Jonathon Simmons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Stephenson, Chalmers, Kanter

November 14th, 2015 at 9:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Clippers coach Doc Rivers cautions not to read too much into Lance Stephenson‘s brief cameo during today’s win over the Pistons, writes Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Even with Chris Paul and J.J. Redick sitting out with injuries, Stephenson saw the court for just 1 minute and 42 seconds. Rivers said it was a “spacing” issue and he wasn’t convinced that Stephenson was “ready” during his brief appearance. Stephenson was dealt to L.A. in June after a disappointing season in Charlotte. He had started the Clippers’ first nine games, averaging 6.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Rivers said Stephenson handled today’s demotion well. “Lance has been great,” Rivers said. “He’s been in great spirit. He really has. Obviously, he wants to play. We want to play him. And tonight we chose not to. I thought he was the pro’s pro.”

There’s more news from the Western Conference:

Mario Chalmers came to the Grizzlies in a bad mood, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. After seven seasons in Miami, the Heat traded Chalmers to Memphis this week in a deal aimed at reducing their luxury tax payment. Chalmers is upset about being involved in trade rumors all summer, then having his playing time cut to 20 minutes per game this season. “I’m definitely playing with a chip on my shoulder, especially with the way everything went down in Miami,” he said. “I’m just licking my chops at this new opportunity and I’m ready to help the Grizzlies start winning.”
After matching Enes Kanter‘s hefty offer from the Blazers, the Thunder are happy with the early returns, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Even though Kanter is being used as a backup, he’s justifying his four-year, $70MM deal with some impressive rebounding numbers. Kanter ranks sixth in the league in offensive rebounds and is third in rebounds per 48 minutes. He also provides scoring punch. With 27.5 points per 48 minutes, he trails just Jahlil Okafor and Brook Lopez among centers.
The Spurs recalled forward Jonathon Simmons from their D-League team in Austin today. He made his first appearance of the season in tonight’s game against the Sixers.

Western Notes: Bryant, Lakers, Spurs

November 7th, 2015 at 10:41pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kobe Bryant appears to be leaning toward retirement at the end of the year, but he hasn’t made a decision just yet, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If you asked me today, this would be my last year. But you never know,” Bryant said. “We’ll keep it open. Whatever happens, happens.” Regardless of when the five time NBA champion decides to retire, he has no desire to get into coaching. “I don’t feel like dealing with divas,” Bryant said jokingly.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference

The Lakers passed on Kristaps Porzingis in part because of how long they thought it would take him to develop, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. “[Porzingis] really didn’t show any fear. We just thought it would take him some time,” coach Byron Scott said. “Obviously we’re a little wrong about that. He’s playing pretty well right now.”
The Spurs are taking a hands-off approach to integrating LaMarcus Aldridge into their system, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. “We still haven’t coached him much,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We just watch him.” San Antonio is using the same strategy that the team employed with Tim Duncan during the 1997/98 campaign. “Coaching [Duncan] didn’t seem too smart to me,” Popovich said. “If there’s something you might add to his game, you do it after you’ve seen what he does naturally.”
The Spurs have assigned Jonathon Simmons to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. This is the first D-League assignment of the season for San Antonio. You can keep track of all of the D-League assignments and recalls made during the 2015/16 campaign here.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Spurs Sign Jonathon Simmons

July 22nd, 2015 at 4:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 22ND, 4:35pm: The signing is official, the team announced via a press release.

JULY 10TH, 4:21pm: The Spurs have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Jonathon Simmons, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. It will be a two-year pact worth the minimum, and it includes a team option for the second season. Simmons’ 2015/16 salary will be fully guaranteed, Charania adds.

The 25-year-old swingman went undrafted out of the University of Houston in 2012. Simmons made 29 appearances for the Cougars back in 2011/12, averaging 14.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, with a slash line of .512/.386/.721.

Simmons has spent the last two seasons playing for the Austin Spurs in the NBA D-League. His D-League numbers last season were 15.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG. His most recent action came as a member of the Nets’ Summer League squad in Orlando.

Southwest Notes: Barea, Simmons, Baynes

July 16th, 2015 at 12:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

Wesley Matthews saw his four-year deal with the Mavericks spike from around $13MM a year to a max contract worth $16,407,500 this season and $70,060,025 total when DeAndre Jordan reneged on his deal to play for Dallas, and Matthews isn’t the only one to benefit financially from that flip-flop. The Mavs upped their deal with J.J. Barea from two years and roughly $5.7MM to four years and $16MM before the point guard officially re-signed today, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). The move means the Mavs have less cap flexibility but get to keep their $2.814MM room exception, which initially seemed ticketed for Barea’s original deal. In any case, Barea is sticking around.

“They knew I wanted to be there for a long time,” Barea said to MacMahon (Twitter link). “They wanted me there for a long time, so we made it happen.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:

Guard Jonathon Simmons wows with his athleticism, but he hadn’t had as much as an invitation to an NBA training camp since going undrafted in 2012 until the Spurs agreed to sign him to a two-year contract with a fully guaranteed salary for this season, writes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. McDonald chronicles the unlikely ascension of the former Spurs D-Leaguer.
The Spurs lost out on Aron Baynes, who signed a deal reportedly worth as much as $20MM over three years with Detroit, and Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy cited Baynes’ free-throw percentage as one unconventional reason why the team was willing to pay him. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has the details. “Free-throw shooting, obviously, was a problem for us last year, next-to-last in the league, and Aron’s the best free throw-shooting big out there,” Van Gundy said. “Eighty-five percent at the line last year, that’s a huge thing for us in games, especially coming down the stretch. So that was also a big thing — maybe bigger for us than for other people with big guys.” Baynes actually hit 86.5% of his free throws last season, better than Van Gundy indicated, and he’s a career 84.7% shooter from the stripe.
Russ Smith picked up a $150K partial guarantee on his salary this season with the Grizzlies when he remained on the roster through Wednesday, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.

Southwest Notes: Gasol, Simmons, Ginobili, Wright

July 11th, 2015 at 10:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs tried to lure Marc Gasol away from Memphis, but he was committed to the Grizzlies, tweets Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News. Once GM R.C. Buford realized that, he turned his full attention to LaMarcus Aldridge.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Jonathon Simmons‘ deal with the Spurs is fully guaranteed for next season, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). On Friday, Simmons signed a two-year contract for the minimum with a team option for the second season. Simmons was on Brooklyn’s bus headed to a summer league game when his agent told him of the Spurs’ offer (Twitter link).
In a procedural move, the Spurs renounced their rights to free agent Manu Ginobili, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. San Antonio will re-sign Ginobili with its $2.814MM room exception, rather than Bird Rights.
“Love at first sight” is how Brandan Wright described his reaction to being pursued by the Grizzlies, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. The free agent signed a three-year deal with the team worth about $17.1MM. “Even though we’ve had a strong frontcourt, we haven’t had a great deal of athleticism and length,” said GM Chris Wallace. “He’s a shot blocker and can score on lob passes. He provides defense, athleticism and experience.”
The Mavericks are hoping to sign another center, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. “It’d be nice to have someone that can play above the rim,” said owner Mark Cuban.

Draft Updates: Dominic Cheek, Jonathon Simmons

April 12th, 2012 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we heard that UConn freshman Andre Drummond would leave school early and declare for the NBA draft. While Drummond projects as a potential top-five pick, many of the underclassmen entering the draft early figure to be picked later, if they're drafted at all. We'll keep track of today's early entry decisions for those players here:

Junior guard Dominic Cheek will declare for the draft, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter), who notes that the Villanova product may end up overseas. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com adds (via Twitter) that Cheek wasn't enjoying his college experience and would also be willing to play in the D-League. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Cheek 118th on his prospect board.
University of Houston guard Jonathon Simmons will forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the draft, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. The junior doesn't show up anywhere on Chad Ford's or DraftExpress.com's top prospect lists, so it'd be a surprise if he's drafted. "I know right now that I'm kind of at the bottom of the list, but I've always been the underdog all my life," Simmons said. "So it's nothing I can't overcome."