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Central Notes: Bynum, Ilyasova, Fredette

March 1st, 2014 at 8:50am CST by Cray Allred

Chronic knee injuries have taken a permanent toll on Andrew Bynum, who will have to play through pain for the rest of his career. The Pacers big man says he has the drive to push through the injuries and contribute at a high level again, despite a lost season with the Sixers and an ugly release from the Cavs this year, he tells Candace Buckner of The Indy Star. “My motivation is because I want a championship. I want to play.” Here’s more from the Central Division:

Bynum admits to Buckner that he launched a half court shot and mocked an assistant coach in Cleveland out of frustration, which was rumored as the impetus behind the Cavs choice to suspend and then release him.
Bynum found Cavs coach Mike Brown‘s system too complex, and the winning attitudes in Cleveland lacking. Alternately, Bynum is impressed with the Pacers culture. “It’s better, it’s more structured. You’re here, they do what they need to do with you and then you’re out. It’s not like something is going on forever. Everything has a plan and you try to stick to it and accomplish it, that’s always good.”
Ersan Ilyasova tells Charles F. Gardner of Milwauke Journal Sentinel that he’s hoping the latest reset for the Bucks will be the last for a while. “Even last year being in the playoffs and we were hoping we were going to build on it. I came back to Milwaukee and it was like a new team. It’s really frustrating but at some point we have to find stability,” says Ilyasova. “We have a great organization. We have good fans, but we just have to be consistent with what we do. At some point I’m hoping we find the right pieces. I feel really comfortable being with the Milwaukee Bucks. We’ve had a lot of change, but I hope we find the right players.” Ilyasova requested a trade earlier in the year, but while Milwaukee shipped out guards Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour, they held on to the 26-year-old power forward they signed to a five-year, $40MM contract two offseasons ago.
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders thinks the Jimmer Fredette signing by the Bulls will be good for both the team and player. Chicago needs outside shooting, which Fredette can provide, and Fredette needs playing time to rebuild his value before becoming a free agent this offseason.

Odds & Ends: Shaw, Vesely, Singleton

February 25th, 2014 at 6:45pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Nuggets coach Brian Shaw refuted the idea that he hates his roster and vice-versa, writes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Dempsey says that the potentially harmful narrative arose out of a few radio interviews that the rookie head coach had done earlier this week. Shaw addressed the topic earlier today:

“I can’t remember who it was that asked me yesterday; he said ‘Would you have taken this job with the roster, if it was just the guys who are healthy and playing right now would you have taken this job?’…I said ‘Yeah, I most likely would have taken it.’ But the expectation and everything else would have been different, knowing if there wasn’t going to be (Danilo Gallinari, JaVale McGee, and Nate Robinson) for half the season and the situation be what it is…I don’t hate the roster. What I hate is having to beg guys to play. That simple. That shouldn’t be a part of what coaching should be. And circumstances are what they are. None of us asked for it.”

Here are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along this evening:

Forward Jan Vesely intends to continue playing in the NBA rather than returning to Europe after his rookie scale contract runs out at season’s end, agent Alex Raskovic tweets.
Chris Singleton will hit unrestricted free agency after the Wizards declined his fourth-year option before the season, so he knows his next contract is at stake as he attempts to fill in for an injured Nene Hilario, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com examines.
The Thunder were prepared to give up their own 2014 first-rounder in a deadline deal, but Zach Lowe of Grantland hasn’t heard any suggestion that they were ready to part with the first-rounder the Mavericks owe them. That Dallas pick will likely come higher in the draft order.
Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown was complimentary about Earl Clark, who is reportedly finalizing a contract to join the Knicks: “He’s a good player…He’s going to help (New York), especially in that system playing pick-and-roll and spreading the floor.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Gilbert, Wyatt, Bobcats

February 14th, 2014 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavs are still trying to pick up the pieces in the wake of the firing of GM Chris Grant. Team owner Dan Gilbert is determined to learn from past mistakes, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The team is 3 1/2 seasons removed from LeBron James‘ departure for Miami and have only Kyrie Irving to show for their troubles. Gilbert is ferocious in his determination not to lose Irving the way he lost LeBron, writes Begrer, and Gilbert says the lessons learned from James’ decision to go to Miami in 2010 will be the guiding force behind his search for an executive to lead the franchise forward.

LeBron Notes: Outlook In Miami, Cleveland, L.A.

February 8th, 2014 at 11:03am CST by Cray Allred

The unprecedented build up and meltdown surrounding LeBron James‘ decision to sign with the Heat four summers ago dwarfs the current speculation on the four-time MVP’s next venture into free agency, which is likely to occur if James opts out of his contract for next year and maximizes his earnings. James admitted in to Sean Highkin of USA Today that the team’s struggles in his first year after joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh caused him to question his unpopular decision at the time, “We weren’t playing good basketball, we were out of sync, and me and D-Wade were looking at each other like, ‘Did we make the right choice, man?'” Three finals appearances and two championships later, James is now easily at peace with the choice. Here are some more rumors on James’ future:

Bill Reiter of FOX Sports writes that the dysfunction surrounding the Cavs this year is due in large part to the ongoing void and desperation that remain from LeBron’s departure. Reiter says that the tantalizing possibility of a James homecoming next season played a significant part in the re-hiring of coach Mike Brown and the top overall draft selection of Anthony Bennett this year. The Cavs’ playoffs-or-bust goals for the season were an attempt to impress James and lure him back to a winning franchise, but basing the team’s identity around that hypothetical has led to the reports of locker room disarray and underperformance in Retier’s mind.
While most of the chatter around LeBron’s future centers on his decision to stay, and whether Wade and Bosh remain with him, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel [subscription-only] wonders if James could actually lure more talent to join him on the Heat in upcoming offseasons.
In the same space, Winderman still can’t rule out the possibility of James returning to the Cavs. The firing of GM Chris Grant could be the first of many moves that make the franchise a more appealing destination, including a new coach or a knockout draft choice.
Howard Beck and Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report discussed whether a sign-and-trade to the Clippers is a realistic possibility. The odds are stacked against such a move due to the Clippers’ lack of cap room, general legacy concerns for James, and a perceived aversion to the Clippers’ unpopular owner Donald Sterling.

Cavs Rumors: Jackson, Karl, Griffin, Brown

February 7th, 2014 at 9:31am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs are eyeing Phil Jackson and George Karl, but they’d like to see interim GM David Griffin and coach Mike Brown step up and keep their jobs, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter links). Ostensibly, Jackson, who’s said he’s done with coaching, would be a candidate for the GM job, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com suggested Thursday, while Karl would be sought for a return to the Cavs bench, where he served as coach in the 1980s. In any case, the final three months of the season are an on-the-job audition for Griffin and the “last chance saloon” for Brown, Amico writes. Here’s more on the Cavs, a day after they fired GM Chris Grant:

Dan Gilbert’s assertion Thursday that the Cavs have what they need to be successful prompts Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal wonder why Grant took the fall for the team’s woes.
The time to fire Grant was this past spring, not two weeks before the trade deadline, argues fellow Beacon scribe Marla Ridenour, who thinks Gilbert should shoulder responsibility for the franchise’s shortcomings.
Grant didn’t put up results in his time in Cleveland, but the team’s playoff aspirations for this season were misplaced, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller writes.
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group centers his proposal for upgrading the Warriors on a pair of trade ideas involving the Cavaliers. Cleveland is in much the same desperate position Golden State was a few years ago when it acquired David Lee, Kawakami believes, suggesting Lee could serve the Cavs in a similar role as a bridge to more successful times.

Fallout From Cavs GM Change

February 6th, 2014 at 6:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The big news out of Cleveland today was the firing of GM Chris Grant. The team was expected to let Grant go after the season, but with the team losing six in a row, and 10 of their last 13 games, team owner Dan Gilbert felt he couldn’t wait that long. There are a number of candidates now being considered to take over the now-vacant GM position. The trade deadline is looming, and the team may be looking to shake up its roster. The only thing certain right now is that the team is in trouble on the court, and now in a state-of-flux off of it.

