Eastern Notes: Vasquez, Miller, Stoudemire
Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune details the close relationship between Pelicans coach Monty Williams and Raptors point guard Greivis Vasquez, who played for New Orleans last season. The trade that split up the pairing last summer stung Vasquez, who’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end. “It hurt,” Vasquez said. “It really touched me a little bit. I was close not only with Coach Monty, but I was close with (assistant) Fred Vinson, all the coaching staff, the guys, messing around with Austin Rivers, Chief (Al-Farouq Aminu), Anthony Davis . . . . it was hard for me to let it go. But it’s part of the business.”
More from the east:
- The Wizards‘ Andre Miller says the Nuggets unfairly portrayed him as the bad guy, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. When Miller’s streak of playing in 239 consecutive games ended with the first “Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision” of his career, Miller screamed at coach Brian Shaw. The Nuggets suspended him for two games without pay after the incident before excusing him from team activities with pay until the trade to the Wizards. Miller said,”They gave me an opportunity to represent Denver. I tried to do that the right way, but I was looked at as the bad guy, a disgruntled player. [The Nuggets said] I was complaining about minutes and that was never the issue. They made it look that way, and that I was upset. I understand that they have to protect themselves as an organization, but don’t blast the player.“
- Sixers coach Brett Brown said the team will pick the best player available in the upcoming draft, and not for need, writes Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com. Brown does not think need should influence who a team select in the NBA draft, and cites the example of the Spurs drafting Tim Duncan despite having David Robinson already, writes Lynam.
- Amar’e Stoudemire says that it was his idea for the Knicks to trade for Carmelo Anthony, writes Brian Spurlock of USA Today. In an interview with Bleacher Report Stoudemire said, “I also knew that I needed a star teammate, and that’s something I talked to Mr. Dolan about when I signed. I mentioned a few players to Mr. Dolan who would be fun to play with, and Melo was one of them. Mr. Dolan and I talked about, ‘Which players in the near future are going to be available?’ Then we said, ‘Let’s make the move and try to trade for ‘Melo.’ That’s how things first started with the Knicks going after Carmelo Anthony.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Players Who Can Earn Higher Qualifying Offers
The stretch run of the season matters a lot to members of this summer’s free agent class. But the effect of what happens between now and the end of the regular season will perhaps be more well-defined for Trevor Booker, Brian Roberts and Jordan Crawford than anyone else. That’s because all three have a chance to trigger the league’s starter criteria and boost the value of their qualifying offers.
Teams must extend qualifying offers to their restricted free agents to reserve the right to match offers that other teams might make. Without a qualifying offer, a restricted free agent becomes an unrestricted free agent. For most players, the amounts of their qualifying offers are set in stone, and they’re usually determined by draft position. Whether or not the starter criteria come into play depends on whether or not a player logs at least 2,000 minutes or 41 starts during the season prior to his free agency, or hits those benchmarks over the average of the final two seasons before he becomes a free agent. Here’s what’s at stake:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive the same qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the 15th overall pick.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the ninth overall pick.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 100% of the amount applicable to the 21st overall pick.
These four players have already triggered higher qualifying offers for this summer:
- Avery Bradley, Celtics ($4,677,708) — would have been $3,581,302
- Greivis Vasquez, Raptors ($4,677,708) — would have been $3,203,780
- Isaiah Thomas, Kings ($2,875,131) — would have been $1,148,163
- P.J. Tucker, Suns ($2,875,131) — would have been $1,148,163
Conversely, three will likely see their qualifying offers reduced:
- Ekpe Udoh, Bucks ($4,268,609) — would have been $5,962,377
- Ed Davis, Grizzlies ($4,268,609) — would have been $4,361,788
- Patrick Patterson, Raptors ($4,268,609) — would have been $4,319,474
Booker, Roberts and Crawford are toss-ups, as we explain here:
- Trevor Booker, Wizards — This appears to be the most intriguing case. Booker could be in line for a higher qualifying injury because of Nene‘s injury. Booker has been starting in his place, and if he makes 10 more starts over Washington’s final 14 games, his qualifying offer increases from $3,420,443 to $4,677,708. Nene is already in the middle of his original four-to-six week timetable for a return, so if he comes back anytime soon, Booker will end up with the lower qualifying offer.
- Brian Roberts, Pelicans — An injury also affected Roberts’ case. He became the starter at point guard when Jrue Holiday went down with injury in January, and with Holiday lost for the season, it looks like Roberts will make the 41 starts needed to raise his qualifying offer from $1,115,243 to $2,875,131. He’s seven starts shy, and the Pelicans have 15 games left.
- Jordan Crawford, Warriors — He’d have to average 28.5 minutes over the last 12 games for the Warriors, or start half of those contests. Both are long shots, but if he accomplishes either, his qualifying offer would escalate from $3,206,867 to $4,677,708.
Basketball Insiders and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Bucks, Dedmon, Gooden, Pelicans
A source tells Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Bucks owner Herb Kohl is receiving considerable nationwide interest from investors who’d like to buy at least a minority share of the team, and many of them are in close proximity to Milwaukee. Kohl is reportedly close to selling a majority stake in the franchise, but Walker hears that no deal is imminent. Sports business experts say the team would be more valuable in another market, Walker writes, but Kohl has been insistent that the team stay in Milwaukee. Here’s more from around the league:
- Dewayne Dedmon‘s latest contract with the Magic gives him the chance to make the team’s roster next season, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, so presumably that means the deal covers 2014/15 with a non-guaranteed salary.
- The Wizards didn’t bring Drew Gooden aboard until last month, but they’d been monitoring him since December, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Gooden followed a pair of 10-day contracts with a deal Tuesday for the rest of the season.
- The Pelicans have more than $54MM in commitments for next season, and GM Dell Demps acknowledged that it’s unlikely the team will be a major player on the free agent market, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune observes. Demps also said he doesn’t regret last summer’s Jrue Holiday trade, even though there’s a strong chance it could cost them another lottery pick this year.
- The Bulls may have to make a few creative cap maneuvers to entice Nikola Mirotic to sign this summer, depending on the dollars-to-euros exchange rate and Real Madrid’s willingness to negotiate the amount of Mirotic’s buyout. Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders has the details.
- Twelve-year NBA veteran Ricky Davis had been attempting a comeback with the D-League affiliate of the Knicks, but the Erie BayHawks announced that they have cut him loose.
Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden For Season
MARCH 18TH: Washington has indeed signed Gooden for the season, the team announced.
MARCH 12TH: The Wizards will keep Drew Gooden on a deal that covers the rest of the season when his latest 10-day contract expires, a source tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Washington signed the 32-year-old to his second 10-day contract on Saturday, and that deal is up after this coming Monday night.
Gooden has become a significant contributor off the bench, averaging 13.3 points on 67.4% shooting over the last three games for the Wizards, including a 15-point effort Monday against the Heat. Coach Randy Wittman and John Wall have praised the 12th-year veteran, who spent most of the season out of the league following Milwaukee’s decision to cut him via amnesty waivers this summer. He’s appeared in a total of five games for Washington, notching 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and shooting 59.4% in 13.4 minutes per contest.
Injuries in the front court precipitated the Dan Fegan client‘s first 10-day contract with the team, and Nene will be out at least another couple of weeks with a sprained MCL. Kevin Seraphin hasn’t played since Gooden’s addition because of a sore right knee, though he’s due to return soon. Regardless, the Wizards are set to make Gooden the 15th player on their roster with a guaranteed contract. That means he and the team have come full circle from 2010, when Gooden was displeased with a trade that brought him to Washington and spurred the team to ship him away a few days later in another swap.
D-League Notes: Larkin, Mekel, Reed, Rice
Here’s a quick look at the latest news and notes out of the NBA D-League on Saturday afternoon:
- The Mavericks have recalled Shane Larkin from his D-League assignment, the team announced today in a press release. Gal Mekel will be sent down to take Larkin’s place on the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. It was a quick stint for Larkin, who appeared in just one D-League game after being sent down yesterday afternoon.
- The Sixers have assigned Arnett Moultrie to join the Delaware 87ers of the D-League, the team announced this afternoon. This confirms a report we heard last night speculating that Philly would make such a move.
- Willie Reed is working hard to put up big numbers in the D-League and hoping to catch an NBA club’s attention, writes Scott Rafferty of Ridiculous Upside. Reed was able to sign on with Memphis last April, but he never saw any action and was waived prior to the start of the 2013/14 season.
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com examines Glen Rice Jr.‘s latest trip to the D-League and concludes Rice needs to focus on improving his shooting stroke. Through nine games for the Iowa Energy, Rice has averaged 18.9 points per contest, but he’s shooting just 44% from the floor and 30% from beyond the arc. The Wizards opted send Rice on a minor league assignment after the club inked a deal with Drew Gooden.
Marcin Gortat Unwilling To Sign Extension
The Wizards reportedly offered Marcin Gortat an extension, but sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM that Gortat let the team know before the season that he’s uninterested in signing one. The Guy Zucker client‘s recent comments about his priorties in free agency this summer were a strong hint that he doesn’t want to do an in-season deal.
The January report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com that made mention of the extension offer also noted the Wizards’ strong interest in retaining the 30-year-old center, whom they acquired from the Suns before the season began. He’s averaging 12.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game as the starting center for Washington, numbers that top his career averages but fall short of the marks he put up in 2011/12, his best season in the NBA. He’s making $7,727,280 in the final season of a five-year deal he originally signed as an offer sheet from the Mavericks. The Magic matched it and later traded him to Phoenix.
Gortat’s salary for this year is identical to Trevor Ariza‘s, and the swingman is also set to become a free agent this summer. Charania’s piece focuses on John Wall‘s leadership of the Wizards, noting that he’s already begun pitching Ariza and Gortat on a long-term future in D.C. Washington has about $43.5MM in commitments for next season, meaning they’ll probably have between $18-19MM worth of flexibility under the cap. I speculated in January that Gortat could command a deal around $10MM a season, and bringing back Ariza on a salary similar to the one he earns now would take up most, if not all, of Washington’s cap room.
