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Dwight Howard Discusses Failed Magic/Nets Trade, Wants To Play 20 Seasons

March 17th, 2017 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

Dwight Howard signed a three-year, $70MM deal with the Hawks last summer that represented a homecoming for the Atlanta native. As Howard explains to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the possibility of playing for his hometown Hawks was an idea that long intrigued him. However, even though Atlanta “has always been special” for the 31-year-old, he feels as if he wasn’t ready earlier in his career and the timing was never right until 2016.

As his first season with the Hawks nears its end, Howard also opened up about several stops in his past, explaining how things went wrong during his time in Orlando and Houston. Spears’ conversation with D12 is worth checking out in full, but here are a few highlights from the interview:

On the chaos and drama that followed him from Orlando to L.A. to Houston:

“After the situation in Orlando, I never really came out and said my side of the story about what was going on there while I was there and the reasons for me wanting to leave. After that, people just decided that, ‘He’s not going to talk about it, so we might as well come up with a narrative and what we think went on in L.A. and what went on with Kobe [Bryant] and what we think happened with James [Harden].’

“I never had a personal vendetta with either one of those guys. People took it as me having a problem with them being on a team with another superstar. … I’ve never been the one to say, ‘OK, I want to talk about this because it was an issue with me.’ But everyone else kind of made it a storyline. And here in Atlanta, there is no storyline.”

On what happened during his final year in Orlando:

“There were a lot of different things that happened in Orlando that people never talked about. Before the season even started during the lockout, I asked them privately, I even talked to [teammate] Jameer [Nelson] and [then-GM] Otis [Smith] and I said, ‘Hey, I just want a change in my life. It has nothing to do with [then-coach] Stan Van Gundy. This has nothing to do with the players here in Orlando. It has nothing to do with Orlando itself.’ I just felt I was too comfortable and I wanted more for myself and more for basketball.

“It had nothing to do with the team. They said they were going to try to move me. I thought it was going to happen. They came in and said, ‘We’re going to trade you.’ They shook my hand and said, ‘God bless you. You were here for eight years and you did a great job.’ They asked me to go shake my teammates’ hands. I went and shook their hands and told them that the team was going to trade me. I woke up the next day and they said, ‘We’re not going to trade you.’

“This was right after the [2011] lockout. I was supposed to get traded right before training camp. I had asked them to trade me to Brooklyn and I thought that was going to happen. They decided they weren’t going to trade me and that was when all hell broke loose.”

On his time in Houston:

“I don’t think it ended the way it should have. I thought in my time in Houston we did some really good things. For us to go to the Western Conference finals after not being there for 20 years, that’s a great accomplishment because nobody expected us to do that. The issues they say happened between me and James were small communication issues. Instead of us coming together and talking about it, we allowed other people to do talking. The lines of communication were twisted.”

On how long he wants to play in the NBA, and whether he wants to finish his career with the Hawks:

“I want to get to 20 years. Now I’m at 13. … I would love to [play all those years in Atlanta]. I just got a nice place out in the country. I don’t want to leave it for eight months out of the year and just see it for three. I would love to.”

Pacific Notes: Iguodala, Kerr, Joerger, Rob Pelinka

March 13th, 2017 at 5:57pm CST by Milo Taibi

Andre Iguodala has been assessed a $10K fine for making “inappropriate comments” during a postgame interview, the league announced on its official website (link). Iguodala’s comments came after a 103-102 loss to Minnesota on Friday, when the 33-year-old was venting about not participating in a match-up with the Spurs. Steve Kerr had Iguodala’s back, claiming the 13-year vet likes to mess with the media.

“You guys just got Andre’d,” Kerr said to a group of reporters, including Chris Haynes of ESPN. “Andre is one of those guys who likes to stir the pot and has a lot of cryptic messaging at times. [He] jokes around. I didn’t take anything from it. It’s just Andre being Andre.”

Iguodala spoke with the press Monday, expressing regret for the impact of his comments.

