Luol Deng Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Interested In Luol Deng

July 1st, 2014 at 12:25am CST by Zachary Links

12:25am: In addition to the previously reported Heat, Mavs, and Hawks, the Clippers, Lakers and Bulls have all registered interest with Deng, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.

12:06am: Miami’s Pat Riley has called Luol Deng‘s reps and registered his significant interest, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Mavericks were the first team on the horn with Deng early this morning but, apparently, Miami wasn’t far behind.

Earlier this week it was reported that the Hawks are thinking about making a run at Luol Deng this summer. The Hawks have $15MM+ to spend on free agents this offseason after their trade with the Raptors and Deng appears to be one of their prime targets. However, it may be another team out of the Southeast Division that comes away with the Man from Sudan.

In 63 games for the Bulls and Cavs this year, Deng averaged 16.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG. He finished with a combined 15.2 PER and, unsurprisingly, the numbers show that he performed better in Chicago.

Southeast Rumors: Ariza, Gortat, Ferry, Lewis

July 1st, 2014 at 12:24am CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of the Southeast Division..

Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears that Trevor Ariza is after a deal in the $8-11MM per year range and likes the idea of playing in a warm-weather city. Still, staying with the Wizards is an intriguing option for him.
The Wizards spent the evening reaching out to their own free agents, Marcin Gortat, Ariza, and Drew Gooden, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Ariza has significant interest from clubs, including the Cavs, and Wizards coach Randy Wittman will be in Los Angeles tomorrow morning to meet with him, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. A league source close to Ariza tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) that his potential destinations include the Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Heat, Mavs, Jazz, Cavs, and Wizards.
Hawks‘ GM Danny Ferry plans to be “very aggressive” in free agency, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
Heat free agent forward Rashard Lewis is expecting interest from the Heat, Pacers, Thunder, Raptors, and Spurs, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
So far the Hornets have not expressed interest in Luol Deng, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter).
The Hawks were the first team to call unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore after midnight, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The Hawks are really high on the Lakers free agent.
Unrestricted free agent Trevor Booker has attracted interest from several teams, including the Heat, Wolves, Jazz, Nets, Knicks, Magic, and Wizards, sources tell Michael Lee of the Washington Post (on Twitter).

Southwest Rumors: ‘Melo, Deng, Harris, Lowry

July 1st, 2014 at 12:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs are prioritizing a meeting with Carmelo Anthony before locking in a date with LeBron James, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. That speaks to the belief around the league that LeBron is staying in Miami, Berger adds. There’s more on the Mavs within the latest from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks were the first team on the phone with Luol Deng‘s representatives tonight, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The Mavs‘ first face-to-face meeting tonight is between owner Mark Cuban and point guard Devin Harris, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey has traveled to Philadelphia to meet with free agent guard Kyle Lowry tonight, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Coach Kevin McHale is also there for the pitch, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
Andray Blatche has been telling people around the league that he may end up with the Pelicans, sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard the Nets big man linked to New Orleans.

Pacific Rumors: Gasol, Clippers, Lakers, Kings

June 30th, 2014 at 11:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pau Gasol won’t be having any in-person meetings tonight, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The big man will be taking calls at his home in Los Angeles instead. The market for him will take shape over the first week of free agency as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James make their choices. Of course, many free agents will find themselves in a holding pattern until those two decide on where they’ll sign. In the meantime, here’s more news from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers registered interest in Carmelo Anthony tonight and will be meeting with him on Thursday, a source tells Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
Spencer Hawes is a free agent target for the Clippers, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Clips targeted him at the trade deadline.
The Clippers are interested in bringing back Darren Collison, Glen Davis, and Danny Granger in that preferred order, Markazi also reports (on Twitter).
One of the top off-season priorities for the Clippers is upgrading at small forward and they will reach out to Paul Pierce and Trevor Ariza, Markazi tweets. Clippers coach/president Doc Rivers will recruit his former pupil Pierce while Chris Paul will work on his former teammate Ariza (link).
The Lakers like Ariza, Kyle Lowry, Luol Deng, and Chandler Parsons, but won’t offer any of them deals longer than one or two years, tweets Mark Medina of the Daily News.
The Kings will look to add a point guard even if they re-sign restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.

Hawks Eyeing Luol Deng

June 29th, 2014 at 10:59pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Hawks are thinking about making a run at Luol Deng this summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Atlanta pulled the trigger on a trade earlier tonight for John Salmons‘ non-guaranteed contract, a move that will eventually help further their financial flexibility by giving the club over $15MM in cap room to spend on free agents this offseason.

Deng was shipped to Cleveland at the deadline and is reportedly less-than-thrilled at the idea of re-signing with the Cavs. The Lakers and Suns are reportedly considering going after Deng, and the Mavs, Celtics, Magic and Bobcats are all said to have interest in the veteran forward as well. If he were to join Atlanta, Deng could help address the team’s lack of depth at the small forward position.

Reports have claimed the Hawks are interested in trying to convince Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James to sign together in Atlanta, but the team is still probably lacking the cap space required for such a scenario to come to fruition. Deng represents a more reasonably priced, albeit less talented, option than a superstar pairing. His agent has suggested a contract similar to Andre Iguodala‘s four-year, $48MM pact would be a reasonable price for the 10-year vet, and Wojnarowski (on Twitter) pegs his market value somewhere between $10MM and $12MM a year.

Eastern Notes: Anthony, Bucks, Magic

May 30th, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Marc Berman of The New York Post notes that Carmelo Anthony has until June 23rd to decide if he will opt out of his contract with the Knicks and become an unrestricted free agent. Most NBA players have until June 30th to decide. It was reported earlier that Anthony is considering opting in and putting off free agency until next summer.

Coaching Rumors: Cavs, Joerger, Fisher

May 27th, 2014 at 7:07pm CST by Cray Allred

The Cavs would improve their chances of retaining Luol Deng if they hired Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin as head coach, sources tell Adrian Wojnarwoski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Griffin, a candidate for the job, worked with Deng in Chicago, and although Deng’s departure has essentially been a foregone conclusion, it will be interesting to see if Cleveland re-calibrates their free agency goals after unexpectedly landing the first overall pick. Here’s more of the night’s coaching notes:

Dave Joerger acknowledged in a radio interview with Eli Savoie of Sports 56 that he was offered the Wolves coaching job before smoothing things out with Grizzlies owner Robert Pera. Joerger added that his contract extension was not a condition for staying with Memphis (Twitter links; H/T Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities).
Joerger said that three teams called the Grizzlies to request permission to speak with him, but only the Wolves were granted the opportunity, according to a report from The Associated Press (H/T The Star Tribune).
The Lakers are curious to see if Derek Fisher is a good fit for their head coaching vacancy, but will wait until his season with the Thunder is over, reports Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. This jibes with earlier reports that have marked Fisher as a candidate for both the Lakers and Knicks coaching jobs.
While continuing to downplay his talks with NBA teams, Billy Donovan explained to Edgar Thompson of The Orlando Sentinel that he won’t rule out leaving his coaching job at Florida for the pros. “I’ve seen a lot of coaches over the years come out and say, ‘No, no, no, no, I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going anywhere,’ and then all of a sudden they go somewhere and it’s like, ‘Well, this guy is a complete liar,'” said Donovan. “I don’t want to get into that situation. There (have) been some teams that have called, but that’s really it.”

Amico’s Latest: Cavs, Deng, Waiters, Thompson

May 23rd, 2014 at 8:38am CST by Chuck Myron

There might be more storylines surrounding the Cavs than any other team in the NBA. A third No. 1 overall pick in four years, a coaching search, tons of cap flexibility and the lingering specter of a LeBron James return figure to fill up our Cavs rumors page all summer long. We passed along some news about the Cleveland’s plans for the top draft pick from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio last night, and he has plenty more on the team in his latest dispatch. We’ll run down the highlights here:

The Cavs will likely explore sign-and-trade possibilities for Luol Deng, Amico writes. Deng has given indications that he doesn’t want to re-sign with Cleveland, and the Cavs can still execute a sign-and-trade even if they renounce his Bird rights to clear cap space.
Teams around the league have interest in Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson, Amico writes. It’s nonetheless unclear how willing the team is to trade either of them.
The Cavs don’t appear to be ruling out a trade of Anderson Varejao, Amico suggests.
GM David Griffin has reportedly been planning a strong push to retain Spencer Hawes, but Amico hears the team is having second thoughts about the center.
The coaching search remains “in the very early stages,” Amico writes, but Tom Izzo isn’t a possibility, in spite of Cleveland’s reported pursuit, and John Calipari is highly unlikely to end up in the job, according to the Fox Sports Ohio scribe.
Bulls assistant coach Adrian Griffin remains a legitimate candidate for the Cavs head coaching position, but Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, whom the Cavs want to interview, would have to dazzle owner Dan Gilbert to be hired, sources tell Amico.

And-Ones: Free Agency, NBAPA, Lottery

May 11th, 2014 at 8:28am CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s free agent signing period begins in July, and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders breaks down where he thinks the big name free-agents like Carmelo Anthony, Luol Deng, Greg Monroe, and Kyle Lowry will end up and how much he thinks they will sign for.

Sefko On Mavs: LeBron, Chandler, Draft

May 7th, 2014 at 9:04pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News addressed a number of topics regarding the Mavericks in his weekly chat earlier today. Here are some of the highlights:

If LeBron James opts out of his contract with the Heat this summer, Sefko believes the Mavs will get a chance to make their best pitch thanks to the presence of owner Mark Cuban.
Sefko believes it’s a long shot that the team swings a deal for the Knicks Tyson Chandler. He believes that other teams, such as the Thunder, would have more to offer New York if they put Chandler on the trading block.
He doesn’t believe the Mavs will make a trade to move into the first round of the draft. Sefko says the current indications from the front office are that the talent available in the 20 to 40 range are very similar. The Mavericks have a high second-round pick which they received from the Celtics in the Kelly Olynyk trade and they believe they can find value there, according to the article.
The four most likely free agent targets for the Mavs this summer, opines Sefko, are Luol Deng, Spencer Hawes, Marcin Gortat, and Trevor Ariza.
Sefko doesn’t think that Jason Terry is a likely target for a return to the team.