Community Shootaround

Community Shootaround: 2016 NBA Draft Class

December 10th, 2016 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the 2016 NBA draft, No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons was considered the early frontrunner for the 2016/17 Rookie of the Year award. However, a foot injury derailed Simmons’ chances, and it’s his teammate Joel Embiid that now looks like the heavy favorite to be named this season’s Rookie of the Year.

Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, who breaks down the league’s top rookies on a weekly basis in his “Rookie Ladder” feature, has Embiid atop his most recent list, with Sixers teammate Dario Saric at number two. However, while Embiid and Saric are technically NBA rookies, having never appeared in a game before this year, both players are members of the 2014 draft class. Embiid, the No. 3 overall pick in 2014, missed his first two seasons due to injury, while 12th overall pick Saric remained overseas for two more years before arriving stateside.

The 2016 draft class, sans Simmons so far, is certainly represented on Howard-Cooper’s list. But according to the NBA.com scribe, it’s Malcolm Brogdon, a second-round pick, who ranks as 2016’s most impressive rookie so far. Top picks like Jamal Murray and Brandon Ingram show up a little further down the list, while others, such as Kris Dunn, Jaylen Brown, and Buddy Hield aren’t mentioned at all.

Meanwhile, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders observes (via Twitter), only two rookies – Embiid and Willy Hernangomez – have an above-average PER through the first quarter of the 2016/17 season, with late first-round picks or second-rounders like Pascal Siakam, Tyler Ulis, Brogdon, and Deyonta Davis showing up among the top 10 in PER.

There are typically some growing pains for rookies as they adjust to the NBA schedule and the NBA game, but prospects like Dunn and Hield, who played four years of college ball, were expected to have an impact right away. And Ingram was right there with Simmons as a consensus top-two player in the draft. So far, their play has been up and down.

That brings us to today’s discussion question: Which top picks in the 2016 draft class have impressed or disappointed you so far? Will those top picks who are struggling in the early going turn things around, or have you altered your view of their long-term outlook at all? And which of the later picks in the draft have stood out to you?

Jump into the comments section below to weigh in with your thoughts on this year’s draft class!

Community Shootaround: Jonas Valanciunas

December 8th, 2016 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

After Jonas Valanciunas was a non-factor in another Raptors loss to the Cavaliers earlier this week, Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun wrote that he was no longer convinced about the big man’s fit in Toronto. As talented as Valanciunas is, and as much promise as he is, the Raptors’ system runs through Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, meaning the club isn’t necessarily getting as much as it could out of Valanciunas.

Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca echoes this sentiment in a piece on Wednesday night, suggesting that Valanciunas’ development “has stalled some.” As Lewenberg observes, the Raptors have been playing some of their best ball lately without the young center playing a major role.

“I think a lot of it, and probably I’ll take the blame for it, is being in and out of the lineup because of the match-up situations,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said, per Lewenberg. “It doesn’t garner a lot of confidence and that probably has jerked him around a little bit. Every player goes through a situation where they’re not shooting the ball well, not scoring the way they’d like to. He’s not going to forget how to score, he’ll bounce back. At the same time, we’ve got to continue to try and win games, that’s our mission, our goal as he fights through it.”

According to Lewenberg, there’s no indication that the Raptors are exploring a potential trade involving Valanciunas, or even considering such a move at this point. The team won’t mortgage its future in an attempt for a short-term fix, and the former fifth overall pick is still just 24 years old and is under contract at a reasonable rate through at least 2018/19.

Still, Valanciunas’ age, potential, and contract would all make him a valuable trade chip as well, and if the Raptors like their current roster and believe they’re just one piece away from taking the next step and posing a serious challenge to the Cavaliers in the playoffs, it could make sense to explore a possible deal.

What do you think? Does it make sense for the Raptors to explore a possible Valanciunas trade to see if they could add a more compatible piece or two to their roster? Or should the team hang onto him, doing everything it can to continue his development and make him a long-term fit in Toronto? Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Jazz Extension Candidates

December 7th, 2016 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

Most NBA teams don’t even have one viable candidate for an in-season veteran extension on their rosters, but the Jazz, armed with the cap space necessary to renegotiate a deal and provide an immediate raise, have two realistic candidates for a new deal. George Hill and Derrick Favors were two of the five players we identified last month when we listed some veteran extension candidates worth watching.

