Pacers Rumors

Northwest Notes: Kanter, Durant, Afflalo

February 18th, 2015 at 8:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have not received any serious offers for Enes Kanter, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets. The team is seeking a quality young player and a first-round pick for Kanter, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported on Tuesday. The team would be happy to retain Kanter past the trade deadline, a league source told Scotto. Kanter is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

In other news around the Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant said he feels no resentment toward the Thunder for the James Harden trade and added that it will have no bearing on his free agency in 2016, as he told reporters, including Darnell Mayberry and Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Durant also said that he loves having Reggie Jackson as a teammate, which counters an earlier report.
Teams around the league are convinced that the Nuggets will obtain the first-round draft pick they seek in return for Arron Afflalo, and that the Trail Blazers are the current favorites to land the guard, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
Afflalo’s representative may not be thrilled at the prospect of the Nuggets guard being dealt to Portland because it could stunt the growth of C.J. McCollum, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. Both players are represented by Excel Sports Management and McCollum’s playing time and bargaining power would likely shrink if Afflalo lands with Portland, Young adds. McCollum’s contract calls for him to make approximately $2.5MM next season and the club holds a team option of just over $3.2MM for 2016/17.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Suns Intend To Trade Goran Dragic

February 18th, 2015 at 7:55am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 7:55am: The Celtics are jumping into the Dragic sweepstakes, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who indicates that they have an outside shot at this point (All four Twitter links). They have attractive assets and, like the Rockets and Kings, are willing to trade for Dragic without assurances he’d re-sign this summer, Stein adds. Part of the reason all three are on board with doing so is their belief that the chance to offer him a five-year deal this summer instead of one that covers only four seasons is a crucial edge, according to Stein. Only teams with a player’s Bird rights may offer a player a five-year deal, as Stein points out, and any club that trades for Dragic at the deadline inherits his Bird rights.

11:51pm: The Kings want Dragic “bad,” a source told Spears (Twitter link). Sacramento could conceivably deal Jason Thompson and Nik Stauskas to clear enough cap space to make Dragic a max contract offer this summer, the Yahoo! scribe adds.

11:45pm: The Rockets have an interest in acquiring Dragic, but he has privately expressed the fear that Houston would later deal him if he signed with the franchise long-term, Wojnarowski relays.

10:17pm: The Pacers are also a possible destination for Dragic, Wojnarowski reports.

9:50pm: There are a total of seven teams listed that Dragic would prefer to play for, Amick tweets.

9:34pm: Dragic’s preferred teams also include the Knicks and the Heat, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link).

9:30pm: The Rockets, despite their interest in Dragic, are not one of the teams likely to secure a long-term commitment from the guard, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.

9:26pm: Dragic’s agent Bill Duffy provided the Suns with a list of teams that Dragic would prefer to be traded to, which included the Lakers, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports adds.

9:21pm: When asked if there was any scenario in which Dragic would stay in Phoenix, a source close to him told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), “Don’t think so.”

9:17pm: The Suns have informed Dragic that the team will accept his request for a trade and will work to move him before the deadline, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Dragic’s agent had informed the team that his client would not re-sign with the Suns this summer, Sam Amick of USA Today reports.

2:03pm: Dragic’s discontent with the crowded Phoenix backcourt is growing, and several league sources tell Wojnarowski they believe that the Suns have to move Thomas before July to have a chance at re-signing Dragic. Still, there’s a “strong belief” that Dragic will re-sign with Phoenix if he once more finds the comfort he used to have there, Wojnarowski writes, citing Dragic’s strong relationship with coach Jeff Hornacek and GM Ryan McDonough as well as his enjoyment of playing with his brother, Zoran. It’s not out of the realm of possibility the Suns will trade Dragic before Thursday’s deadline, but it’s extremely unlikely, according to Wojnarowski.

TUESDAY, 11:20am: An opposing team would have to give up a young player with All-Star potential and a draft pick for the Suns to even consider trading Dragic, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter links). It’s far more likely the Suns would deal Thomas or Gerald Green, Wojnarowski hears. Phoenix is making Green available, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote earlier this morning when he identified the Knicks as a team with interest in Dragic.

3:37pm: Dragic’s agent has plans to meet with the Suns on Tuesday, but Phoenix remains determined to re-sign the guard this summer, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

2:52pm: The “sense” is that the Suns are ready to deal Dragic rather than see him walk in free agency this year, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck tweets.

MONDAY, 1:18pm: Phoenix is inclined to keep Dragic, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes in his weekly power rankings column.

SATURDAY, 7:50am: The Suns are more apt to try and trade Isaiah Thomas than to deal Dragic prior to the deadline to restore their roster balance, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

1:49pm: The latest version of Stein’s story backs off the assertion that the Lakers plan a max offer to Dragic, saying only that the team intends to propose a four-year deal that would be worth as much as $80MM if it approaches max territory. In any case, Stein also passes along comments Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby made to Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic indicating that Phoenix will be proactive at the trade deadline.

“I would take the fifth, generally, on any of these specific trade rumors,” Babby said. “What I would say is I expect us to be active. And what I mean by that is we’re not going to just sit here and wait for the phone to ring. We’ll be initiating calls to every team, and taking the temperature of what’s out there and what’s available. And it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we do something between now and next Thursday.”

FRIDAY, 11:08am: The Heat are the latest team rumored to have interest in Goran Dragic, but the Rockets and Lakers, who’ve been eyeing him for months, appear poised to take another go at him before Thursday’s trade deadline, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Houston hopes to talk seriously with Phoenix about a deal in the coming days, sources tell Stein, while the Lakers presumably would like the same as they plan a max offer for him in free agency this summer, Stein also hears. Phoenix has been turning away suitors for Dragic of late, but sources tell Stein that the Suns have been trying to get a read all season on whether the reigning Most Improved Player will re-sign when them this summer. Dragic plans to turn down a $7.5MM player option for next season and hasn’t ruled out leaving Phoenix.

The 28-year-old acknowledged this month that he’s felt frustration with Phoenix’s crowded backcourt, according to Stein. His numbers, including minutes and shot attempts, are down this season after a career year in 2013/14. GM Ryan McDonough acknowledged fault this week for overloading the team’s backcourt, which also includes Eric Bledsoe and Thomas, both of whom the Suns signed to long-term deals this summer, and 2014 first-round pick Tyler Ennis.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey and company would still like to make another significant addition this season after adding Corey Brewer and Josh Smith, Stein writes. Dragic, whom the Rockets have already tried to trade for this season, as Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote last month, would be the biggest boost of the season for Houston, which is without Dwight Howard for at least another three weeks. The Rockets no longer have a trade exception of $1MM or more to use, but they have a better store of trade chips than the Lakers do, as I wrote when I examined Dragic’s trade candidacy.

The Suns are reportedly seeking a first-round pick in return for Dragic. They already have the Lakers’ first-rounder this year unless it falls within the top five selections. The Rockets will send the Lakers their first-round pick if they make the playoffs this year, but Houston has a protected first-rounder coming from the Pelicans.

Kyler’s Latest: Dragic, Deng, Garnett, Lawson

February 17th, 2015 at 10:09am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have engaged the Suns in talks as they keep an eye on Goran Dragic, just as the Lakers have done, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes in his NBA AM piece. The Knicks and Lakers would be on board with trading for a player whom they could otherwise just wait to sign outright in free agency this summer, like Dragic, but it doesn’t seem that either would give up major assets in any such swap. Kyler has plenty more new information with the trade deadline just two days off, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Miami is open to trading Luol Deng, according to Kyler, who suggests that the veteran small forward isn’t garnering the sort of interest it would take for him to be traded. Kyler also lists Norris Cole, Chris Andersen and Danny Granger as players the Heat are making available, which jibes with earlier reports on all three.
Golden State is “more than” interested in Kevin Garnett, Kyler hears, which advances a suggestion from Grantland’s Zach Lowe on Monday that the Warriors would like to try to convince Garnett to waive his no-trade clause. The 20th-year veteran reportedly has no plans to seek a buyout.
The Bucks are “being linked” to Ty Lawson, Kyler writes, though it’s unclear just what sort of interest is there.
The Bulls would think about trading Tony Snell for a veteran shooting guard who fits what they’re looking for, Kyler writes. Still, while Chicago is speaking generally about doing some deals before the deadline, the team doesn’t appear to be willing to give up what it would take, according to Kyler.
The Suns are making Gerald Green available, according to Kyler.
Charlotte has interest in Wilson Chandler, but the Hornets would prefer to trade for Arron Afflalo, as Kyler hears. That’s the reverse of the Blazers‘ apparent preference. The Bulls are “sniffing at” both players, too, Kyler adds, nonetheless casting doubt once more on whether Chicago is willing to give up the assets necessary to swing a deal.
Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas have come up in trade rumors, but it’s more likely that the Raptors deal someone on an expiring contract, according to Kyler, naming Landry Fields, Tyler Hansbrough and Amir Johnson as examples.
Sources close to the Pacers tell Kyler that David West is likely to opt in with the Pacers for next season, when his contract calls for him to make $12.6MM.
There is “a sense” that the Magic are making Ben Gordon and Luke Ridnour available, Kyler says.

