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Heat Rumors: Whiteside, McRoberts, Green, Bosh

March 27th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat have decided they want to keep impending free agent center Hassan Whiteside but are concerned that he’s getting more expensive, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. There were “serious concerns” earlier in the year about giving a huge deal to Whiteside, Jackson hears, but his recent play has taken care of those. Team president Pat Riley and executive Alonzo Mourning have both told Whiteside they’re happy with his progress, but the team can’t hold any formal contract discussions until summer because league rules prevent extensions for players with two-year deals. Whiteside could get a starting salary of approximately $22MM on a max contract, depending on the size of the cap. “I hope [there’s interest],” Whiteside said. “I like the organization. Pat Riley is always going to do a great job of adding people that are going to help you win. It’s not hard to sell to come to Miami. You can always recruit great talent.”

There’s more news from South Beach:

Miami’s decision on how to handle its two open roster spots could be determined by the team’s faith in Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The columnist says if the Heat believe both veteran forwards can contribute in the playoffs, they will likely fill the spots with players from their successful D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. However, if there is doubt about McRoberts and Green, Winderman thinks the Heat will pursue a more seasoned player, suggesting 30-year-old Dorell Wright as a possibility. Wright, who began his career in Miami, played for the Blazers during the past two seasons but spent this year in the Chinese Basketball Association.
With the regular season schedule dwindling, it’s becoming unlikely that Chris Bosh will play again before the playoffs, Winderman writes in the same story. Bosh hasn’t been in a game since February 9th because of concerns about reported blood clots in his left calf. With a western trip looming this week, Winderman notes that the team may not hold another practice before April 4th, which limits Bosh’s chance to return.
Joe Johnson has started riding an exercise bike after games to help build endurance to keep up with Miami’s fast-paced offense, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Johnson chose the Heat over the Cavaliers after agreeing to a buyout with Brooklyn because he prefers an up-tempo style.

Eastern Notes: Johnson, Frye, Noah, Brown

March 18th, 2016 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat’s up-tempo offense was enough to convince Joe Johnson to choose Miami over Cleveland, according to Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. When he was hired to replace David Blatt, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue announced that he wanted to speed things up, but Johnson apparently preferred the fast-paced approach already established in Miami. “Style of play was probably the biggest difference,” Johnson said. “[The Heat] told me they wanted to get up and down the floor and run, and I mean it enticed me. I thought it was the best fit.” The Cavs will face Johnson on Saturday night for the first time since he made his decision.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Channing Frye‘s former coach in Orlando believes he will be a valuable asset for the Cavaliers in the postseason, Lloyd adds in the same piece. “When he’s on the floor, they’re looking for him,” Scott Skiles said. “So much attention is on other players, and that’s Channing’s game. He just kind of finds spots, and when he gets his feet set, he’s as good of a big man shooter as there is.” Cleveland picked up Frye from the Magic last month in a deal at the trade deadline.
The Bulls‘ Joakim Noah is unlikely to play again this season, but he tells K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune that his focus is on getting healthy, not his upcoming free agency. Noah had surgery on his separated left shoulder on January 19th, with a projected recovery time of four to six months. “It’s not about free agency right now,” the veteran center said. “People can say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t think about it.’ You’re always going to think about it. But out of respect for my teammates who are going through the grind, which I know very well, I’m trying to stay focused on what they’re going through.”
The NCAA Tournament gives Sixers coach Brett Brown a chance to look toward the future and provides a nice distraction from his 9-59 team, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Watching all of the games and the spirit of the tournament and the excitement of trying to figure out who we might draft comes into play, but mostly I just love the time of year,” Brown said.
The Bucks sent guard Rashad Vaughn to Canton of the D-League, the team announced today. He averaged 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 61 games with Milwaukee.

