Dwight Howard

Odds & Ends: Dwight, Bulls, Deron

September 19th, 2013 at 10:50pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Amidst the buzz surrounding the 2013 Basketball Hall of Fame induction a little over a week ago, you may have heard legendary Brazilian basketball player Oscar Schmidt proclaim that he could have been one of the best 10 players ever if he had joined the NBA. In hindsight, it's interesting to ponder some of the 'what ifs' and how they may have altered the landscape and history of the league.

One could think about how the NBA would have been different if Larry Bird didn't fall five spots to the Celtics during the 1978 draft, if Kobe Bryant hadn't fallen to number 13 in 1996, or if Michael Jordan hadn't retired before the 1993/94 season to name a few. Regardless, there are plenty of other possibilities to consider.

Jonathan Abrams of Grantland sheds light on one particular what-could-have-been, chronicling the rise and fall of Korleone Young, a promising 6'7" small forward who like Kobe, Tracy McGrady, and Kevin Garnett before him attempted to make the jump from high school to the NBA in 1998. In his comprehensive piece, Abrams supplements Young's story with commentary from several people who had crossed paths with him along his journey, including Young's prep-school rival Al Harrington, former Pistons head coach Alvin Gentry, and former Pistons assistant (and current Bucks GM) John Hammond, who had this to share based on what he'd seen in practices:

"We used to talk about the way in which (Young) defended (then-star) Grant Hill on a daily basis. We used to say it tongue-in-cheek but [also] somewhat seriously: 'No one defended Grant Hill in this league as well as Korleone Young."

With that aside, let's round up the rest of tonight's miscellaneous links from the NBA:

Sam Amick of USA Today writes about how Dwight Howard has found greener pastures in Houston and why the rest of the NBA will have to lament the reality that another Western Conference contender has been born.
A handful of HoopsWorld panelists put together a season preview of the Bulls for 2013/14. With much of the team's success hinging on how much Derrick Rose can return to form, three writers pick Chicago to finish second in the Central Division, while two have them running away with the division title.
Nets guard Deron Williams was spotted at his charity dodgeball event earlier today with a walking boot over the same ankle that had been giving him problems last season, though he insisted that the boot was just precautionary: “As long as I’m ready (for the season opener), that’s all that matters to me…If it was up to me, I would be playing right now. I can walk fine. It doesn’t hurt. It’s just protecting me from myself” (Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News).
Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW says that with Dirk Nowitzki healthy, the Mavericks won't take a backseat to anybody in the league in terms of talent at the power forward position.
Tommy Dee of Ridiculous Upside presents a scouting report of free agent big man Hassan Whiteside, who had recently drawn reported interest from the Knicks, Heat, and Bucks.
Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside explains why the NBDL will continue to develop front office executives at a much more efficient rate than players at this point, mentioning that while prospective staffers can work to rise up the ranks while committed to a specific NBA franchise, the players can be called up at anytime and by any NBA team regardless of D-League affiliation.
HoopsWorld's Moke Hamilton held his weekly chat with readers earlier this evening, offering his thoughts on why he thinks the Knicks will repeat as Atlantic Division champions, why teams might be shying away from Renaldo Balkman, the Western Conference playoff race, and the Warriors' ceiling among other topics.
Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com continues his countdown of reasons why New Orleans fans should be excited about training camp, placing the offseason progress made by the team's quartet of sophomores – namely Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Brian Roberts, and Darius Miller – at number 13.

Odds & Ends: Odom, Brown, Mudiay, Mavs

August 24th, 2013 at 10:50pm CST by Spencer Lund

A number of outlets have relayed the TMZ report last night that 33-year-old free agent forward Lamar Odom has been battling a "hardcore" drug addiction for the past two years. Odom hasn't failed an NBA-mandated drug test since 2001, but the report claims he entered a drug treatment facility in San Diego last summer and was clean during the 2012/13 season with the Clippers before beginning to use again this summer.

