Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Miller, Kanter, Harkless

October 2nd, 2015 at 2:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey won’t back down from the notion of making the playoffs as a goal this season, saying the same is true for all 30 teams, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman relays via Twitter. Still, player development is also a priority, Olshey said, as Freeman notes in a full piece.

“Same way we always do,” Olshey said of the way the team will measure its success this season. “Are our players getting better? Are we building a culture? Are we better at the end of the year than we were at the beginning? And does this roster have the potential to sustain excellence?”

Much has changed for the Blazers, who didn’t re-sign any of their seven free agents from last year. See more from Portland amid the latest from the Northwest Division:

Nuggets coach Michael Malone is pumped about adding Mike Miller, whom he calls a “deadly shooter” with championship experience who can serve as a mentor to the younger players on the roster, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post chronicles. Miller seemingly had other options, with the Grizzlies, Thunder and Mavericks reportedly interested in him this summer before this week’s buyout from the Blazers, but he quickly agreed to a deal with the Nuggets. “I’m excited,” Miller said Thursday about joining Denver, according to Dempsey. “I’ve always had a great relationship with this organization. I think they do a great job. The fans in Denver are fantastic, which makes it exciting. We’ve got this young team, which they continue to build, and hopefully we’ll have a successful season.”
Miller relinquished $200K in his buyout, leaving Portland with an obligation of about $3.08MM to him on this season’s books, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Miller signed a minimum-salary deal with the Nuggets, but teams often waive set-off rights when buyouts take place, so it’s unclear if the Blazers will recoup any additional money because of Miller’s Denver contract.
Both the Thunder and max salary signee Enes Kanter are focused on improving his woeful defense, and the team believes increased production for him on that end of the floor will have much to do with the rest of the team around him, as Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman details. “It was a different system for him coming in. He [was] playing in Utah, where we played a totally different defense than they played last season, so of course there’s gonna be some growing pains,” Kevin Durant said. “Now, he’s focused, he’s locked in a little bit more, and he’s learning just as quickly as we are.”
Blazers trade acquisition Maurice Harkless has looked strong during voluntary team workouts and the first days of camp, and he’s giving free agent signee Al-Farouq Aminu a run for the starting job at small forward, The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman observes. Harkless is eligible for a rookie scale extension through November 2nd, though no indication has emerged to date that the Blazers are thinking about giving him one. Harkless admits the lack of playing time with the Magic last season was a challenge, but the Blazers plan to give him plenty of opportunities this season, as fellow Oregonian scribe Mike Richman details.

And-Ones: Bender, Wall, Durant, Brown, Lawson

October 1st, 2015 at 1:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

European phenom Dragan Bender will make his U.S. debut in Chicago tonight for Israel Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv for the first of a pair of exhibitions against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors first reported he was likely to do. The 17-year-old has stirred no shortage of excitement, as international journalist David Pick writes for Bleacher Report. Almost all 30 NBA teams are set to scout the contests, with the Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies and Bucks among them, sources tell Pick. Hornets GM Rich Cho will be there, too, tweets Jake Fischer of SI Now. The Nuggets, Sixers and Magic have had talks with Maccabi officials about the 7’1″ power forward, Pick also hears. Bender is well ahead of where 2015 No. 4 overall pick Kristaps Porzingis was at the same age, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress told Pick. Givony has Bender as the fifth-best prospect in next year’s draft, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks him seventh.

“The only thing ’17 years old’ about him is his mustache,” Maccabi coach Guy Goodes said to Pick.

See more on Bender and other NBA news here:

Bender turns 18 next month, so he’ll turn 19 in 2016 and thus be eligible for early entry for the upcoming draft, but it’s not a given that he’ll declare, as Maccabi GM Nikola Vujcic, who also serves as Bender’s guardian, explained to Pick for the same piece. Vujcic suggested to Pick that Bender won’t enter the draft unless he receives a commitment from a team picking in the top three to five selections and suggested that he might decide to stay overseas for a while even if he is drafted.
John Wall says he and Kevin Durant are “really close” and reiterated that he’ll make a recruiting pitch to the former MVP who hits free agency next summer, though he adds that he’ll be cautious not to take an overbearing approach, as the Wizards point guard explains to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
The Nets declined to waive Markel Brown by Tuesday’s guarantee date, so his $200K partial guarantee jumped to a full guarantee on his $845,059 minimum salary, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That gives the Nets 13 fully guaranteed contracts among the 20 players they have in camp.
The Rockets are trying to minimize their risks with Ty Lawson, having told him that they’ll provide a ride for him to any destination at any time, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Lawson, for whom Houston traded this summer despite two DUI arrests in six months, has been on his best behavior so far, Aldridge notes.

Texas Notes: Howard, Lawson, West, McGee

October 1st, 2015 at 10:25am CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard can opt out of his deal at season’s end, but he isn’t planning for the sort of hype that surrounded the last time his contract became an issue, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Howard declined to talk Wednesday about his potential to become a free agent next summer, though Rockets GM Daryl Morey said last week that he intends to keep the core of the team, including Howard, together for more than just this coming season, Feigen notes. Howard shrugged off the notion that he’s headed into an age-related decline.

“I’m 29 years old,” Howard said, accoring to Feigen. “Regardless of me being in the league for 12 years, I’m still fairly young. I’ll give everything I’ve got for these 10, 11 years I have left.”

See more on the Rockets amid the latest from around the Texas Triangle:

Ty Lawson asked James Harden to push the Rockets to trade for him shortly after last season’s Western Conference Finals were over, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The initial rush of major moves in late June and early July passed with Lawson still on the Nuggets, but Houston finally traded for the point guard in late July.
David West has been saving money since his rookie season with the idea that when he came to the end of his career, he could make professional decisions based on basketball only and not worry about finances, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio-Express News details. That’s just what he did this summer, when he turned down a $12.6MM player option from the Pacers and signed for a $1,499,187 minimum salary with the Spurs. “There are a lot of people making a whole lot less than we make that live comfortable lives,” West said to McDonald. “I’ve always kept that in perspective. So when it came down to year 13, knowing you’ve got more yesterdays than tomorrows, you say, ‘Take the money off the table and go where you want to go.’”
JaVale McGee is showing frustration as the rehab process from stress fracture in his left tibia drags on, but even though he probably won’t be ready for opening night, the dearth of other center options on the Mavs makes it likely the team keeps him, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. That means the Mavs would end up cutting one of 15 players with a fully guaranteed contract to accommodate McGee’s partially guaranteed deal on the regular season roster. “We know what he’s capable of doing,” coach Rick Carlisle said of McGee. “He has a body of work. We know he’s an NBA player, and we know he has the ability to be a starting player in the NBA. We know he’s very motivated to play. He’s just had a very odd rehab situation that’s been addressed and he’s doing much better. So that’s something that we’re going to have to evaluate and kind of see what’s what as time goes along, but we consider him a guy that’s a great prospect.”

Northwest Notes: Jones, Gallinari, Donovan

September 30th, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Timberwolves will consider sending Tyus Jones to the NBA D-League this season in order to get the rookie more playing time, Marcus R. Fuller of The Pioneer Press writes. The decision will come down to whether or not the team believes it can get Jones enough playing time to properly develop, Fuller adds. “We haven’t really used [the D-League] in the past, and that’s something we’re trying to rectify,” GM Milt Newton said. “If there’s an opportunity for us to use the D-League, we will do that, with Tyus especially. But it can be a position where you send him to the D-League and he plays only 14, 15, 20 minutes a game, which was the situation last year. For us, we wanted to utilize the D-League. But the team we were associated with, they couldn’t guarantee that our guys would get the minutes that we felt they needed to develop, and so we felt it was better to keep our players here and let [them] practice and get developed from our coaching staff. If we can fix that situation, while we’re in the situation without a D-League team, that’s a decision we’ll have to make.” Jones was the No. 24 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Danilo Gallinari, who agreed to a renegotiation and extension of his contract this offseason, wants to remain with the Nuggets for his entire NBA career, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. “I was just glad to stay in Denver,” Gallinari said. “That was my goal. If you see my history with contracts, it’s never been about money because if it was about money I would have made other choices. But I love Denver and I want to stay here as long as I can. I would like to finish my career here. I was glad we were able to sign this contract.”
New Thunder head coach Billy Donovan says he has been humbled by the reception he has received from the community and fans of the team since being hired back in April, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes. “The community has been really remarkable in terms of helping myself, helping my kids, my wife adjust. Very very grateful for all the help that so many lended, reached out, to make this a smooth transition,” said Donovan.
This season will likely be the final one for Jazz point guard Trey Burke to establish himself as a starter in the league, writes Brad Rock of The Deseret News. With projected starter Dante Exum undergoing surgery on the ACL in his left knee that may cause him to miss the entire season, Utah will need Burke to step up his game if the team is to have a shot at the playoffs this season.
The Trail Blazers elected to exercise their team option for Chris Kaman for the 2015/16 season, a move that pleased the veteran big man despite the franchise entering a rebuilding phase, Casey Holdahl of NBA.com writes. “First of all, I was happy to have the opportunity to come back here again because obviously that was something in question,” said Kaman. “I’m grateful to be back here. Even if it’s a rebuilding season and we’re able to make the playoffs or skirt at the edge there and be somewhere at the end of the season where we’re having a great opportunity, I’m happy to be here.”

Nuggets Sign Mike Miller

September 30th, 2015 at 10:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

10:05pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

4:51pm: Miller and the Nuggets have agreed to a one-year deal, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (via Twitter).

WEDNESDAY, 3:55pm: Miller is already in Denver in anticipation of signing a deal once he clears waivers today, Stein tweets.

MONDAY, 8:22pm: The Nuggets have emerged as the strong favorites to sign veteran guard Mike Miller when he clears waivers on Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Miller, who was waived Monday by the Trail Blazers, is expected to sign a one-year contract with the Nuggets barring any late snags, Stein adds.

Miller was scheduled to make $2.8MM in the final year of his contract before he reached the buyout agreement with Portland. The move was expected when Miller was acquired by the Blazers from the Cavaliers in July.

How much playing time Miller can carve out with the Nuggets is a major question mark. Denver has four other shooting guards on its current roster — Randy Foye, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Nick Johnson. The Nuggets are also loaded at small forward, with Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler sharing minutes at that spot. However, Miller’s veteran leadership could be a bonus on a team striving to make the playoffs in the deep Western Conference.

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Faried, Durant

September 29th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen said that the team has moved on from the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs this summer, and that he is excited for what the future holds for the franchise, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays. When asked if he felt betrayed by Aldridge, Allen said, “No. I think LaMarcus had a lot of options. We went down to Dallas, [GM] Neil [Olshey] and I pitched him and he chose to go a different direction. We made it to his last few choices and he was good enough to call me up and explain his decision and all that. It’s tough for a franchise, because we were all thinking that we had a real shot at getting him back. But in the end, he chose to go a different direction and now it’s a new day. We’ve moved on and I think you can feel the excitement and the energy in the gym now.”

Allen said he enjoys the process of developing younger players, which makes the team’s current transitional period easier on him, Freeman adds. “It’s always a transition. I’m always trying to figure out how many times we’ve done a rebuild here. I think three. But you guys will probably correct me on that, I’m sure. I probably, more than a lot of owners, enjoy seeing young players develop. Always have. Always will. And that’s also been a hallmark of other teams like the Seahawks that I’ve been involved with. So seeing young players develop and I think if you watch some of the players that Neil has brought in here, we’ve been very lucky to be able to bring those in and be able to pivot from being a playoff team to being a team that’s going through a transition to hopefully being back in the playoffs before too long. So we’ll see.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The deals that Talib Zanna, Dez Wells, and Julyan Stone signed with the Thunder are all one-year, minimum salary arrangements that include no guaranteed salary, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Omari Johnson‘s pact with the Blazers is a one year deal for the league minimum and includes no guaranteed salary, Pincus relays (via Twitter).
Difficulties between Kenneth Faried and former coach Brian Shaw negatively impacted the forward’s performance for the Nuggets last season, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. “If you don’t have a coach that believes in you, then what’s the point of going out there and playing?” Faried said. “If your coach doesn’t have faith in you and puts you out in the fire against all these great players, you’re going to get torched.“
Kevin Durant is a fan of new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman tweets. Of Donovan, Durant said, “Great basketball mind, but more importantly, a better person. We’ve hit it off.” With Durant eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, any added incentive for him to remain in Oklahoma City is certainly a boon for the franchise.
After a breakout season in 2014/15 for the Jazz, Gordon Hayward needs to become a better closer at the end of games in order to take his next step forward as a star player, Aaron Falk, Tony Jones and Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune write.

Northwest Notes: Kanter, Arthur, Miller, Pekovic

September 29th, 2015 at 12:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Enes Kanter hoped to stay with the Thunder even as he signed an max offer sheet with the Trail Blazers this summer, creating a tense three days before the Thunder matched, notes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman.

“The three days was definitely tough, because I really wanted to be here,” Kanter said. “That three days was really tough, really difficult. I never experienced anything like that before. In the end, it worked out. [I’m] really happy to be here. It’s really nice [to have] your team’s trust in you. It means a lot.”

See more from the Northwest Division:

Darrell Arthur nearly left for the Clippers this summer before ultimately deciding to re-sign with the Nuggets, observes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter links). “I was pretty close. It was a tough decision to make,” Arthur said. “But with this [Nuggets] team I felt that I could possibly make a difference in trying to help this team make it to the playoffs.” The money couldn’t have hurt, either, as Arthur received a two-year deal worth almost $5.755MM from Denver, about $3.08MM more than the two-year minimum salary offer that the Clippers were limited to.
Andre Miller visited the Bulls in free agency before signing with the Timberwolves this summer, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).
Nikola Pekovic said he’ll miss roughly the first month of the season, but the Timberwolves expect Ricky Rubio will be healthy enough to play on opening night, even though he’s not quite 100% yet, observes Marcus R. Fuller of the Pioneer Press.
Timberwolves GM Milt Newton expressed a desire to use the D-League more often this season, pointing to No. 24 pick Tyus Jones, but the GM said he’d want the point guard to go to a D-League team that would give him some playing time, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune relays (on Twitter). The Timberwolves, who don’t have a D-League affiliate and would have to send Jones on assignment with another team’s D-League club, haven’t made progress toward their own D-League partner, Zgoda notes.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey expressed optimism about his point guards on Monday, jibing with earlier reports that the team is content for now even without the injured Dante Exum, but he wouldn’t rule out spending to acquire another point guard if the performance at that position is lacking, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter links).

Nuggets Eye Mike Miller

September 28th, 2015 at 8:40am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 8:40am: Denver has made a one-year offer to Miller that he can sign once he clears waivers, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

SUNDAY, 4:50pm: The Nuggets are interested in signing Mike Miller, who is reportedly set to be a free agent after negotiating a buyout with the Blazers, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports.

Denver pursued Miller aggressively in free agency a year ago, before Miller signed a deal with the Cavs, as Charania points out. Denver has 14 guaranteed contracts as it begins training camp this week. Also of note, the Nuggets have two open spots beneath the preseason roster limit of 20.

The Grizzlies, Thunder and Mavs were thought to be interested in Miller when he was acquired by the Blazers and was reportedly seeking the buyout. Miller is coming off his worst season and only played 13.5 minutes per game in 52 appearances.

Nuggets Waive Kostas Papanikolaou

September 28th, 2015 at 7:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 28TH, 7:52am: The move indeed took place Friday, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team still hasn’t made an official announcement.

SEPTEMBER 25TH, 4:12pm: The Nuggets have waived Papanikolaou, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

AUGUST 3RD, 8:01am: Papanikolaou’s camp is unaware of any pending waiver, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Denver’s plan is to keep him until the Eurobasket tournament begins in December, and evaluate him then, sources tell Varlas. Nuggets GM Tim Connelly and assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas are set to head to Europe to scout Papanikolaou and others.

AUGUST 2ND, 3:03pm: Papanikolaou is not being waived by the Nuggets at this time, Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post tweets.

AUGUST 1ST, 2:30pm: The Nuggets will waive Kostas Papanikolaou, a source told David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). His $4,797,664 deal was non-guaranteed.

Papanikolaou played for the Rockets last season and was traded to Denver as part of the Ty Lawson swap last month. Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round pick were also forwarded to the Nuggets in the deal. Houston exercised its option on Papanikolaou in June and his salary would have been guaranteed if he remained on Denver’s roster past October 4th.

With plenty of other forward options, the Nuggets had no intention of keeping Papanikolaou and wanted his non-guaranteed contract in order to shed salary.

The 6’9” forward was a regular part of the Rockets’ rotation during the first half of the 2014/15 season, but the acquisition of Josh Smith cut into the 24-year-old’s minutes and he also battled an ankle injury. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game before Smith joined the team and 2.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG and just 12.1 MPG in 21 appearances afterward.

Northwest Notes: Mudiay, Nuggets, Aminu, Stone

September 27th, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay will be in charge of the Nuggets‘ offense from the first day of training camp, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The Nuggets are counting on the 19-year-old Mudiay to usher in a new era after trading Ty Lawson over the summer. Veteran Jameer Nelson is still on hand to mentor Mudiay, who is expected to become the second rookie point guard in Nuggets history to start on opening night. “I’m just trying to learn from the old heads. Everything that they can feed off, I’m going to just take it in,” Mudiay said. “That’s just what I’m going to do because they’re going to help me be me, if that makes sense.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

After a summer of change, Nuggets GM Tim Connelly believes the franchise has a “fully committed locker room,” Dempsey writes in a separate story. Apart from drafting Mudiay and dealing Lawson, Denver brought in an all-new coaching staff and welcomed back executive Pete D’Alessandro. “I like the fact that we have a bunch of guys here that don’t just care about the team but care about the city,” Connelly said. “They’ve chosen to be here despite being coveted by other markets that might be painted bigger markets.”
Al-Farouq Aminu has the talent to develop into a double-double threat, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The Blazers signed Aminu over the summer to be their starting small forward after trading Nicolas Batum to Charlotte. Although Aminu doesn’t possess Batum’s shooting skills, Freeman believes his defensive ability and rebounding desire will make him a valuable part of Portland’s lineup.
The Thunder’s $981K minimum deal with Julyan Stone is a non-guaranteed summer contract, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.