Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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.

Pistons Sign Brian Cook For Camp

September 25th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have signed nine-year NBA veteran big man NBA Brian Cook, the team announced via press release. The release also officially announces the signings of Hasheem Thabeet, Lorenzo Brown and Josh Bostic, who’d reportedly reached deals earlier with the team. The Pistons have the capacity to give Cook more than the minimum, but it’s unlikely that Detroit has done so. It’s unclear if there’s any guaranteed money involved, though the Pistons already have fully guaranteed deals with 16 players.

Cook hasn’t played in a regular season game since splitting the 2011/12 season between the Clippers and Wizards, but he did appear with the Pistons summer league team this past July, averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game. He went to training camp with the Wizards in the fall of 2012 and the Jazz last autumn, but he failed to make the opening-night roster both times. The 6’9″ 33-year-old is a career backup in the NBA, never having averaged more than 18.9 MPG in the regular season.

Today’s moves bring the Pistons to 20 players, the preseason maximum. Cook, Thabeet, Brown and Bostic have little shot of making the regular season roster, but coach/executive Stan Van Gundy can retain the D-League rights to some of them for the team’s new one-to-one affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Pistons Sign Hasheem Thabeet For Camp

September 24th, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 12:13pm: The team has followed up with an official announcement, via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 10:40pm: The contract has been signed, according to the RealGM transactions log.

3:45pm: The Pistons have signed Hasheem Thabeet, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The deal is non-guaranteed according to Stein, though the length and terms have not been disclosed yet. Thabeet’s signing brings Detroit’s preseason roster count to 19, with 16 of those players on fully-guaranteed contracts. With the Pistons’ glut of bigs on the roster Thabeet would seem to be a real long shot to stick past training camp.

Thabeet was traded from the Thunder to the Sixers in a roster clearing move back in August. Philadelphia had no intention of keeping Thabeet, and they waived him on the final day before his non-guaranteed $1.25MM salary for this coming season was to have become fully guaranteed.

The former second-overall draft pick out of UConn never came close to living up to his draft position. In five seasons Thabeet has averaged just 2.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG. His career shooting numbers are .567/.000/.568.

Wizards Sign Daniel Orton For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:50pm CST by Cray Allred

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The Wizards are close to signing Daniel Orton for training camp, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Orton is expected to sign a summer contract within the next few days, and it will be non-guaranteed.

Michael reports that Orton also worked out for the Pistons and Lakers, and canceled another workout with the Clippers once they signed Ekpe Udoh. Orton’s conditioning is better than it was during summer league, and Washington was the best fit for the third-year center because they covet frontcourt pieces more than his other suitors, Michael tweets.

The Vartanian/Simmons Sports Management client has played a total of 50 games in parts of the last three seasons with the Magic, Thunder, and Sixers. The big man has averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for his career.

Pistons Sign Josh Bostic For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 3:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 12:12pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

TUESDAY, 3:59pm: Sierra corrects his original report and now says that Bostic will be in camp with the Pistons instead (Twitter link). Detroit would appear to offer an even tougher path to opening night for Bostic, since the Pistons already have 16 fully guaranteed deals and a non-guaranteed arrangement with Lorenzo Brown. The Pistons have the capacity to exceed the minimum salary, but it’s unlikely that they will.

3:27pm: The Warriors will sign swingman Josh Bostic for training camp, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The Warriors are limited to giving the 6’5″ 27-year-old only the minimum salary, though it’s unclear if any of it will be guaranteed.

Bostic went undrafted in 2009 out of the University of Findlay, an NCAA Division II school in Ohio. He’s played overseas since spending the 2010/11 season in the D-League, with stops in Belgium, France and Russia. He split last season between France’s Chalon Sur-Saone and Russia’s Spartak St. Petersburg, averaging a combined 9.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game. His long-distance game probably won’t help his long-shot bid to make the opening night roster with Golden State, since he only made 22.8% of his 3.2 three-point attempts per contest overseas last year.

The Warriors have been carrying deals with 18 other players, including 13 on fully guaranteed pacts. All the rest have partially guaranteed minimum salaries, so there will be plenty of competition for the final spots on the team’s regular season roster.

Pistons Sign Lorenzo Brown For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:32am CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 12:11pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 8:32am: Not surprisingly, the deal is for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 8:55pm: The signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, although the team has yet to make an official announcement.

THURSDAY, 2:59pm: Hoops Rumors has learned that the deal does not include any guaranteed money.

2:52pm: Free agent guard Lorenzo Brown has reached agreement on a deal with the Pistons, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). Charania adds that it’s a one-year deal for the 2013 second round pick (link). Brown became a free agent recently after Italy’s Reyer Venezia voided the contract he signed with the club in July because he failed his physical.

Brown appeared in 26 games for the Sixers last season before they cut him back in March to make room for Darius Johnson-Odom. He averaged 2.5 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His slash line was .302/.100/.692.