Atlantic Rumors: Wallace, Knicks, Holiday, Fields
Yesterday, we heard that Nick Young wasn't expecting to sign with the 76ers, the Knicks still have interest in Josh Howard, and Rajon Rondo believes the Celtics are one of five teams with a realistic shot at an NBA title in 2012/13. We've got a few more updates out of the Atlantic Division today, so let's round them up right here:
- The Knicks are said to be considering signing Rasheed Wallace, and Tyson Chandler is on board with the idea, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. "I don't know what the situation is, but he's a great communicator on defense and we know he can knock down the open three and the jump shot," Chandler said. "To have myself and Amare [Stoudemire] and to have Marcus Camby and Rasheed as backups, it's going to be nice."
- A report back in early July suggested Jrue Holiday would seek a max extension from the Sixers this offseason, something Holiday was asked about yesterday. "That's the type of player that I want to be," Holiday said, according to John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I want to be seen as that type [of max-contract] player. But I'm not really worried about it; that's not the type of player that I am, honestly. I'm not really a money man. I'd rather get the wins."
- After signing what many observers felt was an overpriced three-year deal with the Raptors, Landry Fields says he's not feeling any extra pressure to live up to the contract, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, Teletovic, Holiday, Rondo
The Nets will be playing their home games at the Barclays Center for the first time this season, but it doesn't seem as if many Nets will be sticking around Brooklyn for too long after the buzzer sounds. Howard Beck of the New York Times writes that the team will continue to practice in New Jersey and will live outside of Brooklyn for the coming season. Due to the location of the team's practice facility, a handful of players will live in New Jersey, while a few more, including Deron Williams, will live in Manhattan. Here are the rest of the Tuesday morning items out of the Atlantic Division:
- Nets offseason signee Mirza Teletovic has yet to find a new home stateside, but he's been turning heads at the 2013 EuroBasket Qualifier, as Wendell Maxey of Ridiculous Upside notes. In six games for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Teletovic has averaged more than 25 PPG.
- Max Rappaport of Sixers.com passes along a TrueHoop piece by Beckley Mason and Tom Haberstroh, which theorizes that Jrue Holiday could be a major beneficiary of Andrew Bynum's arrival in Philadelphia. Holiday is eligible for an extension this offseason, and when I looked at his case, I argued that it would probably take a breakout year in 2012/13 to earn him the maximum salary he's reportedly seeking.
- Chris Forsberg and Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com preview Rajon Rondo's season by predicting whether the Celtics point guard will go over or under certain statistical benchmarks.
Extension Candidate: Jrue Holiday
When Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported a month ago that Jrue Holiday would be seeking a maximum extension this offseason, the reactions across the board were fairly similar. The consensus: Good luck with that. While Holiday is evolving into a solid point guard and has made strides since debuting for the 76ers in 2009, his production to date doesn't seem worthy of a maximum salary. But what sort of price tag could the Sixers be facing if they decide to sign Holiday to a long-term deal in the next few months? Let's take a look….
After averaging 14.0 points and 6.5 assists per game in 2010/11, Holiday's numbers regressed slightly in 2011/12, to 13.5 points and 4.5 assists. However, he's proven to be durable, starting all but one game in the last two seasons for the Sixers. And considering he's just turned 22, you have to think Holiday's slight step back this past season is just a blip on the radar, and that he'll continue to improve rather than heading in the other direction.
Still, if he hopes to sign an extension, Holiday has to recognize that the Sixers can't just pay for his potential upside. The team's potential contract offer will take into account the 6'3" guard's career production to date. So perhaps it would be useful to compare Holiday's numbers to those of a couple other young point guards. Mike Conley signed a long-term extension with the Grizzlies after three seasons in the league in 2010, and Ty Lawson is eligible for an extension with the Nuggets this summer, as he heads into his fourth year. Here are a few career averages for the three guards as they headed into the final years of their rookie contracts:
Although many of these numbers look awfully similar across the board, it's not hard to see that Lawson's efficient play gives him the advantage over the rest of the group. And while Holiday's rates compare favorably to Conley's, they don't suggest that he has a huge leg up on the Grizzlies' point guard.
