Josh Powell Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Powell, Lakers, Azubuike, Curry

March 28th, 2012 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

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

Josh Powell, who was thought to be drawing interest from a handful of NBA teams, has decided to play in Puerto Rico, as he announced on his Twitter account. According to Sportando, Powell will play for Brujos de Guayama.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson will become the face of Los Angeles Dodgers ownership, after his bidding group reached an agreement to buy the MLB franchise for a staggering $2.15 billion. Check out MLB Trade Rumors' story for more details.
Current Laker Andrew Bynum stirred up some drama when he was benched following a misguided three-point attempt, says Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Bynum, who will have his 2012/13 option exercised by the team, didn't seem to have any regrets: "I guess 'don't take threes' is the message, but I'm going to take another one and I'm going to take some more, so I just hope it's not the same result."
Kelenna Azubuike won't play a significant role on the Mavericks' 2011/12 squad, but Dallas intends to exercise its team option for next season, barring a setback, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes.
Jonathan Abrams of Grantland.com takes an interesting look at the next step for an NBA player when he finds out he's been traded.
Byron Mullens is becoming a larger part of the Bobcats' future plans, according to an Associated Press report (via NBA.com).
The Warriors will re-evaluate Stephen Curry in two weeks to determine if he's ready to ready to return to action, the team announced today. There's been speculation that Golden State would prefer Curry not play this season, in part because the team would like to retain its top-seven-protected pick that's ticketed for Utah. Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group hears that Warriors management wouldn't mind Curry sitting out the season, though they'd be happy to have him return to the lineup if he's healthy.

Latest On Buyouts: O’Neal, Powell, Heat

March 20th, 2012 at 10:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

Earlier tonight we took a look at last year's buyout recipients and how they've fared since. Now let's dive into some of the buyout rumblings from this evening:

Contrary to what we heard before, Jermaine O'Neal insists he and Celtics GM Danny Ainge never had talks about a buyout, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (Twitter link). O'Neal says he did what he could to get his injured left wrist back in playing shape, Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald reports, but simply couldn't avoid season-ending surgery. One of the procedures he's considering could be career ending, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
J. Michael Falgoust and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today round up the buyout candidates. There's not much new here, but they do add the Nuggets to the list of teams interested in Josh Powell, which includes the Suns and Celtics.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel shared a few Heat-related items after Miami's 99-95 comeback win over the Suns tonight. Even though Derek Fisher appears headed to the Thunder, he thinks Mike James or Anthony Carter would be better point guard pickups because of their defensive abilities. And, after an inauspicious first career start by Dexter Pittman, the need to sign another center, like Ronny Turiaf, is as pressing as ever.

Kyler On Arenas, Hickson, Turiaf, Fisher, Powell

March 20th, 2012 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

In his latest NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler checks in on a few free agents and free-agents-to-be, providing updates on their potential destinations. Let's round up the highlights….

Gilbert Arenas is expected to take a physical and finalize his deal with the Grizzlies today.
The Pacers, Cavaliers, and Raptors, who all have enough cap space to easily absorb J.J. Hickson's $2.35MM salary, won't be placing waiver claims.
A number of teams are interested in Ronny Turiaf but "word is" the forward will likely decide between the Celtics and Heat. Like Hickson, he doesn't figure to be claimed on waivers by clubs with cap space.
The Lakers have extended an offer to Derek Fisher to join the team's basketball operations staff. However, it doesn't appear Fisher is ready to retire just yet. We heard earlier today that the Thunder and Heat are the favorites to land the longtime Laker.
Josh Powell is drawing interest from the Suns and Celtics, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reported last night. I believe Powell signed in Switzerland late in February, and I haven't seen any reports that indicate he's parted ways with Neuchatel. The Swiss regular season has ended though, so perhaps Powell is lining up an NBA job for when he returns. Since he hasn't played for an NBA team this season, he can sign after March 23rd and still be eligible for the postseason.

Minor Moves: Powell, Lee, Dowdell, Ebanks

February 29th, 2012 at 4:36pm CST by Luke Adams

We'll round up today's notable international and D-League-related transactions here, with the latest up top….

Josh Powell has signed with Swiss team Neuchatel, according to Sportando. Powell played most of this season in China, and was thought to be drawing some interest from NBA teams. He appeared in 54 games for the Hawks a year ago.
The Timberwolves have assigned Malcolm Lee to the team's D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, according to the team (Twitter link). It's Lee's second D-League assignment this season.
Spain's Gran Canaria has signed Zabian Dowdell to a contract for the rest of the season, according to the team's website (hat tip to Sportando). Dowdell signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Suns a year ago before the team brought him aboard for the remainder of the season. After appearing in 24 games in 2010/11, he was cut by the Suns prior to this season.
Via Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link), the Lakers announced last night that they've recalled Devin Ebanks from the L.A. D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate. Ebanks, who started four games for the Lakers earlier this season, had been assigned to the D-Fenders two weeks ago.

Josh Powell Drawing Interest

February 24th, 2012 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Josh Powell is back from China and will likely sign with a team after the All-Star Break, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Several teams are taking a look at the 6'9", 225-pound power forward, according to Kennedy.

Powell signed with the Liaoning Dinosaurs of the Chinese Basketball Association during the lockout after spending the 2010/11 NBA season with the Hawks. He averaged 4.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 0.4 APG in a reserve role last year, similar to his career numbers of 3.9/2.9/0.5. The best of his six NBA seasons came in 2007/08 with the Clippers, when he averaged 5.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG and started 25 games for the Clippers. The North Carolina State product was a bench player on back-to-back championship teams with the Lakers as well.

He could fit into one of many teams with cap space, but he doesn't figure to make much more than the veteran's minimum. He may be an option for teams looking for depth up front who lost out on Joel Przybilla, like the Bucks, Bulls or Heat.

There's no word yet on whether he requires FIBA clearance before a deal can be finalized.

Josh Powell