Nazr Mohammed Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Love, Mohammed, Huestis, Blazers

April 3rd, 2016 at 9:42am CST by Arthur Hill

If the Cavaliers decide to break up their team this summer, Denver could be a good landing spot for Kevin Love, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Dealing the 6’10” power forward, who is owed $93MM over the next four seasons, would ease the salary and luxury tax burdens that Cleveland has accepted in search of a title. Dempsey believes the Nuggets have the right combination of draft picks and young players to make a deal possible, citing rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay and rookie center Nikola Jokic as the only untouchable players on the roster. The writer notes that Love would be the star player Denver is searching for, while the Cavs could pick up some young pieces who fit better into coach Tyronn Lue’s up-tempo style.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

It’s no coincidence that the Thunder started to improve right after Nazr Mohammed arrived, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City had dropped six of eight games before signing the veteran center on March 5th. Even though he has only seen 10 minutes of playing time, the Thunder’s record since the move is 11-3. Mohammed, who was with OKC once before and maintained close relationships with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, downplays the effect of his leadership on the team. “They were gonna make strides in that direction no matter what,” he said. “I can’t take any credit for it.”
Josh Huestis, who has made 15 trips to the D-League this year, may get some meaningful minutes for the Thunder before the season ends, Horne writes in a separate story. Oklahoma City has four games in the next seven days and is virtually assured of the third spot in the Western Conference. “In all reality, Josh hasn’t been in the rotation the entire year,” said coach Billy Donovan. “He got the opportunity in Detroit [when Huestis played 15 minutes], but there could be some opportunities down the road. He did some nice things against Detroit and showed some signs he can be a good player.”
Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum should form the foundation of the Blazers for years to come, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The 25-year-old Lillard and the 24-year-old McCollum have already become one of the league’s best backcourts. Portland gave Lillard a five-year extension last summer, while McCollum is still on his rookie contract and is signed through next season.

Northwest Notes: Mohammed, Mudiay, Stotts

March 6th, 2016 at 11:24am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder signed Nazr Mohammed to be a team leader in the locker room, Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman writes. “He knows what’s right and what’s wrong,” Russell Westbrook said. “He definitely can keep everybody accountable and try to find ways to help us win more games.” Mohammed reached the finals with Oklahoma City’s 2012 team, backing up Kendrick Perkins at the five.

The team traded Perkins away at last year’s deadline and the team misses the center’s presence in the locker room, Tramel adds. Mohammed should provide leadership, just in a different way than Perkins did.

“Perk’s a special guy.” Mohammed said. “His voice is always going to be hard to replace because that’s just his personality. I speak in my own way. I’m definitely a vocal guy, but I’m more of a pull-a-guy-to-the-side-and-explain type of guy and only speaking to the group when necessary.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Nuggets believed Emmanuel Mudiay could be an elite player when they drafted him No. 7 overall last summer and although he struggled to begin the season, the point guard is starting to look the part, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “For a 19-year-old kid, to kind of go through the adversity that he was going through, he bounced back in a big way. That gives me so much hope and excitement for the future,” coach Mike Malone said.
The Blazers embrace coach Terry Stotts and the team’s chemistry is a major reason why Portland is in the playoff hunt this season, Jason Quick of Comcast Sportsnet. Portland has a team option on Stotts for next season. “I always want to play hard for him,’’ said Ed Davis, who joined the team on a three-year, $20MM deal last offseason. “That’s one thing I can say: Everybody on this team can play for Coach, and it’s not like that on every team.”

Thunder Notes: Mohammed, Payne, Cheeks, Durant

March 5th, 2016 at 6:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

After veteran center Nazr Mohammed opted to come out of “semi-retirement” and sign with the Thunder, he explained his decision in a post on Sportsblog.com. The 37-year-old hasn’t played in the NBA this season. His last action was with the Bulls in 2014/15, when he appeared in 23 games. Mohammed said he was considering full retirement before Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti called with an offer. “As a young player, your only desire is to be in the NBA,” Mohammed said. “As you get older, your desire is to play for certain organizations with certain circumstances, making it a little tougher to find the right fit. Mine was a combination of all of the above. Most of the teams that I had interest in didn’t need my services, and I didn’t have the desire to go just anywhere. And some teams just didn’t want me.” The 18-year vet was a member of the Thunder team that reached the NBA Finals in 2011/12.

