Kings GM On Knicks Trade, Rookies, Collison
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro offered some comments on the team’s offseason thus far, including the thought process behind their recent trade with the Knicks, the impression that the rookies have made at this point, and how he expects Darren Collison to significantly contribute next season. D’Alessandro covers several other topics in his recent Q&A session with NBA.com, but you can find some of the interview’s more notable highlights below:
On dealing Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw to New York and what it meant for Sacramento:
“First, I would say Quincy did a phenomenal job for us – we loved Quincy. I think when we looked at our positioning and the positions we had filled, it became much more difficult. So we worked with Quincy – in a partnership with him – to make something happen that worked for him and worked for us. And we’re really happy for him because I think he’s going to play really well for the Knicks. On our end, we give ourselves a little flexibility. We took some protection off a pick, which we now have in an unconditional manner and we got a young player who has a chance to make our team and who’s an exceptional shooter. So we have flexibility and also we have other players in which we’re negotiating with who we think could fill the role that Travis played, which was a huge role.
Travis is another hard guy to let go – he was such a good citizen and a really good player for us. So overall, it was a broad brush of things that it did for us and cleaned some things up and it put us in position for future [moves]. For Quincy and Travis, we wish them the best and really do thank them – they are great guys and great players.”
On rookie Nik Stauskas:
“We have high hopes for Nik. He’s very young so we’re not going to put a lot of pressure on him this year, but I don’t think we don’t need to. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. We have very high hopes for him as a player, as a shooter, and as a guy who can help us to stretch the floor, so there’s a lot of opportunities for him… (What stands out about him right now is) confidence. If he gets three shots, he feels like he’s going to make all three. If he gets 20 shots, he feels like he’s going to make 20. He’s not a guy that will ever have the ball in his hands and feel like he’s not going to succeed with it and you saw that in Summer League. We didn’t go to him as often as we might have, but nothing really fazed him. He continued to shoot the ball well and do what he does. So we’re looking forward to his development.”
On Deonte Burton:
“…With Deonte we see a guy with a lot of promise. A lot of guys saw him highly ranked, but he didn’t get drafted. And this Draft was such a tough one because it was so loaded and stacked. When you got to the second round you just didn’t know what was going to happen – there were teams who didn’t necessarily want to bring guys in, so they take guys who are stashed. Deonte’s not a guy who wanted to be stashed – he feels like he’s an NBA player and we would like to see what he has…“He [had] a great (draft) workout. He’s a great kid too – I think he fits in with what we’re trying to do. We’re excited that he’ll be part of this process and training camp and he’ll have an opportunity to try to make the team.”
On Eric Moreland:
“I thought [he brought] energy and he had an ability to block shots, but really just how hard he plays…These guys come in and play hard – they play really hard and we expect that out of Eric and that’s what it’s going to take for him to succeed in this league…(Players with his skill set) translate to almost any system because those are the guys who raise the energy of your team and the players around them. To me, you can insert a guy who’s 22-years-old and now it’s up to him. It’s up to him to step in and create a niche for himself.”
On how he expects Darren Collison to have an impact:
“[He’s another guy with a high] motor – a guy who can just go, flat-out go. He can help pick up our pace. He’s a great veteran and he’s a guy we look forward to bringing more than just his skills [to our team]…You’re talking about a guy who has playoff experience – a guy who has an expectation of winning. When I talk to Darren, it’s always ‘how do we make the playoffs? How do we get there?’ That’s something that’s important to me – that you have players that are thinking that way, and more important, acting that way…His ability to pull it together – we talk about the-straw-that-stirs-the-drink analogy and that’s [our] hope for him. We want him to be that guy that brings out the talent from everyone else, while also showing his talent and leadership in the process.”
