Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s this week’s look back at the original analysis produced by the Hoops Rumors team..
- Chuck Myron examined Omer Asik as a trade candidate.
- Luke Adams rounded up the players on de facto expiring deals.
- More than 70% of you think this is Pau Gasol‘s final year with the Lakers.
- Here’s a look at acquisitions who have yet to debut in 2013/14.
- Jonathan Nehring looked at the signings that went down using only a team’s cap space.
- The Bulls will have to be creative to find the right deal for Luol Deng, Chuck writes.
- Here’s a look at trade kickers, courtesy of Chuck.
- Luke has the early updates on the 2014 first round picks.
- Opinions are split on who will win the Atlantic. “No one” wasn’t an option.
- If you missed Luke’s chat on Monday, check out the transcript here.
- Play nice, everyone. Here’s a review on our commenting policy.
- The 2013/14 Trade Candidate series is underway, check ’em all out here.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
Celtics Notes: Rivers, KG, Pierce, Crawford
Carmelo Anthony recruiting Rajon Rondo to New York? Maybe it should be the other way around. The Celtics punished the Knicks at MSG this afternoon, cruising to a 114-73 victory. In the biggest rout of the 2013/14 season so far, Jordan Crawford led the way with 23 points while Melo had just 19 off of putrid 5-of-15 shooting. The latest out of Boston..
- Doc Rivers says the patience and effort needed to rebuild with the Celtics “just wasn’t in me,” but he thinks the team will recover quickly, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald observes. Rivers also doesn’t think the resentment that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett harbor toward Ray Allen will last.
- After being brought in at last season’s trade deadline to be a wild card for the postseason-bound Celtics, Crawford had no real expectations on him. However, Crawford is proving to be a real force for Boston, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
- The rumor that the Knicks approached the Celtics about Rajon Rondo and offered Iman Shumpert caused laughter among the Boston brass because the Celtics want first-round picks, especially if they are to deal with a division rival, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- Even though he’s not likely to win the award, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) would like to see Danny Ainge get some votes for Executive of the Year for the picks he stockpiled and his bold coaching hire.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Week In Review: 12/2/13 – 12/8/13
This week, we heard a piece of good news for Knicks fans and possibly bad news for Celtics fans. Carmelo Anthony is trying to woo Rajon Rondo to the Knicks in advance of the summer of 2015, according to his old AAU coach. Melo denied the report, but if it’s true, it could be a sign that the Knicks star is planning to stay in NYC beyond this summer. More from the week that was in basketball..
- The Sixers, Hawks, and Bucks are in the mix for disgruntled Houston big man Omer Asik.
- The Rockets have lowered their demands somewhat and are looking for just one first rounder along with a good young player.
- The Knicks won’t trade Melo.
- Steve Nash acknowledged that he might not be able to play again.
- A report said that Carmelo has already made up his mind, but he says that’s not true.
- The Heat would like to make a deal and are shopping Joel Anthony.
- The Kings and Raptors may have discussed Jimmer Fredette, depending on who you ask.
- Derrick Rose won’t rule out a return in the postseason.
- Rondo doesn’t appear close to returning just yet.
- Knicks GM Steve Mills has been citing Mike Woodson‘s coaching as a reason why Iman Shumpert has struggled this season.
- Injuries may force the Clippers to make a signing.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers wants to see his team at full strength before making a move.
- In advance of hitting the open market, Pau Gasol says he will prioritize winning.
- The Warriors waived Dewayne Dedmon.
- Jeff Van Gundy shrugged off speculation that could return to the sidelines in New York.
- The Knicks might be considering Allan Houston, however.
- The Spurs signed Malcolm Thomas.
- MarShon Brooks hasn’t requested a trade.
- Charlie Westbrook is headed to the D-League.
- Kendall Marshall is also going to the D-League.
- Royce White is getting NBA interest.
- Dante Exum is meeting with agents.
Central Rumors: Butler, Pistons, Cavs
The Pistons met the Bulls on Saturday in a game that would allow the winner to hit .500, and Detroit came away with the victory. That gives the Pistons the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, where everyone’s looking up at the Pacers, now 18-2 after a resounding win against the Spurs. Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Caron Butler would be interested in putting a group together to buy the Bucks from Herb Kohl, reports Rich Kirchen of The Business Journal. Butler also says he’d like to take an active role in managing the team, but the 33-year-old would have to retire from playing first to accomplish either objective.
- The Pistons aren’t likely to send Tony Mitchell on a D-League assignment this season, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, contradicting his report from before the season. The team feels differently about Peyton Siva, who could wind up in the D-League once Chauncey Billups and Will Bynum return from injury, Ellis adds.
- Some Cavs players haven’t been enamored with Mike Brown‘s strict coaching this season, the Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto observes. The team gave Brown license to use a heavy hand with his four-year contract, Pluto writes.
Steve Nash Acknowledges He May Not Play Again
Steve Nash‘s tenure with the Lakers hasn’t gone nearly as he expected it to, but recently he batted down a rumor that the nerve root irritation in his back was prompting him to consider retirement. Now Nash says he isn’t ruling out the possibility that his career is over, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News observes.
“I might not be able to play anymore,” Nash said. “I might have to yo-yo it. I might be able to play the rest of the way. Honestly right now, I’m trying to see if I can play the rest of the way.”
Nash has been taking his rehab at a slow pace in an effort not to have to “yo-yo” back and forth between the active and inactive lists. A setback in his recovery could mean trouble, but he knows that if he is going to play again, he’ll have to take a risk and “dance with the devil” sooner or later.
The two-time MVP called his recent troubles “a horrible 18 months for me,” as Medina notes, though his problems started just a little more than 13 months ago, when he fractured his leg in a game against the Blazers. Nash has said that he hasn’t felt the same since that injury, and he also suffered from back and hamstring problems last season, when he missed a combined 34 regular season and playoff games.
If Nash decides to quit, and NBA doctors were to rule him medically unable to play, the Lakers could be allowed to wipe the more than $19MM remaining on his contract from their books. Still, that’s a longshot even if Nash doesn’t return. The more likely scenario if Nash retires would involve the Lakers waiving him and using the Stretch Provision to defray his cost. Nash has repeatedly expressed a desire to play out his contract, which runs through next season, and it doesn’t sound like he’s ready to give up on that yet, even if he realizes he might have to at some point.
Southeast Notes: Jefferson, Andersen, Nelson
Al Jefferson calls his decision to sign with the Bobcats a “no-brainer,” but he also tells HoopsWorld’s Bill Ingram that he thinks the Jazz will benefit from letting go of him and Hawks signee Paul Millsap.
“Most definitely, I think Derrick Favors and Enes (Kanter) are going to be big time big men in this league,” Jefferson said. “I kind of had a feeling that it really just wouldn’t make any sense basketball wise to sign back me or Paul Millsap back when you have them two young guys coming up. It was still tough to leave them. I felt like they were my little brothers, but it’s part of the business and it was the best decision for everybody.”
Jefferson had long been a fan of Kemba Walker, and says to Ingram that the former Connecticut guard was one of the Bobcats who recruited him to Charlotte. The ‘Cats are off to a 9-11 start, better than in years past, but they’re only in fourth place in the Southeast, the most competitive division in the Eastern Conference. Here’s more from those teams:
- Chris Andersen is 35, but he tells Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick that he intends to play another three or four years (Twitter link). The Heat reserve thinks the two-year drug suspension that kept him away from the nightly NBA grind kept his body relatively spry.
- Trade candidate Jameer Nelson has been frustrated with playing off the ball as the Magic try rookie Victor Oladipo at point guard, but he insists that he remains no less dedicated to the only NBA team he’s ever played for, observes John Denton of Magic.com.
- The Dwight Howard trade gave Magic cornerstones Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless chances to play the sort of key roles they most likely wouldn’t have been in with their old teams, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel examines.
Injuries May Force Clippers To Make Signing
Reggie Bullock on Saturday became the latest Clippers player to go down with what could be a significant injury, and that has Doc Rivers believing the team will sign a free agent reinforcement, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. Trainers told Bullock that he probably has a high ankle sprain, an injury that usually keeps a player out of action for about a month, according to Markazi.
“We would have to look somewhere,” Rivers said about the possibility of a signing. “Let’s hope not, but my guess is yes. I don’t know where we’re going to go. If you guys have any names, call me and let me know. I’ll be on the phone tonight with (Clippers executives) Gary (Sacks) and Gerald (Madkins) and Dave Wohl, and I’m praying they know somebody. We’ll see. You never know.”
Rivers, in addition to his role as Clippers coach, has the final say on personnel matters, and he must decide what to do now that so many players are on the shelf. Matt Barnes could miss another two weeks after having a second surgery on a torn retina in his left eye and J.J. Redick is a week into a six-to-eight-week timetable for recovery from a broken hand and torn ulnar collateral ligament. Maalik Wayns hasn’t played after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee in the preseason.
The Clippers have been monitoring Lamar Odom for months, and while Markazi believes it’s possible the team will sign him soon, he notes that it’s a move the Clippers had hoped to put off for a while longer (Twitter link). Odom reportedly won’t be ready to play until mid-January, at the earliest.
Markazi mentions Shannon Brown as a possible candidate to fill the Clippers’ open roster spot. Brown played for Clippers assistant coach Alvin Gentry on the Suns. Brown has drawn interest from several teams in the weeks since the Wizards released him following the Marcin Gortat trade shortly before opening night.
Sixers, Hawks, Bucks In Mix For Omer Asik
The Rockets prefer to trade Omer Asik to an Eastern Conference team, and the Sixers, Hawks and Bucks are three clubs that appear to be strong candidates to land the 7’0″ center, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Portland had seemed to be an aggressive suitor based on the team’s reported discussions with Houston, but the Trail Blazers are enamored with what Robin Lopez has given them, and they aren’t planning to make a run at Asik, Stein writes.
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie was with the Rockets front office when they signed Asik in 2012, and his affinity for the 27-year-old from Turkey is one reason Stein believes many around the league are mentioning Philadelphia as a viable destination for Asik. Sixers power forward Thaddeus Young could fit together with Dwight Howard, Stein points out, adding that Philly isn’t likely to be able to find a player like Asik in the 2014 draft.
The Bucks are about to start looking for trades in the wake of a disappointing 4-16 start, Stein hears, concluding that Milwaukee could be Asik’s next home. That would seem to suggest the Bucks would be willing to trade Larry Sanders, whom they signed to a four-year, $44MM extension this past offseason, but that’s just my speculation.
Houston is no doubt one of many teams eyeing Paul Millsap‘s two-year, $19MM contract as an attractive bargain, so Stein figures the Rockets and Hawks could hook up on an Asik trade. Grantland’s Zach Lowe discussed the possibility of such a swap a few weeks ago, writing that it would work well for both teams and that Hawks GM Danny Ferry might take flak from Western Conference executives for giving such a significant boost to the contending Rockets.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is also concerned about strengthening his Western Conference competitors, and that’s why he wants to send Asik to the East. Stein doesn’t think Morey will be doctrinaire about the idea, but the ESPN scribe points out that Asik is just the sort of defensive force who could cause Dwight Howard trouble in the playoffs.
Odds & Ends: Rondo, Carmelo, Tyler, Ayres
Rajon Rondo doesn’t put much stock in the rumor that Carmelo Anthony is trying to recruit him to the Knicks, but Anthony has been privately yearning to see Rondo in orange and blue since July, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks attempted to trade Iman Shumpert for Rondo, and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone thinks it’s critical that New York continue to see if it can pry the All-Star point guard away from the Celtics or make some kind of splash, lest Anthony bolt in free agency. Here’s more on the Knicks and the rest of the NBA:
- Berman, in the same piece, also suggests the Knicks may look to re-sign camp invitee Jeremy Tyler in another week as he continues to round into form after a preseason injury.
- Unlike some free agents who were happy to leave their former teams behind, Spurs big man Jeff Ayres told Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News that he feels “no animosity” toward the Pacers and is “still really cool with all the guys on the team.”
- Kendall Marshall is off to a fast start with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the big club should consider signing last year’s 13th overall pick to an NBA contract.
- Doubts about the ability of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe to play together left some executives around the league believing the Suns would trade Dragic, but early returns show the pairing has been successful, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- Joel Embiid is developing into a potential No. 1 overall pick, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, joining ESPN colleague Chad Ford on the Kansas center’s bandwagon.
- Knee troubles have sidelined Al Harrington for a good chunk of this season, but he remains involved with the Wizards. As he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Harrington can imagine himself coaching after he retires and has been acting as a de facto assistant in Washington while he recovers.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
California Rumors: Lakers, Lee, Fredette
Injuries to Steve Nash and Jordan Farmar have left the Lakers short on point guards, and they planned to assess the progress of Nash’s recovery in practice this week before exploring the idea of a roster move. Nash isn’t rushing his return, but another player who’s back to health might fit the bill. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni tells reporters that Kobe Bryant will see time at the point when he makes his season debut Sunday against the Raptors (Twitter link). Here’s more from the state with the most NBA teams:
- The Warriors place a high value on David Lee, and his bloated contract, worth nearly $44.4MM through 2016/17, virtually ensures the team won’t find offers worthwhile enough to trade him, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
- James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom hears from a source that there was nothing substantial to a recent report that the Raptors were talking to the Kings about acquiring Jimmer Fredette, and spoke to Fredette about being the subject of trade rumors.
- The Kings recalled Hamady N’Diaye from the D-League in time for tonight’s game against the Jazz, according to a press release. N’Diaye appeared in just one game for the Reno Bighorns during his assignment, contributing to a win over the Santa Cruz Warriors by recording seven points, seven boards, and four blocked shots.
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the D-League affiliate of the Lakers, announced their acquisition of former Cavs swingman Manny Harris in a trade (on Twitter). Harris was in an NBA training camp this fall with the Magic.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.