International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Rule Tweaks, Poirier, Buyouts, James

April 7th, 2021 at 4:31pm CST by Ben Stinar

The NBA’s Competition Committee is mulling some possible rule modifications for the 2021/22 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who tweets the coach’s challenge is one rule that could be tweaked. The committee is considering giving teams an extra challenge or timeout if the first challenge is successful, Charania explains.

Sources tell Charania that the Competition Committee is also evaluating rules related to “unnatural shooting motions in connection with perimeter jump-shots and on-ball screens, and the principle of verticality.” Presumably, any changes to those rules would limit offensive players’ ability to draw fouls by jumping into defenders.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Having been traded by Philadelphia and waived by New York last month, veteran center Vincent Poirier is a free agent, and a report from Chema De Lucas (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando) suggests Real Madrid could be the frontrunner to sign the big man for the 2021/22 season. In 32 NBA games for the Sixers and Celtics, Poirier has career averages of 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per contest.
The NBA buyout market has been a hot topic of discussion after the Nets were able to add seven-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and six-time All-Star Blake Griffin for virtually nothing. NBC Sports’ Dan Feldman proposes an idea to fix the loose buyout market, suggesting a blind-bid process that also involves the player. Under Feldman’s plan, the player would go to the highest bidder, but if the player himself places the highest “bid,” he’d give up that amount of money on his buyout and become a free agent.
After leaving CSKA Moscow in Russia, veteran guard Mike James is returning to the U.S. in the hopes of receiving an NBA opportunity, his agency BDA Sports International confirmed (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). James played 36 NBA games in 2017/18, averaging 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for Phoenix and New Orleans.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Buyout Market, Epps, Stephenson, Ujiri, Ham

April 3rd, 2021 at 1:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

When the NBA and NBA Players’ Association hold CBA renewal talks, the league plans to consider bringing up buyout reform as part of a broader discussion, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Some team executives have complained about the plethora of veteran players getting buyouts and joining playoff contenders.

Commissioner Adam Silver‘s office doesn’t see it as an issue of fairness between big and small markets, but rather a process that is contradictory to the financial system’s goals. In the league’s view, teams with big payrolls are adding an impact player without a dramatic impact on their luxury tax penalties, since those salaries after clearing waivers are usually prorated minimums.

The NBA would also like to find a way to make players who have been bought out available to more teams than just the contenders.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Aaron Epps has signed in Israel with Elitzur Eito Ashkelon, sources told Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw (Twitter link). Epps holds G League experience with the Northern Arizona Suns and Canton Charge, most recently playing with Canton in the bubble.
Veteran NBA swingman Lance Stephenson is hopeful of playing in the league again, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. He has been working out in New York for the last few weeks, in case a suitor comes calling. The 30-year-old last played in the NBA with the Lakers in 2019.
There’s some speculation around the league that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri may eventually wind up in Seattle if the league approves a new franchise, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times. The group heading expansion efforts in Seattle includes longtime sports executive Tim Leiweke, who hired Ujiri as Toronto’s executive vice president and GM in 2013.
Texas Tech has received permission to interview Bucks assistant Darvin Ham for its head coaching vacancy, Wojnarowski tweets. Ham led the school to the Sweet 16 in 1996 and played in the NBA from ’96 to 2005.

And-Ones: Woodson, Ivey, McCall, Brooks

March 28th, 2021 at 9:02pm CST by JD Shaw

Knicks assistant Mike Woodson has accepted a position to become the new head coach of Indiana men’s basketball program, the school announced today (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported (via Twitter) that the sides were finalizing a six-year contract. The agreement allows Woodson to officially return to his alma mater.

Woodson moved up in the program’s wish list after Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann both declined the job, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link).

Woodson, a former NBA player and veteran coach, joined Tom Thibodeau‘s staff with the Knicks last September. He has previously served as an assistant with several teams from 1996-2004, head coach of the Hawks from 2004-10, head coach of the Knicks from 2012-14 and assistant with the Clippers from 2014-18.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Woodson isn’t the only New York-based assistant coach eyeing a college job. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Nets assistant Royal Ivey interviewed for the Texas Longhorns’ open coaching position on Sunday. Ivey played his college ball for Texas before entering the NBA in 2004, appearing in the Final Four with the program in ’03.
Free agent guard Tahjere McCall is signing in France with Orléans Loiret Basket, his agent told Hoops Rumors. The 26-year-old recently played with the Lakeland Magic and received NBA G League All-Defensive Team honors. He also averaged 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in 15 games, proving his worth on both ends of the floor.
Despite an announcement from the team last week, guard Armoni Brooks will no longer be reporting to Orléans Loiret Basket, sources said. McCall will essentially be replacing Brooks, who averaged 16 points per game in the G League this season. The 22-year-old Brooks went undrafted in 2019.

Bruno Caboclo Signs With French Team

March 26th, 2021 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward Bruno Caboclo, who played six games with the Rockets this season, has signed with France’s Limoges CSP, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets.

Caboclo has appeared in 105 NBA games since he was drafted in the first round by the Raptors in 2014. He’s also played for Sacramento and Memphis.

Caboclo was waived in mid-January in order to clear a roster spot after the James Harden multi-team blockbuster. He also played eight games for Houston at the end of last season after being acquired from the Grizzlies at the trade deadline.

Caboclo signed a two-year contract with the Rockets in November that included a team option, but the first year wasn’t fully guaranteed.

And-Ones: COVID-19, Buyout Market, Marble, Carr, Albeck

March 26th, 2021 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

While it fell through the cracks to some extent amidst a hectic trade-deadline week, the latest update from the NBA and NBPA on coronavirus testing results was another favorable one. According to the league and the union, just one player out of 485 tested positive for COVID-19 between March 17-24.

The NBA and NBPA would certainly rather see that number at zero, but the fact that there have been no postponements so far in the second half is a good sign that teams have avoided an outbreak since the All-Star Game.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Drummond have received most of the buzz as the biggest names on the buyout market, but John Hollinger of The Athletic views Otto Porter, Kelly Olynyk, and Gorgui Dieng as more appealing targets — if their respective teams are willing to move on from them.
Jabari Young of CNBC takes an early look at the NBA’s next TV deal, reporting that people in league circles believe the league could seek a deal worth a total of $75 billion. The NBA’s current TV rights deal doesn’t expire until 2025, so there’s still plenty of time to work out the next one.
Our JD Shaw provided a pair of updates on former second-round picks this week, reporting that veteran wing Devyn Marble is joining Maccabi Haifa in Israel and that 23-year-old guard Tony Carr underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ACL (Twitter links). Marble was selected 56th overall in the 2014 draft and appeared in 44 NBA games with Orlando, while Carr – the No. 51 pick in 2018 – has yet to make his NBA debut.
Former NBA head coach Stan Albeck passed away at age 89 on Thursday, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes. Albeck coached the Cavaliers, Spurs, Nets, and Bulls from 1979-86 and also spent time as an assistant on a handful of other NBA staffs.

And-Ones: Ignite, BayHawks, Go-Go, Practices, Lewis

March 14th, 2021 at 6:28pm CST by JD Shaw

With the 2021 G League bubble coming to an end last week, players on the G League Ignite have essentially gone their separate ways and are expected to train individually ahead of the draft, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

The roster has four players in particular — Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix — who are projected to be drafted in 2021. Green and Kuminga are recognized as probable high lottery picks.

The team’s facilities in Walnut Creek, California remain available for players to use, Stein adds. The Ignite finished its inaugural season with an 8-7 record, having competed with a unique mix of young players and veterans.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look at how the G League arrangement between the Wizards and Pelicans worked this season. Washington opted not to have an affiliate in the G League bubble, though the team did reach an agreement to send multiple players to New Orleans’ team, the Erie BayHawks, instead.
Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times examines how the coronavirus pandemic has virtually decimated practices in the NBA this season. Woike explores how the pandemic has made it difficult for teams to schedule practices in an unprecedented campaign, something the league hopes will improve as the year goes on. “We use the games as practice,” Nets star James Harden said. “… The most important thing is being ready once the postseason starts.”
Maccabi Rishon (Israel) has released guard Trey Lewis, announcing the news on social media today. Lewis, 28, holds several years of overseas experience, also playing with the Jazz’s G League affiliate during the 2018/19 season. He went undrafted in 2015 after playing at Penn State, Cleveland State and Louisville.

Levi Randolph Signs With New Zealand Breakers

March 14th, 2021 at 11:16am CST by JD Shaw

Free agent Levi Randolph has signed with the New Zealand Breakers of Australia’s National Basketball League, a source told Hoops Rumors. The deal is for the rest of the season and has an NBA out clause.

Randolph averaged 12.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest with Canton during the G League bubble, shooting an impressive 43% on 3-pointers. The 28-year-old was called up by the Cavaliers on a two-way deal last season and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the team during camp this season.

Randolph, an Alabama product, holds four years of G League experience. The veteran wing has also played professionally in Italy and France during his career.

Sportando was first to report the news of his signing.

And-Ones: Lin, G League, Playoffs, Eboua

March 12th, 2021 at 11:36am CST by Luke Adams

Having investigated Jeremy Lin‘s allegation that an opposing player called him “coronavirus” during a game, the NBA G League has identified that player, as Shams Charania of The Athletic relays (via Twitter). With Lin’s support, the league is handling the matter internally, Charania says.

An NBAGL spokesperson confirmed that Lin has met with the offending player to discuss the incident, adding that the player “understands the impact that hearing his comment had on Lin.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Speaking of the G League, the brief 2020/21 season came to an end on Thursday when the Lakeland Magic defeated the Delaware Blue Coats for this year’s NBAGL championship (link via The Associated Press). All the players under NBA contract who had been assigned to the G League bubble should now be headed back to their NBA teams, if they haven’t already rejoined them. That includes Lakeland’s Karim Mane (to the Magic) and Delaware’s Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe (to the Sixers).
While the NBA has done a pretty good job during the last year dealing with the effects of the coronavirus, John Hollinger of The Athletic questions what the league’s plan will be for the 2021 playoffs. The league has had to postpone over 30 games so far this season for reasons related to COVID-19, but having to deal with any postponements in the postseason would be a major problem.
Cameroonian forward Paul Eboua, who was in camp with the Heat in December and played for the Long Island Nets in the G League bubble, is headed back overseas, having reached an agreement through 2022 with VL Pesaro, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (hat tip to Sportando).

And-Ones: ASG, Embiid, Simmons, J. Young, Singh

March 8th, 2021 at 2:48pm CST by Luke Adams

When word broke on Sunday that Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had been ruled out of the All-Star Game due to being in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, there was some concern that the NBA was at risk of its worst-case scenario – a COVID-19 outbreak at All-Star weekend – playing out. However, Embiid and Simmons didn’t have any contact with their fellow All-Stars and the game was able to take place as planned, with no other players affected.

Now, the NBA is expressing confidence that its mini-bubble in Atlanta for the All-Star Game was a success. As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, the league said in a statement on Monday that all players, coaches, and officials involved in the event were tested three times in Atlanta, including right before the game, and there were no positives.

As for Embiid and Simmons, there’s no indication so far that their close contact with a barber who tested positive will result in positive tests for them as well. Head coach Doc Rivers said after the game that his two stars continued to register negative tests and that he hopes that continues for a few more days (Twitter link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer).

“Both of them, their biggest concern would be if they could play the first two games when we get back,” Rivers said, per Reynolds. “So we don’t know the answer to that yet. That’s going to be really important for us. It would be tough to start the second half of the year and not have either one.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former NBA first-round pick James Young has signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Israeli team announced today (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). It’s the second stint in Israel for Young, who played for Maccabi Haifa in 2019/20. The veteran wing played for the Westchester Knicks in this year’s G League bubble but hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since 2018.
In an in-depth piece for HoopsHype, Yossi Gozlan explores what each team can and should do at the trade deadline, including which clubs can afford to be aggressive buyers or sellers, and which ones have more limited trade options.
Michael Lee of The Washington Post takes a closer look at 20-year-old G League forward Princepal Singh‘s goal of becoming the first Indian-born player to appear in an NBA game, and why his development is important for a league trying to establish a foothold in India.

And-Ones: Bates, Trades, COVID-19, Udoh

March 5th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by Ben Stinar

Emoni Bates is the number one player in the country, according to ESPN’s basketball rankings for the class of 2022. While most kids would join a blue blood program (he’s committed to Michigan State) in their one season before the NBA, times have changed. According to Brendan Quinn of The Athletic, many sources think that Bates will forgo his college eligibility to play in the G League, just as top 2020 recruit Jalen Green did.

“Of all the sources interviewed for this story, those existing in and out of the Bates’ camp, no one seems to believe Emoni will play at Michigan State,” Quinn wrote. “Instead, Bates most likely will wait for a professional contract, probably the most lucrative the G League can muster, and turn professional before heading to the NBA.”

However, according to Emoni’s father, Elgin Bates, no decision has been made just yet, as Adam Zagoria of Forbes writes.

“If the G League is something he wants to do, if he decides that’s what he wants to do, that’s perfectly fine,” the elder Bates said, via Zagoria. “He can do the G League. If Michigan State is what he wants to do, that’s perfectly fine. If he wants to entertain going overseas, that’s perfectly fine. If he just wants to sit out and train for a year, it’s whatever he wants to do. It’s his decision.”

Here are a few more tip-ins from around the basketball world:

A handful of ESPN experts (Insider link) shared the trades they’d like to see happen ahead of the NBA’s March 25th trading deadline. The potential swaps ESPN’s insiders proposed included a three-team trade that would send Kyle Lowry home to Philadelphia, Aaron Gordon going to the Timberwolves, and the Clippers acquiring George Hill.
According to a study published in JAMA Cardiology, fewer than 1% of pro athletes infected by COVID-19 also developed inflammatory heart disease. “Only time will tell if, five years from now, we’ll have an epidemic of failed hearts,” said Dr. Robert Bonow, a cardiologist at Northwestern University and editor of JAMA Cardiology who was not affiliated with the study, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “But I think that is unlikely.”
Ekpe Udoh, who spent seven seasons in the NBA for the Warriors, Bucks, Clippers and Jazz, has landed a deal to play in China for the Beijing Royal Fighers, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.