Hawks Notes: Draft, No. 8, Reddish, Fernando
The Mavericks agreed to send their top-5 protected 2019 first-rounder to the Hawks as part of the Luka Doncic draft night trade last June. Entering the NBA draft lottery, Dallas had hoped to keep this year’s pick and delay conveying the selection.
Assistant GM Keith Grant told Chris Kirschner of the Athletic that the Mavs would have liked to add another young piece to the Doncic-Kristaps Porzingis nucleus. Still, the team views last year’s trade as a win for both parties.
“We actually do believe that,” Grant said about both teams getting the guy they wanted. “We evaluated every player and thought Luka was our guy. Atlanta obviously had Trae as theirs, and so we had a deal.”
The trade between Dallas and Atlanta had been agreed to prior to the actual draft but was contingent on both Doncic and Trae Young being available at No. 3 and No. 5, respectively.
The Hawks are armed with two top-10 draft selections in this year’s draft and Kirschner passes along more from Atlanta:
- It would be surprising if the Hawks didn’t pick a wing, assuming they stay at the No. 8 spot, Kirschner hears from sources within the organization. Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver has been linked to Atlanta but it’s hard to envision him falling out of the top seven.
- Zion Williamson and Ja Morant are widely expected to be the top two picks in the draft. One Hawks executive told Kirschner that he expects three other players—R.J. Barrett, Darius Garland, and Coby White—to be unavailable when Atlanta makes its first selection at No. 8. The Suns and Bulls both covet upgrades at the point guard spot and Garland and White are the best available after Morant.
- The Hawks have interest in Cam Reddish. While he failed to live up to lofty expectations at Duke, there’s “not much doubt” within Atlanta’s organization that playing alongside Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter would allow him to reach his potential, Kirschner adds.
- Coach Lloyd Pierce prefers a center who can stretch the floor but that wouldn’t stop the team from selecting Jaxson Hayes if he’s the best player on the board at No. 10. “Roster building isn’t always about trying to perfectly pair up guys,” a source tells Kirschner.
- Multiple sources tell Kirschner that the team likes Bruno Fernando out of Maryland. The big man likely isn’t in play with one of the Hawks‘ two top-10 selections, but the franchise holds three second-round picks (No. 35, No. 41, No. 44).
Draft Notes: Combine, Langford, Horton-Tucker, Acquaah
The competition to be the No. 4 pick remains unsettled after this week’s draft combine, according to Scott Gleeson of USA Today. Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver, Duke’s Cam Reddish and North Carolina’s Coby White all improved their standing through measurements and drills, Gleeson states, but Vanderbilt’s Darius Garland and Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter may have helped themselves just as much by skipping the combine.
Duke’s Zion Williamson, Murray State’s Ja Morant and Duke’s R.J. Barrett are believed to have the top three spots locked up, leaving a difficult decision at the fourth pick for the Lakers or whomever they deal the selection to.
Gleeson identifies several players who stock either rose or fell at the combine. Among the winners are UCF’s Tacko Fall, Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke, Tennessee’s Jordan Bone, North Carolina’s Nassir Little, Croatian Luka Samanic and Virginia’s Kyle Guy. Gleeson’s list of players who failed to help themselves includes Oregon’s Bol Bol, Kentucky’s Tyler Herro, former Syracuse signee Darius Bazley and St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds.
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated also chimes in with a list of draft risers and fallers based on their performance at the combine. He believes Georgia’s Nicolas Claxton improved his chances of being selected in the first round with an impressive defensive performance, while LSU guard Tremont Waters helped ease worries about his size and Miami’s Dewan Hernandez showed off his athleticism after sitting out the season because of connections to the FBI investigation.
- Indiana’s Romeo Langford says he has fully recovered from the back problems that bothered him in college, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic. Langford met with 13 teams at the combine, including the Pacers, Celtics (Twitter link) and Pistons (Twitter link).
