Teams Inquiring On Jason Terry
Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger have both been ruled out for the season within the last few days, inspiring rival executives to inquire on whether the Celtics are willing to deal. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter) that clubs have been calling Danny Ainge to see if the C's are interested in trading Jason Terry to get under the luxury tax line.
If the Celtics decide to build for the future at the expense of the short-term, trading Terry could make sense. However, it's unclear how much the C's could get for the veteran guard if they decided to make him available. Terry's 10.0 PPG and .429 FG% are well below his career averages, and his 11.9 PER is a career-worst mark.
If Boston had to attach a future first-rounder to Terry to move him and get out of the tax, like the Grizzlies did with Marreese Speights last week, I'm skeptical that Ainge would be interested. According to Berger (via Twitter), the Celtics haven't indicated a strong desire to make a move, as they remain in wait-and-see mode with the deadline less than three weeks away. Ainge said today that he expects the club to add a couple more players before the deadline, but he's in no rush to do it right away (Twitter link via Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald).
Terry's three-year contract pays him $5MM this year, $5.225MM in 2013/14, and $5.45MM in 2014/15.
Odds & Ends: Batum, Gallinari, Kabongo, Lee
Jason Quick of the Oregonian looks at the friendly rivalry between the Trail Blazers' Nicolas Batum and the Nuggets' Danilo Gallinari that has stemmed from their days as young Euroleague stars hoping to make it into the NBA. Most notably, Quick mentions that Batum's salary negotiations this past summer were influenced by the type of deals that Gallinari, Marvin Williams, and Arron Afflalo had received with their respective teams. With that aside, here are a few more rumblings from around the Association tonight:
- Derrick Rose took part in the non-contact portion of Bulls practice today, although coach Tom Thibodeau has not yet placed a timetable on the superstar's return (Seth Gruen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports).
- Despite a strong start to the season, the Warriors' upcoming stretch against teams that have a notable inside presence will help determine if their interior defensive struggles against the Kings were either minor or a sign of a major problem, writes Marcus Thompson II of MercuryNews.com.
- Rookie Royce White is "hopeful" that he'll play for the Rockets again sometime this season (Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets).
- 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson confirms earlier speculation via a team source that Timberwolves guard Malcolm Lee will be sidelined for the rest of the year (Twitter link).
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted that Chris Douglas-Roberts is another top option available for the Timberwolves in addition to Michael Redd.
- In his Nuggets Mailbag, Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post discusses why he thinks Gallinari has shown the capability of being a clutch All-Star type of player, why Carmelo Anthony isn't necessarily the clear-cut MVP right now, and the Nuggets' decision to commit to a long-term deal with Ty Lawson.
Atlantic Notes: Amare, Raptors, Prigioni, Copeland
Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that Amare Stoudemire isn't quite ready to make his return for the Knicks just yet, citing that he is still "not 100 percent yet." Although he looked active during his scrimmage with the Erie Bayhawks today, Stoudemire feels that he still needs more practices and conditioning work before his return. You can find more of tonight's notable links from the Atlantic Division below:
- Coach Mike Woodson says that although Iman Shumpert took part in conditioning workouts, the young guard is still "a little ways away" with regard to his rehab (Christian Red of the New York Daily News reports).
- Considering the Raptors' recent four-game winning streak, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun is wary of the possible challenges that Kyle Lowry and Andrea Bargnani will create for the team's current chemistry once they return from injury.
- In a brief Q&A Twitter session with followers, renown NBA capologist Larry Coon acknowledged that Knicks rookies Pablo Prigioni and Chris Copeland will be restricted free agents this summer (Twitter link).
- Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld notes that Raptors big man Ed Davis has made noticeable improvements and is beginning to progress into the talent that Toronto envisioned when they drafted him.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston talks about why Jason Terry belongs in the Celtics' starting lineup.
Odds & Ends: Mayo, Terry, Pacers, Knicks
Reports last season suggested the Celtics were involved in serious trade talks with the Grizzlies that would have sent to O.J. Mayo to Boston. According to one subsequent story, it was Mayo's unwillingness to play for the C's that led to the deal falling apart, but with the Mavericks in Boston last night, Mayo addressed that rumor. The 25-year-old's understanding was that an internal debate in Boston about Ray Allen resulted in the trade not happening.
