Alessandro Gentile Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Stefanski, Gentile, Noel, Mavs Pick

May 24th, 2018 at 8:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies’ draft preparations won’t be interrupted by the departure of executive VP of basketball operations Ed Stefanski, according to Michael Wallace of the team’s website. Stefanski accepted a front-office position with the Pistons on Thursday.

“Our draft process moves forward at this time,” Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace told Michael Wallace. “In due time, we’ll get to if we’re going to do something else in our front office. But our draft (process) rolls on. And we know who (Stefanski) likes already.”

The Grizzlies didn’t get lucky in the lottery but still have the No. 4 overall pick, as well as the No. 32 pick in the second round.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Swingman Alessandro Gentile will play for the Rockets in the Vegas Summer League, he indicated in an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport that was relayed by Sportando. Gentile, who has been playing in the Italian League, will be a free agent this summer. The Rockets acquired his draft rights in 2014 after he was selected in the second round.
Signing Mavericks free agent Nerlens Noel might be a worthwhile gamble for the Hawks, Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype opines. Noel’s skill set could complement Atlanta’s promising power forward, John Collins, because of his defensive versatility. The Spurs, Wizards and Warriors are some other potential landing spots for Noel, who signed his qualifying offer after a disappointing foray into restricted free agency last summer.
It’s unlikely the Mavericks will trade the No. 5 overall pick, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. They would have to get some prime assets to trade down below the No. 7 or No. 8 slot, Sefko continues. If Dallas wants to move up, it would likely have to give up a future first-rounder as well as the No. 5 pick and possibly one of its top young players, Sefko adds.

Southwest Notes: Leonard, Gentile, Pelicans

April 4th, 2017 at 4:58pm CST by Austin Kent

It may not be up to him but Kawhi Leonard has told the Spurs coaching staff that he would prefer to play out the final six contests of the regular season, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes.

Unfortunately for Leonard, the club’s final six games come in a span of nine days, including one set of four games in five nights. Considering historically cautious Spurs bench boss Gregg Popovich, it’s unlikely that Leonard’s wish will be granted.

In 69 games for the Spurs this season, Leonard has averaged 25.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Though his season average is 33.8 minutes per game, that usage increased to 36.0 in March.

Suffice it to say, though Leonard is approaching a career high in games played for a season, it’s unlikely he closes out all six. As McDonald writes, he only needs four to set a new career mark with 73 in a campaign.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Veteran big man David Lee signed on with the Spurs after falling out of favor in Dallas and Golden State. The 33-year-old’s energy has added a new element to the traditionally subdued roster. “I know the team, especially when Tim Duncan was here, was a lot more quiet. Then Dewayne Dedmon and I both came in, and we are quite outgoing,” Lee told Tom Osborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “I don’t know if that is right or wrong, but that’s just being ourselves.“
Italian swingman Alessandro Gentile, a 2014 second-round pick of the Timberwolves whose rights are currently held by the Rockets, has signed on to play in Israel, E. Carchia of Sportando relays.
With possible newcomer Joe Dumars waiting in the wings, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps and head coach Alvin Gentry will be evaluated this summer, writes John Reid of the Times-Picayune. The pair have struggled to build a framework for success around Anthony Davis.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Beaubois, Duncan, Rockets

