Steve Nash Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Ford’s Latest: Bulls, Sixers, Lakers, Afflalo

June 23rd, 2014 at 11:28am CST by Chuck Myron

The latest Insider-only mock draft from Chad Ford of ESPN.com is full of rumors, draft-related and otherwise. Let’s dive in and hit the highlights:

The Bulls are offering Taj Gibson, Tony Snell, and the 16th and 19th picks in this year’s draft to the Wolves, Ford hears. That’s presumably as part of a Kevin Love package, though Ford doesn’t make it clear exactly what Chicago wants back in return for those assets.
The Sixers continue to explore the idea of a Michael Carter-Williams trade as they seek another top-10 pick. The Lakers would like to acquire Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young for No. 7 and Steve Nash, but they’ve gained no traction on that proposal, according to Ford.
The Magic have offered picks Nos. 4 and 12 plus Arron Afflalo to the Cavs and Bucks as they attempt to move into the top two, but neither Milwaukee nor Cleveland has bitten. They’re also dangling Afflalo to the Kings and Nuggets for the eighth and 11th selections, respectively.
The Bucks are looking for an additional lottery pick, Ford reports, citing “serious” interest from other teams in Larry Sanders, John Henson and Brandon Knight. The Nuggets have spoken with Milwaukee about the No. 11 pick, according to Ford.
A source close to both the Nuggets and Dario Saric deny that Denver has given him a promise to draft him at No. 11.
There are several other medical issues that came up in Joel Embiid‘s physical in addition to his foot and back, sources tell Ford. It’s unclear how much concern there is regarding them.

And-Ones: Nash, T’Wolves, Knicks, Hornets

May 29th, 2014 at 10:48pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Steve Nash tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles that he doesn’t need to have any input on the Lakers’ head coaching search. “I’m completely happy to have a conversation…but I’m also fine having nothing to do with it.”

The former MVP also talked about how he got the sense that Mike D’Antoni wasn’t going to return for 2014/15. “(2013/14) wasn’t an enjoyable year for him. I think he could foresee that next year wasn’t going to be any more enjoyable from his standpoint, so I’m happy for him that he was able to walk away…towards the end of the season (I) could sense that he felt that he really didn’t want to do it next year…So, if that’s his wish, you want the best for him.”

Nash does, however, think that his former coach could possibly find another opportunity to coach again elsewhere soon. “I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he ended up with another job in the short term.”

Here are a few more miscellaneous links to pass along tonight:

Timberwolves GM Milt Newton says that the team isn’t in any rush to find a head coach, but conceded that they do have more of a timetable on possible trade talks about Kevin Love, reports Marcus R. Fuller of the Pioneer Press. Newton says he hasn’t spoken with Love since the season ended, but added that “maybe” there was more recent contact between Love and team president of basketball operations Flip Saunders.
The Knicks plan to purchase a mid-to-late second round pick from the upcoming draft, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
The Hornets are willing to part with their draft picks if the right deal comes along, reports Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer, who also writes that the team’s biggest needs are perimeter shooting and finding a backup big man for Al Jefferson.
Charlotte plans to add Steve Hetzel as an assistant coach on Steve Clifford’s staff, according to an earlier tweet by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Hetzel has been serving as head coach of the Canton Charge of the NBDL.
Larry Bird will have to think hard about matching any offer that Pacers swingman Lance Stephenson gets in upcoming free agency, senses Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Leonard, Jazz, Bledsoe, Nash

April 18th, 2014 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kawhi Leonard is up for a rookie scale extension this summer, but it appears he envisions a long-term future with the Spurs, based in his comments to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Gregg Popovich believes the small forward will become the face of the franchise once Tim Duncan retires.

“I’ve been working hard to be one of the focal points in the NBA, one of the top guys. For him to say that and see that I could be the face, it just brings joy to me,” Leonard said. “I’m just happy that someone else sees it other than myself.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin is on shaky ground in Utah, but soon-to-be free agent Gordon Hayward said Corbin did a “tremendous job” considering the circumstances this year, observes Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Eric Bledsoe has been non-committal in his public statements about the notion of re-signing with the Suns this summer, though teammate and neighbor Ish Smith is confident Bledsoe will return, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The Suns have said they intend to match any offer for Bledsoe, a restricted free agent.
Steve Nash is fine with a reduced role on the Lakers next season, one he expects will be his last in the NBA, notes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “They can’t rely on me, frankly,” Nash said. “Hopefully, I come back and play 82 games next year and the sky is the limit. But they can’t rely on me if they don’t know what I’m going to bring, so they got to evaluate those guys for next season.”
There’s a “strong possibility” the Jazz will have a one-to-one affiliation with the D-League’s Idaho Stampede next season, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (on Twitter). The Jazz shared the Bakersfield Jam with four other NBA teams this season.
The Warriors recalled Ognjen Kuzmic from the D-League today, the team announced. Golden State has been shuttling him back and forth to help the Santa Cruz Warriors in the playoffs, and Kuzmic had 23 points and 18 rebounds in Thursday’s win.
Santa Cruz beat the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who announced Thursday that the Rockets had assigned Isaiah Canaan and Robert Covington to play in the game (Twitter link). Houston brought them back to the big club today, the Rockets announced via Twitter.

And-Ones: Nash, Vasquez, Bucks

April 1st, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

John Zitzler of Basketball Insiders looks at the steps the Bucks should take in the offseason to get their rebuilding process heading in the proper direction. He believes the team needs to select the best player available in the draft, regardless of position, and shape the rest of the roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo. Zitzler also opines that the Bucks need to retain and develop some of their other young players, such as John Henson, Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, and Nate Wolters.

Lakers Plan To Keep Nash, Marshall

March 31st, 2014 at 12:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have plenty of time before they’ll be under pressure to make a decision about retaining Steve Nash and Kendall Marshall for next season, but for now the team plans on keeping both point guards, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. There’s been lots of speculation, some of it coming from Nash himself, that the Lakers would waive the 40-year-old this summer and use the stretch provision, but the Lakers instead envision taking the full $9.701MM cap hit next season for his 2014/15 salary. Marshall’s minimum salary contract is non-guaranteed for next season.

The deadline for the Lakers to use the stretch provision on Nash is August 31st, so if they wind up with a chance to sign a desirable free agent and need extra cap space to accommodate such a deal, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them reverse course with Nash. Still, it appears that for now, Nash is on track to continue his career with the Lakers. He’s admitted he’s sticking around in part because he doesn’t want to forfeit his salary, though he would still earn the money even if he walked away. Nash’s salary is guaranteed and he’s already played in his 10th game this season, washing away the chance of a medical retirement.

It’s no surprise that the team wants to keep Marshall, who’s blossomed since the team signed him in December. The 13th overall pick in the 2012 draft spent most of the first two months of this season out of the NBA, but he’s since averaged 8.9 assists and just 2.8 turnovers in 29.4 minutes per game for the Lakers.

Nash and Marshall are two of just five Lakers on the roster with contracts that run through next season. Coach Mike D’Antoni is also under contract for 2014/15, but there’s less certainty surrounding the team’s plans with him. The Lakers nonetheless won’t let his fate linger, as they’ll decide soon after the end of the regular season whether to retain him, Bresnahan writes.

Lakers Notes: Love, Nash, Kaman

March 29th, 2014 at 9:58am CST by Cray Allred

The Lakers lost in embarrassing fashion to the Timberwolves last night, giving up 143 points on 67.1% overall shooting. The rumors surrounding Los Angeles aren’t very positive, either. Let’s take a look:

Kevin Love downplayed questions about joining the Lakers in the future when speaking with reporters including Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News after he led the Wolves in drubbing the purple and gold. “You know, my parents live there and they had me there. It’s not my fault,” Love said. “So, I don’t really care about that right now. I just go out there and play and don’t think about it.”
Steve Nash told reporters including Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com that how his health will affect the rest of this season and his career is a virtual unknown to the 40-year-old. “Frankly, I don’t know if I’ll play again or if I’ll play every game [the rest] of the year,” Nash said. “I think the bottom line right now is this is a situation where I want to play; that’s the only reason I played tonight. But I also want to go into this summer healthy.” Nash has repeatedly said he wants to play out the final year of his contract and avoid a scenario where the Lakers exercise the stretch provision on his contract.
Chris Kaman admitted to having frustration with his lack of playing time for the Lakers, telling reporters including Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times he doesn’t understand coach Mike D’Antoni‘s explanation. “It’s a frustrating situation all around. Maybe he thought he was going to go with the young guys, but Steve Nash is 40 years old. He stayed with him so I’m not sure that’s par for the course,” said Kaman, who was the subject of trade rumors earlier this year and will become a free agent this summer. “It’s hard for a player to know what to think, know what to do and what to say. I’m just trying to be cool about it and stay positive, but it’s definitely difficult.”

Steve Nash Plans To Play Again In 2013/14

March 20th, 2014 at 10:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

MARCH 20TH: Nash plans to return to the Lakers’ lineup on Friday night, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. He’ll likely come off the bench and serve as a backup to Kendall Marshall.

MARCH 19TH: The Lakers haven’t completely ruled out a return for Nash this season, D’Antoni now says, according to McMenamin (Twitter link).

MARCH 13TH: D’Antoni says definitively that Nash isn’t going to return this season, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. There remains no formal announcement from the team.

MARCH 3RD: Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni doubts point guard Steve Nash will return to play this season, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. D’Antoni isn’t ruling Nash out entirely, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out (on Twitter), but D’Antoni wants to give minutes to the team’s younger guards, and the 40-year-old Nash apparently still isn’t feeling right. There’s a strong chance the two-time MVP has played his last, given his persistent injuries the past two seasons and the specter that the Lakers would use the stretch provision to waive him in the summer.

Nash recently said he’d either be “back with the Lakers next year or this is it,” dispelling the notion that he’d play for the Clippers. GM Mitch Kupchak has said it would be “unethical” for the team to try to talk Nash into retirement this summer, and Nash recently denied a report that he’s planning to walk away. Still, Nash acknowledged earlier this year that the Lakers could waive him and use the stretch provision to spread his $9.701MM cap hit for next season over the next three years instead.

The Lakers could invite Nash back on a cheaper contract if they waive him, though it seems unlikely he’d warrant any more than the minimum salary. Nash has suffered from pain stemming from a nerve root irritation that happened as a result of a fractured left leg early last season, just after he’d inked a three-year contract for slightly more than $27.9MM to join the Lakers in a sign-and-trade from the Suns.

Kupchak has said he still has no regrets about the deal, even though it’s seemingly been governed by Murphy’s Law from day one. Nash’s performance declined last year, and this season, he’s appeared in just 10 games. The tenth game made it impossible for the Lakers to wipe his salary for next season completely off their books in a medical retirement scenario.

In any case, Nash isn’t quite ready to declare himself done for the year, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News observes (Twitter link).

“We’ll see,” Nash said. “I couldn’t really make a prediction. If I get a chance, it’ll be great.”

And-Ones: Lottery, Jeter, Nash

March 16th, 2014 at 8:48am CST by Eddie Scarito

With teams starting to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, more and more focus will be given to the talk about franchises “tanking” for a better lottery pick. Commissioner Adam Silver has denied that teams are losing on purpose, but that hasn’t quieted the chatter. There has been some talk of changing how the league determines draft order to combat this, but Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post doesn’t think the current system needs to be altered. Dempsey cites the fact that the team with the worst overall record rarely gets the top pick. In fact, since the lottery system began in 1985 only four teams have secured the first-overall pick, and none since 2004 when the Magic won the lottery and selected Dwight Howard. Dempsey also opines that losing now to try to secure a brighter future is a smart move, not one to be condemned.

Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Butler, Ledo

March 13th, 2014 at 7:32pm CST by Alex Lee

After Kobe Bryant‘s news conference on Wednesday, the Lakers may have to abandon any strategy not aimed at an immediate turnaround, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Pincus has an intricate plan in mind for the purple-and-gold that entails trading their 2014 first rounder for Kevin Love, waiving Steve Nash, re-signing Pau Gasol and much more, all designed at arming the aging Bryant with running mates capable of staging one last run at a title.

Let’s take a look at what is going on elsewhere in the Western Conference:

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried is happy that the trade speculation is behind him, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Faried is having an impressive March, scoring 21.1 points per game and grabbing 10.1 rebounds on 64.5% shooting from the field. Teammate Ty Lawson also believes that the trade talk was hurting his play somewhat, noting that he has been more aggressive since the trade deadline came and went.
Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe had a lot to do with Caron Butler‘s decision to sign with Oklahoma City this season, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. Sharpe held a similar position at UConn when Butler was there.
While we pointed out a pair of D-League success stories earlier tonight, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram opines (via Twitter) that Ricky Ledo may have become a high lottery pick with the proper collegiate seasoning. Ledo, who has bounced between the Mavericks and the Texas Legends in his rookie season, attended Providence College though he never played for the Friars. He was selected 43rd overall by the Bucks last June.

Pacific Rumors: Nash, D’Antoni, Thompson

March 13th, 2014 at 3:29pm CST by Zachary Links

No one can accuse Steve Nash of not being honest. When asked by reporters today why he won’t retire, the Lakers guard said, “It’s just a reality. I’m not going to retire because I want the money. It’s honest,” according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter links). “You’re going to have people say he’s so greedy he’s got to take this last little bit…Yes, I do. I have to take this last little bit. I’m sorry if that’s frustrating to some but if they were in my shoes they would do the exact same thing.”

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni says that he doesn’t think about his job status, despite the constant speculation, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “My job is to finish up as good as we can. Then everybody huddles…and we’ll see what happens,” the coach said.
D’Antoni also downplayed Kobe Bryant‘s recent criticism of the Lakers organization, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets. There was also a report that Bryant is unhappy with D’Antoni and has no interest in playing for him next season.
Jason Thompson, the subject of trade talk before February’s deadline, is trying to make the most of his benching by Kings coach Michael Malone, writes the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones.