The Cleveland Cavaliers have interest in Deron Williams, who is in the final season of his deal with the Dallas Mavericks and is making $9 million.
Cleveland has been searching for a backup point guard and will also look at Mario Chalmers and Kirk Hinrich.
Baron Davis also has interest in the job and played six games in the D-League last season. Davis was in Cleveland's locker room and talked to James during their loss in January at the Golden State Warriors.
Larry Sanders has increased his efforts to return to the NBA by hiring an agent and beginning to meet with teams.
Sanders has hired agent Joel Bell and has started meeting with NBA teams, including, league sources said, a visit with the Boston Celtics last week.
Sanders has three additional visits scheduled.
Sanders, 28, has been determined the past six months to return to basketball shape and now believes he is ready.
Sanders receives $1.86 million per year until 2022 through his buyout with the Bucks via the stretch provision. Any future contract Sanders signs would be unaffected.
Carmelo Anthony will only approve a trade from the New York Knicks if it is right for his family.
Anthony enjoys playing and living in New York and cited his family as a reason why he re-signed with the Knicks in 2014.
"That's more about what I care about, my family," he said early Tuesday. "My son being comfortable in New York at an age now where he's really getting an opportunity to understand being in New York and having a home there and having friends there.
"My wife working there and having opportunities there. … I think about that more so than my decision for my career. At the end of the day, it will come down to my decision. But I think more about my decision and what they're going to have to go through if anything would happen."
Anthony has denied providing Phil Jackson a wish list of teams he would approve a trade to.
"I haven't told anybody anything," Anthony said. "I haven't had that conversation with anybody."
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are now first and second in the NBA in PER. Westbrook has led the NBA in PER for nearly the entire season.
Isaiah Thomas has moved up from eighth last week to the top-5 for the first time.
Week 14 Rankings
1. Russell Westbrook: 29.4
2. Kevin Durant: 28.0
3. Anthony Davis: 28.0
4. James Harden: 27.9
5. Isaiah Thomas: 27.7
6. Kawhi Leonard: 27.7
7. DeMarcus Cousins: 27.6
8. Chris Paul: 27.6
9. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 27.2
10. Nikola Jokic: 26.2
11. LeBron James: 25.6
12. Jimmy Butler: 25.6
13. DeMar DeRozan: 24.8
14. Enes Kanter: 24.8
15. JaVale McGee: 24.6
16. Joel Embiid: 24.4
17. Kyle Lowry: 24.0
18. Stephen Curry: 23.9
19. John Wall: 23.4
20. Karl-Anthony Towns: 23.4
21. Lou Williams: 23.1
22. Damian Lillard: 22.8
23. Mike Conley: 22.4
24. Kemba Walker: 22.2
25. Rudy Gobert: 22.0
Stephen Jackson occasionally smoked marijuana before playing in games in the NBA.
"I just gotta be real, you know, it's been a couple games where I smoked before games and had great games," Jackson said on the podcast, which was posted Friday. "It's been some games where I smoked before the game and was on the bench after three minutes sitting on the sideline, 'Please calm down. This high has to calm down' -- I done shot three shots that went over the backboard, like, I'm going to be honest, like, 'Ahh, I gotta calm down.'"
Jackson also said on the podcast that Don Nelson, his coach while with the Golden State Warriors, knew that he smoked marijuana.
"We're in Utah, and the [league's] drug test people are around, you know, to get our last drug test so we can smoke, right? Don Nelson, we talked about weed all the time. He was cool with talking about weed. We got our last test in Utah, right? So me and [teammate] Baron [Davis] are coming out the locker room just screaming, excited with our last pink slip saying we could smoke for the rest of the season, and Don Nelson hauls ass down there giving us high-fives, like, 'Yeah, we can smoke now!'" Jackson recalled. "It was cool, the fact that he knows what's going on off the court with his players, which was great, man. We enjoyed it. That's why we were a great team."
The Cleveland Cavaliers are working out a series of veterans this week.
Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich and Lance Stephenson are all scheduled to work out for the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
There are a few other free agent prospects that are expected to attend the session as well.
Cleveland has one roster spot available, but could open up another slot should the team elect to waive Chris Andersen who is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL.
Chalmers has been recovering from a torn Achilles.
Stephenson is finally healthy following rehabilitation from a groin injury that required surgery in early November.
LeBron James has heard enough criticism from Charles Barkley and spoke out against the Hall of Famer and longtime TNT commentator.
"He's a hater," James told said. "What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?"
"Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above," Barkley said of James last week. "The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him. He wanted [Iman] Shumpert last summer. They brought in Kyle Korver. He's the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They're the defending champs."
James initially took the high road when asked about Barkley's recent comments, saying they were "good for the ratings," while defending his competitive spirit.
After ESPN followed up with a story asking Tristan Thompson for his thoughts on Barkley's comments, James chose to speak out again in ardent fashion.
"I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that," James told ESPN. "I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying.
"All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that."
James' friendships with Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have been called into question, but he pointed out how Barkley remained friendly with Michael Jordan even during the Finals.
"Go watch the '93 Finals when John Paxson hit the shot," James said. "Barkley and Jordan were laughing and joking with each other during one of the games while somebody's shooting a free throw. In the Finals. But, oh, nobody were friends back then."
James also seemed to suggest Barkley continues to remain on TV for strictly financial reasons.
"I know he wanted to retire a long time ago, but he can't," James said. "He's stuck up on that stage every week."
James then issued a challenge, of sorts.
"And if this makes him want to talk to me, the schedule's out there," James said. "He knows every road arena I'll be in. Don't just come up to me at All-Star and shake my hand and smile."
James also talked about the perception that he's running the Cavaliers.
"I collect one paycheck from this," James said of his role with the Cavs. "There's the owner, Griff's [David Griffin] the GM, I'm the player. Screw Charles Barkley."
James put on his baseball cap and offered a parting thought as he prepared to leave the visitors locker room at the American Airlines Center to head to the airport for a flight back to Cleveland.
"I'm tired of biting my tongue," James said. "There's a new sheriff in town."
News, including that LeBron James and Dan Gilbert are at odds over money, the Bulls drama, plus injury news. Then a look at the 5 teams in the Southeast Division at the trade deadline: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, and Washington.
With host Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) and Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux).
Dion Waiters and DeMarcus Cousins have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.
Waiters led the Heat to a perfect 4-0 record for the week, helping to extend the NBA’s current longest winning streak to seven games, after averaging 23.3 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 48 percent from three-point range.
Cousins led the Kings to a 3-1 record, averaging 27.8 points (.444 FG%, .267 3PT%, .675 FT%) , 14.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks in 36.1 minutes per game.
The Golden State Warriors continue to rank first in Net Rating at +13.0 points per 100 possessions, while the Washington Wizards have entered the top-10 at No. 9 with a mark of +1.7.
Golden State ranks first in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Week 14 Rankings
1. Warriors: 13.0
2. Spurs: 8.6
3. Rockets: 5.8
4. Raptors: 5.2
5. Cavaliers: 5.0
6. Jazz: 4.2
7. Clippers: 4.1
8. Celtics: 2.6
9. Wizards: 1.7
10. Hornets: 1.7
11. Thunder: 0.8
12. Grizzlies: 0.3
13. Bucks: 0.1
14. Bulls: 0.0
15. Hawks: -0.2
16. Pacers: -0.7
17. Wolves: -0.7
18. Nuggets: -0.8
19. Pistons: -1.1
20. Knicks: -2.6
21. Blazers: -2.6
22. Pelicans: -2.7
23. Kings: -2.8
24. Heat: -2.9
25. Mavericks: -3.6
26. 76ers: -5.3
27. Suns: -5.4
28. Magic: -5.7
29. Lakers: -6.6
30. Nets: -8.9
Basketball Wiretap RSS Feed