Goran Dragic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Eye Goran Dragic, Reggie Jackson

February 13th, 2015 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat are especially high on Goran Dragic, and they also find Reggie Jackson intriguing, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears. Jackson writes about Dragic in the context of free agency this summer, noting that Miami is unlikely to have the cap room necessary to sign the 28-year-old guard, who plans to opt out at season’s end, though Dragic is a trade candidate in advance of Thursday’s deadline. Jackson is poised for restricted free agency, but he, too, is a trade candidate and several GMs peg him as one of the three biggest names likely to move within the next week.

Miami is one of the few teams in the league without a strong performer at point guard, while the Suns have a glut at the position and Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough this week acknowledged his club is overloaded in the backcourt. McDonough said he would like to have “a little more frontcourt scoring and rebounding.” The Heat probably aren’t going to part with Chris Bosh or Hassan Whiteside, but they reportedly made a proposal involving big men Chris Andersen, Josh McRoberts and point guard Norris Cole to the Nets for Brook Lopez. Team president Pat Riley denied that report, however, and McRoberts would be of no immediate help to Phoenix, since he’s likely out for the year.

Reports have also linked the Rockets and the Lakers to Dragic, for trades as well as free agency, and the Suns are reportedly seeking a first-round pick in exchange if they’re to relinquish him before the deadline. The Heat owe their first-round pick to the Sixers this year as long as it’s not a top-10 selection.

Jackson’s days in Oklahoma City have appeared numbered since he and the club failed to come to terms on an extension this past fall, and perhaps before then, when he made it clear that he envisions becoming a starting point guard, an opportunity he won’t have teaming with Russell Westbrook. The Knicks seem to have strong interest in Jackson for a trade or in free agency, but the Thunder have reportedly found the trade market for him weaker than they expected. The Heat would have Jackson’s Bird rights and the right to match offers for him this summer if they trade for him before the deadline and tender a qualifying offer by the end of June. As with Dragic, the Heat probably couldn’t afford him otherwise in free agency, since the team is likely to be over the cap come July unless either Dwyane Wade or Luol Deng opt out.

And-Ones: Buyouts, Dragic, Stauskas, Magic

February 12th, 2015 at 10:53am CST by Chuck Myron

Andrea Bargnani, Brandon Bass, Marcus Thornton, Andrei Kirilenko, Willie Green, Randy Foye and Darrell Arthur are all likely buyout candidates if they’re not traded before the deadline, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Beck also mentions Tayshaun Prince, who’ll probably strike a buyout deal with the Celtics if he’s not traded, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported last month. The Bleacher Report scribe also reiterates that Kevin Garnett isn’t seeking a buyout, seconding an earlier report from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. Here’s more from around the NBA:

The Suns want a first-round pick if they’re to give up Goran Dragic in a trade, as Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times hears (Twitter link). Woelfel suggests that opposing teams will be willing to pay that price and believes the Rockets, who’ve reportedly tried to trade for Dragic this season, will consider going after him again.
There are rumors connecting the Bucks to Kings rookie Nik Stauskas, according to Woelfel (Twitter link). Still, it’s unclear if there’s truly interest from Milwaukee’s end.
James Borrego says the Magic haven’t told him whether or not he’ll be the head coach for the rest of the season, and he takes it as a signal that he’ll remain in place, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. The timing of the situation and the Magic’s track record don’t suggest they’ll make a move before season’s end, though “it’s widely believed” the team will eventually replace Borrego with a proven coaching veteran, Schmitz writes. Rumored coaching candidate Scott Skiles indeed has interest in the job, but the Magic’s players seem to be supporting Borrego, Schmitz adds.
Blazers GM Neil Olshey is exploring possible trades to help shore up the team’s depth, The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman writes, noting that Thomas Robinson and Will Barton seem unsure if they’ll remain on the team past the deadline. Olshey declared earlier this week that he wouldn’t trade any of the team’s starters and also talked up the value of his bench players in an interview during a game broadcast, as Mike Richman of The Oregonian transcribes.
Former Mavs guard Dominique Jones is drawing renewed NBA interest following an impressive showing in China, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Jones, who last played in the league in 2012/13, averaged an eye-popping 36.8 points per game over 41 appearances in China this season.

Trade Candidate: Goran Dragic

February 6th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Suns stuck with Goran Dragic at the beginning of the 2013/14 season, when Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote that there was a “growing expectation” around the league that Phoenix would try to unload Dragic in a move similar to their acquisition of a first-round pick for Marcin Gortat. Holding on to Dragic then proved wise, as he had a career year and nearly lifted the team into the playoffs in spite of the prolonged absence of Eric Bledsoe, who was supposed to supplant Dragic as the team’s No. 1 point guard. The Suns instead used them alongside each other when Bledsoe was healthy, and it worked well enough for GM Ryan McDonough and his staff to make a radical bet on the long-term feasibility of a roster heavy on point guards.

McDonough began the offseason with the selection of Tyler Ennis, a point guard from Syracuse who drew top-ten buzz last season, at No. 18 overall in the draft. He ended it with a five-year, $70MM commitment to Bledsoe. In between, he made a pair of moves that serve as mixed signals about Dragic’s long-term future in Phoenix. McDonough and the Suns signed-and-traded for Isaiah Thomas, giving him a four-year deal worth slightly more than $27MM. They also signed Zoran Dragic, Goran’s brother, to a pact with two seasons of fully guaranteed salary. The Pacers and Kings were seemingly Phoenix’s strongest competitors among the several who gave chase for Zoran, but the 25-year-old shooting guard isn’t regarded as a future NBA star, and he’s made it off the bench for a total of 12 minutes all season. Goran insists that he didn’t push the Suns to sign his brother, but it’s clear that Goran was the impetus for the move, even if only unwittingly so. Zoran’s presence on the roster seems an enticement for Goran to re-sign when the All-NBA Third Teamer turns down his $7.5MM player option for next season, as he plans to do.

Still, Thomas is quite possibly the third starting-caliber point guard on the roster behind Goran Dragic and Bledsoe, and Ennis looms as a potential fourth. That, put together with Dragic’s looming free agency, apparently convinced the Suns to become willing to trade Dragic earlier this season. Yet another report indicated that McDonough and company would be more willing to part with Thomas or Bledsoe than Dragic. The Suns, it seems, continue to confound.

Dragic surprised last season enough to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, but his numbers are off this year. Still, his 16.3 points per game this season would be a career high if not for last season’s 20.3 PPG. His assists are somewhat predictably down to 4.0 per game, and a career-low 4.4 per 36 minutes, as he contends for control of the ball with Bledsoe, Thomas and others. His PER has dipped to 16.7, his lowest mark since he became a full-time starter, and another advanced metric, ESPN’s real plus-minus, shows him with a negative rating and at No. 29 among the league’s shooting guards, the position at which Dragic has seen the most time this season. The Suns are nonetheless 4.0 points per 100 possessions better with Dragic on the floor this season versus when he sits, according to NBA.com.

The conflicting numbers hint that Phoenix might not be the most fertile ground for his game, given the backcourt crowding, and surely Dragic and agent Rade Filipovich know that he could be putting up better numbers elsewhere. Dragic reportedly intends to take a broad look at free agency and isn’t committing himself to the Suns, so Phoenix will have to sell him on the idea of returning when they pitch the long-term deal they’ve apparently been planning for him. McDonough has said he’ll take care of Dragic when the time comes, but Dragic has seemingly hinted that he’s not so willing to tether himself to the Suns for the long term. Still, a source recently told Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype that Dragic feels more comfortable in Phoenix this year than he did last year, and that he’s nonetheless confident that he’ll see strong offers in free agency this summer.

The Rockets and Lakers have already been linked to Dragic as potential free agent suitors, and reports since then have suggested that those teams would also like to trade for him. The Lakers have a glaring hole at point guard, where only 2014 second-round pick Jordan Clarkson is signed past this season, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote this week that the team lacks the assets necessary to swing a deal for Dragic. The Lakers already owe the Suns their first-round pick this year as long as it’s not in the top five, and unless the team was willing to part with Julius Randle, L.A’s lottery pick from this past year, it’s tough to see how the Lakers could wind up with Dragic by the deadline.

The Rockets’ cupboard is more well-stocked, but they’ve come up short in previous attempts to trade for Dragic this season, as Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote earlier this year. Houston’s front office is familiar with Dragic from his year and a half with the team in between his stints in Phoenix. Yet unless the Suns are deeply concerned that they’ll lose him to Houston in free agency, it seems logical that McDonough would have reservations about trading him to another Western Conference playoff contender without receiving strong value in return. Houston has a pair of former first-round picks at power forward in Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones, the position Josh Smith also occupies. The Rockets could toss in Kostas Papanikolaou and a few minimum-salaried players for salary-matching purposes to send one of them off to Phoenix, should the Suns have interest. However, the loss of Dwight Howard for at least a month complicates any move involving Houston’s frontcourt.

There are no guarantees that Dragic will play for any team beyond the end of the season, so it’s possible his status as a rental lowers his trade value. Surely any team that comes close to trading for him will try to gather intel about whether he’d like to re-sign with them this summer, even though they wouldn’t be able to speak with him directly before a trade became official. Much is unknown regarding Dragic and Phoenix’s experiment with multiple point guards, and Phoenix is just a game in front of New Orleans and a game and a half up on Oklahoma City for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The deadline will be a key pivot point in the short term and long term for McDonough, and what he does with Dragic between now and February 19th will say plenty about where the team heads next.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Deveney’s Latest: Afflalo, Jackson, Hill

February 4th, 2015 at 4:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA trade deadline is just over two weeks away and the front office activity around the league is sure to ramp up as February 19th rapidly approaches. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News ran down a number of tidbits regarding players who are on the trading block. Here are some of the highlights:

The Nuggets have discussed dealing Wilson Chandler but would prefer to trade Arron Afflalo instead, Deveney notes.
The trade market for Reggie Jackson is much weaker than the Thunder expected, Deveney adds.
Lakers center Jordan Hill remains a hot commodity despite Los Angeles informing interested teams that he isn’t available, Deveney reports. Hill is out with a quad injury that could sideline him until the deadline has passed, but the Sporting News scribe expects the interest in the big man to remain high.
Los Angeles is willing to deal Jeremy Lin if it could nab an asset in return, but the market for the Lakers‘ point guard has been weak, Deveney notes.
Bulls forward Taj Gibson has been linked to a number of interested teams around the league over the past few months, including the Raptors, Suns, Pistons, Trail Blazers, and an unspecified team from Los Angeles, Deveney relays.
The Wolves are open to the idea of trading Mo Williams, but with his team friendly salary and Minnesota’s young backcourt, the franchise isn’t desperate to make a deal, Deveney adds.
The Pistons are seeking backcourt depth in the wake of Brandon Jennings‘ injury and Jonas Jerebko is Detroit’s best available trade chip, Deveney opines. The Pistons have depth at the forward position and would like to deal Jerebko for a point guard, notes Deveney.
The Lakers have had their eyes on Suns guard Goran Dragic all season, but Los Angeles lacks the assets needed to get a deal done, the Sporting News scribe notes.
Kemba Walker‘s injury could change the Hornets‘ willingness to make a trade, but the team would still prefer to move Lance Stephenson, Deveney notes. There is still the possibility that talks with the Nets could start again for the mercurial guard, and the Pacers and the Knicks also remain possible destinations for Stephenson, Deveney reports.

And-Ones: Dragic, Whiteside, World Peace, Kobe

January 25th, 2015 at 4:59pm CST by Charlie Adams

Goran Dragic reportedly feels better about his situation with Phoenix now than he did during the 2013/14 campaign, but he admits that there’s no guarantee he’ll return to the Suns once he becomes a free agent this summer, as he tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Every team in the NBA is an option to me, because it is a privilege to play for any team in the NBA,” Dragic said. “When the time comes I’m going to sit down with my family and my agent and try to make the best decision for myself.” We’ll round up more from around the NBA below:

Hassan Whiteside is opening eyes with the Heat, having posted a triple-double today with 14 points, 13 boards, and 12 blocks. The Knicks had some interest in the big man last year but eventually signed Lamar Odom instead, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.
Metta World Peace‘s stint in China has come to an end, as the veteran forward passed along on Twitter. The Clippers were rumored to have interest in inking World Peace to a late season deal.
Kobe Bryant spoke and said he would be a major part of the Lakers’ recruiting efforts this upcoming summer, observes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. “It’s a pretty simple message. It’s the best organization in the world, best brand in the world,” Bryant said of the Lakers. “We win championships. That’s what we do. It would be much more than … X’s and O’s and style of play, things of that nature. There’s no place like winning in Los Angeles, man.”
Jonathan Givony of Draft Express released his latest prospect rankings, with Jahlil Okafor unsurprisingly still topping out the list.

Latest On Goran Dragic

January 23rd, 2015 at 7:43am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 7:43am: Dragic feels better about his situation in Phoenix this year than he did last, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. He’s happy where he isn’t thinking much about free agency, but he’s confident that he’ll attract strong offers this summer, the source also said.

