2012 July | Hoops Rumors

Terry Stotts Interviews With Trail Blazers

July 22nd, 2012 at 3:27pm CST by Michael Pina

Mavericks assistant coach Terry Stotts has become a candidate for Portland's head coach position, writes ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon. Stotts interviewed with Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey on Tuesday, and is expected to get a second interview.

The 54-year-old Stotts joined Dallas' coaching staff in 2008, and has previous head coaching experience with the Hawks and Bucks, sporting a 114-168 record with both organizations. Several assistant coaches have reportedly been interviewed by the Trail Blazers over the last few weeks, including Michael Malone, Adrian Griffin, Elston Turner, Lester Connor, Brian Shaw, David Joerger, Mike Budenholzer, Phil Weber, Patrick Ewing, and Steve Clifford.

Odds & Ends: Sixers, Adam Morrison, Earl Watson

July 22nd, 2012 at 12:20pm CST by Daniel Seco

With the Olympics set to get underway less than a week from now, Carlos Delfino remains unsigned even though he's talked to a few different teams about employment for next season. The Bucks, however, have not made any contact with the Argentinean swingman and that upsets Delfino. "I expected to have at least a conversation [with Milwaukee]," Delfino told HoopsHype. "I ended up aggravating my injury because I wanted to play with the Bucks. It hurts me a little bit that they have not even reached out to me. Let's check in around the league on the latest news and stories making headlines…

The Sixers are confident that they made the right decisions this offseason to improve their roster heading into the 2012/13 season, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Key additions include Nick Young, Dorell Wright and Kwame Brown while Elton Brand, Jodie Meeks and Lou Williams will be playing elsewhere next season.
Don't expect to see Adam Morrison on the Clippers' roster next season as he's not playing at the level of an NBA player, predicts Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld (via Twitter). Morrison did managed to score 22 points and grab four rebounds in a summer league victory over the Lakers on Thursday.
Even though Earl Watson is still months away from being able to play basketball, he's keeping himself a part of the Jazz team by visiting the squad at the Orlando Summer League, writes Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune. This is nothing new for the guard as he dressed for a playoff game against the Spurs in May even though he was on crutches.

Cavs Notes: Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Bill Walker

July 22nd, 2012 at 11:15am CST by Daniel Seco

The Cavs have a young nucleus heading into the 2012/13 season thanks to key additions through the draft in June. Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller are set to join Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson giving head coach Byron Scott something to build with as he enters his third season with Cleveland. Let's check in with Bob Finnan of The News-Herald to catch up on the latest news and headlines surrounding the Cavs…

Waiters made some strong impressions during the Las Vegas Summer League while also showing that he has areas of his game requiring improvement. With Irving set to man the point, Waiters will need to strengthen his play off the ball and develop a jump shot in order to be most effective for the Cavs. Finnan reports that the former Syracuse star is approximately 10 pounds overweight and needs to get in shape prior to Scott's training camp unless he wants to spend his time looking into a garbage can.
Restricted free agent Alonzo Gee hasn't received any offers this summer as teams are convinced the Cavs will match any reasonable offer made to the small forward. Look for the Cavs attempt to the sign Gee on the cheap given that most teams are running out of cap space. Finnan expects Gee to sign with the Cavs for the team's $2.7MM qualifying offer, which would make the former Alabama star an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Unrestricted free agent Bill Walker may make some sense for the Cavs as they look to fill out their bench. The 24-year-old small forward played for the Knicks for a portion of the 2011/12 season before being waived by the team.

Heat Notes: Lewis, Sign-And-Trades, Milicic

July 22nd, 2012 at 9:46am CST by Daniel Seco

The rich got richer this offseason as the Heat reloaded for another run at the Larry O'Brien trophy heading into the 2012/13 season. With the proverbial monkey off LeBron James' back, the Heat will enter next season as the odds-on favorites to take home another championship with an even stronger supporting cast surrounding King James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has the latest news and headlines from South Beach to catch you up to speed…

The addition of Rashard Lewis to the mix for merely the veteran minimum doesn't mean the forward will strictly come off the bench for the Heat next season. Adding Lewis to the starting lineup would allow Shane Battier to return to his role of defensive stopper off the bench and allow Bosh to play at center given Lewis' length. Lewis, who is reportedly in good shape, will have to show something during training camp for any chance at securing a spot in the starting lineup.
Joel Anthony and a first-round pick from the Sixers could be dangled as attractive pieces in a potential sign-and-trade if the Heat aren't satisfied with their current roster. While the team would benefit from acquiring a veteran point guard, the available options wouldn't make the team significantly better at this point. Andray Blatche, recently amnestied by the Wizards, could be a quality addition, but the team wouldn't have to do a sign-and-trade to acquire him.
Look for Darko Milicic to end up in Miami now that Nazr Mohammed appears set to sign with the Bulls. Milicic could stand to benefit playing amongst a group of All-Stars who will push him to play to the best of his ability. At 27, the former second overall draft pick of the Pistons in 2003 still has a chance to have a respectable career if given the right opportunity.

Raptors In Serious Talks With John Lucas III

July 21st, 2012 at 9:20pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 9:20pm: Lucas has received a two-year, $3.0MM offer from the Raptors, with the second year of the contract being a team option, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.

WEDNESDAY, 4:46pm: The Raptors are "in serious talks" with John Lucas III, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. According to Stein, Toronto is close to a deal to sign Lucas away from the Bulls, with Chicago resigned to losing the 5'11" guard.

