Rodney Stuckey Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Rumors: Drummond, Butler, Pacers

July 12th, 2015 at 9:06am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons will begin extension talks with center Andre Drummond this summer with the aim of signing him to a long-term deal, most likely for the max, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. The Pistons want to lock up their franchise player even though they could have more flexibility to sign free agents and make trades next summer by waiting to re-sign him when he’s a restricted free agent, Foster continues. The incentive for Drummond is to get the guaranteed money now in case he suffers a significant injury, Foster adds. Money is apparently no object to get an agreement. “We have until the end of October so we will get into those talks in the next couple of weeks,” Pistons president of basketball operations and coach Stan Van Gundy said during a press conference. “What you are talking about there is more timing than anything. It is not like you will be haggling over dollars, so it is a different situation.”

In other news around the Central Division:

Van Gundy admitted he took “a little bit of a gamble” with his commitment to point guard Reggie Jackson, who has never started a full season, John Niyo of the Detroit News writes. Jackson, a restricted free agent, agreed to a five-year, $80MM deal without any options to be the team’s floor leader going forward. Van Gundy wanted to have Jackson for the long haul. “You’ve got to weigh in future years,” Van Gundy told the Detroit media. “Most of the guys who signed free-agent contracts [this July], they’ve got an out after year three or four. We were willing to pay more money to not have the out.”
Jimmy Butler received a $4.6MM signing bonus when he re-signed with the Bulls, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Butler stayed put with a five-year deal worth approximately $95MM. A 5% trade kicker is another element to the contract, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Pacers will use cap room to re-sign guard Rodney Stuckey since they renounced his non-Bird rights, Pincus reports. They also renounced their rights to Andrew Bynum, David West and Luis Scola, among others, Pincus adds (Twitter links). Stuckey agreed to a three-year, $21MM deal to remain with Indiana.

And-Ones: Terry, O’Quinn, Anderson

July 5th, 2015 at 11:30pm CST by Will Joseph

The Mavericks have had conversations with unrestricted free agent Jason Terry about a reunion in Dallas, where the veteran spent half of his 16 seasons in the league, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. If the Mavs added him, Terry would likely join Devin Harris as a good source of offense off the bench, Sefko writes. Terry finished last season as the Rockets’ starting point guard when Patrick Beverley was injured and played well in that role during the playoffs.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Kyle O’Quinn, who the Knicks have agreed to acquire via sign-and-trade with the Magic, will miss Orlando, but the clincher in the deal was it being a long-term one from his hometown team, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “It was a long-term deal. That played a big part,” O’Quinn said. “When I found out I was going home, of course I was excited to be around my mom and my dad and my sister. … And it was just a good opportunity for me to possibly get minutes, play a bigger role, and hopefully I can flourish in it.”
Keeping free agent Alan Anderson remains a priority for the Nets, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). However, Anderson is a popular bench target for teams so he could wind up elsewhere.
Unrestricted free agent big man Joel Freeland is considering five potential NBA teams, but it is very possible he signs with CSKA Moscow, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.com (Twitter links). A decision is expected some time next week.
The Spurs have expressed an interest in adding Carlos Boozer to their bench, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets.
Rodney Stuckey declined four other offers before agreeing to sign a 3-year, $21MM deal with the Pacers, league sources tell Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter).
NBA free agent Vitor Faverani auditioned for Maccabi Tel Aviv and there’s mutual interest in a deal, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter).
Jeremy Evans is a developmental project for the Mavs, but they believe he can contribute this season, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Southeast Notes: Whiteside, Thornton, Wizards

July 5th, 2015 at 8:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The dollars are flying this summer for the league’s top free agents — especially free agent big men — but Heat center Hassan Whiteside says that he’s not concerning himself with all of that right now, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post writes. Whiteside, who just experienced a breakout season, will hit free agency next summer. As Lieser points out, Whiteside has never earned more than $1MM in a season and will make $981,348 this upcoming season.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Marcus Thornton is part of a small group of shooters — and one that has shrunk because of recent reported signings — that Miami is interested in, a Heat official told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Thornton, according to Jackson, is a realistic target. There are other guards on the free agent market that would be bench upgrades, but they are more likely to command more than the minimum, and Miami hasn’t decided if it will pay more than that, Jackson adds.
The Wizards were probably out on Rodney Stuckey after agreeing to sign Gary Neal, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com tweets. On Sunday, Stuckey agreed to stay in Indiana on a three-year, $21MM deal.
Drew Gooden appears to be most likely of the Wizards‘ unrestricted free agents to return, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke with J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Gooden is one of four UFAs for Washington, including Rasual Butler, Kevin Seraphin, and Will Bynum. With Paul Pierce out of the picture, Gooden is an affordable and logical choice to help fill that void at the stretch four.

