Brook Lopez

And-Ones: Lopez, Crawford, Holiday

With the way Brook Lopez has played this season, he has plenty of reason to not exercise his $16.7MM player option for the 2015/16 season with the Nets, and instead test free agency, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes. Lopez signed a four-year, $60.8MM deal with the Nets in July 2012. The big man is averaging 16.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game since the All-Star break, so he would likely receive plenty of interest from several teams, Bontemps adds. Lopez played in only 17 games last season because of a foot injury.

“I haven’t thought about that,” Lopez said of the player option. “I want to keep going, keep continuing to get my legs under me, and back to confidently playing basketball and being the player I normally can be. That’s still way out. I always take it one game at a time, so it’s definitely a ways out.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Clippers coach Doc Rivers said “there’s a chance” that Jamal Crawford will not return this season and added that the veteran guard is nowhere near playing, Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times writes. The reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year has a very deep bruise on his right calf, and he’s had to have it drained once in the last 10 days, the Clippers said before Sunday’s game. The Clippers have gone 6-4 since losing Crawford, who is averaging 16.4 PPG this season. J.J. Redick has stepped up without Crawford by scoring at least 20 points in each of his last four games. “Jamal told me he’s feeling better,” Rivers said. “It’s just that it doesn’t seem like it. Honestly, we don’t know. There’s no target date for Jamal, for sure.”
  • There’s a strong chance Justin Holiday‘s short run as the Warriors’ starting shooting guard ends Monday if Klay Thompson‘s sprained right ankle is healed, but the journeyman has made strides toward improving his game while playing in an enhanced role,  Jimmy Durkin of the Bay Area News Group writes.

Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Lopez, Bogdanovic

Soon-to-be free agent Andrea Bargnani isn’t making any promises, but he would like to remain with the Knicks, as agent Leon Rose indicated to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. An earlier dispatch noted that the Knicks are open to re-signing him for the right price, and Isola advances that report, writing that the team will “strongly consider” doing so.

“Andrea is optimistic about what [team president] Phil [Jackson] is trying to accomplish and he certainly wants to be part of it,” Rose said. “But he’s a free agent this summer so it’s too early to predict what may or may not happen.”

While we wait to find out where the former No. 1 overall pick plays next season, here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Brook Lopez revealed that he’s building a home at Disney World in Orlando, but he also said again that he wants to remain with the Nets as he spoke with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Lopez has a player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season, but he hasn’t lent any clarity to conflicting reports about whether he’ll exercise it.
  • Bojan Bogdanovic and the Nets were both somewhat skeptical about just what sort of impact the draft-and-stash product would have even after he signed a three-year deal for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception this summer, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Inconsistency earlier this season validated that uncertainty, but he’s played well since the All-Star break and is showing signs that he’s capable of helping the Nets through a period of roster transition in the years ahead, Bontemps observes.
  • The Celtics are having success with undersized perimeter players, but that’s out of necessity, not by design, writes Paul Flannery of SB Nation, who hears from president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on the state of the team’s rebuilding. “We will make an attempt in free agency for sure but we have to be careful that we spend [money] correctly and on the right players and not just spend it because it’s available,” Ainge said of the offseason ahead. “We have to maintain that flexibility to get the right players.”

Aldridge’s Latest: Thunder, Lopez, Jackson

The Thunder aren’t making moves simply out of fear that Kevin Durant will jump ship in 2016 and Russell Westbrook will follow suit the next year, a league source tells TNT’s David Aldridge for his Morning Tip column on NBA.com. Still, it’s been an active season for GM Sam Presti, who went over the tax line to acquire Dion Waiters and stayed above it after Thursday’s swap that sent out Reggie Jackson and brought in Enes Kanter. Aldridge has much more in his column, and we’ll hit the highlights, many of which are Thunder-related:

  • The Thunder let the Nets know they wouldn’t do the proposed Jackson/Brook Lopez trade just 15 minutes before the deadline, Aldridge reports. The Nets likely would have dealt Jarrett Jack to the Wizards if they’d done that deal, Aldridge adds.
  • The concern that Arron Afflalo would turn down his player option and hit the open market dissuaded the Thunder from trading for him, as Aldridge explains.
  • The Rockets preferred Goran Dragic to Jackson and the Celtics weren’t willing to trade young players for the then-Thunder guard, Aldridge writes.
  • The Thunder didn’t have plans to re-sign Kendrick Perkins in the summer even before they traded him at the deadline, according to Aldridge.

Nets, Thunder Close To Lopez, Jackson Deal

1:21pm: Stan Van Gundy says the Pistons aren’t moving on Jarrett Jack or Heat guard Norris Cole today, according to David Mayo of MLive.com (on Twitter).

1:01pm: The Thunder are looking at a deal with another team, according to Wojnarowski, who indicates that’s the holdup on the Jackson-Lopez front (on Twitter).

12:47pm: Garnett’s decision regarding his no-trade clause won’t affect the Lopez-Jackson deal, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). The Nets are ready to make it happen and are waiting on the Thunder, Mannix says. That would seem to suggest a two-teamer is most likely, but that’s just my speculation.

12:24pm: Jackson is enthusiastic about a potential deal to the Nets, league sources tell Wojnarowski, who hints that Brooklyn’s apparent willingness to unload Jack and sign Jackson to a lucrative deal this summer are major components to that. Jackson is indeed willing to sign long-term in Brooklyn, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (on Twitter), and that was key to Brooklyn’s pursuit of the would-be trade, as Wojnarowski reported earlier (below). Both Wojnarowski, in his full piece, and Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link) have the would-be two-teamer as Lopez to the Thunder for Perkins and Jones, though Wojnarowski says a broader structure of the deal involving other teams remains in play.

12:08pm: The Pistons are a possible landing spot for Jack, sources tell Windhorst (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Detroit would be a part of the Lopez-Jackson deal.

11:42am: The Nets could send Jack to the Wizards as part of a larger deal, a league source tells Wojnarowski (Twitter link)

11:09am: Jackson’s relationship with his teammates on the Thunder has deteriorated quite a bit, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

10:43am: The fate of a Nets-Thunder deal involving Jackson and Lopez rests with the Thunder, and for now it would be just a two team arrangement, reports Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

10:40am: The Nets are one of multiple options the Thunder are looking at regarding Jackson, but a deal between Brooklyn and Oklahoma City remains close, Broussard tweets.

10:20am: Jackson’s camp believes a deal will likely get done, Amick tweets. The Timberwolves and Sixers could be included, perhaps with the Thaddeus Young-for-Kevin Garnett possibility lumped in, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Nets are again looking to flip Perkins or have him conveyed elsewhere, Windhorst tweets.

10:15am: A deal is close, but not done, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). The teams are talking about deal that would see Oklahoma City relinquish Jackson, Perry Jones III and Perkins as Nets feel out Jackson’s willingness to re-sign, as Wojnarowski writes in a full story. Brooklyn is prepared to part with Jack, and the team would make Jackson the starter of Deron Williams, Wojnarowski adds. League sources once more tell Wojnarowski that it’s believed Jackson will command between $13MM and $14MM this summer. Oklahoma City and Brooklyn are exploring potential third teams to add to the deal, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

10:04am: Brooklyn “needs to” include Jarrett Jack in any Jackson-Lopez deal, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). A deal might involve Perkins and Ish Smith heading Brooklyn’s way in addition to Jackson, tweets Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.

9:49am: The Nets and Thunder are having serious talks about a deal involving Brook Lopez and Reggie Jackson, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski reported minutes earlier that there was a decent chance the Nets and Thunder would regather momentum toward a trade involving Lopez if the Nets become convinced they can re-sign Jackson this summer (Twitter link). The Nets and Thunder went deep into discussions on Lopez last month, but those conversations didn’t involve Jackson. The Thunder appear to have been the party with interest in striking up the Lopez talks again while the Nets have seemed hesitant.

Jackson’s agent, Aaron Mintz, recently requested that the Thunder trade his client, who’s due for restricted free agency this summer. The Kings, Bucks, Heat, Pacers, Rockets and Nuggets all appear interested in swapping for Jackson, while there are conflicting reports about whether the Celtics are pursuing him. The 24-year-old turned down an extension offer in the neighborhood of four years and $48MM this past fall, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link). That was around the time teams around the league thought he’d end up commanding $13-14MM a year this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported at the time.

Lopez is due a player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season, though there are  conflicting reports about whether he’d pick it up. Talks between the Nets and Thunder would have sent a package including Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb to Brooklyn, and the Nets had reportedly spoken to the Wolves about Thaddeus Young and had interest in flipping Perkins to Minnesota for him. Still, Brooklyn remained reluctant to do such a deal with Oklahoma City, apparently because it didn’t want to relinquish Lopez in what would amount to a salary dump with a package centering on Perkins, in spite of the Young discussion.

Latest On Brook Lopez

TUESDAY, 7:24am: The Nets haven’t had any recent talks with Oklahoma City, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily hears (Twitter link), adding that Brooklyn has no interest in Stephenson at this point. The Nets aren’t close to any deals, and there’s nothing that’s come up in discussion that makes any sense for Brooklyn, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 2:25pm: The Nets are being aggressive in their attempts to trade Brook Lopez in advance of Thursday’s 2pm Central deadline, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings. However, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there hasn’t been much movement on the Lopez front, with Nets GM Billy King giving other teams the feeling that he’s OK with keeping Lopez and building around him.  Oklahoma City would like to pick up its talks with Brooklyn about Lopez, even though the Thunder aren’t willing to overpay for him, Deveney writes. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears the Nets and Thunder are working toward a Lopez deal, though it’s unclear how close the sides are to any sort of agreement. Amico intimates that the Nets would like to receive Steven Adams, but Oklahoma City is making him off-limits for any trade, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

The Nets and Thunder were the most active teams as trade chatter mounted around the league Sunday night, and they may end up doing a deal with each other, as Kennedy reported earlier. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also wrote that the Nets are active, but he said Brooklyn won’t make any deal just for the sake of doing so and wants flexibility and assets it can use for the future. A proposal that would have sent Lopez to the Thunder last month would largely have been a salary dump, with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb among the pieces that would have headed Brooklyn’s way. There was also a three-team idea involving the Hornets that would have sent Lance Stephenson to the Nets and Lopez to Oklahoma City, but the Nets decided against that one. The Hornets would have liked to have acquired Lopez for themselves, but the Nets preferred to send him to the Western Conference, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month. The Nuggets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets all reportedly had some level of interest in Lopez as of earlier this season.

The Nets signaled to other teams a month ago that they wanted to make a Lopez deal within a few days, but they decided instead to keep him amid unappealing offers, as Wojnarowski wrote at the time. Brooklyn officials departed the talks amid their desire to build more consensus within the organization before moving ahead with any trade, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com, so that might explain today’s divergent narratives. Lopez is making more than $15.719MM this season, and there have been conflicting reports about the likelihood that he’ll pick up next season’s player option, worth in excess of $16.744MM. Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors took a look earlier at the trade candidacy of the former All-Star who has started only 22 of 42 games for the Nets this year.

And-Ones: Knight, Lopez, OKC, Clippers

Impending restricted free agent Brandon Knight says he’s in a “great situation” with the Bucks, but that’s no guarantee that he’ll want to stay put, Susan Bible of Basketball Insiders writes.  “Well, speaking for myself, I would want to go into a situation where I can win,” Knight said regarding what factors he’ll consider in free agency. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Winning has to be a priority. I’m pretty sure if you ask any top free agent, winning is going to be the main thing.” Here’s more from around the Association..

  • An executive told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links) that the Thunder and Nets are the most aggressive teams in trade talks. The two teams want to make a move and they may wind up trading with each other.  He adds that OKC’s interest in center Brook Lopez is real and he wouldn’t be surprised to see a deal involving him go down.
  • The Clippers have been trying very hard to make a trade, but they don’t have the assets to swing a worthwhile deal, so they’ll instead try and sign bought out players to bolster their roster, Kennedy tweets.
  • When asked whether the frigid weather would scare him off from signing in New York, Blazers big man LaMarcus Aldridge responded, “It’s cold everywhere,” Sean Deveney of the Sporting News tweets.
  • Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders gathered quotes from Aldridge, Knight, and other prospective Knicks free agent targets regarding their thoughts on the team and the city.
  • Any deal the Suns make would be made in the name of building an elite team down the line, not a fringe playoff team now, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes.  Meanwhile, both Isaiah Thomas and Goran Dragic have been mentioned in recent trade rumors.

Eastern Notes: Williams, Nets, Wizards

Mo Williams was traded to the Hornets on Tuesday but their interest in the veteran point guard dated back to last summer when he was on the free-agent market, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. The Hornets were shopping for a backup to Kemba Walker but ultimately settled on Brian Roberts, Bonnell adds. Their interest in Williams was rekindled when Walker suffered a knee injury that will sideline him until at least early March, Bonnell notes.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Nets coach Lionel Hollins expects to have the same roster after the trade deadline, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Any move by the Nets would likely involve Deron Williams, Joe Johnson or Brook Lopez but the market for them is underwhelming because of their salaries and, particularly in Williams’ case, a lack of production, Bontemps adds. The fact that the Nets must swap first-round picks with the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks, courtesy of their acquisition of Johnson in 2012, leaves them no incentive to strip the roster to increase their chances of moving into the lottery, Bontemps notes.
  • John Wall feels the Wizards need to add another play-making guard or wing player to the second unit, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports. Rather than making a deal, the Wizards could wait to fill that spot with a free agent bought out of his contract after the trade deadline or an overseas pickup, Castillo notes. Former Pistons point guard Will Bynum, who is currently playing in China for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, could fill the void when the CBA playoffs end, Castillo adds. Wall told Castillo that he endorses Bynum’s skill set and competitive nature.
  • Brandon Bass and Marcus Thornton could be moved before the trade deadline as the Celtics continue their quest to shed salary and stockpile draft picks, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Both will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. Bass, who is averaging 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds, is making $6.9MM this season. Thornton, who is averaging 8.9 PPG, has a $8.575MM salary.
  • The Hawks will have to give All-Star Paul Millsap a substantial raise to retain him, according to Paul Newberry of the Associated Press. That’s just what Millsap planned when he left the Jazz to sign with Atlanta for what turned out to be a bargain rate of two years and $19MM, Newberry adds. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Northwest Notes: Chandler, Afflalo, Jackson

