Knicks Acquire D-League Rights To Jeremy Tyler
Earlier today, the Knicks’ D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, officially acquired the D-League rights to forward Jeremy Tyler in a deal with the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. In exchange for the big man, Santa Cruz will receive the rights to forward Ryan Evans and a pair of D-League draft choices.
The Knicks were high on the 22-year-old for much of the offseason until an injury took him out of action. After that, the Knicks decided to give their final three roster spots to Toure Murry, Cole Aldrich, and Chris Smith, the younger brother of standout guard J.R. Smith. Tyler is still rehabbing the stress fracture in his right foot, but today’s deal will allow the Knicks to closely monitor his progress. Given their enthusiasm about the once highly-touted prospect, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Knicks sign him later on in the season.
Scott Suggs and Shane Gibson will also be sent from the Warriors’ affiliate to the Knicks’ affiliate.
Odds & Ends: Osby, Nash, Perkins, Wittman
The Celtics‘ D-League affiliate in Maine has acquired a pair of players who were in NBA camps last month, according to a release from the team. 2013 Magic draftee Romero Osby and Bobcats camp invitee Abdul Gaddy are now on the Red Claws’ roster. While the deals ensure that Boston’s D-League team will get a first-hand look at the two young players, there’s nothing stopping either player from signing with an NBA team besides the Celtics.
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends as the NBA regular season enters its second week….
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star is the latest writer to dismiss a rumor connecting Steve Nash and the Raptors, tweeting that it took “about four minutes” to debunk.
- While he quickly removed the tweet, Kendrick Perkins said last night after playing a season-low 16 minutes against the Suns that it “might be time for a change.” Royce Young of Daily Thunder passes along a screenshot of the deleted tweet.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com predicts the Wizards‘ Randy Wittman will be the first head coach fired this season, and suggests three potential replacements for Washington. Sam Smith of Bulls.com also identifies Wittman’s seat as the hottest among NBA coaches.
- Quincy Douby was drafted 19th overall in 2006, but only lasted three seasons in the NBA before bouncing around among several international teams over the last few years. Now, he’s back in America and will play for the Sioux Falls Skyforce to start the D-League season. As he tells Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld, Douby is hoping the skills and maturity he has developed overseas will help him land an NBA job.
- A subpar group of 2014 free agent point guards will ensure that Eric Bledsoe and Greivis Vasquez make out well on their next contracts, despite not inking extensions last week, writes Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops.
- Oliver Braun, the GM of the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany, spoke to a German outlet about the tumultuous negotiations with the Hawks over Dennis Schröder‘s buyout, and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando provides a translation of some of Braun’s comments.
- Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival breaks down the offseason player movement among the NBA and the leagues considered to be the top European domestic leagues.
Lance Stephenson Plans To Stay With Pacers
Having locked up Paul George to a maximum-salary extension this offseason, the Pacers’ ability to continue adding salary for 2014/15 may be limited. However, Lance Stephenson, who will hit free agency next summer, tells Mark Montieth of Pacers.com that he fully intends to remain with the Pacers.
“It’s a long season, I’m not thinking nothing about contracts,” Stephenson said. “I’m going to stay with the Pacers, so I’m not even thinking about the contract.”
Asked if that meant he’d turn down a larger offer from another term to re-sign with Indiana, Stephenson said again that he’s “staying with the Pacers.” We’re still nearly eight months from next year’s free agent period, so we probably shouldn’t read too much into Stephenson’s comments yet. When other teams with deeper pockets get the opportunity to court him, things could change. For now though, it seems as if the 23-year-old wants to work out a new deal with the Pacers
The Pacers already project to be an over-the-cap team in 2014/15, with about $60MM committed to eight guaranteed contracts. Adding Luis Scola‘s partially guaranteed deal and a modest salary for Stephenson could have the team inching toward tax territory, which is likely an area ownership wants to avoid.
Because he’s playing his fourth season in the NBA, Stephenson will be an unrestricted free agent in 2014. That means the Pacers won’t necessarily have the opportunity to match rival offers for the former second-round pick, but it sounds like he’ll probably give the club that chance anyway.
Central Links: Pistons, Cavs, Copeland
There are a few surprise first-place teams in divisions around the NBA in the early going, but that’s not the case in the Central, where the 3-0 Pacers lead the way. In David Aldridge’s latest Morning Tip column at NBA.com, which also features an extended look at the Bulls, the Pacers sit atop Aldridge’s power rankings.
Here are a few more Monday morning Central items:
- Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks conceded that a player’s contract situation is “always a topic of conversation for someone,” but suggested that it’s not necessarily a distraction for the player himself. As Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press details, if Cheeks is aware that players like Greg Monroe, Rodney Stuckey, and Charlie Villanueva are on expiring contracts, he didn’t let on.
- Michael Lee, Kevin Jones, and Tyrell Biggs are on the Canton Charge’s camp roster, a source tells Bob Finnan of the News-Herald (Twitter link). Lee was in camp with the Cavs last month, while Jones was released by the team back in July. Both Jones and Biggs last played for Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, so the Charge still held their rights.
- As our Free Agent Tracker shows, outside of returning free agent David West, Chris Copeland was the most significant signing for the Pacers this offseason. So why can’t the ex-Knick crack the rotation? Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star discusses that question with Copeland, who isn’t complaining about his lack of minutes.
Poll: Will Raptors Trade Rudy Gay?
When I wrote about Rudy Gay‘s contract situation two months ago, I described the Raptors forward as both an extension candidate and a trade candidate, depending on how the team thought he fit into its long-term plans. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, that’s also how GM Masai Ujiri viewed Gay heading into training camp. Stein wrote on Friday that Toronto would have been willing to consider an extension for Gay if the club liked what it saw in camp.
Now, however, Stein suggests that there’s a “strong sense” the Raptors are open to trading anyone on their roster not named Jonas Valanciunas. While there are other potential trade candidates in Toronto, including DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, Gay looks like the most obvious chip. He’s still an 18 or 19 PPG player, and may be on an expiring contract, since he has a player option for 2014/15 that he could turn down in favor of a longer deal.
Gay’s $17.89MM salary will be a deterrent when it comes to finding a trade partner, but if the Raptors were willing to take a big salary back, along with an asset or two, it’s not hard to imagine them finding a taker. Non-tanking teams hoping to earn a playoff spot this season and needing one more piece to get there could show interest in Gay. The Bucks, Wizards, Bobcats, and Cavaliers are among the candidates that come to mind, and that’s just in the East.
So what do you think? Will Ujiri do what he did in Denver with Carmelo Anthony and Nene, striking a deal that ships his highest-paid player out of town? Or will the Raptors play out the season with Gay in the hopes of landing a playoff spot themselves?
Will the Raptors trade Rudy Gay by the deadline?
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Yes 77% (694)
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No 23% (211)
Total votes: 905
Atlantic Notes: Love, Teletovic, Sixers, Raptors
While some rumors popped up last night suggesting that a Steve Nash trade between the Lakers and Raptors is a possiblity, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld is skeptical that such a deal is realistic. As Kyler notes (Twitter links), Toronto’s old regime had interest in Nash, having pursued him during the summer of 2012, but there hasn’t been any indication that the team’s new leadership group has that same level of interest.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Following up on Kevin Love‘s assertion that he “loves” New York City, Zach Braziller of the New York Post points out that Love will likely hit free agency in the summer of 2015, at the same time the Knicks will free up a ton of cap space.
- Mirza Teletovic acknowledged to Bosnian newspaper Daily Azaz that the thought of returning to Europe has crossed his mind, but says he still hopes to succeed in the NBA with the Nets. NetsDaily has the details on Teletovic’s early-season frustrations.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com argues that as long as the Sixers keep winning, there’s nothing GM Sam Hinkie can do. In Ziller’s view, Hinkie can’t and won’t seriously attempt to move veterans like Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes until the team starts to struggle.
- League sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that former coach Doug Collins may have been a reason that Andrew Bynum never wanted to be a Sixer.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers a handful of Raptors-related questions in his latest mailbag.
Zach Randolph Wants To Retire With Grizzlies
During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph made it clear that he’d like to remain in Memphis until he decides to retire:
“I’d like to be here. I’d like to retire here. You never know. If I’ve got to make some sacrifices to be here, I would. I still can play. I can still help a team out. I want to win a championship. I’ve made all the money in the world. I just want to win. I don’t know yet [about opting in or opting out], but Memphis is my home. If they trade me tomorrow, I’m here. I just bought a new house. My daughters go to school [in Memphis]. That’s my home.”
Randolph will make $18.24MM this season and has a player option for 2014/15 worth $16.94MM. The Grizzlies will have a handful of important decisions to make in the near future, especially with Ed Davis slated to become a restricted free agent in July and Marc Gasol due for a new contract in the summer of 2015. Memphis currently has three guaranteed contracts on their books for 2015/16 totaling about $21MM, so you’d have to wonder if/how much they’d be willing to spend to accommodate the 32-year-old Randolph’s desire to stay as well as how many years they’d offer.
Odds & Ends: Hayward, Jazz, Nash
While the Jazz and Gordon Hayward fell short of agreeing on a contract extension last week, both Hayward and the franchise are still interested in getting something done eventually. Hayward told Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: “(Not reaching an agreement) in no way changes the way I feel about Utah at all…I love being here. I love playing for them…Hopefully (an extension) will get worked out next summer.”
Utah GM Dennis Lindsey had this to say about Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein and future negotiations: “Mark’s been one of the best agents in the business because he negotiates hard. He was fair. He played by the rules. He’ll continue to play by the rules. We’ll be fair as well, and we’ll come back and start talking in July…Just because (Hayward) said no to our last offer, his character hasn’t changed. He is an outstanding person…He’s someone we can see being in a Utah Jazz jersey until he retires. That’s our hope. We think we’re great fits.”
We have a handful of miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight, and you can read them below:
- ESPN LA’s Arash Markazi weighed in on some of the rumblings which suggest that Steve Nash could eventually wind up in Toronto, saying that a deal between the Raptors and Lakers makes sense but isn’t sure if something gets done. Markazi opines that L.A. would like to clear Nash’s salary off their books while the Raptors would enjoy increased ticket sales by bringing the Canadian legend back to his home country (All Twitter links).
- Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld tweeted a list of players who may be traded this season, including: Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Glen Davis, Evan Turner, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Bass, and Gerald Wallace.
- Kennedy also shared what 76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams told him about his chances on winning the Rookie of the Year Award: “I think I have a pretty good chance at it. I’m just going to go out there, play my game and hope for the best” (Twitter link).
- Entering tonight’s game with a record of 1-2 before their win against the Wizards, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade acknowledged that some minor chemistry issues are affecting the team (Michael Wallace of ESPN.com). More specifically, Wade had this to say: “Let me give you an example…If you’re in a relationship with a woman for a long time, you start getting comfortable. You stop doing the little things that you should do, that you did in the beginning. It’s just like a relationship. We got a little comfortable. Now we have to get back on that edge a little bit.”
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes that Knicks forwards Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin will have their own individualized schedules as far as playing or sitting out games, a decision meant to preserve the health of both in the long run.
- Mavericks point man Jose Calderon appears to be regaining his groove after a sluggish start to the season, writes Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s a rundown of original content published by our Hoops Rumors staff this past week:
- Luke Adams hosted a Hoops Rumors chat this past Monday.
- Our Hoops Rumors writing team released their individual 2013/14 NBA predictions.
- Luke pointed out which teams still have open roster spots.
- Chuck Myron provided a list of Eastern Conference teams ranked according to the least amount of roster turnover from last season, with the Heat topping the list at 12 returning players. The Spurs led the Western Conference in the least amount of player departures with 12 returnees as well.
- Nearly 27% of you picked Miami to repeat as NBA champions in 2013/14.
- As far as your picks to win this season’s MVP award, LeBron James garnered nearly 26% of your votes, while Kevin Durant received about 25%.
- Chuck recapped Friday evening’s NBDL draft.
- Luke listed the fourth-year players who removed themselves from upcoming free agency by signing extensions this summer as well as those slated to hit the open market in July.
