Northwest Notes: Rose, Roberson, Brewer, Olshey
Derrick Rose, who signed with the Timberwolves earlier today, will make $460,468 for the rest of the season, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The move will carry a $290,951 cap hit for Minnesota, which still has one open roster space. The team will save about $100K between the signing of Rose and the buyout of Shabazz Muhammad, Marks adds (Twitter link). Rose still has about $460K remaining on the minimum-salary deal he signed with the Cavaliers last summer.
Rose participated in today’s shootaround with the Wolves, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, and may play tonight against the Celtics, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link).
“I think I can play with anybody, to tell you the truth,” Rose said. “I know the game. I’m not a selfish player. I’m not here for stats or anything like that. I just want to win.” (Twitter link).
“I know who Derrick is,” added Minnesota coach/executive Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose in Chicago. “I know who he is. I spent a lot of time with him.” (Twitter link)
There’s more from the Midwest Division:
- Thunder guard Andre Roberson is facing “the slow grind” of rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon, writes Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. Although he has gotten past “the pain stages” of the injury, Roberson’s left knee is still mostly immobile and he can barely bend it. “It’s definitely the mental part,” Roberson said when asked about the toughest part of the injury. “Staying positive. Just tell yourself, ‘Day by day, get through it.’ And just grind it out.” Without Roberson, the Thunder have fallen from sixth to 21st in defensive rating.
- Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni is happy to see Thunder swingman Corey Brewer get another shot with a contender, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Brewer, who played in Houston before being traded last season, signed with Oklahoma City over the weekend after agreeing to a buyout with the Lakers. “You can’t go wrong signing a guy like that,” D’Antoni said. “Guys wanted to re-sign him just for being on the airplane laughing with him. He’s terrific.”
- Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey discussed the Western Conference playoff race, the challenges of operating without a direct G League affiliate and the plan to add more talent around Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in a podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Kyler’s Latest: Magic, Walker, Kawhi, Bucks, Blazers
Teams that have been in contact with the Magic believe that Orlando’s front office is looking to shed some salary and trade players that don’t fit the club’s direction, Steve Kyler reports in his latest piece for Basketball Insiders. However, draft picks don’t appear to be atop the Magic’s wish list, with the team preferring to acquire expiring contracts and/or players on rookie contracts. Kyler suggests that Orlando would prefer to acquire players that are a little further along, rather than rebooting its rebuilding process by focusing on future picks.
While the Magic have “seriously” gauged potential trade interest in Elfrid Payton, Evan Fournier still looks like the player most likely to be moved at the deadline, according to Kyler. Fournier is enjoying a career year, posting a career-best 18.0 PPG through 38 games this season, and he seems to be generating the most interest from rival teams.
Here are a few more highlights from Kyler’s latest look at the trade market:
- League sources that have engaged the Hornets in Kemba Walker discussions believe that Charlotte is gathering facts and information, but is unlikely to move the star point guard at the February 8 deadline, according to Kyler. An offseason trade involving Walker may be more viable.
- There’s a belief that the Hornets tried to engage the Spurs about a trade idea involving Walker and Kawhi Leonard, which may have been how the Walker rumors started, writes Kyler. Leonard was named specifically in Rick Bonnell’s recent Charlotte Observer story as the type of All-Star the Hornets would want to get back for Walker, so there may be something to that theory. However, league sources tell Kyler that the Spurs have immediately shut down any inquiries they’ve received on Leonard.
- It’s not out of the question that Jabari Parker could become a trade chip for the Bucks if the right deal arises, says Kyler. League sources tell Basketball Insiders that the Bucks are “weighing where they are” with the former No. 2 overall pick, who will be a restricted free agent this summer. According to Kyler, Milwaukee continues to eye noteworthy bigs like DeAndre Jordan and Hassan Whiteside, dangling John Henson and some young players as potential bait.
- In the wake of news that Damian Lillard met with Paul Allen last week, Kyler hears that the Trail Blazers owner has taken a “more hands-on approach” recently. That includes having top-level staff members gauge the general opinion around the NBA on president Neil Olshey and head coach Terry Stotts.
Trail Blazers Extend Neil Olshey Through 2021
The Trail Blazers have agreed to a contract extension for Neil Olshey that will keep the president of basketball operations under team control through 2021, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, Portland will exercise its two remaining options on Olshey’s contract to lock him up through 2020, and the two sides added an extra year to his deal on top of that.
Olshey, who has been the head of basketball operations in Portland since 2012, joined the Blazers after spending multiple seasons with the Clippers as their GM and VP of basketball ops. Since Olshey took over in Portland, the Blazers have compiled a 223-187 (.544) regular season record, earning playoff berths in four of his five seasons.
