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Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Nelson, Butler

July 2nd, 2014 at 8:08pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, I joined Zach Burke, Craig Smoak, and Q on 1660 ESPN Radio in Central Texas to talk LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, the latest on the Mavericks and Rockets, and much more.  If you missed out, you can listen to the interview here.  Here’s more from around the league..

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Western Rumors: Suns, Love, Miller, Miles

July 2nd, 2014 at 3:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Suns have spoken with Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Luol Deng, Spencer Hawes, Danny Granger, Ed Davis, Marvin Williams, Josh McRoberts, Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas and Patrick Patterson, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Still, Coro cautions that they aren’t necessarily interested in all of them. Phoenix also made contact with Eric Bledsoe, P.J. Tucker and Channing Frye on the first day of free agency, Coro adds. Here’s more from the West, including a Kevin Love update:

  • The Wolves are indeed insisting that the Warriors take back Kevin Martin in any trade involving Love, a source tells Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Minnesota is also holding firm on its insistence that Klay Thompson be a part of the Warriors’ package, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
  • The Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, Thunder and the incumbent Grizzlies are among the teams pursuing Mike Miller, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. He’ll allow the Grizzlies to make a final push before he makes his decision, and while he said on Sports56 radio in Memphis that he’s received at least five offers, he added that his heart is in Memphis, as Tillery notes (Twitter link).
  • The Thunder and C.J. Miles had mutual interest before he agreed to sign with the Pacers, but Oklahoma City wasn’t willing to have the contract go quite as long as the four years that Indiana gave him, as The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry tweets. The Thunder are believed to be limiting their new contracts this summer to two years with Kevin Durant‘s potential free agency looming in 2016, Mayberry adds (on Twitter).
  • The Clippers have reached out to unrestricted free agent Ed Davis, reports Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
  • The Jazz are among several teams interested in Kent Bazemore, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
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And-Ones: Raptors, Mayo, Prince, Lin, Rivers

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

I appeared Tuesday on WWL radio’s Sports Talk With Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia in New Orleans to discuss NBA free agency, and already the tenor of the market is taking shape. Lucrative deals for shooting guards Jodie Meeks, Avery Bradley and Ben Gordon have dominated headlines so far, and Gordon’s deal in particular has many free agents optimistic about their own market values, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Raptors were already worried they were being priced out of retaining restricted free agents Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson before news of the Gordon deal hit, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Here’s more from around the league.

  • Executives from multiple teams have been offered O.J. Mayo of the Bucks, Tayshaun Prince of the Grizzlies, Jeremy Lin of the Rockets, and Austin Rivers of the Pelicans in trade scenarios, league sources tell tell Kennedy.
  • The Pacers have reached out to Rodney Stuckey, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He’s presumably a backup plan in case the team can’t reach a deal with Lance Stephenson.
  • The Warriors could have signed Stuckey, who was willing to sign with the club for the mid-level exception, but they gave that money to Shaun Livingston instead, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
  • Spencer Hawes “likes everything about the Blazers” and is “very interested” in signing with them, a source tells The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman. Portland has made Hawes their top target among sharpshooting big men, but he’s still in no rush to come to deal, Freeman writes.
  • Vince Carter is receiving a steady stream of pitches from the Heat and others, but the Mavs maintain strong interest in re-signing the swingman, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
  • The Magic claimed Willie Green off waivers Monday, and while they still had the chance to put him back on waivers before his non-guaranteed minimum salary became fully guaranteed, they didn’t do so before Tuesday’s deadline, so his money will stay on the books.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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Southwest Rumors: Daniels, LeBron, Parsons

July 1st, 2014 at 7:13pm CST by Zachary Links

The Rockets would like to re-sign Troy Daniels, but he’s also receiving interest from the Mavericks, Spurs, Grizzlies, and Pelicans, according to sources that spoke with RealGM’s Shams Charania.  Daniels became a playoff hero for Houston after he was called up from the D-League but they could be seeing plenty of him on the opposing side this season with the entire Southwest Division in pursuit.  Here’s the latest out of the Southwest..

