Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls, Mavs, Wolves Eyeing Chandler Parsons

June 30th, 2014 at 11:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bulls and Mavs are among the teams to register interest tonight in Rockets’ restricted free agent Chandler Parsons, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The general rule of thumb, Stein says, is that any team interested in Carmelo Anthony also seems to be interested in Parsons. Meanwhile, Stein adds that the Wolves continue to monitor the forward in the event that the Rockets decide to make a run at Kevin Love. So far, Anthony has been the Rockets’ focus.

We heard earlier tonight that the Cavs are also eyeing Parsons. In the last three years with the Rockets, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor. The former second round pick played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season. The Rockets presumably want to keep Parsons, but they also have their eye on bigger fish – like Melo – this summer.

Latest On Carmelo Anthony

June 30th, 2014 at 9:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony is confident that the Knicks will offer him a maximum-salary contract to entice him to stay, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The team is reportedly willing to do so in spite of Phil Jackson‘s repeated public attempts to persuade the star forward to re-sign for less. Anthony is eligible for a deal worth more than $129.1MM over five years, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explained.

The sought-after free agent is set to meet with the Bulls on Tuesday, Mavs and Rockets on Wednesday, and the Lakers at some point this week, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The visit with Lakers brass is likely to happen Thursday, Isola writes. The Knicks are nonetheless apparently upbeat about their chances to keep the 2012/13 scoring champ.

The Bulls appear to be in the lead to snatch him away from New York. Derrick Rose reiterated his stance that he doesn’t feel that it’s his place to recruit stars to the team while nonetheless praising Anthony’s game in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. A source close to Rose told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that Anthony understands that Rose would like to have him in Chicago and denied that Rose would prefer that the Bulls acquire Kevin Love instead of Anthony.

Western Notes: Nuggets, Blazers, Wolves

June 27th, 2014 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey will be busy once the free agent signing period begins, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Olshey will look to upgrade his bench and he will have the team’s mid level exception which would allow Olshey to spend as much as $5.305MM on a player for up to four years, and a biannual exception that will allow him to spend roughly $2.1MM on a player for up to two years, the article notes. Freeman also looks at some of the free agent possibilities the team might entertain signing this summer.

Eastern Rumors: Rondo, Love, ‘Melo, Bucks

June 27th, 2014 at 9:02am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters Thursday night that he intends to keep Rajon Rondo around in spite of the team’s decision to draft fellow point guard Marcus Smart at No. 6, observes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Rondo’s name has come up frequently in trade rumors, but Ainge, as usual, did his best to dispel such talk, also dismissing the idea that Smart’s arrival is a harbinger of soon-to-be restricted free agent Avery Bradley‘s departure.

“Absolutely. No question,” Ainge said of whether Smart and Rondo could share the floor. “And [Smart] and Avery. No question. [Smart]’s a very versatile player. He can play off the ball. He can handle the ball. With his length and his size, he can probably play against a lot of small forwards — 6’3″, long wingspan, 230 pounds. He’s a very versatile player. Easily those guys can play together, and I think they would really thrive playing together, all of them.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Kevin Love is “100%” on board with the notion of signing a long-term deal with the Cavs if LeBron James returns to Cleveland, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Trade talk between the Cavs and Wolves had reportedly halted when Love made it clear he wouldn’t remain in Cleveland past his current deal if Minnesota sent him there.
Knicks president Phil Jackson reiterated his desire for Carmelo Anthony to take less than the maximum salary to re-sign with the club, notes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. “I think it puts limitations on a team,” Jackson said of a maximum-salary contract. “What happens is then you end up having two or three players that have big contracts and everybody else’s is either veteran minimums or young players coming in. You don’t have that middle ground for a player that’s veteran, comfortable leadership-quality people. Miami explored it. I think they got the most out of it.”
The Bucks are looking to acquire a veteran big man, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times, who believes that Larry Sanders would be a part of any deal to acquire one (Twitter links).

Western Rumors: Love, Rockets, Nuggets

June 26th, 2014 at 7:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

Here’s the latest from the Western Conference as the draft gets underway:

The Wolves spent the afternoon in meetings, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter), and he wouldn’t be surprised to see some major news come out tonight regarding Kevin Love and the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) believes that the odds are still against a Love trade materializing tonight. However, sources tell him that the two sides continue to talk despite the hangup over whether Klay Thompson is in play.
Echoing an earlier report from USA Today’s Sam Amick, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears from a rival executive that the Rockets already have a Jeremy Lin deal lined up and ready to execute if they need the cap space to sign Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. It’s likely that the Rockets flip the first-rounder they’re acquiring from the Pelicans in the Omer Asik trade, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
David Pick of Eurobasket.com has consistently heard that the Nuggets will take Jusuf Nurkic at No. 11 (Twitter link).
The Thunder will either draft a wing player or trade the 29th overall pick for one, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Mavs almost certainly won’t trade for a first-round pick in tonight’s draft, Donnie Nelson says, as Jeff Caplan of NBA.com notes (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Knicks, Kings, Heat

June 25th, 2014 at 11:57pm CST by Cray Allred

It’s been a busy day around the league, and things could get even crazier tomorrow. Here’s a roundup of the night’s notes:

If Zach Randolph isn’t signed prior to the draft and the Grizzlies select a power forward, it could be an indication that Memphis is preparing to move on from Randolph, writes Ronald Tillery of Commercial Appeal.
A rival executive tells Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that he could envision the Knicks breaking into the first round by flipping newly acquired Shane Larkin, as we speculated earlier tonight.
Beck tweets that the Knicks hope Jose Calderon‘s presence will help them lure Marc Gasol to New York when the dynamic center hits free agency before the 2015/16 season.
The Kevin Love talks between the Wolves and Warriors were “never off” and remain ongoing, tweets Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
The Kings primary concern is adding perimeter shooting, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I think it’s a very important factor for the draft,” GM Pete D’Alessandro told Jones. “I think it’s something we have to take seriously and take a strong look at, for sure.”
A person with knowledge of restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas‘s situation tells Sam Amick of USA Today that the point guard’s market value is between $4MM and $6MM per year.
Dwyane Wade has yet to make his decision regarding the early termination clause in his contract, but sources tell Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press that he, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh had a positive meeting regarding their offseason (Twitter link).

Latest On Kevin Love

June 25th, 2014 at 7:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:35pm: The talks between Minnesota and Golden State are not dead, Chad Ford of ESPN.com said as a guest on ESPN 710 LA (transcription via Basketball Insiders). A trade built around Love, Lee, and Thompson could still be worked out prior to free agency, since the Warriors would likely see themselves as credible suitors for LeBron James with a Stephen Curry/Love foundation.

3:57pm: The formal structure of a deal was never in place between the Cavs and Wolves, but Cleveland had been “fiercely determined” to trade for Love, Wojnarowski writes. Wojnarowski suggests that the No. 1 pick was a part of the talks, even if there was no offer, per se. Cleveland’s pursuit ended when agent Jeff Schwartz warned that Love wouldn’t re-sign, according to Wojnarowski. Love’s wish list is narrow, and Saunders has put trade discussions involving him “in neutral,” Wojnarowski hears.

2:33pm: Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that the negotiations between Cleveland and Minnesota have been exploratory and “not yet serious enough to kill” (Twitter link).

2:00pm: The Cavs have yet to offer the top pick for Love, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press hears. Still, Krawczynski suggests there’s a decent chance that Love indeed made it clear he wouldn’t remain in Cleveland if traded there, discouraging the Cavs from making such an offer (Twitter links).

1:06pm: One day out from the draft, and Kevin Love trade discussions appear to be slow-going, at best. The Cavs made a push to deal the No. 1 pick for Love, but he would refuse to re-sign with Cleveland, and that’s halted those talks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). At least one member of the Warriors braintrust wouldn’t be on board with a one-for-one trade of Love for Klay Thompson if it were a possibility, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. The prevailing logic within the Warriors front office is that an upgrade at power forward over David Lee that would break up the backcourt of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry isn’t worth it, the Bay Area News Group scribe adds.

Minnesota meanwhile has an eye toward waiting to see the offers from teams who miss out on Carmelo Anthony this summer, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders would prefer to try to convince Love to stay rather than take a trade offer that’s less than ideal, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Saunders is optimistic that his team will improve this coming season, but even “strong improvement” wouldn’t be enough to convince Love to stay, Bulpett hears.

The Wolves are wary of Boston’s reported proposal of Kelly Olynyk, picks Nos. 6 and 17 in this year’s draft, and a future first-round pick since it would require the Wolves to take back additional, likely player-friendly, contracts to make the salaries match, Bulpett writes. The Celtics are willing to discuss including the first-round picks the Nets owe them, according to Bulpett.