The Jazz have until the end of February to work out an extension with Hill or Favors that gives them a raise for the 2016/17 season, and a few months later, the team’s extension window for two more key players will open. Starting on July 1, Rodney Hood and Dante Exum will be able to negotiate new contracts with the Jazz, as they enter the final year of their respective rookie deals.

The Jazz are currently sitting below the salary floor for 2016/17 and have more than $13MM in cap room at their disposal, but their favorable cap situation won’t last forever. Rudy Gobert‘s lucrative new extension takes effect in 2017/18, as his salary will jump by more than $19MM. Gordon Hayward is also on track to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and if Utah hopes to re-sign him, it will likely take a max deal, or something close to it.

With the salary cap projected to easily exceed $100MM for the first time in 2017/18, the Jazz will still have some flexibility to accommodate a couple more big-money deals, but the team may have to be selective about which of its extension candidates it locks up. Kincade Upstill of The Deseret News explored this subject earlier in the week, suggesting that an extension next year for Hood should be a “no-brainer.”

Upstill also likes the idea of keeping Hill in the fold, but writes that patience may be required for Favors and Exum. Both players are under contract through 2018, so it may make sense for the Jazz to wait for Favors and Exum to reach free agency rather than trying to extend them early. That’s especially true for Exum, who was selected fifth overall in 2014, but missed all of last season with an ACL injury and has yet to take a major step forward in his development.

What do you think? Which of Utah’s extension candidates should the team prioritize? Does it make sense to extend Hill or Favors during the 2016/17 season? Should Hood or Exum be locked up next offseason? Should the Jazz be willing to let some of those players walk? Jump into the comments section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Nerlens Noel

December 3rd, 2016 at 4:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Nerlens Noel seems like the odd man out in Philadelphia and while he hasn’t come out and demanded a trade, he clearly wouldn’t mind a change of scenery.

“I feel like it definitely needs to be figured out,” Noel said of the Sixers’ roster during training camp. “I think at the end of the day, again, you have three starting-caliber centers (Noel, Jahlil Okafor, and Joel Embiid). And it’s just not going to work to anybody’s advantage having that on the same team. That’s how I’m looking at it. I’m not opposed to anything, but things need to be situated.”

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed the perils of trading for the former No. 6 overall pick in his Trade Candidate piece. Noel reportedly doesn’t have a ton of value of the trade market with his injury history and his looming restricted free agency causing concerns. Still, Adams notes that getting back something in a trade is better than nothing for Philly, as Noel doesn’t appear to have a long-term future with the franchise.

So that leads us to tonight’s topic: Which teams should make an offer for Noel? What could Philly reasonably expect to get back in return for the 22-year-old?

Adams names Phoenix as an intriguing landing spot for Noel. The Suns could afford a pricey new contract for Noel and they could offer up Brandon Knight for him since the backcourt rotation of Knight, Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker hasn’t netted positive results for the team this season. Knight is likely the best player the Sixers could receive in return for Noel, though that’s just my speculation. However, it’s unclear whether Philadelphia would even want to acquire Knight since the franchise isn’t in a position to be competitive now and the point guard’s upside is limited.

Noel also carried limited upside, but his defense would be welcomed on many teams. The Warriors and Blazers are among the teams that could use his services, though each team would likely have to send back substantial salary in order to accommodate a deal, as Adams notes.

Construct your best Noel trade and let us know the details in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Community Shootaround: Grizzlies’ PG Situation

November 30th, 2016 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Mike Conley‘s name hasn’t come up often in discussions about the early frontrunners for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, but you could make a case that the veteran point guard has been one of the most important players to his team during the season’s first month.

As NBA.com’s advanced data shows, the Grizzlies have had a +6.5 net rating per 100 possessions with Conley on the court, compared to a -13.8 mark when he’s on the bench, a gap of 20.3. As a point of reference, the Rockets have a +6.4 net rating per 100 possessions when James Harden is in the game, as opposed to a -10.4 net rating when he’s not playing — that’s a gap of 16.8.

A glance at Conley’s traditional per-game numbers also reveals the extent to which he has contributed to the Grizzlies’ success this season. Memphis’ floor general is averaging a career-high (and team-high) 19.2 PPG to go along with 5.7 APG, and is shooting an incredible 46.7% from three-point range.

Given how important Conley is to the Grizzlies, it goes without saying that the back injury he suffered on Monday, which is expected to sideline him for at least six weeks, is a major problem for the team. Memphis has a solid 11-7 record so far, but the club is also missing Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, and Brandan Wright, and doesn’t have much point guard depth behind Conley.

After playing in Toronto on Wednesday night, the Grizzlies will face a challenging December schedule that includes two contests apiece against the Cavaliers and Celtics, along with games against the Warriors, Rockets, Jazz, Thunder, and Trail Blazers. Then, to start the new year, they’ll play road games against the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors within the first week. By that time, Conley may be nearing his return, but it’s possible Memphis will have slipped down the standings in the Western Conference.

Conley’s absence is expected to be measured in weeks rather than months, and the Grizzlies will give up their 2017 first-round pick if it doesn’t land in the top five, so it doesn’t make much sense for the team to try to tank at this point. Memphis will do everything it can to stay in the postseason mix, which may mean adding another point guard to a group that currently features a pair of rookies, Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin.

On Tuesday, we learned that the Grizzlies have expressed some interest in Norris Cole, who has a history with head coach David Fizdale, though he’s currently playing in China. Cole is hardly the only potential target for Memphis though — Xavier Munford, Mario Chalmers, Will Bynum, Toney Douglas, and Kendall Marshall have all been cited as possible options, though Chalmers is still recovering from an Achilles injury.

There’s also no shortage of promising point guards in the D-League at the moment. In a list put together this week by NBADL reporter Chris Reichert for Fansided.com, five of the top six candidates for an NBA call-up were point guards, including Briante Weber, Isaiah Taylor, and Spencer Dinwiddie. Of course, the Grizzlies already have two young point guards on their roster, so they may prefer a veteran as a short-term replacement during Conley’s absence.

What do you think? Should the Grizzlies sign a veteran free agent point guard? Should they look harder at D-League options? Or can they survive Conley’s absence with Harrison and Baldwin playing larger roles, treading water until their starting point guard returns? Jump into the comments section below and let us know how you’d handle the situation if you were running the Grizzlies.

Community Shootaround: Most Disappointing Teams

November 28th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams entered the 2016/17 season with at least a slightly different set of expectations, and in some cases the year-long goals for teams were massively different. For instance, if the Warriors had posted a .500 record for the first month of the NBA season, it would be viewed as a disaster. For the Lakers, a .500 mark through the first 18 games has been a pleasant surprise. So in any discussion about the NBA’s most disappointing teams so far, it’s worth considering that club’s preseason expectations.

In a piece for USA Today Sports, AJ Neuharth-Keusch identifies the five teams he thinks have been the NBA’s most disappointing clubs so far, starting with the Celtics. At 9-7, Boston is currently a top-six team in the East, and is only one game behind the No. 2 seed in the East. On the surface, that doesn’t look like a disappointing start, but the C’s had high expectations for this season, and have dropped some winnable games in the early going. For Boston, a 9-7 record, including a 4-3 mark at home, qualifies as disappointing.

The Trail Blazers, Pacers, Wizards, and Mavericks round out Neuharth-Keusch’s list, with Dallas earning the No. 1 spot. The Mavs entered the season with playoff aspirations and currently hold a league-worst 3-13 record, so that position is well-earned. The Wizards are also in the lottery despite expecting to be a postseason team, while the Blazers and Pacers are hovering around .500 rather than vying four a top-four seed.

In addition to those five teams, several other clubs have had underwhelming starts. The Pistons, Magic, and Heat are all bottom-six teams in the East, while the Timberwolves are off to a 5-11 start. Even the Knicks, who have clawed their way back to .500, have gotten off to an up-and-down start, with offseason signee Joakim Noah not meshing with the roster as well as they’d hoped.

What do you think? Which team has been the NBA’s most disappointing club so far? Which of these teams off to slow starts do you expect to turn things around, and which ones will underachieve all season long? Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Joakim Noah

November 26th, 2016 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

When the Knicks sent Robin Lopez to Chicago as part of the Derrick Rose trade, they were confident they could replace him by signing free agent center Joakim Noah. They got their man when Noah agreed to a four-year, $72MM deal, but they haven’t gotten the production they were expecting.

The 31-year-old is averaging 4.5 points and 8.8 rebounds through 13 games, and the Knicks are concerned about both his offense and defense. He is shooting just 32% from the foul line, which is part of the reason his fourth-quarter minutes have been sharply reduced.

The Knicks played two of their best games this week with Noah sidelined by the flu, and there are whispers that he might be better suited to a bench role. He started just two of the 29 games he played in Chicago last year before his season was cut short by a separated shoulder.

Noah posted three consecutive scoreless games before the illness hit, and the offense appears more fluid with Kyle O’Quinn as the starter or Kristaps Porzingis moving to center in a small-ball lineup. Noah acknowledged this week to Marc Berman of The New York Post that he feels “a step slow” and he has been “up and down” since the season started.

With the amnesty clause not expected to be part of the new CBA, there are fears that Noah could already be a sunk cost for team president Phil Jackson. Noah’s age, injury history and poor performance to start the season are all red flags, and there is a growing belief that the Knicks are a better team without him on the floor.

That leads us to tonight’s question: Was signing Noah a mistake or is it too early to judge? And if you believe it was a mistake, which available center would have been a better option?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Community Shootaround: Blazers’ Trade Possibilities

November 23rd, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers’ offseason spending spree has left the team “ripe for a trade,” Zach Lowe writes in his latest piece for ESPN.com. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about Portland’s trade possibilities, and the speculation makes sense — having extended C.J. McCollum, the Blazers are poised to blow past the salary cap threshold in 2017/18, so they’ll probably want to move a contract or two at some point unless they’re prepared to pay a huge tax bill.

As Lowe observes, general manager Neil Olshey pursued Hassan Whiteside in free agency this summer, and “has a well-documented fondness” for traditional low-post scorers like Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe, and Nikola Vucevic. Jusuf Nurkic, Tyson Chandler, and Kosta Koufos are a few of the other centers identified by Lowe as players the Blazers may chase at some point in a trade. Lowe also names Nerlens Noel, though he admits that the league “doesn’t quite know what to make” of the Sixers’ big man.

Making a deal with a team like the 76ers, Nets, Nuggets, or Suns, who all have an excess of cap room, could make sense if the Blazers are trying to shed some salary. As Lowe points out, a swap involving Lopez and Allen Crabbe, whom the Nets tried to sign in July, could make some sense, but CBA rules don’t allow Brooklyn to acquire Crabbe until the 2017/18 league year after he signed the team’s offer sheet.

It’s unclear which assets the Blazers would be willing to give up for a second- or third-tier center who might not move the needle significantly for the club. As Lowe notes, Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu would have value as trade chips, but they’re probably more valuable to Portland as players. Crabbe and Evan Turner, meanwhile, are in the first year of huge, long-term deals, which limits their appeal. According to Lowe, Turner was “almost as stunned as you” by the four-year, $70MM offer he received from the Blazers in the offseason — Turner excitedly told close friend Andre Iguodala about the offer, and his former teammate told him to accept it immediately.

In Lowe’s view, it would be more daring for the Blazers to explore the trade market for McCollum, though the ESPN scribe doesn’t expect the team to do so. For now, the team remains in wait-and-see mode on all of their players, as they assess how their pieces fit together.

What do you think? What sort of trade might make sense for the Blazers as they try to make the leap from solid playoff team to legit title contender? Is there a deal that could be out there sooner rather than later, or should the club wait until the 2017 offseason to seriously shake things up? Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts on Portland’s next step!

Community Shootaround: What Should Heat Do?

November 22nd, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we examined the Mavericks’ slow start and explored the next steps for a team that has avoided rebuilding for more than a decade and a half. Kevin O’Connor’s piece for The Ringer provided some context on the situation in Dallas, but the Mavs weren’t the only longtime contender identified by O’Connor as a team that should be tanking this season. O’Connor also suggested that the Heat, off to a 4-9 start after last night’s loss to the Sixers, should look toward the future.

The Heat were just one game away from an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in the spring, but this version of the team looks significantly different from that one. Veterans like Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, and – of course – Dwyane Wade are gone. Chris Bosh remains unable to play, and indications are that the team doesn’t expect him to return. Hassan Whiteside is thriving in an increased role, but he doesn’t have much help around him, and the Heat are off to a slow start.

As O’Connor observes, Heat president Pat Riley has long been averse to tanking, having said in the past that he doesn’t love the idea of having to do a full rebuild through the draft: “Lottery picks are living a life of misery. That season is miserable. And if you do three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I’m in an insane asylum.”

Still, the Heat’s core is somewhat lacking, with Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, and Josh Richardson joining Whiteside as the current building blocks. There’s certainly some talent there, but not enough to return to title contention. Miami will likely need to land another impact player to become a top team in the East again, and it remains to be seen where the team will find that guy.

South Beach is an appealing home for NBA players, meaning the Heat are always a major player in free agency, and the team should have some flexibility next summer, but top free agents may be reluctant to sign with the Heat if they’re coming off a lottery season. Additionally, having traded multiple future first-round picks in their deal for Dragic, the Heat aren’t loaded with future assets. And as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel observes, many of their veterans, such as Dion Waiters, Derrick Williams, James Johnson, Josh McRoberts, and Luke Babbitt, don’t have much trade value, due to their underwhelming performances or short-term contracts.

Riley has indicated that he intends to get another first-round pick for 2017 if it’s possible, which could mean trading Dragic at some point during the 2016/17 league year. The Heat also should end up with a pretty high draft pick of their own if they continue to struggle. If the 71-year-old Riley wants to accelerate the rebuilding process, he could attempt to turn Dragic and his first-rounder into a star via trade(s). But it may make more sense to exercise some patience and add some more young talent through the draft.

What do you think? Is it too early for the Heat to start to look ahead to 2017/18, or is this year’s team not a viable playoff contender? If Miami explores potential deals, is Dragic the only obvious trade candidate, or could they extract some value from other players? Does it make sense for the team to be patient with its rebuild or dangle its increasingly valuable 2016 first-rounder to try to land immediate help? Jump into the comments section below to share your opinions on the Heat!

Community Shootaround: What Should Mavs Do?

November 21st, 2016 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

The Dallas Mavericks have enjoyed an impressive run of success over the last decade and a half, finishing at or above .500 in each of the last 16 seasons. The last time the Mavs finished below .500 was back in 1999/2000, Dirk Nowitzki‘s second NBA season, when the team had a 40-42 record.

This season, however, the Mavs will face a major uphill battle to get to 41-41. Just a dozen games into the season, Dallas is already eight games below .500, at 2-10. Nowitzki, battling an Achilles injury, has missed time, as have veteran guards Deron Williams, J.J. Barea, and Devin Harris. The club’s top offseason addition, Harrison Barnes, has looked good, but his 21.3 points per game haven’t been enough to get Dallas more than a pair of victories so far.

It’s unclear at this point whether or not the Mavs will enter a full-fledged rebuild, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that the team is definitely keeping an eye on some young players as potential targets. There’s no sense at this time that the Mavericks will blow up their roster, but if they don’t turn things around and some of their veterans want to be traded to contenders, the Mavs could attempt to accommodate them, tweets Kyler.

Meanwhile, in a piece for The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor identifies Dallas as one of a handful of teams that should be tanking this season instead of going all-out to contend. As O’Connor observes, despite having some decent pieces in Barnes, Wesley Matthews, Justin Anderson, Dwight Powell, and Dorian Finney-Smith, the Mavs’ roster “badly needs an infusion of young talent.”

One team executive tells O’Connor that he thinks Dallas would only tank if Nowitzki’s injury issues persist throughout the year. In that scenario, veteran center Andrew Bogut would draw “plenty” of trade interest, according to the exec. The Mavs also hold their own first-round pick for 2017, so a bottom-five finish would give the team a chance at a top prospect.

What do you think? Should the Mavs hope they can get healthy and turn things around, or is it already time to start looking toward the future? If Dallas does decide to focus on next year, which of their vets should be on the trade block, and which ones should be retained as building blocks? Jump into the comments section below to let us know what you think!