Andray Blatche Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Bogut, Rondo, Blatche

March 9th, 2012 at 11:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

The talk of a 10-game night across the association has been about the health of two point guards whose absence could alter the plans of a pair of teams rumored to be among the most active nearing Thursday's trade deadline. Ricky Rubio of the Wolves tweeted that he'll receive an MRI on his left knee, which he hurt in his team's loss to the Lakers tonight. The team fears he has a torn ACL, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry of the Rockets was hospitalized with a fever and abdominal distress, HoopsWorld reports. Here's what's happening elsewhere:

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examines the trade candidacy of Bucks center Andrew Bogut. Bogut's agent David Bauman said there are several teams interested in talking to Bucks GM John Hammond about his client.
Rajon Rondo appears to be conflicted about how trades might affect the chemistry of the Celtics. Rajon Rondo, who saw best friend Kendrick Perkins dealt away at the deadline last year, told Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston he doesn't care about what a trade would do to the team's chemistry this year. Yet, to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, Rondo said, "You can't get chemistry if you bring in new guys."
Jason Kidd came close to joining a team that had just won the title when he thought about joining the Spurs in 2003, so he sympathizes with Lamar Odom, who arrived via trade to join this year's defending champs, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. For the record, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle told the Galloway & Company radio show today that the uproar concerning Odom has come and gone.
Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld looks at the Grizzlies' early-season acquisition of Marreese Speights from the Sixers and wonders if that will wind up being the most effective deal of the year.
Both John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune and Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com tweeted to note the progress of Lance Thomas, who signed with New Orleans for the rest of the season last month after the team gave him two 10-day contracts.
The Wizards are willing to move anyone on the roster not named John Wall if another team will take Andray Blatche off their hands, tweets Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group notes the Warriors' lease in Oakland is up in 2017, and checks in with the progress of potential sites for a new home in Oakland and San Francisco. Venturing a guess, Kawakami has the San Francisco site as the most likely destination at this point.
Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld proposes the Celtics as a potential destination for JaVale McGee, for whom the Wizards are reportly listening to offers.
The Knicks starting lineup is in flux, and Newsday's Anthony Rieber takes a look at the quick changes engineered by coach Mike D'Antoni.
Jeremy Evans' minimum salary contract expires at season's end, so time is running out for him to prove he can do more than win a dunk contest. Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune notes how his theatrics during All-Star weekend haven't earned him any extra minutes with the Jazz.
Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press passed along Pau Gasol's kind words about Kevin Love, two players who could be Wolves teammates if a rumored Gasol/Michael Beasley swap takes place, Richardson notes. "He's got a will and determination to go after every ball," Gasol said of Love. "Even though he's a little undersized and lost some weight, he's still a powerful player and playing at a high level. I'm definitely impressed with him."
With Richard Hamilton and Luol Deng ailing, it's been hard for Bulls GM Gar Forman to get a true handle on how effective his team really is, writes Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times. Forman must balance the team's current needs with its capability for long-term success, Hayes says.
Bill Simmons of Grantland.com came out with his annual trade value column today in two parts, ranking the top 50 player assets across the league. The Heat's LeBron James is No. 1, meaning he'd be the player who would command the most in any trade, though James isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
GM Sam Presti and the Thunder provide the small-market blueprint for Cavs GM Chris Grant, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Stein’s Latest: Howard, Turkoglu, Pacers, Kaman

March 9th, 2012 at 2:13pm CST by Luke Adams

This week's installment of Marc Stein's Weekend Dime is up at ESPN.com, so let's dive in and check out Stein's latest rumors….

Amidst talk of a quiet trade deadline, Stein says similar pessimism has preceded flurries of deals in the past. However, there's a league-wide expectation that Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Rajon Rondo will stay put.
The Magic continue to pursue non-Howard deals, bringing up Hedo Turkoglu's name frequently. One front office source tells Stein that a team would have to received at least two future first-round picks to take on Turkoglu's contract.
Meanwhile, a Western Conference exec says he doesn't expect Orlando to even consider shopping Howard until deadline day. While that may seem a little too last-minute, the Magic are already aware of most of their trade options, meaning a deal could be worked out quickly, a source tells Stein.
Teams around the league seem to be valuing first-round picks more than ever, particularly 2012 selections, since this year's draft class is expected to be a deep one. A club with cap space like the Pacers could acquire players without sending out any salaries, but Indiana is extremely reluctant to part with its future first-rounders in any such deal.
It still appears that David Stern and the NBA-owned Hornets have no interest in buying out Chris Kaman's contract if the big man isn't traded. If Kaman was bought out and signed with a team like the Heat, he could impact the NBA Finals and further deplete the Chris Paul haul for the Hornets, neither of which would look great for the league.
There has been speculation that the Mavericks could be interested in Kaman in a deal involving Lamar Odom, but Stein says not to expect such a move, noting that Mark Cuban is committed to riding out the season with Odom.
As I speculated earlier, the Wizards are considering moving JaVale McGee on the condition that Andray Blatche is included in the deal as well. While both players have a ton of upside, the pair wouldn't exactly improve any team's chemistry.

Amico On Jamison, Favors, Blatche, Sessions

March 7th, 2012 at 3:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio talked Cavaliers and trade rumors in a chat today, sharing some noteworthy items along the way. Here are a few of the highlights:

Teams are beginning to show more interest in Antawn Jamison, but it doesn't sound as if any talks have gotten serious yet. When I examined Jamison as a trade candidate three weeks ago, I wrote that I wasn't expecting the Cavaliers to move him. Amico agrees, saying Jamison probably only gets dealt if Cleveland finds a desperate trade partner.
Derrick Favors, the third overall pick in 2010, is on the trade block, according to Amico. The Jazz would like to acquire a point guard or small forward.
Pistons GM Joe Dumars is "really working the phone," which Dumars himself confirmed this week. Amico thinks Detroit could be a candidate for Andray Blatche. I'd assume if the Pistons were to discuss Blatche with the Wizards, Detroit would want to include Charlie Villanueva in any deal.
Amico hears there's not much to the Cavs' reported interest in Marvin Williams, though he adds that Williams does want out of Atlanta.
It's not a sure thing that Ramon Sessions will opt out and sign elsewhere at season's end. He's open to remaining in Cleveland, though he knows his minutes may be limited behind Kyrie Irving.

Grunfeld: Wizards Actively Working Phones

March 7th, 2012 at 8:23am CST by Luke Adams

Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld says the team is actively working the phones in advance of next Thursday's trade deadline, tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Asked if Washington will make any moves, Grunfeld said "only time will tell."

Of the players on the Wizards' roster, Andray Blatche and Nick Young are the most likely to be involved in any significant move Washington makes. The Wizards are said to be aggressively shopping Blatche, having signed him to an ill-advised extension that keeps him under contract until 2015. Finding a taker for Blatche will be challenging, and Washington may have to take on an equally bad contract if they want to make a move.

Young, who will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, has the option of vetoing any trades involving him, since he accepted a qualifying offer from the Wizards in the offseason. However, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reported this week that Young may welcome a trade to another club.

Odds & Ends: Blatche, Lakers, Nene, Odom

March 3rd, 2012 at 11:51am CST by Zachary Links

Saturday afternoon linkage..

The Wizards are said to be aggressively shopping Andray Blatche but the forward isn't going to concern himself with the speculation, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. The 25-year-old is the longest tenured player on Washington.
Over the next two weeks, the Lakers may seek out quality point guards who could be had for a reasonable price including Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, Goran Dragic, and Jonny Flynn, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
Nuggets center Nene Hilario stopped short of saying that he would have signed with the Rockets as a free agent had the Rockets’ proposed trade for Pau Gasol been completed, but the big man did speak fondly of Houston, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
This week's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has covered a number of interesting issues in the game of basketball, writes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com. A wide range of topics were explored from the idea of a mutually beneficial trade to how a team's best players complement each other.
In hindsight, the basketball community was too quick to criticize the Lakers for trading Lamar Odom to the Mavericks, writes J.A. Adande of ESPN.com. It's possible that Odom could have found his way out of his funk sooner in Los Angeles, but the Lakers couldn't take that chance at Odom's price.

Wizards Aggressively Shopping Blatche

February 27th, 2012 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have "aggressively" attempted to move Andray Blatche in advance of the trade deadline, multiple sources tell Michael Lee of the Washington Post. For his part, Blatche wouldn't mind a change of scenery, Lee hears from a person close to the 25-year-old.

Blatche averaged 15.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG over his previous two seasons with the Wizards, but has struggled this year, with his PER slipping from 17.2 in the last two seasons to 11.4 in 2011/12. While Blatche has shown some promise, the remaining money on his deal is an obstacle — after this season, he's still owed over $23MM for an additional three years. Besides his contract, Blatche's condition and character concerns rival teams, says Lee.

According to Lee, the Wizards discussed a deal that would have sent Blatche to Charlotte for Tyrus Thomas, but were turned down by the Bobcats. We heard a similar rumor from ESPN.com's Marc Stein in the first week of February. Stein noted that the Wizards were hoping to acquire Boris Diaw's expiring contract in a deal with Charlotte.

If the Wizards can't find a deal they like before March 15th or this summer, they could consider using their amnesty clause on the 6'11" forward.

Wizards Working To Move Blatche

February 3rd, 2012 at 7:08pm CST by Alex Lee

The Wizards are actively looking to move power forward Andray Blatche, according to Marc Stein in his Weekend Dime. Washington has attempted to initiate a Blatche for Tyrus Thomas swap with the Bobcats. Stein adds that ideally, the Wizards would get Boris Diaw and his expiring deal in return, but Charlotte is unlikely to take on Blatche's salary without sending Thomas and his similar sized deal to Washington.

After averaging 16.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG in 2011, Blatche has been a disappointment in 2012, averaging only 10.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG while shooting a paltry 38% from the field. Blatche has three years, and nearly $23MM remaining on a contact extension he signed in September of 2010.

Odds & Ends: Wizards, Adelman, Irving

January 30th, 2012 at 10:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Notes from around the league on Monday night:

Washington's rebuilding efforts must begin with buying out Rashard Lewis and using the amnesty clause on Andray Blatche, writes Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com. Blatche will be out three to five weeks with a strained calf muscle, coach Randy Wittman reported. The Wizards announced they're recalling center Hamady Ndiaye from the Iowa Energy, the team's D-League affiliate.
Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman, formerly with the Rockets, says there was a lack of communication between himself and Houston owner Leslie Alexander, reports Jonathan Feigan of the Houston Chronicle.
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio analyzes the progress of top-pick Kyrie Irving.
Ben Rohrbach of WEEI's Celtics Blog says Boston's struggles this season can't be pinned on the team's bench play.
The injury-depleted Nets may be primed to make a move. They figure to have only 10 players available for Tuesday's game with Indiana, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Teams in need of depth on the wing won't be able to turn to Sonny Weems. His Lithuanian team told Sportando they won't be letting him out of his contract before the team's season is over.