Brock Motum Rumors | Hoops Rumors

World Cup Notes: Bolden, Wagner, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Popovich

August 18th, 2019 at 11:41am CST by Arthur Hill

Team USA isn’t the only FIBA World Cup nation dealing with last-minute withdrawals. Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has informed the Australian squad that he won’t be participating in the tournament, which starts in 13 days, according to Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia. He cited “personal reasons” for the decision.

Bolden looked good in exhibition play, posting 12 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s win over Canada. His place could be taken by Deng Adel, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Nets last month, or Brock Motum, according to Uluc. The Australians are already playing without Ben Simmons, Thon Maker, Ryan Broekhoff and Dante Exum.

“My first thought is always with the player in these situations — having to withdraw from the national team is tough for anyone,” Boomers head coach Andrej Lemanis said. “From a team perspective, the timing is sub-optimal, but again, we are very fortunate to have the depth of talent we have in this country available to take up this opportunity. Whilst it can feel like we need to make a quick decision, the most important thing is to bring in the player that best complements the other skill sets we have on the team.”

There’s more World Cup news to pass along:

Germany has cut Wizards center Moritz Wagner, relays Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The Germans, whose preliminary roster includes Maxi Kleber, Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis and Isaac Bonga, still have to get rid of one more player before the tournament begins. Wagner was sent to Washington last month as part of the Anthony Davis trade.
France trimmed Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot from its World Cup squad, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The free agent forward played for the Thunder and Bulls last season.
Gregg Popovich only has one cut to make from Team USA, but he expects it to be very difficult, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Americans headed to Australia yesterday for a pair of exhibition games with 13 players still on their roster. The final decision is expected to come around August 27. “When you cut people from your regular NBA team, it’s difficult,” Popovich said. “We’re going to have to do that. And it’s going to be even more so. I’m dreading having to do that. But it’s got to get done.”

And-Ones: Las Vegas, Motum, Taylor, Lockout

July 19th, 2015 at 3:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The success of the summer league in Las Vegas has created hopes that the city may one day have its own NBA team, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Former commissioner David Stern planted the seed during a 2007 meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman, and the annual summertime gathering has strengthened the city’s position. The 20,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena is large enough to house an NBA franchise, and the NHL has started to break down the Las Vegas barrier, announcing recently that the city is a candidate for a future expansion team, along with Seattle and Quebec City. City officials should be patient, though. Celtics president Rich Gotham pointed out that the league has no immediate plans for expansion and that sentiment remains high to put a team in Seattle.

There’s more from around the world of basketball:

The Jazz have offered a partially guaranteed contract to forward Brock Motum, tweets Angus Crawford of NBA.com/Australia. Team officials were impressed by his play in the summer league. Motum is “strongly” considering Utah’s offer, but is also listening to teams in Europe (Twitter link).
Former Hornet Jeffery Taylor has turned down an offer from Maccabi of the Israeli Premier League, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The news was relayed by Taylor’s agent, Todd Ramasar.
The new contract that Miroslav Raduljica signed with Panathinaikos in the Greek League includes a $500K escape clause, according to Pick (Twitter link). The Serbian briefly played for the Wolves last season.
The NBA is risking its historic success with tough labor talk, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. Both the league and the players’ union issued statements this week, reminding everyone that a potential lockout is just two years away.
Sixteen teams still have not used their $2.814MM room exception, tweets former Nets executive Bobby Marks.

Western Notes: Okafor, Suns, Jazz

June 9th, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers are looking at more than just basketball ability in their evaluations of draft prospects, and one of the most important intangibles to Los Angeles’ front office is overall character, Kevin Ding of BleacherReport writes. Duke big man Jahlil Okafor has impressed the Lakers in this regard, Ding notes. Mike Krzyzewski, Okafor’s coach with the Blue Devils, sings the praises of his former player’s off the court demeanor, saying, “He’s going to be a franchise player. And he’s going to be a franchise person.”

Here’s what else is happening around the Western Conference:

The Suns held pre-draft workouts for Treveon Graham (VCU), Ryan Harrow (Georgia State), Sir’Dominic Pointer (St. John’s), Corey Hawkins (UC-Davis), Yanick Moreira (SMU), and Gabriel Olaseni (Iowa), Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays (Twitter links).
The Jazz will host a free agent minicamp on Thursday for 27 players, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. Attendees will include Brock Motum, Jarvis Varnado, Fuquan Edwin, and former Bulls first-rounder Marquis Teague, Genessy notes.
Former Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre may be too tempting for the Thunder to pass up with the No. 14 overall pick, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman opines. One aspect of Oubre’s physique that is garnering him attention is his 7’2″ wingspan, Mayberry adds. “Bringing length to a team is definitely something that can be one of my strong suits,” Oubre said. “And just being able to lock in on defense. My lateral movement is pretty good.” You can check out Hoops Rumors’ full prospect profile for Oubre here.

