Josh Hart Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Rumors: Hart, Bender, Ellis, Artis

August 3rd, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers made some controversial additions after LeBron James committed to them but guard Josh Hart believes they will improve, not disrupt, the chemistry of the team, RealGM’s Keith Smith reports. Hart is especially on board with the signing of point guard Rajon Rondo. “We like the guys we got. Rajon will really help us stabilize the lead guard spot,” Hart said. “Lonzo (Ball) is going to learn a ton from him. Lance (Stephenson) brings toughness and defense from the bench. JaVale (McGee) does the occasional silly thing, but he does so many good things people skip over.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Suns power forward Dragan Bender struggled mightily in summer league action entering a make or break year, Smith writes in the same piece. Bender had a difficult time defending on the perimeter and couldn’t consistently knock down his 3-point attempts, Smith continues. Overall, Bender shot 37% from the field in Las Vegas. The Suns hold a $5,896,519 team option on his 2019/20 contract and have until the end of this year’s training camp to decide whether to exercise it.
The Kings agreed to sign Jamel Artis to a training-camp deal because small forward is a position of need, according to Noel Harris of the Sacramento Bee. Sacramento also has Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Bjelica and Justin Jackson at that spot. Artis played for the Cavs summer-league team against the Kings and posted 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. He saw action in 15 games with the Magic last season.
Suns assistant Ty Ellis is expected to be named the head coach of the G League’s Stockton Kings, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days reports. Ellis was the former head coach of the G League’s Northern Arizona Suns before joining Phoenix’s staff after Earl Watson was fired last season. Ellis will replace Darrick Martin, Sacramento’s G League coach the last two seasons.

And-Ones: Age Limit, Summer League, Hibbert, Toupane

July 17th, 2018 at 9:14pm CST by clarkcrum

As we’ve relayed previously, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced during an NBA Board of Governors meetings in Las Vegas last week that the NBA is ready to make changes to its age limit, thereby potentially allowing high school seniors the opportunity to jump straight to the NBA once again.

However, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, teams have been told privately by league officials not to expect a change to the age limit until the 2022 NBA Draft at the earliest.

Assuming the 2022 NBA Draft allows high school players to jump directly to the NBA, players entering their freshman year of high school this fall will be the first ones to benefit from this potential rule change.

As for any trades that could be affected by this, no team has as yet traded an unprotected 2022 first-rounder, and the only one that could potentially change hands at this point was sent by the Mavericks to the Hawks in order to move up in this year’s draft and select Luka Doncic.

It will be interesting to see whether teams will be wary of trading draft picks in 2022 and beyond before a final ruling is made on this issue.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

In a Q&A piece for ESPN, several different writers spoke about who they believed to be the standouts and disappointments from this year’s NBA Summer League. Wendell Carter, Kevin Knox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Deandre Ayton were among the rookies recognized, while John Collins and Josh Hart were two players who were mentioned as probably too good to have even played in this year’s summer league.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, former NBA player Roy Hibbert says that he is done playing professional basketball, explaining that “It’s just time to move on.” Hibbert, 31, was named an All-Star as recently as 2014, but saw his impact dwindle over his last few years in the league as he got older and the game got smaller and quicker.
French forward Axel Toupane, who appeared in 25 total NBA regular season games in 2016 and 2017, has signed with EuroLeague club Olympiacos B.C. after helping lead Zalgiris Kaunas to the EuroLeague Final Four last season, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

L.A. Notes: Leonard, James, Rondo, Rivers

July 3rd, 2018 at 9:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs continue to seek a high price from the Lakers in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, salary cap expert Larry Coon said in an appearance today on Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link). Sources tell Coon that San Antonio is asking for Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, two first-rounders and the right to swap two other draft choices. “They’re just saying give us everything,” Coon said.

Coon also outlined the Lakers’ remaining cap situation, noting that the signing of Lance Stephenson with the mid-level exception will probably be the final move in free agency after all other cap space is used up.

There’s more news from Los Angeles:

LeBron James‘ decision to join the Lakers may give Leonard more incentive to become a Clipper, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports suggested in an appearance on Colin Cowherd’s radio show (Twitter link).
The Lakers are turning their attention to next summer for their next big free agent move, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The organization’s emphasis on one-year deals helps explain the odd collection of moves that have come down since James committed to L.A. Sunday night. The Lakers re-signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, then reached agreements with Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo, all on one-year contracts. The team expects to have about $76MM in guaranteed money next summer, possibly less if Luol Deng is waived and stretched, leaving enough to offer another max deal.
Rondo, whom Deveney states has wanted to join the Lakers since 2015, could take the starting point guard job away from Lonzo Ball, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. A source tells Amick that the L.A. front office has promised Rondo the chance to compete for a starting spot.
During an impromptu interview with TMZ, Doc Rivers explained the decision to trade his son, Austin Rivers, to the Wizards. The Clippers coach called it “the right thing for all of us” and predicts that Austin will excel in Washington.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Leonard, Roster, Outlook

July 2nd, 2018 at 9:09am CST by Luke Adams

While he didn’t play a part in revealing LeBron James‘ new home this time around, Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated has penned another excellent piece on LeBron’s latest decision. According to Jenkins, James initially narrowed down his preferred landing spots to the Lakers, Cavaliers, Sixers, and Rockets, instructing agent Rich Paul to research those organizations and give him feedback when he returned from a June vacation.

While the Rockets became a long shot after James opted out of his previous contract, the four-time MVP planned communications with the Cavaliers and Sixers at the start of free agency. The Lakers were his primary focus though, according to Jenkins, who notes that LeBron spoke to Kobe Bryant on the phone before meeting with Magic Johnson on Saturday night.

As Jenkins details, despite speculation that a second star like Kawhi Leonard or Paul George might be required to lure James to the Lakers, the future Hall-of-Famer had no problem being “the first headliner through the door.” Per Jenkins, LeBron believes that the Lakers have the recruiters, assets, and cap space necessary to build a lasting contender.

Here’s more on the Lakers’ and LeBron’s arrival:

Although he was strongly considering the Lakers before sitting down with Johnson on Saturday night, James wanted to meet face-to-face and see if he and the Lakers’ president of basketball operations could “find a trust” before he made a final decision, sources tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times has more details on that Saturday meeting between the former and future Lakers stars.
The Lakers‘ status as an iconic franchise and the ability to live full time in Los Angeles with his family were important factors in James’ decision, two people with knowledge of the situation tell Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Zillgitt also notes that the Sixers worked hard to trade for Leonard as a selling point while recruiting James, but never made serious traction with the Spurs.
Kevin O’Connor latest article for The Ringer cites multiple league sources who say that the Lakers‘ offers for Leonard have been “underwhelming.” However, O’Connor acknowledges that could change now that the team has secured a commitment from James. A package that sends Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle (via sign-and-trade), multiple first-round picks, and possibly Josh Hart to the Spurs could work, in the view of O’Connor’s sources.
James’ business and basketball worlds will come together in Los Angeles, as Sam Amick of USA Today details in his piece on LeBron’s decision.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com takes a closer look at how good the Lakers can be with their current roster and how they can become legit title contenders.
We examined the Lakers‘ cap situation for 2018/19 earlier today.

Pacific Notes: Teodosic, Gallinari, Hart, Cook

March 30th, 2018 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

It looks like Milos Teodosic‘s rookie season may be coming to an early end. The Clippers announced today that the point guard suffered a tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot. According to the club, Teodosic will be sidelined “indefinitely” and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

The Clippers’ playoff hopes remain very much alive — with seven games left to play, the team is only a game behind the Jazz, 1.5 games behind the Timberwolves, and two games back of the Pelicans. Still, if the Clips are unable to sneak into the postseason, Teodosic’s season figures to be over — the regular season comes to an end on April 11, and he’s due to be re-evaluated on April 13.

Here are a few more items from around the Pacific division:

While Teodosic’s season is over, the Clippers will get injured forward Danilo Gallinari back on Friday night, per Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Gallinari, the team’s prized 2017 free agent acquisition, has been bothered by injuries all season and has been out since February 22 with a hand issue.
Speaking of hand injuries, Lakers rookie Josh Hart, who underwent surgery on his left hand nearly a month ago, is set to return to action on Friday night as well, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). Hart won’t be on a minutes limit.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes an early look at the Lakers‘ potential top targets for this summer’s draft and free agent period.
The Warriors haven’t yet approached Quinn Cook about the possibility of converting his two-way contract into an NBA deal, he said on Thursday night (video link). Still, Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggests that move still looks like a “sure thing” to make Cook playoff-eligible. The 25-year-old guard has thrived for the injury-plagued Dubs lately, averaging 20.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 4.7 RPG on .547/.526/.800 shooting in his last seven games.

