Arron Afflalo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Magic Resisting ‘Tempting’ Offers’?

June 26th, 2013 at 8:32pm CST by Luke Adams

8:32pm: The Magic continue to explore their options with the No. 2 pick, tweets HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy.

8:04pm: The Magic have no trades in the works and expect to use the No. 2 overall pick for themselves Thursday, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweeted earlier this evening that though little is certain surrounding the team, it will not trade up to get the No. 1 pick.

3:10pm: Few, if any, trade rumors have surfaced more frequently over the last several days than one connecting Eric Bledsoe to the Magic and Arron Afflalo to the Clippers. However, according to Magic GM Rob Hennigan, he'd be "stunned" if his team made a deal with L.A. on or before draft night, since he hasn't talked trade with the Clips in about three weeks (Twitter links via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel).

Although Hennigan downplayed the possibility of a trade with the Clippers, that doesn't mean the Magic won't be active this week. According to the GM, there are some tempting offers on the table for his team, with the Orlando front office seriously considering "three or four" different possibilities (Twitter links via John Denton of Magic.com).

Hennigan didn't go into specifics about the proposals on the table for the Magic, but it's a good bet that most or all of them include the No. 2 overall pick — reports earlier today indicated that the Magic were weighing the possibility of trading down in the draft. The Timberwolves are among the teams believed to be interested in trading up, reportedly dangling the ninth and 26th overall picks along with Derrick Williams.

In other roster-building news for the Magic, Hennigan suggested that Orlando is unlikely to use its mid-level exception in free agency this summer, according to Robbins (via Twitter).

Clippers, Magic Having Bledsoe, Afflalo Talks

June 25th, 2013 at 9:55pm CST by Michael Pina

9:55pm: According to Orlando Sentinel reporter Joshua Robbins, any deal involving Afflalo and Bledsoe is not imminent.

7:56pm: The Clippers and Magic are further discussing a trade that could happen on or before draft day that would send Arron Afflalo, Andrew Nicholson, and a draft pick to Los Angeles for Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler, according to ESPN.com's Chad Ford, Ramona Shelburne, and Marc Stein.

Those are the pieces believed to be involved in current talks, but there are still a variety of alternatives, with Bledsoe and Afflalo being the two main figures.

Now that Doc Rivers has become the Clippers head coach, assuring Chris Paul will re-sign for five more years, Bledsoe is no longer needed as insurance. He's still incredibly talented and would help the Clippers in the short term, but the Magic are one of a half dozen teams pursuing Bledsoe's services.

It'd be wise for Los Angeles to cash out on their asset before he hits restricted free agency, maximizing their return to fill a larger need.

Kyler’s Latest: Bledsoe, Marion, Warriors, Deng

June 25th, 2013 at 9:37am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2013 draft now just two days away, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld tackled some of the most frequently mentioned trade rumors, passing along the latest updates he's heard on Eric Bledsoe, Shawn Marion, and others in today's NBA AM piece. Here are the highlights:

A rumored deal that would send Bledsoe and Caron Butler to the Magic in exchange for Arron Afflalo may also include Andrew Nicholson and/or a 2015 draft pick going to the Clippers, says Kyler. L.A. appears to be exploring all its options for Bledsoe, but if no team tops Orlando's offer, a trade could happen on draft night.
While the Mavericks are denying that Marion would be attached to a deal involving the No. 13 pick, Kyler is hearing that there are two scenarios on the table that include Marion and the pick. One is with the Cavaliers, while the other is with the Pelicans. A Marion deal isn't necessarily Cleveland's top priority, however, and the fact that Marion has yet to officially exercise his 2013/14 player option may also be complicating discussions.
The Warriors would like to trade into the draft and pick up a late first-round pick, but given the team's proximity to the tax line, adding a guaranteed rookie salary to the books may not make sense for Golden State.
Breaking down the latest Luol Deng rumors, Kyler notes that it makes sense for Deng to play out the final year of his contract with the Bulls, but adds that he's heard a couple sources describe an eventual Deng trade as "inevitable."
Following up on the rumor that the Cavaliers tried to acquire LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyler says there are rumblings the Suns made a play for Aldridge as well. It seems unlikely that the Trail Blazers would move the big man at this point, but there's certainly a market for him.
Kyler confirms that the Timberwolves, who have been very aggressive over the last few weeks, tried to make a play for MarShon Brooks involving the No. 26 pick.

Florida Notes: Magic, Bledsoe, Heat, Birdman

June 24th, 2013 at 8:43pm CST by Zachary Links

While the Heat can’t and won’t do too much to shake up their roster this summer, they do have some important decisions to make as they chase their third consecutive NBA title. Five Miami veterans in total will be eligible for free agency but there’s one in particular that is a higher priority than the others. Here’s more out of Miami and Orlando..

Not a shocker, but Chris Andersen confirmed to Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Twitter) that he wants to re-sign with the Heat when the free agency period kicks off on July 1st. “He put it clearly,’’ said agent Mark Bryant of his client’s stated desire to return for a three-peat next year. “(The Heat) gave him an opportunity and he absolutely wants to come back.’’ The most the Heat could pay Andersen next season is their taxpayer midlevel exception of $3.183MM. Meanwhile, the least they could pay is the veteran minimum of $1.4MM.
The Magic‘s pursuit of Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe continues and reports of a draft day deal sending him and Caron Butler to Orlando for Arron Afflalo has legs, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. The Magic have been aggressive in looking at trades in addition to draft prospects and a Bledsoe package could be part of bigger deal (link).
The Magic need a young point guard but it doesn’t seem like they’ll reach and take one at No. 2, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.

Odds & Ends: Bledsoe, Afflalo, Nuggets, Rockets

June 16th, 2013 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic appear to have heavy interest in acquiring Eric Bledsoe in return for Arron Afflalo, according to Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com, who delivers his latest mock draft. That jibes with the notion that the Clippers are holding out for an additional asset in the rumored trade proposal, which would also send Caron Butler to Orlando. Kotoch adds that Cavs executive Zydrunas Ilgauskas is pushing Cleveland to take Alex Len first overall. Here's more from around the NBA:

The Nuggets plan for most of their interviews for a new GM to occur once the team hires a coach, reports Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Wednesday's scheduled meeting with Lionel Hollins will be the first formal interview the team will conduct for the coaching job, and it's unclear when any other candidates will be interviewed, Dempsey notes.
Nuggets president Josh Kroenke tells Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post that he wouldn't have allowed a team other than the Raptors to have permission to speak with former GM Masai Ujiri. Kroenke admits he put himself in a difficult position because of his friendship with Ujiri, who had a soft spot for the Raptors organization for which he worked once before.
The Rockets have paid the luxury tax just once in the 15 seasons its been in existence, but owner Leslie Alexander tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that he'd be "thrilled to pay a tax if we have a championship-caliber team."
Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News glances at the personnel decisions facing the Spurs this summer once the Finals are over.
Tyson Chandler tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that he tried all season long to convince former teammate and new Nets head coach Jason Kidd not to end his playing career. Chandler doesn't believe Kidd's 10-game scoreless streak in the postseason influenced his decision.
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com checks in with free agent center Jerome Jordan, who'll be playing in summer leagues for both the Knicks and Pacers and will also take part in mini-camps with the Spurs and Mavericks.
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun figures the Raptors may carry only 13 players next season, given their proximity to tax territory (Twitter links).

Odds & Ends: Clippers, Afflalo, Karl

June 15th, 2013 at 10:51pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Celtics–Clippers saga continues with Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski saying that Eric Bledsoe had been a part of discussions between the two teams until Saturday morning (Twitter). The Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett mentioned earlier that Doc Rivers might feel uncomfortable returning to the Celtics after this flirtation with the Clippers, but Wojnarowski said within the Celtics it hasn't been acrimonious between team and Doc (Twitter).

ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne thinks the Clippers should dare the Celtics to cut Paul Pierce (he's owed $15.3MM if he's not waived before June 30th), and see if Kevin Garnett and Rivers will really hold to their promise to only be moved from the Celtics as a tandem (Twitter). Shelburne goes on to cite an objective league source who proposed the Clippers keep DeAndre Jordan and Bledsoe, sign Pierce after he's waived, and trade Caron Butler and a pick for Garnett (Twitter).

Shelburne also says that the Clippers have been "shaking every tree" looking for a third star to complement Blake Griffin and Chris Paul if he re-signs this summer (Twitter). According to Shelburne, the Clippers have expressed interest in Danny Granger and Arron Afflalo already as a possible third threat on their roster.

Here are some more tidbits about the Clippers and Celtics as well as other teams around the league on this rumor-filled Saturday night with a huge game 5 in the NBA Finals tomorrow.

Shelburne also reports there's nothing yet between the Clippers and Lionel Hollins (Twitter), which means it probably won't happen until the Rivers talks die for good.
Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times on the impasse surrounding the Clippers–Celtics talks, and Marc Stein and Shelburne at ESPN.com have updated their post about the ongoing trade talks between the Clippers and Celtics.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel with some more about Magic off-guard, Arron Afflalo, who tweeted out tonight that he was "listening and observing" with all the Clippers rumors.
Lost amid the Garnett and Doc trade rumors is the very real possibility the Celtics waive Pierce and he joins the Clippers or Lakers since he grew in Los Angeles' tough Inglewood neighborhood, writes ESPNLA.com's Arash Markazi.
Markazi also thinks the Clippers should pull the trigger on the Doc and Garnett deal despite losing Bledsoe because he feels Rivers is an improvement over proposed coaching hires, Hollins or Brian Shaw (Twitter).
Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal reports the Grizzlies will interview George Karl for their head coaching vacancy on Tuesday.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets will be looking to spend big in free agency this summer. They'll obviously target free agents, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, but they're also looking to add more veterans to such a young team.
Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer talks about whether the Cavs made a mistake hiring Mike Brown so soon with so many available coaches this offseason.
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio chatted with former Celtics great, Dave Cowens, about what Jason Kidd needs to do differently now that he's no longer playing, but instead is the Nets' new head coach.
Kidd did a Q&A with Steve Serby at the New York Post about his new coaching job.
Speaking of the Nets, Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com spoke to their point guard Deron Williams about a rivalry "forming" between the Knicks and Nets.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes about Nets GM Billy King taking a risk on Kidd as a coaching hire despite his lack of coaching experience because Kidd is close to the Nets' point guard, Williams.

Mutual Interest Between Doc Rivers, Clippers

June 13th, 2013 at 8:52pm CST by Luke Adams

8:52pm: Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports that Danny Ainge had denied the Clippers permission to contact Rivers earlier this week, though Rivers is said to now be intrigued at the prospect of other coaching opportunities.

7:57pm: Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) cites a source who tells him that Rivers ending up with the Clippers is "gaining momentum."

4:01pm: If Doc Rivers decides to part ways with the Celtics this offseason, there would be "strong mutual interest" between Rivers and the Clippers, according to Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The ESPN.com duo reports that the idea of coaching the Clippers would be highly intriguing to Rivers, and that the current Celtics coach would be L.A.'s number one choice should he become available.

According to Stein and Shelburne, the Celtics would like Rivers to return and don't want to see him coaching another team next season, considering he has three years left on his contract in Boston. However, if Rivers decided he wanted to leave, the C's could potentially be persuaded to let him go to the Clippers if they received compensation, whether that came in the form of a veteran player or draft picks.

The ESPN.com report also includes a number of other juicy Clippers and Celtics tidbits, so we'll round them up here:

Trade discussions between the two teams prior to February's deadline included expanded deals which would have sent both Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Clippers, with Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan among the pieces going to Boston. While those talks were unsuccessful at the time, it's possible the two sides could revisit them this summer. As the ESPN.com scribes point out, the L.A. job could become even more appealing to Rivers if Garnett or Pierce were heading west with him.
No matter who is hired as the Clippers' head coach, the team is expected to very aggressive when it comes to roster moves, looking to re-sign Chris Paul and then upgrade the roster around CP3 and Blake Griffin.
The Clippers have some interest in the rumored deal that would send Bledsoe and Caron Butler to the Magic in exchange for Arron Afflalo, but would likely want at least one more asset to part with Bledsoe.
If the Celtics decide to bring back Pierce, it would greatly increase the odds of Garnett playing another season, which in turn would figure to improve the chances of Rivers returning as well.

Draft Rumors: Cavs, Cousins, Magic, Bledsoe

May 29th, 2013 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

After updating his big board yesterday, ESPN.com's Chad Ford returns today with a handful of the latest draft-related rumblings he's been hearing (Insider-only link). With less than a month until draft day, let's round up the highlights from Ford's piece….

Nerlens Noel remains atop the Cavaliers' draft board, making him the favorite to be drafted first overall, but Ford notes that Noel's ACL injury and the Cavs' desire to make the playoffs next season mean the Kentucky center is far from a lock at No. 1. If Cleveland can acquire a young small forward or big man using the top pick as trade bait, owner Dan Gilbert may push for a deal.
One name you shouldn't totally rule out when considering Cleveland's possible trade scenarios, according to Ford? DeMarcus Cousins. Ford reports that the Cavs, Bobcats, and the Mavericks are among the clubs who could call the Kings about Cousins in the hopes of trading draft picks and/or other assets for the young big man.
The Magic have Arron Afflalo at the two guard and a more glaring need at the point, but aren't sold on Trey Burke, according to Ford, who says the team is eyeing Ben McLemore and Victor Oladipo at No. 2. If the Magic were to draft a two guard, they'd be interested in trying to trade Afflalo to the Clippers for Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler's expiring contract, says Ford. It's not clear whether such a deal would interest the Clips.
Arizona State's Carrick Felix, USC's Dewayne Dedmon and Will Clyburn of Iowa State were among the standouts at this week's draft workouts in Minnesota, NBA GMs and scouts told Ford. On the other end of the spectrum, French big man Mouhammadou Jaiteh struggled and now projects as a late second-round pick.
In a separate piece for ESPN Insider, Bradford Doolittle examines a few hypothetical trade scenarios involving draft picks.

Odds & Ends: T’Wolves, Temple, Magic, Mavs

April 14th, 2013 at 12:24am CST by Ryan Raroque

Kevin Love seemed optimistic about being able to bounce back from a difficult season with the best offseason of his life, writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. He also spoke about his desire for Rick Adelman to continue coaching the team, saying: "We need to have him back…I know his family comes first, but hopefully we can sit down and talk to him. This year has given us a lot of perspective, and hopefully he can see we have the making of a very good team here. We can make a push and have a special year next year…I think he’ll come back.”

You can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links below:

According to Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press, Rick Adelman has deemed finding a quality shooting guard among the top of Minnesota's priorities this offseason.
Garrett Temple hopes to have found a home with the Wizards, telling J. Michael of CSN Washington that he'd "love" to be back with them next year.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel thinks that the Magic should look to move Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson, and/or Glen Davis (at least one of them) in order to continue creating cap space for the future.
Jan Hubbard of Sheridan Hoops wonders if a 35-year-old Dirk Nowitzki will have to endure another season like this one, especially if the Mavericks are unable to hit a home run in free agency for the second straight year after breaking up their championship roster.
Though Mark Cuban isn't happy that Dallas is going to miss the postseason, he vouched for coach Rick Carlisle: "Rick’s a great coach…We obviously didn’t have what we thought we would have, but we obviously should have had more. I don’t know if we could have, but we should have, so it’s all on me. If that means I let Rick down, I let Rick down" (Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram reports).
Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation writes that Manu Ginobili has been "progressing" in rehab according to coach Gregg Popovich, and that the Spurs veteran shooting guard could be cleared for full contact soon. On a more unfortunate note, Boris Diaw is expected to miss three-to-f0ur weeks (including the start of the playoffs) after the forward underwent a procedure to remove a synovial cyst that had been bothering his spine.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Heat, Pistons, Harkless

February 9th, 2013 at 12:11pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the Eastern Conference on Saturday morning:

Al Iannazzone of Newsday.com talks to a longtime NBA coach about the difficulty of gameplanning for the Knicks because of their depth. The coach cites Amare Stoudemire, J.R. Smith, and Steve Novak as bench players teams have to plan for in addition to New York's starters.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that the Heat will be faced with a challenge posed by the new CBA when it comes to keeping their big three together in the future.
David Mayo of MLive.com takes a look at the ways in which the Pistons will compensate for Andre Drummond's absence.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel talks to Magic guard Arron Afflalo about rookie Maurice Harkless' impressive play.