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Morning Shootaround — April 17

April 17, 2013  ·  7:38AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

News of the morning

Clips get boost in backcourt | Spurs not expecting much from T-Mac | Players unsure Hunter will be back in Phoenix| Big decisions ahead for Raptors

Bledsoe, Billups give backcourt a boost — The Clippers have had Chauncey Billups in the lineup in just 21 games this season and heading into last night’s home game against Portland, he had missed L.A.’s last eight games. As well, third-year guard Eric Bledsoe had missed five games with a left calf muscle injury that slowed his energetic, up-tempo style. But both players were instrumental in the Clips’ romp of the Blazers, something that made Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro happy, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times:

Billups brings the Clippers championship experience. He won a title with the Detroit Pistons over the Lakers in 2004, when Billups was named the Finals most valuable player.

“He’s a little bit older now,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said about the 36-year-old Billups. “He’s missed most of last season and a lot of this season, so that’s not as easy to do. We still expect a lot from him with his leadership. He can make shots, obviously. He’s another guy that can make plays.”

Billups had missed the last eight games with a strained right groin. He has played in just 21 games this season and is expected to play in a back-to-back game Wednesday night in Sacramento.

Del Negro said the plan is to play Billups about 20 minutes per game.

“He knows how to play and we have to get him into game condition as quick as possible,” Del Negro said. “He gives us another dimension out there making plays off the dribble, shooting the basketball. But he’s got to get out there and get his rhythm and chemistry with the guys.”

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“[Bledsoe] changes the complexion of the game with his speed,” Del Negro said. “It’s just the versatility that he brings that is of value. We can’t always use it depending on matchups. But he’s been fantastic for us since he’s been healthy.”

Bledsoe had suffered a sore left calf muscle that kept out of five games. He seems to be just now getting his legs back strong again.

“He gives us an edge to us out there defensively and the speed he plays with,” Del Negro said. “We knew that was going to be a factor for us. I feel he’s back playing with a lot of confidence. He knows his energy and the way he plays is very important, especially with that second unit or if he’s out there with Chris [Paul], in how he uses his athleticism to pressure the basketball defensively.”

Spurs likely not expecting much from McGrady — After parting ways with Stephen Jackson last week and dealing with a myriad of injuries to Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker along the guard corps, the Spurs picked up Tracy McGrady last night. McGrady, who hasn’t played for an NBA team this season, is eligible for the playoff roster and provides some backcourt depth for the postseason. But how much will the former scoring champ impact the Spurs’ postseason rotation? Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News has more:

With all the twists and turns during the 2012-13 regular season, it was only fitting that the Spurs gave us one more on Tuesday, signing Tracy McGrady to fill to roster vacated after the unceremonious whacking of Stephen Jackson.

It is the seventh NBA stop for the former franchise player, and eighth as a professional including his recent stint in the Chinese league. He dominated with Qingdao Double Star Eagles, averaging 25 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists — the type of numbers he put up as a seven-time All-Star before injuries sapped his athleticism.

McGrady won’t find it nearly so easy back in the NBA, where he averaged 5.3 points last season with Atlanta.

There’s some speculation that McGrady’s addition had been the end goal all along. But at this point, the most likely  explanation is probably the simplest: The Spurs excised what they viewed to be a cancer, and they needed a warm body to help pick up the slack on a Spurs bench that suddenly isn’t so deep.

That means chewing up whatever time is available behind starting small forward Kawhi Leonard. And from what Gregg Popovich has said recently, there won’t be much. Leonard, he said, could earn up to 40 minutes a night, leaving precious little for a floor-bound ex-star.

Still, they needed somebody, and with only days left until the playoffs begin on Saturday, the Spurs could have done far worse. His woeful playoff record notwithstanding, McGrady has experience, and he should be able to provide adequacy in a number of facets: Playmaking, rebounding, perhaps even a touch of scoring.

Players unsure if Hunter will coach Suns next season — When the Suns parted ways with coach Alvin Gentry in mid-January, some drama ensued. Assistant coaches Dan Majerle and Elston Turner quit the team shortly thereafter once word came down that fellow assistant Lindsay Hunter — and not Majerle or Turner, who had more experience as assistants — would be the Suns’ new interim coach. Those two might want to consider themselves lucky as Hunter hasn’t set the world on fire as coach. He is 12-28 as interim coach and the Suns are 2-8 in their last 10 games. All of those facts would seem to not bode well for Hunter returning to the Suns, a topic many players were mostly mum on. Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic has more:

Luis Scola and Goran Dragic were asked whether they would recommend interim head coach Lindsey Hunter returning next season. Both players punted the topic.

“That’s a tough question,” Dragic said. “ … I’m here to play basketball. It’s not my decision to make.”

Dragic did say he liked Hunter’s approach to practice.

“Alvin (Gentry) was a great coach for the veteran players; he knows when to give them a day off, but for our team we have a young team and we really need to practice hard every day,” Dragic said. “When he (Hunter) took over the team I think we maybe had one or two days off. I think it should be like that.”

Scola said he thought Hunter did “a great job. Circumstances were bad and he did as good as he could. But I don’t make those decisions. I’m just a player.”

Would a third coach in less than a year be unsettling for the team?

“I think it would be a sign of things being bad,” Scola said. “But things are bad.”

Suns owner Robert Sarver declined comment when asked about Hunter’s future, and Hunter said no time has been set for a postseason meeting with either General Manager Lance Blanks or President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.

Off-court decisions loom for Raptors — Another season draws to a close in Toronto tonight and the Raptors are once again on the outside of the playoff picture. It has been five seasons since Toronto made the postseason and seven since it finished with a record above .500. Needless to say, the team is in need of more overhauls and changes, although many of those could happen to non-roster positions. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun explains how the fate of GM Bryan Colangelo, the direction of Maple Leaf Sports and more could shape the Raptors’ future:

As another Toronto Raptors season crawls to its conclusion, a franchise teetering on irrelevance has a series of enormous decisions to make.

There may not be any one right answer for Tom Anselmi and the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, but there is almost certainly a wrong one.

The decisions, as they seemingly do at the end of every Raptors season, revolve around the general manager, Bryan Colangelo, and the coach, Dwane Casey. Colangelo has an option year remaining on his contract. Casey has one year left on his deal.

And the team is forever paddling in circles, creating the occasional wave, but ending up nowhere in the end.

The decision for Anselmi and the board isn’t in any way obvious, with the largest issue being the relationship between Colangelo and Casey. Colangelo did his best to distance himself from his coach early in the season and there has been all kind of internal speculation that the two can’t possibly work together again.

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Here’s the dilemma for Anselmi and the board: Do they use the option year on Colangelo’s deal and enable him an eighth season as general manager? Or do they have enough faith in Colangelo to reward him with a new contract, which would be based as much on blind faith and the fact he gives good board meetings as anything else?

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Whatever determination is made on Colangelo’s future puts Casey’s future in a rather distant place. If one doesn’t believe in the other — and we saw what happened how effective it was when Brian Burke allowed Ron Wilson to continue on when they were philosophically opposed with the Leafs — then what sense is having Colangelo back with Casey as coach?

Colangelo apparently tried to fire Casey at least once during the season, insiders say, but wasn’t given the go-ahead to do so.

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Colangelo hasn’t helped himself by his annual summers of bad decisions. There are only so many Landry Fields and Hedo Turkoglus and Jason Kaponos and Jermaine O’Neals you can miss on.

Casey, as coach, didn’t help himself by following up a decent first year with a scrambly second year and an absolute inability to compete in close ones.

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So far, Anselmi has revamped the entire front office of Toronto FC and he played good soldier when some of the ownership decided to fire Brian Burke with the Leafs. Now he has a chance to go 3-for-3 in his first year on the job as president and chief operating officer.

“It’s not like we’re going to make an out of the blue decision. There’s been conversation going on all season long,” said Anselmi. “Is it any more complicated than usual? I don’t know. Either Bryan’s going to be in place and making decisions or someone else will be in place and make the decision on the coach. Leadership is very important to us.”

The Raptors’ season ends tonight. There is no meeting yet scheduled for the MLSE board. A decision on Colangelo is expected by early May.

ICYMI of the night: Plays like this one from Chauncey Billups to Blake Griffin might be a good example of why coach Vinny Del Negro is glad Billups is healthy again:

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Morning Shootaround — April 11

April 11, 2013  ·  7:28AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: You knowit was a great night in the NBA when our choices this morning are a triple-double game or a player scoring 47 points in 48 minutes. The triple-double performance? That came courtesy of Denver’s do-it-all star Andre Iguodala, who led the way in the Nuggets’ win over the Spurs. The 47-point effort — with eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals thrown in for good measure — came from Kobe Bryant in a close win against the Blazers. Which one do we pick? As great as Iguodala’s performance was, we’ve got to give it up for Bryant. It was a classic will-the-Lakers-to-a-win performance from the Black Mamba as he is doing everything he can down the stretch to make sure the Lakers keep hold of that No. 8 seed out West.

News of the morning

Williams dominates vs. Celtics | Hornets hope for best with Davis’ injury | Gortat may return before season’s end

Williams impresses in win over Celts — Over the last week or so, we’ve had plenty of posts praising Nets guard Deron Williams for the revival in his game (as well as news that he’s giving up cortisone shots on his ankle). If the Celtics were unaware of just how much better D-Will has been playing, though, they got an education last night. Williams toasted Boston for 29 points and 12 assists and in the process made Boston look silly on several occasions, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:

Deron Williams looks ready for the playoffs to start.

Williams was spectacular against the Celtics last night, finishing with 29 points and 12 assists as the Nets came away with a 101-93 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 inside TD Garden.

With the win, the Nets moved closer to wrapping up fourth place in the Eastern Conference and clinching homecourt advantage in the first round. They own a 3 ¹/₂ -game edge over idle Chicago with four games left to play in the regular season.

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Williams even was able to make Avery Bradley, one of the league’s elite on-ball defenders, look silly. Bradley, Boston’s starting point guard, managed to play just 10 minutes after Williams saddled him with four fouls, and none of Bradley’s teammates fared much better.

It’s the kind of virtuoso performance the Nets have come to expect from Williams in recent weeks, as he continued his dramatic resurgence since the All-Star break. Williams came into last night’s game averaging 22.5 points and 7.8 assists a night.

He did a large portion of his damage in the second quarter, when the Nets took control of the game for good after the two teams traded baskets for much of the first quarter.

Williams finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and four assists in the second quarter alone, including a pair of slick passes to Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson, respectively, for buckets in the final minutes of the half to send the Nets into the locker room with a 53-43 lead, an advantage they basically maintained for the rest of the game.

Davis hurt vs. Kings; Hornets hope for best — Our own Scott Howard-Cooper was on the scene last night in Sacramento for a game between the lottery-bound Hornets and Kings. What should have been a good late-season assessment game for two young clubs took a nasty turn in the fourth quarter when the Hornets’ prized rookie, Anthony Davis, went down with a knee injury. The Hornets were a bit ambiguous in how Davis is doing, but are hoping for the best with his health:

But that gave way to the uncertainty of the centerpiece, Davis, limping out of the locker room and headed for the flight back to New Orleans and a likely MRI exam on his left knee.

