Derek Fisher Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: Bynum, Kupchak, Fisher

March 30th, 2012 at 8:43am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers lost just their fifth home game of the season last night, falling to the Thunder after a 17-point, third-quarter surge from Russell Westbrook. Derek Fisher and his new team will return to face the Lakers at the Staples Center once more before season's end, and if last night's game is any indication, the two squads could provide a pretty entertaining playoff matchup as well. Here's the latest buzz surrounding the Lakers:

Andrew Bynum's misguided three-point attempt earlier this week was "only the tip of the iceberg," the latest in a "catalogue of items" that have annoyed Lakers' coaches and management, a team source tells Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Speaking to Sam Amick of SI.com, GM Mitch Kupchak downplayed the drama surrounding Bynum's benching, saying the team will deal with any issues internally.
Kupchak also said that he felt trading Derek Fisher was necessary for Ramon Sessions' sake: "Derek's an icon. You know [if you're Sessions] that you're walking past Derek and saying, 'I'm taking his minutes.' For a young developing player, that's really not fair to do. What if Ramon has a bad game at home, and the crowd starts to cheer for [Derek], you know what I mean? It's not right."
Fisher had his own view on the trade that sent him to Houston, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes. "I’ve always thought there are different ways to handle trades and waiver-type situations where there can be some more communication," Fisher said. "Not necessarily far in advance but enough not to have to find out from the mailman or at the post office that you’ve been traded."
Fisher added that he received inquiries from five teams, including the Heat and Bulls, after he was bought out by the Rockets.

Poll: Will Fisher, Odom Return To Lakers?

March 29th, 2012 at 8:46pm CST by Daniel Seco

Since December, the Lakers have parted ways with two veteran players integral to their success under Phil Jackson. Lamar Odom was sent to the Mavericks, where he's struggled mightily, after nearly landing in New Orleans as the Lakers attempted to acquire Chris Paul. More recently, the Lakers dealt Derek Fisher to the Rockets after acquiring Ramon Sessions to run the point for the squad.

Fisher worked out a deal with the Rockets to have his contract bought out and signed with the Thunder to provide backcourt depth and lockerroom leadership. With Fisher returning to Los Angeles tonight for the first time since being traded by the Lakers, much conversation has been made about Kobe Bryant's desire to bring Fisher and Odom back to the Staples Center this offseason.

Will Fisher, Odom and Bryant reunite this summer? Let us know what you think in the poll below.

Kobe Preparing To Recruit Fisher, Odom?

March 28th, 2012 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Kobe Bryant is "planning a hard push" to try to bring Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom back to the Lakers this summer, a source tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Fisher and Odom were both traded by the Lakers over the last few months, but could become free agents in the offseason.

Fisher, who was traded to and then bought him by Houston, signed with the Thunder on a rest-of-season contract. Odom, meanwhile, was dealt to the Mavericks in December and has one more season left on his deal. His final year is only partially guaranteed though, and his play this season makes it unlikely the Mavs would want to pay him $8.9MM to return.

It's unclear whether returning to the Lakers is something either player wants, and team management would have to be on board as well. However, Howard-Cooper hears that Bryant will use his friendship with both players to try to convince them a return is in everyone's best interests. Asked about a potential reunion, Bryant remained fairly noncommittal.

"I don’t know," Bryant told NBA.com. "I would hope so. But I don’t know. When Fish and I talk, it’s about personal things because we’ve known each other for so long. Lamar too. We keep that other stuff out of it. It’s family, how are you doing, stuff like that."

Thunder Notes: Battier, Fisher, Free Agents

March 25th, 2012 at 8:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tonight, the Thunder are taking on the Heat in what some consider to be a preview of the Finals. Close to 60 percent of Hoops Rumors readers, however, feel that at least one of the teams will falter before June. Let's take a look at some of the news out of Oklahoma City:

The Thunder offered only two years and didn't provide as much of a chance for Shane Battier to get crunch-time minutes, and that's why he signed his three-year, $9.4MM deal with the Heat instead, Battier told Ethan J. Skolnick of The Palm Beach Post.
ESPN's Marc Stein has the details on Derek Fisher's contract, passing along that the deal is worth $2.3MM for the rest of the season.
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman tweets that Thunder coach Scott Brooks envisions new backup point guard Derek Fisher playing 13 to 20 minutes a night, which suggests we could see more D-League stints for Reggie Jackson.
While 10 members of the Heat were acquired via free agency, Fisher and Royal Ivey are the only free agent acquisitions on the Thunder, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN, via Twitter.

Minor Moves: Reggie Jackson

March 25th, 2012 at 12:12pm CST by Daniel Seco

After being demoted to the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League on Saturday, Reggie Jackson has been recalled by the Thunder to rejoin the team prior to Sunday's matchup with the Heat, reports Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman (via Twitter). In one game with the 66ers, Jackson scored 22 points, notched eight assists and grabbed seven rebounds. The former first-round pick out of Boston College will share time with the newly-acquired Derek Fisher in a crowded Thunder backcourt.

Thunder Sign Derek Fisher

March 21st, 2012 at 6:40pm CST by Luke Adams

6:40pm: The signing is official, the team has announced. Forward Ryan Reid has been waived to clear a roster spot for Fisher.

4:13pm: Derek Fisher and the Thunder have agreed to terms on a contract that will bring the point guard to Oklahoma City for the rest of the season, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Fisher is due to clear waivers within an hour, at which point the two sides are expected to finalize the deal.

According to Stein, Oklahoma City's financial flexibility was a factor in giving them the edge over the Heat for Fisher's services. The Thunder still have a good portion of their mid-level exception remaining, and can offer Fisher part of that amount. The Heat could only have offered the 37-year-old a pro-rated portion of the veteran's minimum.

Fisher joins the Thunder after having been traded by the Lakers and then bought out by the Rockets. In 43 games for the Lakers this season, he averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.3 APG in 25.6 MPG, but became expendable when Los Angeles acquired Ramon Sessions.

The Thunder are scheduled to travel to the Staples Center to face the Lakers on March 29th and April 22nd, so Fisher will get multiple opportunities to face his former team, even if the two clubs don't meet in the postseason.

Thunder Expected To Sign Derek Fisher

March 21st, 2012 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

11:48am: Fisher will sign with the Thunder when he clears waivers tonight, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.

10:03am: Derek Fisher won't clear waivers until later this afternoon, but when he does, it looks as if he'll sign with the Thunder. According to Randy Renner of NBA.com, Fisher was spotted in Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport this morning with GM Sam Presti and other members of the Thunder's front office. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported yesterday that Fisher was "very close" to commiting to the Thunder.

Fisher, 37, was bought out by the Rockets shortly after Houston acquired him in a deadline deal with the Lakers. The Thunder, Heat, and Spurs were considered potential destinations for the point guard, who also had interest in joining the Bulls. The Thunder emerged as the favorites based on their financial flexibility, the role they can offer Fisher, and the potential opportunity to face the veteran's former team in the postseason.

Thunder, Heat Frontrunners For Derek Fisher

March 20th, 2012 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

3:42pm: Fisher is in "advanced negotiations" to sign with the Thunder after he clears waivers, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Oklahoma City has the advantage over Miami because the Thunder have more financial flexibility and can offer Fisher a larger role, says Stein.

3:03pm: Sources close to Fisher expect him to sign with the Thunder if he clears waivers, according to Sam Amick of SI.com (Twitter link).

12:48pm: The Spurs are still expecting to sign Mills and don't plan to talk to Fisher, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

12:08pm: The Celtics and Bulls aren't interested in Fisher, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports (via Twitter). Berger adds that Fisher is expected to discuss "ideas and concepts" with the Spurs, Heat, and Thunder.

8:05am: The Thunder and Heat have emerged as the favorites to sign Derek Fisher, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Fisher, who was bought out by the Rockets, is expected to clear waivers tomorrow.

The Spurs are also believed to have some interest in Fisher, but San Antonio is still hopeful about completing a deal with Patrick Mills. Stein adds that signing with Chicago is something that "strongly interests" Fisher, but the Bulls are focused on signing a big man, possibly Ronny Turiaf.

According to Stein, there are a couple factors that could work in the Thunder's favor in the race for Fisher: The veteran point guard now shares an agent with Kevin Durant, and Oklahoma City has a good chance to face Fisher's old team in the Western Conference playoffs. Unlike the Heat, however, the Thunder don't have an open roster spot, so they'd need to waive someone to clear room for Fisher.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that the Rockets allowed Fisher's agent to speak to "about six teams" during buyout negotiations to gauge interest. Knowing there were contending teams interested in bringing him aboard, the 37-year-old felt comfortable giving up the final year of his contract (Twitter links).

Northwest Notes: Fisher, Jazz, Nene, Okur, Blazers

March 20th, 2012 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder are reportedly among the favorites to sign Derek Fisher for the remainder of the season, so Royce Young of Daily Thunder explores whether Fisher would be a worthwhile acquisition for Oklahoma City, eventually concluding that having him on board "probably would do a lot more good than bad." Kevin Durant seems to be in agreement, telling Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman that he'd support the move if the team signed Fisher.

While we wait to see where the veteran point guard lands, let's check out a few more items from out of the Northwest….

The Jazz don't plan to make use of their empty roster spot to add another player this season, GM Kevin O'Connor tells Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Nuggets president Josh Kroenke was frustrated by reports that suggested Denver signed Nene with the intention of trading him, writes Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post. "I want to squash that right now," Kroenke said. "This organization is not in a situation where we can take a $60-plus million gamble like that…. Our initial plan was to have Nene around for quite a while. It hurt me to see that [people] thought that I would view someone like that."
Acting Trail Blazers GM Chad Buchanan said that releasing Mehmet Okur is a possibility if the team needs to clear a roster spot. Given Okur's season-long back injury, the contract will qualify for about $2MM insurance coverage (Twitter links via Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge).
In a piece for Blazer's Edge, Jeff Kramer of Storytellers Contracts explains how the Blazers' trades last week affected their potential cap room this summer.

Kyler On Arenas, Hickson, Turiaf, Fisher, Powell

March 20th, 2012 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

In his latest NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler checks in on a few free agents and free-agents-to-be, providing updates on their potential destinations. Let's round up the highlights….

Gilbert Arenas is expected to take a physical and finalize his deal with the Grizzlies today.
The Pacers, Cavaliers, and Raptors, who all have enough cap space to easily absorb J.J. Hickson's $2.35MM salary, won't be placing waiver claims.
A number of teams are interested in Ronny Turiaf but "word is" the forward will likely decide between the Celtics and Heat. Like Hickson, he doesn't figure to be claimed on waivers by clubs with cap space.
The Lakers have extended an offer to Derek Fisher to join the team's basketball operations staff. However, it doesn't appear Fisher is ready to retire just yet. We heard earlier today that the Thunder and Heat are the favorites to land the longtime Laker.
Josh Powell is drawing interest from the Suns and Celtics, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reported last night. I believe Powell signed in Switzerland late in February, and I haven't seen any reports that indicate he's parted ways with Neuchatel. The Swiss regular season has ended though, so perhaps Powell is lining up an NBA job for when he returns. Since he hasn't played for an NBA team this season, he can sign after March 23rd and still be eligible for the postseason.