“I feel like it’s the wrong time because it puts my team in that situation and coaching staff in that situation,” he told Ethan Strauss of ESPN. “I have a great relationship with Steve Kerr, and he knows that. Steve spoke to you guys about it, you know what I mean. Steve in his words, someone still may not believe him, but he and I are in a great place. We don’t even have to speak about it because he knew that in no way shape or form that I’m talking about him.”

Checking In On NBA’s 2017 Draft Lottery Trades

March 13th, 2017 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

As our 2016/17 NBA Reverse Standings show, the Celtics – by way of the Nets – have all but clinched the No. 1 spot in the 2017 draft lottery. With a record of 12-53, Brooklyn has a 7.5-game “lead” over the second-place Lakers, who are 20-46. Barring a hot streak that sees the Nets practically double their win total, their last-place finish will ensure that the Celtics have a 25% chance of landing the first overall pick this spring.

However, once we move past the Nets, there are many interesting lottery situations that are far from decided, which could have significant ramifications for the future of several franchises. Here’s a closer look at a few of them:

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are currently in second place in our reverse standings, with a 1.5-game lead on the Suns. If Los Angeles can hold that position the rest of the way, it would give the team a great chance to keep its 2017 first-round pick, which is top-three protected. If they lose the pick, it’ll be sent to the Sixers.

If the Lakers finish as the NBA’s second-worst team, they’d have a 55.8% chance of landing in the top three and keeping their pick. If they were to slip just one spot in the lottery standings and finish with the league’s third-worst record, those odds would shift below 50/50, to just 46.9%.

This year’s lottery outcome is particularly crucial for the Lakers, since losing this year’s pick would also mean they’d have to send their 2019 first-rounder (unprotected) to Orlando. If the Lakers keep this year’s first-rounder, their commitment to the Magic would become a pair of second-round picks in 2017 and 2018.

Philadelphia 76ers / Sacramento Kings

The Kings‘ 2017 first-round pick is top-10 protected — if it lands outside the top 10, Sacramento will have to send the pick to Chicago. However, a lengthy losing streak has put the Kings in a great position to keep that selection — they’re now 25-41, No. 6 in our reverse standings and four full games ahead of the 29-37 Hornets (No. 11).

With the Kings’ pick looking pretty safe, it’s now worth watching to see where it lands in relation to the Sixers‘ pick. Philadelphia has the opportunity to swap picks with the Kings, so Sacramento won’t necessarily be rooting for lottery luck unless both the Kings and Sixers can jump into the top three. Currently, the 24-42 Sixers are just one game ahead of Sacramento in our reverse standings.

If the Kings and Sixers finish as the league’s fifth- and sixth-worst teams, Philadelphia would have a 15.1% chance of landing the first-round pick, rather than just 8.8%.

New Orleans Pelicans

When the Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins last month, most observers called the trade a coup for New Orleans. However, that early assessment of the deal hinged on the assumption that the Pelicans would improve with Cousins in the lineup, reducing the value of the first-round pick they sent to Sacramento in the swap. That hasn’t happened so far, as the 26-40 Pelicans place eighth in our reverse standings.

If the Pelicans were to finish as the NBA’s eighth-worst team, they’d have a 10% chance to jump into the top three and hang onto their pick. Otherwise, the Kings would be in position to acquire the pick and hold two top-10 selections.

The rest

No other lottery picks for 2017 appear to be in flux — the Mavericks traded their first-rounder to the Sixers, but it’s top-18 protected, and Dallas has essentially no chance of landing outside of the top 18.

Further down in our reverse standings, outside of the lottery, every traded first-round pick should change hands. Of those late-round selections, the most valuable traded pick looks to be the Grizzlies‘ selection, which they’ll send to the Trail Blazers. It currently projects to be No. 19 overall.

RealGM’s list of traded draft picks was used in the creation of this post.

Lakers Notes: Pelinka, West, Kobe, Walton

March 11th, 2017 at 9:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

New Lakers GM Rob Pelinka vows to be aggressive in his attempts to get the franchise back on the winning path, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News relays. “We have to get better talent for [Luke Walton] to coach. We have to develop our young players. Our timeline is to be aggressive and to grow with quality players,” Pelinka said. “All of these things are like a chess game. You’ve got to start moving pieces around the board before you can win the game.”

