Boban Marjanovic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Lamb, Love, Marjanovic, Leuer

October 1st, 2016 at 5:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

There have been “whispers” that the Bucks are discussing a deal that would send Greg Monroe to the Hornets in exchange for Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes, according to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box. Milwaukee needs help on the wing with Khris Middleton likely out for the season with a ruptured left hamstring. The Bucks have reportedly been looking for a taker for Monroe all summer, and it appears Charlotte may be interested. Lamb, a 24-year-old swingman, is beginning his second season with the Hornets after averaging 8.8 points per night in 66 games as a reserve a year ago. Lamb is entering the first year of a three-year, $21MM extension he agreed to last November, and he may be expendable after Charlotte added Marco Belinelli over the summer. Woelfel lists Gary Harris, Ben McLemore, Alec Burks, Terrence Ross and Nick Young as other wings the Bucks may target.

There’s more news out of the Central Division:

Kevin Love has learned to block out the criticism and trade rumors that have followed him since he joined the Cavaliers two years ago, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Love believes he proved his worth to the team during the championship run and he isn’t concerned with what outsiders think of his performance. He is also secure enough with his place in the organization that trade speculation doesn’t concern him. “Trade rumors, you know, I don’t know,” Love said. “You lose a couple games … No, I don’t know how to answer that. No. I’m here, man. I plan on being here a very long time.”
Boban Marjanovic may still be considered a project, but Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy believes the 7’3″ center is “unstoppable” in the low post, relays Aaron McMann of MLive. Detroit is happy with the early returns on the $21MM it gave Marjanovic over the next three seasons. The 290-pounder remains the third-string center on the Pistons’ depth chart, but it sounds like he will be given playing time. “Once he gets established in the half-court, there’s not a good way to play him,” Van Gundy said. “There’s just not. He’s so big and he’s so skilled, that it’s hard.”
Another new Piston who has impressed Van Gundy is Jon Leuer, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. And it’s not surprising, as Van Gundy has tried to acquire the 27-year-old power forward before. “Since he came into the league in Milwaukee [in 2011] and I was coaching in Orlando, there have been three or four times over the years wherever I was, where we were making efforts to try to get him,” Van Gundy said. Leuer signed a four-year, $41MM deal with Detroit in July.

Central Notes: Smith, Terry, Novak, Pistons

August 19th, 2016 at 2:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Money is the only sticking point in negotiations between J.R. Smith and the Cavaliers, writes Sam Amico of Amicohoops.net. Smith wants to stay in Cleveland where he is comfortable with coach Tyronn Lue and was an important contributor to the Cavs’ championship run. The organization is happy with Smith’s clutch shooting and improved defense. However, the two sides appear to be far apart on salary, and it’s not certain that the situation will be resolved before the Cavaliers open training camp September 26th. Smith, who turns 31 next month, made $5MM last season. He has reportedly seen his bargaining power weakened by a lack of interest from other teams.

There’s more from the Central Division:

The Bucks are looking for leadership by adding veterans Jason Terry and Steve Novak to the league’s youngest roster, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Terry, 38, confirmed today that he will sign with Milwaukee, and Novak, 33, is expected to re-sign soon after spending the end of last season with the Bucks.
The Pistons expect to have about $5MM in cap room next summer, but several decisions could push that number higher or lower, states Aaron McMann of MLive. The $5MM figure assumes that Detroit picks up the options on Stanley Johnson and Darrun Hilliard and that Aron Baynes opts out of the final year of his deal. However, the Pistons still need to find a third point guard and make a decision on whether to re-sign Reggie Bullock, who will be a free agent after next season.
The fear of losing Baynes next summer prompted the Pistons to target Boban Marjanovic, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Detroit offered Marjanovic an offer sheet worth $21MM over three years, and the Spurs, who didn’t have his Bird rights, declined to match. Marjanovic has limited NBA experience, and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy credits extensive scouting work for enabling the Pistons to identify him as a worthwhile prospect.

Contract Details: Rondo, Boban, J. Hill, S. Hill

July 21st, 2016 at 8:14pm CST by Luke Adams

There were conflicting reports on the details of the second year of Rajon Rondo‘s new contract with the Bulls when it was agreed upon and signed earlier this month, but Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders provides some clarity, writing that only $3MM of Rondo’s $13.397MM second-year salary is guaranteed. That second year essentially functions as a team option for the Bulls, who could waive Rondo by June 30 next year if his first year in Chicago goes south.

Here are several more contract and salary cap details from Pincus:

As part of the sign-and-trade deal that landed Matthew Dellavedova in Milwaukee, the Cavaliers sent $200K to the Bucks, per Pincus. The move allowed Cleveland to create a trade exception to absorb Mike Dunleavy‘s salary.
The Pistons‘ offer sheet for Boban Marjanovic was an Arenas-rule offer, with a modest spike in year three, according to Pincus. The Spurs didn’t have Marjanovic’s Early Bird rights or enough cap space to match, so Detroit got its man and was able to smooth out his cap hit to $7MM annually, as the Arenas rule permits.
The second year of Jordan Hill‘s two-year, $8.18MM deal with the Timberwolves is non-guaranteed, tweets Pincus.
Solomon Hill‘s four-year, $48MM pact with the Pelicans, which starts at $12.2MM, features $3.9MM in total unlikely incentives, according to Pincus (via Twitter). Meanwhile, the first-year cap hit on E’Twaun Moore‘s four-year, $34MM deal with New Orleans is $8.08MM (Twitter link).