International Moves: Motum, Burton, Ware

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Many of the dozens of players who recently found themselves on the market after having spent training camp with NBA teams end up in the D-League, but more lucrative deals usually require a trip overseas. International circuits are still reaping the benefits from the deluge of NBA cuts that took place in advance of last week’s deadline for teams to pare their rosters to 15, and here’s the latest on those moving from the Association to more distant outposts:

Brock Motum followed up his time in Jazz camp with a deal to play for the Adelaide 36ers in his native Australia, the team announced (hat tip to Sporando’s Emiliano Carchia). The deal runs through 2015/16, but it allows the 24-year-old to leave for an NBA deal, according to Roy Ward of The Sydney Morning Herald. It’s unclear how much Motum will make, but he opted for Australia over the D-League because of better money and the belief that the competition is superior, Ward writes.
Kings camp cut Deonte Burton has signed with Germany’s Ratiopharm Ulm on a pact that covers the rest of the season, the team announced (translation via ).
Former Sixers guard Casper Ware is also off to Germany, having signed with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, the team announced (translation via Carchia). The contract covers the balance of 2014/15, according to the club. Ware was briefly a member of the Nets after a trade sent him to Brooklyn 10 days ago, but he wound up on waivers the day after that.

Jazz Waive Brock Motum

October 25th, 2014 at 4:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Forward Brock Motum has been waived by the Jazz, the team announced in a press release. The move cuts Utah’s roster to 14 players, one under the league maximum. It’s unclear if the Jazz intend to send Motum to the D-League, as teams can retain the rights for up to four players.

Motum’s minimum-salary contract was non-guaranteed, so the Jazz won’t be on the hook for any money as a result of cutting him. The 23-year-old Motum appeared in five games for Utah’s summer league team in Las Vegas, averaging 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds. He spent the 2013/14 season with Granarolo Bologna of the Italian Serie A League, where he averaged 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

The 6’10” Australian played at Washington State and ranks second in school history in both career points (1,530) and field goal percentage (.567). He was the Pac 12’s leading scorer as a senior at 18 points per game.

And-Ones: Hawks, Motum, Crawford

October 22nd, 2014 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Outgoing Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson has the power to force as much as 60% of the team to be sold, even though he and his partners have only 50.1% of the team, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The NBA appears to be pressuring all of the other owners to sell so that the entire franchise can change hands, Vivlamore adds. All of the team’s owners still have yet to meet to discuss how much of the franchise they’re going to sell, and so far, their only action as a group has involved preparation for vetting prospective buyers, though vetting itself has yet to begin, as Vivlamore explains.

Here’s more from around the league:

When Jordan Crawford signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association for $1.4MM it wasn’t because he didn’t receive any NBA offers. The Kings had tried to sign Crawford this summer, but he wasn’t comfortable with a backup role in Sacramento, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter links). Crawford also relayed that he felt “overlooked” by the league, and that’s what led him to China, Pick notes.
Brock Motum‘s one year, minimum salary deal with the Jazz is non-guaranteed, as is reflected on the Basketball Insiders salary page for Utah.
Many of the teams that joined the Sixers in a voting bloc that scuttled immediate lottery reform are nonetheless miffed about Philadelphia’s stripped-down roster, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Teams voted down lottery changes in part because they feel too much is in flux, and that includes the unknown of just how or whether the league will phase in the substantial increase in the salary cap that the league’s enhanced TV revenues will bring about, Lowe adds. Some influential agents oppose the idea of any phase-in, preferring that the cap simply leap in the summer of 2016 based on the idea that teams might be uncertain of how to handle the changed landscape and hand out contracts they’ll later regret, according to Lowe.
The surging salary cap projections have some small-market teams worried about how they’ll manage in a league where $100MM payrolls are the norm, in spite of the TV money that would make that sort of spending more palatable, as Lowe writes in the same piece. Small-market teams also fear that they’ll become slightly profitable and lose the benefit of tens of millions in income through the league’s revenue sharing program, the Grantland columnist explains. The Lakers handed out $50MM, the Knicks $27MM and the Bulls $17MM in revenue sharing last season, Lowe reports.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Jazz Sign Brock Motum

August 26th, 2014 at 3:00pm CST by Cray Allred

TUESDAY, 3:00pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

MONDAY, 8:34pm: The Jazz have agreed to terms with free agent Brock Motum in what is most likely a training camp arrangement, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The Sydney Morning Herald originally reported that Utah had extended a training camp invitation to Motum. Pincus suspects the deal will be non-guaranteed, which would line up with the latest moves out of Utah, as three players have been signed for training camp auditions at partially guaranteed salaries in Kevin Murphy, Dee Bost, and Jack Cooley.

The 6’10” Australian-born forward, who played alongside fellow Aussie Dante Exum for the Jazz in summer league, will face the daunting task of making Utah’s final roster. Motum becomes the 17th player on a team with 13 guaranteed contracts on the books for 2014/15. The Jazz have a blend of youth and veteran talent at the power forward position, with Derrick Favors, Trevor Booker, Jeremy Evans, and Steve Novak on the team. GM Dennis Lindsey indicated that Utah would keep one or two roster spots open below the 15-man minimum for training camp competition, which bodes well for Motum’s chances.

Motum went undrafted in 2013 after finishing his senior year as a Washington State Cougar, and didn’t get any NBA traction beyond draft workouts and a summer league stint with the Sixers. The forward spent last year playing professionally in Italy. In his final college season, he averaged 18.7 PPG and 6.3 RPG.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

June 21st, 2013 at 10:30pm CST by Luke Adams

With just six days left until the 2013 draft, NBA teams continue to bring in prospects to work them out and gather as much information as they can. Here are the latest updates on workouts taking place today, over the weekend, and early next week:

Allen Crabbe will work out Tuesday with the Bucks and Wednesday for the Nets, reports Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com. Crabbe, widely projected as a late first-rounder at best, made it a priority to visit the Bucks, who have the No. 15 pick (Twitter links).
Mason Plumlee wasn't on the list the Pistons released of players with whom the team has met, but he was scheduled to work out for Detroit on Friday, according to MLive's David Mayo.
We heard about Vander Blue's workout with the Bucks today (below), and Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel notes that Blue has also auditioned for the Mavs, Spurs, Hawks, Sixers, Pistons and Magic, with another workout on tap for Monday with the Grizzlies.

Earlier updates:

Anthony Bennett will visit the Bobcats on Saturday, though his injured rotator cuff will prevent him from working out, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Pelicans GM Dell Demps traveled Friday to get a close look at Victor Oladipo, sources confirmed to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com passed along a list of players who met with the Pistons this past week: Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, C.J. McCollum, Cody Zeller, Derrick Nix, Dexter Strickland, Augusto Cesar Lima, Jared Berggren, Kenny Boynton and Karron Johnson (All Twitter links).
The Kings updated the workout schedule on their website, which shows Shabazz Muhammad, Doug Anderson, A.J. Davis, John Dickson, Mfon Udofia and Kwame Vaughn coming in Saturday. McCollum will be in for a workout on Monday, Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham tweets.
Today's workout for the Timberwolves is expected to be the last one for the team, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, adding that Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk, Colton Iverson, and Christian Watford were in attendance.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution passes along a couple tweets from Gorgui Dieng, surmising that the big man appears to be in Atlanta for a workout with the Hawks.
The Suns' workout today is headlined by Glen Rice Jr., according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, who has the full list of participants in a pair of tweets.
Vander Blue, Grant Jerrett, Brock Motum, Dejan Musli, Nemanja Nedovic, and Andrew Smith are working out for the Bucks today, according to the team's PR Twitter feed.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Erick Green will be among the prospects working out for the Nets on Monday, the team announced in a press release.
Hardaway Jr. was also among the prospects who worked out for the Clippers today, along with Tony Snell, Ricky Ledo, and Reggie Bullock (link via Eric Patten of Clippers.com).
The Pacers announced today that they'll work out a a handful of prospects tomorrow: Matt Dellavedova, Angel Sharpless, Jamaal Franklin, Zeke Marshall, and Jeff Withey.

Draft Rumors: Noel, Snell, Olynyk, Blazers, Adams

June 11th, 2013 at 5:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com delivered enough draft rumors for their own post this afternoon, and we rounded up more draft-related news in another post this morning. It's not hard to tell that the big event takes place just two weeks and two days from now. Here are tonight's updates, via Twitter unless otherwise noted:

In spite of rumors that the Cavaliers probably won't draft him first overall, Nerlens Noel will visit with Cleveland on June 20th, following Saturday's meeting with the Wizards, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer reports.
Tony Snell's stock is on the rise, and two executives have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the New Mexico swingman has solidified a spot in the first round.
Kelly Olynyk is the most prominent name among a group of six prospects working out for the Blazers today, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com passes along. John Allen, Chris Babb, Erik Murphy, D.J. Stephens and Khalif Wyatt were the others in attendance.
The Timberwolves will turn their focus to big men Thursday, when Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Mike Muscala will participate in a group workout for the team, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Cody Zeller will be in Minnesota the same day, but he'll work out separately.
C.J. McCollum will participate in a workout Wednesday for the Jazz that will also include Scott Bamforth from nearby Weber State, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Jared Berggren has shown off his skills in front of the Blazers and Suns, and the Wisconsin power forward will get to do so for the Bucks, likely on Thursday, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
Mason Plumlee is the headliner in a Wizards audition set for Wednesday, the team announced via press release. Karron Johnson, Bruce Massey, Brock Motum, Dexter Strickland and Kellen Thornton will join him.