And-Ones: NBPA, Smith, Orton
With the NBPA voting against the league’s cap smoothing proposal the salary cap is expected to increase significantly for the 2016/17 season, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. The owners had hoped smoothing would appeal to the players because it would allow a bigger portion of the new television money to be spread to a wider group of players, Deveney notes. But now there will be nothing preventing the owners from using all the extra space next summer, which won’t benefit players becoming free agents in 2017 and beyond as much as the NBPA expects, Deveney adds.
A source with knowledge of the thinking of NBPA head Michele Roberts told Deveney, “The union should not have to police how much the owners spend. That’s not the job of the union. All of the caps that are on salaries now, the max deals and the shorter lengths and all of that, it’s all stuff that has been done to protect owners from themselves. Michele has been pretty strong on saying, hey, it’s not the job of the players to protect owners from other owners. Why should that fall on the players?”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Thunder GM Sam Presti said it was ludicrous to think that the team would consider trading Kevin Durant, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman tweets. It was posited earlier by ESPN’s Tom Penn that OKC would likely trade Durant next season rather than risk losing him in free agency for nothing.
- J.R. Smith is happy be a member of the Cavaliers and playing alongside his friend LeBron James, and the guard has indicated that he’d like to remain in Cleveland past this season, Joe Vardon of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. Smith, who has a player option for 2015/16 worth $6,399,750, could be leaning toward opting in for next season with an eye on a larger contract come 2016 when the salary cap is expected to increase significantly, Vardon adds.
- The NBA is projecting that the 2016/17 salary cap will be set at $78MM, a figure that many cap analysts believe is a very conservative estimate, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons‘ D-League affiliate, have acquired center Daniel Orton, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter link). Orton appeared in 22 games for the Sixers last season and averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. The big man was in training camp with the Wizards this season.
- Wesley Matthews underwent successful surgery today to repair his torn Achilles, the Trail Blazers announced.
Western Notes: Durant, West, Hunt
ESPN’s Tom Penn, a former NBA executive, in an appearance on ESPN’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” said that with how well Russell Westbrook is playing, the Thunder could consider trading Kevin Durant, who is set to hit free agency in 2016. “I think this burst from Westbrook makes it much more likely that Durant ultimately gets traded next year,” Penn said. “[OKC GM] Sam Presti has proven that he does not ever want to lose anybody for nothing. So he traded James Harden a year early to avoid a potential luxury tax problem a year later. The Kevin Durant drumbeat next year is going to be so loud because he will not commit early to Oklahoma City contractually because the rules are against that. He can’t get the same contract if he signs early as if he just goes to free agency and resigns. So if Sam Presti doesn’t get that commitment, he’ll look to to trade Kevin Durant. And looking at the performance of Westbrook and the team around Westbrook will make it easier for him to do that potentially.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Delonte West is considering a deal to join the Texas Legends, the Mavs‘ D-League affiliate, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). West’s last regular season NBA action came with Dallas during the 2011/12 season. The mercurial guard’s career stats are 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
- Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt has already shown that he should be in the running to be Denver’s coach next season, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “I’ve always viewed myself as a head coach,” Hunt said. “I’ve said before, I’ve been so thankful, I’ve been so blessed that I’ve had coaches and leaders that wanted me to lead. They’ve seen that in me. I was captain of my college team a couple of years. People have always looked at me as a leader, and I take that seriously.“
- Hunt said he has done a “handful” of head-coaching interviews in the past, but thanks to this opportunity with the Nuggets his resume will receive a nice boost, Dempsey adds. When asked if he felt any pressure to prove himself worthy of retaining Denver’s coaching job, Hunt said, “Not at all. There’s no anxiety. I go back to my faith. So it’s not like I feel any pressure as far as to win or play a certain way or do this or do that. When the time’s right, whatever God has for me, it will be. So whenever that time is, it will happen.”
Western Notes: Blazers, Rondo, Thunder
The Trail Blazers, who have an empty roster spot, are more likely to sign a younger player who they could possibly develop for a role off the bench next season than bring in a veteran, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. There are a few NBA D-League players who Portland could target, including Seth Curry and Glen Rice Jr., or the team may look to ink Jordan Hamilton if the Clippers don’t sign him for the remainder of the season, Young notes. Hamilton was recently inked to his first 10-day contract of the season with Los Angeles.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Despite his recent one game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team that resulted from a dust up with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, Rajon Rondo is committed to helping Dallas to contend for a title this season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “I’m going to do what’s best for the team and play my heart out for these next 22 games we have left, and [help] make a run in the playoffs,” Rondo said. “We’ve moved forward and our team has moved forward, and we’ve got a game to look forward to tomorrow. You know, I’m playing with some great players, with the addition of Amar’e [Stoudemire] now, and I think we’ve got a great chance to win a championship. So, that’s my main focus. I’m going to continue to work to get better and do what’s best to lead this team.”
- The veteran point guard also said that he and the team both want to achieve the same goals, Sneed relays (Twitter link). “I’ve talked to pretty much everybody in the organization, and everyone is pretty much on the same page,” Rondo said.
- The trades that Thunder GM Sam Presti made this season will help the team not only in 2014/15, but in the summer of 2016 when Kevin Durant becomes a free agent, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. The depth that Presti has added should make the team more competitive, which will in turn make the franchise harder to walk away from for Durant, Powell opines. The Slim Reaper is enthusiastic about the Thunder’s mid-season moves, Powell adds. “It shows how great our organization is,” Durant said. “You keep getting talent after talent and keep rolling them in there like that. It shows we’ve got a great eye for talent.“
And-Ones: Durant, Heat, Celtics, Hawks
The Thunder announced via press release that Kevin Durant underwent a procedure on his right foot to help alleviate the soreness he has been experiencing. There’s no exact timetable for KD’s return at the moment, but we should have a better idea when he’s reevaluated a week from now. Here’s tonight’s glance around the Association..
- Because of luxury-tax implications, the Heat may have to bypass spending the entire $2.65MM salary-cap exception received for Josh McRoberts‘ knee injury, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. The Heat have until March 10th to use that DPE, but they’re only $1.4MM below the 2014/15 luxury tax line of $76.8MM. The immediate luxury tax payment would be minimal, but it would reset the team’s luxury tax clock.
- Even with Isaiah Thomas now in the fold, the loss of Jared Sullinger may be enough to sink the Celtics‘ playoff hopes, Jeremy Gottlieb of Boston.com writes. The C’s announced on Sunday that Sullinger will miss the remainder of the season because of a metatarsal stress fracture in his left foot. Sullinger was averaging 14.4 points and 28.7 minutes per game this season, both career highs.
- Who says you need a superstar to win? The Hawks are shunning convention with their roster and soaring, Eric Koreen of the National Post writes.
Northwest Notes: Kanter, Durant, Afflalo
The Jazz have not received any serious offers for Enes Kanter, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets. The team is seeking a quality young player and a first-round pick for Kanter, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported on Tuesday. The team would be happy to retain Kanter past the trade deadline, a league source told Scotto. Kanter is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.
In other news around the Northwest Division:
- Kevin Durant said he feels no resentment toward the Thunder for the James Harden trade and added that it will have no bearing on his free agency in 2016, as he told reporters, including Darnell Mayberry and Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Durant also said that he loves having Reggie Jackson as a teammate, which counters an earlier report.
- Teams around the league are convinced that the Nuggets will obtain the first-round draft pick they seek in return for Arron Afflalo, and that the Trail Blazers are the current favorites to land the guard, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
- Afflalo’s representative may not be thrilled at the prospect of the Nuggets guard being dealt to Portland because it could stunt the growth of C.J. McCollum, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. Both players are represented by Excel Sports Management and McCollum’s playing time and bargaining power would likely shrink if Afflalo lands with Portland, Young adds. McCollum’s contract calls for him to make approximately $2.5MM next season and the club holds a team option of just over $3.2MM for 2016/17.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Thunder, Lopez
Most around the league expect LaMarcus Aldridge to re-sign with the Trail Blazers this coming summer, as he said he would, but an executive from an opposing team told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the Blazers are “very, very scared” that he’ll walk in free agency. The exec cautioned that it’s probably just “paranoid” thinking on their part, but this weekend, peppered with questions from the New York media, Aldridge praised Phil Jackson, the city of New York, and said he’d be a fit for the triangle offense, Deveney notes. The power forward has largely declined to talk specifics about his upcoming free agency since just before training camp, when he repeated his intention to re-sign with Portland. Here’s more from a busy Northwest Division:
- Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams are off-limits for the Thunder, but the team is open to trading everyone else for the right offer, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
- It’s unlikely the Nuggets trade Jameer Nelson, in spite of interest from the Wizards, Heat and Cavs, given GM Tim Connelly‘s long-held desire to have the point guard on the team, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post,
- The Nuggets would like to trade JaVale McGee more than any other player on their roster, but the team is making Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic untouchable for any deal, Dempsey adds in the same piece. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also reported today that Nurkic is off-limits.
- The Blazers would like to add a small forward, given Nicolas Batum‘s inconsistency this season, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings.
- Sources tell Kennedy they believe the Timberwolves are open to trading some of their veterans for the right return (Twitter link). Still, president of basketball operations and coach Flip Saunders has said he doesn’t intend to do any more deals.
- The Blazers and Pelicans are worth keeping an eye on as the Wolves continue to try to honor Chase Budinger‘s trade request, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Duncan, Popovich, Collison, Grizzlies
The “prevailing thought” around the league has been that Tim Duncan will retire when his contract expires after the season, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, but Gregg Popovich isn’t so sure. The coach/executive acknowledges that Duncan is liable to walk away from the game at any time, regardless of contract status, but Popovich tells Amick that he doesn’t believe Duncan will do so just yet, given his still-proficient level of play. Nonetheless, Popovich isn’t making promises about his own longevity, and while he confirmed to Amick that the extension he signed this past summer was for five years, the 66-year-old thinks he’ll retire before that time is through. Here’s more from around the league:
- The push for Nick Collison‘s extension with the Thunder came from the team’s side, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com, writing for Daily Thunder. The length of the deal for the Mike Higgins client, which runs one season past the expiration of Kevin Durant‘s contract, makes it clear that the extension is in part an enticement for Durant, who likes Collison, to stay, Young believes. It’s also a signal that the club is on board with paying the luxury tax next season, as Young explains.
- Tyrus Thomas has returned to the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies after the expiration of his 10-day contract with the franchise’s NBA club, the D-League team announced (on Twitter).
- Free agent Greg Oden reached a plea deal with prosecutors stemming from an August incident, as court documents show, according to Michael Anthony Adams of USA Today. The former No. 1 overall pick pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge and three other charges were dismissed as part of the deal, Adams writes. Oden avoided jail time in sentencing, as Adams’ report also indicates.
Mannix’s Latest: Allen, Lopez, Nuggets, Thunder
People around the league increasingly believe that Ray Allen already knows the team he would like to play for this season, and that he’s simply deciding whether he wants to play at all, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Allen has hinted within the past two weeks that he’s coming back to the NBA, but another more recent report indicated that he’s enjoying time with his family. Mannix has a ton of noteworthy items in his latest weekly column, many of them with a Thunder-centric theme, and we’ll hit the highlights here.
- The Nuggets are still trying to pry Brook Lopez from the Nets with a package centered on JaVale McGee, according to Mannix. Still, Denver doesn’t want to put Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler into any deal, Mannix cautions.
- The Thunder are willing to go deep into the luxury tax this season to acquire Lopez, the SI.com scribe writes. Oklahoma City is unwilling to give up any of its top present-day talent, nor will the team make a move that damages its future as the Thunder look for trade partners who are “desperate,” an opposing GM tells Mannix.
- Reggie Jackson turned down an extension offer from Oklahoma City that would have made him the most highly paid backup in the NBA, a source tells Mannix. Just what sort of salary that would have meant is unclear, since Amar’e Stoudemire has made more appearances off the bench than he has starts on a deal that gives him in excess of $23.4MM this season. Some teams believed at the beginning of the season that there was a decent chance that Jackson would command offers of between $13MM and $14MM in restricted free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October.
- Several executives from around the NBA believe it’s conceivable that a five-year max deal for Kevin Durant will be worth some $200MM when he hits free agency in 2016, according to Mannix. Durant will be eligible for a max worth about 35% of the salary cap as a 10-year veteran that summer. Those execs also believe that Durant likes playing in Oklahoma City, as he’s said, Mannix writes.
- Markieff Morris believes he and brother Marcus Morris might have made more money in restricted free agency this summer if they hadn’t signed extensions with the Suns, but Markieff can’t envision ever playing without his twin again, as he tells Mannix.
