Kristaps Porzingis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hoops Links: Lowry, Embiid, Antetokounmpo, Porzingis, Nicholson

February 19th, 2017 at 4:24pm CST by Milo Taibi

On Sundays, we link to some of the very best work from around the basketball blogosphere. Do you have a link to a great basketball blog post – either your own or someone else’s – that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to us at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s rundown:

Brian Boake of Raptors Rapture wonders if Toronto GM Masai Ujiri will retain Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka at the end of the season.
John Jarosik of The Hardwood Nation argues that despite their 19-39 record, this season should not be viewed as a disappointment for the Lakers.
Kwame Fisher-Jones of The 76er Files states the case against Bryan Colangelo offering Joel Embiid a max extension, citing the big man’s injury history.
Mark Suleymanov of Inquisitir Sports conducted a one-on-one with Metta World Peace.
Kaiser Linderman of Deep(ish) Thoughts took an analytical look at T.J. McConnell‘s success.
Adam Paris of Brew Hoop answered the question we’ve all been asking: can Giannis Antetokounmpo fly?
Kristaps Porzingis gave Knicks fans a reason to cheer, Mike Cortez of Hardwood and Hollywood writes.
Francis Adu of Ridiculous Upside detailed Alfonzo McKinnie’s ascension toward becoming an elite D-Leaguer.
Bradley Beal was more deserving of Kevin Love‘s All-Star spot than Carmelo Anthony, Christopher Church of The Baltimore Wire argued.
Fim Oshin of Bullets Forever outlined four ways the Wizards may be able to move Andrew Nicholson at the trade deadline.

Atlantic Notes: Jackson, Okafor, Atkinson, Ibaka, Porzingis

February 19th, 2017 at 2:19pm CST by Milo Taibi

Knicks legend Willis Reed had an interesting take on the team’s leadership woes. The Hall of Famer suggested Phil Jackson take the helm as head coach, replacing Jeff Hornacek.

“Unfortunately for us as Knicks fans, if Phil Jackson had been coaching all year, we would’ve won more games,’’ Reed told Marc Berman of The New York Post. “His toughness and ability to make guys concentrate, that’s what I loved about him as a coach. He got guys to play harder and smarter…He’s got a history with Kobe, Jordan and Shaquille and made them champions.”

Reed was critical of Jackson’s inability to find a suitable head coach during his run as Knicks president, citing Mike Woodson, Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, and Hornacek as disappointments. Jackson’s most recent season as a head coach came with the Lakers in 2010/11, in which L.A. finished with a 57-25 record.

Knicks Notes: Anthony, Hernangomez, Noah, Oakley, Dolan

February 13th, 2017 at 6:31pm CST by Milo Taibi

Bobby Marks of The Vertical covered the Knicks in his trade deadline preview series. The Knicks, Marks writes, are a big market team dealing with adversity (to put it lightly). Marks explains the ways in which the Knicks have limited assets on paper; both Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings are on expiring contracts, and Courtney Lee will gain trade value over the summer, due to a weak shooting guard free agent class. Joakim Noah‘s expensive, long-term deal won’t attract suitors, and the team’s younger assets- Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez– aren’t thought to be available.

Trading Carmelo Anthony will be a “serious challenge” for the Knicks front office, who need to decide whether Anthony’s value would grow over the offseason. Marks put together a hypothetical trade that would work financially for all parties, in which Anthony would be dealt to the Clippers in exchange for Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, and Wesley Johnson. Of course, any deal involving Anthony would require the nine-time All-Star waiving his no-trade clause.

Eastern Rumors: Porzingis, Parker, Dragic, Noel

February 9th, 2017 at 10:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis is bubbling with frustration over the team’s collapse, Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports. Porzingis felt the roster moves made during the offseason would improve the team’s fortunes. Instead, the franchise is in turmoil and the club is no better than it was a year ago. He also hinted that the team shouldn’t have dismissed head coach Derek Fisher last February. “It’s different this year, definitely,” Porzingis told Kerber and other media members. “It was a big shock last year when Fisher got fired. I felt like we were working towards something and even though we were losing, we were moving forward and we had the structure, so it was a shock for me. This year, [it’s] a similar situation with our record and where we stand right now but we can’t be worrying about what’s going to happen.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

The latest knee injury to Bucks forward Jabari Parker probably cost him a lucrative rookie contract extension, Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated points out. Parker, who suffered the second ACL tear of his young NBA career on Wednesday, is eligible to receive an extension this offseason and was in line to get a deal worth $110MM over four years prior to the injury, Golliver continues. Instead, he’ll probably enter the 2018 offseason as a restricted free agent and the nine-figure offers may not materialize for a player who’s had multiple knee surgeries and only three or four months of game action to prove that he’s recovered, Golliver adds.
Heat point guard Goran Dragic finds it much easier to ignore trade rumors at this stage of his career, as he told Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Dragic’s name has circulated on the rumor mill this winter, though that chatter has died down during the Heat’s current winning streak. “I was really nervous all the time. I was reading articles,” Dragic told Scotto about previous trade deadlines. “When I got traded the first time it kind of changed me because then I realized this is normal, this is part of the business. Now I’m not even paying attention about that, I’m only focused on basketball, because it can mess your head up if you’re not mentally strong. I don’t want to read those or even hear those rumors.”
Sixers big man Nerlens Noel is trying to adopt Dragic’s approach to the trade deadline, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. Noel’s name has been tossed around, though the club seems more intent on moving power forward Jahlil Okafor, including a report this week that the Pelicans were in advanced talks to acquire Okafor. Noel is trying his best to block out the rumors. “I don’t even approach it,” he told Pompey. “I just play my game. If that’s what they decide, that’s what they decide.”

Knicks Notes: Anthony, Porzingis, Hernangomez

February 3rd, 2017 at 11:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Carmelo Anthony may have more trade value during the summer than he does now, states Bobby Marks of The Vertical. In an interview with Chris Mannix, the former NBA executive suggests that teams that get eliminated in the later rounds of this year’s playoffs might see Anthony as the missing piece and would be willing to offer more than the Knicks could get now. Marks adds that deals involving star players are difficult to pull off at the deadline and said he believes Anthony will remain in New York for the rest of the season.

There’s more today out of New York:

ESPN broadcaster and former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy thinks Anthony could prosper in a sixth-man role with the Clippers, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. L.A. is reportedly one of the teams that has had trade discussions with the Knicks, offering Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford and possibly Wesley Johnson in return. “Great players can adjust to anything,’’ Van Gundy said. “… It’s not that he’s not one of their five best players. It’s trying to fit into the rotation that keeps enough firepower on the court.”
Count Kristaps Porzingis among those wanting Anthony to stay with the Knicks, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. The second-year big man, who led New York to a comeback win over the Nets with Anthony on the sidelines Wednesday, says having another star on the roster helps his game. “I think it would make life harder for me on the court [if Anthony was traded],” Porzingis told the Daily News. “He makes stuff easier for me.”
Rookie center Willy Hernangomez, who was acquired along with Porzingis in the 2015 draft, is getting an expanded role, according to Fred Kerber of The New York Post. Hernangomez posted back-to-back double-doubles this week, getting 16 points and 16 rebounds in Wednesday’s game. “We always said as he goes on through this year he’s going to get better and better once he sees guys a second and a third time,” said Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek. “He’s improving every day.”

