Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Acquire Andre Miller In Three-Team Deal

February 20th, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The Wizards have acquired disgruntled Nuggets guard Andre Miller in a three-team trade involving the Sixers. Washington gets Miller, the Nuggets receive Jan Vesely, and Philly receives Eric Maynor plus two second-round picks. The Sixers will receive the Nuggets’ 2016 second-round pick and the Pelicans’ 2015 second-round selection. NBA: Miami Heat at Denver Nuggets

Miller, 37, is earning a $5MM salary and makes $4.625MM next year in the final year of his deal, but that’s only partially guaranteed for $2MM as long as he’s waived before July. Before his clash with Denver coach Brian Shaw, Miller was averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.3 APG in 19 minutes per contest. Heading into this season, Miller boasted career averages of 13.8 PPG and 7.1 APG in 33.4 minutes per game.

Maynor, the former VCU hero, now joins his fifth team in four years. Washington inked the guard to a two-year deal worth the bi-annual exception with a player option for year two over the summer.

Vesely, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2011 draft, has averaged just 3.5 PPG and 3.4 RPG over the course of his NBA career. Washington declined its $4.2MM option on the big man for the 2014/15 season so he’ll be a free agent after the season is through.

The future-minded 76ers now have a whopping nine second round picks in the second round of this year’s draft.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter) first reported that Miller was Washington-bound. Additional details came from CBSSports.com’s Ken Berger and Sam Amick of USA Today (both links go to Twitter).

JaVale McGee Out For Season

February 20th, 2014 at 2:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The Nuggets just can’t catch a break. JaVale McGee had surgery this morning to repair his fractured left tibia, the team announced. Nuggets GM Tim Connelly indicated in the release that the procedure is season-ending.

It’s just yet another difficult blow to the Nuggets, who also saw Danilo Gallinari and Nate Robinson go down with season-ending injuries. Ty Lawson has also struggled to stay healthy this season and Andre Miller‘s situation has been a further complication for the hard-luck 2013/14 Nuggets.

McGee, 26, has been out of action since November and saw just five games of action this season. The athletic big man averaged 9.1 PPG and 4.8 RPG last season for Denver.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Knicks, Nuggets Close To Udrih, Hamilton Deal

February 20th, 2014 at 12:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:13pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports puts the brakes on talks of a deal, reporting that the Nuggets are still considering several trades for Hamilton (Twitter link).

11:49am: The Nuggets have agreed to send Jordan Hamilton to the Knicks for Beno Udrih, having reached agreement on a deal that sends Andre Miller to Washington, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Wizards were also targeting Udrih, but they landed Miller instead, opening the door for Udrih to go to Denver.

The deal came together from talks the Knicks and Nuggets had about an Iman Shumpert-for-Kenneth Faried swap. Denver resisted that deal, but was apparently more receptive to the swap of the smaller names.

Hamilton makes about $1.17MM this year, the third season of his rookie scale contract. The Nuggets declined his fourth-year option before the season, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Udrih is on a one-year deal for the minimum-salary.

Nuggets, Wizards In Serious Andre Miller Talks

February 20th, 2014 at 11:35am CST by Chuck Myron

11:35am: The Wizards and Nuggets are close to a deal involving Miller, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

11:15am: The Nuggets and Wizards are engaged in “serious talks” about a deal that would send Andre Miller to Washington for Eric Maynor and Jan Vesely, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Wolves have fallen off the pace in the Miller sweepstakes, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities notes that they want to trade J.J. Barea to another team before taking on Miller (Twitter link).

There would probably need to be a third team involved, since the Nuggets don’t want to take Maynor, according to Marc J. Spears and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).

The veteran guard left the club earlier this year and apparently has no interest in returning to them this season. The 37-year-old isn’t the player he once was, but he has proven to be one of the most durable players in the league. The guard is probably a bit overpaid at a $5MM salary and makes $4.625MM next year in the final year of his deal, but that’s only partially guaranteed for $2MM as long as he’s waived before July.

Wolves, Wizards In Lead For Andre Miller

February 20th, 2014 at 8:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Wolves and Wizards are the favorites to land Andre Miller, though there’s nothing close yet, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The Wolves would be Miller’s top choice, though that might not be a factor in Denver’s decision-making. The Nuggets have received mostly low-ball offers, given their clear desire to unload the veteran point guard, as Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post explains.