Odom averaged a career low 4.0 PPG and 1.7 APG in 19.7 MPG while appearing in all 82 games with the Clippers last season. Here's what else is happening around the league during a quiet, late-August Saturday night:

Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer spent the day with new Sixers coach Brett Brown's family in Portland, Maine.
Adam Zongoria of Zagsblog.com describes how SMU coach Larry Brown landed the top class of 2014 high school point guard, Emmanuel Mudiay, who announced his decision at halftime of Brooklyn's Elite 24 game tonight. Zongoria opines that Mudiay will be a one-and-done player and a likely lottery pick in the 2015 draft.
The Trail Blazers made a lot of moves to improve their league-worst bench from last season. One of those additions, Dorell Wright, is profiled by the Oregonian's John Canzano.
HoopsWorld's senior NBA writer Bill Ingram tweets that the rumors Dwight Howard issued an ultimatum that Mike D'Antoni be fired and Kobe Bryant amnestied in order to re-sign with the Lakers "seem silly" since Howard chose the Rockets early on. Ingram also wonders, via Twitter, what it says about Howard (assuming the reports are accurate) for him to think he has anything on Bryant.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban answered questions on the new "Fox Sports Live" program last night, as transcribed by The Dallas Morning News. He discusses flip-flopping on wanting Dwight Howard in free agency this summer, whether the Mavs are rebuilding this coming year, and the health of 35-year-old franchise star Dirk Nowitzki.
The Mavs are also one of the eight teams wearing the new GPS tracking devices, reports The Dallas Morning News.
ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling tweets that former St. John's star Justin Burrell, who has played overseas since graduating in 2011, will play for Italy's Montepaschi Siena this coming season.

Western Notes: Bryant, Nuggets, D’Antoni

August 24th, 2013 at 8:04pm CST by Spencer Lund

As fallout from the Ric Bucher revelations about Dwight Howard's demands to remain with the Lakers continues, CBS Sports' Matt Moore looks at how Bucher's quotes have been portrayed in the media. While listing the headlines, Moore shows that they've primarily focused on the Lakers protecting Kobe Bryant in lieu of Howard's stipulation that he not be re-signed next summer.

As we already updated, Howard never explicitly said that he'd re-sign with the Lakers if Mike D'Antoni were ousted as coach. The focus in the media, as Moore shows, was on the back-and-forth between Bryant and Howard: two superstars possessing egos that wouldn't allow them to co-exist on the same roster, and how the Lakers would rather let Dwight walk than entertain the idea of Bryant leaving LA.

Here's some more on the Lakers chances next season, and a report card on the Nuggets tumultuous offseason…

Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver gives the Nuggets an F in his recent offseason report card grade at SI's The Point Forward blog.
Golliver compares the offseason of the Pacers with the Nuggets to show how, despite both teams experiencing impressive regular seasons, the Pacers continued to trend up in the playoffs, and the Nuggets failed to keep everything together this summer.
They lost GM Masai Ujiri – who accepted the Raptors' high-paying GM role – and the 2013 NBA Coach of the Year George Karl – who they did not retain for the final year of his contract.
Not only did the Nuggets lose their coach and GM, but they also lost free agent Andre Iguodala to the Warriors in a three-team deal involving the Jazz, Nuggets and Warriors.
Unlike the Pacers – who were able to re-sign David West this summer and significantly upgrade their bench – the Nuggets signed offense-first players like Nate Robinson and J.J. Hickson and allowed others, like defensive wing-stopper Iggy, to bolt the sinking ship.
HoopsWorld's Jabari Davis put together a plan for the Lakers while pretending to be their GM during a chat with readers earlier today.
In his plan, Davis said the Lakers should try and land a top 12 spot in next summer's heralded 2014 NBA Draft.
Davis also discusses the possibility that Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake improve next season, how the additions of Nick Young, Wesley Johnson and Farmer's athleticism will translate well with D'Antoni's uptempo offense and the chances Bryant sits out the full season – similar to Derrick Rose last season with the Bulls – while they attempt to position themselves higher in the the 2014 draft.
Davis also believes the Lakers can win between 44-47 games next season and finish with a 6-8 seed in the West if Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Bryant all play at least 70 games together.

Howard Wanted Kobe, D’Antoni Out Of L.A.

August 24th, 2013 at 2:24pm CST by Zachary Links

2:24pm: Bucher clarifies his earlier post, writing that Howard never specifically told the Lakers that he'd re-sign if the team fired D'Antoni (Sulia link). Bucher doesn't add any more about Howard's feelings toward Bryant, however.

8:41am: Since signing with the Rockets this summer, Dwight Howard has denied that he issued demands to the Lakers that weren't met. However, various people close to the situation say that there were two prerequisites for the big man to stay: fire coach Mike D'Antoni and amnesty, or "at the very least muzzle," Kobe Bryant, according to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link).

