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Russell Westbrook Named Most Valuable Player

June 26th, 2017 at 10:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, as was announced on TNT’s awards show Monday night. He was selected ahead of the other finalists, Rockets guard James Harden and Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard.

Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961/62 to average a triple-double for a season. He posted an NBA-leading 31.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 10.4 APG while carrying the Thunder to the postseason.

Harden averaged 29.1 PPG, 8.1 RPG and an NBA-best 11.2 APG. Leonard averaged 25.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.5 APG and was also a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award while averaging 1.8 SPG.

Four of five members of the Hoops Rumors staff chose Westbrook.

Related stories:

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Rockets Plan To Offer James Harden Extension

June 20th, 2017 at 11:49am CST by Luke Adams

After signing him to a contract extension last summer, the Rockets plan to once again offer James Harden a new deal this offseason, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Harden’s current agreement with the club runs through the 2018/19 season, with a player option for 2019/20.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, players have to wait at least two years after signing their previous contract to ink an extension, but Harden and Russell Westbrook will be grandfathered in under slightly different rules. Houston and Oklahoma City didn’t know last summer when they extended their respective stars that the new CBA would include a Designated Veteran Extension, so those teams can extend those players again this offseason.

Harden qualified for that DVE by earning an All-NBA spot this season, but a new extension for him wouldn’t kick in until the 2019/20 season. He’d be eligible for a four-year deal worth up to $168MM, according to Feigen and cap expert Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Added to the last two seasons on Harden’s current contract, that would end up being a six-year pact worth nearly $227MM.

Even for a player coming off an MVP caliber season, that sort of deal would be an expensive and somewhat risky investment for the Rockets, who would be committing maximum-salary money to Harden through his age-34 season. However, a source tell Feigen that Houston plans to extend that offer to Harden at the first possible opportunity.

As Feigen details, the Rockets recognize that the opportunity to tell players considering Houston in free agency that Harden will be with the franchise the long-term should be beneficial.

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NBA Reveals Award Finalists

May 19th, 2017 at 7:05pm CST by Austin Kent

The NBA is in the process of revealing its finalists for each of the major year-end awards on TNT, the winners of which will be announced at the official award show on June 26.

Below is an ongoing list that we’ll update as the NBA on TNT crew reveals more.

Most Improved Player of the Year
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Rudy Gobert
Nikola Jokic

Hoops Rumors Analysis: MIP

Sixth Man of the Year
Eric Gordon
Andre Iguodala
Lou Williams

Hoops Rumors Analysis: Sixth Man

Rookie of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon
Joel Embiid
Dario Saric

Hoops Rumors Analysis: ROY

Coach of the Year
Mike D’Antoni
Gregg Popovich
Erik Spoelstra

Hoops Rumors Analysis: COTY

Defensive Player of the Year
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green
Kawhi Leonard

Hoops Rumors Analysis: DPOY

Most Valuable Player of the Year
James Harden
Kawhi Leonard
Russell Westbrook

Hoops Rumors Analysis: MVP

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No Paul George, Gordon Hayward On All-NBA Teams

May 18th, 2017 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season, and neither Paul George nor Gordon Hayward is among the 15 players honored. That’s big news for both players and their teams, since they’ll be ineligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, reducing the amount of money the Pacers and Jazz – respectively – could offer their star forwards in contract extensions this offseason.

Here are this year’s All-NBA teams:

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Based on this year’s All-NBA voting results, Wall is now eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension this summer, while Leonard is eligible to sign one next summer. Harden, Westbrook, and Curry are also eligible to sign DVEs this summer, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter).

Those Designated Veteran Extensions – which are dependent on a player making an All-NBA team in the year before he signs an extension, or in two of the previous three years – apply to players finishing up their rookie scale extensions. They allow a player re-signing with his own team to earn up to 35% of the salary cap, rather than just 30%. So, if we assume a $101MM salary cap for 2017/18, a player like Curry could sign a new Warriors contract with a starting salary of $35.35MM, instead of $30.3MM.

The Pacers and Jazz will still be able to offer George and Hayward larger and longer contracts than any other team, but the advantage won’t be as significant as it would have been if those players had earned All-NBA spots. Teams can offer their own Bird-rights free agents up to five years (instead of four) and 8% raises (instead of 5%).

Hayward figures to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, while George is expected to reach free agency in 2018. George could still become eligible for the DVE in ’18 if the Pacers hang onto him through next season and he earns All-NBA honors a year from now. However, there’s no guarantee that Indiana will be willing to take that risk.

As for the rest of the All-NBA votes, there weren’t any major surprises, particularly on the first two teams. Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a year which was dominated by four clear-cut MVP candidates, is that Harden was the only player who received 100 out of 100 possible First Team votes. Westbrook and James received 99 apiece, while Leonard received 96.

Note: Hoops Rumors readers voted last month on All-NBA teams, and our squads looked awfully close to the official ones, with a couple notable exceptions. You can check out the results of our voting right here.

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Southwest Notes: Green, Gentry, Harden

May 12th, 2017 at 6:05pm CST by Austin Kent

The Grizzlies may have to choose between Zach Randolph and JaMychal Green, Michael Wallace of Grind City Media writes. The scribe details Green’s first season as a starter in Memphis and what could come next as the offseason nears.

Given that Green is a restricted free agent this summer, the Grizzlies will have the option to match any offers he can scrounge up on the market. This, of course, means that teams like the Nets, Magic and Sixers with plenty of cap space can sign the forward to a lofty deal in hopes that Memphis doesn’t match.

Green’s defensive versatility, coupled with his three-ball make him a particularly appealing asset for a Grizzlies team with an aging core but foul trouble and a quick temper limited his impact.

If, as Wallace suggests, the team truly has an either/or situation on their hands, general manager Chris Wallace will need to choose between the intriguing 26-year-old hybrid forward and a Grizzlies legend.

There’s more from the Southwest:

  • Although the Pelicans never quite turned their season around with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis like many expected, head coach Alvin Gentry believes he’ll be back with the club to give it another shot in 2017/18. Scott Kushner of the New Orleans Advocate relays the comments from a podcast at The Vertical.
  • The Spurs may have achieved sporting immortality, J.A. Adande of ESPN writes. The feature highlights what Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford have built in San Antonio and how it transcends any individual player or players.
  • After their season ended Thursday, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that one way he could look to improve upon Houston’s 55-win season is to better understand James Harden‘s limitations. “All great players think they can do everything,” D’Antoni said. “Maybe he does need to take a game off here and there. ‘Hey, you’re nicked up a little bit, don’t play, maybe.’ Something to talk about, but that’s also his greatness, too. So it’s hard. It’s very delicate.“
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Rockets Notes: Gordon, Zhou, Anderson

April 30th, 2017 at 2:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

James Harden and Trevor Ariza were both heavily involved in recruiting Eric Gordon, as the shooting guard writes for The Players’ Tribune. Both players called Gordon nearly every day leading up to free agency, explaining to him that he was the missing piece while talking about how unstoppable the offense would be and how successful the Rockets could be in the postseason if he decided to come to Houston. Gordon ended up signing a four-year. $53MM deal with the team last summer.

Here’s more from Houston as the team gets ready for its round two matchup with the Spurs:

  • Gordon said that neither Harden nor Ariza had mentioned coming off the bench during any of their offseason phones calls, Gordon writes in the same piece. That revelation came 11 games into this season when coach Mike D’Antoni told him that he would come off the bench.  “Bam. No leading into the conversation. No softening the blow. Just like that, I’d lost my starting spot,” Gordon writes.  The shooting guard has embraced his role off the bench and he’s a top candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
  • Zhou Qi, who was the No. 43 overall pick in the 2016 draft, will begin training with the Rockets with the hope of joining the NBA club next season, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. “We are looking forward to sitting down and talking and seeing what might happen in the future. His dream is to one day play in the NBA. Right now, we are focused on training,” Zhou’s agent said.
  • Ryan Anderson, who signed a four-year, $80MM deal with the Rockets last offseason, is excited to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2009/10 season, as Feigen writes in a separate piece. “Series one went by quick. This season went by quick. But it feels like this group has been together a whole lot longer than it had because we enjoy being around each other. It’s been a fun year,” Anderson said.
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Mike D’Antoni Talks Lakers’ Failures, Rockets’ Success

April 19th, 2017 at 6:15pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Mike D’Antoni knew he wanted to coach again following his departure from the Lakers, but he was simply waiting for the right spot, as he tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. D’Antoni found success with the Rockets this season, but he admits that prior to arriving in Houston, he had concerns about the fit.

“I knew that they liked to play the way that I liked to play. I didn’t know [James Harden], and I didn’t know the other guys on the team,” the coach said. “So, there was always that moment of, will this fit? Will this work? Will James accept being point guard? Will [Patrick Beverley] accept being the 2-guard instead of the 1-guard? Will [Eric Gordon] accept coming off the bench? That’s where you run into problems with coaching. But when everybody said “yeah, this is great,” and then we started off pretty quick, that was an easier sell. Then, management, ownership, they all want the same thing. Then it’s that your star player wants the same thing, then now it becomes just coaching and doing what you do.”

“That’s where you run into problems with coaching. But when everybody said “yeah, this is great,” and then we started off pretty quick, that was an easier sell. Then, management, ownership, they all want the same thing. Then it’s that your star player wants the same thing, then now it becomes just coaching and doing what you do.”

Here’s more from Shelburne’s piece:

  • D’Antoni was never able to win a playoff series with the Lakers and he blames the team’s injuries as well as his player’s unwillingness to buy into his system. “There were just injuries, and people were pretty stubborn in their roles, and it’s like ‘sorry guys, this is not me. It’s not going to work right here,'” D’Antoni said of his time in Los Angeles. “So, things happen, and you coach, you learn, you go on and you hope for a better situation.”
  • D’Antoni applauds Harden’s determination to win, something that propelled the guard to consider switching positions. “I would have never got the job if his reaction was ‘No, I’m not playing point.’ So, let’s not kid ourselves. He was open to it, and it took a little, just showing him film and talking about it. James is willing to try anything to win.”
  • Harden was always meant to play the point guard position and his prior coaches weren’t using him correctly, according to D’Antoni. “He was spending a lot of time off the ball, and he was spending a lot of energy trying to get the ball. It’s like, why go through all that? Just give it to him,” D’Antoni said.
  • D’Antoni believes most Coach of the Year winners receive the award because they’ve overachieved and that sometimes comes with consequences. “That’s why most Coach of the Years get fired the next year. You overperform, then you come back to normal and they fire you,” D’Antoni said. You can check out Hoops Rumors’ picks for the COY award here.
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Southwest Notes: Harden, Curry, Simmons

April 2nd, 2017 at 8:12pm CST by Austin Kent

The Rockets would  be wise to rest star James Harden over the course of the final games of the season but his campaign for the MVP trophy may limit the chances of that happening, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.

Amick writes that, in the six games since Harden tweaked his left wrist, his production has dropped. On paper the Rockets guard is fine, averaging over 28 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds per game but a closer look at the same span reveals that his shooting percentage has dropped from .446 to .390 and his plus-minus rating has petered off from +5.9 down to -0.2.

Considering that this is, for better or worse, the time when NBA clubs around the league tend to rest their core players in an effort to spell them for the postseason, the fact that Harden isn’t just logging big minutes but logging big minutes while possibly physically compromised could come back to haunt them. Alas, should the Rockets choose to rest Harden, the race for the coveted annual trophy may tilt in Thunder guard Russell Westbrook‘s favor.

“[Rest] for what?,” the Rockets guard asked Amick when questioned directly about taking the time off to recuperate. “It’s messing with my rhythm a little bit, not just tonight but the last week or so. But I’ll be alright. It’s a little [frustrating]. I’ll be alright. I’m strong enough.”

  • Veteran Mavs guard Devin Harris was fined $25K for “aggresively pursuing a game official” last week, the league reports via a press release relayed by ESPN’s Justin Verrier.
  • A left shoulder issue has limited Seth Curry over the course of the past several weeks, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas News. “Rest and a couple rehab exercises hopefully will get it right,” the Mavs guard said. “I rested it for a day last week and it helped. I may just have to take a little time to get it right. It’s frustrating that it keeps happening. We got to figure it out.”
  • His minutes have decreased but Spurs guard Jonathon Simmons isn’t in Gregg Popovich‘s dog house. The head coach told Tom Osborn of My San Antonio that the 27-year-old hasn’t done anything wrong.
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Community Shootaround: Wall Criticizes Refs

April 2nd, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Milo Taibi

John Wall made waves after Friday’s loss to the Jazz, going on a four-minute rant about (what he perceived to be) poor officiating. Wall received a technical foul for making contact with Rudy Gobert on a screen; a video of the play can be seen here. The play was deemed a “hostile act,” setting Wall and his teammates off after the game.

“The way they’ve been officiating today doesn’t make no sense,” Wall told reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “It’s getting out of hand. If you want us to compete at a high level like we’ve been doing – we didn’t lose this game. The refs made us lose this game. We fought hard, we gave ourselves a chance but you don’t shoot no 31 free throws to 16 the way we attack the basket as a team. I tried to get some (technical fouls) rescinded before, it never works for my favor. Other players have and they got it. So, all I can do is just keep my mouth shut like I’ve been doing. I could see if I would’ve got a flagrant-1 but a technical off of that? That’s outrageous.”

Likely adding fuel to Wall’s flagrant-1 argument was Draymond Green‘s wrist punch to James Harden; an act Green admitted to performing in retaliation, and only received an offensive foul for. As Wall alluded to, the chances of his technical foul being overturned are slim-to-none.

“They said it was a ‘hostile act,’” Scott Brooks said after the game. “I’ve been around a lot of fights back when I played. Come on. ‘Hostile act?’ Really? It’s ridiculous.”

What do you think: was Wall’s strike to Gobert a “hostile act”? Should the decisions of referees be held to a higher standard, and if so: how? If Wall receives a penalty from the league, should Draymond as well?

Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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And-Ones: Durant, Front Offices, Combine

March 31st, 2017 at 8:43am CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Durant believes it’s unfair to criticize the top players for sitting out games, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com relays. “The truth about it is, it’s only for a couple of players in the league,” Durant told Haynes. “They don’t care if the 13th man on the bench rests. It’s only for like [LeBron James], [Stephen Curry], [James Harden], [Russell Westbrook]. It’s only for like five players. So you want a rule just for those five players?”

“It’s hard for you to just craft a rule out for the top players. I’ve seen guys that’s not even in the playoffs resting, sitting out for the rest of the season. And it’s nothing against those guys. I’m not trying to bash them or anything. [Suns center] Tyson Chandler is out. They got him sitting out for the rest of the year. I’m sure he wants to play, but they’re not saying anything about Tyson Chandler, so it’s hard for me to really talk about this. It’s not a league-wide rule. It’s not a league-wide concern.”

Durant added that he empathizes with fans who miss out on seeing their favorite player when they come to the arena. “I see it from the fans’ perspective and the players’ perspective,” Durant said. “I’m caught right in the middle.”

While the 2013/14 league MVP feels bad for those fans who show up the arena, he gives the situation some perspective.

“On the other hand, there’s a lot of people that can’t even afford tickets to the game. So, I kind of feel sorry for you, but then I don’t when I look at it that way,” he added. “Your parents spend hard-earned money, I understand you want to see your favorite players, but there’s some people who don’t even get a chance to watch a game live.”

Durant hasn’t played since February because of a knee injury, but the team recently announced that he has made “very good progress.” The small forward could see court-time again before the end of the season.

While we wait for Durant to get healthy so his fans can see him play, check out some notes from around the league:

  • ESPN.com examined every front office in the league and ranked them from top to bottom based on the guidance and leadership each organization provides and how it affects success on the court. Unsurprisingly, team president Gregg Popovich and GM R.C. Buford received the highest mark. Which team received the worst mark? The Kings came in slightly below the Knicks for worst front office in the league.
  • Thunder assistant GM Mike Winger, Spurs assistant GM Brian Wright, Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon are among the executives who are viewed as potential nominees for GM roles should they become available, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com writes. Arnovitz adds that Wright may be a few seasons away from landing a gig, but those within the league believe he has what it takes to do the job well.
  • JK Management announced that it will hold the first annual Professional Basketball Combine at IMG Academy. The PBC will take place in the days following the league’s official combine in Chicago.
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