2015 January | Hoops Rumors

Heat, Clippers, Hornets Eye Arron Afflalo

January 12th, 2015 at 5:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat, Clippers and Hornets have all discussed Arron Afflalo as the Nuggets field numerous trade calls on Afflalo and Wilson Chandler, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Afflalo has a player option for next season worth $7.36MM and was rumored to be interested in hitting the open market.

The Clippers were in discussions with the Celtics about acquiring shooting guard Austin Rivers. The team seems interested in adding depth at the guard position and there’s no word yet whether one move would exclude the other.

Charlotte has been linked to Afflalo since last season when he was a member of the Magic. The Hornets have won five games in a row and find themselves just two games behind the Nets for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Miami is already in position to make the playoffs but would most likely need to add reinforcements if the team is to make any sort of deep postseason run. Mario Chalmers ($4.0MM) or Chris Andersen ($5.38MM) seem like candidates to be in a trade for Afflalo based on their salaries, although that is just my speculation.

Afflalo is having a rough season so far. He is averaging 15.5 points per game and his player efficiency rating is down to 12.75. However, based on his past history, he should have plenty of interest from teams as the trade deadline approaches.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Fallout/Reaction To The Jeff Green Trade

January 12th, 2015 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies and Celtics had cursory discussions about Jeff Green two years ago when Memphis was nearing its Rudy Gay trade, and the teams engaged in more serious discussions about Green last year, according to Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal, who writes in a subcription-only piece. The Grizzlies thought they might acquire Green as part of the Courtney Lee swap that took place in January 2014, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Memphis probably isn’t done dealing, though the Green deal seems to have extinguished the chances that the team will give up Kosta Koufos, Herrington believes. The Grizzlies “kicked the tires” on Thaddeus Young, Herrington writes, echoing a hint from earlier report, but they appear to have moved on from that, the Commerical Appeal scribe adds. Here’s more in the wake of today’s three-team deal:

Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger had a major voice in the trade talks, as he said Sunday to reporters, including Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
Green isn’t a massive upgrade over what the Grizzlies had at his position, but he’s the right fit, especially given the savings that the team reaps on this year’s team salary and in the long term with the offloading of Quincy Pondexter, opines Ben Golliver of SI.com. It’s also a signal to soon-to-be free agent Marc Gasol that the team is committed to winning, Golliver believes.
The flurry of trades the Celtics have made in the past few weeks have left the team positioned to clear cap space for the first time in several years, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com points out. The growth of some of the players eligible for restricted free agency this summer makes that cap flexibility all the more intriguing for the C’s, as Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com explains.
The Pelicans made an upgrade at small forward a priority as they sought Pondexter, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Whiteside, Payne

January 12th, 2015 at 3:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Three Southeast Division teams would make the playoffs if they started today, and a fourth, the Hornets, are but two games out of the final postseason spot. The fifth-place Magic are within hailing distance at four and a half games out, but key decision-makers in Orlando appear to be getting antsy, as we detail amid the latest from the Southeast:

Magic officials feel as though the team has lost its way over the past few weeks, and while they believe that the inexperience of the roster is responsible for the team’s struggles, they’re looking deeper to find the genesis of the problems, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Speculation surrounds the job security of Jacque Vaughn, but Vaughn says he’s not concerned and many players tell Robbins that the coach is not to blame. Vaughn’s contract runs through 2015/16 after the team picked up his option this past offseason.
Hassan Whiteside had a one-day stint with the Grizzlies in November but says that no one else wanted him when the Heat picked him up shortly thereafter, observes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. “It’s different because I got a coach who will play me, so I get to play,” Whiteside said. “You can’t get on the court without a contract. I called the Clippers for a workout, they said no. I called every team for a workout, they said no, except the Heat. The Heat gave me a chance and, I mean, it’s only right for me to give 110% effort every time.” Whiteside’s 23-point, 16-rebound performance Sunday seemed like a turning point for him and the Heat, as Goodman and Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examine.
The Hawks have recalled Adreian Payne from the D-League, the team announced via press release. The 15th overall pick of the 2014 draft had been on his fourth assignment of the season since December 30th with the D-League affiliate of the Spurs, who took him in under the new rules in place for the Hawks and the 12 other NBA teams who share a D-League affiliate.

Grizzlies Acquire Jeff Green In Three-Team Trade

January 12th, 2015 at 3:16pm CST by Charlie Adams

3:16pm: It’s a 2017 first-rounder headed from Memphis to Boston that’s top-10 protected, reports Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). If the Grizzlies don’t convey it in 2017, it’s top-12 protected for 2018, top-eight protected for 2019, top-six protected for 2020, and unprotected for 2021.

10:33am: The Grizzlies acquired forward Jeff Green from the Celtics in a three-team trade that also includes the Pelicans, the teams announced in three separate press releases (Grizzlies, Celtics, Pelicans), Memphis had drawn close to acquiring the high-scoring Green Friday. In addition to Green, the Grizzlies land Russ Smith from New Orleans. Boston acquires Tayshaun Prince and a protected first-round pick from Memphis in exchange for Green, and they also receive Austin Rivers from New Orleans. The Grizzlies send Quincy Pondexter to the Pelicans along with a 2015 second-round selection. This trade will help further Boston’s rebuilding process, which has already seen the team deal Rajon Rondo to the Mavs and Brandan Wright to the Suns.

Green has one season left on his current deal, but was reported to be considering turning down his $9.2MM player option for 2015/16 in order to test free agency and secure a long-term contract. He’ll add some scoring punch to Memphis’ offense, something the Grizzlies have been seeking. In 33 games this season, the 28-year-old Green has averaged 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per game. His career numbers over six seasons are 14.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG, with a slash line of .440/.340/.788.

Smith, a rookie out of Louisville, has appeared in just six contests for the Pelicans this season after being selected 47th overall in last June’s draft. By contrast, Prince, who’s leaving Memphis, is a 12-year NBA veteran who appeared in 25 contests for the Grizzlies. The 34-year-old’s large expiring contract is likely what appealed to the Celtics, who are clearly looking toward building for the future rather than contending in the present.

The 26-year-old Pondexter has appeared in 30 games for the Grizzlies this season, including two as a starter. His season averages are 4.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. He still has three years remaining on his contract and is scheduled to make $3,382,023 in 2015/16, $3,617,978 in 2016/17, and $3,853,931 in the deal’s final season. The sharpshooting swingman out of Washington missed almost all of 2013/14 with a stress fracture in his foot and suffered an MCL sprain in 2012/13 that cost him a good chunk of that season as well.

“The New Orleans Pelicans are thrilled to welcome back a high character person like Quincy Pondexter to our organization,” Pelicans GM Dell Demps said in the team’s statement. “Quincy is a two-way player, a multi-position defender that will add toughness along with an offensive skill set that we anticipate will help the Pelicans win games.

Rivers heads to Boston, where his father, Doc Rivers, enjoyed remarkable success as the Celtics coach before heading out west in 2013. However, there have been indications that the former 10th overall pick’s stay in Boston will be relatively short, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the the Clippers, for whom Doc Rivers serves as coach and head of basketball operations, are interested in acquiring the young shooting guard.

“It was difficult to trade Austin Rivers and Russ Smith,” Demps said. “Russ was only with the team for a short time while Austin is an intense competitor that is continuing to improve. We will miss Austin and Russ on and off the court. We thank Austin and Russ for their contributions and wish them success in the future.”

Los Angeles GM Dave Wohl and assistant coaches Lawrence Frank and Mike Woodson have encouraged Doc Rivers to try to trade for his son Austin, even if the move might be publicly viewed as family favoritism, Wojnarowski writes. Rivers will become a free agent after this season, since New Orleans declined his third-year player option back in October.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reported that the sides had come to an agreement, though Wojnarowski maintained that there were still moving parts and later reported the final structure of the deal. The pair added numerous details along the way, and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, John Reid of The Times Picayune, and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today also reported details.

Heat Sign Tyler Johnson To 10-Day Deal

January 12th, 2015 at 2:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

MONDAY, 2:45pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 9:01am: The Heat will re-sign Tyler Johnson, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders reports and as a source confirms to Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). It’ll be a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).

The Heat have an open roster spot and won’t need to make a corresponding move to accommodate the signing. The team originally signed Johnson in August to a multiyear contract, and the team kept his D-League rights when it waived him at the end of preseason.

Miami is struggling this season with a record of 15-21 and the team ranks 27th in the league on offense, scoring only 93.8 points per game. Johnson, a Pedro Power client, has averaged 18.5 points per game and has shot 46.3% from behind the arc in 13 D-League games this season. Perhaps the shooting guard can provide a boost to one of the league’s most stagnant offenses.

And-Ones: Drummond, Monroe, Prince

January 12th, 2015 at 1:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

The idea of waiving Josh Smith didn’t catch Pistons owner Tom Gores off guard when coach/executive Stan Van Gundy presented it to him, given the frequent communication Gores and Van Gundy share, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes within his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“We didn’t really toy around with it,” Gores said. “We knew that’s what we wanted to do. We could have negotiated for more. We just said we don’t think this is the best thing to do. And after the decision was made, I think, early that morning, Stan met right away with Josh.”

Aldridge has more on the Pistons, who are up to 8-1 since parting with Smith, as we detail amid the latest from around the league:

There have been whispers about Andre Drummond‘s level of contentment in Detroit over the past year or so, Aldridge writes in the same piece. The Pistons center will be up for a rookie scale extension this summer.
Gores isn’t giving up on the notion of a long-term future for Greg Monroe in Detroit, as the Pistons owner tells Aldridge. Monroe will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. “We’ve always wanted Greg. We weren’t able to make the deal in the summer, but we always have,” Gores said. “He, by the way, has great character. He’s a true professional. Even though we weren’t able to make the deal, he’s been there every day. Given the new culture with Stan, I think we have a great shot with Greg. Of course, it’ll be his choice.”
A buyout deal involving Tayshaun Prince and the Celtics is a possibility, but not a foregone conclusion, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com, who adds that Prince and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will discuss the veteran forward’s situation.
The Thunder recalled Grant Jerrett from the D-League, the team announced Sunday (on Twitter). Jerrett averaged 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in two D-League games on his weekend assignment, the sixth time Thunder sent him down this season.
The Rockets assigned Isaiah Canaan to the D-League on Sunday, the team announced (Twitter link). It’s the first trip to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season for Canaan, who’s averaged 15.6 minutes per game in 23 appearances for Houston this year.

Glen Rice Jr. To Play For Rockets D-League Team

January 12th, 2015 at 11:49am CST by Chuck Myron

Glen Rice Jr. has joined the D-League affiliate of the Rockets, the team announced. Rice remains eligible to sign with any NBA club after clearing waivers last week following his release from the Wizards. The 24-year-old rejoins the same D-League club that he played for prior to entering the NBA draft in 2013.

Rice played mostly in the D-League even while he was on Washington’s roster the past season and a half, as the Wizards sent him on multiple D-League assignments while affording him infrequent appearances on NBA hardwoods. The shooting guard made it into only 19 NBA games, averaging just 9.5 minutes per contest, while he saw 26.2 MPG across 33 D-League games since joining the Wizards.

The Wizards gave the Jeffrey Wechsler client a $400K partial guarantee for this season, so there wasn’t as much incentive for him to seek a lucrative overseas deal. Rice joins fellow recent former NBA player Toure’ Murry, whom Houston’s affiliate also added this week.

