2017 March | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Notes: Beal, Brooks, Jennings

March 8th, 2017 at 8:06pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Bradley Beal believes the arrival of coach Scott Brooks has changed the culture in Washington, as he writes on his new blog.

“With Coach Brooks, it’s never been about one player dominating the game, or winning us a game,” Beal writes. “There’s no favoritism for any of us. We’re all being held to a high standard, and knowing that has actually given all of us confidence. Coach trusts us all with the same responsibility, from the top down, and it’s spread throughout the players, too. The team atmosphere is great. It’s a family, brother-like atmosphere.”

Here’s more from Washington:

In the same piece, Beal praised the Wizards‘ recent roster moves. “We picked up a couple guys recently that should help us a lot,” Beal writes. “Bojan Bogdanovic is a scorer, and he showed that against Orlando the other night. We just tell him, ‘If you’re open, you knock it down,’and he does that. He has a big body, and he’s able to switch from defense and help us out on the glass, too, which should make things a little bit easier for us. Brandon Jennings is a good addition, too. He’s a fierce, feisty guard, and I think he’ll definitely intimidate point guards on other teams.”
Brooks wants Jennings to be more aggressive on offense and the point guard feels his new coach has helped him to be more confident on the floor, Chase Hughes of Comcast Sportsnet relays. “I think this is the first coach to ever tell me to shoot more,” Jennings said. “Honestly. When I first came into the league, shooting wasn’t really that popular where guys didn’t really like point guards to shoot that much. Now it’s like ‘shoot the ball.’ I’ve gotta get back to that.”
The Wizards‘ bench appeared to be holding the team back earlier this season, but after making upgrades, the team is prepared to make a deep postseason run, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post opines. Buckner is particularly high on Bogdanovic, adding that he can play with the starters or lead the second unit.

Ty Lawson Facing Legal Troubles?

March 8th, 2017 at 6:22pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Ty Lawson was arrested in 2015 for drunk driving and TMZ Sports reports that he violated the terms of his probation, which resulted in a bench warrant being issued for his arrest.

Lawson was sentenced to a year of probation in March of 2016 after pleading guilty to one count of driving while impaired and failing to drive in a single lane, Kirk Mitchell of The Denver Post relays. He was required to stay completely sober and submit to drug testing. He allegedly tested positive for alcohol twice in the month of September and once last month. He also failed to complete his mandatory community service.

Lawson’s attorney issued a statement to deny the reports and clarify the situation, as James Ham of Comcast Sportsnet relays (Twitter link).

“Reports that there is a warrant out for Mr. Lawson’s arrest are incorrect. On March 22, 2016 the court reset this matter for March 22, 2017 to review Mr. Lawson’s probation status. All related matters will be reviewed by the court at that time.”

The Kings play the Bucks on March 22 and they will likely be without Lawson as he appears in a Denver courtroom. If he fails to show up for his court date, a warrant for his arrest will be issued.

Carmelo Anthony Hopes To Play 20 Seasons

March 8th, 2017 at 4:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Carmelo Anthony is currently in the midst of his 14th NBA season, and he thinks he still has several more years left in him. As Marc Berman of The New York Post writes, Anthony has set a goal of playing 20 total seasons in the NBA, which would mean another six more years starting in 2017/18.

“I would love to get 20 in, I could do 20,” Anthony said on Wednesday. “I could do 20. I’ve done a great job taking care of my body. I’ll continue doing that. No severe injuries. I can see myself going for 20.”

The 2022/23 season would be Anthony’s 20th, so he still has quite a ways to go. Major injury problems or a significant drop-off in his production in the coming years could force the veteran forward to eventually reevaluate that goal. However, more and more NBA stars are approaching that two-decade mark as of late.

Dirk Nowitzki, who surpassed the 30,000-point mark on Tuesday night, has said he plans to return for 2017/18, which will be his 20th season. Vince Carter has also expressed a desire to put off retirement for at least one more year and get to his 20th season. Even Jason Terry, who will have to play two more seasons to get to No. 20, said last month that he hopes he can pull it off.

While Anthony is no longer the superstar scorer he was four seasons ago, when he led the NBA with 28.7 PPG, his numbers haven’t fallen off substantially. The longtime Knick, who earned his eighth consecutive All-Star nod this season, is averaging 23.2 PPG through 62 games.

Anthony has never averaged below 20.8 PPG in a season since entering the NBA, and while that won’t continue forever, he has a chance to reach some milestones of his own in the next few years if he can stay healthy, either in New York or with another team. Earlier this season, he passed Charles Barkley to become the league’s 30th-leading scorer of all time.

Pelicans Sign Wayne Selden To 10-Day Contract

March 8th, 2017 at 4:53pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 8: The Pelicans have officially signed Selden to a 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).

MARCH 7: The Pelicans continue to rotate through free agent guards, and are lining up a 10-day deal for another new addition. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), the club is expected to call up Wayne Selden from the D-League to fill the current opening on the roster.

Selden, a former Kansas guard who went undrafted in 2016, caught in with the Grizzlies last summer and was a member of the club for training camp and the preseason. However, he didn’t earn a spot on Memphis’ regular season roster and ultimately landed with the team’s D-League affiliate in Iowa. In 34 games for the Energy, Selden averaged 18.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.9 APG, with a shooting line of .451/.357/.660.

After sending Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and Langston Galloway to the Kings in their deal for DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans have experimented with a number of new guards on 10-day contracts. Hollis Thompson, Jarrett Jack, and Reggie Williams were the team’s original signees, and of the three, only Thompson earned a second 10-day deal. Jack suffered a meniscus tear, while Williams, whose 10-day contract expired overnight, apparently won’t be re-signed.

The Pelicans signed Jordan Crawford to a 10-day deal on Monday and he made an immediate impact for New Orleans by scoring 19 points last night. Selden, who worked out for the team last month, should be active for Wednesday’s game, assuming the two sides finalize a deal today or tomorrow.

Once the signing of Selden becomes official, the Pelicans will once again have a full 15-man roster, with 12 guaranteed contracts and three players on 10-day pacts.

And-Ones: Lowry, M. Gasol, D-League, BIG3

March 8th, 2017 at 4:21pm CST by Luke Adams

All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, who underwent wrist surgery last week, confirmed that the injury wasn’t exactly a new one. As Mike Ganter of The Toronto Sun details, Lowry has been dealing with wrist problems for a while, but aggravated it prior to the All-Star break, necessitating surgery.

“From what I’ve been told, it’s a 10-year process,” Lowry said. “It’s a long process of wear and tear, and bumping and grinding, and hitting guys. It’s a little bit of wear and tear. It was just at the point where it got a little bit worse to the point where I couldn’t play. If it’s that serious for me, I knew it was something that needed to be checked on.”

Although Lowry has a plan in mind for when he’d like to return, the Raptors guard was unwilling to lay out his recovery timetable publicly, telling reporters that he just wants to be sure he’s “completely healthy” when he gets back on the court: “I don’t want to have to be not full Kyle going into any situation. I want to be able to go out and play and not have any hold-back.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from across the NBA:

After signing with Octagon Sports last year, Grizzlies center Marc Gasol has left that agency and is currently without representation, reports Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (via Twitter). Gasol’s max contract won’t expire until at least 2019, so he won’t need to negotiate a new contract anytime soon.
While most NBA pundits who handed out grades for deadline trades did so just hours after the trade deadline passed last month, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer decided to wait a couple weeks to see how players meshed with their new teams. The Wizards, Raptors, Mavericks, and Rockets are among the teams to get high grades, while the Pelicans have earned an F so far, with the potential for an eventual A if they can figure things out with DeMarcus Cousins.
Former NBA players Jabari Brown, Jerrelle Benimon, and Shane Edwards have signed D-League contracts, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back (all Twitter links). As Reichert notes (via Twitter), Brown’s rights are held by the Santa Cruz Warriors, while Benimon’s are held by the Delaware 87ers.
Allen Iverson and DerMarr Johnson will serve as co-captains for a BIG3 team called 3’s Company, according to the league’s website. Iverson and Johnson will fill out the rest of their five-man roster via the BIG3 draft pool.

Cavaliers Plan To Waive Andrew Bogut

March 8th, 2017 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Andrew Bogut‘s stint with the Cavaliers will end after just 58 seconds of game action. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net report that Cleveland intends to waive Bogut soon in order to open up a spot on the team’s 15-man roster. The team figures to fill that roster opening with another player, despite the luxury tax ramifications.

