Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Nene, Pelicans, Gay, Guards

April 30th, 2019 at 6:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Nene didn’t play in the Rockets first four playoff games but he saw action in the team’s closeout win over the Jazz and Game 1 loss to the Warriors, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes.

“It’s a man’s game and he’s a man,” coach Mike D’Antoni said of Nene’s play. “He’s effective for limited minutes. We have to be careful with him because we like for him to last the whole time. But he was good.”

Nene only suited up in 42 games for the Rockets this season. He’s made all six of his attempts over the past two playoff games, giving Houston 22 minutes of solid play.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans have poached athletic trainer Aaron Nelson from the Suns, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports (Twitter link). Vice president of basketball operations David Griffin worked with Nelson while the two were in Phoenix together.
Rudy Gay is the only free agent of “significance” in San Antonio, Sean Deveney of Sporting News writes in his Spurs offseason preview, adding that Gay would like to stay with the Spurs on a “team-friendly” deal. The combo forward made slightly over $10MM this past season.
The Spurs could look to trade either Bryn Forbes of Marco Belinelli, Deveney contends in the same piece. The team has a logjam at their guard spots and both Dejounte Murray and Derrick White have too much upside for Spurs to think about moving either of them. Deveney also adds that coach Gregg Popovich, who’s expected to sign a new deal with San Antonio, values Patty Mills as a leader, making his departure unlikely.

Wizards Interviewing Ferry, Rosas For Front Office Job

April 30th, 2019 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Pelicans interim GM Danny Ferry and current Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will be the first candidate to meet with the Wizards about the team’s top front office job. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Rosas is currently in Washington to interview with the club, while Candace Buckner of The Washington Post tweets that Ferry met with the Wizards today.

Rosas has been a popular target in recent years for teams with openings at the top of their basketball operations departments, having already been linked to the Pelicans’ and Timberwolves’ jobs this spring. New Orleans went with David Griffin, but a source tells Katz that Rosas is still very much in the mix for Minnesota’s president of basketball operations position.

A longtime member of one of the NBA’s most analytically driven front offices, Rosas could be a good fit for the Wizards. As Katz points out, owner Ted Leonsis has indicated that he’d prefer Ernie Grunfeld‘s replacement to place an emphasis on data and analytics.

As for Ferry, he has previous experience running a front office in Cleveland and Atlanta, and re-assumed that role in New Orleans after Dell Demps‘ ouster during the 2018/19 season.

According to Katz, Mike Forde, an outside consultant, is helping the Wizards with their search after previously assisting the Pelicans. Rosas and Perry were both part of the Pelicans’ process, and other executives that showed up on New Orleans’ list – such as Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon and Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris – could also be of interest to the Wizards.

House Isn't Mad At Warriors For Cutting Him

April 29th, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rockets point guard Chris Paul was fined $35K for “aggressively confronting and recklessly making contact with a game official” but was not suspended, according to a league press release relayed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

Paul was ejected with 4.4 seconds left in Game 1 of the Rockets’ conference semifinal series with Golden State on Sunday. He was whistled for his second technical foul when he made contact with referee Josh Tiven while arguing that Warriors guard Klay Thompson committed a loose-ball foul against him. The non-call on Thompson was correct, according to the NBA’s last two minute report, MacMahon notes. Paul said the contact was accidental.

Rockets reserve forward Danuel House harbors no ill will toward the Warriors for cutting him loose during training camp, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. “I was just trying to secure a job, show people my potential. I just needed an opportunity,” House said. “Those guys didn’t see me fit for it. I’m just grateful my hometown team took me in. It’s business. I respect the nature of the business. But of course I want to win.” House had three points and three rebounds in 21 minutes during the series opener. He had his two-way contract converted into a standard deal in mid-March.

Rockets Notes: Harden, Paul, Morey, Gordon

April 28th, 2019 at 8:31pm CST by JD Shaw

James Harden and the Rockets found themselves at the center of attention in the NBA Sunday, coming up short against the Warriors in a 104-100 road loss in Game 1. Harden struggled shooting the ball and finished just 9-of-28 from the field, partially a result from several questionable no-calls on his attempted three-pointers.

Of the 28 shots Harden attempted, 16 of them were from 3-point range. There were multiple shots where Klay Thompson or another Warriors player dangerously over-extended on the play, giving him little-to-no space to land.

“They missed four of them. That’s 12 foul shots,” an irritated Mike D’Antoni said postgame of the officiating.

D’Antoni mentioned the officials admitted their wrongdoings at halftime, vowing to take a closer look at whether Harden was being fouled. The final play of the game saw Harden attempt a three at the top of the key and receive contact from Draymond Green, with no call being made. The case could be made that Harden extended his legs out in a flopping motion on the shot, but the officials were still ripped by several team figures and fans.

