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Month: November 2024

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Paul, Suns, Dragic

March 24th, 2013 at 11:53am CST by Zachary Links

Last night in Los Angeles, the Nets had the upper hand over the Clippers through three quarters but Chris Paul led them to victory with 17 points in the final frame.  Paul had a total of 29 points and eleven dimes on the night while DeAndre Jordan chipped in with 12 boards.  Here’s a look at today’s news out of the Pacific..

  • While people debated whether Paul was a better point guard than Deron Williams for a long time, CP3 has blown by D-Will in recent years, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.  However, Bondy notes that the new, slimmer Williams has been pouring it on since the All-Star break and Brooklyn coach P.J. Carlesimo says that his one-guard has re-entered the debate in a big way.
  • Paul will be among the top free agents in this summer’s class but Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops still has him as No. 2 next to Dwight Howard in his latest rankings.  Hamilton notes that Paul’s stock slipped slightly after last Wednesday’s loss to the Grizzlies, but one has to imagine that his Herculean effort against the Nets will help his case for being ranked over Howard.
  • Goran Dragic wasn’t terribly inconsistent in the early goings of his reunion with the Suns but he has found a groove since the All-Star break, writes Zach Buchanan of The Arizona Republic.
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Bobcats To Re-Sign Jannero Pargo

March 24th, 2013 at 11:36am CST by Ryan Raroque

SATURDAY, 11:36am: The Bobcats have re-signed Pargo to a second 10-day contract, according to Bonnell (via Twitter).

FRIDAY, 6:02pm: Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports that the Bobcats will re-sign Jannero Pargo to a second 10-day contract, and whether or not they decide to keep him further than that will depend on the health status of Ramon Sessions (Twitter links). Sessions has been recovering from a sprained MCL he suffered earlier this month, and faced a timetable of two to four weeks.

In four games for Charlotte, Pargo has averaged 10 PPG and 3.3 APG while shooting 44.8% from the field and a remarkable 55.6% from long range on 4.5 attempts per game. He's also scored in double figures in three consecutive contests for the Bobcats. 

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Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Martin, Sixers, Turner

March 24th, 2013 at 10:41am CST by Zachary Links

After struggling to find an NBA team for much of the season, Kenyon Martin has found a home with the Knicks.  The veteran forward has proven to be a vital piece for New York down the stretch and K-Mart says that he wants to return next season.  While one would have thought that he would have gotten a return invite from the Clippers last year, it’s hard to see the Knicks not making an effort to re-sign Martin if he keeps playing like this.  Let’s head over to 7th Ave and work our way out to the rest of the Atlantic..

  • Knicks coach Mike Woodson sounds confident that Jason Kidd can play out the remaining two years on his contract, but the point guard isn’t quite as sure, writes Zach Braziller of the New York Post.  “We’re going to revisit [it],” he said. “We [would] love to make it to 42, but we have to be realistic. If the body and mind can’t compete at the same time, then I got to move to the side and watch these younger guys play. But I feel great.”
  • While the Sixers‘ biggest decision this summer may be in regards to Andrew Bynum, they’ll also have to figure out what their future will be with Evan Turner, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media.  Turner doesn’t merit a deal like Jrue Holiday‘s four-year, $44MM contract and he probably won’t want to take something signficantly cheaper.  Philly can trigger Turner’s $8.7MM qualifying offer for 2014/15 to give them the right to match anyone else’s deal.
  • With the Nets, Kidd and Martin used to get notoriously fired up to beat the crosstown rival Knicks.  Martin never imagined that the two would be reunited in blue-and-orange, but he’s happy about it nonetheless, writes Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press.
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Hoops Links: Nets, Sonics, Wade, Green

March 24th, 2013 at 8:49am CST by Zachary Links

This week 48 years ago, Willis Reed was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, giving the Knicks their first individual award in franchise history.  Reed, of course, would only grow from there and became the heart and soul of the Knicks' greatest teams on his way to a Hall of Fame career.  The big man's most iconic moment came in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals when he limped out of the tunnel at Madison Square Garden despite an incredibly painful thigh injury and knocked down his first two shots to start the game.  Even though you've seen the clip no less than 100 times, I dare you to watch it again on YouTube and not get goosebumps.

Reed also made an impact on the opposite side of the river with the Nets once his playing career was through, first as coach then as General Manager.  During his tenure as GM, Reed selected Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson in back-to-back drafts and landed the underutilized Drazen Petrovic from the Blazers via trade.

Got a fantastic basketball blog piece that you want featured on Hoops Rumors?  Send your submissions to HoopsLinks@gmail.com.  Here's this week's look around the web..

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.

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Martin “Would Love” To Re-Sign With Knicks

March 23rd, 2013 at 10:28pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets that Kenyon Martin plans to play next year and "would love" to re-sign with the Knicks. In ten games with New York, the former number one draft pick has been averaging 7.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG. 1.1 steals per game, and nearly one block in 22.7 minutes per night. 

It had been a rough year for Martin, who started the season looking for a contract worth the mini-mid level exception but found no takers. Even after he conceded to playing for a minimum contract, the 35-year-old forward struggled to find an offer before New York managed to clear a roster spot to sign him earlier this month. Now Martin's production could not have come at a better time, as the team has been dealing with injuries to Amare Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, and Kurt Thomas. 

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Odds & Ends: Ayon, Brooks, Mavericks

March 23rd, 2013 at 10:03pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Bucks center Gustavo Ayon expressed some frustration about not being able to find court time in Milwaukee, and told reporters that he could return to Europe when his contract runs out, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. Though coach Jim Boylan reportedly likes what he sees from the Mexican-born center, there hasn't been enough practice time to incorporate him into the rotation. We've got a few more tidbits to share from around the league tonight, and you can find them below: 

  • In addition to wondering what the 76ers will do with Andrew Bynum, Tom Moore of Philly Burbs also ponders the future of Evan Turner, who will be eligible for an $8.7MM qualifying offer after he finishes his fourth year option worth $6.7MM next season. Moore adds that if Turner doesn't figure to be in the team's plans, the Sixers could look to trade him this summer or during next year's trade deadline. 
  • HoopsWorld's Derek Page held his weekly chat with fans earlier today, and here are some of the highlights: he sees DeMarcus Cousins as a max-level player, thinks Josh Smith could be the biggest name to move in free agency, predicts that Dwight Howard and Chris Paul remain in Los Angeles beyond this season, and isn't sure that O.J. Mayo or Tyreke Evans are long-term solutions for the Mavericks.
  • Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK delves into what could have been as he revisits Scott Brooks' challenging contract negotiations with the Thunder last summer, and discussing the possibility that he could have joined the Trail Blazers. 
  • Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram reeled in some quotes about upcoming free agency from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban: "Our goal is to win championships, not win the summer, and so we have to see what’s available and what’s out there…We do the same thing we do every year and be opportunistic. We’re going to be opportunistic, and depending on how things go, we’ll make our decision." 

Read more

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Injury Notes: Gasol, Noah, Garnett, Lee

March 23rd, 2013 at 8:41pm CST by Ryan Raroque

There aren't very many games left in the regular season, and the playoff picture in both conferences could look drastically different by mid-April with plenty of teams close together in the standings as of today. While it's not usual for us to focus on injuries, we have a few significant notes worth mentioning tonight:

