Daniel Gibson Drawing NBA Interest
Former Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson says that last month he was “flooded with calls” from NBA teams looking to sign him to a 10-day contract, as he tells Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Gibson hasn’t played in the NBA this season after the Cavs elected not to re-sign him in the summer following seven years with the team.
Gibson says he’s turned down the offers because he doesn’t feel he’s ready to play at a high level, though it’s unclear if there’s any injury in particular that he’s recovering from. The 27-year-old suffered from ailments in both elbows last season. He says he hasn’t worked out for any teams, but he adds that when he’s ready, he’ll play.
The Blazers, Nuggets and Sixers had interest in signing the ASM Sports client close to the start of training camp, while the Rockets, Knicks, Pacers and Bucks were linked to Gibson over the summer. Cleveland hasn’t been among the teams with reported interest, but Gibson, who’s never played for an NBA team other than the Cavs, says he’s been keeping tabs on his old team throughout its tumultuous 2013/14 season.
“Earlier I was mad,” he said about the team’s lack of success. “I wanted to be there helping because I love that franchise. I miss that franchise. I see the talent and I see them growing and coming closer together as the year goes on. Every year has ups and downs. It’s the NBA season. But I see them now starting to play the way they’re capable of playing.”
Odds & Ends: Sixers, Spurs, Ilyasova, LeBron
Defense may win championships, but it doesn’t mean much in the All-Star game. Tonight the Eastern Conference topped the West 163-155 behind the stellar play of Kyrie Irving, who had 31 points and 14 dimes. Here’s tonight’s look around the Association..
- The 76ers have held trade discussions with all 29 other NBA teams and are believed to be the most active in talks leading up to the deadline, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. General Manager Sam Hinkie & Co. are seeking future draft picks in compensation for Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, and Thaddeus Young. Teams view the 76ers as an organization willing to acquire an expiring contract and they’re still not budging on their demand of high first round picks.
- The Spurs would love to acquire Young or Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova, but no one is sure how they can make that happen, writes Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert recently opened up about his decision to write an open letter after LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I would’ve reworded the language in The Letter, but I don’t regret sending a letter out to our fan base,” Gilbert said. “People forget the letter was not to LeBron, it was to our fan base. If I had to do it again, for sure, I would’ve reworded several parts of it. But I think it definitely needed a strong statement from me at that time. I keep a couple binders on my desk and I have a binder of the responses to The Letter from the people of Cleveland.” Late last week we rounded up more of Gilbert’s thoughts on the state of his franchise.
Raptors Not Engaged In Trade Talks
The Raptors have been on the pages of Hoops Rumors quite a bit over the last few weeks but as of tonight, it sounds like things have quieted down in Toronto. General Manager Masai Ujiri told a few reporters at the All-Star game, including Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler (via these Twitter links), that he hasn’t been engaging in trade talks as of late.
Ujiri won’t “close the door” on anything happening between now and February 20th, but he was also up front about his lack of communication with other NBA GMs up until this point. While he was complimentary of what his team (28-24, first place in Atlantic Division) has done so far this year, he was also realistic in noting that the Eastern Conference has been rather weak as a whole this year.
Kyle Lowry has been regarded as a trade candidate all year long and heavily connected to the Knicks, but so far the Raptors haven’t gotten an offer worth taking. If Ujiri is telling the truth, then nothing is imminent with the point guard and New York at the moment.
Hoops Links: Grant, Love, Raptors
On this date in 1972, Lakers center Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in NBA history to reach the 30,000 point mark for his career during a 110-109 loss to the Suns. Chamberlain also passed Bill Russell during the 1971-72 season to become the NBA’s all-time leading rebounder.
Do you have a great basketball blog post that you want (whether it’s your own or someone else’s) to see featured on Hoops Links? Send me a link and a brief description via email to HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s trip around the blogosphere..
- Keep It Cavalier bids farewell to Cavs GM Chris Grant.
- Legion Report says it’s time for the T’Wolves to move Kevin Love.
- Go Hard Sports Blog talks Raptors.
- NML Sports doles out their mid-season awards.
- Streets Of The Association asks if Steve Nash is still important in the league today.
- Hardwood Paroxysm profiles DeMar DeRozan.
If you have a great basketball blog post that you want featured on Hoops Links, send a link to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Los Angeles Notes: Kobe, Williams, Paul
Some people are concerned that Kobe Bryant won’t return to form, but Derek Fisher isn’t among them. “Yes.” Fisher told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News when asked if the 35-year-old will recover well. “Physically, you may not be able to run as fast, jump as high and explode as much. But when you’re as skilled as he is, you can still go out and dominate games and be extremely effective.” The latest out of Los Angeles..
- The Lakers have a decision to make now that Shawne Williams‘ 10-day contract has expired, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times examines. If the Lakers wait until Wednesday to re-sign the forward, he would be available for the team’s final six games in the month of February. The franchise could also choose to wait until after the trade deadline, preserving an open roster spot in case a deal materializes that brings in one more player than the Lakers send out.
- Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says he has no regrets about signing Steve Nash to a three-year, $27MM deal, but there’s no denying that the move has been a bust, writes Medina. “Life rarely goes as planned. I didn’t think it was a guarantee of anything happening here. I just thought it was a great opportunity to play for a great franchise,” said the injured veteran. “Everyone faces ups and downs in their life.“
- Clippers guard Chris Paul says he’ll fully support whatever decision Knicks star Carmelo Anthony makes in free agency, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- When asked if his reputation as an abrasive teammate hurt the Lakers‘ chances of recruiting a top free agent, Bryant told reporters, including Berman (on Twitter), that he’s only a pain in the neck when he sees that his teammates aren’t committed.
Hoops Rumors Originals
This week’s look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff..
- Chuck Myron looked at the clubs with open roster spots.
- Could Brandon Bass be on his way out of Boston? Chuck breaks it all down.
- Chuck looked at how long-tenured executives have operated at the deadline.
- The Sixers are in an unusual position with Evan Turner.
- Here’s a look at the players who are ineligible to be traded at the deadline.
- Want to follow specific players on Hoops Rumors? Here’s how.
- If you missed out on Monday’s chat, you can get caught up with the transcript here.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Love
Carmelo Anthony wants a championship in New York, but he’s realistic about the Knicks‘ chances of making something major happen between now and the trade deadline. “I don’t know man, I don’t know who’s tradeable, who’s on the block. Not many people that I think can come right now in February and change our whole season around. This is a difficult time,” Melo said. More out of the Atlantic..
- Not everyone on the Knicks is earning their keep, but Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com highlights three players that are, including mid-season pickup Jeremy Tyler. Tyler’s averaging 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per 36 minutes and hitting 55.6 percent of his field goals – solid numbers for a guy making $560K. Of course, this is all in a relatively small sample size of 174 total minutes.
- Is Boston still a free agent destination? Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe asked several prominent NBA players at the All-Star break about how’d they’d feel about (hypothetically) playing for the Celtics and he got back some positive responses. Washburn writes that the last major free agent to come to Boston might have been Xavier McDaniel back in 1992.
- Count Kevin Love, a free agent in 2015, amongst those who believe that the Celtics are still a draw for free agents, tweets Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. “Boston is a great city. I’m sure free agents would love to go there, especially with [Brad Stevens] as a coach,” said the All-Star.
Week In Review: 2/10/14 – 2/16/14
All season long we’ve been wondering if Carmelo Anthony will stay or go. This week, it appears that he has put some of that speculation to rest. Melo told reporters covering All-Star weekend that his first priority is to stay with the Knicks and that he’d like to remain with the organization for the rest of his career. In fact, he says he’d even be open to taking a pay cut if that would help the Knicks towards their goal of winning a world championship. More from the week that was..
- Ersan Ilyasova wants out of Milwaukee.
- Andre Miller doesn’t want to return to the Nuggets.
- Finalists have emerged for the top position in the NBPA.
- The Cavs are thinking about making a pitch to agent Mark Bartelstein to have him join the team’s front office.
- The Cavs and Nuggets like Pierre Jackson.
- The Thunder are seeking a wing player.
- The Wizards want a big man.
- The NBA is unlikely to expand to Seattle anytime soon.
- The Knicks like Glen Rice Jr. Meanwhile, they still want Kyle Lowry, but the Raptors are reluctant to make a deal.
- The Thunder and other clubs have their eye on Rudy Fernandez.
- The Warriors want bench help.
