LaMarcus Aldridge Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Faried, Durant

September 29th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen said that the team has moved on from the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs this summer, and that he is excited for what the future holds for the franchise, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays. When asked if he felt betrayed by Aldridge, Allen said, “No. I think LaMarcus had a lot of options. We went down to Dallas, [GM] Neil [Olshey] and I pitched him and he chose to go a different direction. We made it to his last few choices and he was good enough to call me up and explain his decision and all that. It’s tough for a franchise, because we were all thinking that we had a real shot at getting him back. But in the end, he chose to go a different direction and now it’s a new day. We’ve moved on and I think you can feel the excitement and the energy in the gym now.”

Allen said he enjoys the process of developing younger players, which makes the team’s current transitional period easier on him, Freeman adds. “It’s always a transition. I’m always trying to figure out how many times we’ve done a rebuild here. I think three. But you guys will probably correct me on that, I’m sure. I probably, more than a lot of owners, enjoy seeing young players develop. Always have. Always will. And that’s also been a hallmark of other teams like the Seahawks that I’ve been involved with. So seeing young players develop and I think if you watch some of the players that Neil has brought in here, we’ve been very lucky to be able to bring those in and be able to pivot from being a playoff team to being a team that’s going through a transition to hopefully being back in the playoffs before too long. So we’ll see.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The deals that Talib Zanna, Dez Wells, and Julyan Stone signed with the Thunder are all one-year, minimum salary arrangements that include no guaranteed salary, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Omari Johnson‘s pact with the Blazers is a one year deal for the league minimum and includes no guaranteed salary, Pincus relays (via Twitter).
Difficulties between Kenneth Faried and former coach Brian Shaw negatively impacted the forward’s performance for the Nuggets last season, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. “If you don’t have a coach that believes in you, then what’s the point of going out there and playing?” Faried said. “If your coach doesn’t have faith in you and puts you out in the fire against all these great players, you’re going to get torched.“
Kevin Durant is a fan of new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman tweets. Of Donovan, Durant said, “Great basketball mind, but more importantly, a better person. We’ve hit it off.” With Durant eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, any added incentive for him to remain in Oklahoma City is certainly a boon for the franchise.
After a breakout season in 2014/15 for the Jazz, Gordon Hayward needs to become a better closer at the end of games in order to take his next step forward as a star player, Aaron Falk, Tony Jones and Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune write.

And-Ones: Hornets, D-League, Aldridge

September 15th, 2015 at 5:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hornets currently have a roster count of 18 players, a number that isn’t likely to increase, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer relays in a series of tweets. Coach Steve Clifford believes that adding more players would have a negative impact on the practice reps that the rotation players receive, notes Bonnell, with Clifford saying, “Last year I did a poor job of getting our team ready for the season. We were [initially] bad on offense and bad on defense.”

Bonnell also thinks the team has created some healthy competition for playing time, especially at power forward and backup shooting guard, and he believes that this year’s training camp will be a more competitive one overall than last year’s, especially among the 14 players possessing fully guaranteed pacts. Bonnell also praises the addition of Jason Washburn, noting that the team has no true backup for starting center Al Jefferson, and the Charlotte Observer scribe also likes Aaron Harrison‘s chances to make the regular season roster. Harrison’s two-year deal is only partially guaranteed.

Here’s more from around the league…

The D-League is undergoing changes, and what happens in the NBA’s minor league can have significant consequences, as Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders points out amid his look at the best players ever to have emerged from the D-League. Danny Green, who re-signed with the Spurs for $40MM over four years this summer, is No. 1 on Brigham’s list.
With the 2015 NBA Draft in the rearview, Jonathan Wasserman of BleacherReport took a look ahead at a number of questions relating to 2016’s draft. The talking points touched upon by Wasserman included who the likely No. 1 overall pick will be, with the scribe predicting it will come down to LSU’s Ben Simmons or Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere. Wasserman also runs down a number of prospects who could be selected in the lottery, including Jaylen Brown (California), Jamal Murray (Kentucky), and Brandon Ingram (Duke).
Though there will be a mutual period of adjustment, LaMarcus Aldridge will fit in just fine with the Spurs this season, writes Zach Lowe of Grantland.com. “LaMarcus will be different,” said GM R.C. Buford. “And we’ll be different than we were before LaMarcus. We have to figure out how LaMarcus will play within our group, and produce at levels that he’s capable of — and that are important to him, and to our success.” Lowe’s piece also includes a detailed look at how Aldridge can thrive within San Antonio’s system that is well worth a look.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Holiday, Aldridge, McGee

