Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Caldwell-Pope, Brand

October 9th, 2014 at 6:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LeBron James and the Heat organization didn’t always see eye to eye, but he doesn’t harbor bitterness toward the team even though he’s entirely comfortable with his choice to head back to the Cavs, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. His departure from Miami this summer surprised the Heat organization and left his old teammates feeling stung, but it’s a stretch to say there’s true animosity between them and the four-time MVP, as Windhorst explains. Chris Bosh backtracked an earlier claim that he hadn’t spoken to James since he left for Cleveland and said today that they did talk briefly in August, Windhorst notes in a separate piece.

Here’s more from the east:

Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has signed with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, Brian Windhorst reports (Twitter link). Caldwell-Pope was formerly represented by Thad Foucher of The Wasserman Media Group.
Veteran forward Elton Brand is entering his 16th season, but he’s not ready to say that this will be his last in the league, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link). Brand re-signed with the Hawks this summer for one year, $2MM after averaging 5.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG last season. Brand also told Vivlamore (Twitter link) that he talked to “five or six” teams before deciding to return to Atlanta.
Sixers signees Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon are on four-year deals that pay the minimum salary each year, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). They have partial guarantees of $50K and $40K, respectively, for this season, but their money is otherwise non-guaranteed. The Sixers also put a team option on the final season of each of their contracts.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Mbenga, Pacers, Pistons

October 8th, 2014 at 8:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Knicks head coach Derek Fisher had good things to say about D.J. Mbenga, his former teammate with the Lakers who was signed by New York earlier today, Marc Berman of The New York Post reports (Twitter link). Fisher said that Mbenga was a solid teammate who has a good knowledge of the triangle offense, and also added that Mbenga could help the “vibe” out in training camp this month, notes Berman. Berman’s wording of “this month” seemingly doubles down on his earlier report that Mbenga was signed purely for preseason purposes.

Here’s more from the east:

Chris Bosh hasn’t spoken with his former teammate LeBron James since James left the Heat to sign with the Cavs, ESPN.com reports. When asked by reporters if he had talked to James, Bosh said, “No. I’m in the mode where I’m trying to lead my team, help these guys out around here. If guys aren’t in this locker room, I don’t have much time for them — if any.” Miami’s first regular season game against LeBron and Cleveland is scheduled for Christmas day.
With all of the offseason turmoil the Pacers organization has gone through, Frank Vogel‘s contract extension will provide some needed stability, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star writes.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, in a video report with CineSport’s Brian Clark, discusses the uncertainties surrounding the Pacers and speculates that while Vogel is sticking around, some of his key players might not be.
With Indiana expected to to take a step back this season, it leaves the door open for the Pistons to improve their standing in the Central Division, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio writes in his season preview for Detroit. Amico believes the talent is there for the Pistons to take the next step toward being a playoff team.

Pistons Notes: Smith, Monroe, Mitchell

October 6th, 2014 at 5:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite last season’s disastrous results, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy says he hasn’t dismissed the idea of using Josh Smith at small forward, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Smith will spend most of his time at the four no matter what, but he’ll experiment with a Smith-Andre Drummond–Greg Monroe front line later this preseason. A look at the latest out of Detroit..

Late last month, Monroe denied speculation that he didn’t want to play alongside Smith and he had a conversation with Van Gundy addressing the speculation. Still, Monroe and Smith haven’t directly spoken about it, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. “I think if things aren’t true, I think the other person who people are kinda throwing under the bus, as a teammate and a man, should come to that individual and let him know that had nothing to do with him,” Smith said.
PIstons forward Tony Mitchell has a guaranteed contract but the team’s numbers game doesn’t favor him, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. There are several factors working against Mitchell: he’s one of 16 Pistons with guaranteed deals, he was drafted by he previous regime, he has the lowest salary of anyone on the team, and the team has a logjam in the frontcourt. Mitchell will likely be playing for his job in tomorrow night’s preseason opener against the Bulls, Mayo writes, though his chances of making the cut could improve if Aaron Gray is sidelined for an extended period.
The NBA’s new lucrative TV deal has veteran players abuzz throughout the league, but Monroe wants to see the younger guys take an active interest in getting a fair share of the pie as well, writes Mayo.