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Seraphin, Stuckey, Antic

July 3rd, 2015 at 11:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards expect Kevin Seraphin will test the free agent market, and they’ll attempt to find a sign-and-trade partner for the big man, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (Twitter link). Such a sign-and-trade would be structured so that Washington could gain a trade exception, Michael adds (on Twitter).

Here’s more from around the league:

The Hawks have rescinded their qualifying offer to Pero Antic, making him an unrestricted free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The move was made to maximize the team’s available cap space, Pincus adds. Antic has already signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce, a Turkish club.
Free agent point guard Rodney Stuckey is receiving interest from the Cavaliers, and while talks thus far have been exploratory, the interest is mutual, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group tweets.
The Hornets have expressed a willingness to work out a sign-and-trade involving Mo Williams, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports relays (on Twitter).
The Lakers have expressed interest in Jason Smith, league sources tell Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
The Grizzlies would be amenable to working out a sign-and-trade deal for center Kosta Koufos, Wojnarowski tweets. The Yahoo! scribe mentions the Clippers as a team who should consider trying to work out a deal with Memphis.
With the Magic missing out on free agent target Paul Millsap, who re-signed with the Hawks, the team may pass on adding another power forward this summer, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “We’ll continue to look at the free agents that are available,” Orlando GM Rob Hennigan said. “We’ll continue to look at trade opportunities. We still have quite a bit of cap space. Our tune has not changed. We’ll continue to look for opportunities. And if we feel like the opportunities make really good sense, then we’ll be as aggressive as anyone to try to complete a deal.”
When asked specifically about adding a power forward, Hennigan said, “I’m not sure. I think we have enough on the roster as is. It just goes back to those opportunities again. Like I said a few weeks ago, we have to be careful of spending just to spend,” Robbins relays.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Rumors: Knicks, Millsap, Wade

June 30th, 2015 at 10:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Madison Square Garden named long-time talent agency executive David “Doc” O’Connor as its next chief executive, as The Associated Press writes. O’Connor comes from CAA, the same agency that represents Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Paul George. O’Connor will officially join the Knicks on July 15th. Here’s more out of the East..

Paul Millsap‘s possible price range of $17-$19MM would be too high for the Knicks, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Knicks are said to be eyeing the Hawks free agent.
Heat people are optimistic a deal will get done with Dwyane Wade, even though Wade is expected to at least consider other options, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Meanwhile, two Wade associates cite the Lakers as his top choice other than the Heat.
The Celtics are expected to show interest in free agent forward Amir Johnson and they could also pursue a reunion with former Celtic Gerald Green, Chris Mannix of SI tweets.
Pending free agent Rodney Stuckey will have at least two “serious” suitors besides the Pacers when he hits free agency tonight, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets. The guard is very much interested in staying with the Pacers, but Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com (on Twitter) hears that his asking price might be around $6MM. He hears that roughly six teams have expressed interest.
There’s mutual interest between the Pacers and Lavoy Allen, but the two sides won’t have deep discussions until the Pacers see what kind of money they have available, Agness tweets.
Free agent guard John Jenkins has signed with Relativity Sports, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The Hawks guard, who appeared in just 37 games the past two seasons after playing in 61 contests as a rookie in 2012/13, left BDA Sports Management earlier this month.

Eastern Rumors: Pierce, Bass, Chandler

June 30th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Zachary Links

The Wizards‘ wish list in free agency will hinge heavily on what happens with Paul Pierce, Jorge Castillo off The Washington Post writes. Pierce can re-sign with Washington for 120% of what he earned during last season, about $6.6MM. It’s not clear how long the Wizards will wait for Pierce to make a call, however. It’s conceivable that Pierce could be drawn to a Celtics return or a reunion with Doc Rivers in Los Angeles. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference..

The agent for Celtics forward Brandon Bass’s agent tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe there have been indications that numerous teams will have interest in his client. However, Tony Dutt also says there’s mutual interest in a return. “I think Brad [Stevens] and Danny [Ainge] understand the value of what Brandon brings,” Dutt said. “He loves Boston, and if it works out for him to stay there, we’d be more than happy.” Bass averaged 10.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG per game last season.
Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter) notes that Tyson Chandler and coach Jason Kidd are both represented by Excel Sports. In addition to Kidd, many Bucks players are also represented by Excel, as shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database. Earlier today it was reported that there is mutual interest between Chandler and the Bucks.
Hawks free agent shooting guard John Jenkins has left BDA Sports Management, according to Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. Jenkins appeared in just 37 games the past two seasons after playing in 61 contests as a rookie in 2012/13. The former first-round pick has posted averages of 5.6 PPG and 1.6 RPG while connecting on 38 percent of his shots from three-point range.
The Hawks announced that guard Kyle Korver is expected to be ready for training camp after having right elbow surgery to remove loose bodies today, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
Rumors about Rodney Stuckey‘s perceived bad attitude hurt his stock during last summer’s free agency, league sources tell Candace Buckner of the Indy Star. “Moody, can’t be coached, bad guy, can’t win with him,” said an Eastern Conference insider, repeating the circulated gossip. “Anybody that really knows him, would know … he’s one of the most misunderstood guys in the league.” Buckner hears that at least five teams have expressed interest in speaking with Stuckey, who flourished this past season with the Pacers.
With Greg Monroe headed elsewhere, the Pistons will need to add two backup centers this summer, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. The Pistons won’t be spending big on backup fives, but they could be looking at guys like Brandan Wright, Kosta Koufos, or maybe even Omer Asik, Ellis writes. GM Jeff Bower confirmed that he wants to have six bigs and not five next season.
The Raptors didn’t send back any salary to the Thunder in the trade that brought in Luke Ridnour, so they had to use one of their trade exceptions. Their $2.358MM exception for John Salmons, which expires tonight, wasn’t quite large enough for Ridnour’s $2.75MM salary, so they either used part of their $3,445,947 Steve Novak trade exception, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders surmises (on Twitter), or, in a less likely scenario, part of the $6.4MM trade exception they created just last week in the Greivis Vasquez deal.
Travis Wear will play on the Knicks‘ summer league team and probably will be invited to training camp unless he gets a guaranteed offer elsewhere, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Rockets, Kings Eye Rodney Stuckey

June 29th, 2015 at 10:25am CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 10:25am: Stuckey would like to hear from the Bulls, a source tells Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. It’s unclear whether the Bulls reciprocate his apparent interest, and that would seem less likely in the wake of Kirk Hinrich‘s reported decision to opt in. Chicago will likely have only the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception to spend on outside free agents.

FRIDAY, 3:29pm: The Rockets and Kings are expected to be among the teams with interest when Rodney Stuckey when he hits free agency next week, and he’ll prioritize signing with a contender, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. That would presumably give an edge to Houston over Sacramento, though the mutual interest between the combo guard and the Pacers is strong, according to Charania. The semantics of the report are a bit curious, since Charania indicates that interest from the Rockets and Kings is only “expected,” but it would appear that the 29-year-old is at the very least on the radar for both teams.

Indiana has Non-Bird rights on Stuckey, so the Pacers can’t exceed 20% more than the minimum to re-sign him without using cap space or an exception. Still, president of basketball operations Larry Bird made it clear this spring that the eight-year veteran is a priority, and David West‘s apparent decision to opt out gives the team a legitimate chance to open cap room.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey isn’t optimistic that Houston will end up with cap space to burn this summer, though the team would have the $5.434MM mid-level exception if it stays above the cap. That amount may well be earmarked for Josh Smith, however.

The Kings are in flux amid the DeMarcus Cousins saga, though they seem likely to be able to open up enough cap space to make a competitive bid to Stuckey. Still, Sacramento would probably be a fallback option for him if he is indeed set on joining a contending team. Indiana might not be a contender, either, though the return of Paul George for a full season at least gives the Pacers a reasonable shot in the relatively weak Eastern Conference.

Central Notes: Scola, Stuckey, Jackson, Prince

April 20th, 2015 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star looks at each of the soon-to-be free agents on the Pacers, pegging Rodney Stuckey and Lavoy Allen as the most likely among them to return, C.J. Watson and Chris Copeland as unlikely to be back, and Luis Scola and Donald Sloan somewhere in between. President of basketball operations Larry Bird said they’d all like to be back, but Scola, while praising the Pacers organization, doesn’t seem quite ready to commit, as Buckner relays.

“We’ll see what happens. We didn’t have our exit meeting yet. I’m hoping to get some type of feedback there and some type of impression of what they want to do in the future and move on from there,” Scola said last week.

Buckner suggests Stuckey, who drew praise from Bird, wants a multiyear deal with his wedding planned for mid-July. While we wait to see if the Pacers have something picked out for him on his registry, here’s more from around the Central:

Greg Monroe isn’t ruling out a return to the Pistons, but Reggie Jackson has spoken of communicating with other Pistons over the summer so everyone stays motivated for next season, notes MLive’s David Mayo, pointing to the dichotomy between Detroit’s two main soon-to-be free agents. As for other free agents on the team, the Pistons are unlikely to offer Tayshaun Prince a chance to return, and John Lucas III probably won’t be back with the team next year, Mayo writes.
Several NBA executives say that they expect Khris Middleton to wind up signing a deal with $8MM annual salaries this summer, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. That figure is somewhat lower than the $10MM estimate that Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops heard from several GMs and other executives recently. Woelfel points to numbers that don’t suggest much improvement from Middleton this season, though he grants that the Bucks combo forward’s value could escalate with a strong playoff performance.
Former Bucks center Larry Sanders still doesn’t have a desire to return to the game, Woelfel notes within the same piece.

Pacers Rumors: Hibbert, West, Stuckey, Scola

April 17th, 2015 at 11:21am CST by Chuck Myron

Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird spoke today of shifting toward a small-ball approach and said that it would be the plan regardless of what Roy Hibbert does with his $15.514MM player option for next season, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays (Twitter links). Coach Frank Vogel said Hibbert’s role will be “diminished” and wouldn’t dismiss the idea that he’ll bench the center, Buckner notes (All four Twitter links). It’s forboding news for the slow-footed Hibbert, Buckner observes (on Twitter), and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wonders if Bird’s remarks are intended to try to convince Hibbert to opt out (Twitter link). Bird said he has “no clue” what Hibbert will do with the option, Buckner points out (on Twitter). Windhorst finds it difficult to envision the big man turning down that much money, though Hibbert’s agent, David Falk, has had no shortage of success in finding the right deal on the market for Hibbert and his other clients, the ESPN scribe notes (on Twitter). There’s plenty more from the exit interviews in Indiana, and we’ll sum up the most relevant information here:

Bird said he didn’t know what David West would do with his $12.6MM player option, though he added that West had made references to next year when they spoke earlier, Buckner tweets. Vogel said that he has a gut feeling that West will opt in, but while he expects Hibbert will also do so, he emphasized that it’s just his speculation about the center, Buckner notes (Twitter links).
All of the Pacers who are set to become free agents expressed a desire to re-sign with the Pacers, Bird said, adding that whether that happens for all of them remains up in the air, as Buckner relays (Twitter link).
It’s important for the Pacers that soon-to-be free agent Rodney Stuckey re-signs, Bird believes, and he’s optimistic they’ll get a deal done, according to Buckner (on Twitter). “We need guys like Rodney,” Bird said.
Bird expressed hope that the team would re-sign Luis Scola, too, but the exec doesn’t think the Pacers will retain C.J. Watson, Buckner notes (Twitter links). It’s unclear whether Bird simply doesn’t intend to pursue a new deal with Watson or if he thinks the point guard will command more on the market than the Pacers will be willing to pay.

Larry Bird On Tanking, Draft, Roster

March 25th, 2015 at 6:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite losing star forward Paul George prior to the season to a serious leg injury the Pacers have still been competitive this season, and team president Larry Bird expects his team to make the playoffs, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays. Bird spoke with Mazzeo on a number of subjects, and here are some of the highlights of their chat:

Discussing the concept of tanking and what comes to mind when it is mentioned, Bird said…

“It makes me sick to my stomach. For somebody that’s been in this league for over 30 years, I don’t think that’s the way you do things, but that’s my opinion. Everybody else has got their opinion. I’ve read in the past here where people thought we should lose on purpose. I don’t believe in that. I’ve never believed in that. If I ever get that way, I’ll be out of the game.”

When asked if the team prefers to draft players who have stayed in college for multiple seasons, Bird said…

“I don’t think it’s a direction. I do like four-year guys, though. They’re low maintenance. They already know what the league’s all about. We’ve taken some young guys — Paul George, Lance Stephenson, and both of them are very good players. I don’t think every draft we go in and say we’ve got to get a four-year guy or a three-year guy. It’s really who’s there. I know in Danny’s [Granger] situation, we followed Danny’s career pretty closely. And I know when he came in here to work out for us, it was more of a favor to come in here than it was that we had an opportunity to draft him. I think we were at [pick No. 17] that year [2005], and we thought he was gonna be taken in the top six. But he slid to us and we knew about his knee injury and everything. It was pretty easy. If you saw the way Roy [Hibbert] played his freshman year, you would’ve never dreamed he’d be on an NBA court. But the improvement, the work ethic he displayed, showed us that he’d be the best player he possibly could be by sheer work and force. Then, you take a lot of the other guys on our team — David West was a four-year guy. It’s just so much easier.”

On why he decided to keep the Pacers’ core intact at the trade deadline this year…

“I wanted to keep our group together because in the summer, if David and Roy opt out, we’re back to zero, really. We don’t have that much, so you leave your options open. If we did make a trade, I didn’t want to take on a lot of contracts — because that’s what usually happens. Plus, I liked my guys. They’re playing well. If we keep the core together and Paul comes back healthy, we’ll be right back to where we were.”

On which Pacers player has been the biggest surprise this season…

“I’ve been watching Rodney Stuckey for eight years now, and when you watch players from other teams you know how good they are, but you see them every day and you know they’re really good. And I think C.J. Miles has had problems with injuries throughout his career, but our training staff is getting him pretty healthy and he’s going to be here all summer, so I look forward and I look out for the big picture. We are going to have a good draft pick — whether we’re in the playoffs or not, we’re gonna get somebody that can help us. And we’ll just go forward with that, and we think we’re gonna be pretty good next year.“