New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Knicks, Blatt, Vonleh, Wiggins

June 15th, 2014 at 10:19pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest from around the league as the Spurs hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy..

Heat guard Ray Allen told reporters he will see where his “true heart lies” in a couple of days in terms of playing or retiring, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo.
Phil Jackson will look to re-tool the Knicks‘ roster this summer, but new coach Derek Fisher told ESPN 98.7 that he believes the team can improve by 8-10 wins as currently constructed, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. “In my opinion, I believe that success and failure are not as far apart as people think. It’s pretty close. And when you think about [the Knicks] winning 37 games a year ago, there are a number of things that you can isolate with the same exact roster that can provide 8-10 more wins without a change of any kind,” Fisher said last week.
Last week we learned that David Blatt will interview with the Cavs and today, we learned the date. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports hears that the former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach will meet with Cleveland on Wednesday.
Indiana big man Noah Vonleh will work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah owns the No. 5 pick and DraftExpress has them pegged to draft the soon-to-be 19-year-old.
Executives see the Magic as the team most likely to shake up the draft, tweets Chris Mannix of NBC Sports. The question now is whether they like Marcus Smart, Dante Exum, Vonleh, or someone else in the draft.
The Sixers are slated to work out Andrew Wiggins on Tuesday in Philadelphia, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Philly, of course, owns the No. 3 pick.
No surprise here, but Bosnian big man Jusuf Nurkic will keep his name in the draft, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Nurkic is projected to go somewhere between 12 and 21 in Ford’s view.
The Celtics are eyeing guard prospects such as Xavier Thames, Semaj Christon, and Russ Smith, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Last week, Austin Ainge told Washburn that the C’s are looking into trading back into the second round and Boston might do that with one of those three in mind.
Aaron Gordon is a lock for the lottery thanks to his athleticism and defense, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The 6’9″ forward out of Arizona is more athletic than Julius Randle and Noah Vonleh and is also a better defender.

And-Ones: NBPA, Anthony, Bower

June 15th, 2014 at 12:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kevin Johnson sent out a memo to the players regarding the search for the next head of the National Basketball Players Association, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. In the memo, Johnson informed the players that six candidates were interviewed on May 16th, with more scheduled for late June, and six more in mid-July. The names of the candidates were not made public yet.

Eastern Notes: Smart, Sixers, Anthony, Wiggins

June 15th, 2014 at 8:57am CST by Eddie Scarito

Magic executives love Marcus Smart‘s intangibles, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. They value his leadership, toughness and competitiveness so much that they might select him fourth overall, opines Robbins. The only negative to drafting Smart is that teams aren’t sure of his position yet. According to the article, one NBA talent evaluator said of Smart, “That’s the thing that I think there’s a little bit of concern about. But I think he’s probably more of a point guard than a shooting guard. Of course there are things that he’s going to have to learn as a point guard to become better and an efficient point guard in our league. I wouldn’t say he’s a ‘true point guard,’ but he’s got point guard skills.”

Eastern Rumors: Monroe, Garnett, Draft Needs

June 14th, 2014 at 10:04pm CST by Cray Allred

Greg Monroe tells Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune that he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Stan Van Gundy getting success out of a Pistons frontcourt featuring Monroe, Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond. Monroe is preparing to field offers as a restricted free agent, and would still be content to remain in Detroit. “Most people would rather, if possible, not to have to go through it and just re-sign with the team they are with so you can have some stability and be secure,” Monroe said. “Right now it’s like the draft process all over again. You don’t know if you will have to change cities or where you will end up. It’s a good thing that there are teams out there that want me. But at the end of the day, if I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.” Here’s more from out East:

The Pelicans have inquired with the Pistons about a potential sign-and-trade for Monroe, a source tells Hogan. The Times-Picayune scribe doesn’t reveal whether Detroit was open to the discussion.
The Nets have been in contact with Kevin Garnett, and are operating under the belief that he will return next season, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Adi Joseph continues his series on team draft needs with a look at the Nets, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards, and Heat.
In some of the day’s least surprising news, we passed along Amar’e Stoudemire‘s decision to decline his early termination option for the 2014/15 season.

Stoudemire Declines Early Termination Option

June 14th, 2014 at 8:39pm CST by Cray Allred

As expected, Amar’e Stoudemire has declined his early termination option for the 2014/15 season, a league source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Stoudemire will play out the final year of his five-year, $100MM contract with the Knicks. Stoudemire, the highest paid player on New York’s roster, will make $23.4MM, much more than he would have fetched on the open market had he opted to become a free agent.

After a standout first season with the Knicks in which the former All-Star averaged over 25 points and eight rebounds a game, injuries have curtailed his playing time and effectiveness every year since. He just turned in his least productive season since missing nearly all of the 2005/06 campaign, putting up just 11.9 points in 22.6 minutes a contest. Stoudemire did play better down the stretch, averaging over 16 points a game as the Knicks made an unsuccessful playoff push over the last 23 games of the season.

Had the Relativity Sports client exercised his early termination clause, it would have given the Knicks some much needed cap relief sooner than expected. Stoudemire’s contract combines with those of Andrea Bargnani, Tyson Chandler, and J.R. Smith in preventing New York from making any significant roster improvements as they try to convince Carmelo Anthony to stay in town. Stoudemire has been anxious to see his role increased since getting clearance from his doctors earlier this season, and he might get his wish next year, especially if Anthony bolts to join a contender.

Carmelo Anthony Leaning Toward Leaving Knicks

June 14th, 2014 at 11:19am CST by Cray Allred

Carmelo Anthony is leaning toward signing with a new team as a free agent this summer, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski’s sources tell him that the Bulls and Rockets are the front-runners to land the All-Star forward. Anthony has been expected to exercise his early termination option on the final year of his deal and become a free agent, but has previously stated an openness to remaining with the Knicks despite their disastrous season.

Last night, Anthony met with Knicks president Phil Jackson, GM Steve Mills, and new coach Derek Fisher to hear their plan to build a contender around him, as first reported by Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The meeting wasn’t persuasive to Anthony, per Wojnarowski’s sources. Jackson has asked ‘Melo to consider sacrifice and patience in helping the team build toward the 2015 free agent class, when the severe cap inflexibility currently hampering New York will subside. It appears that Anthony finds the prospect of joining a contender for an immediate shot at a title more appealing than waiting at least another year to see if the same opportunity will materialize with the Knicks.

Wojnarowski’s sources suggest that Anthony has been turned off by Jackson’s public comments about his future with the team, and there is some doubt around Anthony’s camp and the league that Jackson genuinely wants the All-Star to stay in New York. Anthony is only willing to accept a reduced salary if it is directly tired to a significant, immediate acquisition of talent, writes Wojnarowski.

The Yahoo! scribe reports that the Chicago and Houston front offices are working diligently to arrange for a signing of Anthony, which would require significant maneuvers for both teams. If the Bulls are willing to amnesty Carlos Boozer, their path to clearing the necessary cap space is easier, since the other biggest piece for the Bulls to unload would be Taj Gibson, a valuable, starting-caliber power forward. The Rockets would likely need the Knicks or another team to find it agreeable to take on the expiring contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to make room for Anthony.

Draft Notes: Nuggets, McGary, Kings, Knicks

June 13th, 2014 at 9:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Adi Joseph of USA Today breaks down the Nuggets‘ biggest draft needs. According to the article, the team has enough depth to afford to take a best-available approach, and may consider attempting to move up in order to get the elite-tier star their roster so desperately needs. Joseph also thinks the team needs to add help in the backcourt, and mentions Gary Harris, Nik Stauskas, Elfrid Payton, and Kyle Anderson as fits with the team’s system.

Heat Notes: LeBron, Carmelo, Allen, Anderson

June 13th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

It remains to be seen whether these are the last days that Miami’s star trio will spend as members of the Heat, but there seems little chance that the team’s run as NBA champions won’t come to an end soon. The Spurs have run the Heat off the floor twice in a row, and San Antonio has three chances to dethrone the champs. Here’s the latest on a downtrodden bunch from South Beach:

The outcome of the Finals won’t affect the thinking of LeBron James as he faces a decision on whether to opt out of his contract this month, a source tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. That seems to indicate that he’s already made up his mind, though that’s just my speculation.
James said Thursday that he had no knowledge of reported plans to recruit Carmelo Anthony to the Heat, as Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News details, and Anthony told TMZ Sports that the idea was news to him, too.
Ray Allen isn’t sure how much longer he’ll play, but while he can envision coaching at some point, he doesn’t want to jump right into the profession after he stops playing, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Allen said in February that though he wouldn’t rule out retirement this summer, he’s not planning on it.
Potential lottery pick Kyle Anderson worked out for the Heat this week, and was impressive in doing so, as Adam Zagoria notes via Twitter.

Western Notes: Kerr, Fernandez, Draft

June 12th, 2014 at 9:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Money wasn’t the issue for Steve Kerr when he chose the Warriors over the Knicks, as Howard Beck of Bleacher Report hears that New York would have met whatever salary demand he made, as Beck said on the Knickerblogger Podcast. Robert Silverman of KnickerBlogger.net provides the transcription.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Randle, Machado, Lue

June 12th, 2014 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Derek Fisher believes that Carmelo Anthony can thrive in the triangle offense, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. According to the article, Fisher also believes the team can build a contender around Anthony. Fisher said, “I believe Carmelo can and will thrive in the triangle system. He’s actually the prototypical triangle player because of his versatility we can use him in all five positions on the floor. That’s the beauty of the system — being able to put players around on different spots on the floor. I believe [Anthony] can be great and that’s why I believe we can be great right away. Because we have that guy that we can anchor that system around to make the game easier for him but also allow for all of our team to be impactful and to give us something every single night.”