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Western Notes: Gasol, Lillard, Williams, Mavs

November 30th, 2012 at 7:54pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes around the Western Conference on Friday evening:

  • Robert Silverman of the New York Times wonders what sort of return the Lakers could get if they decided to trade Pau Gasol.
  • Nicole Auerbach of USA Today has a feature on Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and the impact he is having on other players hoping to make it to the NBA from mid-major schools.
  • HoopsWorld.com's Bill Ingram thinks it's too early for the Timberwolves to give up on Derrick Williams.
  • Ingram also thinks the Mavericks will be able to get a couple more high-level seasons out of Dirk Nowitzki.
  • John Reid of the Times-Picayune writes that Hornets coach Monty Williams is urging guard Brian Roberts to shoot more.
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Odds & Ends: Spurs, Varejao, Draft, Fisher

November 30th, 2012 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, I asked Hoops Rumors readers whether Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was in the wrong for sending his star players home before last night's game against the Heat. Over 83% of respondents so far have sided with Popovich rather than with commissioner David Stern, who called Pop's decision "unacceptable." Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports agrees with you in his take on the subject, calling Stern's statement a "temper tantrum that left everyone around him embarrassed, humiliated and wondering why he insisted on staying until February of 2014."

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA as we prepare for the weekend:

  • While Anderson Varejao has been a popular topic of trade speculation lately, the Cavaliers have no plans to move him, writes Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. In any case, most teams who would be interested in Varejao don't have the assets to acquire him or aren't willing to part with them, says Amico.
  • In his latest draft blog at ESPN.com (Insider only), Chad Ford examines a few players whose stocks have slipped early in the season, including UNC's James Michael McAdoo and Tony Mitchell of North Texas.
  • A pair of Dallas Morning News scribes offer up opposing takes on the Mavericks' signing of Derek Fisher, with Eddie Sefko noting that signing Fisher as a starter will make the team's bench stronger, while Kevin Sherrington says it's a patchwork move in another year "about nothing."
  • Within Sam Smith's latest mailbag for Bulls.com, he writes that Carlos Boozer "basically cannot be traded" unless it's for a contract that's as bad or worse than his.
  • NBA.com's Fran Blinebury wonders if it would be in the Trail Blazers' best interests to consider trading LaMarcus Aldridge this season.
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Odds & Ends: Celtics, Raptors, Trail Blazers

November 29th, 2012 at 5:42pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston heard from head coach Doc Rivers that the Celtics could decide to recall Kris Joseph and possibly Fab Melo up from the D-League while Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox are out of action. More notably, after Danny Ainge told WEEI radio that Rajon Rondo would be given a two game suspension (Twitter link), Rivers gave the impression that the team won't necessarily try to make any subsequent roster moves anytime soon. You can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links from the Association here: 

  • HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy says (via Twitter) that the Raptors are weighing their free agent options at the small forward position.
  • Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian of his plans to use D-League assignments accordingly for Victor Claver, Joel Freeland, Will Barton, and Nolan Smith. While Olshey thinks that his young players are currently benefitting through their NBA experience, he believes the best time to send them to the Idaho Stampede (their D-League affiliate) would be after they have built a good enough foundation with the coaching staff and need significant minutes to continue developing.   
  • According to Anthony Slater of NewsOK, Thunder GM Sam Presti was spotted at Oklahoma State University's basketball practice to supposedly begin scouting Marcus Smart and Le'Bryan Nash, two college prospects who are currently touted as potential first round picks. 
  • The Nets announced that the right foot sprain which Brook Lopez suffered during last night's game is unrelated to the foot injury he sustained last season, and added that he is only expected to miss the next two games (Howard Beck of the New York Times reports). 
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Western Notes: Fisher, Collison, Kings, Harden

November 28th, 2012 at 11:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

If the playoffs began today, a team below .500 would make it to the postseason out of the Western Conference, a rare occurance in recent years, when the bulk of the league's better teams have been in the West. Of course, one of the sub-.500 teams right now is the Lakers, who are expected to turn it around sooner or later. The Mavs are another, and there's more news about their expected signing of Derek Fisher and other notes of interest from around the West.

