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Pacific Notes: Cousins, Karl, Thompson, West

February 13th, 2015 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Kings are poised for trade deadline action after resolving their coaching situation, while in Phoenix, suitors are lining up for Goran Dragic. We’ll run through the latest news and notes from a busy Pacific Division here:

DeMarcus Cousins praised new Kings coach George Karl to reporters at All-Star weekend in New York, saying he looked forward to working with him, tweets Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The center has expressed exasperation with the team’s coaching turmoil.
Karl was the right choice for the Kings, argues Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, who also lists Scott Brooks among the names of coaches who would have been candidates for the Sacramento job if the team hadn’t hired Karl.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was largely responsible for halting a proposed blockbuster last summer that would have sent Klay Thompson to the Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Kerr and Warriors team consultant Jerry West talked ownership out of making the swap, which would have also sent David Lee to Minnesota and Kevin Martin to Golden State, Deveney adds. A source close the talks told Deveney that the trade was a done deal until Kerr, who took the job with the expectation of coaching Thompson, and West convinced management not to do it.
The jealousy that the Warriors worried might develop when they gave Thompson a more lucrative extension than Stephen Curry got a few years ago hasn’t developed, and Thompson doesn’t regret agreeing to contract terms that might give him less than the max, as Deveney writes in the same piece.
West, who made his mark as an executive with the Lakers, is confident the Lakers wouldn’t ask him back, as he said on 95.7 The Game, as station host Matt Steinmetz relays (Twitter links). West’s son, Ryan, is the Lakers’ assistant scouting director, notes Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
Trading Dragic would be a wise move because the Suns are not true title contenders, Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic argues. Bickley believes the Suns should be acquiring trade assets in order to make a future move to acquire a superstar talent rather than adding short-term pieces such as Ray Allen or Amar’e Stoudemire. If the Suns can add a first-round pick by swapping Dragic while concurrently breaking their point guard logjam, they should not hesitate, Bickley concludes.

Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.

Cavs Notes: James, Harris, Allen

February 12th, 2015 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LeBron James‘ decision last summer to sign a two-year contract with a player option after this season was not only motivated by the ability to take advantage of the rising salary cap and make a higher salary but also to give him maximum leverage, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes. Shelburne adds that James and NBPA president Chris Paul will encourage their membership to fight for more flexible contract structures and a greater piece of the league revenue pie when the players union can opt out of the current CBA in 2017. Here’s more from Cleveland:

The Cavaliers have re-assigned Joe Harris to the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This is the sixth trek of the season to Canton for Harris, who has appeared in six games for the Charge this season, averaging 18.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 33.2 minutes per game.
Cleveland has been in contact with free agent Ray Allen‘s representatives in recent days, but the veteran guard has still not made a decision on where, or if, he will play this season, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal reports.
James feels a sense of urgency to win a championship this season even though he and Kevin Love, who can opt out of his deal after the season, are expected to remain with the club long-term, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.com. The facts that James has hit the age of 30 and has logged more than 41,500 minutes in his career also figure into his thinking.

And-Ones: Kings, Allen, Lopez, Wolves

February 11th, 2015 at 10:33am CST by Chuck Myron

DeMarcus Cousins and Tyrone Corbin both called the latest round of Kings coaching upheaval a “distraction,” as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter link). Cousins released a statement through his agency saying that he hadn’t been consulted when the team fired Michael Malone and isn’t being consulted now, expressing hope for a quick resolution and support for George Karl should the team choose to hire him. Still, Cousins decried the public chatter of a coaching move while Corbin remains in place. Rudy Gay, who’s hinted at dissatisfaction with Corbin in the past, instead expressed admiration Tuesday for the job Corbin’s done under trying circumstances, as Jones also notes in his story.

While we wait to see how it all plays out in Sacramento, here’s more from around the league:

A Nets source tells Windrem that no deal with the Hornets involving Lopez, Stephenson and Zeller was ever that close (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

There’s no guarantee that Ray Allen makes his decision on whether or not he’ll return to the NBA this season within 10 days of All-Star Weekend, as Jim Tanner, Allen’s agent, tells Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter link). It was rumored that the 39-year-old sharpshooter was going to make a choice regarding his future shortly after the All-Star break.
The Hornets offered Lance Stephenson and Cody Zeller to the Nets last month and were ready to call the league office to finalize the trade, reports Robert Windrem of NetsDaily (All Twitter links). The sides were quite close to agreement, Windrem adds, and so close that people at the D-League Showcase, which was taking place at the time, thought it was a fait accompli, Grantland’s Zach Lowe tweets. It was the closest Brooklyn has come to trading Lopez, Joe Johnson or Deron Williams this year, according to the NetsDaily scribe.
The Wolves sent the Hornets $344,462 in cash Tuesday in the Mo Williams trade, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows on his Wolves salary page (Twitter link). Minnesota created two trade exceptions in that deal, one worth Troy Daniels‘ $816,482 salary and another worth the $500K difference between the salaries for Williams and Gary Neal, Pincus tweets.
That means the Wolves had to take Adreian Payne into one of their existing trade exceptions to make their trade with the Hawks work, and that’s just what Minnesota did. The Wolves absorbed Payne’s $1,855,320 salary into their $4,702,500 Corey Brewer exception, leaving the $6,308,193 Kevin Love exception untouched and reducing the Brewer exception to $2,847,180, as Pincus shows on the Basketball Insiders Wolves salary page.
The Hawks would wind up with Minnesota’s second-round picks for both 2020 and 2021 if the lottery-protected 2017 first-rounder the Wolves gave up in the Payne trade doesn’t convey to Atlanta by 2019 at the latest, Pincus also reports on that page.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Clippers Notes: Allen, Depth, Options

February 9th, 2015 at 8:49pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers are less than $1.2MM below their $80.829MM hard cap, which could make acquiring a player who can play significant minutes problematic. Los Angeles has spoken with Sebastian Telfair about a potential deal and would have interest in Kevin Garnett or Amar’e Stoudemire if either player agrees to a buyout with their current clubs.

Here’s more on the team that, for now, resides in seventh place in the Western Conference:

Doc Rivers has spoken to Ray Allen recently, but he doesn’t know if the Clippers are in the mix for the shooting guard, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The Warriors, Wizards, Cavs, Spurs, Heat and Hawks are among the teams that have been linked to the 39-year-old.
The Clippers‘ lack of depth may cause them to fall in the standings during Blake Griffin‘s time away because of injury, opines Jon Hamm of The Oklahoman. Hamm examines how the Clippers built their team around stars and compares the team to the Thunder, who drafted all of their stars and were able to remain in the playoff hunt after a rash of early season injuries.
The Clippers have a few options to fill Griffin’s void, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders examines in a video. Spencer Hawes is the best candidate on the roster to step up and keep the team afloat during Griffin’s absence. Kennedy adds that If Hawes isn’t able to elevate his game, free agency might be the team’s best option to add talent due to the team’s lack of resources. The Clippers lack the young talent that many teams desire in return for productive players and the next first-rounder that the team can promise to a trade partner is its 2021pick. Check out our Draft Pick Tracker to see which teams will get the Clippers’ future picks as well as which picks will be on the move for the rest of the teams in the league.

Ray Allen Rumors: Monday

February 9th, 2015 at 5:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ray Allen plans a decision about his NBA future after this week’s All-Star break, as Brian Windhorst wrote this morning and as we passed along earlier. That time frame, while not quite specific, has nonetheless led to another batch of Allen-related news, so we’ll round it all up here, with any additional updates added to the top throughout the day:

5:59pm update:

The Warriors haven’t heard anything new from Allen or his representatives for weeks, Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group tweets.
The Warriors remain interested and they intend on keeping their last roster spot open until he makes a decision, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link)

2:02pm update:

Nearly every playoff-bound team has reached out to Allen, including clubs without open roster spots, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Warriors plan to follow up with Allen and his reps, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, adding that nothing has changed from the team’s perspective (Twitter link). GM Bob Myers said in December that he’d reached out to Allen’s camp, though Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group indicated last month that the team had abandoned the idea. Windhorst nonetheless wrote in his story this morning that Golden State has kept in touch with the Jim Tanner client.
Sources close to Allen emphasized to Kennedy the sharpshooter’s long-held stance that he hasn’t decided whether he’ll play at all, and the 39-year-old has yet to tell even his own reps whether he plans to return to the NBA, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington (Twitter links).

Pacific Notes: Allen, Warriors, Thomas, Corbin

February 9th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors are among a group of several teams that have remained in contact with Ray Allen, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Golden State appeared to have dropped out of the Allen sweepstakes after GM Bob Myers said in December that they had reached out to him, but the Warriors are still in the mix, according to Windhorst, who adds that they felt they were close to a deal with him earlier this season. The Wizards, Cavs, Spurs, Heat and Hawks are others who’ve kept in touch with the all-time leading three-point shot-maker, Windhorst writes, adding that Allen plans to make a decision on his future after All-Star Weekend. There’s more on the Warriors amid the latest from around the Pacific Division:

Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk indicated that the team is hesitant to make even the slightest of moves between now and the trade deadline, as Matt Steinmetz of 95.7 The Game observes after Schlenk spoke with Steinmetz and John Dickinson on “The NBA Show.” “We’ve been good for the past couple years,” Schlenk said. Maybe not championship quality but we’ve been playoff caliber. I tell [GM] Bob [Myers] all the time ‘Our job now is not to screw it up.’ When you’re sitting with the record we have, and the year we’ve had, you’d like to tinker but you don’t want to mess it up. Chemistry is such a big thing, and our group of guys has such great chemistry. We’d hate to do a move just to do a move and have it mess up our chemistry. I don’t know we’ll do anything. We’re certainly active. … But at the same time, we’ve got to be cautious as well.”
Isaiah Thomas has chosen Excel Sports Management’s Sam Goldfeder as his new agent, reports Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (on Twitter). The Suns guard dropped Andy Miller of ASM Sports earlier this season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports and Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee share the sentiment that the Kings should show Tyrone Corbin respect by coming to a speedy resolution on his future (Twitter links). Sacramento is deep into talks with George Karl after GM Pete D’Alessandro earlier said that Corbin would remain the team’s head coach until season’s end.

Cavs Notes: Allen, Love, Williams

February 8th, 2015 at 6:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs had their 12-game winning streak snapped Friday and they were apparently anxious to get back to their winning ways. On Sunday, Kevin Love scored a season high 32 points while LeBron James got into triple double territory, leading the way for Cleveland to beat the Lakers, 120-105. James finished with 22 points, 10 boards, and 8 dimes across three quarters of play while Kyrie Irving helped out with 28 points and 10 assists. More out of Cleveland..

Teams have been led to believe that Ray Allen will be deciding on where he’ll play in the next 10 days, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter). The veteran guard had his concerns about the Cavs when LeBron visited with him a little while back, but that’s no longer the case. Of course, Allen has other suitors and the red-hot Hawks are among the teams that have checked in with him.
Following Sunday’s contest against the Lakers, Cavs forward Love was asked if the purple and gold could be an attractive option for him this summer. Love told reporters, including Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter), “I’m a Cavalier.” When asked if joining the Lakers could be a reality, he replied, “No.”
While he won’t completely rule out the possibility, Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal thinks that the Cavs have other alternatives higher on their list than Mo Williams. It had been speculated that the Cavs could make a play for the Wolves guard since he appears to be available and Cleveland could use another point guard off the bench.

Hawks Trying To Woo Ray Allen

February 6th, 2015 at 4:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:56pm: The Hawks have indeed had discussions with Allen’s representatives about coming to Atlanta, but nothing appears to be imminent at this time, Vivlamore tweets.

8:27am: The Hawks are trying to convince Ray Allen to consider signing with them when and if he decides to play in the NBA this season, though the Cavs remain the favorites to land the 39-year-old, tweets Ryen Russillo of ESPN Radio. Still, coach Mike Budenholzer, acting as the team’s GM in place of Danny Ferry, who’s on a leave of absence, said he’s reluctant to tinker with a roster that’s won 34 of its last 37 games, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes.

“For us to be open to improving the group and adding more depth, with Thabo [Sefolosha] healthy or without Thabo healthy or without Thabo having this injury, it’s kind of the same mindset,” Budenolzer said. “We really like our group. You are hesitant to do anything. There is a little more opportunity for a six- to eight-week window but I don’t think it changes much if at all.”

Sefolosha, who plays the same position Allen does, is about a week into a six-to-eight-week timetable for recovery from a strained calf. Still, Sefolosha plays a much different style than the sharpshooting Allen, the league’s all-time leading three-point shot-maker. The Hawks have a full roster of 15 players signed through the end of the season, as our roster counts show, so they’d have to eat someone’s salary to accommodate Allen. Still, they have slightly more than $3MM worth of cap space to throw at the Jim Tanner client, who this past summer signaled a strong desire for more than the minimum salary should he return to the NBA this season.

Cleveland only has the minimum to give, and the same is true of the Wizards, who are reportedly Allen’s most aggressive suitor. Russillo wrote in December that he’d heard that Allen would make his decision in February, though Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote last week that people around the league increasingly believe that Allen knows the team he’d like to play for, and is simply deciding whether he wants to play at all. The Clippers, Grizzlies, Bulls and Spurs are other teams linked to Allen within the past few months. The Warriors seemed to have abandoned their earlier interest.

Mannix’s Latest: Allen, Lopez, Nuggets, Thunder

January 30th, 2015 at 11:17am CST by Chuck Myron

People around the league increasingly believe that Ray Allen already knows the team he would like to play for this season, and that he’s simply deciding whether he wants to play at all, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Allen has hinted within the past two weeks that he’s coming back to the NBA, but another more recent report indicated that he’s enjoying time with his family. Mannix has a ton of noteworthy items in his latest weekly column, many of them with a Thunder-centric theme, and we’ll hit the highlights here.

The Nuggets are still trying to pry Brook Lopez from the Nets with a package centered on JaVale McGee, according to Mannix. Still, Denver doesn’t want to put Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler into any deal, Mannix cautions.
The Thunder are willing to go deep into the luxury tax this season to acquire Lopez, the SI.com scribe writes. Oklahoma City is unwilling to give up any of its top present-day talent, nor will the team make a move that damages its future as the Thunder look for trade partners who are “desperate,” an opposing GM tells Mannix.
Reggie Jackson turned down an extension offer from Oklahoma City that would have made him the most highly paid backup in the NBA, a source tells Mannix. Just what sort of salary that would have meant is unclear, since Amar’e Stoudemire has made more appearances off the bench than he has starts on a deal that gives him in excess of $23.4MM this season. Some teams believed at the beginning of the season that there was a decent chance that Jackson would command offers of between $13MM and $14MM in restricted free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October.
Several executives from around the NBA believe it’s conceivable that a five-year max deal for Kevin Durant will be worth some $200MM when he hits free agency in 2016, according to Mannix. Durant will be eligible for a max worth about 35% of the salary cap as a 10-year veteran that summer. Those execs also believe that Durant likes playing in Oklahoma City, as he’s said, Mannix writes.
Markieff Morris believes he and brother Marcus Morris might have made more money in restricted free agency this summer if they hadn’t signed extensions with the Suns, but Markieff can’t envision ever playing without his twin again, as he tells Mannix.

Central Notes: Butler, Bucks, Irving

January 23rd, 2015 at 1:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons are just a game out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and if they continue their surge, four Central Division teams will be in line to make the postseason. The Central was supposed to boast the class of the East in the Bulls and the Cavs, but as they languish in the middle of the playoff pack, here’s the latest from around the division:

The Bulls will match any offer sheet that Jimmy Butler would sign this summer, as executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson said in appearance Thursday on ESPN Chicago radio’s Waddle and Silvy program, notes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since the Bulls reportedly plan to make Butler a maximum-salary offer of their own that they hope will forestall the restricted free agent from negotiating with any other team. Paxson also confirmed that the Bulls are interested in Ray Allen and have been in contact with his agent, Jim Tanner, notes Bear Heiser of Fox Sports West (on Twitter).
Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear to Seattle mayor Ed Murray that the NBA envisions the Bucks staying put, dispelling Murray’s notion that the Bucks were a candidate to move if the team failed to make progress on a new arena in Milwaukee, as Murray tells Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The Bucks have until fall 2017 to have an arena in place, and if they don’t, the NBA has the option to take control of the team from its new owners. Seattle investor Chris Hansen is facing a November 2017 deadline to secure an NBA team for the city, lest a promise of civic funding expire.
Kyrie Irving finished fourth in fan voting for the two Eastern Conference starting backcourt spots in the All-Star Game, so he missed out on his best chance to trigger the Derrick Rose rule and up the salaries on the five-year extension that kicks in for him next season. That rule allows players who sign rookie scale extensions to make a starting salary worth approximately 30%, instead of just 25%, of the salary cap. Irving agreed to take only 27.5% if he were to qualify, which can now happen only in the unlikely event he wins MVP this season.