Kawhi Leonard Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Williams, Carmelo, Leonard, Isiah

March 27th, 2014 at 10:51pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Jazz forward Marvin Williams hasn’t had any discussions with management about his future, writes Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. However, Falk reminds that Utah rejected a deadline deal that would have sent Williams out in an exchange for a first round pick, hoping that the 6’9 forward would eventually re-sign this summer. Williams is finishing up the final year of a deal that will pay him $7.5MM this season, and based on glowing approbation from his teammates and coaches recently, it’d appear that Utah remains strongly interested in keeping him for the long-term.

Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:

Carmelo Anthony finally had his first conversation with Phil Jackson before the Knicks‘ loss to the Lakers on Tuesday, though the 29-year-old forward tells Newsday’s Al Iannazzone that it was nothing more than small talk: “He told me to get ready, go out there and play, try to finish the season off strong, that’s it…We didn’t really talk about too much. Talked about him being in New York, him coming back out to L.A., the weather. Just generic. We really didn’t talk about nothing.”
There’s an argument to be made that Kawhi Leonard is the most valuable player on the league’s best team, writes Sam Amick of USA today, who also thinks it’s safe to assume that securing Leonard’s services will be a top priority for the Spurs this summer. The 6’7 forward will be eligible for a contract extension in July.
Isiah Thomas neither confirmed nor denied an interest in taking a job with the Pistons in the near future, but he did intimate his strong loyalty to the franchise: “My heart has never left this organization…I don’t think you will find a person on this earth that loves the Pistons more than I do” (Eric Lacy of MLive.com reports).
Bill Laimbeer was also asked about a potential role with the Pistons but declined comment.
At the recommendation of a Los Angeles-based ankle specialist, Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova will sit out the remainder of the 2013/14 season (Twitter links via the team’s official Twitter account).
Some may contend that Taj Gibson is a strong candidate to win the Sixth Man of the Year title, but Sam Smith of Bulls.com argues that the Bulls forward exemplifies the NBA’s Most Improved award.
Former 76ers swingman Rodney Carney is headed to Lebanon to play for Al Riyadi Beirut, reports Enea Trapani of Sportando.

Amico On Celtics, Melo, Irving, Dumars

February 10th, 2014 at 10:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Most executives who spoke with Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio say it seems more and more likely that the Celtics want to build around point guard Rajon Rondo, forward Jeff Green, and second-year big man Jared Sullinger. Everyone else, however, appears to be available, and even those three aren’t considered untouchable. More from Amico’s column..

The Knicks‘ struggles are fueling talk that Carmelo Anthony could be moved at the deadline but league sources say that seems considerably less likely and Melo will remain a Knick at least until the end of the season.
Could the Cavs be giving thought to moving Kyrie Irving given their own troubles? “Absolutely, positively untouchable, now and forever,” said one opposing General Manager.
There’s been some talk that Pistons GM Joe Dumars could step down at the end of the season if the team fails to make the playoffs. If so, league insiders suspect Dumars won’t be out of the game for long. Despite Detroit’s struggles, Dumars helped build a title team and still has a lot of respect around the league.
The Spurs typically aren’t major players at the trading deadline, but sources say that could change this year. For an outstanding return, Kawhi Leonard could be made available.

Spurs Pick Up Options For Leonard, Joseph

October 28th, 2013 at 5:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs have exercised their 2014/15 options on Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph, the team announced via press release. It’s the fourth-year option for both, meaning they’ll be eligible for extensions to their rookie-scale contracts next summer. Leonard will earn close to $2.9MM in 2014/15, while Joseph will see a little more than $2MM, as our rookie contract option tracker shows.

The move to pick up Leonard’s option is a formality, since he quickly established himself as a key part of the franchise’s future in his first two seasons in San Antonio. I had the decision on Leonard as a “no-brainer” when I looked at pending rookie options last month, but I listed Joseph as “on the bubble.” The 29th pick in 2011 has appeared in only 57 games over his first two seasons combined, though he did serve as the team’s backup point guard for the majority of the playoffs last year, averaging 3.0 points and 1.2 assists in 9.6 minutes per contest.

The moves add nearly $5MM to San Antonio’s payroll for next season, bringing the total amount of the team’s commitments to about $33.5MM. That number is deceptively low, as I pointed out earlier this month, since it doesn’t include $9MM in non-guaranteed salary for Tony Parker and a $10MM player option for Tim Duncan.

Western Notes: Leonard, Hamilton, Blazers, Favors

October 19th, 2013 at 8:08pm CST by Spencer Lund

With Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili all carrying a lot of mileage on their legs after multiple years of long playoff runs, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has taken to resting his old stars during back-to-backs while also limiting their game-to-game regular season minutes.

After the excellent play of Kawhi Leonard in last season’s NBA Finals, it might mean an increased role for the “3 & D” wing entering his third year. The San Antonio Express-News’ Jeff MacDonald shares, in a couple different tweets, that Popovich will be increasing Leonard’s responsibility on offense. McDonald thinks his scoring should jump significantly as a result.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference tonight:

The Timberwolves have expressed interest in unsigned free agent Richard Hamilton, but Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets that there has been no further movement from GM Flip Saunders.
As noted earlier, the Blazers‘ starting five have yet to appear on the court together this preseason due to multiple injury issues. The lack of time playing together means they haven’t gotten a chance to “gel” as a team, writes the Oregonian’s Mike Tokito.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe spoke with Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey about the Derrick Favors extension, and mentions in a tweet that Lindsey repeatedly mentioned the Bulls as a model for the Jazz franchise.
After the Jazz officially confirmed the four-year, $49MM+ extension this morning, everyone’s pretty happy writes the Deseret News’ Mike Sorenson.
Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune says Favors earned his extension with his defensive prowess for the Jazz.

Western Notes: Leonard, Bogut, Holiday

October 16th, 2013 at 7:14pm CST by Michael Pina

A few note from around the Western Conference.

After waiving small forwards Corey Maggette and Sam Young earlier this week, the Spurs will enter the season with no legitimate backup for Kawhi Leonard, writes MySanAntonio.com’s Jeff McDonald.
MercuryNews.com’s Tim Kawakami opines on the Warriors and Andrew Bogut, and what’s a fair extension for the former number one overall pick.
Coming off a breakout season as an All-Star with the Sixers, Jrue Holiday heads into 2014 as the franchise point guard for the Pelicans. Hoopsworld.com’s Yannis Koutroupis takes a look at what Holiday needs to do to settle in to his new environment.

Spurs Notes: Leonard, Carter, 15th Man

October 1st, 2013 at 4:50pm CST by Luke Adams

As Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and the Spurs prepare to begin defending their Western Conference title, let's round up a few items out of San Antonio….

The Spurs were "scared to death" when they traded George Hill for Kawhi Leonard in 2011, head coach Gregg Popovich tells Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld. However, Leonard has developed exactly as the team hoped, and Popovich expects the young forward to "take over as the star of the show as time goes on." As I noted earlier today, Leonard will be eligible for a rookie-scale extension a year from now, and a big season could push him into the max-contract conversation.
Veteran point guard Anthony Carter, who was with the Nuggets in camp a year ago, has been hired as an assistant coach by the Spurs' D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, the team announced in a press release.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News takes a look at the players vying for the Spurs' final roster spot this month. With 14 players on guaranteed contracts, one of the other six camp invitees – Marcus Cousin, Courtney Fells, Myck Kabongo, Corey Maggette, Daniel Nwaelele, or Sam Young – should end up being the 15th man.

Kyler On Grizzlies, Magic, Redick, Leonard

January 26th, 2013 at 12:23pm CST by Sean Highkin

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.com answered some questions from followers on his Twitter account Saturday morning, addressing a variety of trade rumors and speculation.

Kyler doesn't think the Grizzlies will trade Rudy Gay unless it makes them better in the short term. He notes that the recent trade of Marreese Speights, Josh Selby, and Wayne Ellington to the Cavs was their method of getting under the luxury tax, which will make them more hesitant to trade Gay.
Similarly, Kyler doesn't think Memphis will move Zach Randolph this season, although he points out that it could happen this summer as Randolph gets older.
Kyler doesn't see any way that Gay ends up with the Lakers.
The Magic are not interested in trading for Danny Granger, due to the potential of his health and contract to impact their rebuilding timeline.
While Kyler thinks J.J. Redick would be a good fit for the Spurs, he says they are not willing to part with Kawhi Leonard, whom they see as a building block for the future.

Southwest Notes: Dirk, White, Hornets, Leonard

January 1st, 2013 at 12:57pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the Southwest Division on New Year's Day:

Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com thinks the Mavericks should start Dirk Nowitzki. They had previously been bringing him off the bench to ease his integration back into the rotation.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Rockets are considering suspending suspending Royce White for his recent refusal of their D-League assignment.
Hornets coach Monty Williams understands that the development of his young players is more important that making the playoffs in the short term.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News praises Kawhi Leonard's recent defensive impact for the Spurs.

Spurs To Activate Leonard, Release Anderson

December 20th, 2012 at 2:45pm CST by Sean Highkin

The San Antonio Spurs plan to activate forward Kawhi Leonard, who missed the past five weeks of action, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). In order to clear a roster spot for Leonard, the team has waived forward James Anderson, reports Wojnarowski. Leonard is expected to play for the Spurs on Friday against the Hornets.

Leonard missed five weeks with tightness in his left knee and quadriceps. His return appeared to be getting closer when he was recently sent down to the team's D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, for a rehab assignment. He will be called up from the D-League and rejoin the Spurs on Friday.

D-League Moves: Perry Jones III, Liggins, Knicks

December 19th, 2012 at 4:57pm CST by Zachary Links

We'll be keeping track of all of today's D-League comings and goings in this post. To keep up with the latest assignments and recalls, check out Hoops Rumors' 2012/13 list right here.

The Thunder announced they've assigned Perry Jones III and DeAndre Liggins to the Tulsa 66ers. It's the second time they've each been sent down. Liggins has averaged 11.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in three games for Tulsa, while Jones has put up a total of 23 points and seven rebounds in his two D-League contests.
Forwards Chris Copeland and James White have returned to the Knicks after being assigned yesterday to the D-League's Erie BayHawks, the BayHawks announced via Twitter (hat tip to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside). Their return was expected when they were sent down, along with Amare Stoudemire, to practice with the BayHawks. Erie is in the midst of a four-day layoff, so none of the Knicks assignees saw game action.
The Pistons have brought back Khris Middleton and Kim English from the D-League, according to James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press. Both rookies were sent down to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants a week ago. They were in the starting lineup for three games with Fort Wayne, with English putting up 18.0 points, 5.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest, while Middleton posted averages of 11.0 points and 7.7 boards. Neither of them, both second-round picks this past June, have seen significant minutes for the big club in Detroit.
The Spurs announced that they have assigned Kawhi Leonard to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League for a medical rehab assignment. Leonard has been sidelined with quadriceps tendinitis in his left knee since November 17th. Prior to the injury, Leonard appeared in nine games for the Spurs, averaging 10.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.0 SPG in 28.9 minutes. Team doctors will determine a timeline for Leonard's return after he practices with the Toros.