And-Ones: Austin, Melo, Celtics, Cavs
Isaiah Austin‘s decision to jump to the NBA was questioned by scouts but strangely enough, it’s the NBA’s medical tests that may have saved his life, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Earlier today we learned that the Baylor center won’t be able to play in the NBA after being diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. Here’s more from around the league..
- Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) expects Carmelo Anthony to take a pay cut regardless of where he lands, even if it’s a return to the Knicks. To Beck, it’s not a matter of if, but how much Melo is willing to lop off.
- Beck (Twitter links) doesn’t see a sign-and-trade as being all that likely for the Knicks if Melo leaves. The Knicks would be interested in expiring deals and draft picks, but it’s hard to see them taking on any salary commitments beyond 2014/15 that would handcuff their flexibility.
- Celtics assistant Ron Adams is heading west to join the Warriors‘ staff, writes Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe.
- The Cavs‘ hire of David Blatt as head coach might seem like a bit of a gamble, but Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio is all for it. Vinny Del Negro wouldn’t have been a bad hire for Cleveland, but Blatt represents a bold, out-of-the-box choice for the club.
- The Pacers will work out Mike Moser, Roscoe Smith, Eric Moreland, Tyler Stone, David Stockton, and Nick Kellogg on Monday, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
Bargnani Informs Knicks He’s Opting In
In a move that shouldn’t come as a surprise, Andrea Bargnani has informed the Knicks that he intends to exercise his player option and opt in for next season, Marc Stein of ESPN.com has reported. This news was also confirmed by Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Bargnani had until Wednesday to make this official.
Bargnani joins Amar’e Stoudemire in exercising his option to remain with the team. Bargnani is set to make $11.5MM next season, after pulling in a salary of $11,862,500 during the 2013/14 campaign. During his first season in New York, Bargnani only appeared in 42 games, averaging 13.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 29.9 minutes per game.
The Knicks appeared to play better with Bargnani out of the lineup, evidenced by their record of 15-27 when he was healthy, versus going 22-18 after he suffered a season-ending elbow injury. The team also scored 6.8 points more per 100 possessions when Bargnani was on the bench compared to when he was on the court. On defense, they gave up one fewer point per 100 possessions when Bargnani was playing compared to when he was on the bench. Overall, the Knicks were 7.9 points better per 100 possessions without Bargnani on the floor.
Andray Blatche Opts Out
SATURDAY, JUNE 21ST, 11:25am: Blatche has officially opted out, his agency ASM Sports announced via Twitter (H/T Tim Bontemps of The New York Post).
THURSDAY, MAY 15TH, 12:58pm: Andray Blatche says he’ll turn down his player option for next season but adds that he’d nonetheless like to re-sign with the Nets, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Blatche’s option is worth slightly less than $1.438MM, but much like last summer, the Andy Miller client can probably fetch more on the market.
Blatche originally signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets in 2012 when his stock had cratered following Washington’s decision to amnesty him that summer. He re-signed with Brooklyn last year to a deal at the full value of the Non-Bird exception, but this year, Brooklyn can give him much more via Early Bird rights. That will allow the Nets to give him a four-year deal with a starting salary of up to 104.5% of the estimated $5.565MM league average salary for 2013/14. I’m not sure he’d command quite so much, but Brooklyn won’t be nearly as limited with Blatche as it was last year.
The 27-year-old averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game this season as a backup big man for the Nets, compiling an 18.8 PER that’s quite high for a non-starter. There’s a decent chance a rival suitor will lob an inflated offer and the promise of more playing time his way, but the Nets have shown no fear of getting involved in a bidding war, in spite of this season’s massive tax bill. Blatche’s decision to opt out doesn’t give Brooklyn any cap room or significantly alter the team’s chances of dropping out of the tax. So, Nets GM Billy King will probably do what he can to bring him back, though that’s just my speculation.
Cavs Hire David Blatt As Coach
The Cavs have named David Blatt head coach, the team announced. The 55-year-old Massachusetts native makes an unprecented jump from Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv straight into an NBA head coaching position despite a lack of NBA experience as a player, coach or executive.
Cleveland and the Mike Tannenbaum client were deep into discussions on a deal Thursday night and had resumed talks Friday morning following reports that the Cavs had offered him the job. It’s a four-year contract worth $3.33MM in base salary each season, with incentive clauses that would bump the annual salaries as high as $5MM. The fourth year is a team option.
