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Odds & Ends: Draft, Lowry, Brown, Rodriguez

January 9th, 2014 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford spoke to multiple sources from the NBA’s current lottery teams to attempt to determine which player those clubs would select first overall in the 2014 draft, if given the opportunity. Detailing the results in an Insider-only piece, Ford reveals that the majority of the 13 clubs (Denver currently has two lottery picks) would likely take Jabari Parker. The Nuggets, Sixers, and Magic would probably lean toward Andrew Wiggins, while the Cavs and Lakers may prefer Joel Embiid, in Ford’s view.

Here’s more from around the NBA on a Thursday afternoon:

Kyle Lowry certainly doesn’t look like the trade candidate he did a month ago, with Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star suggesting that Raptors management has confidence that the point guard will be willing to re-sign in Toronto this summer. Toronto may reconsider its options if it starts losing, but a Raps source tells Kelly that the club isn’t expecting to backslide.
The 76ers re-assigned Lorenzo Brown to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Brown was recalled from the Delaware 87ers on Monday and saw some playing time in Philadelphia’s last two games, recording seven points and seven rebounds in 27 total minutes of action. Sixers coach Brett Brown expects the 23-year-old to be brought back to the NBA tomorrow after playing with the 87ers today, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Spanish team Real Madrid announced today that the club has extended the contract of Sergio Rodriguez through 2018 (Twitter link). Rodriguez was selected 27th overall in 2006, but returned to Spain when his rookie contract expired, and it appears he’ll remain there for the foreseeable future.
Jazz guard Diante Garrett was nervous about Tuesday’s contract guarantee date, but tried not to think about it and ultimately survived the cut, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News details.

Ford On Young, Cavs, Lakers, Bulls, Draft

January 8th, 2014 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

As usual, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford devoted half of his weekly chat to NBA talk and the other half to draft chatter. He provided a handful of interesting tidbits this week on both subjects, so let’s check in on several of the highlights….

According to Ford, the Cavaliers flirted with acquiring Thaddeus Young from the Sixers in a deal for Andrew Bynum, but Philadelphia wanted Cleveland’s own 2014 first-rounder, which was a non-starter.
Danny Ainge keeps saying the 2014 draft class is overrated, which Ford interprets to mean that the Celtics GM actually loves it.
The Lakers are “living in a fantasy land” when it comes to their asking price for Pau Gasol, says Ford, adding that L.A. wanted more from the Cavs for Gasol than what the Bulls got for Luol Deng.
Ford doesn’t think the Bulls are done dealing, noting that there have been a lot of trade whispers about Kirk Hinrich, Joakim Noah, and Carlos Boozer. I imagine Chicago would be much more inclined to part with Boozer and/or Hinrich than Noah.
NBA execs who value advanced metrics are concerned about Julius Randle‘s lack of steals this season (one in 385 minutes). While NBA teams still like Randle a lot, no GM or scout has suggested recently to Ford that his team would take the Kentucky big man first overall.
The Magic and Kings “really like” Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart.
“Virtually every GM in the league is in love” with Joel Embiid, who remains in the mix for the first overall pick.
Ford hears that a Mormon mission after this season isn’t out of the question for Jabari Parker, which prompted him to ask several GMs where they’d take the Duke forward if he declared for the draft and announced he was going on a two-year mission. Surprisingly, a few still said they’d take Parker first overall, says Ford.

Odds & Ends: Gasol, Muhammad, Burke

January 5th, 2014 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pau Gasol has been in trade rumors for years, and he’s once more bracing for the possibility that the Lakers could ship him away, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“I’m ready for it,” Gasol said. “I can’t control what they’re going to do as a team. But I’m going to try to play as well as I can for as long as I’m here. If I’m somewhere else, I’ll try to continue to do that.”

We figure to have at least some resolution to the latest Gasol saga today, and in the meantime, here’s more from around the league:

With Shabazz Muhammad headed to the D-League and Trey Burke of the Jazz the reigning Western Conference Rookie of the Month, Timberwolves boss Flip Saunders says it’s still too early to judge the result of their draft night swap. The Wolves officially sent Shabazz Muhammad to the Iowa Energy today, according to a press release. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune originally reported the move Friday.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com breaks down the game of potential No. 1 pick Joel Embiid.
D.J. Kennedy is headed to Israel to play for Hapoel Holon, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. The swingman was in camp with the Mavs this fall and played with Gravelines in France earlier this season. Italy’s Reggio Emilia was also reportedly interested.
The Grizzlies have assigned Jamaal Franklin to the D-League, the team announced. The 41st overall pick this past June has averaged just 9.2 minutes in 14 games for Memphis this year. I identified him earlier this week as a player who could see time in the D-League.

Draft Notes: Big Board, Kentucky, Embiid

December 17th, 2013 at 8:16pm CST by Alex Lee

The 2014 NBA Draft is more than six months away, but with the college season in full swing we should begin to see an increasing number of draft updates. Here is the latest that has come across the wire regarding June’s draft:

For Insiders only, ESPN’s Chad Ford has released the fourth version of his Big Board in which he says there are six players that would currently garner consideration for the No. 1 pick. The draft is loaded with freshmen, as seven of Ford’s top 10 and 11 of the top 20 are in their first year.
A handful of those freshmen play for John Calipari at Kentucky and, outside of projected top five pick Julius Randle, have not lived up to expectations so far in their time in Lexington. Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal caught up with ESPN’s Ford, who says that, while he has downgraded several Wildcats on his Big Board, many scouts still believe in the talent assembled at UK and are willing to be patient.
Jason King of Bleacher Report pens a lengthy but worthwhile feature on Kansas freshman Joel Embiid, which examines his backstory by way of Cameroon and hits on an idea that we’ve heard more than once lately: that the projectable Embiid could climb his way to the top spot in June’s draft.

Odds & Ends: Rivers, Amnesty, Guards, Draft

December 10th, 2013 at 7:34pm CST by Alex Lee

A day before he returns to Boston as the head coach of the Clippers, Doc Rivers conceded on Boston radio that he essentially walked out on a Celtics team destined for a rebuild, writes Matt Moore of CBS Sports. It must be a strange couple days for the remaining Celtics, who play in Brooklyn tonight against Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce before returning home to host their former head coach and his new team on Wednesday night.

Doc’s emotional return should dominate the NBA headlines tomorrow. Let’s take a look at some odds and ends from around the league tonight:

Of the 10 eligible names left, only Carlos Boozer and Kendrick Perkins remain as realistic candidates for the amnesty clause after the Kings jettisoned John Salmons in the Rudy Gay trade, writes ESPN’s Marc Stein, who adds that even the Bulls and Thunder are “conflicted” as to whether or not they’d use the clause on Boozer or Perkins.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for the Score, details guards that are currently unsigned or have flexible contracts who could be in-season additions to NBA teams.
In an Insiders-only piece, ESPN’s Chad Ford and Jay Bilas discuss a number of hot-button issues surrounding the much-hyped 2014 NBA Draft, including the No. 1 selection, sleepers, Kansas’ Joel Embiid and the freshman class of Kentucky.
Speaking of Embiid, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman evaluates the recent play of the raw-but-talented freshman in another Insiders-only story. According to Goodman — and Ford and Bilas, for that matter — Embiid may be considered for the No. 1 overall selection in June.

Odds & Ends: Rondo, Carmelo, Tyler, Ayres

December 7th, 2013 at 10:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo doesn’t put much stock in the rumor that Carmelo Anthony is trying to recruit him to the Knicks, but Anthony has been privately yearning to see Rondo in orange and blue since July, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks attempted to trade Iman Shumpert for Rondo, and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone thinks it’s critical that New York continue to see if it can pry the All-Star point guard away from the Celtics or make some kind of splash, lest Anthony bolt in free agency. Here’s more on the Knicks and the rest of the NBA:

Berman, in the same piece, also suggests the Knicks may look to re-sign camp invitee Jeremy Tyler in another week as he continues to round into form after a preseason injury.
Unlike some free agents who were happy to leave their former teams behind, Spurs big man Jeff Ayres told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News that he feels “no animosity” toward the Pacers and is “still really cool with all the guys on the team.”
Kendall Marshall is off to a fast start with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the big club should consider signing last year’s 13th overall pick to an NBA contract.
Doubts about the ability of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe to play together left some executives around the league believing the Suns would trade Dragic, but early returns show the pairing has been successful, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Joel Embiid is developing into a potential No. 1 overall pick, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, joining ESPN colleague Chad Ford on the Kansas center’s bandwagon.
Knee troubles have sidelined Al Harrington for a good chunk of this season, but he remains involved with the Wizards. As he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Harrington can imagine himself coaching after he retires and has been acting as a de facto assistant in Washington while he recovers.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Nets, Shaw, Odom, Hansbrough

December 3rd, 2013 at 10:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Divergent coaching styles and philosophies ultimately prompted Jason Kidd to demote Nets assistant coach Lawrence Frank, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com, but that doesn’t appear to be the only reason for the move. Frank has been badmouthing Kidd around the league, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has additional details on the troubled relationship between the two coaches. Here’s more on the Nets soap opera and the rest of the NBA:

The Nets maintain their strong support of Kidd, and they still believe he’ll develop into an effective head coach, Mannix writes. Brian Shaw, whom the Nets passed on when they hired Kidd, has “thrilled” Nuggets brass so far, Mannix notes via Twitter.
Lamar Odom isn’t yet performing basketball drills in workouts, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The earliest he could be ready to play is mid-January, Berger hears. The Clippers appear in no rush to sign him, even with other teams in the mix.
Tyler Hansbrough wasn’t pleased with his limited role on the Pacers last season, and while he signed with the Raptors hoping to be a more integral part of his team, he never expected to become the starter he is now, as Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun details.
A short-term injury to Mike James will force the Bulls to cut Marquis Teague‘s D-League assignment short, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The Bulls are down to 10 healthy players, but they don’t plan on signing anyone, Johnson says.
Amid a rough week for the top four college prospects, Kansas center Joel Embiid‘s performance made him a legitimate candidate to become the No. 1 overall pick in June, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in his latest Insider piece on the draft landscape.

Draft & D-League: Top Five, Smart, 66ers, Czyz

October 31st, 2013 at 9:14pm CST by Alex Lee

With David Stern putting all his weight behind the positive evolution of the D-League, it’s only natural for that avenue of player development to be contrasted with the more traditional one. Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s news and notes from the draft and the D-League here:

The kickoff of the NBA season isn’t complete without our first wave of NBA mock drafts. Chad Ford provides ESPN insiders a look at what the first round might look like in June 2014. In what some pundits are dubbing the best draft since 2003, Ford predicts a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid and Dante Exum.
Speaking of Oklahoma State’s Smart, the sophomore point guard is still unsure that he made the right decision to return to school last April, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Considering the shocking results of last June’s draft, it probably isn’t far fetched to say that Smart would have been the best player on the board when the Cavs went on the clock.
The Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, have acquired the number one pick in tomorrow night’s D-League draft along with Ben Uzoh in a three team deal with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Along with other picks tomorrow night, Diante Garrett and Lorenzo Brown were also involved in the deal.
Polish forward Olek Czyz has signed a deal to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Sportando reports on Twitter. The Bucks, who use Fort Wayne as their D-League affiliate, cut Czyz on Saturday after he spent training camp with the team, indicating that they protected his D-League rights. Czyz played at Duke and Nevada before going undrafted in 2012. He played last season for Virtus Roma of the Italian League.