Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

Fantasy Hoops: Cavs, Crowder, IT, Payton

February 12th, 2018 at 8:54am CST by ChrisCrouse

George Hill verticalThe Cavaliers made a pair of deals at the deadline that added some youth to the NBA’s oldest roster while also addressing the team’s shooting and defense. The move paid dividends on Sunday when the Cavs went up to Boston and took care of business, blowing out the Celtics by 22 points.

Jordan Clarkson was active off the bench, making seven of his 11 shots en route to 17 points. Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. also played key roles off the pine, with Hood racking up 15 points. George Hill started the game and came away with 12 points. All four additions are useful in fantasy, though if I had to pick one, I’d take Clarkson for the rest of the season. He should lead the second unit and get the most volume from here on out.

Let’s take a look at some of the other players who changed addresses at the deadline:

  • Jae Crowder hit three shots from behind the arc on his way to 15 points for the Jazz on Sunday. Crowder was inconsistent for Cleveland and that hurt his fantasy stock, but it appears he’ll see more run in Utah, as he played 29 minutes in his debut (compared to 25.4 minutes per game in Cleveland). The extra playing time and volume should Crowder elevate his value on nights when his shot isn’t there.
  • Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points and dished out six assists in his debut for the Lakers over the weekend. Thomas’ stock is up, as he should get much more offensive opportunity in Los Angeles than he did in Cleveland.
  • During his debut for the Suns, Elfrid Payton looked like someone who should have garnered more than a second-rounder in a trade. The point guard stuffed the stat sheet in 35 minutes against the Nuggets over the weekend, scoring 19 points while adding nine assists and six rebounds. Payton should have free reign in Phoenix for the rest of the season and should be owned in all leagues (available in slightly under 45% on ESPN).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Cleveland Cavaliers

February 11th, 2018 at 8:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

The new-look Cavaliers made a statement today, annihilating the Celtics in Boston in a nationally televised game. The problems that plagued the team all season appear to be vanquished with a younger, faster and more athletic lineup now in place around LeBron James.

All four newly acquired players made an impact with Jordan Clarkson scoring 17 points, Rodney Hood adding 15 with three 3-pointers, George Hill posting 12 points and Larry Nance Jr. contributing five points and four rebounds.

The ball was moving, there were no signs of in-fighting on the court and the issues with defense appear to have been resolved. Most importantly, James looked happy and energized by his new crop of teammates.

“They were phenomenal,” coach Tyronn Lue told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “They played hard and they competed, and it was just good to see the team smiling again and having fun.”

Nobody in Cleveland was having much fun for the past month or so. Especially not Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade or Derrick Rose, who were all sent packing in three separate deals just before Thursday’s trade deadline.

“Attention to detail was at an all-time high this season,” James said in a post-game interview on ABC. “We have players who can get their own and are pretty smart.”

It’s only one game, of course, but it’s a very impressive start for a group that hasn’t played together before and it may be enough to propel the Cavaliers to a fourth straight NBA Finals. But we want to get your opinion. Does this new collection of talent make Cleveland the favorites to win the East? Please leave your response in the comments section below.

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Weekly Mailbag: 2/5/18 – 2/11/18

February 11th, 2018 at 12:57pm 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.

What will DeMarcus Cousins‘ value be? Will he be signing a long-term deal or a huge prove-it deal? — Jeremiah Whitten, via Twitter

Cousins was a lock for a five-year max offer worth about $175MM before tearing his left Achilles. Now it would be a huge risk for the Pelicans to devote that much money to a player who may never be the same physically. The front office is fortunate that it has another four and a half months until Cousins becomes a free agent, so there is time to gauge his level of healing before making a final decision. GM Dell Demps has been on the hot seat for a couple of years, so the choice may fall to someone else if New Orleans misses the playoffs. The Pelicans may end up offering a smaller deal loaded with incentives similar to what Joel Embiid got in Philadelphia. The question is whether another team like the Lakers or Mavericks, who were known to have interest in Cousins before the injury, is willing to make a better offer.

Do you think the Bucks add Andrew Bogut or no? — Dave Koehler, via Twitter

Bogut’s agent said he has talked to four playoff teams and expects a signing to take place this week. Milwaukee certainly figures to be in the running considering its need for interior help and Bogut’s history with the franchise. Gery Woefel of The Racine Journal Times tweeted in January that there was mutual interest, but that nothing was likely to happen until after the trade deadline. The Bucks should be considered the favorites, but the Warriors, Heat and some other teams also need veteran help in the middle, so it’s a matter of who can offer the best situation. Although Bogut didn’t put up impressive numbers in his 24 games with the Lakers, he is still well regarded as a defender and rebounder and he showed enough to convince teams that he has recovered from last season’s broken leg.

