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Month: November 2024

Sefko On Terry, Nash, Haywood, Draft

May 8th, 2012 at 8:50pm CST by Daniel Seco

Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News held an in-depth chat with Mavs fans earlier on Tuesday and answered countless questions related to the team's plans for the offseason. Here are some of the highlights.

  • Look for Jason Terry to return to Mavs as the team's sixth man next season instead of signing elsewhere during free agency. Terry provides the team with instant offense off the bench and is most effective when surrounded with quality players. The only way he won't be wearing blue and white next season is if some team offers him an oversized contract and his family is comfortable with the move.
  • There hasn't been much conversation about soon-to-be free agent Steve Nash returning to the Mavs this offeason. While fans would like to see Nash reunited with Dirk Nowitzki, the pairing wasn't especially successful the first time around. The decision to add Nash to the mix would make more sense once additional pieces have been acquired to help bolster the current roster.
  • The Mavs will likely use their amnesty provision to rid themselves of Brendan Haywood before they make their first free-agent signing. Haywood, 32, is under contract through the 2014/2015 season and is owed approximately $22.2MM. The former UNC star averaged 5.2 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 54 appearances (all starts) with the Mavs this past season.
  • Dallas deserves more credit for the success they've enjoyed in the draft given where they typically make their picks (toward the end of the rounds). While the players selected haven't always stayed in Dallas for long, they have been used in trades to acquire key players such as Jason Kidd. 
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Free Agent Stock Watch: Jeremy Lin

May 8th, 2012 at 7:59pm CST by Daniel Seco

The story of Jeremy Lin has been told countless times over the course of the 2011/2012 season. From going undrafted coming out of Harvard in 2010 to starring for the Knicks after being waived twice prior to the start of the season, Lin's young career has been an emotional roller coaster of extreme highs and incredible lows in just two short years. With the star point guard seemingly sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs due to a torn meniscus, Lin will enter the offseason as a restricted free agent.

A quick look at Lin's numbers, while a limited sample size, reveal a developing star who would be a welcome addition to any team's backcourt. Lin played in 35 games with the Knicks during the 2011/2012 season in which he started 25 contests. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 14.6 PPG and 6.2 APG after signing with the Knicks on December 27. Heading into his third season, Lin will look to hold onto the ball with more care after averaging 3.6 turnovers per game with the Knicks.

Lin's value goes beyond his contributions at the point guard position as he is a dream for any team's marketing staff. As an intelligent individual with deep religious convictions, similar to the NFL's Tim Tebow, Lin became an instant fan favorite with the Madison Square Garden crowd. He also demonstrated burgeoning leadership ability that unified a fractured team and was quickly respected by his teammates including veterans Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony. Thanks to jersey and t-shirt sales associated with "Linsanity," Madison Square Garden saw merchandise profits increase in the single-digit millions. 

The Knicks will be afforded a strong opportunity to retain Lin thanks to changes to what teams can offer restricted free agents with fewer than three years in the league. Dubbed the "Gilbert Arenas provision," teams looking to compete with the Knicks for Lin's services cannot offer more than the mid-level exception for the first year of a new contract. This will allow for the Knicks to be able to match any offer made by another team looking to steal Lin away from MSG.  The Knicks will seemingly look to sign Lin for more than one season as Lin would once again become a restricted free agent in 2013 in which the Knicks would only be protected by holding Lin's Early Bird Rights.

Re-signing Lin should still allow the Knicks to be able to retain Landry Fields, who is also slated to become a restricted free agent this offseason. Fields' performance in his second season could be described as a disappointment after enjoying a surprisingly successful rookie campaign with the Knicks. The former Stanford star saw his points per game decrease (9.7 to 8.8) as well as his rebounds per game (6.4 to 4.2) while averaging nearly three minutes less per contest.

Unless the Knicks attempt to sign Steve Nash (unlikely) as a prerequisite for Phil Jackson coming on board (even less likely), look for Lin to be wearing orange and blue this October.

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Stan Van Gundy’s Future In Orlando

May 8th, 2012 at 6:15pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Magic take on the Pacers this evening in what could potentially be Stan Van Gundy's final game as the team's head coach. HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler predicts Van Gundy will lose his job shortly after the team finishes its season. This isn't necessarily a bad thing for Van Gundy, writes Kyler, as the Magic and SVG may both benefit from parting ways this offseason.

Van Gundy's looming dismissal has little to do with his coaching ability but rather represents the beleaguered franchise's lone chance to win favor with Dwight Howard as he enters the final year of his contract with the team. Howard's disdain toward Van Gundy has been made clear over the course of the season, leaving the Magic front office with little choice but to appease its superstar in hopes of improving the team's chances of re-signing him in 2013. Simply put, a very good coach is replaceable in the NBA but a superstar talent like Howard is not. 

Since becoming head coach in 2007, Van Gundy has won 259 regular season games with the Magic, a number that will make him an attractive candidate to teams looking for a new head coach. Van Gundy has also enjoyed success in the postseason as he's taken the Magic to the Eastern Conference Finals twice during his tenure in Orlando along with an appearance in the NBA Finals against the Lakers in 2009. While it's unlikely that Van Gundy would be interested in turning around the Bobcats' fortunes, he may be a good fit for the Trail Blazers.

Replacing Van Gundy won't be an easy task for the Magic, but there are a few viable options for Orlando to consider this offseason. If the team is looking for an experienced head coach with a track record of success, then they should consider hiring Nate McMillan, writes Kyler. Patrick Ewing, who is a candidate for the Bobcats' opening, would be better off staying in Orlando if the team looks to stay in-house and seamlessly transition from the Van Gundy regime. 

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USA Basketball Given Olympic Roster Extension

May 8th, 2012 at 5:31pm CST by Daniel Seco

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo was granted an extension to name his final 12-man roster for the Olympics by the United States Olympic Committee, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. With injuries decimating the pool of 20 finalists, Colangelo will have until July 8 instead of June 18 to submit his list of players who will be representing the United States in London this summer. Colangelo said health will be a major factor in determining which players are selected for Team USA.

"We don't want anyone who's not healthy," Colangelo said. "We put a great deal of emphasis on the health of our players for all the obvious reasons. As has always been in the past, we're very, very careful with the workout sessions and the demand. We control that to the way it should be controlled, and we've had zero issues with injuries while they've been with us or after they've been with us."

James Harden and Anthony Davis were recently added to the list of finalists in the wake of Derrick Rose's season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament and Dwight Howard's surgery on his back to repair a herniated disk. Beyond Rose and Howard, Chauncey Billups (torn Achilles tendon) and LaMarcus Aldridge (right hip) are also unavailable for the Olympics. Dwyane Wade, one of Team USA's strongest contributors in Beijing, recently mentioned that he may not be available to play in London unless his health is at 100%.

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Offseason Outlook: Brooklyn Nets

May 8th, 2012 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Guaranteed Contracts

Options

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

Free Agents (Cap Holds)

Draft Picks

  • 1st Round (Top-three protected; pending lottery; 7.5% chance at first overall pick; 25.3% chance of keeping pick)
  • 2nd Round (57th overall)

Cap Outlook

  • Guaranteed Salary (including likely options): $13,672,235
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary, Cap Holds: $53,595,203+
  • Total (not including draft picks): $67,267,438+

The Nets will begin their first season in Brooklyn this fall, but it's not yet clear which players will be wearing those black-and-white uniforms when the team takes the floor. The Nets have only four players under contract, for less than $10MM in total guaranteed salary. Even if Jordan Farmar exercises his player option as expected, the team's guaranteed contracts amount to just $13.67MM.

Even with the opportunity to gain an incredible amount of cap space, the Nets don't plan to be overly active in signing other teams' free agents until they figure out where they stand with their own. Deron Williams sits atop not only Brooklyn's wishlist, but the list of any team with cap space this summer — and even some without it. With Dwight Howard locked into his contract for another year and Williams expected to opt out to explore free agency, the point guard is the clear-cut top free agent available.

It's impossible to say yet whether Williams, or the team's other big-name free agents like Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez, will end up re-signing with the Nets, but let's assume all three players are interested in returning. What might it cost the Nets to lock up their core players, and how much money would they have left over to spend on outside help?

As I outlined earlier today, a max offer for Williams would have a first-year salary of $17.18MM. Let's say Wallace agreed to a multiyear deal that started at about $8-9MM and that the Nets were forced to match an offer sheet for Lopez at around the same price. That would put the price tag for those three players at somewhere in the neighborhood of $35MM for 2012/13. Renouncing all of their non-Gerald Green free agents and taking into account minimum cap holds for empty roster spots would put the Nets' team salary at about $51MM — $7MM+ below the cap.

Of course, to take advantage of that $7MM+ in cap room, the Nets would have to renounce their bi-annual exception, traded player exceptions, and full mid-level exception. It would probably only make sense to do so if there's a desirable free agent out there who will choose the Nets' $7MM over another team's $5MM mid-level. Would $7MM be enough to land a big-name power forward like Kevin Garnett or Ersan Ilyasova? Maybe, but I doubt it. It makes more sense to attempt to re-sign Kris Humphries by taking advantage of his Bird rights, allowing the team to hang onto those cap exceptions.

There are a lot of moving parts involved in the Nets' offseason. I haven't even mentioned the team's first-round pick, which it has about a 25% chance of keeping. Lucking into Anthony Davis would sure provide a massive boost to the franchise as it moves to Brooklyn, but it's an extreme long shot.

It appears the Nets' likely best-case scenario involves re-signing its major free agents, and heading into Brooklyn led by Williams, Wallace, Lopez, Brooks, Morrow, Green, and perhaps a second-tier free agent or two. Would that nucleus be enough to contend in the East? The Nets would certainly need to stay healthier than they did in 2011/12, and even then, they don't match up favorably with rosters like Miami's and Chicago's.

Brooklyn's new team faces an uphill battle this summer, its offseason hinging on Williams' final decision and some good fortune. The best-case scenario could lead to a promising squad that makes a strong first impression in its new home. But if the Nets don't luck out in the lottery and Williams bolts for greener pastures, things could get ugly in Brooklyn in a hurry.

Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.

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Knicks Initiate Extension Talks With Woodson?

May 8th, 2012 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

4:03pm: According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks' Game Four win over Miami helped solidify Woodson's chances of returning for next season. Berman hears from a source that there's "nothing going on" between the Knicks and Jackson.

11:59am: Woodson denied having talked to the Knicks about an extension, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter).

8:24am: The Knicks appear headed for a first-round exit from the postseason, but according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the team has seen enough from Mike Woodson to believe he's the right man for the head coach position. Isola reports that the Knicks are in preliminary talks with Woodson about removing the interim label and making him the club's coach for the forseeable future.

Woodson has been publicly endorsed by Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, as well as by new permanent general manager Glen Grunwald. However, there has been speculation the Knicks would pursue a high-profile candidate such as Phil Jackson or John Calipari. Still, Jackson reportedly "isn't enthralled" with the Knicks' roster and Calipari and his staff recently signed multiyear extensions to remain at Kentucky.

After taking over for Mike D'Antoni as Knicks' head coach, Woodson led the team to an 18-6 record to close out the regular season.

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Jazz Rumors: Howard, Tinsley, Jefferson, Miles

May 8th, 2012 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Following the team's four-game sweep at the hands of the Spurs, members of the Jazz have been conducting exit interviews with local media. Already we've heard that Raja Bell doesn't expect to return to Utah next season. Here are a few other highlights from today's session, courtesy of Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune (all links via Twitter):

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Atlantic Notes: Lin, Nash, DeRozan, Celtics

May 8th, 2012 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics and Sixers look to close out their respective first round series tonight, let's round up a few odds and ends out of the Atlantic Division:

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Raja Bell Not Expecting To Return To Jazz

May 8th, 2012 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Raja Bell is under contract with the Jazz for one more season, but he doesn't expect to return to Utah next season, according to Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter). Bell says he hopes the Jazz "do the right thing" and trade him, tweets Smith.

Although Bell didn't formally request a trade this year, he was the subject of some deadline rumors and clashed with coach Tyrone Corbin. According to Bell, Corbin was "unprofessional" and made things personal toward the end of the season (Twitter link). The 35-year-old adds that, if the Jazz don't move him before the 2012/13 campaign, he'll "cross that bridge" when he comes to it (Twitter link).

Bell is entering the final year of a three-year contract, and will be owed $3.48MM in 2012/13. In 34 games this season, Bell played just 23.4 minutes per game, his lowest average since 2002/03.

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Mavericks Rumors: Mahinmi, West, Williams, Kidd

May 8th, 2012 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

Here's the latest on the Mavericks, who are expected to be one of the NBA's busiest teams this summer:

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