Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Nash, Beal, Lakers
Here's a look around the NBA this Saturday evening.
- The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell wonders if the Bobcats can get anything of value for DeSagana Diop's expiring contract.
- Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are teammates with the Lakers, but both of them could easily have ended up in New York with separate teams, writes Howard Beck of the New York Times.
- NBA.com's Jeff Caplan has a piece on Wizards rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal, who currently leads his struggling team in scoring.
- A quick recap of the Bernie Bickerstaff era as head coach of the Lakers, from ESPNLA.com's Dave McMenamin.
- With James Harden flourishing as a starter with the Rockets, the Oklahoman's John Rohde wonders who will win the Sixth Man of the Year award this season.
Southeast Notes: Smith, Livingston, Beal, Wade
A pair of Southeast teams will be in action tonight, with the Wizards aiming to finally record their first win of the season against the Jazz while the Heat look to extend their division lead in Phoenix. As we wait for the start of those games, let's round up a few notes out of the Southeast….
- Following up on yesterday's Marc Stein report that indicated the Hawks have no interest in trading Josh Smith, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld agrees, suggesting in a series of tweets that it's far more likely that Smith will re-sign in Atlanta next summer.
- Wizards head coach Randy Wittman pushed for Washington to sign Shaun Livingston when he became available, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post. According to Lee, Livingston attracted interest from a few other teams, but chose the Wizards because they provide the opportunity to play in a familiar system.
- Bradley Beal spoke to Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld about the expectations he places upon himself in his first season with the Wizards.
- Of the three Heat stars with an early termination option available in the summer of 2014, Dwyane Wade is probably the least likely to opt out, opines Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Wizards Sign Shaun Livingston, Cut Jannero Pargo
The Wizards have signed Shaun Livingston to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but I would guess it's a one-year deal, likely not fully guaranteed. According to team president Ernie Grunfeld, Livingston's "size and playmaking ability will give [the Wizards] more flexibility in the backcourt."
It's not the first time the Wizards have signed Livingston as a free agent. During the 2009/10 campaign, Washington inked the 6'7" guard to a pair of 10-day contracts before signing him for the rest of the season. Livingston's PER with the Wizards over the course of 26 games was 14.4 PER, which would have been a career high over a full season.
The Wizards, off to an 0-7 start, have struggled to get solid production from the point guard position with John Wall sidelined. A.J. Price has assumed the role of starting point guard, and has averaged 10.1 PPG and 6.9 APG, but has only shot 32.9% from the floor. Backup Jannero Pargo, who was released by the Wizards to make room for Livingston, was having even more trouble from the field, shooting 25.0%.
Pargo's contract was believed to be partially guaranteed for $300K, so that amount will count against the Wizards' cap this season.
Eastern Notes: Lopez, J.R. Smith, Wall, Harkless
It was a successful night for a pair of teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, as the Pistons blew out the Sixers en route to their first win after an 0-8 start, while the Bobcats dropped the Wolves for their third win in a row, moving to 4-3. The Wizards failed to join that group, and are the NBA's lone remaining winless team after losing to the Mavericks tonight. There's more on Washington and other news from the East right here.
- After committing to Brook Lopez this summer, the Nets have raised their expectations of the fifth-year center, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, who says the team signed Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche so they could help Lopez improve.
- J.R. Smith said in training camp he wanted to start at shooting guard, but now he says he's "loving" his role as sixth man for the unbeaten Knicks, for whom he's off to a hot start, observes Nate Taylor of The New York Times.
- As the 0-7 Wizards search in vain for their first win, the frustration is mounting for John Wall, who's without a timetable for a return from a stress fracture in his right knee, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Wall will be eligible for an extension to his rookie-scale contract next summer.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says rookie Maurice Harkless, who missed preseason while recovering from sports hernia surgery, is already starting to show his worth a week after his debut for the Magic.
- Hedo Turkoglu had hoped to be back from his broken left hand about two weeks from now, but after doctors had to put the hand back in a cast today, he could be out for another month, reports John Denton of Magic.com.
- Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal for next season is only guaranteed for $1MM, could be a free agent next summer, but he's okay with Tom Thibodeau's plans to limit his minutes to keep him healthy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes.
- The Celtics are considering a D-League rehab stint for Avery Bradley once he's healthy, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
Upcoming Guarantee Dates
Most players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts have January 15th circled on their calendars. As long as they don't clear waivers before that day, their contracts become fully guaranteed. A handful of others without full guarantees are working on a different schedule, as negotiated with their teams. The contracts for the players below become fully guaranteed if they're not waived on or before the dates listed.
- Suns: P.J. Tucker1 ($762,195, partially guaranteed for $400K) — December 1st
- Bobcats: Cory Higgins ($762,195, fully non-guaranteed) — December 10th
- Wizards: Jannero Pargo2 ($1,229,295, partially guaranteed for $300K) — December 15th
- Bulls: Nate Robinson2 ($1,146,337, partially guaranteed for $400K) — January 1st
1— Tucker has already moved past one hurdle, as the size of his partial guarantee increased from $150K when he made the opening-night roster.
2— The Wizards and Bulls would only be obligated to pay $854,389, the amount equal to a third-year veteran's minimum, if they keep Pargo and Robinson, respectively, past their guarantee dates. The league would pay the rest since both are on one-year minimum-salary deals.
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Injury Updates: Wall, Billups, Gordon
We don't normally report on injuries at Hoops Rumors, but when a star player goes down for a lengthy absence or the injury otherwise figures to have an impact on a team's personnel decisions, we pass along that news. Tonight we have a few updates on key figures who'll be out for a while.
- Wizards point guard John Wall was supposed to miss around eight weeks with an injury to his left patella, but now Wall says there's no target date for his return, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was hopeful last month that Chauncey Billups could return from his torn left Achilles tendon sometime in November, but Billups doesn't think he'll recover quite so quickly, saying on ESPN's NBA Countdown this evening that he hopes to be back about a month from now, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles writes.
- The Hornets confirmed Eric Gordon's four-to-six-week prognosis, and announced that he'll head to Los Angeles for "more personalized and intensive" rehabilitation on his troublesome right knee. John Reid of The Times-Picayune has details.
Southeast Notes: Magic, LeBron, Beal, Biyombo
All five Southeast Division teams are in action tonight, including the Magic, who are starting Josh McRoberts at small forward against the Timberwolves. It's a lineup move coach Jacque Vaughn admits isn't ideal, tweets John Denton of Magic.com. The team had been using undrafted rookie DeQuan Jones as the starter at that position since Hedo Turkoglu broke his hand in the season opener. Mickael Pietrus, a former Magic player and current free agent who reportedly expects to sign soon, might be a tempting candidate to fill in, but that's just my speculation. In the meantime, there's more about the Magic and their Southeast Division rivals right here.
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports explains how Jones went from being the seventh-leading scorer at the University of Miami last season to starting games for the Magic this year.
- After the Celtics packaged him as part of the Courtney Lee trade this summer, leading to his release by the Rockets, E'Twaun Moore is showing he's more than just an afterthought with his early season play for the Magic, notes Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com.
- Dwyane Wade earlier today revealed his reasons for not signing with the Nets in 2010, and Heat teammate LeBron James, also recruited by New Jersey that summer, said of the Nets that, "It was hard to see where they were at the time," writes Howard Beck of The New York Times. Wade and James were impressed by Brooklyn's offseason moves this year, Beck adds.
- Rob Mahoney of SI.com identifies several players who should be seeing more time on the court, including Wizards rookie Bradley Beal and Bobcats second-year man Bismack Biyombo.