July 6th, 2016 at 5:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Unlike a year ago, the Mavericks don’t anticipate any snags before the moratorium is lifted on Thursday, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Last summer, Dallas looked like a huge winner in free agency before DeAndre Jordan changed his mind and re-signed with the Clippers. This year should feature a lot less drama, as Dallas is expected to finalize a trade sending Jeremy Evans to Indiana before moving on to its committed free agents. The Mavericks will complete deals with Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut and re-sign Deron Williams and Dwight Powell. The team may decide to shed some more salary, with Sefko mentioning backup center JaVale McGee as a possibility.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Former Maverick Rodrigue Beaubois will be given a chance to make the roster next season, posts Tim McMahon on ESPN Now. The 28-year-old point guard spent four years in Dallas at the start of the decade, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2013. He spent this season with Strasbourg in France.
Tim Duncan hasn’t made an official announcement about his future, but Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News notes that his career could end with him being waived by the Spurs. Waiving Duncan and stretching his $6.4MM salary over the next three seasons would not only help San Antonio’s cap situation, it would make sure Duncan gets all the money owed to him. All signs point toward Duncan retiring, but McDonald says if he comes back the Spurs will be able to fit him and new free agent signee Pau Gasol under their cap.
Today’s deal with Nene makes the Rockets‘ battle for roster spots more interesting, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston now has 13 players under contract for 2016/17, and must decide by August 1st whether to pick up a $1,015,696 option on reserve point guard Andrew Goudelock. The 27-year-old appeared in just eight games after signing with the Rockets in March when he completed his season in China. Combo forward Michael Beasley is in the same position, but a source told Feigen that Houston intends to keep him. The 13 roster spots don’t include restricted free agent Donatas Motiejunas or second-round draft pick Chinanu Onuaku (Twitter link).
There is “growing skepticism” that Alessandro Gentile will join the Rockets next season, tweets international journalist David Pick. It was reported last month that the Italian wing player, whose rights belong to Houston, was interested in playing for new coach Mike D’Antoni.

Southwest Rumors: Rockets, Gentile, Gee, Dirk

June 21st, 2016 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Italian wing Alessandro Gentile, whose NBA rights are held by the Rockets, is very interested in making the leap to the NBA this year now that Mike D’Antoni is the new head coach in Houston, as he tells Adrian Wojnarwoski of The Vertical. “My goal is to play in the NBA next year,” Gentile told The Vertical. “I really hope this can happen. For me, Mike D’Antoni is like a legend in Italian basketball, an example for everyone. For him to coach me would be very, very nice.”

While the Rockets have “significant interest” in signing Gentile, according to Wojnarowski, the team may wait to see what happens at the start of July’s free agent period before negotiating a deal with the 23-year-old. It’s also possible that Houston could trade his rights, if the team “becomes hesitant or financially unwilling” to lock him up — in that scenario, Gentile would still want to come stateside. “My dream is that I want to play in Houston with Mike D’Antoni,” Gentile said. “If that’s not possible, my goal is to still play in the NBA next year.”

Here’s more from out of the Southwest:

The Rockets don’t have a first-round draft pick this year, but general manager Daryl Morey thinks they should be able to get back into the first round if they want to. “I think it will be pretty easy to trade (our) picks into the first this year,” Morey tells Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. “There are four teams that have almost half the draft in the first round, and none of them wants to use their pick to trade. Trading in will be easy.” On Monday, we looked at the five teams that control 14 of this year’s 30 first-round picks.
The deadline for Alonzo Gee to make his decision on his player option for 2016/17 had previously been reported as June 21st, but Brett Dawson of The Advocate tweets that the Pelicans forward will actually have until June 27th to pick up or decline that option.
The Pelicans haven’t been shy about dealing first-round picks for veteran players in the past, and general manager Dell Demps hasn’t ruled out the possibility of doing it again with the No. 6 overall selection this year. ESPN’s Justin Verrier examines the pros and cons of trading the pick for New Orleans.
In the wake of a report indicating that the Warriors may attempt to court Dirk Nowitzki in free agency, Mavericks guard Devin Harris tells Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News, “I don’t think the big German is going anywhere.” Nowitzki has opted out of his contract, but is still considered likely to re-sign with Dallas.
Matt Bonner is eligible for free agency this summer, but the 36-year-old veteran hopes to play another year with the Spurs, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News details.

And-Ones: Clippers, Paul, Union, Gentile, Bender

October 6th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers acknowledges that if the team doesn’t break through this season, it would be reasonable to conclude that this core of players never will and that major changes are necessary, as he tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe.

“We’re all on that edge together,” Rivers said. “I believe we’re gonna be really good. But if we’re not, it depends on how we play, and what the reason is. That’s what would make you make a big decision.”