Here’s more on the state of the Cavs:

Grant has a reputation around the league as being difficult to work with, and executives from other teams believe he valued his own players too highly, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Gilbert, rather than Grant, engineered the Andrew Bynum signing this past summer, Lowe adds.
In the press conference where he discussed firing Grant, Dan Gilbert mentioned how no one associated with the team is happy with how the season is going, and he alluded to the need for “cultural and environment change.” If that is indeed the case, then it doesn’t make sense to fire the GM, but keep the coach, writes Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. He believes that Mike Brown might be more responsible for the team’s current woes than Grant. The team isn’t responding to him, and the Cavs aren’t playing with the necessary effort to turn things around, says Pluto, who also believes the team would be in better shape if it had retained Byron Scott for another season.
Dan Gilbert purchased majority ownership of the Cavs back in 2005. In that time he’s seen his share of turmoil, but he says this season has been the “most challenging,” writes Jodie Valade of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Gilbert didn’t go as far as promising that Mike Brown’s job was safe, but did mention that Brown has been with the team less than a full season. Gilbert also stated, “We’re going to see Mike Brown succeed this year. I think he will be able to do good things in the next 30 games or so.”
With the team looking to shake up its roster, Basketball Insiders takes a look at the roster and salaries interim GM David Griffin has to work with.
Lack of progress led to Grant’s firing, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. With the team having had four top-four draft picks in three years, including two No. 1 overall choices, the team should have been moving in a much more positive direction, opines Amico. The poor season that Anthony Bennett is having also didn’t help Grant’s case.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders thinks Grant’s firing suggests roster changes will be coming, with the trade deadline two weeks away. A new GM won’t have any attachment to the players whom Grant brought in, which means a roster shakeup could be happening soon. The only player who should feel secure is Kyrie Irving. Every other player, including Luol Deng, could be on the move, according to Kennedy.
There are five tasks the new Cavs GM must tackle, writes Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. These include retaining Kyrie Irving, finding a new head coach, re-signing Deng, drafting better, and bringing in more efficient offensive players.

Eastern Notes: Brown, Irving, Bynum, Celtics

February 1st, 2014 at 6:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It’s not a revelatory statement to say the Cavaliers are in trouble this season. They have lost 17 of their last 24 contests, and are 16-30 on the year, leaving them four games behind in the playoff standings. There are plenty of calls going around for coach Mike Brown‘s job. But firing Brown would only worsen the team’s real problem, writes Bud Shaw of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Shaw believes that it’s the players lack of professionalism that is the issue this season, and firing Brown would only serve to enable them further. Shaw also opines that if a true professional like Luol Deng is unable to have a positive impact, then there definitely is a much deeper problem with the organization than Brown.

More from around the Eastern Conference:

Also weighing in on the Cavaliers coaching situation is Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. She thinks that the team would be better off if they ran Brown’s defense as he coached it, but if the players are tuning him out, then the team might need to make a coaching change.
In the same piece, Schmitt Boyer also spoke about some fans clamoring for the team to trade Kyrie Irving. She doesn’t believe it would be wise, stating that the team wouldn’t get equal value in NBA players in return, and the team hasn’t drafted well, so draft picks might also not be worth trading him for.
John Wall admits he’ll try to recruit Kevin Durant to join the Wizards in 2016, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Wall has stated in the past that he won’t be a recruiter and beg anyone to sign with his team, but for Durant he may make an exception. Wall and Durant share a trainer in the offseason, and Wall has already started dropping Durant some hints about coming to Washington.
The Knicks made a strong push for Andrew Bynum, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Knicks personnel director Mark Warkentien tried to arrange a meeting with Bynum, but it never materialized. The Knicks only had the veteran’s minimum to offer Bynum, which pro-rated would have been $550K. Indiana had part of its mid-level exception and can pay him a full $1MM for the rest of the season, which may have been the determining factor.
The plethora of personnel changes the Celtics undergone this season have made it difficult for the team to maintain any continuity, writes Baxter Holmes of Boston.com. Between injuries, trades, and D-League signings, it has been hard for the team to be consistent. Holmes also states that the trade deadline might bring about even more changes for the squad.

Cavs Rumors: Irving, Brown, Grant, Bynum

January 31st, 2014 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com points to Dan Gilbert’s vow that he’d never again let a star hit free agency as a reason why this summer’s extension negotiations with Kyrie Irving will be critical. Windhorst wonders if the Cavs, frustrated with Irving’s lack of on-court and off-court growth, might be hesitant to commit the maximum salary to the former No. 1 overall pick.

If the Cavs don’t see Irving as a max player, they could lose him in restricted free agency to a team that is willing to give him the max in the summer of 2015. That demonstrates the urgency surrounding the Cavs and their All-Star, and we have more from Windhorst’s piece and others here:

Irving and coach Mike Brown share a mutual discontent about each other, while Irving’s failure to click with Dion Waiters and the disappointing play of Anthony Bennett have led the point guard to lose confidence in GM Chris Grant, according to Windhorst.
The Cavs thought they’d resolved their issues with the departure of Andrew Bynum, but the center was clearly not at fault for all the team’s problems, observes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer.
Odds are Brown and Irving will both be staying in Cleveland for a while longer, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who believes it’s incumbent on them to work together to lift the team. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald shares similar thoughts, opining that the Cavs should try to smooth out their differences with Irving.

Cavs Brass Feels Mike Brown Has Lost Team?

January 30th, 2014 at 11:07pm CST by Ryan Raroque

11:07pm: Amico has been told there’s no fear that Brown has lost the team, in addition to the Cavs strongly refuting the report. When asked by a Twitter follower about the quick contradiction of the earlier report, Amico responded with “different sources say different things” (Twitter links).

9:51pm: According to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio, although Cavaliers brass is concerned that Mike Brown has lost his team, league sources say there aren’t any plans to fire him at the moment. Amico also relays that there isn’t much hope for Brown re-gaining command of the locker room without a “significant occurrence” (Twitter links).

These tweets come along shortly after the Cavs were dealt a 31-point drubbing to the Knicks tonight and on a day that includes a report of Kyrie Irving telling confidants of his displeasure in Cleveland. At 16-30, the team has dropped 17 of its last 22 games and have lost three straight. Earlier this season, GM Chris Grant was reportedly on “shaky ground” with the franchise, and the Cavs’ performance thus far certainly doesn’t help his case. As we relayed earlier today, there’s widespread belief among NBA executives that Grant won’t last in Cleveland beyond this season if the team can’t turn things around.

Things haven’t gone very smoothly for the Cavs this season, and despite the fact that Grant was able to conclude a rocky situation with Andrew Bynum by trading for Luol Deng, the concern about Brown losing his grip on the roster, speculation of Irving wanting to leave, a more-disappointing-than-not season for number one overall pick Anthony Bennett, and the possibility that Deng has the option of bolting this summer to explore free agency only further complicates things.

Eastern Notes: Irving, Rondo, 76ers

January 30th, 2014 at 8:03pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Earlier today, we made note of the rumblings that Kyrie Irving privately wants out of Cleveland. Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that Irving has never approached him to complain about the team or wanting out (Twitter link). Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio may not be sure of what Irving has or hasn’t said behind-the-scenes, but he does know that Drederick Irving – Kyrie’s father – has been very vocal about his irritation with how the Cavaliers are utilizing his son this year. As the plot thickens in Ohio, you can read more of what’s going on elsewhere in the Eastern Conference tonight:

As recently as Tuesday, Schmitt Boyer writes that Irving came to Brown’s defense when reporters asked if Cavs players were starting to tune out their head coach: “I’m leaving my trust with coach Brown…I’m riding and dying with coach Brown. We’re going through ups and downs together. We’re all in this together, everybody in the locker room. We’re all going through this together. I have my teammates backs and I know they have mine.”
Howard Beck and Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report discuss Rajon Rondo‘s future and tackle the topic of whether the Celtics should trade or build around the four-time All-Star.
Marc Narducci and Keith Pompey of the Inquirer talk about Michael Carter-Williams‘ historic rookie season and the mood of the 76ers locker room as the team has gone 3-10 over their last thirteen games. More from Pompey about the roster: “A lot of these (guys) are marginal NBA players and they came here for the opportunity to (showcase themselves) for next year…they know it’s not about wins and losses at the end of the day, it’s about attracting the eye of another GM so you can get another job somewhere else.”
The Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett says to look for Vitor Faverani to have a two-day stint with the Red Claws on Friday and Saturday before being called up again to the Celtics on Sunday (Twitter link).