Ivan Johnson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Mavs Rumors: Williams, Carter, Blair, Marion

July 10th, 2014 at 2:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

There’s strong mutual interest between the Mavs and Mo Williams, with Mavs GM Donnie Nelson having called him “the perfect fit in many respects,” reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Presuming the Rockets don’t match the Mavs’ offer sheet to Chandler Parsons, Dallas would like to re-sign Vince Carter for the $2.732MM room exception, but if Carter doesn’t bite, the Mavs would strongly consider using it on Williams, MacMahon writes. There’s more on Williams amid the latest from Dallas:

If Carter does take that room exception, the Mavs are holding out hope that they can convince Williams to sign for the minimum salary, since he lives in the area and wants to be near his family, MacMahon tweets. Portland’s deal today with Steve Blake indeed gives the Blazers less of a shot to re-sign Williams, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, but Bartelstein cautioned that there’s still a chance the combo guard stays in Portland.
The Mavs are also targeting DeJuan Blair for the minimum, and that would be the only price they’d be willing to pay for him, MacMahon also tweets.
Teams have been checking in with Shawn Marion, but there’s been no movement of any substance toward a deal, and the Mavs will remain in play if they miss out on Parsons, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Ivan Johnson is a part of the Mavs’ summer league team, but there’s mutual optimism that his relationship with the team will continue into the fall, MacMahon writes in a separate piece. “He’s more than just a summer league guy for us,” Mavs GM Donnie Nelson said. “We’re definitely taking a peak, and we like what we see.”

Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, Ariza, Stephenson

July 7th, 2014 at 6:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers aggressively pitched to Carmelo Anthony the idea that he can be the star of the team once Kobe Bryant‘s contract expires in 2016, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com hears (Twitter link). ‘Melo was to have taken the weekend to make his free agent choice, but it appears he still hasn’t made up his mind. Here’s more from a wild Monday of free agency:

The Cavs, Lakers, Heat and Mavs are all pursuing Trevor Ariza, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Wizards are presumably still in the hunt, as well. The swingman is seeking salaries of $9-11MM, Berger adds.
The Mavs have indeed shown interest in Lance Stephenson, reversing their previous stance against signing him, reports Chris Broussard of ESPNDallas.com, but it’s still very unlikely the shooting guard will end up in Dallas, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The Pacers‘ recent five-year, $45MM offer disappointed the Alberto Ebanks client, who’s begun shopping for other teams, Broussard writes.
The Celtics are also interested in Stephenson, Broussard adds (via Twitter).
Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) continues to hear that the Thunder are ahead of the Heat in the Anthony Morrow chase. Along with Pau Gasol, Morrow has been a prime OKC target in free agency.
A Chinese team offered Sebastian Telfair a two-year, $7MM deal as word of an impending deal with the Thunder leaked, agent Joel Bell tells Shams Charania of RealGM. Telfair passed that up to strike a one-year, minimum-salary agreement with the Thunder.
Paul Pierce‘s representatives are telling teams that he’s looking for a two-year deal worth $9-10MM per season, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (on Twitter). The Jeff Schwartz client is waiting to see if teams are willing to offer more money once the first-tier free agents come off the board, Mannix adds (Twitter link).
The Nets, Trail Blazers and Spurs have worked out free agent Ivan Johnson, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Hornets are among the teams set to meet with unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
Free agent Matt Bonner has remained in contact with the Spurs on a possible reunion and is waiting for the roster to unfold, sources tell RealGM’s Shams Charania (on Twitter). No other clubs are in the mix for him yet.

Nets To Work Out Ivan Johnson, Others

June 1st, 2014 at 10:12am CST by Chuck Myron

SUNDAY, 10:12am: According to his agent, French SF Yakhouba Diawara has been invited to the Nets mini-camp this Tuesday, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). Also attending will be Michael Snaer, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. In 27 games with the Italian team Enel Brindisi, Snaer averaged 8.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 1.1 APG.

3:28pm: NBA vets Ivan Johnson, Malcolm Lee, Kim English, Kevin Murphy and DaJuan Summers will join Liggins, Greene, Machado, Kennedy and others in working out for the club on Tuesday, the Nets announced. Lance Thomas will also participate, as Adam Zagoria of SNY reported earlier this week.

THURSDAY, 9:56am: Four free agents with NBA experience will visit with the Nets next week, according to Lenn Robbins of Nets.com, who says the team will see DeAndre Liggins, Donte Greene, Scott Machado and D.J. Kennedy (Twitter links; hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). The Nets are holding a mini-camp soon, so it seems like the foursome will be among those working out for the club.

