Javale Mcgee Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: McGee, ‘Melo, Thomas, Brown

February 23rd, 2015 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers don’t want a buyout with JaVale McGee, and he doesn’t want one either, notes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Still, coach Brett Brown indicated that the center has to prove his worth.

“We are coming into this whole thing with an open mind,” Brown said. “He is around a bunch of genuine people, coaches that care. That will give him every chance to keep moving and to be as good as he can be. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But it’s not going to be on us.”

McGee, who’s making $23.25MM combined this year and next, has four points and five rebounds in 24 total minutes across two games with the Sixers so far. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The reason that Phil Jackson estimates that Carmelo Anthony will be out of action for four to six months instead of the eight-week timetable Anthony mentioned previously is because of a partial tear in Anthony’s left patellar tendon, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks star played with that tear most of the season, according to Berman.
The first call Danny Ainge placed to a free agent this past July was to Isaiah Thomas, Ainge told reporters, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Of course, the Celtics lost out on Thomas this summer but wound up with him via Thursday’s trade with the Suns.
Lionel Hollins has consistently expressed enthusiasm about rookie Markel Brown in spite of his lack of playing time for the Nets, but now injuries to others and a stylistic shift have Brown seeing more minutes, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines. The shooting guard drafted 44th overall this past June is without guaranteed salary for next season.

Hinkie On: Carter-Williams, McGee, Draft

February 20th, 2015 at 11:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers GM Sam Hinkie spoke with reporters on Friday about the trades he has made this season, and what they mean to his franchise moving forward. The entire press conference was transcribed by John Smallwood of The Philadelphia Daily News, and here are some of the highlights.

When asked about taking on salaries to acquire draft picks, Hinkie said:

“One of the ways we are trying to build our team is to try and transact with other teams and to try to help other teams to solve their problems. That’s exactly the kind of deal we’ve been out looking at and been transacting throughout the year, which is ways in which we might use our cap space to help other teams and ways they might help us with our future. After much back and forth, we agreed to take JaVale McGee if they would include the Oklahoma City pick.“

On trading Michael Carter-Williams:

“Michael kind exploded on his introduction into the NBA with that steal and dunk to start against Miami. From that moment, people have called and assumed we might move him and assumed that maybe they could get their hands on him. We said the same thing every time – we’re not interested in moving him. We like him. The only way we would ever move him was if someone blew us away. We rejected offer after offer over the last year or more, but something came along that we think is really interesting and really scarce, which was that pick from the Lakers. Those picks do not move around very much. It is almost impossible to get your hands on a pick that at least has a chance to be a high lottery pick. In the end, that made us decide it was the right thing to do to move our program forward.”

When asked why a conditional draft pick was worth more than a former Rookie of the Year, Hinkie responded:

“It is how you think about uncertainty. Do you think about uncertainty as scary and something to be afraid of? Or do you think try to look at it as, where are the opportunities there to make our team better? It’s not about Michael at all. I think Michael has a very bright future is this league. It is still necessary for someone to look at the tough decisions we have to make to move our program forward. Michael did nothing wrong. It is possible for two things to be really valuable – both Michael and something else.”

On which of the possible three protected first-round picks the team owns that Hinkie expects to have available for the 2015 draft:

“Gut feeling, my guess is the Lakers pick is very unlikely to convey this year, for a whole host of reasons. The Oklahoma City pick , I would give it loosely 30/70 odds of conveying this year. I think it’s much more likely to convey next year. I think the Miami pick is increasingly likely to convey this year.“

Sixers Notes: McGee, Carter-Williams, Hinkie

February 20th, 2015 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers haven’t decided on what the future holds for newly acquired big man JaVale McGee, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes (Twitter link). Speaking about McGee, GM Sam Hinkie said, “We’ll see what happens. He may have a fresh start here but he was moved in large part because of the pick.” Philadelphia received the Thunder’s 2015 first-round draft pick in the trade.

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

Hinkie indicated that the Sixers had not been actively looking to deal Michael Carter-Williams, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. “The only way we would ever move him was if someone blew us away … and something came along,” Hinkie said. The the Sixers garnered the Lakers’ top-5 protected 2015 first round pick in the deal for MCW.
The Sixers’ personnel strategy is focused on having options, Pompey writes in a separate article. When asked if he cared more about acquiring assets than developing players, Hinkie said, “I believe a lot in optionality – a lot. I believe a lot in flexible. I believe a lot in making a decision as late as you possibly can to gain as much information as you can.”
The GM spoke further on the decision to deal Carter-Williams, saying, “He only left here because there was a way to move our program forward,” Hinkie said. “Not for any other reason, and he did nothing wrong. It is possible for two things to be really valuable, both Michael and something else,” Pompey relays.
Hinkie has proven once again that he’ll trade any player if a team meets his asking price, Moore writes in a separate piece. If the Sixers didn’t believe Carter-Williams was a player who they could build around, the trade was a smart move, Moore opines. But the team continually dealing younger players away for future picks is just delaying the rebuilding process even further, Moore adds.
The Sixers’ front office needs for Joel Embiid to develop into a very good player and a number of their acquired draft picks to turn into stars, Rich Hofmann of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. After the last two seasons of perceived tanking, the Sixers’ fan base will turn on the team if Hinkie’s rebuilding plan fails, Hofmann adds.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Afflalo, Jackson

February 20th, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Blazers GM Neil Olshey made it clear that Thursday’s trade for Arron Afflalo was a product of the team’s emphasis on the present, as he told reporters and as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman transcribes.

“It’s one of the things about our league; you can’t be a development team and a winning team,” Olshey said. “They’re not always independent of one another, but they’re more independent than people would like to admit.”

All five Northwest Division teams made trades Thursday, and that included two deals in which Northwest teams hooked up with each other. We rounded up the latest on the Wolves, the lone team that didn’t make an intradivision trade, earlier today, and now here’s what’s happening in the rest of the division:

The Nuggets expected that Afflalo would command $9-10MM a year in a new contract this summer, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. The new Blazers shooting guard has a player option likely worth $7.75MM for next season, up from his base salary of $7.5MM. That’s because playing with Portland means he’ll probably trigger the bonus for making the playoffs that’s part of his contract, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
There were strong feelings in the Nuggets organization that the presence of JaVale McGee negatively influenced a “winning culture,” Mannix also writes in the same piece.
Reggie Jackson sat out a game at the beginning of the season because he was disappointed the Thunder didn’t trade him, a source tells Royce Young of ESPN.com, who delves into the frayed relationship between Jackson and his now former Thunder teammates.
The development of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors and the desire for cap flexibility motivated the Jazz’s decision to trade Enes Kanter, not Kanter’s trade request, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey insists, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune relays.
Dorell Wright, a free agent at season’s end, would prefer re-signing with the Blazers over a deal with any other NBA team, as he tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders.
There’s a decent chance Tibor Pleiss, the draft-and-stash prospect whom the Jazz acquired Thursday from the Thunder, leaves his Spanish team soon, making him available to sign with Utah, a source indicated to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Pleiss, a center, is currently under contract through 2016, as our draft rights held database shows.

Sixers, McGee To Work Buyout?

February 19th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

8:07pm: Philadelphia has no intention of discussing a buyout arrangement with McGee, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.

5:15pm: The Sixers and JaVale McGee are headed for a buyout, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media believes (Twitter link). McGee was acquired by Philadelphia from the Nuggets earlier today along with the Thunder’s 2015 first-round pick and the rights to Nigerian forward Chu Chu Maduabum in exchange for the rights to draft-and-stash prospect Cenk Akyol.

The 27-year-old center out of Nevada is earning $11.25MM this season, and is scheduled to make $12MM for the 2015/16 campaign. It’s unclear how much of next year’s fully guaranteed salary Philadelphia would be willing to absorb if the team decided to waive McGee as part of a buyout agreement. With McGee’s injury history it would be a bit surprising to see him give up a major chunk of next year’s salary, though that is just my speculation.

McGee missed most of the 2013/14 campaign due to a stress fracture in his leg and has also missed time this year because of an injury in the same area. The big man has only appeared in a grand total of 22 games for the Nuggets over the last two seasons. The athletic 7-footer has career averages of 8.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks. McGee’s career slash line is .541/.200/.587.

Sixers Acquire JaVale McGee, First-Rounder

February 19th, 2015 at 2:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:41pm: The deal is official, the Nuggets announced. It’s McGee, the rights to Maduabum, and the first-rounder that Oklahoma City owed the Nuggets heading to Philly in exchange for the rights to Akyol.

1:07pm: The Sixers also received the rights to Nigerian forward Chu Chu Maduabum from Denver in the trade, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

11:29am: The rights to draft-and-stash prospect Cenk Akyol are headed from the Sixers to the Nuggets, tweets Orazio Cauchi of Sportando.

11:17am: Denver will get the rights to one of the foreign players stashed overseas by the Sixers, a source tells Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (via Twitter). Mannix also notes that the Nuggets will create a sizable trade exception in the deal.

10:58am: The Nuggets and Sixers have agreed to send JaVale McGee to Philly, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) Wojnarowski had just reported that the sides were deep in talks (Twitter link). Philadelphia gets the Thunder’s 2015 first-round pick, which Denver picked up in the Timofey Mozgov trade last month, according to Wojnarowski. Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported moments earlier that the Nuggets were closing in on a trade involving McGee.

McGee missed most of 2013/14 thanks to stress fracture in his leg and has also missed time this year because of an injury in the same area. Across the last two seasons, McGee has played in a grand total of 22 games for the Nuggets. The high-flying 7-footer has career averages of 8.5 PPG and 5.6 RPG. His best season arguably came in 2011/12, split between the Wizards and Nuggets, where he averaged 11.3 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 25.2 minutes per night.

Denver reportedly wanted to move McGee more than any other player on the roster. They tried repeatedly to swing a deal for Brook Lopez with the Nets involving McGee, but that never came to fruition.

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Thunder, Lopez

February 16th, 2015 at 1:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most around the league expect LaMarcus Aldridge to re-sign with the Trail Blazers this coming summer, as he said he would, but an executive from an opposing team told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the Blazers are “very, very scared” that he’ll walk in free agency. The exec cautioned that it’s probably just “paranoid” thinking on their part, but this weekend, peppered with questions from the New York media, Aldridge praised Phil Jackson, the city of New York, and said he’d be a fit for the triangle offense, Deveney notes. The power forward has largely declined to talk specifics about his upcoming free agency since just before training camp, when he repeated his intention to re-sign with Portland. Here’s more from a busy Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams are off-limits for the Thunder, but the team is open to trading everyone else for the right offer, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
It’s unlikely the Nuggets trade Jameer Nelson, in spite of interest from the Wizards, Heat and Cavs, given GM Tim Connelly‘s long-held desire to have the point guard on the team, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post,
The Nuggets would like to trade JaVale McGee more than any other player on their roster, but the team is making Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic untouchable for any deal, Dempsey adds in the same piece. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also reported today that Nurkic is off-limits.
The Blazers would like to add a small forward, given Nicolas Batum‘s inconsistency this season, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings.
Sources tell Kennedy they believe the Timberwolves are open to trading some of their veterans for the right return (Twitter link). Still, president of basketball operations and coach Flip Saunders has said he doesn’t intend to do any more deals.
The Blazers and Pelicans are worth keeping an eye on as the Wolves continue to try to honor Chase Budinger‘s trade request, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

Nuggets Offer Hickson, McGee For Lopez

February 2nd, 2015 at 12:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

12:11pm: The Nets and Nuggets haven’t spoken about Lopez in a week, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

MONDAY, 7:47am: Denver’s offer included one of the 2015 first-round picks the team received in return for Timofey Mozgov last month, sources tell Stein, who writes in a full piece. The Mozgov trade gives Denver the rights to Oklahoma City’s first-round pick this year if it’s No. 19 or lower and Memphis’ first-rounder if it’s anywhere from No. 6 to No. 14.

FRIDAY, 11:20pm: The Nuggets are continuing to attempt to pry Brook Lopez away from the Nets, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Denver has been offering Brooklyn a package of JaVale McGee and J.J. Hickson for Lopez, a deal that the Nets have firmly refused, Stein adds. Chris Mannix of SI.com had reported earlier today that the Nuggets were pursuing Lopez, but were unwilling to part with Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler in a trade. Denver had reportedly expressed interest in acquiring Lopez earlier this month as well.

Denver’s proposed swap would work under the salary cap rules without requiring any additional players to be included. Hickson is making $5,381,750 for this season and is set to earn $5,613,500 in 2015/16. McGee’s 2014/15 salary is $11.25MM, and he is due $12MM for the following season. On the Nets side of the would-be deal, Lopez is earning $15,019,762 this year, and has a player option for 2015/16 for $16,744,218.

The oft-injured McGee has only appeared in 15 games this season for the Nuggets. He is averaging 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest. His career numbers are 8.5 PPG and 5.6 RPG. His slash line is .542/.200/.586 in 374 career games. The 29-year-old Hickson has appeared in 39 games for Denver, including five as a starter. He is logging 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. His shooting numbers for the season are .494/.000/.618.

Lopez has been the subject of numerous trade rumors the past few weeks. The Thunder, Hornets and the Nets were reportedly close to a three-way deal for the center, but the Nets decided that they didn’t want Lance Stephenson in return. The Heat were also noted to have made a bid for Lopez, offering Brooklyn a proposal that reportedly included Chris Andersen, Norris Cole and Josh McRoberts. The organization appears to be undecided on whether or not to keep Lopez, but it will likely take a more enticing package than Denver had offered in McGee and Hickson for Brooklyn to budge, though that is just my speculation.

Atlantic Notes: Garnett, Lopez, ‘Melo, Sampson

February 2nd, 2015 at 9:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors have a whopping 14-game lead in the Atlantic Division, leaving the intrigue for the bottom of the division. The Knicks and Sixers are tied for last place in the division and, as our Reverse Standings show, for the second spot in the draft lottery. The future is the focus for those teams, but time may be running short for another prominent name in the Atlantic, as we detail:

Kevin Garnett says he’s “all in” with the Nets, and while he downplayed the idea of buying out his contract, he won’t rule it out, as Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal writes. “I don’t know what management is going to do,” Garnett said. “When my situation comes up, I’ll obviously give it some attention. Other than that, my attention is trying to get us on a winning streak, get us on a road where everybody’s playing together.”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post believes JaVale McGee would be part of any Nets-Nuggets swap involving Brook Lopez, no matter the other parts involved.
The “prevailing theory” is that Carmelo Anthony will sit out for the balance of the season once the All-Star break is over to rest his sore knee, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. For what it’s worth, the Knicks star won’t commit to playing in mid-March, Berman notes.
The Sixers had considered sending JaKarr Sampson on D-League assignment a couple of weeks ago, but two strong defensive games led the team to move him into the starting lineup instead, coach Brett Brown said, as Max Rappaport of Sixers.com writes. Sampson, an undrafted rookie, is in the first year of a four-year contract that doesn’t include any guaranteed money beyond this season.

Mannix’s Latest: Allen, Lopez, Nuggets, Thunder

January 30th, 2015 at 11:17am CST by Chuck Myron

People around the league increasingly believe that Ray Allen already knows the team he would like to play for this season, and that he’s simply deciding whether he wants to play at all, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Allen has hinted within the past two weeks that he’s coming back to the NBA, but another more recent report indicated that he’s enjoying time with his family. Mannix has a ton of noteworthy items in his latest weekly column, many of them with a Thunder-centric theme, and we’ll hit the highlights here.

The Nuggets are still trying to pry Brook Lopez from the Nets with a package centered on JaVale McGee, according to Mannix. Still, Denver doesn’t want to put Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler into any deal, Mannix cautions.
The Thunder are willing to go deep into the luxury tax this season to acquire Lopez, the SI.com scribe writes. Oklahoma City is unwilling to give up any of its top present-day talent, nor will the team make a move that damages its future as the Thunder look for trade partners who are “desperate,” an opposing GM tells Mannix.
Reggie Jackson turned down an extension offer from Oklahoma City that would have made him the most highly paid backup in the NBA, a source tells Mannix. Just what sort of salary that would have meant is unclear, since Amar’e Stoudemire has made more appearances off the bench than he has starts on a deal that gives him in excess of $23.4MM this season. Some teams believed at the beginning of the season that there was a decent chance that Jackson would command offers of between $13MM and $14MM in restricted free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October.
Several executives from around the NBA believe it’s conceivable that a five-year max deal for Kevin Durant will be worth some $200MM when he hits free agency in 2016, according to Mannix. Durant will be eligible for a max worth about 35% of the salary cap as a 10-year veteran that summer. Those execs also believe that Durant likes playing in Oklahoma City, as he’s said, Mannix writes.
Markieff Morris believes he and brother Marcus Morris might have made more money in restricted free agency this summer if they hadn’t signed extensions with the Suns, but Markieff can’t envision ever playing without his twin again, as he tells Mannix.