New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Gortat, Pelicans, Matthews, Hammon

November 28th, 2015 at 10:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Marcin Gortat blasted the negativity surrounding the Wizards following tonight’s last-second loss to the Raptors, tweets J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Gortat says the poor atmosphere has taken the fun out of coming to the arena. This isn’t the first time this season that the center has talked about being unhappy. Two weeks ago, he complained about being publicly criticized by coach Randy Wittman following a loss to the Thunder. Gortat is still committed to Washington for four more seasons on the $60MM contract he signed in 2014.

There’s more from around the world of basketball:

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry says Tyreke Evans and Norris Cole could make their season debuts Tuesday, tweets John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Evans underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October, and Cole is recovering from a high ankle sprain.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle credits offseason addition Wesley Matthews for the team’s improvement on defense, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Carlisle says the former Blazer’s size and versatility have made a difference on that end of the floor.
Assistant coach Becky Hammon is playing an active role on the Spurs‘ bench, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. During a second-quarter timeout in tonight’s win over the Hawks, Vivlamore watched San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich step back and let Hammon run the huddle and diagram a play.
Brook Lopez‘s decision to sign a new three-year contract with the Nets tops a list of questionable moves compiled by Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Even though he got $63MM in the deal, Lopez is locked into a terrible team during the prime years of his career. Also on Aschburner’s list are Jahlil Okafor‘s missed opportunity to tell the Sixers not to draft him, Pau Gasol‘s choice to come to the Bulls in 2014 when he could have gone to the Spurs, the Clippers‘ offseason acquisitions and Josh Smith‘s decision to leave the Rockets for L.A.

Southwest Rumors: Nowitzki, Rockets, Lamb

November 27th, 2015 at 7:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dirk Nowitzki remains the focal point for the Mavericks and while he’s slowed down in some ways, he’s handling the burden well, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. While the 37-year-old power forward can’t create off the dribble like he used to, he’s shooting over 50% from the field as well as on his 3-point attempts, MacMahon continues. Dallas has been unable the past four offseasons to make him their second-best player, MacMahon adds, but he’s still one of the league’s most efficient shooters. Nowitzki’s body has held up remarkably well over the years, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News points out, but the Mavs need to have a diverse attack with a variety of players taking big shots.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

With his full complement of point guards available, interim Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff plans to juggle them in creative ways, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Patrick Beverley, Ty Lawson and Jason Terry will share the position and Bickerstaff will pair them up at times, Feigen adds. “I think we’re going to try to play those guys together,” Bickerstaff told Feigen. “We’re going to stick with our same starting lineup. We like the leadership Jet [Terry] brings with that first group. But then we’re going to bring those other guys in off the bench.”
Doron Lamb, who was waived by the Mavericks during training camp in 2014, has signed with Buducnost in Montenegro, the team announced via Facebook (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Mavs had retained Lamb’s D-League rights by making him one of their affiliate players with NBA experience. Lamb previously played in the NBA with both the Bucks and Magic.
Power forward Ryan Anderson is averaging more than 19 points a game but Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said his defense has been even more essential to his club, Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday.com reports. “Ryan’s really scoring the basketball. But where he’s really helped us is that he’s really improved defensively,” Gentry told reporters, including Zillgitt. “His rebounding and physicality that he plays with has been the things that have helped us the most.”

Southwest Notes: Bickerstaff, D-League, Gee

November 24th, 2015 at 6:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes that the team has become more orderly in its approach since Kevin McHale was fired as head coach last week, Mark Berman of FOX 26 relays in a series of tweets. “Our attitude has changed over the last week and a half. We’ve taken a more serious approach to what we’re doing,” Bickerstaff said. “Guys are more disciplined in what we’re doing and they were hungry for that. That was the first thing they were calling for, some more discipline, some more structure, some more rules.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks intend to use their D-League affiliate to help get their younger players minutes this season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Discussing Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri, who had been assigned to the Texas Legends recently, coach Rick Carlisle said, “It’s a positive to be able to send guys there to get game action. We’re going to do more of it. It’s a positive tool for our franchise and for those guys. It’s a win-win. In this instance they were able to play in the game last night and we got them here [Saturday night].”
Despite Alonzo Gee only averaging 3.5 points in 21.1 minutes per contest this season, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry considers the small forward a vital part of the team due to his defensive prowess, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”I know my role on the team and I try to focus on my role,” Gee said. ”You can’t really coach effort. I try to be the hardest-playing player on the floor. I’ve glad to be in that situation. That’s why I wanted to come here, I felt like it was an opportunity to play.”
Jazz camp cut Bryce Cotton, who currently plays for the Spurs‘ D-League affiliate in Austin, hopes to return to the NBA this season, and he believes that hustle and effort are his tickets back to the big league, writes Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. “Being called up last year and being blessed to finish the season [in Utah], I still didn’t feel like I could kind of sit back and coast,” Cotton said. “I still felt like I needed [to prove a lot]. I wanted to work as hard as I could, but unfortunately it just ended up with me being waived. The biggest thing that I’ve learned is just continuous emphasis on remaining professional on and off the court, always having a great attitude and being a great teammate.”

Jimmer Fredette Rejoins Knicks D-League Team

November 24th, 2015 at 8:12am CST by Chuck Myron

Jimmer Fredette has gone back to the D-League affiliate of the Knicks after clearing waivers from the Pelicans, reports Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). The D-League contract that Fredette signed before the Pelicans picked him up remained in effect, but the circuit allows its players out of deals to sign NBA contracts. That same courtesy doesn’t extend to non-NBA contracts, so Fredette would have had to pay a penalty of between $40K and $50K if he’d chosen to sign with an overseas team, as Reichert notes on his D-League FAQ. That would be roughly double what his D-League contract calls for him to make.

Fredette originally signed with the D-League at large after the Spurs let him go from their NBA roster at the end of the preseason. The Knicks snagged his D-League rights with the No. 2 pick in the October 31st D-League draft. Ticket sales were reportedly the primary motivator, and Fredette said nearly a week into his time with the Westchester Knicks that he hadn’t heard from Knicks NBA team president Phil Jackson or coach Derek Fisher, despite an open spot on New York’s NBA roster.

The native of Glens Falls, New York signed with the Pelicans before the Westchester Knicks played their first game of the season. He figures to see much more action on D-League hardwoods than the 13 minutes he saw spread across four games with New Orleans this year.

Southwest Notes: Morey, Williams, McGee, Gentry

November 23rd, 2015 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s up to the players to pull the Rockets out of the malaise that cost former coach Kevin McHale his job, according to GM Daryl Morey, but Morey acknowledges to TNT’s David Aldridge that some of the fault lies at his own desk, as Aldridge relays in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“Except for Dwight Howard, there really isn’t anybody on the roster playing well, and those are all my decisions,” Morey said. “I can’t hide from that.”

The Rockets won their first game after switching from McHale to interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff but lost both of their games since, and they’re tied with the Kings at 5-9 for 12th place in the Western Conference. See more from the Southwest Division:

Chandler Parsons doesn’t understand why Deron Williams has a reputation as a negative locker room force, citing evidence of the opposite to Jake Fischer of SI.com. Wesley Matthews observes a positive attitude from Williams in the face of challenges, like the erosion of his game, a change Williams acknowledges, as Fischer adds. “My days of scoring 20 and 10 are over. I know that,” said Williams, who gave up nearly $16MM to buy his way off the Nets before signing with the Mavericks for $11MM over two years.
The return of JaVale McGee puts the squeeze on the minutes of early-season revelation Dwight Powell, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. The Mavs have until January 7th to decide whether to pay McGee his full salary of $1.27MM or waive him and pay only his $750K partial guarantee.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was satisfied as the lead assistant for the Warriors last season and didn’t think he’d end up with another head coaching job until New Orleans came calling, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “I was not going to take a job just to have a job as a head coach unless it was a situation that I thought was going to give you an opportunity to win and win big and compete for a championship,” Gentry said. “I really didn’t have any desire just to take another NBA job.”

Northwest Notes: Durant, Westbrook, Burks, Towns

November 20th, 2015 at 1:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Durant describes his friendship with Russell Westbrook as “really tight,” and it came into focus Thursday, when Durant chose Westbrook to present him for induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater details. The bond between the Thunder teammates looms large, with Durant poised to hit free agency this summer and Westbrook to follow in 2017.

“There’s times where we go at it,” Durant said about Westbrook in a Q&A with Slater. “There’s times I don’t like what he’s doing out on the court, there’s times where he hates what I’m doing out on the court. There’s times where it’s Russ, you gotta control your attitude or KD, you gotta stop, you gotta speak up, whatever. There’s times we cuss each other out, but that’s a part of being brothers. Because I know if I need something, he’ll be there and if I need to talk to someone outside of basketball, he’ll be there. It’s a real brotherhood type relationship. We’re like family.”

Durant also makes note of the continued relationship that he and Westbrook have with former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who’s on a one-year deal with the Pelicans, as Slater relays.

Alec Burks is playing at a more controlled pace and making better on-court judgments, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, and that’s helped him come back better from the shoulder injury that prematurely ended last season than he was before it, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune examines. Much of his improvement is in the details, the coach also asserts, according to Falk. “There are a lot of little things, habits that are hard. Literally, which foot do you want forward? … All those things that maybe you don’t see add up,” Snyder said.
Jazz draft-and-stash signee Raul Neto isn’t quite seeing starter’s minutes, but he’s in the starting lineup and impressing Snyder, as Falk details in a separate piece. “I think he’s handled it great,” Snyder said. “If you look at a lot of international players, and particularly the guards, there’s an adjustment period. I think he’s way ahead of that.”
The Timberwolves have a long way to go, and the front office surely knows it, but the defensive play of their starting lineup has been top-notch and No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns is showing offensive versatility with his shooting and post-up game, observes Evans Clinchy of Hardwood Paroxysm.

Pelicans Waive Jimmer Fredette

November 19th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have waived Jimmer Fredette, the team announced. The team signed the former BYU star to a non-guaranteed contract November 10th using a 16th roster spot the league granted them via the hardship rule. That provision for an extra player lasts only 10 days, and though the Pelicans are still dealing with copious injuries, Fredette’s release is a signal that the league won’t be giving the team another 10-day exception, likely because one of the injured players is poised to return, as John Reid of The Times Picayune speculates (on Twitter).

Letting go of Fredette is also a financial savings for the Pels, who only used him for a total of 13 minutes spread over four games this month. His prorated minimum salary cost them $5,572 a day. Fredette is also collecting money this season from the Spurs, who guaranteed him $507,711 before cutting him at the end of the preseason. He remains under contract with the D-League affiliate of the Knicks, who drafted him after he inked a D-League deal late last month.

Omer Asik and Anthony Davis are questionable for Friday’s game against the Spurs, but four others have been out with long-term injuries, which gave New Orleans enough to qualify for the extra roster spot. Kendrick Perkins is just a couple of weeks into a three-month recovery timetable and Tyreke Evans still appears to be about two weeks away, judging by the timeframe that Reid reported a month ago, so Norris Cole and Quincy Pondexter, who’ve yet to play this season, look like the candidates to return soon.

What do you think comes next for Fredette? Leave a comment to let us know.

And-Ones: Rockets, Chalmers, Kilpatrick

November 17th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Rockets, who are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, held a players-only meeting to clear the air and work on their communication, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com relays. “What happens in the room, stays in the room,” center Dwight Howard said. “It was good for us to sit down and talk, but it’s a long season and you can’t get caught up in losing a couple of games and getting upset and so frustrated and feel like it’s the end of the world. It is embarrassing. We hate to lose but at the same time we have a long season and we can’t think negative when we lose. We have to try and find the positive in any situation. You keep thinking negative, then negative things will continue to happen to you. You got to stay positive and fight through it. All this stuff will build our character.”

Star shooting guard James Harden also agreed that the meeting was a productive one for the team, Watkins adds. “It was a good talk for us,” Harden said. “We hadn’t had an opportunity to communicate like that since the season had been going. It was good for us to communicate and each guy basically said what their role was and every single night they’re going to contribute to that role. After the talk we had a really good practice, guys communicated, we worked hard and now it’s about carrying it over. It’s about doing it on the floor.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Mario Chalmers has been lighting up stat sheets since the Grizzlies acquired him from the Heat, and the point guard credits his new teammates having confidence in him for his recent output, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “I just try to bring as much energy to the game as possible,” Chalmers said. “It means a lot when your coach and your teammates have confidence and they want you to shoot.” The veteran guard also sees a number of similarities between how Memphis plays defense and shares the ball on offense with the championship squads he played for in Miami, Winderman adds.
The Delaware 87ers, the Sixers‘ D-League affiliate, have re-acquired Sean Kilpatrick as a returning player, the team announced. Kilpatrick, who was in training camp with the Pelicans, was a member of the 87ers at the end of the 2014/15 season.

Southwest Notes: McHale, Lawson, Chalmers

November 17th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin McHale is displeased with his team’s effort and defense amid a 4-7 start, and he admits he’s thinking of moving marquee trade acquisition Ty Lawson to the bench, observes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, though Patrick Beverley hurt his ankle over the weekend. Sources close to the team tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that they wonder whether the players aren’t listening to McHale or if the roster is simply composed of ill-fitting parts. GM Daryl Morey refused comment when ESPN’s Marc Stein asked about the team’s struggles, Watkins relays. See more from around the Southwest Division, where Houston isn’t the only team with a problem:

A desire to prove his worth to the Heat, who traded him away last week, appears to be fueling the strong play of Mario Chalmers, opines Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald. The Thunder’s issues with their perimeter defense played a role, but Chalmers, with 29 points in 23 minutes, looked like the best Grizzlies point guard in Monday’s win over Oklahoma City, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater observes. “He doesn’t even know the plays yet,” Marc Gasol said. “Imagine when he knows the plays.”
Dwight Powell, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, has looked strong so far this year, but he still has to prove his value to the Mavs, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News contends in a chat with readers. I touched on Powell and more when I looked back on the Mavs’ offseason earlier today.
Paul Flannery and Tom Ziller of SB Nation debate the surprising troubles for the Rockets, Pelicans and Grizzlies, with Flannery opining that the Lawson acquisition has been a “debacle” so far for Houston but that New Orleans is in the most perilous position of the three teams.

Western Notes: Waiters, Henderson, Pelicans

November 15th, 2015 at 12:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Dion Waiters is denying the report that he wants to play for his hometown Sixers, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman passes along.

“[Don’t] Believe everything y’all hear lol I guess this what the world coming to [shaking my head], especially if it didn’t come from me,” Waiters tweeted. “I [don’t] need or want the attention I never been that guy…I’m not worrying about money I’m chasing a championship with my bros…#ThunderUP.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Gerald Henderson is building chemistry with the Blazers and his team is embracing the veteran’s presence, Mike Richman of the Oregonian writes. “We understand his game. He likes to get those couple dribble pull ups, slight fade like Kobe,” teammate C.J. McCollum said. “So he’s going to be able to get those shots all day long, especially if he’s in the game with Dame or I because the amount of attention we’re going to get offensively. It’s going to open things up for him and he’s going to help us, make the game easier for us.” Henderson came to Portland in the Nicolas Batum trade this summer.
The Pelicans don’t have much talent around Anthony Davis and one reason for that was the lack of return in the Chris Paul trade, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News opines (Twitter links). New Orleans netted Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al Farouq and Austin Rivers in that trade and only Gordon remains on the team. Although the original CP3 trade that was vetoed by former commissioner David Stern wasn’t much better, the Pelicans would have least added Goran Dragic, Bondy adds.