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Central Notes: Morway, Bucks, Hamilton, Hammond

May 6th, 2012 at 10:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

There's plenty of news out of the Central Division today, with the Bulls on the brink of elimination against the Sixers while the Pacers are in command against the Magic. The latest updates are at the top:

  • Pacers GM David Morway responded to Friday's news that the Blazers are interested in him for their GM position, telling The Oregonian's Jason Quick that he's "flattered" but "right now I'm focused on the playoffs and focused on our team.'' He could also be in line for a promotion in Indiana if president of basketball operations Larry Bird steps aside, but Morway said no interview has been scheduled with Portland and he'll evaluate his options at a later date.  (All Twitter links).
  • Though Forbes ranks the Bucks as the NBA's least valuable franchise, there's little reason to worry that Milwaukee will go down the same path as Seattle did with the Sonics, writes Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  • Richard Hamilton, who's strugged in three straight losses, hasn't been giving the Bulls what they expected when signed him before the season, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes.
  • In a roundup of candidates for the Blazers GM job, Sam Amick of SI.com says multiple sources have told him the Bucks have denied GM John Hammond permission to interview for the position. Last month we heard about the mutual interest between Hammond and the Blazers, but Friday's joint press conference between Hammond and Bucks owner Herb Kohl seems to indicate that the Bucks will be keeping their GM.
  • Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star sat down with commissioner David Stern to talk Pacers and other topics. Stern says he's not concerned about the team's lagging attendance, which ranked 26th in the regular season this year.
  • John Paxson, vice president of basketball operations for the Bulls, recently underwent surgery to try to correct a heart arrhythmia, according to an ESPN.com report. Paxson said in a statement released by the team that the procedure has been planned for over a month. The news of his health trouble came out in comments made by Sixers coach Doug Collins after today's game.

 

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Blazers Interested In Pacers’ GM David Morway

May 4th, 2012 at 4:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The newest reported candidate for the Trail Blazers' general manager opening is another current NBA GM — David Morway of the Pacers. According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, Portland has requested and received permission to speak to Morway, who is expected to meet with Blazers president Larry Miller in the next week or so.

Morway, who has been Indiana's GM for four years, is considered the right-hand man of Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird. Before he worked for the Pacers, Morway also had a front office MLB job for the San Diego Padres and served as the president of agency Professional Excellence Sports.

Miller said this week that he isn't sure how many candidates the Blazers will interview, noting that he wants the process to be thorough so the team doesn't have to go through it again anytime soon. However, the Blazers president added: "If we talk to somebody and this is our guy, that would be the end of it."

Steve Kerr, John Hammond, Mitch Kupchak, and Geoff Petrie are among the names that have been linked to the Blazers' search.

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Kyler On Williams, Nash, Gordon, Mayo, Hibbert

May 4th, 2012 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

In his NBA AM column at HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler shares the latest rumblings on a handful of this summer's top free agents. Here are the highlights:

  • It's far from a done deal, but the general feeling around the Nets is that they're in the driver's seat for Deron Williams. Kyler names the Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Magic as other teams that figure to aggressively pursue the point guard.
  • Steve Nash continues to tell people that returning to Phoenix is a "real and viable option." Kyler points out that even if Nash ends up elsewhere, the Suns could work out a sign-and-trade to get something out of it.
  • It's nearly a lock that Eric Gordon will be retained by the Hornets, but it's not clear how high the bidding will go. The Hornets were unable to agree on an extension with Gordon earlier this season, and while that was due in part to not having new ownership in place yet, there are also questions about the 23-year-old's durability.
  • According to Kyler, there's a good chance O.J. Mayo doesn't become a restricted free agent this summer, since a qualifying offer would put the Grizzlies over the tax line. If Memphis doesn't extend a qualifying offer, Mayo would be eligible for unrestricted free agency.
  • Kevin Garnett would like to finish his career with the Celtics.
  • The Pacers are prepared to match just about any offer for Roy Hibbert, and will let the market set the price for their center.
  • The Nets hope to deal with Brook Lopez's free agency after working out some of their other situations, but Lopez could disrupt their plans if he signs an offer sheet with another club early in the free agent period.
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Odds & Ends: Wallace, Draft, Raptors, Blazers

May 3rd, 2012 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Thursday afternoon links from around the NBA:

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Latest On Trail Blazers’ GM Search

May 3rd, 2012 at 8:36am CST by Luke Adams

Team president Larry Miller and other members of the Trail Blazers' front office continue to conduct interviews for the club's general manager opening, says Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. Eggers has a number of updates related to Portland's search, so let's round them up:

  • Miller isn't sure how many candidates the team will interview. "We want to make sure with our decision. I don't want to have to do this again," Miller said, adding: "If we talk to somebody and this is our guy, that would be the end of it."
  • The Trail Blazers met with Steve Kerr in April, and Kerr says the two sides "exchanged a lot of ideas" and that he learned a lot about the organization. However, he also reiterated that, while the situation intrigues him, he's not interested in the position right now.
  • Geoff Petrie is considered a possibility for the opening and remains "highly regarded" by members of the Blazers' organization, says Eggers. Petrie expects to remain in his front office role in Sacramento though: "At this point in my career, I'd like to see us turn the corner (with the Kings), given our circumstances the last four years."
  • While acting GM Chad Buchanan remains a candidate for the job, Miller says no interview is necessary for Buchanan, who has worked in the organization for eight years.
  • Members of the Blazers' front office have been making visits to college campuses to learn more about potential draft targets, though Miller and Buchanan both say trading a pick or two for a veteran player is a possibility.
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Odds & Ends: Nuggets, Howard, Hornets, Celtics

April 30th, 2012 at 10:54pm CST by Zachary Links

It was a rough night for the Knicks in South Beach.  First, the Heat went up 2-0 in their first round series with a 104-94 win behind 25 points from Dwyane Wade.  Later, reporters were held out of the Knicks' locker room as Amare Stoudemire was being tended to for lacerations on his left hand.  It appears that the big man took his frustrations out on a fire extinguisher and his status for Game 3 could be in jeopardy.  Here's more from around the league..

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Blazers’ Crawford, Batum, Przybilla Talk Offseason

April 29th, 2012 at 8:31pm CST by Alex Lee

With the disapointing 2012 Blazers season in the books, Jamal Crawford, Nicolas Batum and Joel Przybilla all discussed their uncertain offseason outlooks with The Oregonian, who posted the videos online:

  • Crawford owns a player option on his contract (which we already heard he may turn down) that he must opt into by June 15, or he will become an unrestricted free agent.  Crawford called his year in Portland the "longest-shortest season ever" and said that he still plans to weigh his options before making a decision.  Crawford goes on to say, "I don’t think this year was any one person’s fault.  I just think it was a bad situation with the short training camp."  Crawford still considers Portland's future bright and says that "seeing where the team is going" will be key to his choice.
  • Batum is a restricted free agent and would be in high demand should Portland balk at matching offers for him.  All indications are that Portland will try to keep the young forward.  Batum indicated his desire to stay:  "Of course I want to come back here.  This team drafted me and put me on the court at 19 and gave me my chance in the NBA so we will see what happens."  However, Batum went on to add that the basketball situation for him is more important than the city, implying he would have interest if another team had more to offer basketball-wise than the Blazers.  Batum said he is "99 percent" sure he will be back, but is excited about the summer's prospects of a new contract and his first Olympic appearance.
  • Przybilla signed with the Blazers in late February after considering sitting out the lockout shortened season.  He now seems intent on playing next year, citing his knees feeling great and a newfound love for the game as the primary reasons.  He is an unrestricted free agent and  thinks he will draw some interest over the course of the offseason: "With a good summer of working out and a training camp with a team, I think there will definitely be opportunities out there for me."  He added that he would definitely consider resigning in Portland.
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Odds & Ends: Magic, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers

April 29th, 2012 at 3:59pm CST by Daniel Seco

With Sunday afternoon's playoff action already underway, let's catch up on the latest news and headlines from around the league.

  • FoxSportsOhio.com's Sam Amico writes why he believes the Cavaliers are headed in the right direction. 
  • Mike Tokito from The Oregonian gives a by the numbers rundown of the Trail Blazers and what they'll have to work with this offseason. 
  • The Magic's upset victory over the Pacers wasn't fueled by the team's desire to prove to Dwight Howard that they could win without him, writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. Instead, the team is focusing on what they can control and attempting to eliminate any outside distractions that may keep them from achieving their goal of winning playoff basketball games. "We're not here to prove anything about Dwight," Hedo Turkoglu said. "He's our best player and we wish he were here. But we can't think about that. We have to accept who we are right now, move on and play our best."
  • SI.com's Sam Amick says USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo is reconsidering adding players to the roster of Olympic team finalists after Derrick Rose tore his ACL on Saturday against the Sixers. While the loss of Rose weakens the point guard position, Colangelo is confident that the team has a deep enough backcourt to overcome his absence. Amick points to DeMarcus Cousins as a potential addition to the list of finalists after enjoying a season in which he averaged 18.1 PPG and 11.0 RPG for the Kings. 
  • The Grizzlies have put together a dangerous playoff team using a combination of discarded parts, role players and overachievers, contends Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. From Marc Gasol, acquired in a salary dump for his brother, to Tony Allen, not considered a highly-attractive free agent due to a perceived limited skill-set, the Grizzlies have seemingly come out of nowhere to take the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. "They played to their strengths," Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins said. "It's usually the best team that wins. Good basketball teams are good whether they have people noted as stars or not.
  • Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld wonders if the Bulls can still contend in the Eastern Conference playoffs after losing their star point guard for the remainder of the season. As the team managed an 18-9 record without Rose during the regular season, Brigham says the Bulls still may advance beyond the second round in what would be a matchup against either the Celtics or the Hawks. The journey would end, however, in the Eastern Conference Finals if the Bulls have to face the Heat.
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Prospect Profile: Andre Drummond

April 28th, 2012 at 3:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Perhaps no player on the draft board gives teams pause quite as much as Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond. He has drawn praise for "other-worldly" talent, but has been called the kind of player whose high-risk, high-reward potential gets GMs fired whether they take him or not. His athletic gifts and rebounding prowess make some scouts drool, while his lack of offensive development and inability to lift his team depress his stock. The latest we hear from Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him going somewhere between third and fifth, with some teams ranking him second only to presumptive No. 1 pick Anthony Davis. No. 2 is where Draft Express has him in their mock draft and list of the top 100 prospects, so the media reflects the dichotomy of opinions that teams have.

A heralded prospect coming out of high school, Drummond was supposed to keep defending national champion Connecticut among the elite teams in college basketball. That didn't happen, as the Huskies struggled through the regular season and lost to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Still, Drummond shouldn't bear the full brunt of the blame for his team's failure's, since UConn had to deal with the health problems of coach Jim Calhoun, uncertainty over their eligibility for next year's postseason because of academic shortfalls, and the loss of Kemba Walker, its best player from the year before. 

Drummond averaged just 10.0 PPG, struggling in post-up situations, as Jonathan Givony of Draft Express notes, and settling too often for jump shots, in Ford's eyes. He still shot 53.8% from the floor. He averaged just 7.6 RPG, but 3.4 of them came on the offensive glass. The low numbers are partly attributable to playing just 28.4 MPG. That makes his 2.7 blocks every night that much more impressive. He's listed at either 6'10" or 6'11", but his wingspan is 7'5", according to ESPN.com.

Of the teams likely to draft between two and five, according to the Hoops Rumors draft order tracker, the Hornets seem to be the team most in need of frontcourt help, particularly if they fail to sign free agent center Chris Kaman. They might be more willing to wait for Drummond to develop and learn some offensive moves around the basket now that they have an owner in place. Drummond will be only 18 on draft night, and is the second youngest lottery prospect behind Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If the Blazers wind up with the Nets' pick and Drummond's still around when they're drafting, don't be surprised if they take him, since they'll have plenty of free agent money to spend on immediate upgrades elsewhere. The Wizards seem least likely to take a flier on another underdeveloped big man, as they have Nene Hilario and Andray Blatche locked up long-term, and Washington fans are still haunted by JaVale McGee's inability to pick up on the game's nuances. 

Patience will be key for whichever GM decides to draft him. The stats indicate he's just a one-way player right now, and that's a tough sell for struggling franchises looking for someone to help them turn it around. 

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Assessing The 2011/12 Waiver Claims

April 28th, 2012 at 1:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The vast majority of players placed on waivers go unclaimed and become free agents, but this year, there have been more waiver claims than usual, including a pair of players claimed after their previous teams waived them using the amnesty clause. Last month, Luke Adams provided a rundown on how teams can claim players off waivers, so now let's take a look at how this season's waiver claims have worked out.

  • The most prominent example is Jeremy Lin, who was twice claimed off waivers this season after originally being let go by the Warriors. The Rockets claimed him December 11th, waived him a couple weeks later, and the Knicks made their claim December 27th. Left knee surgery will likely keep him out for the rest of the season unless the Knicks make a deep playoff run, but he'll wind up averaging 14.6 PPG and 6.2 APG, not too shabby for a player twice on the NBA scrapheap. 
  • Knicks GM Glen Grunwald struck gold with yet another waiver claim in Steve Novak, whom they picked up December 21st. Novak’s rise coincided with Lin’s, as he broke loose for 19 points in Lin’s first start, and has kept up his consistent long-range bombing even without Lin on the floor. He led the league in three-point percentage at 47.2%, but his shooting has never been in question. The difference this year was that he did enough in other phases of the game to warrant significant playing time.  A career 4.9 PPG scorer, he averaged 10.4 PPG in 21.7 MPG beginning with that 19-point game on February 6th. We can only imagine how much better the Spurs would have been had they not waived him December 19th.
  • Waiver claims are so infrequent that teams will sometimes agree to terms with players before they clear waivers. That’s what appeared to happen in March, when J.J. Hickson was dressed in Warriors gear and ready for a shootaround with Golden State when word hit that the Blazers had claimed him. We’ll never know how it would have worked out for him with the Warriors, but Hickson has thrived since joining  Portland on March 21st, more than tripling the scoring average he put up in the first half of the season with the Kings (15.1 PPG to 4.7 PPG). He averaged 17.6 PPG and 10.6 RPG as a starter over the final eight games, and will be a sought-after commodity this summer, particularly if the Blazers fail to extend a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
  • Chauncey Billups warned teams not to claim him when the Knicks amnestied him before the season, hoping he could sign with a contender as a free agent, but the Clippers claimed him anyway December 12th. It all worked out, as the Clippers became the sort of contending team Billups wanted to play for anyway when they traded for Chris Paul a few days later. Billups slid over to shooting guard and adjusted smoothly to his new position, averaging 15.0 PPG before going down with a season-ending Achilles’ tendon tear on February 6th.
  • The Kings had much less success with claiming an amnestied player, saddling themselves on Dec. 17th with Travis Outlaw for $12MM over the remaining four years of his contract. He was even less of a factor in Sacramento than he was for the Nets before they waived him, averaging just 4.3 PPG in 12.8 MPG, his worst numbers since he was a rookie in 2003/04.
  • The Warriors tried to replace Jeremy Lin when they claimed Ish Smith, another backup point guard, off waivers from the Grizzlies on December 16th. Smith was there for only six games and 63 total minutes before the Warriors put him back on waivers on January 14th. He went unclaimed this time, and was signed as a free agent February 2nd by the Magic, with whom he’s played the rest of the season.  
  • The Blazers quietly let go of backup big man Chris Johnson at the trade deadline, and amid rumors the Celtics were interested, the Hornets snapped him up off waivers March 19th. Depleted as the Hornets were along the front line this year, Johnson still only saw 82 total minutes over seven games before New Orleans put him back out on waivers April 18th. He remains unsigned since.
  • Rod Higgins, the president of basketball operations for the Bobcats, gave son Cory Higgins quite a present on Christmas Day when the team claimed him off waivers from the Nuggets.  The undrafted 22-year-old rookie from Colorado stayed on the Bobcats roster the entire season, averaging 3.9 PPG in 11.1 MPG.
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