While the NBA offseason can at times seem to drag, there are still quite a bit of stories to help get us to tip-off. With that being said, let’s take a look at the latest news around the NBA:
While plenty of fans are down on the New York Knicks’ chances of contending next year in a stacked Eastern Conference, Iman Shumpert has been one of his teams most vocal supporters, and expects to have a breakout year: “By the time players reach their third season in the league, they’ve grown accustomed to the NBA game and lifestyle, and they’re usually ready to start realizing their full potential. Iman Shumpert of the New York Knicks is getting ready to start his third year in the NBA, and he’s expecting a breakout season for himself. Now that he’s fully recovered from the ACL injury that limited him at times last year, he’s planning to return to the court better than ever.”
“Going into this year, I know I got to make big improvements,” Shumpert told HOOPSWORLD at adidas Nations. “Last year was all about getting healthy. This year, I’m healthy and it’s all about making that big improvement in my game. That’s going to the offensive end, being in shape to play both sides of the floor hard and just focusing on getting to the basket and importance of knocking down the shot. I’m just trying to be more consistent this year.”
Another player poised for a breakout campaign in 2013-’14 is Utah’s Derrick Favors. Yahoo! Sports Kelly Dwyer takes a closer look: “And the player the team acquired for Williams, young big man Derrick Favors, will be asked to give Jazz fans hope for the future, as they sit out what will be a rough and trying 2013-14. Favors has started just 11 games with the Jazz since coming over to the team in Feb. of 2011, and while the big man has enjoyed his moments on both ends, he hasn’t exactly blown the team away with All-Star worthy per-minute stats. The young man just turned 22 in July, though, and his massive wingspan and center-worthy bulk could be enough to help Jazz fans forget how miserable this team has been at defending the sort of pick and roll that dragged this franchise so deep into the playoffs for years under both Stockton and Williams’ guidance. There’s no such backcourt force in place for Utah right now, which is by design. The team took a pass on signing a sure thing like Jose Calderon, and declined to take a chance on a question mark like Tyreke Evans at the wing position. Instead, the team drafted Michigan’s Trey Burke to become (let’s be honest; though I hope he proves me wrong) Utah’s mindful backup point guard of the future, while keeping the payroll nice and tidy. The team willingly took on Golden State’s awful expiring contracts (Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins will combine to make over $20 million this year) in return for draft picks and a possible helper in the recovering Brandon Rush. Beyond that, it’s a youth movement.”
Last week all of the attention was surrounding Mavs’ owner Mark Cuban’s blog post regarding the teams recent decisions and how they all were centered around the strong culture they have been cultivating over the last two decades. This week the conversation is about how troubled free agent signing Monta Ellis fits into that culture: “One of those signees-on-the-edge is former Warriors and Bucks guard Monta Ellis. Ellis has averaged 19.4 points per game over his NBA career, but his shooting percentages and shot selection has tailed off dramatically since he averaged over 20 points per game while shooting 53 percent in 2007-08. Ellis is the type of player that would seem to fly in the face of the Mavericks’ long-held belief in embracing efficiency, as the Dallas organization was one of the first to rely on all manner of outside influence and metric makin’ in order to guide their personnel decisions.”
From Cuban: Culture is very important to the Mavs. Your best player has to be a fit for what you want the culture of the team to be. He has to be someone who leads by example. Someone who sets the tone in the locker room and on the court. It isn’t about who talks the most or the loudest. It is about the demeanor and attitude he brings. It is amazing how when the culture is strong, the chemistry is strong. When the Mavs have brought in players that didn’t fit or buy in to our culture it created on the court and off the court problems. Its possible to handle one guy who may not fit it. It’s going to have a negative impact on your won and loss record if you have more than one.
- More from Dwyer: “He’s not a great player, though, and some would argue that the amount of possessions he has to waste for his team in order to get those 19 points – combined with his limitations in other areas – would not even make him a “good” player. The “Monta Ellis have it all”-stereotype is there for a reason, the can clearly thinks that he’s the sort of player that should be dominating the ball, and taking all manner of long, outside shots despite miserable three-point percentages. That sort of delusion would seem to have no place in the “culture” that Cuban is describing.”
Ways to avoid becoming a player with the bad reputation of a Monta Ellis? Don’t request a trade ala LaMarcus Aldridge. The following is from Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey: “”I think it comes from all you [media] — everybody fighting to be first with inaccurate information. I can tell you, LaMarcus Aldridge, you guys have known him longer than I have. And if he had asked to be traded, he would have told people that he asked to be traded. He never asked to be traded. “The fact that I had breakfast in a hotel lobby with [Arn Tellem], one of my oldest and best friends who I worked with for seven years, who also represents Robin Lopez and Dorell Wright, along with LaMarcus Aldridge, probably doesn’t lead to the fact that we’re trying to trade LaMarcus Aldridge. “But, you know, like I said, it’s part of the business. LaMarcus understands it. He ignores it. If [Aldridge requesting a trade] was the case, we’d be dealing with it. It’s not. He’s happy.”