Raptors Seek West, Mull Ross, Valanciunas Deal

February 16th, 2015 at 4:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:42pm: It’s “all quiet on the trade front” for the Raptors at present, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

11:08am: The Pacers are leaning against trading West unless he makes a push for a trade, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who believes that the power forward is unlikely to agitate for such a move (Twitter links).

10:41am: The Raptors are pursuing David West and they have considered trading Terrence Ross if they receive the right offer, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Executives from opponents who’ve spoken with the Raptors tell Kennedy that Toronto has thought about packaging Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas for a star (Twitter links). The Raptors have been listening to offers for Ross, several league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Still, Lowe senses the team will keep him, as he says on Twitter, and a Raptors source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the team had “absolutely not” engaged teams about dealing for the former eighth overall pick (on Twitter). Ross has struggled of late but Toronto coach Dwane Casey remains a fan, Deveney hears (Twitter link).

Fellow Basketball Insiders scribe Steve Kyler wrote a couple of weeks ago that league sources had mentioned West’s name, among others, in connection with the Raptors. Lowe heard earlier this season that the Pacers were open to dealing West for a first-round pick, but that talk of that had dried up. The Grantland columnist makes much the same point in his latest dispatch, writing that West has been “available off and on” for that first-rounder over the last couple of months, according to several league sources. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said recently that West hadn’t given him an indication of whether he’d exercise his $12.6MM player option for next season.

The Raptors are within $1MM of the tax threshold, so taking in West’s $12MM for this season would be troublesome unless they offloaded others. Ross and Valanciunas only make about $6.472MM combined this season on their rookie scale contracts, each of which runs through 2015/16, though West doesn’t fit the description of the star they’re apparently looking for. The team hadn’t been making it any easier to deal Ross in spite of the small forward’s disappointing play, as Deveney wrote late last month, and there hasn’t been much chatter surrounding Valanciunas, the fifth overall pick from 2011, so it would appear as though the Raptors would want a marquee return. That’s a problem for any potential deal, since there don’t appear to be any stars on the trade market, as Kennedy notes via Twitter.

Trade Candidate: Lance Stephenson

February 14th, 2015 at 11:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

When they signed Lance Stephenson as a free agent last summer, the Hornets never envisioned unloading him a few months later. But Stephenson’s erratic play and the team’s disappointing season have put the fifth-year guard on the trading block.

Charlotte gave Stephenson a three-year, $27.4MM contract to leave the Pacers in July, hoping he would help the Hornets improve on last year’s 43-39 record. Instead, both the player and the team got off to rough starts. Stephenson struggled with his shot in November, connecting at just 38% from the field and a paltry 19% from three-point range. Not coincidentally, the Hornets sank to the bottom of the Southeast Division, sitting at 3-15 after a 10-game losing streak that stretched over November and December.

Stephenson’s luck got even worse in mid-December when he suffered a strained pelvis that sidelined him for 14 games. Charlotte won its first four games in Stephenson’s absence and gradually crept back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Hornets reached the All-Star break tied for seventh place in the conference at 22-30, a game ahead of the Nets and a game and a half better than the Celtics.
But Stephenson has played only a small role in this resurgence. Since returning to the court January 14th, he has logged more than 30 minutes in just one game and has often played 20 minutes or less. He was held scoreless in the team’s final pre-break game, a 28-point loss to the Pistons, and had just three rebounds and four assists — far short of the flashy numbers he put up last season in Indiana.

Stephenson has continued to have problems with his shot since returning. He shot 32% from the field in January and made just 1 of 10 three-point attempts. His February numbers are little better — 34% from the field and 19% from long distance.

With Stephenson struggling on the court and faced with a diminished role, it may be a case where both sides could benefit from a deal. Stephenson, who was born in Brooklyn, has been linked to the Nets in recent trade talks, including a rumored three-way deal last month that also involved the Thunder. More recent discussions have focused on a one-on-one deal between the Nets and Hornets, with Joe Johnson possibly being sent to Charlotte in return. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported January 25th that Gerald Henderson and Marvin Williams could also be part of the trade package.

Conflicting reports had the Hornets so close to dealing Stephenson and Cody Zeller to Brooklyn last month that they were ready to call the league office. Even though that trade didn’t get finalized, some version of it could reappear before Thursday’s trade deadline.

Charlotte has already shown a willingness to shake things up. On Tuesday, the Hornets sent Gary Neal and Miami’s second-round draft pick in 2019 to Minnesota in exchange for Mo Williams, Troy Daniels and cash considerations.

Despite Stephenson’s recent problems, he remains an intriguing gamble for any team seeking help for a postseason run. The 24-year-old broke through as a star for the Pacers in 2013/14, putting up 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and helping Indiana secure the best record in the Eastern Conference. His numbers were almost identical in the playoffs —13.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 4.2 APG — as the Pacers reached the conference finals before losing to the Heat.

However, Stephenson’s on-court production has been mixed with erratic behavior, such as the much-publicized incident when he blew in LeBron James‘ ear during last year’s playoffs. Larry Bird, the Pacers’ president of basketball operations, sent a text message to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today expressing his displeasure with the James incident at the time, and that undoubtedly played a role in the decision not to retain Stephenson.

In addition, Stephenson was third in the NBA last season with 17 technical fouls and reportedly had a scuffle during practice with teammate Evan Turner. Stephenson also gained a reputation for being moody and having his mind wander during games.

The question for any team considering a Stephenson trade is whether he can get beyond his recent physical and behavioral issues and recapture the on-court brilliance he displayed with the Pacers. He would have to find a team that is willing to absorb a contract that pays him $9MM next season and $9.4MM in 2016/17, but he could be the type of player who benefits greatly from a change of scenery.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Paul George Targets Mid-March Return

February 13th, 2015 at 11:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

11:12pm: The Pacers have released an official statement regarding the possibility of George returning to action in March. The team said that the decision for George to return to practice and game action remains with the Pacers’ medical staff, and the team won’t clear him to resume playing until the appropriate time.

FEBRUARY 13TH, 4:21pm: George says that he is eyeing a mid-March return to game action, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The swingman hinted that he could return as early as the March 14th contest against the Celtics, Spears adds. George had previously stated that he would like to be back by March, but also acknowledged that timeframe was unlikely. If the 24-year-old is to make the March 14th target date, this would mean that George would need to start practicing with the team at the conclusion of the All-Star break, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets. This would give George approximately 12 practices to work his way into game shape, Buckner adds (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 3RD, 12:33pm: Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said he’s taking a win-now approach and left the door open to Paul George returning to play this season after breaking his leg over the summer, as Bird spoke with reporters today (Twitter links via the team’s official account). There have been hints about the vague notion that George would return near the end of the season from his gruesome injury, but Bird’s comments marked the first occasion that a team official went on the record about the possibility that he’ll return, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (on Twitter). Still, coach Frank Vogel reiterated that he doesn’t believe George will play this season, Buckner tweets.

“If he gets healthy and they say he can play and he wants to play, we’ll let him play,” Bird said, according to the Pacers team account, pointing out that doctors told him George’s led would be healed within seven months from the injury (Twitter links). “That will be in March and we’ll go from there.”

Bird cautioned that he has “no clue” whether George will return this season, as Buckner points out in a full story, and the Hall-of-Famer is disappointed with the way his team has played even amid injuries to George and others this year, Buckner notes (Twitter link). The Pacers, who sit four and a half games out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, are seeking upgrades via trade as they attempt to make the playoffs this year, and Bird identified a shooting guard as the team’s greatest need, Buckner relays (Twitter link). Bird also indicated that he’d like add a big man, the Star scribe notes.

“We’re always looking to improve the team; there’s a lot of improvement that needs to be done,” Bird said, according to Buckner’s story. “Hopefully we can do something that makes us better. If not, we’ll stand pat and this summer do the rest of the work.”

The Pacers are gauging the value of the players on their roster as they place frequent calls to teams around the league, Bird said, according to Buckner (Twitter link). Indiana reportedly engaged in preliminary talks about Lance Stephenson, their former shooting guard, with the Hornets in December, but Pacers officials as well as current Pacers players apparently weren’t enamored with the idea of bringing him back.

A pair of key Pacers can opt for free agency this summer, and Bird said David West and Roy Hibbert hadn’t given him an indication of whether they’d exercise their player options worth $12.6MM and more than $15.5MM, respectively, Buckner tweets. Still, Bird anticipates that they’ll return, and is focused on adding youth around the team’s core this summer, as Buckner relays. (All Twitter links). The Pacers have only $36MM committed for 2015/16 against a projected $66.5MM cap, but if Hibbert and West opt in, Indiana will be on the hook for more than $64.1MM, so Bird acknowledged the direction for the offseason ahead isn’t entirely clear, Buckner points out (Twitter link).

Central Notes: West, English, Gutierrez

February 6th, 2015 at 4:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

There was less acrimony Thursday when the Magic fired Jacque Vaughn than there was when they ousted Stan Van Gundy in 2012, but the current Pistons coach and executive nonetheless has plenty of sympathy for the latest ex-Magic coach. “There’s no such thing as a longtime Magic coach,” Van Gundy contends, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press relays.

“All those things are the same,” Van Gundy said. “You get in the press conference, they loved Jacque. He did a great job. You listen to all that, and then I listen to [GM] Rob [Hennigan] say it doesn’t fall on Jacque, but he takes full responsibility. I laugh, obviously, because that’s not true. You’re still sitting there with a job, and Jacque doesn’t have one, so I don’t know what full responsibility means. But I would say they left the full responsibility on Jacque.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Grantland’s Zach Lowe heard six weeks ago that the Pacers had become open to trading David West for a first-round pick, but such chatter has quieted, Lowe adds, suggesting teams aren’t willing to pay that price for the power forward.
Bulls camp invitee Kim English has signed with Guaros de Lara in Venezuela, the team announced (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 26-year-old who played in 41 regular season games with the Pistons in 2012/13 had played in France earlier this season after the Bulls cut him loose prior to opening night.
Coach Jason Kidd admits that the indefinite length of Larry Sanders‘ latest drug-related suspension complicates Jorge Gutierrez ‘s future with the Bucks, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examines. Gutierrez’s 10-day contract expires tonight, when the Bucks play the 10th game of Sanders’ suspension. The ban was to last a minimum of 10 games, but the league still hasn’t revealed just how long it will last, and once Sanders comes back, the 16th roster spot the Bucks created when they placed Sanders on the suspended list goes away. “We understand this is Jorge’s 10th day,” Kidd said today. “We’ll go back and evaluate and see if we can do another 10-day.”

Central Notes: George, Cavs, Tolliver

February 5th, 2015 at 2:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Paul George would like to be back by March, a timeframe that Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird hinted at earlier this week, but George indicated that it’s nonetheless unlikely as he spoke today with reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (three Twitter links). He’s targeting March 1st to be back in full practices with the team and said that if Indiana still has a shot at the playoffs later this season, it’d help sway him to return if he’s on the fence, as Buckner notes (three Twitter links). The Pacers are three and a half games out of the playoffs, but they’d have to pass four teams to get there. Here’s more on their Central Division rivals:

Executives around the league wondered if teams in the East would more aggressively try to make deals that would help them fill the void atop the conference as the Cavaliers failed to live up to expectations earlier this season, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com hears. Now, with the Cavs having won 11 in a row and the trade deadline two weeks away, Berger wonders if those teams will abandon that strategy. The Pacers are nonetheless in “win-now mode,” Bird said this week.
The Cavs have assigned Joe Harris to the D-League, the team announced. It’s D-League stint No. 5 for the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 draft, and all of those assignments have taken place since January 20th.
Anthony Tolliver fondly recalled his time with the Warriors when MLive’s Brendan Savage asked the well-traveled eighth-year NBA veteran to name his favorite stop aside from the Pistons, with whom he’s under team control through next season. Tolliver also said that Miami, where he played for the Heat during the 2009 preseason, is his favorite NBA city, responding to another question from Savage.

