J.j. Barea Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: THJ, Horford, Kuminga, R. Williams

October 7th, 2025 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

Although three or four teams reached out to convey their interest in him early in free agency, Tim Hardaway Jr. was drawn to the Nuggets in part because J.J. Barea and Jared Dudley were joining David Adelman‘s coaching staff, as he tells Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Hardaway played alongside Barea with the Mavericks from 2019-20, while Dudley was a Mavs assistant coach during three of Hardaway’s years in Dallas.

“It gives you more confidence (having Dudley and Barea on staff), just because they understand your style of play,” Hardaway said. “They reiterate that to the rest of the coaching staff. I mean, Jared Dudley was my assistant coach in Dallas for years, so he knows what I can do on and off the floor for the team.”

Hardaway made 77 starts in Detroit last season and hasn’t averaged fewer than 26.8 minutes per game in a season since 2015/16. He also hasn’t earned less than $16MM in a season since ’16/17. This year in Denver, he’s on a minimum-salary contract and will likely be part of the Nuggets’ second unit. However, he’s embracing the opportunity to play for a championship contender and wants to set an example for his younger teammates who may end up playing lesser roles.

“I’ve realized throughout my career, sulking and being upset about something, it’s just being an energy-drainer at that point,” Hardaway told Durando. “So just coming in there, letting those guys understand if they’re having rough days, bad days, (my job is) lifting them up, if I have to take them to dinner, (or) if I have to get the team all out together.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Al Horford‘s two-year contract with the Warriors, which is worth the full taxpayer mid-level exception and includes a second-year player option, also features a 15% trade kicker, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Horford will become trade-eligible on January 1, three months after he officially signed with Golden State.
Within a look at Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga as an in-season trade candidate, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (subscription required) observes that even though Golden State is right up against a hard cap and will have to account for Kuminga’s trade kicker, the lack of base year compensation restrictions will make it easier to move him during the season than it would have been in a sign-and-trade. For instance, the Warriors wouldn’t have been able to take back Malik Monk in a sign-and-trade with Sacramento without sending out another player, but a straight-up deal involving those two players (plus draft assets) would be cap-legal now.
Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams still hasn’t been cleared for contact, head coach Chauncey Billups said on Monday, but he has been taking part in non-contact work and the team is “very happy” with the progress he has made (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report). Health issues have limited Williams to 26 total outings since he was traded to Portland two years ago.

Nuggets Announce Additions To Coaching Staff

September 10th, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets confirmed the hiring of Jared Dudley as the top assistant to head coach David Adelman and announced several other additions to their coaching staff in a press release.

As first reported in early July, Dudley accepted the position with Denver over offers from Memphis and Cleveland. He spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Mavericks, joining them after ending his 14-year playing career.

Another former NBA player, J.J. Barea, is joining Adelman’s staff as an assistant coach. He also worked for Dallas after his playing career ended, serving as a player development coach during the 2021/22 season. Barea had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico before being dismissed in May. His expected hiring was also reported in July.

Mike Moser is coming to Denver after spending the last two seasons as an assistant in Houston and the previous year as a player enhancement coach with Boston. Moser also spent time with the Mavericks and the University of Oregon women’s program, and he has coached overseas in Lithuania, Israel, Kosovo, Qatar, Finland and France.

Chase Buford was hired after serving as an assistant last season at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He also coached in Australia, winning two NBA titles with the Sydney Kings, and in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd.

Rodney Billups, the younger brother of Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, served as a scout with Brooklyn last season. He also spent three years as an assistant with the Trail Blazers and another season as a scout with Milwaukee.

The Nuggets also announced that Andrew Munson has been promoted to assistant coach and Ben Potts was hired as head video coordinator/player development coach.

Nuggets To Hire J.J. Barea As Assistant Coach

July 1st, 2025 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are adding former NBA guard J.J. Barea to their coaching staff as an assistant under new head coach David Adelman, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Barea will be a front-of-bench assistant in Denver, Charania adds.

Marc Stein first reported the Nuggets’ interest in Barea, who had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico over the past couple years before being let go in May.

Barea, who turned 41 last week, played in the NBA from 2005-19, spending the majority of those 14 years in Dallas and winning a title with the Mavericks in 2011. Following his retirement, he spent a year as a player development coach for the Mavs in 2021/22.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Adelman was an assistant coach in Minnesota when Barea played for the Timberwolves during the only non-Mavs stint of his career from 2011-14. Adelman reached out to Barea to recruit him for the role, MacMahon reports.