"I was pretty much set to come here and something fell through at the very last second," Mayo said. "A couple of the guys wanted to keep Ray, and management wanted to make the trade."
Mayo added that he got a call from the Celtics during free agency this summer, but was happy with the way things ultimately worked out. Here are a few more Thursday odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Current Celtic and former Maverick Jason Terry told reporters, including Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, that he would like to take Mark Cuban up on his offer to bring Terry back to the organization once his playing career ends.
- The changes the Pacers made to the bench over the offseason haven't been upgrades, and the team will need to make more moves if it hopes to contend in the playoffs, opines Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.
- Steve Nash was close to making a decision to sign with the Knicks in July, which would likely have meant the team re-signing Jeremy Lin as well, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. However, as Berman notes, the team's point guard Plan B of Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton has worked out pretty well so far.
- ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Insider link) identifies a few potential landing spots for Dwight Howard next summer if D12 decides he doesn't want to return to the Lakers.
Odds & Ends: Knicks, Harden, Terry, Draft
The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Wednesday night:
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday.com writes that Mike Woodson has been more successful at coaching Carmelo Anthony than Mike D'Antoni was.
- James Harden was indifferent in his reaction to reports that the Wizards had rejected an offer from the Thunder to send him to Washington.
- Jason Terry did not rule out a return to the Mavericks later in his career, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford took a variety of questions from fans relating to the 2013 NBA Draft in a live chat.
- SNY.com's Adam Zagoria reports that Jabari Parker, the second-rated prospect of the 2014 Draft, is down to Duke and Michigan State in his choice of colleges.
- Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports that John Wall will have his knee re-examined on Friday.
- Sam Amico of FoxSportsOhio.com writes that youth is not an excuse for the Cavs' poor play.
- D.J. Augustin has been a disappointment since signing with the Pacers this summer.
- Sean Michael Meager of the Oregonian has an interview with Trail Blazers rookie Will Barton about his recent D-League assignment and the adjustment from college to the NBA.
- Brandon Jennings was perhaps the best player up for a rookie-scale extension who didn't get one, but he's drawing comparisons to Chris Paul and Mike Conley from Bucks coach Scott Skiles for his play this season, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel documents.
- Stephen Curry is feeling happy with his level of play this season and is not disappointed with his contract extension, he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Odds & Ends: Terry, Mayo, Belinelli, Crawford
We heard earlier today that Mavs owner Mark Cuban would have liked to have kept Jason Terry, who signed with the Celtics. Terry said he was disappointed that the first call he fielded this summer wasn't from the Mavs, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details. Cuban also claims that he vetoed a deal former Mavs coach Don Nelson had set up during the 2004/05 season that would have sent Terry to the Jazz for Raul Lopez, Price notes. That one seems far-fetched, but if it's true, you'd have to give Cuban credit for quite a save. Here's the rest from a busy day and night in the NBA.
- O.J. Mayo can opt out of his contract this summer, but Cuban hopes he'll stay with the Mavs even longer than the eight years Terry was around, Price tweets.
- Chris Paul and former Hornets teammate Marco Belinelli are close friends, but Paul didn't recruit Belinelli to join the Clippers this summer because he thought the Bulls would be a better fit for the Italian sharpshooter, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune observes (Sulia link).
- The Bulls went hard after Jamal Crawford before last season, but wound up giving the money they had set aside for him to Richard Hamilton instead, according to Johnson (Sulia link).
- Though Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo was telling reporters Monday that coach Dwane Casey's job is not in jeopardy, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun wonders whether that will be Colangelo's call to make, surmising everyone in the organization except Jonas Valanciunas shouldn't get too cozy.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times corrects his earlier statement about the draft pick the Lakers owe the Suns, detailing the protections on that and other draft picks that will prevent L.A. from drafting in the first round next June.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News gauges the early returns on the rookie-scale extensions handed out before the season, and believes Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday and DeMar DeRozan are the steals of the bunch.
- SB Nation's Tom Ziller goes in depth on the Maloof family dynamics at play as the fate of the Kings, the team they own, hangs in the balance.
