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Eastern Notes: Monroe, Celtics, Saric

September 7th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There are two remote possibilities for the Pistons to keep Greg Monroe past this season, Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press writes. The first way would be for Detroit to offer Monroe a max contract, something they have been unwilling to do thus far, Farrell notes. The second would be for coach Stan Van Gundy to convince Monroe that his future would be best served by staying with the Pistons, something that can only happen if Detroit starts winning, opines Farrell.

Here’s more from the east:

Sixers coach Brett Brown was in Spain to check out Dario Saric, the No. 12 overall draft pick that Philadelphia acquired from the Magic in a draft night trade, Rigas Dardalis of Eurohoops.net reports. Saric won’t play in the NBA this season, but when asked what he thought of Saric’s potential, Brown said, “I think he can play [in the NBA] now! I think that in Philadelphia we are about development and about opportunity. He would look around and see a lot of fellow young players that just want a chance to play. Our whole emphasis in Philadelphia is about development and help our players. We are trying to be as good as we can be in sport science and growing up players physically and from a skill perceptive. He is an other one of our young lottery picks that we hope to grow the program with”.
Celtics team president Rich Gotham is excited for the potential of Boston’s two first-rounders, Marcus Smart and James Young, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. “I’ve been loving Marcus Smart’s play, because he’s just tough. He goes out there and he competes. I saw James Young for the first time the other day, and I saw him stroke a couple of lefty 3-pointers from a couple feet beyond the arc and I was like, Hmmm, we could use that.”
One single play may have led to David Blatt becoming the first European coach to make the jump to being an NBA head coach with the Cavs, and Ettore Messina becoming an assistant with the Spurs, Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News writes.
The crew over at Basketball Insiders ran down their predictions for the Sixers 2014/15 season, and the consensus was that Philadelphia would finish fifth in the Atlantic Division and miss the playoffs yet again.

Latest On Rajon Rondo

September 5th, 2014 at 3:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:01pm: A multitude of executives from teams around the league tell Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher that the Celtics have made Rondo available to them. Teams have been reluctant to give up either promising young players, high draft picks, or both in return for Rondo out of concern about his temperament, his health, and his lack of experience leading a team without stars around him, Bucher writes. An Eastern Conference GM also cites Ainge’s demands as reason why no trade has materialized. People around the league believe that Ainge would have been more willing to commit to Rondo if he’d drafted Joel Embiid, Bucher adds.

FRIDAY, 12:31pm: Celtics team president Rich Gotham dismissed the idea that Rondo is bucking for a trade, as Gotham said in comments to reporters, including Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter links). “If he’s made that demand it hasn’t been directed to the Celtics,” Gotham said. “I’ve not heard [about wanting out]. Rajon’s been working out all summer. He’s been here. This is his home.”

TUESDAY, 12:14pm: Sean Deveney of The Sporting News largely seconds Blakely’s report, having heard denials from both Rondo’s camp and the Celtics that the point guard has made a trade request. Rondo intends to play out the final season of his contract as a member of the Celtics and the C’s plan on starting the year with him on the roster, Deveney writes.

MONDAY, 4:04pm: People close to Rajon Rondo indicate to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that he never told the Celtics he wanted out, countering this weekend’s dispatch. Multiple sources from around the league tell Blakely that Rondo wants to begin the season in Boston and see how the situation develops from there, and people within the Celtics organization echo that sentiment, according to Blakely. The most likely scenario involves Rondo remaining with the Celtics at least at the beginning of the season, though the C’s are open to dealing Rondo for the right return, Blakely hears.

A rival GM suggested to the CSNNE.com scribe that the presence of Marcus Smart gives the Celtics greater leverage against Rondo if the All-Star were to demand a trade, given Smart’s upside. Blakely reiterates an earlier report that indicated that teams around the league are anxious to see Rondo at full health, dampening the market for a trade at present.

It’s a pivotal juncture for the point guard, who’s played just 30 games since tearing his ACL in early 2013 but faces unrestricted free agency in a year. Trade rumors have swirled around him ever since last year’s Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett blockbuster, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has continually denied that he’s looking to trade the last remaining mainstay from his 2008 championship team.

Celtics Sign Marcus Smart

July 10th, 2014 at 9:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 10TH: The Celtics have made the signing of Smart official in a team release. Whether he received the full 120% rookie scale salary has yet to be revealed, but presumably that’s the case.

JULY 8TH: The signing took place three days ago, according to Deeks, who adds that an official announcement might not ever take place. The Bulls made no announcement when they signed Derrick Rose to his rookie deal, as Deeks points out (Twitter links).

