Andrew Nicholson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Andrew Nicholson’s Camp Pushing Magic For Trade

February 18th, 2016 at 10:21am CST by Chuck Myron

Andrew Nicholson camp is pushing for the Magic to trade him to a team that would give him more playing time, and the Magic are believed to be making him and Shabazz Napier available, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Nicholson, whose minutes have dried up the past few weeks, is making almost $2.381MM in the final season of his rookie scale contract and is eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Napier is only in year two of his rookie deal, with just more than $1.294MM coming his way this season.

Nicholson is averging 15.3 minutes per game this season, up from last year’s 12.3, but he’s only appeared in five of the Magic’s last 12 games. His 18 minutes in the team’s last game before the All-Star break represented his only double-digit-minute game since January 6th. Still, he’s been as effective as ever when he has played, averaging a career-best 3.6 rebounds per contest and draining 35.2% of his 3-pointers, also a career high.

Napier would figure to have a reduced role on the Magic following Tuesday’s trade for fellow point guard Brandon Jennings. As it is, Napier sees only 12.1 minutes per contest.

Southeast Notes: Beal, Nicholson, Lamb

November 3rd, 2015 at 8:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is relieved that the extension deadline has passed, because now the focus can shift back to on-court matters, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic writes. “It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Beal. “It’s business at the end of the day. We couldn’t reach an agreement. It’s not going to stop me from being the player I am. It’s not going to stop me from continuing to work hard. Or it doesn’t mean I’m not going to be part of the organization. I’m just controlling what I can control and let [GM] Ernie [Grunfeld] and my agent deal with it.” It was reportedly a mutual decision between Beal and the team to table contract discussions until next offseason.

Beal expects to remain with the Wizards for the long haul, Michael notes. “Either way it goes they can match any offer. Hopefully I’ll be here. That’s my goal,” Beal said. “I love being in D.C. I’m a cornerstone of this thing. I want to be part of this for a long time. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a deal done but [there’s] no hard feelings. There’s no beef between Ernie and I or the organization. We’re still good.”

Here’s more out of the Southeast:

The Magic had talks with Andrew Nicholson, just as they did with fellow rookie scale extension candidate Evan Fournier, but they never moved toward a deal before Monday’s deadline for rookie scale extensions passed, sources close to both told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Jeremy Lamb‘s three-year contract extension with the Hornets will see him earn $6.5MM during the 2016/17 campaign, $7MM in 2017/18, and $7.5MM for the final year of the agreement, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).
Hornets GM Rich Cho said the team’s decision not to pick up P.J. Hairston’s option for next season was related to the player’s lack of consistency and focus, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I spoke with P.J. and his agent [Jonathan Stahler]. We just feel like P.J. has got to get more consistent and focused on and off the court,” Cho said. “He knows what he has to do. P.J. has still got a bright future if he continues to work hard.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Magic, Andrew Nicholson Unlikely To Do Extension

November 2nd, 2015 at 11:08am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic and Andrew Nicholson are unlikely to reach a deal on an extension by tonight’s 11pm Central deadline, as TNT’s David Aldridge hears (Twitter link). That’s not at all surprising, since little, if any chatter about an extension existed over the summer, as our rumors page for Nicholson suggests. He, like Evan Fournier, whom the Magic are also reportedly unlikely to extend, is poised for restricted free agency in July.

Nicholson, 25, has only seen four minutes of playing time in the regular season so far. His minutes per game have declined each season since his rookie year, when he averaged 7.8 points in 16.7 minutes per game and made 28 starts for the Magic. Orlando drafted him 19th overall in 2012, making him one of many young players in which the team invested for its post-Dwight Howard era, but others have passed him by in the rotation.

Orlando doesn’t have a ton of flexibility heading into the summer of 2016, when many teams will be able to lavish free agents with lucrative deals under a projected $89MM cap that some apparently think will skyrocket to $95MM. The Magic already have more than $60.5MM in commitments to nine players.

Magic Notes: Nicholson, Draft, Frye

May 9th, 2015 at 7:21pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Devyn Marble was the only player whom the Magic sent to the D-League this season, as our D-League Usage Report indicates. The guard averaged 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during three assignments with the Erie Bayhawks, the team’s D-League affiliate.

Here’s more from Orlando:

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel wouldn’t be surprised if the Magic traded Andrew Nicholson this offseason. Robbins cites the forward’s inability to run the floor well, which doesn’t mesh with the strengths of guards Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo, as reason for a trade. The 25-year-old will make slightly under $2.4MM during the 2015/16 season, which is the last year of his rookie contract.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Justise Winslow are among the prospects the Magic should attempt to interview and learn more about at the Draft Combine, Robbins opines in a separate piece. Cauley-Stein is likely the best rim protector in the draft and with his skill set, he would complement Nikola Vucevic nicely. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks the Kentucky product as the sixth best prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks him as the seventh. Orlando has a 91.2% chance to receive one of the top six picks, as our Lottery Odds page shows.
Channing Frye, who signed a four-year, $32MM deal with the Magic last offseason, could be an attractive asset to a team that already has a rim protector, opines Robbins in a separate piece. Frye’s salary, which decreases by 4.5% annually, along with his shooting range, should generate some interest on the trade market.

Magic Open To Trading Andrew Nicholson

February 17th, 2015 at 2:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

FEBRUARY 17TH: The Magic are hesitant to give up Nicholson if they can’t get much in return, as sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who writes amid a larger piece.

10:44am: It’s unlikely a trade partner will emerge, but Dallas owner Mark Cuban was at one point high on Nicholson, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, who suggests it’s possible the Mavs will pursue him before the deadline (Twitter links).

FEBRUARY 12TH, 9:23am: The Magic are making Andrew Nicholson available to other teams if they want to trade for him and are working with agent Mark Bartelstein to try to find a new home for the 25-year-old power forward, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Nicholson’s playing time is down sharply this year, and he hasn’t played since January 10th. He’s seen only 8.9 minutes per game across 18 appearances this season as he sits behind Channing Frye and Kyle O’Quinn on the team’s depth chart at power forward, with Tobias Harris and Aaron Gordon jockeying for playing time at both forward positions.

Nicholson is making close to $1.546MM on year three of his rookie scale contract, which calls for him to receive nearly $2.381MM next season in the final year of the deal. He’ll be eligible for an extension this summer. The 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft was in the rotation for the Magic his first two seasons, averaging 16.0 MPG, but offseason additions Frye and Gordon have crowded him out. However, it’s somewhat surprising that GM Rob Hennigan and company would seek to pivot on Nicholson with the team’s coaching situation in flux, since a new coach might value him more than former coach Jacque Vaughn or interim boss James Borrego have.

The Magic are about $7MM under the cap, so they have plenty of flexibility to make a trade. They have all their own first-round picks plus one coming their way from the Lakers in 2017, and at least one second-round pick in each upcoming draft, though it would seem unlikely they’d have to send Nicholson out with a pick unless it was part of a larger deal.

Lowe’s Latest: Warriors, Garnett, Magic, Pelicans

February 16th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Projections from the league and individual teams show the salary cap going from about $68MM next season to around $90MM for 2016/17 without any sort of plan for tiered increases, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. The players union rejected the league’s proposal to smooth out the projected spike in the cap, and while executive director Michele Roberts left open the possibility that the union would counter with a proposal of its own, compromise seems unlikely, according to Lowe. That’s left teams that aren’t usually attractive to free agents with the feeling that their cap flexibility is less valuable than it ever has been, Lowe hears, since just about every team will be in line to sign a max-level free agent or two after next season.

We’ve already passed along Lowe’s news about exploratory Ty Lawson talks between the Nuggets and the latest on the Raptors and Terrence Ross, but Lowe’s must-read column has more, and we’ll hit the rest of the highlights here:

Lowe suggests the Warriors would like to try to convince Kevin Garnett to waive his no-trade clause and that they’ll see if any money-saving deals for David Lee are available.
The Nets don’t want to make a trade just for the sake of making one, and if they do swing a deal, they’ll seek “some token future assets” and cap flexibility for the summer of 2016, Lowe writes.
Lowe names Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson as examples of “little side pieces” the Magic will seek to trade. The Magic are open to trading Nicholson, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders heard last month that teams had been calling about Harkless but that Orlando’s asking price was high.
The Pelicans would like an upgrade at small forward, but they won’t part with Ryan Anderson cheaply just to accomplish that goal, Lowe writes.
Corey Brewer declined his $4.905MM player option for next season to help facilitate the trade that sent him to the Rockets, according to Lowe. Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders also shows the option as having been declined on his Rockets salary page.

Magic Pick Up 2015/16 Options On Four

October 26th, 2014 at 2:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

OCTOBER 26TH: The Magic confirmed that they have exercised the options via press release.

OCTOBER 20TH: The Magic will exercise their team options to keep Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson on their rookie scale contracts through 2015/16, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The moves have been widely expected, as Robbins suggests. Oladipo’s nearly $5.2MM salary for that season is the most expensive of the bunch. Harkless will make nearly $2.9MM, Nicholson almost $2.4MM, and Fournier close to $2.3MM, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.

