CSN NBA Insiders Notebook: Expectations for Durant, Cousins' next contract

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AN ARENA NEAR YOU – Welcome to another edition of the CSN Insider Notebook, where you can find trade rumors, injury updates and all the news that’s fit for the internet in one location.

This week also marks the official halfway point of the NBA season, a time to reflect on how teams have handled the sometimes-heavy burden that comes with lofty expectations.

When you talk about expectations in the NBA, nobody has a greater burden – not even the defending champs in Cleveland – than the Golden State Warriors.

They were a title contender going into the summer. After adding Kevin Durant, they became the odds-on favorite in just about every jurisdiction outside of Cleveland.

Our CSN Bay Area Insider Monte Poole gets us up to speed on how Durant has dealt with the out-of-this-world expectations that he and the Warriors have dealt with this season and have fared quite well. They have an NBA-best record of 34-6 in games played through Sunday.

Pacific Division

Durant, Warriors handle pressure to win quite well
From the time Durant became a free agent last summer and left the Thunder to sign with the Warriors, he has contended with the gigantic weight of expectations.

He has responded in spectacular fashion, leading the Warriors in scoring while shooting 53.7 percent from the field, including 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. He also leads the team in blocked shots, ranking just outside the NBA’s Top 10 in that category.

Asked recently about his mindset for marquee games when the entire planet tunes in - such as Warriors-Cavaliers - Durant said they bring no more of a burden than that which he already faces.

“My grandma and my mom watch me every night, so I’ve got to play,” he said. “When they watch me, that’s more pressure than anything else.”

Durant added that he hears from both after most every game. He also listens, because his mother, Wanda Pratt, knows him better than anyone.

One more reason, perhaps, that upon receiving his MVP trophy in 2014, Durant famously referred to Pratt as “the real MVP.” – by Monte Poole

Cousins in line for $200 million deal?
DeMarcus Cousins is in line for a major extension this summer and it appears that he and the Kings' front office are on the same page. Max money as a designated player will yield Cousins more than $200 million over five years. The two-time All-Star loves Sacramento and he can get $80 million more staying put than heading elsewhere once the new CBA comes into effect July 1.

Sacramento continues to struggle through their early season schedule, going 1-5 to start their seven game homestand after Sunday's loss to OKC. 

After mixing and matching lineups all season long, Garrett Temple and Anthony Tolliver have started the last three games for the Kings alongside Darren Collison, Rudy Gay and Cousins. Head coach Dave Joerger has refused to say whether the move is permanent or not. – by James Ham

Booker heating up for the Suns
Devin Booker dropped in 39 points against both the Mavs and the Spurs, giving him seven 30-point nights on the season. Booker struggled with his shot early in the season, but over the last five games, he’s shooting 17 for 28 (60.7 percent) from behind the arc.

After losing to the last place Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, the Suns snuck up and bit the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night to improve to 13-27.

T.J. Warren started the season with a fury, but since returning from a minor head injury 14 games ago, he’s struggled, averaging just 10.6 points per game. – by James Ham

Ingram improving, slowly but surely
After a strong start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have essentially become what we thought they were: a lottery-bound club whose best days are clearly ahead of them. The same can be said for their prized rookie, Brandon Ingram.

The No. 2 overall pick in last June’s NBA draft has had his share of ups and downs like most rookies. But lately he’s showing signs of being that impact-making, versatile player that the Lakers envision can lead them back into the postseason.

He’s averaging 8.1 points per game this season which includes 13 games scoring in double figures. Of those 13 games, five have come this month with a handful of games in January still left to be played.

It’s an encouraging sign for both Ingram and the Lakers, each knowing their best is yet to come. – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Big ticket reunites with Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce
When Doc Rivers left Boston to assume head coaching/front office responsibilities with the Los Angeles Clippers, most assumed that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett would come aboard, too.

Well the gang is all back together, although this probably isn’t how any of them envisioned their reunion.

The last piece of the puzzle came together earlier this month when the Clippers hired the now-retired Garnett to be a consultant who primarily will work with the team’s big men.

Garnett spent 21 years in the NBA, six of which were with Rivers in Boston, including an NBA title in 2008. – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Northwest Division

Westbrook turns heads, turns over the ball ... a lot
Russell Westbrook continues to ring up the triple-doubles. The All-Star point guard continues to lead the league in scoring at 30.8 points per game, along with 10.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game. On the downside, he picked up his third game this season with 10 or more turnovers and he’s averaging 5.4 miscues per game for the Thunder.

Cameron Payne is back on the court after missing the first half of the season with a foot issue. He’s struggled through the first four games, but playing yourself back into NBA shape is a tall task in the heart of the schedule.

OKC isn’t an elite team in the Western Conference at the midway point of the season, but they are in the mix with the Grizzlies, Clippers and Jazz in a crowded second tier. – James Ham

Ezeli (knee) out for the season following surgery?
Agent Bill Duffy said the absence was not for a knee surgery. Ezeli in December indicated he is considering a surgery on his left knee that could potentially end his season.

Ezeli in July was signed to a two-year, $15 million contract, with only this season’s $7 million salary guaranteed. He had a procedure on the left knee in August and was scheduled to return in mid-October. He returned in the preseason and participated in two practices before he suffered swelling, forcing him back to the sidelines.

Ezeli, 27, was signed after an injury-riddled career in Golden State. He missed the 2013-2014 season recovering from right knee surgery and last season he missed 36 games recovering from left knee surgery. – by Jason Quick

Report: Hood (knee) injury not season-ending
To see the way Rodney Hood’s right knee buckled on him over the weekend, the Utah Jazz were bracing themselves for the worst. Few teams have endured the onslaught of injuries like this franchise has in recent years.

As gruesome as the injury looked initially, the Jazz got a bit of good news in that there was no structural damage to his hyperextended right knee, which means he will return to action at some point this season.

“It's unfortunate, for sure, and unlucky," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward told reporters on Saturday. "Hopefully, he has a speedy recovery. He's a big piece of what we do. It sucks to see anybody go down."

Hood is definitely out for Monday’s game against Phoenix, but has not been ruled out for Utah’s game at Dallas on Thursday. – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Southwest Division

Spurs seek to round up a few more road wins
San Antonio has lost two of its last three games, but the Spurs continue to pace just behind the Warriors for the NBA’s best record at 31-9. The Spurs will play 12 of the next 18 on the road with the rodeo coming to town, but they never seem to stumble during this portion of the schedule. 

Patty Mills missed his first game of the season against the Suns, sitting with a calf injury. The veteran point guard has played a huge role off the bench for the Spurs this season, averaging 10.1 points and 3.5 assists in 21.9 minutes per game as Tony Parker’s primary backup.

Kawhi Leonard sits behind Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Zaza Pachulia in the Western Conference All-Star game fan voting for frontcourt players with 630,766 votes. He’s a shoo-in for the midseason festivities which take place in New Orleans next month.- by James Ham

McDaniels on the move again?
In his third NBA season, K.J. McDaniels already has played for two teams, the Sixers and Rockets, and a third team may be on the horizon. According to Marc Stein, if the Rockets make a deal, McDaniels could be the trade target.

McDaniels is averaging 3.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.1 assists in 8.9 minutes per game. He has played just one minute the entire month of January.

Two years ago the Sixers traded McDaniels to the Rockets at the deadline. – by Jessica Camerato

Mavs on a roll with healthier Nowitzki
Don’t look now but here come Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks!

They face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday with a chance to win three in a row, something they have not been able to do up to this point in the season. Few teams have been besieged by injuries as much as the Mavericks have this season, especially Nowizki, who has been limited for long stretches this season with a right Achilles injury.

But the last couple of games – both Dallas wins – Nowitzki has looked more like his old self instead of just looking, well, old. In his last two games, the future Hall of Famer has averaged 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 66.7 percent (6 for 9) from three-point range. Those statistics are all better than what he has done overall this season. Getting to the playoffs is still highly unlikely for the Mavericks, but at least they are playing more competitively. – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Atlantic Divison

Thomas-Schroder beef alive and well
After last season’s playoff series with the Atlanta Hawks, it was clear to us who witnessed it that Isaiah Thomas and Hawks guard Dennis Schroder weren’t exactly BFFs. The level of disdain between the two is even larger now after Schroder told reporters following Atlanta’s 103-101 loss to Boston that Thomas made disparaging comments about his mother.

Thomas said Schroder’s comments were a “100 percent lie and he knows that.”

But Thomas wasn’t done.

He acknowledged that he does trash-talk on the floor, but it stays centered around the game of basketball, adding that he never brings a player’s family into the conversation.

“I don’t even know his mom; to curse at her like he said I did or whatever he’s lying about,” Thomas said. “From this point on, I don’t want to even talk about Dennis Schroder. He’s not even on the level that I’m trying to be on and I’m not even focused on him anymore.”

Ouch.  

It’s hard to say otherwise when you consider Thomas is even better this season than he was a year ago when he was named to his first All-Star team. And in the 103-101 win over the Hawks, Thomas had a game-high 28 points which included the game-winning shot.

