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New York Notes: Galloway, LeVert, Porzingis

December 31st, 2016 at 9:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks made an effort to re-sign Langston Galloway over the summer, but the lure of returning to his home-state propelled the combo guard to join the Pelicans, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “I didn’t think I would leave [New York],’’ Galloway said. “But I had an opportunity to go home. That definitely was big, important for me and my family and wife. It’s definitely been great playing back home, loving the atmosphere New Orleans has.’’

Here’s more from the Big Apple:

Caris LeVert has only played 12 games this season because of a foot injury, but Nets coach Kenny Atkinson likes what he’s seeing from the rookie, Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays. “[LeVert’s play has been] Super positive. I just said that to our coaches, his energy, how hard he plays, how fast he is, his athleticism, how aggressive he is,” Atkinson said. “So that’s the positive we take out of [it], that he’s really starting to grow in front of our eyes. That’s good to see.”
Randy Foye is taking advantage of his playing opportunity this season and he credits his experience playing alongside diverse play-makers for his ability to help the Nets run an effective offense, Lewis writes in a separate piece. “I played with [Blake Griffin in the past], last year being with [Russell Westbrook] and [Kevin Durant], and seeing the double team and just knowing you’ve got to have the right spacing,” Foye said. The shooting guard signed a one-year deal with Brooklyn during the offseason.
Kristaps Porzingis said Anthony Davis‘ game has greatly influenced his own, Berman passes along in a separate piece. “Before I got to the NBA, I was watching him a lot — skinny guy coming out of college, how he was able to adjust to the NBA, at this level,” Porzingis said of Davis. “Obviously, I learned from him — even seeing defensively, able to hold guys in the post. His skill set is his, pretty all-around. He can do everything, but it was more seeing how he can adjust with his physicality.”

New CBA Grandfathers Harden, Westbrook For New Extensions

December 20th, 2016 at 9:29pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The new CBA will not allow for players to sign contract extensions in back-to-back offseasons, but the agreement will include a provision that will allow James Harden and Russell Westbrook to do exactly that, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reports. The new labor agreement will grandfather Harden and Westbrook into the pool of players eligible to be designated for the super-max contracts by their respective teams.

Both players signed contract extensions this past offseason, but the league and the union agreed that neither player – nor the Rockets or Thunder – should be penalized for operating within the current framework, as the teams and players were not aware that the new CBA would offer such a benefit for waiting just one more season.

Westbrook could sign a five-year, $219MM extension with the Thunder that would begin in the 2018/19 season, according to Wojnarowski. Harden could sign with the Rockets for an additional four years and $171MM on top of the $58.7MM he is set to receive over the next two seasons.

Wojnarowski hears that out of the two players, Westbrook is more likely to sign another extension this summer. Harden may prefer to wait until closer to the end of his current deal to gauge whether or not Houston is able to truly become a title contender.

Harden’s current deal includes a player option for the 2019/20, meaning he could become an unrestricted free agent during the 2019 offseason. At that time, Harden will be entering his 10th year in the league, which is another reason he needed to be grandfathered as an eligible player. The new Designated Player Veteran Exception rule covers players entering their eighth or ninth years of service, per Wojnarowski.

Northwest Notes: Payne, Westbrook, Arthur, Wolves

December 18th, 2016 at 11:39am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder are nearly ready to bring back Cameron Payne from a fractured foot, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. Haynes mentions December 29th in Memphis as a possible season debut for the second-year point guard. Payne suffered the injury to the fifth metatarsal on his right foot early in training camp. He had Jones fracture surgery on the foot in July, but opted to let it heal on its own this time. Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said there is still no set date for Payne to return. “Part of the reason I haven’t given a timetable is because they can’t give me a timetable,” Donovan said of the team’s medical staff. “And to be honest with you, I don’t really ask them a lot of that stuff. I trust what’s going on. They give me an update of how guys are progressing and where they’re at, what they’re doing. I try to be supportive of the player, try to spend time with the player.” Payne averaged 5.0 points and 1.9 assists in 57 games during his rookie season.