Poll: Most Impressive Rookie
Through three days of the NBA season, most of the heavily hyped rookies have made their debuts. In particular, five have had standout first games as pros: New Orleans' No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, Washington's No. 3 overall pick Bradley Beal, Cleveland's No. 4 overall pick Dion Waiters, Portland's No. 6 overall pick Damian Lillard, and Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas, drafted in 2011. Charlotte's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist makes his debut tonight.
Which of the five rookies who have made an impact so far have impressed you the most?
Which Rookie Has Been Most Impressive?
-
Damian Lillard 51% (436)
-
Jonas Valanciunas 20% (172)
-
Anthony Davis 13% (110)
-
Dion Waiters 13% (109)
-
Bradley Beal 4% (31)
Total votes: 858
Eastern Notes: Raptors, Wizards, Harkless
Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast hard, but it won't postpone Thursday's clash between the Knicks and Nets in Brooklyn, as had been feared. That's just one of many intriguing openers this week, including the Celtics' visit to Miami, where the Heat were presented with their championship rings. As the NBA tips off, we'll share some Eastern Conference news to go along with our update from the West earlier this evening.
- Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo admitted it's been difficult not to try to speed up his team's rebuilding process, as he tells Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. "We passed on multiple opportunities to bring in players via transactions that would have thwarted our efforts," Colangelo said. "At times, it was tempting. But we had to stick to the plan. There has had to be a patience and strategy to every decision we’ve made. The deals we could have made were more of a tonic than a long-term solution."
- Colangelo also shared his feelings about rookie Jonas Valanciunas, saying, "It’s become apparent that in order for us (to get better) Jonas needs to be thrown into the fire. The sooner he develops into a nightly contributor, the sooner we get closer to our goal.”
- Wizards coach Randy Wittman said injuries to John Wall and Nene Hilario influenced the team's decision to keep Jannero Pargo and Earl Barron over Shelvin Mack and Brian Cook, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes the Magic should give rookie Maurice Harkless significant playing time this season so they can figure out whether the 19-year-old small forward is a building block for the future.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com notes via Twitter that every player in the three-team trade that brought Courtney Lee to the Celtics has been waived except Lee and Sasha Pavlovic, whose presence on the Blazers roster is helped along by the fact the Celtics are paying his salary.
- Carlos Boozer's five-year, $75MM contract obscures the valuable production he brings to the Bulls, argues Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com.
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer saw lots of positives about the Cavs' youth movement in the team's opening-night win against the Wizards.
Western Notes: Meeks, Tinsley, Roy, Blazers
The NBA released its annual report on the growing international presence on its rosters, noting the Spurs have a record eight players from overseas, notes Art Garcia of Fox Sports Southwest, and that includes players from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy points out (Twitter links). The Timberwolves have five of the league's international players from four different countries, according to the team (Twitter link). As the league continues to attract talent from around the world, here's what's going on around the Western Conference.
- Jodie Meeks couldn't be more content with his decision to sign with the Lakers, even though the Wizards and Bucks offered him more money this summer, Kennedy reports.
- In the same piece, Kennedy also checks in with Jamaal Tinsley, whose deal with the Jazz is non-guaranteed, as we learned last night. The backup point guard is enthusiastic about Utah's veteran offseason additions, but Brad Rock of the Deseret News believes the team's younger players are the key.
- Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press looks at how the Timberwolves plan to use Brandon Roy this season, noting that the plan is for him to see 30 to 32 minutes per game, down from his career 35.6 MPG average.
- The Blazers hired Chris McGowan as team president last night, but he'll take a hands-off approach to the basketball operations side of the franchise, reports Mike Tokito of The Oregonian.
- No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis is set to make his debut for the Hornets on Wednesday against the Spurs, and Davis believes he gained much from going against Duncan as the Hornets conducted voluntary scrimmages against the Spurs in the summer, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.
- The focus is on the present in Memphis, where Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace largely stood pat over the summer with a roster on the fringes of contention amid the ownership transfer from Michael Heisley to Robert Pera, as Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines.