Heat Rumors

Knicks Notes: Jackson, James, Dolan

With all the speculation regarding where Carmelo Anthony will end up next season, it’s removing a bit of the focus from what LeBron James intends to do this summer. Sam Smith of of Bulls.com thinks that James will end up in New York alongside ‘Melo. Smith cites LeBron’s desire to solidify his legacy, which winning in New York would greatly enhance. The article also breaks down potential superstar running mates for James, and Anthony makes the most sense, according to Smith. The need for LeBron to find a new running mate is due to Dwyane Wade‘s declining health, and the likelihood that Chris Bosh will sign elsewhere after the season, opines Smith. To make this pairing happen, LeBron would have to stay in Miami for one more season, then jump to the Knicks in 2015 when they will have enough free cap space to sign him.

More out of New York:

  • Phil Jackson is being touted as the Knicks’ next franchise savior. He should think twice before accepting the job, writes Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News. Lupica cites owner James Dolan’s unwillingness to step back and allow his basketball people to do their job unhindered. The article illustrates this trend by examining the tenure of Donnie Walsh, who was also hailed as being the one to turn around the Knicks fortunes. Walsh left the team after being frustrated by Dolan’s constant interference.
  • Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com looks at why it would be better for the Knicks if Jackson didn’t return to coaching and limited his involvement to the front office.
  • Quite a few people believe that Phil Jackson shouldn’t return to the sidelines, and Charley Rosen of Sheridan Hoops is one of them. Rosen believes the Knicks might be Jackson’s best opportunity to return to the game, but also thinks his ideal situation would be to hold out for a similar front office position with the Clippers, especially if the team disappoints in this year’s playoffs.

Heat Re-Sign DeAndre Liggins

2:15pm: The signing is official the team has announced via Twitter.

11:33am: The Heat will sign DeAndre Liggins to a second 10-day contract, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN (via Twitter). The 25-year-old wing played just one minute in a single game for the Heat during his first 10-day deal, scoring 2 points and grabbing a rebound against the Bobcats.

Liggins signed with the Heat last Tuesday, after criminal charges that played a hand in his pre-training camp release from the Thunder were reduced. Liggins appeared in 39 games with the Thunder last year, after playing in 17 contests with the Magic in his 2011/12 rookie season. Before joining the Heat, he had averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 40.4 minutes per game for their D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls.

This will be the Creative Arts Agency client‘s final audition for Miami, who must either sign him for the remainder of the season or let him go at the end of this second 10-day agreement.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Price, Free Agency

Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke with the Sixers marketing firm that has been tasked with selling Philly fans optimism in the midst of a miserable season. The “Together We Build” campaign has tried to convince fans that enduring short term on-the-court sacrifices will make future, more competitive Sixers rosters even more sweet. The message hasn’t landed with many fans, as attendance has dropped by more than 3,000 per game compared to last year. Here’s more from around the East:

  • Sixers coach Brett Brown said his gut feeling is that Jason Richardson will not play this year, he tells Christopher A. Vito of The Delaware County Daily Times (via Twitter). Richardson has been out all season while recovering from knee surgery, and owns a player option for next year at $6.6MM.
  • Magic point guard Ronnie Price has embraced his role as a veteran mentor to younger players in Orlando, he tells John Denton on the team’s site“I think it is part of my responsibility and part of my respecting the game and respecting the people who mentored me when I was a rookie and a young guy in this league. I would be selfish to not try to mentor some of these guys and share what I’ve learned in this league.” The 30-year-old has another $1.3MM non-guaranteed year left on his contract, but is aware that his playing career could be over soon. I like my role right now as a player and I still think of myself as a player. What I do as far as talking to guys on and off the court, that just comes naturally to me. I don’t consider myself a player-coach or anything like that; I love the game of basketball so I know that I will always be around the game.”
  • In a 5-on-5 post for ESPN, J.A. Adande, Chris Broussard, Israel Gutierrez, Marc Stein, and Ethan Sherwood Strauss weigh in on whether stars for the Heat and Knicks will become free agents this off-season. Their consensus is that LeBron JamesCarmelo AnthonyChris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade will opt out of their player options this off-season.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, George, Billups, Thornton

As tonight’s NBA action begins to wind down, let’s take a look at a few tidbits from around the Eastern Conference..