September 4th, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday has made sufficient progress in his recovery from the surgical procedure he underwent in May that the team expects him to be cleared to participate in basketball related activities when training camp begins, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”What I think we’re trying to do is not push him anywhere,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”We’re going to monitor obviously his practices. I doubt there will be a situation where we’ll let him go two-a-days. It’s just doesn’t make sense right now.” Holiday has missed a combined 90 games over the past two campaigns because of recurring problems with his right leg. The NBA had ordered the Sixers to pay $3MM to the Pelicans last season for not fully disclosing the extent of Holiday’s injury prior to shipping him to New Orleans.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Rick Barnes, who coached LaMarcus Aldridge at the University of Texas, doesn’t think that his former player will have any difficulty adapting his game to the Spurs‘ system, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News relays. “What he wants is to win an NBA championship,” Barnes said. “He’ll do whatever he feels he has to do to make that happen.” Aldridge had expressed some level of concern to San Antonio assistant Ime Udoka about him being more of a scorer than the Spurs typically feature during the team’s recruitment of him, McDonald adds. “He’s a tremendous teammate. He’s a team player,” Barnes continued. “He knows he’s a franchise-type guy, but he also has to have people around him. Credit to him for wanting to be part of something special.”
Mavs big man JaVale McGee believes that his athleticism will set him apart from the other centers on Dallas’ roster, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “Well, I definitely feel like we’re different players, the centers that we have, so it’s definitely going to be good competition,” McGee said. “But that’s what basketball is for, competition, so it’s definitely going to make us all better. It’s definitely a positive thing, being a leaper as I am and a shot blocker and a dunker, so that’s definitely what teams need. I’m just somebody who keeps it simple, who dunks the ball, blocks shots and is just a presence in the paint. … [coach Rick Carlisle] just wants me to keep it simple, and just play as hard as I can and be a presence in the paint.”

Neil Olshey On Aldridge, Batum, Aminu, Kanter

August 27th, 2015 at 1:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey was coy when Grantland’s Zach Lowe asked him why he signed Enes Kanter to a max offer sheet but hasn’t done so with Tristan Thompson, but Olshey expressed contentment and optimism about the roster he’s built even amid the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge. Olshey, speaking on The Lowe Post podcast, believes the revamped Blazers have the potential to grow like the group he had with the Clippers in 2010/11 that featured Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu, all of whom were 22 or younger.

Aminu, who turns 25 next month, is one of the new Blazers, and Olshey talked about the forward’s four-year, $30MM deal, Aldridge’s exit, and a host of other offseason topics. His entire conversation with Lowe is worth a listen, especially for Portland faithful, and we’ll round up a few highlights here:

On the fluctuation of the team’s chances to re-sign Aldridge:

“I think, honestly, because of how unhappy LaMarcus was when we all joined the Trail Blazers, myself, [coach] Terry [Stotts], our regime, it wasn’t like we were put on notice, Zach, but I think we were all aware that it was going to be an uphill battle, and I think it was an uphill battle that we had fought and won right up until [Wesley Matthews] was injured. … We were 100% confident in LaMarcus right up through the trade deadline, and then when Wes got hurt, and we weren’t playing as well, and we realized our margin for error with that group was more narrow than we would have liked to have believed, I think we felt like, you know what? We’re going to have more of a battle on our hands than we had anticipated in terms of keeping LaMarcus.”

On the Nicolas Batum trade, which Olshey said was made independent of Aldridge’s decision to walk:

“There was a three-fold approach there. One, we felt like if we brought in another starter, then Gerald Henderson would have strengthened the bench. We got a bright, young prospect in Noah Vonleh who we were really high on in the draft, and we created a positive variance in our favor in terms of our cap position to go and be more aggressive in free agency to continue to build with the group that was there. So, that deal was done absent anything with LaMarcus other than the fact that he was aware of the deal prior to us making the decision to move forward with Noah and Gerald in lieu of Nicolas.”

