Paul Silas
Paul Silas held old-school sensibilities.
Offend them at your own risk.
Coaching the Cavaliers, Silas once chased Cleveland forward Ira Newble – who was unhappy about his playing time in Atlanta that night – from the locker room and called him a "hip-hop motherfucker." As Bobcats coach, Silas shoved Tyrus Thomas in the locker room because Thomas was acting too friendly with Celtics players during a loss. Even respected veteran Eric Snow caught Silas' wrath for cursing in the coach's direction when pulled from a game, Silas then kicking the guard off the bench.
Yet, Silas wasn't known as a hot head. He preached positivity and commanded respect, earned through his decades in basketball as a player and coach.
Silas – a two-time All-Star, three-time champion, coach of a majority of the Hornets' playoff wins by the end of his tenure, LeBron James' first NBA coach and father of Rockets coach Stephen Silas – died Saturday at age 79.
Nate eulogized Silas, focusing on Silas' place as a seminal power forward in an era where forwards were largely interchangeable. Silas earned the label not by being bigger than other forwards, but by being tougher. Undersized at 6-foot-7 without much leaping ability, Silas was a voracious rebounder through determination and intelligence. The bruiser averaged 22 rebounds per game at Creighton then got drafted No. 12 by the St. Louis Hawks in 1964.
Silas spent his prime with the Suns and Celtics, making two All-Star teams, two All-Defensive first teams and three All-Defensive second teams and winning two titles with Boston between 1971 and 1976.
President of the players' union, Silas got into a salary dispute with Celtics president Red Auerbach then traded to the Nuggets. Silas finished his career with the Seattle SuperSonics, winning another championship as a role player. He was the second player to play more than 15 NBA seasons (following John Havlicek).
Upon retirement, Silas immediately began coaching the San Diego Clippers in 1980, though he lasted only three losing seasons. Silas had to wait 15 years for another opportunity then coached the Hornets to five winning seasons in five years. But they fired him in search of greater upside (which never came). Silas went to Cleveland and taught professionalism to a young LeBron. However, Silas lasted fewer than two seasons with the Cavs. He returned to Charlotte, this time with the Bobcats, in 2010. But after providing an initial bump replacing Larry Brown, Silas oversaw the 7-59 team that stands as having the worst record in NBA history.
However, Stephen Silas – who'd been on his dad's staffs elsewhere – stuck in Charlotte, burnishing his reputation as an assistant then using that as a springboard toward becoming Houston's head coach. Stephen Silas is another way Paul Silas' legacy will endure.
Bob Myers
Warriors president Bob Myers' contract is set to expire at the end of June, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Considering Myers' accomplishments (four championships in eight years) and how much Golden State ownership has entrusted him to oversee historic spending the last couple years, it's a bit surprising Myers hasn't gotten an extension. Why haven't the Warriors locked him up?
My mind goes to Kirk Lacob, son of Golden State owner Joe Lacob. Kirk is No. 2 in the Warriors' front office and would seem likely to ascend to the top spot if Myers leaves.
Of course, we don't know Golden State is the root of the issue. Ownership might have made a generous offer Myers hasn't accepted for one reason or another. Maybe Myers wants to step away after so many years in a job that was especially high-profile and high-pressure. Or maybe Myers is demanding an exorbitant amount of money.
Whatever the reason, this is an unusual development.
If he wants to continue working outside San Francisco, Myers would hold immense appeal around the league. He inherited Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but Myers drafted Draymond Green, executed an ambitious plan to lure Kevin Durant and made numerous other moves to bolster Golden State's dynasty. Myers has built a strong reputation as a connector and basketball evaluator, and he clearly understands all that running an NBA front office – a job with a wider range of responsibilities than most people realize – entails.
Los Angeles Lakers
After months of speculation about the Lakers trading Russell Westbrook, the Patrick Beverley-Kendrick Nunn-and-picks package is now en vogue for Los Angeles trade rumors. Potential targets? The Lakers have discussed trading for the Knicks' Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish or a protected first-round pick to the Pistons for Bojan Bogdanovic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
A sharpshooter, Bogdanovic would fit nicely on the Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But Bogdanovic's $20 million guaranteed salary for next season would limit Los Angeles' upside in free agency this summer. Though flipping Bogdanovic to re-open cap space would always be possible, his stock could fall.
The bigger issue: Detroit seems really keen on him. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic covers Bogdanovic's influence on the young Pistons.
A trade would likely come down to protections on the pick. My hunch (and it's just a hunch): Los Angeles will offer only a pick with tight enough protections that Detroit says no.
Not as good of players, Fournier and Reddish would at least come cheaper.
Cam Reddish
The Knicks are reportedly working with Cam Reddish's representatives to find a trade (though he denies requesting a trade, for whatever that's worth). New York's offers are in the range of a second-round pick or different player on a rookie-scale contract (presumably one who also hasn't panned out), according to Steve Popper of Newsday.
The Knicks traded a first-rounder to the Hawks for Reddish last season. But his stock has dropped, as he has only gotten older without finding his footing. The 23-year-old has only moderate trade value in the last season of his rookie-scale contract, though there's still some intrigue in his once-ballyhooed upside.
Evan Fournier carries negative value, due $18,857,143 next season. The 30-year-old is out of New York's rotation.
Kyle Kuzma
The Wizards reportedly consider Kyle Kuzma a cornerstone player. The feeling isn't necessarily mutual.
Kuzma wants out and is seeking more than $20 million per season from a big market or contender, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
Averaging 21-8-4 this season, Kuzma appears increasingly likely to decline his $13 million player option and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 27-year-old is having a career year at just the right moment.
With Kuzma's Bird Rights and around $20 million below the projected luxury-tax line, Washington could afford to re-sign Kuzma without paying the tax. That might mean losing Rui Hachimura in restricted free agency or other cost-shedding moves. But the Wizards could do it.
Unfortunately for Washington, Kuzma's largest-allowable extension (four years, $69,888,000) probably isn't enough. So, if wanting to keep him, the Wizards likely must keep Kuzma into free agency and hope for the best.
Before the trade deadline, Washington better evaluate the degree to which he'll prioritize bigger markets and better teams and how much those franchises will likely offer in free agency.
The Wizards (11-16) aren't winning enough make Kuzma's contributions this season worth keeping him into the summer and blindly hoping he won't leave them high and dry.
Suns-Bucks-Rockets trade
A few weeks ago, rumors swirled about a Suns-Bucks-Rockets trade that would've sent Jae Crowder to Milwaukee just falling through. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, those three teams recently discussed a trade that would've sent:
- Crowder from Phoenix to Milwaukee
- Four second-round picks and players from Milwaukee to Houston
- Eric Gordon "and/or" Kenyon Martin Jr. to Phoenix
Gordon going to the Suns in a multi-team Crowder trade makes some sense.
The problem: Per Charania, the Rockets want a first-round pick for Gordon and a "very good" first-rounder for Martin. If that's the case, an offer of four second-round picks from the very-good Bucks doesn't seem that close.* Especially if Phoenix was expecting to get Gordon and Martin!
*Milwaukee also has the lower of the Cavaliers' and Warriors' 2023 second-rounders (blah), the Trail Blazers' 2024 second-rounder (maybe pretty good, but not necessarily) and the Pacers' 2025 second-rounder (who knows?).
Pelicans-Suns
Nate and Danny exhaustively covered Pelicans' win over the Suns on Friday. As compelling and well-played as the basketball was, more high-level analysis of the Xs and Os would just be superfluous by me.
I'm here for the nonsense.
With New Orleans up nine and the shot clock off, Zion Williamson 360 dunked. The Suns took offense, and a mild fracas ensued.
Phoenix guard Cameron Payne, via Andrew Lopez of ESPN:
"The game was pretty much over, and they just kept playing," Payne said. "I felt like there was just no sportsmanship, and we don't really like that. We do the right thing. I felt like they should've done the right thing, and they didn't. We didn't take it well, and we don't like to lose either. The game was over, no shot clock. They can hold the ball."
I don't begrudge teams playing basketball while a basketball game is ongoing. Were the Pelicans rubbing it in? Of course. But Phoenix was still allowed to play defense if preventing Williamson from dunking was so important.
So, I'm already partial to New Orleans on this. But I especially love Williamson's explanation:
"That was a little out of character for me. But you got to understand. I mean, you can understand it or not. They sent my teammates home last year. I missed all of last year. I got carried away a little bit. I admit that. But I was in that locker room when my brothers were down because the Suns sent us home last year. That's a tough moment to be a part of."
Think Williamson heard the criticism he wasn't fully committed to the Pelicans last season? What an awesome way for Williamson to ingratiate himself with his teammates.
Deandre Ayton
The Suns lost again to the Pelicans yesterday. Deandre Ayton, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic:
“You can’t tell me it’s frustrating when I play hard as hell. Do the best you can and the results are the results. This is regular season. At the end of the day we’re working on ourselves. I don’t care about no regular season game."
In one sense, that's healthy process-over-results thinking. The NBA regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. Phoenix is good enough to focus on the playoffs.
On the other hand, a pair of tickets to Phoenix's next home game – interestingly against the Pelicans on Saturday – cost at least $98. That's expensive for a game the starting center doesn't care about.
To be clear: This is an NBA problem more than a Suns problem. What a revealing quote, though.
Rudy Gobert
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has come under fire for liking an Elon Musk tweet: "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci."
Assuming you know how Gobert interpreted the tweet and why he liked it is demented. In the uncertainty that should exist, it's hard to justify getting worked up.
I don't want to get too deep into the weeds of what Musk meant, what Gobert thought Musk meant and what part(s) of the tweet appealed to Gobert (if any). But I do want to touch on one common response to Gobert that basically goes: How could he like that tweet as a teammate of Karl-Anthony Towns. Seven of Towns' family members, including his mother, died of COVID-19.
Criticizing Fauci is not synonymous with overlooking coronavirus. In fact, some reasonable people believe Fauci's policies worsened outcomes during the pandemic. Other reasonable people disagree. I'm not really interested in having the debate here. My point: If you can't see that some people criticize Fauci because they care about people like Towns' family, you might be in too much of a bubble.
Based on what we know, prosecuting Fauci is silly, even if he made mistakes. But, again, I'm not assuming Gobert took that literally rather than as hyperbole. Or assuming anything, really. It's not as if many people bashing Gobert are making the criticize/prosecute distinction, anyway.
Of course, Gobert doesn't have the strongest track record of taking coronavirus seriously. That influences the response here.
But I just don't see how anyone has enough information to draw sweeping conclusions about his liked tweet.
Maybe Gobert, who regularly meets with the media, will eventually explain why he liked the tweet. It's OK to wait for more information. If he says exactly what his critics assume he'll say, there will still be plenty of time to chastise him.
Danny chat
If you missed Danny's latest chat, you can read a transcript here. Lots of great discussion. But I was transfixed by Helu to You asking whether the Bucks signing Brook Lopez in 2018 was the best-ever signing for the taxpayer mid-level exception or less. Danny said his gut was yes but would have to dig deeper.
Well, I did some rudimentary research and…
The taxpayer MLE was introduced in 2011. In the spirit of the question, I looked for players who changed NBA teams for that price or less in the offseason. So, not players on their first contracts, not re-signings and not in-season bought-out players.
A non-exhaustive of the top cheap players I found besides Lopez:
- Ray Allen with Heat in 2013
- DeMarre Carroll with Hawks in 2013
- P.J. Tucker with Suns in 2012
- Ed Davis with Lakers in 2014
- Matt Barnes with Clippers in 2012
- Mike Dunleavy with Bulls in 2013
So, Lopez makes a pretty strong case. Protecting the rim and spacing the floor, he is a key reason the Bucks' rise into the NBA's elite coincided with his arrival. He liked Milwaukee enough to re-sign the following year (for significantly more money) and was instrumental to the 2021 championship.
Lopez will be up for another (larger-than-MLE) contract this offseason. That's another topic Danny covered in his chat.
But I'm still curious about Helu to You's question. Are there any other candidates who slipped through the cracks of my search?
-Dan Feldman