Southeast Notes: Hardaway Jr., Johnson, Magic

March 16th, 2016 at 10:01am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks‘ patience with Tim Hardaway Jr. is beginning to pay off, with the player finally rounding into shape after a wrist injury he suffered last season derailed his offseason program, David Aldridge of NBA.com writes. The swingman’s progress is due to the team being more concerned about getting him healthy than getting him on the court early in order to justify sacrificing a 2015 first-rounder in order to acquire him, Aldridge adds. Hardaway admitted it was difficult for him when told he wasn’t going to begin the season in the rotation, but coach/executive Mike Budenholzer‘s willingness to communicate assuaged any doubts he may have had, the scribe relays.

“I knew what was at stake,” Hardaway said. “I know what coach wanted me to do. When the coaches are able to talk to the players one on one, it makes life a lot easier, just to know what they want out of that player. It was great to have coach Bud just talk to me one on one, consistently, and not have me worry about it. He hears the positives I’m doing. And that helped me out tremendously.”

Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:

The Heat are hoping the addition of Joe Johnson and their newfound offensive versatility will allow them to be a factor in the playoffs, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “I think we’re an unpredictable team as far as who’s going to score the basketball,” Johnson said. “We’re not predictable in who’s going to have a big night. We’ve got a lot of guys that are very versatile, who make plays offensively and defensively. So I think it takes pressure off of everybody.” Miami has a 6-2 mark since signing Johnson, who agreed to a buyout with the Nets in order to join a playoff contender, Winderman notes.
The Magic are a long shot to make the playoffs this season, with coach Scott Skiles pointing to the team’s lack of consistency throughout the campaign as a major contributing factor to its woes, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel relays. “My ego would be crazy big if I thought it was having an effect right now,” Skiles said regarding his rallying cry for the team to make a postseason push. “We just came out and laid an egg. The rallying cry’s been the rallying cry. But you’re not eliminated ’til you’re mathematically eliminated. That’s just the way it goes. But the fact that we haven’t been able to consistently do the things that we need to do is not a good sign. But at any point we could do them. We just haven’t gotten it done.” Orlando is currently 4.5 games behind Chicago for the eighth and final playoff slot in the East.

Eastern Notes: Jefferson, LeBron, Covington

March 9th, 2016 at 8:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LeBron James informed team management that he was willing to switch to power forward if it helped the Cavaliers land Joe Johnson after he agreed to a buyout with the Nets and became a free agent, Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. James confirmed that he made the offer, telling Haynes, “All I care about is winning. That’s all that matters to me. A piece like Joe, you know what it does to your team and if he was concerned about playing time or concerned about starting, then I’ll sacrifice. I’ll sacrifice to get a guy like that to help us try to win a championship.” The 31-year-old hasn’t been too keen on the idea in the past and wanted to avoid the nightly pounding that goes along with playing the four spot, Haynes notes. But the chance to add a player of Johnson’s caliber trumped any of his concerns, Haynes adds.

When asked if he would have considered such a move earlier in his career, James was non-committal, Haynes relays. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I can’t answer that, but I know I’ll do it now,” James told the scribe. “I mean, you’re trying to make a push. We’re in March. You get a guy like Joe Johnson, you get a guy that can change your team for the better. I wouldn’t have a problem with [moving to the four]. If he wanted to come in and start and we wanted to keep J.R. Smith in the starting lineup and if Double-T [Tristan Thompson] or Mozzy (Timofey Mozgov) had to come off the bench in order for Joe to start and slide Kevin Love to the five, I would have done it.”

Here’s the latest out of the East:

Hornets big man Al Jefferson has no issues with coming off the bench as he continues to make his way back from knee surgery, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer relays. “I’ve been telling people all week I kind of like coming off the bench,” Jefferson said. “You kind of see how the game is going and you get to play against the backup center most of the time. You kind of know what you need to do or what you shouldn’t do, and I kind of like it. If coach wants me back in the starting lineup, I’d be fine with that. But off the bench, I’m fine with that right now, getting myself in better shape.” The 31-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, so his willingness to adapt to a new role is certainly a positive sign for the team if it wishes to re-sign the center.
Robert Covington is one of GM Sam Hinkie‘s best finds during his tenure with the team, but the Sixers need to add more offensive firepower via the draft and free agency so coach Brett Brown can utilize the combo forward as a role player rather than a starter, something he is better suited to for the long-term, Jake Hyman of RealGM opines.

