Spurs Notes: Leonard, Joseph, Aldridge, West
Spurs GM R.C. Buford concedes he’s not sure anyone in the organization thought Kawhi Leonard would blossom as much as he has during his NBA career, a development that shooting coach Chad Engelland and player development coach Chad Forcier have aided, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News details. It’s a testament to Leonard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and to the Spurs, as Leonard’s agent Brian Elfus admits.
“At the end of the day, the draft is about where you end up, what kind of situation you’re in,” Elfus said. “I’ve got a strange suspicion — no, I know for a fact — if Kawhi had ended up in a different place, he wouldn’t be nearly the player he is today. I think everybody counts their blessings every day he ended up in San Antonio.”
See more from San Antonio:
- Raptors signee Cory Joseph, a Toronto native, wasn’t eager to leave the Spurs, but he knew that with the arrival of LaMarcus Aldridge and a new max deal coming to Leonard, the team wouldn’t have much left over for him, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. “It’s always hard, leaving somewhere that you’re comfortable in,” Joseph said. “You’re comfortable with the system, comfortable in the city, comfortable with the people there. So it’s always tough. It obviously made it a lot more easier ’cause I was coming home. I knew it was a good situation for me basketball wise as well. That’s how it goes business-wise. I couldn’t complain. They were getting a great basketball player in LaMarcus.”
- Aldridge hasn’t found his hot spots on the floor thus far with the Spurs, but Gregg Popovich believes that’s not necessarily a product of the uniqueness of San Antonio’s system, relays Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “No matter what system he’s in, there’s going to be a learning curve,” Popovich said. “It doesn’t matter who he’s playing for this year. If it’s not Portland, he’s going to have to learn the system.”
- David West has been efficient in his fairly limited playing time as a reserve for the Spurs, but it’s the maturity, professionalism and leadership that the minimum-salary signee has brought to the locker room that’s really stood out to Popovich, observes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
Atlantic Notes: Smith, Crowder, Scola
Despite his negative feelings regarding Jackson’s comments, Smith still thinks back on his time in New York fondly, Begley adds. “There were ups and downs, to be expected, but I had more ups than I had downs when I was here, I think,” Smith said. “I’m just glad I was able to play here. A lot of people can’t play here, under the lights, under the pressure. I’m just glad I was one of those few who was able to.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil takes issue with any assertion that the team’s rebuilding process is moving along at too slow a pace, pointing to the team’s two potential cornerstones in Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, as well as the potential four first round draft picks that the franchise could have in next year’s draft, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I want to scream, like, ‘Are you guys kidding me?’ ” O’Neil said. “I would scream it. When people say, ‘You’re set back. You’re too slow,’ I’m like, ‘Have you guys lost your [expletive] minds?’ Like, seriously, this is it.“
- Jae Crowder‘s intense focus on improving his defense is paying dividends for both the player and the Celtics, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Through the team’s first seven contests, Crowder is leading the league with 3.4 steals per game, Himmelsbach notes. “All I try to do is make an impact on the defensive end every night,” Crowder said. “It’s not going to be perfect. You’re not going to hold someone scoreless in this league, but you can make it tough on them and you can have an impact on the game.” The 25-year-old re-signed with Boston this offseason on a five-year, $35MM arrangement.
- Raptors power forward Luis Scola has increased his 3-point shot attempts this season in an effort to adapt to the way big men are being utilized in today’s NBA, writes Eric Koreen of The National Post. “The NBA is moving in that direction,” Scola said. “We all know how effective the three-point shot is in the basketball game today. I’m trying to adapt. That’s the way teams are playing.” Scola has attempted 1.8 deep balls per contest thus far, which is a significant bump from the 0.4 he notched per game in 2014/15, Koreen notes.
- The Celtics have assigned Terry Rozier to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Rozier’s first trip to the D-League of the season.
