Eastern Notes: Drummond, Prokhorov, Green
With Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov making a series of moves recently that expanded the Russian’s holdings in New York’s sports and entertainment market, some concern exists that these real estate moves may diminish his interest, as well as financial commitment, to the team, according to NetsDaily. Dmitry Razumov, Prokhorov’s CEO and chairman of the Nets, disputed any notion that team ownership is losing interest in the franchise or the NBA, NetsDaily adds. “Without doubt ownership is focused on team performance,” said Razumov. “Our new projects will contribute to the team’s ultimate success by providing a best-in-class practice facility and a D-League team as a resource for players and coaching staff.”
The team has made a series of roster moves that have reduced the team’s payroll since Paul Pierce departed as a free agent prior to the 2014/15 season, but Razumov suggests these decisions were not just about the money, and added that fans should give the rebuilding process a chance to bear fruit, the NetsDaily scribe relays. “We also understand that a team of largely new, younger players needs time to come together and we have to give the coach and the players a chance to do their work without breathing down their necks,” Razumov continued. “The many devoted fans who have been with us through thick and thin will recall we have been through this before, and have managed to get to the playoffs three times in the last three seasons. We have every hope that the same thing is possible this season.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Heat have suspended swingman Gerald Green for two games, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links), and the team confirmed. The suspension is for what the team is referring to as “detrimental conduct,” Wojnarowski adds. Green has been away from the team following an incident last week that apparently left him bleeding and unconscious.
- Pistons center Andre Drummond is off to a spectacular start to the 2015/16 campaign, and much of his success is due to the departure of Greg Monroe, who signed with the Bucks this offseason, Adam Woodard of For the Win writes. Drummond, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer, could see offer sheets for deals worth approximately $100MM come his way, Woodard opines.
- Drew Gooden has played for 10 different teams during his 13-year NBA career, and he now finds himself an important rotation piece on the Wizards, a longevity that the player attributes to his versatility, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays. “I’m like a tunnel rat,” Gooden told Mannix. “Every situation I’m in I have to reinvent myself, have to do what I can do to fit in. I came [to Washington] on a 10-day contract and I made the best of it. But the league has changed, in a good way for me. When I came in the league, the biggest knock was that I was a tweener, that I couldn’t play the three or the four. Now there is value in that. It’s made its way full circle.”
Southeast Notes: Durant, Wittman, Dedmon, Payne
Kevin Durant didn’t give the media much to go on as he spoke this morning in Washington, where the Thunder will play the Wizards tonight, but he elaborated on the remark in which he called the attention he received the last time he played in Washington “disrespectful,” as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater relays. The Wizards showed a photo of Durant edited to depict him in a Wizards jersey on their scoreboard when the Thunder visited Washington last season, but Durant doesn’t pin any blame on the adulation from Washington fans.
“Nah, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with what the fans do,” Durant said. “Me, I’m just thinking as a player on the other side. Fans gonna do what they gonna do. I appreciate all the support going our way. But I’m just looking at it as an opposing player and if I was on that team and they came in here and did that, I wouldn’t like it. But the fans, hey, they support us. Throughout the whole league, they make it what it is.”
See more on the Wizards and other news from the Southeast Division:
- Several people around the league wonder if the Wizards would let Durant decide the fate of coach Randy Wittman if the former MVP wants to sign with the team next summer, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. Wittman’s contract is partially guaranteed for 2016/17.
- Magic center Dewayne Dedmon is seeing a more clearly defined role under new coach Scott Skiles, including spot starts while Nikola Vucevic deals with a bruised right knee, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders examines. Dedmon is entering the final season of his contract.
- The Hawks drafted Adreian Payne 15th overall last year but traded him midway through his rookie season to the Timberwolves, a move that caught him off guard, he admits to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He wasn’t in Atlanta long, and D-League assignments took him away from the team for much of his time on the Hawks roster, but he said he still learned plenty from the veterans on the Hawks, Vivlamore notes.
