2016 March | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Hollis-Jefferson, Smith, Rambis

March 23rd, 2016 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Interim Nets coach Tony Brown is excited about the return of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who scored five points, including two on a thunderous dunk, in 15 minutes Tuesday, the first game for last year’s 23rd pick since he broke his right ankle in December, The Record’s Andy Vasquez notes. Brown pointed to Hollis-Jefferson and three-year signee Sean Kilpatrick for their spirit, an element that’s lacking on a woeful 19-51 Nets team, and Hollis-Jefferson is especially important to the franchise’s future, given its lack of other draft assets to build around Brook Lopez. “He’s just such a spark plug,” Lopez said. “He brings a lot to the team and definitely takes us up another few notches. We’ve come to expect that from him and we’ve been missing it throughout the season.”

See more from the Atlantic Division:

Sixers coach Brett Brown sees Ish Smith as a strong fit for the team and believes he’s witnessed growth in his game, and the soon-to-be free agent is confident he’s better than he was when he embarked on what’s been a journeyman NBA career thus far, as Smith tells Howard Megdal for USA Today. “Opportunity is everything, as you know,” Smith said. “And I think bouncing around helped me develop my ability to score the basketball. Playing behind Russell Westbrook and Kyle Lowry, some of the best point guards in the league now, absolutely helped me develop my offensive game. Being a passer, that’s always been my niche. But I’ve developed a whole lot since college.”
Smith’s enduring confidence can hurt him when he takes shots he shouldn’t, but it’s a refreshing lift for a Sixers locker room that could use it, and particularly for friend Nerlens Noel, who’s been a part of the losing from the start of the GM Sam Hinkie era, observes Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine.
The struggles that Kevin Love has endured in Cleveland vindicate Kurt Rambis to a degree for their failure to connect when they were together with the Timberwolves, but their history is nonetheless disconcerting now that Kristaps Porzingis is another young big man struggling under Rambis’ coaching, posits Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. The slump the Knicks rookie is in doesn’t speak well for Rambis as the Knicks decide on a long-term head coach, Bondy contends.

Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 3/22/16

March 22nd, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported earlier today that Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons will likely have season-ending surgery this week on a torn meniscus in his right knee. Parsons, 27, left Friday’s game early with what the Mavs called a sore right hamstring. He sat out Sunday’s game, and an MRI revealed Monday that the torn meniscus was causing the hamstring pain, according to MacMahon. If going under the knife is indeed in Parsons’ future, it would be the second consecutive campaign to end prematurely for the player due to injury.

Though his current malady isn’t as severe as the one that required microfracture surgery last spring, this is still an alarming trend for the player. Parsons is still expected to opt out and hit free agency this summer, with the Mavericks the favorites to re-sign him, according to the ESPN scribe. Prior to his latest injury, Parsons was expected to be pursued by the Heat, Lakers, Nets, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Rockets and Nuggets. The Magic have also reportedly been primed for an aggressive run at Parsons in free agency this summer, and they loom as his top non-Dallas choice, as MacMahon previously reported, though it’s unclear how his latest injury affects how teams view the player.

This brings me to the topic for today: Is Chandler Parsons worth a maximum salary deal this offseason?

The Mavericks may be inclined to pony up that amount given the front office’s apparent fondness for Parsons as well as the team’s difficulties in landing upper-tier free agents the past few seasons. But even with the salary cap set to jump into the $90MM-$95MM range, inking Parsons to a deal in excess of $20MM per season is a major risk given his injury history. It’s also arguable whether Parsons would be worthy of the amount based on his numbers alone. He’s averaging 14.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game to go along with his shooting line of .474/.380/.705.

While Parsons is a versatile contributor who possesses a solid skill set, I’d find it difficult to justify paying Parsons top-dollar on his next deal even if he was completely healthy. But that’s merely my opinion and we’re looking for yours. So what say you? Is Parsons worth a salary in excess of $20MM per season given his production and injury history? If so, which team is the likeliest to break the bank to sign him this summer? If you don’t believe Parsons is worthy of top-dollar compensation, what contract parameters do you deem fair for all parties? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.

Western Notes: Mitchell, Parsons, D-League

March 22nd, 2016 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor sees a number of similarities with his current roster and the team he inherited upon purchasing the franchise in 1995, Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune relays. “I just think when we first bought it, we had a franchise that was pretty down and hadn’t done very well,” Taylor said. “We put a plan to get some young guys in here. That’s when we went out and took a gamble on KG [Kevin Garnett] and Stephon Marbury and our goal was to build for the long run and get a better team. We did that. It took us a while to get a championship team. In one sense we’re sort of like that again. We have a lot of young guys and we have to be patient, and I’m hopeful we’ll have a chance for the championship again, just like we did during those earlier years. So I’d say we’re similar.”

The owner was non-committal when asked if he would retain interim coach Sam Mitchell and his staff, though he did express his appreciation for the job Mitchell and GM Milt Newton have done, Hartman notes. “I like my coach, I like my general manager, they’re really nice people,” Taylor said. “We’re working together. What I told them is in this business of basketball, we’re going to do the whole season first and then at the end of the season we’ll do the evaluation.”

Here’s more from out west:

Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons is reportedly set to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, a procedure that would end his season. The 27-year-old is still expected to opt out and hit free agency this summer, but his history of knee woes may give a number of potential suitors pause. A league executive was asked recently if he would consider inking Parsons this offseason, to which he responded “nope” and pointed at his knee to indicate his reasoning, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com tweets.
Kevin Martin has seen limited action for the Spurs thus far, but coach Gregg Popovich is pleased with how the veteran is fitting in with the team, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News writes. “He’s been around long enough where he’s fit in pretty well,” Popovich said of Martin. “That was good to see, because he hadn’t played for a while and we didn’t know what was going to happen.” The 33-year-old shooting guard has appeared in six games for San Antonio and is averaging 4.2 points in 9.7 minutes per outing.
The Spurs have recalled center Boban Marjanovic and small forward Jonathon Simmons from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Marjanovic is averaging 23.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 26.4 minutes over three games with the Austin this season, while Simmons has logged 16.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds over four D-League appearances.
The Thunder recalled small forward Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.

Eastern Notes: Lue, Kilpatrick, Biyombo

March 22nd, 2016 at 9:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors are hoping that Bismack Biyombo will exercise his player option for 2016/17 and remain in Toronto for another season, Steve Simmons of The National Post writes. “I’m going to make it very hard for him,” said GM Masai Ujiri. “I’m going to try and do whatever I can to get it done. There are going to be other people who want this player. My job is to try and get it done.” The center noted that he was happy with the Raptors but added that he hasn’t made a decision regarding his option, Simmons relays. “To be here right now is amazing and it’s a blessing. To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about [free agency],” said Biyombo. “I love Toronto. I love the fans. I love everything about it. But the focus for me right now is for us to go as far as we can. I don’t see why [I wouldn’t sign here]. But really, I haven’t thought about it.” Biyombo inked a two-year, $5.755MM contract with the team last summer and Toronto only holds his Non-Bird rights, which could make re-signing the 23-year-old difficult if he opts out of his pact.

Here’s more from the East:

After two months on the job as coach of the Cavaliers, Tyronn Lue hasn’t cured the team of its pre-existing inconsistencies on the court, which makes judging his performance difficult, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes. The ESPN scribe does note that the team’s defense has taken a hit since Lue took over the reigns, with Cleveland ranked 14th in defensive rating and a woeful 20th in defensive field goal percentage under the new coach. Cleveland was ranked fifth in defensive rating and ninth in field goal defense before David Blatt was fired. Lue is still adjusting to being a head coach, a move that is more challenging than he believed previously, Windhorst adds. “When I was a player for Doc [Rivers], I never used to understand why he got mad at the little things,” Lue said. “Now I see why coaches get mad about little, small things. It happens a lot. Things I want to do, things I want [to] implement, it’s been tough to do it midway through the season.”
Sean Kilpatrick‘s multiyear deal with the Nets includes a fully guaranteed salary of $980K for 2016/17 and a non-guaranteed salary of $1.05MM for 2017/18, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The three-year length means the team used a prorated portion of its mid-level exception to sign him.
Melvin Ejim, who was in training camp with the Magic earlier this season, has signed with the Italian club Reyer Venezia, the team announced (translation courtesy of Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Orlando’s D-League affiliate waived Ejim to allow him to sign overseas.

Cat Barber To Enter Draft

March 22nd, 2016 at 8:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:47pm: Barber has informed coach Mark Gottfried that he intends to remain in the draft and will not be returning to school, Aaron Beard of The Associated Press reports.

3:16pm: North Carolina State junior point guard Cat Barber will test the waters for the NBA draft, a source told Evan Daniels of Scout.com. That means he’ll enter the draft but won’t immediately hire an agent, retaining his college eligibility in case he decides to withdraw before the May 25th deadline for him to pull out. The 6’2″ 21-year-old, who’s sometimes known under his given name of Anthony Barber, is the 39th-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings but just No. 64 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

Barber had a breakout season for the Wolfpack, averaging 23.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.6 turnovers per game. He shot 36.1% from 3-point range, a few ticks lower than the 38.0% shooting he displayed his sophomore year. He had eight games of 30 or more points, three of which came against NCAA Tournament teams. N.C. State finished just 16-17.

This season was the manifestation of the promise he showed coming out of high school in 2013, when he was a McDonald’s All-American and the 24th-best prospect in the RSCI listings. That put him right behind Tyler Ennis, who’s already in his second NBA season after spending just one year at Syracuse. Barber’s quickness helps set him apart, according to Ford.

Pacific Notes: Cauley-Stein, Williams, Wilcox

March 22nd, 2016 at 8:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein takes umbrage with those who label him as strictly a defensive player, noting that he has a complete set of skills, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. “I’m a hooper. I do everything – I do it all,” Cauley-Stein said. “So when that stipulation leaves, it’s going to be cool where you’re just not [a defender], but I don’t think it ever will. People don’t want to see that. People ain’t ready for that. They want it to be, ‘You’re a defensive stopper.’ Well, I’m a defensive stopper, and I’ll go get 20 on you if I get the chance. I haven’t got the chance thus far in my career, but I’ve got it in me. I’ve got a lot of different things. Just waiting on the time to do them or having the green light to just hoop. But that comes; I’m a rookie. I kind of have to just wait and perfect it in practice.” The 22-year-old is averaging 6.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 block per game to go along with a slash line of .592/.000/.622.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Alan Williams‘ multiyear deal with the Suns calls for him to earn $875K next season and that amount is non-guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link). It looks like Pincus is rounding up from the one-year veteran’s minimum salary of $874,636.
Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes is eligible to become a restricted free agent this offseason and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes that he’ll command an average salary of around $20MM per year on his next deal and that the player will receive multiple free agent offers, as he told 95.7 The Game (Twitter link). Golden State, provided it submits a qualifying offer worth $5,194,227, will have the right to match any offer sheet that Barnes signs.
The Clippers have assigned shooting guard C.J. Wilcox to the D-League, the team announced. Wilcox, who is making his fourth trek to the D-League on the campaign, will report to the Canton Charge as part of the league’s flexible assignment rule, since L.A. does not have its own affiliate.

Caleb Swanigan To Enter Draft

March 22nd, 2016 at 7:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Purdue freshman Caleb Swanigan intends to test the waters and enter the NBA Draft, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports reports (Twitter link). The power forward doesn’t intend to hire an agent, Rothstein notes, which means that he’ll retain his college eligibility in the event he decides to withdraw before the May 25th deadline for him to pull out.

The powerfully built freshman was projected to be taken in the latter part of the first round next year, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 25 in his latest mock draft for 2017. It does remain to be seen whether or not Swanigan’s girth will be an issue with NBA teams and scouts, given that the 6’8″ forward weighs in at a sturdy 275 pounds.

Swanigan appeared in 34 games for the Boilermakers this season, averaging 10.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 25.7 minutes per outing. The power forward’s shooting numbers on the campaign were .461/.292/.713.

And-Ones: Morris, Lawson, Wade, Beasley

March 22nd, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s an awkward situation for the Morris twins these days, as Markieff Morris tries to lift the Wizards to a playoff spot while Marcus Morris makes the same effort for the Pistons, one of the teams standing in Washington’s path. Still, both agree that the Suns wronged them, as they tell Michael Lee of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Markieff Morris told Lee he never would have put pen to paper on the extension he signed in 2014 if he knew they would trade his brother, while Marcus Morris continued his criticism of the Suns for their failure to provide advance warning of the offseason swap. “Personally, I think he did a lot for Phoenix. He took a lot of sacrifices for Phoenix. For them to do such a thing, I feel like they backstabbed him,” Marcus Morris said about his brother. “I think if they had just reached out to him, reached out to both of us and said, ‘Listen, this is our direction. We don’t think this is going to work.’ We would understand, that’s what has to happen but by the fact that they didn’t do that, it made it worse. … He just didn’t want to be there. He didn’t feel the vibe.”

Phoenix traded Markieff Morris to Washington at the trade deadline, months after he demanded to be traded. See more from around the NBA:

Ty Lawson received one year of probation stemming from a guilty plea he submitted to charges related to his drunken driving arrest in January 2015, reports Tom McGhee of The Denver Post. It’s separate from the case involving a second DUI arrest that took place in July 2015. The NBA suspended Lawson, now with the Pacers, for a total of five games for both arrests earlier this season.
Dwyane Wade walked back the suggestion Pat Riley made that he might play until he’s 40, notes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, but it’s clear that the relationship between the Heat and the 34-year-old star is strong, and seemingly in much better shape than when Wade reportedly considered leaving Miami last summer. Wade instead signed a one-year, $20MM contract that will make him a free agent against this coming offseason. “It’s just at this point I’m not thinking about playing until 40, no way, no how, at this point,” Wade said. “But I’m 34, so I’m just thinking about each year, each year, and keeping going from there.
A number of NBA executives project Malik Beasley as a mid-first round pick in this year’s draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The assessments of the executives Kennedy spoke with differ from a number of current predraft rankings, with ESPN’s Chad Ford listing Beasley at 45th overall in his latest mock draft and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slotting Beasley 32nd on his list of the top 100 prospects.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Kris Dunn Declares For Draft

March 22nd, 2016 at 2:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:31pm: Dunn confirmed the news to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, adding that he’ll hire an agent.

12:37pm: Providence junior point guard Kris Dunn will enter the NBA draft, sources said to Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com. It’s unclear whether Dunn has plans to immediately hire an agent, but if he holds off, he can withdraw from the draft at anytime until May 25th, 10 days after the end of the draft combine. It nonetheless seems unlikely he’d go back for his senior season, since he’s projected as a top-10 pick. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 5 in his rankings, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him seventh.

Dunn improved his stock from last year, when he was projected to go in the middle of the first round but decided to stay at Providence instead. The 6’4″ 22-year-old won a second straight Big East Player of the Year award this season and continued to show improvement from behind the arc, nailing 37.2% of his 3-point looks on 113 attempts. He took only 16 3-pointers in his first two college seasons. His scoring went up to 16.4 points per game from 15.6 last season, though he was less of a distributor this year, with his assists and turnovers both down.

Teams looking for a point guard in the lottery will have to determine whether they like Dunn or Kentucky’s Jamal Murray better. Ford has Murray on top of Dunn while Givony has them reversed. That’s assuming Murray, a freshman, declares for the draft, though that appears to be a likely proposition.

Dunn is the more polished prospect, having begun college ball in 2012/13 as the 20th-ranked prospect coming out of high school. He redshirted the next season because of right shoulder surgery that cost him all but four games.

Atlantic Notes: Thompson, Biyombo, Hollis-Jefferson

March 22nd, 2016 at 2:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jason Thompson is proving a wise pickup for the Raptors, as his performance amid minor injuries to Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson shows, opines Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. The addition, which forced the team to release Anthony Bennett to clear a roster spot, didn’t do Toronto any favors with Bennett’s agency, Excel Sports Management, according to Ganter, who nonetheless believes that having Thompson ready to contribute if needed is worth it. “For me, I just know being in the league eight years, I wanted to let them know I wasn’t coming into here trying to mess things up,” Thompson said. “Obviously this is a very successful team. It’s late in the season. We still have high goals going into the playoffs with a lot of confidence as well so it’s good to see. God forbid anything happens with injuries later down the line, but everyone is ready to go. Even [rookie] Delon [Wright], really played big minutes for us as well. Guys are always ready.”

See more from Toronto and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

Bismack Biyombo is a fitting complement in many ways to a healthy Valanciunas, observes Chris O’Leary of the Toronto Star, who, like Ganter in the second half of his above-linked piece, contends the center has given the team value that far outstrips the two-year, $5.755MM contract he signed in the offseason. It would be a tight squeeze for the Raptors, who’d only have his Non-Bird rights, to re-sign him if he turns down his player option for next season, both scribes argue.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will likely play tonight for the first time since suffering a broken ankle in December, according to the Nets, who listed him as probable for the game just an hour and a half after Hollis-Jefferson and interim Nets coach Tony Brown raised the specter of him perhaps missing the rest of the season, notes Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Jerian Grant holds promise, as his 14-point outburst Sunday showed, but the concerns about his jump shot that kept him undrafted until the 19th pick this past year have manifested in just a 28.3% accuracy rate on jumpers this season, Brian Lewis of the New York Post points out. His inconsistency has also been maddening, but Knicks coach Kurt Rambis remains faithful, as Lewis relays.

Month: November 2024