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Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Celtics, Watson, Nets

October 8th, 2020 at 7:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Sixers head coach Doc Rivers will have to carefully navigate the workload of injury-prone All-Star center Joel Embiid, Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. Rivers signed a five-year contract with the club last week.

Load management became a crucial tool for Rivers this past season with the Clippers, as he strove to tacitly limit the minutes and games played by stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George so that the forwards could be healthy for the playoffs. He discussed his approach with the Sixers in a Zoom call with reporters on Monday. “Load management is so individual-based,” Rivers said. “Every team has to deal with it, and we’ll have to deal with it here, and we’ll probably figure it out.”

There’s more out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

  • The Celtics enjoyed a relatively successful 2019/20 season, as free agent addition Kemba Walker joined rising star forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to take Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals. John Hollinger of The Athletic examines the upcoming roster and luxury tax challenges confronting team president Danny Ainge in the 2020 offseason. The team could be in line for a $23MM luxury tax penalty with its extant on-court personnel, even before making any offseason additions.
  • Raptors shooting guard Paul Watson, currently on a two-way contract, could be the next development success story for team president Masai Ujiri and the Toronto front office, according to Alex Nino Gheciu and Alex Narvaez of Complex.“He’s gonna be part of our future from what I can see so far,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of the 25-year-old.
  • NetsDaily.com takes a look at the potential assistant coaches who could be joining newly-minted Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash on the sidelines. The team currently has five assistant coaches from interim head coach Jacque Vaughn‘s 2019/20 staff, including Vaughn himself. Hornets lead assistant coach Jay Triano, G League executive Rod Strickland, Lakers assistant Phil Handy, and Thunder assistant Brian Keefe could all be in the mix.
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Atlantic Notes: Payne, Anunoby, Ibaka, Watson, Sixers

August 14th, 2020 at 4:13pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Knicks hired Kenny Payne away from Kentucky this week, it represented another instance of new executives Leon Rose and William Wesley bringing aboard someone with whom they have a preexisting relationship. However, Kentucky head coach John Calipari tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News that Payne was very capable of making the leap to the NBA with or without those connections.

“You got to understand, he’s been invited to four different NBA teams where they had their summer camp and did stuff and won there,” Calipari said of his longtime assistant. “And why do you think they’re bringing him there? Trying to feel him out. They want to see him teach, they want to see him interact. And those were some of the top franchises out there. I knew why they were doing it. And because we were paying him so much, none of them thought he would leave (Kentucky) to go to the Knicks. Now they’re pissed that they didn’t bring him in. …There were other franchises that would’ve (hired him).”

While Calipari may be right that other teams would have liked to hire Payne before New York did, it’s not clear whether those clubs would’ve been willing to pay the price necessary to bring him aboard. According to Bondy (Twitter link), Payne will earn over $1.5MM with the Knicks, making him one of the NBA’s highest-paid assistants.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • Two of the Raptors‘ key rotation players, OG Anunoby (right knee soreness) and Serge Ibaka (right knee contusion), sat out again on Friday, but MRIs on their knees came back clean and head coach Nick Nurse believes both players will be ready to go when the playoffs begin on Monday, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link).
  • Raptors two-way player Paul Watson has had a chance to get some playing time in Orlando and took advantage in the team’s final seeding game on Friday, pouring in 22 points in 27 minutes and impressing Nurse. “He’s pretty good. He can play,” Nurse said of Watson (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of The Athletic). “… He’s gonna be part of our future from what I can see so far.”
  • Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wonders if Ben Simmons‘ absence in the playoffs might give the Sixers an opportunity to answer some nagging questions about their roster. Even if Philadelphia is eliminated quickly, the team will get a chance to see what it looks like when it leans primarily on Joel Embiid rather than balancing its two stars, O’Connor writes.
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Heat’s Gabe Vincent Named NBAGL Most Improved Player

June 22nd, 2020 at 1:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat two-way player Gabe Vincent has been named the NBA G League’s Most Improved Player for the 2019/20 season, the league announced today in a press release.

Vincent, who went undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara in 2018, played for the Stockton Kings – Sacramento’s G League affiliate – in his first professional season, averaging 8.4 PPG, 2.4 APG, and 2.2 RPG on .382/.291/.710 shooting in 25 games (17.8 MPG).

He took a major step forward in 2019/20, first for Stockton and then for the Sioux Falls Skyforce – Miami’s NBAGL affiliate – after he signed a two-way deal with the Heat in January. In 31 total games (29.3 MPG), Vincent recorded 21.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .450/.406/.923 shooting line. The 6’3″ guard also made his NBA debut earlier this year, appearing in six total games for the Heat.

The runners-up in the G League’s Most Improved Player vote are also under contract with NBA teams. Raptors two-way player Paul Watson finished second, with Warriors guard Mychal Mulder coming in third.

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Raptors Notes: Salary Cap, Draft, Watson

May 20th, 2020 at 8:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors will have major roster decisions to make during the 2020 and 2021 offseasons. At the end of the current season, Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka, and Marc Gasol will all become unrestricted free agents, forcing Toronto to either lock them up long-term, try to negotiate one-year deals, or risk losing them for nothing.

A year later, the Raptors’ cap is relatively clear, and there have been frequent whispers about the team looking to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has a long-standing relationship with president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri.

While the financial impact of the NBA’s coronavirus-related hiatus may not entirely upend those plans, it’ll affect them to some extent, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. As Lewenberg observes, a lower salary cap than expected in 2020/21 may result in many free agents settling for one-year contracts, which could increase the Raptors’ chances of re-signing their own veterans.

As for 2021, Lewenberg thinks that the Raptors should have enough room for a maximum-salary player even if the cap levels off, but VanVleet’s next contract could be a wild card — a multiyear deal this offseason would cut into Toronto’s flexibility going forward.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

  • Based on the current NBA standings, Toronto would receive the 28th and 58th overall picks in the 2020 draft. Blake Murphy and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic explore what the Raptors might be looking for with those selections, specifically discussing whether DePaul’s Paul Reed, Washington’s Isaiah Stewart, or Charleston’s Grant Riller could be among the team’s targets.
  • Could Paul Watson, who signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Raptors in January, become the team’s latest under-the-radar value addition? Blake Murphy of The Athletic examines that question, with some input from veteran player development coach Rico Hines.
  • NBA teams may start recalling players to their home markets in early June, but the U.S./Canada border will remained closed for non-essential travel for at least a few weeks beyond that. As we detailed earlier today, that’s not expected to be a major impediment for the Raptors.
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Raptors Waive Shamorie Ponds, Sign Paul Watson

January 15th, 2020 at 5:50pm CST by Luke Adams

5:50pm: The Raptors have officially signed Watson to a two-way deal, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.

7:39am: The Raptors are making a change to one of their two-way contract slots, announcing this morning in a press release that they’ve waived guard Shamorie Ponds. According to Brad Rowland of UPROXX Sports (Twitter link), guard Paul Watson is expected to sign a two-way deal with Toronto.

Ponds, 21, joined the Rockets last summer after going undrafted out of St. John’s. He was cut at the end of the preseason and appeared to be on track to join Houston’s G League affiliate. Instead, he was scooped up a few days later by the Raptors, who signed him to a two-way contract.

While he didn’t see much NBA action, logging 11 total minutes in four games, Ponds has been a regular part of the rotation for the Raptors 905 in the G League. He has averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 2.1 APG in 18 NBAGL contests (28.1 MPG).

As for Watson, he spent most of the season with the Raptors 905 too before signing a 10-day contract with the Hawks on January 6. Atlanta released Watson on Tuesday, a day before that deal was set to expire. If he had played out his full 10-day pact, he wouldn’t have been eligible to sign a two-way contract before today’s deadline, so the Hawks did him a favor by letting him go early.

