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Central Notes: Deng, Pacers, Bulls

February 22nd, 2014 at 12:13am CST by Cray Allred

Anthony Bennett appears to have turned around his season, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game this month for the Cavs, with a boost in production. “I’m just more relaxed on the court, going out there not really thinking about too much, not thinking about the plays or who needs to get the ball where. I just need to go out there play my game, play hard, rebound and then things will start flowing,” Bennett said, according to Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Here’s a look at what else is happening around the Central Division:

Cavs guard Jarrett Jack was a heavily discussed trade candidate as the trade deadline came and went, but tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that the rumors didn’t affect him much.
In the same piece, Luol Deng said that all of the contract talk from this year has been “exhausting,” and that his perspective on the Cavs is incomplete as he heads toward free agency, when he will decide whether to stay with the team that traded for him earlier this year: “It’s just the same thing everybody wants. The guy who brought me here [former GM Chris Grant] is not here, and now we have [current GM David Griffin] and Griff is an interim. Those two guys are who really brought me here. I really don’t know if Griff is going to be the GM or what’s going on. I know the direction the organization is going and how everything has been set up. I’ve been happy with that from day one.”
The Bulls might be interested in adding Ben Gordon if the Bobcats buy out his contract as expected, per Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Gordon was an impact player for Chicago in his first five seasons in the NBA.
Speaking of the pool of players being bought out or waived, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said that any player added by Chicago won’t wind up a forgotten man on the end of the bench, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
The Pacers are sad to lose former face of the franchise Danny Granger after Thursday’s trade with the Sixers, but the team isn’t questioning the front office’s championship-or-bust mentality that brought about the trade, writes Mark Montieth of NBA.com.

Central Notes: Karasev, Barnes, Ilyasova, Pistons

February 19th, 2014 at 11:21pm CST by Alex Lee

Here is the latest coming out of the Eastern Conference’s Central Division on Wednesday night:

The Cavaliers have recalled rookie Sergey Karasev from the D-League, the team tweeted earlier tonight. Karasev returned to the Canton Charge for last night’s contest after being recalled to the NBA a week ago.
Despite a recent uptick in Harrison Barnes rumors, Zach Lowe of Grantland tweets that any buzz about the UNC product likely ending up in Cleveland is inaccurate for now.
Acting Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is a “breath of fresh air” in trade talks according to one opposing GM, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Griffin took over general manager duties after Chris Grant was fired earlier this month.
The asking price for Ersan Ilyasova is very high, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, who adds that Bucks owner Herb Kohl believes the 6’10” Turk could eventually be a star. Ilyasova requested a trade from Milwaukee last week.
While the Pistons are hardly without their problems, things are pretty quiet on the trade front in Detroit, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Players like Charlie Villanueva, Will Bynum, Rodney Stuckey and Jonas Jerebko were thought to be on the block, but there has been next to no movement since the surprise firing of head coach Maurice Cheeks.

Cavs GM David Griffin On His New Position

February 16th, 2014 at 9:35am CST by Eddie Scarito

Many believe that acting Cavs GM David Griffin has a 30-game audition to show majority owner Dan Gilbert he has what it takes to earn the job full time. Meanwhile, Gilbert has reportedly reached out to prominent agent Mark Bartelstein to gauge his interest in becoming the team’s new GM. Bartelstein is the kingpin of Priority Sports in Chicago. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald sat down to chat with Griffin about his new position, and here are some of the highlights:

On replacing his friend as the GM:

“On a personal level, this is bittersweet, obviously. Chris (Grant) is somebody I had a great deal of respect for and had a personal relationship with. I’m very much looking forward to tackling this opportunity at the same time.”

On what he has to do in his new position:

“It’s time to capitalize on all of the benefits we have and, more than anything else, I think it’s time to really bring this to a place where everybody wants to be, bring it to an environment and have the sort of symbiotic relationship with each other, where we believe in each other enough and trust each other enough to tell each other what they need to do here and to do it on the court. I think we have a group of kids that want to do that. I know we have a coaching staff that comes to work each day with the spirit of finding a way. We will find a way, and this team will succeed.”

