Damian Lillard Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Leonard, Batum, Hood

April 10th, 2015 at 2:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former lottery pick Meyers Leonard appears to have turned a corner for the Trail Blazers, as Joe Freeman of The Oregonian details. That’s fortunate timing for him, as the client of recently hired agent Aaron Mintz is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, though usually such extensions are the domain of budding stars, like Damian Lillard, who also becomes extension-eligible in July. In any case, it’ll be an active summer for the Blazers, with LaMarcus Aldridge headlining several key free agents on the team, which has yet to commit any money for 2016/17, when the salary cap is set to spike. Here’s more on the Blazers and their Northwest Division rivals:

Nicolas Batum is still friendly with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, but while Batum sometimes thinks about what might have been if the Blazers hadn’t matched the offer sheet he signed with Minnesota in 2012, he tells Freeman, who writes in a separate piece, that he’s “very happy” in Portland. Then-Wolves coach Rick Adelman, since retired, was the main reason he wanted to play in Minnesota, Batum added. The small forward will be on an expiring contract next season.
It took a while for Rodney Hood to start to see consistent playing time, but last year’s 23rd overall pick is looking like a steal lately, as Ryan McDonald of The Deseret News writes in a look at the improvement that he and fellow Jazz first-rounder Dante Exum have made over the season. Hood is averaging 14.3 points in 27.0 minutes per game with 39.0% three-point shooting since March 10th.
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman offers a peek behind the scenes at the Thunder front office, where a team of GM Sam Presti‘s hand-picked contributors work in a collaborative environment.

Blazers Pick Up Damian Lillard’s 2015/16 Option

September 29th, 2014 at 1:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have exercised their team option on the fourth year of Damian Lillard‘s rookie scale contract, the team announced. Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer first reported the move (Twitter link). Lillard’s salary of $4.236MM for the 2015/16 season is locked in as a result, and it’s largely a perfunctory transaction, since it would have been shocking if Portland had let go of the budding star. The team will wait until the October 31st deadline draws near to decide on its other rookie scale options, for Thomas Robinson, C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter links).

The 24-year-old Lillard, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2013, has quickly established himself as one of the league’s best point guards. He made his first All-Star Game and was on the All-NBA Third Team last season. His buzzer-beater at the end of the sixth game of Portland’s first-round series against the Rockets last spring lifted the Blazers to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2000.

Portland had little more than $13MM in commitments for 2015/16 before picking up Lillard’s option. That leaves GM Neil Olshey with plenty of flexibility to secure soon-to-be free agent LaMarcus Aldridge to a new long-term deal and build around the Aldridge-Lillard core.

Free Agent Rumors: Lowry, Gasol, Parsons, Ariza

June 30th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is likely to make a strong push to re-sign Kyle Lowry just as free agency begins tonight to prevent the Heat and Rockets from having a chance to jump in, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Here’s more free agency chatter with 11 hours left to go until negotiations can begin:

Pau Gasol will meet with the Thunder, Bulls and Warriors, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, who suggests the big man hasn’t ruled out a meeting with Lakers brass, either.
Chandler Parsons would be on board with a sign-and-trade to the Wolves if the money is on the mark, a source close to Parsons tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Minnesota reportedly has interest in Parsons as a fallback trade target in a Kevin Love swap.
The Rockets, Mavs, Lakers, Clippers, Cavs, Raptors, Suns and Pistons are all suitors for Trevor Ariza, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link).
The Rockets and Mavs are gearing up to sign Jordan Hill, as are the Lakers, Hill’s incumbent team, Wojnarowski tweets.
The Magic are likely to make a play for Rodney Stuckey, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.
Kent Bazemore is anticipating interest from the Suns, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
Matt Bonner is interested in a return to the Spurs, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News observes (Twitter link). “I’d love to be back, especially if everybody is coming back.”
Damian Lillard would like to see the Blazers go after Channing Frye, Vince Carter, Spencer Hawes and Ariza after re-signing Mo Williams, the point guard tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Carter would be open to signing with Portland, Haynes hears.

Western Notes: Lakers, Blazers, Jazz

May 16th, 2014 at 9:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says the team might look to acquire an additional first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, reports Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Kupchak said, “We may look to get a pick some other way because we have guys we interviewed who aren’t going to be gone before the second round, but they’ll be around after [our current pick]. You only get so many assets in this league. Draft picks are an asset. There’s cap room, draft picks and players. Those are assets you can use to rebuild a team.”

Odds & Ends: Rondo, Bosh, McCollum

January 18th, 2014 at 6:57pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

Fallout from the two Nets trades earlier today continues into the evening. Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders provides his analysis to the trades. According to Brigham, the deal “makes sense for everyone involved”.

A few other notes around the league.

The famous trade that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics may have never happened if it wasn’t for Timberwolves‘ owner, Glen Taylor removing his demand for Rajon Rondo. Peter May of The New York Times writes that Celtics’ owner Wyc Grousbeck stayed firm on his offer and wasn’t willing to part with Rondo in any trade with the Timberwolves.
Regarding current trade possibilities, Chris Bosh has taken a note from Pau Gasol‘s book by trying to find interests outside of basketball when trade rumor volume increases each year. Bosh noted to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that he likes how Gasol can be “comfortable in who he is” and not let the constant rumors bother him.
C.J. McCollum revealed to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders his friendship with fellow Trail Blazer Damian Lillard extends long before becoming teammates this summer. Lillard was someone McCollum wanted to play like and began learning from the guard prior to his last season at Lehigh University.

Northwest Rumors: Aldridge, Lillard, Hayward

December 7th, 2013 at 3:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

LaMarcus Aldridge spoke to Jim Rome of CBS Sports Radio this week about the trade rumors that surrounded him this summer, chalking it up to passing frustration, as Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge notes in his transcript of the most notable passages.

“It was just me being overly emotional at the time,” Aldridge said. “Nobody wants to lose. I’m in my prime right now. At the time, I was a little emotional about not winning or what not. After I had time to talk to (Blazers GM) Neil (Olshey) and the team, I knew they were going to make some moves, bring some guys in.”

Aldridge is eligible to sign an extension, and when Rome asked whether he’d sign one, Aldridge said he’ll deal with the matter in the offseason. His decision will be a key story next summer, and as we await that, there’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Damian Lillard, the Blazers‘ other linchpin, doesn’t seem at all reticent about his willingness to commit to the team long-term, judging by his comments to Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. “I love it here,” Lillard said. “Hopefully this is where I’ll always be. I’m not saying that just to be politically correct. I really hope so. My family likes it here. Hopefully it will be a career-long thing for me.”
Gordon Hayward discusses this year’s steep increase in his on-court responsibilities with USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt. Hayward professes his love for the team and calls himself a “Jazz guy” in response to a question about his upcoming restricted free agency.
Brian Shaw had been passed over multiple times for head coaching jobs, but before landing his Denver gig this summer he was confident he’d wind up with the Nuggets, Nets or Clippers, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Blazers Pick Up Lillard, Robinson, Leonard Options

September 30th, 2013 at 1:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have exercised their third-year options on three players, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The 2014/15 salaries for Damian Lillard, Thomas Robinson, and Meyers Leonard are now guaranteed, according to Wojnarowski.

Options decisions for second- and third-year players are due by the end of October, and some of those decisions will be easier than others. When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined the upcoming rookie-scale options, he classified Lillard's as a "no-brainer," while Robinson's and Leonard's were both considered very likely to be picked up as well.

As the fifth overall pick in 2012's draft, Robinson will be in line for a 2014/15 salary of $3.68MM, while Lillard (No. 6) will earn $3.34MM and Leonard (No. 11) will earn $2.32MM. Assuming none of those players are traded or released within the next year, the Blazers will face another round of decisions next fall on each player's fourth-year option for 2015/16.

Odds & Ends: Pistons, LeBron, Anderson

September 12th, 2013 at 10:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

A panel of HoopsWorld columnists discussed their thoughts on the Pistons' offseason additions, current strengths and weaknesses, and where the team projects to finish in the Central Division standings this year. Count Brandon Jennings among those who seem most eager to get the season started, as he believes that with Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, and Josh Smith, Detroit should be a dominant rebounding force on both sides of the court (Detroit Free Press staff report). Here's the rest of tonight's noteworthy links:

Ken Berger of CBS Sports believes that with so many variables to consider, there's no way that even LeBron James knows what he's going to do on July 1st next year, when he'll have the ability to exercise his early-termination option and hit unrestricted free agency.
Jeff Goodman of ESPN (via Twitter) doesn't think it's a guarantee that UCLA's Kyle Anderson will declare for the draft after this year, especially since he's not considered a lock to get selected in the first round at this point.
Jeff Caplan of NBA.com gives the Trail Blazers a "B" for their offseason report card, highlighting their coaching staff and frontcourt as the team's strongest suits and identifying defense as their weakest one. In another a piece, Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge.com relays Damian Lillard's interview with True Hoop TV's Henry Abbott about his workload and expectations defensively.
Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation wades through the changes and holdovers of the Northwest Division and touches upon what to expect from each team in 2013/14.
Moke Hamilton of HoopsWorld held his weekly chat with fans, answering questions about Seattle, the Knicks, how Danny Granger's return from injury could affect Paul George, and the Pelicans' playoff chances among other topics.

Western Notes: Jazz, Hornacek, Lillard

July 25th, 2013 at 8:06pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune underscores the Jazz' competitive disadvantage in having to share a D-League affiliate with four other NBA teams, considering how each team can only have so much individual expectations. He also notes that NBA teams with single affiliation hire their own coaches, provide support and direct on-court decisions, whereas the Jazz have to leave things up to the discretion of their independently owned D-League team. Should the ideal opportunity present itself, Oram mentions that Jazz president Randy Rigby would be interested in putting an expansion development league team in St. George, Utah, though that possibility still remains a dream scenario for now.

Here are some more news and notes out of the Western Conference tonight:

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes that DeMarcus Cousins is still waiting to hear from Shaq, who pledged last month that he would "make (him) the best big man in the game."
Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek made quite an impression on the players he led during this month's summer competition, writes Matt Petersen of Suns.com. In a separate piece, Petersen, Brad Faye, and Ben York of Suns.com give their thoughts on who and what stood out for them the most this month in Las Vegas.
Trail Blazers standout Damian Lillard reflects on his successful rookie campaign and discusses his thoughts on the team going into next year (Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld).
Kings.com takes an in-depth look at Ben McLemore's first day in the NBA summer league (video link).

Northwest Notes: McCollum, Thunder, ‘Wolves

July 13th, 2013 at 9:03pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Blazers' first round draft choice C.J. McCollum has impressed at Las Vegas' Summer League tonight, going 6-for-10 from the field for 15 points in the first half. CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes spoke with the Blazers' ROY last season, Damian Lillard, about teaming with McCollum in the back-court next season.

Lillard was happy the Blazers selected him, since they've been friends for a long time (Twitter link). Haynes tweets further praise for McCollum and alludes to a possible ROY nod.

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld mimics Haynes' reports with his own tweet on the Lilliard-McCollum friendship, and 95.7 The Game's Ric Bucher applauds McCollum's steady hand during his first Summer League action in Vegas (Twitter link).

Here are a few more notes on the Blazers as well as the Thunder and Timberwolves:

Joe Freeman of the Oregonian spoke with new Blazers center Robin Lopez who told him he’s a little atypical for the NBA.
Freeman also has an update, via Twitter, on the leg injury suffered by rookie Victor Claver in his first Vegas Summer League game. It appears to be a quad contusion per Freeman's Tweet.
Rookie Steven Adams was really impressed with the Thunder’s coaching staff last week, tweets the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry
CBSSports.com’s Royce Young on why the Thunder seem to have taken a step back by not making many moves this offseason.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda tweets that Corey Brewer’s Timberwolves’ recruitment was impressive. When majority owner Glen Taylor called, said Brewer, "I was like, 'Ok, they really do want me.'"
Zgoda also writes that despite Brewer returning to the 'Wolves, they don't look anything like they did when Brewer sat on the bench after being drafted by them in 2007.
Jim Souhan of the Star-Tribune opines that new GM Flip Saunders has set them up for success after all his moves this summer.
Chase Budinger told Bruce Brothers of the Pioneer Press that the 'Wolves will be "very good."