There’s more news from the Northwest Division:

Russell Westbrook is ESPN’s Marc Stein’s choice as Most Valuable Player in the Western Conference. Westbrook has taken on an expanded role in the wake of Kevin Durant‘s departure for Golden State and is averaging a triple double per night through the first third of the season. He leads the league in scoring at 30.4 points per game to go along with 11.0 assists and 10.5 rebounds. Westbrook’s stellar play has helped the Thunder remain playoff contenders, just one game back of Utah in the Northwest standings.
With the Nuggets now fully healthy, coach Michael Malone wants to shorten his rotation, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Malone plans a limit of 10 players per game, and the first casualty of that decision is Darrell Arthur, who was informed this week that he will no longer receive regular playing time. “The word that Darrell used, and it hits the point, is sacrifice,” Malone said. “Can’t play 15 guys, and Darrell Arthur is a guy that’s proven to be a very good player in this league, but he sacrifices for his team and supports everybody that is playing. So you have to be selfless and support each other along the way.” The 28-year-old forward is in his eighth year in the league and his fourth in Denver. He is under contract for $7,464,912 next season and has a player option for the same amount in 2018/19.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is preaching patience in the face of a disappointing start, relays Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune. Minnesota made a coaching change and overhauled its front office during the offseason, but has a 7-19 record after Saturday night’s collapse in the final minutes against Houston. “Well, let’s say that I was hopeful they would get off to a better start,” said Taylor. “Even in all the games they have played, you can see the exceptional talent that we have, and the ability to win. But for some reason or another, which I don’t have an answer for, we just have a terrible quarter in each game and get ourselves so far behind that it’s hard to pull it out. I’m hopeful that we’re getting it figured out.”

Northwest Notes: Rubio, Faried, Jazz

December 16th, 2016 at 8:55pm CST by Austin Kent

“The market for Ricky Rubio has shriveled,” says The Vertical’s Chris Mannix in a video segment published on Twitter. The 26-year-old point guard’s days in the Timberwolves‘ starting lineup may be numbered since the franchise drafted Kris Dunn fifth overall in the summer, and his poor play early this season has some experts wondering whether the team will look to move on sooner than later. In 20 games with the T-Wolves this season, Rubio has posted just 6.9 points per game on .368 shooting, the latter being perhaps the biggest negative limiting the playmaker’s trade value.

“What NBA team out there actually needs a point guard?” asks Bobby Marks in the same video. “It’s almost like a quarterback in the NFL. Unless you need one, you’re not going to give up the farm to acquire one.”

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried‘s name has long been mentioned in trade rumors, but the time for a deal is now, writes Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “While insisting he does not blame Faried, it’s obvious [head coach] Michael Malone has lost a little faith in his sixth-year veteran,” says Kiszla, “which echoes the turbulent relationship between Faried and Malone’s predecessor on the Denver bench, Brian Shaw.”
The Jazz were a popular choice to improve this season in the NBA’s annual GM survey, but more recently it has been Utah’s former All-Star point guard Deron Williams singing their praise. “They definitely have an identity now,” says Williams to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “They have a great mix of youth and then experience, adding Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw and George Hill, guys like that to complement the young guys they have.”
Russell Westbrook has been on a tear for the majority of the 2016/17 campaign thus far – including a streak of seven consecutive triple-doubles – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have down days. Sam Amick details the Thunder point guard’s recent “rare and revealing struggles” for USA Today.

And-Ones: Motiejunas, Deng, Jokic

December 3rd, 2016 at 10:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nets signed Donatas Motiejunas to an offer sheet on Friday and the timing of it was no accident, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. Brooklyn hopes that by waiting until after November 23 to sign Motiejunas, the Rockets will further consider not matching, as that was the last day they could have signed him and still been allowed to trade him this season. If Houston matches now, the big man can’t be traded for a full year without his consent.

Stein also notes that Brooklyn hired former longtime Rockets executive Gianluca Pascucci as its director of international scouting during the offseason and there’s likely a correlation between the hiring of Pascucci and the Nets offer to Motiejunas.

Here’s more from around the league:

Luol Deng is struggling in his first season with the Lakers and the chatter about whether he fits in on Los Angeles’ young, promising team is expected to continue, Stein adds in the same piece. Deng signed a four-year, $72MM deal with the team in the offseason.
Nikola Jokic will miss at least a week as he recovers from a sprained wrist, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. “Talking to Nikola, he wants to play right when he can catch the ball,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I think we’ll probably be a little more cautious than that on this road trip, maybe get it looked at again just to kind of see where it’s at once the swelling goes down.”
Jake Rauchbach of Basketball Insiders examines how Russell Westbrook and James Harden are producing eye-popping numbers on the Thunder and Rockets, respectively. Both players signed extensions with their respective teams this offseason.

Poll: Will Westbrook Average Triple-Double For Season?

November 29th, 2016 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

After averaging 9.5 RPG in his first 15 games of the season, Russell Westbrook has dominated the glass over his last four contests, piling up 54 boards in those games, including 18 on Monday night. The hot streak has increased his rebounds per game average to 10.3, to go along with an incredible 30.9 PPG and 11.3 APG. Yes, Westbrook is averaging a triple-double and 30+ PPG through nearly a quarter of the NBA season.

