Isaia Cordinier Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Trade Jeremy Lin To Hawks

July 13th, 2018 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 13: The trade is now official, according to a pair of press releases issued by the Nets and Hawks. Atlanta receives Lin, Brooklyn’s 2025 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2023 second-rounders with the Nets in exchange for Cordinier and a heavily-protected 2020 second-rounder, as detailed below.

JULY 12: The Nets have agreed to a trade that will send Jeremy Lin to the Hawks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal will allow Brooklyn to clear the cap space necessary to take on a pair of expiring contracts from the Nuggets in another deal.

According to Wojnarowski, the Nets will receive Portland 2020’s second-round pick (top-55 protected) and the rights to 2016 draft-and-stash second-rounder Isaia Cordinier in the trade.

In addition to Lin, the Hawks will acquire a 2025 second-round pick and the right to swap picks with the Nets in 2023, Woj adds. His report doesn’t mention anything about first-round picks, so we’ll assume for now that the ’23 pick swap applies to second-rounders.

For the Hawks, adding Lin will mean further bolstering a point guard depth chart that already features leading scorer Dennis Schroder and fifth overall pick Trae Young. Schroder has been frequently cited as a potential trade candidate and Young’s performance in Summer League action has been up and down, so Lin could provide some added stability at the position. His presence also could expedite a Schroder trade, as Wojnarowski reports.

Of course, it may be premature to pencil in Lin for 25-30 minutes per game for the upcoming season, since he’s coming off a major knee injury. The veteran point guard admitted recently that he has yet to play 5-on-5 ball, but fully expects to be ready for training camp. The Hawks plan to keep him, tweets David Aldridge of TNT.

As we detailed earlier today, the Hawks had upwards of $18MM in cap room available, with the flexibility to increase that number to nearly $24MM by renouncing free agents and waiving non-guaranteed players. No additional moves will be required in order to absorb Lin’s $12.5MM expiring contract using their current cap space.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Lin also had a 10% trade kicker, so if he doesn’t waive it as part of the deal, the Nets would pay that $1.25MM bonus and the 29-year-old’s cap hit would increase to $13.75MM.

General manager Travis Schlenk had said that the Hawks didn’t expect to pursue major free agents, noting that the team’s “free agency is going to be trades.” The acquisition of Lin reflects that plan, though it’s still a somewhat surprising move. Given where the Hawks are in their rebuilding process, it would have made more sense to me if Atlanta had used its cap room to take on the Nuggets’ unwanted contracts and acquired a pair of picks in the process.

That’s exactly what the Nets will do with their newly-created cap room after moving Lin. As we detail in a separate story, shedding Lin’s salary will allow Brooklyn to take on Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur from Denver. The Nets will receive a first-round pick and a second-round pick from the Nuggets for their troubles.

Meanwhile, the Nets should still have plenty of depth in their backcourt heading into the 2018/19 season, with Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell capable of handling point guard duties.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks GM Talks Offseason, Millsap, Cordinier, Kaba

July 11th, 2017 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

It has been an interesting offseason in Atlanta for new Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk, whose roster no longer features three of the team’s top four players in terms of minutes played. Paul Millsap departed in free agency, Dwight Howard was traded, and the Hawks opted not to match a pricey offer sheet for Tim Hardaway.

It’s clearly a retooling period for the Hawks, but Schlenk is averse to calling it a full-fledged rebuild. He touched on that topic and several other items of note during a conversation with Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, so let’s dive in and round up a few highlights from the Q&A…

On whether the Hawks are rebuilding and where they stand now:

“We don’t want to concede to losing. I think a lot of times that what the term rebuilding means, you are conceding to losing. We don’t want to do that. We want to be competitive every night. The term I like to use, we are investing in the future. We have young guys. We have probably five more first-round picks over the next two years to add to this group. We are investing in our future. The young guys we have, we want to keep developing them. We want to keep our flexibility, collect assets, build the guys we have. Investing in the future. The end goal is to be able a team able to compete for a championship. We didn’t feel like maintaining where we were – where you go 60, 48, 43 (wins). We have to start going up again.”

On Millsap’s departure and why the Hawks didn’t make a stronger effort to bring him back:

“We were in contact with his representation throughout the whole process. We knew he was going to get a very good deal. Where we are as a franchise and the path we are on, it just didn’t make sense for us at this time.

“Like I’ve maintained from the beginning, our goal is to maintain our flexibility. Get good guys on good contracts. Going into free agency, we weren’t going to be out of the gates early. We are going to take our time and let everything play out. That’s what we’ve done as we sit on [July] 10th and we’ve signed one guy.”

On what the Hawks still plan to add in free agency:

“We’ll sign a third point guard. We are deciding to we get a veteran guy or do we get a young guy that we think has upside. Do we bring in a couple guys and let them battle it out? We are going to sign a power forward for sure. We’ll sign a center for sure. Probably sign three more big guys so we end up with six.”

On the plans for 2016 second-round pick Isaia Cordinier and 2017 second-rounder Alpha Kaba:

“I think Alpha will go back to Mega Leks or another team in Europe. I haven’t really talked to his agent but I expect he’ll go back there. Cordinier has expressed a desire to play in Erie (with Atlanta’s G League team). We’ve talked to his agent a little bit. We aren’t really sure if he’ll go back but he’s expressed a desire to maybe do that. We’ll figure all that out in the next month.”

Hawks Notes: Howard, Millsap, Bazemore, Workout

April 29th, 2017 at 7:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dwight Howard expressed anger today after his exit interview about his deteriorating role with the Hawks, relays Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Howard saw less playing as the season wore on, then averaged just 26.2 minutes per game during the playoff series with Washington. Coach/executive Mike Budenholzer believed the offense worked better without Howard and frequently opted for a smaller lineup with Paul Millsap at center. This comes just months after the Hawks gave Howard $70.5MM over three years to return to his hometown. “It was very difficult,” Howard told reporters. “I want to play. I want to be out on the floor. I want to make a difference. I want to make an impact, and I can’t do that on the bench.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Earlier today, we told you that Millsap intends to opt out of his nearly $21.5MM deal for next year. Even though he’s hitting the open market, the 32-year-old power forward says his first choice is to remain in Atlanta, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Eventually I probably will opt out, yes,” Millsap said. “But I want to be here. I think talks have been pretty good, so we’ll see what happens.” Millsap led the Hawks in scoring this season at 18.1 points per game, and was second in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Vivlamore expects him to get maximum offers this summer, but Atlanta has the advantage of Bird rights. The Hawks can offer five years at up to $205MM, while other teams will be limited to four years at $158.4MM.
The Hawks’ efforts to keep Millsap will stretch from the front office to the locker room. Owner Tony Ressler has said the organization will make “every effort imaginable” to re-sign Millsap, and Charles Odum of The Associated Press writes that teammates will be involved as well. “I’m definitely recruiting Millsap to come back,” said Kent Bazemore.
Utah’s Kyle Kuzma was among the players at the Hawks’ pre-draft workout this morning, Vivlamore tweets. The junior power forward is ranked 59th in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony at DraftExpress.
Rookies Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry are definites for summer league, according to Budenholzer, and they may be joined by Isaia Cordinier, a second-round pick in 2016 who spent this season in France (Twitter link).

Hawks’ Isaia Cordinier To Remain Overseas

July 18th, 2016 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Second-round pick Isaia Cordinier will remain overseas rather than joining the Hawks immediately, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vivlamore reports that Cordinier, who played for Denain-Voltaire last season, will return to France and join Antibes for the coming season.

[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]

Cordinier, the 44th overall pick in this year’s draft, is still just 19 years old, so it’s no surprise that the Hawks want him to get a little more seasoning overseas. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com had reported in the wake of the draft that Cordinier may be joining Antibes, his hometown team, for the 2016/17 campaign, with an eye toward signing with Atlanta a year from now.

According to Givony, Cordinier had received a promise from a team drafting in the late-30s or early-40s, but that team reneged on the promise at the last minute. Givony referred to it as an “ugly story,” noting that Cordinier’s camp had even told other teams not to draft him, since he was guaranteed to be brought to the NBA immediately. Fortunately for the French shooting guard, he didn’t slip too far, and may just spend one more season playing international ball before joining the Hawks.

This past season, Cordinier appeared in 32 French League games for Denain-Voltaire, averaging 10.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.0 APG, with a shooting line of .503/.404/.779. His new team, Antibes, plays Pro A ball, as opposed to Pro B ball like Denain-Voltaire, so it will be a step up for Cordinier, who was a member of the Hawks’ Summer League squad this month.

Southeast Notes: Wall, Durant, Batum, Ibaka

June 26th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

John Wall thinks fan overreaction may have discouraged Kevin Durant from considering the Wizards in free agency, relays J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Because Durant hails from the Washington, D.C., area, the Wizards were once thought to have a chance at landing him, but they aren’t among the seven teams expected to meet with Durant after free agency begins on Friday. “A lot of people will be devastated. But at the end of the day he never promised us anything,” Wall said. “Every day, everybody said KD-to-DC, coming to our games wearing all the Kevin Durant stuff, he didn’t like it at that time because you should cheer for the team that you got.”