Oladipo, the No. 2 overall pick in 2013, earned an All-Rookie First Team selection last season even as the Magic experimented with having the shooting guard play point guard. Fournier spent the past two seasons with the Nuggets and saw his minutes jump to 19.8 per game last season before Denver shipped him to Orlando in the Arron Afflalo trade. Harkless also came to Orlando via trade as part of the package the team sent out for Dwight Howard, though the production of the small forward took a step back last year. Nicholson also saw a dip in his scoring output as an NBA sophomore in 2013/14, though he, like Harkless, was a rotation mainstay.

Picking up the options on all four will give Orlando nearly $12.755MM on top of the meager $14.87MM in commitments the team already had on the books for 2015/16. That leaves plenty of room for extensions with Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris, deals that the team is working toward, though the preponderance of rookie scale contracts on the Magic’s ledger will force GM Rob Hennigan to be cautious as he commits long-term money.

Odds & Ends: Lakers, Kupchak, Silver

February 13th, 2014 at 11:30pm CST by Charlie Adams

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told reporters, including Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, that if Los Angeles makes a deal, it’ll be one that address issues in “2014/15 and beyond” (Twitter link). Another tweet from Trudell explains that the club won’t be dealing for a player that can make an immediate impact, and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com hears from Kupchak that it’s actually been pretty quiet around the office as far as trade talks go (Twitter link). Let’s round up a few more tidbits in our nightly look around the league..

Adam Zagoria of Sheridan Hoops looks toward the 2020 Summer Olympics and sees Canada’s potential team as a formidable force. Zagoria hears that college studs Andrew Wiggins and Tyler Ennis are expected to join forces with current NBA players Anthony Bennett, Andrew Nicholson, Kelly Olynyk, Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph. It’s possible a similar team could assemble for the 2015 Olympic qualifiers, but Zagoria thinks 2020 is when the expected Canadian roster will be able to reach its full potential.
Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu revealed he is interested in a potential NBA expansion into Europe. “Adam Silver, the new commissioner, is a great contributor to the sport,” said Bertomeu. “We have met and I think that we have a future together. We want to increase our cooperation and we want to see things realistically.” Lefteris Moutis of EuroHoops.net has the full story.
Silver looks even beyond Europe and sees opportunity for the NBA in markets all over the world, he tells Sam Amick of USA Today in an exclusive interview. “To me, the U.S. is less than 5% of the world’s population. So when I look at markets like the billion people in Africa, the over billion people that live in India, the (1.3 billion) that live in China, just those markets alone where we’re just barely scratching the surface, there is so much opportunity out there for us.”
Amick’s piece sees Silver address a variety of hot-button issues, including the lottery, the minimum age for draft eligibility, and the latest CBA.

Magic Exercise 2014/15 Options On Four

October 26th, 2013 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 1:59pm: The Magic have officially announced the moves.

FRIDAY, 10:12pm: Having just made their camp cuts this evening, the Magic will pick up their rookie-scale options on four players tomorrow, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The team is set to guarantee the 2014/15 salaries of Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris, Andrew Nicholson and Nikola Vucevic.

Robbins first reported that the team had decided on the option pickups back in July, well ahead of the October 31st deadline and long before most teams make these kinds of moves. Together the exercised options will add $8,565,534 to the team’s 2014/15 commitments, bringing the total to about $33.4MM — the 11th lowest amount of guaranteed salary in the league when I ran the numbers and projected next summer’s cap space for every team earlier this month.

Vucevic and Harris, who’ll be playing their fourth NBA seasons in 2014/15, will receive about $2.75MM and $2.4MM, respectively, while Harkless and Nicholson, who’ll be third-year guys that season, are set to make around $1.9MM and $1.5MM. Check out our tracker for details on 2014/15 rookie contract options for each team as the October 31st deadline to exercise them draws near.

Odds & Ends: Smith, Nicholson, Zeller

September 7th, 2013 at 10:54pm CST by Spencer Lund

J.R. Smith was not in attendance at the Gary Forbes Foundation Strike Out Diabetes Celebrity Softball Tournament in Brooklyn today. But his brother Chris Smith was, and when he was asked about his brother's five-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug policy, he told the New York Daily News:

"I mean it is what it is. Stuff happens. It’s a little setback, but it’s not the worst thing going on in sports.”

Here's more from around the NBA on a slow September Saturday night less than a month before training camps open in October…

During Mary Schmitt Boyer's mailbag for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a reader asks her about the Cavs' big man Tyler Zeller. Boyer thinks that Andrew Bynum will start this season at center - if he's healthy – with Zeller as a dependable back-up.
Boyer also discusses the status of Daniel Gibson, who is still an unclaimed free agent, and she mentions the Sixers' interest in the off-guard.
Boyer also discusses Dion Waiters' poor shot selection. She says it improved as his rookie season wore on, but he appeared to have regressed during summer league.
As mentioned previously, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun says that Magic 6'9" power forward Andrew Nicholson was one of the only players to impress during Canada's loss to the Dominican Republic tonight in the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament.