Hoops Rumors Originals
Here’s our look back at the original reporting and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Chuck Myron looked at how last year’s rookie extension eligible players fared.
- Chuck looked at Jazz big man Enes Kanter as an extension candidate.
- Eddie Scarito asked you to pick the winner of the Southeast Division. Nearly 50% of you voted for the Wizards.
- In the Southwest Division, Hoops Rumors readers have the Grizzlies as the favorites.
- We asked you to predict whether Michael Beasley would circle back to the NBA.
- Chuck looked at the changes that Phil Jackson has brought to New York.
- Keep an eye on our rookie scale team option tracker.
- Here are the players who inked deals that run through 2016.
- Did you miss Chuck’s chat? Read the transcript here.
- Chris Crouse asked you to weigh Tyson Chandler‘s career versus Elton Brand‘s based off of Eddie Scarito’s reflection on the deal.
- Here are the teams with open regular season roster spots.
Southeast Notes: Beal, Magic, Gordon
The Heat haven’t looked all that sharp so far in preseason, but they expect to improve once they have forward Josh McRoberts back in the lineup, writes Shandel Richardson of the Sun-Sentinel. When his toe injury heals, McRoberts’ skills – namely his passing – could open things up more for stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Here’s more from the Southeast Division..
- The Wizards announced that Bradley Beal‘s wrist surgery from earlier today was successful, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The new timetable given by the team is six weeks as opposed to the six-to-eight week estimate that was reported Saturday.
- Magic guard Ben Gordon, who signed a two-year, $9MM deal with Orlando this offseason, is happy to have Charlotte in his rear view mirror, writes John Denton of NBA.com. “(The struggles in Charlotte) bothered me a lot while I was there. Obviously, I was happy to be out of that situation,’’ Gordon said. “It’s behind me now. It’s just one of those things that happens and you try to learn from it and I’m just moving on.’”
- An industry source with knowledge of the Magic‘s thinking tells Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel that the team supports a proposal to alter the NBA Draft Lottery. The proposal would give the teams with the four worst overall records nearly identical chances to win the No. 1 pick.
Hoops Links: Faried, Lakers, Garrison
On this date 1999, the legendary Wilt Chamberlain passed away at his home in Bel-Air, California at the age of 63. Wilt the Stilt was a 13-time NBA All-Star, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the holder of many records which will never be broken. The center was a superstar from the very beginning. In his first season with the Philadelphia Warriors, Chamberlain astonished the professional basketball world by averaging an NBA rookie record 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds on his way to capturing the MVP and Rookie of the Year Awards following the 1959/60 season.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues wonders if Kenneth Faried is worth $50MM over four.
- Six Championship Drive previews the Lakers.
- Hardwood Insiders interviewed former DeMatha standout Travis Garrison.
- Bright Side Of The Sun doesn’t expect more assists in Phoenix.
- Blazer’s Edge says Portland might need a lot out of Will Barton.
- Indy Cornrows is optimistic about Solomon Hill.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Week In Review: 10/6/14 – 10/12/14
Remember all that speculation over Frank Vogel‘s job security in Indiana? We can put that to rest, for now, as Vogel has inked a contract extension with the Pacers. It’s not known how many seasons the deal covers, but we do know that he’s now under contract beyond 2014/15. More from the week that was..
- The NBA landed a new TV deal with their partners that will pay a reported $24 billion. Players are already wondering how they can get a larger piece of the pie and rumblings of a labor stoppage have started.
- The Nuggets and Kenneth Faried agreed to an extension despite having to rework it a bit. It’s a four-year, $50MM extension that could increase to $52MM through incentives.
- The Warriors and Klay Thompson haven’t made progress towards an extension in recent weeks.
- The proposal for changes to the NBA lottery has “overwhelming support.”
- Talks between the Nets and Guggenheim have hit a snag.
- The Wolves appear to have upped their offer to Ricky Rubio.
- The Cavs were the most fervent suitor of Chandler Parsons early in free agency this summer, viewing him as a plan B if LeBron James didn’t return.
- The Pacers up their 2015/16 team option on their rookie scale contract with small forward Solomon Hill.
- Kevin Durant has a fracture in his right foot and is expected to miss at least six to eight weeks.
- Michael Beasley left the Grizzlies for a deal in China.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers acknowledged that the team engaged in discussions with Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg this spring before hiring Steve Kerr.
- Nets GM Billy King insists the team is still doggedly pursuing a championship and isn’t focused on making financial cutbacks.
- The Rockets will waive Robert Covington.
- The Jazz have waived swingman Kevin Murphy and point guard Dee Bost.
- The Pelicans waived Vernon Macklin.
- Second-round draft pick Semaj Christon has agreed to play for the Thunder’s D-League affiliate this year.
- The Sixers signed Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon and waived Keith Bogans and Jarvis Varnado.
- The lack of state income tax in Texas led Trevor Ariza to taking a four year, $32MM deal from the Rockets rather than an identical offer from the Wizards.
- Bradley Beal is likely out for six to eight weeks.
- The Bucks agreed to release Chris Wright so that he can play overseas instead.
- The Knicks signed center D.J. Mbenga.
- Former Grizzlies shooting guard Jamaal Franklin has signed a two-month deal with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- The Mavs have signed undrafted point guard Yuki Togashi.
- John Holland is close to signing a deal with a Turkish team.
Eastern Notes: MCW, Miller, Hornets, LeBron
The 76ers appear to be a very future-minded organization, but Michael Carter-Williams is only focused on winning in the present, writes Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com. “I can’t sit here and look too far in the future,” Carter-Williams explained. “I know that it may seem that that’s where the hope is, in the future, and a lot of people are focused on that, but we won’t get to that future if we don’t go through what we need to go through now.” As we wait to see if MCW can help the Sixers surprise people this season, let’s have a look at the latest from the East:
- Wizards guard Andre Miller refuses to say that the upcoming season will be his last, observes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Miller, 38, hopes to continue playing beyond this season and says that he feels good as 2014/15 fast approaches. The veteran averaged career lows of 4.9 points and 3.4 assists last season.
- The offseason addition of Lance Stephenson should help the Hornets take the next step towards becoming an Eastern Conference contender, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The controversial forward averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field last season, and at 24 years old, he has plenty of room to grow.
- Just like a new TV deal was negotiated years in advance, Cavs star LeBron James says he would like to see a new CBA hammered out ahead of time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. “We would love to do it sooner than later,” said James.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Pistons Notes: Smith, Monroe, Mitchell
Despite last season’s disastrous results, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy says he hasn’t dismissed the idea of using Josh Smith at small forward, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Smith will spend most of his time at the four no matter what, but he’ll experiment with a Smith-Andre Drummond–Greg Monroe front line later this preseason. A look at the latest out of Detroit..
- Late last month, Monroe denied speculation that he didn’t want to play alongside Smith and he had a conversation with Van Gundy addressing the speculation. Still, Monroe and Smith haven’t directly spoken about it, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. “I think if things aren’t true, I think the other person who people are kinda throwing under the bus, as a teammate and a man, should come to that individual and let him know that had nothing to do with him,” Smith said.
- PIstons forward Tony Mitchell has a guaranteed contract but the team’s numbers game doesn’t favor him, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. There are several factors working against Mitchell: he’s one of 16 Pistons with guaranteed deals, he was drafted by he previous regime, he has the lowest salary of anyone on the team, and the team has a logjam in the frontcourt. Mitchell will likely be playing for his job in tomorrow night’s preseason opener against the Bulls, Mayo writes, though his chances of making the cut could improve if Aaron Gray is sidelined for an extended period.
- The NBA’s new lucrative TV deal has veteran players abuzz throughout the league, but Monroe wants to see the younger guys take an active interest in getting a fair share of the pie as well, writes Mayo.
Eastern Notes: Smart, Marshall, Magic, Knicks
Celtics coach Brad Stevens is warning people not to read too much into early preseason lineups. However, the early readings indicate that rookie Marcus Smart has moved ahead of Evan Turner in the battle to serve as the team’s replacement point guard for the injured Rajon Rondo, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. More from the Eastern Conference..
- After being claimed off waivers from the Lakers, Bucks guard Kendall Marshall is ready to be a part of Milwaukee’s youth movement, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Marshall hopes to play a key role as a pass-first point guard for Milwaukee, working alongside returning point guard Brandon Knight and combo guard Jerryd Bayless.
- One of the newest members of the Magic, Evan Fournier, is fitting in well with the team, writes Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida. Hornack also adds, while Fournier is unlikely to be named a starter, he will be a valuable contributor due to his ability to create with the ball in his hands.
- After clashing as opposing point guards, Jose Calderon and Knicks coach Derek Fisher have seamlessly transitioned into their new roles as player and coach, writes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Botte adds that Calderon has been impressed with how quickly Fisher has acclimated to being comfortable in his new coaching role.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Week In Review: 9/29/14 – 10/5/14
Mavs owner Mark Cuban alleged that Rockets GM Daryl Morey relies heavily on math and cares very little about team chemistry. Morey quickly fired back at Cuban’s comments and added that he’ll “never trade” his core of Dwight Howard and James Harden. Here’s more from the week that was..
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Guggenheim (Dodgers) are in talks to merge forces, which would form a sports empire worth $8 billion.
- The Magic want extensions with Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris and the interest is reciprocal.
- The Bulls and Jimmy Butler have talked about a new deal.
- The Jazz opened extension talks with both Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.
- No surprise here, the Blazers have exercised their option on Damian Lillard for the 2015/16 season.
- The Suns signed the Morris twins to four-year extensions. President of basketball operations Lon Babby negotiated a total figure for Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris with agent Leon Rose, letting the twins decide how to split what turned out to be a $52MM pot.
- The Rockets plan to exercise their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of both Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas.
- The league will likely vote on changes to the lottery and the proposal is gaining support.
- The Hawks are up for sale and commissioner Adam Silver says they’ll stay in Atlanta.
- The Wizards waived Vander Blue and David Stockton. Among the new signings still in camp are Xavier Silas, Rasual Butler, Damion James, and Daniel Orton.
- Josh Howard is attempting an NBA comeback.
- Rookie K.J. McDaniels has an unusual arrangement with the Sixers.
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu signed on with the Nuggets but left training camp for personal reasons.
- The Pelicans signed D.J. Stephens for camp.
- The 76ers waived Pierre Jackson.
- Shawn Marion says that he turned down more lucrative offers from other clubs to sign with Cleveland because they landed Kevin Love.
- Finally, the Rockets inked Francisco Garcia to a new deal.
- The Nuggets and Alonzo Gee struck agreement on a deal.
- The Nuggets called off their deal with Joe Alexander.
- The Thunder signed power forwards Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna.
- The Celtics re-signed Christian Watford.
- Earl Watson is calling it quits.
- Jason Kapono‘s deal with the Warriors is done.
Hoops Links: Jazz, Magic, Dragic, Parsons
On this date in 1950, the Celtics wound up with guard Bob Cousy in the Chicago Stags dispersal draft. Cousy may not have been the first choice of Celtics owner Walter Brown and coach Red Auerbach, but he sure did return the investment on his $8,500 price tag.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- The Half Court Heave previewed the Jazz.
- Six Championship Drive looks at the Magic for the upcoming year.
- Bright Side Of The Sun previews Phoenix’s playmakers.
- Mavs Moneyball looks at new arrival Chandler Parsons.
- Canis Hoopus recaps the Wolves’ version of midnight madness.
- Legion Report talks fantasy sleepers.
- Welcome To Loud City discussed the Thunder’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Sonics Rising dispels the myth of an NBA talent shortage.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Atlantic Notes: KG, Wallace, C’s, Sampson
Kevin Garnett nearly retired this offseason but Nets coach Lionel Hollins expects him to contribute more than he did a year ago, writes Andy Vasquez of The Record. “I do expect him to play more,” Hollins said on Sunday. “He’s been in great shape. Mentally, he’s very sharp. And we’d like to see him contribute more than 18-20 minutes per game.” Last season, KG played a career low 20.5 minutes per game.
- One might think that Celtics forward Gerald Wallace wants to get out of town and join a contender, but that’s not the case at all, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “It’s fun,” the 32-year-old said. “It’s fun for me. I’m with a great group of guys who are eager to learn, who want to get better. For me, it’s not a bad situation at all. The guys listen. They want to improve. They want to get better as a team. For me, that’s cool. It’s kind of fun.”
- There has been little turnover on the Celtics staff and that means better chemistry amongst the coaches, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. Head coach Brad Stevens says that “he’s been able to get a head start on things” because of the familiarity on the bench.
- We haven’t heard much about rookie JaKarr Sampson since he signed a training camp deal with the 76ers and Drew Corrigan of Ridiculous Upside wonders if he might be destined for the D-League’s Delaware 87ers. Sampson left St. John’s after two seasons, to the surprise of some, but the 76ers see potential in him.