Blatt beats out Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue, who briefly was the lone competition in a two-man race Thursday. Fellow Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, whom like Lue received a second interview with the team, instead accepted a position Thursday night as an assistant for the Warriors. Blatt was on Cleveland’s radar from the start of its search, but he emerged as a strong candidate late in the process, and his announcement last week that he was leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv to pursue an NBA job appeared to accelerate the process. He said at that time that he’d spoken with GM David Griffin by phone, and this week he had a formal interview with the club.
Blatt has drawn raves for his work overseas, and as the head man for the Russian national team, he worked with Sergey Karasev, whom the Cavs picked 19th in last year’s draft. Still, multiple reports indicate that the hiring all but removes Cleveland from the race to land LeBron James this summer. Still, the Cavs aren’t concerned with adding either a coach or players to bend to the four-time MVP’s wishes, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
The Warriors were pushing Blatt to become an assistant coach for them, and people close to him were apparently advising him to pursue the Golden State job rather than become the first European coach to take an NBA head coaching position. The Timberwolves and Hawks were also reportedly eyeing him for assistant coaching positions, and in Minnesota’s case, he appeared to be Flip Saunders‘ top choice to become a coach-in-waiting of sorts who’d eventually take over as head coach for Saunders.
The Cavs reportedly also interviewed Mark Price, Alvin Gentry, Adrian Griffin, Tyronn Lue, Vinny Del Negro and Lionel Hollins for their head coaching job. Nate McMillan and Mark Jackson also drew mention as candidates. The Cavs also appeared to make a strong run at hiring marquee college coaches John Calipari, Kevin Ollie, Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer first reported that the sides had reached an agreement, along with additional detail. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that it was a four year deal, later following with the annual numbers (Twitter links). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com noted that the final year is a team option (on Twitter) and Sam Amick of USA Today confirmed the full value of the contract, including incentives (Twitter link). Sam Amico noted that the Cavs aren’t trying to impress LeBron James with the hiring or with the addition of any certain players this summer.
Glen Davis, Danny Granger To Hit Free Agency
Glen Davis and Danny Granger are set to opt out of their contracts with the Clippers and become free agents next month, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Granger has interest in returning, Turner tweets, though it’s not immediately clear if Davis feels the same way. Davis and Granger signed minimum-salary pacts in the middle of the season shortly after they secured their releases from the Magic and Sixers, respectively.
Both helped deepen coach Doc Rivers‘ bench late in the season, but neither played an outsized role. Davis averaged 12.2 minutes per game in the playoffs and Granger just 10.3. It was a particular comedown for Granger, just two seasons removed from having been the leading scorer for the Pacers. Indiana shipped him to Philadelphia at the trade deadline as he failed to return to form after missing all but five games with injury in 2012/13. Davis started in 43 of his 45 appearances for the Magic this year, but rebuilding Orlando agreed to let the 28-year-old out of his deal, which was to have cost the Magic $6.4MM this year and $6.6MM next season. It’s unclear how much Davis and Granger had to give back to get out of their respective contracts at midseason.
The opt-outs do little to help the Clippers’ books, as they have enough in guaranteed salary to put them over the cap to begin next month. Davis, a client of John Hamilton, and Granger, a client of Aaron Mintz, will probably be able to find deals for more than the minimum on the market. The Clippers would likely have to dip into their mid-level exception to keep one or both of them, since they only have Non-Bird rights on the pair.
Josh McRoberts Opts Out, Will Hit Free Agency
1:27pm: Cho said in a press conference today that the team hopes to re-sign McRoberts, according to the Hornets official Twitter account.
12:40pm: Josh McRoberts has turned down his player option and will become a free agent on July 1st, a source tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). McRoberts was slated to make more than $2.771MM next season, but his cap hold will represent $5,038,800 on Charlotte’s books unless the Hornets either renounce his rights or strike a new deal during the July moratorium.
The move from McRoberts was widely expected after a career year for the veteran of seven seasons. He notched 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists against just 1.1 turnovers per game as the starting power forward for the then-Bobcats, who made the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history.
The Hornets have about $41MM in commitments for next season, not counting their pair of first-round picks, as Cray Allred of Hoops Rumors detailed this morning. Determining the future of McRoberts will be one of GM Rich Cho‘s first orders of business next month, if for no other reason than to reduce his bloated cap hold. The 27-year-old has expressed interest in a return and coach Steve Clifford has publicly lobbied for the team to retain him.
