Southwest Notes: Popovich, Simmons, Gentry
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the franchise used a low-key approach on LaMarcus Aldridge, as it does on all free agents, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. Popovich said the Spurs learned a hard lesson about promoting the team to free agents when it tried to lure Jason Kidd in 2003. “If they come, they come,” Popovich said. “If they don’t, I don’t care. Because it’s as simple as that. Especially for a guy who’s been in the league for nine years. You know what he can do, you know what he can’t do. You know what you like, you know what you don’t like. Whatever it might be. But more importantly, he knows who you are, and he knows what team he would like to go to for whatever reasons.” The Spurs’ approach worked on Aldridge, who agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal in July.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs may have found another hidden talent in Jonathon Simmons, according to Quixem Ramirez of SB Nation. Simmons, who scored 9 points in 19 minutes in Friday’s win over the Lakers, spent the last two seasons with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin. He signed a two-year deal in July with a non-guaranteed salary for the second season.
- Even though his former team is 24-0, Alvin Gentry is happy to be in New Orleans, writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Gentry, who left the Warriors to become coach of the Pelicans, probably would be guiding Golden State in Steve Kerr’s absence instead of Luke Walton if he had stayed. However, Gentry doesn’t second guess his decision, even with New Orleans off to a 6-16 start. “I’m truly a believer in that God has a plan for all of us,” Gentry said. “I truly believe I’m where I’m supposed to be, and Luke’s where he’s supposed to be.”
- The Mavericks have recalled Justin Anderson from the D-League, the team announced today. The 6’6″ guard is averaging 2.3 points in 6.4 minutes of playing time in 16 games with the Mavericks. He has been sent down and called up twice in the past two days, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Anderson’s latest recall was because Deron Williams missed tonight’s game in Washington with an illness (Twitter link).
Southwest Notes: Cole, Anderson, Pachulia, Jenkins
John Reid of The Times Picayune suggests that it’s doubtful that either Ryan Anderson or Norris Cole will re-sign with the Pelicans as unrestricted free agent this coming summer. The qualifying offer that Cole received from the Pelicans in restricted free agency this past offseason was the best he had, according to Reid, who points out that it still took him until the middle of September to agree to come back to New Orleans. The team is making Anderson available to other teams for a trade, Reid confirms, advancing a report from Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports that said the Pelicans would consider dealing Anderson to the Suns for Markieff Morris, especially if Anderson signaled he wouldn’t re-sign. The team is looking for a quick fix after starting 5-16, Reid adds. See more from the Southwest Division:
- DeAndre Jordan‘s flip-flop on his decision to sign with the Mavericks led Dallas to trade for Zaza Pachulia, and while Pachulia is no Jordan, he’s had success this season and has won over a key teammate, as Ian Thomsen of NBA.com details. “After we didn’t get DeAndre we moved on pretty quick, and getting Zaza was a really good move,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “He is one of the smartest centers I ever played with. He can pass, he can shoot a little bit, he can put it on the floor. He may be undersized some nights, but he’s got a big heart, he fights and he is very, very smart. He will compete for us and I love him to death.”
- Mavs offseason signee John Jenkins hasn’t put up the same flashy numbers in the regular season that he did during the preseason, but the opportunity Dallas gave him to excel during exhibitions was a key boost, he tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was huge,” Jenkins said. “I knew I had that in me. I was just showing everybody else. For me to do that was a lot of fun. They gave me the ball and said ‘Do what you do.’ Which is different. I enjoyed it a lot.”
- Boban Marjanovic credits his recent D-League stint with helping his game, and his Spurs teammates are urging the free agent acquisition to use his 7’3″ size to his advantage on the court, observes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
Atlantic Notes: Anthony, Brown, Joseph
Sixers coach Brett Brown has already developed a solid relationship with new team executive Jerry Colangelo, who was officially hired on Monday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. When asked how often he communicates with Colangelo, Brown responded, “All the time. I think for me to be able to call upon somebody like him and say, what do you think of that, is a priceless sounding board for me. I love it. I respect his history. When answers come out you immediately respect the history of which that opinion was formed. It’s amazing.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is frustrated by the team’s struggles this season and isn’t hiding his displeasure, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com notes. “Losing is frustrating,” Anthony said. “I don’t want this to be an ongoing situation or an ongoing feeling where we have to come into the locker room and explain why we’re losing basketball games.” Anthony is also upset with New York’s pace of play, and wants the team to increase its tempo, a team source tells Begley. “He [Anthony] felt like they were stuck in the half court too much,” the source told the ESPN scribe.
