Festus Ezeli Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Jordan, World Peace, Barnes

August 26th, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The violation of NBA rules against third-party endorsement offers in a pitch the Clippers made to DeAndre Jordan this summer was unintentional, owner Steve Ballmer wrote in an internal memo he sent to members of the Clippers organization that Dan Woike of the Orange County Register obtained. The league fined the Clippers $250K, reportedly for offering Jordan a endorsement deal with Lexus that would pay the center $200K annually.

“As I shared with everyone on day one of purchasing the Team, being part of the Clippers family means operating with the highest integrity,” Ballmer wrote in part. “We believed we were doing this the right way, and any circumvention was inadvertent. In our effort to support our players in every way possible, we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA.”

See more from around the Pacific Division:

Metta World Peace told TMZ Sports that he’s unaware if the Lakers are thinking about signing him, as reports indicate. The 15-year NBA veteran who turns 36 in November nonetheless expressed interest in joining the team.
The four-year, $52MM extension deal Michael Kidd-Gilchrist reportedly has with the Hornets will affect extension negotiations between the Warriors and Harrison Barnes, opines Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Kidd-Gilchrist has a decent chance to prove more valuable than Barnes in the long run, but the playoff success and durability of Barnes leads Kawakami to second the belief of TNT’s David Aldridge that Barnes and agent Jeff Wechsler will target salaries of at least $15MM (Twitter link). Kawakami suggests $14MM a year as a settling point but believes the threat of a $17-18MM offer sheet from another team looms if the Warriors let him enter restricted free agency next summer.
Kawakami suggests in the same piece that market price for Festus Ezeli would be between $9-11MM. GM Bob Myers recently told Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com that the Warriors would consider the idea of an extension for the backup center, and the team would indeed sign Ezeli to an extension if he’s willing to do so at an agreeable price, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported this week.

Western Notes: Waiters, Ezeli, Withey

August 25th, 2015 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder are open to the idea of a rookie scale extension for Dion Waiters, but only if the shooting guard is willing to give them a discount, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. That casts doubt on whether the former No. 4 overall pick would sign before the deadline this fall, particularly coming off a career-low scoring average this past season.

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

The Warriors would sign Festus Ezeli to a rookie scale extension if the price is right, Kyler also relays. GM Bob Myers recently indicated to Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com that the team would consider the idea of doing a deal with the backup center that would keep him out of restricted free agency next summer.
The two-year pact that Jeff Withey inked with the Jazz includes a partial guarantee of $200K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
Mavericks swingman Wesley Matthews told Mavs.com scribe Bobby Karalla (on Twitter) that he will be ready to play come opening night. The shooting guard tore his left Achilles tendon on March 5th, and missed the last 22 games of the 2014/15 season. Matthews inked a four-year max deal with Dallas this offseason.
The most likely scenario for the Jazz heading into training camp will be for the team to stand pat and continue to carry just four point guards on its roster, Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Utah, in the wake of the season-ending injury Dante Exum suffered, plans on going with Trey Burke as the starter, and will utilize Raul Neto and Bryce Cotton as the reserves. The Jazz are said to be interested in acquiring Wizards guard Garrett Temple, but Washington reportedly isn’t in any rush to part with the 29-year-old.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

D-League Moves: Mavs, Warriors, Cavs, Magic

February 2nd, 2015 at 6:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mavs reserve point guard Ricky Ledo was in a three-way tie for the most D-League assignments this season when I examined D-League trends last week, but he’d been stuck on eight assignments for a while. He’d spent the early part of the season pinging back and forth between the Mavericks and the D-League Texas Legends, but his latest assignment stretched nearly a month. It’s over as of today, as the Mavs have recalled him, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The end of the stint, which began January 9th, is likely tied to Rajon Rondo‘s broken nose and orbital bone that will sideline the All-Star for at least three games. Ledo is far from the only one on the move today, as we detail:

Festus Ezeli has returned to the Warriors from his first D-League assignment of the season, the team announced. The former 30th overall pick blocked a total of six shots over 42 minutes in two games with the Santa Cruz Warriors, but he averaged only 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.
The shuttle continues for Joe Harris, whom the Cavaliers have recalled from his fourth D-League stint in the past two weeks, the team announced. The rookie swingman has put up 18.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 34.3 MPG in four D-League appearances this season, all of them since January 21st.
The Magic have assigned Devyn Marble to the D-League for the second time this year, the team announced. The 56th pick from the 2014 draft, who’s started seven NBA games this season, spent nearly a week in the D-League a month ago, averaging 20.0 PPG in 38.0 MPG.
Former first-round picks Reggie Bullock and Archie Goodwin are officially back with the Suns after twin D-League assignments that began January 29th, the team announced. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reported Sunday that the recalls would take place.
The Clippers will reassign C.J. Wilcox to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link). Wilcox has appeared in five games for Fort Wayne this season, averaging 13.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest.

And-Ones: Heat, D-League, Brown, Knicks

January 28th, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Knicks coach Derek Fisher said that it was very important for New York to sign Louis Amundson and Lance Thomas for the remainder of the season, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link). Both players are inked to 10-day deals that expire this week. In five appearances for the Knicks this season, Thomas has averaged 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game. Amundson has also made five appearances for New York, and his averages are 4.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per night.

Here’s more from around the league:

All of the injuries that the Heat have endured this season haven’t allowed the team to see how effective its intended roster could be, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. “The most disappointing thing is we’re not even having a chance to be at full strength, to even see what we could do,” said Miami center Chris Bosh. “Not 100%, but just at least have most of our guys. It just seems like every time we’re about to turn the corner, there’s a drawback. And it is what it is. I can’t really say anything else.”
The Cavaliers have recalled Joe Harris from the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was Harris’ third jaunt of the season to the D-League. Harris has played in two games for the Charge this season, averaging 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 39.5 minutes per game.
The Warriors have assigned center Festus Ezeli to the Santa Cruz Warriors, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced in a press release. Ezeli has missed the last 16 games with an ankle sprain. Golden State also announced that it has recalled Ognjen Kuzmic, who concludes his fifth sojourn of the season in Santa Cruz.
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, Basketball Insiders’ Cody Taylor looked at some players whom the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic, and Wizards could be willing to deal.
Lorenzo Brown will earn $48K from his 10-day contract with the Wolves, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). One-year veterans, like Brown, and rookies cost their teams slightly less than other players when they sign 10-day contracts, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors explained earlier this month.

Warriors Pick Up Option On Festus Ezeli

October 30th, 2014 at 6:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 6:09pm: Golden State has officially exercised Ezeli’s option, the team has announced.

WEDNESDAY, 9:13am: The Warriors will exercise their team option to keep Festus Ezeli on his rookie scale contract through 2015/16, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Ezeli will make nearly $2.009MM that season, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. The club also has 2015/16 rookie scale team options pending with Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Nedovic, with a decision due by the end of Friday.

Ezeli missed all of 2013/14 after undergoing right knee surgery, but he played a key role the previous year as a rookie, starting 41 games. He averaged 2.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per contest over 78 appearances during the season as a whole. The now 25-year-old Ezeli saw just 15 minutes total in two preseason games this month, but it appears the Warriors are willing to let him prove his health over a longer period of time before giving up on the final pick of the 2012 first round.

Golden State is facing a salary crunch for the 2015/16 season, as Ezeli’s option will lift the team’s guaranteed salaries to about $58.1MM. That doesn’t include any money for Klay Thompson, who’s pushing for the maximum salary in extension talks with the team. A max deal for Thompson and picking up the team option on Barnes would put Golden State at roughly $77MM in guaranteed salary to eight players, and that doesn’t count a nearly $1.271MM player option for Brandon Rush and assumes the team turns down Nedovic’s option. That figure would put Golden State above this season’s $76.829MM luxury tax line, and while that line is expected to rise for 2015/16, it’s unclear by how much.

Pacific Rumors: Hawes, Gasol, Frye, Warriors

July 1st, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

Free agent Spencer Hawes met with Warriors GM Bob Myers in Los Angeles, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The Warriors have a trade exception that they could use in a sign-and-trade scenario for the big man. Next up for Hawes will be a meeting with Clippers‘ coach/president Doc Rivers. More from the Pacific..

A source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) that Hawes will meet with the Lakers while he’s in Los Angeles.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak met with free agent forward Pau Gasol in person on Tuesday, a league source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). The meeting took place at an L.A. office building and lasted “a few hours” (link).
The Warriors contacted the agent for free agent big man Channing Frye, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. The W’s have also gotten calls on young assets Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Festus Ezeli, but haven’t jumped on any of the proposed deals.
Despite early interest in Hawes and Frye, the Warriors are turning their concentration towards signing a backup point guard, a source tells David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter).

Warriors Pick Up ’14/15 Options On Thompson, Barnes, Ezeli

October 25th, 2013 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have officially exercised their team options for 2014/15 on three players, according to a release from the team. The contracts for Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and Festus Ezeli are all now guaranteed for the ’14/15 season.

For Thompson, it’s his fourth-year option, meaning he’ll be eligible for a contract extension next July. Barnes and Ezeli will be entering their third season, so the Warriors will hold one more team option on both players for 2015/16. Thompson and Barnes will earn a little over $3MM in ’14/15, while Ezeli’s guaranteed salary will be about $1.11MM.

For the latest updates on rookie contract option decisions, check out our tracker right here.

Odds & Ends: Dumars, Will Bynum, Camby, Pierce

June 13th, 2013 at 5:56pm CST by Ryan Raroque

When Pistons general manager Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson's expiring contract in 2008, the cap space it later created was ultimately used on the free agent signings of Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon during the summer of 2009. At the time, Villanueva agreed to an offer worth $35MM over five seasons, while Gordon signed on for $55MM over five seasons. Unfortunately, Villanueva's scoring averages and minutes dipped every season since then, whereas Gordon struggled to consistently regain the form that had made him an enticing commodity in Chicago and was later traded to Charlotte. Now set to be equipped with significant cap room this offseason, Dumars implied that he'll be very conscientious about what he'll do with the flexibility:

"What we don’t want to do is use all of it for the sake of it. You want to use it wisely" (Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News relayed the quote via tweet).

Here's more from around the Association:

Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press hears that the Knicks and Lakers have expressed interest in Pistons free agent point guard Will Bynum (Twitter link).
Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York reports that Marcus Camby has no plans of retiring and is currently preparing to return next season with a bigger role in the Knicks' rotation.
While the Celtics ponder over whether or not to pick up the last year of Paul Pierce's deal or buy him out for $5MM, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News heard from one Eastern Conference GM that people in Pierce's camp are readying themselves for free agency. Hoopsworld's Eric Pincus has heard rumblings that if the veteran forward is let out of his contract with Boston, he'd have interest in joining the Clippers (Twitter link).
Warriors center Festus Ezeli underwent successful surgery yesterday to reinforce the MCL and PCL in his right knee, as per the team's official website. The timetable for recovery is expected to be a minimum of six to nine months. With Ezeli out, Andrew Bogut plagued by injuries, and Andris Biedrins seemingly lost in the fold, Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area tweets that Golden State is clearly in the market for a big man.
Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.net tweets that former 2011 second round pick Davis Bertans (whose draft rights are currently owned by the Spurs) suffered a torn ACL but should be able to return later this year. The 6'10 forward is in the second of a three-and-a-half year deal with KK Partizan of the Serbian League.

Jerry West Talks Warriors, Bogut, Ezeli, Lakers

October 11th, 2012 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Lakers and Grizzlies executive Jerry West is now a part of the Warriors' front office, the team's head consultant under owner Joe Lacob. West recently appeared on KBNR in San Francisco to discuss the Warriors' disappointing 2011/12 season, his optimism for the coming year, and his thoughts on the new-look Lakers. Here are a few highlights from West, courtesy of Sports Radio Interviews:

On why the Warriors underachieved in 2011/12:

"Last year the season was kind of cobbled, thrown together and the teams that were going to be good were the teams that had veteran players because they had been there before. They had played together before, knew each other’s personality and probably didn’t have a coaching change."

On the improvements the team has made over the last few months:

"I look at our backcourt and I say to myself, 'Oh my gosh, what a change from over a year ago.' We added Jarrett Jack, a very solid player and a productive player; Klay Thompson who is going to be a terrific player in this league; Steph Curry is back and healthy. And then I look up front and say, 'Oh my gosh, we went from a midget team to [one that's] big and strong.' I’m excited about all of those things."

On the additions of big men Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli:

"[Bogut]'s a tremendous player. He led the league in blocked shots a couple of years ago, I think, but he is probably the best passing center in basketball, and he’s a big, tough guy. He really knows how to play. I just look at his size and the Ezeli kid, who we think is going to be a terrific young backup — can you imagine going off a screen with guys that size?"

On whether the Lakers will live up to the hype:

"I think they’ve added some interesting pieces down there and I would never discount any team with Kobe Bryant on it. I would never do that. But I think it’s going to be a bigger challenge and I think defensively they will still be challenged…. On paper, they look terrific."

Western Notes: Warriors, Lakers, Davis

September 27th, 2012 at 9:39pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group summarized Warriors GM Bob Myers' meeting with the local media today, and writes that the team has very important decisions to make in the near future. Thompson mentions that Golden State has the ability to significantly be under the salary cap in two years, but will also have to deal with the possible contract extensions of Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut in addition to deciding the futures of players that are still on their rookie-scale deals. "The players can stay as long as they want if we win…but if we don't win, maybe some things do get turned over," said Myers.

With that being said, we have a few more links to share with you tonight out of the Western Conference:

Andrew Bogut is on schedule to play on opening night and possibly in some pre-season games, although the Australian center has not yet been cleared for five-on-five scrimmages yet, writes Rusty Simmons of SF Gate. GM Bob Myers also talked about Festus Ezeli, adding that he is a "team-first" guy who gives multiple efforts make him a quality prospect. Myers chose to remain neutral on Andris Biedrins not showing up for voluntary pre-training camp workouts, but added that he will have the opportunity to compete in camp and that his role will ultimately be left up to head coach Mark Jackson.
Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles thinks that the last three roster spots on the Lakers will ultimately be decided between Andrew Goudelock, Darius Morris, Darius Johnson-Odom, and Robert Sacre (Twitter link). In another tweet, Markazi says that Goudelock seems to be the odd man out at this point.
Hornets rookie Anthony Davis spoke about what he took away from his experiences at the Olympics, teaming with Robin Lopez this season, and head coach Monty Williams' expectations (Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune reports).
Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com spoke with Nuggets assistant coach Melvin Hunt to evaluate Jordan Hamilton's rookie season and what he was told to work on this summer.