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Celtics, Rockets Talk Dwight Howard Trade

February 3rd, 2016 at 4:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:46pm: The Rockets have indeed engaged in trade talks with teams regarding Howard, but the asking price is reportedly very steep and Houston is not merely looking to dump him, Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets.

2:55pm: The teams never really had a negotiation, multiple league sources told Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, who explains that the trade proposal quickly died after a brief exchange. Still, the Rockets have made efforts to trade Howard, Bulpett hears.

10:37am: The talks aren’t expected to progress past the discussion phase, a league source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Blakely suggests the Celtics would have to include David Lee, plus additional players, draft assets, or both to make any Howard trade work. Boston has reportedly made Lee available and the Celtics and Lee’s representatives are cooperating as they explore trade options for him, Blakely adds.

7:58am: The Celtics have engaged the Rockets in trade talks about Dwight Howard, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports amid a larger piece. It’s unclear how receptive Houston has been to the idea of trading the former All-Star center or how aggressively Boston is pursuing him. The 30-year-old Howard has a player option worth more than $23.282MM for next season, but the Rockets reportedly expect him to turn it down, no surprise given that he’d be eligible for a maximum salary of a projected $29.3MM in free agency.

Howard has been relatively healthy this season after missing 41 games last year and has been regularly playing in back-to-backs after having been held out of them at the beginning of the season. Still, he’s averaging 14.4 points on 8.6 shots per game, his lowest numbers in either categories since he was a 19-year-old rookie in 2004/05. His 1.6 blocks per game are relatively low compared to the number of shots he swatted in years past, including a career-high 2.9 in 2008/09, but he’d still represent the sort of rim-protecting force the Celtics have lacked.

The Dan Fegan client, along with others on the Rockets, denied a report in December that he’s “extremely unhappy” with his role in Houston. Gauging his level of contentment in either Houston or with a would-be trade to Boston would undoubtedly be key if the trade discussions reach any advanced stage, since he can walk as a free agent at season’s end.

The Celtics and Rockets both have a surplus of point guards and power forwards, so it’s difficult to see how the sides could help each other in a swap. Still, Rockets GM Daryl Morey used to work under Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, so it’s not surprising to see them have a dialogue.

Where do you think Dwight Howard will be playing next season? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Rockets Notes: Howard, Jones, McHale

February 2nd, 2016 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets combo forward Terrence Jones, who is reportedly a trade candidate, has had his playing time reduced after the acquisition of Josh Smith. Jones has struggled mightily lately, something interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff blames himself for, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes. “He’s had a tough streak and I think it’s because of the trade that we made, the inconsistent minutes,” Bickerstaff said regarding Jones. “He hasn’t changed his routine. We had early success with Josh coming in. We won those three games in a row so Josh was getting more and more of those minutes. I’ll take the responsibility for his inconsistency because his minutes have been inconsistent. That’s on me. We have to blend those guys. When healthy, we have a lot of bigs that can help and contribute. Terrence believes in himself. We believe in Terrence. His confidence isn’t wavering.”

Jones readily admits the role change has been difficult for him, Feigen adds. “It’s tough not knowing and it’s tough to mentally prepare,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to … get wins. Whether he is comfortable playing me the first four minutes or the last four minutes, I can’t control that. The only thing I can control is being there for my teammates and going as hard as I can when I get in. But I definitely believe it’s hard to have a strong roll with inconsistent minutes.” The 24-year-old is eligible to become a restricted free agent after the season.

Here’s more from Houston:

  • The NBA suspended Dwight Howard one game for shoving the arm of an official during Saturday’s game, as the league announced and as Feigen reported (Twitter link). The punishment costs Howard $203,267 but saves the Rockets about $150K in projected luxury tax payments, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Houston has saved about $725K in projected tax this season through suspensions to Lawson and Howard, Marks adds.
  • The more games the Rockets play without Kevin McHale on the sidelines, the better the former coach looks, Jerome Solomon of The Houston Chronicle opines. The team entered the 2015/16 season with unrealistic expectations based on McHale getting more out of the roster last season than he should have, which then led to his termination after that level of performance wasn’t replicated this campaign, Solomon adds. Without McHale, whose ability to balance old-school values alongside managing modern player egos was underrated, the team has taken on a propensity to blame outside forces for its woes, the Chronicle scribe argues.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Nets To Interview Rosas, Karnisovas For GM Post

