Rajon Rondo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Leonard, Griffin, Grizzlies

April 13th, 2015 at 8:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kawhi Leonard‘s recent play is a major reason why the Spurs have become the league’s hottest team, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports. The reigning NBA Finals MVP is averaging 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.6 steals during the team’s current 11-game winning streak while shooting 56 percent from the field. Leonard is developing a reputation of stepping up his game late in the season and the playoffs, Kennedy continues. Leonard’s resurgence is a major reason why potential playoff opponents are fearful of drawing the Spurs, Kennedy adds. Leonard becomes a restricted free agent this summer, though he expects to remain with the Spurs for the long haul.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Mavs camp invitee Eric Griffin has signed to play in Puerto Rico for Leones de Ponce, TAB Deportes reports (Twitter link; hat tip to agent Brian J. Bass). The Jazz, Clippers, and Celtics were reportedly interested in signing Griffin last month while he was with the Mavs D-League affiliate, and he also reportedly met with the Clippers about a 10-day deal in February.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle and point guard Rajon Rondo have seemingly put their differences aside heading into the playoffs, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Rondo served a one-game, team-imposed suspension after a heated exchange with Carlisle over play-calling in late February. Carlisle said that he and Rondo, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, have worked out a compromise, Medina adds. “Rondo’s been a pro. I like Rondo a lot. I’m looking forward to the playoffs because of his experience,” Carlisle said to Medina. “These kinds of adjustments are great opportunities for growth both for him and for us.”
The Grizzlies are approaching the postseason with consistent defensive intensity despite injuries to key players, Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Memphis has held its last three opponents to 39% despite playing the Clippers without starters Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Tony Allen.

And-Ones: Rondo, Harris, Kaminsky

April 10th, 2015 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The career of Mavs point guard Rajon Rondo has included a number of clashes with coaches, and the question persists if Rondo is a good enough player to act out the way that he does, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes in his in-depth look at the player. Rondo is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and Dallas will have to make a difficult decision regarding whether or not to re-sign him, and if so, what the limit will be regarding his salary cap hit. In 43 games with the Mavs since being acquired from Boston, the 29-year-old has averaged 9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists.

Here’s more from around the league:

Joe Harris has been recalled from the Canton Charge, the Cavs‘ D-League affiliate, the team announced. The guard appeared in one playoff game for the Charge on his latest assignment, logging 24 points and 11 rebounds. Harris also played in nine regular season contests for Canton, averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 3.2 APG in 31.7 minutes per night.
Virginia junior swingman Justin Anderson is leaning toward entering the NBA draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The 21-year-old is projected to be a late first round or early second round selection if he chooses to enter June’s draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com rates Anderson as the No. 33 overall prospect and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) places him at No, 36 overall.
Wisconsin senior Frank Kaminsky has hired Kevin Bradbury of BDA Sports Management to be his agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Givony rates the big man as the No. 10 overall prospect and Ford‘s list has Kaminsky ranked 13th.

Lakers Notes: Rondo, Dragic, Hill, Brown

April 2nd, 2015 at 2:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s a “safe bet” that the Lakers will pursue Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic, with Rondo the first priority, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The team’s interest in the two is no secret, as reports have indicated for months that the Lakers have been targeting the pair of point guards who changed places via trade this season. Neither is a lock to re-sign with their respective clubs, as reports have also indicated, so it seems the Lakers have at least a decent chance to land an upper-tier free agent, which they haven’t done the past two summers. Here’s more on the purple-and-gold:

The Lakers are leaning toward picking up their $9MM team option on Jordan Hill, unless they become confident that a star free agent big man will sign with them, executives tell Deveney for the same piece. The team wants to be active in free agency, Deveney writes, but opting in with Hill would give them more than $44MM in commitments, not counting Jordan Clarkson‘s non-guaranteed salary, their own first-round pick and the first-rounder they’re receiving from the Rockets.
Jabari Brown feels as though a 22-point outing in his final game on the last of his 10-day contracts with the Lakers helped his case to secure his new deal. as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times relays. Coach Byron Scott continues to be impressed, as Bresnahan also notes. “Every game it seems like he shows you a little bit something else,” Scott said. “He seems a little bit more confident, a little bit more comfortable every game.”
The Lakers haven’t made progress in the win-loss column this season, as they’re just one defeat away from tying last year’s 55 losses, but Scott points to the departures of Pau Gasol, Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks as reason why that’s not a shock, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Mavs Don’t Plan Bidding War For Rajon Rondo

April 1st, 2015 at 12:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks would like to re-sign Rajon Rondo, but there’s a limit to just how much they’re willing to pay him, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The soon-to-be free agent point guard is expected to ask for more than Dallas wants to give up, and the Mavs wouldn’t compete with other teams that float more lucrative offers, MacMahon writes. That stance could change if Rondo excels in the playoffs, as he’s done in the past, though Rondo acknowledged to MacMahon that he isn’t sure how he’ll perform in the postseason, since he hasn’t played a playoff game since 2012.

Rondo shied away from talk about his free agency this summer in his chat with MacMahon, but he did speak of a need for more time to adjust to his teammates following the December trade that brought him to the Mavs after he’d spent his entire career with the Celtics. The 29-year-old’s production has been off this season for both Boston and Dallas, as he’s averaged 8.9 points per game, his lowest output since he was a rookie. That scoring has increased somewhat since the trade, but his assists, a healthy 10.8 per contest in 22 games prior to the deal, have dropped to 6.4 APG since, and overall he’s dishing fewer dimes on a nightly basis than in any season since 2007/08. His PER with the Mavs is 11.7, which would be a career-worst if extrapolated over an entire season.

Rondo has expressed a willingness to re-sign with the Mavs, even after a public tiff with coach Rick Carlisle. League sources told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders around midseason that it was unlikely that teams would give Rondo a full maximum-salary contract this summer, though Kyler cautioned that it might just mean they would be willing to give Rondo a short-term max deal. The Lakers have long been likely to pursue the former All-Star, with executive VP of basketball operations Jim Buss apparently a fan, just like Kobe Bryant, who’s made no secret of his attempts to recruit Rondo to L.A. The Lakers were reportedly among the teams that made runs at trading for Rondo before the Mavs landed him, a group that also included the Rockets, Nets, Kings, Knicks and Pacers to varying degrees.

Mavs Notes: Chandler, Rondo, Felton

March 31st, 2015 at 5:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Monta Ellis out due to injury it is time for Rajon Rondo to show the Mavs and the league what his true worth is, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. The point guard needs to step up his game on both ends of the court if he intends to seek a maximum salary contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, Sefko adds.

Here’s more from Dallas:

Center Tyson Chandler is the free agent who the Mavs should re-sign at all costs this summer, opines Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News. The veteran big man is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and with Dallas’ lineup heavy with shooters, Chandler would be extremely difficult to replace, Gosselin adds.
With the Mavs’ backcourt hit hard by injuries, Raymond Felton has proven a capable fill-in option for coach Rick Carlisle, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “He’s a high-integrity guy. He really is, said Carlisle. “He’s a high-integrity competitor. There hasn’t been one time this year where he’s dropped his head or pouted. When he was hurt, when he came back and there weren’t minutes right away, he’s just remained consistently professional and he kept working extremely hard, which shows now that he’s getting an opportunity to play.”
Finnish guard Petteri Koponen, 26, who was selected with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is hoping to make the jump to the NBA next season, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.com relays. Koponen is much happier with his level of communication with the Mavs, who hold his draft rights, than with the Blazers, the team that drafted him, Sierra adds.
The Mavs have $28,064,039 in guaranteed salary already committed for the 2015/16 campaign, as our salary cap breakdown shows.

Eastern Notes: Dudley, Monroe, Fisher

March 30th, 2015 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Jared Dudley didn’t really want to play for the Bucks after the Clippers traded him to Milwaukee this summer, but his new team’s training staff, Jason Kidd‘s coaching style, and Milwaukee’s competitiveness helped convince him otherwise, as Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Dudley has a $4.25MM early termination option for next season, and while he hasn’t said what he’ll do with that, he told Nickel that he’d like a long-term deal with the Bucks and that he’s willing to take a discount to sign one, citing Kidd as his top reason why. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Greg Monroe believes former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars deserves another chance to run a team, as Terry Foster of The Detroit News relays. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher wrote in January that Pelicans owner Tom Benson had some interest in Dumars, and Monroe, soon to be an unrestricted free agent, is a New Orleans native. “I mean, yeah,” Monroe said when asked if Dumars should have another shot at team building. “He put together a championship team. Obviously he knows what it takes to get it done. For a stretch he had one of the most successful teams in the league. Obviously he is good at that job. I don’t see how that would be a problem to get back.”
Derek Fisher says he doesn’t have regrets about taking on the Knicks coaching job even with the team in possession of the league’s worst record and added that he talks daily with team president Phil Jackson, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Coaching colleagues, like Tom Thibodeau, have no shortage of praise for Fisher, Botte adds.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers believes the Celtics almost had to trade Rajon Rondo this season with his contract running out this summer, as he told reporters, including Brian Robb of Boston.com. Rivers said a rebuilding team like the Celtics, whom he used to coach, can’t afford to risk that a soon-to-be free agent walks and added that he believes Rondo, and not the Celtics front office, was the catalyst for the move, as Robb passes along.

Southwest Notes: Smith, Howard, Mavs

March 24th, 2015 at 7:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The rash of injuries that have befallen the Rockets could force the team to push injured center Dwight Howard to return to action sooner than anticipated, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. “We are so down on bodies and we don’t have a lot of practice time,” coach Kevin McHale said. “We might have to start throwing him out there and letting him get some minutes in the game, whether he starts out 15-20 minutes and getting game time. But he has to start playing here pretty soon because otherwise the season is just going to go by and you can’t wait for the playoffs to come back, so we’ll see.” Howard has been out since early February with an injured right knee.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Grizzlies re-assigned Russ Smith to the Iowa Energy, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This is the sixth trek of the season to the D-League for Smith.
Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo don’t appear to be a good backcourt pairing for the Mavs, which is something that the team will need to consider this summer, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes. Rondo is set to become an unrestricted free agent and Ellis has a player option worth $8.72MM that he can opt out of.
Marc Gasol sounds like a player who is intent on remaining with the Grizzlies, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (subscription required) writes. “I don’t know what factors are going to play into my decision. But you can’t change the past,” Gasol said. “You can’t change where I’ve been for the majority of my life as an adult. My family has been tied to the franchise since the franchise has been in Memphis. You can’t change that. I don’t know what the future holds but I know what the past and the present is. That’s pretty clear.” Gasol will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Southwest Rumors: Rondo, Conley, Pelicans

March 14th, 2015 at 2:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has given Rajon Rondo more play-calling responsibilities and their relationship appears to be improving, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. Rondo, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, is developing better chemistry with his teammates as he gains more freedom to call plays, MacMahon adds. Rondo was suspended one game by the club in late February after he argued with Carlisle over play-calling issues. “He’s really developed a good sense for our team — when to just push it, when to get into something,” Carlisle said to Dallas beat writers. “He really understands the guys that he’s playing with.” Rondo said recently he is willing to return to the Mavs, though it’s unlikely they will meet his asking price.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Mike Conley had a difficult time dealing with the breakup between coach Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies in 2013, he told Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com in a Q&A. Conley called Hollins, whose contract was not renewed by the Grizzlies, “a second father figure almost for me.” Conley, who has one year and approximately $9.39MM remaining on his contract, adds in the interview that he is still grateful he has played his entire career thus far with Memphis.
Eric Gordon’s improved health has made him a better fit with the Pelicans, Jesse Blancarte of BasketballInsiders.com opines. Gordon, who can exercise a player option of approximately $15.5MM in the final year of his contract next season, is averaging 15.6 points while shooting 51.1% from 3-point range over his last 14 games. The injury-prone Gordon is finally playing the way New Orleans hoped when they matched the Suns’ four-year, $58MM offer sheet following the 2011-12 season, Blancarte adds.
The Mavs reassigned Dwight Powell to their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, on Saturday, the team announced. Powell has appeared in 19 games for the Mavs this season, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.

Western Notes: Rondo, Neal, Lakers

March 9th, 2015 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rajon Rondo is willing to return to Mavs but probably will not get a contract offer he expects from the club heading into unrestricted free agency, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets. In fact, McMahon doubts the Mavs will come close to his asking price. Rondo said recently he would consider re-signing with Dallas despite a verbal altercation with coach Rick Carlisle late last month that led to a one-game suspension. Rondo will be one of the biggest names on the free-agent market this summer but he hasn’t improved his stock since he was traded by the Celtics in December. Rondo has struggled running Carlisle’s offense, averaging 9.4 points and 6.2 assists, compared to his career averages of 10.9 PPG and 8.4 APG. He’s also shooting 41.5% from the field, well below his career average of 46.9%.

In other news around the Western Conference:

The Timberwolves are interested in re-signing Gary Neal thanks to his strong play and veteran leadership, according to Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com. Neal, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer after making $3.25MM this season, was acquired from the Hornets at the trade deadline. He has averaged 18.8 points over the last four games and coach Flip Saunders said that Neal has been a good influence on his young players, Kennedy adds.
Julius Randle has been cleared to begin non-contact basketball activities but Lakers coach Byron Scott reiterated the rookie forward will not return this season, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times reports. The lottery pick broke his right leg on opening night and also had a surgical procedure on his right foot in January. “This is all in preparation for getting him ready for summer league,” Scott said to Los Angeles beat reporters.
Danny Granger has been impressed by the Suns trainers and their ability to manage his knee issues, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Those same trainers helped Grant Hill extend his career and Granger, who has a player option of approximately $2.17MM on his contract for next season, could take that into consideration when deciding whether to exercise that option. He has not appeared in a game with Phoenix since the Heat dealt him at the trade deadline.
Kyle Anderson was recalled by the Spurs from their D-League affiliate in Austin on Monday, the team announced. Anderson has bounced between the two leagues in his rookie season, appearing in 27 games with San Antonio this season and 19 games in Austin, where he averaged 22.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Anderson provides some depth at the wing positions, though the Spurs do not have any reported injuries.

Pacific Notes: Kobe, Cousins, Rondo, Whiteside

March 9th, 2015 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak insists the team won’t make building a team to win in the short-term around Kobe Bryant a priority at the expense of the future, and Bryant is on board with that, as the Lakers star told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“It’s a balance of both,” Bryant said. “You always want to set the franchise up for the long term. Mitch and I are on the same page. What he said in the interview is not something that we haven’t talked about before. It’s nothing different. You don’t want to compromise the future of the franchise for one season. You try to balance that.”

There’s more on the Lakers amid the latest from around the Pacific Division:

Teams around the league are making plans to try to trade for DeMarcus Cousins in case he and George Karl don’t get along, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said on ESPN radio Sunday and as ESPN colleague Marc Stein notes within his weekly power rankings. Cousins and Karl have nonetheless been complimentary of one another since the Kings put them together last month. Still, a source familiar with Karl’s thinking recently told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck that Sacramento wouldn’t rule out trading Cousins.
Lakers co-owner executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss is believed to be among those who like Rajon Rondo, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes as he argues that the Lakers and other teams shouldn’t pay a premium for the point guard.
The Lakers chose to sign Wayne Ellington instead of Hassan Whiteside after the big man auditioned for the team this past summer, Whiteside said to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has learned how better to navigate leadership boundaries since Mike D’Antoni‘s belief that Kerr wanted his job helped prompt D’Antoni to leave the Suns during Kerr’s tenure as GM in Phoenix, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.