Rajon Rondo Rumors: Thursday
The Celtics appear to have turned up the heat on Rajon Rondo talks, as several reports from Wednesday detailed. We’ll round up today’s latest in this post, with any additional updates throughout the day added to the top:
- According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links), Dallas and Boston are progressing toward completion of a trade for Rondo tonight. The Mavs would send Wright, Crowder, Jameer Nelson, a future first round pick, and a future second-rounder to Boston, Stein adds.
- The Rockets have dropped out of trade talks with the Celtics, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
- Rondo and his representatives have made it clear to Dallas that the All-Star guard would be inclined to sign a new deal with the team this summer, Wojnarowski adds.
4:25pm update:
- The first-rounder Dallas is offering as part of its package for Rondo is its 2015 pick, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link).
3:58pm update:
- While the Lakers are in the hunt for Rondo, there is a strong desire in Los Angeles’ front office not to give up too much now for him via a trade, and instead, they would prefer to pursue Rondo in free agency this summer, Chris Mannix of SI.com reports (Twitter link).
- The Mavs are emerging as the frontrunner in pursuit of a deal to acquire Rondo, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link).
- Dallas is currently offering a package that includes Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, and a first round pick, Wojnarowski adds.
- The Lakers and the Knicks both declined to be a part of three-way deals that could have sent Rondo elsewhere, Wojnarowski tweets.
- With Dallas in the lead for Rondo, the Rockets are “still fighting” to land Rondo, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link).
2:31pm update:
- The Lakers made an offer that included Jordan Hill and a first-round pick, if not more, for Rondo and Jeff Green, but the Celtics turned them down, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link). The Lakers would have indeed had to have added more salary to such a deal to make it work, and Hill isn’t trade-eligible until January 15th.
2:21pm update:
- The Celtics are asking too much for Rondo for the Kings to engage in talks about him with Boston as they have in the past, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). A report late Wednesday seemed to indicate that Sacramento had spoken recently with the Celtics regarding the point guard, but it’s unclear just how long ago the teams last discussed the matter.
12:51pm update:
- The Lakers have offered Steve Nash and multiple picks to the Celtics for Rondo, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com hears (Twitter link).
12:36pm update:
- The Mavs are confident that they can convince Rondo to stay in Dallas for the long term if they convince the Celtics to trade him, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). That falls in line with Berger’s report from earlier that Rondo would be open to re-signing with the Mavs and Rockets if he were dealt to either team.
10:57am update:
- The Rockets have been pursuing Rondo longer than the Mavs have, but Goran Dragic was more attractive to Houston than Rondo was over this summer, Stein notes (Twitter links). Rondo and Dragic both appear likely to hit free agency in the summer ahead.
8:59am update:
- The Mavs have advanced to the offer stage and have made a pitch featuring Brandan Wright as the key piece, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Dallas would have to add others to make the salaries match. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge has begun to move on from the idea of pairing Rondo with another superstar, spurring his apparent interest in gauging deals for Rondo, but the market for Rondo doesn’t appear as strong as Ainge had hoped, the Herald scribe writes. However, Ainge is in no rush to simply accept whatever he can find for Rondo just so the point guard doesn’t leave the C’s empty handed in the coming summer’s free agency, Bulpett adds.
- Jae Crowder‘s name has also come up in talks, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
- Rondo is open to re-signing with the Mavs and the Rockets if the Celtics trade him to either of those teams, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. It’s “certain” that the Rockets will use their nearly $8.375MM trade exception by Friday, Berger writes, as they’ve reportedly been trying to do, and that stands to alter what Houston has to offer for the Celtics point guard.
- The Lakers are among the teams to have chatted up the Celtics in recent days about a Rondo trade, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, seconding an earlier report that the Rockets had done the same. The Lakers and the Knicks are on the “periphery” of Rondo talks, and the Lakers are more of a free agency option than a potential trade destination, as Berger adds in his piece.
- The Pacers have also asked the C’s about Rondo, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports.
- Rondo reiterated his fondness for Boston late Wednesday to reporters, including Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com. “How many times do you want me to say it?” Rondo asked. “We discussed it on media day. My thoughts and my opinions as far as the organization [haven’t] changed, so … I’m enjoying life. You can’t win ‘em all, but these guys are funny, I’m young and I’m doing what I love to do. It’s a dream come true. I can’t be upset about anything, really.