February 2nd, 2016 at 7:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

7:55pm: Brooklyn has also received permission from Denver to interview Karnisovas, NetsDaily reports. Karnisovas, 44, was a member of the NBA’s basketball operations office from 2003 to 2008. He then spent five seasons as an international scout for the Rockets, an experience that holds high value to the Nets, who want to ramp up their international scouting ties, according to Wojnarowski. The executive was named assistant GM of the Nuggets in July of 2013.

6:39pm: The Nets have requested and received permission from the Rockets to interview their executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas for the team’s vacant GM post, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Brooklyn’s interest in Rosas was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The Nets are also reportedly considering Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas for the position.

Brooklyn reportedly wants to hire a GM before the February 18th trade deadline, which is two weeks from Thursday, and the Nets plan to begin formal interviews shortly, according to Wojnarowski. Nets officials want a greater emphasis on international scouting, feeling as though the team lacked that under former GM Billy King, the Yahoo scribe relayed. Rosas, a native of Bogota, Colombia, has been with the Rockets’ organization for 13 years, and has been the franchise’s Executive VP for the past five years. He was previously hired as Mavericks GM in 2013, but Dallas envisioned him as a clear subordinate to president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, something that apparently didn’t sit well with Rosas, who resigned just three months into the job.

Rosas played a prominent role in the Rockets’ reshaping of their roster in the post-Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady seasons, when the franchise traded McGrady for multiple draft picks and built up the required assets to acquire James Harden via trade and sign Dwight Howard in free agency, according to Wojnarowski (h/t NetsDaily). He also played a major part in bringing Patrick Beverley from Europe as a free agent and drafting small forward Chandler Parsons, as Wojnarowski noted in his profile of the executive.

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Kevin Durant Fond Of Warriors; Clippers Loom

February 2nd, 2016 at 12:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors would be “significant” front-runners for Kevin Durant should he leave the Thunder this summer, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, who places emphasis on the word “significant.” Still, the former MVP isn’t leaning one way or another toward staying or leaving Oklahoma City, Wojnarowski adds. The Wizards, Rockets and Heat still loom as likely suitors, but the Clippers are determined to make a push for him and wouldn’t hesitate to trade Blake Griffin to facilitate the acquisition of Durant, as Wojnarowski details.

Durant wants to win titles and create a legacy, Wojnarowski writes, and the Warriors, the defending champions who sit at 44-4 this season, would give him a strong chance to do so. Draymond Green is on board with the move and is expected to recruit Durant this summer, though Stephen Curry, given his talent and personality, would be the most persuasive voice, Wojnarowski adds, nonetheless leaving it unclear whether Curry is expected to go as hard after Durant as Green is.

Golden State has long eyed Durant’s upcoming free agency, Wojnarowski notes, and so has much of the rest of the NBA, of course. The Warriors nonetheless have a reputation for aiming high, and Harrison Barnes, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, looms as a sign-and-trade chip, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group has pointed out.

The Warriors have close to $75MM committed for next season against a salary cap that’s projected to come in at $89MM, and with Durant’s maximum salary projected at $24.9MM, that creates a financial road block. However, Wojnarowski’s Vertical colleague Bobby Marks lays out a hypothetical scenario in which the Warriors trade Andre Iguodala, waive and stretch Andrew Bogut, waive and stretch Jason Thompson, renounce their rights to and elect against a qualifying offer for Barnes and renounce other cap holds to create enough cap room to sign Durant outright.

The Clippers, with close to $78MM in guaranteed salary for next season, would need to perform similar cap gymnastics to open the space necessary to sign Durant, making the sign-and-trade a more viable option. The Thunder wouldn’t go for a sign-and-trade unless they knew Durant was leaving, according to Wojnarowski, who nonetheless points out that Griffin, who starred for the University of Oklahoma, is an Oklahoma native. Teams are already calling the Clippers to inquire about trading for the injured Griffin, but coach/executive Doc Rivers appears set on keeping him and seeing how the team performs in the postseason, Wojnarowski writes.

