responded by saying:

“We’re not opposed to the right addition. But, again, it’s gotta be changed for the right reason. We do like what we have and for it to settle down. I think one of our big needs was answered with Amar’e [Stoudemire]. If we do add a player he would be an end of the bench type, specialist piece; it’s a possibility, but I wouldn’t wait for something like that to happen because it probably won’t at the end of the day.”

On if he thinks the window to sign Jermaine O’Neal is closed:

“That’s really a question for him. The door is always open. We’ve always been fans and he’s our kind of guy. It’s really where he is at with his family, with his health situation. Whether it’s during the season or summer, he’s a Dallas resident and we’d love to have the conversation if and when it’s right for him.”

On if the team has any interest in Larry Sanders, who has hinted that he may not return to the NBA, Nelson said:

“For the here and now, we’re long enough and tall enough on our front line with Tyson Chandler and our backup situation. If there is any potential or possibility there it’d be a summer conversation.”

When discussing Dallas’ interest in free agent Andray Blatche, who is currently considering a lucrative contract offer to return to China, Nelson said:

“Yeah, and a lot of these depend on minutes. Some of the guys, as they’re looking over the NBA landscape, let’s face it. If you take a player of that caliber and put him on our team, how much is he going to play? That certainly resonates with him and his agent. Those are possibilities, whether it’s a shooter or a little more support in the front court. But, again, it’d have to be the right piece. I wouldn’t be optimistic that anything would happen at this point.”

Western Notes: Bryant, Barea, Burks

November 1st, 2014 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kobe Bryant isn’t known for his patience, but that’s what he has been preaching through the Lakers‘ disastrous start, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I’ve been trained really well by the Yodas of the world,” he said. “The thing they’ve always talked about, just looking at the game, looking at the things you can correct.” The Lakers opened the season with embarrassing losses to the Rockets and Suns before keeping it closer in Friday’s defeat against the Clippers. Even worse, rookie Julius Randle suffered a broken leg that will likely keep him sidelined for the season, joining an injury list that includes Steve Nash and Nick Young. Randle’s injury could allow the Lakers to file for a disabled-player exception with the NBA that would give them another $1.499MM to spend, but that’s far from enough to vault the Lakers back to their usual position near the top of the Western Conference. Here’s more from around the West:

After returning to Dallas this week, J.J. Barea tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he wishes he had never left. Barea signed a $1.3 million veteran’s minimum deal with the Mavericks on Monday after negotiating a buyout of the final season on his contract with the Timberwolves. “I’m excited to be back,” said Barea, who was part of the Mavericks’ championship team in 2011. “The best five years of my life were here. Hopefully we can get this going again.” MacMahon reports that Barea had no discussions about his role with the team before signing with Dallas.
Mavericks management is equally happy about the reunion with Barea, according to Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram. “It’s pretty exciting stuff,’’ Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “It’s a homecoming and we’re just really, really excited about having him back. Clearly, he’s a big chemistry guy and he’s a winner in every sense of the word.’’ Barea will battle for playing time with Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris and Raymond Felton, who is recovering from a high right ankle sprain.
In Utah, Alec Burks is looking forward to building a contender with the Jazz, he tells John Coon of the Associated Press. Burks signed a contract extension Friday that will give him $42MM over four years, with incentives that could stretch the value as high as $45MM. Utah GM Dennis Lindsey is ecstatic to have his young trio of Burks, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward all signed to long-term deals. “We’ve got the future flexibility next year to be very aggressive in the free agent market,” Lindsey said. “Certainly, with expectations of a new cap in lieu of a TV deal, we’ll have great flexibility. When you have a core in place, it’s much easier to attract a significant talent.”

Western Notes: Mavs, Warriors, Thunder

October 16th, 2014 at 8:56pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Dallas GM Donnie Nelson admits 5’7” point guard Yuki Togashi’s immediate future isn’t likely with the Mavs but rather with the team’s D-League affiliate, writes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Nelson explains, “I’d say it’s a long shot at best for him to make [an NBA regular season] roster right now. But it’s an opportunity for him to make his dream come true in reality to play for the Legends and, like so many guys before him, to use this as a springboard to get in the league.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Golden State’s decision to not include Klay Thompson in a Kevin Love trade will determine the fate of the Warriors, Cavs and Wolves, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Golden State never wavered from its original stance of not breaking up its talented backcourt despite the appeal of bringing Love to the Bay Area, notes Bontemps.
Mavs big man Brandan Wright faces a pivotal year in his NBA career, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Wright, who is in the final season of a two year, $10MM contract, has carved out a nice niche as a role-player in Dallas.
Reggie Jackson is the biggest “winner” from Kevin Durant‘s injury, writes Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman. Jackson, who the Thunder have until October 31st to offer an extension, will have an opportunity to showcase himself on the offensive end in Durant’s absence.
Durant underwent successful surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot, the Thunder announced in a press release. According to the release, Durant will be re-evaluated in six weeks to determine his next step toward returning to action
The Wolves currently have a logjam at the small forward position and the team is rumored to be fielding offers for Chase Budinger to help pare down the roster to 15. One player who is looking likely to make the regular season roster is Glenn Robinson III, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities notes (Twitter link). According to Wolfson, Robinson, who is signed to a partially guaranteed deal, has impressed the team during training camp.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Mavericks, Corbin, Moore

April 10th, 2014 at 7:18pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson guested on the SVP and Russillo Show on ESPN Radio (audio link) earlier today, praising Rick Carlisle‘s performance this season and acknowledging that the franchise will have the flexibility to be active in the free agent market this offseason. It’s definitely worth mentioning that Dallas’ first priority, according to Nelson, is to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki and allow him to finish his career with the Mavs. He also said that the team will be looking to add another superstar with the intent of having Dirk eventually become their second-best player.

Though he didn’t specifically mention any other names, Nelson stated that the team has a few of its own free agents that are priorities as well. He’s gone on record before saying that there is mutual interest with Vince Carter in negotiating a new deal and that he plans on keeping Samuel Dalembert this summer.

Here are some more miscellaneous news and notes out of the Association tonight:

A few days ago, we noted that Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin, along with his staff, will know by the end of this month if they’ll be returning for the 2014/15 season. Corbin’s contract is set to expire this summer, although Jody Genessy of the Deseret News found it interesting that the 51-year-old coach spoke today about working with the players this summer and getting them ready for next year (Twitter link).
Magic shooting guard and soon-to-be free agent E’Twaun Moore tells Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel that his preference is to stay put: “Most definitely…Orlando has been good to me. It’s great here. We got a lot of young guys and I feel like we’ve grown up together.”
6’11 center prospect Nikola Jokic will most likely declare for the 2014 NBA Draft and is expected to make his final decision after the Nike Hoops Summit, per Misko Raznatovic of BeoBasket Sports agency (Twitter link).
Former Marquette standout Jamil Wilson has signed with Relativity Sports and is currently projected as a second-round pick, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.