In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if Rockets big man Omer Asik might be a fit for the Heat. A suggested swap of Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony for Asik wouldn’t work because Haslem can’t stretch the floor like Houston wants out of their power forward and even though Anthony could be a competent backup for Dwight Howard, the Rockets can do a lot better overall. More Saturday afternoon links from around the Association..
- Knicks coach Mike Woodson made his dissatisfaction with J.R. Smith over his latest Twitter trouble known to everyone, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. “Eventually, no team is going to want to deal with you,” said the coach.
- Chinese team Qingdao waived Josh Selby to make room for yesterday’s signing of Josh Akognon, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The former NBA and D-League player lasted just two games in China. Selby came to the Cavs as a part of the three-for-one deal last year that sent Marreese Speights to Cleveland.
- Akognon will make significantly more money with Qingdao than if he had signed with one of the several NBA teams that showed recent interest, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. With Qingdao, Akognon’s season will be complete and have him available to NBA teams by early February. Three NBA teams had been interested in him and would be more inclined to sign him near the trade deadline, a source said.
- The value of Pacers forward Danny Granger next summer hinges largely on what he does this season, but he has yet to get back on the court. Pacers coach Frank Vogel doesn’t sound sure of when the 30-year-old might return. “We know he’s going to be out for a while with his calf,” Vogel said, according to Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star. “We want to get him back as soon as possible, but we’re not going to rush it. There’s no need to rush it.”
- David West never seriously considered leaving the Pacers even though many felt that he could have gotten a larger payday than the three-year, $36MM deal he signed with Indiana, writes Moke Hamilton of HoopsWorld.
- In this week’s maibag, a reader proposes to Sam Smith of NBA.com that the Bulls use Luol Deng to pry Eric Gordon from the Pelicans. While New Orleans would like to move one of their ball-handling guards for a small forward, Chicago can’t afford to take on the risk of taking on the Indiana product given his sizable contract and attitude problems.
- Wolves forward Corey Brewer had nothing but positive things to say about Denver after facing his former Nuggets teammates, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Brewer signed a three-year, $14.1MM deal with Minnesota this summer.