- Gonzaga point guard Nigel Williams-Goss could be a nice fit for the Wizards with their second-round pick, Chase Hughes of CSNMidAtlantic.com opines. The Wizards, who hold the No. 52 overall selection, need another point guard behind John Wall and Williams-Goss could make an instant impact, according to Hughes.
We’re back with the latest edition of Hoops Links, one that will make you appreciate the joys of the NBA blogosphere as much as we do. Now, with the Finals in the rear-view mirror, celebrating good original content is as important as ever.
Once a week we round up the best content that we come across while obsessively perusing the internet and now you can help. Find a blog article that you think deserves a shout out next Thursday? Send it my way on Twitter (@AustinKent). Even if you wrote the blog yourself, nominate it for inclusion in future editions.
Remember, keep things limited to Cavaliers Era Shawn Kemp, relevant, original and fresh.
The Celtics have plenty of decisions to make over the course of the next few years, especially since their cap space projects to dry up after this offseason. Retaining their roster as is and signing a big name free agent in 2017 could put Boston in position to far exceed the luxury tax next season when it comes time to re-sign Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley. Jason Sullivan of You’re Ducking Right recently broke down the pros and cons of retaining each guard, coming to the conclusion that the C’s will inevitably need to part with one if they want to build around Markelle Fultz.
Author: Jason Sullivan – @Sully6827
Rating: 9 out of 10 Sophie’s Choices
Link: Isaiah Thomas vs. Avery Bradley.
Much has been said about how an increasing reliance on three-point shooting has changed the game of basketball, but few have delved into what it takes to stop a successful team on the perimeter. Thomas Bassine of Big Three Sports went to work compiling the three-point percentages certain teams allowed compared to what one might reasonably expect those opposing percentages to be. The result? A statistical analysis of how teams are defending against the biggest trend in basketball.
Author: Thomas Bassine – @Big3Sports
Rating: 9 out of 10 Scatter Plots
Link: Three-point defense trends.
There’s a decent chance that Dennis Rodman‘s latest trip to North Korea will have a negligible impact on anything but perhaps the quarterly sales of bootlegged Bulls jerseys on the streets of Pyongyang, but that doesn’t change the fact that the retired forward is likely the only person alive that has personal relationships with both Donald Trump and Kim-Jong Un. Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie summarizes the Washington Post’s reporting.
Author: Dan Devine – @YourManDevine
Rating: 7 out of 10 Mermaid Puzzles
Link: Dennis Rodman in North Korea, 2017.
It didn’t take long for the speculation about hypothetical Cavaliers trades to kick in following their loss in the NBA Finals. Sam Beech of the King James Gospel, however, insists that Cleveland should resist making a blockbuster trade. Forget Carmelo Anthony altogether and don’t rush out to trade Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving, Beech says, thwarting some of the most frequently discussed trade possibilities.
Author: Sam Beech – @KJG_NBA
Rating: 7 out of 10 Hasty Overreactions
Link: Cavs should not make blockbuster trade.
If you were simultaneously granted the abilities to go invisible and time travel, it’s presumed that you’d skip ahead to the day the free agency moratorium lifts in order to sneak through the journals of various general managers. I get it. Alas, for now at least, we’re stuck with David Nash’s thought exercise. For The Four Point Play, Nash imagines what the diaries of Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Thunder GM Sam Presti might look like after two vital 10-day stretches in each executive’s career.
Author: David Nash – @DKN17
Rating: 9 out of 10 Cringeworthy Drakes
Link: Sam Presti, Daryl Morey diaries.
After last summer’s historically mediocre shopping spree, the Trail Blazers don’t have much cap space in 2017. Eric Griffiths of Blazer’s Edge, however, has some options that could create some breathing room for the franchise. Griffiths floats Pat Connaughton and Tim Quarterman as possible cuts with Meyers Leonard an intriguing salary dump option.
Author: Eric Griffiths – @EricG_NBA
Rating: 8 out of 10 Scroungers
Link: How Blazers can make cap space.
The Wizards haven’t had much success luring NBA superstars home to the D.C. area, most recently missing out on Kevin Durant last summer. Durant, a Washington native, didn’t even grant the franchise a meeting last offseason before taking his talents to Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach. Ryan Eugene of Wiz of Awes, however, thinks the tide could be changing, citing recent comments from Will Barton and Greivis Vasquez about returning home.
Author: Ryan Eugene – @ButterScotchT
Rating: 8 out of 10 Google Searches For Beaches Near Oracle Arena
Link: Local players interested in playing for Wizards.
After spurring a chorus of speculation at the trade deadline by tweeting an emoji, Pistons big man Andre Drummond has done it all over again. Count Steve Hinson of Detroit Bad Boys among those frustrated that we may be in line for another barrage of social-media-fueled angst as the rumor mill surrounding possible transactions begins to fly.
Author: Steve Hinson – @Shinons8
Rating: 7 out of 10 Damn Millennials
Link: Andre Drummond’s emoji tweet.
While they’ve managed to turn themselves into a perennial playoff team and regular dark horse option to make noise in the west, make no mistake, the Clippers Curse is alive and well. Need a reminder of just how blech things have been for the franchise? Autumn Anderson of Clipperholics recently published a feature detailing just how much of an impact the Michael Olowokandi-era bad luck continues to have on the organization.
Author: Autumn Anderson – @AAAutumn_
Rating: 8 out of 10 Eric Piatkowski Jerseys
Link: The Clippers Curse is real.
The thought of Dwight Howard putting up jump shots from beyond the arc is naturally unsettling, but that’s exactly what the big man plans to do for the Hawks in order to prolong his career. Justin Hodges of Soaring Down South weighed in on some recent comments made by the traditional back-to-the-basket big man, suggesting that Howard no longer boasts the impressive interior defense to get away with being a one-trick pony.
Author: Justin Hodges – @HodgepodgeHoops
Rating: 8 out of 10 Ambitious Shooting Coaches
Link: Dwight Howard to add three-pointer.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Hawks are planning on using their 19th overall pick in the NBA Draft on the best player available and Paul Millsap‘s contract situation will not change that, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (links via Twitter).
Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk told Vivlamore for a separate story that Millsap “might get better offers than we can make him.” Despite Atlanta’s desire to retain the four-time All-Star, the team is focused on assembling the best roster possible and worry about Millsap — or replacing him — afterward.
“You draft the best talent available regardless who is on your roster. … I think that’s when you get in trouble, when you draft off need not off talent,” Schlenk said. “Especially the way the league is going where guys are interchangeable and guys are multi-positional, you just take the best player.”
The Hawks went 43-39 last season, making the postseason as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. However, last year’s prized offseason acquisition Dwight Howard struggled in the postseason and expressed his issues with his lack of playing time; the team is also facing several potential departures in unrestricted free agency, such as Ersan Ilyasova, Kris Humphries and Mike Muscala. While those decisions will shape the 2017/18 Hawks, the club will look to attain the strongest asset in the NBA draft before worrying about anything else.
Below are notes from around the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards‘ 2015 draft pick (49th overall) Aaron White will spend another season in Europe, this time suiting up for Zalgiris in Lithuania, according CSN Mid-Atlantic’s J. Michael.
- Greivis Vasquez is interested in joining the Wizards once he completes his recovery from injury, the seven-year NBA veteran told Baltimore’s 105.7 The Fan (via CSN Mid-Atlantic). The 30-year-old only appeared in three games for the Nets last season but the Maryland product would be a candidate for backup point guard in the nation’s capital.
- The Hawks are set to host a workout today with the following prospects: Jawun Evans (Oklahoma State); Ognjen Jaramaz (Mega Leks); Marc Loving (Ohio State); Steve Vasturia (Notre Dame); Mathias Lessort (JSF Nanterre); and Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina).