Eastern Rumors: Knicks, Gortat, Pacers, Rondo
Carmelo Anthony‘s camp leaked the information about Joakim Noah‘s All-Star break recruiting pitch, and the Knicks have been open about their pursuit of Phil Jackson, observes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Deveney concludes the whispers from both sides are intended as posturing for ‘Melo’s free agency decision this summer. While we wait to see how the latest ‘Melo-drama will play out, here’s the latest from the rest of the Eastern Conference:
- Marcin Gortat says the strength of a team’s point guard and its coaching staff will be two qualities he’ll consider when he assesses suitors in free agency this summer, as he tells Kyle Weidie of ESPN.com. Gortat is high on re-signing with the Wizards, though his comments suggest he isn’t interested in signing an extension, reportedly one of Washington’s goals.
- The Pacers were concerned that Danny Granger had slacked off on the daily rehab regimen that was to help him regain his form after he missed almost all of last season with injuries, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. That helped precipitate the deadline deal that brought Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen to Indiana, but Kyler wonders if the departure of the longtime Pacer did irreparable damage to the team’s chemistry.
- Danny Ainge embraces Rajon Rondo, stubbornness and all, as the Celtics president of basketball operations tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe for a piece that examines Rondo’s nuanced personality.
Eastern Notes: Babb, Onuaku, LeBron
Chris Babb‘s 10-day contract ends on Monday, but the Celtics are high on him, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Coach Brad Stevens said, “He’s a perfect fit for what we need as far as, he’s not going to play 38 minutes a game — he’s going to come in, get open shots, hopefully knock those open shots down, play off of other people, and then be a feisty defender for us. He really is an outstanding defender for a young guy.” There has been no official word on if the Celtics plan to re-sign Babb.
More from around the east:
- The Cavs have assigned Arinze Onuaku to the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League, tweets Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Onuaku hasn’t scored in 2 appearances for the Cavs and was re-signed for a second 10-day contract on Wednesday.
- The Cavs were planning on using the ceremony to retire Zydrunas Ilgauskas‘ jersey as one means to recruit LeBron James back to Cleveland, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. But what little chance the team had to that possibility might have ended with the firing of former GM Chris Grant. Grant was one of the team executives who had the best relationship with James, according to Windhorst.
- Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News also weighs in on how unlikely the chances are that James returns to Cleveland this summer. The team’s lack of a proven winner in the front office is the main deterrent to attracting James, writes Lawrence.
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post takes a look at how the Wizards trade for Andre Miller is working out for him and for the team. So far, the pairing is paying dividends for both, opines Lee. The Wizards offer Miller a clean slate and a playoff opportunity, and Miller gives the team a proven veteran.
Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden To 10-Day Deal
SATURDAY, 11:57am: The Wizards have officially signed Gooden to another 10-day contract per a team release.
FRIDAY, 11:39am: Gooden confirms he’d accept the offer of another 10-day contract, which the Wizards are planning to make, Michael notes (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 3:51pm: Gooden will indeed stick around on another 10-day deal, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
3:35pm: The Wizards are likely to re-sign Drew Gooden to another 10-day contract, a source tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post. His first deal is set to expire at the end of Friday night. The team brought the Dan Fegan client aboard late last month to offset an injury to Nene that will keep him out for at least the next three weeks.
The 32-year-old went scoreless in his first two appearances but dropped 12 points on six-for-seven shooting in 19 minutes against the Jazz on Wednesday night. Gooden saw significant playing time in both halves, signaling that the Wizards see him as a potential rotation piece, at least for the time being. Washington has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, meaning Gooden occupies the team’s last open spot as it jockeys for playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
The former Kansas Jayhawk spent much of 2013/14 out of the NBA after the Bucks put him on amnesty waivers over the summer. Gooden balked at joining the Wizards when they traded for him in 2010, prompting the team to flip him in another trade four days later, but even with GM Ernie Grunfeld, who swung those deals, still in place, the two sides agreed to a reunion this year.
D-League Notes: Timberwolves, Trades
While the NBA’s trade deadline passed over two weeks ago, the D-League’s window for trading players between teams closed today. While deals between D-League teams don’t affect NBA player rights, they can still have an impact on which NBA teams and development staffs get the closest look at prospects at that level. Here are some notes from the D-League, including today’s deadline deals:
- The Timberwolves are looking at owning their own D-League team, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Wolfson says the Iowa Energy, who currently serve as an affiliate for the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Bulls, Pelicans, and Wizards, are open to a singular partnership with Minnesota.
- Sources tell Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that a multi-team trade sent William Buford to the Canton Charge, Vander Blue to the Idaho Stampede, and Richard Howell‘s returning player rights for next year to the Santa Cruz Warriors, among other D-League draft considerations.
- In the same post, Pilato passes along a trade sending Santa Cruz’s Dominic McGuire to the Tulsa 66ers in exchange for Dominic Sutton‘s returning player rights.
- Pilato reports one final deal between the Charge and the Delaware 87ers. Kyrylo Fesenko was sent to Canton in a trade that also saw the teams swap second round draft picks.