Report: Bulls show interest in Okafor | Report: Farmar stands out most at Cavs’ workout | Popovich on cusp of NBA history | Howard, Hawks come out on top in Houston
No. 1: Report: Bulls interested in Sixers’ Okafor — Last we heard from the Chicago Bulls, it was from star Dwyane Wade continuing to implore the team’s role players to do more. While that will be vital component for Chicago’s success, an influx of talent might not hurt things either. According to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com, the Bulls are interested in trading for Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor:
The Bulls have been active with the trade deadline approaching, and they’ve inquired about the availability of Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor, multiple league sources tell CSNChicago.com.
Okafor, a Chicago native in his second season, has fallen victim to both a numbers game in Philadelphia and also a changing game, as he’s more of a traditional half-court center who isn’t defensively inclined.
He’s on the trading block as the 76ers have surged with the play of Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel manning the middle, and the Bulls are interested, as they don’t have much in the way of low-post scoring.
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So far, there’s more interest on the Bulls’ side than the 76ers’ side, according to sources, but the Bulls are interested in Okafor’s services. Because salaries have to match and Okafor is on a rookie-scale deal, one wonders how it can work if the 76ers aren’t enamored with some of the Bulls’ young players who’ve yet to fully blossom. The Bulls could conceivably open up talks to a third team if need be, considering it isn’t likely they’d want to part with any future first-round picks as they’re still deciding how they are to proceed with franchise direction in the next couple seasons.
Talks aren’t necessarily heating up, but they aren’t dead. It’s interesting how they could see using Okafor as a low-post scorer while currently having Cristiano Felicio and Robin Lopez at center.
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No. 2: Report: Farmar shines bright at Cavs’ open workout — Superstar LeBron James says he was in favor of whoever the Cavaliers brought infor their open workout. Veteran reserve James Jones cast his vote for Mario Chalmers as favorite in the group trying to land the Cavs’ backup guard spot. After the dust has cleared, though, the leader in the clubhouse — per those following the team — is former journeyman guard Jordan Farmar. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com has more on why he stood out most at the workout:
Jordan Farmar impressed the Cavs during their free-agent tryout for point guards Wednesday, a source said, and the 30-year-old former Laker may be under consideration for a contract.
The Cavs brought in Farmar, Mario Chalmers and Kirk Hinrich for a workout, with the idea of potentially signing one as the veteran backup to Kyrie Irving the franchise has looked for all season. Also attending was Lance Stephenson, a wing player.
As of last night, a source said the Cavs weren’t sure if they would sign one of the four players immediately or near March 1, the deadline for players to be bought out from their contracts and be playoff eligible.
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All four players are free agents at this point in the season for a reason, so expectations were (and should be, for fans) tempered. Chalmers is 30 and is a former champion point guard from his time with LeBron James on the Heat, but tore his Achilles in March and didn’t play basketball at all for five months.
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Farmar signed a 10-day contract with Memphis for 2015-16 and remained for the remainder of the season, and in 12 games averaged 9.2 points and 3.1 assists.
The Cavs could sign Farmar to a 10-day contract and fill a roster spot up until the Feb. 23 trade deadline, when perhaps a trade for another backup point guard could emerge.
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No. 3: Popovich ties Sloan for wins mark — In 23 seasons as coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan amassed 1,223 wins between the regular season and playoffs. His 1,127 regular-season wins stood as the all-time mark for wins with one franchise — until last night, when San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tied Sloan. Popovich reflected on his accomplishment and had plenty of praise for Sloan (whom he modeled much of what the Spurs do after), writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com:
“When you get all those wins, it’s just a longevity thing more than anything,” Popovich said. “So I’m thankful for having the job for a while.”
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Popovich modeled much of what he’s doing in San Antonio after what Sloan accomplished over 23 seasons in Utah.
Popovich matched Sloan’s feat in two fewer seasons while winning five NBA championships but said the latter “is in a different league than me.”
“[Utah] was then and still is a class organization, and we tried to do it similarly to them as far as how we conducted the program, what we expected, how to do it, how to keep it to yourself and that sort of thing,” Popovich said.
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Danny Green said he was “surprised” Popovich hadn’t passed up Sloan sooner in career victories.