Western Notes: Terry, Virginia, Pavlovic, Suns
Although Jason Kidd and the Mavericks didn't seem to part ways on the best of terms this summer, Mavs owner Mark Cuban had kinder words for Jason Terry, who also left Dallas over the offseason. Cuban said Monday that the club looked at the possibility of a multiyear deal for Terry, but "couldn't make the numbers work," according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
"I would have liked for him to stay," Cuban said. "But I understood what his goals were. He’s always going to be special and hopefully when his career is over he’ll come back and work with us."
As Terry and his new club, the Celtics, prepare to host Cuban's Mavs tomorrow, let's round up a few more updates out of the Western Conference:
- Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee examines the next step for the city of Virginia Beach after the state tentatively rejected a request for $150MM of funding to help build a new arena and lure the Kings to Virginia.
- Although he was something of an afterthought in the three-way trade that sent Courtney Lee to the Celtics this summer, Sasha Pavlovic has shown real value for the Trail Blazers, writes Jason Quick of the Oregonian.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic looks at what's gone wrong for the Suns so far this season.
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld hears from Suns sources that the system changes implemented at the start of the season have created major problems for the team's roster.
Odds & Ends: Varejao, Terry, Turner, Marshall
Anderson Varejao leads the NBA in rebounding and is playing at an All-Star level through the season's first month, which makes the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto wonder whether the Cavaliers could max out on his value in a deal before the trade deadline.
- Jason Terry started slow with the Celtics this season, but appears to have finally found a suitable role with the team, writes CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely.
- The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson details how Sixers forward Evan Turner has improved in his three years in the league.
- The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell believes Kendall Marshall's recent demotion to the D-League shouldn't be observed as a demotion, but an opportunity.
Celtics Links: Terry, Barbosa, Wilcox
- In this video, Jason Terry talked about his impressions of the Celtics while he was a member of the Mavericks, the role Doc Rivers played in his decision to sign with the team, and gave a scouting report of himself.
- Team legend and color analyst Tommy Heinsohn answered a fan's question the team's struggles to start the season and implied that the team needs time to develop chemistry with all the new players they've added over the summer. When asked about Leandro Barbosa, he called the Brazilian guard to a spot-player who can either shoot the team in or out of a game and thus might not be right for a role with big minutes at this point.
- Heinsohn agreed with the idea that Chris Wilcox could be a key role player as Kevin Garnett's primary backup because of his defensive awareness, while he believes rookie Jared Sullinger is still too inexperienced to be the better option.
- This staff report asks if Sullinger getting the start over Brandon Bass is a good move. Celtics broadcast analyst Donny Marshall doesn't think so, saying that it sends mixed messages to the veteran forward.
NBA GMs Weigh In On 2012/13 Season
The results are in on NBA.com's annual survey of the league's general managers, with all 30 NBA GMs weighing in on dozens of questions about the 2012/13 season and the 2012 offseason. We won't round up all of their answers here, so feel free to check out the full results at NBA.com, but here are a few of the more notable responses:
- 70% of respondents believe the Heat will repeat as NBA champs, while 96.7% think Miami will win the Eastern Conference. Since GMs aren't allowed to vote for their own teams, that means the rest of the league's 29 GMs picked the Heat to come out of the East.
- The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West, earning 60% of the votes. The Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%) were the only other teams mentioned.
- LeBron James is the player most GMs would start a franchise with, earning 80% of the votes.
- 86.2% of GMs believe the Lakers made the best offseason moves, with Dwight Howard (70%) and Steve Nash (20%) earning the most votes for the summer addition who will make the biggest impact. Los Angeles' sign-and-trade for Nash was also voted the summer's most surprising move.
- Besides the Lakers, the other teams receiving votes for the best offseason roster moves were the Nets, Hawks, and Warriors.
- The Nets (62.1%) ran away with the votes on which team will be most improved, while Andre Iguodala (16.7%) topped the choices for most underrated acquisition — the Celtics' duo of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee also received support in that category.
- Anthony Davis (76.7%) and Gregg Popovich (80%) were the runaway picks for rookie of the year and the NBA's best coach, respectively.