Scotty Hopson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

No Deal For Scotty Hopson, Turkish Team

November 19th, 2014 at 5:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:56pm: Hopson has decided against signing the deal, agent Eric Fleisher tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link).

11:09am: Small forward Scotty Hopson is close to putting pen to paper on a deal with Galatasaray of Turkey, Ismail Senol of NTV Spor reports (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). A follow-up tweet from Carchia indicates that the sides have already reached agreement and that Hopson is likely to make his debut for the team this weekend. The arrangement only covers a month and a half, though Hopson will have an option to extend it through the end of the season, according to Senol. It’s unclear how much the 25-year-old stands to earn through the pact.

Hopson spent the summer as NBA trade fodder, going from the Cavs, who signed him late last season, to the Hornets, to the Pelicans, to the Rockets, and finally to the Kings, who waived him the week before training camps began. Hopson had a non-guaranteed salary of more than $1.45MM that teams found useful to help them match salaries thanks to Cleveland’s decision to use its prorated room exception to ink him at the end of March. The Cavs would have been able to create an even larger non-guaranteed salary, and thus a more attractive trade chip, had they signed a veteran to a minimum-salary deal, but Hopson came aboard without NBA experience, having played overseas since going undrafted out of Tennessee in 2011. He was with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes when Cleveland came calling last season.

Reports shortly before Sacramento waived Hopson indicated that he was moving close to a deal with Italy’s Enel Brindisi, though the Italian team denied that there were talks, and the sides never wound up coming to terms. The former McDonald’s All-American had his best pro season in 2012/13, when he put up 17.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game for Hapoel Eilat of Israel. He appeared in only two games for a total of less than seven minutes during his stint with the Cavs last season.

Kings Waive Scotty Hopson

September 24th, 2014 at 2:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 2:24pm: The move is official, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 11:15pm: The Kings have waived swingman Scotty Hopson, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. His nearly $1.451MM salary is non-guaranteed, so it won’t stick on Sacramento’s books. Reports on Monday indicated that the Alberto Ebanks client was moving close to a deal with Italy’s Enel Brindisi even as he remained on the Kings roster, but representatives from the Italian team denied that they were pursuing him. In any case, Hopson will have to wait at least another two days to sign to play in Italy or anywhere else, since he’ll need to clear waivers first.

The 25-year-old former University of Tennessee standout has two games of NBA experience, but he’s already been with five NBA teams after signing with the Cavs at the end of March. Cleveland appeared to add Hopson chiefly to use him as a trade chip, and he was involved in four swaps this summer, passing through the Hornets, Pelicans and Rockets on his way to Sacramento. He’s spent most of his pro career overseas since going undrafted in 2011, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to international ball.

Sacramento has deals with 18 players following Hopson’s departure, leaving the Kings with two open preseason roster spots to fill if they choose. It would make sense if Sacramento were to also release Alonzo Gee, the other player the team acquired in the Jason Terry trade, though that’s just my speculation. Gee’s $3MM salary is also non-guaranteed.

Scotty Hopson In Talks To Play In Italy?

September 23rd, 2014 at 10:16am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 10:16am: Representatives from Enel Brindisi deny that they’re moving toward a deal with Hopson, Carchia tweets.

MONDAY, 11:39am: Scotty Hopson is finalizing a deal with Italy’s Enel Brindisi, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Hopson is still under contract with the Kings, who officially acquired him in the Jason Terry trade last week, but it seems unlikely that Sacramento would carry his non-guaranteed salary of nearly $1.451MM into the season. Italian outlets Mismatchbrindisi and La Gazzetta dello Sport were the first to report the talks, according to Carchia, who provided a translation of the original dispatches.

Hopson was averaging 10.9 points in 24.9 minutes per game for Turkey’s Anadolu Efes last season when Cleveland signed him at the end of March to a deal that covered the rest of the season, with non-guaranteed salary included for 2014/15. The Cavs used their room exception to make the deal more lucrative and thus more valuable for matching salaries in a trade, though they could have created a more valuable trade chip and saved money at the same if they’d signed a 10-plus-year veteran to a minimum-salary deal. Still, Hopson played out the season and Cleveland indeed shipped him out, sending him to Charlotte, which flipped him to New Orleans less than 48 hours later. The Pelicans sent him along to Houston in the Omer Asik trade less than 48 hours after that, and the Rockets held on to him for two months so they could aggregate his salary with Alonzo Gee‘s in the Terry swap.

A deal overseas would presumably give Hopson some degree of certainty about where he’ll play the coming season after a whirlwind summer, though it’s unclear whether it would contain an NBA escape clause. The 25-year-old swingman saw action in only two games for less than seven minutes combined during his stint with the Cavs, so he didn’t have much of a chance to prove his worth in the Association.

