New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Lakers, Lamb, Jackson

May 26th, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers‘ offseason plans have started to come into focus now that the NBA Draft lottery has been completed, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times writes. “Our roster looks better, clearly, after getting the pick in the lottery last Tuesday,” said GM Mitch Kupchak. Los Angeles currently owns three picks in the 2015 NBA Draft, but Kupchak isn’t sure if the team will hold onto all three of those selections, Pincus adds. “We don’t know if we’re going to draft three players,” the GM said of the team’s two later selections (No. 27 and No. 34 overall). “We may draft a player who might have to wait a year or two in Europe.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Kupchak also said that the team is considering anywhere from four to eight players with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and that Los Angeles is keeping its options wide open regarding who it is looking to select, Mike Trudell of NBA.com tweets.
Jeremy Lamb hasn’t gotten much playing time with the Thunder thus far in his career, something that may change under new coach Billy Donovan, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes in his profile of the 22-year-old. Lamb made just 47 appearances for OKC last season, averaging 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per contest.
The success that J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert have enjoyed for the Cavaliers in this year’s playoffs makes Knicks team president Phil Jackson‘s decision to deal both away look worse with every game, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Cleveland has advanced to the NBA Finals after eliminating the Hawks tonight by a score of 118-88.

Atlantic Notes: Marks, Hodges, Hollis-Jefferson

May 26th, 2015 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets and assistant GM Bobby Marks have parted ways, as Marks confirmed via his Twitter account (hat tip to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports). It’s believed the Nets are set on cutting costs across the board and staff cuts are underway, Wojnarowski tweets. Indeed, the austerity measures have been ongoing for months and the Nets progressively reduced their player payroll throughout the season, NetsDaily’s Tom Lorenzo writes. Brooklyn is poised to pay the luxury tax for the fourth straight season, triggering repeater penalties, if it keeps Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young as GM Billy King has said the team wants to do.

The team appears ready to explore moves to reduce salary elsewhere on the roster, as Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com wrote earlier today. The well-respected Marks, who drew praise today from agent Brian Bass (Twitter link), among others, was a Nets employee for two decades. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

Knicks interim D-League coach Craig Hodges is expected to be back with the Westchester team as an assistant coach next season, returning to the role in which he spent most of this past season under now-fired head coach Kevin Whitted, reports Adam Johnson of D-League Digest. Still, there’s been no formal decision, a league source tells Johnson. Hodges, who spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors this past fall, would like to come back, and the ball is in the Knicks’ court, a source tells Links (Twitter link). The name of Joel Abelson, director of basketball ops for New York’s D-League affiliate, keeps coming up as a potential head coaching candidate for the team, Johnson adds.
Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brazilian point guard George Lucas are among the draft prospects to whom the Nets have spoken, notes Robert Windrem of NetsDaily (Twitter link).
Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells has worked out for the Celtics, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Draft Notes: Oubre, Porzingis, Greene

May 26th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors has a full log of 2015 draft news that you can see anytime at the link here. You can also set that page up as an RSS feed to receive constant updates. All you’d need to do would be to add /feed to the url, like so: hoopsrumors.com/2015-nba-draft/feed. Here’s more on the draft:

Kelly Oubre had a disappointing freshman season at Kansas, but he’s still aiming high and is attempting to dispel misconceptions about his work ethic, as Moke Hamilton details for Basketball Insiders. Oubre, in speaking to Hamilton, added the Nuggets, Raptors and Knicks to the list of teams known to have interviewed him at the combine. “Some people say I’m lazy and some people say that I don’t work hard all the time,” Oubre said. “That’s not true. This year at Kansas I may have come off lazy because I really didn’t understand some of things that I was doing, so it kind of caused me to slow down.”
Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis joins Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay in the top five of Derek Bodner’s mock draft for USA Today.
St. John’s guard Phil Greene is set to work out this week for the Sixers, Clippers and Nets, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Greene and Steve Lavin, his college coach, recently spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.
Pat Connaughton has fought the perception that he doesn’t have elite athleticism, and his 44-inch vertical leap at the combine, the second highest of all time at the event, helped move the Notre Dame shooting guard farther onto the draft radar. Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star has the details.