Cavs Notes: Shumpert, Johnson, Lue

March 7th, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers privately deny that they were making Iman Shumpert available in trade talk before the deadline last month, but some in the organization think he might be doing too much to justify the four-year, $40MM contract he signed last summer, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The fifth-year swingman is averaging career lows in points and field goal percentage since returning in December from a preseason wrist injury, and he often turns the ball over when he tries to drive to the hoop, Lloyd writes.

“His biggest thing for us is defending the best player every single night,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “His shot is going to come and go. Some games, he’s going to get six or seven shots, some games he gets two shots. I’m not really worried about his shots and his scoring. He just has to step up and shoot them with confidence. But for the most part, for Shump and for us, his value is every single night guarding the best player, which he’s done a great job of.”

See more on the Eastern Conference leaders:

Some Cavs players were convinced that Joe Johnson would sign with the team and were already talking about the sort of lineup they could play with him on the roster, Lloyd writes in a separate piece. Johnson instead signed with the Heat after earlier reports that he envisioned joining the Cavs.
Tremendous weight is on Lue’s shoulders as he navigates his first NBA head coaching job and deals with immediate expectations of a title, but he’s keeping perspective, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com examines. “I want to win and I know I’m supposed to win, but I think the biggest thing for me is I have to do the best job I can do, but then also enjoy it,” Lue said. “I just can’t put the pressure on of winning a championship, winning a championship, because then I’d never be able to sleep.”
The “word is” the Cavs signed Sasha Kaun last summer to give since-deposed coach David Blatt an ally in the locker room, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Haynes reported last week that Cavs players were angry that the team decided against re-signing Kendrick Perkins to instead do the deal with Kaun. Perkins played the role of enforcer for Cleveland last season, and LeBron James and Kyrie Irving say having someone to fill that gritty capacity is vital, Haynes notes. Still, it’s “laughable” to suggest that Cavs players don’t think they have enough to win the championship as is, McMenamin opines.

Heat Notes: Johnson, Whiteside, Deng

March 6th, 2016 at 2:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Joe Johnson has enjoyed success since coming to the Heat and he cites Erik Spoelstra‘s offense as a factor for choosing to come to Miami, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post writes. “I did my research, and [Dwyane] Wade and those guys were telling me the type of tempo they wanted to run,” Johnson said. “That was an attraction to me.”

Here’s more from Miami:

Hassan Whiteside had a 90-minute meeting with Spoelstra during the All-Star break, and it further solidified his relationship with his coach, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. “We have an understanding of each other,” Whiteside said. “We talked for so long. Me and coach Spo, we worked our way up to get here. Spo is my guy.”
Teammates have noticed a difference in Whiteside’s attitude since the All-Star break, Jackson adds in the same piece. “[Whiteside is] more focused,” Goran Dragic said. “He’s just happy. He’s found that last step he needs in his game.” Whiteside will be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason.
Luol Deng, who will also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, has impressed since the Heat moved him to the four in the starting lineup, and he acknowledged that he will probably play more at the power forward position as he continues his career, Jackson writes in the same piece. Jackson envisions a big man rotation of Whiteside, Chris Bosh and Deng next season, but he admits that there may not be enough cap space to keep both Whiteside and Deng on the roster.

Heat Rumors: Whiteside, Ennis, Stokes, Dragic

March 5th, 2016 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hassan Whiteside may face a choice this summer between money and winning, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat center figures to get a maximum offer from someone, especially with the rising salary cap, but it may not be Miami. Winderman notes the Heat are accustomed to getting hometown discounts from players who want to be part of the franchise tradition and like the idea of being in South Florida. Whiteside said it may be tempting to be the star of another team, but that won’t affect his decision when free agency arrives. “I feel like a lot of people want to be that,” he said. “But I want to win more than anything. I don’t really want to be the face of a losing franchise. You want to be a face of a winning program. And it’s always easier to get people to come to Miami.”

