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Eastern Notes: Monroe, Mahinmi, Spoelstra

October 28th, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite meeting with the Knicks first during the free agent signing period this offseason, Greg Monroe dispelled the notion that New York was ever the frontrunner for his services, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “That was just the way it was scheduled,” Monroe said. “There was nothing extra. I wasn’t the only player teams were meeting with and that’s just how it fell in place.” David Falk, Monroe’s agent, regarding why his client chose the Bucks over the Knicks, told Bondy, “It wasn’t about presentation or marketing, It was about what Milwaukee already brought to the table.”

“The interest was definitely there [with the Knicks],” Monroe told the Daily News scribe. “I took an interest in everybody that was willing to meet with me. I don’t like to take anybody’s time for granted. I definitely didn’t take their time for granted. I made a decision based on the things that I was looking for and I wanted. At this point, I’d rather not [talk about it]. It doesn’t matter anymore. Any questions anybody has, I could honestly not care less. I’m happy with where I’m at. I definitely feel like I made the right decision.”

Here’s more from out of the Eastern Conference:

  • Ian Mahinmi, entering the final season of his contract and with the Pacers starting center job now his, worked tirelessly over the summer on his offensive game, particularly his shooting touch, as Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star examines.
  • Celtics coach Brad Stevens has been the exception to the rule for college coaches coming to the NBA, as most of them have struggled, so Billy Donovan of the Thunder and Fred Hoiberg of the Bulls face a challenge to defy history, as Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune examines.
  • Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is the second longest tenured coach in the NBA behind Gregg Popovich, yet he enters this season needing to prove himself all over again now that the team has overhauled its roster and is in need of a new identity, Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald writes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Southeast Notes: Hawks, Crawford, Heat, Hornets

February 7th, 2015 at 4:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Hawks have taken the league by storm this season and they can thank the Spurs for giving them the blueprint for success, writes Paul Newberry of the Associated Press. Atlanta, like San Antonio, created a team-first atmosphere in which ball movement is one of the major focuses. Point guard Jeff Teague has bought into the team’s philosophy. “I’m enjoying every minute of it,” said Teague. “We’re so unselfish. We don’t care about glory or accolades. It’s just a joy to play on a team like that.” The Hawks have won 35 out of their last 38 games and own a record of 42-9, which is the best in the entire league.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Heat are struggling on offense this season but the team continues to pass on adding proven scorers, like Jordan Crawford, to the roster, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Crawford, who averaged 12.2 points per game during his time in the NBA, would give the team a much needed scoring option off the bench, but concerns about the 26-year-old’s maturity have turned Miami away. The Heat are scoring 92.4 point per game this season, which is second worst in the league.
  • Although the Heat have lost five out of their last six games and own a record of 21-29, which is good for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, the team remains committed to making the postseason, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. “Everybody can see the potential of our young group, and they’re getting great opportunities to play, for something, for the playoffs, with our veteran core,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. If Miami finds itself outside the playoff picture, the team has motivation to lose more games because its first-round draft pick will go to the Sixers if it doesn’t fall within the top 10.  The Heat have the 12th worst record in the league, as our reverse order standings show, making it unlikely that they keep their pick if they remain in this position at the end of the season.
  • The Hornets continue to push for a playoff berth and veteran Jason Maxiell has been key to the team’s success during Kemba Walker‘s absence, writes Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer. Maxiell signed with Charlotte for the veteran’s minimum about a month before the start of the season and the 32-year-old has served as a mentor for the 10th youngest team in the league. The Hornets are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22-27.
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Eastern Notes: Napier, Dellavedova, Sixers

November 5th, 2014 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers are keeping their eyes open for another big man to sign, Tom Moore of Calkins Media reports (Twitter link), though, according to Moore, no move is imminent. Philadelphia currently has 15 players on its roster so someone would need to be waived or dealt before another big could be added. The top bigs available currently are Dante Cunningham, Rashard Lewis, Ivan Johnson, Jeff Adrien, and Bernard James. With the Sixers in full-on rebuild mode, they may look to the D-League for a player with upside rather than a veteran, though that is just my speculation.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The trade for Shabazz Napier on draft night has worked out very well for the Heat so far, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. While Napier is only averaging 5.0 PPG and 3.0 APG, he’s been the point guard on the floor for Miami during crunch time, which is a strong indicator of his standing on the team, notes Winderman. “The thing about that is that whatever opportunity I get, I’m going to try my best, and I expect a lot from myself no matter what,” Napier said. “And I’m fortunate enough that Coach puts me in the fourth quarter. So I’m going to do whatever I can possible do.“
  • Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t thrilled with the new experimental rules that are to be tested in the D-League, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Spoelstra isn’t a fan of all the play stoppages the league currently has, and said, “I don’t think any of that stuff matters until we figure out what’s going on with replays. Replays are what’s extending the games 20, 30 minutes each game.” One of the new rules being tested are coaches challenges which would serve to increase the amount of time officials spend looking at replays during games.
  • The Bucks have fired Skip Robinson, longtime VP of player development, Gerry Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times reports (Twitter link). The reason for Robinson being dismissed is unknown at this time, Woelfel adds.
  • Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova has been diagnosed with a grade two MCL sprain and is expected to miss up to six weeks, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. In three games Dellavedova is averaging 2.7 points, 1 rebound and 2.3 assists. Cleveland recently waived A.J. Price and signed Will Cherry, who will most likely see increased minutes with Dellavedova out for an extended period.
  • Former Celtic Leon Powe has been observing Boston’s practices and meetings with an eye on a potential move to a front office position in the future, Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News reports (Twitter link).
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Eastern Rumors: Bynum, Irving, LeBron

