Tyronn Lue Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Drummond, Knicks, Wizards

November 3rd, 2016 at 9:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wants to increase Andre Drummond‘s workload but he’s willing to sit his All-Star center if he’s not playing well. Van Gundy said this week that he plans to rest Drummond in shorter bursts this season. “He’s capable of playing big minutes,” Van Gundy said. “We want him out there a lot. Barring foul trouble, we’re trying to get him to where his rests are shorter.” Drummond took a long rest on Wednesday, when the Pistons lost to the Nets. He was benched most of the second half after being outplayed by Brook Lopez. “He was just, in my opinion, bringing absolutely nothing to the game,” Van Gundy told the assembled media in his postgame press conference. “I don’t know if he was tired or what the deal was, but he didn’t bring any energy to the game.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Forward Lance Thomas is off to a rough start after being re-signed this offseason to a four-year, $27MM deal by the Knicks, Marc Berman of the New York Post points out. He is averaging 3.3 points on 33% shooting in 20.6 minutes and his defense hasn’t been good enough to make up for his offensive woes, Berman continues. New coach Jeff Hornacek has stuck with Thomas in the rotation even though European rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas might be a better option, Berman adds.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue admits he wasn’t paying much attention during the free agency period, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports. Lue was impressed when he found out about the Celtics’ signing of Al Horford, making Boston of one the main threats to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference, Fedor adds. “Whenever you are able to acquire another All-Star automatically you are going to get better,” Lue told Fedor. “That’s a great piece in going in the right direction.”
Wizards rookie point guard Tomas Satoransky may have already moved ahead of Trey Burke in the rotation behind starter John Wall, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. Satoransky played 10 second-half minutes against the Raptors on Wednesday in place of Burke, who was acquired in a trade with the Jazz this offseason, Buckner adds. “It’s definitely something that’s going to be considered,” new coach Scott Brooks told Buckner. “Tomas brings a lot of energy and brings some toughness and has good size and athleticism. He’s played that position his entire life.”

Cavaliers Were Interested In Signing Dwyane Wade

October 12th, 2016 at 6:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers wanted to sign Dwyane Wade this summer, but couldn’t make it work financially, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.

Cleveland had the highest payroll in the league last season and has more than $122.6MM committed for 2016-17. That left the team with little flexibility when negotiations between Wade and the Heat broke down in early July. But it doesn’t mean the defending champs weren’t very interested.

“We couldn’t afford him,” said LeBron James, Wade’s longtime friend and former teammate in Miami. “It’s that simple.”

Chicago gave Wade a two-year, $47MM deal with a player option on the second season. To clear enough cap space for the signing, all the Bulls had to do was arrange deals involving Jose Calderon and Mike Dunleavy Jr. Ironically, the Cavs benefited from one of those moves, picking up Dunleavy in a deal involving the draft rights to two players taken more than a decade ago.

Cleveland would have needed a major roster adjustment in a short time to create the cap space needed to chase Wade. As it was, all the franchise had to offer was the taxpayer midlevel exception, which was only worth about $3.5MM. That money was eventually used to re-sign Richard Jefferson.

“Who wouldn’t be interested in a Hall of Famer?” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said about the possibility of acquiring Wade. “That don’t even make sense. Yeah, we wanted him.”

James has spoken often about his friendship with Wade and the possibility of someday teaming up with him, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. He also addressed the sudden break-up of the dominant Miami teams, while hinting that a reunion with Wade could still occur some day.

“In professional sports things can change from one year to another like that, so I’ve always had that perspective ever since I came into the NBA,” James said. “I’ve always known it’s a business and you could be with one team this year — have teammates this year, the next year you might not have them. That’s part of the business. So I’ll always have that perspective.”

Cavaliers, Clippers Interested In Garnett As Coach

September 29th, 2016 at 3:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

A week after announcing his retirement, Kevin Garnett already has a job offer, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue confirmed today that he has asked Garnett to be part of his coaching staff in Cleveland. “I talked to him about it,” Lue said after practice. “I know his wife is pushing for it a lot. Brandi is pushing for it, trying to get him to come and coach. He says he’s not ready yet. He goes back — ‘I might do it’ — but he’s back and forth. We’ll see. But I’d definitely make a spot for him if he wanted to come back and coach.”

Lue, who called Garnett one of his best friends, was an assistant in Boston when Garnett played there. The Cavaliers coach said he wanted to see Garnett play another season in Minnesota, but would like to team up with him now that the retirement decision has been made.

Cleveland’s coaching staff is already filled, with Larry Drew being promoted to associate head coach this week and Jim Boylan, Mike Longabardi, James Posey and Damon Jones re-signing as assistants. Any coaching job Garnett might take would have to be in an unofficial capacity.

And the Cavaliers may not be his only choice, as the Clippers tweeted a photo this afternoon of Garnett joining them for practice. L.A. coach Doc Rivers, who also has close ties with Garnett from their days with the Celtics, said he would have been glad to have Garnett as a player this season and may be interested in adding him in a coaching capacity. “I’m going to offer him something,” Rivers said. “I don’t want to say too much right now. I just know he’d be a great asset to any team.”

Cavs Notes: Anthony, Smith, Dunleavy, D-League

September 28th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is hoping his friend J.R. Smith can work out his contract situation in time to receive his championship ring on opening night, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York will be the opponent when Cleveland starts its season October 25th, but Smith’s presence is far from guaranteed. The veteran shooting guard has been in a contract impasse with the Cavaliers all summer, reportedly wanting a $15MM annual salary, while the team wants something in the $10MM to $12MM range. Word broke this week of an “aggressive” offer by the Cavs, but the situation remains unresolved. “I don’t know what’s going on over there with that,” Anthony said. “I hope they don’t prolong the situation. He helped them win that championship. He was a major part of that team, and I hope they can get something done. If not, we’ll see him somewhere else.’’

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

After being with four other teams in his 14 NBA seasons, Mike Dunleavy is overjoyed to wind up with the Cavaliers, writes Sam Amico of AmicoHoops. Cleveland acquired Dunleavy in a deal with the Bulls when Chicago was trying to clear cap space to sign Dwyane Wade. The veteran swingman described the trade as “Christmas in July.” The Cavs plan to use him as a shooter to stretch the floor alongside LeBron James, and in combination with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye to have three tall shooters on the floor at the same time. “I see myself being involved in whatever way, shape or form we need,” Dunleavy said. “It’s as simple as that. I can play a lot of different roles, anything necessary to get these guys back to the mountain top. Basically, Coach [Tyronn] Lue can use me however he wants. I’m just happy to be here.”
James can expect to see reduced minutes this season, as well as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, according to Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. After two consecutive seasons that stretched into late June, the Cavaliers will be emphasizing rest. Measures will include monitoring players’ energy levels and staying longer in cities after road games. “My thing is just making sure guys are healthy, continue to limit LeBron’s minutes … watch Kyrie’s minutes because we know we’re playing for something big,” Lue said. “We know when we get to the playoffs it’s going to require a lot of minutes so with those guys and with Kevin [Love], just have to watch guys getting to the red zone.”
Nate Reinking was named coach of the Cavaliers’ D-League affiliate in Canton, according to D-League Digest (Twitter link). He has been an assistant with the team since 2013.

And-Ones: Dalembert, S. Jackson, Larkin

September 13th, 2016 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA center Samuel Dalembert is facing battery charges for allegedly pushing his girlfriend and then choking her cousin when he tried to intervene, according to an Associated Press report (link via ESPN.com). Dalembert, whose last NBA action came with the Knicks in 2014/15, played in China last season, so it’s not clear whether he’s still hoping for an NBA comeback — if he is, his arrest likely reduced his chances of returning.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the league:

Stephen Jackson continues to seek an NBA job, and tells Rodger Bohn of SlamOnline.com that he isn’t interested in heading overseas or playing in the D-League. “NBA or nothing, man,” Jackson said. “I don’t need the money. I just want to give back to the game. Anything else is a step down, so I just want to give the NBA a shot.”
Former first-round pick Shane Larkin, who spoke to HoopsHype last month about his decision to opt out of his Nets contract and sign in Spain, discussed the move overseas with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Larkin stressed that he’s excited about the opportunity to play for Baskonia, pointing to the impressive list of NBA players who have played for the team in the past.
As Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk passes along, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue told TMZ that his old NBA Finals nemesis Allen Iverson would be welcome to “come coach with me” if Iverson has interest in pursuing a coaching career.

Cavs, Tyronn Lue Agree To Five-Year Extension

July 26th, 2016 at 12:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 26: The Cavaliers have officially issued a press release announcing Lue’s new deal.

“Ty took over our team under very trying circumstances and his calm, confident approach was invaluable as we found our way to success,” GM David Griffin said in a statement. “His vision, leadership and tactical acumen were fundamental to us reaching our goals. We couldn’t be happier to have Ty continue to lead our group into the future.”

JULY 25: Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue has agreed to a five-year, $35MM extension, league sources informed Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Lue was named head coach after David Blatt was fired on January 22nd. Cleveland went 27-14 the rest of the regular season under Lue’s guidance, then made history by winning its first championship. Lue was instrumental in keeping the team focused after it trailed the Warriors 3-1 in the Finals, then made its historic comeback to claim the title.

Lue had been Blatt’s associate head coach since the summer of 2014, when Blatt got the head job over him.

Lue became the league’s top-paid assistant at that time with a four-year deal worth $6.5MM. After he was named head coach, the Cavs and Lue’s representatives came to a verbal agreement on a renegotiated deal that would have paid him $3MM prorated for last season and $3MM this season, with a team option for a third year at $3.5MM with a buyout.

However, Lue reportedly didn’t sign that deal and there were no performance standards or stipulations that would have kept the verbal agreement valid after the season.

Cavs Notes: LeBron, J.R. Smith, J. Jones, Lue

July 18th, 2016 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have agreed to terms on deals for Chris Andersen and Richard Jefferson so far this month, but have yet to officially finalize those signings. In addition to needing to complete the Andersen and Jefferson moves, the Cavs have several other items on their to-do list, starting with locking up the reigning NBA Finals MVP. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com has some updates on Cleveland’s offseason, so let’s round up the highlights…

After publicly announcing in June that he would be re-signing with the Cavaliers this summer, LeBron James has privately informed the team of the same thing. However, he is currently traveling and spending time with his family and has no timetable for negotiating or signing a deal, sources tell Windhorst. LeBron has multiple options for his contract, depending on what sort of years and dollars he wants, and he’ll go over those options with agent Rich Paul at some point, but there’s no rush, per Windhorst.
J.R. Smith and the Cavaliers have been negotiating a new deal, but remain “apart on terms,” according to Windhorst. We heard earlier today that Smith may be seeking an annual salary worth upward of $15MM.
The Cavaliers have had discussions with veteran free agent James Jones. According to agent Joel Bell, Jones wants to re-sign with the Cavs, but has other options.
Like many of the Cavaliers’ free agent players, head coach Tyronn Lue has been in talks with the team for a few weeks about a new deal, but has yet to reach an agreement. Lue remains under contract for two more years, but he’s still on his assistant coach deal, having declined to work out a new agreement when he first took over for David Blatt earlier this year — so he’ll be in line for a significant raise.

Cavaliers Notes: Smith, McRae, Felder, Liggins

July 16th, 2016 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

GM David Griffin isn’t concerned about the possibility of losing J.R. Smith, writes Sam Amico of Amicohoops. There reportedly has been little interest outside of Cleveland in the 30-year-old free agent shooting guard, who started 77 games during the regular season and was an important contributor to the Cavaliers’ championship run. “These things sometimes take time,” Griffin said. “When the time is right, something will get done. I’m very confident about that.” The team has remained in contact with with Smith, tweets Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, who adds that Smith’s situation is not related to LeBron James‘ contract talks. Haynes says James is “no rush” to wrap up his new deal.

There’s more this morning out of Cleveland:

Summer League players Jordan McRae, Kay Felder and DeAndre Liggins will be in Cleveland’s training camp and all three have a chance to make the roster, according to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. McRae, a 6’6″ point guard, appeared in 15 games for the Cavs this season and made an impression with a 35-point performance in the finale. Felder is a 5’9″ point guard whom the Cavaliers drafted 54th overall last month after buying the pick from Atlanta. His 9.3 assists per game were the most in Division I basketball this year, and he reminds observers of Celtics All-Star Isaiah Thomas. Liggins, a 6’6″ swingman, was the D-League’s Defensive Player of the Year and can hit from 3-point range.
Another name to watch is Turkish small forward Cedi Osman, whose rights were acquired from Minnesota in a 2015 draft day deal involving Tyus Jones, Pluto writes in the same story. The Cavs are keeping a close eye on Osman, who told reporters he wants to come to the NBA in 2017/18.
Cleveland isn’t in a position to make a big move to counter Golden State’s signing of Kevin Durant, according to Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. The defending champs are out of cap space, have few realistic trade options and a mostly set roster for next season. They are also facing another massive luxury tax bill with the contracts they already have in place. Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, who defended Durant’s decision, said Cleveland improved with the addition of Mike Dunleavy Jr., who was acquired in a trade with Chicago. “More depth, more shooting, a guy who can come off screens and pindowns and play off movement, getting to the basket and making the right pass,” Lue said about what Dunleavy brings to the team.

Coaching Notes: Lue, Jones, Walton, Kings

July 9th, 2016 at 9:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

A delay in working out an extension with Tyronn Lue has several Cavaliers assistants working in the summer league without contracts, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. The deals for Jim Boylan, Phil Handy, James Posey and Vitaly Potapenko expired July 1st. Lue, who has promised they will all be kept on his staff, is negotiating an extension after winning an NBA title in his first season as a head coach. He is still under a four-year, $6.5MM contract that he had as an assistant after refusing a three-year, $9.5MM offer when he replaced David Blatt in midseason. Lue has a year left on his current deal and said he isn’t worried about the status of the extension. “It’ll eventually get done,” he said.

There’s more coaching news around the league:

The Cavaliers are expected to make Damon Jones an assistant coach, Haynes writes in the same piece. Jones will replace Bret Brielmaier, who recently joined the Nets‘ staff.
After a two-month wait while the Warriors made their way through the playoffs, former Golden State assistant Luke Walton finally got to coach the Lakers, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Walton made his debut Friday night in the Las Vegas Summer League and received a rousing ovation from Lakers fans in attendance. “I know I still have a lot to learn, but I think everybody does, no matter how long you’ve been doing any job,” Walton said. “I’m excited and I feel like I’m ready for this and I’m looking forward to it.”
The Lakers did not keep player development coach Thomas Scott, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Scott is expected to pursue other opportunities.
The Kings have added Bob Thornton and Larry Lewis as assistants to new head coach Dave Joerger, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV in Sacramento.

And-Ones: Nets, Crabbe, Lue, Waiters, Sixers

July 2nd, 2016 at 1:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets, who offered a four-year contract worth about the same amount as his deal with the Hawks, were “really, really close” to reaching an agreement with Kent Bazemore, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). While that may be somewhat encouraging for Houston, the Rockets have yet to lock up one of their top free agent targets. Heading into the weekend, the club remains in the hunt for Al Horford and Ryan Anderson.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

The Nets spent plenty of time on Friday weighing whether or not to sign Trail Blazers RFA Allen Crabbe to an offer sheet, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Nets are big fans of Crabbe, but an offer sheet could tie up the team’s cap for three days after the moratorium ends, which could backfire if Portland matches it. The Blazers are probably less likely to match a big offer for Crabbe now that they have an agreement with Evan Turner, but it’s still not out of the question.
The Cavaliers and head coach Tyronn Lue have begun discussing a contract extension, per Chris Haynes and Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. As the duo explains, Lue didn’t sign a new deal when he was promoted from his assistant role to replace David Blatt this year, and the gamble paid off. Lue will be in line for a much bigger raise now that he has a championship under his belt than he would have been if he’d signed a new contract earlier this year.
The Bulls are among the teams showing interest in Dion Waiters, tweets ESPN’s Chris Broussard. Broussard also reiterates something we’ve heard multiple times over the past couple days, writing that the Kings are very interested in Waiters and will meet with him this weekend.
The Sixers have been making some significant offers to veteran free agents in the hopes of landing one or two of them, says Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Philadelphia struck a deal on Friday with Jerryd Bayless, but it sounds like the team has made other offers that exceed Bayless’ $9MM per year.