New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Pierce, Covington, Knicks

December 7th, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Paul Pierce will always be a Celtic, no matter what uniform he wears, Clippers coach Doc Rivers told Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Pierce will make his first trip to Boston today as a member of the Wizards. He spent last season with the Nets before accepting a $5.3MM offer from the Wizards with a $5.5MM player option for next year. “He’s a Celtic playing for other teams,” said Rivers, who coached Pierce for nine years in Boston. “That’s exactly the way I look at Paul. I’ll never look at him as a Wizard. That’s just not going to happen. He’s just a Celtic playing for the Wizards, and we all know that.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics have recalled Dwight Powell and James Young from the D-league, the team announced in a press release. Powell is averaging 22.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in three games with the Maine Red Claws, while Young is averaging 23.3 points and 6.8 rebounds.
The Sixers‘ Robert Covington is seizing the opportunity he has in Philadelphia, writes Max Rappaport of Sixers.com. The second-year forward had 25 points in Detroit Saturday as Philadelphia picked up its second win of the season. Covington signed with the Sixers November 15th after being waived by the Rockets before the season started. “I have my sights set on everything that I want to do to prove that I belong here,” he said. Covington is under the Sixers’ control through the 2017/18 season.
There’s plenty of blame to be shared for the Knicks‘ 4-17 start, opines Al Iannazzone of Newsday. He cites a mediocre roster assembled by team president Phil Jackson, questionable decisions from first-year coach Derek Fisher and a lack of production at the point guard, power forward and center positions.

And-Ones: Knicks, Mekel, Mirotic, Kerr

December 6th, 2014 at 9:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks have started the season with a record of 4-17, but there is upside to the team’s horrendous start, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Ending up in the early part of the lottery could lead to the addition of a franchise changing player to the team either by the draft itself or by a trade that sends the pick out in a package that lands the Knicks an elite talent, like the Cavs did with Kevin Love this past offseason. Isola points out that the Knicks haven’t been the most patient franchise when it comes to developing talent and notes that the last two Knicks’ draft picks to make the All-Star team were David Lee, who was drafted in 2005, and Mark Jackson, who was selected in the 1987 draft.

Here’s more from around the Association:

Gal Mekel‘s two-year, non-guaranteed deal he signed with the Pelicans will pay him $639K this season, and he’ll earn $947,276 during the 2015/16 season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). That means the deal is a minimum-salary arrangement.
The Bulls‘ three-year wait for Nikola Mirotic brought back memories of a similar saga with Toni Kukoc two decades ago, writes Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. But while Kukoc was publicly dissed by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Mirotic has gotten a friendly reception from Chicago’s current stars. “He can put it on the floor, he can make plays for people, he can get to the basket,” Mike Dunleavy said of Mirotic, who is in the first season of a three-year, $16.6MM deal. “Defensively he’s pretty good — blocks shots, gets his hands on a lot of balls. As he gets used to everything a little more, he’ll foul less and be a pretty effective defender.”
Steve Kerr, who has the Warriors off to the NBA’s best start in his first season behind the team’s bench, tells Sam Smith of Bulls.com that his coaching style borrows from every coach he ever played under. Kerr played for two of the league’s most successful coaches ever in Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, but said he learned something everywhere he went. “Cotton Fitzsimmons and Lenny Wilkens and Lute Olson; you sort of take a little from each person,” Kerr said. “But what they all told me was to be yourself. They said you have to be yourself, that players will know if you are trying to do something that is not you.”

Arthur Hill and Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Hawks, Knicks To Pursue Greg Monroe

December 6th, 2014 at 5:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks and Knicks are set to pursue Greg Monroe in free agency this coming summer, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Over a dozen teams should have the necessary cap space to attract Monroe, who will almost assuredly be seeking a max contract, notes Charania. The Knicks see him as a secondary target if they can’t convince Marc Gasol to leave Memphis and come to New York, Charania adds, and landing Gasol is prospect they’re reportedly pessimistic about.

Monroe took the risky route this offseason when he signed Detroit’s one year qualifying offer after he and the team were unable to come to terms on a new long-term deal. The fact that Monroe spurned the Pistons’ attempts to lock him up for the long term and that he was willing to accept a salary of approximately $5.48MM for 2014/15, which is definitely below the market value for a player of Monroe’s talents, suggest that he has no intention of returning to Motown next season, Charania notes.

