Marques Bolden Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Dunn, Maker, Doumbouya, Osman

September 21st, 2020 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Kris Dunn won’t participate in the Bulls’ mini-camp, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reports. Dunn’s absence was expected, since he’s headed to free agency. The Bulls will have to extend him a qualifying offer of $7.1MM to make him a restricted free agent. Dunn didn’t play after January 31, when he suffered a sprained right MCL. His right knee is now healthy but he doesn’t want to take any chances of getting injured without a contract, Johnson adds.

We have more on the Central Division:

Some of the Pistons’ roster decisions could be sorted out during their mini-camp, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Big men Thon Maker and Justin Patton may be competing for a roster spot, as Maker can either be a restricted or unrestricted free agent while Patton has a non-guaranteed deal. Swingman Khyri Thomas and two-way players Jordan Bone and Louis King might also need a strong showing for the club to retain them.
Pistons guard Bruce Brown believes forward Sekou Doumbouya will blossom in his second season, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Doumbouya saw significant playing time as a rookie due to Blake Griffin‘s knee injury, but his production was highly inconsistent. “He’s got something to prove this summer, coming in with a chip on his shoulder,” Brown said. “He’s working on his game hard; he’s working on big-man stuff and guard stuff. He’s definitely put in the work and it’s going to be a good year for him.”
Cedi Osman isn’t participating in the Cavaliers’ mini-camp. He’s not on the list of players that the club released, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN tweets. Osman, a Turkish citizen, is apparently still overseas. The Cavs will have 15 players come in, including four G League players — Sir’Dominic Pointer, Marques Bolden, Levi Randolph and Vincent Edwards.

In-Market Bubble Updates: Pistons, Wolves, Cavs

September 17th, 2020 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

As the NBA’s bottom eight teams gear up to conduct group workouts starting next week, the Pistons have 15 players in attendance for the first phase of their in-market bubble. However, that 15-man group includes five G Leaguers, with a number of notable names from the NBA roster absent.

As Eric Woodyard of ESPN details, head coach Dwane Casey said on Wednesday that Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Christian Wood, and Langston Galloway aren’t participating.

“All of our young guys are here. Derrick Rose and Blake are not here, which is totally understandable,” Casey said. “Both are working out, and it’s nothing physical. They’re both 100 percent. Blake’s working out in LA, and Derrick is in and out of town.”

As for Wood and Galloway, both players are set to reach unrestricted free agency this fall, so Casey said he understood why they’d be reluctant to participate in workouts with the club over the next few weeks.

“We’re not reading anything into that either way,” Casey said, per Woodyard. “So it’s just something I totally get because if I’m a free agent, I wouldn’t attend anyway to the team you’re not under contract with.”

Here’s more on those mini-camps taking part in “bubbles” across the country:

The majority of the Timberwolves‘ key players, including Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, and restricted free agent Malik Beasley, are participating in their in-market bubble, as are G Leaguers Canyon Barry and Lindell Wigginton (Twitter link via Woodyard). Free-agent-to-be Evan Turner, Omari Spellman, and Juan Hernangomez won’t be in attendance. Hernangomez is an RFA and is currently overseas, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), while Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Spellman’s camp is hoping to find the big man a new home.
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com provides details on the Cavaliers‘ in-market bubble plans for the next two-and-a-half weeks, with group practices set to begin next Wednesday. Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova, both eligible for free agency, won’t attend, but G Leaguers Levi Randolph, Marques Bolden and Vince Edwards have been invited to participate.
A personal matter will also prevent center Andre Drummond from attending the Cavaliers‘ mini-camp, though he wanted to be there, sources tell Fedor. “He’s been pretty engaged in everything,” one source said of Drummond. “It’s not like he’s gone dark. He wanted to be there. It’s nothing malicious. It’s not a sign or anything like that. It’s not going to cause a rift.”
The NBA sent a memo to the league’s bottom eight teams warning them that if they “require or coerce” players to participate in the optional workouts, they’ll be subject to league punishment, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

Cavs Notes: Drummond, Sexton, McKinnie, Bolden

February 11th, 2020 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Heading into the trade deadline, no Pistons player had been with the team longer than Reggie Jackson — except for Andre Drummond. So when Detroit swung a deal that sent Drummond to the Cavaliers, it made sense that Jackson would be among those most affected by the move.

“He was my best friend on the team and it’s been like that for five-and-a-half years. He acclimated me when I first got to Detroit and we built a great friendship and brotherhood,” Jackson said of Drummond, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “That’s my guy forever, so it was a tough day seeing he got traded to the Cavs but wishing him nothing but the best for him and his family.”

As Drummond gets acclimated to his new home in Cleveland, here are a few more Cavaliers-related notes:

Second-year Cavs guard Collin Sexton has been added to the U.S. roster for the Rising Stars game in Chicago this weekend, the league announced today. Sexton will replace Heat guard Tyler Herro, who is nursing a right foot injury.
Alfonzo McKinnie‘s new four-year contract with the Cavaliers includes a $1.5MM guaranteed salary for the 2019/20 season, according to Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (Twitter link). That’s significantly more than the $623K McKinnie would have received had he signed a prorated minimum deal. And that’s likely a big reason why he was willing to tack on three team-friendly, non-guaranteed years at the minimum. Cleveland was able to exceed the minimum and go up to four years using the mid-level exception.
Following the expiration of his 10-day contract with the Cavaliers, Marques Bolden rejoined the team’s G League affiliate, the Canton Charge, per JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). Since Bolden just signed a single 10-day deal with Cleveland, he’d be eligible to sign a second one between now and the end of the regular season.

Cavaliers Sign Marques Bolden To 10-Day Contract

January 30th, 2020 at 9:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have signed rookie big man Marques Bolden to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Cleveland opened up a roster spot overnight when Tyler Cook‘s second 10-day deal expired.

Bolden, who went undrafted out of Duke in 2019, joined the Cavaliers for training camp and was a candidate to be converted to a two-way contract at the end of the preseason. Ironically, it was Cook – having just been claimed off waivers – who beat out Bolden for the team’s second two-way slot in October. Now, Bolden is replacing Cook on the 15-man roster.

After being cut in the fall, Bolden joined the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge. In 28 games at the NBAGL level this season, he has averaged 9.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 18.4 minutes per contest.

Cleveland’s 15-man roster currently consists of 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, along with two – Bolden and Alfonzo McKinnie – on 10-day pacts. McKinnie’s second 10-day deal with the club will expire this weekend, at which point the Cavs could open up the 15th spot on their roster if they don’t re-sign the swingman to a rest-of-season contract.

Bolden will earn $50,752 on his 10-day contract, which will run through February 8.

Cavaliers Waive Marques Bolden

October 19th, 2019 at 11:19am CST by marksuleymanov

The Cavaliers have waived former Duke big man Marques Bolden, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. Bolden had been in training camp with Cleveland on an Exhibit 10 deal.

Bolden, 21, appeared in four preseason games for the Cavaliers and had a generally strong performance. He averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.8 RPG while shooting nearly 80 percent from the field.

Bolden spent three seasons at Duke but didn’t see a lot of playing time during his first two seasons. He averaged a mere 19.0 minutes per game as a junior.

While it’s not necessarily set in stone yet, waiving Bolden clears the path for Jarell Martin to be Cavs’ 14th man and for the recently-claimed Tyler Cook to be the team’s second two-way player.

Cavs Claim Tyler Cook From Nuggets

October 18th, 2019 at 4:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers have claimed rookie forward Tyler Cook off waivers, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.

Cook was on a two-way deal with the Nuggets before Denver cut ties with him on Wednesday. The Cavaliers will now decide by Saturday afternoon whether to retain Cook or training camp invitee Marques Bolden with their second two-way contract, according to Fedor. Power forward Dean Wade has the other two-way contract.

Cook entered the draft this spring after his junior year at Iowa, where he averaged 14.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 33 games (30.8 MPG) last season while shooting 51.9% from the field. After recovering from a high ankle sprain suffered during a pre-draft workout, the 22-year-old joined Denver for Summer League action and then for training camp, playing limited minutes in two preseason games.

Cavaliers Waive Four Players

October 15th, 2019 at 10:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have made a series of roster cuts, announcing tonight in a press release that they’ve waived guards Daniel Hamilton, Sindarius Thornwell, and J.P. Macura, as well as forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. The club now has 16 players under contract.

Hamilton, Thornwell, Macura, and Luwawu-Cabarrot were all on non-guaranteed contracts in Cleveland, so releasing them won’t have an impact on the team’s cap. According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers are hopeful that Hamilton and Macura, in particular, will end up joining the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate.

All four players have some NBA experience, with Thornwell and Luwawu-Cabarrot seeing the most action in 2018/19. Thornwell, 24, appeared in 64 games for the Clippers, while Luwawu-Cabarrot, a former first-round pick, played in 50 contests for the Thunder and Bulls.

The Cavs are currently carrying 13 players with guaranteed salaries and one player on a two-way contract, so there are at least two openings available on the roster to start the regular season — one two-way deal and at least one spot on the 15-man roster (teams are permitted to carry just 14 players on standard contracts).

While Jarell Martin and Marques Bolden are the two camp invitees who remain under contract, that doesn’t mean they’re assured spots on the Cavs’ final roster, sources tell Fedor. With a ton of cuts expected across the NBA over the next several days, Cleveland will continue to monitor the rest of the league for potential roster additions, Fedor adds.

Cavs Officially Sign Four Players, Waive Two

September 4th, 2019 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have finalized a series of roster moves, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Cleveland released a pair of players on non-guaranteed contracts, then signed four players to training camp deals, filling their 20-man offseason roster. Here’s a breakdown of the moves made by the Cavs:

Signed:

Marques Bolden, C (previous report)
Daniel Hamilton, G/F (previous report)
J.P. Macura, SG (previous report)
Sindarius Thornwell, SG (previous report)

Waived:

Malik Newman, SG
Levi Randolph, SG

Newman and Randolph signed with the Cavs nearly a month ago, but didn’t stick with the team long enough to attend training camp. Both players spent last season with the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate, and look like good bets to return to Canton in 2019/20. Their Exhibit 10 deals will entitle them to bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least two months with the Charge this season.

As for Bolden, Hamilton, Macura, and Thornwell, we provided more details on all four players in our previous stories on their deals with the Cavs, as linked above. They’ll fill out the team’s 20-man roster and will get an opportunity to compete in camp for a spot on the 15-man regular season roster or a two-way contract.

Currently, Cleveland is carrying 13 players with guaranteed salaries and one on a two-way deal. The newly-signed quartet will join Alex Robinson and Jarell Martin as non-guaranteed camp invitees who will look to make a positive impression in the preseason.

Cavaliers To Sign Marques Bolden To Exhibit 10 Deal

August 1st, 2019 at 11:25am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Cavaliers will sign Marques Bolden, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). The arrangement will be an Exhibit 10 deal.

Cleveland’s agreement with Bolden was previously reported, though there was no word on what type of deal is was going to be when the news broke shortly after the draft. The Duke big man was rumored to be a candidate for a two-way deal.

While Bolden will get an Exhibit 10 contract for now, it can be converted into a two-way pact down the road, so he could still be an option for the Cavs’ second slot.

Bolden will join the Cavs for training camp with the hope of making the roster. The 6’11” center spent three seasons at Duke, though he didn’t see much playing time during his first two years at the University and averaged just 19.0 minutes per game as a junior. Bolden was RSCI’s 11th-ranked prospect coming out of high school.

Cavaliers Notes: Love, Smith, Iguodala, Bolden

July 14th, 2019 at 11:42am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers aren’t making an effort to deal Kevin Love, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. On the surface, Love appears to be a prime trade candidate. He’s nearly 31 on a rebuilding team, is coming off toe surgery that limited him to 22 games last season and has a four-year, $120MM extension that’s about to kick in.

However, Cleveland doesn’t view Love’s contract as burdensome. A five-time All-Star, he’s easily the team’s best player if he can stay healthy and provides a positive role model for a young roster. New coach John Beilein wants to keep Love around because he’ll take pressure off his teammates to develop quickly.

Cavs management will listen to offers for Love, but it would take a formidable deal to move him anytime soon. Fedor sees the Heat as a possibility because they are searching for a second star to team with Jimmy Butler and have both young players such as Tyler Herro, Meyers Leonard, Bam Adebayo and Justise Winslow who would interest Cleveland, plus big contracts in James Johnson, Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters to help match Love’s $28.9MM salary. Fedor expects the front office to hold onto Love for a while and reassess its options closer to the trade deadline.

There’s more out of Cleveland, all courtesy of Fedor:

Tomorrow is the new guarantee date for J.R. Smith, but it can be pushed back to August 1 if the Cavs can’t work out a trade. The original date had been June 30, but Smith agreed to an extension last month in exchange for an increase in guaranteed money from $3.9MM to $4.37MM. Smith’s trade value can be counted at the full $15.68MM because he signed his contract before that rule was changed, but Cleveland hasn’t been able to find any takers for the 33-year-old guard. Management has been surprised by the lack of interest in Smith, Fedor adds, believing its offers in salary-dump situations were better than the ones that were accepted. The Cavs have also been “shocked” by some of the bad contracts teams are trying to get them to take.
The Cavaliers tried to obtain Andre Iguodala from the Warriors, and sources tell Fedor they asked for less than the future first-rounder and cash that Memphis received for taking on Iguodala’s $17.1MM contract. However, Golden State wanted to create a large trade exception and saw that as more valuable than the cap relief Smith would have provided. Cleveland was also involved in talks to facilitate the Butler trade by taking Maurice Harkless from the Trail Blazers, but he wound up with the Clippers, who received a 2023 first-rounder from Miami.
Former Duke big man Marques Bolden is receiving strong consideration for a two-way contract. The Cavaliers believe he never got a full chance to display his talents in college and can develop into an effective NBA center. “In college you don’t have space,” said Summer League head coach Antonio Lang. “Here you have space and he can create space if he continues to roll hard. Everything you look for in a big he has, he just has to be more efficient with his footwork and learn the game more. That comes with practice and time. He’s more suited for the NBA game.”