Latest On Spurs, Duncan, Ginobili, Leonard
TUESDAY, 1:30pm: The Spurs haven’t received any indication about what Duncan and Ginobili plan to do, and the prevailing belief within the organization remains that Duncan will likely decide to play again and that Ginobili is leaning toward hanging it up, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. San Antonio’s plan is to quickly reach a five-year max deal with Leonard, which shouldn’t be a problem, a source tells Berger, and then let him join Duncan in recruitment of Aldridge. Of course, San Antonio probably wouldn’t officially re-sign Leonard before signing a marquee free agent from another team, since Leonard’s cap hold, much smaller than a max salary, affords the Spurs greater flexibility. In any case, Berger largely seconds a report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Spurs will first go after Aldridge, who’s seen as more obtainable, before pursuing Gasol.
MONDAY, 3:43pm: All indications are that the Spurs are planning for Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to return for next season, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says (video link). Team officials haven’t formally met with the pair of mainstays to discuss their intentions for next season, and they won’t do so for another couple of weeks, Bucher cautions. It remains to be seen just how much either of them would demand on a new deal, since San Antonio’s contracts with both expire June 30th. Still, the Spurs continue to plan to pursue a marquee free agent from another team, an enterprise that would require Duncan and Ginobili to take deeply discounted deals, barring salary-clearing trades, as I examined when I looked at the offseason ahead for San Antonio.
The Spurs are reportedly expected to make a pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge before doing the same to Marc Gasol, given that Aldridge appears to be the more readily obtainable of the two, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported today. Bucher suggests that the team will target Brook Lopez, too, though it’s not entirely clear whether or not that’s merely Bucher’s speculation. Lopez has a player option for next season and appears likely to opt out but re-sign with the Nets.
Ginobili, who turns 38 in July, said recently that he’d take the rest of May to make up his mind about returning, and he indicated that Duncan’s decision would have a heavy influence on his. Duncan, whose 39th birthday passed last month, offered little insight into his thinking in the wake of San Antonio’s playoff ouster a few weeks ago. Duncan remains productive, having posted the same 22.6 PER this season as he did as a rookie, while Ginobili’s mark in that category this year, 16.2, is even better than the one he put up in his first NBA season.
San Antonio only has about $34.2MM in salary committed for next season against a projected $67.1MM salary cap, but that doesn’t include a cap hold of more than $7.2MM for soon-to-be restricted free agent Kawhi Leonard. A max salary for Aldridge, Gasol or Lopez would check in at around an estimated $19MM next season. Only five Spurs have guaranteed contracts for next season, so building a team around a maximum-salary acquisition would take some financial gymnastics.
Spurs Expected To Pursue Aldridge Before Gasol
The Spurs are widely expected to focus their attention on LaMarcus Aldridge first before turning their attention to fellow free agent target Marc Gasol, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The understanding as of two months ago was that Gasol would be San Antonio’s No. 1 target, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported then, though that was before a series of reports that made it clear that Portland’s star is strongly considering a move elsewhere. Stein indeed deems Aldridge as the more “gettable” free agent, though it’s not entirely clear whether San Antonio would prefer Aldridge over Gasol, all things being equal.
The Spurs are the team that Memphis fears most, Stein writes, cautioning that it’s premature to anoint San Antonio the most likely non-Memphis destination for the Spanish center given the expectation that the Spurs will attempt to woo Aldridge first. Most teams around the league predict that Gasol will wind up re-signing with the Grizzlies given his strong ties to the city of Memphis and his desire to win a title, according to Stein. Still, Gasol has given little precious little indication of his thinking, Stein notes.
The Knicks have long been linked to Gasol as a suitor, but former Knick and current Gasol teammate Beno Udrih recently posited that New York is out of the running. Many of Gasol’s comments about Memphis have made his love for the city undeniable, but Gasol in February refused to rule out the Knicks or any other team.
Memphis has Gasol’s Bird Rights and can give the 30-year-old a five-year deal with 7.5% raises, while other teams are limited to four-year contracts with 4.5% raises. Still, the expected leaps in the salary cap over the next couple of years stand to mitigate that advantage if the Arn Tellem client is confident he can still warrant maximum-salary consideration in another year or two. The Spurs will have the flexibility to make a maximum-salary bid on Aldridge, Gasol or another sought-after free agent this summer, but it may well require Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to retire or take drastically reduced salaries, as I explained.
The Spurs believe they can sign Aldridge, who’s considering them as well as the Mavericks and a new deal with the Blazers, as Stein recently reported. The Knicks and Lakers are apparently planning to become Aldridge suitors, too, as are the Celtics.
Grizzlies Rumors: Gasol, Playoffs, Randolph
Grizzlies center Marc Gasol was characteristically silent about his future after Memphis’ playoff run ended Friday, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal [subscription required]. As the free-agent-to-be exited the game with a few seconds remaining, many in the crowd encouraged him to remain with the Grizzlies. But Gasol, who has offered few public clues about his long-term plans, didn’t seem to acknowledge them. “I normally don’t hear anything that the crowd shouts, either good or bad,” he said. “I haven’t even spent a second thinking of that.”
There’s more from Memphis after a second-round exit:
- Gasol will have plenty of suitors this summer, according to Shaun Powell of nba.com. With quality centers in short supply, the two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year is expected to get a flood of offers. Powell speculates that the best fit might be in San Antonio, where Gasol could play alongside Tim Duncan for another year or two and then take over Duncan’s role when he retires. If Gasol prefers a big city, the Knicks and Lakers are expected to be very interested.
- The Grizzlies need to re-examine whether their style will ever bring playoff success, contends Royce Young of ESPN. He notes that Memphis’ grit-and-grind philosophy is a rarity in the modern NBA and points out that the team has been ousted in the first or second round of the playoffs in four of the past five seasons. “We have who we have,” said Mike Conley. “We have our personnel. We play through our personnel. We have big guys, and that’s what we have to play through our strengths. We can’t change that. We have to work with what we have.”
- Zach Randolph‘s desire to acquire a few shooters this offseason is a familiar refrain, writes Michael Cohen of The Commercial Appeal [subscription required]. “Add some shooting, get some shooting,” Randolph said after Friday’s loss. “Spread the floor, open the floor. We’re right there. We have a good team.” But Cohen notes that the Grizzlies signed Vince Carter last summer and traded for Jeff Green during the season, but barely improved their playoff 3-point output. Carter is inked through 2016/17, while Green has a player option this summer.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Spurs
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Spurs utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Austin Spurs
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 32-18
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1
Total D-League Assignments: 7
Player Stats While On Assignment:
- Kyle Anderson: 7 assignments, 26 games, 21.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 4.8 APG. .447/.354/.789.
D-League Signings
- Reggie Williams (Oklahoma City Blue-Thunder affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day deal on January 28th. Inked 2nd 10-day pact on February 8th. Signed for the remainder of the campaign on February 20th.
- JaMychal Green (Austin Spurs-San Antonio’s affiliate): Signed 10-day deal on January 18th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 23rd: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled November 24th)
- January 20th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled February 20th)
- February 21st: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled March 9th)
- March 12th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled March 16th)
- March 26th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 8th)
- April 11th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 12th)
- April 17th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 22nd)
Draft Notes: Combine, Tokoto, Christmas
With the 2015 NBA Draft combine in full swing, two players whose performances in the five-on-five events have elevated their draft stock are Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas and North Carolina’s J.P. Tokoto, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) relays. When discussing Christmas’ potential one NBA GM told Ford, “He had an advantage [over his combine competition] as a four-year senior. But that wasn’t what set him apart. I felt he showed that he could disrupt shots, attack the rim and play bigger than I felt he did at Syracuse. There aren’t many centers in this draft after the lottery, and I think he’ll draw a lot of interest for teams in the late first and early second.”
Here’s the latest news regarding the 2015 NBA Draft:
- Another player who may have improved his draft stock according Ford was Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison. “I haven’t been a big fan of his all year,” one GM told Ford. “But if you take all of that away, he was one of the two or three best players here. He played under control, made some great passes, got to the line relentlessly [7-for-8] and just played with confidence. It was a very good showing.“
- There were some scouts who questioned if Tokoto was ready to make the jump from college to the pros, but for his part the player has no regrets about his decision, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “I’m past that,” Tokoto said of worrying about his choice. “All that really matters is if my family and I are comfortable with my decision. I know I made the right decision. With the teams I’m interviewing with, the question about my jump shot comes up. To go out and have a game like this…I told them, ‘I’ve been working on it and I’m going to shoot jump shots.’“
- Oregon guard Joseph Young worked out for the Pacers on Thursday, and he has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Blazers and Spurs, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com tweets.
- Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter) also lauded the performances of Harrison and Christmas, while also adding Louisville’s Terry Rozier and Bowling Green’s Richaun Holmes to the list of players who stood out at the combine.
Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson
At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:
- Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
- Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
- Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
- The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
- Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).
Western Notes: Matthews, Draft, Young
Jabari Young of CSNNW.com wouldn’t be surprised if Wesley Matthews gives the Blazers a discount to re-sign him this summer. Young interprets GM Neil Olshey‘s tone from his season-ending press conference as a signal that the team will pursue a new deal with the shooting guard. “We know his value to us,” Olshey said, adding that “We also know he’s going to have market value around the league. That’s another competitive part of the free agent process that we’re going to have to participate in.”
Here’s the latest out of the Western Conference:
- The Blazers are scheduled to meet with UNLV’s Christian Wood, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com relays (Twitter links). Portland is also expected to take a close look at big man Myles Turner, Young notes.
- Seth Curry will join the Pelicans‘ summer league squad, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. Curry made two appearances for the Suns during the 2014/15 season while on a lone 10-day contract.
- Oregon senior guard Joseph Young interviewed with the Spurs, Pelicans, Knicks, Wizards, and Clippers today, Jabari Young tweets.
- Sean Meagher of The Oregonian looks at Blazers point guard Tim Frazier, who inked a multiyear deal with the team this season, and what the player’s role might be next season. Frazier’s minimum salary arrangement with Portland is non-guaranteed.
- The list of players whom the Thunder have interviewed during the combine includes Kelly Oubre, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Tyus Jones, Terry Rozier, Turner, and Stanley Johnson, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman relays (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons
The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:
- People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
- The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
- Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.
Texas Notes: Rondo, Stoudemire, Spurs
Last night in Los Angeles, the Rockets were on the wrong side of a one-sided affair as they fell 128-95 to the Clippers. Houston’s strategy of intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan didn’t pay off as the big man put up 26 points and 17 boards to put his team up 3-1 in the series. Here’s today’s look at the other two teams in the Lone Star State..
- Mavs guard Rajon Rondo is entering free agency after a down year and Keyon Dooling thinks that whoever signs him will get a tremendous value, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. “I think his future is bright, I think someone will be getting a hungry veteran who’s still in the prime of his career,” Dooling said. “We’re talking about one of the most unselfish players in the league in his selfish ways. It’s like an anomaly. He’s the most unselfish player in the world on the court but for some reason he has a selfish image. I’m biased because that’s my friend, but I just don’t get it.” Rondo and Dooling (now retired) were teammates in Boston.
- Another pending Mavs free agent, Amar’e Stoudemire says that he could envision a return to Dallas. “There was a lot at stake this season. I’m sure there’s going to be another round of free agency happening again, as it was in 2010. I’ll make my rounds and see what teams are saying, but I think Dallas is a place where I feel comfortable here. I have a chance to have great success here with this franchise. We’ll see,” Stoudemire told Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Stoudemire appeared in 23 games for Dallas this season but saw the team fall in the first round of the playoffs. The veteran says that he’s “already paid in full” and will be prioritizing winning this summer over money.
- The Spurs will have options via sign-and-trade to add a max free agent this summer, but doing that could put Danny Green‘s future with the team in jeopardy, Dan McCarney of the Express News writes. McCarney runs down Green’s solid resume in San Antonio and concludes that they’ll have a serious hole to fill if he goes elsewhere.
Southwest Notes: Rockets, Bertans, Pelicans
The Rockets‘ defense, which was bolstered by the midseason acquisitions of Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, has floundered in the playoffs, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. During the regular season, Houston ranked sixth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions at 100.5. But against the Clippers, that number has ballooned to 110.6, the highest of the eight teams in the second round of the playoffs. “We have to get back in transition,” Brewer said after Friday’s loss in Game 3. “They just ran it down our throats all night.” Both Brewer and Smith will be free agents this summer.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Davis Bertans, a Latvian player whose rights are owned by the Spurs, is rehabbing from a knee injury in San Antonio, tweets David Pick of Basketball Insiders. A source said Bertans’ progress is “inspiring.” He suffered an ACL tear in his right knee during a March game.
- LaMarcus Aldridge would be the perfect addition to keep the Spurs‘ dynasty alive, contends Dave Leonardis of Bleacher Report. He estimates San Antonio would have to offer about $81MM over four years to lure the Texas native away from Portland.
- The midseason additions of Dante Cunningham and Quincy Pondexter were vital to the Pelicans‘ playoff push, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Cunningham was signed as a free agent in December; Pondexter came from Memphis in a three-team deal in January. Reid notes that they gave New Orleans the flexibility to survive when a stress reaction injury knocked Jrue Holiday out for more than half the season.