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Western Notes: Cousins, Karl, Davis, Williams

August 12th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rumors about turmoil between DeMarcus Cousins and Kings coach George Karl were overblown, Cousins insisted Tuesday, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee observes. The snake and grass emojis that the All-Star tweeted earlier this summer, shortly after the report that Karl wanted to trade him, seemed to indicate otherwise, but it appears their relationship has improved since then.

“There were some things that had to be ironed out,” Cousins said, “but at the same time, I wouldn’t make it as big as it was made out to be. Me and him [Karl] are on the same page, working on our relationship, and getting better every day. That’s all that matters. Things are a lot better. We’re trying to understand each other better. We’re going to make things happen, positive things happen.”

See more from the Western Conference:

Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams still won’t express dismay over his firing earlier in the offseason, even though it separated him from Anthony Davis, the New Orleans star with whom he shares an uncanny bond, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune. Williams, now a Thunder assistant, still talks with Davis but insists that he’s careful to leave most of the tutelage to new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, Smith notes. Still, Williams makes it clear that he’ll always be friends with Davis, according to Smith.
The Clippers roster is built to win in the playoffs more so than any other among Western Conference teams, according to metrics that Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com put together for an Insider-only piece. That’s thanks to the addition of depth to the team’s star core, Doolittle writes. The Lance Stephenson trade and the signings of Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and others bolstered the strong but thin existing group.
Warriors GM Bob Myers may be the reigning Executive of the Year, but Spurs GM R.C. Buford, who won the award in 2014, is still the league’s top front office boss, opines Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. That’s not surprising given San Antonio’s free agent haul, which includes LaMarcus Aldridge and a minimum-salary deal for David West.

Lakers, Spurs To Audition Sean Kilpatrick

August 11th, 2015 at 7:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 7:07pm: Kilpatrick, whose workout with the Lakers reportedly went well, will also audition for the Spurs in the near future, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.

MONDAY, 10:27am: Sean Kilpatrick, a Timberwolves 10-day signee from this past season, will be one of several taking part in a Lakers workout today, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He joins Toure’ Murry, Bobby Brown, Eric Moreland and D.J. Kennedy among those reportedly trying out for the purple-and-gold.

Minnesota chose to sign Kilpatrick last season in large measure because of his proximity to New York, where the Wolves were about to play the Knicks and didn’t have enough healthy players. The 6’4″ shooting guard, who had been a short drive away as he played for the Sixers D-League affiliate, saw a fair amount of playing time during his stint with Minnesota, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes per game in four contests. The 25-year-old put on a strong scoring performance in summer league play last month for the Bucks, averaging 18.2 PPG in 28.7 MPG.

Kilpatrick hooked on with the Warriors near the end of the preseason last year and received a $35K partial guarantee before Golden State waived him prior to opening night. The W’s kept his D-League rights but later traded those to Philly’s D-League team. This past season was Kilpatrick’s first in the pros after he went undrafted in 2014. Before that draft, he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about his desire to strengthen his reputation as a defender.

Which of the workout participants whose names have surfaced so far do you find most intriguing for the Lakers? Leave a comment to let us know.

Spurs Rumors: Luxury Tax, Marjanovic, Hammon

August 8th, 2015 at 8:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs‘ offseason maneuvers could put them over the luxury tax for the first time since 2011/12, according to Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio, which added free agent LaMarcus Aldridge and re-signed Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, has 16 players under contract at a total of $87.073MM. That figure is more than $17MM over the $70MM salary cap and more than $2.33MM over the luxury tax threshold. That would saddle the Spurs with a tax payment of about $4.1MM, although that likely will change because the tax is imposed based on the end-of-season roster. Thirteen of the Spurs’ contacts are guaranteed in full. Matt Bonner has a $947,276 veteran’s minimum deal with just under $750K guaranteed. Jimmer Fredette also has a veteran’s minimum deal with only $507K guaranteed. Reggie Williams is still on the roster with a non-guaranteed $1.185MM contract.