MONDAY, 1:09pm: The Rockets have tried to trade for Goran Dragic this season, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick. It’s unclear how recently GM Daryl Morey has sought the Suns guard, and whether it came before or after Houston’s trade for Corey Brewer and signing of Josh Smith, but the Rockets’ interest in Dragic appears to be longstanding. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported in September that Houston was considering a free agent run at Dragic next summer, when the seventh-year veteran has said he plans to turn down his $7.5MM player option for 2015/16. Dragic reiterated recently to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he intends to opt out, and he wouldn’t rule out playing with any team, including the Lakers, who are known to be interested in pairing Dragic with Kobe Bryant, as Zillgitt and Amick write.

“Any player that is one of the best players in the league would be cool to play with. Kobe is a legend,” Dragic said to Medina. “I know how awesome it is to be around those superstars. If you’re patient enough and you listen, you learn a lot.”

Dragic has had similar praise for the Knicks, as it seems the point guard doesn’t want to close off any potential avenues in free agency, which jibes with what Sean Deveney of The Sporting News heard in November. GMs from around the league told Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher earlier this season that the Suns were open to trading the 28-year-old native of Slovenia. However, rival executives have had the impression that Phoenix would be more willing to part with Eric Bledsoe or Isaiah Thomas amid multiple inquiries on all three, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who wrote last month.

Dragic’s numbers have tailed off this season after a career year in 2013/14, though that’s no surprise given the crowded situation in the backcourt for the Suns, who signed Bledsoe and Thomas to long-term deals this past summer. Suns GM Ryan McDonough said after the Bledsoe signing that he and the Suns “fully anticipate taking care of” Dragic, who’s in his second stint with the Suns after leaving the Rockets to sign with Phoenix in 2012.

Bucher’s Latest: Kings, Pelicans, Cavs

January 9th, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no secret that the Nets trio of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available on the trade market, and they’re among a long list of players that GMs say teams are open to trading as the February 19th deadline approaches, according Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Jeff Green, Brandan Wright, Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Brandon Jennings, Goran Dragic, Nik Stauskas, Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson, Arron Afflalo and most of the other Nuggets are also on that list, with Bucher, in many cases, confirming earlier reports. Still, Bucher hears plenty of new rumbles, as he passes along in his piece, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive unilaterally made the decision to fire former coach Michael Malone, sources tell Bucher, even though GM Pete D’Alessandro claimed the decision as his own. Most of the Kings organization was pleased with the direction the team was headed in and believed the team was overachieving, though there were doubts that Malone was the long-term solution, Bucher writes.
Ranadive wanted to make a splash with Malone’s successor, but Kings front office executives prevailed upon him to keep Tyrone Corbin as head coach, according to Bucher. Ranadive would relish the chance to turn the screws on the Warriors, of whom he used to be a part-owner, by hiring Mark Jackson, the ex-Warriors coach, a source tells Bucher, who nonetheless believes that the team won’t hire Jackson during this season.
Talk “circulating around the league” suggests that Pelicans owner Tom Benson is eyeing former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson if he decides to make changes, Bucher writes. Still, Pelicans sources tell Bucher that the club hasn’t contacted either Dumars or Johnson, and that there are no signs that Benson is definitively displeased with either GM Dell Demps or coach Monty Williams.
Several executives from around the league don’t believe the pair of trades the Cavs made this week assure the team of any more than a second-round appearance, according to Bucher. One exec tells Bucher that the Cavs “overinflated” the market with what they gave up for Timofey Mozgov.

Pacific Notes: O’Neal, Suns, Rondo, Kings

December 23rd, 2014 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Family concerns will matter more than the relationships Jermaine O’Neal has with any city or team when the 36-year-old center decides whether to return to the NBA, and if so, which club he’ll play for, as O’Neal detailed today on his verified Twitter account (links here). O’Neal lives in Dallas and has reportedly long wanted to play close to home, and the Mavs are the apparent favorites to land him. The Warriors, for whom O’Neal played last, as well as the Clippers and Cavs are also said to be interested in the 18-year veteran. Of those teams, Golden State is the only one for which O’Neal has played previously, so it would seem that his remarks today are a harbinger that he won’t be returning to the Bay Area, though that’s just my interpretation. Here’s more news related to Pacific Division teams:

