Chimezie Metu Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Suns Notes: Beal, Durant, Booker, Metu

December 28th, 2023 at 10:49pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Suns guard Bradley Beal has been progressing well and is ahead of schedule after spraining his ankle earlier in December, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). He’s now being listed as questionable for Phoenix’s Friday game against the Hornets and is set to return early in the Suns’ upcoming six-game homestand, Charania tweets.

After being traded from the Wizards to the Suns in the offseason to form a new “big three” alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, Beal has been limited to just six games all season. The trio of Durant, Booker and Beal has only appeared in a single full game — Beal was injured early in their second game together.

In his six appearances this year, Beal has averaged 14.7 points and shot 42.9% from beyond the arc.

We have more from the Suns:

While Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Durant was frustrated with the team’s play of late — they’ve dropped seven of their past 10 — Charania downplayed the notion that it was anything out of the ordinary for a struggling team (Twitter link). According to Charania, the Suns and Durant are frustrated, but there isn’t anything deeper going on.
During the Suns’ Wednesday victory over the Rockets, Durant and Booker appeared to engage in a fiery exchange of words, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. However, both stars said those honest conversations are part of the growing process for the team. “It was good for us to go through some stuff early in the game to have those heated conversations where we can be like ‘All right, this is what we’re both supposed to do,’ and come back into the locker room and talk it over again,” Durant said. “Sometimes, heated conversations are good for teams because you can be honest and real with one another, and then, you talk it over and move on. We’re all figuring it out. It’s hard with a new team, new group of guys, guys in and out of the lineup. You want to get comfortable with those conversations, and I think we’re on our way there.“
Suns big man Chimezie Metu had a career game on Christmas Day against the Mavericks, scoring 23 points and pulling down 19 rebounds, both of which were career highs. Metu played a season-high 34 minutes as Jusuf Nurkic missed the contest. “He obviously scored the ball really well, he made some great passes out of the half-roll when they were trapping [Booker and Durant] up top,” Suns guard Grayson Allen said, per Dana Scott of the Arizona Republic. “He was a really good decision maker and he’s a good lob threat in the low, in the dunker, a good finisher down there, and knocking down threes. He was really all over the court.” Metu is on a one-year, minimum-salary contract and is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Pacific Notes: Jemison, Metu, Paul

August 1st, 2023 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns have filled two of their three two-way slots with guard Saben Lee and, reportedly, center Udoka Azubuike. According to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link), Trey Jemison, who was on Phoenix’s Summer League team, is on the team’s radar for the other two-way slot.

The 7’0” Jemison, 23, played his last three college seasons at UAB and went undrafted. He averaged 8.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in 23.1 minutes per game during five Summer League contests.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Signed to a minimum salary contract at the start of free agency, Chimezie Metu will have to force his way into the Suns’ rotation. The best way for Metu to do that would be as a small-ball center. Gerard Bourguet of GoPhnx.com believes Metu must show he can defend well enough for those lineups to work, and grab defensive rebounds to finish off those stops.
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas doesn’t see Chris Paul having any trouble fitting in with the Warriors, even if he comes off the bench for the first time in his career. “You have an opportunity to get a Hall of Fame player in Chris Paul, even though when you look at his body of work, maybe his teams and his personal style has been a little different than the style will be in Golden State,” Bilas told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole. “But it’s a player who is hungry to win. It’s not going to be about him. It’s going to be about the team and doing what it takes for the team to win. I think it’s a great move. And I think he’ll blend in wonderfully.”
In case you missed it, we relayed a number of items on the Lakers earlier on Tuesday. Get the details here.

Suns’ James Jones Talks About Rebuilding Roster

July 24th, 2023 at 10:40am CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Suns president of basketball operations James Jones gives himself an “eight out of 10” for how he was able to construct the team’s roster around its new Big Four. Jones was limited in the moves he could make after trading for Bradley Beal to team with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton, but he found an intriguing mix of veterans and young talent.

Eric Gordon turned down better offers and accepted a veteran’s minimum deal for the chance to win a title. Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu, Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop and Bol Bol also agreed to sign for the minimum.

“We knew going into it who our four top players were,” Jones said. “The guys who were going to lean on heavily to reach our goals. I think that gave us more clarity and I think it gave the players more clarity around how we would play and how they could fit with our team.

“So when it comes to minimums, I think it’s that label or contract value that people look at, but I look at it more from a perspective of identifying the guys who have the attributes and skills that would complement our group and finding players that believe that this environment will increase their productivity and give them a boost for their careers going forward. This was more forward looking than backwards looking for us and for the players that we targeted.

“I think that clarity allowed us to move quickly and efficiently through the free agency process because we knew exactly who we wanted and we knew exactly who wanted us.”

Jones addresses several other topics in the discussion with Rankin:

On the decisions to re-sign Josh Okogie and trade Cameron Payne to the Spurs:

“Just balancing versatility, and I’m not just talking about from a player skill set and roster construction perspective, but it just gives us options. It gives us options from a roster perspective. It also gives us options going forward. JO is someone who had a tremendous impact on our team last year in a specific role that we think can grow and Cam was someone who had an impact on our team, but he was part of a team that was a different team that played differently. Those two moves allowed us to create balance and gave us some versatility and options to continue to build a more complete team.”

On Bol’s potential after a promising season with Orlando:

“He’s going to get a chance to compete. He fits the profile of the team we’re trying to build. Long, athletic, skilled. Has played some high-level basketball. Has dealt with high expectations and has bounced back from some tough setbacks. The mental grit, the resilience and adaptability that he’s displayed is something that I think will help improve our team and if he can play the way he envisions himself playing, it just gives us another high-level player that we can count on and rely on as we try to march toward a championship.”

On new owner Mat Ishbia’s input during his first offseason with the team:

“He talked about speed, focus and understand what it is we’re trying to accomplish and get after it. Don’t second-guess it, don’t overthink it. Trust your instincts, trust your team and then go out there, find the best options for us and then make those options work. For me, it’s clear focus. He’s given me clear direction that allows me to focus on the things I enjoy the most, which is figuring out how to maximize the environment for our players and coaches and get a win.”

Suns Sign Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu

July 3rd, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 3: The Suns have officially signed Watanabe and Metu to their minimum-salary contracts, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

JUNE 30: The Suns are reportedly adding two new free agents to surround their starry core of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Deandre Ayton.

Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that sharpshooting ex-Nets small forward Yuta Watanabe has reached an agreement to join the Suns. Meanwhile, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter) that former Kings big man Chimezie Metu is also signing a one-year deal with the team.

Exact terms of these new contracts have yet to be revealed. Presumably, both these deals would be for veteran’s minimums, due to Phoenix’s current spending restrictions.

Watanabe, a 6’9″ swingman out of George Washington, gives Phoenix some lethal long range versatility on the wing following a breakout season in Brooklyn, most of which was spent playing alongside fellow ex-Net Durant. The 28-year-old averaged 5.6 PPG on a .491/.444/.723 slash line, along with 2.4 RPG, in his 58 contests with Brooklyn.

Metu, a 6’9″ power forward/center out of USC, had spent all five of his prior NBA seasons with Sacramento. In 2022/23 under new head coach Mike Brown, he saw his numbers and role take a bit of a dip while the club improved to a 48-34 record and its first playoff berth since 2006. Across 66 contests, Metu averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 10.4 MPG. He will for now serve as a key frontcourt backup.

Injury Updates: Booker, Paul, Metu, Green, Smith Jr., Ingram

January 22nd, 2023 at 7:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Devin Booker isn’t close to returning from his groin injury, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. The Suns star, who was injured on Christmas Day, has been limited to non-contact drills, according to coach Monty Williams. There’s no firm date for Booker’s re-evaluation.

Suns point guard Chris Paul suited up on Sunday against Memphis after missing seven games due to a sore right hip, Rankin adds.

We have more injury news:

Kings forward Chimezie Metu underwent an MRI on his left knee, which showed no structural damage, James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com tweets. Metu has a bone bruise and is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against Memphis.
Grizzlies shooting guard Danny Green continues to progress from the torn ACL in his left knee, which he suffered last May, Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com tweets. Green is playing 5-on-5 with no setbacks, but there’s no timetable on his return to action. The veteran wing was traded by Philadelphia in June.
Rockets rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. is listed as questionable to play on Monday against Minnesota, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. He missed Saturday’s game due to a right ankle sprain. Kevin Porter Jr. will sit out for the seventh straight game due to a foot injury.
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram played 5-0n-5 in practice on Saturday, Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets. Ingram has been sidelined since Nov. 25 due to a toe contusion.

Rockets Notes: Mathews, Eason, Green, Tate, Gordon, Silas

January 14th, 2023 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

After Kings guard Malik Monk took exception to a loose-ball foul committed by Rockets guard Garrison Mathews in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s contest in Sacramento, a brief on-court fracas broke out between the two teams (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).

Following an official review, referees ejected both Monk and Mathews, along with Kings big man Chimezie Metu, who was deemed an “escalator,” and Rockets forward Tari Eason, dubbed an “instigator,” according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

Fines or suspensions could follow for the four players ejected from Friday’s game, and two more Rockets players could be in danger of one-game bans, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate both left the bench area during the altercation, which typically results in an automatic one-game suspension from the NBA. Orlando recently had eight players receive one-game suspensions for similar violations.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

With Eric Gordon once again on the trade block in Houston, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tries to find a deal that would make sense for both the Rockets and a potential trade partner. Iko cautions that expectations about Gordon’s value should be tempered — three of his four suggestions don’t involve Houston acquiring a first-round pick, and the one scenario that does include a first-rounder sees the Rockets taking on Richaun Holmes‘ multiyear contract from Sacramento.
The 10-32 Rockets are in danger of finishing with the NBA’s worst record for the third straight year, and Stephen Silas, who now has a 47-149 (.240) since becoming the club’s head coach, is no lock to coach the team beyond this season — or even for the rest of this season. Exploring that possibility, Jerome Solomon of The Houston Chronicle argues that Silas deserves better and has been dealt a terrible hand since getting his first head coaching job.
After making 33 starts and averaging a career-high 26.3 minutes per game last season, Garrison Mathews has come exclusively off the bench in 2022/23 and is playing just 12.7 MPG. However, he’s taking the demotion in stride and trying to make an impact in his limited role, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. “It’s my role, and I’ve got to try to do it the best I can,” Mathews said. “I gotta go out there and hit shots. And if I don’t, then that’s my role. So I gotta be able to do that.”
The Rockets’ defense has been bad during their current slide (nine straight losses, 14 in their last 15 games), and those issues go beyond the team’s talent on that side of the ball, Lerner writes in another Chronicle story. According to Lerner, it often appears that Houston’s defensive effort is lacking, with basic assignments missed, especially in transition. The Rockets are allowing an NBA-worst 26.2 transition points per game this season, per NBA.com.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Powell, Kawhi, Warriors, Metu

January 11th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Last week, with the Clippers in the midst of a six-game losing streak that dropped their overall record to 21-21, veteran swingman Norman Powell spoke to his teammates to reiterate his confidence in the group and to remind them what they’re capable of, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Powell, along with Kawhi Leonard, was a member of the Raptors team that won a championship in 2019 and believes this year’s Clippers have a similar ceiling.

“I talked to the team. I told them: ‘This team is deeper than the Raptors team I was on. It’s all about identity and who we are and how we’re going to play,'” Powell said. “I feel like every team goes through it. If you look back at championship teams and top teams, there’s always a point in the season where you get here. And we’ve been here a couple times for whatever reason it is, and it’s just gutting up and taking it and coming out of it.”

The 2018/19 Raptors were far more consistent than this year’s Clippers have been, but Powell pointed to a stretch in January 2019 when Toronto lost three of four games (the third at home to Milwaukee on national TV) as a turning point for that club. There’s hope that the Clippers’ recent slide can galvanize this team in the same way and compel them to play with more urgency in the second half.

“The identity of who we are every single night that we’re on the floor is the biggest thing that we have to figure out, and that doesn’t matter who’s suiting up that night,” Powell said. “It’s just, we’re going to be a hard-nosed, tough-playing defense. We’re going to be an offense that moves the ball, attacks you, puts pressure on the rim and generates open shots. And that’s not — PG (Paul George) doesn’t have to play for that, Kawhi doesn’t have to play for that. That’s just an identity and style of basketball we have to start really locking into now.”

The Clippers snapped their losing streak and got back over .500 with a victory over Dallas on Tuesday.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

After leading the Clippers past Luka Doncic and the Mavs on Tuesday by scoring a season-high 33 points in 36 minutes, Kawhi Leonard acknowledged that he’s relieved to no longer be on the minutes limit that he faced earlier in the season. “If you’re basing it on minute restriction, it is frustrating,” Leonard said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Because I’m not going in there jacking shots, so I’m trying to play team basketball. It was frustrating (with the restriction). We were losing games. From a minute restriction, I’m not the only one either that was on it. Guys have been in and out the lineup all year, getting injured.”
The Warriors had their full starting lineup available on Tuesday for the first time since December 3, but lost at home to the shorthanded Suns in a game that showed Stephen Curry and the rest of the rotation still have dust to shake off, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Curry, who scored 16 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, said he “felt like myself again” by the end of the game. “I’m hoping that fourth quarter was the team that I have come to know and love and recognize,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “But we have to show in the first quarter, not in the fourth quarter.”
Chimezie Metu rejoined the Kings‘ rotation as the backup center on Monday for the first time since early December and had his best game of the season, with 11 points and nine rebounds in 14 minutes. The performance went a long way toward rebuilding head coach Mike Brown‘s trust in Metu, according to Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Brown said he thought the big man “relaxed just a little bit” before losing his spot in the rotation last month.

Pacific Notes: Sabonis, Kings, Suns, Booker, Beverley

December 20th, 2022 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

Before Kings center Domantas Sabonis racked up 28 points, 23 rebounds, and seven assists in Sunday’s loss to Charlotte, head coach Mike Brown said there’s “no question” that the big man should be an All-Star this season, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Sunday’s performance increased Sabonis’ season-long averages to 18.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 6.4 APG. He’s also shooting a career-best 62.7% from the floor.

“If you don’t vote for him to be an All-Star, in my opinion, you don’t know basketball because what he’s doing, it’s almost on a historic level, and I’m not just talking about his ability to score or his ability to pass,” Brown said.

As impressive as Sabonis has been, the Kings are still seeking a reliable backup at the center position. The team began the season with Richaun Holmes playing that role, then turned to Chimezie Metu. On Sunday, two-way player Neemias Queta got a look, playing seven minutes in just his second appearance of the season. Brown said on Sunday that Holmes and Queta will get more opportunities, per Anderson, and that he expects to continue experimenting until he finds a reliable option in that spot.

“I can’t run Domas 40 minutes every night,” Brown said, according to Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. “So I need to find a guy in that spot who’s going to defend, run the floor, spell Domas for six, eight minutes a half, and play as hard as he as can while following the game plan. Not fouling, boxing out, doing all the little things that need to keep that group solid for those six to eight minutes. We’ve found it in spurts. But I want to get to a point where it can be a little bit more consistent, so I’m going to keep searching until I feel like that person is there.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Although Suns owner Robert Sarver was suspended and fined by the NBA and is now planning to sell the team, a number of current and former Suns employees are still wondering whether other executives who contributed to creating a toxic workplace will face any punishment, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN. CEO Jason Rowley is among those accused of mistreating staffers. As Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets, the club put out a statement claiming that there are “factual inaccuracies” in Holmes’ report and that the franchise’s leaders have taken accountability for the allegations found to have merit.
Suns head coach Monty Williams blamed himself for the groin injury that sidelined Devin Booker on Monday. “Let’s be straight, I played him way too many minutes,” Williams said (Twitter link via Bourguet). “I can’t look at anybody else when I put players in harm’s way.”
Suns point guard Chris Paul brushed off a taunt from Lakers guard Patrick Beverley on Monday, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Beverley made a “too small” gesture when he converted an and-one against CP3 that cut L.A.’s deficit from 26 points to 23. “You can’t pay attention to that stuff,” Paul said. “That ain’t new. He ain’t come up with it. But just play basketball, man.” Beverley was suspended three games for shoving Deandre Ayton the last time the two teams faced one another.

Western Notes: Wall, Lakers, Rockets, Sabonis, Queta, Metu

August 29th, 2022 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

John Wall, who didn’t play last season for the Rockets, has looked sharp in offseason workouts, according to Marc Stein in a Substack post. Wall reached a buyout agreement this summer and signed with the Clippers after clearing waivers. Wall is expected to have a significant role with the Clippers, either as the starting point guard or as Reggie Jackson‘s backup.

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Lakers are about to let a traded player exception lapse. Their TPE of $2,692,991 generated in a deal with the Grizzlies will expire if they don’t make use of it on Monday. In that swap, the Lakers sent Marc Gasol, a 2024 second-round pick, and cash to Memphis in exchange for the draft rights to 2016 second-rounder Wang Zhelin. Memphis soon waived Gasol, who returned to Europe.
A fan survey conducted by Kelly Iko of The Athletic shows that Rockets supporters are pleased with the direction of the franchise. Even though fans anticipate Houston having little to no chance of making even the play-in tournament during the upcoming season, 90 percent of them have a positive view of the team’s “process” and a similar amount are “confident” or “very confident” in GM Rafael Stone and the front office.
The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, Neemias Queta and Chimezie Metu had productive outings for their teams in FIBA World Cup qualifiers, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee notes. Sabonis led Lithuania to two victories in Group K, while Queta recorded two double-doubles to help Portugal win a pair of games in Group F. Nigeria went 1-2 in Group E but Metu also contributed two double-doubles.

Kings Guarantee Chimezie Metu’s Contract For 2022/23

June 29th, 2022 at 11:50pm CST by Rory Maher

The Kings are guaranteeing Chimezie Metu‘s $1,910,860 salary for next season, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Woj technically reported that it’s a team option, which isn’t the case, but Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee confirms the news (via Twitter) that Metu’s salary has been guaranteed.

The 48th pick of the 2018 draft, Metu was a rotation regular for the Kings in 2021/22, appearing in 60 games (20 starts, 21.3 MPG) with averages of 8.9 PPG and 5.6 RPG on .452/.306/.780 shooting. It was his most productive season in the NBA, posting career-highs in games played, minutes, points and rebounds.

Metu spent his first couple of seasons with the Spurs prior to being waived in 2020. He was picked up by Sacramento soon after, waived, re-signed on a two-way deal, and then promoted to a standard contract. The 25-year-old should provide some versatile frontcourt depth for the Kings in ’22/23, as Metu is capable of playing both power forward and center.