Who are the most likely buyout candidates to sign with the Thunder? — Spinozi, via Twitter

The obvious need in Oklahoma City is a strong wing defender to take the place of Andre Roberson. Right now, the best one on the market is Tony Allen, who was waived Friday by the Bulls after being acquired in a trade with the Pelicans. Allen earned a reputation as a defensive stopper during his days with the Celtics and Grizzlies, but he is 36 and had a limited role with New Orleans. OKC has an open roster spot, but will probably wait a few days to see how the buyout market plays out before signing anybody. Another interesting name to watch could be Corey Brewer, who has a limited role with the Lakers and may be pushed aside as the team focuses on its younger players.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Buyout Market

February 10th, 2018 at 9:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

As soon as the NBA’s trade deadline passes, the buyout market begins. Each year, there are some prominent players who either don’t get traded or get shipped to teams that have no intention of keeping them.

Buyouts are a win-win situation for the players and their non-contending teams. The clubs save a few dollars by negotiating down an unwanted salary, and the players are free to sign with a team headed to the postseason. It’s an even bigger win for the contending teams, who are able to add significant talent at minimal cost. Buyouts seem to have replaced trades for the league’s elite organizations, as the five teams with the current best records — the Warriors, Rockets, Raptors, Celtics and Spurs — were all idle as Thursday’s deadline passed.

A handful of players have already agreed to buyouts — Joe Johnson, Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli, Derrick Rose, Tony Allen and Josh McRoberts. Johnson and Wright are headed to the Rockets. Belinelli should have several suitors, including the Warriors, Spurs, Celtics and Thunder. Rose has reportedly attracted attention from the Timberwolves and Wizards. Allen may be headed to the Thunder, while McRoberts will have to convince somebody he can still play after suffering a foot injury and being pushed to the far edge of the bench in Dallas.

More buyouts may be coming with Ersan Ilyasova, Shabazz Muhammad, Vince Carter, Corey Brewer, Kosta Koufos, Marreese Speights, Tyson Chandler and possibly Joakim Noah among the candidates. Also, free agent center Andrew Bogut, who was waived by the Lakers in January, is reportedly close to signing with a contending team and Boris Diaw may be ready for an NBA return.

That brings us to tonight’s question. Who do you see as the most valuable free agent on the market between now and the end of the season? Please share your opinion in our comments section below.

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Hoops Rumors Originals: 2/3/18 – 2/10/18

February 10th, 2018 at 3:57pm CST by clarkcrum

Every week, the writing team here at Hoops Rumors creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our original segments and features from the past week:

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

2018 Free Agent Stock Watch: Utah Jazz

February 9th, 2018 at 8:39pm CST by Austin Kent

The Jazz have done an admirable job turning what appeared to be a lost season into a competitive campaign. Thanks in no small part to the emergence of super rookie Donovan Mitchell, the future is as bright if not brighter than it was in Utah prior to Gordon Hayward‘s departure.

The Jazz sit within reach of the Western Conference playoff picture and just added one of the league’s best bargain small forwards for good measure. Given that the club’s books are in good shape for a potential playoff squad – they have just $89MM committed for next season – a smart offseason could get them close to where they left off in 2016/17.

Dante Exum, PG, 22 (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $16.3MM deal in 2014
It’s hard not to be bearish on the former lottery pick considering that he’s missed all or most of two of his four professional seasons with injuries. Still just 22 years old, however, it’s likely that the restricted free agent will intrigue at least one other team around the Association. The Jazz don’t have much reason to match a lofty deal if he lands one but they may be receptive to an affordable, short-term reunion to see if they can get a better idea of what his actual ceiling is. Much of Exum’s value will be shaped by how he looks when he comes back from his shoulder injury in mid-to-late March.

Derrick Favors, C, 26 (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $47MM deal in 2014Derrick Favors vertical (Getty -- no attribution required)
Favors went from being one of the game’s intriguing young big men to a bit player on a Jazz team that emerged as a surprise contender in the Western Conference. This season, the club has seen more out of the 26-year-old than it has in years, thanks largely in part to Rudy Gobert‘s two long-term absences. It may be inevitable that Favors isn’t a good fit next to Gobert but until head coach Quin Snyder exhausts each and every possibility for incorporating both, Favors could actually be a bargain this summer considering how drastically the narrative around him has changed. Favors isn’t a franchise cornerstone as the contract extension he inked in 2013 implied but he’s an above average starter that, in today’s climate, deserves eight digits.

Raul Neto, PG, 26 (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $3.4MM deal in 2015
The Jazz have incorporated Neto into their rotation this season and gotten modest production in return. While it’s hard to imagine they’ll face much competition from other teams when he hits restricted free agency, it’s conceivable to picture him back in Utah as a cheap third stringer. Don’t expect the club to compromise its roster or cap flexibility in order to retain him but he’s a solid option with which to round out the roster.

Derrick Rose, PG, 29 (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $2.1MM deal in 2017
The Jazz are expected to give Rose a buyout after acquiring him in the Rodney Hood deal at the trade deadline. Even if the club had no intention of buying him out though, it’s slim to none that he’d land back in Utah given their depth at the point and the culture already in place within the organization. Can the banged up husk of a former MVP attract attention on the open market? Yes, of course, but the guard’s inconsistent motivation to even continue playing at all will be the limiting factor.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Traded Player Exceptions Created In Deadline Deals

February 9th, 2018 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Before NBA teams started reaching trade agreements on Thursday, we published the latest entry in our Hoops Rumors Glossary, focusing on the traded player exception. As we explain in our breakdown, the traded player exception can allow over-the-cap teams to receive more salary than they send out in “simultaneous” trades.

The more common form of traded player exception is the one generated in a “non-simultaneous” trade, when a team send out a single player and takes back less salary – or none at all – in return. The team then has one calendar year to use that newly-created exception to acquire one or more players whose salaries fit into that exception.

For instance, the Raptors created a $11,800,000 trade exception in last July’s DeMarre Carroll trade with the Nets, meaning that on Thursday they could have acquired a player earning, say, $11MM without sending out any salary in return.

Not many teams took advantage of their outstanding trade exceptions on Thursday, but at least a couple teams appear to have completed trades with previously existing trade exceptions, or with disabled player exceptions. Nearly every trade completed on Thursday also generated at least one new trade exception, so we’ll round up those newly-created TPEs below.

With the help of tweets from cap experts Albert Nahmad and Bobby Marks, along with information from RealGM’s official transactions log, here’s a breakdown of the new TPEs, sorted by value. Not all of these exceptions have been confirmed with 100% certainty, but this is what we believe they’ll look like. These TPEs will expire if they’re not used by February 8, 2019:

Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions has been updated, and will be adjusted if necessary once we’re able to confirm all the TPEs listed above.

If you have any corrections or questions, please let us know in the comment section.

Retweet 6 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Trade Deadline Winners, Losers

February 9th, 2018 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

The 2018 NBA trade deadline is now behind us, and it was a little busier than expected. A dozen deals were completed on Thursday, after four more trades were finalized in the 10 days prior to the deadline.

The Cavaliers stole the show on deadline day, completing three trades that sent out a total of six players and saw them land four new players: George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance. It was a fascinating roster overhaul for the Cavs, who surrendered their own 2018 first-round pick along with Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Jae Crowder, Iman Shumpert, and Channing Frye, but hung onto the Nets’ 2018 first-rounder.

Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype spoke to several players from around the NBA to get their trade-deadline impressions, and the Cavaliers were the team mentioned most frequently. Trevor Booker called Cleveland the deadline’s “biggest winner,” while an anonymous Eastern Conference guard lauded the Cavs for acquiring several “guys who are hungry.” Multiple players pointed specifically to Hood as a player who will have an impact in Cleveland.

The Lakers also received praise from more than one player who spoke to Kennedy. L.A. only made one trade on deadline day, but it was a big one — in exchange for Clarkson and Nance, two players on multiyear contracts, the Lakers took on a pair of expiring contracts and nabbed the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick. The move puts the team in great position to go after two star free agents in 2018 or 2019.

The Jazz, who moved Hood and Joe Johnson and landed Crowder and Rose, will also active on deadline day, as were the Heat, who reunited with old friends Wade and Luke Babbitt. The Knicks and Suns each picked up a former top-10 pick, with New York acquiring Emmanuel Mudiay and Phoenix trading for Elfrid Payton. The Pistons added bench depth in the form of James Ennis and Jameer Nelson, while the Trail Blazers got out of the tax. The Nuggets and Mavericks were among the other teams who were active.