D-League Notes: Harris, Dekker, Patterson
The Raptors‘ D-League affiliate has added swingman Nick Wiggins and power forward Ronald Roberts to its roster, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays (via Twitter). Wiggins, a native Canadian, was waived by the Wolves during the preseason, and later by the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s affiliate. Roberts was among the final cuts made by Toronto this year. Both players will still remain free to sign with any interested NBA team.
Here’s more news from out of the D-League:
- The Cavaliers assigned Joe Harris to the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the first D-League assignment of the season for both the player and the team. Harris’ assignment was first reported by Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link).
- Rookie combo forward Sam Dekker has been assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ affiliate, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets. This is Dekker’s first D-League assignment of the young season.
- The Hawks have assigned Lamar Patterson to the D-League, and he will report to the Austin Spurs as part of the flexible assignment process, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. This will be Patterson’s first jaunt to the D-League this season.
- The Raptors have assigned Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo to the Raptors 905, their D-League affiliate, the team announced.
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford said that the team is open to sending Aaron Harrison to the D-League at some point this season, but added that Harrison was currently needed with the main squad for Charlotte’s practice sessions, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets.
- You can keep track off all the D-League assignments and recalls made throughout the season here.
Raptors Notes: Carroll, Joseph, Scola
DeMarre Carroll didn’t want to draw out the free agent process any longer than he had to this past summer, and while he had other teams he was considering playing for, the Raptors made the strongest first impression on Carroll, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays. “It was short and sweet,” Carroll told Kennedy regarding his free agency. “I got married, like, three days before free agency so as soon as it started, I wanted [the process] to be short and sweet. My agent knew that. We had a list of six or seven teams that we were truly interested in and we kind of ran with that. I think Toronto was the first team to show up at my door and they made the best impression. The first impression is sometimes the best impression, and I felt like they made the best impression. They [made sense] with what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go, being a key part of an organization, and that’s why I went with Toronto.”
Here’s more from Toronto:
- With the Raptors’ bench experiencing early season struggles, offseason free agent signee Cory Joseph has been a revelation for the team, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. “He’s been a godsend for us with the second unit,” coach Dwane Casey said. Despite Joseph not having seen much playing time during his first four seasons in the league, Toronto had faith that Joseph could blossom in a new environment, Wolstat adds. “He’s who we thought he was. He’s learning guys’ [tendencies], I think he’s so used to throwing it to Timmy [Tim Duncan] or Manu Ginobili [with the Spurs] and getting out of the way, he’s got a little bit more to do with our team,” Casey continued. “He’s learning how to do that, doing a solid job, doing a heckuva job defensively fighting through screens and guarding pick and rolls.”
- One downside to the Raptors’ roster getting younger is that the team lacks reliable depth in the wake of its early season run of injuries, Eric Koreen of The National Post opines. GM Masai Ujiri‘s plan to use the bottom of the roster to develop younger players is a smart long-term plan for the franchise, but is one that may harm the team’s chance to contend this season, Koreen adds.
- Luis Scola‘s value to the team goes well beyond his on court production, with the veteran quickly becoming a valuable mentor to the team’s less experienced players, writes Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com. “In practice, he’ll make coaching points,” Casey told MacKenzie. “He’ll stop things and go and teach. You cannot put a value on that. It’s very sound. A lot of times a player will suggest something and there’s no way [the player he’s helping] can do that, or your team can absorb it or understand it. He’s already teaching everything within the concept that we’re trying to do. The defensive system, offensive system. He’s a valuable, valuable veteran.”
And-Ones: Durant, Green, Aldridge
Sean Deveney of The Sporting News mentions the Lakers, Bulls and Knicks as major-market suitors for Kevin Durant, and the Warriors as a team that could catch his eye, but people around the league have long felt as though Durant will either sign with the Thunder or the Wizards, Deveney writes. It’s a sentiment one Eastern Conference GM who spoke with Deveney confirms. Still, Washington doesn’t plan an extravagant pitch, a source tells Deveney, in keeping with the former MVP’s low-key personality. That said, neither the Warriors nor the Heat should be ruled out as potential Durant destinations, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. See more from around the NBA:
- Gerald Green punched a man who was trying to restrain him from going from the lobby of his condo building to his unit, according to a police report that Manny Navarro and Charles Rabin of the Miami Herald obtained. The man, who elected not to press charges, was attempting to keep Green in the lobby so that he would be there when rescue officials arrived, the report states, according to Navarro and Rabin. Green had earlier approached the front desk of the lobby with bloody hands and asked for a call to paramedics, then proceeded to the valet area in front of the building and collapsed, the report continues, as Navarro and Rabin detail. Green, who was handcuffed but not arrested, was hospitalized and later released and is serving a two-game suspension from the Heat. Team president Pat Riley said the team still believes it can count on Green, who issued an apology as part of a team statement, Navarro and Rabin add.
- The Mavericks weren’t the favorites for LaMarcus Aldridge, but they still had a chance to sign him when they abandoned their pursuit to instead nail down the more certain acquisition of Wesley Matthews, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports details in an inside look at Aldridge’s free agency. Aldridge liked Kobe Bryant‘s basketball chat but little else about the Lakers presentation, while Aldridge was reluctant to share the marquee with James Harden despite an intriguing Rockets pitch and found Raptors GM Masai Ujiri appealing but not convincing enough to sway him to Toronto, according to Wojnarowski.
- The Spurs wooed Aldridge with a casual, face-to-face approach from Gregg Popovich and other San Antonio principals, Wojnarowski explains in the same piece. Popovich’s decision to fly in for a second visit, prompted by Aldridge’s second Lakers meeting, helped sealed the deal for the Spurs, thanks in part to a last-minute appeal from Riley that the Heat president intended to use to sell Aldridge on a secondary role in Miami, Wojnarowski writes. Instead, Aldridge took Riley’s message to heart as he embraced the idea of sacrificing some of his impressive offensive numbers in San Antonio’s egalitarian offense, as the Yahoo scribe details.
Atlantic Notes: Stauskas, Wood, Porzingis
The Sixers may have taken Nik Stauskas with their second first-rounder during the 2014 draft if the sharpshooter was there, but the team is happy to have the guard on the roster now, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Twitter links). “He’s been good. I think his upside is high. I think the bounce and the athleticism has always intrigued us,” coach Brett Brown said. Philadelphia instead took Elfrid Payton with the No. 10 overall pick and traded him to Orlando for the rights to Dario Saric and a future first-rounder.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Prior to the 2015 draft, Christian Wood believed he could have been selected as high as No. 13 by the Suns and that he wouldn’t fall past the Grizzlies at No. 25, but the forward understands why that didn’t happen, Jake Fischer of SI.com writes. “Memphis told me how much they liked me,” Wood said. “A lot of NBA teams didn’t want to take the risk. Some teams thought I was lazy, some teams thought I didn’t give effort 100% all of the time. I think that played a big part into it.” Wood signed a four-year, partially guaranteed deal with the Sixers before the season started.
- The Nets will send their first round pick this season to the Celtics as a result of the Kevin Garnett trade and with the team struggling so far, the pick is looking like it will be a top selection. While sending that kind of asset to a division rival isn’t ideal, Brooklyn shouldn’t sacrifice any more future assets in order to improve the team this season and therefore send a worse asset to Boston, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post opines. Bontemps notes that Brooklyn could have close to $40MM in cap space next summer, so while the team may endure a down season, it’ll have an opportunity to make a quick turnaround.
- Kristaps Porzingis has exceeded expectations for the Knicks and some around the league are comparing him to Dirk Nowitzki, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “That kid is going to be a heck of a player,’’ said Raptors coach Dwane Casey, who coached Nowitzki for three seasons. “He’s long — nowhere near Dirk yet. But he’s Dirk-like from his length, his range with his 3-point shot. He’s fearless and he’s long and a rebounder. He rebounds with his length. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league for a long time.’’
Atlantic Notes: Jerebko, Brown, ‘Melo, Scola
Jonas Jerebko‘s defense and versatility are benefiting the Celtics even though his minutes are down from last season, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines. The Celtics re-signed Jerebko this summer on a two-year, $10MM deal.
