Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
In addition to our weekly chat, we have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Sunday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Southeast Notes: Peterson, Lee, Richardson
The Hawks have promoted Jeff Peterson to assistant general manager, the team announced. “Jeff has been an integral part of our front office over the past few seasons. In that time, he has demonstrated the ability to identify players who fit our culture and system; build meaningful relationship across the world of basketball; while continuing to learn the complexities of team-building in the NBA,” GM Wes Wilcox said. “Jeff has a bright future in the NBA and we would like to congratulate Jeff on this opportunity.”
Peterson, who joined the Hawks as a seasonal assistant in 2012, was promoted to Director of Scouting before the start of the 2015/16 season. Prior to that, he served as a scout and coordinator of basketball Operations for the franchise.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Hornets swingman Courtney Lee is excited at the prospect of becoming an unrestricted free agent at the same time the league’s new TV deal kicks in, David Baumann of Basketball Insiders writes. “It’s going to be eye-opening,” Lee told Baumann. “I don’t think people understand how much money is involved with this new TV deal.”
- Lee, who is expected to land a deal in the range of $11MM-14MM per year, believes the extra cap space Charlotte will have this offseason, courtesy of the TV deal, will help keep the roster intact, Baumann adds in the same piece. “The one good thing about this summer is there’s a lot more flexibility in the cap with the TV deal coming into play, so Charlotte should be in a position to make a play for the guys they want to keep,” Lee said. “With the chemistry with these guys, it was fun playing with them. There were no egos. Everybody played together and it was all about winning.”
- Former Syracuse shooting guard Malachi Richardson worked out for the Hawks today, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
- We relayed earlier this evening that the Hawks and Sixers are reportedly discussing a potential swap involving Nerlens Noel and Jeff Teague.
Western Notes: Bickerstaff, Fizdale, Brown
Former Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the Grizzlies have reached agreement for him to become associate head coach on David Fizdale‘s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The Lakers and the Suns were also interested in adding Bickerstaff to their respective coaching staffs, Wojnarowski adds. Bickerstaff had a 37-34 record with Houston after taking over for the fired Kevin McHale in November. He had pulled his name out of consideration in the Rockets’ coaching search prior to Mike D’Antoni being hired.
Here’s more from out West:
- Fizdale’s deal with Memphis is for four years and approximately $10.2MM, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal relays. The head coach will earn $2MM in each of his first two seasons, $3MM his third year and the final season is a team option worth $3.25MM, Tillery notes. Former NBA player Nick Van Exel, who coached the Texas Legends in the NBA D-League, also accepted a position on Fizdale’s staff, Tillery adds.
- Warren LeGarie, the agent for former Cavs and Lakers head coach Mike Brown, refutes the report that his client had any interest in joining the Grizzlies as an assistant, Tillery relays in the same piece. “It’s never been true nor was there ever a possibility,” LeGarie, said. “Mike was asked and politely declined. We have no idea why one writer from ESPN continues to feed the narrative. I’ve never been called by him to confirm or deny and it’s just pure speculation without any legitimacy. That’s just irresponsible.”
- Former California swingman Jaylen Brown has a workout scheduled with the Pelicans on Friday, Brett Dawson of The Advocate relays (via Twitter).
- Big man Marreese Speights, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, isn’t sure if the team will be able to re-sign him this offseason, but noted that he prefers to remain with the Warriors, Carl Steward of The Bay Area News Group relays. “It’s been a hell of a lot of fun,” Speights said. “I feel like I put myself in position on this team and in this city to make a name for myself and be one of the core guys who’s been here. It would be best to be back here, but I understand it’s a business. I’m going to give everything in these Finals, and after that, whatever happens happens.“
Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Austin, Hornacek
Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who received a contract extension from the team this week, isn’t looking for a larger role or louder voice in the franchise’s decision-making process, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “My voice is plenty loud,” said Stevens. “I’m not worried about that.” The coach trusts not only the front office, but the members of his coaching staff as well, to do their jobs, leaving him to coach, Blakely adds. “Those guys have a lot of responsibility to help, grow and enhance young players,” Stevens continued. “We all have a role to play. Certainly my opinion is asked but I’m not involved in the day to day. It’s good. We all just try to play our role as well as we can. We have great ownership that allows us to do that.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Former Northwest Florida State swingman Brandon Austin worked out for the Sixers today and has upcoming workouts set with the Raptors on June 6 and the Knicks on June 10th, Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly relays (via Twitter).
- French shooting guard Isaia Cordinier also worked out for the Sixers today and also has workouts scheduled with the Hawks, Celtics, Raptors and Pelicans, Camerato tweets.
- With free agents reportedly turned off by the prospect of playing in the triangle offense last summer, the hope around the Knicks is that the addition of coach Jeff Hornacek and his faster-paced offense will attract players to New York, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes.
- The Celtics liked what they saw from Dragan Bender during their overseas scouting trip despite the big man only seeing limited action while playing on a talented Maccabi Tel Aviv squad, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald relays. “It’s a small body of work, but he was very good last year as a junior,” said Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel. “Combine that with the tools he has, and you can see it all come together in 10 minutes of playing time.”