  • Darren Collison's inconsistent play had the Mavs thinking about a move for the past week or two, and it appears Fisher will take over as the starter in Dallas, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. 
  • Mavs coach Rick Carlisle says Fisher isn't a cure-all for the team, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com notes via Facebook, and Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com believes Fisher's signing is a desperate move that follows a series of mistakes.
  • Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms hopes to have a binding term sheet with a pro team, presumably the Kings, by March, which would pave the way for the Kings to file for relocation in April, according to Nick Monacelli of WAVY-TV 10. 
  • James Harden shared his thoughts with reporters shortly before tipoff of his return to Oklahoma City as a member of the Rockets tonight, and John Rohde of The Oklahoman provides excerpts. 
  • There's a "decent" chance Nemanja Bjelica, a 2010 second-round pick whose rights are owned by the Timberwolves, winds up in Minnesota next year, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN.
  • Blazers COO Sarah Mensah told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian that losing out on the team president job was a factor in her decision to leave.
  • The Nuggets promoted a pair of front-office mainstays, observes Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.
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Odds & Ends: Billups, Collison, Draft, Raptors

November 28th, 2012 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

A deep Clippers roster will add even more depth as of tonight, when Chauncey Billups makes his 2012/13 debut against the Timberwolves. Billups tore his Achilles tendon last February, but re-signed with the Clips in the offseason, and will rejoin a backcourt that already includes Chris Paul, Eric Bledsoe, and Jamal Crawford, among others.

Here are a few more odds and ends for Wednesday afternoon:

  • Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News has been impressed by Darren Collison so far, but says it's too soon to tell whether Collison is a long-term solution for the Mavericks at point guard.
  • Nerlens Noel remains atop the latest version of Chris Mannix's 2013 draft board at SI.com, with Cody Zeller moving up to the No. 2 spot.
  • Speaking of the '13 draft, ESPN.com's Chad Ford conducted a chat today in which he answered plenty of draft-related questions, along with a few on possible trade scenarios.
  • In a pair of Sulia links, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun submits performance reviews for Raptors coach Dwane Casey and GM Bryan Colangelo, suggesting that the team shouldn't give up either of them, despite Toronto's disappointing start.
  • Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News examines the Spurs' handling of their D-League affiliate, the defending champion Austin Toros.
  • In front-office news out of the Northwest Division, the Nuggets announced promotions for two members of their basketball operations department, while Trail Blazers COO Sarah Mensah announced her resignation (link via CSNNW.com).
  • Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside examines some first-round picks that have been assigned to the D-League, and how it affected their respective careers.
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Odds & Ends: Gasol, World Cup, Wizards, Freeland

November 27th, 2012 at 11:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

With the NBA season four weeks old tonight, it's no surprise the Heat sit on top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Grizzlies, Spurs and Thunder aren't shockers atop the West, but two teams coming off their first meeting, not to mention eventful offseasons, share the fifth-best record in the league: the Knicks and the Nets. As we wait to see how the rest of the season plays out, here's the latest from around the league.

  • Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni brushed off Pau Gasol trade talk, saying, "That definitely doesn’t come from us," notes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Sulia link). 
  • Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun believes both Gasol and the Lakers could benefit from a trade.
  • In no surprise, an NBA spokesperson said the league has no plans to take in-season breaks to accomodate the new qualifying schedule for the basketball World Cup, tweets ESPN's Alvaro Martin. 
  • HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy wonders if it's time for the Wizards to let go of coach Randy Wittman, and wouldn't be surprised to see the team make a deal at the trade deadline.
  • Joel Freeland has gone from contending for the starting center job to out of the rotation, and while the British big man is frustrated, Blazers coach Terry Stotts remains optimistic, as The Oregonian's Joe Freeman chronicles.
  • The Bulls' bench is a poor match for Tom Thibodeau, and demonstrates a disconnect between the coach and the front office, writes David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune. Still, Thibodeau isn't calling for any changes, as fellow Tribune scribe K.C. Johnson observes.
  • Just as Tyreke Evans regressed following his Rookie of the Year campaign, Isaiah Thomas finds himself the odd man out of the Kings rotation a year after his impressive rookie season, notes Jim Cavan of The New York Times.
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Odds & Ends: Gooden, Aldridge, Gasol, Bulls

November 27th, 2012 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

With most of the Bench Mob gone, this year's version of the Bulls isn't built for 48 minutes, opines Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. However, Luol Deng seems to disagree with that view, as he told reporters today.

"It's not fair to the guys that are here, the new guys, to be compared to the guys from the last two years," Deng said, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "They’re still getting used to it. Even the Bench Mob, the first year we had them, it took a while to get going. When we got going, it clicked. The year after that, last year, what helped us a lot was we had a lot of guys returning so we knew how we play and how to play with each other. We’re still learning how to play with each other."

Here are a few more Tuesday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • While the Bucks would like to move Drew Gooden's contract, there's no urgency to "dump" him, since he's still a mentor and leader in Milwaukee, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.
  • Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com makes his case for why the Trail Blazers should consider trading LaMarcus Aldridge. Blazers GM Neil Olshey reportedly told Aldridge last month that the team has no intentions of dealing him.
  • Although Pau Gasol has a 15% trade kicker, he'd actually only receive about a 3.4% bonus if the Lakers dealt him, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times explains.
  • Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman believes Derrick Williams could be a realistic target for the Thunder if GM Sam Presti gets involved on the trade market again this season.
  • Several NBA scouts told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that it's unfair to compare Kentucky freshman and potential 2013 No. 1 pick Nerlens Noel to former Wildcat Anthony Davis. "I think Anthony Davis’s IQ is so high that he’s unique that way," said one scout. "This is a guy that was a small player,  a two guard, who could handle the ball, do all those things. I mean, Nerlens could never be a ball-handler. He’s not a passer, ball-handler guy."
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West Notes: Warriors, Aldridge, Blazers, Jazz

November 26th, 2012 at 7:52pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at some items out of the Western Conference..

  • Stephen Curry says that the Warriors' trade of Monta Ellis to the Bucks has significantly changed his approach to the game, writes Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.  Now more of a playmaker, Curry has embraced his adjusted role in Golden State.  “The backcourt that we have, we mesh well together, especially with Jarrett [Jack] coming off the bench, so it’s been a different look, but we are getting used to each other and we are playing well," Curry explained.  The club's acquisition in that trade, Andrew Bogut, figures to give them a major defensive boost upon his return.
  • John Canzano of The Oregonian opines that the Blazers need to ease the burden placed on star big man LaMarcus Aldridge in order to help guard against his potential departure.  Aldridge is under contract for $60MM through three more seasons and has yet to win a playoff series in Portland. 
  • For guard Kevin Murphy to return to the Jazz, General Manager Dennis Lindsey says that he hopes to see the rookie operate as a team player rather than a "pig scorer", write Brian T. Smith, Steve Luhm, and Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune.  Murphy was demoted to the D-League earlier today and will be in Reno for a minimum of five games.
  • One of the Blazers' biggest problems is that they have been unable to develop their recent draft picks into true contributors, tweets Mike Tokito of The Oregonian.  The new CBA places extra emphasis on teams being able to get strong production out of their reasonably-priced younger players, which is obviously essential for a smaller-market team.
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Western Notes: Lakers Assistants, Maynor, Watson

November 25th, 2012 at 10:36pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Comcast's Ric Bucher tweets that the Lakers are expected to keep their coaching staff intact, as many of the players have personal favorites among the current assistants. A few days ago, head coach Mike D'Antoni spoke favorably of the coaches that had carried over after Mike Brown's firing, telling ESPN LA: "They're good coaches. I know almost all of them anyway. They work extremely hard. We are in a lot. I just felt like, 'They're here, they're good, why change it?" The list includes former interim-head coach Bernie Bickerstaff, Steve Clifford, Chuck Person, and most notably Eddie Jordan, who had been originally hired by Brown to install the Princeton offense. Here's the rest of what we're hearing out of the Western Conference tonight: 

 

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Odds & Ends: Warriors, Dwight, Davis, Brewer

November 24th, 2012 at 3:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's an eight-game night in the NBA, and while not much attention will be focused on the Bobcats–Wizards tilt, it's certainly a change to find the 6-5 Bobcats on the other side of a game in which a team is starving for a win. While we wait to see if Washington can get its first victory in 11 tries this season, here's more from the Association.

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