“If you’ve got guys that can guard multiple positions, especially that can swing from the perimeter to the bigs, and vice versa, it’s huge,” coach Brad Stevens said. “Especially the way the game is being played with so many skilled 4s and so many shooting bigs.”
See more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers coach Brett Brown came from a Spurs team that seamlessly adapted to the small-ball era, but with Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel on Philadelphia’s roster, and Joel Embiid if he ever returns to health, Brown believes the Sixers can win with multiple bigs, as Ian Thomsen of NBA.com details. “I think it is relevant,” Brown said of the rise of small-ball. “But trends don’t necessarily mean that’s the correct path with respective teams. The path that Golden State went on catered to their strengths first. For me it always gets down to, how do you get your best players on the court? The trend we’re talking about with small ball is true, but I don’t see it being the answer, that it’s the only way.”
- Carmelo Anthony‘s increased assist production is an indication that of his faith in the roster that Knicks team president Phil Jackson built around him, posits Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Luis Scola‘s addition of a corner 3-pointer to his game is setting him apart from Patrick Patterson, whom Scola beat out for the starting power forward job on the Raptors, observes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
Southwest Notes: Thornton, Matthews, Grizzlies
Marcus Thornton signed with the Rockets this summer knowing that he wasn’t assured a spot in the rotation, much less a starting job, but he felt as though the team was a strong match for his skills and was willing to bet he could boost his value on a one-year deal, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle examines. Coach Kevin McHale elected to go small and promote Thornton to the starting five after the team’s first two games, Feigen notes, a move that’s paid dividends, since Thornton has been the team’s second leading scorer so far.
“It’s been great,” Thornton said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an offense with coaches that have the ultimate confidence in you. When a coach has the ultimate confidence in you, it’s easy to go out there and play, let the chips fall where they may. If you mess up, get back, get it again. It’s great when you have guys that share the ball, too. It’s fun.”
See more from the Southwest Division:
- Agent Jeff Austin thought six teams would aggressively court Wesley Matthews in free agency this past summer if he were healthy, but only two went hard after him, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. One was the Mavericks, who reportedly wound up lifting the value of their deal with Matthews from $57MM to the max of about $70MM after DeAndre Jordan reneged on his decision to sign with Dallas. Both the Raptors and Kings were apparently talking to Matthews before he agreed to join the Mavs, so it’s unclear which of them went farther than the other.
- The Grizzlies have no shortage of issues, but poor performances and a lack of cohesion from Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and coach Dave Joerger are far and away the most troublesome, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal.
- The Pelicans don’t have a lot of assets to trade, aside from their future draft picks, but even amid a bleak outlook for this season thanks to their injury-hit 0-6 start, their future remains bright, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller believes. That said, New Orleans is the only NBA team without a rookie, as we pointed out.
- We rounded up news on the Spurs earlier today.
Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Anthony Bennett: One year, $947K. Signed via minimum salary exception.
- Bismack Biyombo: Two years. $5.755MM. Signed via room exception. Second year is a player option.
- DeMarre Carroll: Four years, $58MM. Signed via cap room.
- Cory Joseph: Four years, $30MM. Signed via cap room. Fourth year is a player option.
- Michale Kyser: One year, $525K. Signed via minimum salary exception. Includes $25K partial guarantee. Waived.
- Ronald Roberts: Two years, $1.825MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. First year includes $75K partial guarantee, second year is non-guaranteed. Waived.
- Luis Scola: One year, $2.9MM. Signed via cap room.
- Shannon Scott: One year, $525K. Signed via minimum-salary exception. Includes $25K partial guarantee. Waived.
- Axel Toupane: One year, $525K, Signed via minimum-salary exception. Includes $25K partial guarantee. Waived.
Extensions
Trades
- Acquired the Clippers’ 2017 first-round pick and the rights to Norman Powell, the No. 46 overall pick in this year’s draft, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez.
