Uncategorized Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Wiggins, Cavs, Murry, George

August 3rd, 2014 at 10:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft is in a weird spot, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Andrew Wiggins has been heavily connected to a possible Kevin Love deal between the Wolves and Cavs and on top of that, it turns out that he hasn’t even chatted with LeBron James since the game’s top player announced in Sports Illustrated that he was going back to Cleveland. “No. I’m sure he’s busy,” Wiggins said. “I feel like I’m busy, so I am sure he’s busy.” More from around the NBA..

Toure’ Murry still has interest from the Heat, Jazz, and Clippers and a return to the Knicks remains a possibility, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
Paul George‘s injury isn’t just a loss for the Pacers, it’s a loss for all of basketball, writes Candace Buckner of the Indy Star. It has been noted that in 1985, when quarterback Joe Theismann suffered a similar horrific fracture, the injury forced him into retirement at age 36. However, Buckner notes that George has the advancements of modern medicine on his side as well as his youth.
Italian team Ferentino is eyeing former D-League guard Chris Roberts, sources tell Paolo DePersis of Sportando. The swingman spent last season in Serie A with Caserta averaging 11.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG.

And-Ones: Wade, Warren, Smith, Woodbury

July 27th, 2014 at 6:41pm CST by Zachary Links

Dwyane Wade has a new favorite opponent to square off against in LeBron James, write Brandon Di Perno and Surya Fernandez of SB Nation. Wade said, “Well, it used to be Kobe Bryant…the second best all-time…now, I have a new favorite player to play against…my former teammate, LeBron.” The 2014/15 NBA schedule won’t be released until next month, but one of the highlights is sure to be the first contest between the Cavaliers and James’ former team, the Heat. Here’s more from around the league..

Rookie T.J. Warren‘s game is well-suited for the Suns, writes Jesse Biancarte of Basketball Insiders. Warren played in five games in summer league for Phoenix and averaged 17.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 24.8 minutes. His only noticeable weakness during this stretch was his outside shooting, something he’ll have to work on.
Former Duke guard Nolan Smith is working towards a two-year deal with Turkish club Galatasaray, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Smith was reportedly entertaining partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and Thunder in late April.
Former Georgia and D-League swingman Terrance Woodbury worked out for the Nets, but he’ll instead be heading to Nicaragua to join up with Raptors de Matagalpa, a source tells Enea Trapani of Sportando (on Twitter). In his senior year at Georgia (2008/09), Woodbury averaged 14.0 PPG and 4.6 RPG while shooting 43.1% from downtown, but he went undrafted the following summer.

Contract Details: Brooks, Bairstow, Brown

July 23rd, 2014 at 7:55pm CST by Alex Lee

As free agent transactions around the league become official, so do the monetary specifics of their contract agreements. Here’s a round up of the latest contract details to come to light this evening:

The minimum salary contract Aaron Brooks signed with the Bulls is for one year, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports reveals on his updated Bulls salary page.
Cameron Bairstow‘s three-year contract with the Bulls is guaranteed for $425K in year two and otherwise non-guaranteed past the first season, Deeks also reports.
Markel Brown‘s two-year deal with the Nets is fully guaranteed in year one, with a series of guarantee dates for the second season, as Deeks shows.
The two-year deal the Nets gave Cory Jefferson is similar, except it’s only guaranteed for $75K this year, Deeks also notes.
The Nets gave Bojan Bogdanovic a 15% trade kicker on his three-year deal rather than the player option that he initially appeared to be getting, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports on his Nets salary page.
Robbie Hummel‘s deal with the Timberwolves is fully-guaranteed for $880K for the upcoming season, reports Pincus. It was originally reported to be worth $900K. Pincus adds that the deal allows Hummel to block any trade Minnesota may try to include him in (Twitter links).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Rumors: Bledsoe, Thomas, Clippers

July 23rd, 2014 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Suns have little interest in sending restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe away in a sign-and-trade, and Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby is confident in the team’s two-point guard look, writes Bob Young of the Arizona Republic. The four-year, $48MM offer the Suns reportedly have out to Bledsoe is for significantly more than what the team and agent Rich Paul spoke about last fall in extension talks, Young adds. There’s more from Young’s piece amid the latest on the Suns and the rest of the Pacific Division:

New Suns acquisition Isaiah Thomas told Young that he felt as though the Kings were looking to replace him at every turn. “I felt very disrespected,” Thomas said. “Every year it was somebody new. I felt I did a good enough job to show them I was a starting point guard or a guy who could play a big role with their team. But they thought differently.
Differing opinions on the relative values of David Lee and Kevin Love, a reluctance to take on Kevin Martin, and a reticence to give up Harrison Barnes on top of it all have the Warriors holding out in talks with Minnesota, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group explains. That’s in addition to Golden State’s decision to keep Klay Thompson‘s name out of the discussion.
Attorneys for Donald Sterling made it clear Tuesday that he wants the NBA to vote to terminate his ownership of the Clippers so he can move forward with his antitrust suit against the league, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The judge in the probate trial between Sterling and his wife can rule that Shelly Sterling’s sale of the team to Steve Ballmer would go forward even if Donald Sterling appeals, but such a ruling would be difficult to come by, Shelburne adds (on Twitter).
The Kings are among several teams that Dan Fegan, the agent for Omri Casspi, has spoken to, as Casspi tells Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Casspi, whom the Pelicans are likely to waive this month, added that he has interest in returning to Sacramento, where he played his first two NBA seasons.

Latest On Donald Sterling

July 22nd, 2014 at 10:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

As the struggle between Donald Sterling and his wife Shelly regarding the sale of the Clippers continued in probate court today, we passed along earlier that Doc Rivers – according to the testimony of team interim CEO Dick Parsons – would no longer want to be part of the franchise if Donald remained as the team’s owner. Parsons also testified that while the Clippers have retained a majority of their sponsors throughout this ordeal, there are several of them who would only want to continue their business relationship with the team if Sterling is ousted, noted Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

There were a few more notable tidbits we’ve rounded up this evening, and you can find them below:

Pierce O’Donnell, a lawyer for Shelly Sterling, didn’t elaborate on the details of a meeting between Steve Ballmer, Donald, and a group of lawyers at Sterling’s Beverly Hills home on Monday. “Nothing really happened of any moment…It was pleasant. Mr. Sterling was a gentleman. But nothing came of it” (report from David Leon Moore of USA Today). Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald, commented that he doesn’t expect a settlement to be reached.
Donald alleges corporate fraud in a lawsuit he filed today in Superior Court against his wife Shelly and the NBA, tweeted Shelburne. According to Donald’s lawyer, Bobby Samini, it could be years before a ruling is handed down, says Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links).
In a piece for ESPN Los Angeles, Shelburne and Markazi relay Samini’s statement regarding Donald’s new lawsuit, which alleges that Donald became the sole shareholder of the Clippers once he revoked the family trust. “The new lawsuit states the seller of the team is not Donald and it’s not Shelly — the seller of the team is corporation that owns the team, and that’s LAC Basketball Club Inc…When Donald bought the team, the shares of the corporation are only in Donald’s name. They were only issued to Donald, so Donald owns the shares of the corporation. He’s the sole shareholder. He put the shares up into the trust in 1989, and when we revoked the trust, the shares go back down to him.”
Bank of America expert Anwar Zakkour, who helped negotiate the team’s sale agreement between Shelly and Steve Ballmer, testified that “none of us believed we could get $2 billion” when the sale process began. Zakkour also said he heard Shelly mention the phrase “Plan B” when she had spoken with her attorneys (Twitter links via Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times).
According to Zakkour, the Clippers were initially valued between $1 billion and $1.3 billion, and that the $2 billion offer was “nirvana,” tweeted Shelburne.
Dean Bonham, testifying on Donald’s side, said that the Clippers could find another $2 billion bid to buy the team if the judge were to block the sale to Ballmer, noted Moore in the aforementioned USA Today report.

And-Ones: Love, Wiggins, Sterlings, Durant

July 21st, 2014 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs aren’t dangling Andrew Wiggins in trade talks with the Wolves about Kevin Love, at least for the time being, a source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who was the first to report last week that Cleveland was open to the idea of parting with Wiggins. So, while no one involved would guarantee Finnan that Wiggins wouldn’t wind up in a Love deal, it sounds like that idea is on the backburner for now. Here’s more from around the Association:

Testimony has resumed today in the probate trial between Clippers owners Donald and Shelly Sterling after the judge made a pair of decisions Friday that appear to help Shelly Sterling’s case, as USA Today’s David Leon Moore details. The judge has the power to allow Shelly Sterling to go forward with her sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, if he rules in her favor, even if Donald Sterling decides to appeal, according to Moore.
A member of the players association’s executive committee told TNT’s David Aldridge that the union will discuss the idea of taking action should the Sterlings continue to own the Clippers at the start of next season, as Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe, whom Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has reportedly lured to serve as a Knicks assistant, was the member of the Oklahoma City staff whom Kevin Durant trusted the most, Aldridge notes in the same piece.
A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Knicks GM Steve Mills recently pulled his name from contention for the union’s executive director vacancy. Mills re-emerged as a candidate this spring after having been the apparent front-runner last summer prior to taking the Knicks job.
The final two seasons of the four-year contract between Devin Harris and the Mavs are a little more lucrative than previously reported. He’ll make nearly $4.728MM in year three and nearly $4.903MM in the final season, which is partially guaranteed for almost $1.34MM, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details on his Mavs salary page.