There’s more from San Antonio:

Boban Marjanovic told Blic Sports (translation via Projectspurs) that he had hoped to play for the Serbian National Team at Eurobasket, but the Spurs nixed the idea. “From the first days of preparation there was a great atmosphere in the team,” Marjanovic said. “It’s a fantastic group of guys that I am convinced that it will be able to achieve the desired goal and placed on the Olympics.” Marjanovic signed a one-year deal with San Antonio last month.
Becky Hammon, who made history as the NBA’s first female assistant coach, told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that she is encouraged to see so many women receive coaching opportunites. Since Hammon’s hiring, the Kings added Nancy Lieberman as an assistant and the Arizona Cardinals made Jen Welter the first female assistant coach in the NFL. “I’m just happy other women are getting opportunities,” Hammon said. “There are just so many capable women out there, and I’m glad to be in the same sentence. It was just a tremendous month for the ladies.”

Pistons Rumors: Baynes, Blake, Jackson

August 8th, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Aron Baynes was Detroit’s top offseason target for its frontcourt, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The Australian center signed with the Pistons in July after San Antonio chose not to extend a qualifying offer, and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is confident that Baynes has talents he was never able to show with the Spurs because he was surrounded by so many good players. “What we saw was a real physical guy at both ends of the floor – a good, solid rebounder and an offensively skilled guy who can shoot the ball, who can post, who’s comfortable putting the ball on the floor and going to dribble handoffs and playing that way,” Van Gundy said. He added that team scouts were especially impressed with what they saw from Baynes in international play.

There’s more tonight out of Detroit:

Newly acquired Steve Blake won’t have a defined role if Brandon Jennings is fully recovered from an Achilles injury, Langlois writes in a separate story. Blake, who ended last season with Blazers, has been traded to Brooklyn and then to Detroit during the summer. Even if Jennings returns, Blake may be able to earn playing time, based on the assessment of Van Gundy’s brother, former NBA coach and current broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy. “That’s one of the things my brother said when we talked about the trade,” Stan Van Gundy said. “He said, ‘If I had to bet, I’d say he finds a way to get on the floor no matter what.’ That’s sort of what he’s always done. He’s found a way to play.” Blake is entering the final season of the two-year contract he signed with Portland.
Even if Jennings hadn’t gotten hurt last season, Van Gundy likely would have made the deal that brought Reggie Jackson from Oklahoma City to Detroit, contends David Mayo of MLive. Jackson offers more size at point guard, Mayo notes, and Van Gundy likes having bigger players on the perimeter. Although the Pistons may not have pursued the three-team trade without Jennings’ injury, Mayo argues that they would have accepted it, assuming it had been proposed. Jennings will become a free agent next summer when his three-year, $24MM contract expires.

Spurs To Sign Keifer Sykes

August 7th, 2015 at 8:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Spurs have agreed to a deal with undrafted guard Keifer Sykes, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the agreement are not yet known, but it is likely a minimum salary training camp deal, though that is merely my speculation. Sykes played in the Las Vegas Summer League for the Cavaliers, averaging 9.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 51.4% shooting.

San Antonio currently has a roster count of 17 players, including 13 fully guaranteed pacts, making Sykes a longshot to remain on the team’s roster past opening night. The Spurs may have designs on sending Sykes to the D-League next season, as teams can retain the rights for up to four players.

The 21-year-old played his college ball for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, making 33 appearances as a Senior, and notching averages of 18.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. His slash line was .452/.311/.780.

Southwest Notes: Lawson, Marjanovic, Mavs

August 7th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Southwest Division put five teams in the playoffs this past season and may well do so again in 2015/16, but it doesn’t receive much love from the ESPN Insider 5-on-5 crew, none of whom rank the Spurs or another Southwest team as the NBA’s best heading into the coming season. The Spurs and Rockets get one nomination each for No. 2, and while San Antonio gets plenty of support for No. 3, Bradford Doolittle and Ethan Sherwood Strauss both cite marquee free agent signing LaMarcus Aldridge‘s need for an adjustment period as one reason why they don’t rank the Spurs more highly. While we wait to see if the Spurs indeed encounter a measure of adversity, see more from around the Southwest here:

The Rockets understand the risk involved in having traded for Ty Lawson, GM Daryl Morey tells Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, who details Lawson’s string of alcohol-related brushes with the law and his potential path to recovery. “We take those very seriously,” Morey said of Lawson’s issues. “He’s had some very serious incidents in his past and in his recent past. We feel like he’s part of the Rockets family now and through our conversations with him we feel confident he’s getting the help he needs and he’s taken that step to say this is something he needs to do is improve on those areas.”
The agent for Boban Marjanovic disputes the Spurs‘ claims that he’s not healthy enough to play for his national team this summer, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News details. The Serbian Basketball Federation is also fighting the decision that the Spurs made over concerns about ankle and foot problems for the center whom they signed last month. “After the game, he didn’t play basketball for 5 weeks,” agent Misko Raznatovic wrote on Twitter, referring to a June 28th contest (Twitter links). “Absolutely out of physical activity. And now is badly injured and can’t play! NO WAY!”
The subtraction of Monta Ellis, the additions of Wesley Matthews, Deron Williams, John Jenkins and first-round pick Justin Anderson, and the retention of Charlie Villanueva set the Mavericks up to become more of an outside shooting team this coming season, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com examines.

And-Ones: Brooks, Contracts, Spurs

August 5th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the bulk of the offseason free agent signings in the rearview, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders examined whom he believes to be the best values amongst the free agent contracts doled out this Summer. The Cavs‘ re-signing LeBron James snagged the top spot, but Pincus also is a fan of the Celtics inking Amir Johnson, David West signing with the Spurs, and Brandan Wright‘s pact with the Grizzlies. The Basketball Insiders scribe notes that the best aspect of Johnson’s deal with Boston is that the second year is non-guaranteed, making him a potentially valuable trade chip next season.

Here’s more from around the league:

MarShon Brooks, who last played in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2013/14 season, has signed with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).
The Rockets sent the Nuggets $440k as part of the trade for Ty Lawson, and the Thunder forked over $1.5MM to the Celtics as part of the trade for Perry Jones III, Pincus relays (Twitter links).
Danny Green believes that the combination of the Spurs signing free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, and re-signing both Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, will likely keep coach Gregg Popovich from retiring in the near future, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express News relays. “Without LaMarcus and Kawhi I think he’s out the door when Timmy [Duncan] leaves,” Green said. “Them being here I think extends his tenure just a little bit longer. Pop loves the game, obviously. I don’t see him stepping away fully. Even if he ever did he’d always be in the front office, or around or something.”

Southwest Notes: West, Marjanovic, Ndour

August 4th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

David West had kept the Spurs on his radar as a potential destination for years prior to his surprising decision to sign with San Antonio last month for the minimum salary, as the power forward told WRAL-FM in Raleigh, North Carolina (audio link; transcription via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News).

“At this point, I just want to win games,” West said. “I feel like I’m in a position to where I had a choice to make. I just chose to give myself a chance to win. The Spurs have an unbelievable culture. I just want an opportunity to be in that system and experience it and see what comes of it.”

Among those who signed new deals this summer, West will see the third greatest decline in pay this coming season compared to last. See more on the Spurs amid the latest from the Southwest Division:

The Serbian national team said it will challenge a decision the Spurs have made to pull newly signed center Boban Marjanovic out of international competition this summer, as the Serbian Basketball Federation announced and as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia translates. Serbia provided a copy of a letter the Spurs sent informing the national squad that it had exercised its right to unilaterally withdraw the center from international play because doctors had found a congenital defect in his feet that makes them more vulnerable to breaking. Marjanovic played on a broken foot this spring to help his club team, Red Star Belgrade, win the Serbian KLS League title, as David Pick recently chronicled for Bleacher Report.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe is willing to cautiously bet that the Rockets won’t sign rookie scale extensions with either Terrence Jones or Donatas Motiejunas out the desire for greater cap flexibility next summer. Still, Lowe sees the extension candidacy of Jones as especially fascinating (Twitter link).
Mavs signee Maurice Ndour has a partial guarantee worth $437K on his $874,636 salary for the 2016/17 season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link).

Southwest Rumors: Matthews, Bonner, Rockets

August 3rd, 2015 at 7:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have tempered their expectations of Wesley Matthews for the upcoming season because they don’t want to jeopardize his future, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said that the club won’t take any shortcuts as Matthews recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, Sneed continues. “I think the most important thing is that he makes a full recovery, because we’re signing him to a four-year deal,” Carlisle said. “The first year is more about making sure that he’s right and getting him out there on the right terms, and from there we want him to make a full recovery and continue to get better.” Matthews said in the same story that the Mavs will get their money’s worth, even though they have been criticized for giving him a $70MM deal. “It’s just going to make me hungrier to prove that I’m worth the money,” he said. “I’m not concerned with that. I just know that I can play this game, and I know that I can play it at a high level.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Maurice Ndour will see $1 more the minimum on his three-year contract with the Mavericks, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s fully guaranteed for this season, but the guarantees beyond that are still unknown, Pincus indicates. Brandon Ashley, Jarrid Famous and Jamil Wilson are also receiving the minimum from the Mavs this year, Pincus shows on the same page.
Matt Bonner received a $795,000 guarantee from the Spurs on his $1.5MM deal, Pincus reports in a separate tweet. Bonner gets the full amount if he’s still on the roster on January 10th.
Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has been named International Player Personnel Scout for USA Basketball, the team announced Monday. Entering his fourth season with the Rockets in that capacity, Rosas was previously the Mavericks’ GM.

Pacific Notes: Lieberman, Moreland, Durant

July 30th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:28pm: The Kings and Lieberman have reached an agreement, Lieberman tells Voisin (Twitter link).

7:29pm: The NBA will boast multiple female assistant coaches for the first time this season, as the Kings are expected to hire Hall of Famer and women’s basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman to head coach George Karl‘s staff, reports Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Kings VP of franchise and basketball ops Vlade Divac told Voisin today that he’ll make Lieberman an offer, and she said to Voisin that she’ll accept it.

“George and I talked about bringing her back after she helped us at summer league,” Divac said. “She was terrific. She brings a different dimension. I think [it’s] a nice opportunity for her.”

She’ll join Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, the head coach of the Las Vegas Summer League champs, who became just the second female NBA assistant coach ever last summer, and the first to hold such a position full-time. Lieberman has previously served as head coach of the Mavs D-League affiliate. Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

The Kings decided one-year veteran Eric Moreland‘s playing style was too similar to that of No. 6 pick Willie Cauley-Stein, helping prompt Sacramento to waive Moreland on Thursday rather than guarantee his salary, as Shams Charania of RealGM writes. Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee wouldn’t be shocked to see Moreland end up with Denver, where former Sacramento GM Pete D’Alessandro, who signed him to the Kings last year, works in the Nuggets front office, but Bill Herenda of CSN California heard early word suggesting that won’t happen (Twitter links).
The Warriors will surely chase Kevin Durant next summer, when he’s set for free agency, but realistically, they’d have to sign-and-trade for him, and such a deal would probably have to include Harrison Barnes plus more, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group posits in a look at Golden State’s chances for the former MVP.
Golden State has promoted Luke Walton to lead assistant to replace Alvin Gentry, the team announced. Gentry became the head coach of the Pelicans earlier this summer. Walton joined the Warriors coaching staff last year.
The Suns have officially added Earl Watson, Nate Bjorkgren and Jason Fraser to their coaching staff, the team announced. Watson and Fraser come from the Spurs D-League team while Bjorkgren had coached Phoenix’s D-League affiliate. Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group first reported the addition of Watson, who helped with the Suns’ pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge, his former teammate with the Trail Blazers.