  • The Mavericks, Rockets, and Suns are among the teams that are set to meet with LeBron James‘ agent, Rich Paul, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
  • Several teams are thinking of signing Chandler Parsons to a high-dollar offer sheet if only to burden the Rockets with an unwieldy cap hold while they decided whether to match, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes.
  • The Grizzlies are split on what to do with free agent forward James Johnson, writes Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal.  The coaching staff sees Johnson as a mistake-prone player and is frustrated by him.  Meanwhile, some of the team’s execs see him as a wild card worth keeping.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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And-Ones: Sterling, Parker, Crawford

July 1st, 2014 at 9:44am CST by Chuck Myron

Attorneys for Donald Sterling will argue that wife Shelly Sterling exerted undue influence on one of the two doctors who examined Donald and declared him mentally incompetent, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com details. Donald’s mental competency is no longer on trial. Instead, the probate trial between the Sterlings will center on whether Shelly followed the rules of the Sterling family trust, according to Shelburne. Those rules required that two mental health experts submit letters to the effect that Donald was mentally incompetent before allowing Shelly to take full control of the trust, Shelburne writes. Shelly agreed to sell the Clippers in May to Steve Ballmer, claiming that she fully controlled the trust, but Donald is fighting the sale. Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Spurs kept Tony Parker through Monday, unsurprisingly, but doing so means his $3.5MM partial guarantee is now a fully guaranteed $12.5MM salary for 2014/15.
  • Jamal Crawford of the Clippers had his $1.5MM partial guarantee bumped to a full guarantee of $5.45MM when he remained on the roster through Monday.
  • Kosta Koufos remains on the Grizzlies, so his $500K partial guarantee is now a $3MM full guarantee.
  • Parker’s teammate Austin Daye is also still with the Spurs, so his $250K partial guarantee is a fully guaranteed minimum salary.
  • The Hornets kept Jeffery Taylor around, so his minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed.
  • It appears as though the Magic are officially under the cap, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That means Orlando loses access to a $6,077,280 trade exception it could have reaped from last week’s Arron Afflalo deal.
  • The Hawks didn’t give big man Gustavo Ayon a qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). There weren’t reports of qualifying offers to James Southerland of the Pelicans, Adonis Thomas of the Sixers and Bernard James of the Mavs, so presumably they’re all unrestricted free agents as well.
  • The Wolves hired Ryan Saunders as an assistant coach, the team announced (on Twitter). Saunders, the son of Wolves head coach/executive Flip Saunders, had served the last five seasons as a Wizards assistant.
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Free Agent Rumors: Melo, Love, Henry, Sessions,

July 1st, 2014 at 1:15am CST by Zachary Links

The Knicks are still viewed in league circles as the favorites in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The team is confident that it will get the final sales pitch with Anthony, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The latest free agent rumors from around the league..

  • The Rockets, Suns, Bulls, and Warriors are all expected to make plays for Kevin Love if they miss out on LeBron James and/or Anthony, tweets Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.
  • The Pacers are targeting Xavier Henry in free agency to replace Evan Turner, tweets Shaun Powell of Sports On Earth.
  • Bucks free agent guard Ramon Sessions‘ camp received calls from three teams in the first hour of free agency, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
  • The Grizzlies, Nets, Spurs, and Thunder have expressed in free agent point guard Sebastian Telfair, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Telfair played in China last season. For the Nets, Telfair could be a potential replacement for Shaun Livingston if he goes elsewhere.
  • The Nets reached out as soon as the negotiating window opened to their own free agents Paul Pierce, Livingston, and Alan Anderson, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
  • The Blazers have strong interest in signing a stretch four, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Spencer Hawes, Boris Diaw, and Josh McRoberts are among their targets.
  • Blazers GM Neil Olshey met with Hawes and his agent, Greg Lawrence, tonight in Los Angeles, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
  • Channing Frye would be open to returning to the Blazers, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. “Of course coming back would be an option,” Frye wrote in an e-mail. “I love the city, the fans, and the players they have are top notch.”
  • Nick Young was contacted by the Lakers and a number of other teams, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter).
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Clippers Confident They Can Sign Paul Pierce

July 1st, 2014 at 12:31am CST by Zachary Links

The Clippers believe they have a real chance of stealing Paul Pierce away from the Nets now that Jason Kidd is no longer coaching in Brooklyn, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.  Of course, it has been long speculated that Pierce could be tempted by a reunion with former coach Doc Rivers.

Besides the Clippers, the Blazers, Grizzlies, Bulls, Mavericks, and Rockets all reached out to Pierce tonight, Stein tweets.

Kidd was dealt to the Bucks this week in exchange for a pair of second round draft picks.  The guard-turned-coach reportedly made a power play for personnel control and possibly a more lucrative contract and was denied.  At that stage, the Nets granted Kidd permission to talk with the Bucks about their opening.  It wasn’t long before Bucks co-owner and former Nets minority owner Marc Lasry had a framework in place for Kidd to replace coach Larry Drew.

Pierce has made nearly $185MM in his career, per Basketball-Reference, so he could certainly afford to take less money to head west and join the Clippers.

