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Southwest Notes: Davis, Chandler, Lee, Mills

November 27th, 2014 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

Trevor Ariza and Tyson Chandler were probably the most significant newcomers to the Southwest Division this past summer, but even devoid of an influx of star talent, every team in the Southwest has a winning record so far. I covered Ariza’s impact earlier today in my look at what the Rockets did over the offseason, and there’s more on Chandler amid the latest from around the division:

  • Anthony Davis is up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason ahead, and he seems comfortable with his surroundings, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports details. “I love it here in New Orleans,” Davis said. “Great city. Great atmosphere. …We’re getting the fans back and New Orleans back buzzing for the Pelicans, a great organization. I love my team here. We’re definitely moving in the right direction. I don’t know what the future holds, but right now I’m definitely loving the team and the organization.”
  • Knicks president Phil Jackson deferred to GM Steve Mills when it came to communicating with Chandler, as the now-Mavs center told reporters on Wednesday, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I just don’t think I was in the [Knicks’] future plans to be honest,” Chandler said, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
  • The Celtics sought to clear salary when they traded Courtney Lee to the Grizzlies less than 11 months ago, but his hot three-point shooting is one reason he’s proven well worth his $5.45MM salary this year for Memphis, as Ronald Tillery of The Commericial Appeal examines (subscription only).
  • A clause in the Spurs‘ contract with Patty Mills gives him an extra $333K if he meets conditioning benchmarks throughout the season, according to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News. The incentive is considered likely to be met, so that $333K is already included in his cap hit of more than $3.842MM, Monroe notes. It’s unclear if the torn right rotator cuff that’s kept Mills out all season so far will keep him from meeting those benchmarks.
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Western Notes: Parsons, Davis, Jerrett

November 20th, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

By making Chandler Parsons a restricted free agent last summer the Rockets allowed him to hit the jackpot financially a year ahead of schedule, Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. “I won’t send them [Houston] a Christmas present, but I’m very thankful for them letting me out a year early,” said Parsons. “I understood the whole logic behind it, and Dallas did a great job of making it difficult for them to match it [their offer sheet] for their future plans, so I totally get it. It’s a business and I’m very thankful and humble and glad that the Rockets gave me the opportunity initially with the draft. I had a great three years there, and I’m just excited to be here [Dallas] now.”

Here’s more from the west:

  • Pops Mensah-Bonsu has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem, the team announced (translation via David Pick of Eurobasket.com, on Twitter). The four-year NBA veteran was briefly in training camp with the Nuggets this fall.
  • The Pelicans‘ Anthony Davis is a basketball talent that almost never happened, with the big man almost quitting the game for good during his late-blooming development, Christopher Reina of RealGM writes. Davis has since become the league’s most incredible prodigy and New Orleans is quickly building a contending team around its young star, Reina adds.
  • The Thunder have recalled Grant Jerrett from the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA D-League, the team announced in a press release. This two-day stint was Jerrett’s second D-League assignment of the season, though his first trip lasted a mere three hours.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Pelicans Opt In With Davis, To Decline Rivers

October 24th, 2014 at 5:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pelicans have exercised their fourth year team option for Anthony Davis, the team has announced. However, the team will not exercise its third-year option for guard Austin Rivers, Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune reports (Twitter links). According to Smith, the team likes Rivers as a player, but the Pelicans are declining the option because of potential salary cap implications down the line.

Davis’ salary for 2015/16 is set to be $7,070,730, and that increases New Orleans’ salary commitments to $36.9MM for that season, though that figure doesn’t include Eric Gordon‘s $15.5MM player option. Rivers’ salary would have added another $3,110,796 to the team’s cap figure. Since the team has declined his option, Rivers will now become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The 6’10” Davis was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, and has quickly grown into one of the league’s top big men. It looks like he’s not content to stop there, and after a stellar showing in the FIBA World Cup this summer, he’s poised to take the next step towards becoming a superstar. Davis’ career numbers are 17.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 2.3 BPG. His career slash line is .518/.133/.777.

Rivers came into the league after one season at Duke, where he didn’t quite measure up to the recruiting-trail hype. The 6’4″ guard hasn’t lived up to having been 2012’s 10th overall selection during his two seasons in the league. His career numbers are 7.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG, and his career shooting numbers are .390/.346/.601.

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And-Ones: Fesenko, Wolves, Team USA

August 28th, 2014 at 6:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Free agent center Kyrylo Fesenko made a positive impression on the Wolves during summer league play, and he’s dropped 20 pounds, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Fesenko has played for the Jazz and the Pacers, and has career averages of 2.3 PPG and 2.0 RPG over 135 games played.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The package that the Wolves received for Kevin Love is superior to the one that the franchise had gotten for Kevin Garnett, writes Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders. By acquiring Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from the Cavaliers, Minnesota essentially skipped two years of being in the NBA Draft lottery, opines Koutroupis.
  • Bob Donewald Jr. was hired by the Grizzlies to be the head coach of their NBA D-League team, the Iowa Energy, the team announced (Twitter link). Donewald most recently served as the head coach of the Chinese National Team, and he has also worked as an assistant coach for the Cavs and Pelicans.
  • With each game that passes for Team USA, so does the horror of Paul George‘s injury, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. In regards to how the team is coming to terms with what happened to George, Anthony Davis said, “That was a gruesome injury (to George), and it kind of affected all of us, even guys who weren’t playing. Basketball players around the world and people around the world got affected by it. But now we know that he’s doing fine and we’ve got to keep moving forward and try to win this gold for him. … I’m hoping that (this experience) makes me take a leap coming into the season next year.”
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Western Notes: Marion, Barbosa, Curry

August 17th, 2014 at 8:58am CST by Eddie Scarito

Team USA defeated Brazil 95-78 in an exhibition game at the United Center last night. The game not only featured Derrick Rose returning to action on his home court, but also strong performances from the Pelicans‘ Anthony Davis and the Rockets‘ James Harden. Davis recorded 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Harden scored 18, along with five rebounds and five assists.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • The Clippers are now showing interest in Shawn Marion, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Spears adds that the Cavs, Pacers, and Heat remain interested in the small forward as well.
  • Leandro Barbosa has had discussions with a few NBA teams about a possible free agent deal, and is hoping to use the upcoming FIBA World Cup to further prove his health, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. Barbosa said, “I don’t know what owners think about the World Cup, but hopefully I do a great job over there and a team sees. I feel healthy and my body is feeling healthy. If I have free agency in my mind, I won’t be able to be myself on the court. Hopefully, I sign a contract and I’ll be happy.” Barbosa appeared in 20 games with the Suns last season, averaging 7.5 PPG, 1.9 PPG, and 1.6 APG, while playing 18.4 minutes a night.
  • In an interview with Beckley Mason of the New York Times, Warriors star Stephen Curry was asked about playing for yet another new head coach in Steve Kerr. Curry responded by saying, “This is one that I haven’t gone through before. This is my fourth coach going into my sixth year. Last three coaching changes, we were a bad team trying to become competitive. Now we have a lot of talent. Pretty much the same team back, with some additions, but a new coach. It’s a different experience. The expectations are already high, and we have to deal with that. Thinking about it, it will kind of be similar to last year. People thought we were a 50-win team, and we accomplished that, but it still didn’t feel like we accomplished as much as we should have. That’s basically the theme I have in my head thinking about what’s going to happen next year. Just in training camp, in that locker room, that adjustment with Coach Kerr and setting his system up. I think we’re going to be able to adjust well.”

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

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Pelicans Make Eric Gordon Available

July 3rd, 2014 at 9:22am CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 9:22am: The Pelicans deny that they’re quite so active, as fellow Basketball Insiders scribe Steve Kyler reports in his NBA AM piece. The team is having trade talks with other clubs and there’s a leaguewide feeling as though the team is open to moving Gordon and perhaps Austin Rivers, but the Pelicans don’t have much interest in moving Evans, Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday and especially Davis, Kyler writes.

TUESDAY, 7:58am: The Pelicans are making most of their roster available in trade talks, including Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.  It’s not clear exactly who is on the block and who isn’t, but I would surmise that the untouchables list includes 2012’s No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis.  From the sound of it, there may not be many more that are safe.

Both guards have value from a talent perspective but their contracts could hinder the returns for New Orleans.  Evans signed a four-year, $44MM pact with the Pelicans (via a sign-and-trade) roughly one year ago to this date.  Gordon, meanwhile, is in the midst of a max deal with two years to go.

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Pelicans Exercise ’14/15 Options On Davis, Rivers

October 16th, 2013 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have officially picked up their 2014/15 options on Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers, the team announced today in a press release. The move ensures that both Davis and Rivers will be on guaranteed contracts through 2015, with the Pelicans holding additional team options on both players for 2015/16.

There was no doubt that the Pelicans would exercise their option on Davis, last year’s No. 1 overall pick. Rivers didn’t have nearly as successful a rookie campaign as the Kentucky big man, but very few lottery picks have their options turned down, and New Orleans still has high hopes for the former Duke guard.

Davis will be in line for a salary of about $5.61MM in 2014/15, while Rivers will earn a guaranteed $2.44MM. Their salaries will bring the Pelicans’ total commitments up to about $52.1MM for six players, including Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Ryan Anderson.

You can follow all of this month’s rookie contract option decisions right here.

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Blazers GM, Aldridge Reps Discuss Possible Trade

July 17th, 2013 at 11:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Blazers GM Neil Olshey met Sunday in Las Vegas with members of LaMarcus Aldridge's camp who suggested several trade scenarios, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The source described the meeting as productive, with both sides focused on the best outcome for all involved. Still, Haynes hears the team is in no hurry to trade the All-Star power forward, particularly if there isn't a fair deal available. Olshey and company don't want a package of draft picks in return, according to Haynes.

The Bulls, Timberwolves, Clippers, Hawks and Pelicans have declined to include Joakim Noah, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Al Horford and Anthony Davis, respectively, in any deal for Aldridge, Haynes hears. Aldridge has told Haynes and others that he has not requested a trade, and Haynes has confirmed that he hasn't done so. Still, Aldridge isn't opposed to a trade, just as he'd be OK with returning to Portland, as Haynes writes, echoing his report from last month. 

A strong performance from Aldridge this season could help Olshey find the deal he wants next summer, when Aldridge will be down to one more year on his contract. The 28-year-old Arn Tellem client will make $14.628MM this season and $15.756MM in 2014/15.

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Odds & Ends: Coach K, Howard, Harkless, Rookies

February 26th, 2013 at 10:43pm CST by Sean Highkin

A roundup of the latest news and notes from around the NBA on Tuesday evening:

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Odds & Ends: Veterans, Davis, Lillard, Nets

January 3rd, 2013 at 5:03pm CST by Alex Lee

With only two games on the NBA slate tonight, here are the latest news and notes from around the league on Thursday evening:

  • Mark Deeks of the The Basketball Jones compiles an extensive list of former NBA players who may rejoin the league soon.  We learned that one player on that list, Mike James, joined the D-League's Texas Legends earlier today.  Teams can begin to sign players to 10-day deals on Monday.
  • In his NBA PM update, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld says that Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard, the consensus front runners for Rookie of the Year, were nearly teammates in New Orleans.  Kennedy writes that the Hornets had targeted Lillard before his meteoric rise up draft boards, but were happy to land Austin Rivers as a consolation prize once they realized Lillard wouldn't fall to them.
  • Within the same update, Kennedy echoes what we've heard from many analysts regarding the Nets' coaching job.  He asserts that if the team wants to lure a big-name coach to Brooklyn, they will likely have to wait until the offseason to do it. The coaching fraternity is very close-knit, Kennedy says, and when you factor in that a brand new coach would have limited opportunity to shape his staff and team, it's no surprise that guys like Jeff Van Gundy and Phil Jackson have stayed away. 
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