Schroder had four points on 2 for 11 shooting and was on the bench when Thomas put the Hawks away for good.

Needless to say, when these two meet again in Boston on Feb. 27 ... get your popcorn ready, because it’s on folks! – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Sullinger return near?
Toronto’s prized free-agent pickup, Jared Sullinger, who has been out all season following foot surgery, is back to practicing in a limited capacity.

But when will he play again?

It looks like it won’t be any time soon.

Because of the long lay-off, Sullinger’s conditioning needs a lot of work right now. And remember, even when he wasn’t out with an injury his conditioning was a concern when he was in Boston.

“My main focus is just trying to get my legs back under me,” Sullinger recently told reporters. “I feel like everybody else is in tip-top shape and I’m just lagging. I can’t keep up with (rookie center Jakob Poeltl) off the dribble, so, I got a lot of work to do.” – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Knicks handling of Rose's MIA incident a thorny issue
The Knicks’ week got off to a bizarre start when Derrick Rose went AWOL from Monday’s game against the Pelicans. As the team struggled to contact him, Carmelo Anthony described the uncertainty of Rose’s whereabouts as “a scary situation to be in.”

Rose explained he left New York for Chicago because of a family issue. The Knicks fined Rose $200,000 for his sudden absence. The organization came under criticism after team president Phil Jackson did not address the media the night of the incident, as well as the fact Rose was fined and not suspended.

Rose started in the following game and scored 25 points in a loss to the Sixers. – by Jessica Camerato

Embiid hopes social media presence propels him to All-Star Game
Joel Embiid admitted a frame of mind that garnered a wild “I know the feeling” response on social media.

“In the back of my head I think, ‘This is going to backfire at some point,’” Embiid said of tweeting. “But before that day comes, I’m going to keep on going.”

Embiid has been active on Twitter to boost All-Star voting during his standout rookie season. He currently ranks fourth behind Kevin Love in the Eastern Conference frontcourt by 16,000 votes. The 22-year-old has Embiid over 522,000 followers and recently received the support of Triple H after saying the WWE legend was his favorite wrestler.

“I think I kind of represent Twitter in the NBA,” Embiid said. “I like to think all the Twitter people, I represent them. But I never thought I would have this type of influence. I’m just trying to be me. If people enjoy it, that’s great.” – by Jessica Camerato

Lin (hamstring) remains out for the Nets
Even with a healthy roster, we knew the Brooklyn Nets would struggle to win games. But seeing them without key offseason pickup Jeremy Lin only adds to what has been a disastrous season in Brooklyn.

Lin has missed all but 12 games this season dealing with a strained left hamstring. It remains unclear when he’ll return to action for a Nets team that’s sinking further and further to the bottom of the NBA ocean floor with few indications of rising up to be competitive, let alone win more games this season.

This group plays hard all the time, but that ‘good try, good effort’ brand of basketball can only take you so far.

And the worst part about it for the Nets is that, unlike most teams that stink and get a high draft pick at the end of the season, they won't

As part of the 2013 trade they made with Boston to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, it included a slew of draft picks as well as the right to swap some picks. So the Nets could conceivably wind up with the No. 1 overall pick this year and have to swap it with the Celtics (25-15), whose first-round pick this year will likely be somewhere in the 20s.

It’s been that kind of season for the Nets. Even when they can potentially win, it’s really a loss waiting to happen. – by A. Sherrod Blakely

Central Divison

Rondo back in the rotation?
As the Rondo turns.

Is he in the rotation or is he out?

Apparently he’s in and back being productive for the Chicago Bulls as he was pressed into duty when Jimmy Butler was out with injury and Dwyane Wade was out with rest, among other personnel, earlier this week in Washington, D.C.

Before his resurgent 12-point, six-assist and three-steal performance against the Wizards, Rondo revealed the communication between himself and the Bulls about his benching hasn’t been plentiful.

He said head coach Fred Hoiberg didn’t say a whole lot, but one assistant coach, whom Rondo refused to name, said Rondo needed to be saved from himself.

“They said they were saving me from myself, I’ve never heard that before in my life,” Rondo said.

For now, Rondo is a backup to Michael Carter-Williams and knows he’s on his third strike in terms of behavior, having transgressions in a few other stops, meaning he knows he’ll be out of the league if he acts up again.

It doesn’t mean this is the end of the Rondo-Bulls soap opera by any stretch. – by Vincent Goodwill

Monroe quieting talk of being an offseason bust
After a slow start to the season, Milwaukee Bucks big man Greg Monroe was panned as a busted free-agent experiment as he signed with the up-and-coming franchise two years ago.