There’s more news out of Miami:

James Ennis and Jarnell Stokes are on the open market, but league rules keep them off-limits to Miami, Winderman writes in the same piece. Teams are prohibited from reacquiring players that they’ve traded away for a full calendar year or the time their contracts would have expired. The Heat traded Ennis to Memphis on November 10th and dealt Stokes to New Orleans on February 18th. Both are now free agents. Ennis and Stokes can play with the Heat’s summer league team, but neither can sign with Miami until the anniversaries of their respective trades. Stokes is currently with Miami’s D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
A year after being traded to Miami, point guard Goran Dragic is playing at a more comfortable pace, Winderman writes in a separate story. Coach Erik Spoelstra changed the team’s philosophy after the All-Star break, telling players to run up court and start the offense more quickly. That benefits Dragic, who has always preferred an up-tempo approach. “He’s feeling more comfortable with organization, with the team, with his teammates, the style of play, when to attack,” Spoelstra said. “He’s gaining confidence because he knows his teammates want him to be aggressive.”
Joe Johnson was immediately impressed with the way his new teammates play defense, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “It’s great they’re defensive minded,” said Johnson, who signed with Miami a week ago. “You don’t see that in young ages. They know and understand to be on the court, they’ve got to make an impact somewhere.”

Southeast Notes: Beal, Jennings, Johnson

March 4th, 2016 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal says he has no issues coming off the bench for the team and understands it is a way for coach Randy Wittman to manage his minutes and not a demotion, Spencer Davies of AmicoHoops.net relays. “I mean it’s not like it’s a punishment,” Beal said. “I think guys are taking it as the wrong way as [Wittman] benching me or something like that. It’s just his way of following my minute restriction. It’s the safest way, smartest way for me to be in down the stretch. I don’t look at it as anything other than that.” A minutes restriction was imposed on the pending restricted free agent after doctors discovered what was termed “the beginnings of a stress reaction in his lower right fibula” in December.

Here’s the latest from the Southeast Division:

The Heat never asked small forward Joe Johnson to wait until March 8th to sign with the team, as he told Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Waiting until that date, or March 6th at the earliest, would have allowed Miami not to have to rely on Beno Udrih agreeing to a buyout in order to add Johnson in a tax-free scenario, Jackson notes. Miami wanted Johnson available immediately, and Udrih’s agreement to relinquish $90K of his $2,170,465 salary allowed Johnson to be available for five additional contests, the Herald scribe notes.
Brandon Jennings has struggled to find his game since the Magic acquired him, and coach Scott Skiles concedes it will take time, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “I think he’s still adjusting a little bit to the guys,” Skiles said. “It’s difficult to be traded midseason, anyway. But it’s more difficult if you’re a point guard, I think — [that’s] just my personal opinion — because you’re asked to come in and run a team that you don’t even know. You’re not even familiar with the players that much. We’ll keep putting him out there and try to get him minutes and try to get him to feel a little bit more comfortable.“
The Hawks have recalled center Edy Tavares from the Suns D-League affiliate, where he had been sent as part of the flexible assignment rule, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. Swingman Lamar Patterson remains on assignment to the Canton Charge, the Cavs affiliate, Vivlamore notes.

And-Ones: Oden, Sampson, Lee

March 1st, 2016 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavs power forward David Lee struggled to get into shape this season following the Warriors‘ NBA title run of last season and turned some heads when he said that he finally committed himself to getting fit when he fell out of the Celtics‘ rotation in preparation for joining another team, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. Despite the negative implications of Lee’s remarks, Boston coach Brad Stevens isn’t upset with his former player, Forsberg notes. “I don’t know if that is semantics or how he meant to say it,” Stevens said. “I think the biggest thing that he was probably saying there was that, when you’re not playing, you have to find other ways to stay ready. And maybe I’m wrong. But I think that he certainly took [to his] diet, he worked out hard — he worked out hard enough that if he would have played, he would have been gassed in the games. Sometimes you can’t do that if you’re going to be playing 15 minutes per night. He was going two or three times hard per day during that stretch. So, no, I wasn’t frustrated by it. In fact it set a pretty good example for the other guys that weren’t playing.”

Stevens also acknowledged the difficult spot Lee was placed in with him not being in the team’s regular rotation, Forberg writes. “That was hard. That was really hard. And it was harder on [Lee] than anybody else, but we talked about it a lot,” Stevens said. “We didn’t have hardly any injuries with our bigs and we had a lot of bigs that, especially at the end of games, were going to be relatively the same position. And so it put a lot of guys on the bench. And it was different guys at different times. To his credit, when we eventually settled on playing others, he handled it really well. Kudos to him. I’m happy he’s doing well.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Former NBA top pick Greg Oden was released by the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association recently, but he appreciates the opportunity that the club gave him, Joshua Bateman of USA Today writes. “It was a great opportunity for me to come and just play basketball, which I haven’t been able to do for awhile,” Oden said. “They got me playing. For me, that’s all I can say. I’ve had a lot of years where I actually just couldn’t play and this year I’m actually able to be out there on the court and play 25 minutes when I never thought I would see over 20 minutes in a game. And I’m playing three games a week. For me, that’s just something I didn’t even think I would ever be able to do.”
Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) has released his latest mock draft and his current top three players are Ben Simmons of LSU, Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Croatian big man Dragan Bender.
JaKarr Sampson‘s contract with the Nuggets doesn’t contain any guaranteed salary beyond this season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link), resolving earlier reports that conflicted. It’s a two-year pact for the minimum salary.
Joe Johnson gave back exactly $3MM in his buyout from the Nets, reports Pincus relays (Twitter link).
Kris Humphries agreed to forfeit precisely $1MM as part of his buyout with the Suns, Pincus also notes (Twitter links)

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Marks, Johnson, Novak

March 1st, 2016 at 8:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

New Nets GM Sean Marks reiterated the need for patience as he attempts to rebuild the franchise, noting the hasty approach is what led the team to its current state, NetsDaily relays. “It may be a little bit different from what we’ve done in the past here in Brooklyn,” Marks said in a video on the team’s website. “I have some empathy for the way they went about it in the past and said, look, ‘He’s committed to winning. He’s gone about it with a willingness to spend money and so forth.’ I’m not saying it’s the wrong way, but it didn’t work! So maybe this time, we’ll go about it in a little bit of a different way. We won’t skip any steps along the way.”

“Mr. [Mikhail] Prokhorov is committed to doing that and that’s what sold me in the interview. When he said, ‘Look, I want to win. I want to put this behind me. You make some of these decisions and you tell me what’s best.’ We talked about the process,” Marks continued. “We talked about this not being, look, in two weeks we’re not going to have a totally revamped organization. It’s going to take time. Its about bringing in the right people at the right time.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Joe Johnson is now a member of the Heat and back in the playoff hunt after signing with Miami, but despite the difficulties that the Nets endured the past few seasons, he still had good things to say about the organization as a whole, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. “Obviously we had some ups and downs, but I think the good outweighed the bad for me,” Johnson said of his time with the Nets. “I think the changing of the GM and coach, it’s pretty tough but not really. I’ve been through quite a few coaches in my career in Brooklyn, so it was kind of second nature for me. But just losing, us playing hard and losing was probably the toughest part for me.”
Steve Novak‘s deal with the Bucks is a minimum salary affair that runs just through the rest of the season, so Milwaukee retains a prorated portion of its room exception, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Hawks have assigned Lamar Patterson to the NBA D-League, the team announced via press release. Patterson will report to the Canton Charge, the Cavs‘ affiliate, pursuant to the league’s flexible assignment rule.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.