7:49am: The Celtics have signed Marcus Smart, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. There’s been no public announcement from the team, but Smart has been playing in summer league for the club. As the No. 6 pick from this year’s draft, he’ll likely receive a salary worth slightly more than $3.283MM this year, as our chart of salaries for first-round picks shows.

The 6’3″ Smart finally joins the NBA after a surprising decision to sit out the 2013 draft and return for his sophomore season at Oklahoma State. An incident in which he shoved a fan during a game caused a stir, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his draft stock, as he was only the second point guard to come off the board. The Celtics already have Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley in the backcourt, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed confidence that Smart can co-exist on the floor with both of them.

Smart, 20, averaged 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 32.7 minutes per game this past season. He drained just 29.9% of his three-point attempts, prompting Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors, who examined Smart’s Prospect Profile, to point to the improvement of his outside shooting as a key bellwether for his career.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Monroe, Magic, Bulls

July 8th, 2014 at 9:10pm CST by Ryan Raroque

LeBron James is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Heat president Pat Riley in Las Vegas, league sources told ESPN’s Chris Broussard. A few days ago, we passed along that the free agent superstar was planning to have a sitdown with Riley at some point this week. Here’s what else has been buzzing in the Eastern Conference this evening:

Pistons president/head coach Stan Van Gundy reiterated that restricted free agent Greg Monroe is still part of the team’s future plans, reports David Mayo of MLive. Mayo also explains how Detroit could potentially create an additional $4.5MM in cap space this summer by making other moves in free agency first before signing Monroe to a new contract.
In their final move of this summer’s free agency, the Magic aim to land a third point guard to back up Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
The Bulls’ pursuit of Pau Gasol is dependent on what Carmelo Anthony decides to do in free agency, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, who hears that the wait has become “frustrating” for Chicago’s front office.
When Knicks head coach Derek Fisher spoke with Carmelo last week, he guaranteed that the team would be better next season with the new system, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Fisher, who hasn’t spoken with Anthony since Thursday’s meeting, wouldn’t say whether he felt good or not about New York’s chances of retaining the star forward.
In another piece, Berman writes that Anthony has held out faint hope that Knicks president Phil Jackson can clear the necessary cap space this summer to bring LeBron James to New York. Doing so would at the least require New York to find takers for Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani in salary dump deals.
Having completed his workout for the Raptors, former NBA swingman Yakhouba Diawara will be auditioning for the Bucks next, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link).
Celtics guard Rajon Rondo recently spoke with Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe and brushed off speculation that the arrival of rookie point guard Marcus Smart could affect his future in Boston. “I don’t think (anything) of it… I can be here today, gone tomorrow. You never know. For me to get bent out of shape, or to feel threatened by the Celtics drafting a point guard, it means nothing.”

Celtics Notes: Rondo, Smart, Rebuild

June 28th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Cray Allred

The Celtics plummeted down the standings last season, their first chapter in a rebuild after parting with Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. Boston netted two first round picks from those efforts, selecting Marcus Smart and James Young. Here’s the latest on where the franchise stands:

GM Danny Ainge will entertain offers for Rajon Rondo this summer, but that doesn’t mean the point guard will be traded, sources tell Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Bulpett’s sources say that the market for Rondo is not very high, and that Boston would rather let him walk as a free agent than take salary back in an underwhelming package.
For now, Boston does hope that pairing Rondo with Smart will work despite their positional overlap, and the Celtics ideal scenario is to improve around Rondo rather than plan for his exit, per Bulpett.
While the Celtics have failed to land Kevin Love or swing any kind of blockbuster to accelerate their rebuilding process, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com thinks the franchise is still on pace to become a long-term contender as soon as next summer.

Jazz Notes: Gordon, Smart, Vonleh, Randle

June 26th, 2014 at 4:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

If the Jazz stay at No. 5, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter) hears that Aaron Gordon will likely be the pick. Earlier today it was reported that Marcus Smart was a consideration for Utah even though he hasn’t worked out for them. Here’s more from Utah:

Some around the Jazz aren’t high on Smart but nonetheless believe he’s the best choice, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).
Trading down is also a possibility for the Jazz, Jones suggests (on Twitter). Noah Vonleh, Julius Randle, and Smart are all in consideration at No. 5 but they also like guys like Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas who could be had later, Jones says.
Trey Burke would have no concerns if the team does indeed wind up selecting Smart, a fellow point guard, as Burke’s camp tells Genessy (Twitter link).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Jazz Considering Marcus Smart At No. 5

June 26th, 2014 at 3:13pm CST by Zachary Links

Marcus Smart is emerging as a serious consideration for Utah with the fifth pick, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). This comes as a surprise since Smart never worked out for Utah.

The Oklahoma State point guard would have been one of the very top picks in the 2013 Draft had he gone pro, but he stayed in school and had a disappointing follow-up campaign. Still, Smart could find his way into the top five after averaging 17.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.8 SPG in 32.5 minutes per contest last season.

The Jazz have been trying to move up to the No. 1 pick in order to land top target Jabari Parker. However, they’re not alone in trying to land the selection as the Sixers are making a strong push for it themselves. Of course, the Cavs might spurn all of the offers in front of them and use the selection themselves for Andrew Wiggins or Parker.

Draft Notes: Clippers, Exum, Heat, Stokes

June 26th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Zachary Links

The consensus around the league is that Clippers president Doc Rivers is trying to shop the team’s first round pick at No. 28, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Rivers doesn’t want to add a rookie to his roster and would rather have the cap space than pay the guaranteed salary that goes to a first-round draft pick. Officials say that Rivers has offered trade scenarios centering around their pick, plus a wing player — either Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, or Jared Dudley — and reserve guard Willie Green. One deal that was proposed had Dudley and another Clippers player and the No. 28 pick going to the Hornets for guard Gerald Henderson, but it has gone nowhere so far. The latest draft news from around the league..

Dante Exum declined to fly to Cleveland for a workout today with the Cavs, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
In addition to the Clippers, the Suns (No. 27) and Thunder (No. 29) still have picks available via trade, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. The Nets have tried hard but they look unlikely to get into the first round at this point.
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) hears that Elfrid Payton may have passed Marcus Smart as the first point guard selected. Presumably, Amico is regarding Australian guard Exum as a shooting guard rather than a PG.
The Heat like Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes and he’s an option at No. 26, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Miami worked him out multiple times and came away impressed. Hoops Rumors spoke with Stokes earlier this offseason about his NBA goals and what he can bring to a team.
UConn guard Shabazz Napier is also an option for the Heat, but he’s not likely to be on the board when they pick (link). Napier is rising up draft boards and could go in the teens.
The Bulls really like Jordan Adams, Kennedy tweets, and he’s an option at No. 16 and No. 19 if they keep those picks.

Draft Notes: Cavs, Parker, Wiggins, Embiid

June 25th, 2014 at 11:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wants the team to draft Andrew Wiggins first overall, but the front office prefers Jabari Parker, report Jeff Goodman and Chad Ford of ESPN.com. That’s somewhat surprising, considering that Parker is seemingly the better of the two for Gilbert’s desire to win now. It’s unclear if Gilbert will let GM David Griffin and company take Parker, but after letting his executives make the call on Anthony Bennett at No. 1 last year, Gilbert will at least have a “stronger voice” this time around, Ford tweets. Here’s more on the eve of the draft:

Andrew Wiggins wants to play for the Sixers, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Sixers would take Wiggins at No. 1 if they were to move up, but the Bucks, Magic, Jazz, and Celtics would all select Jabari Parker if they wound up at the top of the draft, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Multiple teams are trying to buy copies of Joel Embiid‘s medical records, a source tells Jake Fischer of The Boston Globe. Other sources tell Fischer that the buying of draftees’ medical records is common practice. (Twitter links)
James Young says his workout with the Sixers went well, and gets the sense that he could be selected by Philadelphia with the No. 10 pick, tweets Pompey.
Julius Randle passed on a second workout with the Celtics, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Marcus Smart did perform a second workout with the Celtics, and also worked out for the Magic a second time, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders,
Zach LaVine tells Andrew Perna of RealGM he has worked out for every team holding picks six through 17 (Twitter link). The Sixers, Magic, and Bulls are teams in that range that had not been linked to a workout with LaVine previously.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo worked out for the Knicks, tweets Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Knicks acquired two second round picks earlier today.
Bogdan Bogdanovic has come stateside to work out for the Spurs and Clippers, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets that the Serbian wing is gaining steam as a potential pick late in the first round.
Alec Brown has worked out for the Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Clippers, Knicks, Sixers, and Raptors, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Tim Bontemps of The New York Post thinks it’s likely that the Nets can pick up a second round pick, and opines that they could even make their way into the late first round, where multiple teams would like to trade out of.

Earlier updates

Dan Gilbert tweeted out his insistence that he and the Cavs front office are not split (hat tip to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel).
An opposing GM told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that the Cavs are entertaining “everything,” because they are in the driver’s seat (Twitter link).
It’s still unknown if Dante Exum will work out for the Cavs at their request, but Andy Katz of ESPN.com reports that the guard is unlikely to cooperate without an assurance that there is a deal in place for Cleveland to move down and select him.
The Hornets have shown sporadic interest in dealing away their No. 24 pick, but those talks have cooled recently, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
The Celtics face tough odds of moving up in the draft because “lots” of other teams with better players to offer are trying to do the same, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
One such team could be the Kings, who sources tell Ken Berger of CSBSports.com are trying to move up from No. 8 to have a chance at landing Joel Embiid.
Rival GMs believe that Nuggets GM Tim Connelly is in “deal-making mode” with Denver’s No. 11 pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets have been reportedly shopping the pick for some time now.
Noah Vonleh is expected to be selected first of the power forward grouping including Vonleh, Aaron Gordon, and Julius Randle, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Gordon is not expected to drop any lower than the eighth selection, per Spears’ source.
Nets GM Billy King told Rod Boone of Newsday that the asking price to acquire a first round draft pick is likely too high for Brooklyn, and that a second round pick seems more possible (Twitter link).
Jusuf Nurkic has a buyout to leave his international club and join the NBA this season, tweets Wojnarowski. There was some confusion as to Nurkic’s willingness and ability to join an NBA team immediately before this revelation, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Joel Embiid is in “strong consideration” for the Sixers at No. 3, and it’s highly unlikely he slides past the Lakers at No. 7, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). The Sixers have obtained Embiid’s medical information, as Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com reports.
The NBA buyout in the extension that Walter Tavares signed with his Spanish team is $600K, agent Andy Miller tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, and that’s precisely the amount NBA teams can pay without it counting against the cap. There were representatives from 11 NBA teams at a private workout Tavares held on Tuesday, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and executives from the Knicks and Nets were among them, Zagoria reports. Zagoria also adds the Spurs to the list of teams that have brought the 22-year-old center in for an audition.
Fellow European prospect Vasilije Micic prefers to stay overseas regardless of whether he’s drafted on Thursday, as he told Rigas Dardalis of Eurohoops.net.
The Hawks were the last of a dozen teams to work out Zach LaVine, observes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
Andre Dawkins auditioned for the Kings, as Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report notes within his broader look at the draft. Dawkins tells Zwerling that the Cavs, Pistons and Wizards have expressed interest in him.
Jordan Adams wasn’t able to get to Memphis in time as the Grizzlies scrambled to put together a last-minute audition, so Michael Dixon is taking his place in the four-man workout group, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.

Draft Notes: Embiid, Celtics, Trades

June 21st, 2014 at 12:55pm CST by Cray Allred

Joel Embiid‘s foot injury has shaken up the draft, with split opinions around the league regarding the seven-footer’s prospects for the draft and beyond. One league source tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that Embiid’s health concerns place him in legitimate danger of plummeting out of the lottery, while others are confident he will still be selected in the top 10. More draft rumblings:

Tyler Ennis will have his second audition for the Magic on Monday, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (H/T Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic).
The international teams for Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, Nemanja Dangubic, and Vasilije Micic will not put any barriers in place to keep the players from joining the NBA if drafted, per tweets from Yugobasket and Misko Raznatovic (H/T Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Marcus Smart, Noah Vonleh, and Aaron Gordon are the Celtics preferred group of draftees at No. 6, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Boston’s “most likely” scenario for the draft is to keep both of their picks, GM Danny Ainge tells Washburn (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

The Cavs are making efforts to trade down from the top spot to the No. 3-5 range in the draft, where they think Embiid would still be available, tweets Brett Poirier of Sheridan Hoops. The Magic, sitting at No. 4, have not been contacted by Cleveland, a source tells Poirier (Twitter link). The Sixers and Jazz own the third and fifth pick, respectively.
The Lakers would consider taking Embiid at No. 7 if he fell that far, a source familiar with their thinking tells Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News. Unsurprisingly, LA’s choice would hinge on their confidence in the big man’s recovery.
The Lakers are more likely to hang on to that seventh pick than deal it, despite their ongoing efforts to explore what they could net for it, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The pick was linked to Klay Thompson as part of the Kevin Love discussions earlier today.
The Suns are willing to trade away the 27th pick for a future first-rounder, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Jakarr Sampson, Niels Giffey, Glenn Robinson III, and Chane Behanan will work out for the Celtics today, tweets Holmes.
As previously reported, the Warriors, Blazers, Pelicans, and Knicks are all looking to acquire first round draft picks, but the price tag is extremely high due to the deep draft pool, reports Alex Kennedy (via Twitter). Kennedy says that teams are asking for future picks that are unprotected or barely protected in return for first-rounders this year.
The NBA has invited 21 prospects to the green room for the draft broadcast, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reveals in two tweets. The invite is a sign of consensus around these players as first round selections. The players invited were Andrew Wiggins Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Dante Exum, Noah Vonleh, Aaron Gordon, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, Doug McDermott, Dario Saric, Gary Harris, Elfrid Payton, Nik Stauskas, James Young, Zach LaVine, Jusuf Nurkic, Adreian Payne, T.J. Warren, Tyler Ennis, Rodney Hood, and Shabazz Napier.