Western Notes: Terry, Papanikolaou, Lakers

September 16th, 2014 at 8:56pm CST by Alex Lee

With a few weeks until training camps begin, here is the latest news coming out of the Western Conference on Tuesday evening:

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets‘ deal for Jason Terry will be completed tomorrow (via Twitter). The trade, which will send Terry to Houston and Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson to Sacramento, was originally agreed to on August 31st. There was a report yesterday that it would be finalized today, so we should expect an official announcement shortly.
Feigen also expects the signing of Kostas Papanikolaou to become official this week, though he cautions that his buyout ($1.5MM) and the necessary FIBA approval make it a little unpredictable (Twitter link). Papanikolaou’s first-year salary of just under $4.8MM is the most ever given to a second-round pick in his first NBA season.
The Lakers announced today that Paul Pressey, Jim Eyen and Mark Madsen will join Byron Scott on the Los Angeles bench as assistant coaches this season. Beyond that trio, the team also announced Clay Moser, Larry Lewis, Tom Bialaszewski and J.J. Outlaw as members of the staff. Rondre Jackson has been promoted to director of player development and Jordan Wilkes has been hired as an operations assistant, according to the team release.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Rush, Jeter, Terry, Wizards

September 15th, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Cray Allred

After a difficult 2013/14 season in which he was granted sporadic playing time while returning from knee surgery in Utah, Brandon Rush tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he’s feeling positive about his upcoming season with the Warriors. “This is a great situation for me to be able to come back and to be with a winning team,” said Rush. “I’m just going to try to help the team out with little things: rebounding, shooting and playing defense. I’m in a good mood. My head is in on straight. I’m happy with where I’m at…Coming back [to Golden State] was a no-brainer.” Here’s more from around the league:

Pooh Jeter has no intentions of leaving his Chinese team, despite having a workout lined up with the Lakers, as he tells Hupu (translation via Enea Trapani of Sportando).
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders expects the deal in place between the Rockets and Kings, which will send Jason Terry to Houston and Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson to Sacramento, will finally transpire within the next 24 hours (Twitter link). Pincus does not expect the Kings to retain either Gee or Hopson, whose contracts are non-guaranteed. The teams initially struck an unofficial agreement on August 31.
The Wizards are still working out additional players to bring to camp, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Washington will have 16 of the maximum 20 contracts on the books for training camp after the new additions of Xavier Silas and Damion James.
Brett Koremenos of RealGM looks at the careers of Milos Teodosic, Ante Tomic, and Emir Preldzic, three players caught in the “limbo” between European starring roles and NBA backup spots. While these players shine in international play, their advanced age, on-court shortcomings, and comfort level overseas are barriers to their likehood of signing in the NBA.

Rockets, Pelicans, Wizards Swap Ariza, Asik, Ely

July 15th, 2014 at 2:19pm CST by Zachary Links

2:19pm: The deal is official, the Pelicans have announced. New Orleans is folding Scotty Hopson into the trade after acquiring him over the weekend, marking the third trade for Hopson’s non-guaranteed contract in less than a week. So, It’s Asik, Casspi and $1.5MM to the Pelicans, Ariza, Gee, Hopson and a protected 2015 first-round pick to the Rockets, and Ely to the Wizards.

TUESDAY, 10:23am: The NBA has given its approval for the trade, and a formal announcement is forthcoming, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune (Twitter link).

SUNDAY, 7:55pm: Ely will not be retained by the Wizards, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

5:59pm: Ariza will go to Houston on a three-way deal, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). The Pelicans will get Omer Asik, Omri Casspi, and $1.5MM from the Rockets. Houston will get Ariza from Washington, Alonzo Gee, and a protected 2015 first-round choice from New Orleans. The Wizards will take on the non-guaranteed contract of Melvin Ely from New Orleans while receiving a $8.5MM trade exception (link).

Of course, Asik was already headed to the Pelicans in exchange for the 2015 first-rounder. Now, the deal has been expanded to help facilitate the Ariza sign-and-trade. Gee, meanwhile, has now been traded twice inside of a week.

5:08pm: The Rockets will acquire Trevor Ariza in a sign-and-trade deal with the Wizards, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Wizards will get a $8.5MM trade exception by making the deal, but it’s not clear what they’ll be sending to Houston in the trade.

The Rockets and Ariza agreed on a four-year, $32MM deal yesterday. A number of teams were rumored to be interested in the sharpshooter’s services, but the Rockets came out on top. Ariza will try and help fill the void at small forward for Houston now that Chandler Parsons is Dallas-bound.

Ariza’s contract is structured on a declining scale, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. He will earn $8.6MM this season, and $8.2MM, $7.8MM, $7.4MM, in the following years. Ariza could have served as a stretch four alongside Dwight Howard if Parsons was retained, but he’ll now line up at his natural position.

In 77 games with the Wizards last season, the Rob Pelinka client averaged 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per night. He shot 40.7% from beyond the arc, well above his career mark of 34.7%. Ariza, 29, played in Houston during the 2009/10 season.

While Ariza is a nice addition, it goes without saying that this wasn’t the summer the Rockets had in mind.

Hornets Send Scotty Hopson To Pelicans

July 14th, 2014 at 7:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hornets have traded Scotty Hopson to the Pelicans, both teams announced via press release late Sunday. Charlotte had just acquired Hopson from the Cavs on Saturday. The Hornets receive cash in return.

It’s perhaps only fitting that Hopson has been in two trades in as many days, since his contract was largely designed to be swapped. The Cavs signed him on the last day of March this past season for the rest of the 2013/14, and they tacked on a non-guaranteed 2014/15. Cavs GM David Griffin used the mid-level exception in an apparent attempt to make Hopson’s non-guaranteed salary larger, and thus more useful for salary matching purposes in trades. Griffin nonetheless could have signed a veteran of 10 or more seasons to the minimum salary and created an even larger non-guaranteed 2014/15 salary while spending much less in prorated guaranteed salary last season.

Hopson played all of seven minutes at the end of last season for Cleveland, and it seems doubtful he’ll add to that total for New Orleans. The 6’7″ swingman has played primarily overseas since going undrafted out of the University of Tennessee in 2011, and if he so much as makes it to training camp this fall, it’ll be a first for the one-time McDonald’s All-American.

Hornets Acquire Scotty Hopson

July 12th, 2014 at 1:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:23pm: The deal is official, Charlotte announced via press release, which also revealed the Hornets will receive some cash from the Cavs. The exact amount wasn’t disclosed, however.

1:12am: The Hornets will receive Scotty Hopson from the Cavaliers in a restructured version of a draft-night trade agreement between the clubs, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Brendan Haywood and the rights to No. 45 overall pick Dwight Powell are headed to Cleveland, Lloyd adds, so Hopson is essentially replacing Alonzo Gee, who was in the original version of the agreement. The Cavs sent Gee to New Orleans on Friday in a separate trade. The net effect will likely be the same for the Hornets, since it appeared they were primarily seeking cap flexibility in the deal.

Hopson’s contract, like Gee’s, is non-guaranteed. The 24-year-old appeared in only two games for seven minutes during his brief Cavs tenure, and it’s his only NBA experience, having spent the rest of his pro career overseas. The Cavs signed him using their room exception this past March to a prorated deal for the waning days of 2013/14, with a non-guaranteed 2014/15 salary tacked on. It was something of a clumsy maneuver for the Cavs, since they could have signed a long-tenured veteran to the minimum salary and tacked on a greater non-guaranteed salary for 2014/15, thus giving themselves a more attractive trade asset. Using the room exception also forced the Cavs to give Hopson a significantly higher prorated salary for 2013/14 than they would have doled out if they’d signed him or someone else to the minimum salary.

Cavs GM David Griffin redeems himself with his acquisition of Haywood, whose unusual contract sets him up to become a valuable trade weapon next summer, as I explained. Powell, a power forward from Stanford, joins No. 33 overall pick Joe Harris among second-round picks vying for a roster spot with Cleveland this year.

Cavs Notes: Hopson, Brown, Hawes

April 16th, 2014 at 9:00pm CST by Charlie Adams

It was a tough season for the Cavs, who came into the year expecting to contend for a playoff berth. Although Cleveland will end up in the lottery for the fourth straight year, the team will look to end their 2013/14 on a positive note as they face off against the Nets tonight to wrap up their season. Here’s the latest from Cleveland:

The Cavs have recalled Scotty Hopson from the D-League for their season finale tonight, the team announced (Twitter link). Cleveland sent him down to help its D-League affiliate in the playoffs, but the Canton Charge were eliminated on Monday.
Spencer Hawes, an unrestricted free agent this summer, has enjoyed his time in Cleveland and would “for sure” be interested in re-signing with the team, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (on Twitter). The Cavs acquired Hawes from the Sixers at the trade deadline.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert says he regrets his decision to fire Mike Brown in 2010, but Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer thinks Cleveland would be wise to part ways with Brown once again this summer. Livingston doesn’t think Brown’s strengths mesh with the strengths of the team.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Booker, Cavs

April 10th, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks GM Steve Mills denies last month’s report that he met with Phil Jackson about the possibility of the Zen Master coaching the team, though he admits that the team’s pursuit of Jackson, now team president, caused “problems” with coach Mike Woodson. Mills made his comments to Spike Lee in an interview airing tonight on SiriusXM NBA Radio, and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com provides an early peek. Mills also said that he feels he and Jackson can “do something special” as they work together in the Knicks front office. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Danny Ainge wants to “blow off some fireworks” with splashy moves this summer, but he isn’t making promises, as he said today in his weekly radio appearance on 98.5 the Sports Hub (transcription via Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com). Ainge reiterated that he’s looking for rim protection and said he’s also seeking a “closer.” The Celtics boss also expressed concern about the injury history of soon-to-be free agent Avery Bradley, though Ainge once more spoke of the team’s interest in the guard.
Trevor Booker started his 41st game for the Wizards on Wednesday, so the value of the qualifying offer the Wizards must make to keep him from unrestricted free agency this summer has risen from $3,420,443 to $4,677,708. I explained last month that Booker was approaching the league’s “starter criteria” for restricted free agents.
The Cavs have assigned Sergey Karasev and Scotty Hopson to their D-League affiliate in Canton, the D-League team announced (Twitter link). Karasev and Hopson, who’d just been recalled to Cleveland on Wednesday, will be available for Canton’s playoff game tonight.
We rounded up more on the Cavs and other Central Division news earlier today.