Doc Rivers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Karl, Dawson, Davis

March 14th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl can’t find common ground on much these days, even on the matter of whether they spoke with one another in between his one-game suspension and Sacramento’s loss on Sunday to the Jazz. Karl said before the Utah game that he and Cousins had engaged in small talk, but Cousins insisted after the game that the Kings coach hadn’t said a word to him, reports Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. People around Cousins believe Karl has pushed the Kings to suspend him on several occasions this season, according to Spears, who adds that a November tirade Cousins directed at Karl deeply affected the coach. GM Vlade Divac, when told that Cousins believes the suspension came from Karl and not the organzation, only smiled and said simply that he loves Cousins, Spears observes.

“There is a lot of chaos,” Cousins said. “Usually, there is just frustration with coming out and winning games. But so much extra stuff this season. Extra unnecessary stuff. It’s a lot of stuff within. There are battles with guys that should be on your side.”

See more on the Kings situation amid news from the Pacific Division:

Cousins insists he’s not the only one frustrated with the situation, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I know for a fact there’s a lot of frustration in this locker room,” Cousins said. “I believe everyone believes we should be a lot better than we are and we’re just frustrated that we’re not. We haven’t performed to the level of expectations, so there’s a lot of frustration with that.”
Clippers rookie Branden Dawson was freed from jail on $50K bond Sunday afternoon, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Dawson was arrested Sunday morning on felony domestic violence charges, according to TMZ Sports. His first court appearance is set for April 7th, notes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). That’s an off day before an April 8th game at Utah. “Obviously, it’s an awful situation,” Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers said, as Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com relays (Twitter link). “…We’ll figure out what we want to do and how we want to handle it.”
It’s a long shot, but Baron Davis would prefer to rejoin the Warriors if he makes it back to the NBA, notes Jay Mariotti of the San Francisco Examiner. Davis has nonetheless said he’d play for any team as he tries to return, having recently joined the D-League affiliate of the Sixers.

L.A. Rumors: Jordan, Mbah a Moute, Durant

March 6th, 2016 at 7:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

After being the focus of the biggest free agent controversy in years, DeAndre Jordan tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he’s happy with how it turned out. Jordan initially committed to the Mavericks before changing his mind a few days later and signing a four-year deal to stay with the Clippers. The eighth-year center hasn’t gotten everything he asked for in free agency, but he’s content to be with a contender and in familiar territory. Jordan had hoped for a larger role in the offense and wanted a coach who would call more plays for him. But his offensive numbers are fairly similar to last season’s at 12.3 points and 6.5 shots per game.

“There is still more things that I want to do to better my game,” Jordan said. “But on certain teams, everybody has a role to help that team be successful. I know what mine is with this team. … I found my niche, I found something that I’m good at and want to be great at. But I don’t want to be labeled as [just a shot blocker and defender], I want to continue to get better all around. But for this team to be great, that’s what I’ve got to be.”

There’s more basketball news out of L.A.:

Several changes, including the addition of Luc Mbah a Moute, have helped the Clippers build a defense that ranks among the league’s best, according to Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. Mbah a Moute, who signed with L.A. in September, has sparked a remarkable turnaround after a slow start in November and December. The Clippers surrendered 97.2 points per 100 possessions in their last 15 games, the best performance in the NBA over that stretch.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers seems unlikely to pursue anyone on the buyout market, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. “Overall, guys getting bought out aren’t guys that necessarily are going to change the destiny of your franchise,” Rivers said.
Despite being among a handful of teams that can afford two maximum-salaried free agents, the Lakers are a long shot to land Kevin Durant, writes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Three straight losing seasons have taken some glamour away from the franchise, and Pincus said leaving a contender in Oklahoma City to play with L.A.’s young core would represent a gamble for Durant. Although, if the Lakers do get Durant, they may trade some of the youngsters to build a veteran team around him.

Pacific Notes: Rivers, McDonough, Ranadive

February 29th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers insisted the team didn’t listen when it fielded trade calls about Blake Griffin from other clubs, as Rivers told Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, reiterating his faith in the power forward he contends was having an MVP-caliber season before his two-month absence. Rivers also defended the job he’s done as team’s player personnel chief.

“I don’t know. I don’t evaluate. I have too many people evaluating for me,” Rivers said. “I let them do it and I keep doing my job. I don’t care about the evaluations. I care about the team. We’re a team that doesn’t have a lot of leverage. We don’t have a lot of assets. But to me, we keep ending up with the Jeff Greens of the world, Cole Aldrich is terrific, Wes Johnson. … We’re getting these guys at minimum contracts. Even Josh [Smith] was a good gamble. It didn’t work out for us. But when you are in that minimum contract deal, you’re going to have some hits and misses and we’re fine with it and you keep doing.”

See more from the Pacific Division:

Suns owner Robert Sarver issued a vote of confidence to GM Ryan McDonough in an open letter to fans posted on the team’s website, acknowledging that some of the risks the team has taken lately haven’t panned out but pointing to the Warriors as reason to continue making bold moves. “Not every decision will be the right one, but [McDonough] will continue to build our team around the young, talented players acquired through the draft and opportunistically in free agency,” Sarver wrote in part. “The best team in the NBA right now is a perfect example of that model.”
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive may have encountered trouble running the team so far, but his success in other venues shows he’s no fool, writes Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. Ranadive told Furillo he’d buy out the stake of any minority-share owner who wants out, responding to reports that many of his partners are upset with him. “If somebody’s unhappy, I’ll write them a check today,” Ranadive said.
The Kings could use some more defense in the backcourt and coach George Karl has praised Seth Curry‘s performance on that end, but Curry has remained largely tied to the pine, much to his frustration, as The Bee’s Jason Jones examines. Curry has a minimum-salary player option for next season.

Pacific Notes: Green, Varejao, Dawson

February 22nd, 2016 at 3:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers reportedly plans to try to re-sign Jeff Green this summer, and he’s glad to be reunited with his former Celtics player for several reasons. Rivers was effusive in his praise of Green to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, calling him one of the best NBA people ever (Twitter link), and he’s also a fan of what the combo forward can do on the court, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details.

“I really wanted more length,” Rivers said of his goals going into the trade deadline, according to Jones. “When you look at the teams we have to beat, we need to get longer, more athletic, and we need to increase our shooting. And I think with Jeff we did all three of those things. … I thought of all the things that were offered, he was the best available for us.”

See more from the Pacific Division:

The Hawks were among a group of interested teams otherwise composed of the Spurs, Thunder and Mavericks that fell short to the Warriors in the competition for Anderson Varejao, his agency says, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter). The Relativity Sports client is reportedly poised to sign with Golden State, which already released Jason Thompson to clear a roster spot.
The Clippers decided to sign power forward Alex Stepheson to a 10-day contract when the market didn’t bear a defensive guard, Rivers said, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.
Branden Dawson, last year’s 56th overall pick, is headed to the D-League affiliate of the Magic on assignment from the Clippers, as the Clippers announced via press release. It’s the fourth time Dawson has gone to the D-League, and the Grand Rapids Drive are the third D-League team to have taken him in. The Clips are without their own affiliate.
Kings affiliate player Vince Hunter left Sacramento’s D-League team to sign with Panathinaikos of Greece, the European club announced (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Kings affiliate received a $45K buyout as part of the move, according to international journalist David Pick (on Twitter).

Pacific Notes: Durant, Green, Rivers

February 21st, 2016 at 11:32am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers may not be a real contender to sign Kevin Durant should he decide to leave Oklahoma City in free agency due to the lack of talent on their roster, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports in a session on Fox Sports Radio (h/t to Adrian Hasenmayer of Fox Sports). Wojnarowski adds that the Warriors have Durant’s attention and they remain a threat to steal him away from the Thunder, supplementing an earlier report that the Warriors would be “significant” front-runners to sign Durant should he leave the team.

Big-name free agents, including Durant, don’t care about whether a team has high-value assets such as top draft picks or young prospects because those are not going to help a team win a championship right away. If Durant is going to leave Oklahoma City, it’s going to be for a place that can win a championship and part of his criteria will be whether the destination is good enough to beat top teams, like the Warriors, with him on it, sources tell Wojnarowski.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Executive/coach Doc Rivers believes the addition of Jeff Green gives the Clippers a fighting chance against the top teams in the Western Conference, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “When you look at the teams we have to beat, we need to get longer, more athletic, and we need to increase our shooting,” Rivers said. “And I think with Jeff we did all three of those things.
The Clippers could get Austin Rivers, who has been sidelined with a broken left hand, back on the court in less than two weeks, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register tweets.
With Markieff Morris out of the picture, the Suns can finally start to build for the future, Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic argues. Bickley believes the Suns should acquire players who resonate with the community, similar to how other professional franchises in Phoenix have done.

Pacific Notes: Mbah a Moute, Scott, Warriors

December 10th, 2015 at 12:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

It appears a mere formality that the Clippers will retain Luc Mbah a Moute past the date next month when his non-guaranteed contract would become fully guaranteed, writes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. He made his sixth straight start in Wednesday’s victory over the Bucks, and while Doc Rivers indicated that he’ll probably move him in and out of the starting lineup, the Clippers coach/executive is nonetheless impressed, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. He’s not the only one.

“He does all the different things that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” Chris Paul said, according to Bolch. “He makes the cuts, he does the box outs, and that’s why he’s so valuable for us.”

Still, not everyone is a fan. The Clippers won’t win the title if Mbah a Moute remains the starting three man, posits Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, who calls on the team to bench the “safe, known commodity” of Mbah a Moute in favor of the higher risk-reward proposition of either Lance Stephenson or Wesley Johnson. See more from the Pacific Division:

The voiding of the contract Mbah a Moute signed with the Kings in July led to uncertainty about his future that didn’t end until he signed with the Clippers in late September, and he called the past summer a difficult one, according to Gardner. “I like to usually go into the summer knowing where I’m going to be, training at the facility. All that stuff was out the window,” Mbah a Moute said. “God works in mysterious ways. I’m here now and trying to make the best out of it, trying to help the team.”
Lakers executives Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss still support Byron Scott and plan to keep him through at least the end of the season, though Kupchak, Buss or both will likely meet with Scott next week to get a read on his plan for player development, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. The execs understand the difficulty of the position Scott finds himself in — a “no-win situation,” as a team source described it to Medina — as Kobe Bryant‘s farewell season chafes against the need to foster young talent.
A group opposing the Warriors‘ plan for a new arena will file suit to block construction in the wake of the project having cleared its final political hurdle Tuesday, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to green-light the new building, reports J.K. Dineen of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Clippers Gauge Interest In Stephenson, Smith?

December 9th, 2015 at 7:56am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 7:56am: Rivers denies that he’s reached out to anyone about Stephenson and Smith. The coach/executive addressed the issue in an appearance on “The Fred Roggin Show” on The Beast 980 radio in Los Angeles.

“Not true,” Rivers said of the initial report. “It’s amazing how silly this stuff is. I don’t comment on it much obviously but I can tell you, I think I’m the president of basketball and I’ve yet to have a conversation with any team about anyone right now. These reports come out and there’s nothing you can do about it.

An NBA executive told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times that the Clippers indeed placed calls about Stephenson and Smith but that they were exploratory and routine for this time of year (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 8:30am: The Clippers measured the trade market for Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith last month, league sources told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, but they’ve withdrawn from that effort more recently amid a spate of injuries, Spears adds. The team doesn’t have anyone on its injury report currently, but it’s unclear if trade talks will resume. Spears also suggests the Clippers remain open to trading Jamal Crawford, a frequent subject of trade rumors in the offseason, though coach/executive Doc Rivers said in September that he’d be “very surprised” if Crawford doesn’t remain a Clipper throughout the season. Smith becomes eligible for inclusion in trades a week from today, while Stephenson and Crawford are already trade-eligible.

Two NBA executives indicated to Spears that the Clippers probably found a weak market for the pair. One exec suggested that the two are more likely to work buyouts than end up in trades, further speculating that Stephenson ends up back on the Pacers, his original team. The other executive who spoke with Spears alleged that Stephenson and Smith have negatively affected team chemistry in L.A. Smith recently shouted back and forth with assistant coach Mike Woodson following a loss, Spears reports. The second executive also said he believes it’ll be tough for the Clippers to find trade partners for either Smith or Stephenson since few had interest in either before they joined the team, Spears adds.

Still, the Kings, Mavs and Rockets were reportedly interested in signing Smith as a free agent this past summer, when he took a discount and joined the Clippers on a one-year, minimum-salary deal. The Nets apparently talked about trading for Stephenson on two different occasions last season, when he was with the Hornets, and the Heat were apparently among the teams with interest last year, too. It’s unclear if those teams were still eyeing him when the Clippers struck a deal to acquire him in June. He’s making $9MM this season and has a $9.405MM team option for next season.

What teams do you think would be strong fits for Stephenson, Smith and Crawford? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Pacific Notes: Rivers, Butler, Russell, Randle

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Doc Rivers said the slow start for the Clippers is “on me” and insisted that the team doesn’t have chemistry problems in spite of heated conversation in the locker room after Sunday’s loss, which dropped the team to 6-7, notes Jovan Buha of Fox Sports (All Twitter links). Rivers’ coaching took some criticism from Hoops Rumors readers in Sunday’s Community Shootaround, as did the roster he assembled as the team’s president of basketball operations. Still, it’s early, and the Clippers have had the poor luck of running into the still-unbeaten Warriors twice so far this season. See more from around the Pacific Division:

Caron Butler credits the team meeting the Kings had amid the tumult and rumors after they started 1-7 for sparking the club to a 4-2 record since, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. “Behind closed doors we addressed some things and we came together. Because of that, we’re playing great basketball right now,” Butler said. “It’s about camaraderie; when things go bad, you figure it out. Whatever it is, you figure it out and you move forward, and that’s what we did.”
Butler has been a free agent four times, but he hasn’t returned to the Lakers since the team traded him away in 2005. Still, he considers Kobe Bryant a “brother for life” and remains in contact with his long-ago Lakers teammate, as he details to Pincus for the same piece. “Being up under the wing of Kobe Bryant and the relationship that we built over that time, I learned a lot about the game of basketball,” Butler said. “I took the things that I learned from him, and that’s why I had the success that I had in my career.”
Lakers coach Byron Scott is urging patience with top-10 picks D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, pointing to the end of next season, notes Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. The Lakers are under pressure to win in the near future, as Jeanie Buss is holding brother Jim Buss to three-year timeline for a return to contention. “With D’Angelo, it might be sometime toward the end of next season where he says, ‘Man, I’m starting to get it.’ Same thing with Julius. We’re going to just be patient and keep working them the way we’ve been working them and try to bring them along,” Scott said.

Mavs Rumors: Jordan, Nowitzki, Matthews

November 12th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admits he has fun with the back-and-forth between his team and the Clippers over the DeAndre Jordan saga, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Cuban fired yet another salvo Wednesday after Jordan played his first game in Dallas since pulling out of his commitment to sign with the Mavs this summer and re-signing with the Clippers instead.

“It’s not like DeAndre and I pinkie swore,” Cuban said. “It’s not like we’ve been friends forever. It’s not like he broke some trust we had. You know, he turned out to be who we thought he was.”

Jordan isn’t the only member of the Clippers whom Cuban called out Wednesday, as we detail amid the latest from Dallas:

Cuban shot a retort at Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers when told before Wednesday’s game that Rivers had said to reporters that too much was being made of the Jordan story, notes Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I have no problem slamming Doc Rivers, even though he’s not going to play,” Cuban said. “I like [Clippers owner] Steve Ballmer. Lots of guys on the team, I like. But look, Doc does his radio interviews and brings it up for a reason, right? Again, Doc’s in the coaching business, he’s gotta do his job. God, there is so much I want to say.”
Rivers argues Jordan was simply exercising his collectively bargained right when he turned his back on the Mavs, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. “Teams do it all the time,” Rivers said. “It’s amazing how often teams change their mind on players. They sign free agents, tell them they’re gonna be there for the rest of their lives and they cut them or trade them.”
Dirk Nowitzki is certain that he’ll play through his current contract but isn’t sure whether he’ll keep playing or retire after that, the 37-year-old tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Nowitzki has a player option worth more than $8.692MM for next season, the last on his pact.
Wesley Matthews benefited financially when he turned down a four-year offer of about $65MM from the Kings to take what turned out to be an approximately $70MM four-year max offer from the Mavs, and he also dodged the Kings controversy, Amick writes in a separate piece. “I had my own reads [on the Kings], being in the room with the owner and the GM and talking to the coach, the president,” Matthews said to Amick. “I had my own thoughts going into it, my own reads, my own intuition. I think they mean well. I think they mean well. … I didn’t feel confident in meaning well.”

Western Rumors: Warriors, Green, Ingles

October 19th, 2015 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors remain uncertain when coach Steve Kerr can return to the team on a full-time basis, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Ethan Sherwood Strauss report. Kerr, who underwent two offseason back surgeries, was with the club on its weeklong preseason trip through Southern California, but there’s no timetable on when he can coach on a daily basis, the story continues. ‎”He still doesn’t know,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters after the team’s practice on Monday. “He’s not going to force a return.”

In other news around the Western Conference:

Clippers coach Doc Rivers feels the Warriors are too thin-skinned about recent comments he made about them, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area Sports Group. In an interview with Grantland, Rivers insinuated that the Warriors were lucky they didn’t have to play his club or the Spurs in the playoffs last season, Leung continues. He told reporters on Monday that he’s taken aback by the Warriors’ strong reaction to that notion, Leung adds. “I’m really surprised how sensitive they are about it,” Rivers said. “They are the champions, so they can just be the champions.” Walton told Leung that Rivers is playing mind games with the champions. “It doesn’t make much sense if it’s not,” Walton said. “There’s no other reason to bring that type of stuff up.”
Second-year point guard Erick Green is making a strong case for a Nuggets roster spot even though he doesn’t have a guaranteed contract, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes. New coach Michael Malone has raved about Green during camp, though Green suffered a temporary setback with a minor knee injury, the story continues. Green, who could make $845,059 if he stays with the team through the season, bounced back with a 16-point, four-assist outing against the Thunder on Sunday night. But the club would have to move one of 15 players with guaranteed contracts in order to retain Green, Dempsey points out.
Jazz forward Joe Ingles had more difficulty deciding to take the summer off than he did re-signing with the club, Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Ingles stayed put by inking a two-year, $4.3MM deal, then opted not to participate in the Australian national team’s Olympic qualifiers over the summer. “I’m not going to say it was like the hardest decision of my life, but it was something that weighed on me for a little bit,” he told Falk. “I did want to play.”