Alex Kirk Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Sign Alex Kirk

August 11th, 2014 at 2:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:52pm: It’s a partially guaranteed arrangement that covers more than one season, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).

2:30pm: The Cavs have signed Alex Kirk, who went undrafted this summer out of New Mexico, the team announced. The 6’11” Kirk was part of Cleveland’s summer league team last month. The terms of the deal aren’t immediately clear, but it’s not likely to carry much, if any, guaranteed salary. It’s almost certainly for no more than the minimum salary, since that’s all the Cavs can offer.

Kirk is a rim protector, as his 2.7 blocks per game this past season for the Lobos show. The Cavs have been sniffing around for someone who can play that role, reportedly offering a first-round pick for Timofey Mozgov, though Kirk will likely have to beat out a veteran or two to serve in that capacity for significant minutes in wine-and-gold this year.

The 22-year-old also averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game in his junior year this past season at New Mexico. Kirk managed only 0.4 blocks per contest over 15.4 MPG across five summer league appearances, but Cleveland is seemingly confident that the larger sample size of his college performance is a better indicator. Kirk joins 15 others who have a contract or an agreement with the Cavs, though only 10 of them are known to have fully guaranteed deals, as our roster counts show.

Draft Notes: Cobbs, Rockets, Gordon, Jazz

June 11th, 2014 at 9:03pm CST by Charlie Adams

We rounded up the draft news this morning and this afternoon, but there’s plenty of new info still coming out. Here’s the latest:

Justin Cobbs had a workout with Warriors today, tweets Diamond Leung of Bay Area News.
The Rockets brought in Iona guard Tre Bowman for a workout, reveals Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (on Twitter).
Aaron Gordon will work out for the Celtics, tweets Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. Boston is reportedly “locked in” to big man with the No. 6 pick.
Patric Young, Jordan Adams, T.J. Bray, Alec Brown, and Jabari Brown will work out for the Jazz, the team announced (on Twitter).
The Hornets’ workouts tomorrow will include Jordan Bachynski, Justin Jackson, Alex Kirk, Daniel Miller, Dwight Powell, and D.J. Shelton, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links).
Jordan Clarkson made a strong impression during his workout for the Suns, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).

Eastern Notes: Rambis, Jefferson, Snell, Sixers

June 10th, 2014 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have granted the Knicks permission to interview assistant coach Kurt Rambis for a job on head coach Derek Fisher‘s staff, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Rambis is willing to listen, Medina hears. Rambis also remains a candidate for the Lakers head coaching job, but it’s uncertain whether he’d be retained as a Lakers assistant if they go with someone else for the head job, as Medina points out. Here’s more news related to Eastern Conference teams:

Al Jefferson is recruiting free agents to come to Charlotte, and Hornets coach Steve Clifford is confident that the mere presence of the Third-Team All-NBA center makes the Hornets more attractive to potential signees, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
The Bulls remain sold on Tony Snell as a rotation-caliber talent, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune details in his latest mailbag column. Johnson also says he’d be “shocked” if the Bulls don’t address their shooting via the draft.
The New Jersey state government gave the OK this morning for the Sixers to build a practice facility in Camden, reports Julia Terruso of the Philadelphia Inquirer, prompting the team to announce plans for the facility. GM Sam Hinkie and coach Brett Brown have contended that the facility will be key to attracting free agents.
The Celtics are among the teams that have worked out draft lottery prospect Doug McDermott, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com notes in his Insider-only mock draft.
Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson will audition for the Pistons, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
The Wizards will work out LaQuinton Ross, Devyn Marble, Jarell Eddie, Okaro White and Kendall Williams, the team announced.
Semaj Christon, DeAndre Kane, Drew Crawford, Sebastian Koch and Talib Zanna are among those who’ll perform for the Hornets on Wednesday, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links). Crawford was also scheduled to show off for the team last week.
Alex Kirk is working out for the Hornets this week, too, and he’ll also do so for the Raptors, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Jazz, Randle, Sixers

June 4th, 2014 at 8:32pm CST by Alex Lee

The debate over how the top three picks of the 2014 NBA Draft will shake out has been covered ad nauseam at this point, and NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper throws his hat in the ring by examining what could dictate where Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins will land. Meanwhile, here are some other draft-related updates:

Along with Nick Wiggins (brother of Andrew), the Jazz will work out Deonte Burton, Jordan Clarkson, Alex Kirk, Sean Kilpatrick and Artem Kilmenko on Thursday morning, tweets Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz have three picks on June 26, including two in the first round (5 and 23).
As Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines, just because Julius Randle is no longer widely classified within the top tier of this draft class isn’t reason enough to sleep on the talented Kentucky forward, who still has a shot at becoming a top-5 pick.
In a separate story, Kennedy writes that there is no confusing how much is riding on this talent-rich draft for the Sixers, who are the only team with two top-10 selections (3 and 10). Adding two franchise cornerstones to go with Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel could make Philadelphia an attractive landing spot around the league, according to Kennedy.
After working out for the Hornets today, Northwestern’s Drew Crawford is scheduled to work out with the Kings, Jazz and his hometown Bulls, according to the Wildcats’ Twitter feed.
The Nuggets will have Michigan State’s Gary Harris and Mizzou’s Jabari Brown in town for a workout on Thursday, tweets Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. Denver picks at 11, 41 and 56.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), the Magic will work out Randle, Aaron Gordon and Noah Vonleh individually before the draft. They will also work out Dante Exum at some point and are expected to bring in Marcus Smart for a second look. Orlando picks at 4 and 12.

Alex Kirk Declares For Draft

April 11th, 2014 at 2:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

New Mexico junior Alex Kirk has officially declared his intent to enter this year’s NBA draft, the school announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com was the first to report the news. The center is No. 132 in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, and he’s on the list of the top 100 prospects that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts together. Givony has him as the 28th best prospect among college juniors.

The decision is surprising, and while it’s possible that he could still withdraw between now and Tuesday’s deadline to do so, there’d be little reason for him to declare at this point and pull out so soon. Kirk averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game for the Lobos, who lost their first game of the NCAA tournament to Stanford, a contest in which Kirk scored just three points before fouling out.

The 7-footer has struggled with back issues, as Ford points out, though he’s appeared in at least 32 games in each of his three college seasons. His signature performance this year was a 32-point, 11-rebound, five-block effort against Massachusetts, a fellow NCAA tournament team, Borzello notes.