Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Rumors: Waiters, McGary, Harden, Durant

October 31st, 2015 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dion Waiters feels “comfortable” with his situation in Oklahoma City as he waits to see if he will receive an extension, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Waiters said there is a “brotherhood” among the Thunder, as teammates spend a lot of time together off the court. “I’ve never been a part of a team that did that as a whole, as everybody,” said Waiters, who was traded from Cleveland to Oklahoma City last season. “That’s great for me.” Teams have until Monday to extend rookie scale contracts for players who’ve completed three seasons of those deals.

There’s more tonight from Oklahoma City:

Mitch McGary hasn’t played in the first two games, but he hasn’t dropped out of the rotation, Slater writes in a separate story. The second-year player is being brought back slowly after going through concussion protocol. “Mitch had a good training camp,” said coach Billy Donovan. “He had a good summer. Once he gets back into a rhythm, he can really help us.”
The 2012 trade that sent James Harden to Houston looks worse with each passing year, according to Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Not only has Harden blossomed into an MVP candidate with the Rockets, but the NBA’s changing payroll landscape has made the deal even more distasteful for Thunder fans, Tramel writes. GM Sam Presti was worried at the time that the franchise couldn’t afford a max deal for Harden while hanging onto Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. However, a jump in TV money and overall revenues has created a rapidly escalating salary cap, and Enes Kanter is getting more from the Thunder than Harden would have.
As Durant heads toward free agency, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report wonders if he will be able to get back to an MVP level. The 2014/15 season saw Durant undergo three foot operations, with the last one coming in March. The Thunder insist the foot is fine now, and people close to Durant see no decline in his skills or athleticism. “I don’t think he wants people to feel that this is a comeback year for him,” said Brice Plebani, a childhood friend. “I think he wants to feel like there was never anything that he needed to come back from.”

Southwest Notes: Douglas, Kazemi, Pachulia

October 31st, 2015 at 7:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Toney Douglas‘ new contract with the Pelicans covers two years, with the second year non-guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. New Orleans signed the 29-year-old guard Friday after waiving Nate Robinson. This is the second stint with the Pelicans for Douglas, who signed two 10-day contracts and a multiyear deal with the team last season. However, the Pelicans waived him in July to avoid guaranteeing his salary for this season. Douglas cleared waivers earlier this week after being released by the Pacers.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Arsalan Kazemi, who was with the Rockets briefly this preseason, will play overseas rather than in the D-League, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Kazemi was waived last week after being claimed on waivers from the Hawks on October 12th. He appeared in one preseason game with Houston.
Dirk Nowitzki is a already a huge fan of new teammate Zaza Pachulia, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Pachulia, who came to Dallas in a July trade with the Bucks, had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first game with the Mavericks. “I don’t think I’ve played with a smarter center than he is,” Nowitzki said.
“Just making smart plays, setting good picks, getting guys open. He’s a good passer for his size and just makes really, really smart plays.”
The Grizzlies know what to expect from their core starters, but their level of success could depend on complementary players, writes Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal. Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen are established after playing in 279 games together entering this season, according to Herrington, but it’s the contribution of other players, such as offseason addition Brandan Wright, who could determine if Memphis makes a serious run at the title.

Southwest Notes: Conley, Robinson, Aldridge

October 31st, 2015 at 4:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Grizzlies have every intention of re-signing point guard Mike Conley when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, and based on Conley’s enthusiastic recruitment for center Marc Gasol to re-sign with the team this past offseason, the veteran playmaker also desires his time in Memphis to continue beyond this campaign, Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports writes. Gasol said he plans to leave Conley alone this season and won’t pester him to stay in Memphis, Lee adds.

“Yeah, but I cannot force him to do anything that he doesn’t feel that is right. He has to do what is right for him, that he believes in it,” Gasol told Lee. “If you feel forced to do something you don’t believe in, then you’re going to regret it. And whenever he makes his decision, whatever his decision is, he knows our relationship goes way beyond basketball and we’ll always be friends, past this five, 10 years left in our careers. As long as we live, we’re going to be friends. It’s not going to affect our friendship.”

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Nate Robinson‘s stint with the Pelicans this season lasted less than two weeks, but his release wasn’t because of anything the diminutive guard failed to do, John Reid of The Times Picayune relays (Twitter links). Robinson was replaced on New Orleans’ roster by Toney Douglas, who was thought to be a better fit for the team’s roster, according to coach Alvin Gentry, Reid notes. ”We just thought it was a better fit [with Douglas], nothing against Nate,” Gentry said. “Nate came in and did everything we asked him to do.”
Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is still finding his footing in San Antonio with his new team, and the player admitts that he’s “not even close” to the player San Antonio signed this offseason, Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com writes. “It’s not the same. I’m not the same person here that I was in Portland,” Aldridge said. “I don’t feel like they need me to be that person all the time. It’s learning how to be myself in the offense. I haven’t figured that out yet. I feel like the whole [team philosophy of] ‘good to great passes’ [is] in my head all the time. Hopefully as the season goes on I’ll figure it out. But right now, I’m just trying to fit in.“
Rockets camp cuts Denzel Livingston, Will Cummings, Joshua Smith, and Chris Walker will join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, as D-League affiliate players this season, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays (on Twitter).

Jones, Motiejunas Nix Rockets Extension Talks

October 29th, 2015 at 9:12am CST by Chuck Myron

Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are taking a pass on signing rookie scale extensions with the Rockets and will instead set themselves up for restricted free agency this coming summer, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Neither was able to gain traction in talks with the team, Charania adds. The deadline for rookie scale extensions is Monday.

That Houston was apparently not willing to bend too far in negotiations with either is no surprise, given GM Daryl Morey‘s longstanding desire to retain cap flexibility each year. The Rockets have about $44.3MM committed against a salary cap that some executives believe will rise to $95MM for next season, but that doesn’t include a team option worth $1.296MM the Rockets plan to exercise, nor does it include Ty Lawson‘s $13MM-plus non-guaranteed salary or Dwight Howard‘s $23MM-plus player option.

The Rockets will have the ability to match offers for both Jones and Motiejunas, and owner Leslie Alexander’s remark to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle this week that, “Nobody ever leaves here if we want to keep them,” underscores the level of control the team has. Still, the Rockets lost Chandler Parsons on a player-friendly offer sheet to the Mavs in 2014, and Jones and Motiejunas will be eligible to solicit similar deals from competing teams.

The pair of power forwards both experienced significant injuries last season, with Jones missing the first half of the season with a nerve injury that left him questioning whether he’d ever play again and Motiejunas missing the stretch run and the playoffs with an ailing back. Motiejunas has yet to return from his injury, though he’s questionable for Friday’s game.

Grantland’s Zach Lowe speculated in August that Jones might ask for $15MM salaries, and he’s shown his value as a floor-stretcher with 35.1% three-point shooting last year, an improvement over his first two seasons. Still, the 23-year-old struggles defensively, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors points out in our extension candidate profile of the Thad Foucher client.

Motiejunas, 25, has had mixed results defensively, though he, too, displayed an improved outside shooting game in 2014/15, when he made 62 starts and nailed 36.8% of his three-pointers. However, for a 7-footer, his rebounding numbers were a disappointing 5.9 boards in 28.7 minutes per game, as I noted in our extension candidate piece for him. Foucher, a Wasserman Media Group agent, also represents Motiejunas, though both Jones and Motiejunas are former clients of Arn Tellem, who left the agency for an executive job with the Pistons organization, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).

Do you think Jones and/or Motiejunas will be back with the Rockets next season? Leave a comment to let us know.

Texas Notes: Alexander, Lalanne, Murry

October 28th, 2015 at 8:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Dwight Howard eligible to opt out of his deal after the season, Ty Lawson‘s pending free agency next summer, and the team needing to make decisions on whether or not to offer contract extensions to Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas prior to the November 2nd deadline, the Rockets appear to be at a crossroads, but team owner Leslie Alexander doesn’t consider 2015/16 a make-or-break-it-up season, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “I’m not thinking that far ahead,” Alexander said. “Nobody ever leaves here if we want to keep them. It’s not like I’m planning on losing people.” Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron had previously examined the extension candidacy of Motiejunas, and Arthur Hill did the same with Jones.

The owner also noted that he feels competitive regarding how the Rockets are run as an organization in comparison to the rest of the league, Feigen adds. “Everything is well set on the business side and the basketball side. This organization is nicely run,” Alexander said. “We have terrific people on both sides of the aisle. They really know what they’re doing. We have it running really well. I try to have it running like a really great corporation, even though we’re a sports team. I try to do it like if it was a big business: You would run it this way, but keeping it small enough that it is a family atmosphere. I think I’ve achieved that.”

Here’s more from the Lone Star State:

Cady Lalanne, who was selected by the Spurs with the No. 55 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, has signed with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).
Toure’ Murry, who was recently waived by the Wizards, will sign with the Texas Legends, the Mavericks‘ D-League affiliate, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post relays (Twitter link).
The Mavs are looking forward to the regular season commencing so they can put a challenging offseason behind them, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “We’ve turned the pages months ago,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we’ve talked about everything that’s transpired. We’ve given respect where respect is due and we’ve adjusted where we’ve needed to adjust. The NBA is pretty much an ‘it is what it is’ league. The guys we have, we’re going to make the best of it with those guys. And we like our chances to have a hell of a year.“

Western Rumors: World Peace, Clippers, McGee

October 26th, 2015 at 8:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Metta World Peace not only made the Lakers‘ opening-day roster, but the club also plans to make him an assistant coach after his playing career, league sources told Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. The veteran small forward, who beat out Jabari Brown for the final roster spot, has been mentoring several young Lakers players, including 2014 lottery pick and power forward Julius Randle, Charania adds. World Peace is excited about the possibility of being a coach, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes tweets. “It would be fun,” World Peace said. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a coach? It’s a great life.”

In other news around the Western Conference:

Luc Mbah a Moute secured the Clippers’ final roster spot over veteran forward Chuck Hayes because of his defensive prowess, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reports. Clippers coach Doc Rivers told Woike that he views Mbah a Moute as a defensive specialist. “He’s one of those guys that can be a great team defender,” Rivers said. The small forward wound up with the Clippers after the Kings voided Mbah a Moute’s free agent deal with the team this summer, claiming he failed his physical because of a shoulder injury, Woike adds.
Center JaVale McGee is still “weeks away” from being cleared to play but Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is encouraged by his progress, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets. McGee is rehabbing from a left tibial stress fracture. Salah Mejri appears to be the main backup to Zaza Pachulia until McGee returns.
Al-Farouq Aminu has made a strong impression on his Trail Blazers teammates with his defensive versatility, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Aminu was signed as a free agent to a four-year, $30MM deal to be their defensive stopper, Freeman continues. “He’s a jack-of-all-trades, a guy who can do everything,” shooting guard C.J. McCollum said to Freeman. “I think he’s really, really talented defensively. He’s a guy who can guard multiple positions, can guard a point guard, he can get switched on the four or five and hold his own, rebound, block shots, run the floor.” However, he may miss the season opener because of a left hamstring strain, Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com reports.
Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley is ready for the season opener after a hand injury that required surgery prevented him from playing during the team’s postseason run, Jenny Creech of the Houston Chronicle writes. Beverley missed one preseason game with groin soreness, but averaged 7.7 points and 3.7 assists in seven other preseason outings.

And-Ones: Hornets D-League, Final Cuts, Johnson

October 25th, 2015 at 10:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Greensboro, North Carolina, will be the site of the Hornets‘ new D-League team, reports Jeff Mills of the Greensboro News & Record. The new franchise, which will expand the league to 20 teams, will begin play next fall. Charlotte currently has no D-League affiliate. Players on D-League assignment will go to the one-to-one affiliate of another NBA team. “Greensboro’s approach to the process was innovative,” said Fred Whitfield, the Hornets’ president and chief operating officer. “Taking the Pavilion and renovating it into a basketball-style fieldhouse for us was very attractive. Especially when you could have offices for us right across the street.” The move is expected to be officially announced Tuesday. Asheville and Fayetteville were the other finalists.

There’s more news from around the basketball world:

After a flurry of moves Saturday, seven NBA teams still have final cuts to make before Monday’s roster deadline, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Mavericks, Pistons, Pacers, Lakers and Grizzlies each have to unload one player to reach the roster limit of 15. The Nets still have 17 players and the Sixers have 20, which is the training camp maximum (Twitter link). The five teams with roster openings are the Rockets, Pelicans, Knicks, Magic and Suns, who each have 14 spots filled. (Twitter link).
Several teams have expressed interest in Nick Johnson, who was waived Saturday by the Nuggets, according to Sam Amico of Amicohoops.net. Citing an unidentified source, Amico says there’s a chance someone could pick up Johnson by Monday. Johnson was one of four players sent from Houston to Denver in the Ty Lawson trade.
The league is looking into the reported confrontation between Knicks coach Derek Fisher and the Grizzlies‘ Matt Barnes, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the investigation, but did not offer specifics regarding possible punishment for either Fisher or Barnes. They were allegedly involved in a physical altercation at the house of Barnes’ estranged wife.

Rockets Waive Joshua Smith, Arsalan Kazemi

October 24th, 2015 at 4:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

4:34pm: Smith and Kazemi have been released, the Rockets announced.

3:05pm: The Rockets are waiving Joshua Smith and Arsalan Kazemi, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to make an official announcement, though Feigen indicates the moves have already taken place. Neither player’s deal included any guaranteed money. The team’s roster count drops to 14 players, one below the regular season maximum.

Smith, 23, finished his NCAA career at Georgetown this spring after spending his first two seasons at UCLA, and he appeared in 33 games as a senior, averaging 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 20.5 minutes per night. His career collegiate numbers overall were 10.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 0.7 assists, and his career slash line was .591/.000/.613. Smith played summer league ball for the Heat this offseason, appearing in nine contests in which he averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG.

Houston had claimed Kazemi off waivers from the Hawks earlier this month. He put up 15.0 points in 38.9 minutes per game for ChongQing AoLong of China last season.

Rockets Waive Tyler, Walker, Cummings, Livingston

October 23rd, 2015 at 11:51am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have waived Jeremy Tyler, Chris Walker, Will Cummings and Denzel Livingston, the team announced (Twitter link). All four were on non-guaranteed deals. The moves leave Houston with 16 players, including 14 on fully guaranteed contracts. Arsalan Kazemi and Joshua Smith, the other two players, have non-guaranteed salaries.

Tyler, a three-year NBA veteran, is the only one of the four players the Rockets cut today who has previous experience in the league. The center, now 24, last appeared in a regular season game during 2013/14, with the Knicks. He posted eight points and eight rebounds in a total of 29 minutes spread over two preseason games for the Rockets this fall.

Walker, 20, is a once-heralded college recruit whose stock fell precipitously at Florida. He joined the Rockets summer league team in July after going undrafted this year and averaged 5.7 points in 8.3 minutes per game across three preseason appearances.

Cummings, just like Walker and Livingston, went undrafted this year and played with Houston’s summer league team. The 23-year-old former Temple point guard made it into six preseason games and averaged 4.2 points, 2.5 assists and 12.5 minutes per contest. Livingston, a combo guard from Incarnate Word, notched 7.5 points in 11.5 minutes per game during his four preseason appearances.

Southwest Notes: Thomas, Evans, Harrell

October 21st, 2015 at 7:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans swingman Tyreke Evans underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday, and he is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks, John Reid of The Times Picayune reports. ”If you know Tyreke, if there is any way of getting back earlier, he’ll do that,” coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. ”But I know he will back as soon as he possibly can. He loves to play. He can play in pain. I just want him to get well and get completely healthy.” This was the second procedure on Evans’ knee since May.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

A few teams are interested in Deshaun Thomas, but chances are still good that he ends up with the Spurs‘ D-League affiliate in Austin, Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter link). Thomas was waived by San Antonio earlier today.
With injuries to Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones, Rockets rookie power forward Montrezl Harrell is getting a crash course in what it takes to be in an NBA rotation, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “He’s getting a lot of valuable lessons,” coach Kevin McHale said. “Sometimes, they’re painful lessons. He’s got a lot to learn like all rookies do. From a coaching standpoint, I’m happy for him. He gets much more opportunities. I’d much rather see D-Mo and Terrence out there every single day, playing and him playing backup and learning that way. Right now, he’s learning by baptism by fire.”
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was effusive in expressing his appreciation for what Tyson Chandler brought to the organization, and Carlisle understands that the veteran big man may harbor some ill feelings toward the franchise after being allowed to leave as a free agent a second time, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “Tyson is one of the most special people I’ve met in my 33 years in this profession,” Carlisle said. “He knows how I feel about him and he has every right to feel the way he feels. He truly is one of the all-time great Mavericks, there’s just no doubt about it. And this past summer was the byproduct of the high-stakes things you go through in this league, the risks you take. We attempted to get the team significantly younger. It didn’t work out and he decided to leave, so that was certainly his prerogative.“