Eastern Notes: Nets, Beal, Durant, Young
Nets GM Billy King has made exploratory trade calls in response to the team’s 0-7 start, as he told reporters today, including Newsday’s Roderick Boone (Twitter link). It would be tough for Brooklyn to engineer a deal before December 15th, the date most of the players signed this past offseason become eligible to be traded, but the GM isn’t hiding from the blame even as he conceded a quick fix is unlikely, Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com relays (ESPN Now link).
“I’m not sitting in here shirking accountability,” King said. “… It stops at me. I’m the GM. You make decisions along the way, and it’s my job now to figure it out and turn it around. … It doesn’t happen overnight. We knew when we traded [the first-round] picks and went down this road that if it doesn’t go well you have to dig yourself out of it, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
See more from the Eastern Conference:
- Kevin Durant called the less-than-subtle affection that surrounded him during the Thunder’s game at the Wizards last season “disrespectful,” and Bradley Beal concurs, notes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “It is disrespectful because he plays for Oklahoma City,” Beal said. “He doesn’t play for Washington.” The Wizards have made no secret of their desire to attract Durant, a D.C. native, to Washington, and, for what it’s worth, Durant’s friend John Wall said he and the former MVP worked out together over the summer, notes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (on Twitter).
- Beal echoed many of the sentiments of Joakim Noah in praising Billy Donovan, their former college coach who’s now the bench boss for the Thunder, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater observes. “He’s always been like a second Dad to me,” Beal said of Donovan. “He’s a family first guy and granted me a lot of freedom. We talk a lot.” Noah and Beal are both poised for free agency in the summer, but the Wizards can match offers for Beal, who’s said he has no desire to leave Washington.
- The Celtics have recalled James Young from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Young’s assignment, already his second on the season, lasted just one day. Rookie Jordan Mickey, whom the team sent to Maine with Young, remains with the D-League club.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Barton, Ingles
Kevin Durant feels uncomfortable with the attention his upcoming free agency is generating, but the volume of the talk about it figures to go up a few notches in the next couple of days with the Thunder‘s annual visit to Washington for a game against the Wizards coming Tuesday, as USA Today’s Sam Amick examines. The former MVP wasn’t a fan of what the Wizards did in January the last time Oklahoma City went to Washington, when they showed a photo of Durant on scoreboard with a Wizards jersey edited onto his chest, among other homages to the D.C. native, as Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports relays:
“It was crazy. It was crazy,” Durant said. “It was kind of disrespectful in my opinion, because you’ve got a great team there already, that deserves your full, 100% support. And I wouldn’t like that if I was on that team. And I didn’t like that. But it comes with nowadays. It’s a part of it.
Durant said he’s learning to embrace the hoopla, as Amick notes, and that could be key as the season goes on and the noise grows louder. Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Nuggets coach Michael Malone is a fan of Will Barton‘s versatility and motor, traits that are paying dividends for the team, observes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Barton re-signed with the Nuggets this summer on three-year, $10.6MM deal after originally having joined the team via the Arron Afflalo trade. “I’m starting fresh,” Barton said, according to Dempsey. “And they embraced me when I came here in the trade. So it was like I wanted to come back and get a full year under my belt and show the fans really, really what I can do. I think I teased them last year and it’s just a great feeling, a great vibe from the front office to the players. Everybody wanted me back. So it was just like ‘Let’s get it done.'”
- Versatility is also helping Joe Ingles impress Jazz coach Quin Snyder, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Snyder wants him to improve defensively, but he’s otherwise pleased with the 28-year-old who re-signed on a two-year, $4.5MM deal in the offseason.
- The Thunder carried an underlying anxiety during their three-game losing streak, with a new coach, new players and Durant’s free agency in their thoughts, but a win Sunday that highlighted their deep bench showed what can happen if Billy Donovan continues to experiment, observes Royce Young of ESPN.com.
