2013 January | Hoops Rumors

Hoops Rumors Features

January 24th, 2013 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren't the only updates you'll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you'll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here's a rundown of a few of them:

Our Free Agent Tracker gives you the opportunity to look back on this summer's free agent signings, with data sortable by team, position, contract years, and contract amount. For a quick look at which players remain unsigned, you can check out our list of 2012/13 free agents.
We also have free agent lists for both next summer, and the summer of 2014, which will continue to be modified as needed.
Throughout the season, we'll be keeping tabs on roster counts for each NBA team, the year's D-League assignments and recalls, and all the trades consummated in-season.
Our tentative 2013 draft order tracks this season's "reverse standings," allowing for an early look at what next June's draft order might look like.
Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed since 2007, sorting by player, team, year, and other variables.
Our Trade Candidate series has returned for the 2012/13 season, with Marcin Gortat and J.J. Redick among the latest trade candidates to be put under the microscope.
On Thursdays at 4:00pm CT, I answer readers' questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of our past live discussions here.
Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, is used, or expires.
We're also tracking teams' amnesty provisions — using our complete list, you can check to see which clubs have used the amnesty clause and which will carry it into next summer.
The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere every Saturday in his weekly Hoops Links feature.
If you're looking to catch up on a few days worth of content, our Week in Review posts round up the week's news and rumors, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site's original content for the week. Both round-ups are published every Sunday.
Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we examined the money the Rockets owe to players no longer on the roster, listed the players who remain ineligible to be traded, and took an in-depth look at the SEEDS Academy and the development of basketball in Africa.

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Lakers Rumors: Nash, D’Antoni, Howard, Gasol

January 24th, 2013 at 8:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers' disastrous first half has been one of the major stories for most of the NBA season, but the situation has somehow seemed to get even worse within the last few days. Yesterday, the Lakers "went at each other a little bit" in a team meeting, and then lost in Memphis to fall to 5-15 on the road and 17-25 overall, closer to the Western Conference basement than the eighth playoff spot. What's next? Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has the latest on the Lakers….

The biggest issue Lakers vice president Jim Buss had with the possibility of choosing Phil Jackson over Mike D'Antoni as the team's head coach was the idea that offseason signee Steve Nash would be marginalized in Jackson's Triangle offense, says Wojnarowski. "The way this turns out," one league source told Wojnarowski. "You've chosen not only Steve Nash over [Pau] Gasol, but maybe over Gasol and Dwight [Howard]."
The Mavericks and Hawks have called the Lakers to inquire on Howard, and have been told the big man isn't available, and that the stance won't change before the trade deadline.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the only reason Howard might hesitate about re-signing with the Lakers is the presence of D'Antoni. According to the Yahoo! scribe, the Lakers coach "fundamentally doesn't believe in post play."
When he was coaching the Knicks and a possible pursuit of Howard was discussed, D'Antoni told the Knicks front office that USA Basketball preferred Tyson Chandler to Howard, and that "the Knicks would be wise to adopt that thinking," according to Wojnarowski.
Gasol, who has been marginalized in D'Antoni's system, is upset and privately expects to be traded, says Wojnarowski.
The Lakers are very unlikely to fire D'Antoni, since it would leave them paying $25MM to coaches no longer in Los Angeles (D'Antoni and Mike Brown). But if they did make a change, Wojnarowski suggests that Bernie Bickerstaff may be the Lakers' best option, since he simplified the offense and had the club playing solid defense during his interim stint.

Grizzlies Notes: Speights, Gay, Randolph, Wallace

January 23rd, 2013 at 9:27pm CST by Zachary Links

The Grizzlies appeared to be on the cusp of signing troubled guard Delonte West, but earlier tonight we learned that they have apparently passed on him. Instead, the former Celtic is set to dive into the D-League player pool in hopes of finding another NBA opportunity. Here’s more out of Memphis..