Denver’s demands for Wilson Chandler are higher than they are for Arron Afflalo, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, and some believe that he’s among the few Nuggets the team isn’t shopping, Stein writes. There are conflicting reports about whether Denver has been shopping Chandler, though the general belief has been that GM Tim Connelly and company are seeking a first-round pick in exchange, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reported. Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported that a first-rounder is the Nuggets’ asking price for Afflalo, too, so there may be a more nuanced difference between what they’re asking for each. In any case, the Nuggets appear to be active, as Stein writes, and there’s more from his piece amid the latest from the Northwest Division:

  • Afflalo and Reggie Jackson are two of the three players whom GMs mentioned most frequently when Stein asked about the biggest names likely to move at the deadline. Brook Lopez, whom the Nuggets and Thunder have reportedly sought, is the other.
  • Adreian Payne went from the best team in the Eastern Conference to the worst team in the West in Tuesday’s trade that sent him from the Hawks to the Timberwolves, but he doesn’t mind that, as Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. Instead, last year’s No. 15 overall pick is excited about the chance to play after going on four D-League assignments and appearing in only three NBA games with Atlanta.
  • Minnesota’s futile attempts to surround a young Kevin Garnett with veterans during Flip Saunders‘ first stint at Wolves coach gave Saunders, now both coach and president of basketball operations, a lesson about what not to do, argues Michael Rand of the Star Tribune. Tuesday’s pair of trades were further indication that Saunders intends to follow a different path with Andrew Wiggins and surround him with young talent, Rand believes.

Atlantic Notes: Jackson, Nets, Stoudemire, Drew

Phil Jackson‘s hints to Harvey Araton of The New York Times that his stay as Knicks president might not be a lengthy one lead Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com to wonder if the door is ajar for a return of the Zen Master to the Lakers, where Jim Buss is on a three-year timetable to succeed. Still, Jackson told Brian Lewis of the New York Post within the past week that “I’ve kind of just divorced myself from them,” in reference to the Lakers, so it seems a purple-and-gold reunion is almost certainly not in the cards. Here’s more from Jackson’s current division:

  • Trade rumors have swirled around Brook Lopez, and a recent report cast some doubt about the long-term job security of coach Lionel Hollins, but Lopez and Hollins have begun to forge a better working relationship, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News details. Hollins’ public criticism of Lopez and others had bothered Nets ownership, as sources recently told Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • Amar’e Stoudemire said today that he doesn’t anticipate he’ll be traded this year, and that while he hasn’t had a conversation with the Knicks front office about a future with the team beyond this season, he expects one to take place soon, observes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
  • Larry Drew II‘s 10-day contract with the Sixers expires tonight, but coach Brett Brown made it plain Tuesday that he’s a fan of the point guard, notes Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). Drew is on his second 10-day arrangement with Philadelphia, so any subsequent deal between the sides would have to cover the rest of the season.
  • Sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia that former Knicks guard Chris Smith is headed to play for KB Peja in Kosovo. The Knicks signed Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, to a minimum-salary contract with a fully guaranteed salary for last season, but they waived him a little more than two months into 2013/14.

Nets GM Billy King On Trade Talks

The trade deadline is weeks away and the Nets have been featured prominently on the pages of Hoops Rumors.  Nets GM Billy King admits that the phone is ringing in Brooklyn, but he insists that he’s not the one doing the dialing.

Are we aggressively shopping our guys? No. Have we had a lot of conversations with people? Yes,” said King in an interview with Sarah Kustok and Lenn Robbins of BrooklynNets.com earlier tonight (via Roderick Boone of Newsday on Twitter).

King went on to explain (link) that he wants to “see this group play” before making any deals.  In fact, King said that he wants to sit back and evaluate things between now and the All-Star break before doing anything at all, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).  “Then, if a deal makes sense, we’ll do it,” the GM said.  The Nets will play their last game before the break on February 10th and won’t resume action until February 20th.

Despite the Nets’ struggles so far this season (they’re 18-28 heading into tonight’s tilt against the Clippers), King says that he still believes that the Nets have enough talent to make it to the playoffs.  With that in mind, King says that he will not make a deal just for the heck of it (via Andy Vasquez of The Bergen Record on Twitter).  Still, he has spoken to Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, and Deron Williams about the possibility being traded (via Boone on Twitter).

Recently, the Nets have been discussing Lopez with the Nuggets, though it appears that things have been dormant for the last week.  The Nets could also upgrade their roster in the coming weeks without making a trade as they are looking into old friend Andray Blatche.