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Pacific Notes: Rondo, Butler, Barnes, Ezeli

January 11th, 2016 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo has earned the complete trust of DeMarcus Cousins, which is no easy task, TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Rondo, who’s on a one-year, $9.5MM contract, is “the most unselfish player I’ve ever played with,” Cousins told Aldridge. Rondo said to Aldridge that he signed with the Kings in part to mentor the center, adding that he’s wanted to play with Cousins for the past four or five years. It’s all cast against the backdrop of a Sacramento team that’s just two games out of a playoff spot, and the presence of Caron Butler has had much to do with the team’s improvement, Rondo contends. The Kings reportedly promised to trade Butler last month, but he’s still with the team. See more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors assistant GM Kirk Lacob, the son of co-owner Joe Lacob, hinted at the team’s willingness to pay whatever it takes to re-sign Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli in restricted free agency this summer as he spoke in a recent radio appearance on 95.7 FM The Game’s “NBA This Week” show. Host Matt Steinmetz has the transcription. “Both those guys are a part of the core,” Lacob said in part. “Hopefully we’ll have this team for a number of years to come. If it costs a lot of money, it’s going to cost a lot of money. It probably will. A lot of our players have come up in free agency the last year or two and if they continue to perform we’re going to continue to pay them. We’re 34-2 [now 35-2], we’re trying to get a second championship here. There’s a lot of room for improvement of course, but there’s a lot of power to continuity.”
Numbers suggest that Julius Randle is on track to have a career similar to that of Drew Gooden, a sign that he’s not on the path to stardom the Lakers hoped for him, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in an Insider-only piece co-authored with Chad Ford. D’Angelo Russell is the only one among the Lakers’ young players who has a strong chance to become an above-average starter, Pelton contends.
The Lakers have recalled Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). They went down to the D-Fenders together on Friday. Black averaged 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in two D-League games this weekend, while Kelly posted averages of 26.0 points and 6.5 boards a night.

Warriors Notes: Rush, Barnes, Mitchell

December 11th, 2015 at 7:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite Harrison Barnes and the Warriors not coming to terms on an extension prior to the deadline, Andrew Bogut believes the forward will remain with the team for the long-term, and thinks that the franchise values keeping its core together, Sam Amick of USA Today relays. Discussing Barnes’ contract situation, Bogut told Amick, “Within our group, it hasn’t been a huge distraction. Obviously you want every player to get their max worth. A career is very short, and obviously you want to make it while you can. Harrison is going to be a very rich man regardless of what direction that all goes.”

“These situations [with this kind of collective group] don’t come up very often, so when they’re available you want to milk them for as long as you can,” Bogut continued. “I think our owners and our GM [Bob Myers] understand that, that if you can keep this team together for another four or five years you try everything in your power to do that, rather than trying to all of a sudden put on an ‘I’m smarter than everyone and we’re going to make this big move,’ when it’s really not needed…I don’t think Harrison is going to go anywhere. I think he’s just obviously going to lift his value a little bit more with the new [salary] cap and all that going in.”

Here’s more from Golden State:

Brandon Rush said he didn’t really feel a part of last season’s championship team, as he averaged only 8.2 minutes per game across 33 appearances, but his minutes are up this year and he’s one of several on the Warriors bench playing about as efficiently as they ever have, observes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Rush, who’s already made seven starts this season, is in the last season of his contract.
Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson says there’s no reason for him to be upset, even as the Warriors team he coached as recently as 2013/14 reaches new heights, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Still, he remains proud of what he accomplished. “I took over a job in Golden State with a bad culture, guys that said they wanted to win, but didn’t want to win,” Jackson said, according to Leung.
Tony Mitchell, who was with the Warriors during the preseason, has signed with the Venezuelan team Cocodrilos de Caracas, the club announced (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Mitchell was with the Pistons for a season and a half until a trade last December sent to the Suns, who waived him shortly thereafter.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Warriors Notes: Barnes, Green, Curry

December 6th, 2015 at 6:40pm CST by Will Joseph

With the salary cap’s expected rise, a maximum contract for Harrison Barnes could begin with a first year salary in the range of $22MM and there will be plenty of teams competing for his services based on his potential, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes. Barnes is set to be a restricted free agent this summer. Hamilton compares Barnes’ situation to that of Reggie Jackson, who was viewed as an expendable piece of the Thunder and then became a cornerstone for the Pistons, who re-signed him to a five-year, $80MM maximum contract. Hamilton’s point is that several teams will pay to find out just how good Barnes can be.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

There is no debating Stephen Curry‘s worth to Golden State, but Draymond Green has elevated the Warriors from a championship team to a potentially all-time great team, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group argues. Green is not a big-time scorer, but he is effective because of his wide-ranging his abilities, Thompson writes, and he is a key part of the team’s small-ball defensive philosophy. The Warriors re-signed Green to a five-year, $85MM deal in the summer and he has rewarded them by significantly improving his game, Thompson adds.
Curry’s offseason workout regimen with trainer Brandon Payne has paid dividends this season, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group details. Of course, Curry has long since moved past the ankle issues that influenced the negotiations when he inked a four-year $44MM extension in the fall of 2012. Curry has been able to produce better numbers this season with improved strength, balance and speed, Leung writes.

And-Ones: Kaminsky, Draft, Warriors

November 29th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Will Joseph

Hornets owner Michael Jordan liked the experience Frank Kaminsky received as a four-year player at Wisconsin and the team has been satisfied with the rookie’s progress so far, Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel relays.

“After summer league, you could see what he could become,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “Particularly on the defensive end, he’s made such great strides. I think Michael’s big point about him is that so much of the draft now are guys that are freshmen. Frankly, when you’re watching a lot of the college tape, the difficult challenge of the draft is they’re good players, but even on their college teams they’re the third or fourth-best guy.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

LSU freshman Ben Simmons, a point forward, who is listed at 6’10″ and 225 pounds, is already gaining traction as a favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. Simmons, who is projected to play small forward in the NBA, is averaging 16.2 points, 14.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.4 blocks through his first five games this season, as Kennedy notes.
Harrison Barnes will be out at least one week after spraining his left ankle, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group details. The Warriors determined Barnes did not suffer a fracture, Leung adds.
Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whom the Pistons exercised their team option on for the 2016/17 season last month, continues to earn major minutes because of his defensive ability, David Mayo of MLive.com writes.

Pacific Notes: Rondo, Stephenson, Barnes

November 29th, 2015 at 10:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Kings seem to have finally settled on a rotation and Rajon Rondo, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $9.5MM with Sacramento this offseason, is a major part of it, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. Rondo is averaging 40.6 minutes per game over his last 12, but the point guard isn’t concerned about his extended minutes. “The more you’re out there, the more of a rhythm you get in to. So I have no complaints,” Rondo said.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Lance Stephenson has seen his minutes fluctuate since becoming a Clipper, but 25-year-old is winning over his new teammates on and off the court, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) passes along. “I love Lance,” Blake Griffin said. “He has a great spirit and I think he wants to be great, he wants to help and wants to be a great teammate.”
Harrison Barnes sprained his left ankle during Friday’s win over the Suns and there is no timetable for his return, the Bay Area News Group reports. Interim coach Luke Walton provided insight on how the team will approach the forward’s recovery. “It’s all speculation. It could be a few weeks. It could be a week,” Walton said. “We’re not going to rush him back because we want to be healthy for later in the season and we don’t want lingering injures, so we’ll have him take his time.” Barnes will be a restricted free agent after the season.

Warriors Notes: Walton, Kerr, Iguodala, Myers

November 24th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Steve Kerr still isn’t coaching the Warriors, but he’s a consistent presence around the team, and GM Bob Myers tells USA Today’s Sam Amick he’s grateful that Kerr and interim coach Luke Walton work together as well as they do.

“We’re talking normally a couple times a day now,” Walton said to Amick about Kerr. “And if it’s a home game, we talk at halftime, we talk pregame, we talk at shootarounds. It’s getting more and more.”

The NBA record-tying 15-0 start officially goes on Kerr’s ledger, not Walton’s, but no one on the team is making that an issue, and Walton remains essentially “the same guy” he was when he wasn’t in charge, Stephen Curry said to Amick. See more on the Warriors before they go for an unprecedented 16th straight win to start the season tonight when they play the Lakers:

The Warriors have a collaborative front office, and that sensibility extends to the coaching staff as well, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com details. Assistant coach Jarron Collins credits Kerr. “If you have an idea and you’re in our organization, he wants to hear about it and he’s willing to listen,” Collins said to Berger. “Steve values input from everybody. When you’re in an environment like that, it makes for a very, very special environment and atmosphere to learn.”
Warriors players, cognizant that Harrison Barnes is headed to restricted free agency this summer, are intent on helping him as much as possible on the court, Andre Iguodala said in a recent postgame interview with Rosalyn Gold-Onwude of CSNBayArea (video link), as Dan Feldman of ProBasketballTalk transcribes.
Before he became Executive of the Year, Myers was an agent at Wasserman Media Group, where he made an impression on chairman and CEO Casey Wasserman, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in a profile of Myers. “He had impeccable relationships with the clients. More importantly, he became a friend and valuable part of the company,” Wasserman said. “His success he’s having now is no surprise to me or to anyone else who [has] worked with him.”

Warriors Notes: Barnes’ Free Agency, Going 16-0

November 21st, 2015 at 8:21pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Warriors have the best record in the league at 14-0 and they will attempt to tie the record for most wins to start a season when they take on the Nuggets on Sunday. Breaking that record is something the team has its eye on, Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post writes.

“It’s a goal that’s right here and now and it’s something that we want to experience,” Stephen Curry said. “It’d be a huge accomplishment [to set the record for best start] because doing something that hasn’t been done in the history of the league is special. You never know if this opportunity will come back again. There are so many variables that go into winning this many in a row, especially at the start of the season.”

Coming off a 67 win campaign, it seemed like it would be difficult to improve. Yet, the team is looking even better this season and Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examines what the team did over the summer to remain successful and put itself in position to start the season with a record of 16-0.

Here are a few notes out of Golden State:

Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News believes another team will present Harrison Barnes with an offer sheet that contains annual salaries of over $20MM and assuming the Warriors do not land Kevin Durant, they will match that kind of offer. Such a contract would make Barnes the highest paid player on the team.
Barnes’ teammates are aware of the forward’s impending free agency and it impacts the team’s play, Darius Soriano of Forumblueandgold.com relays on Twitter. “It’s a contract year for him & we’re going…to try [and] get him as much as possible,” Andre Iguodala said.

Western Notes: Chandler, World Peace, Durant

November 17th, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nuggets small forward Wilson Chandler underwent successful surgery today to repair a labral tear in his right hip, the team announced via a press release. Chandler initially suffered the injury during the preseason and he will be out for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign. Despite missing approximately 133 games since 2011 due to hip injuries, the veteran, who signed a four-year, $46.5MM renegotiation and extension with Denver back in July, recently told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post that he isn’t contemplating retirement.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Lakers have assigned small forward Anthony Brown the the L.A. D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This is the first trip of the season to the D-League for Brown, as our D-League assignments and recalls tracker shows. The rookie has appeared in three games for the Lakers this season, averaging 1.7 points in 3.0 minutes of action per contest.
By not signing Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli to rookie scale extensions prior to this season’s deadline, the Warriors have left open the possibility of swinging a sign-and-trade deal for Kevin Durant this offseason, Danny Leroux of the Sporting News posits. Leroux also runs down a number of other scenarios that could result in Golden State potentially trotting out one of the greatest offensive teams of all-time, though the scribe does note that Barnes and Ezeli, both of whom are eligible to become restricted free agents next summer, would have the right to decline any sign-and-trade agreement.
Lakers coach Byron Scott was worried that Metta World Peace‘s body wouldn’t hold up through training camp, but the 16th-year veteran who just turned 36 says he’s in better shape than when he was with the Lakers the first time, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. World Peace is seeing occasional starting assignments and 19.1 minutes per game. “You have to give him a lot of credit for somebody who was out of the league for a couple of years,” Scott said. “He worked as hard as he worked to get back into the league and be able to be a vital part of what we’re trying to do. It’s been great.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Russell, Barnes, Ezeli, World Peace

November 4th, 2015 at 10:03am CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers coach Byron Scott didn’t think Emmanuel Mudiay was a true point guard as the draft approached, and the coach questioned his decision-making, but Mudiay dismisses it as just “another human’s opinion,” writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Mudiay delivered 10 assists, albeit with six turnovers, in Denver’s win Tuesday over the Lakers, leading him to retort, “Thank you Byron Scott for saying I’m not a point guard,” tweets Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Mudiay played down the stretch of the close game while D’Angelo Russell, whom the Lakers took with the No. 2 overall pick instead of Mudiay, sat on the bench. That left Russell searching for answers, observes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

“I have no idea,” Russell said about how he can convince Scott he’s worthy of crunch-time minutes. “It’s just something I’ve got to deal with.”

Scott insists Russell will have his opportunities, though Russell wasn’t in the mood to compare himself to Mudiay, calling him “just another player,” as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register relays (Twitter links). See more on the Lakers amid the latest from the Pacific Division:

The Warriors failed to reach extensions with Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli before Monday’s deadline, but Barnes and Ezeli are fond of their surroundings and GM Bob Myers remains committed to finding a way to keep them, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. “We worked hard to get both [deals] done, but we weren’t able to,” Myers said to Spears. “We made a good effort. They looked hard at what we proposed. Ultimately, they decided to see what the market was in July, which is fine. We will work just as hard then to try to work something out.”
Metta World Peace, who’s on a non-guaranteed deal, has yet to appear in any games for the Lakers so far, but he’s OK with that, he tells Bresnahan. “It’s about looking at your surroundings, what you’re presented with, how you’re going to take that and become successful,” World Peace said. “How can I help the organization? How can I help myself? How can I help the guys? I’m just locked in. I’m focused on improving and winning. The minute you focus on something else, it’s a problem.”
Caron Butler has averaged 12 minutes per game in three appearances for the Kings so far, but like World Peace on the Lakers, Butler’s offseason signing was in large measure for his experience and locker room presence, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee examines.

Warriors, Festus Ezeli Break Off Extension Talks

November 2nd, 2015 at 1:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

NOVEMBER 2ND, 1:46pm: Ezeli won’t be signing an extension, the team says, according to Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

2:33pm: Myers told reporters today that negotiations with Ezeli continue, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, which runs directly counter to the idea that they haven’t engaged in talks.

OCTOBER 27TH, 1:17pm: The Warriors and Festus Ezeli haven’t had extension talks and he is expected to hit restricted free agency next summer, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). As with Harrison Barnes, who is also unlikely to sign an extension, the deadline to do so is November 2nd.

Ezeli, who turned 26 last week, was a somewhat surprising extension candidate when GM Bob Myers expressed interest in doing a deal, given the limited playing time he’s seen over the past three seasons, though Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group speculated that the center might end up with a deal worth $9-11MM annually. The former 30th overall pick expressed strong sentiment toward staying with Golden State as camps began a month ago. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told Kawakami recently that it would be OK with him if Ezeli and Barnes hit restricted free agency next summer, though Lacob indicated a preference that the team reach extensions with both.

The 6’11” Ezeli returned last season after missing all of 2013/14 with injury, though he still managed only 11.0 minutes per game in 46 appearances. He started 41 games for Golden State as a rookie but still saw just 14.4 minutes per game that season. I looked in depth over the summer at the extension prospects for the Bill Duffy client, concluding that a back-loaded deal with salaries between $8MM and $10MM made the most sense. He’ll have a chance to gauge his value around the league this coming July, though the Warriors can match all competing bids if they tender a qualifying offer of about $3.013MM.

Golden State has a history of signing key players to extensions, having done so with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Bogut. Ezeli has yet to perform to their level, however.