Rudy Gay Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Gay, Martin, Motiejunas

January 29th, 2016 at 9:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Kings are holding out for a “quality young player” or someone whose contract runs beyond this season in return for Rudy Gay as they entertain offers for the combo forward, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relayed earlier this evening that there is significant interest around the league regarding multiple players on Sacramento’s roster, including Gay and Marco Belinelli. While we await more trade rumblings, here are the latest happenings from out West:

The Timberwolves are demanding more in a Kevin Martin trade than a simple offloading of salary, Stein notes in the same piece. The Bucks, Mavericks, Bulls, Grizzlies and Kings have all reportedly expressed interest in Martin to some degree, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron noted when he examined the shooting guard’s trade candidacy.
Rockets power forward Donatas Motiejunas is slated to join the team’s D-League affiliate this weekend to continue rehabbing his injured back, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. As a fourth-year player, both Motiejunas and the NBPA needed to give their permission for the big man to head to Rio Grande Valley, Feigen notes, something Motiejunas was more than willing to do. “I’m excited,” Motiejunas said about joining the Vipers. “I know that I need to go there. I know that’s what I want. For catching a rhythm, that’s the thing that I will like to go, catch my rhythm back, catch my game flow, get back into shape. I’m happy with it and just to go play, get my confidence back, is a really good decision by me and my agent to go there. I asked them to send me. I know it’s going to be much harder for me if I don’t go there and not get reps. Then I have to work into the rotation somehow and maintain my condition. I really think it’s the best solution for me to go to the D-League, check on my body, get high minutes, get in a rhythm, get in a game shape and be ready to play.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Teams Showing Interest In Kings’ Gay, Belinelli

January 29th, 2016 at 5:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There is significant interest around the league regarding multiple players on the Kings’ roster, including Rudy Gay and Marco Belinelli, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relays. Sacramento hasn’t indicated that it is willing to become a seller sitting at 20-26 on the season, Ham adds. With the franchise just a half game out of the final playoff slot in the West, the team would prefer to be buyers at the trade deadline if the right offer were to materialize, Ham notes.

Gay, 29, is owed $13,333,333 next season and possesses a player option for 2017/18 worth $14,263,566. The swingman is enjoying a solid-enough season, though his scoring average is down to 18.0 points per contest after notching 21.1 points per outing in 2014/15. The Pelicans had reportedly offered Sacramento Eric Gordon and Alonzo Gee in exchange for Gay previously, which was obviously declined. New Orleans also reportedly turned down an offer of Gay for Ryan Anderson. Gay has been linked to the Bulls and the Clippers in the past, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. The former No. 8 overall pick out of UConn owns career averages of 18.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists to accompany a slash line of .452/.343/.764.

Belinelli, 29, signed a three-year, $19MM deal with the Kings in July, but he has shot the ball poorly, only connecting on 38.4% of his shots overall. Despite his rough start in Sacramento, Belinelli is a known commodity around the league, Ham notes. His track record of success has teams willing to overlook his slow start, but according to Ham’s source, the team hasn’t been offered much of substance in return for the veteran. Belinelli has made 46 appearances on the year, including one start, and is averaging 10.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.3 minutes per night.

And-Ones: Sixers, Gay, D-League

January 18th, 2016 at 3:34pm CST by Will Joseph

The Sixers will listen to offers, but it doesn’t seem like the Philadelphia will be making any deals before the trade deadline, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. This would present a change under GM Sam Hinkie because the Sixers have made trades around this time in each of the last two seasons, Pompey adds. It is worth mentioning that since the Sixers hired longtime NBA executive Jerry Colangelo to serve in their front office, there seems to be a different direction with the franchise more willing to acquire veteran talent.

