Mavs, Wizards Eye Kevin Martin?
3:53pm: The Wizards regard Will Bynum as their chief target aside from Ray Allen, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, so it doesn’t appear as though Martin is a high priority for them.
MONDAY, 10:35am: There’s “nothing there yet” regarding the Mavericks and Martin, a source tells Wolfson (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 2:33pm: Washington hasn’t discussed Martin to this point, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears (Twitter link).
9:10am: The Mavericks and Wizards are “among the possibilities” for Kevin Martin, as Chris Mannix of SI.com writes within his Open Floor column, calling the Timberwolves shooting guard a “player to keep an eye on” as the February 19th trade deadline approaches. Still, a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News about a week ago that there’s “almost zero chance” the Wolves swing any deals because of the long-term salary commitments involved with many of their veterans. Martin, who makes nearly $6.793MM this season, is under contract through 2016/17, a season for which he has a player option worth almost $7.378MM.
Despite those salaries, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press wrote last week that he didn’t get the sense that the Wolves wanted to trade the 11th-year veteran. Martin has played in only 14 games this season, including a 37-point performance against the Knicks in which he broke his right (shooting) wrist. He returned to action just last week after an absence of more than two months because of the wrist, and he scored 30 points in Minnesota’s last game, a victory over the Heat. The 32-year-old is averaging 20.5 points per game so far this year, which would represent his first season with a scoring average of better than 20.0 PPG since 2010/11.
Neither the Mavs nor the Wizards have a trade exception large enough to absorb Martin, and both teams are fairly close to the tax threshold, so they’d have to send out matching salary. Washington has the additional burden of a hard cap. The only expiring contract the Wizards have that’s greater than the minimum salary and doesn’t require the player’s consent for a trade is the team’s deal with Andre Miller, who makes $4.625MM this season and has recently fallen out of the rotation. The expiring contracts for the Mavs are all minimum-salary deals, except the ones for Tyson Chandler and Rajon Rondo, players the team will almost certainly keep.
Western Notes: Malone, Howard, Clippers
Former Kings coach Michael Malone made a second visit to Minnesota to speak with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor after Flip Saunders invited Malone to observe the team for a while last month, as TNT’s David Aldridge reports amid his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Aldridge speculates that Saunders, serving in a dual role as coach and president of basketball operations, is eyeing Malone as a potential replacement as coach for whenever Saunders decides to concentrate on his executive role. Malone is also a rumored candidate for the Magic’s head coaching job. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Dwight Howard says he was given a timetable of six to eight weeks for recovery from the right knee swelling that’s kept him out of action since January 23rd, according to Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. The Rockets announced this past Wednesday that he’d miss at least a month, though team doctor Walt Lowe says there isn’t a specific time frame for his return, other than that he’ll be back this season, Creech writes.
- The Clippers are unlikely to make a 10-day signing before the All-Star break, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register hears (Twitter link). The team has reportedly spoken with Sebastian Telfair about a potential deal.
- The Rockets have recalled rookies Clint Capela and Nick Johnson from the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). It was assignment No. 4 for Capela and the third D-League stint for Johnson, as our assignments/recalls log shows. Johnson is averaging 10.7 minutes per game in 17 NBA appearances, while Capela has seen only 18 total minutes with the big club.
- Al-Farouq Aminu has given the Mavericks the best dollar-for-dollar production of any player on the roster, opines Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, arguing that the minimum-salary signee has excelled doing many of the same duties Shawn Marion did last year.
Timberwolves Open To Trading Mo Williams
3:07pm: Charlotte and Minnesota talked about a deal that would send Williams and Troy Daniels to the Hornets, but that conversation stalled within the past few days, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 9TH, 1:10pm: The Hornets are also a likely suitor for Williams, Wolfson tweets, adding that while he believes the Wolves will trade Williams, no deal is close.
JANUARY 30TH, 3:18pm: The Cavs, Clippers and Heat are among the teams to watch regarding Williams, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 Twin Cities, adding that there’s a “small chance” that the Pistons become involved (Twitter link). The return Minnesota would receive for Williams would be “minimal,” Wolfson also says.
11:49am: Rival teams believe the Wolves are making Mo Williams available to potential trade partners willing to relinquish a draft pick, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Williams is indeed available, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). Still, a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there’s “almost zero chance” that Minnesota makes any deal this season, given the limited market for its veterans, as Deveney wrote earlier this morning.
The source who spoke with Deveney referred to the long-term financial commitments to some of those vets as stumbling blocks, but Williams is on a $3.75MM deal that only covers this season. Many executives and scouts who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck for a December report identified Williams and teammate Thaddeus Young as likely trade candidates. Young has a player option worth almost $9.972MM for next season, and Krawczynski doesn’t get the sense that the Timberwolves want to trade Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic or perhaps Young, as the AP scribe wrote in his tweet.