And-Ones: Morris, D-League, Kings
The NBA released its schedule for 2014/15, and it’ll feature an All-Star break that will extend longer than a week. Every team will get at least eight days off, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That will mean a few more sets of back-to-back games throughout the season, but it’ll be interesting to see the effect on the pre-deadline trade market, since the All-Star break usually falls about a week before the trade deadline. More idle time and a lower risk of injuries that could scuttle a trade might lead to more activity. While we digest the schedule and all of its ramifications, here’s the latest from around the league:
- Darius Morris rejected an offer that would have given him a net $450K from a Serbian team, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com, who speculates that NBA interest was behind Morris’ decision.
- There is no timetable on a decision to install a new D-League president, the league office tells Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com.
- Pilato has heard of some candidates for the job, however, naming Tommy Smith, Shawn Smith, Chris Alpert, and Jerry Murphy, all of whom currently work for the D-League
- The Jazz announced (via Twitter) that Dean Cooper, whom the Rockets let go from their assistant coaching staff after this past season, has been named head coach of Utah’s D-League affiliate.
- Demolition has begun for the Kings new arena, reports Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. The project is moving forward with the expectation that some remaining legal challenges to the arena’s construction will fail.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Poll: Which Departures Will Teams Regret?
While many teams were spurned by their players for greener pastures despite their best efforts this offseason (the Heat by LeBron James, the Lakers by Pau Gasol, the Nets by Shaun Livingston) some teams decided not to up the ante when they could have, allowing key contributors to sign elsewhere. We’ll run down a few of the latter, and explore whether these teams will regret their decision:
- Lance Stephenson – from Indiana to Charlotte. Had Paul George‘s injury occurred before free agency, the Pacers might have been more willing to meet Stephenson’s demands. Instead, they let arguably their most versatile offensive piece walk, refusing to improve their five-year, $44MM offer before the combo guard signed with the Hornets for three years and $27.4MM. Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles are the incoming guards Indiana hopes can lessen the combined loss of Stephenson and now George. The Pacers also seeking Shawn Marion‘s services, but aren’t expected to win out over the Cavs in that pursuit.
- Chandler Parsons – from Houston to Dallas. The Rockets declined an option to retain Parsons for another season on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league. The team decided to take their chances with the forward’s restricted free agency this summer rather than letting him hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, but ultimately decided against matching the Mavs’ three-year, $46.1MM offer sheet. The Rockets let Parsons go in part because they had already locked up Ariza, who is next on the list.
- Trevor Ariza – from Washington to Houston. Ariza bolted from the Wizards after turning in a career year for a team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Wizards were unwilling to increase their offer, which equaled Houston’s four-year, $32MM arrangement, but practically amounted to $3MM less due to differences in state taxes. Washington quickly signed Paul Pierce in the wake of Ariza’s departure, and received an exception by signing-and-trading Ariza that was partially spent on Kris Humphries.
- Channing Frye – from Phoenix to Orlando. In a surprise signing, the Magic snatched the sharp-shooting Frye away from the Suns, who wanted to bring him back to their surprise-playoff roster. Frye is one of a few bigs that stretch the floor at an elite level, and the team signed another shooter in Anthony Tolliver to make up for Frye’s loss. Orlando’s deal with the 31-year-old was for four years and $32MM.
- Isaiah Thomas – from Sacramento to Phoenix. The Kings didn’t see the scoring machine of a point guard in their future, signing Darren Collison while Thomas was still a restricted free agent. Thomas was one of only five players to average 20 PPG and 6 APG last season. Sacramento hasn’t recouped much scoring punch in free agency, but did acquire a $7.2MM trade exception, as well as the rights to Alex Oriakhi, by executing a sign-and-trade sending Thomas to Phoenix.
As with any transaction, these front offices weighed the immediate future against their long-term plans, and tried to make the wisest choice. It might be painful to lose some of these players in year one, but fans might breathe a sigh of relief if the same players are underperforming for their new teams in the future. Then again, a player could blossom into an even stronger producer, compounding any misgivings about the teams’ non-action. What do you think?
Which Free Agent Departure Will His Team Regret Most?