Jason Kidd moved him to the bench and sat him for long stretches, seemingly because of his low energy in the early weeks of the season. And with the low-post big man seemingly going out of business in today’s game, it seemed like Monroe would have a hard time fitting in virtually anywhere as his name was on the trade block.

But somewhere along the way, he’s made himself more than valuable to the Bucks as they ride the energy of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, increasing his scoring and rebounding every month since November.

He’s playing nearly 30 minutes a game in January and is finishing better around the rim, shooting 54 percent with a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.5 while averaging 15.7 points and scoring in double figures in all seven games this month.

He has a player option at the end of the season and one has to wonder if he’ll decide to stay in Milwaukee as opposed to finding a better situation, although the money will be plentiful across the board. – by Vincent Goodwill

Turner joins elite class of young big men
It’s easy to forget Myles Turner in Indiana as one of the rising sophomores in the NBA

After all, he’s playing in Indiana and the Pacers have a star in Paul George, who cemented his standing as a franchise-leading talent with Nike releasing the “PG1” shoe while the Pacers were in London this week.

But even in smaller markets, there should be room for more than one star as Turner is making his case to be in the same mold. Not yet an All-Star, but he’s raising his level of play.

Putting up 25 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks against the Nets places him in an exclusive category: Only Turner, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis have had those numbers as a 20-year old in a game in the last 20 years. – by Vincent Goodwill

Detroit's Caldwell-Pope a keeper?
Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is seemingly moving up the internal pyramid in Detroit to a near-untradeable status.

Although he’s missing time with a Grade 2 left rotator cuff strain, the restricted free agent to be is so valuable to Stan Van Gundy that he’s apparently moved past point guard Reggie Jackson on that list, trailing only Andre Drummond according to a report from ESPN.

Jackson’s return from injury hasn’t gone as many had planned and Caldwell-Pope’s growth has gone noticed regardless.

Shooting 40 percent from three while being one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, along with nearly doubling his assists from last season (3.0 from 1.8 last season) while maintaining the same 14.5 scoring average he had last year, it’s easy to see why he’s one of the more underrated shooting guards in the league.

And it’ll be easy to see that’s music to Rich Paul’s ears as Caldwell-Pope should garner plenty of attention in restricted free agency this July. – by Vincent Goodwill

Southeast Division
Porter's hip injury a problem ... again

For the second time this season Otto Porter has had to leave a game because of an inflamed/strained right hip, an injury that delayed the start of his rookie season in 2013.

Likely to be among the end-of-season finalists for the NBA’s Most Improved Player, Porter left Saturday’s game late in the third quarter with the Sixers and didn’t return. In November, he didn’t return after a game vs. the Phoenix Suns but didn’t miss playing time beyond that.

"I want to make sure I stay on top of it and make sure it doesn't get out of hand," he said.

Porter’s hip was first injured during a mini-camp before Las Vegas Summer League play after he was drafted No. 3 overall. His time there was cut short because of his right hip and he didn’t make his regular-season debut until 18 games into the 2013-14 season.

Porter’s hip has never required surgery and he’s usually able to return to action after resting. The recurrences could interrupt what has been a stellar season under new coach Scott Brooks, with career-highs of 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 53.5 percent overall shooting and 42.9 percent three-point shooting – by J. Michael

Heat thinking playoffs?
Injuries have contributed greatly to the Heat having just 11 wins at the halfway point of their season.

Somehow, they’re still talking playoffs because they’re one good stretch of basketball from thrusting themselves back into the picture.

"You string together eight wins in 10 games, all of a sudden, you look up, with the way the East has been shaping up this year, you can be right back in the hunt,” said guard Tyler Johnson. “Just figure it out.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra called a 1-5 West Coast road trip “tangible progress” nonetheless. – by J. Michael

Payton to disappear from Magic's roster soon?
Elfrid Payton was supposed to be the next Gary Payton, or that was one of the most common comparisons made with the point guard. Unfortunately, that was because of how he looked in 2014 Orlando Summer League.

That’s not the same as NBA. Now with reports swirling about the Magic aggressively pursuing the ball-dominant Goran Dragic of the Miami Heat, it makes sense.

The Magic already parted with his on-and-off backcourt starting mate Victor Oladipo before the season. Payton’s 11.9 points and 5.8 assists this season are career highs. He shoots less than 30 percent from three.

The previous coach, Scott Skiles, didn’t believe in the duo and current coach Frank Vogel likely sees it the same way. A backcourt with two players who can't shoot in today's NBA means a team can't succeed. – by J. Michael

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