On if he believes this is a 30-game audition:

“The indication I have is I’m here right now. Dan has shown a great deal of faith in me, and he and his ownership group have put me in a position to be very successful right now. I have full latitude to do this job. I have their support to do this job. I will not be taking calls as a secretary. I will be the general manager of the team. What that means moving forward, candidly, is very irrelevant to me. If I’m going to be successful in this position, it’s because we as a group have results. And if we have those results, then you tend to get to stay. If you don’t, you go away. That’s the nature of this beast. Dan doesn’t need to say anything to me. We need to produce. That’s how I know I’m going to be there.”

On if the team will be buyers or sellers at this year’s deadline:

“I don’t see how you get better and win more games selling. We’re going to buy to the extent that it makes us better for the long haul. I don’t think we’re going to do anything that’s an act of desperation. I think we’re going to be willing to buy the right asset at the right price. We are dedicated 100 percent from top to bottom to getting better and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Cavs Notes: Deadline, Waiters

February 15th, 2014 at 12:08pm CST by Cray Allred

We should expect the Cavs to make a deal prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto says that interim GM David Griffin thinks the Cavs are primed to make up the three-game distance between them and the last playoff spot, and wants to convince owner Dan Gilbert that he should be the permanent GM. Here’s more from Pluto’s latest:

The Cavs are trying to acquire a forward with 3-point shooting range, Pluto reports in the same piece. Shooting and floor spacing has remained a need since former GM Chris Grant struck out on adding free agents Kyle Korver and Mike Dunleavy this past offseason.
The team believes second-year guard Dion Waiters is in the beginning stages of understanding the NBA game, leading Pluto to doubt he would be traded outside of a “monster deal.”
Pluto says the Cavs are also in pursuit of another big, but thinks an Omer Asik deal is a “long shot,” and wouldn’t include Anderson Varejao.
In an effort to build what was lacking in team chemistry earlier this season, Waiters and Kyrie Irving have been paired in constructive activities like an extra morning shootaround with an assistant coach, says Pluto.

Cavs Consider Mark Bartelstein For Front Office

February 14th, 2014 at 8:06am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs are thinking about making a pitch to agent Mark Bartelstein to have him join the team’s front office, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. It’s unclear whether Cleveland envisions putting the founder and CEO of Priority Sports & Entertainment in the role of primary decision maker, or if he’d serve in an assistant capacity. In any case, it’s unlikely the team can convince Bartelstein to make the move, Stein writes.

Any significant change the Cavs might make to their management team probably wouldn’t happen until after the season, according to Stein. Cleveland hopes interim GM David Griffin is successful enough at the trade deadline and through the rest of the season to make a convincing case to retain his job permanently. Griffin apparently has a mutual desire to head up Cleveland’s front office for the long term, Stein says.

David Lee, Taj Gibson and Gordon Hayward are among the prominent names on Bartelstein’s list of clients, as our Agency Database shows. The notion of an agent joining team management is unusual, but not unprecedented. Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby and Warriors GM Bob Myers are former agents, as Stein points out.

Odds & Ends: Cavs, Jackson, Gordon, Ennis

February 12th, 2014 at 11:41pm CST by Cray Allred

The Cavs have won four straight since firing former GM Chris Grant. One of interim GM David Griffin‘s priorities was to improve the rumored chaos in the Cleveland locker room according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter). Amico says that Griffin told both Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters they would not be traded, and urged the team to have fun and avoid stress (Twitter link), which could explain some of the team’s sudden positivity. Here are the rest of the notes from around the league:

Mark Jackson took some critical comments made earlier by Warriors owner Joe Lacob in stride, per Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group. Jackson said he “understands” why the owner is disappointed with the team’s performance, adding, with a laugh: “I stopped reading [Lacob’s comments]. I was getting depressed.”
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders said he wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Gordon wound up on the Suns before the upcoming trade deadline, in response to a tweeted question he received (Twitter link). This would fall in line with the Suns’ reported preference of landing a perimeter player.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim doesn’t think consensus top-10 draft prospect Tyler Ennis will enter the draft this summer, per Seth Davis of SI.com. “I think he knows and his father knows that he’s a really good college player. He has to become a better shooter and get stronger to go to the next level,” said Boeheim. “He’d go in the first round, but look at the number of first-round picks who are already out of the league in the last two years. It’s a huge number.” (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv)
Representatives from the Bulls attended a Eurobasket game to get a look at Nolan Smith, per David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The 25-year-old point guard spent two years with the Blazers, and was expected to join the Celtics for training camp this summer before heading overseas. Smith has averaged 9.9 minutes per game in his NBA career, and declined in nearly every statistical category last year.
Free agent Brian Cook is attempting to make an NBA return, according to a source for Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). The 33-year-old has nine years of NBA experience, but he hasn’t played in the NBA since splitting time with the Clippers and Wizards in the 2011/12 season.

Odds & Ends: Griffin, Green, Draft, Heat

February 12th, 2014 at 4:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets and Grizzlies once offered their GM jobs to Cavs interim GM David Griffin, notes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, so Cleveland doesn’t exactly have an obscure talent at the helm as the trade deadline nears. Wojnarowski’s piece details some of the missteps of Griffin’s predecessor, Chris Grant, and points to the strong desire that Kyrie Irving held in 2012 for the team to draft Harrison Barnes rather than Dion Waiters. We passed along more from Wojnarowski in a pair of posts last night, and we’ll round up the latest from the NBA here:

Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report hears the Celtics are unlikely to move Jeff Green and have their eyes on building around Green, Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger (Twitter link).
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com thinks Marcus Smart‘s fan-shoving incident has hurt his stock, but the main reason Goodman has Smart at No. 14 in his Insider-only mock draft is because his outside shot hasn’t improved. Goodman also details Bucks GM John Hammond‘s fondness for Joel Embiid and notes Thunder GM Sam Presti‘s affinity for Syracuse forward C.J. Fair.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wonders if the Heat‘s decision to start Toney Douglas Tuesday night was a chance for the team to see what it has in him before the trade deadline. A Tuesday morning report suggested the Heat are prepared to waive Douglas if a more attractive option comes along.
The Nuggets aren’t likely to be particularly active at the deadline, writes Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, but even if they are, coach Brian Shaw says he won’t have much input on the team’s personnel decisions until after the season.
Three-year NBA veteran Will Conroy, who played briefly for the Timberwolves last season, has signed with Rasta Vechta of Germany, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Conroy recently parted ways with another German team.

Odds & Ends: David Griffin, Deng, Mbah a Moute

February 11th, 2014 at 9:41pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Since drafting Kyrie Irving in 2011, ex-Cavaliers GM Chris Grant made one draft mistake after another in the following years and spent his final months in Cleveland offering overvalued young players in lopsided proposals for LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Eventually, Wojnarowski says, few NBA executives had the inclination to listen to Grant’s one-sided offers.

Now that the Cavs have elevated David Griffin into the role of interim GM, the team may have a chance to make some improvements through trades based on Griffin’s superior standing with other executives from around the league. Wojnarowski reports that until the deadline, Griffin will be working the phones with a mandate to keep pushing for the playoffs.

You can find tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below, including more from the above piece:

Though one Eastern Conference executive views Griffin’s current situation as an opportunity to impress Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, Wojnarowski writes that Gilbert’s plan nevertheless is to search the NBA landscape for Grant’s replacement.
Wojnarowski says that in order to keep Luol Deng in Cleveland after this season, the Cavs would likely have to exceed his market value; letting him walk would be too embarrassing after paying such a steep price to acquire him, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
Timberwolves forward Luc Mbah a Moute could be the most likely to be dealt from Minnesota right now, says Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).
Knicks head coach Mike Woodson said on ESPN 98.7 FM’s “The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show” that if New York makes a deal between now and the trade deadline, he expects to be involved in the discussion: “I would like to think that if something goes down, I’m sure they will include me…It’s been that way since I’ve been here and I don’t see that changing. We just have to let it play out and see what happens” (Ian Begley of ESPN New York). Woodson’s job security has been a hot topic as of late on Hoops Rumors, and multiple reports over the last week suggest that his days in New York could be numbered.
Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders outlines several potential trading partners and scenarios for the Knicks if they were to trade Carmelo Anthony.