While some of Olshey’s moves in the summer of 2016 – including signing Evan Turner and extending Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard to lucrative long-term deals – received criticism, he has done well overall during his time with the Blazers. Olshey drafted Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum during his first two years with the franchise, and more recently acquired Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round pick in a seemingly lopsided deal with the Nuggets.
The Hawks had interest in interviewing Olshey for their GM job earlier this offseason, but were denied permission by Portland, says Wojnarowski.
According to Basketball Insiders’ data, the Blazers are carrying $124MM+ in guaranteed team salary for 2017/18 and have $114MM+ in guarantees on the books for 2018/19, even without taking a potential Nurkic extension into account. As such, Olshey will have his work cut out for him as he looks to continue building the Blazers’ roster into a title contender.
Blazers Deny Hawks Request To Interview Olshey
6:16pm: A later tweet from the Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that, even though the probing of Olshey was stymied, it indicates that the Hawks are willing to spend significant money on an elite executive.
5:52pm: The Hawks were denied a request to discuss their vacant general manager position with Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reports. The Blazers executive has managed Portland’s roster since 2010.
The Hawks have been in the market for a general manager ever since the roles of Mike Budenholzer and Wes Wilcox were modified earlier this month. As we wrote at the time, head coach Budenholzer relinquished his title as the president of basketball operations and Wilcox was transferred to a different role in the front office.
Lately the Hawks have been scouring the industry for possible replacements, with names like Scott Perry, David Griffin and Joe Dumars all popping up over the course of the past few weeks.
Blazers GM Talks Draft, Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic
During his end-of-season press conference with reporters on Tuesday, Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey confirmed that injured center Festus Ezeli won’t be back on the roster next season, as we noted yesterday. However, that wasn’t the only topic of interest that Olshey touched on during his session with local media.
Mike Richman of The Oregonian has the transcript of several noteworthy comments from the Trail Blazers GM, who provided lengthy and thoughtful answers to many questions about the state of the roster and specific players. The whole piece is worth checking out, particularly for Blazers fans, but here are some of the highlights from Olshey:
On the Blazers’ offseason outlook:
“I think this is the first summer where we haven’t had cap room since I’ve been here. … I think a lot of the growth of the roster is going to come internally. We had the youngest team in the league this year. We had the youngest team in the playoffs for the second year in a row. So I think we have to grow internally too.
“But the three (first-round) draft picks — we moved the Cleveland pick into this year and that was done strategically knowing we weren’t going to have as many resources in terms of cap room or exceptions. So, the three draft picks give us a lot of flexibility. Not just in acquiring players through the draft, but as tools to get deals done. It’s why we were so aggressive in trying to add an additional pick.”
On the possibility of trading either Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum:
“The odds of anything ever coming up of commensurate value is so hard to even fathom. I could give you the trite answer that nobody is untradable, but clearly they are.”
On Jusuf Nurkic‘s emergence after being traded to Portland:
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you Nurk was going to do what he did and they were going to have folk songs written about him in Bosnia or anything else. But we also know when you look at his advanced numbers, this was a guy capable of averaging a double-double if given the opportunity. (Nuggets GM) Tim Connelly and his staff did an unbelievable job. They not only found Jusuf Nurkic. They found a guy who beat out Jusuf Nurkic through the draft, middle of the first and late second. They did their part. But we’ve seen it on our roster. There are times you’ve got to give guys up. We all knew how talented Will Barton was, but we were trying to make an upgrade at the time and we had Allen Crabbe, we had Wes (Matthews), we had C.J. I think that’s the situation [Denver] ended up in.”
On how Nurkic’s breakout second half affects the Blazers’ summer plans:
“We’re not looking for a center. Quite honestly, when we got here five years ago we thought we were 60% of the way to a starting lineup. But I think we’ve all talked about that in the past. We drafted Dame, we experimented the first year, then we found RoLo (Robin Lopez). And I think this past year I think we felt like we were closer to the 60% than we really were in a year where the West was, quite honestly, much more competitive than it had been the year prior. But I think getting Jusuf solidifies that position.”
On whether the Blazers will look to extend Nurkic’s contract this offseason:
“I haven’t even thought about it, honestly. Everybody’s a little raw. It was a weird ride, right? He kinda came in out of nowhere. He blew up and then got hurt. We gotta get guys healthy first and then get them all back in the gym and again see what we have. But I don’t talk about contract negotiations. Even when you saw some of the guys last year whether it was Moe (Harkless) or Meyers (Leonard), when we had deals done, we had deals done. But it didn’t play out in the media and it really wasn’t public.”
On whether the Blazers considered tanking instead of making a run for the No. 8 seed:
“Never. You can’t build a winning culture by losing. … I think we’re one of only six teams to make the playoffs in the last four years. And that’s not to tout it, because finishing eighth and getting beat in the first round in a sweep to Golden (State) isn’t something to beat your breast about when you’re comparing yourself to Golden and the Spurs, the upper echelon. But when you look at the reverse of that, when you look at some teams that have wallowed in the lottery … when you fall back into that and you accept that it becomes easier to stay there.”
Agent Rob Pelinka Frontrunner For Lakers’ GM Job
With general manager Mitch Kupchak and executive VP of basketball operations Jim Buss having been relieved of their duties in the Lakers’ front office, new president of basketball operations Magic Johnson will call the shots in L.A. However, the club remains on the lookout for a new GM, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report (Twitter links), longtime player agent Rob Pelinka has emerged as a frontrunner for the position.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne first reported (via Twitter) that Pelinka, who represents Kobe Bryant and many current NBA players, was on the Lakers’ radar for a front office role. If the team decides to hire Pelinka, he would have to divest himself of his representation business, which would take some time, as Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter).
Several other rumors are swirling as the Lakers’ front office undergoes major changes, so let’s round them up…
- Assuming the Lakers haven’t already decided on Pelinka, there are a number of other potential candidates believed to be on their radar, per Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links). According to Amick, Blazers GM Neil Olshey, former Cavs GM Chris Grant, Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, and Pacers VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie are worth keeping an eye on.
- ESPN’s Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that another veteran player agent – Arn Tellem – is also said to be a potential target for the Lakers. However, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets, Tellem – who formerly represented Kobe Bryant – has been very involved in the Pistons‘ move to downtown Detroit and seems unlikely to bolt in the middle of that project.
- Magic Johnson has previously talked about wanting Bryant to have a role in the Lakers’ front office. Shelburne tweets that the future Hall-of-Famer is “happy doing what he’s doing,” but would be available to the organization if needed.
- Jerry West hasn’t been approached by the Lakers about a role in the team’s front office, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. According to Ding (via Twitter), West won’t be a part of the club’s new management group.
- According to Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter links), one reason the Warriors were motivated to give GM Bob Myers a promotion and a raise last summer was to avoid making him a target for the Lakers.
Trail Blazers Notes: Leonard, Crabbe, Free Agency
- President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey never balked at matching the monstrous four-year, $75MM offer sheet the Nets handed to Allen Crabbe, he told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The 24-year-old shooting guard averaged 10.3 points as the team’s sixth man last season and cashed in on a free agent bonanza. “It was never a question. We don’t draft guys here to let them walk away or we don’t take it for granted,” Olshey said. “I think you’ve seen the commitment we’ve made to the guys we’ve drafted.”
- In the same story, Olshey indicated he accomplished his offseason goals by retaining Leonard and Crabbe while adding two outside free agents, swingman Evan Turner and center Festus Ezeli. “I think we maximized our cap room,” Olshey said. “We had some holes, maybe not positionally, but in terms of skill-set, that we identified. We were able to do, I think, a pretty admirable job in free agency.”
- The Blazers have their deepest roster since Olshey joined the franchise in 2012, Mike Richman of The Oregonian opines. Ezeli and Leonard will join Mason Plumlee, Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu in the frontcourt rotation while backcourt starters Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have solid backups in Crabbe and Turner, who will also see playing time at small forward, Richman points out. They could be even deeper if they retain restricted free agent forward Moe Harkless, Richman adds.
Northwest Notes: Crabbe, Ezeli, Wade, Thibodeau
The Blazers will have until Sunday at 8:59 p.m. Portland time — or 11:59 p.m. Brooklyn time — to decide whether to match the Nets’ offer sheet for Allen Crabbe, tweets Jason Quick of CSNNW. Crabbe, a restricted free agent, signed a four-year, $75MM offer from the Nets on Thursday. League rules give the Blazers three days to decide whether to match, and GM Neil Olshey isn’t offering any clues about his decision. (Twitter link). Crabbe is coming off his best NBA season, averaging 10.3 points in 81 games.
There’s more news from the Northwest Division:
- Festus Ezeli‘s deal with the Blazers contained less money than expected because of concerns about his knees, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The former Warriors center signed a two-year, $16MM contract with Portland on Friday, with a team option for the second season. Ezeli had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in February, and a source told Spears that teams are worried about his durability.
- Even though they didn’t land free agent guard Dwyane Wade, the Nuggets came away from the pursuit feeling good about their future, tweets Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nuggets officials had a meeting with Wade, and the team was considered a serious suitor until the Bulls came in with an offer. “It was enjoyable to hear what he thought about our situation,” said Denver GM Tim Connelly. “It was pretty encouraging.”
- The Timberwolves are taking a cautious approach when it comes to free agency, according to John Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). New Minnesota coach/executive Tom Thibodeau addressed the topic during a conference call with media members today. “It’s our first year; it’s important for us to be patient in evaluating the players that we do have,” he said, “but if it’s [necessary] for us to go after people, we will.” Thibodeau also expressed excitement about the addition of free agent Brandon Rush, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. The coach likes Rush’s versatility, but says he needs to improve his shooting.
Northwest Notes: Blazers, Maker, Workouts
Timing will be crucial for the Blazers this offseason, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Meyers Leonard Allen Crabbe and Maurice Harkless are all restricted free agents and leading up to free agency, it will be critical for GM Neil Olshey to understand the market for the trio in order to project how Portland operates this summer, Marks argues. The Blazers have a chance to add other pieces using their cap space and then circle back and sign their restricted free agents. However, if another team swoops in and signs one of them, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to use the cap space they’ve created.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Wolves interviewed Thon Maker last week in Chicago, reports Darren Wolfson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The Jazz have worked out Anthony Beane, Ethan Telfair, Quincy Ford, Jarrod Uthoff, DyShawn Pierre and David Walker, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Nuggets will work out Anthony Barber, Isaiah Cousins, Nikola Jovanovic, Alec Peters, Josh Scott and Pascal Siakam on Friday, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Nuggets also have workouts planned for Saturday. They will work out Ron Baker, Dillon Brooks, Robert Carter, Tyler Dorsey, Marcus Georges-Hunt and Shawn Long on Saturday, Kennedy tweets.
Neil Olshey On: Team Needs, Free Agents, Lillard
Trail Blazers executive Neil Olshey held a question and answer session with reporters earlier today, his first since the team was eliminated by the Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals. Olshey addressed a number of topics regarding the team’s offseason ahead and some of the highlights are shown below. The transcription comes courtesy of Joe Freeman of The Oregonian:
On the team’s biggest needs:
“I don’t want to get too specific, because then it all of a sudden it translates to we’re talking about specific players. Clearly there’s areas we need to improve. We didn’t answer all of our questions last year. When we talked … last July, nobody was under the impression that we built an entire roster for the next five years. But it was step one. I think step one just got us closer to where we want to go, but there’s still work to be done. We’ll look for upgrades, even if it’s not over guys that are here. But if we lose guys to free agency, we’ll have roster spots. We’ll find ways to continue to build the roster. We’ll have some flexibility because the cap holds for our restricted free agents are lower, probably, than their market value. So we have the opportunity to go out and use these resources this summer. Like I said, we’ll be as aggressive as we were last July.”
On whether or not he considers recruiting big name free agents to Portland a hurdle:
“It’s absolutely a hurdle. I think we’ve said it. Whenever we break the ice on that, when we get that first guy to come, it will be unprecedented when you look at the history. I think we’ve gotten good free agents. Brian Grant and Wesley Matthews and guys like Al-Farouq Aminu and Ed Davis and players like Chris Kaman. We’ve gotten guys, but they’ve had the right sensibility that we knew they would work in this marketplace, they fit with the team.
The key for us is making sure the guys we get are about what we’re about, that basketball is their first priority. And they’ll subordinate lifestyle at times for success on the court. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. All we can control is creating the best basketball environment we can possibly control. The longer we’re at this and the more we do this; our guys that were here become ambassadors for the way they were treated. You want that to circulate around the league, that this is place you want to go. If basketball is your priority, they’ll make you the priority. You’ll work as a team and as an individual.”
On if Damian Lillard will play a role in recruiting free agents:
“He played a role last year, too. I’m a big believer in talking to players about player acquisitions. I did it with guys with the Clippers, I did it since I’ve been here. It’s not a matter of them signing off on guys, it’s a matter of getting feedback and how do we think a guy would fit in. Because we do protect our culture. Players know players better than we do. They’re in the locker rooms with them, they’re on the road with them, they play against them, they’re on the floor with them. So they know what guys are about. It would be obtuse not to go ask these guys, ‘Hey, what do you think? What have you heard? You played with this guy in this spot. Would he fit in with how we do things?’ I can tell you there have been decisions we’ve made — and this isn’t just Damian at the All-Star level, this is across the board — where I’ve asked guys and I’ve said, ‘You know what, based on what he’s said, we might want to kind of dig in on this guy a little bit and make sure he would fit in with what we’re doing.”
On if the team will target players who are on similar career arcs of Lillard and C.J. McCollum:
“That’s a good question. It always depends on who the player is. My buddy [Kaman] is sitting up there, the gray beard. Chris got along with this group, regardless of age, as well as anybody. His leadership with Dame, the way he related to the younger guys in our locker room. I get your point about the age when we made long-term decisions. But age doesn’t factor in if culturally, chemistry … guys aren’t going to fit into our group. I think that’s really what’s important. We’ve got a lot of young guys on the roster. Clearly if you can sign a younger player longer term, if you believe in them, it’s more beneficial for the long-term health of the organization.“