Indiana Pacers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Brandon Roy Wants To Play In 2012/13

June 16th, 2012 at 6:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:30pm: The Oregonian's John Canzano has a new column advising Blazers fans to prepare for Roy's return.

3:26pm: The progress of Roy's recovery will be on display this weekend when he plays in the Jamal Crawford Summer Pro-Am with Nate Robinson, Spencer Hawes, Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas, among others, Kennedy reports (Twitter links).

11:51pm: NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper has a quote from University of Washington guard Tony Wroten, supporting the claim that Roy is in excellent physical condition.

10:43am: Former Blazers shooting guard Brandon Roy is preparing to return to the NBA next season, according to comments he made on the Twitter account of close friend Will Conroy, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports. Roy has been contemplating a comeback for several months, after repeated knee injuries prompted him to retire before the season.

Odds & Ends: Shaw, Bower, Claver

June 14th, 2012 at 10:21pm CST by Ryan Raroque

A handful of tonight's coaching search updates came in the form of tweets. TNT's David Aldridge reported that Brian Shaw had an interview in Charlotte today, but was not offered the job. Yahoo's Marc Spears also confirmed that no offer was made, adding that Portland and Orlando are still on Shaw's radar. Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, who broke the news about Sloan's withdrawal from Charlotte's head coaching race, thinks the Trail Blazers have a better chance of landing Shaw than the Magic do.

We've got more on Orlando's GM search and highlights from HoopsWorld chats with Mark Nugent and Tommy Beer…

Draft Updates: Thursday

June 14th, 2012 at 8:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The countdown until the 2012 draft is down to two weeks, and this week has been heavy on workouts and trade speculation. We'll track the latest news and rumors on both fronts, along with a handful of other draft-related items, right here. New updates will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….

According to their official website, the Pacers will work out Evan Fournier, Ashton Gibbs, Travis Hyman, John Jenkins, Josh Owens, and Tony Wroten Jr. on Friday.

Earlier updates:

Charles F. Gardner Journal Sentinel reported that the Bucks hosted a pre-draft workout today which featured Tyler Zeller, Meyers Leonard, Fab Melo, and Kyle O'Quinn.
Aside from Anthony Davis, ESPN's Ric Bucher thinks that this year's draft still contains big men with star potential, focusing specifically on Andre Drummond, Meyers Leonard, and Thomas Robinson (Insiders only).
Sean Meagher of The Oregonian presents the video interview of Perry Jones III after his workout for the Trail Blazers.
Nate Mulberg of CSN Philly discusses the mutual interest between the 76ers and Terrence Ross.
Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld quoted an NBA executive who thinks that the lottery is loaded with impact rotation players, but not impact starters. Pincus also offered highlights from interviews with JaMychal Green and Kevin Jones.
Tomorrow's workout schedule for the Wizards includes Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Austin Rivers, Terrence Ross, and Tomas Satoransky, according to Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link). Gene Wang, also of The Washington Post, wrote about today's workout with Hollis Thompson.
Stephen Hewitt of WEEI.com provided a breakdown of Mitchell Watt, a 6'10'' forward out of Buffalo who could be a realistic target for the Celtics' second round pick (51st overall).
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com wrote an interesting piece on the mental toughness of 27-year-old draft hopeful Bernard James, a 6'10'' power forward who served in the Air Force and did tours in Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq before starring at Florida State. Howard-Cooper also tweeted an update on John Henson, saying that he has no plans to rest his injured ankle in the midst of upcoming workouts with the Suns, Rockets, Bucks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Pistons, and 76ers.
Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog briefly documents the separation of Renardo Sidney and his agent, Johnny Foster.
Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld believes John Jenkins and the Bulls could be a perfect fit at pick No. 29.
Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com published the second version of his mock draft today.
Thomas Robinson will work out for the Bobcats on June 22nd, according to SI.com's Sam Amick (Sulia link). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com calls Robinson the "clear frontrunner" to be picked second overall (Twitter link).
Jeremy Lamb turned an ankle at his Raptors workout this morning, but it's not serious, tweets Sam Amick of SI. According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (via Twitter), the ankle is sprained, and Lamb will cancel at least his workout with the Blazers.
The Sixers announced in a press release today that they'll work out Moe Harkless and Hollis Thompson tomorrow.
Arnett Moultrie is the biggest name among the six players working out for the Trail Blazers today, tweets Joe Freeman of the Oregonian.
Harrison Barnes and Bradley Beal will work out against one another for the Cavaliers on Saturday, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The two players are the most likely candidates to be picked at No. 4 by Cleveland, so that will be an intriguing workout.
Discussing potential targets for the Bobcats if they trade their No. 2 pick, Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com names James Harden as a possibility. It's not clear of Goodman's source, who says Harden "could be in play," means the Bobcats will pursue Harden or the Thunder could make him available. Either way, I'm skeptical about how realistic that scenario is. Even with the long-term cap restraints facing the Thunder, overhauling the roster mere days after making the Finals seems unlikely.
SI.com's Sam Amick examines the question marks surrounding John Henson and the rising stock of Miles Plumlee in his latest draft piece.
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld compares Perry Jones III to Jordan Hamilton, who slipped to 26th overall last year because most teams thought the risk outweighed the upside. Within the same piece, Kyler also says the odds the Bobcats keep a player the select at No. 2 overall are "extremely slim."
The Raptors have a big day of workouts scheduled, with Jeremy Lamb highlighting the first session, Austin Rivers in the second, and Harrison Barnes in an individual workout. Jay Satur of Raptors.com has the details. Unfortunately, Eric Koreen of the National Post passes along a bit of bad news from the first session, tweeting that Lamb left the workout with an apparent injury.
Chad Ford tries his hand at predicting where the players on the first-round bubble will land in an Insider piece for ESPN.com.
Will Barton and five other prospects will work out for the Pacers today, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.
The Pistons' workouts so far suggest they're eyeing big men not just with their first-round pick but in the second round as well, says Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Bucks.com profiles the prospects that Milwaukee will be working out today.
Damian Lillard thinks he's ready to be an NBA starter, but he probably won't be a fit for the Kings at No. 5, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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Odds & Ends: Jeffries, D12, Bird, Green, Turiaf

June 13th, 2012 at 11:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBATV's "The Dream Team" documentary debuted tonight to mostly positive reviews from NBA writers, and hoops fans may want to savor the film and this year's summer Olympics as much as possible. Commissioner David Stern says there's a 50/50 chance that Olympic basketball will be restricted to players age 23 and younger after this year's games, writes Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com. Still, Sheridan believes discussion of such a rule will be tabled until after the 2016 games.

There's plenty going on stateside as well, with a free agent expressing a desire to return to the Knicks and more news on Dwight Howard.

Blazers Rumors: Allen, Coaches, Freeland, Claver

June 13th, 2012 at 8:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

Blazers owner Paul Allen was among the team executives in attendance for the second of two pre-draft workout sessions today, and got a chance to see Perry Jones III, John Henson and Jared Sullinger, among others, according to tweets from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian and Chris B. Haynes of CSNNW.com. Allen shot down rumors that he's looking to sell the team, as Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge writes, and CSNNW.com has more of the owner's comments to the media in two videos. Blazers beat writers have delivered plenty of news in the last hour, as we round up here. …

The team hasn't contacted the Warriors about permission to interview assistant coach Michael Malone or the Pacers about assistant Brian Shaw, leading Haynes to surmise that interim coach Kaleb Canales is the frontrunner to take over the job on a permanent basis.
In the same piece, Haynes also cites an earlier report from fellow CSNNW.com writer Dwight Jaynes that the team hasn't spoken to Jerry Sloan about an interview, either.
Haynes relays general manager Neil Olshey's comments on the slow search. "Free agent wise, Yeah, I think it affects it a little bit. But, like I said, we're going to have a process here," he said. "We're going to build this thing the right way … We'll find the right coach to coach the roster."

Earlier updates:

Offseason Outlook: Indiana Pacers

June 12th, 2012 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Guaranteed Contracts

Danny Granger ($13,058,606)
David West ($10,000,000)
Tyler Hansbrough ($3,055,259)
Paul George ($2,574,120)
Darren Collison ($2,319,344)
Jeff Pendergraph ($1,500,000)

Options

Dahntay Jones ($2,900,000, Player)

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

Lance Stephenson ($870,000)

Free Agents (Cap Holds)

Leandro Barbosa ($11,400,000)
Roy Hibbert ($6,471,475)
George Hill ($3,851,158)
Louis Amundson ($3,592,485)
A.J. Price ($1,085,120 – QO)
Kyrylo Fesenko ($854,389)

Draft Picks

1st Round (26th overall)

Cap Outlook

Guaranteed Salary (including options): $35,407,329
Non-Guaranteed Salary, Cap Holds: $28,124,627
Total (not including draft picks): $63,531,956

Pacers president Larry Bird took home Executive of the Year honors this season, and for good reason. No NBA team got more bang for its buck this year than the Pacers, who finished third in the Eastern Conference with one of the league's lowest cap figures. Indiana had so much free cap space that the club was able to absorb Leandro Barbosa's $7.6MM salary at the deadline without sending any salary the other way, and still had plenty of breathing room below the cap.

While the Pacers head into the summer with only about $35MM in guaranteed money committed to next year's salaries (assuming Dahntay Jones picks up his player option), that cap flexibility will be tested a little. Roy Hibbert and George Hill are facing restricted free agency, and both players figure to be attractive commodities. The Pacers have plenty of room to match offers for both players, but if Hibbert receives a $10MM+ contract and Hill's exceeds $5MM, that won't leave much remaining cap space for outside free agents.

That may not be a problem for the Pacers, who are typically restrained when it comes to free agent spending. Last offseason's David West signing represented the team's largest free agent investment in recent years, and his deal was a modest two years for $20MM — already this season, it will become an expiring contract. Still, if Pacers fans are hoping their team makes a major play for someone like Steve Nash, they may be disappointed. Unless the team decides to part ways with Hibbert or Hill or trade Danny Granger, it's unlikely the Pacers will be able to bring another major free agent aboard.

Still, with plenty of players on rookie contracts, such as Paul George, Tyler Hansbrough, and Darren Collison, the Pacers have plenty of options. Indiana could choose to shop some of its young players in trade packages, or simply lock them up and commit to building around them. Hansbrough and Collison will both be eligible for extensions this offseason.

Holding a late-first-rounder once again in this year's draft, the Pacers are unlikely to find a star at 26th overall, but the team has drafted well in recent years, and this year's draft class is a deep one. Indiana could target a talented prospect whose stock has slipped in recent weeks, such as Quincy Miller or Royce White, and should be able to add another affordable rotation player with the pick.

With a number of affordable rotation players on board already though, I expect the Pacers to at least explore the possibility of a major trade. Under Bird, Indiana has avoided making huge splashes, electing instead to make modest moves like the West signing or the trade for Hill — moves that improve the team incrementally. But it's unclear if the Pacers will be able to hang with the Eastern Conference elite if Granger is their best player. As good a scorer as he can be, he lacks the star power of a LeBron James, Derrick Rose, or even a Rajon Rondo. The Pacers' style certainly doesn't call for a Carmelo Anthony-esque isolation player, but an elite scorer that could be trusted with the ball in his hands in the last two minutes of the game would certainly help. I'm not sure that such a player is out there for a package centered around Granger, but it's worth a look.

Ultimately, I anticipate a relatively straightforward summer for the Pacers. Hibbert and Hill should be retained, and perhaps another free agent or two will be added to the nucleus using remaining cap space or exceptions. The Pacers have been patiently building their core for a few years now, and aren't about to blow things up after their most successful season yet. Whether or not another modest addition or two will be enough to challenge for the Eastern Conference title is up for debate, but I expect Indiana to try to find out.

Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.

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Money Time: Upcoming Free Agents In The Playoffs

June 9th, 2012 at 2:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Throughout the playoffs, we've been tracking soon-to-be free agents week by week as they make their final impressions heading into the offseason. With 12 members of the Finals-bound Thunder possessing guaranteed contracts for next season, most of the cases have been closed. So, here's a look at the three impending free agents who made the most significant leaps throughout the entire postseason, and the three who took the greatest steps back.

Winners

Kevin Garnett, Celtics: Garnett and Tim Duncan were both carrying the banner for 36-year-old former power forwards getting it done at center in the playoffs, but in the conference finals Garnett has set himself apart. In the series, he's averaged 20.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, helping Boston to the cusp of the NBA Finals. For the playoffs as a whole, he's ninth in points per game (19.5), fourth in rebounds per game (10.5), and second in Basketball-Reference.com's defensive rating (93.5).

Roy Hibbert, Pacers (restricted): The most significant question surrounding Hibbert's postseason performance is why his 9.5 shot attempts per game were down from the 10.3 he saw in the regular season. That reflects much more poorly on his Pacers teammates than it does upon Hibbert, who shot 50% and controlled the boards to the tune of 11.2 RPG, the second highest rebounding average in the postseason. Though his team was eliminated in the conference semifinals, Hibbert is still second in total offensive rebounds for the postseason, with 45, and third in total blocks, with 34, in 11 games. His defensive rating of 94.8 slots fourth, right behind Garnett and the next man on this list.

Lavoy Allen, Sixers (restricted): One of Garnett's playoff combatants was almost equally as impressive in the playoffs, particularly considering he's less than a year removed from being the 50th pick in the draft. Allen logged just 19.7 minutes per game, but played them efficiently, posting a 17.2 PER. His defensive rating of 94.5 was the third best in the playoffs, between Garnett and Hibbert, and his 55.7 field goal percentage was fifth among qualifiers.

Losers

Ryan Anderson, Magic (restricted): Sure, he made 40% of his three-pointers, slightly better than the 39.3% regular season clip that helped him win the NBA's Most Improved Player award. Yet he was little more than a spot-up shooter in the postseason. He took only 2.8 shots per game from inside the arc, as opposed to 5.5 during the regular season. That explains why his 16.1 PPG for the season was cut to 9.6 in the playoffs. He also had drastic regressions in rebounding (7.7 to 4.6) and PER (21.2 to 7.2).

O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies (restricted): He had more turnovers (18) than made baskets (17) in the playoffs this year, making a strong case that he's unfit the spot duty at point guard he saw against the Clippers. Mayo made 27.4% of his field goals, 29.2% from three-point range, and compiled a PER of 7.9 — well below average. In a roundabout way, he may have created a little more bargaining power for himself this summer, as the Grizzlies may decline to tender him a qualifying offer to avoid the luxury tax, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Matt Barnes, Lakers: In the regular season, Barnes was an asset to the Lakers, rebounding and blocking shots at a higher rate than ever as he settled into the primary backup role at both wing positions. In the playoffs, he was so much of a liability that he barely saw the floor in the last four games against the Thunder. The extra rebounding and blocked shots disappeared, and Barnes shot just 27.1 percent from the field, including an atrocious 5-for-31 from three-point range.

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Odds & Ends: Mavs, Haywood, Pacers, Pistons

June 9th, 2012 at 12:00pm CST by Zachary Links

When the Thunder bench starts firing in the NBA Finals, it will be a case of what could have been for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. For the Heat, Derek Fisher is the one that got away while Daequan Cook was given away. In order to create cap space in the summer of 2010, Miami sent Cook and the No. 18 pick to the Thunder for the No. 32 pick. Fisher, meanwhile, rejected the Heat that summer in order to re-up with the Lakers. More items from around the Association..

Pacers Intend To Promote Kevin Pritchard To GM

June 8th, 2012 at 6:33pm CST by Luke Adams

6:33pm: Larry Bird and Pacers owner Herb Simon are expected to meet next week, tweets Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. Bird must finalize a deal to stay with Indiana for Pritchard's promotion to become official.

Phil Jackson Renews Interest In Magic Position

June 6th, 2012 at 6:19pm CST by Daniel Seco

6:19pm: According to NBA.com's David Aldridge, "both the agents for Phil Jackson and an Orlando Magic source denied Wednesday any contact between the parties on a potential kingmaker role for Jackson with the Magic organization."

1:14pm: The Magic are unlikely to accept the latest proposal from Sam Vincent to have Phil Jackson join the organization, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The team wants someone who'll be in Orlando full-time, instead of one week per month, as Jackson would be. Though a half dozen candidates appear to be in the running for the GM job, Robbins tweets that a list of finalists has not yet been submitted to the Devos family, who owns the Magic. Even without Jackson around, Pacers assistant Brian Shaw could still wind up with the Magic head coaching gig, Robbins notes via Twitter.

8:40am: After seemingly removing himself from consideration for a position in the Magic's front office, Phil Jackson has renewed interest in becoming Orlando's lead personnel man and bringing a team of his closest confidants into the organization, reports Sam Amick of SI.com. A revised proposal was submitted to the Magic on Tuesday morning in which Jackson would work for the team remotely from California. Sam Vincent, the architect of the plan, would also join the Magic as a member of the front office with Brian Shaw coming on board as head coach and Scottie Pippen taking the lead assistant position.

Beyond salary, Jackson is interested in acquiring a portion of minority ownership in the franchise so that he can help convince Dwight Howard to stay with the Magic given the Zen Master's presence and commitment to the team. Yet, some in the Magic organization view Howard as a lost cause who wants out of Orlando as soon as possible and has no intentions of re-signing with the team. The risk of investing in Jackson with hopes of retaining Howard could get expensive beyond just a minority ownership stake as the former Lakers coach earned $12MM in his final season in Los Angeles.

One of the issues with the plan stems from Magic CEO Alex Martins dislike for having an executive working outside of Orlando. Since parting ways with former general manager Otis Smith on May 21, Martins has been looking for an executive who would be in the office every day. The team's finalists for general manager reportedly include Spurs vice president and assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey, former Hornets general manager Jeff Bower, Thunder executives Troy Weaver and Rob Hennigan, and former Trail Blazers general manager and Pacers executive Kevin Pritchard.

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