Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/22/15
Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon recently led San Antonio’s entry in the Las Vegas Summer League to the Summer Championship title. Hammon has drawn rave reviews from players and coaches alike for her basketball knowledge, as well as ability to relate to players. The Spurs had made Hammon an unofficial coaching intern in 2013/14 when she accepted their invitation for her to shadow the coaching staff during games, practices and meetings, and she’s since become a regular member of San Antonio’s staff under coach Gregg Popovich. While she’s not the first woman to coach in the NBA — Lisa Boyer was on the Cavs’ bench back in 2001/02, and Natalie Nakase served as an assistant coach in the summer league with the Clippers last year, she may have the best shot to date of any female to land an NBA head coaching gig.
So here’s our question of the day for you: What are Becky Hammon’s chances of landing a head coaching position in the NBA?
The Spurs’ organization, in addition to being simply one of the best in all of sports, is also one of the more forward thinking franchises in all of basketball. If Hammon indeed has the chops to run a team full-time, she could potentially become the coach in waiting for when Popovich finally decides to retire from the game, as well as stymieing inquisitive reporters with his incredibly succinct responses. But is the league ready to accept a female coach? How far is the NBA actually away from adding a woman to its head coaching ranks? Do you see Hammon becoming Pops’ eventual successor? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Of course, there will always be differing opinions. While we absolutely encourage lively discussion and debate, we do expect everyone to treat each other with respect. So, please refrain from inappropriate language, personal insults or attacks, as well as the other taboo types of discourse laid out in our site’s commenting policy. Speaking of commenting: we’ve made it much easier to leave a comment here at Hoops Rumors. Just put in your name, email address, and comment and submit it; there is no need to become a registered user.
Latest On Luc Mbah a Moute
The Kings still hold some level of interest in signing Luc Mbah a Moute, league sources have told James Ham of CowbellKingdom.com (Twitter link). The forward had previously agreed to a one-year, $1.55MM deal with Sacramento, but it was voided when Mbah a Moute failed his physical. The forward has an undisclosed shoulder issue according to team executive Vlade Divac, which is what caused Mbah a Moute to fail that exam, Rui Thomas of CowbellKingdom.com tweets.
While the Kings may indeed still have interest, there may not be a roster spot for the 28-year-old. Sacramento’s current roster count sits at 15, including 11 fully guaranteed deals. While teams can carry up to 20 players until opening night, franchises are required to pare down that number to 15 for the regular season. With the Kings officially signing Quincy Acy today, the addition of Mbah a Moute could be considered redundant since both players man the same position. The 2008 second-rounder out of UCLA has also expressed interest in returning to Philadelphia.
Mbah a Moute made 67 appearances for the Sixers last season, including 61 as a starter. He averaged 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist to go along with a slash line of .395/.307/.589. His career numbers through seven NBA seasons, which include stints with the Kings and Bucks, are 6.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.0 APG.
Rockets Sign Sam Dekker
The Rockets have signed first round pick Sam Dekker to a rookie scale deal, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Dekker was the No. 18 overall selection in this year’s NBA Draft. The addition of the forward will raise Houston’s current roster count to 11, all of which are fully guaranteed, though that number doesn’t include Marcus Thornton, whose deal has yet to be made official.
Dekker will earn more than $1.646MM this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, presuming he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale, which is most likely the case. The forward will likely take home $1,720,560 in 2016/17, $1,794,600 in 2017/18, and $2,760,095 in the contract’s final season.
In three seasons at Wisconsin, Dekker posted averages of 12.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. His career shooting line was .493/.348/.695.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Smith, Hibbert
New Lakers Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Brandon Bass had an incredulous silence when asked in a press conference today whether they’d heard from new teammate Kobe Bryant, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com shows via Instagram. Indeed, none of the three have heard from or touched base with the Lakers star, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Forward Josh Smith said that he considered joining the Clippers last season after he was waived by the Pistons, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “It was an option,” Smith said. “It was a definite thought process and conversation I had with my family.” Smith instead signed with the Rockets, but now comes to Los Angeles on a one-year, minimum salary arrangement.
- When asked why he chose to sign with the Clippers, Smith indicated that it came down to having a defined role, something he didn’t feel that he had in Houston, Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times relays. “We did some special things in Houston but it was more of a visual, concrete type of situation-scenario for me here,” Smith said. “When you have vision and it’s not kind of foggy on what’s your role and your purpose on the team, you got to make a decision you feel is best. My whole thing was I was looking at scenarios more so than being wowed by red-carpet layouts.”
- New Lakers center Hibbert waived part of his 15% trade kicker to join the team, a move he considered a “no brainer” because the franchise made it known that they wanted him, something the Pacers did not do, Medina tweets. The big man gave back all but $78,185 of what otherwise would have been a $2.3MM payout for being dealt. Hibbert had moved to Los Angeles at the end of last season, knowing he would likely be dealt away from Indiana, though he didn’t know it would be to the Lakers, Oram adds (Twitter link).
Northwest Notes: Lawson, Contract Details, Exum
Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the team had been privately trying to help Ty Lawson with his drinking issues for the past couple of years and that there had been problems for a long time. Kroenke indicated that he had repeated conversations with Lawson about his struggles, and noted that Lawson often said he would attempt to fix his issues but he could never fully shake them, Spears adds. Lawson was recently traded to the Rockets.
“He always had an affinity for burning the candle at both ends,” Kroenke said. “We want to give our players freedom to be young guys as well. We’re not going to be drill sergeants. But we want our guys to be able to handle their personal lives on their own. Ty … there were times when he was better than others. But the problems have been there for several years, going back to when we were having a lot of on-court success. I don’t want to go back too far. There were just a lot of times where you were at practice and you just know. You could smell it. You know there is probably deeper issues than he would probably let on.”
Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- GM Tim Connelly said it was a difficult choice for the Nuggets to trade Lawson, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “It was a tough day,” said Connelly. “Ty was a huge part of our success here. He’s certainly one of the really talented lead guards. Sometimes a change of scenery is best for both parties. Where we were, it made sense to make the move.“
- Raul Neto‘s three-year pact with the Jazz will see him earn $900K for the 2015/16 season, $937,800 the following season, and $1,014,746 during the 2017/18 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Joe Ingles‘ two-year deal with Utah will pay him $2.150MM for each season, Pincus adds.
- Al-Farouq Aminu‘s contract with the Blazers will pay him $8,042,995 this season, $7,680,956 in 2016/17, $7,319,035 the following year, and $6,957,105 in 2018/19, Pincus relays (on Twitter). Ed Davis‘ three-year deal will pay him $6,980,802, $6,666,667, and $6,352,531 respectively, notes Pincus.
- Jazz point guard Dante Exum knows that he needs to improve his outside shooting if he hopes to emerge as a star in the NBA, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes. “I think just the consistency of it, being straight, being on target, even if I’m not making them—as long as it’s still a good looking shot and it feels good,” Exum said regarding the progress that he has made over the summer. “I think that’s the most important thing. … Once it gets into the game and I start playing one-on-one and five-on-five that I get that carryover.”
2015/16 Roster Counts: Toronto Raptors
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Raptors’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Toronto’s roster.
(Last Updated 2-29-16, 7:25am)
Fully Guaranteed (15)
- Bismack Biyombo (F/C) — 6’9″/22 years old. Free agent signing.
- Bruno Caboclo (F) — 6’9″/19 years old. Drafted with No. 20 overall pick in 2014.
- DeMarre Carroll (F) — 6’8″/28 years old. Free agent signing.
- DeMar DeRozan (G/F) — 6’7″/25 years old. Drafted with No. 9 overall pick in 2009.
- James Johnson (F) — 6’9″/28 years old. Free agent signing.
- Cory Joseph (G) — 6’3″/23 years old. Free agent signing.
- Kyle Lowry (G) — 6’0″/29 years old. Acquired via trade from Rockets.
- Lucas Nogueira (C) — 7’0″/22 years old. Draft rights acquired via Hawks.
- Patrick Patterson (F) — 6’9″/26 years old. Acquired via trade from Kings.
- Norman Powell (G) — 6’4″/22 years old. Draft rights acquired via Bucks.
- Terrence Ross (F) — 6’7″/24 years old. Drafted with No. 8 overall pick in 2012.
- Luis Scola (F) — 6’9″/35 years old. Free agent signing.
- Jason Thompson (F) — 6’11″/29 years old. Free agent signing.
- Jonas Valanciunas (C) — 7’0″/23 years old. Drafted with No. 5 overall pick in 2011.
- Delon Wright (G) — 6’5″/23 years old. Drafted with No. 20 overall pick in 2015.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (15)
Kings Sign Quincy Acy
WEDNESDAY, 8:08pm: The deal is official, the Kings announced.
10:19pm: Acy’s deal calls for the minimum salary, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 6:52pm: Unrestricted free agent forward Quincy Acy has agreed to a two-year deal with the Kings, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania, who cites league sources (Twitter link). The second year has a player option, Charania adds.
The Magic, Pelicans, Hawks and Spurs were teams who had shown interest in Acy, who became an unrestricted free agent after the Knicks declined to extend the qualifying offer of $1.181MM to the forward. The big man should add some front-court depth.
Acy, in his best season in the league, averaged 5.9 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game last year with the Knicks. Acy played for the Kings previously. He appeared in 56 games with Sacramento in the 2013/14 season.
Kings Sign Duje Dukan
WEDNESDAY, 8:00pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
MONDAY, 5:33pm: The Kings have agreed to a deal with undrafted Wisconsin forward Duje Dukan, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania, who cites league sources (Twitter link). Dukan’s deal with the Kings will contain guarantees, Charania adds in a full story, but it is not clear what they are yet.
Dukan, a big man who can create some floor spacing, averaged 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game during the 2014/15 season. He has been playing in summer league with the Kings. Dukan was a solid shooter and ball-handler in college.
Kings Sign Seth Curry
7:41pm: The signing is official, Sacramento announced.
WEDNESDAY, 7:50am: The deal is for the minimum, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). That makes it worth $1,962,972, slightly less than $2MM, and more importantly, it means Sacramento doesn’t have to use its room exception on him, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks surmised (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 7:40pm: The Kings have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Seth Curry, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. It is going to be a two-year, $2MM pact, Wojnarowski adds. Both years will be fully guaranteed, and the second year is a player option, Wojnarowski tweets. ESPN’s Marc Stein first reported (on Twitter) that the two sides were nearing a deal.
The 24-year-old has spent most of his time in the NBA D-League, and has inked 10-day contracts with the Cavs, Grizzlies, and Suns over the past two seasons. Curry has only appeared in a total of four NBA contests, and his averages are 0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 5.3 minutes per contest.
The Pelicans were rumored to be close to giving a guaranteed deal to Curry, who played extremely well in the Las Vegas Summer League. Curry played for New Orleans’ squad in Vegas, averaging 24.3 points per contest on 45.9% shooting.
Warriors Rescind Qualifying Offer To Kuzmic
The Warriors have withdrawn their $1,147,276 qualifying offer to Ognjen Kuzmic, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). He’s now become an unrestricted free agent, as Golden State has forfeited its right to match offers for him. The Warriors were facing a deadline, as Thursday is the final day that a team may withdraw a qualifying offer to a player without his consent.
The two sides can still strike a deal, but the Warriors can no longer prevent Kuzmic from joining another NBA squad. There hasn’t been much chatter regarding any NBA teams being interested in the seven-footer’s services, though now that the ability for Golden State to match any offers is gone, the market could pick up for Kuzmic. The Mavs are still in need of frontcourt depth, and could give the big man a look, though that is merely my speculation.
Kuzmic appeared in just 16 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.5 minutes per contest. The 25-year-old spent the bulk of last season in the D-League playing for Golden State’s affiliate. Kuzmic played in 29 contests for Santa Cruz, logging 12.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 2.0 BPG with a slash line of .493/.000/.772.