Lakers Notes: Johnson, Russell, D’Antoni
There are plenty of benefits to having an individual of Magic Johnson‘s stature calling the shots for the Lakers, writes Sam Amick of USA Today but there is no consensus on whether or not that will be enough to push the franchise back to its former heights.
“If you have a free agent sitdown with a superstar, and Magic Johnson is in the room, that’s going to move the needle as far as getting that guy serious about wanting to come here,” says former player Dell Curry of the Lakers icon. “[…] He built his way up, built his brand once he got here. Being in LA, having Magic and all the doors he can open for you off the floor, that’s even more incentive for superstars to want to come here.”
Unlike other players who’ve returned to manage the teams that they played with, Johnson has a high profile in both the basketball and business world. Only Michael Jordan rivals Johnson’s total package but he faces the tougher task of drawing players to small market North Carolina whereas the city of Los Angeles is practically a selling feature in itself.
Still, Johnson’s contributions will eventually be measured in the amount of star players he’s able to recruit to the Lakers, Amick writes. If he airballs as the recent front office has with players like Carmelo Anthony, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant, he’ll be little more than yet another former player learning on the job.
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- A recent uptick in D’Angelo Russell‘s production can be traced back to improved work habits coming out of the All-Star Break, writes Mark Medina of the Orange County Register. “Sometimes when you get away for a week, especially when you’re young, you come back rejuvenated a little bit and a little more fresh than when you’re in the dog days leading up to All-Star,” says head coach Luke Walton.
- It’s hard for anybody to resist the temptations of college basketball this time of year and for Lakers head coach Luke Walton, that’s no different. Don’t think that Walton is already setting his sights ahead on the draft, however, as Mark Medina for the Los Angeles Daily News writes. “We have a whole scouting department that has been watching them all year,” Walton explained. “We got European scouts. When the time comes, we’ll take the appropriate amount of time to sit down and actually watch it from more of a scout’s view.”
- The fact that the Lakers haven’t gone out of their way to credit former general Mitch Kupchak for his contributions during his three decades with the organization is petty, says Anthony Irwin of SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll. The scribe explores Mike D’Antoni‘s recent comments that Kupchak and Jim Buss (also recently dismissed) “were not the problem” during his time in Los Angeles.
Southwest Notes: Wright, Randolph, Ferrell
The Grizzlies are expecting injured power forward Brandan Wright back on Monday, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Wright has been sidelined recovering from an ankle issue that ultimately required surgery. He hasn’t played at all in 2016/17.
The 29-year-old hasn’t done much since signing a three-year contract with Memphis during the summer of 2015, playing in only 12 games for the Grizzlies during the 2015/16 campaign on account of a knee injury.
After emerging as an intriguing reserve with the Mavericks between 2011 and 2014, Wright bounced around with the Suns and Celtics in 2014/15. With the Grizzlies, however, Wright could establish himself as a reliable source of frontcourt help heading into the final stretch.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Though the plan was to reduce his workload, the Grizzlies have turned to veteran big man Zach Randolph more and more often of late. Randolph is averaging 27.9 minutes per game in January, writes MacMahon in an article for ESPN, compared to his season average of 24.2. The forward has filled a sixth-man role for the club but has been as efficient with his minutes as ever.
- Before he signed on to lead the Rockets to new heights in 2016/17, Mike D’Antoni worked alongside Brett Brown with the Sixers. Brian Seltzer of the Sixers’ official site spoke with the Rockets bench boss about his time in Philadelphia.
- Less than 24 hours after signing his 10-day contract with the Mavs, point guard Yogi Ferrell has moved into the team’s starting lineup, tweets team play-by-play man Mark Followill.
Southwest Notes: Gasol, Ajinca, D’Antoni
The Spurs are once again the No. 2 team in the Western Conference and a given to qualify for and contend in the playoffs. A recent hand injury to Pau Gasol, however, could change that. Ben Alamar of ESPN has explored the impact that Gasol’s absence will have in San Antonio, citing the big man’s staggering efficiency from mid-range as one of the biggest voids that the club will have to fill.
On the other side of the ball, Gasol has long-established himself as a heady defender capable of providing paint protection. This will now fall to reserves Dewyane Dedmon and David Lee. Though Dedmon and Lee have been respectable back ups this season, Alamar isn’t sure they’ll have the same impact as Gasol has with his ability to block shots and limit his fouls.
Gasol, Alamar writes, is second on the Spurs in defensive win shares behind only Kawhi Leonard.
The veteran was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the hand fracture on Friday. No recovery timetable has yet been announced.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Though not shy about expressing his frustration with a lack of playing time, Alexis Ajinca has reportedly not requested a trade from the Pelicans, tweets Justin Verrier of ESPN. Ajinca has racked up 11 DNP-CDs since his last legitimate taste of action on December 23 and has played just three minutes total in January.
- Offseason addition Mike D’Antoni has made a serious case for Coach of the Year, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. His decision to move James Harden to the point has been one of the highlights of his brief tenure. “I watched a lot of tape of him,” D’Antoni told Mannix. “His skills are enormous. Point guard made sense. He was that anyway. We just cut the fat off. The way he plays now, he’s making an impact every minute. So we can play him less minutes. And he’s fresher.”
- The 2016/17 campaign won’t go down in history for the Mavs, at least not in a good way. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas News has come up with a list of things that have officially gone wrong, chief among them significant injuries to Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, Devin Harris, Deron Williams and J.J. Barea (again).
- For the first time this season, the Spurs featured Dejounte Murray prominently in their rotation and the rookie guard responded with a career-high, 24-point showing. “I felt like I had a rhythm the whole game,” Murray told Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News. “I was confident even before he Gregg Popovich told me I was starting. I always stay ready. … My teammates, when they heard I was starting, they cheered me up tried to keep my confidence high.”
Southwest Notes: D’Antoni, Beverley, Frazier, Mavs
The Rockets‘ Mike D’Antoni is the early favorite to be named Coach of the Year, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. D’Antoni’s up-tempo attack has turned James Harden into an MVP candidate and has made Houston a contender in the West. The Rockets are off to a 19-7 start after a disappointing 41-41 season under Kevin McHale and J.B. Bickerstaff. Stein says a close runner-up to D’Antoni is new Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, whose team is 18-9 despite an injury-filled start to the season.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Rockets are 13-2 since Patrick Beverley‘s return from injury and he may be in the running for Defensive Player of the Year, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Houston has improved to 17th in defensive efficiency since it got Beverley back in the lineup, and he has a shot at becoming the first guard to win the award in 20 years. “I feel like I am the best defensive player in the league right now,” Beverley said. “I hope the whole world sees it. If we win games, more and more people see it. But the last guard to get the Defensive Player of the Year award was Gary Payton. Why not me? I have the same type of killer mindset that he had, the lateral quickness and quick hands. The swagger also. That’s one of my goals, my biggest goal. If I can get a goal like that, I will put my team in a position to win a lot of games.”
- Pelicans point guard Tim Frazier will be sidelined with a contusion on a bone in his wrist, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Frazier estimates his recovery time at a week to 10 days.
- Harrison Barnes has been a pleasant surprise in a dreadful season for the Mavericks, states Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News. After joining the team on a max contract this summer, Barnes has responded by averaging 20.4 points per game. In his weekly chat, Cowlishaw also addresses possible trades involving Wesley Matthews, Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut, as well as the potential consequences of shutting down Dirk Nowitzki for the rest of the season.
‘Issues’ Remain With Donatas Motiejunas
DECEMBER 12, 10:44am: Although the Rockets and Motiejunas agreed to a new contract on Friday, the deal hit a snag with the forward’s physical on Saturday, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter links). According to Feigen, GM Daryl Morey said today that he and the Rockets are in “active discussions” with Motiejunas’ reps and the league, but it’s not clear whether or not the 26-year-old will officially join the team.
DECEMBER 10, 6:46pm: Houston’s front office wants more medical information on Motiejunas before it permits him to return to the team, Watkins tweets. Motiejunas tells ESPN that he did report to tonight’s game. “I was there,” he said. “They told me to go home.” (Twitter link).
5:58pm: The Rockets appeared to have their situation with Donatas Motiejunas resolved when they agreed to re-sign him to a four-year contact on Friday. However, the fifth-year big man wasn’t on hand for the start of tonight’s game with Dallas, and coach Mike D’Antoni said there are still “some issues” with his availability, tweets ESPN’s Calvin Watkins.
D’Antoni didn’t elaborate on what the issues involved, but added that he had expected Motiejunas to be at the game, and “he’s not.”
Motiejunas had been without a contract since becoming a restricted free agent on July 1st. He received an offer sheet from Brooklyn last week, which the Rockets matched on Monday. However, they matched just the salary part of the deal and not the incentives that the Nets included. Motiejunas’ agent, B.J. Armstrong, had a brief standoff with the team before a new deal was reached. That contract contains incentives, but pushes the team option on the final three seasons back to July 15th of each year.
Whatever issue caused Motiejunas not to be on hand for the game, D’Antoni expects to have it resolved later tonight, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Southwest Notes: Motiejunas, Grizzlies, Barea
The Rockets haven’t cut ties completely with Donatas Motiejunas even though they pulled their latest contract offer today, relays Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. Speaking to reporters before tonight’s game, coach Mike D’Antoni said he understands the business aspects of Motiejunas’ situation. He added that the Rockets are moving on without the 26-year-old power forward, but will adjust if necessary. “You always move on; we’re not waiting for him,” D’Antoni said. “You try to develop guys and develop roles, and we are doing that. At the same time, he’s that good that if things change we’ll welcome him in.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Injuries are testing the Grizzlies‘ depth at small forward, writes Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Chandler Parsons, who joined the team on a max contract this summer, has a bone bruise on his left knee, and backup James Ennis is suffering from a strained right calf. Both are expected to be out of action for about two weeks. Troy Daniels started tonight for Memphis, but veteran Vince Carter, undrafted free agent Troy Williams and second-year forward Jarell Martin may all see increased playing time.
- Mavericks guard J.J. Barea is optimistic about his timetable after a severe calf strain, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Barea was originally projected to be sidelined for two months, but he believes the recovery time will be closer to six weeks.
- Spurs veteran guard Manu Ginobili said a less intense attitude played into his decision to return to the NBA for another season. The 39-year-old, who pondered retirement this summer before accepting San Antonio’s offer, said winning and losing used to bother him so much that he couldn’t even enjoy being in the NBA Finals. “I decided the last few years not to let a win or a loss affect my everyday life, my family’s life, and all that,” Ginobili said. “So I’m way more relaxed. I decided to come back because I feel I still enjoy it. I can still help the team. That’s it.”
Western Notes: McGee, Lakers, Hill, Harden
Warriors backup center JaVale McGee will be rewarded with increased minutes, according to Monte Pool of CSNBayArea. The well-traveled veteran has impressed coach Steve Kerr with his play of late, maybe enough to form a “center by committee” with Zaza Pachulia and David West. McGee played 15 minutes Thursday in Denver, finishing with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks. “He earned some extra playing time for sure,” Kerr said. “We’re still going through different combinations, but he earned the opportunity to play some more.” The Warriors signed McGee in September to a training camp deal that offered a minimum salary for one year with no guaranteed money.
There’s more tonight from the Western Conference:
- Kobe Bryant‘s retirement has been one of the factors in the Lakers‘ early-season success, contends Mitch Lawrence of Forbes. With Bryant gone, the team has gotten rid of its isolation offense and replaced it with a team-oriented approach. Also, the young players who were afraid of getting on Bryant’s bad side now have more freedom to play their games. Lawrence also credits the hiring of coach Luke Walton, who has already impressed the organization with his leadership skills.
- Anthony Davis has been spectacular for the 1-9 Pelicans, but free agent addition Solomon Hill says the rest of the team needs to step up, relays William Guillory of The Times-Picayune. Hill, who joined the team on a four-year, $48MM contract, is averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. “Everything’s been going towards [Davis], but I think we need to find ways to get everybody else involved,” Hill said. “He’s going to score regardless. You can throw assistant coaches out there on the floor and as long as they get him the ball he’s going to score. We just got to find ways to do it collectively.”
- Mike D’Antoni is doing his best coaching job with James Harden, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Dempsey says the Rockets’ star, who is averaging 30.0 points and 10.0 assists per night, is the best fit ever for D’Antoni’s up-tempo system.
Southwest Notes: Harden, Howard, Parsons
James Harden insists he had no “beef” with former teammate Dwight Howard, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Howard, who signed with the Hawks in the offseason, will face Harden and the Rockets tonight in Atlanta. There were many stories of discord between the two stars during last year’s 41-41 season, but Harden says there are no lingering bad feelings. “I know what the truth is,” Harden said. “There’s no beef. We never got into a heated argument or anything. It just didn’t work out.”
There’s more news from the Southwest Division:
- New Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, who was hired at the start of June, never made an appeal to Howard to stay with the team, Feigen adds in the same piece. Houston focused on former Hawks center Al Horford in free agency, and there was a feeling that a low-post player like Howard wouldn’t be effective in D’Antoni’s system. “I don’t think I was the right guy to have conversations,” said D’Antoni, who briefly coached Howard with the Lakers. “I’m sure there were conversations with [GM] Daryl [Morey]. If he wanted to come back, great. That wasn’t my role to have conversations.”
- Chandler Parsons is expected to play his first game for the Grizzlies on Tuesday, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. It will be the small forward’s first time on the court since undergoing right knee surgery in March when he was still with Dallas. Memphis signed Parsons to a four-year, $94MM contract this summer.
- The Mavericks‘ Dirk Nowitzki will be “shut down” for at least a week after aggravating an Achilles problem Friday, according to Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Nowitzki said he has been experiencing pain in that area since the season opener. “He’s going to be out for a while,” explained coach Rick Carlisle. “We’ll update [things] in about seven days. He didn’t reinjure the Achilles, it’s just lingering. It’s not getting better the way it needs to, so we got to shut him down. Is it bad news, yes. But we’ll get through it. His health is the most important thing. He’s more than willing to continue playing, but it’s pretty obvious that things just aren’t right. We’ve got to do the right thing here and get it fixed.”
Pacific Notes: Goodwin, Jones, Clippers, D’Antoni
Former Suns guard Archie Goodwin cleared waivers today at 5 pm Eastern time and is now officially a free agent. Phoenix released Goodwin on Monday after being unable to deal him to another team. The 22-year-old out of Kentucky spent three seasons with the Suns. He appeared in 57 games last season, averaging 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per night.
There’s more news out of the Pacific Division:
- Derrick Jones overcame long odds to earn a spot on the Suns‘ roster, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The 19-year-old wasn’t taken in the draft after being ruled ineligible at UNLV, then missed all of summer league with an injury. Jones signed a four-year contract that could be worth up to $3.6MM, but all he is guaranteed for now is $42.5K of his $543,471 salary. Still, he is elated about the opportunity. “When I was the last one here from training camp, I knew there was a reason I am here,” Jones said. “I feel as though I’m a NBA player. I have NBA athleticism. My game is going to come a long way. I just got to be able to knock down my jump shots consistently. That’s one thing I’m going to put in work to do.”
- The Clippers understand they may be facing their final season with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, relays Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Both are expected to opt out next summer and become free agents. With J.J. Redick also headed toward free agency and L.A. well over the salary cap, it will create a serious financial strain to keep the current core together. “We’re not really worried about what happens after this season. We’re worried about what happens in the season,” Griffin said. “Every year, if you don’t have a sense of urgency, if it takes somebody being like ‘This could be the last year to have a sense of urgency,’ then you’re already kind of playing from behind. I don’t think it really affects us.”
- New Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni thought his career might be over when he left the Lakers in 2014, writes Bill Oram of The Orange Country Register. Not only did that team underachieve, but D’Antoni spent much of the season fighting with Kobe Bryant. D’Antoni revived his career as an assistant with the Sixers last season before being hired by Houston over the summer. “It’s a privilege to be able to coach in this league,” D’Antoni said. “It’s very rare you can dictate where you want to go, and usually where you’re going they have problems or you wouldn’t be going there. You just try to find the right situation, and if it’s not the right situation, try to make it work. If it doesn’t work out, try to live to fight a battle someplace else. It was a privilege to coach the Lakers. It was a privilege to coach Kobe and those guys. I’m better for it.”
Rockets Notes: Ennis, Motiejunas, Dekker, Capela
Thursday’s trade for point guard Tyler Ennis is a sign of the new approach that coach Mike D’Antoni wants to bring to the Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Ennis was acquired from the Bucks in exchange for veteran forward Michael Beasley. While Beasley is a volume shooter and productive scorer, Ennis thrives in running an offense, particularly the pick-and-roll. Feigen sees the deal as a sign that Houston is moving away from the one-on-one philosophy that has marked the team through much of the James Harden era.
There’s more news out of Houston:
- D’Antoni sounded confident that power forward Donatas Motiejunas will be re-signed, Feigen tweets. The restricted free agent has been in a contract impasse with the Rockets all summer, with no movement other than the team submitting a qualifying offer. That offer will expire October 1st if Motiejunas doesn’t accept it. Last week, B.J. Armstrong, the agent for Motiejunas, charged that the Rockets have yet to make a serious offer. Feigen adds that GM Daryl Morey refused to say much about the Motiejunas negotiations at Friday’s media day.
- After missing almost his entire rookie year with back problems, Sam Dekker is ready to make up for lost time, Feigen writes in a separate piece. The 22-year-old combo forward said he felt “really good” today after the first practice of the new season and he hopes his physical problems are in the past. The 18th pick in the 2015 draft, Dekker managed just three games and six minutes for the Rockets last season. “I’m a guy that can come in and add energy, add a spark,” Dekker said. “There is a lot I can bring to the table. I’ve been able to show that this summer. I’m looking to keep improving that. I feel much better than I did last year in terms of mentally. The game has slowed down and I know the nuances of the NBA style of basketball. I’m looking to make a splash.”
- The Rockets are counting on Clint Capela to improve his game to compensate for the loss of Dwight Howard, relays the Associated Press. The Rockets also signed Nene to provide frontcourt help, but they are counting on Capela to handle most of the work. “Clint is going to have to take a big step forward and it’s not an easy step,” Morey said. “To go from playing 15-20 minutes against often not the starting center to playing 25-plus minutes against front-line guys, that’s a big step forward. It’s more physical. It takes a big toll on your body to do that night-in and night-out.”