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.
Injury Roundup: Rubio, Bargnani, Lowry
The latest updates on the statuses of several high-profiled injured players from around the NBA:
- Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com reports that Ricky Rubio will play for the Timberwolves on Saturday for the first time this season.
- The Raptors announced that forward Andrea Bargnani, recently the subject of widespread trade speculation, has a ligament tear in his right elbow and a strained wrist and is out indefinitely.
- Raptors guard Kyle Lowry is also expected out 10 days with a partial tear in his right triceps.
Odds & Ends: 76ers, English, Lowry, Blazers
A few Thursday evening odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Although it doesn't appear the team is considering outside options yet, coach Doug Collins and the 76ers are trying to figure out ways to improve the bench, writes Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com.
- Pistons rookie Kim English is open to the idea of playing in the D-League if that's what the team wants, as he tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Whatever is asked of me, I will do."
- Of the summer's offseason additions, Kyle Lowry has been one of the most impressive, writes Mike Ulmer of Raptors.com. The Raptors point guard has been just as productive as many of the league's high-profile point guards, says Ulmer.
- After the Trail Blazers let three longtime front office employees go today, John Canzano of the Oregonian implores owner Paul Allen to commit to the current group and let them do their jobs.
Injury Notes: Stoudemire, Wizards, Lowry
In the early goings of the 2012/13 season, several high-profile players have sustained injuries. Here are the latest updates on some of these players:
- Mike Woodson told ESPNNewYork.com that Amar'e Stoudemire is still expected to return to the Knicks in mid-December. Woodson would not say whether Stoudemire will start.
- Nene said last week that he was roughly three weeks away from returning to the Wizards, but it's possible he makes his season debut at some point this week, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Lee notes that John Wall is making progress as well.
- Kyle Lowry returned to the Raptors Tuesday night following an ankle injury, although Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes that he looked rusty.
- Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he's a week away from returning from a foot injury.
Odds & Ends: Dixon, Carroll, D’Antoni, Wade
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com thinks that the chances of the Kings remaining in Sacramento after this season (and possibly several more) continue to increase because of little movement in talks of going anywhere else. Without much momentum between the Maloofs and the potential destinations that have been mentioned (Anaheim, Seattle, Virginia Beach) nor anything that indicates a possibility that the team will be sold, Howard-Cooper writes that it bides more time for the city to find a way to keep the Kings for now.
- Eurohoops.net tweets that Panathinaikos of Greece has signed Jason Kapono.
- John Reid of NOLA.com reports that Matt Carroll has not yet reported to the Hornets since Tuesday's trade involving Hakim Warrick going to the Bobcats. Head coach Monty Williams says that there have been ongoing discussions between Carroll's agent and GM Dell Demps but did not elaborate on the specifics. The team hopes to give an update on the situation tomorrow.
- Yahoo's Marc J. Spears relayed a quote from today's press conference in which Mike D'Antoni said he'd like to get the Lakers to play "Showtime basketball."Arash Markazi of ESPN LA tweets that D'Antoni's coaching debut will likely be on Sunday against the Rockets.
- Nagging injuries have become a cause for uncertainty and concern for Heat superstar Dwyane Wade, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- Dan Bickley of AZCentral sports says (via Twitter) that Charles Barkley would be interested in becoming the Suns GM if owner Robert Sarver were to make such an opportunity available in the near future.
- The Raptors officially posted an injury update on their team website regarding Alan Anderson, Landry Fields, and Kyle Lowry. Anderson will remain out for another three to six weeks and Lowry for one to two weeks, according to the press release. There is no timetable set in place for Fields' return.
HoopsWorld On Best NBA Contracts
The staff of HoopsWorld.com has posted a new roundtable in which several of their staff writers weighed in on which players have the best contracts in the NBA.
- Joel Brigham writes that as the best three-point shooter in NBA history, Ray Allen is a steal for the Heat at $3MM per year.
- Bill Ingram believes the Spurs got an excellent value in Tony Parker. Parker is making $12.5MM this season, considerably less than other elite point guards such as Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
- Robert Wing calls Kyle Lowry's contract a "complete steal," saying the Raptors got a major upgrade at starting point guard over Jose Calderon for cheap.
- Eric Pincus thinks the Knicks were able to take advantage of Raymond Felton's low stock after his poor performance in Portland last season to land the point guard for $14.9MM over four years.
- Alex Kennedy points out that Rajon Rondo would be worth much more on the open market than the five-year, $55MM extension he signed with the Celtics in 2009.
Atlantic Notes: Woodson, Bynum, Celtics
Knicks coach Mike Woodson has the team off to its first 4-0 start since the 1993-94 season, but their promising start hasn't been without some sacrifices from the players. J.R. Smith, who originally wanted to be a starter at the beginning of training camp, had to concede to accepting a sixth man role. Kurt Thomas, who started three of the team's pre-season games, recorded his first DNP-CD last night against the Mavericks. Al Iannazonne of Newsday explores how Woodson resiliency has meshed with his players' desire to win and thus given them early success.
Here's the rest of what we're hearing out of the Atlantic Division tonight:
- Near the end of this article, Mitch Lawrence of the NY Daily News mentions that the 76ersare becoming a little "panicky" about when Andrew Bynum will finally be able to make his debut for the team.
- In a separate article, Lawrence provides an update on the injured Amare Stoudemire, saying that the Knicks forward may not be ready until late December.
- Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe examines the struggles of the Celtics when Kevin Garnett is on the bench and the need for other players to shoulder the load.
- Kristie Ackert of the NY Daily News writes about Joe Johnson's "inconsistent" transition with the Nets and how he feels that the players still need some time to become acclimated with each other.
- Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York describes some key factors behind the Knicks' efficiency, particularly with Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton as their starting back court.
- Eric Koreen of the National Post details the ripple effect that Kyle Lowry's ankle injury has had on the Raptors thus far.
Injury Notes: Lowry, Clark, Deng, Stoudemire
Earlier we discussed Andrew Bynum's knee, which has lingered as a legitimate news item longer than Sixers fans would like. Now, here's a look towards other injury situations throughout the league as we head into the regular season, just a short two weeks away.
- New Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry looks to make his debut with the team on Wednesday night, reports Jay Satur from Raptors.com. Lowry has been battling a groin injury this offseason.
- Lakers forward Earl Clark is out indefintely with a groin injury, reports ESPNLA.com's Andy Kamenetzky. Clark came over from Orlando in the Dwight Howard trade earlier this summer.
- Recovering from a bone bruise in his left knee, Amare Stoudemire plans to make his preseason debut on Friday, reports Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
- After sitting out last Friday night's preseason game with a sore groin, Bulls forward Luol Deng will play Tuesday night against the Bucks, reports ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell.
- Still recovering from a platelet-rich plasma injection he received in September, Pacers forward Danny Granger is aiming to make a return for the last two games of the preseason, reports Pacers.com writer Mark Montieth.
Alex Rucker On Raptors’ Offseason Additions
Jay Satur of Raptors.com recently sat down with Alex Rucker, the Raptors' Director of Analytics, to discuss a number of topics, including the new players Toronto will add for the coming season. The conversation focused primarily on the Raps' big trade acquisition (Kyle Lowry), the team's major free agent signing (Landry Fields), and last year's fifth overall pick (Jonas Valanciunas). Rucker shared some interesting observations on those players and how they ended up in Toronto. Here are a few of his comments:
On why the team targeted Lowry in trade talks:
"He’s a guy that’s been on our radar for three years as a guy that is underappreciated…. The value that he has is not captured well by the box score, so some people don’t quite get it. A lot of the things he does in terms of his style of play have a lot of value and he does a lot of things really well to help teams win ball games. I think [Rockets GM] Daryl [Morey] referenced that a couple of times in interviews about how a lot of their big wins were attributable to what Kyle did and maybe if you look at the box score, it wasn’t obvious, but he is a winning player."
On adding Lowry and John Lucas III to a point guard mix that already included Jose Calderon:
"When teams are playing us, they’re never going to get a 'backup point guard.' You’re going to get 48 minutes of quality point guard play. So when they bring in their backups and maybe have a drop off in quality, we should be in a position to take advantage of that because we will always have a good point guard on the floor."
On how Fields showed up on the team's free agent radar:
"We identified the wing as a position we wanted to upgrade. We felt like when you come off a season like we did, rebuilding, you look at every position and ask, how we can get better? With the wing spot, we looked across the whole spectrum of free agent and trade target wings and Landry was a guy that kept coming up in conversations. The coaches liked him, management liked him and the analytics liked him. He was a guy that was on the radar months ago as one of the top wing candidates that could help us upgrade at the wing spots.
On the perception that the Raptors overpaid Fields, who signed a three-year, $18.5MM deal:
"If the only year he played in pro basketball was this past season, then I would agree with every bit of criticism that’s out there about the deal. However, there’s this rather large sample of games, minutes, possessions that occurred as a rookie and a lot of that season was a slightly dissimilar situation than the one they currently have in New York…. So what kind of a situation are we looking to have? What kind of offence are we going to run? What kind of personnel are we going to have? How might he fit within that? I’m not thinking he’s going to immediately revert back to his rookie year, if he does, great. But I think the truth is somewhere in the middle and I’m going to be very happy if it’s something in the middle."
On the expectations for Valanciunas:
"Not necessarily from day one but over the long term, I think Jonas will be a guy that is a really good rebounder at both ends and can protect the rim defensively as an on-ball and help post defender. His dedication to improving his free throw percentage speaks to an overall offensive potential that he’s just growing into. So the work ethic and the passion he clearly has for the game, those intangibles combined with what he’s done on the court are real strong indicators that this is a guy, over the long run, that could be this building block at center we have for 10-15 years here in Toronto."
Raptors Acquire Kyle Lowry From Rockets
WEDNESDAY, 10:36am: The Raptors officially announced in a press release that they have acquired Kyle Lowry in exchange for Gary Forbes and a first-round pick.
THURSDAY, 2:38pm: The pick going to the Rockets will be top-three protected in 2013, top-two protected in 2014 and 2015, and top-one protected in 2016 and 2017, tweets Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle. Solomon adds that if the pick isn't in the lottery, the Raptors will keep it until the next season. If the pick doesn't meet these criteria for five seasons, Toronto's 2018 first-rounder will be sent to Houston no matter where it lands.