LeBron James Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Notes: James, Irving, Blatt

January 1st, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

“Outlandish” was the word LeBron James used Wednesday to dismiss rumors that he might be leaving the Cavaliers again, reports Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I’m here to build, build something great in the present and the future, and that’s the reason I’m back,” said the four-time MVP. “I’ve got no other reason to have to continue to talk about things that’s so outlandish. So, I’m here, this is where I’ll be, and this is where I’m comfortable.” Rumors of unrest in Cleveland have accompanied a disappointing 18-14 start and have fueled reports that James is looking elsewhere. He has a two-year, $42.1MM contract with a player option after this season, but he has stated many times that he signed the short deal to maximize his market value.

There’s a lot more from Cleveland:

Some of those rumors stemmed from a video of a conversation between James and former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade after their Christmas Day game, but Wade tells Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel that they weren’t talking about basketball. “It had nothing to do with [reuniting],” Wade said. “It was about bigger and better things later.”
Despite the dysfunction in Cleveland, Kyrie Irving says it’s still better than not being in contention, according to Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I’d rather be in this position right now than [where] I was last year,” he said. “We’re just in a great mental place and I’m in a great mental place.” Irving signed a five-year, maximum-salary extension in July.
It’s up to owner Dan Gilbert to settle the team’s coaching situation, opines Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein contends the Cavaliers made a mistake by hiring David Blatt, who had no experience as an NBA head coach, before they knew if James was returning. He says Gilbert needs to either fire Blatt and take the heat for the move or demand that James throw his full support behind the coach, although he admits the second option is hard to picture considering James’ immense power in the organization.

LeBron James Won’t Rule Out Leaving Cavs?

December 30th, 2014 at 9:24am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James is intent on making the “appropriate business decision” as he approaches his next chance at free agency, even if that means leaving the Cavs, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears. There would no doubt be harsh public criticism were he to leave Cleveland a second time, but he’s willing to act if his hand is forced, Haynes writes. James, who celebrates his 30th birthday today, has a player option worth more than $21.573MM for next season, though he’s said on multiple occasions that he inked a short-term contract simply to maximize his earnings and without the intention of signing with any other team.

James gave conflicting statements Monday about his feelings regarding coach David Blatt, but the four-time MVP hasn’t gone to Cavs management to request that Blatt be fired, nor will he at any point this season, a league source tells Haynes. James said that his relationship with Blatt improves by the day and that Blatt has the attention of his players, in response to rumors that Cavs management is concerned about the way the roster has taken to Blatt, notes fellow Northeast Ohio Media Group scribe Joe Vardon. Still, when Vardon asked James whether he felt Blatt was the right coach for the team, James simply said, “Yeah, he’s our coach, I mean, what other coach do we have?” as Vardon passes along via Twitter.

The Cavs have reportedly been a “little uncomfortable” with the ability James has to hit free agency again so soon, and he has no desire to play for a “sputtering organization,” Haynes writes. The Cavs, at 18-12, have struggled to establish themselves as the elite team they were roundly expected to be this season. Still, it’s similar to what played out for years ago in Miami, when James was also with a team having difficulty blending the talents on a revamped, superstar-laden roster. The Heat nonetheless made the Finals all four years that James was with the club.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Hawks, Knicks, Bass

December 29th, 2014 at 6:42pm CST by ChrisCrouse

LeBron James insists that coach David Blatt has the players’ attention, writes Joe Vardon of Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I think my relationship with the coach continues to get better and better every day,” James said. “It’s just two months of us being together. I don’t know him fully, he doesn’t know me fully, he doesn’t know any of the guys fully, and that’s to be expected. It’s our first year together. But he has our attention.” There were reports that members of the Cavs organization were concerned about how the players are responding to Blatt. The team hasn’t met expectations this season and has lost two of three games since center Anderson Varejao was sidelined with a torn Achilles.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The sale of the Hawks is still slow-going, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who writes in his weekly power rankings column. Spears piggybacks on September speculation from TNT’s David Aldridge that Grant Hill will be among the bidders.
The Knicks aren’t ready to make “fire-sale” maneuvers just yet, one NBA GM told Spears for the same piece. New York is 5-28 on the season and ranks 27th in the league on offense, scoring only 94.6 points per game.
Celtics forward Brandon Bass understands the team’s decision to trade Rajon Rondo and is committed to the team as currently constructed, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. “My job is to work with what we have. That’s what I do. It’s sad to see Rondo leave, but at the end of the day, it’s a business,” said Bass. “Every year here somebody left. You’ve got to work with what you’ve got. I am a firm believer that, I don’t believe in looking for no people to come join a team — I ain’t into looking and searching for a team to go to win a championship. That’s not who I am. I’m into working with what we’ve got and making the best of it.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Heat Rumors: LeBron, Cavs, Wade

December 24th, 2014 at 1:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs and Heat both go into Thursday’s LeBron James reunion game in Miami on rather profound down notes. The Heat lost Tuesday to the lowly Sixers, while the Cavs learned today that Anderson Varejao has a torn Achilles tendon and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Still, Miami would probably trade the position it’s in for Cleveland’s troubles. Here’s more on the after-effects still rippling from James’ decision to leave the Heat:

What bothers people within the Heat who believe that James knew he would return to Cleveland well before he met with Pat Riley in July was that James’ failure to let Miami’s brass know his choice hurt the team in free agency, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears. James publicly announced his decision on July 11th, after many prominent free agents had committed to sign or had narrowed their options. Those Heat insiders think James’ chief concern was how his decision-making process would play from a public relations standpoint and question whether James wanted more say in personnel decisions and more accommodations for his friends, Jackson writes.
The Cavs hired Randy Mims, James’ personal assistant, this season, but they complained to the league when the Heat attempted to hire him shortly after James signed with Miami four years ago, claiming it would circumvent the salary cap, a league source tells Jackson.
Dwyane Wade has no hard feelings, and he told reporters today that James made the right decision when he returned to Cleveland, adding that he didn’t attempt to prevail upon the four-time MVP to stay in Miami. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports and Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post relay Wade’s thoughts in a pair of tweets.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Brand, George

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:41am CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite the Cavs‘ early struggles LeBron James insists that he isn’t losing patience, and while he doesn’t like losing, he is happy with the effort the team is giving, something Cleveland fans took as signaling this was a rebuilding year for the Cavs, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. James acknowledged that in a way, the franchise was rebuilding, notes Haynes.

“We put a lot of pieces together that weren’t here last year,” James said. “I don’t want to say rebuilding. I think when people think of rebuilding, they think of starting from the ground up. We are a team that wasn’t together last year so [we] have the same struggles as the 76ers or teams like the Miami Heat right now. And us, we have some of the same qualities as far as putting new guys together. Obviously the talent is a little bit different on every team, but coming together and going through a new system [is the same]. We have a new coach, we have a new staff, and we have new players.”

Here’s more from the east:

Though he’s only made two appearances thus far for Atlanta this season, Elton Brand is happy that he chose to re-sign with the Hawks this past summer, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “It’s kind of what I expected coming here,” Brand said. “I look at the teams that I could have been with. Some are doing well. Dallas said ‘What do you want to do? Do you want to come back?’ Some other teams I could have played a lot of minutes with are doing really bad. So, would I want to be there? I believe in our talent, what we have and I’m glad I’m here.”
Paul George still believes that he can recover from the broken leg he suffered while playing for Team USA this summer in time to return to the Pacers by April, Michael Marot of The Associated Press writes. “It’s a goal, for sure, to have an opportunity to play this year,” George said. “We have a good team and one of my goals is to come back and try and help this team out any way I can.”
But Indiana’s head coach Frank Vogel continued to preach caution regarding his star, Marot adds. “It’s up to the doctors to see where he’s at,” Vogel said. “He [George] really hasn’t done much activity other than walking around and shooting around. It’s still very unlikely he’ll play this season.”

Cavs Notes: Varejao, LeBron, Trades, Blatt, Kirk

November 19th, 2014 at 2:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Anderson Varejao isn’t sure that the Cavs didn’t resist trading him over the past few years in hopes that he might serve a lure to draw friend LeBron James back to Cleveland, but regardless of the Cavs’ intentions, Varejao’s presence paid dividends, reports Ian Thomsen of NBA.com.