“I just want a fair chance, man,” Harden said. “Call the game how it’s supposed to be called, and that’s it. I’ll live with the results. Especially because we all know what happened a few years back with Kawhi [Leonard], and that could change an entire series. Just call the game how it’s supposed to be called and we’ll live with the results. It’s plain and simple.”

The Rockets have a chance to bounce back and take Game 2 on Tuesday night, which is also set to commence from Oracle Arena.

There’s more out of Houston tonight:

Chris Paul was ejected at the end of Game 1 after picking up his second technical foul. Paul argued a no-call and appeared to make slight contact with the referee, something the league has issued suspensions for in the past. Should Paul be suspended for Game 2, it would be a crushing blow to a Houston team still hoping to steal homecourt advantage in the series. “I don’t know yet,” Paul said when asked if he made contact with the official, admitting that he hadn’t watched the replay yet. “He just called a tech and that was my second.”
Daryl Morey‘s new plan for the Rockets is peaking at just the right time, Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle writes. Players such as Carmelo Anthony, James Ennis and Michael Carter-Williams started the season with Houston, but Morey and his staff made the decision to move on from each of them to seek other talent. In turn, they brought in the likes of Austin Rivers, Danuel House and Kenneth Faried. “It’s very odd,” Morey said. “When we sign people, we make a commitment to them and we want it to work out. Quite a few didn’t work out this year. I would prefer not to make all those changes, but the reality was it wasn’t working. We got Chris (Paul) and James (Harden) in his prime, and it’s unacceptable to not do everything we can to make sure we’re maximizing their presence.”
Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle details how Kelvin Sampson — college coach of Eric Gordon — helped Gordon take a turning point in his first collegiate game that still affects his career today. “On a whim, I told him to guard the point guard,” Sampson said. “Pick up him up 94 feet. Eric asked me what I meant and I told him, ‘turn him as many times as you can.’” Gordon is recognized as one of the most underrated defenders within the Rockets, continuing to improve as his career progresses.

Warriors Notes: Kerr, Durant, Green, Iguodala

April 27th, 2019 at 8:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is calling for a change in the rule that imposes an automatic one-game suspension on any player who receives seven technical fouls in the playoffs, relays Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The penalty is significant for the Warriors because Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were among the league leaders in technicals during the regular season.

“I will never understand the rule that everybody falls under the exact same category, in terms of whether you lose in four games in the first round or you play 25 games and you go to the Finals, that it’s the same technical fouls points that lead to a suspension,” Kerr said. “It seems strange. But I do know that Kevin and Draymond have a good feel for when they reach that number. They generally are able to shut that off, shut that emotion off and stay on the floor. That’s going to be important.”

Green and Durant each picked up two T’s in the first-round series with the Clippers. Both of Durant’s came in the opening game, which got him ejected, while another technical in Game 3 was rescinded. Golden State is hoping the league will also rescind a technical foul Green received last night.

“He ran over to [referee David Guthrie] and said, ‘Tell me what I have to do to defend that better,’ and he got a T,” Kerr explained. “I was surprised. We’ll see what happens, but we’ve got to understand that we’ve got to be on alert, because the rules are the rules in terms of the suspensions and all that stuff.”

There’s more Warriors news to pass along:

Durant tells Anthony Slater of The Athletic that the key to finishing off the Clippers was to block out distractions. After giving up a 31-point lead in a Game 2 loss, Durant averaged better than 40 PPG for the rest of the series. “There’s a lot of speculation about me, about my attitude, about where I’m playing next season that a lot of these (media) dudes in here are trying to distract us with and then want to blame it on me because it’s easy to blame it on me,” Durant said. “I understand that. We understand that. So for us, we just made it about basketball.”
Durant has established himself as the best player in the league and should stay with the Warriors to see how many titles he can win, contends Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
Andre Iguodala‘s value as a playoff defender convinced the Warriors to give him a three-year, $48MM contract when he was a free agent in 2017, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. After Golden State made an original offer of $36MM, Iguodala had discussions with the Spurs, Lakers, Kings and Rockets before owner Joe Lacob approved the larger deal.

Rockets To Practice In Bay Area

April 25th, 2019 at 10:46pm CST by clarkcrum

The Rockets, fresh off a first-round series win over the Jazz, will travel to the Bay Area tomorrow to begin preparation for what the team evidently believes will be a second-round match-up against the Warriors, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Interestingly, the Warriors have not yet been able to dispatch the Clippers in their first-round series, so the Rockets decision to assume they will face Golden State in the next round is curious at best and disrespectful to the Clippers at worst.

The Rockets, of course, say they intend no disrespect to the Clippers – who host the Warriors in Game 6 tomorrow night – but rather insist that the quick turnaround between series creates a situation where Houston needs to get used to the Pacific Time Zone in case they open the second round at Oracle Arena on Sunday afternoon, which will happen if the Warriors win tomorrow night.

Even if the Clippers win tomorrow night, the Rockets will reportedly remain in the Bay Area, and only head back to Houston if the Clippers beat the Warriors in Game 7 on Sunday afternoon.

It’s unlikely the Clippers, who seem to play as hard and with as big of a chip on their shoulders as anybody, would need any extra motivation for tomorrow night, but if they did, this sure qualifies as bulletin board material.

Rockets Bring In Three Guards For Workout

April 24th, 2019 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets held a predraft workout on Wednesday that included Mississippi guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, Washington guard Jalyen Nowell and Campbell guard Chris Clemons, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Houston does not currently own a pick in this year’s draft. Nowell is the highest-ranked prospect among the trio, as he’s ranked No. 87 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

Stein’s Latest: Clippers, Warriors, Westbrook

April 23rd, 2019 at 8:36pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer believes his franchise can win an NBA championship before their co-tenants in Los Angeles and will look to add star talent this offseason. Marc Stein of the New York Times puts the “over/under” for superstars signed by the Clips this summer at one, as he writes in the mailbag section of his latest newsletter.

Stein adds that Kawhi Leonard is still the most likely superstar to join Ballmer’s team this summer. Los Angeles has a desirable situation for any star, and with their collection of draft picks and players on team-friendly deals, the Clippers could feasibly sign someone like Leonard and swing a deal that gives him a top running mate.

Stein has more in his latest newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights:

One Western Conference scout told Stein that this year’s version of Steve Kerr‘s Warriors may not be as sharp as the teams in the past. “I just question the Warriors’ ability to continually focus,” the scout said. “It seems like nowadays they need to be punched in the mouth before they’re Golden State. They’re not just coming out on a mission and overwhelming teams. Maybe I will regret saying this, but I just don’t trust them like I used to.”
The Warriors‘ familiarity with the Rockets may give them an advantage in a potential playoff rematch, another scout tells Stein. “Stylistically Houston is a very different team,” the scout said. “It takes most teams two games just to try to figure out how they want to deal with Harden. Golden State will already know. And with Ron Adams running the defense, they do a great job of changing it up and not letting Harden get a great rhythm.”
The Thunder inked Russell Westbrook to a five-year, $200MM+ extension back in 2017. While the move will face some scrutiny as Westbrook ages, Stein reminds readers that the alternative to the extension was risking the former MVP walking out the door as Kevin Durant previously did.

Western Notes: Capela, Suns, Pelicans, House

April 23rd, 2019 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets center Clint Capela, who had one of his worst games of the season on Monday in Utah, tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com that he has been battling a pair of respiratory illnesses during the playoffs. According to Capela, he was diagnosed on Sunday with adenovirus and a klebsiella infection. He’s treating the illnesses with medication and eye drops, and isn’t expected to back to full health for another four or five days.

“It’s tough, man,” Capela told MacMahon. “Especially when I try to breathe, it’s hard. I’m just going to fight it the best that I can.”

If Capela is slowed again in Game 5, it could open the door a crack for a Jazz comeback, though the Rockets remain heavy favorites to finish off the series on Wednesday night, with or without a fully healthy center.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

As John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 clarifies (via Twitter), the Suns wouldn’t draft Ja Morant over Zion Williamson if they get the No. 1 pick. However, the Suns would be happy to select Morant at No. 2, and could explore trading up to No. 2 if they end up with a slightly lower pick, per Gambadoro. This doesn’t contradict a weekend report from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who cited sources that believe Phoenix may prefer to end up with Morant. Vecenie himself expressed skepticism that the team would pass on Williamson at No. 1.
Clippers assistant general manager Trent Redden is in New Orleans this week, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Nothing is official yet, but there have been whispers that the Pelicans plan to hire Redden as their new GM under David Griffin. Redden and Griffin have already met in New Orleans, reports Andrew Lopez of NOLA.com (via Twitter).
The latest trip to Salt Lake City for Danuel House reflects how far he has come in the last four-and-a-half months, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The last time House was in Utah in early December, he was being waived from the Rockets‘ 15-man roster. He ultimately re-signed with the team on a two-way deal, then played his way back onto the 15-man squad before the end of the season. Now, he’s one of Houston’s must trusted reserves, having averaged 23.8 MPG in the first round.

GM Michael Winger To Stay With Clippers

April 21st, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Clippers GM Michael Winger has taken his name out of the running for a front office position in Minnesota, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

Winger had been a candidate to fill the president of basketball operations role with the Timberwolves, but sources tell Krawczynski that he has elected to stay in L.A. and continue the work he started there. He was reluctant to leave an already competitive team that will have the cap room to offer at least one max contract this summer (Twitter link).

Winger has served as GM of the Clippers since 2017 and previously worked as an assistant GM to Sam Presti in Oklahoma City. The Wolves haven’t started formal interviews yet, so Winger didn’t have more than preliminary contact with them (Twitter link).

With one candidate off the list, Minnesota still appears to have a strong group to choose from, with ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups, Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas and Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth as the other reported candidates.