Giannis Antetokounmpo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Notes: Howard, Antetokounmpo, Knight

March 31st, 2016 at 4:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

If the Bucks are looking to make a splash in free agency for the second straight summer, Dwight Howard could be the player to target, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The Rockets’ center has expressed his intention to turn down a player option for next season worth $23.282MM and seek a maximum contract starting at about $30MM. Milwaukee was among the teams that expressed interest in acquiring him before last month’s trade deadline, and Howard said he was intrigued by the possibility. Bontemps believes Howard would be the kind of defensive anchor that Greg Monroe failed to become after he signed with the Bucks last offseason. Depending where the salary cap is set, Milwaukee could have more than $20MM to spend if it doesn’t re-sign Jerryd Bayless, Greivis Vasquez and O.J. Mayo.

There’s more news out of Milwaukee:

Giannis Antetokounmpo could be in line for a maximum contract extension over the summer, Bontemps writes in the same piece. Coach Jason Kidd recently anointed Antetokounmpo as the Bucks’ starting point guard for next season, and the franchise could reward him with a max deal. At age 21, the third-year pro has blossomed in Milwaukee, averaging 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game since the All-Star break.
The Bucks had to make a choice last season between giving a long-term contract to Khris Middleton or Brandon Knight, according to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee shipped Knight to Phoenix in a three-team trade in February of 2015 and re-signed Middleton at $70MM over five years. “We had a good time while we played,” said Knight, who on Wednesday returned to Milwaukee for his first game there since the deal. “I think we [the Bucks] were just scratching the surface. Who knows where we could have went to?”
Wednesday marked the first game for Vasquez since November 27th, Gardner notes in a separate story. The backup point guard had surgery on his right ankle in December and was sidelined for 58 games. “You miss that many games, and the coach gives you an opportunity to play the game that you love, it means a lot to me,” Vasquez said. “It also shows what a class act this franchise is, because they’ve been with me the whole time.” Vasquez is headed toward free agency after earning $6.6MM this season.

Central Notes: Butler, Noah, Antetokounmpo

March 30th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Several executives around the NBA say the Magic are a team to watch in regard to Jimmy Butler, The Vertical’s Chris Mannix reports. The swingman is in the first season of a five-year contract with the Bulls, but the tension between him and coach Fred Hoiberg, who’s just starting a five-year deal of his own, led several teams, including the Celtics, to ask the Bulls about trading for Butler before last month’s deadline. Orlando, with enough cap flexibility to add Butler and another maximum-salary player this summer, has several intriguing young players and coach Scott Skiles, a defensive taskmaster with similarities to former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

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Many expect Joakim Noah to leave the Bulls in free agency this summer, Mannix writes in the same piece. Noah has also been linked to the Magic, though only speculatively.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said a few days ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be guarding point guards and alluded to the need for a traditional point guard like Michael Carter-Williams to fill that duty, but Kidd on Tuesday said Antetokounmpo will be the team’s primary ball handler next season, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Antetokounmpo and Carter-Williams will both be eligible for rookie scale extensions in the offseason.
Miles Plumlee is fond of the Bucks organization and Kidd admires the center’s perseverance, Gardner notes in the same piece. Plumlee is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
Some Thunder players still have raw feelings about Reggie Jackson, who pushed his way off the team and into the trade that sent him to the Pistons last season, as Royce Young of ESPN.com details. Russell Westbrook disapproved of Jackson’s animated celebration at the end of Detroit’s win Tuesday over Oklahoma City. “Yeah, I did actually,” Westbrook said. “Honestly, I think that was some real [expletive]. I don’t appreciate it for our team and our organization. I don’t like it at all. But it is what it is. We’ll see him down the line. We’ll take care of that when we get there.”

Eastern Notes: Noel, Antetokounmpo, Pistons

March 24th, 2016 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons as a franchise feel that their core is set and intend to focus this offseason on finding players whose positions and skill sets complement their current roster, David Mayo of MLive writes. “We’ve got to really look at our roster, realistically, and decide where we want to go,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “And also, you’re assessing the guys, quite honestly, in terms of value, so that when deals are presented, you’ve sat and talked and have a value on all of your guys.” Van Gundy added that “maybe quicker, more athletic” defenders and off-the-dribble creators are on the team’s shopping list for the summer, Mayo relays.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Giannis Antetokounmpo is excited at the prospect of being the Bucks‘ focal point on offense and said the added pressure will only make him toil more this offseason, Spencer Davies of AmicoHoops.net relays. “It’s that special. I’ve got a lot of responsibility in my hands, so I’ve got to handle it real well and try to get better — show my coach that I can handle it no matter how old I am,” Antetokounmpo told Davies. “But I feel good enough. I feel proud of myself because I’ve been working hard these past years that I was in the league. Seeing all this, my hard work, paying off — it feels nice. That makes me want to work harder.”
Sixers big man Nerlens Noel admits all the losses the franchise has endured the past two seasons are starting to weigh on him mentally, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “Yeah, I’m human. So it’s tough,” Noel said. “I can’t lie about that. Sometimes it’s tougher than other times. When you feel that it starts affecting you personally, you do your best to try to make it turn [in the right direction]. But it’s been a long year, especially this one, and dealing with a lot more [losses.]” Philadelphia’s record since Noel was drafted in 2013 is a woeful 46-190 overall.

Central Notes: Meeks, Antetokounmpo, Plumlee

March 21st, 2016 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jodie Meeks probably won’t return to the court before the end of the season, Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy acknowledged today, according to Aaron McMann of MLive. Meeks hasn’t played since October, and though it appeared recently that he would make his debut, a shoulder injury he suffered in practice last week has made that possibility remote, as McMann details. Meeks had come almost all the way back after suffering a broken foot in the team’s second game of the season. The Pistons activated him for games on March 12th and 14th, though he didn’t see any action in those contests, McMann points out. Van Gundy didn’t have plans to use Meeks in the rotation anyway, so his continued absence shouldn’t be a killer for Detroit, which is just percentage points behind Chicago for the last playoff spot. See more from the Central Division:

The development of a midrange game and a corner 3-point shot is what stands between Giannis Antetokounmpo and an All-Star selection, GM John Hammond contends to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Hammond also told Varlas he sees the former 15th overall pick as a forward, not point guard, the position the team has him playing extensively down the stretch. Antetokounmpo becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd was reluctant to go with John Henson and Miles Plumlee on the floor together much of the season, but as the season winds down and the coach has become open to experiments, he’s liked what he’s seen with both Henson and Plumlee in the game, observes Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Plumlee, the subject of trade rumors last month, is set for restricted free agency this summer, while Henson is poised to start drawing from the four-year extension he signed in the fall.
Soon-to-be free agent Solomon Hill distinguished himself as one of Indiana’s best defenders battling Paul George in practice this season, and that’s led Pacers coach Frank Vogel to give Hill a place in the rotation, as Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star details. The Pacers declined their rookie scale team option on him for next season, so they can’t re-sign him to a contract that would pay him more for 2016/17 than $2,306,019, the value of the option.

Eastern Rumors: Bucks, Bosh, Lawson, Dedmon

March 5th, 2016 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bucks owner Wes Edens denies rumors of dissension within the ownership group, which also consists of principal owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal-Sentinel. Milwaukee has been among this season’s most disappointing teams, carrying a 26-36 record after last year’s playoff appearance. Regardless, Edens insists that ownership believes in Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker as the foundation for its future. “It’s definitely disappointing where we are; that’s the bad news,” Edens said. “The good news is, especially since the All-Star break, you look at the team of Giannis and Jabari and Khris, and others of course, and it’s not hard to imagine what this thing could really turn into.”

Edens added that no trades were given serious consideration before last month’s deadline and that any decision on a contract extension for coach Jason Kidd will be made after the season. “We can’t change what happened but we can improve on what’s going to happen,” Edens said. “That’s for the off season. Jason has been a big part of our involvement with the Bucks since we became owners, and I expect him to be a big part of our involvement with it going forward.”

There’s more news from the Eastern Conference:

Heat center/forward Chris Bosh held a workout today and tweeted encouraging news about his health. “Feeling good! Feeling great!” he wrote as questions continue to linger about his availability for the rest of the season. Bosh hasn’t played since he missed the All-Star Game with a calf strain that was later reported to be a blood clot. Bosh is rumored to be on blood-thinning medication, just as he was last year for a blood clot in his lungs, though neither the condition nor the medication has been confirmed by him or the team.
Point guard Ty Lawson is expected to sign with the Pacers on Monday and be in uniform for that night’s game, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Lawson agreed to sign with Indiana after the Rockets waived him Monday in a buyout agreement.
The Magic have assigned Dewayne Dedmon to the Erie Bayhawks of the D-League, the team announced today. The fourth-year center is averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 38 games with Orlando.

And-Ones: Marks, Foye, Lee

February 19th, 2016 at 11:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thunder GM Sam Presti referred to the trade with Denver that netted the team Randy Foye, as well as saved the team approximately $9.8MM in cap commitments, as “smart business,” Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman relays (Twitter link). “The roster spot clearly gives us some flexibility to survey other opportunities to improve,” Presti said. “Then financially, that obviously wasn’t the intent of the deal, but because of the presence of Dakari Johnson, Semaj Christon and Alex Abrines in the drafts that we’ve had previously, we feel pretty good about those guys. So the draft choices in this particular draft were more valuable to Denver. And the money that we were able to save, the way that we’ve operated here, that allows us to reinvest in the team and clearly our team is going to become more and more expensive.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The Bucks didn’t make a deal prior to Thursday’s trade deadline and a big reason was that the team considers Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker to be virtually untouchable, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. One of the duo would likely have had to be included in any swap for a big-name player, which was a non-starter as far as the franchise was concerned, notes Gardner. “Those guys are vault guys,” coach Jason Kidd said. “They’re in the vault. You don’t start a conversation with Jabari or Giannis. There’s no conversation to be had, right. So word gets around that those guys are untradeable.“
The Celtics came close to dealing David Lee, who was waived earlier today, and viewed his expiring contract as a means to work a swap for a marquee player at the trade deadline, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. “We almost had trades a few times, or thought there was a possibility,” team executive Danny Ainge said. “His [Lee] contract was a good way for us to get into a lot of the conversations we had.“
Dmitry Razumov, the chairman of the Nets‘ board of directors, indicated that new GM Sean Marks will guide the team’s search for a new head coach but team ownership will also have input in the process, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (ESPN NOW link). The team is likely to strongly consider San Antonio assistant coach Ettore Messina for the vacant slot, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News opined when Marks’ hiring was first announced.
The Blazers sent $75K to the Heat in exchange for point guard Brian Roberts, which is the minimum allowable amount per league rules, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.

Bucks Open To Trading Monroe, Carter-Williams

February 4th, 2016 at 12:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks have let other teams know that Greg Monroe is available for the right price, and the team is also receptive to trading Michael Carter-Williams, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only Bucks player completely off-limits for a deal, though it would take a “crazy” offer to pry Jabari Parker or Khris Middleton from Milwaukee, a league executive said to Woelfel. Several people around the league have said they’d be surprised if the Bucks don’t make a significant trade, with the deadline looming two weeks from today, Woelfel adds.

Bucks GM John Hammond said recently that he “can’t imagine life without” Monroe, whom the team surprisingly landed in free agency on a three-year max deal, though coach Jason Kidd controls player personnel, as Woelfel has heard. It’s unclear what Milwaukee would demand in return for the former Piston. Monroe reportedly met with the Knicks, Lakers and Trail Blazers, all of whom apparently made max offers, before he signed with Milwaukee this past July. He can opt out after next season.

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Carter-Williams, like Monroe, was part of a six-man core that Hammond alluded to this past offseason. He’s nonetheless failed to impress since coming over in a controversial deadline trade a year ago, and Kidd benched him for a stretch of 10 games earlier this season. He’s returned to the starting lineup, but his points and minutes per game are down for a second season in a row since he won the Rookie of the Year award in 2013/14. His 31.7% 3-point shooting is a career best, but he’s taking fewer 3-pointers than in the past, attempting only 41 so far this season.

Milwaukee is 20-31 and in 13th place in the Eastern Conference after making the playoffs a year ago. The Bucks have lost six of their last seven games.

Central Notes: Hill, Cunningham, Antetokounmpo

December 11th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Solomon Hill is one of Pacers coach Frank Vogel‘s favorite players because of his versatility and work ethic, writes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. That’s in spite of a report last week that Indiana has made the swingman available for a trade and the lack of playing time Hill has seen since the team declined his rookie scale option for next season.

“He knows the fact that he’s not in the rotation to start the season does not mean his days are numbered here,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We made that very clear that we’re going to give some other guys looks at that position to give us an offensive boost. We’re trying to improve on the offensive end this year and he’s got to stay ready. There are going to be times when he’s needed and he’s going to have an opportunity to get back into the rotation at some point.”

Hill’s best work comes on defense, so the notion that at least some of the Pacers braintrust isn’t sold on him is another sign of the team’s shift toward more offense, Buckner posits. Here’s more from the Central Division:

LeBron James has quickly formed a bond with Jared Cunningham off the court, but it’s unlikely to play much of a role when the Cavs must decide next month whether to guarantee Cunningham’s salary for the rest of the season, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Bucks gave Greg Monroe a max deal and Khris Middleton a new five-year, $70MM contract, but the executives and scouts who spoke to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times are higher on Giannis Antetokounmpo than any other player on the Milwaukee roster. Antetokoumpo, making slightly less than $1.954MM this season, becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension in the summer ahead.
Bulls management basically said this summer that they believe they have a roster with a real chance to win the championship this year, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes in a mailbag column, one in which he says he doesn’t think the team will make a trade this season.

Timberwolves Rumors: LaVine, Rubio, Muhammad

November 17th, 2015 at 1:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no coincidence that the Timberwolves are giving Zach LaVine minutes at point guard after going back on their decision to make him the starting shooting guard, since Ricky Rubio would become a trade chip if LaVine proves capable running the point, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Rubio and LaVine have played just 10 minutes together so far this season, with Lowe calling it “beyond dumb” that they haven’t shared the floor for more time and Rubio making it clear he’d like to play more often with LaVine. Both Rubio and GM Milt Newton expressed to Lowe that they hope Rubio is the long-term answer at the point, “but he has to stay healthy,” Newton said. Regardless, Newton isn’t in a hurry to make any deals.

“We are cognizant about not rushing it,” Newton said to Lowe. “We don’t want to be a flash in the pan. We don’t want to disrupt our young core. If we do something, it has to be the kind of deal where the majority of that young core is still here, but you get a veteran who is not that old — and can grow with the group.”

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LaVine has shown flashes of brilliance and moments of struggle alike at point guard this season, but his play is making it increasingly apparent that he deserves time at one position or another, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune examines. “I love him,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said Sunday before Minnesota’s game against Memphis. “I’m a big LaVine fan. I think he can really score the basketball. He’s tough to guard. I think he’s still trying to figure out where he is in the league, learn his teammates, where he can go and when it’s not a good time to go. When he learns that? He’ll be a very potent scorer.”
Opposing front office personnel were initially dismissive of the late Flip Saunders‘ decision to sign so many veteran mentors this summer, but some of them have warmed to the notion that re-signing Kevin Garnett and adding Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince was shrewd, Lowe writes in the same piece.
The Timberwolves almost chose Giannis Antetokounmpo over Shabazz Muhammad in the 2013 draft, several sources tell Lowe. The Jazz officially drafted Muhammad, but they had already agreed to trade the pick to Minnesota by the time they went on the clock, so evidently the Timberwolves were telling the Jazz whom to take, as is often the case behind the scenes with draft-night deals.
If Steve Kaplan, the Grizzlies minority owner who’s reportedly in talks to buy a share of the Timberwolves, were to purchase a controlling interest in the Wolves at some point, he’d probably include Garnett in the ownership group, Lowe hears from sources.
Sean Kilpatrick, who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract this past spring, has re-signed with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, the team with which he ended last season, the D-League club announced.

Bucks Pick Up 2016/17 Options On Four

October 26th, 2015 at 5:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks have exercised their rookie scale options for 2016/17 on Tyler Ennis, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Carter-Williams, the team announced, assuring them of their salaries for that season. The moves add more than $13.287MM to Milwaukee’s books, giving the Bucks close to $62MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $89MM cap for 2016/17.

Ennis has a salary of $1,733,880 for next season, while Parker will get $5,374,320. Antetokounmpo will receive $2,995,421, while Carter-Williams’ option will cost the Bucks $3,183,526. Milwaukee is already on the hook for three contracts above $12MM next season, as the salaries of Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton and John Henson add up to approximately $44.6MM.

It was a foregone conclusion the Bucks would pick up the options on three starters with only the Ennis move counting as somewhat of a surprise. The 21-year-old point guard appeared in 33 games last season as a rookie — eight with the Suns and 25 with the Bucks after he was acquired in the Brandon Knight deal. He had shoulder surgery during the offseason and isn’t expected back until sometime next month.