Poll: 2016 Community Mock Draft (Pick No. 11)
The results of the 2016 NBA Draft lottery are in and the Sixers finally landed the elusive No. 1 overall pick after missing out the past two seasons. Now that the exact draft order is locked in, teams can begin targeting specific players who are likely to still be on the board when it is their time to choose. Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. We at Hoops Rumors thought it would be fun to give our readers the chance to predict the results of this June’s draft, which is what we intend to do with a series of polls.
We’ll continue on with the Magic, who could stand to add some frontcourt depth and backcourt scoring. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Orlando’s pick and check back Friday for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Jazz will select with the No. 12 overall pick. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 11 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.
Previous Selections
- Sixers — Ben Simmons (LSU)
- Lakers — Brandon Ingram (Duke)
- Celtics — Dragan Bender (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
- Suns — Jaylen Brown (California)
- Timberwolves — Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
- Pelicans — Kris Dunn (Providence)
- Nuggets — Jamal Murray (Kentucky)
- Kings — Henry Ellenson (Marquette)
- Raptors — Marquese Chriss (Washington)
- Bucks — Jakob Poeltl (Utah)
With the No. 11 Overall Pick, the Magic Select...
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Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) 27% (357)
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Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) 24% (318)
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Deyonta Davis (Michigan State) 13% (178)
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Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga) 12% (157)
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Thon Maker (Australia) 7% (97)
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Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) 4% (48)
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Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt) 3% (37)
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Timothe Luwawu (Mega Leks) 2% (24)
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Malachi Richardson (Syracuse) 2% (24)
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Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame) 2% (23)
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Ante Zizic (Croatia) 1% (18)
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Cheick Diallo (Kansas) 1% (15)
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Furkan Korkmaz (Anadolu Efes) 1% (13)
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Taurean Prince (Baylor) 1% (13)
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Damian Jones (Vanderbilt) 1% (7)
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Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV) 0% (3)
Total votes: 1,332
Cole Aldrich To Opt Out Of Contract
On Wednesday, reports indicated that both Wesley Johnson and Austin Rivers would turn down their player options, opting out of their contracts with the Clippers. That left one Clipper, Cole Aldrich, with an option decision to make, and according to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times, Aldrich has elected to opt out of his deal as well.
Aldrich, 27, only averaged 13.3 minutes per game in 60 contests for the Clippers last season, but was a decent depth piece for the club, averaging 5.5 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a career-best .596 FG%. Aldrich signed a two-year, minimum-salary deal with Los Angeles a year ago, with a player option on the second year of that contract.
Since that 2016/17 option is worth the minimum (approximately $1.23MM), there’s little to no downside for Aldrich in declining it. Even if he’s unable to find a team offering him a raise, he should certainly be able to land another minimum-salary contract, perhaps one that’s structured in a similar way to his last deal, giving him some flexibility to opt in or out again in 2017. With the NBA salary cap on the rise, it’s also possible Aldrich will find a team willing to pay him a little more than the minimum.
With Johnson, Rivers, and Aldrich all planning to opt out, the Clippers won’t have to carry those player options on their books when free agency begins in July. However, the team will continue to have cap holds for all three players until they’re renounced or re-signed. For his part, Aldrich has interest in re-signing in L.A., according to Turner.
Draft Rumors: Chriss, Kings, Trade Candidates
Former Washington power forward Marquese Chriss figures to be one of the first several players to come off the board three weeks from tonight – the latest mock draft at DraftExpress has him being picked third by Boston – but it sounds as if Chriss wouldn’t mind still being available at No. 8. As Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes, Chriss grew up in the Sacramento area, and would love to play for the Kings, who hold the No. 8 pick and are “ready for any scenario” with that selection, per James Ham of CSN California.
“That would be everything,” Chriss said of the possibility of playing for the Kings. “It would be cool, my family could come to half the games. To be in an environment with a new arena, they’re rebuilding their program, that would be really cool.”
As we look forward to seeing where Chriss lands, let’s round up a few more draft rumors and updates, including a couple more from Deveney…
- League sources tell Deveney that, while the 76ers and Lakers are expected to hang onto the top two picks in the draft, six other lottery teams may be looking to deal. The Timberwolves (No. 5), Raptors (No. 9), Bucks (No. 10), Magic (No. 11), Jazz (No. 12), and Suns (No. 13) are all believed to be open to trades involving their picks, per Deveney. Phoenix also holds the No. 4 overall selection, but likely wouldn’t want to move that one.
- Texas A&M prospect Danuel House has a busy workout schedule, according to Deveney. House has worked out for the 76ers and Celtics, and will work out for the Knicks, Hawks, Lakers, Mavericks, and Timberwolves within the next couple weeks. The Suns and Pistons are also expected to be added to his list of visits, per Deveney, who says House looked good against Cal freshman Jaylen Brown at his workout with Boston.
- Fran Fraschilla of ESPN (Twitter link) hears that the Raptors are “fans” of Isaiah Whitehead. Toronto holds the No. 27 pick, and while Fraschilla seems confident the Seton Hall guard will be a first-round pick, other draft experts aren’t so sure — Whitehead ranks 39th on Chad Ford’s big board at ESPN.com, and 57th on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress.com board.
- According to the team’s official website, the Bucks had the following six prospects in for a pre-draft workout today: Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Josh Adams (Wyoming), Isaiah Miles (St. Joe’s), Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Tonye Jekiri (Miami), and Mike Tobey (Virginia).
- Chip Williams of Upside and Motor identifies five prospects who benefited from the draft’s new rules and deadlines for early entrants.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Collison, Suns, Clippers
We heard last week that new Kings head coach Dave Joerger was targeting Bryan Gates as a potential assistant. Now, James Ham of CSN California hears from a source that Gates – a former Sacramento assistant who worked for Minnesota last year and the Pelicans before that – is indeed to set to come aboard Joerger’s staff. Last week’s report indicated that Joerger and the Kings were also pursuing Elston Turner, but there are no official updates yet on that front.
Here’s more from around the Pacific, including a couple more items out of Sacramento:
- Kings point guard Darren Collison was arrested on a domestic violence charge earlier this week, but his lawyer, Bill Portanova, called it a “misunderstanding” that he’s “working to straighten out,” writes Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. As Furillo observes, it makes sense to wait to see how the case plays out before predicting what it might mean for Collison or the Kings.
- Emmanuel Malou, who was set to transfer to Iowa State before deciding to remain in the 2016 draft, recently worked out for the Kings, per The Sacramento Bee.
- The Suns worked out a six-player group of prospects today that included Ryan Anderson (Arizona), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Ron Curry (James Madison), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Lester Medford (Baylor), and Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest). Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets that Diamond Stone (Maryland) is also heading to Phoenix for his next workout, while Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets that Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis has a solo workout with the team today.
- The Clippers‘ pre-draft workout group on Wednesday featured Daniel Hamilton (UConn), DeAndre’ Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Cat Barber (N.C. State), Tyrone Wallace (California), and Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), according to the team.
- In other Los Angeles workout news, Alex Poythress (Kentucky) has workouts lined up with both the Lakers and Clippers (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com), Rosco Allen (Stanford) is set to work out for the Lakers tomorrow (Twitter link via Camerato), and Czech power forward Adam Pechacek will also participate in that Lakers workout on Friday (Twitter link via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). Finally, veteran D-League forward Joel Wright is attending a Clippers mini-camp, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link).
Shane Larkin To Opt Out Of Contract
Shane Larkin has decided to opt out of his contract this summer, turning down his player option for 2016/17, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Larkin’s option with the Nets would have paid him $1.5MM next season — instead, he’ll hit the open market in search of a new deal.
Larkin, the 18th overall pick in the 2013 draft, has played for three different teams since entering the league, spending a season apiece in Dallas, New York, and Brooklyn. In 2015/16, he set new career highs in PPG (7.3), APG (4.4), and FG% (.442), among other categories.
While it appears that Larkin could be on his way to joining his fourth team in four years, it sounds like he would prefer to find a home that’s not just a short-term stop. Back in April, before he had made a decision on whether or not to exercise his player option, Larkin told reporters that he doesn’t want to “play a 10-year career with eight different teams.”
“I just turned 23, so I’m still young,” Larkin said. “Being able to get with a team on a two-year deal or three-year deal saying, ‘This is what we want you to be. We want you to spark our offense, push the tempo, be this guy and this is what we feel you can do for the team,’ then that’s perfect. Whether I’m a starter or whatever, it’s cool either way.”
Larkin figures to consider plenty of factors in free agency this offseason – notably his annual salary and his role – but it sounds he like he’ll favor suitors who are willing to offer him a multiyear contract and potentially view him as a part of their future.
Because he only has three years of NBA experience under his belt, Larkin will be eligible for restricted free agency — the Nets would have to submit a qualifying offer worth $1.875MM if they want the flexibility to match any offer for the point guard.
Andrea Bargnani Changes Agents
Andrea Bargnani has hired new representation, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops, who reports (via Twitter) that the former first overall pick has signed with agent Guillermo Bermejo of You First Sports. Bargnani was previously represented by Leon Rose of CAA.
The agent change for Bargnani comes on the heels of his departure from the Nets earlier this year. After agreeing to a buyout with Brooklyn, Bargnani later explained that he was promised a more significant role when he signed with the Nets, and since he wasn’t receiving the playing time he expected, it made more sense to part ways with the club than remain unhappy.
While Rose typically focuses on negotiating contracts for NBA players, Bermejo and You First Sports have plenty of international connections, so the agency seems like a good fit for Bargnani as he contemplates where to play in 2016/17.
According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Bargnani recently told La Gazzetta dello Sport that “the NBA door for me is not closed,” but the Italian big man figures to draw plenty of interest from teams overseas, and would likely have an opportunity to play a more significant role for a European club than he would for an NBA team.
Bargnani, 30, averaged a career-worst 6.6 points per game in just 13.8 minutes per contest during his 46 appearances with the Nets last season. Still, he reportedly received contract offers from the Italian club Olimpia Milano and Turkey’s Galatasaray, among others, after he left Brooklyn. He opted to turn down those offers, waiting until the offseason to find a new team.