October 30th, 2013 at 5:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Andrew Bynum didn’t play in the preseason, but it looks like he might get in the Cavaliers‘ season opener tonight. It would be his first action since the spring of 2012 and his initial step toward convincing the team to fully guarantee his $12.25MM salary. Only $6MM of Bynum’s two-year, $24.79MM contract is guaranteed, so he has much riding on his ability to return to health and productive play this season. Here’s more on the Cavs and a few of their Eastern Conference rivals:

  • Owner Dan Gilbert is confident the Cavs have built an environment conducive to enticing Kyrie Irving to stay with Cleveland for the long term, and Gilbert is encouraged by the youth of the team’s core, observes Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal.
  • LeBron James has become close with Erik Spoelstra, who dared to drive the superstar hard, and Spoelstra’s presence in Miami means James is best advised to remain with the Heat, too, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports argues. Spoelstra’s new extension runs four years, Wojnarowski reveals.
  • Bulls camp cut Patrick Christopher is headed to the team’s D-League affiliate after turning down offers to play overseas, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link).
  • Knicks GM Steve Mills is OK with the expectations that stem from owner James Dolan’s belief that the team has enough talent to win a title this year, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. “You always feel pressure in an environment like this but it’s a good pressure,” Mills said.
  • Mills also responded to a question about Chris Smith‘s place on the Knicks roster by passing along that Dolan wants the team to carry young players it can develop this year, Begley adds (Twitter link).
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Erik Spoelstra Signs Extension With Heat

September 29th, 2013 at 12:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:28pm: Spoelstra has signed the extension, a source tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).

9:00am: The Heat are close to ensuring coach Erik Spoelstra doesn't hit the open market next summer, as they're putting the finishing touches on a multiyear contract extension for the two-time champion bench boss, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Officials from several franchises have suggested to Wojnarowski that they would make a run at the Creative Artists Agency client if he were to become a free agent, so it appears the Heat are averting a bidding war.

Spoelstra's deal had been set to expire at the end of the 2013/14, which will be his sixth as head coach of the Heat. He took over a team that went 15-67 in Pat Riley's final season on the bench and, helped by Dwyane Wade's recovery from injury, guided it to a 43-39 record and a playoff berth. The Heat have finished with a record of better than .500 every year since Spoelstra took over as coach for the team he originally joined as video coordinator in 1995.

The extension will likely be announced before the Heat begin training camp this week. It'll be the second major management-related move for the team in the past few days, after Andy Elisburg's promotion to GM yesterday. In addition, Juwan Howard is joining Spoelstra's staff as an assistant coach.

Read more

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Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Jack, Bayless, Hollins

May 23rd, 2013 at 6:26pm CST by Ryan Raroque

In an article he released yesterday, Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram cited that two point guards who interest the Mavericks include Jarrett Jack and the Grizzlies' Jerryd Bayless. The source also said that after the Clippers released Vinny Del Negro, the feeling in Mavs camp is that Chris Paul would likely stay in Los Angeles considering he'd be given significant control over the next coaching hire. With that being said, Dwight Howard continues to be the team's top priority. Here are few more miscellaneous notes from around the league:

  • Though the future of Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins still remains uncertain, the impending free agent coach says that he's not worried about an extension or heading elsewhere and is currently focused on the playoffs, "I have a job…I'm happy with where we are and excited about what we're doing. That's my only concern. Everything else is irrelevant" (Teresa M. Walker of NBA.com). 
  • Erik Spoelstra was pleased about James Jones' decision to not opt out at the end of this year and thus return to the Heat next season, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link). Spoelstra: "It's great news…J.J. is a Miami Heat guy. (He and Udonis Haslem), they're special. All of our guys are special in this organization, but they're Miami-bred guys. They're Miami true and blue."
  • Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweeted that Jeff Hornacek interviewed with the Bobcats today and that Steve Clifford is headed for his next interview with the Suns, respectively. 
  • If there's any coach that isn't confident about his team making significant improvements next season, it's definitely not Wizards head coach Randy Wittman, who told CSN Washington: "It doesn't matter with the No. 3 pick. If we could stay healthy and come together as we did last year, have a full season right from the start, we should put ourselves in that (playoff) position…It doesn't matter if we pick eighth, third or 30th" (J. Michael of CSN Washington).
  • Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside sheds some light on Mike Singletary (not to be confused with the current NFL assistant coach), who has been making waves for his standout play overseas. The 6'6 swingman, who recently won the NBDL title with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, has been playing for Barako Bull Energy Cola – a PBA team currently participating in a tournament in Dubai. With his solid production in the D-League (10.1 PPG and 4.9 RPG along with 41% shooting from long range in 49 games) and his experience with competitive international play, Schlosser thinks that the next step would involve an NBA summer league invite and is curious to see what kind of opportunities Singletary could find heading up to the start of NBA training camp in the fall. 
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Pat Riley On Big Three, Andersen, Spoelstra

