Nolan Smith Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jared Cunningham To Join Sixers Affiliate

January 15th, 2015 at 3:53pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Delaware 87ers, Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, have acquired Jared Cunningham via the D-League waiver process, the team has announced. To clear a roster spot for Cunningham, the 87ers released guard Nolan Smith.

Cunningham was waived by the Sixers earlier this month after being acquired from the Clippers for the draft rights to Serhiy Lishuk. Los Angeles dealt Cunningham to avoid waiving him prior to the leaguewide salary guarantee date. The Sixers had garnered the draft rights to Cenk Akyol and cash considerations in the trade as well.

The 6’4″, 23-year-old had appeared in 19 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 1.8 points, 0.5 assists and 0.5 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game.

Western Notes: Dragic, Adams, Moreland, Smith

November 25th, 2014 at 8:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Zoran Dragic will receive $1.5MM in base salary this season and next, but he’ll count for more than $1.706MM against the Suns‘ cap each year because of his nearly $413K signing bonus, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The bonus went toward the part of Dragic’s buyout from Spain’s Unicaja Malaga that wasn’t covered under the $600K that teams are allowed to keep off their books when they buy players out of their overseas contracts. Here’s more from the western half:

The Grizzlies have re-assigned Jordan Adams to the Iowa Energy, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Adams’ second trip to the D-League this season. During his first assignment, Adams appeared in one contest, contributing 20 points, seven rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes. The 20-year-old is averaging 1.5 points, 1.3 assists and 0.75 steals in 10.1 minutes per contest in four appearances for Memphis this season.
Eric Moreland has been recalled from the Reno Bighorns of the D-League, the Kings have announced. This was Moreland’s second stint in the D-League this season, and he’s averaging 13.3 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 1.7 APG in three appearances for Reno this season. Moreland has yet to appear in a regular season contest for Sacramento.
The Delaware 87ers of the NBA D-League have claimed Nolan Smith off of waivers, Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reports (Twitter link). Smith had cut ties with Turkey’s Galatasaray back in October and intends to use the D-League to showcase his talents for NBA teams. Smith’s last taste of the NBA came during the 2012/13 season when he appeared in 40 games for the Blazers and averaged 2.8 points and 0.9 assists.
Mavs big man Tyson Chandler said that he felt like a scapegoat for the Knicks’ failures last season, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. When asked whether his leadership attempts were unappreciated in New York, Chandler said, “At times, at times, at times. But I feel like New York made me a lot stronger, a lot stronger of a person going through trials and tribulations there. But that’s life. It also depends on where your mind is. If everybody is locked in and they want to win and they know I’m in it 100% and they’re in it 100%, nobody’s sensitive. But if there’s other agendas, it’s going to make things sensitive.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Smith, Moreland, Sampson

November 21st, 2014 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Minnesota is the latest team to be besieged by injuries, with Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin out indefinitely and Ronny Turiaf also expected to miss time. Also among the Timberwolves to sit on the sidelines in street clothes tonight is Nikola Pekovic, who has a sprained wrist. With the league-maximum 15 players on their roster, the Wolves would not be able to sign another player without being forced to release someone. But if at least three of the players miss three consecutive games and an independent physician declares that they and a fourth player are likely to continue to miss time, Minnesota could apply to the league for a hardship provision that would grant them the ability to temporarily carry a 16th player. Still, “they don’t hand those things out like candy,” as Flip Saunders noted of the league’s willingness to grant 16th roster spots, in spite of recent allowances for the Thunder, Pacers and Grizzlies, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Kings have sent Eric Moreland to the Reno Bighorns, the team announced. This will be Moreland’s second assignment to the D-League this season. The 22-year-old power forward has yet to make a regular season appearance for Sacramento
The Sixers have assigned JaKarr Sampson to the Delaware 87ers, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Sampson’s first trip to the D-League this season, and the rookie is averaging 2.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in nine NBA appearances.
Former Blazers first round pick Nolan Smith is headed back to the NBA D-League, Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reports. Smith had cut ties with Turkey’s Galatasaray back in October and intends to use the D-League to showcase his talents for NBA teams, Pilato notes. The D-League will assign Smith to one of its teams through its waiver system. The 26-year-old point guard spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 with Portland, averaging 3.3 PPG and 1.2 APG in 9.9 minutes per contest. Smith had received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder this summer but instead chose to try his luck in Turkey.

Nolan Smith To Sign With Turkish Club

August 14th, 2014 at 12:29pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Duke star Nolan Smith will sign with Turkey’s Galatasaray, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Smith received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season but he has apparently chosen to spent the year overseas.

Because Smith had serious interest from at least two NBA clubs, it’s possible that his deal will include an NBA out-clause. Smith played in Croatia last year and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.

The 26-year-old point guard spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 with the Blazers, averaging 3.3 PPG and 1.2 APG in 9.9 minutes per contest. The former No. 21 overall pick in the draft also had interest from the Hawks back in 2013 and picked up interest from the Celtics and Knicks last summer. One would imagine that he’ll continue to have an in with Oklahoma City as well since head coach Scott Brooks is his godfather.

Earlier today, Galatasaray inked another ex-NBA guard in Carlos Arroyo when they re-signed him to a new contract.

And-Ones: Smith, Sterling, Kerr, Pressey

April 27th, 2014 at 11:25am CST by Eddie Scarito

Nolan Smith has received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Smith played in Croatia this season and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.

Odds & Ends: Cavs, Jackson, Gordon, Ennis

February 12th, 2014 at 11:41pm CST by Cray Allred

The Cavs have won four straight since firing former GM Chris Grant. One of interim GM David Griffin‘s priorities was to improve the rumored chaos in the Cleveland locker room according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter). Amico says that Griffin told both Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters they would not be traded, and urged the team to have fun and avoid stress (Twitter link), which could explain some of the team’s sudden positivity. Here are the rest of the notes from around the league:

Mark Jackson took some critical comments made earlier by Warriors owner Joe Lacob in stride, per Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group. Jackson said he “understands” why the owner is disappointed with the team’s performance, adding, with a laugh: “I stopped reading [Lacob’s comments]. I was getting depressed.”
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders said he wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Gordon wound up on the Suns before the upcoming trade deadline, in response to a tweeted question he received (Twitter link). This would fall in line with the Suns’ reported preference of landing a perimeter player.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim doesn’t think consensus top-10 draft prospect Tyler Ennis will enter the draft this summer, per Seth Davis of SI.com. “I think he knows and his father knows that he’s a really good college player. He has to become a better shooter and get stronger to go to the next level,” said Boeheim. “He’d go in the first round, but look at the number of first-round picks who are already out of the league in the last two years. It’s a huge number.” (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv)
Representatives from the Bulls attended a Eurobasket game to get a look at Nolan Smith, per David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The 25-year-old point guard spent two years with the Blazers, and was expected to join the Celtics for training camp this summer before heading overseas. Smith has averaged 9.9 minutes per game in his NBA career, and declined in nearly every statistical category last year.
Free agent Brian Cook is attempting to make an NBA return, according to a source for Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). The 33-year-old has nine years of NBA experience, but he hasn’t played in the NBA since splitting time with the Clippers and Wizards in the 2011/12 season.

Overseas Rumors: Varnado, Smith, Martin, Leslie

August 18th, 2013 at 9:16am CST by Chuck Myron

The international free agent market is still hot, and plenty of players with NBA ties are doing business with clubs from overseas. Here's the latest:

Sidigas Avellino is close to an agreement with Heat big man Jarvis Varnado, the print edition of the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport reports, according to Sportando's Enea Trapani. Varnado is on a non-guaranteed contract with Miami, and with rumors that the Heat will only carry 13 players this year, he appears to be on shaky ground.

Earlier updates:

Nolan Smith was expected to join the Celtics in training camp, but he's signed to play with Cedevita Zagreb, the Croatian team announced on its website (translation via Sportando's Emiliano Carchia).
Cartier Martin is mulling the idea of playing in China, agent Andy Miller tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Martin has spent parts of the last four seasons with the Wizards, but it doesn't look like the team plans to re-sign him.
Former second-round draft pick Travis Leslie has signed with JSF Nanterre of France, the team announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Carchia). Leslie played 10 games with the Clippers in 2011/12. He signed a 10-day contract with the Jazz last season, but he didn't appear in a game for Utah. This week Nanterre also signed Deshaun Thomas, whom the Spurs drafted 58th overall in June).
One-time Kings and Rockets small forward Tyler Honeycutt has officially signed his deal with Ironi Nes Ziona of Israel, Carchia tweets. Sportando contributor David Pick reported a few days ago that the two sides had agreed to a deal.

Celtics Expected To Invite Nolan Smith To Camp

July 24th, 2013 at 3:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

A sprained calf led to an abbreviated summer league stint for former Trail Blazer Nolan Smith, but he's still expected to join the Celtics for training camp, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. The Knicks were also considering Smith. Presumably, the 21st pick in the 2011 draft will join Boston on a non-guaranteed contract that amounts to the chance to try out for the 2013/14 regular season roster.

The Blazers changed management in between Smith's first and second seasons, and new GM Neil Olshey elected not to pick up their option for Smith's third year. That made the former Duke standout an unrestricted free agent entering the summer. He was a trade candidate this past season, and by April, when a report identified the Thunder, Bulls and Hawks as teams likely to have interest in him, it was clear he wouldn't be re-signing with the Blazers.

Smith played just 12.3 minutes per game as a rookie, and he saw even less action this past season, racking up just 7.2 MPG. He notched 20.6 points per game as a senior at Duke, so the Celtics clearly hope that he can once more summon that scoring touch if given a chance.

Knicks Rumors: Martin, Robinson, Jordan, Tyler

July 14th, 2013 at 8:56am CST by Chuck Myron

It sounds like the Knicks will fall short of landing Samuel Dalembert, who's close to a deal with the Mavs. As Knicks GM Glen Grunwald and company search for free agent help, they're limited to handing out no more than the $1.7MM portion of their mini mid-level exception that remains after the team used part of it to re-sign Pablo Prigioni. Still, the team has plenty of targets, as we detail:

The Knicks are in the lead for Kenyon Martin, a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Since Martin played on the Knicks last season, the team can ink him using Non-Bird rights, but that would still provide a salary of no more than about $1.6MM.
Nate Robinson, Aaron Brooks, Daniel Gibson, Charles Jenkins, John Lucas III, A.J. Price, Nolan Smith, Sebastian Telfair and Toure Murry are all point guards the Knicks are considering, Zwerling writes.
Robinson would consider signing with the Knicks, but only if he doesn't receive a more lucrative offer from another team, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The team reached out to the diminuative point guard recently, but as we heard yesterday, a few other clubs have interest in him, too.
Jerome Jordan, Liam McMorrow and Jeremy Tyler will draw close attention from the Knicks during the Las Vegas summer league, according to Zwerling. There's a "big chance" Tyler will draw an invitation to Knicks training camp, perhaps with a partial guarantee, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Mike Woodson is intent on keeping Carmelo Anthony at power forward, prompting the club to search for a veteran small forward to use alongside him. Zwerling points to Raja Bell, Josh Childress, Dahntay Jones, Metta World Peace, Mickael Pietrus and Shawne Williams as some of the small forwards drawing the Knicks' eye.
Al Harrington, who seems to be drawing close to a buyout from the Magic, is another Knicks target, Berman adds.

Renounced Players: Wednesday

July 10th, 2013 at 9:58pm CST by Luke Adams

As teams clear cap space to finalize signings and trades, it may mean renouncing Early Bird or Bird rights to their own free agents, in order to remove cap holds from the books. Once a player is renounced, his previous team has no more claim to him that any other team — he could still be re-signed, but it would have to be done using cap space or an exception. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion's sake, we'll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:

Mo Williams is the most prominent name among the several whose rights the Jazz renounced today, according to the RealGM transaction log. Al Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll and Earl Watson, who already have deals to join other teams, are also on the list, as are the long-retired Brevin Knight and Greg Ostertag.
Bobcats are set to re-sign Josh McRoberts, but they won't be using their Early Bird rights to do so, as they've renounced his rights, RealGM shows. The team also renounced their rights to Reggie Williams, who's heading to the Rockets, and it cut ties with DeSagana Diop, Byron Mullens and Jannero Pargo, too.
Golden State will sign Jermaine O'Neal, so the Suns have renounced his rights, as well as their rights to Wesley Johnson and Diante Garrett, as RealGM notes.

Earlier updates:

The Hawks have cleared out unwanted cap holds from their books, renouncing their rights to Hilton Armstrong, Erick Dampier, Devin Harris, Dahntay Jones, Randolph Morris, Zaza Pachulia, Johan Petro, Josh Smith, and Etan Thomas, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
RealGM.com also has the Trail Blazers renouncing multiple players, including Luke Babbitt, J.J. Hickson, Eric Maynor, and Nolan Smith.
Most interestingly, according to RealGM.com, the Bucks have renounced their rights to Monta Ellis. That doesn't necessarily preclude a sign-and-trade, but it would mean the team would have to use cap space rather than Ellis' Bird rights to accommodate a deal.
The Pelicans have renounced their rights to Louis Amundson, Xavier Henry, and Roger Mason Jr., the team announced today in a press release.
In order to clear cap room for their signings, the Pistons renounced Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, Vernon Macklin, Corey Maggette, Jason Maxiell, and Ben Wallace, according to RealGM's transactions log. The Pistons plan to re-sign Bynum, but removing his $6MM+ cap hold and signing him to a smaller figure using cap space makes the most sense.
After renouncing their rights to Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom, the Clippers have also renounced Bobby Simmons, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.