And-Ones: Beal, Durant, Morris, Giles
Bradley Beal understands the advantage of the cap flexibility the Wizards retained when they didn’t sign him to an extension before Monday’s deadline, and he has no desire to play for any other team after his restricted free agency next summer, as he tells Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. Beal thinks of himself as a max player but told Lee that he’ll accept whatever he deserves regardless of whether it’s the max. The Wizards reportedly intend to give him the max next summer.
“This is where I want to be. I’m not looking at any other teams. I’m not looking to go anywhere else. I believe in this team we have in this locker room. I’m a big cornerstone of this team, so I’m here. I want to be here. Hopefully, the front office knows that. I’m pretty sure that they know that,” Beal said.
See more on the Wizards amid the latest from around the NBA:
- The Wizards remain a legitimate threat to sign Kevin Durant in 2016, league sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. One executive from another team who spoke with Berger insists the maneuver the Wizards are executing with Beal to help facilitate that, similar to what the Pistons are doing with Andre Drummond, is against the rules.
- Marcus Morris made comments indicating that he’s ready to move past his feelings toward the trade that separated him from his brother, but as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press shows, he still has negative memories of his time with the Suns. “I felt disrespected the entire time I was in Phoenix,” Morris said. “I was playing well, but I still feel like I didn’t have a real opportunity to grow. Anytime a team trades you away like that, it’s a slap in the face. I still feel disrespected, and I feel like I want to disrespect them.”
- Top 2017 draft prospect Harry Giles suffered a “slight small tear” in his right ACL, a source told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, but it’s enough to knock him out for his senior year of high school this season, his father confirmed to Paul Biancardi of ESPN.com. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress moved the 6’10” power forward down from No. 1 to No. 2 in his 2017 mock draft, replacing him at the top with 6’8″ small forward Jayson Tatum, but Givony explained to Zagoria for a separate story that Giles has plenty of time to recover and regain the top spot.
Southeast Notes: Green, Beal, Skiles
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- It appears to be a good thing that the Wizards reportedly intend to re-sign Bradley Beal for the maximum next summer, seeing as the shooting guard certainly considers himself worthy of that sum, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post relays (on Twitter). When asked if he thinks he’s a max player, Beal responded, “Yeah. I do,” Castillo notes. The Wizards reportedly intend on utilizing their available cap space next summer prior to finalizing a new contract with Beal.
- New Magic coach Scott Skiles has gotten the most out of his young team so far this season, and despite the team’s 1-4 start, the early returns have been positive, writes Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel. Swingman Evan Fournier‘s strong play has also been encouraging, but the downside is that it may be more difficult to re-sign him next summer when he is eligible to become a restricted free agent, Schmitz notes.
- Hawks shooting guard Justin Holiday has made the most of his extra playing time as Thabo Sefolosha continues to work his way back from injury, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “He’s gotten a couple of opportunities and has taken advantage of those opportunities,” coach Mike Budenholzer said of Holiday. “We went with him tonight without Kyle Korver suiting up. He got more minutes and more opportunities. I think it’s his defense, his activity and his length. He’s making some shots and making some plays. We’ve got a good group there with wings all fighting for opportunity.” Holiday inked a two-year, $1.963MM deal with Atlanta this past offseason.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southeast Notes: Beal, Nicholson, Lamb
Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is relieved that the extension deadline has passed, because now the focus can shift back to on-court matters, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic writes. “It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Beal. “It’s business at the end of the day. We couldn’t reach an agreement. It’s not going to stop me from being the player I am. It’s not going to stop me from continuing to work hard. Or it doesn’t mean I’m not going to be part of the organization. I’m just controlling what I can control and let [GM] Ernie [Grunfeld] and my agent deal with it.” It was reportedly a mutual decision between Beal and the team to table contract discussions until next offseason.
Beal expects to remain with the Wizards for the long haul, Michael notes. “Either way it goes they can match any offer. Hopefully I’ll be here. That’s my goal,” Beal said. “I love being in D.C. I’m a cornerstone of this thing. I want to be part of this for a long time. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a deal done but [there’s] no hard feelings. There’s no beef between Ernie and I or the organization. We’re still good.”
Here’s more out of the Southeast:
- The Magic had talks with Andrew Nicholson, just as they did with fellow rookie scale extension candidate Evan Fournier, but they never moved toward a deal before Monday’s deadline for rookie scale extensions passed, sources close to both told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
- Jeremy Lamb‘s three-year contract extension with the Hornets will see him earn $6.5MM during the 2016/17 campaign, $7MM in 2017/18, and $7.5MM for the final year of the agreement, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).
- Hornets GM Rich Cho said the team’s decision not to pick up P.J. Hairston’s option for next season was related to the player’s lack of consistency and focus, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I spoke with P.J. and his agent [Jonathan Stahler]. We just feel like P.J. has got to get more consistent and focused on and off the court,” Cho said. “He knows what he has to do. P.J. has still got a bright future if he continues to work hard.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
NBA Teams Designate Affiliate Players
NBA teams cut as much as 25% of their rosters at the end of the preseason, but franchises that have D-League affiliates have a way to maintain ties to many of the players they release from the NBA roster. An NBA team can claim the D-League rights to up to four of the players it waives, as long as the players clear waivers, consent to join the D-League, and don’t already have their D-League rights owned by another team. These are known as affiliate players, as our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry details.
NBA teams allocated 46 affiliate players to the D-League at the beginning of the season last year, and this year, that number has risen to 56, according to the list the D-League announced today. These players are going directly to the D-League affiliate of the NBA team that cut them and weren’t eligible for the D-League draft that took place Saturday. Teams that designated fewer than the maximum four affiliate players retain the ability to snag the D-League rights of players they waive during the regular season, but for now, this is the complete list:
Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws)
Cleveland Cavaliers (Canton Charge)
Dallas Mavericks (Texas Legends)
Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive)
Golden State Warriors (Santa Cruz Warriors)
Houston Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
Indiana Pacers (Fort Wayne Mad Ants)
Los Angeles Lakers (Los Angeles D-Fenders)
Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy)
Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks)
Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma City Blue)
- Michael Cobbins
- Mustapha Farrakhan
- Michael Qualls
- Dez Wells
Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks)
Philadelphia 76ers (Delaware 87ers)
Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam)
Sacramento Kings (Reno Bighorns)
San Antonio Spurs (Austin Spurs)
Toronto Raptors (Raptors 905)
Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede)
Also, several players who were on NBA preseason rosters are on D-League rosters through means other than the affiliate player rule. Most of them played under D-League contracts at some point within the last two years, meaning their D-League teams have returning player rights to them. Others entered through last weekend’s D-League draft, while others saw their D-League rights conveyed via trade. Most of these players aren’t with the D-League affiliate of the NBA team they were with last month, with a few exceptions.
- Keith Appling, Magic — Magic affiliate
- Jordan Bachynski, Pistons — Knicks affiliate
- Earl Barron, Hawks — Suns affiliate
- Sampson Carter, Grizzlies — Cavaliers affiliate (D-League draft)
- Patrick Christopher, Grizzlies — Grizzlies affiliate
- Bryce Cotton, Jazz — Spurs affiliate
- Michael Dunigan, Cavaliers — Cavaliers affiliate
- Jarell Eddie, Warriors — Spurs affiliate
- C.J. Fair, Pacers — Pacers affiliate
- Jimmer Fredette, Spurs — Knicks affiliate
- Stefhon Hannah, Bulls — Pistons affiliate
- Jaron Johnson, Wizards — Rockets affiliate
- Omari Johnson, Trail Blazers — Celtics affiliate
- Perry Jones III, Celtics — Grizzlies affiliate (D-League draft)
- Tre Kelley, Heat — Heat affiliate
- Jordan McRae, Sixers — Sixers affiliate (D-League draft)
- Cartier Martin, Pistons — Grizzlies affiliate
- Toure’ Murry, Wizards — Mavericks affiliate (traded with Rockets affiliate for his D-League rights)
- Dan Nwaelele, Grizzlies — Warriors affiliate
- Marcus Simmons, Bulls — Pacers affiliate
- E.J. Singler, Jazz — Jazz affiliate
- DaJuan Summers, Knicks — Knicks affiliate
- Adonis Thomas, Pistons — Pistons affiliate
- Sam Thompson, Hornets — Pistons affiliate (D-League draft)
- J.P. Tokoto, Sixers — Thunder affiliate (traded for his D-League rights)
- Talib Zanna, Thunder — Thunder affiliate
Roster information from Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor and freelancer and Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro was used in the creation of this post.