April 19th, 2013 at 6:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Heat president Pat Riley held court with the media today for the first time since July, and offered insight on how the 66-win Heat were built, as well as a few hints about his plan to keep the defending champs together. Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com all provide detail. We'll round it up here:

  • Riley suggested the team may need a new, high-dollar local television contract to absorb the tax hit necessary to keep LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together beyond 2014, when they can all opt out and become free agents. A report last summer suggested the team was in talks with Fox Sports about a deal that would pay them $80MM-$100MM per season, but both the team and Fox denied it. 
  • Riley thinks keeping the team together is "doable" and said the front office has already begun to craft its plan for doing so, but said it's ultimately up to Micky Arison to decide how much he wants to shell out.
  • Coach Erik Spoelstra was the driving force behind the team's midseason acquisition of Chris Andersen. "If I got another text from (Spoelstra) about getting Chris Andersen, I was going to put my hands around his neck," Riley quipped.
  • Riley declined comment on Spoelstra's contract, which runs out after next season.
  • The team believes Wade can handle point guard duties in case Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole goes down, and that's why they didn't seek more depth at the position this season.
  • It doesn't seem as though the Heat will fully embrace analytics anytime soon, as Riley said proponents of advance metrics "make me squeamy a little bit," Haberstroh tweets.
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Odds & Ends: Aldridge, George, Oden, Knicks

February 16th, 2013 at 11:15pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Saturday evening:

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Spoelstra On Juwan, Injuries, Cole

September 27th, 2012 at 4:40pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Erik Spoelstra has had a busy summer, consulting with former NBA coach Paul Westhead about his perspective on fast break offenses in addition to meeting with Florida Gators head coach Billy Donavan to talk about the pressures associated with aiming to repeat as national champions (Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes). Now on the cusp of training camp, Spoelstra opened up on a few notable topics regarding the Heat: 

  • Juwan Howard will not be a member of the team's training camp, but could eventually join the team down the line.
  • Dwyane Wade has been recovering from an arthroscopic surgery procedure in July, but is expected to be ready for the season opener on October 30. Spoelstra added Wade is "not 100 percent" and that he will be brought along slowly as training camp begins.  Ray Allen has been recovering from offseason ankle surgery in July, and while Spoelstra says that the sharpshooter isn't 100 percent healthy either, it's not noticeable. Mike Miller is well enough to take part in all the training camp drills, but will be limited at times as a precaution. Lastly, Jarvis Varnardo is dealing with a strained hamstring that will sideline him heading into camp.
  • Norris Cole appears to be doing well after experiencing some issues with his groin recently, and has had a strong summer considering the team's goal of improving his playmaking and shooting.  
  • Dexter Pittman has had a productive offseason and will be in the best condition he's been in going into a training camp. 
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Heat Notes: Wade, Spoelstra, Allen, Point Guards

September 4th, 2012 at 5:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

One of the reasons the Ray Allen signing was such a coup for the Heat is concern about Dwyane Wade's left knee, which required arthroscopic surgery July 9th and forced him out of the Olympics. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel rounded up Wade's comments about his recovery as he makes the rounds to promote his book, "A Father First: How my life became bigger than basketball." Winderman also has a few more tidbits from the defending champs today, and we'll pass them along here:

  • Wade was optimistic during his appearance on "The View," saying, "I'm doing great. I'm ahead of schedule. The knee's OK, so I'm ahead of schedule," as Winderman notes. Wade was more cautious in his remarks to a Houston radio station, and indicated it could be a while before he's 100%. "That's my goal, to be full strength," Wade said. "Obviously, coming off surgery, even in the beginning of the year, [the goal is] to continue to work your way into things and hopeful hit your stride some point midseason, where you feel your best." 
  • Coach Erik Spoelstra, who turned up the tempo last season, spoke on WQAM's Jorge Sedano Show today and said he'll try to get the team to play even faster this year, as Winderman notes. Spoelstra also shared his excitement about adding Allen to the mix. "He's a Hall of Fame-type catch-and-shoot player," the coach said. "We haven't had that element before in our offense. So it's been a lot of fun, trying to X-and-O and come up with new ways to get him open. I don't want to overthink it. I don't want to totally change what we do, but that's a great element to have, that type of weapon."
  • In the same interview, Spoelstra also gave his take on the moves that the Lakers and other teams took to try to knock the Heat from the top of the mountain. "We knew this would be a big summer, one way or another, that there were a lot of teams out there with money, that had an opportunity to make big moves, and some teams did, some teams did improve," Spoelstra said. "The Lakers certainly did, and that's going to make it all the more fun."
  • A third point guard would provide insurance in case either Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole misses any time this season, but the Heat seem willing to experiment with Terrel Harris in that role if the need arises, Winderman says in his mailbag column. Harris remains unsigned, but he's in talks with the Heat about a return.
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