Atlantic Notes: Nets Draft, Stevens, Jackson

May 25th, 2015 at 11:14am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics and Sixers account for one-sixth of the 60 total draft choices this year, as we pointed out last week (Twitter link), but the rest of the Atlantic Division isn’t so replete with picks. The Nets have two picks, though they won’t be picking as highly as they would have in the first round had they not allowed the Hawks to switch picks under the terms of the Joe Johnson trade. The Knicks, who fell in the lottery, and the Raptors only have one selection apiece. Here’s more on the draft and other matters from the Atlantic:

NetsDaily’s Reed Wallach examines needs the Nets can fill through the draft, writing that Brooklyn would be likely to use a higher pick on a point guard if the team indeed trades up as GM Billy King said he would try to do. The Nets have the 29th and 41st picks.
Danny Ainge is firmly in control of the draft process for the Celtics, yet Brad Stevens takes an interest and was more engaged than many of his counterparts on other NBA teams at the draft combine, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald examines.
Knicks president Phil Jackson expressed fond wishes for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Pablo Prigioni (on Twitter), all conference finals participants whom the Knicks traded away this season, citing his desire for them to find their “comfort zones.” That led Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com to wonder why they couldn’t find comfort zones on Jackson’s Knicks.

Draft Notes: Rozier, Looney, Timberwolves

May 25th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA draft is just one month from tonight. The lottery and the combine are finished, so team workouts will be the main focus from now until draft night. Now that we know where every team will pick, we debuted our mock draft this weekend, and we’re continuing with our Prospect Profile series. Here’s more on the draft as the event starts to get close:

Louisville point guard Terry Rozier has made a habit of overcoming the odds, and he didn’t disappoint in his workout with the Jazz this weekend, according to Utah vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, as Carter Williams of the Deseret News examines. The Jazz were one of 17 teams scheduled to audition Rozier, Williams writes, a group that apparently includes the Rockets and Spurs.
Kevon Looney added the Nets, Wizards, Jazz, Suns, Bulls, Cavs, Raptors, Hawks and Knicks to the list of the teams he interviewed with at the draft combine earlier this month, as the UCLA power forward revealed to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Looney is a raw prospect, but even though he feels he could have improved if he’d stayed in college, he tells Medina that he’s confident he can also develop at the NBA level.
Connecticut point guard Ryan Boatright, LSU power forward Jordan Mickey, Texas combo forward Jonathan Holmes and Louisville swingman Wayne Blackshear are among the players tentatively scheduled to work out Friday for the Timberwolves, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Young, Nets, Celtics

May 24th, 2015 at 1:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers hold the third overall pick in this year’s draft and the team will select the player that they believe will be the best player long-term rather than the player who’s more NBA ready now, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes.

“We’ll spend all the available time between now and then to try to gain all the information we can to make good decisions,” GM Sam Hinkie said. “By design, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of June. I think it’s really a mistake to make one sometimes much, much earlier.”

Many executives believe the Sixers will take D’Angelo Russell, but selecting Emmanuel Mudiay remains a possibility due to his potential. Moore wonders what the team will do if either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns fall to the third pick. He believes the team would keep Towns, but it would look to trade Okafor, potentially to the Knicks for their fourth overall pick and an additional asset. New York cannot trade a first round pick until 2018, but that might work for Hinkie, who appears to be one of the most patient executives in the league.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Joseph Young will work out for the Nets, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the Oregon product as the 40th best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the 53rd. Brooklyn holds the No. 29 and No. 41 picks in this year’s draft.
The Celtics need to improve their talents and cannot afford to pass on free agents this summer, Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe opines (Video link). MacMullan concedes that a top target, such as LaMarcus Aldridge, could be difficult to obtain, but even if that is the case, the team needs to add players from the next tier of free agents. She suggests Khris Middleton and Tobias Harris as potential targets. DeMarre Carroll could be another option, as Boston reportedly has interest in the forward. The Celtics have slightly more than $40.4MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 against a projected $67.1MM salary cap. The team could sign a few mid-tier free agents in order to improve on their 40-win campaign.

Draft Notes: Hunter, Mudiay, Kaminsky

May 24th, 2015 at 12:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter has the potential to be a draft steal, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. Hunter is a two-time Player of the Year in the Sun Belt and played a key role in the upset of Baylor in the NCAA Tournament. He is currently ranked 21st by Chad Ford of ESPN.com and 24th by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. “Being a coach’s son and a captain alone is extra pressure,” Hunter said during the NBA Combine. “I had to learn how to react to coaching for me and my teammates. So I feel like I’m a good leader. I think I’m a proven leader.”

There’s more news as the NBA counts down to draft day:

The top four teams in the draft have reached out to Emmanuel Mudiay, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Zagoria notes that the Knicks are expecting Mudiay to be available with pick number four, but surprises could happen in the next month to shake up the draft. Zagoria says the Wolves could be willing to trade the number one pick and the Lakers aren’t committed to drafting Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor with the second pick.
Frank Kaminsky is eyeing a new position when he transitions to the NBA, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders writes. “[I’m] turning myself into a four,” Kaminsky said. “In college, I played the five for so long. I know I can play the four. I just have to pick up the nuances. The NBA values big guys that can stretch the floor.”

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Latest On Goran Dragic

May 24th, 2015 at 11:32am CST by ChrisCrouse

Goran Dragic is a fan of coach Erik Spoelstra as well as team president Pat Riley, and the Heat’s status as the front-runner to keep him remains unchanged, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears. Jackson lists the Lakers, Knicks, Pelicans, Kings and Bucks as other teams that are expected to have interest in signing the guard.

Dragic has previously confirmed that he’ll turn down his $7.5MM player option. The Heat possess the guard’s Bird rights, meaning they can offer him a fifth year, which is reportedly something Dragic values highly. The 29-year-old has previously said the Heat meet all the criteria he’s looking for in a team from a basketball standpoint and he’s named Miami as his favorite U.S. city. Dragic wants the Heat to play much faster next season, but he’s been assured that’s a key part of Miami’s plan, a source tells Jackson.

Still, Dragic has reportedly viewed the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” so perhaps Los Angeles is Miami’s biggest threat to sign the winner of the NBA’s 2013/14 Most Improved Player award. The Knicks and Lakers, along with the Heat, were among Dragic’s preferred destinations prior to the deadline trade that sent him from Phoenix to Miami.

Knicks Notes: Lee, Winslow, Mudiay

May 24th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by ChrisCrouse

Last year was the worst season in franchise history and Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com examines the Knicks’ options to improve their roster. Doolittle suggests the Knicks should target a top level free agent, such as Marc Gasol, Paul Millsap or Greg Monroe. If they are unable to land a top free agent, Doolittle suggests the team should attempt to re-sign Andrea Bargnani to a short-term contract or trade for David Lee, who is a systematic fit and has feel out of the rotation in Golden State. The Warriors already have slightly more than $77.6MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 season and the team will have to account for a possible maximum salary contract for Draymond Green if they want to keep the Michigan State product from leaving in free agency. Bringing Lee back to New York could be the kind of low risk-high reward transaction that could help the team quickly improve on their 17 win campaign.

Here’s more from New York:

The Knicks’ brass are big fans of Justise Winslow, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Ford ranks Winslow as the sixth best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the seventh best prospect.
Ian Begley of ESPN.com believes the Knicks should consider Winslow because of his potential to make an impact on defense. New York ranked 28th in defensive efficiency last season. Begley also notes that drafting Winslow would force Carmelo Anthony to play more minutes at the four spot, which has benefited the team in the past.
Emmanuel Mudiay is another possibility for the Knicks and Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal profiles the 19-year-old point guard. Herring notes that teams led by Phil Jackson have never invested heavily at the point guard position, but in today’s NBA, the position is more critical than in the past.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Lopez, Mudiay

May 23rd, 2015 at 4:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The next logical step in the Sixers‘ rebuilding plan would be to begin adding high-value free agents to the team’s cache of draft picks and role-players, but that phase could still be a ways off, Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Ford also opines that any expectation that Philly will contend for anything special in the next two seasons is probably overly optimistic. “There are things you can look at on our roster and assume to be solidified. Our overall roster churn in terms of minutes was much less this year than last year. Maybe it will be less next year as opposed to this year. We’re not really sure,” GM Sam Hinkie said.

Here’s more out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

Hinkie also acknowledged the frustrations voiced by fans of the team as being justified, Ford adds. “Our fans ought to demand some change. They ought to demand that we be looking [around] and changing,” Hinkie said. “I don’t think the Warriors fans should demand a whole lot of change. I think people would be really upset if they changed the top set of those players. But I think we should always be looking. People tease us about the players who are here two weeks or a month, but then there’s Robert Covington who’s here all year . . . and is an NBA rotation player. If those players we bring in have a 25% chance of being a rotation player, you ought to expect it takes four of them to find one.”
Numerous mock drafts, including my own, have the Knicks selecting Emmanuel Mudiay with the No. 4 overall pick, a development that would sit well with the young guard, Roderick Boone of Newsday writes. Speaking about playing alongside Carmelo Anthony, Mudiay said, “I would love to, but I don’t know where I’m going to end up. He’s a superstar in this league and somebody that knows the game in and out, so he would definitely give me some good advice if I was to go there.“
The Nets are still waiting on Brook Lopez‘s decision regarding his player option worth $16,744,218 for next season. Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily took a look back at Lopez’s 2014/15 campaign where he averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, and was the subject of numerous trade rumors.