2017 July | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Crawford, Mack

July 16th, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Austin Kent

The Hornets have taken significant steps forward this offseason but one of the big questions heading into the 2017/18 campaign will be whether wings Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nicolas Batum will be able to thrive together.

In a recent mailbag, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tackled the question arguing that the lanky pair help the squad more than hinder them. Bonnell refers to the Hornets’ defensive woes as the major culprit for Charlotte’s disappointing 2016/17 campaign, saying that taking Kidd-Gilchrist out of the picture would only make matters worse.

Bonnell does add, however, that the Hornets would be wise to feature rookie Malik Monk as soon as he’s able to prove that he’s reasonably competent on the defensive end. If he slots in at the two, Batum could then slide up to the three.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks acquired Jamal Crawford in the three-way deal that sent Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers and immediately began pursuing a buyout with the 36-year-old veteran. Exact details of the buyout are not yet known but Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the guard’s cap hit will be around $11MM in 2017/18.
There’s no disputing Shelvin Mack‘s track record of success, he suited up for the 60-win Hawks of 2014/15 and served a valuable role for the 2016/17 Jazz squad that climbed back to relevance. According to John Denton of Orlando’s official website, the former Butler Bulldog thinks that even the Magic can be winners in the immediate future.
After a breakout 2013/14 campaign in which he filled in admirably for an injured Kobe Bryant, Jodie Meeks has posted three forgettable, injury-plagued seasons. Now a member of the Wizards, the soon-to-be 30-year-old is ready to reset and start anew. “I came back from my thumb at the end of the season,” he told Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic. “I played okay and finished out the season healthy. This summer I got some rest. Now I’m working out again and I feel fine.“
After riding the pine for the Wizards in 2016/17, Sheldon Mac and Daniel Ochefu have taken noticeable steps forward, Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes.

Community Shootaround: Melo On The Blazers

July 16th, 2017 at 6:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Carmelo Anthony has been open to a trade to the Cavs or Rockets, though it was recently reported that he’s focused on joining Houston over any other destination. The Rockets also have interest in such a pairing but they aren’t the only team that would like to bring Melo aboard.

We learned this weekend, that the Blazers have interest in Anthony. Portland feels that it can compete with nearly any team in the Western Conference should Melo come to town. Apparently, the team’s star shooting guard agrees. C.J. McCollum posted a picture of Anthony in a Blazers jersey on his Instagram earlier today, signaling his support for an Anthony deal.

Anthony hasn’t made any public statements since the report of Portland’s interest in him. The Blazers have never been included in any reported short list of teams for which he was willing to waive his no-trade clause.

Yet, for the sake of tonight’s community shootaround, let’s assume Anthony is willing to accept a deal to Portland. Should the Blazers make a deal for the 10-time All-Star and if so, what should they give up in return?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Tom Thibodeau Talks Offseason, Western Conference

July 16th, 2017 at 3:42pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wolves arguably had one of the best offseasons in the league, adding Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson to a core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. Executive/coach Tom Thibodeau recently sat down with Nick Friedell of ESPN.com to discuss the team as well as several topics from around the league. Here are the highlights:

On Coaching Butler And Gibson Again:

I think they fit our team very well. I think what Jimmy can add to our team, some of the things he’s just gone through, both Karl and Andrew are going through themselves. So I think Jimmy can share that with them. I think having a defensive wing like Jimmy will be great to have next to Andrew.

And I think when you look at Taj, he’s probably the best switching big man in the league. He’s got great feet, can guard multiple positions, adds a lot of toughness to our team. Put him next to Karl, that adds a lot.

On What He’s Expecting From Butler:

Just do the right things each and every day. Put everything you have into each day. Be a good leader, be a good teammate, and play. We didn’t bring Jimmy here just for leadership. We brought him for his ability, his talent and all the things that he adds to a team. Same for Taj, Jeff and hopefully Jamal as we get that wrapped up. But I think that experience will be invaluable to us.

On His Expectations For This Season And Beyond:

There’s really good teams that we’re chasing. So we know that there’s going to be a lot of work that has to go into it. And you do it day by day, you do the necessary things, you win and build and improve.

But we’re excited about our opportunity and that’s the way we’re approaching it. As we always say, you don’t want to look ahead, you don’t want to look back, you want to focus in on exactly what’s in front of you, and we think the future is real bright, but we got to do the work day to day. And that’s what we’re locked into.

On The Stacked Western Conference:

You’d like to see more balance, but there’s always going to be certain teams that have the opportunity to attract elite players, and when that happens it could create an imbalance. I think players look around and they look at the teams that they’d like to join and it’s usually teams that already have good players on those teams.

Celtics Notes: Pagliuca, Hayward, Bird, Ojeleye

July 16th, 2017 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics managing partner Steve Pagliuca promises the team is ready to become a taxpayer again if that’s what it takes to win a title, relays Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Pagliuca says it’s not a guarantee that the franchise will cross the tax threshold next summer when Isaiah Thomas enters free agency, but vows that potential tax penalties won’t affect the decision on Thomas.

Pagliuca adds that cap management is becoming important again after last summer’s spending spree, which factored into the decision to trade Avery Bradley to the Pistons to make room for Gordon Hayward. “There was a time when teams had lots of cap space with the increase in revenues,” Pagliuca said. “Now we’re entering a period where cap management becomes imperative. Now we’re going back to the future, where people had to work hard for cap space.”

There’s more news out of Boston:

Hayward is denying reports that the controversial delay regarding his choice of the Celtics was related to his article for The Players’ Tribune, writes D.J. Bean of CSNNE. Hayward explained that he was on the phone with his agent, Mark Bartelstein, when the story broke that he was coming to Boston. “At that point in time we decided, look, we have to step away from this,” Hayward said. “I was pretty upset that that had happened. I didn’t feel like I was ready to say, ‘Yes, I want to be a Boston Celtic,’ so I had to take a step back and regroup and I think we talked about it more and more, then finally we put out the article, but I know there was a lot of reports with people saying we were finishing up the article for the Tribune, which is just completely false.”
Jabari Bird‘s play during summer league has made him a candidate to receive one of Boston’s two-way contracts, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. A 6’6″ shooting guard out of California, Bird was the 56th selection in this year’s draft. He has been given a larger role with some of the Celtics’ top players sidelined and has responded by averaging 13.7 points and shooting 19-of-27 in his last three games.
The versatility shown by second-rounder Semi Ojeleye could give him a role in Boston this season, Himmelsbach adds in the same piece. A 6’7″ forward out of SMU, Ojeleye shot 40% from 3-point range in Las Vegas and earned praise for his defense from coach Brad Stevens.

Pacific Notes: Rondo, Clark, Caldwell-Pope, Perry

July 16th, 2017 at 12:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers will have to find another option at point guard now that Rajon Rondo has signed with the Pelicans, writes Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. L.A. had talked to Rondo about serving as a mentor to a young roster and especially to rookie Lonzo Ball. Attention may now turn to re-signing 22-year-old Tyler Ennis, who was obtained from Houston in a February trade. Ennis averaged 7.7 points and shot 45% from the field in 22 games with the Lakers.

Other options include Rodney Stuckey and Ian Clark, although L.A. has only the $4.3MM room exception to offer apart from veterans minimum deals. The Lakers currently have 12 players under contract for the upcoming season, along with Alex Caruso signed to a two-way deal.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

After struggling to make a roster in the early part of his NBA career, Clark is in position for a big payday, writes Joe Rexrode of The USA Today Network. The Lakers and Bucks are among the teams that have expressed interest in the free agent shooting guard, whose chance to return to the Warriors likely ended when Golden State signed Nick Young. “I can’t worry about this, I just have to let it fall into place,” Clark said. “At some point you stop worrying about surviving in this league and get determined to make your mark in it.”
The one-year, $18MM deal that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed with the Lakers includes a 15% trade kicker and a 50% advance, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.com.
Marcelo Huertas, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Lakers, has signed with EuroCup champions Unicaja Malaga in Spain, tweets international basketball writer David Pick.
Scott Perry had a strong influence on the Kings during his three months as vice president of basketball operations, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Perry left this week to become GM of the Knicks, with Sacramento receiving a 2019 second-round pick and cash considerations in return. During Perry’s time with the Kings, Voison says he pushed for the free agency additions of veterans Zach Randolph, Vince Carter and George Hill and was a “strong advocate” for drafting De’Aaron Fox with the No. 5 pick. “This is a great opportunity for Scott professionally,” said GM Vlade Divac, “and it gets him back east, closer to his daughter. I was not going to stop him. The only thing I feel bad about is that we had everything in place in our front office. Our front office is strong. Now I have to find someone who can come in and do the things Scott did for us.”
The injury that forced Kings center Georgios Papagiannis to leave Friday’s summer league game has been diagnosed as just a bruise, according to a post on the team’s website.

