2014 January | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Clippers, Okafor

January 16th, 2014 at 2:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

There’s a compelling race going on for the top spot in the Pacific Division, and the playoff seeding priority that comes with it. The Clippers hold a one and a half game lead, but they’re without Chris Paul for about another month, and the Warriors have won 11 of 13 to move to within a game and a half of the lead. The Suns lurk three games back in the loss column, and could be a factor if they can tread water while Eric Bledsoe is out. Here’s the latest:

The Warriors are about $2.2MM below the luxury tax threshold after adding salary in yesterday’s trade, and GM Bob Myers says ownership hasn’t given him a mandate to stay below that line, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. It would nonetheless take a “special deal” to make the team consider it, Howard-Cooper adds.
Myers hinted that additional moves may be coming, telling reporters “Nobody is sitting back and saying, ‘Well, we’re done now. We did our jobs. Let’s see what happens,'” according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).
It’s no surprise that the Clippers chose to retain Darius Morris over fellow point guard Maalik Wayns, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who points out that Doc Rivers likes Morris’ defense and Wayns rarely saw the floor (Twitter link).
Former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy helped sell Rivers on the idea of acquiring J.J. Redick, as Rivers tells Markazi.
Insurance would cover about $5.8MM of Emeka Okafor‘s $14.5MM salary for the Suns if he’s unable to return from injury this season, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Lakers picked the right time to bottom out since, for once, they hold their own first-round pick for a well-stocked draft class, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation.

Clippers Sign Hedo Turkoglu, Release Wayns

January 16th, 2014 at 12:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:18pm: The Clippers have officially announced the deal. The team’s press release adds that the Clippers have released Maalik Wayns, terminating his 10-day contract, which had been set to expire Friday. The release also announces a second 10-day deal for Darius Morris, but it doesn’t mention the length of Turkoglu’s contract, almost certainly signifying that agent Jim Tanner has secured a deal for the rest of the season for Turkoglu, as had been expected.

THURSDAY, 11:34am: Turkoglu tweets that the deal is official, though there’s been no announcement from the team (hat tip to Sportando).

WEDNESDAY, 9:50pm: The Clippers are set to sign Hedo Turkoglu on Thursday, reports Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Turkoglu was to undergo a physical today, and the team appeared ready to bring him aboard pending the results, as Ismail Senol of NTV Spor in Turkey reported earlier today. The deal will cover the rest of the season, according to Senol.

“He’s another shooter,” Clippers boss Doc Rivers said, according to Markazi. “Sometimes you don’t bring a guy in because a guy is not doing something. You bring a guy in because he does something our other guys do as well. He’s another shooter and can space the floor. He’s very skilled. We would like to take advantage of that.”

Turkoglu, 34, comes to the Clippers after the Magic waived him earlier this month, saving half of his $12MM salary this season before it became fully guaranteed. The Clippers can only offer the minimum salary, but it doesn’t appear they had much competition for the Jim Tanner client. The Lakers and Hawks registered interest in the forward while he was still with the Magic, but the Lakers decided against pursuing him in free agency, and Atlanta hasn’t been connected with him recently either.

The Clippers won’t have to make a roster move if the deal goes down Thursday, since their 10-day deal with Darius Morris will expire overnight. Another roster spot will open with the expiration of their 10-day contract with Maalik Wayns on Friday night, and Rivers indicated the team is still looking for other free agents to add, notes Markazi, who mentions Lamar Odom as a possibility. The team apparently still has interest in Sasha Vujacic, as well.

Clippers Re-Sign Darius Morris

January 16th, 2014 at 12:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:15pm: Morris has officially signed his second 10-day deal, the Clippers announced. The team will have to decide whether to retain him for the balance of the season or let him go when the contract expires.

8:02am: The Clippers will ink Darius Morris to a second 10-day contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. His first 10-day deal expired last night. Wojnarowski doesn’t say when the move will happen, but if it goes down today, it’d be a little surprising, since Doc Rivers said the team will sign Hedo Turkoglu today. The Clippers would have to terminate their 10-day deal with Maalik Wayns a couple days early to accommodate both Morris and Turkoglu today, though the team wouldn’t be on the hook for any additional salary if it cuts Wayns before his deal ends Friday night.

Morris has played 27 minutes over a total of four games so far with the Clippers, scoring five points and dishing out four assists. The 23-year-old Brian Dyke client is in his third NBA season after the Lakers made him the 41st overall pick in 2011. The 6’4″ point guard is serving as a backup to Darren Collison, who’s set to start at the position for about another month or so as Chris Paul‘s injured shoulder heals.

The Clippers have used other ball-handlers at times during Morris’ stint, and Turkoglu has proven a capable leader of an offense during his career. Rivers, who’s in charge of the team’s front office, nonetheless seems to want to keep Morris around, perhaps as insurance. The Clippers have been linked to Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic, though it seems neither will join the club in the immediate future.

Thunder Ink Royal Ivey To 10-Day Contract

January 16th, 2014 at 11:16am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 11:16am: Oklahoma City has announced the signing of the Jim Tanner client, via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 10:16am: The Thunder will sign Royal Ivey to a 10-day contract pending the results of today’s physical, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. The 32-year-old guard was in camp with the Hawks this past fall, and spent the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons with Oklahoma City. The Thunder have two open roster spots, so there’s plenty of room for Ivey.

A second-round pick by the Hawks in 2004, Ivey has managed to spend at least part of every season since then on an NBA roster despite never averaging more than 19.2 minutes per game. He was with the Sixers last season, when he scored 3.2 points in 13.2 minutes a night.

Ivey, familiar with the Thunder’s system, will help shore up a backcourt that’s missing the injured Russell Westbrook. The team reportedly interviewed D-League guard Manny Harris about a week ago, but apparently Ivey’s beaten out the former Cavalier for a spot, at least for now.

Heat Rumors: Bynum, Additions, Temple

January 16th, 2014 at 10:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Yesterday was an eventful day for the Heat, who saved on salary and their projected luxury bill with their swap of Joel Anthony for Toney Douglas, and welcomed Greg Oden back for an eight-minute stint that was his first official NBA action in more than four years. The day ended with the thud of a blowout loss to the Wizards, resulting in Miami’s first three-game losing streak since the 2011/12 season. Here’s more from South Beach:

In spite of speculation that yesterday’s trade would lead the Heat to sign Andrew Bynum, team president Pat Riley told reporters yesterday that nothing’s going on between Bynum and the club, Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick tweets.
Riley also said that he’d be meeting with others in the front office and looking for pieces to add to the club, Skolnick notes via Twitter.
The Heat’s next priority should be finding an energetic wing player who can defend well, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel opines in his latest mailbag column.
Miami tried to bring back 2012 training camp invitee Garrett Temple when he was a free agent this summer, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The point guard re-signed with the Wizards instead, and the Heat’s decision to cut him two years ago still serves as motivation, Temple says.

Warriors Acquire Crawford In Swap With C’s, Heat

January 16th, 2014 at 10:12am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 10:12am: The Heat is the team sending cash to the Celtics, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who notes that the amount is $1MM.

WEDNESDAY, 3:17pm: The Warriors and Celtics have hooked up on a three-team trade with the Heat that sends Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the W’s, as the teams confirmed via press release. The Warriors send Toney Douglas to Miami, which deals Joel Anthony, a first-round pick, and its 2016 second-round pick to the Celtics. Boston also receives cash in the deal, though it’s not immediately clear from whom.

The Warriors have been looking for an upgrade behind point guard Stephen Curry, and it appears they envision putting Crawford in that role. The 25-year-old has performed well in stretches as he’s manned the point for Boston in the absence of Rajon Rondo, but with Rondo set to return, it appears the Celtics found him expendable. Veteran NBA reporter Peter Vecsey tweeted overnight that Boston was close to dealing Crawford, and listed the Warriors as one of the teams with interest.

The Heat likely save $7.7MM in salary and tax penalties for this season in unloading Joel Anthony‘s deal, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter), with Anthony slated to make $3.8MM this season. His contract also includes a player option for the same amount next season. The first-round pick they’re sending the the Celtics is the Sixers’ lottery protected first-rounder this year, but if Philadelphia doesn’t make the playoffs this season or next, the Celtics get the Sixers 2015 and 2016 second-round picks instead, as Wojnarowski points out (Twitter link). Miami had been looking to bolster its backcourt last month when Windhorst reported that they were shopping Anthony.

The Warriors add money in the deal, but they avoid the luxury tax and don’t have to relinquish a first-round pick or one of their core pieces, as Zach Lowe of Grantland speculated yesterday that they might have to do. Crawford doesn’t carry the cachet of other guards the Warriors have pursued, like Kyle Lowry, Andre Miller and Kirk Hinrich, but he comes relatively cheaply. He’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end. The Warriors will likely use part of the $4MM trade exception they got for Brandon Rush this summer to make the deal work.

The Celtics also slightly up their payroll, though they also continue to stockpile draft picks. The deal sets Boston up with a half dozen extra draft picks between now and 2018. Perhaps most profound from Boston’s side of the transaction is the decline in value of Brooks, the 25th overall pick in 2011. He played well as a rookie with the Nets, but was a throw-in as part of the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster this summer and appears to be an afterthought in this deal, as well.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the deal (All Twitter links). Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group and Grantland’s Zach Lowe also tweeted details.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Celtics Not Sure If Keith Bogans Will Return

January 16th, 2014 at 9:17am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 9:17am: The decision to excuse Bogans from the team was a mutual one, Ainge told 98.5 the SportsHub this morning, Forsberg notes in a full story. Ainge said he told Bogans to stay ready “if we have an injury and need him to come back,” but went on to say “it’s better for the team and better for him to part ways.” Still, it appears he’ll remain on the roster for a while, as I speculated yesterday.

“It’s a unique situation, very unique,” Ainge said in reference to Bogans’ contract. “His value to us is he has nonguaranteed contract and, for us, he’s a chip at the trade deadline or this summer, most likely, that has value around the league. We don’t want to release him, we don’t want to let go, we want to keep that chip as we’re rebuilding.”

THURSDAY, 8:51am: Celtics GM Danny Ainge confirms it was indeed Bogans’ frustration over a lack of playing time that led the team to send him home, tweets Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Ainge has nonetheless told Bogans to remain ready to play, Forsberg notes, which hints at a possible reconciliation.

WEDNESDAY, 5:16pm: The Celtics excused Keith Bogans from the team for personal reasons last night, but it’s not clear whether he’ll return at any point this season, according to coach Brad Stevens, who says the matter is “undecided,” tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Bogans has complained about a lack of playing time after inking a three-year, $15.86MM contract as part of a sign-and-trade over the summer. Only this season’s salary is guaranteed, but it’s nonetheless a sweetheart deal for the veteran guard.

Bogans, 33, has appeared in only six games for a total of 55 minutes all season, though his two longest stretches of playing time this year came earlier this month. He played in 74 games, and started 23, for the Nets last season.

The 11th-year veteran is on the books for a little more than $5MM this year, so the Celtics would likely be reluctant to waive him without trying to see what they can get for him in a trade if they decide to formally part ways. I’d also imagine Boston would try to negotiate a buyout in advance of the March 1st deadline for players to be waived and remain eligible to join another team for the playoffs.

Latest On Carmelo Anthony

January 16th, 2014 at 9:10am CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Woodson told a New York radio station Wednesday that while he’s concerned that Carmelo Anthony will leave in free agency, he nonetheless believes the star will remain with the Knicks for the rest of his career. That reflects the sentiment of the organization, which “can’t imagine” that Anthony would sign elsewhere, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post (Sulia link). Berman nonetheless hears that last year’s scoring champ will depart if the team continues to lose.

Anthony has been publicly supportive of embattled teammate J.R. Smith, and the two have played together for several years, dating back to their time in Denver. Smith’s presence on the team nonetheless doesn’t make it any more attractive to Anthony, Berman writes, referencing a report in 2012 that Anthony had reservations about the team’s decision to sign Smith. Anthony denied that report.

The team’s confidence that it can re-sign Anthony, who’ll almost certainly opt out of his contract this summer, is why the organization laughs off the notion that they would trade the star for Blake Griffin. The Knicks will have the advantage of being able to offer more money and an extra year in a new contract for Anthony, a Creative Artists Agency client like so many on the Knicks.

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Chris Johnson Working Out For Celtics

January 16th, 2014 at 8:19am CST by Chuck Myron

Small forward Chris Johnson is in Boston to take part in a workout with the Celtics, and there’s a “good chance” he’ll sign a 10-day contract with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The former University of Dayton Flyer is not to be confused with center Chris Johnson from LSU, who played briefly with the Celtics during the 2010/11 season. The Celtics have two open roster spots following yesterday’s three-team trade.

Johnson’s only official NBA action came while on a pair of 10-day contracts last season with the Grizzlies. He spent camp this fall with the Nets, and he’s currently a member of the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, with whom he’s spent much of the past two seasons. He’s averaging 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 37.2 minutes per game for the Vipers, the affiliate of the Rockets.

Wojnarowski’s tweet seems to indicate that there will be other free agents in the workout, though that’s not entirely clear. The Celtics traded swingman MarShon Brooks and guard Jordan Crawford yesterday and received center Joel Anthony in return, so it makes sense that they’re eyeing another guard/forward type.

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Afflalo, Oden, Bennett

January 15th, 2014 at 10:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Detroit’s “Big Three” of Greg Monroe, Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond haven’t been as successful as Joe Dumars anticipated writes Zach Lowe of Grantland. His offseason signing of Smith to a four-year, $54MM contract has resulted in a 16-22 record and has them currently sitting as the seventh seed in the weak Eastern Conference, just a half a game up on the Nets in the playoff race. This underachieving calls into question Monroe’s future with the team, with his contract set to expire after the season. The other alternative according to Lowe, is to try and find a taker for Smith, no easy feat considering the size of his deal. Smith said “It’s easy to use me as a scapegoat“, when speaking to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Zillgitt opines that improved shot selection from Smith would go a long way toward improving the team.

Some other notes from around the Eastern Conference:

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel explores the idea of the Magic possibly trading Arron Afflalo. He says the main difficulty in making a trade is that teams want to get him for pennies on the dollar, and aren’t willing to sacrifice young players or draft picks, which would be the primary goal if a trade was made.
Greg Oden made his return to the hardwood this evening for the Heat, his first action since 2009, writes Joseph White of the Associated Press. His performance going forward will have a direct bearing on the possibility of the Heat signing Andrew Bynum.
The Cavaliers’ struggling number one overall pick, Anthony Bennett, stated he would be open to playing in the D-League, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Bennett is averaging 2.4 PPG in just 10.4 MPG. His playing time doesn’t look likely to increase any time soon with the recent acquisition of Luol Deng. A stint in the D-League, and the chance to log some heavy minutes to get himself going might be just what Bennett needs. Despite Bennett’s willingness to take a trip to the D-League, and the Cavs having had discussions about the move, the team doesn’t have any immediate plans to send him, writes Jason Lloyd of Akron Beacon Journal.
The Cavaliers have assigned guard/forward Carrick Felix to the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, according to a press release. Felix played in six games for the Cavs this season, and averaged 1.5 PPG. In a previous three game stint with the Charge, he averaged 9.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG.

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