Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Smith, Rondo, Cuban, Rockets

January 4th, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The recent play of Greg Smith has the Mavericks convinced they can wait to add frontcourt help, reports Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Free agent Jermaine O’Neal remains the team’s primary target, Sefko writes, but he won’t commit to returning to the NBA until he is sure he’s physically ready. The 6’10” Smith, who has averaged 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in eight games since Brandan Wright was moved in the Rajon Rondo deal, has lessened the sense of urgency to find a big man. “Jermaine’s a great guy. I know him,” Smith said. “And if he comes here, that’d be great for us. But for right now, I got to hold the fort down and be the best backup I can be so if he does come, we can be a three-headed monster down there.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is defending Rondo in the wake of a controversial comment, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. After returning to Boston Friday for his first game since the December 18th trade that sent him to the Mavericks, Rondo told reporters, “I haven’t played defense in a couple years.” Ainge said he was referring to former backcourt mate Avery Bradley taking the tougher matchup. “The way I interpret it,” Ainge said, “is that now out in the Western Conference he’s going to have to be the guy that defends Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard and those guys every night, where here he could rely on Avery to take a lot of that burden off of him.”
Mark Cuban turned around the fortunes of Mavericks basketball when he bought the team 15 years ago Sunday, opines Dwain Price of The Star Telegram. Price contends Cuban’s willingness to spend and his close relationship with players has made Dallas a perennial title contender.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes the Rockets improved greatly through two recent moves, writes Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. Houston was able to add athleticism and experience by picking up Josh Smith on waivers from the Pistons and Corey Brewer through a trade with the Wolves. ““They are both long, versatile defenders,” Spoelstra said. “Corey Brewer is playing as well as he has ever played. He is shooting the ball great. He is playing with great confidence. He is disruptive. You can see why they pursued him so hard.”

D-League Notes: Kuzmic, Johnson, Young

January 3rd, 2015 at 3:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The D-League has become an integral part of the NBA’s process of developing younger players, as well as a source for locating hidden gems to bolster rosters during the course of the season. You can easily stay on top of which players are coming and going from the D-League all season by checking out our 2014/15 D-League Assignments, Recalls tracker, which is updated daily. You can also find this page anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”

Here are the latest D-League moves:

The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to the Santa Cruz Warriors, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. This will be Kuzmic’s third trip of the season to Santa Cruz.
Toure’ Murry has been recalled by the Jazz from the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was his second assignment to Idaho this season, and in seven D-League games Murry has averaged 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
The Celtics have assigned James Young to the Maine Red Claws, the team announced. This will be Young’s eighth trip of the season to the D-League.
Nick Johnson has been assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ D-League affiliate, the team has announced (Twitter link). This will be Johnson’s second stint in the D-League of the season.

Southwest Notes: Rondo, Smith, Dorsey, Spurs

January 2nd, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he wasn’t concerned by negative comments about Rajon Rondo before last month’s trade, reports Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. “Contrary to what a lot of people say about him,” Carlisle said, “he’s thirsty for knowledge. He’s a sponge. He wants to learn as much as possible about our team.” Rondo returns to Boston tonight for the first time since the December 18th deal. Through six games with the Mavericks, the team’s defense has improved with Rondo, but the offense has slipped.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets have already seen the good and bad side of Josh Smith, opines Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. Houston signed Smith last Friday after he was waived by the Pistons, and he played a key role in a victory at Memphis that night. But he has also displayed the poor shot selection and questionable judgment that got him run out of Detroit. Blinebury writes that until GM Daryl Morey makes another move, the assimilation of Smith will determine whether the Rockets can become an elite team.
To make room for Smith, the Rockets waived center Tarik Black, which has created more playing time for Joey Dorsey, writes Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle. “It was tough to let go of Tarik, but Joey is coming off the bench, he is giving great energy and great effort and that’s exactly what we want,” coach Kevin McHale said. “Any errors that he is having aren’t for lack of effort, and that’s all you can ask for.” Dorsey signed a two-year deal last summer worth nearly $2MM after spending three seasons overseas.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is concerned that age may finally be catching up with his team, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio fought through a difficult December schedule and a rash of injuries — particularly to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard — and at 20-14 the team isn’t a lock to reach the playoffs. “People have been calling us old for, like, 10 years, it seems like, but it’s true,” Popovich said. “We are getting older and those injuries take a toll the older you get. You don’t come back the same way. It’s not just, ‘If we’re healthy, we’re fine.’ What level of health will we be if we don’t take care of some of these? But it’s out of your control, so we just move along.”

