Larry Sanders Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Pelinka, Jackson, Sanders

February 25th, 2017 at 10:57am CST by Austin Kent

As the Lakers undergo their own transition as a franchise, recently appointed general manager Rob Pelinka‘s sports agency Landmark Sports is undergoing one of its own. Sports Illustrated’s Jake Fischer explored what the process will entail for Pelinka, the agency in general and, most of all, all of the players who’ve suddenly seen a change in representation.

Currently Pelinka’s clients, like James Harden, have been transferred to other members of the Landmark Sports agency and Fischer wonders if pending free agents like Andre Iguodala and Dion Waiters will seek agencies with sturdier leadership.

The three representatives who’ve inherited the client list, Fischer writes, were previously responsible for salary cap analysis, public relations and marketing at the agency. The Lakers can’t formally hire Pelinka until he is officially divested from Landmark Sports.

There’s more from around the NBA:

Just four months shy of the NBA Draft, high-profile lottery prospect Josh Jackson has been charged with misdemeanor property damage, writes college reporter Adam Zagoria. The Kansas forward is currently pegged at No. 3 on the DraftExpress mock draft.
General managers were particularly keen to hold onto their first-round picks in this year’s draft, tweets Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Of the five first-rounders traded this month, four were No. 22 or worse. Teams are “holding onto picks with dear life,” one general manager told him.
Prior to the trade deadline, the Timberwolves and Suns inquired about Euroleague center Ognjen Kuzmic, writes international basketball reporter David Pick. The Belgrade star, however, has no outs in his current contract.
Free agent Larry Sanders still doesn’t have a new home in the NBA. According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders the Cavaliers remain interested in the center but the Celtics and Lakers were not impressed with what they saw in workouts.

And-Ones: Cavs, Bogut, Barnes, Holiday

February 23rd, 2017 at 12:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavs won’t make a decision on Larry Sanders until after the trade deadline, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com passes along (ESPN Now link). Cleveland is also keeping an eye on the Andrew Bogut situation. The Cavs would like to bring the center aboard and they’re expected to be in the mix for him.

Here’s more from around the league:

Several teams have expressed interest in Matt Barnes, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Sources tell Shelburne that he’s waiting until after the trade deadline to make a decision.
Jarrett Jack will audition for the Pelicans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. New Orleans is pursuing backcourt help after trading away several players in the DeMarcus Cousins deal.
Point guard and pending free agent Jrue Holiday said the Pelicans “see me as a part of [the future],” the team tweets. The organization is calling Holiday, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis their version of a Big Three.
Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis will be the co-captains of the Ghost Ballers, the fourth official team in the new 3-on-3 league, according to a press release on BIG3.com.
Thunder center Enes Kanter returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing arm surgery, Royce Young of ESPN.com reports. It’s uncertain whether Kanter, who suffered a broken arm punching a chair on the bench on January 26th, will return to action on Friday against the Lakers.
Former Rockets center Yao Ming, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, has been appointed as president of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an ESPN.com report. He gave up ownership of the league’s Shanghai Sharks in order to take over his new role.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post

Trade Rumors: Suns, Okafor, Butler, Favors

February 23rd, 2017 at 1:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have expressed some interest in trading for Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Kuzminskas has averaged 14.6 MPG in 47 contests in his rookie season in New York, chipping in 6.0 PPG and 1.9 RPG. He’s under contract next season at a rate of about $3MM before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency in 2018.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