Cavs Notes: Blatt, Love, LeBron, Mozgov

January 12th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Cavs coach David Blatt didn’t rule out the notion of LeBron James returning to action for Tuesday’s game, notes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), but Blatt drew more attention for a comment he made about one of the team’s other stars. Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group pointed out after the Cavs lost in blowout fashion Sunday to the Kings that though the team didn’t have James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were players who’d signed maximum-salary deals who took part in the contest. “Kev’s not a max player yet, is he?” Blatt rejoined. It’s true that Love signed for four years instead of five when he inked his extension in 2012, and that he isn’t yet eligible for the NBA’s 35% max that’s reserved for veterans of 10 seasons or more, but he’s making the maximum salary allowable this season for a player of his experience. Blatt might not have meant to insult the power forward, but it’s a rookie mistake for the first-year NBA head coach, as USA Today’s Adi Joseph writes, particularly with Love possessing the ability to opt out and hit free agency this summer. There’s more on that amid the latest on the tumult in Cleveland:

Executives around the league maintain belief that there’s a decent chance Love will leave Cleveland this summer, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes within his mailbag column. Love is expected to opt out, and it’s unlikely he signs a long-term deal, since a one-year contract would set him up for free agency in 2016, when executives reportedly assume the salary cap will surge to around $90MM, Lloyd writes. However, that’s not cause for the Cavs to panic, given Love’s continued insistence that he envisions a long-term future in Cleveland, Lloyd says in a separate piece.
Blatt should have known better than to tweak Love with his comment, given the sensitivity Love showed when former Timberwolves GM David Kahn refused to give him a fifth year on his extension, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
LeBron is ecstatic about Cleveland’s trade for Timofey Mozgov, a source tells Vardon for the above-linked piece.

Knicks Shop Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani

January 12th, 2015 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks are active in attempts to trade Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani, reports Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. However, New York is clinging to Amar’e Stoudemire and doesn’t plan on trading him, Stein and Begley add. Bargnani is a candidate to hit waivers next month if team president Phil Jackson can’t find a trade partner by the February 19th trade deadline, according to the ESPN scribes.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher last month called Bargnani a “big piece to the future,” but it appears that’s changed in short order as the Knicks have plummeted to the worst record in the league. The Knicks relinquished their 2016 first-round draft pick as part of the trade that brought Bargnani from Toronto, but injury has kept him from all but two games this season. He’s making $11.5MM this year, the final season of his contract, but league executives reportedly believed over the summer that it would require the Knicks to attach two first-round picks to offload him. There’s a decent chance that price has come down some, with Bargnani drawing ever close to the end of his deal, but it still seems like it’ll be hard for Jackson to find a taker.

A report last week indicated that Jackson hadn’t yet given up on Calderon, in spite of speculation that he’d be the next Knick to go after the team sent Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to Cleveland last week. The team’s stance on Calderon, too, appears to have changed, and while there are plenty of teams who are high on him, the point guard’s contract stands as a deterrent, Stein and Begley write. Calderon is making between $7MM and $8MM each season through 2016/17.

The Knicks reportedly shopped Stoudemire over the summer and discussed a deal with the Sixers, though Stoudemire’s salary of more than $23.4MM makes him quite difficult to trade. He’s proven a key part of the Knicks this season, averaging 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game, making 13 starts. It’s conceivable that the Knicks would re-sign him, at a greatly reduced rate, for next season once his contract expires this summer, Stein and Begley write.

Brandon Davies Signs To Play In France

January 12th, 2015 at 8:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Sixers and Nets power forward Brandon Davies has signed with Elan Chalon of France, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Brooklyn waived Davies last week rather than guarantee his minimum salary for the rest of the season. It’s unclear what the 23-year-old will earn with his new club.

The Bill Duffy client played a prominent role with the Sixers this season before last month’s Andrei Kirilenko trade sent him to Brooklyn. Davies averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.0 minutes per game and made six starts for Philadelphia this year, an increase from the 11.3 MPG he saw last year as a rookie. Brooklyn used him sparingly, giving him just 6.3 MPG over seven appearances. He was the only one of the four players on the Nets without fully guaranteed salary not to stick with the team through last week’s leaguewide guarantee date.

Davies went undrafted in 2013 and has twice been waived by NBA teams, but this is the first time he’ll suit up for a pro club outside the league. The Clippers released him toward the end of the preseason in 2013, but the Sixers snapped him up a few days later.

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