Central Notes: Love, Allen, Stuckey, Bucks

July 17th, 2014 at 9:03pm CST by Alex Lee

The reports are pouring in fast and furious on the negotiations between the Cavaliers and Timberwolves for Kevin Love. While conflicting rumors persist, Ken Berger of CBS Sports simplifies it for us in his latest piece. Quite basically, LeBron James wants Love in Cleveland and Minnesota wants Andrew Wiggins for Love. And LeBron usually gets what he wants. Beyond that, Berger points out that these negotiations are a sign of things to come with regard to the leverage James holds within the Cleveland organization.

Grantland’s Zach Lowe weighs in on the talks as well (via Twitter), suggesting that the Wolves should immediately pull the trigger if Wiggins is on the table. However, as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets, the “general feeling” at summer league was that Minnesota would require more than just Wiggins in a deal for their coveted superstar.

Here are some additional notes from the Central division on Thursday night:

Mike Miller said in an ESPN Radio appearance that he’s selling Ray Allen on becoming the latest former Heat player to join the Cavaliers, but Allen is still considering retirement and has spoken with multiple teams this month, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
The Pacers stayed in touch with Rodney Stuckey all month, the guard told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star today, seemingly countering a report that made it seem as though the team shied away from him after contacting him early in free agency. Stuckey agreed Wednesday to a one-year deal with Indiana for the minimum.
Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens revealed the franchise’s minority share owners on Thursday, a list that did not include Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. Edens didn’t rule out potential for Rodgers’ involvement in the franchise, however. The list contains six local names, corresponding with a May report that the ownership duo of Edens and Marc Lasry hoped to add five to ten investors.
Jesse Biancarte of Basketball Insiders examines what the loss of Lance Stephenson will mean for the Pacers next season, opining that Indiana has the pieces to maintain their dominance on defense but will struggle to replace the Cincinnati product on the other end of the floor.

DraftKings $20K Royal Golf Championship

July 16th, 2014 at 1:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The following is a sponsored post from DraftKings.

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Southwest Notes: Parsons, Mavericks, Baynes

July 16th, 2014 at 12:40am CST by Ryan Raroque

Here’s what we’ve gathered out of the Southwest Division:

It’s widely suspected around the league that Dan Fegan insisted that the Rockets turn down their team option on Chandler Parsons before he would allow fellow client Dwight Howard to sign in Houston last summer, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Parsons strongly denied knowing of such a deal, notes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
On Monday, Parsons told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that he wasn’t thrilled with how the Rockets handled his restricted free agency. “…I was offended by the whole process…(Houston) publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that’s just how they viewed me as a player. I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I’m ready for that role.”
Today, Parsons said he was surprised about the backlash he received by making those comments. While he didn’t back off from what he said, Parsons also cited that he praised Rockets GM Daryl Morey (Twitter link from Feigen).
On Monday, Mavericks president Donnie Nelson told Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the team may not be done tweaking their roster. “We’re not done…But we feel pretty good about where things are right now.” Following the team’s addition of Rashard Lewis today, Price reminds that Nelson plans to keep one of the team’s final two roster spots open for flexibility down the line (Twitter link).
In the former piece, Price mentions also Al-Farouq Aminu, Bernard James, Shawn Marion, and Ivan Johnson as other names that Dallas could attempt to add before the start of next season.
Nelson sat down for an interview with KESN-FM 103.3 to offer some insight on how the Mavs plan to approach the rest of the season (transcription via SportsDayDFW) and mentioned that the team is always keeping its eye out for a shooter. It’s worth noting that he said this before they added Lewis, however.
While they won’t close the door on re-signing Marion, Nelson acknowledges that the veteran forward’s value in the marketplace is much higher than what the Mavs can afford.
The Spurs still hope to retain restricted free agent center Aron Baynes, tweets Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. Young adds that San Antonio is willing to match any reasonable offer.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Rondo, Warriors, Drew

July 16th, 2014 at 12:25am CST by Ryan Raroque

Here are a few miscellaneous links to pass along from tonight:

The Celtics would rather risk keeping Rajon Rondo until he becomes a free agent next summer than take a deal without a “major player” that chiefly provides salary cap relief, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald hears. There’s been no talk between the Rockets and Celtics involving Rondo, as Bulpett also writes.
The Warriors could possibly carve out a maximum salary slot for Kevin Durant in 2016 without breaking up their current core, explains Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group.
Former Bucks head coach Larry Drew is in discussions to join David Blatt’s coaching staff on the Cavaliers, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
There’s a strong sentiment within the Bucks organization to keep Ersan Ilyasova rather than trade him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.
Even though Jason Terry wants a buyout, the Kings currently have no plans to acquiesce, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
Garrett Temple is expected to receive a deal soon to stay with the Wizards; however, Al Harrington – who still plans to play in the NBA for the 2014/15 season – is yet to receive an offer from Washington (Twitter links from J. Michael of CSNWashington.com).
The Grizzlies didn’t consider waiving Nick Calathes before his contract became guaranteed today, a source tells Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.