- The Hornets are hosting a workout tomorrow with the following prospects: Tony Bradley (North Carolina); Sterling Brown (SMU); John Collins (Wake Forest); Tyler Dorsey (Oregon); Frank Mason III (Kansas); and Derrick White (Colorado).
Kansas forward Josh Jackson paid a visit to Kings today, but didn’t go through a workout, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Jackson is expected to be one of the first players selected next week and probably won’t be around for Sacramento’s pick at No. 5. There have been rumors that the Kings would like to move up, but a report today said they aren’t willing to give the Sixers the fifth and 10th picks to get No. 3.
There’s more from a full day of draft workouts:
- Washington’s Markelle Fultz, projected as the top pick, has decided not to visit the Kings, according to Voisin (Twitter link).
- Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer examines which top three team might have given Jackson a guarantee. A report Monday by John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 suggested that either the Celtics, Lakers or Sixers has promised to take Jackson if he’s still on the board when their pick comes up. Jackson canceled a workout this week with Boston and agreed to a second session in L.A.
- Along with a second workout for Lonzo Ball, the Lakers will audition six other players on Friday, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Their names have not been released.
- North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr. may be in danger of slipping on draft night, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. However, some members of Philadelphia’s front office are intrigued by Smith and the team may trade down to get him, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now.
- UCLA’s T.J. Leaf will visit Miami on Thursday to work out for the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat see him as a stretch four who can hit 3-pointers and rebound and will give him serious consideration with their No. 14 pick, Jackson adds.
- Duke’s Harry Giles canceled a workout with the Heat that was scheduled for Thursday, Jackson relays in the same story.
- Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo will be part of a group workout for the Nuggets on Friday, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.
- The Nuggets will host six players Thursday, the team announced in an email. Participating will be Florida’s Canyon Barry, Air Force’s Hayden Graham, Miami’s Kamari Murphy, Baylor’s Johnathan Motley, Arizona’s Kobi Simmons and Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss.
- Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig, who has upcoming sessions with the Lakers and Warriors, is impressing teams with his shooting, Scotto relays (Twitter link).
- Creighton’s Cole Huff has workouts set for the Celtics on Thursday and the Lakers on Monday, tweets Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.
- North Carolina’s Justin Jackson has workouts lined up with the Knicks, Hornets, Bucks and Trail Blazers, according to Begley.
- Jackson will be part of a Pacers workout Thursday, along with Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame, Houston’s Damyean Dotson, Marquette’s Luke Fischer, Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet and Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell, the team announced on its website.
- Northeastern’s T.J. Williams has an upcoming workout with the Knicks and has already auditioned for the Jazz, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Raptors, Begley writes in a separate piece.
- Iowa’s Peter Jok, IUPUI’s Darell Combs, Syracuse’s Andrew White III, Connecticut’s Amida Brimah, Siena’s Marquis Wright and Lehigh’s Tim Kempton Jr. will work out Thursday for the Wizards, the team announced on its official blog.
- The Hawks hosted six players for a workout earlier today, according to the team. Participants were Kempton, California’s Jabari Bird, Loyola-Chicago’s Milton Doyle, Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski, Middle Tennessee State’s Reggie Upshaw and Colorado’s Derrick White.
- Six players worked out today for the Jazz, the team tweeted. On hand were Indiana’s James Blackmon, Dayton’s Charles Cooke, Weber State’s Jeremy Senglin, Eastern Washington’s Jake Wiley, Alabama’s Jimmie Taylor and Texas A&M CC’s Rashawn Thomas.
The Wizards will face plenty of competition for free agent Otto Porter if they don’t submit a max offer, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Coming off a season in which he put up career-best numbers in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, Porter is eligible for a new contract starting at $25.5MM per season. Because he is restricted, Washington can match any offer he receives. Another free agent priority will be Bojan Bogdanovic, who was acquired from the Nets at the trade deadline. He will be looking for a substantial raise from the $3.73MM he made this season, and Marks says Washington will have to determine how much luxury tax it is willing to absorb to keep him.