On those who would laugh at the team’s financial outlay in the the Al-Farouq Aminu deal:

“If they’re laughing, they haven’t seen him play, and they haven’t realized that in two years, the cap’s going to be $108MM, so you’re basically talking about a deal that’ll be less than what the mid-level was on previous caps. So, this is a guy that I know well. I drafted him. I had him for a year with the Clippers. He’s tracking up. I think his growth was accelerated by playing for Rick Carlisle in Dallas. I think that was like a three-year tutorial crammed into nine months. He’s a better player today than he was then. Look, we had moved Nic Batum. We wanted to get younger at that position and we wanted to get an athletic guy if we chose to push the floor. We felt like, at that point, he could play in multiple roles with LaMarcus or without, depending on what his decision was, and I really believe, look, when you look at a way a contract is structured, we had a lot of cap room this year [and] it’s a descending deal.”

On whether he truly wanted Kanter on the team:

“We did. We absolutely did. We pursued him. Look, it’s not the first time we went down the road of restricted free agency for a starting center and maybe won the recruiting battle but lost the war in terms of adding him to our roster, and that situation played out. You know, look, we’re really happy with the guys we have right now.”

What do you think of the way Olshey has positioned the Blazers for the post-Aldridge era? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

And-Ones: Euroleague, Aldridge, Huertas

August 24th, 2015 at 11:29am CST by Zachary Links

For the first time on North American soil, two Euroleague powerhouses will go head to head when Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and three-time European champs EA7 Emporio Armani Milan meet this fall. As Maccabi announced recently, the two squads will play at Chicago’s United Center on October 1st before heading to Madison Square Garden on October 4th.

Adding some intrigue to the games, Hoops Rumors has learned that it is very likely that Dragan Bender, whom Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress projects as a top-five pick in the 2016 draft, will be making the trip to the U.S. The Croatian star, who is signed to Adidas, did not take center stage at the Nike-run U19 World Championship games in June, but he’ll now get his chance to shine in NBA territory. Bender, who doesn’t turn 18 until November, has been wowing scouts for a long time with his play for Maccabi’s junior squad.

Euroleague teams have played exhibition games against NBA clubs in the past, but American fans will now be treated to one of Europe’s premier basketball rivalries. In 2014, Maccabi downed Milan in a playoff series to advance to the Final Four and eventually win the Euroleague title. In 1987 and 1988, Milan beat Maccabi in back-to-back championship games that featured legends such as Bob McAdoo and Mike D’Antoni, among others.

Here’s more NBA-related news:

The key to perhaps the most significant free agent coup of the summer was Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka, who “got the deal done” between LaMarcus Aldridge and the team, Aldridge tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. Udoka, a long-ago teammate of Aldridge’s with the Trail Blazers, took a flight with the power forward after San Antonio’s pitch meeting and cleared some of the doubts in his mind as he weighed the Spurs against signing with the Suns. “Everybody was making this big fuss about how I’m not going to be able to take shots anymore, or be the scorer that I am, and he was just telling me, ‘We need a guy to score down there. Tim [Duncan] is older, and we need a guy to command a double team down there,’” Aldridge said in part. “So I was like, ‘Maybe I’m not a Spur, because I’ve been averaging 23 [points per game] for the last three to four years, and maybe I don’t fit into y’all’s system of let’s all average 17 [points per game].’ And he was like, ‘No, we’re not trying to change who you are and make you average 16 or 17. We want you to be you, because you’re going to help us be better and vice versa.’ He kind of reaffirmed that they didn’t want to change me, and that who I am is OK.”
Point guard Marcelo Huertas, who had planned a jump to the NBA this season and had been expected to draw significant interest, has instead agreed to sign with Galatasaray of Turkey, according to the team (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Agent Gerard Darnes late last month denied reports that Huertas had a deal with the team at that point, though it appears that’s now the case.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Morris Change Agents

August 20th, 2015 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Spurs marquee free agent signee LaMarcus Aldridge has departed the Wasserman Media Group to join Excel Sports Management, while the recently traded Marcus Morris has left the Creative Artists Agency, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). Aldridge had previously been with Arn Tellem, who’s leaving for a job with the Pistons organization, though RealGM lists his most recent primary agent with Wasserman as having been Michael Tellem, Arn’s son. Morris, who’s been a client of Leon Rose, has expressed displeasure with swap that sent him to Detroit and separated him from twin brother Markieff Morris, who’s demanded that the Suns trade him, too. Coincidentally, the Suns made the trade in an effort to clear cap room for Aldridge, who strongly considered signing with Phoenix before choosing San Antonio instead.

