Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hawks Rumors

Eastern Notes: Sefolosha, George, Pistons

October 26th, 2015 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hawks shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha will file a civil lawsuit against New York City, its police department and the officers involved for injuries suffered during his arrest outside a Manhattan night club in April, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Hannah Storm of ESPN.com report. In an interview with Storm — who broke the story — Sefolosha expressed concern about long-term effects from the fractured right tibia and ankle ligament damage he suffered during the arrest. “There is a lot of unknown about how this will affect me two years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now,” Sefolosha said in the television interview. “Also because I think it’s the right approach to put lights on a situation like this and be able to fight back in a legal way and in a way that can empower, hopefully.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

  • Paul George is getting comfortable with the idea of moving to power forward after initial resistance, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Pacers coach Frank Vogel told Aschburner that George won’t be a prototypical power forward; he’ll just have more space to utilize his skills. George has gained a greater understanding of his new role after talks with Vogel and team president Larry Bird. “At one point, it was hard to wrap [my head around] everything,” he told Aschburner. “Here I am coming back from a big-time injury and wanting to get back to what I used to be, playing the three. Then I come back playing a stretch four — it took a toll on me mentally. But the more we’ve had practice time and I’ve had sit-down moments with coach and with Larry, the more at ease I’ve felt about the situation.”
  • Reggie Bullock wowed Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy during the preseason, which secured not only his place on the roster but also his 2016/17 team option, which Detroit exercised Sunday. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has the details. “If you really look at the whole thing and you look at consistency game in and game out he was our best player in preseason,” Van Gundy said of the small forward. “I mean, certainly our most consistent guy in the preseason. Really, I mean it would be hard to really find any fault with what he did in the preseason. He’s certainly gained our confidence and by ours, I mean coaching staff and teammates. I think he’s got everybody’s confidence heading into the season.”
  • Point guard Marcus Smart, rookie shooting guard R.J. Hunter and power forward Kelly Olynyk are among the players who excelled during the Celtics’ training camp, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports. Smart is emerging as a team leader, Hunter has opened eyes with his playmaking skills and Olynyk is shooting with more confidence, Washburn continues. But power forward Jared Sullinger reported to camp overweight and small forward James Young is still another season away from cracking the rotation, Washburn adds.
Repost Share Send via email

Hawks To Waive Earl Barron, DeQuan Jones

October 24th, 2015 at 11:02am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks are waiving center Earl Barron and combo forward DeQuan Jones, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, though Vivlamore indicates the moves have already taken place. Both players came to camp on non-guaranteed deals, so Atlanta won’t be responsible for any salary as a result of these moves. The team’s roster count will drop to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum, once these two cuts become official.

The 34-year-old Barron’s 16 games with the Suns in 2014/15 were the most he had played in an NBA season since 2010/11, when he totaled 21 appearances split among three teams. The center’s best season was 2007/08, when he appeared in 46 contests, and 15 of them as a member of the starting lineup, for the Heat. The big man’s career numbers through 140 regular season NBA contests are 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds to go along with a slash line of .371/.167/.702.

Jones, 25, went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.

Repost Share Send via email

And-Ones: Valanciunas, Union, Hawks, Jazz

October 23rd, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Teams that would like to trade for Jonas Valanciunas believe the Raptors are “lukewarm” on the center, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes within his annual League Pass rankings. Executives from around the league wonder how Valanciunas would fit in another system and whether a player like him can thrive in today’s NBA, Lowe adds. Toronto just signed Valanciunas to a four-year, $64MM extension this summer, trigging the Poison Pill Provision, which makes any trade a difficult salary-matching proposition, and GM Masai Ujiri has said on multiple occasions that the Raptors highly value the former No. 5 overall pick. See more from around the NBA:

  • Union executive director Michele Roberts hopes that next month she and NBA commissioner Adam Silver will begin formal negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. The league hasn’t given Roberts any ultimatums regarding revenue or other labor issues, she tells Spears, expressing optimism that they can settle their differences without a work stoppage. Roberts, after watching Lamar Odom‘s struggles, would also like to see the union create a transition program for players retiring from basketball, Spears writes.
  • Mike Budenholzer doesn’t anticipate making a change in playing style because of the free agent departure of DeMarre Carroll, who signed with the Raptors for four years and $58MM, as the Hawks coach/executive tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Budenholzer isn’t putting pressure on any one player to replace Carroll, Mannix adds. “Just in general, I’ve told them, ‘be yourselves, do not try to do too much,'” Budenholzer said. “Sometimes when you are given opportunities to make reads, you have to make simple plays. That is what is going to be best for us. We feel fortunate we have a good group of guys that can all play significant roles. It may not be as stable as it has been the last two years. We will just kind of make some decisions and go from there.”
  • E.J. Singler‘s deal with the Jazz was a two-year, minimum-salary arrangement that carried a $50K partial guarantee, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Utah, which released Singler on Thursday just one day after signing him, will be responsible for that $50K if he clears waivers.
Repost Share Send via email

Southeast Notes: Weber, Hardaway Jr., Webster

October 22nd, 2015 at 10:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Martell Webster‘s injury woes may end up costing him some guaranteed salary, J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic relays. The final season of Webster’s four-year, $22MM deal with the Wizards includes an incentive clause that stipulates that he has to appear in a total of 180 regular season contests during the first three years of the arrangement, or else his full guarantee will be downgraded to a partial guarantee of $2MM, which is less than 50% of what Webster’s contract calls for in 2016/17, Michael notes. Webster played 78 and 32 games in the first two years of his deal, which means that he’d need to make 70 appearances this season to meet his contractual goal, an unrealistic expectation given the Wizards’ depth at forward and his current health status, the CSN scribe opines.

Here’s more out of the Southeast:

  • Briante Weber‘s minimum salary deal with the Heat is for one year and includes no guaranteed money, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
  • Hawks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. has struggled to find his shooting stroke during the preseason, but he’ll still be given ample opportunities to prove himself this season given the high price Atlanta paid to obtain him, writes Kris Willis of SB Nation’s Peachtree Hoops.
  • Magic coach Scott Skiles believes that second-year combo forward Aaron Gordon will be a difference-maker for the team this season, John Denton of NBA.com writes. Orlando is hoping that Gordon will be able to play small forward full time which would allow the team to shift Tobias Harris to power forward, Denton adds. “I want to get [Gordon] to play with Tobias some. It’s not like we’re doubting that they can play together because we know that they can, but it’s just a matter of actually going out there and doing it,’’ Skiles said. “Then, it’s about figuring out after Friday who we want to start opening night and things like that [with the rotations].’’
Repost Share Send via email

Hawks Waive Terran Petteway

October 22nd, 2015 at 1:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:53pm: The release is official, the team announced via press release.

10:46am: The Hawks have waived Terran Petteway, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The team has yet to publicly announce the move, though Vivlamore indicates it has already taken place. The undrafted swingman from Nebraska signed a deal that carries a $75K partial guarantee, so Atlanta will be responsible for that if he clears waivers. The move leaves the Hawks with 17 players, including 13 full guarantees and partial guarantees to Mike Muscala and Lamar Patterson, as our roster count shows.

Muscala is a “lock” to make the opening night roster, as Vivlamore has termed it in the past, and Petteway appeared the only strong challenger to Patterson for the 15th regular season spot, based on their matching $75K partial guarantees. Still, Patterson, the 48th overall pick from 2014, has averaged twice as many minutes in the preseason as Petteway has. Petteway, 23, averaged 1.7 points in 7.2 minutes per game in three preseason appearances.

Earl Barron and DeQuan Jones remain on Atlanta’s roster with non-guaranteed deals. The Hawks will have to cut them by the end of Saturday if they don’t want to incut a cap hit for either of them.

Repost Share Send via email

And-Ones: Amerileague, Fredette, Draft, Coaches

October 22nd, 2015 at 12:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

The viability of the Amerileague plunged further into question Wednesday as a former spokesperson for the league revealed to freelance journalist Erin Ashley Simon that the league’s CEO was using a fictitious name and is actually Glendon Alexander, a former McDonald’s All-American with multiple fraud convictions. Amerileague operations manager Marcus Bass confirmed the news to Jeff Goodman and Paula Lavigne of ESPN’s Outside the Lines. Alexander has resigned as CEO, reports Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter link), ending a trail of suspicion about his involvement that Kami Mattioli of The Sporting News first detailed in May. Henry Walker recently became the first player who appeared in the NBA during the 2014/15 season to sign with the Amerileague, but Walker’s agent, Mike Naiditch, tells Hoops Rumors that, “If there was never a league, then [there] was never a deal.” 

The Amerileague draft was to take place today, but Bass tells Johnson that the event is on hold (Twitter link). See more from around basketball:

  • An unwillingness to adjust his freewheeling college game to the NBA style of play led to Jimmer Fredette‘s lack of success in the league, one of his former NBA assistant asserts to Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. The Spurs waived Fredette on Wednesday, though four other NBA teams still reportedly have some level of interest in him.
  • Vanderbilt junior center/forward Damian Jones says he plans to enter the 2016 draft, as Adam Sparks of The Tennessean relays. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the 6’10” Jones as the 14th-best draft prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 16.
  • Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson, Magic assistant Adrian Griffin and Pelicans assistant Darren Erman are future head coaching candidates to watch, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. Heat assistant David Fizdale draws an honorable mention on Mannix’s list.
Repost Share Send via email

Jazz, Hawks, Suns, Knicks Eye Jimmer Fredette

October 21st, 2015 at 11:26am CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz, Hawks, Suns and Knicks are teams with some level of interest in Jimmer Fredette, as Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net hears. The Spurs are set to waive Fredette today, as Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported. Any of those teams could claim his one-year, minimum-salary contract off waivers, though they’d have to assume responsibility for his $507,711 partial guarantee if they did. They could negotiate a contract without a guarantee if he clears waivers.

A return to Utah would be a homecoming of sorts for the former BYU star. The Jazz are already down to 15 players, but three of them are without full guarantees on their deals, so the team has flexibility. Phoenix is in a similar spot, with 15 players, including two with non-guaranteed contracts. The Hawks have 13 full guarantees, but Mike Muscala seems like a “lock” for the regular season roster, and former second-round pick Lamar Patterson, who’s seen plenty of preseason playing time, has a partially guaranteed deal. The Knicks have 13 full guarantees, but Langston Galloway appears secure for the 14th spot, and like Atlanta, they have a former second-round pick in Thanasis Antetokounmpo competing for spot No. 15.

Of course, Fredette is a former lottery pick, having gone 10th overall to the Kings in 2011. Still, he didn’t make too much impact in his rookie season, and his numbers have declined since. He shot only 18.8% from three-point range last season with the Pelicans and didn’t make a three-pointer in the preseason this month for the Spurs.

Do you think the Jazz, Hawks, Suns or Knicks make sense for Fredette? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Repost Share Send via email

And-Ones: Popovich, Stephenson, Schröder

October 21st, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

NBA coaches would like to see one of their own succeed Mike Krzyzewski as Team USA coach after he steps away following the 2016 Olympics, and Gregg Popovich is the No. 1 choice for that gig, a coaching source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Rick Carlisle appears to have a shot, too, and University of Kentucky coach John Calipari has a strong desire for the job, Berger also hears. See more from around basketball:

  • Lance Stephenson first targeted his hometown Nets when he found out the Hornets were exploring the idea of trading him last season, but he’s excited about his opportunity with the Clippers, as he tells Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
  • Dennis Schröder‘s rookie scale contract runs through 2016/17, and he likes playing in Atlanta, but he tells Sport Bild magazine that he wants to start and will look elsewhere if the Hawks don’t give him an opportunity, as Sport1.de relays (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, and special thanks to Alan Maimon for the translation). “My goal is the starting job,” Schröder said. “If there’s no progress next season, then I’ll have to talk to my people and explore other possibilities.”
  • Players on NBA rosters last season have begun receiving checks related to a leaguewide salary shortfall, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The NBA is obligated to distribute $57,298,826, the difference between total team salaries and the 50.39% of basketball-related income that the collective bargaining agreement mandates the players are entitled to. So, players who were on a team’s active or inactive list for 41 or more games get $124,023, while those on one of those lists for 20-40 games see $62,011, and players on one of those lists for one to 19 games receive $31,005, as Zillgitt details.
  • Amerileague president Jonathan Jordan has resigned and some agents have their expressed their doubts about the viability of the startup minor league, as Adam Johnson of D-League Digest details in a pair of pieces. Marcus Bass, the league’s director of basketball operations, tells Johnson that concerns are “getting a little overblown,” pledged to maintain a consistent flow of information, and said the league’s draft will go forward as planned Thursday.
Repost Share Send via email

Southeast Notes: Heat, Mack, Webster

October 19th, 2015 at 9:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Center Hassan Whiteside‘s injury-plagued preseason has prevented the Heat starting five from gaining any continuity, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Miami’s projected starting group of Whiteside, forwards Chris Bosh and Luol Deng, and guards Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic have only played together for one game, Winderman points out. Whiteside has appeared in one preseason game and that has affected the team’s chemistry on the court, Bosh told Miami reporters. “It’s knowing what sets we can go to when things get tight,” Bosh said. “And the only way to kind of do that is to go through what we’re going through, go through different situations, get frustrated, fail a couple of times, and then really go back to the drawing board and be honest with it. But we’re getting there.”

In other news around the Southeast Division:

  • Hawks point guard Shelvin Mack had to work himself into playing shape during camp after recovering from shoulder surgery, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Mack, who was cleared for basketball activities at the start of camp, has scored 23 points in the last two preseason games after playing sparingly in the Hawks’ first three games. “I didn’t have a chance to play in the summer; my first day of playing was the opening day of training camp,” Mack told Vivlamore. “I wasn’t able to do a lot this summer.”
  • Hawks camp invite Edgar Sosa has reached an agreement with Petrochimi in Iran, international basketball expert David Pick tweets. Sosa, a 27-year-old point guard, played in Germany and Italy over the past two seasons.
  • Wizards small forward Martell Webster recently traveled to Nebraska for a second opinion on his ailing right hip, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Webster, who had physical therapy this summer at the same location, hasn’t appeared in any of Washington’s five preseason games and his return remains unclear, Castillo adds. Webster appeared in just 32 regular-season games last season because of a back injury and shot a career-worst 23.3% on 3-point attempts.
Repost Share Send via email

Battle For Roster Spots: Southeast Division

October 19th, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors is taking a team-by-team look at the battles for regular season roster spots going on around the NBA this month, the last before rosters shrink from the offseason limit of 20 to the 15-man regular season maximum. We’ve already checked out the Northwest, Pacific, Southwest, Central and Atlantic division franchises, and now we’ll finish up the series with a look at the Atlantic Division:

HAWKS

13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Tim Hardaway Jr. — $1,304,520; Edy Tavares and Justin Holiday have smaller full guarantees for this season, but their salaries for next season are guaranteed, too.)

Non-guaranteed players

Analysis: Muscala has long been a “lock” for the regular season roster, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has said, so realistically this is a matter of four players competing for one opening night spot. Patterson has seen far more playing time in the preseason than the other three, as Vivlamore pointed out before this weekend’s game against the Heat (Twitter link), and that still holds true. Patterson, who signed as a draft-and-stash prospect this summer after having been the 48th overall pick in 2014, is averaging 4.0 points in 14.3 minutes per game. Petteway is only logging about half as many minutes per contest, and Barron and Jones have seen fewer than five minutes a night.

HEAT

13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Josh Richardson — $525,093)

Non-guaranteed players

Analysis: Johnson seems like a strong bet for opening night, since half his salary is already guaranteed and he is first in line to become the third-string point guard, a key position given the uncertainty surrounding Mario Chalmers. That ostensibly leaves one open spot, though the Heat, in line to pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they wind up over the $84.74MM tax threshold at the end of the regular season, could save money and keep a spot free beneath the 15-man roster maximum on opening night. Ennis is leading the six Heat players with non-guaranteed salary in minutes per game so far in the preseason, with 17.0 MPG, but Greg Whittington is not far behind, at 16.1 MPG. Making it tricky is that Ennis’ salary of $845,059 would become fully guaranteed on opening night, though in the long run, he’d be cheaper than the other non-guaranteed players, whose full-season salaries would count as $947,276 for tax purposes if they were to stick for all of 2015/16. At least two other teams are interested in Ennis, scouts tell Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel, as we noted earlier, so the Heat might not get the chance to re-sign Ennis later this season if they let him go.

HORNETS

14 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Troy Daniels, Tyler Hansbrough, tie — $947,276)

Non-guaranteed players

Analysis: The season-ending injury to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist begat the Wilkins signing, seemingly dampening the chances that any of the other four camp invitees will stick around for the regular season. Wilkins saw nearly 24 minutes of action in his preseason debut, his only appearance with the Hornets so far, taking only three shots and scoring five points. Still, through just one game, he’s managed to total more minutes than any other camp invitee on Charlotte’s roster except for Harrison, who’s averaging 3.8 points in 12.5 minutes per contest across four appearances so far. Harrison has a financial edge thanks to his partial guarantee, though $75K isn’t much to deter the Hornets if they’d prefer Wilkins. Harrison and Wilkins are the same height, but Wilkins has a longer wingspan that would allow him to defend better against small forwards, duties that Kidd-Gilchrist normally assumes.

MAGIC

13 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Dewayne Dedmon — $947,276)

Non-guaranteed players

Analysis: Marble, the 56th overall pick of the 2014 draft who missed much of his rookie season with an eye injury, is averaging 8.8 points in 19.7 minutes, and both numbers are better than any of the other Magic camp invitees so far. None of the others is seeing double-figure minutes, and while Stiemsma comes closest, this weekend’s exhibition against Flamengo of Brazil was his first appearance of the preseason thanks to an Achilles tendon strain that had kept him from playing in the team’s first five preseason games. Ejim has looked sharp in close to 32 total minutes of play across four games, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds, helping justify his status as the only remaining Orlando camp invitee with partially guaranteed money. However, partial guarantees of $100K apiece didn’t preserve the jobs of Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert, whom the Magic waived this afternoon.

WIZARDS

15 full guarantees (Smallest full guarantee: Garrett Temple — $1,100,602)

Non-guaranteed players

Analysis: The opening night roster for the Wizards appears to have been settled for a while, or at least since trade rumors connecting Temple to the Jazz died down. The Wizards seem to be fond of Temple, who’s leading the team in preseason minutes per game, and they’d have to either trade or eat at least $2MM in salary if they were to get rid of anyone else among their 15 fully guaranteed players. Temple is posting an impressive 7.0 assists in 24.1 minutes per game so far in the preseason, though Smith is dishing dimes at an even more efficient rate, with 4.2 APG in 12.4 MPG.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts