Dwight Howard Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Mavs, Brooks, Suns, Bucks

October 23rd, 2012 at 11:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News believes the Mavs will go "hard" after Chris Paul, and perhaps Dwight Howard, in free agency next summer. That would be no surprise, given the team's effort to position itself to pursue another marquee name next summer after its push to sign Deron Williams fell through. It's hard to envision either turning down a five-year deal in L.A. for a four-year contract in Dallas, especially considering Paul's involvement in the Clippers' offseason moves and Howard's enthusiasm about being with the Lakers, but plenty can happen between now and July. In the meantime, here's a late night look around the Association:

Before signing with the Kings this summer, Aaron Brooks was expecting to return to the Suns, who held the right to match offers for him until they pulled their qualifying offer to him in July, as Paul Coro and Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic report.
P.J. Tucker, whose contract with the Suns is partially guaranteed for $150K, has emerged as the team's best perimeter defender, coach Alvin Gentry said, according to Coro and Buchanan.
Camp invitee Alando Tucker is "nearly certain" to be let go by the Bucks, who have 15 other players on fully guaranteed deals, and is considering playing in Europe this season, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.
Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal argues that incoming Grizzlies owner Robert Pera should keep GM Chris Wallace around.
After the Spurs ran counter to coach Gregg Popovich's previous indication and cut both Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown today, Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News does his best to size up the remaining competitors for the end of the Spurs bench.
HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy identifies 15 players who have surprised with their performances in the preseason.
Alexey Shved will see significant minutes backing up Brandon Roy at shooting guard for the Wolves, but life in the NBA has been an adjustment on and off the court for the offseason signee from Russia, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune details.
The Clippers' signing of Matt Barnes looks shrewd now that Grant Hill is out with a bone bruise in his right knee, Ben Golliver of SI.com believes.

Mitch Kupchak On Howard, 2014, Nash

October 23rd, 2012 at 7:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

The acquisition of Dwight Howard may have received more fanfare, but Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak believes the sign-and-trade that brought Steve Nash aboard was the linchpin to the team's ballyhooed offseason, citing the enthusiasm others have for playing with a distributor like Nash, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports. The Nash deal wouldn't have been possible without last year's Lamar Odom trade, but Kupchak said he wasn't envisioning a summer like the team just had when he let Odom go last year. Kupchak shared plenty more with Medina, as we highlight here.

On whether Dwight Howard has told him he'll re-sign next year:

"I have not asked that question nor do I intend to ask the question. I hear he's embraced the city. Certainly, everything he says publicly is positive. But there really is nothing to pursue there from that point of view. It doesn't make any sense for him to do anything other than wait for this summer."

On what the Lakers must do to convince Howard to come back:

"Winning a championship wouldn't hurt. If we didn't win it this year, would that factor into his decision? I don't know. I would think that if he has a great year and there's great chemistry and the city embraces him like I think we do and will, I'm not sure it would be a factor. But that's something that he'll have to decide. He doesn't have to decide that now."

On 2014, when executive Jim Buss says the team plans to "make a big splash":

"Even if we sign back Dwight, we'll have cap flexibility. But I don't know who's going to be available two years down the road. I don't know what will happen in the next year or two. There may be a trade that comes along. Right now, we do have financial flexibility."

On the team's pursuit of Nash this past summer:

"When we were talking about it in the office, we said, 'Steve is on our list.' but I said, 'It's unlikely.' Jimmy said, 'Well, make the call.' I said, 'we'll make the call anyway, but don't get your hopes up.' He took the optimistic approach to it. Lo and behold, the unlikely took place."

NBA GMs Weigh In On 2012/13 Season

October 22nd, 2012 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

The results are in on NBA.com's annual survey of the league's general managers, with all 30 NBA GMs weighing in on dozens of questions about the 2012/13 season and the 2012 offseason. We won't round up all of their answers here, so feel free to check out the full results at NBA.com, but here are a few of the more notable responses:

70% of respondents believe the Heat will repeat as NBA champs, while 96.7% think Miami will win the Eastern Conference. Since GMs aren't allowed to vote for their own teams, that means the rest of the league's 29 GMs picked the Heat to come out of the East.
The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West, earning 60% of the votes. The Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%) were the only other teams mentioned.
LeBron James is the player most GMs would start a franchise with, earning 80% of the votes.
86.2% of GMs believe the Lakers made the best offseason moves, with Dwight Howard (70%) and Steve Nash (20%) earning the most votes for the summer addition who will make the biggest impact. Los Angeles' sign-and-trade for Nash was also voted the summer's most surprising move.
Besides the Lakers, the other teams receiving votes for the best offseason roster moves were the Nets, Hawks, and Warriors.
The Nets (62.1%) ran away with the votes on which team will be most improved, while Andre Iguodala (16.7%) topped the choices for most underrated acquisition — the Celtics' duo of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee also received support in that category.
Anthony Davis (76.7%) and Gregg Popovich (80%) were the runaway picks for rookie of the year and the NBA's best coach, respectively.

Odds & Ends: Howard, Ellis, Barnes, Sleepers

October 21st, 2012 at 7:53pm CST by Alex Lee

The news of the night is that Dwight Howard will make his Lakers debut tonight at the Staples Center against the Kings, tweets Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski. The offseason's biggest storyline was rumored to be on track to play tonight, but it is now official. Tip off is just over a half hour away. Here are some other odds and ends from around the league:

Monta Ellis, who was traded to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut this past season, has a new outlook in Milwaukee, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. Ellis is through worrying about personal accolades, he says, and is concentrated only on winning with his new team. Charania says that Ellis and Brandon Jennings are building chemistry, while adding that Ellis is expected to opt out of his deal after the year and Jennings could be a restricted free agent.
Given the Clippers roster, Matt Barnes didn't seem like the best fit when he signed with the team in September. But Barnes has been raising eyebrows in training camp and preseason, Broderick Turner of the LA Times writes.
The team of writers at HoopsWorld looks at which NBA team will be this years' biggest sleeper. Believe it or not, all five guys chose different teams. Here is the list: Raptors, Bucks, Nuggets, Warriors and Wizards.

Western Notes: Stephen Curry, Bogut, Spurs

October 20th, 2012 at 8:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Here are some rumblings out of the Western Conference tonight:

Grizzlies guard Wayne Ellington is in the final year of his rookie contract and aims to be more aggressive in order to earn consistent playing time in Memphis, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal).
Brad Townsend of SportsDayDFW discusses the importance of Rick Carlisle's leadership skills as it relates to the Mavericks' ability to succeed this season (subscribers only).
Kevin McHale commented on some of the coaching challenges he's encountered with his inexperienced Rockets team (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets notes).
According to this report from CSN Bay Area, Stephen Curry received no concerns from Dr. Richard Ferkel after the orthopedic surgeon evaluated his ankle today. Dr. Ferkel also checked out the progress of Andrew Bogut's left ankle and determined that his rehabilitation has been on schedule. Warriors GM Bob Myers says that while Bogut does not need clearance to participate in full-contact practice, the team wants to make sure that he is completely free of any pain or discomfort before they let him scrimmage.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters that the their final roster spot will come down to deciding between Derrick Brown and Eddy Curry (Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation reports).
Dwight Howard fully participated in today's practice with the Lakers and is prepared to make his debut tomorrow under the approval of their training staff (says Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN Los Angeles). Also, forward Jordan Hill was cleared to practice with the team today after being diagnosed with a herniated disk less than two weeks ago, and told reporters that he could possibly return before the season opener on October 30.
According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, forwards Louis Amundson and Dante Cunningham have emerged as "energy guys" for Rick Adelman and the Timberwolves.

Pacific Notes: Howard, Dragic, Johnson, Warriors

October 19th, 2012 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

A Thursday morning report about the possibility of the Lakers pursuing LeBron James in the summer of 2014 resulted in Jim Buss saying the Lakers are indeed hoping to make a splash in '14, and LeBron brushing off the speculation. While everyone wants to talk about the possibility of LeBron eventually heading west, there are other stories coming out of the Pacific Division, so let's round those up right here:

The summer's biggest trade acquisition, Dwight Howard, appears set to make his Lakers debut on Sunday against the Kings, according to Marc J. Spears and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The Suns aren't expecting offseason signee Goran Dragic to replace Steve Nash's production, as coach Alvin Gentry tells Derek Page of HoopsWorld: "We don’t really talk to him about replacing Steve. We could go through the whole league and they couldn’t replace Steve…. We all know what Steve brought to our team but now we’re trying to get ourselves in a situation where Goran can step into a role, where he feels confident in what he’s doing and he can become the best Goran Dragic. That’s what we’re trying to get him to do, which would be pretty good."
While Kings president Geoff Petrie says James Johnson's perimeter game needs to improve, he thinks Johnson, acquired this summer from the Raptors, "has the potential to really help us defensively," as he tells Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
In looking back at the Warriors' offseason, ESPN.com's John Hollinger (Insider link) says Draymond Green was one of his favorite players in the draft, but he's not a huge fan of the team's Carl Landry signing.

Pacific Notes: Suns, D12, Paul, Lakers, Fredette

October 16th, 2012 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's head to the west coast and round up a few of Tuesday's items out of the Pacific Division….

After waiving Othyus Jeffers, the Suns have more difficult roster decisions ahead of them, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Among those is deciding which big man to keep from a group that includes Ike Diogu, Solomon Jones, and Luke Zeller.
Although it appears that the Lakers and Clippers are the overwhelming favorites to re-sign Dwight Howard and Chris Paul respectively next summer, the two stars could conceivably decide to team up on a team like the Hawks, says ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Insider link).
The Lakers likely wouldn't have Steve Nash, Jordan Hill, and others on this year's roster if it weren't for a handful of small trades in the past, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times explains.
Jimmer Fredette's stock has fallen since he was selected 10th overall in the 2011 draft, but he's showing promise this preseason for the Kings, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Sacramento has two more weeks to exercise its $2.44MM option on Fredette for 2013/14.

Eastern Notes: Nets, Petro, Hinrich, Vesely

October 10th, 2012 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

We've already covered a few stories out of the Eastern Conference today, including Rashard Lewis' desire to play for five more years, the latest on Rasheed Wallace's timetable with the Knicks, and camp cuts by the Sixers and Cavaliers. Now, let's round up another handful of East-related links….

In the first episode of NBA TV's "The Association," which debuts next week, Nets GM Billy King says Deron Williams urged him not to wait on Dwight Howard and miss out on other opportunities to improve the roster, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.
Johan Petro tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that he wasn't caught off guard by the trade that sent him to the Hawks, though his destination was a bit of a surprise. "I knew Brooklyn was really trying to do something with Deron," Petro said. "I didn’t know half the team would be gone but I knew they were going to try and do something."
Though it's been two years since he played for the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich is already feeling comfortable again in Chicago, and his teammates, new and old, are glad to have him on board. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com has the details.
With Wizards owner Ted Leonsis recently conceding that his team is better equipped to develop its own stars rather than recruit them, Washington will be looking for continued growth from Jan Vesely this season, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post.
Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald examines Dionte Christmas' quest to earn a spot on the Celtics' roster.

Pacific Rumors: Paul, Howard, Warriors, Suns

October 9th, 2012 at 4:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers were thought to be in the market for an extra big man earlier today, but they found out later that Jordan Hill won't need surgery on his back and should be ready for the regular season opener. Hill, of course, isn't the only Laker post player recovering from a back injury, and the team continues to get encouraging news on Dwight Howard as well. We've got more on him and other news from around the Pacific Division.

Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at what it will take for the Clippers to convince Chris Paul, a free agent at season's end, to stay.
Howard has been cleared to go five-on-five for limited minutes in practice, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times. That seemed to be the final barrier between Howard and his return from back surgery, and it would take a "major setback" for Howard not to be in the lineup on opening night, opines Markazi (Twitter link).
Warriors coach Mark Jackson has high praise for rookie Festus Ezeli, who's competing with Andris Biedrins for the backup center job. "He was spectacular. He is the real deal. I can't believe he was there at (pick number) 30," Jackson said, as Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle passes along the same quote, and adds Jackson's comments about Harrison Barnes, whom the coach also believes is better than advertised.
Thompson shares his insight on the competition to start at small forward for the Warriors, which he says is down to Barnes and Brandon Rush, with Rush having the inside track, sources say (Sulia link).
Jermaine O'Neal, who signed a minimum-salary deal with the Suns, says training camp in Phoenix is much different from his experience with the Celtics, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes.

Lakers Rumors: Howard, Bryant, Nash, Jackson

October 8th, 2012 at 11:07am CST by Chuck Myron

It's unclear exactly when Dwight Howard will make his debut in purple and gold. Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports the All-Star center has backed off earlier remarks that he was hopeful he would play in the preseason, and though Lakers coach Mike Brown in impressed with the way Howard looks in practice, there's still no timetable for his return from back surgery. Howard quipped with reporters who asked if he might sit out the regular season opener, saying, "You're not going to trick me into that one," Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. While we await word just when he'll be playing, there's other news surrounding Howard and his new teammates.

About the blockbuster trade that brought him to Los Angeles, Howard said, "This is one of the best things that has happened in my life," SB Nation's Mike Prada notes, via Twitter (hat tip to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel).
Howard had a relationship with Kobe Bryant long before the trade that brought the big man to L.A., as SI.com's Sam Amick writes. "What people don't know is that this is one of the guys who I've been talking to for about four years now," Howard said of Bryant. "And he has been an amazing help to me, just pushing me in ways — secretly because we played in the Eastern and Western Conference. But it's been him just talking to me, showing me how to do certain things with my team and things like that."
Steve Nash is forming a bond with Bryant as well, who says he's happy to let the former Sun manage the Lakers offense, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports. "He just makes the game easy," Bryant said. "It's a joy for me. I've had to facilitate and score my entire career. I don't have to do that now and I'm pretty happy about it."
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register takes a look at how Nash is already making his new teammates better.
Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson hinted that he'd like to return to the NBA in a front office capacity on ESPN Chicago's Waddle and Silvy radio show, saying that coaching would be too taxing on his 67-year-old body (transcription via Steven Cuce of Sports Radio Interviews).