Tibor Pleiss Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz, Tibor Pleiss Discuss Deal

February 27th, 2015 at 8:24am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 8:24am: It appears there will be no deal between the Jazz and Pleiss this season, according to Pick (on Twitter).

1:21pm: The talks have encountered a hurdle, Pick hears (Twitter link). Barcelona has offered to trade Pleiss to Brose Baskets Bamberg, Carchia reports, but Pleiss and Barcelona are haggling over money, which would make such a trade difficult, according to Carchia. Utah is reportedly set to sign Bryce Cotton to a 10-day contract, though with two open roster spots, that wouldn’t necessarily signal the team is ready to move on from Pleiss, particularly since he and Cotton play different positions.

MONDAY, 11:46am: The Jazz and draft-and-stash prospect Tibor Pleiss are working on a deal that would bring the 7’2″ center to Utah, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is on a contract with Barcelona of Spain that runs until 2016, as Mark Porcaro’s log of draft rights held players shows, but Barcelona isn’t satisfied with his play and is willing to let him go, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports (Twitter links). Pleiss isn’t pleased with his role in Spain, Carchia adds, and a source told Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune last week that there was a decent chance he’d leave Barcelona.

Pleiss has remained overseas since he became the 31st overall pick in 2010. His playing time this season with Barcelona is down sharply from last year, when he was with Laboral Kuxta, another Spanish team. He’s putting up 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game this season as opposed to his 12.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 21.8 MPG in 2013/14.

Utah acquired his rights from the Thunder last week in the three-team trade that sent Enes Kanter to Oklahoma City. It’s unclear if Barcelona would demand a buyout to spring Pleiss from his contract, but the Jazz have nearly $2.826MM in cap room and two open roster spots, allowing for plenty of flexibility.

Jazz Sign Jack Cooley To 10-Day Pact

February 24th, 2015 at 11:09am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 11:09am: The deal is official, the team announced.

MONDAY, 4:52pm: The Jazz are signing Jack Cooley to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Cooley’s been playing for Utah’s D-League affiliate, and Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune last week identified the big man as a candidate for a 10-day deal. He’s elicited NBA interest on multiple occasions this season, as Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported. The 23-year-old joins Bryce Cotton, who’s also reportedly set to ink a 10-day contract with the Jazz, and the apparent deal with Cooley is further confirmation that the team’s talks with draft-and-stash prospect Tibor Pleiss have run aground.

Cooley joined the D-League’s Idaho Stampede, Utah’s affiliate, shortly after the Jazz retained his D-League rights upon cutting him from NBA training camp. He’s averaged 15.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in 29.1 minutes per game in his first season of D-League action after having played in Turkey last season. He went undrafted out of Notre Dame in 2013, but he’s remained on NBA radars, having participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues the past two years.

Signing both Cotton and Cooley would give the Jazz a full 15-man roster, though the short-term 10-day arrangements would give the team flexibility while it monitors what goes on with Pleiss. The 10-day deals eat slightly into Utah’s nearly $2.826MM in cap room, but not by much. Since both Cotton and Cooley are NBA rookies, standard 10-day contracts for both wouldn’t cost the team as much as $60K combined.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Afflalo, Jackson

February 20th, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Blazers GM Neil Olshey made it clear that Thursday’s trade for Arron Afflalo was a product of the team’s emphasis on the present, as he told reporters and as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman transcribes.

“It’s one of the things about our league; you can’t be a development team and a winning team,” Olshey said. “They’re not always independent of one another, but they’re more independent than people would like to admit.”

