Alexis Ajinca Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Notes: Team Ownership, Asik, Hill, Jones

February 3rd, 2017 at 8:36pm CST by Milo Taibi

Tom Benson, owner of the Pelicans and New Orleans Saints, reached a settlement with his estranged heirs, Brett Martel of the Associated Press reports. Benson, 89, had sought to prevent his daughter and her children from inheriting shares of each team (more than 90% of the Pelicans’ non-voting stock, according to ESPN). Had Benson not reached a settlement with his heirs, a trial would have been set to take place Monday, February 6. Benson, who bought the Pelicans (then the New Orleans Hornets) for $338MM in 2012, will maintain controlling shares of each team after the settlement.

More surrounding the Pelicans…

Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com praised Terrence Jones‘ pump fake, calling it one of the league’s most unique and effective moves. Jones has enjoyed a stellar bounceback season in New Orleans, averaging 15.7 points with 5.3 rebounds over his last six games. “It’s so damn slow, and it looks just like his shot,” teammate Dante Cunningham said of Jones’ pump fake. “The thing is, you don’t always immediately close out to him, because he’s not necessarily going to kill you with his jump shot, because he’d rather drive and get to the rim. But you watch him and he does it so slowly that you think, ‘Oh, he has to shoot this one,’ so you contest it, but then by the time you get there, he’s still pump-faking.” A free agent-to-be on an affordable contract, Jones is likely to generate interest as the trade deadline approaches.
John Reid of NOLA.com had several interesting observations in his Twitter mailbag. Reid endorsed the idea of New Orleans pursuing Wilson Chandler of the Nuggets, calling him an ideal player to use alongside Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday. Reid lamented the team’s lack of offense, claiming they “just don’t have enough scoring threats on the roster.”
Pelicans GM Dell Demps should be making every effort to unload Tyreke Evans, Alexis Ajinca, and Omer Asik via trade, Reid writes. Additionally, Solomon Hill– inked to a four-year, $48MM contract over the offseason- has not performed up to team expectations. Whereas the team expected Hill to develop into a two-way player, his contributions have largely come on the defensive end.

Southwest Notes: Gasol, Ajinca, D’Antoni

January 21st, 2017 at 9:10am CST by Austin Kent

The Spurs are once again the No. 2 team in the Western Conference and a given to qualify for and contend in the playoffs. A recent hand injury to Pau Gasol, however, could change that. Ben Alamar of ESPN has explored the impact that Gasol’s absence will have in San Antonio, citing the big man’s staggering efficiency from mid-range as one of the biggest voids that the club will have to fill.

On the other side of the ball, Gasol has long-established himself as a heady defender capable of providing paint protection. This will now fall to reserves Dewyane Dedmon and David Lee. Though Dedmon and Lee have been respectable back ups this season, Alamar isn’t sure they’ll have the same impact as Gasol has with his ability to block shots and limit his fouls.

Gasol, Alamar writes, is second on the Spurs in defensive win shares behind only Kawhi Leonard.

The veteran was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the hand fracture on Friday. No recovery timetable has yet been announced.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

Though not shy about expressing his frustration with a lack of playing time, Alexis Ajinca has reportedly not requested a trade from the Pelicans, tweets Justin Verrier of ESPN. Ajinca has racked up 11 DNP-CDs since his last legitimate taste of action on December 23 and has played just three minutes total in January.
Offseason addition Mike D’Antoni has made a serious case for Coach of the Year, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. His decision to move James Harden to the point has been one of the highlights of his brief tenure. “I watched a lot of tape of him,” D’Antoni told Mannix. “His skills are enormous. Point guard made sense. He was that anyway. We just cut the fat off. The way he plays now, he’s making an impact every minute. So we can play him less minutes. And he’s fresher.”
The 2016/17 campaign won’t go down in history for the Mavs, at least not in a good way. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas News has come up with a list of things that have officially gone wrong, chief among them significant injuries to Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, Devin Harris, Deron Williams and J.J. Barea (again).
For the first time this season, the Spurs featured Dejounte Murray prominently in their rotation and the rookie guard responded with a career-high, 24-point showing. “I felt like I had a rhythm the whole game,” Murray told Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News. “I was confident even before he Gregg Popovich told me I was starting. I always stay ready. … My teammates, when they heard I was starting, they cheered me up tried to keep my confidence high.”

Alexis Ajinca Frustrated With Role For Pelicans

January 11th, 2017 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have shuffled their frontcourt rotation in recent weeks, resulting in a significant reduction in playing time for big men Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik. In fact, Ajinca hasn’t seen the court for the team since December 23, and admitted recently in a conversation with French publication L’Equipe that he’s not thrilled to spend so much time on the bench (hat tip to The Bird Writes).

“It’s very frustrating because I want to play, bring something to the team,” Ajinca said (his comments have been translated from French). “I worked a lot and got back into shape early in the season. It was noted by the coaches and the general manager. And then it came overnight … At first, I was told it was [due to] matchups and then afterwards, I was a little forgotten. Afterwards, when I play, it’s for five minutes and it’s hard to do a lot of things.”

A starter for New Orleans earlier in the season, Ajinca has averaged 4.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and a .465 FG% in 20 games so far. All of those marks are his worst since joining the team for the 2013/14 season. However, he remains under contract for two more years beyond this one, as his deal runs through 2018/19. Ajinca has a $4.638MM cap hit this season, and that figure will increase in each of the next two years.

In Ajinca’s view, a trade or even a buyout could be a realistic outcome. The veteran big man told L’Equipe that he remains motivated to handle the new role professionally and to give 100% effort when given the opportunity, because he doesn’t want potential suitors to be turned off by his attitude.

“I have to stay very professional because everyone talks in the league,” Ajinca said in French. “If a franchise inquires, they will ask how I behave when I do not play, etc. So we cannot have certain attitudes like being angry at the coach or others even if we are frustrated. … I try to stay myself and work. I’m arguing with my agent right now. We’ll see what happens.”

Pelicans Notes: Asik, Ajinca, Backcourt, Evans

December 31st, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Centers Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca have dropped completely out of the Pelicans rotation as the team has found success with small-ball lineups, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com reports. Asik and Ajinca have been glued to the bench the last three games while the club has reeled off four consecutive victories. Forwards Dante Cunningham and Solomon Hill are the biggest beneficiaries of coach Alvin Gentry’s altered rotation, and their increased minutes have allowed the Pelicans to switch defensively much more easily, Verrier continues. New Orleans has the league’s 12th best offensive rating and fourth-best defensive rating since the shakeup earlier this week, Verrier adds. Franchise player Anthony Davis is thrilled with the new look, as he told Verrier. “When we play small it gives us an advantage on both ends of the floor.” he said.

In other developments regarding the Pelicans:

Gentry is enjoying the pleasant dilemma of having too many options at the guard spots, Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com writes. Gentry prefers not to have more than four backcourt players in the rotation, Eichenhofer notes. Jrue Holiday and rookie Buddy Hield are the current starters, leaving Gentry to choose from the quartet of Langston Galloway, E’Twaun Moore, Tyreke Evans and Tim Frazier for the remaining minutes. “It’s good to have the depth and have an opportunity that if things aren’t going real well, to stick another guy in and see if he has it for that night,” Gentry told Eichenhofer.
Evans, who can also play small forward, will see an uptick in minutes soon, according to John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune. Evans had been on a 15-minute per game restriction since returning from knee surgery and is still not cleared to play both games of back-to-backs, Reid continues. Gentry told Reid and other media members that his minutes would increase to 18 or 20 per game on a regular basis. Evans played 18 minutes against the Knicks on Friday. “I don’t think he’s going to go from 15 to 30,” Gentry said. “I think there’s a possibility that he could play 18 minutes or 20 minutes, that’s the natural progression that’s going to happen.”

Southwest Notes: Curry, Carlisle, Asik, Anderson

September 28th, 2016 at 6:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

With a famous father and an even more famous brother, Seth Curry is working to build his own reputation in his first season with the Mavericks, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. After limited opportunities with three teams, Curry began to show what he can do in 44 games with the Kings last season, averaging 6.8 points per night and shooting 45% from 3-point range. That potential turned into a two-year, $6MM offer from Dallas and the chance for an expanded role with a veteran team. The son of 16-year veteran Dell Curry and brother of two-time MVP Stephen Curry, Seth has the family pedigree to be a great NBA shooter. “He could legitimately play both guard positions, and he’s going to be a factor for us,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. “He’s better than I thought he was, and he’s at an age where he’s still getting better really at both positions, so I’m excited about him.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Carlisle says seven players are competing for two open roster spots, Sneed relays (Twitter link). Dallas has 14 players in camp with fully guaranteed contracts, but it sounds like at least one – likely Jonathan Gibson – has yet to lock up a regular-season job.
Pelicans center Omer Asik started 64 of the 68 games he appeared in last season, but that number will drop this year, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. Coach Alvin Gentry said today that he plans to use Anthony Davis in the post more often and not worry about having a traditional center. Alexis Ajinca and Terrence Jones may also be used in the starting lineup, depending on the opponent. That means fewer minutes for Asik, who is still guaranteed more than $32MM over the next three seasons on the contract he signed last summer. ”Last season really left a bad taste, so we are really working hard to change that,” Asik said. ”My whole focus this summer was to get better physically and get stronger.”
New Rockets power forward Ryan Anderson is happy to leave behind the Pelicans‘ offense, writes Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Anderson, one of the league’s best shooting stretch fours, saw his average of 3-point shots dip to 5.6 per game over the last two years after being close to 7.0 the three previous seasons. That number should rise dramatically now that he is playing for coach Mike D’Antoni in Houston. “I’ve had more wide-open looks in our pickup games here than I’ve had in the past four years, probably,” Anderson said.

And-Ones: Ajinca, Dawson, Lawson

March 9th, 2016 at 10:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca, who is dealing with a fractured sternum he suffered on March 2nd, hopes to return to action this season, but he is still experiencing significant discomfort, Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com writes. “It’s still painful,” Ajinca said. “I’m still trying to catch my breath sometimes. But it’s getting better. I started shooting. I’m hoping to come back soon, but I’m still dealing with the pain, so we’ll see how far I have till I come back.”

Ajinca wants to help out his injury-depleted team by returning to the court, but he also needs to weigh his desire to play versus long-term health concerns, Eichenhofer relays. “I’m trying to come back, because sitting on the side is not really my thing. I don’t like doing that,” Ajinca said. “I’m trying to come back before the end of the season. But on the other hand, I’m also trying to be healthy and not jeopardizing my health if I’m coming back too early. I hope I can come back soon and have a pad on [the injury to protect it]. Hopefully it won’t be too painful if I get hit again.” The big man is in the first year of the four-year, $20.2MM deal he inked last July.

Here’s more from around the league:

Clippers rookie Branden Dawson has spent the bulk of his rookie season in the D-League, only making three NBA appearances on the campaign, but the small forward believes this will help his development in the long run, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “Just a better opportunity and just playing more,” Dawson said about his D-League time. “The first time I went down, when I went to Bakersfield, it was different. I didn’t know what to expect going down for the first time. Now, I’m a lot more confident and I’m playing more. The main thing is to get better. The reason why guys go down is to get better. The first two times, I learned a lot from the coaches I played with, the different programs. The main thing is to just come down and get better.”
A number of teams had interest in point guard Ty Lawson after he reached a buyout agreement with the Rockets, including the Bucks and the Jazz, Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports tweets. Lawson subsequently signed with the Pacers because he wanted to catch on with a new team quickly and he believed Indiana was a perfect fit for his skills, Agness adds.
Shelvin Mack has impressed the Jazz with his solid play since arriving in a trade deadline deal from Atlanta, and he’s provided the stability the team sought after losing starter Dante Exum for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. “I think he’s making a good transition,” coach Quin Snyder said. “A lot of that is a compliment to Bud [Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer] and his staff and their team … and to him, of course.”

