- The Pistons are in danger of sliding out of the playoff race and coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy is groping for solutions, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. Detroit has lost five of its last six, including a last-second defeat to the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the Nets. “I think it’s pretty clear from these six games that I’m not finding the answers and not doing a very good job, so it starts with me. I’m the person in charge,” Van Gundy told Langlois and the assembled media. “I selected everybody in that locker room. I’m the one who wanted them in there. I decide who plays. I put lineups out there. I decide on defensive coverages. I call plays. So it’s all on me.”
- Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has no hard feelings toward the Pistons, for whom he played 46 games over two seasons before being traded last summer. Still, he admits that he was happy to beat them on Tuesday night with his new team, as Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes. “If your first job fired you, you come back and say, ‘What’s up fam, I’m with the New York Times now,'” Dinwiddie said to a reporter following Brooklyn’s win. “I love everybody in that organization. It’s just great to beat them.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote last week that the Nets are expected to be “major players” this summer for restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This week, Brian Lewis of The New York Post confirms Brooklyn’s interest in the Pistons sharpshooter, writing that the Nets will likely make KCP a “top priority” in the offseason.
“I’m impressed,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Caldwell-Pope. “I love how he competes, how he competes on the defensive end. That’s really the essence of what I see when I watch him play. He plays with force, he competes on the defensive end.”
It remains to be seen if the Pistons will be open to a maximum-salary contract for Caldwell-Pope, but that may be what it takes to retain him. With KCP’s Bird rights in hand, Detroit can offer more years and more money than any other team and will have the chance to match any offer. Still, it sounds like the Nets will put plenty of pressure on the Pistons, dipping back into the restricted free agent market after striking out last summer on Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson.
Here’s more out of New York:
- Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin, who is on a 10-day contract with the Nets, tells NetsDaily that he hopes to stick around in Brooklyn for much longer than those 10 days.
- Carmelo Anthony said on Tuesday that Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek informed the team that he plans to start reducing minutes for some veteran players down the stretch. As Newsday’s Al Iannazzone details, the Knicks want to assess some of their younger players to determine whether or not they have a future with the club.
- Former Knicks head coach Derek Fisher appeared on The Vertical’s podcast this week and spoke to Adrian Wojnarowski about what led to the end of his time in New York. Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News has some of the quotes from Fisher, who admits that his fight with Matt Barnes hurt his standing with the Knicks and talks about the tension created by the triangle offense.
- Speaking of the triangle, TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal defended his former head coach Phil Jackson, suggesting that the Knicks players are to blame for the system’s ineffectiveness in New York. Marc Berman of The New York Post has the details.
Here are the D-League transactions from Monday:
- The Bulls have assigned guard Cameron Payne to their D-League affiliate, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets. Payne has missed time this month with a sore foot, the same one that he had surgery on earlier in the season, and will look to ease into play with the Windy City Bulls. (Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times has more on the decision)
- The Pistons have assigned rookie Henry Ellenson to their D-League affiliate, Keith Langlois of the team’s official website writes.
- The Grizzlies have assigned big man Deyonta Davis to the Iowa Energy, the team reports in a press release on its website. Davis has averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in 18 matchups with the Iowa Energy already.
- The Warriors have recalled Kevon Looney from their D-League affiliate following his latest stint with the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team reports in a press release on its website.
- The Rockets have assigned Troy Williams to the D-League, the team reports in a press release relayed by Fox 26’s Mark Berman.
With just 2.5 games separating sixth place in the Eastern Conference from 10th, the eight-seed Pistons can’t afford to struggle down the stretch. On Friday it was announced that Tobias Harris would slide back into the starting lineup for the remainder of the season.
After months tinkering with the Pistons’ first unit, head coach Stan Van Gundy has come to the conclusion that the flip-flopping might not have helped. “Tobias (is starting) and we’re going to stay with that,” he told Rod Beard of the Detroit News. “We’re going to quit juggling them — I don’t think that’s helped.”
As we touched on earlier this month, there was a growing case for Harris’ return to the Pistons’ starting five; he was the club’s most dominant scorer.
6:03pm: Rivers is trying to quell rumors that he might go to Orlando, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Speaking with reporters before tonight’s game, Rivers insisted that he has “no future” with the Magic.
5:15pm: League insiders are discussing the possibility that Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers could take a similar role in Orlando, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
The theory, according to Stein, starts with the likelihood that Rob Hennigan will be fired as Magic GM at the end of the season. Add in the upcoming free agency for Clippers stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and there’s a possibility that changes are coming in L.A.
Stein hints that the Clippers could be broken up if they fail to reach the conference finals, something the team hasn’t done in the six years Paul and Griffin have been together. If those changes include a coaching move, then Rivers, whose contract as coach and president of basketball operations runs through 2018/19, would become available for Orlando.
If that scenario happens, it would mark a homecoming for Rivers, who started his coaching career with the Magic in 1999.
It’s not clear if Orlando is ready to dismiss current coach Frank Vogel, who was given a four-year contract last summer. Stein says Hennigan’s trade of Serge Ibaka to Toronto last month was an admission that the roster was overstocked with big men, and it appeared to absolve Vogel of blame for a disappointing season.
If Vogel remains, the Magic will consider former Orlando player Pat Garrity to replace Hennigan. Garrity currently serves as associate GM with the Pistons.
Another possibility for the Clippers, Stein notes, is to request that Rivers give up his front office duties and concentrate on coaching. If that happens, the team may reach out to Bob Whitsitt, a former executive with the SuperSonics and Trail Blazers who has close ties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
Stein also says to watch for the possible departure of L.A. shooting guard J.J. Redick in free agency this summer. Redick complained publicly about the organization this week and may become too expensive for the Clippers to re-sign.
- 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.”
After actively pursuing restricted free agents last summer, the Nets are expected to have the cap room to be players in free agency once again this offseason. And according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, one free agent that rival executives expect Brooklyn to target is veteran point guard George Hill.
As Net Income of Nets Daily details, Windhorst discussed the Nets’ possible free agent plans on an ESPN podcast this week. The report comes with a caveat — Windhorst hasn’t heard directly from GM Sean Marks or the Nets about their free agent plans. However, the ESPN reporter explains that GMs and executives around the NBA have been talking about Brooklyn’s presumed interest in Hill.
Last offseason, the Nets targeted multiple guards in free agency, signing Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson to pricey four-year offer sheets. Those offers were ultimately matched by the Trail Blazers and Heat, respectively, leaving Brooklyn with Jeremy Lin on a more modest three-year deal. Even with Lin under contract for next season though, it seems the Nets will be closely monitoring other point guards in free agency.
According to Windhorst, the Nets are also expected to dip back into the restricted free agent market as they look to add shooters. Otto Porter will likely be a Brooklyn target, and Windhorst says the Nets will also be “major players” for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Hill, Porter, and Caldwell-Pope will all be in line for big-money, long-term contracts this summer, and their respective teams are expected to make every effort to keep them. Windhorst notes that the Nets are capable of making things very difficult on Utah and driving the price up on Hill, whose camp reportedly believes he can get a max offer in unrestricted free agency. Porter is also viewed as a likely candidate for a max deal, while it remains to be seen whether Caldwell-Pope will get an offer that substantial. The Wizards and Pistons, respectively, won’t want to lose those key RFAs for nothing.
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
10:12 pm:
- The Cavaliers have assigned Larry Sanders to the Canton Charge, according to the D-League Digest (Twitter link). Cleveland signed Sanders on Monday.
- The Hawks have assigned DeAndre’ Bembry to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s website. Atlanta doesn’t have its own D-League affiliate, so the rookie will play for Utah’s affiliate, per the league’s flex assignment rule.
5:32pm:
- The Cavaliers have assigned rookie guard Kay Felder to the Canton Charge, the D-League affiliate wrote in a press release on its official website. Felder has appeared in 9 games for Canton already this season.
3:58pm:
- The Clippers announced they have recalled Brice Johnson from the Salt Lake City Stars (press release). Johnson, the 25th overall pick in the 2016 draft, has largely been inactive this season due to a herniated disk in his back.
- The Pistons have recalled Henry Ellenson from the D-League, according to the team.
- The Pistons have climbed back to .500, sparked by the insertion of Tobias Harris into the starting lineup, notes Aaron McMann of MLive. Harris scored 28 points Saturday against the Knicks and helped Detroit build a comfortable early lead. “He came out really aggressive,” said teammate Marcus Morris. “It was good to have him back in the starting lineup. We know what he can do. We know how well he can score the ball. So, it’s not really surprising to us.”