Central Notes: Pacers, Maker, Drummond, Pistons

July 17th, 2016 at 6:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pacers seem ready to re-emerge as an elite team in the Eastern Conference, claims Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Indiana made several key additions this summer, swapping George Hill for Jeff Teague in a three-team deal, trading the 20th pick in the draft to Brooklyn for Thaddeus Young and signing free agent center Al Jefferson. The Pacers also have the security of a healthy Paul George, who showed during the season that he was fully recovered from a broken leg in 2014. In addition, Hamilton notes, Indiana has the flexibility for another major move or two this summer. The franchise is about $12MM under the cap and may have a $2.8MM room exception available. Looking ahead, the Pacers could have up to $50MM in cap room next summer if Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles opt out.

There’s more from around the Central Division:

The Bucks‘ Thon Maker grabbed attention in the Las Vegas Summer League with Kevin Garnett-like size and Giannis Antetokounmpo-level speed, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. Many observers were surprised when the Bucks drafted Maker 10th overall, but his athleticism may make that gamble pay off. “We thought he wasn’t afraid and had a little toughness to him,” said GM John Hammond. “That was the key to the draft pick — that we enjoyed him so much as a person and had toughness and wasn’t afraid. You don’t know what is going to go from there.”
The Pistons are reaping the benefits of Andre Drummond‘s decision to put off his extension until this summer, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Because Drummond waited on his big-money deal, Detroit had the cap room to trade for Tobias Harris during the season and then sign free agents Jon Leuer, Ish Smith and Boban Marjanovic. “We either wouldn’t have been able to do Tobias during the year, or if we had done Tobias, we wouldn’t have been able to add the people we added this summer,” said coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. “It goes to Andre’s character, his true commitment to the Detroit Pistons beyond just getting the contract and [owner Tom Gores’] commitment and his relationship with Andre.”
Marjanovic’s three-year, $21MM contract will pay him $7MM each season, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Smith will receive $6MM each year for three seasons (Twitter link), and Leuer’s four-year, $42MM deal starts at $11MM the first season and decreases (Twitter link). He also has $1MM in unlikely incentives.

Pistons Sign Boban Marjanovic

July 12th, 2016 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The Pistons have officially signed Marjanovic, the team announced today in a press release. We heard on Sunday that San Antonio wouldn’t be matching Detroit’s offer sheet for the big center.

JULY 7: The Pistons are set to sign Spurs restricted free agent Boban Marjanovic to an offer sheet worth $21MM over three years, league sources tell ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link). Once Marjanovic officially puts pen to paper and the Spurs receive the offer sheet, San Antonio will have three days to match it.

Marjanovic, who turns 28 in August, joined the Spurs a year ago, and saw a little action during his first year as an NBA player. Appearing in 54 game, the 7’3″ center averaged 9.4 minutes per contest, making the most of that playing time by averaging 5.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG to go along with a .603 FG%. The sample size was small, but Marjanovic’s production worked out to 21.0 PPG and 13.7 RPG per 36 minutes.

The Pistons’ reported contract agreements will use up all their salary cap space, but because the team’s deal with Andre Drummond is not yet official, the team still has some room to fit in Marjanovic’s offer sheet. Drummond will earn a maximum salary of $22MM+ in 2016/17, but for now, he’s still on Detroit’s books for cap hold worth just over $8MM.

As for the Spurs, they had to move Boris Diaw just to clear cap room for Pau Gasol‘s new contract, so it seems unlikely that they’ll match the Pistons’ offer sheet for Marjanovic. ESPN’s Marc Stein tweets that San Antonio is resigned to losing the Serbian center. The Spurs appear to have found a replacement already, reportedly agreeing to terms with free agent center Dewayne Dedmon.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Spurs Won’t Match Offer For Boban Marjanovic

July 10th, 2016 at 6:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs have decided not to match the three-year, $21MM offer sheet the Pistons gave to center Boban Marjanovic, tweets David Mayo of MLive. Marjanovic should serve as a backup to Andre Drummond, whom Detroit expects to sign later this summer.

The 7’3″ Serbian native played sparingly during his first NBA season after signing with the Spurs last summer. He averaged 9.4 minutes over 54 games, but made an impact with 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting better than 60%.

Marjonic became expendable in San Antonio with the additions of Pau Gasol and Dewayne Dedmon.

Qualifying Offers: Drummond, Beal, Powell

June 28th, 2016 at 9:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status. A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. You can read more about qualifying offers here.