The Nuggets have also reached an agreement to hire Rodney Billups, the younger brother of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, as an assistant, agent Andy Miller tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Rodney worked on his brother’s staff in Portland from 2022-24 before spending this past season as a Nets scout.

Denver is also said to have interest in Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley for a role on Adelman’s staff. While the Nuggets were granted permission to speak to Dudley, there has been no word yet on whether or not he’ll leave Dallas for Denver.

Stein’s Latest: NAW, Schröder, Jerome, Grimes, Kornet, Nuggets

June 29th, 2025 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons and the Hawks have been described as the two best bets to sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker away from the Timberwolves when free agency gets underway, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Both Detroit and Atlanta have previously been reported as potential suitors for Alexander-Walker, along with teams like the Clippers and Magic. The expectation is that he’ll command offers in the range of the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will start at a projected $14.1MM. He might even end up getting more than that, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

While Minnesota has expressed a desire to retain Alexander-Walker, the club has already committed to Naz Reid on a lucrative new five-year deal and is expected to retain Julius Randle as well. Re-signing Alexander-Walker to a market-value contract would likely send the Wolves’ team salary soaring beyond the second tax apron.

As for the Pistons, there has been consistent reporting this week indicating that their free agent guard Dennis Schröder may end up signing with the Kings. While Schröder didn’t exactly confirm that this weekend during a Twitch stream, he suggested he’s unlikely to return to Detroit.

“I want to stay in Detroit for sure, but Detroit ain’t waiting for me, I can tell you that much,” Schröder said (Twitter video link). “Detroit ain’t waiting for me.”

Here’s more from Stein:

The Hornets and Grizzlies have been consistently mentioned as teams expected to pursue free agent guard Ty Jerome, according to Stein. Reporting earlier today indicated that Utah also may be in the mix for the Sixth Man of the Year finalist, who is now considered a “lock” to leave the Cavaliers, per Stein.
Sixers restricted free agent Quentin Grimes is expected to land a starting salary of at least $16MM, Stein reports. Assuming he gets that offer from Philadelphia, it would be enough to outbid any rival suitors that might be willing to give him the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
The Clippers, who are in the market for a center to back up Ivica Zubac, are considered a team to watch for free agent big man Luke Kornet, writes Stein.
The Nuggets, who are eyeing potential assistant coaches for David Adelman‘s staff, have been granted permission to interview Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley and have also exhibited “strong” interest in former NBA guard J.J. Barea, per Stein (Twitter links). Barea had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico over the past couple years before being let go last month.

And-Ones: Kerr, Expansion, Team USA, Giles, Barea

August 5th, 2023 at 1:12pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who is currently guiding Team USA as it prepares for the upcoming World Cup, is enthusiastic about the possibility of NBA expansion, particularly to Las Vegas and Seattle, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“It feels right,” Kerr said. “Obviously it’s not my department, but Vegas and Seattle seem to be such smart franchises. It’s a shame that we ever lost the Sonics in the first place. But as you look forward and you think of what we need, we need a couple of Western time slots. Think about all the doubleheaders on TV you have where the second game is starting at 8:40 central time. We lost a couple of West Coast time slots back when Seattle and Vancouver left the league. It hurt the TV schedule, which hurt the whole league schedule.

“You factor in Vegas for the time slot. But also just how great of a venue this is for summer league, USA Basketball, the fans here have proven they’ll come out, they love the Aces. The Knights just won the Stanley Cup, the Raiders are filling it up every Sunday. So this seems like a really good next team.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

The U.S. Select Team outplayed Team USA in a scrimmage on Friday, emerging victorious by a final score of 47-39 after two 10-minute periods. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Kerr was unfazed by the senior team’s defeat. “It’s a time-honored tradition of USA Basketball,” Kerr said. “Everybody knows the Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley story from ’92 (defeating the Dream Team in a scrimmage ahead of the Barcelona Olympics). In 2019, for the last World Cup, the Select Team came in, kicked our butts, and that’s the whole point. You want to get great talent to come in and challenge you and that’s what the Select Team did today.”
Harry Giles‘ agent, Daniel Hazan, tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv that the free agent big man recently worked out for the Magic and has a workout scheduled with the Warriors next week (Twitter link). Giles will be in Miami on Saturday working out for Brooklyn. The former first-round pick is eligible for a two-way contract and all three clubs have at least one two-way spot available, as our tracker shows. Giles, who dealt with major knee injuries early in his career, last played for Portland in 2020/21.
Former NBA veteran J.J. Barea will be the new head coach of Puerto Rico’s Guaynabo Mets, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). It will be the longtime guard’s first coaching stint, Charania adds.

J.J. Barea Announces Retirement

July 20th, 2022 at 4:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Following the elimination of his Puerto Rican team – Cangrejeros de Santurce – from the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) playoffs this week, veteran guard J.J. Barea said in a Spanish-language interview that he intends to retire as a basketball player, according to Jorge Figueroa Loza of El Nuevo Día (hat tip to Eurohoops).

“I’m ready,” Barea said, according to a translation provided to Hoops Rumors. “Last year was tough mentally, and I wasn’t ready. This year I am, and I’m at peace with retiring.”

Barea last appeared in the NBA when he played 29 games in 2019/20 for the Mavericks. He subsequently spent a few months with Estudiantes in Spain at the start of 2021, then joined Cangrejeros de Santurce in his native Puerto Rico last May, re-signing with the team in February 2022.

Barea, who previously played for Cangrejeros de Santurce in 2006, expressed satisfaction that he got to finish his career with the Puerto Rican squad, even though the club was eliminated in the postseason quarterfinals in back-to-back years and a left leg injury prevented the 38-year-old from playing in the last game of the season.

From 2006-20, Barea appeared in a total of 831 regular season NBA games and 50 more playoff contests for Dallas and Minnesota, averaging 8.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 2.1 RPG on .424/.352/.794 shooting in 19.6 MPG. He was a key member of the Mavericks team that won a title in 2011, appearing in all 21 playoff games during the championship run.

Now that he has retired as a player, Barea said he plans to “take a break from basketball” to mentally recharge. However, he seems likely to end up sooner or later in a coaching role for one of his former teams.

He told El Nuevo Día that he’d liked to remain involved with Cangrejeros de Santurce, and also spoke last summer after working with Dallas’ Summer League team about his interest in a position with the Mavs.

And-Ones: G League Ignite, Barea, Contract Extensions, Ukraine

February 24th, 2022 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Being involved with All-Star Weekend was a dream experience for several members of G League Ignite, writes Tania Ganguli of The New York Times. Jaden Hardy, Scoot Henderson, MarJon Beauchamp and Dyson Daniels were all selected to participate alongside first- and second-year NBA players in the Rising Stars games. Fanbo Zeng and Michael Foster Jr. were chosen for a shooting competition, but Zeng had to withdraw because of an injury.

“I was nervous before the game before I even got out there, but when I got out there it was kind of relieving,” said Beauchamp, who is projected to be a mid first-round selection in this year’s draft. Beauchamp added that he always watches the All-Star events, “so just seeing myself on the screen is pretty amazing.”

The Ignite team, which serves as an alternative to college for NBA prospects, is only in its second season but is proving to be successful. Two Ignite players, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, were lottery picks last year and the team continues to attract elite young talent, paying up to $500K per season. The chance to be part of the All-Star experience was a bonus that the NBA offered this year.

“It was just fun to be able to be out there on the court with those young stars really and just being able to go out there and just laugh and compete,” Hardy said.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Veteran guard J.J. Barea will return to Cangrejeros de Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 37-year-old, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA, also played for the team last season.
Although Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will miss an extended stretch due to plantar fasciitis, he’s among a handful of viable candidates to receive contract extensions before the regular season ends, writes Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype. Nurkic is on track to be a free agent this summer, but he’s also eligible to extend his current deal for up to $64.5MM over four years. Another option, Gozlan notes, is to extend for two years at $25.8MM if Nurkic wants to keep his trade eligibility this offseason. Gozlan identifies Robert Covington, Thaddeus Young, Gary Harris and Tyus Jones as other players who are eligible for in-season extensions and could be realistic candidates.
The attacks on Ukraine are having an effect on basketball in the region, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Roughly 40 American players have played in the country this year and several are still under contract. An agent told Smith that there’s an effort to bring those players home to protect their safety, even though it would be a breach of contract. Familiar names on the Budivelnik Kiev roster include Michael Stockton, son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, along with former NBA players Gian Clavell, Drew Gordon and Alec Brown, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Mavs Notes: Doncic, Carlisle, DSJ, Porzingis, Barea

December 15th, 2021 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

Dennis Smith Jr., the Mavericks‘ lottery pick a year before the team selected Luka Doncic, quickly bonded with his new teammate upon Doncic’s arrival in 2018, forming an off-the-court friendship. However, Dallas’ front office and then-coach Rick Carlisle didn’t believe the two guards were an on-court fit and were already planning to “blow it up,” according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who says Carlisle had wanted to draft Donovan Mitchell in 2017 and had quickly soured on Smith.

In the months before Smith was sent to New York in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, Carlisle was hard on the former N.C. State standout — he accused DSJ of being jealous of Doncic and seemed determined to make him miserable, multiple former players and staffers told ESPN. The treatment was “appalling” to Doncic, who resented Carlisle’s apparent desire to pit him against his teammate and friend, writes MacMahon.

As MacMahon outlines, the Smith situation represented the beginning of years-long tension between Carlisle and Doncic.

“It wasn’t really about how Rick treated Luka,” a Mavs player on the 2018/19 team told ESPN. “Luka hated how Rick treated other people.”

For what it’s worth, Smith replied to MacMahon’s article on Twitter and said the details about his time in Dallas were “spot on,” adding, “Y’all don’t even know the half.”

Here are a few more of the most interesting details from the ESPN report, which is worth checking out in full:

Shortly before he resigned as the Mavericks’ head coach, Carlisle – who had two years left on his contract – approached team owner Mark Cuban about the possibility of an extension, but was shot down, says MacMahon. Carlisle, recognizing that he’d likely enter the 2021/22 season on the hot seat if he remained in Dallas, decided to leave once he was confident he’d be able to quickly secure another head coaching job. Doncic never called for Carlisle’s dismissal, sources tell ESPN.
According to MacMahon, the Mavericks came to regret releasing J.J. Barea prior to the 2020/21 season, since the veteran guard had served as “connective tissue” between Doncic and Carlisle and between Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, helping manage those relationships. When Doncic and Porzingis had communication issues last season, Carlisle wasn’t in position to smooth them over since he didn’t have a great relationship with either player, MacMahon adds.
Porzingis was so disillusioned entering the 2021 offseason that he would’ve welcomed a trade, MacMahon reports. However, the big man has felt rejuvenated since Carlisle’s departure under new head coach Jason Kidd, who was the only candidate the Mavs seriously considered during their coaching search, per MacMahon.

Mavs To Hire Jared Dudley As Assistant Coach

August 24th, 2021 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

12:49pm: Dudley has agreed to join the Mavericks’ coaching staff, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

8:30am: The Mavericks are in advanced discussions with veteran forward Jared Dudley about hiring him as an assistant coach on Jason Kidd‘s staff, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Dudley, 36, has appeared in over 900 NBA regular season games since entering the league in 2007. He began his career in Charlotte, then spent time with the Suns, Clippers, Bucks, Wizards, Suns, Nets, and Lakers over the course of 14 seasons.

However, Dudley has seen his playing time decline significantly in recent years. In 2020/21, he logged just 81 total minutes in 12 games for the Lakers, and a report last week indicated that L.A. wasn’t expected to re-sign him. Now, it seems as if he’s prepared to move onto the next stage of his career.

While Kidd and Dudley never played together, they have plenty of history. Dudley played for Milwaukee in 2014/15 when Kidd was the head coach, and the Hall-of-Fame point guard was an assistant with the Lakers for the past two years.

Kidd’s coaching staff is still taking shape, but it appears he’s making it a priority to add at least a couple assistants with playing experience. J.J. Barea and Tyson Chandler are among the other NBA vets who have been mentioned as possible candidates.

Southwest Notes: Lowry, Louzada, Barea, Omoruyi

August 14th, 2021 at 5:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks were runners-up to the Heat in the free agency competition for Kyle Lowry, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. A source tells Jackson that the Mavs were willing to pay what Lowry was seeking and he was intrigued by the possibility of playing in Dallas, but his first choice was to join Jimmy Butler in Miami. Lowry wound up getting $85MM over three years, and joined the Heat in a sign-and-trade.

The Pelicans were also interested in Lowry and were willing to offer $90MM or more for three seasons, Jackson adds. However, Jackson’s source says Lowry didn’t give strong consideration to New Orleans.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The new four-year deal for Pelicans swingman Didi Louzada is valued at about $7.69MM, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN. The first two seasons are fully guaranteed and the final two are non-guaranteed. New Orleans held non-Bird rights on Louzada and his contract starts at 120% of the $1.489MM minimum, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Marks notes that the Pelicans still have their entire $9.5MM mid-level exception available, along with a $17.1MM trade exception.
Longtime Mavericks player J.J. Barea will return to the organization in some capacity, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The exact role hasn’t been finalized for Barea, who spent 11 of his 14 NBA seasons with the Mavs. “I’m going to be involved, and I’m definitely excited,” said Barea, who served as an unofficial assistant coach in today’s Summer League game.
Rookie forward Eugene Omoruyi talked to Townsend after signing a two-way contract with the Mavericks on Friday (video link).