The fact that Westbrook is posting eye-popping numbers so far this season is hardly a surprise. As soon as Kevin Durant departed Oklahoma City and it became clear that Westbrook wasn’t going anywhere, NBA observers – and fantasy basketball players – began speculating about what kind of monster stats the star point guard could rack up as the star of the show for the Thunder.

Still, no player in NBA history has averaged a triple-double since Oscar Robertson did it over 50 years ago, so Westbrook’s current numbers place him in rarefied air. While head coach Billy Donovan says the idea of Westbrook averaging a triple-double for the entire season isn’t a topic of conversation that comes up often within the Thunder locker room, Donovan was willing to entertain the idea, as Fred Katz of The Norman Transcript writes.

“Yeah, he could do it. He could do it,” Donovan said. “I’m not gonna say he is or isn’t because I think the more important thing is Russell is winning, but he’s a guy that has great impact on generating assists. He has a great impact on rebounding the basketball, and he can score. So, there’s certainly a possibility that can happen. Obviously what he’s done this point in time has been pretty remarkable.”

Westbrook set career highs last season with 10.4 APG and 7.8 RPG, so averaging double-digits in assists isn’t out of the realm of possibility for him, but averaging double-digits in rebounds would require a substantial leap from his career rate of 5.7 RPG. It’s also worth noting that the 28-year-old has never averaged more than 28.1 PPG in a season, and his current scoring rate easily eclipses that mark as well.

For Westbrook, his final numbers may ultimately depend on his ability to avoid wearing down over the course of the year. Currently, his usage rate (40.7) easily ranks first among NBA players, and it remains to be seen if he can keep up that pace for 82 games.

What do you think? Will Westbrook make history and average a triple-double this season, or is too unrealistic to expect him to keep up this pace for the entire year?

App users, click here to vote in the poll.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Nets, Jerebko, Sixers

November 28th, 2016 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City for Golden State in July, speculation about Russell Westbrook‘s future with the Thunder began to run rampant. However, Westbrook shut down that talk just a few weeks later by agreeing to a new contract that extended his contract with OKC, locking him up through at least the 2017/18 season. The Knicks were among the teams that would have targeted Westbrook in free agency in 2017 if he hadn’t signed that extension, and Carmelo Anthony was among those surprised by the new deal, as Marc Berman of The New York Post outlines.

“Yeah, to be honest with you, that soon [I was surprised],” Anthony said. “But that’s Russ. Russ don’t give a damn about nothing. It’s all about what he want to do, when he want to do it, how he want to do it. I think he wanted to show he was loyal to OKC. … He wanted to be the leader of that team, regardless of if KD came back or not. He wanted that moment. You could just tell that his vibe was different, his energy was different. You could tell when people want those moments.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Although the Nets‘ D-League affiliate is still in its first year, the franchise has a leg up on many teams around the NBA, since the Brooklyn Nets and Long Island Nets share a venue. Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily explains how it has been a “blessing in disguise” so far for the Nets that their Long Island D-League arena won’t be ready until the 2017/18 season.
Jonas Jerebko has played a major role in the Celtics‘ improved play as of late, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Jerebko, who had his $5MM salary for 2016/17 guaranteed by the team during the summer, is on track to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
As the Sixers‘ young players continue to grow and develop, there are valuable lessons to be learned by observing the star players whose teams are beating them, says Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News. After falling to Dwyane Wade‘s Bulls and LeBron James‘ Cavaliers this weekend, head coach Brett Brown praised those stars’ ability to take their games to another level in key moments. “You have to learn how to play 48 minutes,” Brown said. “That’s the lesson for our guys.”

Western Rumors: Rubio, Lakers, Westbrook, Griffin

November 26th, 2016 at 3:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio is off to a disastrous start, due to an elbow sprain and his struggles to run new coach Tom Thibodeau’s scheme, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Rubio is averaging 6.1 points on 32.7% shooting and a career-low 6.7 assists in 29.9 minutes. “I think everybody’s got to look at the mirror and see if they’re bringing everything in the game,” Rubio told Zgoda. “Talking personally, I’m not doing it and I have to do it more. I have to be more aggressive. I have to find myself again and lead this team like I’m supposed to.” Rubio’s name has often popped up in trade rumors, particularly after the team drafted Kris Dunn in the lottery in June. He has two years and $29.2MM remaining on his contract after this season but his poor play isn’t enhancing his value.

In other developments around the Western Conference:

Injuries have put a damper on the Lakers’ hot start, Eric Pincus of the Bleacher Report writes. D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Nick Young all sat out against the Warriors on Friday with various ailments. Jose Calderon, Jordan Clarkson and rookie Brandon Ingram were thrust into the lineup, weakening the team’s bench. “It’s hard. It’s hard losing big pieces of our team,” Clarkson told Pincus. “We need a team to beat anybody in this league. With everybody back, we’re a complete team.”
Thunder coach Billy Donovan is trying to not overwork his franchise player, point guard Russell Westbrook, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman reports. Westbrook is averaging 35.2 minutes after the team’s overtime victory against the Nuggets on Friday. That’s an uptick from the past two seasons, when he averaged 34.4 minutes during each campaign, but Donovan is satisfied by the way he’s managing Westbrook’s playing time. “Outside the overtime games, I’m pretty pleased at where his minutes have been,” Donovan said. “We’ve been pretty fortunate there.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said there’s a simple reason for forward Blake Griffin‘s hot start. “His health,” Rivers told the media prior to Friday’s game at Detroit. “He, I thought, was going to have this (type of) year last year. Just getting injured kind of sidetracked him. Even before he was injured (with a quad issue), his knee was bothering him. You can tell he worked all summer on his game and he has great focus.” Griffin, who will be one of the hottest unrestricted free agents on the market next summer, is averaging 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 33.0 minutes.

Thunder Rumors: Westbrook, Gay, Oladipo, Griffin

November 17th, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of another huge performance by Russell Westbrook on Wednesday night, which culminated in a game-clinching dunk over Clint Capela, ESPN’s Zach Lowe takes a closer look at the Thunder as they adjust to life without Kevin Durant. As Lowe details, the extension Westbrook signed earlier this year quieted trade speculation surrounding the star point guard for the time being, but the deal only added one extra year to his contract. If things go south in Oklahoma City and teams start calling again about Westbrook, the Thunder may have to “hold their noses and test the market,” since they can’t afford to lose another superstar for nothing, Lowe writes.

Here are a few more interesting tidbits of note from Lowe:

The Thunder continue to have interest in adding a bigger wing to their roster, and Rudy Gay is among their potential targets, Lowe reports. Acquiring such a player would allow some of the members of the Thunder to move to more natural positions.
One of those players who would be affected by an incoming wing is Victor Oladipo. The former Magic guard has started every game so far for the Thunder, but Lowe indicates that the team acquired him with the intention of making him a sixth man, in a role similar to the one James Harden once played in OKC. Trading for Gay or another wing would give the club the flexibility to shift Oladipo to the bench.
Several sources tell Lowe that there is “no sign” that Blake Griffin has any interest in coming home and signing with the Thunder as a free agent next summer, despite reports from earlier this year that OKC had its eye on him. Of course, after extending Oladipo and Steven Adams, the Thunder aren’t expected to have any cap room in 2017 anyway, even if they were to move Enes Kanter‘s contract.
The Thunder remain on the lookout for “incremental” roster moves, like the trade in which they acquired Jerami Grant. However, Lowe believes they’d have enough pieces to make a bigger move – perhaps for a player like Gay – when Cameron Payne gets healthy, if they want to.

Thunder Notes: Grant, Westbrook, Durant, Oladipo

November 2nd, 2016 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jerami Grant may be the new guy in the Thunder locker room, but he has a lot of connections already, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Grant has been friends with guard Victor Oladipo since middle school, and he played for Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan for two years on the Under-19 USA Basketball team. Grant, who was traded from Philadelphia to OKC on Tuesday, is familiar with the area because his father, Harvey, played college ball at Oklahoma. “I love the state. I love the city,” Jerami Grant said. “I definitely have a good feel for the area.”

There’s more out of Oklahoma City:

The strong personalities of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were destined to doom their relationship, Horne contends in a separate piece. The former teammates will meet for the first time Thursday night when the Thunder travel to Golden State to face Durant’s new team. Many observers felt it was a slight when Durant sent a text to Westbrook to inform him that he was signing with the Warriors, and they haven’t discussed the situation since Durant announced his decision. “We’ve been together eight years,” Westbrook said. “You don’t throw that away. Obviously, he’s now with a new team. But we definitely will talk. Eventually. But, obviously, now we haven’t.”
There was little opportunity cost to giving extensions to Steven Adams and Oladipo, writes Michael Pina of Real GM. The deals cost OKC about $184MM, but the Thunder weren’t in position to get two better players at that price. The team needs to stay competitive to keep Westbrook from leaving in free agency in two years, so it made sense to spend the money to keep two important players in place. The only downside is that Oklahoma City can’t chase elite free agents next summer.
Giving $84MM to a player like Oladipo is the kind of deal that can backfire, warns Real GM’s Colin McGowan. Oladipo is a shooting guard without a dependable 3-point shot, McGowan writes, and he could create salary cap problems in Oklahoma City if he can’t blend his game with Westbrook’s.