The 25-year-old Fresno State alum has averaged 18.4 PPG and 7.4 RPG with a .533 FG% and .467 3PT% in 13 games (34.4 MPG) for Toronto’s G League affiliate this season. Now that the Raptors are getting healthy, Watson will likely continue to spend most of his time at the NBAGL level, rather than with the NBA club.

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Hawks Waive Paul Watson

January 14th, 2020 at 10:26pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Hawks have released Paul Watson, the team announces. Watson signed a 10-day contract with Atlanta on January 6.

The shooting guard appeared in two games during his short stint with the Hawks. He saw just 17 minutes of court time and went 0-for-7 from the field.

Prior to joining Atlanta, Watson spent this season with Raptors 905, where he is averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 13 games while shooting 46.7% from 3-point range. Undrafted out of Fresno State in 2017, Watson had a brief stop in Germany before joining the G League later that year.

Atlanta now has 14 players under contract.

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Hawks Sign Paul Watson To 10-Day Contract

January 6th, 2020 at 8:50am CST by Arthur Hill

JANUARY 6: Watson’s 10-day contract with the Hawks is now official, the team announced today in a press release. The deal makes Watson the first player to sign a 10-day contract in 2020 and will keep him locked up through January 15.

JANUARY 4: The Hawks will sign G League swingman Paul Watson to a 10-day contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Watson has spent this season with Raptors 905, where he is averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 13 games while shooting 46.7% from 3-point range. Undrafted out of Fresno State in 2017, Watson had a brief stop in Germany before joining the G League later that year.

Tomorrow is the first day this season that 10-day contracts can be extended. Teams can sign players to a pair of 10-day deals, then they must either be waived or signed for the rest of the season.

Atlanta only has 14 players on its active roster, so Watson can be added with no corresponding move. The Hawks have been carrying an open roster spot since waiving Tyrone Wallace on December 14.

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Knicks Waive Paul Watson

October 7th, 2018 at 8:28am CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks once again opened a spot on their training camp roster by waiving a player who appears destined for their G League team, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. This time it’s Paul Watson, a shooting guard from Fresno State who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the team Friday.

Watson follows Tyrius Walker, John Jenkins and Billy Garrett, who have all been signed and quickly waived in the past week.

Watson played for New York’s Westchester affiliate last season, so the Knicks already owned his returning G League rights. However, the Exhibit 10 clause gives him the chance for a $50K bonus if he spends at least two months in Westchester this season. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 45 games last year.

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Knicks Sign Paul Watson

October 5th, 2018 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks‘ 20th-man carousel continues to rotate, with the team announcing today (via Twitter) that it has signed former Fresno State shooting guard Paul Watson to fill the opening on its roster.

Watson, who went undrafted in 2017, played for the Westchester Knicks last season, averaging 6.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 45 G League games (23 starts). He also played five games for the Knicks’ Las Vegas Summer League squad in July.

The Knicks already had Watson’s returning NBAGL rights, so signing him doesn’t change that — it does give the club a chance to give him a bonus worth up to $50K via the Exhibit 10 clause if he rejoins the Westchester Knicks and spends at least two months with the club this season. That bonus won’t count against New York’s NBA salary cap.

Like Tyrius Walker, John Jenkins, and Billy Garrett before him, Watson will likely be waived by the Knicks shortly after being signed.

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Central Notes: Pistons, Bucks, Wade, Pacers

June 14th, 2017 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Michigan prospects are among the players to work out for the Pistons this week, with both Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin getting a look from the club. Walton was part of a Tuesday workout group that also included Tony Bradley (UNC), Melo Trimble (Maryland), Davon Reed (Miami), Peter Jok (Iowa), and Luke Fischer (Marquette) (Twitter links via Rod Beard of The Detroit News and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com).

Meanwhile, Irvin’s pre-draft workout will take place today, as the Pistons audition a group that also features Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Marcus Keene (Central Michigan), Bryce Alford (UCLA), Derek Willis (Kentucky), and T.J. Cline (Richmond), per Langlois (Twitter link).

As Detroit weighs its draft options, let’s round up a few more items from around the Central division…

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