2014 January | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Close To Deal With Hedo Turkoglu

January 15th, 2014 at 8:09am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 8:09am: The Clippers plan to sign Turkoglu for the rest of the season pending the results of his physical, reports Ismail Senol of NTV SPOR in Turkoglu’s native Turkey (Twitter link). The 34-year-old forward has been seeking more than a 10-day contract, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, so it appears he’s in line to get his wish.

TUESDAY, 1:23pm: Clippers boss Doc Rivers indicated today that he’d like to sign Hedo Turkoglu soon, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times notes via Twitter, and the move could come before they begin a road trip on Thursday, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Turkoglu impressed the team Friday during his audition, and shortly thereafter Rivers expressed interest in signing him, though at that point he didn’t give a timetable.

The team is at the 15-man roster limit with a pair of players on 10-day contracts. Their deal with Darius Morris is set to expire Wednesday night, and Maalik Wayns‘ pact expires Friday night. Teams can terminate 10-day deals at any time without owing any extra salary, so neither Morris nor Wayns is necessarily an obstacle to signing Turkoglu.

The Magic waived Turkoglu in advance of the leaguewide contract guarantee date, allowing them to save 50% of his $12MM contract. The 34-year-old is intent on reviving his NBA career with a contender, and while he drew interest from the Hawks and Lakers before the Magic waived him, the Lakers have since cooled on him, and lately there’s been no talk of him heading to Atlanta.

Western Notes: Miller, Aldridge, Warriors

January 14th, 2014 at 9:47pm CST by Cray Allred

Rudy Gay says he is happy to be in Sacramento and in a Q&A on the Kings‘ website, he said being traded along with two teammates he’s close with helped make for an easy transition. When asked what he is bringing to his new team, he responded, “People pretty much know what I can do – bring leadership, scoring and all those things I’ve been doing my whole career.” Here are some more notes from around the Western Conference:

Andre Miller still hasn’t played for the Nuggets since his public confrontation with coach Brian Shaw, but the rift between the two isn’t as profound as it’s been portrayed to be, Shaw told reporters, including Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. “He’s dealing with what he needs to deal with. I’m focusing on the team and what’s best for the team right now,” Shaw said. “As I’ve said, I’m willing to coach any(body) and everybody who wants to put the team first. I have nothing but respect for him.”
LaMarcus Aldridge seemed to want out of Portland over the summer, but he’s changed his mind and is thinking about signing an extension because the Trail Blazers have become a more successful team, he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. “[GM] Neil [Olshey] did a great job of bringing in what we needed,” Aldridge said. “He worked with me throughout the process. I’m happy. We’re winning and we look good. Look, I just want to win.”
The Warriors D-League affiliate Santa Cruz Warriors have signed Scott Machado, according to Rusty Simmons of The San Fransisco Chronicle (via Twitter), making official what Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported was forthcoming earlier today.
Suns rookie Archie Goodwin shared his thoughts with SNYtv.com’s Adam Zagoria on prospects Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Henderson, and Julius Randle, comparing the latter to Josh Smith. Goodwin believes he would have been drafted much higher than 29th last year had his Kentucky Wildcats team made an NCAA tournament run instead of losing in the first round of the NIT tournament.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: NBPA, Cook, Bogans

January 14th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

A quick look around the Association..

With a key hearing approaching in Billy Hunter‘s lawsuit against the National Basketball Players Association, the union has hired one of the defendants in the civil case: Derek Fisher‘s former business manager, Jamie Wior, three people familiar with the situation told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Wior and Fisher, the former union president, are co-defendants in a lawsuit that Hunter filed against the NBPA for wrongful termination. The L.A.-based publicist and business manager played a behind-the-scenes role in the 2011 lockout.
Former Heat, Bulls, and Thunder guard Daequan Cook has been waived by Ukraine’s Budivelnyk Kyiv, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The former NBA sharpshooter has played eight games with the Ukrainian team (4.8 PPG), four in Euroleague (9.0 PPG) and four in Superleague. He’s already back in the United States, according to Carchia.
The Celtics announced earlier this evening that guard Keith Bogans has been excused from the team indefinitely for personal reasons but the press release notes that the veteran remains under contract with the club. The veteran has been vocal with his frustration over not seeing playing time in Boston.

Poll: Where Will Andrew Bynum Sign?

January 14th, 2014 at 8:18pm CST by Cray Allred

Last Tuesday, Andrew Bynum was released by the Bulls on the other side of the trade that sent Luol Deng to the Cavs. While there has been buzz around many potential suitors, he still remains unsigned days after clearing waivers. The 26-year-old 7-footer had worked his way back to playing 20 MPG after losing all of last season to chronic knee injuries. The big man was reportedly prepared to be choosy with where he signed, wanting the best combination of playing status, contending opportunity, and salary available.

However, in recent days Bynum’s choices have been dwindling. Interest from the Heat and Clippers has waned. The Mavericks, who pursued Bynum as a free agent last summer before winding up with Samuel Dalembert, now seems to be a possibility with the latest comments from owner Mark Cuban. Dallas could only offer the minimum salary exception. The Heat and Clippers are contenders that could benefit from frontcourt depth, but are also already in the luxury tax, so a Bynum signing would cost them more than his contract figure. The Clippers have gotten improved play from DeAndre Jordan this year, and the Heat already have two reclamation projects on their roster in Michael Beasley and Greg Oden. The Pacers were linked to the situation, but their presumed motivation of keeping him away from the Heat would disappear if the Heat have truly moved on. The Knicks and Nets are also tax teams, but are more desperate to establish playoff position after rocky starts to the season and a rash of injuries to their frontcourt starters. The Nets are reportedly staying away from the situation, but the Knicks have shown interest.

The short-lived stint with the Cavs was considered Bynum’s shot at proving he could stay motivated and perform at a high level in order to cash in later on a more rewarding contract. Since he didn’t make it through round one of the non-guaranteed contract window, it’s possible that there aren’t any successful franchises willing to let their team become another proving ground for him. It doesn’t make sense for most teams further down the standings to take that risk, since the short-term benefit of a half-season of solid Bynum production would worsen their odds in the vaunted upcoming draft, without any guarantee of the long-term services of Bynum should he play well.

Where do you think he ends up? If and when he’s signed, where will it be?

Eastern Notes: Raptors, Brown, Cavs

January 14th, 2014 at 6:23pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raptors have been one of the big surprises of the season and they’ve got two worthy All-Star candidates in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. Lowry, who has been the center of trade rumors for much of the season, had a different attitude heading into this season and was in the best shape of his life during summer league play. “Kyle has brought his game to a different level, and maintained it,” coach Dwane Casey said. “Kyle has shown he can be a positive leader. I think that was the biggest question among coaches around the league.” More from the Eastern Conference..

The Sixers announced that they have assigned guard Lorenzo Brown to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League. This marks Brown’s third assignment to the Sevens this season. He has appeared in six D-League games, averaging 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Brown has appeared in 15 games for the Sixers this season.
Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of the company that owns the Raptors, said the team will spend as necessary to win and that, “We’re not afraid of the luxury tax at the right time,” notes Michael Grange of SportsNet.
Set to face the Lakers, who fired him last season, coach Mike Brown says he’s already begun to feel pressure with the Cavs, but he isn’t letting it get to him and wants to remain with Cleveland “for many years,” observes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

2013 First-Rounders Struggling For Playing Time

January 14th, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Anthony Bennett has been historically unproductive this season for the Cavaliers, whose surprise decision to draft the UNLV forward first overall this past June is looking increasingly worse. He’s bounced between small forward and power forward, averaging 10.4 minutes per game. The native of Canada went 0-for-15 over his first four games and is shooting a miserable 26.9% for the season, leading to calls for the Cavaliers to send him on assignment to the D-League.

He clearly has the highest profile of all of the 2013 first-round picks who are struggling to make their marks, and while his playing time is limited, he’s logging more minutes per game than seven other first-rounders from this past June. Technically, there are 10 other first-rounders, though it’s not really fair to count Nerlens Noel, who’s been out all season rehabbing a torn ACL, and Lucas Nogueira and Livio Jean-Charles, who signed with overseas teams. None of those three have begun their NBA careers.

Bennett and the rest of the underperforming first-round picks probably wish they could go back and get a fresh start to NBA life themselves. Here’s each 2013 first-rounder averaging fewer MPG than Bennett so far, sorted by the amount of playing time they’ve seen:

14. Shabazz Muhammad, Timberwolves (3.8 MPG) — The last pick of the lottery is seeing the sort of playing time usually reserved for second-rounders and undrafted signees. He just returned from an eight-day D-League assignment, where he averaged 24.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest.
21. Gorgui Dieng, Timberwolves (5.3 MPG) — The former Louisville center has been spared a D-League assignment, unlike the other 2013 first-rounder on his team, but he’s hit the court only slightly more often than Muhammad. The draft-night trade that sent Rookie of the Year candidate Trey Burke to Utah for Dieng and Muhammad is looking like an unfortunate one for Flip Saunders and Minnesota.
30. Nemanja Nedovic, Warriors (6.4 MPG) — It’s no surprise to see the final pick of the first round on this list, as Golden State apparently isn’t confident he can solve its backup point guard dilemma.
5. Alex Len, Suns (6.8 MPG) — Injury has helped keep the center’s playing time to a minimum, as he’s appeared in just nine games so far. The emergence of Miles Plumlee has made it tough for even a healthy Len to find minutes, though perhaps he could work his way into the rotation if the Suns trade Channing Frye.
19. Sergey Karasev, Cavaliers (8.1 MPG) — It wouldn’t have taken much for the rookie to stake a claim to the starting small forward spot in Cleveland, but he couldn’t beat out any of the team’s other subpar options prior to the Luol Deng trade. Karasev has averaged 14.7 points per game during a pair of D-League assignments.
26. Andre Roberson, Thunder (8.7 MPG) — His minutes have been up and down, and though he’s made four starts, all of which were victories for Oklahoma City, Roberson made his second trip to the D-League last week.
23. Solomon Hill, Pacers (9.0 MPG) — The small forward expressed his displeasure with his D-League assignment, and the team probably won’t send him down again, even though he’s appeared in only four NBA games since the start of December.

Categories:
2013 NBA Draft

Bucher’s Latest: Griffin, Anthony, Lowry

January 14th, 2014 at 4:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

A majority of the league believes Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan don’t fit together, and Jordan’s improvement has made Griffin the more obvious trade candidate, according to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. The consensus is that the Clippers need a big man who can shoot, and even Chris Paul wishes Griffin were more like former teammate David West, sources tell Bucher. A general manager who possesses the sort of power forward who might mesh better with Jordan said to Bucher that the Clippers haven’t contacted his team and added that he hasn’t heard that the Clippers are shopping Griffin at all. The GM thinks owner Donald Sterling would never agree to such a deal, though Bucher hears from a Clippers source confident that Doc Rivers will talk him into it before the trade deadline. Bucher has more on the Clippers and scuttlebutt around the league, as we detail:

Bucher suggests that if the Clippers were to trade for Carmelo Anthony, there’d be no certainty that they could re-sign him.
The Warriors decided against trading for Kyle Lowry over concerns about how he’d fit into their locker room. The Raptors have upped their asking price for Lowry in the meantime, and executives around the league aren’t sure whether Lowry, Andre Miller or Kirk Hinrich is the best oversized point guard who might be available.
Several GMs believe the Bulls will trade Mike Dunleavy for a draft pick, with Chicago setting its sights on a retool for next season. The Rockets are reportedly targeting Dunleavy, and Bucher shares insight from a rival executive on why Houston might be inclined to deal for him.

Pacific Notes: Gasol, Gay, Thompson

January 14th, 2014 at 3:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

The fear of negative feedback from fans persuaded the Lakers not to trade Pau Gasol to the Cavaliers unless the deal involved a scorer, center or point guard in exchange, sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Andrew Bynum was involved in those talks, but presumably the Lakers felt they needed a more viable option at center. The Lakers are holding out for valuable assets in a Gasol trade, but that may be an unrealistic goal. Here’s more on Gasol and others from the Pacific Division:

Lee Jenkins of SI.com thinks the time is now for the Lakers to finally trade Gasol, since his presence only hinders the team’s lottery chances at this point. Jenkins thinks a trade would also benefit Gasol.
Rudy Gay‘s success with the Kings means it’s no longer a given that he’ll decide this summer to opt in for the final season of his contract, according to SB Nation’s Tom Ziller, who points out that a lower usage rate has been part of Gay’s improvement.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for the Score, thinks Jason Thompson would be a much better fit on another team than he is on the Kings. Deeks urges the Kings to go ahead and trade the power forward, whom they’ve already put on the market.
Scott Machado is set to join the D-League affiliate of the Warriors today, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The point guard spent camp with the Jazz after appearing in five playoff games for the Warriors last season.

Southwest Rumors: Motiejunas, De Colo, Hairston

January 14th, 2014 at 2:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

The chances that Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin will be involved in a trade this year appear to be waning by the day, but that won’t preclude Daryl Morey from making some kind of deal between now and the February 20th trade deadline. He’s been the most active GM at the deadline over the past six seasons, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News points out. Many Rockets players aren’t sold on the idea that the team needs to make another deal, feeling the team can win the title as constituted, Deveney reveals. There’s plenty more on the Rockets as we look around the Southwest Division:

The Rockets are more likely to trade for a shooter than for a big man, Deveney writes in the same piece.
The Celtics were involved in trade talks for Donatas Motiejunas, but those discussions have since died, as Virginijus Bulotas, the international agent for the Rockets reserve, tells Lithuania’s SportoTV (translation via HoopsHype). The Mavs have also held interest in Motiejunas, who has reportedly been “desperate” for playing time as the Rockets and his U.S.-based agent, Arn Tellem, place calls with other teams.
Turkey’s Fenerbahce is interested in Spurs guard Nando De Colo, according Javier Maestro of Encestando (translation via Sportando). De Colo has bounced back and forth between San Antonio and the Spurs’ D-League affiliate, but it doesn’t sound like the Spurs have any interest in letting him go. De Colo will be a free agent at season’s end, so perhaps the France native will return overseas then.
The D-League affiliate of the Mavs has officially acquired P.J. Hairston, the club announced. The move was widely expected once Hairston signed with the D-League, since the Texas Legends had first dibs in the league’s waiver system. The Mavs and all other NBA teams are ineligible to call him up this season, since Hairston has yet to enter the NBA draft. The former North Carolina shooting guard is 32nd on the DraftExpress list of 2014 draft prospects and 41st on the board at ESPN.com.

Hamady N’Diaye To Sign In D-League

January 14th, 2014 at 12:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

Center Hamady N’Diaye will sign a contract with the D-League and play for the affiliate of the Sixers, who hold his D-League rights, as Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports. The Sixers auditioned N’Diaye yesterday for a spot on the big club, but passed him over in favor of Dewayne Dedmon.

N’Diaye spent much of the season with the Kings after making the team out of training camp. Sacramento cut his non-guaranteed contract last week before it would have become fully guaranteed for the season. The 27-year-old was also drawing interest from China and was considering signing there before choosing to go back to the D-League where he’s played in 35 games over parts of three seasons, Charania writes.

The native of Senegal will play for the Delaware 87ers, though every NBA team remains eligible to sign him. Playing in the D-League will give him a better chance to showcase his skills than he had when he was with the Kings, who gave him just 74 minutes of playing time in more than two months. He played 56 total minutes in two D-League games while on assignment from Sacramento earlier this season.

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