Wizards, Bradley Beal Decide Against Extension
11:57am: Beal’s camp and the Wizards mutually called a halt to extension talk this morning, Bartelstein tells J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “We decided it was best to wait when it makes better sense for both sides,” Bartelstein said. Beal can sign a five-year deal as a free agent, but because Wall is Washington’s Designated Player, an extension for Beal could have been for no more than four years.
10:16pm: The Wizards will not sign Bradley Beal to an extension before tonight’s 11pm Central deadline, sources tell TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). The prospect had seemed unlikely anyway, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote late Sunday, with the Wizards preferring to put off a deal until the former No. 3 overall pick enters restricted free agency next summer, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported Friday.
Washington fully intends to re-sign Beal for the maximum next summer, according to Deveney. The Mark Bartelstein client will be able to negotiate with other teams, but the Wizards can match offers. Beal could take the drastic step of signing his qualifying offer, worth about $7.471MM, but that would be a drastic discount from his projected maximum salary of $20.4MM. The sharpshooting 22-year-old said recently that he was confident about working out a deal with the Wizards before the extension deadline but would be OK with either outcome.
The Wizards are pursuing the same course that the Spurs took with Kawhi Leonard that allowed them to sign LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. The Pistons and Andre Drummond are also going that route. Those teams decided against extensions for their up-and-coming stars to preserve cap flexibility. Beal’s cap hold for next summer is $14.2MM, and that number is on the books until the sides agree to terms. Locking in the maximum salary, a difference of more than $6MM from Beal’s cap hold, would render Washington with little or no maneuverability to supplement a 2016/17 roster that would feature Beal, John Wall and a maximum salary free agent addition such as Kevin Durant, as I explained. As long as Beal is unsigned, the Wizards could sign other free agents next summer and simply use Bird rights to re-sign him or match an offer sheet.
Beal has started the season strongly. He’s averaging 25.3 points in 35.0 minutes per game and has canned 10 of 20 three-point attempts in three regular season games so far, though the same size is small, of course. He’s nonetheless ahead of Wall and leading the team in scoring and shot attempts.
Extension Rumors: Sunday
It seems unlikely that Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal and Warriors center Festus Ezeli will receive rookie-scale contract extensions and thus will be restricted free agents come July, barring an unexpected late turnaround in negotiations, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports.
The news regarding Beal does not come as a surprise because though the Wizards fully intend to sign him to a maximum-salary contract, they prefer to do so next summer. Stein adds that the Wizards have been consistent with their message that they see Beal as a future and long-term star for the franchise. Reports have conflicted about how much negotiating has occurred between Ezeli and the Warriors, but an extension never seemed imminent.
The window for former first-round picks to sign contract extensions during the fourth and final year of their rookie contracts is Monday.
Here is more news on extensions:
- Players known to still be in negotiations entering the deadline include Raptors shooting guard/small forward Terrence Ross, Trail Blazers center Meyers Leonard and Thunder shooting guard Dion Waiters, according to Stein. Regarding Ross, it’s likely to go down to the wire and the Raptors would be open to giving him an extension, if the price is to their liking, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. reports. “I mean it would be an honor to get an extension,” Ross told Lewenberg. “If that doesn’t happen then we’ll take it from there.”
- Extensions at this point are looking unlikely for Sixers shooting guard Tony Wroten and Celtics big men Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger, according to Stein.