Lester Hudson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Sign Lester Hudson To 10-Day Deal

March 29th, 2015 at 12:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

12:35pm: The signing is official, Woike tweets.

8:56am: Guard Lester Hudson will sign a 10-day contract with the Clippers today, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Hudson, who had been playing with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in China, will be available for today’s game with the Celtics.

He has spent parts of three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics, Grizzlies, Wizards and Cavaliers, with his last NBA action coming in 2012. His career averages are 4.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 10.3 minutes of playing time.

Hudson gained fame in college when he recorded a quadruple-double at Tennessee-Martin. He was twice named Player of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference before being drafted 58th overall in 2009 by the Celtics.

The signing probably means that Nate Robinson won’t be issued another 10-day contract. Robinson’s balky knee had limited his playing time, and his first deal expired March 16th. It also raises questions about the availability of Jamal Crawford for the rest of the season.

Pacers Interested In Lester Hudson

May 23rd, 2014 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chinese league MVP Lester Hudson has caught the eye of the Pacers, who are among the NBA teams scheduled to bring him in for workouts, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Indiana’s playoff roster is set, so the Pacers are ostensibly looking at him with next season in mind. The workouts will take place over the next month as part of minicamps, according to Charania, and while minicamps usually lead only to summer league arrangements, it seems Hudson has a decent shot at earning an NBA roster spot for the fall. The Grizzlies, Knicks and Clippers were interested in Hudson this past February, as Charania reported.

Hudson, a 6’3″ point guard, averaged 26.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 36.9 minutes per game for Xinjiang Guangshi of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2013/14. This was the third straight season that Hudson spent at least part of his time playing in China, and he last appeared in the NBA in 2011/12, when he averaged 12.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 2.7 APG in 24.2 MPG over a 13-game stint with the Cavs.

The Jazz had Hudson in the preseason this past autumn after the Knicks worked him out last summer. Hudson, a second-round draft pick of the Celtics in 2009, turns 30 this summer.

Grizzlies, Knicks, Clippers Eye Lester Hudson

February 24th, 2014 at 1:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies, Knicks and Clippers have expressed interest in Chinese league guard Lester Hudson, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Hudson is still playing with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association postseason, but he’ll be avaiable to return stateside before the conclusion of the NBA’s regular season.

Hudson, who’s played parts of three seasons in the NBA, has been a standout in China this year, averaging 26.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the team with the second best record in the league. It’s the third straight strong showing in China for the 29-year-old who spent camp this past fall with the Jazz.

The former second-round pick made his most significant impact in the NBA in 2011/12, the last time he appeared during the regular season. Hudson averaged 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 24.2 minutes per contest in a 13-game stint with the Cavs. Cleveland elected not to re-sign him for the season after his first 10-day contract expired, instead offering only another 10-day deal. That drew the ire of agent Keith Glass, who rebuffed the Cavs when they put a contract that covered the rest of the season on the table after the second 10-day was up. Hudson wound up inking for the rest of the year with Memphis.

Odds & Ends: Aldridge, Blazers, Redick, Henry

November 8th, 2013 at 11:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

LaMarcus Aldridge hasn’t told coach Terry Stotts that he wants to remain in Portland long-term, but he hasn’t said he wants to get out, either, so the coach tells Jim Rome of CBS Sports Radio that he isn’t worried about a player he believes is content playing for the Blazers. Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge has a transcript of those comments, as well as the coach’s remarks on the contributions of new acquisition Robin Lopez toward what Stotts perceives as a changed culture on the team. Here’s more on other new additions around the Association:

Doc Rivers arrived in L.A. this summer with J.J. Redick atop his list of targets within the Clippers‘ price range, and he convinced Redick over dinner to come to the team, finally landing the player he’d sought multiple times while with the Celtics. Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com has the details.
Xavier Henry didn’t perform nearly as well in New Orleans as he is with the Lakers, and while Pelicans coach Monty Williams takes responsibility for his role in that, Henry doesn’t blame him, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Lester Hudson is headed to play in China for the third straight season, inking a deal with Xinjiang, agent Brad Ames tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Hudson’s first trip East in 2011/12 resulted in late-season NBA stints with the Cavs and Grizzlies.
The Thunder have lost plenty with the departures of James Harden and Kevin Martin the past two offseasons, but Jeff Caplan of NBA.com thinks this could be the most complete Oklahoma City team yet, thanks to the team’s youthful bench.
Steven Adams, a member of that Thunder bench, has seen more minutes than starter Kendrick Perkins this year, but Caplan passes along Perkins’ praise for the rookie, and coach Scott Brooks isn’t concerned that Perkins will pout, The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry notes.

