Odds & Ends: Martin, Blatche, Lillard, Gibson
The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Sunday evening:
- Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman writes that Kevin Martin is performing up to expectations since being acquired by the Thunder in the James Harden trade.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel thinks, in hindsight, that the Heat would have been wise to sign Andray Blatche this summer. Miami was held back by concerns about his effect on the locker room, as well as their belief in Josh Harrellson and Dexter Pittman, Winderman adds.
- Joe Freeman of the Oregonian admires the poise of Damian Lillard as the Trail Blazers rookie continues to impress.
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com likes what he's seen from Taj Gibson since signing a four-year extension with the Bulls.
- Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times adds to the praise of Gibson while also singling out Jimmy Butler for his defensive impact.
- Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun writes that Raptors bigs Amir Johnson and Ed Davis have not received due attention for their contributions.
- Rick Bonnell of the Oklahoman examines the Bobcats' defensive successes this season.
- Keith Langolis of Pistons.com says that rookie Kyle Singler has made a fan of head coach Lawrence Frank with his work ethic.
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle praises Patrick Patterson's improvement.
Eastern Notes: Calderon, Stackhouse, Cavs
Since Martell Webster dubbed the Wizards' third game of the season, against the Celtics, a "must-win," the team has lost ten more games and now sits at 0-12. With a home contest vs. 6-8 the Trail Blazers on tap tonight, the club has a decent opportunity to finally notch its first victory of the season. As Michael Lee of the Washington Post writes, things will only get tougher going forward, with four road games against the Knicks, Heat, Hawks, and Warriors up next.
While we wait to see if Washington can get into the win column, let's check out a few updates from around the Eastern Conference….
- Jose Calderon tells Yahoo! Deportes that his goal next summer in free agency is to sign a multiyear deal (translation via HoopsHype).
- When he signed with the Nets, Jerry Stackhouse expected his role to primarily involve coaching and mentoring, but he's made the most of the playing time he's received, writes Howie Kussoy of the New York Post.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio fielded primarily Cavaliers-related questions from fans in a chat today, including plenty of inquiries on trade possibilities involving Anderson Varejao.
- Taj Gibson tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Sulia link) that the pressure of living up to the contract extension he signed before the season isn't affecting his play at all.
Extension Notes: Gibson, Jennings, Evans
Six players from the 2009 draft class signed extensions before Wednesday's deadline. James Harden, fresh off being traded to the Rockets, signed a five-year extension in Houston. Meanwhile, the 76ers signed Jrue Holiday to a four-year deal, as did the Bulls with Taj Gibson, the Warriors with Stephen Curry, the Nuggets with Ty Lawson, and the Raptors with DeMar DeRozan. Here are a few links dealing with the aftermath of these deals.
- The Daily Herald's Mike McGraw breaks down the financial implications of the Bulls' extension with Gibson.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News looks at several players who didn't receive extensions, including Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, and Jeff Teague. He says this season will be important to them in setting their value.
- Deveney also writes that many prospective restricted free agents are seen as no more than backups, which could affect their worth on the open market.
Extension Fallout: Gibson, Curry, DeRozan, Evans
Five players signed contract extensions on Wednesday's deadline day, and that doesn't even include Ty Lawson's new deal, which was completed on Tuesday. With this year's October 31st deadline behind us, let's round up some of the links relating to this year's class of extended players….
- Taj Gibson's deal with the Bulls is worth roughly $34MM in guaranteed salary, plus up to $38-39MM with incentives, which are both individual- and team-based, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter links).
- Gibson probably could have earned a larger contract on the open market next summer, but wanted to stay with the Bulls because he's happy in Chicago, says Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group spoke to Stephen Curry about the process of negotiating a new deal with the Warriors. The piece also includes conversations with team owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers.
- DeMar DeRozan was prepared to play out the season with or without a contract extension, but he's happy to have it out of the way, writes Stephen Brotherson of HoopsWorld.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star feels that the Raptors, in locking up DeRozan, bid against themselves when it wasn't necessary.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News examines the consequences of a wild week for the Rockets and James Harden, who finalized a five-year maximum-salary extension yesterday.
- Having not received an extension from the Kings, Tyreke Evans tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that he's fine with just focusing on his play on the court for the rest of the season.
Taj Gibson Signs Extension With Bulls
11:43pm: The Bulls officially announced the extension in a press release.
"I’m very happy that I’m going to remain a Bull for the long haul," Gibson said. "The Bulls are like my second family and I’m excited to know that I’m going to continue to wear 'Bulls' across my chest."
11:19pm: The base pay comes to $32MM, but incentives could make the deal worth $38MM, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
10:52pm: Gibson said the money in the offer from the Bulls didn't change tonight, but contract language did, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
10:39pm: Sam Amick of SI.com tweets that agent Mark Bartelstein says the incentives would only bring the deal up to $38MM, which was initially believed to be Gibson's base pay.