- Iowa State’s Talen Horton-Tucker is committed to staying in the draft as he hopes to become the Cyclones’ first player taken in the first round since 2012, relays Travis Hines of The Ames Tribune. A top 50 recruit coming out of high school, Horton-Tucker has already interviewed with 14 teams.
- Milan Acquaah of Cal Baptist has taken his name out of the draft, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
Pelicans Notes: Zion, Culver, Davis
Those concerned about Zion Williamson‘s game being dependent on his athleticism are overthinking the evaluation process.
“So (Williamson) is 18 now,” a non-Pelicans executive explains to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. “He’ll play his first NBA season at 19. He’ll be 23 when his second contract starts. Even if we get him for eight seasons and that takes us all the way through his team-controlled years, that only gets us through his age-26 season. And if he ends up being good enough to be with us for eight years as a No. 1 overall pick, we probably won’t complain because he’ll have been a good player. I don’t think we should worry about his athleticism falling off by then unless he gets hurt.”
A few of the front office analytic executives who spoke with Vecenie told him that Williamson’s projection is actually more favorable than Anthony Davis‘ was coming out of college. Opinions throughout the league are split. Some executives believe Davis was the better prospect while others feel it’s extremely close.
The Pelicans are selecting Williamson after winning the draft lottery, barring an upset of massive proportions. Let’s take a look at more notes from New Orleans:
- The Pelicans met with Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech) at the draft combine in Chicago, NBA writer Jim Eichenhofer tweets. “You never know what could happen. Anything could happen. You just have to be ready,” Culver said. New Orleans could be looking at a second top-5 selection if they trade Davis to the Knicks or Lakers.
- Pelicans owner Gayle Benson called Davis’ trade request “disappointing” during a commencement speech she made for Loyola University. Benson referred to the team’s on-court performance as “frustrating” and said that the franchise has “not adapted to the reality of today’s NBA,” as Christopher Dabe of The Time-Picayune passes along.
- The Pelicans hired David Griffin to lead a more analytical approach in the front office. It wasn’t easy for ownership to dismiss former GM Dell Demps, as Dabe relays in the same piece. “I must be honest with myself in making painful decisions because my ultimate responsibility is to the fans,” Benson said.
Bucks Notes: Hill, Gasol, Wilson, Draft Workouts
Tonight’s expected return of Malcolm Brogdon won’t cost veteran guard George Hill any playing time, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Hill has averaged 11.6 PPG in eight playoffs games this year and has been Milwaukee’s leading scorer off the bench in each of the three wins over the Celtics.
Acquired from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in December, Hill has brought a steadying presence to the Bucks‘ backcourt and helped fill the void while Brogdon was sidelined. Brogdon is expected to be on a minutes restriction for a while as he returns from a minor plantar fascia tear in his right foot that has kept him out of action since mid-March.
Milwaukee will face a difficult decision on Hill’s future this summer. Until July 1, he has just a $1MM guarantee on his $18MM salary for next season, and the Bucks could use some of that money to play the free agent market or to help re-sign Brogdon and Khris Middleton.
There’s more from Milwaukee on the night of Game 5:
- The Bucks aren’t sure when center Pau Gasol might be available again, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN. Gasol hasn’t played since injuring his left ankle nearly two months ago and has appeared in just three games since signing with Milwaukee on March 3. Coach Mike Budenholzer said today that Gasol’s return is “not imminent or anywhere near.”
- Second-year forward D.J. Wilson suffered a twisted ankle yesterday and won’t be available for Game 5, according to Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Wilson has appeared in six of the Bucks’ eight postseason games, but is averaging just six minutes per night.
- Kansas guards Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson were part of a pre-draft workout the Bucks held Tuesday, relays Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’sPressBox. Both were five-star recruits out of high school and had promising freshman seasons. Joining them were forwards EJ Montgomery of Kentucky and Dererk Pardon of Northwestern. All are considered to be second-round picks. Point guard Clayton Custer, formerly of Loyola Chicago, worked out for the team today, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN.