- The Raptors are hoping to imitate the long-term success of the Spurs as an organization, which is one reason why Toronto signed Cory Joseph this past offseason, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “You can’t go through a program like that, I don’t care what program you are with in college or the pros, if you’re from a successful program some of those habits come away with you,” said coach Dwane Casey of Joseph. “That’s why bringing a guy in like that from a winning program, that’s won a championship, knows what it takes to win. Those qualities have rubbed off on him.“
- The Celtics have once again assigned power forward Jordan Mickey to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Mickey’s sixth trek to Maine this season, as our tracker shows.
Southwest Notes: Joseph, Terry, McDaniels, Ennis
The Spurs “badly wanted” to keep Cory Joseph this summer and rejected attempts by the Raptors and others to trade for him in past years, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Still, they knew that they needed cap space to sign LaMarcus Aldridge, and so they pulled their qualifying offer to him a few days into his free agency, a move that didn’t take Joseph by surprise, since they told him it was a possibility, reports Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News. Joseph signed a four-year, $30MM deal with the Raptors.
“Obviously I loved, enjoyed, and had a great time in San Antonio,” Joseph said to Young. “I was there the past four years. Everything was great – coaching staff, players, fans; everybody was amazing to me. But it was time to move on, and you know, take a different direction in my career.”
Joseph has thrived in Toronto, where he’s seeing 26.3 minutes per game, and longtime former Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, now Hawks coach and president of basketball operations, is a fan, as Wolstat details. See more from the Southwest Division:
- Jason Terry‘s production has tailed off since his injury-hit season with the Nets in 2013/14, but he credits that year for helping teach him how to have continued influence in the NBA, notes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Terry, 38 is on a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Rockets. “It started in Boston, but continued in Brooklyn, watching [Kevin Garnett] and how he interacted with the team and the guys,” Terry said. “Also, Jason Kidd being the head coach here, he gave me a lot of leeway, gave me a voice to kind of help while I was still playing. Being in Brooklyn definitely helped me in Houston the last two years. I have a huge influence, from breaking down film for individual guys to in-game mental management and to be the hype-man so to speak to keep guys motivated and engaged. It’s easy to be engaged when you’re playing a lot, but sometimes you’re not. You still have to know what’s going on out on the court. That’s where I come in.”
- The Rockets have recalled K.J. McDaniels, the team announced (Twitter link). McDaniels has averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 38.5 minutes per game across four D-League appearances so far.
- James Ennis is also back from the D-League, as the Grizzlies have recalled the swingman from their affiliate, the team announced (on Twitter). The assignment was his second since he came to Memphis in the Mario Chalmers deal. The Heat never sent him to the D-League at any point before trading him.
Central Notes: Portis, J.R. Smith, Pacers, Bairstow
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg says Bobby Portis will have a chance to play extensive minutes at some point this season, likely soon, but this year’s 22nd overall pick has seen just 22 total minutes all season, observes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Portis admits it’s difficult to sit on the bench but understands the level of talent in front of him, which includes Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, Johnson notes. Portis is anxious enough to play that he’d welcome a D-League assignment.
“People hear D-League and think, ‘Oh, man, he’s in the D-League,'” Portis said, according to Johnson. “It’s not about the D-League. It’s about getting reps and getting ready. The D-League’s great for getting better.”
The Bulls are instead making other D-League moves, as we detail amid the latest from the Central Division:
- J.R. Smith says it’s not time for the Cavs to panic yet, but he’s nonetheless concerned, with the Cavs having lost three straight and four of their last six, as he explained to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The team was without the resting LeBron James in Saturday’s loss, but it’s a matter of competitiveness, and not roster composition, Smith contends. “Just overall competing,” Smith said to Haynes. “We have all the talent. We got all the skills. It’s just competing.”
- Indianapolis and Fort Wayne are close enough to allow the Pacers to frequently shuttle their D-League assignees back and forth, but they’ve instead kept Rakeem Christmas, who’s the D-League Performer of the Week, and Shayne Whittington in Fort Wayne from November 2nd on, notes Adam Johnson of D-League Digest. That’s a longer stretch of time than any other NBA player has spent on D-League assignment this season, and it’s helped Christmas and Whittington gain a sense of consistency, as Pacers D-League GM Brian Levy told Johnson. “Giving the players the greatest chance to succeed in turn gives the team the greatest chance to succeed,” Levy said. “The Pacers have embraced that idea.”
- The Bulls have recalled Cameron Bairstow from the D-League, the team announced. The second-year big man was with San Antonio’s affiliate since Chicago is without a D-League team of its own. Bairstow, whose salary is partially guaranteed for about half its value this season, averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game across five contests for the Austin Spurs.
Western Notes: West, Gobert, Arthur
After crunching the numbers, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald notes that David West left $10,500,813 on the table to sign with the Spurs after opting out of the final year of his contract with the Pacers. West explained to Bulpett that a shot to win a championship meant more than money.
“The only question I needed to answer was, ‘Will my lifestyle change? Will my family’s lifestyle change?’ That was a no,” West said, per Bulpett. “I’ve been preparing to make a decision like this for quite some time, just planning the right way and being a little patient early on and just always having the idea of living well below my means. That’s always allowed me the room to make a decision like I made. A lot of people can’t understand that because they just don’t know me. A lot of that criticism is from far off. To me, it was just a basketball decision.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- While a definitive timeline was not provided, Jazz coach Quin Snyder hinted that Rudy Gobert, who is out indefinitely after suffering Grade II sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, could be out for a couple of months, Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets.
- Alvin Gentry‘s job as Pelicans head coach has been made much more difficult because of the rash of injuries the team has experienced, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com writes. The Pelicans have used 11 different lineups so far this season, according to Verrier. New Orleans is 5-15, which is obviously not the start Gentry had in mind when he took the job in May and inherited what was thought to be a promising team.
- Darrell Arthur, whom the Nuggets re-signed to a two-year deal in August, is playing better than he has in recent years and his success lately can be attributed to a rediscovered jumper, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post writes. Arthur has scored in double-figures in five of his last eight games, Dempsey adds.
D-League Moves: Hardaway Jr., Spurs, Ennis
The Hawks recalled Tim Hardaway Jr., Edy Tavares and Lamar Patterson from the D-League, as Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported they would. The moves were announced in an emailed press release. The Hawks do not have their own affiliate. Pursuant to the flexible assignment rule, Hardaway Jr. and Tavares played games with the Canton Charge (the Cavs‘ affiliate) Friday and Saturday and Patterson played with the Austin Spurs Saturday. It will be particularly interesting to see how Hardaway, who was acquired in an offseason deal with the Knicks, fares in a return to the Hawks. He has appeared in only four games for Atlanta, averaging 2.5 points. In two games with the Charge, as Vivlamore writes, Hardaway averaged 17 points in 32.7 minutes.
Here are some more D-League moves today:
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The Rockets assigned rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell to their D-League affiliate. Harrell was the 32nd overall pick in the draft. He has appeared in 15 games with one start for the Rockets this season.
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The Spurs recalled Boban Marjanovic from their D-League affiliate. The center averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds per game (two games) with the Austin Spurs. On Saturday, the Spurs recalled Ray McCallum, according to the RealGM transactions log.
- The Grizzlies recalled James Ennis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced in an emailed press release. It was the second-year player’s first D-League stint.
- The Pistons announced they recalled Spencer Dinwiddie and Darrun Hilliard from their D-League affiliate.
Western Notes: Marjanovic, Motiejunas, Curry
The Spurs are leaving Boban Marjanovic in the D-League for a while so he can see more time on the court, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The rookie center has produced back-to-back productive games in Austin, posting 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks on Friday, then following that up with 34 points and 12 boards on Saturday. “He just needs playing time,” said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. “He needs to play and get used to the league, and not just sit there and watch us play.” The 7’3″ Marjanovic has appeared in 10 games with the Spurs, averaging 3.8 minutes.
There’s more news from the Western Conference:
- The Rockets‘ Donatas Motiejunas saw his first playing time of the season in Saturday’s win over the Kings, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Out since April with back issues, Motiejunas had just one practice before seeing game action. He went scoreless in six minutes of playing time. “We’ll have to figure out how we’re going to work him in alongside the other guys who are playing well,” said Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “It’s always good to have too much talent. We’ll figure it out.”
- Seth Curry appears headed toward a larger role with the Kings, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Curry is taking advantage of a recent opportunity for more playing time and impressing coach George Karl with his shooting, defense and toughness. The Kings gave Curry a two-year guaranteed contract over the offseason after he caught the eye of GM Vlade Divac during the Las Vegas Summer League. “I knew Seth could shoot,” Divac said, “but it wasn’t until seeing him in the summer league that I realized he could pass and make plays for teammates. I want players like that.”
- The Thunder have recalled Josh Huestis, Mitch McGary and Cameron Payne from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today.
And-Ones: Jones, All-Stars, Draft Picks, Inglis
The Timberwolves have assigned rookie point guard Tyus Jones to the D-League, the team tweeted tonight. The former Duke star was drafted 24th overall by the Cavaliers in June and then shipped to Minnesota in a draft-night trade. He has played just 14 minutes in two games with the Wolves, with 1 point, 1 rebound and 1 assist. Minnesota officials had previously announced their intention to have Jones spend part of the year in the D-League to get more playing time. Jones will be sent to the Idaho Stampede, the affiliate of the Jazz. Wolves GM Milt Newton will address the situation Sunday, according to a tweet from the team.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Pistons center Andre Drummond heads a list of most likely first-time all stars compiled by Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. With Drummond averaging more than 18 points per game and leading the league in rebounds, Brigham considers the fourth-year center a shoo-in for the February 14th contest in Toronto. Potentially joining him from the Eastern Conference are Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, the Hornets‘ Kemba Walker, the Celtics‘ Isaiah Thomas and the Heat’s Hassan Whiteside. Brigham’s five picks for the Western squad are the Warriors‘ Draymond Green, the Spurs‘ Kawhi Leonard, the Suns‘ Eric Bledsoe and/or Brandon Knight and the Jazz’s Derrick Favors.
- LSU’s Ben Simmons looks like the clear No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, Brigham writes in a separate story analyzing the top six contenders for that honor. Brigham cites the Australia freshman’s versatility on offense, where he possesses the skills of a point guard but the 6’10” frame of a power forward. Also on Brigham’s list are Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere, California freshman Jaylen Brown, Duke freshman Brandon Ingram, Providence junior Kris Dunn and Utah sophomore Jakob Poeltl.
- The Bucks recalled Damien Inglis from the Canton Charge of the D-League, tweets Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He was sent to Canton on November 22nd.
- The Raptors recalled Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright from Raptors 905, the team tweeted today. Neither was active for today’s game with the Warriors.
And-Ones: Gasol, D-League, Terry, Cousins
Bulls big man Pau Gasol, who possesses a player option worth $7,769,520 for 2016/17, has said that he’s leaning toward opting out, but he did note that he would like to remain in Chicago beyond this season, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com relays. Responding to whether or not he’d like to stay with the Bulls, Gasol said, “Yes, of course. But when the time comes we’ll evaluate it. I’ll see how the season went. Where are the team’s interests, where are my interests, what options do I have? But most important is for me and the team to focus on what we have this season to make the best out of it and give ourselves a chance to win the title.”
Gasol was also asked if he missed anything about former head coach Tom Thibodeau and told Friedell, “I appreciated a lot of things that Thibs brought to the table. I think his intensity. Sometimes it could be a little bit overwhelming. I think [I miss most] his intensity and his passion and dedication for the game.” The veteran also noted that he appreciates the freedom and versatility of coach Fred Hoiberg‘s system, the ESPN scribe adds.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Jason Terry, who re-signed with the Rockets this past offseason, said he planned to join the Mavericks along with DeAndre Jordan, but Terry’s plans changed when Jordan decided to return to the Clippers, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays. “For me it was like a package deal,” Terry said. “If he [Jordan] came, I definitely was coming. Because that automatically made us a contender.” Terry also noted that he was shocked when Jordan reversed course and backed out of his verbal agreement with Dallas, Townsend adds. “When that happened, I kind of pushed the reset button,” Terry said. “Because I didn’t want to start over. I don’t want to be in a rebuilding phase. I don’t know if Dallas, at the time, knew if they were rebuilding or were they retooling. They were trying to see what was out there.“
- The Spurs have sent Boban Marjanovic and Ray McCallum to their D-League Affiliate in Austin, the team announced. This is the first D-League assignment of the season for both players.
- The Rockets have assigned swingman K.J. McDaniels to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This is the second D-League trip of the season for McDaniels, as our assignments and recalls tracker illustrates.
- Kings coach George Karl believes that despite the rumored difficulties between he and center DeMarcus Cousins, the big man wants to remain in Sacramento, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets.
- James Ennis has been assigned by the Grizzlies to their D-League affiliate in Iowa, the team announced.
- The Clippers have assigned Branden Dawson to the D-League, and since the team does not have its own affiliate, Dawson will report to the Pistons’ squad in Grand Rapids, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.