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Western Notes: Russell, Karl, D-League

January 21st, 2016 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell has been compared to Kings playmaker Rajon Rondo, which suits the rookie just fine, Abbey Mastracco of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “That edge about him,” Russell said of Rondo. “A lot of guys don’t really like him, a lot of coaches don’t really like him, but he still finds a way to win. If that’s what it takes to be a winner in the league, I think I’m going to follow that path.” While Russell would like to emulate Rondo, he also wants to maintain his own identity on the court, Mastracco adds. “Just really being myself my whole career,” Russell said. “I don’t want to turn into somebody I’m not. I can control what I can control and that’s about it. I don’t really worry about those other things. Just trying to keep that positive mentality and being competitive.”

Here’s more from out West:

Kings coach George Karl is happy with the progress his team is making but cautions that there is still much to be done before Sacramento can be considered a legitimate playoff threat, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com writes. “I think as a coach, getting better and improving is the positive of what’s going on right now,” Karl said. “Our record is positive also, we’ve had a good month of January. It hasn’t been an easy schedule. At the same time, we’re in the middle of the season, 41 games left. If we think we’re good I think that would be a mistake right now. We’ve played good basketball, we’re playing better basketball, but we have a lot of work to do.”
The Grizzlies have been uncharacteristically productive from beyond the 3-point line recently, notes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, with the team connecting on 48.9% of its deep balls over the past three games. “I actually thought the 3-point shot was kind of the difference for us in our favor, which is kind of cool,” coach Dave Joerger said. “We’re starting to make shots.” It’s unclear if the team’s recent success will deter it from pursuing more offensive firepower as the trade deadline approaches.
The Mavericks have assigned swingman Justin Anderson, power forward Jeremy Evans and center Salah Mejri to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release. This will be the seventh trip to the Legends on the season for Mejri, the sixth for Anderson and Evans’ third.

D-League Notes: Hardaway Jr., Ennis, McCallum

December 27th, 2015 at 3:35pm CST by Will Joseph

The Hawks have assigned Tim Hardaway Jr. to the D-League, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Atlanta does not have its own affiliate so Hardaway will likely join the Austin Spurs, based on the league’s flexible assignment system and the fact that the Hawks have an on-going relationship with the D-League franchise this season, Vivlamore writes. Hardaway played for the Canton Charge in his previous D-League stint.

It will be the second D-League stint for Hardaway, who has been a non-factor for the Hawks this season after he was acquired in a trade from the Knicks in June. Hardaway has appeared in only four games this season with Atlanta. Still, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer seems to remain optimistic about Hardaway’s development, as Vivlamore writes.

“I can promise you he is doing well and he is in a good place,” Budenholzer told reporters, including Vivlamore on Saturday. “A lot of it has been his approach to it. He’s been very professional. There is a real emphasis on player development with us and we’ve seen guys who have come in and maybe not started out gangbusters but through work, time and effort they find a way. I was say he is following that path in a very good way.”

Here are more moves and notes regarding the D-League:

The Grizzlies assigned James Ennis to the D-League three days after recalling him, the team announced in an emailed press release. This will be Ennis’ sixth stint with the Iowa Energy, Memphis’ D-League affiliate.
The Spurs assigned Ray McCallum to the Austin Spurs, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This marks McCallum’s third stint with the Austin Spurs this season.
The Kings have recalled power forward Duje Dukan from the Reno Bighorns, their D-League affiliate, the team announced (on Twitter). It was Dukan’s fourth stint with Reno on the season.
The Mavericks recalled Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri from the D-League, the team announced in an emailed press release. Anderson has played sparingly in 18 games, including one start, while Mejri has seen action in only five games for Dallas this season.