Kevin Durant Interested In Knicks
12:37pm: An NBA GM cautioned that the Knicks have the same chance at Durant as the Thunder and other contenders, naming the Wizards, Lakers, Clippers and Nets, as the GM said to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
8:38am: Kevin Durant can envision signing with the Knicks when he hits free agency in 2016, a person close to Kevin Durant tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, citing his affection for Carmelo Anthony. Durant is close to Knicks coach and former Thunder teammate Derek Fisher, and, Isola writes, he also admires Knicks GM Steve Mills and assistant GM Allan Houston.
“No question about it,” the person close to Durant told Isola “Kevin loves Carmelo [Anthony]. It could work in New York. But never rule out the Thunder.”
Durant isn’t enamored with Reggie Jackson and is becoming increasingly frustrated with Russell Westbrook, Isola hears. The Knicks tried to acquire Jackson when they and the Thunder participated in a three-team trade earlier this month, and they’re likely to make another run at trading for the guard, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported around the time of the swap. However, the Thunder almost traded Jackson to the Nuggets this week, according to Isola, who says on Twitter that Oklahoma City is “expected” to deal Jackson before the February 19th trade deadline.
Jackson’s set for restricted free agency this summer, while Westbrook’s contract with the Thunder runs one year longer than Durant’s, carrying through 2016/17. Westbrook and Durant have been teammates since the 2008/09 season, but Kevin Love reportedly said that he, Anthony and Durant have spoken, at least casually, about playing together. Love has repeatedly insisted that he’s committed to Cleveland for the long haul, but since the Cavs power forward plans to opt in for next season, that would align his free agency with Durant’s for the summer of 2016, when Anthony will have three years left on his deal with the Knicks. New York only has about $32.3MM in commitments for that summer, when most league executives assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM.
Still, the Knicks will have plenty of competition for Durant, even if he’s indeed growing tired of some of his Thunder teammates. The Wizards, who play in Durant’s hometown, are more than a pipe dream, even if they are a long shot, as TNT’s David Aldridge wrote this week, pointing out a potential income tax savings for Durant if he plays in D.C. and establishes residency in another state. Durant and Kobe Bryant have spoken of mutual interest in playing with each other, though Bryant has said he’ll probably retire after next season, just when Durant is set to hit free agency. Durant has also publicly backed the Thunder, saying recently that he loves playing for Oklahoma City and that, “There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest.”
Atlantic Notes: Cunningham, Galloway, Knicks
Jared Cunningham is now in the third D-League stint of his career after being waived by the Sixers. Philadelphia had released the guard earlier this month, shortly after he was acquired from the Clippers for the draft rights to Serhiy Lishchuk. Cunningham is an intriguing NBA prospect who hasn’t been able to catch on with the right team yet, Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “It’s been a difficult process,” Cunningham said of his journey. “But I’ve been able to keep playing basketball and that’s a blessing. It’s all about just finding the right coach and the right team that believes in me. Once that happens, my game will follow.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- An NBA scout intimated that the Sixers made a mistake when they waived Cunningham, especially now that Tony Wroten may be lost for the season due to injury, Ford notes. “There are a lot of NBA teams that might want to try and let him grow into his game,” one league scout told Ford. “It would have made sense for the Sixers to keep him, but they didn’t. He might not be a pure point guard, but is Tony Wroten a pure point guard?“
- Langston Galloway‘s deal with the Knicks is non-guaranteed for the 2015/16 campaign, but if he’s still on the roster past July 1st, then $220K of his $845K salary will become guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). If Galloway remains on New York’s roster past September 15th, then another $220K of his salary will become guaranteed, totaling $440K, Pincus adds.
- The Knicks should look to sign JaMychal Green to a 10-day deal instead of retaining Lance Thomas or Louis Amundson, Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv opines. Schlosser believes that New York needs to begin taking a look at younger players who have upside, instead of continuing to give minutes to players such as Amundson, whose ceilings have already been established.
- There are two reasons why Kevin Durant isn’t likely to join the Knicks when he hits free agency in 2016, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. Kerber cites Durant’s lack of desire for the spotlight that comes along with playing in a major market like New York and the Thunder’s exclusive ability to offer a fifth contract year as impediments to Durant donning a Knicks jersey via free agency.