Jeff Hornacek Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Notes: Rivers, Anthony, Boeheim

February 8th, 2017 at 9:42pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Austin Rivers said the Knicks were on his short list when he was a free agent this past summer, as Laura Albanese of Newsday writes. “[The Knicks] were a huge option,” Rivers said. “That was a team that I was really considering.”

The Knicks are eyeing Rivers in a potential Carmelo Anthony deal. The guard hears the rumors surrounding his name, but he remains focused on helping his current team win.

“When [a trade] happens, it’ll be new for me, but after that, it’s whatever. Just focus on playing basketball, help my team, that’s it,” Rivers said.

[RELATED: Latest On Carmelo Anthony]

Here’s more on the Knicks from Albanese’s piece:

Team president Phil Jackson and coach Jeff Hornacek wanted to sign Rivers over the summer and they believed he would have been a great fit next to Derrick Rose, as Albanese passes along in the same piece. “Jeff had a vision of playing a little bit up-tempo,” Rivers said of his free agent meeting with the Knicks. “I don’t know how that’s panned out or what they’ve done, but I think that also changes when you’ve got certain players . . . He wanted to [coach us the way he] coached that Suns team, they wanted to get up and down and he thought me and Derrick could play together, get up and down, start ‘1’ and ‘2.’ ”
Anthony has not said publicly that he would waive his no-trade clause to leave the Knicks, but his former coach Jim Boeheim thinks he would do it for two teams, Albanese relays in the same piece. “I think it depends on the team,” Boeheim said. “I think [the Clippers or the Cavaliers] would be ideal. But I don’t know if it can be worked out. I hope it can.”
Boeheim added that he’d love to see Anthony play with “somebody that could win.” He added that the Knicks have to make a move because he believes the team cannot win as currently constructed.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers wouldn’t entertain much trade talk when asked about Anthony before tonight’s game. “We don’t have Carmelo. I swear to God. He plays for the Knicks. That’s your story and that’s the way we leave it. You can ask us about our guys, but Carmelo is not on our team,” the coach said.

Hornacek: Knicks Balancing Short-Term, Long-Term Priorities

February 5th, 2017 at 3:55pm CST by Milo Taibi

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek spoke to reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, about the importance of balancing short-term and long-term priorities. While the Knicks remain in the playoff picture, Hornacek would be hesitant to mortgage the team’s future in favor of pursuing a postseason run this season.

“If we’re looking at just trying to make the playoffs, I would say we have a team if we all stay healthy we have a shot at it,’’ Hornacek said. “As far as a rebuild, I haven’t talked about that. We’re trying to get that system in and working, gotten better the last couple of weeks, we’re trying to build on that. If it ends up being a rebuild, we’ll work on that. If it’s the same team we’ll work on that.”

Aside from trading Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have options to improve the team around the February 23rd deadline. Berman suggests Brandon Jennings or Derrick Rose could be in play, provided the Knicks receive draft picks in return. Hornacek is in the first year of a three-year pact with the Knicks, and wants his team to be well-positioned for a bounce-back 2017/18 campaign.

“We have to understand we have to try to develop something for the long term. If we’re just skipping steps just to get in the playoffs, that would be great for this year, then what do you do next year? We want to try to combine those two,” Hornacek said. “We still feel we can get into the playoffs, which it was in the beginning of the year. We had to see if they were going to mesh as a group. At times it looks pretty good. There’s other times it hasn’t. We’re struggling with that consistency.”

Atlantic Notes: Ainge, Sullinger, Bradley

January 31st, 2017 at 6:17pm CST by Austin Kent

The Celtics remain the most likely team to make a splash before the deadline, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The abundance of draft picks and valuable supplementary assets put them in a unique position to either get a deal done directly or facilitate one for others.

“I don’t think any move of significance gets done before the deadline without [Celtics general manager] Danny Ainge being given the chance to put his fingerprints on it,” one executive tells Bulpett.

The Celtics, of course, have been featured in trade speculation all season and are one of the possible destinations that Carmelo Anthony would supposedly consider waiving his no-trade clause for. Sources around the league, Bulpett writes, say that Ainge is “patrolling the marketplace in hopes that a player worthy of some of the assets he has accumulated becomes available.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Fifth-year big man Jonas Valanciunas isn’t a good fit in Toronto, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Valanciunas’ defensive deficiencies — and Lucas Nogueira‘s lack of strength — make Bismack Biyombo‘s absence this season all the more noticeable during Raptors games. Still, Wolstat argues, while it’s hard to put a value on talented big men like Valanciunas, you can’t just give them away without getting something substantial in return.
When Jared Sullinger went to the D-League for a rehab start over the weekend, he did so of his own volition, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. “I thought it was great,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “You can’t force him to go. He decided to go. He wanted to go. It was a great step.”
The steady growth of Avery Bradley has been invaluable for the Celtics, writes Steve Bulpett in a separate story for the Boston Herald. “Isaiah’s having a spectacular year, and I think that’s a little bit overshadowed how great of a year Avery’s having,” said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “[…] Listen, he is our best defensive player, and he’s our second-best offensive player. And that’s a rare combination for a player.” Bradley has been out of action since January 16 but is expected to return this week.
The Knicks have struggled this season but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Derek Fisher was the better head coach. The former New York bench boss recently slammed current Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek in a Lakers broadcast where he now serves as an analyst. “There’s enough analysts and reporters who like to talk about: coulda, shoulda [in] what they did,” Hornacek told Marc Berman of the New York Post. “We don’t pay much attention to it. I think he’s also trying to push himself in a light that maybe someone else will give him a job.”

Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Lowry, Lopez

January 17th, 2017 at 5:20pm CST by Austin Kent

Much has changed over the course of the first two and a half months of the season, writes John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Sixers are now faced with different circumstances than what they began the year with. Part-way through January, it appears as though Jahlil Okafor — and not Nerlens Noel — is the most likely to be traded.

Okafor, Smallwood writes, is an impressive big man and goes on to cite the 21-year-old’s All-Rookie team performance last year as one of the reasons why. Even in some recent performances, the center has shown that he’s a solid young player, perhaps capable of averaging 20 and 10 eventually. The emergence of Embiid as a reliable option at the five for the Sixers, has rendered Okafor’s services less necessary than they would be otherwise.

In order to take advantage of Okafor’s value, the Sixers should look to trade the big man in order to reconfigure the balance of their roster and Smallwood gives several examples of players that could theoretically come back to Philadelphia in a trade. Smallwood offers Jaylen Brown, Jordan Clarkson and Doug McDermott as three perimeters threats that could potentially be had in exchange for Okafor.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

It’s too early to think about free agency, Kyle Lowry tells ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, but for whatever it’s worth, the guard considers Toronto “home”. Currently under contract for $12MM with a player option for $12MM in 2017/18, Lowry could net a significant pay raise over the summer if he opts out. “When the time comes, then I will worry about [free agency],” says Lowry. “[The Raptors] will definitely will be an option.“
The Nets have a decision on Brook Lopez to make prior to the trade deadline, but an injury to Jeremy Lin has made things more complicated, writes Seth Berkman of the New York Times. The franchise would ideally like to see how Lopez and Lin fare together before making a significant change but the tandem has been limited to just a handful of games healthy at the same time.
Desperate for a positive development, the Knicks have considered playing Kristaps Porzingis at the five, writes Ian Begley of ESPN. “Sometimes it’s a chance you have to take, but we continue to look over that,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We just need to mix it up maybe a little more.” Moving Porzingis to the center position would push Joakim Noah to the bench.
We discussed the meeting between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony earlier, but it’s worth adding here that Jackson specifically told the veteran forward he did not subscribe to the criticisms in the now infamous Charley Rosen article, says Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Knicks Rumors: Rose, Anthony, Gaines Jr.

January 12th, 2017 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks point guard Derrick Rose shot down a rumor that he mulled retirement during his one-game absence from the team on Monday, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. “That’s something I don’t even want to speak into existence by commenting on it,’’ Rose told Berman. “I don’t know who would do that. Not at all. I was with my family.’’ Rose was fined $193,848, or 1/110th of his salary, for missing the game without giving the club prior notice. Rose claimed he went to Chicago to visit his mother for what he called a family crisis, though there are indications he went there to see his son, Berman adds.

In other developments surrounding the club:

The hurdles that must be cleared to trade Carmelo Anthony prevents the Knicks from rebuilding with younger players like the Sixers are doing, Fred Kerber of the New York Post argues. Finding a trade partner willing to take on the final two years of Anthony’s contract will be nearly impossible, Kerber notes — not only would a potential trade partner have to commit to $54MM+ in salary over the next two years, but a 15% trade kicker would force that team to cough up another $10MM. On top of that, Anthony would have to waive his no-trade provision, Kerber adds.
Rose hopes his one-game absence doesn’t affect the club’s feelings toward him when he enters free agency this summer, as he relayed to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. “I hope one incident didn’t change their minds,” he said. “Who knows? This is a business and if it was to happen I’m still going to play the way I normally know how to play no matter where I’m at.”
The Knicks have not gotten any better defensively under first-year coach Jeff Hornacek, one of several reasons why the team will only get worse, Berman opines in a separate piece. Berman cites the Rose drama and Kristaps Porzingis‘ recent struggles with a sore Achilles as two other factors in the team’s continuing demise.
The rising influence of Clarence Gaines Jr. is the main reason why the team chose forward Maurice Ndour over point guard Chasson Randle on the opening-day roster, Berman writes in still another piece, citing a source. Gaines was promoted from an advisory role to vice president of player personnel under president Phil Jackson. Randle signed a 10-day contract with the Sixers on Monday after a strong D-League showing.

Knicks Rumors: Rose, Carmelo, Noah, Jackson

January 11th, 2017 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of his return to the Knicks on Tuesday, Derrick Rose addressed his teammates and coaches, as well as GM Steve Mills and president Phil Jackson, and the point guard says that “everybody’s on the same page” (Twitter link via Ian Begley of ESPN.com). The Knicks do appear ready to move on, with head coach Jeff Hornacek telling reporters today that Rose will start tonight against Philadelphia, per Frank Isola of The New York Daily News (Twitter link).

Still, there should be lingering concern in New York about the situation. According to a report from Isola, during Rose’s absence, the former NBA MVP briefly “talked about walking away from basketball for an extended period of time to clear his mind.” Two independent sources who spoke to Isola described Rose as an emotional wreck on Monday afternoon.

Two days later, Rose claims he’s in a good place mentally and that he would have asked the Knicks for more time if he felt like he needed it (Twitter link via Isola). But the point guard’s future in New York – both in the short- and long-term – still appears very uncertain.

Here’s more on Rose and the Knicks:

There’s probably no quick fix for the Knicks, who are currently 17-21 and 11th in the East, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Kyler doesn’t expect any team to offer anything of real value in a trade for Rose, and hears from a source that Carmelo Anthony remains unwilling to approve a trade out of New York, in spite of the club’s recent slide. Joakim Noah also has little to no value as a trade piece, though Knicks sources tell Kyler that the former Bull has at least been a strong locker room influence so far.
Within a piece about Rose’s future – or lack thereof – in New York, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports that some Knicks players have privately expressed frustration with the team’s defensive schemes. Begley also confirms that some members of the Knicks organization were led to believe during Rose’s absence that the 28-year-old was considering a lengthy absence from basketball.
According to Begley, some people close to Rose have told friends that the point guard will be looking for a maximum salary contract this summer. While that may be true, it’s hard to fathom Rose landing anything close to that at this point.
Phil Jackson needs to start providing some answers regarding his struggling club, rather than silently watching as it burns to the ground, opines Kevin Kernan of The New York Post.

Derrick Rose Rejoins Knicks, Fined By Team

January 10th, 2017 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Derrick Rose rejoined the Knicks today and was present for the team’s practice. According to the Knicks’ Twitter account, the veteran point guard has been fined by the club. He’s expected to be uniform for New York’s Wednesday game against the Sixers, and also figures to return to the starting lineup, per head coach Jeff Hornacek (Twitter link via Steve Popper of the USA Today Network).

Rose was unexpectedly absent from the Knicks’ Monday game versus New Orleans, and an explanation for the no-show didn’t come until later in the night. According to Rose, his absence was related to a family issue and had nothing to do with basketball. The former Bull said he flew to his hometown of Chicago to be with his family on Monday, and flew back into New York this morning, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter links).

Al Iannazzone of Newsday adds (via Twitter) that Rose specified he needed to be with his mother. Asked about his failure to communicate with the Knicks, Rose said he didn’t want to pick up the phone when the team called him because he needed “space” to process his family issue, tweets Begley.

Although Rose acknowledged today that he should have been in touch with the franchise earlier, he said the team accepted his absence, tweets Begley. The Knicks could have chosen to suspend Rose, but levied a fine instead. Bobby Marks of The Vertical observes (via Twitter) that the CBA allows a team to fine a player 1/110th of his base salary for failure to render services. Rose’s 2016/17 cap hit exceeds $21.3MM, which would allow for a pretty substantial fine, though it’s not clear if Rose’s cap hit consists entirely of his base compensation.

In any case, for now, it seems like the Knicks and Rose are ready to move forward, but there are still reasons to be wary. While the veteran point guard remains with the team in the short term, his long-term future in New York is increasingly uncertain. Multiple reports also indicated that the relationship between Rose and Hornacek has frayed, which could create problems going forward — the former MVP denied any such rift, tweets Iannazzone.

This is still very much a situation worth keeping an eye on, despite the apparent resolution following Monday’s absence.

Derrick Rose’s Future With Knicks Uncertain

January 10th, 2017 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Derrick Rose‘s mysterious absence from the Knicks’ Monday night game, the team confirmed that its point guard was fine, and head coach Jeff Hornacek said that he expected Rose to rejoin the team soon. Following the unusual incident, however, Rose’s future in New York is “increasingly uncertain,” reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

According to Wojnarowski, the Knicks had already been undecided about whether or not they wanted to invest in Rose beyond this season. After a Monday night that left the club “livid” and “embarrassed,” per Wojnarowski, the odds of the former MVP signing a long-term deal with the Knicks appear to have declined significantly, and even his short-term future with the franchise could be in doubt.

The relationship between Hornacek and Rose has become strained in recent weeks, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical. Frank Isola of The New York Daily News echoes that sentiment, writing that reports of a frayed relationship between the two are accurate, particularly in the wake of a recent fourth-quarter benching for Rose. Sources tell Wojnarowski that the veteran point guard has been “privately critical” of the Knicks’ head coach, though no one in the locker room has expressed any issues with the way Hornacek has coached Rose.

Although a team source confirmed to Isola that Rose wasn’t injured or in danger when he missed Monday’s game, a source tells Fred Kerber and Marc Berman of The New York Post that the absence was “not a boycott.” Rose eventually informed team officials that he had a family situation and had returned to his hometown of Chicago, per Ian Begley and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.

As we wait for the next development in the Rose story, here are a few more notes on the subject from some of the pieces linked above:

Rose may face discipline from the team, depending on the reason for his absence — a suspension is possible, Wojnarowski writes.
Before finding out where he was, the Knicks were concerned enough with Rose’s absence that they sent someone to his New York apartment to check on him, according to Begley.
A source tells Berman that Rose had a conversation with Knicks general manager Steve Mills late on Monday night.
Isola, who refers to Monday as the “rock bottom” point of the Phil Jackson era in New York, adds that landing a big free agent deal in 2017 has long been an “obsession” for Rose.

New York Notes: Rose, Holiday, Hornacek, Nets

January 1st, 2017 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

As the Knicks ponder their decision on whether to re-sign Derrick Rose, ESPN’s Ian Begley notes that Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday could be part of the equation. Holiday will also be entering free agency this summer, and team president Phil Jackson has reportedly expressed interest in acquiring him before. New York needs just a few small roster moves this summer to create enough cap room for a max contract. Holiday 26, has played 20 games after missing the start of the season to care for his ailing wife. He is averaging 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per night. The 28-year-old Rose is in his first year with the Knicks after being acquired in an offseason deal with Chicago. He is averaging 17.7 points and 4.4 assists in 29 games.

There’s more news out of New York:

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek is asking for maximum effort from his team and hints that rotation changes could be on the way, relays Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. His comments came after the team lost in Houston Saturday night to slip back under .500. “Some of the young guys can really give effort in there. We’ll have to take a look at maybe getting them in the games more, maybe giving our older guys a little bit more rest,” Hornacek said. “So that they have shorter minutes so they can put the full effort out there. We’ll take a look at everything.”
The Knicks should be happy to see a miserable 2016 come to an end, Bondy writes in a separate story. The year started with a coaching change involving Derek Fisher, followed by a 13th-place finish in the Eastern Conference, a surprise hire in Hornacek, a draft night with no picks, a possibly disastrous free-agent signing in Joakim Noah, several ill-considered comments by Jackson and the end of his engagement to Lakers executive Jeanie Buss.
Tensions boiled over for the Nets on the court and in the locker room after Friday’s loss to Washington, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn has dropped seven of its last eight games and is tied with Philadelphia for the league’s worst record. “It was emotional and a frustrating game, and guys were just venting,” said center Brook Lopez. “I don’t know what was necessarily correct or who said what, but the important thing is it happened. It’s not something we’ve had to repeatedly deal with this season. It’s something that happens with every team over the course of the year. We addressed it. It’s an emotional game; obviously emotions were running high. We talked about it as a team. We addressed it as players.”

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Lin, Sixers, Anthony

December 29th, 2016 at 6:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors have two very difficult decisions looming in their pursuit of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post opines. They must decide whether to go all-in this season in their quest to knock off the Cavs, which would mean trading off some young pieces for another impact player, preferable a power forward, Bontemps continues. The Magic’s Serge Ibaka and Hawks’ Paul Millsap — forwards that the Raptors have pursued in the past and will become free agents this summer — would be logical targets, in Bontemps’ view. This summer, they’ll have to decide whether to offer point guard and impending free agent Kyle Lowry a max five-year deal worth over $200MM or risk seeing him walk. Lowry will attract numerous suitors but his age — he turns 31 this spring — could make a long-term commitment a risky investment, Bontemps adds.

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

The Nets are taking a committee approach with point guard Jeremy Lin sidelined again by a hamstring injury, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. Coach Kenny Atkinson is rotating Randy Foye, rookie Isaiah Whitehead and Spencer Dinwiddie in Lin’s absence, while shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is also taking a bigger role in the playmaking duties, Lewis continues. “I think it was ensemble,” Atkinson told Lewis and other media members. “That’s how we’re going to do it.”
The Sixers’ frontcourt pairing of Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor has been a colossal failure defensively thus far, as Derek Bodner of Phillymag.com details. In six games since coach Brett Brown paired the two big men in the starting lineup, the Sixers have given up an average of 122.3 points per 100 possessions when they’re on the court. What’s more troubling, as Bodner notes, is that the poor defensive performances have come against sub-par offensive teams.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek doesn’t believe Carmelo Anthony should have been ejected on Tuesday for swinging his forearm at the head of Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Hornacek asserted that Sefolosha grabbed Anthony around the neck before the forearm swing, though Berman notes that was not apparent on replays while labeling Hornacek’s stance as bizarre. “I don’t blame [Anthony] for what happened, honestly,” Hornacek told Berman. “Watch the replay, watch the action. The guy had his arms wrapped around his neck. … What are you going to do? Just stand there or you going to get the guy off you? It’s a natural reaction.”