Chris Wilcox Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers May Have Competition For Lamar Odom

November 30th, 2013 at 2:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers might not be the only team pursuing free agent forward Lamar Odom, as Doc Rivers tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. An earlier report indicated Odom would only sign with the Clippers.

“I’m hoping if things work out, yeah,” Rivers said. “But I just don’t know. I know there’s other teams involved, I think. I honestly haven’t focused on it a lot.”

It’s not clear which other teams may be involved. Rivers, who coaches the Clippers and reportedly has the final say in front office matters, adds that he’s more comfortable with the idea of signing the troubled 14-year veteran after speaking with Phil Jackson and Vinny Del Negro, both of whom have coached Odom. Still, Rivers also says there’s no hurry to bring Odom or anyone else on board. This summer was a difficult one for Odom, who faced DUI charges and rumors of drug use, but Rivers was impressed with his attitude and physical condition when they met two weeks ago.

The Clippers and Odom have been talking for a while, but there remains no timeline for him to join the team. The Clippers would like to fill their vacant roster spot, and with no trades on the horizon, a free agent signing or waiver claim appears the best bet, Howard-Cooper writes. The team is also reportedly considering free agent big man Chris Wilcox as an alternative to Odom.

“We’re looking, but it’s not a desperate look right now,” Rivers said. “I do think we need one more player. It could be a big. It could be another point guard, just to have a third backup for the season. But I don’t tend to make moves that’ll make you stronger during the regular season, because then in the playoffs you shorten your rotation and that was a wasted move most of the time.”

Clippers Considering Chris Wilcox

November 22nd, 2013 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

Lamar Odom remains the odds-on favorite to fill the Clippers’ open roster spot, helping to bolster the team’s frontcourt depth. However, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, L.A. is considering free agent big man Chris Wilcox as a fallback option.

While Odom played for the Clippers last season, coach Doc Rivers isn’t all that familiar with him, which is part of the reason why the two recently had a sitdown. Wilcox, on the other hand, played for Rivers in Boston over the last couple seasons. In 2012/13, Wilcox appeared in 61 games for the Celtics, averaging 4.2 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 13.6 minutes per contest.

According to Stein’s sources, however, re-signing Odom still looks like the most likely move for the Clippers. One recent report pegged the chances of a reunion at about 90%, while Clippers guard Jared Dudley was even more confident, telling Sam Amick of USA Today that there’s a 100% chance Odom would end up with the team.

As for Wilcox, he said nearly three months ago that while he’d love to play in the NBA, he’d also be open to considering his options overseas. We haven’t heard much about him since then, though it’s not clear whether that’s due to a lack of interest or other factors.

Washburn On Bucks, Johnson, Wilcox

September 1st, 2013 at 3:38pm CST by Zachary Links

In today's column, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes that much of the Bucks success lies on the capable shoulders of Larry Sanders. The big man inked a four-year, $44MM deal with Milwaukee this offseason that will put him at the center of a very different team than the one that went to the playoffs this past season. “He’s one of the key, if not the key, piece for us moving forward,” GM John Hammond said of Sanders. “Larry is one of the top shot-blockers in our business. And I think he’s only going to get better defensively. We’re really excited to have him part of our organization, moving forward long term.”

In an Eastern Conference where the Celtics and Hawks in rebuilding mode, and the Magic, 76ers, and Bobcats are lottery-bound, teams like the Bucks , Cavs , Pistons, Wizards, and Raptors will have an opportunity to take a step forward, in Washburn's estimation. Here's more from today's column..

The fact that former Hawks forward Ivan Johnson couldn't land a mini mid-level deal despite being a solid 29-year-old rebounder is an indication that it will be a tough market for the remaining free agents looking for more than the minimum. Teams with salary-cap space would much rather invest money in younger players and prospects than veterans while contenders have filled their rosters, leaving only training camp invitations. There's also speculation that teams are wary of the luxury-tax threshold with the increased penalties brought on by the new CBA. The Celtics are one team that has been in the process of shedding salary – like Shavlik Randolph and Terrence Williams – for that reason.
Former Celtics veteran Chris Wilcox is still without a club as September gets underway and he'll have to find a home rather quickly. While he wants to play in the NBA, he's open to other possibilities. “I am open to going overseas,” Wilcox said. “At the same time, I would love to stay here in the NBA. If it’s something that I have to do, then I’ll do it.”
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who was appointed as GM of the Kings' D-League affiliate, could be an NBA GM candidate in the coming years. The retired forward has been in the Sacramento front office the past three seasons and has been considered a rising exec. It's worth noting that Abdur-Rahim stayed in the Sacramento front office in the face of the team’s ownership and coaching change.

Odds & Ends: Ellis, Pacers, Wilcox, Williams

August 28th, 2013 at 11:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Agent Jeff Fried sure sounded like he wouldn't be working with Monta Ellis anymore when news broke in July that the two were parting ways, as Fried was quoted giving his well-wishes to Ellis and his family. Fried now says those reports were incorrect, telling Shams Charania of RealGM.com that he and Ellis are "together for a lifetime." Fried, of the Peake Management Group, and Happy Walters of Relativity Sports are sharing representation duties for Ellis, according to Charania. We've duly noted the unusual arrangement in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database. Here's more from around the Association:

The Pacers' lease at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis doesn't expire until 2019, but the head of the city agency in charge of managing the arena says it's likely that by the end of the year there will be a new deal that will keep the team in Indy even longer. Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star has the details.
Veteran center Chris Wilcox remains without a team, and he tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that he's still wearing a cast from surgery this summer to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb that he suffered while playing for the Celtics last season (Twitter link).
Former Nets center Jordan Williams has signed with Bilbao Basket of Spain, the team announced on Twitter (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Stan Van Gundy talks Dwight Howard, identifies Mike D'Antoni as the most innovative coach in the league, and provides insight on the roster construction of his best teams with the Magic in a Q&A with Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com.
The Celtics would be well-advised to shop Rajon Rondo in advance of the trade deadline this year, but Rondo can do plenty to up his value if he displays maturity and leadership this season, HoopsWorld's Moke Hamilton opines.
In an updated version of his story on the Timberwolves' hiring of Milt Newton and Bobby Jackson, Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press notes that the team will promote assistant GM Rob Babcock to vice president of basketball operations.

Atlantic Rumors: Wilcox, Blalock, D.J. White, Nets

August 25th, 2013 at 8:55am CST by Chuck Myron

Dwane Casey might not be on the most solid of footing with the Raptors, but he's the longest tenured coach in the Atlantic Division, where three of the five clubs will debut first-time NBA bench bosses this season. The expectations on Brad Stevens of the Celtics and Brett Brown of the Sixers could probably accomodate a winning percentage similar to the .385 mark Casey has posted in two seasons with Toronto, but Jason Kidd of the Nets will have to do much better than that right away. Here's the latest out of the Atlantic:

Free agent center Chris Wilcox would like to return to the Celtics, but that's a longshot with Stevens and his staff in place, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, who passes along the news amid an array of topics in his weekly column. The C's attempted to trade Wilcox at the deadline last season before the veteran center vetoed the move, so it appears the team wasn't too high on him even when former coach Doc Rivers was around.
Will Blalock has just 14 NBA games on his resume, all of them during the 2006/07 season. Still, he maintains hope of making it back to the Association, and he's been working out at the Celtics facility this summer, Washburn notes.
D.J. White spent time with the Celtics last season after a stint in China, and he's weighing options that include offers to play in China again, the former Indiana Hoosier told The Associated Press.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov will dish out $180MM+ in salary and luxury tax for his team, but Brooklyn is still without someone who can hit clutch end-of-game shots, as HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram opines in his NBA AM piece.

Celtics Notes: Rivers, Rondo, Collins, Wilcox

April 29th, 2013 at 2:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Celtics staved off elimination last night by defeating the Knicks 97-90 in overtime, but a former C's big man is the talk of the NBA world today. Jason Collins made history with his piece in Sports Illustrated today as became the first active male athlete in a major U.S. sport to announce that he's gay. Will Collins, who is known for his tough defense, hook on somewhere for next season? Here's more on that and other news out of Boston..

In an interview with Dennis & Callahan of WEEI, Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski weighed in on the future of the Celtics. While the Celtics have clear advantages over the Lakers thanks to coach Doc Rivers and a sharp front office, the Yahoo scribe sees L.A. getting back to prominence first because of the area's appeal. Going forward, Wojnarowski says Boston will probably center their rebuilding on guard Rajon Rondo.
The Celtics wanted to put Chris Wilcox in their February deal with the Wizards instead of Collins, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Unfortunately for Boston, Wilcox had a rare one-year deals that requires the player's consent to be dealt. In fact, the Celtics tried desperately to keep the 34-year-old out of the swap that brought them Jordan Crawford.
Stein (on Twitter) anonymously surveyed six teams and only four are convinced that Collins will be in the league next season while the other six have doubts. The teams that aren't sure if the center will find a job say that it's about his age and whether he can make meaningful contributions on the court in 2013/14, not his sexuality, Stein tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Wilcox, Collins, Christmas, Bynum

April 7th, 2013 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks' magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division title is down to two, and while that number might not get any lower with a stern test against the Thunder this afternoon, it seems like New York will soon claim its first division crown since 1993/94. That year just about everything went right for the Knicks, save for an off night from John Starks that kept the team from beating the Rockets in Game 7 of the Finals. Knicks fans wouldn't mind a repeat of all but the final act of that season, and while we wait to see what the rest of 2012/13 holds for the team, here's more on a few of their division rivals:

The Celtics were going to include Chris Wilcox in the Jordan Crawford swap at the deadline, but wound up sending Jason Collins to Washington instead after Wilcox invoked his right to veto any trade this season, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Collins went from contributing to a playoff team to appearing in just five games thus far for the Wizards, but the 34-year-old center is convinced he has plenty left, and has no plans of retiring.
Dionte Christmas, who was in training camp with the Celtics this fall, confirmed via Twitter that he's signed to play the rest of the season in Italy with Montepaschi Siena. Il Corriere dello Sport first reported the agreement (translation via Sportando). The deal includes an option for next season as well, though it's not clear whether that's a team or player option, or whether it includes an out should Christmas get another NBA opportunity.
Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com thinks the Sixers are likely to let Bynum walk this offseason, but Moore believes that the team should consider re-signing the balky-kneed big man to a one-year deal with clauses that could reduce his salary if he misses too many games.
Despite whispers earlier this season that the Sixers might force out Doug Collins, the coach appears to be in control of his own fate. John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that Collins should be allowed to keep his job.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers reader questions about the Raptors and other NBA issues.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Wilcox, Raptors, Bynum

December 23rd, 2012 at 1:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at today's news out of the Atlantic..

Celtics coach Doc Rivers announced that Chris Wilcox will be sidelined for three-to-four weeks with his thumb/wrist injury, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The C's might be forced to find a big man, but it might not happen during their current road trip.
Rivers more or less shot down the idea of calling up Fab Melo from the D-League, Forsberg tweets. “I haven’t talked to anyone that thinks he’s ready to come up yet," said the coach.
The Raptors are expected to be one of the most active teams between now and the deadline, and they'll try to trade Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon as a package. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld writes that they're targeting a marquee small forward, just as they did over the summer.
Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com argues the Sixers made the right call in trading for Andrew Bynum, even if Bynum never plays for the team, since last year's squad had reached its ceiling.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/sixers/was-bynum-trade-worth-it/article_17a2dbc1-6fd1-510b-9a55-e8a7a17bfd60.html

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Raptors, Trail Blazers

November 29th, 2012 at 5:42pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston heard from head coach Doc Rivers that the Celtics could decide to recall Kris Joseph and possibly Fab Melo up from the D-League while Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox are out of action. More notably, after Danny Ainge told WEEI radio that Rajon Rondo would be given a two game suspension (Twitter link), Rivers gave the impression that the team won't necessarily try to make any subsequent roster moves anytime soon. You can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links from the Association here:

HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy says (via Twitter) that the Raptors are weighing their free agent options at the small forward position.
Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian of his plans to use D-League assignments accordingly for Victor Claver, Joel Freeland, Will Barton, and Nolan Smith. While Olshey thinks that his young players are currently benefitting through their NBA experience, he believes the best time to send them to the Idaho Stampede (their D-League affiliate) would be after they have built a good enough foundation with the coaching staff and need significant minutes to continue developing.
According to Anthony Slater of NewsOK, Thunder GM Sam Presti was spotted at Oklahoma State University's basketball practice to supposedly begin scouting Marcus Smart and Le'Bryan Nash, two college prospects who are currently touted as potential first round picks.
The Nets announced that the right foot sprain which Brook Lopez suffered during last night's game is unrelated to the foot injury he sustained last season, and added that he is only expected to miss the next two games (Howard Beck of the New York Times reports).

Celtics Links: Terry, Barbosa, Wilcox

November 3rd, 2012 at 9:01pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Celtics' win tonight ends a two-game losing skid to start the season. Before the game, Rajon Rondo told reporters that he accepts the responsibility of setting the tone defensively, and with the team allowing 86 points after giving up an average of nearly 110 PPG over their first two games, it was certainly a start in the right direction. We've got more notable links from Boston tonight, courtesy of CSNNE.com:

In this video, Jason Terry talked about his impressions of the Celtics while he was a member of the Mavericks, the role Doc Rivers played in his decision to sign with the team, and gave a scouting report of himself.
Team legend and color analyst Tommy Heinsohn answered a fan's question the team's struggles to start the season and implied that the team needs time to develop chemistry with all the new players they've added over the summer. When asked about Leandro Barbosa, he called the Brazilian guard to a spot-player who can either shoot the team in or out of a game and thus might not be right for a role with big minutes at this point.
Heinsohn agreed with the idea that Chris Wilcox could be a key role player as Kevin Garnett's primary backup because of his defensive awareness, while he believes rookie Jared Sullinger is still too inexperienced to be the better option.
This staff report asks if Sullinger getting the start over Brandon Bass is a good move. Celtics broadcast analyst Donny Marshall doesn't think so, saying that it sends mixed messages to the veteran forward.