- After earning All-NBA honors, Wizards point guard John Wall is eligible for an extension worth up to 35% of the salary cap, Marks notes in the same story. The DPVE would begin with the 2019/20 season and is projected at $168MM over four seasons. Wall’s cap hit, which is $18.1MM next season and $19.2MM in 2018/19, could be as much as $37.5MM when the extension kicks in. If Wall’s extension is delayed and he makes an All-NBA team again next season, he could increase the value of the deal by about $50MM. If he doesn’t, Wall would only be eligible for a regular extension worth 120% of his 2017/18 salary.
The Knicks‘ workout with Kentucky’s Malik Monk this week will be private, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Projected as a high to mid-lottery pick, Monk has already worked out for the Suns, who own the fourth selection, and Magic, who have No. 6. New York’s front office is giving serious consideration to Monk at No. 8, along with French point guard Frank Ntilikina and North Carolina State point guard Dennis Smith, Begley notes. Smith had a session scheduled with the Knicks this week, but wound up having dinner with team president Phil Jackson and didn’t participate in a workout.
There’s more draft news as June 22nd approaches:
- Shooting specialist Luke Kennard of Duke also has a private workout scheduled for the Knicks, Begley adds in the same piece. Kennard may have pushed himself into the top 12 with his performance in pre-draft workouts, including CAA’s event last weekend in Los Angeles, according to Begley, who adds that the Knicks would like to trade for another first-rounder and may be targeting Kennard if that happens. New York has discussed a deal with the Trail Blazers, who hold picks 15, 20 and 26. The Pistons have expressed a willingness to swap the 12th selection for veteran help, and Begley believes the Knicks have reached out to them.
- Kennard is part of a high-profile group to work out for the Pistons today, tweets Keith Langlois of MLive. He is joined by Duke’s Harry Giles, Wake Forest’s John Collins and Kentucky’s Isaac Humphries. Teams are permitted to bring in up to six players at a time, but Detroit is having difficulty getting players to visit because it doesn’t own a second-round pick (Twitter link). Kennard told reporters he has upcoming sessions with the Magic, Knicks, Mavericks and Hornets, who all pick before the Pistons. (Twitter link).
- Ntilikina, Collins and Jarrett Allen of Texas have been added to the list of green room invites for draft night, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. That brings the total to 13, with more invitations to be extended Monday.
- Creighton’s Justin Patton held his first pre-draft workout this week for the Trail Blazers, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. He also plans to visit the Nuggets, Pistons, Hornets, Heat and maybe the Thunder.
- Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig will work out for the Clippers Monday, Begley posts on ESPN Now. He has a session later in the week with the Rockets.
- Georgetown’s L.J. Peak had a workout with the Sixers this week, tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. He has future sessions set up with the Hawks, Nets, Knicks, Celtics, Spurs, Wizards and Suns.
- Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet worked out for the Knicks this week, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. He also had workouts for the Kings, Celtics, Suns and Jazz.
- Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr. has worked out for the Pistons, Kings, Wizards, Magic and Rockets, with more on the schedule, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype.
The Wizards’ 2016 offseason, which included a five-year max contract for Bradley Beal, pricey multiyear investments in Ian Mahinmi, Andrew Nicholson, and Jason Smith, and the hiring of Scott Brooks, was met with skepticism by many league observers. However, while most of the team’s free agent additions didn’t pay major dividends, Brooks’ arrival and Beal’s breakout season helped buoy Washington to a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Wizards were just one win away from knocking off the top-seeded Celtics and earning a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals, but this team isn’t a finished product. There are several areas the Wizards will need to address and a handful of questions the club will need to answer in order to make another deep playoff run a year from now.
Here are several key questions facing the Wizards as they enter the offseason:
1. Will Otto Porter be re-signed?
John Wall and Beal are the Wizards’ stars, but if anyone on the roster qualifies as the third piece of a Big Three, it’s Porter. He enjoyed the best season of his four-year career in 2016/17, averaging 13.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.5 SPG, with an extremely efficient .516/.434/.832 shooting line. He’s also just 24 years old, and is eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
When Beal reached restricted free agency a year ago, there was little doubt that the Wizards would retain him, despite his injury history. Porter isn’t quite a lock to be brought back — he’ll almost certainly draw enough rival interest that Washington will be forced to go up to the max for him, and he’d be making more than both Beal and Wall in that scenario. Still, letting him go wouldn’t create a ton of cap flexibility for the Wizards, and it would leave the club with a huge hole in its lineup, so I’d expect Porter to stay in D.C.
2. Will Bojan Bogdanovic be re-signed?
Like Porter, Bogdanovic provided reliable outside shooting for the Wizards this season and is eligible for restricted free agency. Bogdanovic, who was acquired at the trade deadline, isn’t as strong an all-around player as Porter, but he’s a very solid scorer off the bench on a team that had a hard time finding production from its second unit.
Assuming they tender Bogdanovic a qualifying offer, as they should, the Wizards will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet the veteran forward signs. But if Porter is re-signed, Washington won’t have a ton of flexibility to match a lucrative offer for Bogdanovic unless the team is willing to go into the tax. Depending on how aggressively suitors pursue Bogdanovic, it might make sense for the Wizards to let him go.
- The Wizards conducted a pre-draft workout on Monday and will hold another one today, according to a pair of announcements from the club. The team worked out Frank Mason III (Kansas), Michael Young (Pittsburgh), Tyler Dorsey (Oregon), Isaac Humphries (Kentucky), Ben Moore (SMU), and Moses Kingsley (Arkansas) on Monday. Tuesday’s participants will be Marcus Keene (Central Michigan), Justin Robinson (Monmouth), Przemek Karnowski (Gonzaga), Kris Jenkins (Villanova), Landen Lucas (Kansas), and Xavier Rathan-Mayes (Florida State).
At age 35, former Wizards draftee Kwame Brown hasn’t given up on his hope of a return to the NBA, relays Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. The first pick in the 2001 draft, Brown spent four seasons in Washington before embarking an a journeyman career that took him to the Lakers, Pistons, Bobcats, Warriors and Sixers. He hasn’t played pro basketball since the 2012/13 season, but will be part of the new BIG3 league, which he hopes leads to an NBA comeback. “I would definitely come in and do a workout for an NBA team so they can see I’m healthy,” Brown said. “That’s been the biggest thing for everybody: my health. I’ve had a couple of conversations with teams overseas, but everyone wants to see how I look in the BIG3 since I haven’t played in so long and they want to make sure I’m healthy.”
Second-year Wizards guard Kelly Oubre Jr. underwent platelet-rich plasma injections in his right knee today, Candace Bucker of the Washington Post reports. As a result, he won’t return to basketball activities until later this summer and even when he is cleared to play, he’s expected to sit out of July’s summer league.
Oubre Jr. was plagued by lingering knee issues for a number of weeks but didn’t miss any games due to the injury during the regular season or postseason.
PRP injections have gained in popularity around the league of late with Isaiah Thomas, D’Angelo Russell and Reggie Jackson all undergoing the procedure with mixed results in 2016/17 alone. Per Buckner, the goal of the procedure is to promote healing by injecting the patient’s blood into the injured area.
There’s more from the Wizards:
- There are a number of eligible frontcourt alternatives that the Wizards could pursue should they decide to part ways with Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi, including a pair of bigs who plied their trade for playoff contenders in 2016/17. J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic discusses what players like Dewayne Dedmon and Kelly Olynyk could bring to the table.
- Expect the implementation of two-way contracts to impact how teams like the Wizards draft players, J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes in a separate feature. With the new collective bargaining agreement, teams will be able to sign two players in addition to the usual 15 and those players will be able to bounce back and forth between their big league clubs and their Gatorade League affiliates.
- The Wizards are actively seeking a reliable backup point guard for John Wall, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post writes in a separate article, after trialing a number of options in a carousal of options in 2016/17. The club has been busy auditioning shooters ahead of this month’s draft.