Thomas Robinson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Young, Price, Robinson

March 24th, 2015 at 5:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thomas Robinson is making a strong case that he should be a part of the Sixers‘ future plans, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “I’ve never played this much before and never played this consistently, so this is my first time getting an opportunity,” Robinson said. “You always want that momentum. This time of the year, it’s hard mentally when you know you’re not playing for anything. Us, in this locker room, we want to go out with momentum and know that we’re getting better, and we’ll go into the summer where we’ll know that we have a platform to start on. That’s all that really matters right now.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics have assigned James Young to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Young’s eleventh trek of the season to Maine. The swingman has appeared in 11 contests for the Red Claws this season and is averaging 22.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 33.2 minutes per game.
Thabo Sefolosha is expected to make his return to the Hawks‘ lineup on Wednesday night against the Magic, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Sefolosha has been sidelined since January 30th with a calf injury.
Hornets assistant coach Mark Price has been offered the head coaching position at UNC Charlotte, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports. Sources told Goodman that Price has been offered a five-year deal and is mulling whether or not to accept it.

Atlantic Notes: Olynyk, West, Robinson

March 4th, 2015 at 7:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thomas Robinson is now playing for his fifth NBA team since being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. Though the Sixers claimed him off of waivers as much for his contract as for his talent, the big man hopes to use his opportunity in Philadelphia to silence critics that have labeled him a draft bust, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. When asked what he was hoping for in Philly, Robinson said, “A chance, man. I know what I can do. I’m just keeping it simple here; rebound, defend, get to the open spots. Energy and toughness is my game. That’s who I am as a player right now.”

Here’s the latest out of the Atlantic Division:

ESPN.com Insider Chad Ford (subscription required) believes that the Sixers would be the team most likely to use the No. 1 overall pick to select Emmanuel Mudiay instead of Jahlil Okafor, who is the consensus top pick amongst scouts. Ford also thinks that the Magic would select Karl-Anthony Towns over Okafor if given the opportunity, since Towns would slot in better alongside Nikola Vucevic, Orlando’s starting center.
The Raptors were interested in acquiring David West from the Pacers prior to the February trade deadline, but the impending return of Paul George from injury and the wide open Eastern Conference negated any chance of a deal, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com tweets.
Center Kelly Olynyk is expected to make his return to the Celtics‘ lineup tonight after missing over a month with a sprained right ankle, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com relays. “I don’t know what to expect,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said of Olynyk. “I watched him play 3 on 3 yesterday and he looked good to me. So hopefully he can give us what he gives us and that is a skilled offensive guy and a guy defensively with some savvy.”

Atlantic Notes: Robinson, Plumlee, Towns

February 27th, 2015 at 6:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thomas Robinson is pleased to be a member of the struggling Sixers despite Philadelphia’s waiver claim that prevented him from joining the Nets, who currently hold the No. 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, on a 10-day contract, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes. “I was happy because the Sixers made it clear that they wanted me here,” Robinson said. “At the end of the day, I’m happy.” The forward is also glad to have the opportunity to garner playing time after failing to play in 21 of the 53 contests that he was with the Blazers this season, Tokito adds. “I’m going to play basketball,” Robinson said. “Let everything happen on its own. I’m not going to try to force nothing. I’m going to find my way to get comfortable. And then after that, everything will take care of itself.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Sixers coach Brett Brown said that Robinson will have a chance to make his case for the team to re-sign him long-term, Tokito relays. “He fits all the things we like when we identify keepers. It’s a look that we couldn’t pass up,” Brown said. “He’s not going to have a better environment to have a legitimate chance to be a legitimate NBA player.“
The Nets‘ acquisition of Thaddeus Young has impacted the playing time of Mason Plumlee, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post writes. “Time comes from playing well,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “He just hasn’t played well in a couple games. He can’t worry about Brook [Lopez] or not playing. He just has to go out there and play. That’s the game. You have to go play, and he’s the starter and I have no plans of changing that, and he’s just got to play better.”
Duke’s Jahlil Okafor is the consensus No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft according to NBA scouts, but the Knicks may be better served to select Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns if given the choice, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. Though Okafor is more polished than Towns, scouts told Zagoria that the Kentucky big man’s superior athleticism and ability to stretch the floor on offense make him an intriguing prospect who could end up being the most talented in this year’s draft.

Atlantic Notes: Sullinger, Early, Sixers

February 26th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Jared Sullinger has not met conditioning goals in an interview today on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston, as Brian Robb of Boston.com transcribes (Twitter link). Sullinger suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his left foot on Sunday. Ainge said that he has addressed Sullinger’s conditioning issues “many, many times,” and was not impressed by the results this season. “All of our players have met conditioning, body fat, goals set by trainers, and Jared has not met them,” Ainge said. Sullinger told reporters Wednesday that he plans to use his rehab from a left foot fracture and the offseason to transform his body.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

With only 26 games left, it’s getting late for Knicks rookie forward Cleanthony Early to prove his worth, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Early is one of four Knicks with a guaranteed deal for next season, but it doesn’t mean he definitely will return, especially if his salary helps facilitate a trade, Iannazzone noted. Early, the No. 34 pick, has struggled, and he missed six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery in November.
The Sixers saved a little less than $2MM when they claimed Thomas Robinson off waivers, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only story. Robinson’s contract takes them over the NBA’s minimum team salary. Prior to the claim, they had been set to have to distribute any shortfall from that amount among their players, but the 76ers now pay only the balance of Robinson’s salary, Pelton notes.
Dumping productive players prior to the NBA trade deadline has become an increasingly popular tanking strategy, and is a problem that the league needs to address, Filip Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. Bondy notes that the deals the Knicks have made this season are a good example of the practice. “It’s been going on for a while, that particular instrument,” said Rod Thorn, NBA president of basketball operations. “More now, because we have so many teams under the cap. Five, six years ago, there were only a handful under the cap. Now half the teams or more are under the cap, and it puts them in position to gain an asset by taking a player that a team is trying to get rid of. There are more trading partners.”

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Clark, Garnett

February 24th, 2015 at 8:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers waiver claim of Thomas Robinson will drop the Nuggets to approximately $2.6MM beneath the NBA’s salary floor, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). This means that Denver would have to pay its players the difference between their team salary and the league’s minimum amount if the team doesn’t raise its payroll above the salary floor prior to the end of the season.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz have assigned Ian Clark to the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This will be Clark’s first trek of the season to Idaho.
At the press conference welcoming Kevin Garnett back to the Wolves, Garnett discussed what led him to waive his no trade clause so that he could return to Minnesota, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. Garnett said, “I figured if LeBron James can go home, [expletive], why can’t I?“
Garnett relayed that he had no desire to become a coach when his playing career was over, Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun tweets. “Heeeeell no. A coach is what I won’t be … you can’t pay me enough to coach,” Garnett said.
The veteran big man says that he is in it for the long haul with the Wolves, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press relays (Twitter link). Garnett says he wants to become part of Minnesota’s ownership and help the team claim an NBA title.
Garnett declined to commit to playing beyond this season, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link). KG said that he would listen to what his body tells him and seek his family’s input before deciding his future, Kyler adds.
The Blazers‘ Steve Blake said that he plans to exercise his player option for 2015/16 worth $2,170,465, and that he is hoping to play another “year or two” after that, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. “I’ve thought about it for sure,” said Blake of retirement. “I know I’m in the back stretch, that’s why it’s so important for us to be so good. I want a championship really bad and I’m hoping we can get to that level. I only have a few years left to try and get it.”

Sixers Claim Thomas Robinson, Release Frazier

February 24th, 2015 at 5:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:39pm: The Sixers have claimed Robinson and released Frazier, the team announced in a press release.

4:33pm: Chances are slim that Philly will waive Robinson, a league source tells Windrem, noting that he wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for another team if he hits waivers again after Sunday (Twitter link).

4:23pm: The league has informed the other teams that the Sixers have indeed claimed Robinson off waivers, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).

4:20pm: A league source suggests to NetsDaily’s Robert Windrem that the Sixers don’t have much interest in Robinson and simply did the move to reach the salary floor (Twitter link).

4:15pm: Philly’s initial plan is to keep Robinson and take an “extended look” at him, a league source told Wojnarowski for his full story.

4:04pm: The Sixers have claimed Robinson and released Frazier, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Philadelphia has yet to make a public announcement, however. If the team has indeed let go of Frazier, he immediately becomes a free agent and isn’t subject to waivers, since he was on a 10-day contract.

3:53pm: Philadelphia has indeed submitted a claim, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link), so he’s poised to join the team after the top of the hour.

3:27pm: The Sixers are likely to claim Thomas Robinson off waivers from the Nuggets, spoiling Brooklyn’s deal to sign him, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That’d be a boon to Denver, which would have his entire salary of more than $3.678MM wiped from its cap, rather than simply the amount that Robinson agreed to relinquish in their buyout deal. It would also send the Sixers over the $56.759MM minimum team salary, meaning they wouldn’t have to pay their existing players the difference between their team salary and the minimum. Philadelphia would have to waive a player to make the claim, since it has a full 15-man roster, though Tim Frazier is on a 10-day contract. The deadline to submit a claim is 4pm Central time.

Robinson had reportedly agreed to sign a 10-day contract with the Nets, though Wojnarowski wrote that the Nets were expected to eventually sign him for the rest of the season. The former No. 5 overall pick went from the Blazers to the Nuggets in a deadline-day trade. He’s been set for unrestricted free agency this summer ever since Portland declined the fourth-year team option on his rookie scale contract this past fall. The Sixers would be unable to re-sign him to a starting salary of more than the approximately $4.66MM value of that option if they claimed him off waivers.

The Nets have reportedly been interested in bringing back Andray Blatche, so missing out on Robinson would seemingly reopen that possibility, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Still, a league source tells Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that the Nets have no immediate plans for their lone open roster spot, which Robinson was expected to fill (Twitter link).

Nets To Sign Thomas Robinson To 10-Day Deal

February 23rd, 2015 at 1:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:49pm: Robinson has agreed to sign a 10-day contract, though the Nets are expected to eventually sign him for the rest of the season, Wojnarowski reports in a full story.

1:26pm: Nets officials changed their minds about Robinson this weekend after they were initially uninterested in signing him, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Twitter link).

12:57pm: Robinson confirmed the agreement to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, as Kennedy relays in a pair of tweets.

12:47pm: The Nets and Thomas Robinson have agreed to a deal that will see the big man join the team after he clears waivers from the Nuggets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Denver released him Sunday after agreeing to a buyout deal, so he’s poised to clear waivers Tuesday. It’s something of a surprise to see Brooklyn end up with the former No. 5 overall pick, since a report late Sunday indicated that the Nets weren’t interested. That ran counter to an earlier dispatch from Shams Charania of RealGM that said Brooklyn, along with the Spurs, Suns, Heat and Hornets, had engaged in talks with Robinson.

Brooklyn has an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required. The Nets are limited to paying the Tony Dutt client no more than the prorated minimum salary, which is less than the other teams reportedly in discussions could offer, as I explained. Still, it’s not a shock to see him settle for the minimum, as he’s struggled to live up to his lofty draft position, and Brooklyn is poised to become his fourth team in fewer than three NBA seasons. The Blazers declined their team option on the fourth year of his rookie scale contract before trading him to Denver at the deadline on Thursday.

Robinson was one of three prospects the Nets were particularly enamored with when they traded their 2012 lottery pick to Portland, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). That pick came in sixth, which the Blazers used to select Damian Lillard, so Brooklyn wouldn’t have had a chance to nab Robinson, since the Kings took him fifth. Since then, Robinson has displayed proficiency on the boards, hauling in 11.7 per 36 minutes for his NBA career, but he’s otherwise failed to make much of an impact.

Atlantic Notes: Robinson, Nets, Datome

February 22nd, 2015 at 8:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Lakers coach Byron Scott told reporters, including Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter), that he dislikes the Celtics so much that he wouldn’t coach them had they ever been interested. It’s been years since Scott donned a purple and gold jersey, but his hatred of Boston doesn’t seem to have died down very much. Here’s tonight’s look at the Atlantic Division..

Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (via Twitter) doesn’t expect to see the recently-waived Thomas Robinson wind up with the Nets. The Nets, along with the Spurs, Suns, Heat, and Hornets, were said to be one of the teams that have checked in with the former No. 5 overall pick, but Bontemps (link) hears that Brooklyn doesn’t have interest.
The Celtics were heavily connected to Gigi Datome a couple of years ago but told reporters today, including A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (on Twitter), that Boston never made him an offer. The C’s acquired Datome from the PIstons in last week’s Tayshaun Prince trade.
Iman Shumpert is no longer a member of the Knicks, but he believes prospective free agents will still want to come to New York this summer, Adam Zagoria of SNY writes. “Without a doubt, I mean it’s New York and I think that the guys in their locker room are happy to be playing here,” Shump said before the Cavs beat the Knicks, 101-83.

Nuggets Waive Thomas Robinson

February 22nd, 2015 at 3:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SUNDAY, 3:41pm: The Nuggets announced that they have waived Robinson.

THURSDAY, 8:33pm: Robinson and the Nuggets have reached a verbal agreement on a buyout, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.

4:14pm: Thomas Robinson may not be a member of the Nuggets for very long. The player’s representatives are going to seek to reach a buyout arrangement with Denver, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com reports (Twitter link). The young forward out of Kansas was acquired by the Nuggets as part of the deal that sent Arron Afflalo to the Trail Blazers. Denver also received Will Barton, Victor Claver, a second-rounder, and a future lottery-protected first-round pick in the transaction.

The 6’10” forward is making $3,678,360 this season, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. It’s unclear just how much of his salary Robinson is willing to give back in a buyout. But with Kenneth Faried currently entrenched as the starting power forward, and the Nuggets in full-rebuilding mode, Robinson may prefer to seek out a contending team in need of an athletic big man, though that is just my speculation.

In 32 appearances for the Blazers this season, Robinson has contributed 3.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 12.2 minutes per contest. His career numbers since becoming the No. 5 overall pick back in 2012 are 4.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists. Robinson’s career slash line is .462/.000/.523.

Five Teams In Talks With Thomas Robinson

February 21st, 2015 at 7:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Thomas Robinson has had conversations with the Spurs, Nets, Suns, Heat and Hornets in the wake of his buyout deal with the Nuggets, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The former No. 5 overall pick went to Denver in the deadline-day trade that sent Arron Afflalo to the Blazers.

The Suns can spend the most, with more than $3.247MM in cap room. Miami has a disabled player exception worth nearly $2.653MM it can spend. The Spurs have a prorated portion of their mid-level, worth about $2.4MM, while the Hornets have their room exception, which comes to about $2MM at this point. The exceptions that San Antonio and Charlotte possess reduce in value daily. The Nets are limited to the minimum salary, which also prorates on a daily basis.

Robinson has seen his minutes decline each season after his rookie campaign, when he was traded midseason from the Kings to the Rockets. Portland acquired him when Houston sent him out in a cap-clearing move that helped the Rockets sign Dwight Howard, but at each stop, the power forward has failed to live up to his draft position. Still, he’s an efficient rebounder, averaging 4.2 boards in 12.2 minutes per game this season.