LeBron James Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Keene, LeBron, Zion, Africa League, Tampering

February 17th, 2019 at 2:28pm CST by JD Shaw

The Memphis Hustle have bought out the contract of Marcus Keene, allowing Keene to sign overseas in South Korea with the Jeonju KCC Egis, a source told Hoops Rumors.

Keene traveled to South Korea on Sunday to join the team, a source said.

Keene, a former Central Michigan standout, averaged 8.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game in 25 contests with the Hustle this season. He went undrafted in 2017 despite being the NCAA Division l scoring leader with Central Michigan, tallying an impressive 30 points per game.

The Jeonju KCC Egis play in the Korean Basketball League, which holds its regular season from October to April. It consists of 10 different teams that play 53 games each.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

LeBron James lauded the overall game of Duke prospect Zion Williamson, praising him for his insane athleticism and quickness at his size, as relayed by Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. “What strikes me? His agility and his quickness,” James said. “For his size, how strong he is, to be able to move like the way he moves, he’s very impressive. I mean, everybody can see the athleticism. That’s obviously, that’s ridiculous. But the speed and the quickness that he moves [with] at that size is very impressive.” James traveled to see Williamson play against the University of Virginia last week, insisting to the media that the trip wasn’t for recruiting.
The NBA and FIBA have announced plans to bring a new professional basketball league to Africa. The Basketball Africa League, which is set to have 12 unnamed teams in the competition, is expected to begin play in January of 2020. “As we’ve been talking about this concept over the last several months, there’s been a tremendous reception from several of our NBA team owners,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “Several of our partners have also expressed an interest to work with us in Africa.” Former President Barack Obama is also expected to have a hands-on role with the league, though the specifics of his job have yet to be determined. This will mark the first time the NBA has ever been involved with a professional basketball league outside of North America.
NBA tampering and agent behavior are two deeply intertwined problems today, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The representative for Anthony Davis, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, publicly announced that his client requested a trade from the Pelicans last month, causing a stir for some within the organization. Adam Silver has labeled the importance of tampering being held to a strict control, though Davis’ public trade request resulted in a tampering fine for Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry and prompted some observers to question whether the Lakers were tampering with Davis’ group.

LeBron James Addresses Retirement: “I Got A Lot More Game To Play”

February 16th, 2019 at 3:57pm CST by marksuleymanov

LeBron James‘ recent comments about potentially owning a team do not mean the Lakers superstar is thinking about retirement anytime soon, Josh Peter of USA Today writes.

At his 15th All-Star game, James told reporters during NBA All-Star media day in Charlotte on Saturday that he has a lot more basketball to play.

“I got a lot, a ton more years to play this game and suit up and be in a Lakers uniform,” James said. “…Hopefully I can sit up here and answer questions as a player for a long time.’”

In his first season with the Lakers, James is enjoying another stellar season, averaging 26.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 7.6 APG. However, the most serious injury of his career sidelined James for an extended stretch earlier in the season. His groin issue forced the Lakers to play for more than a month without their best player and as a result, the team fell out the current postseason picture.

The Lakers (28-29) are just three games back of the Clippers for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. A healthy James will be important as Los Angeles aims to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2012/13 season.

LeBron, Wade Interested In Eventually Owning NBA Teams

February 14th, 2019 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Michael Jordan is the only former NBA great who currently serves as the majority owner of one of the league’s 30 teams. However, LeBron James – who is often mentioned alongside Jordan in discussions on the league’s all-time best players – would like to join the former Bulls great in the ownership ranks someday. And, as Joe Vardon explains in an interesting piece for The Athletic, James is uniquely positioned to actually make it happen.

According to Vardon, if James were to retire today and an NBA franchise went up for sale tomorrow, the four-time MVP would be in position to place a bid, given his net worth, his connections, and the cache he has built up around the league.

“Ain’t no maybe about it, I’m going to do that s–t,” James told Vardon, referring to eventually owning an NBA franchise.

As Vardon outlines, James doesn’t have “Steve Ballmer money” and couldn’t just write a check to purchase an NBA franchise outright, but a majority owner is only required to purchase 15% of a team’s shares. While LeBron’s estimated net worth is $450MM, per Forbes, that estimate likely undershoots the actual figure, according to Vardon, who notes that James has made a number of private investments and maneuvers in recent years that would push the number higher.

With the right group of investors and partners, James would easily be able to put together a group capable of making a strong bid for any franchise that goes up for sale, as LeBron’s business associate Paul Wachter tells Vardon.

“I would say it would take about five calls to find partners if LeBron wanted to pull together an ownership group,” Wachter said. “If LeBron sat down with his team to discuss it, it would take maybe two or three calls apiece. I could tell you people I’d call to be involved now, but of course LeBron has his own ideas and Maverick [Carter] has his ideas.”

This is, of course, unlikely to happen anytime soon, as James is in the first season of a four-year contract with the Lakers and is planning to continue playing beyond that deal, per Vardon. However, when the time comes, it sounds like LeBron will be ready, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote in his own story on the subject earlier this week.

Meanwhile, James’ good friend Dwyane Wade is headed for retirement at season’s end, and while Wade isn’t necessarily as well positioned to purchase a franchise, the idea of owning a team intrigues him too, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Wade has previously mentioned the appeal of becoming part of an ownership group that would bring the NBA back to Seattle, but told reporters this week that he’s not solely focused on one city.

“I love Seattle,” Wade said. “It’s great, Unfortunately it’s not a part of the NBA. When a question was asked what franchise you want to see back, Seattle was one for me. And we talking about who I want to be ownership of, Miami has first dibs and then I go from there. … Obviously, this organization (the Heat) is the first one I would love to talk about that when the time is right.”

As Jackson observes, Heat majority owner Micky Arison hasn’t shown any interest in selling the club, but he might – hypothetically – be open to selling a small share of the franchise to Wade, who could serve as a minority stakeholder after he retires as a player. As with LeBron though, that’s likely a discussion to be had down the road.

Pacific Notes: Barnes, LeBron, Morris, Griffin

February 13th, 2019 at 7:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Now that the Kings have Harrison Barnes, the next step is to figure out the best role for him, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Acquired from the Mavericks last week, Barnes has played extensively at both forward spots and his usage in Sacramento may depend on the opponent, according to coach Dave Joerger.

“I’m still learning what to do,” Joerger said. “How much I do I want to play Harrison at (small forward)? How much at (power forward)? And what do the matchups look like? And I need to get it done sooner than later because we’re not going to find a rhythm if I don’t figure it out quickly.”

Barnes has played both positions extensively throughout his career, with 48% of his minutes as a three and 50% as a four. The Warriors used him mainly as a small forward when he broke into the league, but shifted him to power forward later in his tenure there. He was mainly a power forward in Dallas.

“It’s a good problem to have,” added Joerger, who said he has wanted Barnes on his team for years. “You want to be as versatile as we can be at times. It’s going to be a little bit on the run, as we know, and it’s tough on me, but guys are playing as hard as they can and that’s all you can ask as a coach. And it’s on me to figure some of that stuff out.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

LeBron James hasn’t lived up to the excitement that surrounded his decision to join the Lakers, contends Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times. L.A. will enter the All-Star break with a 28-29 record, placing them 10th in the Western Conference. Plaschke notes that although James has been brilliant on the court, he missed 17 games with a groin injury and affected team chemistry by maneuvering to get head coach Luke Walton replaced and pushing for an Anthony Davis deal that caused all of his young teammates to be subjected to weeks of trade rumors.
The Lakers missed out on Enes Kanter in the buyout market, but they remain in the running for Markieff Morris, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who names the Rockets, Thunder and Raptors as the other top contenders. L.A. is also considering Carmelo Anthony, Shelburne adds, but is concerned because he hasn’t been active since November.
Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman examines whether the Clippers made the right move by trading away Blake Griffin last season.

Lakers Notes: Simmons, Hart, Ball, Zubac

February 11th, 2019 at 8:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers released a statement stating that the Sixers had sought their permission for floor leader Ben Simmons to speak with team president Magic Johnson, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. Philadelphia emailed the Lakers in November, according to the statement, asking if Simmons could speak with Johnson about his Hall of Fame career. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka subsequently told Sixers GM Elton Brand that Johnson could only do that with Philadelphia’s written pre-approval. That was the end of the matter, the release adds. The league has launched an investigation to determine if any communication between the parties violated league rules.

We have more on the Lakers:

Guard Josh Hart received a PRP injection to treat tendinitis in his right knee, according to a team press release. Hart will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, the release adds. Hart didn’t play in blowout losses against Indiana and Philadelphia and only lasted eight scoreless minutes against Boston.
Lonzo Ball isn’t considered a defensive specialist but the Lakers have missed him at that end of the court, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times notes. The Lakers’ defensive rating is the third-worst in the league in the nine games since Ball was sidelined by a severe ankle sprain. “He allows us to switch a lot,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “If they want to run any pick and roll minus the center, the 1-5 pick and roll, we can just switch it. And we feel confident Lonzo can guard most of the other players there. We have Lonzo picking up full-court the other team’s points guard. He’s great at instincts, getting deflections.”
Trading young center Ivica Zubac to the Clippers to ‘rent’ power forward Mike Muscala doesn’t make much sense, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report argues. Zubac could have been an inexpensive, long-term contributor for the Lakers, Pincus continues. He would have been a restricted free agent with a modest cap hold of $1.9 million. Muscala’s cap hold is $9.5MM and he might not be any more productive than Zubac would have been the rest of this season.
LeBron James claims the reason he drafted Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis for his All-Star team had nothing to do with recruiting, according to another Ganguli story. “That’s all part of the speculation that continues to drive our sport,” he said. “It’s all good and well and dandy, but for me I picked according to my draft board and I picked according to who was the best available.”

LeBron, Giannis Draft 2019 All-Star Teams

February 7th, 2019 at 6:23pm CST by JD Shaw

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo drafted their teams for the 2019 All-Star Game on Thursday, officially finalizing the rosters for this year’s contest. James and Antetokounmpo were chosen as captains because they were the All-Star starter from each conference with the most fan votes.

Both James and Antetokounmpo first had to select from a pool of starters, then from a list of reserve players. The starters, which consisted of eight other players, were voted on by the fans, players and media this season. The reserve players were voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches.

James drafted Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as starters, choosing Durant as his first selection. His reserves were Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal and Dwyane Wade.

Antetokounmpo drafted Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kemba Walker as his starters, selecting Curry with his first pick. He drafted Khris Middleton, Nikola Jokic, Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, D’Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Lowry and Dirk Nowitzki as his reserves.

James later traded Westbrook to Team Giannis in exchange for Simmons, making an effort to repair the relationship of Westbrook and Embiid.

The 68th NBA All-Star Game is set to commence on February 17 at Spectrum Center, featuring 26 of the best basketball players in the world.

LeBron Supports Kyrie, Discusses Phone Call

February 3rd, 2019 at 1:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James complimented former teammate Kyrie Irving on his latest comments about free agency and spoke for the first time about their recent phone call, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

“Me and Kyrie are in a good place right now,” James said, explaining that Irving’s apology when they talked by phone helped to repair their relationship. “I love the man that he’s becoming, I love the challenges he’s accepted and I always wish the best for him.”

Irving placed the call last month to apologize to James for being difficult during his younger years in Cleveland, saying he understands the situation better now that he’s a veteran. Kevin Love, the other member of the Cavs’ former Big Three, happened to be out for dinner with LeBron during the call.

James called it “a great conversation,” but wouldn’t reveal what he said to Irving.

The Celtics guard made news on Friday with a terse statement regarding his plans for this summer, when he can opt out of his contract and become a free agent. Irving previously pledged to re-sign in Boston, but there has been talk that he’s having second thoughts.

“He handled it great,” James said of Irving’s comments. “His post interview was great as well. Just a lot of things that’s going on in our league right now, and the one thing you want to focus on is getting that team to place where he wanted it to be, and that’s competing for a championship.”

The phone call sparked some speculation that Irving might be interested in a reunion with LeBron in Los Angeles. The Knicks are reportedly hoping to team Kyrie with Kevin Durant after opening enough cap space for two top-level free agents with this week’s trade of Kristaps Porzingis. If Irving stays in Boston, he and James could wind up as competitors in the summer’s hottest story line — the battle to get Anthony Davis out of New Orleans.

Irving told reporters Friday that he is tired of all the rumors.

“Obviously you’d hope it would quiet down, but it doesn’t help when across the league it’s just outside noise again, and my name gets thrown into it,” he said. “Conversations, speculations, everybody’s worried about their credibility. I don’t know how this media empire works. I know it’s a bunch of nonsense to me. So I have a focus on winning a championship this year, and that’s where my focus is going to stay.”

Kyrie Irving On Free Agency: “Ask Me July 1”

February 1st, 2019 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Amidst speculation that he may be wavering on his preseason verbal commitment to re-signing with the Celtics, Kyrie Irving was asked today about his free agency plans, and his response likely didn’t calm any nerves in Boston.

“Ask me July 1,” Irving said, adding that he plans to do what’s best for his career (Twitter link via Ian Begley of ESPN.com).

Irving also said that the Celtics remain “at the head of the race,” and that his plan for now is to remain in Boston, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). Still, his comments today seemed far more ambiguous than the ones he made at the fan event in October, where he stood up and told Celtics fans, “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” Irving’s message today, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link), was: “I don’t owe anybody s—.”

Of course, verbal commitments are non-binding and Irving is well within his rights to change his mind between October 2018 and July 2019. Still, the timing of his hedging is pretty interesting. It comes on the heels of the Knicks opening up enough 2019 cap room for two maximum-salary free agents — and amidst rumors that Irving’s friend Anthony Davis could be traded.

As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reiterated today, Davis’ camp has made it known that the big man doesn’t view Irving as a lock to re-sign with the Celtics, which would diminish Davis’ interest in Boston as a potential destination. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported today (via Twitter) that the Celtics still aren’t a preferred landing spot for Davis, who views Boston as a rental option.

While Windhorst acknowledges that his could be part of a disinformation campaign intended to land AD in L.A., he heard from multiple sources even before Irving’s comments today that the point guard may not be as committed to Boston as he had publicly stated.

Here’s more on Kyrie:

Irving hasn’t informed the Celtics that his feeling have changed at all, sources tell Windhorst. A league source tells Himmelsbach the same thing, and both scribes suggests that the C’s remain confident they’ll ultimately be able to lock up Irving long-term.
While there has been some speculation that Irving would have interest in teaming up with LeBron James again, a source with ties to Kyrie called that idea “a joke,” according to Himmelsbach.
The Celtics have reached out to the Pelicans and let them know they’d be willing to discuss anyone on their roster besides Irving in the summer, sources tell Windhorst. Still, Windhorst wonders if the C’s might get skittish enough about Kyrie’s long-term future in Boston to entertain the idea of including Irving in an offer for Davis. Doing so would free up the team to make offers now, rather than waiting until the summer. That seems like a long shot to me though.

Lakers Notes: K. Thompson, Davis, LeBron, Ingram

January 29th, 2019 at 1:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers are hoping for a scenario in which they can add both Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi. In an appearance with Scott Van Pelt yesterday, Wojnarowski broke down the latest Davis rumors and said L.A.’s front office has even bigger things in mind.

If the Lakers can acquire Davis before the start of free agency and the Warriors aren’t willing to make a full maximum offer to Thompson, the All-Star guard will think about heading south to form a new Big Three, according to Woj.

“We’ll see what Golden State does there. They’ve got a lot of players to pay going forward,” Wojnarowski said. “They want to re-sign Kevin Durant. They certainly want to re-sign Klay, they’ve got Draymond Green coming up in free agency the following year.”

The Lakers project to have about $36MM in cap space this summer, so they should be considered a serious contender for Thompson if he’s ready to part ways with the Warriors.

There’s more Lakers news to pass along:

The front office should learn from past mistakes and make an all-out effort to get the Davis deal done, writes Bill Oram of The Athletic. The Lakers had similar opportunities over the past two years with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, two Southern California natives who both expressed a desire to play in L.A., but were cautious and watched them go to other teams. They didn’t want to give up Brandon Ingram in a deal for George, Oram states, and they never put together their best offer to get Leonard from the Spurs.
LeBron James is getting closer to returning from the groin injury that has sidelined him for more than a month, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. James participated in full-court contact drills this week and hasn’t been ruled out for tonight, although Thursday’s game seems more realistic.
The Davis trade rumors are a potential distraction for the Lakers’ young players, who are rumored to be part of the package for New Orleans, Youngmisuk notes in the same story. Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart will hear their names mentioned frequently until the Davis situation is resolved. “I think you look on social network and look on everything else, you have all these stories of this player, this player, this player,” Ingram said. “But no one in this room or the players or the coaches or the general manager doesn’t say a word about it. So like I said, we only listen to the important people in this building.”

Pelicans Will Deal Davis “On Our Terms”

January 28th, 2019 at 4:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans will not be rushed into dealing superstar Anthony Davis. The team released a statement this afternoon, confirming that Davis’ representatives had informed the organization that he wouldn’t sign a contract extension and thus wanted to be dealt.

At least publicly, New Orleans’ front office isn’t going to be pressured into dealing Davis before the February 7th deadline. It will make a trade “on our terms and our timeline,” according to the statement. This confirms the earlier report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Pelicans don’t want to deal Davis this season.

The statement also declared the franchise “will not be dictated by those outside of our organization.” That could be interpreted as a veiled threat to LeBron James‘ and Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, since the Lakers are considered as the most likely destination. The organization also requested that the NBA strictly enforce its tampering rules prior to any deal.

The full statement reads as follows:

“This past weekend, Anthony Davis’ representatives informed us that Anthony does not wish to sign a contract extension with our team and subsequently has requested a trade. Although we are disappointed in this decision, our organization’s top priority is to bring an NBA championship to our city and fans and build our team for long-term success. Relative to specific talks of a trade, we will do this on our terms and our timeline. One that makes the most sense for our team and it will not be dictated by those outside of our organization. We have also requested the League to strictly enforce the tampering rules associate with this transaction.”