Knicks Notes: Draft Picks, Ntilikina, Dotson, Dolan
The Knicks will miss out on a valuable pick in this year’s draft because of a trade former team president Phil Jackson made nearly five years ago, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York would own the 31st pick, which is coveted because it offers a chance at a potential first-round talent without a guaranteed salary, if Jackson hadn’t traded it to the Sixers.
The Knicks wanted to unload Travis Outlaw‘s salary after training camp in 2014. Philadelphia was willing to offer Arnett Moultrie in a deal that trimmed roughly $4MM off New York’s luxury tax bill, but the Knicks had to throw in a future second-rounder. Both players were waived shortly after the trade was completed.
The 31st pick now belongs to the Nets, who acquired it last season as part of the price for taking Jahlil Okafor from the Sixers. Berman states that the Knicks would like to trade back into the early part of the second round and speculates that they might be willing to part with Frank Ntilikina to get there.
There’s more from New York:
- Knicks management views the two first-rounders the team received from the Mavericks in the Kristaps Porzingis deal as trade chips, Berman adds. If Dallas moves into the top five in this year’s lottery, the picks would convey no earlier than 2022 and 2024, with the later one having top-10 protection. If the Mavs stay at No. 9, this year’s selection will go to Atlanta, and New York will be on track to get Dallas’ picks in 2021 and 2023.
- The development of a few young players kept this season from being a total loss, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. In addition to the rookie trio of Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Allonzo Trier, GM Scott Perry singled out Emmanuel Mudiay, Noah Vonleh and Damyean Dotson during a news conference this week. “We have a guy like Damyean Dotson,” Perry told reporters. “Lance Thomas said in his exit, ‘Hey, he’s going to be a leader on your team. When he talks the guys on the team all listen to him.’”
- With a high lottery pick guaranteed and enough cap room to offer two max contracts, the future appears bright in New York, but owner James Dolan’s poor reputation around the league could be the biggest obstacle toward rebuilding, according to David Waldstein and Kelly Whiteside of The New York Times.
Five Key Stories: 4/13/19 – 4/20/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
The Warriors are still the favorite to capture a third straight title, but their playoff road got more difficult with the loss of DeMarcus Cousins. The standout center suffered a torn quad while diving for a ball in Game 2 of Golden State’s playoff series with the Clippers. Injury issues will hang over Cousins in free agency for a second straight summer.
Zion Williamson, projected to be the top pick in this year’s draft, officially declared himself eligible. Williamson had an outstanding freshman season at Duke, averaging 22.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.8 BPG and 2.1 SPG in 33 games. He moved into the top spot in most mock drafts early in the season and managed to stay there.
The Pelicans landed one of the top available executives when former Cavaliers GM David Griffin agreed to become their new executive VP of basketball operations. Griffin’s top job this summer will be to work out a trade for star center Anthony Davis, who requested a deal prior to this year’s deadline.
The Grizzlies continued their front office overhaul by hiring Rich Cho as VP of basketball strategy and Glen Grunwald as a senior advisor. Since the season ended, Memphis has demoted GM Chris Wallace and hired Jason Wexler as head of basketball operations and Zach Kleiman as VP of basketball operations.
The Kings finalized a deal to make Luke Walton their new head coach. Walton was unemployed for less than a day after being fired by the Lakers. GM Vlade Divac reportedly wanted to hire Walton three years ago.
Here are 10 more headlines from the past week:
- The Lakers made progress in their coaching search, meeting with both Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams. Heat assistant Juwan Howard will also get an interview.
- Howard is also a candidate for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job. Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool are also expected to receive interviews.
- ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups is among the candidates for a front office position with the Timberwolves. Billups previously interviewed for management jobs with the Cavaliers and Hawks.
- Former All-Star center Dwight Howard opted in for the final year of his contract with the Wizards. He will receive a little more than $5.6MM next season.
- Hornets center Bismack Biyombo also picked up his player option for 2019/20. Biyombo will make $17MM in the final season of a four-year, $68MM deal.
- Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. had surgery on his left tibia to relieve a stress injury. The team expects him to be fully ready in time for training camp.
- Thunder swingman Hamidou Diallo had an arthroscopic procedure on his right elbow to ease the soreness. He was inactive for Game 2 of OKC’s playoff series with the Trail Blazers.
- Blake Griffin missed the first two games of the Pistons‘ playoff series because of swelling and pain in his left knee. He will find out if surgery will be necessary once Detroit’s postseason run is over.
- Kevin Durant said again this week that he doesn’t plan to focus on a free agency decision until the playoffs are over. He will be eligible for a five-year, $221MM deal with the Warriors or four years and $164MM from anyone else.
- Sixers backup center Amir Johnson was fined for looking at his cell phone on the sidelines during the playoff opener with the Nets. Using a cell phone on the bench is a violation of the NBA’s Operations Manual.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Southwest Notes: Rockets, Cuban, Cho, Spurs
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni plans to begin the playoffs with a nine-man rotation, but it could evolve depending on matchups, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. While Gerald Green was sidelined with an adductor injury, the second unit consisted primarily of Iman Shumpert, Danuel House and Austin Rivers. However, Green saw extended action in the season finale, while Shumpert never entered the game.
“I guess,” D’Antoni said when asked about a nine-man rotation, “but that could be 10 halfway through the second quarter. I don’t know. In my mind we’re going to go a certain way and then read the game a little bit. Hopefully everybody’s ready to go. I want everybody to be ready and everybody will be called upon at some point. Hopefully, it’s a long playoff. Every game will have a different challenge. Everybody’s got to be ready. I don’t think anything will always be set in stone.”
There’s more news from the Southwest Division:
- Mark Cuban will try to re-sign most of the Mavericks‘ free agents this summer, according to The Dallas Morning News. Cuban discussed his plans in a radio interview this week in which he compared the current roster to the teams Dirk Nowitzki had earlier in his career. “I see the same type of future for this team with Luka [Doncic] and KP [Kristaps Porzingis] and bringing back our other guys,” Cuban said. “We’ll extend Dwight Powell and keep him around for another three years. We think we’ve got a great core – and probably bring back Maxi [Kleber] and DoDo [Dorian Finney-Smith]. I think we can add a free agent, we’ll keep our guys for the most part, we’ll see what happens in the draft, see what’s available to us and go from there. If Luka and KP are the workers I think they are or know they are, then the future’s really good. It’s really bright.”
- Former Hornets GM Rich Cho could be in line for a “major post” in the Grizzlies‘ rebuilt front office, NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence tweets. Cho has been out of the league since being let go by Charlotte in February of 2018.
- Michael C. Wright of ESPN takes a look at the Spurs‘ player development system that has helped the organization make playoff trips for more than two decades.
Five Key Stories: 1/19/19 – 1/26/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Below are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
The Pacers were hit with a devastating loss Wednesday when star guard Victor Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee. The injury will require surgery that will keep Oladipo out of action for the rest of the season and perhaps longer. Indiana was third in the East at the time of the injury and has until the February 7 trade deadline to try to remake the team before the playoffs.
The Rockets finally found a taker for Carmelo Anthony, but the deal won’t revive his NBA career. Houston sent Anthony to Chicago in exchange for some cash and a swap of draft-and-stash players, but the Bulls don’t plan to use him. They will either trade Anthony somewhere else before the deadline or waive him so he can search for another opportunity.
The Mavericks’ standoff with Dennis Smith Jr. appears to be over, at least for now. Smith returned to the team after missing more than two weeks and was re-inserted into the rotation. There had been rumors that Dallas was seeking to trade Smith, but those seem to have quieted.
There are fresh rumors that LeBron James wants to see Luke Walton replaced as Lakers’ head coach. Talk of a possible coaching change emerged early in the season as L.A. got off to a slow start, but seemed to subside as the team became more successful. With James missing more than a month because of injury, the Lakers have dropped into ninth place in the West.
The Knicks have made Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee available for trades. Both veteran guards have contracts that run beyond this season, and New York wants to maximize cap space for free agency. Enes Kanter expressed a desire to be traded after receiving a DNP in Wednesday’s loss.
Here are 10 more notable NBA headlines from the past week:
- The Grizzlies are willing to part with long-time stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol as they look toward the future.
- Memphis added some roster depth by signing Bruno Caboclo to a 10-day contract.
- Corey Brewer signed a second 10-day deal with the Sixers, who will have to decide whether to keep for the rest of the season once this one expires.
- Gary Payton II, son of the Hall of Fame guard, agreed to a 10-day contract with the Wizards, bringing Washington back up to the minimum roster count of 14.
- Kenneth Faried agreed to a buyout with the Nets and joined the Rockets, giving Houston some frontcourt depth while Clint Capela recovers from a thumb injury. To make room for Faried, the Rockets waived James Nunnally before his 10-day contract expired.
- Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie opted for surgery to fix damaged ligaments in his right thumb. He is expected to miss three to six weeks.
- Lakers guard Lonzo Ball will be out four to six weeks after spraining his left ankle.
- Darius Garland, a potential lottery pick in this year’s draft, withdrew from Vanderbilt after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
- A pair of Disabled Player Exceptions were granted this week. The Grizzlies received one for an injury to Dillon Brooks, and the Wizards‘ request was approved in the wake of John Wall‘s injury.
- Starters were announced for this year’s All-Star Game. As the top vote-getters in each conference, James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will draft the rosters for each team.
International Notes: Kilpatrick, M. Williams, China, Pitino
Sean Kilpatrick received an offer to play for Panathinaikos is Greece, but turned it down as he waits for another NBA opportunity, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The news was first reported by George Zakkas of SDNA.
Saturday marked the first day that NBA teams could offer 10-day contracts, and Kilpatrick, who has gone that route with four organizations, is hoping it will be his way back into the league. He played for four teams last season, starting the year with the Nets before being waived in December. He signed a two-way deal with the Bucks later that month and was converted to a regular NBA contract before being waived in March. He signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Clippers, then finished the season with the Bulls before they waived him over the summer.
The 29-year-old averaged 6.3 points per game last season, including 15.4 PPG in nine games with Chicago.
There’s more international news to pass along:
- Matt Williams, who started last season as a two-way player with the Heat, has reached an agreement with GS Kymis in Greece, Lupo notes in a separate story. Williams began this season with KTP Basket in Finland. He got into just three games with Miami before being waived in December of 2017.
- The Lakers and Nets will play a pair of preseason games in China, according to an ESPN report. The contests are set for October 10 in Shanghai and October 12 in Shenzhen. It will be the third appearance in China for LeBron James and possibly the fourth for Lance Stephenson, who will set a record if he remains on the roster.
- In the wake of Steve Alford’s firing at UCLA, a group of boosters is targeting Panathinaikos coach Rick Pitino, writes Adam Zagoria for Forbes. Pitino made his debut with the Greek team late last month and is under contract for the rest of the season, so the move couldn’t take effect until the 2019/20 season. A source tells Zagoria that Pitino is “very interested” in taking over the Bruins. Approval from the UC Board of Regents is seen as the main obstacle in light of Pitino’s dismissal from Louisville amid his alleged role in an NCAA scandal. Murray Bartow is serving as interim coach at UCLA.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/4/18
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Jazz have recalled Grayson Allen and Georges Niang from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s Twitter feed. It was each player’s only G League assignment of the season.
- Jevon Carter and Ivan Rabb had an eventful day. The Grizzlies assigned the pair to their G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle for morning shootaround, per the team’s Twitter feed. The two were then recalled for the Grizzlies’ mid-day practice before being re-assigned to the Hustle to play in their night game.
- The Pelicans have assigned Frank Jackson to the G League, according to a team press release. New Orleans doesn’t yet have its own affiliate, so Jackson will play for the Texas Legends, pursuant to the flexible assignment system.
- The Pacers have recalled Alize Johnson from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, per the team’s website. Johnson has been with the G League affiliate since November 7.
- The Nets have assigned Dzanan Musa to their G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, according to the team’s Twitter feed.