There’s more out of Oklahoma City:

The Thunder’s trade at the deadline that brought Randy Foye from Denver has sharply reduced the playing time of rookie Cameron Payne, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Even though Payne is a point guard and Foye is more of a shooting guard, Payne has fallen victim to coach Billy Donovan‘s new substitution pattern that sees Kevin Durant take most of the ball-handling responsibilities when Russell Westbrook is resting.
The Thunder hoped to have assistant coach Maurice Cheeks, who is recovering from hip surgery, back at practice today, but it will be some time before he can be part of games, Slater tweets. “Standing up and down during games, is that good for his hip?” Donovan said. “I’m not sure what the doctor will tell him.”
Durant’s best strategy in free agency may be to follow the example LeBron James set, according to Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders. Beer argues that Durant should maximize his earnings by signing a two-year contract with the ability to opt out in the summer of 2017. By then, the cap is expected to rise and Durant will be a 10-year veteran, which significantly increases the amount he can earn. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined the issue in depth last month.

Thunder Ink Nazr Mohammed

March 5th, 2016 at 11:13am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 11:13pm: The signing is official, the Thunder announced today.

FRIDAY, 9:12pm: The Thunder intend to sign free agent Nazr Mohammed for the remainder of the season, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). Oklahoma City has an available roster spot, so no other moves would be required to bring the center into the fold. The team intends to ink the veteran on Saturday, Charania adds. It’s not entirely clear whether it’ll be a minimum-salary contract or one that eats into the roughly $2MM Oklahoma City has left on its taxpayer’s mid-level exception.

The move to ink Mohammed comes as a bit of a surprise as the big man had not been mentioned in any recent chatter. He last appeared in the NBA during the 2014/15 season, making 23 appearances for the Bulls and notching 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.6 minutes per contest. Mohammed’s career numbers since entering the league as the No. 29 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft are 5.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks to accompany a slash line of .486/.000/.639.

Mohammed was contemplating retirement in October, saying he would be OK with never playing again.“Truth is, I still love this game, I still have that competitor in me and I still feel like I can help a team. And regardless of what happens, I plan on staying in basketball shape,” Mohammed wrote at the time. “But at this moment, I am comfortable and confident saying that I’m cool with it being over. I am really at peace. I realize how big of an accomplishment it is to have played as long as I’ve played. It’s an unbelievable feat. I’m cool with not playing ever again and choosing which path to take at this fork in the road that leads me away from my first love.”

The Mike Higgins client said then that he didn’t want to merely be a locker room mentor and would only sign with a team that planned a legitimate on-court role for him. He also suggested that he’d like to join a team in a front office capacity at some point. It remains to be seen if the Thunder promised him significant playing time or if Mohammed simply had a change of heart. He’ll presumably compete for minutes at the pivot with Steven Adams, Mitch McGary and Enes Kanter.

Nazr Mohammed Mulling Retirement

October 7th, 2015 at 1:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

Free agent center Nazr Mohammed doesn’t want to sign an NBA contract for now, and while he’s not ruling out a return in a few months, he would be OK with never playing again, as he writes in his personal blog (hat tip to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune). The 38-year-old veteran of 17 NBA seasons has spent the past three years with the Bulls, his hometown team, and he had plenty of praise for the Bulls organization even though he made it clear that he wished he’d seen more playing time on the team.

“Truth is, I still love this game, I still have that competitor in me and I still feel like I can help a team. And regardless of what happens, I plan on staying in basketball shape,” Mohammed wrote, in part. “But at this moment, I am comfortable and confident saying that I’m cool with it being over. I am really at peace. I realize how big of an accomplishment it is to have played as long as I’ve played. It’s an unbelievable feat. I’m cool with not playing ever again and choosing which path to take at this fork in the road that leads me away from my first love.”

The Mike Higgins client said that he would only sign with a team that planned a legitimate on-court role for him and didn’t want him merely as a locker room mentor. He also suggested that he’d like to join a team in a front office capacity.

Mohammed spent his time with the Bulls on a series of minimum salary contracts, and it didn’t appear as though he’d drawn much interest this past summer, in contrast to 2014, when he reportedly worked out with the Heat before re-signing with Chicago. He also reportedly expressed interest last year in rejoining the Spurs, with whom he won his NBA championship in 2005, but the feeling apparently wasn’t mutual.

The 6’10” center only started more than half his team’s regular season games twice during his NBA career, with the Spurs in 2004/05 and the Hawks in 2001/02. Mohammed averaged 5.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per contest across precisely 1,000 games in the league. He entered the NBA coming off an NCAA championship at Kentucky as the 29th overall pick in 1998, and he made more than $65.162MM in NBA salaries, according to Basketball-Reference.

What will be your most enduring memory of Mohammed if this is indeed the end of his career? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Central Notes: George, Mohammed, Pistons

April 10th, 2015 at 7:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Paul George is looking at the remaining games on the Pacers‘ schedule as a “test drive” to see how well he has recovered from the devastating leg injury he suffered last summer while scrimmaging for Team USA, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. “That’s exactly what it is [a test drive], it’s just seeing where I’m at and then getting ready for more rehab this summer and getting ready to build off these last couple of games of the season,” George said. “It’s been tough. There were days when I told myself I wanted to shut it down and get ready for the summer. But it’s great having the staff that we have here to push me here and keep my going. I’ve had days when I’m sure they hated me. And I hated them. But we got through it and they did a great job with being in my corner.”

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

Veteran big man Nazr Mohammed has been making his presence felt on the Bulls with his vocal leadership, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. Mohammed’s spark and guidance was integral in snapping Chicago out of its stupor after a terrible second quarter against the Heat last night when the Bulls were outscored 33-12, Friedell adds. “I think you got to be accountable and you got to play for each other,” guard Aaron Brooks said. “I think one thing that Naz brought up was you’re letting your teammate down when you’re not getting back or you’re not helping. You’re not letting the coach, you’re not letting the fans. You’re letting your teammate down, and you got to have your brother’s back.” The center is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The Pistons are likely to target a forward in the first round of this year’s NBA draft, David Mayo of MLive.com opines in his weekly mailbag. Detroit currently is in line for the No. 8 pick, according to Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings. Potential targets at that spot for the team could include Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, and Frank Kaminsky, Mayo notes.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy hopes to go to Spain after the NBA season ends to get a first-hand look at guard Mario Hezonja and power forward Kristaps Prozingis, both of whom are projected top 10 picks this year, Mayo adds.

And-Ones: Cap, Walker, Bledsoe, Rubio, Wiggins

September 23rd, 2014 at 11:43am CST by Chuck Myron

Some teams think the salary cap will jump above $70MM for next season, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports, though Lowe’s dispatch from a week ago indicated that the league has told clubs not to get carried away with their projections for the time being. Clarity on the matter will be important, especially for clubs with players up for extensions to their rookie-scale contracts before the October 31st deadline. Lowe’s latest piece centers on one such case, as the Hornets face a decision about whether to extend Kemba Walker, whom rival executives often say isn’t a “championship point guard,” according to Lowe. We’ll pass along another tidbit from the Grantland scribe amid the latest from around the league:

The Suns haven’t shown much interest in sign-and-trades involving Eric Bledsoe, Lowe hears, advancing Friday’s report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that threw cold water on the idea that Bledsoe would end up with the Wolves.
The Wolves and Ricky Rubio‘s camp remain in a stalemate in extension negotiations in part because agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana know that the Knicks and Lakers can open cap space next summer, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links).
Rumors as late as the eve of the draft suggested that the Cavs were conflicted about whom to take No. 1 overall, but coach David Blatt insists the team had settled on Andrew Wiggins long before making him the top pick, as Blatt tells Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. Cleveland didn’t hold on to Wiggins for long, of course, shipping him to the Wolves in the Kevin Love trade.
Nazr Mohammed‘s contract with the Bulls is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covers just one season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Clippers signee Jared Cunningham rejected a deal from Serbia’s KK Partizan to instead try his hand at making the opening-night roster in L.A. on his non-guaranteed contract, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.

Southwest Rumors: Leonard, Mohammed, Asik

September 22nd, 2014 at 9:32pm CST by Charlie Adams

Kawhi Leonard isn’t making any promises about signing an extension with the Spurs before the October 31st deadline for him to do so, but he tells Jabari Young of the San Antonio News-Express that he’s pleased with the other moves the team made this summer. He expressed particular satisfaction with new deals for Boris Diaw and Patty Mills, as well as Tony Parker‘s extension. “I’m happy about that just in case the Spurs do extend me and if I am a Spur for life,” Leonard said. “That’s a great thing to know that Tony will be there.” Let’s have a look at the latest from the Southwest:

Nazr Mohammed had expressed interest in returning to the Spurs for the 2014/15 season, but San Antonio clearly didn’t reciprocate the feeling, Young tweets. Mohammed, who won a championship with the Spurs in 2005, re-signed with the Bulls on minimum-salary contract this afternoon.
While taking on Omer Asik‘s bloated contract is definitely a risk for the Pelicans, Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune thinks New Orleans potentially stands to reap some major benefits from the decision. Specifically, Smith thinks Asik’s presence will help alleviate the pressure placed on Anthony Davis, who otherwise received the brunt of opposing teams’ attention last year in a less-than-stellar frontcourt.
Some of the advice that helped Kostas Papanikolaou decide to sign with Houston came from former Rockets shooting guard and fellow Greek native Vassilis Spanoulis, an unlikely source given the frustration Spanoulis felt upon his exit from the team. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the details.
The Mavericks had a busy offseason, and it’s one that Jae Crowder believes will push Dallas to the next level of competition, as Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram transcribes. “I feel like we picked up some championship-level pieces,” Crowder said. “I’m not just blowing gas… “One thing Cuban was talking about was just having a good mix of older guys and younger guys, and I feel like that’s exactly what they did this summer with bringing in a good group of guys.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Bulls Re-Sign Nazr Mohammed

September 22nd, 2014 at 2:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have re-signed center Nazr Mohammed, the team announced (Twitter link). It’s not clear whether the 37-year-old is coming back with any guaranteed money in his contract, but Chicago almost certainly isn’t giving him more than the minimum salary he’s earned the past two seasons with the club, since that’s all the Bulls can hand out to free agents. They renounced their Early Bird rights to Mohammed in July.

It’s somewhat surprising to see Mohammed wind up back with Chicago, given the team’s beefed-up front line that includes newcomers Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic. Mohammed worked out for the Heat late last month, but there’s otherwise been little interest in the 16-year veteran. He appeared in 80 regular season games for the Bulls last season, but he averaged just 7.0 minutes per outing and totaled five minutes over two playoff appearances.

The Excel Sports Management client nonetheless maintained confidence throughout the summer that he’d find a deal, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The question remains whether he’ll still find himself under contract come opening night. Chicago has 12 fully guaranteed deals plus a partially guaranteed arrangement with E’Twaun Moore, but the team hasn’t carried more than the NBA-minimum 13 players on opening night in any of the last three seasons.

Heat Work Out Nazr Mohammed

September 1st, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat brought in 16-year veteran center Nazr Mohammed for an audition and a meeting with team executives Thursday, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Heat would prefer to sign Emeka Okafor as they seek a backup big man, but he’s reportedly unlikely to sign with any team until midseason, as Jackson points out.

News about Mohammed, who’s four days shy of his 37th birthday, has been scarce this summer after a season in which he usually made no more than cameo appearances for the Bulls. He played in 80 of 82 regular season games this past year but averaged just 7.0 minutes per contest. Mohammed was nonetheless effective on the boards, grabbing 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes, a rate better than in all but one season of his lengthy career. Chicago renounced its rights last month to the Excel Sports Management client, so the Bulls are limited to offering him no more than the minimum for this season, just like the Heat.

Mohammed appears to be one of several big men on the Heat’s radar. Miami has made preliminary inquiries about Andray Blatche and Jason Maxiell and has kept an eye on Ekpe Udoh, as Jackson reported a couple of weeks ago. The Heat have also been in the market for a shooting guard, at least before signing Shannon Brown last week, and while they’d “love” to re-sign Ray Allen, the Heat know the all-time leader in three-pointers made is unlikely to return to Miami, as Jackson writes. A report earlier this summer indicated that Allen has ruled out a return to the Heat.