Dwight Howard Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Howard, Pachulia, Teletovic

December 13th, 2015 at 8:01pm CST by Will Joseph

It’s been an unusually quiet season for Dwight Howard, who can opt out of his current deal after the season and become an unrestricted free agent, as the Rockets center is averaging only 12.7 points per game, the fewest since he averaged 12 as a rookie in 2004/05, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle observes in an explanatory piece. For his part, Howard, as Feigen points out, has had no complaints about his seemingly diminished role in the Rockets’ offense.

“To us, it’s important that Dwight serves his role,” Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Dwight’s not a one-dimensional player. Dwight knows how to impact winning in a bunch of different ways. He’s not a guy who has to score the basketball to be effective. As long as he understands how important he is to us and his teammates let him know how important he is to our success, I think he’s confident he’ll go out and do what he’ll have to do to help us win.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Zaza Pachulia, in a Q&A with Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype, said he initially had mixed feelings regarding his trade to the Mavs from the Bucks, but warmed up to the idea rather quickly. “Here it’s a totally different situation for me,” Pachulia told Sierra. “I was one of the oldest guys in Milwaukee, now I’m coming here and I feel like I’m one the younger guys. So many veterans around me.”
Nicolas Batum believed the Blazers, as they were constructed last season, had at least another run in them, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders writes. Things changed, of course, when LaMarcus Aldridge decided to sign with the Spurs. “I understand his choice,” Batum said. “He had done a lot of things for the Portland franchise, but to get a chance with the Spurs to win a ring right away? I think a lot of people would have done the exact same thing. He wanted to go to another place to win a championship, and I respect that. I’m not mad about it, but I was surprised. It was a good run, and it was fun, but it’s time to move on.”
Mirza Teletovic is enjoying a strong bounce-back season with the Suns after inking a one-year deal following his issue of blood clots, Howard Megdal of USA Today Sports details.

And-Ones: ‘Outperformers,’ Bryant, Dinwiddie

December 12th, 2015 at 10:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Four Western Conference players join Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis on an “Outperform” Team compiled by Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders. The columnist honors the players who have most exceeded expectations during the first quarter of the season. The other team members are the Kings‘ Rajon Rondo, the Warriors‘ Stephen Curry, the Mavericks‘ Dirk Nowitzki and Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant addressed his relationship with former teammate Dwight Howard after tonight’s loss in Houston, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. “My responsibility when Dwight and I played together was to get him to play his best basketball,” Bryant said. “That involves pushing buttons.” Their rocky relationship was believed to be part of the reason Howard left Los Angeles for the Rockets in 2013.
Pistons guard Spencer Dinwiddie may be headed to the team’s D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids on Sunday, according to Terry Foster of The Detroit News. A slump and injuries have reduced Dinwiddie’s playing time, and he has dropped behind Steve Blake in the point guard mix. Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy suggested that Dinwiddie might benefit from increased minutes in Grand Rapids. “We have tried to use the D-League a little bit so he gets some game time,” Van Gundy said. “I think he has to take advantage of every opportunity he’s got to work and get better.”
The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue of the D-League, the team announced via press release. Huestis has played in seven games for the Blue this season, averaging 10.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.57 blocks.

More Reaction To Kobe Bryant’s Retirement Plans

November 30th, 2015 at 9:25am CST by Chuck Myron

The finality of Kobe Bryant‘s decision to make this season his last dates back to this past summer, when he reached out to Michael Jordan to tell him, “This is it,” as Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com relays.

“We had some laughs, went back and forth about it,” Bryant said to reporters about his conversation with Jordan. “But the important thing for him, he said, ‘Just enjoy it. No matter what, just enjoy it. Don’t let anybody take that away from you, no matter what happens, good or bad. Enjoy it, man.'”

Bryant is enjoying even the difficult parts of the experience, telling reporters that he’s not considering a midseason retirement “because there is really beauty in the pain of this thing,” tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. We rounded up some of the early reaction Sunday, and now see more as the countdown begins for Bryant’s final game, scheduled to come at home against the Jazz on April 13th:

The idea that this season would be Bryant’s last is no shock, as Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak reiterated that it’s been his understanding for a while that this would be the end, Holmes notes in a separate piece. The executive admits that it’s less than ideal for Bryant to play his final season on a losing team, but said “there was really no other way to go about it,” as Holmes relays. “Now we were hopeful that we would get off to a better start this year,” Kupchak said in part. “We think we added a couple veterans, along with a bunch of young players, and I thought we’d be better than two wins into the season. That’s not to say that we’d be on pace to win 50 or 60 games. But I thought we’d be a little bit better. But clearly we’re not playing at the kind of level that a player of Kobe’s age and experience finds challenging.”
Former Lakers teammate Sasha Vujacic, who’s now playing for the Knicks, isn’t quite sure that Bryant is really in his final season, notes Howie Kussoy of the New York Post. “He’ll be bored with retirement, so he might come back,” Vujacic said. “You never know … He can always come back.”
Dwight Howard complimented Bryant on Sunday, calling him “one of the greatest to play the game” and citing his “amazing career,” but he couldn’t keep a straight face when asked if he learned something from the legendary shooting guard, observes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Howard, who famously failed to mesh with Bryant during their lone season as teammates, laughed for five seconds before asking for the next question, as Bondy details.

Southwest Notes: Morey, Williams, McGee, Gentry

November 23rd, 2015 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s up to the players to pull the Rockets out of the malaise that cost former coach Kevin McHale his job, according to GM Daryl Morey, but Morey acknowledges to TNT’s David Aldridge that some of the fault lies at his own desk, as Aldridge relays in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“Except for Dwight Howard, there really isn’t anybody on the roster playing well, and those are all my decisions,” Morey said. “I can’t hide from that.”

The Rockets won their first game after switching from McHale to interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff but lost both of their games since, and they’re tied with the Kings at 5-9 for 12th place in the Western Conference. See more from the Southwest Division:

Chandler Parsons doesn’t understand why Deron Williams has a reputation as a negative locker room force, citing evidence of the opposite to Jake Fischer of SI.com. Wesley Matthews observes a positive attitude from Williams in the face of challenges, like the erosion of his game, a change Williams acknowledges, as Fischer adds. “My days of scoring 20 and 10 are over. I know that,” said Williams, who gave up nearly $16MM to buy his way off the Nets before signing with the Mavericks for $11MM over two years.
The return of JaVale McGee puts the squeeze on the minutes of early-season revelation Dwight Powell, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. The Mavs have until January 7th to decide whether to pay McGee his full salary of $1.27MM or waive him and pay only his $750K partial guarantee.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was satisfied as the lead assistant for the Warriors last season and didn’t think he’d end up with another head coaching job until New Orleans came calling, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “I was not going to take a job just to have a job as a head coach unless it was a situation that I thought was going to give you an opportunity to win and win big and compete for a championship,” Gentry said. “I really didn’t have any desire just to take another NBA job.”

Texas Notes: McHale, Harden, Howard, Aldridge

November 20th, 2015 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

The poor play of the Rockets to start the season struck a chord with owner Leslie Alexander, but he admits changing coaches from Kevin McHale to interim boss J.B. Bickerstaff isn’t guaranteed to fix the team’s problems, as Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle relays.

“You don’t know for sure, right?” Alexander said. “But when you watch your team play and you know you’re going to lose … I knew I was going to lose the Boston game. I knew I was going to lose the Golden State game. I knew I was going to get crushed. I knew the way the players were playing, the way they were playing defensively. They weren’t playing hard, they weren’t running back. And they were sloppy. Their movements were sloppy. I knew we were going to lose.”

Still, myriad reasons, from injuries to poor shooting to roster moves that haven’t panned out, exist for Alexander to have drawn a different conclusion about the best way to turn the team around, Solomon posits. See more on the Rockets amid the latest from the Texas Triangle:

The respective camps around James Harden and Dwight Howard each went into the 2014 offseason “whispering” about their desire to get rid of the other, and the stars have never truly meshed, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. That neither has become a strong locker room leader is central to the Rockets‘ issues, Blinebury believes.
The Spurs‘ offense has lagged alarmingly when the starting five has played, and while LaMarcus Aldridge, averaging only 14.8 points per game, rejects the notion that he should demand the ball more often, the Spurs didn’t sign him to reprise Tiago Splitter‘s role, argues Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Spurs coach/executive Gregg Popovich believes the ex-Blazer must find a balance between fitting in the team’s egalitarian system and rediscovering his own high-scoring game, McDonald notes.
Trade acquisition Zaza Pachulia has meshed with Dirk Nowitzki on the inside, and that’s helped offset the sluggish 3-point shooting of the Mavs guards so far, fueling the team’s surprising 8-4 start, observes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

Rockets Notes: Harden, Bickerstaff, Lawson, Howard

November 19th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

James Harden admits responsibility falls on him to play better defense, and getting him to stick to that notion is job one on a daunting list of tasks for Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, as Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle believes.

“That’s probably one of the reasons why the [team] energy has been so low,” Harden said. “Making shots or missing shots, I’ve got to bring my game.”

See more on the Rockets one day after they fired Kevin McHale:

Bickerstaff understands the impatience around the franchise and his limited window of opportunity, and he plans to push the team harder than McHale had, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports examines. Still, Bickerstaff feels he owes a debt of gratitude to his predecessor, who brought him to Houston, promoted him, and gave him raises, Wojnarowski writes. “He did everything in his power to protect me, to protect my family,” Bickerstaff said of McHale. “He went out on a limb to support me.”
The Rockets moved Ty Lawson to the bench for Wednesday’s game, just as McHale said before his ouster that he was thinking about doing, and it’s a move that the point guard said he’s on board with, as ClutchFans relays on Twitter. “Whatever for the team to win, I’m ready to do,” Lawson said.
Lawson, who called for Tuesday’s players-only meeting, has been dreadful thus far for Houston, symbolizing the team’s sluggish start, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
Dwight Howard believes he had a strong relationship with McHale and feels down about the team’s decision to let him go, as Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle relays. “We can’t control what ownership does,” Howard said. “If they want to get rid of a player or a coach, that’s their decision. None of us had a clue what was going on. That [players-only] meeting was all about us. We didn’t even mention the coaches.”
Corey Brewer feels responsible for the firing, and said the blame shouldn’t be on McHale for the team’s slow start, as Creech notes in the same piece. “I don’t think [McHale] lost the locker room,” Brewer said. “This isn’t a fractured locker room. We just haven’t been playing like we should be. We have new pieces, different things to put together, but right now it’s about being men, looking in the mirror and coming out and playing hard every night.”
Owner Leslie Alexander’s fervent desire for a title has driven the Rockets to become overeager to find solutions, like the hasty decision to fire McHale, an old-school denizen whose open-mindedness to GM Daryl Morey‘s analytics had made their working relationship function, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding opines.

Western Notes: Russell, Aldridge, Capela

November 11th, 2015 at 9:40pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Rookie D’Angelo Russell is obviously in the Lakers‘ long-term plans, but that doesn’t mean he is ready to take on a huge role just yet, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes.

“I’m not just going to put him out there to put him out there,” Coach Byron Scott said. “If I do that and he’s not prepared and he’s not learning, then I’m preparing him to fail. And I’m not going to do that. I think this kid is too valuable to us.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t going to get caught up in his decision to leave Portland when the Blazers host the Spurs tonight, Jason Quick of CSNNW passes along via Twitter. “I’m not going to get into all of that. What is done is done. I feel like both sides kind of have what they want. Now, I’m here,” Aldridge said.
Clint Capela is proving he belongs in the NBA and Rockets GM Daryl Morey has high expectations for the big man, as he tells Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. “Sky’s the limit for him.” Morey said. “To do what he’s doing at 22 is amazing in the NBA against the talent in the league and to come from playing mostly in the D-League last season, to start a few games for us, and in games that we’ve won, is huge. His ability to protect the rim, run the floor, rebound — we really feel like he’s got a chance to be a high-level player.”
Capela has seen some added playing time this season with Dwight Howard not playing in both games of back-to-backs and there is no urgency to change the game plan, Morey tells Watkins in the same piece. “It’s going to come down to the doctor’s advice,” Morey said. “He has not played back-to-back and he’s played at an extremely high level. So I think the doctors are looking at that and feeling like that’s the smartest course at this point. If he gets to no symptoms whatsoever and playing at a high level, I think they might mix him in at some point. For now and the foreseeable future, I think they want him to sit out back-to-backs.” Howard can hit free agency this summer if he elects to turn down his player option, which is worth slightly more than $23.28MM.

Western Notes: Bryant, Rockets, Grizzlies

November 2nd, 2015 at 10:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers would be better off if Kobe Bryant retired, John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News opines. Bryant hasn’t been an impact player since the 2012/13 season and no longer serves a useful role on a rebuilding team, Smallwood continues. The veteran wing player doesn’t have the mentality to help develop the Lakers’ younger players and his burning desire to win actually hurts the team’s chances of holding onto its first-round pick, Smallwood adds. The Lakers must convey their 2016 pick to the Sixers unless it’s in the top three. Becoming a role player on a contending team via a trade or buyout doesn’t suit Bryant’s personality or ego, so there’s no point in Bryant continuing his career, Smallwood concludes.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Rockets coach Kevin McHale is unsure when he’ll feel comfortable playing center Dwight Howard in back-to-backs, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Howard missed most of the preseason with back tightness after sitting out a portion of last season with fluid buildup in his right knee, Feigen continues. “Dwight’s going to have to build his way up to being in NBA shape and being able to perform at the level he wants,” McHale told Feigen. “It’s not realistic to say you’re going to take that much time off and be able to come back and play.”
JaMychal Green is a strong rebounder and that’s the most compelling reason for him to be in the Grizzlies’ rotation, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal opines. Green, playing on a partially guaranteed deal, has been used as Memphis’ 10th man in the early going and has shown the foundation to be a useful role player, Herrington continues. If he continues to improve on catch-and-shoot opportunities, he’ll secure a rotation spot, Herrington adds.
Kings coach George Karl believes mental mistakes and faulty shot selection are the team’s biggest issues after the first three games, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports. “I see a team that needs to get better and get smarter and get serious about those two things,” Karl said to Jones. “We’re not a connected team yet.”

Western Notes: Odom, Lillard, Randolph, Davis

October 13th, 2015 at 10:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Damian Lillard downplayed any rumored issues between him and LaMarcus Aldridge, and denied that their relationship was part of the reason Aldridge decided to leave the Trail Blazers for the Spurs as an unrestricted free agent this summer, Paul Flannery of SB Nation writes. “Our relationship was fine,” Lillard said. “Me and LA never had an argument. People are searching for something that’s not there. When you have two All-Stars on the same team and one of them decides to leave, it’s automatically, ‘They didn’t get along.’ We had back-to-back 50-win seasons. We both made the All-Star team. We played through him and after that it was me and that was that. We played well together. We never had an issue.”

Portland executive Neil Olshey noted that the franchise sought Lillard’s approval before embarking on a full-rebuild and surrounding the point guard with a younger crop of players, Flannery adds in the same piece. “This was not done without Dame’s participation,” Olshey said. “If he was at all reticent, if he said it would be great if you could get me another vet to help out, we would have gone out and found a couple of other guys to take the pressure off of him. He’s not that kind of kid. He embraces it. He thrives on it.”

Here’s more from out West:

Former NBA player Lamar Odom was hospitalized after he was found unconscious earlier this evening at a Nevada brothel, Andrew Dalton and Sally Ho of The Associated Press report. The 35-year-old was stabilized and taken to Desert View Hospital in nearby Pahrump, a sheriff’s office statement said. There was no further word on Odom’s condition. Odom’s last NBA action came during the 2012/13 season with the Clippers.
Zach Randolph is prepared to do whatever it takes to help the Grizzlies win this season, including accepting a reduction in his minutes in order to preserve his energy and health, Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press writes. “I think I’m still in my prime, and I’m going to let my game, the way I play, speak for itself,” Randolph said. “But I mean whatever I need to do to help this team, if it’s play less minutes, whatever, I’m with this team whatever we need to do.“
Blazers power forward Ed Davis has switched representation from Relativity Sports to IT Sports Management and agent Paolo Zamorano, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. Davis inked a three-year, $20MM deal with Portland this offseason.
Dwight Howard has no desire to repeat the circus that accompanied his previous forays into free agency, and he intends to keep the focus on the Rockets‘ 2015/16 campaign, and not where he may be playing next season, Fran Blinebury of NBA.com writes. The big man can opt out of his current deal after the season and become an unrestricted free agent, Blinebury adds, and Howard believes that he can play for another 10 seasons. “Even though this will be my 12th season in the NBA, I still feel like I’ve got a lot left in me,” Howard said. “I believe my best 10 years are still in front of me, if we play it smart and I appreciate the coaching staff, the training staff and everybody for working toward that.“

Western Notes: Howard, Martin, Morris

October 10th, 2015 at 9:43pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Fans knew that Dwight Howard was battling a knee injury during last season’s Western Conference finals, but the injury was worse than it seemed at the time, Calvin Walkins of ESPN.com writes.

“I was basically playing with a torn MCL and meniscus,” Howard said. “I never said anything about it. I tried to cover it up saying it was a sore knee. But I was in pain the rest of the series. I just looked at it like, man, you just never know if you will ever make it back to this moment. So just sacrifice your mind, your body and your spirit for your teammates and the city and hope for the best.”

The Rockets intend to utilize second year big man Clint Capela in a larger role in an effort to reduce Howard’s workload this season. In the summer of 2013, Howard signed a four-year, max contract that includes a player option after this season. The health of his knee, along with the level of his play this season, could determine whether he decides to turn down his option, worth slightly more than $23.28MM, and enter free agency in 2016.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines that Kevin Martin is a prime candidate to be traded after the Wolves announced that sophomore Zach LaVine will be the team’s starting shooting guard. Martin has two years and slightly over $14.46MM remaining on his current deal and Greene believes if Minnesota wanted to move him, there would be teams willing to bring the veteran aboard at that price.
Although Markieff Morris declared that he wants to remain in Phoenix, the Suns could ultimately end up dealing the forward anyway, Greene opines in the same piece. Morris is on a team-friendly deal that will pay him $32MM over the next four seasons and if he has a good start to the season, more than a few teams should be interested in acquiring him.
After losing LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs in free agency, many are not optimistic about the Blazers‘ chances of making playoffs, but statistician Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com argues that competing for a playoff spot is not out of the question, Cody Sharett of NBA.com writes. Pelton cited the additions of Ed Davis, Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Aminu, who have all shined in terms of advanced statistics, as reason for optimism.