LaMarcus Aldridge Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Blazers Notes: Claver, Stotts, Aldridge

May 16th, 2014 at 6:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Victor Claver does not plan on seeking a buyout from the Trail Blazers, reports Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter link). Claver said, “I have one more year on my contract and I want to play one more year.“ He has been unhappy with his playing time, having seen his minutes cut from 16.6 last year to 8.8 per game this season. Claver is scheduled to be paid $1.37MM for the 2014/15 season.

Western Notes: Tucker, Aldridge, Carter

March 29th, 2014 at 6:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

P.J. Tucker has made it known that he wants to re-sign with the Suns this summer, albeit at a higher salary than the veteran’s minimum he has been playing for the last two seasons, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Tucker said, “The love I have for this organization will always be. They gave me a chance to prove myself and actually to prove that I’m a player in this league. It’s almost emotional for me to think about everything I’ve been through and for them to give me an opportunity to do it. Not just to be on the team, but in two seasons, I’ve started a whole year and a half for the team on a minimum contract. That doesn’t happen. When I sit back and think about it, which I never do, it’s too much. So I’ll always be indebted.” The article notes that Tucker was named by Forbes magazine as the most underpaid player in the league with his $884,000 salary. In 72 games, Tucker has averaged 9.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 30.9 minutes per game.

Northwest Rumors: Blazers, Aldridge, Nuggets

February 17th, 2014 at 5:39pm CST by Zachary Links

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin knows that anything can happen at the trade deadline. He was just a rookie with the Spurs when the legendary George Gervin was traded from San Antonio to the Bulls. “I didn’t think a guy like George Gervin could be traded,” said the coach, according to Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter). Here’s the latest out of the Northwest Division..

LaMarcus Aldridge tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that multiple fellow All-Stars approached him this weekend to say that they’d like to join the Blazers. Aldridge declined to identify the players.
Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (via Twitter) notes that if Andre Miller really wanted to return to the Nuggets, he could have taken steps to make it happen. However, it’s clear that he has little-to-no desire to rejoin Denver.
Terry Frei of the Denver Post implores the Nuggets to clean up their mess.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Nelson, Sixers

February 16th, 2014 at 12:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

This Thursday’s trade deadline is an important date for many teams in the league. The right moves can not only help a franchise in their quest to make the playoffs this season, but also influence what a team can do in the off-season personnel wise. But it’s nine days later that is a potentially even more significant date for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. March 1st is the date that players have to be waived by in order to be eligible for another team’s playoff roster, a date informally known as the buyout deadline. Winderman believes that since the Heat don’t have much to offer other teams in potential deals, the team will be more active in looking to pick up a player who has been waived, similar to them picking up Chris Andersen last year. Winderman also opines that any deadline moves the Heat might make would be salary dumps with avoiding luxury tax penalties in mind. Potential waiver candidates to keep an eye on are Caron Butler, Keith Bogans, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Kaman, according to the article.

Odds & Ends: Anthony, Williams, Hardaway Jr.

February 14th, 2014 at 11:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It was reported earlier that Carmelo Anthony might be willing to take a pay cut to remain with the Knicks if it would help the team contend for a championship. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com examines what that would mean for the team going forward. According to Begley, it would be of no help to the team in 2014/2015 no matter how much money Anthony left on the table. If Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani remain on the roster by exercising their player options, the Knicks’ payroll would be over the projected salary-cap line of $62.9MM even without ‘Melo on the team. It is during the 2015/2016 season where the team could reap the benefits. If Anthony signs a max deal, his salary that season will be $24,142,789, and the team would have five players under contract at a total of $39,492,533. This is barring any high-priced additions between now and then with contracts that run through 2015/2016. If Anthony takes a pay cut, it would leave the Knicks enough room to pursue Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo, and would allow the team to add more depth to the roster, a necessary element to contend for a title.