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Lance Stephenson 54% (1,151)
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Chandler Parsons 28% (602)
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Isaiah Thomas 10% (207)
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Trevor Ariza 3% (70)
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None - Each GM made the right move in letting their player walk 3% (65)
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Channing Frye 2% (53)
Total votes: 2,148
Deonte Burton To Join Kings For Camp
WEDNESDAY, 12:52pm: The deal is official, the team announced via Twitter. The Kings refer to Burton as a camp invitee, suggesting his deal is non-guaranteed.
TUESDAY, 5:46pm: Burton signed his deal yesterday, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Pincus confirms it’s a one-year agreement.
4:13pm: The Kings and undrafted point guard Deonte Burton have reached an agreement, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It’s not immediately clear whether the deal is a summer contract or carries some kind of guarantee. It’ll likely be a minimum-salary arrangement.
Burton appeared to have a strong chance of becoming a second-round pick heading into the draft, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked him as the 52nd-best prospect while Chad Ford of ESPN.com listed him at No. 62. The 23-year-old spent summer league with the Wizards, averaging just 1.8 points in 17.3 minutes per contest, but he put up much better numbers as a senior with the Wolf Pack this past season, springing for 20.1 PPG and 4.4 assists against 2.0 turnovers in 38.6 MPG. He also chipped in 4.3 rebounds per contest, impressive considering his 6’1″ size.
The Kings have 15 others already in the fold, as our roster counts show, though that includes a partially guaranteed deal with Eric Moreland and Jeremy Tyler‘s non-guaranteed contract. The team is also thinking about waiving the newly acquired Wayne Ellington, so Burton appears well-positioned for a decent shot at making the opening-night roster.
Burton is not to be confused with the Marquette shooting guard of the same name.
And-Ones: Gay, Clippers, Monroe, Rogers
It’s been a rough week for Team USA following the gruesome injury sustained by Paul George and the subsequent withdrawal of Kevin Durant. However, help is on the way in the form of Kings forward Rudy Gay, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Gay was a reserve on USA’s 2010 title squad and joins Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward this time around as the team’s only true small forwards. At tonight’s Hall of Fame ceremony, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told NBA.com’s David Aldridge that a repeat gold medal performance this summer would be the “sweetest win because of the circumstances.” (via Marc Stein on Twitter).
Here is what else is happening around the league on Friday night:
- The official transfer of the Clippers could happen at any moment, as attorneys for Donald Sterling claimed in a request for a stay of a probate court decision that affirms Shelly Sterling’s right to sell the team to Steve Ballmer, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. The judge in the probate trial signed the final statement of decision Thursday, clearing the way for Donald Sterling to file the request, as Fenno explains. The sale may proceed once the judge issues a final order, which could come at any time, Fenno adds.
- There is a very good likelihood that Greg Monroe is in a Pistons uniform next season according to David Mayo of MLive.com (via Twitter), who puts the chances at 85 to 90 percent. With the sign-and-trade market for Monroe now essentially non-existent, Mayo believes the sides will either come to an agreement on a longer-term deal or that Monroe will sign his one-year qualifying offer. Monroe would become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he chooses the latter route.
- The Wizards have added Roy Rogers as an assistant coach, the team announced on their website today. Rogers has six years experience as an NBA assistant under his belt, previously working with the Nets (twice), the Celtics and the Pistons. Prior to reaching the NBA ranks, Rogers coached in the D-League for four years after a seven-year playing career. He joins fellow assistant David Atkins, hired in July, as a newcomer on the staff of head coach Randy Wittman.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Kings, Felton, Knicks, Singleton, Oden
Lost in the noise surrounding the agreement between the Cavs and Wolves to send Kevin Love to Cleveland is a trade that actually became official Wednesday. The Kings can create a pair of trade exceptions from their deal with the Knicks, one worth $915,243 for Quincy Acy‘s salary, and another worth $228,660 for the difference between the salaries of Travis Outlaw and Wayne Ellington. The Knicks, limited in part because they’re a taxpaying team, can only make a tiny trade exception worth $32,920 for the difference between the three-year veteran’s minimum that Jeremy Tyler makes and the two-year veteran’s minimum that’s coming to Acy. Here’s more on the Knicks and other teams and players from around the league:
- Mavs point guard Raymond Felton will serve a four-game suspension at the start of the regular season for his guilty plea to gun-related charges stemming from a February incident, the league announced via press release.
- Knicks GM Steve Mills didn’t rule out further moves, but he said Wednesday that the team is satisfied with its backcourt situation after alleviating a logjam with the trade, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com chronicles.
- The Wizards no longer have free agent Chris Singleton in their plans, a source tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Singleton nonetheless turned down an overseas offer in hopes of landing an NBA job, and has dropped agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports in favor of Todd Ramasar from Stealth Sports, Michael also reports.
- The Heat were unlikely to re-sign Greg Oden before his arrest this morning on misdemeanor battery charges, and the incident probably ends any chance he had of returning to the team, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in a pair of tweets.
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports clarifies an earlier report indicating that Jusuf Nurkic received less than the standard 120% of the rookie scale from the Nuggets. Denver is doling out the full 120%, but the team is using a portion of it to pay Nurkic’s buyout from his Croatian club, so while Nurkic is receiving less than 120% of the scale in actual salary, his cap figure will reflect that the Nuggets are paying 120%. The move is not unprecedented for a player picked as highly as Nurkic, who went 16th overall.
Knicks Notes: Trade, Tyler, Ellington, Early
The Knicks shook things up a bit this afternoon, making a trade with the Kings that netted them Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw. The Knicks have been looking to 2014/15 and beyond as opportunities to gain cap relief and bring in fresh talent, but the trade won’t move the needle in that regard. New York didn’t send out any salary from next season as part of the deal. Here’s more from the Big Apple:
- In a call with reporters including Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, GM Steve Mills said New York was comfortable parting with Jeremy Tyler thanks to their frontcourt depth, and reiterated that they viewed their shooting guard talent as redundant, making way for Wayne Ellington‘s departure. “We were clearly heavier at (shooting guard) and needed to strengthen our situation at (small forward). So this clearly helps us there,” Mills said.
- Mills wouldn’t rule out further moves, saying, “I think we’re always looking at ways to improve the team and we’ll continue to look at opportunities to enhance our ability to be successful.”
- Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal says that the Knicks are “clearly not done” making moves after today’s trade (on Twitter).
- Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests that the move shows the Knicks are happy to bring along second-round pick Cleanthony Early slowly, as Acy and Outlaw will add small forward depth to the roster (on Twitter). Berman also thinks Early will spend time in the D-League this year.
- In a subscription-only piece, ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton grades the trade a C for New York and a B for Sacramento.
MarShon Brooks Likely To Sign With Italian Team
WEDNESDAY, 6:01pm: Brooks is likely to sign with Olimpia Milano in the coming hours, tweets Enea Trapani of Sportando.
TUESDAY, 10:56pm: Free agent guard MarShon Brooks is progressing towards finalizing a contract with Olimpia Milano Armani of the Euroleague, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The Kings, Pacers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference contender had also been in discussions with Brooks.
The Italian team had been close to signing E’Twaun Moore, but interest from a pair of NBA clubs prompted Moore to hold off on heading overseas. Brooks played for the Kings in the NBA summer league last month, and averaged 10.1 points and shot 53.1 percent from the field in seven games.
The 6’5″, 25 year-old swingman has played for four different teams in his three years in the league. His career numbers are 7.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 1.4 APG. His career slash line is .442/.326/.748.
Knicks Still Considering Pablo Prigioni Trade
The Knicks are still considering trading Pablo Prigioni, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News initially tweeted that New York was still open to trading Prigioni while the Knicks trade with the Kings was still unfolding earlier today. In a separate tweet, Stein adds that those trade discussions at one point included the option of sending Prigioni, along with Travis Outlaw and a draft pick, to the Jazz as a facilitating third team.
New York’s remaining willingness to part with Prigioni contradicts an earlier report from Stein that said the Knicks were fond of the point guard, and only considered trading him as an incentive for another team to take on Wayne Ellington‘s contract. Ellington has already been shipped off, so perhaps New York’s fondness of Prigioni is measured.
Prigioni has played two seasons in New York, coming to the NBA for the 2012/13 season after a successful career in Europe. The 37-year-old was a reliable backup last year, but his skills maybe viewed as expendable by Knicks president Phil Jackson, who’s helping new coach Derek Fisher install the triangle offense. The Knicks acquired point guards Jose Calderon and Shane Larkin from the Mavs the day before the draft, and Iman Shumpert is a combo guard who remains on the roster despite trade speculation dating back to last season.
Knicks Acquire Quincy Acy, Travis Outlaw
4:29pm: The Knicks and Kings have officially announced the trade. Prigioni isn’t involved, so Acy, Outlaw, Ellington and Tyler are the only players changing teams. Sacramento’s statement confirms that New York removed all protection on the 2016 second-round pick going to the Kings.
4:12pm: The Kings have yet to make a final decision about waiving Ellington, according to the latest version of Amick’s story.
3:52pm: New York will guarantee Acy’s minimum salary as part of the deal, Amick tweets.
3:40pm: The Knicks will remove the protection on their own 2016 second-rounder that they already owed to Sacramento rather than send a separate second-round pick to the Kings, as Amick clarifies via Twitter. New York was to have kept the pick if it fell between Nos. 31 and 37, but it’s now entirely unprotected.
3:34pm: Frank Isola of the New York Daily News hears indications that the Knicks will part with Prigioni, too (Twitter link).
3:16pm: The Knicks and Kings have reached agreement on a deal that will send Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw to New York for Wayne Ellington and Jeremy Tyler, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. Other players will likely be involved in the deal, too. The Kings are expected to waive Ellington and Tyler to clear space beneath the luxury tax line, according to Amick. They can clear Tyler’s minimum salary with ease since it’s non-guaranteed, but they’d use the stretch provision to help clear Ellington’s pay of more than $2.771MM from their books, as Amick points out. Sacramento will also pick up a 2016 second-round pick from New York, Amick writes.
The Knicks had reportedly been trying to trade Wayne Ellington and were open to deals involving Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Shane Larkin as they sought to clear a logjam in the backcourt, and specifically at shooting guard. The team had also been mulling whether to include Pablo Prigioni in a deal involving Ellington.
Sacramento has been only about $61K beneath the luxury tax threshold after striking a deal to sign Omri Casspi, and they negotiated with Acy to move the date his minimum-salary contract becomes fully guaranteed from July 25th to August 15th. The raw swap of salaries in the structure of the deal as it stands would give the Kings a net savings of only about $200K, but stretching Ellington’s salary will give Sacramento more breathing room.
Ellington is on an expiring contract, so the Kings would have to waive him prior to September, when the stretch provision would no longer allow the team to reduce his salary for the coming season. Providing they waive him this month, Ellington’s salary would be spread in equal amounts over the next three seasons. So, the Kings would be responsible for close to $924K for him each season through 2016/17, and the move would give them more than $1.8MM in additional space beneath the tax line for this year.
Acy carved out a role in the rotation for the Kings this past season after coming over in the midseason Rudy Gay swap. He averaged 2.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per contest for Sacramento. That works out to a rate of 9.2 rebounds per 36 minutes, demonstrating proficient board work for a player listed at 6’7″. Outlaw saw slightly more playing time, notching 5.4 PPG in 16.9 MPG, sometimes filling in at shooting guard for a depleted Kings backcourt down the stretch of the season. He’ll be on New York’s books for a guaranteed $3MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $35MM deal that the Nets amnestied in 2011. Sacramento put in a partial claim that year, leaving Brooklyn to pay $4MM to Outlaw each year until the contract expires next summer.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.