Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Barnes, Tyler, Kawhi, Payton

March 7th, 2021 at 7:18pm CST by JD Shaw

Kings forward Harrison Barnes has been elected as the new Secretary-Treasurer of the National Basketball Players Association, according to a press release from the website. Barnes will begin his three-year term immediately and replace Anthony Tolliver.

“This is a great opportunity to get more involved in union business and I am very excited to join Chris [Paul], Andre [Iguodala] and the rest of the Executive Committee,” Barnes said. “Our union has an important role representing all 450 players and I am honored that my peers elected me to this position.”

Blazers guard CJ McCollum and Bulls wing Garrett Temple were also re-elected as Vice Presidents of the NBPA’s Executive Committee, the release said.

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

Free agent Jeremy Tyler has agreed to a deal in China with the Liaoning Flying Leopards, sources told Hoops Rumors. Tyler has played 104 games in his career, most recently spending time in Puerto Rico. He was the No. 39 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard plans to play in the Olympics this year, according to ESPN. Leonard would play for head coach Gregg Popovich, who coached the 29-year-old from 2011-18 — a run that included an NBA title and two Finals appearances. “My plan is to go,” Leonard said. “If I feel up to it and feel ready to go around that time, then I’m going to play.”
Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton hinted at potentially coaching in the NBA soon, as relayed by Sean Deveney of Forbes.com. Payton made his intentions of coaching clear to Yahoo last year, confirming that his interests haven’t changed. “It is still the case. I got a surprise coming for a lot of people pretty soon,” he said. “I don’t want to announce it right now, but you’ll see it pretty soon in the next couple of weeks, I hope everybody will be excited about it.”

Larry Nance Jr. Drawing Interest From Multiple Suitors

March 6th, 2021 at 3:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Larry Nance Jr. has drawn the most interest in the trade market among Cavaliers players, including an offer that featured multiple late first-round picks, Chris Fedor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Nance is in the second year of a four-year, $44.8MM contract that was front-loaded, adding to his appeal. The Timberwolves have been pursuing Nance since the offseason, with the Celtics, Sixers, Pelicans, Heat and Mavericks also showing interest in the power forward, sources tell Fedor.

Nance was sidelined prior to the All-Star break with a fractured left hand but is expected to return as early as next weekend. However, the Cavs’ front office is reluctant to trade the 28-year-old, viewing him as a core player.

Fedor also offered up a number of other insights with the trade deadline approaching later this month:

The front office still holds out hope it can deal Andre Drummond, believing that an interested party other than the Nets, Lakers or Clippers will step forward, rather than competing with those top contenders for Drummond on the buyout market.
The Cavs are open to dealing small forwards Taurean Prince and Cedi Osman, who aren’t considered core pieces. They could come into play in a potential deal involving Drummond, especially if a third team is needed to make the salaries fit.
Teams looking for a big have checked in on JaVale McGee, who has an expiring $4.2MM contract.
It’s unlikely the Cavs will be able to shed Kevin Love‘s contract, though the Mavericks view him as a better fit than Drummond. The Cavs tend to overvalue Love and aren’t seeking a salary dump where an asset would need to be attached.

Kennard Shows Signs Of Breakout

March 6th, 2021 at 1:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Luke Kennard‘s last outing was a promising development for the Clippers, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times notes. Kennard contributed 14 points and four assists in 21 minutes against Washington. After acquiring Kennard in a multi-team trade during the offseason, the Clippers signed Kennard to a four-year, $64MM extension in December.
The Kings recalled rookie guard Jahmi’us Ramsey from the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers, according to a team press release. Ramsey appeared in 12 games at the Orlando bubble and averaged 9.8 PPG in 21.0 MPG. The second-round pick has seen action in four games with Sacramento this season.

Pistons, Blake Griffin Finalize Buyout

March 5th, 2021 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

4:04pm: The buyout agreement has been completed and Griffin has been placed on waivers, according to a team press release. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday evening.

“As we stated from the beginning of our discussions with Blake and his representatives, our goal has been to facilitate a resolution for the future that maximizes the interests of both Blake and our team,” GM Troy Weaver said in a statement. “We appreciate all of Blake’s efforts on and off the court in Detroit, have great respect for him as a player and a person and we wish him all the best in the future.”

“I thank the Pistons organization for working together on an outcome that benefits all involved and I wish the franchise success in the future,” Griffin said.

11:04am: The Pistons and power forward Blake Griffin have agreed to a contract buyout that will pave the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Shams Charania of The Athletic had reported on Thursday that Detroit and Griffin were working toward a buyout.

According to Wojnarowski, most of the NBA’s contending teams have interest in Griffin, who figures to make a decision on where he’ll sign in the near future after he speaks to his top suitors.

Griffin has been out of the Pistons’ lineup since February 15, when he and the team agreed to work toward a solution that would expedite his exit from Detroit. The Pistons were focused on developing their younger players, while the 31-year-old’s preference was to join a contending team, so both sides were on board with pursuing a trade or buyout.

Although Griffin has made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA squads over the course of his impressive career, health issues have significantly limited his impact this season, as he has averaged a career-worst 12.3 PPG on 36.5% shooting in 20 games (31.3 MPG).

The former first overall pick also has one of the league’s most onerous contracts, including a $36.8MM cap hit in 2020/21, followed by a $38.96MM player option for ’21/22. That deal presumably made it impossible for the Pistons to find a reasonable trade, which is why the team and his reps shifted their focus to a buyout.

It will be fascinating to see how much salary Griffin agreed to give up as part of the agreement — most players who are bought out by their teams are on expiring contracts, but it seems safe to assume Griffin didn’t simply decline his player option as part of the deal. The Pistons will likely be on the hook for a significant amount of 2021/22 salary, though they’ll have the option of stretching next season’s cap hit across three seasons.

[UPDATE: Griffin Gave Up $13.3MM In Buyout]

Griffin will spend two days on waivers before he’s officially free to sign with a new team, but as long as the Pistons finalize his release soon, he should have plenty of time to find a new home by the start of the season’s second half next Wednesday.

Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) specifically names the Lakers, Clippers, Nets, Heat, and Warriors as teams that have expressed interest in Griffin, while Woj adds the Trail Blazers to the veteran’s list of viable options (Twitter link).

[UPDATE: Nets Considered Frontrunners To Sign Griffin]

Most of those clubs make sense, though a reunion with the Clippers would be a surprise, given how Griffin’s initial time with the organization came to an end. The Clippers re-signed Griffin to a five-year, $171MM contract in the summer of 2017 after pitching him on being a long-term centerpiece in L.A., then turned around and traded him to Detroit six months later.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lue, Clippers Stars Confer Over Late-Game Problems

March 4th, 2021 at 10:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue met with All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George ahead of their last game before the All-Star break tonight, hoping to address the team’s recent late-game woes, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. Before tonight, Los Angeles had a league-worst “clutch minutes” rating of -24.3. Whatever they were working on did not quite click this evening, as the Clippers (without George) lost a close contest to the Wizards, 119-117.

Leonard Sidelined By Back Spasms

March 2nd, 2021 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard was a late scratch in the team’s loss to Boston on Tuesday due to back spasms, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays. Leonard, who felt discomfort during warmups, has missed eight games this season for a variety of reasons.

Clips' G League Affiliate Waives Bowman

February 26th, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Ben Stinar

The Clippers‘ G League affiliate (the Agua Caliente Clippers) has waived guard Ky Bowman after he suffered a season-ending injury (Twitter link via JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors). Last season, Bowman averaged 7.2 PPG in 45 games for the Warriors.

Lue Emphasizes Finishing With Zubac

February 25th, 2021 at 10:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue seems to be maximizing reserve center Ivica Zubac, according to the Orange County Register’s Mirjam Swanson. Lue has been focused on ensuring that Zubac finishes with power around the rim lately. “He’s been on me about finishing, being aggressive, dunking the ball every time I can,” Zubac said of Lue. “Every time I get a dunk over someone, next to someone, I come up to him and ask him if that was good enough.”

Sixers, Heat, Clippers Considered Potential Suitors For Lowry

February 25th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have told point guard Kyle Lowry they’d be open to the possibility of trading him to a preferred destination as long as they can get something of value in return, sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to one of Pompey’s sources, the Raptors want to reward Lowry for his long, decorated tenure with the franchise by giving him an opportunity to win another NBA championship. The Raptors, who have lost several key pieces from their 2019 title team and are just 16-17 so far this season, may not be in position to give him that opportunity themselves.

Pompey reports that the Sixers, Heat, and Clippers would be among the possible suitors for Lowry if the Raptors make him available. One source tells The Inquirer that Lowry would have interest in playing in his hometown of Philadelphia; that source believes the 76ers and Raptors may be able to get something done.

Lowry is earning $30.5MM this season, so a team that wants to acquire him would have to send out at least $24.32MM in matching salary. Presumably, if the Sixers made a play for the veteran guard, they’d want to keep their veteran core of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris intact, meaning a package may have to start with Danny Green‘s and Mike Scott‘s expiring contracts for matching purposes.

The Heat have a few expiring contracts that could be used for matching. The Raptors would have to be willing to take on some multiyear money in order to make a deal with the Clippers.

Toronto would likely ask for some combination of draft assets and/or young players in exchange for Lowry, a six-time All-Star who continues to make a two-way impact on the court. Pompey suggests that any team acquiring the 34-year-old would probably have to be comfortable with re-signing him when his contract expires this offseason. Sources tell Pompey that Lowry wants to play at least two more seasons and may seek a salary similar to his current $30MM rate this summer.

Despite their sub-.500 record, the Raptors are currently the No. 5 seed in the East. If they hold steady or climb into the top four, they likely won’t be eager to be sellers at the trade deadline. However, they’ve played well even without Lowry in the lineup and could remain competitive if they acquire one or two players who are ready to contribute immediately. Based on Pompey’s report, it sounds like Toronto is open to working with the longtime face of the franchise if he prefers to join a team closer to title contention.

Paul George Not In Favor Of NBA Holding All-Star Game

February 24th, 2021 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Paul George was pleased to earn All-Star honors, but is among the players who don’t believe the game should be played at all this season, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details. George told reporters that he was fined earlier in the season for having a teammate over to his house, which is one reason why he questions the decision to bring 24 players from all over the league to Atlanta for the All-Star Game.