The Lakers asked Dwight to be patient on both fronts for at least another season, telling him that he would have to tough things out for another year, according to one source. However, Lakers VP of basketball operations Jim Buss spoke with Bucher and it sounds as though he's planning to keep Kobe well beyond 2014.

"Dwight didn't want to play with Kobe for 2-3 more years," Buss said. "I'm going to stand behind Kobe because of his history with the franchise."

Howard's rift with D'Antoni is well known and the big man reportedly felt as though he was lost in the Lakers' offense last season. This isn't the first time that we've heard that Howard was looking for a change on the bench or for Kobe to get out of the picture, but it now appears that his requests were closer to demands and those demands being met could have kept him in L.A.

Howard's gutsy demands don't come completely without precedent in Lakers' history. When Bryant re-signed in 2004, it coincided with Shaq being shipped to Miami and Phil Jackson being let go. However, the front office didn't need to be pressured to make either move at the time as they were unhappy with both men.

Nearly ten years later, it seems that the Lakers had the opportunity to hold on to the summer's most prized free agent. However, the price tag was simply too high for them.

Daryl Morey Talks Asik, Howard, CP3, Lottery

August 16th, 2013 at 8:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets GM Daryl Morey has had an eventful offseason, landing the top big man on the free agent market, adding a handful of free agents around Dwight Howard, and losing his annual Las Vegas ping pong match to Bobcats GM Rich Cho. He addressed all of those topics today in an "Ask Me Anything" session at Reddit.com, and the questions and answers in full can be found here. We'll round up a few of Morey's more notable responses below….

Asked whether Omer Asik will be happy with his new role in Houston, Morey acknowledged that Asik would prefer to be a starter, but added that the big man is concerned with winning first, and will like being on a competitive team. According to Morey, coach Kevin McHale will also experiment with a lineup in training camp that includes Asik at center and Howard at power forward.
According to Morey, the Rockets' pitch to Howard centered around three main factors: The opportunity to join a rising star in James Harden, McHale's presence on the bench, and the fact that, among the clubs D12 was considering, Houston has the most assets and flexibility to continue improving the roster around him.
Chris Paul reportedly had interest in the Rockets before re-signing with the Clippers, but Morey says he believes Houston was "always on the periphery of where [Paul] might choose to go."
Morey says he'd love for every NBA team to send all trade offers Houston's way, whether those offers are "ridiculous or reasonable," since even the ridiculous ones can eventually grow into something real.
Asked to reply to Steve Kerr's suggestions for how to improve the NBA's draft lottery, Morey indicated that he thinks the league rewards losing too much, and that potential alternatives are "something we need to work on." Morey went on to say that "bottoming out" is the highest probability strategy for rebuilding, and that he thinks a team like Philadelphia took the best path available, given the current CBA and draft rules.
Morey had nothing but praise for future commissioner Adam Silver, who is "very forward-thinking" and has plenty of great ideas for how to improve the NBA, according to the Rockets GM.

Western Notes: Pekovic, Rockets, Zanik, Aldrich

August 14th, 2013 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the biggest names on this summer's free agent market finally came off the board today when Nikola Pekovic reached a five-year, $60MM agreement with the Timberwolves. The deal will make Pekovic the highest-paid restricted free agent of the offseason, by both overall value and annual salary. He also landed the third-highest overall guarantee, behind only Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Here's more on Pekovic and other items from around the Western Conference:

The new deal for Pekovic won't affect the Timberwolves' ability to keep Ricky Rubio or Kevin Love long-term, president Flip Saunders told reporters today, adding that the team views those three players as the franchise's cornerstones (Twitter links via T-Wolves PR). Saunders also confirmed that Pek's contract doesn't include any team or player options, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
About 15 months before they ultimately landed Howard, the Rockets reached a tentative agreement to acquire the All-Star center from the Magic at 2012's trade deadline, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Orlando planned to move D12 at the deadline if he didn't waive his early termination option, and had offers from the Rockets and Nets — Magic officials preferred Houston's offer, says Berger.
Agent Justin Zanik, who has worked with Andy Miller at ASM Sports in recent years, is set to join the Jazz front office as the team's assistant GM, reports Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Jody Genessy of the Deseret News has a few more details on the hiring of Zanik, who represented NBA players such as Omer Asik, Timofey Mozgov, and Sergey Karasev.
Cole Aldrich worked out for Sacramento on Monday, according to Jonathan Santiago and James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom. The Kings have an open roster spot, though it's interesting that they'd need to work out Aldrich, considering they got an extended look at the big man last year after acquiring him at the trade deadline.

