Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Covington Tops List Of Long D-League Stints

January 20th, 2014 at 3:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

Robert Covington didn’t really know what he was missing while he toiled away on a 72-day assignment to the D-League, by far the longest any NBA player has endured this season. The power forward from Tennessee State had yet to make his NBA debut, so when the Rockets finally called him up to the big club on Saturday, the moment had to be extra sweet. He got into Houston’s 10-point win over the Bucks that night for a scant 54 seconds, but that was still no doubt a welcome appearance for the 23-year-old.

Covington at least had someone to commiserate with for most of his time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Teammate Isaiah Canaan spent 45 days there until the Rockets called him up last month. Now that Patrick Beverley is ready to return from his broken hand, Houston has once again assigned Canaan to the D-League, the team announced today via Twitter.

Canaan would surely like to avoid joining Jared Cunningham of the Hawks as the only player to have two separate D-League stints of more than two weeks this season, as noted in the list below. Cunningham’s second lengthy assignment is still active, as he’s been with the Bakersfield Jam since New Year’s Day.

Here’s every D-League assignment of 15 days or longer this season, ranked by number of days:

72 — Robert Covington, Rockets (November 7th to January 18th)
45 — Isaiah Canaan, Rockets (November 7th to December 22nd)
37 — Ricky Ledo, Mavericks (November 30th to January 6th)
35 — Jared Cunningham, Hawks (November 11th to December 6th)
29 — Chris Smith, Knicks (November 18th to December 17th)
20 — Marquis Teague, Bulls (December 26th to January 15th)
19 — Jared Cunningham, Hawks (January 1st to present)
18 — Tony Mitchell, Pistons (December 26th to January 13th
18 — Peyton Siva, Pistons (December 26th to January 13th)
16 — Malcolm Thomas, Spurs (January 3rd to January 19th)

The Hoops Rumors list of D-League Assignments and Recalls was used in the creation of this post.

Draft & D-League Notes: Kobe, Embiid, Bennett

January 18th, 2014 at 10:27pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

Instead of coming back and playing for the Lakers chances to play in June for a 17th NBA Championship, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times thinks Kobe Bryant should “play for June” by not coming back from his injury this season and hurting the Lakers June draft position. Plaschke believes the Lakers chances of winning it all this season are impossible so any improvement Kobe would bring hurts their draft chances this summer.

A few other notes about players that will be playing in the NBA for years to come.

Joel Embiid is a player that has rapidly climbed in draft stock this season. One person whose draft board he hasn’t risen on is Bill Self, his coach at Kansas, and that’s because he has always been at the top of Self’s draft board. Self told Eric Prisbell of USA TODAY that he informed Embiid the moment he stepped on campus that he would be the No. 1 pick, whenever Embiid decided to come out (Twitter link).
The Rockets have called up Robert Covington from their D-League affiliate according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The rookie scored 33 points Friday for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and was on Houston’s active roster Saturday night. Coming into tonight, Covington had yet to log any minutes in the NBA.
Someone who may be heading to the D-League is Cavaliers rookie Anthony Bennett. According to Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, Cleveland needs to send Bennett to their D-League affiliate in order to rectify what has gone wrong this season.

Dwight Howard Promised Trade To Nets

January 18th, 2014 at 8:24pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

In a discussion with Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders Dwight Howard revealed the Magic promised he would be traded to the Nets in the summer of 2012. Howard was eventually traded to the Lakers that August.

Howard was “upset for a while” that he was not sent to Brooklyn but didn’t sign with them when he became a free agent this past summer. If Howard had been traded to the Nets, Brooklyn would have held his Bird Rights and been able to offer him a larger and longer contract than any other team this summer. Howard instead chose to sign with the Rockets, where he has averaged 17.9 PPG and 12.5 RPG so far this season. The Nets acquired Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and others in the blockbuster trade of the summer.

Odds & Ends: Tanking, Dwight, Bennett, Ledo

January 18th, 2014 at 4:53pm CST by Charlie Adams

It’s been a pretty busy afternoon around the NBA, as we heard the Celtics might be trying to move Rajon Rondo, and we saw the Nets hook up with the Bulls and Pelicans to dump some salary via trade, Let’s round up some miscellaneous notes from Saturday:

Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders examines the two deals from earlier today, and opines the moves make sense for all three teams that were involved.
While team executives might be interested in intentionally losing games to help raise draft position, players and coaches never are, at least according to former NBA coach Tom Nissalke. Brad Rock of the Deseret News passed along this quote from Nissalke: “I think organizations tank. I don’t think players do. Players know that they’re being auditioned every time they play. If they’re on a bad team, they know they’re not going to be back the next year. There will be some draft picks, some trades made, so the players are always auditioning — and coaches are too.“
Rockets center Dwight Howard is happy to have trade chatter behind him. “For me I think it (the trade deadline) was different from a lot of players,” Howard told Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders. “A lot of attention was on me and what teams were going to do that day. It’s tough. You have everybody asking what’s going to happen, what you’re going to do, all that stuff. I had a big headache and I was just happy when it was over with.”
It’s been a disappointing start to Anthony Bennett‘s career, but his former UNLV coach Dave Rice says it’s too early for the Cavaliers to give up on last summer’s number one overall pick. The latest piece by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer passes along Rice’s view on Bennett’s game and how he thinks the forward will develop.
A Mavericks team press release announced that Ricky Ledo was assigned to the Texas Legends this morning. Ledo has only seen 33 minutes on the floor for Dallas this season so the move will give him the opportunity to see some action on the hardwood. It’ll be his second such assignment this season.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Celtics Attempting To Move Rajon Rondo?

January 18th, 2014 at 3:26pm CST by Charlie Adams

Just earlier today, we passed along that ESPNBoston.com’s Chad Forsberg suggested it was unlikely Rajon Rondo would be moved, but Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News hears from “more than a few” executives around the league that the C’s will try to deal Rondo, either at the trade deadline or before the draft this June. According to Lawrence, the proposed move would probably be appealing to the recently returned Rondo since he likely won’t be eager to accept a role on a rebuilding team. He’s signed through 2014/15, and will earn about $13MM next season.

There have been a steady flux of Rondo trade rumors since the Celtics and Nets hooked up last summer on the blockbuster deal that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn. Boston GM Danny Ainge has repeatedly dismissed these rumors and continues to stress that he pegs Rondo as the cornerstone to build the franchise around. Rondo has recently been part of rumors involving a potential deal with the Knicks, but Lawrence hears that Phoenix and Houston are two of the most likely landing spots for him. Dallas seems to have an affinity for Rondo as well, but it doesn’t look like they’ll have the proper assets to put together a desirable package for Boston.

Lawrence’s piece implies it’s essentially a foregone conclusion that Rondo will be dealt, which I find a little surprising since there are so many questions about how he will bounce back and perform on the court after recovering from his ACL tear. Rondo’s talent is enticing though, and it’s tough to imagine there are many teams in the league that would object to his presence on their roster. We’ll likely continue to hear trade chatter about Rondo as the February 20th trade deadline fast approaches.

D-League Notes: Melo, Wright, Covington

January 18th, 2014 at 12:26pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest from the NBA Developmental League..

A team source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that Fab Melo has entered his name into the D-League player pool. Last season, Melo spent 33 games of his rookie season with the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s D-League affiliate. Melo, who bounced around a bit during his short professional career, is likely headed back to the NBADL with hopes of landing a ten-day contract
Chris Wright, a current member of the Red Claws, is playing well and hopes to bag a ten-day deal with an NBA team, Pilato writes. On the season, Wright is averaging 21.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He’s also averaging 36.2 minutes in 20 games so far. A small forward from Dayton, he’s not to be confused with the former Georgetown shooting guard by the same name.
Rockets rookie Robert Covington is back from the D-League as Houston wants to have plenty of bodies in practice this week, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. However, it’s not clear if this is a prelude to Covington officially getting recalled to the varsity squad.

Western Rumors: Randolph, Rockets, Davis

January 17th, 2014 at 1:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Randolph has spoken many times about his affection for Memphis, and he tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com that he and Marc Gasol want to continue playing together. Both have contracts that end after next season, but Randolph’s deal includes a player option for 2014/15, and Z-Bo also tells Charania that he hasn’t decided what he’ll do with that option, worth more than $16.9MM. The RealGM.com scribe has more on the offseason ahead for the Grizzlies, as we share amid our look at the Western Conference:

The Rockets are still in the market for a floor-stretching forward, writes Chris Mannix of SI.com, who also passes along a few of James Harden‘s comments about his recruitment of Dwight Howard.
Ed Davis didn’t reach a deal on an extension with the Grizzlies before the October 31st deadline, but he nonetheless views the negotiations as a sign the team views him as key cog, as Charania notes in the same piece. Davis admits to Charania that he feels frustration when his minutes drop, but the big man understands he falls behind Randolph and Gasol in the pecking order. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a deal done, but it wasn’t a big thing because I’ll be a restricted free agent in the summer,” Davis said. “Hopefully, we’ll get something done this summer and I’ll be back.”
Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson doesn’t seem eager to make a deal before the February 20th trade deadline, observes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “You never say never, but we do like the team,” Nelson said. “With nine new faces we’re not looking for reasons to change. But that being said, if an opportunity presents itself that can take us over the top we certainly have to look at it.”
Leandro Barbosa‘s 10-day contract with the Suns expires after tonight’s game, one he may miss with a right shoulder sprain. That could prompt Phoenix to wait until he’s healthy to give him another 10-day deal, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Warriors have assigned center Ognjen Kuzmic to the D-League, the team announced. It’s his third trip to Santa Cruz, but he’s only appeared in a single D-League game, scoring two points in a 16-minute stint.

Bucher’s Latest: Griffin, Anthony, Lowry

January 14th, 2014 at 4:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

A majority of the league believes Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan don’t fit together, and Jordan’s improvement has made Griffin the more obvious trade candidate, according to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. The consensus is that the Clippers need a big man who can shoot, and even Chris Paul wishes Griffin were more like former teammate David West, sources tell Bucher. A general manager who possesses the sort of power forward who might mesh better with Jordan said to Bucher that the Clippers haven’t contacted his team and added that he hasn’t heard that the Clippers are shopping Griffin at all. The GM thinks owner Donald Sterling would never agree to such a deal, though Bucher hears from a Clippers source confident that Doc Rivers will talk him into it before the trade deadline. Bucher has more on the Clippers and scuttlebutt around the league, as we detail:

Bucher suggests that if the Clippers were to trade for Carmelo Anthony, there’d be no certainty that they could re-sign him.
The Warriors decided against trading for Kyle Lowry over concerns about how he’d fit into their locker room. The Raptors have upped their asking price for Lowry in the meantime, and executives around the league aren’t sure whether Lowry, Andre Miller or Kirk Hinrich is the best oversized point guard who might be available.
Several GMs believe the Bulls will trade Mike Dunleavy for a draft pick, with Chicago setting its sights on a retool for next season. The Rockets are reportedly targeting Dunleavy, and Bucher shares insight from a rival executive on why Houston might be inclined to deal for him.

Southwest Rumors: Motiejunas, De Colo, Hairston

January 14th, 2014 at 2:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

The chances that Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin will be involved in a trade this year appear to be waning by the day, but that won’t preclude Daryl Morey from making some kind of deal between now and the February 20th trade deadline. He’s been the most active GM at the deadline over the past six seasons, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News points out. Many Rockets players aren’t sold on the idea that the team needs to make another deal, feeling the team can win the title as constituted, Deveney reveals. There’s plenty more on the Rockets as we look around the Southwest Division:

The Rockets are more likely to trade for a shooter than for a big man, Deveney writes in the same piece.
The Celtics were involved in trade talks for Donatas Motiejunas, but those discussions have since died, as Virginijus Bulotas, the international agent for the Rockets reserve, tells Lithuania’s SportoTV (translation via HoopsHype). The Mavs have also held interest in Motiejunas, who has reportedly been “desperate” for playing time as the Rockets and his U.S.-based agent, Arn Tellem, place calls with other teams.
Turkey’s Fenerbahce is interested in Spurs guard Nando De Colo, according Javier Maestro of Encestando (translation via Sportando). De Colo has bounced back and forth between San Antonio and the Spurs’ D-League affiliate, but it doesn’t sound like the Spurs have any interest in letting him go. De Colo will be a free agent at season’s end, so perhaps the France native will return overseas then.
The D-League affiliate of the Mavs has officially acquired P.J. Hairston, the club announced. The move was widely expected once Hairston signed with the D-League, since the Texas Legends had first dibs in the league’s waiver system. The Mavs and all other NBA teams are ineligible to call him up this season, since Hairston has yet to enter the NBA draft. The former North Carolina shooting guard is 32nd on the DraftExpress list of 2014 draft prospects and 41st on the board at ESPN.com.

Rockets Likely To Keep Asik, Lin Through Season

January 14th, 2014 at 11:53am CST by Chuck Myron

Omer Asik was the hottest trade candidate in the NBA a month ago, but it doesn’t sound like that will be the case again in advance of the trade deadline. It’s likely he and Jeremy Lin will finish the season on the Rockets, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who hears that the market for them is becoming increasingly worse.

Both are due balloon payments worth nearly $15MM next season, though they’re only seeing about $5MM this year. With each paycheck the Rockets issue Asik and Lin, their trade value slips, since part of the rationale for other teams who would absorb next year’s increased costs had been this year’s bargain prices, as Deveney explains.

Their cap hits are close to $8.4MM each this season and next, but that doesn’t reflect the actual payments they’re receiving because Houston signed them via the Gilbert Arenas Provision, as I pointed out last month in examining the way Asik’s contract affected his trade value.

“It is a tough sell to bring something like that to your owner,” an executive from a rival team told Deveney. “You have got to tell him, ‘We’re getting a pretty good player, an $8MM player. Oh, but we have to pay him $15 million. We will be giving him LeBron (James) money. That’s OK, right?’ That’s not really a conversation you want to have.”

It’s still possible that the Rockets could find a deep-pocketed team willing to trade for Asik, but Houston probably isn’t as motivated to find a new home for Lin, who’s having the best shooting year of his career, Deveney notes.