The Marreese Speights trade was necessary for the Grizzlies to avoid becoming a perennial tax team in the long-term, writes Ben Baroff of Sheridan Hoops. It’s the kind of move that Memphis wouldn’t have had to make under the dollar-for-dollar tax system of the old CBA but the harsher tax penalties of the new CBA have almost forced them to make a trade like this.
When asked if he sees himself finishing the season with the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay gave reporters a no comment, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Meanwhile, some believe that the Speights deal means that the Grizzlies will be able to hang on to both Gay and Zach Randolph.
“We considered all options, every team does, but this was a deal that we felt was very favorable for us,” Wallace said of the trade, according to Kennedy. “You can’t count on this type of situation still being there later on closer to the trade deadline because Cleveland is a team with cap room and not every team has that.”

Odds & Ends: Howard, Lakers, Nachbar, Gomes

January 23rd, 2013 at 8:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's tonight's look around the Association as the Heat find themselves in a battle with the 15-26 Raptors..

When asked about his impending free agency earlier today, Dwight Howard said "We're not discussing that," tweets Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak might start feeling uneasy if the star big man has the same stance a few weeks from now when the trade deadline comes and goes.
Bostjan Nachbar told Beko BBL that he will likely stay with his team in Germany next season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The forward was a prominent bench player for the Nets in 2006/07 and 2007/08.
Former NBA forward Ryan Gomes has parted ways with Germany's Artland Dragons, according to David Pick of Sportando (on Twitter). Gomes, who played for the Celtics, Wolves, and Clippers, averaged 11 PPG in ten games for the German club.

Northwest Notes: McCants, T’Wolves, Thunder

January 23rd, 2013 at 6:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that former Timberwolves first-round pick Rashad McCants might be on his way back to the D-League's Texas Legends. The 28-year-old, who averaged nearly 20 PPG in China this year, played for the Mavericks affiliate in their debut season. Here's more on the T'Wolves and the rest of the Northwest..

The Thunder will pursue small forward Pete Mickeal when his contract with FC Barcelona is over, according to a report from TuBasket.com passed along by HoopsHype. Mickeal was drafted by Dallas in the second-round of the 2000 Draft but was waived that summer.
The T'Wolves were in on Australian center Aron Baynes early on before the Spurs scooped him up, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. San Antonio won out thanks to their personal connections with the big man in conjunction with their offer of a guaranteed deal.
The Raja Bell saga has gone on for months in Utah but his reps are hopeful that a settlement can be struck at some point, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. The Jazz and Bell haven't made much progress on a buyout over the last month.

Spurs Recall Cory Joseph From D-League

January 23rd, 2013 at 5:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today's D-League's assignments and recalls, with any further moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:

Well, that was fast. The Spurs announced that they have recalled Joseph from the Austin Toros just five-and-a-half hours after his assignment. Joseph will be in uniform for tonight's game against the Hornets.
The Spurs have re-assigned Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros, the club announced today in a press release. Joseph appeared in just one game during his most recent stint with the Spurs, playing briefly at the end of the club's January 16th win over Memphis. The timing of the move is a little curious, since the Spurs also announced they'll be without Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard tonight vs. the Hornets. With Joseph headed to the D-League, that'll be one fewer body on the bench for San Antonio.

Kings/Seattle Rumors: Wednesday

January 23rd, 2013 at 4:29pm CST by Luke Adams

In yesterday's round-up of rumors related to the sale of the Kings, we learned that Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson had recruited a group of 20 local investors each willing to put $1MM toward a bid to keep the team in the city. More importantly, Sam Amick of USA Today reported that Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov, two potential investors willing to put significantly more money toward that bid, were in serious talks about teaming up. Here's the latest on Sacramento, the Kings, and Seattle:

At an afternoon press conference in Sacramento today, Mayor Johnson didn't identify Burkle, Mastrov, or anyone else as the "whale" involved in a local bid for the Kings. Johnson did say there were more than two possibile investors in play, and that "considerable progress" has been made (Twitter links via Dale Kasler and Scott Howard-Cooper).

Earlier updates:

The NBA has begun vetting Chris Hansen's Seattle group and the sale agreement, according to Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).
Burkle and Mastrov are both committed to keeping the Kings in Sacramento and building the team into a contender, according to Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee, who say city officials view the possible pairing of the two investors as a "dream team."
Johnson, who believes his message will resonate with the NBA, cautioned Seattle fans not to celebrate quite yet. "We as a community, we've had the emotional roller coaster (of trying to keep the Kings); it's hard," said the Sacramento mayor. "I would hate for them to be misled."
Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link) doesn't view Johnson's group of Sacramento investors willing to pony up $1MM each as a major factor, especially since local investors would likely be less open to giving the Maloofs the $30MM non-refundable deposit that the Seattle group is said to be paying.
Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee agrees that Sacramento needs to make a bigger splash than Tuesday's announcement if it wants to make a compelling case to keep the Kings.
Chris Hansen is trying to railroad the NBA into relocating the Kings, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com, arguing that David Stern needs to tell the Seattle group to respect the process.

Lakers Notes: Howard, Trade Rumors, Hill

January 23rd, 2013 at 4:24pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Lakers look to improve upon a 5-14 road record tonight against the Grizzlies in Memphis, we'll check in on a few of today's updates out of Lakerland….

After complaining earlier this week about not getting enough touches, Dwight Howard apologized today, accepting responsibility for his struggles and saying he needs to work harder, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. "I've just got to go out there and dominate defensively and make it tough for teams," Howard said. "I just have to get back to doing that and not worry about the offense."
Howard, on the return of the trade rumors that followed him everywhere last season: "I understand why they're saying that because they feel like I have an opportunity to just walk away. That is my choice at the end of the season but right now my focus is tonight and us doing something real special in L.A. We have that opportunity and we can't close the door on the opportunity that we have in front of us. We can turn this thing around."
Bresnahan also reports that the Lakers had a sort of "clear-the-air" team meeting before today's shootaround, and that the players "went at each other a little bit." The meeting included Steve Nash saying he was open to any style of play, as long as everyone was comfortable with the system, and Kobe Bryant directly asking Howard if the All-Star center dislikes playing with him.
According to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard, the Clippers would offer Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan for Howard. However, even if the Lakers were considering moving D12, Broussard admits it's unlikely they'd send him to their L.A. rivals.
Jordan Hill underwent successful surgery on his left hip today and is expected to be sidelined for six months, the team announced in a press release.
Earlier today, we looked at a few of Mitch Kupchak's comments on the team, Mike D'Antoni, and trade options.

Spurs Sign Aron Baynes

January 23rd, 2013 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have officially signed Australian big man Aron Baynes, the team announced today in a press release. Two weeks ago, we heard that San Antonio was working to finalize a buyout with Baynes' club overseas and bring him stateside.

Baynes, 26, had been playing for Union Olimpija of the Slovenian Basketball League this season, averaging 13.8 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 10 contests (26.2 MPG). The Washington State product has also played for Australia in international competition, including at the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.

Because the Spurs went to the effort of buying out Baynes' contract and adding him after this year's guarantee deadline, his deal figures to be guaranteed for at least the rest of this season, and perhaps next year as well. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com reported earlier this month that Baynes would receive a four-year deal, with two guaranteed seasons and two team options.

San Antonio had been carrying just 14 players, so the team had an open roster spot and won't need to make a corresponding move to clear room for Baynes.

Ford’s Latest: Bargnani, Kings, Granger, Draft

January 23rd, 2013 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Chad Ford's latest chat at ESPN.com includes a handful of trade-related inquiries along with plenty of draft questions. Let's dive in and check out the highlights from both categories….

While the Raptors would likely move Andrea Bargnani for any decent offer, Ford hasn't spoken to any general managers that are excited about making an offer for the former first overall pick.
The Kings could still be active before the trade deadline, but the Maloofs are still in charge of any decisions until the NBA Board of Governors makes a decision on the sale of the franchise. As such, most rival teams view the Kings' assets as "essentially frozen" for now.
Danny Granger is receiving assurances from the Pacers that he won't be traded, but Ford thinks Indiana would change that stance if the right offer came along. A young power forward or point guard could interest the Pacers, says Ford.
Ford spoke to five different NBA GMs this week who said they'd take Kansas guard Ben McLemore first overall next June.
Ford also adds that McLemore would be at the top of his personal top-five list for 2013, with UNLV's Anthony Bennett and Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State right behind him.

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