Pacers point guard Ty Lawson feels he was used improperly by the Rockets during his stint with them this season, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Lawson felt Houston interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff erred by playing him off the ball instead of making him the primary ballhandler. “I just know I was a better player than what I was showing there,” Lawson told Feigen, while adding he harbors no resentment toward the organization. “I wasn’t being used the right way. I’m not a space player. I like to have the ball in my hands.” Bickerstaff acknowledged in the story that he could have utilized Lawson differently. The Pacers signed Lawson earlier this month after he reached a buyout arrangement with the Rockets and cleared waivers. “I don’t know if it was just the early transition of him learning to play without the ball, the limited opportunity he got,” Bickerstaff said. “That may be some of my responsibility because he didn’t get the opportunity he was accustomed to. For whatever reason, it didn’t work and I was sad to see him go.”
- Ty Lawson received one year of probation stemming from a guilty plea he submitted to charges related to his drunken driving arrest in January 2015, reports Tom McGhee of The Denver Post. It’s separate from the case involving a second DUI arrest that took place in July 2015. The NBA suspended Lawson, now with the Pacers, for a total of five games for both arrests earlier this season.
- Soon-to-be free agent Solomon Hill distinguished himself as one of Indiana’s best defenders battling Paul George in practice this season, and that’s led Pacers coach Frank Vogel to give Hill a place in the rotation, as Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star details. The Pacers declined their rookie scale team option on him for next season, so they can’t re-sign him to a contract that would pay him more for 2016/17 than $2,306,019, the value of the option.
- The Pacers have assigned Shayne Whittington to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to the team’s website.
- The Pacers have recalled Shayne Whittington from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. The center has appeared in 34 games for the Mad Ants this season, averaging 12.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.
The Magic had other offers on the table for Tobias Harris, but they opted to take Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova from Detroit because both players had played under coach Scott Skiles previously, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. Orlando believed the duo could contribute immediately to the team’s goal of making the playoffs, Kennedy adds.
The Magic are 6-8 since adding Ilyasova and Jennings, sitting five and a half games behind the Pistons, who are currently tied with the Bulls for the eighth seed in the conference entering tonight’s slate of games. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy feels that Harris has masterfully fit in with the team, Kennedy passes along in the same piece. “You feel like he’s been here all year, even in terms of the way he relates to his teammates,” Van Gundy said. “It’s actually been a pretty seamless transition. He’s unselfish.”
- Even if Joel Embiid is able to remain healthy, the Sixers should take a patient approach with regard to his development, Bob Cooney of Philadelphia Daily News cautions. Cooney points out that Embiid now 22 years old, has only been playing basketball for roughly six years.
- The Pacers have assigned Shayne Whittington to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to the team’s website.
The importance of LeBron James‘ sometimes cryptic tweets regarding his teammates has been a source of debate among the media and fans, but with James’ social media reach exceeding his on the court presence, they certainly warrant scrutiny, argues Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. To support his assertion, the scribe notes that James has a combined social media following that tops 47 million, while last year’s NBA Finals drew approximately 20 million viewers per contest on average. James’ most recent Twitter controversy, albeit a minor one, was in response to his posts regarding heading down to Miami during an off day to work out with former teammate Dwyane Wade. “Can’t replace being around great friends that reciprocate the same energy back to you in all facets of life,” James tweeted, in what appeared to be an obvious reference to Wade and a slam of his Cleveland squad.
Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving downplayed the notion that LeBron was calling out his teammates and noted that he doesn’t pay much attention to other players on social media, McMenamin adds. “I don’t really check Twitter for people’s comments or what they’re saying or anything like that,” Irving told McMenamin. “I didn’t think it was directed toward me at all. I know everybody made a big deal about it and then I tweet and then all of the sudden it’s a subtle beef between me and Bron. No, I don’t think Bron tweets for me and I don’t think I tweet for LeBron.”
Here’s more from out of the Central Division:
- Ty Lawson has only seen five minutes of action since signing with the Pacers thanks to a foot injury he suffered during his first contest in an Indiana uniform. The point guard says he isn’t being rushed back by the team, but admitted he feels significant internal pressure to contribute to his new squad, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star relays. “I’m not feeling pressured by the team, but I’m putting pressure on myself,” Lawson said. “I’m eager to get out there and just play. You get a chance to play and the first five minutes I get hurt. I’m pushing myself to get back. I might have pushed it too much yesterday [in practice]. Maybe I should have waited until today to push it in the game and be sore tomorrow.”
- Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson, responding to a media inquiry, indicated that he wasn’t sure what the identity of his team was, which is troubling this far into the NBA campaign, David Mayo of MLive writes. Detroit has been a remarkably inconsistent squad this season, something not aided by the roster turnover and injuries the team has dealt with, Mayo notes. The scribe also notes that while the frontcourt pairing of Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris has been successful thus far, the two players’ skill sets are similar enough that it may cause problems down the line.
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Indiana Pacers, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:
- 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
- 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $72,358,004*
- Remaining Cap Room= -$2,358,004
- Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $12,381,996
*Note: This amount includes the $600,000 owed to Toney Douglas, the $6,178 in salary paid to Terran Petteway, as well as the $5,000,000 due Chase Budinger, all of whom were waived by the team.
Cap Exceptions Available:
- Room= $1,787,718
Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000
Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000
Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
The Hawks have increased their use of analytics and technology in how they help players recover from injuries and maintain their bodies, David Aldridge of NBA.com notes. The use of new and nontraditional techniques is one change that Mike Budenholzer implemented when he took over as the team’s president of basketball operations, Aldridge adds. “We wanted to have all of the groups, everybody within the organization that had a great synergy and worked well together, and had a passion,” Budenholzer told the scribe. “Keke Lyles, [trainer] Art Horne and [strength and conditioning coach] Mike Roncarati and [Athletic Performance Coach] Chris Chase and [assistant trainer] Scottie Parker have a passion for athletic performance, keeping our guys, pushing the envelope for them being the best they can be. You could feel that when we interviewed them and talked with them.”
Lyles, who is Atlanta’s director of player performance, told Aldridge of the team’s approach, “I think the biggest thing is, [Budenholzer] has a certain vision about the court, and what the players are doing. And he wanted that to carry over into what guys did as prep. Obviously, our field is not his area of expertise, but he knew the value of it, and how important it is. And so I think he saw the opportunity to bring a group in that was kind of on the same page, and thought the same way, and had very specific goals that we wanted to accomplish in treatment.” Budenholzer credits Lyles with helping Kyle Korver and Tim Hardaway Jr. return to form after their respective surgeries, Aldridge also notes.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Elfrid Payton has yet to establish himself as the Magic‘s point guard of the future despite making small strides in improving his scoring average and shooting numbers, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “I don’t want to single a spot out. We’re 9-24 since the first of the year. So all of our our spots…we’re not playing well enough in general,” coach Scott Skiles responded when asked about the play of the team’s playmakers. When asked specifically about Payton, the coach said, “Again, I just don’t think it’s fair….I’m not trying to duck the question. If we were having a more consistent season, I’d feel a little bit more comfortable answering that. Again, our troubles are at many spots.“
- The Pistons have an available roster spot after not electing to sign Justin Harper for the remainder of the season after his second 10-day deal came to an end, but Detroit has no immediate plans to bring in another player, Keith Langlois of NBA.com tweets.
- The Pacers have recalled center Shayne Whittington from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was the big man’s fifth stint with the Mad Ants on the season.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson gave Carmelo Anthony some answers he was looking for when they met recently, but the onus is on Jackson to deliver when it counts this summer, Anthony indicated to reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Jackson said recently that he wants to sign two players of consequence for the team this summer, Begley notes, but New York won’t necessarily have max-level cap flexibility, according to Berman. Still, the star forward wants to see results.
“It’s in their court. The ball is in their court,” Anthony said. “They have an opportunity, we have an opportunity to do something this offseason. We gotta do something. It’s there.”
See more on the Knicks amid a check on the Atlantic Division:
- The willingness Kristaps Porzingis is showing to play closer to the rim under the tutelage of interim coach Kurt Rambis is a plus for the development of the player in line to succeed Anthony as Knicks franchise cornerstone, Begley opines in a separate piece. Rambis, who’s trying to secure the coaching job for the long term, has endured criticism for the way he’s changing Porzingis’ game, according to Begley. “He’s going to get physically stronger and he’s going to be able to brace himself when there is physical contact and nudges,” Rambis said. “And he’s also going to be able to finish with either hand inside. But it only comes from him attacking the basket and being aggressive.”
- T.J. McConnell has settled into a backup role after injuries to other Sixers forced the undrafted rookie into a starting role, and while the buzz about him has quieted since his strong performances early this season, he remains a part of the rotation, observes Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly. McConnell’s contract is non-guaranteed beyond this season, so the pressure remains. “I think if I keep the mindset of day by day, fighting for my job every day,” McConnell said, “hopefully it turns out to be a long career for me.”
- The Raptors made a whirlwind of D-League moves, recalling Bruno Caboclo from the D-League on Sunday before sending him back this morning, along with Lucas Nogueira and Delon Wright, and finally recalling all three this afternoon, according to the organization (All Twitter links). The trio took part in a midday victory today against the Pacers affiliate.