Eastern Notes: Magic, Cavs, Knicks

February 11th, 2014 at 6:55pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Magic GM Rob Hennigan tells Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that he’s not actively looking to pursue deals right now: “We’re exploring all options that may improve our team…But in terms of aggressively, actively trying to do something? I would say no [we’re not].”

In that same piece however, Robbins adds that Orlando could make at least one move before the deadline, and much of the trade speculation has revolved around Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson, and Glen Davis. Afflalo – whose 19.6 PPG and 5.0 FTA this season represent career bests – is likely drawing the most interest at this point.

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference this evening:

Looking at what he calls a “mess” in Cleveland, Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report revisits some of the Cavaliers’ roster decisions since Kyrie Irving‘s arrival in order to describe how they got to this point, including their decision to bypass Jonas Valanciunas in the 2011 draft, hiring Mike Brown, and failing to provide a veteran mentor for Irving. In spite of this, he believes there’s still time to right the ship, especially if the front office- led by interim GM David Griffin – can piece together a roster that compliments rather than saddles Irving.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News doesn’t buy speculation about Knicks owner James Dolan considering a Carmelo Anthony trade to the Bulls, and thinks that the seven-time All-Star will ultimately stay in New York beyond this summer. Even if Anthony were to bolt, Isola doesn’t believe it’d be the end of the world; with Andrea Bargnani, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler coming off the books in 2015, New York could target a star like Kevin Durant with their ample cap space (All Twitter links).
ESPN New York’s Ian Begley weighs in on the rumblings surrounding Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried from the Knicks’ persepctive, saying that acquiring Faried – though he’d be a plus – doesn’t address their backcourt needs and cuts into their 2015 cap flexibility.
As for the Wizards’ reported interest in Beno Udrih, Begley notes that a one-for-one swap for either Glen Rice Jr. or Al Harrington is feasible, but only from a salary-matching standpoint. Regardless, I think Begley would agree that Washington probably wouldn’t be open to giving up a 23-year-old prospect like Rice Jr. in order to solely acquire a 31-year-old backup point guard.

Cavs Rumors: Jackson, Karl, Griffin, Brown

February 7th, 2014 at 9:31am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs are eyeing Phil Jackson and George Karl, but they’d like to see interim GM David Griffin and coach Mike Brown step up and keep their jobs, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter links). Ostensibly, Jackson, who’s said he’s done with coaching, would be a candidate for the GM job, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com suggested Thursday, while Karl would be sought for a return to the Cavs bench, where he served as coach in the 1980s. In any case, the final three months of the season are an on-the-job audition for Griffin and the “last chance saloon” for Brown, Amico writes. Here’s more on the Cavs, a day after they fired GM Chris Grant:

Dan Gilbert’s assertion Thursday that the Cavs have what they need to be successful prompts Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal wonder why Grant took the fall for the team’s woes.
The time to fire Grant was this past spring, not two weeks before the trade deadline, argues fellow Beacon scribe Marla Ridenour, who thinks Gilbert should shoulder responsibility for the franchise’s shortcomings.
Grant didn’t put up results in his time in Cleveland, but the team’s playoff aspirations for this season were misplaced, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller writes.
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group centers his proposal for upgrading the Warriors on a pair of trade ideas involving the Cavaliers. Cleveland is in much the same desperate position Golden State was a few years ago when it acquired David Lee, Kawakami believes, suggesting Lee could serve the Cavs in a similar role as a bridge to more successful times.