Nuggets Rumors

Northwest Notes: Mitchell, Wolves, Nuggets

Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell reiterated his belief that he is developing players the right way after the Wolves ended their nine-game losing streak Sunday, Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune relays. Mitchell said that he is not frustrated with the Wolves’ struggles because he feels development is more important than wins at this point and added he hopes Wolves owner Glen Taylor understands that commitment.

“It’s bigger than me,” Mitchell said. “It may turn out that I’m here to see it. But it may turn out that I’m not. But the people in this league know there is a certain way we have to do this, and we understand that. And If I’m not a big boy enough to do it, I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you.’’

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • Wolves center Nikola Pekovic is exhibiting some rust after returning from the surgery he underwent back in April to repair damage to his Achilles tendon, but that is to be expected, according to Mitchell, Andy Greder of The Pioneer Press relays. After [five] games and we don’t get to practice because we play every other day, you ask me has Pek scraped off the rust? He is limited to 18 minutes a game, and I’m the person that’s prickly. Did that answer your question?,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think in 18 minutes in [five] games he’s going to scrape it off.”
  • Jazz rookie Trey Lyles has earned more playing time because of a vastly improved 3-point shot, Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune details.
  • Small forward Will Barton, who re-signed with the Nuggets this past summer on a three-year, $10.6MM deal after originally having joined the team via the Arron Afflalo trade, has come out of nowhere to contend for this year’s Sixth Man of the Year award, Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes.

And Ones: Papanikolaou, Clark, Inglis, RFAs

Kostas Papanikolaou, whom the Nuggets waived last week, will return to Olympiacos in Greece, according to Sport24 (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Papanikolaou, who won two Euroleague titles during his last stint with Olympiacos, will sign a contract that runs through June 2019. He was released twice this season by Denver, most recently on January 8th, just before the remainder of his veteran’s minimum salary of $845,059 would have been guaranteed for the season. Papanikolaou also played for the Rockets during his season and a half in the NBA, averaging 3.6 points in 69 games with the two franchises. The 6’8″ forward was sent to Denver in the July 20th trade that brought Ty Lawson to Houston.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Former lottery pick Earl Clark, who is playing in the D-League while hoping to earn a 10-day contract, was part of a trade Saturday, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Clark was sent from the Suns‘ Bakersfield affiliate to the Sixers‘ Delaware affiliate in exchange for a second-round D-League draft pick. The 27-year-old, who played 10 games with the Nets last season, hopes the move will give him a fresh start in his quest to return to the NBA. “It’s a grind,” Clark said of the D-League. “It’s definitely different from any other league. I just felt like [the NBA] was within my reach if I came down here and played well. I believe in my talent. I told myself I’m going to give myself another year to make this NBA thing work.”
  • The Bucks have sent Damien Inglis to the D-League, the team announced Saturday. Because Milwaukee doesn’t have a direct affiliate, Inglis will be assigned to the Westchester Knicks. He played for the Canton Charge during an earlier trip to the D-League.
  • Chasing restricted free agents is a risky way to pursue talent, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The danger is that while teams wait for other organizations to decide whether to match an offer, top talent could be signing elsewhere. Prominent RFAs this summer will include Andre Drummond, Harrison BarnesBradley BealFestus Ezeli, Allen Crabbe and Evan Fournier.

Western Rumors: Durant, Cauley-Stein, Gasol

Kevin Durant is irritated by the notion that the Thunder aren’t serious title contenders, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com. The media generally considers three teams — the Warriors, Spurs and Cavaliers — as the only ones that can win the championship this season, Young adds, and Durant feels his team is being overlooked. “Man, the [media and experts are] always trying to nitpick us,” Durant told Young. “I mean, they don’t like us. They don’t like how Russell [Westbrook] talks to the media, they don’t like how I talk to the media. So obviously, yeah, they’re not going to give us the benefit of the doubt. … They don’t mean nothing, the critics. Their opinions, everybody has one, but we don’t really care about them. Every day we’re just going to keep grinding this thing out. We feel like we can compete with anybody.”

In other news around the Western Conference:

  • Willie Cauley-Stein is meshing well with DeMarcus Cousins and that’s why the Kings rookie center has returned to the starting lineup, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports. Cauley-Stein’s defensive presence allows Cousins to play power forward and moves Rudy Gay to his natural small forward spot, giving the Kings an imposing frontcourt, Jones adds. Cauley-Stein missed two games with a finger injury. “It takes a load off me,” Cousins told Jones. “I’ve got a huge load a lot of games, and having Willie makes it easier and helps me out so much. I think he’s very seasoned on the defensive end for a rookie. He has the potential to be a very good player in this league, and I’m glad to have him back.”
  • Combo forward Kostas Papanikolaou,  who was caught off-guard by the Nuggets waiving him earlier this month, has attracted the interest of two Euroleague powers from Greece, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, according to Sportando via Sport24. Panathinaikos has made an offer through June 2018 while the Olympiacos offer runs through June 2017, the story continues. FC Barcelona holds Papanikolaou’s European rights and would have a week to match if he agrees to either offer, the story adds.
  • Marc Gasol‘s offensive numbers are down this season and Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger believes his veteran center looks worn down, he told Peter Edmiston of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Memphis’ lack of frontcourt depth has made it difficult for Joerger to reduce Gasol’s minutes. “He’s exhausted,” Joerger told Edmiston. “His legs are tired. He carries a heavy load and he’s exhausted. He won’t say it, but someone who’s been around him as much as I have, it looks to be that he’s banged up and he’s played too many minutes. It’s just what we’ve had to do; I don’t have a lot of options.” Gasol is shooting a career-low 44.5% from the field.

Nuggets Sign Sean Kilpatrick To 10-Day Contract

1:15pm: The signing is official, the team announced. Denver has five games in the next 10 days.

8:07am: The Nuggets plan to sign former Timberwolves and Pelicans shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Denver has an open roster spot, since it waived Kostas Papanikolaou last week. Kilpatrick has dazzled for the D-League affiliate of the Sixers this season, and he tops the D-League player rankings that Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor compiled today.

Kilpatrick, 26, is averaging 27.1 points in 38.5 minutes per game with 45.5% 3-point shooting on 164 attempts with the D-League Delaware 87ers this season. The Wizards reportedly gave him strong consideration for a signing last month. New Orleans signed him in September, but he didn’t shoot well from the outside during the preseason, nailing just six of 25 attempts from behind the arc, and the Pelicans cut him before opening night and before any of his salary became guaranteed.

The undrafted former University of Cincinnati standout grabbed his first NBA contract last season in large measure because he was in the right place at the right time. The Timberwolves needed someone to give them the NBA minimum of eight healthy players for a March game against the Knicks in New York, and Kilpatrick was close enough to get to the game on time. He played a fairly prominent role in his brief stint with Minnesota, which signed him to a 10-day contract, averaging 5.5 points in 17.9 minutes per contest, though he made just four of 13 3-point tries.

Kilpatrick reportedly had auditions with the Lakers, Spurs and Hawks, as well as a summer league stint with the Bucks, before landing with New Orleans in the offseason. The Nuggets, right around league average in 3-pointers made, surely hope his D-League shooting numbers are more indicative of his abilities than his NBA shooting numbers are.

Zach Links of Hoops Rumors spoke with Kilpatrick as he transitioned from college to the pros in 2014.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Jazz, Thunder

GM Tim Connelly has focused on finding talent that others have overlooked and that strategy has led the Nuggets to draft many international players, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “We’ve put a lot of emphasis in international scouting. … We want to be very well informed with any player in the world,” said Connelly. “Certainly the more well informed we are, hopefully we make better decisions. It just so happens that when we’ve selected guys, signed guys, traded for guys, we’ve had a pretty big international influence.”

The Nuggets employ one of the league’s top international scouting staffs, which is something that didn’t happen by accident. Connelly spent time early in his career as an international scout and the team’s assistant GM, Arturas Karnisovas, is a former FIBA Europe player of the year. Denver has one of the most international-heavy rosters in the league, which could make communicating with the team problematic, but first year coach Mike Malone doesn’t see it as a deterrent. “I don’t care where you’re from,” Malone said. “If you can play, I’m a fan of yours.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

And-Ones: Papanikolaou, Fredette, Kelly

Combo forward Kostas Papanikolaou was surprised by the Nuggets waiving him prior to Thursday’s leaguewide guarantee date, his agent George Sfairopoulos told Greek radio station Sport FM, according to Eurohoops.net. “Papanikolaou had many talks with people of the team, both from the front office and the coaching staff, and also I have spoken with assistant general manager Arturas Karnisovas. We have been told that the team will pick up his option for the rest of the season. However, that’s life and we are ready to respond to every situation,” Sfairopoulos said.

The agent also noted that if Papanikolaou decides to return to Europe to play, Barcelona of Spain would have the first opportunity to sign him. “Barcelona has his rights for Europe and the first word. If Kostas gets an offer from an other team, Barcelona can match it and sign him,” said Sfairopoulos. “At this point Kostas wants to get minutes on the court. That’s his number one priority.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • While he would prefer to be on an NBA roster, combo guard Jimmer Fredette is enjoying the opportunity to play he is receiving in the D-League, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports writes. “It wasn’t necessarily a letdown because I knew I had to do some things to get onto a team where I can thrive,” Fredette told Spears about being in the D-League. “That wasn’t going to be the case at the beginning of the year if you get to that 15th roster spot and then you sit there and don’t play much. It was kind of a breath of fresh air to go out and know you’re going to get some playing time, be able to play, do what you do, gain some confidence and get some reps. That was the biggest thing for me when I talked to my agent and my family, was to get reps, get confidence back and be able to show people what I can do again.
  • Fredette also told Spears that he considered overseas options in Italy, Greece, Serbia and Australia before deciding to join the D-League, and returning to the NBA is his primary goal. “I am playing basketball for the love of the game, but I also want to do what’s best for my career and my family. So whatever that is, we will take that path. We will see what happens in the future,” Fredette said.
  • The Lakers have assigned Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the fourth stint with the D-Fenders on the season for both players.
  • The Thunder recalled Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.

Nuggets Waive Kostas Papanikolaou

FRIDAY, 7:46am: The team still hasn’t publicly announced the move, but Papanikolaou’s release did take place Thursday before his salary would have become fully guaranteed, according to the RealGM transactions log.

THURSDAY, 11:49am: The Nuggets are releasing Kostas Papanikolaou for the second time this season, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Denver will be on the hook for $350K to him pursuant to his partial guarantee, providing he clears waivers, though the team will avoid paying most of his prorated one-year veteran’s minimum salary of about $800K if it formally releases him by the close of business today, as expected. The Nuggets had him on a non-guaranteed deal over the summer after bringing him in via the Ty Lawson trade, but they waived him at the start of training camp, only to re-sign him November 5th when injuries had depleted their frontcourt.

The 6’8″ combo forward struggled in international play over the summer, averaging just 1.8 points per game for the Greek national team at the Eurobasket tournament, but he put up somewhat better numbers with Denver. He posted 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per contest over 26 appearances for the Nuggets, including a string of six starts from December 22nd through 30th.

Denver has better health across its roster than it did when Papanikolaou signed, with fellow combo forward Wilson Chandler‘s season-ending hip injury and a sprained right ankle for Emmanuel Mudiay the only injuries currently listed. Offing Papanikolaou would leave Denver with 14 fully guaranteed contracts and an open roster spot. The team could circle back to hot D-League prospect Erick Green, whom the Nuggets waived to sign Papanikolaou in November, though that’s just my speculation.

Eastern Notes: Mozgov, Lee, Ujiri

Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov has seen himself go from a starter to a reserve this season, which has multiple teams inquiring about his availability via trade, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. Cleveland has not expressed any desire to move the center publicly, but the team’s daunting luxury tax bill, as well as Mozgov’s pending free agency, could eventually persuade the team to deal him, Spears adds. The 29-year-old has appeared in 30 games for the Cavaliers this season, including 25 as a starter, and he is averaging 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per night.

