Derrick Rose Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Kerr, Bobcats, Bulls

April 29th, 2014 at 10:02pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Here are a few links to pass along out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

As he continues to consider accepting the Knicks’ head coaching job, Steve Kerr is currently doing his own research on the organization to make sure there are no red flags, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Josh McRoberts – who can opt out of his contract this summer – said his preference is to keep playing for Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford for many years, but money will likely be the biggest factor, opines Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Bonnell also writes that swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts seems the best fit to re-sign among the team’s soon-to-be free agents.
With the Bulls now eliminated from playoff contention, the team will presumably turn their attention toward addressing the future of Tom Thibodeau, opines Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Derrick Rose began taking some contact on his surgically repaired right knee on Monday, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. He’s still expected to begin next season at full strength.
In addition to evaluating how certain prospects may transition into the NBA, the Pistons – equipped with their own D-League team in Grand Rapids starting next season – will also be scouring this year’s draft pool for prospects to develop in the NBDL, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Eastern Notes: Gooden, Casey, Bulls

February 26th, 2014 at 11:54pm CST by Cray Allred

Derrick Rose has begun running for the first time since tearing a meniscus earlier this year, according to a note from the Associated Press on NBA.com. Despite the good news, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau again reiterated that Rose will remain out for the rest of the season. Here’s more from the East:

Thibodeau says that it’s possible the Bulls could add a veteran from the buyout market, he tells Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago: “We could. I know [GM Gar Forman] and [executive VP] John [Paxson] are looking at the market and watching how it shapes up. Again, if something is a good fit for us and we think can help then we may take a shot at it.”
Drew Gooden is ready to contribute in his second stint with the Wizards, he tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. “I’ve been spectating. I’m thirsty. I’m hungry. Definitely there’s a reset button that’s been hit.” Gooden is more enthusiastic about his time in Washington this time around than last, when the team struggled following the Gilbert Arenas locker-room gun incident. The Wizards appealed to him because of their commitment to winning. “When I first came in it seemed like the whole league was eager to win a championship. It wasn’t really realistic but they made those moves and those efforts to win. I see a handful of teams doing that now and I believe the Washington Wizards is one that wants to win. That’s why they added me for depth going into the playoffs.”
The Raptors have a looming decision on whether to sign breakout point guard Kyle Lowry to a lucrative deal when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the decisions don’t end there, writes Eric Koreen of The National Post. Coach Dwane Casey‘s contract also expires at the end of the year, and he has also performed above expectations in guiding the Raptors to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. GM Masai Ujiri isn’t one to reveal which way he’s leaning, but this doesn’t faze Casey. “I promise you, I don’t even think about that,” Casey said. “That’s one thing that I can’t control. The only thing I can control is preparing this team each and every game.”

Central Notes: Bucks, Bulls

February 12th, 2014 at 8:45pm CST by Cray Allred

The Bucks are playing the Pelicans tonight, and Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times suggests Milwaukee brass will pay close attention to opposing guard Eric Gordon amidst trade rumors about the 25-year-old (via Twitter). Gordon has not been linked to the Bucks in any reported discussions, however. Here’s more from around the division:

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, GM Gar Forman, and injured point guard Derrick Rose all spoke to reporters at a charity function, and both Forman and Rose are working under the assumption that the former-MVP will be out for the rest of the season per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune and Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago. (Twitter links.)
At the same event, Thibodeau said he watches tape of Nikola Mirotic whenever he can. The coach says he hasn’t had a chance to speak with the 6’10” sharpshooter that the Bulls hope to sign away from Real Madrid this summer. (Twitter link)
Thibodeau also said that Carlos Boozer will retake the starting power forward spot for the Bulls when he returns from injury, per Johnson (Twitter link). The Bulls have been getting a longer look at Taj Gibson in Boozer’s absence, and Gibson’s continued career year could have ramifications for his own contractual performance bonuses, as well as the team’s willingness to amnesty Boozer before next season.
We rounded up the Pistons and Cavs earlier tonight.

Central Rumors: Irving, Martin, Rose

January 31st, 2014 at 2:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The leading story in the Central Division, and around the NBA, surrounds Kyrie Irving and his alleged discontent with the Cavaliers. It’s in the team’s best interests to mend fences with the star point guard, as multiple Cleveland-area writers have written, but the Cavs still wield most, if not all of the leverage. Irving would be a “raving lunatic” if he passed up a max extension from the team this summer, opines Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Here’s more on the Cavs and their Central Division rivals:

The Bulls have no immediate plans to re-sign Cartier Martin, whose second 10-day contract expired this week, but Tom Thibodeau won’t rule out the idea of bringing him back later this season, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
In the same piece, Thibodeau admits that Derrick Rose could begin practicing with the team later this season. The Bulls have maintained that Rose is out for the season, but Rose has left the door open for a return during the playoffs.
Executives around the league believe the Cavs are hesitant to send No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett to the D-League because they think it would look like an admission of failure on their part, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com.
With landing the No. 1 pick seemingly the best-case scenario for the Bucks this year, Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel explains that it’s no panacea.

Paxson On Rose, Cap Space, Deng, Trades

January 30th, 2014 at 4:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Derrick Rose has long maintained that he doesn’t like to recruit other players to Chicago, and Bulls executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson doesn’t think that stance puts the team at a disadvantage, as Paxson said on ESPN Chicago 1000’s “The Waddle & Silvy Show.” Paxson said he wouldn’t have been comfortable recruiting during his playing days, either. The sharpshooter-turned-executive had plenty more to say about the state of the Bulls, as we highlight via transcriptions from ESPNChicago.com and Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:

On whether the team will try to clear room to ink a max-salary free agent this summer:

“Not necessarily, because we have other avenues. We still have some short-term contracts that can be used in deals and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. It’s tough to play that game thinking that you’re just going to unload, unload, unload and try to have as much money [as possible]. Sometimes you can have too much, I guess.”

On the team’s motivation for trading Luol Deng:

“The reason for doing the Deng deal has been obvious, we’ve stated it a number of times. It doesn’t put us in a position right now to have max cap room this summer but it does give us the opportunity to have the ability to go out and pursue some guys and look at different avenues, whether it’s through trading players or trading for players.”

On his approach at the trade deadline next month:

“It’s a process. Now if somebody comes — we’ve got three weeks now until the trade deadline and there hasn’t really been any chatter at all from teams yet, but that’s often the case when you’re three weeks away — we’ll listen. But we’re still a team that has played pretty well, and we like a lot of our pieces and we’ll see where the year goes. People know that our guys don’t quit, our coach doesn’t quit and we don’t quit, and we’re just going to keep fighting away.”

On the luxury tax and the perception of the Bulls as being cheap:

“I can tell you about what’s happened recently. We came into the season with a high payroll, in the tax for the second straight year. With Derrick’s injury and other things we made the decision to move Luol and get under the luxury tax this year to give us some flexibility for years going forward. From the business standpoint we felt it was the right thing to do and you have to think that way; it is just a reality of the business. You hear those things [about being cheap], but to feel like you have to go out and respond to everyone, you just end up chasing your tail and it’s really not worth it. I know we work for a terrific owner and an organization that is willing to spend; we just don’t want to spend foolishly, and I think 90 percent of the teams in this league think that way.”

Eastern Notes: Rondo, Granger, Rose, Deng

January 24th, 2014 at 9:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There’s been plenty of trade speculation regarding Rajon Rondo of the Celtics, despite GM Danny Ainge saying he’s not being shopped. The team has even begun discussing a contract extension with their newly named Captain. Rondo seems to be willing to be a part of the Celtics rebuilding efforts, and is open to signing an extension, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.com. Rondo told Forsberg, “I don’t like change much. I wouldn’t mind staying here the rest of my career. Things don’t always seem to go that way, but like I said before, it’s just a business. I wouldn’t mind extending another 10 years in Boston.” Forsberg also writes that Ainge acknowledged that it would take “star” money to retain their point guard. In a separate article, Forsberg examines the merits for both player and team to work out an extension this offseason.

Here’s some other notes from around the Eastern Conference:

With Danny Granger relegated to a bench role in the wake of his injuries, as well as the rise to stardom of Paul George, Sam Amick of USA Today examines how Granger’s acceptance of his new role can help the Pacers thrive.
Despite being out for the season with another knee injury, Derrick Rose was named to USA Basketball’s 28-player pool for this summer’s FIBA World Cup of Basketball in Spain and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau would be happy to see Rose play for Team USA this summer, writes Sean Highkin of USA Today. Rose is expected to be medically cleared by the summer, and Thibodeau said “If he’s healthy enough, I think it would be great for him. I know how strongly USA Basketball feels about him. If his health is there, I think it makes a lot of sense.”
Luol Deng was traded from the Bulls to the Cavaliers on January 7th. Since that time, the Bulls have gone 7-2, and might be playing the best basketball of their season. The Bulls seem to be thriving without their former player, but Deng isn’t doing quite as well in Cleveland, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He’s having to play “baby-sitter” on a young, but talented roster. How the team jells the rest of the season will have a direct impact on the Cavaliers chances at re-signing Deng this summer.

Bulls Notes: Deng, Rose, Mirotic, Boozer

January 7th, 2014 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Luol Deng trade between the Cavaliers and Bulls could have a significant impact on the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Winderman notes, the move should ensure that Andrew Bynum becomes available for Miami to pursue, and it also gives the Cavs an intriguing alternative to LeBron James in free agency this summer.

The Bulls had been expected to challenge Miami for Eastern Conference supremacy this season, but for now, Chicago’s front office is focused on how to improve the long-term outlook of a team that no longer has Deng and will be without Derrick Rose for several more months. Here’s the latest out of Chicago:

Asked about the Deng trade, coach Tom Thibodeau declined to go into detail, but “it’s obvious he disagreed” with the decision to move the veteran forward, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago. Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald suggests (via Twitter) that Thibodeau isn’t necessarily upset about the move, since he recognizes the reality of the Bulls’ situation, but he’s “not thrilled, obviously.”
Bulls VP of basketball operations John Paxson confirmed that the club offered Deng an extension recently. According to Paxson, the front office felt like it was a competitive offer, but understood completely when Deng passed (Twitter links via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune).
The money saved by the Bulls in this deal will be reinvested in the franchise, according to Paxson (Twitter link via Friedell).
Paxson disagrees with the notion that the Bulls are rebuilding, suggesting that it’s not a rebuild when a franchise still has players like Rose and Joakim Noah, plus a coach like Thibodeau (Twitter link via TNT’s David Aldridge). Paxson added that the front office’s working relationship with Thibodeau is “really good,” according to Friedell (via Twitter).
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf and GM Gar Forman both spoke to Rose about the Deng trade and didn’t get the sense that the former MVP was unhappy with the direction of the club, tweets Friedell.
Nikola Mirotic remains a part of the Bulls’ future, but the organization isn’t as confident as it once was that he’ll be signed this summer, tweets Friedell. Still, Chicago hopes to bring him over “sooner rather than later,” says Paxson (Twitter link via Johnson).
The Bulls haven’t yet decided whether Carlos Boozer will be amnestied in July, says Paxson (Twitter link via Friedell).
Paxson acknowledged that the Bulls didn’t handle Deng’s spinal tap fallout last spring as well as they should or could have, according to Johnson (Twitter link).

Eastern Links: Rose, Sanders, Anderson

December 5th, 2013 at 8:58pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Derrick Rose was asked to comment on the idea that the Bulls should look to move on without him after his latest injury, and he had this to say: “What do you mean?…You can be a fool if you want to…I know I’m going to be alright…I know I am (going to be the same player). A better player…If anything, this should even me out. When I think about it, the injury, I just turned and this happened, kind of like a freak accident. I put all I had into coming back and if this was to happen 10 more times I’d be able to deal with it” (Sam Smith of Bulls.com).

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Earlier today, we made note that Rose wouldn’t rule out a return to the court if he managed to get healthy in time for the postseason. On the other hand, head coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t seem willing to entertain the thought of looking that far ahead: “To me, he’s out for the season…If something changes along the way…We want him to be completely healthy before he moves forward…We can’t worry about whether he may come back. Right now, it’s been determined that he’s out for the season, so that’s the way we’re going to approach it” (Sean Highkin of USA Today).
In responding to one of his Twitter followers, Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld said that the notion of dealing Larry Sanders for a lottery pick next year would not even be a consideration (Twitter link).
Keith Pompey of Philly.com talks about how James Anderson has excelled in his reserve role as of late after beginning the season as a starter for the 76ers.
We’ve relayed quite a bit from the Knicks and Nets this evening, and five ESPN writers decided to chime in on why both teams have been playing poorly, who has the hotter seat between Mike Woodson and Jason Kidd, which team will be worse in April, and which has a rougher future ahead.
Hawks GM Danny Ferry voiced his support for Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, telling FOX Sports Ohio’s Sam Amico: “(Brown’s) a relentless worker and a quality, high character person. He is a good teacher and holds players accountable. His will and passion for defense will always give any team a strong chance to be successful. This will have such a strong impact for a team establishing a foundation for years to come.”
There may have been a chorus of boos for Kidd tonight at the Barclays Center during the pre-game introductions, but the Nets coach gets a vote of confidence from his former teammate J.R. Smith: “Criticism is going to come…He’s a first-year coach and he’s a great basketball mind. Just unfortunately, he’s going through it early. Some coaches have success early, some struggle early. He just happens to be struggling right now…I think he’s the best fit for that job and he knows how to get out of it. He’s got a great core of vets, so he’ll be fine” (Roderick Boone of Newsday).
The Celtics sit atop the Atlantic Division, but the team isn’t letting their early success get to their head and remains focused on continuing to work hard (Marc D’Amico of Celtics.com).

Derrick Rose Won’t Rule Out Return For Playoffs

December 5th, 2013 at 2:09pm CST by Zachary Links

This afternoon, Derrick Rose sat down and addressed the media for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right knee. The Bulls’ star guard, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season, says that he could potentially return for the postseason, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (on Twitter). Rose says that if he’s “healthy and the situation is right” he would come back and play in the playoffs, but if he doesn’t feel ready, he won’t.

Last season, Rose took a good deal of criticism from people around basketball after he opted to sit out of the playoffs despite having his left knee cleared by doctors. This time around, Rose says that he’s confident the rehab will be quicker (Friedell tweets).

Bulls fans are concerned about much more than the 2013/14 season, however. With mounting speculation that the team could look to rebuild or go in another direction, Rose fired back at naysayers, warning that “you can be a fool if you want to, I know I’m going to be all right,” (link). Some have wondered if the Bulls might be willing to move Luol Deng, a pending free agent, for the right package between now and the All-Star break.

One thing is for sure though, Rose is still insistent that he won’t recruit other players to come to Chicago (Twitter link). It’s a curious stance for the former MVP to take considering what other superstars have accomplished by working the phones in the summer months.

Central Links: LeBron, Deng, Bulls, Scola

November 26th, 2013 at 8:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s not easy to build a six-and-a-half game lead in less than a month, but that’s what the Pacers have done in the Central Division, where they’re the only team above .500. The Bulls are in second place, and the hole they’re in would have been somewhat of a challenge to overcome even if Derrick Rose were coming back this season. It’s probably impossible now that he’s done for the year, though Chicago at least has a strong chance of making the playoffs in the watered-down Eastern Conference. Here’s more on Indiana and the Central Division also-rans:

Anderson Varejao would welcome former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James if the four-time MVP decides to re-sign with Cleveland this summer, a prospect Varejao believes could become reality, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio observes. The Brazilian big man thinks James will likely return to the Cavs at some point, even if it’s not for next season.
Other reports suggest Luol Deng isn’t going anywhere soon, but executives from around the league who spoke to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune expect trade talks involving the Bulls small forward to pick up.
Johnson also notes in his piece that the Bulls chose to sign Mike Dunleavy over Marco Belinelli because they believed Dunleavy was a better fit with Rose. That points to the challenge the team faces opposed to last year, when they went into the season knowing Rose would be out. Despite his latest injury, Bulls GM Gar Forman says he’d be OK with Rose playing in the basketball World Cup this coming summer, according to Johnson.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel is impressed with offseason acquisition Luis Scola, and didn’t expect the 33-year-old would defend as well as he has so far, writes Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star.
The Bucks had the most turnover of any NBA team this summer, but they didn’t expect to have the worst record in the Eastern Conference a month into the season, as Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel examines.