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Atlantic Links: Noel, Celtics, Vasquez

December 12th, 2013 at 10:34pm CST by Ryan Raroque

76ers prospect Nerlens Noel hasn’t let his knee rehab prevent him from working on other parts of his game, as Dei Lynam of CSN Philly reports that head coach Brett Brown has been tutoring the young big man on defensive principles in addition to working with him on his shooting form. As per Brown:

“I am thrilled [with] what he has done with his shot…We said from the very beginning that this is an opportunity and one that I hope he never has again…There is far more fluid to his shot and I think the carryover from this year will be significant if we can get it right for his future.”

Here are a few more minor notes to pass along out of the Atlantic Division:

  • In his latest Celtics mailbag, Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston answers questions about Jordan Crawford‘s emergence, what happens to the rotation once Rajon Rondo is cleared to play, and which players have improved their trade value since the start of the season.
  • According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is taking a cautious approach with the team’s Atlantic Division-leading 10-14 start to the season (Subscribers only).
  • Eric Koreen of the National Post writes about how Greivis Vasquez‘s affinity for playing for playing pick-and-roll basketball on a Raptors team that welcomes plenty of those opportunities will be an important development as the team looks to move on from Kyle Lowry.
  • Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops explores the Knicks and Nets’ proposed deals with Toronto for Lowry and discusses whether or not they make sense.
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Eastern Notes: Woodson, Van Gundy, Rondo

December 11th, 2013 at 9:25pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Knicks’ poor play means that Mike Woodson might still be in danger of losing his job, but Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that Woodson doesn’t believe he has to prove himself to anyone: “I’m not trying to convince anyone…I’m trying to take our team as it is and do the best job we can do.” Berman notes that since owner James Dolan gave Woodson his vote of confidence early this season, the Knicks have gone 2-9. Here’s more from New York and the Eastern Conference:

  • Jeff Van Gundy says there isn’t any merit to the rumors claiming he might replace Woodson as coach for the Knicks, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reveals. “It’s annoying because it’s not true,” said Van Gundy. “I don’t think for one minute Mike Woodson is in any trouble nor should he be because he has proven himself to be an outstanding coach.“
  • Rajon Rondo spoke out and said he hasn’t been in contact with Carmelo Anthony about potentially signing with the Knicks down the road, reports Royce Young of CBSsports.com: “I haven’t spoken to him. He ain’t contacted me. It’s just rumors.“
  • It’s no secret the Pacers are seeking to earn the highest seed in the East year, and besting the Heat last night in Indiana proves they’re capable of challenging Miami for the top spot. Wheat Hotchkiss at NBA.com examines how important offseason acquisitions C.J. Watson and Luis Scola have been to Indiana’s success this year.
  • John Salmons is happy to be in Toronto, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. It’s been seven years since Salmons turned down a five-year, $23MM deal to play for the Raptors in order to ink a similar deal with the Kings.
  • An Insider piece by Bradford Doolittle of ESPN examines the key decisions that the Bulls’ front office will face in the near future, including the decision of whether or not to amnesty Carlos Boozer. Opting to retain the veteran forward will probably delay European superstar Nikola Mirotic’s arrival in Chicago, notes Doolittle.
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Atlantic Notes: White, Marshall, Rondo, Knicks

December 10th, 2013 at 4:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

At least three NBA teams are showing interest in Royce White, agent George Bass of AAI Sports tells Sarah Lyall of The New York Times, in comments that jibe with what White said a week ago. The 16th overall pick in last year’s draft recently hired Bass after parting ways with his representatives at ASM Sports. White says he’s ready to play, but when the Sixers waived him before the season, there’s was apparently more to their decision than concerns over his mental health difficulties, Lyall writes.

“They just told me they didn’t want to keep me at this point in time, and that’s pretty much the gist of it,” he said. “There was a lot being said in meetings, and all of it was contradictory — ‘You’re supertalented; you can play; you can be an excellent player in the league, but we don’t want to keep you at this time.’”

There’s more on a player that Philadelphia seems more enthusiastic about in our roundup from the Atlantic Division:

  • There were rumors that the Sixers were interested in Kendall Marshall right after the Wizards released him at the start of the season, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Marshall is now with Philly’s D-League affiliate, which makes sense, Coro says.
  • Rajon Rondo said today that he’s had “no conversations” with Carmelo Anthony about joining forces, in response to the rumor that Anthony is recruiting the point guard, notes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Yet saying otherwise would probably constitute tampering, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News suggests (on Twitter).
  • Rondo would be an awkward on-court fit with Anthony and many of the current Knicks, opines Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal.
  • Knicks owner James Dolan met with Mike Woodson right after Sunday’s 41-point loss to the Celtics for a conversation that “must have been as pleasant as root canal” for the embattled coach, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. At least one player was also in the meeting, Isola adds.
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Celtics Notes: Rivers, KG, Pierce, Crawford

December 8th, 2013 at 3:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Carmelo Anthony recruiting Rajon Rondo to New York?  Maybe it should be the other way around.  The Celtics punished the Knicks at MSG this afternoon, cruising to a 114-73 victory.  In the biggest rout of the 2013/14 season so far, Jordan Crawford led the way with 23 points while Melo had just 19 off of putrid 5-of-15 shooting.  The latest out of Boston..

  • Doc Rivers says the patience and effort needed to rebuild with the Celtics “just wasn’t in me,” but he thinks the team will recover quickly, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald observes. Rivers also doesn’t think the resentment that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett harbor toward Ray Allen will last.
  • After being brought in at last season’s trade deadline to be a wild card for the postseason-bound Celtics, Crawford had no real expectations on him.  However, Crawford is proving to be a real force for Boston, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
  • The rumor that the Knicks approached the Celtics about Rajon Rondo and offered Iman Shumpert caused laughter among the Boston brass because the Celtics want first-round picks, especially if they are to deal with a division rival, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
  • Even though he’s not likely to win the award, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) would like to see Danny Ainge get some votes for Executive of the Year for the picks he stockpiled and his bold coaching hire.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Odds & Ends: Rondo, Carmelo, Tyler, Ayres

December 7th, 2013 at 10:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo doesn’t put much stock in the rumor that Carmelo Anthony is trying to recruit him to the Knicks, but Anthony has been privately yearning to see Rondo in orange and blue since July, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks attempted to trade Iman Shumpert for Rondo, and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone thinks it’s critical that New York continue to see if it can pry the All-Star point guard away from the Celtics or make some kind of splash, lest Anthony bolt in free agency. Here’s more on the Knicks and the rest of the NBA:

  • Berman, in the same piece, also suggests the Knicks may look to re-sign camp invitee Jeremy Tyler in another week as he continues to round into form after a preseason injury.
  • Unlike some free agents who were happy to leave their former teams behind, Spurs big man Jeff Ayres told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News that he feels “no animosity” toward the Pacers and is “still really cool with all the guys on the team.”
  • Kendall Marshall is off to a fast start with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the big club should consider signing last year’s 13th overall pick to an NBA contract.
  • Doubts about the ability of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe to play together left some executives around the league believing the Suns would trade Dragic, but early returns show the pairing has been successful, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Joel Embiid is developing into a potential No. 1 overall pick, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, joining ESPN colleague Chad Ford on the Kansas center’s bandwagon.
  • Knee troubles have sidelined Al Harrington for a good chunk of this season, but he remains involved with the Wizards. As he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Harrington can imagine himself coaching after he retires and has been acting as a de facto assistant in Washington while he recovers.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Atlantic Notes: Kidd, Frank, Rondo, Sixers

December 7th, 2013 at 6:33pm CST by Luke Adams

An Eastern Conference executive who spoke to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News points to Nets coach Jason Kidd as a prime example of why the Knicks can’t replace Mike Woodson with Allan Houston, a possibility broached earlier this week. Houston, like Kidd, has no previous coaching experience, and “would be a disaster,” in the exec’s opinion. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Within the previously linked piece, Lawrence writes that he heard Lawrence Frank “regularly honed in on other assistant coaches’ work and often acted like he was in charge,” which was one reason for his re-assignment. Lawrence adds that Kidd won’t really be in trouble unless he gets a fully healthy roster and still struggles to win games.
  • Frank has hired attorney David Cornwell, who also represents Jonathan Martin of the Miami Dolphins and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. As we heard on Wednesday, Frank intended to retain legal counsel to help work out a buyout agreement with the Nets.
  • Asked about a report suggesting that Carmelo Anthony had been recruiting him to sign with the Knicks in 2015, Rajon Rondo was bemused, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “[Steve Smith] must know something that I don’t know,” Rondo said of his old Oak Hill Academy coach, the source of the rumor.
  • It looks like Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel will each be a part of the Sixers‘ future, but Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier-Times wonders if there are any other “keepers” currently on Philadelphia’s roster.
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Atlantic Notes: Carmelo, Rondo, Shumpert

December 7th, 2013 at 10:34am CST by Zachary Links

Derrick Rose refuses to recruit, but Carmelo Anthony (reportedly) might be willing to woo stars to New York.  Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smtih told USA Today’s Jason Jordan that Anthony is trying to convince Rondo to sign with the Knicks in the summer of 2015 when he is a free agent.  Here’s more on that and other news out of the Atlantic Division..

  • Anthony refused to discuss the report, writes ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian Begley.  “C’mon, man. In my book, that’s tampering,” he said.  If the report is true, however, that’s a promising sign for Knicks fans if the pending free agent is working to get stars to join him at MSG.
  • Iman Shumpert is clearly uncomfortable with all of the trade talk surrounding him and Knicks teammate J.R. Smith empathizes.  “Nobody wants to be traded,” Smith said, according to Begley. “To be in the situation he’s in with a hell of a team and the teammates that we have, it’s tough to go through that.”  Shump took his anger out on the Magic last night, scoring 10 points in 25 minutes in the Knicks’ 38-point win.
  • Despite uneven playing time in Boston, Gerald Wallace says that Celtics teammate Kris Humphries won’t be requesting a trade.  “That’s not his personality,” Wallace said, according to the Boston Herald. “I think a lot of people are trying to push him to that edge, but knowing Kris, that’s not his personality. He’s not going to demand a trade. He’s not going to blow up and go all off in the media. The thing he’s going to do is keep working hard every day and continue to get better as a player and wait for his opportunity.”
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Carmelo Anthony Recruiting Rajon Rondo?

December 6th, 2013 at 9:35am CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2015 and remains sidelined after an ACL tear, but his high school coach claims the recruitment process has already begun. Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith tells USA Today’s Jason Jordan that Carmelo Anthony is trying to woo Rondo to New York. Anthony also played under Smith at Oak Hill, but the Knicks star seems intent on opting out of his contract this summer, making his interest in recruiting a class of 2015 free agent to New York a potential sign that he wants to re-sign with the Knicks.

New York reportedly tried to trade for Rondo earlier this season in a deal involving Iman Shumpert, only to meet with refusal from Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who denies that any talk of a Rondo swap took place. It could be that the high school coach is making reference to these talks rather than free agency, insinuating that Anthony is lobbying the Knicks front office to pursue trading for Rondo and that the two stars have had their own private discussions about it. That’s just my speculation, of course.

Rondo is set to become one of the most sought-after free agents in 2015, assuming he returns to form after the injury and doesn’t sign an extension with the Celtics. The Knicks are set up to shed most of their bloated payroll after the 2014/15 season, making a Rondo signing a possibility.

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Odds & Ends: Robinson III, Wiggins, Kidd

December 5th, 2013 at 8:53pm CST by Ryan Raroque

According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN, several “NBA guys” (presumably scouts and/or executives) who were in attendance for a recent matchup between Michigan and Duke were disappointed in Glenn Robinson III‘s lack of assertiveness. Goodman adds that they consequently wondered if the current Wolverine should be considered in the top 20 during the upcoming draft or could possibly fall out of the first-round, with one proposing that Robinson III needs one more year in school (Twitter links).

Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:

  • Rajon Rondo doesn’t appear close to a return date, according to Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge: “I don’t think he’s close…Meaning, I don’t think [his return is] going to happen the next few weeks. We’re not on pins and needles about it. We’re being very cautious with Rondo. I think he’s still got a little bit of a limp, his strength is not quite there, but he is making progress. We’re not close” (Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston).  
  • Although there may be a split between NBA executives on who they would choose between Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker for the number one overall pick, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com writes that the general consensus seems to associate Wiggins with the higher ceiling. Even after a less-than-stellar performance last week in the Bahamas, many are said to still be high on Wiggins’ potential.
  • During tonight’s matchup between the Knicks and Nets on TNT, one video segment included coach Jason Kidd‘s comments on Lawrence Frank’s recent re-assignment from his assistant coaching duties: “Philosophies, sometimes things don’t work out…You have to accept that. I could accept that. At the same time, there’s a brand, the Brooklyn Nets that has to move forward. I have to find a way to make them better. For coaches, it happens just like players. It could be a disagreement, or an understanding that we don’t get along. But I have to do what’s best for the brand, and that’s what I had to do” (hat tip to Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated).
  • Tom Haberstroh of ESPN looks at the rebirth of Michael Beasley‘s NBA career in Miami, as the Heat have presented the type of environment that will give the former lottery pick a chance to expedite his development (Insiders only).
  • RealGM’s Shams Charania takes a compelling look at Tre Kelley of the D-League’s Austin Toros, whose challenges in trying to fulfill his NBA dream over the last several years only pale in comparison to the tragedies he’s had to endure away from the court.
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Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Garnett, Rondo, Young

December 1st, 2013 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics are just 7-12, but they could have moved into first place in the Atlantic Division with a win last night. Instead, they lost to the Bucks, the worst team in the woeful Eastern Conference. That leaves the Raptors on top of the Atlantic at 6-9. Here’s more on the four teams chasing Toronto:

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