Nikola Jokic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Rumors: Nurkic, Mudiay, Jokic, Gallinari

March 20th, 2016 at 4:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic is trying to pick up the pieces of an injury-plagued second season in the NBA, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. After earning second-team all-rookie honors in 2014/15, Nurkic has seen his playing time and effectiveness limited by an aching left knee. He had surgery during the offseason to repair a partially torn patellar tendon, but the knee hasn’t responded the way he hoped it would. He is averaging 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in just 23 games. “I can’t control this stuff,” Nurkic said. “When I hear my name I go in. I haven’t heard it a lot this season for some reason, but I will be a professional until the end and try to finish the season the right way.” In October, Denver picked up his option for 2016/17 at $1,921,320. He also has a team option for 2017/18 at $2,947,305.

There’s more news today out of Denver:

Both Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic have strong cases to be first-team choices on this season’s all-rookie team, Dempsey contends in a separate story. Mudiay, the seventh player selected in the 2015 draft, leads NBA rookies in assists with 5.7 per game and is fourth in scoring average at 12.3 points per night. His main competition for first-team honors in the backcourt will come from the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell and the Suns’ Devin Booker, Dempsey believes. Jokic was a second-round pick in 2014 who played in the Adriatic and Serbian leagues before coming to the NBA. He ranks second among rookies behind the Wolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns in player efficiency rating and is fourth in rebounding and eighth in scoring.
The Nuggets don’t know if Danilo Gallinari will play again this season, but the injured small forward plans to be part of the Italian team in the Summer Olympics, according to Marco “Barzo” Barzizza of Eurosport [hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando]. Gallinari suffered two torn ligaments in his right ankle during a late February game. The injury was expected to keep him out of action for about a month, but the Nuggets may shut him down for the season even if he does recover. “I don’t know if I’ll be back before the end of the season,” Gallinari said. “I am very happy to be in Denver and before thinking about new teams I hope to win something here and to play for the Denver Nuggets for many years.”

And-Ones: Faried, Okafor, Crawford, D-League

March 17th, 2016 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried can expect a light workload for the rest of the season, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Faried was held out of tonight’s game with the Hawks because of soreness in his back, and coach Mike Malone suggested that he might face some more DNPs. “Sometimes I feel that I may have to protect him from himself,” Malone said. “I think he wants to be out there, but, you know what? We have 14 games to go, we know what Kenneth is about, we know the high level he’s capable of playing at.” Malone said one benefit of Faried’s absence will be more playing time to evaluate big men Joffrey Lauvergne, Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic. Faried has three years and more than $38.764MM left on the extension he signed in 2014.

There’s more news tonight from the basketball world:

The delay in Jahlil Okafor‘s knee surgery is no cause for concern, Sixers coach Brett Brown tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Okafor is waiting to undergo arthroscopic surgery to fix a torn meniscus in his right knee. The operation was originally scheduled for Wednesday, and then today, but it hasn’t been performed yet. “There’s no sort of conspiracy theories going on,” Brown said. “It’s more just trying to get a collaborative effort. It happened with Joel [Embiid] and, I think, with Nerlens [Noel].”
The effort to get an NBA team back in Seattle received support from Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford, who wrote a piece promoting the idea for Sports Illustrated’s The Cauldron.
The Thunder recalled forward Mitch McGary from their Oklahoma City Blue affiliate in the D-League, the organization announced via press release. McGary is averaging 15.1 points and 9.2 rebounds in 21 games with the OKC Blue.
The Spurs assigned forward Jonathon Simmons to their D-League team in Austin. This is his second D-League trip of the season. Simmons has appeared in 48 games with San Antonio, averaging 5.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per night.

Pacific Notes: Griffin, Schlenk, Nance

February 15th, 2016 at 10:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers president of basketball operations Doc Rivers told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that there isn’t truth to the idea that his team offered Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson to the Nuggets for Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Will Barton and Nikola Jokic, as a source who spoke with the reporter had said earlier. Broussard relayed the exchange in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link; scroll to 6-minute mark), adding that the source had told him the Nuggets turned down the offer out of concern that Griffin would opt out and leave in free agency after next season. That jibes with an earlier report from Mitch Lawrence of Forbes, who indicated 10 days ago that the Clippers had engaged the Nuggets in talks about Griffin, though Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reported shortly thereafter that the Clippers had no interest in trading their star power forward, a refrain that Rivers repeated in the days that followed. See more from the Pacific Division:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is known to be high on Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee amid a piece that argues the Kings should bring in an experienced front office hand to work beneath GM Vlade Divac. Sacramento reportedly interviewed Schlenk for the lead front office role in 2013, and he was believed to be one of the candidates to fill former GM Pete D’Alessandro‘s chair in Divac’s front office this past summer.
The Kings anticipate making a minor move at Thursday’s trade deadline, Voisin writes in the same column, speculating that such a trade could involve Marco Belinelli or Ben McLemore going out for draft picks or a wing defender.
Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports lists Larry Nance Jr. alongside Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell among those the Lakers should refuse to trade and instead make the focal point of their rebuilding efforts.

And-Ones: Isaac, Cordinier, Free Agents

February 11th, 2016 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

High school phenom Jonathan Isaac, who is ranked among the top 10 prospects in the nation, intends to explore the idea of declaring for the 2016 NBA draft directly from prep school, Pete Thamel of SI.com writes. Isaac told Thamel that he could look to take advantage of a new rule that allows prospects to enter the NBA draft and return to college if they aren’t satisfied with their projected draft position., Thamel adds. The new rule allows Isaac to participate in the NBA draft combine, hold an NBA workout and pull out of the draft without compromising his amateur standing at Florida State where he’s signed to play next season, the SI scribe notes.

Here’s more from around the league:

French shooting guard prospect Isaia Cordinier appears to be a strong candidate to be a first round pick if he enters this year’s NBA Draft, opines Jonathan Givony of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The 19-year-old is likely to declare for the draft, though he will retain the right to withdraw his name if he doesn’t feel good about his prospects, Givony adds. The flexibility of his situation will certainly help his stock because an NBA team can opt to pick Cordinier and “stash” him in Europe for another year or two, which could be a major selling point for a franchise that has multiple draft picks and limited roster spots to utilize for 2016/17, the Vertical scribe concludes. Cordinier is currently projected as the No. 25 overall pick this June, according to DraftExpress.
The rookies whose performances have been the most pleasantly surprising this season for their respective teams are the Pacers‘ Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton opine in their look at the league’s first-year players (Insider subscription required).
The free agent class for the summer of 2017 will be loaded with superstar point guards, including Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry, Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders notes in his free agent primer.
Florida State freshman shooting guard Malik Beasley has worked his way onto NBA teams’ radars and is currently projected to be a mid to late first-rounder if he enters this year’s NBA Draft, Mike Schmitz of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports writes in his look at the prospect. Despite his strong play this season, Beasley is still likely a year away from being able to contribute in the NBA as a rotation player, though his potential will probably influence an NBA club to take a gamble on him this June, Schmitz concludes.

Western Notes: Howard, Durant, Morris

February 3rd, 2016 at 6:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite the reports that the Rockets are entertaining trade offers for Dwight Howard, GM Daryl Morey insists the team hasn’t given up on the season and the center is needed if Houston wants to make a playoff push, Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle relays. “We’re just focused on this season,” Morey told reporters. “So is Dwight. If we as a team and he as a player plays like we know he’s capable and has been this year and was last year, all that stuff takes care of itself. There’s no way we make the conference finals last year without Dwight and there’s no way [we] are making the solid playoff push this year without Dwight.

The Rockets haven’t had any meaningful dialogue about a Howard trade since December and aren’t looking to trade him, one source told Calvin Watkins and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, a dispatch that conflicts with earlier reports. Here’s more from out West:

Houston plans to make a big push this offseason to sign unrestricted free agent Kevin Durant, and the front office believes it has a legitimate shot to sign the Thunder star, Watkins and Stein note in the same piece. Rockets officials believe privately that they will have as good a chance as any team to lure Durant away from Oklahoma City because of his strong relationship with former teammate James Harden and the room Houston has to pay Durant max-contract money while also re-signing Howard, the ESPN duo note.
The Suns have indicated they plan to make Markieff Morris the focal point of their offense, a move that is geared to showcase him to teams potentially interested in trading for the power forward, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone raves about the potential of big man Nikola Jokic and believes the sky is the limit for the 20-year-old, Harrison Wind of BSNDenver.com relays (via Twitter). “You can talk about some of these very young bigs who are very talented. I know Nikola Jokic and wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the world,” Malone said. “He’s a special young man, he’s a special young talent and he’s only going to get better as he continues to get stronger. But he’s a heck of a young talent. I give a lot of credit to [GM] Tim Connelly and the front office for finding him and making him part of this organization.”
Former Hornets point guard Jannero Pargo, who signed with the D-League earlier this week, was claimed off waivers by the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor tweets.

Wilson Chandler To Miss Remainder Of Season

November 11th, 2015 at 7:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler has been diagnosed with a labral tear and will undergo hip surgery early next week, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports and the team confirms via press release. He initially suffered the injury during the preseason and he has missed the team’s first seven games. Chandler will miss the remainder of the season as a result of the surgery, but he is expected to make a complete recovery after a six-month rehab, sources tell Wojnarowski.

“I’m incredibly disappointed at this point, I put in so much work over the summer to make myself a better player,” Chandler said in the team’s statement. “I was really looking forward to this year, being out there battling with my teammates, being a part of the change. I dedicated my whole summer to self-improvement and all I had on my mind this off-season and preseason was ‘this was my year, I was going to help this team win.’ So this is very frustrating and heart-breaking to say the least. I just want to say thank you to the whole organization for supporting me at a time like this.”

Chandler signed a four-year, $46.5MM extension with Denver during the offseason and he was expected to play a major role for the team. The 28-year-old had been the subject of frequent trade rumors over the past year and by virtue of being a veteran on a rebuilding team, those rumors were likely to continue, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors noted in Denver’s Offseason in Review.

The Nuggets started the season with a record of 3-4 with quality wins over the Rockets and Blazers despite Chandler missing from the line-up. It’ll be hard for the team to keep up that win pace without the forward returning to reinforce the roster. The team was already thin in the frontcourt with injuries to Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic. Those injuries, coupled with the news of Chandler missing the season, could mean that Kostas Papanikolaou, whom the team signed last week, remains in Denver through the season, although that is just my speculation.

If the Nuggets go over the cap, which they’re almost $1.5MM under, they would become eligible to apply for a Disabled Player Exception worth $5,224,719, a figure equal to half of Chandler’s salary. However, the Nuggets already have a full 15-man roster, with Papanikolaou the only player without fully guaranteed salary. The team doesn’t currently have enough players with long-term injuries to apply for a 16th roster spot via hardship.

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Kanter, Exum

October 21st, 2015 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rookie center Nikola Jokic is arguably the biggest surprise of the Nuggets‘ preseason, and the young big man will be called upon early in the season to produce with projected starter Jusuf Nurkic out until November, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “Nikola Jokic, he’s a young kid and I’m not saying he’s ready, but he does things every practice that make you say ‘Wow, this kid has a chance to be a [heck of a] player,’” coach Michael Malone said. “For him to be that young and that skilled is really exciting to see. The fact that he’s gotten so much better even from summer league.“

Here’s what else is happening in the Northwest:

Thunder forward Steve Novak downplayed teammate Enes Kanter‘s feud with the Jazz organization, and suggested that the situation between the two sides was blown out of proportion last season, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. “I’m not really sure what went on there, but Enes is a great guy and Utah is a great organization,” Novak said. “I was here [Utah] with Enes. There was never any big incidents. I think it became a little bit bigger than it was. And I know Enes played to it and got a little bit of what he deserved.” Novak, when asked if he thought Kanter would do things differently with the benefit of hindsight, Novak responded, “I doubt it. He had to get something out and he got it out. He felt good about it. And then he probably felt bad about it and now it’s over with…Enes is very happy and Utah is doing great, so it’s over.”
Jazz point guard Dante Exum credits a month of grueling prehab work in Utah for helping prepare him for his ACL surgery, and he’s making excellent progress in his recovery as a result, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News writes. “The prehab — as much as I hated it, it was really good for me,” Exum told Genessy. “I saw the results coming out of the surgery. I was still able to lift my leg up on its own. The strength was still there as much as I’d lost. That was the biggest thing. It’s helped me to be able to walk sooner, get off the crutches and out of the brace, just because of that.”
Damian Lillard is excited about being paired alongside Maurice Harkless, and he believes the two of them give the Blazers a formidable backcourt, Mike Richman of The Oregonian relays. Portland acquired Harkless from the Magic this summer in exchange for a protected 2020 second round pick.

Nuggets Sign Nikola Jokić

July 28th, 2015 at 12:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 28TH, 12:26pm: The signing is official, the Nuggets announced. For more details on the contract, click here.

JULY 14TH, 8:34am: The Nuggets have yet to make an official announcement, but the signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log.

JULY 13TH, 11:09am: The four-year deal is worth $5.5MM, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who indicates that Jokić has already signed the deal. The team has yet to make any formal announcement (Twitter links).

JULY 10TH, 11:28am: It’s a four-year deal with an option on year four, agent Misko Raznatovic tweets (hat tip to Sportando’s Enea Trapani). It’s not clear whether that’s a team or player option. The team still hasn’t made any formal announcement.

JUNE 30TH, 12:12pm: The Nuggets are finalizing a fully guaranteed three-year contract with Nikola Jokić, whom Denver drafted 41st overall last year, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post wrote in May and again on Twitter today that Denver was expected to sign the 6’10” center before summer league, but it wasn’t clear just what sort of deal he would be getting.

Jokić had been insistent on a long-term deal, but he was enthusiastic about the prospect of joining Denver and had begun making it known he was on his way there, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com chronicled. The 20-year-old averaged 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game for KK Mega Vizura in his native Serbia this past season.

Denver has about $53MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $67.1MM cap, so the Nuggets could open cap space and sign Jokić into that. Otherwise, they’d have to use the $5.434MM mid-level exception on him. Either way, the signing couldn’t become official until next week, when the July Moratorium is over.

Northwest Notes: Malone, Lillard, Harkless

July 17th, 2015 at 11:40am CST by Chuck Myron

Nuggets coach Michael Malone didn’t have too much to say about Ty Lawson, other than that he’s been in contact and that he still considers the point guard “part of the Denver Nugget family,” but Malone, in his conversation with Grantland’s Zach Lowe, provided a glimpse into Denver’s draft night war room.

“It’s very rare when you’re picking No. 7 to get the guy you target. I kid you not, when I got the job, [GM] Tim Connelly said, ‘Emmanuel Mudiay. That’s the guy,'” Malone said.

The team’s other target was Duke small forward Justise Winslow, Malone admitted to Lowe with hesitation. Winslow slipped to the Heat at No. 10. The coach also spoke with Lowe about his time hanging around the Timberwolves last season, and Malone “absolutely” had interest in becoming the head-coach-in-waiting under Flip Saunders in Minnesota, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. He would have considered such an opportunity over the Nuggets gig, Wolfson adds. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Damian Lillard is a fan of Portland’s trade acquisition of Maurice Harkless, GM Neil Olshey says, and it’s with Lillard in mind that the Blazers are going after players like the former Magic small forward, as The Oregonian’s Mike Richman chronicles. Lillard signed a five-year max extension this month. “When LaMarcus [Aldridge] warned us he wasn’t coming back we went full bore with guys on the same career arc as Damian Lillard,” Olshey said. “Damian’s our best player right now, he’s a two time All-Star. We’re going to bring in players that compliment his skill set, how we want to play and that can grow with him as he continues to improve.”
The Nuggets were reportedly one of three teams interested in signing Sergio Rodriguez, but it doesn’t look like he’ll leave Spain for the NBA again, as Real Madrid wants him to stay, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links). The contract reportedly contains an NBA buyout clause, but Real Madrid will fight to keep him, Pick says.
The precise value of Jameer Nelson‘s three-year contract with the Nuggets is $13,621,575, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The cap hits in the four-year deal the Nuggets gave Nikola Jokic come to $5,551,000, and year four is a team option, Pincus also shows (Twitter link).

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Tomic, Winslow

June 9th, 2015 at 4:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nikola Jokic has been making it known he’s on his way to the Nuggets for next season, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com hears (Twitter link). The Serbian whom Denver took 41st overall last year intends to join the Nuggets, as Pick reported earlier, after spending this past season as a draft-and-stash prospect. It’s unclear just what sort of terms it’ll take to make that happen, as Pick reported last month that Jokic was insistent upon a long-term deal. There’s more on another draft-and-stash big man amid the latest from around the Northwest Division:

Ante Tomic is apparently once more leaning toward a multiyear extension with Barcelona of Spain, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Utah’s draft-and-stash center was reportedly set to ink a three-year extension with Barcelona as of April, but he’s yet to do so, and earlier he wouldn’t rule out signing with the Jazz. Last week, he appeared thoroughly undecided on his future.
The Nuggets are indeed working out Justise Winslow on Wednesday, the team announced, confirming a report from Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, who said that the team was expected to audition the Duke small forward.
The Blazers brought in Virginia small forward Justin Anderson, Connecticut point guard Ryan Boatright, French center Mouhammadou Jaiteh, Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell, and Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells for a predraft workout today, the team announced (Twitter link). Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, as Jabari Young of CSNNW.com previously reported, is also a part of the workout.
The Jazz will hire Hawks strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watkinson as an assistant coach, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed Watkinson is leaving the team to rejoin Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, whom Watkinson used to work with on the Hawks and at the University of Missouri, as Vivlamore details.