Kevin Durant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Durant, Brooks, Clifford

April 29th, 2016 at 1:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics believe they’ll get a meeting with Kevin Durant this summer, but they understand they won’t have any realistic shot at him if they don’t secure a commitment to acquire another star first, The Vertical’s Chris Mannix writes. Boston is on the fringes of the race for the former MVP who’s poised to hit free agency this summer, though the belief has been widespread that come July the Celtics will end up on Durant’s radar, at least, as Mannix has previously reported.

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Scott Brooks had already decided he wanted the Wizards job if it were to be offered to him when team executives Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard flew to California to recruit him in what turned out to be a 10-hour meeting, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. “I got everything I wanted, and I wasn’t looking for anything else,” said Brooks, whom the Wizards officially hired this week. “This is where I wanted to be.”
The identity of the coach means little in free agent recruiting, but muted though it may be, the presence of Steve Clifford has a positive impact on the way players view the Hornets, observes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Clifford, like Terry Stotts of the Trail Blazers and Quin Snyder of the Jazz, makes a small-market team attractive through his ability to get the most out of players and increase their market value, Wojnarowski writes. The Hornets signed Clifford in November to an extension that ties him to Charlotte through at least the 2018/19 season.
T.J. McConnell‘s contract with the Sixers is non-guaranteed for next year, and he wound up seeing less than 20 minutes per game after a revelatory start to the season, but he was a bright spot and has a fan in coach Brett Brown, notes Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly. “The thing that I respect most about him is that he epitomizes that quality that I think might be the No. 1 thing that we need: day-to-day guys, people that you know what you’re getting,” Brown said. “He’s steady, he’s stable, he’s personality, he’s tough, he brings that edge to a game, to a practice, to a locker room. I just respect him. That’s just how he’s wired.”

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Westbrook, Layden

April 27th, 2016 at 8:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden have all made it clear that the team will make its basketball decisions mostly by consensus rather than concentrating power in Thibodeau, despite his title as president of basketball operations, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “For me personally, this is about alignment,” Thibodeau said. “It’s not about power, it’s not about any of that stuff. I’ve known Scott a long time. We’ve shared our philosophies with each other. We feel strongly about certain things. He was the person I really wanted.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Russell Westbrook was pleased that Thunder teammate Kevin Durant publicly came to his defense against Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who said the point guard was an “All-Star but not a superstar,” Royce Young of ESPN.com relays. “It was very important [to me],” Westbrook said. “Me and Kevin’s relationship is great. He’s like my brother. We talk about different things, not just basketball-related. He’s always gonna have my back and I’ll always have his.” The strength of the duo’s relationship will likely be the topic of much discussion this offseason as Durant heads into unrestricted free agency.
Layden chose to accept his post with the Wolves because of Taylor’s high level of commitment and the presence of Thibodeau, Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune writes. The executive isn’t concerned with what his title is or his level of power, but is instead focused on results, Youngblood notes. “I think if you’re looking for credit, you’re in the wrong place,” Layden said. The GM also echoed Thibs’ sentiments that decision-making would be a group process, telling reporters, “In the end, [Taylor] will probably make the decision, because it’s his money. And we’re going to try to convince him, together, why we need to spend it. … I feel good about this. We’re aligned in how we think. And that’s important.”
The Jazz desperately need to turn their cap flexibility for next season into a superstar player this summer via free agency, writes Doug Robinson of The Deseret News. The scribe does praise the efforts of Gordon Hayward but notes that the small forward is better suited to being a team’s second option.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: McGee, Durant, Price

April 27th, 2016 at 7:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, sees some parallels between himself and Mavs big man Dirk Nowitzki regarding their importance to their respective franchises, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman relays. “Dirk has been a model of how you should handle things,” Durant said. “I’m just trying to do things my way as well. There’s a lot that comes with it. Dirk has handled it about as good as anybody’s ever handled it in this league. I try to learn from guys like him, Kobe Bryant. From everybody that’s been in that position, handling the situation as being a franchise guy.”

Durant did note that he has had an advantage over Nowitzki with the presence of teammate Russell Westbrook on the roster, Tramel adds. “The good thing about it here, I’m not the only guy,” Durant said. “Having Russell Westbrook along with me, that’s been with me along the way, to have another guy with you going through it and being able to kind of relate to the same things, it helps. I’m not here by myself. The organization’s been great, Russell has been more of a teammate than I could ask for over these last nine years. It’s not just myself.”

While Oklahoma City’s fan base hopes that Durant remains as loyal to the Thunder as Nowitzki has been to Dallas, here’s more from out West:

The Kings are closing in on hiring Pistons executive Ken Catanella as their new assistant GM, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Catanella has been with Detroit since being named director of basketball operations in December of 2011, and he was promoted to assistant GM in 2014/15. He and George David were jointly in charge of the Pistons front office during the brief period between the tenures of Joe Dumars and Stan Van Gundy in 2014.
The Mavericks will seek to add a center this offseason but still consider JaVale McGee a part of their future plans, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “I don’t want to leave out JaVale McGee,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He came to us as a guy who was recovering from a very serious [leg] injury. And his deal is a two-year deal and we felt it was going to take two years to get back to being completely healthy and the player he completely was. He’s regained his health, regained his footing and he and Salah Mejri right now are the two centers we have. We’ll certainly look to add somebody else. But we’re going to be looking at those two guys as very important.”
Suns point guard Ronnie Price, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said he wants to remain in Phoenix and that he and his teammates need to stay close over the summer to improve team chemistry, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “It’s a mutual responsibility for all of us to stay linked in and just stay connected,” said Price. “We talk about being a family and we’ve made great strides. We can’t make those strides and then, in the summer, be like, ‘See you next August.’ We have to stay connected and continue to build so then, when the season gets here, we’re ahead of the game.”

Eastern Notes: Turner, Brooks, Pistons

April 27th, 2016 at 5:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Evan Turner‘s strong play for the Celtics this season should put him in line to command a starting salary of over $10MM per year on his next contract, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “You hear players talk all the time about doing whatever it takes to win, but he’s doing it,” an NBA executive told Blakely. “Start, come off the bench, play a few minutes, play a lot of minutes. He’s done everything they’ve asked him to do and from what I hear hasn’t grumbled a day about it. Every team needs a guy like that in their locker room.”

“If you’re looking for him to come in and put X amount of points and X amount of assists per game and [shoot] this or that from the field, he’s probably not your guy,” another executive told the CSN scribe regarding the future unrestricted free agent. “He helps you win games. That’s probably his greatest strength.” The 27-year-old averaged 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 81 appearances for Boston this season.

Here’s more from the East:

At his introductory press conference, new Wizards coach Scott Brooks sidestepped all questions regarding Kevin Durant coming to Washington, with GM Ernie Grunfeld stressing to reporters that Brooks was there to coach the team’s current roster and not to lure Durant, Stephen Wyno of The Associated Press relays.
If the Pistons hope to advance deeper in the playoffs than the first round, the team will need to add depth to its bench via free agency and the NBA draft, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The scribe does note that Detroit enters the offseason with few holes to fill, which should allow the team to focus on its deficiencies in its quest to return to the postseason in 2016/17. Potential draft targets for Detroit, which owns the No. 19 overall pick this June, include Michigan State wing Denzel Valentine, Turkish guard Furkan Korkmaz or Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis, Bontemps opines.
The Bucks also need to add depth to their roster over the summer, opines Bobby Marks of The Vertical in his offseason primer for the team. Milwaukee needs to find athletic wings to complement its starters and a reliable power forward to back up Jabari Parker, Marks writes. The scribe adds that the team is on solid footing with its young core despite missing the playoffs this season, but finding a workable role for big man Greg Monroe is paramount if the Bucks hope to improve in 2016/17.

Southwest Rumors: Durant, Nowitzki, Conley

April 26th, 2016 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

The chatter about the notion of Kevin Durant joining the Spurs in free agency is “eerily similar” to the talk last season that surrounded the idea of LaMarcus Aldridge signing with San Antonio before it came to fruition, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Of course, that doesn’t mean Durant is bound for the Alamo, or even that the Spurs are the favorites for him, but it bears watching, and certainly, it would appear they’re in better position than the Mavericks after Durant issued a harsh rebuke Monday to comments from Mark Cuban. The Mavs owner said before Monday’s game that while he views Durant as a superstar, Russell Westbrook doesn’t meet that definition, as Tim Cato of SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball relays. Media asked Westbrook about the remark after the game, but Durant, who was by Westbrook’s side, fielded the question and called Cuban an “idiot,” according to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater.

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Dirk Nowitzki reiterated that he plans to play out his contract and doesn’t intend to play for any team other than the Mavericks, but he again threw in the caveat that such would only be true as long as the Mavs don’t go into rebuilding, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com passes along (ESPN Now link). The iconic power forward has a player option worth about $8.692MM for 2016/17.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle made comments that seemed to caution against the widely held assumption that Nowitzki will definitely be back with Dallas next season, as MacMahon relays in another ESPN Now link. “We’ve got to hope that this isn’t Dirk’s last game as a Maverick,” Carlisle said after Monday’s season-ending loss. “Now he has the option to become a free agent. I’m ready to get on a plane and go to Germany and recruit him to be back, but I don’t think we can take that for granted. I think we have to give him that kind of respect. He’s done so much for our organization. He’s sacrificed so much. And it’s been such a life-changing experience for me to be around a player of that magnitude for eight years. It’s indescribable. I think he will be back, but I don’t want anybody to just assume anything, because he’s been too great.”
The Knicks aren’t as high on soon-to-be free agent Mike Conley as they were during the season, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, citing team president Phil Jackson‘s lack of emphasis on point guards, his faith in Tony Wroten, and the Achilles injury that has plagued the Grizzlies star as potential reasons why.

Wizards Notes: Wall, Brooks, Durant, Porter

April 24th, 2016 at 12:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Wizards point guard John Wall insists that hiring Scott Brooks as the team’s new coach wasn’t a ploy to attract Kevin Durant, according to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The Wizards are expected to be among the teams pursuing Durant in free agency, and Brooks served as his coach for seven seasons in Oklahoma City. Wall said he is “very excited” to have Brooks on board and says the move is about the current team, not about getting Durant’s attention. “We didn’t sign Scotty Brooks to say, ‘Okay, Scotty, go get him. You got to bring us Kevin Durant,’” Wall said. “We got Scotty Brooks because we feel like he can help John Wall and make him a better player and make our team get to the next step. We didn’t get Scotty Brooks just to get Kevin Durant. That’s not what Scott is on board to do. And I hope everybody doesn’t expect just because we got Scotty Brooks, he’s automatically going to get K.D., he’s going to automatically jump.”

There’s more news from Washington:

Durant said he’s happy to see Brooks get the opportunity in Washington, but he dismissed the idea that it will affect his free agency decision, tweets Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. “I’m not really into theories,” Durant said. “I’m focused on [the playoff series with] the Mavericks.”
Otto Porter should continue to improve under Brooks, writes Ben Standig of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Standig expects Porter to be the clear starter at small forward entering next season and notes Brooks’ record of developing young players with the Thunder. Porter averaged 11.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season and is under contract to the Wizards through 2016/17.
Dez Wells doesn’t seem likely to rejoin the Wizards as he tries to earn a spot in the NBA, according to J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic. Wells hooked up with Washington after going undrafted last summer but suffered a thumb injury in mini-camp before summer league play. He spent the season with Oklahoma City’s affiliate in the D-League and is expected to stay associated with the Thunder this offseason.

