Northwest Notes: Wolves, Martin, Aldridge, Corbin
Wolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders consulted coach Rick Adelman this summer as the team was debating the merits of signing J.J. Redick, O.J. Mayo and Kevin Martin. It was Martin, Adelman's former player on the Rockets and the only one of the trio who signed with Minnesota, who stood out to the longtime coach.
"All of them could help us," Adelman said, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune notes. "Anybody who could make a shot was going to help us. But Kevin I knew so well and I knew he’s going to get you 20 points every time he steps on the floor."
Zgoda passes along more from Adelman on his decision to return to the bench this season and his working relationship with Saunders, and we have more on Minnesota's rivals in the Northwest:
- Blazers GM Neil Olshey was testy with reporters when asked about LaMarcus Aldridge trade rumors at media day today, as Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge notes. For his part, Aldridge reiterated that he's not angling to get out of Portland. Golliver has a complete transcript of Olshey's media day comments here.
- Olshey and Blazers coach Terry Stotts both expect the team to make the playoffs this season, as Mike Tokito of The Oregonian observes.
- Tyrone Corbin, entering the final season of his contract with the Jazz, will be judged on how well the team's players develop this season rather than wins and losses, opines Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune.
- We rounded up the latest from the Nuggets earlier this evening, including the team's addition of Kyle Fogg to its training camp roster.
Jazz Announce Three Camp Signings
The Jazz have officially announced the signings of Brian Cook, Justin Holiday and Dwayne Jones. Agreements involving all three had been reported this month. The team has 19 players under contract, though that doesn't include Nick Covington's deal, which we heard about this weekend.
Cook, Holiday and Jones all have NBA experience, though Cook has by far the most among the three, and he ranks in the top 10 among all of this year's NBA camp invitees in games played. Holiday is the only one of the trio to have appeared in a game last season, as he saw action in nine contests for the Sixers, alongside younger brother Jrue Holiday.
The Jazz have only 12 fully guaranteed contracts and Ian Clark's partially guaranteed deal, but with a full contingent of players for camp, none of the players on non-guaranteed deals seem like safe bets for the opening-night roster.
Odds & Ends: Heat, Jazz, Bulls, NBPA, Collins
The potential expiring contracts for the Heat's Big Three will be a major topic of conversation throughout the 2013/14 season, but LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both downplayed the subject at Media Day in Miami today.
"You have concern when you feel people want to go elsewhere," Wade said, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (via Twitter). "I don't think nobody is looking to go elsewhere."
Here's more from around the NBA:
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey confirmed that the team is still in talks with Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward about possible rookie-scale extensions, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- In talking to reporters, including Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, about why he decided to sign with the Bulls, Mike Dunleavy Jr. pointed to the team's "high character."
- Dahntay Jones is ready to compete in training camp for a spot on the Bulls' regular-season roster, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune details.
- Former Illinois guard Brandon Paul, who went undrafted in June, explains to Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside why he's heading overseas rather than to NBA training camp. According to Paul, he received and passed on camp invites from the Wolves, Nets, Blazers, and Heat.
- After previously having tackled ten of the best contracts of the offseason, Mark Deeks of HoopsWorld shifts his focus and identifies ten of the worst contracts, including the Bobcats' signing of Al Jefferson, and the Pistons' deal with Josh Smith.
- The NBA Players Association is aiming to have a new executive director in place by the 2014 All-Star break, sources tell Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweets that Jason Collins continues to work out "a ton" as he attempts to stay in shape in the hopes that an NBA team will show interest in signing him once the season gets underway.
- Evaluating the Kings' signing of DeMarcus Cousins to a max extension, Daniel Leroux of RealGM.com gives the team a grade of D+ and the player a grade of A.
Northwest Notes: Corbin, Shaw, Nuggets, Jazz, Biedrins
Josh Howard's 2012/13 campaign with the Timberwolves lasted just eleven games before he tore his ACL and now he's looking to figure things out for the upcoming season. The forward, who was once a prominent member of the Mavs, has had good workouts with the Spurs and Rockets, but hasn't gotten a training camp invite yet. Here's today's look at the Northwest Division..
