Adam Morrison Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Adam Morrison Not Retiring From Basketball

November 7th, 2012 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

After impressing in summer league action in July, Adam Morrison received a camp invite from the Trail Blazers this fall, earning a chance to land a spot on the team's regular-season roster. Before the preseason got underway, Morrison indicated that he expected to retire if he was cut by the Blazers. However, even though he was in fact waived by Portland before the season got underway, Morrison's playing career may not be over just yet.

Morrison's agent at Priority Sports, Brad Ames, tells David Pick of Sportando that his client is open to joining a team overseas. According to Ames, he and Morrison are "looking for a good Euroleague or Eurocup situation" for the former third overall pick.

Morrison, who hasn't appeared in an NBA regular season game since the 2009/10 season, seemed reluctant to continue his career overseas when he discussed retirement last month, noting that "I did the Europe thing and it just wasn't for me." Still, at age 28, it sounds as if he's not ready to give up on his playing career and the possibility of an NBA comeback quite yet.

"Adam is open to whatever is the best move for his career, but he belongs in the NBA and that's his goal," Ames told Pick. "If we don't have anything (from Europe) over the next few weeks, Adam will consider the D-League for call-up opportunities."

Adam Morrison

Minor Moves: Johnson, Blazers, Brown

October 31st, 2012 at 7:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

With the D-League draft two days away and several training camp invitees out on the open market after cuts this week, there's plenty of player movement going on outside the NBA. We'll round up the latest here.

JaJuan Johnson, whom the Rockets recently waived, has entered his name into the D-League draft and is expected to be the No. 1 pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Blazers camp invitees Coby Karl, Dallas Lauderdale and Justin Holiday have all been added to the roster of the Idaho Stampede, Portland's D-League affiliate, tweets Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge. Presumably, that means the Blazers elected not to protect the D-League rights of Demonte Harper and Adam Morrison, the other two camp invitees the team waived this weekend.
A Russian team has announced that they've signed free agent forward Derrick Brown, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The newest member of the club Lokomotiv Kuban was competing for a roster spot with the Spurs until San Antonio waived him last week.

Trail Blazers Cut Five, Including Morrison

October 27th, 2012 at 12:47pm CST by Michael Pina

SATURDAY, 12:47pm: The Blazers confirmed the roster cuts via press release.

FRIDAY, 5:51pm: According to CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes, the Trail Blazers have informed Adam Morrison, Coby Karl, Dallas Lauderdale, Demonte Harper, and Justin Holiday that they will be released on Saturday, bringing the team's roster down to 15 for the season. Harper and Holiday will be assigned down to the D-League affiliate Idaho Stampede.

One factor to be considered in Portland's decision to take forward Sasha Pavlovic instead of Morrison is the fact that the Celtics are paying Pavlovic's salary.

Northwest Rumors: Thunder, Blazers, Batum

October 24th, 2012 at 10:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

When GMs were polled recently on their thoughts about the upcoming season, the only two teams who received consideration to win the Western Conference other than the Lakers were the Thunder and Nuggets. The nod to Oklahoma City is no surprise, but the mention of Denver might have raised a few eyebrows, since the Nuggets haven't gotten out of the first round the past three years. Nuggets coach George Karl would be pleased if his team notched 50 wins, but with Andre Iguodala on board, he believes this year's squad has a chance to break the franchise record of 54 victories, as Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com writes. Here's the latest on a couple of the Nuggets' division rivals.

The Thunder have 14 players on fully guaranteed deals, and another four with partial guarantees, meaning the team will likely owe money to at least three players who don't make the team. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman gives reasons why he believes Daniel Orton will edge out DeAndre Liggins for the final regular season spot, adding that it's a decision that may pit GM Sam Presti against coach Scott Brooks (All four Twitter links).
Mayberry also believes there's a chance the Thunder could trade Daequan Cook or Lazar Hayward to free up a spot for both Orton and Liggins, but thinks finding a taker for either would be a tough task (All Twitter links).
With Demonte Harper and Dallas Lauderdale reportedly about to be waived and sent to the D-League, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian identifies Coby Karl, Adam Morrison and Justin Holiday as other camp invitees the Blazers will probably cut.
Nicolas Batum signed for about $12MM less in his four-year deal than Eric Gordon is getting his four-year contract, but Blazers GM Neil Olshey hopes Batum can increase his scoring this year in a manner similar to 5.4 PPG jump Gordon took from his second year in the league to his third, writes Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

Northwest Rumors: Bell, Wolves, Blazers, Hayward

October 23rd, 2012 at 8:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder are the only Northwest Division team in action tonight, as they take on the Bulls, and after that, every team in the division will have just one more preseason game before final roster decisions must be made. Clubs are offering a few clues about their plans, and we round them up tonight along with other news out of the Northwest.

The Wolves are unlikely to deal for Raja Bell, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). The Jazz are reportedly trying to trade Bell after failing to come to an agreement on a buyout.
Wolves coach Rick Adelman said the team won't make any cuts until after the team's last preseason game on Friday, Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. The team has 17 players on the roster, with Will Conroy, Mike Harris and Chris Johnson the only guys without fully guaranteed deals.
Kevin Love's injury has pressed Wolves offseason signee Andrei Kirilenko into the starting power forward spot, but the 31-year-old Kirilenko isn't planning on changing his game to make up for Love's absence, as Richardson writes.
Adam Morrison, Sasha Pavlovic and Coby Karl have the best chance to make the Blazers opening-night roster among the team's six players on non-guaranteed deals, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, though Karl expects to be cut. Haynes reported earlier that fellow camp invitees Demonte Harper and Dallas Lauderdale are destined for the D-League.
Gordon Hayward is poised to take on a more significant role for the Jazz this season, as Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune examines. As our Rookie Contract Option Tracker shows, the Jazz have until the end of the month to pick up his $3.45MM option for 2013/14, but there's no real chance they'd turn it down.

Northwest Rumors: Aldridge, Morrison, Fournier

October 14th, 2012 at 9:09am CST by Chuck Myron

The Timberwolves have already made news, cutting ties with a pair of training camp invitees, and there are a few other items of interest out of the Northwest Division this morning.

LaMarcus Aldridge sees himself as a legitimate No. 1 option, and doesn't think the Blazers need to acquire anyone else to play that role, he told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
Adam Morrison, in camp with the Blazers on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, said he had similar offers from other NBA teams but chose the Blazers in part because of their proximity to his home in Spokane, Washington, writes Joe Freeman of the The Oregonian as he details the comeback attempt of the 2006 No. 3 overall pick. Morrison also said the team let him know it would give him a legitimate shot of making the opening-night roster, but Friday's waiver claim of fellow small forward Justin Holiday adds to the competition for a spot.
Evan Fournier was the lone international product to be taken in the first round of this year's draft, and though the Frenchman didn't figure to make the Nuggets' rotation when training camp began, the 19-year-old is making a push for regular playing time as a shooting guard, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.

Blazers Notes: Matthews, Morrison, Claver

October 9th, 2012 at 8:20pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest rumors surrounding the Portland Trail Blazers, who make their preseason debut Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers:

Wesley Matthews tells CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes that he has studied film of Dwyane Wade, James Harden, and Joe Johnson in order to improve his ballhandling.
Erik Gundersen of TrailBlazers.com talks to Adam Morrison, who is fighting for a roster spot in Blazers training camp.
Ben Golliver of Blazersedge.com talks to Spanish rookie Victor Claver about the transition to the NBA.

Adam Morrison To Retire If Waived By Blazers

October 2nd, 2012 at 4:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told the media yesterday that Adam Morrison has a legitimate chance to earn a roster spot in Portland this month. If Morrison doesn't earn a spot on the team, however, he intends to retire, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

"I'm going to finish school and start coaching," Morrison said of his alternate plans. "I did the Europe thing and it just wasn't for me. Not saying the (European) culture or anything like that, (or) the people. It just wasn't for me. So, yeah, if it doesn't work out, I'm willing to look myself in the mirror and say, 'I gave it a honest shot' and turn the page. Do something else."

Morrison, 28, has had a disappointing NBA career since being drafted by the Bobcats third overall in 2006, but showed promise at this July's summer league. The former Gonzaga star played for the Nets in Orlando and the Clippers in Las Vegas, averaging 20.0 PPG and shooting 61.9% on three-pointers in Vegas. With Elliot Williams out for the year with an achilles injury, the door may be open for Morrison to earn a spot on the Blazers' roster.

Odds & Ends: Morrison, Turkoglu, Lin, Ginobili

October 1st, 2012 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few odds and ends from a busy day around the NBA….

Blazers coach Terry Stotts told the media today that summer signee Adam Morrison has a "legitimate" chance to make the team, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (Twitter link).
Hedo Turkoglu says he'd like to finish his career with the Magic, tweets Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
Asked about the Knicks' decision to let Jeremy Lin walk in July, GM Glen Grunwald told the media that the Rockets made a commitment to Lin that New York wasn't prepared to make, and that Raymond Felton was a better fit for the Knicks. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the quotes.
Manu Ginobili expects to return to the Spurs if he continues playing when his contract expires at season's end, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal poses five burning questions facing the Cavaliers heading into the 2012/13 season. Among Lloyd's five: Whether Dion Waiters was the right choice in June's draft, and whether Anderson Varejao will finish the year with the Cavs.
Ben Wallace won't be in camp with the Pistons, since the team doesn't want to put him a position where it may have to cut him, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Appearing on KJR in Seattle, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he didn't think any NBA owner would stand in the way of the city of Seattle getting another NBA franchise (link via Sports Radio Interviews).
Former NBA veteran Jayson Williams tells ESPN.com's Matt Wong that he's healthy and misses the NBA, but stopped short of saying he's interested in making a comeback.

Northwest Rumors: Hickson, Morrison, Jazz

September 25th, 2012 at 7:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's been a busy day for current and former members of the Timberwolves. The team officially announced the signing of Louis Amundson, having reportedly passed on Sean Williams and Yi Jianlian. Anthony Tolliver was also in the running to return until yesterday, and today he agreed to sign with the Hawks. Mark Deeks of ShamSports revealed the Wolves can get out of the last year of their contract with Brandon Roy if he reinjures his knees this season, and after an offseason of changes, Kevin Love says he's satisfied with the team's moves. There's news on Minnesota's Northwest Division rivals as well, and we'll round it up here:

J.J. Hickson will start training camp with the inside track to be the starter at center for the Blazers, said coach Terry Stotts, who also gave a nod to the strides rookie Meyers Leonard made over the summer, as The Oregonian's Joe Freeman writes.
In the same piece, Freeman reports that the Blazers will give strong consideration to keeping Adam Morrison for the entire season. The third overall pick in the 2006 draft signed a non-guaranteed contract with the team last week.
The Jazz have added 27-year-old former University of Utah guard Johnnie Bryant to their staff as a player development assistant, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).