Ben McLemore Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Rumors: Mozgov, Trades, James, Lue

February 14th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The odds are against the Cavaliers re-signing center Timofey Mozgov in free agency if they aren’t able to trade him, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto cites Cleveland’s salary cap issues and Mozgov’s declining performance as reasons that he might be moved. In addition, Mozgov suffered through early-season knee problems and doesn’t fit the faster-paced system favored by coach Tyronn Lue. With Anderson Varejao, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Sasha Kaun all on the roster, there may not be room for Mozgov beyond this season.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

Cavaliers GM David Griffin is seeking another “wing player,” Pluto writes in the same story. Griffin’s priority is defense, although he would like to find someone who can shoot as well. Pluto mentions the Hawks’ Thabo Sefolosha and the Kings’ Ben McLemore as possibilities, adding that Cleveland may also have interest in Joe Johnson if he gets bought out by the Nets. Pluto’s Plain Dealer colleague Chris Haynes reported that the Cavs would jump at the chance to sign Johnson for the minimum if he works a buyout.
Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour has LeBron James thinking about the inevitable end of his basketball career, according to Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. The 13-year veteran isn’t sure if he wants a farewell tour like Bryant’s, but he indicated that he would like to leave the league while he’s still among its best players. “All the respective greats try to play at the highest level they can,” James said. “I’m going to give it my all obviously until I can’t. One thing I won’t be, I don’t ever believe or think that I’ll be an embarrassment to my fans or my family.”
Lue said unusual circumstances have contributed to make the midseason coaching change in Cleveland more difficult than it might have been, Ridenour writes in a separate story. Lue is considered a villain in Israel after being chosen to replace David Blatt on the Cavaliers’ bench, and he is belittled by some people for being selected as an All-Star Game coach with so little experience. “I’ve been able to block it out, but it’s still tough,” Lue said. “You’ve been in this league for 18 years and people who know you and your family know that you’re not that way. It’s tough for people to talk about you in that sense. But it’s OK, I can get over it.”

Cavs Interested In McLemore, Ariza, Joe Johnson

February 11th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers are one of multiple Eastern Conference teams with strong interest in Ben McLemore, league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland would quickly snap up Joe Johnson if he works a buyout with the Nets, Haynes also hears from league sources, though it doesn’t look like he’s one of the Cavs’ trade targets. Trevor Ariza is also on Cleveland’s radar, Haynes adds, as are Kyle Korver and Jared Dudley, as previous reports indicated, but it’s highly unlikely Cleveland ends up with one of those three, according to Haynes, who paints McLemore as the more obtainable target.

The Kings have so far resisted offers for the shooting guard, Haynes writes, but it’s widely known around the league that agents are pushing to get their players out of Sacramento amid organizational turmoil there, Haynes also reports. Trade candidate Rudy Gay wouldn’t mind a deal that ships him out of town, but the Kings haven’t found any offers for him that pass muster, Haynes hears.

Cleveland isn’t connected to Gay, but it’s a matter of when, not if, the Cavs will make a move of some sort, according to Haynes. The Cavs have been seeking a three-and-D wing player and have been linked to multiple names, including Omer Asik, who’s a center, and Tyreke Evans, who has an injury that threatens to wipe out the rest of his season. They’ve reportedly explored trading Timofey Mozgov, having met with rejection on that front from the Kings and also engaging in talks with the Pelicans that didn’t bear fruit.

Johnson said recently that he wouldn’t dismiss the idea of a buyout from his contract with the Nets, which expires at season’s end, and the Heat, like the Cavs, reportedly want to make a run at him if he shakes free from Brooklyn. One source close to Johnson told Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders that Johnson is “miserable” with the Nets and would welcome a change. His nearly $24.895MM would make a trade difficult, so a buyout appears a more feasible route.

Western Notes: Chandler, Kings, Spurs

November 15th, 2015 at 7:15pm CST by Will Joseph

Wilson Chandler, who is out for the season because of a labral tear, is not thinking about retirement despite hip problems that have been a recurring issue for the Nuggets small forward, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post relays. Chandler, 28, signed a four-year, $46.5MM extension with Denver in July. Chandler told Dempsey that he knew he had a labral tear prior to the Nuggets’ season opener at Houston, but hoped that rest and an anti-inflammatory injection would help him be able to play. Counting this season, according to Dempsey, hip injuries will have cost Chandler 133 games since 2011.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

It’s been an interesting start to the season for Ben McLemore, whom the Kings exercised their $4,008,882 team option on in October. He lost his role as the team’s starting shooting guard and then reportedly voiced frustration about Kings coach George Karl. Now, however, Karl has shown more trust in McLemore and has twice let the third-year player start the second half, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee details.
The Thunder have recalled Josh Huestis from the D-League, the team announced in an emailed press release (and on Twitter). The small forward has not appeared in a game for the Thunder this season.
The Spurs‘ decision to trade reserve guard George Hill to the Pacers for a package centering around Kawhi Leonard in 2011 was not a popular move among San Antonio’s players at first, Spurs GM R.C. Buford told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. McCarney examines the trade in an interesting look back. George Felton, the Spurs’ director of college scouting, was high on Leonard, who, McCarney writes, was viewed as “a prototypical Spur.”

Vlade Divac Denies Asking Players If Karl Should Go

November 12th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

6:45pm: Divac said the idea he asked the players if they wanted Karl fired is a misconception, notes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

“You guys make my job hard,” Divac said to reporters. “There is partial truth to a lot of what has been reported, but much of it was off. First of all, I never asked the players if I should fire Coach or said I was thinking of doing that. I walked into the locker room after [Monday’s] game and said, ‘OK, you guys don’t want to play with Coach? What’s the problem?’ I wanted to catch them by surprise a little bit and get them to talk openly about what was going on. Then the coaches came in, and we talked some more. I think it was very positive for everyone.”

THURSDAY, 10:15am: A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should get rid of Karl, though he doesn’t mention Bratz’s involvement. We have more on the Kings drama right here.

6:43pm: Divac answered affirmatively when Marc J. Spears asked him if Karl’s job is safe (Twitter link).

“Yeah,” Divac said. “Yeah. Nothing has changed, really. 1-7, we all know we’re better.”

The blame for Cousins’ tirade doesn’t rest on Karl’s shoulders, Divac also told Spears, who earlier passed on a statement from Cousins apologizing for his outburst (All four Twitter links). Divac wouldn’t say whether the team is disciplining Cousins in any way for the tirade, Spears notes (Twitter link).

“Most important thing we had after the meeting was we were on the same page, bottom line, on how to improve. That’s positive stuff,” Divac said.

5:36pm: Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for two games after the center’s Monday night verbal tirade, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. According to Jones, Divac told the coach that he did not have authority to suspend Cousins, and Divac refused to grant Karl permission to impose the suspension.

3:15pm: Karl is indeed in jeopardy of losing his job as soon as this week, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Meanwhile, owners who have minority shares in the Kings are more frustrated than ever with Ranadive in large measure because he isn’t consulting with them on decisions, Amick hears from a source.

WEDNESDAY, 2:46pm: Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz asked players during Tuesday’s team meeting whether they thought he should fire coach George Karl, reports Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. The players weren’t sure how to respond, McIntyre adds, though Caron Butler said after the meeting that the players are behind the coach. DeMarcus Cousins verbally lit into Karl after Monday’s loss to the Spurs, though he later felt a level of regret about having done so, McIntyre also hears. Divac is under pressure as Vivek Ranadive’s interest in hiring John Calipari to both coach the team and run the front office has ramped up in recent months, according to McIntyre.

Cousins asked a couple of teammates if he had been too hard on Karl, who simply walked away at the end of the center’s rant, and they advised him not to “scream and curse” at his coach the way he had, as McIntyre details. Karl and Cousins have had an up-and-down relationship, at best, since Karl took over the team in February, with the two saying over the summer that they had patched up their differences following reports indicating that Karl wanted the team to trade Cousins and had sought to do so. Kings officials are reportedly concerned with Karl’s low energy amid a 1-7 start.

Ben McLemore expressed confusion during Tuesday’s team meeting about his role, though teammates told him it was to hit 3-pointers and defend, and that those are the responsibilities of everyone aside from Cousins and Rajon Rondo, as McIntyre details.

The Kings denied a report over the summer indicating that they had reached out to Calipari at that point, and Calipari has continually maintained that he isn’t interested in returning to the NBA, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. The team’s decisions to draft Willie Cauley-Stein, whom Calipari coached at Kentucky, and sign Rondo, who played at Kentucky before Calipari became coach there, were mostly because of Ranadive’s friendship with Calipari, McIntyre writes.

How do you see the Kings saga playing out? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

November 12th, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Chuck Myron

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

Kings Pick Up 2016/17 Option On Ben McLemore

October 3rd, 2015 at 2:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

2:45pm: The Kings have released an official announcement confirming that they have picked up McLemore’s 2016/17 option.

2:30pm: The Kings have exercised their $4,008,882 team option on Ben McLemore‘s rookie scale deal for 2016/17, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). This will keep the 2013 No. 7 overall pick under contract through next season, which is the final one on his rookie scale pact. The team has yet to make an official announcement, but it appears that Sacramento has made the decision in advance of the November 2nd deadline. The addition of McLemore’s option will give Sacramento more than $61MM in guaranteed salary for 2016/17, which is approximately $28MM below the projected $89MM cap.

It’s not a surprise that the Kings would elect to retain the 22-year-old, who showed marked improvement during the 2014/15 season, his second in the NBA. With the trade of 2014 first-rounder Nik Stauskas to the Sixers this offfseason, and now having his option picked up, it’s apparent that the franchise views him as its shooting guard of the present, and likely the future.

McLemore made 82 appearances during the 2014/15 season for the Kings, all as a starter, averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. His career numbers through two NBA campaigns are 10.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.4 APG to go along with a slash line of .409/.342/.809.

Bucher’s Latest: Kings, Pelicans, Cavs

January 9th, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no secret that the Nets trio of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available on the trade market, and they’re among a long list of players that GMs say teams are open to trading as the February 19th deadline approaches, according Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Jeff Green, Brandan Wright, Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Brandon Jennings, Goran Dragic, Nik Stauskas, Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson, Arron Afflalo and most of the other Nuggets are also on that list, with Bucher, in many cases, confirming earlier reports. Still, Bucher hears plenty of new rumbles, as he passes along in his piece, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive unilaterally made the decision to fire former coach Michael Malone, sources tell Bucher, even though GM Pete D’Alessandro claimed the decision as his own. Most of the Kings organization was pleased with the direction the team was headed in and believed the team was overachieving, though there were doubts that Malone was the long-term solution, Bucher writes.
Ranadive wanted to make a splash with Malone’s successor, but Kings front office executives prevailed upon him to keep Tyrone Corbin as head coach, according to Bucher. Ranadive would relish the chance to turn the screws on the Warriors, of whom he used to be a part-owner, by hiring Mark Jackson, the ex-Warriors coach, a source tells Bucher, who nonetheless believes that the team won’t hire Jackson during this season.
Talk “circulating around the league” suggests that Pelicans owner Tom Benson is eyeing former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson if he decides to make changes, Bucher writes. Still, Pelicans sources tell Bucher that the club hasn’t contacted either Dumars or Johnson, and that there are no signs that Benson is definitively displeased with either GM Dell Demps or coach Monty Williams.
Several executives from around the league don’t believe the pair of trades the Cavs made this week assure the team of any more than a second-round appearance, according to Bucher. One exec tells Bucher that the Cavs “overinflated” the market with what they gave up for Timofey Mozgov.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Thomas, McLemore, Karl

December 22nd, 2014 at 6:54pm CST by Alex Lee

It’s been a busy Monday in the NBA, with teams lining up to capitalize on the Pistons’ bold decision to cut ties with Josh Smith. Three of those teams — the Clippers, Kings and Lakers — reside in the league’s Pacific Division. For what it’s worth, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets that one Raptors player that remains in contact with the Kings‘ Rudy Gay predicts that Smith will land in Sacramento (Twitter link). While we continue to amass the Smith rumors, let’s take a look at what else is going on in the Pacific:

The idea of three first-rate point guards all fitting into the same system “didn’t make sense” to Isaiah Thomas at first, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Thomas still believes it might not work, but the Suns were nonetheless convincing and “genuine” when they made their case that it would, the former Kings guard said.
Playoff-bound teams are making numerous calls to the Kings about Ben McLemore, but Sacramento has no intention of relinquishing the second-year shooting guard, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes as part of his weekly power rankings.
There has been no shortage of reports linking George Karl to the Kings’ inevitable head coaching vacancy, though where he stands among other candidates is hard to pin down at the moment. Appearing today on 95.7 The Game, a Bay Area station, Karl indicated he is “interested in any job,” as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group passes along (via Twitter).
Mitchell Watt has left the Santa Cruz Warriors to pursue other career opportunities, the D-League team announced via its Twitter feed (Twitter link). He’s heading to Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israeli league, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Watt signed a deal with the Golden State Warriors in September that contained a small guarantee, but the Buffalo product was released by the team prior to the regular season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Kings Notes: Trades, McLemore, Thomas

November 7th, 2014 at 2:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Three unbeaten teams rule the Western Conference, but behind them, the Kings are surprisingly the West’s only one-loss club. Offseason signees Darren Collison and Omri Casspi have paid dividends so far, but it’s early, and a four-game road trip with stops in Phoenix, Dallas and Memphis will provide a closer look at just how far Sacramento has come. In the meantime, here’s the latest from California’s capital, home to one of just three NBA teams with open roster spots:

Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro backed off his aggressive pursuit of trades even before the club started the season on a roll, as he tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Howard-Cooper cautions that it doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings won’t aggressively seek deals again after a while, whether or not their strong play persists. “When you talk about thirst, last year when we came in, we knew we had to disrupt the whole roster,” D’Alessandro said. “Dismantle. I don’t know if that was a thirst as much as — well, it was a thirst. It was a necessity, right? Our eyes are always open. We’re always looking to get better. But we are very happy with the acquisitions that we made. We’re going to take a wait-and-see approach and see how this thing goes. Obviously every team in the league is looking for that one magical guy, but let’s see if this chemistry’s right for a little bit.”
Ben McLemore didn’t consult LeBron James before joining the Klutch Sports Group this week, as the second-year shooting guard told reporters, including Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). James, whom McLemore considers a mentor, is a founding Klutch client.
Isaiah Thomas isn’t sure whether DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay wanted him to remain with the Kings, but the point guard figures that if they had, he’d probably still be in Sacramento, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. “The only thing is I wanted to be back because I loved the coaching staff,” Thomas said. “I love [coach] Mike Malone. He was in my corner 100%. I know that for a fact. And then the city of Sacramento, with the love they showed me. [Sacramento mayor and former NBA player] Kevin Johnson. That was all I knew coming into the NBA. But at the end of the day, I wanted to be wanted — that’s what I keep telling people — and I didn’t feel like they wanted me as much.”

Western Notes: Rockets, Thunder, McLemore

November 6th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he won’t judge coach Kevin McHale merely by how far the team goes in the playoffs this year and expressed support for the front office as he spoke with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Alexander pointed to Trevor Ariza and Kostas Papanikolaou as key additions in an offseason that, as the owner acknowledged, didn’t go as planned.

“It was a very difficult offseason,” Alexander said. “There were big decisions that really didn’t go our way. It was tough. It was tough going through it and hoping you’d be able to rebound and have a really good team. I liked the moves that we made. And we still have flexibility to make other moves, which I believe is important.”

The Rockets, with a league-best 5-0 record, put that unbeaten mark on the line tonight against a Spurs team that plans to rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The Thunder would likely apply for a second hardship provision, which would give them a 17th roster spot, if they expect that a knee injury that Perry Jones III suffered Tuesday will force him to miss a significant amount of time, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The team is poised to make Ish Smith its 16th player.
Ben McLemore has hired the Klutch Sports Group for his representation, the agency announced (Twitter link). The second-year shooting guard recently left agent Rodney Blackstock. Klutch has close ties to the Cavs, but the earliest McLemore could reach unrestricted free agency by his own choosing would be the summer of 2018.
Flip Saunders said uncertainty over the Timberwolves roster this summer prior to the Kevin Love trade helped keep him from hiring Lionel Hollins as Minnesota’s coach, observes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Saunders said he couldn’t promise Hollins, who interviewed for the coaching job that Saunders ultimately took for himself, that the Wolves would have the sort of veteran roster that Hollins is accustomed to, as Bontemps notes.