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And-Ones: USA Basketball, Felder, Bentil, Draft

June 6th, 2016 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Following this morning’s report that Stephen Curry would skip the 2016 Olympics in Brazil for health reasons, the Warriors and Curry issued a statement confirming that decision. And, as ESPN’s Marc Stein tweets, Curry isn’t the only USA Basketball star who won’t be available this summer due to injury. Stein says that Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, John Wall, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who is dealing with a recent finger/hand injury (Twitter link), also won’t be a part of Team USA’s roster.

As we wait to see which other players may drop out of the 2016 Olympics due to health or safety concerns, let’s round up some odds and ends from around the NBA…

Former Oakland University point guard Kay Felder is working out for the Lakers today, and has a workout with the Pistons lined up for next Wednesday, tweets Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press.
Former Providence forward Ben Bentil will work out for the Magic this Friday after having worked out for the Hawks and Bulls, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon and Louisville’s Chinanu Onuaku are among the draft prospects whom Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com views as potential second-round steals later this month. Vecenie also identifies three other players who fit that bill.
Former Michigan State forward Deyonta Davis has hired BDA Sports for representation, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link). Hoops Rumors readers voted on Sunday to send Davis to Chicago with the 14th overall pick in our community mock draft.
In other player representation news, Serbian bigs Miroslav Raduljica and Ognjen Kuzmic have hired agent Chris Patrick of Relativity Sports for representation, per HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Doc Rivers Talks Offseason, Green, Stephenson

May 16th, 2016 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

In a conversation with ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Clippers head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers discussed a handful of interesting topics, including the Blake Griffin-Matias Testi incident, his relationship with Austin Rivers, and J.J. Redick‘s podcast.

Rivers also weighed in on some of the possible personnel decisions facing the Clippers, and addressed the impact of some decisions that he and the club have made in the past. Here are a few of the more notable quotes from Doc’s conversation with Lowe:

On whether he boxed the Clippers into a corner by saying the team won’t trade its top three players (Chris Paul, Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan):

“I don’t worry about the corner thing, ever. I’m always gonna do what’s good for the team. You don’t ever do anything but that. But I feel like the best thing for the team right now is to keep them together. Can that change? Of course it can change. But I don’t think it will.”

On whether Jeff Green will be the Clippers’ starting small forward in 2016/17:

“We gotta sign him first. … We don’t need a superstar [small forward]. We have superstars at other positions. We need guys who are complementary players. Jeff is terrific in that role.”

On Lance Stephenson and why he didn’t work out for the Clippers:

“He played great for Memphis. He wasn’t a great fit for us. Defensively — that’s where I was more disappointed, and shocked. I look at that body, and that athleticism, and I think: That’s a prototypical great defender. And he’s not that. … But I’ll tell you one thing — he’s not a bad kid. He gets cast as this malcontent bad kid, and Lance was never that. I thought he was funny. The guys liked him. But Lance wants to score every time he touches the ball, and he’s not that type of guy.”

On whether Rivers is concerned that the Clippers have given up too many draft picks:

“Yeah. I am. I think we had to because of the cap situation we inherited, but we’re starting to get some back. The best thing to happen to us is we get the Brooklyn pick at the start of the second round. That’s a big deal for us. So now, I think we have a chance to get healthy, get picks and keep building our team.”

Rockets Expected To Pursue Al Horford

May 16th, 2016 at 12:33pm CST by Luke Adams

After a disappointing regular season and an abrupt first-round exit from the playoffs, the Rockets figure to make some changes to their roster this summer, and according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, the team’s top target in free agency will be Hawks big man Al Horford.

Horford, who turns 30 next month, will have no shortage of suitors this offseason, with his current team in Atlanta expected to make him a max offer in July. However, it’s not yet clear whether the Hawks intend to offer Horford a full five years to go along with a max salary. While Atlanta appears to be the strong frontrunner to lock up the nine-year veteran, Houston and other clubs figure to make pitches as well, if given the opportunity.

According to Deveney, Ryan Anderson will be a potential target for the Rockets this summer as well. General manager Daryl Morey also figures to be creative when it comes to exploring possible sign-and-trades involving stars like Blake Griffin, Jimmy Butler, or Carmelo Anthony, Deveney writes, though any of those scenarios would be longer shots.

The Rockets currently only have about $46MM in guaranteed salary on their books for the 2016/17 season, per Basketball Insiders. That figure doesn’t include Dwight Howard‘s $23MM+ salary, since Howard has a player option and is widely expected to opt out.

In Hoops Rumors’ most recent free agent power rankings, Horford ranked fourth, one spot ahead of Howard.

Clippers Rumors: Griffin, Paul, Jordan, Crawford

May 2nd, 2016 at 2:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Doc Rivers hinted before the season that he would consider breaking up the team’s core if it fell short in the playoffs again, and trade speculation has surrounded Griffin for much of the year, but Rivers seems to maintain belief in what Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan can do, writes Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The coach/executive said today that he doesn’t think the team’s window for title contention is closed, Markazi tweets.

“I like our team,” Rivers said after Friday’s season-ending loss to Portland. “Our bench was fantastic this year. The problem is we have a lot of free agents on our team and I think a lot of them are going to be attractive, and so we have to fight to keep our own first and then try to build from that point. We’re going to have a difficult time. It’s going to be tough.”

See more on the Clippers:

Rivers can’t envision any player in the league picking up his player option for next season, given the sharp escalation of the salary cap that’s poised to create a player-friendly market this summer, notes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Rivers confirmed that means he expects Cole Aldrich, Wesley Johnson and son Austin Rivers to opt out from the Clippers this summer, and the coach/executive also believes Paul and Griffin will opt out in the summer of 2017, Bolch relays (Twitter links).
Doc Rivers said today that he wants to re-sign as many of the team’s free soon-to-be free agents as possible this summer, according to Bolch (Twitter links). “They all want to come back, but they’ve all played well and so they’ve all made it more difficult,” Rivers said. Jeff Green, Jamal Crawford, Luc Mbah a Moute, Pablo Prigioni and Jeff Ayres are the Clippers on expiring contracts, and presumably the same sentiment applies to the trio with player options.
Crawford said after Friday’s game that he’d like to re-sign with the Clippers, tweets Jen Beyrle of The Oregonian. The 36-year-old Crawford and J.J. Redick, who turns 32 next month, both said on Redick’s podcast for The Vertical that they’d like to play five more years, and Redick would like to sign a four-year deal when his existing contract expires in the summer of 2017, as Markazi relays via Twitter.
Paul Pierce has one more year left in him, Rivers believes, according to Bolch (Twitter link). Pierce, 38, is signed through the 2017/18 season but is 50-50 on whether to retire this summer.
The creation of a Clippers D-League affiliate will be a matter of discussion this summer, Rivers said, cautioning that it remains uncertain whether a team will be in place in time for next season, tweets Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com. The Clips are reportedly exploring the idea of starting a D-League team in Bakersfield, California.

Clippers Notes: Pierce, Paul, Griffin

April 30th, 2016 at 11:34am CST by Will Joseph

Paul Pierce said after the Clippers’ playoff exit Friday night that he didn’t want to make an emotional decision about his future and was 50-50 on whether he would return next season, tweets Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Pierce, 38, is under contract for $3.5MM next year with a partially guaranteed salary the following year, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders points out (on Twitter).

Here’s more on the Clippers:

The idea that the Clippers need to break up Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin is exaggerated and the team instead needs to make wiser decisions on free agents and improve in player development, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com argues in an Insider piece. There’s no way the Clippers would receive the same value in return if they were deal one of them, Andrew Han adds in the same piece.
If the Clippers must trade one, however, that player should be Paul because the star point guard will be 31 at the start of next season, Han writes.
It may be time to shake things up, considering Paul and Griffin have played together for five seasons and have yet to win a title, opines Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Bresnahan suggests it may be worthwhile for the Clippers to make a deal with the Knicks and acquire Carmelo Anthony.

Los Angeles Notes: Paul, Griffin, Walton, Fisher

April 26th, 2016 at 6:54pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers don’t want their search for a new coach to be a prolonged one and hope to have their new hire in place prior to the NBA draft in June, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. “We’re looking to have a big offseason,” GM Mitch Kupchak said. “It would be nice to have our staff in place during the draft and certainly when July 1st [when teams can begin negotiating with free agents] rolls around.” The executive also expressed hope for a quick turnaround in fortune for the franchise, Oram adds. “We feel we’re positioned well as an organization to quickly be in a different position a year from now,” Kupchak said. “Does that mean 50 or 55 [wins]? I don’t know. … But I do feel we can make great progress.”

