Before I get started with the news roundup, make sure you’re all caught up on who did and who didn’t get an extension before the deadline via Chris Bernucca’s extension scoreboard.
The one guy that I was particularly surprised to see miss out was Reggie Jackson. He showed last year that while he’s not James Harden, he could probably start at point guard on most NBA teams.
Adrian Wojnarowski looked at the Jackson situation as well:
As rival teams evaluate restricted free-agency candidates next July, league executives believe Jackson holds a distinct advantage among his peers: The Thunder’s investment into their star players may limit how far the franchise can go to match a rich offer sheet and make Jackson an ideal target to change teams.
“Bottom line,” one NBA general manager told Yahoo Sports, “how much are they willing to pay for Westbrook’s backup?”
The loss of Westbrook to a fractured hand on Thursday night – possibly for a month – will give Jackson a chance to showcase his skills in the near future, a platform that could make Jackson’s case for a free-agent deal. Some teams believe Jackson could command a deal in the $13 million-$14 million-plus annual range – especially because of a belief that investing more into an offer sheet could cripple the Thunder’s chances of matching it.
The Thunder’s past inability to re-sign two key players to rookie extensions – James Harden and Jeff Green – led to the organization trading both players. Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti has insisted the Thunder would match any offer sheet for Jackson next summer, but skepticism exists throughout the league.
Here’s the rest of the NBA’s latest news:
LEN, PORTER SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
Last year’s rookie class was historically bad, but a big part of that was three of the top five having injury-plagued rookie years. A couple of them have had the best games of their young careers in the first week of this season.
First, there was Alex Len’s breakout game for Phoenix, covered by Dave King for Bright Side of the Sun:
Starting center Miles Plumlee got into foul trouble again, racking up 4 fouls in just 15 minutes of play. But the Suns did not miss a beat with Len on the floor as his replacement. Len’s 11 rebounds were a career high as were his 10 points, all scored in the first half. Spurs center Tim Duncan put up 16 points – none in the fourth quarter – and pulled down 9 rebounds.
“Some great plays by the young kid, Alex Len,” Duncan said after the game. “Good rebounds by him.”
Len altered many more shots than he blocked (one), often forcing the Spurs to shoot floaters or dump off the ball to another player.
“He’s long,” coach Hornacek said after the game. “He makes guys adjust shots and they had to shoot over them. Boris (Diaw) got it over him a few times, but that’s a pretty tough shot. It’s the same thing they have with (Tim) Duncan. He’s really long and we didn’t make a lot of inside shots either. What, we were 27-for-46? You know when you miss 19 shots in the paint, there’s a reason. A lot of it’s Duncan and a lot of the reason they miss at the end is because of Alex.”
And with Trevor Ariza gone, Bradley Beal hurt, and Paul Pierce old, the Wizards need Otto Porter to step up to provide some scoring on the wing. Luckily, he did just that tonight, dropping 21 points to lead Washington to a win in its home opener. Also, this happened:
WHY DID VAREJAO GET AN EXTENSION?
At first glance, giving the extension to the oft-injured veteran center Varejao rather than his younger, more athletic counterpart Tristan Thompson seems a little odd. Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explains it:
Why would the Cavaliers sign Anderson Varejao to any type of contract extension, given his injury history?
Here is what the Cavs were thinking:
1. Varejao is a tremendous role model because of his hustle, relentless rebounding and grit coming back from injuries. He fits with LeBron James. His unselfish attitude and upbeat personality are ideal for a contender. Coaches love to show tapes of Varejao drawing charges, rolling on the court for loose balls and chasing rebounds. They also appreciate how he has learned some inside moves to score.
2. The market for big men is about to explode when the new salary cap begins to kick in during the summer of 2015. Backups will be paid nearly $10 million a year if they can do a decent job at center.
3. The Cavs have only two viable centers — Tristan Thompson and Varejao. Yes, Kevin Love can play there during certain points in the game. Brendan Haywood might be able to help out for a few minutes a game, but that’s even questionable as he’s coming back from a broken foot. The Cavs have little depth at center.
4. The contract was reported at $30 million for three years. That’s accurate, but not true. The $30 million figure is accurate if he plays all three seasons. It breaks down like this:
- $9.7 million in 2015-16, fully guaranteed.
- $10.3 million in 2016-17, $9.3 million guaranteed.
- $10 million in 2017-18, ZERO guaranteed.
5. So Varejao is really guaranteed $20 million for two seasons, 2015 through 2017.
6. The Cavs insisted only the third year is non-guaranteed at $10 million in 2017-18. Why? Because they want it as a “trading chip.” It’s a salary cap asset.
BRANDON JENNINGS GETTING LESS PLAYING TIME
And he doesn’t sound thrilled about it.
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
Stan Van Gundy insists he isn’t singling out Brandon Jennings.
And with the Detroit Pistons taking on water all over a badly listing ship after Thursday night’s 97-91 loss to the Timberwolves, you are inclined to believe him.
But that doesn’t change the fact that Van Gundy has turned to backup point guard D.J. Augustin for a majority of minutes in the first two games of the 0-2 start.
And it’s obvious that Van Gundy’s decision-making process is bothering Jennings.
When told that Van Gundy said that Augustin has been the better point guard the first two games, Jennings quietly said: “Then he should start and I’ll be the backup, if that’s the case.”
And with that Jennings added: “That’s all I’ve got.”
He then walked away from reporters.