Richardson Expected Trade From Magic
Jason Richardson has cut ties with agent Dan Fegan, but he says he fully expected the Magic to trade him over the summer when he was still represented by the man who also serves as the agent for Dwight Howard, reports John Denton of Magic.com (Twitter link). The Magic sent Richardson to the Sixers as part of Howard's trade to the Lakers this summer.
"Anybody associated with Dan Fegan was going to get traded," Richardson told reporters, including Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
The Magic franchise was seemingly on hold last season as Howard waffled on whether he wanted to remain in Orlando. He wound up waiving the early termination option on his contract for 2012/13 right before the trade deadline this past March, but regretted the move. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported on the eve of the deadline that the Magic were "incensed" with Fegan, believing he was trying to convince the star center to leave. Fegan also leaked information from a meeting Magic executives held with Howard in July, a couple weeks before the blockbuster trade that sent Howard and Richardson out of Orlando.
Richardson said he wished he could have done more during his time in Orlando, Schmitz tweets. The Magic acquired him from the Suns in December of 2010, and his numbers took an immediate hit. He averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds with a 13.3 PER last year, all of which were career lows. His numbers of 13.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 13.2 PER in a partial season with Orlando in 2010/11 weren't much better.
Fegan recently made a move of his own, leaving Lagardère Unlimited to join Happy Walters at the newly created Relativity Sports agency. Walters represents Earl Clark, another of the players involved in the Howard trade. The other player the Magic unloaded in that deal, Chris Duhon, is represented by Kevin Bradbury and Bill Duffy. Al Harrington, whom the Magic got from Denver in the deal, is believed to be the only Fegan client on the Magic roster, according to RealGM.com.
Spurs Waive Tyler Wilkerson
The Spurs announced via press release that they've waived Tyler Wilkerson, bringing their roster down to 18 players. Wilkerson saw limited action in the team's first pair of preseason contests, averaging 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 4.0 minutes per game.
The team officially inked Wilkerson to a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract on the eve of training camp, but we heard in August that the team had extended him an invitation after being impressed by his performance for their summer league team. The 6'8" Marshall product put up 9.3 PPG and 5.0 in 20.7 MPG during four summer games.
San Antonio has 13 players with some sort of guarantee on their contracts, leaving Derrick Brown, Eddy Curry, Gary Neal, Josh Powell and Wesley Witherspoon to fight for the remaining spots, though the Spurs could choose to carry only 13 men in the regular season.
Hawks Waive Keith Benson, Isma’il Muhammad
After foreshadowing the moves via Twitter, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the Hawks have waived training camp invitees Keith Benson and Isma'il Muhammad, bringing the team's roster down to 17 players. Both were on non-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts.
Benson, a 6'11" big man, got into three games for the Warriors last season, but didn't score in nine minutes and wasn't retained after his 10-day contract expired. The 6'6" Muhammad was a college star in Atlanta with Georgia Tech, but went undrafted in 2005 and is still seeking his first official NBA action.
The Hawks have 14 players under partially or fully guaranteed deals, so today's moves seem to narrow the competition for the final roster spot to James Anderson, Damion James and Carldell Johnson, none of whom are big men. The lone partial guarantee belongs to Kyle Korver. The Hawks could buy out his $5MM deal for $500K, but it seems unlikely they'd do so.
Northwest Notes: Murphy, Burks, Roy
It was an offseason of relative stability for Northwest Division teams, three of which return double-digit numbers of players from last year's rosters. The other two teams, the Timberwolves and Trail Blazers, engaged in a tete-a-tete over Nicolas Batum, who eventually wound up as one of Portland's seven returnees. The Jazz pulled off a pair of trades but still have 11 players returning, though one of them is Raja Bell, whom the team instructed not to attend training camp as the two sides lurch toward a buyout. Here's the latest from Utah and elsewhere in the Northwest.
- Jody Genessy of the Deseret News examines how Kevin Murphy, the 47th overall pick by the Jazz this past June, is playing catch-up after missing the first four practices of training camp to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Murphy is on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal.
- Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune and Randy Hollis of the Deseret News take a look at second-year man Alec Burks, who could see time at point guard for the Jazz this season. The team faces a deadline at the end of the month on whether to pick up his option for 2013/14, as the Hoops Rumors rookie contract option tracker shows.
- Brandon Roy made his preseason debut for the Wolves tonight, his first NBA action since the 2011 playoffs. SI.com's team of writers debate the impact he and other players around the league who are returning from injury will have this year.
Odds & Ends: Van Gundy, Magic, Valanciunas
Former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is upset that ESPN is denying that they had an agreement for him to join the network's broadcasting team this year, he told Dan LeBatard on 790 The Ticket radio in Miami, as Jason McIntyre of Big Lead Sports observes. Van Gundy claims ESPN pulled the offer, and sources told McIntyre that the network did so at the behest of commissioner David Stern, with whom Van Gundy has feuded in the past. Van Gundy's shadow, not to mention Dwight Howard's, still looms over Orlando, and there's more on the Magic and news from around the league on a six-game preseason night.
- The relationship between new coach Jacque Vaughn and Jameer Nelson, who had wanted Van Gundy to remain, will be critical for the Magic this season, opines Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
- A scout watching Raptors rookie big man Jonas Valanciunas described him as "soft" and "scared" to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
- Either Iman Shumpert, when he returns from injury, or Ronnie Brewer will start at shooting guard for the Knicks this season, according to Newsday's Al Iannazzone (Sulia link).
- Suns executive Lon Babby assembled a team full of guys with much to prove, writes Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic (via USAToday.com).
- Though he was taken 27th overall, Sixers rookie Arnett Moultrie would do well to emulate the rookie season of Lavoy Allen, the 50th pick in 2011, as he tries to crack a well-stocked frontcourt in Philadelphia, writes John Finger of CSNPhilly.com.
Central Rumors: Bucks, Leuer, Irving, Bulls
The Cavaliers made a pair of cuts today, letting go of Kevin Anderson and Justin Holiday, both of whom were on non-guaranteed deals. They'll be the first of many players to go from Central Division teams this month, as all five clubs are currently over the 15-man regular season roster limit. Here's more from around the Central.
- The Bucks are counting on several of their offseason additions to improve their ability to protect the basket, as Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel writes.
- Bucks GM John Hammond acquired shot blocker Samuel Dalembert in an offseason trade, but told the Journal Sentinel he wished it hadn't been necessary to part with Jon Leuer to make the deal work financially, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal notes. The Rockets wound up waiving Leuer after the swap, and the Cavs successfully claimed him, bringing to an end a whirlwind of movement that's left Cavs coach Byron Scott trying to rebuild Leuer's confidence, Lloyd reports.
- Fourth overall pick Dion Waiters is off to a slow start for the Cavs, as Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer points out.
- As a 1-for-21 shooting performance in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's preseason game showed, the Bulls bench is not what it used to be after a summer of moves that depleted the team's depth, observes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Returnees By Team: Western Conference
We specialize in news about roster movement here at Hoops Rumors, but sometimes looking at the players who stay put can provide just as much insight on the plans of their teams. So we've rounded up the returning players from each Western Conference team, just as we did with the Eastern Conference yesterday.
Unlike the East, where most of the stabillity was found amongst lottery teams — with the exception of the Heat, who brought back a dozen players — five of the West's top six teams with the most returning players made the playoffs last season. The lone exception is the Kings, who finished with the second-worst record in the conference but still brought back 11 guys. The Spurs have the most returnees of any team in the league, with 13.
The players listed here were all under contract with their teams at the end of 2011/12. So, Andrew Bogut is listed as a returnee for the Warriors even though he's never played a game for the team, since his rights were acquired in a midseason trade last year. Likewise, Raja Bell is on this list since he remains on the Jazz roster despite his absence from camp as he continues to work on a buyout with the team.
- Spurs (13) — DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili,Danny Green, Stephen Jackson, Cory Joseph, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, Gary Neal, Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter
- Thunder (12) — Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Daequan Cook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Lazar Hayward, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, Eric Maynor, Kendrick Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook
- Jazz (11) — Raja Bell, Alec Burks, DeMarre Carroll, Jeremy Evans, Derrick Favors,Gordon Hayward, Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Paul Millsap, Jamaal Tinsley, Earl Watson
- Kings (11) — DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Jimmer Fredette, Francisco Garcia,Chuck Hayes, Tyler Honeycutt, Travis Outlaw, John Salmons, Isaiah Thomas, Jason Thompson, Marcus Thornton
- Nuggets (11) — Corey Brewer, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari,Jordan Hamilton, Kosta Koufos, Ty Lawson, JaVale McGee, Andre Miller,Timofey Mozgov, Julyan Stone
- Grizzlies (10) — Tony Allen, Darrell Arthur, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay, Hamed Haddadi, Quincy Pondexter, Zach Randolph, Josh Selby, Marreese Speights
- Warriors (9) — Andris Biedrins, Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Richard Jefferson,Charles Jenkins, David Lee, Brandon Rush, Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler
- Clippers (8) — Chauncey Billups, Eric Bledsoe, Caron Butler, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Travis Leslie, Chris Paul, Trey Thompkins
- Lakers (8) — Steve Blake, Kobe Bryant, Devin Ebanks, Pau Gasol, Andrew Goudelock, Jordan Hill, Darius Morris, Metta World Peace
- Mavericks (7) — Rodrigue Beaubois, Vince Carter, Dominique Jones, Shawn Marion,Dirk Nowitzki, Delonte West, Brandan Wright
- Timberwolves (7) — J.J. Barea, Malcolm Lee, Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Luke Ridnour,Ricky Rubio, Derrick Williams
- Trail Blazers (7) — LaMarcus Aldridge, Luke Babbitt, Nicolas Batum, J.J. Hickson,Wesley Matthews, Nolan Smith, Elliot Williams
- Hornets (6) — Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Xavier Henry, Jason Smith, Lance Thomas, Greivis Vasquez
- Suns (6) — Shannon Brown, Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, Marcin Gortat, Markieff Morris, Sebastian Telfair
- Rockets (5) — Kevin Martin, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons, Patrick Patterson, Greg Smith
Western Notes: Roy, Conroy, Jefferson, Bogut
Brandon Roy's knee appears to be holding up so far for the Timberwolves, an early sign that his $10.4MM contract might prove a shrewd gamble by GM David Kahn. We've heard about the influence Roy's friend and current teammate Will Conroy had on channeling him to the Wolves, but that's not the only push Conroy gave him.
- Roy wasn't sure about coming back at all until Conroy sold him on the idea, Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. "He was one of the main influences for me to take it serious," Roy said about Conroy. "I was kind of playing around at first, but he was the one who told me, 'You're not done.' He was real big for my confidence."
- In the same piece, Conroy insists to Richardson that Roy's presence isn't the reason why he was invited to Wolves camp. "I'm here because they thought I could help the team," said Conroy, who was also in camp with the Wolves last year. "Kahn and (coach Rick) Adelman know what I can do."
- Richard Jefferson said he experienced "culture shock" after his trade from the Spurs to the Warriors last season, according to Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group. Jefferson says the laid-back atmosphere that disturbed him last year has changed with the additions of Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, the return of Andrew Bogut from injury, and a stricter attitude from coach Mark Jackson.
- As for Bogut, the big man expects he'll be ready for game action when the regular season opens, but Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com says there's a legitimate chance he could need more time.
- Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune shares initial observations from some of the Hornets about top-pick Anthony Davis, two preseason games into his NBA career.
- Though to a smaller degree than Davis, 25th overall pick Tony Wroten is also making his presence felt for the Grizzlies, as Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines.
Atlantic Rumors: Smith Brothers, Bynum, Celtics
It's been a busy day around the league today, especially for Atlantic Division teams. Here's a roundup of the latest.
- Chris Smith, who needs patella tendon surgery that will keep him out for three to six months, isn't sure exactly how the injury happened, and had been confident he'd make the Knicks, he tells Mark Berman of the New York Post. Berman, who says there's speculation that Chris' older brother J.R. re-signed with the Knicks for less money on the condition Chris would make the team, reports coach Mike Woodson won't rule out keeping a roster spot open for the younger Smith. Still, such a move would be "highly unlikely," Berman says.
- Sixers GM Rod Thorn emailed Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com to deny a report by Howard Eskin of Fox 29 in Philadelphia suggesting the Lakers withheld information about Andrew Bynum's condition before sending him to the Sixers. Bynum is recovering from a bone bruise in his left knee, but the big man says he thinks he'll be ready to play on opening night. Moore points out that Bynum passed a physical after the trade.
- Celtics coach Doc Rivers is thinking about using three different starting lineups during the season, writes Mark D'Amico of Celtics.com.
- Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal wonders which of the Knicks' multitude of aging veterans will hold up best.
Sixers Waive Xavier Silas
Guard Xavier Silas says on his Twitter account he's been cut loose by the Sixers. He signed with the team shortly before the end of last season and re-joined them as a training camp invitee, but will become a free agent once he clears waivers.
The 6'5" Northern Illinois product appeared in only two regular games for the Sixers last season, totaling 11 points in 39 minutes. He got into two postseason games as well, but only for four garbage-time minutes. He received much greater exposure with the Maine Red Claws of the D-League, averaging 9.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 23.3 MPG in 40 contests last year.
He was believed to have been on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, and his subtraction from the Sixers roster will leave the team with 17 players.