Pau Gasol Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Hill, Bulls, Whittington

July 31st, 2015 at 7:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pacers signee Jordan Hill has been arrested after allegedly driving 107 mph near Atlanta, reports Mike Petchenik of WSB-TV (Twitter link). “We have been informed Jordan was arrested for allegedly reckless driving in Atlanta, Georgia. It is obvious we don’t condone this. We will address this with Jordan. This is a major concern of safety, not just for Jordan, but for others,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in a statement the team issued via Twitter. Hill is scheduled to make a guaranteed $4MM on his one-year contract this season, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

While Pau Gasol understands the Bulls‘ reasons for firing former coach Tom Thibodeau, he doesn’t believe that simply revamping the team’s offense is enough to take the next step toward an NBA title, Mike McGraw of The Daily Herald relays. “Offense wasn’t too much of an issue last year,” Gasol said. “We can work on our offense all we want, but defense is going to make a difference in how we’re going to beat other teams.“
The Bulls also face the challenge of fielding a roster loaded with big men in a league trending toward more scoring and smaller lineups, McGraw adds, but Gasol believes the team can benefit from its roster continuity. “We have a great opportunity,” Gasol said. “We have a very strong team. There were very few changes made as far as our roster and our players. We can build on what we had last year, so we have all the tools to be a much stronger team than we were and learn from our mistakes from last year. I think we have to understand we have talent offensively and we have to play with a better flow offensively. I think we’re going to have more freedom to play in transition and exploit our abilities as individuals. As long as we understand that defense is what wins championships and makes the difference … we should be fine.“
Shayne Whittington is part of the Pacers‘ current frontcourt logjam, but he believes his ability to guard multiple positions will set him apart, Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com writes. “Honestly, I think the one thing that really will set me apart from anybody at the four and five is if I can start guarding guards on a consistent basis,” Whittington said. “If I start doing that, then, then you never know, I’ll be at the four quite a bit. We’ll switch a lot; I can actually guard those guards; [Coach Frank Vogel will] feel comfortable with me out there guarding people. If your President of Basketball Operations feels comfortable with you guarding guards out there, you’re going to be on the court, especially if you’re 6’11”. Playing defense, rebounding the ball — that’ll get me on the court.“

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

James, Curry, Harden Lead All-NBA Teams

May 21st, 2015 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James and Stephen Curry finished atop the voting for the All-NBA Teams, with James Harden, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol joining them on the first team, the league announced via press release. Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Paul, Pau Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins comprise the second team. Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Tim Duncan, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving make up the third team.

Curry, the league’s MVP, and James each received 645 points through a system in which five points are awarded a first team vote, three points go for a second team vote and one point is given for a third team vote. The duo garnered 129 first team votes each, making them unanimous first team selections. They were followed closely by Harden, with 125 first team votes and 637 points, and Davis, who had 119 first team votes and 625 points. Marc Gasol, who’s heading into free agency, wasn’t as widely seen as a first-teamer by the media members who cast their ballots, rounding out the squad with 65 first-team votes and 453.

Every member of the second team received at least one first team vote, and Thompson and Irving were the only members of the third team not to get a first team vote. Al Horford also received a first team vote even though he didn’t make any of the teams. The NBA will soon display the votes of each media member on its website, but the league has already distributed the information via press release, so click here to check it out in PDF form.

Southwest Notes: Smith, Ginobili, Gasol

May 6th, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

Josh Smith has found contentment in Houston after enduring much criticism elsewhere, and the Rockets share that feeling of satisfaction with the partnership, as Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams examines. There’s mutual interest between Smith, who hits free agency again this summer, and GM Daryl Morey in a new deal, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month, and Morey made it clear to Abrams that he values the 29-year-old.

“I’m not sure what we’d do without him,” Morey added. “He’s been critical to getting us where we are right now.”

Houston will have Smith’s Non-Bird rights to give him a 20% raise on the $2.077MM salary he signed for via the Biannual Exception in December. Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:

Manu Ginobili suggested that he’s never pondered retirement quite so seriously before and said that Tim Duncan‘s decision about whether to play again next season will affect his own, as the swingman wrote for La Nacion’s Canchallena.com and as Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News translates. In any case, Ginobili, whose contract with the Spurs expires this summer, said he’ll take the rest of the month to decide whether to return.
Concerns about whether Ginobili, Duncan and Gregg Popovich would remain over the course of a three-year deal were in Pau Gasol‘s head when he decided against signing with the Spurs, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes in a lengthy piece on the Bulls, whom Gasol chose instead.
Dirk Nowitzki confirmed that there was no vote that took place when the Mavs decided to divvy up playoff shares without giving one to Rajon Rondo, as he said on KTCK-AM this week (transcription via the Dallas Morning News). “No, we actually didn’t vote. It was just the guys who were there that day got a playoff share,” Nowitzki said. “What we usually do is give a lot of weight to the guys that work for you all season long; the locker room guys, the equipment guys, the trainers, the massage guys [or] whoever you feel helped you get through the season. We usually divide it up and then give them a lot of money. I think that got blown out of proportion. It’s not like it was that much money. I don’t think Rondo would have cared either way.”

Kupchak On Buss, Kobe, Free Agency, Draft

April 17th, 2015 at 9:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers finished the season 21-61, their worst winning percentage of all-time, but GM Mitch Kupchak is just a year removed from having signed an extension that takes him through at least the 2016/17 season. Kupchak wishes last offseason had gone somewhat differently, telling reporters Thursday that he wishes the team had been able to Pau Gasol, who’s experiencing a renaissance in Chicago, notes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Still, the GM believes the Lakers can quickly right themselves in spite of “a terrible year,” notes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. He confirmed the team wants to retain Ed Davis, who plans on opting out but would like to return to the Lakers, Holmes also notes, and he had plenty more to say about the months and years ahead for the purple-and-gold. Holmes, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) relay Kupchak’s comments, and we’ll pass along a few of the GM’s most noteworthy remarks here:

On the pledge Jim Buss made last year to step down if the team didn’t make the Western Conference Finals within three years (Kupchak said he wasn’t aware of the remark):

“What’s my sense of being in the conference finals within three years? I think it’s possible. But what if you get to the conference semifinals, you lose in seven [games] and you have a great team that you know is going to get better and better? So I don’t think there is anything etched in stone that would determine any change in direction. Three years from now is forever.”

On Kobe Bryant and retirement:

“I have assumed that he has one year to go and is 36 now. That’s all I can plan on. That’s all he’s planning on. A year from now, maybe different. But right now, that’s all we’re planning on.”

On summer spending plans:

“We’re not going to use cap room just to use cap room and maybe improve. I can use the expression 20 games because we won so few games this year. We don’t want to end up using our cap room and winning 40 games. That year doesn’t get you in the playoffs. Oklahoma City won 45 games, and they still didn’t make it in the playoffs. You work hard to create a future, whether it’s draft picks or an opportunity to make a trade or free agent dollars, and you don’t want to give it away just because you have it. But you do have to weigh anticipation and your fans wanting to see some improvement. That is a challenge. That’s not to say the only player we’ll spend our money on is a max player. There may be better opportunities out there. We don’t know that right now. We do have to balance how you use that money, and two years from now there’s a dramatic change in the landscape in terms of the cap.”

On the draft:

“This would be a good draft to participate in. Two months out, I’m pleased with the players that will be in this draft.”

Central Notes: Middleton, Harris, Gasol

April 15th, 2015 at 7:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Soon-to-be restricted free agent Khris Middleton is in line for salaries of around $10MM this summer, several GMs and other executives tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. Middleton said to Scotto that he would love to return to the Bucks but insists he’ll keep his options open. Still, multiple league sources tell Scotto that Middleton won’t be going anywhere, a sign that the Bucks intend to exercise their right to match any offer for him.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

A new arena in Milwaukee has seemed well on its way, but Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times has some doubt for the first time about whether the project will come to fruition, given the resistance that public funding has met in the Wisconsin state legislature. The NBA has the right to seize control of the Bucks if an arena deal isn’t in place by November 2017.
The Cavaliers have recalled guard Joe Harris from the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Harris has played in three playoff games for the Charge this season, averaging 17.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game.
Pau Gasol has enjoyed a career resurgence in his first season with the Bulls, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes. “This season has been extremely positive individually,” Gasol said. “I’m just happy that I’m playing at this level and accomplishing things I haven’t done in the past, which is pretty remarkable at this stage of my career. I just want to continue to work and stay focused and extend my level of play as long as I can.“

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Hunt, Neal, Gasol, Tomic

March 16th, 2015 at 10:48am CST by Chuck Myron

The Trail Blazers have never won a Northwest Division title, but they’re seemingly destined to do so this year, since they’re up nine games in the loss column on the Thunder with less than a month to go in the regular season. The last time Portland won a division title, in 1999, the team was in the Pacific Division. Here’s the latest on the teams looking up at the Blazers in the standings:

Nuggets players, and Kenneth Faried in particular, are ecstatic about interim coach Melvin Hunt and would unanimously vote to remove the interim tag from his title, observes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. However, owner Stan Kroenke is still dissatisfied with a team far from playoff contention, Dempsey also notes.
Timberwolves guard Gary Neal doesn’t regret chasing the money and leaving the Spurs to sign a two-year, $6.5MM deal in 2013 in part because he saw DeJuan Blair go from a starter to signing a minimum-salary contract in short order, as Neal tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Neal will be a free agent again at season’s end.
Kevin Durant has posited that Oklahoma City’s lack of “orchestras and plays” dissuaded Pau Gasol from signing with the Thunder this past summer, but Gasol said this weekend that such cultural attractions weren’t a factor, according to The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry. The Bulls big man instead said it was a matter of on-court fit that led him to choose Chicago, as Mayberry relays.
Jazz draft-and-stash prospect Ante Tomic believes the offseason ahead is his last legitimate opportunity to join the NBA, and while he acknowledged that he’s in talks about a new deal with his Spanish team, he won’t rule out a jump to Utah. The 7’2″ center made his remarks to Jesús Pérez Ramos of Mundo Deportivo (translation via HoopsHype). FC Barcelona has a team option on the 28-year-old for next season, but the Jazz are reportedly willing to pay to buy Tomic out of his contract.

Eastern Notes: Beasley, Gasol, Mo Williams, Cavs

March 9th, 2015 at 4:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Michael Beasley signed his second 10-day contract with the Heat on Sunday, a move that the Heat had no hestitation in making, according to coach Erik Spoelstra, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald observes.

“He stepped out of his comfort zone and was fantastic in that zone,” Spoelstra said of Beasley’s play during his first 10-day deal. “I feel very comfortable with Mike. We have gotten to know each other extremely well over the years. We felt it was a no-brainer. We’ve been running the majority of our offense through him, a la Chris Bosh. He’s a close facsimile in our system.”

That would seem to bode well for Beasley’s chances of receiving a deal through at least the rest of the season once his latest 10-day deal runs out. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Pau Gasol said Sunday that the Thunder and Spurs were his other top choices this summer before he made his decision to sign with the Bulls in what he described as a “close call,” as Sam Smith of Bulls.com relays.
Mo Williams has been sensational for the Hornets since they traded for him a month ago, averaging 21.7 points, 8.7 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 35.4 minutes per game, but coach Steve Clifford anticipates a regression to the mean, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Williams will be a free agent at season’s end.
The Cavs‘ January overhaul, featuring a pair of significant trades, has resulted in a team that takes more non-corner three-pointers and fewer point-blank looks, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal examines. The results have been successful, though coach David Blatt has concerns about the preponderance of outside looks that LeBron James doesn’t appear to share, Lloyd notes.

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Robinson, Gasol

March 6th, 2015 at 1:22pm CST by Zachary Links

Flip Saunders, the Wolves‘ president of basketball operations, said it was “unfortunate” the club released rookie Glenn Robinson III when Minnesota claimed Justin Hamilton off waivers, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes. “We really like Glenn,” Saunders said. “It was unfortunate for him he never really had an opportunity, and we didn’t see that changing. When we drafted him, we didn’t have Andrew Wiggins, so the dynamics of that changed. It’s tough to develop three young players at the same position.” More from the Northwest Division..

Thunder coach Scott Brooks and star guard Russell Westbrook were part of the team’s recruitment efforts for Pau Gasol over the summer, but neither one is sure how close they were to sealing the deal, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. Brooks would only say that OKC was “one of a few teams” in the mix for Gasol while commending him on his play this season with the Bulls.
So far, the Enes Kanter trade is looking like a win-win for the Jazz and the Thunder, Doug Robinson of the Deseret News writes. Since the February deal, the Jazz are 5-2 in what has easily been their best stretch of the season and OKC has been getting solid production out of the big man. Utah hasn’t gotten much in the way of on-court impact for this season, of course, but they’re playing better basketball without Kanter and they added assets for the future.
Chauncey Billups joined Woody Paige and Les Shapiro of The Denver Post to address Kevin Garnett‘s comments about the Nuggets and the ouster of former coach Brian Shaw, as Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes.

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Western Rumors: Chandler, Gasol, Mekel

December 25th, 2014 at 12:01pm CST by Charlie Adams

Let’s dive in and have a look at the latest rumors and rumblings out of the NBA’s Western Conference:

The Nuggets have received multiple inquiries about the availability of Wilson Chandler, but the team has expressed to the 29-year-old forward that they prefer to retain him, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post notes within his weekly mailbag column.
Pau Gasol admits it was a tough decision to leave the Lakers and sign with the Bulls, and not only because of his emotional attachment to the city of Los Angeles, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times details. The Lakers offered offered Gasol deals featuring a no-trade clause worth $29MM over three years and $23MM over two years. Gasol, who eventually signed with Chicago on a three-year, $22MM deal, says it’s been difficult to watch the Lakers struggle this season but that he doesn’t regret his decision.
Discussions between Gal Mekel and Maccabi Tel Aviv have hit a snag, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (via Twitter). We learned on Tuesday that the ex-Pelicans guard had an offer from Maccabi to return overseas, but that opportunity has apparently been put on hold. Instead, former eighth overall pick Joe Alexander is finalizing and agreement to leave the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D-League and join Maccabi, Pick passes along (Twitter links). Alexander had a deal in place to join the Nuggets for camp this fall before failing a physical.

Central Notes: Kidd, Hammond, Gasol, Pistons

December 12th, 2014 at 1:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jason Kidd has just as much authority on player personnel for the Bucks as GM John Hammond does, co-owner Marc Lasry tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. If Hammond and Kidd disagree, the owners will cast the deciding vote, Lasry adds.

“I don’t want John to say we need to do something and Jason to say the opposite, and then there is a fight,” Lasry said. “If John wants to do something, Jason should be on board. If Jason wants to do something, John should be on board with it. That’s how we do it in our business, that’s how we want to do it here.”

Reports from before Milwaukee hired Kidd as coach this summer indicated that Kidd was seeking to become Bucks president of basketball operations. Hammond’s deal with Milwaukee runs through 2015/16, but the new owners were reluctant to commit to him for this season before ultimately deciding to do so. Here’s more from around the Central Division:

The style of play the Bulls employ was key to their recruitment of Pau Gasol and to his early-season resurgence, as he told reporters, including Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. “It’s just a really nice fit for me and something I evaluated before I made my decision,” Gasol said. “… The system, the way we run things, our principles, how we want the ball to touch the paint and get to the post and then operate from there.”
Gasol’s performance so far this season has been impressive enough to create a compelling case that he was the most important free agent acquisition this summer outside of LeBron James, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The ex-Laker is averaging 19.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
The Pistons figure to be active in trade talk this season, and MLive’s David Mayo, amid his latest mailbag column, identifies a few potential buyers and sellers with whom Detroit could partner.