Odds & Ends: Ariza, Wiz, Udrih, Howard, Jackson

August 8th, 2013 at 10:35pm CST by Alex Lee

Here are some odds and ends from around the NBA on this Thursday night:

The Wizards had a busy offseason, which kicked off with Trevor Ariza informing them that he planned to exercise his $7.7MM player option for 2013/14. Ariza didn't foresee this offseason as a good one to test free agency, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post, who sees Ariza ahead of rookie Otto Porter Jr. on the Wizards depth chart based on the team's summer league.
Lee adds that if the Wizards plan to add a big man, they'll like only be able to offer a minimum salary. Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is willing to become a tax-paying team, per Lee, but would rather do so once he has a contender on his hands.
Keith Schlosser of the Knicks Journal examines the addition of Beno Udrih to the Knicks' backcourt, arguing that Udrih is of borderline starter caliber. The Knicks got another bargain, Schlosser says, writing that Udrih's acceptance of a minimum salary implies he is on board with the "win now" mentality of the New York locker room. Filling a clearly defined role, previously occupied by Jason Kidd, should facilitate Udrih's transition, Schlosser opines.
In an interview with ESPN Radio in Los Angeles, Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss said that the team would have had a much better chance to keep Dwight Howard if her father, the late Dr. Jerry Buss, had been healthy and involved, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN LA. Buss called her father "the best closer in the business" and also stated that her husband, former Lakers coach Phil Jackson, still has the itch to coach, but stopped short of implying anything about a return to the Lakers. Hear the full interview here.

Pacific Notes: Pau, Rambis, Suns

August 5th, 2013 at 6:02pm CST by Spencer Lund

Kurt Rambis, the recently hired assistant to Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni, sat down with the Sporting News' Sean Deveney to talk about meshing with the new Lakers' staff despite many who consider him a part of the old guard under former head coach Phil Jackson.

The differences stem from Jackson's slowed down Triangle offense, which Rambis used when he coached the Lakers and the Timberwolves, but which contrasts with D'Antoni's run and gun offensive style. Rambis tells Deveney the connection between him and Triangle is far from absolute, and he was probably overreacting when he said he was "shocked" at the assistant coaching offer.

Back in November Rambis had spoken out about the Lakers while doing analysis at ESPN, and the comments led to D'Antoni crossing him off his list for potential assistant coaching hires. But by mid-July, D'Antoni was already warming to the idea of bringing the former Lakers player and coach back to the bench.

Here's what else is happening around the Pacific Division, including more on the Lakers…

Pau Gasol will have a lot more opportunities with the ball in the low-block for the Lakers this coming season now that Dwight Howard has headed to the Rockets, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Steve Nash seconded the notion that the offense ran more smoothly when it was just he and Pau while Dwight missed time with an aggravated shoulder last year.
According to Eurobasket2013.org, Suns center Marcin Gortat has received permission from the Polish National Team to fly back to the United States to have his foot examined (hat tip: CBSSports.com's Zach Harper).
According a source, Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports that Dwayne Davis–the Warriors' summer league guard–elected to sign a one-year deal with Murcia of the Spainish ACB rather than accept various training camp offers he'd received from NBA teams. His deal with Murcia does not have an opt out clause, so he'll try to make an NBA roster again next summer.

Cuban On Dirk, Dwight, Roster Construction

August 4th, 2013 at 9:13am CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is never shy about expressing his opinion, with the possible exception of his superstitious refusal to criticize the league or its referees during his team's 2011 playoff run. The latest post on his personal blog shows Cuban in typical form as he opens up about his feelings on the Mavs and player movement around the league. He begins with a history lesson of sorts, explaining his moves from the past two years, and he transitions into his conclusions about the team's summer, a second straight offseason in which marquee free agents spurned the Mavs. Cuban shares plenty, including a link to a cartoon the team put together as part of its pitch to Dwight Howard. We'll hit a few highlights from Cuban's piece here:

On Dirk Nowitzki and his presence on the team:

"Culture is very important to the Mavs. Your best player has to be a fit for what you want the culture of the team to be. He has to be someone who leads by example. Someone who sets the tone in the locker room and on the court. It isn’t about who talks the most or the loudest. It is about the demeanor and attitude he brings. It is amazing how when the culture is strong, the chemistry is strong. When the Mavs have brought in players that didn’t fit or buy in to our culture it created on-the-court and off-the-court problems. It's possible to handle one guy who may not fit it. It’s going to have a negative impact on your won-and-loss record if you have more than one. Our culture is one of the reasons I won’t trade Dirk."

On Howard and the way he would have fit into the team's culture:

"We saw it as somewhat of a risk, but felt like because Dwight, by all appearances and checking we did, is a good guy and with our support systems we believed we could make it work. If not, he was obviously a very trade-able asset. But, as everyone knows, we didn’t sign him. He went to the Rockets. I do have to say the meeting with Dwight was very interesting. He is a smart guy. Much smarter than people give him credit for. He is also a very, very good listener. Unlike most people, he spent far more time listening than talking. And he had the best response to an opening question that I have ever heard from a player, or anyone for that matter. When we asked him what his goal was, his response was very specific: 'I want to be Epic.' Which was a perfect lead-in to the video we created for him."

On building a championship team:

"I see quite a few teams taking what appears to be the same approach to building a team. I can understand why they are taking this approach. In the current CBA the value of a player chosen in the draft can be considerable because of the defined contract terms. And if you put together some great young players, it is very enticing to want to keep those players together for a long period. But I also know that even if you have the worst record in the NBA, you may not get the top pick and even if you do, there is a material chance you pick the wrong player, or it just happens to be a draft when there are not any IDENTIFIABLE superstar potential players at the top of the draft. In other words, while it may be popular, I think the quantity of teams taking the same approach makes it more difficult to build a team in this manner."

On the team's strategy this offseason:

"If we had gotten a single, max-out free agent that cost us $19 or $20MM, we would have had a good team. Possibly a great team if we were able to add the right minimum contract players around our core plus our new max-out free agent. But we probably would not have had a championship-contending team. It would be next year when we had cap room again and we would add what would hopefully be the finishing pieces either through free agency or through trade. If we didn’t get our max-out player, we had planned to accelerate what we would have done next year to this year. Which we obviously did."

On the coming season and the future for the Mavs:

"If we stay healthy, I think we can have a good team. How good? I don’t make predictions. I do believe that by having a core of players that we can grow and develop with, and cap room in the upcoming season and what we feel is the ability to develop and improve the performance of our players, we are in a good position for this year and for the future. We have been hurt by not having a core of players in place that free agents see as teammates they want to play with. That shouldn’t be the case next year."

Steve Nash Talks Retirement, Lakers, Howard

July 31st, 2013 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to participating in a "tryout" for Italian soccer powerhouse Inter Milan this week, Steve Nash has spoken to a couple reporters about his future, the Lakers' offseason, and the pitch the team made to Dwight Howard at the start of free agency. Here are the highlights from Nash, courtesy of Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com and Grantland's Zach Lowe….

On the possibility of retirement:

"I don't really want to think about it…. I want to concentrate on this season and have a great season and then next year I'll worry about next year. After that there's a chance I could keep playing, but I'm totally open to not playing or playing again and I don't really want to predict. I just want to concentrate on the now and worry about the future when it arrives."

On the Lakers' offseason moves:

"There wasn't a lot of stuff we could do with our salary cap situation, so, to bring in the guys that we did — Jordan [Farmar], [Nick] Young, [Wesley] Johnson, and [Chris] Kaman — I think were great additions. I also think Kurt Rambis is a great addition and [Mark] Madsen, so on and so forth. So, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to getting back to work."

On the Lakers' presentation to Howard:

"We had a plan. First, Dwight met with the business side — Time Warner, the Lakers’ foundation. I don’t know if I’m allowed to give all these details, but it was kind of a pitch for all his off-the-court potential. The second part was Mike [D'Antoni], Kobe [Bryant], myself, Mitch [Kupchak], Jim [Buss], and Tim Harris, the president, and we gave him more of the basketball pitch."

On what he said to Howard during the pitch:

"I just said, number one, that I’m really, really disappointed in the season, and I wanted another shot at it. And that we should come back and right the ship, so to speak. Hopefully I didn’t use so many clichés [Laughs.] And my second point to him was that, when you look back on the career, and you can say you played for the Lakers for eight or 10 years, that’s an incredible opportunity. If I were 27, in the prime of my career, there wouldn’t even be another consideration. It would be the number one place you could play."

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