2014 February | Hoops Rumors

Nets Considering Jason Collins

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:54am CST by Zachary Links

SUNDAY, 10:54am: With the rumor that the Clippers will be signing Glen Davis when he clears waivers later today, this makes it more likely that Collins will sign with the Nets. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter Link) has heard that Collins and the team have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon.

FRIDAY, 4:40pm: The Nets will wait to see if they can sign Glen Davis, for whom they appear to be competing against the Clippers, before further investigating the idea of signing Collins, write Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com.

THURSDAY, 6:00pm: The Nets are looking at Collins but also have interest in Ivan Johnson and other bigs, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.

5:01pm: The Nets worked out Jason Collins this week in Los Angeles and are giving strong consideration to signing him to a 10-day deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. A deal would make Collins the NBA’s first openly gay player.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say the Nets, after letting today’s trade deadline pass without a deal for Lakers big man Jordan Hill, are weighing the addition of another big man and have identified Collins as a prime candidate. Collins last stepped on an NBA court almost a year ago as a member of the Wizards.

On a conference call this afternoon, Nets GM Billy King acknowledged that he’ll be looking to add a big man via free agency, tweets Rod Boone of Newsday. He mentioned that the club has guys on the radar in the D-League and elsewhere.

Collins’ name resurfaced in the media this month when NFL draft prospect Michael Sam came out of the closet, putting him in contention to be the first openly gay active athlete in one of North America’s big four leagues. If Collins puts pen to paper with Brooklyn, he’ll take ownership of that title.

The Nets and Pistons were among the clubs giving Collins consideration over the summer but neither team would up signing him.

Magic Waive Glen Davis In Buyout Arrangement

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:37am CST by Zachary Links

SUNDAY, 10:37am: Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter Link) has heard that the Nets have been told that Davis will sign with the Clippers once he clears waivers at 5 p.m. today.

SATURDAY, 1:58pm: The Nets and Clippers remain the frontrunners to sign Davis, but the Heat might be interested in him as well, says Marc Stein of ESPN. Stein also hears that all of the teams with rumored interest in Big Baby expect him to make a decision on where to sign before the end of the weekend (Twitter links).

FRIDAY, 7:05pm: You can add the Bulls to the list of teams that may be interested in Davis, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter Link).

6:20pm: According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter Link), the Magic will not be using the stretch provision on Davis, and will take the full hit on his $6.6MM salary during the 2014/2015 season. Kyler also tweeted that the team had told Davis of their intention to waive him and buy out his contract last weekend.

1:51pm: Kevin Garnett is recruiting Davis as part of a hard push from the Nets to convince him to sign with Brooklyn, Wojnarowski tweets.

1:45pm: The Magic have officially announced that they’ve come to a buyout arrangment and waived Davis. It’s unclear how much of his salary Davis is relinquishing.

1:04pm: The team has yet to make an official announcement, but the release of Davis has been finalized, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).

12:43pm: There’s a sense around the league that Davis and Rivers already have what amounts to an agreement for Big Baby to join the Clippers once he clears waivers, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. The Magic are expected to officially release Davis this afternoon, tweets Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

THURSDAY, 9:43pm: Along with the Clippers, the Heat, Spurs, Nets, and Warriors are expressing interest in Big Baby, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.

6:58pm: The Magic and Glen Davis have reached agreement on a buyout, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The buyout should be official tomorrow morning.

Orlando was dangling the big man at the deadline but they were unable to find a taker. Davis was due the remainder of his $6.4MM salary this season and $6.6MM in 2014/15. The 28-year-old is coming off of a year in which he averaged 15.1 PPG and 7.2 RPG with a 15.0 PER in an injury-shortened season. So far in 2013/14, Davis has been bitten by the injury bug once again. He’s putting up 12.1 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 30.1 minutes per contest this season.

The Clippers figure to be a strong frontrunner for Davis now that he’s available, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Los Angeles makes a lot of sense for Davis who has a relationship with Doc Rivers and presumably would like to join a contender. For Orlando, the buyout should open up playing time for Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn as they look to the future.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Poll: Which Deadline Trade Will Have Biggest Impact?

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:09am CST by Eddie Scarito

In spite of all the big names that were talked about being moved prior to this year’s trade deadline, only one “big” trade actually happened. That was the Sixers Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen heading to the Pacers in exchange for Danny Granger and a 2015 second-round pick. Outside of this trade, the other deadline moves involved lesser names. No Carmelo Anthony, Thaddeus Young, or Rajon Rondo blockbuster deals that could instantly change the face of a franchise. But even lesser trades can have a huge impact on the playoff races, as well as prove to be the difference once a team is locked into a tough playoff series.

As a refresher, here are some of the deals that were made:

The Wizards acquired Andre Miller in a three-team deal that also saw the Nuggets receive Jan Vesely and Sixers receive Eric Maynor plus two second-round picks.
The Warriors acquired Steve Blake from the Lakers in exchange for Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks.
The Bobcats acquired Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour from the Bucks in exchange for Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien.
The Nuggets sent Jordan Hamilton to the Rockets for Aaron Brooks.
The Nets acquired Marcus Thornton from the Kings for Jason Terry and Reggie Evans. Terry is out for the season to rehab his ailing knee.
The Spurs and Raptors swapped Nando De Colo and Austin Daye.

Which of these deals do you think will have the biggest impact on this season’s quest for an NBA title? I’m omitting the Granger-Turner swap from the poll because it was easily the biggest trade of the deadline, and the Pacers are one of the teams that are heavily favored to win the crown. Feel free to sound off in the comments section below as to why you believe a particular deal will have the biggest impact.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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Eastern Notes: Heat, Iverson, Miller

February 23rd, 2014 at 8:51am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat essentially stood pat at the trade deadline. Outside of shipping Roger Mason Jr. to the Kings for a highly protected second-round pick, they didn’t do much to add to their rotation. The next few weeks could be as intriguing as some of the past offseasons have been for the Heat when it comes to personnel and rounding out the bench, as the team sorely needs to add some depth, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman believes the team needs to add another wing player amid the current shaky shooting from both Shane Battier and Ray Allen.

Odds & Ends: Griffin, Knicks, Granger, Gordon

February 22nd, 2014 at 11:50pm CST by Cray Allred

The Cavs have quietly reached out to at least one alternative candidate for their GM opening outside of interim David Griffin, reports Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. However, Lloyd says ownership is giving Griffin a fair shot at the job based on how he performs the rest of the season, and won’t be generating rumors that could distract him from the task at hand. Here’s more from around the league:

Knicks Coach Mike Woodson confirmed to reporters, including Newsday’s Al Iannazzone, that the Knicks have agreed with both Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih on buyouts, but wouldn’t expound on the causes for either: “I can’t say anything went wrong,” Woodson said. “They weren’t in the rotations. I’m not going to linger on it. We’re buying them out.”
In a separate piece, Iannazzone says that the Knicks offseason can’t be as quiet as their trade deadline was, since the team will be trying to upgrade their roster around Carmelo Anthony, whom they hope to re-sign over the summer. Iannazzone thinks that the expiring contracts for Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, and Andrea Bargnani could become movable assets along with Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert, who have already been involved in a lot of trade speculation.
While Danny Granger‘s buyout is still a “distinct possibility,” nothing is imminent, as the initial trade between the Sixers and Pacers is not yet official, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles.
On a related note, Shelburne tweets that Ben Gordon‘s buyout talks with the Bobcats are progressing slowly as well.
A group post at Basketball Insiders looks at players that they think should have been, but weren’t traded before Thursday’s deadline. Iman Shumpert, Rajon Rondo, and Pau Gasol, made the list.
J.J. Barea told The Star Tribune that he didn’t want any of the trade rumors surrounding him leaving the Timberwolves before the recent trade deadline to come to fruition: “You never really want to get traded. I think I’m in a good situation here, and I think we have a good group of guys with a good staff.”

Western Notes: Clippers, Bazemore, Jackson

February 22nd, 2014 at 9:59pm CST by Cray Allred

Kent Bazemore is hoping he becomes more known for his play than for his sideline celebrations as a new member of the Lakers. While many fans are excited for “Bazemoring” to combine with Lakers center Robert Sacre‘s antics on the bench, coach Mike D’Antoni tells Bill Oram of The Orange County Register he wants to see what Bazemore can add on the floor. “I’ll ask him if he wants to play,” D’Antoni joked, “or sit on the bench and be that guy. We’ll ask him. See what his response will be.” Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details how the Clippers spent money to save money in the deadline deals in which they sent Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens to the Hawks and Sixers, respectively. These kind of maneuvers are often a sign of a team eyeing the bottom line, but the Clippers are also shaving salary in preparation for adding more talent through the buyout market.
A GM tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that he understands Pierre Jackson‘s decision to play overseas, but thinks Jackson is close to making it in the NBA and wishes the rookie would have stayed in the D-League. The same GM says that his team would have given Jackson a shot, but that their hands were tied (Twitter links). Jackson opted to sign in Turkey after he and the Pelicans couldn’t reach a deal this late into the season.
The Rockets‘ newly acquired Jordan Hamilton tells Jason Friedman of Rockets.com that he’s excited to join Houston and try for a championship. “I’ve been watching the Rockets a lot this year,” Hamilton said after his first workout with his new team. “They’re a great team. Yes, we do have a chance to go far in the playoffs and possibly get a championship so I’m just happy to be a part of it.” The 23-year-old small forward came to the Rockets from the Nuggets in exchange for point guard Aaron Brooks in a trade earlier this week.

International Notes: Papanikolaou, Brown, Odom

February 22nd, 2014 at 9:39pm CST by Cray Allred

The international scope of the NBA continues to grow, as teams become more and more invested in finding talent from all over the globe. Jusuf Nurkic is ranked as just the 33rd best prospect for the 2014 draft by Chad Ford of ESPN, but that’s enough potential to get eight NBA scouts in the stands at a Serbian basketball game, according to a tweet from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here are some more things we have our eye on from overseas today:

Kostas Papanikolaou is very likely to sign with the Rockets this summer, reports Givony (Twitter link). Houston owns the rights to the power forward, who is playing for FC Barcelona on the first year of a four-year deal he signed this offseason. It is likely the Rockets would have to work out a buyout with the Spanish team to bring him stateside, although the details of his contract are unclear.
Bobby Brown could be an addition at point guard for an NBA team once his season in China ends two weeks from now, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles. The Clippers were the last team rumored as a potential destination for Brown, although that came at a time when Chris Paul was still out with a shoulder injury.
The contract Lamar Odom recently signed with a Spanish team can be terminated in the first week by the team, and it also includes an option for a second year, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter links). It’s unclear if that’s a team or player option. The early termination window is there in case Odom isn’t in shape, but that does not appear to be an issue.

Cavs Notes: Irving, Deng, Jack, Zeller

February 22nd, 2014 at 8:21pm CST by Cray Allred

Interim Cavs GM David Griffin tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald that no player in Cleveland is “untouchable,” including Kyrie Irving. “As a franchise, it is my philosophy that absolutely no one is untouchable in any area. Why would you ever do that? It doesn’t make any sense to me.” says Griffin. “That doesn’t mean anybody’s ever going to go away, either, because untouchable and tradable are different things. I don’t want to get into semantics, but untouchable is a ridiculous word.” Here are some more Cavs notes from Finnan’s article:

Griffin also told Finnan that it was “exhilarating” to be at the front of negotiations through the trade deadline for the first time. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “Running it and being the name of record are different. I’ve run the trade deadline and I’ve been the one to have to make sure all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed. But I was never the one in the paper tomorrow that’s going to be a moron. That part for me was unique. That experience was different.”
Sources tell Finnan that the Cavs worked unsuccessfully to move Luol Deng, Jarrett Jack, and Tyler Zeller before the trade deadline. Griffin says that the Cavs didn’t come close to moving Deng.
Finnan says there were some talks of the Cavs trying to trade for Pierre Jackson, the unsigned Pelicans rookie who is headed to Turkey.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Hawes, Turner

February 22nd, 2014 at 7:44pm CST by Cray Allred

New arrivals Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour are excited to play for the playoff-hopeful Bobcats, they tell Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “It’s fun to be in a playoff hunt,” said Ridnour. “You definitely sense a hunger on this team and in the town that we can make the playoffs.” Here are some more notes from the Eastern Conference:

Ian Begley of ESPN New York takes a look at the Knicks‘ cap space in coming years. Assuming New York can re-sign Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks are currently looking at their first bit of breathing room in the 2015/16 season, when five players from the current roster could remain under contract. With just around $21MM in cap room estimated at that time, it would be difficult for New York to add much around another max-contract free agent if they were able to land one of their targets like Kevin Love or Rajon Rondo.
Spencer Hawes is another player moving from the bottom of the East to a team in playoff contention, and the new Cavs center told reporters including of Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, “Now I feel like it’s a chance to hit ‘reset’ and get acclimated for this stretch run.” Hawes says he expected to be traded, but hadn’t thought of Cleveland as his likely destination.
Evan Turner took to Twitter to express his appreciation for his time with the Sixers fans and organization, as transcribed by James Park of Sheridan Hoops. Turner’s had spent his entire career with the team that took him second-overall in the 2010 NBA draft prior to this week’s trade to the Pacers.
Turner’s agent tells Howard Beck of Bleacher Report that Turner is “ecstatic” to be playing for the Pacers. Beck’s full article looks at how a change of team will also include changed expectations for Turner, who never lived up to his lofty draft status in Philadelphia.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Hawks, Heat

February 22nd, 2014 at 6:48pm CST by Cray Allred

Magic GM Rob Hennigan told reporters, including John Denton of NBA.com, that some of the motivation behind the Magic’s buyout of Glen Davis was an attempt to open up more playing time for developing young players. Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Per Denton, Hennigan also said that the Magic is considering signing one or two players to 10-day contracts now that they have just 12 players on the roster, one shy of the league minimum. The team already has agreements in place with Adonis Thomas and Dewayne Dedmon, so presumably he’s referring to those guys. Hennigan can’t mention them by name until the signings are official.
Hennigan also said that the decision to waive Davis was not based worries that Davis wouldn’t respond well to giving Magic youngsters more playing time, as Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel notes. “I don’t think it was a concern,” Hennigan said. “I think it was more about when we’re moving in a different direction and we have a player who probably doesn’t fit the long-term plan. We want to make sure we do right by all of our players.”
The Magic players were told that the rest of the season would be focused on youth, and that roles will change, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter).
Matt Moore of CBS Sports finds the trade deadline inactivity of the Hawks puzzling, and wonders if GM Danny Ferry is comfortable coasting for the rest of the season. The Hawks have fallen to the eight seed and could drop into the lottery, but without shipping out any of their talent it’s unlikely that they will lose enough to wind up with a high draft pick. And without adding any talent, the team is probably doomed to a swift first-round exit should they make the playoffs.
James Ennis, the Heat‘s second-round pick from the 2013 draft, will play professional ball in Puerto Rico this spring now that his season in Australia is over, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Winderman thinks the odds are long that Ennis gets any chance with the Heat before next offseason.
In the same article, Winderman says that the Heat‘s deadline inactivity was less illuminating for Miami than the moves that other teams in the East did or didn’t pull off, including the Pacers, Bulls, Raptors, Wizards, Knicks, and Pistons.

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