The Wizards have made no secret of their search for a backup point guard, and are reportedly offering Eric Maynor, Chris Singleton and Trevor Booker, among others. Denver would be short on point guards without Miller, and Washington appears to be competing with Denver for Beno Udrih. The Nuggets are in talks with the Knicks about a swap of Jordan Hamilton for Udrih, but that deal could depend on whether Denver can unload Miller.

The Timberwolves have been working multiple fronts as well, having engaged in talks with Memphis that appear to have reached a dead end. A report yesterday indicated that Minnesota preferred Jameer Nelson to Miller, but only if the Wolves could work a deal with the Grizzlies.

Wizards Show Interest In Udrih, Miller

February 20th, 2014 at 8:20am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY. 8:20am: The Wizards have offered Maynor, Singleton and Trevor Booker, among others, in their search for a backup point guard, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Their interest in Udrih makes sense, since they offered him the same deal they wound up giving Maynor this past summer, Kennedy observes (Twitter links). Washington also made an identical offer to Mo Williams, Kennedy says, but he’s clearly not in the trade conversation.

FEBRUARY 19TH: The Wizards maintain their interest in Miller, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report, who suggests Chris Singleton and Eric Maynor as possible trade bait for the Nuggets. It’s not clear whether the Wizards are thinking of including those guys in a deal, or if Zwerling is merely speculating.

FEBRUARY 11TH: Multiple reports in the past few days have indicated Washington’s interest in acquiring a backup point guard, and one of their primary targets is Beno Udrih, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Washington also covets Andre Miller, Stein tweets, but the Wizards have been unable to find a workable deal with the Nuggets.

Udrih quickly backed away last month from a report that he asked the Knicks to trade him. Still, New York didn’t seem averse to the idea at the time, and apparently the Knicks wouldn’t have minded receiving a second-rounder in return for Udrih, whom they believed was siphoning playing time from Toure’ Murry. Udrih hasn’t played since January 24th, while Murry has made five appearances in that span.

Though Nuggets GM Tim Connelly says the team has nothing “definitive” in the works for Miller, the Timberwolves still have an eye on the point guard, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Similarly, the Kings continue to express interest in Miller, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. I predicted that offers for Miller would improve closer to the deadline when I examined his trade candidacy last month.

Washington has been going with minimum-salary signee Garrett Temple as the backup to John Wall instead of Eric Maynor, whom the club used its biannual exception to sign this past summer.

Knicks, Nuggets Talk Udrih, Jordan Hamilton

February 20th, 2014 at 7:09am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 7:09am: The swap of Udrih for Hamilton could depend on whether the Nuggets are able to unload Andre Miller, according to Begley and Stein’s latest piece.

WEDNESDAY, 8:02pm: The deal appears to be Udrih for Hamilton right now, with the Knicks yet to convince Denver to part with Faried, write ESPN’s Begley and Stein. In a separate tweet, Stein indicates that the Wizards are still interested in Udrih’s services and are lobbying the Knicks to switch trade partners.

FEBRUARY 19TH, 1:09pm: The Knicks are still making an effort to acquire Faried for Shumpert, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who also confirms that Hamilton and Udrih remain a part of the talks (Twitter links).

FEBRUARY 11TH, 5:02pm: According to Stein, a source close to the situation says that if talks were to progress into a serious stage, one likely scenario would involve Shumpert and Beno Udrih in exchange for Faried and swingman Jordan Hamilton. The issue, however, is that New York hasn’t been able to persuade Denver to consider the idea.

Faried’s $1.4M salary for 2013/14 makes it difficult to find a deal that would yield equal value, leading Stein to presume that Denver would require any potential trade partner to additionally take back a long-term contract. The Knicks are wary of making any moves that would hinder their cap flexibility in 2015, especially one that would involve taking back long-term money for short-term gain.

2:38pm: The Knicks are once more trying to pry Kenneth Faried from the Nuggets in exchange for Iman Shumpert after their initial push for such a trade failed in November, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Those talks fell through when Denver asked New York to include multiple draft picks, presumably including a first-rounder. The Knicks already owe this year’s first-round pick to the Nuggets from the Carmelo Anthony trade, and they can’t trade their 2015, 2016 or 2017 first-rounders, either.

A pair of reports from the last two days say the Nuggets are open to trading Faried, even though they deny it. Shumpert has largely remained out of rumors since a late-December meeting in which Knicks owner James Dolan told the team’s players that there would be no trades or coaching changes. Nevertheless, a report soon thereafter noted that New York’s front office was continuing to pursue deals.

