Carmelo Anthony Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Iverson, Anthony, Thibodeau

March 1st, 2014 at 10:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The big news of the night was the Sixers officially retiring Allen Iverson‘s #3 during a halftime ceremony at tonight’s contest with the Wizards. Iverson had officially announced his retirement back in October. He averaged 26.7 PPG and 6.2 APG in 914 career regular-season games, and scored 29.7 PPG in 71 career playoff games. Iverson, who also saw action with the Nuggets, Pistons, and Grizzlies, was an 11-time All-Star, a four-time scoring champion, a three-time member of the All-NBA First Team, and won the MVP award in 2001. Congrats go out to A.I..

More from around the Eastern Conference:

Gary Neal is overjoyed at the trade that sent him to the Bobcats, writes Dan McCarney of MySanAntonio.com. Neal told McCarney that he got on the first available plane out of the city, as he wasn’t fond of how he was utilized in Milwaukee, nor about the direction of the franchise. Neal stated, “I’m excited to be playing meaningful basketball again. After three years of being with the Spurs, with every possession of every game counting I’m just glad to being back to that. I’m a little too old for the tanking situation.”
Jay Yeomans of the Deseret News analyzes how Jimmer Fredette fits in with the Bulls, who he is rumored to have reached an agreement with earlier today.
With free-agency right around the corner, Carmelo Anthony must be taking notice of how much has gone wrong with the Knicks, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
If ‘Melo is really committed to winning, then he should follow the example of Miami’s “Big-Three”, writes Moke Hamilton of SNY.tv. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all took less to fit in under the salary cap, and Anthony should consider that before signing his next contract, opines Hamilton. It will be the only way for him to bring other star players to New York.
The Knicks might attempt to acquire Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau after the season if they let go of Mike Woodson. Marc Berman of the New York Post looks at why the Knicks should try, the probability of the Bulls letting him go, and what it might cost.
Tom Moore of Calkins Media looks at what Sixers GM Sam Hinkie can do with the five second-round picks the team has in this year’s draft.
Metta World Peace has interest in joining the Pistons, according to his brother, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Anthony, Johnson

February 27th, 2014 at 8:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers wound up with only a second-round pick in return for Evan Turner, thanks to their buyout deal with Danny Granger, but a team offered GM Sam Hinkie a first-rounder for Turner at last year’s draft, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link). With Granger now waived, the team came away with a significantly lower return for Turner at the trade deadline.

Atlantic Links: ‘Melo, Granger, Sixers

February 25th, 2014 at 10:44pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Last summer, Dwight Howard decided to leave $30MM in extra earnings on the table in order to find a situation that gave him the best chance to win – a situation that Carmelo Anthony faces in July if he decides to opt out of his contract. Based on the Rockets’ success this year, Sam Amick of USA Today says that there’s no better blueprint for Anthony to follow than Howard’s. Dwight, who says he spoken with Carmelo about that dynamic, offered some advice:

“I know he has just got to do what’s best for him…I’ve been through it. I’ve seen it. The same people that love you one day, if you don’t do what they want you to do, then they’re going to hate you. You’ve got to always remember that you’ve got to do what’s best for you at the end of the day. If people don’t like you, you can’t stop that.”

Here’s more of what we’ve gathered from the Atlantic Division tonight:

Following a recent loss to the Hawks, Anthony told reporters: “It’s definitely testing me…The frustration has definitely sunk in, just from the simple fact we’re losing games the same way over and over and we’re just not learning from that.” After last night’s crushing loss to the Mavs, he told Clifton Brown of the New York TImes, “You score 40, 44, 44, 44, all losses — you kind of ask yourself is it worth it.”
76ers head coach Brett Brown says he isn’t annoyed that Danny Granger would rather play for a contending team instead of Philadelphia, writes Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. Brown also discussed the team’s rebuilding situation: “This is a very different rebuild than the others…It is completely at the bare bones. It just puts a pretty definitive timeline and set of reality checks on all of us that we have a lot of work to do.”
Brown added that he has plenty of faith in the front office: “I trust Sam Hinkie’s judgment on the process that just happened and the process that’s coming up…I can’t wait to be a part of it, with all of our draft picks. Draft night is one of my favorite nights.”
Jimmer Fredette‘s family would be ecstatic if he could somehow find his way to the Knicks once he’s bought out by the Kings, writes Christian Red of the New York Daily News.

Knicks Rumors: Fredette, ‘Melo, World Peace

February 25th, 2014 at 11:27am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s a “no-brainer” that Carmelo Anthony will re-sign with the Knicks, Metta World Peace believes. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News have more from the former Ron Artest, whom the Knicks waived Monday in a buyout arrangement, and there’s news about Anthony’s future as well as we look at the latest on the struggling Knicks:

The Knicks haven’t ruled out pursuing Fredette, but the team will focus on upgrading its defense as it looks to fill its pair of open roster spots, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Earlier updates:

No one with ties to the Knicks believes Anthony will leave the team this summer, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who notes that Anthony’s agent, Leon Rose, spoke with Knicks GM Steve Mills and assistant GM Allan Houston on Monday night.
World Peace says the Knicks never gave him a fair chance to play, but he adds that he never demanded more minutes. “My thing was I want to play two more seasons,” World Peace explained to Isola. “If I’m not playing this year I’m definitely not going to play next year, so I should probably go somewhere else. I wanted to win here. When you’re married to a city like New York City, just because (people don’t agree) doesn’t mean you turn your back on the city. My agent told me Steve Mills said that he understands why being moved would be a good thing.” World Peace, who was on a two-year contract with the Knicks, has previously said he wants to play five more seasons.
The Knicks are seeking three-point shooting, as we noted earlier today when a report linked them to Jimmer Fredette, who’s close to a buyout from the Kings. The team may also be in need of a point guard stemming from Raymond Felton‘s arrest on gun charges Monday night. Acting union executive director Ron Klempner is nonetheless already indicating that the Knicks would face resistance if they tried to discipline Felton at this point, as Marc Berman of the New York Post reports.

Amico On Deng, Lakers, LeBron, Bosh

February 24th, 2014 at 8:53pm CST by Zachary Links

Will Luol Deng stay in Cleveland beyond this year? While there has been speculation that he’ll bolt this summer, execs tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio the Cavs can hang on to him if things change. That means getting hot to close out the season and possibly shaking up the roster/coaching staff. More from Amico’s column..

Most execs feel LeBron James will either return to the Heat or shock everyone and aim for the ultimate redemption story by returning to the Cavs. The Heat, however, are believed to be way in front of everyone.
One GM told Amico that it’s hard to know whether the Lakers are a real possibility for Carmelo Anthony or if it’s just wishful thinking from Lakers fans.
It seems most GMs feel Chris Bosh, and not Anthony, is the second biggest potential prize on the upcoming market. But if James goes back to the Heat, Bosh will, too. If James flees Miami, the Lakers are secretly interested, sources tell Amico.
Kobe Bryant is probably the only one who can convince Pau Gasol to stay with the Lakers. Gasol would love a return to Memphis, but the Grizzlies aren’t exactly big spenders.
If Kevin Garnett retires, Amico gets the sense that fellow Nets vet Paul Pierce could wind up anywhere.

Knicks Only Team Willing To Offer Max To ‘Melo?

February 24th, 2014 at 9:07am CST by Chuck Myron

Unless LeBron James opts out of his deal, Carmelo Anthony seems poised to become the top prize on the free agent market this summer, having said on multiple occasions that he intends to exercise his early termination option at season’s end. Sources nonetheless tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that the Knicks will likely be the only team willing to offer Anthony a maximum-salary deal.

The highest starting salary Anthony could get in a new deal is $22,458,401, whether he signs with the Knicks or another team. Still, the Bulls and Lakers, two rumored suitors, appear reluctant to go that high, Kyler writes. It’s not the first report indicating a lack of interest from the Lakers, and Kyler has written before about the low odds of a max deal for Anthony in Chicago. Still, with no other max-salary pitches emerging, it sounds like the Knicks will wind up with a distinct financial advantage come July. New York could offer a longer deal with higher raises even if another team offered the same maximum starting salary, meaning the Knicks can lay out a package that’s about $33MM more than anyone else can put on the table, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explained back in October.

It might not come down to money for the Leon Rose client, who said over the All-Star break that he’d be willing to take less if it would help the Knicks retain the flexibility to sign other useful free agents. Anthony said his priority is to stay with the Knicks, and that he’d sit down with the team executives in the summer before making his final decision to hear their plan for returning the team to contention.

Of course, much can change between now and the summer, and I’d be surprised if at least one other team that’s not planning a maximum-salary pitch to Anthony decides it’s willing to make one. Anthony turns 30 in May and has won just three playoff series in his career, but he’s only one season removed from leading the NBA in scoring, and his 25.1 PER this year is a career high.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Iverson, Miller

February 23rd, 2014 at 8:51am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat essentially stood pat at the trade deadline. Outside of shipping Roger Mason Jr. to the Kings for a highly protected second-round pick, they didn’t do much to add to their rotation. The next few weeks could be as intriguing as some of the past offseasons have been for the Heat when it comes to personnel and rounding out the bench, as the team sorely needs to add some depth, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman believes the team needs to add another wing player amid the current shaky shooting from both Shane Battier and Ray Allen.

Knicks Notes: Durant, Udrih, Buycks

February 21st, 2014 at 6:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks didn’t pull off a deadline trade, so they will need to look to the future in their quest to surround Carmelo Anthony with other star caliber players. This is assuming of course that ‘Melo decides to return to New York next season. If the Knicks re-sign Anthony for the maximum salary this summer and ink another maximum-salary free agent in 2015, they probably won’t be able to afford Kevin Durant in 2016, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com explains.

Lakers Rumors: Free Agents, Gasol, Deadline

February 21st, 2014 at 10:22am CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Bresnahan and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times deem the notion of LeBron James joining the Lakers unlikely, note the Lakers’ lack of interest in Carmelo Anthony, and hear that the team isn’t high on Kyle Lowry, either. The Lakers do like Luol Deng, but they don’t want to overpay him, with the focus squarely on Kevin Love and Kevin Durant in the summers of 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“I don’t think that we’ll use our cap money to patch together a team for next year. We’re looking to bring something [big] to Los Angeles,” GM Mitch Kupchak said. “May take more than one year to build, I don’t know. But because we have a lot of money this summer doesn’t mean we’ll spend it all. We’ll spend it wisely.”

Here’s more from the purple-and-gold, who made a single deadline trade despite a multitude of rumors:

Kupchak says the Lakers will “absolutely” consider re-signing Pau Gasol this summer, as Bresnahan and Pincus note in the same piece.
The GM wouldn’t rule out negotiating an extension with Gasol that would keep him from free agency, but Kupchak calls it unlikely, since it would limit the team’s flexibility, tweets Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
The Lakers wound up remaining in tax territory through the deadline in spite of opportunities to escape. Kupchak says making a move purely to cut costs, without enhancing the roster in some way, is “not acceptable” for the Lakers franchise, as Oram also passes along (Twitter link).

Bulls Rumors: Varnado, Dunleavy, ‘Melo

February 18th, 2014 at 6:35pm CST by Charlie Adams

News broke this morning that the Bulls officially signed big man Jarvis Varnado to a 10-day contract. The shot-blocking specialist is a logical fit for Tom Thibodeau‘s defensive system, and K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune passes along that the coach is happy to have Varnado aboard. “We followed him in college and of course in the D-League, Boston and Miami,” Thibodeau said. “He’s gotten better. He has a lot of the qualities that we’re looking for. We’re excited to have him.” More out of Chicago..

Mike Dunleavy has been targeted by the Rockets, among other teams, but he seems to be staying put with the Bulls for the time being, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Chicago has been labeled as possible destination for Carmelo Anthony during this summer’s free agency period, but in order for the Bulls to sign Melo for the salary he’s probably looking for, the club would most likely need to amnesty Carlos Boozer and trade Taj Gibson. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders examines Anthony’s odds at landing in Chicago compared to a few other cities come this July. Sources tell Kyler it’s highly unlikely the Bulls would meet Anthony’s maximum-salary asking price.
Speaking of Anthony, Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune opines the Bulls would be better off if they avoided signing last year’s scoring leader (subscriber link). Rosenbloom doesn’t think Melo has proven he can succeed as a team’s primary option.