Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Faried, Bennett, Kaman

September 18th, 2015 at 11:45am CST by Chuck Myron

People close to the Nuggets have indicated that Kenneth Faried played a larger role in the downfall of former coach Brian Shaw than publicly known, according to Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. Trade rumors surrounded Faried for much of the past year, and many people around the league expect Denver will deal him away. Still, Dowsett takes Shaw to task for his performance as a coach last season and calls the hiring of Michael Malone the team’s best offseason addition. See more from the Northwest Division:

Anthony Bennett looked strong playing for the Canadian national team during the summer, and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor downplayed the idea that the Wolves will trade the former No. 1 overall pick, telling Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, “We shouldn’t assume he’d go” (Twitter link). The Wolves have reportedly been willing to move Bennett for the right return.
Chris Kaman would probably fit best on a contender, but he enjoyed playing for the Trail Blazers last season, and Kaman’s level of contentment has had much to do with whether he’s been successful over the past few seasons, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman examines. Kaman will make $5.016MM this season in the last year of his contract.
The exodus of so many of last season’s Trail Blazers has C.J. McCollum excited about the more prominent role he’s poised to take on this year, one reminiscent of his time as a scoring force in college at Lehigh, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. McCollum is hopeful that he can continue to work with Steve Nash, who helped him with his game this summer, even though Nash is reportedly finalizing a deal to become a part-time player development consultant for the Warriors.

Nuggets Sign Matt Janning For Camp

September 16th, 2015 at 2:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2:11pm: The signing has taken place, though the team has made no official announcement, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, minimum salary arrangement with limited injury protection, Pincus adds, so it’s an Exhibit 9 contract.

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 8:43am: The Nuggets and one-year NBA veteran Matt Janning have a non-guaranteed deal for training camp, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). The 27-year-old shooting guard, who was on the Suns roster briefly during the 2010/11 season after he went undrafted out of Northeastern in 2010, picked Denver over a chance to join the Hawks as well as offers from overseas teams, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).

Janning played with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes this past season, averaging 9.2 points in 24.4 minutes per game with 37.9% three-point shooting combined between Turkish league and Euroleague play. He didn’t make it in a game during his 2010 stint with the Suns, who waived him a few weeks after opening night that year. He’s chiefly played overseas since, though he’s made multiple appearances in NBA summer league, the last coming in 2014 with the Timberwolves.

Denver has 14 full guarantees, plus Erick Green, who has a partial guarantee of $100K, and Kostas Papanikolaou, whose contract is non-guaranteed. Conflicting reports exist on whether the Nuggets are poised to waive Papanikolaou. The Nuggets could use some shooting, Wolfson tweets, pointing to that as one reason for Janning to choose them over Atlanta. The Hawks have only 13 full guarantees, though they have partial guarantees out to Mike Muscala, Lamar Patterson and Terran Petteway plus a non-guaranteed deal with Jason Richardson.

Who do you think deserves the final roster spot for the Nuggets? Leave a comment to tell us.

Nuggets Sign Oleksiy Pecherov, Devin Sweetney

September 16th, 2015 at 2:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2:10pm: The signings have taken place, though the team hasn’t announced them, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). They’re for one year at the minimum salary and non-guaranteed with limited injury protection, Pincus adds, making them Exhibit 9 contracts.

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 10:43pm: The Nuggets have agreed to deals with unrestricted free agents Oleksiy Pecherov and Devin Sweetney, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the pacts are unknown, but Dempsey classified them as training camp deals, which means both players have likely agreed to minimum salary pacts with little or no guaranteed salary, though that is merely my speculation. The additions of Pecherov and Sweetney will bring Denver’s roster count up to 19 players, which is one below the preseason maximum.

Pecherov, 29, has been out of the NBA since the 2009/10 campaign when he appeared in 44 games for the Timberwolves. The center has career NBA averages of 3.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.2 blocks to go along with a slash line of .386/.290/.793. The seven-footer, who spent last season with the Estonian club BC Kalev/Cramo, has reportedly been eyeing an NBA comeback for the coming season, and he had originally worked out for Denver at the end of June.

The 27-year-old Sweetney went undrafted out of Saint Francis back in 2010. In four seasons with the Red Flash, the swingman averaged 14.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, and he had a shooting line of .423/.268/.785. Sweetney spent the 2014/15 season playing for a pair of teams in Switzerland, where he notched averages of 20.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG in 19 total contests, before finishing up with Huracanes of the Dominican Republic on a four-game stint in which he put up 9.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.0 APG in 27.3 MPG.

Warriors Sign Ian Clark To Camp Deal

September 14th, 2015 at 5:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 5:22pm: Clark has signed with the Warriors, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link), though the team hasn’t made an announcement. It’s a non-guaranteed deal that becomes partially guaranteed for $474K if he’s not waived by the end of the day before opening night.

JULY 27TH, 2:38pm: The Warriors have agreed to sign two-year veteran shooting guard Ian Clark, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Golden State and the David Mondress client are still negotiating terms, but Clark has committed to the team, Charania adds. Golden State is limited to paying him the minimum salary, so it would seem the back-and-forth would be over length and the amount of guaranteed money. He became an unrestricted free agent after the Nuggets decided against making a qualifying offer of about $1.147MM.

Clark, 24, had hoped the Nuggets would re-sign him after his summer league performance, in which he averaged 13.4 points per game and made 12 of 24 total three-point attempts, but Denver renounced its rights to him to clear cap room. That didn’t preclude the team from re-signing him, but it did make it seem to make the possibility less likely. Denver claimed him off waivers from the Jazz late last season, apparently with the idea of keeping him for this year, but it appears that plan didn’t work out.

Golden State has 13 guaranteed contracts, leaving room under the 15-man regular season roster limit for the team to give one to Clark. The Warriors have a connection with him that dates back to the Las Vegas Summer League in 2013, when a 33-point outburst in the championship game helped him secure a contract with the Jazz. He’d gone undrafted out of Belmont earlier that summer.

Do you think Ian Clark has a shot to make the rotation for the Warriors this year? Leave a comment to let us know.

And-Ones: Leonard, Lawson, Kings

September 13th, 2015 at 8:19pm CST by Will Joseph

Kawhi Leonard, who re-signed with the Spurs in July for five years and an estimated $90MM, ranks favorably among the best small forwards in history at similar stages of their careers, according to advanced stats, Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News writes. For example, in his fourth year, Leonard had a better Player Efficiency Rating (22.0) than Scottie Pippen (21.5), Bernard King (19.8), Alex English (19.7) and John Havlicek (19.2) did in their fifth, as McCarney points out. What’s more, he had more win shares per 48 minutes (.204) than those four as well as Rick Barry (.155) and Dominique Wilkins (.197), McCarney adds.

Here’s more news and notes from around the league:

The Kings‘ decision to sign Rajon Rondo to a one-year deal worth $10MM was a bad move because Rondo is a limited player and even if he does post a quality season, the contract does not provide any future control for the team, writes SI.com’s Ben Golliver in an analysis of Sacramento’s offseason. On the other hand, the Kings’ deal with Kosta Koufos is a good one, Golliver writes, because Koufos is a dependable, unselfish producer.
Ty Lawson, in reply to a comment on his Instagram account, criticized Nuggets GM Tim Connelly, owner Stan Kroenke and president Josh Kroenke (h/t Jeffrey Morton of Denverstiffs.com). Lawson was traded to the Rockets during the summer after continued alcohol issues. In response to a comment that labeled Lawson a disappointment in Denver, Lawson replied, “lol I wasn’t a disappointment…. I did my job.. Tim Conelly [sic] and the kronke [sic] are bad owners and gm’s.”

Northwest Notes: D-League, Wolves, Westbrook

September 11th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The acquisition of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants by the Pacers will certainly change how teams around the NBA without their own affiliates utilize the D-League. The Blazers severed their partnership with the Idaho Stampede, who are now the Jazz‘s affiliate, at the completion of the 2013/14 campaign, but not having a D-League franchise of its own hasn’t hurt Portland’s player development yet, Mike Richman of the Oregonian opines. The franchise was still able to add point guard Tim Frazier last season, who was the D-League’s MVP and Rookie of the Year, despite not having their own affiliate, Richman notes. Establishing its own D-League affiliate isn’t currently a priority for Portland, Richman adds.

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Timberwolves GM Milt Newton, who’s in charge of the team’s front office while Flip Saunders recovers from cancer, wants to add two more players for training camp and he’ll need to unload one of the team’s 16 fully guaranteed contracts before opening night, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Kevin Durant expressed his admiration for what teammate Russell Westbrook was able to accomplish last season with the rash of injuries the Thunder had suffered, including Durant himself missing a total of 55 contests, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes. “It was amazing to see a guy at the point guard position take over the game from all aspects and will his team with his passion, his enthusiasm, his energy on top of his skill,” Durant said. “It was incredible to watch. I was [expletive] I wasn’t out there to help him out. But I could tell he learned a lot and gained a lot of confidence.“
The Nuggets are in for a long, difficult season, but the franchise does possess solid building blocks in Jusuf Nurkic and Emmanuel Mudiay, as well as a revitalized Danilo Gallinari, which should give the team hope for the future, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) in his season preview.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Gallinari, Majok, Moreland

September 10th, 2015 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers, who have deals with 17 players, plan at least one more signing before the start of camp, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). It remains unclear whether undrafted center Robert Upshaw will join the team. Upshaw was reportedly close to signing with the team back in July, but some personal issues have delayed the two sides coming to terms on a deal.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

There are no trigger dates attached to Eric Moreland‘s $200K partial guarantee that is included in his deal with the Kings, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The partial guarantee is in effect from day one, and will not be dependent on Moreland remaining on Sacramento’s roster through a specific date.
The Lakers have made their required tender of a one-year, non-guaranteed, minimum salary offer to Ater Majok, which will allow the franchise to retain his draft rights, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter). Majok was the No. 58 overall pick out of UConn in the 2011 NBA Draft. The center currently plays for Trefl Sopot of the Polish Basketball League.
If Danilo Gallinari‘s stellar play during the final two months of the 2014/15 season and this Summer’s Eurobasket tournament are any indication of what is to come from the small forward, the Nuggets got themselves a steal in their renegotiation-and-extension of his contract, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com opines (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Favors, Bjelica, Malone

September 9th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Derrick Favors had started only eight games the season before he signed his four-year, $49MM-plus extension with the Jazz in 2013, but GM Dennis Lindsey tells Adi Joseph of The Sporting News that the team wasn’t worried. Lindsey credits Favors with having patiently waited his turn to inherit a major role.

“The present screams while the future whispers,” Lindsey said. “And many of those contracts, you do have to project. But Derrick gave us a great sense of calm with how he’s handled himself as a player and as a person.”

Lindsey added that he considered supplementing the team’s playoff push this season with a veteran free agent addition or a splashy trade but decided against it when the right player didn’t emerge, entrusting Favors and the other members of the team’s youthful core with taking the next step this season. While we wait to see if they can, see more on the Jazz and their Northwest Division rivals:

Favors wasn’t initially sold on Utah, but that’s changed, as he said to Joseph for the same piece. “I didn’t expect to stay [long term], no,” Favors said. “Utah was so different, I was so new to it. I didn’t expect to stay. But as the years have gone on, I’ve grown to love it. I got used to it. I just started feeling comfortable. I like how calm and chill it is in Utah. It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing. The bad part is, maybe after a big game you want to go out and hang out or whatever, and there’s really not too many spots like that in Utah. Down here, you could go anywhere. Out in Utah, it’s chill, laid-back. There’s not a lot of rah-rah stuff going on. You can focus on your job, your career, whatever else you have going on.”
Nemanja Bjelica will fight for minutes at a crowded power forward position as a rookie this year, but the Timberwolves draft-and-stash signee figures to earn his share of playing team, and he’s capable of becoming a star in the NBA, opines SB Nation’s Liam Boylan-Pett. His performance in this week’s Eurobasket tournament has provided glimpses of why he can succeed at the NBA level, as Boylan-Pett examines.
The addition of coach Michael Malone is one of the few moves that the Nuggets have made recently that seem to have struck the right chord, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com in his 30 Teams, 30 Days series.

Western Notes: Bryant, Gates, Malone

September 8th, 2015 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Kobe Bryant entering the final year of his current deal, the Lakers were hampered by the Mamba’s $25MM salary when trying to rebuild their roster this offseason, and as a result this season will be more of a farewell tour for the superstar than a run at a final title, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in his season preview of the club. Powell also notes that while Bryant has a reputation as someone willing to do anything to win a championship, if that was indeed the case he would have pushed to join a contender for what could end up being his final NBA campaign. So instead, Powell opines that Bryant is willing to win, but only on his terms.

Here’s more out of the West:

Former Pelicans assistant coach Bryan Gates, who wasn’t retained when Monty Williams was fired, has been added to Flip Saunders‘ staff with the Timberwolves, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link).
New Nuggets coach Michael Malone acknowledged that he was consulted by the team’s front office prior to troubled point guard Ty Lawson being traded to the Rockets, Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes. “We’re a team. There’s no separation between church and state,” Malone said of his relationship with Denver’s front office. “We’re together, we’re one, we communicate, and I think that’s so important. But at the end of the day, Tim’s [Connelly] job as GM is to make those decisions, obviously with the blessing of [team president] Josh Kroenke. They asked my opinion, I gave it, I tell him what I feel and believe in, and then whatever decision they make I roll with it.”
The Trail Blazers will have to take a committee approach to try and replace the rim protection that was lost when Robin Lopez departed for the Knicks in free agency this Summer, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.

Northwest Notes: Nurkic, Wolves, Kanter

September 5th, 2015 at 7:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic is sitting out the Eurobasket tournament as he continues to rehab his left knee, though he hopes to be healthy enough to play for the Nuggets at the start of the season or shortly thereafter, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post reports. Nurkic was planning to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina before he underwent knee surgery in May to repair a partially torn left patella tendon, Dempsey continues.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Wolves‘ lottery luck turned around and gave them perhaps the second franchise player in their history, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com. Karl-Anthony Towns, the first player selected in this year’s draft, has the potential for greatness, according to Powell, and he has the good fortune of being tutored by Minnesota’s other franchise player, Kevin Garnett. The writer believes Towns’ addition makes Nikola Pekovic expendable, although his salary of more than $35MM over the next three years may make a deal difficult until at least the trade deadline. Ricky Rubio may also be dealt now that rookie Tyus Jones and veteran Andre Miller are in town. With a wealth of young and inexpensive talent on hand, Powell sees the Wolves as contenders for a top free agent next summer.
Enes Kanter tells Carla Hinton of The Oklahoman that efforts to accommodate his Muslim faith made him feel welcome in Oklahoma City. Kanter, whose four-year, $70MM offer sheet with the Blazers was matched by the Thunder, said the organization set up a prayer room for him at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.