Doc Rivers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Notes: Rivers, Roster Plans, Paul

May 18th, 2015 at 6:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Doc Rivers‘ failure to improve his bench last offseason was the biggest reason why the Clippers squandered a 3-1 series lead to the Rockets, Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk opines. Fatigue and a lack of quality role players contributed significantly to their collapse and that falls on Rivers, who holds the dual role of coach and president of basketball operations, Helin continues. Spending the team’s entire mid-level exception on Spencer Hawes, who fell out of the rotation late in the regular season, was a mistake. That killed their chances of a Paul Pierce-Rivers reunion, while Rivers’ other offseason signings — Jordan Farmar, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Jared Cunningham and Ekpe Udoh — made no impact, according to Helin. Along with re-signing DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers need more depth to take the next step, Helin concludes.

In other news involving the Clippers:

Rivers acknowledged to Sam Amick of USA Today the challenge the Clippers face to upgrade their roster with limited resources, given their constraints against the cap. “I want to fix it,” Rivers told the USA Today scribe. “I want to win. That’s why I came here. I knew when I came here that roster-wise it was going to be very difficult. The first thing I did before I took this job, I looked at the roster and we laughed. I was like, ‘What the [expletive] can we do with this?’ It was more the contracts. But we have to try to do it somehow. I don’t know how yet, but something will work out.”
The Clippers could open some flexibility via trade, but Rivers seemed to indicate a preference for keeping the core together, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com relays. “You don’t rule out anything, but I like our group,” Rivers said. “I really do. Teams that have stuck it out, in the long run if you look at sports history, have done better than teams that have blown it up. We’re really close, clearly. It might be a defensive guy; it might be one more guy. I don’t know yet.”
Rivers affirmed he has no desire to overhaul the roster since the team was so close to making the Western Conference Finals, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Trading Chris Paul would allow Blake Griffin to expand his game, refresh the team’s talent base and give it a new identity, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report speculates. The team gets overly emotional and loses its composure in the most difficult of situations and a radical step might be needed to change that dynamic, Ding concludes.

Latest On Clippers, DeAndre Jordan

May 18th, 2015 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:50pm: Rivers more or less confirmed that the Clippers will offer Jordan a max deal when asked at the team’s season ending press conference today, as Markazi relays (Twitter link).

“Yeah, I think I can say that,” Rivers said.

12:51pm: Reiter expands on the alleged rift between Jordan and Paul in a full story.

12:31pm: Jordan and Chris Paul have had a falling out this season, sources tell Bill Reiter of Fox Sports 1, who suggests it’s a factor that’s liable to sway the center to sign elsewhere (Twitter link).

9:16am: It’s “obvious” that the Clippers will do whatever it takes to retain DeAndre Jordan this summer, coach/executive Doc Rivers said postgame Sunday to reporters, including Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. The Clippers are expected to offer Jordan a five-year max contract, sources tell Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. It’ll take such an offer to bring him back, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, and chatter has persisted for a while that Jordan is anxious to move someplace where he wouldn’t be seen as the third cog, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.

“DJ loves us, but you’ve always got to be concerned,” Rivers said to Amick. “DJ would be great. We’ve got to try to do whatever we can. He’s obviously a free agent, and he has earned that right to be free. I don’t want to say much on it, but we love him.”

Jordan, who comes in eighth in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, has expressed through back channels that he’ll be “extremely interested” in signing with the Mavs this summer, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported last month. The center, a Texas native, told Amick and USA Today colleague Jeff Zillgitt in March that the Clippers weren’t necessarily the favorites to retain him, despite their ability to offer five years and 7.5% raises while other teams, the Mavs included, are capped at four years and 4.5% raises. Still, in that same interview, Jordan called Rivers “my biggest supporter and the best coach I’ve ever had” and expressed his satisfaction with playing for the Clippers. Jordan said after Sunday’s loss that free agency wasn’t on his mind, as Woike notes.

“I’ve been here for seven years, so this is what I’m used to,” Jordan said Sunday. “But I’m not thinking about that, man. [The loss is] still so fresh tonight. It’s tough.”

Rivers cited Jordan’s affection for the franchise to Wojnarowski, injecting a level of optimism into the team’s pursuit to retain the defensive stalwart and league-leading rebounder, who’ll turn 27 in July.

“You can’t take anything for granted, but DJ loves being a Clipper,” Rivers said to Wojnarowski. “DJ loves being here. We have an amazing relationship.”

The Clippers are under pressure to re-sign Jordan, since they already have more than $58MM in guaranteed salary for next season against a projected $67.1MM salary cap. It would cost the Clips almost $6.72MM in salary that’s currently non-guaranteed to keep Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes under contract. All that means is that the team wouldn’t have the resources to come up with a center anywhere as valuable as Jordan if he were to walk.

And-Ones: Rondo, Towns, Rivers

February 25th, 2015 at 10:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rajon Rondo was suspended for one game by the Mavs for conduct detrimental to the team, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The point guard and coach Rick Carlisle had a verbal altercation on the court that led to Rondo being benched in Dallas’ game against Toronto on Tuesday. The argument continued inside the Mavs’ locker room after that game, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Rondo becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and it’s unknown if his friction with Carlisle will impact the veteran’s decision on possibly re-signing with Dallas.

In other news around the league:

University of Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns is threatening to surpass Duke big man Jahlil Okafor as the No. 1 pick in the June draft, according to draft expert Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). Towns is more athletic, a better defender and a superior shot-blocker compared to Okafor, in Ford’s evaluation, and some NBA GMs that Ford interviewed believe that Towns is the better long-term prospect.
Doc Rivers, who is the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, has been a failure as an executive, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. Rivers has not found an adequate backup at small forward behind Matt Barnes, secured a rotation player in the draft or fortified his bench, Bolch contends. Rivers’ inability to re-sign Darren Collison and his commitment to Spencer Hawes, whom he signed to a four-year contract during the off-season, are examples of his shortcomings as an executive, Bolch adds. Hawes is averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds this season, a reflection of his minimal impact.
The Heat sent $369K to the Pelicans to complete the Norris Cole side of the deal which brought Goran Dragic to Miami, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Heat also gave the Suns $2.2MM in that same trade.
Victor Claver could wind up with Spanish power Real Madrid, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Any Liga ACB team seeking his services must negotiate with Valencia, which owns his rights, Pick added in a separate tweet. The 26-year-old forward played in 10 games with the Trail Blazers this season before he was acquired by the Nuggets last week. Claver was subsequently waived by Denver.

Pacific Notes: Rivers, Green, Lin, Boozer

January 19th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

The back-and-forth that preceded Doc Rivers‘ jump from the Celtics to the Clippers in 2013 was the product of a careful approach Rivers took to his Clippers contract, as Rivers tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The coach knew then-owner Donald Sterling had resisted paying guaranteed salary to coaches he’d fired in the past, as Bulpett details.

“That was the delay, the contract,” Rivers said. “People don’t realize it, but the deal could have been done three weeks before it happened. … It’s the longest written contract in coaching history. Five different lawyers had to look at it. Even my lawyer sent it to another lawyer. That tells you the hesitation in who I was going to be working for.”

Rivers is on a different contract with the Clippers now after striking a five-year deal worth more than $50MM with new owner Steve Ballmer. There’s more from Rivers and Bulpett amid the latest from the Pacific Division:

Rivers, who also serves as president of basketball operations for the Clippers, won’t hesitate to admit a mistake and reverse course on a personnel move he’s made in the past if necessary, a lesson he learned from Danny Ainge, as Rivers says to Bulpett.
All signs point to the Warriors matching offers this summer for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, even if it means shelling out a little more than they’d like and crossing the luxury tax line, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick write.
The Lakers probably won’t be re-signing offseason acquisitions Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer when both enter free agency this summer, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Austin Rivers has split with agent David Falk, notes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Rivers, whom the Clippers acquired via trade last week, hits unrestricted free agency this summer.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Suns, Clippers, Lakers

January 17th, 2015 at 10:52pm CST by ChrisCrouse

A month after the Kings shocked the league by firing coach Mike Malone, the move remains puzzling, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Interim coach Ty Corbin has been tasked with changing the team’s style of play midseason and players feel the strategy is unusual. “With Avery, P.J. pretty much stuck to the script, stuck to what we had been doing—nothing really changed a lot,” said veteran Reggie Evans, who experienced a midseason coaching change earlier in his career while playing for the Nets. “This year is different. We are changing some things and that’s the different part. We have to make it work to the best of our ability. I was surprised when Avery got fired, and I was surprised with this situation, too.” Sacramento is 16-23, which puts the team in danger of missing the postseason for the ninth straight season.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

New addition Reggie Bullock should find himself in a good situation on the Suns, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The team certainly believes he can become a contributor. “He’s a young player who has shooting ability, who has good size and length,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “It’s going to be hard in the middle of the season to get him acclimated to everything, but he seems like a smart kid, and I think he’ll pick up things fast just like Brandan (Wright) did.” Bullock was acquired from the Clippers in a three team trade earlier this week.
The Clippers waived Jordan Farmar with the future in mind, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “We think this will be another buyout season for a lot of guys,” coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers said. “You want to have flexibility and it gives us that.” After its recent moves, the team is left with a 13-man roster.
The Lakers might be in better position to land Kevin Love in free agency than originally anticipated when the forward was dealt to the Cavs in August, speculates Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Pincus cites the Cavs struggles this season as a reason that Love could move on from the team when given the opportunity either this summer or next. Love reportedly plans to opt in and remain in Cleveland through the 2015/16 season. That will be the same offseason that Kobe Bryant‘s extension, worth $25MM in the final year of the deal, comes off the books for Los Angeles, which could allow the Lakers to have cap space for two maximum-salaried players.

Clippers Notes: Prince, Rivers, Jordan

January 17th, 2015 at 7:13pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers have been active recently with the intent of improving their roster. They acquired guard Austin Rivers from the Celtics earlier in the week and earlier, it was reported that they had interest in small forward Tayshaun Prince. The team currently has the fifth best offense in the league, scoring 106.6 points per game, and resides in sixth place in the Western Conference with a record of 26-14.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

Coach Doc Rivers believes his son will find success on the Clippers this season, writes Beth Harris of the Star Tribune. “He fits our team,” Doc said. “My job is to do what is best for the team. He’s young. That’s one of the reasons we wanted him.” In his debut for Los Angeles on Friday, Austin Rivers played 11 minutes and missed all four of his shots from the field.
DeAndre Jordan understands the next contract he signs could last him until he is 30 years old and he wants to be a different player at that point in his career, as he tells Ben Golliver of SI.com in an interview. “I want to be a better player. I want to be more rounded. Defense and rebounding is something that I’m known for. When you get older, you want to expand your game, become an offensive player and threat for your team. Whenever and however old I am, whenever [my contract is] up again, I want to be more of a threat offensively for the team that I’m playing for,” Jordan said. The seven-footer will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2014/15 season.
Jordan doesn’t believe he will take a short-term contract in order to maximize the benefits from the anticipated rise in cap during the 2016/17 season, Golliver writes in the same piece. “I don’t want to a free agent [over and over]. All of this stuff could be taken away in one second [with an injury]. When you have the opportunity, I feel like you need to do it, get it done, get it over with, so it’s not another year [of the same]. People say they don’t think about it, but in the back of your mind, you kind of think about it. I’d rather not stress two summers in a row,” Jordan said.

Josh Smith Rumors: Heat, Clippers, Lakers

December 22nd, 2014 at 10:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy pulled a stunner today, waiving Josh Smith. Reports quickly identified the Clippers, Mavs and Kings as suitors for Smith in free agency once he clears waivers, as expected, and more clubs are lining up for a chance to obtain him on the cheap. There’s plenty of news rolling in related to Detroit’s bold move and what happens next with the tweener forward, and we’ll pass along the latest in this thread, with any additional updates posted on top:

The Heat have formally applied for a disabled player exception from the league after losing Josh McRoberts for the year, reports Marc Stein of ESPN. While the exception, which would be worth $2.653MM, hasn’t been granted yet, the Heat are hopeful they’ll have it before Smith makes his decision (Twitter links here).

9:46pm update:

The Clippers will have interest in Smith if he clears waivers, ESPN’s Arash Markazi hears from multiple team sources. Markazi adds that the team can only offer Smith the veteran’s minimum and would likely cut Jared Cunningham to make room on its roster. Cunningham’s contract becomes guaranteed on January 10th and he is likely to be released before then either way, per Markazi.

8:51pm update:

Should Smith clear waivers, the Lakers will have a significant financial advantage over most of his other suitors, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. The disabled player exception they received from Steve Nash‘s season-ending injury allows the Lakers spend up to $4.85MM on a single player, per Pincus, which is more than twice what most other teams can offer. Pincus adds that the Lakers should have the cap space next summer to re-sign Smith.

7:14pm updates:

There is a strong belief among Rockets players, even beyond Howard, that they’ll convince Smith to sign in Houston, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that Smith “fits the profile of the type of guys we love to bring in,” reports Bryan Gutierrez of Mavs Outsider. Cuban added that the Mavs would use Smith more down low than on the wing should they add him, per Gutierrez (Twitter links).
While it’s hardly a surprise, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports that the Sixers, flush in cap space, have zero interest in claiming Smith off waivers (via Twitter).

4:05pm update:

The Grizzlies have expressed interest in Smith, too, Grantland’s Zach Lowe hears, acknowledging that it’s nonetheless a long shot for him to wind up in Memphis (Twitter link). The Grizzlies couldn’t pay him any more than the minimum.

3:49pm update:

The Lakers would like Smith to play for them, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), but they wouldn’t fall into the category of a playoff-bound team, the only sort that Smith is reportedly considering (below).

1:55pm update:

Teams that aren’t headed for the playoffs are out of the running for Smith, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. That stance would appear to damage the chances of the Kings most of all among the clubs that reports have so far linked to the forward.

1:40pm update:

Smith was “fixated” on finding a way to join the Rockets before he signed with Detroit in 2013, according to Wojnarowski, who writes in a full piece.

1:05pm updates:

The Heat are in the running for Smith, Stein reports (on Twitter). Miami has only the minimum to give.
Houston will allow Smith to choose whether he wants a one-year or two-year deal, Amick hears (Twitter link). The biannual exception limits contracts to no more than two seasons, and the Rockets are without a way to sign him to a longer deal.

12:39pm update:

The Rockets are taking an aggressive stance in their pursuit of Smith, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). They attempted to trade for him but couldn’t find a workable salary match that didn’t involved Howard or James Harden, Wojnarowski adds in a second tweet.

12:28pm updates:

Houston will offer Smith its $2.077MM biannual exception, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The Rockets are optimistic about their chances to land Smith, given their status as a contender, the opportunity to offer him a large on-court role, and their financial advantage of having the biannual while others are limited to the minimum salary, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
No one has been a bigger fan of Smith in recent months than Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, according to Stein (Twitter link).

12:17pm updates:

The Clippers would like to research the matter more thoroughly before committing to a pursuit of Smith, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Though Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears the Clippers are indeed interested, coach/executive Doc Rivers said he doesn’t know quite yet what his team will do, as he told reporters, including Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
The Rockets do have interest in signing Smith, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). Stein reported earlier that Houston, which has the $2.077MM biannual exception to spend, was still thinking about whether it wanted to go after Smith, who’s a friend of Dwight Howard‘s. Howard has said in the past that he and Smith have had conversations about playing together again as they did when they were AAU teammates, notes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Kings were the only team to express interest in trading for Smith as the Pistons sought to move him in recent weeks, Stein tweets. The Pistons refused to part with draft picks in any deal or take on burdensome contracts in return, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Derrick Williams was alongside Jason Thompson in the Kings‘ earliest trade proposals to the Pistons regarding Smith over the summer, and Carl Landry later replaced Williams in those offers, according to Stein (on Twitter). Van Gundy turned them down because he wanted to coach Smith before cutting ties, Stein adds (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Sixers, Bender, Ballmer

October 3rd, 2014 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers managing owner Josh Harris believes the franchise has made remarkable strides in the 17 months since Sam Hinkie was hired as GM, Max Rappaport of NBA.com reports. “I think people see the early returns,” said Harris. “Certainly, we have a lot of cap room, we have two first-round picks next year, we have a slew of seconds, we have a number of players that we have the rights to in Europe, we have possibly two big men between Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel that will be franchise players for us over a long, long time, and we have the Rookie of the Year.”

Here’s more from around the league:

16-year-old Croatian forward Dragan Bender is turning heads over in the Israeli league, writes David Pick of Eurobasket. Pro scouts watching Bender play say his best-case NBA scenario would be to equal Andrei Kirilenko‘s numbers, while the worst-case would place him in Jan Vesely territory. Bender is currently projected by DraftExpress to be selected thirteenth in the 2016 NBA draft.
Steve Ballmer acknowledged a passing interest in buying the Bucks earlier this year and wonders if the NBA would have allowed him and Chris Hansen to purchase the Kings and move them to Seattle if they had put up more money in a one-on-one with USA Today’s Sam Amick. The new Clippers owner also said that a long-term extension for Doc Rivers “seemed absolutely right to me” based on Rivers’ track record and recommendations from others. Ballmer had more to say to Amick for another piece that we passed along earlier.
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders shares his predictions on which players will have breakout seasons during the 2014/15 campaign. Topping the list are Jonas Valanciunas, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Steven Adams.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Thunder, Clippers, Bledsoe

September 24th, 2014 at 8:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder revealed that the name for their new D-League team will be the Oklahoma City Blue in a press release they issued earlier today. As for why that name was chosen, Brian Byrnes, the Thunder’s senior vice president of Sales and Marketing said, “Blue is one of our primary Thunder colors, but it has become more than just a color for us. It has come to represent the passion, loyalty and unity of our fans and our community in their support for our team. Our players wear it proudly on their uniforms, our fans sport Thunder blue shirts, Thunder blue flags fly across Oklahoma and our statewide Blue Alliance fan groups show their connection to our team and what it stands for.”

Here’s more from out west:

Clippers president and head coach Doc Rivers praised the offseason addition of Spencer Hawes, and said the center turned down larger offers to come to Los Angeles, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register writes. Rivers said, “I thought he was a great fit. Because of salary and where we’re at, I didn’t think we could get him.” The coach also noted in the article that the franchise getting to the point where players will take less money to play there is a positive sign.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer hopes to have a team president who will handle day-to-day operations of the team in place soon, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link).
Ballmer also announced that Eric Miller, former owner Donald Sterling’s son-in-law, has left his position as director of basketball administration, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register tweets.
The Suns are reportedly set to re-sign Eric Bledsoe to a five-year, $70MM extension, and Steve Kyler and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders debate whether it was a mistake on Phoenix’s part.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim is no longer with the Kings, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports. Abdur-Rahim was the director of player personnel and GM of of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings’ NBA D-League team.

And-Ones: Wolves, Martin, Allen

August 29th, 2014 at 7:36pm CST by Zachary Links

Wolves president Flip Saunders hopes the Wolves new players’ athleticism will translate into improved defense, Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press writes. Saunders said, “I’m hoping that the biggest change is going to be defensively. Always a key in your ability to guard is your athleticism. The quicker you are, the longer you are, the better chance you have to be a good defensive team.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Doc Rivers was in contact with free agent guard Ray Allen earlier this summer, and Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) expects the Clippers to make a run at him again.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is still over the moon about reacquiring Tyson Chandler this summer, as NBA.com’s Jeff Caplan writes. “It was kind of surprising that we got it done, just because with that many pieces and the fact that no one finds out,” Cuban said of the trade. “I’m glad we got it done. We’re excited. He can kind of quarterback our defense, he makes everybody better defensively and he’ll make Monta [Ellis] better offensively.”
Keith Schlosser of The Knicks Blog wonders if the Knicks would welcome back Kenyon Martin. Martin gave the Knicks one of the most intimidating and physical defensive presences they’ve had in years, but he struggles to stay on the court. Even though he’s seen just 50 games of action over the last two seasons, Schlosser sees K-Mart as a player who the Knicks could call on midseason if Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, or Samuel Dalembert have injury troubles of their own.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.