March 2016 Basketball Wiretap

Doc Rivers: It's Been Miraculous How We've Built With Minimum Contract Players

Jul 28, 2016 1:11 PM

The general manager aspect of Doc Rivers' tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers has been uneven as he tries to build a supporting cast around Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

The Clippers have cycled through a number of small forwards in particular.

"We have a good core. The problem team-building with our core is we have three max players," said Rivers. "I don't think people understand that. I think since I've taken the job, even before then, we need a 3, we need a 3, we need a 3. Yeah, we all know that but we also only have the minimum to try to go out and get a 3. I think it's been actually miraculous what we've done with just having minimum contracts. 

"One thing I've learned with teams like ours, if you have a good team, you can convince guys to take the minimum. The problem is you're going to keep losing guys. Every year we do it. Every single season we sign guys to the minimum and then we lose them to higher contracts. Cole Aldrich is the example from this year. But we're an old school version of a team.

"Things have changed. The Big 3 (in Boston), put them together, bam, we won. In Miami, put them together, bam, they win. Golden State is going to try to do it this coming year. There are teams that still poke through. Dallas did it. They kind of had their team, they had the nucleus and finally they poke through. That's what we're going to try to do."

Adrian Wojnarowski/The Vertical

Tags: Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

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DeMarcus Cousins Calls Carmelo Anthony 'My Favorite Player Of All-Time'

Jul 22, 2016 12:30 PM

DeMarcus Cousins sometimes resembles a wing player in the body of a big at 6'11, 270 pounds.

Cousins cites Carmelo Anthony as his favorite player of all-time.

“I’m a fan of any player with skill,” Cousins said. “ ... Melo being my favorite player of all time, I’m trying to pick his brain every second I can.”

Cousins and Anthony are teammates on Team USA.

“It’s dope,” Cousins said after a recent practice at the Mendenhall Center. “I enjoy being around him. He’s got so so much experience in this game. It’s well known that I’ve been a Melo fan my whole life. Just to be able to work with him daily is going to help me become a better player. I’m excited for it."

Jason Jones/Sacramento Bee

Tags: DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

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Anthony Davis Watching More Tape Of Himself, Summer League While Recovering From Surgery

Jul 20, 2016 1:48 PM

Anthony Davis underwent surgery on his knee in March that ruled him out for 3-4 months. Davis still hasn't been cleared yet, which has forced him to focus on the mental aspects of the game.

"I really have never watched Summer League that closely, but I’ve been watching a lot of it now for some reason," said Davis. "I can’t get on the floor just yet, so I look at old tape of myself from last season, and the season before last to try and figure out what I can do to be better. I have a lot of tape from the team to figure out what we can do to be better as a team, offensively and defensively. That’s really been it. Just relax. I play a lot of 2K and end up picking the Pelicans. I just love the game of basketball, so I love to stay involved in it."

The New Orleans Pelicans were banged up all season long.

"All you could do was try and battle through adversity," said Davis. "Guys were getting hurt left and right. We’re bringing in guys every day to try and fill our roster out, but there was nothing we could do about it. We just had to go out there and use what we had. I liked the way we ended the season, though. Guys came in, played hard, competed and that’s all you can ask for with the situation we were in. Now our guys are getting back on the right track. We’re going to try and do better next year."

Davis likes the offseason moves the Pelicans have made.

"I feel that we did pretty well in the draft by picking an exceptional talent in Buddy Hield. We picked up a lot of good pieces: Terrence Jones, Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore. So I think we’re going to be very good this year. We have to come in and work and play hard."

Christopher Cason/Slam

Tags: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

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Jazz Sought Improvement Without Risking Long-Term Cap Flexibility

Jul 20, 2016 1:40 PM

The Utah Jazz improved this offseason with the acquisition of veterans George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw.

"I think it was a natural progression," Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said. "We weren't going to continue to draft a 19-, 20-year-old every year."

But those moves won't jeopardize their future flexibility in potentially re-signing Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert to large deals.

"We had to be mindful of—and it's one of the reasons we went the trade route on two of our three transactions instead of just a free agency play with all three—the forecast of our salary cap outlook going forward as well," Lindsey said.

The Jazz missed the playoffs after suffering a number of injuries.

"We're hopeful that instead of chasing injuries, we'll be able to be a little more proactive with our depth," Lindsey said. "Could we strategically rest Gordon Hayward or Derrick Favors and plug in Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw? Or vice versa? That was some of the planning."

 

Rob Mahoney/Sports Illustrated

Tags: Utah Jazz, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA B-Ball IQ

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Frank Vogel Expects Aaron Gordon To Start At Small Forward

Jul 7, 2016 6:47 PM

Frank Vogel was asked if the Orlando Magic envision Aaron Gordon at small forward or power forward after the changes the team has made this offseason

“I would say both," said Vogel. "With Serge (Ibaka) probably starting at the four, he’ll probably start at the three. But, with the way the league plays in today’s NBA, you have to have the ability to play a guy like Aaron at the four. A guy as versatile as Aaron is, what position he plays is predicated on the players around him. Serge Ibaka’s not here, he’s a four for us. Serge Ibaka is here he’s going to play the three and we’re going to be REALLY long, and that’s exciting.”

Rob Hennigan also spoke about Gordon at small forward.

“Everything he (Frank Vogel) said I agree with," said Hennigan."I would just say that Aaron Gordon, to Frank’s point, his versatility is what makes him valuable. Aaron’s comfortable playing either position. I think if you ask him, he’d prefer to play the three. We have all the confidence in the world in his ability to do that, and we love the fact he’s able to swing between positions, as is Jeff (Green). That gives us some pretty good versatility there on the wing.” 

Vogel also spoke about the center competition with the Magic signing Bismack Biyombo as they already had Nikola Vucevic.

"With Bismack and Vuc we have two starting centers. We'll go into training camp and sort out who starts games from there."

Keith Smith/RealGM

Tags: Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

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