- Chuck highlighted the current free agents who were playing on $5MM+ contracts last season, recapped the rookie scale option decisions, and provided a team-by-team breakdown of players who have a no-trade clause in their contract.
- Jonathan Nehring wondered who among this summer’s notable restricted free agents will end up getting a maximum contract. 36% of you agreed that it would be Greg Monroe, while 34% didn’t believe that anyone listed would receive a max deal.
- As part of our Offseason In Review series for each NBA team, Chuck Myron took an in-depth look at the Heat did over the summer.
- China appears to have the highest amount of players among recent NBA veterans playing overseas.
- Charlie Adams polled our readers on who they believed would finish this season with the fewest amount of wins, and the Celtics received the highest amount of votes.
- If you haven’t already, check out our Hoops Rumors 2013 Free Agent Tracker.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
- Chuck explains how D-League assignments work.
- You can keep up with player movement in non-NBA professional leagues overseas with our International Player Movement Tracker.
Week In Review: 10/28/13-11/3/13
Here’s a recap of the top stories from this past week:
- Allen Iverson officially announced his retirement.
- Carmelo Anthony and Knicks GM Steve Mills agreed to shelve any talk of a possible extension or Anthony’s early termination option for the time being. Later in the week, Carmelo went on record saying that he’d like to retire with the Knicks.
- The Raptors are reportedly exploring trade options and are willing to deal anyone on their roster other than Jonas Valanciunas.
- There is some belief that the Magic would prefer to trade Jameer Nelson immediately if another team offered a first-round pick.
- The Grizzlies signed Quincy Pondexter to an extension worth $14MM over four years.
- The Knicks exercised their fourth-year option on Iman Shumpert, thus keeping him under contract through 2014/15.
- The Spurs picked up the fourth-year options on both Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph, therefore keeping them under contract through 2014/15.
- The Jazz exercised their 2014/15 options on both Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.
- The Nuggets exercised their 2014/15 options on Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier. There was no word on Jordan Hamilton, who had been eligible for a fourth-year option worth $2.1MM.
- The Rockets picked up the 2014/15 options on Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas.
- The Bulls picked up their 2014/15 options on Jimmy Butler and Marquis Teague.
- The Celtics picked up their 2014/15 option on Jared Sullinger, but declined to exercise their option on MarShon Brooks.
- In addition to declining their 2014/15 option on Jimmer Fredette, the Kings opted to forego extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson.
- The 76ers exercised their 2014/15 options on Arnett Moultrie and Tony Wroten.
- The Bobcats picked up their 2014/15 options on Bismack Biyambo, Kemba Walker, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
- The Hawks decided to pick up their 2014/15 option on John Jenkins, but declined to do so for Jared Cunningham.
- The Knicks’ Chris Smith, Magic big man Kyle O’Quinn, the Nuggets’ Quincy Miller, and the 76ers’ James Anderson all saw their contracts for this season become fully-guaranteed.
- Gordon Hayward and the Jazz failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension by Thursday’s deadline, thus making the 23-year-old small forward a restricted free agent this upcoming summer.
- Just three months after being hired, Gersson Rosas resigned from his post as GM of the Mavericks.
- We heard that Clippers owner Donald Sterling almost nixed the three-team deal which included sending Eric Bledsoe to the Suns and acquiring in J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley, but later consented after Doc Rivers convinced him to change his mind.
- Bobcats owner Michael Jordan offered his thoughts on the topics of tanking and the new CBA.
- The Rockets waived Reggie Williams and Marcus Camby.
- The Wizards released Shannon Brown, Kendall Marshall, and Malcolm Lee after acquiring them along with Marcin Gortat via trade with Phoenix last week.
- Darnell Jackson, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Toney Gaffney are all headed overseas to play basketball after being released from their respective teams,
- Josh Powell, Vander Blue, and JaMychal Green are bound for China, Israel, and France respectively after failing to stick on an NBA roster this fall.
- The 76ers signed Brandon Davies.
- New York is making an attempt to acquire Jeremy Tyler‘s D-League rights from the Santa Cruz Warriors.