People around the league sense that the Suns would be more willing to deal Isaiah Thomas than Eric Bledsoe or Goran Dragic, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Rival executives have picked up the impression that Dragic is the one among those three point guards whom Phoenix would most like to keep, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported this weekend.
The Mavs are “extremely confident” that Rajon Rondo will re-sign with the team, but the Lakers, among others, would love for the point guard to hit free agency, as Sam Amick of USA Today says in a video report. The Lakers were involved in trade talks with the Celtics about Rondo, and Chris Mannix of SI.com indicated last month that the Lakers are likely to pursue him in free agency.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro and former Kings coach Michael Malone weren’t on speaking terms during the months leading up to Malone’s dismissal, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Tyrone Corbin knows he’s only a short-term solution, according to Voisin, though Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears that Corbin will have a legitimate opportunity to coach the team (Twitter link), as D’Alessandro has publicly insisted. In any case, Voisin implores the team to hire George Karl.
Miroslav Raduljica and Shandong of the Chinese Basketball Association have agreed to a buyout in which the center gave up $300K of his $1.5MM deal, reports Nick Bedard of Basketballbuddha.com. The Clippers, in a series of money-saving moves this summer, acquired Raduljica from the Bucks and quickly waived him via the stretch provision.

Western Notes: Dragic, Pelicans, Nuggets

December 21st, 2014 at 12:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Multiple teams are inquiring as to what it would take to pry Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe or Isaiah Thomas away from the Suns, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Berger notes that rival executives have gotten the impression that Dragic is the player whom Phoenix would most like to keep out of the three. Dragic is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season and will likely warrant a raise on his current $7.5MM per year salary, although that is just my speculation.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Although Damian Lillard was drafted before the Pelicans had a chance to acquire him with the 10th pick in the 2012 draft, the team would have been ecstatic to pair the point guard with first overall pick Anthony Davis, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune. “I loved him,” coach Monty Williams said. “And I didn’t even see him play a lot. I just had a meeting with him, watched a little bit [of film] on him but after I talked to him face-to-face, I jammed him up on a few questions that he didn’t buckle. He didn’t get it right but he didn’t clam up. He just looked me in the eye and he got it wrong, but he stayed right there.” New Orleans ended up drafting Austin Rivers with the 10th overall pick in the draft.
The next few weeks could be key in determining what roster moves the Nuggets will make, opines Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Denver came into the season with playoff aspirations but currently owns a record of 12-15. If the team continues to win at this pace, Dempsey believes the Nuggets should begin to trade some of their veteran players for prospects or draft picks.
Andre Roberson could play a key role for the Thunder this season and his defense is being noticed around the league , writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. In the win against the Lakers on Friday night, Roberson guarded Kobe Bryant and held him to just nine points while allowing him to shoot only 21.4% from the field.

Pacific Notes: Durant, Rondo, Jackson

December 20th, 2014 at 2:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mark Jackson said that his recent meeting with Chris Mullin, GM Pete D’Alessandro and DeMarcus Cousins in Sacramento had nothing to do with the Kings‘ coaching position, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee reports (Twitter links). Jackson said the get together was simply to catch up with some old friends. Jackson is one of the names mentioned to be in the running for Sacramento’s coaching vacancy along with George Karl, Vinny Del Negro, and Mullin.

Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Kevin Durant has openly praised Kobe Bryant and said that he would love to play alongside the Black Mamba. While Bryant has stated that he has not begun recruiting Durant, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2016, Bryant didn’t rule out trying to lure the Slim Reaper to the Lakers, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “No, I think we know each other pretty well,” Bryant said. “I don’t think it’s a discussion that you have in terms of coming here. But I think it’s more of an understanding how to play with each other. If the opportunity came up, then that’s the time to have that discussion.”
The Lakers were lucky to miss out on acquiring Rajon Rondo, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes. Though he believes Rondo is a good player, he isn’t the superstar that Los Angeles needs to build around, and re-signing him this summer, if Rondo was willing, would have eaten into its cap space that could be used to nab a far superior player in the future, such as Durant, Ding opines.
A Lakers official downplayed the reports that the team offered Steve Nash’s expiring $9.8MM contract and a first-round pick to Boston for Rondo, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes.
Goran Dragic, who can opt out of his contract with the Suns at the end of the season and become a free agent, was mentioned as a possible target for the Knicks either via trade or free agency. Dragic responded to the report by saying he would be open to the Knicks — as well as everybody else — when he gets on the market this summer, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports. “Every team that is going to be available is going to be an option,” Dragic said. “New York has great fan base, great basketball organization.”