“We will continue to look for opportunities if there are things that we can do to add players for now and the future,” Hinkie said. “We will look, but I’m not sure it will happen.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

The Grizzlies can improve their current roster and make a vital move for the future by acquiring Rudy Gay in a trade with Kings, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal suggests in a Q&A piece. It was recently reported that the Pelicans are interest in acquiring Gay. Memphis, however, would benefit from adding Gay because he would bring scoring, versatility and tough defense, Tillery writes. The Grizzlies traded Gay in 2013.
Speaking of Gay, he’s an intriguing possibility for the Pelicans, but his contract would do harm to the team’s cap space and his 3-point shooting and defense have both been inconsistent, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com writes. Gay is owed $13.3MM next season, as Verrier points out. It remains to be seen whether the Pelicans will be collecting assets for an offseason reboot or making a postseason push, Verrier surmises.
The Celtics recalled Jordan Mickey from the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in an emailed press release. Mickey’s recall is for ankle treatment, though, and he won’t be joining the Celtics on their current trip, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald tweets.

Western Notes: Gay, Price, Brown, Williams

January 15th, 2016 at 10:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings and Pelicans are continuing trade talks focused on Rudy Gay, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The latest report is that Sacramento is refusing to accept New Orleans’ offer of Eric Gordon and Alonzo Gee. The Pelicans reportedly turned down an offer of Gay for Ryan Anderson earlier this week. In November, Gay signed a three-year, $40MM extension with the Kings, with a player option on the final season in 2017/18. Gordon is making more than $15.5MM in the final year of his contract, while Gee inked a two-year, $2.75MM free agent deal with the Pelicans in July.

There’s more tonight from the Western Conference:

The Suns‘ Ronnie Price won’t be able to resume basketball activities for at least three weeks after having surgery on his right big toe, tweets Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Surgeons had to remove “loose bodies” from the toe. The veteran guard has appeared in 34 games this season.
The 10-day contracts signed by the Suns‘ Lorenzo Brown and the Grizzlies‘ Elliot Williams will both expire on Sunday, tweets former Nets executive Bobby Marks. He notes that both teams will have the option of offering a second 10-day contract.
The Rockets have recalled K.J. McDaniels from their Rio Grande Valley affiliate in the D-League, the team tweeted today. McDaniels has appeared in just 11 games with Houston after signing a three-year, $10MM deal in the offseason.

Pacific Notes: Gay, World Peace, Kelly, Acy

January 15th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s not accurate to say the Kings have Rudy Gay on the block, and Sacramento isn’t actively shopping him, sources tell James Ham of CSN California and CSNBayArea.com, adding that it’s unclear whether the team’s reported offer to the Pelicans of Gay for Ryan Anderson took place. Gay has strong relationship with DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo, Ham notes, adding that Gay recruited Rondo, a longtime friend, when the point guard was a free agent this past summer. Gay has also been linked to the Bulls and the Clippers in the past, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, and much has changed since the Kings made him virtually untouchable in trade talk a year ago, Jones adds. He’s struggled to fit into coach George Karl‘s system on the court, Jones writes, noting that the team has had concerns about its depth at two guard all season and speculating that Rondo’s presence might make Gay expendable. See more on the Kings and the rest of the Pacific Division:

Metta World Peace would like to play in the NBA for another two seasons, though it appears he’ll be OK with whatever the outcome is following the end of his Lakers contract this summer, observes Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. The 36-year-old is meanwhile dispelling his volatile reputation, serving as a mentor for younger Lakers, as Carr details. “I didn’t think he would be that nice of a guy,” rookie D’Angelo Russell said. “But he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
Ryan Kelly is seeing less playing time this season than in his first two years with the Lakers, but he’s confident that he’s a much better player than he was when he arrived in the NBA, Carr notes in a separate piece. He’s on an expiring contract and is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
The Kings netted Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray in the same trade with the Raptors a little more than two years ago, and all three are still paying dividends, with Gay and Acy on the roster, and Gray, an assistant for the Pistons D-League team, still a confidant of Acy’s, as The Bee’s Matt Kawahara details.

Scotto’s Latest: Anderson, Gay, Morris, Motiejunas

January 14th, 2016 at 12:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans rejected a trade proposal from the Kings of Ryan Anderson for Rudy Gay, league sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, a signal that Sacramento is making Gay available. New Orleans has reportedly been listening to offers about Anderson but not shopping him, and coach Alvin Gentry has said it’s unlikely the Pelicans trade him this season. A straight-up exchange of Anderson for Gay trade would move the Pelicans to within $1MM of the luxury tax threshold, so it’s not surprising New Orleans said no. Scotto heard more about Anderson and several other trade candidates, as we’ll summarize here:

The Pistons are expected to pursue Anderson in free agency, league sources told Scotto. Stan Van Gundy said in October that Anderson, incumbent Pistons power forward Ersan Ilyasova and Kevin Love are in a class by themselves among those who combine effective rebounding and 3-point shooting.
The Suns, who reportedly engaged in talks with the Pelicans about a swap of Markieff Morris for Anderson, now prefer young players or draft picks in exchange for Morris, Scotto’s league sources say.
The Clippers are making Josh Smith available for a trade, according to Scotto, essentially a reprise of earlier this season, when Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported the Clips had gauged interest in him. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers denied that earlier report, however.
The Rockets have taken Donatas Motiejunas off the trade market, but Terrence Jones remains available, Scotto reports. Houston earlier had talks with Phoenix about a swap of Jones and Corey Brewer for Morris, as Scotto revealed, and those discussions were serious, Marc Stein of ESPN.com later added. Brewer becomes eligible to be traded Friday.
Scotto adds the Mavericks to list of teams with interest in trading for Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin.

Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Okafor, Lee, Ross

December 10th, 2015 at 10:01am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers decided to hire Jerry Colangelo because they felt GM Sam Hinkie mishandled negative publicity surrounding Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in recent months, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says in a video. Owners with minority stakes in the Sixers pressured primary owner Josh Harris to make the move, Bucher adds. It’s inaccurate to say that the hiring came about in part because of pressure from owners who complained to the league about the Sixers’ rebuilding and its negative financial ripple effects, league sources told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who writes at the bottom of a larger piece. Still, commissioner Adam Silver was indeed involved in the move, Pompey adds. See more from the Atlantic Division:

The NBA continues to investigate the recent incidents involving Okafor and it hasn’t decided whether it will mete out punishment on top of the two-game suspension the Sixers issued last week, league officials told TMZ Sports. Colangelo has a strong relationship with agent Bill Duffy, who represents Okafor, as Bucher points out in his video. “Based on what we currently know, we support the 76ers’ approach in this matter,” an NBA spokesperson said to TMZ Sports. “The league office is continuing to investigate the events of that night.”
David Lee doesn’t regret the trade that brought him to the Celtics and ended his time with the Warriors, even as Golden State has embarked on a 23-0 start, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays. Lee’s representatives reportedly cooperated with the Warriors as they sought a new home for him this summer. “This is a business, and because of the salary cap and things like that, it was time for me to move on, and that’s what I did,” Lee said. “It couldn’t have ended any better.”
Terrence Ross is much the same player he was a few weeks after the Rudy Gay trade two years ago, and that’s perhaps the glaring issue for the swingman who signed a three-year, $31MM extension with the Raptors last month, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. His game grew more in the immediate wake of the trade than it has since, and inconsistency has plagued him, Lewenberg asserts.

Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

November 12th, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Chuck Myron

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

Karl Wants Kings To Trade DeMarcus Cousins

June 25th, 2015 at 3:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 3:12pm: The Kings’ internal dismay with Karl is coming far more from top exec Vlade Divac than Ranadive, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Meanwhile, all signs currently point to them holding on to the No. 6 pick (link).

1:06pm: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is frustrated with the Cousins/Karl rift because when he was hired, the coach said he would not be involved in personnel, sources tell Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (on Twitter).

TUESDAY, 2:34pm: Divac, sounding irritated, repeated again that he won’t trade Cousins and denied that Karl is making any push for such a deal, as Divac said to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

7:30am: George Karl has an intense desire for the Kings to trade DeMarcus Cousins, and he and some members of the team’s front office have expressed to executives and coaches from other teams that they hope to have owner Vivek Ranadive’s blessing to trade the All-Star soon, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ranadive and vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac have nonetheless been adamant about not trading Cousins, and Karl has been trying to recruit Divac and other Kings players to make a push to convince Ranadive to change his mind, according to Wojnarowski.

Cousins is aware of Karl’s push to trade him, and people around the Kings and Cousins increasingly believe that the relationship between the coach and the team’s star is beyond repair. Cousins tweeted emojis depicting a snake in the grass after Wojnarowski’s story emerged late Monday night.

Karl’s insistence that he can’t get along with Cousins has irritated Ranadive, Wojnarowski writes. Ranadive reiterated his long-held stance that he won’t trade Cousins in an interview Monday with USA Today’s Sam Amick.

“We have zero interest in moving Cousins, so I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Ranadive said in reference to the rumor that the Lakers are pursuing Cousins. “But if you like, you should talk to Vlade, because I know Vlade feels exactly the same way. And I’m deferring to Vlade on everything. We have no interest in moving him. From my perspective, it’s really simple: we feel that he’s a one-of-a-kind player, and we have a group of players right now and we’re going to build on it.”

Kings higher-ups believe it’ll be tough to find value for Cousins and believe they have a better chance to find the right trade for Rudy Gay, according to Wojnarowski. Sacramento is pursuing trades for Gay and the rest of its roster, Wojnarowski hears. The Lakers are reportedly pushing for Cousins and have had exploratory talks with the Kings, but Sacramento would rather take back veterans than the No. 2 overall pick, the Yahoo! scribe writes.

Cousins has privately feared that Karl wanted him out, and Karl’s remark in April that he’s never had one player who would be untradeable didn’t exactly assuage those concerns, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Cousins, who is a Relativity Sports client, and his representatives have been told he won’t be traded, and Cousins likes Sacramento, Jones also tweets. Amick hears a somewhat different story, that Cousins’s camp is clearly in favor of the center becoming a Laker. Cousins has asked not to be traded, according to Jones, so it would seem there are conflicting messages surrounding the talented 24-year-old big man.

Latest On Ty Lawson, Nuggets, Kings

June 23rd, 2015 at 2:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:22pm: Karl is “enamored” with the notion of trading for Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler, Berger writes in another piece, presumably in a deal that sends out Cousins. The Nuggets are open to trading Lawson and Chandler, but the Poison Pill Provision attached to Faried’s recently extended contract would make the salary-matching cumbersome for any deal involving him before July, Berger adds.

TUESDAY, 10:45am: Karl would consider trading Rudy Gay for Lawson, a source told Chris Broussard of ESPN in a story that centers on Kings owner Vivek Ranadive’s unwillingness to allow any DeMarcus Cousins trades. That would seemingly throw Karl’s ability to engineer a Gay-Lawson trade through Kings front office chief Vlade Divac into question, though that’s just my speculation.

MONDAY, 5:24pm: The Nuggets and Kings have discussed a deal involving Ty Lawson, but the sides have found little traction, league sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Chad Ford of ESPN.com suggested as much in a recent chat. Sacramento has been pursuing Lawson from Denver with the sixth pick at the heart of would-be deals, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote in his NBA AM piece earlier today. Kyler nonetheless hears that Denver’s demands for Lawson are too high for the Kings and that Sacramento isn’t on board with giving up the No. 6 choice and future draft picks for Lawson.

Still, the Kings continue to make Nik Stauskas available, Berger reports, while the Nuggets are involved in a potential trade scenario that would send their No. 7 pick to the Knicks, an executive from another team told Berger. The Nuggets would also give up the right to swap first-rounders with the Knicks next year, one that they gained via the Carmelo Anthony trade, in such a deal, Berger adds.

Kings coach George Karl would reportedly love for the team to acquire Lawson, whom he coached with the Nuggets. Still, Denver was asking for multiple first-round picks for him at the deadline, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported.

Stauskas, whom Sacramento took eighth overall last year, became available as early as this past January, as Berger reported then. Knicks president Phil Jackson has expressed a willingness to trade back from the No. 4 pick, and speculation has resulted in numerous such scenarios.