2015 February | Hoops Rumors

Magic To Keep James Borrego For Season

February 17th, 2015 at 1:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:06pm: The general belief is that Borrego will have a chance to have the interim tag removed and stay beyond the end of the season if he performs well down the stretch, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The team has hired Igor Kokoskov, a former assistant with the Clippers, Pistons, Suns and Cavs, to serve as Borrego’s lead assistant, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported and as the Magic later formally announced.

11:57am: The Magic told Borrego today that he’ll remain the interim coach through the end of the season, reports John Denton of Magic.com (Twitter links).

10:31am: There’s increasing chatter that the Magic intend to let interim head coach James Borrego finish the season in that position, preferring a slow-paced search for his eventual replacement, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel suggested that was the case earlier this morning, following up on his assertion from last week that the timing at play and the Magic’s track record indicated that Borrego would stick until season’s end. Borrego last week said that the Magic hadn’t told him their plans and said he took that as a sign that he’d remain in the job. Still, there’s widespread belief that the Magic will ultimately fill the position with a proven coaching veteran, as Schmitz also wrote last week.

Scott Skiles had drawn the most prominent mention as a candidate for the vacancy created when the team fired Jacque Vaughn, and Skiles indeed has interest, according to Schmitz. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders had heard earlier that Skiles wouldn’t take the job without personnel control and that his candidacy was a phenomenon driven by Magic ownership. Mark Jackson, Michael Malone, Vinny Del Negro and, if he were to shake loose from the Bulls, Tom Thibodeau have also drawn mention in connection with the Magic coaching job since the team let go of Vaughn. So, too, did George Karl, who publicly expressed interest in the position, helping prompt the Kings to hire him before the Magic had a chance to snap him up.

Borrego had been an assistant coach with the Magic throughout Vaughn’s tenure, and he previously served as an assistant for the Pelicans and Spurs. He began his NBA career in 2003 as an assistant video coordinator for the Spurs, aligning him with GM Rob Hennigan, as well as Vaughn, as part of San Antonio’s sphere of influence. Borrego has gone 2-2 so far as interim head coach for the Magic.

Northwest Rumors: Kanter, Lawson, Afflalo

February 17th, 2015 at 11:31am CST by Chuck Myron

The Northwest Division includes the Nuggets, who are as active if not more so than any other club as the deadline draws near, the Thunder, who’ve been frequently linked to Brook Lopez and have a trade candidate of their own in Reggie Jackson, and Enes Kanter, who wants off the Jazz. It’s also home to the Timberwolves, who last week took part in the first two trades of February. The Trail Blazers have come up in rumors, too. Here’s more from what could be the NBA’s division to watch between now and 2pm Central time on Thursday:

The Jazz offered Kanter a four-year, $32MM extension this past fall, but the Max Ergul client’s representatives wanted a deal akin to the max contract worth nearly $63MM over four years that Gordon Hayward signed this summer, sources tell Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

The Nuggets have received calls from numerous teams about Ty Lawson, but have so far turned away those suitors, sources tell Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, who adds that the Nuggets haven’t actively shopped the point guard (Twitter links). Denver and the Celtics reportedly engaged in exploratory talks about Lawson, and the Bucks have been loosely connected to him as well.
The interest the Thunder have in Arron Afflalo is strong, as a source describes it to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reported Monday that the Thunder had spoken with the Nuggets about Afflalo, nonetheless adding that none of the conversations that Denver was having with several teams about the shooting guard had advanced to a serious stage.
Utah is indeed asking for a lot in any deal involving Kanter, but several teams are in pursuit, executives tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski lists a young player and a first-rounder as two sorts of assets the Jazz would want, but it’s unclear if they would require both to get a deal done. Still, a league source later reaffirmed to Scotto (Twitter link) what Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune had heard Monday, when Jones wrote that Utah is unlikely to trade the center and that while the Jazz will listen to offers, he remains in the team’s plans.

Kyler’s Latest: Dragic, Deng, Garnett, Lawson

February 17th, 2015 at 10:09am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have engaged the Suns in talks as they keep an eye on Goran Dragic, just as the Lakers have done, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes in his NBA AM piece. The Knicks and Lakers would be on board with trading for a player whom they could otherwise just wait to sign outright in free agency this summer, like Dragic, but it doesn’t seem that either would give up major assets in any such swap. Kyler has plenty more new information with the trade deadline just two days off, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Miami is open to trading Luol Deng, according to Kyler, who suggests that the veteran small forward isn’t garnering the sort of interest it would take for him to be traded. Kyler also lists Norris Cole, Chris Andersen and Danny Granger as players the Heat are making available, which jibes with earlier reports on all three.
Golden State is “more than” interested in Kevin Garnett, Kyler hears, which advances a suggestion from Grantland’s Zach Lowe on Monday that the Warriors would like to try to convince Garnett to waive his no-trade clause. The 20th-year veteran reportedly has no plans to seek a buyout.
The Bucks are “being linked” to Ty Lawson, Kyler writes, though it’s unclear just what sort of interest is there.
The Bulls would think about trading Tony Snell for a veteran shooting guard who fits what they’re looking for, Kyler writes. Still, while Chicago is speaking generally about doing some deals before the deadline, the team doesn’t appear to be willing to give up what it would take, according to Kyler.
The Suns are making Gerald Green available, according to Kyler.
Charlotte has interest in Wilson Chandler, but the Hornets would prefer to trade for Arron Afflalo, as Kyler hears. That’s the reverse of the Blazers‘ apparent preference. The Bulls are “sniffing at” both players, too, Kyler adds, nonetheless casting doubt once more on whether Chicago is willing to give up the assets necessary to swing a deal.
Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas have come up in trade rumors, but it’s more likely that the Raptors deal someone on an expiring contract, according to Kyler, naming Landry Fields, Tyler Hansbrough and Amir Johnson as examples.
Sources close to the Pacers tell Kyler that David West is likely to opt in with the Pacers for next season, when his contract calls for him to make $12.6MM.
There is “a sense” that the Magic are making Ben Gordon and Luke Ridnour available, Kyler says.

Atlantic Notes: Wallace, Celtics, ‘Melo, Carlesimo

February 17th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

A Western Conference team has been inquiring with the Celtics about Gerald Wallace, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The veteran forward makes nearly $10.106MM this season and the same salary next year, making him Boston’s highest-paid player and difficult to trade. The proposals the Celtics have received for him and others are “lowball” offers, Bulpett says, though in Wallace’s case, that’s certainly not surprising, given the albatross his contract has represented ever since Boston acquired him in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce trade of 2013. There’s more from Bulpett’s piece on the Celtics amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics reportedly have interest in Ty Lawson and Enes Kanter, but it’s unlikely either winds up in Boston come the trade deadline, as Bulpett writes in the same piece. Kanter’s public trade request is concerning to potential suitors, several league sources tell the Herald scribe.
Some within the Knicks have for weeks wanted Carmelo Anthony to stop playing this season so he can tend to his injured left knee, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
The summer ahead will show whether the Knicks under Phil Jackson can truly commit to a long-range plan or fall prey to the sort of quick-fix moves that have hurt the team in recent years, opines Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal.
P.J. Carlesimo admits he’d like to coach in the NBA again and thought his productive, albeit brief tenure with the Nets two years ago might help boost his stock around the league. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has the details via Twitlonger.
Jerryd Bayless spoke glowingly about the time he spent with the Celtics and even admitted he would’ve liked to have re-signed with Boston when he was a free agent last summer, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe relays. Still, the seventh-year guard was quick to express a fondness for the Bucks, with whom he signed a two-year contract in July.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Latest On Brook Lopez

February 17th, 2015 at 7:24am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 7:24am: The Nets haven’t had any recent talks with Oklahoma City, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily hears (Twitter link), adding that Brooklyn has no interest in Stephenson at this point. The Nets aren’t close to any deals, and there’s nothing that’s come up in discussion that makes any sense for Brooklyn, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 2:25pm: The Nets are being aggressive in their attempts to trade Brook Lopez in advance of Thursday’s 2pm Central deadline, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings. However, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there hasn’t been much movement on the Lopez front, with Nets GM Billy King giving other teams the feeling that he’s OK with keeping Lopez and building around him. Oklahoma City would like to pick up its talks with Brooklyn about Lopez, even though the Thunder aren’t willing to overpay for him, Deveney writes. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears the Nets and Thunder are working toward a Lopez deal, though it’s unclear how close the sides are to any sort of agreement. Amico intimates that the Nets would like to receive Steven Adams, but Oklahoma City is making him off-limits for any trade, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

The Nets and Thunder were the most active teams as trade chatter mounted around the league Sunday night, and they may end up doing a deal with each other, as Kennedy reported earlier. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also wrote that the Nets are active, but he said Brooklyn won’t make any deal just for the sake of doing so and wants flexibility and assets it can use for the future. A proposal that would have sent Lopez to the Thunder last month would largely have been a salary dump, with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb among the pieces that would have headed Brooklyn’s way. There was also a three-team idea involving the Hornets that would have sent Lance Stephenson to the Nets and Lopez to Oklahoma City, but the Nets decided against that one. The Hornets would have liked to have acquired Lopez for themselves, but the Nets preferred to send him to the Western Conference, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month. The Nuggets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets all reportedly had some level of interest in Lopez as of earlier this season.

