Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Notes: Mozgov, Love, LeBron

January 27th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers had talks with the Pelicans about a potential Timofey Mozgov trade, but it didn’t go anywhere, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports in his latest edition of “The Vertical” podcast (audio link, scroll to 53-minute mark). Omer Asik was involved in some talks as well, but Cleveland had no interest in doing a deal, Wojnarowski adds. The Yahoo Sports scribe reported earlier this month that the Cavs had begun to explore the market for Mozgov, who’s making $4.95MM this year in the final season of his deal. See more on the Eastern Conference leaders:

No one has wanted to acquire Kevin Love more than Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, Wojnarowski says in the same podcast (scroll to 51-minute mark). Still, podcast guest and Yahoo colleague Chris Mannix suggests it’s too soon for the Cavs to trade Love, who just re-signed with the Cavs to a five-year max deal this past summer. Cavs GM David Griffin wants a versatile, defensive-minded wing player, Mannix hears, speculating that Jae Crowder would fit that bill.
Griffin has indicated in the wake of David Blatt‘s firing that the onus is on the players to put the team first, though with little recourse for major roster changes, new head coach Tyronn Lue would likely be the one to face the consequences if the Cavs don’t perform up to their potential, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt examines. “Our most glaring need is to understand and communicate role delineation and team sacrifice,” Griffin said. “We have to have group buy-in and team-first habits in order to become the team that intend to be. We don’t have to concern ourselves with expectations of a destination. We need to work towards tomorrow and honor one another with total commitment every single day.”
LeBron James was pointed in his denial that he’s ever undermined a coach in the wake of rumors that he was behind the dismissal of Blatt and sought to have Erik Spoelstra fired, saying that it “does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be.” Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has the details.

Central Notes: Hammond, Monroe, Irving, Love

January 26th, 2016 at 3:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bucks GM John Hammond said he still believes in his team’s young players despite a disappointing season so far and “can’t imagine life without” offseason signee Greg Monroe, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hammond said the Bucks are doing their “due diligence” as the trade deadline nears, but he balked at the idea that the team is in a rebuilding situation.

“Absolutely not,” Hammond said. “A rebuild is saying, ‘We don’t have players.’ We like the players we have. For that reason I say it’s not a rebuild, not even close to a rebuild. We took two major steps forward last year, going from a 15-win season to a 41-win season. Those were historic measures. Sometimes this happens. It happens in life, it happens in business, it happens in sports. Sometimes you take two major steps forward, you might take a step backward. Maybe the step backward might be healthy; maybe it’s the right thing for you. The most important thing is not to panic.”

See more from the Bucks GM amid news from the Central Division:

Hammond identified 50-win seasons as “the mark of excellence” in the NBA, saying the team’s goal is to reach that threshold and remain above it, Gardner also relays. Nine teams won at least 50 games last season, so while it’s the domain of quality teams, it’s not necessarily symbolic of the elite.
New Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue appears to believe that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have offered too much resistance to their roles, remarking Saturday that “it’s still about their brand,” notes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Lue tempered it a bit by later saying he encouraged the entire team to put winning before brand, Vardon notes. “Me and Kev will do a great job with adjusting to it, but our brands are the last thing we’re worried about,” Irving said. “If Kevin was worried about his brand, I don’t think Kevin would’ve came back. And for me to sign here, it was for a legitimate reason and we have a bigger goal at hand that we want to accomplish. That’s always coming first.”
Former Pistons affiliate player Ryan Boatright has signed with Italy’s Orlandina, the team formally announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). La Gazzetta dello Sport first reported a signing was close.

Eastern Rumors: Love, Smith, Valanciunas

January 25th, 2016 at 10:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers are not engaged in trade talks involving power forward Kevin Love, GM David Griffin said Monday during a radio interview, according to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst. Love’s production has dropped since point guard Kyrie Irving returned to the lineup last month following his recovery from a knee injury. But Griffin believes he won’t find a deal for Love that would improve their chances of winning the title, Windhorst adds. “You’d have to go a long way to convince me that we’re a better team winning in the Finals without a player like Kevin on our team,” Griffin said on ESPN 850 AM in Cleveland. “We’ve never once put together an offer involving Kevin, nor have we taken a call on an offer for Kevin.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Sixers GM Sam Hinkie should have been fired long ago for the way he’s gone about rebuilding the team, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Dick Jerardi opines. Hinkie should have never drafted injured center Joel Embiid or acquired the rights to power forward Dario Saric, who is still in Europe, Jerardi explains. He also left coach Brett Brown without a competent point guard this season until Jerry Colangelo was added to the front office and Ish Smith was re-acquired from the Pelicans, Jerardi continues. All the first-round picks that Hinkie has stockpiled are just a marketing ploy, Jerardi adds.
Smith’s impact on the Sixers shows up in advanced statistics, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders demonstrates. In the first 14 games Smith has played with the Sixers this season, their offense has scored 98.5 points per 100 possessions, compared to a league-worst 91.8 points per 100 possessions prior to his arrival, Taylor points out. The defense has also shown improvement, allowing 102.9 points per 100 possessions, which is 10th in the league since December 26th, Taylor adds. “I think we’re growing up – knowing what are good shots and what are bad shots, knowing the defensive schemes, what Coach [Brown] what really wants for us,” Smith told Taylor. “Offensively, moving the ball [and] playing off of each other. I think just overall, we’re playing good basketball.”
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas has shown improved passing skills this month, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports. Valanciunas averaged 1.7 assists in the team’s first 10 games this month, compared to his 0.5 average last season. “Our key of success is moving the ball, so I just want to be part of it,” Valanciunas told Wolstat. “I don’t want to just be the guy who is holding the ball too much. I’m trying to make everybody happy.”

Cavs Notes: Blatt, Lue, Love

January 22nd, 2016 at 5:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt, who was fired earlier today, released a statement regarding his departure (h/t Priority Sports). “I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Blatt wrote. “I’d like to thank [team owner] Dan Gilbert and [GM] David Griffin for giving me this opportunity and am honored to have worked with an amazing group of players from LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love through our entire roster. I’d also like to express my extreme gratitude to my coaching staff. I am indebted to them for their professionalism, hard work, loyalty and friendship. I am proud of what we have accomplished since I have been the Head Coach and wish the Cavaliers nothing but the best this season and beyond.”

Here’s more from Cleveland amid a day of big changes:

Griffin denied that the team gave Tyronn Lue a contract extension but noted that Lue was named head coach without the interim title, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter). Griffin made his remarks during a press conference to announce the team’s coaching change. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports heard from league sources that Lue was given a new three-year deal worth approximately $9.5MM (Twitter link).
The Cavs’ players were taken completely by surprise by Blatt’s firing, and when a team meeting was called to announce the move many of them thought it was because Love had been traded, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
There may be some players on the team who aren’t happy about the decision to part ways with Blatt, but Griffin said it was a move they would have to respect regardless of their feelings, Sam Amico of Amico Hoops tweets.
The franchise was concerned that Blatt was reluctant to consistently challenge LeBron, who is a coachable player whose respect must first be earned, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.

And-Ones: Williams, Love, McLemore

January 21st, 2016 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Shooting guard Elliot Williams, whom the Grizzlies didn’t sign to a second 10-day contract after his first expired on Sunday, has declined multiple offers from overseas teams as he awaits another NBA team to come calling, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). Williams averaged 1.6 points on 20% shooting in nine minutes per contest across five appearances for Memphis. The Grizzlies instead signed center Ryan Hollins to a 10-day contract today, filling the roster spot Williams had been in.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Bulls are a team in disarray, which is a byproduct of parting ways with former coach Tom Thibodeau, Colin McGowan of RealGM writes. Chicago wanted a coach who was more respectful of the chain of command, and it got that in new coach Fred Hoiberg, but the team has looked sluggish on offense and disinterested in defense far too often this season as a result of the switch, McGowan contends.
Kings shooting guard Ben McLemore‘s playing time has suffered due to the offseason additions of Rajon Rondo and Marco Belinelli, and the third-year player is still trying to adjust to his new role, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “I think I’m still trying to find my flow on this team,” McLemore told Jones. “I know what I need to do. I’m just trying to figure it out. Last year I figured it out pretty fast. Now I need to get over this hump and push from there.”
If the Cavaliers are to maximize their potential this season, power forward Kevin Love will need to fully embrace his role as the team’s third star, Kevin Cottrell Jr. of NBA.com writes. Love has struggled with his touches and role being reduced since arriving in Cleveland, something that Chris Bosh, a former teammate of LeBron James, cautioned could become an issue when the trade for Love was first announced, Cottrell notes.
LSU’s Ben Simmons tops the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider subscription required). The combo forward is followed on Ford’s list by Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Croatian big man Dragan Bender, who round out the top three.

Cavs Notes: Love, LeBron, Blatt

January 21st, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs held a meeting before practice Tuesday to clear the air following Monday’s blowout loss to the Warriors, and Kevin Love had a major bounce-back performance Wednesday, posting 17 points and a whopping 18 rebounds in 31 minutes as the Cavaliers rolled to victory over the Nets, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details. It came on the heels of a miserable performance Monday in which he had only three points and six rebounds, and Love said Wednesday that he didn’t intend for a comment he made following the Warriors game in which he appeared to call out LeBron James to be perceived as a shot at the four-time MVP, McMenamin notes.

“All I meant was that LeBron is our leader and we follow him at the end of the day,” Love said. “We all got to be better for each other, him, our fans, our organization, each and every player on this team, our coaches.”

James said he believes Love’s contention that he didn’t mean to be critical, according to McMenamin, but the fallout from Monday’s wake-up call of a loss remains. See more:

Love was at a loss for words after Monday’s game when asked about what his role on the team is, and he’s not an easy fit on the Cavs roster, argues Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Cleveland already has fellow power forward Tristan Thompson, who, like Love, is just starting a five-year deal, and James, who also excels at power forward, as Bontemps points out.
David Blatt‘s continued employment as coach of the Cavs depends largely on how well Love performs down the stretch this season, opines Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
James isn’t as singularly dominant as he once was and his teammates aren’t giving him the on-court support he needs, contends Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, who believes James simply isn’t as relevant on the NBA landscape as he has been in the past. Still, a disappearance from center stage would suit James just fine, he said Wednesday, as McMenamin relays in his story. “I actually wish they continue to forget about us. Completely forget about us,” James said. “For the first time in my career I could fly under the radar. For us, we as a basketball team, we just got to go out and prove it to ourselves. It’s not about what everybody else thinks. We need to be with each other and get better every night. I think tonight it was very easy to look each other in the face and know that we got better out there.”

Central Rumors: Portis, Love, Jackson

January 19th, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rookie power forward Bobby Portis will be the biggest beneficiary of Joakim Noah‘s shoulder injury that will likely cost him the season, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed to the media, including Hoops Rumors. Noah will be sidelined up to six months after undergoing surgery for his dislocated left shoulder. Portis will become a rotation regular in his absence. Power forwards Cameron Bairstow and Cristiano Felicio will also receive more playing time. “It’s a great opportunity for some other guys,” Hoiberg said. “Bobby, his minutes were a little inconsistent after that stretch where he played when Jo was sitting out [with a previous shoulder sprain]. He knows now he’s going to play extended minutes pretty much every night. And other guys are going to have to step up. Cam and Cris are going to have to be ready to go out there and give us some minutes.” The Bulls are 9-2 in games Noah has missed but Hoiberg brushes aside that statistic. “I don’t think you’ll find one guy in that locker room that would say we’re a better team with Jo not in the lineup,” he said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score. He’s a guy we’ll absolutely miss the rest of the season.”

In other news around the Central Division:

Finding a way for power forward Kevin Love and point guard Kyrie Irving to coexist is paramount for the Cavs to have any hope of winning the NBA title this season, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com opines. Love’s stats have declined since Irving returned from the knee injury that kept him out until late last month. Love was averaging 17.6 points on 43% shooting without Irving this season, compared to 13.4 points on 37% shooting with Irving back in action. Cavs players reportedly wouldn’t mind a trade for Suns power forward Markieff Morris, though the front office doesn’t share their enthusiasm. The Cavs could try to go small more often with Love at center and deal Timofey Mozgov, who has seen his playing time decline dramatically, but making major roster moves could also backfire, Berger adds.
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is frustrated by the team’s inability to put together a winning streak, as he told the media, including Hoops Rumors. Detroit handed the Warriors their fourth loss of the season on Saturday, then had a low-energy performance while losing to the Bulls Monday. “We’re a consistently inconsistent team,” Jackson said. “We’ve shown we play well at times. We play to the level of our opponent quite a bit. We’ve shown the world that we have flashes of being a good team and then we show flashes of being not so good.”
Shooting guard Dionte Christmas, who spent training camp with the Cavs this fall, will have his contract with AEK Athens guaranteed for the season, international journalist David Pick tweets. Christmas previously signed a one-month deal with the Greek team, Pick adds. Christmas, who was waived after playing four preseason games with Cleveland, signed with Israel’s Hapoel Holon in December and then was released from that contract to play in Europe.

Cavs Notes: Cunningham, Harris, LeBron, Love

January 8th, 2016 at 1:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers thought when the regular season began that they’d waive Jared Cunningham by Thursday, the final day they could release him without paying his full-season salary, but they made up their minds weeks ago to retain him, a source told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Still, the recent injury to Joe Harris posed an issue, Lloyd writes. The team would still like to somehow open a roster spot in advance of the trade deadline to provide flexibility for the post-deadline buyout market, Lloyd adds, suggesting that trading Harris, as the team has tried to do for weeks, is the only viable way of accomplishing that. The Cavs dodged a bullet today when Mo Williams said that he won’t require surgery on a partially torn ligament in his right thumb and that he’ll play through the injury as it heals over the next six weeks, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. See more on the Cavs:

