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Month: November 2013

Knicks Tried To Trade For Rajon Rondo

By | at November 17, 2013 5:17 pm

Knicks guard Iman Shumpert has been in trade rumors for the last few weeks and it doesn’t sound like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.  New York has desperately been trying to package Shumpert in a number of deals, including one pitch to the Celtics for star guard Rajon Rondo, writes Frank Isola of the Daily News.  Unsurprisingly, the Knicks were rebuffed by Danny Ainge.

Isola also reports that Shumpert had a second knee surgery over the summer that was previously kept under the rug.  It’s unclear if that development has had any impact on the 23-year-old’s trade value.

As for the Rondo offer, the Celtics are highly unlikely to part with one of the top point guards in the league and even less likely to move him to a divisional rival.  The Knicks also pitched the Nuggets on a swap involving Kenneth Faried and got turned down, but the Kings are also said to have interest.   Isola notes that Kings forward Jason Thompson is represented by Leon Rose, the agent for Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, and Chris Smith.

Over two seasons-and-change in New York, Shumpert owns career averages of 8.3 PPG with 3.3 RPG in 26.3 minutes per contest.

7 comments Boston Celtics New York Knicks Sacramento Kings

Offseason In Review: Detroit Pistons

By | at November 17, 2013 3:46 pm

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Trades

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

  • None

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

No one can accuse Joe Dumarsof being boring.  After turning in a combined 54 wins across the last two seasons, Dumars did more than just relieve coach Lawrence Frank of his job, he overhauled the entire roster.

The Pistons got the shakeup started when they inked Josh Smith to a four-year, $54MM deal that could escalate to $56MM in total if he hits on certain bonuses.  Smith was arguably the top prize to be had on the open market after Chris Paul and Dwight Howard came off the board, and neither one of those elite guys were going to give a team in a four-year playoff drought any real consideration.  In Smith, the Pistons get a high-flying forward who can change the game on either side of the floor.  The $56MM price tag isn’t chump change, but it’s far less than the max contract that Smith spent all season clamoring for.  The discounted rate – if you can call a guaranteed average annual value of $13MM a “discount” – is due to two main factors.  First, Smith had something of a down year in 2012/13 on the heels of a career season in 2011/12.  Secondly, with all due respect to Smith, he was never really in the max contract conversation anyway.  The market for Smith also didn’t grow in the way that he or agent Wallace Prather would have hoped.  The Warriors were fans, but they bowed out of the process when they landed Andre Iguodala.  Atlanta had some interest in retaining Smith, but the club couldn’t have been thrilled with the forward openly complaining throughout the season and that probably played a role when it came time to negotiate.  The Celtics also put their toe in the water, but they went in a very different direction this summer.  At any rate, Detroit got a real two-way threat in Smith and it didn’t take long for them to pair him with another disgruntled star player.

In late July, the Pistons struck a deal with the Bucks to land Brandon Jennings via a sign-and-trade deal.  Detroit gave up guard Brandon Knight (plus Viacheslav Kravtsov and Khris Middleton) to get Jennings, who they inked to a three-year, ~$25MM pact.  Giving up Knight wasn’t easy for Dumars & Co. – he’s a talented young guard in his own right who has the killer work ethic to realize his potential.  While some say that Jennings doesn’t have the greatest attitude in the world, he offers freakish athleticism at a premium position.  Even though Jennings recanted his comments about not wanting to re-sign in Milwaukee, it’s safe to assume that he’s happy to be moving on to a new club.  The Pistons hope that a change of scenery will suit Jennings well and it is very possible that the 24-year-old can blossom into a first-tier point guard in the Association.  In Jennings’ defense, he spent the first four years of his NBA career under Scott Skiles, a coach who could probably rile Mother Teresa up.

In Detroit, Jennings and Smith will be playing under longtime NBA coach Maurice Cheeks.  Cheeks found success for a time as the Blazers’ head man, but he was fired by the 76ers at the quarter-mark of the 2008/09 season after back-to-back losing seasons.  Cheeks probably wasn’t the sexiest choice for the job and some Pistons fans probably would have preferred finalist Nate McMillan or would have liked to see Brian Shaw get an interview for the gig, but Cheeks has the experience to command respect from the Pistons’ older and younger players.

Speaking of youth, the Pistons are quite excited about No. 8 overall pick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.  This wasn’t the strongest draft class, in fact, it could prove to be one of the weakest ones of the last decade, but the Georgia product made a strong impression on a number of teams heading into June.  The two-guard offers a sweet shooting stroke on offense and is also a tenacious defender.  No one expects him to develop Allen Iverson-style handles, but he’ll have to improve his ball-handling to avoid getting stripped at the next level.  If he gets that figured out, KCP should have a bright future in the league, even if he’s not destined for superstardom.  Early on in the season, the 20-year-old is already seeing considerable minutes in the Pistons’ rotation.

Aside from Smith and Jennings, the Pistons made a few other notable signings.  Dumars brought back fan favorite Chauncey Billups to Detroit and it only cost him a two-year, $5.5MM deal (year two is a team option) and an apology.  Billups was still a little sore over the 2008 trade that shipped him to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson, but that’s all water under the bridge as the veteran guard is back with the team that he won a championship ring with.  The deal was somewhat surprising since Billups also had interest from contenders like the Nets and Spurs.  The Pistons also inked Gigi Datome to a two-year deal, beating out multiple teams with serious interest in the Italian import.  Datome’s agent claims that he had more money on the table from other clubs – the Celtics, Bucks, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, and Grizzlies were among his suitors – the Pistons offered him the best opportunity.

Will Bynum is back with the club on a two-year deal, but other notable free agents weren’t retained by Detroit.  Speedy guard Jose Calderon wound up signing with the Mavericks in mid-July and agent Mark Bartelstein chalked up his departure to a matter of “timing,” even though there was interest on both sides.  Looking back on it, it seems likely that Dumars had a feeling he could swing an S&T deal for Jennings and didn’t want to tie up cash (or playing time) in another guard.  Jason Maxiell, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with Detroit, was not asked back before he took a 50% pay drop to sign with the Magic.  The PIstons did have some interest in retaining veteran forward Corey Maggette, but he wound up signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Spurs in late September and getting cut weeks later.

While several non-contending clubs are banking on building through the talent-rich 2014 Draft or spending big bucks in next summer’s free agent frenzy, the Pistons seized the opportunity to take a big step forward this past offseason.  It’s hard to see this Detroit team getting a home-court advantage playoff spot in 2013/14, but they can certainly make some noise in the East and set themselves up to contend the following season.  Even after dropping big bucks on Smith and giving Jennings a nice chunk of change as well, they’re projected to have $20MM of breathing room in the summer of 2014.  Championship caliber Deeeeee-troit basketball isn’t quite back yet, but it might not be far away.

0 comments Detroit Pistons Offseason In Review

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Lakers

By | at November 17, 2013 12:59 pm

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Trades

  • None

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

  • None

It was perhaps the most difficult summer for Lakers fans since the team’s nearly annual Finals defeats to the Celtics in the 1960s. Dwight Howard turned his back on the chance to join the pantheon of legendary purple-and-gold centers, bolting for the Rockets and leaving the Lakers without much flexibility to replace him. L.A. was still over the cap even without Howard, meaning the team was stuck with only cap exception money to add to the roster, barring a major trade or a nearly unthinkable amnesty of Kobe Bryant. The Kobe amnesty might have become a possibility if the Lakers had landed Howard as well as Chris Paul, but the team had no such luck on the free agent market, and Bryant remains as much a part of the franchise as ever. There wasn’t any significant offseason trade chatter involving Pau Gasol, once a fixture on the trade market, or Steve Nash, so it was a summer for GM Mitch Kupchak to make the best of a picked-over market of free agent leftovers.

The Lakers did cut ties with one member of their last championship squad, using the amnesty clause to remove Metta World Peace from their books instead of Bryant. Subtracting World Peace’s $7.7MM salary for 2013/14 saved the Lakers a much greater sum in luxury taxes, but it didn’t take them under the cap the way shedding Bryant’s $30.5MM cap figure might have. The 34-year-old World Peace isn’t the player he once was, but he experienced no significant drop-off in production last season while playing 33.7 minutes per game. The move was one of austerity more than any other motivation, a rarity for the high-rolling Lakers. Still, there’s no reason to spend extra cash to keep a player on the downside of his career during a season in which championship hopes aren’t realistic.

Kupchak committed his mini mid-level exception to a center who could replace Howard, bringing former Clipper Chris Kaman back to Los Angeles after a season in which he’d been disgruntled under coach Rick Carlisle in Dallas. Kaman had signed with the Mavs on a one-year, $8MM deal, and was one of the top centers on the 2012 free agent market. That makes the 31-year-old a potential bargain for the Lakers after Carlisle limited Kaman to the fewest minutes per night of his career last season. It was nonetheless odd to see the Lakers allocate their largest chunk of free agent money to a big man who could recreate the problems Howard and Gasol had fitting together under coach Mike D’Antoni, who prefers small-ball. Kaman is seeing even less playing time for the Lakers so far this year than he did with Dallas, so it appears D’Antoni’s solution is simply to keep Kaman out of Gasol’s way, limiting the effect of Kupchak’s greatest summer expenditure.

Kupchak used the minimum-salary exception on every other signee this offseason, save for yet another center. He used the team’s Non-Bird rights on fan favorite Robert Sacre to exceed the minimum-salary exception’s two-year limit and give the 7-footer a three-year deal. Sacre won’t make any more than the minimum salary in any of the three seasons, but the team will have him under control until 2016 should he develop into more than the third-stringer he is. It’s somewhat surprising that Sacre’s salary is guaranteed for this season and next, since the Lakers have long been clearing their 2014/15 payroll for a shot at a splashy summer of 2014, but the less-than-$1MM cap hit wouldn’t be much of a dent in the team’s flexibility.

Kupchak may have put another chip in the team’s cap room for next summer with his deal for Nick Young. The Southern California native and former USC Trojan has a player option for next year in his minimum-salary contract. Young, like Kaman, signed a much more lucrative one-year deal in 2012, inking with the Sixers for $5.6MM. The 28-year-old shooting guard also saw a reduction in minutes last season, the third straight year in which his three-point percentage declined. Still, he was a respectable 35.7% from behind the arc in 23.9 minutes per game last season, and the double-figure scorer could have commanded more than the minimum. The lure of playing close to home and his friendship with fellow Lakers offseason signee Jordan Farmar was enough for Young to sacrifice dollars for comfort.

The best bargain Kupchak came across might have been one of the team’s final signees of the summer. Xavier Henry came to camp on no more than a non-guaranteed invitation, and with his NBA career teetering on the brink of extinction, he suddenly delivered on the promise that made him the 12th overall pick in 2010. Henry went for 29 points in a preseason game, and delivered more of the same with a 22-point performance off the bench in an upset of the Clippers on opening night. He’s earned a couple of starts, but he has yet to score 20 points again, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll drift back into his doldrums or if the Lakers stumbled upon a true find.

Henry’s story is somewhat reminiscent of Earl Clark‘s from last season. Clark, another former lottery pick, had his best season by far in 2012/13 with the Lakers after injuries to others pressed him into duty. The Lakers had interest in re-signing the versatile forward, but the Cavs offered him a two-year, $8.5MM contract that was about twice what I figured he was worth. The Lakers had full Bird Rights on the 25-year-old, but they weren’t about to overpay him so steeply when it would have meant millions more in tax penalties.

Of more significance is how much the Lakers will shell out for Bryant now that co-owner and executive VP Jim Buss says the team has begun extension talks with the star and agent Rob Pelinka. Bryant has expressed reticence about taking a significant pay cut from his $30MM salary this year. He could make as much as $32.7MM next season, but doing so would limit the team’s ability to surround him with marquee free agent talent. Much hinges on how well Bryant performs this season once he returns from injury, but Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pegs Bryant’s annual salary for the next two or three years at around $15MM. The negotiations with Bryant will be the keystone for the team’s long-awaited summer of 2014. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other juicy targets are on the horizon, with the promise of more glory in Lakerland. For now, and for this past summer, the keyword has been patience, and the team must be willing to continue down the path of sacrifice this year and resist sacrificing a bright future to salvage a lackluster present.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

0 comments Los Angeles Lakers Offseason In Review

Sixers Notes: Holiday Brothers, Silas, Brown

By | at November 17, 2013 11:43 am

The Sixers slipped below .500 with last night’s loss to the Pelicans, but somehow Philadelphia still leads a woeful Atlantic Division. The team’s 5-6 record is the sixth best in the Eastern Conference, so as we ponder whether the mediocrity of their opponents could allow the Sixers to remain in the playoff hunt all season, here’s the latest from Philly:

  • Jrue Holiday doesn’t have hard feelings for his old Sixers teammates, but he told reporters Saturday that it took only a “couple minutes” for him to get over his trade to the Pelicans once he realized who his new teammates would be. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the details.
  • Holiday’s older brother is drawing interest from an Italian team. Vuelle Pesaro is eyeing Justin Holiday, though no deal is imminent, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Justin Holiday played for the Sixers last season and was in camp with the Jazz last month.
  • Another shooting guard who had a cup of coffee with the Sixers is also in the mix overseas. Xavier Silas has signed with Maccabi Ashdod in Israel, tweets Sportando contributor David Pick. Silas played a pair of games for Philly at the end of the 2011/12 season and was in camp this fall with the Wizards.
  • Sixers coach Brett Brown has brought the player development chops he honed as a Spurs assistant to Philadelphia, observes Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times.
0 comments New Orleans Pelicans Philadelphia 76ers

Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Woodson, Raptors

By | at November 17, 2013 10:50 am

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were a star trio for the Celtics well into their 30s, but Allen believes their longevity made it tough for the C’s to decide when to turn their focus toward the future, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe passes along amid his weekly roundup.

“The bad thing probably for the team was that we played so long. Being able to stay healthy and still be able to contribute and play at a high level,” Allen said. “The team at some point had to decide while we’re good and the players still have worth, we’ve got to try and still do something moving forward and build for our next 10 years.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Knicks fans chanted “Fire Woodson” at Madison Square Garden last night, but coach Mike Woodson‘s job appears to be safe, says Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who nonetheless cautions that owner James Dolan’s decision-making is difficult to predict (Twitter links).
  • Happy Walters, the agent for Iman Shumpert and Amar’e Stoudemire, took to Twitter on Saturday to give Woodson a vote of confidence (hat tip to Marc Berman of the New York Post). Walters called for an end to chatter about potential Shumpert trades and Stoudemire’s minutes restriction, and said the Knicks coach deserves some slack amid injuries to Tyson Chandler and others.
  • Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers readers questions and writes that the pressure to take the hometown guy would more or less force the Raptors to draft Andrew Wiggins if he’s available when they’re picking.
0 comments 2014 NBA Draft Boston Celtics New York Knicks Toronto Raptors

Kris Humphries Would Welcome Trade

By | at November 17, 2013 9:15 am

Kris Humphries isn’t asking the Celtics to trade him, but he’s anxious for more playing time, and would like it come whether it’s with Boston or another team, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The 28-year-old has only played in six of Boston’s 11 games so far, averaging 11.2 minutes per appearance.

“It’s been tough. I’m here so that’s what I’m focused on,” Humphries told Blakely. “I’m playing some 4 (power forward) now, which I think will help out a little bit. But nothing has ever been easy for me. I’e always had shorter-term deals, always had to prove myself.”

Humphries is in the final season of a two-year, $24MM contract he signed with the Nets in 2012, before Brooklyn traded him to the Celtics in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce deal. Rival executives had doubts that Humphries would be long for Boston even before this summer’s blockbuster became official, and Blakely heard soon after the deal went through that the C’s might look to flip Humphries to another team. There was mutual interest between Humphries and the Knicks in case the Celtics bought him out over the summer, but Boston never cut him loose.

The nine-year veteran spoke in October about the possibility that the Celtics might trade him, though the focus then was on how the threat of a deal might serve as a distraction. Humphries is still trying to put the idea of his future on the back burner, even though it appears he’s open to heading elsewhere.

“That’s why players have agents,” Humphries said. “We just have to as players, focus on what we can control. If you sit there and say, ‘hey I want a trade,’ it’s going to take away from the team and what you’re trying do to.”

3 comments Boston Celtics

Omer Asik Making Weekly Trade Requests

By | at November 17, 2013 8:19 am

It’s no longer a matter of whether the Rockets will trade Omer Asik, but where they’ll deal him and what they’ll get back, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The center was a healthy scratch for last night’s game essentially because he’s upset over his removal from the Rockets starting lineup, and he’s been begging Houston to trade him nearly once a week since the team signed Dwight Howard, Stein reports. The Rockets have come to grips with the notion that their relationship with Asik is irrevocably damaged.

Rockets coaches and Asik’s teammates challenged him for his lack of engagement following the team’s decision to take him out of the starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Sixers, as Stein reveals. He didn’t play at all the next night against the Knicks or last night versus the Nuggets, indicating that the 27-year-old didn’t take well to the challenge. Howard and Chandler Parsons told reporters yesterday that they recognize the situation is difficult for Asik.

“He had a great year last year and to bring in someone over him has to be a little frustrating,” Parsons said. “It is part of the business and you have to be a professional about it and come to work every day. He is on the Rockets, so he has to act like that and come to play and come to win.” 

Rockets executives aren’t willing to let Asik go without significant return, and they like the idea of having another elite defender to back up Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Stein writes. It’s unlikely the team finds a trade partner for the Andy Miller client before December 15th, when most players signed this past offseason become eligible to be traded. Still, more than 90% of Hoops Rumors readers believe Houston should send Asik elsewhere.

1 comment Houston Rockets

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Tanking, Luxury Tax

By | at November 16, 2013 10:49 pm

As the season continues the rumors of NBA teams “tanking” increases. Nate Duncan of Hoopsworld cannot recall a season where tanking was prevalent so early in the year as it has been this season.  Duncan also joins fellow Hoopsworld writers Jessica Camerato and Alex Kennedy to debate whether tanking is bad for the NBA. Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register argues that no teams should tank this season because this draft does not include the superstar player that years prior contained.

  • Currently playing for a team rumored to be tanking this season, Gerald Wallace of the Boston Celtics tells Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that he has accepted his new role on NBA rosters as a mentor and trade chip.
  • Another Celtics player, Avery Bradley, recaps the Celtics off-season transactions to ESPNBoston.com’s Louise Cornetta while adding this season’s goals include “to go to the playoffs and win the championship”.
  • On the opposite end of teams that are tanking, Marc Stein of ESPN.com updates which teams are pursuing an NBA championship so aggressively that they will be paying luxury tax this season.
0 comments Boston Celtics

Latest On Lamar Odom, Clippers

By | at November 16, 2013 8:53 pm

8:53pm: Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLA.com tweets that Doc Rivers had a “good conversation, [but] not much more than that” with Odom.

1:36pm: Lamar Odom appeared on his way to rejoining the Clippers after meeting with the team Friday, but Dan Woike of the Orange County Register hears no deal is likely to happen anytime soon (Twitter link). The league will examine Odom’s personal problems before any signing would take place, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Last night’s reports didn’t indicate that an agreement was imminent, but it doesn’t look like there’s a definitive timetable, or that either the Clippers or Odom’s camp is speeding toward a resolution.

Executives who spoke to Turner believe the 34-year-old Odom could be physically ready to play basketball again “in a few weeks.” Perhaps of greater concern is Odom’s mental state after a summer that included a DUI charge and rumors of drug use, among other tabloid headlines. Odom’s meeting yesterday with Doc Rivers and Clippers executives was more of a check-up than a contract discussion, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Prior to that, the Clippers had made no recent contact with the power forward other than to make sure he was OK amid all the allegations against his personal character. The same had been true for the Lakers, the other team that reportedly maintains interest in Odom.

Odom nonetheless demonstrated to the executives who spoke to Turner that he’s in shape, having worked out on his own for the past month. The client of Jeff Schwartz and Excel Sports Management has been telling confidants that he’d like to sign with a contender, according to Turner, which would give the Clippers an edge over the Lakers.

1 comment Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Lakers

Poll: Should The Rockets Trade Omer Asik?

By | at November 16, 2013 7:40 pm

With Omer Asik out of the Rockets lineup tonight it is becoming more evident that Asik and the Rockets may be parting ways shortly. This should not come as a surprise as Asik asked for a trade in July after the Rockets signed Dwight Howard in free agency. Houston has been shopping Asik around but it appears the team is asking too high a price for him.

As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors points out, Asik’s backloaded contract may change the playing field of NBA teams looking to trade with Houston. The same trap Houston created to deter the Bulls from resigning Asik when he was a restricted free agent may be the same trap that hinders the Rockets from getting rid of Asik this season.

Teams may also shy away from signing Asik due to his performance decrease so far this season. While Asik has averaged 10 minutes less this season than last year, he has only scored half the points per game he did last season (10.1 PPG in 12/13; 5.0 PPG in 13/14) and is down to 7.2 RPG instead of his 11.7 RPG last year.

Should the Rockets hold on to an unhappy Asik until he buys into the new Houston system or should they try to get rid of the bad chemistry as soon as possible?

Should The Rockets Trade Omer Asik?

  • Yes 92% (812)
  • No 8% (70)

Total votes: 882

1 comment Hoops Rumors Polls Houston Rockets
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