Here’s more from L.A.:

The Clippers‘ playoff hopes took a major blow today with the team announcing that point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin would likely miss the remainder of the postseason. Paul underwent surgery on his right hand this morning and will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks after fracturing his hand during Monday night’s game, while Griffin is dealing with a left quad injury and is done for the year.
Luke Walton, who is rumored to be a favorite for the vacant Lakers coaching post, reiterated his love for being with the Warriors and his focus on the playoffs when asked about potentially coming to Los Angeles next season, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays. “I love my job here,” Walton said. “I absolutely love it. I love the playoff battles that we’re in right now. We’ve got prep work to do. Every bit of focus right now should be on the playoffs. So any questions I’m asked about anything else is a distraction in my opinion, and then I’m being selfish. So I’m not answering anything about anything except for our team and the playoffs.”
Former Knicks coach Derek Fisher has expressed interest in the Lakers coaching position, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). Fired by the Knicks in February, Fisher’s record in a season and a half with New York was 40-96.
Clippers small forward Paul Pierce is adjusting to limited minutes during the postseason but understands his true value as a veteran is to provide leadership, writes Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.

Pacific Rumors: CP3; Lakers, Kings Coaching Jobs

April 26th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers suffered a devastating blow and the playoffs took another unexpected turn Monday when Chris Paul broke his right hand in Game 4 against the Trail Blazers, a Portland win that evened the first-round series. Paul is “most likely” out for the rest of the postseason, a source told ESPN’s J.A. Adande (ESPN Now link). A team source said much the same to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). It’s possible a better prognosis will emerge after further tests, and the team will know more today, Adande and Woike report, but the Clippers are in rough shape. Blake Griffin is just “50-50” for the next game because of a sore left quadriceps tendon, coach Doc Rivers said, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Twitter link). It all adds up to a potential boost for the Warriors, who’ve lost Stephen Curry for at least two weeks with a sprained knee and will play either the Clippers or the Blazers in the next round, provided they dispatch the Rockets.

See more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers have reached out to Jeff Van Gundy about their coaching vacancy and he has interest, a source close to Van Gundy told Sam Amick of USA Today.
College coaches Roy Williams, John Calipari, Jay Wright and Tom Izzo are among the candidates the Lakers will consider, sources told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Former Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek is also expected to be among those the Lakers will look at, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst hears, as the website passes along in the same piece.
The Lakers felt they needed someone who’s on board with the modern NBA’s more perimeter-oriented style when they dismissed Byron Scott late Sunday, sources told Shelburne, and they would ideally like to hire a big-name coach on the upswing who has strong player development skills, a coaching source indicated to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Vinny Del Negro‘s interview for the Kings head coaching job took place Monday, and Mike Woodson is expected to have his interview as soon as today, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. GM Vlade Divac has been in charge of the interviews and is expected to have the most influential say in the team’s eventual hiring, Wojnarowski adds.

Western Notes: Duncan, Durant, Griffin, Nuggets

April 16th, 2016 at 9:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kobe Bryant claimed the spotlight with his season-long retirement tour, but Tim Duncan could be wrapping up his career more quietly, suggests Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News. Duncan will turn 40 on April 25th, a day after Game 4 of the Spurs‘ first-round series with Memphis. He has a player option worth $5.5MM for next season, so it’s possible his career will end with the playoffs. “He’s going to wake up one day and say, ‘I’m done,’” said Manu Ginobili, “and you’re never going to see him again.” Ginobili is 38 and has a $2.94MM player option of his own, meaning two members of San Antonio’s historic Big Three may not return next season.

There’s more tonight from the Western Conference:

Kevin Durant managed to prevent his impending free agency from becoming a distraction as he re-established his place among’s the NBA’s top players, writes Michael Lee of The Vertical. The Thunder star kept reminding himself of his elite status as he worked his way back from a broken bone in his right foot that limited him to 27 games last season. “Yeah, I wasn’t around,” Durant said. “And there are two or three players that they kind of talk about as the best. They didn’t really talk about me. It’s not that I was mad or anything like that. I just tried to use all that stuff as extra fuel and I tried to push myself higher.” Durant bounced back to average 28.2 points and 8.2 rebounds this season and will be the top name on the free agent market.
The Clippers are happy to have Blake Griffin back for the playoffs, even if he isn’t fully healthy, writes Peter Socotch of CSNNW. Griffin recently returned to the court after being out since Christmas with a partially torn quad tendon. “He’s had not only five games, but he’s had some practice time,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Obviously, it’s not the exact way you would have wanted it, but we’ll take what we can get. We got him back, and that’s better than not getting him back. So I’ll take that.”
There are four difficult issues to resolve before the Nuggets can get the “championship results” that coach Michael Malone desires, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. He identifies them as the future of Danilo Gallinari and Jusuf Nurkic, whether to offer a max contract to anyone in free agency and whether to keep three first-rounders and two second-rounders in June’s draft.

Pacific Notes: Scott, Dukan, Chandler, Griffin

April 7th, 2016 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Discussing the Lakers‘ regression this season despite having a talented crop of young players, coach Byron Scott pointed to the roster’s overall NBA inexperience as a major contributing factor, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “You take away some of the veterans we had last year and plug in these young guys that haven’t played at this level, it’s a different story,” Scott said. “They’re learning and it’s hard. When we had the veteran guys, they know how to compete every single night. They’ve been in the league for a while. These young guys don’t know how to do that every night. That’s what they’re learning how to do in bringing that intensity earlier today. You have to bring that intensity level every single night. For the young guys right now, their attention to detail that they don’t have on a night-to-night basis is tough. But they’re learning. They’re getting a hard lesson this year for learning what not to do.”

Scott also admitted that he could have handled his younger players better this season, Medina notes. “With our young guys, could I probably have done a better job? Probably so,” Scott said. “I have to look at that this summer and how can I help them next year to get even better? You don’t have to give up who you are, which is not what I’m going to have to do. But you do have to adapt and understand now the communication level has to be much better. With these young guys, I’ve definitely done a better job of understanding this is a different generation.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Suns big man Tyson Chandler intends to host workouts over the summer to help him and his teammates develop better chemistry, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. “I feel like this season got way off on the wrong foot,” Chandler said. “Even though we won some games, I didn’t like it even early. Even when we were 7-5, I didn’t like it because it’s important that you win the right way. When you’re playing at a high level, and I’ve been there, you know when you’re a good team. You can just feel it. I felt we had spurts but we were always kind of rocking. It’s important all of us are on the same page and we all truly come in with the same goal.”
The Clippers are facing a difficult dilemma with Blake Griffin as they try to work him back into the rotation while readying themselves for the playoffs, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register notes. Griffin, who has shown signs of rust since making his return, told reporters of his struggles, “I think it’s just rhythm. Being out three months, that’s a summer. That’s almost a full offseason,. It’s like coming into the first day of camp and everyone else has been playing at their peak for a long time. I’m just a step slow, a step behind, whatever you want to call it.”
The Kings have assigned power forward Duje Dukan to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Dukan’s seventh trip to Reno on the season.

Pacific Notes: Griffin, Curry, Karl, Watson

April 2nd, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

Blake Griffin is expected to be in the Clippers‘ starting lineup Sunday, even though he isn’t fully healed from a quad injury, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Griffin, who hasn’t played since Christmas Day, expected to be out just a few weeks after partially tearing a tendon in his lower quad muscle. “I don’t want to say ‘misdiagnosed’ but [it] wasn’t doing the right things, I guess,” he said. “We weren’t addressing the initial problem, the main problem. Everything I was doing was just putting more stress on my knee. The small tear became a three-month thing because I wasn’t doing the right things until we figured it out. … It just wasn’t being allowed to heal. The tear is still there. It’s just about managing the pain and getting through this. It’s not a new tear. I wasn’t re-tearing my knee in different places. I wasn’t allowing the initial injury to completely heal.” Griffin didn’t discuss the condition of his right hand, which was broken in a fight with assistant equipment manager Matias Testi. The Clippers posted a 30-15 record in the 45 games that Griffin missed.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Kings point guard Seth Curry is still deciding whether to exercise his option for next season, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. A decision is due just a week after the end of the regular season. Curry added that he likes Sacramento and GM Vlade Divac‘s plans for the team. If Curry opts in, he will make $1,015,696.
Sacramento placed coach George Karl in a no-win situation and would be making a mistake if it fires him, argues Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. The front office failed to support Karl when it overturned his early-season suspension of DeMarcus Cousins, and Furillo claims that move deteriorated their already-strained relationship. Even with a rebuilt roster that was weakened by injuries, Karl has led the Kings to their highest win total since 2007/08.
Earl Watson has managed to get some defensive improvement out of the Suns since taking over as interim coach, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Under Watson, who has posted a 6-7 record after losing his first nine games, Phoenix has a defensive rating that is 12th best in the league over its past 10 contests. Before Watson arrived, the Suns were 29th in that category. “We have a lot we haven’t even touched,” he said.