You could be forgiven for not thinking too much about basketball today. With the Super Bowl taking all of the sports-related attention, and only one game (and that Orlando-Boston) on the schedule, it’s one of the quietest days of the NBA season, right up there with Christmas Eve.
I, on the other hand, would not be forgiven if I didn’t think too much about basketball, because it’s my job to bring you the latest news from around the NBA every weekend. There’s not a ton of breaking stuff today, for the aforementioned reasons, but there’s some really good writers weighing in on some of the recent hot topics. And also the trade deadline is less than three weeks away, so it’s about time to start getting hyped about that.
On to the news:
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal has a close-up look at the mess in the Cavaliers’ locker room: “Most of the complaints are focused on Irving and Waiters. One league source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Waiters was removed from practice recently, per the Daily News report. But Waiters’ minutes weren’t affected by the move, which left at least a handful of players raising their eyebrows — particularly within an organization that has preached accountability since Brown’s arrival. “That’s Dion. He’s been like that since he got here. He doesn’t think anything is his fault,” one team source said. … Two sources close to the team confirmed that barring a significant turnaround before the trade deadline, this roster will likely face some upheaval. That very well could include Waiters, whose act has worn thin on his teammates and various members of the organization. Irving’s behavior has also irritated teammates and other members of the organization, but the Cavs are expected to offer him a max contract extension this summer and aren’t believed to be considering trading him. Two general managers told the Beacon Journal this year that Irving is pouting, something he denied to the Beacon Journal after practice Friday. “I’ve never been known for pouting,” Irving said. “Just because I don’t smile on the court when we’re losing, I don’t think I’m supposed to smile. You smile on the court, that’s a problem, especially when you’re losing like this.” It was a turbulent week for the Cavaliers and specifically Irving. ESPN reported Wednesday that Irving wants out of Cleveland, something he denied, while the Daily News reported he is close to firing his agent, Jeff Wechsler. “I can tell you that’s 1,000 percent false,” Irving said Saturday. “I love my agent. He’s made me a lot of money these past few years. I’m 150,000 percent sure on that.””
- As bad as the East is this year, the Pacers and Heat are maybe the top two teams in the league, and the rest of the season just feels like a setup for the inevitable playoff showdown. Right now is the last minute adjustment phase, where the Pacers grabbed Andrew Bynum. But as the Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman reports, the Heat aren’t too bothered: “The addition of Bynum gives the Pacers another element of size to throw at the Heat during a seven-game series. The Pacers entered Saturday three games ahead of the Heat in the standings and have put a top priority on winning home-court advantage for the playoffs. The Heat routed the Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena in Game 7 of the 2013 Eastern Conference finals. The Heat has won the East three years in a row. “We didn’t have much of a reaction at all,” James said of the Bynum news. “We talked about it this morning…and guys said they seen it and that’s it. We didn’t have a conversation about it.” There was speculation that the Heat had interest in Bynum after trading Joel Anthony, but several sources familiar with the Heat’s front office told the Miami Herald that there were concerns Bynum might have disrupted the Heat’s locker-room chemistry. The Pacers front office apparently had no such concerns. “We are obviously happy to have him join our team,” Pacers president Larry Bird said in a statement. “He gives us added size, he is a skilled big man and he has championship experience. With the minutes he gets, he should be a valuable addition.”Bynum’s released statement seemed to take a slight shot at the Heat. “It really wasn’t a hard decision, I think it’s the right fit for me and, in all honesty, I think we’ve got the best chance of winning,” Bynum said.”
- Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders has this on Jeremy Lin: “This season Lin finds himself in a position that is really ideal as he looks to establish what his identity is really going to be in the NBA. Instead of trying to play the role of a star, he needs only complement Dwight Howard, James Harden and Chandler Parsons. Most of the time the ball is not in his hands in crunch time and when it is, his primary job is to get it to one of those players. “You know, I think I’m just trying to embrace whatever my role is with the Rockets,” Lin told Basketball Insiders recently. “We have so many different injuries on any given night and in any given week that my role changes frequently. I’m just trying to stay aggressive and be more consistent for this team.” … The fact that Lin can play either guard positions has benefited the Rockets whenever Harden has been out this season. Head coach Kevin McHale’s system is tailor-made to favor players with Lin’s particular skill set. “I don’t think playing point guard or shooting guard really matters in our system,” Lin explains. “Me and Aaron Brooks and Patrick Beverley, we’re really interchangeable. We like to push the ball, all of us like to play fast, and to be honest it doesn’t really matter who brings the ball up on any given possession because it’s going to find the open man. That’s the beauty of playing alongside players like we have.””
- Here’s some interesting stuff on David Stern from a Mark Cuban radio interview, via the Dallas Morning News: “He took the NBA from a sport that wasn’t on television for the Finals game to making it the second most popular sport in the world. You couldn’t ask for a better legacy. Now, any NBA player that goes to China is a superstar, even if they’ve only played one minute in their entire career. That was just inconceivable 20 years ago, 25 years ago. He deserves 100 percent of the credit for that. “I think he understood that soccer—all you need is a ball, and with basketball, a ball and a hoop. It’s an inexpensive game that anyone can play around the world, it’s easy to understand, and that with a little bit of momentum and visibility for the players, you could turn it global. And that, plus the fact that our players, like in soccer, are very identifiable. You could be sitting next to Richard Sherman, and you wouldn’t know how he is. You could look at the 10th guy on the Knicks bench, and you’ll know exactly who that is … And so I think he recognized that our players are very identifiable, and he could leverage that from a marketing perspective…. “I’d say we agree on 99 percent of things that don’t have to do with officiating and disagree 100 percent on officiating. I understand David’s perspective on it. From the league’s perspective, one team’s gotta win and one team’s gotta lose, and they don’t care who it is. And so from an officiating perspective, all things balance out. My point has always been: We’re the only top-four league that people think is fixed. They might be upset about a call in the NFL, this and that, why don’t they call it this way, that impact this style of play… But in the NBA, people literally think it’s fixed, and I think if we changed the perception, our ratings go up, and our business go up.””
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One NBA scout said last night Cal senior 6-10 forward Richard Solomon is a legit NBA prospect who was best player on floor in Arizona upset.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) February 2, 2014
- David Mayo of MLive.com talked to Pistons owner Tom Gores: “Despite persistent national media rumors that Greg Monroe is a potential trade piece because of his restricted free agency this summer, the Pistons have shown no interest in trading him. They also have Charlie Villanueva and Rodney Stuckey on expiring contracts, but their position all season has been that those players have value whether they’re traded or simply relinquished to free up money this summer. They make more than $17 million combined. Gores said the trade deadline is not a central focus. “We’ve been focused really on the individual players,” he said. “The fact is, we’re better than our record and I think we just have to make our players the best they can be. We have to focus on them. So we’re not focused on deadline or anything like that. We’re just focused on getting the guys better and preparing them.””
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Dan Malone is in his fourth year as a journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent this summer as a features intern at the Cape Cod Times. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.