Harrison Barnes Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Maverick Notes: New Additions, Barnes, Powell

August 17th, 2016 at 8:55am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Mavericks made several new additions this offseason and coach Rick Carlisle envisions the team playing a different style than it did last season, as he said on 103.3FM ESPN (h/t to Earl K. Sneed of NBA.com). “We’re more physical,” Carlisle said. “You know, [Chandler] Parsons was a guy that is a different kind of player than Barnes, and Parsons was a very good ball-handler and playmaker. You know, I think [Harrison] Barnes can develop into a playmaker, but that has not been his DNA and that has not been what’s been asked of him in Golden State. What I found spending five days in the gym working out with him is that he’s a better ball-handler than most of us would expect, but we’re going to have to ease him into those situations and just kind of go from there.”

Here’s more out of Dallas:

Dwight Powell signed a four-year deal worth $37MM this offseason, but he remains motivated to improve his game, as Sneed writes in a separate piece. “My job is to be ready for whatever opportunity I find myself presented with and be ready to perform at the highest level,” Powell said. “For me, it’s business as usual. Just in the gym grinding. Hopefully it says that I’m an NBA player, that I belong in the league and that I’m able to perform. I’m willing to work and do whatever it takes to get better. I’m willing to put in the time and the effort and sacrifice to do that to help a team win. Hopefully it’s a positive. I mean, I do work. That’s something I’ve done my whole life and something I was taught at a young age, so it’s part of who I am.”
Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News takes a look back at the key members of the Mavericks‘ 2011 championship team and examines where they are in their careers now.

Western Notes: Barnes, Bogut, Clippers

August 6th, 2016 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Harrison Barnes is competing in his first Olympics, but he had plenty of offseason excitement before the Summer Games started, writes Joe Rexrode of The Des Moines Register. After being a key part of a Warriors team that set a league record with 73 wins in a season, Barnes found himself cut free when Golden State needed his cap room to sign Kevin Durant. Barnes wound up inking a four-year $94MM deal with the Mavericks, who plan to make him one of the focal points of their offense. “I think Harrison wants an opportunity to go to a team and be the guy,” said fellow Team USA member and former Warriors teammate Draymond Green, “and he has that opportunity, which I’m not mad at him about. He already has a championship, and that’s what he’ll be remembered as. He’s a champion, and no one can ever take that away.”

There’s more from the Western Conference:

The Mavericks didn’t try to stop newly acquired center Andrew Bogut from playing in the Olympics, according to Kareem Copeland of The Associated Press. Bogut, who came to Dallas in a trade last month, is still recovering from a hyperextended knee he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. At age 31, Bogut believes this is his last shot at the Olympics and he feared the Mavericks might ask him to sit out and rest the knee, but he said the team approved as long as he was healthy. “I was like, I don’t want it to end that way where I’m just sitting at home with ice on my knee if I can give it a crack,” Bogut said after leading Australia past France today. “I didn’t want it taken away that easily. I said I’ll give it a crack up until this day. If it wasn’t right yesterday, I’d put my hand up and I’m on a flight back home.”
The Clippers became hard-capped over the summer, but were able to rebuild their bench by adding several veterans on team-friendly contracts, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. In his offseason review, Marks notes that Marreese Speights, Raymond Felton, Alan Anderson and Brandon Bass all signed with L.A. for the minimum, allowing the Clippers to add depth at an affordable price. The team is currently $1.4MM above the luxury tax with 15 guaranteed contracts and will face a repeater tax if doesn’t drop below the threshold by the season’s end.

Western Rumors: Thunder, McCollum, Suns, Barnes

July 30th, 2016 at 9:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Thunder still need to address their perimeter shooting, according to Eric Horne of The Oklahoman. Free agent Dorell Wright could be an option at small forward, Horne speculates, but the club is taking a cautious approach with its payroll. Not only are the Thunder hoping that Russell Westbrook signs an extension but they also have to plan on commitments to Steven Adams, Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo, who are also eligible for extensions and can become restricted free agents next summer, Horne adds.

In other doings concerning the Western Conference:

C.J. McCollum‘s contract extension with the Blazers falls shy of the maximum, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. McCollum agreed to an extension that kicks in for the 2017/18 season and is worth $106MM over those four years.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle helped convince the Suns to claim John Jenkins off waivers in February, Jenkins told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. When Dallas needed to create roster space after the trade deadline, Jenkins became the odd man out. He wound up appearing in 22 games with the Suns, averaging 5.0 points in 13.0 minutes, and remains on their roster for next season. “I was waiting for the waiver period to pass to see if my contract would be cleared and if I’d become a free agent,” Jenkins told Kennedy of his time on waivers. “Then, I was told by my agent that Coach Carlisle called the Phoenix Suns on my behalf and spoke highly of me. He looked out for me big time and I really appreciate that.”
Harrison Barnes finds himself in an awkward spot with Team USA, playing alongside ex-Warriors teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and his replacement Kevin Durant, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com reports. Barnes signed a four-year, $95MM offer sheet to join the Mavericks after Durant committed to Golden State. “It’s weird. It’s like the last chapter we’ll play together in our basketball careers. But we’re embracing it,” Thompson told Aschburner. “HB’s a great guy. … He’s only scratched the surface of what he can do. I’m happy for him, and me and Draymond are happy for one more go-round because he really is a great teammate.”

Mark Cuban On: Barnes, Parsons, Curry

July 29th, 2016 at 6:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Outspoken Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban joined The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley on ESPN Radio 103.3 KESN-FM (h/t to The Dallas Morning News) to discuss the team’s offseason and a number of other topics. The entire interview is worth a look, but here are some of the highlights:

On the Mavs switching to Plan B this offseason after missing out on a number of their top targets:

“We got lucky. There’s not other way to say it. We knew we were long shots with both Hassan Whiteside and with Mike Conley. We knew Mike Conley wasn’t going to turn down the largest contract in NBA history. But we also know that it’s not just about the short-term, it’s the long-term. We wanted to introduce the Mavericks, our style and our organization to both of them because you never know when they’re going to be available in a trade. You never know next free agency. So many things can happen over a period of time in an NBA.

Look what happened with D-Will (Deron Williams). I think our presentation to him from coach and Donnie [Nelson] in particular really set the groundwork for him understanding who we are. On one hand, we didn’t expect to get them to come to the Mavs, but we still think it served a function. From there Harrison Barnes reached out to me at 12:01 like, ‘Dude I want to come there. You’re my first pick, my only pick.’ I went back-and-forth with him like, ‘Yeah, we’d love you too but you’re a restricted free agent. Here’s our course of action. Here’s what we’re going to do.’ I laid it all out for him. He was like, ‘Okay, we’ll see what happens but you guys are my team.’ Fortunately it turned out the way it did.”

On essentially choosing Barnes of Chandler Parsons this summer:

“Can’t go into any details, but I’ll just say it wasn’t a basketball issue. Chandler obviously is a very, very skilled player. There’s a lot of great things to his game. But he’s, in essence, a different player from Harrison. Harrison is longer, more athletic, younger. Just like Chandler really didn’t get a chance to have his game blossom when he was with the Rockets. He just showed glimpses of it because of Dwight Howard and James Harden being there. I think Harrison was kind of in the same role. I think we’re going to give Harrison the opportunity and I know he’s excited about the opportunity to really shine and be a featured guy for us.”

On if Dallas is a better team now than in 2015/16:

“You never know until you know. That’s why we play the games. If you look at last year you look at New Orleans, you look at Houston, you just don’t know. I would have told you last year, and I think I did tell you guys, that we’re about eight sprained ankles away from being a top contender. Now we’re probably only three, maybe four. You just don’t know. Look at Portland and what happened there. You just don’t know.

But I do think we’re a better team. I know we’re far better defensively. I know we’re far more athletic. I think we’ve got more athletic depth. We will miss at some point the Ray Felton’s. There will be game situations where having that veteran presence would have been nice to have. But I really think between Juan Barea, Devin Harris and D-Will (Williams) we’ll make up for a lot of that. I think the explosiveness and the scoring punch of Jonathan Gibson and Seth Curry will more than make up for it.”

On what he expects to receive from Seth Curry:

“A dysfunctional team in Sacramento at the end of the year he played team ball. He struggled some to stick within kind of a dysfunctional system. But when he got the minutes and when he started he put up great numbers. But more importantly, from a catch-and-shoot perspective he’s almost automatic from three. We really didn’t have that. We didn’t have that guy where situationally you just knew if you can get him open he was going to hit that open three. We miss that 42-43% three-point shooter. We just didn’t have it. We think we have that with Seth. I think it’ll make life a little bit easier for Dirk Nowitzki. It’ll allow us to push the ball more and I think it’ll make everybody’s lives a bit easier.“

And-Ones: Kaun, Varejao, Hornets, Barnes

July 25th, 2016 at 10:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Center Sasha Kaun has retired after playing one season with the Cavaliers, according to Gary Bedore of KUSports.com. The 31-year-old Kaun played sparingly with Cleveland, appearing in 25 games. He was traded to the Sixers earlier this month, then waived. He played seven seasons with CSKA Moscow after completing his college career at Kansas. “I was very blessed and fortunate to play as long as I have,” he told the Journal-World from Colorado.

