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Kyler’s Latest: Pelicans, Knicks, Heat

August 29th, 2013 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld continues to examine potential trade situations for various NBA teams, today focusing on the Pelicans, Knicks, and Heat. Let's check out Kyler's NBA AM piece and round up a few of the highlights….

  • The Pelicans' lack of a "bruising inside player" could be cause for concern, according to Kyler, who says that the team may look into acquiring a true center if Anthony Davis struggles in his minutes at the five.
  • J.R. Smith's health will be one of the big questions for the Knicks this season, as the reigning Sixth Man of the Year recovers from knee surgery. If he's unable to return to 100% health, or has any setbacks, New York could target a replacement via trade, though the club likely wouldn't get aggressive until close to the deadline.
  • Those close to the situation in Miami say the Heat should be more wary of the summer of 2015 than 2014, according to Kyler. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh each essentially have player options in each of the next two offseasons, so any or all of the Big Three could opt out in either '14 or '15.
  • Kyler views Bosh and Wade as good bets to play out their current contracts, since neither player is likely to receive a raise in free agency. LeBron could obviously land a bigger long-term deal if he opts out, but he's unlikely to leave Miami while Wade and Bosh are still healthy and productive, says Kyler.
  • The Heat have several expiring contracts that could be used to faciliate deals at the 2014 trade deadline, if necessary, and Kyler notes that the team essentially has zero guaranteed money committed for 2014/15, meaning Miami could be in position to add even more talent. I'm not sure how realistic that is though — if we assume Bosh, Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Joel Anthony all opt in, and the Heat pick up Norris Cole's option, that takes team salary for '14/15 up over $51MM, and that's not even counting LeBron.
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Eastern Notes: Sanders, Bulls, Contract Years

August 28th, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few Wednesday items out of the Eastern Conference….

  • According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter), there were some Bucks officials who wanted to cut Larry Sanders a year ago, making his lucrative new four-year extension with the club even more remarkable.
  • The Heat will head into 2013/14 as the favorites to come out of the East for a fourth straight year, but Lang Greene of HoopsWorld warns that sleeping on the Bulls, despite their fairly quiet offseason, would be a mistake.
  • Ira Winderman's latest mailbag at the South Florida Sun Sentinel includes questions on the Heat's inactivity and on whether Mikhail Prokhorov's willingness to go deep into the luxury tax will have an effect on the league's other owners.
  • In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, David Thorpe poses "burning questions" facing the five Atlantic Division teams.
  • Danny Granger (Pacers), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), and Paul Pierce (Nets) are a few of the players in contract years who Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld believes are worth watching.
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Odds & Ends: Turkoglu, Plumlee, Heat, Mavs

August 27th, 2013 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

For now, Hedo Turkoglu remains under contract with the Magic, with the team currently on the hook for $6MM of his $12MM salary. Turkoglu's full salary will become guaranteed if he's still on the roster beyond January 7th, but there's virtually no chance that happens, and it appears the veteran forward may not even be in the NBA by that point. According to reports out of Turkey, confirmed by Can Pelister of TrendBasket.net (via Twitter), Turkish team Fenerbahce Ulker is pursuing Turkolgu, and is prepared to make him a substantial offer (hat tip to Sportando).

The Magic would need to grant Turkoglu his release before he could finalize a deal overseas, but it may just be a matter of time until that happens. Here's more from around the NBA:

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Odds & Ends: Brewer, Bucks, McGrady, Heat

August 26th, 2013 at 10:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ronnie Brewer considered signing with the Bulls, Jazz and Lakers before ultimately choosing the Rockets, the 28-year-old swingman tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. He also reiterated his assertion from June that the Thunder were in play to re-sign him, too, but Houston's up-tempo style of play helped sway him. Despite having only a partially guaranteed deal on a team with a league-high 19 players under contract, he's not worried about getting cut. "If I come in and I do what I'm supposed to do, all of that goes out the window," he said to Berman. As Brewer gets set to officially sign his contract, here's more on the league's comings and goings with about a month to go before training camp:

  • The Bucks have hired David Morway as assistant GM and Jim Cleamons as the team's top assistant coach, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel.
  • So much of Tracy McGrady's talent vanished long before he announced his retirement today, and he went underappreciated in Orlando during his peak years, as John Denton of Magic.com argues. The Magic, Raptors and Rockets are all left wondering what might have been, the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat writes.
  • Toure Murry still hasn't committed to the Knicks nearly a month after the club extended him a training camp invitation, but the 6'5" guard is expected to pick a team later this week, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
  • In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman discusses the Heat's luxury-tax situation, their mid-level exception, and the possibility of the team signing Richard Hamilton.
  • Now that 14 NBA teams have one-on-one relationships with their respective D-League affiliates, the remaining 16 teams are sharing three D-League clubs. Nonetheless, those squads with five or six NBA affiliations can still help young NBA players develop, as Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside outlines.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Heat Notes: Wade, Odom, Riley, LeBron

August 24th, 2013 at 10:30am CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at the latest out of South Beach..

  • A rumored meeting with Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley wooing Lamar Odom this summer didn't happen, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.  Furthermore, Wade said he removed himself from the team's free agent recruitment this offseason. "I left that all to them," Wade said. "I got away, understanding that we have little that we can do. And Pat Riley is the best at what he does, so he's fine. We all understand the nature of the beast, what we're dealing with."
  • Winderman also spoke with NBPA treasurer James Jones about LeBron James' decision not to run for union president and his own aspirations within the union.  Jones doesn't sound poised to make a run for president after Chris Paul is done with the job and says that he's happy to put his finance degree to use wit his current role.
  • In today's mailbag, one reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if the acquisition of Greg Oden is overshadowing Chris Andersen.  Winderman explains that Oden is not in Miami to replace Birdman by any means, but rather to serve as a complement to him.  Last year, Andersen struggled with certain matchups to the point where he had to be held out of two games against the Spurs and Tim Duncan.
  • ESPN's J.A. Adande and Bomani Jones debate the contenders for the 2014 title, with particular focus on the Heat (video link).  The Pacers and Rockets are also among the teams covered.
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Odds & Ends: James, Bowen, Kidd, Lin, Wright

August 21st, 2013 at 9:23pm CST by Alex Lee

After tonight's announcement from the NBA Player's Association, we can officially shut the door on any talk that LeBron James should assume the union's head position.  What we don't know about James, however, are his intentions after the upcoming season, when he can opt out of his current deal with the Heat.  James kept quiet about his plans on an interview that aired on the new Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday night, writes HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, who expects James to keep his options open.

Here are some other news and notes from around the league:

  • The Kings have named Ryan Bowen as an assistant coach and assistant director of player development, the team announced today in a press release.  Bowen spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Nuggets, where he spent two stints as a player.  He also played in Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City in his NBA playing career.
  • Jason Kidd is ready to make the transition from player to coach with the Nets, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com, who lists Tom Heinsohn, Billy Cunningham and Larry Bird among those who have walked a similar path with success.
  • Speaking at a youth conference in Taiwan, Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin said he put too much pressure on himself in his first year in Houston and it resulted in his coaches losing faith in him, according to an ESPN news release.  Lin will need to rediscover his confidence quickly considering the expectations in Houston this season.
  • Dorell Wright says his trust in Blazers general manager Neil Olshey was a big factor in his agreement to sign with Portland, writes Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune.  Wright said he envisions himself as a bench player, and that he expects the Blazers to vie for a playoff spot.
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Eastern Notes: Sanders, Casey, Celtics, Newton

August 21st, 2013 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In his latest piece for Grantland.com, Zach Lowe explores what Larry Sanders has to do to justify his new, long-term contract with the Bucks. In breaking down Sanders' footwork and positioning on specific plays, Lowe goes much more in-depth than I did when I examined the big man's four-year extension earlier today, but we ultimately reached similar conclusions. Even though Sanders has only had one productive NBA season, I liked the deal for Milwaukee, and Lowe agrees, writing that it "should turn out just fine for the Bucks."

Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Even though Dwane Casey is heading into the final year of his deal, the Raptors head coach doesn't intend to "spend a waking moment" worrying about his uncertain long-term contract situation, as he tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
  • Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld explains how the Celtics/Grizzlies swap of Fab Melo and Donte Greene worked financially, adding that Boston sent $1.66MM in cash to Memphis to complete the deal.
  • The Celtics also officially finalized their coaching staff today, formally announcing the hirings of assistants Ron Adams, Micah Shrewsberry, and Walter McCarty in a press release.
  • After some conflicting reports on whether or not Timberwolves president Flip Saunders had interviewed Milt Newton for the team's GM job yet, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets that Saunders is in Washington today to meet with the Wizards executive.
  • In today's mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman addresses the unlikely possibility of a Chris Bosh trade and agrees that the Heat could use another athletic perimeter player.
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Southeast Notes: Hawks, Bobcats, Gaddy, Jamison

August 20th, 2013 at 5:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Hawks forward Ivan Johnson is weighing offers from overseas clubs but his preference is to hook on with an NBA team.  Today, we learned that he has given his American suitors two more weeks to come up with a suitable offer.  If they can't come up with something good enough, the forward is reportedly fine with adding another stamp to his lengthy passport.  Here's today's news out of the Southeast Division.. 

  • The Hawks want to use the Rockets' rebuilding plan without ending up like the Mavericks, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.  “We’re well-positioned for many reasons,” Ferry said. “We have good players who will work hard and will be very competitive this year. We have salary-cap flexibility this year, with some space, but also space going forward. We have all our draft choices going forward as well. We have the opportunity to be competitive, but to continue to build on what we’re doing.”
  • Guard Abdul Gaddy told Percy Allen of the Seattle Times that he has a training camp invite from the Bobcats.  The Washington product, who went undrafted in June, was also on Charlotte's summer league squad.  In his final year with the Huskies, Gaddy averaged 10.9 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 3.2 RPG.
  • In today's mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if the Heat should go get Antawn Jamison.  Winderman feels that they already have a player who offers the same skillset in Rashard Lewis.
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Heat Notes: Wade, Oden, Varnado, Bosh

August 19th, 2013 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

While Dwyane Wade stressed last week that he expects to remain with the Heat beyond the coming season, it still sounds as if he could exercise his early termination option next summer, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. By opting out, Wade could sign a new deal with the team, potentially for more years or more dollars.

"We’ll see," Wade said of the opt-out. "You have to figure out what’s best for yourself and what’s best for the team and then you come up with that answer."

Here's more on the Heat:

  • Greg Oden's deal with the Heat was originally reported as having a second-year player option, but was ultimately revealed to just be a one-year pact. Agent Mike Conley tells Jackson that the two sides agreed to modify the agreement since it helps both the team and the player. Miami obviously assumes less risk and doesn't have to pay Oden's full salary, but it also benefits Oden, according to Conley, because of a league ruling involving injury contingency language in his contract.
  • Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel continues to view Jarvis Varnado as a long shot for Miami's regular season roster, due to the $250K he'll be owed if he remains on the roster by opening night. In Winderman's view, it may make more sense for the club to take a flier on another big man on a fully non-guaranteed contract.
  • Winderman adds that Varnado could end up on Miami's D-League squad in Sioux Falls if he's cut by the Heat, but notes that it would be far less lucrative for the 25-year-old than a deal overseas.
  • Within his mailbag, Winderman also shoots down the idea of a potential trade centered around Chris Bosh and LaMarcus Aldridge, rightly pointing out that the Heat aren't about to make huge changes to a roster that has won back-to-back titles.
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Odds & Ends: Heat, Jamison, Scott, TPEs

August 18th, 2013 at 9:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Sports, science, and technology are more closely linked than ever before and eight NBA clubs are at the forefront of the latest craze in athletics, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com.  The Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, and Knicks plus four other teams that have kept their identities secret have invested in complex GPS tracking devices that track a player's movements to help better protect them.  If a player is overexerting themselves – which is the time when injuries typically occur – then his activity can be shut down before anything goes south.  Here's tonight's look around the Association..

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