Warriors small forward Andre Iguodala has been ruled out for Game 2 against the Spurs Tuesday night due to left knee soreness, reports Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. An MRI performed Monday revealed no structural damage, but the Warriors continue to be cautious with the veteran as they have done all season.
Iguodala will not be the only former NBA Finals MVP to be sidelined for the game. Spurs leading scorer Kawhi Leonard will also miss the contest. The Warriors lead the series 1-0.
During the Wizards‘ Game 7 loss to the Celtics, Washington’s bench was outscored 48 to 5. That glaring disparity was certainly not lost on John Wall, writes Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. In fact, Wall’s last words before leaving the court Monday night were, “Forty-eight to five,” which he then repeated before departing with, “Our bench had five points.”
Here’s more out of the Southeast:
Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward has earned a max contract, according to Randy Hollis of The Deseret News. Hollis admits that he had been wrong about Hayward and hopes that Hayward elects to return to the Jazz in free agency in a fascinating piece that touts the budding star’s basketball brilliance.
Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Northwest…
With the NBA draft lottery a mere hours away, the Knicks organization will soon learn where it will draft next month. The Knicks stands a 5.3% chance of grabbing the first overall selection and, at worst, will pick 10th overall. The team has trained its focus on wings and guards, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.
The Knicks delegation made up of Phil Jackson, GM Steve Mills, assistant GM Allan Houston, and head coach Jeff Hornacek interviewed Markelle Fultz, De’Aaron Fox, Justin Jackson, and Frank Jackson, at the combine, per Zagoria. Fox beamed about his desire to play for the Knicks in another piece Zagoria wrote for FanRagSports.com.
“I don’t know too much about the triangle,” Fox said. “Everyone says it’s hard to learn but if I go in there I’ll have to learn quickly. And Porzingis, he’s amazing, watching the NBA this year. I really paid attention to the NBA this year knowing I’m about to go into this business; I had to stop watching it as a casual fan and start thinking of it as a business aspect. He’s great and if I get to play with him, I feel like we can do something special.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
The Wizards’ 2016 offseason, which included huge new deals for Bradley Beal and Ian Mahinmi, received mixed reviews. However, while Mahinmi battled injuries and didn’t have the impact Washington had hoped, Beal delivered on his contract extension with a career year, and new head coach Scott Brooks turned out to be the Wizards’ most important offseason addition.
After coming within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Wizards will now have to decide whether to follow up Beal’s deal with a similarly lucrative extension for Otto Porter. The club’s lack of cap flexibility will make it tricky to acquire additional reinforcements whether or not Porter returns.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Wizards financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:
Guaranteed Salary
Player Options
Team Options
Non-Guaranteed Salary
Restricted Free Agents
Cap Holds
Trade Exceptions
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Maximum Cap Room: $6,646,794
Footnotes:
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.
The Hawks placed former team president Mike Budenholzer and former GM Wes Wilcox into new roles earlier this month and it appears the team’s search for new front office members is progressing out of its “infancy stage.”
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) hears that Sacramento’s Scott Perry is being considered for the open GM position. The Kings hired Perry as their executive VP of basketball operations less than four weeks ago.
Earlier today, we learned that the Knicks have granted the team permission to interview their Director of Player Personnel Mark Hughes for the Hawks’ open GM position. Like New York, Houston will allow Atlanta to interview a member of its front office. The Hawks have their eye on Rockets VP of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas.
Atlanta is reportedly also considering Cavs GM David Griffin and Joe Dumars. The team also plans on discussing the position with TV analysts Chauncey Billups and Brent Barry.
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tried to serve as a Lakers recruiter with guest Paul George Monday night, relays Scott Horner of The Indianapolis Star. George can opt out of his contract next summer and is rumored to have strong interest in playing in his hometown of Los Angeles. “We would really like him to become a Laker,” Kimmel said in his introduction, then asked George several questions about joining the team. George talked about his plans to work out with Kobe Bryant this summer and said the former Lakers star is “the biggest person in my house. Not even me.” He made sure to tell Kimmel, “I love Indy, though,” leaving some doubt about how his free agency might play out next year.
There’s more news from the Pacific Division:
Wizards center Marcin Gortat plans to talk to his agent this summer to determine “if this is the right fit,” tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post.
Gortat claims he “did more sacrificing” than anyone and was underappreciated in his role with the team (Twitter link). He is also angry that Washington signed backup Ian Mahinmi to a longer contract than his last summer, saying, “I know how this business works.” (Twitter link)
Gortat still has two seasons and more than $26MM left on his current deal with the Wizards. This isn’t the first time he has been unhappy with his situation in Washington, as he frequently clashed with former coach Randy Wittman.
Junior guard Robert Johnson will withdraw from the draft and return to Indiana, according to Jon Rothstein of Fanrag Sports. Players who entered the draft but did not hire an agent have until May 24th to pull out and remain in school. Johnson averaged 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game with the Hoosiers this season. He was not listed among the top 100 prospects by DraftExpress and would have been a long shot to be taken this year.
There’s more draft news on lottery day:
The Magic have submitted a formal request to the Cavaliers to speak with GM David Griffin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Griffin is believed to be the front-runner to become Orlando’s president of basketball operations, with a report last month saying he will be offered the job when he becomes available.
The Cavaliers have not responded to the request, Wojnarowski adds, and have the option of holding onto Griffin until his contract expires at the end of June. With free agency starting July 1st, it’s possible that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will deny the interview request as a stall tactic to see if Orlando turns to someone else.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that Gilbert hasn’t made a substantive offer to try to keep Griffin, who built the Cavaliers into a championship team after LeBron James returned in 2014. James has been an outspoken advocate of keeping the GM, but his public comments seem to have had little effect on negotiations.
The Magic are getting ready to start interviewing other candidates for the position, including Hall of Famer Kevin McHale and Bucks GM John Hammond, who still has a year left on his contract in Milwaukee. Interim Magic GM Matt Lloyd has already been through the interview process and is highly thought of in the organization, according to Wojnarowski.
Orlando launched a front-office shakeup when the season ended, firing GM Rob Hennigan and assistant GM Scott Perry. The Magic plan to put control of the front office in the hands of a president, who will then hire the next GM.
The team faces competition from the Hawks, who recently relieved Wes Wilcox of GM duties. Griffin is seen as a candidate in Atlanta, along with former Pistons executive Joe Dumars, Rockets VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Knicks director of player personnel Mark Hughes and former players and current TV analysts Chauncey Billups and Brent Barry. Wojnarowski reports that the Hawks have received permission to interview Rosas and Hughes.