Grizzlies Send Cash To Nuggets For 2015 Pick
The Grizzlies have exercised an option to keep their 2015 second-round pick and instead send an undisclosed amount of cash to the Nuggets as part of the terms of a trade that took place in 2008, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (subscription required). The original deal was a three-team swap involving Memphis, New Orleans and Washington. The Memphis pick went to New Orleans, which sent it to the Clippers in the Chris Paul trade before the Clippers shipped it to the Nuggets in the JaVale McGee trade.
Memphis had sent every second-rounder through 2017 out via trade, so it makes sense that the Grizzlies would decide to keep the one they were allowed to essentially buy back. It’s “widely believed” the Grizzlies will trade for a second-rounder in this year’s draft, Tillery writes.
The move leaves the Nuggets without a second-rounder next season, since theirs is ticketed for Minnesota. They’ve also traded their 2016 and 2018 second-round picks, but they have two second-round choices this year, at Nos. 41 and 56.
Clippers Hire Dave Wohl As GM
The Clippers have reorganized their front office, pushing Gary Sacks out of his position as General Manager, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links). Dave Wohl, a longtime league exec and assistant coach, will take over as GM with Sacks being bumped down to assistant GM.
In other changes, Doc Rivers has ascended from senior VP of basketball operations to president of basketball operations. Kevin Eastman, an assistant on Rivers’ staff, will move into the VP of basketball ops role. Rivers has had final say on personnel say on personnel matters since he was hired last summer in his coach/executive role and while it’s not explicitly outlined in the press release, that will presumably stay the same.
“I am extremely excited to work closely with Kevin, Dave and Gary in their new roles as we continue to move the culture of the Clippers forward,” Rivers said in the press release. “Our goals are not only to become a championship team, but a championship organization as well. I feel with the new structure of the Basketball Operations Department, we have taken a positive step in that direction.”
Wohl becomes General Manager of the Clippers after working as the team’s Director of Professional Scouting last season. Wohl has more than four decades of NBA experience under his belt, including a stint as an assistant coach for the Wolves from 2009-2011 and serving as the Assistant GM of the Celtics from 2007-2009. He has also worked in various capacities for Orlando, Miami, Sacramento and the Lakers in addition to serving as the head coach of the Nets from 1985-1988.
Shane Battier Retires
Shane Battier confirmed last night that he’s retiring from the NBA, removing any sliver of doubt he may have left in previous statements foretelling the end of his 13-year career, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The 35-year-old Heat forward’s contract is up this summer, and he apparently has no intentions of signing a new one.
“I’ve given everything I can to the game and I don’t have any more to give,” Battier said. “And I’m OK with it.”
Battier averaged career lows in points, rebounds, assists and minutes per game this season as he wound up an NBA journey that began when the Grizzlies made him the No. 6 overall pick in the 2001 draft. He also played for the Rockets before joining the Heat, earning praise as the “No-Stats All-Star” along the way for his subtle contributions best appreciated among members of the advanced metrics community. He finished with career averages of 8.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 30.7 MPG, numbers that belied his value.
The Jim Tanner client made nearly $56.6MM in the NBA, according to Basketball-Reference. He took in $3.72MM with the Heat this season, and Miami will likely renounce his Bird rights to clear his $6.213MM cap hold if the team elects to dip under the cap this summer.
Chris Andersen To Opt Out, Hit Free Agency
Chris Andersen will opt out of his minimum-salary contract and become a free agent this summer, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Birdman re-signed with the Heat in 2013 to a two-year deal that included a player option for the second season. Today’s news doesn’t necessarily mean that Andersen will leave the Heat, or even that he’ll wind up with a higher salary, since he took less than market value to stay with Miami last summer. Still, it appears as though the client of Mark Bryant will explore his options as the future of the Heat’s roster is in flux.
Andersen, who’ll turn 36 next month, scored 6.6 points per game this past season, the second-highest total of his 12-year career. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per contest with an 18.5 PER as Miami’s first big man off the bench.
The Heat have his Early Bird rights, meaning they can sign him for a starting salary of up to 104.5% of the league average salary, which will likely come in around $6MM. It’s unlikely he’ll merit that much, but he’s probably earned a raise on the minimum. Taking another minimum-salary deal would help Miami keep its team together, but given Andersen’s advanced age, I’m not so sure he’ll be willing to pass up another opportunity to cash in. Still, his decision to opt out does the Heat a small favor, since his cap hold will be $915,243, compared to the $1,448,490 he’d take up on Miami’s balance sheet were he to opt in.