And-Ones: Clippers, Afflalo, Duncan

June 24th, 2014 at 11:27pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Clippers engaged the Magic in discussions about trading for Arron Afflalo this past spring, but were rebuffed after Orlando didn’t find L.A.’s trade offers enticing enough, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. However, there was some sense that the two clubs could later re-visit talks if they managed to get a third team involved in discussions. The Clips have been eyeing Afflalo for quite some time and came close to landing the former UCLA shooting guard last summer, according to Shelburne, who also mentions that Donald Sterling eventually nixed the negotiations.

You can find more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below:

Spurs icon Tim Duncan revealed on “The Late Show with David Letterman” that he had briefly considered retirement shortly after winning his fifth NBA championship. “I thought about calling it a career…But I felt I could at least do one more year. I felt I was still effective. I felt I could still play and help the team” (transcription via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News).
Some NBA executives believe that the Cavaliers’ reported interest in Jabari Parker could just be a smokescreen to get other teams to ante up their trade offers for the No. 1 pick, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Among those teams is the Jazz, who are said to covet Parker if they acquired the top pick.
Both Howard Eisley and Brian Scalabrine are candidates to become assistant coaches for Doc Rivers, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Eisley has been serving as a players skills coach for the Clippers, while Scalabrine spent the latter portion of last season as a coach for the Warriors’ D-League affiliate.
Timberwolves president/head coach Flip Saunders said he’s in contact with other NBA teams on a daily basis, but was coy when specifically asked if those discussions involved Kevin Love, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press. As Greder points out, Saunders said he’s comfortable with the current roster, including Love. “I don’t know about the prospects of us trading anybody by Thursday night…I feel comfortable with the guys that we have. If we can get something that makes our team better, we’ll do it. If we don’t, we’ll stay pat and move forward and enter into free agency on July 1.”

And-Ones: Frye, Thomas, Love, Lue

June 23rd, 2014 at 9:14pm CST by Zachary Links

There’s mutual respect between Channing Frye and Warriors coach Steve Kerr, as TNT’s David Aldridge notes in his latest Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The Warriors are reportedly eyeing the sharpshooting big man who’ll almost certainly opt out of his deal with the Suns.

It would “mean a lot” to Kings restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas to receive an offer sheet from the Lakers, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The guard grew up as a diehard Lakers fan and has idolized Kobe Bryant since he was a child, but he still spoke highly of the Kings and would like to return.
There have been mixed reports on this aspect of the Kevin Love talks, but Sam Amick of USA Today hears that the Warriors are very wary about taking on Kevin Martin‘s contract as a part of a deal. Meanwhile, despite the hangups in talks and the buzz that a deal with the Warriors is dead, Amick believes that things could pick up again between Golden State and the Wolves.
Sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports that Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue has agreed to become the associate head coach of the Cavaliers. Lue was considered a head coaching candidate for Cleveland but the Cavs opted to hire David Blatt instead.
Marquette forward Jamil Wilson worked out for the Mavericks today, according to Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times (on Twitter). Wilson has auditioned for about a dozen teams in total.
The Cavs will bring in Oregon’s Mike Moser and Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim for a workout on Tuesday, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
The Suns worked out center Walter Tavares earlier today, Scotto tweets. The 7’3″ center is rising up draft boards around the league. DraftExpress currently has Tavares going to the Bucks with the No. 31 pick in their mock draft.
The Pistons will bring in DeAndre Daniels and Mike Moser for a workout on Wednesday, tweets Scotto.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Rumors: Love, Warriors, Duncan, Lakers

June 23rd, 2014 at 1:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sources tell Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher and Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe that the Warriors trade talks for Kevin Love are “dead,” but Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune isn’t so sure (All Twitter links). The stumbling block appears to be Minnesota’s insistence on Klay Thompson and Golden State’s refusal to give him up, according to Holmes (on Twitter), but Zgoda insists neither Thompson nor Kevin Martin is the stumbling block. Rather, it has to do with whether Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green are involved in the deal, Zgoda says. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

It appears as though the Spurs and Tim Duncan are considering a scenario in which Duncan would opt out and re-sign with the club for two years in a way that lowers team payroll and yet rewards the longtime star, tweets Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News. Duncan’s option is worth more than $10.361MM.
The Lakers aren’t seriously considering a rumored trade proposal involving the No. 7 pick and Michael Carter-Williams, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. It’s more likely that the Lakers will make a deal that moves them back in the draft order, Deveney writes.
The Nuggets reportedly had interest in signing 2013 second-round pick Joffrey Lauvergne this summer, but the big man has signed a two-year deal with Khimki Moscow, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.