  • The Heat and Pacers might be fighting for the top seed in the East, but LeBron James is still open to the idea of mentoring Paul George in the offseason, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. George had expressed interest in the possibility of learning anything he could from James this summer to Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders.
  • The Pistons are no strangers to losing this season, and Chauncey Billups doesn’t think some of his teammates are bothered by their poor play, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News“The thing I hate, to be honest with you, is that losing don’t really hurt to a lot of our guys,” Billups said. “People don’t take it personal, and if you don’t, people will beat you every night. Because everybody needs a win, no matter if you’re on a winning streak or losing streak.”
  • Sacramento was looking to move Marcus Thornton all season long, and the Nets are happy to have acquired him. Thornton has averaged 13.4 points in just 23 minutes per contest over five games. Brian Lewis of the New York Post breaks down Thornton’s game and explores the value he’s brought to Brooklyn so far.
  • With Derrick Rose sidelined, the Bulls have had to rely on more production from Joakim Noah. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times thinks Rose’s absence has forced all of the players on the team to improve.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh didn’t command as much star power as LeBron James or Dwyane Wade when the trio grouped together in the summer of 2010, but he’s played a huge part in the Heat’s three consecutive finals appearances and might have surpassed Wade as the second most productive member of the Big Three. In fact, the first installment of Hoops Rumors’ 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings has Bosh ranked as the third biggest name set to test the market this summer behind only LBJ and Carmelo Anthony. Bosh’s contract will afford him the option to remain a member of the Heat if he so chooses, but a report has indicated the big man will likely choose to exercise the early-termination option on his contract and enter free agency to seek a max deal.

After being selected fourth overall in the 2003 NBA draft, Bosh quickly made a name for himself in Toronto. The club saw him as its cornerstone to build around after Vince Carter was shipped off to the Nets in 2004, and he lived up to the expectations, to be sure. He holds the Raptors franchise records for points, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played. He helped lead the Raptors to their first division title and quickly found himself as a fan favorite north of the border. However, after seven seasons in Toronto, Bosh’s desire to win a championship led him to decide to sign in Miami so he could play with LeBron and D-Wade.

A report earlier today indicated that Bosh would like to play until he’s 36 years old, and that desire might factor into his decision to opt of his contract early. Although still a very efficient player, Bosh’s best years might be behind him. He turns 30 years old this month and is likely interested in locking up a long-term deal. If he chooses to stay in a Heat uniform with his current contract, he’ll have next season guaranteed at $20.6MM and a player option for the 2015/16 campaign worth $22.1MM. It’s tough to turn down a guaranteed $42MM, but opting out would give a team the chance to offer Bosh a four- or a five-year contract on which the big man could stand to make even more money over a longer period of time.

Waiting until his pact with the Heat is up means risking serious injury or a production drop-off, which would hurt his ability to secure a lucrative deal down the road. It’d certainly be possible for Bosh to exercise his early-termination option only to land another long-term deal with Miami. However, although the Heat could technically offer Bosh more money in free agency than any other squad since they own his Bird Rights, doing so would greatly limit their flexibility in signing other players in years to come, so they might be hesitant to do so. Bosh took a discount to play with James and Wade in Miami in 2010, and reports have indicated he won’t be interested in giving up guaranteed money this time around.

Bosh has said he’d like to remain in Miami for the remainder of his career, but we know that such statements don’t always hold true. Rumors have circulated suggesting that he’s actually the most likely of the Big Three to leave Miami this summer, due in large part to the temptation of taking on more of a leading role for another squad. The Heat haven’t utilized Bosh in the same way the Raptors did. His usage rate dropped from 28.7% during his last year in Toronto to 23.5% in his first year in Miami, and his value has often been overshadowed by the success of James and Wade. Bosh has made it known that his main priority is playing for a winning team, but it’s tough to imagine that a chance to play in a leading role isn’t one of his top wishes as well.

The Mavericks are one team said to have interest in Bosh, and a move to Dallas would make a lot of sense for the Creative Artists Agency client. Bosh was born and raised in the Lone Star State, and the Mavs will likely have the flexibility to retain Dirk Nowitzki and target another big name since we’ve heard that Nowitzki won’t be asking for an outrageous contract this summer. Bosh mostly played the four earlier in his career, but he’s recently been more of a center, and a frontcourt pairing of Dirk and Bosh would have the potential to be a headache for opposing defenses.

Nothing is written in stone, and Bosh might very well end up deciding to remain a member of the Heat for at least one more season by choosing not to exercise his early-termination option. His value isn’t the same at age 30 as it was at age 26, but he’s shooting an impressive 52.7% from the floor and a solid 36.6% from beyond the arc. With efficiency numbers just a smidgen below his career marks, Bosh will likely be able to garner a sizable level of interest from teams around the league this offseason, and he’ll be able to make his money whatever he decides to do. It’s just a question of whether he feels like staying in Miami or taking his talents elsewhere.

And-Ones: Bosh, Korver, Jones, Lakers

The NBA is always in flux, and Hoops Rumors isn’t afraid of change, either. Our roundups of news from around the league have been called Odds & Ends since our inception, but from now on, you’ll see the name “And-Ones” attached to these posts. It falls in line with “Quick Hits” on MLB Trade Rumors and “Extra Points” on Pro Football Rumors, our sister sites. While the name may have changed, our commitment to bringing you news from around the NBA hasn’t. Here’s our latest glance at the Association:

  • Chris Bosh, who turns 30 later this month, says he’ll play until he’s 36, observes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Bosh, who occupies the third spot in our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, could re-sign with the Heat this summer on a five-year deal that would leave him less than a year shy of his 36th birthday, though he has plenty of time to change his retirement plans.
  • Kyle Korver‘s NBA record streak of 127 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer ended Wednesday, but the accomplishment highlights the wisdom of his decision to re-sign with the Hawks last year, opines Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
  • Former Cavs power forward Kevin Jones is leaving Cleveland’s D-League affiliate to sign a deal with the San Miguel Beerman of the Philippines that covers the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Jones played 32 games in the NBA with the Cavs last season, but he wasn’t with any NBA club for training camp.
  • The Lakers have just three players on guaranteed contracts for next season, plus Nick Young, who has a player option. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News examines the upsides and drawbacks of having so many others in their walk years.

Odds & Ends: Cunningham, Suns, Abdul-Jabbar

Welp, this figures to be a fun MVP race.  In case you were leaning towards the likes of Kevin Durant or Chris Paul, LeBron James re-stated his case tonight in a big, big way.  The Heat star put up a career-high 61 points on 22-33 shooting, 8-10 from three-point range, with seven rebounds, and five assists.  LeBron bested his previous career-high of 56 (2005 against the Raptors) and blew past Glen Rice‘s franchise record of 56 points.  Here’s tonight’s look around the Association..

  • Former Oregon State star Jared Cunningham says he plans to sign with an NBA team this week, writes Conner Letourneau of The Oregonian.
  • The Morris twins will be eligible for contract extensions in the fall and both players are hoping they’ll be with the Suns, together, for the long-term, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.  “The game is more fun when I have my brother. I look forward to it every day. look forward to getting better. I look forward to watching him get better and I know he looks forward to me improving and having good games. I’m excited when he plays good, even when I don’t play good. If I see him scoring and all the small stuff to win, I’m excited and that brings me up no matter what,Markieff Morris said of playing with brother Marcus Morris.
  • Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says he’s interested in returning in some capacity to the Bucks, writes Andrew Wagner of the Associated Press.  “If I get a call, I will definitely offer my services,” said the Bucks’ career leading scorer with 14,211 points. “There’s nothing on the table right now. A couple of people have asked me and if I had the chance to be part of this franchise again, I would take it.
  • If Dwyane Wade continues to play at his current level and helps lead the Heat to another championship, there won’t be much negotiating when it comes to his contract, writes Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders.  Wade recently re-iterated his desire to stay put in Miami to David Aldridge of NBA.com.

Odds & Ends: Wade, Colangelo, Deng

The Heat seem to be chief in Dwyane Wade‘s mind as he eyes his early termination option this summer, but the decision won’t necessarily be straightforward, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who shared Wade’s thoughts in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“Well, I want to be here,” Wade said. “I think that’s always the things I’ve always said and I’ve always expressed. And after that, I want to win. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m starting over and I’m rebuilding. I want to win. And I want to be on a team that has an opportunity to do that, and feel like I’m a big part of that. This is where I want to be. But as players, [having] options is good. Because you don’t know what is to happen or what is to come. So for us, I think we’re in a great situation. Guys have options as players, and they can exercise those options. Who knows what that means? But right now, for us, we’re on a very good team. We enjoy each other. We enjoy this city and we enjoy playing for this organization, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

Here’s more from Aldridge’s piece and other news from around the league:

  • Bryan Colangelo spoke with Aldridge and attempted to walk back his comments from Friday in which he said he tried to tank as GM of the Raptors in 2011/12.
  • The Pacers reportedly spoke with the Cavs about Luol Deng before the trade deadline, but Andrew Perna of RealGM hears Indiana had no interest in the soon-to-be free agent (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets have recalled Troy Daniels from the D-League, the team announced via Twitter. Daniels had been with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers before the Rockets signed him last month. Houston immediately assigned him back there after inking the deal, which is for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes in an update to the team’s salary page.

Eastern Rumors: Jackson, Riley, Muscala

The Eastern Conference’s glut of struggling teams means the worst clubs in the Western Conference have an advantage as they jockey for lottery position, explains Tom Ziller of SB Nation. East teams don’t have to play as many heavies as their Western Conference counterparts do, leading to more wins and fewer ping-pong balls. That helps perpetuate the East’s mediocrity year after year, Ziller writes. Here’s more from the NBA’s weaker side:

  • Phil Jackson tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he remains an “unpaid adviser” to Pistons owner Tom Gores. Jackson, who reiterates that he doesn’t want to coach again, helped the team with its search for former coach Maurice Cheeks, who was fired a couple of weeks ago.
  • Another championship coach is feeling no urge to get back to the sidelines, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel observes. “I’m six years out of coaching right now,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “Look at me, man, I’m full of vitality to have some fun. Six years ago, when I was coaching, I would wake up 5:00 a.m. and it was dark and I was depressed. Not anymore.”
  • The contract that Mike Muscala signed with the Hawks last week is a four-year pact for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals. This year is fully guaranteed and next season is partially guaranteed for $408K, but the deal otherwise contains no guaranteed salary, Pincus tweets. There’s a team option on the final year.
  • Gerald Wallace expressed his displeasure with winding up on a rebuilding Celtics team when the Nets traded him to Boston this summer, but the veteran says he enjoyed his first year in green, as he tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe“I just hope the fans didn’t take offense to me saying I didn’t want to be here as me not wanting to be a part of the organization,” said Wallace, who’s out for the season with a knee injury. “My main thing was the rebuilding process, I didn’t want to go through a whole rebuilding process where you have to start all over 13 years into my career.”

Eastern Rumors: Butler, Sixers, Jimmer

Heat president Pat Riley says that he made a play for Caron Butler but ultimately things didn’t work out.  “We reached out to him. But he was very definitive with what he wanted. I don’t think it’s something we could have promised…We’re pretty deep. When you got James Jones and Udonis Haslem, Rashard Lewis in those positions, they’re waiting,” said Riley, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter links).  More out of the East..

  • Within today’s article, Winderman has more from his talk with Riley, including a chat about the future of the Big Three and Dwyane Wade‘s recent emergence.
  • Brett Brown knew that this would be a rough season, but the rookie 76ers coach admits that he really didn’t realize how difficult things would be, writes Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “To say I knew it was going to be like this is false,” said Brown.  Philly is 15-44 and has lost 13 consecutive games after Saturday night’s home loss to the Wizards.
  • Coach Mike Woodson says the Knicks didn’t consider guard Jimmer Fredette before he hooked on with the Bulls, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
  • Sam Smith of Bulls.com gives his early impressions of new Bulls guard Jimmer Fredette.  The guard spoke to the media about his time in Sacramento and what he hoped to do now that he’s in Chicago.
  • Thanks to the state of the Celtics roster, new callup Chris Babb could see even more burn than he could have possibly envisioned, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Babb, who came up from the Maine Red Claws, says he was caught off-guard by his promotion.