Western Notes: Collison, Martin, Davis, Beasley
His partnership with Rajon Rondo may be temporary, but Kings point guard Darren Collison is trying to make it work, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento brought in Rondo on a one-year contract and anointed him the starting point guard. Collison has adapted his game and is getting increased minutes in the shooting guard role. “If I couldn’t start for teams, it probably wouldn’t matter as much,” he said. “Winning is still the No. 1 goal, if I had a list, and I’ll go from there. The way I’ve been playing the last couple of years, obviously starting is very fun to me.” While the Kings aren’t sure if Rondo will be back next season, they don’t have to worry about Collison. He is signed for 2016/17 at $5,229,454.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kevin Martin was one of the last remaining links to the competitive Wolves teams of two seasons ago, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. Martin, who was waived this week in a buyout agreement and is waiting to sign with the Spurs, was a key component on the 2013/14 squad that still had Kevin Love and a mix of veterans such as Ronny Turiaf, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham.
- After watching the Pelicans suffer through a disastrous, injury-filled season, Anthony Davis is determined to prevent it from carrying over into next year, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “You try to establish a culture that you want to have around the locker room, around this organization,” Davis said. “You set it now, to finish out the rest of the games.”
- The Rockets believe Michael Beasley matured while playing in China and is better able to handle the NBA lifestyle, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Our intel – and our intel in China we feel is as good or better as any team’s – is he is someone focused on his career,” said Rockets GM Daryl Morey. “I can’t speak to the past. I can say that based on our intel he is someone just focused on career and family at this point.” (Twitter link). Beasley received a two-year deal at the minimum, but next season is non-guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Houston will be $200K under the hard cap after signing Andrew Goudelock, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
- The Rockets recalled Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team announced today.
Pacific Notes: Brown, Kings, Curry
The reputation of the Kings organization has suffered another blow in the wake of a flubbed D-League move. The D-League forced the affiliate of the Kings to forfeit a game because it played Duje Dukan, who was on assignment from Sacramento, during the All-Star break, report Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports and Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (All five Twitter links here). The D-League upheld a protest that the Suns affiliate filed after losing to Sacramento’s D-League team on February 16th, a game in which Dukan took part, according to Spears. NBA players weren’t allowed to play for D-League teams from February 11th through February 16th because of the NBA All-Star break, Reichert notes. So, the Reno win became a Bakersfield win instead, as Spears points out. The Sacramento front office under GM Vlade Divac has drawn criticism for its lack of knowledge about the finer points of rules governing personnel movement, though the Kings reportedly interviewed cap expert Bobby Marks on Thursday.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers rookie small forward Anthony Brown is expected to miss at least a month due to a stress reaction in his right foot, the team announced (Twitter link). Brown, 23, was the No. 34 overall selection out of Stanford in the 2015 NBA draft. He has appeared in 29 contests for Los Angeles, including 11 starts, and is averaging 4.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 20.7 minutes per game. Brown’s shooting line on the season is .310/.286/.850.
- Brown, prior to his injury, was struggling to adjust to the NBA on offense, which frustrated the Lakers coaching staff, though head coach Byron Scott has praised the rookie’s acumen as a defender, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “Defensively he has a world of confidence that he can guard most people he has to guard,” Scott said. “I want that to translate on the other end as well.” For his part, Brown seems to understand why his shot selection and accuracy has vexed his coaches, Oram adds. “Obviously, as a coach you want to be able to know what you’re going to get consistently from a guy offensively as well as defensively,” Brown said. “And that’s something I’ve got to continue to work on.”
- Seth Curry hasn’t seen much action for the Kings this season despite being a solid defender, an area the team is poor in, which has the combo guard mildly frustrated, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “It’s tough,” Curry said. “I think mentally the toughest part is trying to stay involved and try to keep that competitive edge. It’s pretty easy to work out and keep your skills right, but I think mentally and being in good shape is the hardest part.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Timberwolves, Gasol, Kings
Talks between Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and Grizzlies part-owner Steve Kaplan about a would-be deal for 30% of the Minnesota franchise have “hit a wall,” sources told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. The proposed arrangement, which would reportedly involve Taylor eventually ceding control of the Wolves to Kaplan, isn’t dead, Krawczynski hears, but a source who spoke with Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune suggested no deal may ever come to pass. Kaplan has encountered trouble in his effort to sell his Grizzlies stake, a requirement before he buys into the Wolves, Krawczynski’s sources say. Regardless of what happens on that front, Taylor and Kaplan still must sort through issues about how much say Kaplan would have in hiring for the team’s GM and coaching positions and whether Taylor would indeed eventually give up control, Zgoda writes. For now, Taylor is preparing to make decisions about interim GM Milt Newton and interim coach Sam Mitchell on his own and is actively investigating his options, according to Zgoda. See more on the Wolves amid a look around the NBA:
- The Timberwolves are seeking an athletic wing player for their open roster spot, with Mitchell saying he wants someone with NBA experience who’d have a legitimate chance of making the opening night roster next season, Zgoda reports in the same piece. “We have to improve our athleticism,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we’re a bad athletic team, but we’re not as athletic as we need to be. We need to look at guys who can defend, a guy who can shoot, and see how this team can look if we can spread the floor a little bit more.”
- The Bulls will have to continue to try to build a contender if they want to re-sign Pau Gasol, as he indicated to Marca.com (translation via HoopsHype), reiterating that he’ll opt out and that, all things being equal, he’d prefer to stay with Chicago. Money won’t be his first priority, Gasol also said, adding that the offer from the Bulls should nonetheless reflect that they value his performance.
- The Kings interviewed former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks on Thursday for a job within their front office, as USA Today’s Sam Amick hears (Twitter link). Marks currently works as a writer for The Vertical on Yahoo Sports.
And-Ones: Perkins, Butler, Labissiere, Vesely
Players on the Cavaliers were furious when the team let Kendrick Perkins leave in free agency this summer and instead signed Sasha Kaun, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer said in an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” (video link; transcription via Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk). They valued Perkins for his emotional leadership and the role of enforcer that he played, even though he doesn’t offer much else on the court at this point in his career, as Haynes detailed. Perkins is averaging 11.3 minutes per game in 15 appearances for the Pelicans on a one-year deal this season. See more from around the NBA:
- The offer the Celtics reportedly made to the Bulls for Jimmy Butler left much to be desired from Chicago’s end, and the talks didn’t advance from there, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune hears (Twitter links).
- Former No. 1 draft prospect Skal Labissiere has continued to plummet in rankings, coming in only 19th in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, notes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. However, the University of Kentucky big man returned to the starting lineup Tuesday after a late-December benching and tallied 11 points and eight rebounds, numbers well above his averages of 6.4 points and 3.0 boards per game.
- Jan Vesely recently drew an offer from an NBA team for the equivalent of between $7.7MM and $8.8MM, according to an official from his Turkish team, Fenerbahce Ulker, notes Eurohoops.net. The official indicated that Fenerbahce wants to keep the former NBA sixth overall pick, and Vesely has no intention of leaving for an NBA team in the near future, tweets international journalist David Pick. Few NBA teams have the capacity to hand out contracts of that amount this late in the season, so I’d speculate that it was meant as an offer for the summer, when teams have much more to spend.
And-Ones: Marks, Thibodeau, D-League
The Nets received a glowing endorsement regarding new GM Sean Marks from New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “It’s an easy call to make when it’s about Sean Marks,’’ Cashman told Lewis. “We developed a good relationship. … Sean Marks was clearly a graduate of Pop [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] University, a disciple. What an asset, an asset the Nets were smart enough to acquire.’’
“I recently spent two days in San Antonio, me and our mental coach Chad Bohling,” Cashman continued. “We were with Pop, [GM] R.C. Buford, Sean Marks, their performance-science analytics team. We had a chance to watch shootaround, watch the game, and Sean was someone I spent a lot of time with, developed a relationship. He’s an extremely impressive individual. I walked out of there thinking this individual will be a success. I’d want him on my team. He’s an extremely intelligent, compassionate leader. You could tell there was something special there, and shortly thereafter there were the Nets knocking on his door. There were probably going to be more knocks.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Timberwolves still have one open roster spot after inking Greg Smith to a 10-day pact earlier today and interim coach Sam Mitchell said the team will look to bring in a player with NBA experience who would attend training camp this fall, Andy Greder of The Pioneer Press tweets.
- At the request of coach George Karl, the Kings have brought in former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau as a defensive consultant, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relays (via Twitter). Thibodeau is expected to work with the players over the next few days, Ham adds. Sacramento is ranked dead last in points allowed, surrendering an average of 109.6 per contest.
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Norman Powell from their D-League affiliate, the team announced.
- The Hawks have assigned center Edy Tavares to the D-League, the team announced via press release. Tavares will report to the Bakersfield Jam, the Suns’ affiliate, pursuant to the NBA’s flexible assignment rule, since Atlanta does not have its own D-League affiliate.
