Rudy Gobert Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Saunders, Waiters, Gobert, Atkins

October 26th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Flip Saunders was in a coma for nearly six weeks before his death at age 60, writes Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. He had one more treatment left for Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he came down with pneumonia, went into the hospital, and failed to recover, sources told Hartman. Saunders was optimistic in the months leading up to his death, about his own prognosis — saying that he thought he’d return to the team shortly after the New Year — and about the Timberwolves, as Hartman details. The coach/executive predicted a title for the team within three years, though close friends speculated that by that time, he hoped that he could turn over head coaching duties to son Ryan, a Wolves assistant coach, according to Hartman. Saunders was by far the winningest coach in Timberwolves history, going 427-392 over his two tenures in the job, and was the only coach ever to take the team to the playoffs, the Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda writes in an obituary. As the NBA mourns, see more from the Northwest Division:

The issue of whether or not the Thunder sign Dion Waiters to an extension could signal whether the team is committed to significant spending for years to come or if the Thunder’s recent high payrolls represent a temporary strategy, writes Keith P. Smith of RealGM. Oklahoma City is reportedly actively exploring an extension for the former No. 4 overall pick in advance of the November 2nd deadline.
Rudy Gobert credits the arrival of Jazz coach Quin Snyder last season with a renewed focus on defense and increased cohesion, as Gobert, optimistic about the season ahead, details to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
The deal that point guard Eric Atkins signed Sunday with the Jazz is non-guaranteed and for one year at the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link).

Jazz Exercise Options On Four Players

October 17th, 2015 at 4:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz have exercised third-year options on Dante Exum and Rodney Hood and fourth-year options on Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert, the team announced today. All four options are for the 2016/17 season.

The 20-year-old Exum will receive slightly more than $3.94MM. He is expected to miss the upcoming season after damaging the ACL in his left knee while playing for the Australian National Team. He appeared in all 82 games during his rookie season in Utah, averaging 4.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Exum was part of the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.

Hood, 22, will earn a little over $1.4MM. He averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists during his rookie campaign and was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month during the final month of last season.

The 22-year-old Burke will make nearly $3.39MM. He has started 111 games during his first two NBA seasons and has averages of 12.8 points 2.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He was an All-Rookie First Team selection in 2013/14 and has been part of the Rising Stars Challenge the past two seasons.

Gobert, 23, will make more than $2.1MM. He sparked the Jazz to a 22-15 record after moving into the starting lineup in the middle of last season. Gobert finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and became the third player in Utah history to top 180 blocked shots in a season. He has career averages of 6.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.

And-Ones: Sixers, Jackson, Marble

February 17th, 2015 at 11:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers are willing to take on expiring contracts in order to increase their stash of second-round draft picks, according to Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Trade talks have been heating up, an NBA source told Moore, and the team is likely to make at least one deal before Thursday’s deadline. The Sixers already own 16 second-rounders over the next six drafts but wouldn’t mind adding more assets. The franchise also has $18.4MM in salary-cap room to absorb expiring deals, Moore continues. If the Sixers do make a deal, Luc Mbah a Moute is the player most likely to be moved. Mbah a Moute, who has an expiring contract of approximately $4.4MM, is averaging a career high of 10.0 points, and could draw interest from a contender. Moore also speculates the club would consider moving its best all-around player, Michael Carter-Williams, for the right price.

Here’s more from around the league:

Reggie Jackson would probably wind up with a non-contender if he’s dealt by the Thunder before the trade deadline, Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman writes. Jackson’s most likely destination would be a team needing a long-term solution at point guard with the expectation of re-signing him when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer, Slater adds. Jackson is making just over $2.2MM and might have to be paired with a higher-salaried player such as Kendrick Perkins, who is making approximately $9.65MM, in order to bring back a quality player in return, according to Slater.
Gary Payton has shown interest in joining George Karl’s staff with the Kings, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets. Payton was Karl’s long-time point guard in Seattle, including during the 1996 NBA Finals when the SuperSonics lost to the Bulls.
The Magic have re-assigned Devyn Marble to the Erie BayHawks, their D-League affiliate, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel tweets. Marble, a rookie guard, has not appeared in an NBA game since January 25th. In 16 games with the Magic this season, Marble is averaging 2.3 PPG.
Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert are the main building blocks for the Jazz and have too much potential to be traded, Brad Rock of the Deseret News writes. Quality big men are precious commodities and that makes the duo more important than the team’s current star, Gordon Hayward, Rock adds.

Western Notes: Warriors, Matthews, Mavs

February 4th, 2015 at 9:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Rajon Rondo out indefinitely after suffering two facial fractures, the Mavs are in need of some depth, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas may look to add a player on a 10-day contract while it waits for Jermaine O’Neal to decide when and where he resumes his NBA career, Sefko reports. Owner Mark Cuban said that Dallas will be looking at players returning from China as well as those waived by NBA teams, in order to fill its final roster spot, Sefko adds.

Here’s more from out west:

Soon-to-be free agent Wesley Matthews wants to remain with the Trail Blazers, as he tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders, and the shooting guard makes it clear the team’s success on the court is a factor.
The Warriors have led the NBA in defensive rating from the opening day of the season, and the team’s dominance on defense can be traced back to two personnel moves that the franchise has made, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com writes. The ESPN scribe points to Golden State’s deal with the Bucks that sent Monta Ellis to Milwaukee and netted the team Andrew Bogut, and the sign-and-trade deal for Andre Iguodala, as major reasons for Golden State’s defensive prowess this season.
Rival executives have said that the Nuggets would love to add a star player between now and the trade deadline, but if the team is unable to accomplish that goal, it will seek to trade away some of its veteran players for first round draft picks, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes.
Rudy Gobert has emerged as a defensive force for the Jazz this season, and Wesley Share of RealGM.com profiles the big man’s growth into an impact player.
Quincy Miller, who is on his second 10-day contract of the season with the Kings, has never been short on talent, but poor timing has slowed his career up to this point, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders writes. Discussing why the Nuggets chose to waive him earlier this season, Miller said, “I think they really wanted a veteran in Alonzo Gee and a defensive player. I don’t think I was the defensive player that they wanted, and I was everything they already had in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari – a shooter/finisher. They wanted to go in a different direction, which is fine, but I just wish it would’ve been different timing.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Jazz Opt In With Trey Burke, Rudy Gobert

October 25th, 2014 at 8:31am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz have exercised their third year team options for Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert, the team has officially announced. This doesn’t come as a surprise since both players factor into Utah’s longterm rebuilding plans. Burke is set to make $2,658,240 and Gobert $1,175,880 during the 2015/16 season. By exercising these options the Jazz now have approximately $47.6MM in guaranteed money on the books for that campaign.

Burke is continuing to develop after being selected in 2013 with the ninth overall pick. During his rookie season he appeared in 70 games, including 68 as a starter, averaging 12.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 5.7 APG. His slash line was .380/.330/.903. The pressure is on Burke to improve his outside shooting and cut down on his 1.9 turnovers per game. Utah drafted Dante Exum with the No. 4 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, and Exum projects more as a point guard at this stage of development.

The 7’1″ Gobert was also part of the 2013 draft class, being selected 27th overall. During his rookie campaign, Gobert appeared in 45 games, averaging 2.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG, while logging 9.6 minutes a night.

Western Notes: Cuban, Fredette, J.R. Smith

January 12th, 2014 at 1:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With just 39 days left until the trade deadline, the Mavericks say they are cool on the idea of signing Andrew Bynum, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. It’s not a financial issue, but rather that the team doesn’t need an upgrade at center in the light of the recent play of Samuel Dalembert. That could change if Dalembert cannot maintain consistent production. Team owner Mark Cuban also says the team will be exploring other deals, but he adds that they are restricted by the financial constraints of the collective bargaining agreement. When asked if that meant the “Bank of Cuban” is open, he said: “It’s always been open. Even on Saturdays and Sundays,” and, “We’re always wide-open. We’ll do the deal that we need to do to accomplish what we need to accomplish.”

Some more notes from around the Western Conference:

In response to George Karl‘s suggestion that the Spurs trade for J.R. Smith, a staff member of the Spurs joked, “Does Karl have any other terrific ideas such as, oh, bringing back Dennis Rodman to work in marketing?” Despite that, Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express News writes that it might not be that far-fetched, but it wouldn’t make sense for this season.
The Jazz recalled rookies Rudy Gobert and Ian Clark from their D-League assignment in Bakersfield, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Jimmer Fredette is a new player following the Kings’ trade for Rudy Gay now that he is getting regular minutes as the backup point guard, writes Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee.

D-League Notes: Gobert, Clark, Shengelia

January 11th, 2014 at 4:09pm CST by Charlie Adams

Here are a few points pertaining to the NBA’s D-League:

The Jazz are expected to recall rookies Rudy Gobert and Ian Clark from the D-League this weekend, tweets Jody Genessy of Deseret News. The duo spent time playing for the Bakersfield Jam but should rejoin the Jazz sometime today or tomorrow.
Tornike Shengelia has been recalled by the Nets, the team announced. Shengelia, who had been playing with the Springfield Armor, has played sparingly throughout his career after being selected late in the 2012 draft by the 76ers. So far for this season, Shengelia has averaged 8.4 MPG in 15 contests for Brooklyn.
Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times takes a look at how a couple of former D-League players, Jon Leuer and Ed Davis, have been able to be productive for the Grizzlies. With Marc Gasol sidelined, the two big men have gained valuable experience by playing more minutes than they would have otherwise.
Earlier today, we passed along that the Hawks had officially signed James Nunnally to a 10-day contract. Nunnally caught Atlanta’s attention after a strong showing in this year’s D-League Showcase where he earned a spot as a member of the All-Showcase Second Team.

D-League Notes: Gobert, Clark, T’Wolves

January 4th, 2014 at 10:58am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s look at the D-League..

The Spurs announced that they have recalled guard Nando De Colo from the Austin Toros of the D-League. De Colo made his fifth appearance for the Toros this season Friday evening helping Austin to a 122-97 home victory over the Texas Legends finishing with 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. For now, teammate Malcolm Thomas remains in Austin.
Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Ian Clark will be staying in L.A. following last night’s game against the Lakers because they’re both being assigned to the D-League once more, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
The T’Wolves are giving some thought to purchasing a D-League team, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press. “Eventually that might be something that we want to do, where we have a team where we can send (players) back and forth,” president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said. The Wolves plan on sending Shabazz Muhammad to their shared affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa. It’ll be their first D-League assignment since 2011/12.
Brandon Parker of the Washington Post wonders what kind of impact it will have on the D-League if Celtics star Rajon Rondo is sent down to rehab from injury. Having household names rehab on a farm team would increase the D-League’s exposure and attendance. It also, of course, would give NBA players a great way to ease back into regular action.

D-League Moves: Jazz, Spurs, Nets

December 21st, 2013 at 3:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Today marks the end of the first month of the D-League season, and so far 13 NBA teams have sent players on assignment, as our tracker shows. Four of those 13 made moves involving seven players today, as we detail:

Ian Clark and Rudy Gobert are back from their D-League assignments, the Jazz announced. Utah sent both to the Bakersfield Jam a week ago, and Gobert had the more impressive performance, averaging 14.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks over three games.
The Spurs have sent Nando De Colo and Malcolm Thomas to the D-League, according to the team. De Colo is making his third trek to the Austin Toros this season, while Thomas, whom the Spurs signed less than three weeks ago, heads to Austin for the second time.
Tyshawn Taylor and Tornike Shengelia are back on D-League assignment, the Nets announced. Both second-year players are familiar with the Springfield Armor, having spent time there last season and during training camp this year.
The Warriors recalled Nemanja Nedovic from the D-League today, as we noted earlier.

Odds & Ends: Thibodeau, Lowry, Jazz, Bobcats

December 14th, 2013 at 7:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite some speculation to the contrary, Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times insists that Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t going anywhere. It was recently reported that the Knicks could make a run at the defensively-minded coach. More from around the Association..

With the Nets unwilling to give up a first-round pick for Kyle Lowry and the Knicks saying they won’t part with a first rounder or Tim Hardaway Jr., Al Iannazone of Newsday (on Twitter) wonders if the Knicks will wind up caving.
The Jazz announced that they have assigned rookie guard Ian Clark and rookie center Rudy Gobert to its D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam. Gobert, a 7’1″ rookie center has made 17 appearances for the Jazz in a reserve role, averaging 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.82 blocks in 10.7 minutes. Clark, 22, has appeared in eight games as a reserve for the Jazz, averaging 2.8 points in 8.8 minutes.
The accountability of first-year coach Steve Clifford sets a good tone for the Bobcats, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Blazers forward Dorell Wright doesn’t sound terribly upset about the Sixers‘ decision to not re-sign him. “You see what direction they were going in. That was not in my plan at all,” said Wright, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
Magic officials have challenged Andrew Nicholson to become more physical since taking him with the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft and he’s finally responding, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.