Kevin Durant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kevin Durant Brushes Aside Lakers Rumors

October 2nd, 2015 at 2:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:14pm: Smith, in his response to Durant, identifies the Thunder and the Lakers as well as the Heat, Wizards, and Knicks as the teams he’s heard Durant is considering (Twitlonger link).

FRIDAY, 12:25pm: Durant made it clear that he finds no truth to the rumor, as he explained to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater. “I don’t talk to Stephen A. Smith at all,” Durant said to Slater. “No one in my family [or] my friends do. So he’s lying.”

THURSDAY, 8:20am: Kevin Durant would prefer the Lakers over other teams in free agency next summer if he is to leave the Thunder, as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith hears (YouTube link; transcription via Glenn Erby of BlackSportsOnline), and as Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports 1 corroborates. Smith also hears that the possibility of Durant teaming up with Kobe Bryant to join Carmelo Anthony is in play, though he suggests that the notion is a long shot. It’s not entirely clear whether that scenario would play out on the Knicks or the Lakers.

Most of the executives who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com this summer told him they expect Durant will re-sign with the Thunder, with the Lakers, Mavericks and Wizards among the few alternatives with a legitimate chance at the former MVP and the Knicks on the fringe of the picture. Durant said this week that he’s “hit it off” with new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, adding to the idea that the incumbent Thunder are the favorites to put pen to paper with Durant this coming July. Rumors are sure to fly between now and then, but Durant put out a word of caution in August, saying that he’d only be discussing his future with a tight circle of advisers and that if reporters drew from other sources, the information wouldn’t be reliable.

Phil Jackson recently raised the idea of Bryant playing with a team other than the Lakers after this coming season, as Smith points out, but Bryant put the kibosh on that, telling Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports recently that, “I bleed purple-and-gold” and, “I am a Laker for better or worse.” Bryant, 37, is also considering retirement at season’s end. Anthony, the Knicks star, is the only one among himself, Bryant and Durant who isn’t a free agent after this season, as his contract doesn’t allow him to elect free agency until 2018. ‘Melo could waive his no-trade clause if he wants to join the Lakers, though both Jackson and the Lakers would have to agree to a deal for that to happen, a prospect further complicated by the 15% trade kicker on Anthony’s contract that the Knicks would have to pay in the event of a swap.

Durant’s projected maximum salary for 2016/17 is $24.9MM, a figure the Thunder can exceed the cap to pay because they have his Bird rights. The Lakers have less than $20MM in commitments for next season against a projected $89MM cap, and the Knicks have about $55MM, meaning both teams are poised to have enough room to make Durant a max offer.

Where do you think Durant ends up? Leave a comment to tell us.

And-Ones: Bender, Wall, Durant, Brown, Lawson

October 1st, 2015 at 1:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

European phenom Dragan Bender will make his U.S. debut in Chicago tonight for Israel Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv for the first of a pair of exhibitions against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors first reported he was likely to do. The 17-year-old has stirred no shortage of excitement, as international journalist David Pick writes for Bleacher Report. Almost all 30 NBA teams are set to scout the contests, with the Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies and Bucks among them, sources tell Pick. Hornets GM Rich Cho will be there, too, tweets Jake Fischer of SI Now. The Nuggets, Sixers and Magic have had talks with Maccabi officials about the 7’1″ power forward, Pick also hears. Bender is well ahead of where 2015 No. 4 overall pick Kristaps Porzingis was at the same age, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress told Pick. Givony has Bender as the fifth-best prospect in next year’s draft, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks him seventh.

“The only thing ’17 years old’ about him is his mustache,” Maccabi coach Guy Goodes said to Pick.

See more on Bender and other NBA news here:

Bender turns 18 next month, so he’ll turn 19 in 2016 and thus be eligible for early entry for the upcoming draft, but it’s not a given that he’ll declare, as Maccabi GM Nikola Vujcic, who also serves as Bender’s guardian, explained to Pick for the same piece. Vujcic suggested to Pick that Bender won’t enter the draft unless he receives a commitment from a team picking in the top three to five selections and suggested that he might decide to stay overseas for a while even if he is drafted.
John Wall says he and Kevin Durant are “really close” and reiterated that he’ll make a recruiting pitch to the former MVP who hits free agency next summer, though he adds that he’ll be cautious not to take an overbearing approach, as the Wizards point guard explains to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
The Nets declined to waive Markel Brown by Tuesday’s guarantee date, so his $200K partial guarantee jumped to a full guarantee on his $845,059 minimum salary, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That gives the Nets 13 fully guaranteed contracts among the 20 players they have in camp.
The Rockets are trying to minimize their risks with Ty Lawson, having told him that they’ll provide a ride for him to any destination at any time, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Lawson, for whom Houston traded this summer despite two DUI arrests in six months, has been on his best behavior so far, Aldridge notes.

Southeast Notes: Scott, Fournier, Williams

September 30th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks forward Mike Scott spoke publicly Monday for the first time since his arrest this summer on felony drug charges. The veteran would not discuss details of the case, but did note that the gym has been a sanctuary during the past few months, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution relays. “I just come in every day and compete,” Scott said at Hawks media day. “Joke around and laugh with my teammates. This is kind of been my sanctuary for the summer. I come into the gym and work hard and put everything behind me. Then when in I get back to the locker room I’ll look at my phone and I’ll be ‘Oh, right. I forgot.’ Coming into the gym every day, working out with my teammates, is something that has been great for me.”

Scott did acknowledge that his situation has embarrassed the Hawks’ organization, Vivlamore adds. “I don’t like to make other people look bad,” Scott said. “I don’t like to embarrass people. I don’t want to feel embarrassed. I thought it made us look bad a little bit. I take full responsibility for that. Moving on.”

Here’s the latest out of the Southeast Division:

Evan Fournier is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Magic prior to this year’s deadline, and he’d welcome a new deal if the parameters made sense, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “It would be awesome,” Fournier said when asked about a possible extension. “But, to be honest, I don’t even think about it because that’s not in my power. That’s not in my hands. Right now I’m focused on getting healthy and just being back on the court. But, yeah, it would be awesome, man.“
John Wall would be happy to assist the Wizards in recruiting Kevin Durant, who is set to become a restricted free agent next summer, Royce Young of ESPN.com relays. “There’s gonna be an opportunity to throw a pitch at him to try to get him to come back home,” Wall told CSNMidAtlantic.com. “But I know one thing of just knowing him, he’s going to be very focused on taking care of Oklahoma City this season, and I’m going to be focused on taking care of the Washington Wizards. But when the time is right and he can get away from all that, yeah, we’ll probably have some conversation and throw a pitch.“
Hornets coach Steve Clifford doesn’t expect the role of Marvin Williams will be diminished despite the offseason additions of Frank Kaminsky, Tyler Hansbrough, and Spencer Hawes, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “He’ll play the majority of his minutes at [power forward], but he could play [small forward] some nights depending on matchups,” Clifford said of Williams. “He’ll space the floor and be a very good defender. He adds versatility because he can switch [defensively] with some of the perimeter guys. Really the way the NBA is going he’s becoming the prototypical [power forward] now — 6’8″ or 6’9″, can make 3s and guard different guys.”
Mario Chalmers, who was the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason, leaned on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for support to get through the uncertainty surrounding his future with the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “LeBron and D-Wade are my two closest people when I’ve got things going on in my mind,” Chalmers said. “I talked to those two in the summer and it really helped ease my mind. Bron, big brother, he told me, ‘Don’t worry — it’s a business.’”

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Faried, Durant

September 29th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen said that the team has moved on from the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs this summer, and that he is excited for what the future holds for the franchise, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays. When asked if he felt betrayed by Aldridge, Allen said, “No. I think LaMarcus had a lot of options. We went down to Dallas, [GM] Neil [Olshey] and I pitched him and he chose to go a different direction. We made it to his last few choices and he was good enough to call me up and explain his decision and all that. It’s tough for a franchise, because we were all thinking that we had a real shot at getting him back. But in the end, he chose to go a different direction and now it’s a new day. We’ve moved on and I think you can feel the excitement and the energy in the gym now.”

Allen said he enjoys the process of developing younger players, which makes the team’s current transitional period easier on him, Freeman adds. “It’s always a transition. I’m always trying to figure out how many times we’ve done a rebuild here. I think three. But you guys will probably correct me on that, I’m sure. I probably, more than a lot of owners, enjoy seeing young players develop. Always have. Always will. And that’s also been a hallmark of other teams like the Seahawks that I’ve been involved with. So seeing young players develop and I think if you watch some of the players that Neil has brought in here, we’ve been very lucky to be able to bring those in and be able to pivot from being a playoff team to being a team that’s going through a transition to hopefully being back in the playoffs before too long. So we’ll see.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The deals that Talib Zanna, Dez Wells, and Julyan Stone signed with the Thunder are all one-year, minimum salary arrangements that include no guaranteed salary, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Omari Johnson‘s pact with the Blazers is a one year deal for the league minimum and includes no guaranteed salary, Pincus relays (via Twitter).
Difficulties between Kenneth Faried and former coach Brian Shaw negatively impacted the forward’s performance for the Nuggets last season, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. “If you don’t have a coach that believes in you, then what’s the point of going out there and playing?” Faried said. “If your coach doesn’t have faith in you and puts you out in the fire against all these great players, you’re going to get torched.“
Kevin Durant is a fan of new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman tweets. Of Donovan, Durant said, “Great basketball mind, but more importantly, a better person. We’ve hit it off.” With Durant eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, any added incentive for him to remain in Oklahoma City is certainly a boon for the franchise.
After a breakout season in 2014/15 for the Jazz, Gordon Hayward needs to become a better closer at the end of games in order to take his next step forward as a star player, Aaron Falk, Tony Jones and Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune write.

Injury Notes: Jennings, Melo, Durant, Love

September 21st, 2015 at 8:17pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Brandon Jennings is “not close” to being cleared, sources tell David Aldridge of NBA.com. He is currently shooting and running on a treadmill at 60% of his body weight, but the Pistons need to see more before he’s cleared to begin non-contact drill on the court, Aldridge adds. Jennings ruptured his left Achilles tendon last January and the Pistons have made a few additions at the point guard position since. Detroit traded for Reggie Jackson at last season’s deadline and handed him a five year, $80MM deal this offseason. The team also added Steve Blake to reinforce the position. Jennings will make slightly over $8.34MM during the 2015/16 season, which is the last year of his current deal.

Here are some more injury notes that Aldridge passed along in his column:

Carmelo Anthony looks like he’ll be ready for the start of training camp. He has been playing full-court, 5-on-5 with his Knicks teammates for the last few weeks.
Kevin Durant has been cleared to participate in training camp. The expectation is that he will be ready to handle a full workload of minutes once the regular season starts.
Kevin Love has not yet been officially cleared to return from a dislocated left shoulder injury that he sustained in the first round of the playoffs last season, but he has made significant progress.
New addition Wesley Matthews has not done any full-court work yet, but the expectation is that he will be cleared to start doing some work on the floor when Dallas opens camp next week.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Holiday, Magic

September 18th, 2015 at 9:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards are hoping that their $55MM Entertainment and Sports Arena which, when construction is completed, will serve as their practice facility, among other uses, will be a powerful lure for free agents, especially Kevin Durant, who is set to hit the open market next summer, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com writes. Team owner Ted Leonsis also plans to add a D-League affiliate in the near future that will play in the new facility, Youngmisuk adds. Washington is currently operating without its own D-League affiliate.

“The Wizards would have a world-class practice facility and our fans would be able to watch practice,” Leonsis said. “And then we would attach to that facility a mini arena that would be really state of the art, maybe seat 3,000 to 5,000 people and we can do charity events there and have some preseason games there and maybe the Washington Mystics would play some games there. And we’d then also want to bring a D-League team there to the community and we would program it to put it in a part of the city that can really use hundreds of jobs,” he added. “Verizon Center is credited with helping turn around downtown D.C. and we think we can do it again in another community that needs a bear hug and some transformation.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks have officially named Michael Blackstone as assistant GM, John Treloar as Director of Player Personnel, Malik Rose as Manager of Basketball Operations, Dotun Akinwale as Manager of Scouting, Matt Elijah as Manager of Basketball Administration, Daniel Starkman as Coordinator of Basketball Operations and David Painter as Director of Basketball Facilities, the team announced (h/t to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who first reported the moves).
The Magic have an intriguing collection of talent on paper, though it remains to be seen how well the players will mesh together on the court, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) writes in his season preview. Orlando has enough firepower to make the postseason, but it may take another season before the team gets there, Bontemps concludes.
Justin Holiday is itching to assume a larger role with the Hawks than he had on a stacked Warriors squad in 2014/15, KL Chouinard of NBA.com writes in a profile of the guard. The 26-year-old appeared in 59 contests for Golden State last season, but only averaged 11.1 minutes of action per night. Holiday inked a two year pact with Atlanta this offseason.

Central Notes: Bucks, Jackson, Turner

September 18th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks signed Greg Monroe to a max contract this summer, but he’s probably not the best player on Milwaukee’s roster, Shaun Powell of NBA.com posits as he examines the team’s offseason. Still, bringing him aboard did much to enhance the franchise’s image, and while the Bucks don’t have a realistic shot at Kevin Durant next summer, their standing with top free agents around the league has improved, Powell believes. It worked out well enough for GM John Hammond to receive an extension this week, so while we wait to see if Milwaukee can keep it up, see more from the Central Division:

Reggie Jackson‘s struggles with his outside shot elicited questions about the merits of the trade that brought him to Detroit, but to enhance the five-year, $80MM investment they made in Jackson this summer, the Pistons are working with him to improve that part of his game, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details.
Jackson could prove arguably just as valuable as John Wall if he carries the numbers he put up with the Pistons after the trade last season over to the first half of this season, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders opines in the site’s season preview of the Pistons. Wall seemed to express frustration earlier this summer with the timing of the salary cap jump as he pointed out that he and Jackson wound up on similar contracts.
The Pacers spent plenty of free agent money this summer, especially on their four-year, nearly $44MM deal with Monta Ellis, but their top addition came through the draft, as Myles Turner is talented enough to contribute immediately, Brigham writes in the Basketball Insiders Pacers preview.

Northwest Notes: D-League, Wolves, Westbrook

September 11th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The acquisition of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants by the Pacers will certainly change how teams around the NBA without their own affiliates utilize the D-League. The Blazers severed their partnership with the Idaho Stampede, who are now the Jazz‘s affiliate, at the completion of the 2013/14 campaign, but not having a D-League franchise of its own hasn’t hurt Portland’s player development yet, Mike Richman of the Oregonian opines. The franchise was still able to add point guard Tim Frazier last season, who was the D-League’s MVP and Rookie of the Year, despite not having their own affiliate, Richman notes. Establishing its own D-League affiliate isn’t currently a priority for Portland, Richman adds.

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Timberwolves GM Milt Newton, who’s in charge of the team’s front office while Flip Saunders recovers from cancer, wants to add two more players for training camp and he’ll need to unload one of the team’s 16 fully guaranteed contracts before opening night, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Kevin Durant expressed his admiration for what teammate Russell Westbrook was able to accomplish last season with the rash of injuries the Thunder had suffered, including Durant himself missing a total of 55 contests, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes. “It was amazing to see a guy at the point guard position take over the game from all aspects and will his team with his passion, his enthusiasm, his energy on top of his skill,” Durant said. “It was incredible to watch. I was [expletive] I wasn’t out there to help him out. But I could tell he learned a lot and gained a lot of confidence.“
The Nuggets are in for a long, difficult season, but the franchise does possess solid building blocks in Jusuf Nurkic and Emmanuel Mudiay, as well as a revitalized Danilo Gallinari, which should give the team hope for the future, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) in his season preview.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/31/15

August 31st, 2015 at 11:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There was plenty of drama and intrigue regarding this summer’s free agent class, highlighted by All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge signing with the Spurs and the DeAndre Jordan saga, which ultimately left the Mavs fuming and the Clippers rejoicing.

Next summer promises to be another fascinating chapter in the league’s annual player sweepstakes but no other situation bears more watching than Kevin Durant’s decision on his long-term future. Durant, who will make more than $20MM this season, becomes an unrestricted free agent in July. The prospect of one of the league’s true superstars going on the market will have executives and fans around the league salivating. As Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding recently put it, Durant’s foray into the open market is shaping up as the “biggest non-LeBron free agency the NBA has ever seen.”

It’s no secret that the Wizards have been clearing salary-cap space to make a run at the Washington, D.C. native. The Mavs, Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Nets are other teams expected to make a spirited run at Durant. Several other suitors are likely to surface in the Durant sweepstakes by the time next summer rolls around.

Of course, it’s no lock that Durant will change uniforms. If he fully recovers from the foot injuries that plagued him last season, Durant could lead the Thunder to their second appearance in the NBA Finals. The dynamic duo of Durant and Russell Westbrook now has an interior scoring threat with the presence of Enes Kanter, and Serge Ibaka is still around to provide rebounding and defense in the middle. A deep playoff run, perhaps even a championship, could convince Durant to stay right where he is.

Thus, our question of the day is as follows: Will Kevin Durant re-sign with the Thunder or will he change uniforms next summer? If he leaves, which team has the best chance to land his services?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on Durant’s future.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot us a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com.

Western Notes: Durant, Upshaw, Ezeli

August 17th, 2015 at 11:08am CST by Chuck Myron

The pursuit of Kevin Durant next summer is shaping up as the “biggest non-LeBron free agency the NBA has ever seen,” writes Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, but it doesn’t come without doubts. The crack that Durant told Ding that he had in one of the bones in his right foot was an “unthinkable” recurrence of an earlier break, orthopedic surgeon Robert Klapper said to Ding. Klapper nonetheless expressed confidence that the bone will hold together after the latest surgery, and Durant is far from worried, the former MVP must proceed with caution, Ding opines. Still, Durant believes he’s the league’s best player, as he told Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link), and that confidence will be a boon for the Thunder, at least for this coming season, writes The Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson. While we wait to see whether Durant or LeBron James emerges as the most sought-after free agent of the 2016 class, here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Undrafted center Robert Upshaw reportedly reached an agreement with the Lakers a month ago, but Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times hears that he’s merely a possibility for the team, which has no immediate plans to sign him, Pincus adds (Twitter link). GM Mitch Kupchak said late last month that he and Upshaw’s agent, Bill Duffy, were talking but didn’t confirm that the sides had a deal and downplayed any on-court impact that Upshaw might make for the team this season.
Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders compares rookie scale extension candidate Festus Ezeli to Alexis Ajinca, who re-signed with the Pelicans last month for about $19.5MM over four years. Saar, whose piece looks at extension candidates around the NBA, figures Ezeli will wind up with annual salaries of around $5MM. Warriors GM Bob Myers indicated recently that he’d consider an extension for the backup center, but Saar thinks Golden State should wait for him to hit restricted free agency next summer.
Injuries had much to do with the struggles of the league-worst Timberwolves last season, argues fellow Basketball Insiders scribe Ben Dowsett, who names Minnesota one of three under-the-radar teams in the Western Conference. The Wolves have added No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns and went after veterans this summer, re-signing Kevin Garnett and adding Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince.