- At least two other Western teams are also waiting to see if players collect significant bonuses, Marks writes in the same piece. Tim Duncan is due to get an additional $750K once the Spurs reach 62 wins, which will raise his salary for this season to $6MM and push San Antonio’s tax bill from about $3.8MM to $4.9MM. The Clippers can save $1.1MM in luxury taxes relating to a Jeff Green bonus if they fail to reach 56 wins. He will receive $450K if L.A. gets to that victory total.
- The Spurs have assigned Boban Marjanovic and Jonathon Simmons to their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website.
- The Spurs have recalled shooting guard Jonathon Simmons from their D-League team in Austin. The rookie is averaging 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 48 games with San Antonio.
- The Spurs assigned forward Jonathon Simmons to their D-League team in Austin. This is his second D-League trip of the season. Simmons has appeared in 48 games with San Antonio, averaging 5.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per night.
The Spurs may have designs on pursing Kevin Durant this summer, a number of rival executives have informed Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The small forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and will arguably be the biggest available prize on the market. The Thunder, who hold the player’s Bird rights, are still the favorites to re-sign Durant, but the Warriors, Clippers and Wizards have all been mentioned as possible landing spots should he choose to leave Oklahoma City. It’s worth noting that Durant played his college ball in Texas, though he is originally from the Washington D.C. area, which could make the Wizards an appealing alternative.
Of course, expressing interest in a player and actually signing him are two different things. San Antonio currently has $70,429,409 in salary committed for 2016/17 against a projected cap in the range of $90MM-$95MM, which certainly presents a challenge in regard to inking Durant, whose maximum salary is projected at $24.9MM. The trio of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker alone are set to earn a combined $52,658,381 million next season, Mannix notes. Further muddying the waters are Tim Duncan ($5,643,750) and Manu Ginobili ($2,940,630), who both possess player options. If one or both were to retire, it would help free up more cap room, though the pair could also opt out and seek more money to re-sign, which could scuttle any plans to add Durant, the Vertical scribe notes. San Antonio could also look to trade Danny Green, who is set to earn $10MM in 2016/17, and/or Boris Diaw, who is slated to make $7MM next season, the Vertical scribe speculates. Diaw’s deal is partially guaranteed for $3MM, but it will become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster past June 30th.
There is also the matter of what position Durant would play if he were to join San Antonio. The Spurs already have a budding superstar in Leonard, who also plays small forward. Mannix cites the versatility of both players in speculating about a potential San Antonio lineup that includes Durant and Leonard. While both players would likely play alongside one another effectively, that would require Aldridge to move to center full-time, a position he hasn’t been too keen on playing in the past, Mannix notes.
One reason Durant may consider leaving the Thunder is the alleged discord between him and teammate Russell Westbrook, Mannix writes.. Durant insists things are fine between himself and his teammates, as he told Mannix. “Look, we like each other,” Durant said. “We like playing with each other. We like being around each other. Sometimes it comes down to basketball. Sometimes, X’s and O’s are the reason you lose games. It’s not always leadership issues or camaraderie issues; sometimes other teams just play better basketball than you. But we love each other.”
The Thunder have their work cut out this season if they hope to overtake the Warriors and Spurs in the West, a challenge Durant told Mannix he embraces. “I think I’m playing a little more free than I used to,” Durant relayed. “I used to put a lot of pressure on myself. I’d think, ‘Maybe I’m not being a good enough leader. Maybe I should change my personality.’ I was always thinking ‘What if I change this?’ ‘What if I change that?’ instead of just going out and being me. I’ve just been about playing the game at the level I like playing at and playing with the level of joy I like playing with.”
How would Durant look in a Spurs uniform next season? Sound off in the comments section with your thoughts and opinions.
David Lee was excited about pairing up with Dirk Nowitzki even before he formally joined the Mavericks, according to Adi Joseph of The Sporting News. Dallas was Lee’s first choice after he agreed to a buyout with the Celtics, and he signed almost immediately after clearing waivers. Lee has provided a potent scoring punch off the bench, as the Mavericks’ points per 100 possessions are 4.1 higher with him on the court during his time with Dallas. “I saw the possibilities on paper, thought it’d be a great fit on both sides,” Lee said about deciding to join the Mavericks. “But you know, you’ve just got to make it [happen]. It’s still, until you go out there and play, you never know how you’re going to feel with the guys and how things are going to work. But I think it’s been a tremendous fit here, and I’m just excited — excited to be here and excited to give it everything I have for them this year.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Center Zaza Pachulia, who has played well since being acquired in a summer trade with the Bucks, is trying to be a professional about his recent demotion from the Mavericks‘ starting lineup, writes Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Pachulia had started the season’s first 61 games before coach Rick Carlisle adjusted the lineup Monday to try to stop a losing streak. “As a soldier, as a player, of course I had no problem with it, because we were losing and nobody was happy with the losing streak, including me,” Pachulia said. “… It’s not like I haven’t been in this situation. Yes, I have in previous years, but this year was going so different. I just wasn’t expecting that, but you have to be respectful and represent the right way, and that’s what I’m doing. I care about this team more than my personal stuff.” Pachulia is making $5.2MM this season in the final year of his contract.
- Rockets swingman K.J. McDaniels has new representation, tweets Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal. He signed with ASM Sports and his new agents will be Andy Miller and Christian Dawkins.
- David West is happy to be with the Spurs, even though he gave up about $11MM from the Pacers to sign in San Antonio, writes Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. “Every moment, every play means something,” West said. “That’s what I wanted. Every game, every possession means the world to us.”
The Celtics, who are among many teams dreaming of signing Kevin Durant this summer, would have taken the Texas product first overall in the 2007 draft if the pingpong balls had bounced their way, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Instead, Portland landed the top pick and selected Ohio State center Greg Oden, with Durant falling to the Thunder at No. 2. “I was in the draft room, and they would have taken Durant,” said Austin Ainge, son of Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I did have some inside information there.” Team co-owner Wyc Grousbeck has verified that claim, according to Forsberg.
Boston may be able to make its pitch to Durant more appealing by acquiring another high-level talent first. Forsberg suggested the Celtics may pursue Hawks free agent center/power forward Al Horford, who is also headed toward free agency and whom they reportedly targeted prior to last month’s trade deadline. Boston will have about $34MM in guaranteed salary for next season if it elects not to hang on to Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko. If the salary cap tops $90MM, as some estimates have suggested, the Celtics could have enough room for two elite free agents.
There’s more on the Atlantic Division:
- Durant, who will face the Celtics in Boston tonight for the first time since 2012, had plenty of good things to say about the city, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I like the city a lot,” Durant told reporters this morning. “It’s cold, but they love sports here. It’s a family atmosphere I feel when I walk around the city, so yeah, I like it a lot.”
- The Nets are hoping they might have “the next Manu Ginobili” in second-round pick Juan Pablo Vaulet, according to NetsDaily. Playing in Argentina, Vaulet missed 19 games with an early-season stress fracture in his ankle, but he is starting to show why Brooklyn and other observers were so high on him during the draft. That includes new Nets GM Sean Marks, who was watching Vaulet closely when he was still with the Spurs’ front office.
- The Raptors‘ D-League affiliate has announced that Ronald Roberts Jr. will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. Three NBA teams had considered signing Roberts to a 10-day contract before the injury, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (Twitter link).
The Mavericks haven’t been a real contender for a few seasons, but owner Mark Cuban isn’t ready to shift gears and begin the rebuilding process, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Dallas lost Saturday to the Pacers to drop to .500 and just two games up in the loss column on ninth-place Utah.
“We’ll always be opportunistic,” Cuban said. “It takes a little bit of luck. I don’t care who it is. Then you look at the teams that said, ‘OK, let’s just blow it up.’ Who’s it worked for lately?”
The Mavericks are nonetheless stuck on the mediocrity treadmill, having no clear path to becoming legitimate contenders, MacMahon contends in the same piece. MacMahon examines the team’s decisions since winning the title in 2011 and doubts that Dallas can attract marquee free agents during the upcoming summer due to the plethora of teams set for ample cap flexibility. See more on the Mavs amid news from the Lone Star state.
- Kevin Martin was linked to the Mavs, Rockets, Cavaliers, Hawks, Heat and Thunder as he worked a buyout with the Timberwolves a couple of weeks ago, but he said the Spurs were his choice all along, according to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater (Twitter link). “There was only one team I’d do a buyout for and it was here [San Antonio],” Martin said.
- Andrew Goudelock believes he significantly expanded his game in the nearly three years that passed between the end of his time with the Lakers in 2013 and his signing with the Rockets this week, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “My basketball IQ has grown,” Goudelock said. “I’ve seen a lot of different things. I’m able to read offenses and defenses better. I’m able to handle the ball a lot better. I’m able to play both guard positions. I’m able to see things on the floor I wasn’t able to see before. I was just a scorer. That’s all I brought to the game. Now, I’m passing the ball and defensively I’ve gotten a lot better. I’ve come a long way defensively. That was one of the knocks on me. I’m a pretty decent defender now.”
- Critics could argue that Peter Holt, who transferred control of the Spurs to his wife this past week, simply rode the wave of success that coach/president Gregg Popovich built, but Holt’s faith in Popovich amid difficulty early in his coaching tenure shows that the outgoing owner deserves credit, opines Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Assistant coach Monty Williams will not return to the team this season as he continues to grieve in the wake of the tragic passing of his wife, Ingrid, the team announced today. “The most important thing for Monty during this time is for him to be with his family, and the most important thing for us as an organization is to support him as a person, in any way that we can,” GM Sam Presti relayed in the team’s statement. “Even though Monty will not return to the team this season, his presence will be felt by all of us within the program and we will remain close with him and his family.”
Coach Billy Donovan also expressed his support for Williams, saying, “I have really enjoyed my relationship with Monty, and clearly we will miss him, but we value and embrace that it is critical he is there for his family at this time and our focus is on doing whatever we can, in any small way, to help him. He and his family will continue to be in our thoughts.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Kevin Martin joined the Spurs with his eyes firmly fixed on playing in the postseason, which was his primary motivation for choosing San Antonio over other suitors after reaching a buyout arrangement with the Wolves, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News relays. “I think you look at where you’re at in your career, when you’ve kind of been on a lot of teams where you’re a No. 1 option guy, but you really don’t get to play until the end of May or early June,” Martin said. “So I think I just wanted to be with a championship pedigree. That was the ultimate No. 1 thing in my decision.” The veteran shooting guard sacrificed exactly half of his $7,377,500 player option for next season and $352,750 of this season’s salary in order to secure his departure from Minnesota.
- The Kings should give DeMarcus Cousins one more chance to make things work in Sacramento by hiring a new coach for next season, J.A. Adande of ESPN.com opines (video link). The ESPN scribe notes that the situation between the volatile but talented center and coach George Karl is toxic, and Cousins was seemingly in check under former coach Michael Malone, which demonstrates that the big man can be kept in line if he respects the person in charge. Trading Cousins should be the absolute last resort, Adande adds, since it would be virtually impossible to receive equal value in return. The team suspended Cousins this week for one game without pay for his latest verbal run-in with Karl.
The overwhelming sense in the Kings organization is that George Karl is in his final weeks as coach, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. That jibes with earlier reporting that cast doubt on the idea of Karl remaining in his position beyond this season, even though he made it through a near-dismissal last month. Players say the 63-year-old doesn’t appear to have the energy or vocal cords necessary to continue to face the challenge of coaching DeMarcus Cousins, whom the Kings suspended Thursday for his latest verbal clash with Karl, Voisin adds. Karl nonetheless downplayed the implications of Thursday’s cancer treatment, which removed squamous cell carcinoma on the left side of his neck, as Voisin relays. The columnist proposes moving Karl into the front office as a solution, and it’s an idea to which GM Vlade Divac is open, Voisin notes. See more from around the NBA:
- Peter Holt’s decision to step down as owner of the Spurs was surprising, and the timing was odd, coming in the midst of another run at a title, but it’s in line with the 67-year-old’s gradual tapering of his professional responsibilities, sources tell Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio-Express News. Holt’s past history of alcoholism wasn’t a factor in his decision, said new co-CEO Rick Pych, who promised that he doesn’t plan any significant change for the organization, given his longstanding history with Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford. New primary owner Julianna Hawn Holt, Peter Holt’s wife, long ago established herself with the team, minority-share owner Stephen Lang told Orsborn, lending further credence to the idea that no major overhaul is coming.
- Louisville sophomore center Chinanu Onuaku will declare for the draft, coach Rick Pitino said, as Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal notes. That doesn’t mean he’s necessarily draft-bound, as new rules allow underclassmen to again “test the waters” and take part in the NBA combine while still maintaining their college eligibility should they decide to withdraw from the draft. Onuaku, the younger brother of Arinze Onuaku, is the 51st-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and comes in 58th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
- Ford gives his take on the most likely pick for each team currently slated for a lottery pick in an Insider-only piece.