Month: November 2024

Atlantic Notes: Ferrell, Hield, Scola

May 11th, 2016 at 7:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks don’t own a pick in this year’s NBA draft, but the team is looking to acquire one from another franchise, Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes. One player New York may be targeting is former Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell, who has a workout scheduled with the team on June 10th, Begley notes. Ferrell is a potential second-rounder, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 66 overall, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates him 99th. The Knicks still have up to $3.3MM that they can spend to purchase a draft pick if they are unable to swing a deal involving a player for one.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers have an interview scheduled with former Oklahoma shooting guard Buddy Hield for this evening and one on Thursday with Duke freshman small forward Brandon Ingram, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Team personnel will also sit down and speak with Syracuse freshman swingman Malachi Richardson on Friday, Pompey tweets.
Despite not having a pick in this year’s draft, the Nets have sent a large contingent of personnel to the scouting combine in Chicago, NetsDaily relays (Twitter link). Like the Knicks, Brooklyn could be looking to swing a deal to acquire a pick, the scribe notes.
Raptors power forward Luis Scola is struggling to find his place in the team’s playoff series versus Miami, which has been made more difficult by both teams going with smaller lineups due to numerous injuries, writes Bruce Arthur of The Toronto Star. “It’s not fun,” Scola admitted. “It’s not fun. I’m positive. I believe that you have to do the right thing every day, regardless of the situation. When it’s going well, it’s easy. Now it’s a little bit more difficult. It’s part of the challenge, it’s part of the growth, it’s part of the process. And to stick with it, to turn it around, it’s one of the things you enjoy as an athlete, as a professional basketball player.” Scola earned $2.8MM this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Northwest Notes: Stotts, Faried, Adams

May 11th, 2016 at 6:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers successfully transformed their identity after the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs in free agency last summer, with the franchise focusing on adding players who would complement Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Ian Thomsen of NBA.com writes. “Free agency was like the draft for us — we were looking for the best players available, high talent, character, chemistry,” GM Neil Olshey said. “We were going to acquire players that were going to be with us long-term that we can grow and develop in our system, no different than if we had drafted them. It speaks to the confidence we have in [coach] Terry [Stotts] and our staff, that we can take guys that were not finished products and know that if we got the evaluation right, that this coaching staff would help them attain and reach that ceiling.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Stotts squeezed every bit of production he could out of his roster this season and has built Portland into a solid offensive team, Thomsen writes in the same piece. “Terry is really good,” Olshey said. “This is our fourth year, and there are very few team players who have been through here who haven’t maximized their abilities, especially on the offensive end. He has found a way to make it work.” Small forward Al-Farouq Aminu credits Stotts’ confidence in him with the improvement in his outside shooting, Thomsen notes. “I’ve been in places where they told me from Day One not to shoot one jump shot. They said, ‘We don’t want you to shoot,”’ Aminu said. “That definitely wasn’t the coaching here. It allowed me to grow.”
Given his poor fit in the Nuggets offense and the team’s ample frontcourt depth, Denver would be wise to explore the trade market for power forward Kenneth Faried, Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders writes. Though Faried’s $12,078,652 salary for 2016/17 is likely to end up below market value after the salary cap increases this summer, the situation could become problematic if Faried is forced into a reserve role, Dowsett notes.
Thunder center Steven Adams‘ improved defense and ability to assist in guarding players on the perimeter have made a huge difference in how the team has performed this postseason, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman observes. Adams becomes extension-eligible this summer heading into the final season of his rookie scale contract.

Western Notes: Hollins, Parsons, Booker

May 11th, 2016 at 5:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The obvious choice as to who should become the Grizzlies new head coach is Frank Vogel, whom the Pacers dismissed last week, Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal opines. Vogel has the track record of success and experience with younger players that the organization is seeking, Calkins writes. However, there should be some concerns regarding Vogel’s offensive acumen, which was one of the franchise’s issues with former coach Dave Joerger, and it isn’t clear if the former Indiana coach would be interested in joining a team that may well be on the decline, Calkins adds.

The scribe also notes that while GM Chris Wallace and Lionel Hollins met Monday night at a Memphis restaurant, it would be very surprising if the team were to rehire its former coach. After the issues the front office reportedly had with Joerger, it’s doubtful Memphis would hire another coach who butted heads with the front office during his tenure with the team, Calkins adds. The Grizzlies went 214-201 in parts of seven seasons under Hollins.

Here’s more from out West:

Despite showing that he is capable of being a building block for the Mavericks, Chandler Parsons‘ injury history should give the team pause if the forward opts out of his deal and Dallas looks to re-sign him this summer, Bobby Marks of The Vertical writes in his offseason primer for the club. The Mavs would be wise to put in injury-protection language pertaining to Parsons’ balky knee in his next contract, Marks adds, but it may be difficult to get the forward to agree to that given the amount of teams with ample cap space that are likely to compete for his services.
The Suns highly value the predraft interview process and believe that how a player performs under that type of pressure carries over to how well he responds to adversity on the court, writes Matt Petersen of NBA.com. The team was extremely impressed last year when it spoke with Devin Booker, whom it selected with the No. 13 pick, assistant GM Pat Connelly told Petersen. “He definitely stuck out in the interview,” Connelly said of Booker. “It’s not an easy thing to go into a room with a bunch of people you don’t know. We’re just one of the teams there. We had our early prep feel for Devin, but he came in and he was very confident. He answered questions really well, never got flustered in a situation. Some of the stuff you saw on the court with him now – walking into a new situation or being put in a new situation and looking like he was comfortable – it was the same thing there.”

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript

May 11th, 2016 at 4:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:02pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.

3:00pm: Two more coaching jobs opened in the NBA within the past week, but the broadest coaching search came to a sudden end. Dave Joerger was unemployed for barely 48 hours, bouncing from his Grizzlies firing into the Kings vacancy. Frank Vogel hasn’t rebounded from his Pacers dismissal quite so quickly, but he appears to be the front-runner to replace Joerger in Memphis. Meanwhile, the Rockets and Knicks are taking divergent approaches to filling their openings, with Houston conducting a wide-ranging search while New York keeps its list short. We can talk about all of this plus free agency, the draft and the playoffs in today’s chat.

Western Notes: Lakers, Kings, Jazz, Mavs

May 11th, 2016 at 2:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

Byron Scott said that the week before the Lakers fired him as coach, he met with GM Mitch Kupchak to talk about free agent targets, current Lakers players and the draft, believing the visit was a signal that the team would keep him for at least one more year, as Scott told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The timing of the Sunday night meeting in which Kupchak informed Scott of his fate seemed odd to the coach as he made his way to it, but it wasn’t until the GM delivered the news to him that he suspected he was out of a job, as Bresnahan details. Scott added that he’s disappointed but wants to coach again and still has affection for the Lakers franchise.

See more from the Western Conference:

Vlade Divac said Tuesday that DeMarcus Cousins needs rules and structure, but the hiring of player-friendly Dave Joerger as coach doesn’t jibe with that, observes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Still, the Kings found Joerger’s postseason experience with the Grizzlies his most attractive asset, and Divac, who said he won’t trade Cousins this year, insisted the days of constant turmoil are over in Sacramento, Voisin writes.
The Jazz will work out Idaho State junior point guard Ethan Telfair on Tuesday, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Still, Telfair is expected to withdraw from this year’s draft and return to college ball before the May 25th deadline for him to do so, according to Goodman. The 6’0″ 21-year-old who’s the younger brother of NBA veteran Sebastian Telfair is outside the top 100 prospects on the lists that Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compile.
The Mavericks aren’t one player away from title contention, as The Vertical’s Bobby Marks opines, so they should avoid handing out a max contract in a weak market this summer and focus instead on upgrading the bench with young players who have potential, Marks writes. Dallas is without a first-round pick in this year’s draft and has only one second-round pick, at No. 46.

Draft Updates: Hield, Korkmaz, Whitehead

May 11th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield is taking part in day-one activities at the NBA draft combine today, but he’ll leave for graduation ceremonies and miss the athletic testing portion of the predraft showcase that runs through Sunday, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link). So, the combine for the shooting guard will consist of interviews with teams, measurements and medical tests, Ford notes. The ESPN scribe has Hield at No. 6 in his prospect rankings, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs him seventh.

See more from the draft scene:

European superagent Misko Raznatovic has negotiated an NBA buyout clause into the contract of each of his draft entrants (Twitter link), including first-round prospect Furkan Korkmaz. Givony, who first reported the existence of Korkmaz’s clause, pegs its value at $2MM. The 18-year-old shooting guard would likely withdraw from the draft if he doesn’t get assurances that he’ll become a lottery pick, sources told Givony for a piece on The Vertical. Korkmaz is Ford‘s No. 15 prospect and No. 17 with Givony.
The Magic and Bulls have expressed interest in drafting Seton Hall sophomore shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead, and the Sixers have him on their radar as well, according to Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press. Still, Whitehead isn’t a contender for the lottery picks that those teams hold, as Carino points out. Instead, he’s a second-round prospect, ranking No. 35 with Ford and only No. 65 with Givony. He has the ability to pull out and return to college ball within the next two weeks if he doesn’t hire an agent.
Kent State junior forward Jimmy Hall has withdrawn from the draft, as he announced on Twitter (hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Hall was a long shot to be drafted, ranking outside the top 100 on Ford’s and Givony’s lists.
Junior college power forward Emmanuel Malou has hired agent Daniel Moldovan and is staying in the draft, as Moldovan told ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla (Twitter link). Signing with an agent wipes out his remaining college eligibility, but concern had already existed about whether the NCAA would clear the 6’9″ Australian who’d committed to Iowa State, Goodman notes (on Twitter).

Carmelo Anthony Not Waiving No-Trade Clause

May 11th, 2016 at 12:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony made it clear today that he doesn’t plan to waive his no-trade clause over the offseason, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (ESPN Now link). Speculation has suggested that Anthony would become open to a trade this summer if the Knicks don’t make strides in free agency, and multiple reports have indicated that Anthony would like the team to choose a coach other than Kurt Rambis, who’s reportedly the preference of president Phil Jackson.

“Oh yeah, you’ll see me [playing] for the Knicks, absolutely,” Anthony said today at the TechCrunch Disrupt Summit, an entrepreneurial convention in New York.

Anthony would see a financial windfall in the event of a trade, since his contract includes a 15% trade kicker, but he’s continually expressed his affection for playing in the spotlight of New York. No serious trade rumors have emerged concerning Anthony since his name was linked to three-way talks with the Cavs and Celtics shortly before the February deadline.

Still, the high-scoring small forward tends to dance around the issue of his long-term commitment to the franchise, saying that his goal is to retire with the Knicks but putting pressure on Jackson to conduct a broad coaching search. Anthony suggested that he has faith in the Zen Master only because no other alternative exists, and he’s admitted that he’s thought about playing on the same team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul at some point late in his career, adding that he’d probably want to do so in “someplace warm.” Anthony, who turns 32 later this month, is under contract through the 2018/19 season and can opt out in 2018.

Offseason Outlook: Indiana Pacers

May 11th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors is looking ahead to offseason moves for all 30 teams. We’ll examine free agency, the draft, trades and other key storylines for each franchise as the summer approaches.

Brian Spurlock / USA TODAY Sports Images

Coaching Search

It’ll be interesting to see whether president of basketball operations Larry Bird holds himself accountable in the same fashion by which he held Frank Vogel to a dauntingly high standard. If so, he’ll have to nail the search for Vogel’s replacement. Among the legitimate candidates, Nate McMillan and Brian Shaw have Pacers ties, but their track records don’t favor the go-go style Bird seems to want. Count Mike Woodson squarely in the stagnant-offense group, too. Jim Boylen was to help speed up the Bulls offense as an assistant this year, but that experiment flopped. Mike D’Antoni helped forge the NBA’s small-ball revolution, but it’s fair to question whether Bird wants to deal with a strong personality like his. The same goes for Mark Jackson, though he and Bird had a successful working relationship as player and coach.

Jeff Hornacek is much more understated and did masterful work with a two-headed point guard look his first year in Phoenix. Randy Wittman ratcheted up the Wizards offense to the fifth-highest pace in the league this season, according to NBA.com, and the Indiana native would help win over a fanbase skeptical of the Vogel firing. Hornacek and Wittman are the best fits in the running thus far.

What Happened To Ty Lawson?

Transitioning to a quicker attack is about more than finding the right coach. The Pacers lost two starting-caliber big men from their 2014/15 team but replaced Roy Hibbert and David West with only one proven starting option on the perimeter in Monta Ellis, so Bird needs to use the ample cap flexibility at his disposal to make at least one major addition. An outside chance exists that the upgrade is one the team already made when it signed Lawson in March. A foot injury he suffered five minutes into his first game with the Pacers knocked him out for two weeks, and he never became a major contributor, essentially falling out of the rotation late in Indiana’s first-round series against Toronto.

Perhaps Lawson failed to deliver because Vogel didn’t give him enough of a chance, or maybe the blame rests with Lawson, who didn’t succeed with the Rockets, either. Regardless, the speedy point guard is only 28 and just a year removed from averaging 15.2 points and 9.6 assists per game for the Nuggets. He may well prove one of the few value plays on the free agent market this summer if he takes the right approach and has the right voices in his ear. If so, and the Pacers re-sign him, he’d be the missing piece in the starting lineup, with everyone else sliding down a position. Of course, that assumes Paul George would be more receptive to guarding power forwards than he was at the beginning of this past season, but maybe the right coach can either convince him or devise lineup combinations that would limit his time at the four.

Free Agent Targets

The Pacers are set to open plenty of cap room, and just how much flexibility they’ll have will come down to whether they’re willing to keep Ian Mahinmi and give him the significant raise it would take for them to do so. Bird is duly impressed with Myles Turner, and a decent chance exists that the rookie’s strong performance this season was enough to convince the Pacers to let Mahinmi walk and turn the starting center position over to the 20-year-old from Texas. Such a move would free money for the Pacers to go hard after the perimeter player of their choice.

Indianapolis native Mike Conley would be an obvious candidate, though one for whom the Pacers would have fervent competition. Harrison Barnes would appear to be a strong fit, no stranger to a modern, souped-up offense, and he’s just the sort of perimeter player who could guard power forwards and let George play the three. Still, his free agency is restricted, and it may well take the max, or close to it, to convince the Warriors not to match. Nicolas Batum‘s free agency will be unrestricted, but it seems like he’ll be tough to pry from Charlotte. Plugging Luol Deng into the same small-ball power forward role in which he’s thrived with Miami would represent a cheaper and more feasible alternative, and the Pacers could always attempt to crack the riddle that is Jeff Green.

Potential Trades

Another way to use cap space is to absorb players into it via trade, and the Pacers could revisit their reported discussion with the Hawks about Jeff Teague. Still, plenty of teams figure to call Atlanta about either Teague or Dennis Schröder, driving up the price. Bird and company could see what it would take to trade for Derrick Rose if they’re willing to overpay him for a season before his contract runs out. Ricky Rubio‘s name comes up frequently in trade rumors, though newly minted Wolves executive Tom Thibodeau is a wild card. The Pacers have all their future draft picks to offer up, but they’d probably have a tough time finding a taker for anyone on the roster who isn’t part of their core.

Draft Outlook

First-round picks: 20th
Second-round picks: 50th

The Pacers have four players taken in the last two drafts plus undrafted developmental player Shayne Whittington, but only Turner sees meaningful minutes. The Pacers probably trade this pick if Bird doesn’t identify someone at No. 20 who’d motivate him to move on from Whittington, Joe Young or Glenn Robinson III. Perhaps Baylor small forward Taurean Prince, who played four years of college ball, would contribute immediately for Indiana if he were the pick here. Indiana’s second-rounder is in a prime spot for the always cost-conscious Pacers to trade it for cash.

Other Decisions

Bird said he wouldn’t rule out re-signing Solomon Hill, but the ill-fated decision to decline his team option for next season sharply limits what the Pacers can offer him and almost certainly closes off the possibility of him remaining with Indiana. Fellow soon-to-be free agent Jordan Hill was an efficient rebounder, as usual, but Vogel went away from him during the stretch run and the playoffs, and he doesn’t seem a fit for a new coach’s faster style, either. The non-guaranteed salaries of Robinson and Whittington become fully guaranteed on August 1st, so the moves Indiana makes in the draft and free agency, rather than their training camp performances, will decide their fate.

Final Take

Bird seems impatient for the team to return to the Eastern Conference elite, and it’s tough to blame him for wanting a more unified focus than the team had this past season. Still, Vogel did a splendid job with a roster in the midst of transition. The team’s cap flexibility means it’ll probably have better players next season, but they risk offsetting the upgrade to their lineup with an inferior coach.

Guaranteed Salary

Paul George ($18,314,532)
Monta Ellis ($10,763,500)
George Hill ($8,000,000)
Rodney Stuckey ($7,000,000)
C.J. Miles ($4,583,450)
Lavoy Allen ($4,000,000)
Myles Turner ($2,463,840)
Joseph Young ($1,052,342)
Rakeem Christmas ($1,052,342)
Total: $57,230,006

Player Options

None

Team Options

None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Glenn Robinson III ($1,050,500)
Shayne Whittington ($980,431)
Total: $2,030,931

Restricted Free Agents

None

Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)

Ian Mahinmi ($7,600,000)
Jordan Hill ($4,800,000)
Solomon Hill ($2,306,019)¹
Ty Lawson ($980,431)
Total: $15,686,450

Other Cap Holds

No. 20 pick ($1,301,900)

Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000

Footnotes:

The Pacers can’t re-sign Hill to a contract with a starting salary worth more than the amount listed here because they declined their team option on his rookie scale contract.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Rockets Notes: Howard, Smith, Hornacek

May 11th, 2016 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Almost everyone in the NBA expects Dwight Howard to opt out of his Rockets contract, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, but the Perry Rogers client wouldn’t confirm that he’ll do so when he spoke Tuesday on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” insisting that he hasn’t made a decision and that he hasn’t thought about which team he’ll play for next season, Robbins notes. That’s in spite of an April report that identified four front-runners to sign Howard this summer. See more on Howard amid the latest on the Rockets.

The big man remains confident in the viability of his pairing with James Harden, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. “I think we can [succeed together],” Howard said. “I believe we can. Both of us have to put our egos and our pride to the side and say, ‘Hey, we need each other to win.’ That’s the only way we’re going to win.”
Howard’s reputation hasn’t been the same since his messy split with the Magic four years ago, but he took strides toward repairing it with his charm and deft handling of the questions from the TNT panel Tuesday, Robbins believes. “I want to win,” Howard said. “That’s why I play this game, and I don’t want to finish my career and not be up on that podium.”
Still, no Rockets teammate was asking at season’s end for Howard to return, Watkins tweets, suggesting that it seems as though everyone assumes he’s leaving.
The Rockets completed scheduled interviews Tuesday with Kenny Smith and Jeff Hornacek and plan more interviews to come, a source told Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Houston reportedly interviewed David Blatt on Monday and previously did so with Mike D’Antoni, Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell and Rockets assistant Chris Finch. Former interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff interviewed but took himself out of the running. A talk with Hornets assistant Stephen Silas is apparently on the docket and the team would reportedly like to interview Frank Vogel. The Rockets expressed interest in Lionel Hollins, Feigen reported, and college coaches Bill Self and Shaka Smart are said to intrigue the team. Still, Jeff Van Gundy seemingly remains the favorite.

Atlantic Notes: Butler, Bazemore, Blatt, Rambis

May 11th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg saw the controversy that stemmed from Jimmy Butler‘s criticism of his coaching style as simply a phase of growth for their relationship, and the pair had a “strong” exit meeting, sources told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The Bulls would insist on at least one marquee player, one rotation-caliber player and multiple first-round picks in any trade scenario involving Butler, according to Johnson, suggesting that the team’s appointment of the swingman as its representative at next week’s draft lottery is a sign that he’ll be sticking around.

See more from the Eastern Conference:

Soon-to-be free agent Kent Bazemore said his body wasn’t 100% this year and that he couldn’t play above the rim as he’s usually capable of doing, but he’s eager to regain that ability with a full summer of training, observes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bazemore, who had a breakout season despite the limitations, wants to re-sign with the Hawks. “I would love to return here,” Bazemore said. “I think the past two years I’ve taken a tremendous leap. Not only my professional year but personally. I’m growing more into myself and figuring out life. This place [is] a special place in my heart. I grew up right up the street in North Carolina. Super close to home. Not close enough. Has its perks here. The weather is great. Golf is great. God is great.”
Carmelo Anthony likes David Blatt, who’s drawing sincere consideration from the Knicks for their head coaching job, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Anthony likes and respects interim coach Kurt Rambis, but he has reservations about him and believes the ex-Cavs coach would be better for Kristaps Porzingis than Rambis would be, Berman hears. Blatt interviewed last month with team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills, but owner James Dolan wasn’t in the meeting, a league source told Berman.
The Knicks are looking to trade for a second-round pick, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). New York is without a pick in either round.

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