“It was only a matter of time because of the guys he brings in; the organization he has here, how successful it’s been here before I got here, and I’m sure after I’m gone he’ll continue to win games and be successful,” Green said. “So congratulations to him. It just shows you how great he is. It also shows you how great Jerry Sloan was.”
Spurs point guard Tony Parker, who contributed six assists, joined the franchise during the 2001-02 season at a time when Popovich had collected only one NBA title. Parker said he, future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Popovich all evolved together over the years. Duncan retired in July after 19 seasons with the organization.
“It’s amazing,” Parker said of Popovich’s accomplishment. “Obviously, growing up, Jerry Sloan was one of the big names, [when I was] watching the Finals with [Michael] Jordan and stuff like that,” Parker said. “So, to have Pop up there, he’s going to keep going. He looks like he’s not getting tired or [that he’s going to] stop anytime soon. It’s very impressive to coach that long and keep your team motivated with the same message. It’s not easy.”
Popovich leads all active coaches in victories, and Parker admitted that upon arriving in San Antonio, the coach “was just basically like the Army.”
“He was not like the Pop of right now for sure,” Parker said. “I think we grew all together with the big three (Parker, Ginobili and Duncan) and Pop. We all grew together, and then he became who he is now. So, it was nice to [be there] almost at the beginning.”
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No. 4: Howard gets last laugh in return to Houston — In his career, Dwight Howard has changed teams twice. Each time, it could be argued the team he was leaving wasn’t exactly sad to see him go. Last night marked Howard’s return to Houston as his Atlanta Hawks pulled out a thrilling win there. Afterward, as our Fran Blinebury reports, Howard had no ill feelings for the Rockets and his former city:
Tim Hardaway Jr. heated up late with 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as Atlanta came from 20 points down with just under 8 1/2 minutes left in the game.
But it was a game that drew most of its headline billing from Howard’s first game back in Houston after leaving the Rockets last summer as a free agent.
“I didn’t think about it like that,” Howard said. “I just know that we needed this game after coming off a tough loss against Miami. I didn’t really think about it like that. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we gotta beat Houston because it’s my first time back.’ I just wanted to win.”
Howard picked the Rockets in the summer of 2013, signing a four-year, $88-million contract with an out-clause in 2016. He spent three seasons in Houston putting up consistent numbers and sometimes dominating in the middle. But the Rockets made it out of the first round of the playoffs just once and his relationship with guard James Harden deteriorated through last year’s underwhelming 41-41 season when coach Kevin McHale was fired and he chose to move on to Atlanta. He signed a three-year $70.5-million deal to play for his hometown team.
Howard had previously had sour endings in Orlando and Los Angeles, but said his departure from Houston affected him more.
“It was a little bit different than other places I was at,” Howard said. “This was really a great place for me, despite how people try to twist and turn it. I had a lot of love for the city and the community and I would never change that.
“So whatever’s being said, I know it kind of hurt a lot of people. But I’m in a great place. I’m happy with what’s going on in Houston. Both teams came out on top.”
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“In fact, I would say I appreciated my time here. I chose this city in free agency and I chose it for a reason. I thought Houston was a great place and I still do think it’s a great place. But the business of basketball, you’ve always got to do what’s best for you and I felt coming home would have been great for my career, being coached by a great coach in Bud and playing with certain players on this team. But also just being at home is something I’ve always wanted to do all my life is play in Atlanta. I have that opportunity, so I’ll try to make the best of it.”
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SOME RANDOM HEADLINES: For the record, Kristaps Porzingis says he doesn’t want to see Carmelo Anthony get traded … The participants for All-Star Saturday Night were announced last night … Magic Johnson is back with the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office, this time in an advisor role … The Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves may all have a decent shot at signing free-agent big man Larry Sanders …Why Toronto Raptors fans shouldn’t fret as the team endures its current swoon … The Charlotte Hornets are taking a big risk with yesterday’s deal for Milwaukee Bucks center Miles Plumlee … Speaking of the Bucks, rookie forward Thon Maker shared his thoughts on the recent U.S. travel ban … Does P.J. Tucker have a serious case for a spot on the All-Defensive team this season? … Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue had his No. 10 retired last night by Nebraska … Golden State showed off its depth in beating the LA Clippers last night …
