Johnny Davis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Irving, Harden, Horford, Knicks

May 4th, 2022 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on The ETCs with Kevin Durant podcast, Nets guard Kyrie Irving said he never felt like he was fully “back” during the 2021/22 season. Irving’s decision to not get vaccinated against COVID-19 meant he didn’t make his debut until January and only appeared in a total of 29 regular season games. It also meant he was uncertain in the first couple months of the season about whether he’d even suit up for Brooklyn again.

“I was wondering at home what my future was going to look like, you know?” Irving said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Whether I was going to be traded, whether I was going to be released, whether I was going to get the opportunity to be on another team, how I was going to spin this for myself in a positive way.

“So, I kept affirming to myself things are going to change. I had people around me — and I’m grateful for them — affirming that things were going to change. But I never felt like myself throughout the season, because I’m usually sustaining a level of growth throughout the year, instead of trying to catch up with everybody that’s been playing for four or five months. They’ve been at it every day since October or September.”

Irving has an opportunity to become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he turns down his 2022/23 player option, but has indicated he has no plans to leave the Nets.

Let’s round up a few more items from out of the Atlantic…

During a discussion on The Athletic NBA Show about what the Sixers‘ roster will look like beyond this season, Sam Amick said he wouldn’t be shocked if James Harden‘s next contract with the team is worth a little less than the max. “When the Sixers got (Harden), their intel was that he would potentially be willing to take less,” Amick said (hat tip to RealGM). “And obviously, you know, nobody knows him better than (Sixers president of basketball operations) Daryl (Morey).”
Al Horford‘s $26.5MM salary for 2022/23 is only partially guaranteed for $14.5MM, but that doesn’t mean the Celtics will necessarily part with him this offseason, writes Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “He has been so valuable to them, the way he has defended, the way he passes, the way he shoots,” a rival executive told Deveney. “He has helped develop Robert Williams, too. He is a leader.” As that exec pointed out, Horford’s partial guarantee would also increase to $19.5MM if Boston makes the NBA Finals, which would affect the team’s decision.
ESPN draft analyst Seth Greenberg identifies Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan as a player the Knicks should seriously consider if they’re picking at No. 11 or 12 in this year’s draft, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. Greenberg also singled out Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis as other logical targets for New York.

Badgers’ Johnny Davis Declares For Draft

March 31st, 2022 at 4:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wisconsin sophomore guard and projected lottery selection Johnny Davis will enter the draft and hire an agent, he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today on Thursday.

“After taking some time off and discussing everything with my family and coaches, I have decided to pursue a lifelong dream by declaring for the NBA draft with the intent of hiring an agent,” Davis said, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony relays.

Davis is No. 9 on ESPN’s Best Available list. He was under the radar heading into the season but moved into the spotlight with some big offensive performances. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus All-American after averaging 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 2.1 APG in 34 MPG.

One cause for pause is that the 6’5” Davis only knocked down 30.6% of his 3-point attempts. He also struggled in postseason play, shooting 27.2% in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. However, that shouldn’t prevent him from getting serious consideration as a top-10 pick. He was hampered by an ankle injury this month.

“I wasn’t 100%, but I felt confident that If I played, we still had a great chance of winning the Big Ten Conference tournament as well as advancing in the NCAA tournament,” Davis said. “I wanted to be out there with my guys to give it everything I had.”

He also showed dramatic improvement from his freshman campaign, when he averaged 7.0 PPG in 24.3 MPG as a reserve.

“Coach [Greg] Gard and my teammates believed in me and gave me the confidence and opportunity to have a much larger role than my freshman season,” Davis said.

Davis believes his game is well-suited for the next level.

“I know the pace and style of play in the NBA is different, but I think that suits my skill set extremely well,” Davis said. “My ability to get by my defender, athleticism and strength to finish at the rim, and being a three-level scorer combined with added spacing in the NBA will give me the opportunity to be successful.”

