And-Ones: Cap, Jackson, Rockets, Jazz
The NBA has informed teams that next season’s salary cap will increase by close to $5MM, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein references this piece by Larry Coon, which breaks down the changes. The news comes much to the delight of teams around the league, especially the Bulls and Rockets, who are expected to make a run at Carmelo Anthony. Let’s round up more from around the Association:
- Phil Jackson promised change would be coming to the Knicks’ roster this offseason, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Jackson didn’t address the job status of coach Mike Woodson, but one player tells Isola that Jackson said the team should be “grateful” for the work Woodson has put in for them over the past two seasons.
- The Rockets have assigned Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan to their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, for tonight’s playoff game, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- Four veterans might be on their way out of Utah, writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Richard Jefferson, Marvin Williams, Brandon Rush and John Lucas are four Jazz players without guaranteed deals in 2014/15 who will more than likely find themselves in a new uniform next year, suggests Sorensen.
- Turkish basketball coach Zeljko Obradovic has drawn interest from three NBA teams whose offseasons have already begun. Djordje Matic initially tweeted the news, and a source verified the report to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Calathes, Jackson, D’Antoni
Grizzlies point guard Nick Calathes has issued a statement to Sam Amick of USA Today on his suspension. “I deeply regret my actions and apologize to my teammates and the organization for my poor judgment,” says Calathes. “Let me be clear: I never took any medication whatsoever for a performance-enhancing reason. I don’t agree with this outcome, and I will come back a better player and person when I return.” Here’s more from out West:
- Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group says that it has been emphasized to him that no decision on Mark Jackson‘s future with the Warriors has been made (via Twitter). That would support the perception that Golden State’s performance in the playoffs could largely determine whether he is the coach beyond this year.
- Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss are expected to meet with Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni within the next two weeks to discuss his future with the team, per Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News.
- Tyrone Corbin‘s agent has joined the Jazz in refuting the report that a decision had already been made to let him go, per Jody Genessy of Deseret News.
- The Clippers are poised to make a deep playoff run, and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune credits Doc Rivers, who has improved the roster through acquisitions and development as both head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations.
Western Notes: Leonard, Jazz, Bledsoe, Nash
Kawhi Leonard is up for a rookie scale extension this summer, but it appears he envisions a long-term future with the Spurs, based in his comments to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Gregg Popovich believes the small forward will become the face of the franchise once Tim Duncan retires.
“I’ve been working hard to be one of the focal points in the NBA, one of the top guys. For him to say that and see that I could be the face, it just brings joy to me,” Leonard said. “I’m just happy that someone else sees it other than myself.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin is on shaky ground in Utah, but soon-to-be free agent Gordon Hayward said Corbin did a “tremendous job” considering the circumstances this year, observes Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- Eric Bledsoe has been non-committal in his public statements about the notion of re-signing with the Suns this summer, though teammate and neighbor Ish Smith is confident Bledsoe will return, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The Suns have said they intend to match any offer for Bledsoe, a restricted free agent.
- Steve Nash is fine with a reduced role on the Lakers next season, one he expects will be his last in the NBA, notes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “They can’t rely on me, frankly,” Nash said. “Hopefully, I come back and play 82 games next year and the sky is the limit. But they can’t rely on me if they don’t know what I’m going to bring, so they got to evaluate those guys for next season.”
- There’s a “strong possibility” the Jazz will have a one-to-one affiliation with the D-League’s Idaho Stampede next season, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (on Twitter). The Jazz shared the Bakersfield Jam with four other NBA teams this season.
- The Warriors recalled Ognjen Kuzmic from the D-League today, the team announced. Golden State has been shuttling him back and forth to help the Santa Cruz Warriors in the playoffs, and Kuzmic had 23 points and 18 rebounds in Thursday’s win.
- Santa Cruz beat the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who announced Thursday that the Rockets had assigned Isaiah Canaan and Robert Covington to play in the game (Twitter link). Houston brought them back to the big club today, the Rockets announced via Twitter.
Projected 2014 First-Round Draft Order
The NBA has announced the winners of random drawings that broke ties in the draft order among teams that finished with the same records. Only one of those drawings involved lottery teams, and the Jazz were the beneficiaries, snagging the fourth-most lottery combinations instead of the Celtics. It’s only a slight advantage, since the Jazz will have a 10.4% chance at the top pick, while the Celtics will have a 10.3% chance, but perhaps most importantly, Utah will pick ahead of Boston if neither move up on May 20th, when the lottery is held.
Here’s the complete order, with places determined by drawing in bold:
- Bucks
- Sixers
- Magic
- Jazz — won drawing against Celtics
- Celtics — lost drawing against Jazz
- Lakers
- Kings
- Pistons — will send pick to Bobcats if the fall to ninth or lower in lottery
- Cavaliers
- Pelicans — will send pick to Sixers unless they win one of top three picks in lottery
- Nuggets — will send least favorable of own pick and Knicks’ pick to Magic
- Knicks — will send pick to Nuggets
- Timberwolves — will send pick to Suns if Phoenix passes them in the lottery
- Suns
- Hawks
- Bulls — from Bobcats
- Celtics — from Nets; won drawing against Suns
- Suns — from Wizards; lost drawing against Celtics
- Bulls — won drawing against Raptors
- Raptors — lost drawing against Bulls
- Thunder — from Mavs
- Grizzlies
- Jazz — from Warriors
- Bobcats — from Trail Blazers; won three-way drawing against Rockets and Heat
- Rockets — finished second in three-way drawing against Bobcats and Heat
- Heat — finished third in three-way drawing against Bobcats and Rockets
- Suns — from Pacers
- Clippers
- Thunder
- Spurs
Northwest Rumors: Hayward, Rubio, Saunders
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey isn’t promising that restricted free agent Gordon Hayward will be back with the team, but Lindsey said Thursday that he wants to have Hayward remain in Utah for the rest of his career, observes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Hayward’s teammates are confident he’ll stay with the Jazz, though Hayward didn’t offer much in the way of hints.
“Utah has been great for me,” Hayward said. “But it’s a business.”
Hayward and the Jazz have nonetheless indicated plenty of mutual interest, as I detailed when I examined the small forward’s free agent stock. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune expects Ricky Rubio and agent Dan Fegan to ask for an extension that’s closer to the maximum, with an average annual value probably in the neighborhood of $15.5MM, than to Stephen Curry‘s four-year, $44MM deal.
- The sale of the Bucks will likely be a boon to Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, as Zgoda writes in the same piece. Saunders’ share of the Wolves will be 6% by the end of his five-year contract, and if the $550MM price of the Bucks dictates the value of the Minnesota franchise, Saunders’ stake will be worth about $33MM.
- The NBA has approved the sale of a minority stake in the Thunder to Tulsa energy company executive George B. Kaiser, the team announced in a press release. It’s the portion of the team that fellow energy executive Tom L. Ward had owned. Kaiser’s net worth is $10.1 billion, according to Forbes.com. Minority owner G. Jeffrey Records also transferred some, but not all, of his share to others within the ownership group.
Jazz To Explore Extensions With Kanter, Burks
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey acknowledged Thursday that the team needs stability after last summer’s whirlwind of changes, and he told reporters, including Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune, that the team will consider rookie scale extensions for Enes Kanter and Alec Burks. Both will be eligible to receive the extensions between July and the end of October.
“It’s definitely something we’ll explore,” Lindsey said. “Whether we get a deal done, I don’t know. But we’ll sit down and talk to both of their representatives when the time comes.”
The team signed Derrick Favors to a four-year, $48MM extension this past offseason, but it didn’t come to terms on an extension with Gordon Hayward, who’ll be a restricted free agent this summer. Kanter, a Max Ergul client, and Burks, who’s represented by ASM Sports, would hit restricted free agency in 2015 if the Jazz don’t extend their contracts this year. Both saw about twice as many minutes this season than in 2012/13 as they established themselves as integral members of the team’s rotation.
Kanter nonetheless said Wednesday that he wanted to see the Jazz use more lineups that put him together with the team’s younger players. Hayward, 24, is the oldest of a group that includes Kanter, Burks, Favors and rookie Trey Burke, all of whom were lottery picks. The groundwork for long-term stability appears to be there if the Jazz want to keep them together.
The Jazz’s only commitment beyond next season is to Favors, leaving the team with plenty of cap flexibility. Neither Kanter nor Burks is likely to approach the kind of deal that Favors got, and while rookie scale extensions are mostly the purview of potential stars in the making, role players occasionally wind up with rookie scale extensions, too. Quincy Pondexter, who scored a four-year, $14MM extension with the Grizzlies this past fall, but Kanter and Burks can probably command more than that, given their youth and upside as lottery picks.
Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Corbin, Wolves
It is certainly no surprise that, after we rounded up the Lakers’ exit interviews earlier tonight, there is already more buzz coming out of Los Angeles. This is the Lakers, after all. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Pau Gasol would consider reuniting with former coach Phil Jackson, now running things with the Knicks. Citing a source, Spears hears that the interest is mutual.
Meanwhile, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report mentions both Van Gundys, Stan and Jeff, as names that stand out to him should the Lakers part ways with Mike D’Antoni. Within the same story, Ding breaks down the team’s draft lottery odds as well as maps out the complicated status of their draft picks beyond this season. Here is what else is going on in the Western Conference:
- Earlier this month it was Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly that had some kind words to say about Kenneth Faried. On Thursday, it was Brian Shaw’s turn. As Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes, the head coach wants and expects to have Faried in a Nuggets uniform next season. Faried was frequently mentioned in trade rumors this season.
- The fate of Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin will hang in the balance just a little longer, according to Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune, who writes that the team will take a “decompression period” before making a decision on whether or not to bring the coach back. Luhm reports that a decision could come down as soon as this weekend.
- With Rick Adelman’s departure imminent, the Wolves head coaching wish list includes Tom Izzo, Fred Hoiberg and Stan Van Gundy, reports Spears in his final power rankings column.
- It’s a small silver lining in an otherwise ugly season in Minnesota, but ESPN’s Marc Stein tweets that the Wolves can take solace in the fact that they refused to deal rookie Gorgui Dieng at the trade deadline before they knew what they had (Twitter links). The Louisville product was a bright spot in Minnesota down the stretch and figures to be a key contributor in his second season.
Northwest Rumors: Adelman, Corbin, Karl, Stotts
In wake of the speculation that Rick Adelman will step away from coaching next season, Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press looks at how the longtime coach’s legacy and examines the influence he’s had on the likes of Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich, and Tom Thibodeau. Here is tonight’s rundown on the rumors out of the Northwest Division:
- Adelman will meet with Wolves president Flip Saunders and owner Glen Taylor within the next 24 hours and make a decision about next season “fast,” tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com. Greder adds that the decision might surface as soon as this week (Twitter link).
- Former Nuggets coach George Karl wouldn’t be interested in taking on a coaching role for a rebuilding team like the Wolves, reveals Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
- Jazz players, including Trey Burke and Derrick Favors, have advocated for Tyrone Corbin‘s return next year, but Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune doesn’t think it’s a certainty that the first-year coach will remain in Utah beyond this season. The Jazz concluded their season with a double overtime victory over Minnesota tonight.
- John Canzano of the Oregonian thinks the Blazers would be wise to lock up Terry Stotts to a long-term extension in Portland. Waiting too long to show that the team has faith in Stotts might have a negative impact on the franchise, Canzano argues.
And-Ones: Buford, Popovich, Chandler
Spurs GM R.C. Buford is “incredibly happy” in San Antonio and has no intention of leaving even as Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili near retirement age, as Buford tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe (audio link; transcription via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News). McCarney, in the intro to his transcription, notes that Gregg Popovich has backed away from his assertion a year ago that he’ll retire when Duncan does, referring to Popovich’s remark as merely a joke.
Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:
- On the idea that the Knicks might be focusing on the summer 2015 rather than be competitive next season, Tyson Chandler hopes that it isn’t the case: “I definitely don’t want to waste another season….I’m not into wasting seasons. Your time is too short in this league and I want to win a championship, another one” (Marc Berman of the New York Post reports). Berman adds that with his expiring contract and ability to still play at a high level, Chandler could be Phil Jackson‘s number one trading chip this summer.
- It appears that soon-to-be restricted free agent Gordon Hayward would like to stay with the Jazz, but he acknowledges that nothing’s certain at this point, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- Currently without a contract after July, Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin isn’t ready to field questions about his impending future just yet, writes Falk in a separate piece. Corbin elaborated: “I don’t know if that’s a good question to ask right now…I have a lot of evaluating to do that I want to do for myself and figure out what’s my next step.”
- The Rockets have recalled Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan from the D-League, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
- Melvin Ely‘s contract with the Pelicans runs through next season with non-guaranteed salary, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for the Score. The ninth-year veteran’s minimum salary he’d get makes him a trade chip in the same manner that Scotty Hopson is for the Cavs, but Ely comes much more cheaply, as Deeks points out.
- Deeks also reports that the Bulls’ deal with Louis Amundson, like teammates Ronnie Brewer and Mike James, covers next season with non-guaranteed salary.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: D’Antoni, Jazz, Lakers
The Lakers don’t want to bring back Mike D’Antoni for another season, and are looking for a “peaceful way” in which to part ways with their coach, writes Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News. D’Antoni has one season left on his contract at $4MM, with a team option for 2015/16. The team would prefer to not have to fire him, and instead are hoping for what Lawrence writes, is a “best case scenario.” This scenario would have another team asking permission to hire D’Antoni. Lawrence also notes that despite the rumors that the Lakers want to hire John Calipari as coach, his sources say the team has no interest in bringing the Kentucky head man aboard.
More from out west:
- Greg Smith, who was released this week by the Rockets has officially cleared waivers and can sign with any team, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The Jazz need to pick up a superstar in order for the team to contend, writes Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune. He opines that the most likely way the team will do that is in this year’s lottery.
- Nick Young said there is no benefit in the Lakers tanking during their last few games of the season, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Young said, “I know some teams believe they should tank. I know a lot of teams out there are probably doing it, because they believe this draft is going to be one of the biggest drafts that’s happened in a long time. But for me, I haven’t really paid attention to it. I think we’re not going out there just to lose for the draft because I think we still want to be in the league. These guys are coming in to take our spots, so, I’m not about to give up for somebody else to come in and take my spot.“