See more Clippers-related news amid our look around the league:

Clippers point guard Chris Paul is taking a determined stance in his role as president of the National Basketball Players Association as labor talks with the league approach, writes Kurt Streeter of ESPN the Magazine. Paul’s serious, no-nonsense demeanor helped lead the union to the hiring executive director Michele Roberts, as Anthony Tolliver, one of the union’s vice presidents, explains to Streeter. “At first there was a little bit of, um, hesitancy to elect a woman,” Tolliver said. “Not because we’re sexist, but we just weren’t quite sure how our guys were going to react to that. But Chris was adamant. He thought she’d be the best leader. By the end of the process, every single guy on our committee thought she was the best candidate. Chris said that from the beginning. We ended up following his lead.”
Roberts earned $1.2MM in her first year on the job, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal, who writes in a subscription-only piece.
The Rockets will try to sign draft-and-stash swingman Alessandro Gentile next summer, and a decent chance exists that they’ll make it happen, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com amid a piece on draft prospect Dragan Bender, who dominated Gentile last week in an exhibition between their European teams. Bender wouldn’t be selected lower than third overall if he enters the 2016 draft, Stein believes. Gentile was the 53rd overall pick in 2014 and is under contract with Italy’s EA7 Milano through 2018, as Mark Porcaro shows in our Draft Rights Held Players database.

Southwest Rumors: Mavs, Gasol, Cole

June 29th, 2015 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks are looking to fortify their backcourt and are interested in unrestricted free agents Danny Green and Wesley Matthews, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. Their ability to sign either of those players could hinge on whether they are able to reel in one of their two primary frontcourt targets, DeAndre Jordan or LaMarcus Aldridge, Sefko continues, since they might not be able to afford two high-salaried free agents. The Mavs have a better shot at landing Jordan instead of Aldridge, which would ensure the departure of unrestricted free agent center Tyson Chandler. Another possible target is point guard Mo Williams, who lives in the Dallas area, Sefko adds.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies officials are optimistic that they will re-sign Marc Gasol and expect him to make a quick decision in free agency, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Grizzlies began their recruitment of the unrestricted All-Star center on Monday by posting a video about him on their website, Tillery continues. He opted to become a free agent mainly for financial reasons, Tillery adds.
The Pelicans made qualifying offers of $3.037MM to Norris Cole and $1.147MM to Jeff Withey, ensuring they will be restricted free agents, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Rockets draft-and-stash prospect Alessandro Gentile is not coming to the NBA any time soon, according to a Sportando.com story, via a La Gazzetta dello Sport report. Gentile signed a contract extension with Italy’s EA7 Milano that will not expire until June 2018. Even though there are some opt outs in the contract, Gentile plans to stay in Italy for at least three more seasons, the story adds.

Southwest Notes: Williams, Gentile, Mills

March 25th, 2015 at 1:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard will start against the Pelicans tonight in his first game since January 23rd, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. That’ll be a boost for Houston as it looks to climb from the third seed in the Western Conference. Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans have decided against signing Elliot Williams for the remainder of the season, tweets John Reid of The Times-Picayune. New Orleans signaled that choice when it signed Toney Douglas to a deal for the balance of 2014/15 on Tuesday, the day after the team’s second 10-day contract with Williams expired.
Rockets draft-and-stash prospect Alessandro Gentile doesn’t have an NBA escape clause for 2015 in his contract with Italy’s EA7 Milano, and the deal doesn’t include a buyout provision, either, a source tells HoopsHype. That runs counter to comments EA7 teammate Daniel Hackett made on SkySport television indicating that Gentile has decided to play for the Rockets next season, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia notes. Gentile said recently that he’s increasingly intrigued with the NBA and that the Rockets had been in close contact. The small forward is under contract through 2017, as Mark Porcaro shows on our Draft Rights Held Players database.
Patty Mills had a shoulder injury that would sideline him for the first two months of the season when the Spurs re-signed him this summer to a three-year, $11MM deal, but Spurs president/coach Gregg Popovich had no reservations about the move. Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated has the details in a story that looks at Mills’ heritage and the homage the Spurs have paid to it. “It wasn’t even a question,” Popovich said of the deal. “Obviously he can shoot the basketball and has a lot of energy. But he’s beloved on this team for his enthusiasm, his kindness, his understated gravitas. As long as I’m here, he’s going to be here. Unless we can’t afford him.”
The Spurs top ESPN Insider’s Front Office rankings for a second straight year. The synergy between Popovich, GM R.C. Buford and owner Peter Holt, balance between the future and the present, and structuring of player contracts that include salary declines instead of raises help the Spurs stand out, as Chad Ford and Amin Elhassan opine in a separate Insider story.
We rounded up the latest on the Mavs earlier today.

Southwest Notes: Gentile, Conley, Ajinca

March 12th, 2015 at 12:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Swingman Alessandro Gentile didn’t join the Rockets after they drafted him 53rd overall this past June, but he’s growing increasingly fascinated with the idea of playing in the NBA, as he tells the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Rockets have traveled to scout him and been in frequent contact, and they’ve made him feel like a family member, Gentile added. All of it seems like a departure from Gentile’s comments in September, when he said that he had no interest in playing in the NBA and questioned whether he ever would. Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:

The Grizzlies have benefited from Mike Conley‘s discount deal since the 2010/11 season, but they’ll face a challenge when it comes off the books just when teams are set to have plenty of cash to throw around in 2016, as Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com examines in an Insider-only piece.
Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com examines the changes to Alexis Ajinca that have allowed him to become a contributor for New Orleans since rejoining the NBA last season after an absense of more than two years. Ajinca’s minimum-salary deal with the Pelicans is up at season’s end.
The final pick of the 2014 first-round is headed on D-League assignment for the fourth time this season, as the Spurs have sent Kyle Anderson to their affiliate, the team announced. Still, Anderson has averaged 12.6 minutes per game and made eight starts for the big club this season.
The Mavericks have recalled Dwight Powell from the D-League just one day after sending him down, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The rookie power forward scored 33 points in 37 minutes Wednesday for the D-League Texas Legends.

Southwest Notes: Marion, Gentile, Clark

September 17th, 2014 at 5:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Shawn Marion said it was difficult to decide where to sign this summer and cited his continued longtime friendship with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, but he also told KRLD-FM in Dallas that the presence of his newborn son, who lives in Chicago, influenced his choice. “It wasn’t about the money,” Marion said, as the Dallas Morning News transcribes. “I got offered more money from different teams. It’s with just a matter of what I’m comfortable with. And also, from Cleveland to Chicago is not that far. It’s driveable and a quick flight.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Alessandro Gentile isn’t interested in playing in the NBA for now, and he’s uncertain that he’ll ever do so, as he told the Italian newspaper Leggo, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Rockets acquired the NBA rights to the Italian-born small forward, this year’s 53rd overall pick, in a draft-night swap, but he signed a new deal with Italy’s Olimpia Milano in July.
The pact between the Grizzlies and Earl Clark is non-guaranteed, as Eric Pincus writes for the Los Angeles Times.
A member of the Spurs staff will be shadowing Livio Jean-Charles, last year’s 28th overall pick, throughout the season as he plays for ASVEL Villeurbanne in France, as Jean-Charles tells Frédéric Dussidour of BeBasket (translation via Jesus Gomez of Pounding the Rock). It continues San Antonio’s practice of keeping close tabs on its draft-and-stash prospects, as Gomez examines.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Rockets, Daniels, Wizards

August 17th, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

There are a number of notable players waiting on a call from an NBA team and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders runs them all down. Many of the best available players, including Ray Allen, Eric Bledsoe (restricted), Jermaine O’Neal, and Michael Beasley, have been featured in Hoops Rumors’ Free Agent Stock Watch series. Here’s more from around the Association..

Alessandro Gentile‘s father Nando Gentile says that his son wants to play two more years in Italy before joining the Rockets in the NBA, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (on Twitter). Gentile’s rights are owned by Houston, who acquired the No. 53 pick in this year’s draft to snatch him. The 21-year-old wing recently re-signed with his Italian club for three seasons.
Scott Rafferty of Ridiculous Upside looked at what Troy Daniels could bring to the Rockets next season. Daniels made a name for himself with a big shot in the first round of last year’s playoffs and he’ll now look to cement his role as a spark plug off of Houston’s bench. Daniels shattered the D-League’s record for threes made in a season and did it in just 27 games, so his future looks pretty bright.
Kennedy (on Twitter) opines that Xavier Silas would be a great fit in the 15th roster spot for the Wizards. Silas, who went to training camp with Washington in October, was an undrafted rookie out of Northern Illinois leading into the lockout and has since traveled the globe.
Forward DeShawn Sims has signed in South Korea, agent Daniel Moldovan tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Sims was in camp with the Celtics last October before taking a deal in Israel.