Vitor Faverani Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Flopping, Neal, Blazers, Faverani

July 23rd, 2013 at 10:13pm CST by Zachary Links

NBA commissioner David Stern says the league's anti-flopping rules were working well and the competition committee recommended no changes to them, but not everyone is on board. The NBPA is now seeking an arbitration hearing on the matter, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. "We are now in the process of scheduling a case with our arbitrator to determine whether the NBA is allowed to unilaterally impose discipline in an area that exceeds the commissioner's authority without the consent of the union," NBPA interim executive director Ron Klempner said. "It's a subject they need to bargain with us, and we hope that the arbitrator will find that any type of discipline must be collectively bargained." Here's tonight's look around the Association..

Gary Neal wouldn't be an option for the Bobcats without a sign-and-trade with the Spurs, but that scenario hasn't been discussed yet, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Tom Ziller of SBNation.com questions whether the amnesty clause and more punitive luxury-tax penalties have really helped level the NBA playing field.
Mike Tokito of The Oregonian spoke with ex-teammates of new Blazers additions Robin Lopez, Thomas Robinson, Dorell Wright, and Earl Watson.
The Celtics used $2MM of their mid-level exception on Vitor Faverani and now have $3.15MM left, tweets Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. The Brazilian big man agreed to a two-year, $6.3MM deal that became official yesterday.

Celtics Sign Vitor Faverani

July 22nd, 2013 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 22nd, 4:17pm: The Celtics announced the deal, making it official.

JULY 15th, 2:23pm: The Celtics have reached an agreement in principle on a three-year deal with Brazilian big man Vitor Faverani, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Talks between the two sides had been reported last week by TuBasket.com, though there were some questions about whether the C's would be able to negotiate a buyout.

Faverani, 25, has spent the last several seasons overseas, including the 2012/13 season with Valencia. In 23 Spanish League contests, Favenari averaged 9.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG while shooting 59.4%.

If the Celtics agreed to sign Faverani to a three-year deal, the team won't be able to use the minimum salary exception, even if not all three years are fully guaranteed. So it appears likely that the team will use a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing, though contract terms aren't yet known.

Odds & Ends: Faverani, Mavs, Rockets, Heat

July 21st, 2013 at 11:14pm CST by Zachary Links

Signs seem to be pointing toward Brazilian center Vitor Faverani finally joining the Celtics, according to a staff report from the Boston Herald. Faverani's Spanish team in Valencia issued a press release on Friday that the 25-year-old has officially told them that he is leaving the team to pursue his basketball career elsewhere. The Celtics and Faverani agreed on a three-year, $6MM framework of a deal, but the contract was delayed due to the Celts' efforts to get below the luxury tax line of $71.7MM. Here's more from around the Association..

Beckley Mason of the New York Times takes a very interesting look at the directions that the Mavericks and Rockets are going in. The Mavs are employing a similar strategy to Daryl Morey & Co. which may not be glamorous in the short term, but its a gameplan that ultimately brought Dwight Howard to Houston.
With Mike Miller out of the picture, the Heat have to find a rotation player who can help produce when Dwayne Wade's knees are acting up, opines Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
Former Rutgers and Creighton big man Gregory Echenique is signing with a German team, but his deal will come with an NBA out clause, sources tell Sportando.

Eastern Notes: Damion James, Felix, Cavs

July 20th, 2013 at 9:41pm CST by Ryan Raroque

RealGM's Shams Charania notes that while Damion James has yet to speak about a training camp invite or regular season roster spot with the Heat, the 6'7 swingman may have boosted his stock after his solid play in Las Vegas over the last few weeks. James – who underwent foot surgery twice over the span of his first two season in the league – told RealGM: "Everybody knows I belong in the league…I’m completely, 100 percent healthy. It’s been a great experience for me. I really look up to the Miami Heat and I really appreciate them for letting me come and be a part of their organization. I just want to show them that I can play, show them that I can belong here.

Here's more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Carrick Felix made a strong enough impression on Mike Brown that the Cavaliers coach thinks he has a good chance to make the regular season roster, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. As for other players who could have possibly earned invites to training camp, Brown mentioned Matthew Dellavedova, Cory Higgins, Jermaine Taylor, and Justin Harper.
Wizards rookie Otto Porter did a brief interview with Hoopsworld about his experiences in summer league and what he needs to work on in preparation for training camp (video link).
DeMar DeRozan gave his thoughts and impressions on some of his young Raptors teammates, having a full training camp to work alongside Rudy Gay, Masai Ujiri, and team's playoff chances (video link).
Cody Zeller expounded on what he learned about the NBA game against summer competition and building chemistry with some of his teammates (video link).
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets that Vitor Faverani's three-year deal with the Celtics is worth $6MM, which was the projected deal a few days ago.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News questions the leadership of Knicks owner James Dolan and is skeptical about how the team will fare next season.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer discusses how the NBA's new CBA has benefitted the Bobcats.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Brown, Celtics, Randolph

July 17th, 2013 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up the latest out of the Atlantic Division, with a heavy focus on items out of New York and Boston….

Euroleague star Bobby Brown worked out for the Knicks yesterday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, adding that New York is considering Brown for one of its remaining roster spots. The former NBA point guard averaged 18.8 PPG and 5.3 APG in 24 Euroleague contests for Italy's Siena this past season.
The Knicks continue to negotiate a possible deal for Kenyon Martin, GM Glen Grunwald confirmed yesterday to reporters, including Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Although the Knicks can only offer Martin slightly above the minimum, Grunwald said talks with the big man and his agent were "going pretty well."
In addition to acquiring a handful of first-round picks from the Nets in the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett blockbuster, the Celtics already created a significant trade exception, as Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe writes.
Celtics management would like to bring back Shavlik Randolph, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed after August 1st, but he may end up being a cap casualty, says Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
Murphy adds that once the Celtics work through all the red tape involved, they're expected to officially sign Vitor Faverani to a three-year deal worth about $6MM. A report earlier this week indicated that the two sides had reached a contract agreement.
Several days ago, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star tweeted that, due to physical issues, Julyan Stone "won't sign now" with the Raptors, after having previously agreed to a deal with the team. While we originally interpreted that to mean the signing had been delayed, it appears, based on Smith's latest blog entry, that it has been nixed entirely. As such, we'll return Stone to our list of current free agents.

Atlantic Notes: Rondo, Raptors, Celtics

July 9th, 2013 at 10:05pm CST by Michael Pina

A few notes from around the NBA's Atlantic Division.

According to a tweet from Hoopsworld.com's Bill Ingram, a rumor has bubbled to the surface that the Rockets are interested in trading for Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, but Dwight Howard has no interest in playing with the four-time All-Star.
The Raptors have officially announced they will be making Nick Nurse an assistant head coach on Dwane Casey's staff, according to the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat. Nurse will run the team's offense.
The Celtics are in talks to sign Brazilian big man Vitor Faverani, according to TuBasket.com. The Boston Herald's Mark Murphy reported Boston's interest this morning, but made it clear an expensive buyout with Faverani's team in Brazil could sour things.