Here’s more from out of the Eastern Conference:

  • Wesley Matthews “badly wanted” this past summer to sign with the Raptors, who had mutual interest, but the thought of signing a player still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon was too much for the Raptors to bear, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange writes. That led Toronto to DeMarre Carroll, who’s since suffered injuries of his own, though GM Masai Ujiri played hardball, telling Carroll when he met with him that the team’s offer would come off the table if he didn’t commit before the end of the meeting. Carroll, of course, ended up signing with the Raptors for $58MM over four years. It’s much too early to say the Carroll signing was a mistake, but his injury illustrates how even seemingly safe choices carry risk, leaving the Raptors in limbo, Grange argues.
  • Ujiri said he was “torn” before he made the decision to turn down a “great offer” to stay with the Nuggets to become Raptors GM in the summer of 2013, calling Denver team president Josh Kroenke “like a brother” in an appearance on “The Vertical” podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link at 21:30 mark). “It haunts you for a long time,” Ujiri said. “I know I made the right decision, but sometimes I don’t know if I failed with loyalty there.” Still, the lure of the Raptors, whom Ujiri called a top-three organization in the league, proved too strong.
  • David Lee chose his words carefully as he expressed frustration and disagreement to reporters about the decision Celtics coach Brad Stevens made to take him out of the rotation, making it clear that he still respects the coach and hadn’t requested a trade, as MassLive’s Jay King relays. Still, Lee said that his lack of playing time is more frustrating this year than it was in Golden State last year. The Celtics are already reportedly making him available in trade talk.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Kaman, Martin, Thunder

Trail Blazers reserve center Chris Kaman believes it’s a “high possibility” he will be moved before the trade deadline, he revealed to Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. Kaman told Quick that as part of the Blazers’ decision to pick up his $5MM option over the summer, president of basketball operations Neil Olshey made it clear he would be traded if the right deal came along. Kaman has only played in four games.

In other developments around the Northwest Division:

  • Kevin Martin could be rejoining the rotation soon and center Nikola Pekovic could return to action on Wednesday, Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell told Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Martin has not played the past seven games, in part because he has a wrist injury but mainly because the club wanted to audition Zach LaVine at shooting guard. But Mitchell told Youngblood that he may play more of his veterans in upcoming games. Pekovic is looking to make his season debut after undergoing Achilles surgery in April and is “50-50” to play on Wednesday, Mitchell said.
  • Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay will come off the bench in the short term when he returns to action, Nuggets coach Michael Malone told Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Mudiay, who has missed the last 11 games with a right ankle injury, could be back in action on Wednesday but will be under a minutes restriction, Dempsey adds. “Right now, my gut feeling is to work him in, bring him in off the bench, let him get his feel back after missing as many games as he has,” Malone said. “That will also allow him to play against more second-line guys, get a little more comfortable, get his confidence back — not that he’s lost confidence. But just to feel good out there. Then, if he’s able to take his starting job back, then we’ll put him back in the lineup.”
  • The Thunder allowed the $915,243 trade exception they acquired in last year’s three-team trade with the Knicks and Cavaliers to expire today, the one-year anniversary of the deal. The exception was a vestige of the team’s minimum-salary contract with Lance Thomas, who went to New York in the swap.

Northwest Notes: Barton, Pekovic, Payne

Nuggets small forward Will Barton is enjoying a breakout season in Denver and his former coach with the Blazers, Terry Stotts, saw this development coming, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. I remember a postseason interview and someone asked me about what player made the biggest improvement or something like that, and in my mind it was Will Barton,” Stotts said. “Year 1, he was a young rookie, and he had a lot to learn. I thought the strides he made in Year 2 as a player and as a person and as a professional was good to see. I’d like to think the success he’s having now is in part because of the hard work he put in while he was here.

Since he knows he’s going to be on the court, he has an outstanding feel for the game,” Stotts continued. “Now he’s not pressing. He plays the game. He really is a student of the game, and since he knows he’s going to be out there, he does a little bit of everything and kind of takes what the game gives him.” In 33 appearances this season, with only one as a starter, Barton is averaging 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists on 47% shooting, and he should certainly be under consideration for the Most Improved Player award for 2015/16 if this production level continues.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic has been cleared to participate in full contact practices, which is the next step in his return from the surgery he underwent back in April to repair damage to his Achilles tendon, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune relays. It is unclear how much work Pekovic will need to put in before he is turned loose in game conditions, though Zgoda notes the big man will require at least a few practices before that is likely to occur.
  • The Thunder are pleased with the development of 2015 first-rounder Cameron Payne, and they credit his time spent in the D-League for accelerating his learning curve, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. “I don’t really look at scoring as much,” said Thunder coach Billy Donovan. “I think the thing to me that was really impressive is how easily he whipped the ball around and got guys shots. Cameron has earned, in my opinion, the right to have confidence because of the time he’s put in the gym.”