Jazz Waive Cook, McGuire, Holiday, Hudson, Machado

October 26th, 2013 at 11:48am CST by Zachary Links

The Jazz announced that they have cut Brian Cook, Dominic McGuire, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson and Scott Machado. Utah’s roster is now down to 15, including the injured Brandon Rush and Marvin Williams.

Today’s news means that Mike Harris and Jamaal Tinsley have both made the cut for the Jazz. Tinsley’s signing, necessitated when rookie point guard Trey Burke broke his hand earlier this month, likely cost one of today’s camp cuts a spot on the team. All five were on fully non-guaranteed deals, so the Jazz aren’t on the hook for their salaries.

Everyone the Jazz brought to camp has NBA experience, and that includes Harris, who’ll begin his fourth NBA season on opening night. The power forward has played sparingly, totaling just 34 games across stints with the Rockets and Wizards, but coach Tyrone Corbin values the mobility of his 6’6″, 235-pound frame, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News points out (on Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Kobe, LeBron, Cavs

October 24th, 2013 at 11:11pm CST by Ryan Raroque

T.J. Simers of the OC Register writes that Lakers executive Jim Buss believes he has an understanding with Kobe Bryant regarding next summer, in which he’ll let him hit free agency, spend the money accordingly on free agents, and offer whatever’s left to the Lakers’ star afterwards. When Simers asked him to elaborate, Kobe “vaguely” responded: “We’ve probably talked (about it)…but I’m putting off any thought of that.”

In another piece, Kobe spoke with Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times about his inability to mesh with Dwight Howard last season: “We saw different ways of going about leading this team…Dwight wanted to do it one way and he felt like it was effective. I wanted to do it another way. It was constant tension the second half of the season.”

Here are a handful of tonight’s links to pass along from around the Association:

LeBron James remained diplomatic when asked if winning a third consecutive ring would provide an answer to whether or not he’ll stay in with the Heat beyond this year: “When that bridge comes, I’ll cross it with my family…And we’re going to make the right choice. We’ve been in this position before, I’ve been in this position before, and I’ll be excited about it, but we’ll see what happens” (Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald).
LeBron was also quick to assert that his focus is on the upcoming season, and later emphasized Dwyane Wade‘s health as the key to Miami’s success: “Winning, that’s my only concern right now, winning…I want to put a third ring on the guys that have two. I want to put a first ring on the guys that don’t have any and I want to put a fourth on [Udonis Haslem] and D-Wade. So, that’s my goal…Without (Dwyane), this ship doesn’t continue to move without him, and I hope he knows that,..I think he knows that because he’s a big part of what we do.”
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is still undecided about how he’ll handle the rotation at small forward this season, having been torn between Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark: “Nobody’s really separated themselves drastically from the other guy…One game, one guy’s played pretty good, then another guy’s played pretty good. … I told those guys, it can go into the regular season, just keep yourself ready to go in case your number’s called” (Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer).
Steve Nash spoke with Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com about the challenges of staying healthy at this point in his career.
USA Today’s Sam Amick goes over what he’s learned so far after watching the pre-season.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News says that the Jazz’ signing of Jamaal Tinsley makes Lester Hudson and Scott Machado longshots to make the final cut.

Odds & Ends: Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Jazz

October 17th, 2013 at 11:07pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Clippers coach Doc Rivers sits down with Harvey Araton of the New York Times to discuss the scrutiny that accompanied his exit from Boston and his willingness to accept the responsibility if things don’t go well in Los Angeles: “But when (the opportunity to coach the Clippers) presented itself, I thought, ‘Wow, this would be a unique situation for me…If there’s a mistake, it’s my fault. I don’t want to blame someone else. I want to blame me.”

Rivers also commented on how the free throw shooting struggles of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin has been somewhat of an achilles’ heel for the team in the past: “Blake and D. J., they missed a couple, and their whole game changed…Blake would stop driving, stop attacking, because he didn’t want to get fouled. D. J. didn’t even want to touch the ball. Then he would take all that defensive energy he had and throw it out of the game.”

Here are the rest of tonight’s miscellaneous links:

Despite the tumultuous way in which their working relationship ended in Orlando, former coach Stan Van Gundy still thinks that the Magic should retire Dwight Howard‘s number, writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel (Subscribers only).
Jazz camp hopeful Lester Hudson values his opportunity to stick in the NBA after being a career journeyman since entering the league (Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune). In another Utah-related piece, John Lucas III talks about being fueled to secure his NBA future after his international and D-League experiences: “Every time I step on the court, (I think), ‘I don’t want to go back to Italy. I don’t want to go back to Spain. Don’t want to go back to China (or the) D-League…I feel like I’m at home. I just have that in the back of my head all the time, so when I step on that court I give it everything I have” (Jody Genessy of the Deseret News).
Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston answered a few questions from his readers in his newest edition of “Celtics Mailbag.”
Bucks head coach Larry Drew spoke about the importance of having a veteran like Zaza Pachulia around the team, especially with their familiarity together stemming from their history in Atlanta (Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel).

Western Rumors: Evans, Jazz, Nuggets

October 5th, 2013 at 9:53pm CST by Spencer Lund

New Pelicans wing Tyreke Evans landed hard on his left ankle tonight during their preseason game against the Rockets. John Reid of Times-Picayune reports that he was helped off the court.

Fellow Times-Picayune beat reporter Jimmy Smith tweets that X-Rays were negative on Evans' left ankle. But the team will do an MRI later tonight to be sure there's no structural damage. Evans signed with the Pelicans after a three-team trade involving the Blazers and Kings in July.

Here's more from around the West as preseason games started today…

Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Jazz guard Ian Clark has been underwhelming in training camp. The undrafted rookie performed spectacularly for the Heat and Warriors in summer league, winning the summer league championship MVP in Vegas.
The Jazz signed Clark to a partially guaranteed two-year minimum deal with the Jazz. Still, he's been pressing, Oram adds in a tweet. Though the Salt Lake Tribune scribe doesn't believe he'll be waived (Twitter).
Oram continued to update on the Jazz training camp roster tonight, tweeting that with Marvin Williams and Brandon Rush hurt, many believe the Jazz will keep 15 on their roster with Scott Machado or Lester Hudson likely to claim one of the remaining spots for opening night.
JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried must improve their one-on-one defense as stressed by new Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, writes Benjamin Hochman in his mailbag column for the Denver Post.

Lester Hudson Joins Jazz For Camp

October 1st, 2013 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have finalized their roster for camp by adding a 20th player, the maximum allowed before the regular season gets underway. The 20th man on the preseason roster is free agent guard Lester Hudson, according to the team (via Twitter).

Hudson, 29, has played parts of three NBA seasons with the Celtics, Wizards, Cavs, and Grizzlies (twice). The 6'3" guard didn't play in an NBA regular season game last season, but had a successful stint with the Dongguan Leopards in China, for whom he averaged 27.5 PPG in 15 contests. Hudson worked out for the Knicks earlier this summer, and reportedly looked very impressive at a May D-League camp in Chicago.

Despite having 20 players on the training camp roster, the Jazz are only carrying 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts. Ian Clark, who has a $200K guarantee, looks like a decent bet to make the team as well. If he does, that would leave two potential openings for the likes of Hudson, Brian Cook, Mike Harris, Justin Holiday, Dwayne Jones, Scott Machado, and Dominic McGuire.

It had been reported that Weber State product Nick Covington would also be in camp with the Jazz, but with 20 players on board, it doesn't appear there's any room for him in Utah at the moment. It's not clear whether the Jazz opted not to sign Covington or whether he's still in their plans in some form, but for now, the club will move forward without him on the roster.

Sean May, Others Worked Out For Knicks

August 7th, 2013 at 4:41pm CST by Luke Adams

4:41pm: The workout list just keeps on growing, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com tweets that a Lithuanian big man participated as well. It's not clear who exactly the player was.

12:37pm: Wojnarowski adds one more name to the list of players working out for the Knicks today, tweeting that Lester Hudson was also in attendance.

11:18am: D.J. White is the third member of the group working out for the Knicks today, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.

11:02am: Former lottery pick Sean May is working out for the Knicks today, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). A report yesterday suggested that Bobby Brown and two other players would work out for the Knicks this week, so May appears to be one of those players. The third is also a big man, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).

May, 29, was selected 13th overall by the Bobcats in the 2005 draft. However, the UNC product ended up only playing a total of 119 NBA games with Charlotte and Sacramento, most recently in 2009/10, before heading overseas. In 2012/13, May played for Paris-Levallois, averaging 18.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 29 French League contests.

The Knicks recently added another big man to their frontcourt by signing Jeremy Tyler to a partially-guaranteed two-year contract. The team still has a pair of open roster spots though, and also has plenty of room to bring in players on training-camp invites.