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Author: Chuck Myron

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By | at November 13, 2015 9:29 am

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Hedo Turkoglu Retires

By | at November 13, 2015 9:03 am

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

9:03am: The Magic have confirmed Turkoglu’s retirement with a press release that includes a statement from their longtime player.

“I am very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to live out my dream and play in the NBA,” Turkoglu’s statement reads. “I will always remember my teammates, coaches, staff members and all of the fans who made my career so wonderful for myself and my family.”

8:00am: Free agent combo forward Hedo Turkoglu has decided to retire, according to Erce Esmer of Trendbasket.net in Turkoglu’s native Turkey (Twitter link). The 15-year NBA veteran hoped over the summer to continue his career in the league, but while Kings, with former teammate Vlade Divac running the front office, emerged as a possibility, no deal materialized for the 36-year-old Jim Tanner client. He’ll assume greater responsibilities with the Turkish basketball federation now that he’s stepping away from the court, Esmer says.

Turkoglu was a key complementary player on Sacramento’s title-contending teams in the early 2000s and again on the Dwight Howard-led Magic, with whom Turkoglu made his lone NBA Finals appearance in 2009. He made his mark as a strong outside shooter, nailing 38.4% of his career 3-point attempts, and as a passer, with his teams often using him as a point forward. His best statistical season came in 2007/08, when he posted 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 36.9 minutes per game for Orlando. All those numbers are career highs.

The former 16th overall pick is not far removed from his career-best season from behind the arc, as he shot 44.0% on 3-pointers for the Clippers in 2013/14. He was almost as accurate last season, at 43.2%, but he wasn’t in the rotation for the playoffs this past spring, and the Clippers made it a priority to retool their bench.

He was an instant contributor after the Kings drafted him in 2000, joining the rotation for 16.8 minutes per game as a rookie, but Sacramento traded him to the Spurs three years into his career. He spent one season in San Antonio before leaving as a free agent for Orlando, where joined Howard for his rookie year and the pair blossomed together. He left via sign-and-trade for the Raptors after the Magic’s 2009 Finals berth, but he struggled in Toronto, which traded him to the Suns in the summer of 2010, and the Magic swung a deal to reacquire him just 18 months after having parted ways with him. He spent an additional two-plus seasons in a Magic uniform before the team waived him in January 2014. That move allowed the Magic to pocket the savings on his partially guaranteed contract after he had played only 11 games the season before, thanks to injury and a 20-game suspension that resulted from a positive test for methenolone, a performance-enhancing drug.

He joined the Clippers at midseason in 2013/14 on a prorated minimum-salary deal, and signed another the following September to re-join the team for 2014/15. He made roughly $86MM for his NBA career, according to estimates compiled from Basketball-Reference and Basketball Insiders data.

What will your most enduring memory of Turkoglu be? Leave a comment to tell us.

4 comments Newsstand Sacramento Kings

Vlade Divac Denies Asking Players If Karl Should Go

By | at November 12, 2015 6:45 pm

6:45pm: Divac said the idea he asked the players if they wanted Karl fired is a misconception, notes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

“You guys make my job hard,” Divac said to reporters. “There is partial truth to a lot of what has been reported, but much of it was off. First of all, I never asked the players if I should fire Coach or said I was thinking of doing that. I walked into the locker room after [Monday’s] game and said, ‘OK, you guys don’t want to play with Coach? What’s the problem?’ I wanted to catch them by surprise a little bit and get them to talk openly about what was going on. Then the coaches came in, and we talked some more. I think it was very positive for everyone.”

THURSDAY, 10:15am: A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should get rid of Karl, though he doesn’t mention Bratz’s involvement. We have more on the Kings drama right here.

6:43pm: Divac answered affirmatively when Marc J. Spears asked him if Karl’s job is safe (Twitter link).

“Yeah,” Divac said. “Yeah. Nothing has changed, really. 1-7, we all know we’re better.”

The blame for Cousins’ tirade doesn’t rest on Karl’s shoulders, Divac also told Spears, who earlier passed on a statement from Cousins apologizing for his outburst (All four Twitter links). Divac wouldn’t say whether the team is disciplining Cousins in any way for the tirade, Spears notes (Twitter link).

“Most important thing we had after the meeting was we were on the same page, bottom line, on how to improve. That’s positive stuff,” Divac said.

5:36pm: Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for two games after the center’s Monday night verbal tirade, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. According to Jones, Divac told the coach that he did not have authority to suspend Cousins, and Divac refused to grant Karl permission to impose the suspension.

3:15pm: Karl is indeed in jeopardy of losing his job as soon as this week, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Meanwhile, owners who have minority shares in the Kings are more frustrated than ever with Ranadive in large measure because he isn’t consulting with them on decisions, Amick hears from a source.

WEDNESDAY, 2:46pm: Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz asked players during Tuesday’s team meeting whether they thought he should fire coach George Karl, reports Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. The players weren’t sure how to respond, McIntyre adds, though Caron Butler said after the meeting that the players are behind the coach. DeMarcus Cousins verbally lit into Karl after Monday’s loss to the Spurs, though he later felt a level of regret about having done so, McIntyre also hears. Divac is under pressure as Vivek Ranadive’s interest in hiring John Calipari to both coach the team and run the front office has ramped up in recent months, according to McIntyre.

Cousins asked a couple of teammates if he had been too hard on Karl, who simply walked away at the end of the center’s rant, and they advised him not to “scream and curse” at his coach the way he had, as McIntyre details. Karl and Cousins have had an up-and-down relationship, at best, since Karl took over the team in February, with the two saying over the summer that they had patched up their differences following reports indicating that Karl wanted the team to trade Cousins and had sought to do so. Kings officials are reportedly concerned with Karl’s low energy amid a 1-7 start.

Ben McLemore expressed confusion during Tuesday’s team meeting about his role, though teammates told him it was to hit 3-pointers and defend, and that those are the responsibilities of everyone aside from Cousins and Rajon Rondo, as McIntyre details.

The Kings denied a report over the summer indicating that they had reached out to Calipari at that point, and Calipari has continually maintained that he isn’t interested in returning to the NBA, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. The team’s decisions to draft Willie Cauley-Stein, whom Calipari coached at Kentucky, and sign Rondo, who played at Kentucky before Calipari became coach there, were mostly because of Ranadive’s friendship with Calipari, McIntyre writes.

How do you see the Kings saga playing out? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

8 comments Newsstand Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs

Western Notes: Dragic, Rondo, Suns, Fredette

By | at November 12, 2015 2:59 pm

Goran Dragic remarked around the time of his trade to Miami that he saw the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” but while the Lakers were initially likely to pursue him in free agency, they abandoned the idea when they became enamored with D’Angelo Russell and were optimistic about signing a big man, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Dragic, despite his comment about the Lakers, seemed likely to re-sign with Miami in the months prior to his free agency, and he re-upped with the Heat in July. See more from around the Western Conference:

1 comment Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers Miami Heat Minnesota Timberwolves New Orleans Pelicans Phoenix Suns Sacramento Kings

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Durant, Mitchell

By | at November 12, 2015 1:00 pm

LaMarcus Aldridge wouldn’t say much in response to a question from Jason Quick of CSNNW.com about his summer 2014 pledge to re-sign with the Trail Blazers in 2015. Aldridge signed this past summer with the Spurs instead, of course.

“I’m not going to get into all of that,’’ Aldridge said. “What is done is done. I feel like both sides kind of have what they want. Now, I’m here [with the Spurs].’’

Aldridge expressed love for Portland and its fans despite his decision to split, as Quick relays, but the power forward privately made it clear he was no fan of the culture and climate of the Pacific Northwest, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, who offers a fascinating inside look at Aldridge’s free agency. See more from around the Northwest Division:

  • It was Aldridge’s decision to leave the Blazers, but the team deserves blame for failing to convince the star that it was worth it to stick around, The Oregonian’s John Canzano argues.
  • Kevin Durant need look no further than the Thunder in free agency next summer if he seeks a team with a roster that can help him win championships, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com believes.
  • Sam Mitchell‘s future beyond this season as coach of the Timberwolves is unresolved, but his lineup decisions so far indicate that he’s not merely focusing on the near term, observes Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune.
0 comments Minnesota Timberwolves Oklahoma City Thunder Portland Trail Blazers San Antonio Spurs

Mavs Rumors: Jordan, Nowitzki, Matthews

By | at November 12, 2015 11:59 am

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admits he has fun with the back-and-forth between his team and the Clippers over the DeAndre Jordan saga, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Cuban fired yet another salvo Wednesday after Jordan played his first game in Dallas since pulling out of his commitment to sign with the Mavs this summer and re-signing with the Clippers instead.

“It’s not like DeAndre and I pinkie swore,” Cuban said. “It’s not like we’ve been friends forever. It’s not like he broke some trust we had. You know, he turned out to be who we thought he was.”

Jordan isn’t the only member of the Clippers whom Cuban called out Wednesday, as we detail amid the latest from Dallas:

  • Cuban shot a retort at Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers when told before Wednesday’s game that Rivers had said to reporters that too much was being made of the Jordan story, notes Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I have no problem slamming Doc Rivers, even though he’s not going to play,” Cuban said. “I like [Clippers owner] Steve Ballmer. Lots of guys on the team, I like. But look, Doc does his radio interviews and brings it up for a reason, right? Again, Doc’s in the coaching business, he’s gotta do his job. God, there is so much I want to say.”
  • Rivers argues Jordan was simply exercising his collectively bargained right when he turned his back on the Mavs, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. “Teams do it all the time,” Rivers said. “It’s amazing how often teams change their mind on players. They sign free agents, tell them they’re gonna be there for the rest of their lives and they cut them or trade them.”
  • Dirk Nowitzki is certain that he’ll play through his current contract but isn’t sure whether he’ll keep playing or retire after that, the 37-year-old tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Nowitzki has a player option worth more than $8.692MM for next season, the last on his pact.
  • Wesley Matthews benefited financially when he turned down a four-year offer of about $65MM from the Kings to take what turned out to be an approximately $70MM four-year max offer from the Mavs, and he also dodged the Kings controversy, Amick writes in a separate piece. “I had my own reads [on the Kings], being in the room with the owner and the GM and talking to the coach, the president,” Matthews said to Amick. “I had my own thoughts going into it, my own reads, my own intuition. I think they mean well. I think they mean well. … I didn’t feel confident in meaning well.”
0 comments Dallas Mavericks Los Angeles Clippers Sacramento Kings

The Beat: Jorge Castillo On The Wizards

By | at November 12, 2015 10:58 am

jorgecastillo
Jorge Castillo

Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.

We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last time, we spoke with Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star about the Pacers. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.

Today, we gain insight on the Wizards from Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. You can follow Jorge on Twitter at @jorgeccastillo, and check out his stories right here.

Hoops Rumors: Kevin Durant‘s visit to Washington this week has reignited all the talk about the potential that he’ll sign with the Wizards in the summer. Durant is guarding against the rumors becoming a distraction for him, but what, if anything, are the Wizards doing to make sure their plans for the future don’t detract from what they’re doing this season?

Jorge Castillo: Every personnel decision the Wizards have made over the last two years was to improve the roster in the short-term while ensuring they’ll have the salary cap space to make a run at Durant in 2016. The strategy included not offering Paul Pierce a multi-year deal; adding Jared Dudley, Alan Anderson and Gary Neal on one-year commitments; resigning Drew Gooden III on one-year deal; and waiting to give Bradley Beal a max contract until July. With a core of Beal, John Wall, and Marcin Gortat, the Wizards believe they are a top Eastern Conference contender and would become a championship favorite with Durant.

Hoops Rumors: Are the Wizards at all worried that Beal will seek a short-term offer sheet or sign his qualifying offer, or are they fully confident that he’ll be willing to re-sign with them on a long-term max deal next summer?

Jorge Castillo: No, they’re not [worried]. The two sides mutually agreed to table contract discussions until next summer because a max contract signed next summer makes sense for both sides: The Wizards will have roughly an additional $7MM in cap space because Beal’s cap hold will be $14MM instead of $20.9 million and Beal will be able to sign a five-year deal instead of a four-year extension of his rookie contract because he’ll become a restricted free agent.

Hoops Rumors: Nene‘s name surfaced in trade rumors during the offseason, and the Wizards have removed him from the starting lineup in favor of Kris Humphries. How is Nene approaching this season, the last on his contract?

Jorge Castillo: It’s been a transition for Nene. He’s been a starter for most of his career and the Wizards as late as early last season were very dependent on him. But he accepted the decision and the Wizards hope he will be an anchor for the second unit as the backup center.

Hoops Rumors: How well has the rest of the team taken to coach Randy Wittman‘s new, more perimeter-oriented attack? Has the adjustment been fairly seamless, or have some trouble spots emerged?

Jorge Castillo: Most of the players love the idea and understand why they’re doing it: Wall and Beal are their best players and the style suits their skill sets. But the adjustment has been bumpy. They’ve turned over the ball at a drastically higher rate than last season — they combined for 50 turnovers in losses to the Celtics and Hawks — and the defense, which ranked in the top 10 each of the last seasons, has declined. It’s early in the season, though, and the team believes the operation will improve with time.

Hoops Rumors: Otto Porter is the team’s third leading scorer so far, and it seems like he keeps getting better. How good do the Wizards think he’ll eventually become?

Jorge Castillo: The Wizards believe Porter can become a very good player and the perfect complement to the team’s stars because he’s a versatile defender who doesn’t need the basketball in his hands to be a factor at the other end. He has become an effective spot-up 3-point shooter and his cutting ability is maximized in the new spacial offense. He’s only 22 so there’s plenty of room to grow.

Hoops Rumors: The Wizards spent most of their mid-level exception on Alan Anderson, who’s still yet to play for them as he continues to recover from a pair of surgeries on his left ankle. How close is he to returning, and with plenty of other rotation-caliber wing players on the roster, what role does the team envision for him when he gets back?

Jorge Castillo: Anderson likely won’t be back until December. He’ll fit into the rotation at the two and three, likely taking the minutes that are being allocated to Garrett Temple and rookie Kelly Oubre Jr. Wing depth was one of the Wizards’ weaknesses last season so they stockpiled on them during the offseason to maximize versatility in preparation for the new offense. And his defensive ability will be a welcomed addition.

0 comments Hoops Rumors Originals The Beat Washington Wizards

Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

By | at November 12, 2015 10:55 am

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

5 comments Denver Nuggets Detroit Pistons Newsstand Sacramento Kings

And-Ones: Durant, Green, Aldridge

By | at November 12, 2015 8:45 am

Sean Deveney of The Sporting News mentions the Lakers, Bulls and Knicks as major-market suitors for Kevin Durant, and the Warriors as a team that could catch his eye, but people around the league have long felt as though Durant will either sign with the Thunder or the Wizards, Deveney writes. It’s a sentiment one Eastern Conference GM who spoke with Deveney confirms. Still, Washington doesn’t plan an extravagant pitch, a source tells Deveney, in keeping with the former MVP’s low-key personality. That said, neither the Warriors nor the Heat should be ruled out as potential Durant destinations, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. See more from around the NBA:

  • Gerald Green punched a man who was trying to restrain him from going from the lobby of his condo building to his unit, according to a police report that Manny Navarro and Charles Rabin of the Miami Herald obtained. The man, who elected not to press charges, was attempting to keep Green in the lobby so that he would be there when rescue officials arrived, the report states, according to Navarro and Rabin. Green had earlier approached the front desk of the lobby with bloody hands and asked for a call to paramedics, then proceeded to the valet area in front of the building and collapsed, the report continues, as Navarro and Rabin detail. Green, who was handcuffed but not arrested, was hospitalized and later released and is serving a two-game suspension from the Heat. Team president Pat Riley said the team still believes it can count on Green, who issued an apology as part of a team statement, Navarro and Rabin add.
  • The Mavericks weren’t the favorites for LaMarcus Aldridge, but they still had a chance to sign him when they abandoned their pursuit to instead nail down the more certain acquisition of Wesley Matthews, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports details in an inside look at Aldridge’s free agency. Aldridge liked Kobe Bryant‘s basketball chat but little else about the Lakers presentation, while Aldridge was reluctant to share the marquee with James Harden despite an intriguing Rockets pitch and found Raptors GM Masai Ujiri appealing but not convincing enough to sway him to Toronto, according to Wojnarowski.
  • The Spurs wooed Aldridge with a casual, face-to-face approach from Gregg Popovich and other San Antonio principals, Wojnarowski explains in the same piece. Popovich’s decision to fly in for a second visit, prompted by Aldridge’s second Lakers meeting, helped sealed the deal for the Spurs, thanks in part to a last-minute appeal from Riley that the Heat president intended to use to sell Aldridge on a secondary role in Miami, Wojnarowski writes. Instead, Aldridge took Riley’s message to heart as he embraced the idea of sacrificing some of his impressive offensive numbers in San Antonio’s egalitarian offense, as the Yahoo scribe details.
0 comments Chicago Bulls Dallas Mavericks Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets Los Angeles Lakers Miami Heat New York Knicks Oklahoma City Thunder San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors Washington Wizards

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript

By | at November 11, 2015 4:30 pm

4:30pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.

3:30pm: Rumors are swirling around the Kings again, the Grizzlies and Heat pulled off a trade amid concerns about Dave Joerger’s future in Memphis, and Jimmer Fredette is back in the NBA. It’s only the second full week of the regular season, but the pressure to make moves is already mounting.

That gives us lots to talk about in this week’s chat.

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