Teams don’t always formally announce when they submit qualifying offers, which is the case with a number of players who have already been extended these offers by their respective clubs. The procedural moves listed below have been posted to the RealGM Transactions page, with more sure to follow in the next few days:

Bradley Beal [Wizards] — $7,471,412
Andre Drummond [Pistons] — $4,433,683
Boban Marjanovic [Spurs] — $1,500,000
Dwight Powell [Mavericks] — $1,180,431

Also receiving a qualifying offer is Magic center Dewayne Dedmon, with Orlando submitting the $1,215,696 required to make him a restricted free agent earlier today, per Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel.

Western Notes: Marjanovic, Cuban, Davis

June 8th, 2016 at 8:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the salary cap set to increase to approximately $92MM for next season this offseason is likely to be a wild one for free agents. But Mavs owner Mark Cuban casts some doubt on predictions that even marginal players will land outrageous deals this summer, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “Every player thinks it’s just going to be a money train this summer. There’s a lot of money; there’s not THAT much money,” Cuban said. “And I think there’s going to be teams that save their money for next year, because it’s a better free agent class. People just presume now that everybody’s going to get paid a lot of money, and it’ll be interesting to see if that happens.”

Here’s more from out West:

The Grizzlies officially announced the additions of J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach and Nick Van Exel as an assistant coach on David Fizdale‘s staff, the team relayed via press release.
Big man Boban Marjanovic, who is eligible for restricted free agency this summer if San Antonio submits a qualifying offer worth $1.5MM, said that he wants to return to the Spurs next season, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter).
The Mavs don’t intend to deal away any of their future draft picks this offseason unless they are absolutely blown away by the offer, MacMahon tweets. “We won’t trade a future pick unless there is a deal good enough that they would fire the other general manager for making,” Cuban told reporters.
The Rockets are considering veteran NBA assistant Johnny Davis for a spot on new head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s staff, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Davis last coached in the NBA with the Raptors from 2011-2013.

Western Notes: Mitchell, Parsons, D-League

March 22nd, 2016 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor sees a number of similarities with his current roster and the team he inherited upon purchasing the franchise in 1995, Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune relays. “I just think when we first bought it, we had a franchise that was pretty down and hadn’t done very well,” Taylor said. “We put a plan to get some young guys in here. That’s when we went out and took a gamble on KG [Kevin Garnett] and Stephon Marbury and our goal was to build for the long run and get a better team. We did that. It took us a while to get a championship team. In one sense we’re sort of like that again. We have a lot of young guys and we have to be patient, and I’m hopeful we’ll have a chance for the championship again, just like we did during those earlier years. So I’d say we’re similar.”

The owner was non-committal when asked if he would retain interim coach Sam Mitchell and his staff, though he did express his appreciation for the job Mitchell and GM Milt Newton have done, Hartman notes. “I like my coach, I like my general manager, they’re really nice people,” Taylor said. “We’re working together. What I told them is in this business of basketball, we’re going to do the whole season first and then at the end of the season we’ll do the evaluation.”

Here’s more from out west:

Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons is reportedly set to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, a procedure that would end his season. The 27-year-old is still expected to opt out and hit free agency this summer, but his history of knee woes may give a number of potential suitors pause. A league executive was asked recently if he would consider inking Parsons this offseason, to which he responded “nope” and pointed at his knee to indicate his reasoning, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com tweets.
Kevin Martin has seen limited action for the Spurs thus far, but coach Gregg Popovich is pleased with how the veteran is fitting in with the team, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News writes. “He’s been around long enough where he’s fit in pretty well,” Popovich said of Martin. “That was good to see, because he hadn’t played for a while and we didn’t know what was going to happen.” The 33-year-old shooting guard has appeared in six games for San Antonio and is averaging 4.2 points in 9.7 minutes per outing.
The Spurs have recalled center Boban Marjanovic and small forward Jonathon Simmons from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Marjanovic is averaging 23.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 26.4 minutes over three games with the Austin this season, while Simmons has logged 16.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds over four D-League appearances.
The Thunder recalled small forward Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.

Western Notes: Chandler, Mavs, Noah

March 20th, 2016 at 2:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Tyson Chandler doesn’t want any part of a rebuilding team, James Herbert of CBSSports writes. “For me, especially where I am in my career, I want to win,” Chandler said (video link via The Arizona Republic). “I want to win now. I’m not in any kind of rebuilding stage. So if that’s the case, it ain’t where I’m supposed to be.” The Suns signed the 33-year-old to a four-year, $52MM deal last offseason and the team expected to be in the hunt for the playoffs. Phoenix currently owns a record of 19-50, as our Reverse Standings show.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

If Chandler Parsons stays with the Mavericks past this season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News believes the team should demand an improvement from him on the defensive end. Sefko acknowledges that Parsons is capable of being a top scorer, but the scribe mentions the 27-year-old’s positioning on the defensive end as an area of concern.
Joakim Noah could be an option for the Mavericks in free agency, but the team should only add him at the right price, Sefko opines in the same piece. Sefko worries about all the minutes Noah played under former coach Tom Thibodeau and would like to see the team attempt to bring aboard Al Horford instead.
The Spurs have assigned Boban Marjanovic and Jonathon Simmons to their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website.