And-Ones: Clippers, Smith, Blair

December 30th, 2014 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

TNT’s David Aldridge had relayed on Monday that the Clippers‘ players weren’t getting along with each other, but Spencer Hawes disagrees with that report, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “Any team over the course of any season, there’s going to be stuff like that,” Hawes said. “But as far as I’m concerned, this team, off the court, on the court, gets along with each other as well as any that I’ve been a part of. I think there’s a lot of competitive guys, a lot of guys that just want to win. Sometimes you see that side of it, but you don’t see the everyday of how we get along with one another.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The Rockets‘ newest addition, Josh Smith, is ecstatic to get the opportunity to play for coach Kevin McHale, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. “Being able to play for a guy who is a Hall of Fame player, who was a dominant player at his position is great,” Smith said. “I love being able to get bits and pieces off of him. Always great for an NBA player’s game.”
DeJuan Blair expected to see more playing time than the 4.6 minutes per game that he is currently receiving from the Wizards when he agreed to a sign-and-trade deal this summer, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post writes. “I don’t know what’s going on,” Blair said. “I don’t know. I just show up and wait for my name to be called.” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said that Blair is handling the situation as well as can be expected, Castillo notes. “He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing,” Wittman said. “He’s doing a good job. Stays ready. Practices hard. Understands, I think, the situation. That’s what you have to do. That’s what any player that doesn’t play — the opportunity’s going to come. It’s going to happen. We all know that. We’ve seen it throughout and when that opportunity comes be ready.”
Carmelo Anthony said that he still remains in contact with former Knicks coach Mike Woodson, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. “It was a tough season [2013/14], it was a tough situation to be in at that point in time,” Anthony said. “I know how much work he put in as a coach and with all the guys with the team. I know how much he meant to a lot of guys on the team, especially me. So to see him go out the way he went out, for me as a person it was sad to see that.”

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Napier, D-League

December 30th, 2014 at 5:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One major factor contributing to the Wizards‘ success this season is their excellent team chemistry, Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle writes. Trevor Ariza was one of the team’s veteran leaders last season, but when he signed a free agent deal with the Rockets this past summer Washington acted quickly to replace that void by signing Paul Pierce, Creech notes. “You always have a contingency plan for that and that’s what we did,” coach Randy Wittman said. “Nothing ever really surprises you anymore in this league. It was a situation where we would have loved to have Trevor stay. We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose anything in that area with a guy like Trevor. We are trying to move on. We have Paul who has come in here and really moved into that spot.”

Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:

The Hawks have assigned John Jenkins to the Idaho Stampede, the team announced in a press release. Jenkins is headed to Idaho as part of the flexible assignment rule since Atlanta is without a one-to-one partnership with a D-League team. In one previous stint in the D-League Jenkins appeared in five games, averaging 19.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.8 minutes.
Adreian Payne has been assigned to the Austin Spurs, the Hawks have announced. This will be Payne’s fourth trek to the D-League this season, and in 11 games Payne has logged 13.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 28.4 minutes per contest.
The Heat have assigned Shabazz Napier to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. Napier has appeared in 25 games with the Heat this season, averaging 5.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 21.0 minutes while shooting 42.5 percent from the field. This will be Napier’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League.

Western Notes: Black, Smith, Hill, Len

December 29th, 2014 at 8:39pm CST by ChrisCrouse

New addition Tarik Black comes to the Lakers with a reputation as a gritty defender, writes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. Coach Byron Scott believes Black could become a contributor to the team. “All the reports are that his upside is tremendous,” Scott said. “It was a no brainer for us. Once he gets out here, we’ll put him out here and see what he can do.” Los Angeles ranks 30th in the league on defense, allowing 109.2 points per game.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Josh Smith‘s deal with the Rockets covers just this season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms. There were previously conflicting reports about the length of the contract. In his first two games for Houston, Smith has scored 26 points on 28 shots from the field, which are the second most attempts on the team during that stretch.
Jordan Hill has struggled recently for the Lakers and he could lose playing time in a suddenly crowded front court, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Hill has a $9MM team option on his contract for the 2015/16 season. If he keeps up this level of play, it might be hard for the Lakers to justify picking that up, although that is just my speculation.
The Suns believe they have a star in second-year center Alex Len, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. “He’s not afraid of anything,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He’s not afraid of big moments. He’s not afraid of hitting somebody or getting hit. He just plays. That’s great to see in a young guy.” The team is 6-1 since it moved Len into the starting lineup.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Brewer, Motiejunas, Mavericks

December 28th, 2014 at 10:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

It didn’t take Corey Brewer long to impress his new Rockets teammates, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Brewer, acquired from the Timberwolves in a December 19th deal, was 6 of 8 on three-point shots in Sunday’s loss to the Spurs. “Corey’s been excellent for us,” said Houston guard James Harden. “He brings energy off the bench, defensive mindset, shoot the basketball, attack the rim. He’s been playing well.”

There is other Southwest Division news:

Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas, who was replaced in the starting lineup Sunday by Josh Smith, tells Feigen that his only concern is playing well whenever he is called upon. “I’m not a coach,” Motiejunas said. “I’m not making decisions. I’m following. They think it’s better and will help us win more games. I’m trying to put these things in my mind. I just try to use my time as productive as possible and do what I can do to win.”
The Mavericks have been struggling a bit since the Rajon Rondo deal and they need to start playing like a contender, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas is 3-2 since the deal and one of its wins came against a Kobe Bryant-less Lakers team.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was non-committal Sunday when asked about the prospect of signing free agent big man Jermaine O’Neal, Sefko reports. “I don’t know if he wants to come here,” Cuban responded. “[There are] a lot of decisions to be made before then.”
After hosting Pelicans big man Anthony Davis in his hometown, Bulls forward Joakim Noah came away impressed, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. “He’s a great player,” Noah said. “Great, well beyond his years. I thought that for somebody to come in, playing in front of your hometown, usually there’s some anxiety. I just saw a lot of composure out of him tonight. He came in, first shot, boom, knocked it down. You can’t give him any open looks at his size. He’s a very, very talented kid.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Lakers Claim Tarik Black, Waive Xavier Henry

December 28th, 2014 at 6:00pm CST by Zachary Links

6:00pm: The Lakers made the move official, as Mike Trudell of Lakers.com tweets.

4:22pm: The Lakers have claimed Tarik Black off waivers from the Rockets, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). To make room, the Lakers are saying farewell to Xavier Henry (link).

Just minutes ago, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported that the Hornets were planning on putting in a claim for Black. However, thanks to their record, the Lakers had waiver priority over the Hornets and other potentially interested clubs.

Black, who was signed to a non-guaranteed deal by the Rockets prior to being waived, averaged 4.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 25 games for Houston. The Kansas product reportedly had interest from several clubs when the Rockets decided to sever ties.

Henry, 23, saw time in nine games for the Lakers this season, averaging 2.2 PPG in 9.6 minutes per contest. For his career, Henry has averaged of 5.7 PPG and 1.9 RPG across five seasons with the Grizzlies, Pelicans (née Hornets), and the Lakers. Henry is out for the year, meaning that it’s highly unlikely that anyone will claim him and take that $1.082MM salary off of the Lakers’ books.

With Black off the books, Stein tweets that the Rockets have now dipped back below the luxury-tax line.

Hornets Plan To Make Claim On Tarik Black

December 28th, 2014 at 3:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The Hornets are planning to make a waiver claim on center Tarik Black, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski on Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Black was waived by the Rockets late last week to make space for the addition of Josh Smith.

The waiver system gives priority to the team with the worst record then works its way up. The Pistons could have added Black without dropping anyone from the roster thanks to their vacant spot, but they’ll pass on the big man (link). The 76ers, Knicks, and Timberwolves are among the teams that have priority over the Hornets and could theoretically beat them to the punch.

Last week, the Rockets worked feverishly to find a suitable deal for Black, Nick Johnson, Isaiah Canaan, Joey Dorsey, or Clint Capela, but they could not find a trade to their liking. Of the five, Black was the only one without a fully guaranteed contract, making him the choice to get cut. Rockets coach Kevin McHale said he was sorry to see Black go, but he also said he was confident that he wouldn’t be out of work for long. McHale, it seems, has been proved correct.

Black averaged 4.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 25 games with the Rockets, and started 12 games when Dwight Howard was out of the lineup with knee pain. He earned a roster spot with the Rockets after an impressive performance in the summer leagues.

Western Notes: Smith, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers

December 27th, 2014 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Josh Smith did things backwards in his debut with the Rockets, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle; his first game came before his first practice. After being signed Friday morning, Smith was thrown into the fire quickly against the Grizzlies. He delivered 21 points and eight rebounds as Houston won in overtime. On Saturday, he got his first workout with his new team. “When you’re a professional and you’ve played a lot of years like myself, it’s not that hard especially when you know a lot of the guys in the locker room,” said Smith, who was waived Monday by the Pistons. “They helped me out when I was kind of lost out there on the floor. They helped me along the way to get me through those situations.”

There’s much more from the Western Conference:

The addition of Smith, combined with the trade that brought Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved from the Timberwolves, has transformed the Rockets from a shallow team to a deep one, Feigen notes. Houston got 48 points off the bench in Memphis, and although Smith’s total figured into that, the bench should remain potent even if he becomes a starter. A return from injury by Terrence Jones, which coach Kevin McHale estimates in four to six weeks, could fortify the second unit — or it could provide GM Daryl Morey with more trade ammunition.
Kawhi Leonard is the key to the Spurs‘ title hopes, opines Stephen Babb of Bleacher Report, which is why they need his injured right hand to heal as quickly as possible. Leonard tore a ligament in the hand December 9th, and the team has struggled in his absence. “He can’t move his hand,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He can’t catch and dribble and that kind of stuff. Medically, they don’t think he can hurt it any more, so that’s good. So it’s just a matter of can he get used to the hand.”
The Lakers‘ Nick Young has stopped joking that the team will be fine without the injured Kobe Bryant, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. After shooting 6 for 22 from the field in the past two games without the injured star, Young was contrite. “We’re always going to need Kobe out there on the floor, especially for players like me,” said Young. “That releases a lot of pressure.”