Kyle Lowry Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Jackson, Antetokounmpo

March 18th, 2014 at 12:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most league insiders think it’s unlikely LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will opt in for another season on their deals with the Heat, though the same people feel like they’ll all sign new deals with Miami for at least one season, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Many feel as though James will stay with the Heat even if Bosh and Wade leave, with the Cavs as the next in line for his services, and all other teams as dark horses. Amico cautioned that his sources are merely making educated guesses, as James has offered few hints. It appears we’ll have to wait until the summer for clarity on that front, but there’s plenty of other news around the Eastern Conference in the interim:

Phil Jackson strongly encouraged Pistons owner Tom Gores to hire Steve Kerr last summer when Detroit instead tapped Maurice Cheeks as coach, according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Jackson has remained an adviser to Gores, though that ostensibly ends with today’s official announcement of the Zen Master as Knicks president.
Most NBA teams thought Giannis Antetokounmpo had a promise from the Hawks that they’d take him with the 17th pick, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri tried “frantically” to trade into the top 15 to draft him before the Bucks snagged him at No. 15. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has the details behind the scramble for the Greek prospect.
Ujiri doesn’t deny that he was close to a deal in December to send Kyle Lowry to the Knicks, observes Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, who examines how a better attitude is enhancing the Raptors point guard’s free agent value for this summer.
The Sixers are unlikely to spend a lot of money in free agency this summer, writes Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com, who thinks that’s a reason why the team should hold on to trade candidate Thaddeus Young.

Eastern Notes: Lowry, Ridnour, Heat

March 15th, 2014 at 11:28am CST by Cray Allred

At his introductory press conference, Paul Pierce said that he would be a “glorified role player” for the Nets. Now, as the Nets ascend the standings without the services of Kevin Garnett, it’s clear that he’s much more than that, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Here’s more from around the East:

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders suspects point guard Kyle Lowry will re-sign with the Raptors this summer for $7-$8MM per year (Twitter link).
Luke Ridnour was happy to leave the Bucks and land with the Bobcats, he tells Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. “I was glad to get out of Milwaukee,” said Ridnour. “It’s a good situation here. I’ve only played five, six games here so I’m trying to get used to it. It’s a good city and I’ve been in the playoffs before, and just to be back in the hunt where every game is big, it’s just a lot different feeling… This has been fun.”
The Bobcats are looking to add a third center now that it appears Brendan Haywood is done for the season, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
In the same tweet, Bonnell says the Heat‘s signing of Justin Hamilton was made due to coach Erik Spoelstra‘s faith in the big man.
Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel writes that Hamilton’s two-year deal is about the future. Winderman sees Hamilton and 2013 first-rounder James Ennis as having a shot to make the Heat’s roster next year, and notes that Pat Riley is scouting college tournaments in looking ahead.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Lakers Rumors: Free Agents, Gasol, Deadline

February 21st, 2014 at 10:22am CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Bresnahan and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times deem the notion of LeBron James joining the Lakers unlikely, note the Lakers’ lack of interest in Carmelo Anthony, and hear that the team isn’t high on Kyle Lowry, either. The Lakers do like Luol Deng, but they don’t want to overpay him, with the focus squarely on Kevin Love and Kevin Durant in the summers of 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“I don’t think that we’ll use our cap money to patch together a team for next year. We’re looking to bring something [big] to Los Angeles,” GM Mitch Kupchak said. “May take more than one year to build, I don’t know. But because we have a lot of money this summer doesn’t mean we’ll spend it all. We’ll spend it wisely.”

Here’s more from the purple-and-gold, who made a single deadline trade despite a multitude of rumors:

Kupchak says the Lakers will “absolutely” consider re-signing Pau Gasol this summer, as Bresnahan and Pincus note in the same piece.
The GM wouldn’t rule out negotiating an extension with Gasol that would keep him from free agency, but Kupchak calls it unlikely, since it would limit the team’s flexibility, tweets Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
The Lakers wound up remaining in tax territory through the deadline in spite of opportunities to escape. Kupchak says making a move purely to cut costs, without enhancing the roster in some way, is “not acceptable” for the Lakers franchise, as Oram also passes along (Twitter link).

Ford’s Latest: Knicks, Rockets, W’s, Pelicans

February 19th, 2014 at 11:32am CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com takes an Insider-only look at the trade market for a handful of teams with little more than 24 hours remaining before Thursday’s 2:00pm Central trade deadline. We’ll round up the highlights here:

The Knicks are shopping Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert and Beno Udrih as they seek to upgrade their point guard spot. Ford mentions Jeremy Lin as a long shot possibility for New York, but Houston is adamant it doesn’t want to give him up. Trading for Lin or Kyle Lowry would require the Knicks to relinquish Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Warriors have been listening to offers for Harrison Barnes, and they’ve gone as far as to counter a few of them, Ford hears. Greg Monroe, Thaddeus Young, Tristan Thompson, Kenneth Faried, John Henson and Amir Johnson all intrigue the W’s as possible targets in exchange for Barnes, Ford writes. Golden State is also enamored with Kevin Love, as most teams around the league are.
Ford describes David Lee as available, too, but he notes there isn’t much of a market for him, which makes sense, given his bloated contract.
Part of the Pelicans‘ motivation for exploring trades for Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans is the feeling that they could fall back into position to snag a top-five pick in this year’s draft if both guys are off the roster, according to Ford. Their first-rounder goes to the Sixers if it’s No. 6 or worse. Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote earlier this morning that New Orleans was looking to move either Gordon or Evans, but not both.

Knicks Pursue Jeff Teague, Still Eyeing Lowry

February 18th, 2014 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:02pm: Ken Berger of CBSSports.com also downplays New York’s pursuit of Teague, though he says it’s because of the Knicks’ lack of assets (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 8:24am: Marc Berman of the New York Post throws cold water on the story, writing that the Knicks are expected to pass on Teague out of concerns about his long-term deal. He also hears that the Raptors, Hawks and Knicks didn’t have talks about the three-way deal involving Lowry, whom Toronto probably won’t trade, according to Berman. Still, the Knicks would love to flip Shumpert for a point guard, and that desire has grown stronger than the team’s pursuit of a backup center, Berman writes.

MONDAY, 3:27pm: The Knicks view Andre Miller as a fallback option, though their preference is for someone younger like Teague or Lowry, Stein writes in his full story.

2:02pm: New York is continuing to try to pry Lowry away from the Raptors, offering packages that include Felton, Iman Shumpert and Beno Udrih, Begley reports. The Knicks have been reluctant to offer Tim Hardaway Jr. or a first-round draft pick, but the Raptors are believed to be demanding at least one of the two, Begley writes. The Knicks, Raptors and Hawks have had preliminary discussions about a three-team deal that would provide the Raptors with the first-rounder they’re apparently seeking, according to Begley. Such a deal would send Teague to the Raptors, Shumpert to the Hawks and Lowry to the Knicks, sources tell Begley, who notes that it’s also still a possibility that Teague winds up with the Knicks.

1:03pm: The Knicks are focusing on upgrading their point guard position at the deadline, and Jeff Teague is a new target, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com seconds the report, via Twitter. Hawks GM Danny Ferry apparently isn’t enamored with the four-year, $32MM offer sheet that Teague signed with the Bucks this past summer, goading the Hawks into matching it. Because the Hawks matched the offer sheet, Teague can veto any trade this season, as Stein points out (on Twitter).

New York renewed efforts to extract Kyle Lowry from the Raptors last week, but the Knicks have become convinced the Raptors won’t deal him, Stein tweets. Incumbent Knicks point guard Raymond Felton is averaging a career-low 10.4 points as New York sits two and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Teague, by contrast, is putting up a career-best 15.6 points per game, and he’s also matching his high of 7.2 assists per contest. The Hawks are fifth in the East, but are below .500 at 25-26.

Masai Ujiri On Lowry, Casey, Hayes

February 17th, 2014 at 12:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri‘s phone isn’t making much noise, but he’s not turning it off, either. Ujiri tells Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun that he’ll be listening to trade offers that come in between now and Thursday’s deadline. The Raptors are 28-24, good for third place in the Eastern Conference, but the team’s performance hasn’t altered Ujiri’s timetable for putting the club in title contention, Ganter notes. Ujiri also spoke with Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, and we’ll pass along the best of both pieces here:

On whether he’s open to trading Kyle Lowry or any other player:

“I hate to comment about any player in that way, but I think we are not good enough so you have to keep it open. That’s the honest answer. These guys have done pretty good. I know we’ve won a couple of games but we haven’t done anything yet. We’ll keep trying to grow.”

On coach Dwane Casey, whom Ujiri says has done “an excellent job”:

“When we talked about it with Casey when I came on, it was something like where I said we are going to assess the whole season and for me, my evaluation was not wins and losses at all. For me, you almost put a coach under pressure where he’s trying to do things. It wasn’t only the growth of the players. It was the growth of the coaches and the growth of us working together as a front office … I don’t just mean, ‘How did Terrence (Ross) grow or Jonas (Valanciunas) grow?’. How did we all grow working together? How are we all growing together? How do we interact, how do we communicate with front office, coaches, players? That’s our job here. We’re not always going to agree but we have to find a way to communicate and make a decision on things.”

On whether he sensed the December trade that shipped Rudy Gay to the Kings would be so beneficial to the Raptors:

“When we did the trade, we honestly didn’t know which way it would go so we were preparing for either way. Obviously, you do background, you check on attitude, you check on good teammate, you check on off-the-court habits and that stuff. Even some of that information, you can only get so much that’s accurate and so much that’s not but we tried to just do our homework, due diligence like everyone does. You bring in someone like (Greivis) Vasquez who can maybe (play) as a starter in the pinch. I think (Patrick) Patterson is a young big in the league and you’re intrigued by some of the little things he does. I think (John) Salmons is older but brings a steady calm and, you know what? Chuck Hayes? I didn’t know what Chuck Hayes had left but (as) a post-defender and leader and anchor type in pinch minutes on defense, I think he’s shown us he can be (of) some help.”

Knicks Target Lowry, Raptors Reluctant To Deal

February 12th, 2014 at 4:09pm CST by Ryan Raroque

4:09pm: Sources close to Lowry also tell Wojnarowski that the Raptors are unlikely to deal the point guard, as the Yahoo! scribe notes in his full story. Wojnarowski pegs the kind of deal Lowry could receive in free agency this summer at four years, $45MM.

3:21pm: A rival executive says the Raptors have told him they won’t deal Lowry away, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 2:29pm: The Raptors have shown “significant reluctance” to part with Lowry, preferring instead to keep him for a postseason run, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. That’s in contrast to what Chad Ford of ESPN.com is hearing, as he wrote today that Toronto continues to be aggressive in pursuit of a Lowry deal.

MONDAY, 5:42pm: The Knicks are once again interested in Kyle Lowry after opting not to trade for the Raptors point guard two months ago, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). The deal that had reportedly been vetoed by Knicks owner James Dolan initially involved Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace, and a 2018 first round pick in exchange for Lowry.

With Toronto leading the Atlantic Division, Isola (via Twitter) doesn’t think it’d make sense for them to trade their best player right now. However, as we noted yesterday from TNT’s David Aldridge, the Raptors aren’t currently willing to pay top dollar this summer to retain Lowry for the long-term once he hits free agency. It certainly doesn’t guarantee that they would look to trade him before the February 20 deadline, and Aldridge acknowledged a scenario in which Toronto keeps Lowry for the rest of the season and opts to part ways during the summer. By the same token, Aldridge adds that if Toronto would be overwhelmed with an offer, they’d most assuredly listen.

When talks had been heating up in December, other names reportedly tied to discussions included Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr., who were said to have been sought out by the Raptors if the Knicks were ultimately unwilling to give up a first round pick. In another report, it was said that Toronto eventually requested Hardaway Jr. and a 2018 first round pick along with Felton in exchange for Lowry. Though talks essentially fell through, it’s definitely worth wondering if the Knicks’ renewed interest is coupled with a willingness to part with a previously untouchable asset.

Atlantic Rumors: Lowry, Sixers, Wyatt, Celtics

February 12th, 2014 at 1:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors continue to be aggressive in their search for the right Kyle Lowry trade, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who echoed his own late-January dispatch on the subject as he answered reader questions in a chat. Ford also says the Sixers are still leaning toward taking Andrew Wiggins over Jabari Parker if they have the opportunity at draft time. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Blazers had talks with the Sixers in December about Spencer Hawes, tweets Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers, who wonders if Portland will reignite those discussions now that Joel Freeland is sidelined for at least the next month with a sprained right MCL.
Sixers camp invitee Khalif Wyatt has signed to play in the D-League, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link).
The Celtics are keeping an eye on Turkish league center Colton Iverson, whom they took 53rd overall this past June, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia observes.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com goes over the likely scenarios for the Celtics at the deadline, writing that it’s more likely the team trades Keith Bogans in the summer than in the next eight days.
We rounded up news on the Knicks in a separate post.

Kyler’s Latest: Carmelo, Magic, W’s, Kings

February 12th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Lottery picks will be hard to come by at the deadline, which means there’s a strong chance that clubs, like the Sixers, with hopes of trading for one will have to settle for less, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Kyler has a lot more from around the league in his latest NBA AM piece, as we detail:

Knicks executives have had a “very open and candid dialogue” about the notion that Carmelo Anthony could leave as a free agent this summer, but they remain confident enough in re-signing him that they’re not looking to trade him at the deadline, Kyler writes. New York appears intent on adding to its roster rather than selling off assets, Kyler observes, though the Knicks are still reluctant to include a draft pick in a deal for either Kenneth Faried or Kyle Lowry.
The Magic are open to moving Glen Davis, but there’s essentially no market for him because of concerns about his attitude and his contract, which pays him $6.6MM next season, Kyler writes. Orlando is listening to offers for Jameer Nelson, too, but the Magic’s unwillingness to take back long-term money makes it a long shot he’ll be dealt. Nelson’s deal, which gives him $8.6MM this season, is an impediment to a deal, too, according to Kyler, even though it’s partially guaranteed for just $2MM next year. Orlando also continues to rebuff offers for Arron Afflalo.
The Warriors are interested in acquiring players who are either on expiring contracts or relatively short-term deals, and in spite of last month’s trade for Jordan Crawford, they continue to look around for point guard help, according to Kyler. They’re also looking to acquire draft picks, Kyler adds.
The Kings remain the front runners for Andre Miller, Kyler says, though Miller’s lack of value on the market is making Denver hesitate. The Basketball Insiders scribe also reiterates that Marcus Thornton and Jimmer Fredette are prime trade candidates for Sacramento and adds Aaron Gray to that list.
Executives from the Magic, Wizards, Pacers and Grizzlies are downplaying their willingness to make deadline trades, but all of those teams are nonetheless on the lookout for some kind of deal between now and next Thursday.

Aldridge’s Latest: Gordon, Jackson, Monroe

February 10th, 2014 at 12:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

TNT’s David Aldridge’s lengthy “Morning Tip” column on NBA.com has a strong trade deadline focus this week, as is only appropriate with 10 days left before the big day. We’ll dive into the highlights here:

The Pelicans have been shopping Eric Gordon “for a while,” Aldridge writes, but an opposing GM says they’re not finding takers because rival teams realize that injuries have cut into the 25-year-old’s athleticism.
Aldridge expects the Pistons to try to convince Phil Jackson, who served as a special advisor to the team this summer, to coach the club, but Aldridge notes it’s unlikely the Zen Master would do so.
The Pistons aren’t giving up Greg Monroe unless it’s part of a blockbuster trade, and they’re hoping they can re-sign him this summer to a contract similar to the four-year, $49.4MM deal that Serge Ibaka inked with the Thunder in 2012. If not, Aldridge expects the Pistons to swallow hard and match a max offer sheet from another team.
Kyle Lowry will probably remain with the Raptors through the deadline, but that’s not an indication that the Raptors are willing to pay a heavy price to re-sign him this summer, Aldridge writes.
Aldridge hears plenty of trade chatter surrounding Kenneth Faried, and though the Nuggets deny it, Aldridge thinks there could be something to it. He’s up for an extension this summer, and if he doesn’t get one, he’ll be a restricted free agent in 2015. Denver wouldn’t be willing to give him an outsized payday as it stands, given its concerns about his defense, Aldridge writes.
Grizzlies management is high on Ed Davis, who’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, and Aldridge examines how that affects the team’s willingness to retain Zach Randolph. Aldridge says the Wizards would prefer to acquire Davis rather than Randolph if they had a choice.
Patty Mills will be a free agent at season’s end, but even amid increased playing time with the Spurs this season, he’s giving no thought to leaving for another team where he could have a larger role or make more money, according to Aldridge.