Bobby Portis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Middleton, Mirotic, Dunleavy, Pacers

September 29th, 2016 at 9:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks‘ Khris Middleton had successful surgery Wednesday on his ruptured left hamstring, the team announced on its website. Middleton is expected to be out of action for six months following the procedure, which was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The fifth-year swingman, who signed a five-year, $70MM deal last summer, had his best season in 2015/16, averaging a career-high 18.2 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 79 games.

There’s more tonight from the Central Division:

Nikola Mirotic seems to have the edge over Taj Gibson to be the Bulls‘ starting power forward, writes Mark Schanowski of CSNChicago. With the rest of the starting lineup seemingly set, power forward is Chicago’s most interesting position battle of the preseason. Schanowski believes Mirotic’s ability to stretch the floor in an otherwise shaky shooting lineup gives him the edge. Bobby Portis may be squeezed out of minutes unless he can earn time as a backup center.
After being traded from the Bulls to the Cavaliers over the summer, Mike Dunleavy says his new Cleveland teammates have a work ethic far beyond what he saw in Chicago, relays Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Dunleavy admired the humility the Cavs showed despite their success of the past two seasons and noted that the stars are willing to put in extra practice time. “I’ve been on a lot of teams where guys come and go, show up five minutes before practice and leave right after,” he said. “We have our best players here an hour and a half early and stay an hour and a half late. Quite honestly, that’s kind of new to me.”
New Pacers coach Nate McMillan‘s nine-man rotation is virtually set, which leaves a lot of young players battling for very few minutes, according to Mark Montieth of NBA.com. Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner will start, with Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles and Al Jefferson as regular members of the rotation off the bench. McMillan said he will use 10 players per game if someone else shows they deserve to play, which may give hope to Glenn Robinson III, Joseph Young, Georges Niang, Kevin Seraphin, Lavoy Allen, Rakeem Christmas and Jeremy Evans.

Central Rumors: Ellenson, Bulls, Felder

June 27th, 2016 at 10:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy and his staff had Henry Ellenson ranked No. 10 on their draft board and were pleasantly surprised when the Marquette power forward slid to No. 18, he told the assembled media, including Hoops Rumors. Van Gundy was so sure that Ellenson would be chosen before Detroit’s turn came up last Thursday that he barely watched any film on him. “I didn’t even take notes,” he said. Detroit will still look to acquire another stretch four in free agency or via the trade route. “There’s no pressure on him, at least early on,” Van Gundy said of Ellenson. The Pistons are expected to pursue Hawks big man Al Horford but would have to clear cap space to offer him anything close to the max.

In other news around the Central Division:

Van Gundy, whose team made the playoffs last season as a No. 8 seed, is unfazed by recent trades made by the Pacers and Magic. Indiana acquired two veteran starters, point guard Jeff Teague from the Hawks and power forward Thaddeus Young from the Nets, while the Magic made a big trade with the Thunder to land power forward Serge Ibaka. “Indiana made a couple of good moves and got better. Obviously, Serge Ibaka is a really good, but I expect our guys to improve, too,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll come back as the same team, either. There’s no sense in worrying about what other teams do.”
Bulls power forward Bobby Portis and small forward Tony Snell have signed with CAA Sports, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Daily tweets. Portis had been a Mark Bartelstein client while Snell was represented by Mitchell Butler.
Point guard Kay Felder‘s chances of making the Cavaliers roster next season are enhanced by the fact that they paid the Hawks $2.4MM to draft him, Lev Facher of USA Today reports. The 5’9” Felder out of Oakland University was selected with the No. 54 overall pick. “That means a lot to give up all that money for one pick,” Felder told Facher. “Man — I owe them.” Felder’s would have an even better shot at making the opening-night roster if restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova receives an offer sheet that Cleveland won’t match.

Bulls Notes: Felicio, Gasol, Forman, Hoiberg

April 10th, 2016 at 10:55am CST by Arthur Hill

The recent performance of Cristiano Felicio offers more proof that the Bulls should have traded Pau Gasol before February’s deadline, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. The Brazilian rookie center had 16 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes in Saturday’s win over Cleveland, and coach Fred Hoiberg chose to use Felicio over Gasol late in the game. Friedell gives executives Gar Forman and John Paxson credit for finding Felicio, but contends it was foolish to keep Gasol as part of the future when he will turn 36 this summer and can become a free agent. Gasol has already expressed an intention to opt out, which means the Bulls may get nothing in return when they could have picked up assets and created playing time for Felicio and rookie Bobby Portis.

There’s more news out of Chicago:

Forman worked hard to land Felicio, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com. The Bulls GM had been watching him for several years as he moved to the United States and made a failed attempt to become eligible to play at Oregon. After Felicio returned to Brazil, Forman traveled there to scout him in several tournaments and signed him to the Bulls’ summer league team.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for a failed season, contends K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Chicago is almost certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2007/08, and Johnson says the responsibility goes from the front office to the coaching staff to a mismatched roster. Forman has carried the most influence behind the scenes, according to Johnson, as he was the leading proponent of hiring Hoiberg and of passing on a chance to deal Gasol to the Kings. Johnson notes that the front office is now less enamored with Gasol, as re-signing center Joakim Noah has become a higher offseason priority. Forman also angered the locker room by trading popular veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich to Atlanta to cut the Bulls’ luxury tax payment by more than $2.5MM.
Despite complaints about Hoiberg, the coaching staff is expected to remain mostly intact for next season, Johnson writes in the same story. Management believes the problem this year was that the core of the team was kept together too long. One possible change is assistant Randy Brown could return to a front-office position. Brown is liked by players, Johnson relays, and some view him as Forman’s direct link to the coaching staff.

Central Rumors: Portis, Love, Jackson

January 19th, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rookie power forward Bobby Portis will be the biggest beneficiary of Joakim Noah‘s shoulder injury that will likely cost him the season, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed to the media, including Hoops Rumors. Noah will be sidelined up to six months after undergoing surgery for his dislocated left shoulder. Portis will become a rotation regular in his absence. Power forwards Cameron Bairstow and Cristiano Felicio will also receive more playing time. “It’s a great opportunity for some other guys,” Hoiberg said. “Bobby, his minutes were a little inconsistent after that stretch where he played when Jo was sitting out [with a previous shoulder sprain]. He knows now he’s going to play extended minutes pretty much every night. And other guys are going to have to step up. Cam and Cris are going to have to be ready to go out there and give us some minutes.” The Bulls are 9-2 in games Noah has missed but Hoiberg brushes aside that statistic. “I don’t think you’ll find one guy in that locker room that would say we’re a better team with Jo not in the lineup,” he said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score. He’s a guy we’ll absolutely miss the rest of the season.”

In other news around the Central Division:

Finding a way for power forward Kevin Love and point guard Kyrie Irving to coexist is paramount for the Cavs to have any hope of winning the NBA title this season, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com opines. Love’s stats have declined since Irving returned from the knee injury that kept him out until late last month. Love was averaging 17.6 points on 43% shooting without Irving this season, compared to 13.4 points on 37% shooting with Irving back in action. Cavs players reportedly wouldn’t mind a trade for Suns power forward Markieff Morris, though the front office doesn’t share their enthusiasm. The Cavs could try to go small more often with Love at center and deal Timofey Mozgov, who has seen his playing time decline dramatically, but making major roster moves could also backfire, Berger adds.
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is frustrated by the team’s inability to put together a winning streak, as he told the media, including Hoops Rumors. Detroit handed the Warriors their fourth loss of the season on Saturday, then had a low-energy performance while losing to the Bulls Monday. “We’re a consistently inconsistent team,” Jackson said. “We’ve shown we play well at times. We play to the level of our opponent quite a bit. We’ve shown the world that we have flashes of being a good team and then we show flashes of being not so good.”
Shooting guard Dionte Christmas, who spent training camp with the Cavs this fall, will have his contract with AEK Athens guaranteed for the season, international journalist David Pick tweets. Christmas previously signed a one-month deal with the Greek team, Pick adds. Christmas, who was waived after playing four preseason games with Cleveland, signed with Israel’s Hapoel Holon in December and then was released from that contract to play in Europe.

Aldridge on Lee, Ainge, Agents, Beal, Portis

January 18th, 2016 at 6:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

David Lee seems to have fallen out of the Celtics‘ rotation a year after going through the same experience in Golden State, writes TNT’s David Aldridge in his weekly column for NBA.com. Boston is fully healthy for the first time this season, which has cut deeply into Lee’s playing time as coach Brad Stevens opts for a smaller lineup. “I’ve been through this before, and it turned out OK,” Lee said. The 11th-year forward is making nearly $15.5MM in the final season of his contract and is headed for free agency for the second time in his career.

Aldridge touched on a number of other topics in the piece:

With a little more than a month before the trade deadline, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has to decide whether to deal the team’s excess draft picks to pursue an available star or save the picks and use them to build for the future. Boston owns the Nets‘ unprotected first-rounder this year, along with a Mavs first-rounder that is top-seven protected. The Celtics could potentially get the Wolves‘ first-rounder as well, but it is only top-12 protected, so that’s unlikely. If Minnesota keeps the pick, it will have to give Boston second-rounders this year and in 2017.
Pressure has increased on agents to get not only the best playing contracts for their clients, but TV and movie roles, music opportunities and shoe deals as well. The Wizards‘ John Wall last week became one of a handful of big name players to change agencies recently when he left Relativity Sports, which had represented him since he was drafted in 2010. “The people I was with have been a great partnership the five years I was with them,” Wall said. “They did a lot of positive things for me. It was just a situation where I felt me and my team wanted to go in different ways with how I wanted to build my team.”
Aldridge believes the Wizards still plan to give Bradley Beal a max contract, even though he will probably be under a minutes restriction for the rest of his career. Aldridge contends that Beal can be an All-Star playing 30-35 minutes a night and compares the situation to what the Celtics did when Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were in their final years there or how the Spurs handle their veterans.
Aldridge also sees a bright future for Bulls rookie Bobby Portis, saying he can succeed through hard work despite his limited vertical leap.

Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, Roberts, Noah

January 12th, 2016 at 8:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons intend to keep point guard Spencer Dinwiddie with their D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids for the remainder of the season, Peter J. Wallner of MLive relays. “I landed on red eye and was headed to the practice facility and [GM] Jeff Bower called me and said I was going down for the rest of the season, and I said OK,” Dinwiddie told Wallner. As for his reaction to the news, Dinwiddie may not agree with the decision, but he understands it is part of his development process, Wallner adds. “There’s nothing really more to say about it,” Dinwiddie continued. “A lot of people ask me for extended thoughts and I honestly just said, ‘OK.’ When you have a job and your employer tells you to do something, you go do it. You don’t have time to second-guess it because you like your job and want to keep it.”

Here’s more from the East:

A number of NBA teams have expressed interest in Raptors preseason cut Ronald Roberts, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays (Twitter links). The power forward turned down an offer to join the Israel club Maccabi Tel Aviv in hopes of landing an NBA deal, Spears adds.
The return of Bulls center Joakim Noah from injury could aid in the development of rookie forward Bobby Portis, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com opines. Goodwill notes that pairing Noah and his passing skills alongside Portis’ outside game could make for a potent combo, an assessment that coach Fred Hoiberg agrees with. “They’ll be out there some, together in the second unit,” Hoiberg said. “I think they’ll play well with each other. They’ve developed a really tight relationship and a good bond. Jo has really taken him under his wing and taught him a lot early in Bobby’s career, so I know those two are looking forward to playing with each other.”
The presence of rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who has exceeded expectations thus far with his play, has allowed Carmelo Anthony to become more of a team player, which has the Knicks heading in the proper direction as a franchise, writes Kevin Kernan of The New York Post.

Eastern Notes: Biyombo, Rozier, Portis

January 2nd, 2016 at 4:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Raptors center Bismack Biyombo has stepped up his play while filling in for Jonas Valanciunas, and the player is also beginning to find his niche in the league after being labeled a disappointment during his time in Charlotte, Jessica Patton of The Toronto Sun writes. “I think he understands now too who he is and what he is,” coach Dwane Casey told Patton. “He’s a rebounder and a defender. He doesn’t have to worry about scoring. He’s an opportunity scorer. [Before] everyone was kind of ‘ah, he can’t catch the ball, he can’t do that, he can’t do this,’ and they were concentrating on what he couldn’t do rather than what he can do.”

Discussing the pressure being a lottery pick placed on Biyombo, Casey said, “It’s tough, but again there is no shame in having a role as an elite defender and an elite rebounder in the league. As long as Bismack is playing the way he is playing and playing with that confidence, you can erase seven, two, three, 10 [draft number] or whatever, he’s going to have an impact on the game.” The 23-year-old was the No. 7 overall pick back in the 2011 NBA draft.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The emergence of rookie power forward Bobby Portis will give Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg some difficult choices to make once Joakim Noah returns from his shoulder injury, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “Absolutely,” Hoiberg responded when asked if Portis has cemented himself in the rotation. “We’re going to continue to find minutes for Bobby and there’s no doubt about it. He’s playing too well, he’s playing with so much confidence. He rebounds the ball, he plays with a toughness and a swagger, and that’s what you want. We’ve talked all along; Bobby’s not going to back down from anybody and he continues to show that night after night.“
The Celtics have re-assigned point guard Terry Rozier to their D-League affiliate in Maine, the team announced. This will be Rozier’s fifth stint with the Red Claws on the season.

Eastern Notes: Larkin, Gibson, Wizards

December 30th, 2015 at 1:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets point guard Shane Larkin said that he needed to get away from the Knicks and the triangle offense in order to grow as a player, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “I’m in a pick-and-roll system my third year,’’ said Larkin. “My first year [in Dallas] I was in a pick-and-roll system, but I was coming off a broken ankle, so I missed time with that, didn’t get a preseason, so I was just kind of learning on the fly. Last year wasn’t the best system for me, that year went however it went. And this year I feel like I’m growing every single game and being more comfortable out there and just playing my game. I feel like it’s a good fit.’’ The 23-year-old is averaging 7.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 18.9 minutes of action per game this season for Brooklyn.

Here’s more from the East:

Power forward Taj Gibson is supportive of rookie Bobby Portis, whose play in the wake of Joakim Noah‘s injury has many calling for an increased role for the young player, and potentially making Gibson a trade candidate for the Bulls, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com writes. When asked if the emergence of Portis has given conflicting feelings, Gibson responded, “What do you mean mixed feelings? It’s never mixed feelings. At the end of the day I care about my teammates. I don’t worry about all that. If he plays well it’s good for us, it’s good for the team. I want him to succeed. At the end of the day, we’re millionaires. We play a game.”
Paul Pierce believes that the Wizards, his former team, will be a dangerous team once they get healthy, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post writes. “Right now I think they’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries. I keep up with them when I’m not playing. I’m still good friends with a lot of guys on the team. We chat on the text,” Pierce said. “I just think they’re dealing with a lot of injuries and kind of got off to a slow start. And I think once they get healthy, you’re going to have to watch out for them. They got a lot of depth when they’re healthy. A guy like Alan Anderson can definitely be a positive for them as far as their wing depth. Obviously, they’re missing a lot of their big men so I think once they get healthy, if they get healthy at the right time, they can make a real good run in the East.”
The Heat have assigned shooting guard Josh Richardson to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Richardson’s first sojourn of the season to Sioux Falls.

Central Notes: Hill, Morris, Portis

December 29th, 2015 at 12:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pacers small forward Solomon Hill has maintained a positive attitude despite falling out of coach Frank Vogel‘s regular rotation, which could have been an issue for the player seeing as he’s in the final year of his contract, Mark Montieth of NBA.com writes. “I have to keep being upbeat,” Hill said. “If I was down in the gutter and C.J. Miles went out and I was thrown out there and I’m not ready, it’s just going to show why I shouldn’t be playing. It’s days like this that show my hard work is paying off.” Hill also noted that he’s aware that he has been mentioned as a potential trade candidate, but insists he doesn’t want to leave Indiana, even if it would mean more playing time, Montieth adds. “I’m an Indiana Pacer,” he said. “They drafted me. I’d definitely love to be here and be part of something great with this team. We have the makings of a special team. We have the potential to be one of the top two teams in the East.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Marcus Morris is excelling for the Pistons and he should be given a larger role in the offense, David Mayo of MLive.com argues. Morris isn’t pushing for more shots, as he thinks more opportunities will come within the offensive system. “At the end of the day, coach does a great job of getting me the ball, finding spots for me to get the ball in my isos and my posts, so I’m not really too worried about whether I’m going to get my shots up, because half the time I know they’re going to come,” Morris said. “It’s more just the ball-movement thing.”
With so many players returning from injury, the Cavs realize it’s going to take time for the team to gel, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. “Just because guys are coming back doesn’t mean everything is going to be right,” LeBron James said. “It’s going to take time because for the first eight weeks we had built chemistry, we knew who was playing, we knew who wasn’t playing. We had rotations, Coach had rotations down, so we got to get back to that.”
The solid play of rookie Bobby Portis for the Bulls will make it difficult for coach Fred Hoiberg to sit him when Joakim Noah returns from injury, writes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. “He’s not afraid of the moment that’s for sure,” Hoiberg said of Portis. “To be 20 years old and go out there, big minutes against Oklahoma City in a game on Christmas Day on ABC, it shows you what the kid’s makeup is all about. The kid’s got no concern, just thrives and has all kinds of confidence. You love to see that. He’s not gonna back down from anybody.”

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Howard, Roberts, Jones, Kidd

December 23rd, 2015 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets center Dwight Howard recently turned 30 and hopes he can continue to play in the NBA into his 40s, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays. “That’d be fun if I was to play this game [that long],” Howard told Feigen. “That was always my goal, to play 20 years, 20-something years in this league. I’m extremely happy and blessed to have been able to play this game for as long as I have been so far. I have played a lot of minutes. I’ve been doing a lot since I came into the league. I’m thankful. I’m not going to complain about it. I’m happy that I’ve been able to play 12 years so far. A lot of NBA players never played this long so I am very happy and blessed that I’ve been able to play 12 years in the NBA. Hopefully, I can play another 10, but the time I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed it.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Several NBA teams have expressed interest in Raptors preseason cut Ronald Roberts, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter). In 10 appearances for the Raptors 905 this season Roberts is averaging 17.9 points and 13.0 rebounds on 67% shooting.
Timberwolves rookie point guard Tyus Jones believes his recent stint in the D-League will help him to contribute more at the NBA level, Jace Frederick of The Pioneer Press writes. “That definitely helped me out and definitely prepared me even more than I was, and it’s just helped my process,” Jones said. “I think it did prepare me a little bit better to help this team out.”
The Knicks‘ trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers was a move met with displeasure by the team’s fanbase, but it has worked out well for both sides so far, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “We made the decision,’’ Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. “It seems like it’s worked out well for both. J.R. and Shump, they seem happy. We like our team as it is at this point. I think our team would be OK if they were here or not because of what [habits] we’re doing every day.’’
Bucks front office officials would have liked to have drafted Bobby Portis with the 17th overall pick this year, but coach Jason Kidd went with Rashad Vaughn instead, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link via Twitter at 57-minute mark). Kidd is calling the shots on personnel, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times told us in a recent edition of The Beat. People around the league wonder whether Kidd’s leave of absence for hip surgery is the first step toward him dropping the coaching job and moving into a full-time front office role with the team, Wojnarowski hears.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.