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Noah, Sullinger

January 19th, 2017 at 1:29pm CST by Will Joseph

The Knicks are not headed in any particular direction, which is arguably the worst position for franchise to be in, and New York president Phil Jackson is a significant reason for that, Chris Herring of ESPN.com argues in a panel of fellow ESPN scribes (Insider subscription required). Carmelo Anthony is also partly to blame because his large contract, which includes a no-trade clause is hamstringing the team, is holding the franchise hostage, Bradford Doolittle opines. The panel suggested, however, that Anthony still has something left and in the right situation he could be a positive part of the Knicks. There are differing opinions on whether or not the Knicks should be in win-now mode or start tanking, with the latter being difficult to do, considering it would mean shedding players with contracts teams would have to take on creatively.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Joakim Noah hasn’t lived up to his $72MM contract and it’s possible that the Knicks will take him out of the starting line-up once Kristaps Porzingis is healthy enough to return to action, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Noah is averaging 5.6 points per game this season.
Jared Sullinger made his season debut for the Raptors on Wednesday and although the team lost, he felt like he exceed his own expectations, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star relays. “I was able to keep up with the game,” Sullinger said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to keep up, especially how hard and how fast the Sixers play, but I was able to keep up with the game.”
Jae Crowder is more valuable to the Celtics than Anthony could ever be, Logan Mullen of WEEI.com contends. Mullen argues that Anthony doesn’t provide the intensity that Crowder brings on a nightly basis. The scribe admits that the Celtics need one more star player, but cautions that Anthony isn’t the right fit.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Porzingis, Noah To Have MRIs On Thursday

January 18th, 2017 at 9:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kristaps Porzingis and Joakim Noah will both undergo MRIs on Thursday to determine the extent of nagging injuries, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com.

Porzingis missed his fourth straight game tonight with an Achilles problem, while Noah was sidelined by a sprained ankle. Porzingis is confident in his health, saying he is “90% ready.” He also dismissed the idea of sitting out long-term to rest the injury.

“Never felt that bad to actually take some time off,” he said. “I thought I would be [back] like next game, next game and it has taken long, longer time than we expected. … [Doctors] want to be smart about it and have me tell them exactly how I feel, not hide it a little bit and say, ‘Oh, I’m good.'”

Noah said his ankle was all right during Monday’s game, but began to swell during Tuesday’s flight to Boston. His availability for Thursday’s game against the Wizards may depend on the results of the MRI.

“I hope it’s going to be OK,” Noah said. “I mean, it is what it is. I wish I could be there with my teammates right now. We’re struggling. I want to be out there, be part of the solution.”

Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Lowry, Lopez

January 17th, 2017 at 5:20pm CST by Austin Kent

Much has changed over the course of the first two and a half months of the season, writes John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Sixers are now faced with different circumstances than what they began the year with. Part-way through January, it appears as though Jahlil Okafor — and not Nerlens Noel — is the most likely to be traded.

Okafor, Smallwood writes, is an impressive big man and goes on to cite the 21-year-old’s All-Rookie team performance last year as one of the reasons why. Even in some recent performances, the center has shown that he’s a solid young player, perhaps capable of averaging 20 and 10 eventually. The emergence of Embiid as a reliable option at the five for the Sixers, has rendered Okafor’s services less necessary than they would be otherwise.

In order to take advantage of Okafor’s value, the Sixers should look to trade the big man in order to reconfigure the balance of their roster and Smallwood gives several examples of players that could theoretically come back to Philadelphia in a trade. Smallwood offers Jaylen Brown, Jordan Clarkson and Doug McDermott as three perimeters threats that could potentially be had in exchange for Okafor.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

It’s too early to think about free agency, Kyle Lowry tells ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, but for whatever it’s worth, the guard considers Toronto “home”. Currently under contract for $12MM with a player option for $12MM in 2017/18, Lowry could net a significant pay raise over the summer if he opts out. “When the time comes, then I will worry about [free agency],” says Lowry. “[The Raptors] will definitely will be an option.“
The Nets have a decision on Brook Lopez to make prior to the trade deadline, but an injury to Jeremy Lin has made things more complicated, writes Seth Berkman of the New York Times. The franchise would ideally like to see how Lopez and Lin fare together before making a significant change but the tandem has been limited to just a handful of games healthy at the same time.
Desperate for a positive development, the Knicks have considered playing Kristaps Porzingis at the five, writes Ian Begley of ESPN. “Sometimes it’s a chance you have to take, but we continue to look over that,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We just need to mix it up maybe a little more.” Moving Porzingis to the center position would push Joakim Noah to the bench.
We discussed the meeting between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony earlier, but it’s worth adding here that Jackson specifically told the veteran forward he did not subscribe to the criticisms in the now infamous Charley Rosen article, says Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Knicks Notes: Anthony, Jackson, Rose, Porzingis

January 14th, 2017 at 6:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

Carmelo Anthony‘s relationship with team president Phil Jackson is getting progressively worse, writes Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. Anthony remains bitter that Jackson refused to interview Tom Thibodeau for the Knicks’ coaching vacancy in May, and was further angered when Jackson stated publicly last month that Anthony was slowing down the triangle offense by holding the ball too long. Anthony reportedly went on a locker-room tirade after Wednesday’s loss to the Sixers, yelling at teammates for losing a 10-point lead in the final 2:30 and for not getting him the ball on the final possession. However, a source tells Isola that Anthony remains unlikely to waive his no-trade clause.

There’s more out of New York:

A 15% trade kicker makes Anthony very difficult to trade if he does give his consent, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Even though the Knicks would pay the kicker, it would push his salary cap figure to about $30MM, which would be tough for another team to match in a deal.
Derrick Rose‘s agent, B.J. Armstrong, admits that Rose could have calmed the situation surrounding his absence from Monday’s game by contacting team officials, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. ” I think in looking back, just a simple phone call or a simple text notifying the team to let them know what happened, what he needed to do and take care of with his family situation would clearly have been a thing he needed to do,” Armstrong said today in an interview with Sirius XM Radio. “He felt that he needed to go home and take care of a family matter … but I think the big thing that is coming from this story is that a simple text, a simple notifying someone from the Knicks to let them know what he needed to do.”
Kristaps Porzingis is hoping to return for Monday’s game after being sidelined by a sore left Achilles, but he doesn’t want to repeat his mistake of playing before the injury is fully healed, relays Fred Kerber of The New York Post. Porzingis started having problems with the Achilles in late December. He sat out three games, returned for four, then missed Thursday’s game with the Bulls and doesn’t expect to play Sunday. “I need to get it 100 percent before I step back on the court again,” Porzingis said. “I need to take my time, calm down a little bit. I’m just too anxious to be out there. I was like, ‘You got to let me go, you got to let me go.’ But we have a tough schedule ahead of us. I want to be back as soon as possible. But at the same time, I want to make sure I’m healthy and that I can be 100 percent for the team.”

Knicks Notes: Rose, Porzingis, Anthony

January 13th, 2017 at 8:05pm CST by Luke Adams

When I asked Hoops Rumors readers on Thursday how long you expect Derrick Rose to remain a Knick, only about 15% of you said that he’d remain with the franchise beyond the end of the 2016/17 season. However, in the wake of a Monday incident in which he was unexpectedly absent from a game, Rose tells Michael Lee of The Vertical that he still wants to re-sign with the Knicks, and thinks the team has accepted his explanation for the absence.

“When I was in the room, I felt like they understood where I was coming from,” Rose said. “I hope one incident didn’t change their mind. Who knows? This is a business. If it was to happen, I still would want to play the way I normally know how to play wherever I’m at.”

While it may sound counterintuitive, there are a few reasons why keeping Rose on a long-term deal would be tempting for the Knicks, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. As Begley points out, there’s no guarantee that New York would be able to find a better point guard option if the team lets Rose walk. The veteran point guard also received rave reviews from former teammate Taj Gibson, who calls Rose “one of the greatest dudes I’ve ever been around,” adding that the former MVP is “misunderstood” (link via ESPN.com).

As we wait to see how things play out for Rose and the Knicks, here are a few more notes out of New York:

Kristaps Porzingis‘ lingering Achilles issue, which forced him to miss another game on Thursday, is becoming a problem for the Knicks, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.
In a piece for ESPN.com, several writers, including Begley, Ohm Youngmisuk, and Kevin Pelton, debate the Knicks’ trade options, discussing whether the team should be a buyer or seller, and whether Rose and/or Carmelo Anthony could be moved.
Did Phil Jackson‘s offseason moves make the Knicks a better team? A month ago, the answer would have been yes, but it’s not so clear anymore, Begley writes in another ESPN.com piece. As Begley notes, New York actually had a .500 record through 40 games last season. This year, the club is 18-22.