Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Hire Johnny Rogers In Front Office Role

August 2nd, 2019 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 2: The Wizards have officially announced the hiring of Rogers as VP of pro personnel. He’ll oversee Washington’s NBA, G League, and international scouting efforts, according to the team.

“Johnny brings tremendous global experience, vast NBA knowledge and great basketball relationships to our franchise,” Sheppard said in a statement. “He is universally respected as a player and executive.”

JULY 30: After being named the permanent general manager in Washington, Tommy Sheppard is in the process of filling out the Wizards‘ front office, and is hiring Johnny Rogers away from the Clippers, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link).

According to ESPN’s report, Rogers will be named the Wizards’ VP of pro personnel, which will be a new position in the club’s front office. He had been the Clippers’ director of pro player personnel.

A handful of Clippers executives have drawn interest from rival NBA teams this summer, though the club managed to hang onto most of its front office talent. General manager Michael Winger and assistant GM Trent Redden opted to remain in Los Angeles after receiving consideration for jobs with other clubs.

However, the Clippers won’t be able to retain Rogers, who previously worked for the Thunder as well. In Washington, he’ll reunite for a second time with former OKC head coach Scott Brooks — as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets, Rogers and Brooks played together in college at UC Irvine.

Patrick Patterson Bought Out By Thunder, Plans To Sign With Clippers

August 1st, 2019 at 12:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder and Patrick Patterson have agreed to a buyout and the big man intends to sign with the Clippers once he clears waivers, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter links). Oklahoma City today on its website that Patterson has been released.

Los Angeles is limited to offering the veteran’s mininum, which is roughly $2.3MM for a player with Patterson’s level of experience (nine seasons), as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Patterson had one year and approximately $5.7MM left on his deal. It’s unclear how much he will give up to free himself from Oklahoma City, but it seems safe to assume that it’ll be about the same amount as he’ll earn in L.A.

If the Clippers’ new-look roster has a weakness after an eventful offseason, it would be in the frontcourt. The team re-signed JaMychal Green this offseason to play the four, but options behind him are limited. Patterson could have a place in the rotation from day one or he could simply be an addition for depth. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Maurice Harkless all have the ability to play the power forward spot, with Harkless the most likely candidate to see significant time at the position.

The Kentucky product struggled to make a real impact with OKC after signing a three-year deal with the franchise during the 2017 offseason. He finished his Thunder stint playing in 145 out of a possible 164 regular season games while averaging slightly under 15 minutes per contest. He also appeared in six playoff contests for the club.

Once Patterson clears waivers on Saturday and officially signed with the Clippers, the team will have 14 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2019/20 season.

Rivers Sees Additions As Opportunity To Win It

July 29th, 2019 at 8:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With the additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Clippers coach Doc Rivers feels like he’s been given another chance to win a ring, as he told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Rivers’ club repeatedly came up short during the Chris Paul–Blake Griffin era with the franchise. “I view this as another opportunity to win it,” he said. “And let’s be honest: You don’t have a lot of opportunities to actually win it. When you have that, you take advantage of it.”

Community Shootaround: Kawhi Leonard

July 27th, 2019 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

It only lasted five days, but it seemed much, much longer at the time. In a summer where many of the NBA’s top free agents announced their agreements suspiciously close to the official start of free agency, Kawhi Leonard‘s decision seemed to linger forever.

While we all waited, the rumor mill got wacky. First came reports that he was definitely joining the Lakers, followed by other reports that he was definitely staying with the Raptors. The Clippers were presented as an afterthought and were rumored to be out of consideration. Intrepid reporters tracked a flight from Los Angeles to Toronto without knowing for sure that Leonard was on board. And Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter somehow became an NBA insider.

Tension was high all week for the three teams involved in the chase as other free agents came off the board. When Leonard announced his decision late on the night of June 5, there was jubilation at Clippers headquarters and severe disappointment across town and throughout Canada.

Hard feelings in the Lakers’ camp led to accusations that Leonard had “played” them in the process. There were also reports that he asked for extreme considerations from the Raptors before abandoning an organization that had just won its first NBA title. The grumblings grew so loud that Leonard felt compelled to address them at his introductory press conference this week.

“I didn’t lead anyone on,” he said. “I took my time in free agency, as I should, to make sure I made the best decision for myself and my family. I feel like some of the media coverage over it made it feel that way, with people saying I’m signing with Toronto 99 percent or I’m going to the Lakers 99 percent. I don’t ever want to have that bad karma come back on me trying to make the Lakers miss out on players they should have gotten or vice-versa with the Raptors.”

Leonard added that all the teams were free to change their strategy if they thought waiting was too risky.

“If they didn’t want to wait for me, they didn’t have to,” Leonard said. “They had a big opportunity to sign me. [The Lakers] were close, but I ended up on the other side.”

Leonard isn’t the first free agent to take his time in reaching a decision. In 2016, Kevin Durant waited until July 4 to announce that he was joining the Warriors. A year later, Gordon Hayward picked the same date to confirm his agreement with the Celtics. LeBron James took until July 11 before releasing the Sports Illustrated article proclaiming his return to Cleveland in 2014.

We want to get your opinion on Leonard. Do you believe he did anything to intentionally hurt the Raptors or Lakers in free agency or is this just sour grapes from the teams that didn’t sign him? Please leave your responses in the space below.

Pacific Notes: Ballmer, Wright, West, Warriors

July 27th, 2019 at 8:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Steve Ballmer’s actions over the past year should end any speculation that he has a long-term strategy to move the Clippers to Seattle, writes Arash Markazi of The Los Angeles Times. Ballmer has strong ties to the Pacific Northwest, where he made his fortune as CEO of Microsoft. He tried to buy the SuperSonics in 2008 and had a deal in place to move the Kings to Seattle in 2013 before it fell through.

However, Ballmer recognizes that the Clippers would drop in value if they were moved from the nation’s second-largest media market and has been taking steps to ensure their long-term future in Los Angeles. The team formally announced plans Thursday for a new 18,500-seat arena in Inglewood that will be built without public money. Ballmer also approved two bold moves this summer to acquire Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, making the Clippers legitimate contenders for the NBA title.

“We’re not moving the team to Seattle,” Ballmer declared recently. “We’re building a new billion-dollar-plus home in Inglewood.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers made an addition to their coaching staff this week by hiring Todd Wright, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Wright served as head of strength and conditioning as well as an assistant coach for the Sixers for the past four seasons.
The Lakers will part with director of player personnel Ryan West, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic (Twitter link). The son of NBA legend Jerry West had been with the team since he was hired as a scout in 2009 and is given credit for identifying D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson in their respective drafts. West’s departure was a mutual decision that was reached in the past few days, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. His contract had expired and he and the organization agreed that he had “reached a ceiling” in his current role.
Salary cap expert David Kelly, who serves as general counsel for the Warriors, shares his perspective on an eventful offseason with Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Klay Thompson had assured Golden State officials that he was staying, which eliminated one worry when they got official notice that Kevin Durant was leaving for the Nets. The focus immediately shifted to Russell, whom the team had targeted as a potential option several months before. Kelly had to work through a complex series of maneuvers before a sign-and-trade with Brooklyn could be legally completed.

Kawhi Leonard Addresses Reports He ‘Led On’ Teams in Free Agency

July 27th, 2019 at 11:54am CST by marksuleymanov

Kawhi Leonard‘s free agency held up a lot of other deals as his three primary suitors, the Lakers, Clippers and Raptors, pushed for his services. The two-time NBA Finals MVP ended up choosing the Clippers after the organization managed to swing a trade for Paul George.

Subsequent reports have suggested the two teams who missed out on Leonard may have felt that Kawhi and/or his representatives led on teams during the recruitment process. On the day he and George were introduced at a press conference, a more-talkative-than-usual Leonard set the record straight to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.

“I didn’t lead anyone on,” Leonard said. “I took my time in free agency, as I should, to make sure I made the best decision for myself and my family. I feel like some of the media coverage over it made it feel that way, with people saying I’m signing with Toronto 99 percent or I’m going to the Lakers 99 percent. I don’t ever want to have that bad karma come back on me trying to make the Lakers miss out on players they should have gotten or vice-versa with the Raptors.”

With his decision, Leonard will become the first player to win an NBA Finals MVP and play for a different team the following season. Leonard’s lone campaign in Toronto was a successful one as the two-time Defensive Player of the Year helped the Raptors advance to and win the first NBA championship in franchise history.

However, the Riverside, California, native had long been known to be seeking to return home. The Lakers and Clippers both represented that opportunity but his childhood fandom for either team had no bearing on his decision.

“Y’all kept saying that me and Paul’s favorite team growing up was the Lakers. I’m not going to say [Yahoo Sports], but whatever media outlet was out there saying that Kawhi prefers the Lakers over the Clippers, or Paul loves the Lakers, was wrong,” Leonard said. “I wasn’t a fan of the Lakers growing up. Not saying that’s why I didn’t choose them, but that’s not what it is. I wasn’t a fan of them, and [Paul] just told you guys he was a Clippers fan.”

At the end of the day, Leonard said the teams in pursuit of him could have pivoted in a different direction at any time if there issues with his approach.

“If they didn’t want to wait for me, they didn’t have to,” Leonard said. “They had a big opportunity to sign me. [The Lakers] were close, but I ended up on the other side.”

Clippers Sign Derrick Walton Jr.

July 26th, 2019 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

12:39pm: Walton confirmed to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that he and the Clippers completed a deal. Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets that it’s an Exhibit 10 contract, as expected.

9:59am: The Clippers have signed free agent point guard Derrick Walton Jr., according to RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions. Details aren’t known, but RealGM classifies it as a one-year contract, so an Exhibit 10 deal seems likely.

Walton, 24, spent a season with the Heat on a two-way contract in 2017/18 after going undrafted out of Michigan. He caught on with the Bulls for training camp and the preseason last fall, but was waived before the regular season began and ultimately ended up playing overseas in 2018/19 for teams in Lithuania and Germany.

The Clippers added Walton to their Summer League roster this offseason, and he appeared in four games for the club in Las Vegas, averaging 4.3 PPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.8 RPG in four games (13.3 MPG).

With only 13 players on guaranteed contracts, the Clippers still project to have a couple openings on their regular season roster. It’s not clear if Walton will get the opportunity to compete for one of those spots, or if Los Angeles simply views him as a potential candidate to join the team’s G League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.

Clippers Unveil Plans For Inglewood Arena

July 26th, 2019 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

After having formally introduced new acquisitions Kawhi Leonard and Paul George earlier this week, the Clippers made another major announcement on Thursday evening, unveiling plans to build a new, 18,500-seat arena in Inglewood. The proposed arena would be completely privately financed.

The Clippers currently share a building with both the Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, but team owner Steve Ballmer has long expressed a desire to move out of the Staples Center and into a new arena. The club’s lease at Staples Center is scheduled to expire in 2024, and according to Thursday’s announcement, the goal is to complete the arena project in Inglewood by the fall of 2024.

The renderings and details released by the Clippers on Thursday look impressive — in addition to the court itself, the building would feature the club’s business and basketball offices, a training facility, and community and retail spaces. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details, Ballmer visited 13 to 15 NBA arenas and facilities to get a sense of what he wants the Clips’ new home to feel like.

“I want it to be a noisy building,” Ballmer said, per Youngmisuk. “I really want that kind of energy; think Oracle [Arena] has been that way, Utah, Portland has got good energy. I think our Clipper fan base is a little more tenacious. They’re people decided they’re sticking with us, and now I think we will get new kinds of fans with Paul and Kawhi joining us, but I think it is a hardcore fan base. I think that we can get real noise, real energy in the building.”

The Clippers will have to overcome some legal hurdles before they can move forward on actually building their proposed arena. James Dolan and the Madison Square Garden Company own The Forum in Inglewood, and have been opposed to the idea of the Clips constructing a new building adjacent to the existing arena. MSG Co. has filed multiple lawsuits in an effort to try to protect its investment in The Forum.

Nonetheless, Ballmer is confident that those roadblocks can be overcome and that the Clippers will eventually have an arena to call their own in Inglewood.

“We won’t go into the details of any of the legal things, but we feel good that we will be able to build our building,” Ballmer said, according to Youngmisuk. “Litigation is never a good thing. Madison Square Garden is certainly going to oppose in every way they can. They will continue to oppose us in a variety of different ways, and yet we feel confident that we will be able to get our building built by 2024, which is when our lease ends at Staples.”

Although the proposed arena wasn’t really a factor in Leonard’s decision to join the Clippers in free agency, Ballmer confirmed that it was discussed during the recruiting process as a way to show the franchise’s commitment to building its own identity in Los Angeles.

“I don’t want to say it was a major milestone in the meeting, but we did share because it is another statement that we are really committed,” Ballmer said. “I don’t know how it’s humanly possible, but I still occasionally get a question about it: Will your team move to Seattle? We are building our billion-dollar-plus house here in Inglewood, California.”

And-Ones: Team USA, Harrell, Redick, Hampton

July 25th, 2019 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Team USA appeared to replenish its World Cup training camp roster this afternoon by announcing a group of six players who will help replace the nine who have already removed their names from consideration. However, apparently not all of those six new additions are locks to attend training camp in Vegas next month.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Clippers center Montrezl Harrell is appreciative of the invite from USA Basketball, but is unlikely to actually participate for Team USA due to scheduling issues and a desire to prepare for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that new Pelicans sharpshooter J.J. Redick has also received an invitation to join Team USA’s roster, but is still mulling over whether to accept it. While Redick would love to represent his country, he’s wary of making a six-week commitment as he and his family make the move to New Orleans.

“I’m thrilled beyond belief to be considered but also trying to work through our family’s transition to New Orleans,” Redick told Wojnarowski.

As USA Basketball continues to put together its final training camp roster, here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Top 2020 draft prospect R.J. Hampton – who will forgo college next season to play in New Zealand – has signed a lucrative shoe deal with Chinese brand Li-Ning, writes Nick DePaula of ESPN. Li-Ning aggressively pursued Hampton, according to DePaula, who says the deal’s total value would’ve made the young guard one of the four highest-earning players in the 2019 draft. Being selected in the top 10 next year will help secure a larger payday for Hampton, but ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link) hears that the 18-year-old will still be guaranteed several million dollars even if he never appears in an NBA game.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps polled NBA executives, coaches, and scouts to get their thoughts on the best, worst, and most surprising moves of the offseason. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry examined the biggest questions facing the league’s new group of championship contenders.
What exactly does it mean when a player – or a group of players – has a workout for an NBA team? In an interesting piece for HoopsHype, Alex Kennedy spoke to players and coaches to get an idea of what individual and group workouts for NBA teams actually look like.

Team USA Updates: Millsap, Plumlee, Harrell, Select Team

July 25th, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has issued a press release announcing a series of updates relating to the team it’s putting together for the 2019 World Cup in China, as well as the training camp that will take place in August before that event. Here are the highlights of that announcement:

More withdrawals:

Nuggets big man Paul Millsap has joined the ever-growing list of players from Team USA’s initial 20-man roster who have decided not to participate in this year’s World Cup. As expected, Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love has also withdrawn from Team USA’s 2019 roster.

Millsap and Love join Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum among the original invitees who have removed their names from World Cup consideration.

New invitees:

Team USA confirmed that Thaddeus Young, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, and Jaylen Brown will join the training camp roster for next month, as previous reports indicated.

In addition to those four players, two big men will join the roster as well, with Clippers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets center Mason Plumlee have received invitations from USA Basketball. Assuming the remaining 11 players from the original 20-man roster remain committed, that would bring the roster back up to 17.

[UPDATE: Harrell may turn down his invitation]

Those 11 other players are Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, and Kemba Walker.

Select Team:

For the first time, USA Basketball confirmed the players who will make up the Select Team at next month’s training camp in Las Vegas. The members of the 13-man Select Team will practice and scrimmage with Team USA’s training camp invitees, and will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy.

It’s possible that a player could be elevated from the Select Team to the primary roster and eventually find his way onto the 12-man squad that will play in China, but that’s probably a long shot.

The 13 players who will play for the Select Team are as follows:

Jarrett Allen (Nets)
Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
Mikal Bridges (Suns)
Jalen Brunson (Mavericks)
John Collins (Hawks)
Pat Connaughton (Bucks)
De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
Joe Harris (Nets)
Jonathan Isaac (Magic)
Mitchell Robinson (Knicks)
Landry Shamet (Clippers)
Derrick White (Spurs)
Trae Young (Hawks)

Team USA’s training camp will take place during the week of August 5, while the World Cup itself is scheduled to run from August 31 to September 15.