- The Knicks are pushing Iman Shumpert for Kenneth Faried again.
- Executives from around the league say the Bobcats and Suns are the teams to watch as we get closer to the deadline.
- The Hawks re-signed Cartier Martin.
- The Wizards have interest in Beno Udrih and Andre Miller.
- Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak opened up about the repeater tax and any regrets he might have with Steve Nash.
- Raja Bell has retired.
- The Spurs inked Shannon Brown to a 10-day deal.
- Mike Harris is drawing interest.
- Kevin Love isn’t saying much about free agency.
- Bulls executive VP of basketball ops John Paxson says the team is unlikely to make a move at the deadline.
- Chris Duhon signed in Italy.
- Sasha Pavlovic is headed to Serbia.
Eastern Notes: Heat, Nelson, Sixers
This Thursday’s trade deadline is an important date for many teams in the league. The right moves can not only help a franchise in their quest to make the playoffs this season, but also influence what a team can do in the off-season personnel wise. But it’s nine days later that is a potentially even more significant date for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. March 1st is the date that players have to be waived by in order to be eligible for another team’s playoff roster, a date informally known as the buyout deadline. Winderman believes that since the Heat don’t have much to offer other teams in potential deals, the team will be more active in looking to pick up a player who has been waived, similar to them picking up Chris Andersen last year. Winderman also opines that any deadline moves the Heat might make would be salary dumps with avoiding luxury tax penalties in mind. Potential waiver candidates to keep an eye on are Caron Butler, Keith Bogans, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Kaman, according to the article.
More from the east:
- Despite the team being in re-building mode, veteran guard Jameer Nelson remains committed to the team, and wants to be a member of the Magic for his entire career, writes Jared Zwerling of The Bleacher Report. Nelson, who is a free-agent after the season says his first choice is to re-sign with Orlando.
- The Sixers‘ focus leading up to the trade deadline is to acquire as many draft picks as they can, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The franchise wants to move Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, and Thaddeus Young for future compensation, but that’s not a given, since the team has been impressed with how the trio have developed this season. With the most cap space in the league, Pompey says that the Sixers would consider adding an expiring contract from a team looking to dump salary, but that would only be if a draft pick was included. The holdup is that the team wants first-rounders, preferably lottery picks, which teams are reluctant to part with. According to the article, the Sixers should be one of the most active teams this week, but will probably have to wait until the final hours before the deadline to accomplish anything.
- Knicks fans are already talking about the summer of 2015 and the team’s potential free agent targets. One of those mentioned was LaMarcus Aldridge, but he might not be a fit if the team holds onto Carmelo Anthony, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Anthony and the Knicks have been much more effective when ‘Melo is at power forward, which would make the pairing difficult. Anthony could switch back to small forward, but he has expressed that his preference is to stay at the four.
Western Notes: McGee, Westbrook, McDonough
Nuggets center JaVale McGee has been out of action since November with a stress fracture in his left tibia. The team’s original plan was to allow McGee to take time to let his injury heal without having surgery. But now, with little progress having been made, the 7-footer has to decide whether or not to undergo season-ending surgery. A resolution on whether he will play again this season is expected by March 1st, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. His mother, Pamela McGee stated, “By March 1, we’ll know exactly what strategy to use and when he’ll be definitely be back, or not back.” McGee has been able to start doing lower-body activity such as light work on the elliptical machine, but the leg has not healed enough for McGee, or the Nuggets, to be confident the efforts will work to get him back on the court this season. McGee only appeared in five games this season and had averages of 7.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG.
More from the west:
- The Thunder might be getting Russell Westbrook back this week, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The team had announced back on December 27th that Westbrook had surgery on his right knee for the second time since late October. He was projected to be out until after the All-Star break without a specific return date. According to the article, Westbrook will be re-evaluated on Tuesday in Oklahoma City, which could open the door for a return against the visiting Heat this Thursday. Before his injury Westbrook averaged 21.3 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 6 RPG in 25 appearances. The Thunder are 22-8 without Westbrook, mainly due to the stellar play of Kevin Durant and his 31.5 PPG.
- Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald takes a look at the job GM Ryan McDonough has done in his first year with the Suns. He has the team in the enviable position of having the assets and picks for long-range planning, as well as fielding a team that can compete in the short term, writes Murphy.