Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Rumors: Booker, Kaminsky, Lyles

May 18th, 2015 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker grew up as a Pistons fan and would relish the chance to play for them, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Booker was raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is approximately two hours from Detroit. It’s unlikely he will get his wish since the Pistons hold the No. 8 spot in the draft, pending the lottery results, and Booker projects as a late lottery selection. He’s currently ranked No. 13 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Big Board and No. 15 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect list. The team has other pressing needs, since they already have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks sharing minutes at that spot.

In other draft news concerning the Pistons:

Frank Kaminsky interviewed with the team during the draft combine as it tries to determine whether he could replace power forward and unrestricted free agent Greg Monroe, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. Kaminsky termed the Pistons’ interview “laid back” and asked how he could fit into their system, Mayo continues. Kaminsky, ranked No. 14 by Ford and No. 10 by Givony, is a better outside shooter than Monroe and that enhances his appeal, Mayo adds.
Kaminsky is just one of the big men on the Pistons’ radar, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. They are also looking at Trey Lyles and Myles Turner and could trade up for Kristaps Porzingis to fulfill their desire for a power forward that can stretch the floor, Foster adds.
President of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy should emulate his predecessor, Joe Dumars, when it comes to evaluating lottery picks, Ellis examines in a separate piece. Dumars recovered from his disastrous decision to select Darko Milicic with the No. 2 overall pick in 2003 and drafted Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight and Caldwell-Pope with his lottery picks in recent years, though he denied the new regime a lottery pick last year when it had to be shipped to the Hornets to fulfill a prior trade obligation, Ellis continues. Van Gundy and his staff get their first chance to make a lottery selection next month.

Central Notes: Pistons, Thompson, Hunter

May 17th, 2015 at 4:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs are doing everything possible to make sure that Kyrie Irving will be ready for Wednesday night against the Hawks, including giving him rest. The point guard sat out of practice on Friday in an effort to heal up.

“We sat Ky out and he’s going through a lot of treatment and we’re monitoring and just hoping that he progresses from here until game time,” coach David Blatt said, according to Tom Withers of The Associated Press. “We’re very much on top of this obviously and Ky is doing everything he possibly can to get well.”

Here’s a look at the Central Division..

Per the terms of the Ben Gordon deal, the Pistons sent their first-round choice to the Hornets last year. Considering the underwhelming rookie performance of the top-heavy 2014 draft class, that might have been for the best, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. Since the pick was only No. 1-protected for this draft, the Pistons likely would have lost it at Tuesday’s lottery if they had kept it last year.
Before the season started, many thought Tristan Thompson was making a big mistake in turning down a massive contract offer from the Cavs. Now, it looks like his gamble will pay off, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes. Thompson could have chosen the safe route and accepted Cleveland’s offer, reported to be worth $13MM per year over four seasons. Now, after a good season and filling in admirably for Kevin Love in the playoffs, he stands to get at least that much and maybe more.
Vince Hunter grew up watching the Pistons and he would relish the opportunity to return to play for his hometown team, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. “It would be a great opportunity for me to be in Detroit,” he said. The UTEP guard averaged 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds, shooting 53% from the field last season.

Central Notes: Pistons, Draft, Pacers

May 16th, 2015 at 2:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons‘ final draft strategy depends on how the lottery shakes out this coming Tuesday, but the team knows it needs to target a starting forward and some depth at center, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. “We can make assumptions and part of the actual draft process is trying to figure out plans for other teams and what their needs may be versus available players in the draft,” GM Jeff Bower said. “As you try to slot it out, you do make educated guesses on what a team need or interest may be based on the workouts and the information flow of interest around the prospects. We’ll try to have a handle on it because it’s good to know what other people will like. Normally more than one team likes the same player and you try to have yourself positioned to get that player or a group of players that you’re very comfortable with.”

Here’s more news from around the Central Division:

Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein sat down at the draft combine with the Pistons, and he said that the team talked to him about playing alongside center Andre Drummond, Keith Langlois of NBA.com tweets.
Cauley-Stein said he has a workout scheduled with the Pacers, as do Arkansas forward Bobby Portis, Quinn Cook of Duke, Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison, and Maryland’s Dez Wells, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays (Twitter links).
Kentucky forward Trey Lyles interviewed with the Pacers while in Chicago for the combine, Buckner tweets. Of his meeting, Lyles said, “I met with them yesterday. It was pretty cool. It would be fun to play there but you know wherever I go, I’ll be fine with.“

Central Notes: Hoiberg, Pacers, Draft

May 15th, 2015 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The frontrunner to replace Tom Thibodeau if he is let go by the Bulls as expected, is reportedly Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. This interest in Hoiberg isn’t a recent development, since according to league sources the team had already spoken with Hoiberg about his potential interest in coming to Chicago earlier this season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. It’s unclear if Hoiberg’s health concerns would prevent him from accepting the position if offered, but he certainly hopes to join the pro coaching ranks at some point. “He has always said from day one that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said of Holberg. “It’s for him to decide when that part of his life he wants to activate. Now it’s just strictly a decision for him and their family personally, not what he wants to do because he’s made that clear. [The NBA is] what he wants to do. It’s a matter of when he wants to do it.”

Here’s what else is happening around the Central Division:

The Pacers interviewed a number of former Kentucky players at the draft combine, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets. Indiana sat down with Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, and Devin Booker, Buckner notes.
Cauley-Stein said that Pacers president Larry Bird told him, “I think you’re a $100MM player,” Buckner relays (Twitter links). Booker wasn’t given a dollar value by the team, but did note that there was a “great vibe” during his interview, Buckner adds.
The Pacers will hold their first pre-draft workout this Monday, and in attendance will be Cameron Payne, Olivier Hanlan, Jerian Grant, Rakeem Christmas, Richaun Holmes, and Joseph Young, Buckner tweets.
Lastly from Buckner (via Twitter), the Pacers will be one of the teams attending a private workout in Los Angeles next Friday for forward Kevon Looney and guard Norman Powell.
Looney met with the Pistons while at the draft combine, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with Detroit was Booker, who believes his outside shooting would be the perfect complement to Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, who is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, Langlois adds.

Pistons Notes: Cap, Dekker, Harvey

May 15th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

This year’s lottery isn’t quite the make-or-break affair it was last year, when the Pistons had to hang on to the eighth position in the lottery to keep their first-round pick from going to Charlotte. Detroit slid back to ninth, losing the pick to the Hornets, who drafted Noah Vonleh. The Pistons are again in the eighth position in the lottery this year, and while they’ll keep their pick regardless, Detroit will surely hope that the roughly 1-in-10 chance that it moves up into the top three comes through. Here’s more from the Motor City:

Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy made it clear to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press that the Pistons won’t feel obligated to use up all of their cap flexibility if the market doesn’t bear what they want. Detroit has about $28MM in guaranteed salary for next season against a projected $67.1MM cap, not including a player option of nearly $1.271MM for Cartier Martin.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com adds Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker to the list of prospects the Pistons have interviewed at this week’s draft combine. Langlois’ piece focuses on GM Jeff Bower‘s desire for prospects who are especially skilled in one facet rather than versatile players who are proficient in many areas but don’t perform at an elite level in any of them.
Eastern Washington shooting guard Tyler Harvey is interviewing with the Pistons today, he tells Langlois (Twitter link).

Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson

May 15th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:

Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Lyles, Anderson, Wood

May 14th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2015 NBA Draft combine is underway in Chicago and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) offers up a primer for all of the scheduled events. The return of five-on-five play to the event has scouts and GMs excited, but that anticipation is tempered by the fact that only one player ranked in the top 30 — Terry Rozier, will be participating in the scrimmages, Ford notes.

Here’s more regarding the 2015 NBA Draft:

Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal caught up with ESPN’s Chad Ford to talk about the Kentucky Wildcats’ seven NBA Draft hopefuls. Ford spoke highly of Trey Lyles, but says that he needs to prove himself in workouts between now and the draft.
Former Virgina swingman Justin Anderson met with the Celtics today, and the player has a workout scheduled with the team on June 1st, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets.
The Wolves interviewed UNLV big man Christian Wood, and are also expected to sit down with Texas center Myles Turner, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets.
Arizona forward Stanley Johnson interviewed with the Hornets today, and Johnson touted himself as “the best two-way player in the draft,” Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer notes (Twitter link).
Former Syracuse forward Rakeem Christmas met with the Bucks, Magic, and Suns today, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter links). Christmas is also scheduled to workout for the Sixers, but he will not interview with the team at the combine, Pompey notes.
Projected second-rounder J.P. Tokoto interviewed with the Cavaliers, Clippers, and Pistons on Wednesday, Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays (via Twitter). The guard met with the Hawks, Nets, and Mavs today, Gardner adds.

Central Notes: Shumpert, Turner, Johnson

May 14th, 2015 at 4:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Iman Shumpert has been a significant factor in the Cavaliers‘ success since he was acquired in what was a season-altering trade for Cleveland, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. With the guard averaging 12.6 points in the series against the Bulls, Shumpert is dispelling notions that he’s strictly a defensive player, Zillgitt adds. “As long as we win, I don’t really care,” Shumpert told Zillgitt about being overlooked as a scorer. “I feel like the right people see what’s going on. Everybody around the league knows what’s going on. If you really understand basketball, you know what’s going on. I don’t take it personally, and I don’t search for credit. I just search for wins.” Shumpert is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

The Bucks interviewed Texas big man Myles Turner, who is a potential lottery pick, Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. Regarding Milwaukee, Turner said, “They’re long and athletic right now, they’re young. They’ve got coach [Jason] Kidd and I like his plan and his vision in place. Everything I just said describes me — young, long, athletic. So I’d fit well.”
The 6’11” Turner met with Pistons team executives today as well, Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press reports (Twitter link). Turner also interviewed with the Pacers, notes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter). The big man said that the Pacers told him they were focused on changing their style of play, Buckner notes.
The Pacers interviewed Arizona freshman forward Stanley Johnson today, Buckner tweets. Johnson calls Pacers forward, and former Wildcat Solomon Hill, one of his closest friends in the NBA, Buckner adds. Johnson also sat down with representatives from the Pistons, Ellis tweets.
All signs are pointing to Bulls assistant Ed Pinckney leaving Chicago after the season to join coach Chris Mullin‘s staff at St. John’s University, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.

Northwest Notes: Lopez, Kaman, Jazz

May 11th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

The future of Robin Lopez in Portland may depend on LaMarcus Aldridge‘s decision, writes Jabari Young of CSNNW.com. Both will become free agents in July, and Young notes that Lopez’s defensive skills and Aldridge’s offensive prowess are perfect complements to each other. If Aldridge leaves, the Blazers might turn to the free agent market for a new big man, pursuing either the Pistons’ Greg Monroe or the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Veteran center Chris Kaman hopes the Blazers bring him back for one more season, according to Sean Meagher of The Oregonian. Portland used its mid-level exception last summer to give Kaman a two-year, $9.8MM deal, but the team holds the option on his 2015/16 contract. He is slated to make $5MM next season, but only about $1MM of that is guaranteed. Kaman became a reliable backup center for the Blazers and a mentor to Meyers Leonard. He offered an unusual compliment to Portland coach Terry Stotts. “I told Terry he’s the first coach I haven’t hated when the season was over since Mike Dunleavy,” Kaman said. “It’s been a while that I haven’t hated somebody.”
In a separate story, Meagher talked to several Portland-area media members to get their opinions on Kaman. There was general agreement that the Blazers should keep him on the roster for another season, although probably in a reduced role, given his age and Leonard’s projected improvement.
With their franchise cornerstones in place, the Jazz can concentrate on making smaller improvements this summer, contends Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. He cites areas of need as veteran leadership and backcourt stability. Utah will likely have the 12th pick in next month’s draft, along with some cap flexibility to add a veteran or two.

Pistons Notes: SVG, Villanueva, Draft

May 8th, 2015 at 3:27pm CST by Zachary Links

Only seven of the coaches hired in the summer of 2013 still remain with the teams that brought them aboard then, Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote on Thursday. The first coach from that class to get dropped was Maurice Cheeks, who was canned by the Pistons midway through the 2013/14 season. Cheeks lost his gig largely because he couldn’t get through to prized offseason acquisition Josh Smith, but neither interim coach John Loyer or current coach Stan Van Gundy were successful in that regard either. More from Detroit..

Pistons GM Jeff Bower believes that Stan Van Gundy‘s dual role will help in the development of draft picks, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “Stan has a long-term approach,” Bower said. “He’s got the ability to see a strength in a player and envision how he can work with that player on that strength to make it an even bigger strength. And then what he could take advantage of as a coach on the floor.” There have been many cases in the game’s history where a draft pick doesn’t succeed because of a power struggle between the front office and the coaching staff. Because SVG is a part of both units, there’s no risk of him not giving a fair chance to a rookie.
Mavericks big man Charlie Villanueva believes that his struggles with the Pistons helped set him up for greater success with Dallas, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “It was just the hard times in Detroit preparing me for a moment like this,” the sharpshooter explained. “I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Coach (Carlisle) always said to just stay ready and that the opportunity will come, but he just didn’t know when. I just kept working on my craft, stayed sharp, and whenever my name was called I made the most of it.” Villanueva signed a ~$40MM deal with Detroit back in July of 2009 and never lived up to that contract.
Every conceivable Pistons target at No. 8 or No. 9 will be at the draft combine, including Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Kelly Oubre, and Frank Kaminsky, Langlois tweets. However, the European players who could be under consideration – Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hazonja – won’t be in attendance.

Categories:
Detroit Pistons