And-Ones: Labissiere, Bickerstaff, Dawson

December 26th, 2015 at 10:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere, once considered among the top prospects in the 2016 draft, received a brutal review from an unidentified NBA scout after today’s game with Louisville, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. “Big Skal, no strength, no toughness, no game,” the scout said. “Comes off the bench, plays 10 minutes, had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 0 for 3 from the floor. Shot an air ball on an easy hook.” Labissiere was a coveted recruit out of high school, but he has struggled greatly at the college level. He has 4 points over his last three games and just 22 over his last six. The scout was much higher on 5’9″ Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis, whom he called “the smartest player” on the Wildcats. “Yes he can [play in the NBA] and he will be drafted,” the scout said.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff said his team “disrespected the game” and threatened to make changes following tonight’s loss to the Pelicans, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The coach talked about “misplaced priorities,” which he called “the core issue” behind the team’s disappointing start. “Our issue is doing things right … not because it’s going to get me a bucket … not because I get glory,” Bickerstaff said. “… Our priorities need to be clear. I need to do a better job of playing people whose priorities are clear.”
Clippers rookie Branden Dawson had expected to report to Grand Rapids in the D-League in early January, tweets Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com. However, Los Angeles may need to keep him at the NBA level because of the injury to Blake Griffin that was disclosed today.
The Mavericks have sent guard Justin Anderson and center Salah Mejri to the Texas Legends of the D-League, the team announced today. Anderson has appeared in 17 games with the Mavericks and four games with the Legends. Mejri has played five games with Dallas and five for the D-League team.

And-Ones: Millsap, Lin, D-League

December 20th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Will Joseph

The Magic offered Paul Millsap a max contract on July 1st and the power forward told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that Orlando’s pitch was impressive before he ultimately decided to re-sign with the Hawks.

“I was their first priority, and everything about their team was looking good at the time,” Millsap told Robbins. “It intrigued me. The presentation was great.”

Millsap, per Robbins, chose to stay in Atlanta, however, because he grew a fondness for the area and he got used to calling it home. Millsap added that his teammates and the Hawks’ coaching staff had a lot to do with his decision to re-sign because he believes Atlanta has “built something special thus far.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

The non-guaranteed minimum salary of recent Wizards signee Ryan Hollins becomes fully guaranteed if the team doesn’t waive him by the end of December 27th, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders in a roundup of guarantee dates. Pincus also reveals that Bryce Cotton, who signed with the Suns last month, is on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary that covers just this season and wouldn’t become guaranteed until next month’s leaguewide guarantee date.
Hawks big man Mike Muscala, previously thought to have a $473,638 partial guarantee on his $947,276 minimum salary, has no guarantee at all, Pincus shows in the same post and on Twitter.
Jeremy Lin, who signed a two-year, $4.4MM contract with the Hornets in July, said his new team is a very good fit for his style and strengths, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays.
The Mavs recalled Justin Anderson, Jeremy Evans and Salah Mejri from their D-League affiliate, the team announced in an emailed press release. Evans has appeared in 19 games with the Mavs while Anderson has played in 17 and Mejri has seen action in five.
The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced. Huestis has appeared in nine games this season for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s D-League affiliate.
The Celtics recalled Terry Rozier and Jordan Mickey from their D-League affiliate, the team announced in an emailed press release.

And-Ones: Holmes, D-League, Butler

December 18th, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings coach George Karl says that he had spoken with small forward Caron Butler weeks ago about his decreased playing time, and he cited the solid play of Omri Casspi as the primary reason for the change, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee relays in a series of tweets. The coach thinks of Butler as insurance at small forward, and he is aware that the veteran has spoken to team executive Vlade Divac about the situation, Jones notes. Jones also relays that all indications still point to the team trading Butler, as was reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com earlier this week.

Here’s more from around the league:

Lakers camp cut Jonathan Holmes underwent surgery today to repair a torn labrum and he is expected to require approximately five months of recovery time, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays in a series of tweets. Holmes had suffered a dislocated right shoulder during the preseason and as a result Los Angeles will be on the hook for his entire salary of $525,093 for the 2015/16 campaign, not just his partial guarantee of $100K, Pincus notes. The combo forward is expected to be ready for action in time for summer league play, the Basketball Insiders scribe adds.
Front office officials have been unusually reluctant to talk trades recently because so many teams are so close together in the standings, giving rise to playoff hopes around the league, an NBA GM said to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
The Mavericks have reassigned center Salah Mejri and swingman Justin Anderson to the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (on Twitter). This will be the fourth jaunt to the D-League on the season for both players.

Southwest Notes: Anderson, McDaniels, Leonard

December 15th, 2015 at 1:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have “kicked the tires” on trade scenarios involving Markieff Morris and Ryan Anderson, though it doesn’t seem likely they’ll deal for either, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. It’s clear the team has shopped Terrence Jones and K.J. McDaniels, though Rockets sources label such talk as routine and due diligence, Kyler adds. Sources told Marc Stein of ESPN.com earlier this month that the Rockets were interested in Morris and would likely give up Jones to get him. The Pelicans would consider giving up Anderson for Morris, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, but New Orleans is not anxious to trade him, Kyler wrote earlier this month. McDaniels has appeared for a total of only 39 minutes this season after signing a three-year, $10MM deal in the offseason. See more from around the Southwest Division:

Rookie scale contracts will look “like gold” as the salary cap escalates and their dollar values remain the same, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com in the offseason, a signal that the team knows it must replenish its youth, Lowe writes. Dallas is turning away any teams interested in trading for Justin Anderson, this year’s 21st overall pick, sources tell Lowe.
Kawhi Leonard won the Defensive Player of the Year award last season, and after signing a five-year max deal to stay with the Spurs in the summer, his defense has improved even further, Spurs coach/executive Gregg Popovich acknowledged, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter links).
The Pelicans have been slow to pick up the ball movement principles in new coach Alvin Gentry‘s offense, observes John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans struggled with injuries throughout the preseason, keeping players from the opportunity to learn the new system. The Pelicans have the NBA’s third-worst record, though that puts them in prime lottery position, as our Reverse Standings show.

Southwest Notes: Popovich, Simmons, Gentry

December 12th, 2015 at 7:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the franchise used a low-key approach on LaMarcus Aldridge, as it does on all free agents, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. Popovich said the Spurs learned a hard lesson about promoting the team to free agents when it tried to lure Jason Kidd in 2003. “If they come, they come,” Popovich said. “If they don’t, I don’t care. Because it’s as simple as that. Especially for a guy who’s been in the league for nine years. You know what he can do, you know what he can’t do. You know what you like, you know what you don’t like. Whatever it might be. But more importantly, he knows who you are, and he knows what team he would like to go to for whatever reasons.” The Spurs’ approach worked on Aldridge, who agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal in July.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs may have found another hidden talent in Jonathon Simmons, according to Quixem Ramirez of SB Nation. Simmons, who scored 9 points in 19 minutes in Friday’s win over the Lakers, spent the last two seasons with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin. He signed a two-year deal in July with a non-guaranteed salary for the second season.
Even though his former team is 24-0, Alvin Gentry is happy to be in New Orleans, writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Gentry, who left the Warriors to become coach of the Pelicans, probably would be guiding Golden State in Steve Kerr’s absence instead of Luke Walton if he had stayed. However, Gentry doesn’t second guess his decision, even with New Orleans off to a 6-16 start. “I’m truly a believer in that God has a plan for all of us,” Gentry said. “I truly believe I’m where I’m supposed to be, and Luke’s where he’s supposed to be.”
The Mavericks have recalled Justin Anderson from the D-League, the team announced today. The 6’6″ guard is averaging 2.3 points in 6.4 minutes of playing time in 16 games with the Mavericks. He has been sent down and called up twice in the past two days, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Anderson’s latest recall was because Deron Williams missed tonight’s game in Washington with an illness (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Curry, Evans, Lakers

December 12th, 2015 at 3:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The four-year, $44MM contract extension that Stephen Curry signed with the Warriors back in 2012 is one of the most team-friendly deals in NBA history, something that Curry admits he had to make peace with, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports writes. “I had to make a conscious decision and remind myself over and over [to let it go],” Curry told Wojnarowski. “I could’ve had a different perspective and said, ‘I want to get everything that I could get, wait it out, test free agency that next year – and who knows what would’ve happened? But for me, a $44MM contract was plenty for me to be able to provide for my family. When I made a decision to sign an extension, I told myself that was the right decision for the moment. After three years, I’ve still got to remind myself every day. Number one, there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s no point to moaning and complaining and trying to change something that really can’t be changed.”

“I have thought about it occasionally, and understand that, for me, talking to the people in my camp, everything does happen for a reason,” Curry continued. “I’ve tried to just be appreciative of what I have. Obviously a lot of other things have happened off the court that have helped the situation, Under Armour, other sponsors. On the back end, when this is all said and done, things will come around the right way. It’s nice to know that I got a championship out of it, an MVP season out of it, and hopefully setting up for something better down the line.”

Here’s more from the West:

Byron Scott says that the Lakers learned from their failed recruitment of LaMarcus Aldridge this past offseason, and will adjust the focus of their future free agent presentations, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. “I think we looked at it more as a business presentation. It wasn’t basketball, and that’s probably where we made our mistake,” Scott told Holmes regarding the team’s meeting with Aldridge. “Most of these guys want to know the basketball part of it,” Scott continued. “We’ll change that part as far as most of the meeting, 75 percent of it or more, will be about the basketball part and then the other part will be a little bit about the business part. I think we found from a great player that he was more interested in the basketball on-the-court stuff than anything else.“
The Mavericks recalled Justin Anderson, Jeremy Evans and Salah Mejri from the Texas Legends today, the team announced via a press release. Both Anderson and Mejri were re-assigned to Dallas’ affiliate after practicing with the team, the Mavs relayed via a second release.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said that Evans requested to be assigned to the D-League to aid him in getting more comfortable playing on the perimeter, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (via Twitter). The Mavs needed the consent of Evans and the players union to send him to the D-League since he has more than two years of experience.

And-Ones: Brand, Martin, D-League

December 11th, 2015 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers are now likely to look to add veterans to the roster for additional leadership now that Jerry Colangelo is officially a member of the front office, and one name to keep an eye on is veteran power forward Elton Brand, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com opines. The 36-year-old was pessimistic about his chances for playing a 17th season in the NBA back in August, when he told Al Coqueran of The Examiner News, “I could get in shape if I got the call but this looks like the end of the run for me, right now it is family time.” Brand made 36 appearances for the Hawks last season, averaging 2.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes of action per contest.

Here’s more from around the league:

Cartier Martin, who was cut by the Pistons during the preseason and is currently a member of the Grizzlies‘ D-League affiliate in Iowa, is expected to miss several months due to a wrist injury, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (via Twitter).
Knicks combo forward Derrick Williams indicated that communication between he and coach Derek Fisher isn’t great, which is something he misses about George Karl, who took over as Kings coach late last season, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Williams appreciates the brief time he had under Karl, saying, “He’s a good coach. He wasn’t really tough like that. That was one game. He expects a lot of things out of me. I think that’s always good, when you have a coach that really expects things out of you, wants to bring out the best in you. Myself and him, we talked about it. It was no hard feelings with the quotes. That happens when a coach expects a lot of you. At the end of the day, he wasn’t too, too hard on me. He wanted the best out of me.“
The Grizzlies have assigned small forward James Ennis to their D-League affiliate in Iowa, the team announced. This will be Ennis’ third stint with the Energy on the season, as our D-League tracker shows.
The Mavericks have assigned Justin Anderson, Jeremy Evans and Salah Mejri to the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (Twitter link). This is the second jaunt to the D-League on the season for both Anderson and Mejri, while Evans is making his initial trip.
Mitch McGary has been assigned to the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, the team announced (on Twitter). This is McGary’s third assignment to the Blue on the season.
The Pacers have assigned Joe Young to their D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, the team announced.

Southwest Notes: Bickerstaff, D-League, Gee

November 24th, 2015 at 6:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes that the team has become more orderly in its approach since Kevin McHale was fired as head coach last week, Mark Berman of FOX 26 relays in a series of tweets. “Our attitude has changed over the last week and a half. We’ve taken a more serious approach to what we’re doing,” Bickerstaff said. “Guys are more disciplined in what we’re doing and they were hungry for that. That was the first thing they were calling for, some more discipline, some more structure, some more rules.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks intend to use their D-League affiliate to help get their younger players minutes this season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Discussing Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri, who had been assigned to the Texas Legends recently, coach Rick Carlisle said, “It’s a positive to be able to send guys there to get game action. We’re going to do more of it. It’s a positive tool for our franchise and for those guys. It’s a win-win. In this instance they were able to play in the game last night and we got them here [Saturday night].”
Despite Alonzo Gee only averaging 3.5 points in 21.1 minutes per contest this season, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry considers the small forward a vital part of the team due to his defensive prowess, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”I know my role on the team and I try to focus on my role,” Gee said. ”You can’t really coach effort. I try to be the hardest-playing player on the floor. I’ve glad to be in that situation. That’s why I wanted to come here, I felt like it was an opportunity to play.”
Jazz camp cut Bryce Cotton, who currently plays for the Spurs‘ D-League affiliate in Austin, hopes to return to the NBA this season, and he believes that hustle and effort are his tickets back to the big league, writes Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. “Being called up last year and being blessed to finish the season [in Utah], I still didn’t feel like I could kind of sit back and coast,” Cotton said. “I still felt like I needed [to prove a lot]. I wanted to work as hard as I could, but unfortunately it just ended up with me being waived. The biggest thing that I’ve learned is just continuous emphasis on remaining professional on and off the court, always having a great attitude and being a great teammate.”