Western Rumors: Clippers, Aldridge, Gay

February 5th, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com examine the chances that the Clippers could wind up with LeBron James this summer, calling them “perhaps the most serious competitor” the Heat will face for the four-time MVP. The Clippers aren’t set to have cap space, but Miami had to pull off some last-minute moves to open up room for their free agent haul in 2010, and a source close to James tells the ESPN.com scribes that James will consider teams without cap room. It would require the Heat to cooperate, and league executives believe they’d ask for Blake Griffin as part of a sign-and-trade, according to Windhorst and Shelburne. While we wait to see if that scenario plays out, here’s more from the West:

LaMarcus Aldridge says he’ll make “winning and happiness and making sure my worth is valued” his priorities in his next contract negotiations, and tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he wants to wait until summer to talk about an extension. That’s the same timetable Blazers owner Paul Allen said he’ll take shortly after Aldridge revealed he’d be open to an extension.
Rudy Gay tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that he isn’t leaning one way or another about whether to exercise his player option this summer, but he says he appreciates the on-court freedom the Kings have given him since December’s trade.
The Suns have assigned Archie Goodwin to the D-League, the team announced. The rookie performed well on his first trip to the Bakersfield Jam late last month, averaging 29.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in a pair of games.
Andre Roberson is back from yesterday’s assignment to the D-League, the Thunder announced. The power forward put up 20 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday for the Tulsa 66ers.

Blazers To Mull Aldridge Extension After Season

January 24th, 2014 at 8:27am CST by Chuck Myron

Amid an MVP-level performance from LaMarcus Aldridge last night, Blazers owner Paul Allen said the team would wait until after the season to consider an extension for the power forward, who recently expressed a willingness to sign an extension with the club. Allen spoke to media at halftime of last night’s victory over the Nuggets, a game in which Aldridge went for a career-high 44 points and was the only Blazer to score in the final 9:18. Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge provides a transcript of Allen’s remarks.

“I talked to [GM] Neil [Olshey] about those things,” Allen said, in reference to an extension for Aldridge. “As you guys know, at the appropriate time we’ll consider all those options. That’s usually when it’s time to look at an extension — after the season is over.”

That’s similar to Olshey’s comment from earlier this month that extension negotiations would not be a “conversation that’s going to play out in the media in January,” a remark he made to Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. Allen nonetheless praised Aldridge’s performance this season and cited his improved leadership skills.

It’s somewhat surprising to see the Blazers put the brakes on extension chatter, given Aldridge’s seeming discontent with Portland in the past, but it’s no shock. They could only add two years to his contract if they signed him to an extension between now and June 30th. Portland can tack three years onto Aldridge’s deal with any extension signed after July 1st. It may also be wise to see if Aldridge can sustain his career-best level of play over an entire season. The Arn Tellem client is under contract until the summer of 2015.

Allen also dispelled the notion that the Blazers would make a major move before the trade deadline to solidify their status as a contender. Rumors linked Portland to Omer Asik when the Rockets were aggressively shopping the center last month.

“I think we’re looking more at internal development, what changes we can make or tweaks we can make,” the owner said. “I don’t think we’re looking at any blockbuster trades or anything like that. Although we always listen.”

Western Notes: Miller, Aldridge, Warriors

January 14th, 2014 at 9:47pm CST by Cray Allred

Rudy Gay says he is happy to be in Sacramento and in a Q&A on the Kings‘ website, he said being traded along with two teammates he’s close with helped make for an easy transition. When asked what he is bringing to his new team, he responded, “People pretty much know what I can do – bring leadership, scoring and all those things I’ve been doing my whole career.” Here are some more notes from around the Western Conference:

Andre Miller still hasn’t played for the Nuggets since his public confrontation with coach Brian Shaw, but the rift between the two isn’t as profound as it’s been portrayed to be, Shaw told reporters, including Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. “He’s dealing with what he needs to deal with. I’m focusing on the team and what’s best for the team right now,” Shaw said. “As I’ve said, I’m willing to coach any(body) and everybody who wants to put the team first. I have nothing but respect for him.”
LaMarcus Aldridge seemed to want out of Portland over the summer, but he’s changed his mind and is thinking about signing an extension because the Trail Blazers have become a more successful team, he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. “[GM] Neil [Olshey] did a great job of bringing in what we needed,” Aldridge said. “He worked with me throughout the process. I’m happy. We’re winning and we look good. Look, I just want to win.”
The Warriors D-League affiliate Santa Cruz Warriors have signed Scott Machado, according to Rusty Simmons of The San Fransisco Chronicle (via Twitter), making official what Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported was forthcoming earlier today.
Suns rookie Archie Goodwin shared his thoughts with SNYtv.com’s Adam Zagoria on prospects Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Henderson, and Julius Randle, comparing the latter to Josh Smith. Goodwin believes he would have been drafted much higher than 29th last year had his Kentucky Wildcats team made an NCAA tournament run instead of losing in the first round of the NIT tournament.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Aldridge Open To Signing Extension

January 12th, 2014 at 9:10pm CST by Cray Allred

Rumors of LaMarcus Aldridge‘s satisfaction with the Blazers have gone from pegging the MVP candidate as disgruntled, to appeased, to content in recent years, with speculation about his willingness to stay with Portland long-term settling down as the team has surprisingly stayed near the top the Western Conference standings this season. Now Aldridge is going on the record as wanting an extension, telling Kerry Eggers of The Portland Tribune that he’s ready to sit down with GM Neil Olshey and begin negotiating a new contract:

“I would like to re-sign here,” Aldridge says. “If they want to talk about it, I would talk about it. They haven’t yet, but I’m looking forward to the chance to do that.”

The two-time All-Star is scoring (23.6 PPG) and rebounding (11 RPG) at a career-best rate, and is likely to make his third straight appearance this year. It seems like a no-doubter that the Blazers, who have desperately constructed their roster to meet Aldridge’s desire to be on a competitive team, would extend the 28-year-old to a max deal, although Olshey says the “appropriate” time for those negotiations hasn’t arrived yet. Olshey wouldn’t reveal to Eggers when that time would be, saying, “It’s not a conversation that’s going to play out in the media in January.”

Aside from the Blazers’ success in the win-loss column this year, Aldridge cites a growing level of trust with coach Terry Stotts, the support of Portland fans, and the unselfishness of his teammates as reasons he wants to stick around with the team that acquired him on 2006’s draft night, when the Bulls made him the second-overall pick and dealt him to the Blazers for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa.

Western Notes: Aldridge, Thunder, Blair

December 26th, 2013 at 6:01pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Posting up career-numbers in points, rebounds, and assists in addition to leading the Trail Blazers to a current three-way tie for the league’s best record, LaMarcus Aldridge is arguably a strong candidate for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award at this point in the season. Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge relayed some noteworthy comments from Aldridge during an interview with ESPN’s Chris Broussard, and it appears that the 28-year-old forward wants to remain in Portland for the long-term:

“I’m here. I love it here. This team is good and we’re winning. I’ve been here my whole career. I’m in the history books here. I don’t want to leave. I feel this team is good enough to win it all one day and be there.”

Here’s more of what we’ve gathered out of the Western Conference tonight:

Although some offseason narratives had the Thunder taking a step back this year after losing Kevin Martin to free agency, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix writes about how Oklahoma City’s young bench – in addition to career-best numbers from Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka as well as elite play from Russell Westbrook – has played a major role in keeping the team within title contention this season. Interestingly enough, Mannix points out that the reserves’ combined 34.1 PPG marks the highest output of the entire Durant era.
Sam Amick of USA Today echoes the same sentiments from Mannix and revisits how the Thunder, facing drastic changes due to the NBA’s harsh new collective bargaining agreement, were able to recover nicely after making the tough call to deal James Harden over a season ago.
Previously relegated to spot minutes in San Antonio, DeJuan Blair has had tonight’s matchup against the Spurs circled on his calendar for quite some time, says Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas, who adds that the 6’7 forward has been a bargain banger since signing with the Mavericks this past summer. Blair, who is currently averaging 8.3 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 20.9 MPG, has made it known on several occasions about being unhappy with the way his 4-year stint with the Spurs had ended.
According to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, Lakers forward Ryan Kelly has carved out a role in the team’s rotation and earned some public praise from Mike D’Antoni after practice earlier today: “He knows how to play, defensively and offensively…Defensively he’s the first one to get to the right spot. I think that going forward, he can keep earning more time. I’m pretty excited about him.” D’Antoni also suggested that Kelly’s newfound opportunity to earn floor time could come at the expense of Chris Kaman and Robert Sacre‘s rotation minutes.