Chauncey Billups Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Clippers, Billups, Blazers

July 11th, 2014 at 10:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The judge in the trial to determine whether Shelly Sterling has the right to sell the Clippers to Steve Ballmer put the proceedings on hold until later this month at the request of Donald Sterling’s lawyers, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com details. Still, it’s likely that Ballmer will move back a July 15th deadline to finalize the sale, Markazi adds. Shelly Sterling said in testimony Thursday that her husband asked her to sell the team when it became apparent the league would seize control of it otherwise. Donald Sterling has said he has no intention of selling the team and has vowed a lifelong legal fight against the NBA.

Eastern Notes: Billups, Livingston, Carmelo

July 2nd, 2014 at 10:56pm CST by Zachary Links

While Chauncey Billups has a number of coaching, front office, and media opportunities available to him, he hasn’t decided if he wants to retire and walk away from the game just yet, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “As far as me playing, I feel really good right now for the first time in a long time – in two or three years,” Billups said. “I know that in the right situation, I can really help a team win. But it would take the right situation. I’m not going to play just to play. I have nothing left to prove and I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish playing basketball, so it would take the right situation for me to play.” The guard spent last season with the Pistons and saw just 19 games of action.

It sounds like Shaun Livingston had strong interest from several other clubs, including the Heat, before he agreed to sign with the Warriors, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post looks at where the Nets stand after losing Livingston to the Warriors.
If the Bulls are worried about their chances of landing Carmelo Anthony, that should give an indication of the long odds that the Rockets, Mavs, and Lakers are up against, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. He posits that the Knicks‘ confidence through the process might be justified.
The Sixers have expressed interest in Kent Bazemore, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. As previously reported, the Jazz, Hawks, Celtics, Mavs, Lakers, Suns, and Bulls also have interest in the guard.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter) gets the sense that the Hornets are unlikely to land a big fish free agent this summer.

Pistons Decline Option On Chauncey Billups

June 30th, 2014 at 5:09pm CST by Zachary Links

The Pistons announced that they have declined Chauncey Billups‘ $2.5MM team option for next season. The move has long been expected.

Billups, 38 in September, saw just 19 games of action for the Pistons last season. His averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.2 APG in that limited run show that he is nowhere near the player that he once was. The veteran is reportedly leaning heavily toward retirement.

If this is indeed the end of the line for Billups, the guard has a long, productive career to look back on. Over the course of 17 seasons, Billups averaged 15.2 PPG and 5.4 APG while capturing a championship and earning upward of $100MM in salary.

The club also confirmed that they extended a qualifying offer to Greg Monroe.

Eastern Notes: Allen, Wade, Pistons

June 24th, 2014 at 10:14pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Ray Allen is leaning toward returning for a 19th season in the NBA and has a desire to continue playing alongside LeBron James, sources told Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Back in February, the sharpshooting veteran said that he wouldn’t be retiring this summer, and today’s report echoes a similar sentiment passed along last week. Allen just completed the second of a two-year, $6.32MM deal with the Heat and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As for Dwyane Wade‘s contract status and whether or not he’ll decide to opt out, the 32-year-old guard didn’t have any updates today. “No news here yet.”

You can find more of tonight’s rumblings out of the Eastern Conference below:

Pistons president/head coach Stan Van Gundy said that he’s open to signing Greg Monroe to a one-year qualifying offer and letting the big man hit unrestricted free agency next summer, according to Larry Lage of the Associated Press. Van Gundy said that Monroe’s contract situation is the “most important thing on (the Pistons’) plate this offseason.”
Van Gundy added that the team would be willing to trade a future second-round pick and cash in order to land a late first round pick, especially if someone they ranked in the teens falls to the end of the first round.
Jim Boeheim – Carmelo Anthony‘s former college coach at Syracuse – believes that Anthony would take less money to sign with a contender this summer, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago.
Chauncey Billups is considering retirement, writes Aaron Matas of 9News.com. When Matas mentioned rumors of the Timberwolves approaching the 37-year-old guard about an assistant coaching job, Billups declined comment; however, Billups did say that he’d generally consider a television or front office position first before dipping into coaching when he does decide to retire from playing.
The Celtics hired Benas Matkevicius – a former scout of CSKA Moscow – to be the team’s international scout, tweets Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe (h/t to CSKABasket.com).

Western Notes: Randolph, Sterling, Jazz

June 24th, 2014 at 8:10pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com explains the odd circumstance concerning Zach Randolph‘s player option with the Grizzlies next season. According to the current CBA, a player cannot earn less money in a player option year relative to how much he made in the previous season. As it currently stands, Randolph will make $16.5MM if he decided to opt in for 2014/15, which is considerably lower than the $17.8MM he made in 2013/14.

Tim Duncan had a similar issue in his contract with the Spurs, as his player option for the upcoming year was initially less than what he made this past season. While Duncan’s contract was ultimately modified to address the error, Randolph’s remains unchanged simply because the contract had been signed too long ago, Deeks hears. Randolph and Memphis reportedly are moving toward a multi-year deal, but if he opts in and the deal winds up coming in the form of an extension, Randolph’s missing money will come into play.

Here are more noteworthy links to pass along tonight:

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge said that the terms of the Sterling family trust may give Donald Sterling little room to challenge the finding that he is mentally incapable of continuing as co-owner of the Clippers, writes James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. This would appear to give Shelly Sterling the advantage in her case to affirm both her control of the trust and sale of the team.
The Jazz announced the additions of Brad Jones, Antonio Lang, Alex Jensen, Mike Wells, and Johnnie Bryant to Quin Snyder’s coaching staff. Jones will be Snyder’s lead assistant, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).
Maccabi Tel Aviv has opted out of its contract with Joe Ingles, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Back in March, we passed along that Ingles was considering a move to the NBA this summer. The Grizzlies and Jazz were among the Western Conference teams reported to have interest in the Australian-born forward.

Flip Saunders To Coach Timberwolves

June 6th, 2014 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 1:10pm: The Wolves officially announced that Saunders will serve as their head coach and held an afternoon press conference.

THURSDAY, 11:19am: The move doesn’t affect Love’s thought process regarding an exit from the Wolves, sources tell Stein, largely echoing an earlier report from Holmes, as we passed along below (Twitter link).

11:05am: The coaching agreement between Saunders and Taylor is “open-ended” in terms of length, meaning Saunders will have the opportunity to revisit a search for someone else to coach the team in the future, Zgoda writes.

10:41am: Sources tell Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that they strongly doubt Saunders’ decision to coach the team himself will convince Love to stay in Minnesota (Twitter link).

10:23am: Mitchell and Sidney Lowe are expected to become assistant coaches under Saunders, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. There doesn’t appear to be a timetable for Saunders to coach, and neither Mitchell nor Lowe is a “coach in waiting,” Zgoda adds via Twitter. It’s unclear whether Billups will be a part of the staff, Zgoda also tweets, noting that he’s heard that Billups would prefer a basketball executive job, which falls in line with the guard’s assertion in March that several teams had gauged his interest in joining their front offices.

10:08am: Saunders has confirmed the news to Stein, and Saunders will continue to have the ultimate authority in the front office and work in concert with GM Milt Newton, Krawczynski hears (Twitter links).

9:54am: Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders will coach the team next season, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). The news comes just minutes after Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that Saunders was strongly considering the move. The team failed to gain traction with several other coaching candidates, and while the prospect of Saunders returning to the team’s bench has been in play since before former coach Rick Adelman retired at season’s end, it never appeared to be the team’s first choice.

Saunders is likely to target Chauncey Billups for an assistant coaching position, even though Billups remains under contract as a player with the Pistons. Detroit has a $2.5MM team option on Billups for next season, but he’s indicated that he’s thinking about retiring. Saunders will also reach out to Israeli league coach David Blatt and one-time Wolves head coaching candidate Sam Mitchell for jobs on his staff, Krawczynski hears (Twitter link).

Saunders’ decision to coach is met with excitement from Ricky Rubio‘s camp, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, pointing out that negotiations over Rubio’s rookie scale extension will begin soon (Twitter link). Perhaps of greater concern to the Wolves and teams around the league is how Kevin Love will receive the move. The team had reportedly been holding off on trading Love, who appears to want out of Minnesota, until they named a new coach, ostensibly to allow the team to have its house in order before it lobbies a strong effort to convince Love to stay.

The Wolves had interviewed Mitchell, Scott Skiles, Vinny Del Negro and Lionel Hollins in addition to Dave Joerger, who seemed to come within a hair’s breadth of becoming the team’s coach before he patched up his relationship with the Grizzlies and signed an extension to stay in Memphis. The Wolves also reportedly went after high profile college coaches Fred Hoiberg, Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo, but apparently had no luck prying them from campus. The team also appeared to have interest in Stan Van Gundy, but it wasn’t mutual, and he wound up taking a dual front office/coaching role with the Pistons much like the one Saunders is embracing in Minnesota.

Saunders said “never say never” on multiple occasions this spring when asked about the prospect of coaching the team himself, though he had publicly downplayed the possibility. There were mixed messages about whether Saunders wanted to coach and whether owner Glen Taylor was on board with the idea, but Wolfson says Taylor was always going to proceed with whatever plan Saunders had in mind (Twitter link). Saunders returns to the role in which he took the Wolves to all eight of their postseason appearances during his tenure on the team’s bench from 1995-2005. He went on to coach the Pistons and Wizards before taking over the Wolves front office last year, and is 638-526 in parts of 16 seasons as an NBA head coach.

Wolves Rumors: Love, Saunders, Hoiberg

June 5th, 2014 at 4:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

There was a time when Flip Saunders thought he had convinced friend Tom Izzo to take the Wolves coaching job, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Saunders also asked Jeff Van Gundy, with whom he is also close, about his interest in the job, Zgoda adds. The Wolves president of basketball operations ultimately picked himself to fill the team’s coaching vacancy, and he joins Doc Rivers, Stan Van Gundy and Gregg Popovich among NBA coaches with front office decision-making power. Here’s more on the Wolves:

Love wouldn’t have been convinced to stay with the Wolves even if they had hired Phil Jackson as coach, a source tells USA Today’s Sam Amick.
The power forward became disconnected from the team toward the end of the season, and the club grew to accept he didn’t want to stay, as Steve Aschburner of NBA.com details. Saunders’ decision to coach wasn’t as much about convincing Love to remain as it was about taking a hands-on approach with whomever the club can get in return for him, according to Aschburner, echoing a sentiment that Zgoda expressed earlier via Twitter.
Saunders had concerns that he’d clash with a veteran coach if he hired one, and Izzo, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan were all wary of Love’s uncertain future when they turned down the job, Aschburner also hears.
It’s far more likely that Saunders will target experienced players in a trade for Love than he is to go after draft picks, as Amick surmises in his piece.

Earlier updates:

The Wolves made Dave Joerger an offer to coach the team before he decided to remain with the Grizzlies, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com says in a video report. Joerger interviewed with Saunders and Taylor and appeared quite close to becoming the team’s coach, but it wasn’t entirely clear whether the team had indeed offered the job to him.
Chauncey Billups told James Herbert of CBSSports.com earlier this season that he didn’t want to coach, lending credence to earlier reports suggesting the same and casting doubt on the idea that he’ll become an assistant coach for the Wolves next season (Twitter link).
David Blatt looks like Saunders’ top choice if he decides to hire an assistant he can groom to take over the coaching duties in a year or two, according to Darren Wolfson and Nate Sandell of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Blatt is the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Minnesota will likely offer Kevin Garnett a front office role and a chance to buy a minority stake in the team once he retires, writes Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. We rounded up more from her story centering on Kevin Love‘s future late last night.
Love is a calculating type, and he wants to get to the Knicks or the Lakers as quickly as possible, The Oregonian’s John Canzano believes, opining that the Knicks would be an especially appealing suitor for the power forward in free agency next summer.