Waiver Claims
- None
Draft Picks
- Delon Wright (Round 1, 20th overall). Signed via rookie exception to rookie scale contract.
Camp Invitees
- None
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Bruno Caboclo (third year, $1,589,640) — exercised
- Lucas Nogueira (third year, $1,921,320) — exercised
The last vestiges of the post-Rudy Gay-trade honeymoon were unmistakably gone when the Wizards walked off the floor with a first-round sweep of the Raptors last spring. The plucky group from Toronto, which GM Masai Ujiri nearly broke apart before he realized what he had, finally made it clear that it had a definitive ceiling. The Raptors had somehow lost their way defensively, in spite of the presence of Dwane Casey, who made his reputation as a defensive coach. Change was inevitable, and the only question was just how drastic it would be. Casey wasn’t assured of keeping his job until two weeks after the team’s playoff ouster, and two of his assistants weren’t as lucky. A draft night deal that sent Greivis Vasquez to the Bucks for no salary in return opened cap space and portended a major foray into free agency.
Ujiri aimed high, and the Raptors were among the teams to meet with LaMarcus Aldridge. They also met with Wesley Matthews and were apparently still chasing both even after they made what turned out to be their most significant offseason signing. The Raptors sat down with DeMarre Carroll and blew away the competition, offering him a four-year deal so lucrative that he canceled meetings with the Pistons, Suns and Knicks. The former Hawks small forward will see $58MM, not the widely reported $60MM, over the life of his contract, but it’s still a tremendous raise on the two-year, $5MM deal he signed in 2013 with Atlanta. Carroll had quickly become one of the league’s foremost “three-and-D players” while with the Hawks.
Carroll’s skills complement DeMar DeRozan, a gifted scorer off the dribble who’s shot less than 30% from behind the arc for his career and who was only the league’s 34th-best defensive shooting guard last season, according to ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus metric. The question about Carroll is whether a player who’d never averaged more than 12.6 points per game for a season and had only recently become more than a fringe player would prove worthy of such an investment. So far, the results are positive, as Carroll is pouring 13.0 points a night and the Raptors are 5-0.
Time will tell if that holds up, but we may never know how the Raptors would have created the cap space to sign Aldridge or Matthews, both of whom wound up inking for the max. Presumably, the Raptors would have traded one of their core players to make it happen. Instead, Toronto spent the latter part of the offseason investing in the two youngest members of last season’s starting lineup, including the player whom Carroll displaced from the starting five.
The extension for Terrence Ross, a deal that happened in the final hour of the four-month window in which he was eligible for it, was a bet that the former eighth overall pick will become at least somewhat more valuable than he is now. The defensive regression that he showed last season contributed to the team’s disappointing performance on that end of the floor, and consistency on both offense and defense is “a huge question with him,” as Casey said the weekend before the extension took place. That’s why it’s hard to put much stock into his strong start this season, one in which he’s averaging a career-best 18.0 points per game and is also playing better defense than ever, according to his Basketball-Reference Defensive Box Plus/Minus number. A deal with an average annual value of slightly more than $10MM a year doesn’t present as much of a risk for teams as it used to, given the rapid rise of the salary cap, but it’s still a significant outlay for someone who just lost his starting job.
The extension the Raptors gave Jonas Valanciunas also required the team to show some faith. The development of the former No. 5 overall pick largely stagnated last season, and Ujiri seemed to pin the blame on the team’s assistant coaches, ostensibly the catalyst for the changes to Casey’s bench. The Lithuanian center often sat during crunch time last season, but that’s not happening this year, and like so many other Raptors, he’s off to a strong start. He’s averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, both numbers that would be career bests if he keeps them up. He’s also assumed a somewhat larger role in the offense, a point that Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun told us would be key.
Right behind Valanciunas and tied with Ross for the most field goal attempts on the Raptors this season is 35-year-old offseason signee Luis Scola, who won the starting power forward job. His addition ran counter to the defensive focus the team had with most of its significant additions, since even though Scola spent the last two seasons with a Pacers team that played a grind-it-out style, he’ll never be mistaken for a stopper. It underscores the team’s lack of an obvious answer at the four in the wake of Amir Johnson‘s departure in free agency for the Celtics. Johnson had begun to lose his grip on his starting gig even before that, and while the Raptors addressed the position with the signings of Scola and Anthony Bennett, it remains to be seen if that’ll be enough to fill the hole.
Indeed, more uncertainty surrounds Bennett than perhaps any of the new Raptors, considering the gulf between the expectations thrust upon him when he became the No. 1 overall pick in 2013 and his decidedly underwhelming performances since then. Yet as far as the Raptors are concerned, Bennett should forget about having been the top pick and simply focus on what’s ahead of him, as Casey has said. It would appear, from Ujiri’s comments, that what’s ahead of him is more than just one season with the Raptors, even though he’s only on a one-year deal.
Bennett and Cory Joseph fulfill Ujiri’s desire for more Canadians on the roster, and Joseph and Bismack combine to give the second unit the added defense that Carroll gives to the starting five. Biyombo, at just 6’9″, also gives the Raptors help on the boards, as he’s the team’s third leading per-game rebounder even though he’s seeing just 16.8 minutes per game so far. Joseph has inherited part of the offensive responsibilities left over from the departure of Lou Williams, who told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that the Raptors didn’t make him an offer despite the fact he won the Sixth Man of the Year award last season.
Perhaps no decision defined Toronto’s offseason as much as that one. Casey acknowledged the Raptors were simply looking for other kinds of production, and it’s obvious that defense was the team’s aim. The early returns are a positive sign for the Raptors, who are sixth in defensive efficiency compared to 23rd last year, according to NBA.com. Still, as the Raptors must know after watching the promise of the immediate wake of the Rudy Gay trade dissipate, they have to keep moving in the right direction.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.
And-Ones: LeBron, Noah, Lopez, Lamb, Ross
The combination of his on-court brilliance and his influence over coaching matters and player personnel give LeBron James unprecedented power, and GM David Griffin concedes to Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher that no one in the Cavs organization other than Dan Gilbert is as powerful as James is.
“He’s going to have the biggest voice, he’s the most important, accomplished player in the league and he’s an absolute basketball savant,” Griffin said. “He has the most thorough understanding of X’s and O’s on the floor and best mind for the game off the floor of any human being I’ve ever known. Coach, front-office person, anything. It would be crazy for me not to consult with him on what we want to do.”
Still, Griffin rejects the notion that James runs the franchise, and executives around the league tell Bucher that Griffin has earned the trust of the four-time MVP. While we wait for James to resume his quest for a fifth MVP tonight against the Knicks, see more from around the NBA:
- Joakim Noah makes it clear that he reveres Thunder coach Billy Donovan, who was his coach at the University of Florida, but Noah, poised to hit free agency this summer, wouldn’t say in a Q&A with Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com whether he’s considered playing for Donovan again. Noah’s Bulls and Donovan’s Thunder play Thursday. “I just know I’m going to want to win really bad. Not because I’m playing against Coach Donovan; I love Coach Donovan, obviously,” Noah said to Friedell. “He’s like a father figure to me. Somebody that I’ve gone through a lot with. My time with him as a coach was the best time of my life, and it was a lot more than just basketball.”
- Brook Lopez and his representatives sought to persuade the Nets to keep his name out of trade rumors as they negotiated the three-year max deal that Lopez ultimately signed with Brooklyn this past summer, as he tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Reports indicated that the Wasserman Media Group client twice nearly ended up in deals that would have sent him to the Thunder last season. “We asked them to temper those ideas,” Lopez said. “We told them to pump the brakes a little.”
- Jeremy Lamb will have to make major improvements to justify his three-year, $21MM extension, writes Ben Golliver of SI.com, who argues that Charlotte has too optimistic a view on the potential of the former lottery pick. The Terrence Ross deal meanwhile offers a decent chance for both him and the Raptors to extract value, Golliver opines as he hands out grades for both extensions.