Pacific Notes: Walton, Nash, Hill, Divac
Warriors assistant Luke Walton has hired the Wasserman Media Group to represent him in negotiations, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Walton is reportedly a top candidate for the newly created Knicks vacancy, but the prospect of Walton ending up in New York is a long shot, tweets Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com. See more from the defending champs amid the latest from around the Pacific Division:
- Warriors part-time player development consultant Steve Nash said he wouldn’t be closed to the possibility of working for the Suns in the future, but he’s not willing to become the team’s coach for now, calling the notion of the team’s apparent interest in him for its head coaching vacancy “a moot point at this point.” The two-time MVP made his comments on J.J. Redick‘s podcast for The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (audio link, scroll to 7:45 mark).
- Interim Suns coach Earl Watson told new assistant Bob Hill when Hill was Watson’s coach on the SuperSonics from 2006 to 2007 that he’d like to coach with him someday, and that longstanding desire brought Hill back into NBA coaching after a nine-year absence, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic details. Hill still has some bitterness toward Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich about Popovich’s decision to remove him as head coach of the Spurs nearly 20 years ago, Coro also relays. “I guess I didn’t do good enough. I don’t know. He wanted to be the coach,” Hill said of Popovich. “And as soon as he had an opportunity to get rid of me, he did it. It’s too bad. The league’s like that sometimes. You’re going to run into people like that sometimes and that’s part of life. It was a great experience. I’m happy I had that. It hasn’t affected my coaching. I continued to coach and always will.”
- Kings GM Vlade Divac is only willing to make a trade if it’s a significant upgrade for the team, in spite of a report indicating that Sacramento is actively shopping many of its players, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee wrote today in a chat with readers.
Western Notes: Green, Rockets, McDaniels, Lillard
Erick Green won’t mind missing the D-League All-Star Game next week after signing a second 10-day contract with the Jazz, writes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Green has only seen nine minutes of playing time in three games with Utah, but the 6’3″ guard has managed to impress coach Quin Snyder. “We felt like he’s done everything we’ve asked of him and the minutes that he has played he’s played pretty good,” Snyder said. “Some of it is a question of we’ve had a couple situations where guys are getting bumped and banged up a little bit and we feel good about what he brings.”
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Today’s lopsided loss to the Blazers is the latest evidence that the Rockets need a complete makeover, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Houston is 27-26 a year after reaching the Western Conference finals, and there have been rumblings for some time that changes are needed. The Rockets are over the luxury tax threshold and facing a hard cap, so GM Daryl Morey is limited in what he can do.
- The Rockets have assigned K.J. McDaniels to their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team tweeted today.
- New teammates surround the Blazers‘ Damian Lillard this year, but the move that bothers him most is LaMarcus Aldridge‘s decision to sign with the Spurs, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. “I would have loved nothing more than to have him back,” Lillard said of Aldridge. “To have another All-Star on the team was good for me. I was happy with it. I reached out to him a bunch of times [before and during free agency], but I think he had got to the point where he thought maybe the organization was choosing me over him. And to this day, I still tell people that it’s not my team, it’s [owner] Paul Allen’s team, and I was willing to be the best complement I could to LaMarcus Aldridge. I expressed that to him multiple times, but I think it just came down to him being ready to move on to a new situation.” Portland lost four of its starters over the offseason, with Wesley Matthews signing with the Mavericks, Robin Lopez signing with the Knicks and Nicolas Batum being traded to the Hornets.
Southwest Notes: Conley, Parsons, Anderson
Mike Conley isn’t ruling out any option as he approaches free agency this summer, as he said to reporters today in New York, where the Grizzlies are in town to play the Knicks, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). Conley also said that he hasn’t made any promises to Marc Gasol, Bondy points out, despite the point guard having recently pegged the difficulty of leaving the Spanish center as 11 on a scale of one to 10.
“Everything will be on the table when the time comes,” Conley said. “I haven’t committed to anything.”
See more on the Grizzlies amid items from the Southwest Division:
- Chandler Parsons and Rick Carlisle have a close relationship off the court, but they don’t always see eye to eye about Parsons’ on-court role, with Carlisle hesitant to use him the way most teams feature their stars, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com examines. Parsons can opt out at season’s end, but he’s indicated that he wants to remain in Dallas for the long term and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants that same outcome, with the team having signed Wesley Matthews in part because he fits so well with Parsons, MacMahon writes. “What I see 100% is we’re going to keep those guys together for a long, long time,” Cuban said to MacMahon. “When they’re both 100% and have all their explosiveness, that’s a crushing tandem on the wing and we’ll fill in around them.”
- The Spurs have turned to Kyle Anderson and Jonathon Simmons more of late, allowing Anderson to respond on the court to doubts that preceded San Antonio’s decision to draft him 30th overall in 2014 and Simmons to continue impressing on his minimum-salary deal, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio News-Express details. The pair figure to have more opportunities to play with Manu Ginobili sidelined for at least a month.
- The use of 10-day signee Ryan Hollins at the expense of minutes for JaMychal Green seems to show the disparity between coach Dave Joerger‘s full attention to the present and the front office’s broader attention to both now and later for the Grizzlies, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal.
Suns Sign Orlando Johnson To 10-Day Contract
12:28pm: The signing is official, the team announced. It’ll cover three games, against the Jazz, Thunder and Warriors, the only ones Phoenix has left until the All-Star break, and expire before the February 18th trade deadline.
7:57am: The Suns will sign former Pacers and Kings shooting guard Orlando Johnson to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The two-year NBA veteran has been playing for much of this season with the Spurs affiliate in the D-League. He’s poised to go into the open spot on Phoenix’s roster and add depth on the wing to compensate for the loss of T.J. Warren, who suffered a season-ending broken foot.
Johnson, 26, averaged 4.0 points in 12.1 minutes per game with 38.3% shooting from behind the arc as a rookie in 2012/13 for the Pacers, who had acquired him via trade shortly after the Kings drafted him 36th overall in 2012. His minutes fell the next season and the Pacers waived him at the trade deadline in 2014 to accommodate their deal for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen. He resurfaced on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Kings later that season but has been out of the NBA ever since, though it appeared the Pelicans were considering him last month.
The former UC Santa Barbara player spent the last year and a half playing in Spain, the Philippines and the D-League. He’s averaging 15.2 points in 31.4 minutes per game and hitting 3-pointers at a scintillating 48.6% clip for the D-League Austin Spurs this season. He was slated to take part in the D-League All-Star Game and 3-point shooting contest, but he’ll be ineligible to participate in either if he indeed joins the Suns.
Phoenix already has Jordan McRae on a 10-day contract, as only 13 Suns have deals that run through at least the end of the season. The Suns are reportedly a strong bet to make at least one trade before the February 18th trade deadline, so they have plenty of flexibility to do so. Johnson’s contract would lapse and leave an open roster spot for the trade deadline as long as Phoenix signs him by the end of Monday.
Western Notes: Howard, Pecherov, Simmons
Rockets center Dwight Howard has heard the trade rumors regarding himself, but insists that he isn’t concerned about his immediate future, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News relays. “There’s always going into be rumors and speculation,” Howard said. “I don’t want to pay attention to it. I didn’t say it. What can I do? There’s nothing I can say. Teams are going to say what they have to say. It doesn’t matter what I say. I’m here now. I’m a Rocket. That’s the only thing that matters. People are always going to have rumors and say certain things. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a distraction. Nobody thinks about that stuff. I know my mind is on trying to get better every day. I feel like I was in a good stretch and got hurt. I’m going to try to get back. That’s my mindset. We don’t sit around and talk about what’s going to happen next year because that means you’re really not in it. You don’t want to have those thoughts.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Nuggets camp cut Oleksiy Pecherov has signed with the Lebanese team Sagesse, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando reports. Pecherov, 29, has been out of the NBA since the 2009/10 campaign when he appeared in 44 games for the Timberwolves. The center has career NBA averages of 3.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.2 blocks to go along with a slash line of .386/.290/.793.
- Based on the Spurs‘ track record of developing players, the team should think twice about trading away Jonathon Simmons and Kyle Anderson in any potential deals, as both have reasonably high upsides, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports opines in his trade deadline primer for San Antonio.
- Blazers big man Ed Davis says he has found a home in the NBA for himself in Portland and admits he had some maturing to do after a difficult experience being buried on the Grizzlies bench during the 2013/14 campaign, writes Jason Quick of CSNNW.com in his profile of the player. “I think I grew up quicker after that,’’ Davis said. “I didn’t carry myself as well as I should have when I was there. I wish I would have communicated more with coach [Dave] Joerger. I never got into it with him – was never suspended, fined or had a skirmish in the locker room – but I wish I would have been more outspoken, like asking him what was going on, and what did he expect from me.’’
Manu Ginobili To Miss At Least A Month
Manu Ginobili will miss at least a month after undergoing surgery today to treat a testicular injury he suffered in Wednesday’s game, the Spurs announced via press release. Joe Reinagel of KENS-TV in San Antonio reported earlier that Ginobili would be out for to six weeks, citing a team source. The team is already without Tim Duncan for an indefinite period of time as he recovers from a knee injury. The Spurs, at 41-8 and four games behind the Warriors with two weeks to go before the trade deadline, have encountered some of their most significant adversity of the season lately, losing by double digits to Golden State and the Cavaliers last week.
It’s too late in the season for San Antonio to apply for a disabled player exception, which wouldn’t have been in play anyway unless Ginobili was expected to miss the balance of 2015/16. The team doesn’t have enough injured players to qualify for a 16th roster spot via hardship, either, so the Spurs have limited means to compensate for the swingman’s absence. Ginobili, at 38, has remained a key contributor this season, averaging 10.0 points in 19.7 minutes per game.
The move figures to afford more playing time to Jonathon Simmons, who’s exceeded expectations as an undrafted rookie, and perhaps Rasual Butler, who’s on a one-year contract for the minimum salary. Ginobili has a player option worth nearly $2.941MM for next season.
Spurs, Clippers, Thunder Eye Adreian Payne
The Spurs, Clippers and Thunder have “fringe” trade interest in Adreian Payne, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities says in his latest edition of “The Scoop” podcast. The No. 15 pick from the 2014 draft has seen spotty playing time this season but this week returned earlier than planned from a D-League assignment because of injuries to other Minnesota frontcourt players, Wolfson adds. Wolfson casts doubt on the notion of a trade involving Payne before the February 18th deadline, suggesting instead that the idea might resurface in the summer.
Payne, who turns 25 the day after the trade deadline, is making close to $1.939MM this year in the second season of his rookie scale contract. Minnesota picked up its team option of more than $2.022MM for next season. The former Michigan State stalwart enjoyed significant playing time down the stretch last season on a banged-up Timberwolves team, making 22 starts in 29 games and averaging 7.2 points and 5.4 boards in 24.8 minutes per contest. That came after a February 2015 trade in which Minnesota sent a conditional future first-round pick to Atlanta to free Payne from the Hawks, for whom he saw action in only three games.
The Clippers have a hole at power forward with Blake Griffin out, but they reportedly want a small forward, with Rudy Gay among their targets. The Thunder are also apparently focusing on the wing, lending credence to the notion that the interest in Payne is muted. It’s unclear what the Spurs are looking for, though losses to the Warriors and Cavaliers last week exposed San Antonio’s flaws after a sterling 38-6 beginning to the season.
D-League Notes: Dunleavy, Dinwiddie, Harrison
The Bulls have assigned veteran small forward Mike Dunleavy to the D-League’s Santa Cruz Warriors as he continues to rehab from a back injury that has kept him out all season, the club announced on Monday. Dunleavy will practice there during the Bulls’ West Coast swing but will not appear in a game, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets. The most prominent player to appear in a D-League game this season was Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings, who played one game with the team’s affiliate in Grand Rapids in December while rehabbing from an Achilles tendon injury.
In more news involving the D-League:
- Pistons point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has averaged 16.7 points and 6.1 assists in 10 games since he was assigned to Grand Rapids on January 7th. But coach Stan Van Gundy has no plans to bring him back to Detroit in the near future. “Right now, with three healthy point guards, there’s not much reason to bring him back here and sit in street clothes out there,” Van Gundy told the assembled media over the weekend, including Hoops Rumors. “I think it’s better for his development that he gets a chance to play and practice every day.”
- The Hornets reassigned rookie point guard Aaron Harrison to the D-League’s Oklahoma City Blue on Monday, the NBA club announced on its website. Harrison, who played one game with the Blue in January, has appeared in 13 games for Charlotte. The Hornets do not have their own D-League affiliate.
- Hawks center Edy Tavares has returned from his D-League stint with the Austin Spurs, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Tavares was assigned to Austin on January 27th.
- The Spurs recalled point guard Ray McCallum from Austin, the team tweets. McCallum has appeared in 20 games with San Antonio this season and seven with its D-League affiliate.
- The Timberwolves recalled power forward Adreian Payne from the D-League’s Erie BayHawks, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link). The team’s PR department later confirmed the move. Payne has appeared in 30 games with the Timberwolves and three with the BayHawks this season.
D-League Notes: McCallum, Christmas, McDaniels
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.
Here are the latest NBA D-League assignments and recalls:
- The Pacers recalled Rakeem Christmas from their D-League affiliate and assigned Shayne Whittington to the Mad Ants, the team announced. This concludes Christmas’ second stint in Fort Wayne on the season and commences Whittington’s fourth.
- The Spurs have reassigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. McCallum will be joining the junior Spurs for the sixth time this season and he is averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 37.7 minutes in seven total appearances.
- The Rockets have recalled Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This concludes Harrell’s third stint with Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth.
Dead Money: Southwest Division
Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.
There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!
Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Southwest Division, including Jimmer Fredette, who appears on more than one team’s ledger:
Dallas Mavericks
- Samuel Dalembert (Waived) — $947,276
- Maurice Ndour (Waived) — $525,094
- Gal Mekel (Waived via stretch provision) — $315,759
- Brandon Ashley (Waived) — $50,000
- Jamil Wilson (Waived) — $50,000
- Jarrid Famous (Waived) — $10,000
Total= $1,898,129
Houston Rockets
- Chuck Hayes (Waived) — $88,187
Total= $88,187
Memphis Grizzlies
- Russ Smith (Waived) — $845,059
- Fab Melo (Waived via stretch provision) — $437,080
- Ryan Hollins (Waived) — $112,238
Total= $1,394,377
New Orleans Pelicans
- Jimmer Fredette (Waived) — $71,677
- Nate Robinson (Waived) — $44,094
Total= $115,771
San Antonio Spurs
- Jimmer Fredette (Waived) — $507,711
Total= $507,711
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.