Greg Oden Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Duncan, Popovich, Collison, Grizzlies

February 4th, 2015 at 9:05am CST by Chuck Myron

The “prevailing thought” around the league has been that Tim Duncan will retire when his contract expires after the season, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, but Gregg Popovich isn’t so sure. The coach/executive acknowledges that Duncan is liable to walk away from the game at any time, regardless of contract status, but Popovich tells Amick that he doesn’t believe Duncan will do so just yet, given his still-proficient level of play. Nonetheless, Popovich isn’t making promises about his own longevity, and while he confirmed to Amick that the extension he signed this past summer was for five years, the 66-year-old thinks he’ll retire before that time is through. Here’s more from around the league:

The push for Nick Collison‘s extension with the Thunder came from the team’s side, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com, writing for Daily Thunder. The length of the deal for the Mike Higgins client, which runs one season past the expiration of Kevin Durant‘s contract, makes it clear that the extension is in part an enticement for Durant, who likes Collison, to stay, Young believes. It’s also a signal that the club is on board with paying the luxury tax next season, as Young explains.
Tyrus Thomas has returned to the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies after the expiration of his 10-day contract with the franchise’s NBA club, the D-League team announced (on Twitter).
Free agent Greg Oden reached a plea deal with prosecutors stemming from an August incident, as court documents show, according to Michael Anthony Adams of USA Today. The former No. 1 overall pick pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge and three other charges were dismissed as part of the deal, Adams writes. Oden avoided jail time in sentencing, as Adams’ report also indicates.

And-Ones: Oden, McCants, Giddens, Anderson

November 23rd, 2014 at 12:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Greg Oden attended the Cavaliers game Saturday, but has no immediate plans for an NBA comeback, tweets Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. Oden, the first player selected in the 2007 NBA draft, said he has other priorities. “I have to deal with other stuff first,” he said. “Life stuff.” Oden allegedly punched his ex-girlfriend in the face during a recent fight and was charged with felony battery, misdemeanor domestic battery and misdemeanor battery resulting in serious bodily injury.

Other players were on the move this weekend:

Free agent Rashad McCants will continue his career in Lebanon, notes Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. McCants, a college star at North Carolina, played four years in the NBA with the Timberwolves and Kings. He has not been in the league since the 2008/09 season. He played last season in Brazil.
J.R. Giddens, a first-round pick by the Celtics in the 2008 NBA draft, has landed a free agent deal in Argentina, tweets David Pick of Basketball Insiders and Eurobasket. Giddens spent two seasons in the NBA with the Celtics and Knicks. He has also played in Poland, Greece, Italy and Puerto Rico.
The Spurs announced that rookie Kyle Anderson has been assigned to the Austin Spurs of the D-League. A first-round pick out of UCLA in this year’s draft, Anderson has seen limited playing time in San Antonio, averaging 1.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in six games.

And-Ones: Thompson, Moore, Oden

September 16th, 2014 at 6:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Klay Thompson was one of many Warriors players who expressed support for Mark Jackson in the days leading up to Golden State’s firing of its former coach, but the extension-eligible Thompson tells USA Today’s Sam Amick that he’s optimistic about working with Steve Kerr. “It was tough seeing Coach [Jackson] go, but at the end of the day the front office did what they felt would be best for us to win,” Thompson said. “They’ve made great moves in the past, so no reason not to trust them on this move. I’ve talked to Steve and he seems really good, like a guy who is really going to open it up for us. I’m excited to work with him.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The salary in the second season of E’Twaun Moore‘s deal with the Bulls will become guaranteed if he remains on the roster beyond a certain date in July 2015, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.
Executives with two NBA teams were optimistic that Greg Oden could still prove a useful NBA player after seeing him with the Heat last year, as they told Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. Still, his chances of finding work in the NBA anytime soon are in serious doubt as he faces a felony domestic violence charge stemming from an incident last month, as another exec tells Wallace.
The Celtics have hired Scott Morrison, the longtime coach at Lakeland University in Canada, to coach their D-League affiliate, the team announced.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

