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Isaiah Thomas

And-Ones: Thomas, Wiggins, Drew

August 26th, 2014 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA is creating more room around the basket stanchions and reducing the number of photographers along the baseline, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press reports. The league planned the changes before Paul George was hurt, league president of basketball operations Rod Thorn tells Mahoney, and that’ll prevent another injury of the sort that befell George, but that’s of little comfort to the Pacers at this point.

Here’s the latest from around the league:

  • Isaiah Thomas tells Jeff Caplan of NBA.com that he never requested trade from the Kings, who wound up participating in the sign-and-trade that sent him to the Suns. “I was always professional about every situation,” Thomas said. “I always came in with my hard hat on willing to do whatever is best for the team. When they signed Darren Collison, I knew I was going in a different direction.”
  • Larry Drew said that he was blindsided by the events which led to him being fired and replaced by Jason Kidd as coach of the Bucks, writes Howie Kussoy of The New York Post. Drew also said, “From their [the owners’] standpoint, there’s no set time for these type of things. It caught me in a position when I least expected it. But I know how these things work. I don’t have any hard feelings, any grudges against anybody. [Owner] Marc [Lasry] called me and I just wished him luck. I’ve got to keep moving forward.”
  • Andrew Wiggins just wanted to play for a team that wanted him, and called the completion of the deal that sent him to the Wolves a big relief, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press.
  • Former NBA player Dominic McGuire has signed with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli League, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). McGuire’s last NBA action came during the 2012/13 season with the Pacers, Pelicans, and Jazz. In six NBA seasons, he has averaged 2.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Western Notes: Grizz, Pleiss, Clark, Kings

August 1st, 2014 at 7:56pm CST by Alex Lee

Grizzlies owner Robert Pera indicated that the decision to keep Chris Wallace in charge of the team’s basketball operations had to do with more than just on-court matters, as Pera said today before assembled media, including The Associated Press.

“When you are looking at this team in Memphis, I think you’ve for to look at the general manager in two respects,” Pera said. “One is the basketball performance. The other I’ve learned with Memphis the past couple of years is this idea of community involvement. And everybody loves Chris in Memphis. He is a special person for the Memphis community.”

Here is what else is going on out West:

  • The Thunder made an attempt this summer to bring seven foot German Tibor Pleiss, a 2010 draft-and-stash selection, to the NBA this season but the price of the buyout was ultimately prohibitive, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Oklahoma City will again try to bring the 31st selection of the 2010 draft to the states for the 2015/16 season, a possibility Woj calls “likely”, but the big man will play for FC Barcelona this year. (Twitter links)
  • Making his weekly radio appearance, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said that the team has a few things to take care of before deciding on the contract of shooting guard Ian Clark, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Clark played 23 games in Utah as a rookie last season after signing a two-year deal with the Jazz last July. His salary for the upcoming season is not guaranteed.
  • After years of frustration, construction finally began Friday on the Kings new arena in Sacramento, writes Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee. The agreement on the arena site, facilitated by new owner Vivek Ranadive, was a critical factor in the NBA rejecting the franchise’s relocation to Seattle. The $477MM structure is scheduled to be ready for the 2016/17 season.
  • Back in Sacramento this week, Suns guard Isaiah Thomas provided plenty of juicy quotes to Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty, indicating that he knew he probably wouldn’t be returning to the Kings when he saw his former team had inked fellow point guard Darren Collison. “When they did that, I knew I wasn’t coming back,” Thomas said. “If you bring in somebody, a draft pick or somebody that’s just not better than me I feel like it is disrespectful. When they picked Darren Collison, I felt like it was time for me to move on.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Western Notes: Suns, O’Neal, Jazz

July 13th, 2014 at 11:04am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Suns recent contract agreement with Isaiah Thomas has puzzled some since the team already has point guards Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and recent draftee Tyler Ennis on the roster. But Phoenix believes they have only strengthened their “dual-playmaker” offense with the acquisition, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. GM Ryan McDonough said, “We feel like the strength of our team is the backcourt. We feel like this move has made us even stronger in the backcourt. We were very good when Dragic and Bledsoe were on the court, and we think Isaiah is that caliber of player where if you can have one or two of those guys on the court at all times, you really don’t have any dropoff scoring-wise. You always have multiple weapons. You have guys who can run pick-and-rolls from either side of the floor and can push the floor in transition.”

