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Pacific Notes: Rondo, Jordan, Walton, Nance Jr.

November 14th, 2015 at 4:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan has demonstrated growth since last season, with his play on the court, as well as in his overall maturity level, Justin Verrier of ESN.com writes. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily because of what happened this offseason, but I’d say he’s been more mature, more focused. He’s been a better leader,” shooting guard J.J. Redick said. “I’d say the same about Blake Griffin, I would say the same thing about Chris. Those guys are really locked in. It goes without saying — they just want to win a championship, and we have to follow that lead.” Redick is of course referring to Jordan almost joining the Mavericks as an unrestricted free agent before suddenly reversing course and deciding to re-sign with Los Angeles via a four-year, $87.6MM pact.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Despite all the reports of turmoil in Sacramento, one bright spot for the team has been the recent play of point guard Rajon Rondo, who has impressed embattled coach George Karl with his orchestration of the Kings‘ offense, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Rajon is very intelligent there, and I think he’s ahead of the curve,” Karl said. “I’ve been surprised by the numbers he’s putting up from the standpoint of understanding our team.”
  • Luke Walton has been performing admirably filling in as interim coach for the Warriors while coach Steve Kerr recovers from multiple back surgeries, guiding the team to a 10-0 start to the 2015/16 season. While Walton is anxious for Kerr to return to the team, he also adds that he would like to become a head coach on a more permanent basis down the line, Ben Golliver of SI.com relays. “I would love to at some point. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s enjoyable,” Walton responded when asked about potentially becoming a full-time head coach. “It’s something I would like to do one day with my own team. That’s nothing I’m trying to rush into. I’m just grateful for this opportunity and learning. As hectic as this has been and as crazy as this has been, obviously I can’t wait for Steve to get back. I’ll be thrilled to hand this thing over to Steve once he’s ready.”
  • Lakers rookie Larry Nance Jr. credits his four years as a starter for the University of Wyoming for preparing him for the rigors of the NBA, and believes his experience gives him an edge over many other first year players, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “I’m not taking anything away from the young guys to the guys that come out early. Obviously you can look around the league and you can look around our locker room,” said Nance. “But I think we’ve grown up mentally and may be a little bit more ready physically.”
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And-Ones: Timberwolves, Draft, Hornets

November 13th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Grizzlies front office chief Jason Levien isn’t involved in Steve Kaplan’s bid to own a partial share of the Timberwolves, as Zach Harper of CBSSports.com reports, and his name hasn’t come up in discussions with Wolves officials, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported earlier that Levien was partnering with Kaplan as part of his effort to get into position to eventually assume full control of the Wolves if owner Glen Taylor relinquishes that. Taylor currently has no plans to sell the team, but he’s preparing for that time to come, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

“It just seems to me if I’m a responsible owner of a team, I should go out there, find someone who is really interested, bring them in and see how it works,” Taylor said. “So if I would die or be in a position where I can’t run it, they’d be in a position to take over and make a smooth transition. I just think it’s something I owe the state because I have the ownership.”

The purchase of a minority ownership, whether by Kaplan or another bidder, doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’ll become majority owners at any point, Krawczynski adds (on Twitter), though the idea of Kaplan owning more than 20% of the team has come up in the talks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. See more from around the NBA:

  • LSU small forward Ben Simmons tops the rankings of draft prospects that Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Chris Mannix of SI.com compiled for college basketball’s opening day, though disagreement exists beyond that. Ford has Kentucky center Skal Labissiere, Croatian power forward Dragan Bender and Duke small forward Brandon Ingram as his next three, while Mannix’s list goes Ingram-Labissiere-Bender.
  • Simmons isn’t the next LeBron James, but his game is stylistically similar to the four-time MVP’s, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that draws comparisons between some of the top prospects and their NBA counterparts. Labissiere is like LaMarcus Aldridge and Ingram resembles Tayshaun Prince, Goodman posits.
  • Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, a pair of Hornets poised to become free agents next summer, are off to strong starts, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders observes in a story that looks at 15 soon-to-be free agents and how they fared during the season’s first two weeks.
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Kings Notes: Cousins, Divac, Karl, Casspi, Dukan

November 13th, 2015 at 1:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Kings fined DeMarcus Cousins for his tirade after Monday’s game, though he didn’t aim the outburst directly at the coaching staff, team and league sources tell Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. That’s in contrast to a report indicating that Cousins specifically lashed out at George Karl. Vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac denies that he asked the players in a Tuesday meeting if the team should fire Karl, Voisin adds, and Divac has said Karl will be sticking around until the end of the season. That ties much of the executive’s fate to the coach, as Divac himself is on “little more than a one-year deal” with the Kings and hopes to sign a long-term deal this summer, according to Voisin. The Kings hired Divac in March, shortly after they hired Karl, but Divac recommended Karl to the Kings before they hired the coach, Voisin writes. See more from Sacramento:

  • If Cousins wanted the Kings to fire Karl, the coach would already be gone, sources tell Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. The star center has made it clear to team management that he doesn’t want Karl fired, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reported.
  • Karl speaks more with the media than he does with his team, and players find his frank talk with reporters unnerving, sources tell James Ham of CSNCalifornia.com. Players are “confused and frustrated” over Karl’s constant lineup changes, Ham writes.
  • Amid the turmoil, Omri Casspi is off to a strong start after re-signing this past summer, in part because of Karl’s system, as Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee examines. “I think he understands flow; he understands the pace of the game,” Karl said. “He’s one of our faster runners and gets in the open court in a good way many times. And he knows how to play off of good players. He knows how to find open shots when Cuz is being double-teamed, or when there’s an isolation with Rudy [Gay]. He knows how to get open by figuring out the player the defense is tilting toward.”
  • The Kings have assigned rookie Duje Dukan to the D-League, the team announced. The undrafted combo forward has yet to appear in a regular season game for Sacramento.
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Hedo Turkoglu Retires

November 13th, 2015 at 9:03am CST by Chuck Myron
Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

9:03am: The Magic have confirmed Turkoglu’s retirement with a press release that includes a statement from their longtime player.

“I am very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to live out my dream and play in the NBA,” Turkoglu’s statement reads. “I will always remember my teammates, coaches, staff members and all of the fans who made my career so wonderful for myself and my family.”

8:00am: Free agent combo forward Hedo Turkoglu has decided to retire, according to Erce Esmer of Trendbasket.net in Turkoglu’s native Turkey (Twitter link). The 15-year NBA veteran hoped over the summer to continue his career in the league, but while Kings, with former teammate Vlade Divac running the front office, emerged as a possibility, no deal materialized for the 36-year-old Jim Tanner client. He’ll assume greater responsibilities with the Turkish basketball federation now that he’s stepping away from the court, Esmer says.

Turkoglu was a key complementary player on Sacramento’s title-contending teams in the early 2000s and again on the Dwight Howard-led Magic, with whom Turkoglu made his lone NBA Finals appearance in 2009. He made his mark as a strong outside shooter, nailing 38.4% of his career 3-point attempts, and as a passer, with his teams often using him as a point forward. His best statistical season came in 2007/08, when he posted 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 36.9 minutes per game for Orlando. All those numbers are career highs.

The former 16th overall pick is not far removed from his career-best season from behind the arc, as he shot 44.0% on 3-pointers for the Clippers in 2013/14. He was almost as accurate last season, at 43.2%, but he wasn’t in the rotation for the playoffs this past spring, and the Clippers made it a priority to retool their bench.

He was an instant contributor after the Kings drafted him in 2000, joining the rotation for 16.8 minutes per game as a rookie, but Sacramento traded him to the Spurs three years into his career. He spent one season in San Antonio before leaving as a free agent for Orlando, where joined Howard for his rookie year and the pair blossomed together. He left via sign-and-trade for the Raptors after the Magic’s 2009 Finals berth, but he struggled in Toronto, which traded him to the Suns in the summer of 2010, and the Magic swung a deal to reacquire him just 18 months after having parted ways with him. He spent an additional two-plus seasons in a Magic uniform before the team waived him in January 2014. That move allowed the Magic to pocket the savings on his partially guaranteed contract after he had played only 11 games the season before, thanks to injury and a 20-game suspension that resulted from a positive test for methenolone, a performance-enhancing drug.

He joined the Clippers at midseason in 2013/14 on a prorated minimum-salary deal, and signed another the following September to re-join the team for 2014/15. He made roughly $86MM for his NBA career, according to estimates compiled from Basketball-Reference and Basketball Insiders data.

What will your most enduring memory of Turkoglu be? Leave a comment to tell us.

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Vlade Divac Denies Asking Players If Karl Should Go

November 12th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

6:45pm: Divac said the idea he asked the players if they wanted Karl fired is a misconception, notes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

“You guys make my job hard,” Divac said to reporters. “There is partial truth to a lot of what has been reported, but much of it was off. First of all, I never asked the players if I should fire Coach or said I was thinking of doing that. I walked into the locker room after [Monday’s] game and said, ‘OK, you guys don’t want to play with Coach? What’s the problem?’ I wanted to catch them by surprise a little bit and get them to talk openly about what was going on. Then the coaches came in, and we talked some more. I think it was very positive for everyone.”

THURSDAY, 10:15am: A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should get rid of Karl, though he doesn’t mention Bratz’s involvement. We have more on the Kings drama right here.

6:43pm: Divac answered affirmatively when Marc J. Spears asked him if Karl’s job is safe (Twitter link).

“Yeah,” Divac said. “Yeah. Nothing has changed, really. 1-7, we all know we’re better.”

The blame for Cousins’ tirade doesn’t rest on Karl’s shoulders, Divac also told Spears, who earlier passed on a statement from Cousins apologizing for his outburst (All four Twitter links). Divac wouldn’t say whether the team is disciplining Cousins in any way for the tirade, Spears notes (Twitter link).

“Most important thing we had after the meeting was we were on the same page, bottom line, on how to improve. That’s positive stuff,” Divac said.

5:36pm: Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for two games after the center’s Monday night verbal tirade, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. According to Jones, Divac told the coach that he did not have authority to suspend Cousins, and Divac refused to grant Karl permission to impose the suspension.

3:15pm: Karl is indeed in jeopardy of losing his job as soon as this week, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Meanwhile, owners who have minority shares in the Kings are more frustrated than ever with Ranadive in large measure because he isn’t consulting with them on decisions, Amick hears from a source.

WEDNESDAY, 2:46pm: Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz asked players during Tuesday’s team meeting whether they thought he should fire coach George Karl, reports Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. The players weren’t sure how to respond, McIntyre adds, though Caron Butler said after the meeting that the players are behind the coach. DeMarcus Cousins verbally lit into Karl after Monday’s loss to the Spurs, though he later felt a level of regret about having done so, McIntyre also hears. Divac is under pressure as Vivek Ranadive’s interest in hiring John Calipari to both coach the team and run the front office has ramped up in recent months, according to McIntyre.

Cousins asked a couple of teammates if he had been too hard on Karl, who simply walked away at the end of the center’s rant, and they advised him not to “scream and curse” at his coach the way he had, as McIntyre details. Karl and Cousins have had an up-and-down relationship, at best, since Karl took over the team in February, with the two saying over the summer that they had patched up their differences following reports indicating that Karl wanted the team to trade Cousins and had sought to do so. Kings officials are reportedly concerned with Karl’s low energy amid a 1-7 start.

Ben McLemore expressed confusion during Tuesday’s team meeting about his role, though teammates told him it was to hit 3-pointers and defend, and that those are the responsibilities of everyone aside from Cousins and Rajon Rondo, as McIntyre details.

The Kings denied a report over the summer indicating that they had reached out to Calipari at that point, and Calipari has continually maintained that he isn’t interested in returning to the NBA, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. The team’s decisions to draft Willie Cauley-Stein, whom Calipari coached at Kentucky, and sign Rondo, who played at Kentucky before Calipari became coach there, were mostly because of Ranadive’s friendship with Calipari, McIntyre writes.

How do you see the Kings saga playing out? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Western Notes: Dragic, Rondo, Suns, Fredette

November 12th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Goran Dragic remarked around the time of his trade to Miami that he saw the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” but while the Lakers were initially likely to pursue him in free agency, they abandoned the idea when they became enamored with D’Angelo Russell and were optimistic about signing a big man, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Dragic, despite his comment about the Lakers, seemed likely to re-sign with Miami in the months prior to his free agency, and he re-upped with the Heat in July. See more from around the Western Conference:

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Mavs Rumors: Jordan, Nowitzki, Matthews

November 12th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admits he has fun with the back-and-forth between his team and the Clippers over the DeAndre Jordan saga, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Cuban fired yet another salvo Wednesday after Jordan played his first game in Dallas since pulling out of his commitment to sign with the Mavs this summer and re-signing with the Clippers instead.

“It’s not like DeAndre and I pinkie swore,” Cuban said. “It’s not like we’ve been friends forever. It’s not like he broke some trust we had. You know, he turned out to be who we thought he was.”

Jordan isn’t the only member of the Clippers whom Cuban called out Wednesday, as we detail amid the latest from Dallas:

  • Cuban shot a retort at Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers when told before Wednesday’s game that Rivers had said to reporters that too much was being made of the Jordan story, notes Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I have no problem slamming Doc Rivers, even though he’s not going to play,” Cuban said. “I like [Clippers owner] Steve Ballmer. Lots of guys on the team, I like. But look, Doc does his radio interviews and brings it up for a reason, right? Again, Doc’s in the coaching business, he’s gotta do his job. God, there is so much I want to say.”
  • Rivers argues Jordan was simply exercising his collectively bargained right when he turned his back on the Mavs, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. “Teams do it all the time,” Rivers said. “It’s amazing how often teams change their mind on players. They sign free agents, tell them they’re gonna be there for the rest of their lives and they cut them or trade them.”
  • Dirk Nowitzki is certain that he’ll play through his current contract but isn’t sure whether he’ll keep playing or retire after that, the 37-year-old tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Nowitzki has a player option worth more than $8.692MM for next season, the last on his pact.
  • Wesley Matthews benefited financially when he turned down a four-year offer of about $65MM from the Kings to take what turned out to be an approximately $70MM four-year max offer from the Mavs, and he also dodged the Kings controversy, Amick writes in a separate piece. “I had my own reads [on the Kings], being in the room with the owner and the GM and talking to the coach, the president,” Matthews said to Amick. “I had my own thoughts going into it, my own reads, my own intuition. I think they mean well. I think they mean well. … I didn’t feel confident in meaning well.”
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Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

November 12th, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Chuck Myron

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

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Kings Notes: Karl, Iske, Divac, Cousins

November 11th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

George Karl must return to his usual frenetic self to be successful as coach of the Kings, argues Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, citing questions over how much the 64-year-old cancer survivor has left as the “overriding concern” within Kings ownership and the front office. Team officials and close friends of Karl have noticed his energy level has dipped since the start of the season, even though he insists otherwise, Voisin writes. People from inside and outside the organization have noticed lead assistant Chad Iske bearing heavy responsibility, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. See more on the Kings, who’ll try to snap a six-game losing streak tonight against the Pistons:

  • Some Kings players are pining for the defensive focus that former coach Michael Malone brought and have concerns about Karl’s defensive schemes, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. However, the players aren’t always defending with effort, Jones believes, citing a comment from Karl about “lazy” defense at times. “I never said they don’t like the system,” vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said of the players. “They just didn’t buy in, yet.”
  • Divac said he called Tuesday’s team meeting, Jones notes in the same story. DeMarcus Cousins originally indicated it would be a players-only affair, though Omri Casspi said Cousins did share a text message with the players that reiterated his commitment to the team, as Jones relays. “[Cousins] was the one to send out a text to the players [Monday] night about how he cares about the team, wants to win and he feels like he has the right pieces here,” Casspi said. “So we’ve all got to step up.”
  • The team’s mood was remarkably lighter Tuesday following the meeting than it was in the locker room after Monday’s game, observes James Ham of CSNBayArea.com. “All problems are fixable,” Caron Butler said. “They all are. If they weren’t fixable, I don’t think I would be over here sitting, talking to you guys.”
  • The continued failure of the Kings to build a successful team around Cousins makes it worth pondering if Sacramento would be better off trading him and starting over, even though he’s a foundational star, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
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Pacific Notes: Karl, Divac, Upshaw, Kerr

November 10th, 2015 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

DeMarcus Cousins spoke Monday night of the Kings holding a players-only meeting, but the confab, which took place today, also apparently included coaches and front office chief Vlade Divac, who termed it a productive affair, observes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links). Caron Butler said the team is behind coach George Karl, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV.

“We addressed some issues and the most important thing is we are on the same page,” Divac said, according to Jones.

While we wait to see if the meeting helps Sacramento end a six-game losing streak or simply leads to more drama, see more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers worked out Kristaps Porzingis but ultimately passed on him with the No. 2 pick, though coach Byron Scott didn’t expect him to be as productive as he has been so soon for the Knicks, who drafted him fourth, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “From what we saw, he was able to shoot it from 3-point range pretty easily,” Scott said. “He’s a young kid that in the workouts we had, really didn’t show any fear. Just thought it was going to take him some time [to develop]. Obviously, we were probably a little wrong about that because he’s playing pretty well right now.”
  • Robert Upshaw said he knew from the start of his deal to join the Lakers that the team would waive him, as the Lakers ultimately did before opening night, but he’s confident he’ll receive another NBA contract this season and isn’t considering a jump overseas, as he told Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). The undrafted big man is with the Lakers D-League team as an affiliate player.
  • Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group tosses out some predictions for the rest of the Warriors season, suggesting that if coach Steve Kerr doesn’t make it back by around March 1st, it would be tough to envision him jumping back in so close to the postseason. Still, Kawakami speculates that such a lengthy absence is unlikely.
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