Weekly Mailbag: 7/10/17 – 7/16/17

July 16th, 2017 at 11:08am CST by Arthur Hill

We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com. Here are this week’s inquiries:

How will the Celtics fit Isaiah Thomas‘ extension max contract as they are near max cap after signing up Gordon Hayward? — Greg Dizon

The first step, as Thomas stated last week, is to load up a Brinks truck full of money because he sees himself as a max player and won’t accept anything less. The Celtics own Thomas’ Bird rights, so they have the freedom to give him a full five-year max extension. The only question is whether Boston wants to accept the tax ramifications of carrying three max deals in Thomas, Hayward and Al Horford. Apart from them, most of the roster is still on rookie contracts, so the Celtics won’t face any other difficult financial decisions for a few years. Golden State and Cleveland have proven that if you want to be a super team, you have to have to pay super salaries, and there’s every indication that the Celtics plan to do that with Thomas.

Why does a team have to clear cap space to sign a free agent, but most teams sign way over cap? Very confused on signing with cap or having to make trades to make it happen. — Keith

Every team receives salary exceptions that can be used to sign free agents. Teams operating above the salary cap get a mid-level exception, which is $8.406MM this year for non-taxpaying teams and $5.192MM for teams over the tax apron (or in danger of passing that threshold). Teams that are under the cap receive a “room” exception valued at $4.328MM.

Also, teams over the cap – but below the apron – have a bi-annual exception. It can’t be used two years in a row and is valued this year at $3.29MM. As an example, the Rockets went over the cap when they completed their trade for Chris Paul. However, they were able to use the MLE to sign P.J. Tucker and the BAE to add Tarik Black. Most teams don’t mind being over the cap. It’s the tax threshold where they start to get nervous.

What will happen with the Carmelo Anthony situation? — 617 Sports News, via Twitter

Acknowledging that the Knicks are among the most unpredictable franchises in all of sports, here’s how it’s likely to play out. New GM Scott Perry has requested a meeting with Anthony. Even if that happens, don’t expect Anthony to change his mind about a trade. He wants to join his friends and get a shot at a title before he retires. The Knicks want to rebuild around younger players. They don’t fit together any more.

New York’s front office doesn’t have as much leverage here as it might believe. Having Anthony on the team at the start of the season, or even the start of training camp, could be a disaster. He could be disruptive in any number of ways and poison his young teammates’ view of the organization. Don’t forget that Kristaps Porzingis isn’t that far away from his first taste of free agency. Prolonging the standoff with Anthony any further is also going to hurt the Knicks’ prospects with future free agents and anger Anthony’s powerful agent, Leon Rose, who could respond by discouraging any of his clients from signing there. In short, it’s a players’ league now and the top players get what they want. Anthony wants to go to Houston, so expect him to be there by the end of summer.

Heat Notes: LeBron, Free Agency, Adebayo, White

July 16th, 2017 at 10:10am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James caused some excitement in Miami on Saturday with Instagram posts featuring photos of himself in front of American Airlines Arena, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Even though James expressed a fondness for the city in a caption that read, “A ton of great memories riding past her today!! #AAA #striveforgreatness,” the Heat have no expectations that he will consider returning to Miami when he becomes a free agent next summer. Like most of the league, Jackson notes, Heat officials believe James will either go to Los Angeles or stay in Cleveland.

Jackson adds that there are no obvious free agents for Miami to chase next summer, even if the team could create cap room. He says they wouldn’t pay max money to Carmelo Anthony, Los Angeles seems like the destination for Paul George, and other stars such as Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan play positions where the Heat are already set. They may have more interest in the 2019 free agent class, but will have limited cap room unless Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson or Hassan Whiteside opt out of their contracts.

There’s more today out of Miami:

With 11 games in two leagues, the Heat got a good look at candidates for two-way contracts this summer, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. However, it’s not certain that the players who get those deals will come from the summer league squads. Among those who made a positive impact, according to Winderman, are Virginia’s London Perrantes, Central Florida’s Matt Williams, Monmouth’s Justin Robinson and Colorado State’s Gian Clavell.
The Heat were happy with the performance of first-round pick Bam Adebayo this summer, Winderman writes in a separate story. The power forward out of Kentucky was held out of the final three games in Las Vegas, but showed enough to give Miami hope that he can be a contributor right away. “I think the seven games he played was a great first step as an NBA player,” said summer league coach Chris Quinn. “He did everything we asked. He showed us a skill set that is very versatile. He was able to do things that maybe he hadn’t done as much. But more importantly, he completely bought in to our player-development program. He’s listening to Coach Juwan [Howard] every single day and he’s really been great to work with. His attitude and his work ethic have been amazing, which, for a guy with his talent, is most important.”
Winderman adds that this summer was especially important for Okaro White, who faces a partial guarantee date for next year’s $1.3MM contract on August 1st. Quinn said White made “major strides” in the seven games he played.

Southwest Notes: Anthony, Simmons, Mavericks, Rondo

July 16th, 2017 at 9:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Houston continues to be the preferred destination for Carmelo Anthony, but former Rockets coach and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t see the high-scoring forward as a “natural fit” for the team, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. Van Gundy, who still lives in Houston, believes the Rockets need to focus on defense in any future transactions. “I think they have a lot on their plate integrating [Chris] Paul and [James] Harden,” Van Gundy said. “They’re not going to be better offensively than they were last year. They were the second-best team in the league offensively. I thought they had defined roles everyone knew.”

Efforts to work out a four-team trade that would send Anthony to Houston are currently on hold as new Knicks GM Scott Perry hopes for a face-to-face meeting with his star player before proceeding. New York officials would like Anthony, who can block any deal with a no-trade clause, to expand the list of teams he is willing to join, which reportedly now just includes the Rockets and Cavaliers.

There’s more this morning from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs never made a serious attempt to keep Jonathon Simmons, tweets Casey Keirnan of News 4 San Antonio. Simmons agreed to a three-year, $20MM deal with the Magic on Friday after the Spurs pulled his qualifying offer and made him an unrestricted free agent. Despite reports that San Antonio was trying to retain Simmons, the team never made him an offer apart from the QO, sources tell Keirnan.
The Mavericks are taking an international approach to rebuilding their roster, notes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. This week’s signing of German star Maxi Kleber could give them as many as seven international players at training camp. Joining roster holdovers Dirk Nowitzki, J.J. Barea, Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri will be Kleber, Nico Brussino and Ding Yanyuhang. However, Brussino’s $1,312,611 salary for next season won’t be guaranteed until Thursday, so he may be somewhere else when camp opens. “You want good players, and it doesn’t matter where you find them,” said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson. “There are players all over the world. It’s our job to know where they are.”
After reaching an agreement Saturday with Rajon Rondo, the Pelicans plan to use him and fellow point guard Jrue Holiday as their backcourt starters, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Rondo’s friendship with former Kings teammate DeMarcus Cousins was a factor in choosing New Orleans, Spears indicates.

Rockets Notes: Harden, Anthony, Paul

July 15th, 2017 at 10:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

James Harden, who recently signed a four-year extension with the Rockets, wants to remain with the franchise for the rest of his career, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays.

“I know where home is,” said Harden. “I know where I want to be. I know where I want to retire ultimately and where I want to win a championship. Everything is going to happen here in Houston, and that’s the reason I’m here forever.”

Harden had two seasons left on his current deal before he committed to the four additional years with the team. GM Daryl Morey said inking the 5-time All-Star for the maximum salary over the maximum amount of years was an “easy” decision for the franchise.

“We would do more if we could,” Morey said. “This is the most they allow us to do. You work your whole career if you’re myself to get a player of James’ caliber and now Chris [Paul‘s] caliber. We’re excited. … We would have done longer and more money if we could.”

Here’s more from Houston:

Morey added that Harden is constantly consulted on personnel moves, MacMahon passes along in the same. “My job every day is to try to put the players around him to win a championship,” Morey said. “That’s our only goal here. I know that’s James’ only goal. His ability to recruit other players like Chris Paul, like all the players around the team, is the modern way that I think teams are going to be built.”
Harden believes adding Carmelo Anthony would help the Rockets, but he’s content with the roster as it currently stands John Weinfuss of ESPN.com passes along. Talks between the Rockets and Knicks on an Anthony deal have stalled, but the small forward reportedly expects to be dealt to the franchise.
Paul is excited for the opportunity to play alongside Harden even though it may mean sacrificing ball-handling duties, MacMahon adds in a separate piece. “That’s the coach’s problem over here, to figure that out. I think coach said it: When you want to win, you’ll do whatever it takes. I know James has that; I know I do. Whoever is in our locker room from day one, we’re going to talk about sacrificing and doing whatever you have to do to help us win,” Paul said.

Blazers Eyeing Carmelo Anthony

July 15th, 2017 at 9:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks had hoped that the Blazers would help facilitate a Carmelo Anthony deal between New York and Houston, but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports that Portland is only interested in a deal if it brings Anthony to its team.

The Blazers believe a deal for Anthony would push the team to compete with any non-Warriors Western Conference squad due to their talent and depth. As a result, the organization isn’t interested in helping New York send Anthony to another team in its conference.

Portland currently isn’t on Anthony’s short list of teams in which he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause for. It was previously reported that the 10-time All-Star would be open to a trade to the Rockets and Cavs, though we learned earlier today that he may be focused joining Houston.

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