Nerlens Noel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Notes: Noel, McConnell, Covington

January 9th, 2017 at 6:15pm CST by Will Joseph

While the Sixers are still very much in their rebuilding phase, players such as T.J. McConnell and Robert Covington are in the position to find out what their respective niches are in the league, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Some teams may be watching, as Cooney points out, so McConnell and Covington, two players who have proven to be capable in the league, can look at their situations as sort of auditions in some way. In any event, the increased roles players have with the Sixers would likely not exist on another squad and it is a good opportunity for some to develop and learn if they belong in the league, Cooney surmises.

Here is more from Philadelphia:

Nerlens Noel had to adjust on mental and emotional levels when the Sixers replaced former GM Sam Hinkie, who told Noel that he wouldn’t trade him, as the big man discussed with The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski (podcast link). Among the other topics worth listening in on include Noel’s thoughts on the Sixers’ center logjam, and Noel acknowledging that communication could have been better between him and team when he was working out on his own during the offseason.
While talk of making the playoffs is still premature for the Sixers, having Noel, who is known as a solid defender, lead the second unit along with Dario Saric and Gerald Henderson or Nik Stauskas has yielded positive results, Cooney writes in a separate column.

Blazers Rumors: Stotts, Ezeli, McCollum, Turner

January 4th, 2017 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers are just a single game out of the playoffs in the Western Conference, but with a 15-21 record, it has been an extremely disappointing season so far in Portland. Still, the organization isn’t panicking at this point, as there’s a belief that the team will work its way back into the postseason picture, writes Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. According to Haynes, Terry Stotts‘ job as the team’s head coach isn’t currently in jeopardy.

In a lengthy and interesting piece, Haynes provides several other notable Blazers-related tidbits, so let’s round up some of the highlights…

The Blazers went into free agency aiming to retain their own key free agents, as well as adding another ball-handler and a rim-protecting big man. The club targeted players like Hassan Whiteside, Joakim Noah, and Dwight Howard, but came up short. According to Haynes, Portland was ready to renounce a player – perhaps Meyers Leonard – in order to free up cap room to sign Pau Gasol, but the free agent center opted to sign with San Antonio instead.
Ultimately, the Blazers landed Festus Ezeli on a two-year, $15MM deal, but Ezeli may end up not playing a single game for the team, as he’s expected to undergo season-ending surgery. According to Haynes, Ezeli gave a “stern” locker-room speech after a tough loss last month — when the big man launched into a similar speech a couple games later, he was cut short by C.J. McCollum. As Haynes puts it, “being lectured by someone who wasn’t even playing wasn’t received favorably” by other Blazers players.
Potential trade targets like DeMarcus Cousins and Nerlens Noel aren’t currently on the Blazers’ radar, sources tell Haynes. Cousins likely isn’t available anyway, and Noel is eligible for restricted free agency, so Portland may be turned off by his contract situation.
The Blazers are open to making a trade, but don’t feel obligated to make a move. According to Haynes, the team isn’t looking to trade McCollum or Evan Turner.
Team owner Paul Allen was insistent on retaining Portland’s own assets during the offseason, and as such, the team “never thought twice” about matching Allen Crabbe‘s offer sheet from the Nets, per Haynes.
Be sure to check out Haynes’ full piece for more on the Blazers.

Sixers Notes: Noel, Embiid, Simmons

January 3rd, 2017 at 6:17pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers want to evaluate how Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid play together on the court, Jessica Camerato of Comcast Sportsnet relays. Philadelphia started Jahlil Okafor next to Embiid over the last six games, but the team went 1-5 in those contests, which may lead to the duo seeing less action together. “I think over the course of the year, you’re going to see different things,” coach Brett Brown said. “To do it [with Embiid and Okafor] maybe as much as I have done it, I don’t believe that will be the case. But there will be times you’re going to see them paired up just through situations or foul trouble or injury.”

Here’s more from Philadelphia:

Brown added that his intention is to “force feed” the Noel-Embiid pairing, as Derek Bodner of Philadelphia Magazine passes along (Twitter link). Ersan Ilyasova is starting next to Embiid in tonight’s against the Wolves, but the two centers will see court-time together as well.
Kurt Helin of NBC Sports believes the Sixers are giving Noel additional playing time so they can showcase him to potential trade partners. Finding a team that is willing to give up major value for the center may be a difficult feat, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed in his Trade Candidate piece.
There remains no timetable for Ben Simmons‘ return to the floor, but the 20-year-old will be more involved going forward, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. “You are going to start seeing him integrated more and more as this New Year is now upon us,” Brown said. “It’s still, obviously, not to the point where he’s on the floor practicing. But nobody should be worried that his foot is not healing.”

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Okafor, Noel, McConnell

December 30th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers may be ready to abandon their experiment of pairing Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in the starting lineup, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The move has come under heavy criticism as Philadelphia is just 1-5 with both big men starting. Pompey notes that the pairing forces Embiid to play out of position at power forward, where he has looked uncomfortable on offense and often gets pulled away from the basket on defense. Embiid sat out Thursday’s game at Utah because it was the first of a back-to-back, and coach Brett Brown wouldn’t commit to starting him and Okafor tonight in Denver. “We’ll figure that out,” Brown said. “I feel like when you study the numbers, look at gut feel, it has not been, at the moment, successful.”

There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:

Backup big man Nerlens Noel played 22 minutes Thursday, the most court time he has seen this season, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Since returning from a knee injury, Noel has been unhappy with his lack of minutes and has been a frequent critic of the team’s abundance of big men. While he is considered a likely candidate to be traded before the February 23rd deadline, Noel is trying to help the team however he can while still in Philadelphia. “I’m just thankful,” Noel said. “Coach gave me an opportunity and I wanted to go out there and play my game. That’s what my focus was the whole night. Whenever I was in there, I wanted to contribute to the team’s winning efforts. When I wasn’t, I wanted to support my teammates to the best of my ability.”
Injuries have left T.J. McConnell as the only healthy point guard for tonight’s game, Pompey writes in a separate story. A sprained left ankle suffered by Sergio Rodriguez means McConnell will be in the starting lineup tonight, with shooting guard Nik Stauskas as his backup. What looked to be a position of strength in training camp has been decimated by Ben Simmons‘ broken foot and Jerryd Bayless‘ season-ending wrist surgery.
Thursday’s Sixers-Jazz game was a reminder of the impact of international basketball, Pompey states in another story. The teams have a combined 14 players on their rosters from outside the United States. “Basketball is all over the world,” said Turkish native Ersan Ilyasova. “Obviously in Europe, it’s still more like a soccer thing. But still, a lot of kids play and follow basketball, especially the NBA.”

Atlantic Notes: Howard, Noel, Sixers, Knicks, Rose

December 28th, 2016 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

When he hit the open market back in July, Dwight Howard was linked to a handful of teams before he eventually landed with the Hawks, but he’s not sure why the Knicks were one of those clubs. As Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News details, Howard “strongly denied” an offseason report suggesting he considered the Knicks in free agency.

“I never said that. I love New York, the Knicks are a great team. But that was something that was a lie,” Howard said. “That was a rumor that was being put out there. Like I said, I have no issues with New York or the fans or the people there, but it’s just something I’ve never said.”

For what it’s worth, our Howard archive includes multiple reports that suggest the Knicks were considering Howard this past summer, but there’s little to suggest that interest was mutual.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

After griping about his playing time when he first returned from a knee injury, Nerlens Noel has made peace with his role – or lack thereof – in the Sixers‘ rotation for now, says Keith Pompey of he Philadelphia Inquirer. Of course, even if Noel isn’t thrilled with his situation, attempting to make the most of it is the best thing he can do for both the team and his own trade value.
Although Sixers guard Nik Stauskas has reiterated that he holds no ill will toward the Kings for trading him early in his career, he’s always motivated to show his old team that it was a mistake to give up on him, Pompey writes in a separate piece for The Inquirer. “No one wants to be given up on,” Stauskas said. “But at the same time, I think they did me a favor by sending me here. So I’m not really mad about it.”
As Ian Begley of ESPN.com outlines, Derrick Rose – who is on track for unrestricted free agency in 2017 – is having a major impact on the Knicks‘ offense this season and is one of the reasons New York looks like a potential playoff team.
We rounded up a handful of Celtics notes earlier today.

Atlantic Notes: Noel, Knicks, Booker

December 26th, 2016 at 4:45pm CST by Austin Kent

No matter how you want to look at the frontcourt logjam in Philadelphia, the Sixers will almost inevitably have to make a move eventually. Today, TNT analyst David Aldridge broke down several scenarios that he thinks could play out involving notably disgruntled big man Nerlens Noel.

In 2013, Noel was drafted by the Pelicans and immediately shipped to Philly in exchange for Jrue Holiday. It was one of then general manager Sam Hinkie’s first big splashes in the executive driver’s seat. A reversal of such a deal, Aldridge posits, could help both teams in 2016. While the Sixers’ need for a point guard is no secret, Noel’s presence as a stopper could take some of the defensive load off of Anthony Davis.

Aldridge also discusses packages that would hypothetically send Noel from the Sixers to the Trail Blazers, Raptors or Thunder.

That’s not all to trickle in from the Atlantic Division today:

The Celtics could be a top-three team in the Eastern Conference and their solid, come-from-behind showing on Christmas Day served as a perfect reminder of it. According to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Al Horford‘s contributions both tangible and otherwise, will play a major role in how the rest of the 2016/17 campaign pans out.
After another disappointing loss at the hands of a plus-.500 opponent, Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests that the Knicks‘ record is hollow. After Sunday’s defeat, New York is just 3-10 against teams sitting .500 or better.
The Nets are a rebuilding team and veterans like Trevor Booker could be just what the franchise needs to make sure that its young core develops the right way. Zach Lowe of ESPN suggests that Booker’s bully style of play will benefit young assets like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert.

Celtics Notes: G. Green, Noel, A. Johnson

December 23rd, 2016 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Gerald Green, who signed a one-year contract with the Celtics this offseason, has battled nagging injuries and has fallen out of the rotation in Boston less than two months into the season, as Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald details. Although Green refuses to “second-guess” head coach Brad Stevens, he admits he’s not used to sitting so frequently.

“It’s hard to get in a rhythm when you don’t even know when you’re getting to play,” Green said. “And then it’s kind of tough to get in a rhythm when you do play, you’re only playing, you know, you can count your minutes on one hand. So it’s tough. I’m not really used to it, but it’s something I’ve got to go through right now.”

While Green waits for his shot to contribute, let’s round up a few more notes out of Boston…

In an appearance on CSNNE, veteran reporter Jackie MacMullen says that if the Celtics want to trade for Sixers center Nerlens Noel, they wouldn’t have much trouble doing so, but suggests that it still makes sense for the team to wait and see if any better opportunities materialize by the deadline.
If the Celtics were given the opportunity to pry DeMarcus Cousins away from the Kings, there would be plenty of risk to consider, but it’s intriguing to imagine what he could do in Stevens’ system, says ESPN’s Chris Forsberg during an appearance of his own on CSNNE.
As much as they’d like to bolster their roster, the Celtics don’t appear to be in any rush to move Amir Johnson to make that happen, according to a CSNNE.com report. Johnson, who has been something of an underappreciated contributor for the C’s, is in a contract year and will hit unrestricted free agency in 2017.

Sixers Notes: Brown, Noel, Okafor

December 22nd, 2016 at 1:19pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Earlier in the week, Joel Embiid lobbied for the team to pair him with Nerlens Noel on the court, arguing that the Sixers need to try all options when it comes to playing time. Coach Brett Brown told reporters that he agrees with Embiid, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer passes along (video link on Twitter). “We have these three bigs. We need to experiment. We need to try different things.” Brown said “It’s on Nerlens to get himself back in shape and learn what we’re actually running. It’ll be on [the three centers] to find ways to coexist and me to manage it.” Brown added that he looks forward to seeing the Noel-Embiid pairing among other combinations.

Here’s more from Philadelphia:

[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Nerlens Noel]

The coach added that the Sixers are going through “one of the most challenging times” since he’s joined the organization, Pompey relays in a separate tweet.
The Sixers‘ easiest path to clearing up their frontcourt logjam is to trade Noel, but the team shouldn’t make a move just for the sake of opening up minutes for its other big men, Ben Detrick of The Ringer contends. If Philadelphia does deal Noel, Detrick believes Minnesota would be the best fit. The Wolves could put together a package that includes either Ricky Rubio or Tyus Jones along with a protected first-round pick in exchange for the 2013 No. 6 overall pick.
The Sixers should have traded Jahlil Okafor at the last year’s deadline, Detrick opines in the same piece. The scribe argues that the center’s trade value is hard to gauge now, but he believes the 21-year-old can still be a foundation piece for another team.
The Ersan Ilyasova-Embiid pairing is the team’s best option, Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer contends. Ilyasova is a good 3-point shooter for his position and his presence on the floor opens up the paint for Embiid. The power forward is a free agent at the end of the season, though the Sixers will have plenty of cap space to re-sign him if they choose to do so.

Sixers Notes: Noel, Embiid, Colangelo, Simmons

December 21st, 2016 at 6:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers coach Brett Brown gave fans what they were asking for Tuesday night, and the Nerlens Noel situation took another twist, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Two days after Brown announced that Noel was out of the rotation, he entered the game midway through the third quarter. Brown explained it was because of foul trouble, but Philly fans were loudly chanting, “We want Nerlens” just before he got off the bench. Noel played the final 6:49 of the quarter and finished with four points. “I think holistically [the Sixers have] to find a way to take these bigs and manage them,” Brown said after the game. “We have to try to find a way that is going to help our team moving forward, get some wins, develop our guys.”

There’s more out of Philadelphia:

Starting center Joel Embiid was happy to see Noel back on the court and referred to him as his “best friend on the team,” relays Shamus Clancy of LibertyBallers. Clancy urges Philadelphia to try to re-sign Noel this summer to ensure that there is always at least one rim protector on the court.
The Sixers aren’t going to let Noel talk his way into a trade, claims Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Noel has been critical of the franchise for having three young centers on the roster who all need playing time and lashed out after playing just eight minutes in a game last week. GM Bryan Colangelo held a news conference Monday and delivered the message that Noel should keep quiet to avoid further damaging his trade value. “At this point, in order for us to fairly evaluate Nerlens and for Nerlens to be fairly evaluated [by other teams],” Colangelo said, “he needs to show that he’s healthy, and that he’s professional and he’s got a good attitude to everything that’s going on and that may lead to ultimately something that would lead to a move.”
No. 1 pick Ben Simmons is making progress in his recovery from the right foot fracture he suffered in October, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. The team hasn’t placed a timetable on Simmons’ return because it wants to avoid any temptation to rush him back before he is ready. In the meantime, he is getting a classroom-style education about the NBA game and is preparing to be the Sixers’ primary ballhandler. “We’re going to play with probably a considerable amount of pace [with Simmons],” Colangelo said. “He tends to grab and go … rebound the ball and push the ball up the floor, pass ahead, all the things that he demonstrated not only in college, but quite clearly in summer league. I think that the desire of this team and this organization to play a certain style of play incorporates some of that.”

Bryan Colangelo On Noel, Frontcourt Logjam

December 19th, 2016 at 1:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

GM Bryan Colangelo said he doesn’t feel the need to make a trade, as Derek Bodner of the Philadelphia Magazine passes along in a series of Twitter links. “If [all the centers are on the roster at the end of the season], so be it. I will not make a bad deal for this organization,” Colangelo said. The GM added that he’s aware everyone will be lined up to criticize any deal he should make involving Nerlens Noel.

Colangelo believes the root of the logjam in the frontcourt has been the health of Noel, Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid. “I don’t think we’ve been at a point where we could actively pursue a trade with any of the centers,” the GM said. He added that the team is “fascinated” with the Noel-Embiid combination.

[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Nerlens Noel]

The Sixers took Noel out of the rotation this week and the team maintains that it was not a direct response to Noel’s comments. Colangelo said the decision was made because they realized that there is a lot of talent on the team and not everyone can play, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays (Twitter links).

Colangelo added that the team needs to play faster once Ben Simmons returns, but he didn’t provide a timeline for when that would happen, Jessica Camerato of Comcast Sportsnet tweets.