Eastern Notes: Frye, Jerebko, Thompson, Harris

October 4th, 2014 at 4:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Magic newcomer Channing Frye sprained his left knee during a scrimmage and is expected to miss anywhere from 1-2 months of action, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel is reporting. Orlando inked Frye to a four-year, $32 million contract back in July and were counting on him to be a big part of their rotation.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

With Frye out, the player who stands to benefit the most is Tobias Harris, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel opines. Harris is in the final year of his rookie contract and he and the Magic have until the October 31st deadline to sign an extension or else Harris will become a restricted free agent after the season. GM Rob Hennigan says he can’t envision the franchise not keeping Harris, Schmitz notes. Harris’ minutes will increase without Frye in the rotation and it will give him an opportunity to showcase his worth, according to Schmitz.
The Pistons‘ Jonas Jerebko isn’t feeling any added pressure this season despite it being the final year of his current deal, Brendan Savage of MLive writes. “I’d say it’s the biggest season of my career,” Jerebko said. “I’ve been working hard all summer trying to get ready for it. My body feels great, my shot feels great, I’m ready to go. It’s going to be a big year for me and I’m ready for it. Everything is going to fall into place for me.”
Tristan Thompson is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is eligible to sign an extension prior to the October 31st deadline. Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer looked at the pros and cons for the Cavs of giving Thompson an extension.

Four Teams Face Tough Roster Decisions

October 2nd, 2014 at 3:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

October is a month of decision-making for NBA clubs, as they sort through rookie scale extensions and options and figure out how to shrink their rosters down to the 15-man regular season limit. That third task is fairly straightforward for most teams, who’ll cut players with non-guaranteed deals and diminutive partial guarantees and keep those on fully guaranteed contracts.

For a few clubs, it’s not so easy, either because they have more than 15 fully guaranteed contracts or because there are players on the roster with little or no guaranteed money whom the club would like to keep at the expense of one or more of their fully guaranteed guys. Often, this means waiving a fully guaranteed contract and eating that money, though sometimes teams are able to work out salary-clearing trades.

A look at our roster counts shows several teams with at least some partially guaranteed money on the books for more than 15 players, but the predicaments of four teams stand out. We’ll profile them here:

Celtics
It took a series of maneuvers, including waiving and re-signing camp invitee Christian Watford, just to give the C’s enough room to squeeze a contract for Evan Turner under the 20-man offseason roster limit. Boston has 16 fully guaranteed contracts plus a $100K partial guarantee out to Erik Murphy, so more roster gymnastics are ahead for president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Phil Pressey and the newly acquired Dwight Powell have the cheapest guaranteed deals on the team, as each is in line for less than $1MM, though Pressey, a point guard, might have an edge if Rajon Rondo‘s injury lingers.

Pistons
The Pistons were set with 15 fully guaranteed contracts before Greg Monroe inked his qualifying offer, which is also fully guaranteed and carries a de facto no-trade clause. That sets up a tough decision this month for coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. Spencer Dinwiddie has the lowest amount of guaranteed money for this season, but his contract is also fully guaranteed for 2015/16. Tony Mitchell is the only Piston who has guaranteed salary that adds up to less than $1MM.

Rockets
Houston doesn’t look like it’s in a bind at first glance, since the team only has 15 fully guaranteed deals. Yet with projected starting point guard Patrick Beverley on a non-guaranteed contract, GM Daryl Morey will almost certainly part with one of those 15. Nick Johnson, Troy Daniels and Isaiah Canaan, the Rockets with the cheapest full guarantees for this season, all have a significant amount of guaranteed money on the books for 2015/16, too. Ish Smith, Jeff Adrien and Francisco Garcia are each on a fully guaranteed one-year deal that costs the team less than $1MM, but all three are proven veterans who saw time in NBA rotations last season. Further complicating the matter is that the team owes partial guarantees to Tarik Black, Robert Covington and Akil Mitchell.

Timberwolves
Minnesota’s situation is another that doesn’t appear troublesome initially, but the team invested a $250K partial guarantee in Glenn Robinson III, this year’s 40th overall pick, to go along with 15 fully guaranteed contracts. Robinson won’t earn a free pass onto the regular season roster, but the team is reportedly looking to unload J.J. Barea, whether by trade or buyout. If the Wolves don’t part ways with Barea, coach/executive Flip Saunders might cast his eye in the direction of Robbie Hummel, the only player with fully guaranteed salary that totals less than $1MM.

Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Eastern Notes: Monroe, Rondo, Heat, Sixers

October 2nd, 2014 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Greg Monroe said it wouldn’t necessarily have taken max money to convince him to sign long-term rather than take the one-year qualifying offer from the Pistons, as Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News observes. The 24-year-old added that he doesn’t feel a need to cash in whenever and wherever possible and expressed that he was apprehensive about doing so with Detroit before he and new coach/executive Stan Van Gundy become more comfortable with each other.

“It’s no disrespect to the people working here but it was just tough for me to agree to another four years with new people,” Monroe said. “Honestly, if you were to ask the average person would they do that in the arena they’re in, they’d say no.”

Monroe hopes Van Gundy won’t decide to start Andre Drummond and Josh Smith over him purely based on their respective contracts, as Goodwill also details. Monroe’s impending unrestricted free agency will be a storyline we’ll follow all season, but for now, here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Rajon Rondo and the Celtics still have to convince each other that a long-term future together is the right course of action, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said today, tweets Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com. Still, Ainge also said that he and Rondo have spoken about roster moves they’d like to make, Rohrbach adds in a separate tweet.
Shannon Brown doesn’t have a guarantee on his contract with the Heat, but he’s emerged as the favorite to serve as the primary backup for Dwyane Wade at shooting guard, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes.
The deal that Ronald Roberts Jr. broke off with France’s Chalon-Sur-Saone to sign with the Sixers instead was guaranteed for more money than the $35K partial guarantee that Philadelphia gave him, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. “My mindset was if I have an NBA team knocking on my door, I’ve got to take it,” Roberts said.

Eastern Notes: Rondo, Monroe, LeBron, Raptors

September 30th, 2014 at 3:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

Soon-to-be free agent Rajon Rondo expressed utmost confidence Monday that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge can return the team to contention, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald observes.

“Yeah, I’m pretty smart,” Rondo said. “I know this isn’t a championship team. But we’re going to go out there every night and fight hard. I think if we continue to do the little things and believe in each other and believe in [coach] Brad Stevens, we’ll surprise a lot of people. I have complete trust in Danny. The worst year of my career, in two months we turned it around. So I’m not worried about what he’s capable of doing. He’s done it.”

Rondo also spoke about the frequent appearance of his name in trade rumors, half-kiddingly suggesting that he’d like a no-trade clause in his next deal. It’ll be tough for him to avoid more rumors this season, one in which he seems like the most prominent trade candidate leaguewide. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Pistons aren’t giving up hope that they’ll reach a long-term deal with Greg Monroe, even though his signed qualifying offer means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer, owner Tom Gores told reporters, including Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free-Press. Monroe isn’t ruling it out either, as we noted yesterday.
Mike Miller confirmed a June report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com that the Heat‘s decision to amnesty him in 2013 upset LeBron James, as Miller tells Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer. “LeBron thought it was an unnecessary change,” Miller said. “I’m not saying I would have been a difference-maker. San Antonio was unbelievable last year and there are a lot of things that go into a season, but it was difficult for LeBron. It was difficult for all of us. It was difficult for me. I had to uproot my family and move again. It was tough. I think he was disappointed because he understands legacies and he understands what he wants to do in life. That’s what makes him special.”
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri had hoped to find a one-to-one D-League affiliate for this season, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who writes that the idea remains on the table for future seasons. Toronto will be one of 13 NBA teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this year.

Central Rumors: Thompson, Marion, Turner

September 29th, 2014 at 10:37pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Cavs haven’t spoken with agent Rich Paul about an extension for Tristan Thompson, as Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer hears, but it’s not necessarily a sign that the sides don’t intend to strike a deal before the October 31st deadline to do so, Haynes indicates. Let’s wrap up more from the Cavs and the Central:

Shawn Marion explains that the Cavs‘ acquisition of Kevin Love convinced him to spurn more lucrative offers from other clubs and sign with Cleveland, according to Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal.
Cavs GM David Griffin admits LeBron James was critical in Cleveland’s success in recruiting other big name players this summer, as Lloyd details in the same piece. “You couldn’t have a better recruiter than LeBron James,” Griffin said. “When you cut LeBron loose in a free agency path, you tend to get results you don’t get otherwise. To say he’s been an amazing partner this offseason would be a gross understatement.”
The Pacers and Evan Turner never attempted to negotiate a new deal that would have brought the former second overall pick back to Indiana for the 2014/15 season, reports Andrew Perna of RealGM (on Twitter). “We both just decided to go our separate ways,“ said Turner.
Greg Monroe‘s decision to sign his qualifying offer means he will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, but he says that doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to leave the Pistons, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit News. Monroe also dismissed the notion that he doesn’t like to play alongside Josh Smith, according to Ellis (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Stan Van Gundy On Monroe, Smith, Dual Role

September 27th, 2014 at 8:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Stan Van Gundy has had quite an introduction to handling basketball operations for a team in his first offseason as coach/executive for the Pistons. He was involved in tough negotiations with Greg Monroe, who ultimately turned down a four-year offer better than what the Pistons gave Josh Smith a year ago to sign his qualifying offer, which gives him the chance to hit unrestricted free agency next year. Van Gundy acknowledged in a chat with Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News that Monroe had serious reservations about a long-term future with the Pistons, and he had plenty more to say about the former seventh overall pick as well as other issues concerning the team. Goodwill’s entire interview is worth a read, especially for Pistons fans, but we’ll share a few of the highlights here:

On Smith:

“Last year wasn’t indicative of what he’s capable of as a basketball player. He was an incredibly tough guy to play against [when I coached against him]. At both ends, he gave us fits. He’s one of the most versatile frontline guys in the whole league. He has potential to be a great two-way player and you didn’t really see that last year, in all honesty. I think Josh would agree with that.”

On whether he’ll delegate his duties as front office chief during the regular season:

“I don’t know I ever take [that hat] off. [GM] Jeff [Bower] and I sort of worked out how we’ll communicate with that stuff, and [Palace of Auburn Hills president] Dennis [Mannion] on the other side. Jeff and I, when I’m in town, will meet at 7:30 before the coaches meetings every day, just to keep a handle on what’s going on.”

On whether he was ever close to a long-term deal with Monroe:

“That I can’t answer. That’s more to Greg, was he close to an agreement? There came a point where his agent [David Falk] said, ‘Look, we don’t want to get into a long back and forth. Give us your best offer.’ We sat and talked about it and outlined some things we wanted to accomplish with the offer. When I say ‘we,’ that was ownership involved. It was a well-thought-out, solid offer in terms of what we wanted to offer. Greg had to make a decision. I’m being honest. I was disappointed to a degree.”

On how Monroe’s decision to accept the qualifying offer has affected their relationship:

“His attitude has been great. At least I haven’t noticed it from my point. Business is business. I’ve got no hard feelings. I hope he doesn’t. I’ve seen no sign of a rift. He’s come in and worked hard, he’s been receptive to me and our coaching staff. He’s fun to be with. It changes strategy with where we go next offseason but for this season, it doesn’t change anything.”

And-Ones: Pistons, LeBron, Contract Details

September 25th, 2014 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons have a new direction as a franchise now that Stan Van Gundy has taken over as team president and head coach. In their season preview the crew at Basketball Insiders don’t see the team becoming contenders just yet, and their predictions have Detroit finishing either third or fourth in the Central Division.

Here’s more from around the league:

Nuggets signees Joe Alexander and Marcus Williams, new Lakers Keith Appling, Jabari Brown, Roscoe Smith and Jeremy Tyler, Heat additions Andre Dawkins and Shawn Jones, Wizards wing men Xavier Silas and Damion James, and Hasheem Thabeet of the Pistons are all on non-guaranteed one-year contracts for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details (All four Twitter links here).
LeBron James might be gone from Miami, but he takes with him a number of lessons the Heat organization taught him about professionalism, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes. James is a much different person than when he was with the Cavs the first time, notes Windhorst, and the additions of Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, and James Jones are indications that Cleveland wants to bump up the work ethic and preparation habits of their younger players.
When asked about departed free agent Trevor Ariza, who left the Wizards to sign with the Rockets this summer, Marcin Gortat believed Ariza’s decision wasn’t about finances, tweets Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Gortat said, “In my opinion I think he was trying to get back to the West. I don’t think it was about the money.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.