All five Northwest Division teams made trades Thursday, and that included two deals in which Northwest teams hooked up with each other. We rounded up the latest on the Wolves, the lone team that didn’t make an intradivision trade, earlier today, and now here’s what’s happening in the rest of the division:

The Nuggets expected that Afflalo would command $9-10MM a year in a new contract this summer, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. The new Blazers shooting guard has a player option likely worth $7.75MM for next season, up from his base salary of $7.5MM. That’s because playing with Portland means he’ll probably trigger the bonus for making the playoffs that’s part of his contract, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
There were strong feelings in the Nuggets organization that the presence of JaVale McGee negatively influenced a “winning culture,” Mannix also writes in the same piece.
Reggie Jackson sat out a game at the beginning of the season because he was disappointed the Thunder didn’t trade him, a source tells Royce Young of ESPN.com, who delves into the frayed relationship between Jackson and his now former Thunder teammates.
The development of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors and the desire for cap flexibility motivated the Jazz’s decision to trade Enes Kanter, not Kanter’s trade request, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey insists, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune relays.
Dorell Wright, a free agent at season’s end, would prefer re-signing with the Blazers over a deal with any other NBA team, as he tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders.
There’s a decent chance Tibor Pleiss, the draft-and-stash prospect whom the Jazz acquired Thursday from the Thunder, leaves his Spanish team soon, making him available to sign with Utah, a source indicated to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Pleiss, a center, is currently under contract through 2016, as our draft rights held database shows.

Pistons Acquire Reggie Jackson

February 19th, 2015 at 7:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:13pm: The release on the Thunder’s website indicates that the Thunder received Detroit’s unprotected 2019 second-round pick, too.

6:34pm: The Jazz have formally announced that the deal is official. The Pistons and Thunder have also confirmed the trade in press releases. Utah has acquired Jerrett, the rights to Pleiss, Perkins, and a future first-round pick from Oklahoma City, as well as a 2017 second-round pick from the Pistons. The Thunder will receive Kanter and Novak from Utah, and Augustin and Singler from the Pistons, while Detroit garners Jackson.

4:06pm: The Jazz are getting Jerrett, a protected first-round pick from the Thunder and a second-rounder from the Pistons in addition to Kanter and the rights to Pleiss, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

3:49pm: Several picks are changing hands in the deal as well, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, suggesting that a significant chunk of the draft considerations are heading Utah’s way (Twitter link).

3:33pm: The Thunder dealt for Kanter with the intention of re-signing him this summer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

3:25pm: Grant Jerrett is headed out in the deal, too, according to Mayberry, though he doesn’t specify which team he’s going to (Twitter link). The Thunder are expected to waive Ish Smith to accommodate all the moves, Mayberry adds.

2:49pm: The Thunder will send the draft rights to center Tibor Pleiss to the Jazz, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman (on Twitter).

2:44pm: Guard D.J. Augustin is headed from the Pistons to OKC in the deal, according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter). The former No. 9 overall pick averaged 10.6 PPG and 4.98 APG in 23.8 minutes per game for the Pistons this season.

2:15pm: Steve Novak is heading from the Jazz to the Thunder in the deal, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). Jody Genessy of The Deseret News (on Twitter) first reported that Novak would be included in the three-way swap.

1:56pm: It’s now a three-way deal, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter links). The Jazz will send Enes Kanter to OKC, the Thunder will ship Kendrick Perkins to Utah, and Detroit will send Kyle Singler to OKC.

Talks with the Jazz about Kanter picked up today as OKC weighed the pros and cons of the Nets’ Brook Lopez/Jackson proposal. For his part, Kanter made it clear last week that he’s frustrated with his role and wants a trade. In 49 games this season, Kanter has averaged 13.8 PPG and 7.8 RPG – both career-highs, in 27.1 minutes per contest. For his career, the former No. 3 overall pick has put up 9.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG across four seasons in Utah.

Perkins, 30, is now slated to join the third franchise in his NBA career. The big man has been playing mostly in a reserve role this season, averaging 4.0 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 19.2 minutes per contest. In total, Perkins has put up 5.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG over the course of 12 seasons with the Celtics and Thunder.

1:50pm: The Thunder have traded Jackson to the Pistons, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

1:34pm: The Pistons are making a strong run at Reggie Jackson, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Jackson appeared to be Brooklyn-bound earlier today, but it’s not clear if that deal will be consummated.

The Thunder and the Nets were discussing the framework of a deal that would involve Brook Lopez going to OKC and Jackson going to Brooklyn. However, the Thunder pumped the breaks a bit on the talks when they started looking at a deal with another team. Given that Detroit is enthusiastic about landing Jackson, the PIstons might be the party putting a spoke in that wheel.

Jackson’s agent, Aaron Mintz, recently requested that the Thunder trade his client, who’s due for restricted free agency this summer. The Kings, Bucks, Heat, Pacers, Rockets and Nuggets also registered their interest in Jackson, while there are conflicting reports about whether the Celtics are pursuing him.

The 24-year-old turned down an extension offer in the neighborhood of four years and $48MM this past fall, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link). That was around the time teams around the league thought he’d end up commanding $13-14MM a year this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported at the time.

And-Ones: Sterling, Singleton, Lee, Childress

August 11th, 2014 at 12:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The idea of limiting international play to those age 23 and under still has its supporters within NBA organizations, but there’s little push for making such a change, reports David Aldridge of TNT, who writes in his latest Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Two owners who’ve watched their players take part in competitions for their national teams on many occasions tell Aldridge that Paul George‘s injury hasn’t changed their opinions.

“I’d rather have them with Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] and a first class staff than in their high school gyms,” one owner said to Aldridge. “If it happened playing pickup he wouldn’t have gotten immediate medical attention. [I] fully support USA Basketball and what it means for the game globally.”

Here’s more from around the NBA:

A desire to let the legal process play out with charges brought against Donald Sterling in the past was partly behind the league’s unwillingness to oust the Clippers owner during former commissioner David Stern’s tenure, as Stern indicated to Aldridge for the same piece. Stern also suggested that the myriad of other issues the NBA dealt with during his tenure crowded the league’s agenda.
Free agents Chris Singleton and Malcolm Lee will be working out in front of NBA team officials today, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
Swingman Josh Childress is considering an offer from the Sydney Kings of Australia, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Childress played four games this past season for the Pelicans, who released him in December.
Manu Ginobili continues to debate whether or not to play beyond the coming season, as he told Juan Manuel Trenado and Xavier Prieto Astigarraga La Nacion (translation via J.J. Gomez of Pounding the Rock; hat tip to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News). The Spurs kept Ginobili from playing for Argentina this year, but he’s not upset, and said that the Spurs might have been too lenient in letting him play during past summers, as he also expressed in the interview.
Thunder draft-and-stash prospect Tibor Pleiss has officially signed with Barcelona, as expected, the team announced (translation via (Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). It’s a two-year deal.

Western Notes: Cuban, Pleiss, Sterling

August 3rd, 2014 at 8:54am CST by Eddie Scarito

In the wake of Paul George‘s terrible injury Friday night, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban blasted the IOC, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Cuban hopes the injury will spur the NBA into creating its own international tournament where the league has more control as well as receives the benefits of holding such competitions. Cuban also said, “I think it’s a bigger issue than star players. We are being taken advantage of by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and to a lesser extent FIBA (International Federal Basketball Association). We take on an inordinate amount of financial risk for little, if any, quantifiable gain. It’s like our guiding principle is to lose money on every game and make it up in volume. There is no logic to our position. (We) just hope we get value somewhere in the future.”

Here’s more from out west:

Thunder 2010 draft-and-stash pick Tibor Pleiss is expected to sign a two-year deal with Barcelona, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Oklahoma City had made an attempt to bring the German big man to the NBA this season but his buyout amount became an issue, but the team was still hoping to work out a deal for the 2015/16 campaign. Details of Pleiss’ potential deal with Barcelona and buyout amount haven’t yet been announced.
Sam Cassell is leaving the Wizards to join Doc Rivers‘ coaching staff with the Clippers, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Los Angeles’ bench had recently lost Tyronn Lue to the Cavs and Alvin Gentry to the Warriors.
Donald Sterling built an empire but words were his undoing, write Nathan Fenno, Kim Christensen, and James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times. The trio profile the seemingly soon-to-be former Clippers owner’s rise and fall.

Western Notes: Grizz, Pleiss, Clark, Kings

August 1st, 2014 at 7:56pm CST by Alex Lee

Grizzlies owner Robert Pera indicated that the decision to keep Chris Wallace in charge of the team’s basketball operations had to do with more than just on-court matters, as Pera said today before assembled media, including The Associated Press.

“When you are looking at this team in Memphis, I think you’ve for to look at the general manager in two respects,” Pera said. “One is the basketball performance. The other I’ve learned with Memphis the past couple of years is this idea of community involvement. And everybody loves Chris in Memphis. He is a special person for the Memphis community.”

Here is what else is going on out West:

The Thunder made an attempt this summer to bring seven foot German Tibor Pleiss, a 2010 draft-and-stash selection, to the NBA this season but the price of the buyout was ultimately prohibitive, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Oklahoma City will again try to bring the 31st selection of the 2010 draft to the states for the 2015/16 season, a possibility Woj calls “likely”, but the big man will play for FC Barcelona this year. (Twitter links)
Making his weekly radio appearance, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said that the team has a few things to take care of before deciding on the contract of shooting guard Ian Clark, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Clark played 23 games in Utah as a rookie last season after signing a two-year deal with the Jazz last July. His salary for the upcoming season is not guaranteed.
After years of frustration, construction finally began Friday on the Kings new arena in Sacramento, writes Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee. The agreement on the arena site, facilitated by new owner Vivek Ranadive, was a critical factor in the NBA rejecting the franchise’s relocation to Seattle. The $477MM structure is scheduled to be ready for the 2016/17 season.
Back in Sacramento this week, Suns guard Isaiah Thomas provided plenty of juicy quotes to Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty, indicating that he knew he probably wouldn’t be returning to the Kings when he saw his former team had inked fellow point guard Darren Collison. “When they did that, I knew I wasn’t coming back,” Thomas said. “If you bring in somebody, a draft pick or somebody that’s just not better than me I feel like it is disrespectful. When they picked Darren Collison, I felt like it was time for me to move on.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Thunder GM On Brooks, Fisher, Jackson, Perkins

June 5th, 2014 at 12:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

It appears that Scott Brooks will remain coach of the Thunder, as GM Sam Presti said today that Brooks has done an “excellent job” and expressed optimism that the coach will perform even better next year, as The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry notes (Twitter links). Mayberry has plenty more from the GM’s press conference, and we’ll pass along the highlights here:

Derek Fisher seems to have Presti’s blessing to chase head coaching jobs with other teams this summer. Presti said the free agent guard has no obligation to keep the Thunder informed of his plans and has to do what’s best for him, as Mayberry passes along (Twitter links). “The only thing we have a right to do is to support him,” Presti said.
Presti appeared to downplay the idea of an extension for Reggie Jackson this summer, though the GM cautioned that the team is not considering a trade that sends him out, reminiscent of the decision to trade James Harden rather than give him an extension. “Generally, these things don’t happen in July, and the trend now is they don’t happen by the October 31st deadline,” Presti said, according to Mayberry (Twitter links).
The team hasn’t given thought to amnestying Kendrick Perkins, Presti said, according to Mayberry (via Twitter).
Oklahoma City is open to trading its pair of first round picks, Presti said, as Mayberry tweets. The Thunder have reportedly promised Kristaps Porzingis that they’ll draft him in the first round.
The GM indicated that the club will exercise caution with long-term deals in free agency this summer to protect future flexibility, Mayberry tweets.
Presti gave Mayberry the impression that he won’t push to sign “draft-and-stash” players Tibor Pleiss and Alex Abrines. The GM suggested that he’ll examine it, but cap worries would likely forestall a deal with either of them, Mayberry believes (Twitter links). “A lot of it is timing for them,” Presti said.