The initial diagnosis was a sprain, the result of Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton landing hard on Davis’ knee when Davis was on the court after challenging a Thornton drive under the basket in the fourth quarter of the 121-110 Kings victory. Davis, walking under his own power, left the arena with security and was not talking.

“I think he’s OK,” coach Monty Williams said. “I don’t want to jump the gun. I didn’t see the play yet, but he said Marcus landed on his knee. He said he’s a little sore. I’m just glad it wasn’t a buckle or a ligament or anything like that. We don’t know that for sure. But usually when somebody lands on it, it could be a contusion. It’s probably more scary than anything else. We’ve got to let the doctors check him out and make sure. He’s walking around. He’s got ice on it.”

Williams added that “I’m pretty sure we’ll rush him right over to our people” after the team lands in New Orleans to get an MRI.

Gortat healing up, eying return — It has been more than a month since the Suns have had the services of center Marcin Gortat, who has been out since severely spraining his foot in a game against the Raptors. But the Phoenix big man has been working out hard and has plans to get in at least one more game before the end of the season, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic:

Suns center Marcin Gortat has been all over the place on a possible return but has narrowed down the scenarios to the possibility of a comeback for the Suns home finale against Houston. He is with the team on the road for the first time since suffering a right foot sprain March 6.

“I’ve really been lifting hard,” Gortat said. “I started taking true jump shots. I’m coming back fast. I just need a little more time. I need to get in basketball shape. My jumper is so messed up. I don’t have a feel for the ball much. I’ll be back. I don’t know if it’s this year or next year. I’ll try to go against Houston at home on Monday. I need practice to see how I feel. I’d love to play. But if there is a little thing that doesn’t feel right, I’m not going to play. There’s no reason for me to risk it.”

Gortat acknowledged that he would receive a Nike contract bonus with one more appearance but he said the statistical portions of that bonus are now unattainable. Gortat averaged 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 61 games this season.

ICYMI of the night: Chris Anderson, formerly of the Nuggets, has just been getting victimized by his old teammates. The latest to slam on him? None other than Washington’s Nene … :

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Mavs Strike Out On A Shave And Playoffs

April 11, 2013  ·  1:37AM

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DALLAS – Strike three, you’re out.

With a third opportunity in the last two weeks to break even and grab a shave for the first time in months, the Dallas Mavericks were blown away, inexplicably embarrassed at home by the skidding Phoenix Suns and laid to rest their run of 12 consecutive playoff appearances.

That franchise record officially ended Wednesday night when the Lakers outlasted the Trail Blazers about 90 minutes after a dominant Goran Dragic (21 points, 13 assists) and the relief-smitten Suns left Dallas with a 102-91 victory.

Each of the Mavs’ three attempts to reach .500 ended in double-digit losses and by an average margin of 18.6 points.

“Every time we’ve had a chance we’ve kind of laid an egg,” said a disappointed Dirk Nowitzki, who said his gimpy ankle was fine as he went just 6-for-18 from the floor for 21 points. “We obviously want to finish the season with a positive record. We owe that to everybody, to the franchise and the fans. This was a game we needed to have.”

Prior to it, Mavs owner Mark Cuban, unaccustomed to rooting for ping-pong balls, acknowledged the obvious: his club has “room to improve, a lot of room to improve.” Then he watched from his baseline seat as the same infuriating issues — horrific guard play, poor defensive rebounding and a non-contesting defense — breathed life into the visitors who entered having lost 10 straight overall, 10 in a row to the Mavs and hadn’t won in Dallas since March 2007.

“We were the team that looked like we were on a back-to-back, not them,” Nowitzki said. “Just a terrible, terrible, disappointing loss.”

After the Mavs’ Wednesday morning shootaround, coach Rick Carlisle was asked if he had to guard against his team taking the cellar-dwelling Suns for granted. His response: ”Anybody around here who’s taking any games for granted this year is a [expletive] idiot.”

Yet that message apparently didn’t reach his players. There was veteran Vince Carter, the team’s most consistent performer this season next to Shawn Marion, admitting as much while answering a question that never broached the topic of taking the opponent for granted.

“I think we took the team for granted at the beginning and felt like we could just win the game,” Carter said. “Took their record, their streak for granted, if you ask me. You just can’t do that.” (more…)

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Morning Shootaround — April 3

April 3, 2013  ·  7:38AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: Carmelo Anthony‘s 50-point game last night against the Heat was one you have to see if you’ve missed it. But the one we’re going with this morning is the Bulls-Wizards game from D.C. The Wizards are definitely playing better defense overall and smarter down the stretch, too, as evidenced by a smart dump-off pass John Wall made to Nene in the closing minute of last night’s game that led to free throw attempts. Although Nene missed ‘em both, Trevor Ariza got the ball back, drained two free throws of his own and clinched the win for Washington. In these last eight games the Wizards have to go, they’ve become a must-see team on League Pass.

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News of the morning

Seattle, Sacramento ready to start fight for Kings | Heisley nearly was a part-owner of Bucks | Babby staying with Suns | Wizards show pride down stretch

Seattle, Sacramento step into the ring — The official ruling on whether or not the Sacramento Kings will remain in California’s capital city or move to Seattle and become the rebranded Seattle SuperSonics won’t be known until the NBA’s Board of Governor’s meeting on April 18-19. But today, in New York, constituencies from both the Seattle and Sacramento groups will present all of their information to NBA officials as they attempt to gather data about the potential scenarios. Our own Scott Howard-Cooper has more on the battle for a team that begins today, as well as some key issues to watch:

This battle has been Sacramento against Seattle all along.

