Josh Powell Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Kings, Tolliver, Lakers, Ellis

July 10th, 2013 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

After a bid to relocate the NBA's Kings failed, Seattle-based investors also reportedly explored the possibility of moving the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes to the city. Although the franchise appears to be staying put in Phoenix, Seattle wasn't the only city interested in relocating it. According to Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com, Paul Allen and the Trail Blazers were also interested in buying the Coyotes and moving the team to Portland's Rose Garden.

Here are more odds and ends from around the NBA on a very busy Wednesday:

The Kings have named high-ranking NBA executive Chris Granger as their new team president, according to Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. Granger, who had been the executive VP of team marketing and business operations for the NBA, will oversee the team's role in the development of a new downtown sports arena and its business operations, says Lillis. It doesn't sound like Granger will be involved much, if at all, in the Kings' basketball operations.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports (via Twitter) that Anthony Tolliver is in talks with five teams, including the Hawks, and hopes to make a decision soon.
The Lakers have had conversations with Josh Powell's representative, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. McMenamin adds in a second tweet that the team has also spoken to a couple more former Lakers: Sasha Vujacic and Lamar Odom.
As Monta Ellis continues to seek a free agent deal, there doesn't appear to be a clear favorite to sign him, writes Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. News broke today that Ellis has parted ways with his longtime agent.
Elton Brand and Brandan Wright are still talking to the Mavericks about a potential return, but Rodrigue Beaubois is almost certainly headed elsewhere, as GM Donnie Nelson told reporters today, including Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com.
Before he agreed to sign with the Bobcats, Al Jefferson received interest from the Mavericks and Pelicans, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

Josh Powell Signs In Greece

November 2nd, 2012 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after failing to earn a spot on the Spurs' regular season roster, Josh Powell has signed with Greek's Olympiacos, according to the team's website (hat tip to Sportando). Powell was San Antonio's final cut of the offseason after spending the preseason in camp with the Spurs.

Powell, 29, has played 315 games with six teams over the course of his six-year NBA career. He last appeared in the league in 2010/11, when he averaged 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 54 contests for the Hawks.

For Olympiacos, Powell will take the place of Joey Dorsey, who recently published a frustrated post on his Facebook page indicating that he'd played his last game in Greece. Dorsey apologized for the post and said he hoped to remain with Olympiacos, but it appears the team has released him anyway.

Spurs Waive Josh Powell

October 26th, 2012 at 11:03pm CST by Michael Pina

After signing him in late September, the Spurs have waived forward Josh Powell, according to a tweet from Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears. Yesterday, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News wrote that he believed the team would keep Powell after waiving Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown.

The 29-year-old Powell was trying to latch on with his seventh team in seven seasons. He last played in the NBA in 2010/11, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 54 appearances with the Hawks.

Western Notes: Blazers, West, Sacre, Iguodala

October 25th, 2012 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey is hoping Nicolas Batum can increase his scoring this season like Eric Gordon did in his third year, when his PPG jumped from 16.9 to 22.3. If Batum can take that sort of step forward, Olshey says he has reason to be optimistic about the Blazers' future.

"I'm not putting a number on Nic, but if Nic can make a jump, if Wes [Matthews] can make a jump, if L.A. [LaMarcus Aldridge] can just be L.A., and Damian [Lillard] can be who we think he has the ability to be, we're not that far away," Olshey said. "And having a lottery pick potentially, and three second [round picks], and having $13MM in room potentially, is a pretty good position to be in eight months from now."

Here are a few more updates from around the Western Conference:

The Mavericks have indefinitely suspended Delonte West again for conduct detrimental to the team, the club announced today in a press release. As Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets, it seems likely this suspension will last longer than West's last one did.
Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News thinks Mavericks rookie Bernard James, the third pick of the second round this June, could use some D-League seasoning.
Robert Sacre is moving closer to locking up a spot on the Lakers roster, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post believes Andre Iguodala, who can invoke an early termination option for 2013/14, will instead sign a long-term deal with the Nuggets.
Even after waiving Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown, the Spurs won't necessarily keep Josh Powell on their regular season roster, but Powell tells Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that he thinks he's shown the team enough to warrant consideration.

Camp Rumors: Curry, Brown, Varnado, Blazers

October 20th, 2012 at 4:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

The first regular season action is just 10 days away, so it's crunch time for players gunning for the last spots on the end of an NBA bench. There's news about several training camp hopefuls this afternoon, and we've rounded it up here.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave strong indication before today's preseason game that the competition for the last roster spot in San Antonio is down to Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Josh Powell and Wesley Witherspoon are also trying to make the team, while it appears DeJuan Blair and Gary Neal, the other Spurs without full guarantees, are safe.
McDonald also notes, via Twitter, that Popovich said Curry has lost 20 pounds, and that's on top of the 100 pounds he lost while with the Heat last year, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Curry said he didn't entertain the idea of returning to the Heat this summer, as Winderman reports in the same piece. "It was frustrating. It was bittersweet," Curry said of his season in Miami, during which he saw little playing time. "Got a ring out of it, but it definitely wasn't the year I was looking forward to and wasn't what I worked for."
Winderman also writes that a hamstring injury has likely torpedoed any chance Jarvis Varnado had of making the Heat's regular season roster.
The Trail Blazers are one of three teams left at the 20-player preseason roster limit, and GM Neil Olshey said he's going to wait as long as possible before making cuts, tweets Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge. "Some of it is strategic," according to Olshey, and Golliver interprets that remark to mean the team is trying to funnel some of its camp invitees to its D-League affiliate.

Odds & Ends: McGrady, Curry, Spurs, Vujacic

October 18th, 2012 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder, Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics are considered the most dangerous threats to the Heat this season, but ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh thinks he's put together the team most capable of knocking off the defending champs. In an Insider-only piece, Haberstroh puts together a squad of "Heat Beaters" that adheres to the NBA's salary cap rules by surrounding a pair of superstars (Chris Paul and Dwight Howard) with a number of players on rookie-scale deals, including Serge Ibaka, Taj Gibson, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.

Here are a few other Thursday links from around the league:

NBA commissioner David Stern and former teammate Shane Battier are among those applauding Tracy McGrady's decision to sign in China, according to Alastair Himmer of 560 WGAN.
Though there's no real update on extension talks between Stephen Curry and the Warriors, both sides remain optimistic that a deal will be worked out by Halloween, says Sam Amick of SI.com (Sulia link). Amick adds that Curry's next contract is now being negotiated by Octagon's Jeff Austin after the point guard's previous agent, Lance Young, left Octagon.
The battle for the Spurs' 15th roster spot is going down to the wire, according to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News, who breaks down the four candidates for the opening. McCarney believes the Spurs' decision will come down to Eddy Curry and Josh Powell.
In an Insider-only piece, ESPN.com's Chad Ford names his top five 2013 draft prospects out of the Big 12.
Sasha Vujacic says he'll consider returning to the NBA next summer, according to a Sport24.gr report (translation via HoopsHype).
Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside previews the NBA D-League draft, which is set to take place on November 2nd.

Odds & Ends: Harden, Spurs, Richardson, Nuggets

October 11th, 2012 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Of today's slate of preseason NBA games, three are scheduled for tonight, with one already in the books — the Heat defeated the Clippers 94-80 in Beijing in a contest that got underway at 6:30 CST this morning. As we await the rest of today's action, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the league….

Grantland's Bill Simmons believes the Thunder should be able to absorb the tax hit that will come with extending or re-signing James Harden, and implores Harden not to settle for a hometown discount.
Derrick Brown's ability to guard the three spot could set him apart in the battle to earn a roster spot among Spurs' bigs, says Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (Twitter links). As Mike Monroe of the Express-News writes, however, Eddy Curry and Josh Powell also both played well in the team's preseason game with the Hawks.
Jason Richardson has left agent Dan Fegan and is in the market for new representation, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter).
Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post examines the Nuggets' quest to build a winning culture in Denver.
Juwan Howard is remaining around the Heat in case the team decides to cut six players instead of five and has an open roster spot for him, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Agent Rich Paul, who recently began to exclusively represent LeBron James and other NBA players, is under investigation by the NCAA for his relationship with University of Texas guard Myck Kabongo, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Southwest Rumors: Powell, De Colo, Machado

October 7th, 2012 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks were the first Southwest Division team to begin preseason play, doing so overseas yesterday with an 89-84 win over Alba Berlin in Dirk Nowitzki's native Germany. Before the game, commissioner David Stern said the league's revamped competition committee was cool to his idea of adopting the FIBA more liberal goaltending rules, noted Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Stern has pushed for changes to the way basket interference is called, so it's interesting to note that the commissioner apparently didn't get his way despite a new competition committee that some believe was restructured to give Stern more influence. Here's the latest from around the Southwest Division:

It's still a long way until the Spurs have to make a decision, but Josh Powell appears to have an early lead on Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown for a spot on the regular season roster, according to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. The competition was thinned a bit Friday when the Spurs waived Sherron Collins, taking their camp roster down to 19 players.
In the same piece, McCarney cautions readers not to get too caught up in what they saw from rookie Nando De Colo in the Spurs' victory Saturday over Italian club Montepaschi Siena, a slick passing performance that prompted teammate Stephen Jackson to call him "another Manu Ginobili."
Jason Friedman of Rockets.com shares some observations from Rockets camp, and says rookie guard Scott Machado, with the team on a minimum-salary deal that's partially guaranteed for $237K, is making a strong impression.
Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune chronicles the unlikely journey of Anthony Davis from a 5'9" eighth-grader in Chicago to the 6'10" Olympic gold medalist and No. 1 overall pick he is today, as he embarks on his first training camp with the Hornets.

Spurs Sign Eddy Curry, Sherron Collins

October 1st, 2012 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have officially unveiled their training camp roster, and there's at least one unexpected name on the list: Eddy Curry. Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News first reported that Curry was in camp with the Spurs (via Twitter).

Among the team's other additions, we'd previously heard about Tyler Wilkerson, Wesley Witherspoon, Josh Powell, and Derrick Brown. One new name on the training camp roster is Sherron Collins. It appears Collins may have taken the spot that previously appeared ticketed for fellow point guard Tre Kelley, whose name doesn't appear on the list.

While Brown, Powell, and the others should have a chance to earn a roster spot for the Spurs, Curry may be the most intriguing player among the new additions. According to Monroe, Curry has been playing all summer, looks fit, and has reportedly dropped 15 pounds (Twitter link). It would still be a little surprising to see the veteran big man earn a roster spot, but it appears he'll at least be given the opportunity.

Spurs Sign Josh Powell

September 27th, 2012 at 4:24pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Spurs have added veteran big man Josh Powell to their training camp roster. Powell joins Derrick Brown, Wesley Witherspoon, Tre Kelley and Tyler Wilkerson as recent signings that will compete for a roster spot in San Antonio.

Powell had most recently played in Puerto Rico and was last seen in the NBA with the Hawks during the 2010-11 season. The Spurs' roster currently stands at 18.