2016 September | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Notes: Rubio, Lucas, Pinckney, Newton

September 28th, 2016 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ricky Rubio is clarifying remarks he made to a Spanish radio station over the summer that led many to believe he wants to be traded, writes Kent Youngblood of The Star-Tribune. In the June interview, Rubio noted that he had been in the league five years without making the playoffs, adding that he would have to “start thinking about teams that can get into the playoffs and win in the finals” if the Timberwolves don’t make the postseason this year. Minnesota’s best record in the five seasons Rubio has been with the team is 40-42 in 2013-14. “I didn’t say I wanted to get traded,” Rubio explained. “I want to play with a winner. I think we have the right mentality. It’s changing.”

Veteran point guard John Lucas III sounded very confident at today’s practice and clearly expects to win a roster spot, tweets John Krawczynski of the Associated Press. Lucas, who played 21 games with the Pistons in 2014/15, signed with the Wolves in August.
Ed Pinckney is attending the Timberwolves’ camp as a guest, but he is likely to be added to the coaching staff by the end of the week, according to Krawczynski (Twitter link). Pinckney served as an assistant with the Nuggets last season.
Former Minnesota GM Milt Newton hopes to eventually hold that job again with another organization, relays Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Newton, who was let go as part of a front office shakeup in May, said he believes race is a factor in a league that now has just two black GMs. “I would be naïve to think that it’s not a problem,” said Newton. “At the end of the day, I don’t want to concern myself with that. I know it’s difficult for us African-Americans to have opportunities to interview for these jobs, to have opportunities to be part of these management teams.”

Atlantic Notes: Budinger, Raptors, Sixers, Celtics

September 28th, 2016 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Chase Budinger didn’t receive any guaranteed money from the Nets on his new contract, but he’ll have the opportunity to earn a regular-season roster spot, and if he can crack the 15-man squad, he’ll collect his full salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Pincus reports (via Twitter) that Budinger’s contract is an all-or-nothing deal, which becomes fully guaranteed if Budinger makes the team.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman is pleased with the team’s offseason, as he tells Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Weltman pointed to the team’s 10 players who are 25 or under as a sign the franchise has “invested in youth,” and singled out first-round picks Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam as rookies who could establish rotation roles.
In the view of Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Joel Embiid‘s health will play a major part in solving the Sixers‘ logjam at center. If Embiid is healthy, it makes Jahlil Okafor more expendable, since Embiid can produce on offense. If Embiid isn’t healthy, it’s more imperative that the team hangs onto Okafor, who can score in the low post.
Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, new big man Al Horford said that it “feels right” to be playing for the Celtics, adding that he feels like the club is capable of winning a championship.

Los Angeles Notes: Lakers, Clippers, World Peace

September 28th, 2016 at 3:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Back in 2014, top Lakers executive Jim Buss vowed in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that if the franchise didn’t return to Western Conference contention within three or four years, he would resign. However, as Bill Oram of The Orange County Register observes, comments made by Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak this week suggest a less aggressive timeline. While Kupchak said the team needs to improve on last year’s win total (17) by more than just “a game or two,” he stopped short of setting any specific goals related to win totals or playoff contention, and it sounds as if he’s in no rush to hurry along the rebuild. Whether Buss will continue to stick the contention timeline he established publicly two years ago remains to be seen.

Let’s round up a few more notes from out of Los Angeles…

As he did a year ago, Metta World Peace will have to “earn his way” onto the Lakers‘ 15-man regular-season roster, Kupchak confirmed on Tuesday (Twitter links via Serena Winters of LakersNation.com). According to Kupchak, the veteran forward knows there’s a possibility he may not remain with the team when the regular season gets underway.
As usual, the Clippers will head into the season without a standout player at the small forward position, prompting Doc Rivers to suggest that the competition for the starting spot is “wide open.” Dan Woike of The Orange County Register has the details and the quotes.
In a separate piece for The Register, Woike notes that the Clippers significantly bolstered their basketball operations staff this year, having been “understaffed” in the past, per Rivers.
The Clippers‘ title window remains open for now, but with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and J.J. Redick eligible to reach the open market in 2017, Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times examines how much time the team will have before that window closes.

Rockets’ Gary Payton II Gets Guaranteed Salary

September 28th, 2016 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

At this time of year, most players who sign contracts with the NBA teams will settle for non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals, unless they’re notable free agents like J.R. Smith or Donatas Motiejunas, who simply haven’t reached common ground with their current teams yet. However, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), undrafted free agent Gary Payton II got a fully guaranteed salary from the Rockets on his new deal with the team.

Payton’s contract is believed to be for two years, and it’s not clear whether both years are guaranteed or just his 2016/17 salary. Either way, it gives the Rockets a 15th guaranteed salary for this season, even before taking into account Motiejunas, who remains a restricted free agent and is expected to return to the Rockets eventually.

Of course, Payton’s guaranteed salary doesn’t preclude the team from re-signing Motiejunas. But if that happens, it will leave the club with 16 fully guaranteed players, with at least one of them needing to be traded or waived before the regular season gets underway. That should make training camp and the preseason more interesting in Houston, even for players whose roster spots had appeared reasonably secure.

Curry On 2017 Free Agency: “I Want To Be Here”

September 28th, 2016 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Along with the return to NBA players and coaches to training camps this week, we also got the return of players in contract years answering questions about their future plans. Of course, at this point in the league year, very few players – Rudy Gay excepted – will even hint that they may considering leaving their current teams next summer, and Stephen Curry provided no surprises on that front. Asked about his 2017 free agency, Curry replied, “I want to be here. That’s it” (Twitter link via ESPN’s Marc Stein).

The Warriors will head into the 2016/17 season as significant favorites, and if they can win another championship this season, there’s little doubt that Curry will continue his relationship with the franchise for the foreseeable future. Still, while it’s hard to imagine things not working out in Golden State upon Kevin Durant‘s arrival, there’s no guarantee it’ll be smooth sailing from now until next June, so we’ll have to wait to see how the year plays out.

As Stein tweets, Curry could be in line for a maximum-salary contract in the range of $165MM over five years next summer if he sticks with the Warriors. Those figures are based on the NBA’s most recent salary cap projection of $102MM for the 2017/18 league year, which would mean a starting salary of $28.8MM for players with Curry’s experience. If Curry were to sign with another team, his salary under a $102MM cap would max out at about $123MM over four years.

Curry ranked first in the initial installment of our 2017 free agent power rankings earlier this month, one spot ahead of his new Warriors teammate (Durant).

Southeast Notes: Ibaka, Hornets, McRoberts

September 28th, 2016 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

Serge Ibaka opened camp with the Magic this week by expressing a desire to remain with the franchise for the long term, but as Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes, those comments don’t mean much unless Ibaka is repeating them next July. In Schmitz’s view, it will require a Magic playoff berth – or something very close to it – for Ibaka to maintain interest in re-upping with the team when his contract expires next summer. In that scenario, the Magic would have room to re-sign Ibaka and land another noteworthy free agent, but it will depend on how the team’s season plays out.

Here’s more from around the Southeast division:

The Hornets made a handful of free agent signings this summer, but one of their most important additions is being called a “de facto” free agent signing by head coach Steve Clifford. As Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes, Clifford feels that getting a healthy Michael Kidd-Gilchrist back for the 2016/17 campaign will be like adding a new player for the Hornets. The former No. 2 overall pick played just seven games last year due to shoulder problems.
In a separate piece for The Observer, Bonnell examines Christian Wood‘s role in Charlotte, noting that the young power forward will likely spend a good chunk of the year with the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ D-League affiliate.
Josh McRoberts revealed today that he broke his foot during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in May, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Before McRoberts made that announcement, Winderman had examined the potential role this season for the Heat forward, who is limited in camp as his foot continues to recover.

Carlos Delfino Still Hoping For NBA Comeback

September 28th, 2016 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

Argentinian swingman Carlos Delfino hasn’t appeared in an NBA game in more than three years, but he hasn’t given up on the idea of making a comeback at some point. As relayed by HoopsHype (original story via Ole.com.ar), Delfino has expressed interest in returning to the court, and continues to work to make it happen.

“From a personal standpoint, for sure I want return with an NBA team,” Delfino said. “Is it a long shot? Very long shot, but I believe in it and have been working towards that goal for a long time. And I’m still doing it. If I have to get minutes somewhere else while waiting for that NBA option, so be it. We’ll see.”

A first-round pick in 2003, Delfino played eight seasons in the NBA with the Pistons, Raptors, Bucks, and Rockets, averaging 8.1 PPG and shooting 36.5% from downtown in 507 career regular-season games. He also made the playoffs with all four teams, appearing in 41 total postseason contests. However, a broken foot sidelined him for the 2013/14 season and he hasn’t played in another NBA game since then, though he did participate in this year’s Olympics for Argentina.

At age 34, Delfino could still have a couple more years left in him as a bench player, but it seems unlikely that an NBA team will take a flier on him anytime soon, given his lengthy absence from the game. He would likely have a more realistic chance of finding a job with a club overseas.

Carlos Delfino

Nuggets Were Offered First-Round Picks For Barton

September 28th, 2016 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have stockpiled an intriguing collection of young talent, with team president Josh Kroenke suggesting this week that he’s pleased with the direction of the franchise. According to Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, the club could’ve gotten even younger earlier this year, with teams offering the Nuggets their first-round picks for Will Barton. However, Denver opted to keep the 25-year-old.

It comes as no real surprise that Barton drew significant trade interest. The former second-round pick enjoyed a breakout season off the bench for Denver in 2015/16, averaging 14.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.5 APG, and his contract represents one of the biggest bargains among non-rookie deals in the NBA. He’ll make just $3.533MM annually in each of the next two seasons, which must have looked incredibly appealing to teams diving into the free agent market to find a wing player in July.

On the other hand, it makes sense that the Nuggets would want to hold on to Barton. Denver already held three first-round picks in this year’s draft, and ended up using all three top-20 selections to add players to its current roster. Adding yet another rookie to the mix wasn’t necessary for a team that’s already very young.

As for which teams might have been interested in Barton, Dempsey doesn’t identify specific clubs, but I suspect no teams with top-eight picks were offering up those selections. Based on Dempsey’s report, it’s also not entirely clear whether those trade inquiries came at the 2016 deadline or during the offseason — it’s possible the Nuggets received calls at both times of the year.

Southeast Notes: Wall, Beal, Hibbert, Magic

September 27th, 2016 at 10:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

During the Wizards‘ media day on Monday, John Wall walked back his comments from August when he told reporters that he and teammate Bradley Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes. “Whenever you have your two best players and they both want the game-winning shot and they want those types of plays, you’re going to have disagreements on the court. But other than that, we’re fine,” Wall told the media. “We talk. We’ve talked about it. We’re both two grown men. Everybody wants us to dislike each other. No, we don’t dislike each other. It’s just at times any team that has two great players [or] players who want to be great, we’re going to have disagreements from time to time.”

For his part, Beal said he never took offense at Wall’s comments, likening their relationship to that of brothers, Buckner notes. “Sometimes you don’t always get along with your bigger brother or your little brother but you love them at the end of the day. They’re family. That’s how John and I are,” Beal said. “We don’t always agree on the court. You’re not always going to agree with Coach [Scott] Brooks and something that he says but at the end of the day, we’re backcourt mates, we’re teammates, we’re the two leaders of the team. We’re going to help win us games.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Magic are hunting for a location for their new D-League affiliate to call home, with the two finalists being Kissimmee’s Silver Spurs Arena and The Lakeland Center, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel reports. The team expects to finalize its decision within the next month, Robbins adds. “We’re still in final discussions with both, and both have been asked to address some specific issues that we need answers for and direction on,” CEO Alex Martins said. “I believe that within the next 30 days we’ll have a decision made.”
Center Roy Hibbert is trying to salvage his career after signing a one-year, $5MM with the Hornets this offseason. Assistant coach Patrick Ewing has taken the big man under his wing, believing that much of Hibbert’s decline stems from him buying into the talk that the changes to the game have made him obsolete, Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I think it’s probably mostly mental,” Ewing said of Hibbert. “I know everybody is talking about how the game has changed. I think he’s kind of bought into that.”
Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer weighed in with his early impressions of rookies Malcolm Delaney, Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays.

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September 27th, 2016 at 9:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

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