Conversely, several potential title contenders had very quiet deadlines. The Spurs, Rockets, Warriors, and Celtics didn’t make any trades on Thursday, and the Raptors‘ only deal was a back-of-the-bench move. Some potential sellers were unexpectedly quiet too, as the Clippers hung onto Avery Bradley and DeAndre Jordan, the Grizzlies kept Tyreke Evans, and the Hawks retained Dewayne Dedmon, Marco Belinelli, and Ersan Ilyasova.

Our full 2018 trade deadline recap can be found right here.

Based on all those moves, and even a few trades from last week too, if you want to count the Blake Griffin and Nikola Mirotic swaps as deadline deals: Which teams – or players – do you think were the winners and losers of this year’s trade deadline?

As multiple 2017 blockbuster trades have shown, our early impressions of a trade can sometimes be off base (just ask the Pacers, who are very happy with Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis these days). But we’re still curious to know what you think of the latest deals from around the NBA. Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

2018 NBA Trade Deadline Recap

February 8th, 2018 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After weeks of speculation suggesting that it might be a quiet 2018 trade deadline, we got a pretty eventful day in terms of deals completed — NBA teams agreed to 12 trades today, after four others had been finalized in the 10 days leading up to the deadline.

The deadline was still quiet on some fronts, with contenders like the Warriors, Celtics, Rockets, and Raptors staying out of the fray, but the Cavaliers underwent one of the biggest single-day overhauls in years, and last week’s Blake Griffin trade was a bona fide blockbuster.

Our recap of all of 2018’s deadline deals can be found below, starting with the moves completed today…

Trades completed on deadline day:

February 8

February 8

February 8

  • Heat acquire Dwyane Wade.
  • Cavaliers acquire a 2024 second-round pick (heavily protected).

February 8

  • Knicks acquire Emmanuel Mudiay.
  • Nuggets acquire Devin Harris and the less favorable of the Clippers’ and Knicks’ 2018 second-round picks (from Knicks).
  • Mavericks acquire Doug McDermott and the less favorable of the Kings’ and Trail Blazers’ 2018 second-round picks (from Nuggets).

February 8

  • Suns acquire Elfrid Payton.
  • Magic acquire the second-most favorable of the Grizzlies’, Hornets’, and Heat’s 2018 second-round picks.

February 8

  • Pistons acquire James Ennis.
  • Grizzlies acquire Brice Johnson and the less favorable of the Bulls’ and Pistons’ 2022 second-round picks.

February 8

  • Pistons acquire Jameer Nelson.
  • Bulls acquire Willie Reed and the right to swap 2022 second-round picks with the Pistons.

February 8

February 8

February 8

February 8

  • Hawks acquire Sheldon Mac and cash.
  • Wizards acquire a 2019 second-round pick (heavily protected).

February 8

Trades completed in the 10 days leading up to the deadline:

February 7

February 5

  • Bucks acquire Tyler Zeller.
  • Nets acquire Rashad Vaughn and the Bucks’ 2018 second-round pick (if it falls between 31-47).

February 1

  • Pelicans acquire Nikola Mirotic and their own 2018 second-round pick (previously sent to Bulls).
  • Bulls acquire Omer Asik, Tony Allen, Jameer Nelson, the Pelicans’ 2018 first-round pick (top-5 protected), and the right to swap 2021 second-round picks with the Pelicans.

January 29

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Hoops Rumors’ 2018 Trade Deadline Primer

February 8th, 2018 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

In past NBA seasons, the trade deadline has typically fallen just after the All-Star Game, with All-Star weekend serving as an event where general managers can connect in person as they attempt to hammer out deals in advance of the fast-approaching deadline.

This season, however, the NBA has moved up the trade deadline by two weeks to February 8. Executives will no longer get the opportunity to discuss trades at the All-Star Game, but it remains to be seen whether this will result in a less active deadline than usual. After all, deadlines generally spur teams into action, whether that happens on February 8, February 22, or any other date on the calendar.

We’ll be keeping tabs on all the latest news and rumors all day long on Hoops Rumors, leading up to the 2:00pm CT trade deadline. In the meantime, here are some of our features, trackers, and analysis to help you prepare for today’s action:

Trackers and lists:

Analysis and additional information:

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts