Evan Turner Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Notes: Turner, Bentil, Georges-Hunt

September 8th, 2016 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters recently prior to an ABCD Hoops Dream fundraiser in Boston, Celtics coach Brad Stevens admitted he’s “antsy” for training camp began, adding that he’s looking forward to putting the team’s puzzle pieces together to form the best possible roster and rotation. As Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com details, Stevens also suggested that the departure of Evan Turner will be a big loss for the team.

“That’s going to be a tough role to fill. He was a heck of a player for us,” Stevens said. “He made huge plays at the end of games. He made big, big shots. His shooting percentages were not always great but, when the game was on the line and the clock was winding down, you felt like it had a good chance of going in. He made free throws late in games and he guarded two or three positions. Time will tell; we’ll find out. We’ve got a lot of guys that will get an opportunity to step up and fill his void, but it is a void.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Do rookies Ben Bentil and Marcus Georges-Hunt have a shot at making the Celtics’ 2016/17 regular-season roster? A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tackles that question in a pair of pieces profiling the young duo, concluding that both Bentil and Georges-Hunt are probably more likely to land with the Maine Red Claws than the C’s to start the season.
Celtics big man Amir Johnson spoke to Dave Zarum of Sportsnet.ca about how he adjusted to a new city and a new team during his first year in Boston. Johnson also expressed optimism about Boston’s roster, calling Stevens a “brilliant” coach who is “going to put us in the right position to be successful for sure.”
In an interesting piece for The Boston Globe, Adam Himmelsbach explains how the Celtics’ coaches keep in touch and connect with the team’s players during the offseason. Members of Stevens’ staff frequently make one-on-one visits with individual players, including new additions like Al Horford and Jaylen Brown.

Celtics Notes: Iverson, Zeller, Olynyk

August 25th, 2016 at 9:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have renounced their rights to center Colton Iverson, their 2013 second-round draft pick, a source told ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg. The 27-year-old Iverson played for the Celtics’ summer-league team but had virtually no chance of making the roster this season with 19 players under contract, including 16 with guaranteed deals, Forsberg continues. By renouncing his rights, the Celtics are giving the 7-footer a chance to receive a training camp invite with another team that doesn’t have a frontcourt logjam and an overabundance of contracts, Forsberg adds. Iverson, who has played in Turkey and Spain the past three seasons, was the No. 53 overall selection in 2013 after the Celtics bought the pick from the Pacers.

In other news regarding the Celtics:

Center Tyler Zeller re-signed with the club for two years and $16MM this summer but his role is undefined, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com examines. Zeller’s ability to run the floor makes him a candidate to start at some point during the season but he’s not enough of an offensive threat to remain in the lineup, Blakely speculates. His playing time will fluctuate and there may be games where he doesn’t play at all, Blakely adds.
Big man Kelly Olynyk believes the club will miss swingman Evan Turner in a number of ways this season, Forsberg reports in a separate story. Turner, who signed a four-year contract with the Trail Blazers as a free agent this summer, was not only a rotation player but a strong influence in the locker room, according to Olynyk. “He’s somebody who really helps guys out. I think that his voice, that’s something that people respect,” Olynyk told Forsberg. “He just keeps it real, keeps it 100 (percent) every time you talk to him. You know what you’re getting from him.” The link to the interview can be found here.

Blazers Notes: Whiteside, Aminu, Turner, Offseason

August 4th, 2016 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

As we detailed on Tuesday, the Trail Blazers blew away their Northwest rivals when it came to offseason spending, committing more than $242MM ($234MM+ guaranteed) to free agent contracts. By comparison, the other four Northwest clubs combined to commit about $85MM to free agents. And the Blazers’ total doesn’t even include the $106MM extension that the club handed out to C.J. McCollum last week.

Considering so many of the Blazers’ big signings were players who were already on the team’s roster, it remains to be seen whether the franchise will take another step forward in the Western Conference picture this season. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com examined the situation in Portland in his latest column, and passed along a few interesting tidbits, so let’s round them up…

According to Lowe, the Blazers would have liked to make a run at Hassan Whiteside in free agency, but were “spurned” by the young center, who didn’t waste much time in agreeing to a new deal with the Heat. With Whiteside no longer in play, the Blazers could have pursued another center like Dwight Howard, Bismack Biyombo, or Ian Mahinmi, but ultimately went in another direction.
The Blazers’ decision to sign McCollum, Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner, Maurice Harkless, and Meyers Leonard to pricey long-term contracts means that the team won’t have any cap room to work with for the foreseeable future. “Good players on favorable contracts are more valuable to us than cap room,” Blazers GM Neil Olshey said. “Especially in an era where all 30 teams have cap room — or the ability to get it. … With our interest in extending C.J., we weren’t going to be a cap room team next year, anyway.”
As Lowe observes, the Blazers are currently projected to be in luxury-tax territory in 2017/18 and perhaps 2018/19 as well. However, he notes that if the new Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a new amnesty clause for each team, as the last CBA did, Portland could have an opportunity to avoid that fate.
Stotts tells Lowe that the Blazers intend to play Al-Farouq Aminu almost exclusively at power forward rather than small forward. As Lowe points out, that could be bad news for Noah Vonleh.
Damian Lillard‘s work ethic helps dictate the culture of selflessness in Portland, which will help ensure that all the players with huge new contracts will continue to work hard. Sources tell Lowe that when one recent draft pick entered the NBA “carrying a whiff of entitlement,” the Portland coaching staff pointed to Lillard and essentially said: “He’s way better than you, and he’s working harder.”
Olshey on the Blazers paying $70MM+ to both Crabbe and Turner: “The way the game is being played, plus the dearth of available wings, made us willing to pay a premium for two impact players that fit our model.” The GM is also confident that Turner will improve his outside shooting in Portland.

Trail Blazers Notes: Leonard, Crabbe, Free Agency

July 23rd, 2016 at 2:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Power forward Meyers Leonard is hopeful that he can return to action by the start of the regular season, he told Brian Wheeler and Michael Holton from Blazers.com. The 7’1” Leonard suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in mid-March and underwent surgery later that month. Leonard will be re-evaluated at the beginning of August and believes that he’ll be cleared for contact and one-on-one drills during the middle of training camp, Leonard added in the interview. Despite the injury, the Blazers re-signed Leonard to a four-year, $41MM deal after he entered the market as a restricted free agent.

In other developments around the Trail Blazers:

President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey never balked at matching the monstrous four-year, $75MM offer sheet the Nets handed to Allen Crabbe, he told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The 24-year-old shooting guard averaged 10.3 points as the team’s sixth man last season and cashed in on a free agent bonanza. “It was never a question. We don’t draft guys here to let them walk away or we don’t take it for granted,” Olshey said. “I think you’ve seen the commitment we’ve made to the guys we’ve drafted.”
In the same story, Olshey indicated he accomplished his offseason goals by retaining Leonard and Crabbe while adding two outside free agents, swingman Evan Turner and center Festus Ezeli. “I think we maximized our cap room,” Olshey said. “We had some holes, maybe not positionally, but in terms of skill-set, that we identified. We were able to do, I think, a pretty admirable job in free agency.”
The Blazers have their deepest roster since Olshey joined the franchise in 2012, Mike Richman of The Oregonian opines. Ezeli and Leonard will join Mason Plumlee, Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu in the frontcourt rotation while backcourt starters Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have solid backups in Crabbe and Turner, who will also see playing time at small forward, Richman points out. They could be even deeper if they retain restricted free agent forward Moe Harkless, Richman adds.

And-Ones: Turner, Whiteside, Parsons, Rubio

July 1st, 2016 at 7:50pm CST by Luke Adams

In an interesting interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Evan Turner explained how he ended up reaching an agreement with the Trail Blazers earlier today, expressing confidence that he’ll be a great fit in Portland. Turner suggested that he’d “play in Boston every single day of the week” if all other factors were equal, but the Celtics would have only have offered him about half what the Blazers did, and the C’s likely would’ve reduced his role as well.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

Hassan Whiteside‘s max salary isn’t set in stone yet, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the young center would be willing to take a little less if Kevin Durant wants to sign with the Heat.
Chandler Parsons called his decision to sign with the Grizzlies the toughest of his life, calling Portland “incredible” and citing Memphis’ coaching staff as a major factor in his choice. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has the quotes from Parsons.
Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press is skeptical that the Timberwolves will trade Ricky Rubio this summer, tweeting that head coach Tom Thibodeau wants to work with the point guard. Krawczynski expects Rubio to be on Minnesota’s roster when training camp rolls around.
Dubbed last week as the favorites to reach a deal with Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Nets are are still trying to get a deal done with Rodriguez, but sources tell Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that an agreement looks “unlikely.”
The Thunder issued a press release today confirming the hiring of Adrian Griffin as an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff, as was reported last month. Vin Bhavnani and former NBA guard Royal Ivey also received promotions and are now assistant coaches, per the team.

Latest On Al Horford, Celtics

July 1st, 2016 at 5:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics will meet with Al Horford later tonight in Atlanta and the team intends to put a max offer on the table, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder will be among the attendees present at the meeting, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders and Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter links).

Danny Ainge seems confident about his chances of signing Horford, as Evan Turner told Himmelsbach (full-length piece). Ainge told Turner that he was interested in having Turner re-sign with the team, but Boston was going to go after Horford and Kevin Durant before making an offer to the versatile wing. Turner worked out with Kyle Korver on Thursday and Korver told him that Horford would be re-signing with Atlanta. However, earlier today, Turner received a text message from Korver, asking him to call, and Turner had a sense that something had changed, Himmelsback writes. The Hawks signed Dwight Howard to a three-year, $70MM deal today, so perhaps the franchise was under the same impression.

Horford reportedly met with the Rockets earlier today and it’s unclear if any other teams have sat down with the former Florida Gator. Horford reportedly would like to stay in Atlanta and the team would like to bring the big man back. However, the team’s reluctance to offer a fifth year may drive Horford to sign elsewhere, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com previously reported.

The Celtics have a meeting lined up with Durant on Saturday and if they can sign Horford, that would make Boston a more desirable destination for the 2013/14 MVP either this summer or next, Bulpett adds. Boston has relatively easy path to opening up enough cap space to sign both Horford and Durant to max contracts. The team would simply need to decline Jonas Jerebko‘s and Amir Johnson‘s respective team options and renounce the rights to both Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller.

Horford would be a perfect fit in Boston, as one anonymous coach told Bulpett. “Look at what they were trying to do with [Jared] Sullinger, and now put a guy in that spot who can make the shots. That would change their offense big-time,” the coach told Bulpett.

In addition to the Celtics, Hawks, and Rockets, Horford is receiving interest from the Thunder, Lakers, Magic, Pistons, Wizards, and Nets. The Heat were reportedly interested, but they are likely out of the running after agreeing to re-sign Hassan Whiteside.

Blazers Sign Evan Turner To Four-Year Deal

July 1st, 2016 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7th, 12:22am: The deal is official, the team announced.

JULY 1st, 2:30pm: With Chandler Parsons no longer in play, the Trail Blazers have landed another one of their top perimeter free agents, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Portland has reached an agreement with Evan Turner on a four-year deal worth about $70MM. As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton tweets, that’s about the most the Blazers could have offered a player without renouncing any of their own key free agents.

A former second overall pick, Turner has never developed into a star player, but the 27-year-old has been a solid role player for the Celtics over the last couple years. In 2015/16, he averaged 10.5 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and a .456 field-goal percentage.

The Knicks, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Lakers, Grizzlies, and Celtics had been mentioned as potential suitors for Turner, with Portland’s interest having been kept relatively under wraps. As noted above, Turner appeared to be a fallback option for the Blazers after Parsons turned down a max offer from the team.

Even after reaching a big-money agreement with Turner, the Blazers aren’t done free agent shopping. According to Wojnarowski, Portland has also made an “aggressive” offer to big man Pau Gasol. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com first reported that the Blazers had interest in Gasol.

If Portland lands Gasol, it seems likely that at least a couple of the club’s restricted free agents will end up elsewhere. The Blazers currently have qualifying offers out to Allen Crabbe, Meyers Leonard, and Maurice Harkless.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA Rumors: Turner, Batum, Gasol, Lin, Kings

July 1st, 2016 at 12:08am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Lakers, and Grizzlies are in the mix for Evan Turner, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. No meetings have been finalized yet for Turner, but it sounds like he’ll meet with at least a few of those suitors. According to Deveney, there’s also still a possibility that the Celtics will re-enter the picture for Turner.

Here are more free agent updates from around the NBA:

Unsurprisingly, Nicolas Batum, who has generated interest from Dallas, New York, Charlotte, and a few other teams, is seeking a max contract, tweets Deveney.
According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves are expected to be among the suitors for Pau Gasol, who has also been linked to Golden State, New York, and San Antonio.
Jeremy Lin‘s price tag is expected to be in the neighborhood of $12-14MM per year, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter).
The Kings have expressed interest in Dion Waiters and Allen Crabbe, per Wojnarowski (link via RealGM.com). Sacramento has also reached out to Courtney Lee, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
Jazz free agent Trevor Booker is drawing interest from multiple teams and is expected to have a starting salary around $10MM, sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

Free Agent Notes: Batum, Parsons, Anderson

June 30th, 2016 at 6:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Chandler Parsons reportedly seeking a max contract and the Mavs unwilling to pony up that amount, there is virtually “no chance” that the forward will return to Dallas next season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. Parsons has added meetings with the Lakers and the Grizzlies to his agenda, the scribe writes. A max contract for Parsons with the Mavs, who own his early Bird rights, would be worth $98.8MM over four years. Other teams can offer him a maximum of $94.8MM over the same span, MacMahon notes.

With NBA free agency set to get underway with a vengeance at midnight, here are the latest news, notes and rumblings from around the league:

Unrestricted free agent swingman Nicolas Batum has scheduled face-to-face meetings with the Hornets and Mavericks in Dallas and will talk to the Knicks, Lakers and Wizards via phone, MacMahon tweets.
The Knicks are one of the teams scheduled to meet with Evan Turner once free agency kicks off, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (Twitter links). The scribe also notes that the Pelicans have strong interest in signing Turner, but Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets that no meeting between the swingman and New Orleans has been set at this time.
The Timberwolves are interested in signing Knicks unrestricted free agent forward Lance Thomas for a bench role, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN relays (on Twitter). Minnesota will have some competition for Thomas’ services, with New York reportedly interested in re-signing the player and the Thunder, Nets and Mavericks all expected to make a play for the 28-year-old.
The Sixers are interested in bringing back Ish Smith as a reserve for next season, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
Unrestricted free agent power forward Jon Leuer has received interest from the Knicks, Lakers and Suns, Wolfson tweets. The 27-year-old made 67 appearances for Phoenix this past season and averaged 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per outing.
The Nets have a glaring hole at power forward after trading Thaddeus Young and may make a run at unrestricted free agent Ryan Anderson, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter). The Rockets are trying to schedule a meeting with Anderson for this weekend, adds Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Point guard Rajon Rondo has a meeting scheduled with the Nets, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
The Trail Blazers have a face-to-face meeting scheduled in Los Angeles on Friday with Parsons and Portland guard Damian Lillard is expected to be in attendance, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group relays (via Twitter).
The Heat‘s free agent pitches will include the optimism of a return to action next season for big man Chris Bosh and the organizational stability provided by coach Erik Spoelstra, writes Michael Wallace of ESPN.com.

Free Agent Rumors: Mavs, Batum, Mozgov, Lee

June 30th, 2016 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

With July less than 10 hours away, free agent rumors around the NBA are heating up. Let’s dive right in and round up the latest…

With a Chandler Parsons departure appearing increasingly likely, the Mavericks are expected to meet with Nicolas Batum once free agency begins, according to Tim MacMahon and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. Dallas’ ideal outcome in free agency would be to land Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, which wouldn’t leave cap room for Batum. But the team is doing its homework and is prepared to quickly move on to Plan B if Conley and/or Whiteside decide not to sign with Dallas.
The Rockets, Heat, Warriors, and Spurs are among the teams with interest in Timofey Mozgov, joining the Cavaliers and Knicks, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports adds (via Twitter) that the Lakers also could be in play for Mozgov, depending on how free agency plays out.
We can add the Magic to the list of teams that will express interest in Eric Gordon, per Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, who clarifies that Orlando still remains very invested in re-signing Evan Fournier (Twitter links). Earlier today, a report indicated that Houston, Memphis, New York, and New Orleans are eyeing Gordon.
There are increasing indications that coveted free agent wing Kent Bazemore won’t begin holding meetings for interested teams until after July 4th, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (via Twitter).
The Knicks have some level of interest in pending free agent Courtney Lee, according to Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. New York appears to be focusing its efforts on adding a big man – possibly Joakim Noah – and a wing in free agency.
According to Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com, Evan Turner has expressed interest in about six NBA teams, including the Lakers and Celtics. It’s not clear whether Turner’s interest is reciprocated in each of those instances.