- Agent Steve Kauffman said he hasn't begun negotiating an extension for client Tyrone Corbin with the Jazz and tells Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune that he doesn't expect such a deal to get done. Instead, Kauffman would rather Corbin receive a new, long-term contract with the team next summer.
- Brian Shaw is obviously happy to have his head coaching opportunity, but life has gotten quite busy since he joined the Nuggets, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. "It's been crazy," Shaw said. "It's been unusual. I wouldn't have imagined all of the stuff that doesn't really have to do with basketball that I've had to do. I knew administratively it would be a little different than what I was accustomed to, with the obligations."
- While Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson are several years past their primes, the Jazz are hopeful they can bounce back to their old form and provide veteran savvy, writes Jody Gennesy of the Deseret News. Utah is also optimistic that Brandon Rush can be a "3 and D" player who can help stretch defenses with his outside shooting and guard opposing two-guards vigorously.
Jazz To Sign Nick Covington
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets that the Jazz formally offered a training camp invitation to Nick Covington, who has accepted. The 6'2" guard turned 28 this summer, and last played for alma mater Weber State in 2005/06.
For the last three years he's played in the NBA's Development league for Iowa, Sioux Falls and last season with Erie. With the Bayhawks in Erie last season, Covington averaged 9.4 points, 2.6 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 26 minutes of action per game.
In 47 games total, 38 of which he started, he actually shot worse from the field (39.5%) than he did from beyond the 3-point arc (39.9%).
Northwest Notes: Jazz, T-Wolves, Clibanoff
Tyrone Corbin is entering his fourth year as the coach of the Jazz. We mentioned earlier ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan's belief Corbin is on the coaching hot seat this season, with front court nucleus Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson gone in free agency to the Hawks and Bobcats, respectively.
Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune profiles Corbin as he enters the final year of his contract with the Jazz "where an extension is unlikely." Corbin will shepherd an inexperienced group unlikely to cause much of a ruckus in the tough Western Conference. His place as part of the rebuilding Jazz is murky, at best.
Here's what else is happening around the Northwest division on a jam-packed Saturday night as NBA training camps finally open…
- The Deseret News' Jody Genessy details the 20 training camp Jazz invites, including Justin Holiday, the older brother (Twitter) of Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday.
- Justin Holiday, Genessy adds via Twitter, is one of 7 players who will be in Jazz camp with non-guaranteed deals, as well as the 13 players (Twitter) already with guaranteed deals.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune details the five major issues facing the Timberwolves as they enter training camp. The primary issue is health with their nucleus of Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, all missing time last season as the 'Wolves again failed to reach the playoffs.
- Zgoda also goes through the uncertain contract status of power forward Derrick Williams. If the 'Wolves don't exercise their option paying him $6.33MM next season, the former No. 2 overall pick will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
- With the 'Wolves facing a lot of contract unknowns in the near future Williams place with them is uncertain.
- The Timberwolves' Chase Budinger may miss 6-8 weeks as swelling and discomfort continue in the same left knee that sidelined him for all but five games last season, Zgoda reported earlier today. An MRI revealed, according to coach Flip Saunders, "a little something in there." The news comes fresh after Budinger re-signed with the 'Wolves for three years and $15MM this summer.
- Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman asked Thunder players Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka what nicknames they'd put on their jerseys if the NBA allowed the practice.
- Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the Nuggets have hired Jim Clibanoff as Director of Scouting. Previously, Clibanoff ran a respected private scouting service.
International Moves: McNeal, Telfair, Wright
NBA training camp spots are filling up fast, and that's prompting a few hopefuls to cast their eyes overseas. Sometimes a relatively fat contract with an international team is too tempting to pass up for a mere training camp invitation, and that appears to be the case for a former member of the Jazz, as we detail:
- Jerel McNeal arranged for his release from the Jazz this week so he could sign a lucrative deal overseas, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reveals that the shooting guard is heading to play in China (Twitter link). Wojnarowski simply says McNeal has a deal with Zhejiang, so it's unclear whether he means the Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls or the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions.
- Several NBA teams have had interest in Sebastian Telfair during the offseason, but he's thinking about signing a deal to play in Europe, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy reports in the same piece.
- Chris Wright will join France's ASVEL Villeurbanne, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (via Twitter). The Chris Wright from Dayton is in camp with the Raptors for the next month, so this is presumably the guard from Georgetown.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Brian Cook Agrees To Camp Deal With Jazz
Veteran big man Brian Cook will join the Jazz for training camp, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. He'll be the 19th player on Utah's preseason roster as he seeks to play a 10th NBA season.
The Wizards waived Cook at the end of training camp last year, and he spent the season with the Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico, as our International Player Movement Tracker shows. The Puerto Rican deal had an NBA out, but Cook didn't exercise it before he became a free agent this summer. He switched agents in August, hiring Herb Rudoy of Interperformances.
Cook's last official NBA action came in 2011/12, when he split 32 games between the Wizards and Clippers, totaling just 81 points and 276 minutes. He had a more significant role with the Clips in 2010/11, averaging 4.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per game. The former first-round pick has a decent shot at making the Jazz opening night roster, since the team has only 12 fully guaranteed contracts and Ian Clark's partially guaranteed deal.
Western Notes: Aldridge, Kanter, Gallinari, Pau
Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge relays a portion of the transcript from a radio interview between Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and John Canzano of 750 AM The Game as it relates to trade rumors surrounding LaMarcus Aldridge. Wojnarowski believes that while the circumstances could change, he can't imagine Aldridge leaving Portland in the foreseeable future and adds that the team hasn't shopped him. He's also not sure if the market is currently presenting anything worth trading for and doesn't think Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey is likely to deal the 6'11 big man for pennies on the dollar. Here are more miscellaneous notes out of the Western Conference tonight, including a handful of injury updates:
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW thinks that while the Mavericks could be okay this year, he's concerned about two to three years down the line when the team might not have any young stars to build around.
- In a piece for The Oregonian, Canzano says that he wants someone from the Trail Blazers to step up and guarantee a playoff berth.
- Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Jazz big man Enes Kanter has looked great in workouts, has had no issues with his shoulder, and participated in 5-on-5 scrimmages today for the first time since his injury (Twitter links).
- Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw wouldn't commit to any projected recovery timetable for injured forward Danilo Gallinari, saying that it isn't "anything that anyone can determine at this point" (Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post).
- Mark Medina of InsideSocal passes along an injury update from Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who looks to be fully healthy heading into this season after a summer of much-need rest and rehab.
- In a piece for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver made note that Rockets guard James Harden believes that he is a top-10 player (hat tip to Comcast Sportsnet Houston): "For sure. Last year I got a chance to prove it, I kind of broke out of the shell a little bit. Even though it was my first year (as a starter), I've got a lot more to prove. I've always kind of been the underdog, always been looked over, so it's nothing new."
- Sean Meagher of OregonLive.com provides season previews for the Thunder and Jazz with help from Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK and Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune, respectively.
- Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com continued his list of reasons to be excited about training camp in New Orleans, listing a fresh start for Tyreke Evans at number five.
Jazz Sign Mike Harris, Dominic McGuire
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets that the Jazz have signed Mike Harris and Dominic McGuire to training camp deals. Harris, a 6'6 small forward, had participated in training camp for the Timberwolves last year before being waived in October. The 6'9 McGuire had three brief stints in New Orleans, Indiana, and Toronto last season. Having officially announced the signing of Scott Machado today as well, the Jazz now have 16 players on board for their camp roster. This number doesn't include the expected signings of Dwayne Jones and Justin Holiday, both whom Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune believes will be officially added before media day next Monday.
It's worth pointing out that while Oram mentions Brandon Fortenberry as another player likely to be brought along for training camp within the next coming days, Genessy (via Twitter) says that the 6'3 guard will not be signed.
Though Harris has totaled just 34 games in a span of three NBA seasons, the 30-year-old forward was named MVP of the NBDL back in 2010 and brings some experience from overseas, with stops in China and most recently Puerto Rico. McGuire, on the other hand, has been able to stick around in the league since being selected 47th overall in 2007, appearing in a total of 342 games with the Wizards, Kings, Bobcats, Warriors, Hornets, Pacers, and Raptors.