Seth Curry

Southwest Notes: Moore, Dawson, Harden, Mavs

E’Twaun Moore, who was one of the first players to commit when free agency began July 1st, chose the Pelicans because he wanted a team where he could make a difference, relays Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. After being with three teams in his first five seasons, the combo guard now has the security of a four-year, $34MM contract with New Orleans. “I definitely wanted to play more minutes and make an impact, helping my team win,” Moore said. “And they’re a team that is, of course, going in a positive direction. They’re a team that’s trying to win. They have a good group of guys; they made the playoffs two years ago and I think they would have made it last year if it weren’t for all the injuries. I think we can get back into playoff contention and that’s another reason I signed.” Moore has a chance to compete for a starting job in the Pelicans’ backcourt with Eric Gordon gone to Houston.

There’s more tonight from the Southwest Division:

  • Shawn Dawson understands the odds as he competes for a roster spot with the Pelicans, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. The Israeli swingman accepted a camp invitation from New Orleans earlier this month. “They explained the whole situation,” he said. “I know that it’s a tough situation to get a contract when there’s 15 guaranteed already, but things happen. I believe in myself and I feel they like me. I know that they like me.”
  • After signing a $118MM extension with the Rockets this summer, James Harden has organized a players-only minicamp for next week, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. It’s the second year for the camp, and teammate Corey Brewer said it’s a sign that Harden has accepted the role of team leader. “He’s the franchise player,” Brewer said. “He signed the extension. So it’s his team, and he’s doing all the right things to do what we need to do to have a chance to win championships.”
  • The Mavericks concentrated on youth during the offseason, notes The Vertical’s Bobby Marks. After age seemed to be a problem in the playoff loss to the Thunder, Dallas brought in Harrison Barnes [24], Seth Curry [25], Quincy Acy [25] and A.J. Hammons [23] to join Dwight Powell [25] and Justin Anderson [22].

Mark Cuban On: Barnes, Parsons, Curry

Outspoken Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban joined The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley on ESPN Radio 103.3 KESN-FM (h/t to The Dallas Morning News) to discuss the team’s offseason and a number of other topics. The entire interview is worth a look, but here are some of the highlights:

On the Mavs switching to Plan B this offseason after missing out on a number of their top targets:

“We got lucky. There’s not other way to say it. We knew we were long shots with both Hassan Whiteside and with Mike Conley. We knew Mike Conley wasn’t going to turn down the largest contract in NBA history. But we also know that it’s not just about the short-term, it’s the long-term. We wanted to introduce the Mavericks, our style and our organization to both of them because you never know when they’re going to be available in a trade. You never know next free agency. So many things can happen over a period of time in an NBA. 

Look what happened with D-Will (Deron Williams). I think our presentation to him from coach and Donnie [Nelson] in particular really set the groundwork for him understanding who we are. On one hand, we didn’t expect to get them to come to the Mavs, but we still think it served a function. From there Harrison Barnes reached out to me at 12:01 like, ‘Dude I want to come there. You’re my first pick, my only pick.’ I went back-and-forth with him like, ‘Yeah, we’d love you too but you’re a restricted free agent. Here’s our course of action. Here’s what we’re going to do.’ I laid it all out for him. He was like, ‘Okay, we’ll see what happens but you guys are my team.’ Fortunately it turned out the way it did.

On essentially choosing Barnes of Chandler Parsons this summer:

Can’t go into any details, but I’ll just say it wasn’t a basketball issue. Chandler obviously is a very, very skilled player. There’s a lot of great things to his game. But he’s, in essence, a different player from Harrison. Harrison is longer, more athletic, younger. Just like Chandler really didn’t get a chance to have his game blossom when he was with the Rockets. He just showed glimpses of it because of Dwight Howard and James Harden being there. I think Harrison was kind of in the same role. I think we’re going to give Harrison the opportunity and I know he’s excited about the opportunity to really shine and be a featured guy for us.

On if Dallas is a better team now than in 2015/16:

You never know until you know. That’s why we play the games. If you look at last year you look at New Orleans, you look at Houston, you just don’t know. I would have told you last year, and I think I did tell you guys, that we’re about eight sprained ankles away from being a top contender. Now we’re probably only three, maybe four. You just don’t know. Look at Portland and what happened there. You just don’t know. 

But I do think we’re a better team. I know we’re far better defensively. I know we’re far more athletic. I think we’ve got more athletic depth. We will miss at some point the Ray Felton’s. There will be game situations where having that veteran presence would have been nice to have. But I really think between Juan Barea, Devin Harris and D-Will (Williams) we’ll make up for a lot of that. I think the explosiveness and the scoring punch of Jonathan Gibson and Seth Curry will more than make up for it.

On what he expects to receive from Seth Curry:

“A dysfunctional team in Sacramento at the end of the year he played team ball. He struggled some to stick within kind of a dysfunctional system. But when he got the minutes and when he started he put up great numbers. But more importantly, from a catch-and-shoot perspective he’s almost automatic from three. We really didn’t have that. We didn’t have that guy where situationally you just knew if you can get him open he was going to hit that open three. We miss that 42-43% three-point shooter. We just didn’t have it. We think we have that with Seth. I think it’ll make life a little bit easier for Dirk Nowitzki. It’ll allow us to push the ball more and I think it’ll make everybody’s lives a bit easier.

Mavericks Finalize Contract With Seth Curry

JULY 15: The Mavericks have officially signed Curry, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 4: The Mavericks are nearing a two-year, $6MM agreement with free agent guard Seth Curry, league sources informed Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).  The 6’2” combo guard played in 44 games with the Kings last season, including nine starts, and averaged 6.8 points in 15.7 minutes. He shot 45% on his 3-point tries.

Stephen Curry‘s brother appeared in just four NBA games with three different teams prior to his breakthrough season with Sacramento. The 6’2” shooting guard had his qualifying offer of approximately $1.2MM rescinded by the Kings on Sunday. He made $947,276 during 2015/16.

The Kings considered Curry expendable after they agreed to terms with free agent guard Garrett Temple. Curry hit the free agent market after declining his player option of $1MM for next season. That decision has apparently paid off with Dallas offering a bigger salary and an additional year.

Dallas already had a busy Monday, with the Warriors declining to match its four-year, $94MM offer sheet for restricted small forward Harrison Barnes. Golden State also agreed to trade starting center Andrew Bogut to the Mavericks.

While Curry can play the point, it’s more likely he’ll back up Wesley Matthews at shooting guard.

Kings To Rescind QO For Seth Curry

7:12pm: The Kings rescinded Curry’s offer so they could sign another veteran player, tweets James Ham of CSNCalifornia.

5:28pm: The Kings plan to rescind their qualifying offer for Seth Curry, making him an unrestricted free agent, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Curry would have made 1,215,696 under the offer

Curry developed into a rotational player for Sacramento this season, appearing in 44 games and starting nine. He averaged 6.8 points per night and shot 45% from 3-point range. He made $947,276 during 2015/16.

The Kings considered Curry expendable after they agreed to terms with free agent point guard Garrett Temple earlier today.

Qualifying Offers: Sullinger, Daniels, Barnes

If an NBA team wishes to ensure a player who is eligible for restricted free agency actually becomes one, that team must issue a qualifying offer before the new league year begins on July 1st. Clubs are gradually making those qualifying-offer decisions official, with the latest round of offers noted below:

  • The Warriors submitted qualifying offers to Harrison Barnes ($5,194,227) and Festus Ezeli ($3,013,123), making both restricted free agents, the team announced via press release.
  • The Kings have submitted a qualifying offer for combo guard Seth Curry, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter). Curry’s offer is worth $1,215,696, with the 25-year-old having earned $947,276 for his 44 appearances this past season.
  • The Celtics submitted qualifying offers to frontcourt mates Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald tweets. Sullinger’s offer is worth $4,433,683, while Zeller’s comes in at $3,695,169.
  • The Hornets officially announced today that a qualifying offer worth $1,215,696 was submitted for shooting guard Troy Daniels, making him a restricted free agent.
  • The Raptors submitted a qualifying offer to Nando De Colo in order to retain his rights, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star tweets. De Colo isn’t likely headed stateside anytime soon, having signed a three-year contract extension with CSKA Moscow earlier this month. The cap hold for the 29-year-old is $1,901,900.
  • The Grizzlies submitted a qualifying offer to guard Nick Calathes, as the RealGM transactions log shows. The 27-year-old, who is under contract from the Greek club Panathinaikos, last played in the NBA during the 2014/15 campaign. The move by Memphis was merely a procedural one in order to retain Calathes’ rights.
  • The Nets have submitted a qualifying offer worth $1,180,431 to Markel Brown, making him a restricted free agent, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com tweets. Brooklyn declined to submit a qualifying offer worth $1,215,696 to Willie Reed, making him an unrestricted free agent, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
  • The Warriors declined to submit a qualifying offer worth $1,180,431 to James McAdoo and the player will now become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group tweets. The team also passed on submitting a qualifying offer worth $1,215,696 to Ian Clark, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
  • The Pelicans won’t tender a qualifying to James Ennis ($1,180,431), but remain interested in re-signing him if the price were reasonable, Scott Kushner of The Advocate tweets.
  • The Sixers declined to submit a qualifying offer to Isaiah Canaan ($1,215,696), making him an unrestricted free agent, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group tweets.

Kings’ Curry, Anderson Opt Out

Seth Curry and James Anderson have both opted out of their contracts with the Kings for next season, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The action means both players will become restricted free agents this summer.

Curry, a third-year point guard, could have made $1,015,696 next season after signing a two-year deal last July. He appeared in 44 games for the Kings, making nine starts, while averaging 6.8 points per night and shooting 45% from 3-point range.

Anderson, a sixth-year swingman, would have received $1,139,123 next season on a minimum-salary deal. He started 15 of the 51 games he played, averaging 3.5 points per contest.

New York Notes: Conley, Rambis, McCullough

The Nets will be shopping for a point guard this summer and may have a better shot at landing Mike Conley now that coach Dave Joerger has been fired in Memphis, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Conley, who averaged 15.3 points and 6.1 assists this season and led the NBA in assists-to-turnovers ratio, has said he wants to see how the Grizzlies’ offseason plays out before deciding to re-sign.

Lewis foresees a point guard shakeup in Brooklyn even if the Nets can’t lure Conley. He expects Jarrett Jack, who started 32 games before tearing his ACL, to be released, allowing the Nets to save all but $500K of his $6.3MM salary. Shane Larkin has a June 29th deadline to decide whether to exercise a $1.5MM option for next season. New coach Kenny Atkinson has a reputation for developing point guards and worked closely with Jeremy Lin when both were with the Knicks. Lin could be an option if he opts out of a deal with Charlotte that would pay him only slightly more than $2.2MM. Lewis writes that Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Seth Curry and Jordan Clarkson could be other targets, along with overseas players such as Milos TeodosicNando De ColoMalcolm Delaney and Sergio Rodriguez.

There’s more out of New York:

  • The Knicks also have interest in Conley and might see their chances improving because of the events in Memphis, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. That’s especially true if GM Chris Wallace, a huge supporter of Conley, leaves the Grizzlies as well, Berman writes.
  • Knicks president Phil Jackson may be repaying Kurt Rambis after costing him the head coaching job with the Lakers 17 years ago, Berman writes in a separate story. Rambis took over on the Lakers’ bench after Del Harris was fired in 1999 and expected to be named head coach after the season ended. However, late owner Jerry Buss hired Jackson, and Rambis’ coaching career was put on hold. Now the interim coach with the Knicks, Rambis is believed to be Jackson’s choice to lead the team next season.
  • Nets rookie Chris McCullough showed a lot of promise late in the season, but he will probably be brought along slowly next year, according to NetsDaily. McCullough, the 29th pick in last year’s draft, missed most of the season while recovering from an ACL tear he suffered at Syracuse. A 6’11” power forward with an impressive vertical leap and 3-point range, McCullough gives Brooklyn hope for the future, but the author speculates that Atkinson will phase him in gradually and may even send the 21-year-old to the team’s new D-League team for occasional seasoning.

Kings Rumors: Blatt, Turner, Messina, Cousins

The Kings plan to speak with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina this week, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). It’s not entirely clear whether it’ll be a formal interview, as San Antonio has just begun its second-round series against the Thunder, though the series will be in hiatus between tonight’s Game 2 and Friday’s Game 3. Sacramento reportedly reached out to Messina weeks ago, suggesting that the Spurs have granted Sacramento permission to at least contact their assistant. San Antonio granted the Lakers permission for an interview, and one was scheduled for the gap between Games 2 and 3 of the Spurs-Thunder series before the Lakers called it off and hired Luke Walton instead, a league source told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. The European coaching legend apparently holds particular appeal to Kings GM Vlade Divac.

See more from the California capital:

4:06pm update:

  • David Blatt‘s interview with the Kings is today, as USA Today’s Sam Amick hears, advancing a Sunday report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
  • Elston Turner is a candidate for the job of lead assistant for the Kings, Amick tweets, which suggests that he isn’t in the running for the head coaching job. Turner, a Grizzlies assistant, emerged among the many in the mix for Sacramento last week, and Memphis has reportedly granted the Kings permission to interview him.

10:26am update:

  • DeMarcus Cousins indicated that he’d prefer to stay with the Kings as he spoke in an interview with Carmichael Dave of CBS Sacramento (audio link; scroll to 6:24 mark). People in the Kings organization reportedly believe Divac will test the trade market for Cousins this summer. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve grown an attachment to the city, like, the way these people treat me, the love they give out to me, and vice versa,” Cousins said to Dave. “I feel like I have an attachment, and it’s something that I do owe to this city. I want to be the person to bring this city back to the glory days. I want to grow myself and this city all together. I want to bring us back to those glory days. So, that’s where I’m at with it. This is like a personal vendetta for me.”
  • Seth Curry said he wants to return to the Kings next season and that it would be difficult to do otherwise, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of moving on as he spoke at a basketball camp in India to Akash Khanna of Follow Your Sport. Curry reportedly intends to turn down his player option and hit free agency this summer.
  • Curry also told Khanna that he doesn’t want to sign with the Warriors and play with brother Stephen Curry, preferring to compete against him instead. The Currys were teammates with Golden State during the 2013 preseason.

Eastern Notes: Caldwell-Pope, DeRozan, Gores

Pistons shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is eligible to ink a rookie-scale contract extension this summer, but he says his focus is on improving his game and not on his next deal, David Mayo of MLive relays. “Yeah, I mean, why do it now? It’s not in my mind. I mean, it could happen. If it does happen, it happens. But right now I’m going to stay focused and get better,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Right now, I’m just going to let my agent handle all that. If you have any questions about that, I really can’t answer them. I let my agent answer for me. I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it.” If Caldwell-Pope and Detroit are unable to reach an agreement by October’s deadline, he would be eligible to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017.

Team owner Tom Gores, one of the principals who will be involved in the Pistons’ future decisions regarding Caldwell-Pope, is involved in a bid to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Detroit, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press relays. Gores is partnering with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert on the venture, Ellis notes. “I’ve always believed a sports franchise is a community asset with the power to unite and inspire people,” Gores said in his official statement. “I’m excited to partner with Dan and help in Detroit’s resurgence. Together we have all the tools we need to make a new team successful.

Here’s more from the East:

  • Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan‘s struggles this postseason call into question whether or not he is worthy of a max salary deal this summer, should he choose to opt out of his current deal and become an unrestricted free agent, Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun writes. The 26-year-old is averaging 13.3 points and shooting a woeful 29.6% from the field in four playoff outings. His player option for 2016/17 is worth $10.15MM, but he’ll almost certain decline it and end up with more than that.
  • The Nets hiring of the hard-working Kenny Atkinson as their new coach is another positive sign of the franchise trying to change its culture for the better, NetsDaily opines.
  • If the Wizards intend to maintain their “pace-and-space offense,” they need a playmaker off the bench who’s capable of sinking the long ball and should consider signing Seth Curry, Ben Standig of CSN Mid-Atlantic.com writes. The Kings combo guard averaged 16.4 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 45.9% from the field, including 48.9% from beyond the arc over Sacramento’s last seven contests, Standig notes. Curry, 25, has a player option on his deal for 2016/17 worth $1,015,696.

Seth Curry To Decline Player Option

Seth Curry intends to decline his player option worth $1,015,696 for 2016/17 and will become a restricted free agent this summer, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. Curry has until this Saturday to finalize his decision, Charania adds. The player inked a two-year pact with Sacramento last July.

Curry, 25, averaged 6.8 points, 1.5 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 44 games for Sacramento this season, finally establishing himself as a rotation player in the league, Charania notes. He shot a stellar 45.1% from three-point range for the season and connected on 45.5% of his shots overall. Prior to this season, Curry had spent most of his time in the NBA D-League, and he inked 10-day contracts with the Cavs, Grizzlies and Suns over the previous two campaigns.

The combo guard, who is the younger brother of Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, is in line for a higher salary than his player option would have seen him earn, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee opined recently. Curry averaged more than 11 points per game after the All-Star break and he notched 16.4 points and 5.3 assists in his last seven games of the season. “I think I’ve played pretty well and showed some different things in my game that will set me up for the future to show I can be a good player in this league for a long time,” Curry told Jones.