“That’s a big part of the reason why I came back: It was because he was still here,” James said. “A lot of people told him he should talk about getting traded or force his way out of here, and he just stuck around, man. And I’m happy that he’s still here. He’s a big cornerstone of this franchise being here for over 10 years, and it wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Varejao will be around for a while longer after signing a three-year $30MM extension last month, and presumably he’ll continue to serve as enticement for James, who possesses a player option for next season, to stay. Here’s more from Cleveland:

GM David Griffin acknowledges the team’s defensive shortcomings, and he’s not holding back when it comes to finding a solution, as he tells Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group. “No one is untouchable, and you’re never done building a team, so we’re always paying attention to what opportunities are out there,” Griffin said. “My tendency is always trying to do what we can do to improve the roster. But I’m not looking to create one so much as paying attention to what I’m hearing.” Still, the GM cautioned that he wouldn’t put much stock in any player movement rumors involving his team for the time being.
The Cavs took a chance on David Blatt this summer, and despite a 5-4 start, Griffin remains confident in the first-year head coach, as Haynes relays in the same piece. “I think David has done a tremendous job,” he said. “I think his task is very large. I feel bad in a lot of ways because people have a tendency to want everything to happen right now and when it doesn’t, it has to be someone’s fault when in reality, this adversity is very organic and good for us. He’s renowned for his ability to innovate and make adjustments. I’m glad he’s our partner in this.”
Rookie Alex Kirk is headed back on D-League assignment, the team announced. The center just returned to the big club Monday from three days with the Canton Charge, as our log of D-League assignments and recalls shows.

Eastern Notes: Waiters, Bazemore, Cavs

November 8th, 2014 at 10:45am CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite their win in Denver last night the Cavs are off to a bit of a rough start to the new season. Dion Waiters, one of the players struggling to adjust to his new role, isn’t likely to remain on Cleveland’s roster for the long haul, Steven Ruiz of USA Today writes. The 22-year-old guard isn’t in a rush to win yet, and isn’t quite ready to sacrifice his numbers and potential earning power for the good of the team, Ruiz opines. Waiters could potentially be trade bait to acquire a defensive stopper, something the Cavs sorely need, adds the USA Today scribe.

Here’s more from the east:

This past offseason Kent Bazemore inked a two year, $4MM deal with the Hawks. In an interview with Paul Garcia of Project Spurs, Bazemore discussed why he chose Atlanta, saying, “It was a good mix, an up-and-coming team, myself, I’m an up-and-coming player. The system is good, how the ball moves, a lot of pick-and-rolls stuff, those play to my strengths; how they play defensively, how active they are defensively and I was in talks with them a lot. They were one of the more persistent teams, that’s what you look for in those type of situations – signs of loyalty, and they were around the entire time, and they worked very diligent with my agent to get a deal done, so what other better place?”
Bazemore also confirmed that the Spurs were interested in signing him this past summer, Garcia adds. “Yeah,” said Bazemore, “they [San Antonio] reached out to my agent, showed some interest, but I came here [Atlanta], so the second best thing obviously – same system.” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer is a former Spurs assistant, and Atlanta runs a similar offensive system to San Antonio’s.
Both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving threw cold water on the reports that there were chemistry issues between the two Cavs stars, Pat Graham of the Associated Press writes. “We’re two dynamic players and it’s coming along well, I believe,” James said. “It’s going to continue to get better and better. It’s just four games. It’s our first time playing together. Every game is going to be a learned experience for both of us. It’s not just me and Kyrie. It’s myself and the rest of the guys, and Kyrie and the rest of the guys as well.“

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Noel, Knicks

November 5th, 2014 at 7:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

If LeBron James was indeed trying to send a message to his teammates during the Cavs‘ 101-82 loss to the Blazers last night, it’s a risky move that may backfire, Nate Scott of USA Today opines. James had one of the worst games of his career and immediately passed the ball anytime it came to him during the second half of the game. “I’m just trying to do other things,” James said. “I’m trying to instill what it takes to win. My mission is not a one-game thing. We have to do multiple things in order to win. We have to share the ball. We’ve got to play defense. We’ve got to sacrifice in order to ultimately win. Obviously, when you’re going through the process, it’s not the best part of it. But I’m looking at the end of the tunnel.” Scott believes it might be too early in the season for James to try and light a fire under the rest of the team, and it could end up causing issues in the locker room.