East Notes: Melo, Oden, Knicks, DeRozan

August 11th, 2014 at 8:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Like most Knicks fans, Carmelo Anthony isn’t expecting to win it all this season, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I don’t expect to win a championship this year,” Anthony said in an article posted on PrimeraHora.com and translated by ESPN Deportes’ Marly Rivera. “That is something that takes time and everything has to be (synchronized) — from the front office to the players. We have a lot of work to do but that is something that motivates me. I know that we can start creating the basis for what (we want) to accomplish eventually. And this is a great start for the process.” Anthony was said to be prioritizing winning in his free agent decision and while he ostensibly expects to win a ring in New York, he knows it won’t happen overnight. More from the Eastern Conference..

Free agent center Greg Oden has been charged with felony battery, misdemeanor domestic battery, and misdemeanor battery resulting in serious bodily injury after allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the face during a fight, according to The Associated Press. The former No. 1 pick spent last season with the Heat but basketball is probably the furthest thing from the 26-year-old’s mind at the moment.
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com looked at where the Knicks stand in terms of management. The suits earn high marks thanks to James Dolan’s willingness to spend and president Phil Jackson’s championship clout. However, there are obstacles, including Jackson’s lack of experience in this role and potential clashing between him and Dolan.
Raptors star DeMar DeRozan kept hearing from the critics in 2012 when he inked a four-year, $38MM deal, but he has continued to improve thanks to his tireless work ethic, writes Holly MacKenzie of Raptors.com.

And-Ones: Kings, Felton, Knicks, Singleton, Oden

August 7th, 2014 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lost in the noise surrounding the agreement between the Cavs and Wolves to send Kevin Love to Cleveland is a trade that actually became official Wednesday. The Kings can create a pair of trade exceptions from their deal with the Knicks, one worth $915,243 for Quincy Acy‘s salary, and another worth $228,660 for the difference between the salaries of Travis Outlaw and Wayne Ellington. The Knicks, limited in part because they’re a taxpaying team, can only make a tiny trade exception worth $32,920 for the difference between the three-year veteran’s minimum that Jeremy Tyler makes and the two-year veteran’s minimum that’s coming to Acy. Here’s more on the Knicks and other teams and players from around the league:

Mavs point guard Raymond Felton will serve a four-game suspension at the start of the regular season for his guilty plea to gun-related charges stemming from a February incident, the league announced via press release.
Knicks GM Steve Mills didn’t rule out further moves, but he said Wednesday that the team is satisfied with its backcourt situation after alleviating a logjam with the trade, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com chronicles.
The Wizards no longer have free agent Chris Singleton in their plans, a source tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Singleton nonetheless turned down an overseas offer in hopes of landing an NBA job, and has dropped agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports in favor of Todd Ramasar from Stealth Sports, Michael also reports.
The Heat were unlikely to re-sign Greg Oden before his arrest this morning on misdemeanor battery charges, and the incident probably ends any chance he had of returning to the team, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in a pair of tweets.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports clarifies an earlier report indicating that Jusuf Nurkic received less than the standard 120% of the rookie scale from the Nuggets. Denver is doling out the full 120%, but the team is using a portion of it to pay Nurkic’s buyout from his Croatian club, so while Nurkic is receiving less than 120% of the scale in actual salary, his cap figure will reflect that the Nuggets are paying 120%. The move is not unprecedented for a player picked as highly as Nurkic, who went 16th overall.

Clippers To Audition Bynum, Oden, Okafor

August 5th, 2014 at 12:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:11pm: Andy Miller, the agent for Blatche, disputes the report, telling Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times that his client has no workout scheduled with the Clippers (Twitter link).

8:45am: The Clippers are set to work out free agent centers this week, with Andray Blatche, Andrew Bynum, Greg Oden and Emeka Okafor among those on the docket as the team seeks depth, reports Jorge Sedano of ESPN Radio (Twitter link). The inclusion of Bynum’s name is surprising, since last month he was giving serious thought to sitting out the season. There have been widespread questions about Okafor’s health, too, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote at the bottom of one of his pieces from last month.

Blatche was the most productive of the quartet last season, averaging 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game for the Nets. Bynum appeared in only 26 games because of his persistent knee trouble, while Oden, mostly healthy over the course of a full season for the first time in his career, appeared in only 23 contests as a deep reserve for a Finals-bound Heat team. Okafor missed the entire season because of a herniated disk in his neck.

The hard-capped Clippers can only offer the minimum to anyone they sign. Oden, who has six years of official experience, is the only one among the four named in Sedano’s report who could receive a multiyear contract from the team. One-year deals for the minimum salary only count against a team’s cap for the two-year veteran’s minimum, so that would allow the team to ink deals with Blatche, Bynum and Okafor, each of whom has a minimum salary that exceeds the roughly $1.149MM that the Clippers have left under their hard cap. The team has only 12 players on its roster, so it will have to add another player eventually to reach the 13-man regular season minimum.

Heat Notes: LeBron, ‘Melo, 2016, Allen

July 31st, 2014 at 10:10am CST by Chuck Myron

Heat team president Pat Riley went after free agents this year with the idea that LeBron James would return to the team, and he sold potential signees on that notion, as he told reporters, including Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Still, Riley said James didn’t answer frequent emails and texts that he sent in an effort to recruit him back to Miami, Jackson notes. That suggests that the only communication between the two took place when James met with Riley a few days before he made his decision to sign with the Cavs, as Jackson details. We rounded up several key passages from Riley’s address on Wednesday, and we’ll pass along other noteworthy tidbits here among the latest Heat-related news:

Riley called Leon Rose, the agent for Carmelo Anthony, after LeBron left, but, “We were a little bit late to that party,” Riley said, as Jackson writes in the same piece. Anthony had already finished meeting with other teams, and he made his decision to re-sign with the Knicks the day after LeBron made his choice.
The team will be focused on making a splash in free agency in 2016, Riley said, adding that it would have been the plan even if LeBron had remained, according to Jackson.
Riley said the Heat will keep Justin Hamilton through Friday, when his non-guaranteed contract becomes partially guaranteed for more than $400K, as Jackson notes.
Miami hasn’t given up hope of re-signing free agent Ray Allen, tweets Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. Riley said he’s remained in contact with Allen’s agent, Jim Tanner, Jackson writes.
Riley confirmed that Miami has spoken with Michael Beasley‘s people about re-signing with the team, Lieser tweets. “He’s still a consideration, absolutely,” Riley said. Beasley reportedly auditioned for the Lakers on Wednesday.
The team is also still thinking about re-signing Greg Oden, Riley added, as Jackson notes. Jackson reported last week that the Heat were non-committal about bringing back Beasley and Oden.
Guard Tyler Johnson impressed during a summer league stint with the Heat and is drawing interest from multiple NBA teams, a source tells Hoops Rumors.

Eastern Rumors: Love, Knicks, Douglas-Roberts

July 25th, 2014 at 10:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks made a longshot trade offer for Kevin Love that the Wolves immediately turned down, reports Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal. The offer was Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, and Tim Hardaway Jr., a package well shy of the value Minnesota is looking to secure in any potential deal for Love. Stoudemire and Shumpert have apparently been on the block of late, but while Hardaway is reportedly “virtually untouchable,” New York’s shot in the dark at least shows its willingness to part with him for the right return. Here’s more from around the East:

A Wolves official disputes the notion that the Knicks ever made an offer for Love, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reports (on Twitter).

Earlier updates:

Chris Douglas-Roberts is among the free agents who interest the Heat as they look for veteran wing players, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Agent Wallace Prather has reached out to the team about client MarShon Brooks, but it’s unclear whether the Heat have any interest in him. The Heat are among 11 teams limited to paying no more than the minimum salary to free agents from other clubs, as I noted earlier today.
Miami is remaining non-committal about bringing back free agents Michael Beasley and Greg Oden, as Jackson writes in the same piece. The agents for both veterans tell Jackson that the Heat have been in contact regarding their clients, but that they are receiving interest from other teams as well.
The Hornets didn’t necessarily sign Brian Roberts for the room exception, as originally thought, when they made his deal official Wednesday, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. It appears as though they have enough cap space to use on Roberts and preserve the exception to use on someone else, should they choose.

Central Rumors: Bulls, Udoh, Oden, Jones

July 18th, 2014 at 10:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Pau Gasol said he has no worries about the health of Derrick Rose and added that the Knicks had only long shot to sign him as part of an interview with Jesus Sanchez of Marca.com, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune translates (Twitter links). The Bulls are scheduled to introduce Gasol and Nikola Mirotic to fans in a press conference today after agreeing to deals with both this past weekend, and there’s more from Chicago amid the latest Central Division rumors:

There appears to be mutual interest between the Bulls and point guard Aaron Brooks, as Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com details. Sam’s story reveals that Brooks is considering the team, while the headline and Sam’s tweet indicate that Chicago is eyeing the 29-year-old point guard.
The Lakers’ winning bid for Carlos Boozer was $3.251MM, not just $3.25MM as previously reported, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, giving the Bulls slightly more savings than previously thought. The Bulls will be on the hook for $13.549MM of the $16.8MM remaining on Boozer’s contract, which expires next summer, but it won’t count against the salary cap for Chicago.
Ekpe Udoh has his sights set on joining a contender, and was close to a deal with the Clippers before they struck a deal with Glen Davis, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (on Twitter). That wouldn’t appear to bode well for any chance the Bucks have of re-signing the big man, who became an unrestricted free agent when Milwaukee declined to make him a qualifying offer.
The Cavs have interest in Greg Oden, but it’s not clear if they’ve spoken with him or have any plans to do so, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Still, it appears that either the Cavs, LeBron James, or both have been in touch with the free agent center this summer, Amico writes.
A lack of playing time with the Heat was one reason why James Jones decided to bolt for the Cavs, as Jones said in a radio appearance on The Ticket Morning Show in Miami, tweets Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald.

Heat Notes: LeBron, Bosh, Chalmers, Wade

July 15th, 2014 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls were among the teams with which agent Rich Paul took meetings to discuss LeBron James during the first week of free agency, as Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reveal in a behind-the-scenes look at LeBron’s choice. Regardless, James was no longer willing to accept being underpaid, as Windhorst examines in a separate piece. James decided before free agency began that he’d take a max contract, and no matter where he would end up, he would demand a deal with a player option after year one, Windhorst writes. James wants to continue to sign short-term deals for the foreseeable future to maintain flexibility in case the maximum salary jumps or is eliminated in the next collective bargaining agreement, as Windhorst explains. He also wants to keep the pressure on Cavs brass to improve the team around him, the ESPN scribe adds. Here’s more on the Heat as they pick up the pieces after LeBron’s departure:

It wasn’t merely a two-team race between the Rockets and Heat for Chris Bosh, as the Nuggets, Suns and Lakers all made offers to the No. 3 player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, reports Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com.
The Heat’s contract with Mario Chalmers calls for him to make $4MM for this coming season and $4.3MM in 2015/16, Windhorst tweets. The ESPN scribe pegs the likely salary for Dwyane Wade at $15MM based on the Heat’s other moves this summer and the cap space the team still has available (Twitter link).
Miami renounced its rights to Ray Allen, Udonis Haslem Michael Beasley, Toney Douglas, James Jones, Rashard Lewis, Greg Oden and the retired Shane Battier and Juwan Howard, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That’ll make it difficult to re-sign Allen, but the team continues moving toward a new deal with Haslem, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat would likely use either cap space or the $2.732MM room exception on Haslem.