The former agent wouldn’t commit to a timeline regarding a turnaround, adding that “it’s impossible to predict.” He said the front office will put in the necessary hard work and it will be “committed to excellence every day.” Team president Magic Johnson didn’t commit to a timeline either, but he also took accountability for the team’s future.

“If we can’t do our job, then I’m going to hand the keys back to Jeanie and step aside,” Johnson said. “If I see I can’t do it, I’ll gladly step aside.”

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

Jerry West was interested in returning to the Lakers, but he didn’t match owner Jeanie Buss‘ “vision for the future,” sources tell Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. West’s son, Ryan, currently works for the Lakers and is expected to remain with the team.
Ding adds (same piece) that while Kobe Bryant remains “loyal” to Pelinka, though the future Hall of Famer is sticking to his plan of pursuing business ventures rather than chasing a front office role.
Despite the down season, both Pelinka and Johnson support Walton as the team’s coach, Medina adds in the aforementioned piece. Johnson recently referred to Walton as “the right man for the job.”
Pelinka believes in the Lakers‘ young talent, though he admits to being unsure about the team’s title chances with its existing core, Medina passes along in that same piece. “I don’t know,” Pelinka said in response to a question about the team’s ability to win a title with its core players. “But I do know this. We have a championship coach and Earvin and I are going to put in a championship accountability system to make sure any player that has the honor to put that jersey on is striving for greatness, is working hard and is a person of integrity.”

Magic Depth Tested With Vucevic Injury

March 7th, 2017 at 4:57pm CST by Austin Kent

The Magic will have their depth tested this week, John Denton of the team’s official website writes. A recent injury to Nikola Vucevic has forced Stephen Zimmerman to serve as the primary backup to Bismack Biyombo.

Gordon Readjusting To Power Forward Position

February 26th, 2017 at 9:15pm CST by Austin Kent

The trade that sent Serge Ibaka from the Magic to the Raptors opened an opportunity for 21-year-old forward Aaron Gordon to slide from the three to his natural position at the four, writes John Denton of the team’s official website. The third-year man is readjusting to the defensive responsibilities of the power forward position.

“I need to become a better shot-blocker because I missed plenty of opportunities where I could have at least altered shots,” the Magic big man said of his first game back at power forward on Thursday night. “I was unsure of the timing, when to go and my positioning on the court.”

Previously the Magic had been using Gordon as a perimeter defender charged with the task of checking the opposing team’s best scorer. “I’m used to not over-helping and over-committing because I’m usually guarding the best player on the floor,” Gordon said. “Now, that’s not the case and I have the leniency to go help and block shots.”

Post-Deadline Housekeeping: New TPEs, Open Roster Spots

February 24th, 2017 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

There were no superstars on the move on Thursday, but NBA teams made eight trades, and there were many more signings and cuts completed once the deadline passed. In the wake of the deadline, we’ll take a look at a few roster- and cap-related notes, rounding up the new traded player exceptions that teams created on Thursday, as well as examining which teams still have space available on their rosters.

Let’s dive in…

New trade exceptions:

Several over-the-cap teams acquired new trade exceptions on Thursday. They’ll all expire on February 23, 2018, a year after they were created, or until they’re used or renounced by the teams below. If a club wants to use cap room, it must renounce its trade exceptions, but until then, these TPEs can be used in the summer or next season to acquire players.

Here’s the breakdown, in order of TPE value:

Dallas Mavericks: $6,642,537
Chicago Bulls: $5,462,000
Milwaukee Bucks: $5,000,000
Atlanta Hawks: $3,333,334
Houston Rockets: $3,333,333
Dallas Mavericks: $1,514,160
Houston Rockets: $612,172
Toronto Raptors: $328,000
Houston Rockets: $233,880

Some notes related to these TPEs:

Multiple teams on this list, including the Rockets and Bucks, could open up cap room by renouncing their trade exceptions. In Houston’s case, this is particularly notable, since the club would create more than $3.5MM in cap space by renouncing these TPEs. That cap room could come in handy very soon if the Rockets are trying to entice a free agent to sign with them instead of another contender that can only offer the minimum.
As is always the case with TPEs, some of these exceptions will be more useful than others. The Mavericks could end up doing something interesting with their $6.6MM+ TPE, but the Raptors will almost certainly never use theirs for $328K.
The Thunder also came out of Thursday’s action with a new TPE — sort of. Oklahoma City had created a trade exception worth $7.4MM on November 1 when the team sent Ersan Ilyasova to Philadelphia. The Thunder used a portion of that exception at the deadline to absorb Doug McDermott‘s salary, leaving approximately $4.94MM left on it. OKC will have until November 1 to use the rest of that TPE.
For the complete list of trade exceptions across the NBA, click here.

Teams with open roster spots:

A day after the trade deadline, the list of teams with open roster spots is incredibly fluid. Some teams that acquired players in trades don’t have any use for those players, and will waive them. Other clubs will fill roster holes with D-League call-ups, while other teams will be a little more patient and wait out the buyout market.

All of this is to say that this list is up to date at the time of publication, but could change quickly as teams make more moves this weekend. Here are the teams that currently have at least one open spot on their 15-man roster, with their player count noted in parentheses:

Charlotte Hornets (13): The 10-day contracts for Ray McCallum and Mike Tobey expired overnight, so Charlotte has two open spots. The team reportedly plans to use one on Johnny O’Bryant.
Cleveland Cavaliers (14): The Cavs have 13 guaranteed contracts, plus Derrick Williams‘ 10-day deal. The team expects to sign Deron Williams as well, so if any other roster additions are coming after that, Cleveland would need to clear a roster spot.
Dallas Mavericks (13): The Mavs have two openings after completing a two-for-one trade with the Sixers, then waiving Deron Williams.
Houston Rockets (14): The Rockets opened up a roster spot by trading K.J. McDaniels, and may waive Marcelo Huertas as well. Houston is expected to be active on the buyout market.
Milwaukee Bucks (14): The Bucks created a roster opening by sending Roy Hibbert to Denver, and they’re expected to fill it by signing Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract.
Minnesota Timberwolves (14): Unlike most of the teams on this list, the Wolves have carried an open roster spot for a while, and that didn’t change at the deadline.
Oklahoma City Thunder (14): The Thunder traded three players to Chicago and received just two in return, creating an opening. They have their eye on free agents and buyout candidates.
Orlando Magic (14): Like Minnesota, the Magic were carrying an open roster spot prior to the deadline and didn’t make a move on Thursday.

The Suns will join this list as soon as they officially waive Mike Scott and Jared Sullinger, as is expected. They’ll fill one of those two newly-open spots with Ronnie Price. There are also three teams that have full 15-man rosters with at least one player on a 10-day contract. The Hawks, Warriors, and Pelicans fall into this category, with Briante Weber‘s second 10-day deal in Golden State set to expire soon.

For a full breakdown of NBA roster counts, check out our list.

Latest On Pistons Point Guard Reggie Jackson

February 23rd, 2017 at 10:23am CST by Dana Gauruder

Reggie Jackson is likely to stay put because of the Pistons’ high asking price, league executives told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).

The team’s front office — headed by president of basketball operations and coach Stan Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower — has been aggressively shopping the point guard, Chris Mannix of The Vertical tweets, and is seeking a first-round pick, young player and an expiring contract in return.

The large package that the Pistons want for Jackson could indicate that they believe his inconsistent play this season is injury-related and that he’ll return to top form next season, Rod Beard of the Detroit News speculates (Twitter link). Jackson missed the first 21 games after receiving a plasma-rich injection for knee tendinitis during training camp. Jackson is averaging 15.2 PPG and 5.6 APG since his return after posting averages of 18.8 PPG and 6.2 APG last season when Detroit won 44 games and made the playoffs.

Jackson has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks, with the Timberwolves and Magic at the forefront of potential suitors. A Jackson-for-Ricky-Rubio rumor surfaced last month, though Van Gundy quickly shot it down. The Orlando discussions involved D.J. Augustin and Jeff Green but the Magic currently have nothing cooking for either Jackson or Rubio, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. However, Jake L. Fischer of SI.com tweets that Orlando can get Jackson if it’s willing to part with a valuable first-rounder.

