- Aaron Gordon is having his best statistical season by far, but it’s not resulting in more wins for the Magic, relays John Denton of NBA.com. Gordon hasn’t come close to a playoff spot in his four years in Orlando, but he remains confident that things will turn around. “[The losing] hurts and it’s not something that I like obviously, but I do my best to continue to focus on the present moment,’’ Gordon said. “Win, to me, stands for What’s Important Now. What’s important now is continuing to get better so that when the opportunity presents itself I’m ready and we’re ready as a team.”
The Knicks may use the trade market to open a roster spot for G League guard Trey Burke, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. New York is reportedly in “serious talks” about signing Burke, who has been with the organization’s Westchester affiliate since being waived during the preseason.
The Knicks have a full roster and there is speculation that veteran point guard Ramon Sessions could be waived to clear the way for Burke. However, Kyler says the Knicks have received interest in backup centers Kyle O’Quinn and Willy Hernangomez. They may be able to get a draft pick in return for O’Quinn, but not many teams can take on his $4.08MM salary without sending another player back to New York, which wouldn’t help with signing Burke.
Burke has been outstanding in the G League and has attracted interest from other organizations. According to Kyler, Burke’s representatives have told the Knicks he will consider other offers if they don’t sign him soon. So while there’s not a definite deadline to open a roster spot, there is an incentive to get something done.
Kyler offers info on several other potential deals as the trade deadline draws nearer:
- The Jazz would like to get something in return for the expiring contracts of Derrick Favors [$12MM] and Joe Johnson [$10.5MM]. Utah is among the teams linked to Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic, who becomes eligible for a deal Monday. Kyler says the Bulls are willing to make a deal and would be happy to get draft picks and expiring deals in return.
- The Magic could be active at the deadline, as sources say they have received inquiries on nearly all their players. They would like to deal guard Evan Fournier, but haven’t received any offers they consider attractive. Despite being a non-contender at 12-28, Orlando isn’t overly interested in draft picks because it already has a lot of young talent and its own pick is likely to fall in the top five. It would take a proven All-Star to land Aaron Gordon, according to Kyler, and the Magic don’t expect to receive that kind of offer. They are also resigned that no one is going to take Bismack Biyombo with two years and $34MM left on his contract beyond this season.
- The Bucks continue to need frontcourt help and might give up Jabari Parker in the right deal. However, with Mirza Teletovic sidelined with blood clots in his lungs, the organization would have difficulty matching a big salary. Sources believe Malcolm Brogdon or Thon Maker would have to be included in any significant trade.
- The Lakers may have to deal Larry Nance Jr. as an incentive to get teams to take on other salaries. They would love to get rid of Luol Deng‘s contract, but are finding no options without giving up a hefty package of first-rounders.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy addressed trade rumors surrounding his team during a session with reporters today. Detroit is among several teams linked to Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic as the Pistons try to remain in the playoff race with a roster weakened by injuries.
“We have a roster spot available and there’s people calling,” Van Gundy said in comments tweeted by Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “We’re just seeing if there’s anything that makes sense for us. When you’re down a starting point guard, there’s not a lot of people shopping their starting point guard to you.” (Twitter link).
Reggie Jackson is out until at least the All-Star break with a sprained right ankle. Forward Jon Leuer hasn’t played since October 31 because of a sprained left ankle and may be headed for surgery. After a fast start, the Pistons have fallen into a sixth-place tie in the East at 21-18 and are barely holding on to a playoff spot.
“We’ve got [Leuer] down and [Jackson] down,” Van Gundy added. “There’s a lot of need and we’re looking around. We don’t have anything going on right now, but we’re looking around for people to fill holes.”
There’s more today out of Detroit:
- The Pistons have plenty of options to target before the February 8 deadline, writes Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. He lists Orlando’s Evan Fournier, Brooklyn’s Joe Harris, Miami’s Wayne Ellington, Dallas’ Wesley Matthews and Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore as players to watch.
- Pistons center Eric Moreland has a bit of security for the first time in his career, notes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Moreland had his $1,739,333 contract guaranteed this week, providing him with some stability after four years of trying to earn a steady NBA job. Moreland went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2014 and signed with the Kings, but played just 11 games at the NBA level in two seasons. He signed a partially guaranteed three-year deal with the Pistons over the offseason, but says he hasn’t been focused on this week’s guarantee deadline. “I play the same way, money or no money,” he said. “I don’t even play basketball for money. I just want to go out there and keep learning. This is my first year playing. I can’t get involved in that. That’s just not my mentality. I’m not trying to survive like that.”
- Magic swingman Evan Fournier shot just 27.5% from the field during the team’s first three games in January and it’s clear he misses injured center Nikola Vucevic, as John Denton of the team’s website explains. Vucevic is Fournier’s best friend on the team and the Euros feed off each other. Vucevic suffered a broken bone in his left hand just before Christmas and is out 6-8 weeks. “Definitely, we have great chemistry and there’s no secret to that,” Fournier told Denton. “No more two-man game with him out.”
Shooting guards and small forwards are in high demand as the trade deadline approaches, and there simply aren’t that many quality wings expected to be available, Adrian Wojnarowski writes in his latest report for ESPN.com. As Wojnarowski details, the Pistons, Knicks, Pelicans, and Trail Blazers are just a few of the many teams looking for upgrades on the wing.