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Qualifying Offers: Monday

June 30th, 2014 at 11:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Teams must decide today whether to tender qualifying offers to their players eligible for restricted free agency or lose the right to match offers from other teams. We’ll round up all of today’s qualifying offer decisions here:

  • The Pacers declined to tender a qualifying offer to Lavoy Allen, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Still, there’s mutual interest in a new deal, Buckner adds (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks extended a qualifying offer to Mike Scott, notes Mark Deeks of ShamSports (on Twitter).
  • No surprise here: Chandler Parsons got his QO from the Rockets, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
  • The Pacers won’t extend a QO to Evan Turner, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
  • Kevin Seraphin officially got his qualifying offer from the Wizards, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
  • As expected, the Warriors won’t extend a QO to Jordan Crawford, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks have extended a qualifying offer to Shelvin Mack, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Bucks have told forward-center Ekpe Udoh he will not be tendered an offer thus making him an unrestricted free agent, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter).
  • The Grizzlies have passed on making a qualifying offer to Ed Davis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Davis was reportedly a favorite of former CEO Jason Levien, but with Zach Randolph having agreed to an extension, it appears that Davis isn’t quite as highly valued in Memphis as he once was. His qualifying offer would have been worth $4,268,609, a slightly smaller amount than he was originally in line for, as I explained.
  • No shock here, but the Pistons extended a qualifying offer to Greg Monroe, tweets Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, preserving their right to match offers for the fifth-rated player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings. The qualifying offer is worth nearly $5.5MM, but he’ll command much more than that.
  • The Pelicans will not give Darius Miller a qualifying offer, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune. The offer would have been worth more than $1.115MM.
  • The Spurs have tendered a qualifying offer to Aron Baynes, notes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). It’s worth more than $1.115MM, the same amount as Miller’s would have been.
  • The Knicks have elected not to make a qualifying offer to Toure’ Murry, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’d like to re-sign him nonetheless, Stein adds in a second tweet, but other teams have interest, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt says (on Twitter). The offer would have been worth more than $1.016MM.
  • Othyus Jeffers and Robbie Hummel won’t receive qualifying offers from the Wolves, the team announced (on Twitter). The offers would have been for amounts slightly greater than $1.148MM and $1.016MM, respectively.
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West Rumors: Sterling, Williams, Afflalo, Miller

June 30th, 2014 at 8:02pm CST by Zachary Links

A new doctor has declared Clippers owner Donald Sterling mentally fit after a comprehensive medical examination in Las Vegas over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the situation told Shelby Lin Erdman of CNN.  The testing was arranged by one of Sterling’s attorneys and conducted with one of the top dementia and Alzheimer’s disease specialists in the country.  More out of the West..

  • Free agent Mo Williams has no meetings set with other teams and his “only goal” is to sign a new deal with the Blazers, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (on Twitter).
  • New Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo sounds intent on exercising his opt out after the 2014/15 season.  “It’s probably something that I always anticipated, even beyond when I first signed this deal with Denver,” Afflalo told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “I knew my game, I knew my maturity, I knew I would grow as a player. And I wanted to have that option as I got older and I progressed as a player. So hopefully I’ll out-perform my contract and put myself in a better situation. That was my intent from the beginning, even before this year, was to play out the four years and progress as a player.”
  • Grizzlies swingman Mike Miller tells Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that he’s meeting with his agent tomorrow in Los Angeles before talking with four or five clubs.  Meanwhile, the Grizzlies can prevent him from looking around if they come to him with the right deal.
  • A source tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (on Twitter) that there are four or five suitors out there for Jordan Hill, including the Rockets and Mavs.  He’s not ruling out a Lakers return and will take his time through the process with an eye on a longer deal.
  • Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says the club is putting Julius Randle through a series of physicals this week to test his foot though, right now, he doesn’t expect surgery, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  • There is strong mutual interest in Vince Carter‘s return to the Mavericks, but several playoff teams are expected to express interest in the 37-year-old swingman, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.  The Heat, Thunder, Blazers, and Raptors are among the playoff teams that are seen as potential fits for VC, according to a source.
  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr is discussing an assistant coaching job on the staff with Luke Walton, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
  • Lakers unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore is expected to draw interest from the Hawks, Celtics, and Suns among others, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
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Draft Grades: Southwest Division

June 29th, 2014 at 6:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the 2014 NBA Draft officially in the books, it’s time to take a look back and see how each team used the draft to make improvements and fill needs. I’ve already run down the picks for the Atlantic, Central, Northwest, Pacific, and Southeast Divisions. We’ll finish up with a look at the Southwest Division:

Dallas Mavericks

Team Needs: Small Forward, Point Guard, Depth

Draft Picks:

  •  No picks

The Mavs owed this year’s first-round pick to the Thunder. They also traded last year’s first round selection, Shane Larkin, to the Knicks in the deal last week that netted them Tyson Chandler. Dallas is in win-now mode, and their biggest goal on draft night was to not burn up any cap space that they envision needing to lure Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James to the city. Dallas has tried this plan before and has so far been unable to get a second star or two to pair alongside Dirk Nowitzki.

