Chuck Hayes Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: MKG/CDR, Teague, Kidd, Raptors

December 12th, 2013 at 7:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

According to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Bobcats forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is ecstatic about the team’s recent addition of Chris Douglas-Roberts, a player who Kidd-Gilchrist idolized while growing up: “It’s so good to have (Douglas-Roberts) here, a dream-come-true for me and him to be on the same team…I never would have thought that in a million years. He’s my favorite player.”

Bonnell also relays what Douglas-Roberts is sharing with the former Kentucky Wildcat:

“(Kidd-Gilchrist) always been a student of the game since he was a little kid…(But) one thing you can’t prepare for is the business of this. I tell him, ‘You’re a basketball player – a good basketball player. Just have a thicker skin…“I told him you have to embrace all the pressure (of being the No. 2 overall pick). Never shy away from it…You want people criticizing you. You want the media talking about you, positively or negatively.”

With that aside, here are some more noteworthy links to pass along out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains why Jeff Teague has been the answer the Hawks have long been looking for at point guard and says it’s no coincidence that he’s flourishing without Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Marvin Williams on the team anymore (Subscribers only).
ESPN’s Chris Broussard asked two NBA executives and a scout to weigh in on Jason Kidd’s struggles as a rookie head coach with the Nets (Insiders only).
Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun reports that recently-acquired Chuck Hayes, who is known to have a previous heart issue, won’t receive approval to play from team doctors until he undergoes baseline testing with the Cleveland Clinic. Regardless, this isn’t expected to hold up anyone else involved in the Raptors’ deal with the Kings.
In another piece, Ganter notes Greivis Vasquez‘s excitement at a fresh start as well as his desire to remain in Toronto for the rest of his career.

Kings Acquire Rudy Gay

December 9th, 2013 at 3:49pm CST by Zachary Links

The Kings have officially acquired Rudy Gay from the Raptors along with Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy, Toronto announced via press release. Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes are headed north of the border. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports originally reported last night that the swap would take place (Twitter links).

“We thank Rudy, Aaron and Quincy for their time here. They were great professionals and strong community ambassadors of the Raptors,” Toronto GM Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “The trade gives us good flexibility and more certainty as we plan for our future.”

The Kings plan on using Gay as a stretch-four and see Gay and the recently-acquired Derrick Williams as being capable of guarding either forward position, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets. With Williams and Gay, the Kings are buying low on two notable names that have depreciated in the eyes of many evaluators.

“We’re excited to welcome these additions to our team,” Sacramento GM Pete D’Alessandro said, according to a release from the Kings. “In Rudy we’ve acquired one of the league’s proven scorers while Aaron and Quincy provide size and depth in our frontcourt. We also appreciate the contributions and efforts that John, Chuck, Greivis and Patrick made to the Kings organization. We all wish them the very best moving forward.”

Gay, 27, boasts career averages of 18.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG, but newer metrics such as PER have shown that his efficiency leaves much to be desired. It’s not just fans and front office execs that have taken notice, either. After a November game in which the small forward took 37 shots and scored 29 points, LeBron James remarked that he would put up 60 points “easy” if he attempted such a gaudy number of shots.

While the Kings gain at athletic wing in Gay, the Raptors free up a good amount of money for 2015 and gain a couple of interesting pieces along the way as well. As for the financial part of things, the only guaranteed 2015 money that came back in the deal is Hayes’ $5.9MM contract. Beyond that, they can clear $14.5MM by declining options/qualifying offers for Vasquez, Salmons, and Patterson.

Last month, it was reported that Ujiri was exploring trade options for Gay and others with Jonas Valanciunas, 2011′s fifth overall pick, the only real untouchable of the bunch. Gay was the team’s most obvious chip since he’s still capable of being a top scorer for a team and could be a rental since he has a player option for 2014/15 that he could turn down in favor of a longer deal. With a $17.89MM salary, however, finding a home for Gay hasn’t been easy. Gay’s player option for 2014/15 is worth $19.2MM.

Vasquez, 27 in January, took a major step forward with the Pelicans last season when he put up career best averages of 13.9 PPG and 9 APG. Today’s news means that Vasquez has now worn three different jerseys in this calendar year – the guard came to Sacramento in July as a part of the three-way Tyreke Evans deal. While Vasquez has fans in the Kings front office, they clearly felt that this was a trade they had to make to get a dominant wing. It also has the added benefit of clearing up the Kings’ backcourt logjam.

Patterson, 24, is also in his third career trade with today’s deal. The power forward has had an up-and-down career through Houston and Sacramento and hasn’t been off to a blazing start this season. Patterson is putting up just 6.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG while shooting 41% from the floor.

Salmons, 33, has been seeing almost 25 minutes per contest with the Kings this season but is putting up some of his weakest per 36 minutes averages of his career. Only $1MM of Salmons’ $7MM salary in 2014/15 is guaranteed and it’s a safe bet that he’ll be let go. Acy, 23, hasn’t seen much burn this season, playing 8.7 minutes per contest across seven games.

More than three-quarters of Hoops Rumors readers said that they expected Gay to be traded before the deadline. It certainly helped that Ujiri and D’Alessandro have a history after working together in Denver. By trading Andrea Bargnani and Gay, Ujiri has cleared ~$20MM off of the books next season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Chuck Hayes Open To Trade

July 16th, 2013 at 10:07am CST by Luke Adams

Since new ownership and management groups assumed control of the Kings, Chuck Hayes' name has surfaced in trade rumors and the Kings have added another power forward (Carl Landry) to a group that already included Hayes, Jason Thompson, and Patrick Patterson. As such, it's no surprise that Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears from a source close to Hayes that the veteran forward woudn't be opposed to a change of scenery.

Haynes reports that Hayes would welcome a deal if it puts him with the right team and in the right situation, but cautions that the 30-year-old would also have no issue returning to Sacramento for the coming season. Hayes has about $11.68MM left on the remaining two years of his contract, including a $5.72MM salary for 2013/14, so moving him could create a little flexibility both this year and next for the Kings.

Still, it may not be easy finding a taker for Hayes unless he's packaged with a more attractive asset such as Jimmer Fredette. Since signing a lucrative four-year deal with the Kings in December 2011, Hayes has averaged just 2.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG to go along with a 9.9 PER in 128 contests.

Monta Ellis, Kings Discussing Deal

July 8th, 2013 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

12:39pm: The Kings' pursuit of Ellis has been described as "aggressive," a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

10:01am: Sacramento owner Vivek Ranadive, GM Pete D'Alessandro, and head coach Michael Malone all have roots in Golden State, and that influence may result in the Kings adding an ex-Warrior to their roster. According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, the team is currently discussing a free agent deal for veteran guard Monta Ellis.

Berger's report reiterates many of the same points we heard from ESPN.com's Marc Stein earlier today, noting that other likely suitors for Ellis appear to be exploring alternative options. The Nuggets are discussing acquiring Randy Foye via sign-and-trade, while the Hawks are considering a sign-and-trade for Brandon Jennings.

Stein also noted in his piece that the Kings were investigating trade options involving Jimmer Fredette and Chuck Hayes, dangling them in talks with the Cavaliers. Berger confirms that the Kings are exploring potential deals for those players in order to create the cap space necessary to accommodate a $12MM starting salary for Ellis.

While multiple reports prior to July indicated the Kings would have interest in Ellis, this is the first time we've heard the team linked strongly to the 27-year-old since free agency officially got underway.

Stein’s Latest: Ellis, Jennings, Teague, Fredette

July 8th, 2013 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

As we noted already this morning, ESPN.com's Marc Stein was the first to pass along word that the Nuggets and Randy Foye were nearing a verbal agreement. Stein also includes a number of somewhat related tidbits in his latest entry on ESPN's TrueHoop blog, so let's dive in and round them up….

An agreement between Denver and Foye would likely take the Nuggets out of the running for Monta Ellis, which would seem to open up the Hawks' lead for the free agent guard. Stein reported over the weekend that Ellis was Atlanta's top target.
However, an alternative scenario appears to be in play for the Hawks. According to Stein, Atlanta and Milwaukee have discussed a deal that would send Jeff Teague to the Bucks and Brandon Jennings to the Hawks, both via sign-and-trade. If those talks get serious, Stein says Atlanta would likely rescind its interest in Ellis, considering an Ellis/Jennings backcourt didn't take the Bucks far last season. Milwaukee's interest in Teague was reported at the very start of free agency last week.
The Kings also remain in the hunt for Ellis, according to Stein, who says Sacramento has been shopping Jimmer Fredette and Chuck Hayes to the Cavaliers in an effort to clear the necessary cap room.
As Stein notes, Hayes may not appeal to the Cavs, who are attempting to retain as much 2014 cap space as possible. The veteran forward is owed close to $6MM in 2014/15, while Fredette has a team option worth about $3.11MM.

Rockets Continue To Pursue Lottery Picks

June 28th, 2012 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have slowly improved their first-round assets as tonight's draft approaches, but with three picks at Nos. 12, 16, and 18, the team is still trying to move higher. TNT's David Aldridge reports that Houston offered Kyle Lowry and the 16th overall pick to Sacramento in exchange for the No. 5 pick and Chuck Hayes, but that the Kings turned down the proposal.