Here’s more from the western half:

  • Jermaine O’Neal is expected to make a decision on his retirement soon, reports Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). O’Neal appeared in 44 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG while playing 20.1 minutes per contest.
  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr has spoken with Klay Thompson and David Lee about the trade rumors surrounding both players, writes Leung. According to the article Kerr said, “They both get it. I told them, I know you get it. It doesn’t make it any easier. But this is why you really get paid. I mean, you get paid all this money, is it really for coming into a gym for two hours a day and shooting jump shots? We’ve been doing that for free our whole life, you know? You get paid because you can get traded, and you have to uproot your family. You can get hurt, you can get booed, and people on the message board are crushing you. That’s where you actually earn your money in this league, where it actually feels like work.“
  • Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey was noncommittal when asked what Gordon Hayward‘s new contract would mean for Alec Burks and Enes Kanter and any discussions on signing those players to contract extensions, notes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
  • With the Lakers seemingly striking out on all the big name free agents this summer, the team will have to turn to “Plan B,” writes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
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Suns Acquire Isaiah Thomas

July 12th, 2014 at 1:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 1:07pm: The trade is complete, per a release from the Suns.

5:51pm: Thomas confirms that he’s heading to the Suns once the sign-and-trade is complete, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Of the deal, Thomas said, “I feel wanted. That’s all I wanted.”

NBA: Washington Wizards at Sacramento KingsFRIDAY, 5:40pm: The Suns and Kings are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal on a four-year, $27MM contract for Isaiah Thomas, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). This was after Thomas had reached an agreement and signed an offer sheet with Phoenix, tweets Wojnarowski. Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link) reports that the Suns will send rights to 2013 second-round pick Alex Oriakhi, and that Sacramento will also wind up with a $7.2MM trade exception.

Phoenix was one of a handful of teams that had reached out to Thomas since free agency began. The Lakers, Mavericks, Pistons, Warriors and Heat were also reported to have had interest in the former Sacramento point guard.

Thomas averaged 20.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 6.3 APG last year for the Kings, while appearing in 72 games for the team. His slash line was .447/.360/.857.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Isaiah Thomas Visiting Suns Today

July 10th, 2014 at 7:14pm CST by Alex Lee

7:14pm: The Suns meeting with Thomas will continue into tomorrow, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. Aldridge adds that the sides have not agreed to an offer sheet yet but regardless of the result of their discussions, Phoenix’s interest in Thomas has no impact on their situation with Bledsoe.

5:49pm: Restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas is visiting the Suns today, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Phoenix was one of a handful of teams that had reached out to Thomas since free agency began, though this is the first time we’ve heard about a visit. The Lakers, Mavericks, Pistons, Warriors and Heat are also reported to have interest in the Kings point guard.

Sacramento was rumored to be targeting a point guard in the draft before opting for Nik Stauskas at No. 8, who doesn’t project to be able to handle full-time duties at the point. The team also came to a three-year agreement with free agent Darren Collison last week, further clouding their intentions for Thomas. If they prefer to retain the Washington product, who will be entering his fourth professional season, it would seem like they’re going to have their hands full in doing so.

Meanwhile, the Suns seem intent on adding to an already deep back court. Phoenix drafted Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis to go with the dynamic duo of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe (assuming they retain him).

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Several Teams Interested In Isaiah Thomas

July 7th, 2014 at 4:36pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 7TH, 4:36pm: The Pistons are no longer among the teams involved with Thomas, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter).

JULY 2ND, 7:14am: Mavs owner Mark Cuban called Thomas on Tuesday, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

11:45pm: Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter) adds the Lakers to the list of interested clubs.

8:35am: Kyle Lowry’s decision will likely precede the one that Thomas makes, Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling tweets. The Kings and Thomas have strong mutual respect, Zwerling says.

7:48am: The Pistons are also interested, tweets Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com. They’re talking about a deal in the ballpark of three years and $24MM total. Other talks are in the $6-7MM range, Bruski adds (Twitter link).

7:32am: The Lakers made contact with Thomas, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, as did the teams that Jones mentioned (Twitter link).

12:37am: The Celtics, Mavericks, Warriors, Heat, Pistons, and Suns have expressed interest in Kings free agent guard Isaiah Thomas, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.  The Kings want to keep the diminutive point guard but they’ll have their work cut out for them this summer.

The Celtics were the first team on the horn with Thomas when free agency started after midnight ET and Danny Ainge personally made the call.  This is purely speculative, but one has to imagine that the C’s are giving serious thought to trading Rajon Rondo given their pursuit of Thomas and selection of Marcus Smart in last week’s draft.

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And-Ones: Bogdanovic, Blatt, Anthony

July 5th, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Eddie Scarito

Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 27th overall pick of the Suns,  is finalizing four-year deal with Fenerbahce, reports David Pick of Eurobasket. The deal contains an NBA escape clause after the second year, according to Pick.

Here’s more from around the league:

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Western Notes: ‘Melo, Mavs, Bledsoe, Kaman

July 4th, 2014 at 1:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

The offer the Mavs are making to Carmelo Anthony involves a starting salary of slightly more than $18MM, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). That would mean a max of $77MM over four years, though McMahon pegs the likely value of the offer at $75MM. In any case, that’s significantly less than the nearly $96MM over four years the Lakers are reportedly offering in a max deal, and about $50MM less than the five-year max that the Knicks have apparently put on the table. There’s more from MacMahon on the Mavs amid the latest from the Western Conference:

  • The Mavs have confidence they’ll strike a deal to re-sign Devin Harris, presuming they don’t land Anthony or LeBron James, even if some of the inflated agreements around the league this week have pushed his market value higher, MacMahon writes. The team sees Isaiah Thomas as its primary fallback option should Harris sign elsewhere, and Dallas has also been in contact with the agent for Wasserman client D.J. Augustin, MacMahon adds.
  • There are some who believe that agent Rich Paul’s talks with teams about LeBron are instead intended to pitch clubs on Suns restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, whom Paul also represents, tweets USA Today’s Sam Amick.
  • The Blazers came to terms with Chris Kaman believing they wouldn’t be able to sign Spencer Hawes or Channing Frye, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
  • The Warriors have officially hired Alvin Gentry, Ron Adams and Luke Walton as assistant coaches, the team announced. Gentry, who spent last season as a Clippers assistant, was a candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies this summer. Adams was an assistant with the Celtics last season while Walton was an assistant for the Lakers D-League affiliate.
  • Marcus Camby, 40, still harbors aspirations of returning to the NBA after missing last year as he recovered from left foot surgery, an injury that prompted the Rockets to waive him just before the start of the regular season.
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And-Ones: Thomas, Deng, Granger, Carmelo

July 3rd, 2014 at 11:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Some items from around the league as we get ready for tomorrow’s fireworks and plenty of free agency fireworks to come..

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Pacific Notes: Thomas, Clippers, Bazemore

July 3rd, 2014 at 6:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

News of Sacramento’s signing of Darren Collison was no shock to Isaiah Thomas, who fully expected the Kings to sign another point guard, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Collison is under the impression he’ll start, and the Kings like Thomas as a sixth man, Jones says (on Twitter). Jones nonetheless suggests Thomas is unlikely to re-sign (Twitter link).

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Thomas’ preferred teams are the Lakers, the Heat, and the Pistons, reports Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
  • The Clippers want to use their mid-level exception on a big man, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, and the team has considered Kris Humphries and Jason Smith, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
  • The Clippers have become the front-runner to land the Lakers free agent Jordan Farmar, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Spears also tweets that the Warriors reached out to Lakers free agent guard Kent Bazemore today.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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