Thaddeus Young Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Draft Pick, Patterson, Williams

April 3rd, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets are using what’s left of this season to determine who they want back next season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Interim coach Tony Brown has been juggling his lineups, as Thomas Robinson, Sergey Karasev, Henry Sims and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson all made starts this week. “It’s an opportunity for you to show people what you can do,” Brown said. “As far as I know, we don’t have a bunch of long-term-contract guys, so this is an opportunity for them to show themselves to the organization and possibly to the league. So use your time wisely and help yourself when you play.”

Two players who have made the most of their late-season chances are shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick, who was signed out of the D-League and is averaging 13.9 points over his last 15 games, and point guard Shane Larkin, who has put up 10.8 points and six assists per night in his last six games as a starter. Larkin has a $1.5MM player option for next season.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics could benefit from Brooklyn’s decision to shut down Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season, according to NetsDaily. Boston owns the Nets‘ unprotected first rounder, and Brooklyn is currently fourth in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, one game behind Phoenix. If the Nets move past the Suns, Boston’s chance at the No. 1 pick improves from 11.9% to 15.6%.
Raptors assistant coach Nick Nurse picks Patrick Patterson as the team’s most improved player this season, relays Mike Ganter of The National Post. The sixth-year power forward only averages 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but Nurse said the improvement shows up in his overall play. “I would say he has made more strides defensively, but I would also say he has made strides consistently producing the same thing night in and night out,” Nurse said. “I think there were a little more extreme peaks and valleys with him [before].” Patterson is signed for one more season at slightly more than $6MM.
Derrick Williams has finally put aside the pressure of being the second player drafted in 2011 and has found a home with the Knicks, writes Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com. “This league is about opportunity, situation and timing – those three things right there,” Williams said. “And if you have good opportunity, situation is right, and the time is right on point, you can’t be stopped.”

Mavs, Celtics Call Nets About Thaddeus Young

February 18th, 2016 at 12:09pm CST by Will Joseph

12:08pm: Mavs GM Donnie Nelson told reporters, including Tim Cato of SB Nation, that Dallas will not be making any moves (link to Twitter).

11:25am: The Celtics also reached out to the Nets about Young, Fischer tweets.

10:54am: The Mavericks have spoken to the Nets to gauge the availability of Thaddeus Young, who has interest in joining a playoff team, reports Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link). Several teams with interest in trading for Young have already attempted to reach Sean Marks, whom Brooklyn hired today as its new GM, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets.

It was reported yesterday that Young appears the most likely member of the Nets to be traded. What’s the more, the Nets are willing to deal Young, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The Raptors and Clippers are two other teams that reportedly have interest in Young.

Young, a ninth-year veteran, re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal. Young has enjoyed a solid season and is averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Nets Notes: Prokhorov, Johnson, Young

February 17th, 2016 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov admits past mistakes in an open letter he pens for Yahoo Sports, but he said he’s learned that building the right culture is more important than simply collecting talent and said that he wants players who don’t need convincing about the merits of playing in Brooklyn.

“There can be differences of vision and opinion, and everyone should be heard, but, once we have a strategy, we all need to work together to fulfill it and put our individual issues behind us,” Prokhorov wrote. “It also means we need to have the courage to say, ‘We’ll not go for that player because, as much as he’s talented, he doesn’t fit into the culture we are building.’ It takes guts to say ‘no’ as much as it does to say ‘yes.'”

The emphasis on the right atmosphere jibes with the team’s reported offer of its GM post to Sean Marks, who hails from the culture-conscious Spurs, though the latest reports have thrown cold water on the idea of Marks coming to Brooklyn. See more on the Nets:

Joe Johnson is “not expected” to be on the buyout market, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He’s reportedly yet to approach the team about a buyout after expressing openness to the idea earlier this month.
The Nets are taking a “passive” approach to the trade deadline, Prokhorov told reporters, including Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link).
Thaddeus Young appears to be the Net most likely to end up in a trade, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes within his power rankings.

Nets Open To Dealing Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young

February 16th, 2016 at 5:01pm CST by Will Joseph

TUESDAY, 5:01pm: The Clippers are also interested in Young, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News relays (via Twitter).

MONDAY, 8:10am: Toronto and Brooklyn are talking in “basic, non-specific terms” about Young, one source told Fred Kerber of the New York Post.

8:50pm: The Raptors are interested in Young, but have yet to make a serious offer, one source tells NetsDaily.

SUNDAY, 7:49pm: The Nets are willing to deal Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young despite the franchise still being in the process of hiring a general manager, several league executives told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.

One potential deal, according to Isola, involves Young being traded to the Raptors in exchange for Patrick Patterson and Delon Wright. The Raptors own the Knicks’ 2016 first round draft pick and that may be part of the package, Isola adds. It was recently reported that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is not 100% committed to retaining Lopez and Young. The Raptors are reportedly looking to add a power forward and Young’s name has already been attached to Toronto in that capacity.

Lopez landed a three-year deal for the max this past summer despite his history of foot problems. His contract contains only conditional guarantees for next season and 2017/18 based on the health of his right foot. Young, a ninth-year veteran, re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal. Young has enjoyed a solid season and is averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Latest On Nets GM Search, Lopez, Young

February 13th, 2016 at 12:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 12:15pm: Prokhorov has a reputation of courting “secret” candidates and the owner is known to be a big fan of Spurs GM R.C. Buford, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays in a series of tweets. While it is highly unlikely the Russian would be able to pry Buford away from San Antonio, it explains the franchise’s interest in Marks, Stein adds. Prokhorov’s admiration of the Spurs organization is also a reason that San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina is a potential head coaching candidate for Brooklyn, Stein also notes.

FRIDAY, 4:17pm: An air of intrigue surrounds the Nets GM search, but the general consensus around the league is that Bryan Colangelo will land the job, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report relays in an extended series of tweets. The Nets intend to have a new GM in place by the February 18th trade deadline and are in the process of conducting interviews this week. The team is still conducting interviews and there doesn’t appear to be a sense of urgency to make a decision despite the self-imposed deadline, Beck notes. The last time Nets team owner Mikhail Prokhorov conducted a GM search, he had a private “A” list, something that league executives believe is the case once again, Beck relays.

Despite the general belief that the job is Colangelo’s to lose, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas is still considered a strong candidate for the vacant spot, Beck notes. Karnisovas is well-regarded around the league and speaks Russian, which could be a selling point with Prokhorov, who is Russian, Beck adds. The presence of two strong candidates could lead to Brooklyn going with some combination of the two in its front office, the Bleacher Report scribe relays. Karnisovas is said to earn a six-figure salary in Denver, a number that Prokhorov would likely have no qualms about exceeding based on his past track record, Nets Daily tweets. The Nets have also reportedly targeted former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant, current Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas and Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin. Brooklyn has interviewed Zanin for the GM post, sources tell Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), even though he’s already been running the front office on an interim basis since the team removed former GM Billy King from the job last month.

With the trade deadline less than a week away, Prokhorov is not 100% committed to retaining center Brook Lopez and combo forward Thaddeus Young, Beck also relays (Twitter links). The owner had indicated previously that he wants to keep Young and Lopez, believing the team can surround them with free agents in the summer and quickly return to contention, according to an earlier report by Beck. Nets CEO Brett Yormark recently mentioned Lopez and Young as among the team’s building blocks. Lopez scored a three-year deal for the max this past summer in spite of the multiple foot injuries he suffered in his first seven NBA seasons. Young, a ninth-year veteran, re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal.

Raptors Highly Interested In Ryan Anderson

February 11th, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors have high interest in Ryan Anderson as the trade deadline approaches, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Toronto joins a handful of teams apparently eyeing the soon-to-be free agent for a trade, as well as the Pistons, who’ve reportedly been looking at him but only as a potential offseason signee. The Raptors are seeking power forwards, with Thaddeus Young, Kenneth Faried and Markieff Morris among the names on their radar, according to multiple reports. Toronto has engaged in exploratory discussions about those three as well as P.J. Tucker, another object of their interest, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, though it’s not entirely clear whether those are internal or external talks.

Anderson is making $8.5MM this season, and the Raptors, who are over the cap and without a trade exception, would have to match for that salary to trade for him, a complicated task given the construction of Toronto’s roster, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca has pointed out. Toronto has an extra pick in each of the next two drafts to offer, and GM Masai Ujiri has signaled an intent to eventually trade at least one of those, but any deal would have to involve more than just draft assets going to New Orleans.

Conflicting reports have emerged about the likelihood of an Anderson trade this season, though more of them indicate that he’s not the likeliest trade candidate on the New Orleans roster than the other way around. New Orleans reportedly made Anderson available earlier this season, but the team wasn’t anxious to trade him, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported, adding Wednesday that the Wizards have asked about him. The Rockets “kicked the tires” on Anderson earlier this season, Kyler also reported. New Orleans apparently had talks with the Suns that involved Anderson, while differing reports paint an unclear picture of whether the Pelicans turned down an offer from the Kings of Rudy Gay for Anderson.

The subject of the Raptors and power forwards was the topic for our Community Shootaround on Wednesday.

Raptors Eye Thaddeus Young, Kenneth Faried?

February 10th, 2016 at 9:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors are looking for power forwards, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who’s heard the team attached to Thaddeus Young, Kenneth Faried and Markieff Morris, as Windhorst said on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto (audio link; scroll to 6:30 mark) and as Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game transcribes. Fellow ESPN scribe Marc Stein identified Toronto’s interest in Morris earlier this month, as we detailed at the time. The salary structure of the Raptors would make it tough for the team to deal anyone from its existing roster, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca pointed out, but the team has an extra first-round pick for each of the next two drafts, and GM Masai Ujiri has signaled that he wants to trade at least one of those picks at some point, if not before next week’s trade deadline. Still, Toronto doesn’t have the cap room or trade exception to absorb either Young, Faried or Morris without relinquishing salary.

Young seems as though he’d be tough to wrangle from Brooklyn. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to keep Young and Brook Lopez, believing the team can surround them with free agents in the summer and quickly return to contention, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck (Twitter links). Nets CEO Brett Yormark recently mentioned Young as one of the team’s building blocks. The ninth-year veteran who re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal is averaging a career-best 9.1 rebounds per game.

Faried isn’t on the trade block, either, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post recently wrote, nonetheless adding that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Nuggets moved him for an overwhelming offer. Faried and the Nuggets appeared to share mutual doubts about each other as of this past spring, with the power forward reportedly a significant contributor to the downfall of former coach Brian Shaw, but such chatter has largely disappeared this season under new coach Michael Malone. Faried’s contributions have been steady so far this year, and his 55.3% field goal percentage is his best since he shot 58.6% as a rookie. He’s in the first year of a four-year, $50MM extension.

Eastern Notes: DeRozan, Young, Vucevic

February 7th, 2016 at 9:02am CST by ChrisCrouse

DeMar DeRozan has improved in every facet of his game this season, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders contends in a piece that breaks down the shooting guard’s season to date. DeRozan’s ability to drive to the rim has been remarkable this season. Blancarte notes that he leads the league in drives to the rim this season with 11.8 per game and he is generating .99 points per possession, which is the seventh most in the league. DeRozan holds a player option for the 2016/17 season, but he will reportedly turn down his option and become an unrestricted free agent.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Nets combo forward Thaddeus Young dismissed the rumors about being traded to Detroit, which he first heard about from his wife, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “She don’t want to go to Detroit, I know that,” Young said. Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy shot down those trade rumors earlier this week.
Center Nikola Vucevic believes the Magic shouldn’t make any trades before the deadline this year, Brian Schmitz or The Orlando Sentinel writes. “That’s no reason to think we need to change anything. We have to find a way within each other to get back to what we were doing early in the year,” Vucevic said. The Magic are 21-28 on the season, going 1-9 over their last 10 contests.
The Heat own a record of 29-22, but Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM believes the team is underachieving. With Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade set to enter free agency this summer, Miami doesn’t have much time to figure out if this is the core it should invest in for the long term, Tjarks adds.

Eastern Notes: Brown, James, Pistons

January 14th, 2016 at 9:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets forward Thaddeus Young pulled no punches when discussing the difference in playing for interim coach Tony Brown versus former coach Lionel Hollins, who was fired on Sunday, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays (via Twitter). When asked his feelings about suiting up for Brown, Young said, “When your coach is not panicking and he’s staying positive and he’s continued to motivate us, it’s huge for us as far as an energy standpoint. It makes us continue to want to go out there and continue to play, and it doesn’t keep us thinking about what happened before as much. But Tony’s mentality is, forget what happened before this and let’s try to push and try to win this game. That’s huge for us as a team. It says a lot that he believes in us, that he wants us to compete.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith notes that the team’s excellent work ethic comes from following the example set by LeBron James, whose dedication has rubbed off on his teammates, as Marc Narducci of HoopsHype relays. When asked what it has been like to play alongside James, Smith told Narducci, “For one, he elevates everybody’s game and holds everybody to a higher standard. He makes you hold yourself to a higher standard. This is the first team I have been on where everybody stays after practice to work on their game. Everybody wants to be better every single day and a lot of that has to do with him. He is a credit to that. He holds himself to a high standard. We see how hard he works each and every day. If your best player is working twice as hard as the next person, it gives you enthusiasm and drive to work harder.”
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is using the Spurs’ track record of consistency as an organization as a model for how he wants to build Detroit’s roster, John Niyo of The Detroit News writes. “I do think, looking forward, one of things we’ve talked about in trying to build this team is we have a chance for continuity,” Van Gundy said. “And I think you see it when you see a team like San Antonio, that over time it allows you to build on what you’re doing.”

Atlantic Notes: Crowder, Nets, Ross

December 28th, 2015 at 2:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets CEO Brett Yormark recently mentioned Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Bojan Bogdanovic as players to build around, and the team indeed intends to keep those four around rather than using them to replenish their depleted draft assets, NetsDaily hears. Yormark also alluded to some of the team’s younger players as building blocks without naming them, and the NetsDaily report speculates about who they might be.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics are thrilled with the play of Jae Crowder, whom the team re-signed over the summer to a five-year, $35MM deal, especially on the defensive end, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “Jae’s playing at a high level right now on both ends,” said coach Brad Stevens. “But we need him to defend the way he is. The thing about Jae that I think Jae has really improved on throughout the years: being in the right place at the right time from a position standpoint because he’s so … he’s a good physical defender when he’s there.”
Knicks coach Derek Fisher is still struggling to find the right bench combination, and the playing time of rookie point guard Jerian Grant has taken a hit with veteran Sasha Vujacic assuming an expanded role, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “We’re still trying to find a way to have five guys that are playing together, flowing together. Sasha obviously has familiarity and history with what we’re trying to do offensively,” Fisher said. “We continue to search for how to get ourselves organized and we feel like Sasha gave us a chance to do so.”
The recent play of Terrence Ross is justifying the Raptors‘ decision to ink him to a three-year contract extension back in November, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. “The big word is confidence. He’s playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. He’s seeing the ball go through the basket,” coach Dwane Casey said. “I think his defense has been solid, too. It’s not just his offense that’s been pretty solid, it’s his defense, both phases of the game.” Ross has scored 10 or more points in six straight games and is averaging 15.2 points per game over that span, while shooting 49% from the field and connecting on 47% of his 3-point attempts.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.