Glen Rice Jr. Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: I. Thomas, BIG3, Rice, Bolomboy

April 10th, 2018 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

After his career year for the Celtics in 2016/17, Isaiah Thomas was traded to the Cavaliers before struggling in Cleveland being sent to the Lakers. Of those three teams, Frank Urbina of HoopsHype views the Lakers as the most likely to offer Thomas a new contract for 2018/19 this summer. However, L.A. won’t be the only potential fit for the high-scoring guard.

Urbina identifies the Bulls, Spurs, and Knicks as other teams that could potentially be landing spots for Thomas in free agency this offseason. In each case, Urbina views Thomas as a potential one- or two-year stopgap at the point guard position. For the Spurs, Urbina explains, Thomas could help bridge the gap between Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray, while in Chicago or New York, he could mentor youngsters Kris Dunn or Frank Ntilikina, respectively.

As we look forward to seeing which direction Thomas’ free agency takes, let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Ice Cube’s three-on-three BIG3 league is increasing its reach on the court, but the league has faced turmoil off the court within the last year. Rick Maese of The Washington Post breaks down the bizarre story of the BIG3’s off-court drama that includes Qatari investors, a fired commissioner (Roger Mason Jr.), and a billion-dollar lawsuit.
Top Israeli team Hapoel Holon has cut star player Glen Rice Jr. after he punched a teammate in the face, according to an Associated Press report. Rice, the son of former Heat star Glen Rice, had been the Israeli League’s leading scorer with more than 24 PPG this season.
Last week, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports presented a list of NBA assistant coaches who are viewed as potential head coaches by executives around the league. Former Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale gave Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated a list of his own suggestions for head coaching candidates, with a focus on black assistants around the NBA.
Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow has shown interest in acquiring former NBA big man Joel Bolomboy for next season, a source tells Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Bolomboy, who saw limited action for the Jazz and Bucks over the last two seasons, has also received interest from China, per Cauchi.

Western Notes: Blazers, Rondo, Thunder

February 28th, 2015 at 12:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers, who have an empty roster spot, are more likely to sign a younger player who they could possibly develop for a role off the bench next season than bring in a veteran, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. There are a few NBA D-League players who Portland could target, including Seth Curry and Glen Rice Jr., or the team may look to ink Jordan Hamilton if the Clippers don’t sign him for the remainder of the season, Young notes. Hamilton was recently inked to his first 10-day contract of the season with Los Angeles.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Despite his recent one game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team that resulted from a dust up with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, Rajon Rondo is committed to helping Dallas to contend for a title this season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “I’m going to do what’s best for the team and play my heart out for these next 22 games we have left, and [help] make a run in the playoffs,” Rondo said. “We’ve moved forward and our team has moved forward, and we’ve got a game to look forward to tomorrow. You know, I’m playing with some great players, with the addition of Amar’e [Stoudemire] now, and I think we’ve got a great chance to win a championship. So, that’s my main focus. I’m going to continue to work to get better and do what’s best to lead this team.”
The veteran point guard also said that he and the team both want to achieve the same goals, Sneed relays (Twitter link). “I’ve talked to pretty much everybody in the organization, and everyone is pretty much on the same page,” Rondo said.
The trades that Thunder GM Sam Presti made this season will help the team not only in 2014/15, but in the summer of 2016 when Kevin Durant becomes a free agent, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. The depth that Presti has added should make the team more competitive, which will in turn make the franchise harder to walk away from for Durant, Powell opines. The Slim Reaper is enthusiastic about the Thunder’s mid-season moves, Powell adds. “It shows how great our organization is,” Durant said. “You keep getting talent after talent and keep rolling them in there like that. It shows we’ve got a great eye for talent.“

Glen Rice Jr. To Play For Rockets D-League Team

January 12th, 2015 at 11:49am CST by Chuck Myron

Glen Rice Jr. has joined the D-League affiliate of the Rockets, the team announced. Rice remains eligible to sign with any NBA club after clearing waivers last week following his release from the Wizards. The 24-year-old rejoins the same D-League club that he played for prior to entering the NBA draft in 2013.

Rice played mostly in the D-League even while he was on Washington’s roster the past season and a half, as the Wizards sent him on multiple D-League assignments while affording him infrequent appearances on NBA hardwoods. The shooting guard made it into only 19 NBA games, averaging just 9.5 minutes per contest, while he saw 26.2 MPG across 33 D-League games since joining the Wizards.

The Wizards gave the Jeffrey Wechsler client a $400K partial guarantee for this season, so there wasn’t as much incentive for him to seek a lucrative overseas deal. Rice joins fellow recent former NBA player Toure’ Murry, whom Houston’s affiliate also added this week.

Wizards Waive Glen Rice Jr.

January 7th, 2015 at 3:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

WEDNESDAY, 3:10pm: Rice has officially been waived, the team has announced.

MONDAY, 12:27pm: The team has released Rice, according to Michael (Twitter link). There’s been no formal announcement from the Wizards, but they’re set to make one shortly, Michael adds.

SUNDAY, 11:01am: The Wizards are likely to cut second-year guard Glen Rice Jr. before Wednesday’s deadline to waive players with non-guaranteed salary, lest that salary become guaranteed for the season, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The team had been trying to find a trading partner, but a 48-hour window in which a deal might have been reached has passed, according to Michael.

Rice has been stuck in the D-League since November 20th, partly because of the play of 35-year-old veteran Rasual Butler, who was the last player to make the Wizards’ roster out of training camp. Butler will be retained by the team, Michael reports, and his minimum-salary contract, which was initially non-guaranteed, will be made fully guaranteed. Rice’s minimum-salary deal is only partially guaranteed for $400K this season.

Rice was a second round pick by the Sixers in 2013 and was shipped to Washington in a draft night trade. He appeared in just five games with the Wizards this season, averaging just 2.2 points in 8.5 minutes of play. He was named MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League in 2014 and put up huge numbers in the D-League, but inconsistent shooting at the NBA level combined with a poor attitude to doom his stay in Washington, Michael reports.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Williams, Rice Jr.

November 20th, 2014 at 6:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat are a better team with Dwyane Wade on the court, but him missing time due to a hamstring injury has helped build chemistry amongst the team’s newcomers, Shandel Richardson of The Sun Sentinel writes. “When you don’t have that guy [Wade] on the court, it’s a huge void that you have to fill,” Chris Bosh said. “I think it’s both a good and a bad thing. We want him out there, but at the same time our rookies are gaining a ton of experience and our new guys are gaining a ton of experience. It’s forcing the chemistry to happen a lot sooner.”

Here’s the latest from the Southeast Division:

Heat president Pat Riley deserves credit for taking a chance on signing Shawne Williams, despite some of the criticisms Riley received for fully guaranteeing this season’s salary, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald opines. Williams is rewarding Riley’s faith by averaging 11.4 points and is currently fifth in the league in three-point percentage, bombing away with a 50.9% success rate, notes Jackson.
Glen Rice Jr.‘s D-League assignment by the Wizards has less to do with his verbal outburst directed toward coach Randy Wittman and is more about the player’s overall development, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com writes. With the season underway, there isn’t enough practice time to fully develop younger players like Rice, who hasn’t seen any game action since November 7th, Michael adds.
Despite his lackluster performance during last year’s playoffs, the Heat re-signed Mario Chalmers, but his role and the team’s expectations of him have changed, Surya Fernandez of FOX Sports.com writes. Chalmers had started every game that he’s appeared in the previous three seasons but is now coming off the bench. “That’s a requirement when you have a championship-level team,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So nobody feels badly for anybody that has to sacrifice when you have an opportunity to be a part of a great team. That’s the hardest part of great teams is getting guys to sacrifice. So now the role has to be a little different with this team. He’s embraced that role and he’s been able to produce in this role. I think some of the experiences he went through the last six years have helped him get to this point.”

D-League Moves: Hawks, Wizards, Mavs

November 20th, 2014 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Wednesday was the 23rd day of the NBA season, and teams had already made 31 D-League assignments or recalls by the time the day was through. We’ve been keeping track of all the comings and goings, and we’ll continue to log them throughout the season on the post linked here. The movement continues, as we detail:

The Hawks sent Adreian Payne to the D-League today, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who adds that the team plans to keep him with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants through this weekend’s games, at least. The Hawks are without a one-to-one affiliate, as they share the Mad Ants with a dozen other teams.
One of those teams is the Wizards, who sent Glen Rice Jr. to the Mad Ants today, the team announced. Payne and Rice are the only two players so far this season who’ve gone on NBA assignment to the Mad Ants, who can only carry as many as four NBA assignees at once. The NBA and the D-League have established a protocol to help NBA parent clubs of the Mad Ants find a place for their D-League-bound players if the openings in Fort Wayne are full, as we detailed earlier.
The Mavs have assigned Ricky Ledo to the their one-to-one D-League affiliate, the team announced. Ledo played in more than three times as many D-League games as he did NBA games last season, and he’s yet to appear in a game for the big club this year.

And-Ones: Oladipo, Rice, Daniels, Ollie

April 5th, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Cray Allred

UConn is headed to the NCAA championship game under second-year head coach Kevin Ollie. Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times thinks that the Lakers should try and pry Ollie away from Connecticut to become their next head coach. Pincus believes Ollie would be a good fit, with the added bonus of being a potential draw for Kevin Durant down the road, since Durant has an affinity for Ollie since his time spent as an assistant with the Thunder. Here’s a roundup of the rest of the night’s notes:

The Wizards have recalled rookie Glen Rice Jr. from their D-League affiliate, per a team release. Rice has spent multiple stints with both the D-League and NBA clubs, and has averaged 2.9 points and 9.9 minutes played in 11 games with the Wizards.
An NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria that UConn’s DeAndre Daniels ought to declare for this summer’s draft (Twitter links). “He’s playing the best he’s ever played, he might as well go for it,” the scout said. “It elevates his draft stock. He is taking a big step on the biggest stage.”
The Magic could have Rookie of the Year candidate Victor Oladipo play on their summer league team in the coming months, coach Jacque Vaughn tells John Denton of Magic.com. While it’s unusual for a player as established as Oladipo to see summer league action, it is being considered as an option in case Orlando decides to continue experimenting with him as a point guard.
After going undrafted and spending time in the D-League, Carlon Brown has improved his game overseas, leading the Israeli league in scoring. Brown tells Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders that the path he hopes will lead to an NBA opportunity has been worth it. “Going from college to the D-League to here has definitely been a learning experience, a humbling experience, gratifying to know that my patience and my hard work has paid off,” says Brown. “For me as a person it just lets me know that I’m headed in the right direction, that if I really put my mind to it like I did this summer to change my ways and habits that I can improve and I can dramatically improve my stats and be a better player. Hopefully I can continue to do that.”

D-League Notes: Knicks, Magic, Rice Jr.

February 26th, 2014 at 8:05pm CST by Cray Allred

The Knicks are planning to create their own D-League affiliate in White Plains next year, replacing the hybrid arrangement they currently have with the Erie BayHawks, according to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. If approved by the league, the five-year proposal would give the Knicks complete control over both basketball and business operations with the new affiliate. They only control basketball development with the BayHawks. Here’s more from the D-League:

The Magic are in talks with a current D-League team to establish a one-to-one hybrid relationship as early as next season, Orlando CEO Alex Martins tells Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando currently shares an affiliation with five other NBA teams. Martins wouldn’t name which team is the potential affiliate, but the Erie BayHawks are a possibility, since the Knicks appear to be moving on.
D-League president Dan Reed tells Robbins the D-League is looking at expanding soon, likely prioritizing the Northeast region of the country: “We will expand relatively soon, but it will be a measured expansion. We’re not going to grow by 13 teams in a year or two. Our mantra is ‘steady, sustainable growth.’ But we are at the point where it’s time to grow the league based on the stability of the league and the interest that we’re seeing out in the markets.”
The Wizards have assigned rookie Glen Rice, Jr. to the D-League for a second time this season, the team announced.
The Warriors D-League affiliate traded Scott Machado to the Blazers affiliate in exchange for the rights to Justin Holiday, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Holiday’s only NBA action to this point was in nine games with the Sixers last year alongside his brother Jrue. Machado also has limited time in the NBA so far in his career, averaging just 3.5 minutes over six games with the Rockets last year.
Gino Pilato of D-League Digest takes a look at some players who have received NBA contracts this season after playing with the Rockets D-League affiliate Rio Grand Valley Vipers. The team uses an extreme run-and-gun system that outpaces the already fast-paced D-League, and some have wondered whether the system is beneficial to the developing players beyond inflating their possessions and stats. James Johnson, Troy Daniels, and Chris Johnson have all inked NBA deals after spending time with the Vipers in 2013/14.

Knicks Target Glen Rice Jr.

February 12th, 2014 at 4:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks would “love” to acquire Glen Rice Jr. or a second-round pick in return for Beno Udrih, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Wizards reportedly have interest in Udrih, while the Knicks considered drafting Rice in the first round this past June had Tim Hardaway Jr. been unavailable, according to Berman.

The Post scribe identifies Udrih and Metta World Peace as prime trade candidates, and says the Raptors had interest in World Peace when they discussed Kyle Lowry with the Knicks in December. The former Ron Artest reportedly would have been in line for a buy out if the Raptors took him on then, so I’m not sure that Toronto is all that interested in the 34-year-old. The Raptors appear to be shying away from engaging in Lowry talks with the Knicks again or with any other team.

World Peace is cognizant that there’s a strong chance he’ll be traded, and he’s open to the possibility, even if he isn’t asking the Knicks to move him, Berman hears. World Peace is in the first season of a two-year deal for more than $3.5MM that includes a player option for 2014/15, while Udrih and Rice are on minimum-salary contracts.

Eastern Notes: Magic, Cavs, Knicks

February 11th, 2014 at 6:55pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Magic GM Rob Hennigan tells Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that he’s not actively looking to pursue deals right now: “We’re exploring all options that may improve our team…But in terms of aggressively, actively trying to do something? I would say no [we’re not].”

In that same piece however, Robbins adds that Orlando could make at least one move before the deadline, and much of the trade speculation has revolved around Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson, and Glen Davis. Afflalo – whose 19.6 PPG and 5.0 FTA this season represent career bests – is likely drawing the most interest at this point.

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference this evening:

Looking at what he calls a “mess” in Cleveland, Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report revisits some of the Cavaliers’ roster decisions since Kyrie Irving‘s arrival in order to describe how they got to this point, including their decision to bypass Jonas Valanciunas in the 2011 draft, hiring Mike Brown, and failing to provide a veteran mentor for Irving. In spite of this, he believes there’s still time to right the ship, especially if the front office- led by interim GM David Griffin – can piece together a roster that compliments rather than saddles Irving.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News doesn’t buy speculation about Knicks owner James Dolan considering a Carmelo Anthony trade to the Bulls, and thinks that the seven-time All-Star will ultimately stay in New York beyond this summer. Even if Anthony were to bolt, Isola doesn’t believe it’d be the end of the world; with Andrea Bargnani, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler coming off the books in 2015, New York could target a star like Kevin Durant with their ample cap space (All Twitter links).
ESPN New York’s Ian Begley weighs in on the rumblings surrounding Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried from the Knicks’ persepctive, saying that acquiring Faried – though he’d be a plus – doesn’t address their backcourt needs and cuts into their 2015 cap flexibility.
As for the Wizards’ reported interest in Beno Udrih, Begley notes that a one-for-one swap for either Glen Rice Jr. or Al Harrington is feasible, but only from a salary-matching standpoint. Regardless, I think Begley would agree that Washington probably wouldn’t be open to giving up a 23-year-old prospect like Rice Jr. in order to solely acquire a 31-year-old backup point guard.