And-Ones: Durant, Kerr, Walton, J.R. Smith
The Thunder had some concern when Kevin Durant hired Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports agency, but the team and Roc Nation have developed a “positive” and “constructive” working relationship, and those initial concerns have dissipated, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, citing sources. Oklahoma City will base its pitch to Durant in free agency this summer on the the youth of its roster, its track record of spending this season and last, its ability to keep spending and the presence of coach Billy Donovan, as Windhorst details. The Thunder have learned from the mistakes the Cavs made in 2010 as they unsuccessfully tried to keep LeBron James from departing a team that was aging and largely without financial flexibility, and the Oklahoma City organization doesn’t overreact to incremental developments or discouraging rumors, Windhorst explains. While we wait to find out just what happens when Durant hits free agency in six and a half months, see more from around the Association:
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr hopes to return from his leave of absence within two to three weeks, he said Wednesday, according to Janie McCauley of The Associated Press. Kerr attended practice Monday and Tuesday and the team’s shootaround Wednesday, McCauley notes.
- Interim coach Luke Walton figured there was no way Kerr would miss opening night and thought his leave, which began October 1st, would last only a couple of weeks, writes Lee Jenkins of SI.com in a piece that delves into Walton’s background to find explanation for why he’s been so successful with the Warriors this season.
- The Cavs and Jazz have a general reputation as the teams that players least want to play for, J.R. Smith tells of Devin Friedman of GQ.com, admitting he was “petrified” to go to Cleveland when the Knicks traded him there in January. He’s warmed to what he calls an underestimated city since then, re-signing with the Cavs this summer and falling in line with the team’s all-business, no-party approach, as Friedman details. Smith also told Friedman he endures racial slurs from fans when he plays in Utah, joked about marijuana use, and called China, where he played in 2011/12 the “worst place I’ve ever been in my life.”
Pacific Notes: Kerr, Monroe, Kobe, Lieberman
Steve Kerr isn’t thinking at all about sitting out the entire season and believes he’ll return from his leave of absence at some point before it’s over, as he said to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The progress the Warriors coach has made of late in his recovery from two back surgeries is plain to see, observes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
See more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers focused on basketball in their free agent pitch to Greg Monroe, unlike their ill-fated business-oriented approach to LaMarcus Aldridge, Byron Scott said Tuesday, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News relays (Twitter link). “There wasn’t anything they did wrong. I just made the best decision for me,” Monroe said to Medina about his choice of the Bucks over the Lakers and others. “It wasn’t anything they didn’t do or did do.”
- Kobe Bryant is playing much better of late, and that has to do with his greater comfort with the Lakers‘ young players, Scott believes, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register details. No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell is also looking improved, and that has Scott looking smart, at least for now, Oram writes. “So [Kobe]’s kind of … stepping to the side a little bit and letting them have a little more say in what they do out there,” Scott said. “There’s a lot of times in the game where he just kind of defers to those guys.”
- George Karl had thought about hiring a female assistant coach for years before he and the Kings brought Nancy Lieberman onto the staff this past summer, notes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. “I think it’s been good,” Karl said. “Sometimes I think we [head coaches] have been too macho about this for too long. Everybody connects with people differently, and some players communicate better with women. That’s why you want three or four assistants. With Nancy, obviously she knows the game. But the best thing she does is connect one-on-one with the players. She can take hard subjects and go to a player, and that’s very unusual in a young coach.”
Pacific Notes: Kobe, Lieberman, Walton, Green
The Warriors keep on rolling, but the same can’t be said for Kobe Bryant, whose game has fallen off sharply in what figures to be his final season. Bryant matched the worst shooting performance of his career, going 1 for 14 Tuesday as the Lakers fell to the Warriors, 111-77, sending Golden State to the first 16-0 mark in NBA history. Bryant is shooting just 31.1% this season, a career low, but he leads the Lakers in field goal attempts per game.
“I’m not really worried about it, honestly,” Bryant said, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). “My shooting will be better. I could’ve scored 80 tonight. It wouldn’t have made a [expletive] difference. We just have bigger problems. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game. We’d be what, 3-11? We’ve got to figure out how to play systematically in a position that’s going to keep us in ballgames.”