Raptors Eye David West, Taj Gibson, Faried?

February 5th, 2015 at 9:43am CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors are “sniffing around” for an upgrade at power forward, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who hears from league sources who mention David West, Taj Gibson and Kenneth Faried, among others, in connection with Toronto. However, the Raptors aren’t willing to part with much in return, though they’d like to part with expiring contracts if it would net a frontcourt upgrade, Kyler adds.

West makes $12MM this year, and Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said this week that while the 34-year-old hadn’t given him any indication of whether he intended to exercise his $12.6MM player option for next season, he anticipated West would return to Indiana. Bird also said the Pacers are in “win-now mode,” which would suggest that he doesn’t have any interest in trading West for expiring deals.

Sean Deveney of The Sporting News on Wednesday loosely connected Gibson to the Raptors, as well as the Suns, Pistons and Blazers, though it’s unclear if Chicago has any willingness to part with the key reserve, even amid a crowded frontcourt for the Bulls this season. The 29-year-old is in year two of a four-year extension that’ll pay him $8MM this season with salaries that escalate to $8.95MM in 2016/17.

The Nuggets don’t want to part with Faried, as Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote last week, seemingly counter to an early-season report indicating that the Nuggets weren’t sold on Faried even after signing him in October to a four-year extension worth at least $50MM. The 25-year-old’s shot attempts and points per game are off this season compared to last year even after a breakout performance with Team USA this summer.

Incumbent Raptors starting power forward Amir Johnson is on an expiring contract that’s worth $7MM to him this season, while Landry Fields, Chuck Hayes, Louis Williams, Tyler Hansbrough and Greg Stiemsma are the other Raptors set for free agency this summer. Kyler suggests that the Raptors would be willing to give up any one of their players on expiring contracts aside from Williams. Toronto has more than $49MM in commitments against a projected $66.5MM salary cap for next season, so any deal that gives up a soon-to-be free agent for a player with guaranteed money for next season would cut into what figures to be fairly significant cap flexibility.

The Raptors are in second place in the Eastern Conference, and though they’ve lost their past two games, they won six in a row at the end of January. Still, the team has mismatched parts and will be in major trouble if GM Masai Ujiri doesn’t make a move, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun opines (All Twitter links).

Eastern Notes: Whiteside, Cavs, Barac

February 4th, 2015 at 8:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Heat center Hassan Whiteside had worked out for the Wolves back in 2012 after being released by the Kings. But Minnesota chose not to sign the big man, who is having a breakout season in Miami, due to reported maturity issues, something that Whiteside has overcome, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald writes. “He fell through the cracks as much as anything because of whether it was people questioned his work ethic, they questioned him off the court in some situations and they questioned his discipline,” Minnesota’s president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said. “He has matured. Sometimes young players, when he came out he rose so fast at Marshall, sometimes what happens is they’re not ready for that, they’re not ready for the NBA and everything that comes with it, and they think once they’re there everything is going to fall into place. So, I think more than anything he has matured and he has paid dues.”

Here’s more from the East:

LeBron James said that he would be willing to come off of the bench if it would help the Cavs continue to win, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “It’s about a team and how we all fit together, how the five guys on the court fit together, how the eight guys or 10 guys on the bench all help the guys that are on the floor and so on and so on,” James said. “So, sacrifice is the biggest word in team sports, but it’s not about saying it. It’s about doing it, as well. It’s about living it.“
Cavs coach David Blatt downplayed Kevin Love‘s recent struggles and called attention to the contributions Love provides that don’t make it into the box score, McMenamin adds. “I think Kevin is very much in the flow of the game and is playing both ends of the court,” Blatt said. “The last thing I really worry about with Kevin Love is if he is going to score. He’s a proven scorer in this league and a proven high-level scorer. And he’s helping the team win. He’s playing to win and that’s really what both concerns me and what impresses me about him, is he’s been willing to do whatever it takes to help us win and that’s what we want.“
Pacers draft-and-stash prospect Stanko Barac, whom the team was reportedly looking to sign to a deal, won’t be able to leave Cedevita Zagreb until this summer, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.com reports. Barac’s contract doesn’t contain a NBA out clause, which will prevent the 7’2″ Croatian from joining Indiana this season, Sierra notes.