Liggins has the most recent NBA experience among that group, having played in the NBA this past season on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Heat. The 26-year-old only appeared in one game for a single minute for Miami, but he made 39 appearances for the Thunder in 2012/13 and also saw playing time for the Magic the year before. He’s averaged 1.6 points in 7.1 minutes per game in the NBA since Orlando drafted him 53rd overall in 2011.

Greene, a former 28th overall pick, has the most extensive NBA experience, appearing in 253 games and making 82 starts for the Kings over four seasons, but he’s been out of the NBA since 2011/12, save for a late-season signing with the Grizzlies in 2012/13. He failed to get in a game during his time with Memphis. Machado, an undrafted former Iona standout, split this past season between France and the D-League after stints with the Rockets and Warriors in 2012/13. Kennedy, from St. John’s, has just two games with the Cavs in 2012/13 on his NBA resume, and he spent this past season playing in Israel and France.

Mini-camps at this time of year usually only help teams fill summer league rosters, but these four probably stand a chance at joining the Nets for preseason this fall, given their experience. The Nets, with a bloated payroll and limited flexibility, will have to do most of their free agent shopping with the minimum-salary exception.

Ivan Johnson Working Out For Multiple Teams

March 1st, 2014 at 10:14am CST by Cray Allred

Ivan Johnson has had private workouts with NBA teams this week, and has plans for more according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Sierra wouldn’t be surprised to see him join an NBA team.

The 29-year-old big man played two years with the Hawks before signing in China this year, where he just finished an impressive season. He has career averages of 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in the NBA, to go with his D-League marks of 18.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Johnson is a client of Haylett Sports & Entertainment. No team has been specifically linked to Johnson’s workouts yet, although the Nets and Clippers have been interested according to earlier reports. A look at our roster counts shows that there are plenty of teams with fewer than the max of 15 guaranteed contracts on their books, including the Nets and Clippers. Presumably, a handful of those with room on their roster and in need of frontcourt depth are looking at the 6’8″ forward as an option.

Ivan Johnson

Odds & Ends: Onuaku, Collins, Johnson, Faried

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Zachary Links

Danny Granger was the biggest name involved in a deadline deal and Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee explains why that might have been the case. “We’ve seen a trend toward teams being much more cautious and careful about how aggressive they are about trading for longer-term contracts, and that’s because of the luxury tax,” Tom Penn, an ESPN analyst and former Blazers vice president of basketball operations told Jones. “The other major change in the new deal is draft picks have become more coveted, and that’s because teams can no longer throw cash into trades as aggressively.” The old CBA allowed clubs to include as much as $3MM in a trade. The current CBA says that teams can only trade up to $3.2MM on the year. More from around the league..

The Cavs announced that they have recalled Arinze Onuaku from the Canton Charge of the D-League. Onuaku has appeared in 27 games for the Charge this season with averages of 14.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 1.0 BPG in 24.2 MPG.
Even with the Nets‘ signing of Jason Collins and the Clippers’ agreement with Glen Davis, those teams are still possible destinations for Ivan Johnson, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
Charania spoke with Kenneth Faried about all the trade talk surrounding him leading up to the trade deadline on Thursday. “I’m not surprised at all that my name was in trade situations, because I am a good player and people do want me,” the Nuggets forward said. “It just makes me that much more aware of how many other teams want me and like me.”
Sometimes, the best moves are the ones that you don’t make. Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders argues that the Rockets didn’t need a blockbuster deal at the deadline.
Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal wonders if the Knicks would have signed Collins.

Nets Considering Jason Collins

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:54am CST by Zachary Links

SUNDAY, 10:54am: With the rumor that the Clippers will be signing Glen Davis when he clears waivers later today, this makes it more likely that Collins will sign with the Nets. Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter Link) has heard that Collins and the team have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon.

FRIDAY, 4:40pm: The Nets will wait to see if they can sign Glen Davis, for whom they appear to be competing against the Clippers, before further investigating the idea of signing Collins, write Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com.

THURSDAY, 6:00pm: The Nets are looking at Collins but also have interest in Ivan Johnson and other bigs, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.

5:01pm: The Nets worked out Jason Collins this week in Los Angeles and are giving strong consideration to signing him to a 10-day deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. A deal would make Collins the NBA’s first openly gay player.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say the Nets, after letting today’s trade deadline pass without a deal for Lakers big man Jordan Hill, are weighing the addition of another big man and have identified Collins as a prime candidate. Collins last stepped on an NBA court almost a year ago as a member of the Wizards.

On a conference call this afternoon, Nets GM Billy King acknowledged that he’ll be looking to add a big man via free agency, tweets Rod Boone of Newsday. He mentioned that the club has guys on the radar in the D-League and elsewhere.

Collins’ name resurfaced in the media this month when NFL draft prospect Michael Sam came out of the closet, putting him in contention to be the first openly gay active athlete in one of North America’s big four leagues. If Collins puts pen to paper with Brooklyn, he’ll take ownership of that title.

The Nets and Pistons were among the clubs giving Collins consideration over the summer but neither team would up signing him.

Clippers Considering Ivan Johnson

February 20th, 2014 at 2:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Clippers are thinking about giving Ivan Johnson a 10-day deal and recently worked him out, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter) reported earlier today that the forward was a possible free agent for the Clips.

Johnson’s Chinese team, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, waived Johnson in late January, allowing him to pursue NBA opportunities. Johnson was averaging 26.0 points and 9.9 rebounds in China and picked up interest from multiple NBA clubs, including the Clippers and Knicks.

The Clippers shipped big men Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens to the Hawks and Sixers, respectively, and there is playing time to be had if Johnson comes to L.A.

Ivan Johnson Becomes Free Agent

January 22nd, 2014 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:01pm: The Clippers might have interest in Johnson, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

10:13am: The Zhejiang Golden Bulls have waived Ivan Johnson, the team announced, allowing the power forward to become a free agent and pursue reported NBA interest from several teams, including the Hawks (translation via Shaopeng Shen on Twitter; hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The team also announced the signing of small forward Mike Harris, whom the Jazz waived earlier this month, in a corresponding move.

Johnson was averaging 26.0 points and 9.9 rebounds in China, so it’s unclear why the team released him other than as a favor. Perhaps Johnson and the team agreed to a buyout, though that’s just my speculation. He’d become a mainstay in Atlanta’s rotation the past two seasons before signing with the Chinese team in late August. The Knicks seemed to be the most engaged among the NBA clubs that eyed the Jeremiah Haylett client this past summer.

Any NBA team that signs Johnson will have to arrange for FIBA clearance before the move can become official, but that shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle. He could be in the market for a 10-day contract, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he commanded a deal for the rest of the season right away.

Harris made the Jazz out of camp, and while he averaged 4.2 points in 11.3 minutes per game for Utah, the team decided to waive the fourth-year NBA veteran before his contract became guaranteed. Unless he signed a multiyear deal, which ex-NBA players rarely do with Chinese teams, he could return to the NBA in another month or two, once Zhejiang’s season is complete.

Hawks, Others Interested In Ivan Johnson

January 16th, 2014 at 8:14pm CST by Zachary Links

Over the summer, Ivan Johnson waited and waited to find an NBA deal to his liking. When he couldn’t get anything more than the veteran’s minimum, he opened things up to international offers and wound up signing in China. With the end of the CBA season in sight, however, several teams, including the Hawks, are showing interest in welcoming him back to the states, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).

In two NBA seasons with Atlanta, Johnson averaged 6.5 PPG and 3.9 RPG to go along with a 15.1 PER in 125 contests. The former Hawk drew interest from the Knicks over the summer and reportedly had preliminary talks with at least six NBA teams in total. It would stand to reason that several of those clubs will circle back around for him once he is available.

At the age of 29, the Oregon product is well-traveled at this point, having spent time with teams in South Korea and Puerto Rico, as well as playing in China in 2011 before coming to the NBA.

International Notes: Johnson, Williams, Kennedy

August 29th, 2013 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

As we noted earlier this morning, one of the more intriguing big men still available in free agency came off the board today, when Ivan Johnson signed with China's Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Today's round of international updates includes more tidbits on Johnson's decision, along with notes on a couple other former NBA players. Let's dive in….

Johnson's one-year deal in China doesn't include an opt-out, but the CBA season ends before the NBA season does, so the ex-Hawk is hoping to catch on with an NBA team after his run with the Golden Bulls ends, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
The Bulls, Knicks, Clippers, and Pacers all had some interest in Johnson, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. However, agent Jeremiah Haylett tells Zwerling that Zhejiang's offer was "so lucrative" that it persuaded his client to opt for China (Twitter links).
Enea Trapani of Sportando, citing Meidan Katsnelson, reports that Shelden Williams has turned down offers from Euroleague teams in search of a more lucrative deal. Williams, who played in France last season, may end up in China, according to Trapani.
Sportando also passes along a Gazzetta di Reggio report suggesting that Italian team Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia is targeting D.J. Kennedy, and keeping an eye on Cory Higgins and Lazar Hayward as possible alternatives. All three players have at least a little NBA experience, and may be more inclined to seek out NBA offers if those are available.