Prince Ibeh Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Rozier, J. Brown, Nets, Sixers GM

August 25th, 2018 at 6:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

“Scary Terry” isn’t afraid of returning to a bench role now that Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving is healthy again, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN. Terry Rozier became a postseason star in Boston with Irving sidelined after knee surgery, starting all 19 games and posting a 16.5/5.3/5.7 line as the Celtics reached Game 7 of the conference finals. Irving’s recovery will make Rozier a reserve again, but he won’t let that affect his outlook for the season.

“I’m not worried about [his role],” Rozier said today at his youth basketball camp. “Kinda control what I can control. We all got one goal, and that’s to win. We all get love when we win. That should be everybody’s mindset. It’s going to be a lot of fun. If you want to win a championship, that’s what it’s going to take — sacrifice. … We’re all going to have one goal, and it’s going to lead us to the promised land.”

Rozier’s attitude should help the Celtics, but it may not keep him in Boston beyond this season. He will be a restricted free agent next summer, and the organization may not want to make a large financial commitment to another guard with Irving also headed for free agency and Marcus Smart re-signing last month for $52MM over four years.

There’s more today from the Atlantic Division:

Jayson Tatum, who is coming off a stellar rookie season, expressed similar sentiments in an interview with Nicole Yang of Boston.com. Tatum was also outstanding for the Celtics in the playoffs, averaging 18.5 points per game, but he’s expected to lose his starting role whenever Gordon Hayward is healthy enough to take over. “I understand how deep our team is,” Tatum said. “I just care about winning and doing what I can while I’m on the floor.”
The Nets will probably focus on big men with their two open slots for training camp, according to an article on NetsDaily. Both players will likely wind up in the G League, and Brooklyn’s affiliate in Long Island is short on centers with an injury to Kamari Murphy, a starter last season, and the uncertain status of Prince Ibeh. The story mentions Luke Petrasek and Byron Mullens, who both attended the Nets’ free agent mini-camp this summer, as possibilities.
The Sixers are looking for a GM who won’t demand the final say on personnel moves, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Appearing on a podcast with Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, Pompey said the organization wants to keep the group dynamic in the front office that it’s had since getting rid of Bryan Colangelo in June.

Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Smith, Ibeh, Hartenstein

June 4th, 2017 at 10:23am CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers advisor Jerry Colangelo believes the team has a sharper plan for the future than it did under former GM Sam Hinkie, relays Andrew Porter of CBS Philly. In an interview on The Carlin & Reese Show, Colangelo gave Hinkie credit for thinking “outside the box” and building the team using analytics, but he believes the organization is in better hands now that his son Bryan is in charge. “Since the change in management there’s much more of a defined game plan, in terms of going forward, and that’s very positive in my opinion for the franchise,” he said. “Sam left some good stuff in place, no question about that. Along the line there was a lot of pain in terms of incredible losing and that could only be sustained for a period of time. And I think in Philly’s case, I think he probably ran out of time.”

There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:

Point guard Dennis Smith Jr. of North Carolina State has a workout set for the Celtics on Wednesday, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Boston owns the No. 1 pick, so the team is probably just doing its homework in case it receives an attractive offer to trade down. Smith has already worked out for the Magic, who own the sixth pick, and has tentative sessions set up with the Lakers and Knicks.
The Nets continue to have interest in former Texas center Prince Ibeh, according to NetsDaily. The 23-year-old has been practicing with the team this summer and may have a future in Brooklyn. The Nets signed him to a D-League contract in February, promising him a 10-day deal later in the season. They weren’t able to fit him on the roster, but late in the season they gave him a 10-day contract before releasing him the next day. That move gives Ibeh a year of NBA service, which will qualify him as a second-year player rather than a rookie when he signs his next contract.
Brooklyn’s front office is looking closely at German power forward Isaiah Hartenstein, NetsDaily notes in the same piece. There’s already a strong connection, as Nets assistant Chris Fleming serves as coach of the German national team. The 7’1″ Hartenstein is projected as a late first-rounder, and Brooklyn holds picks No. 22 and 27. The Nets have also scouted center Anzejus Pasecniks and small forward Rodions Kurucs, both of Latvia, power forward Mathias Lessort of the French West Indies and center Viny Okuou of the Congo. International prospects younger than 21 have a June 12th deadline to withdraw from the draft.

Nets Signed, Waived Cliff Alexander, Prince Ibeh

April 4th, 2017 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Before signing Archie Goodwin to a rest-of-season contract to fill their 15th roster spot, the Nets made a series of moves designed to honor commitments made to a pair of players this season. As Ben Nadeau of Basketball Insiders tweets, the club signed and waived Cliff Alexander, then did the same thing with Prince Ibeh.

[RELATED: Nets re-sign Archie Goodwin]

According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, a former Nets executive, the team made commitments to both Alexander and Ibeh at some point this season to sign them to 10-day contracts (Twitter links). However, injuries on the Nets’ roster forced the team to change its plans. Although Brooklyn wasn’t able to carry Alexander or Ibeh on its roster this season, the club wanted to honor its commitments.

As Marks observes (via Twitter), the Warriors made a similar move earlier this season with Jose Calderon. Golden State had reached an agreement to sign Calderon, but when Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury, the team opted to sign Matt Barnes instead. Before finalizing their deal with Barnes, the Warriors signed and waived Calderon, ensuring that he’d receive the rest-of-season salary he was promised. Alexander and Ibeh will receive full 10-day salaries from the Nets.

While the moves were not announced by the Nets and will go unnoticed by many fans, there’s little downside from the team’s perspective. Making good on those commitments will help strengthen the Nets’ relationships with agents and players, and won’t cost the team any extra money — Brooklyn remains under the salary floor for 2016/17, so the club will have to pay the difference at season’s end anyway. The deals for Alexander and Ibeh simply moved the Nets a little closer to the floor, slightly reducing their year-end bill.

Alexander and Ibeh both spent time this season with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate.

And-Ones: Lakers, Mozgov, Okafor, Wojnarowski

February 8th, 2017 at 10:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak didn’t want Timofey Mozgov to be tempted by other offers and that contributed to the team handing him a four-year, $64MM deal, a source tells Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN.com. Shelbourne adds that Luol Deng, who signed a four-year, $72MM deal with Los Angeles this past offseason, had other offers for his services, but no team gave him more than a three-year deal. Both Mozgov and Deng were recently relegated to the bench.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Lakers would need to attach a young prospect, such as Ivica Zubac or Larry Nance Jr., to Deng or Mozgov if they want to move one of their free agent additions, Shelbourne writes in the same piece. She adds that the contracts of Deng and Mozgov are not problematic for Los Angeles right now, but they will be soon, as Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell will be eligible for extensions over the next couple offseasons.
Jahlil Okafor, who we profiled as a trade candidate, is making the most of his increased minutes, John Reid of The Time-Picayune writes. Okafor was the subject of trade rumors earlier in the week with the Pelicans being the latest team to show interest in him.
The Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate, have acquired center Prince Ibeh and waived forward Lazar Hayward, according to a team press release.
Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical is close to joining ESPN, multiple sources tell Kevin Draper of Deadspin.

Draft Notes: Valentine, Murray, Diallo, Brown

June 17th, 2016 at 2:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held next Thursday in Brooklyn, New York:

The Bucks have a group workout scheduled today for Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt), Dejounte Murray (Washington), Carrington Love (UWBG), Ron Baker (Wichita State), Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV) and Prince Ibeh (Texas), the team announced.
Milwaukee will also hold an individual workout today for former Michigan State guard Denzel Valentine, the team announced.
French swingman Timothe Luwawu worked out for the Nuggets on Thursday, the team announced.
The Jazz have a group workout set for today with Nic Moore (SMU), Fred VanVleet (Wichita State), John Brown (High Point), Elgin Cook (Oregon), Jameel McKay (Iowa State) and Marshall Plumlee (Duke), the team announced.
Former Kansas big man Cheick Diallo will work out for the Pacers today and will display his wares for the Grizzlies on Saturday, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
The teams that have done the most research on former California forward Jaylen Brown are the Suns, Celtics and Wolves, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets.

Western Draft Notes: Pelicans, Nuggets, Wolves

June 14th, 2016 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans had a large workout group in on Monday, with a dozen players earning a look from the club. According to the team (via Twitter), the following players participated in the workout: Isaia Cordinier (France), Troy Williams (Indiana), Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Jake Layman (Maryland), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Wayne Selden (Kansas), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Yogi Ferrell (Indiana), Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin), Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), Prince Ibeh (Texas), and Perry Ellis (Kansas).

While none of those prospects figures to come off the board at No. 6, when the Pelicans make their first selection, many of them could be in play in the second round — New Orleans currently holds the 39th and 40th overall picks, and is doing its due diligence on potential second-round prospects.

Let’s check in on a few more draft updates from around the Western Conference…

The Nuggets, armed with three top-20 picks, will work out former Michigan State forward Deyonta Davis on Wednesday morning, the team announced today in a press release. We profiled Davis, the 10th prospect on DraftExpress.com’s big board, in April, noting that Denver could be a fit. The Nuggets are also expected to bring in Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono for a workout later this week, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post.
The Timberwolves, who have the fifth overall pick in the draft, had Jamal Murray in for an individual workout on Monday, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops passes along a pair of updates, reporting (via Twitter) that Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga) worked out with the Jazz on Monday, and that Xavier’s James Farr participated in a group workout with the Thunder today.
The Clippers will work out Dayton’s Dyshawn Pierre, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link). Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link) adds former Kansas forward Cheick Diallo to the list of prospects that will work out with the Clips.
Former Iona guard A.J. English has a workout lined up with the Warriors, tweets Camerato.