Williams, a 12th-year veteran, has been starting in place of the injured Ricky Rubio, though the team does have lottery pick Zach LaVine and 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown in reserve. Williams’ 6.4 assists per game are his most since the 2010/11 season, and his 12.5 points per game represent a bounceback from his 9.7 PPG scoring average for the Blazers last season, the first time he hadn’t averaged double figures in points since his rookie year. Still, the now 32-year-old Williams wanted to return to Portland this past summer, and there was reportedly mutual interest in a deal with the Mavs before they signed Jameer Nelson instead.
Western Notes: Nuggets, McGary, Wolves
The Nuggets‘ next victory should come during the 2015 draft lottery, opines Woody Paige of The Denver Post. Paige argues that Denver should employ a tanking strategy during its final 31 games of the season and points out that although it would be tough to catch the Sixers, Knicks, or Wolves in the loss column, having the fourth-worst record is an attainable goal. The fourth-worst record would give the team a 11.9% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, as our reverse order rankings indicate. Denver currently owns a record of 19-32, which is tied for eighth-worst in the league. In order to lose enough games to fall that drastically in the standings, the Nuggets would most likely have to sit players or trade them away, similar to how Philadelphia traded away Evan Turner last season, although that is just my speculation. Our own Chuck Myron looked at Arron Afflalo as a trade candidate and also examined the chances that Wilson Chandler leaves town before season ends.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Thunder have recalled Mitch McGary from their D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, according to the team’s twitter feed. The rookie has only appeared in two games to date for the Thunder and accrued a total of three points and three rebounds. The big man is playing in today’s game against the Clippers because Kendrick Perkins is serving a one-game suspension.
- Inking Nick Collison to an extension was an extremely important part of the Thunder’s future plans, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Tramel adds that in addition to being good friends with Kevin Durant, Collison’s always positive attitude is an asset in itself. The power forward’s extension, worth $7.5MM, will keep him under contract through the 2016/17 season.
- The Wolves are benefiting from having Flip Saunders coach the team in addition to being their president of basketball operations, writes Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press. The team is able to evaluate all the talent on its roster without worrying about the outcomes of games. “From a guy that’s in the management, me coaching is probably easier than having a coach,” Saunders said. “If I had a veteran coach, he’d be coming in every day wanting to trade everybody. They’re trying to win games. If I had a young coach, he’d be worrying about winning so he wouldn’t want to play the young guys. He’d be playing veterans, and the young guys wouldn’t get time.” Minnesota is currently 10-40 on the season, which puts the team in a good position to add more talent via the 2015 draft.
And-Ones: Shaw, Lakers, Early, Marble
There is still a strong belief within the Nuggets front office that Brian Shaw can become an elite NBA coach, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Denver’s GM Tim Connolly also reiterated that the franchise has no intention of firing Shaw this season. In his two seasons in Denver, Shaw’s overall record is 55-77, including a fourth place finish in the Northwest Division in 2013/14.
Here’s more from the West:
- Shaw admitted that the all of the trade speculation regarding the Nuggets‘ players has become a distraction to the team, Mannix adds. “When you hear your name swirling around in trade rumors, it can’t help but have an effect on most people,” Shaw said. “But I say now and I say to them, it’s something we can’t control. As a player I was traded a few times. I can say to them until I’m blue in the face that they should continue to play and control what you can on the floor, but you are still going to think about it. It’s still going to have an effect on you. But whatever happens is going to happen. It’s part of the business and we have to deal with it.”
- The Knicks have recalled Cleanthony Early from their D-League affiliate in Westchester, the team has announced.
- The staff over at ESPNLosAngeles.com discussed the Lakers‘ point guard situation, and the consensus was that Jordan Clarkson, whom Los Angles selected with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, has been a pleasant surprise this season and should factor into the Lakers’ future plans. The 22-year-old rookie out of Missouri is averaging 6.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 27 appearances, including six starts.
- The latest player rankings for the 2015 NBA draft were released by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com, and the updated list sees Ohio State star D’Angelo Russell shooting all the way up to the No. 2 spot. In addition, Kristaps Porzingis has dropped out of the top five for the first time this season.
- Flip Saunders, the Wolves‘ president of basketball operations, said that since Minnesota’s roster is finally healthy, the team intends to send Glenn Robinson III to the D-League for seasoning, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune tweets. Minnesota has yet to assign a player to the D-League this season, as our tracker shows.
- Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examined the Lakers roster and ran down where each player stands in regard to the franchise’s future.
- The Magic have recalled Devyn Marble from the Erie BayHawks, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel tweets. This concludes Marble’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League.
Wolves Sign Lorenzo Brown To Second 10-Day
4:45pm: The deal is official, the team has announced.
8:00am: The Timberwolves and Lorenzo Brown have agreed upon a second 10-day deal, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The point guard’s first 10-day expired at the end of Thursday. This will be the last 10-day deal Brown can sign with the Wolves, who’ll have to either sign him for the season or let him sit in free agency once the deal runs to term.
Minnesota is keeping Brown in spite of this week’s return of starting point guard Ricky Rubio. Backup Mo Williams, whom the team is rumored to be willing to trade, has a sore hip that has him listed as questionable for tonight’s game, but it nonetheless appears as though there isn’t as much call for Brown as there had been when the team signed him. Brown started and played all but five seconds of Minnesota’s game against the Cavs on Saturday, but he saw only a minute and a half of action the next time out, which was the game in which Rubio came back, and Brown didn’t play at all in the Wolves’ last game.
The Pistons were also reportedly interested in the 24-year-old Joel Bell client before the Wolves snapped him up. Minnesota is at 15 players with Brown on the roster, and the other 14 players are signed through the end of the season.
Western Notes: Burke, Smith, Pelicans
Trey Burke has embraced his new role of coming off of the bench for the Jazz, and the change has benefited both the player and the team, Chad Mobley of NBA.com writes. “There’s this fixation with the bench and starting and to me what Trey has embraced is not so much the bench. I don’t want him to embrace the bench, I don’t want him to embrace starting, I want him to do what’s best for our team,” coach Quin Snyder said. “He’s embraced becoming a better player. I don’t want it to be about the bench for him. If he starts again I want him to keep getting better.”
Here’s more from the West:
- The Benson family’s legal squabble over the control of the Pelicans and Saints threatens to ruin the clan’s sports legacy in New Orleans, Margaret Cronin Fisk and Laurel Brubaker Calkins of Bloomberg News write.
- Josh Smith is a big fan of playing for the Rockets, and he views his time in Houston this season as a chance to revitalize his career, Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston tweets. “It [Houston] does have a home feel. I can’t stop smiling because I’m in such a good position with a great opportunity in front of me,” Smith told Berman.
- Rookie Andrew Wiggins is the Wolves‘ lone ray of hope for a better future, and he is providing Minnesota with an acceptable return for dealing away Kevin Love to the Cavs, Pat Borzi of USA Today writes.
- Suns center Alex Len is essentially a rookie after missing most of the 2013/14 campaign due to an injury, and the big man is starting to feel the effects of logging heavy minutes, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “There is going to be some adjustment for him for playing these big minutes,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Eighty-two games is a lot of games. You’re traveling and doing all this and you kind of get worn down. You have to get used to playing like that.“
Sixers Sign Tim Frazier To 10-Day Contract
THURSDAY, 1:50pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release. The statement makes no reference to a corresponding move, so the team remains at 16 players, with Kirilenko’s presence of the suspended list giving the team the chance to carry one more than the 15-man limit.
WEDNESDAY, 10:40pm: The Sixers intend to sign Tim Frazier to a 10-day contract on Thursday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Philadelphia’s current roster count sits at 16 players, including the suspended Andrei Kirilenko. But Larry Drew II‘s second 10-day deal ends today, and with the team set to bring Frazier aboard, it doesn’t look like Drew will be signed by Philly for the remainder of the season, though that is just my speculation.
Frazier, a 24-year-old point guard, has been playing for the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate. In 27 games, Frazier has averaged 15.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.9 assists in 35.8 minutes per contest. His slash line is .450/.271/.783.
Frazier went undrafted out of Penn State in 2014, and had worked out for both the Wolves and the Celtics this past summer. The 6’1″ guard attended training camp with Boston, but was waived a week after joining the team.
Draft Rumors: Okafor, Wolves, Knicks, Sixers
Every team with which Chad Ford of ESPN.com has spoken has Jahlil Okafor atop its draft board, as Ford writes in an Insider-only piece, and that includes the Timberwolves, who have the pole position for the No. 1 overall pick, as our Reverse Standings show. That’s even despite the presence of Gorgui Dieng, whom Ford says the team is high on, and Nikola Pekovic, who’s making about $12MM each season through 2017/18. The ESPN.com draft guru runs down how Okafor would fit with each of the teams in line for a lottery pick, and he tosses in some noteworthy rumors as he does so. We’ll hit the highlights here:
- The Knicks like Emmanuel Mudiay, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell in addition to Okafor, Ford writes, adding that the Jazz are Russell fans, too.
- Philadelphia would draft Okafor in spite of the presence of Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, Ford hears. The Sixers aren’t sold that either Noel or Embiid will become an elite player, Ford also hears, as he writes in his chat with readers.
- Mudiay is No. 2 behind Okafor as far as the Lakers are concerned, but it’s not close, as Ford says he’s been told.
- The Magic won’t hesitate to draft Okafor and believe he has the superstar potential that their other players don’t, Ford hears.
- Al Horford would “love to move to power forward,” Ford writes, suggesting that the Hawks, who have the rights to take Brooklyn’s pick, would grab Okafor if given the chance.
- Ford speculates that the Pistons are the team in line for a lottery pick that’s least likely to draft Okafor, believing he’d be a poor fit alongside Andre Drummond.
Eastern Notes: Whiteside, Cavs, Barac
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.