It’s doubtful the Mavs will miss the second rounder they traded away, but the team has a hole at the point guard spot thanks to the Chandler deal, and the Dallas roster is getting up there in years. Sooner or later they’ll need to acquire some young, cheap depth.

Overall Draft Grade:  D — No picks to work with, but getting Chandler back, two seasons too late though it may be, might ease the sting a little.

Houston Rockets

Team Needs: Defense, Power Forward, Point Guard, Center

Draft Picks:

  •  No. 25 Clint Capela (Power Forward)
  • No. 42 Nick Johnson (Shooting Guard)

The Rockets are another franchise trying to clear cap space for a run at James or Anthony. Taking Capela, who will continue to play overseas for the next couple of seasons, was a smart pick. Capela is incredibly raw, but has off-the-charts athleticism, and has been compared to Serge Ibaka. Capela is a player I was very high on heading into the draft, and he might turn out to be a valuable addition or trade piece in the future.

Johnson was a solid pick. He’s very athletic, can shoot a bit, but he’ll spend more time in the D-League than with the first string this year.

Overall Draft Grade:  C- — Capela is an intriguing prospect and Johnson was a good value pick. The team could have been a bigger player on draft night but instead is hanging its hopes on adding another star to the lineup instead.

Memphis Grizzlies

Team Needs: Small Forward, Point Guard, Scoring

Draft Picks:

  •  No. 22 Jordan Adams (Shooting Guard)
  • No. 35 Jarnell Stokes (Power Forward)*

*Acquired via trade with Jazz for a future second round pick.

I’m not a fan of what the Grizzlies did on draft night. The team badly needs scoring and some athleticism. Adams could provide the scoring, but he won’t blow anyone away with his physical tools. I don’t know if Adams will be able to defend enough to stay on the court, and his lack of speed will make it difficult to get off his own shot. With some of the other players available at No. 22, such as Rodney Hood and P.J. Hairston, I can’t help but think the team overshot on Adams.

Stokes is a punishing inside presence, and should work his way into the team’s rotation by the end of the year. He’ll fit right in with Memphis’ style of play.

Overall Draft Grade:  C — Not a fan of the Adams pick, but the team had him ranked fifth on its draft board, so maybe they know something others don’t. Stokes was a solid pick and should become a useful addition.

New Orleans Pelicans

Team Needs: Small Forward, Point Guard, Depth

Draft Picks:

  •  No. 47 Russ Smith (Point Guard)*

*Acquired in trade with Sixers that sent them the rights to Pierre Jackson.

The Pelicans dealt away their first-rounder to the Sixers in the Jrue Holiday trade last year.  They also traded last year’s second-round pick, Jackson, for Smith. This begs the question, what do the Pelicans have against Jackson? Smith is almost an identical player to Jackson, and with work he could become a decent reserve guard when the team needs a change of pace.

Overall Draft Grade: D  — The team could have had Elfrid Payton with the pick it traded for Holiday. Holiday has a proven track record, but has battled injuries and is more expensive. I also don’t get the logic in trading Jackson for Smith, so that was no help. Thankfully the Pelicans picked up Omer Asik via trade, so that will be their big addition for now.

San Antonio Spurs

Team Needs: Youth, Depth, Power Forward

Draft Picks:

The best organization in the league might have done it again. Anderson is a flawed player, for sure. He’s slow, not very athletic, and will have issues on defense. But he’s also a player who in the right system can make others around him better. That sounds like the prototypical Spurs player to me.

Anderson has been compared to Boris Diaw, who was a very effective and valuable piece for the team’s championship run. Heading into the draft my feeling was that Anderson needed to end up with a heavy ball movement team in order to be of any value. He would be a great fit in the triangle offense, but should benefit equally from San Antonio’s offensive scheme as well.

Overall Draft Grade: A-  — With the last pick of the first round, the Spurs nab a player who fits their system perfectly. Anderson should develop nicely into a productive role player. The rich get richer it seems.

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