Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Atlantic Notes: Nets’ Plan, Valanciunas, Sixers GM Search, Fizdale

August 28th, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have hit a crossroads, even though they’ll have ample salary-cap space to pursue at least two top-level free agents next summer, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily.com opines. While the franchise’s reputation has improved and it plays in a top market, improved play on the court is essential to attract those types of players, Puccio continues. Another eight-game improvement, for example, probably wouldn’t move the needle for free agents like Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving. If the Nets reach the midway point next season and aren’t in playoff contention, they may be faced with the difficult decision of moving assets for an All-Star level player or tanking in order to move into the lottery, Puccio adds.

We have more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas said the DeMar DeRozan trade to the Spurs shows the fickleness within the business, as Lithuanian reporter Donatas Urbonas tweets. “Maybe now while I’m talking all the papers are set and I’m moving to Detroit. You just never know in this business. DeMar was really great, loyal player. But I think you can’t blame anybody.” Valanciunas will return to Toronto on September 15 to prepare for training camp, Urbonas adds in another tweet.
  • The Sixers should have spent more time this summer pursuing young up-and-comers in executive roles around the league, rather than focusing on ‘elite GMs,’ Derek Bodner of The Athletic argues. Philadelphia’s GM search has dragged on for 11 weeks and now it reportedly will focus on candidates further down in their current team’s organizational chart. The Sixers should have been vetting those types of candidates much earlier, Bodner adds.
  • Hiring David Fizdale as head coach was the right move for the Knicks, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders opines. His motivational skills and reputation as a player’s coach will help turn the franchise around, Davies continues. His commitment to building relationships with his players was reinforced by his recent trip to Latvia to visit his injured star, Kristaps Porzingis.
Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Celtics Notes: Irving, Hayward, Stevens

August 28th, 2018 at 7:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics have the ability to offer Kyrie Irving the most money next summer when he hits free agency. They can also offer him a familiar situation and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes Irving will ultimately look at the situation in Boston and stay put.

“I still would take Boston against the rest of the field,” Wojnarowski said on  The Woj Pod (h/t NBC Sports Boston). “I still think in the end there comes a moment of truth when you look around, and you have to make a decision about somewhere else. And when you really start inspecting the questions that are in almost any other circumstance he would go to, you would say: ‘Boy, it’s pretty good here.’ … I still think it is going to be really hard to walk away from this [Boston].”

The Knicks loom as a possible destination for Irving, so would any team with enough cap space to fit him and Jimmy Butler on a pair of max deals, as the duo has been rumored to have interest in teaming up.

Here’s more from Boston:

  • Both Gordon Hayward and Irving will enter camp ready to play at full speed, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays. “I don’t want to hype it up too much, but I’m saying that if our training camp were starting today that they would be here today going full speed,” GM Danny Ainge said. “It’s not like they need an extra month. I think that they know they have an extra month, so they are sort of pacing themselves. They’re playing as if to build up to that opening day of training camp [Sept. 26].”
  • Brad Stevens will face more pressure this season than any of his previous five in Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports writes. The scribe believes the Celtics have the talent and depth to live up to the expectations.
  • Hayward’s health will be a key storyline for the Celtics this season, Blakely writes in a separate piece. The team will need his versatility on the court if they are going to compete with top teams like the Rockets and Warriors.
Retweet 9 Share 0 Send via email0

Jazz Sign Trey Lewis

August 28th, 2018 at 5:39pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Jazz have signed Trey Lewis, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News (via Twitter). The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

Lewis played at Louisville with Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. Woodyard has previously written about the duo’s close relationship.

The 6’2″ guard played for Utah’s two Summer League teams this offseason. During his four games in Las Vegas, he averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds. and 2.3 assists per contest.

Lewis went undrafted in 2017 and spent his 2017/18 season playing aboard. He split time between JL Bourg-en-Bresse of the LNB Pro A in France and Ratiopharm Ulm of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany

Retweet 11 Share 0 Send via email0

Grizzlies Waive Kobi Simmons

August 28th, 2018 at 4:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Grizzlies have waived Kobi Simmons, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). Simmons had been on a two-way contract with Memphis.

Simmons played in 32 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 6.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 20.1 minutes of action per contest. He also spent time in the G League, playing for the Memphis Hustle where he saw 30.9 minutes per game during his 26 appearances.

Simmons went undrafted during the 2017 draft after playing just one season at the University of Arizona. He inked a two-way deal with Memphis last summer.

Retweet 4 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers, Hornets Have Made Most Offseason Trades

August 28th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 28 trades have been completed by NBA teams since the 2017/18 season ended, including a pair of three-way deals. The Sixers have been involved in a quarter of those swaps, completing seven deals during the 2018 offseason. While Philadelphia has been the most active team on the trade market, the Hornets aren’t far behind, having finalized five deals of their own.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Offseason Trades]

It’s a little ironic that the Sixers have completed the most trades of any NBA team this summer, since Philadelphia is the only club without a permanent head of basketball operations in place. Head coach Brett Brown has served as the interim president of basketball ops since Bryan Colangelo was fired in June, but if there was any uncertainty about the structure of the team’s front office, it certainly didn’t impact the 76ers’ ability to make deals.

None of the Sixers’ trades was a blockbuster, but a few of them will have a noticeable impact on the team’s 2018/19 roster. Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala were acquired in separate deals, while Philadelphia’s most interesting move saw the club trade Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith and a future unprotected first-round pick.

As for the Hornets, they also fired their general manager earlier this season, replacing Rich Cho with Mitch Kupchak. Given the new-look front office and a team salary that was hovering close to the tax line, it’s not as surprising that the Hornets have been active on the trade market over the last couple months. Kupchak’s most noteworthy moves involved Timofey Mozgov — the Hornets sent Dwight Howard to Brooklyn for a package that included Mozgov, then flipped him to the Magic in a three-way trade involving Bismack Biyombo.

Here are a few other notable details related to this offseason’s trades so far:

Teams that have made the most trades:

  • Philadelphia 76ers: 7
  • Charlotte Hornets: 5
  • Atlanta Hawks: 4
  • Brooklyn Nets: 4
  • Dallas Mavericks: 4
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 4
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 4
  • Orlando Magic: 4
  • Denver Nuggets: 3
  • Phoenix Suns: 3

Teams that haven’t made a trade:

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • New York Knicks

Players that have been traded multiple times:

Future first-round picks that have been traded:

  • Mavericks‘ 2019 first-round pick to Hawks (top-five protected).
  • Nuggets‘ 2019 first-round pick to Nets (top-12 protected).
  • Raptors‘ 2019 first-round pick to Spurs (top-20 protected).
  • Heat‘s 2021 first-round pick to Sixers (from Suns; unprotected).
  • Thunder‘s 2022 first-round pick to Hawks (top-14 protected).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Kobe Bryant Reiterates He’s Done Playing Basketball

August 28th, 2018 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Having been the subject of recent speculation involving the BIG3, Kobe Bryant appeared on The Rich Eisen Show to reiterate that he has no plans to come out of retirement and play basketball again in the NBA, the BIG3, or any other league, as Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll relays.

“There’s about a 0% chance that I come back to play,” Bryant said. “Nothing. Done, that’s it.”

Bryant, who turned 40 years old on Thursday, last appeared in the NBA in 2016 when he scored 60 points in his final game as a Laker. The 18-time All-Star’s notorious competitiveness led to some speculation that he wouldn’t be able to stay away from the game for good. As he explains to Eisen though, Kobe viewed that skepticism as a challenge in its own right.

“When I retired, everybody was saying, ‘OK, he’s too competitive, he’s not going to know what to do with himself, he’s going to have to come back,'” Bryant said. “I took that as a personal challenge of them thinking I am this one-dimensional person, that all I know is how to dribble the ball, shoot the ball and play basketball. … I took that as a personal challenge.

“I will never come back to the game, ever,” Bryant continued. “I’m here to show people that we (professional athletes) can do much more than that. Creating this business, winning an Oscar, winning an Emmy, those are things that are showing other athletes that come after, ‘No, no. There is more to this thing.’ So I would never (come out of retirement). It’s not even a thought.”

Of course, Bryant hasn’t stepped entirely away from the game of basketball — he continues to work with some NBA players who have reached out to him, and he coaches his daughter’s team. However, he appears to have definitively shut the door on his days as a player.

BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube joked last week that Bryant would need to get a “restraining order” against him to stop him from trying to convince Kobe to join the BIG3. But by the sounds of it, Ice Cube and fellow co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz won’t have much luck with their recruiting efforts.

Retweet 6 Share 0 Send via email0

2020 NBA Free Agents

August 28th, 2018 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2020 free agents is below. Each player’s 2020 age is in parentheses.

These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2019/20 season. They either finished the ’19/20 season on an NBA roster or were unsigned at season’s end (but appeared in at least 10 games). A handful of noteworthy former players also appear in the list.

You’ll be able to access this list – and our list of 2020’s free agents sorted by team – anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 5-17-21 (6:49am CT)
Note: This list is no longer being updated.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Restricted Free Agents

Note: No restricted free agents are still on the market. Details on their deals can be found here.

Player Options

Note: All player option decisions have now been made. They can be found here.

Team Options

Note: All team option decisions have now been made. They can be found here.

Contract information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Retweet 24 Share 0 Send via email0

Alonzo Gee To Play In Australia

August 28th, 2018 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA veteran Alonzo Gee will head to Australia for the 2018/19 season, according to Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia, who hears from sources that Gee has signed with the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League.

Gee, a 6’6″ wing, made his NBA debut in 2010 and appeared in over 400 regular season gamse for six teams over the next seven years. He played most extensively for the Cavaliers, averaging 8.2 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 250 total games for Cleveland from 2010 to 2014.

Gee’s last stint in the NBA came during the 2016/17 campaign, when he appeared in 13 contests for the Nuggets. Last season, the 31-year-old played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League before signing with Caciques de Humacao in Puerto Rico to finish the season.

If Gee returns stateside and wants to play in the G League at some point in the near future, he may end up playing for the Wizards’ new NBAGL affiliate — the Capital City Go-Go acquired his G League rights during last week’s expansion draft.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Poll: Best Offseason Among Western Teams?

August 28th, 2018 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

During the first couple days of NBA free agency this summer, two contract agreements dominated headlines — LeBron James deciding to join the Lakers and DeMarcus Cousins agreeing to terms with the Warriors.

James, who signed a maximum-salary contract, wasn’t necessarily a bargain, but his free agent decision was a franchise-altering move for the Lakers and a league-changing move for the NBA, which saw the balance of power shift further from the Eastern Conference to the West as one of its marquee franchises landed an all-time great. As for Cousins, he almost certainly won’t have the same on-court impact that James will in 2018/19, but his decision to accept a below-market deal to join the defending champions sent shockwaves across the league as well.

Given the magnitude of those two moves, it’s no surprise that the Lakers and Warriors received the highest grades in Kevin Pelton’s ESPN.com breakdown of the offseason moves by each Western team. In his Insider-only story, Pelton awards the Lakers and Warriors grades of A-minus. No other club received an A grade.

Still, Pelton did like a few other teams’ offseason roster changes. He awarded the Mavericks, who signed DeAndre Jordan and traded up for Luka Doncic, a B-plus. The Thunder, who re-signed Paul George and Jerami Grant before striking a deal for Dennis Schroder, got a B-plus grade from Pelton as well.

Pelton also had praise for the Nuggets, who re-signed Nikola Jokic and Will Barton while adding Isaiah Thomas at a bargain price. Denver received a B grade, as did the Pelicans, who managed to replace Cousins and Rajon Rondo with younger alternatives in Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton.

On the other end of the spectrum, Pelton didn’t love the offseason moves made by the Suns (D+), Rockets (D+), Spurs (D), and Kings (D).

What do you think? Which Western Conference team had the best offseason? Do you agree with Pelton that the choice comes down to the Lakers or Warriors, or was there another club whose summer moves you liked more?

Vote below in our poll, then jump into the comment section to explain your pick!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Manu Ginobili Open To Role With Spurs

August 28th, 2018 at 10:43am CST by Luke Adams

Manu Ginobili will soon be officially removed from the Spurs‘ roster after announcing his retirement as a player on Monday. However, he’s not opposed to the idea of sticking with the franchise in some capacity. As Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News relays, Ginobili wrote a Spanish-language column in the Argentine newspaper La Nacion in which he touched on his possible next steps.

“What I made clear to (Gregg Popovich) is that it’s not ‘Ciao, I’m leaving,'” Ginobili wrote. “My children have already started classes and while I’m in town I’ll be close to the team and the franchise. Maybe I can’t help (anymore) by taking a (charge) or (with a steal) or something, but I’ll try to add in what I can. I have a great appreciation for my teammates, for the staff and all the people on the team and I want it to go as well as possible. If I can help from the outside, I will do it with pleasure.”

If Ginobili wants to take on some sort of role with the Spurs, there’s little doubt that the team would welcome him aboard. When Tim Duncan retired in 2016, Popovich indicated that Duncan would stick around the club in an unofficial capacity and would be “coach of whatever he wants to be.” Ginobili could do something similar even if he’s not ready for – or interested in – a formal title within the organization.

Ginobili, who made his retirement announcement official on Monday, technically remains under contract with the Spurs on a $2.5MM contract for 2018/19. Like they did with Duncan in 2016, the Spurs figure to waive Ginobili at some point in the near future, ensuring that he’ll still receive his salary for the coming season.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts