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Month: October 2024

And-Ones: Durant, Cap, Beasley, Agents

February 23rd, 2016 at 12:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

Some within the Warriors brass aren’t entirely sold on the idea of making significant changes to bring aboard Kevin Durant this summer, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The team’s primary scenario would involve sign-and-trades that send Harrison Barnes out and Durant in, but that’s a long shot because of all the variables involved, Lowe writes. Signing Durant outright would come at the cost of Barnes and at least two of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli in cap-clearing moves, Lowe surmises, adding that the team worries it might have to give up as many as two first-round picks to entice other teams to take salary off their hands. The Warriors are reportedly well out in front as Durant’s top choice should he leave the Thunder, but he’s offered few hints about what he’ll do in free agency. He and Russell Westbrook have minor disagreements about who gets the ball, but no personal tension exists between then, Lowe hears. See more from around the NBA:

  • The league’s official cap projection for next season has grown to $90MM, up slightly from $89MM, sources tell Lowe for the same piece. Some apparently see it creeping into the $92-$95MM range.
  • Former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley is drawing the eye of multiple NBA teams, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Beasley can return stateside now that Shandong, the Chinese team he signed with this past summer, is out of the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs. The combo forward averaged 31.9 points in 36.5 minutes per game with 37.1% 3-point shooting against relatively weak competition this season.
  • The players union’s executive committee unanimously approved stiffer enforcement of a rule banning agents from representing both coaches and players, a practice that’s been commonplace in spite of regulations against it, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. A grace period runs through August 22nd before the new policy kicks in, and violators face fines up to $100K after that, Berger notes. Agencies, but not individual agents, are still allowed to work with both coaches and players, as long as they make those relationships known to the players they represent, according to Berger.
  • The union also passed other rules for agents, including increased dues and requirements that agents pass a written test on the collective bargaining agreement and maintain at least one NBA client over a period of five years, as Berger rounds up in the same piece.
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Marc Gasol Out For Season

February 23rd, 2016 at 10:51am CST by Chuck Myron

Marc Gasol will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery Saturday on his broken right foot, the team announced. The 31-year-old is expected to recovery fully, the team’s statement added, and the club’s brass doesn’t expect the injury to alter his career path, a source tells Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). The technical term for the ailment is a non-displaced Type II fracture of the navicular bone, according to the Grizzlies. It’s not the most serious form of navicular bone fracture, Herrington hears (Twitter link).

The news that Gasol will miss the rest of 2015/16 is no shock, as Marca.com reported a couple of weeks ago, in the immediate wake of the injury, that Gasol was liable to miss four to six months. The team didn’t reveal a specific timeline for the center’s recovery, but GM Chris Wallace hinted in the press release that the team believes Gasol will be ready to start next season.

“Marc remains a cornerstone of our franchise and we are pleased to hear that the surgery went according to plan,” Wallace said. “Marc’s determination and competitive spirit will serve him, his family and the team well as he begins the healing and rehab process from which we expect him to make a full recovery. We are confident we will have Marc back anchoring our team next season and beyond.”

Memphis isn’t in line for any roster relief to compensate for the injury, with the January 15th deadline to apply for a disabled player exception long since passed and too few players on the sideline to qualify for a hardship provision of an extra roster spot. Jordan Adams, out since January because of right knee surgery, is on track to return in the next few weeks, and Memphis has no other long-term injury concerns. However, the loss of Gasol is monumental, and the Grizzlies have already made moves with apparent recognition that they won’t go as far as expected this season, acquiring five draft picks while offloading soon-to-be free agents Jeff Green and Courtney Lee in trades last week. Memphis is 32-23 and in fifth place in the Western Conference, 18 games behind the first-place Warriors.

Gasol is fresh off signing a five-year, maximum-salary deal this past summer, so while the Grizzlies apparently don’t expect lingering effects from the injury, it’s not an auspicious sign for their ability to extract fair value from the contract. He nonetheless displayed continued strong production this season, especially on offense, where his 16.6 points per game were the second most of his career, trailing only last year’s 17.4 per-game scoring average.

Memphis doesn’t appear hesitant to commit as lucrative a contract as necessary to bring back 28-year-old Mike Conley when he enters free agency this summer, even though he, like Gasol, would be well into his 30s by the time a five-year pact would end.

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Heat Led NBA With Four Trades This Season

February 23rd, 2016 at 10:41am CST by Chuck Myron

It was a down year for trades compared to last season, but seven NBA teams still managed to pull of multiple swaps during the 2015/16 regular season. None were more active than the Heat, whose months-long salary shedding effort, which dates to the summer, resulted in four trades that brought back only a single player.

A trio of other teams made three trades apiece for varying reasons, from Cleveland’s all-out effort to win the title to the Magic’s cap-clearing philosophy to the Grizzlies’ draft-pick collection. There would have been 10 teams to make multiple swaps this season, but the voided deal between the Pistons, Rockets and Sixers nixed what would have been the second trade for each of those clubs.

Our trade recap for this season shows every trade that took place between opening night and the trade deadline, with links to further details and trades from previous seasons and offseasons. However, it can be tough to see exactly what teams that made more than one move ended up getting and giving up. That’s where this post comes in.

We’ve listed the assets gained (In) and lost (Out) for each team with multiple moves during the 2015/16 regular season, with a “Passing through” category that shows players and picks that a team traded for and later traded away, where applicable.

HEAT (4 trades)
In:

  • Beno Udrih
  • New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected)
  • $75K cash

Out:

Passing through:

CAVALIERS (3 trades)
In:

  • Channing Frye
  • Portland’s 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected)

Out:

Passing through:

  • Cleveland’s unprotected 2020 second-round pick

GRIZZLIES (3 trades)
In: 

Out:

MAGIC (3 trades)
In: 

Out:

CLIPPERS (2 trades)
In:

Out:

PELICANS (2 trades)
In:

  • Jarnell Stokes (waived)
  • Denver’s unprotected 2016 second-round pick
  • Philadelphia’s unprotected 2017 second-round pick
  • $721,300 cash

Out:

  • Ish Smith
  • New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected)

TRAIL BLAZERS (2 trades)
In:

Out:

  • Cleveland’s unprotected 2020 second-round pick
  • $75K cash

The RealGM traded picks database was used in the creation of this post.

Which of these teams made out best from its trade activity? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Brown, Smith, Fredette

February 23rd, 2016 at 9:29am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics haven’t had any discussions about filling their open roster spot, coach Brad Stevens said Monday night, according to MassLive’s Jay King. Boston is in no rush to sign anyone to fill the vacancy created when team worked a buyout with David Lee, the coach added, but Stevens nonetheless has an idea of what he’d want in a 15th man.

“I think that we’ll continue to look for versatility,” Stevens said. “And we’ll continue to look for shooting if the right people become available, if we feel like it’s a great fit for our team or if we need them based on injuries or whatever the case may be.”

Boston is reportedly eyeing Reggie Evans, though that appears to be a long shot, at best, and he wouldn’t fit the criteria Stevens laid out, as King notes. See more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Tony Brown knows he’s not going to win much as Nets interim coach, but he thinks that if he can make strides in developing the team’s young players, an effort he believes he can achieve in part through a faster tempo, it’ll help his case for his next job, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays. It’s unclear whether Brown has a legitimate chance at staying in the Nets head coaching gig beyond this season. “This is not just an audition for [new Nets GM] Sean [Marks]. A lot of teams are looking to see how I’m doing in this position. It’s a résumé-type deal here,” Brown said.
  • Evaluating whether soon-to-be free agent Ish Smith is worth keeping as the starting point guard is one of the key tasks the Sixers face down the stretch of the season, argues Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, who heard from one rival executive who doubts Smith is any sort of game-changing force.
  • Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis doesn’t seem enthusiastic about the team’s addition of Jimmer Fredette on a 10-day contract, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
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Lakers Mull Early End To Season For Larry Nance Jr.

February 23rd, 2016 at 7:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers are thinking about having Larry Nance Jr. miss the rest of the season to allow soreness in his surgically repaired right knee to heal, coach Byron Scott said, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The plan for now is to evaluate the knee and see whether he can play in the team’s next game Wednesday, Holmes writes, noting that the Lakers took him out of Monday’s game for what Nance described as precautionary reasons. He’s missed nine of the last 12 games because of the knee.

It’s too late in the season for the Lakers to apply for a disabled player exception, which the team could otherwise receive if Nance had a season-ending injury. The 23-year-old is the only Laker dealing with a serious ailment for now, so a hardship exception for a 16th roster spot, a provision the NBA granted an injury-racked Lakers team late last season, isn’t in play.

The Lakers are in position to worry far more about lottery position and retaining their top-three protected first-round pick than the playoffs, so the greater concern would appear to center on Nance’s long-term health. He tore the ACL in his right knee during the 2013/14 season when he was a junior at the University of Wyoming but recovered well enough to play 31 games as a senior and become the 27th overall pick this past June. The power forward plays a highly athletic style, so any serious knee issue is liable to compromise that. He started 22 games this season before knee trouble flared up last month.

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Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 2/22/16

February 23rd, 2016 at 12:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

We saw quite a bit of activity during the final days leading up to last Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline, though there were no earthshaking moves.

The biggest names in the rumor mill — Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol — stayed put. There were still some eye-catching trades.

The Pistons and Magic fired an early salvo as Detroit acquired a young, prolific scoring forward in Tobias Harris in exchange for point guard Brandon Jennings and power forward Ersan Ilyasova. Both were previously coached by Scott Skiles and can help Orlando’s playoff push while giving the Magic flexibility this summer. Jennings has an expiring contract, and Ilyasova’s contract for next season isn’t fully guaranteed.

The Clippers dealt away Lance Stephenson to the Grizzlies for Jeff Green, giving Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers a better scoring option at small forward.

The Grizzlies were also involved in a three-team deal earlier in the week, sending shooting guard Courtney Lee to the Hornets.

The Thunder picked up a quality guard in Randy Foye from the Nuggets, shipping out guards D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak and a couple of second-round picks for him.

The Wizards made a significant frontcourt move, acquiring talented but controversial power forward Markieff Morris from the Suns. Phoenix received Washington’s first-round pick (top-nine protected) and a couple of veteran power forwards, Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair (who was waived).

Channing Frye was shipped by the Magic to the Cavaliers, giving the Cavs a stretch four at their disposal for the playoffs. Orlando got rid of Frye’s contract, which runs through the 2017/18 season, while also receiving Jared Cunningham and an unprotected second-round pick.

The Trail Blazers received the Cavaliers’ top-10 protected 2018 first-round pick as an incentive to take Anderson Varejao‘s contract off their hands and help their luxury-tax situation.

This leads us to our question of the day: Which team made the best trade last week?

Please take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.

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And-Ones: Conley, Thompson, Dekker

February 22nd, 2016 at 11:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Grizzlies and Nets coach Lionel Hollins said in a SiriusXM NBA Radio interview that Mike Conley will seek the best offer on the free-agent market, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. Hollins doubts the Grizzlies point guard will accept a hometown discount to stay in Memphis, Bondy continues. The Knicks are among the teams expected to pursue Conley, the top guard on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings. “You have the hammer in your hand and you have to wield it because you may never get it again,” Hollins said in the interview. “The reality is you have to do what’s best for your family and the future. And if somebody comes around and offers Michael $18MM and Memphis can’t match, I think you have to make those decisions from that perspective.”

In other news around the league:

  • Jason Thompson‘s struggle to grasp the complexities of the Warriors’ schemes was a major factor why he was waived, according to Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com. Thompson lost his roster spot in favor of center Anderson Varejao, who was signed on Monday. The team needed more depth in the middle because of injury concerns, but Strauss also believes Thompson’s lack of an advanced feel for the game made him the odd man out.
  • The Rockets recalled rookie small forward Sam Dekker from the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team tweets. Dekker, who underwent back surgery three months ago, made his season debut with the Vipers on Friday night, as Adam Johnson of the D-League Digest details. Dekker’s recall was simply to participate in a practice, as he will return to play a few more games with the Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link).
  • Center Tibor Pleiss was recalled by the Jazz from the D-League’s Idaho Stampede on Monday, according to the team’s website. Pleiss, a 7’3” center, has appeared in 12 games with the Jazz and 15 more for the Stampede this season.
  • Point guard Dwight Buycks will join the Thunder’s D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, international journalist David Pick tweets. Buycks signed with Fujian Sturgeons in the Chinese Basketball Association in September and was among the league leaders in assists, Pick adds. Buycks played 14 games with the Raptors during the 2013/14 season and six more with the Lakers last season after signing a 10-day contract in April. He was also on the Lakers’ summer-league squad.
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Eastern Rumors: Frye, Evans, Fredette

February 22nd, 2016 at 10:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Channing Frye realizes he may not get much playing time with the Cavaliers, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports. The power forward was acquired in a deadline deal and made his Cleveland debut Monday night, playing nine minutes. “I don’t think they need anything,” Frye told reporters prior to the game. “I think I’m just another option. I like to space the floor and I think I can give guys an opportunity not to get double-teamed. … I know there are All-Stars playing ahead of me so I’m going to have to earn my minutes whenever possible and just be ready.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

  • Veteran power forward Reggie Evans will not be joining the Celtics, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com opines (Video link here). The Celtics were reportedly one of the teams interested in signing Evans, who has not played in the league this season. Blakely said that Celtics won’t be filling their open roster spot, created by the release of power forward David Lee, with the 35-year-old Evans. “If you’re thinking you’re going to get that guy, not going to happen,” Blakely said during the team’s pregame broadcast on Monday.
  • Point guard Brandon Jennings admits he’s still not all the way back from the Achilles tendon tear that he suffered last January, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Jennings, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, was traded to the Magic last week along with power forward Ersan Ilyasova while forward Tobias Harris was shipped to the Pistons. “My goal was to get back to that level again — and it still is,” Jennings told Robbins. “So, it’s been a challenging year. Coming off the bench, of course, has been challenging for me. It’s the first time I’ve done it in my career. But I took on the challenge. I’ve accepted it.” The Magic brought in the duo to provide some veteran help to a young nucleus as part of a playoff push, Robbins adds.
  • Interim Knicks coach Kurt Rambis said shooting guard Jimmer Fredette will have to outplay someone over the next 10 days to stay on the roster, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York tweets. Fredette signed a 10-day contract on Monday and played two minutes in the Knicks’ loss to the Raptors on Monday night.
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Mavs Notes: Lee, Jenkins, Matthews

February 22nd, 2016 at 8:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

David Lee expects to gain a rotation spot with the Mavericks but didn’t ask for any promises before joining the club on Monday, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports. Lee officially signed with Dallas on Monday after being released by the Celtics last week as part of a buyout agreement. While the veteran big man only requested an “opportunity,” he clearly doesn’t want to get buried on the bench, as he did in Boston. “I look forward to being able to help us on the glass and offensively and defensively fitting in with a team that’s already done pretty well this season,” Lee told MacMahon. “Really, I don’t believe much in them promising me a number on minutes. This is something that I’m coming in here and expect to earn playing time by playing well and helping the team get wins.” Lee was informed by coach Rick Carlisle that he will receive the bulk of his minutes backing up center Zaza Pachulia.

In other news concerning the Mavs:

  • Carlisle wants the team to re-sign shooting guard John Jenkins sometime in the future, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets. Jenkins, who signed a three-year deal prior to this season with only a first-year guarantee, was released on Monday to make room for Lee. Jenkins had earned a lot of respect inside the locker room, Sneed adds, but got caught in a numbers crunch.
  • Wesley Matthews continues to struggle with his shooting and it’s fair to wonder whether the club should have handed the former Trail Blazers shooting guard a four-year, $70MM contract, MacMahon examines in a separate story. While owner Mark Cuban recently proclaimed that the club didn’t sign Matthews for this season, he has shown no progress in his first season since recovering from a left Achilles tendon tear. Matthews is averaging just 10.7 points since the New Year while shooting 37.4% from the field and 30.5% on 3-point tries, MacMahon points out. If Dallas doesn’t start getting better production from its highest-paid player, it has virtually no chance of winning a playoff round and could even slide out of the postseason picture, MacMahon adds.
  • The Mavs are still looking to add another shooter, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News hears. They could be interested in two-guards Joe Johnson or Kevin Martin if either reaches a buyout agreement and gets released, though Sefko has doubts whether the Mavs would cut into Matthews’ minutes by signing Martin.
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Central Rumors: Motiejunas, Novak, Love

February 22nd, 2016 at 7:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t regret making the trade deadline acquisition of Rockets power forward Donatas Motiejunas, even though the team voided the three-team deal on Monday because of concerns over Motiejunas’ health, David Mayo of MLive.com reports. Motiejunas, who underwent back surgery after last season, failed physical exams conducted in New York and Detroit, Mayo continues. “I would do it over again, if it were out there,” Van Gundy told the team’s beat reporters. “We did our due diligence and just thought there was too much risk.” The Pistons have an open roster spot and will comb through the waiver wire, as well as consider D-League prospects, to add depth at power forward. The club is thin at that position with Anthony Tolliver sidelined by a knee injury expected to keep him out two to four weeks, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link).

In other news around the Central Division:

  • Van Gundy told Langlois that the Pistons and Rockets couldn’t change the parameters of the protected first-round pick Detroit would have traded to Houston because the trade deadline had expired (Twitter link). That contradicts an earlier tweet from The Vertical’s front office expert Bobby Marks that indicated protections on the pick could have been changed.
  • Veteran shooting guard Steve Novak is thrilled the Bucks wanted him because they are his hometown team, Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Novak was traded last week by the Thunder to the Nuggets, who promptly released him as part of a buyout agreement. Milwaukee was looking for 3-point shooting off the bench and signed Novak, who attended Marquette, on Monday. “I always dreamed of playing for the Bucks, but at this point I didn’t know if it was something that would ever happen,” Novak told Gardner. “I think we were lucky enough that Denver said they would do a buyout and Milwaukee called and said they had interest. It was a phone call I wasn’t sure I’d ever get but I was pretty pumped.”
  • Kevin Love would rather be the third option on a championship team than the star of a lesser team, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. The Cavaliers power forward has gotten used to hearing his name in trade rumors, as Aschburner details, but Love refutes the notion that he’d rather be posting bigger stats as another team’s No. 1 option. “All things considered, I’ve always said if I could win, be happy and get paid, that was kind of it,” Love told Aschburner.
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