Saunders Strongly Considers Coaching Wolves

June 5th, 2014 at 9:48am CST by Chuck Myron

Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders is strongly considering filling the team’s coaching vacancy with himself, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Saunders would target Chauncey Billups for an assistant coaching position in that scenario, Stein adds (Twitter links). Billups remains under contract with the Pistons, who hold a $2.5MM team option on him for next season, but he’s indicated that he’s mulling retirement.

The idea of Saunders becoming Minnesota’s head coach next season, reprising the role he had from 1995 to 2005, is not new, but it appears as though the team is circling around to it after failing to gain traction with other coaching candidates.

Central Notes: LeBron, Cavs, Hammond, Pistons

May 21st, 2014 at 4:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs appear to face an uphill battle if they’re to sign LeBron James this summer, but they still intend to try, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who points to the team’s interest in Heat assistant David Fizdale as evidence. Still, Fizdale tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that he’s had no contact with Cleveland and that his only ties to the team were through Mike Brown, whom the team fired last week (Twitter link). Here’s more on Cleveland’s coaching search and the team’s rivals from the Central Division:

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is enamored with Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, though Billups, who’s yet to retire from playing, prefers a future as an NBA GM as opposed to a coach, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. Vinny Del Negro, Alvin Gentry, Lionel Hollins and Mark Jackson are more likely candidates for Cleveland’s head coaching vacancy, Boyer believes.
Adrian Griffin seemed like the early favorite for the Cavs coaching job, but it’s unclear whether he’s a high on Cleveland’s list, as Boyer writes in the same piece.
Bucks GM John Hammond will remain with the team at least through the draft, Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens said Tuesday, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observes. Edens gave no assurances that the GM will last longer than that in spite of Hammond’s contract, which runs for two more seasons, Gardner notes.
The Pistons and Hornets had discussions about a deal during the season that would have allowed Detroit to keep its first-round pick regardless of where it ended up in the order, but they never got serious, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Charlotte wound up with Detroit’s first-rounder for next month when the Pistons fell to ninth in Tuesday’s lottery.
Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III, Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson are among the players the Pistons will consider with the 38th overall pick, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (on Twitter).
We rounded up more on the Cavs earlier today.

Woelfel On Pistons, Colangelo, Zarren, Izzo

May 7th, 2014 at 8:23am CST by Chuck Myron

Gary Woelfel of the The Journal Times has updates on the Pistons front office and coaching searches as well as the future of the Bucks. We’ll hit the highlights here:

Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo and current Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren are the front-runners for the top Pistons front office job, Woelfel hears. There’s talk that Detroit is targeting an experienced GM to serve as a mentor for the front office career of Chauncey Billups, Woelfel says, speculating that Bucks GM John Hammond, a former aide to Joe Dumars in the Pistons front office, could be a candidate.
Tom Izzo appeared to leave some wiggle room when he said last week that he didn’t want to coach in the NBA next season, and some around the league tell Woelfel that the Pistons could re-emerge as a suitor for the Michigan State bench boss. The Timberwolves aren’t counting themselves out of the running for Izzo either, as we passed along earlier, and Woelfel seconds that sentiment.
League approval of the sale of the Bucks to Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry could come as soon as a little more than a week from now, according to Woelfel. The wait has nonetheless left many within the Bucks in limbo, as several coaches and executives have said they haven’t been notified whether they’ll have their jobs next season, Woelfel writes.
The cost of a new Bucks arena in Milwaukee will be anywhere from $420MM to $500MM, a source tells Woelfel. Edens, Lasry and Kohl have committed a combined $200MM toward the arena’s construction.