Here’s more from the east:

James realizes that many of his new teammates in Cleveland haven’t had experience with winning in the NBA, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “There has been a lot of losing basketball around here for a few years,” James said. “A lot of guys who are going to help us win ultimately haven’t played a lot of meaningful basketball games in our league. When we get to that point where every possession matters, no possessions off, we have to share the ball, move the ball and be a team and be unselfish, we’ll be a better team.”
Knicks second round draftee Thanasis Antetokounmpo said it was a call from team president Phil Jackson during the summer that sealed his decision to play in the NBA D-League rather than overseas, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets.
Nerlens Noel is the early leader for Rookie of the Year honors, Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com writes. The Sixers‘ big man is attempting to duplicate Blake Griffin‘s feat of winning the award after sitting out his first year due to injury, notes the Philly.com scribe. In four games Noel is averaging 8.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG.

Wojnarowski On LeBron, Rich Paul, Jackson

October 31st, 2014 at 12:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

The leverage that LeBron James has with his player option for 2015/16 has been overstated, since his reputation and brand simply couldn’t sustain the negative publicity that leaving Cleveland a second time would engender, opines Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs’ upset loss to the Knicks in James’ first regular season game in Cleveland since his return this summer was a sobering affair for the wine-and-gold, and Wojnarowski’s column further dampens what had largely been a feel-good narrative for the team. Wojnarowski shares more than just his beliefs in his piece, and we’ll pass along the newsworthy tidbits here:

At least one executive from a team believes that when clubs met with agent Rich Paul during James’ free agency this summer, the agent was just stringing them along, as the exec tells Wojnarowski.
Paul doesn’t negotiate contracts for his Klutch Sports clients, instead delegating that task to Mark Termini, according to Wojnarowski. The agency wouldn’t exist if not for the financial support of James, Wojnarowski writes, describing Paul’s role as a “personable frontman” and as a deputy recruiter under James.
Klutch represents James and extension-eligible teammate Tristan Thompson, and the agents for the rest of the Cavs are on “full alert” as they try to keep their clients away from Klutch, as Wojnarowski details. The Klutch agency is selling the idea that if players join, the Cavs are likely to sign them to a deal, according to Wojnarowski.
People around the league are closely monitoring Klutch client Mark Jackson, though the general belief is that James wouldn’t want Jackson to coach his team, based on what the Yahoo! columnist describes as Jackson’s penchant for self-promotion, Wojnarowski hears. That same self-promotion nonetheless keeps Jackson on the radar, Wojnarowski believes.

Latest On Cavs, Tristan Thompson

October 30th, 2014 at 8:06am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 8:06am: A sense of optimism surrounds the talks at this point, sources tell Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Lloyd hears that Thompson is seeking annual salaries of more than $10MM, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t targeting the roughly $12MM number that Windhorst pegged in his report from earlier (below). Thompson and Anderson Varejao, who’s discussing a veteran extension with the Cavs, are likely to make about the same amount if they’re to sign extensions, and it doesn’t appear as though Varejao is willing to accept much less per year than his current salary of nearly $9.705MM, Lloyd writes.

MONDAY, 10:32am: Negotiations between the Cavs and Tristan Thompson have stalled as the Rich Paul client seeks salaries of around $12MM a year in a rookie scale extension, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Still, both sides maintain hope that they’ll reach a deal by Friday’s deadline, Windhorst adds. The report adds some clarity to a series of conflicting dispatches regarding whether Thompson and Cleveland were in talks, as I laid out earlier in light of the news that the Cavs are discussing an extension with Anderson Varejao.

Executives and agents around the league are keeping an eye on the talks with Thompson to gauge how closely LeBron James is involved with Cleveland’s front office decision-making, as Windhorst details. James and Thompson are both clients of Paul, and James holds a player option for next season that he can decline to hit free agency this summer, which makes the team a “little uncomfortable,” Windhorst writes, even though James has said multiple times he has no intention of leaving. Thompson will start the season as a bench player after Varejao won the starting center job, and it would be difficult for many teams to stomach paying $12MM for a sixth man.

Still, agents are growing bolder with an influx of TV money on the way, and lucrative deals for Eric Bledsoe, Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons this summer have left many player representatives optimistic about the prospect of restricted free agency, according to Windhorst. Greg Monroe, who wound up signing a qualifying offer worth just $5.48MM for this season, is a cautionary tale, though he reportedly rejected much more lucrative proposals.

The Cavs have only about $21.5MM in commitments for 2015/16, but that doesn’t include money for James, Love or Varejao, all of whom can become free agents. Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and second-round pick Joe Harris are the only Cavs under fully guaranteed contracts that contain no option clauses for that season.