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Northwest Notes: Donovan, Garnett, Malone

December 1st, 2015 at 8:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder‘s presentation when they courted Billy Donovan this past spring centered on organizational structure rather than basketball, and his relationship with GM Sam Presti helped convince Donovan to leave the University of Florida, as USA Today’s Sam Amick examines. Kevin Durant has been impressed so far, as the soon-to-be free agent said to Amick, though Donovan made his decision independent of the former MVP’s looming choice. “I never looked at it as, ‘Well, geesh, I may not [have Durant long-term],’ or like I need any assurances,” Donovan said. “Everybody has got their own decision to make, like I had to make a decision about coming here. Kevin at the end will have his own decision, but I feel like my job right now is to do the best I can to help Kevin and the rest of the team. So I never really factored that in.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio says the return of Kevin Garnett to Minnesota last season altered the franchise for the better, Britt Robson of MinnPost.com writes. “He changed the culture over here. It is something that I have been so excited to see. A guy who is 20 years in the league, 40 years old, comes two hours before practice and gets some shots up and does some extra work,” said Rubio. “Now everybody does the same. I used to do the same. I know your body got to rest sometimes, but it is something that, when you are home, you are thinking, “KG is on his way to the arena” and I am just having breakfast at home or whatever. And you feel bad. You feel like, ‘I should be there.’ And that — little things, little details change the culture from a normal team to a winning team. Because the line from winning and losing is so thin, that people don’t realize what it takes to win. There are so many little details that something that small can change a big thing at the end.“
  • Coach Michael Malone places much of the blame for the Nuggets‘ early season woes on himself, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “We’re not mentally tough enough to withstand a run and counter with our own,” Malone said. “We can do it in short stretches but sooner or later that levee is going to break and we’re not handling it like we need to. And, again, I’m going to put it on me. As the head coach of this team, I must do a better job. Whether it’s finding five guys who are going to play the right way, whether it’s helping us offensively, helping us defensively, it’s my job to help this team a lot more than I’ve been doing lately.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Scola, Brown

November 25th, 2015 at 5:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony is surprised by how quickly he and rookie Kristaps Porzingis have meshed together, with the No. 4 overall pick’s ability to stretch defenses blending perfectly with Melo’s preferred style of play, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “This early we didn’t think that this kind of the jelling and the chemistry we have so far would be there. We all thought this would take some time to kind of figure out,” Anthony told Bondy. “But anytime you can play with a stretch-four, it makes the game a little bit easier. And it’s easier to figure that out. When you have a stretch-four guy who can play the wing, and he’s 7’3″, you know where he’s at, you know what he can do. So that makes the game easier. It makes the chemistry process that much easier.”

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Porzingis has turned draft night boos from Knicks fans into game night raves with his solid play thus far, and he credits some advice that he received from Wolves veteran Kevin Garnett for helping him cope with the now-forgotten negativity he was garnering, Bondy relays in a separate piece. “He [Garnett] was like, ‘You use that as motivation, you let that drive you every day when you step onto the floor,’” Porzingis said. “And that’s what I’m trying to do. I don’t really focus on it, that’s not the only thing that drives me, but it still sits inside me on the floor. That was huge. That was a really cool moment.”
  • The Sixers are off to a winless start to the season, but coach Brett Brown still needs to weigh the value of player development over chasing wins, a task that the team’s near-constant roster shuffling doesn’t make easier, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I have to coach basketball,” Brown said. “I have to do it where you walk the most incredible concoction. There’s a recipe you are always trying to figure out. I never coached more moving parts in my life.“
  • The Raptors signed Luis Scola to a one-year, $2.9MM deal this offseason to provide depth, but the veteran is proving to be one of the team’s most important additions, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. “When you play well, you play more and when you play bad, you play less and that’s the way it should be,” Scola said of his new starting role. “It’s been pretty much what I expected. I knew if I showed up in good shape and did good things I’d have more opportunities and if I didn’t, I’d have less, and that’s what happened. The situation changes, I adapt, I prepare mentally for it and I just play.”
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Northwest Notes: Garnett, Towns, Waiters, Kanter

November 25th, 2015 at 10:47am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge admits he was careful about the sort of young players he brought around Kevin Garnett, who “could be intimidating — and destructive — if the player didn’t respond in the right way,” he tells Jackie MacMullan of ESPN The Magazine. That’s evidence that Minnesota’s plan to use Garnett as a mentor for its host of young players isn’t foolproof, but the intense Garnett and No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns have taken to one another, and Garnett has accepted his purpose as a team leader, even giving Towns uncharacteristic advice to ease up at times, as MacMullan details. The edginess that Garnett brings to the Timberwolves has been a positive, GM Milt Newton tells MacMullan, and the late Flip Saunders cited Garnett’s ability to work well under Sam Mitchell when Saunders reacquired Garnett for Minnesota last season, MacMullan notes. See more on the Wolves and other Northwest Division teams:

  • Jahlil Okafor outplayed Towns this week in a matchup of two of the top three picks, but the Timberwolves still chose wisely when they went with the former Kentucky big man, opines Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune. “It was an off-game for Karl,” Mitchell said, “but you look at the other 11, 12 games that Karl has played, he’s been unbelievable.”
  • Kevin Durant lifts the performances of many around him, but that’s especially so with Thunder teammate Dion Waiters, notes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Both are set to become free agents at season’s end, and Waiters has denied rumors that he wants to jump to the Sixers to play in his hometown of Philadelphia, a most unlikely destination for Durant.
  • Enes Kanter elicited questions about his maturity from some executives around the league in the wake of pithy comments he made about the Jazz after they fulfilled his request for a trade last season, but the Thunder big man is contrite these days, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater observes. “I think that I was a little, you know, harsh,” Kanter said. “But I just want to clear, I have no problem with the players or the fans. I respect the guys and they helped me a lot with my career. They helped me a lot in my first three and a half years.”
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Timberwolves Rumors: LaVine, Rubio, Muhammad

November 17th, 2015 at 1:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no coincidence that the Timberwolves are giving Zach LaVine minutes at point guard after going back on their decision to make him the starting shooting guard, since Ricky Rubio would become a trade chip if LaVine proves capable running the point, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Rubio and LaVine have played just 10 minutes together so far this season, with Lowe calling it “beyond dumb” that they haven’t shared the floor for more time and Rubio making it clear he’d like to play more often with LaVine. Both Rubio and GM Milt Newton expressed to Lowe that they hope Rubio is the long-term answer at the point, “but he has to stay healthy,” Newton said. Regardless, Newton isn’t in a hurry to make any deals.

“We are cognizant about not rushing it,” Newton said to Lowe. “We don’t want to be a flash in the pan. We don’t want to disrupt our young core. If we do something, it has to be the kind of deal where the majority of that young core is still here, but you get a veteran who is not that old — and can grow with the group.”

See more on the Timberwolves:

  • LaVine has shown flashes of brilliance and moments of struggle alike at point guard this season, but his play is making it increasingly apparent that he deserves time at one position or another, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune examines. “I love him,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said Sunday before Minnesota’s game against Memphis. “I’m a big LaVine fan. I think he can really score the basketball. He’s tough to guard. I think he’s still trying to figure out where he is in the league, learn his teammates, where he can go and when it’s not a good time to go. When he learns that? He’ll be a very potent scorer.”
  • Opposing front office personnel were initially dismissive of the late Flip Saunders‘ decision to sign so many veteran mentors this summer, but some of them have warmed to the notion that re-signing Kevin Garnett and adding Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince was shrewd, Lowe writes in the same piece.
  • The Timberwolves almost chose Giannis Antetokounmpo over Shabazz Muhammad in the 2013 draft, several sources tell Lowe. The Jazz officially drafted Muhammad, but they had already agreed to trade the pick to Minnesota by the time they went on the clock, so evidently the Timberwolves were telling the Jazz whom to take, as is often the case behind the scenes with draft-night deals.
  • If Steve Kaplan, the Grizzlies minority owner who’s reportedly in talks to buy a share of the Timberwolves, were to purchase a controlling interest in the Wolves at some point, he’d probably include Garnett in the ownership group, Lowe hears from sources.
  • Sean Kilpatrick, who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract this past spring, has re-signed with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, the team with which he ended last season, the D-League club announced.
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Northwest Notes: Garnett, Kanter, Blazers

November 16th, 2015 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns says he learns something every day from his Timberwolves teammate and mentor Kevin Garnett, he revealed during a Q&A session with NBA.com’s David Aldridge published in Aldridge’s weekly column. Garnett has been teaching Towns how to protect his body so that he doesn’t wear down during his first season. The rookie power forward also told Aldridge that Garnett has instilled him with three tenets: “Work harder. Play defense. And continue to compete.” Garnett’s influence on his young teammates is far-reaching, even though he denies he’s a coach on the floor, according to Marino Eccher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Garnett was spotted during Monday’s practice showing power forward Nemanja Bjelica how to guard pick-and-rolls in a one-on-one session, Eccher continues. After practice, Garnett provided teammates and coaches with insights on everything from defensive techniques to trash-talking, Eccher adds.

In other news around the Northwest Division:

  • The Thunder could overwhelm opponents in the first quarter if they started Enes Kanter at center, Matt Moore of CBSSports.com opines. While Steven Adams has earned the starting job, Kanter’s defensive shortcomings are more of a liability when he plays with the second unit, Moore argues. Oklahoma City’s firepower with Kanter playing alongside Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant would mask those shortcomings and the club could still close games with Adams in the middle, when defensive stops become more essential, Moore concludes.
  • The task for the Blazers this season is to find out which of their players around Damian Lillard are keepers and which aren’t, and games like Sunday’s clunker against the Hornets, after which coach Terry Stotts questioned his team’s effort and focus, can play a role in that process, as Jason Quick of CSNNW.com examines.
  • The Timberwolves are continuing to engage in talks about finding a D-League affiliate for next season, though they aren’t close yet, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

(Chuck Myron contributed to this report.)

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Northwest Notes: Taylor, Leonard, Mudiay, Huestis

November 13th, 2015 at 11:15am CST by Chuck Myron

The idea that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is looking to sell a minority interest in the team is “old news,” as Taylor put it in a comment to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, confirming that he’s had contact with Steve Kaplan, with whom he’s reportedly engaged in serious talks (All four Twitter links). Taylor said he’s also spoken to others, but some of them want to move the team and Kaplan doesn’t, Wolfson points out. Kevin Garnett is interested in someday owning the Wolves, but Taylor refused comment on any potential involvement for KG, Wolfson relays. Kaplan would really prefer to become a majority owner, but with few teams on the market, it makes sense that he would buy a smaller stake and position himself to purchase the controlling interest later, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). See more from the Northwest Division:

  • The dislocated shoulder that Meyers Leonard suffered in Wednesday’s game will probably sideline him for at least four weeks, and it’s conceivable that he ends up having surgery that would knock him out for the season, an orthopedic surgeon without ties to Leonard or the Trail Blazers told Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. The Blazers have yet to release an official timetable for the big man, who recently turned down a “considerable” extension offer to set up restricted free agency next summer.
  • Bucks coach and one-time legendary point guard Jason Kidd believes the Nuggets scored with their pick of Emmanuel Mudiay at No. 7 in this year’s draft, predicting that Mudiay will be better than he was, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “He’s better already,” Kidd said. “Being able to run an NBA team at 19 is not easy. You look at some of the greats — Magic [Johnson] was able to do it. And you’re looking at this kid Mudiay, who has the opportunity to do something special. So, I would encourage him to be better than me, and I think he will be at the end of the day.”
  • The Thunder have assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced. Huestis spent last season in the D-League in an unusual draft-and-stash arrangement, but this time, he’ll continue to draw NBA paychecks while in the D-League after signing with the Thunder on a rookie scale contract this past summer.
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Western Notes: Dragic, Rondo, Suns, Fredette

November 12th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Goran Dragic remarked around the time of his trade to Miami that he saw the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” but while the Lakers were initially likely to pursue him in free agency, they abandoned the idea when they became enamored with D’Angelo Russell and were optimistic about signing a big man, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Dragic, despite his comment about the Lakers, seemed likely to re-sign with Miami in the months prior to his free agency, and he re-upped with the Heat in July. See more from around the Western Conference:

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Atlantic Notes: Nets, Reed, Okafor

October 15th, 2015 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets‘ high-profile acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Celtics prior to the 2013/14 season never worked out as planned for Brooklyn, and the team is trying to move on and rebuild as best it can despite dealing away multiple future draft picks for the two aging veterans, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. “We all made the decision to go for it,” GM Billy King said. “We made a decision, and at that point we felt it was the best decision. And now we’re headed in a different direction. I don’t think you can sit there and say, ‘What if?’ You make a decision and you move on. That’s how we did it. You make the decision, and then you adjust and you move on as you have to.”

“If we hadn’t had injuries, could we have won more? Possibly,” King continued. “And then the picks [that went to the Celtics] . . . you know, I look at it like, there’s nothing that can be done about them. So now we’re focusing on trying to gain younger assets, as we did this year. And we’ll keep doing that. It’s something similar to what I did in Philadelphia, where we gave up a lot of picks early to get to The Finals. Then after that we started retooling and drafting second-round picks like Kyle Korver. You’ve just got to take what you have and work with it.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Nets power forward Willie Reed has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and he’ll undergo surgery on Friday, the team announced. A timetable for his return will be established following the procedure, according to the release. Reed is one of seven Brooklyn players without a fully guaranteed deal, but the Nets would have to pay him until he’s healthy, even if they waive him.
  • The Sixers don’t expect rookie center Jahlil Okafor to be at full strength when the regular season begins, and they intend to take it slow with his minutes as he works his way back into shape from being sidelined with a sore right knee, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He’s been tremendously set back now,” coach Brett Brown said. “He was going to be fine, going through [training camp at] Stockton [University].” When asked about Okafor’s ideal playing weight, Brown responded by saying, “There are a few goals that we have. But like a little bit with Joel [Embiid], we will probably keep them in house. Fair question, but keep them in house.“
  • Rookie shooting guard R.J. Hunter has impressed the Celtics‘ coaching staff with his all-around game, and he is the likeliest of Boston’s three rookies to see significant playing time this season, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com relays. “I think it’s pretty obvious, just watching him, he really has a feel,” coach Brad Stevens said of Hunter. “It just comes pretty natural — little passes, simple plays, being able to put the ball on the money to other people, understanding spacing, understanding where his opportunities are going to come. And he’s got a pretty good feel for the game.“
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Northwest Notes: Faried, Kaman, Snyder

October 3rd, 2015 at 3:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kenneth Faried acknowledged that the Nuggets trade of Ty Lawson to the Rockets is just part of the business of basketball, but he was still stung by it due to his close friendship with the point guard, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. When asked about the trade, Faried said, “Basketball. Nature of the beast. I’m not part of the business side I’m part of the playing side. I just want to get up-and-down and play the game. It hurt me because that was my best friend but it’s the nature of the beast. You’ve got to live with it.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • Mason Plumlee says he has learned a lot from veteran big man Chris Kaman in the short time that they have been teammates with the Trail Blazers, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. “The guys who are here 10-plus years in the NBA are here because they help the young guys,” Plumlee said of Kaman. “Here’s very good, he’s helpful, he knows what coach [Terry] Stotts wants so he’s been great.” Plumlee was acquired by Portland back in June.
  • Jazz coach Quin Snyder enters his second season with the team a bit more relaxed than his he was during his rookie campaign, and he aims to try and be less intense with his players this season, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. “The course of the season and our team and how we play will dictate that as much as anything,” Snyder said, obviously making no hard promises regarding his future demeanor.
  • One of the problems facing the Timberwolves as they enter the preseason is that most of their big men are power forwards who will be tasked with manning the center position, Marcus R. Fuller of The Pioneer Press writes. Kevin Garnett, a power forward by trade, won’t be thrilled if he has to spend prolonged time in the pivot, Fuller adds. “I still hate the center position,” Garnett said. “I’m 235, 240 [pounds]. Guys who play the center … DeAndre Jordan is 275, 280. That’s outweighing me by 40 pounds. But what I don’t make up in weight, I make up in heart and [expletive].”As for interim coach Sam Mitchell‘s plan for the rotation at the five spot, he said, “I’ve got an idea in my mind. But until we get out on the floor and actually watch them play a little bit, then we’ll start to formulate those opinions.”
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Northwest Notes: Lawson, Garnett, Ingles

July 14th, 2015 at 10:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Ty Lawson was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI, his second DUI-related arrest in six months, report Jesse Paul and Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Lawson’s name has come up frequently in trade chatter since before the February deadline, and the teams with interest were waiting for Denver to reduce its price for the point guard, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, adding that today’s news devastates Lawson’s trade value. The Kings were reportedly one of those teams eyeing him and spoke with the Nuggets before the draft, but his off-court issues were a major reason why Sacramento wasn’t willing to give up the No. 6 pick in exchange for him, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

Here’s the latest out of the Northwest Division:

  •  Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said that the team’s roster is relatively set for the 2015/16 season, but the team could look to use its available cap space at the trade deadline to add a player who could help the team, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News relays (Twitter links).
  • Joe Ingles‘ base salary with the Jazz on his new contract is $4.1MM but can he increase that payout to $4.4MM via $150K per season worth of performance-based incentives that are included in his deal, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter links). This makes Ingles’ cap number for the 2015/16 season $2.15MM, as the NBA deems $100k worth of the incentives likely to be attained, and his 2016/17 cap number will range from $2.05-$2.20MM, Pincus adds.
  • Kevin Garnett‘s two-year deal with the Timberwolves will pay him $8.5MM for the 2015/16 campaign and $8MM in 2016/17, Pincus tweets.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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