2017 March | Hoops Rumors

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/16/17

March 16th, 2017 at 9:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

9:59pm:

The Raptors recalled small forward Bruno Caboclo and power forward Pascal Siakam from their D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, the team’s media relations department tweets. Siakam wound up playing in the Raptors’ 123-102 loss to the Thunder on Thursday, contributing seven points in six minutes. Toronto assigned the same players to their D-League affiliate for practice purposes earlier in the day.

2:48pm:

The Cavaliers have recalled newly-signed big man Larry Sanders from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. The Canton Charge are in action tonight, but it appears that Sanders will be with the Cavs for their game against Utah instead.
The Knicks have recalled forward Maurice Ndour from the D-League, according to the team (Twitter link). Ndour has appeared in 13 games this season for the Westchester Knicks, averaging 13.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG.
Rookie guard Demetrius Jackson has been recalled from the D-League, while Jordan Mickey has been assigned to take his place on the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics announced today (via Twitter). It’s the fourth NBADL assignment of the season for Mickey.

Lakers Rumors: Brewer, D’Antoni, Zubac, Pelinka

March 16th, 2017 at 9:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran swingman Corey Brewer hasn’t been sulking over the trade last month that sent him from the contending Rockets to the lowly Lakers, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Coach Luke Walton credits Brewer for being a positive locker-room presence and helpful hand during film sessions despite losing out on a chance to play in the postseason. “He just has a great energy about him,” Walton told Feigen. “He makes the locker room a more enjoyable place to be. He’s been very pleasant to have around since the trade.”

In other news involving the Lakers:

Former coach and current Rockets head man Mike D’Antoni has only good feelings toward former GM Mitch Kupchak and previous executive vice president Jim Buss, Mark Medina of the Orange County Register writes. D’Antoni said Kupchak and Buss were fully supportive of him during the two seasons he coached the team, Medina continues. “They did everything for me they could possibly do. There’s nothing else to ask of them,” D’Antoni told Medina. “It was a tough time. We had to deal with a transition period and injuries.”
Rookie center Ivica Zubac has been one of the season’s few bright spots and he’ll remain in the starting lineup the rest of the season, Medina reports in a separate piece. Zubac, 19, posted a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds in his third start on Monday against the Nuggets. The team is thrilled with his development, Medina adds. “Zu is a very skilled player,” Walton told the assembled media. “It doesn’t surprise me when he has nights where he’s making shots.”
Rockets GM Daryl Morey believes president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka will be a formidable duo in the Lakers’ front office, Medina relays in another story. Morey was impressed how Johnson conducted himself as they negotiated the deadline deal that brought Lou Williams to Houston. He also felt Pelinka, who represented James Harden, Trevor Ariza and Eric Gordon, was one of the league’s top agents. “When you come from different backgrounds, sometimes that gives you an edge as you come in a new role,” Morey told Medina. “I like the concept. Magic did the smart thing in pairing up with him. I think it’s going to be a good team.”
Pelinka told the players that he will be open about the franchise’s direction and ask for their input during individual meetings after the regular season ends, Medina notes in a story posted by the Los Angeles Daily News. “They want us to know what their plan is for the future,” Zubac told Medina. “Whatever we want to find out, good or bad things, we’ll find out when we speak to him. That’s really good we’re involved with him.”

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year

March 16th, 2017 at 8:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy sang the praises of his Jazz counterpart, Quin Snyder, prior to their teams’ game on Wednesday.

“There’s always a lot of good coaching jobs done in this league but you’d have to put him in the top three or four in what’s he’s done with that team and bringing them [up] from last year,” Van Gundy said.

Certainly, Snyder would have to be on anyone’s short list for the NBA Coach of the Year award. The Jazz are cruising along at 18 games over .500 and have moved into fourth place in the Western Conference, ahead of the much-more heralded Clippers and Thunder. Utah suffered through numerous injuries last season and finished two games under .500, just missing the playoffs.

There are a few other coaches who have emerged as candidates for the honor as the regular season winds down. Certainly, the Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni has re-asserted himself as a major force in his profession. Following failed stints with the Knicks and Lakers, D’Antoni seemed to be at the end of his head coaching career.

D’Antoni got another chance in Houston and found the perfect situation because of its commitment to a high-powered offense and the 3-point shot. His decision to make James Harden the primary ballhandler has turned the Rockets into one of the league’s most feared teams, one year removed from a dysfunctional and disappointing season in which the Rockets finished with a .500 record.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is often taken for granted but he’s got his team in position to snatch away the top seed from the Warriors. San Antonio hasn’t missed a beat despite the retirement of Tim Duncan and a backcourt with only one player (Patty Mills) whose PER is above the league average of 15.0.

Over in the Eastern Conference, Wizards coach Scott Brooks has his team within striking distance of the top seed after it finished .500 last season. The Wizards have dealt with chemistry and locker-room issues in recent years but Brooks has them playing harmoniously.
Brad Stevens has continued to keep the Celtics on an upward trajectory, as they currently sit in the No. 2 spot.

The Heat’s stunning turnaround has moved Erik Spoelstra in the conversation. Left for dead at the midway point with an 11-30 record, the Heat have surged into playoff contention despite injuries to several rotation players.

That brings us to our question of the day: Who do you feel is most deserving of the Coach of the Year award and why?

Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Pelicans Re-Sign Jordan Crawford

March 16th, 2017 at 6:48pm CST by Luke Adams

6:22pm: The team confirmed in a press release that Crawford has been signed through the end of the season.

2:50pm: The second year of Crawford’s new contract will be non-guaranteed, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate.

1:38pm: Rather than signing a second 10-day contract with the Pelicans, Crawford has agreed to sign a two-year deal with the team, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). It’s not yet clear what kind of salary guarantees – if any – would be included for 2017/18.

10:30am: Jordan Crawford‘s first 10-day contract with the Pelicans has come to an end, but he’s expected to sign a second 10-day deal with the team, sources tell Justin Verrier of ESPN.com (Twitter link). New Orleans isn’t in action tonight, so the club will have until Friday’s game against Houston to get Crawford locked up to a new deal.

Few players on 10-day contracts make the sort of impact that Crawford has during his first week and a half with the Pelicans. The 28-year-old has assumed a key role off the bench for New Orleans, averaging 14.2 PPG and 3.2 APG in five games (23.4 MPG). A career .405 shooter (.306 on threes) prior to this season, Crawford has been scorching hot in his return to the NBA, with a .509 FG% and .519 3PT%.

The Pelicans, with 12 players on guaranteed contracts, had been carrying three guards on 10-day pacts to fill out their 15-man roster. Wayne Selden‘s deal hasn’t yet expired, and Crawford will be brought back, leaving just one open roster spot — Hollis Thompson‘s second 10-day contract expired this week, and he wasn’t re-signed by the club.

Assuming Crawford finalizes a new 10-day contract with the Pelicans today or tomorrow, that deal will expire later this month, at which point the team will have to decide whether or not to retain him for the season.

Northwest Notes: Ingles, Plumlee, OKC, Roberson

March 16th, 2017 at 6:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have several crucial roster decisions to make this offseason, including a couple that could be very expensive decisions. George Hill‘s contract will expire, Gordon Hayward can opt out and become an unrestricted free agent, and Rodney Hood and Dante Exum will be extension-eligible for the first time.

As Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune details in a mailbag, Utah will also have another key under-the-radar decision to make on Joe Ingles. In Jones’ view, Ingles has “outplayed the Jazz’s hopes for his ceiling as an NBA player.” While that’s good news, it will also make it tricky to keep him beyond this season, since he could be a hot commodity as a restricted free agent. Jones expects the Jazz to do everything they can to keep the veteran forward, even if it means moving someone else’s salary.

Here’s more from around the NBA’s Northwest division:

Much has been made of Jusuf Nurkic‘s impact in Portland over the last few weeks, but the Nuggets have liked their end of that February trade with the Blazers too. Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post takes a closer look at Mason Plumlee‘s play for his new team, including the big man’s defensive impact (mailbag link), and his fit alongside Nikola Jokic (column link).
Taj Gibson has fit nicely into the Thunder‘s starting lineup, and the team’s bench has been more productive since the trade deadline, but questions still remain about OKC’s rotation, writes Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman.
Michael Pina of Vice Sports makes a case for why Thunder forward Andre Roberson deserves Defensive Player of the Year consideration.
The $125MM renovation project for the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Utah will begin on Monday after the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, according to a Deseret News report. The brunt of the construction will take place during the NBA offseason and is expected to be complete in time for the Jazz‘s 2017/18 season.

Central Notes: Love, Wade, Sanders, Pistons

March 16th, 2017 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Love has been activated and will be back in action on Thursday, according to team’s official Twitter feed. The Cavaliers have played without their starting power forward for over a month, as he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on February 14th. Love told reporters, including Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that he was anxious to return after practicing on Wednesday. “I’m 28 years old, I feel like I’m just coming into the league again because I’m so antsy to get back,” Love said. “It’s good. You’ve got to trust the process, respect the process and give that leg time to heal, give injuries time to heal. But it’s not for lack of wanting to be out there.”

In other news around the Central Division:

The Bulls can hit the reset button if Dwyane Wade opts out of his contract, ESPN.com’s NBA analyst Kevin Pelton opines. The club could have significant cap space this summer if Wade, now out for the remainder of the regular season with a fractured elbow, turns down his $23.8MM player option and becomes a free agent again. That cap space could grow to approximately $50MM if the Bulls waive Rajon Rondo and stretch out his guaranteed money while also renouncing the rights to their other free agents, Pelton explains. Wade would probably have to settle for much less on the free agent market but opting out would allow him to join a contender such as the Cavaliers or Clippers, Pelton adds. The Spurs or even Warriors could be other possible suitors if Wade goes that route, according to the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, and the Bucks and Nuggets would also check in on him since they showed interest last summer.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue had to get permission to play newly-signed center Larry Sanders on Wednesday, according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Lue sent a ball boy into the stands during the team’s blowout victory over the Pistons to ask GM David Griffin if it was OK to play Sanders, who was supposed to get some work in the D League before making his Cleveland debut. Sanders wound up playing two minutes. “I really just wanted to introduce him to the crowd and have him get in, give him a chance to have a standing ovation,” told reporters including Vardon. “I thought it was good for him.”
The Pistons have only two players — Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — remaining on the roster since Stan Van Gundy became head coach and president of basketball operations. The only current rotation player that he drafted is backup swingman Stanley Johnson. That’s not a coincidence, since Van Gundy is more comfortable acquiring proven players. “It’s easier with pro guys in trades and free agency than it is with college guys in the draft,” he told the assembled media, including Hoops Rumors. “You get these one-and-done guys and you’re trying to figure it out to what they’re going to be four or five years down the road. That’s a lot more of a challenge. At least [with experienced players], they’ve got a body of work and they’ve been in NBA systems. You’ve seen them play. You can get pretty good information on them, so you have a better idea of what you’re getting than you do when you go in the draft.”

Nemanja Bjelica Out For Rest Of Season

March 16th, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves saw a key reserve go down on Wednesday night, as Nemanja Bjelica left the team’s game against Boston with a left foot injury. After Bjelica underwent an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury, the Wolves announced in a press release that the forward will miss the rest of the season.

The exact nature of Bjelica’s injury wasn’t specified by the Wolves in their announcement today. However, the team did say that the 28-year-old will seek medical opinions from “appropriate specialists” in order to determine his options for treatment.

A second-round pick in 2010, Bjelica finally arrived stateside for the 2015/16 season, and has appeared in 125 games for the Wolves since making his NBA debut, coming off the bench in all but one of those games. The 6’10” Serbian has been a steady presence for Minnesota’s second unit, averaging 5.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 18.1 minutes per contest over the course of his career. Bjelica had been playing even better as of late, with four double-doubles since the All-Star break.

Bjelica remains under contract with the Wolves for at least one more season. He’ll make just under $4MM in 2017/18, then will face a decision on a player option in the summer of ’18.

Celtics Notes: Thomas, Yabusele, Stevens, Ball

March 16th, 2017 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics look to make a push for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they’ll have to do so this weekend without star point guard Isaiah Thomas. The C’s announced today (via Twitter) that Thomas, who is dealing with a right knee bone bruise, won’t join the club on its road trip to Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

The Celtics are scheduled to play the Nets on Friday and the Sixers on Sunday, so Thomas will miss those two games. It’s not clear if his absence will extend beyond that. Boston has a big game on tap for Monday with the Wizards, who will be looking to gain ground in the standings and win their season series with the C’s, so Thomas is likely aiming to get back on the court for that contest.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The 16th pick of the 2016 draft, French forward Guerschon Yabusele, has signed a D-League contract and will join the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s NBADL affiliate, tweets Chris Reichert of The Step Back. As we noted on Wednesday, Yabusele has arrived in America following a season with the Shanghai Sharks, and the Celtics will get a chance to take a closer look at him in the D-League down the stretch, as long as his sprained ankle cooperates.
With the NCAA tournament getting underway today, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was asked about the possibility of colleges attempting to pry him away from Boston. As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe details, Stevens suggested that NCAA programs know better than to think he’d leave the Celtics anytime soon. “The only thing people usually call me for is to ask questions about candidates,” Stevens said. “Everybody has a pretty good idea of where I stand, and I think ultimately I’m going to be here. I think that’s pretty well known.”
There have been questions recently about whether Lonzo Ball‘s outspoken father, LaVar Ball, would negatively impact the UCLA guard’s draft stock among NBA teams. For his part, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said this week that he would “never hold a player’s family against a player if I like a player,” per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Celtics may be in position this spring to draft a player like Ball, since they’ll have a top-four pick.
For more Celtics news and rumors, be sure to check out their team feed, which includes an item from earlier this week on Yabusele’s fellow 2016 first-rounder, Ante Zizic.

Hornets Sign Johnny O’Bryant To Multiyear Deal

March 16th, 2017 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

1:15pm: The Hornets have formally confirmed O’Bryant’s new deal, which is a multiyear contract, according to a team release. Details haven’t been reported, but the pact likely includes a non-guaranteed salary for 2017/18.

9:08am: Johnny O’Bryant‘s second 10-day contract with the Hornets expired overnight, but the veteran forward won’t have to seek out a new team in free agency. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Charlotte intends to lock up Bryant with a deal for the remainder of the 2016/17 season.

O’Bryant, 23, spent time with the Nuggets earlier this season before catching on with the Hornets. He has been sidelined as of late with a sprained ankle, but has been decent in limited action during his time with the Hornets, averaging 4.5 PPG on 53.3% shooting in just 8.5 minutes per contest (four games).

Assuming O’Bryant signs for the minimum salary and his new deal is finalized today, it would count for $161,483 on the Hornets’ cap. Charlotte still has its prorated room exception available, so the team isn’t necessarily limited to the minimum salary, but I’d be surprised if O’Bryant gets more than that.

The Hornets will have a full 15-man roster once O’Bryant officially re-signs, though they could have a roster spot opening soon — Briante Weber‘s second 10-day contract with the team expires this weekend, so Charlotte will have to decide whether to retain him for the rest of the season as well.

Jeff Hornacek’s Job Not In Jeopardy

March 16th, 2017 at 12:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are on track to miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year, and this result’s will be particularly disappointing after a series of offseason splashes that saw the team acquire Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and others. However, head coach Jeff Hornacek‘s job is safe heading into the summer, a league source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Although the Knicks have an unimpressive 27-41 record this season under Hornacek, the Knicks’ coach has maintained a “strong rapport” with team president Phil Jackson and associate head coach Kurt Rambis, an NBA source tells Berman. As Berman explains, Derek Fisher‘s dismissal as head coach of the Knicks last season was prompted in part by Fisher’s lack of communication with Jackson and his resistance to Jackson’s involvement in aspects of coaching — Hornacek has been an improvement on both of those fronts.

Jackson recently took to the Knicks’ practice court to teach the triangle offense to the team’s guards in a hands-on manner. While that was viewed by some observers as the team president stepping on the head coach’s toes, Hornacek – who has suggested the triangle could help attract free agents – said he didn’t mind Jackson’s involvement.

“We talk about stuff all the time,” Hornacek said, per Berman. “When he comes out and demonstrates for guys, he’s so used to being out on the court. It’s fun for him to do. Guys getting another look at it from a guy who’s run it for years and years.”

If Jackson and Hornacek are on the same page regarding the triangle offense for next season, the Knicks’ coaching staff could undergo some changes, according to Berman, who notes that none of the assistants Hornacek brought in “knew the triangle from a rhombus.” And while not all of the Knicks players appear to be on board with the triangle, there may be less confusion next season if the club isn’t jumping back and forth between Jackson’s triangle and Hornacek’s hybrid offense.

“We’ll look at a lot of different things,” Hornacek said of the offense for next season. “Go back, step one. A lot of footwork and basic fundamental stuff as the season goes on you notice. Next year when we go into it, it’ll be more to that stuff before you even touch a basketball.”

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