DeMarre Carroll (Nets), Alec Burks (Jazz), Kent Bazemore (Hawks), and Evan Fournier (Magic) are among the veterans attracting some interest on the trade market, according to Wojnarowski, who notes that the Pistons pursued a deal for Fournier. Such a trade would be hard to pull off without including Reggie Jackson‘s contract, so nothing’s imminent at this point, but the Pistons continue to be aggressive on the trade market, a reflection of Stan Van Gundy‘s desire to win now, says Wojnarowski.
As for the Pelicans, they also remain active in trade talks despite their limited assets, according to Wojnarowski, who notes that Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca have negative value and won’t be movable without New Orleans attaching a draft pick or two. If the Pelicans can’t trade for a wing, they’ll have to count on getting Solomon Hill back healthy for the home stretch of the season.
Here’s more from Woj:
- The Lakers have “made it clear” that Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and Larry Nance Jr. are available in trades, reports Wojnarowski. The club had been planning on waiting until after the season to try to move Clarkson, but there may be a mutual desire to get something done on that front sooner rather than later.
- Bazemore, Ersan Ilyasova, and Marco Belinelli are expendable in Atlanta, where the Hawks are focused on unloading veterans and stockpiling more young players and draft picks, per Wojnarowski.
- The Bulls still plan to trade Nikola Mirotic after January 15, assuming he OK’s a deal. According to Wojnarowski, Mirotic is somewhat intrigued by the Jazz and their head coach Quin Snyder, who has a reputation for maximizing offensive talent.
- It’s possible their outlooks could change by the trade deadline, but the Thunder and Pelicans currently have no plans to trade Paul George or DeMarcus Cousins, respectively. Both players can become unrestricted free agents this July.
- We passed along more rumors from Woj in full stories earlier today, providing the latest on DeAndre Jordan and examining the Grizzlies‘ asking price for Tyreke Evans.
Here are Saturday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Kings have recalled forward Justin Jackson and center Georgios Papagiannis from their affiliate in Reno, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
- The Suns have recalled second-round pick Davon Reed from their Northern Arizona affiliate, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Reed, who is recovering from meniscus surgery in August, may play in Sunday’s game.
- The Magic have recalled Wesley Iwundu and Khem Birch from the G League, per RealGM’s transactions log. Birch posted a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) for the Lakeland Magic on Friday night, but Iwundu struggled mightily, putting up just two points on 1-of-9 shooting.
The Magic will retain rookie big man Khem Birch for the remainder of the 2017/18 NBA season, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Birch’s non-guaranteed minimum salary contract of $815.6K will become fully guaranteed tomorrow evening, whereas the Magic would have only had to pay Birch the first $407.8K (or half) of his contract had they chosen to waive him today or tomorrow morning.
Birch, a 25-year-old rookie out of UNLV, has spent most of his rookie season with the Magic’s G League affiliate in Lakeland, FL. In the six games he has played for the Magic, he has averaged only 1.3 points and less than one rebound per game. However, with Nikola Vucevic now injured, the Magic will keep Birch around as a young prospect vying for playing time behind Bismack Biyombo and Marreese Speights.
- The Magic have re-assigned Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu to the G League, the team announced today (Twitter link). The duo will get a chance to play for the Lakeland Magic tonight as they host Santa Cruz.
- The “dream scenario” for the Magic would be to move Bismack Biyombo before the deadline, but they’re highly unlikely to find a taker for that contract. Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier may also emerge as trade chips, but Aaron Gordon almost certainly isn’t going anywhere — the “prevailing thought” is that he’ll be retained by Orlando as a restricted free agent this summer, says Kyler.
[SOURCE LINK]
Heat center Hassan Whiteside returned from injury this week after missing 13 games with a bone bruise in his left knee. In his absence, the Heat modified their offense a bit to involve their big men in more dribble handoffs and other ball-handling activities, showcasing the skill of players like Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo. And as Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel reports, Whiteside will be called upon to continue this change.
“You’re going to get assists when you handle the ball more,” he said. “It’s just part of the game. (Coach is) putting it into the big’s hands more (and) I love it, man. I can’t wait to get my hands into that. It’s not as much pick-and-roll as much as it was. It’s more handoffs, bigs flashing to the elbows, that sort of stuff.”
And while Whiteside is eager to see how he fits into the new offense, Winderman figures that the adjustment will be gradual as Whiteside’s playing time increases. As head coach Eric Spoelstra explained, “The rhythm, the timing, the cohesiveness, you can’t take it for granted. You actually have to spend time working at it and getting back into the swing of things. It’s one thing to watch it. It’s different when you drill five on five.”
There’s more today from the Southeast Division:
- Magic guard Elfrid Payton may be playing some of the best basketball of his career, and it’s on the heels of head coach Frank Vogel asking Payton for more production and aggressiveness in the wake of a rash of injuries to the Magic roster, reports John Denton of NBA.com. Payton has averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds a game on 59.5 percent shooting since he was approached by Vogel.
- As we discussed yesterday, Magic rookie Jonathan Isaac is out indefinitely while he recovers from injury. In another piece for NBA.com, Denton explains how Isaac is being patient and waiting for his ankle to completely heal. Said Isaac, “Just take my time, day-by-day. It’s tough (being out). It takes time and trying to come back when it’s not completely there (physically) is tough, so I just have to be patient and take it day-by-day.’’
- In yet another story for NBA.com, Denton also profiles how Aaron Gordon is beginning to embrace pressure packed moments. Gordon, only 22, has already made two game-winning three pointers for the Magic this season.