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Western Notes: Pierce, Martin, Bass, Batum

February 1st, 2016 at 4:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers signed Paul Pierce to a three-year deal in the offseason, but the 38-year-old has shown the ravages of age this season, and coach/executive Doc Rivers admits the team’s maintenance plan for him isn’t foolproof, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register examines. Pierce hasn’t ruled out retirement after the season.

“It has to be [hard for him],” Rivers said. “You could see he didn’t have great rhythm tonight and he didn’t practice and he takes the days off. Again, it’s an imperfect science. I think at the end of the year it will be great for him because now the rhythm will start and he’ll start playing, but I really don’t know. I’m just trying to do the best with him so we can preserve him.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Some teams with interest in trading with the Timberwolves for Kevin Martin would prefer that he picks up his player option worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, but a larger and more seriously intrigued bunch of teams wants him to turn down the option, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears. The same is true among suitors for Lakers power forward Brandon Bass, who has a $3.135MM player option, Kyler adds.
  • Soon-to-be free agent Nicolas Batum said after Friday’s game that he “loved” playing for the Trail Blazers, but Portland’s victory over the Hornets, in which Batum struggled, was in large measure about the Blazers moving past Batum and the other players the team didn’t bring back from last season, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman details. The Charlotte swingman was the last of the four former Blazers starters to play a game with his new team in Portland.
  • The Rockets have recalled Donatas Motiejunas and K.J. McDaniels from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Motiejunas, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, gave his consent to the D-League trip as a rehab assignment, and he said he’ll again join Houston’s affiliate later in the week, notes Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (on Twitter). Motiejunas has three previous years of experience, so the Rockets need his permission as well as the union’s to send him to the D-League.
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And-Ones: Dunleavy, Thomas, Cameras, D-League

January 30th, 2016 at 10:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mike Dunleavy Jr., who hasn’t played since undergoing offseason back surgery, could return before the All-Star break, according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Proclaiming himself “pain free,” Dunleavy said he hopes to practice with Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, during the Bulls‘ road trip this week. “I feel good,” Dunleavy said. “I’m getting real close. I’m going to spend some time down there next week with the D-League team, some practices. Try to get a little more rhythm and repetition because obviously our team is playing too many games. Gotta get that done and then see where we’re at.” The veteran small forward added that he won’t rush to return and will only play when he’s sure his back is ready.

There’s more tonight from around the world of basketball:

  • Tyrus Thomas, the No. 4 pick in the 2006 draft, has found peace while playing in Germany’s Bundesliga league, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Thomas has barely played in the NBA since Charlotte used the amnesty clause to unload his contract in 2013. He signed a 10-day deal with the Grizzlies last year, appearing in two games, and spent much of the season in the D-League. “My career didn’t end the way I wanted,” Thomas said. “But I’m not trying to make up for anything. I’m grateful with the way my career played out because I don’t think I would be the man that I am now if I wouldn’t have had the hardships that I had.”
  • The NBA has isued an immediate ban on midcourt sideline television cameras, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The move was prompted by a minor injury to referee Scott Wall, who tripped over a cameraman during a January 21st game in Denver. LeBron James was involved in a similar incident during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.
  • The Rockets have assigned K.J. McDaniels and Donatas Motiejunas to their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, the team tweeted today. Both Motiejunas and the NBPA had to sign off on the move because he is a fourth-year veteran.
  • The Raptors recalled Anthony Bennett and Bruno Caboclo from their D-League affiliate this evening, the team tweeted.
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Pacific Notes: Griffin, Morris, Weems

January 30th, 2016 at 1:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thanks to the rash of backcourt injuries that have plagued the Suns this season, Sonny Weems is finally getting his opportunity to play, and the shooting guard hopes to demonstrate how valuable he can be to the team, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I think I can do a lot more,” Weems said. “I think I’m a more complete player than most think I am. It’s still a long season. I still have got time to show the complete game that I have.”