In other news around the league:

Warriors reserve center Anderson Varejao has returned to the U.S. from Brazil to undergo tests on his back, according to Brazil’s Olympic website. The report, which was later posted by the San Jose Mercury News, puts Varejao’s Olympic participation in doubt and clouds his availability for training camp. Varejao just re-signed with the Warriors last week after playing spot minutes the second half of last season and during the playoffs.
Noel Gillespie has been named head coach of the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ new D-League affiliate, the team announced on its website. Gillespie spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Nuggets. Before that, he was on the Suns’ staff for 10 seasons.
The Mavericks probably overpaid to obtain Harrison Barnes as a restricted free agent, according to the Dallas Morning News’ Eddie Sefko. Dallas hopes that Barnes blossoms now that he’ll be a bigger part of its offense than he was with the Warriors, but he’s been a middle-of-the-road player and there’s no guarantee he’ll get much better, Sefko adds. Barnes was lured away with a four-year, $94MM offer sheet that Golden State couldn’t match.
Yogi Ferrell’s minimum contract with the Nets has a $100K guarantee, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The former Indiana University point guard agreed to a one-year deal with Brooklyn last week after going undrafted.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, Cuban, Jones, Stephens

July 17th, 2016 at 8:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

There was never a chance that Dirk Nowitzki would emulate Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade and leave his long-time team, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Nowitzki agreed to a two-year, $40MM deal to stay in Dallas, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he never thought the situation would end differently. “Dirk wasn’t going anywhere,” Cuban said. “Dirk and Dallas, Dallas and Dirk, they’re synonymous. I understand and respect why D-Wade did what he did but there was never any doubt [about Nowitzki staying in Dallas], Dirk gets what Dirk wants.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Durant’s decision to join Golden State benefited the Mavericks, who were able to trade for Andrew Bogut and sign Harrison Barnes as the Warriors worked to clear cap space. Cuban likes the look of his new squad, Washburn writes in the same piece. “Yeah, Golden State south,” the owner said. “Harrison will get a chance to expand his game and [Wesley Matthews] will be fully healthy. Deron Williams, Harrison, Dirk, Andrew, that’s not a bad starting five, and we’ve got some of our guys coming back. So we’ll be all right.”
Jameel Warney is trying to decide whether to attend training camp with the Mavericks or accept an offer in South Korea, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Warney, a three-time America East Player of the Year at Stony Brook, was part of the Mavs’ Summer League team.
The Pelicans‘ Anthony Davis is happy to have Terrence Jones as a teammate again, he said in an interview with Nancy Armour of USA Today on NBA A to Z. New Orleans reached a deal with Jones on Thursday, signing the ex-Rocket for one year at the minimum salary. Houston elected not to submit a qualifying offer to the four-year veteran, making him an unrestricted free agent. ”He’s very physical and he can put the ball on the floor, great slasher and can drive to the basket,” Davis said. ”I think not a lot of bigs can guard him. I think me and him played very well with each other at Kentucky and hopefully we can do it here in New Orleans.”
The Grizzlies will bring former University of Memphis guard D.J. Stephens to camp, new coach David Fizdale said in an interview on NBA.com. The 25-year-old Stephens has three games of NBA experience with Milwaukee in 2014.

And-Ones: Pachulia, Powell, Bogut

July 16th, 2016 at 10:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wizards were close to an agreement with Zaza Pachulia on a two-year deal worth $20MM, sources tell J. Michael of Comcast Sportsnet. According to Michael, Washington became noncommittal, which caused the big man to look elsewhere. Pachulia ended up signing a one-year, $2.9MM contract with the Warriors and the Wizards signed Ian Mahinmi.

Here’s more from around the league:

Despite doling out a four-year, $64MM deal to Mahinmi, the Wizards don’t have any plans to trade starting center Marcin Gortat, Michael reports in the same piece.
The Nets considered making a four-year, $48MM offer to Dwight Powell, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports. Powell ended up re-signing with the Mavericks on a four-year, $37MM deal and the team has high hopes for the big man. “The last two years we’ve been working toward this period where we could get him signed to a longer-term deal and integrate him to our everyday rotation,” coach Rick Carlisle said.
The Rockets were willing to make the same deal that Dallas made for Andrew Bogut and the Warriors allowed Bogut to choose which team he wanted to go to, sources tell MacMahon. MacMahon adds that although the Sixers were very interested in acquiring Bogut, Golden State never seriously considered sending the Australian to Philadelphia.
Executives around the league are giving mixed reviews on the Mavericks‘ plan to heavily utilize Harrison Barnes on the offensive end with one anonymous Western Conference executive saying Barnes is “at best a third option,” MacMahon adds in the same piece.
Shabazz Napier, who was recently traded to the Blazers, is hoping to find a long-term home in Portland, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Napier also acknowledged that he got off to a rough start to his career because of the circumstances in which the Heat drafted him. “We all understood why I got drafted to the Miami Heat. It was to keep one of the best players on the team,” Napier said. “I think that’s what kind of started off this rough patch, but with every closed door another one opens.”

Southwest Notes: Barnes, Nowitzki, Duncan

July 15th, 2016 at 12:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks are planning an expanded role for newly signed forward Harrison Barnes, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Dallas gave Barnes $94MM over four years after losing small forward Chandler Parsons to the Grizzlies in free agency. “You’re going to see a lot more to his game than you’ve seen in the past,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said of Barnes. “I think he can do a lot more than he’s been asked to do, and that’s what we expect to see. … Maybe not first year, but I think he’s going to grow into [the role of go-to guy]. Just because a guy hasn’t done things doesn’t mean he can’t do it.” Barnes, 24, averaged 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 66 games with the Warriors last season.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Dirk Nowitzki probably would have left the Mavericks as a free agent or requested a trade by now if he hadn’t won a title in 2011, contends Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News. Cowlishaw also gives Dallas a C grade for its performance in free agency and speculates that medical reports on Parsons must have been scary for Cuban to let him go.
The Spurs‘ Tim Duncan, who announced his retirement this week, has officially cleared waivers, according to Real GM. It’s a minor footnote for someone who almost certainly is done with the NBA, but Duncan would be a free agent if he ever does decide to return.
San Antonio has removed its cap hold for 2015 first-round pick Nikola Milutinov, Real GM notes. The move means the 6’11” Serbian center, who played this season with Olympiacos in Greece, will spend at least one more year overseas.
The Grizzlies have withdrawn their qualifying offer to shooting guard Nick Calathes, according to Real GM. Calathes, who spent this season with Panathinaikos in Greece, would be an unrestricted free agent if he returns to the NBA. The 27-year-old spent two seasons in Memphis.

Kevin Durant Signs With Warriors

July 7th, 2016 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7TH: The signing is official, the team announced.

JULY 4TH: After nine years with the franchise, Kevin Durant has decided to leave the Thunder and will join the Warriors. Durant formally announced his decision on Monday morning in a post on The Players’ Tribune. Per ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), the deal will be a two-year pact worth about $54.3MM, with a player option for that second year.

“The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction,” Durant wrote. “But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.

“It really pains me to know that I will disappoint so many people with this choice, but I believe I am doing what I feel is the right thing at this point in my life and my playing career,” Durant added.

Although the team wasn’t formally allowed to speak to him until this past Friday, the Warriors’ pursuit of Durant has been ongoing for months, with Golden State players remaining in contact with him, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets.

Wojnarowski adds that the Warriors sold Durant on the opportunity to win multiple titles together, and to ease Stephen Curry‘s workload. Durant will join a stacked Golden State roster that will feature not just Curry, but Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as well, creating an incredibly imposing “big four” — all four players earned spots on one of the 2016 All-NBA teams earlier this year.

With Durant on the way, the Warriors will need to clear the cap space necessary to sign him to his new contract. The most logical roster move for Golden State looks like a trade of center Andrew Bogut, who is set to earn $12,681,081 in 2016/17. According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), at least three teams have expressed interest in acquiring Bogut.

Meanwhile, restricted free agent Harrison Barnes will also be headed elsewhere as a result of the Durant acquisition. The Mavericks are expected to offer Barnes a max deal when the July moratorium ends on Thursday, so Dallas could very well be his next destination. The Warriors may rescind Barnes’ cap hold, allowing him to sign with the Mavs as an unrestricted free agent — per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), the team is doing just that with Festus Ezeli‘s QO, which will make him a UFA.

Once the Dubs officially get Durant under contract, the team will likely just have the room exception – worth about $3MM – and the minimum-salary exception to fill out its roster. Given the free-agent prices we’ve seen so far this week, that money may not go far, but it’s also entirely possible that veterans seeking a title will want to join the Warriors’ stacked squad and will be willing to take a pay cut to do so.

As for the teams that failed to land Durant, the Thunder are obviously the most interesting case. With Russell Westbrook a year from free agency himself, Oklahoma City may have to seriously consider the possibility of exploring the trade market for Westbrook, rather than risking having him leave for nothing. However, now that they won’t be paying Durant $26MM+ in 2016/17, the Thunder have a little flexibility to try to go out and fortify the roster with another free agent addition, so GM Sam Presti will have some difficult decisions to make.

The Heat, meanwhile, now have the opportunity to mend fences with Dwyane Wade since the team won’t need a huge chunk of cap space for Durant. The Spurs will likely move on to other free agent pursuits — they’re currently considered a frontrunner for Pau Gasol. The Celtics were at least able to add a top-five free agent over the weekend by reaching an agreement with Al Horford, so they’ve improved their roster this week and still have cap room and assets to make additional moves. As for the Clippers, they were informed earlier in the process that they were out of the running for Durant, and have already begun reaching deals with their own free agents, including Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers.

With Durant eligible for an increased maximum salary a year from now, and Curry’s contract also set to expire next summer, the Warriors are on track to finalize a pair of massive contracts in 2017, assuming Durant does indeed sign a long-term deal with the team at that point.

Because Golden State will only have Durant’s Non-Bird rights in 2017, the club will have to make sure it has enough cap room to fit the former MVP’s new max salary (approximately $35MM) next summer, unless he’s willing to take a much more modest raise. For now, keeping that cap room available doesn’t look like it should be a problem for the Warriors, who only have two guaranteed salaries – Thompson’s and Green’s – on the books for 2017/18

With Durant’s decision now official, the rumor mill for the free agent market figures to come back to life — there had been little free-agent news this morning, as the league waited for the star forward to announce his destination.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavericks Acquire Andrew Bogut From Warriors

July 7th, 2016 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

THURSDAY, 9:24am: The Mavericks have formally confirmed in a press release that they’ve acquired Bogut and a future second-round pick in exchange for a conditional future second-rounder.

MONDAY, 6:11pm: The Mavs will receive a conditional 2019 second-round draft choice along with Bogut, a league source told Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

3:37pm: The Mavs are sending a future second-round pick to Golden State as part of the deal, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

1:35pm: The Warriors and Mavs are now in agreement on a trade involving Bogut, Stein reports (via Twitter).

1:29pm: The Warriors and Mavericks are in the “final stages” of negotiations on a trade that will send Andrew Bogut to Dallas, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links). There are still some details to be sorted out, but it looks like a deal will get done, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Stein had reported earlier today that the Mavs had emerged as a strong potential suitor for Bogut, in the wake of Kevin Durant‘s agreement with Golden State.

Because the Warriors need to clear cap room, the Mavs won’t be sending back any salary in the proposed deal, and will absorb Bogut into their own cap space. The other parts of the deal aren’t known yet.

Dallas will have to send something to Golden State in the deal, but it could just be a heavily-protected future draft pick or the NBA rights to a previously-drafted player. If draft picks are involved in the swap, I’d expect the Mavs to land the better pick, since they’re essentially doing the Warriors a favor, allowing Golden State to clear the room necessary for Durant.

A former No. 1 overall pick, Bogut remains a solid presence in the middle when he’s healthy. His 5.4 PPG for the Warriors this past season represented a career-low, but he contributed 5.3 RPG and 1.6 BPG to go along with a .627 FG%. Golden State obviously didn’t lean on Bogut for offense, but the team seemed to miss his rim protection and rebounding in the NBA Finals after he went down with a knee injury.

In addition to finalizing a deal for Bogut, the Mavericks are attempting to secure an agreement with Harrison Barnes, and will look to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki, per Wojnarowski.

Meanwhile, with a probable landing spot lined up for Bogut’s $12.68MM salary, the Warriors intend to fully guarantee Shaun Livingston‘s $5.78MM salary for the coming season, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.