NBA Bric-A-Brac

The Nuggets named Mike Malone their next coach. The Nuggets appear to be in re-build mode, getting younger and cheaper is the current goal, and Malone is probably just the coach for the next phase, not really a long term choice. The Nuggets are shopping all of their veterans for draft picks (Ty Lawson to the Kings for the #6 pick is the popular rumor these days), if successful they should end up with a pile of intriguing young talent. Can Malone guide them into the playoffs? Not this year, probably not next year, the Nuggets are in draft mode for the foreseeable future. That doesn't mean Malone is a bad coach or that he is the wrong man for the job but I anticipate the Nuggets to be firmly in the top ten of next year's draft.

The Hornets traded Lance Stephenson to the Clippers for Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes. Its a risky move for the Clippers but I think Lance can be successful with the Clippers; Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are the unquestioned leaders of the team, before Lance does anything to challenge that he might want to look over the career of Michael Beasley 'cause that's where Lance is headed. I reckon the Clippers will now look to move Jamal Crawford but shipping out Barnes, Hawes and Crawford look like a rearranging of the furniture, not really an upgrade of anything.

As for the Hornets, the scuttlebutt is that the they'll waive Barnes but I think they could use him, a good veteran wing defender is at least useful as trade bait. Hawes may hopefully give the Hornets a little something of what they gave up when McRoberts skipped to Miami last summer but realistically he's probably just another guy lost on that roster. Also, Al Jefferson and Gerald Henderson both opted in for the Hornets, which is good for continuity if nothing else. The Hornets are a mess, man, one of the worst messes in the whole league, suddenly seems like last year's playoff appearance was more of a fluke than a sign of things to come. The Hornets maybe got a shot at 8th in the East but I'm not feeling it.

Eric Gordon opted in for the Pelicans.  Who else was gonna pay him $13m? Gordon got better as the year went on but I still say that's the worst deal in the league right now. Getting this guy outta town and off the roster should be priority #1 for the Hornets and while he's not ideal trade bait there's only one year left on that deal and the Hornets don't really need to bring anything back, so maybe he's movable (a coupla Laker 2nd round picks enough to get Gordon to LA?).

Danny Granger opted in for the Suns. The Suns don't really need Granger and I don't think Granger is at his best in Phoenix....but...hey, man, gotta cash the checks wherever you can. Not an onerous contract and if Granger has some nice moments maybe he becomes trade bait for a playoff team.

JR Smith opted out with the Cavs. If he had opted in, he would automatically become trade bait. It never seemed likely to me that Smith would be back with the Cavs next year (or Shumpert or Dellevadova either), so I guess this was his way of taking control of his free agency. Where does he go? I don't know...Grizzlies?

The Bucks sent Ersan Ilyasova to the Pistons for Shawne Williams and Caron Butler. I assume the Bucks are looking to dump salary so Williams will probably get waived any day now, Butler might be nice veteran scoring off the bench or he might be getting waived too. Ilyasova is a nice player the Bucks just didn't need, but he's gonna be more reliable than Williams or Butler for the Pistons; but as for the Stan Van plan....uh....this patch isn't gonna hold back the flood. Good for rotation depth, salary isn't too onerous, I guess it works for now.