Monroe’s camp was also reportedly active in seeking sign-and-trade deals this past summer rather than attempting to secure offer sheets, with the fear that the Pistons would match and he would then be forced to stay in Detroit. Despite speculation that big-market teams like the Lakers and Celtics were pursuing Monroe, neither were an interested party when Monroe was seeking suitors, Charania’s sources told him. For their part, the Pistons rejected the proposed sign-and-trade offers, and they instead decided to take their chances that new president of basketball operations and head coach Stan Van Gundy could convince Monroe during the course of the season that Detroit was indeed a desirable place for him to continue his playing career.

The Knicks’ interest in Monroe furthers the notion that New York is focused on adding a center via free agency next summer. Monroe is the No. 4 player on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, and he’s the third-ranked center behind Gasol and Al Jefferson, who holds a $13.5MM player option for the 2015/16 season. The Knicks certainly will have enough cap flexibility to offer Monroe a maximum-salary deal, with roughly $25.9MM to spend. I do question how well Monroe would fit into the triangle offense that New York is transitioning to, since he is not known as a willing and competent passer, something that is required of big men in that system.

As for the Hawks, Monroe would be a curious fit alongside Al Horford and Paul Millsap and could find himself in a situation similar to the one he is now in with Detroit, where the Pistons’ experiment with an oversized frontcourt has not worked out well for any involved. Millsap is set for unrestricted free agency this coming summer, too, so Atlanta’s interest in Monroe could portend that the Hawks are either not confident in re-signing Millsap, or that they would prefer to add Monroe to their squad instead. Atlanta is expected to have more than $24MM in cap flexibility available next summer.

Atlantic Notes: Young, Fisher, Rondo, Brown

December 6th, 2014 at 8:49am CST by Eddie Scarito

James Young has been lighting up the scoreboard during his D-League appearances this season but he’s still waiting for his opportunity with the Celtics, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com writes. “You never know what’s going to happen with your team first and foremost with regard to injuries or whatever the case may be,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “So he’s always got to stay ready and be ready. I think the biggest thing for James is he’s got to continue to play and get those opportunities in Maine, continue to practice extremely well, and then when that opportunity presents itself to take advantage of it. Do I have a timeline for that? When he beats those other guys out, then that’s the timeline. And I think that’s the right way to look at it.”

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Amid the Knicks‘ early season struggles, head coach Derek Fisher‘s calm demeanor has helped stabilize his players, but the franchise might need the former player to show more fire on the sidelines, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal opines. The Knicks, who have been whistled for more fouls than any other NBA team while getting to the line less than any other team, need Fisher to depart from his relaxed, mild-mannered state with the officials, Herring adds.
Despite the rumors that resulted from Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo having breakfast together, the Celtics aren’t likely to deal Rondo, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News hears. The point guard remains a player who the team wants to build around even after he hits free agency this summer, and Boston sees Rondo as a means of attracting one of the crop of talented big men who will be available on the free agent market this summer, Deveney adds.
Sixers coach Brett Brown shouldn’t be judged by his won-loss record thanks to being saddled with a roster intended to lose, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. But Philadelphia’s woes do weigh on Brown despite the lower expectations, and the coach also worries about how losing affects his players, Lee adds. “I am prideful. You care a lot. But I didn’t accept this job to boost my resume,” Brown said. “I am 53 years old. You get used to winning 50 games every one of my San Antonio years. And so I need to make sure that [the players] feel good about themselves, that there is a difference between losing a game and losers.”

Durant, ‘Melo, Love Spoke Of Playing Together

December 5th, 2014 at 1:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love have discussed the idea of one day playing together, whether it be in the NBA or on Team USA, Love tells Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. The subject came up when the three 2012 Olympic teammates were with each other as they trained this summer in a Los Angeles gym.

“I think naturally being around each other this summer and the Olympics and just in common passing, we have always talked about the opportunity to obviously play against each other but playing with each other as well,” Love said. “It is always something fun to think about when you have a bunch of guys in the gym this summer. And if not on our respective teams, then maybe at the Olympics.”

It would seem the next Olympics would be a much more likely venue for a reunion than the NBA, given Anthony’s new contract with the Knicks, which runs through 2018/19 with a player option for that season, and Love’s continued insistence that he plans a long-term future with the Cavs. Durant has given no clear signal of what he intends to do when his contract with the Thunder runs out in 2016, but it would be a “long shot, likely even a pipe dream” for the Knicks to land a superstar of Durant’s caliber to play alongside Anthony, Youngmisuk writes. The Knicks are reportedly pessimistic about their chances of attracting Marc Gasol this summer.

Love spoke of his admiration for New York basketball over the summer, as Youngmisuk notes, and the power forward called the Knicks “a great franchise to be a part of” in a recent interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post, though he made it clear to Serby that he wants to stay in Cleveland. Love can opt out of his deal this summer or opt in and align his free agency with that of Durant’s in 2016. Still, there seems little chance that he’d end up leaving the Cavs.

Atlantic Notes: Rondo, Knicks, Ross

December 5th, 2014 at 10:34am CST by Chuck Myron

Three Atlantic Division teams are in line for a top-10 pick in the 2015 draft, as our Reverse Standings show. The presence of the Sixers among that group certainly isn’t shocking, and the Celtics, with the league’s ninth-worst record, aren’t surprising many with their play, either. However, the Knicks are off to their worst start in franchise history at 4-16, and their unexpectedly poor performance doesn’t bode well for the future, either, as we examine amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Lakers and Celtics had a brief conversation about a Rajon Rondo trade as recently as a few months ago, but the discussion was short and didn’t go anywhere, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The Lakers continue to eye Rondo for free agency this coming summer, Shelburne writes in a full story, echoing a report from Chris Mannix of SI.com a month ago. The Celtics are willing to engage in Rondo trade talks merely on an “informational” basis at this point, and if talks were to heat up with the Lakers, they’d likely ask for at least one first-round pick, the sort of asset the Lakers are hesitant to give up, Shelburne hears.
The Knicks will make finding a center their top priority in free agency this summer, but they’re not optimistic that they will be able to lure Marc Gasol, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. They’ll make a run at Gasol, the No. 4 player on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, hoping his friendship with fellow Spaniard Jose Calderon pays dividends, but the Knicks understand he’s more likely to choose a contending team, Berman writes. That’s part of the reason why Knicks management doesn’t want to tank, as Berman explains. Regardless, the Knicks are unlikely to re-sign any of their existing centers aside from Cole Aldrich, according to Berman.
Terrence Ross will be up for a rookie scale extension from the Raptors this summer, and he’s getting a sudden chance to showcase his ability to take a lead role on offense in the wake of DeMar DeRozan‘s groin injury, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun examines.

Eastern Notes: Stephenson, Knicks, Butler

December 4th, 2014 at 8:57pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hornets are one of the league’s more prominent early season disappointments after their success last season. The team’s biggest offseason acquisition, Lance Stephenson, hasn’t produced as expected, and he is still trying to learn Charlotte’s system and fit in with his new teammates, Steve Reed of The Associated Press writes. Head coach Steve Clifford said he’s not down on Stephenson, and he said expectations for him coming into organization might have been too high, notes Reed. “To be fair, one of the things that’s made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar,” Clifford said. “He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years.”

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

The Knicks aren’t seeing much from the Tyson Chandler trade, and with the confidence from Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and teammate Zach Randolph that free agent target Marc Gasol will stay in Memphis, times are tough in New York, opines Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
Marcus Smart‘s assignment to the D-League by the Celtics today is to get him some reps since the rookie hasn’t gone through a full practice with scrimmaging since suffering a left ankle injury on November 7th, Jay King of MassLive.com notes. “I didn’t think he looked ready,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “Nothing to do [with] physically; he hasn’t practiced. I felt like it would be better to go with Phil Pressey and Gerald Wallace. They would give us the same things that Marcus gave us and they’ve been traveling with the team and everything else. It’s kind of tough to just throw him in there. I hadn’t even seen him until we got to the gym today.“
The Wizards‘ Rasual Butler is the perfect example of how hard work can lead to success for a journeyman player, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. Butler was asked why he kept working out for over a year when no NBA teams came calling, to which he responded, “Because I wanted to play basketball. It’s very easy. It’s a simple answer. If you’re serious about doing what you love to do, then you’re going to do whatever it takes for you to continue to do what you love to do. Some people say they love to play the game. If you love to play the game, you’ve got to go through the steps. You can’t give up on your story.” Butler is a key reserve for Washington, and is third in the league in three-point shooting percentage at a blistering 56.4%, notes Zillgitt

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Monroe, Celtics, Love, Heat

December 4th, 2014 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Friends and former Georgetown Hoyas Greg Monroe and Jeff Green share an agent in David Falk, and Monroe, an unrestricted free agent at year’s end, says they’ve playfully discussed the idea of playing together, observes Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com.

“We joke about it,” Monroe said. “We all joke about it, man, but obviously it’s a lot more than us two coming here [to Boston] or us two talking about it. Right now, I’m just focused on where I’m at. Whenever the time is and if everything is right, then obviously I’ll always weigh my options, but right now I’m not worried about that.”

Boston has enough cap flexibility to offer Monroe a max contract, as Rohrbach points out, but if Green exercises his $9.2MM player option and the Celtics re-sign Rajon Rondo, much of that flexibility would be gone. Here’s more on the Celtics and their Eastern Conference rivals:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge reiterated his desire to find a rim protector as he spoke this morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, as Rohrbach notes within the same piece. “I’m always trying to get quality,” Ainge said. “We’re trying to get better players, more impactful players. We do have a hole from a rim-protecting standpoint, and you can’t just add rim protection and then give up other things that you have that are solid. So, they’re not easy to find. A quality one, I should say, is not easy to find. Maybe through the draft or free agency, but we will continue to work all the way to the trade deadline to see if we can fix that hole in the meantime.”
Kevin Love said the Knicks “are a great franchise to be a part of” but reiterated his intention to remain with the Cavs for the long term as he spoke in an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post.
Alex Kirk is back on D-League assignment, the Cavs announced. It’s the fourth such trip to the Canton Charge for the rookie, though none have last as long as a week, as our log of D-League assignments and recalls shows.
The Heat assigned Andre Dawkins to the D-League, the team announced late Monday. It’s the first time Miami has sent anyone to its affiliate this year. Dawkins, who made the Heat out of camp, has seen a total of just 13 minutes so far in the regular season.

Bulls Notes: ‘Melo, Noah, Gasol, Butler

December 4th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls haven’t been on fire out of the gate, starting just 12-7, but they’re in an unusually advantageous position from a broader standpoint. They have a roster that seems strong enough to seriously contend for a title this season, and they have a pair of intriguing rookies in Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic. They also have a potential lottery pick coming their way from the Kings next summer. The Bulls almost landed a superstar in free agency this past summer, but at least one member of the team doesn’t regret that swing and miss, as we detail amid the latest from the Windy City:

Joakim Noah attempted to recruit Carmelo Anthony to Chicago earlier this year, but Noah believes the Bulls will be just fine without him, as he told reporters in the wake of a documentary showing just how close ‘Melo came to signing with the Bulls. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com has the details. “I know you believe [teams] need to have all these superstar players and you have it all figured out. We know what your opinion, what your thoughts are, but maybe the way you view the game and the way I view the game is different,” Noah said to the media. “I come in here every day with the guys and my teammates and we work hard and we know we have ways to go. But we feel like the potential is there and that’s all you can ask for as a player is just have that belief that you could go all the way. It’s a good feeling.”
Wednesday’s win after a heartbreaking double overtime loss the night before was indicative of the sort of toughness the Bulls often exhibit, a quality Pau Gasol found attractive this summer, notes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. “The resiliency of this team definitely attracted me,” Gasol said Wednesday. “A lot of these guys have fought through adversity in different situations, injuries and stuff and still been able to perform at a pretty high level, all things considered. I thought with my addition things could be even better.”
It would be surprising if the Bulls didn’t match any offer for Jimmy Butler this spring, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune amid his mailbag column.

Atlantic Notes: Brown, Johnson, Bargnani

December 3rd, 2014 at 6:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers coach Brett Brown has the difficult task of holding together a last place team that didn’t acquire any players who are likely to help the franchise this season despite having two top-10 picks in the 2014 NBA draft. But Brown doesn’t regret signing on to coach Philadelphia, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press tweets. “Even knowing what I know now, with the draft picks not here and some hits with injuries, I’d take this job 50 times out of 50 times,” Brown said.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Brown had expected the Sixers to land Andrew Wiggins in this year’s draft, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). “I thought we had him [Wiggins]. I was expecting we were going to draft [Nik] Stauskas and Wiggins,” Brown said. But the ping-pong balls of the draft lottery didn’t go their way, and Philly ended up selecting third, where it nabbed the injured Joel Embiid instead.
The fans in Sacramento let James Johnson hear their derision when he made his return to Sleep Train Arena last night, but Johnson is a much different person now than when he departed the Kings back in 2013, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. He has matured much since then, Smith notes, and is providing the Raptors with a nice spark off the bench this season. “I just think it was tough for me to play here [in Sacramento],” Johnson said. “I won’t put all the onus on Sacramento either. It had a lot to do with me being immature. I was playing bad. I had a bad year that year [2012/13]. I have to own up to it.“
It is still unknown just when the Knicks can expect Andrea Bargnani to return to action for the team, Marc Berman of The New York Post reports. Head coach Derek Fisher had originally expected Bargnani would be available 10 days ago, but he reinjured himself during his second full practice with the team, notes Berman. Fisher did say that Bargnani was a “big piece to the future,’’ adds Berman.
There is no evidence that players who fall in the draft like the Celtics‘ Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, who were both selected 21st in their respective drafts, perform better because of the “chip” on their shoulders, Braden Campbell of Boston.com writes. Campbell cites a statistical analysis performed by Michael Lopez and Noah Davis of FiveThirtyEight.com as evidence to support this assertion.