And-Ones: Davis, Georges-Hunt, All-Star Picks, 2022 Draft

January 15th, 2022 at 11:15am CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA big man Deyonta Davis has signed with a Taiwanese team, the Taoyuan Leopards, according to Sportando. Davis, an early second-round selection in the 2016 draft, last appeared in the NBA during the 2018/19 season, when he saw action in nine games with Atlanta.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Former NBA forward Marcus Georges-Hunt has signed a G League deal and will play for the Hawks’ affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. Georges-Hunt spent some time in the Chinese Basketball Association after playing in the NBA. He played a combined 47 games for Orlando and Minnesota from 2016-18.
The Athletic’s Josh Robbins and John Hollinger put their heads together and made their selections for the All-Star starters and reserves in both conferences. Some of the notable players who didn’t make the cut included James Harden, Jaylen Brown, Paul George and Damian Lillard.
Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. is the first player off the board in the latest mock draft from Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo. Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren are the next two selections with Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis elevating to the No. 4 spot.

And-Ones: Newley, Jenkins, Spoelstra, Protocols, Draft

January 5th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

While fans may gloss over the names of draft-rights players included as placeholders in minor NBA trades, the players themselves certainly take notice, even if they don’t expect to ever play in the NBA. Australian wing Brad Newley, who never came stateside after being selected in the second round of the 2007 draft, is one of those players — he had his rights sent from the Lakers to the Knicks in the three-team Rajon Rondo trade earlier this week.

The deal gave Newley an opportunity to reconnect with Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose, who was his agent when he first entered the draft 14 years ago, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Newley knows he won’t ever play for the Knicks, but he and Rose remain friends, and he joked that he’d be ready if he gets the call.

“If the Knicks are rebuilding around a 36-year-old, I’m not sure,” he told Vorkunov. “But I’m open to anything.”

Newley admitted in his conversation with Vorkunov that he probably didn’t prioritize the NBA enough earlier in his career, but he was happy to spend his career playing in international leagues and said he doesn’t have any regrets.

“I played the whole of my career in Europe as a stash guy, thought maybe one day you’d get a chance, but I was on some pretty good contracts over there,” Newley said. “So the NBA, at that time, the guarantees weren’t around as much as they are now, with the way things operate. It would be interesting if you could rewind and do it all again, it might be done a little bit different.”

Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world…

Taylor Jenkins of the Grizzlies and Erik Spoelstra of the Heat were named the NBA’s December Coaches of the Month for the West and East, respectively, the league announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). Jenkins led Memphis to a 12-4 record despite missing star guard Ja Morant for 10 games, while Spoelstra navigated a series of injuries and COVID-19 cases to lead Miami to a 10-5 mark.
In an Insider-only story, Kevin Pelton of ESPN looked into which teams have been hit the hardest by the health and safety protocols this year, concluding that the Cavaliers, Sixers, and Bucks have lost more WARP (wins above replacement player) than any other clubs so far. Zach Kram of The Ringer explored the other side of the health and safety equation, examining how the players signed using hardship exceptions have performed and how they’re affecting the NBA.
Looking ahead to the 2022 NBA draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) profiled some players whose stocks are rising, including Iowa’s Keegan Murray and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has published a new mock draft.

Western Notes: Marjanovic, Cuban, Davis

June 8th, 2016 at 8:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the salary cap set to increase to approximately $92MM for next season this offseason is likely to be a wild one for free agents. But Mavs owner Mark Cuban casts some doubt on predictions that even marginal players will land outrageous deals this summer, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “Every player thinks it’s just going to be a money train this summer. There’s a lot of money; there’s not THAT much money,” Cuban said. “And I think there’s going to be teams that save their money for next year, because it’s a better free agent class. People just presume now that everybody’s going to get paid a lot of money, and it’ll be interesting to see if that happens.”

Here’s more from out West:

The Grizzlies officially announced the additions of J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach and Nick Van Exel as an assistant coach on David Fizdale‘s staff, the team relayed via press release.
Big man Boban Marjanovic, who is eligible for restricted free agency this summer if San Antonio submits a qualifying offer worth $1.5MM, said that he wants to return to the Spurs next season, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter).
The Mavs don’t intend to deal away any of their future draft picks this offseason unless they are absolutely blown away by the offer, MacMahon tweets. “We won’t trade a future pick unless there is a deal good enough that they would fire the other general manager for making,” Cuban told reporters.
The Rockets are considering veteran NBA assistant Johnny Davis for a spot on new head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s staff, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Davis last coached in the NBA with the Raptors from 2011-2013.

