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Montrezl Harrell

Southwest Notes: Howard, Parsons, Hill, Matthews

November 6th, 2016 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dwight Howard may be gone, but the Rockets are still benefiting from the teaching he did with younger players, writes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Howard signed with the Hawks this summer after three seasons in Houston, but he left an impression on Rockets big men Clint Capela, Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker. “Dwight was a great guy; nobody gets to really see the type of person he is off the court,” Harrell said. “Everybody sees him on the court and thinks he’s childish or he’s a big kid. He’s a great guy with the time I spent with Dwight. He cares about everybody on and off the court. He has a heart that’s so big. Whenever I came out of a game, we were always communicating.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Chandler Parsons will make his Grizzlies debut this afternoon instead of Tuesday as originally expected, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Parsons, who signed a four-year, $94MM deal with Memphis, hasn’t played since he had surgery on his right knee in March. “Felt great in workout. I’m ready to rock,” Parsons wrote in a text message. “No reason to wait.”
  • Solomon Hill signed with the Pelicans over the offseason, but coach Alvin Gentry had his eye on the fourth-year small forward for a long time, relays Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Hill played college ball at Arizona while Gentry was the head coach in Phoenix, and Gentry wanted to trade for him last season. “I just think he’s a good, solid guy,” Gentry said. “He’s a guy who is trying to find himself in what we’re doing. I told him I think he’s trying to fit in too much. He’s a guy who just needs to be who he is. That’s why we signed him.”
  • Wesley Matthews, who joined the Mavericks in 2015, appears to be one of the building blocks for the team’s future, writes Adam Grosbard of The Dallas Morning News. Matthews is adopting an increased leadership role as Dallas tries to rebound from its slow start. “He’s become one of the faces of our team,” said coach Rick Carlisle. “Just his intensity, his presence out there as our best perimeter defender and just his attitude and stuff like that is a big part of who we are. He’s knowledgeable and relentless and he has great pride [on defense].”
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Western Notes: Knight, Harrell, Dukan

April 8th, 2016 at 10:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Point guard Brandon Knight underwent successful surgery to treat a sports hernia on Thursday, the Suns announced. Phoenix had already shut down Knight for the remainder of the season as he sought a second medical opinion after being limited to just 52 appearances on the campaign. No timetable was given for Knight’s return to action, but he is expected to begin his rehabilitation immediately, according to the press release. The 24-year-old finishes the 2015/16 season with averages of 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 36 minutes per outing. His slash line was .415/.342/.852.

Here’s more from out West:

  • Rockets rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell, who has been suspended for five games without pay by the D-League for shoving an official, contends that he was unaware in the heat of the moment that he was pushing a referee and has apologized for his actions, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today relays (via Twitter). The NBPA is reportedly challenging the suspension.
  • Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry noted that while no definitive decision has been made, it is highly unlikely that Ryan Anderson or Norris Cole will play again this season, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Jrue Holiday, Alonzo Gee, Anthony Davis, Quincy Pondexter, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Tyreke Evans are all already on the shelf for the year in what was a nightmarish season for New Orleans from an injury standpoint.
  • The Kings have recalled power forward Duje Dukan from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Dukan has appeared in 27 contests for Reno this season and is averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists to accompany a shooting line of .403/.371/.722.
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And-Ones: Teletovic, Harrell, Draft

