Raptors Considering Mickael Pietrus
For a few days recently, it appeared as if Mickael Pietrus could be headed for the injury-depleted Timberwolves, but Minnesota ended up agreeing to terms with Josh Howard instead. Now, another team ravaged by injuries is eyeing Pietrus, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Raptors are pondering making a "fresh run" at the veteran wing, reports Stein.
There are a number of obstacles in the way of the Raptors seriously pursuing Pietrus. For one, it appeared that in his talks with the T-Wolves and other teams, Pietrus was unwilling to play for the veteran's minimum. Having used all their cap space and their room exception, the Raptors could only offer the 30-year-old a minimum salary deal. Additionally, as Stein acknowledges in his tweet, Toronto already has 15 guaranteed contracts on its books, meaning the team would have to eat some money if it waived a player to make room for a new addition. As such, the club will likely stand pat.
While they haven't been hit as hard by health problems as the Wolves, the Raptors have seen multiple offseason acquisitions sidelined with injuries already this season. The team announced yesterday that Kyle Lowry will miss an additional week or two with a right foot injury, and that Alan Anderson will be out three to six weeks with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot. Landry Fields, meanwhile, has no timetable for his return after undergoing ulnar nerve transposition surgery on his right elbow.
Atlantic Links: Calderon, Felton, Stackhouse
After the Raptors dealt for Kyle Lowry this past summer, the questions surrounding Jose Calderon's future with Toronto were inevitable. Back in July, we even heard rumor that he had requested a trade just one day after Lowry had been acquired (which Calderon would later deny). Now, the Spanish guard finds himself starting for a team riddled with injuries, averaging 30.1 MPG, 10.7 PPG, 7.4 APG, 1.1 steals per game, and shooting 50% from long-range through the team's first eight games. Despite what the future holds for Calderon, who surprisingly is just 19 games away from becoming the franchise's all-time leader in games played, Eric Koreen of the National Post glowingly reflects on his best qualities and contributions as a member of the Raptors. With that aside, you'll find tonight's notables from the Eastern Conference here:
- After looking at how Ray Allen's transition with the Heat has fared, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld highlights how Raymond Felton has surpassed expectations thus far in his second stint with the Knicks after a disappointing, short-lived tenure with the Trail Blazers.
- Nets guard Jerry Stackhouse told ESPN New York that he was disappointed but not surprised that Rasheed Wallace wound up with the Knicks instead of Brooklyn, noting that Wallace was a big Knicks fan while the two played together in college (Jared Zwerling reports)
Odds & Ends: Dixon, Carroll, D’Antoni, Wade
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com thinks that the chances of the Kings remaining in Sacramento after this season (and possibly several more) continue to increase because of little movement in talks of going anywhere else. Without much momentum between the Maloofs and the potential destinations that have been mentioned (Anaheim, Seattle, Virginia Beach) nor anything that indicates a possibility that the team will be sold, Howard-Cooper writes that it bides more time for the city to find a way to keep the Kings for now.
- Eurohoops.net tweets that Panathinaikos of Greece has signed Jason Kapono.
- John Reid of NOLA.com reports that Matt Carroll has not yet reported to the Hornets since Tuesday's trade involving Hakim Warrick going to the Bobcats. Head coach Monty Williams says that there have been ongoing discussions between Carroll's agent and GM Dell Demps but did not elaborate on the specifics. The team hopes to give an update on the situation tomorrow.
- Yahoo's Marc J. Spears relayed a quote from today's press conference in which Mike D'Antoni said he'd like to get the Lakers to play "Showtime basketball."Arash Markazi of ESPN LA tweets that D'Antoni's coaching debut will likely be on Sunday against the Rockets.
- Nagging injuries have become a cause for uncertainty and concern for Heat superstar Dwyane Wade, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- Dan Bickley of AZCentral sports says (via Twitter) that Charles Barkley would be interested in becoming the Suns GM if owner Robert Sarver were to make such an opportunity available in the near future.
- The Raptors officially posted an injury update on their team website regarding Alan Anderson, Landry Fields, and Kyle Lowry. Anderson will remain out for another three to six weeks and Lowry for one to two weeks, according to the press release. There is no timetable set in place for Fields' return.
Odds & Ends: Grizzlies, Raptors, White, Thunder
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun proposes a trade that would send Zach Randolph and Tony Wroten to the Raptors for Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Gray and a second-round pick. Wolstat wonders if the new Grizzlies owners will try to shed salary before the season to avoid paying luxury tax. Memphis is about $4MM above the tax line (Twitter links). I'm skeptical about this one, since trading the team's best player wouldn't exactly make Robert Pera and company the most popular people in Memphis, especially considering the Grizzlies are off to a hot start. While we wait to find out whether any such deal materializes this season, here are a few notes from around the Association.
- High-level union officials are discussing whether they can make a credible case that the Rockets shouldn't be fining Royce White for his absences, but White's criticism of the team on Twitter makes the union's job more difficult, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- Kevin Martin isn't half the player James Harden is, opines Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com, who counts the deal as a mistake for the Thunder based on early results. (Twitter link).
- Magic Johnson wanted Phil Jackson to coach the Lakers, and he lays the blame on executive vice president Jim Buss for what he believes is a mistake, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com observes. "I love (owner) Dr. (Jerry) Buss," Johnson said on ESPN's NBA Countdown show. "I don't believe in Jim Buss."
- Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times, conversely, is confident the decision to hire Mike D'Antoni came from Jerry Buss. Dwyre concludes D'Antoni must have been the Lakers' No. 1 choice all along, speculating that the team didn't want to embarrass agent Warren LeGarie by making it look like they had D'Antoni, his client, already lined up to replace Mike Brown, also LeGarie's client, when Brown was fired.
Bryan Colangelo Talks Analytics, Draft, Scouting
Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo was among the sports executives to appear at Tuesday's Prime Time Sports conference in Toronto, and made some interesting comments about Toronto's scouting techniques, this year's draft, and a number of other topics, as Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star outlines. Here are a few of the highlights from the Raptors GM:
On whether the Raptors rely on analytics or traditional scouting:
"I find myself in the middle, between the old-school way of scouting and the new-school way of looking at things. We, the Raptors, put about $250K a year into the process. We dumb things down for the purpose of evaluation process of prospects and in terms of applying it to a game. I do believe analytics is a huge component to what we’re doing. We’ve even got a camera system — six cameras installed above…. The cameras take 24 shots per second. The amount of data mined from this camera data is incredible. If you look at a boxscore, you’re looking at about 800 points of data. We’re looking at 800,000 points of data per game. We’re one of 12 teams with the system in place."
On picking eighth overall in this year's draft:
"Picking eighth, I passed on somebody I consider a top-five talent in the draft because we felt like he didn’t have the right mental makeup. I passed on someone we thought was a top-three physical specimen because we felt he wasn’t the right fit for our team and didn’t have the right mental makeup."
On the NBA draft combine:
"Our combine has really become somewhat of a joke. Not all the players show up. The agents have controlled the process. It’s gotten worse each year. The most important thing for us is talking to the players, going face-to-face, get them to show their personalities. I had one player tell me he wanted to fix computers, which is stunning given what his god-given talents were."
On how much a poor draft pick costs a team:
"Clearly the new CBA has put more importance on retaining your draft picks, but also making the right selections. We’re in a business of instant gratification. You can’t judge the success of the draft on draft night…. If you do this long enough, you’re going to have your share of mistakes. What you want to avoid is the major mistake: the Michael Jordan vs. Sam Bowie. Greg Oden vs. Kevin Durant. It’s Ryan Leaf vs. Peyton Manning. Those are the ones that are catastrophic to an organization."
Odds & Ends: Bucks, Revenues, Colangelo, Rose
The Bucks sit atop the Central Division two weeks into the season, and with the Bulls missing Derrick Rose and the Pacers without Danny Granger, there's a chance they might stay in first place for a while. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis can become free agents next summer, but they're off to a strong start in their first full season as teammates, observes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Nonetheless, Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group predicts Ellis won't be with the Bucks next year (Twitter link). While we wait to see how Milwaukee's situation plays out, there's news on Rose and others on a six-game night in the Association.
- Commissioner David Stern said the league is projecting it will rake in a record $5 billion of revenue this season, a 20% jump from 2010/11, the NBA's last full season, writes Ronald Blum of The Associated Press (via the Minneapolis Star Tribune).
- Jerry Colangelo has been re-elected as chairman of USA Basketball's board of directors through 2016, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Chauncey Billups will also join the board as an athlete representative.
- In the same piece, Zillgitt notes that Colangelo said there's no rush to name a coach to replace the outgoing Mike Krzyzewski.
- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau expects Rose to return at some point this season, writes Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reiterates a point he's made before, suggesting the Raptors ought to trade Andrea Bargnani to bolster a position of weakness.
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside passes along details on this season's D-League showcase, which is set to take place in early January 2013.
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker are playing like legitimate building blocks for the 3-3 Bobcats, as Jim Cavan of The New York Times chronicles.
Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors
Throughout the month of November, Hoops Rumors will look 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
- Landry Fields: Three years, $18.75MM. Signed via cap room. Offer sheet not matched by Knicks.
- Aaron Gray: Two years, $5.27MM. Signed via room exception. Second year is player option.
- John Lucas III: Two years, $3.07MM. Signed via cap room. Second year is team option.
- Dominic McGuire: Two years, $2.1MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Second year is non-guaranteed.
- Alan Anderson: One year, $885K. Signed via minimum salary exception.
Extensions
Trades and Claims
- Acquired Kyle Lowry from the Rockets in exchange for Gary Forbes and a protected 2013 first-round pick.
- Acquired a 2014 second-round pick from the Kings in exchange for James Johnson.
Draft Picks
- Jonas Valanciunas (2011, Round 1, 5th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Terrence Ross (Round 1, 8th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Quincy Acy (Round 2, 37th overall). Signed via cap space.
- Tomislav Zubcic (Round 2, 56th overall). Will play overseas.
Camp Invitees
- Jamaal Magloire
- Jerel McNeal
- Chris Wright
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
The Raptors entered the offseason with cap room to spare and one clear-cut top target they wanted to use that room to sign. When the clock struck midnight on July 1st, the Raptors put a full-court press on Canadian star Steve Nash, hoping to lock him up quickly to a deal that would bring him to Toronto.
Since July, Nash has said on multiple occasions that he was seriously considering the Raptors' pitch, likely weighing it against a similar offer from the Knicks. However, when the Lakers entered the fray and offered Nash a three-year deal to go along with the chance to stay close to his children on the West Coast, the Raptors saw their number one choice in free agency heading to Los Angeles instead.
The major developments of the Raptors' offseason stemmed from the pursuit of Nash and what happened after they missed out on him. While they were still in the running for ex-Sun, the Raptors signed restricted free agent Landry Fields to a pricey offer sheet, at least in part to hinder the Knicks' chances of landing Nash — Fields was considered a likely candidate to be included in any sign-and-trade deal involving the veteran point guard.
That move backfired when Nash chose the Lakers, leaving the Raptors on the hook for a contract that the Knicks weren't about to match. I defended the deal to an extent at the time, pointing out that it was a worthwhile risk if the Raps considered New York to be the strongest competition for Nash. Additionally, a three-year deal worth only about $6MM annually isn't the type of contract that will handicap a team for years to come. Even if Fields might not have been worth that price, it wouldn't be a disaster if he bounced back from his horrible 2011/12 season and submitted a performance more similar to rookie year. However, the early returns on Fields aren't good, and even his $6MM annual salary could become a major albatross if he can't turn things around.
While the Fields signing doesn't look great, missing out on Nash did allow the Raptors to acquire a point guard I think could outproduce the 38-year-old over the next couple years. GM Bryan Colangelo sent a first-round pick to the Rockets in exchange for Kyle Lowry, who was coming off his best season and looked even better early this year before he was derailed by a sprained ankle. Besides being a younger alternative to Nash, Lowry came cheaper, with his total salary over the next two seasons (about $12MM) making him one of the best bargains in the league.
Of course, acquiring Lowry came at the cost of that first-round pick, which is protected in such a way that it will almost certainly be a lottery selection. Still, since it's protected at the very top of the draft, the Raptors are unlikely to miss out on a superstar, and if there was ever time to trade out of the first round, it was now — Toronto will already be working two lottery picks into its rotation this season, in No. 8 pick Terrence Ross and 2011's No. 5 pick Jonas Valanciunas.
It goes without saying that the Raptors aren't a title contender, and the team probably won't even be in the playoff hunt this season unless Ross and Valanciunas make incredible strides. This is a fairly young team, and there's still work to be done on the roster, which could include trading Jose Calderon's expiring contract or even fielding offers for Andrea Bargnani.
This summer's acquisition of Lowry was a step in the right direction though. The Raptors haven't drafted particularly well in the Colangelo era, and contracts like Fields' and DeMar DeRozan's four-year extension could be the latest of the club's ill-advised long-term deals. So using a draft pick to trade for a very good player who is already signed to a team-friendly contract represents perhaps the best use of the Raptors' assets. The Lowry acquisition alone doesn't necessarily make the Raptors' offseason a success, but it certainly stands out as a bright spot in a summer that could have otherwise been awfully dreary.
Odds & Ends: D’Antoni, Bynum, Raptors, Banks
Let's round up a few of Monday's odds and ends from around the Association….
- Carmelo Anthony told reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, that he's happy for Mike D'Antoni and that he and the former Knicks coach had a "good relationship."
- Brian Musburger, the agent for Phil Jackson, said he and his client were indeed "stunned" by the Lakers' hiring of D'Antoni: "Not so much with the decision the Lakers made, because Phil had no hold on the job. But we are stunned with the way Phil learned of it" (Sulia link via Kevin Ding of the O.C. Register).
- Following up on the Sixers' latest update on Andrew Bynum, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link) points to Bynum's health as one reason why the Cavaliers didn't get far in trade negotiations for the big man this past summer.
- In his Morning Tip piece at NBA.com, TNT's David Aldridge discusses the Lakers' coaching hire, Keyon Dooling's decision to retire, and Mickey Loomis' role with the Hornets.
- DeMar DeRozan is hoping to help turn the Raptors into a team that will be attractive to players in free agency, as he tells Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.
- NBA veteran Marcus Banks, who last played for the Raptors in 2010/11, has agreed to terms with Panathinaikos, according to a report passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
HoopsWorld On Best NBA Contracts
The staff of HoopsWorld.com has posted a new roundtable in which several of their staff writers weighed in on which players have the best contracts in the NBA.
- Joel Brigham writes that as the best three-point shooter in NBA history, Ray Allen is a steal for the Heat at $3MM per year.
- Bill Ingram believes the Spurs got an excellent value in Tony Parker. Parker is making $12.5MM this season, considerably less than other elite point guards such as Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
- Robert Wing calls Kyle Lowry's contract a "complete steal," saying the Raptors got a major upgrade at starting point guard over Jose Calderon for cheap.
- Eric Pincus thinks the Knicks were able to take advantage of Raymond Felton's low stock after his poor performance in Portland last season to land the point guard for $14.9MM over four years.
- Alex Kennedy points out that Rajon Rondo would be worth much more on the open market than the five-year, $55MM extension he signed with the Celtics in 2009.
Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Celtics, Bynum, Sixers
The Lakers coaching search is dominating headlines, but the second most talked about story in the NBA right now might be the fast start of the Knicks, especially given New York's media clout. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News goes over the many reasons the Knicks are enjoying success, and Marc Berman of the New York Post points to the team's defense, allowing a league-low 87.5 points per game. There's plenty more on the Knicks and their Atlantic Division this morning, as we round up here.
- The 4-0 Knicks are blessed with depth, but coach Mike Woodson won't tolerate anyone complaining about a lack of playing time, Berman observes. "I’m not going to deal with guys with bad egos," Woodson said. "If there’s a problem, they got to go. It’s been great so far and will continue to be great because the guys we have are true pros."
- Paul Flannery of SB Nation dissects the shortcomings of the 3-3 Celtics, concluding the defense of the team's undersized power forwards is the most significant problem.
- Sixers GM Tony DiLeo says Andrew Bynum's injury "could be a blessing in disguise" that prompts the rest of the team to up their games while the big man is out, as Flannery also writes.
- Jrue Holiday's extension was the first deal the Sixers made with the input of basketball analytics director Aaron Barzilai, notes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who discusses Barzilai's role with DiLeo.
- After initially joining the team on a 10-day contract last season, Alan Anderson has settled into the Raptors rotation after spending six years in Europe, Israel and the D-League waiting for another chance in the NBA, recounts Melissa Couto of the Toronto Sun. Playing alongside idol Vince Carter in Toronto would complete Anderson's dream scenario, Couto writes. Carter left the door open to an eventual return in an interview this week.
- Though Nets GM Billy King is touting Gerald Wallace's ability to match up with LeBron James, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News hears the primary reasons the team acquired him from the Blazers last season were to compensate for the failure to land Dwight Howard and persuade Deron Williams to stay.