Lakers Notes: Beasley, D-League, Davis

August 28th, 2014 at 8:21pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Lakers might not be a championship-caliber team the way they’re currently constructed, but as the team’s Basketball Insiders salary page shows, they’re set to have plenty of cap room next summer that they can use to lure free agents to the ever-appealing purple-and-gold. We’ll round up the latest out of Lakerland below..

Michael Beasley has worked out twice for the Lakers this offseason, and it isn’t the first time that LA has shown interest in the former second overall pick. Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times looks back at when the Lakers were close to acquiring Beasley in 2012 before pulling the trigger on a trade for Jordan Hill instead.
Phil Hubbard has been named head coach of the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team announced (on Twitter). Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News provides some background on Hubbard and lays out the former player’s coaching resume.
Johnny Davis won’t be part of Byron Scott‘s coaching staff in Los Angeles next season, as Medina hears (Twitter link). Davis, the former head coach of the Sixers, Magic, and Grizzlies, spent last season as an assistant under Mike D’Antoni.

Odds & Ends: Childress, Lakers, Cooley, NBPA

July 29th, 2013 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are both considered decent bets to hit free agency next summer, if only to re-sign new long-term deals with their current teams. However, as Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld notes, both players would have the chance to hit the market in the summer of 2015 as well, if they opted in for 2014/15. With Dwyane Wade's long-term health uncertain, and the Knicks' books looking fairly empty beyond '15, it may benefit both LeBron and Carmelo to hold off on their free agent decisions for an additional year, rather than locking themselves into new long-term contracts next summer. Here's more from around the NBA on a Monday:

Josh Childress turned down a "lucrative offer" from Greek powerhouse Olympiacos earlier this offseason in hopes of securing a deal with an NBA team instead, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. According to Charania, Childress is receiving interest from three teams on a potential minimum-salary contract.
The Lakers have officially hired a pair of assistant coaches, Kurt Rambis and Johnny Davis, the team announced today in a press release.
Jack Cooley continues to weigh his options, and it sounds like he has plenty of them. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that the former Notre Dame big man has received training camp invites from more than 10 NBA teams, and has also fielded offers from clubs overseas.
Grantland's Zach Lowe tweets that people around the NBA have been talking for months as if it's a foregone conclusion that former MSG president Steve Mills will eventually be named the new executive director of the players' union.
Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside speaks to Damion James about the D-League All-Star's quest for an NBA roster spot.
In this week's edition of his Morning Tip column at NBA.com, TNT's David Aldridge looks at Team USA, Ian Clark, and the possibility of HGH testing.

Odds & Ends: Billups, Jennings, Bobcats, Pelicans

July 18th, 2013 at 12:53am CST by Chuck Myron

The trade that sent Chauncey Billups away from Detroit in 2008 left a strained relationship between the point guard and Pistons front office chief Joe Dumars. It took an apology from Dumars to open up the talks that led Billups to re-sign with the team, as Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News details. It appears the Bucks and Brandon Jennings may have some fence-mending to do as well, as we cover in our look around the Association:

The Bucks and Jennings' camp both see a sign-and-trade as ideal, but it seems he's more likely to ink his qualifying offer, writes Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hoops Rumors readers see a signed QO as the most likely outcome.
Bobcats coach Steve Clifford wants the team to carry six big men and add a third point guard, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. There are six bigs on the roster, but Jeff Adrien's deal is non-guaranteed.
Charlotte's name change from the Bobcats to the Hornets is set to receive official NBA approval Thursday, Bonnell notes in a separate piece. The switch will occur next summer.
The Pelicans' offseason is a "game-changer" for Eric Gordon, writes Sam Amick of USA Today, as the team's moves have helped sculpt an intriguing core that figures to entice the once-disgruntled shooting guard to stay.
Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee spoke with Kings minority owner John Kehriotis, who's in a somewhat awkward situation after making a play at the majority interest in the team that went to new principal owner Vivek Ranadive.
Kurt Rambis made comments on ESPN last fall that reportedly prompted Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni to cross him off his list of potential assistants, but it appears D'Antoni has changed his mind, as Rambis is set to join his staff, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Johnny Davis will join him, along with fellow newcomers Mark Madsen and Larry Lewis.
The Wizards will hire Frank Ross as director of player personnel, TNT's David Aldridge tweets. Ross has been serving as the Thunder's scouting director for the East Coast.