LeBron James didn’t mention Andrew Wiggins in his summer 2014 Sports Illustrated essay announcing the four-time MVP’s return to Cleveland because he simply wasn’t familiar with him, James recently told Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. Many speculated that the omission was a signal that James wanted the Cavs to trade Wiggins for Kevin Love, a move the team ultimately made. “I didn’t know the kid, really,” James said of Wiggins. “I knew Dion [Waiters]. I knew Kyrie [Irving]. I knew Tristan [Thompson]. I knew all the guys that I was playing with before. I didn’t know the kid, so it wasn’t no big issue to me.”
Wiggins isn’t bitter, telling Lee in the same piece that the trade “put me in a better place.”
The max contract that Kevin Love signed this summer “gave me that little extra edge and push” to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered in the playoffs, Love said to Lee. The power forward’s primary desire in free agency was to remain in a winning situation, as he explained to James. “When I talked to him this summer and when he went over what he wanted, what he needed, the most important thing that came out of it was, ‘I just want to win. And I want to win at a high level because I went through too many losing seasons in Minnesota,’” James said to Lee. “And I said, ‘If that’s the case, we can figure out all that other stuff. If you want to win, we can figure out all that other stuff.’ And he’s been unbelievable from that point on.”

Atlantic Notes: Brand, Smith, Love, Wroten

January 6th, 2016 at 10:01am CST by Chuck Myron

It wasn’t initially clear whether the Sixers wanted Elton Brand as a player or for a non-playing role with the organization instead, but coach Brett Brown likes having the 17th-year veteran in uniform, as John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com relays. Brand became just the second Sixers player older than 27 when Philadelphia signed him Monday.

“Because you wouldn’t believe what goes on at halftime when a coaching staff is in another room,” Brown said, explaining the value of having a veteran presence on the playing roster. “And you wouldn’t believe what goes on on the bench when you’re down 20. And you wouldn’t believe what goes on in a player’s mind when it’s a two-point game with a minute and a half left and ‘Do they know their assignments?’”

See more on the Sixers amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

Brown said earlier in the season that he felt it necessary to bear the responsibility that would normally go to veteran players, and just as Brand takes that burden off the Sixers coach, the acquisition of Ish Smith makes Brown’s job easier, too. Fellow CSNPhilly.com scribe Jessica Camerato has the details. “It allows me to coach less, which is good. I mean it,” Brown said. “There’s nothing worse than sitting on the sideline feeling like you’ve got to run the whole game, calling the play every single [time] — that’s not how I see the game. So when you’re playing with that pace, as long as you feel like you’ve got the right people on the floor and the spacing is the way that you want, then you let the game flow. I feel like he brings that to me, for me.”
The Celtics thought Kevin Love was legitimately interested in their organization, coach Brad Stevens, and the city of Boston before he chose to re-sign with the Cavs this past summer, Celtics team sources told MassLive’s Jay King. Isaiah Thomas, appearing on “The Vertical” podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link via Twitter), said that he tried to recruit Love to the Celtics, “but I think he already had his mind made up,” Thomas said of his former AAU teammate.
The Knicks reportedly have interest in Tony Wroten, but the former Sixers combo guard is unlikely to wind up in New York, and he’s looking for someplace where he feels he has a better opportunity to stay for the long term, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.

Central Notes: Jones, LeBron, Love, Scola, Jackson

December 16th, 2015 at 11:50am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James‘ affection for James Jones runs deep, and the same is true for Kevin Love, who said Jones may well be his best friend in the NBA, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details. Jones re-signed with the Cavaliers this summer on a one-year, minmum salary deal.

“I told J.J., as long as I’m playing, he’s going to be around,” James said last week. “He’s not allowed to stop playing basketball. So, I’m going to make sure I got a roster spot for him. I love him. He’s the greatest teammate I’ve ever had.”

Jones is 35 and James turns 31 later this month, so it would be tough for Jones to hang in the league for the rest of LeBron’s career, but it’s nonetheless clear that the two are close. See more from Cleveland amid the latest from the Central Division:

It was watching his Cavaliers teammates doggedly pursue a championship during the finals last summer that served as the last bit of convincing Love needed to make up his mind to re-sign with the team, Love says, according to McMenamin, who writes in separate piece.
The Pacers and Luis Scola talked a couple of times while he was a free agent in July, but the team didn’t make an offer for him to re-sign, and Scola and agent George Bass got the impression the team didn’t intend to make one, the power forward told Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Scola, 35, signed instead with the Raptors for one year and $2.9MM, and he said to Agness that he’s pleased with Toronto so far.
Reggie Jackson drew motivation from the commitment that the Pistons showed when they gave him a five-year, $80MM deal this summer, and the deal signaled that the team’s executives “did their homework,” Jackson told TNT’s David Aldridge for his NBA.com Morning tip.