  • Pistons rookie big man Andre Drummond could be close to returning after a 21-game absence, says David Mayo of MLive. Although the Pistons aren't in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, a few more regular season games couldn't hurt the former UConn product's development if healthy. 
  • Clippers guard Chauncey Billups is still day-to-day with a groin strain but could return on Tuesday against the Mavericks, writes Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles. 
  • Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times tweets that Lakers forward Antawn Jamison has ligament damage in his right wrist. Although he'll try to play through it, Jamison probably faces surgery in the offseason. 
  • According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports (via Twitter), the Grizzlies have announced that center Marc Gasol will be out indefinitely after re-aggravating an abdominal tear last night against the Hornets. Though they are ahead of the sixth place Warriors by a comfortable margin in the standings, Memphis is separated from the third place Nuggets by one game and the fourth place Clippers by just half a game. 
  • Joakim Noah will sit both of the Bulls' games this weekend as he continues to deal with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, says Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago. The team is currently one game behind the fifth-place Hawks and a half game ahead of the Celtics.   
  • Greg Payne of ESPN Boston says that both Courtney Lee and Kevin Garnett are individually recovering from sprained left ankles. There doesn't appear to be a sense that those injuries are expected to keep either out for an extended period of time, but with just 14 games left and Boston currently on a three-game slide, missing two key rotation players can't necessarily help. 
  • Knicks center Tyson Chandler has already missed six straight games due to a neck strain, and is still considered day-to-day (Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York reports). New York still remains atop the Atlantic Division, and while they are only one game behind the Pacers for second place in the East, the fourth place Nets aren't too far behind in their rear view mirror (1.5 games). 
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Maynor Unlikely To Receive Qualifying Offer

March 23rd, 2013 at 8:33pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian writes that while Eric Maynor has been a solid addition for the Trail Blazers, it isn't likely that Portland would offer him the $3.4MM qualifying offer that he's eligible for this summer. However, Freeman writes that a more plausible scenario would involve the Blazers to allow Maynor to become an unrestricted free agent in order to let the market set his value, which is how they handled J.J. Hickson's free agency before he ultimately returned to the team. 

With plenty of contracts set to expire in the offseason, Portland expects to have a significant amount of cap space to have at their disposal. However, Maynor's $5.85MM cap hold would significantly eat into the team's flexibility, which explains why they could prefer to relinquish their rights over him as a restricted free agent. The 6'3 guard, who has seen his playing time nearly double since being acquired from the Thunder, has put up 7.1 PPG and 3.6 APG for the Blazers in 14 games. 

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Sacramento Finalizes Bid, Arena Proposal

March 23rd, 2013 at 7:37pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Sam Amick of USA Today reports that the prospective ownership-group led by Vivek Ranadive, Mark Mastrov, and Ron Burkle have agreed on a deal with the city of Sacramento for a new bid that will be presented to the Board of Governors meeting on April 3. Among the near billion dollars that will go toward purchasing the team, creating a new arena, and local real estate development, $190MM is expected to go toward the arena, which Amick notes is $58MM more than what the Maloof brothers and the NBA had originally agreed on last year before the deal fell through. 

According to an ESPN report (via the Associated Press), Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson announced that the city of Sacramento and the Ranadive-Mastrov-Burkle investment group have agreed on an arena deal worth $448MM. The City Council is expected to vote on the non-binding term sheet on Tuesday. If passed, the city would contribute $258MM through leasing parking garages and land. Amick adds that Sacramento's general fund would not be affected and no new taxes would be involved. 

Ranadive's involvement bodes very well for the Sacramento investors, especially after David Stern had recently commented that the initial bid presented under the leadership of Mark Mastrov needed to be increased. While the official size of the updated offer is yet to be announced, it is expected to meet Stern's expectations. Amick writes that the addition of Ranadive into the picture and the infusion of cash that accompanied him were exactly what was needed in the 11th hour for those working hard to keep the Kings.  

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Odds & Ends: Yi, McGrady, Turkoglu

March 23rd, 2013 at 5:47pm CST by Ryan Raroque
A handful of players have joined the NBA after finishing their season in China, and Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops wonders if Yi Jianlian could attract some attention after dominating in the CBA thus far. The former NBA lottery pick has averaged 24.9 PPG and 10.5 RPG while shooting 59.4% from the field and 40.7% from long distance for the Guangdong Southern Tigers this year, and is currently playing in the CBA Finals.  We've got several more links to share with you this evening:
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