Now, there are other factors to consider — Conley was nearly a year older than Holiday at the same points in their careers, and the former Buckeye signed his contract under a different Collective Bargaining Agreement. Nonetheless, it's hard to see why Holiday should receive much more than the five years and $40MM that Conley received on his first long-term deal. Particularly when an extension for Lawson, which I previewed last week, figures to be worth less than the max, perhaps $11-12MM annually. If Conley landed $8MM per year and Lawson can get $11-12MM, it makes sense that Holiday should fall somewhere in between the two. Something in the neighborhood of four years and $40MM for Holiday could work for both him and the Sixers.
The Sixers and Holiday's representatives will have plenty of time to negotiate an extension between now and the start of the season on October 30th, and I'd expect Philadelphia to make an offer close to the four years and $40MM I'm suggesting. But it wouldn't surprise me to see Holiday decline that offer and play out the season. If he keeps improving in 2012/13, it will only boost his stock, and could potentially earn him a more lucrative offer sheet from a rival team next summer, when he hits restricted free agency.
He may not be a maximum-salary player, but Holiday is a good bet to sign a very lucrative deal within the next year. Whether that happens this offseason or next summer, with the Sixers or another club, remains to be seen.
Odds & Ends: Hawks, D-Will, Calderon, Celtics
It's been another whirlwind day of player movement in the NBA, as the Hawks agreed to two significant trades, sending Joe Johnson to the Nets and Marvin Williams to the Jazz. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld speculated that Josh Smith may be the next Hawk to go (Twitter link), but Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com report that Smith is excited about the moves, which would free up plenty of cap space for next summer, when Atlanta could go after Smith and other major targets. Here's news from elsewhere around the busy Association.
Jrue Holiday Seeking Max Extension
Jrue Holiday is entering the final year of his rookie contract, which means he's eligible for a long-term extension with the 76ers this offseason. And according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), the point guard is indeed seeking an extension — for the maximum salary.
Odds & Ends: Odom, Novak, Lottery, Sessions
Bob Young from AZCentral.com thinks the Suns should take a long, hard look at signing Lamar Odom this offseason. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has a ton to prove coming off a terrible experiment with the Mavericks.
- Earlier tonight, the Heat defeated the Knicks—who were without starting power forward Amare Stoudemire—87-70. In Stoudemire's place, New York head coach Mike Woodson chose to start Steve Novak. The results were disastrous, writes Newsday's Roderick Boone.
- After the obvious tanking strategy we saw employed by teams like the Warriors and Hornets, the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen calls for the weighted lottery to become a true lottery, giving every team that doesn't make the playoffs an equal chance at the number one overall pick.
- FoxSportsOhio.com's Sam Amico writes that Ramon Sessions ability to fit in with the Lakers has once again made them a championship contender.
- Every team faces tough decisions in the offseason, but this summer the Suns will have an incredibly difficult decision staring them down, as they figure out whether they should continue the Steve Nash era, or finally move on. Hoopsworld.com's Jason Fleming dissects the team's dire situation.
- Melissa Isaacson from ESPNChicago.com writes that a first round loss to the Sixers could have a long-term negative impact on the Bulls.
- After initially believing he might be able to return for Game 4 of his series against the Heat, Jeremy Lin has all but ruled himself out for the early return, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley.
- ESPNChicago.com's Donald Hunt talks about Jrue Holiday's need to keep up his stellar play if the Sixers want to pull off an upset.
- While Shawn Marion is keeping Kevin Durant in check through the first two games of their series, Russell Westbrook has had a field day, and it'll be interesting to see whether the Mavericks choose to change their match-ups as the series moves forward, writes the Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend.
- Hoopsworld.com's Eric Pincus talks about how the Lakers should look to bring back Jordan Hill, who's a free agent this offseason.