The Lakers are 2-12, but coach Byron Scott said he still has “so much confidence” in Bryant, his former teammate, who remains the NBA’s highest-paid player at $25MM this season, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register relays. See more from the Pacific Division:
- An agent with ties to the Kings predicts chaos if the team were to make Nancy Lieberman the interim coach in the event of a George Karl firing, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. Mannix finds it difficult to envision Lieberman getting the nod, despite a report that owner Vivek Ranadive would favor such a move if he dismisses Karl.
- Warriors interim coach Luke Walton reached out to Phil Jackson before the 2014/15 season to ask whether he should reach out to Steve Kerr, and Jackson, who’d wanted to hire Kerr for the Knicks, told Walton to do so, notes Marcia C. Smith of the Orange County Register. Kerr wound up hiring Walton as an assistant coach, setting in motion the events that would put Walton in charge of the team’s historic run.
- Draymond Green is one of the six or seven most valuable players in the NBA, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group observed Tuesday before Golden State’s game. Green re-signed with the Warriors for $82MM over five years this summer, more than $14MM less than his five-year max.
Warriors Notes: Walton, Kerr, Iguodala, Myers
Steve Kerr still isn’t coaching the Warriors, but he’s a consistent presence around the team, and GM Bob Myers tells USA Today’s Sam Amick he’s grateful that Kerr and interim coach Luke Walton work together as well as they do.
“We’re talking normally a couple times a day now,” Walton said to Amick about Kerr. “And if it’s a home game, we talk at halftime, we talk pregame, we talk at shootarounds. It’s getting more and more.”
The NBA record-tying 15-0 start officially goes on Kerr’s ledger, not Walton’s, but no one on the team is making that an issue, and Walton remains essentially “the same guy” he was when he wasn’t in charge, Stephen Curry said to Amick. See more on the Warriors before they go for an unprecedented 16th straight win to start the season tonight when they play the Lakers:
- The Warriors have a collaborative front office, and that sensibility extends to the coaching staff as well, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com details. Assistant coach Jarron Collins credits Kerr. “If you have an idea and you’re in our organization, he wants to hear about it and he’s willing to listen,” Collins said to Berger. “Steve values input from everybody. When you’re in an environment like that, it makes for a very, very special environment and atmosphere to learn.”
- Warriors players, cognizant that Harrison Barnes is headed to restricted free agency this summer, are intent on helping him as much as possible on the court, Andre Iguodala said in a recent postgame interview with Rosalyn Gold-Onwude of CSNBayArea (video link), as Dan Feldman of ProBasketballTalk transcribes.
- Before he became Executive of the Year, Myers was an agent at Wasserman Media Group, where he made an impression on chairman and CEO Casey Wasserman, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in a profile of Myers. “He had impeccable relationships with the clients. More importantly, he became a friend and valuable part of the company,” Wasserman said. “His success he’s having now is no surprise to me or to anyone else who [has] worked with him.”
Pacific Notes: Karl, Divac, Upshaw, Kerr
DeMarcus Cousins spoke Monday night of the Kings holding a players-only meeting, but the confab, which took place today, also apparently included coaches and front office chief Vlade Divac, who termed it a productive affair, observes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links). Caron Butler said the team is behind coach George Karl, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV.
“We addressed some issues and the most important thing is we are on the same page,” Divac said, according to Jones.
While we wait to see if the meeting helps Sacramento end a six-game losing streak or simply leads to more drama, see more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers worked out Kristaps Porzingis but ultimately passed on him with the No. 2 pick, though coach Byron Scott didn’t expect him to be as productive as he has been so soon for the Knicks, who drafted him fourth, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “From what we saw, he was able to shoot it from 3-point range pretty easily,” Scott said. “He’s a young kid that in the workouts we had, really didn’t show any fear. Just thought it was going to take him some time [to develop]. Obviously, we were probably a little wrong about that because he’s playing pretty well right now.”
- Robert Upshaw said he knew from the start of his deal to join the Lakers that the team would waive him, as the Lakers ultimately did before opening night, but he’s confident he’ll receive another NBA contract this season and isn’t considering a jump overseas, as he told Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). The undrafted big man is with the Lakers D-League team as an affiliate player.
- Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group tosses out some predictions for the rest of the Warriors season, suggesting that if coach Steve Kerr doesn’t make it back by around March 1st, it would be tough to envision him jumping back in so close to the postseason. Still, Kawakami speculates that such a lengthy absence is unlikely.
Pacific Notes: Kerr, Crawford, Teletovic, Lakers
One Warriors player told ESPN’s J.A. Adande he wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Kerr is out until after the All-Star break, as Adande passed along as the sideline reporter for the network’s coverage of Golden State’s win Wednesday over the Clippers (transcription via James Herbert of CBSSports.com). Kerr told Adande that he’s still dealing with headaches and remains heavily medicated as he tries to recover from back surgery. The Warriors haven’t missed a beat under interim coach Luke Walton, who’s steered the team to a 5-0 record and dominant performances. See more from the Pacific:
- Jamal Crawford is seeing decreased minutes this season as expected, but he’s still OK with that, observes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Crawford, a subject of trade rumors this summer with the Heat, Cavs and Knicks reportedly having shown interest, wasn’t present when many of the Clippers traveled to persuade DeAndre Jordan to renege on his decision to bolt to the Mavericks, and when asked why, he said, “I can’t answer that,” according to Bresnahan. However, Crawford did allude to a pro-am tournament that he hosted the same day, Bresnahan points out.
- Offseason signees Sonny Weems and Mirza Teletovic have underwhelming numbers thus far for the Suns, observes Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic. Weems feels his defense and decisions have been solid even though he’s yet to score much, while Teletovic thinks a lack of playing time has affected his 3-point accuracy, which is at 25% for the season after Wednesday’s game. “You can’t expect me to come in and score three threes in two minutes,” Teletovic said prior to Wednesday’s game, as Buchanan relays. “It’s tough. You’re not in rhythm. Obviously coming in in the fourth quarter and stuff like that is really tough. I’m trying, but I’m still working.”
- The Lakers are hoping they can balance winning with player development this season, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News told us for a recent edition of The Beat, and coach Byron Scott acknowledges that it’s his job to do both, as Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com relays. The 0-4 Lakers start a five-game road trip Friday at the Nets. “I’m not always thinking about necessarily developing them,” Scott said of his young players. “I’m always thinking about trying to win. I’m always thinking about trying to win. The development part comes secondary to that, but in practice and everything is where you really work on the development part.”
Pacific Notes: Kerr, Frazier, Eddie, Lakers
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who is currently on a leave of absence while recovering from two offseason back surgeries, hopes to make his return to the bench prior to January, Janie McCauley of The Associated Press writes. “I am feeling better, so that’s the good news. The bad news is I’m not feeling well enough to coach yet,” Kerr said. “It’s hard because I don’t know when that will be. There’s no timetable. It’s not a sprained ankle, two-to-four weeks type thing. When I feel better, I’ll feel better. It’s very frustrating but I am improving. I’m able to physically work out now, which has helped quite a bit the last couple weeks. But I know I’m not healthy enough yet to do this. It’s a demanding job and it wouldn’t be fair to the team and it wouldn’t be smart for me. We’ll see.”
Here’s the latest from the Pacific Division:
- Shooting guard Michael Frazier, who was waived by the Lakers last week, has signed with the team’s D-League affiliate, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).
- Jarell Eddie will rejoin the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest relays (Twitter link). Eddie was waived by the Warriors this past Friday.
- Lakers coach Byron Scott said that it was an agonizing decision to choose between Jabari Brown and Metta World Peace for the team’s final roster spot, which ultimately went to World Peace, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. Scott called it a “very, very, very … difficult decision” to waive Brown and added that “It was probably the most difficult cut that I’ve ever had to make,” Holmes notes. But Scott added that with such a young roster, it was important to add a veteran who could mentor the team’s plethora of younger players, the ESPN scribe relays.
Pacific Notes: Crawford, Barnes, Ezeli, Hibbert
It took a sell job from Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, but Jamal Crawford is on board with continuing to be a part of a crowded rotation, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register details. Rivers and Crawford spoke about their issues over the summer and again before camp, and while Crawford took to social media this summer to drop vague hints that he was dissatisfied, the two-time Sixth Man of the Year now says it can “easily work” for him in L.A. Rivers said in September he was unlikely to trade Crawford, swatting down rumors. See more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob would like to see the team sign Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli to extensions before the November 2nd deadline, but he’d still be OK with them ending up in restricted free agency next summer, as Lacob said in a podcast with Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Lacob also made it seem as though it’s unlikely that Steve Kerr will coach the team in the opener as he continues to nurse his ailing back.
- Roy Hibbert is fostering team chemistry in a way that no one did on the Lakers last year, Jordan Clarkson tells Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. The big man doesn’t see it as all that important but thinks that if he can help others perform, it will reflect well on him in the future. Hibbert is poised to hit free agency this coming summer. “When the team wins,” Hibbert said, “everybody wins. So helping them is going to help me on the court in the long run and then that will help whatever contract stuff. So you have to be selfless.”
- Omri Casspi is struggling in the preseason, but coach George Karl isn’t worried about the player in whom the Kings invested $5.8MM on a new two-year deal this summer, observes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I think the way he played at the end of last year, he’s earned the right to be given some freedom and opportunity to figure out what happens this year,” Karl said.
Western Rumors: Warriors, Green, Ingles
The Warriors remain uncertain when coach Steve Kerr can return to the team on a full-time basis, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Ethan Sherwood Strauss report. Kerr, who underwent two offseason back surgeries, was with the club on its weeklong preseason trip through Southern California, but there’s no timetable on when he can coach on a daily basis, the story continues. ”He still doesn’t know,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters after the team’s practice on Monday. “He’s not going to force a return.”
In other news around the Western Conference:
- Clippers coach Doc Rivers feels the Warriors are too thin-skinned about recent comments he made about them, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area Sports Group. In an interview with Grantland, Rivers insinuated that the Warriors were lucky they didn’t have to play his club or the Spurs in the playoffs last season, Leung continues. He told reporters on Monday that he’s taken aback by the Warriors’ strong reaction to that notion, Leung adds. “I’m really surprised how sensitive they are about it,” Rivers said. “They are the champions, so they can just be the champions.” Walton told Leung that Rivers is playing mind games with the champions. “It doesn’t make much sense if it’s not,” Walton said. “There’s no other reason to bring that type of stuff up.”
- Second-year point guard Erick Green is making a strong case for a Nuggets roster spot even though he doesn’t have a guaranteed contract, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes. New coach Michael Malone has raved about Green during camp, though Green suffered a temporary setback with a minor knee injury, the story continues. Green, who could make $845,059 if he stays with the team through the season, bounced back with a 16-point, four-assist outing against the Thunder on Sunday night. But the club would have to move one of 15 players with guaranteed contracts in order to retain Green, Dempsey points out.
- Jazz forward Joe Ingles had more difficulty deciding to take the summer off than he did re-signing with the club, Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Ingles stayed put by inking a two-year, $4.3MM deal, then opted not to participate in the Australian national team’s Olympic qualifiers over the summer. “I’m not going to say it was like the hardest decision of my life, but it was something that weighed on me for a little bit,” he told Falk. “I did want to play.”
Pacific Notes: Staten, Murray, Henderson, Kerr
Juwan Staten, who was waived by the Warriors earlier today, will sign with Golden State’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). Colin Bryant, Staten’s agent, confirmed the news to Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (on Twitter). NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to up to four players they waive. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers have officially signed Tracy Murray for the remainder of the season as the team’s shooting coach, Los Angeles announced. “I’ve known Tracy a long time, and he was one of the purest shooters I’ve ever seen,” said coach Byron Scott. “I think he’ll be a benefit to our players, especially our young guys, and I look forward to working with him as a member of our staff.” Murray appeared in 659 games during his 12 year NBA career.
- The Kings have offered point guard Marshall Henderson a spot on their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, Spears relays (via Twitter). The 24-year-old, who was waived by Sacramento on Thursday, is also garnering interest from teams overseas, the Yahoo scribe adds.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who took a leave of absence from the team after experiencing complications related to back surgery he had undergone in July, is expected to return to the team soon, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com relays. Of Kerr’s impending return, interim coach Luke Walton said, “I think it’s great. Obviously Steve’s one of those guys just having him around makes everything better, so he wouldn’t be coming down with us at all if he was still as bad as he was. So I think it shows signs of improvement. I don’t think it means he’ll be back within the next two days, but all we can ask for is that he keeps getting better.”