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And-Ones: D-League, Durant, Ingram

December 22nd, 2015 at 2:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

The addition of extra roster spots for “two-way contracts” that would allow NBA teams to stash players in the D-League while still keeping their NBA rights is indeed an idea the NBA is tossing around, commissioner Adam Silver said to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com on “The Lowe Post” podcast (audio link; transcription via James Herbert of CBSSports.com). The idea is those players would make $80-100K, though no specifics are set, Silver added. Players and agents wouldn’t like such a change, as Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor speculates (Twitter link), since it would limit their market to sign full NBA contracts. See more from around the league:

Kevin Durant has given precious few clues about his upcoming free agency, but he seemed to indicate this weekend that winning a title with the Thunder would indeed make staying in Oklahoma City more attractive, The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel observes. “I mean, there’s still some guys that stay with one team,” Durant said. “There’s some guys that move. Kobe [Bryant]‘s done it [stayed with one franchise]. Tim Duncan‘s done it. Just as far as staying in one organization, you win a title and it makes it easier for you to ride it out. That’s what those guys have done. Dirk [Nowitzki], guys like that. It’s good to see a few players that’s on the way out that’s had a long career and is still doing it pretty well.”
A 6’10” frame and 7’3″ wingspan plus encouraging data about his shooting make Duke small forward Brandon Ingram an intriguing candidate to become the first player drafted after Ben Simmons, but Ingram’s frailty and poor defensive rebounding could hold him back, observe Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in an Insider-only story.
The maturation of some patient, shrewd rebuilding efforts, strong coaching and interconference free agent defections are all factors in the resurgence of the Eastern Conference, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt examines. The result has pleased the commissioner, as he said on a recent Trail Blazers telecast, Zillgitt notes.

Southwest Notes: Hayes, West, Davis

November 4th, 2015 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Veteran power forward David West sacrificed both money and playing time to join the Spurs as a free agent this past offseason, a move that was necessary to keep his competitive fire burning after 12 NBA seasons, Harvey Araton of The New York Times writes. “For me, in terms of basketball, I needed every night to mean something, in order to keep going,” West said. The player also acknowledged that the Pacers’ treatment of center Roy Hibbert played a part in his decision to leave Indiana, Araton adds. “It was a great environment, but I got to the point where I felt it was time to move in a different direction,” West said of his former team.

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Chuck Hayes, who was signed by the Rockets on Sunday, is thrilled to be back out on the court as a player after flirting with becoming an assistant coach, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. “It was a good feeling to go out there in the second quarter,” said Hayes after his first game back. “I don’t know all the timing, the offensive rhythm yet. I consider myself a good defensive player. I figure that’s the best way I can dictate and put an imprint on the game is on the defensive end. The thing I did is talk to the guys, tell them where the screens are coming, be active, let my voice do the work for me.”
Anthony Davis isn’t thrilled with his play in new coach Alvin Gentry‘s up-tempo system, and the Pelicans‘ slow start to the season isn’t helping matters either, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”I’m always frustrated; I just want to be the best I can be to help the team win,” Davis said. ”I feel I’m not doing it right now. All the frustration is on me. They’re giving me great opportunities and I can’t find a way to put the ball in the basket.”
As his career winds down, Spurs big man Tim Duncan has re-invented himself as a “glue guy,” and instead of looking to score, he must look to do “the little stuff” that impacts the game, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. “I’m just trying to figure that out,” Duncan said when asked to describe his role. “I’m not sure what it is yet. It’s a little different now, because we added some different players. We’re all just trying to figure it out.”

Southwest Rumors: Duncan, Mavs, Grizzlies

October 19th, 2015 at 10:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tim Duncan is trying to sort out where he fits into the Spurs’ pecking order with the emergence of small forward Kawhi Leonard and the addition of power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, according to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. With high-scoring Aldridge at power forward, Duncan is likely to spend more time in the high post and use his passing skills, Wright continues. “My role has changed a little bit this year,” Duncan told Wright. “I’m trying to figure that part of it out. But it’s fun to be out there. It’s fun to be with the guys that I’ve been with for so many years and some new guys that I’m learning.” Even before Aldridge joined the Spurs, Duncan’s role in the offense was reduced, Wright notes. His usage rate of 22.2% last season was the lowest of his career but his true shooting percentage of .560 tied his best since 2006/07, Wright adds.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