Injury Notes: Smart, Love, Ingram, Wall

March 28th, 2018 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics guard Marcus Smart is making progress in rehabbing a torn ligament in his right thumb and hopes to be available for the second round of the playoffs, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

A cast on his hand was recently replaced by a splint with an opening at the top that allows him to move his thumb, and he has been able to do some light exercises with the injured digit. Smart tore the ligament earlier this month and underwent surgery March 16. His original prognosis had him out six to eight weeks, which sets a potential return about the time of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“Definitely right now, that’s what we’re shooting for,” he said. “The way it’s going now, we’re on the right path. Hopefully nothing happens where it gets delayed.”

There are more injury updates from around the NBA:

Kevin Love has been placed in concussion protocol and will miss tonight’s game, the Cavaliers announced on their website. He suffered a front tooth sublexation last night and experienced concussion-like symptoms at halftime.
After missing nearly four weeks with a strained groin, Lakers forward Brandon Ingram expects to return tonight, tweets Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum Sports Net.
Coach Luke Walton says Lakers rookie Josh Hart has looked good in three-on-three games and may be cleared to play Friday, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
John Wall, who has been sidelined since having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in late January, may be able to return tomorrow, according to a tweet from the Wizards. Coach Scott Brooks said Wall will participate in the team’s shootaround and a decision will be based on how the knee responds. He is officially listed as questionable.
Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari is targeting Friday to return from a fractured right hand, relays Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. “I hope to play a few minutes against Portland [Friday],” Gallinari said in an interview with Italian outlet Sky Sport. “The hand is not completely healed, but we’ll see how I can help the team in the games left in the regular season. I will try to bite the bullet for the playoff race. The franchise asked me to grit my teeth and play. I will try to do that.”
After re-injuring his right ankle Monday, Celtics forward Marcus Morris will sit out tonight’s game, according to a tweet from the team. He will probably return Saturday, according to Himmelsbach (Twitter link).
Celtics coach Brad Stevens provided an another update on Gordon Hayward, saying he’s still limited to the Alter-G treadmill and hasn’t been cleared to run on the court (Twitter link). “There will be nothing more exciting for him than being able to get back out on the basketball court,” Stevens said (Twitter link).
Cavaliers forward Cedi Osman may be cleared to return to action after a hip flexor injury. He tweeted an image of himself accompanied by the word, “finally.”
Jazz center Tony Bradley has cleared concussion protocol, tweets Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.

Lakers’ Josh Hart To Undergo Hand Surgery

March 1st, 2018 at 5:14pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 1, 5:14pm: Hart will undergo surgery on his left hand fracture, per Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). According to head coach Luke Walton, Hart will be re-evaluated every couple weeks going forward, and while he may return this season, there’s “zero rush” to get him back.

FEBRUARY 28, 2:29pm: Lakers rookie Josh Hart has been diagnosed with a small fracture in his left hand, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Hart suffered the injury, which Mike Bresnahan describes as a break of the fourth metacarpal, during a practice session on Wednesday.

According to Charania, Hart and the Lakers are still weighing both surgical and non-surgical options. In either scenario, the young guard is expected to miss at least a few weeks, Charania notes. With only six weeks left in the 2017/18 regular season, we may not see much more of Hart during his rookie campaign.

The 30th overall pick in last year’s draft, Hart has been overshadowed in Los Angeles this year by fellow rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma. However, the former Villanova standout is having a very solid season in his own right. Hart has taken on a larger role in the Lakers’ rotation over the last two months, recording 8.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and a .487/.413/.636 shooting line in 29 games (26.2 MPG) since Christmas Day.

With Hart sidelined and Jordan Clarkson and Corey Brewer no longer in the picture, the Lakers will be somewhat shorthanded at shooting guard behind starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. It will be interesting to see whether the club experiments with more two-point-guard lineups in the short term, perhaps with Ball and Isaiah Thomas playing alongside one another. Signing a shooting guard to a 10-day contract is also a viable option — L.A. has two open roster spots after cutting Brewer today.

Lakers Notes: Magic, Deng, Ball, Hart, Lopez

February 8th, 2018 at 6:21pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Lakers had a busy trade deadline, swinging a blockbuster deal that sent Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson to the Cavaliers for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and Cleveland’s first-round pick. With the trade, the Lakers created significant cap space that enables them to pursue two top-tier free agents this summer.

Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, on Thursday, team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka spoke about the team’s moves. Both Johnson and Pelinka stated that the team’s goal is to acquire elite talent and make a run at the playoffs next season.

“There’s so many different ways you can use that [cap space],” Pelinka said, “And then, of course, the obvious way is we now have in July of 2018 and July of 2019, we now have real 100 percent space to do two max players if that’s what we decide to do, or one in 2018 and then following it up with another one in 2019. So the flexibility is really amazing.”

The Lakers 22-31, are currently 6.5 games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, so a playoff appearance seems out of the cards. However, Johnson reiterated that Thursday’s moves were made with the intention of getting better.

“I don’t want to stay where we are. I don’t want to be on the outside of the playoffs looking in,” Johnson said. “We have to take another step, right? So this move allows us to position ourselves to hopefully take that next step.”

Check out other news and notes surrounding the Lakers:

Johnson was asked by reporters if the Lakers had any substantiative talks at the deadline about moving Luol Deng and his albatross contract. Johnson was brutally honest as he lets out a few laughs and said “we wish, right?” tweets Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. Deng has appeared in just one game with the Lakers this season.
Lonzo Ball has not played since January 13 as a knee injury has sidelined the Lakers’ rookie point guard. Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes that Ball is progressing well but that he still cannot sprint or jump at full strength. Until that happens, Ball will remain a spectator — and may miss the 2018 Rising Stars Challenge.
The Lakers won their last three games with Josh Hart — the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft — starting. Hart has played well for the Lakers and is showing himself to be a draft steal, Mike Trudell of NBA.com writes. “I don’t think you ever plan on counting on a late first round pick in their rookie season,” head coach Luke Walton said. “You try to get them minutes where you can, and develop them. But he’s done a nice job every time he’s been called on, being ready, and helping us win.”
Despite the Lakers being out of contention, center Brook Lopez does not plan on pursuing a buyout to latch on with a contender, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Lopez is personally having the worst season of his career, and while his plans may change, he is set on playing out the final year of his contract in purple and gold.

Los Angeles Notes: Bogut, Hart, Teodosic

December 16th, 2017 at 2:37pm CST by marksuleymanov

Andrew Bogut broke his leg less than a minute into his Cavaliers debut last March, prematurely ending his 2016/17 season, Cavaliers tenure, and possibly his career. After a long summer of rehab, Bogut signed a one-year deal with the Lakers and has served as a mentor for the young NBA team, ESPN’s Nick Metallinos writes.

Bogut has not played much this season; he is averaging a career-low 7.7 minutes per game. He also has taken a DNP in 10 of the Lakers’ 26 games. Still, the Australian big man said he understood playing time would be limited when he signed with the team.

“I knew there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of minutes because I was the 15th guy signed to the roster,” Bogut said to ESPN. “I’ve just been trying to mentor some of the younger guys. We’ve got a really young and inexperienced team that bring a lot of energy and talent, so just some direction is needed every now and then and being one of the elder guys, [I’m] just trying to help them in the locker room.”

The Lakers are built on young talents such as Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Jordan Clarkson. In his age 33 season, Bogut said that being a mentor is more important than having minutes.

Check out other news coming out of Los Angeles:

Lakers rookie Josh Hart had an impressive first NBA start on Wednesday against the Cavaliers, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. After four collegiate seasons at Villanova, Hart said he is prepared for the big stage and head coach Luke Walton agrees, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes.“It showed where he came from as a college player winning a national title and playing with a big-time program for many years,” Walton said of Hart’s performance. “That big stage did not faze him at all today.”
After missing two months due to a foot injury, Clippers point guard Milos Teodosic will be on a minutes restriction as the organization tries to keep him healthy, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Milos, because of the minutes restrictions, we can’t play him on back-to-backs,” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. “So we have to sit him.” However, Rivers noted that this is temporary and that Teodosic’s minutes restriction should be lifted later in the season.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/14/17

November 15th, 2017 at 8:45am CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Lakers completed a series of G League moves on Tuesday, assigning Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac to the South Bay Lakers while also recalling Thomas Bryant, per a team release. L.A.’s affiliate plays its next game on Wednesday, so Hart and Zubac should get a chance to play major minutes if they remain on assignment through the day.
First-round pick Terrance Ferguson was assigned to the G League by the Thunder, the club announced in a press release. Ferguson took advantage of his opportunity to suit up for the Oklahoma City Blue on Tuesday night, scoring a team-high 24 points in a 122-118 win over the Texas Legends.
Second-year center Damian Jones was re-assigned to the G League on Tuesday by the Warriors, according to Mark Medina of The Bay Area New Group (Twitter link). Jones has spent most of the season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, but was recalled for brief stint in Golden State this week.