Western Notes: Garnett, Monroe, Clippers, Kings
Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell won’t rule out the possibility that Kevin Garnett will miss the rest of the season with continued soreness in his right knee, as Mitchell detailed on the “NBA Today” show on SiriusXM NBA Radio (audio link). “It’s kind of a day-to-day, week-to-week thing,” Mitchell said. It’ll be Garnett’s call about whether to return to action this season, notes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Garnett is under contract at $8MM next season, but it’s not set in stone that he’ll continue to play, so it’s conceivable that the 21st-year veteran has made his last NBA appearance. See more from the Western Conference:
- The Trail Blazers made preliminary inquiries about trading for Greg Monroe before last month’s deadline, but such talks didn’t go anywhere, league sources told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The Blazers were one of four finalists who made maximum-salary offers to Monroe when he was a free agent this past summer.
- Jeff Green sees an extra $250K if his team wins at least 54 games this season, a possibility that appeared remote when he was with the Grizzlies but is solidly in play following his trade to the Clippers, Lowe notes in the same piece. That bonus increases to $450K if the Clips hit 56 wins and $700K if they make 58, according to Lowe. L.A. is projected to pay an additional $2.50 in taxes for every extra dollar Green receives.
- The lack of a ready-built arena hampered Virginia Beach’s pursuit of the Kings in 2013, as did a fragmented television market, as attorney Tom Frantz, who’s part of a push to consolidate marketing efforts among municipalties in eastern Virginia, explained to Paula C. Squires of VirginiaBusiness.com. “The [Kings] looked at Richmond to the oceanfront as one market. … They said it would have been critically important for them to come here to have one sports station covering the Richmond and Hampton Roads [Metropolitan Statistical Areas] to help promote the team,” Frantz said. Plans for a privately owned arena in the area have been approved, Squires notes.
Pacific Notes: Rivers, McDonough, Ranadive
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers insisted the team didn’t listen when it fielded trade calls about Blake Griffin from other clubs, as Rivers told Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, reiterating his faith in the power forward he contends was having an MVP-caliber season before his two-month absence. Rivers also defended the job he’s done as team’s player personnel chief.
“I don’t know. I don’t evaluate. I have too many people evaluating for me,” Rivers said. “I let them do it and I keep doing my job. I don’t care about the evaluations. I care about the team. We’re a team that doesn’t have a lot of leverage. We don’t have a lot of assets. But to me, we keep ending up with the Jeff Greens of the world, Cole Aldrich is terrific, Wes Johnson. … We’re getting these guys at minimum contracts. Even Josh [Smith] was a good gamble. It didn’t work out for us. But when you are in that minimum contract deal, you’re going to have some hits and misses and we’re fine with it and you keep doing.”
See more from the Pacific Division:
- Suns owner Robert Sarver issued a vote of confidence to GM Ryan McDonough in an open letter to fans posted on the team’s website, acknowledging that some of the risks the team has taken lately haven’t panned out but pointing to the Warriors as reason to continue making bold moves. “Not every decision will be the right one, but [McDonough] will continue to build our team around the young, talented players acquired through the draft and opportunistically in free agency,” Sarver wrote in part. “The best team in the NBA right now is a perfect example of that model.”
- Kings owner Vivek Ranadive may have encountered trouble running the team so far, but his success in other venues shows he’s no fool, writes Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. Ranadive told Furillo he’d buy out the stake of any minority-share owner who wants out, responding to reports that many of his partners are upset with him. “If somebody’s unhappy, I’ll write them a check today,” Ranadive said.
- The Kings could use some more defense in the backcourt and coach George Karl has praised Seth Curry‘s performance on that end, but Curry has remained largely tied to the pine, much to his frustration, as The Bee’s Jason Jones examines. Curry has a minimum-salary player option for next season.
Western Notes: Dejean-Jones, D-League, Walton
Bryce Dejean-Jones, whom the Pelicans recently inked to a three-year pact, has been diagnosed with a fractured right wrist after having an MRI today and he will undergo surgery on Friday morning to repair the damage, the team announced. No official timetable has been announced for Dejean-Jones’ recovery, but Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate relays that the guard will likely miss six to eight weeks of action as a result of the injury (Twitter link). Dejean-Jones has appeared in 14 games for the Pelicans this season and is averaging 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per contest.
Here’s more from out West:
- While Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton will certainly be a hot name this offseason for any potential coaching vacancies, a number of GMs around the league have expressed trepidation at the prospect of giving Walton a head coaching position, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “I think Luke has a chance to be a good coach; he knows the game, but I would be worried that he’s not ready for that job yet,” a league executive told Deveney. “You’d have to worried about that. The thing is, if your owner has been hearing Warriors, Warriors, Warriors for the last two years, and he sees Luke Walton setting records, you’re probably going to hear something like, ‘Why can’t we get a coach like that?’ And so you wind up taking a chance even if he does not have the experience level you’re looking for.”
- The Grizzlies assigned power forward Jarell Martin to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Martin’s sixth trek to Iowa this season. He is averaging 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30.6 minutes over seven D-League contests.
- Power forward Duje Dukan has been assigned by the Kings to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This marks Dukan’s sixth sojourn of the season to Reno.
And-Ones: Anthony, D-League, Mack
Despite the mild awkwardness of being back in a Pistons uniform after the three-team trade he was a part of was nixed, Joel Anthony says he’s glad to return to Motown after nearly becoming a member of the Sixers at the trade deadline, David Mayo of MLive writes. “It is obviously a little awkward, a little weird,” Anthony said. “It’s been one of the weirdest weeks I’ve had as a professional. It’s great to be back here. I love the guys on the team. Everyone was happy with me coming back. So just looking forward to being a part of this team and helping us move forward.”
“Things like this happen in the league where guys get hurt, guys get injured,” Anthony also said. “It’s really about that next man up, the next guy’s supposed to step up. You have guys on the roster for a reason, so those guys are going to have to play their role the way they’re supposed to, and continue to help us win.”
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- Shelvin Mack has impressed the Jazz with his solid play since arriving in a trade deadline deal from Atlanta, but his emergence may further cloud Utah’s unsettled point guard rotation, writes Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. “We’ve had — I wouldn’t say a revolving door — but we’ve found that depth from internally, essentially using guys out of position,” coach Quin Snyder said. “If we would have had three point guards at the beginning of the year, you’d see some sort of separation in the early part of the year. We haven’t had that. As a result, that process has to occur now. There’s going to be decisions I have to make relative to who’s going to play.”
- The Jazz have assigned center Tibor Pleiss to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Pleiss’ fifth trek to Idaho on the season. He has appeared in 15 games, averaging 12.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.7 assists in 31.3 minutes per contest.
- The Kings have recalled power forward Duje Dukan from the Reno Bighorns, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This concludes Dukan’s fifth trip to the D-League.
Northwest Notes: Favors, Malone, Pleiss
Tuesday morning marked the five year anniversary of the trade that sent Deron Williams to the Nets and landed Derrick Favors in Utah, a place the power forward initially wasn’t thrilled to be headed to, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. But despite his initial concerns, Favors is content playing for the Jazz, Genessy adds. “Welcome to the NBA, basically. That’s my memory,” Favors said. “Coming from New Jersey, being 19 coming all the way over to Utah, a place I’d never been before. It was different, but I grew up, got used to it and I like it here. I’ve matured a lot. Obviously I’m not 19 anymore. My game changed a lot. I’ve changed as a person. Five years ago seems like forever.“ The 24-year-old still has two more seasons remaining on his contract after this one, so his loyalty to the Jazz won’t be put to the test until the summer of 2018, when he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Jazz are pleased with the development of center Tibor Pleiss and credit his four stints in the D-League this season for his improvement, Genessy notes in the same piece. “He’s getting an opportunity to play. Whatever his play looks like in my mind is what’s being accomplished is just those minutes,” coach Quin Snyder said. “Look at his line, his numbers. He’s fouling less, been more productive. Really, if you watch him, he looks more comfortable and that’s the primary thing.” The 26-year-old has appeared in 15 games for Idaho this season and has averaged 12.6 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Stampede.
- The Nuggets are a much more stable team with Michael Malone as head coach, and his no-nonsense demeanor and desire to avoid discord separates him from former Denver coach George Karl, who has had numerous issues since taking over as coach of the Kings, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. Malone, whom Sacramento was fired last season, has observed Karl’s difficulties getting along with Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, a player with whom Malone had reached a common ground, Kiszla adds. “I was real with him, I was honest with him, I coached him, I disciplined him, I held him accountable. I never tried to be his buddy. I never tried to coach around him,” Malone said of his relationship with Cousins. “And, at the end of the day, I am a competitor. I hate to lose. At the end of the day, DeMarcus is a competitor. He hates to lose. We had that in common.“
- One of the reasons that the Blazers are in the playoff hunt this season is the play of shooting guard C.J. McCollum, whose emergence is not a surprise to Portland’s front office, Ian Thomsen of NBA.com writes. “Damian [Lillard] and C.J. are our two best players,” GM Neil Olshey said. “They are our two best passers, our two best shooters and our two best scorers. The irony is, if C.J. doesn’t get hurt in camp as a rookie, then we were having this conversation two years ago. He was that good.“