Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Links: Kadji, Cavs, Robinson, Pistons

October 26th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Here’s the latest out of the Central Division on a busy day of roster moves in the NBA:

The Cavs’ release of DeSagana Diop, Jermaine Taylor, Elliot Williams and Kenny Kadji means that Henry Sims and Matthew Dellavedova have made the Cavs’ 15-man roster, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. The Cavs like Kadji, however, and they’re expected to protect the power forward from the D-League draft and retain his rights for the Canton Charge once he clears waivers.
Bob Finnan of The News-Herald has more on Sims, who made the team on a non-guaranteed deal, and sizes up the chances the Cavs‘ other cuts have of ending up with the Charge.
Nuggets guard Nate Robinson misses Chicago but he understands why the Bulls didn’t re-sign him, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s a business,” he said. “Everybody knew I wanted to come back, but they had other things in mind. They signed a great shooter in (Mike) Dunleavy. They got a good rookie (Tony Snell). They’ve got a great team. I miss it. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t. … I had a hell of a year and it was a great run.”
It’s too early to call the Pistons’ big frontline a success, but they’re optimistic about having Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, and Josh Smith on the floor together, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Nuggets Cut Damion James

October 26th, 2013 at 4:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets have waived small forward Damion James, the team announced on its website. The move takes the club’s roster down to 15 players, the regular season maximum.

He had the only non-guaranteed contract remaining on the team, and though he played Jordan Hamilton to a draw, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, Hamilton’s fully guaranteed $1.169MM salary gave him a decided advantage. The move to cut James had been expected, as Dempsey tweeted earlier today.

Quincy Miller, whose deal is guaranteed for $150K, remains on the team, and assuming he makes it to opening night, his contract will become fully guaranteed. Most deals that aren’t fully guaranteed don’t become so until January 10th, but Miller is among several players who have earlier dates written into their contracts.

Nuggets Notes: Faried, Injuries, Roster Predictions

October 22nd, 2013 at 9:03pm CST by Michael Pina

A few notes about the Nuggets as they face an uncertain season.

The Denver Post’s Christopher Dempsey writes that frequent injuries have given first-year head coach Brian Shaw reason to worry. Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, and Darrell Arthur—just to name a few—have all battled through minor hiccups since the preseason started, and it’s made it difficult for Shaw to find proper rotations.
More from Dempsey, as he predicts which players will make the roster and which will be cut before the regular season begins.
Hoopsworld.com’s Steve Kyler tweets that the Nuggets are trying to discover Kenneth Faried‘s value on the trade market before locking themselves into a large, long-term contract.

Northwest Rumors: Favors, Williams, James

October 22nd, 2013 at 3:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The base salary for Derrick Favors‘ new four-year extension with the Jazz is a little lower than the $49MM+ that was originally reported, according to HoopsWorld’s Eric Pincus (Twitter link). It’s a $48MM deal, with likely incentives that would take it up to $48.733MM, and unlikely incentives that could lift the value to $53.133MM, according to Pincus. There’s that and plenty more coming out of the Northwest Division today, where we’ve also heard the Nuggets may be shopping Kenneth Faried, the Jazz are still interested in signing Jamaal Tinsley, and the Wolves will exercise their 2014/15 option on Ricky Rubio. Here’s the latest:

The Wolves will pick up their 2014/15 option on Derrick Williams, just as they will with Rubio, and Williams expressed relief today in comments to reporters, including Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. “It helps, (having) the security.” Williams said. “You’re guaranteed at least one more year in the NBA. As long as you have that, I think everything is good.”
Damion James is the last player without any sort of guarantee on his contract who still remains on the Nuggets roster, and it doesn’t look like he’ll entice the Nuggets into cutting one of their guaranteed deals, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post examines. His best shot to make the team would have been if Quincy Miller struggled in camp, but Miller has impressed new coach Brian Shaw. James has played Jordan Hamilton to a draw this month, but Hamilton’s $1,169,880 guaranteed salary gives him the edge.
Hamilton will likely make it to opening night, but the decision on whether to pick up his $2,109,294 team option for 2014/15 is not as clear, given the Nuggets‘ depth at small forward, Dempsey observes in the same piece.
Favors and Enes Kanter have only started one game together in the NBA, but that total figures to grow much larger, especially now that the Jazz have locked up Favors’ for the long term. Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune looks at how Favors and Kanter will fit together, noting that coach Tyrone Corbin sees them as interchangeable parts at center and power forward.

Lowe On Faried, Horford, All-NBA, Collins

October 22nd, 2013 at 2:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Lowe of Grantland unveils 32 predictions for the upcoming season in his latest post, but the column isn’t based entirely on speculation. Lowe passes along several tidbits from conversations with execs around the league, so let’s dive in:

Multiple sources tell Lowe that the Nuggets are gauging the willingness of other teams to trade for Kenneth Faried. The sources say Denver is demanding plenty in return for the power forward, and Nuggets officials deny they’ve had any talks with other teams about Faried, but Lowe predicts a deal will happen.
The Hawks‘ roster is “built to trade,” but Ferry has emphatically turned away teams calling about Al Horford‘s availability, Lowe hears.
The NBA is considering the removal of the center position from All-NBA teams, shifting to two backcourt and three frontcourt players as the league did with the All-Star ballot last season. That could alleviate a logjam among forwards and result in more money for Paul George, whose new extension will become more lucrative if he earns another All-NBA selection, under the terms of the Derrick Rose Rule.
Several executives believe Jason Collins will find an NBA home after January 10th, the date when all contracts become guaranteed for the season. Many of the guys on non-guaranteed deals will be released in advance of that date, creating opportunities for teams to sign the player who would become the first openly gay male athlete in major North American pro sports.

Western Rumors: Hayward, Nuggets, Pelicans

October 20th, 2013 at 11:45am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavericks are the only Western Conference team left with 20 players, as our roster counts show. Teams can have that many until October 28th, when the regular season limit of 15 kicks in, but unless a club intends to unload some of its extra guys via trade, it needs to waive them by 4pm Central on October 26th — this coming Saturday. The decisions shouldn’t be too hard for Dallas, since the team has 15 fully guaranteed contracts and five others on fully non-guaranteed deals, but there are plenty of other places where intrigue abounds. Impending roster cuts aren’t the only drama playing out, since the October 31st deadline for rookie scale extensions also looms. Here’s more on a team and a player staring down that date and other news from the West:

The Jazz granted Derrick Favors an extension, but Gordon Hayward and agent Mark Bartelstein are still trying to pry another long-term commitment from Utah. Coach Tyrone Corbin is hopeful that the situation will be resolved soon, observes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s part of the business,” Corbin said. “Gordon understands it. His situation is what it is. There’s talks ongoing and hopefully things get worked out. But he understands. He’s happy for Derrick. … And we love both guys and we hope everything will work out that we can keep [both] guys here.”
New GM Tim Connelly is bringing a sharper focus on analytics to the Nuggets front office, which includes his hiring of Tommy Balcetis, the team’s full-time analytics manager. Coach Brian Shaw is on board, too, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post details.
Connelly’s old team, the Pelicans, doesn’t have a single player on its roster older than 28, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe notes in his weekly roundup. Though the club is youthful, GM Dell Demps is confident the Pelicans have enough experience, pointing to the influx of one-and-done college players into the draft that’s made it possible for more guys to accrue NBA service time at younger ages.

Odds & Ends: Kidd, Bynum, Bennett

October 17th, 2013 at 8:27pm CST by Ryan Raroque

For some, it may be difficult to fathom that 12 years have already gone by since Jason Kidd landed with the Nets through an offseason trade with the Suns, and that tonight, the franchise is honoring him by retiring his No. 5 uniform (video link via USA Today) in the rafters. Once he arrived in New Jersey in 2001, Kidd appeared more than ready for the revitalization process and leadership role on a team that had missed the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons prior to his arrival:

“(He) told the players, ‘I don’t care what went on here before. We will make the playoffs,'” recalled Rod Thorn, the team president who had made the trade. “Guys were looking at Jason like, ‘What the heck are you talking about?” (ESPN New York’s Ian O’Connor).

The team would go on to win 52 games that season en route to two straight Finals appearances and six consecutive playoff berths. Though Kidd would ultimately fall short of leading the Nets to an NBA title as a player, he now takes on the opportunity of coaching a team with championship aspirations. How far he’ll lead Brooklyn this year remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Kidd could be in the midst of his most special chapter with the Nets’ franchise. Here are some of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:

Newsday’s Roderick Boone found that Heat superstar LeBron James wouldn’t comment on whether or not the Nets could contend for a title along with the Heat. Dwyane Wade, on the other hand, had this to say: “(Brooklyn) they did what they said they were going to do. They want to compete for a championship” (Twitter links).
Jason Lloyd of Ohio.com reports that Cavaliers center Andrew Bynum is now near his usual playing weight of 285 lbs and is inching closer to a return to the court.
Earlier tonight, Cavs coach Mike Brown revealed that first overall pick Anthony Bennett has been dealing with asthma and sleep apnea (ESPN via the Associated Press). Though Brown says that the breathing issues are noticeable, it doesn’t appear that it’ll affect the way he tries to use Bennett in his rotation this season: “It’s been tiring to watch him because every time I watch him he’s (gasping)…It makes me tired, so I try not to look at him. I tell him, `If you need a sub, just tell me. Otherwise I’m not going to look at you.”
Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum calls Joel Freeland his “training camp MVP,” while head coach Terry Stotts admits that the 6’11 center has had a good training camp thus far. Joe Freeman of the Oregonian writes that Freeman’s quiet transition into a Nick Collison-type of player could produce an opportunity to find a spot in Stotts’ rotation.
Nuggets coach Brian Shaw likes what he sees in Wilson Chandler, and team GM Tim Connelly was quick to name him as the most likely to have a breakout year: “He got here about two months ago. He’s in great shape. He’s got the right mindset. Playing for a guy like coach Shaw could really allow him to take that next step” (Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com).

Western Notes: Turner, Nuggets, Asik

October 17th, 2013 at 5:36pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Richard Hamilton was one name linked to the Timberwolves as they consider adding a wing, but he’s far from the team’s only potential target. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets that Evan Turner has fans among the Wolves front office, and that the 76ers would be open to moving him. In a piece for the Star Tribune, Jerry Zgoda also mentions Turner and identifies a few other possible options.

With that aside, let’s take a look at what else is going on around the Western Conference:

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the Nuggets’ offseason, starting with Josh Kroenke’s agonizing decision to fire Coach of the Year George Karl.
ESPN’s David Thorpe examines Omer Asik‘s trade value and explores a few potential trades involving the Rockets’ center (Insiders only).
Earlier this week, we noted that there has been mutual interest between the Jazz and free agent guard Jamaal Tinsley, although nothing appeared to be imminent. Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune was able to relay some of head coach Tyrone Corbin‘s comments today regarding the 35-year-old point guard: “He’s a guy that’s on the list…We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet. He’s a guy we’re comfortable with. I really respect what he brings to the team. We’ll look and see if it’s the right fit going forward.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (via Twitter) doesn’t expect the Spurs to make any roster cuts until after the team’s road trip ends in Miami on Saturday. McDonald also points out that although San Antonio only has to make one more roster cut, they could possibly opt for two.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich drew a parallel between Manu Ginobili and new addition Marco Belinelli: “I consider him to have the same mindset as Manu, which means I’m going to have to be patient as I’ve learned with Manu. Manu taught me to shut up and just watch him play a little more, which is a good thing. And Marco is going to be the same way. They both have the same passion for the game. They have no fear, which most of the time is good, but sometimes it can bite you. But I would rather have that than somebody who is timid” (NBA.com via the Associated Press).

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Nuggets Waive Reginald Becton, Kyle Fogg

October 16th, 2013 at 12:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have parted ways with a pair of camp invitees, announcing today in a press release that the team has waived Reginald Becton and Kyle Fogg. The cuts reduce Denver’s roster to 16 players.

Neither Becton nor Fogg was expected to make the Nuggets’ regular-season roster, so it comes as no surprise that they were released by the team. Fogg, who spent last season with the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, appeared briefly in one game this month for Denver, while Becton, an Ole Miss product, didn’t play in the preseason.

The Nuggets now have one camp invitee remaining on the roster, in Damion James. He looks like the best bet to be released by opening night, to get Denver down to the regular-season roster maximum of 15. Quincy Miller, who has a partially guaranteed contract, is also a candidate to be cut, but I’d be surprised if the club gave up on the 2012 second-rounder so soon.

Amico On Lakers, Nuggets, Hamilton, Cavs

October 14th, 2013 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

In Sam Amico’s latest piece for FOX Sports Ohio, he focuses on last August’s Dwight Howard trade, which initially looked like a questionable move for the Magic. Given the fact that Orlando ended up with the best long-term pieces in the deal, it’s an illustration of why we shouldn’t immediately decide whether teams “won” or “lost” a trade or signing, writes Amico. The FOX Sports Ohio scribe also shares a few rumors and rumblings from around the NBA, so let’s check out the highlights….

An Eastern Conference executive tells Amico that his team has heard from the Lakers recently, and that word around the league suggests L.A. may look to make a “substantial” move before the season begins. Pau Gasol isn’t untouchable, writes Amico.
Given the questions surrounding Steve Nash‘s health and age, a young scoring point guard may be on the Lakers‘ wish list, though it won’t be easy to obtain one.
The Nuggets are also potentially willing to make a move or two before the season, and Amico speculates that a trade candidate like Jimmer Fredette or a free agent like Richard Hamilton could be a fit.
Hamilton, Sebastian Telfair, and Daniel Gibson are among the veteran free agents who may draw interest before opening night.
The Cavaliers seem to “really like” camp invitees Matthew Dellavedova and Jermaine Taylor, but are unlikely to have the room to keep both on their regular season roster. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team tried to get the odd man out to join the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s D-League affiliate.