The Knicks have also reportedly thrown Shumpert into a proposal to the Celtics for Rajon Rondo, but they were cool on talks to send him to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry. The Cavs and Lakers are among the teams that also have been linked to the defensive-minded wing. Ryan Raroque of Hoops Rumors examined Shumpert as a trade candidate in late November.

There’s been less chatter about Faried, but opposing GMs still expect the Nuggets to move him. He, like Shumpert, will be up for a rookie scale extension this summer, though Denver is reluctant to shell out significant money for the power forward.

Northwest Notes: Love, Budinger, Nuggets, Miller

February 19th, 2014 at 6:59pm CST by Alex Lee

Teams have begun assembling trade offers for Kevin Love amid speculation that he’ll leave the Wolves in free agency next summer, most likely for the Lakers. The All-Star dispelled the idea that it’s unlikely that he’ll re-sign with Minnesota in an interview with Steve March of GQ. Love says the Wolves have a better team and better foundation than the Lakers.

That must be music to the ears of Wolves’ owner Glen Taylor, who told 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson on Wednesday that Team President Flip Saunders “doesn’t even bring [the proposals for Love] to me.” A deal involving Love seems improbable. In fact, Taylor said any move is unlikely, but conceded that Minnesota is engaged in other talks and that the team might take back money in the right deal (Twitter links).

Here’s the rest of what’s going on in the Northwest division:

Corroborating a report from earlier today, Minnesota’s Chase Budinger indicated that things are quiet in his camp at the moment, tweets Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “[My agent] said he will call me if he finds anything serious out and there hasn’t been anything in the last two days,” he said.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe is hearing from multiple teams that, save for Ty Lawson, everyone on the Nuggets roster is available (via Twitter).
Andre Miller is one of those available guys, but indications are that the Nuggets are nowhere close on a deal to move the veteran, tweets Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. Dempsey also opines, via Twitter, that Denver’s efforts have been hampered by trying to deal from a “disadvantageous” position.

Ford’s Latest: Knicks, Rockets, W’s, Pelicans

February 19th, 2014 at 11:32am CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com takes an Insider-only look at the trade market for a handful of teams with little more than 24 hours remaining before Thursday’s 2:00pm Central trade deadline. We’ll round up the highlights here:

The Knicks are shopping Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert and Beno Udrih as they seek to upgrade their point guard spot. Ford mentions Jeremy Lin as a long shot possibility for New York, but Houston is adamant it doesn’t want to give him up. Trading for Lin or Kyle Lowry would require the Knicks to relinquish Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Warriors have been listening to offers for Harrison Barnes, and they’ve gone as far as to counter a few of them, Ford hears. Greg Monroe, Thaddeus Young, Tristan Thompson, Kenneth Faried, John Henson and Amir Johnson all intrigue the W’s as possible targets in exchange for Barnes, Ford writes. Golden State is also enamored with Kevin Love, as most teams around the league are.
Ford describes David Lee as available, too, but he notes there isn’t much of a market for him, which makes sense, given his bloated contract.
Part of the Pelicans‘ motivation for exploring trades for Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans is the feeling that they could fall back into position to snag a top-five pick in this year’s draft if both guys are off the roster, according to Ford. Their first-rounder goes to the Sixers if it’s No. 6 or worse. Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote earlier this morning that New Orleans was looking to move either Gordon or Evans, but not both.

Wolves To Target Jameer Nelson?

February 19th, 2014 at 10:54am CST by Chuck Myron

There’s a chance the Wolves would prefer to trade for Jameer Nelson rather than Andre Miller if Minnesota pulls off its rumored trade with the Grizzlies, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Monday that the Wolves would only trade for Miller if they shipped out J.J. Barea, who’s a part of the Grizzlies proposal, but perhaps Minnesota now sees Nelson as a superior option. Nelson, along with Glen Davis, appears to be the focus of Orlando’s trade efforts, although the Magic have made little progress with either.

Nelson says the Magic haven’t given him any indication that they’re trading him, and he’s eager to stay in Orlando. He’s making $8.6MM this season as the Magic’s highest-paid player, but only $2MM of his $8MM for next year is guaranteed. Miller is cheaper for this season, making $5MM, but he’s likewise only partially guaranteed for $2MM next season.

Nelson, 32, has been markedly more productive than the 37-year-old Miller this season. Nelson has notched 12.9 points and 6.7 assists per game as Orlando’s starter. Miller put up just 5.9 PPG and 3.3 APG in a backup role before the Nuggets sent him home around New Year’s Day following a public spat with coach Brian Shaw. Either of them would figure to back up Ricky Rubio in Minnesota.