There’s more news out of the Southeast Division:

Of the Hornets‘ five free agents, Nicolas Batum is most likely to return next season, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Bonnell sees a 70% likelihood that Batum remains with in Charlotte, and GM Rich Cho has said keeping him is the team’s top offseason priority. Bonnell believs the Hornets will need to offer a five-year deal at more than $20MM per season to be sure of re-signing Batum. For the rest of the team’s free agents, Bonnell puts the chances of keeping Marvin Williams at 50%, Jeremy Lin at 40%, Al Jefferson at 25% and Courtney Lee at 20%.
The Magic made good on their promise to be aggressive in trying to acquire veteran help when they pulled off a deal for Serge Ibaka, writes Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. The trade may have been necessary because of the impending free agency of shooting guards Evan Fournier, who will hit the market this summer, and Victor Oladipo, who was shipped to Oklahoma City in the deal and will become a free agent in 2017. The Magic didn’t expect to re-sign both, according to Taylor, and didn’t want to lose them without getting something in return.
French shooting guard Isaia Cordinier, who was taken by Atlanta with the No. 44 pick in the draft, will probably play next season in France and join the Hawks for 2017/18, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Givony says Cordinier had a draft promise from a team in the late 30s or early 40s, but that team changed its mind and took someone else (Twitter link). Cordinier was expecting to join that franchise immediately and had asked other teams not to draft him (Twitter link).

Central Notes: Blatt, Butler, Draft Workouts

June 17th, 2016 at 10:16am CST by Eddie Scarito

Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt is still bitter about his ouster in Cleveland, as he told Ynet.com (h/t Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com). “I can’t think of any reason in the world [that he was fired],” Blatt said. “Maybe for them, thinking forward, I wasn’t the person to lead. It hurt me very bad. It surprised me, I didn’t feel well, but you move on. There are disappointments in life, the question is what do you do when you take a blow. I could have coached in the NBA next season. It’s more about timing . Sometimes great coaches have to sit outside. I didn’t fail in my job, I failed keeping my job ”

Blatt also admitted that he could have dealt with LeBron James differently, noting that he didn’t quite grasp the NBA power structure that places players first. “You have to learn to work with people like him, not manage him,” Blatt said. “This takes time. There are a lot of things I would have done differently, with him included. In the reality of the NBA and this team, there is no doubt that LeBron is the center. He is the cornerstone of the club, there is no doubt that LeBron was more important to the system than me. ”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

On Thursday, the Bucks held a group workout for Malachi Richardson (Syracuse), Isaia Cordinier (France), Stefan Moody (Mississippi), Maodo Lo (Columbia), Georges Niang (Iowa State) and Guerschon Yabusele (Rouen), Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Working out for the Pacers today will be Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Yogi Ferrell (Indiana), Brice Johnson (North Carolina), Niang, and Ante Zizic (Croatia), Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star relays (via Twitter).
Despite the rumors of discord between himself and Derrick Rose, Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler believes the pair can be dominant on the court together moving forward, as he told Bill Simmons of The Ringer (audio link). “I think us being one in the same player, maybe I’m a little taller, he’s a little faster, we can both attack the rim,” Butler explained. “We can both beat our guy and then get shots for other players. Finish at the rim, midrange and we can both really guard to tell you truth. Get out in the open floor. There are so many things that we have in common that when we utilize those things and play together like that, I think we can be just as unguardable as anybody else.”

Draft Notes: Maker, Luwawu, Cordinier

June 16th, 2016 at 10:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held in Brooklyn, New York next Thursday:

The Nuggets have a group workout scheduled on Friday for Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova), Isaia Cordinier (France), Petr Cornelie (France) and Majok Deng (Louisiana-Monroe), the team announced via press release.
Denver held an individual workout today for swingman Timothe Luwawu, the team announced. The Frenchman averaged 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals in 31.1 minutes for Mega Leks of the Serbian League this past season.
The Hornets have a group workout scheduled for Friday with Thon Maker (Australia), Marcus Paige (North Carolina), Joel Bolomboy (Weber State), Patricio Garino (George Washington) and Melvin Johnson (VCU), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter).
Former Auburn small forward Tyler Harris has a workout scheduled with the Raptors on Sunday, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (Twitter link).

Western Draft Notes: Pelicans, Nuggets, Wolves

June 14th, 2016 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans had a large workout group in on Monday, with a dozen players earning a look from the club. According to the team (via Twitter), the following players participated in the workout: Isaia Cordinier (France), Troy Williams (Indiana), Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Jake Layman (Maryland), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Wayne Selden (Kansas), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Yogi Ferrell (Indiana), Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin), Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), Prince Ibeh (Texas), and Perry Ellis (Kansas).

While none of those prospects figures to come off the board at No. 6, when the Pelicans make their first selection, many of them could be in play in the second round — New Orleans currently holds the 39th and 40th overall picks, and is doing its due diligence on potential second-round prospects.

Let’s check in on a few more draft updates from around the Western Conference…

The Nuggets, armed with three top-20 picks, will work out former Michigan State forward Deyonta Davis on Wednesday morning, the team announced today in a press release. We profiled Davis, the 10th prospect on DraftExpress.com’s big board, in April, noting that Denver could be a fit. The Nuggets are also expected to bring in Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono for a workout later this week, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post.
The Timberwolves, who have the fifth overall pick in the draft, had Jamal Murray in for an individual workout on Monday, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops passes along a pair of updates, reporting (via Twitter) that Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga) worked out with the Jazz on Monday, and that Xavier’s James Farr participated in a group workout with the Thunder today.
The Clippers will work out Dayton’s Dyshawn Pierre, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link). Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link) adds former Kansas forward Cheick Diallo to the list of prospects that will work out with the Clips.
Former Iona guard A.J. English has a workout lined up with the Warriors, tweets Camerato.

And-Ones: Robinson, Bargnani, Draft, Dunn

June 13th, 2016 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA guard Nate Robinson, who has expressed interest in making the leap from the NBA to the NFL, is getting his first shot at an audition. According to Master Tesfatsion and Mike Jones of The Washington Post, Robinson is trying out for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks on Monday, getting a look from the team as a defensive back.

Robinson, who last appeared on an NBA court in a couple games for the Pelicans this past season, is only 5’9″ and turned 32 last month, so the idea of him earning a spot on an NFL roster seems far-fetched. However, the Seattle native did play football at the University of Washington in 2002, playing 13 games at cornerback. For more on Robinson’s pursuit of an NFL roster spot, check out the story from our sister site, Pro Football Rumors.

Here are a few more Monday odds and ends:

Former No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, who is expected to consider NBA and international opportunities this offseason, has some interest in playing in Spain next season, sources tell Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Bargnani is also drawing interest from Turkey’s Darussafaka Dogus, who are now being coached by David Blatt.
Spanish forward Juan Hernangomez, French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, and French wing Isaia Cordinier are keeping their names in the draft, reports ESPN’s Chad Ford (all Twitter links). Hernangomez and Yabusele could come off the board in the first round, while Cordinier, who hopes to play in the NBA right away, projects as a second-rounder.
As international early entrants make their decisions on whether or not to remain in the draft, one NCAA underclassmen has made an interesting decision of his own. According to Ford, Providence point guard Kris Dunn has refused to work out for NBA teams unless he’s given the opportunity to compete one-on-one against Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, or Jamal Murray. As such, Dunn has yet to work out for any clubs.
Dragan Bender‘s previously-reported workouts with the Timberwolves, Suns, and Celtics will take place on June 16th, 18th, and 21st, respectively, tweets international basketball reporter David Pick.
Brad Ames, a player agent working for Priority Sports & Entertainment, has relinquished his certification as an NBA player rep, the NBPA’s Daren Jenkins tells Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Morey, Durant, Pelicans, Grizzlies

June 12th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets already have several players on their roster who fit new coach Mike D’Antoni’s style, GM Daryl Morey told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Appearing as a guest on Wojnarowski’s podcast, Morey said D’Antoni has a very positive reputation with players and agents around the league because they know players can put up good offensive numbers in his system. “I think a lot of what we went through last year is guys weren’t as engaged on defense,” Morey said. “That’s because we were struggling from A to Z, and that impacted our defense overall.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets are still hoping to meet with free agent Kevin Durant next month, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein reported this week that Houston isn’t among the teams that Durant is considering.
The Pelicans have workouts scheduled for 12 players Monday, according to John Reid of The Times-Picayune. On the list are French stars Isaia Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele, along with Troy Williams of Indiana, Michael Gbinije of Syracuse, Jake Layman of Maryland, Wayne Seldon Jr. of Kansas, Gary Payton II of Oregon State, Yogi Ferrell of Indiana, Thomas Walkup of Stephen F. Austin, Kaleb Tarczewski of Arizona, Prince Ibeh of Texas and Perry Ellis of Kansas. New Orleans has the sixth pick in the first round and the 39th and 40th selections in the second round.
The Grizzlies held a workout today for Ben Bentil of Providence, Isaiah Cousins of Oklahoma, Brice Johnson of North Carolina, Payton, Malachi Richardson of Syracuse and Selden, according to Grizzlies.com. Memphis holds picks No. 17 and 57.
Johnson could be the young power forward the Grizzlies need, speculates Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Zach Randolph will turn 35 this summer, and Jarell Martin and JaMychal Green haven’t shown they can handle the position, Tillery writes. At 6’10” and 210 pounds, Johnson has a mixture of size and skills that makes him an intriguing prospect.