Khem Birch Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Free Agent Notes: Durant, Rockets, Clippers

June 4th, 2016 at 7:28pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Durant would give himself a better chance at winning a title if he were to leave the Thunder and join the Warriors or sign with an Eastern Conference team, Bill Simmons of The Ringer writes. Many believe that Durant will sign a two-year deal with OKC that contains a player option for year two, as was reported earlier this week.

Simmons offers an unconventional viewpoint on Durant’s impending decision. Two years ago, Durant signed a $300MM deal with Nike. At the time, he and LeBron James had the best selling sneakers among all NBA players, Simmons points out. The 2014 MVP then injured his foot and missed a significant amount of time during the 2014/15 campaign. Durant’s comeback 2015/16 season was overshadowed by Kobe Bryant‘s retirement and the Warriors’ historic 73-9 record. Now, the conversation is between Nike with James and the Jordan Brand and Under Armour with Stephen Curry, Simmons adds. Simmons argues that Durant, his representatives and Nike know they won’t be competing with the top brands unless Durant wins a ring or he leaves the Thunder and he speculates that if Nike had its way, Durant would sign elsewhere this summer.

The piece, which is must-read, is a reminder that the NBA is a business and there are several off the court factors that play into basketball decisions. Selling sneakers likely won’t be the primary force that drives Durant to stay or leave, but it’s an interesting perspective nonetheless.

Here’s more on the NBA’s upcoming free agency:

Chris Copeland, Ray McCallum, Phil Pressey, Alex Kirk, Peyton Siva, Greg Whittington, Denzel Livingston, Chris Walker, Victor Rudd, Scott Suggs and Chasson Randle all participated in the Rockets‘ recent free agent mini-camp, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
Russ Smith, Will Cummings, Michael Eric, Cory Jefferson, Khem Birch, Derek Cooke, Justin Harper, Scott Suggs, Malcolm Thomas and Joel Wright were among the attendees at the Clippers‘ mini-camp today, Kennedy reports in a separate tweet.
The Mavericks can’t settle for lower tier talent in free agency, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News opines. Sekfo believes the team needs to come away with one or two of the top tier free agents, such as Dwight Howard, Mike Conley or Ryan Anderson.

Michael’s Latest: Wright, Nelson, Green

January 9th, 2015 at 10:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards opened a roster spot when they waived Glen Rice Jr. this week, and the team is looking at several avenues to fill it, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reports. The Celtics figure prominently, as we note amid the revelations from Michael’s piece:

Celtics president of basketball ops Danny Ainge has told Brandan Wright he’s on the block, though it’s unlikely that Wright ends up in Washington, in part because of the high demand for him, Michael writes. Michael doesn’t specify whether the Wizards are pursuing him. Wright went to Boston in the Rajon Rondo trade.
The player most likely to end up in Washington’s open roster spot is Jameer Nelson, another one of Boston’s acquisitions in that Rondo deal, according to Michael, who says the point guard is expected to negotiate a buyout. The Wizards will be in “hot pursuit,” Michael writes. Nelson is making $2.732MM this season and has a player option worth nearly $2.855MM for next season, and he’s upset about his playing time, even though he insists that he and Celtics coach Brad Stevens are on the same page. Nelson will once more remain on the Inactive List for tonight’s game, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
The Wizards have maintained “routine” contact with Ray Allen since first reaching out to him in July, sources tell Michael. The Wizards plan to keep chasing him until he retires or gives a definitive “no,” according to Michael. Still, the notion that Allen ends up in Washington sounds like a long shot, Michael writes.
Celtics forward Jeff Green is expected to turn down his $9.2MM player option for next season, according to Michael, and the Wizards would be interested in signing him if Paul Pierce also opts out, Michael adds.
The Wizards have been keeping a close eye on D-Leaguers Khem Birch and Damion James, Michael reports. Birch declined an invitation to Wizards training camp invite to instead head to the Heat‘s camp, according to Michael, and the power forward is now with Miami’s D-League affiliate. James was with the Wizards in camp and currently plays for the affiliate of the Mavs.

Minor Moves: Covington, Mekel, Heat, Warriors

October 30th, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Robert Covington nearly had a deal with the Sixers this week shortly after the Rockets waived him, but talks broke down over contract length and the 23-year-old forward is expected to sign with the D-League instead, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Philadelphia offered a four-year arrangement with a “high” amount of guaranteed salary, Charania writes, but Covington apparently passed on that. The sides were unable to forge a deal on a shorter contract, Charania notes. Covington joins K.J. McDaniels, the 32nd pick in this year’s draft who inked with the Sixers for just one year, among those resisting Philly’s efforts to tie up young players on long-term deals. The deluge of players hitting waivers in the past week has led to news around the D-League and international circuits, and we’ll pass along the latest here:

Gal Mekel isn’t thinking of heading overseas to play in the wake of the Mavs‘ decision to waive him Wednesday, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com, so he’ll remain free to sign with another NBA team providing he clears waivers.
Khem Birch, Larry Drew II, Tyler Johnson and Shawn Jones have agreed to join the Heat‘s D-League affiliate, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Miami is using its ability to reserve the D-League rights to up to four of its preseason cuts to keep Birch, Johnson and Jones out of the D-League draft, but Drew played with the Heat’s D-League affiliate last year, so he wouldn’t have been subject to the draft. That allows the Heat to preserve their ability to retain the D-League rights to one player they waive during the regular season. Andre Dawkins seems a likely candidate for that sort of maneuver, Winderman suggests (on Twitter).
Sean Kilpatrick will play for the Warriors D-League affiliate, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, who confirms an earlier report that Aaron Craft will do the same. That means Golden State retained the D-League rights to both after waiving them last week.

Heat Waive Khem Birch

October 25th, 2014 at 6:39pm CST by Cray Allred

The Heat have waived Khem Birch along with the trio of cuts made earlier this evening, according to a team release. Miami will be on the hook for $50K in partially guaranteed money from his contract, unless another team claims him.

Birch was in the running for one of the Heat’s 15 final roster spots, but ultimately wasn’t preserved for the 2014/15 season. If Birch clears waivers, the Heat will hold his D-League rights, and they are expected to invite him to join their D-League affiliate, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.

The undrafted power forward was projected as a potential second-rounder out of UNLV, and he has impressed in stints with the Wizards summer league team and as a member of Miami’s preseason squad. Birch averaged 10.2 rebounds in his junior year, opting to declare for the draft rather than stay for his senior year.

Eastern Notes: Eddie, Vandenberg, Birch

October 25th, 2014 at 10:25am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics intend to take a good look at Jarell Eddie prior to the beginning of the regular season, Tom Layman of The Boston Herald writes. “He’s a player that we watched in college at Virginia Tech. He’s a player that we watched in his exhibition games with Atlanta and he’s always been a player that has been intriguing to us,” Boston GM Danny Ainge said. “We are going to evaluate him before training camp ends.” The Celtics claimed Eddie off of waivers from the Hawks on Friday.

Here’s more from the east:

Jordan Vandenberg‘s minimum salary deal with the Knicks includes a partial guarantee for $27K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Vandenberg was signed with an eye on sending him to the NBA D-League, as Pincus also notes.
The Celitcs‘ preseason roster count currently sits at 17, meaning the team still has to waive a minimum of two players prior to the deadline. The staff over at CSNNE.com analyze Boston’s frontcourt situation, including where each player fits in the current rotation.
With Josh McRoberts and Chris Andersen slowed by injuries, Khem Birch could have the advantage for the Heat‘s 15th and final regular season roster spot, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel opines (Twitter link). Miami’s preseason roster count currently sits at 16 players.

And-Ones: Hawks, Douby, Heat

September 17th, 2014 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The league’s players have mixed opinions on whether or not they would consider signing with the Hawks, Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report writes. The majority of players polled agreed with Carmelo Anthony‘s assessment that players would avoid signing with Atlanta in the wake of GM Danny Ferry and majority owner Bruce Levenson’s racist remarks, notes Bucher. But there were a few that said they wouldn’t let the incident get in the way of their potential earnings, but also added that they “wouldn’t shake Ferry’s hand” when the deal was completed.

Here’s more from around the league:

Former Rutgers star and NBA player Quincy Douby has signed with the Tianjin Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to his agent Bill Neff, Zach Links of Hoops Rumors reports (Twitter link). Douby last appeared in the NBA during the 2008/09 season with the Raptors.
The partial guarantee on Khem Birch‘s two-year deal with the Heat is worth $50K, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
Keith Smart and Chris Quinn have been added as assistant coaches to Eric Spoelstra‘s staff with the Heat, the team announced.
The Bulls are hoping for a healthy season out of Derrick Rose, and that their new additions of Pau Gasol and Doug McDermott will help them contend in the Eastern Conference. The crew over at Basketball Insiders previews the upcoming season, and the majority opinion is that Chicago will finish second in the Central Division.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Heat Sign Khem Birch

September 14th, 2014 at 11:23am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 14th, 11:23am: The signing is official, the team announced.

8:24pm: Birch’s deal is partially guaranteed, agent Mike George confirms to Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com.

SEPTEMBER 2nd, 1:22pm: Undrafted power forward Khem Birch will join the Heat on a camp deal, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Birch will almost certainly be making the minimum salary should he stick until opening night, just like Andre Dawkins, who also appears headed to Miami, as another report indicated within the hour.

The Wizards were also high on Birch, Wolstat tweets, and it wouldn’t be surprising if still more teams were pursuing the former UNLV standout who entered this year’s draft as the No. 42 prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him going at No. 58 in his final 2014 mock draft, so he sits at or near the top of the best undrafted talent still available from this year’s class.

The 6’9″ Birch made his mark on the boards in a breakout campaign for the Runnin’ Rebels this past season, averaging 10.2 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game. He grabbed 5.7 RPG in 19.5 MPG with the Wizards summer league team in July.

Miami’s roster is poised to swell to 19 with the addition of Birch and Dawkins, one shy of the preseason limit. Reports have linked the Heat to several veteran shooting guards and big men in recent weeks, but it appears as though Miami is close to finishing its offseason pickups.

Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

June 17th, 2014 at 8:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

And-Ones: Jackson, Hayward, Fisher

June 2nd, 2014 at 10:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Thunder guard Reggie Jackson made it clear that he wants to start and seems to want to do so at point guard, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Coach Scott Brooks was non-committal when asked about the possibility of adding Jackson, under contract through next season, to the starting lineup. Meanwhile, Thabo Sefolosha spoke of his time with the Thunder in the past tense and it seems likely that he’ll wind up elsewhere next season. More from around the league..

Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that the Jazz front office fully expects Gordon Hayward to be with the team going forward. Hayward is a restricted free agent this summer and there is mutual interest in a return.
The Lakers haven’t reached out to the Thunder about getting permission to talk to Derek Fisher just yet, but that could be subject to change, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Former Nuggets coach George Karl had an informal phone conversation with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak but has yet to have a formal interview, Medina tweets.
Marist announced the resignation of Jeff Bower, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit Free Press. That should be the first step towards him taking over as Pistons GM.
UCLA guard Jordan Adams was in Houston working out for the Rockets today, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
The Nuggets will host Rodney Hood for a private workout tomorrow, a source told Goodman of ESPN (on Twitter).
The Raptors will host Jordan Clarkson and Canadian Khem Birch for workouts tomorrow, sources tell Goodman (on Twitter).
A source told Goodman (on Twitter) that Elfrid Payton held his own in front of the Kings in a workout today against Marcus Smart. Aaron Gordon worked out for Sacramento but did not go head-to-head with Noah Vonleh. He instead matched up with Eric Moreland (link).
The Lakers will be very busy on Wednesday as they audition many of this year’s top prospects, as Goodman tweets. Among the names not previously reported are Payton, Gordon, Tyler Ennis, Zach LaVine, James Young, and Rodney Hood.

Draft Rumors: Exum, Warren, Young

May 28th, 2014 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The allure of Dante Exum is prompting the Sixers to think about trading Michael Carter-Williams, and it appears as though Exum will indeed be available when Philadelphia picks third overall next month. Exum isn’t in the mix for the Cavs at No. 1 overall, and while the Bucks are high on him, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece, the uncertain future of GM John Hammond and his staff makes it less likely the point guard ends up in Milwaukee. Here’s more draft-related news:

Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com adds the Hawks and Suns to the list of teams that have workouts scheduled with T.J. Warren (Twitter link).
Patric Young is performing for the Suns today and will work out for the Spurs on Friday, Goodman tweets.
Dwight Powell is auditioning for the Thunder today and will do so for the Suns and Wolves later this week, Goodman reports (on Twitter).
The Hawks worked out Jahii Carson, as the Arizona State sophomore revealed on Twitter (hat tip to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). He’s auditioning for the Suns today, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. He’ll join Isaiah Austin, whom the Suns are also working out today, Goodman hears (Twitter link).
Khem Birch worked out for the Sixers on Monday and will do so for the Heat next week, according to Goodman (Twitter link).
Ronald Roberts Jr. will show off for the Raptors, Sixers and Pistons this week, reports Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Javon McCrea is working out with the Bulls today and the Sixers and Raptors next week, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv has learned (Twitter link).