Southwest Notes: Withey, Cunningham, Green

January 13th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former 39th overall pick Jeff Withey is seeing significant minutes with the Jazz this season after a parting of ways with the Pelicans that cast him into uncertainty, as Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders details. Executives from other teams have speculated about whether the Pelicans dealt fairly with the center, who said GM Dell Demps told him during the playoffs that the team wanted him back, Dowsett reports. The team made a qualifying offer to him but withdrew it shortly before re-signing Alexis Ajinca, making Withey an unrestricted free agent and leaving him “really confused,” as he said to Dowsett. Withey ultimately landed with Utah on a partially guaranteed deal that last week became fully guaranteed for the rest of this season, and he’s pleased with his new surroudings.

“In New Orleans, it was a tough place for me, just because the coach [Monty Williams], he didn’t really give me a shot, you know what I mean?” Withey said to Dowsett. “Even if I was playing, if I screwed up one time or anything like that, he would just take me right out. Here, Coach [Quin Snyder], he’ll come to you … it’s just a different type of coaching. More player-friendly, for sure.”

Withey has one more year left on his deal, with a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season. See more on the Pelicans and the rest of the Southwest Division:

Dante Cunningham is shooting more 3-pointers than ever this season, and while he’s making a passable 30% of them, it’s still not enough to give the Pelicans the spacing necessary to prevent double teams on Anthony Davis, as John Reid of The Times Picayune examines. New Orleans re-signed Cunningham in the offseason to a three-year deal worth nearly $8.935MM. Backup and fellow offseason signee Alonzo Gee is nailing just 27.3% of his 3-point looks, compounding the absence of Pondexter, as Justin Verrier of ESPN.com examines.
The Raptors were one of the teams that pursued Danny Green this summer, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. Given the four-year, $58MM deal that Toronto gave fellow wing player DeMarre Carroll, it seems Green was liable to end up with much more than the $40MM over four years he got from the Spurs, Harvey writes. However, unlike other places in the NBA, San Antonio affords him the comfort of knowing the team has a history of supporting him through slumps like the one he’s in now, as Harvey details.
Baron Davis, who’s set to play in the D-League, reportedly worked out for the Mavs recently, but coach Rick Carlisle laughed off the notion and owner Mark Cuban clarified that the team has an “open door” as far as its D-League affiliate goes but doesn’t harbor NBA-level interest in him. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News relays Cuban’s comment.

Southwest Notes: Butler, Ajinca, Green

October 5th, 2015 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs weren’t the only NBA team interested in Rasual Butler when he signed with San Antonio last month, as a Western Conference suitor lurked, but the 36-year-old finds there’s “no place better to be than here,” reports Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News. Butler’s contract is non-guaranteed, but he has a line on a regular season roster spot, according to coach/executive Gregg Popovich, as Young notes.

“He’s a seasoned pro in a sense that he knows himself, he knows what role he can play,” Popovich said. “He’s at a stage in his career where he just wants to be a part of something that’s just positive and good. He obviously can shoot the basketball. If he couldn’t shoot, we wouldn’t be talking to him. You got to have a skill to play. For all those reasons, he’s somebody that’s got a great shot to make our team.”

The Spurs have 13 fully guaranteed contracts, seemingly leaving two available spots on the opening night roster. See more on the Spurs amid the latest from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans backup center Alexis Ajinca will miss the next four to six weeks because of a right hamstring strain, the team announced. New Orleans committed a four-year, $19.5MM deal to Ajinca this past summer, and the team is without any other natural center to play behind Omer Asik, with the possible exception of Anthony Davis. The injury could bode well for power forward Jeff Adrien, the only big man without a fully guaranteed salary on the Pelicans.
Jeff Green says he was frustrated with the lack of a consistent role with the Grizzlies following the midseason trade that took him to Memphis, but he’s optimistic about this year, and coach Dave Joerger is expecting a breakout season, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal details. Green is set for free agency this coming summer after picking up his $9.2MM player option this past June. “It was tough to not be in one role. One day I’d start, one day I’d come off the bench. I was playing the 3 and the 4. It was tough,” Green said. “It’s hard to do. There’s only a few players that can really do that. I’m thankful to be in that position to be able to do that. But when you come onto a team halfway through the year, having to do that is tough because you never get a grasp of what you really need to do for the team. This year, I have an open mind. It doesn’t matter what position I play, I’m going to give it my all.”
Cory Joseph started for the Spurs most of December last year and wound up seeing only 22 total minutes during the postseason. A similarly occasional place in Sacramento’s rotation has trade acquisition Ray McCallum willing to embrace the same stop-and-start playing time with the Spurs, as Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles. Joseph snagged a four-year, $30MM deal with the Raptors this past summer, and McCallum is due for restricted free agency at season’s end.