- Ainge was vague in addressing the latest Rondo chatter in this morning’s radio appearance with Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb on 98.5 The Sports Hub (audio link), as Rohrbach passes along (Twitter link). “I wouldn’t say it’s any different from any year,” Ainge said. “… We’re having a lot of discussions, just like we do every year.”
Clippers, Pelicans, Grizzlies Ask About Jeff Green
The Celtics aren’t interested in trading Jeff Green in spite of recent inquiries about the forward from the Clippers, Pelicans and Grizzlies, who view the C’s as sellers, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link). That conflicts with a Wednesday report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who wrote that the C’s were shopping Green in hopes of landing a first-round pick. Boston turned down an offer for Green and Rajon Rondo that included Jordan Hill and a first-round pick, presumably among other assets, from the Lakers, as Zillgitt reported earlier today.
The interest from the Clippers isn’t surprising, given their apparent need at small forward and reported interest in Corey Brewer, among other targets. The Pelicans were reportedly aggressive in trade discussions as of a few weeks ago, and they, too, could use help at small forward. The Grizzlies aren’t blessed with star-quality wing talent, either, but it’s somewhat odd to see them involved given their 21-4 record. It’s unclear what any of the three teams is willing to relinquish to acquire Green.
The 28-year-old former No. 5 overall pick is in the midst of strong year, averaging a career-high 19.6 points per game, and he’s far and away Boston’s leading scorer this season. Reluctance on the part of Boston to move him would seem to indicate that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge isn’t about to undertake an aggressive rebuilding even if he lets go of Rondo, though given the conflicting reports, it’s tough to get a read on the C’s strategy. Green is making $9.2MM this season and has a player option for the same salary next year.
Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback
We value your input on the news we cover here at Hoops Rumors. That’s why we’re passing along some of the best insight from the comments on our posts and on the Hoops Rumors Facebook page. Share your reaction to and insight on the news and rumors around the league, and you’ll have a chance to see your name here.
If you haven’t commented at Hoops Rumors before, it’s easy to sign up and start. First, read our Commenting Policy. Then, scroll to the bottom of any post, and you’ll see the word “Login” on the right side atop the comments section. Click the word and choose whether you want to comment using a Disqus account or your existing Facebook, Twitter or Google account. If you don’t have a Disqus account and you want to create one, just choose that option and click “Need an account?” at the bottom right of the box that pops up.
More Hoops Rumors readers chose the Pacers than any other team in a recent poll that gauged the best fits for trade candidate Lance Stephenson, but reader ozzie is optimistic about a future in Charlotte for Stephenson.
- I said it in the beginning, could be a problem fitting into the Hornets type of system. I don’t think he’d be missed but it’d be great if everything would just be worked out with having Lance as a Hornet. He’s young and the sky’s the limit on how far he could go. Still growing up!!! and needs to learn and get along, period.
The Lakers are in the mix for Rajon Rondo, and around the time that Rondo and Kobe Bryant kicked up a few rumors when they met for breakfast, boston2az wondered why the purple-and-gold would poke around at this point instead of waiting until free agency.
- As much as I would love it, why in the world would the Lakers trade anything for Rondo? They’re going nowhere this year and will get a top 3 or 4 draft choice. Then they can get Rondo for nothing after the season. So the idea is that they trade a lot for Rondo so that they can win a couple of more games and mess up their draft selection?
Ralow believes the Knicks are without the necessary assets to trade for a long-term fixture and applauds team president Phil Jackson‘s willingness to be hesitant about making a deal.
- This is precisely why he said they aren’t going to make a trade at this point. No trades just to be making a trade as the last 5 Knicks GMs always seemed to do. I’m glad someone is finally showing some patience in MSG. If Isiah Thomas had any patience, we would have drafted [Joakim] Noah and [LaMarcus] Aldridge instead of trading them (as draft picks) for one decent year of Eddy Curry.
Check out what more readers had to say in previous editions of Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback. We appreciate everyone who adds to the dialogue at Hoops Rumors, and we look forward to seeing more responses like these from you!
Pacific Notes: Villanueva, Kings, Kobe, Suns
The Clippers have won 11 of their last 13 games and sit at 18-7, but they’d still be without home-court advantage in the first round if the playoffs started today. That helps explain why they reportedly remain interested in Corey Brewer, among others, given how high the bar is set in the Western Conference. Here’s more on the Clippers and their Pacific Division rivals:
- Rick Carlisle‘s willingness to personally conduct workouts for Charlie Villanueva helped sell the veteran on signing with the Mavs this summer when the Clippers were also in hot pursuit, Villanueva said recently on Google Plus, as the Dallas Morning News transcribes. “Not to take nothing away from what the Clippers and Doc Rivers [are] doing, but it just felt right with Rick,” Villanueva said. “It was just a feeling. I went with a feeling in my gut and I feel like I made the right move.”
- TNT’s Kenny Smith is among the names “floating around” for the Kings head coaching job, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, though it’s unclear whether he’s truly a candidate. Smith had conversations with the Kings about a front office position in 2013, as he told Sam Amick of USA Today at that time.
- Mitch Kupchak offered a little more wiggle room for the idea that Kobe Bryant would play past the expiration of his contract in 2016 when the Lakers GM spoke this week with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio (audio link), observes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Kupchak earlier this month appeared to dismiss the notion of a prolonged career for Bryant.
- Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that he and Suns owner Robert Sarver have had conversations about a new arena in Phoenix, observes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Sarver raised the issue publicly earlier this year, though Silver on Wednesday cautioned that he doesn’t believe there’s an “imminent” need for a new building, Coro notes.
- The Warriors have recalled Ognjen Kuzmic from the D-League, the team announced. It was just a one-day stint for the center, who juxtaposed an impressive five blocks against a paltry three points in 28 minutes of action Wednesday for Santa Cruz.
Players On De Facto Non-Guaranteed Deals
More than two dozen current NBA players without full guarantees on their salaries for this season have at least a modicum of salary protection in the form of partially guaranteed money. Many of them had a leg up in training camp because of that cash, which would have made it more costly for their teams to let them go and keep another player who had a non-guaranteed deal. However, the majority of the players who have partially guaranteed salary this season have already earned more than those amounts and have no guaranteed money for any subsequent seasons on their contracts, meaning they’re now on de facto non-guaranteed pacts.
Tarik Black received a partial guarantee worth $50K when he signed with the Rockets for this season. He beat out some players with fully guaranteed salaries to earn a spot on the opening-night roster, but for much of the season, he’s kept his place on the team even though the Rockets would no longer owe him any extra money if they let him go. Precisely 30% of the season has already lapsed, but Black’s partial guarantee covered only about 10% of his full season’s pay. By virtue of sticking around as long as he has, the Rockets have already paid out much more than that $50K, meaning they wouldn’t be on the hook for any more money if they let Black go today.
Several others are in a similar position, as the list below shows, with the partially guaranteed amount and the full season salary for each player in parentheses. The final figures here are rounded to the nearest $1K:
- Luke Babbitt, Pelicans ($100K on $981K)
- Leandro Barbosa, Warriors ($150K on $1.448MM)
- Tarik Black, Rockets ($50K on $507K)
- Erick Green, Nuggets ($50K on $507K)
- Justin Holiday, Warriors ($35K on $816K)
- Cory Jefferson, Nets ($75K on $507K)
- Jerome Jordan, Nets ($100K on $816K)
- Alex Kirk, Cavaliers ($65K on $507K)
- Toure’ Murry, Jazz ($25K on $1MM)
- JaKarr Sampson, 76ers ($25K on $507K)
- Greg Stiemsma, Raptors ($25K on $915K)
- Travis Wear, Knicks ($62K on $507K)
- Hassan Whiteside, Heat ($100K on $770K)
- Shayne Whittington, Pacers ($25K on $507K)
Two players appear set to cross that threshold soon. Dewayne Dedmon, guaranteed $250K of a salary worth about $816,482, will, as of Friday, have stayed on the Magic’s roster longer than the amount of time his partial guarantee covers. The same will be true come January 3rd for Kings power forward Eric Moreland, who will make no less than $200K of his $507,336 salary. Other players on partially guaranteed deals won’t surpass their guaranteed amounts by January 7th, the last day teams can waive non-guaranteed contracts before those deals become fully guaranteed. They’re listed here:
- Robert Covington, Sixers ($400K on $1MM)
- Samuel Dalembert, Knicks ($1.984MM on $4.052MM)
- Wayne Ellington, Lakers ($582K on $1.063MM)
- Justin Hamilton, Heat ($408K on $816K)
- Amir Johnson, Raptors ($5MM on $7MM)
- E’Twaun Moore, Bulls ($425K on $948K)
- Mike Muscala, Hawks ($408K on $816K)
- Ronnie Price, Lakers ($658K on $1.317MM)
- Glen Rice Jr., Wizards ($400K on $816K)
- Glenn Robinson III, Timberwolves ($250K on $507K)
Notes:
— Various reports over the summer left it unclear just how much of Pacers power forward Luis Scola‘s salary is partially guaranteed, so he’s not listed above.
— The dates considered in the calculations for this post presume that each player’s salary is to be distributed in even amounts during the season. Players are permitted to receive advances of up to the lesser of 80% of their guaranteed salary or 50% of their base salary if they’re not on minimum-salary contracts. Minimum-salary players can draw advances up to the lesser of 80% of their guaranteed salaries or 7.5% of their base salaries. Still, it’s profoundly uncommon for a player on a contract that’s not fully guaranteed to receive an advance.
Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and the Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Knicks, Batum, Cauley-Stein, ‘Melo
The Knicks have been “very active” in trade discussions this week, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports amid a story on the team’s apparent peripheral involvement in Rajon Rondo talks. That seems to jibe with a report from Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck earlier this week that all the Knicks aside from Carmelo Anthony are available. Rumors are indeed flying fast around the NBA these days, and here’s a look at some of the latest news from around the league:
- Nicolas Batum has pondered what it would be like to play for the Spurs, but he doesn’t see much need to leave the Blazers when he hits free agency after next season, as he tells Shams Charania of RealGM. “I still have time and I like low key so there’s no reason to think yet, but why not stay in Portland?” Batum said. “I’ve been here for seven years now, so why not?”
- Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein has been on quite a tear recently, and this has catapulted him from No. 16 all the way to No. 8 on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s insider-only Big Board. Cauley-Stein is currently ranked 10th in Hoops Rumors’ 2015 NBA Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
- ‘Melo would have been better off joining the Bulls, opines Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Bulls lucked out when he decided not to, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- Three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson has been released by the Chongqing Flying Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Enea Trapani of Sportando reports (Twitter link). The Pistons had waived Harrellson in mid-July rather than guarantee his minimum salary for the 2014/15 season.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Pistons Rumors: Monroe, Hawks, Smith, Kings
The Pistons are 5-20 with three frontcourt pieces that don’t appear to fit, making them a ripe contender to pull a trade this season. There’s been plenty of chatter in recent days, and we’ll round up the latest here:
- Falk made it clear to Zillgitt, who writes in a full story, that Monroe doesn’t want a trade in part because he wants to honor a commitment he made to Pistons coach/president of basketball ops Stan Van Gundy. Teams have been calling the Pistons about Monroe, but the fifth-year big man continues to stonewall the idea of leaving Detroit. “He made a commitment to Stan (Van Gundy) when he took the qualifying offer that he would work as hard as he could and help the team as best that he could and he would keep his mind open and at the end of the season, he would evaluate all of his options,” Falk said. “That was his plan in July, and that’s his plan in December and that will probably be his plan in February and will be his plan when the season ends.”
- Monroe will be seeking the best fit and not necessarily the highest payday in free agency this coming summer, as he and Falk have said, Zillgitt writes.
Earlier updates:
- The Pistons are “shopping” Josh Smith and willing to trade him for the right return, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The Kings remain interested in Smith, a source tells Goodwill, and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was behind Sacramento’s pursuit from the start, Goodwill adds. Yet while the Kings are still thinking about trying to trade for Smith, they’ve been gradually moving past that idea, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (video link).
- Greg Monroe says the Pistons would have to initiate discussions about a trade, since he wouldn’t ask for one, as Goodwill notes in the same piece, writing that it’s likely that Pistons GM Jeff Bower asked agent David Falk about his willingness to approve one. Monroe has a de facto no-trade clause this year because he signed his qualifying offer in the summer, and he’d lose his Bird rights if he gave the OK to a trade. Monroe prefers to play out the season as a Piston, agent David Falk told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, who passes along his report in the same video with Amick.
- Detroit asked the Hawks for Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver in exchange for Monroe this summer, but Atlanta wasn’t willing to go along with the sign-and-trade idea, Goodwill writes. The Hawks are reportedly set to pursue Monroe in unrestricted free agency this coming summer.
- The Pistons never believed that Monroe would ultimately sign the qualifying offer, according to Goodwill.
Alexey Shved Eyes Return To Europe
Sixers guard Alexey Shved is dissatisfied with his playing time and plans to give strong consideration to signing with a European team when his contract expires after the season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. European club officials have already made it clear that they’d be willing to make multimillion-dollar offers to the 26-year-old native of Russia if he were to return to Europe, according to Charania. Still, there was healthy NBA interest this summer when the Timberwolves were looking for teams willing to take him on, and the Pacers were among the interested parties before he went to Philadelphia in the three-team Kevin Love trade, Charania writes.
The Sixers would have the right to match offers from any NBA team for Shved this coming summer if they make a qualifying offer worth more than $4.103MM, but they’d be powerless to bring him back to Philadelphia if he inked with a club from overseas. Shved is putting up a career high 9.9 points per game this season for the Sixers, and he’s seeing 16.8 minutes per contest. That’s significantly more burn than the 10.5 MPG he received last year in Minnesota but less playing time than in his rookie season, when he averaged 23.9 MPG and started 16 games.
Agent Obrad Fimic, who represents Shved, is with the Warsaw, Poland-based Alti Sport agency, so Shved has maintained European ties. He averaged 21.8 MPG and made 30 starts in 62 appearances for CSKA Moscow in 2011/12, his final season before coming to the NBA.
Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS
If you want to keep tabs on all the stories and updates at Hoops Rumors, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe to our feed through your RSS reader of choice. If you prefer to receive only news about your favorite NBA team, we still have you covered. You can even get updates only when teams make a move with our Transactions-only Twitter and RSS feed. Below are links to our Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds for all 30 teams.
Atlantic
- 76ers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Celtics: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Knicks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Nets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Raptors: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
Central
- Bucks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Bulls: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Cavaliers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Pacers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Pistons: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
Southeast
- Hawks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Heat: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Hornets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Magic: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Wizards: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
Southwest
- Grizzlies: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Mavericks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Pelicans: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Rockets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Spurs: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
Northwest
- Jazz: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Nuggets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Thunder: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Timberwolves: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
- Trail Blazers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
Pacific
Pacific Notes: Morris Twins, Thomas, Thompson
The Suns gave Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris the chance to decide how to split $52MM in extension cash this fall, and Marcus tells Rolling Stone’s Jeff Allen that has no qualms about the uneven split that sets him up to make $5MM per year while his twin brother gets $8MM.
“Keef played really well last year. Coming off the bench he was a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate. So I think he deserved for his number to be higher than mine,” Marcus said. “He’s one of the great power forwards in the league. If he was by himself he would’ve gotten way more than that. I just wanted personally for his number to be higher. We look at it as a number for the household, you know? $13MM a year for our family. Whatever it broke it down to, we didn’t really care.”
The brothers took the long-term deals rather than go for a chance to hit free agency in 2016, when the salary cap is expected to shoot up, to give themselves a better chance to continue to play together, Allen writes. There’s more on the Suns amid the latest from the Pacific Division:
- Isaiah Thomas insists his decision to change agents isn’t an indication that he wants to be traded, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Many executives reportedly expect the Suns will deal one of Thomas, Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic.
- Rudy Gay calls the pair of trades that he was a part of in 2013 “a shock to my system” that spurred him to make drastic changes on and off the court, as he says to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. The Kings have been the beneficiaries of a player who’s become a bargain, Beck argues.
- Steve Kerr‘s coaching has helped Klay Thompson continue to improve even after the shooting guard signed his extension with the Warriors in October, as Chris Mannix of SI.com explores.