Devin Booker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Jazz, Nuggets

June 4th, 2015 at 5:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, a report surfaced indicating that Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge had put his Portland area home up for sale. Apparently, that is not the case. Yes, the house is up for sale, but the 29-year-old free agent isn’t the owner. It turns out that the West Linn, Oregon home is actually owned by former Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire and Aldridge was simply renting it, as John Canzano of The Oregonian writes. Stoudamire later confirmed as much on Twitter [sic]:

“eating lunch and my house in West Linn comes across the screen. Don’t know if LA is leaving PO but, thx for the pub! #4sale,” Stoudamire wrote.

While Blazers fans calm down a bit, let’s take a look at more news out of the Northwest Division..

The Jazz have a greater chance at bringing over Tibor Pleiss next year than Ante Tomic, ESPN700’s Andy Larsen tweets. However, it’s also possible that both players make the jump or that neither player does. Larsen notes that what Utah does with both players is very much dependent on who they draft (link). There won’t be much room for both players if they draft a big man at No. 12 later this month.
The Jazz formally announced on Twitter that they will work out six prospects on Friday. That group includes SMU center Yanick Moreira, UNC Asheville center Jaleel Roberts, Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison, Maryland guard/forward Dez Wells, N.C. State guard Trevor Lacey, and St. John’s guard Phil Greene. Hoops Rumors spoke with Greene and his former coach Steve Lavin recently about the guard’s NBA prospects. Greene is represented by veteran NBA agent Keith Kreiter.
In a press release, the Nuggets announced that they will audition seven players on Friday. The morning group will feature forward Darion Atkins (Virginia), guard Devin Booker (Kentucky), forward Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), guard Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), guard Pierria Henry (Charlotte), and guard/forward SirDominic Pointer (St. John’s).
The Blazers‘ second pre-draft workout includes Henry, George de Paula, Chris Walker, Joshua Smith, and Seth Tuttle, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (on Twitter). As previously reported, Jarell Martin will also be a participant.

And-Ones: Booker, Clippers, Sanders

June 1st, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker will work out for the Thunder on Tuesday, Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman tweets. Oklahoma City owns the No. 14 overall pick. The Suns, who have the No. 13 pick, brought in Booker for a workout on Monday. according to a tweet from Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.com. Dez Wells, Josh Richardson, Derek Cooke, Vince Hunter and Jarvis Summers also participated in Phoenix’s workout, according to Scotto.

In other news around the league:

The Clippers, who don’t have a pick in the draft, nonetheless brought in several prospects for workouts on Monday, including Chris Walker, Dwayne Polee, Ralston Turner, Keifer Sykes, Shannon Scott and Richaun Holmes, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reports.
Trevor Lacey, Dakari Johnson, Rayvonte Rice, Corey Hawkins, Kenneth Smith and Alpha Kaba worked out for the Lakers on Monday, according to the Lakers’ Twitter feed.
Jerian Grant and Delon Wright participated in the Wizards’ first pre-draft workout, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports.
Larry Sanders has no regrets walking away from the Bucks and the NBA, he tells Gus Turner of Complex.com in a lengthy feature article. Sanders left approximately $27MM but has found peace and happiness outside of basketball, Turner adds. “I couldn’t function outside of the gym and my studio,” he told Turner. “I couldn’t be around my family; I couldn’t be around anybody else. I was creating from a place of anxiety and fear, suffering. I wasn’t creating from a place of joy or happiness or freedom. Everything I did was pure avoidance.”
Alvin Gentry’s four-year deal to coach the Pelicans is worth a total of $13.75MM, and that includes a team option of $4MM for the final season, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Heat Notes: Wade, Chalmers, Draft

June 1st, 2015 at 1:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwyane Wade doesn’t intend to leave the Heat, cautions Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (Twitter link), but the contract squabble that apparently has him at least open to the idea will test the bond that has held Wade and the Heat together for 12 years, as fellow Herald scribe Dan Le Batard writes. Wade has subjugated his financial position multiple times over his time with the Heat, having never been the team’s highest player, as Le Batard points out, but it looks like he wants to recoup some of that sacrifice this summer. Here’s more on Wade and Miami:

The Heat would love to end up with Arizona small forward Stanley Johnson or Croatian swingman Mario Hezonja with the 10th overall pick in the draft, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel makes clear. In any case, there’s a decent chance Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker will be available to Miami at that selection, as Winderman hears the Hornets would like to end up with more out of the No. 9 pick than Booker could provide.
Wade’s willingness to take a stand is symbolic of the union’s shift toward a more star-friendly strategy in which it appears poised to pursue collective bargaining agreement terms that will better suit the upper class of NBA players, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller observes. That could come at the expense of the rest of union membership, and the dynamic threatens to weaken the players association, Ziller argues.
That Wade might find himself only the fourth most highly paid member of the Heat by the 2016/17 season, behind Chris Bosh, Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside, has to eat at the 11-time All-Star shooting guard, Winderman believes.
Longtime starter Mario Chalmers figures to play a backup role if Dragic returns, but there’s little value for the Heat in trading Chalmers now, as Winderman posits in the same piece.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Hezonja, Celtics

May 26th, 2015 at 8:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the Heat‘s need to add an outside shooter in this year’s NBA Draft, Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker certainly fits the bill, and could be available when the team selects at No. 10 overall, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. Team president Pat Riley is also looking to emulate the versatility of the Warriors’ backcourt, Winderman adds. “If you watch Golden State,” Riley said, “they don’t have a plethora of 3-point shooters beyond Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, they’re everything. They’re the most complete backcourt in the league. Not only are they the ballhandlers, catch-and-shoot players, the playmakers, but they’re both the main long-distance weapon for that team.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Croatian swingman Mario Hezonja could fit the bill as the outside threat that the Pistons need, Brendan Savage of MLive.com writes. “He’s got a little swagger to him,” a Southeastern Division executive said of Hezonja. “I think those Euro kids have to have some of that coming over here. He’s awfully gifted. He can guard okay, and he’s a capable shooter and a good passer. He checks off a lot of boxes that you’re looking for in a wing. He allows how he’s playing on the offensive end to determine how much effort he’s going to give you defensively. But he’s big. Agile for his size. He has a little nastiness to him that will serve him well if he decides to compete at the defensive end.“
Their wealth of picks in the 2015 draft is making it easy for the Celtics to secure players for individual workouts, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “These guys [draft prospects] can’t work out for all 30 teams,” Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel, told Blakely. “So agents try to limit it to your range. So that’s probably the biggest advantage in our wide net is we have a pick for every range, almost. We’re able to get more guys in which is even more important than what we’re trying to get.“
The Sixers held workouts today for Trevor Lacey, Wesley Saunders, Rakeem Christmas, David Laury, and Travis Trice, Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers.com tweets.

Pistons Rumors: Booker, Kaminsky, Lyles

May 18th, 2015 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker grew up as a Pistons fan and would relish the chance to play for them, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Booker was raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is approximately two hours from Detroit. It’s unlikely he will get his wish since the Pistons hold the No. 8 spot in the draft, pending the lottery results, and Booker projects as a late lottery selection. He’s currently ranked No. 13 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Big Board and No. 15 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect list. The team has other pressing needs, since they already have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks sharing minutes at that spot.

In other draft news concerning the Pistons:

Frank Kaminsky interviewed with the team during the draft combine as it tries to determine whether he could replace power forward and unrestricted free agent Greg Monroe, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. Kaminsky termed the Pistons’ interview “laid back” and asked how he could fit into their system, Mayo continues. Kaminsky, ranked No. 14 by Ford and No. 10 by Givony, is a better outside shooter than Monroe and that enhances his appeal, Mayo adds.
Kaminsky is just one of the big men on the Pistons’ radar, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. They are also looking at Trey Lyles and Myles Turner and could trade up for Kristaps Porzingis to fulfill their desire for a power forward that can stretch the floor, Foster adds.
President of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy should emulate his predecessor, Joe Dumars, when it comes to evaluating lottery picks, Ellis examines in a separate piece. Dumars recovered from his disastrous decision to select Darko Milicic with the No. 2 overall pick in 2003 and drafted Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight and Caldwell-Pope with his lottery picks in recent years, though he denied the new regime a lottery pick last year when it had to be shipped to the Hornets to fulfill a prior trade obligation, Ellis continues. Van Gundy and his staff get their first chance to make a lottery selection next month.

Draft Notes: Upshaw, Russell, Payne, Young

May 18th, 2015 at 11:21am CST by Chuck Myron

Several NBA executives told Chris Mannix of SI.com they wouldn’t dare draft Robert Upshaw in the first-round, leading Mannix to conclude that it’s unlikely that any team guarantees the troubled center any salary. Two seasons of guaranteed salary come with the rookie scale contracts that go to first-round picks. People from three different teams with lottery picks told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that Upshaw would be a certain lottery pick if not for his troubles in the past, which have involved drugs, but none of those teams are willing to draft him that highly, Blakely adds. Upshaw, who tells Blakely that he’s working with Bill Walton, among other mentors, is 29th in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings but 38th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Here’s more on the draft, which takes place just a week and a month from tonight:

Multiple executives told Mannix for the same piece that they think D’Angelo Russell plans to accept workout invitations only from the teams that hold the top three picks. Mannix also cites multiple execs who told him that they believe former Kentucky sharpshooter Devin Booker will go within the top 10 picks.
Cameron Payne, who spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors, is quickly lifting his stock, having become a strong candidate for the lottery, according to Mannix. Rakeem Christmas, J.P. Tokoto and Jordan Mickey were standouts in the five-on-five drills at last week’s combine, Mannix adds.
Jabari Young of CSNNW.com adds the Blazers to the list of the teams that have interviewed Oregon shooting guard Joseph Young, and he’ll also be working out with Portland, as the CSNNW.com scribe has reported. Still, Young the writer suggests it’s nonetheless unlikely that the Blazers will end up drafting Young the player.

Southeast Notes: Pierce, Heat, Hornets

May 16th, 2015 at 4:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the sting of his last second shot being waived off because time had expired and his team being eliminated from the postseason still fresh, the Wizards‘ Paul Pierce now has to make a decision regarding his player option for 2015/15 worth $5,543,725, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com writes. “I haven’t really thought about it,” Pierce said. “I don’t even know if I am going to play basketball anymore. These seasons get harder and harder every year, every day. Summers get even harder when you start getting back in shape. I’m 37 years old. I’m top two or three oldest in the league.” Pierce indicated he would take some time and discuss the matter with his family before making his call on next season, Youngmisuk adds. “I have been playing this game [for] like 32 years. Since I was a little kid. Probably going to be the hardest thing to do is put the game down. But I know that time is coming one day. I am not sure if it is this year or next year. I will sit down with my family and figure things out,” Pierce said.

Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:

Wizards coach Randy Wittman indicated that he’d be very surprised if Pierce didn’t opt in and return to the team next season, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com relays (Twitter link).
Heat president Pat Riley interviewed Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre at the draft combine, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post tweets.
While at the draft combine Hornets executives met with Kentucky’s Devin Booker and Willie Cauley-Stein, as well as Duke forward Justise Winslow, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports in a series of tweets.
Riley also sat down with Booker for an interview, who said that the Heat executive told him that Dwyane Wade was in the final stage of his career and that the young guard would be able to learn from him, Lieser tweets. Also meeting with the team while in Chicago were Arkansas forward Bobby Portis and Kentucky forward Trey Lyles, Lieser adds (Twitter links).

Central Notes: Hoiberg, Pacers, Draft

May 15th, 2015 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The frontrunner to replace Tom Thibodeau if he is let go by the Bulls as expected, is reportedly Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. This interest in Hoiberg isn’t a recent development, since according to league sources the team had already spoken with Hoiberg about his potential interest in coming to Chicago earlier this season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. It’s unclear if Hoiberg’s health concerns would prevent him from accepting the position if offered, but he certainly hopes to join the pro coaching ranks at some point. “He has always said from day one that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said of Holberg. “It’s for him to decide when that part of his life he wants to activate. Now it’s just strictly a decision for him and their family personally, not what he wants to do because he’s made that clear. [The NBA is] what he wants to do. It’s a matter of when he wants to do it.”

Here’s what else is happening around the Central Division:

The Pacers interviewed a number of former Kentucky players at the draft combine, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets. Indiana sat down with Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, and Devin Booker, Buckner notes.
Cauley-Stein said that Pacers president Larry Bird told him, “I think you’re a $100MM player,” Buckner relays (Twitter links). Booker wasn’t given a dollar value by the team, but did note that there was a “great vibe” during his interview, Buckner adds.
The Pacers will hold their first pre-draft workout this Monday, and in attendance will be Cameron Payne, Olivier Hanlan, Jerian Grant, Rakeem Christmas, Richaun Holmes, and Joseph Young, Buckner tweets.
Lastly from Buckner (via Twitter), the Pacers will be one of the teams attending a private workout in Los Angeles next Friday for forward Kevon Looney and guard Norman Powell.
Looney met with the Pistons while at the draft combine, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with Detroit was Booker, who believes his outside shooting would be the perfect complement to Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, who is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, Langlois adds.

Celtics Notes: Trades, Young, Draft Combine

May 15th, 2015 at 11:18am CST by Chuck Myron

A league source suggests to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that the impending leap in the salary cap for 2016/17 will make teams around the league more willing to take on sizable contracts in trades. Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren also sees a more liquid trade market and more activity ahead, as he tells Bulpett.

“I think so,” Zarren said. “I think there’s just a lot of teams in the middle in the NBA right now, and they all sort of feel like they need to do something. That will create more opportunities for us, because we’ve got as many assets as any other team, if not more.”

The Celtics have only one eight-figure salary on the books for next season, the nearly $10.106MM owed to Gerald Wallace, as Bulpett points out, and Boston is willing to attach a first-round pick to him to ship him out in a trade, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported last month. While we wait to see if the Celtics can top the 11 trades they made in 2014/15, here’s more from Boston:

One opposing GM is high on James Young, telling Bulpett for the same piece that last year’s No. 17 overall pick would be generating top-10 buzz this year if he had stayed in school another year. Young spent extensive time in the D-League this season.
Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe adds Bobby Portis, Anthony Brown, Kelly Oubre, Dez Wells, Chris McCullough, Terry Rozier and Tyus Jones to the list of players who’ve interviewed with the Celtics at the draft combine (Twitter links), to go along with those previously reported.
Boston is slated to speak with Devin Booker, Myles Turner, Kevon Looney, Pat Connaughton and Jordan Mickey today, a source tells Himmelsbach (Twitter link).

Draft Combine Latest: Upshaw, Russell, Booker

May 13th, 2015 at 4:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former University of Washington center Robert Upshaw registered perhaps the most impressive numbers as the NBA measured prospects today at the predraft combine in Chicago. He checked in a 7 feet tall and had the greatest standing reach (9’5″), wingspan (7’5.5″), hand length and hand width, notes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter links). Washington dismissed Upshaw in January for a violation of team rules, but his size will surely make teams think twice. The 21-year-old is the No. 30 prospect with both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more from the combine:

D’Angelo Russell is interviewing with the Lakers and Pacers today and the Sixers on Thursday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links). The combo guard told Pompey he prefers to play the point and would love to play for the Sixers.
Stanley Johnson, whom the Sixers are hesitant to peg as either a shooting guard or small forward, already interviewed with Philadelphia today, Pompey tweets.
Shooting guard Devin Booker and center Myles Turner are also speaking with the Pacers today, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Check out our full profile on Booker here and our profile on Turner here.
Sam Dekker‘s athleticism stood out as he went through ball-handling and shooting drills Tuesday, as Ford observes in an Insider-only piece. His shooting was solid but not overwhelming, according to Ford, who sees the small forward from Wisconsin going between the 10th and 15th picks.
GMs who spoke with Ford on Tuesday have shooting guard R.J. Hunter ranked as high as No. 12 and as low as No. 21, as Ford writes in the same piece. The NCAA tournament hero is No. 21 in Ford’s ranking.
Brazilian prospect George Lucas registered a 7-foot wingspan today, the longest ever recorded for a point guard in the DraftExpress database, as DraftExpress contributor Derek Bodner points out (Twitter link). Lucas, who also goes by George de Paula, is slated to be one of the participants in five-on-five drills this week, as shown on the full list of five-on-five participants that Ford shared via Twitter.