Ish Smith Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Morey, Smith, Prigioni

January 12th, 2016 at 10:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Rockets have improved as of late, but the franchise still views the current campaign as a disappointment and GM Daryl Morey believes the team needs to demonstrate more consistency on both sides of the court moving forward, Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post writes. “We’re just volatile,” said Morey. “We’re not very consistent. That’s something we need to keep improving on. We aren’t as good as we need to be on both sides of the ball. Defense is the bigger area we need to improve on, in all facets, especially transition-D and defensive rebounding. Offense – we’ve had better moments lately but we have had long stretches of droughts. A lot of what we were able to do was have our defense turn into offense last year and that has been less prevalent this year.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Ish Smith has performed exceptionally well since being acquired by the Sixers, who are his ninth NBA team in five seasons. While the point guard isn’t sure why he has been unable to stick with one team, he does believe all the movement has made him a better player, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “You might have to make that phone call to all those GMs, don’t ask me,” Smith responded, when asked why he thinks he has been on the move so often. “I just think it’s part of the process. Everybody has their story. I thank God for what I went through. It’s made me who I am. I wouldn’t want it any other way. When I went through the process, I didn’t understand it. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. But you just have to trust the process. Not everybody is a lottery pick who plays for the same team for 13 years. My story couldn’t be that. Is that the easy way or is that the ideal way? Absolutely. But that’s not my story.“
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has been impressed with the intangibles that veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni has brought to the team, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Post-Telegram writes. “He’s been great,” Rivers said of Prigioni. “He’s just been solid. He runs the team and that’s so important. I think if you just looked at him, or looked at his numbers, you wouldn’t be that impressed. He goes yesterday without a shot, he goes games without shots; he has assists. But he just knows how to play. He gives that second unit more craftiness.”

Sixers Notes: Brand, Wood, Smith

January 6th, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Elton Brand had mentally committed to retiring this summer, but the opportunity to make a positive impact on the Sixers’ young roster intrigued him, leading to his return to the NBA, Brian Seltzer of NBA.com writes. “It’s surreal,” Brand said about being back in the league. “A lot of fun. Came in, not too many expectations on the court. I did OK. I feel good about that.” Speaking about his potential retirement, Brand told Seltzer, “This chapter was done. I had made peace with it. I was honored and very thankful for the opportunity to be an NBA basketball player, especially for so long to have that longevity. So now, being out here again, I’ll make the best of it. I’m shooting corner three’s, I’m handling the ball, I’m doing everything. This is unexpected, so I’m thankful for the opportunity.”

“His mind is A-plus, and his purpose and our collective understanding of why he’s here is A-plus,” said Brown, who is thrilled to have Brand on the roster, Seltzer adds. “He understands where he can have the most value. And it’s pretty cool to have somebody like that around, with that resume, and that clear understanding of how he can help us and me the most. I just feel like when he speaks, I can tell already, he’s calculated on when he’s going to talk, and he knows that silence isn’t a bad thing. I’m sure he’s going to choose his place accordingly, and purposefully. But it is very cool for me to know his history, and to have him back in the program.”

Here’s more from out of Philadelphia:

The Sixers’ lack of quality point guards has hampered the offensive development of a number of the team’s younger players, something coach Brett Brown hopes the addition of Ish Smith can alleviate, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News. “I think everybody benefits from good, stable point guard play,” Brown said. ”Because what happens is it’s such a pick-and-roll league that you can find perimeter people out of that through a point guard. It’s such a pace system that we run that you can find runners, shooters like that. I think that you can hit rollers, because of that. The point guard just connects the dots all over the place. All over the place and there’s probably no team that would resonate that opinion more than we do with what we’ve all been through.”
Power forward Christian Wood has joined the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers’ D-League affiliate, after clearing waivers today, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (via Twitter). The Sixers released Wood earlier this week to make room on the roster to ink Elton Brand.

Eastern Notes: Marshall, Butler, Bosh

December 31st, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jimmy Butler notes that he and Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg are learning a lot about each other, and that Hoiberg is holding him accountable for his actions, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “I still got respect for him,” Butler said of Hoiberg. “I don’t think it’s a different light. Nothing I do is to disrespect anybody. I think he realizes I’m going to be here, I realize he’s going to be here, so we got to deal with each other anyways. I think that he’s holding me accountable for everything. He talked to me whenever I was low energy last game, and I fixed it. That’s the type of guy he is. He has the utmost confidence in me because he continually put the ball in my hand when he didn’t have to.”

Butler does appreciate the effort that Hoiberg has made to connect with him, Friedell adds. “I think we’re both learning a lot about each other,” Butler said. “He’s probably learning how moody I am on a daily basis, to tell you the truth. And it’s hard, but I think he lets me be who I am. He handles everything that I do very well. I’m not a big communicator, I’m not great at it, but he’s always talking to me. He’s always asking, ‘How are you doing? What can we do?’ He’s always asking my opinion on a lot of things. Yeah, it helped a lot.”

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Sixers point guard Kendall Marshall‘s role has been significantly diminished with the team’s acquisition of Ish Smith from New Orleans, but he is trying to remain upbeat despite the team’s woes, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.”It’s not easy,” Marshall said of losing his starting spot. “But it’s part of being a professional. I’ve definitely been in this situation before. I know what it’s like. At the end of day, I have to play better if I want to be on the court. He’s playing extremely well. Obviously our team is playing a lot better. We are in game. When the team is playing better that’s not anything I can be mad about.“
Chris Bosh believes that the Heat suffer from focus issues and don’t pay enough attention when leads begin to slip away during games, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. The power forward didn’t call out anyone in particular, but did note that the problem includes both players and coaches, Lieser adds. “Yeah, top to bottom,” Bosh said. “I’m inclusive. We’re a team. From me to [coach Erik Spoelstra] to the guys in the locker room, we have to not let that affect our play. We have to move on to the next one. We want to have the No. 1 league defense and the No. 1 league offense, but we don’t have that, so we have to work with what we have and play the game.“

Sixers Notes: Noel, Smith, Wroten

December 30th, 2015 at 3:45pm CST by Will Joseph

The jury is still out on whether or not Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor can coexist on the court for the Sixers with Noel’s recent string of strong play coming with Okafor being out with a sore right knee, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays. Noel has thrived at center, his natural position, recently, but played power forward when Okafor was healthy. Okafor, as Pompey adds, is expected to return tonight. Sixers coach Brett Brown said that Noel’s most recent performances might lead to a change in where Noel and Okafor can and should play, Pompey adds. Noel is better suited to play the center position because he is a rim-protector, Pompey notes. Noel becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out and how the two big men develop.

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

The Sixers did not intend on releasing Tony Wroten on Christmas Eve, a move they took some criticism for, and preferred to do that the day after Christmas, but the Pelicans insisted on last week’s trade being completed Thursday, Pompey writes in a separate piece. The Sixers, therefore, needed to create a roster spot to complete the trade for Ish Smith from the Pelicans, and thus Wroten was cut. The Sixers are thrilled to have Smith because they believe his presence and skills give them a boost on the court, Pompey notes.
There is a strong chance that the Sixers would have acquired Smith for less if they had waited a few more weeks and pulled the trigger on the deal closer to the deadline, Derek Bodner of Phillymag.com writes in a mailbag response. Such a move presents a change in the way the Sixers operate because the team overpaid in exchanging two future second-round picks to fix an immediate problem, Bodner adds.

Sixers Notes: Smith, Noel, Wroten

December 27th, 2015 at 10:25am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers acquired Ish Smith earlier in the week and the team plans on making him the starting point guard for the immediate future, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Smith started Saturday’s contest against the Suns, putting up 14 points and five assists in a rare win for Philadelphia.

Here’s more from the City of Brotherly Love:

Coach Brett Brown believes adding Smith is about more than basketball on the court, Derek Bodner of the Philadelphia magazine passes along (Twitter link). “What people here don’t know is the companionship and the mateship, and the trust that he has with Nerlens [Noel],” Brown said.
The Sixers are hoping that adding Smith will be a spark for Noel, Pompey writes in a separate piece. Noel is averaging 10.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while sporting a player efficiency rating of 12.0 this season.
Brown had some kind words for Tony Wroten, who was released on Wednesday, Pompey passes along via Twitter links. “It was disappointing to part ways with Tony,” Brown said. “He had been around me all my days there…It is part of sport. I hope he looks back knowing coaches gave everything we could and for the most part I think he did too. We wish him well.”

Southwest Notes: Davis, Smith, Howard

December 25th, 2015 at 8:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Anthony Davis would trigger the Derrick Rose rule for more lucrative salaries on the extension he signed with the Pelicans this past summer if he’s voted to start the All-Star Game, but so far, he’s only sixth among vote-getters for the three frontcourt positions in the Western Conference (Twitter link via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports). Davis can also earn the higher salaries if he makes an All-NBA team or is named MVP this season.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry praised the effort given by Ish Smith, who was dealt to the Sixers on Thursday, and indicated that the point guard was expendable because of the team’s backcourt depth, John Reid of The Times Picayune relays. “He was great for us,” Gentry said. ”He did everything I asked for him to do. Obviously with Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday coming off restrictions as far as minutes and Norris Cole being healthy, there wasn’t a lot of time for him. This is a good thing for him, too. I think he will play a lot of minutes in Philly. He is a great kid and I think he is going to be in this league a long time.”
Dwight Howard hasn’t received his customary amount of shot attempts this season with the Rockets, which makes it difficult to judge if the center’s skills are beginning to diminish, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “The more confidence I have on the block, the better I’ll be,” Howard said. “Each day I just continue to work on getting reps, so when I get in the game, I can get to my spot and just finish.” The big man does say that he’s healthy and is trying to limit the distractions any talk regarding his potential free agency next summer may cause his teammates, Watkins adds. “Actually, the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling really good,” Howard continued. “I’ve just been trying to stay free and not allowing any of the noise from the outside, the crazy rumors and all that stuff to affect who I am with my teammates and what we’re trying to accomplish. My body has felt great. I think when you stay stress-free, your body tends to follow.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Ish Smith Trade Fallout: Noel, D’Antoni, Holiday

December 25th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers had interest in re-signing Ish Smith this past summer before he signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Wizards in September, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Smith also drew offers of guaranteed money from teams, Calkins writes, indicating that the Sixers were one of them. The deal that Smith inked with Washington is the one he’s still on, since the Pelicans claimed him off waivers in October before trading him to the Sixers on Thursday. See more in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve trade between Philadelphia and New Orleans:

Nerlens Noel loved playing with Smith last year, so the move will likely please the big man, Moore notes (on Twitter). Noel becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
New Sixers lead assistant coach Mike D’Antoni is also a fan of Smith and wanted Philadelphia to acquire him, sources told John Reid of The Times Picayune. D’Antoni has a reputation for lifting the performance of point guards, and Smith is set for free agency at season’s end.
New Orleans plans to keep Jrue Holiday coming off the bench when his minutes restriction is lifted next week, but the team still didn’t envision giving Smith adequate time in the rotation, Reid writes in the same piece.
The Pelicans created a trade exception equal to Smith’s $947,276 salary, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The exception can help the Pelicans absorb a long-term minimum salary deal they might otherwise be unable to match salaries for, as I explained.

Pelicans Trade Ish Smith To Sixers

December 24th, 2015 at 4:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports Images

4:04pm: The trade is official, the Pelicans announced on their website and the Sixers announced via press release. Philadelphia released Tony Wroten to accommodate the move, as we detail here.

3:16pm: The Sixers are on the verge of acquiring Ish Smith from the Pelicans, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Philly will send two future second-round picks to New Orleans in exchange for Smith, a source said to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Smith spent the second half of last season with Philadelphia and thrived there, but the Sixers didn’t re-sign him in free agency this past summer. Philadelphia has a full 15-man roster, so it would have to make a corresponding move if Smith came in and nobody went out in the trade.

Smith proved valuable early this season for the Pelicans, who claimed him off waivers from the Wizards shortly before opening night. The 27-year-old averaged 8.3 assists against 2.1 turnovers through the first 16 games of the season. However, his playing time has dwindled since the return of backup point guard Norris Cole from injury, as Smith has played less than 10 minutes in four of the Pelicans’ last five games.

The timing of the move for Philadelphia is somewhat odd, since point guards Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten recently made their season debuts after recovering from injuries. The Sixers also have Isaiah Canaan and rookie T.J. McConnell at the position.

It’s the first move of consequence for the Sixers since Jerry Colangelo became chairman of basketball operations, and it represents a departure of sorts from GM Sam Hinkie‘s philosophy, since Hinkie was notorious for stockpiling second-rounders. Smith is just the second player on the team who’s older than 25, but though he has five years of NBA experience, he doesn’t quite fit the profile of the sort of long-tenured veteran the Sixers have been rumored to be seeking. Smith doesn’t figure to markedly change the direction of the Sixers, who at 1-30 are the first team ever to win just a single game in their first 31 outings.

