Pacific Links: Nash, Malone, Rivers
The 2013/14 NBA season is less than two weeks old, but the early leaders in the Northwest and Southwest look about right, with the Thunder and Spurs sitting atop their respective divisions. The same can’t be said about the Pacific though, where the 5-2 Suns are the surprise leader out of the gate. Phoenix will get to enjoy its spot in first place until at least Wednesday, when the club will face a tough challenge in Portland. As we look forward to seeing how long the Suns can keep up their solid play, let’s round up a few more notes from out of the Pacific….
- Steve Nash was forced to exit Sunday’s game early due to back pain and is scheduled to meet with a specialist on Monday for an evaluation, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com details. Nash recently expressed his intent to play out the remaining two years on his current contract, but Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni is “concerned” with the health of his 39-year-old point guard, who is also still dealing with nerve issues related to last year’s broken leg.
- In the past, the Kings may have replaced a coach who wasn’t on the same page as his players, but new coach Michael Malone has the support of the front office and ownership, writes Victor Contreras of the Sacramento Bee. If someone on the current roster is unable to coexist with Malone, it will likely be the player, rather than the coach, who is shipped out, says Contreras.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com takes a look at how the Clippers are adjusting to their first season under head coach Doc Rivers.
Amico On Turner, Young, Granger, Cousins
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio has his weekly column posted; let’s dive in and take a look at the highlights..
- If the Sixers start to slide and they turn their focus to the offseason, they could find a trade partner in the Mavericks. The two sides have yet to talk, but sources around the league wonder if Dallas might be interested in landing Evan Turner in an effort to make a playoff run and appease star Dirk Nowitzki. Turner wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg and a package of Shawn Marion and a draft pick would probably get the job done for the former No. 2 overall pick.
- If the Sixers part with Turner, word around the league is that the Thunder and T-Wolves will also be among the teams with interest.
- Sixers small forward Thaddeus Young is also off to a hot start and is likely to draw interest around the trade deadline or sooner. Young may be a little tougher to move than Turner at $8.6MM this year and $9.1MM next with a player option for $9.7MM in 2015), however.
- With the Pacers off to a 7-0 start, league execs wonder what Danny Granger‘s role might be when he comes back from injury. With his expiring contract and recent injury history, it seems as if the Pacers would be receptive to moving him. If they do dangle Granger, they’ll probably seek out some backcourt help, specifically someone adept at handling the basketball.
- One league exec told Amico, “If the Kings aren’t any good, mark my words: They’ll trade (DeMarcus) Cousins.” Cousins is still on his rookie contract this year, but has a max extension kicking in next season, which will make it trickier to trade him due to CBA rules, albeit not impossible.
D-League Notes: Nets, Rockets, Kings
While the Nets, Rockets, and Kings are busy preparing for their games this evening they also remain busy with their respective D-League affiliates..
- The Nets announced they have recalled forward Tornike Shengelia from the D-League Springfield Armor. Shengelia was assigned to the D-League only two days ago and will join the Nets for their game against the Pacers this evening. Shengelia has not had a chance to play in the NBA this season due to the depth on the Nets’ bench but averaged 1.6 PPG in 4.9 MPG in 19 games for Brooklyn last season. It’s likely Shengelia is in the lineup due to Andrei Kirilenko and Kevin Garnett‘s ailments.
- Scott Rafferty of SB Nation wonders if Tyshawn Taylor, another young Nets player who is struggling for minutes, will crack Brooklyn’s NBA rotation this year. Taylor was also sent down to Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, this week. Last year Taylor played in 38 games for the Nets, averaging 5.8 MPG and 2.2 PPG.
- The Rockets announced via Twitter they have named Gianluca Pascucci the GM of their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Pascucci was the Rockets’ Director of Player Personnel last season.
- Ray McCallum, rookie point guard for the Kings, has been inactive the first three games of the Kings’ season but not due to his lack of ability according to coach Michael Malone. Although earning praise from his coach as a “very good defensive player,” Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee suspects it will be hard for McCallum to find minutes that are currently going to Greivis Vasquez and Isaiah Thomas and that the D-League may be a better option. Jones predicts that’s where McCallum will find himself once the Kings’ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, begin their season Nov. 22nd.
Western Notes: Cuban, D12, Nuggets, Cousins
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been one of David Stern’s most notable nemeses during the latter half of Stern’s tenure as commissioner, racking up seven figures worth of fines from the NBA. But as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details, in a recent interview with NBA TV, Cuban had nothing but kind words for Stern, saying that he’ll miss the NBA commissioner after he retires in February. Cuban also joked that he’s determined to be the last person fined by Stern during the commissioner’s 30-year tenure.
Here’s more from around the West on a Thursday morning:
- Dwight Howard tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he feels like it’s “irrelevant” to keep talking about why he left the Lakers for the Rockets at this point, noting that it happened months ago and that people change jobs every day.
- In a mailbag for the Denver Post, Chris Dempsey observes that the Nuggets don’t really have any immovable contracts, which means there will be plenty of trade options available for the club later in the season. Dempsey expects the team to make at least one or two moves, perhaps including Andre Miller.
- After signing a four-year, maximum-salary extension with the Kings, DeMarcus Cousins is dealing with increased responsibility and increased expectations this season, as Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes.
Jazz Rumors: Rush, Favors, Fredette
The Jazz fell to 0-4 tonight for the first time since they moved from New Orleans for the 1979/80 season, but there was a silver lining to the team’s loss to the Nets. Brandon Rush played his first game since tearing the ACL in his left knee a year ago. He re-emerged in Utah as one of three Warriors who came over in a trade that was more about draft picks for the Jazz than it was about current players. Rush might not be part of Utah’s future, but Derrick Favors is, and there’s more on him as Jazz fans already start to think about 2014/15:
- Favors had no intention of letting contract talks with the Jazz play out until next summer once the team approached him about an extension, and says to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that he told agent Wallace Prather to, “Go ahead and get this done.”
- Favors was of two minds when the Jazz decided not to re-sign Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, as Bontemps notes in the same piece. “I mean, it’s exciting for me,” Favors said. “I hate it that we had to let Al and Paul go, because those guys are great guys, great teammates, great people overall. But I guess it was a time for a chance, and I’m excited about it.”
- Signing Jimmer Fredette next summer would serve neither the Jazz’s nor the former BYU star’s best interest, argues Brad Rock of the Deseret News, who believes that if the Jazz want to have a Mormon on the roster, they should draft Jabari Parker.
Western Notes: Suns, Aldridge, Thunder, Kings
No team except perhaps the Sixers was viewed as more likely to tank the 2013/14 season than the Suns, who shipped out Luis Scola over the summer and traded Marcin Gortat just days before the regular season began. But team president Lon Babby takes issue with the idea that Phoenix is intentionally trying to lose games, as he tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
“There is a key difference between acknowledging that you’re rebuilding, which we are, and some notion that you’re not trying to succeed,” Babby said. “Anybody in this business, because you’re competitive, and you have a competitive nature, it is not going to do anything but give your heart and soul to try to win every night.”
It may be an question of semantics, but Babby’s comments, along with the strong starts to the season for the Sixers and Suns, are a reminder that while a front office may put a team in position to lose games, the players on the court are certainly trying to win.
Here’s more from around the West:
- Rival team executives will continue to monitor LaMarcus Aldridge‘s situation in Portland, but the Blazers forward tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he has no desire to be moved. Asked about his current attitude, Aldridge replied: “It’s not ‘If there’s a better deal, then get me out of [Portland] or take that.’ It’s ‘We’re here. Let’s win, and let’s try to have the best season that we can.'” Amick adds that there’s a league-wide belief that GM Neil Olshey wouldn’t even consider an offer for Aldridge unless it included at least an All-Star player, among other things.
- Responding to comments made by ESPN’s Bill Simmons, Oklahoman contributor Jon Hamm rebuts the idea that the Thunder need to become a taxpaying team to win the title.
- On the heels of a 19-point outing from Ben McLemore, Kings coach Michael Malone tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that the rookie guard is “a big part of our future.”
Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Pondexter, Kings, Mills
Here are a few notes from around the league as the NBA’s first week comes to a close:
- Jamaal Tinsley‘s one-year minimum-salary deal with the Jazz is entirely non-guaranteed, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports revealed today when he updated Utah’s team salaries.
- Quincy Pondexter‘s four-year, $14MM extension with the Grizzlies starts at close to $3.15MM next year and has gradual raises in each subsequent season, according to Deeks.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro acknowledges that the decision not to pick up Jimmer Fredette‘s 2014/15 option was “agonizing,” but tells James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom that he ultimately decided the added flexibility for next season was too enticing to pass up.
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee wonders if Fredette could prove more productive on a team that plays a style more suited to him and applauds the Kings for declining his option and giving themselves more time to evaluate him before they make a further commitment.
- Ian Begley of ESPN New York reports that first-year Knicks GM Steve Mills is happy with the current state of New York’s roster: “I think we like the roster we have right now. And I think we want to give it some time and see how they come together on the team and how guys gel together.“
- Keith Schlosser of SB Nation’s Ridiculous Upside breaks down the 2013/14 NBA D-League draft and highlights the most intriguing selections round-by-round.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Poll: Which Restricted FA Gets A Max Deal?
October 31st was the deadline for NBA teams to sign fourth-year players currently on a rookie scale contract to a contract extension and forgo the chance of that player hitting restricted free agency next summer. Paul George, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins were the most richly rewarded among those who locked up extensions in advance of the deadline, as all three reached deals for the max. Notable players who did not sign an extension with their team were Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley, Gordon Hayward, Greg Monroe, Evan Turner, and Greivis Vasquez. Assuming their teams tender qualifying offers, these players will become restricted free agents next year.
The teams these likely restricted free agents are on will have the right of first refusal for anyone bidding on them next summer. For a few of these players, the bidding seems to be plentiful. Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report quoted an opposing GM saying the “Jazz had better lock up Hayward”. (Twitter link) Jason Jones of the Sacrament Bee tweets the Kings “love” Vasquez. Lon Babby, president of the Phoenix Suns basketball operations, told Matt Petersen of Suns.com the Suns would “do everything we can to make sure [Bledsoe] is happy.”
Which of these players do you think will benefit most from becoming a restricted free agent next summer? Who do you think stands the best chance of getting a max deal?
Which Restricted FA Gets A Max Deal?
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Greg Monroe 37% (421)
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None of the Above 31% (349)
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Eric Bledsoe 21% (238)
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Gordon Hayward 9% (99)
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Greivis Vasquez 2% (22)
Total votes: 1,129
Western Rumors: Kings, Martin, Bledsoe
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro said the lack of extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson and the team’s decision to decline its fourth-year option on Jimmer Fredette aren’t necessarily a reflection of the way the club feels about those players.
“With Jimmer, we spoke to him and his representatives throughout the process,” D’Alessandro said, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee observes. “And they’re not easy decisions to make. We have these deadlines that are at an awkward time, Oct. 31, especially at a time when we just got our positions here.”
We heard earlier that the Kings are enamored with Vasquez and intend to match any offer he gets in restricted free agency this summer. Here’s more on free agents past and future, with a Western kick:
- There were times last season when Kevin Martin could tell his stay with the Thunder would be a short one, he tells reporters, including Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Martin also reveals that free agency was much more stressful than he imagined, but he says he’s glad he wound up in “the perfect spot” with the Timberwolves.
- Eric Bledsoe isn’t saying whether he envisions staying with the Suns for the long haul after failing to strike a deal on an extension, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- The rift between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant was real and profound on the Lakers last season, as former teammate Antawn Jamison explains to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Meanwhile, Howard is relaxed, engaged, and confident that he made the right decision to sign with the Rockets, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes.
- J.J. Hickson isn’t pleased about the way his Blazers tenure ended, as we noted last night, but after signing with the Nuggets in part because of an opportunity for playing time, he’s seeing plenty of minutes, as Hoopsworld’s Joel Brigham details.
Pacific Notes: Jimmer, Bledsoe, Warriors, Kings
After reporting yesterday that about six clubs had shown some level of interest in trade candidate Jimmer Fredette, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that the number of teams with substantive interest is “closer to two.” The Kings elected to turn down their option on Jimmer for 2014/15, meaning he’s on an expiring contract now, which will make him more movable, according to Amick.
As the Kings mull what to do with their 2011 lottery pick, let’s check in on a few more items from around the Pacific Division….
- Eric Bledsoe will head to restricted free agency in 2014 after not reaching an extension agreement with the Suns prior to October 31st. One league source tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that Phoenix probably won’t get a discount next summer: “He is probably going to want a max deal. If he plays the way he thinks he is going to, he will get it, too.”
- Warriors camp invitees Seth Curry, Dewayne Dedmon, and Joe Alexander have joined Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The three players, whose D-League rights were retained by Golden State, were considered likely to head to Santa Cruz when they were cut by the NBA’s Warriors.
- The Kings‘ new management group didn’t just take over a mess when it came to business and fan relations, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com. In Ziller’s view, former GM Geoff Petrie‘s rebuild of Sacramento’s roster may require a rebuild itself.