Wizards Notes: Brooks, Durant, Porter

April 22nd, 2016 at 8:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards’ deal to hire Scott Brooks as their new coach was a safe move for the franchise, as he is likely to be a solid leader for the team, writes Jerry Brewer of The Washington Post. But the jury still remains out on how successful Brooks can be without Kevin Durant to aid him, Brewer adds, with the scribe also noting that Brooks was fired after a season that saw the small forward limited to just 27 games. It’s also remains to be seen how well Brooks will coexist with John Wall after the coach had his difficulties at times with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, with many believing Brooks’ offense limited the point guard’s productivity, Brewer adds.

Washington may have to hope that Brooks doesn’t require the presence of Durant to succeed, as friends of the player have indicated that he doesn’t want to sign with the Wizards and deal with the pressure of being surrounded by family, friends and hangers-on from his native Washington. Here’s more from the nation’s capital:

Some possible candidates for Brooks’ coaching staff in Washington include Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian, Thunder assistant Maurice Cheeks and former Nets interim coach Tony Brown, David Aldridge of NBA.com relays (Twitter links).
Brooks is an ardent believer in the potential of 2013 No. 3 overall pick Otto Porter, Aldridge notes. Porter, 22, appeared in 75 games for the Wizards this season and averaged 11.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists, all of which were career highs.
The deal with Brooks is the culmination of the team’s moves the past few seasons, all of which were aimed at luring Durant to Washington D.C., writes J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. The front office doesn’t view Brooks’ five-year pact as a risk, seeing the coach as a known quantity, Michael adds. Brooks should bring a fresh start to the team’s locker room, though he would be wise to add a disciplinarian to his coaching staff to help balance out his affable personality, the scribe opines.
Durant said today that he’s happy Brooks landed the new position but insisted he’s focused on the playoffs when asked if the move increased his chances of joining the Wizards, as Erik Horne of The Oklahoman relays.

Wizards Notes: Brooks, Durant, Dudley

April 22nd, 2016 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The specter of a head coaching vacancy on the Lakers intrigued Scott Brooks, but Washington’s quick work to secure him on a five-year, $35MM deal cut off both the Lakers, who’ve yet to decide on the fate of Byron Scott, and the Rockets, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets. Houston reportedly made him one of the favorites for its job but still has interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff in place. All five seasons of Brooks’ contract with the Wizards will be guaranteed, Aldridge hears (Twitter link), and his $7MM annual take ties him with Rick Carlisle for the highest salary among NBA coaches who don’t also have player personnel control, notes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). See more on the impending Brooks hiring and other issues from the nation’s capital:

The Brooks deal, which will pay him more than double the roughly $3MM a year that Randy Wittman was making, signals that owner Ted Leonsis is planning to spare no expense in free agency this summer, even if Kevin Durant takes a pass on returning to his native D.C., argues Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
Brooks would still be coaching the Thunder if Durant really had his heart set on playing for him, one league source told Bontemps for the same piece. Some of Durant’s friends who spoke with Chris Mannix of The Vertical cast serious doubt on the idea of Durant playing for the Wizards.
Jared Dudley would prefer to re-sign with the Wizards this summer, but he wants to do so with the security of a three-year contract, as he tells Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. That jibes with an earlier report from J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic, who wrote that Dudley was open to returning to Washington as long as the team fired Wittman, a move that took place last week. Dudley would also like to see the Wizards re-sign Alan Anderson and Garrett Temple, as Castillo relays.

Latest On Kevin Durant

April 22nd, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Durant is unlikely to sign with the Wizards this summer because he doesn’t want to deal with the pressure of being surrounded by family, friends and hangers-on from his native Washington, friends of his tell Chris Mannix of The Vertical. Instead, the Warriors and Spurs will be in the mix for him with the Celtics a darkhorse, Mannix writes, reiterating his report from March, when he also cited Golden State, San Antonio and Boston.

Durant’s lack of fondness for the Wizards doesn’t have to do with Scott Brooks, who’s reportedly agreed to become the team’s next coach, as Mannix details, and indeed, Durant made a point of praising the former Thunder coach last week. The one-time MVP has largely been mum over the years about the possibility of joining the Wizards, despite rampant speculation, and he downplayed the idea when asked about it in 2014, as Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman notes.

Still, the Wizards will encourage Brooks to retain assistant coach David Atkins, who was a high school assistant coach for Durant, as TNT’s David Aldridge hears (Twitter link), and they’ll nonetheless make their long-planned effort to sign Durant this summer, according to Mannix. The Warriors instead have appeared to be significant front-runners to land the four-time scoring champ should he decide to leave the Thunder, as The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in February, though Mannix puts Golden State on equal footing with the Spurs in his latest report. It was widely believed the Celtics would move onto Durant’s radar, Mannix wrote last month, and the latest dispatch from the scribe who also works for CSN New England suggests that Boston would be Durant’s top Eastern Conference choice if he wants to escape the brutal competition atop the Western Conference.

People around the NBA sense that Durant is “very much in play” and that a decent chance exists he’ll leave Oklahoma City, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck said recently, though Durant’s mother this week cited his loyalty to the Thunder, at least in terms of maintaining focus on the playoffs.

Western Notes: Durant, McHale, Watson

April 19th, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets GM Daryl Morey said he moved rapidly to change coaches 11 games into the season in an effort to turn around the team’s season before it became a lost cause, as the executive explained via Quora. Houston dumped Kevin McHale, who’d overseen a 4-7 start after four straight winning seasons, in favor of interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “Kevin’s long tenure with the Rockets by NBA standards was no exception,” Morey wrote. “He was an amazing coach to work with who did a tremendous job. I believe he is the coach with the best winning percentage in Rockets history. Since owning the team, our owner has had fewer coaches than any team in the league except Utah. Bottom line, we have great coaches at the Rockets and they stay a long time.

“Obviously, given this history the decision to change coaches was not taken lightly. Our team was reeling at the time of the change — in just our first 11 games we had lost multiple games to nonplayoff teams, including two at home, and none of the losses were close, most were double-digit losses. In the West, you basically can’t do that for any stretch of the season and still reach our goals for the season. The prior year, for example, we had only two losses at home to nonplayoff teams the whole season — we had already done it in only two-plus weeks. I believed that if we waited until what would be considered a normal timetable to make a change that it would likely be too late. Our only focus is on winning and I felt a material change was necessary.”

Here’s more from out West:

Kevin Durant is arguably the top available prize available in the free agent market this summer, and while he has yet to make up his mind about next season, Wanda Pratt, Durant’s mother, says he’s loyal to the Thunder organization, Ben Standig of CSN Mid-Atlantic.com relays. “I don’t know what his ultimate decision will be,” Pratt said of her son. “Where he’s going to end [up] playing has still not been decided by him. He’s still playing in the playoffs as everyone knows. I don’t know [his plans] so don’t say Mama Durant said [he’s coming to Washington] because I didn’t say that. He’s focused on the playoffs right now and he’s pretty loyal to the Thunder with regards to that. When the time comes, he’ll make a decision best for him.“
Suns GM Ryan McDonough said the team didn’t formally interview anyone aside from Earl Watson but instead took two and a half months to examine coaching candidates, tweets Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix officially named Watson head coach earlier today, removing his interim tag.
The best free agent fit for Dwight Howard is likely to be the Mavericks, who can offer the center the more focal role he craves as well as provide an owner in Mark Cuban who can deflect negative attention, Jonny Auping of RealGM opines. The big man would in turn give the franchise the athletic center it has been seeking, Auping adds. Howard is expected to opt out of his contract this summer and become an unrestricted free agent.