Smith isn’t a lavish expenditure for Philadelphia, either. His contract is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covers only one season. He agreed to those terms with the Wizards before the start of training camp, joining Washington even though he faced long odds to make the opening night roster. The Wizards cut him, as expected, in late October, allowing the Pelicans to scoop him up. Smith was briefly with New Orleans last season, when the Pelicans acquired him in a deadline-day trade from the Thunder, but the Pelicans waived him immediately after that deal, and Philadelphia claimed him shortly thereafter. Smith averaged 12.0 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 27.1 minutes per game across 25 appearances for the Sixers last year.

New Orleans appears poised to open a roster spot if the deal goes through as reported so far. Cole, Jrue Holiday, Toney Douglas and Tyreke Evans are all around to man the point guard position. The move would appear to be a positive development for Douglas, whose contract isn’t fully guaranteed.

Which team do you think is getting the better end of this deal? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, Smith, Lawson

November 14th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t made up his mind about when he’ll retire from the game, but he isn’t shutting the door on the possibility that he may play beyond 2016/17, which is the final year on his current deal, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “I always said that when the body is hurting every day, and when you’ve got to do all this extra stuff to just play, I think that’s when it’s time to go,” said Nowitzki. “But I feel good. I feel good right now and I felt good this summer. I mean, we had a five-games-in-six-days for the [Eurobasket], and I got through that just fine. … I felt good. I don’t need to pop a thousand pills to play or practice. So as long as that’s still good, and it’s still fun to go. I’m going to definitely ride this contract out [this season and next]. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens after that.”

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Ish Smith, who was claimed off waivers from the Wizards back in October, has been forced to play major minutes because of injuries to Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans, and he has impressed the Pelicans‘ coaching staff with how quickly he has acclimated to the team’s system, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. ”It’s really tough, especially just coming in,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”It would have been different if he had been in training camp and had gone through the whole situation. But you just pick a guy up and then throw him out there, I thought he responded great. I just think it’s a situation and [GM] Dell [Demps] and I talked about it and we just got to keep our head above water. We just got to keep playing hard and competing.”
Ty Lawson made his return to Denver Friday night, which was his first game back in the city after being dealt to the Rockets during the offseason. While his tenure with the Nuggets didn’t necessarily end well, the point guard had nothing negative to say about his former team, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “It was pretty great,” said Lawson of his time with the Nuggets. “I had a good couple of years here. This team gave me my first opportunity and chance. So I have nothing bad to say.” When asked if he wished things had turned out differently for him in Denver, Lawson responded, “Things happen for a reason. God has a plan, so I’m going to follow it.”
Mavericks point guard Raymond Felton has signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports and Entertainment, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (Twitter link). Felton was previously represented by Wasserman Media Group.

Pelicans Claim Ish Smith Off Waivers

October 27th, 2015 at 7:18am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 7:18am: The move was a waiver claim, not a signing, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) and the RealGM transactions log show, so Smith is on a one-year, non-guaranteed, minimum salary contract.

6:02pm: New Orleans announced that it has signed Smith, and doesn’t say anything about a waiver claim. Either way, Smith is with the Pelicans now, though the terms of his contract could be different if the team signed him rather than claiming him.

MONDAY, 4:10pm: The Pelicans have claimed Ish Smith off waivers from the Wizards, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). That means the Sixers took a pass on claiming him, a move Philadelphia was reportedly considering. New Orleans inherits the one-year deal that’s for the minimum salary without guaranteed money that Smith signed before the start of camp with the Wizards.

Smith was waived Saturday by the Wizards, along with four other players. He spent much of the first half of last season with the Thunder, but he looked especially strong as he played 25 games down the stretch with the Sixers, averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 27.1 minutes per contest. In five preseason games with the Wizards, his averages were 2.2 points, 4.0 assists and 1.0 turnover in 11.5 minutes.

The signing brings the Pelicans up to the roster limit of 15. Smith gives the Pelicans some added depth at point guard with Norris Cole on the club’s inactive list, according to the opening-night rosters released by the league on Monday night. Cole suffered a high ankle sprain during training camp and could be out several more weeks.