Pelicans Notes: Cole, Asik, Ajinca, Cunningham

July 16th, 2015 at 6:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pelicans GM Dell Demps said this week that the versatility of his roster from this past season factored into his decision to bring back much of the same cast, as John Reid of The Times Picayune chronicles. New Orleans has signed four of its seven free agents, and Reid hears the Pelicans remain interested in re-signing restricted free agent Norris Cole.

”We believe our team can play big, we can play small and we can play fast,” Demps said. ”We feel like we can play a number of different ways. The guys like each other, they like playing with each other and their skills complement each other.”

Demps said the limited number of games that involved the entire core of the team, which again was without Jrue Holiday for nearly half the season, was another reason why he wanted to keep the roster largely intact, Reid notes, and that echoes similar statements Demps made last year. Here’s more from New Orleans:

The full value of Omer Asik‘s deal is $58MM, but only the first four years, at $44MM, are guaranteed, Reid writes. “In our division, you are playing a number of teams with very good post players,” Demps said. ”Omer gives us the opportunity to match up against certain teams. Omer is an elite rebounder and has been throughout his NBA career.”
The precise value of the cap hits across the four seasons in Alexis Ajinca‘s new contract with the Pelicans comes to $19,500,002, though incentive clauses are liable to change that figure over the course of the pact, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
Dante Cunningham will make exactly $8,934,750 on his new deal with the Pelicans, according to Pincus (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Parsons, Asik, Aldridge

July 10th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In a candid Q&A session with Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, Mavs forward Chandler Parsons detailed the team’s recruitment of DeAndre Jordan, and expressed his disappointment with the center re-signing with the Clippers. When asked about his reaction to Jordan spurning Dallas, Parsons told MacMahon, “I’m shocked, very disappointed, frustrated, disrespected. This is something that I’ve never seen in my career, and I know that it doesn’t happen very often. When a man gives you his word and an organization his word, especially when that organization put in so much effort and I walked him through this process and was very, very open and willing to work with him, it’s just very unethical and disrespectful.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

It’s the Spurs‘ own 2016 second-rounder headed to Sacramento in the Ray McCallum trade, according to RealGM.
The protection on the 2017 second-round pick headed from the Hawks to the Spurs in the Tiago Splitter trade is for the top 55 picks, as RealGM details.
The four-year max deal that Wesley Matthews signed with the Mavs includes a player option after year three, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).
The final season in Omer Asik‘s five-year deal with the Pelicans is an early termination option. That season is partially guaranteed for $3MM, though he can end up with a larger partial guarantee if he triggers incentives, Pincus notes (Twitter links).
The Grizzlies used the mid-level exception for their deal with Brandan Wright. Pincus pegs its value at $17.1MM, though he’s probably rounding down from $17,129,640, the full value of the mid-level over three years. Wright also has a 15% trade kicker.
Alexis Ajinca‘s four-year deal with the Pelicans is worth $19.2MM, tweets Pincus.
The starting salary in Patrick Beverley‘s deal with the Rockets is $6,486,486, but that’s a function of front-loading. It’s worth a total of $23MM over four years, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
LaMarcus Aldridge has a 15% trade kicker in his max deal with the Spurs, notes Pincus (via Twitter).
The Mavs considered trying to swing a trade for Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson before Deron Williams reached a buyout arrangement with the Nets, MacMahon tweets. Williams is expected to sign with Dallas if he clears waivers, which is highly likely given the point guard’s player-friendly contract.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.