Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Raptors, Grizzlies, Mavs, Bynum

January 18th, 2013 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to an evening slate that includes a pair of contests between Eastern Conference contenders (Hawks/Nets and Bulls/Celtics), let's check in on a few odds and ends from around the NBA….

Appearing on Sportsnet 590 The Fan in Toronto yesterday, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said no trades are imminent for the team, but that he, president Bryan Colangelo, and executive VP Ed Stefanski talk about potential moves "every day." Kevin Nielsen has the quotes from Casey at Sportsnet.ca.
Mike Conley tells Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld that he hopes the trade rumors surrounding the Grizzlies don't amount to anything, since it would "hit us all hard" if anyone was dealt.
In a pair of Insider-only pieces for ESPN.com, Chad Ford examines 10 potential trade candidates, and breaks down some draft options for the Bobcats.
Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News suggests that finding a legit point guard is one of the Mavericks' top priorities, and says Jose Calderon wouldn't be a bad trade target for the team.
For the first time this season, there appears to be serious progress happening in Andrew Bynum's recovery, writes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider link) tries to find the most logical fit for Josh Smith, should the Hawks decide to trade him.

Wolves Rumors: Williams, Gay, Roy, Cunningham

January 18th, 2013 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported yesterday that the Timberwolves are "heavily" shopping Derrick Williams, 2011's second overall pick. In his latest Scoops column, Wolfson shares a few more details on the T-Wolves' trade talks, plus a handful more Wolves-related notes. Let's dive in and round up the highlights….

Within the last week, president David Kahn has transitioned from merely taking phone calls to making them himself. According to Wolfson, Kahn was "aggressively" working the phones this week and was making some progress on a trade. Such a deal would likely involve Williams, and would net Minnesota a big, rather than a wing.
The T-Wolves don't have interest in Portland's J.J. Hickson or Atlanta's Josh Smith.
Minnesota is still weighing whether it makes sense to pursue Rudy Gay. If the Wolves were to make an offer for Gay, it would likely have to include a third team, and would involve Nikola Pekovic.
Brandon Roy's contract may be included in a trade at the deadline for salary purposes.
The Lakers recently inquired on Dante Cunningham, but Cunningham's affordable salary makes the Wolves reluctant to part with him.
According to Wolfson, interest in buying the T-Wolves is "as high as ever." Former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, who confirmed yesterday he has interest in buying another NBA franchise, is said to be kicking the tires on the Wolves.
There's no word yet on whether Andrei Kirilenko is leaning one way or the other on his $10.22MM player option for 2013/14.
Minnesota didn't apply for a disabled player exception for Malcolm Lee. As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote on Monday, such an exception wouldn't have provided much flexibility for the club.
According to Wolfson, there's some speculation that the Wolves would like to take over basketball operations of their D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. The Skyforce are currently affiliated with the Heat, Magic, and Sixers, as well as the Wolves.
While it's been presumed for some time that Minnesota would be among the clubs interested in Greg Oden, the team hasn't done due diligence on him so far, like some others have.

Western Notes: Grizzlies, Baynes, Sloan, Lakers

January 18th, 2013 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

A year ago, fans voted Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bynum to be the Western Conference's starting lineup for the All-Star Game. This season, fan voting produced nearly the same result, with four of the same five guys returning as All-Star starters. The only difference? One Lakers center replaces another, as Dwight Howard, rather than Bynum, will start for the West.

Here are a few more notes from around the conference:

Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies are still adjusting to the new ownership group in Memphis, as Randolph tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "It was definitely (former owner Michael) Heisley's plan to keep us all together and make a run for the championship. So when you come in with something different, of course, it kind of bothers you."
Australian big man Aron Baynes is on his way to San Antonio to take a physical and begin completing his paperwork with the Spurs, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com and Sportando. We heard earlier this month that the Spurs were working to sign Baynes.
The Hornets don't plan to sign Donald Sloan to another 10-day contract at this point, tweets Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sloan's first 10-day deal expired Wednesday at midnight.
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link) believes Kyle Korver makes sense as a trade target for the Lakers.

Conley, Gasol Met With Grizzlies Management

January 17th, 2013 at 7:53pm CST by Sean Highkin

Amid speculation that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer reports (via Twitter) that guard Mike Conley and center Marc Gasol recently met with new owner Robert Pera, where the two players reportedly urged him to keep the team's core together at least through this season.

Herrington also tweets that Grizzlies management knows it has to move either Gay or Randolph to preserve their long-term flexibility and avoid luxury tax penalties. He believes the meeting with Conley and Gasol was simply to take their pulse about the season and roster.

Market For Rudy Gay Dwindling?

January 17th, 2013 at 5:02pm CST by Sean Highkin

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com reports that the interest among teams in trading for Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay is not high, and although Memphis is continuing to shop Gay, the underwhelming offers may force them to wait until the offseason to move him and Zach Randolph.

Kennedy does not expect the Grizzlies to receive a young star or a high-upside rookie in return for Gay, naming Phoenix's Jared Dudley and Orlando's J.J. Redick as two potential players they could expect to land. Although Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal was briefly discussed as a possible centerpiece for a Gay trade, Washington no longer has any interest in trading him.

Kennedy writes that much of the reluctance of teams to trade for Gay comes from his contract, which pays him $16.4MM this season, $17.8MM in 2013/14, and $19.3MM in 2014/15.

Berger On NBPA, Mavs, Grizzlies, Oden, Young

January 17th, 2013 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

It's been months since Derek Fisher, Billy Hunter, and the NBPA were making headlines, but the law firm hired to look into how the Players' Association has spent its money and conducted its business is nearly ready to release the results, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. While it's not clear exactly what the report will reveal, several players believe the union needs a change in leadership, and are hoping Hunter will step down from his post even if the report exonerates him of any wrongdoing, according to Berger.

The latest edition of Berger's "Postups" column also features some trade rumblings, so let's round those up….

Mark Cuban's declaration this week that the "Bank of Cuban" is open was met with indifference by some rival executives, who don't see many attractive assets on the Mavericks besides Dirk Nowitzki. "I don't think anybody is in a hurry to get [Chris] Kaman or [Elton] Brand and all that stuff," a rival executive said. "Unless he's trying to take a contract that's loaded."
Since Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is determined to make a good basketball trade rather than just dumping salary, there's a growing sense that Memphis will hang on to Rudy Gay and others, and deal with the team's cap and tax issues over the summer. I suggested as much when I looked at the Grizzlies' cap situation earlier this week.
While Greg Oden doesn't expect to return to action until next season, he hopes to sign with an NBA team in the next month to get into a training and conditioning program with a club. The Celtics are monitoring Oden's progress, and Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com reports that the Spurs and Cavaliers have also expressed interest.
Berger suggests that Nick Young is worth keeping an eye on as the trade deadline approaches, since his expiring contract could be valuable for a team in need of a scorer. The Sixers are currently four games out of a playoff spot — if they fall any further back, it definitely wouldn't surprise me to see them consider selling off pieces like Young.

Magic Aggressively Exploring Trade Options

January 17th, 2013 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic were at the center of 2012's biggest trade, the four-way deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, and while they don't have the pieces to make the same sort of splash in 2013, it appears the team will continue to be active on the trade market. According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, Orlando has been involved in "virtually every trade scenario out there" and is aggressively exploring its options.

Orlando's activity doesn't necessarily mean the club will make a deal on or before February 21st, but the Magic have made it clear they'll entertain offers for virtually anyone on their roster, says Kyler. With a pair of expiring contracts (J.J. Redick, Josh McRoberts), a collection of productive veterans (Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson, Glen Davis), a few young players with upside (Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, Andrew Nicholson), a massive $17.8MM trade exception, and a slew of future draft picks, the Magic could go in a number of different directions. However, it's unlikely that they'll compromise their future cap flexibility or part with any of their young players unless they find a deal that nets them a core piece.

One player that doesn't seem to be a future long-term piece in Orlando is Rudy Gay. According to Kyler, the Magic briefly discussed the veteran forward with the Grizzlies, but backed off due to Gay's contract and a belief that he wasn't an ideal fit.

Ford On Cousins, Gortat, Gay, Celtics

January 16th, 2013 at 7:53pm CST by Zachary Links

Damian Lillard is the odds on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award right now, but there's still plenty of games to be played, said Chad Ford of ESPN.com in today's chat. The Hornets' Anthony Davis is back in action and very much in the picutre while Andre Drummond can't be ruled out either. Here's more from Ford..

There is a lot of interest around the league in DeMarcus Cousins, but from what Ford can gather, no GMs have had any success in making progress with the Kings on trade talks so far. The Kings appear to want to hold onto him, though plenty can change in the next five weeks.
Even though the Suns are eager to make a move, Ford sees Marcin Gortat remaining with Phoenix beyond the February 21st trade deadline. It's more likely that the club parlays their draft picks into pieces that are ready to contribute more immediately.
Ford believes that Rudy Gay is as good as gone in Memphis. The new ownership group is looking for ways to tighten their belt and moving the forward is the quickest way to accomplish that. Recent comments by coach Lionel Hollins against analytics would appear to be a shot at recent hire John Hollinger and, by extension, the thinking of the Memphis front office.
The Suns, Wizards, Magic, and Mavericks could all be trading away their lottery picks this summer as they'll look to win sooner rather than later. However, this isn't a terribly strong draft and it's far from a seller's market.
Danny Ainge is downplaying the trade talk surrounding the Celtics but Ford doesn't seem to be buying it. If there's a great deal out there for Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, or anyone else, Ford expects him to pull the trigger.

Hawks Have Participated In Josh Smith Trade Talks

January 16th, 2013 at 4:41pm CST by Luke Adams

For most of the season, we've been hearing that Josh Smith is happy with the job Danny Ferry has done so far in Atlanta, and that he's pleased with the Hawks' direction. However, the team's recent struggles appear to be taking a toll on the veteran forward. The Hawks announced today that they've fined and suspended Smith for one game for "conduct detrimental to the team."

While Smith and Ferry talked about moving past the issue in the team's press release, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports that it may not be quite that easy. According to Berger, Smith's agent, Wallace Prather, met with Ferry to discuss what Prather described as "a lot of frustration" with Atlanta's recent play. However, Smith and his agent stopped short of making a trade request.

"I want to be clear that I'm not pushing a trade," Prather said. "This is not a trade request or anything, but there are frustrations in Atlanta."

Prather added that he does know "teams are interested" in his client, and Berger hears from rival executives that the Hawks have participated in trade talks with several clubs involving Smith. The 27-year-old is in the final year of his contract and will hit unrestricted free agency this summer, so if Atlanta feels as if Smith could walk in July, it may make sense to entertain offers him before the trade deadline.

The Grizzlies, despite looking to clear long-term salary from their books, have not contacted the Hawks about Smith, and the Mavericks haven't expressed interest either, according to Berger. However, the CBSSports.com scribe hears that both Memphis and Dallas, as well as Houston, would appeal to Smith.

Grizzlies Trade Talks In “Holding Pattern”

January 16th, 2013 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

According to various reports so far this year, the Grizzlies have been at least gauging the value of Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and other players on their roster, if not shopping them outright. However, it doesn't appear that Memphis will be making a deal anytime soon. Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies are currently in a "holding pattern" on trade talks, with nothing imminent and no serious discussions taking place.

The news isn't surprising, as recent reports on Gay have suggested that the team is now leaning toward keeping the veteran forward rather than moving him. I expect that's due at least in part to the fact that teams aren't likely to present their best trade offers with the trade deadline still five weeks away. Tillery notes in his tweet that Memphis expects to receive more serious offers close to February 21st.

I looked into the Grizzlies' cap situation yesterday, explaining why the team is considering moving Gay or another player. As I noted, besides the team's core four players (Gay, Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley) and Marreese Speights, there isn't a single player on the roster that could be traded by himself to get the Grizzlies under the tax line for 2012/13. As such, the Grizzlies may look to make a deal, either before the deadline or over the summer, that will get them out of the tax for future seasons, rather than this season.