The Nets signaled to other teams a month ago that they wanted to make a Lopez deal within a few days, but they decided instead to keep him amid unappealing offers, as Wojnarowski wrote at the time. Brooklyn officials departed the talks amid their desire to build more consensus within the organization before moving ahead with any trade, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com, so that might explain today’s divergent narratives. Lopez is making more than $15.719MM this season, and there have been conflicting reports about the likelihood that he’ll pick up next season’s player option, worth in excess of $16.744MM. Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors took a look earlier at the trade candidacy of the former All-Star who has started only 22 of 42 games for the Nets this year.

And-Ones: Blazers, Sanders, Trade Rumors, Bulls

February 16th, 2015 at 10:34pm CST by Charlie Adams

Jermaine O’Neal appeared poised to join the Mavs, but instead it’ll be another big man jumping aboard Dallas’ roster mid-season, as Amar’e Stoudemire has reportedly committed to inking a deal with Rick Carlise and company. While the seven-time All-Star hooking up with the Mavs is the biggest scoop of the night, we’ve got plenty more from around the league to round up below:

The Blazers “will not hesitate” to send a first-round pick, Thomas Robinson, and “another player” to the Nuggets in exchange for Wilson Chandler, reports Jabari Young of CSNNW.com. Portland prefers Chandler to Arron Afflalo, according to Young, but the team would be interested in adding Afflalo if Denver’s asking price on him is significantly lower than that of Chandler’s.
If Larry Sanders and the Bucks reach a deal on a buyout, the Cavs will be among the teams with interest in signing the 26-year-old big man, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link). Sanders hasn’t suited up for Milwaukee since December 23rd.
There’s “plenty of interest” around the league in Brendan Haywood‘s uniquely structured contract, Amico reports in the same tweet.
The Bulls are interested in adding a shooter to their roster, but they won’t move any of their big men or sacrifice a future first-rounder to do so, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Such reluctance likely means they won’t be able to land the sharpshooting Afflalo, whom the team is reportedly high on, and Johnson indicates Chicago will look to the list of players who reach buyout deals as potential targets.
Andre Dawkins‘ second 10-day contract with the Celtics expired last week, but Boston doesn’t intend to re-sign him for the remainder of the season, reveals Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
While no signing is imminent, the Bulls and Ronnie Brewer have kept in close contact this season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Chicago has one open roster spot.
The Wizards hope to acquire a speedy point guard to back up John Wall and a shooter to help space the floor, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports passes along in his weekly power rankings.
Adam Silver doesn’t believe that the draft lottery is a broken system, but he confessed that fans’ generally negative perception of it has him contemplating a new way to determine the draft order, observes Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times.

Austin Daye Joins Magic’s D-League Team

February 16th, 2015 at 7:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:32pm: Daye will play for the D-League affiliate of the Magic, which claimed him off D-League waivers, the team announced.

FEBRUARY 11TH, 8:42pm: Daye has indeed signed an agreement to join the NBA D-League, Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reports (Twitter link). The 26-year-old will be subject to the D-League’s waiver process to determine which affiliate he will suit up for.

FEBRUARY 2ND, 10:58am: Sixth-year NBA veteran Austin Daye is expected to sign with the D-League, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Daye became a free agent late last month shortly after the Spurs waived him. The small forward will go through the D-League waiver system once he signs to determine which team he’ll play with, since he’s never signed a D-League contract before. Daye will remain free to sign with any NBA team regardless of the D-League squad he ends up with.

Daye, the No. 15 pick from the 2009 draft, has played one D-League game before, with that experience coming last year while he was on assignment from the Spurs. The 26-year-old was seeing slightly more NBA playing time for San Antonio this season than he did last year, and he even made four starts, but the Spurs cleared him out to sign JaMychal Green to a 10-day contract. San Antonio inked Reggie Williams when it didn’t reach agreement on a second deal with Green.

The Pistons drafted Daye out of Gonzaga and traded him to the Grizzlies in the middle of his fourth season, shortly before his rookie scale contract was to expire. He signed a two-year deal for the minimum salary with the Raptors the following summer, but Toronto shipped him to the Spurs at the deadline. San Antonio decided this past offseason to keep him past the date in June that his salary for this season would become fully guaranteed, but the Spurs ultimately decided to eat about half of that money when they let him go last month.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Horford, Williams

February 16th, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

It’s doubtful that the Knicks will be able to trade Jose Calderon or Andrea Bargnani, but a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that a smaller deal could happen. Calderon, who Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined as a trade candidate, is making slightly less than $7.1MM this season and is owed more than $15.1MM over the remaining two years of his deal. Bargnani, whom Eddie believes is unlikely to be traded, is set to make $11.5 this season, which is the last year of his current contract.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Al Horford said that he doesn’t know whether the Hawks should reinstate GM Danny Ferry from his indefinite absence, and Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald takes it as a signal that Horford isn’t warm to the idea of Ferry returning.
Mo Williams had a trade kicker in his deal, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), so he went from making $3.75MM to just under $3.97MM. The Timberwolves paid the difference, though the new number counts on Charlotte’s cap.
Tim Frazier, whose 10-day contract with the Sixers has expired, will return to the Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Celtics, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. The point guard appeared in three games with Philadelphia, averaging five points, 4.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game.
Kyle Lowry has blossomed into a star in Toronto but the point guard was skeptical at first when he was acquired by the Raptors, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “Well no, honestly I didn’t think [this is where everything would work out],” Lowry said of Toronto. “But with all the hard work I put in and the commitment they made to me, everything just kind of came into fruition and it worked out.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post

Fallout From Stoudemire’s Knicks Departure

February 16th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs remain the front-runners for Amar’e Stoudemire, who clears waivers Wednesday, in part because of the strong relationships that owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle have with the big man’s agents at Relativity Sports, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The presence of Dirk Nowitzki helps, too, as a source indicates to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Clippers and others hope to speak with Stoudemire today, but most executives monitoring him believe he’s destined for the Mavs, Wojnarowski hears. Here’s more on the former All-Star in the wake of New York’s parting with its marquee addition from the much-anticipated summer of 2010:

Berger hears the Grizzlies are interested in Stoudemire (Twitter link), which conflicts with an earlier report that Memphis wasn’t pushing to sign him. In any case, Berger reiterates that the Mavs are in front.
Stoudemire relinquished close to $2MM of this season’s nearly salary $23.411MM salary in the buyout from the Knicks, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That means the Knicks also stand to reap nearly another $3MM in tax savings on Stoudemire’s giveback.
Carmelo Anthony lamented losing Stoudemire, “one of the main reasons why I’m a New York Knick today” as a teammate, but ‘Melo also said he supports the big man’s endeavor to chase a championship elsewhere, as Nick Powell of NJ.com details.
Knicks owner James Dolan has reason to be bitter after Stoudemire failed to live up to their nearly $99.744MM deal, but the owner instead remains close to the big man and believes Stoudemire restored credibility to the franchise, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Knicks Poised To Sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo?

February 16th, 2015 at 4:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:53pm: The Knicks appear unsure of whether to sign Antetokounmpo this season, as his European agent, Tim Lotsis, tells Berman for a full story. Knicks team president Phil Jackson told Antetokounmpo before he agreed to join New York’s D-League club that there was an outside chance he’d be on the NBA roster before this season was through, Berman writes.

“We had a discussion with [GM] Steve Mills [within] the past week,” Lotsis said. There was no clear indication about whether he’ll be there for the remainder of the season or if they are thinking next season. He said he’s thinking seriously about Thanasis for the team’s future. I don’t think it’s clear how the season finishes.’’

2:40pm: The Knicks are sticking to their plan to sign Antetokounmpo next season, as Shams Charania of RealGM hears (Twitter links), which seemingly conflicts with the report that the Knicks are prepared to sign him sooner.

1:28pm: Antetokounmpo’s European agent told Marc Berman of the New York Post that the Knicks are “thinking seriously” about his client for the team’s future, but the agent added that he hadn’t heard from the Knicks today (Twitter link).

9:03am: The Knicks are “ready” to sign second-round pick Thanasis Antetokounmpo, a source tells Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv. New York’s buyout agreement with Amar’e Stoudemire will open a spot on the roster, and it appears the Knicks intend to fill it with Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Bucks phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 51st overall pick this past summer.

The Antetokounmpo set to join the Knicks has spent the season with New York’s D-League affiliate. His numbers haven’t been eye-popping, with 13.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in 31.7 minutes per game, with the exception of his 1.5 blocks per contest, which he’s achieved despite standing only 6’7″. It’s the second straight season in the D-League for Antetokounmpo, who spent last season with the Sixers affiliate but was ineligible to sign an NBA contract because he had not yet gone through the NBA draft.

It’s not clear whether New York plans to sign him to a 10-day contract or a longer arrangement. New York would risk losing his rights if the team only signed him for 10 days, since he’d be a free agent at the end of the deal, so I’d expect a contract that carries through next season, though that’s just my speculation. The Knicks are limited to paying him no more than the minimum salary and giving him a deal that stretches no longer than the end of next season.

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