April 6th, 2016 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mirza Teletovic has indicated that he wants to remain with the Suns beyond this season and that feeling is shared by the team, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 relays (via Twitter). Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough said the Suns will attempt to re-sign the power forward this summer and that the interest was mutual, Gambadoro adds. Teletovic, who is earning $5.5MM on a one-year pact, has appeared in 75 games this season and is averaging 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.8 minutes per outing.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The NBPA is challenging the D-League’s decision to suspend Rockets rookie Montrezl Harrell for five games for shoving an official, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes (Twitter links). The NBPA is seeking to recoup Harrell’s lost pay and to change the precedent set by the ruling, Feigen adds.
  • Sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis intends to hire an agent and remain in the 2016 NBA Draft, the University of Kentucky announced (on Twitter). If Ulis does secure representation, it would eliminate the possibility of him returning to school for his junior season.
  • Duke freshman small forward Brandon Ingram has signed with Excel Sports Management and agent Jeff Schwartz, Liz Mullen of The Sports Business Journal reports (via Twitter). Ingram is the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
  • UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, who on Tuesday won his 11th NCAA title, has interest in joining the NBA coaching ranks at some point in his career, sources inform Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “Geno’s a great coach, he knows players and he knows X’s and O’s,” a source told Deveney. “I think he’d like to try the NBA eventually, either head coaching or part of a staff at first. Not tomorrow, but I think it is a matter of when and not if. Coaching is coaching, and the guy can coach.” The 62-year-old is under contract with UConn through the 2017/18 season.
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Western Notes: Harrell, Foye, Burke

March 29th, 2016 at 7:06pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell has been suspended five games without pay by the NBA D-League for shoving a referee to the floor in the midst of an altercation with another player during Rio Grande Valley’s contest on Saturday night, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report relays (on Twitter). The suspension will cost Harrell approximately $45K in salary and Houston will shave roughly $34K off its luxury tax bill as a result, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link). Harrell will not be eligible to be recalled from the D-League by the Rockets until the suspension is completed.

Here’s more from out West:

  • The Thunder sent Denver $1,169,559 as part of the trade that landed Randy Foye in Oklahoma City, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
  • The Mavericks have been struggling on the defensive end and coach Rick Carlisle plans on using Dwight Powell and Justin Anderson, the team’s youngest players, as starters the rest of the way to help provide a spark, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “Well, if you’re having an energy problem and you’re having a problem defending, then you need to get more energetic and better defenders in the game,” Carlisle said. “You’ve got to make the point, and I felt right now we’ve got to make the point that anything other than your best effort and your best energy is unacceptable. These two guys are going to go hard unconditionally, and they delivered tonight. … You know, you’re going to see some of these guys going forward. There’s no question about it.”
  • When the Jazz traded two draft picks to the Wolves in exchange for the rights to Trey Burke, the team thought it was a coup, but nearly three years later it would appear Minnesota came out on top in that transaction, Mike Sorensen of The Deseret News writes. Both players Minnesota acquired (Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad) have been productive, while Burke is stuck in a reserve role despite the run of backcourt injuries Utah has endured this season, Sorensen notes. Burke admits he wonders what his career would be like if he had gone to the Wolves, the scribe adds. “I think about it every time I play against them — it motivates me,” Burke said. “That’s one of the teams I play really well against. It’s just motivation, that’s how it’s been my whole life, the underdog who’s overlooked.”
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Western Notes: McCollum, Sampson, Ingles

March 23rd, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers have benefited from their decision to allow Wesley Matthews to depart as a free agent last summer because it allowed C.J. McCollum to take on a larger role, one that he has taken full advantage of this season, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “Some players aren’t ready for the drastic change,” McCollum said. “I was ready. The opportunity increased, and my game rose with the increase. I knew what I was capable of. I just needed the opportunity to play.” The team isn’t surprised by McCollum’s breakout season, MacMahon notes. “If C.J. doesn’t get hurt in his rookie year, and by the time he comes back we were 22-4, we’d probably be talking about a three-year starter now,” GM Neil Olshey said. “This wouldn’t be year one of a Lillard-McCollum backcourt. We always believed in C.J.”

Despite their faith in McCollum’s abilities, he wasn’t the reason that the Blazers elected not to re-sign Matthews, MacMahon adds. “I don’t think that was by any means the motivating factor or deciding factor in what we did,” coach Terry Stotts said. “We knew. Neil drafted him. We were very confident in what he could do.”

Here’s more from out West:

  • Nuggets combo forward JaKarr Sampson has fond memories of playing in Philadelphia and said he was surprised when he found out the Sixers had waived him, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Sampson was released in order to clear a roster spot for Joel Anthony, but the team lost out when the trade was voided. “Even though I was on a non-guaranteed [contract], I was expecting to be there longer than what I was,” Sampson said. “A lot of that had to do with I like Philly. I fell in love with the city. I loved how the city supported us. They still support us even though we are going through struggles, and we have been going through struggles for like three years.“
  • Joe Ingles‘ role with the Jazz has been reduced this season, but he’s remained positive and has contributed when called upon, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. “It’s not easy. It’s not something that obviously every player wants to play as much as possible,” Ingles said. “So it’s difficult sometimes, but at the end of the day, the bigger picture obviously is to win games and hopefully to push toward the playoffs.” The 28-year-old is only averaging 14.7 minutes per contest this season after logging 21.2 in 2014/15.
  • The Rockets have assigned rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell to the D-League, the team announced. This will be Harrell’s fifth jaunt to Rio Grande Valley on the season.
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Western Notes: Collison, Martin, Davis, Beasley

March 5th, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

His partnership with Rajon Rondo may be temporary, but Kings point guard Darren Collison is trying to make it work, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento brought in Rondo on a one-year contract and anointed him the starting point guard. Collison has adapted his game and is getting increased minutes in the shooting guard role. “If I couldn’t start for teams, it probably wouldn’t matter as much,” he said. “Winning is still the No. 1 goal, if I had a list, and I’ll go from there. The way I’ve been playing the last couple of years, obviously starting is very fun to me.” While the Kings aren’t sure if Rondo will be back next season, they don’t have to worry about Collison. He is signed for 2016/17 at $5,229,454.

There’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Kevin Martin was one of the last remaining links to the competitive Wolves teams of two seasons ago, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. Martin, who was waived this week in a buyout agreement and is waiting to sign with the Spurs, was a key component on the 2013/14 squad that still had Kevin Love and a mix of veterans such as Ronny Turiaf, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham.
  • After watching the Pelicans suffer through a disastrous, injury-filled season, Anthony Davis is determined to prevent it from carrying over into next year, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “You try to establish a culture that you want to have around the locker room, around this organization,” Davis said. “You set it now, to finish out the rest of the games.”
  • The Rockets believe Michael Beasley matured while playing in China and is better able to handle the NBA lifestyle, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Our intel – and our intel in China we feel is as good or better as any team’s – is he is someone focused on his career,” said Rockets GM Daryl Morey. “I can’t speak to the past. I can say that based on our intel he is someone just focused on career and family at this point.” (Twitter link). Beasley received a two-year deal at the minimum, but next season is non-guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Houston will be $200K under the hard cap after signing Andrew Goudelock, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
  • The Rockets recalled Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team announced today.
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Western Notes: Durant, Grizzlies, Spurs, Rockets

March 4th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder absorbed a pair of discouraging losses to the Clippers and Warriors this week, but while their chances of title contention don’t look as strong as they did a few days ago, Kevin Durant is OK with that, as Royce Young of ESPN.com chronicles (on Twitter). Durant’s comments are particularly resonant against the backdrop of his free agency this summer, observes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link), especially in light of the report that the former MVP regards the Warriors as his top choice outside the Thunder.

“This is an exciting time for me,” Durant said. “I’m happy that we’re going through this because like I said it’s easy to be … we don’t want to be front-runners. That’s not who we are. That’s not who I am. And I’m not going to let the team be that way. When you’re losing, that’s when you really got to show your character and show who you are. We’re going to keep our heads up, all our guys are going to stay positive and keep working and learn from it.”

No team is as much of a front-runner as Golden State is, of course. See more from the Western Conference:

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D-League Notes: McCallum, Christmas, McDaniels

January 29th, 2016 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.

Here are the latest NBA D-League assignments and recalls:

  • The Pacers recalled Rakeem Christmas from their D-League affiliate and assigned Shayne Whittington to the Mad Ants, the team announced. This concludes Christmas’ second stint in Fort Wayne on the season and commences Whittington’s fourth.
  • The Spurs have reassigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. McCallum will be joining the junior Spurs for the sixth time this season and he is averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 37.7 minutes in seven total appearances.
  • The Rockets have recalled Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This concludes Harrell’s third stint with Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth.
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And-Ones: Del Negro, Lue, D-League

January 23rd, 2016 at 4:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The rash of injuries the Heat have suffered this season are taking a toll on the players, who have been asked to log significantly more minutes than normal as a result, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “The toughest part about it is that you always worry about the health of your teammate, first and foremost,” Chris Bosh said. “You always want guys to be as healthy as possible, but when it’s another guy going down, it’s just tough. Two weeks ago, we were going into a West Coast road trip, really trying to prove ourselves with a whole roster and now we’ve got six guys out. It’s just a tough pill to swallow.”

While the situation is far from ideal, Bosh did note that the team’s younger players were benefiting from the increased playing time, Kennedy adds. “We’re constantly just trying to digest what’s going on, take the hit on the chin and then regroup,” Bosh continued. “Our young guys are trying [to fill in], but they’re inexperienced and they’re really learning on the fly. I think the best part about it is it’s going to help us in the long run because these guys are getting minutes under stressful situations, and that’s how it’s going to be later on.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Celtics big man Jared Sullinger is a big fan of new Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, and he raves about the former Boston assistant’s demeanor and knowledge, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “I like Ty Lue,” Sullinger told Blakely. “He knows a lot about the game. He helped me out big-time when he was here, as far as helping me stay calm, staying confident and just staying ready at all times.”
  • Vinny Del Negro expects to coach in the NBA again, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports in an appearance on the “The Vertical” podcast. Del Negro confirmed that he has had interviews with the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Cavaliers since the Clippers let him go in 2013, adding that he had extensive player personnel duties in his final year with L.A. “From Jamal Crawford to Matt Barnes to Chauncey [Billups] to Grant [Hill] to everyone, doing the sign-and-trade for Willie Green, everything that was involved. All the front office did was the paperwork,” Del Negro said (audio link, scroll to 28-minute mark).
  • The Rockets have assigned Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Harrell’s third trek to Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth on the season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Southwest Notes: Howard, Harrell, Pachulia

January 19th, 2016 at 4:38pm CST by Chuck Myron
Rockets decision-makers told Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle before the disappointment of the season set in that they had no intention of letting Dwight Howard get away this coming summer, but GM Daryl Morey said to Smith more recently that he’s not thinking too far in the future at this point. The team reportedly expects Howard to turn down his player option for next season, a move that appears a wise financial play for him.
“We’re just focused on this season. So is Dwight,” Morey said. “If … he as a player play[s] like we know he’s capable [of] … all that stuff takes care of itself.”
See more from Houston amid the latest from the Southwest Division:
  • Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff wants to give rookie Montrezl Harrell more playing time, as the Chronicle’s Jenny Dial Creech details. Houston imposed a hard cap on itself when it signed Harrell in the offseason. Fellow power forward Terrence Jones is reportedly a trade candidate.  “Every time Montrezl has played, he’s helped us,” Bickerstaff said, according to Creech. “I have to do a better job of finding minutes for him and getting him on the court. His energy is infectious and the guys love to play with him. We need guys like that on the floor.”
  • Zaza Pachulia likes Dallas and said he’s not focused on what he’ll do when he hits free agency this summer, observes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Still, Pachulia made it clear he enjoys playing with Dirk Nowitzki, who doesn’t appear ready to retire from the Mavericks in the near future. “It’s such a great honor to play next to him,” Pachulia said to Deveney. “Dirk has been there for years, and this guy is all about the winning. That’s a lot of motivation when you come to Dallas and play for the Mavericks; you have to do all the things to win games and have a good season.”
  • The Pelicans have been disappointing this season, but their bench has been a bright spot, thanks to Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday, as John Reid of The Times Picayune examines. At least one person within an NBA team has raised the specter of Anderson as a maximum-salary player when he hits free agency this summer.
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