Aldridge signed a maximum-salary deal with the Spurs last month after dogged pursuit from the Suns and several other teams. He was the most high-profile free agent to change teams last summer and had the power to essentially dictate his own terms and location. The 30-year-old would seemingly have little reason for discontent with Wasserman, so I’d speculate that the move is tied to Arn Tellem’s departure. Aldridge won’t be able to elect free agency again until 2018, when he can turn down a player option, so his new relationship with Excel will probably focus on business ventures outside of basketball for the time being.

Marcus Morris has little to negotiate contractually either, having signed a four-year, $20MM extension last fall that kicks in for the coming season. It’s unclear who his next representative will be, but he could seek out agents who would pressure the Pistons to engineer a deal that would reunite him with his brother, though that would be a difficult pursuit. Marcus indicated that he believes he took less than he was worth on his extension, so that may also be a factor in his decision to change agents. It’s unclear whether Markieff, a fellow Rose client, will follow suit. It’s been a mixed summer for Rose. Client J.R. Smith has languished in free agency after he turned down a player option worth nearly $6.4MM, but Jonas Valanciunas, another Rose client, just signed a four-year, $64MM extension, and Rose also represents No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.

The former agents for both Aldridge and Morris will continue to receive the fees based on the deals that the players signed with their respective teams this year, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Knicks Rumors: Aldridge, Porzingis, Carmelo

August 12th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks cited the presence of Kristaps Porzingis when they let LaMarcus Aldridge know they wanted him to play center, an idea that nixed the scheduled meeting between New York and the marquee free agent, as Aldridge said Tuesday, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

“If they’re going to tell me that I have to play center and I don’t want to play center, then of course it’s mutual after that. But before that I was excited to meet with them. I was interested,” Aldridge said. “But they wanted to have their draft pick play and I get it.”

Aldridge also said he spoke with other players to see if they would have interest in joining him if he were to sign with the Knicks, adding that he also chatted with Carmelo Anthony before the Knicks idea went poof, as Bondy relays. Here’s more on the blue-and-orange:

Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday praised the additions of Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, Kyle O’Quinn, Derrick Williams and Porzingis but didn’t mention No. 19 overall pick Jerian Grant, for whom the Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr., notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman reported in June that Anthony was more upset about losing Hardaway than with the team’s decision to draft Porzingis. However, Anthony strongly denied Tuesday that he was upset with team president Phil Jackson‘s offseason moves.
Before his Tuesday remarks, Anthony took to Instagram to defend the Knicks and make it clear that he has no intention of demanding a trade, as had been speculated, observes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. In one comment, Anthony responded to a fan by saying in part, “You are stuck with me buddy.”
Porzingis might have indirectly turned Aldridge away from the Knicks, but another free agent who jumped from the Trail Blazers to New York is impressed with this year’s No. 4 overall pick. “He’s good,” Arron Afflalo said, as Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com relays. “He’s obviously got a lot of talent, some God-given gifts being that tall and that athletic. What I love most about him was his mentality and his humbleness. I really feel like he wants to get better, he wants to be the best player he can be and with that mentality and those tools, it’s just a matter of time.”

Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Jackson, Embiid

August 3rd, 2015 at 11:47am CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks team president Phil Jackson mentioned six draft prospects that he liked in a late-March interview with confidant Charlie Rosen, posted today on ESPN.com, but none of them were Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian power forward whom the Knicks selected No. 4 overall. Scout Clarence Gaines was perhaps the most influential advocate for Porzingis within the organization, though dropping to the fourth spot in the order because of poor lottery luck no doubt played a major role in New York’s choice. Jackson signaled to Rosen that he preferred the more NBA-ready Jahlil Okafor to Karl-Anthony Towns, but both were off the board by the time the Knicks picked. See more from Jackson amid the latest Atlantic Division news here:

Jackson had praise for Alexey Shved, Lance Thomas and Andrea Bargnani but lost affection for Quincy Acy‘s play, as Rosen details. The Knicks boss also had criticism for Jason Smith‘s reaction to coming off the bench. All five were free agents this summer, but only Thomas re-signed with the Knicks.
The Zen Master indicated that he saw Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan as the prime movers of free agency this summer as far as the Knicks were concerned, but he didn’t mention LaMarcus Aldridge. Of course, Aldridge at that point seemed like a safe bet to re-sign with the Trail Blazers. He instead signed with the Spurs after he and the Knicks mutually decided to cancel a meeting. Jordan met with the Knicks but re-signed with the Clippers, and Gasol didn’t meet with any other teams before signing his new deal with the Grizzlies.
The Sixers said on July 11th that Joel Embiid would have a bone graft surgery within seven to 10 days, but the Philadelphia organization has since made no mention of any surgery for the big man and a team source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now that the Sixers don’t plan any statement this week (Twitter link). The No. 3 pick from 2014 is likely to miss a second consecutive season this year, and an October 31st deadline looms for a decision on his team option of more than $4.826MM for 2016/17.
Amin Elhassan and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com, in an Insider-only piece, debate the paths by which the Celtics can acquire championship-level talent. Boston will have cap flexibility to go after a maximum-salary free agent next summer, but even though the trade market for stars isn’t hot now, that can change and offer the C’s an easier route than free agency would.

Eastern Notes: Okafor, Mickey, Aldridge

July 23rd, 2015 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers first-rounder Jahlil Okafor is preparing himself to be the focal point that Philadelphia will build around, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “I’m definitely used to being the centerpiece of a team,” Okafor said. “That’s what I’ve become accustomed to. That’s what I’ve been working so hard for.” Philly point guard Isaiah Canaan is excited about the possibilities Okafor brings with him to the team, Kennedy adds. “He’s going to open up everything,” Canaan said of Okafor. “He’s a big presence on the post. He can score the ball and he can pass. With a big guy who can do that and draw a lot of attention, he’s going to open up everyone else on the team and he’s going to be big piece for us. You always need a big man on the team. Next to point guard, that’s the most important piece. To have Big Jah and hopefully [Joel] Embiid – if he can come back fully healthy next year – not to mention still adding other pieces, we’ll be fine and have a lot of great players on this team.”

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

The first two seasons of Jordan Mickey‘s four-year deal with the Celtics are fully guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is set to earn $1,170,960 this season, followed by salaries of $1,223,653, $1,276,346, and $1,329,039, Pincus adds.
Ronald Roberts‘ two-year agreement with the Raptors includes a partial guarantee for $75K, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
The final season of Mike Dunleavy‘s three-year pact with the Bulls, which is scheduled to pay him approximately $5.18MM, is only partially guaranteed for $1.66MM, Pincus tweets.
The cancellation of the scheduled meeting between LaMarcus Aldridge and the Knicks was due to New York’s desire for Aldridge to play exclusively at center, a position he is not fond of, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork writes. “They didn’t want to meet with me,” Aldridge said. “Some people said it was me. But it was both parties agreeing that we shouldn’t meet.” League sources informed Begley that Knicks president Phil Jackson decided to cancel the meeting when it became clear that Aldridge had no desire to man the pivot on a nightly basis.

And-Ones: Playoffs, Aldridge, Teletovic, Mekel

July 23rd, 2015 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA is leaning toward no longer guaranteeing a playoff spot to division winners, commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press observes. It would be one more step away from a divisional structure that long ago ceased to have much relevance on roster building, though Pelicans GM Dell Demps recently cited the preponderance of strong post players in the Southwest Division as he spoke about the team’s decision to re-sign Omer Asik. Here’s more from around the NBA:

LaMarcus Aldridge kept the Trail Blazers in the running for him right up until he committed to sign with the Spurs, as Aldridge said this week in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s The Russillo Show, as Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com relays. Aldridge also insisted that he didn’t exit Portland because of any jealousy toward Damian Lillard. “We got along very well during the season,” Aldridge said. “I thought we played well off of each other. So, all of that stuff is just rumors that I’ve dealt with before. Me leaving had nothing to do with any of that. It was just me feeling like being close to home, by my family, being able to see them more and just a change of scenery. I had been in Portland for nine years. I had been through a couple of rebuilds. So it was just time to try something new. It wasn’t anything toward Damian or the organization.”
The decision to cancel the meeting between Aldridge and the Knicks was a mutual one, Aldridge also said in his radio appearance, notes Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
The Nets wanted to keep Mirza Teletovic, offering him a two-year deal that included an option, and the Kings also offered him a two-year deal, but he thought the Suns were a better fit, as Teletovic said to Bosnian media and as Igor Marinovic and NetsDaily relay (Twitter links). Teletovic signed for one-year with Phoenix.
Former Mavericks and Pelicans point guard Gal Mekel is in talks with three NBA teams, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links).
Many scouts say Dragan Bender is the best international prospect, but whether Bender, who won’t turn 19 until November 2016, enters next year’s draft will depend on where he’d likely be drafted, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who looks the 2016 draft class.