Western Notes: Brewer, Jackson, Gay
Tonight’s matchup between Memphis and Houston is a good one, but it’d be hard to fault fans looking forward to Wednesday night’s clash between the defending champion Spurs and the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. Sam Amick of USA Today writes that the Cleveland faithful should thank the Spurs for their part in sending James back to his hometown club, as few dispute that a Miami victory last June would have prevented the offseason’s biggest shakeup.
We’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see if the Spurs get their due from the Quicken Loans Arena crowd. Until then, let’s see what else is going on out West:
- While Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders tried to downplay the Corey Brewer rumors earlier today, it sure appears that interest in the veteran swingman is legitimate. However, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities isn’t getting the sense that a trade is imminent (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle questions whether the Rockets would use their traded player exception this early in the season (via Twitter). As our Outstanding Trade Exceptions guide shows, Houston obtained a trade exception of nearly $8.4MM when they sent Jeremy Lin to the Lakers.
- With superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the shelf, Thunder guard Reggie Jackson has had the spotlight to himself in Oklahoma City recently, averaging 21.5 points in the team’s first 11 games. Jackson and the Thunder broke off extension talks in October and the fourth-year guard is set for restricted free agency this summer. One guy who knows what it’s like to be the third fiddle in OKC is James Harden, who told Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman that Jackson should take advantage of this opportunity. “I fell into the same situation, and that could have been my only contract. And I’m sure Reggie feels the same way. He has to get the money that he’s earned and that he’s worked his whole life for. It’s the nature of the business. It’s going to happen every single year and it’s going to continue to happen.”
- Rudy Gay and the Kings are perfect for each other, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Ziller considers the extension agreed upon yesterday to be mutually beneficial, with Sacramento keeping a good player at a reasonable price while Gay pockets a nice chunk of change in the short term without totally sacrificing his ability to take advantage of the league’s new TV money. Assuming his success continues in Sacramento, Gay can decline his player option for 2017/18 and cash in one year after the cap explodes skyward in 2016.
And-Ones: Nene, Green, Cap, Johnson
We have nine games on the NBA slate for tonight, the best of which is undoubtedly the Southwest division showdown in Memphis between the 9-1 Rockets and the 9-1 Grizzlies. Some might say the Grizzlies’ impressive record should include an asterisk, as the Kings continue insist that last week’s game-winner by Courtney Lee be overturned. However, Memphis GM Chris Wallace is confident the league will uphold his team’s victory, he tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
With that settled, let’s take a look at what else is going on around the Association on Monday night:
- Nene and Gerald Green have joined the BDA Sports agency, as Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal reports in a subscription-only piece. Nene had been with Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, while agent Kenton Edelin was Green’s representative. Green’s contract with the Suns is up after this season, while Nene’s deal with the Wizards runs through 2015/16.
- Almost all team executives believe the salary cap for 2015/16 will fall somewhere between $66MM and $68MM, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Lowe includes this nugget in a longer analysis of yesterday’s Rudy Gay extension, which the Grantland scribe describes as “fair-ish” next season and as a potential steal come 2016/17. Lowe also believes that the Kings would like to add another piece after this season if they can free up some salary. He speculates that Jason Thompson and his $6.43MM 2015/16 salary could be a trade candidate.
- Now in his 14th season at age 33, Joe Johnson tells David Aldridge of NBA.com that he can’t imagine playing too much longer after his deal is up with the Nets. Johnson, who recently got into some hot water after saying his team was playing selfishly, is under contract through next season with Brooklyn and will hit free agency at age 35 in the summer of 2016.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Kerr, Nuggets, Kings, Pondexter
Stephen Curry was one of the most vocal supporters of former Warriors coach Mark Jackson, but new coach Steve Kerr impressed the All-Star guard with the way he made a special effort to win the team’s trust. Curry shared his thoughts with TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his NBA.com Morning Tip.
“It’s always that kind of uncertainty, what it’s going to be like,” Curry said. “He did a great job over the summer of reaching out to every single player, getting to know us, talking about what his expectations were, which made us a little more comfortable, for sure. But we’re all grownups. We all can kind of compartmentalize your relationships, knowing that in situations Coach Kerr’s coming in prepared for the job and trying to take us to the next level, and our job is to go out and play. He did a great job during training camp of keeping it light, keeping it fun, doing some things that are different.”