Within his latest rumor notebook for HoopsHype, Alex Kennedy writes that rival executives believe Sixers big man Jahlil Okafor is much more likely to be moved at the deadline than Nets center Brook Lopez. Kennedy notes that Okafor has received interest from the Kings, while Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer says the Lakers could be in the mix for Okafor. In a non-trade item, Kennedy also adds the Heat to the list of potential suitors for veteran free agent Larry Sanders.
Appearing on NBA TV on Wednesday, TNT’s David Aldridge suggested that the Bulls would insist on Jae Crowder in any package for Jimmy Butler, and the Celtics would be very hesitant to include him, given his role in Boston’s rotation and his extremely team-friendly contract. Brian Robb of 98.5 The Sports Hub (Twitter link) passes along Aldridge’s full comments. Meanwhile, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune reports that the Sixers inquired on Butler, but were rebuffed by the Bulls.
Based on his knowledge of the offers the Jazz have received, agent Wallace Prather doesn’t expect the club to move his client Derrick Favors before Thursday’s deadline, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. However, Prather acknowledged that things could change as the last minute.
After reporting earlier on Wednesday that the Thunder were eyeing Wilson Chandler, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that the Nuggets forward is no longer on OKC’s radar. Still, Amick didn’t rule out the possibility of the Thunder circling back to Chandler if other options fall through (Twitter link).

Cavaliers Notes: Shumpert, Mack, Sanders

February 22nd, 2017 at 6:22pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Iman Shumpert has been the subject of trade rumors with the Wolves and Rockets among the teams showing interest, but coach Tyronn Lue believes the Cavaliers will keep him on the team, as Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com relays. “You wish you could trade and get all the people you say you can get, but it never happens. … If you hear about 200 trades, there’s probably two that happens,” Lue said.

Here’s more out of Cleveland:

Back-up point guard isn’t as much of a need for the Cavs as it was earlier in the season, Vardon writes in the same piece. “In the playoffs you can always get away with playing [LeBron James] at the backup point guard,” Lue said. “The backup point guard situation was more so to not play Bron and [Kyrie Irving] so many minutes throughout the regular season, but, I mean we just gotta go with what we got.”
The Cavs recently engaged in trade talks with the Jazz regarding a swap of Shelvin Mack and Jordan McRae, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Haynes adds that the discussions have stalled out.
Lue said he was impressed with Larry Sanders, who worked out for the Cavs today, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets. Lue added that the biggest question with the big man is whether he loves the game or not.

Cavaliers To Work Out Larry Sanders

February 22nd, 2017 at 7:35am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have had discussions with Joel Bell, the agent for free agent big man Larry Sanders, league sources tell Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net. Chris Haynes of ESPN.com tweets that Cleveland is believed to have a workout lined up with Sanders, while Keith Smith of RealGM adds (via Twitter) that the audition will happen today.

With Chris Andersen no longer on the roster and Kevin Love on the shelf with a knee injury, the Cavs are fairly thin in the frontcourt, so if Sanders impresses in his workout, he could earn a deal with the team, as Smith notes. Currently, the Cavs have 13 fully guaranteed contracts on their books, with Derrick Williams set to sign a new 10-day deal. That leaves one open roster spot, though I’d expect Cleveland to wait until after the trade deadline to make a decision on Sanders or any other free agent.

A first-round pick in 2010, Sanders hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2014/15 season, when he announced that he was leaving the game for personal reasons. The Bucks waived him under the stretch provision, and he remains on the team’s cap at about $1.866MM per season through 2021/22. That figure would be reduced by setoff if he signs with another organization.

Sanders, now 28, flashed promising upside during his initial stint in the NBA. In the 2012/13 season, the last time he was fully healthy, Sanders averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Injuries and off-the-court problems limited him to 50 games over his last two seasons in the NBA.

Bell recently expressed optimism that his client would be on an NBA roster soon, telling Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times that a lot of teams had expressed interest in Sanders, and at least one of those clubs had made a contract offer.

Lakers Meeting With Larry Sanders

February 13th, 2017 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are currently meeting with free agent center Larry Sanders, according to Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link). It’s not clear how serious the Lakers’ interest in Sanders is, or if L.A. was one of six teams reportedly in attendance at the big man’s workout in Miami last week.

Sanders’ agent, Joel Bell, expressed optimism over the weekend that his client would be on an NBA roster soon, telling Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times that a lot of teams had expressed interest in Sanders, and at least one of those clubs had made a contract offer. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) hears that Sanders “came in really under weight” to his workout last week, adding that there wasn’t much serious interest from teams.

Sanders hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2014/15 season, when he announced that he was leaving the game for personal reasons. The Bucks waived him under the stretch provision, and he remains on the team’s cap at about $1.866MM per season through 2021/22. That figure would be reduced by setoff if he signs with another organization.

Sanders, now 28, flashed promising upside during his initial stint in the NBA, so teams taking a look at him now will be interested to see if he still looks like that same player. In the 2012/13 season, the last time he was fully healthy, Sanders averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Injuries and off-the-court problems limited him to 50 games over his last two seasons in the NBA.

If the Lakers get serious about signing Sanders, they’d have to waive or trade someone to clear a spot on their 15-man roster. L.A. is about $530K under the cap and still has its full $2.898MM room exception available, so the team could offer Sanders more than the minimum, if necessary.

Latest On Larry Sanders

February 11th, 2017 at 9:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Larry Sanders hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2014/15 season, but earlier this month, he announced that he was attempting a comeback. He hired Joel Bell to be his agent and he recently worked out for several teams, including the Celtics. According to Bell, one NBA team has already made an offer to the big man, as Gery Woelfel relays on his website.

“A lot of teams have expressed interest in Larry,’’ Bell said. “We already have one offer on the table. We should have something done at some point, probably by the All-Star break.’’

Six teams attended Sanders’ workout in Miami, though Bell wouldn’t disclose which teams were in attendance nor would he disclose which team made the offer.

An anonymous NBA executive from a team which is considered a “lock” for the playoffs told Woelfel that his team had representatives at Sanders’ workout. The source told Woelfel that Sanders had a good showing at the workout and added that two other playoff-bound teams were also in attendance.

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Sanders, Grant

February 5th, 2017 at 10:28pm CST by Austin Kent

The Nuggets have a stockpile of young, promising assets but make no mistake, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes, Nikola Jokic is their budding star. The second-year big man was shifted into the final spot of the team’s pregame starting lineup routine several weeks ago and hasn’t been able to duck out of the spotlight since.

While Jokic’s traditional numbers have improved dramatically since the Nuggets formally slid him back ahead of Jusuf Nurkic on the depth chart, his impact on the team’s overall offensive rating is significant, too. In 11 January contests, Jokic averaged 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. When he’s on the court, Dempsey explains, the team’s offensive rating is 11 points higher.

Of course now that the Nuggets have pinpointed Jokic as the foundation on which they’ll build their future not everybody in the locker room is pleased with where things are headed. In his own piece for the Denver Post, Mark Kiszla writes that certain players are pouting now that things haven’t worked out in their favor.

Nurkic, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are three players who Kiszla suggests need to think long and hard about whether they want to be in Denver long-term. He adds that their attitudes are not conducive to winning, which a Nuggets team in the hunt for a playoff spot ought to take into consideration as the February 23 trade deadline approaches.

That’s not all out of the Northwest Division:

While the Jazz have gotten their fair share of attention as an emerging Western Conference threat, one player that hasn’t gotten the recognition he probably deserves is Joe Johnson. “It’s almost like we forget about Joe — or you guys do — until he does something great,” head coach Quin Snyder tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. The 35-year-old was brought board with a two-year deal to provide experience on a young roster. Utah currently sits fourth in the West with a 32-19 record.
The Trail Blazers have no interest in adding big man Larry Sanders, tweets Jason Quick of CSN Northwest. The team is too close to the tax line to take on any addition salary. Sanders, who seeks to return to the league after abruptly retiring in 2015, is making his rounds working out with various franchises in need of a big man.
Retired forward Harvey Grant sees similarities between his first few years in the league and his son’s. Jerami Grant is in his third NBA season but just his first with the Thunder. “He reminds me so much of me,” the elder Grant told Brett Dawson of the Oklahoman. “It took me about three years to really get where I wanted to get, and once I scratched that surface, I just took off.“

Mavs Notes: Ferrell, Sanders, Bogut

February 4th, 2017 at 8:45am CST by Milo Taibi

After signing a 10-day contract with Dallas on January 27th, Yogi Ferrell has hit the ground running. The former Hoosier has averaged 37.8 MPG in four appearances and turned in a masterpiece last night, torching Portland for 32 points on nine 3-pointers in a 108-104 victory. Ferrell was cut loose by the Nets after playing in 10 games this season, but now looks to have found carved a role through the rest of 2016/17 in Dallas.

Ferrell deserves to be the first player ever to win NBA player of the week honors while on a 10-day contract, Eddie Sefko of Dallas News writes. Ferrell’s nine 3-pointers is the highest total from a Mavericks rookie since Roddy Beaubois scored 40 points against the Warriors in 2010/11.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban indicated he will sign Ferrell for the rest of the season, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. GM Donnie Nelson praised Ferrell’s performance following Friday’s showing. “That’s exactly how we scripted it, step in and start against two of the top three teams in the league,” Nelson told Price. “It’s just really kind of a special moment in time and he put himself in a great position. It’s really very unique and he obviously was kind of the straw that stirred the drink for those two games against pretty formidable opponents. So let’s just hope the trend continues.”
The Mavericks are among five teams interested in free agent Larry Sanders, according to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box. Sanders’ agent, Joel Bell, indicated a deal with one of the teams could come together soon. “By the end of next week, we should have a reasonably good handle on where this is going,’’ Bell said.
Matt Mosley of Dallas News was hesitant to list Deron Williams or Andrew Bogut as a viable trade chip, noting each player’s extensive injury history. Bogut, who has been recently sidelined with a hamstring injury, hasn’t carved out a role in Rick Carlisle‘s rotation, averaging a career-worst three points through 25 games in Dallas. Tim MacMahon of ESPN noted the possibility of Bogut’s contract being bought out after the trade deadline.

Southwest Notes: Howard, Rockets, Sanders, Gasol

February 3rd, 2017 at 9:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Hawks center Dwight Howard doesn’t take any extra satisfaction from Thursday’s victory in Houston, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. Howard posted 24 points and 23 rebounds as Atlanta rallied from a big fourth quarter deficit. Afterward, he said he “just wanted to win” and believes things have worked out better for both him and the Rockets since he signed with Atlanta last summer. “I chose this city in free agency and I chose it for a reason,” Howard said of his decision to come to Houston in 2013. “I thought Houston was a great place and I still do think it’s a great place. But the business of basketball, you’ve always got to do what’s best for you and I felt coming home would have been great for my career, being coached by a great coach in Bud [Mike Budenholzer] and playing with certain players on this team. But also just being at home is something I’ve always wanted to do all my life is play in Atlanta. I have that opportunity, so I’ll try to make the best of it.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Howard’s departure has turned the Rockets into a happier team, Blinebury notes in a separate story. He and James Harden both wanted to be the team leader during his three years in Houston, Blinebury states, and they had different visions of what the Rockets should do. He adds that Howard was just “marking time” last season and was looking forward to opting out.
Three Southwest Division teams are possible destinations for former Bucks center Larry Sanders, according to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’sPressBox. Sanders, who hasn’t played in the NBA since 2014/15, has hired an agent and will meet with teams next week in Miami. A source told Woelfel that the five clubs with the best shot at landing Sanders are the Rockets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Celtics and Timberwolves. Several teams have contacted the Bucks to get more information on Sanders, who is expected to receive about $300K for the rest of the season if he does sign somewhere.
The Spurs could have Pau Gasol back in the lineup after the All-Star break, posts Michael C. Wright on ESPN Now. The veteran center underwent surgery January 20th after breaking a finger on his left hand.