10:28pm: There are incentives in the extension that could bring it up to $40MM, the amount Gibson was asking for earlier tonight, Johnson tweets.
10:12pm: Taj Gibson and the Bulls have agreed to an extension, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link). The deal is for four years and $38MM, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. The two sides bridged a reported $8MM gap, as Gibson was seeking $40MM while the team offered $32MM. He told Johnson before Chicago's win over the Kings tonight that he didn't think he'd change his mind an accept the team's offer, but evidently the Bulls upped the ante enough for his liking.
Assuming a $9.5MM salary for Gibson next year, the Bulls appear set up to be a luxury tax team again in 2013/14. They have about $74MM on the books for next year, a number they can knock down to $70MM if they waive Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal is only guaranteed for $1MM. The decision to extend Gibson's contract seemingly puts fellow power forward Carlos Boozer at greater risk of being waived via the amnesty clause next summer, since he's due $15.3MM in 2013/14 and $16.8MM the year after that.
Gibson has never averaged more than the 9.0 points per game he put up as a rookie in 2009/10, and has seen his minutes decrease in each of his three seasons. He's expected to take on a larger role this year as the lone remaining member of a well-regarded second unit that helped the Bulls to the league's best regular season record two years in a row. Though he scored only 7.7 PPG last season, his per-36-minutes point production was a career-high 13.6, and his PER has steadily climbed over his time in the league, reaching 16.9 last season.
Extension Rumors: Gibson, Casspi, Curry
This year's deadline for extension-eligible fourth-year players to sign new deals is just hours away, arriving at 11:00pm CT today. Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, and Ty Lawson came into the day as the only players with new contracts, while Stephen Curry reached an unexpected agreement with the Warriors this morning and James Harden agreed to a maximum deal with the Rockets this afternoon. Will we see any other extensions signed before the night is out? We'll track today's extension-related rumors and rumblings right here:
- Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago reports Taj Gibson is seeking a four-year extension worth $40MM while the Bulls are offering $32MM. Sam notes a $36MM figure in the middle would be equal to what fellow forwards Ryan Anderson and Jeff Green got over the summer, and less than the $10MM or more Sam believes Gibson could command as a restricted free agent next summer (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Odds & Ends: Curry, Gibson, Warriors, Thabeet
Stephen Curry didn't want extension talks to go down to the wire, but it appears that's the case, as Curry's comments to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle lead Simmons to conclude that agent Jeff Austin and Warriors GM Bob Myers continue to try to work out a deal (Sulia link). Since Curry left a preseason game after tweaking his ankle ten days ago, we've heard multiple reports suggesting a deal was unlikely. Nothing's final until tomorrow's 11:00pm Central time deadline, and with about 24 hours to go, there's news on another extension-eligible player among notes from the first night of the 2012/13 regular season.
- There's "growing speculation" the Bulls will let the deadline pass without signing Taj Gibson to an extension, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Andrew Bogut believes "a lot is riding on this year" for the Warriors, and Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group says much of that is riding on Bogut's shoulders. Fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Monte Poole goes the other way, suggesting Curry is the focal point of the team.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks has confidence in Hasheem Thabeet, and his performance in the preseason was one reason the team included Cole Aldrich in the trade, as John Rohde of The Oklahoman chronicles.
- The Bobcats are counting on offseason trade acquisition Ben Gordon to be their go-to scorer at the end of games, writes Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer.
- With a year still to go before his five-year max extension kicks in, the Clippers want to make sure Blake Griffin stays healthy for the long haul by incorporating more mid-range shooting into his arsenal, as Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News examines.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reportedly had to be talked into waiving Delonte West, and Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com notes the affection he has for the troubled guard (Twitter link).
- The James Harden trade has the Rockets thinking playoffs, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle documents.
Central Rumors: Jennings, Bulls, Gibson, Pacers
The 2012/13 season is now under way, as the Cavaliers and Wizards have tipped off in Cleveland. Even as we celebrate the start of a new season, there are a few offseason matters still to be resolved, with decisions on rookie-scale extensions chief among them. There's news on a couple of Central Division players up for those extensions this evening, along with other a few other notes of interest.
- Knowing other teams can't backload an offer to Taj Gibson in restricted free agency the same way the Rockets did with Omer Asik this past summer, the Bulls are holding firm on their four-year extension offer of $30-32MM to Gibson, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Still, the two sides have made progress in talks that Gibson characterized as positive, Johnson adds.
Earlier updates:
- The odds of an extension for Brandon Jennings are "more none than slim," according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link). Last we heard, Jennings was reportedly seeking a deal worth $9-10MM from the Bucks.
- The success of the past two seasons gave Bulls GM Gar Forman and vice president John Paxson leeway as the team regressed the summer in the wake of Derrick Rose's injury, but the executives will ultimately be judged by whether they find another star to complement their former MVP point guard, David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune believes.
- In the same piece, Haugh notes that Forman doesn't anticipate losing Taj Gibson in restricted free agency if the Bulls don't sign him to an extension before tomorrow's 11pm Central time deadline.
- Despite last season's success, few pundits are predicting another step forward for the Pacers, who are still approaching this year with the mentality of an underdog, writes Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.
- Anderson Varejao's name has come up in several trade rumors over the past several months, but Zach Lowe of Grantland.com opines that he's just the sort of players the Cavs should want around their younger guys (Twitter link).
- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert regrets guaranteeing his team would win a championship before LeBron James, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal notes (Sulia link).
Odds & Ends: Harden, Gay, Wolves, Mavs, Gibson
We're a few days removed from the Rockets' acquisition of James Harden, but that doesn't mean that reaction pieces or additional details have stopped rolling in. Today, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wonders if the Thunder got as much for Harden as the Magic did for Dwight Howard, and DeMar DeRozan talks to Eric Koreen of the National Post about how he, Harden, and other members of the 2009 draft class approach their contract situations. Meanwhile, Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game hears from one GM that Sam Presti didn't canvass the entire league for the best deal for Harden, presumably since Presti didn't want to create an avalanche of rumors (Twitter link). And finally, Bill Simmons of Grantland adds that Harden and his agent were seeking a 15% trade kicker as part of extension talks with the Thunder.
Now that we've rounded up today's Harden-related links, let's turn to the afternoon's non-Harden notes:
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld examines a few players who could be trade candidates between now and the deadline, including Rudy Gay, who Kennedy says would be open to a move.
- The Timberwolves have inquired on the recently-waived JaJuan Johnson, but don't figure to be a match, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram spoke to Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson about a number of topics, including the team's chemistry with so many new players on board.
- Extension talks between Taj Gibson and the Bulls are ongoing and are expected to push up against tomorrow's 11:00pm CT deadline, says Ken Berger of CBS Sports (Twitter links).
- Scottie Pippen is interesting in eventually becoming a head coach in the NBA, as he told The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago (ESPNChicago.com has the details and quotes).
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports tweets the details on a pair of contract buyouts: Jordan Williams will receive $420K from Atlanta after being waived by the Hawks, while Keyon Dooling will receive $400K from the Celtics following his retirement.
- Dionte Christmas, who was released by the Celtics this month, appears headed for CSKA Moscow, according to Eurohoops.net (hat tip to Sportando).
- A Spurs' second-round pick in 2009, Jack McClinton is hoping to earn a spot in the D-League this year and eventually receive an NBA call-up, writes David Pick at Eurobasket.com.
Kyler On Harden, Jennings, Holiday, Rockets
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld shared a few updates on extension-eligible players in his NBA AM column this morning, and also tweeted a few notes about the Rockets' options in free agency next summer. Let's dive right in and round up the highlights….
- James Harden and the Rockets will almost certainly reach an agreement on a five-year extension today or tomorrow. It's just a matter of whether it will be for the true max or slightly below that.
- If Tyreke Evans, who won't be extended this week, struggles early in the season, he could become a trade candidate for the Kings.
- According to Kyler, Brandon Jennings' camp is seeking an extension worth $9-10MM annually, which the Bucks aren't interested in. Those numbers are a little surprising to me — I'd think the Bucks wouldn't mind a deal in that neighborhood, while Jennings would be seeking something closer to the max.
- The Sixers and Jrue Holiday don't appear headed for an extension this week. Kyler says Philadelphia's offer was worth about $8-9MM annually.
- The "broad strokes" are there for an agreement between Ty Lawson and the Nuggets. Now it's just a matter of working out the final value of the contract.
- The odds of Taj Gibson and the Bulls reaching an extension agreement today or tomorrow are about 50/50 at best.
- The Hawks have told Jeff Teague that he's still part of their long-term plans, but the team wants to maintain flexibility next summer, so he won't be extended now. The Bobcats have a similar stance with Gerald Henderson and Byron Mullens.
- In a series of tweets, Kyler says the Rockets are unlikely to be serious players for Josh Smith in free agency next summer, unless they trade for him. The fifth year that the team holding Smith's Bird Rights will be able to offer could be a dealbreaker, according to Kyler, who adds that the forward appears happy with the Hawks for now.
- Kyler expects the Rockets to take a similar approach to what they did this past offseason, pursuing restricted free agents and perhaps making a poison pill offer or two. Paul Millsap could also be a potential target, says Kyler (Twitter links).