The Raptors have been considering signing a third point guard to play behind Kyle Lowry and Jose Calderon, and perhaps become Lowry's primary backup if Calderon is traded. While Lucas is hardly a big name, he had a quietly effective season for the Bulls in 2011/12, as we noted earlier today in our list of top remaining free agents by PER. The 29-year-old's 16.3 PER puts him second among available point guards. Lucas also averaged 7.5 points and 2.2 assists in 14.8 minutes per game, all career highs.

Poll: Which Team Will Win Howard Sweepstakes?

July 21st, 2012 at 8:20pm CST by Daniel Seco

The conversation surrounding Dwight Howard's future as a member of the Magic has consumed the thoughts and minds of front office executives, members of the media and fans across the globe. Month after month, rumors have surfaced with information that Howard's headed to one particular team in exchange for some group of players, picks and prospects, only to seemingly lose credibility and fall apart just as quickly as it came to fruition.

With no deal in sight, the Magic announced on Saturday that they hope to move Howard by the beginning of August to gain some sense of closure heading into the new season. The question becomes which team will win the sweepstakes and add arguably the best big man in the league to its roster.

Odds & Ends: Maggette, Kirilenko, Harrington

July 21st, 2012 at 7:00pm CST by Daniel Seco

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spoke about his team's offseason moves during the broadcast of a summer league game on Friday, reports Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Cuban expressed lament over Dallas' inability to sign Deron Williams, but is confident that his roster has a strong young nucleus heading into next season. "… We can keep these guys, let them jell and play together, build around Dirk and have room for hopefully someone to come or to trade or whatever happens." Here's the latest news and happenings from around the league…

Corey Maggette says he's ready to mentor the younger players on the Pistons roster after arriving in Detroit via trade from Charlotte this offseason, writes Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld. The 32-year-old former Duke star's benefit to the franchise will be to serve as a leader for head coach Lawrence Frank both on and off the court. "I am very happy to be there," Maggette said. "I have been following the team for a long time going back to the Detroit Pistons with the ‘Bad Boys’ and Joe Dumars, who is the president right now. This is a great opportunity."
Nets general manager Billy King told FOX Sports Radio on Saturday that Brooklyn is in talks with Andrei Kirilenko to fill one of its two remaining roster spots, according to NetsDaily.com. King said Kirilenko looked strong while playing in Europe and would be a good fit for the Nets at the forward position. "We got a couple guys we're talking to. Nazr Mohammed is visiting now in New Jersey with his wife. We'd like to sign him as a back-up and then … We're talking to Kirilenko."
Nuggets forward Al Harrington spoke to InsideHoops.com about his recovery from three different surgeries and his hopes to be healthy enough to play on opening night of the regular season.

Lakers Notes: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash

July 21st, 2012 at 5:47pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Lakers have been busy this offseason ever since falling to the Thunder in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs in May. By shedding dead weight and adding a few key pieces, Los Angeles has put itself in a position to challenge for a championship heading into 2012/13. Let's head to the Staples Center to catch up on the latest news and headlines surrounding the men in purple and gold…

Pau Gasol was a trade candidate last year and the Lakers were reportedly shopping him aggressively before the draft. Yet Kobe Bryant, once a critic of Gasol, seems firmly in his corner, saying, "As long as I'm there, he's going to be there," tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. On the topic of Bryant staying in Los Angeles, the future Hall of Famer spoke about his future earlier this week and alluded to the fact that he may retire at the end of his current contract in 2014.
Lakers officials also have a renewed excitement about seeing how Steve Nash's playmaking ability can enhance Gasol's performance, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Prior to playing with Ramon Sessions for the second half of the season, Gasol was forced to rely upon the skills of Derek Fisher and Steve Blake to get him the ball from the point guard position.
Bryant understood that the Lakers needed to use Gasol as trade bait in order to obtain a point guard, but knows that Gasol isn't going anywhere given the team's acquisition of Nash, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Mavericks Sign Jared Cunningham

July 21st, 2012 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks have signed 24th overall pick Jared Cunningham, the team has announced. Terms weren't disclosed, but if he signs for 120% of his rookie scale amount, as most first-round draft picks do, he'll make a first-year salary of $1,156,320.

The 6'5" shooting guard averaged 17.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists, and made 45.0% of his shots from the floor in his junior season at Oregon State in 2011/12.

Hornets, Bobcats Might Trade Landry, Diop

July 21st, 2012 at 4:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hornets are interested in DeSagana Diop, and may pursue a sign-and-trade with the Bobcats that would send Carl Landry to Charlotte, according to Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. That makes the Bobcats an obstacle for the Warriors, who are also after Landry, Ingram says (Twitter links). A report earlier this week suggested the Bobcats and Warriors were "neck and neck" for Landry.

Diop has one season left on his deal with Charlotte for $7.37MM, while Landry is a free agent, meaning he'd have to consent to go to the Bobcats before any trade can occur. Charlotte would probably have to be willing to outbid the Warriors for that to happen. Golden State is unlikely to use the full $5MM midlevel exception, since doing so would make them a taxpaying team.

The 6'9", 28-year-old Landry averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season in New Orleans. His 18.2 PER is tops for remaining free agents with JaVale McGee having re-signed with the Nuggets. Diop saw limited action with the Bobcats, appearing in just 27 games, averaging 1.1 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a 6.8 PER in 12.0 minutes a contest.

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