It’s not Sacramento against itself, because it was inevitable the city would build a new ownership conglomerate and a new arena plan. And it’s not Seattle against the NBA, because the league has been very clear in its interest in returning to Washington state.

If Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer headed the same group to buy the Kings to play in Sacramento, it breezes through the approval process. If any city other than Seattle is trying to poach the team – Anaheim, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach – Sacramento mounts a successful comeback victory and probably wins easy.

Sacramento against Seattle.

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There are so many layers to this:

  • If the Seattle bid is voted down later this month – if – don’t be surprised if the current owners, the Maloof family, holds on to the Kings for a while. It could be a few months to step back and see who else wants to play Monopoly now that the team is on the open market, but that would be long enough to have control over trades, draft and free agency. They could still sell late in the summer and give the new owner enough time to draw more than 3,500 fans a game.The Maloofs have not ruled out the possibility of owning the Kings next season. That’s more of a longshot than the July/August scenario, but the family is considering all options at this point. Including staying on and gauging the mood with a new commissioner, Adam Silver.If Seattle is denied and the Maloofs sell? It will have to be to a group that will own the team in Sacramento. Again, the Board of Governors vote is about location. If California’s capital city wins, the team stays no matter who is at the top of the masthead.
  • Voting consideration No. 1: It makes sense that small-market owners would prefer competing against the local TV money of other small-market teams. Boost for Sacramento. Except that some owners, from markers of any size, could want the cut of the to-be-decided relocation fee. Boost for Seattle. (See, counters to every argument.)
  • Voting consideration No. 2: Ranadive’s late addition to the Sacramento group, after Stern backhanded the first offer of its attempted counter-strike, is a positive. How much of a positive is unclear. Owners have to at least be intrigued by the potential of increasing the revenue stream in India, and the relationships he may have already built as No. 3 man in Golden State ownership group can help. But the Warriors may already have been in the Sacramento camp. It is possible Ranadive will not swing a vote.
  • Voting consideration No. 3: Stern, who has worked for years to keep the Kings from moving, has lost one of his most compliant voters. The Maloofs historically followed the commissioner’s lead on most topics. They’re clearly looking out for their best interests on this one.

Babby, Suns reach 2-year deal — During his tenure as Suns president of basketball operations, Lon Babby has seen Phoenix go 96-126, has traded away franchise icon Steve Nash and embark on a rebuilding process that has left many NBA observers puzzled if not downright confused. But Suns managing partner Robert Sarver has liked what Babby is doing with the franchise, presumably, or he wouldn’t have given Babby the two-year extension that Babby signed on Saturday. Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic has more on Babby’s tenure and future in Phoenix:

With his contract set to expire at the end of June, Babby agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain at the helm of the Suns in what was an unconventional NBA front office format when he was hired in 2010. Babby, 62, tabbed Lance Blanks, who has one contract year remaining, to be his general manager and basketball expert while Babby was charged with remaining competitive for Steve Nash’s final two years and then transitioning to a new era this season.

“I’ve had a wonderful career and I view this was a wonderful opportunity,” Babby said. “I knew it was an extraordinary challenge. Not every day is simple. It can be painful and difficult. I didn’t want to leave it at this stage. I may be like Moses. I’m on a journey to get to the promised land of a championship. I didn’t want to leave at the start of the walk through the desert.

“… We’ve done a lot of heavy lifting. It doesn’t feel right to leave if Robert and the organization have faith in me when I feel like we’re about to start the climb up the mountain.”

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The idea of tapping into Babby’s esteemed career as a lawyer, sports agent and pro franchise counsel was to take advantage of a new collective bargaining agreement, have trade and contract negotiating expertise and change the payroll to a younger team by adding draft picks and creating salary-cap flexibility for free agents.

The hits of Babby’s tenure have been trading for Marcin Gortat, extending Jared Dudley, winning an amnesty bid for Luis Scola, bringing back Goran Dragic at Sarver’s behest, signing P.J. Tucker at a minimum salary, accumulating 10 picks in the next three drafts and creating a possibility to sign a maximum-salary free agent in July.

The misses that drew overwhelming social media disapproval of the extension was whiffing on prioritizing Michael Beasley as a free-agent signing, trading Dragic and a first-round pick for Aaron Brooks, the portrayal of this season’s team as a playoff team, the dismissal of coach Alvin Gentry and the handling of the departures of Nash and Grant Hill.

Babby was offered the extension Saturday and accepted Tuesday. Sarver’s endorsement means Blanks likely will stay on board for his last contract year and there is a strong possibility that interim head coach Lindsey Hunter is named the permanent coach.

“Lon has led our front office during this important transition period for the organization and he has my full support as we continue to rebuild,” Sarver said in a prepared statement.

Report: Heisley nearly a part-owner of Bucks — Former Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has been hospitalized since late February after suffering a stroke. He has reportedly been in a coma for more than a month and his health is obviously in a dire situation. But long before Heisley had these unfortunate medical issues, he was reportedly interested in becoming a part-owner (and eventual owner) of the Milwaukee Bucks with its current owner, Sen. Herb Kohl. Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times has the details:

After last season when Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl publicly acknowledged he was looking to take on business partners for his NBA franchise, rumors of potential candidates immediately began to swirl around the NBA.

By last fall, there were whispers Michael Heisley, who had decided to sell the Memphis Grizzlies, had more than a passing interest in joining forces with Kohl. Some NBA officials and insiders even contended Heisley would be part of the Bucks’ ownership group sooner rather than later, perhaps even this season.

The scenario painted by some individuals was that Heisley intended on first becoming a Bucks minority owner with Kohl still in charge. Then, after approximately three years, Heisley would have the option of becoming the majority owner.

According to some people close to Heisley and Kohl, though, the latter got cold feet and balked at the idea of relinquishing his franchise, just like he did in the summer of 2003 when it appeared he was on the brink of selling the Bucks to a consortium headed by Michael Jordan.

Kohl, who purchased the Bucks in 1985 from Jim Fitzgerald for approximately $19 million, is apparently still receptive to bringing on an additional business partner. The possibility of the 76-year-old Heisley re-entering the Bucks’ picture is highly unlikely.

Wizards finishing out season strong — A knee injury to John Wall coupled with a 4-28 start gave Washington all the makings for another woebegone season. But since Wall has returned, the Wizards have knocked off some pretty solid opponents — including Denver, Oklahoma City and their latest victim, Chicago — while showing improved defense and execution, particularly in the fourth quarter. Washington could have easily mailed in the last few weeks of games and not tried to build toward the future, but by doing the opposite, it is setting itself up for success come the 2013-14 season, writes Mike Wise of The Washington Post:

In pure basketball sense, Randy Wittman announcing that the Wizards have set a goal to finish ninth in the Eastern Conference — one spot out of a playoff berth — makes, well, no sense. Same as his Yogi-like proclamation that “it ain’t over yet,” moments after his Wizards beat the Bulls, 90-86, on Tuesday night at Verizon Center.

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“A lot of teams that aren’t really fighting for anything do tend to roll over and take the rest of the season how it comes,” Martell Webster said after the game. “But not us. We’re fighting for each other and showing each other we deserve to be in the playoffs, that we can actually play playoff-caliber basketball.”

“My perception of the team has evolved since I got here,” he added. “Be honest, I didn’t know what the hell to expect when I first got here. So many teams you got a lot of talk and no action. We talk and we perform here. We play for each other. We play to win. It doesn’t matter what part of the season it is.”

On second glance, it makes all the sense in the world to finish ninth — the world of the Wizards, where measuring progress since John Wall returned is so important to the future. His teammates have been much better. He has been flammable of late, knocking down a big shot late against the Bulls and making the right decisions down the stretch. Bradley Beal is occasionally butter from beyond the arc. Webster is suddenly worth a mid-level exception and more.

Look, they were never going to be a playoff team this season. Those hopes died the moment Wall sustained a knee injury that cost him the first 33 games and Nene aggravated a left foot injury in the Olympics, limiting him for much of the season’s early going.

Their postseason was gone after they started 4-28, and after that there were only two important questions to be answered: Would Wall show that he was a bona-fide point guard capable of making his teammates better while also showing the same explosiveness he had before the injury? And were some of the key components around him good enough to warrant keeping him for the future?

Sure, 28-46 doesn’t make for a complete roster reassessment. But 24-18 after that start, the way the Wizards have turned into a tough out on many nights and into one of the top 10 defensive teams in the league since Wall’s return, has answered both questions in the affirmative.

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The best teams often compromise the integrity of the product to rest and protect their players with the express reason of being fresh for the postseason — see San Antonio and Miami. The worst teams sometimes don’t play their stars simply because they don’t want to miss out on the possibility of moving one slot ahead of another team in the draft for a significantly better player.

Wittman and the Wizards could get away with sitting Nene or Wall the next two weeks. Lord knows the organization, headed for the lottery for the fifth straight time, has not always done what’s right for the game the past five seasons.

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The last thing the Wizards needed was another 20-something, doe-eyed kid trying to figure his game and his new environment out at the same time. They need a piece or two to be a playoff team next season.

One of those pieces became showing purpose and passion this season, right up until Game No. 82. Going all out for ninth place doesn’t sound very noble, does it?

But from whence the Wizards came this season, it’s a building block for next year.

ICYMI of the night: What Kenyon Martin likely did once or twice to Chris Andersen in practice when both were with Denver now available for mass consumption … :

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Morning Shootaround — March 19

March 19, 2013  ·  7:40AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: Eleven games on the schedule makes for the usual: a healthy dose of blowouts (Pacers-Cavs, Mavs-Hawks, Nets-Pistons, Warriors-Hornets, Wolves-Grizz and Lakers-Suns) and a smattering of close ones (Blazers-Sixers, Wizards-Bobcats, Nuggets-Bulls and Knicks-Jazz). We’d like to go outside the box and pick one of these closer games, but was any game more exciting last night than the Heat-Celtics affair from Boston? The Celtics jumped out to a 17-point lead in the second quarter, had control of the game most of the night and even had a 13-point lead with about eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But as our man John Schuhmann breaks it down (and as you can see in this comeback video), the efforts of Jeff Green and the rest of the Celts weren’t enough to slow the train that is LeBron James and the Heat.

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News of the morning

Denver taking paint scoring to new heights | Frank no fan of Knight posterizer | Scola’s minutes dwindle | Granger OK to practice

Denver painting a masterpiece around basket — Although the ending to last night’s Nuggets-Bulls game at United Center was wrought with controversy (our man Steve Aschburner has the full details on “tip-in-gate”), one thing that couldn’t be disputed was how often Denver scored in the paint on Chicago last night. The Nuggets put up 119 points on the Bulls’ often-solid defense and a look at the scoring logs reveals a lot of layups and dunks for Denver. Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post takes a closer look at just how efficient the Nuggets have been this season at scoring around the hoop:

Sure enough, Denver scored 64 in regulation time and finished with 68 in its 119-118 overtime victory over the Bulls.

The Nuggets’ brand of basketball leads to persistent paint penetration. It’s NASCAR basketball. The fast-breaking Nuggets entered Monday leading the NBA with an average of 57.6 points in the paint, scoring 60 or more 27 times. In the NBA this season, the six-highest paint-point totals have come from the Nuggets, with 78 as their high.

Nuggets fans should appreciate what they’re watching — few teams win this way. The Nuggets are just different.

“And you go down the roster, there’s speed and quickness,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “Ty Lawson is as fast as anybody. Kenneth Faried runs the floor as well as any big. Andre Iguodala is a tremendous athlete. So they have a lot of guys who can go. Andre Miller is an older guy who plays at a different pace, but the way he plays allows him to play really fast. And you look at a guy like Corey Brewer, he’s found his niche there. He’s a winning-type player.”

Denver could finish with the highest average of paint points since the league started keeping that stat in the 1996-97 season. The record was set by the 1997-98 Lakers, who averaged 54.1.

Denver entered Monday leading the NBA with an average of 19.7 fast-break points and trailed only the Clippers with 19.7 points per game off turnovers.

Frank no fan of Knight’s ‘posterizing’ moment — The dunk residing at No. 1 on our own NBA.com Dunk Ladder is none other than DeAndre Jordan‘s one-handed alley-oop slam over the Pistons’ Brandon Knight (although, LeBron James‘ jam on Jason Terry last night has a good chance of supplanting it). Even though Pistons coach Lawrence Frank wasn’t on hand in L.A. when Jordan did the deed over Knight, Frank subsequently heard the buzz the dunk created on Twitter, television, Facebook and any other media means you can think of. Frank wasn’t a fan of all the chatter and posterization talk, as he tells the Detroit Free Press’s Vince Ellis:

Frank wasn’t there for the March 10 game at Staples Center when the Clippers center put Knight on a poster as he was away tending to his ill wife.

But when asked casually before tonight’s game about the uproar on social media and ESPN, Frank was critical.

“They’re called ‘game-quitters,’ they’re in the game but they’re really not in the game, so they bail out just because they don’t want to be dunked on.

“I mean, to me, I don’t know what the culture, whether it’s an AAU environment — I hate to blame that — or what the situation is, but when I read that and saw that stuff how it was such a … it just goes to show you we’re celebrating the wrong (stuff), we really are.”

He added: “If Brandon could have fouled the guy (and stopped the basket), DeAndre Jordan, the way he shoots free throws, it would’ve been a total non-issue. But at least Brandon has the courage to put himself out there to make a play. And the fact that people laugh about it and joke about it, I don’t know. There’s a whole lot more things to glamorize in our sport than something like that. I don’t even understand how that’s, like, a story, you know? And you read about how it’s trending on Twitter? Talk about Miami winning 22 games in a row, or talk about something else. But a dunk? Who cares?”

Scola’s playing time dwindling — As a member of the Houston Rockets for five seasons, Luis Scola started a possible 343 of 368 games and played in every possible game in a season four times. After being waived by Houston over the summer via the NBA’s amnesty program, he latched on with Phoenix and was thought to be the Suns’ starting power forward. That was the role Scola occupied at the start of the season before losing the gig … and then gaining it again … and then losing it again. In short, Scola’s role has been unpredictable at best for the Suns, but he hasn’t complained, writes Tyler Killian of the Arizona Republic:

Scola is averaging the least playing time (26 minutes, 11 seconds entering Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers) since his rookie season in 2007-08 with Houston, when he seized the starting power-forward job midway through the year and never again came off the bench for the Rockets.

With the Suns struggling to forge an identity under interim coach Lindsey Hunter, Scola’s role often has been reduced as Hunter experiments with different rotations. The 6-foot-9-inch Argentinian admits to feeling discouraged at times.

“It’s hard for me. It’s hard,” Scola said. “It is (frustrating), but I try to use that frustration to work a little harder. Just try to stay ready and in shape.”

Whatever frustrations he may be feeling, Scola is keeping them private, living up to his reputation as a team player.

“We have no problems with Scola whatsoever,” Hunter said. “He’s the ultimate professional. If he plays 30 or he plays three (minutes), he’s the same guy — consistent. So he’s been great for us.”

…

Scola is doing his best to provide value in other ways, however, mentoring the younger Suns and helping them through the tougher stretches of the season.

“The NBA is about winning 50, 60 games a year, going to the playoffs and making noise and hopefully winning a ring,” he said.

“Sometimes young guys, all they know is this (losing), and that’s a problem. So the biggest thing for us is to let them know that this is not what they should be looking for.”

Pacers’ Granger OK’d to practice — Indiana waited until late February to get its one-time All-Star forward, Danny Granger, back in the lineup because he was suffering from patellar tendinosis in his left knee. Granger played five games after coming back to the Pacers’ lineup on Feb. 23, but was hardly himself (his averages: 5.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg while shooting 28.6 percent from the field) before he was shut down again due to soreness in the left knee. According to FoxSportsOhio.com’s Sam Amico, though, Granger is OK to practice again with his teammates:

Danny Granger has been cleared to resume basketball activities, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said prior to Monday’s game at Cleveland.

A sore left knee has caused Granger to miss all but five of the Pacers’ 66 games this season.

“We sort of took him off his feet for a little while, so to speak, (but) he’s resumed activity,” Vogel said. “He’ll put in a lot of individual work this week, and practice time when we have practice. We’ll see where he’s at toward the end of the week.”

Granger, a 6-foot-7 forward, led the Pacers in scoring last season at 18.7 points per game. He’s averaging 18.1 points for his career, including 5.4 in 14 minutes per game this year.

ICYMI of the night: Lawrence Frank won’t like this play, but we know a lot of people who do …:


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After Trades, Rockets Take Pace And Space To New Level

February 23, 2013  ·  11:02AM

BROOKLYN – The general consensus is that the Houston Rockets made a great deal in acquiring Thomas Robinson from the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Robinson, selected with the No. 5 pick just eight months ago, has the potential to be one of the best rebounders in the league some day. He’s an active athlete who will only benefit from escaping the dysfunction of Sacramento.

But in making the trade and a subsequent deal with the Phoenix Suns, the Rockets traded both their starting power forward, Patrick Patterson, and his back-up, Marcus Morris. And they either compromised an offensive system that ranks in the top five in efficiency or a defense that has been just good enough to keep them on the right side of the .500 mark.

Robinson may one day start at the four for Houston, but he’s a very different player than both Patterson and Morris. And it’s unclear how he fits into how the Rockets have been playing all season.

Houston is the ultimate pace-and-space team. They play the fastest tempo in the league and they keep the floor spread, allowing James Harden and Jeremy Lin to attack the basket off of pick and rolls. Patterson and Morris played their part as stretch bigs.

At the time of the trade, 13 of the Rockets’ 15 most-used lineups included either Patterson or Morris, who attempted about 60 percent of their shots from outside the paint and accounted for about two 3-pointers per game.

Kevin McHale admitted to having seen very little of his new rookie, but he knows that Robinson isn’t that kind of player.

“We’re going to have space a little bit different,” he said Friday.

For now, the Rockets are making due with Carlos Delfino playing the four, alongside Chandler Parsons at the three. It’s a lineup they’ve used before, but only once (previous to the trades) had it played more than nine minutes together.

General manager Daryl Morey believes that his team can survive, and even thrive, with the Parsons/Delfino tandem at forward.

“It’s sustainable,” Morey told reporters on Thursday. “If you look across the league, when teams play small, they play well. Your offense goes up. Your defense goes down, but your offense goes up more than your defense goes down. So a lot of teams are playing small. We’ve got the personnel to do it. We’ve got the style that fits. I absolutely think it’s a sustainable way to play against almost any opponent.”

McHale doesn’t seem to be completely on board with that sentiment, saying that the Rockets can play Delfino at the four “situationally.” The bottom line is that the two trades took two guys out of McHale’s rotation and replaced them with a question mark.

But so far, so good. After Friday’s 106-96 win in Brooklyn, the Rockets are 2-0 with their new starting lineup, with wins over the Thunder and Nets. They’ve been outrebounded in each game, but have shot 31-for-63 (49 percent) from beyond the arc.

Over the course of the season, the Rockets’ new lineup has been excellent offensively, scoring 112.9 points per 100 possessions in 133 minutes together. It’s yet to be really hurt on the glass and held its own defensively.

Really, it’s just taking the pace-and-space style to a new level. Less size, more shooting. Delfino has played 79 minutes over the last two games after averaging just 25 per game before the trades. He knows that he can only try his best to keep power forwards like Reggie Evans off the boards, and that the Rockets can take advantage of the same matchup offensively.

“When we go small, we play against big people and we try to create space,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s not just me getting my shots or having the ball, but [it's] rotations. They don’t rotate off me and they have more space in the paint.”

That’s exactly what happened in the first half on Friday. The Nets stayed at home on Delfino on the weak side, and the Rockets got a handful of dunks and layups off their pick and roll. Harden was the star against OKC on Wednesday, but his team managed to beat Brooklyn on Friday despite a relatively quiet night (22 points and only five trips to the line) from their All-Star.

Time will tell if the small lineup can hold up over time and keep the Lakers at bay in the playoff chase, and if Robinson has a place in McHale’s rotation this season. Certainly, 49 percent from 3-point range isn’t sustainable, but Houston does have an easier schedule than L.A. going forward.

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One additional note: While the Sacramento trade makes complete sense, the trade that sent Morris to Phoenix for the Suns’ second-round pick was a little more curious. Morris wasn’t playing big minutes every night, but he obviously would have helped replace Patterson’s production if the Rockets had just made the one deal.

Morey said that he likes having high second-round picks and one has to wonder if the Rockets have already fallen in love with a player they project will be available when that Suns selection comes up. Right now, it’s set to be the No. 35 pick in the draft.

Houston got Parsons with the No. 38 pick two years ago.

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Landscape Unchanged As Deadline Passes

February 21, 2013  ·  4:24PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – The 2013 trade deadline will be remembered more for the lack of movement than for any deal that was made. We had a handful of transactions in the final hours before the deadline, but the best player dealt this week was a guy who has started a grand total of 52 games over seven seasons.

That would be J.J. Redick, who is heading to Milwaukee in a six-player trade. The Bucks are also getting Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith from Orlando. The Magic will receive Beno Udrih, Doron Lamb and Tobias Harris in return.

Redick is a role player, but one who should help the Bucks, who have struggled on both ends of the floor as they’ve lost eight of their last 10 games, dropping below .500 for the first time since early December. Now in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, they’re just three games in the loss column ahead of ninth-place Philadelphia.

The Bucks were reportedly the leaders in the race for Josh Smith, who is surprisingly staying in Atlanta … for the next few months or so. The Hawks apparently did not have a deal they liked, and will have to hope for a sign-and-trade deal in July if they want something in return for Smith. Our own Sekou Smith says that the Hawks will have “no chance” to re-sign Smith.

Atlanta did make a minor move, sending Anthony Morrow to Dallas for Dahntay Jones.

As much as the lack of a Josh Smith move was a surprise, so was the fact that the Utah Jazz stood pat. With Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter waiting in the wings, the Jazz have both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap on expiring deals. We don’t know if the Jazz had an opportunity to upgrade their backcourt this week, but maybe, like the Hawks, they’d prefer to let one (or both) of those guys walk in the summer.

The Boston Celtics made a minor deal, but held on to both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for the stretch run. They’ll be adding Jordan Crawford to their backcourt, sending Jason Collins and the contract of Leandro Barbosa to Washington in exchange for the volume scorer who has been out of the Wizards’ rotation for the last couple of weeks.

Other moves:

  • The Heat sent Dexter Pittman and a second-round pick to Memphis.
  • The Bobcats traded Hakim Warrick to the Magic for Josh McRoberts.
  • In order to get under the luxury tax line, the Warriors are sending Jeremy Tyler to Atlanta and Charles Jenkins to Philadelphia.
  • The Raptors traded Hamed Haddadi and a second-round pick to the Suns for Sebastian Telfair.
  • The Thunder sent Eric Maynor to Portland.
  • The Knicks sent Ronnie Brewer to OKC for a pick.

In addition to Smith, Richard Hamilton (Bulls), Andrea Bargnani (Raptors), Kris Humphries (Nets), Ben Gordon (Bobcats), DeJuan Blair (Spurs) and Evan Turner (Sixers) aren’t going anywhere. The Denver Nuggets didn’t get a shooter, the Brooklyn Nets didn’t get any of their targets (Smith, Millsap, etc.), and the Los Angeles Clippers will try to get past the Spurs and Thunder with what they have.

The new collective bargaining agreement certainly had a role in the inactivity. The new, steeper luxury takes goes into effect next season, so contracts that don’t expire this season are a heavy burden to bear. Two years from now, the repeater tax goes into effect, so there’s plenty of incentive for teams to get under the tax line this year as well.

And now that the deadline has passed, we can get on with the remainder of the season, knowing that the landscape hasn’t changed one bit.

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Stats Notebook: Rockets Make Two Deals

February 21, 2013  ·  11:30AM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – On the day before the trade deadline, the Houston Rockets were active, making two trades with the Pacific Division and shaking up their frontline.

Less than eight months after he was selected with the No. 5 pick in the Draft, the Kings gave up on Thomas Robinson, sending him, along with Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt, to Houston for Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas.

In a separate deal, the Rockets reached an agreement to send Marcus Morris to Phoenix.

Robinson has been somewhat of a disappointment so far, but it’s hard to judge a rookie after just 51 games. It’s especially to hard to judge a rookie after 51 games with a dysfunctional franchise.

Time will only tell whether the Kings made a mistake in drafting Robinson with the No. 5 pick or if they made a mistake in trading him. Either way, they made a mistake.

Here are some notes on the players that were dealt on Wednesday, from the new NBA.com/stats…

Lowest FG%, restricted area (minimum 100 FGA)

Player FGM FGA FG%
Austin Rivers 55 131 42.0%
Kevin Love 48 107 44.9%
Roy Hibbert 115 248 46.4%
Luc Mbah a Moute 64 138 46.4%
Brandon Jennings 115 242 47.5%
Thomas Robinson 74 152 48.7%

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Smith At Practice, Hawks Sifting Through Offers?

February 21, 2013  ·  11:28AM


 

ATLANTA – Josh Smith walked through the door to the Atlanta Hawks’ practice court, flashed a quick smile and walked to the opposite end of the floor just minutes before he and his teammates took to the floor.

That means as of this morning he is still a member of the Hawks. How long that lasts, however, remains to be seen. The Hawks are sorting through the offers they have on the table for Smith and still trying to decide if they are indeed going to move the nine-year veteran before today’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

After the Hawks’ home loss to the Heat Wednesday night, Smith said he’ll just be glad to have the deadline behind him, no matter what happens.

“I think it will be a relief for all the questions I keep answering,” he said. “Whether it happens or not, I’m going to still play hard. This organization gave me so much over the years. They gave me a chance to (live) my dream, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has refused to talk about any trade speculation, particularly anything regarding Smith. But Ferry, according to sources, is weighing options that include trading Smith within the conference (to either Milwaukee or Brooklyn) or to a Western Conference team, which is the Hawks’ preferred move.

The one wild card in the equation is Boston, which, according to a source, is willing to include Paul Pierce in a potential deal. But the Hawks have been lukewarm on the idea of getting Pierce, who has played his entire career in Boston, and his $15 million salary next season. Using Rajon Rondo in a deal to get Smith would make no sense for Boston, if they are interested in keeping the Hawks’ free-agent-to-be this summer. Rondo and Smith are good friends and played together at Oak Hill Academy as high school seniors.

The Phoenix Suns remain an option in the Western Conference, according to sources, and posses some of the assets (draft picks and players like Marcin Gortat) that could interest the Hawks.

But the Hawks’ main objective is the preservation of the cap space they created by trading Joe Johnson (to Brooklyn) and Marvin Williams (to Utah) last summer. With plans to pursue other free agents, like Dwight Howard, the Hawks won’t do anything to hinder that process today.

There is still a chance that the Hawks hold on to Smith and ride out the remainder of this season with their roster intact. And if they did that, the two sides would simply part ways amicably this summer.

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Suns Exploring Trade Options?

February 20, 2013  ·  4:01PM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat is in the second to last year of his contract, but that hasn’t stopped the big man from making his way into the trade deadline crosshairs this season.

Gortat’s name has surfaced in a report from Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic regarding the Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder. The rumored deal would have the Suns sending Gortat and P.J. Tucker to the Thunder for Kendrick Perkins, Jeremy Lamb and a first round draft pick.

Coro came back later and clarified his earlier report, via Twitter:

But Gortat’s name keeps coming up for a reason. Plenty of teams would be interested in a productive big man, with a reasonable contract (one more year at $7.72 million), who can play in any system and play any style.

Toss in the $6.4 million in salary cap room the Suns can work with, and there’s a reason they’ve been mentioned as potential trade deadline players, even as perhaps the third team in a three-team deal.

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