Paul Pierce Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Owner Thinks Kevin Garnett Will Return

April 7th, 2016 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor doesn’t anticipate Kevin Garnett retiring in the offseason, as Taylor relayed Wednesday night to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The 39-year-old who turns 40 next month is under contract at $8MM for the 2016/17 season, which would be his record 22nd year in the NBA.

“You’d have to ask him, but from everything he’s told me, he wants to be [back],” Taylor said.

Many people close to Garnett weren’t sure whether or not he’d return to play next season, Wolfson said in a February podcast. Garnett hasn’t appeared in a game since January 23rd as he’s dealt with soreness in his right knee.

His decision is liable to affect what former teammate Paul Pierce does, as they’ve frequently considered the idea of retiring at the same time, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Pierce, 38, is in the first season of a three-year contract with the Clippers. His salary of nearly $3.528MM for next season is fully guaranteed, while only about $1.096MM is guaranteed for 2017/18.

Garnett started in all 38 games he played this season, though he only averaged a career-low 14.6 minutes per contest. His primary role has been as a locker room leader for the team’s young core. He’s expressed interest in eventually buying the Wolves, though he can’t own even a minority share until after his playing days are done.

Western Notes: Pierce, Mitchell, Howard

March 28th, 2016 at 10:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Paul Pierce‘s decision on whether to retire after the season may be tied to what Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett chooses to do, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports. The former Celtics teammates text each other at least once a week and have frequently considered the possibility of retiring at the same time, Murphy continues. But the Clippers’ veteran small forward admits that he has no idea what Garnett has in mind, Murphy adds. “I never know what KG is going to do, because he said he was going to retire four or five years ago,” Pierce said. “Every year he says he’s done, and every year he keeps coming back. It would be great.”

In other developments around the Western Conference:

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor will decide on interim coach Sam Mitchell’s future after the season, according to Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While GM Milt Newton will give his input on Mitchell, Taylor will have the final word, as he told Youngblood. “Certainly it starts with Milt. But I don’t want to say it’s his call,” Taylor said. “It’s probably my call.’’
Dwight Howard switched agents because Perry Rogers doesn’t have a large clientele, he told NBA.com’s David Aldridge in a Q&A session. The Rockets center hired Rogers after parting ways with Dan Fegan. Rogers is also Shaquille O’Neal’s agent and O’Neal brought Howard and Rogers together, Howard goes on to tell Aldridge. “I just felt like he has an opportunity to just focus on me,” Howard said. “Any other agent, they have a lot of different clients and stuff like that. I felt like he was able to just focus on me.”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder believes fatigue may be the cause of center Rudy Gobert‘s recent swoon, Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News writes. Gobert, who’ll be up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason, averaged just 5.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks during the team’s last recent five-game road trip. “He’s probably hit the proverbial wall and had to make adjustments in season,” Snyder told Sorensen. “Last year after All-Star break was a very finite stretch of time with a completely different mindset in how [opponents] approach him. Last year people weren’t prepared to play against him and now he’s garnering much more attention.”

Atlantic Notes: Pierce, Conley, Prokhorov

February 11th, 2016 at 5:47pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite the seemingly long odds for either the Knicks or the Nets landing Mike Conley in free agency this summer, sources close to the point guard say he will be more receptive to playing in New York than most people think, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays. “It’s tough,” Conley, who was reportedly disappointed that the Nets fired coach Lionel Hollins, said. “But at the same time, like I said, I’ll give everybody their fair shot. With Lionel being here, obviously, it was a big reason to look [at the Nets]. But still, at the same time, with him gone, I’ll give everybody the same look.”

When asked what he was looking for in a prospective free agent suitor, Conley said, “I want to win. That’s what I want to do at the end of the day, wherever that may be. So hopefully, when that time comes, I’ll have a better vision on what I want and what I want going forward in the summer, but right now, I’m all about winning, and I want to be somewhere that’s committed to doing that.” Here are more news and notes regarding the teams of the Atlantic Division:

Paul Pierce at least briefly considered signing with the Celtics before deciding that the draw of family and friends in Los Angeles and the chance to play for Doc Rivers again on a title contender was too alluring to turn down, as Pierce acknowledged Wednesday, observes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. The 38-year-old once more said that he’s not sure he’ll play beyond this season, and he also said he’d “love” to work for the Celtics organization after he retires, as Himmelsbach also relays.
Nets team owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants whomever is hired as the team’s next GM to establish a firmer identity for the team and its roster, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays. “I think I want us to have a much firmer blueprint,” Prokhorov said. “What kind of players we’re looking for and why, in line with the strategic guidelines developed with the new coach and GM. I think we need to have a sense of identity and a style of play. Are we building a team around a franchise player, or are we balancing with younger athletes without a superstar system or about 3-point shooting, defense or speed?”
Multiple NBA teams are keeping their eyes on Raptors D-League power forward Ronald Roberts, who is expected to receive a 10-day deal at some point in the near future, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders relays.
It is highly unlikely that Knicks owner James Dolan would grant team president Phil Jackson permission to join the Lakers this summer if Jackson desired to leave New York, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. A “strong belief” persists that Jackson will wind up back with the Lakers organization and fiancee Jeanie Buss in the future, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Pierce, Martin, Bass, Batum

February 1st, 2016 at 4:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers signed Paul Pierce to a three-year deal in the offseason, but the 38-year-old has shown the ravages of age this season, and coach/executive Doc Rivers admits the team’s maintenance plan for him isn’t foolproof, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register examines. Pierce hasn’t ruled out retirement after the season.

“It has to be [hard for him],” Rivers said. “You could see he didn’t have great rhythm tonight and he didn’t practice and he takes the days off. Again, it’s an imperfect science. I think at the end of the year it will be great for him because now the rhythm will start and he’ll start playing, but I really don’t know. I’m just trying to do the best with him so we can preserve him.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Some teams with interest in trading with the Timberwolves for Kevin Martin would prefer that he picks up his player option worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, but a larger and more seriously intrigued bunch of teams wants him to turn down the option, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears. The same is true among suitors for Lakers power forward Brandon Bass, who has a $3.135MM player option, Kyler adds.
Soon-to-be free agent Nicolas Batum said after Friday’s game that he “loved” playing for the Trail Blazers, but Portland’s victory over the Hornets, in which Batum struggled, was in large measure about the Blazers moving past Batum and the other players the team didn’t bring back from last season, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman details. The Charlotte swingman was the last of the four former Blazers starters to play a game with his new team in Portland.
The Rockets have recalled Donatas Motiejunas and K.J. McDaniels from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Motiejunas, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, gave his consent to the D-League trip as a rehab assignment, and he said he’ll again join Houston’s affiliate later in the week, notes Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (on Twitter). Motiejunas has three previous years of experience, so the Rockets need his permission as well as the union’s to send him to the D-League.

Latest On Nets, John Calipari

January 11th, 2016 at 11:01am CST by Chuck Myron

University of Kentucky coach John Calipari is the primary target of the Nets, who fired coach Lionel Hollins and reassigned GM Billy King on Sunday, several sources close to Calipari and the team told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News late Sunday. However, Calipari took to Twitter this morning to brush off that and other rumors connecting him to the Nets, writing, “You may have heard me say this before: I absolutely have the best coaching job in sports and I plan on being at Kentucky for a long time. I am not negotiating with ANYBODY. My total focus is on this team and winning the next game” (Twitter links). Calipari later said during a conference call that he appreciates the Kentucky job and is “humbled” to be in it, note Josh Newman and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

The remark about negotiation seemed to be in response to an overnight report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, who heard from league sources who say Calipari has told the Nets, as well as the Kings, that it would take an offer of at least 10 years and $120MM. He’d also demand that he be head coach and have complete control of the front office, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com confirms. Prokhorov today indicated that he’d prefer a separate coach and GM. Assistant GM Frank Zanin is running the front office for the time being and assistant coach Tony Brown is the interim head coach.

Nets CEO Brett Yormark is reportedly prepared to give Calipari whatever he wants, but while he appears to have more influence than in the past, he’s not seen as a major contributor to the decision-making on the next Nets front office chief, according to Windhorst. People who have spoken to the Nets recently instead believe Nets chairman Dmitry Razumov and Irina Pavlova, president of Prokhorov’s ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment holding company and liaison between the owner and team management, will run the search for a new GM and coach, Windhorst hears. A belief is growing across the league that Nets board member Sergey Kushchenko increasingly has Prokhorov’s ear, according to Windhorst. Prokhorov said today that he’ll spend more time than usual in the U.S. while searching for a new GM and coach and told commissioner Adam Silver that he and Razumov intend to take a more hands-on approach during the transition and going forward, as Silver told Harvey Araton of The New York Times.

King, whom the Nets will reassign within the organization, won’t be directly involved in the club’s search for a GM, in spite of reports to the contrary, though he can offer suggestions “as a friend,” Prokhorov said today, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. The ex-GM has a close relationship with Razumov, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com points out, though the organization views the 2013 trade to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett that happened on King’s watch as a “massive mistake,” Mazzeo writes. The ESPNNewYork.com scribe also intimates that King’s fallout with former Nets coach Jason Kidd prompted the GM not to re-sign Pierce, who shares agent Jeff Schwartz with Kidd.

The $120MM is figure that Calipari is reportedly seeking is up somewhat from the $11MM-plus that Calipari told minority owners of the Kings that he wanted this summer, as Wojnarowski also reports. The Cavs offered 10 years and $80MM in 2014, but he turned that down, Wojnarowski adds. Calipari receives nearly annual extensions from Kentucky, having signed one this past spring worth $54MM plus bonuses, Windhorst notes. Calipari’s previous coaching relationships with several prominent future free agents represent his allure to NBA teams, but some people close to his former Kentucky players say they’re reluctant to again endure the coach’s caustic style, according to Wojnarowski. Some around Calipari would prefer he join the Kings rather than the Nets, who have more limited maneuverability to improve, Wojnarowski also writes.

Many people around the league “believe there is more smoke than fire” when it comes to the idea of Calipari returning to the NBA, but his failed tenure with the Nets in the late 1990s is his greatest regret in basketball, sources tell Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

Western Notes: Pierce, Knight, Morris, Jackson

January 4th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Paul Pierce has re-emerged as a starter for the Clippers, save for his game off for rest Saturday, and his basketball IQ is helping fuel a resurgence for a team that struggled to start the season, even with Blake Griffin injured, as TNT’s David Aldridge examines in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Pierce enjoyed his time with the Wizards last season, but the chance to play in his hometown was too enticing for him to pass up the chance to sign with the Clips in the summer, as he tells Aldridge.

“I think that I looked at the team and I thought that they really had the chance to win the championship, and for me, on top of that, my family,” Pierce said. “It was a combination of things.”

The Clippers have won six straight have only a Wednesday game at Portland before a five-game homestand that begins Saturday. See more from the Western Conference:

The Suns erred when they put Brandon Knight and Markieff Morris in leadership positions and should have made retaining Goran Dragic a greater priority, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding argues.
Players on D-League teams affiliated with Pacific Division clubs dominate the list of 10-day contract candidates that Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders compiled. Elliot Williams (Warriors), Earl Clark (Suns), Erick Green (Kings), Terrico White (Suns), Darington Hobson (Warriors) and Vince Hunter (Kings) are among the names on Taylor’s list. We went in-depth on 10-day contracts earlier today in advance of Tuesday’s start of the 10-day signing period.
Former NBA second-round pick Pierre Jackson has signed with the D-League, where the Jazz affiliate holds his rights, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Jackson impressed in the D-League during the 2013/14 season but suffered a torn Achilles tendon the following summer. The Sixers, who picked him 42nd overall in 2013, have signed him each of the past two offseasons, but he’s failed to appear on Philly’s regular season roster.

Wizards Notes: Beal, Gooden, Pierce

December 29th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bradley Beal could begin non-basketball activities this week, according to J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. The Wizards shooting guard has missed nine consecutive games with a lower right leg injury. Beal will be on a minutes restriction when he returns, the report adds, but coach Randy Wittman has no plans to use Beal off the bench to save him for late-game situations. “No, because we’re going to have to control his minutes some when he first comes back like we have every year,” Wittman said. “We never had to deal with the problem again after getting a couple weeks of limited minutes.”

In other news regarding the Wizards:

Nene and Drew Gooden could be close to returning from calf injuries, J. Michael reports in a separate story. Wittman isn’t sure if either will be back this week. “It could go anywhere from three or four days to two weeks,” Wittman told the team’s beat reporters. “When you’re dealing with a calf, until you fully don’t feel anything twinging down there [you don’t know]. They’re closer.”
Paul Pierce carries only fond memories of his season with the Wizards, Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com writes. Pierce averaged 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, then boosted his scoring average to 14.6 points in the postseason before signing with the Clippers. “I had a lot of fun, truthfully, just being around the young guys, teaching them every day, talking to them,” Pierce told Kavner. “Even though it was one year, I had a lot of fun being around these guys. They welcomed me with open arms. I embraced the city, they embraced me back, and I really enjoyed my time.”
The Wizards miss Pierce’s brutal candor and moxie but both sides needed to move on, J. Michael opines in a column following their loss to the Clippers on Monday. Pierce’s departure allowed small forward Otto Porter to take a starting role and rookie forward Kelly Oubre to gain a spot in the rotation, J. Michael continues. It also allowed Washington to play at a higher pace but there’s no denying that Pierce had a significant impact on his younger teammates, J. Michael adds.

Pacific Notes: Morris, Pierce, Karl

December 29th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suspended power forward Markieff Morris could be allowed to return to practice with the Suns today after he meets with members of the front office, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. Morris has also been asked to apologize to his coaches and teammates, make a renewed commitment to the team for games, practices, weight-training sessions and treatment sessions and attend all NBA and Suns community appearances, a source close to the situation relayed to Wojnarowski.

Though Morris is expected to comply, the source also informed the Yahoo scribe that some within Morris’ camp are puzzled by the organization’s requests since the player already apologized via Twitter and sent an apologetic text to coach Jeff Hornacek, at whom Morris threw a towel during a game, prompting his suspension. Morris has also reportedly spoken with his teammates regularly during the suspension that cost him $145,455 in earnings, Wojnarowski adds.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Though Clippers small forward Paul Pierce hasn’t made up his mind about returning for another season or retiring after this campaign, he did drop a hint to which way he may be leaning after Monday’s contest in Washington D.C. when he popped into the Wizards’ locker room and told his former teammates, “This could be my last time in D.C. — as a player,” Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com relays (via Twitter).
Kings coach George Karl is attempting to motivate his team without resorting to the shouting and bluster that he became known for during his coaching tenure in Denver, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Just tell stories,” Karl said when asked what tactics he’s utilizing. “You try to bring up situations. My explanation is the last couple of weeks is just trying to explain to them how difficult this league is, how tough it is to be successful in this league.”

Paul Pierce Mulling Retirement After Season

December 10th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Retirement at season’s end continues to be a consideration for Paul Pierce, who said Wednesday that he’d make his decision about whether to play next season in the summer ahead, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. Pierce thought about quitting at the end of last season and said in September that he’d likely retire if the Clippers win the championship, but his latest comments indicate that a decent chance exists that the 38-year-old will walk away even if he doesn’t add to his ring collection in June. He said the thought of retirement has come into his mind as he’s endured a slump this season, one that has him averaging a career-worst 4.1 points per game, as Bolch relays.

“The older you get and the less and less you’re able to do things that you could do before,” Pierce said, “you start thinking about maybe it’s that time.”

Pierce is under contract with the Clippers through 2017/18, with a fully guaranteed salary of nearly $3.528MM for next season and a partial guarantee worth about $1.096MM for the final season of his deal. The Clippers don’t have to let him out of the obligations of his playing contract, so if they press the issue, Pierce could file official retirement papers with the league, a move that would force him to give up his remaining salary, thus taking the money off the team’s books. Official retirement would bar Pierce from making a comeback at any point for one year, unless he receives unanimous approval from all 30 teams, according to Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ.

It seems unlikely that the issue would become contentious, given the close relationship between Pierce and Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who doubles as the team’s president of basketball operations. It wouldn’t have a drastic effect on the team’s cap flexibility if Pierce were to give up his salary for next season, but with more than $77.7MM worth of 2016/17 salary guaranteed to just six players, including Pierce, the Clippers can use all the financial relief they can get, even with the salary cap projected to hit $89MM.

Regardless, Pierce isn’t ready to make the call on retirement just yet, despite having produced five scoreless games this season, an ignominious feat he pulled off just twice in his previous 17 NBA seasons, Bolch notes. Rivers continues to have faith that he’ll bounce back.

“I want him to keep shooting it the way he’s shot it for 17 years, and eventually, it’ll go in,” Rivers said, according to Bolch. “I really believe that.”

Do you think this season should be Pierce’s last? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Eastern Notes: Stokes, Powell, Harris

December 3rd, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards have been one of the more disappointing teams early in the season, and Washington’s drop off is directly related to the loss of Paul Pierce, who departed as a free agent for the Clippers this past offseason, Keith P. Smith of RealGM writes. With Washington determined to maintain as much free cap space as it can in order to make a run at Kevin Durant next summer, any changes will likely need to come from within, Smith notes. If the Wizards do make any moves, they will likely be small and involve bringing in players who are owed no guaranteed money beyond this season, the RealGM scribe concludes.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Cavs shooting Joe Harris, who is currently on his fourth D-League assignment of the season, views his time in Canton as a means to stay in game shape as well as an opportunity to stoke his competitive fire, Joe Gabriele of NBA.com relays. When asked if there were specific facets of the game he is sent to the D-League to focus on, Harris told Gabriele, “They just want me to go down there and play – ‘be aggressive and work on your game.’ It’s basically an opportunity to go down there and get minutes because I don’t get much tick up here. There’s only so much you can do as far as individual skill work and conditioning on a bike. But you can’t simulate playing in an actual game. And it can’t satisfy the competitive itch you feel as a player.“
The Heat have assigned Jarnell Stokes to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the power forward’s second jaunt of the season to the D-League.
Power forward Josh Powell, who was waived by the Bucks this preseason, signed with San Lorenzo in Argentina, the team announced (translation by Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). The arrangement is for the remainder of the season, though it’s unknown if the pact includes an NBA out clause.