Andrea Bargnani

Eastern Notes: Williams, Hawks, Garnett

The Pistons claimed Shawne Williams off waivers to offset the loss of Jonas Jerebko, who was traded to Boston last week, David Mayo of MLive.com writes. “We’re a little thin up front and Shawne played very well in Miami this year, got put in that trade to New Orleans, New Orleans waived him before they got everybody hurt, so we got some luck there,Stan Van Gundy said. “So we got a little luck there. But we needed a little depth and he’s a guy that comes in, again, on a value contract, and he’s got a non-guaranteed contract for next year. So it gives us a lot of flexibility.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Wizards are sending $839K to the Kings as part of the Andre Miller for Ramon Sessions trade that occurred last week, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link).
  • There’s a decent chance the sale of the Hawks won’t be complete until May or June, a person familiar with the deal told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Today is the deadline for prospective owners to submit preliminary bids, Vivlamore reports.
  • Newly acquired Goran Dragic has become a fan of his new team already, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays (Twitter link). Speaking about the Heat, Dragic said, “They take care of players. I feel I’m spoiled here. So much great stuff.
  • Kevin Garnett said that it was difficult for him to leave the Nets mid-season because of his loyalty to the organization, but he believed that returning to Minnesota was a great opportunity, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes.
  • The Knicks are counting on oft-injured Andrea Bargnani to help make up for the scoring the team lost with Carmelo Anthony being out for the season, Justin Tasch of The New York Daily News writes. “Well, he has the skillset and the versatility to do those things,” coach Derek Fisher said. “Whether he can average the same amount of points [as Anthony], we’ll see. He’s capable of it. I think if he can stay healthy and just continue to get a comfort out on the floor again, playing basketball, competing hard every night, the physical and mental grind that exists in doing that – which is different when you haven’t done that for a year, which is basically what it’s been for him.

And-Ones: Bucks, Mekel, Bargnani

The Bucks rejected an offer from the Suns that would have sent Goran Dragic to Milwaukee for Brandon Knight, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, adding that Michael Carter-Williams and Tyler Ennis, whom Milwaukee acquired instead of Dragic, were who they wanted all along. Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times disputes that Milwaukee ever turned down a Dragic proposal, however (Twitter link).

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside wonders if Peyton Siva is being overshadowed with the Erie BayHawks this season.  Seth Curry has gotten most of the attention on the team, but Siva is still having a relatively strong campaign in his own right.
  • Danny Granger says he wanted to rejoin the Pacers when he was a free agent this summer but couldn’t afford to wait for them to decide what to do with Lance Stephenson, as Granger tells Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com (Twitter link).
  • Unless an NBA offer materializes in the next few days, Gal Mekel is going to play in Europe, David Pick of Eurobasket.com tweets. The point guard has reportedly passed on numerous overseas offers after being released by the Pelicans back in December.
  • Knicks team president Phil Jackson said there are no immediate plans to reach a buyout arrangement with Andrea Bargnani, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “It’s debatable,’’ Jackson said regarding a buyout. “Now that we have a gap in scoring, this is a guy that is a natural scorer. I think the coaching staff would like to have him on the court and be competitive with his scoring capabilities. Without Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, we are going to need some scorers out there. And we would like to give him a forum. I am not going to hold it against him if he wasn’t here for the first 40-something games.’’
  • The Sixers almost wound up with Isaiah Thomas in their three-team deal with the Bucks and Suns, but they let the Suns send him to the Celtics in a separate transaction instead, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Zach Links and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Raptors, Sixers

The Knicks are aggressively pursuing trades for players they covet in free agency in order to secure their Bird rights and attempt to lower their cap holds, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Knicks are one of the teams chasing Suns point guard Goran Dragic, while the Magic’s Tobias Harris is interested in coming to New York. Kyler explains that Dragic’s cap hold of $11.25MM would allow the Knicks to preserve an extra $4.25MM or so in cap space to sign other players this summer. Harris has a cap hold of $5.91MM. Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Tim Hardaway Jr., Cole Aldrich and Andrea Bargnani are among the players whom the Knicks are shopping, Kyler adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Carmelo Anthony says the Knicks should only be focused on the future as the team heads toward the trade deadline, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. Anthony has been shut down for the remainder of the season because of his balky knee. “The only thing that matters at this point is about where we’re headed as a team, as an organization for the future,” Anthony said to reporters after Sunday’s All-Star Game.
  • Knicks president Phil Jackson said that New York is “in the mix” at the trade deadline, and that the franchise is hoping to make at least one move, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Jackson also relayed that there isn’t much interest from other teams in Bargnani and Calderon, Berman notes. The Zen Master also said that the Knicks might not waive Bargnani, since the coaching staff feels he may be needed in the wake of Anthony being lost for the season and Amar’e Stoudemire‘s buyout arrangement.
  • The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team has announced. This will be Caboclo’s second trip to the D-League this season.
  • The Sixers would listen to any offers for Henry Sims, Luc Mbah a Moute, Jakarr Sampson, and Hollis ThompsonJohn Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com writes. Gonzalez adds that he doubts any of those players would bring Philly a significant return.
  • It’s unlikely the Celtics make any moves at the deadline, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com speculates. While Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed a willingness to be active, Forsberg points out that the Celtics have made only one deadline trade in the past three seasons.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Horford, Williams

It’s doubtful that the Knicks will be able to trade Jose Calderon or Andrea Bargnani, but a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that a smaller deal could happen. Calderon, who Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined as a trade candidate, is making slightly less than $7.1MM this season and is owed more than $15.1MM over the remaining two years of his deal. Bargnani, whom Eddie believes is unlikely to be traded, is set to make $11.5 this season, which is the last year of his current contract.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Al Horford said that he doesn’t know whether the Hawks should reinstate GM Danny Ferry from his indefinite absence, and Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald takes it as a signal that Horford isn’t warm to the idea of Ferry returning.
  • Mo Williams had a trade kicker in his deal, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), so he went from making $3.75MM to just under $3.97MM. The Timberwolves paid the difference, though the new number counts on Charlotte’s cap.
  • Tim Frazier, whose 10-day contract with the Sixers has expired, will return to the Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Celtics, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. The point guard appeared in three games with Philadelphia, averaging five points, 4.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game.
  • Kyle Lowry has blossomed into a star in Toronto but the point guard was skeptical at first when he was acquired by the Raptors, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “Well no, honestly I didn’t think [this is where everything would work out],” Lowry said of Toronto. “But with all the hard work I put in and the commitment they made to me, everything just kind of came into fruition and it worked out.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post

And-Ones: Buyouts, Dragic, Stauskas, Magic

Andrea BargnaniBrandon Bass, Marcus Thornton, Andrei Kirilenko, Willie Green, Randy Foye and Darrell Arthur are all likely buyout candidates if they’re not traded before the deadline, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Beck also mentions Tayshaun Prince, who’ll probably strike a buyout deal with the Celtics if he’s not traded, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported last month. The Bleacher Report scribe also reiterates that Kevin Garnett isn’t seeking a buyout, seconding an earlier report from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. Here’s more from around the NBA:

  • The Suns want a first-round pick if they’re to give up Goran Dragic in a trade, as Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times hears (Twitter link). Woelfel suggests that opposing teams will be willing to pay that price and believes the Rockets, who’ve reportedly tried to trade for Dragic this season, will consider going after him again.
  • There are rumors connecting the Bucks to Kings rookie Nik Stauskas, according to Woelfel (Twitter link). Still, it’s unclear if there’s truly interest from Milwaukee’s end.
  • James Borrego says the Magic haven’t told him whether or not he’ll be the head coach for the rest of the season, and he takes it as a signal that he’ll remain in place, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. The timing of the situation and the Magic’s track record don’t suggest they’ll make a move before season’s end, though “it’s widely believed” the team will eventually replace Borrego with a proven coaching veteran, Schmitz writes. Rumored coaching candidate Scott Skiles indeed has interest in the job, but the Magic’s players seem to be supporting Borrego, Schmitz adds.
  • Blazers GM Neil Olshey is exploring possible trades to help shore up the team’s depth, The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman writes, noting that Thomas Robinson and Will Barton seem unsure if they’ll remain on the team past the deadline. Olshey declared earlier this week that he wouldn’t trade any of the team’s starters and also talked up the value of his bench players in an interview during a game broadcast, as Mike Richman of The Oregonian transcribes.
  • Former Mavs guard Dominique Jones is drawing renewed NBA interest following an impressive showing in China, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Jones, who last played in the league in 2012/13, averaged an eye-popping 36.8 points per game over 41 appearances in China this season.

Amar’e Stoudemire Still Considering Buyout

5:44pm: Stoudemire reiterated that he will use the upcoming NBA All-Star break to decide whether or not to ask the Knicks to work out a buyout arrangement with him, Josh Newman of SNY.tv notes. “We’ll discuss that after the break,” Stoudemire said. “Right now, I’m focused on the rest of the season. We’ve got four games before the break, so I’m focused on that right now. I’ll keep you guys posted, man. Right now, we’ve got games in front of us today and tomorrow. We’ve got a lot going on, so I’ll keep you guys posted.”

9:32am: The Knicks have yet to speak with Stoudemire about a buyout, sources told Ian Begley of ESPN.com earlier this week.

12:54am: Amar’e Stoudemire‘s recent comments seemed to engender the belief that he wouldn’t ask the Knicks to agree to a buyout deal, but he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he plans to think about doing so over the upcoming All-Star break. The 32-year-old, who’s in the final year of a massive five-year contract worth nearly $99.744MM that pays him almost $23.411MM this season, nonetheless emphasized to Spears his strong affection for the Knicks organization and living in New York. Meanwhile, the Knicks are more focused on talking buyout with Andrea Bargnani, a league source tells Spears.

“All possibilities at this point are still open,” Stoudemire said of his own buyout possibility. “The door is still open for that. But at the same time, I am with the Knicks now. I got to stay optimistic about things and what we are doing here. I can’t really focus on the future because it’s not here. We still have a couple weeks left before it’s all said and done. It’s a decision I have to make with my family to figure out the best scenario for the near future.”

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has spoken of his intention to fill the team’s pair of open roster spots with players who come free during “buyout season,” as Spears points out, speculating that they could become candidates to sign Stoudemire if he hits the market. The Mavs and Blazers are also looking for big men, Spears notes. Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote that it’s “quite possible” that Stoudemire would return to the Suns this summer and speculated that the Magic would have interest in the central Florida native this summer. It’s not entirely clear whether any of those teams would have interest in Stoudemire later this season, but if the Happy Walters client is willing to accept the minimum salary, he’d surely have no shortage of teams in pursuit.

Stoudemire is averaging 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game for the Knicks this season, and the rebounding average is by far his best since 2011/12. A 19.4 PER shows he’s still efficient in the playing time he sees, which persistent knee trouble and other ailments have limited in recent years. The Knicks have nonetheless been appreciative of his professionalism throughout his health struggles and the team’s woes on the court, Spears writes. Stoudemire tells Spears that he’s interested in playing several more years and said earlier this week that he expected to soon have a conversation with Knicks officials about a future with the team beyond this season.

“My heart always lies with the Knicks,” Stoudemire tells Spears. “My loyalty is with [Knicks owner] Mr. [Jim] Dolan. I feel like New York is my home now. I feel like I’m a New Yorker for sure.”

The Knicks reportedly engaged in internal discussions about a buyout for Stoudemire earlier this season. Team president Phil Jackson and company apparently spoke with the Sixers this summer about a trade, but it’ll be “virtually impossible” for the Knicks to find a taker for his bloated salary before the February 19th trade deadline, according to Spears. The Knicks have reportedly shopped Bargnani recently, though it has appeared as though the team was putting off buyout talks with him until after the deadline passes. The last day that either Stoudemire or Bargnani could hit waivers and still be eligible to appear in the postseason for another team is March 1st. That effectively sets the date as a buyout deadline, since there’d be little reason for either to give up salary if they couldn’t join another club for the postseason.

Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Galloway, Ross, Nets

The idea of waiving Andrea Bargnani looks like it’s off the table for the Knicks until the trade deadline, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks are reportedly shopping the former No. 1 overall pick who’s missed all but two games this season because of injury, but finding a trade partner will be difficult, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined last week. There’s more on the Knicks amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Knicks are trying to find use for the trade exceptions they picked up when they sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavs earlier this month, according to Berman, who writes in the same piece. The Smith exception is worth more than $5.982MM and the Shumpert exception nearly $2.617MM, but they don’t expire until January 5th, 2016.
  • Langston Galloway is assured of $275K for next season if he remains on the Knicks roster July 1st, and “well more” than half of his $845,059 salary for 2015/16 would be guaranteed if he’s still under contract at the start of training camp, Berman hears.
  • Raptors coach Dwane Casey‘s decision to bench Terrence Ross isn’t a harbinger of a trade, as league sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News the team isn’t making it any easier to deal for the former eighth overall pick.
  • Mirza Teletovic is set for discharge from a Los Angeles hospital today, and Nets team doctor Michael Farber expects him to make a full recovery from the multiple blood clots in his lungs discovered shortly after a game against the Clippers last week, the team announced. Teletovic, due for restricted free agency this summer, is out for the year thanks to the blood thinners he’s taking to treat the issue.

Trade Candidate: Andrea Bargnani

Knicks president Phil Jackson is currently orchestrating a scorched-earth cleansing of the team’s roster. He began the offseason with his ill-advised trade of Tyson Chandler to the Mavericks, and most recently, dealt away Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cavaliers as part of the ongoing tear-down. Now it would appear that the Zen Master has turned his attention to ridding the team of one of the previous regime’s biggest miscalculations — Andrea Bargnani.

NBA: Philadelphia 76ers at New York KnicksFinding a taker for the 29-year-old seven-footer from Italy will be no easy task for Jackson, since Bargnani has spent much of the last two seasons in street clothes due to various injuries (hamstring, calf, and elbow). It also doesn’t help matters that Bargnani hasn’t been all that effective when he has managed to make it onto the court. He’s only made two appearances thus far this season, totaling 22 uninspiring minutes, and averaging a mere 4.5 points per game. Unless former Knicks GM Glen Grunwald suddenly gets another NBA GM position prior to the trade deadline, Jackson is unlikely to find a return for Bargnani similar to the fleecing that the Raptors pulled on New York two years ago.

The Knicks believed that adding Bargnani to their roster would help spread the floor and open up more shots and scoring opportunities for Carmelo Anthony. But Grunwald completely ignored the fact that ‘Melo was most effective when occupying the four spot, which also happens to be Bargnani’s position. Since Bargnani has never been known as a particularly competent or willing defender and rebounder, this made any notion of playing him at center alongside ‘Melo a flight of pure fancy on New York’s part. The team also apparently ignored his prior injury history, which had seen the Italian miss time during four of his first seven seasons in the league, including 46 games the year before coming to New York.

So, it can be easily argued that the Knicks received almost exactly what they should have expected from Bargnani in the trade. I still can’t fathom the logic in including a 2016 first-rounder in the deal when Toronto was motivated to move Bargnani, and the Knicks had little to no competition in their pursuit of the big man. Steve Novak, whom the Knicks sent to Toronto in the trade, could have provided essentially the same skillset for a fraction of the cost, and wouldn’t have required New York to surrender a valuable first round pick, not to mention two second-rounders.

But crying over spilled milk won’t solve the Knicks’ woes, though neither will dumping Bargnani at this point. The benefit for the team in unloading him, besides assuaging the boo birds at Madison Square Garden who never miss an opportunity to let the player and organization hear their displeasure, would be to cut down its ample luxury tax bill. Shedding his $11.5MM cap hit would certainly do just that.

However, expiring contracts don’t hold the value they once did, which makes moving Bargnani a true challenge. The Knicks would likely need to attach a number of draft picks or a player such as Tim Hardaway Jr. to any deal for Bargnani to get another team to bite, and surrendering Hardaway is something I don’t see the logic in. New York has already sacrificed enough of its future to acquire Bargnani, and compounding the problem to save a few million dollars of James Dolan’s money makes little to no sense. The Knicks are perilously low on draft picks as it is, and Anthony isn’t getting any younger, so the team needs to think about the future. But if the Knicks do decide to attach a sweetener to a deal, the only candidates likely to bite are the Celtics and the Sixers, both of whom are stockpiling draft picks at a record pace.

Even if Bargnani was completely healthy this season, which he is not, finding a taker for his expiring $11.5MM contract would be no easy task. Plus, with New York trying to clear as much cap space as humanly possible in order to pursue max contract free agents this summer, it will take an improbable alignment of the stars (and salary cap numbers) for the Knicks not to be stuck with Bargnani until the end of the season. The more likely outcome is that New York will simply end up waiving him, as has been speculated, and pray that it could recoup some of his remaining salary via set-off rights in the event Bargnani inks a deal with another team.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Knicks Shop Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani

The Knicks are active in attempts to trade Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani, reports Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. However, New York is clinging to Amar’e Stoudemire and doesn’t plan on trading him, Stein and Begley add. Bargnani is a candidate to hit waivers next month if team president Phil Jackson can’t find a trade partner by the February 19th trade deadline, according to the ESPN scribes.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher last month called Bargnani a “big piece to the future,” but it appears that’s changed in short order as the Knicks have plummeted to the worst record in the league. The Knicks relinquished their 2016 first-round draft pick as part of the trade that brought Bargnani from Toronto, but injury has kept him from all but two games this season. He’s making $11.5MM this year, the final season of his contract, but league executives reportedly believed over the summer that it would require the Knicks to attach two first-round picks to offload him. There’s a decent chance that price has come down some, with Bargnani drawing ever close to the end of his deal, but it still seems like it’ll be hard for Jackson to find a taker.

A report last week indicated that Jackson hadn’t yet given up on Calderon, in spite of speculation that he’d be the next Knick to go after the team sent Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to Cleveland last week. The team’s stance on Calderon, too, appears to have changed, and while there are plenty of teams who are high on him, the point guard’s contract stands as a deterrent, Stein and Begley write. Calderon is making between $7MM and $8MM each season through 2016/17.

The Knicks reportedly shopped Stoudemire over the summer and discussed a deal with the Sixers, though Stoudemire’s salary of more than $23.4MM makes him quite difficult to trade. He’s proven a key part of the Knicks this season, averaging 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game, making 13 starts. It’s conceivable that the Knicks would re-sign him, at a greatly reduced rate, for next season once his contract expires this summer, Stein and Begley write.

And-Ones: Mavs, Payne, Heat, Bargnani

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to keep his newfound starting five together for the foreseeable future, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. To do so, Cuban will have to strike new deals with free agents to be Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler this summer. Add Monta Ellis to that list should he opt out of the third year of his team-friendly deal. “I’ll at least do my best to keep them together,” said Cuban. “I want to keep them together. It’s cheaper to keep them. It’s not where we were before. Do I want to go deep into the luxury tax? No, and I think it’s more because I want us to have some options in a couple of years. But, yeah, there’s no reason for us not to keep everybody together, not that I know now.”

It should be a busy summer for the Mavs owner. Now let’s take a look at what else is going on around the league on Monday night:

  • The Hawks have recalled Adreian Payne from the D-League, the team announced via press release. Payne had been with the affiliate of the Spurs, and his assignment represented the first use of the new rules for NBA teams without one-to-one D-League affiliates.
  • While the Heat were without Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on Sunday, facing the Rondo-less Celtics provided the latest reminder of team president Pat Riley‘s staunch advocacy of the star system, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Winderman implies that Riley, unlike Boston executive Danny Ainge, probably would’ve opted to lock up a player of Rondo’s caliber rather than risk sliding further into mediocrity.
  • Andrea Bargnani, who has yet to suit up for the Knicks this season, was adamant on Sunday that he intends to play this season and will return to the NBA next year despite his impending free agency, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, who adds that it’s unlikely the Knicks will bring the Italian forward back.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.