Early in his first appearance as a Cavalier, Bogut went down with a leg injury that was later diagnosed as a broken tibia. The Cavaliers issued a press release today announcing that Bogut wouldn’t require surgery to repair the injury. However, the club ruled him out for the rest of the regular season and the postseason, suggesting that he should be recovered in time to participate in an NBA training camp. Per McMenamin, the former No. 1 overall pick intends to rehabilitate his leg injury in his native Australia.

The Cavs had hoped to lean on Bogut for size, rim protection, rebounding, and veteran experience down the stretch and in the playoffs. Now, the they’ll have to look elsewhere for a 15th man. According to McMenamin, Cleveland is more likely to target a specific free agent and make an offer than to hold another audition for several free agents.

If the Cavs look to sign another big man, veterans like Anderson Varejao, Larry Sanders, Kendrick Perkins, Jared Sullinger, Carl Landry, and Luis Scola are among the names on the free agent market. If Cleveland is willing to go after a player with less experience, D-League standouts such as Walter Tavares, Keith Benson, and Eric Moreland could also be options.

According to McMenamin, the Cavs will likely make an adjustment to their roster after their upcoming road trip. The team will play in Detroit on Thursday, Orlando in Saturday, and Houston on Sunday. Although Bogut is out, the Cavs will likely get some reinforcements during that trip — J.R. Smith, out since December with a broken thumb, has been cleared to practice fully, and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game.

The Cavs will take a financial hit by paying Bogut’s remaining salary and potentially adding another salary to their books, with tax penalties multiplying those charges. However, the cost won’t be exorbitant. As of today, a minimum salary deal for the rest of the season would count for about $208K on a team’s cap — the Cavs would also be on the hook for an extra tax payment of about $519K for such a deal.

Sixteen 2016 First-Rounders Have Had D-League Assignments

March 8th, 2017 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Twenty-two of the NBA’s 30 teams have D-League affiliates this season, and that number appears set to increase to 25 for the 2017/18 season. As a result, NBA clubs are assigning players to D-League affiliates and recalling them from those assignments at a greater rate than ever.

Since most NBA teams own and operate their own D-League affiliate, those NBADL clubs are being used more and more for developmental purposes. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that so many of 2016’s draft picks have been sent on D-League assignments this season. Still, the number of first-rounders who have seen D-League action is a little higher than anticipated.

Three of 2016’s first-round picks remained overseas, and one – Ben Simmons – has been injured all season. Of the other 26 first-rounders, 16 have been assigned to the D-League at least once, and many of those players have spent extended time with NBADL squads.

Here’s the full list of 2016 first-rounders who have been on D-League assignments this season:

Toronto Raptors: Jakob Poeltl
Atlanta Hawks: Taurean Prince
Sacramento Kings: Georgios Papagiannis
Chicago Bulls: Denzel Valentine
Denver Nuggets: Juan Hernangomez
Memphis Grizzlies: Wade Baldwin
Detroit Pistons: Henry Ellenson
Denver Nuggets: Malik Beasley
Atlanta Hawks: DeAndre’ Bembry
Sacramento Kings: Malachi Richardson
Philadelphia 76ers: Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
Los Angeles Clippers: Brice Johnson
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam
Sacramento Kings: Skal Labissiere
San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray
Golden State Warriors: Damian Jones

Some of these players have held rotation roles for a good chunk of the season with their respective NBA clubs, and have only appeared sparingly in the D-League. Poeltl, Hernangomez, and Siakam are among the players whose NBADL stints have been extremely brief.

However, many 2016 first-rounders have spent much of the season improving aspects of their game in the D-League. Papagiannis, Baldwin, Ellenson, Labissiere, Murray, and Jones have all appeared in at least 15 NBADL games, and some of those players have made a real impact for affiliates.

Murray, for instance, has filled up the score sheet for the Austin Spurs, averaging 17.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 6.2 APG, and 2.0 SPG in 15 games for San Antonio’s D-League affiliate. Ellenson has recorded 17.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG for the Grand Rapids Drive, and they’ve played better when he’s in the lineup — the Drive are below .500 for the season, but 11-5 with Ellenson active.

It’s also worth noting that those teams playing their first-rounders most often in the D-League are all clubs with their own affiliates. The Kings, Pistons, Spurs, and Warriors are geographically adjacent to their NBADL teams, while the Grizzlies have a relationship with the Iowa Energy.

The NBA will never be a league like Major League Baseball, where even the highest draft picks generally spend a few years in the minor leagues before making any impact at the highest level of the sport. But NBA teams are increasingly using their D-League affiliates like minor league squads, sending their top picks to the NBADL to learn their systems and to play major minutes before throwing them into the fire in the NBA. It will be interesting to see how D-League expansion and the league’s new two-way contracts continue to shape that trend going forward.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Wolves Sign Lance Stephenson To 2nd 10-Day Deal

March 8th, 2017 at 2:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

MARCH 8: The Timberwolves have officially signed Stephenson to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Once this deal expires, Minnesota will have to decide whether or not to commit to Stephenson for the rest of the season.

MARCH 7: Minnesota will sign Lance Stephenson to a second 10-day contract, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Haynes adds that the move will take place on Wednesday.

Stephenson signed his first 10-day deal with the Wolves in mid-February and he suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain while playing for the team. Coach Tom Thibodeau recently said that Stephenson was “coming along” in his recovery and it was reported on Monday that another 10-day deal was likely.

Injuries have plagued the 26-year-old this season. He suffered a severe groin injury earlier this season, which forced the Pelicans to waive him and look at other options. His health has limited him to only 10 games with New Orleans and Minnesota this season.

Eastern Notes: Baynes, J.R. Smith, Celtics

March 8th, 2017 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Aron Baynes looked like a logical trade candidate for the Pistons prior to last month’s deadline, since he’ll likely become a free agent this summer and Detroit may not be able to re-sign him. However, as Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes, Stan Van Gundy preferred to roll the dice on retaining Baynes rather than accept a low-ball offer on the trade market.

“You couldn’t get enough of a return to make up for what we think we lose in him,” said Van Gundy, the Pistons’ president of basketball operations. “And even thought we know it’s about that-much-of-a-percentage we could have him back, we didn’t want to give up that percentage. … We have a lot of respect for him. He’s a guy that we obviously play really well with. And he’s a big part of what we’re doing now. We didn’t want to give him up.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

J.R. Smith, who hasn’t played since December due to a broken thumb, has been cleared to resume full practice, and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game in Detroit, the Cavaliers announced today in a press release.
Although they’re still hanging on to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics have some inner turmoil to deal with after Isaiah Thomas publicly voiced his frustrations earlier this week, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Pointing to Boston’s unusually strong record in close games, head coach Brad Stevens also admitted that the C’s might not be as good as their overall record suggests. “We’ve been fortunate. We have to get better,” Stevens said. “I think that everybody talks about chasing other teams or whatever the case may be. We have a long way to be what I think is competitive at a necessary level to be really good when it’s all on the line.”
The annual list of “Luke Walton All-Stars” from ESPN’s Zach Lowe includes several role players who could be headed for lucrative paydays in free agency, including Michael Beasley (Bucks), Dion Waiters (Heat), and James Johnson (Heat).
For most of the last year, the Sixers have been viewed as a team with too many centers and no long-term solution at point guard. However, John Smallwood of The Philadelphia Daily News wonders if the club might end up entering the 2017/18 season with more certainty at point guard than center, due to T.J. McConnell‘s solid and reliable play, as well as Joel Embiid‘s ongoing health issues.

Andrew Bogut Fractures Tibia, Out For Season

March 8th, 2017 at 11:33am CST by Milo Taibi

MARCH 8: Bogut’s tibia has been set and he is undergoing non-surgical treatment on the injury, the Cavaliers announced today in a press release. As expected, the veteran center will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, though he’s expected to complete his recovery in advance of training camp.

MARCH 6: Andrew Bogut suffered a fractured left tibia during the second quarter of Cleveland’s match-up with Miami. Per the team’s official website, Bogut was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for further imaging and evaluation (link). As Bobby Marks of The Vertical points out, while the Cavs could release Bogut to create an extra roster spot, they’ll still be on the hook for his salary.

The injury is a terrible stroke of luck for Bogut, who was making his team debut. With the addition of Bogut and Deron Williams, the Cavs had recruited highly sought-after veteran presence as they prepared to enter the postseason. While Bogut had weighed signing with the Rockets or Celtics, the Australian big man felt he had the best chance at a title in Cleveland.

If the Cavs opt to part ways with Bogut, there are a number of big men they could pursue in free agency. Jared Sullinger, Luis Scola, Omri Casspi, and Mike Scott are all playoff eligible. Additionally, the team’s interest in Larry Sanders could heat up, as David Aldridge of TNT speculates (Twitter link). Sanders is playoff eligible, as he hasn’t been waived this season.

Month: November 2024