Keith Bogans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Notes: LeBron, Irving, Deng, Crawford

September 27th, 2014 at 11:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James reiterated his intentions to stay in Cleveland beyond his current contract during an interview that ran Friday on CNN’s “Unguarded with Rachel Nichols. “I plan on finishing my career back home,” James said, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group transcribes.
James called the two-year length of his contract a “business decision.” There’s more on the four-time MVP amid the latest on his new team:

James based 95% of his decision to return to Cleveland on his desire to return to his Northeast Ohio roots, but the chance to play with Kyrie Irving was “a huge part” of the other 5%, James said to reporters, including Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
James and Luol Deng traded places this summer, but Deng knows the Cavs got the better end of the de facto swap, as he told reporters, including Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. “I’ve been in the league 11 years and I’m still improving,” Deng said. “I would never try to replace anybody no matter if they’re better than me or I’m better than somebody. We all bring different things. The biggest mistake I would make is try to be LeBron. I’m not LeBron.”
The Cavs intended to re-sign Chris Crawford even as they waived him Thursday, according to Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer. That suggests the Cavs also intended from the time they traded for Bogans that they would flip him to the Sixers or another club, and indeed, a league source told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal that Cleveland was never keen on keeping the veteran guard.
Cleveland’s brass had wanted to use Kevin Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas to create a trade exception ever since acquiring the trio, even though it took two moves for the Cavs to come up with the $5,285,817 trade exception they extracted from today’s Bogans trade, as Lloyd writes in the same piece.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Cavs Trade Keith Bogans To Sixers

September 27th, 2014 at 2:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

2:07pm: The trade is official, the Cavs announced. The terms of the deal are that the Cavs send Bogans and their 2018 second round pick to the Sixers for Philly’s 2015 second-rounder (protected for picks 31-50 and 56-60), though Cleveland won’t see the pick if the Sixers have to give it to the Celtics to satisfy an existing debt from previous trades. Cleveland also announced the creation of a traded player exception worth approximately $5.3MM. It’ll be precisely $5,285,817, equivalent to the value of Bogans’ salary.

1:52pm: The second-rounder headed to Philadelphia is Cleveland’s 2018 pick, Lloyd writes. There is no mention of any protections being attached, though the second round pick headed the Cavs most likely will have heavy enough protections that Cleveland is unlikely to ever make that pick.

1:11pm: The Cavs will receive a future second-rounder from the Sixers with protections attached, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports (Twitter link).

12:50pm: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to trade newly acquired Keith Bogans to the Sixers, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. The deal will send Bogans along with a future second-rounder to Philly and create a $5.3MM trade exception for the Cavs in the process. It’s unclear what Cleveland will receive in return, and it may just be the exception that they essentially net from this deal.

Cavs GM David Griffin had said yesterday that acquiring Bogans was about “contract flexibility,” and it didn’t take long for him to cash in the chip that Bogans’ non-guaranteed deal provided him. On Thursday Cleveland had traded the non-guaranteed contracts of Erik Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas, along with Cavs’ 2016 and 2017 second round picks, for Bogans and the Kings’ 2015 and 2017 second-rounders, both of which are top-55 protected.

Assuming the Cavs don’t have to take back a player from the Sixers in order to close the deal, this will leave Cleveland with 15 players on their roster, with 11 carrying full guarantees, and two with partials. Ray Allen is still a possibility to end up with the Cavaliers, though he has numerous other opportunities for work, and hasn’t stated whether or not he intends to play this coming season yet.

As for the Sixers, they get a veteran shooting guard who is capable of starting for them, along with more draft picks, something Philly places high value on. Since Bogans is on a non-guaranteed deal there is little to no risk at giving him a shot at a rotation spot this season. He shouldn’t complicate the Sixers’ quest to nab the top pick in next year’s draft. This move will max out Philadelphia’s roster count at 20.

Cavs Notes: Bogans, Irving, Waiters

September 27th, 2014 at 1:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The trade for Keith Bogans and his non-guaranteed contract has opened up some possibilities for the Cavs next Summer, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines. By stockpiling all the non-guaranteed deals that they have, Cleveland could trade for a star-level player and the team trading away the star wouldn’t have to take back any guaranteed contracts, which is important for sign-and-trade scenarios. This gives the Cavs an excellent opportunity to add to their core of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, notes Kennedy.

Here’s more from Cleveland:

All of the Cavs’ offseason moves were felt by Irving, who went from being the team’s most notable player to more of a complementary piece despite signing a max contract extension in July, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “I was in the locker room and looking around, and somehow I’ve become the youngest on the team again,” Irving said. “It’s a weird feeling, but I’m truly appreciative of what management did this summer and all the pieces they added because it’s just going to make my job that much easier.”
During the Cavs’ media day, Dion Waiters expressed his desire to be used at point guard and to help facilitate the offense, Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. Waiters said, “I’d love to play point guard. I would love the opportunity if coach gave me a shot at that, I would love to take on the full commitment to that because I think I could play the one also.”
When asked about the status of extension talks with the Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson told George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, “Right now, I’m not focused on that. My whole goal is getting training camp started and that’s where my head’s at right now. How can I help this team take the next step and how I can help this team and be an asset to this team.”

Cavs Notes: Bogans, LeBron, Marion

September 26th, 2014 at 6:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavaliers held their media day today, and there was more buzz around the team than in any recent year. LeBron James is back in town, joining holdovers Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Tristan Thompson, and the recently acquired Kevin Love. The front office has also surrounded LeBron with a slew of veteran reserves in their efforts to bring a championship to the city of Cleveland, and to convince both James and Love to stick around the Cuyahoga River area. Here’s some notes from the day’s events:

The acquisition of Keith Bogans was about “contract flexibility,” Cavs GM David Griffin said today, tweets Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer. That suggests that the team values him more as a trade asset than as a player, though that’s just my speculation.
When asked if Cleveland would have been a free agency option for him if LeBron wasn’t part of the package, Shawn Marion said, “No. I’m going to be honest. No,” tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Marion also said that James wasn’t enough to sell him on the Cavs, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com relays (Twitter link). It was the trade for Love that tipped the scales for Marion, according to Shelburne.
When discussing luring free agents to Cleveland, Griffin said, “You couldn’t have a better recruiter than LeBron James,” Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal relays (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Cavs Acquire Keith Bogans

September 25th, 2014 at 8:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

8:25pm: The trade is official, the Celtics announced via a press release.

8:20pm: More details about the trade are rolling in, with Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) noting that the Celtics sent the Cavs the rights to the Kings’ 2015 and 2017 second-rounders, both of which are top-55 protected. Marc Stein of ESPN.com also adds Dwight Powell to the list of players heading to Boston.

8:00pm: The second-rounders going to the Celtics will be Cleveland’s 2016 and 2017 selections, notes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).

7:41pm: The Celtics will also get a $5.3MM trade exception as part of the deal, notes Goodman (twitter link).

7:20pm: The Cavs will waive guard Chris Crawford once the deal is official, tweets Chris Haynes of The Plain Dealer.

7:16pm: The Celtics are also receiving two second round draft picks as part of the deal, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

6:52pm: The Cavaliers and Celtics are in discussions on a trade that would send Keith Bogans to Cleveland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com is reporting. The Cavs are expected to package the non-guaranteed contracts of Erik Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas in return for Bogans, notes Stein.

The acquisition of the 34 year-old shooting guard out of Kentucky would suggest that Cleveland has either received word from free agent Ray Allen that he isn’t interested in signing with the team, or that he intends to retire, though that’s just speculation on my part. Whatever the case is, it would seem that Bogans is taking the role that the Cavs were intending Allen to fill.

Bogans has played 11 seasons in the league after being selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Bucks. His career numbers are 6.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG. Bogans’ career slash line is .394/.353/.716. He has two years remaining on his contract, both non-guaranteed, and he is scheduled to make $5,285,816 this coming season.

As for the Celtics, they currently have 21 players on their roster, including Evan Turner, whose signing has not been officially announced yet. So it’s highly likely that Boston will waive all three players once the deal is completed.

Eastern Notes: Wiggins, Celtics, Cole

August 3rd, 2014 at 10:44am CST by Eddie Scarito

With all the rumblings that he is going to be traded to the Wolves for Kevin Love as soon as the required 30 days from when he inked his contract pass, Andrew Wiggins’ days in Cleveland appear numbered, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. For his part, Wiggins is remaining upbeat, saying, “I just want to play for a team that wants me, so whichever team wants me I’ll play for.” When asked if he expected to be a teammate of LeBron James this season, Wiggins said, “I don’t really know what to say. When I’m in Cleveland I’m going to play as hard as I can, give it my all and I’ll play for whoever.”

Here’s more from the east:

The Celtics are working to clear roster space over the next few weeks in order to make room for Evan Turner in their rotation, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn notes that Boston isn’t expected to officially announce the signing until those moves are made, although the sides have reached an agreement. The Celtics currently have 18 players on their roster, including the non-guaranteed deals of Keith Bogans, Chris Babb, and Chris Johnson, notes Washburn.
With the loss of Paul George for what is likely the entire 2014/15 season, the Pacers are unlikely to make the playoffs, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman also opines that Indiana could have benefited from Danny Granger‘s presence and production in the wake of George’s loss.
Heat guard Norris Cole has changed agents and is now being represented by Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Cole was previously represented by Joel Bell of Bell Management.

Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Celtics, Bogans

April 19th, 2014 at 10:21am CST by Cray Allred

We rounded up the Knicks news earlier today. Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Sixers owner Joshua Harris tells Dan Gelston of The Associated Press that Philadelphia’s 19-win season has been a “huge success” towards rebuilding the franchise. While Harris said the Sixers don’t use the term “tanking,” he does think that their losing season was more beneficial than a better, but mediocre performance would have been. “All these pieces are in place to make this an elite team that will compete consistently for the NBA championship,” Harris said. “There [are] no shortcuts to it. Unfortunately, it takes a long time. I’m really happy with the progress.”
Celtics GM Danny Ainge tells Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com that he is working to duplicate the kind of turnaround he has pulled off before in Boston, as early as this offseason. “We’re hopeful,” said Ainge. “I have some ideas and some plans that I’d like to do, but there are just no guarantees that we can do it. We need to find good trading partners. We always are trying to make fireworks. Every summer, we try to do something that’s unique and special and we will definitely try this summer.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said in an interview with Boston.com that he is ready to give his input on this year’s draft crop. “I know a lot of the kids that are coming out,” said Stevens. “We have two picks in the top 18, so they’ve gotta be good. They’ve gotta be good for us as far as fitting in with our team for us to continue to progress.”
Stevens also commented on Keith Bogans, who parted ways with the team early in the season. “That was a mutual situation where he wasn’t playing a whole lot, so he decided and we decided that if he wanted to go back home and spend time there then that was okay with us,” said Stevens. “Sometimes you don’t have the exact role that you envision when you start a season. I don’t see a reason why Keith won’t continue to have success and be a player in this league.

Celtics Don’t Plan Buyout For Keith Bogans

February 28th, 2014 at 11:36am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics aren’t planning to agree to a buyout with Keith Bogans, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. A source recently told Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that Bogans intended to “stick it out” with the team the year, presumably an indication that he didn’t want out of his contract, which pays him more than $5MM this season. The 33-year-old has been away from the team since early January, when he and management agreed to informally part ways over Bogans’ frustration with a lack of playing time.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge last month deemed Bogans a trade chip, suggesting that a swap was more likely in the summer than at the deadline. That was another hint that a buyout was unlikely, since retaining him allows the Celtics to offer him up to other teams as a de facto expiring contract. Bogans’ deal runs through 2015/16 with salaries in excess of $5MM each year, but the only guaranteed salary is for this season. The Dan Fegan client scored the over-market contract as part of the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster. The Nets needed to add to the swap to make the salaries match, prompting them to throw Bogans in via sign-and-trade. Sign-and-trade deals must cover three seasons, but only the first year needs to be guaranteed.

Bogans and the Celtics have until the end of Saturday to have a change of heart in time for the 11th-year veteran to be eligible to play for a team in the postseason. The shooting guard is one year removed from starting 23 games for a Nets team that made the playoffs, but he’s only appeared in six games this season.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Nelson, Sixers

February 16th, 2014 at 12:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

This Thursday’s trade deadline is an important date for many teams in the league. The right moves can not only help a franchise in their quest to make the playoffs this season, but also influence what a team can do in the off-season personnel wise. But it’s nine days later that is a potentially even more significant date for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. March 1st is the date that players have to be waived by in order to be eligible for another team’s playoff roster, a date informally known as the buyout deadline. Winderman believes that since the Heat don’t have much to offer other teams in potential deals, the team will be more active in looking to pick up a player who has been waived, similar to them picking up Chris Andersen last year. Winderman also opines that any deadline moves the Heat might make would be salary dumps with avoiding luxury tax penalties in mind. Potential waiver candidates to keep an eye on are Caron Butler, Keith Bogans, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Kaman, according to the article.

Atlantic Rumors: Lowry, Sixers, Wyatt, Celtics

February 12th, 2014 at 1:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors continue to be aggressive in their search for the right Kyle Lowry trade, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who echoed his own late-January dispatch on the subject as he answered reader questions in a chat. Ford also says the Sixers are still leaning toward taking Andrew Wiggins over Jabari Parker if they have the opportunity at draft time. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Blazers had talks with the Sixers in December about Spencer Hawes, tweets Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers, who wonders if Portland will reignite those discussions now that Joel Freeland is sidelined for at least the next month with a sprained right MCL.
Sixers camp invitee Khalif Wyatt has signed to play in the D-League, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link).
The Celtics are keeping an eye on Turkish league center Colton Iverson, whom they took 53rd overall this past June, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia observes.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com goes over the likely scenarios for the Celtics at the deadline, writing that it’s more likely the team trades Keith Bogans in the summer than in the next eight days.
We rounded up news on the Knicks in a separate post.