2013 January | Hoops Rumors

Allen Iverson Not Interested In D-League

January 29th, 2013 at 9:11am CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 9:11am: It appears Iverson won't be taking up the Legends on their offer, according to a message posted on his Twitter account this morning:

"I thank Donnie [Nelson] and Dallas for the consideration and while I think the D-League is a great opportunity, it is not the route for me," Iverson tweeted.

Iverson added that he still hopes to "complete [his] legacy" in the NBA, but that whether or not he's able to return to the league isn't necessary up to him (Twitter links).

MONDAY, 9:55am: The Texas Legends have recently added Delonte West and Rashad McCants to their roster, and now the team is eyeing another veteran guard. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Mavericks' D-League affiliate is making a hard push to convince Allen Iverson to sign with them.

According to Stein, the Legends have made overtures to Iverson before, which the former MVP has resisted. The Legends are ramping up their pursuit of Iverson again now because they're set to return to the top of the D-League's waiver line once they finalize Mike James' rest-of-season contract — when a non-assigned player called up from the D-League spends 21 consecutive days with the NBA team that signed him, the D-League squad moves to the top of the waiver process. So if Iverson were to join the D-League, the Legends would be first in line to claim him.

Iverson, 37, hasn't appeared in an NBA game since the 2009/10 season, but has long been seeking a return to the league. To date, he hasn't been willing to join the D-League as a step toward a potential comeback. We heard in the fall that Iverson was reportedly seeking a $1MM contract to play in the Chinese Basketball Association, a figure that significantly exceeds a D-League pay check.

Back in September, Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside made the case for why Iverson should seriously consider the D-League route.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Gay, Celtics, Sixers

January 29th, 2013 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets pulled a little closer in the standings to the Atlantic-leading Knicks last night, cruising to a comfortable win over the Magic. The two New York teams each have 27 wins so far, though Brooklyn's busier schedule has resulted in three more losses (18) than the Knicks have (15). Here's the latest out of the Atlantic Division:

Despite Monday's report on the Raptors' trade discussions involving Rudy Gay, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star still views a deal as unlikely to get done. According to Smith, the Grizzlies' asking price continues to be too high for Toronto. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld agrees that Memphis is in no rush to move Gay and says there's a good chance the club stands pat.
With Rajon Rondo lost for the season, the Celtics don't figure to rush into adding another guard to their roster. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that Boston is content with the four guards currently on the team — Avery Bradley, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, and Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa will likely see increased minutes with Rondo out.
After a recent loss to the Bucks, Doug Collins was "apopletic," according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, who says some league executives are wondering if the 76ers coach is reaching his breaking point. Mannix points out that in his three previous coaching positions, Collins never lasted longer than three seasons. The Philadelphia job seems to be Collins' as long as he wants it, but it will hard to be succeed without Andrew Bynum, whose return date remains up in the air.
Deron Williams is finally playing like the $100MM man the Nets signed last offseason and coach P.J. Carlesimo thinks his point guard should be making even more, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

Odds & Ends: Rondo, Dragic, Speights, Rumors

January 28th, 2013 at 10:01pm CST by Alex Lee

With seven NBA games on the docket for Monday night, here are some odds and ends from around the Association:

J.J. Redick has made Orlando his home and hopes to stay, he told Michael Scotto of RealGM. But Redick also realizes that trade speculation is inevitable and therefore has stayed in close contact with his agent and the Magic general manager Rob Hennigan.
Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge provides a transcript of an interview of Neil Olshey in which the Blazers GM discusses his team's roster and potential future moves.
Andrei Kirilenko handpicked Minnesota as his destination this offseason because he found the roster intriguing as well as conducive to his game. Unfortunately, due to the Timberwolves' long list of injuries, Kirilenko has yet to find out if his vision was as good as it seemed this offseason, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
Danny Ainge said that he fully expect Rajon Rondo to be ready for training camp come October, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. How realistic that truly is will go a long way in determining the Celtics' next move.
Despite sitting at 15-30 and in last place in the Pacific division, the Suns have a reason for optimism in Goran Dragic, writes Derek Page of HoopsWorld. Dragic, Page says, is the most important piece of Phoenix's rebuilding plans.
We've already heard that Marreese Speights could be moved before the trade deadline despite rumors that the Cavaliers have coveted him for years. The Plain Dealer rounds up some Speights-related buzz, linking to a Sam Amico article that says whether the team keeps Speights depends on whether it can do so without sacrificing its financial flexibility. Amico, of Fox Sports Ohio, says that Speights will likely opt out of his deal after the season and seek a payday.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News addresses several popular rumors that are floating around the NBA of late, the most notable of which include Rudy Gay, Paul Pierce and Pau Gasol.

Pau Gasol Won’t Request Trade

January 28th, 2013 at 8:22pm CST by Alex Lee

It has been about a week since Mike D’Antoni opted to move Pau Gasol to the Lakers’ bench in favor of Earl Clark. Gasol’s unhappiness with the move has been well-documented and only has ramped up speculation that he could be moved before the trade deadline.

Gasol told Ken Berger of CBS Sports on Monday that while he maintains his unhappiness, he will not directly or indirectly request a trade from the team with which he has won two titles since his arrival in 2008. Gasol is “all in” for the remainder of the season:

“It’s hard for anybody who considers himself one of the top players in the world to say, ‘OK, I’m OK with coming off the bench. It’s a difficult situation that we’ve been dealing with here. The last few games have been great, and we’re staying positive and we look forward to that to continue. But at the same time, we don’t need any other distractions, any more negativity. We need positive embracing, we need focus, we need to support each other. That’s where we’re at and that’s where I’m at, too,” he said.

However, Gasol has $19.3MM left on his contract for next year, and told Berger that he can’t envision a scenario where he would be comfortable returning to the Lakers next year as a bench player.

“I’ve been on this team, in this city, for six years. It’s very hard to stick around on this team, and I take pride in that. I think I’m a valuable asset and I want my role to be as big as it can be, within the well being of the team. But I don’t know if being a player that comes off the bench will be something that I’ll be able to accept long term,” Gasol said.

Kings/Seattle Rumors: Monday

January 28th, 2013 at 6:37pm CST by Alex Lee

With the Kings in D.C. tonight to play the middling Wizards, the future of their franchise is still uncertain. As the news and rumors continue to pour in, let's keep all the Monday updates in this post with the latest up top:

Mastrov bid $420MM to buy the Warriors in 2010, tweets Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. The 20 Sacramento business leaders that Mastrov met with have pledged $1MM apiece in support of the bid to keep the Kings in town, Lillis adds in a separate story.

Earlier updates:

Ken Berger of CBS Sports provides some helpful information via Twitter. Berger says that prospective Kings buyer Mark Mastrov met today with 20 local investors that are committed to keeping the team in Sacramento. We got confirmation yesterday that Mastrov would be teaming up with Ron Burkle to make a bid on the team.
A league source described the Mastrov's interaction with the investors as an "informal meeting," Berger tweets, also adding that its purpose was to explain his vision for the team and a new arena in Sacramento.
Confirming much of what we know, Berger adds that the Seattle-based Hansen-Ballmer group has an "executed purchase agreement" for the Kings that is under consideration with the NBA and assuming its approval, would move to the team to Seattle next year. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson hopes that the city will have a chance to present an alternative option to the NBA Board of Governors in April (Twitter links here).

Atlantic Notes: Bynum, Celtics, Pierce, Knicks

January 28th, 2013 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

With Rajon Rondo out for the year, two of the Celtics' Atlantic Division rivals are in position to give Boston a run for the eighth and final playoff seed in the East. The 76ers are 2.5 games back of the Celtics, while the Raptors are five games back, and both teams hope to have injured players returning to the floor in the next few weeks — Andrew Bynum for the Sixers, and Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas for the Raptors. Here's the latest out of the Atlantic:

As the summer approaches, the Sixers are hoping to get a better idea of whether it's worth the risk to lock Bynum up to a long-term deal, as GM Tony DiLeo tells TNT's David Aldridge. "We don't have enough information," DiLeo said. "We want to re-sign him. We plan on re-signing him. We made the trade having him as part of our future. That's the direction we're going in right now and we don't have enough information to make a decision."
The Sixers constructed their roster with the intention of having it revolve around Bynum, so DiLeo acknowledges to Aldridge that the team would have to employ a different approach if Bynum is not re-signed: "We have a good young nucleus, but yeah, we'd probably have to go in a different direction and use our cap room and the draft and trades."
Zach Lowe of Grantland looks into some potential trade partners for the Celtics if they decide to shop Paul Pierce, noting that they'd likely only be able to land either a good first-round pick or a blue-chip guy on a rookie contract, rather than both. According to Lowe, the Raptors may be the most viable and intriguing match for Pierce and the C's.
Also within Lowe's piece, he notes that executives around the league view Rondo as a max-contract type player.
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com explores the possibility of the Knicks calling up D-League standout Henry Sims, who was in camp with the team in the fall.

D-League Moves: Thunder, Mavs, Rockets, Suns

January 28th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with the latest moves at the top of the page:

Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton, who have been shuttled back and forth between the Thunder and the Tulsa 66ers all season, were recalled from the D-League, the club announced today in a press release.
The Mavericks have re-assigned Jared Cunningham to the D-League, according to a team release. The move will give Cunningham a chance to play more minutes, as he'd only appeared briefly in one game for the Mavs since being recalled from the Texas Legends on December 31st.
The Rockets have recalled rookie big man Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced in a press release. Motiejunas had been on his third assignment to the D-League, where he has averaged 20.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG for the Vipers in seven games this season.
Diante Garrett has been recalled from the D-League by the Suns, the team announced today (Twitter link). In seven games for the Bakersfield Jam since being assigned to the team earlier this month, Garrett averaged 15.1 PPG and 7.4 APG, shooting a blistering 62.5% on three-pointers.
The Nets have recalled Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor, the team announced today in a press release. Both players have played extremely well in their two D-League stints this season, with Shengelia averaging 28.3 PPG, 13.7 RPG, and 7.0 APG in three games, while Taylor has recorded 26.5 PPG and 7.5 APG in four contests. However, Shengelia is currently out indefinitely with concussion symptoms.

Pacers Re-Sign Sam Young

January 28th, 2013 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially re-signed Sam Young, the team announced today in a press release. Indiana had waived Young earlier in January after he sprained his ankle and before his contract could become guaranteed for the season.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reported (via Twitter) that the Pacers were expected to re-add Young to the roster to replace Dominic McGuire, whose second 10-day contract has expired. While Young takes McGuire's place as the team's 15th man, it's not clear whether the 27-year-old is back on a 10-day contract or rest-of-season deal.

Young was averaging 3.6 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 16.0 minutes per game earlier this season with the Pacers, before he went down with the ankle injury. Presumably, since the team is comfortable re-signing him at this point, Young's ankle has healed and he'll be available immediately.

Odds & Ends: Pacers, Gelabale, Joseph, Wolves

January 28th, 2013 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Tonight's schedule includes a battle for Western Conference positioning between the Rockets and Jazz, Andrew Bogut's possible return to the court for the Warriors, and an opportunity for the Wizards to win their third straight game (and eighth of their last 11). As we look forward to the evening's slate of games, let's check out a few odds and ends from around the NBA….

Dominic McGuire's second 10-day contract with the Pacers has expired, and the team has elected to let him go rather than sign him to a rest-of-season deal. According to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter), the Pacers will likely bring back Sam Young, though it's not clear whether he'll get a 10-day contract or a rest-of-season deal. Indiana released Young before his contract became guaranteed, and shortly after he suffered an ankle sprain.
Agent Bill McCandless expects the Timberwolves to keep Mickael Gelabale for more than just one 10-day contract, as he tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype: "Based on my conversations with Timberwolves management, I understand that Minnesota is very likely to offer M.G. a second 10-day contract." (Twitter links).
With Sacramento and Seattle potentially set to battle over the Kings, Neema Hodjat of RealGM.com makes a case for why the NBA should consider expansion as an alternative to relocation.
We heard last week that Kris Joseph had signed a contract to play for Orleans in France, but David Pick of Sportando reports (via Twitter) that Joseph backed out of that deal for a possible D-League offer.
A.J. Mitnick of Sheridan Hoops makes his early picks for the top 10 European prospects of the 2013 draft class.
Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, and D.J. White are among the former NBA players in China whose CBA teams won't qualify for the postseason, according to Shaopeng Shen of Hupu.com (via Twitter). As such, those players would be free to return to the NBA sooner, assuming there's any interest.
The Timberwolves received a disabled player exception worth about $381K for Malcolm Lee, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times and HoopsWorld. Considering how small that amount is, the team is unlikely to use the exception.

Western Notes: Bledsoe, Grizzlies, Lakers, Howard

January 28th, 2013 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

While one Eastern Conference team lost a star for the season this weekend, a Western Conference club could be preparing to welcome one back to the court. According to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, Andrew Bogut may return to action for the Warriors tonight in Toronto. Here are a few more notes out of the West:

Before they drafted Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers tried hard to make Eric Bledsoe their point guard of the future, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, who says the Blazers offered Jamal Crawford and a first-round pick for the Clippers' backup point guard last year. "Yeah, I knew [the Trail Blazers] were calling for me," Bledsoe said. "They have a great fan base, but I wasn't too worried about it at the time."
Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that Memphis isn't in a rush to make another trade, and "it's more likely than not that we do nothing." According to Tillery, the team has received a number of proposals for Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph since December, but none were viewed as fair-value offers.
The Lakers are still waiting to find out whether they'll receive a disabled player exception after losing Jordan Hill for the season. GM Mitch Kupchak is expecting to hear from the league sometime this week, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Appearing on 103.3 KESN-FM in Dallas, ESPN.com's Marc Stein suggests that the Mavericks have a better chance at landing Dwight Howard via free agency rather than via trade (link from the Dallas Morning News).
For his part, Howard tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he doesn't have time to focus on free agency at this point.

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