Indiana Pacers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Brooks, Warren, Livingston

November 13th, 2014 at 8:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former Lakers guard MarShon Brooks‘ time with Olimpia Milano of Italy may be coming to an end, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). It is unclear if this means Brooks will be waived by the Italian team or if a buyout arrangement is being discussed. The 25-year-old shooting guard was pursued by the Pacers, Kings and an unnamed “title-contending team” from the east prior to Brooks inking his overseas deal this summer, and with the rash of early season injuries Brooks could have a number of NBA opportunities if he returns stateside.

Here’s more from out west:

The Suns assigned T.J. Warren to the D-League earlier today but his stint shouldn’t be a long one, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “T.J. is going to be a great player,” head coach Jeff Hornacek asserted. “This team has a lot of guys at his spot right now, but he’s going to be around. He’s going to be a factor. He’s got great hands. He knows how to score, but the transition [defensively] has been pretty good, too.” The first-rounder out of North Carolina State has only seen one minute of NBA action thus far this season.
Shaun Livingston will face off against the Nets tonight, his former team, and he discussed why he chose to sign with the Warriors this summer, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “It was about putting myself in the best position to win, and also to get the value as a player. Your market value,” Livingston said. “That was my case. I was hoping to [finally get a big offer] and ideally that was the thought process going into free agency, but, man, I’ve been in a couple of situations where I thought I was going to get paid and I was going to come back and it just didn’t work out. I mean, my injury [in 2007], that year I was supposed to get an extension and I didn’t. I had a good a year with the Wizards [in 2009/10] and then they end up getting John Wall with the first pick.”
With his excellent numbers filling in for the injured Russell Westbrook, the Thunder‘s Reggie Jackson is generating a market value that will test the team’s willingness to match any offer sheets he is likely to receive this summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports opines. It’s not clear exactly how much Jackson will command on his next contract but Wojnarowski suggests that the annual salary could be in the $13MM-$14MM range.

Atlantic Notes: J.R. Smith, Knicks, Rondo

November 13th, 2014 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers do have at least some level of interest in J.R. Smith, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, who reported earlier this month that Indiana discussed Smith in conversations with the Knicks about a potential deal involving Chris Copeland. The Knicks are confident about the market for the former Sixth Man of the Year and aren’t merely looking to swap him for an expiring contract, a source tells Berman. While we wait to see how the Knicks proceed, there’s more from New York amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

Derek Fisher isn’t sure about the timetable that Phil Jackson has suggested for making judgments about the players on the Knicks roster, as Berman relays in the same piece. “I don’t know if it’s a fair assessment or not,’’ Fisher said. “[Phil] obviously knows a lot about his offense, but I think it’s more than just a guy is going to get it. Each player and person has different learning curves. I don’t know if there’s a date. It’s more where our team is from a management standpoint. For me, I don’t have a date on when I would assume a guy should or shouldn’t have it. I’m going to coach him until he’s here or isn’t here. Those won’t be my decisions.’’
Rajon Rondo told reporters that he didn’t disagree with Kendrick Perkins, who said earlier Wednesday that Rondo, set for free agency at season’s end, would like to remain with the Celtics, observes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “It’s about accurate,” Rondo said. “I mean, from media day in the beginning, that’s what I said initially. So regardless of what’s going on in the season, my perspective hasn’t changed. I love being a Celtic.”
Perkins, who’s also poised to become a free agent in the summer, is open to returning to the Celtics, saying it would be up to Boston’s brass to bring him back if they want him, Bulpett notes. The 30-year-old Thunder center sees Boston as increasingly attractive for free agents, as he told reporters, including Bulpett.
The Sixers are a long way from respectability, but tonight’s season debut for Michael Carter-Williams, who’s back from shoulder surgery, will pair him with Nerlens Noel for the first time. Having two building blocks on the floor at once will represent a landmark moment in Philly’s rebuilding, opines John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News.

And-Ones: Howard, Waiters, Johnson, Pacers

November 12th, 2014 at 4:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard makes several candid comments in an EPIX.com documentary about his departure from the Magic, his year with the Lakers, and the 2013 back injury that one of his surgeons believes had a decent chance to end his career, notes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Howard also delved into his relationship with Kobe Bryant.

“Before I got to the Lakers, I would talk to him [and] he would really help me out on the [down] low about how to become everything that I said I wanted to be. And I looked up to him and I looked up to everything he, as a basketball player, stood for,” Howard said, as Stein transcribes. “… [By the end of that season] I just felt so hurt and disappointed in the fact that the guy that I was expecting to be somebody who was gonna pass the torch, somebody to say, ‘Dwight, I’ll take you under my wing and I’ll show you how to get it done’ … it was none of that.”

Howard remains a fascinating figure even as his long-term deal with the Rockets has quieted the rumors that surrounded him. Here’s more from around the league:

The Cavs shopped Dion Waiters this past August but found no takers, according to Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com, who writes in an Insider-only piece. That conflicts with a report from early August that indicated the Cavs weren’t trying to trade the shooting guard.
Ivan Johnson has drawn offers from NBA teams and clubs overseas, a source tells HoopsHype’s David Alarcón (Twitter link and translation). He plans to make a decision about whom to sign with in the next couple of weeks, Alarcón adds.
Frank Vogel believes Lance Stephenson would have chosen to re-sign with the Pacers if he’d known Paul George would suffer his broken leg, as Vogel tells Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. “I think he probably — and we probably — would have approached it differently,” Vogel said. “The money would have to have been right, and we would’ve had to figure that out. But he would have had much more incentive to stay.”

Lakers, Others Pursue Quincy Miller

November 11th, 2014 at 3:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

NOVEMBER 11TH: Miller is set to work out for the Lakers later this week, Charania tweets. The team recently received its disabled player exception for Randle, though it’s unclear if Los Angeles is targeting Miller for more than the minimum.

NOVEMBER 1ST, 1:16pm: Two other teams interested in potentially signing Miller are the Rockets and the Pacers, Charania reports

OCTOBER 31ST, 9:25pm: The Lakers are the leading team among the several that are going after former Nuggets forward Quincy Miller, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The Nuggets waived Miller just before the deadline for teams to cut their rosters to 15 players this week after trying to find trade partners who’d take him on. It appears clubs were waiting to have a crack at the player drafted 38th overall in 2012 without having to give up anything in a swap, given the high volume of interest that Charania indicates.

Miller, who turns 22 on November 18th, finally recovered last year from a torn left ACL that he suffered as a high school senior, averaging 4.9 points in 15.2 minutes per game across 52 contests after he made only seven appearances as a rookie the season before. He was the fifth-rated high school prospect in the country in 2011, according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, and front offices are apparently interested to see if his renewed health will allow him to finally realize that potential.

Injuries have taken their toll on the Lakers, who are without Steve Nash and Julius Randle for the rest of the season. They have 15 players on the roster and are limited to paying no more than the minimum salary, but they’re planning to apply for a disabled player exception for Nash that would allow them to spend close to $4.851MM on a free agent. They could also apply for such an exception based on Randle’s injury that would be worth about $1.499MM.

That smaller amount would likely be enough for Miller, and it would still be somewhat surprising to see a team commit more than the minimum salary to him. The more pressing concern for the Lakers might be the roster spot that adding Miller would cost them. Point guard Ronnie Price and shooting guard Wayne Ellington are the team’s only players without fully guaranteed contracts, and their non-guaranteed pacts become partially guaranteed if they’re still on the roster at the end of November 15th. Additional serious injuries could put the Lakers in line to apply for a hardship provision that would allow them to add at 16th player, but that’s not in play for now.

Central Notes: Price, Cavs, Pistons

November 11th, 2014 at 2:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls are in first place in the Central Division, and with the struggles of the Cavs so far this season, that might not change for a while. The same stability could be seen in the division’s cellar, even though the last-place Pacers won Monday for a second time this year, beating the Jazz. Both Cleveland and Indiana have made roster moves in the regular season’s first two weeks, and there’s more on the newest Pacer amid the latest from around the Central:

The 16th roster spot that the league granted the Pacers is only temporary, but coach Frank Vogel believes that A.J. Price, whom the team signed to fill that slot, deserves a spot on an NBA roster somewhere, notes Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star. Price merely hopes that Vogel is right. “I’m playing for my life, man,” Price said. “I’m staying till they tell me to go or tell me to stay longer, either or.” Price has an offer to play in China, writes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com, but he’s unsurprisingly eager to stay longer if the Pacers see fit to keep him and offload another player, as the Star’s Autumn Allison tweets.
The Cavs should be kicking around trade ideas internally, but they shouldn’t be reaching out to other teams at this stage in spite of their .500 record, as Tom Penn of ESPN.com opines amid an Insider-only “Front Office” piece.
Stan Van Gundy isn’t the first Pistons coach to start poorly in recent years, but the difference with him is that he has the power to change the team’s personnel, an idea that must be increasingly appealing to him, MLive’s David Mayo writes.

Eastern Notes: Brooks, Dellavedova, Powell

November 9th, 2014 at 8:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Bulls guard Aaron Brooks credits coach Tom Thibodeau with rebuilding the confidence that once made him the NBA’s Most Improved Player, according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Thibodeau quickly became a fan of the 6’0″ guard after he signed a one year deal with the Bulls in the offseason for $915,243. “I came in here lacking confidence,” Brooks admitted. “Even when I doubted myself, he was there to tell me, ‘You know what? I’ve watched you play, you’ve done well’ and just to keep working hard. It’s been a breath of fresh air for me.” Brooks earned the Most Improved Player award with the Rockets during the 2009/10 season, but has since bounced around the league, playing for the Suns, Kings, Rockets again and Nuggets before signing with Chicago.

Here’s more from the east:

Matthew Dellavedova has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain in his right knee and is expected to miss four to six weeks of action, the Cavs announced in a press release. The backup point guard is averaging 2.7 points and 2.3 assists in three appearances.
Celtics forward Dwight Powell has been assigned to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League, the team has announced. The rookie has yet to make a regular season appearance after averaging 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per game in six preseason appearances.
The Pacers are doing their best to remain positive despite a spate of injuries affecting their top seven players, according to Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. “It’s almost comical,” point guard Donald Sloan said. “Just how it’s happening. It seems game by game, it’s something. Same story.” The latest victim is center Roy Hibbert, who is day-to-day after leaving Saturday’s loss to the Wizards with a bruised left knee. The spiral for the 1-6 Pacers, who were the East’s top seed last season, began when Paul George suffered a broken leg in August during an exhibition game with the USA Men’s National Team.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Pacers Sign A.J. Price

November 6th, 2014 at 4:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:40pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

4:17pm: The Pacers have signed Price, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though the team has yet to make any public announcement.

11:06am: Price is expected to sign with Indiana, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), so it appears the deal with Mekel is likely off.

10:22am: The Pacers would be likely to sign A.J. Price if the visa issues holding up the team’s deal with Gal Mekel derail that signing, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Indiana is “determined” to have a point guard on the roster in time for Friday’s game against the Celtics, as George Hill, C.J. Watson and Rodney Stuckey all deal with injuries. The NBA has given the Pacers a hardship provision to add a 16th player because of their injuries, but that provision expires after today, and it appears there’s a decent chance that Mekel’s visa won’t be ready until Friday, as Stein wrote earlier.

Price became a free agent earlier this week after the Cavs waived him over the weekend. The sixth-year veteran was on Cleveland’s roster for opening night after making the team on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Cavs opted to quickly replace him with Raptors camp cut Will Cherry. Price, who was as a member of the Pacers for the first three years of his NBA career, spent last season with the Timberwolves and saw just 3.5 minutes per game across 28 appearances. That was the first time that he didn’t average at least 12.9 MPG since the Pacers plucked him out of the University of Connecticut with the 52nd overall pick in 2009.

Indiana has the ability to sign a 16th player thanks to the injuries to Hill, Watson, Stuckey, Paul George and David West, though Stuckey’s sore left foot doesn’t seem likely to keep him out of action for long. To qualify for the hardship provision, teams must have at least four players who have missed three games already, and an independent physician must determine that they’re going to continue to miss time. The Pacers also have a $5.305MM disabled player exception at their disposal because George is expected to miss the entire season, but it’s unlikely they’ll need any more than the minimum salary to secure Price.

Pacers To Sign Gal Mekel?

November 6th, 2014 at 9:10am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 9:10am: Visa issues surrounding the Israeli native have thrown the deal into question, Stein reports. The Pacers brought Mekel to Boston, where they play Friday, with the plan of signing him today. Indiana’s hardship provision to sign a 16th player expires today, but Mekel’s visa might not be ready until Friday, according to Stein (All Twitter links). That raises the possibility that the Pacers will sign a different player instead, as Stein notes, though the plan is still to sign Mekel, Buckner tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 2:53pm: The Pacers will indeed sign Mekel, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star confirms (Twitter link).

2:43pm: It’s likely that the Pacers will obtain a hardship provision because of their injuries that will allow them to sign Mekel without waiving anyone else, Stein writes in a full piece. The absences of George, Hill, Watson and Rodney Stuckey would give Indiana the four players required for the league to grant the 16th roster spot, Stein notes. All three have to have missed three regular games, and an independent physician must declare that they’re likely to continue to miss time before the NBA will OK the provision.

2:29pm: Indiana is “in the process of” signing former Mavs point guard Gal Mekel, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Pacers have been carrying 15 players, so they’d have to make a corresponding move, though it’s unclear whom the team plans to drop. The team has a $5.305MM disabled player exception thanks to Paul George‘s injury that it can use to give Mekel more than the minimum salary, though it seems unlikely the Pacers would use that in this case. Stein suggests the move is an effort to compensate for injuries in the backcourt, where point guard George Hill and C.J. Watson are nursing injuries, but neither is expected to miss more than a few weeks.

Indiana has 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus partially guaranteed arrangements with Luis Scola and rookie Shayne Whittington. Scola has been starting for the Pacers, and his guarantee is much greater than the mere $25K promised to Whittington.

Mekel was on the Mavs opening-night roster, but Dallas let go of him soon thereafter to sign J.J. Barea. The Thunder reportedly had the 26-year-old native of Israel on their radar, but they are instead poised to add Ish Smith to offset their own rash of injuries.

Lucas Eyes Bulls Amid Widespread Interest

November 5th, 2014 at 6:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Free agent guard John Lucas III has had inquiries from the Thunder, Pacers, and Grizzlies, but the player has declined those opportunities, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Lucas has also received offers from teams in the Chinese Basketball Association, but the short-term nature of all the offers is what led him to pass on them, adds Charania. Lucas is believed to be hoping to ultimately return to the Bulls on a deal later this season, Charania notes.

Bernie Lee, Lucas’ agent, offered a slightly different take, telling Charania, “John has received interest from different teams, but to say he has declined any formal offers would be inaccurate. John is in a situation, after a crazy summer, of trying to make the right decision versus any decision, but he is willing to prove himself as requested. John owes a tremendous amount of his value in the NBA to the opportunity Chicago’s front office gave him there initially. Over time, it’s become clear that [GM] Gar Forman has a unique ability to find value in obscure places: He signed John out of China, and he might be the best in the NBA at this. In some ways John was at the beginning of this.”

Lee confirmed the offers from the CBA, saying, “I have not had a single conversation with Gar about John since John left. The different situations just haven’t lined up. Gar has found various ways to replace the role John left including this year and John has been under contract since leaving. I do have every belief that John will resume his NBA career soon, but to date the only opportunities John has declined have been lucrative money offers with Jilin in China earlier in the year and Fujian on Wednesday.”

Lucas, who has been working out in Houston since he was waived by the Wizards, would seem to be a logical target for all three of the NBA teams previously mentioned in light of their early season injury woes. But the 31-year-old out of Oklahoma State had the most success as a player for Chicago during the 2011/12 season, notes Charania. Lucas had four 20-point efforts that season, and averaged 7.5 PPG and 2.2 APG overall.

Chicago currently has 14 players on its roster, so no additional moves would need to be made in order to sign Lucas, but for now the interest would appear to be one-sided, with the Bulls already having Derrick Rose, Aaron Brooks, and Kirk Hinrich on their depth chart at the point.

Knicks, Pacers Talk J.R. Smith, Copeland Trade?

November 4th, 2014 at 7:57am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 7:55am: A source who spoke with WTHR.com and former Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz denied that the talks have taken place (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 8:08am: The Knicks and Pacers have had discussions recently about a swap of J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Still, Knicks team president Phil Jackson isn’t planning on making any trades between now and December 15th, the date that most players who signed this offseason become eligible to be traded, Berman hears. A Smith-Copeland trade could nonetheless take place immediately, since both remained with their teams over the offseason, but a one-for-one exchange of the pair wouldn’t satisfy the league’s salary-matching requirements. Such a swap would also put the Pacers over the luxury tax line, so Indiana would no doubt insist on sending out more salary in any such deal.

Smith has frequently found his way into trade talk since his profound regression last season after winning the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year award. A report in July indicated the Knicks were open to trading Smith, along with fellow guards Iman Shumpert and Shane Larkin, not long after Smith said he wouldn’t blame the Knicks if they traded him on the heels of his subpar performance in 2013/14. Moving the enigmatic 29-year-old would further Jackson’s goal of clearing salary cap flexibility for the coming summer, since Smith has a nearly $6.4MM player option for 2015/16 while Copeland is on an expiring contract. Smith makes more than $5.982MM this season while Copeland earns $3.135MM.

The 30-year-old Copeland made his mark with the Knicks in 2012/13, earning a spot on the regular season roster as a training camp invitee and nailing 42.1% of his three-point attempts in 15.4 minutes per game that season. He moved to Indiana in free agency the following summer, but the Pacers buried him on their bench, as he made just 41 regular season appearances and notched only 6.5 MPG last season. Copeland is averaging 30.3 MPG on Indiana’s depleted roster so far this year. Smith would ostensibly give the Pacers more scoring punch, though he’s only averaging 11.7 points per 36 minutes during the opening week of 2014/15, compared to Copeland’s 19.0.