Jackson won plenty in Golden State, but Kerr is keeping it up, with the Warriors at 8-2 to start the season. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- The Nuggets are off to a sluggish 2-7 start, but GM Tim Connelly isn’t about to resort to drastic measures, observes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. “Certainly we’ve struggled,” Connelly said. “But it’s early.” Nonetheless, ex-Nuggets coach George Karl has an interest in returning to coaching and has been keeping an eye on the team, as one of his former assistants tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Kings have recalled Eric Moreland from the D-League, the team announced. The power forward averaged 15.0 points and 13.0 rebounds over a pair of weekend games.
- The four-year extension that Quincy Pondexter signed last year with the Grizzlies just kicked in for this season, and he’s fallen out of the rotation, as Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal notes in his subscription-only Pick-and-Pop column. The length of his deal dictates that Memphis look to trade him if he can’t find his way back onto the floor, Herrington opines.
Pacific Notes: Gay, Clarkson, Barnes
The Warriors, Clippers and even the Kings would make the playoffs out of the Pacific Division if the postseason began today. Sacramento’s hot start may have played a role in Rudy Gay‘s decision to agree to a contract extension this weekend, as we detail amid the latest from the Pacific:
- Extension talks between Gay and the Kings had seemingly been dormant for months before the sides picked up the conversation just days before their agreement this weekend. Still, he had always been open to staying in Sacramento if he saw indications that the team was improving, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
- Kobe Bryant is gunning away at a phenomenal rate, topping the NBA with 24.4 shot attempts per game, but it’s not as if he isn’t helping his Lakers teammates. Rookie Jordan Clarkson says Bryant has given him information aplenty to absorb, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I couldn’t even repeat everything he says,” Clarkson said. “I wish I had one of those tape recorders some days. I’ll keep it in my pocket when he talks to me. He’s so useful.”
- Matt Barnes has started the final fully guaranteed season of his contract in a slump on the court as he deals with turmoil in his family life off of it, but the Clippers remain in his corner, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com examines.
Poll: Rudy Gay’s Extension With Kings
Earlier today, we learned that the Kings and Rudy Gay agreed to a three-year, $40MM extension that includes a player option after year two. On the surface, it’s significant money to be spent on a player whose game has endured sharp criticism from the analytics community over the last few years. However, when considering Gay’s age, the short length of the pact, and Sacramento’s position as a free agent destination, one could argue that the deal is something of a good value for the Kings.
As Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated writes, the deal actually appears to be something of a head-scratcher from Gay’s perspective. The forward was set to hit the open market this upcoming summer and would have had a good amount of leverage behind him. No, Gay isn’t regarded as the type of guy that can be a No. 1 player for a contending team, but he’s still on the right side of 30 and the incumbent Kings likely would have been just as hungry to retain him then, if not more so. Meanwhile, the $13.3MM average annual value won’t leave Gay starving, but it’s a step back from the $16.4MM AAV on his previous deal.
On the flipside, the Kings have signed on for at least two additional seasons for a player who has been widely panned for his offensive inefficiency in recent seasons. In 75 games for the Grizzlies and Raptors in 2012-13, Gay recorded a combined PER of 15.6, putting him in the same range as guys like Ivan Johnson, DeMarre Carroll, and Matt Barnes. Since then, Gay has set new career highs in PER in each of the last two seasons (18.3 and 22.0, respectively), but the forward is not far removed from his pattern of dreadful offensive decisions and ill-advised long-range shots. The Grizzlies didn’t fade after trading Gay to Toronto and the Raptors actually improved after dealing Gay to the Kings, so it’s certainly fair for one to wonder exactly how valuable the 28-year-old really is.
Gay traded in the chance to earn a bit more this summer for the security of a new deal with the Kings, albeit with an escape hatch that can allow him to collect some of that sweet, sweet TV money in the summer of 2017. Putting aside the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the deal from Gay’s perspective, what do you think of the extension from the Kings’ side of things?
Is The Gay Extension A Smart Deal For The Kings?
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Yes 79% (625)
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No 21% (165)
Total votes: 790
Western Notes: Brooks, Warren, Livingston
Former Lakers guard MarShon Brooks‘ time with Olimpia Milano of Italy may be coming to an end, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). It is unclear if this means Brooks will be waived by the Italian team or if a buyout arrangement is being discussed. The 25-year-old shooting guard was pursued by the Pacers, Kings and an unnamed “title-contending team” from the east prior to Brooks inking his overseas deal this summer, and with the rash of early season injuries Brooks could have a number of NBA opportunities if he returns stateside.
Here’s more from out west:
- The Suns assigned T.J. Warren to the D-League earlier today but his stint shouldn’t be a long one, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “T.J. is going to be a great player,” head coach Jeff Hornacek asserted. “This team has a lot of guys at his spot right now, but he’s going to be around. He’s going to be a factor. He’s got great hands. He knows how to score, but the transition [defensively] has been pretty good, too.” The first-rounder out of North Carolina State has only seen one minute of NBA action thus far this season.
- Shaun Livingston will face off against the Nets tonight, his former team, and he discussed why he chose to sign with the Warriors this summer, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “It was about putting myself in the best position to win, and also to get the value as a player. Your market value,” Livingston said. “That was my case. I was hoping to [finally get a big offer] and ideally that was the thought process going into free agency, but, man, I’ve been in a couple of situations where I thought I was going to get paid and I was going to come back and it just didn’t work out. I mean, my injury [in 2007], that year I was supposed to get an extension and I didn’t. I had a good a year with the Wizards [in 2009/10] and then they end up getting John Wall with the first pick.”
- With his excellent numbers filling in for the injured Russell Westbrook, the Thunder‘s Reggie Jackson is generating a market value that will test the team’s willingness to match any offer sheets he is likely to receive this summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports opines. It’s not clear exactly how much Jackson will command on his next contract but Wojnarowski suggests that the annual salary could be in the $13MM-$14MM range.
Kings Notes: Trades, McLemore, Thomas
Three unbeaten teams rule the Western Conference, but behind them, the Kings are surprisingly the West’s only one-loss club. Offseason signees Darren Collison and Omri Casspi have paid dividends so far, but it’s early, and a four-game road trip with stops in Phoenix, Dallas and Memphis will provide a closer look at just how far Sacramento has come. In the meantime, here’s the latest from California’s capital, home to one of just three NBA teams with open roster spots:
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro backed off his aggressive pursuit of trades even before the club started the season on a roll, as he tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Howard-Cooper cautions that it doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings won’t aggressively seek deals again after a while, whether or not their strong play persists. “When you talk about thirst, last year when we came in, we knew we had to disrupt the whole roster,” D’Alessandro said. “Dismantle. I don’t know if that was a thirst as much as — well, it was a thirst. It was a necessity, right? Our eyes are always open. We’re always looking to get better. But we are very happy with the acquisitions that we made. We’re going to take a wait-and-see approach and see how this thing goes. Obviously every team in the league is looking for that one magical guy, but let’s see if this chemistry’s right for a little bit.”
- Ben McLemore didn’t consult LeBron James before joining the Klutch Sports Group this week, as the second-year shooting guard told reporters, including Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). James, whom McLemore considers a mentor, is a founding Klutch client.
- Isaiah Thomas isn’t sure whether DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay wanted him to remain with the Kings, but the point guard figures that if they had, he’d probably still be in Sacramento, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. “The only thing is I wanted to be back because I loved the coaching staff,” Thomas said. “I love [coach] Mike Malone. He was in my corner 100%. I know that for a fact. And then the city of Sacramento, with the love they showed me. [Sacramento mayor and former NBA player] Kevin Johnson. That was all I knew coming into the NBA. But at the end of the day, I wanted to be wanted — that’s what I keep telling people — and I didn’t feel like they wanted me as much.”
Western Notes: Rockets, Thunder, McLemore
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he won’t judge coach Kevin McHale merely by how far the team goes in the playoffs this year and expressed support for the front office as he spoke with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Alexander pointed to Trevor Ariza and Kostas Papanikolaou as key additions in an offseason that, as the owner acknowledged, didn’t go as planned.
“It was a very difficult offseason,” Alexander said. “There were big decisions that really didn’t go our way. It was tough. It was tough going through it and hoping you’d be able to rebound and have a really good team. I liked the moves that we made. And we still have flexibility to make other moves, which I believe is important.”
The Rockets, with a league-best 5-0 record, put that unbeaten mark on the line tonight against a Spurs team that plans to rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- The Thunder would likely apply for a second hardship provision, which would give them a 17th roster spot, if they expect that a knee injury that Perry Jones III suffered Tuesday will force him to miss a significant amount of time, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The team is poised to make Ish Smith its 16th player.
- Ben McLemore has hired the Klutch Sports Group for his representation, the agency announced (Twitter link). The second-year shooting guard recently left agent Rodney Blackstock. Klutch has close ties to the Cavs, but the earliest McLemore could reach unrestricted free agency by his own choosing would be the summer of 2018.
- Flip Saunders said uncertainty over the Timberwolves roster this summer prior to the Kevin Love trade helped keep him from hiring Lionel Hollins as Minnesota’s coach, observes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Saunders said he couldn’t promise Hollins, who interviewed for the coaching job that Saunders ultimately took for himself, that the Wolves would have the sort of veteran roster that Hollins is accustomed to, as Bontemps notes.
Western Notes: Moreland, Green, Lucas, Hancock
There are six Western Conference teams in action tonight on a slate that includes a matchup of unbeatens between the Rockets and Heat, who also went head-to-head in the pursuit of Chris Bosh this past offseason. Let’s take a look at what’s going on out west before tonight’s action gets underway:
- The Kings have assigned undrafted rookie forward Eric Moreland to the Reno Bighorns, the team announced today. Moreland, who signed a three-year deal with Sacramento in July, had yet to touch the floor in four games for the Kings after impressing this summer. His contract is guaranteed for $200K this season and is non-guaranteed for the two years beyond that.
- Draymond Green, who will become a restricted free agent next summer, has switched agents, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter). Green was previously represented by Herb Rudoy of Interperformances, as our Agency Database shows, and will now be under the care of B.J. Armstrong and Arn Tellem of the Wasserman Media Group, according to Amick. Green originally signed a three-year pact with the Warriors as a rookie, the third year of which became guaranteed on August 1 when he remained on the Golden State roster.
- The Grizzlies’ deal with Kalin Lucas, struck earlier today, is non-guaranteed for one year but will become fully guaranteed at some point in January, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (via Twitter). Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms it is a minimum salary deal worth the prorated amount of $486,446 (via Twitter).
- Luke Hancock, who was waived by the Grizzlies in October, signed with Panionios B.C. of Greece, the team announced today (translation via Sportando). Memphis brought Hancock into camp on a non-guaranteed deal in September before parting ways with the undrafted rookie out of Louisville.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
International Moves: Motum, Burton, Ware
Many of the dozens of players who recently found themselves on the market after having spent training camp with NBA teams end up in the D-League, but more lucrative deals usually require a trip overseas. International circuits are still reaping the benefits from the deluge of NBA cuts that took place in advance of last week’s deadline for teams to pare their rosters to 15, and here’s the latest on those moving from the Association to more distant outposts:
- Brock Motum followed up his time in Jazz camp with a deal to play for the Adelaide 36ers in his native Australia, the team announced (hat tip to Sporando’s Emiliano Carchia). The deal runs through 2015/16, but it allows the 24-year-old to leave for an NBA deal, according to Roy Ward of The Sydney Morning Herald. It’s unclear how much Motum will make, but he opted for Australia over the D-League because of better money and the belief that the competition is superior, Ward writes.
- Kings camp cut Deonte Burton has signed with Germany’s Ratiopharm Ulm on a pact that covers the rest of the season, the team announced (translation via ).
- Former Sixers guard Casper Ware is also off to Germany, having signed with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, the team announced (translation via Carchia). The contract covers the balance of 2014/15, according to the club. Ware was briefly a member of the Nets after a trade sent him to Brooklyn 10 days ago, but he wound up on waivers the day after that.