Trade Rumors: KCP, OKC, Afflalo, Knight, Ezeli

February 23rd, 2017 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

While the Pistons have been open to listening to inquiries on anyone, few – if any – players on their roster have received as much interest as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Speaking to reporters, including Rod Beard of The Detroit News, Stan Van Gundy confirmed that KCP’s future has been one of the main topics discussed as of late by the Pistons, who will have to make a big long-term commitment to the shooting guard this summer if they keep him.

“That’s something you have to make decisions about and deal with. I’m not getting into specifics at this point, but that has been a significant part of what we’ve talked about,” Van Gundy said of the RFA-to-be. “He was probably the most urgent decision because of that and the money coming and what it means in terms of the cap and the (luxury) tax. We’ve talked about it internally and we’ve talked about it with (team owner) Tom (Gores). We know exactly what’s coming and we’re making informed decisions.”

Here are several more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Thunder are being aggressive as the trade deadline nears, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter links), who adds Doug McDermott to the list of players on Oklahoma City’s radar. OKC was linked to another Bulls forward – Taj Gibson – earlier today.
League executives believe the Kings will move Arron Afflalo today, says Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee adds (via Twitter) that Afflalo is more likely to be dealt than Ben McLemore, who has impressed some people within the organization lately. Afflalo has been linked to Indiana and Oklahoma City this week.
Brandon Knight wouldn’t mind a change of scenery, but the Suns have set their asking price too high in the past in talks with the Magic, Kings, Sixers, and Bulls, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. As Amick observes, it remains to be seen whether that will change today.
The Trail Blazers continue to try to find a taker for Festus Ezeli‘s contract, per ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Although Bucks general manager John Hammond likes to make trades, league executives say Milwaukee has been “low key” in trade talks this week, according to Jeff Zilgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
The Cavaliers continue to work on deals that could fortify their roster, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team ultimately rely on the buyout market instead, tweets Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.

Southeast Notes: Porter, Heat, Plumlee, Magic

February 22nd, 2017 at 4:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards may not be finished dealing after a multi-player trade with the Nets this afternoon, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Washington will continue to look for help through Thursday’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. Eastern. Today’s deal, which sent Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton and this year’s first-rounder to Brooklyn in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough, clears cap space to help the Wizards re-sign Otto Porter this summer, notes David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). Nicholson, who had fallen out of the rotation in Washington, still has three seasons and nearly $20MM left on his contract.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Bogdanovic has a 15% trade kicker, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link). That amounts to $157K, which Brooklyn will pay, but his cap hit for the Wizards is now $3.73MM.
The Heat will avoid any deadline moves that would tie up their future cap space, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. That makes them unlikely to pursue the Nuggets’ Wilson Chandler or the Nets’ Trevor Booker, who both have contracts that extend beyond this season. Jackson cites a rival GM who has spoken to Miami about a deal and believes “they seem content to stand pat.”
Miami expects to have Josh Richardson back in the lineup for Friday’s game, according to a tweet from the team. A foot injury has kept him out of the lineup since January 8th. “He’s had a healthy approach the last 4-5 weeks to prepare,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. Justise Winslow won’t be back this season, but he is making progress from shoulder surgery, the Heat noted (Twitter link), as his sling has been removed.
Hornets center Miles Plumlee will be out of action for at least two weeks with a right calf strain, the team posted on its website. An MRI revealed the second-degree strain, and Plumlee will be re-evaluated in 14 days. He has played just five games for Charlotte since being acquired from the Bucks in a February 2nd trade.
Despite a 21-37 record, the Magic have no plans to tank the rest of the season, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando is currently fourth in our Reverse Standings and would have an 11.9% chance of winning the lottery. Coach Frank Vogel believes it would be a mistake to try to improve those odds by losing on purpose. “As a coach, you worry about one thing, and that’s getting a group of guys that haven’t won in five years to learn how to win,” Vogel said. “That’s more important than any one player you can add.”