International veteran Salah Mejri has fought his way into the mix for a rotation spot with the Mavericks, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. The 7’2” Mejri gives the Mavs length at center and has displayed shot-blocking and rebounding skills during the preseason, Sefko continues. However, he needs to work on his strength, Sefko adds. Mejri received a guaranteed rookie minimum of $525,093 from Dallas.
Power forward Jarnell Stokes seems to have fallen out of favor with the Grizzlies and that could help journeyman center Ryan Hollins gain a roster spot, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Stokes only played six minutes in the team’s preseason game on Sunday, while coach Dave Joerger has made a point of praising Hollins, Herrington continues. With Marc Gasol as the only other true center on the roster, Hollins might fill a bigger need, Herrington adds. Stokes has a guaranteed contract worth $845,059 this season, while Hollins’ $947,276 deal is not guaranteed.
Rookie center Joshua Smith is getting extensive court time as he battles for the Rockets‘ final roster spot, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Injuries to big men Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones and Clint Capela have allowed Smith, who has a non-guaranteed deal worth $525,093, to make an impression on the coaching staff. “You look at a guy in my position – just trying to make the team – any chance you get to start, you have to take advantage,” Smith told Feigen. “I’m humbled they’re giving me a lot of opportunities. I just have to keep trying to make the best out of them.”

Texas Notes: Matthews, Harrell, Duncan, Fredette

August 20th, 2015 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks figure to have a balanced offensive attack again this season, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com, but max-salary signee Wesley Matthews appears the best bet to take over the role of lead scorer from Monta Ellis, who’s now a Pacer, Sneed adds. That’s not a familiar job for Matthews, but given the similarity between the offense he was a part of under former Mavs assistant Terry Stotts with the Blazers and the one that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle employs, the shooting guard is confident he can expand his game, as Sneed relays.

“You know, I’ve never been one to allow someone to label me,” Matthews said. “I always continue to try to get better. I’m not a content type of person. If they come up with a term three-and-D and they want to fit me in that category, that’s fine. But there’s not a thing that I don’t think I can do on the court, and I’m excited for the opportunity. You know, talking to coach Carlisle, I’m obviously familiar with the system, having ran it in Portland. And talking to him, there’s opportunities that he sees how I can help this team. And I’m excited for those opportunities.”

See more from around the Texas triangle:

The Rockets and Montrezl Harrell, this year’s No. 32 overall pick, remain in talks, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes at the end of a report on Jason Terry‘s decision to re-sign with Houston. A market value deal for Harrell, which would entail more than the minimum salary, or a contract that stretches more than two years would trigger a hard cap of $88.74MM for the Rockets, who are already approaching that amount.
Tim Duncan knows some adjustment will be involved, but he’s enthusiastic about the marquee offseason additions the Spurs made, as Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter link). Duncan re-signed with the Spurs on a discounted deal with a no-trade clause that will pay him $5.25MM with a player option worth $5,643,750 for 2016/17, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
The Spurs have a history of turning around faltering careers like his, but the pressure is on Jimmer Fredette to show he can stick in the NBA, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders examines. Fredette signed only a partially guaranteed deal with the Spurs, so he’ll have to prove his worth right away, Kennedy adds.

Spurs Re-Sign Tim Duncan

July 9th, 2015 at 1:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Spurs have formally re-signed Tim Duncan, the team announced. The sides had been working toward a two-year deal that would pay him $5MM this season with a player option for year two, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported.

Duncan last week confirmed his return for this coming season, which was reportedly in line with San Antonio’s expectation throughout the spring. Little, if any, doubt existed that he would re-sign with the Spurs as long as he indeed decided to play a 19th season in the NBA, but the question has been just how much of a discount the still-productive 39-year-old would give the team.

The Jim Tanner client made nearly $10.362MM this past season, but Aldridge’s report would indicate that his pay has been cut in half. The Spurs will open cap room to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and others, so a $5MM salary for Duncan would give him a lower cap hold and facilitate the addition of San Antonio’s newest star power forward. The $70MM salary cap, nearly $3MM higher than expected, will help, and it could mean Duncan gets a larger salary this season than he otherwise would have.

Latest On Tim Duncan, Spurs

July 9th, 2015 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 12:14pm: Duncan and the Spurs are making progress toward a two-year deal worth $5MM in the first season, with a player option for year two, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (on Twitter).

JULY 2ND, 12:52pm: Tim Duncan will “be on the court next year,” he tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News, ostensibly signaling that he will return to the Spurs rather than retire (Twitter links). The Spurs have been operating on the premise that the legendary big man would indeed be back, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com made clear in May reports, though the most recent dispatch indicated that Duncan still hadn’t made up his mind.

Duncan is still a free agent, though he said to Monroe that he spoke to Spurs president/coach Gregg Popovich in recent days as the team prepared its pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge. Duncan’s willingness to take a discount will play heavily into San Antonio’s ability to offer Aldridge a max deal, though the Jim Tanner client has long shown a willingness to sacrifice for the betterment of the Spurs, and he seems poised to play for less than the nearly $10.362MM he saw this past season.

Duncan’s longtime teammate Manu Ginobili has yet to announce his decision about retiring or coming back to play, though Tony Parker recently expressed confidence that both Duncan and Ginobili would be back. However, Ginobili’s return seems less of a safe bet than Duncan’s was, as Bucher and Berger’s reports conflicted on whether the Spurs thought the Argentinian swingman would retire.

Spurs Rumors: Aldridge, Splitter, Leonard, Duncan

June 29th, 2015 at 5:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sources who spoke with Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News didn’t produce a consensus on the chances the Spurs have of landing LaMarcus Aldridge, with some deeming San Antonio the front-runner while others weren’t so sure. The Spurs and Lakers were the co-favorites, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported Friday, though the notoriously fickle power forward is tough to read. McDonald has a ton more on the weeks ahead for San Antonio, and while his entire piece is worth a read, especially for Spurs fans, we’ll round up the most relevant highlights here:

The Spurs are making Tiago Splitter available for a trade, multiple league sources tell McDonald, but while McDonald posits that the most direct path to landing Aldridge would be via sign-and-trade in a deal that sends Splitter to Portland, the Blazers are uninterested, McDonald writes. The Spurs turned away teams with interest in trading for Splitter before the draft, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote last week, but perhaps San Antonio’s position has changed.
Kawhi Leonard‘s preferred deal is four years at the max, according to McDonald, not five. Either way, the Spurs are still expected to re-sign him, McDonald notes.
Tim Duncan still hasn’t made up his mind about returning, a source familiar with his thinking told McDonald. The Spurs have reportedly been operating on the premise that he and Manu Ginobili will re-sign with them rather than retire.

Western Notes: Duncan, Jazz, Matthews, Rockets

June 21st, 2015 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several NBA executives believe the Spurs will offer Tim Duncan a two-year deal with a partial guarantee and a player option for the second season, reports Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News. The deal is projected at $6MM to $7MM each year, but if Duncan decides after the first year that he doesn’t want to play anymore he could still get a significant portion of the second season’s salary, making the contract possibly worth more than its face value. The first season of such a deal would have to carry a partial guarantee for the same percentage of the salary as the partial guarantee on the second season covers. “You can call it a ‘wink-wink’ deal if you want to,” an unidentified Eastern Conference executive said. “It’s what they did with [Antonio] McDyess, so why not for Duncan?” The team’s contract with McDyess was partially guaranteed but didn’t involve a player option. Duncan, 39, hasn’t committed to returning for another season, but he made both the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams this year. He is one of 10 Spurs who will become free agents July 1st.

There’s more from the Western Conference:

Even though the Jazz won’t pick until No. 12, they are confident that there will be talented players to choose from, writes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah’s front office is making final preparations for Thursday’s draft, going through innumerable scenarios as they try to figure out who will be available. “We’re getting medical updates by the day and then you have all this information collected and you have to take the time to actually analyze it,” said GM Dennis Lindsey. “… A key piece of information can swing a vote and then, all of a sudden, you’re taking a player that maybe wasn’t the No. 1 candidate going into a process.” Lindsey has a history of dealing to move up in the draft, but Falk speculates that if there is a trade this year, it will be to move down or completely out of the first round.
The Blazers‘ Wesley Matthews admits his future was among his first thoughts when he ruptured his Achilles tendon, according to Jason Quick of The Oregonian. Matthews, who will become a free agent July 1, was worried that the injury might scare teams away. “Instinctively, right away I was worried about free agency,” he said.
Cliff Alexander of Kansas was part of a group workout for the Rockets on Saturday, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.

Western Notes: Lakers, Duncan, Ginobili, Wolves

June 18th, 2015 at 9:45am CST by Chuck Myron

Mitch Kupchak admits that finding someone who can make an immediate impact as Kobe Bryant nears retirement factors into his approach to the offseason, as the Lakers GM tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Climbing merely to mediocrity would be a dangerous proposition, Kupchak cautions.

“To some degree,” Kupchak said. “We feel we want to make significant progress from this year to next year. And if we can do that and not mortgage the future — in other words, with a player who is in free agency that’s a veteran — then yeah. It’s a factor because we do want and we need in this city to show progress. And we’ve not made the playoffs for two years running, I suppose you can do it a third year, but our fans are impatient, and they’re used to a good product, and that’s not what we want to do. And we know Kobe is not as happy when the town around him is not enough to win. But, we’ve got to be careful that we don’t do something that puts us in the middle of the pack for the next six or seven years. Because all that does is get you the eighth seed in the playoffs and a draft pick that’s not very good.”

There’s more on the Lakers amid the latest from the Western Conference:

Tony Parker is optimistic that both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will return to the Spurs for next season, though he admits that his hope that they indeed come back may cloud his ability to accurately predict what they’ll do, as Parker tells Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Regardless, Duncan said to Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com that the loss of more than $20MM that he alleges that a former financial adviser swindled him out of won’t play a role in his decision whether to return.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor dismissed any lingering doubt Wednesday, declaring that president of basketball operations Flip Saunders will continue as coach of the team for next season, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities relays (on Twitter).
The Pelicans would like to add former Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt as an assistant coach, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The Lakers have interest in trading the No. 27 pick to clear the salary that goes with it, and talk has also centered on the team packaging the pick with other assets in an offer for another pick higher in the order, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes within his mock draft.
Notre Dame swingman Pat Connaughton, N.C. State shooting guard Trevor Lacey, Iowa State shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, Tennessee Tech center Charles Jackson and UC Santa Barbara center Alan Williams were among those who worked out for the Wolves this week, Wolfson reports (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Ellis, Llull, Duncan, Collins

June 11th, 2015 at 1:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs won’t prioritize re-signing Monta Ellis if he opts out in search of a raise, as expected, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Ellis, who made $8.36MM this season, had a negative effect on team chemistry this past season because of his moodiness and selfish behavior, a source told MacMahon. The Mavs prefer to spend on either a combination of LaMarcus Aldridge and Tyson Chandler or DeAndre Jordan and a three-and-D wing player, MacMahon adds. That’s in part because the Mavs believe Chandler Parsons will be better off without Ellis’ on-court and off-court influence, as MacMahon details. Still, the Mavs are liable to change their minds based on unforeseen scenarios, just as they did when they decided to up their offer when they signed Ellis two years ago, MacMahon cautions. I looked further into Ellis scenarios when I examined the offseason ahead for the Mavs. Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:

The Rockets have let Sergio Llull know that they’re willing to offer him a three-year deal worth $15-18MM, sources tell Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Houston GM Daryl Morey batted down a similar report from Javier Maestro of Encestando.es in March, but coach Kevin McHale recently made it clear that the team would like to sign the draft-and-stash point guard. Still, there’s a pricey $4MM buyout attached to Llull’s contract with Real Madrid, Varlas writes, adding that if Llull doesn’t end up in Houston for next season, the team would push to sign draft-and-stash center Marko Todorovic.
Attorneys for Tim Duncan today requested that a trial in his lawsuit against a former financial adviser of his take place next summer so that he won’t miss playing time, tweets Guillermo Contreras of the San Antonio Express-News. That doesn’t necessarily signal that the Spurs star intends to play next season, only that he isn’t ruling it out, writes Express-News scribe Jeff McDonald, though it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.
Chris Mannix of SI.com has heard Jarron Collins‘ name bandied about as a possible assistant coach for new Pelicans head man Alvin Gentry (Twitter link). Collins, like Gentry, has spent this past season as a Warriors assistant coach.