Weems noted that he still tries to speak regularly with his former CSKA Moscow coach, Ettore Messina, who is an assistant with the Spurs, but he runs into trouble doing so, Coro adds. “I’m stuck here for the next two years and he’s there so we can’t talk about anything,” said Weems, whose deal includes a team option for next season. The guard did note that he appreciates the opportunity Phoenix has given him but he wants a more substantial role, Coro relays. “I actually like Phoenix,” Weems said. “You really can’t complain when you see the sun shine every day and it’s 70 degrees. I really like it. As far as playing time, I wish I had more playing time. Of course, every NBA player wishes he could play a lot more. I understand the business. I’m just waiting my turn. When it comes, I’m going to be ready. I love Phoenix.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers notes that power forward Blake Griffin, who is expected to miss up to two months after breaking his right hand in an altercation with the team’s equipment manager, is genuinely remorseful for the incident, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com relays. “He feels awful about it, and he’s let everyone know that,” Rivers said. “That’s all you can do. You have to forgive people at some point. I believe that. We built Richard Nixon a library. I mean, my goodness. You forgive people. You really do. You kind of move on, and you build it back.” Rivers also noted that the franchise will defer to the league in regard to any discipline meted out, Arnovitz adds. “Both parties will get together,” Rivers said. “Usually the league leads on that stuff.“
  • It’s still a matter of when, not if, the Suns will trade Markieff Morris, executives from around the league tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, but Phoenix is holding tight in search of better offers with his market value trending relatively low, according to Stein.
  • The Clippers sent $456,921 to the Rockets as part of the Josh Smith trade, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (on Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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D-League Notes: McCallum, Christmas, McDaniels

January 29th, 2016 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.

Here are the latest NBA D-League assignments and recalls:

  • The Pacers recalled Rakeem Christmas from their D-League affiliate and assigned Shayne Whittington to the Mad Ants, the team announced. This concludes Christmas’ second stint in Fort Wayne on the season and commences Whittington’s fourth.
  • The Spurs have reassigned point guard Ray McCallum to their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team announced. McCallum will be joining the junior Spurs for the sixth time this season and he is averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 37.7 minutes in seven total appearances.
  • The Rockets have recalled Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This concludes Harrell’s third stint with Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth.
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Western Notes: Gay, Martin, Motiejunas

January 29th, 2016 at 9:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Kings are holding out for a “quality young player” or someone whose contract runs beyond this season in return for Rudy Gay as they entertain offers for the combo forward, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relayed earlier this evening that there is significant interest around the league regarding multiple players on Sacramento’s roster, including Gay and Marco Belinelli. While we await more trade rumblings, here are the latest happenings from out West:

  • The Timberwolves are demanding more in a Kevin Martin trade than a simple offloading of salary, Stein notes in the same piece. The Bucks, Mavericks, Bulls, Grizzlies and Kings have all reportedly expressed interest in Martin to some degree, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron noted when he examined the shooting guard’s trade candidacy.
  • Rockets power forward Donatas Motiejunas is slated to join the team’s D-League affiliate this weekend to continue rehabbing his injured back, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. As a fourth-year player, both Motiejunas and the NBPA needed to give their permission for the big man to head to Rio Grande Valley, Feigen notes, something Motiejunas was more than willing to do. “I’m excited,” Motiejunas said about joining the Vipers. “I know that I need to go there. I know that’s what I want. For catching a rhythm, that’s the thing that I will like to go, catch my rhythm back, catch my game flow, get back into shape. I’m happy with it and just to go play, get my confidence back, is a really good decision by me and my agent to go there. I asked them to send me. I know it’s going to be much harder for me if I don’t go there and not get reps. Then I have to work into the rotation somehow and maintain my condition. I really think it’s the best solution for me to go to the D-League, check on my body, get high minutes, get in a rhythm, get in a game shape and be ready to play.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Dead Money: Southwest Division

January 29th, 2016 at 6:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.

There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!

Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Southwest Division, including Jimmer Fredette, who appears on more than one team’s ledger:

Dallas Mavericks

Total= $1,898,129

Houston Rockets

Total= $88,187

Memphis Grizzlies

Total= $1,394,377

New Orleans Pelicans

Total= $115,771

San Antonio Spurs

Total= $507,711

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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