Steve Ballmer Rumors | Hoops Rumors

L.A. Notes: LeBron, Billboards, Ballmer, Clippers

March 8th, 2018 at 11:09am CST by Arthur Hill

Former Laker Jordan Clarkson admits the possibility of LeBron James joining the team this summer was a frequent topic of locker room conversation, relays Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Los Angeles has been a rumored spot for the Cavaliers’ star in free agency. James has never said he’s considering the Lakers, but his business interests in the city and his home in the Brentwood neighborhood have sparked speculation.

“I wouldn’t say like management and the coaches or nobody, but in the locker room people talk when they see what’s going on,” Clarkson said. “That’s probably the only thing people talk in the locker room.”

James can expect plenty of questions on the topic this weekend as the Cavaliers travel to L.A. to face the Clippers and Lakers.

There’s more NBA news out of L.A.:

Los Angeles is the latest city to use billboards in an attempt to attract James, notes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. After a Philadelphia-based company put up billboards near Quicken Loans Arena last week urging James to join the Sixers, an L.A. attorney has responded with four billboards in the Los Angeles area making an appeal for the Lakers. They include messages such as “Cleveland & Philly, you can’t compete with L.A.” and “#NextRetiredJersey.” The Lakers, who have received two heavy fines for tampering in the past year, are making it clear that they have nothing to do with the billboards.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer talks about the major changes the franchise has gone through over the past nine months in an interview with Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times. The upheaval began with the Chris Paul trade last June, followed by the decision to take front office duties away from coach Doc Rivers, the hiring of Jerry West as a consultant and the decision to deal Blake Griffin to the Pistons. “I said, ‘Look, things aren’t going to progress this way … we need to make other changes if we really are going to put ourselves in a position to win a championship,” Ballmer said of the Griffin trade. “It was not an easy decision, but we’re in it to win championships, and it turns out, you have to take more risks.”
More changes could be coming if the Clippers miss they playoffs, and they have an extremely challenging road ahead, notes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Ten of their 13 games this month are against playoff contenders, and seven of those are on the road. “March is a monster for us,” Rivers said.

Pacific Notes: Chandler, Kings, Ballmer, Pachulia

February 26th, 2018 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns center Tyson Chandler is unsure when he’ll be able to play again because of a neck injury, Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic reports. Chandler has missed five of the last six games due to swelling in a neck joint. That swelling has caused his neck to spasm and even lock up, Chandler told Bordow. “Coming back from the All-Star break I was looking forward to playing really well down the stretch,” Chandler said. “So it’s disappointing coming back having to deal with this.” The Suns miss Chandler’s leadership when he’s out, Bordow writes in a separate piece, noting the Suns are 5-25 when either he or Devin Booker doesn’t play.

In other news around the Pacific Division:

The fact that Kings coach Dave Joerger has agreed to a 10- or 11-man rotation shows that he has a good working relationship with GM Vlade Divac, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes in a mailbag column. Joerger had been asked to expand the rotation to get more minutes for his younger players, even though he’d probably prefer a shorter rotation, Jones continues. Divac also consults with Joerger on when to send players to the G League, Jones adds.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer doesn’t believe in tanking despite the team trading away Blake Griffin to the Pistons late last month. Ballmer made the statement at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and the quotes were relayed by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz. “I think bottoming out is a dangerous game,” Ballmer said. “If you have to play it, maybe you have to play it. Then again, superstars don’t want to go to teams that look like absolute losers. … In a way you’re being dismissive of your fans by taking that big a step back.”
Warriors center Zaza Pachulia was not disciplined by the league for falling onto Thunder All-Star Russell Westbrook on Saturday, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post tweets. Westbrook called Pachulia a dirty player after the incident.

And-Ones: Jackson, Bennett, Williams, Clippers

December 28th, 2017 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Maryland sophomore forward Justin Jackson, a projected first-round pick, will miss the reminder of the season with a torn labrum, according to a school press release relayed by Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. Jackson first suffered the injury before he joined the Terrapins and aggravated it numerous times this season. He’ll soon undergo surgery. The 6’7” Jackson was ranked as the No. 18 overall prospect by Jonathan Givony of ESPN earlier this month. He was averaging 9.8 PPG and 8.1 RPG.

In other news from around the league:

Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, was acquired by the Celtics’ G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, according to the G-League team’s website. He was dealt by the Northern Arizona Suns. Bennett appeared in 14 games with Northern Arizona, averaging 11.7 PPG and 5.6 RPG.
Former NBA forward Derrick Williams has signed with the Tianjin Gold Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an ESPN report. Williams, 26, played a combined 50 games for the Cavaliers and Heat last season. The second overall pick in the 2011 draft also played for the Timberwolves, Kings and Knicks. He averaged 8.9 PPG and 4.0 RPG in his NBA career.
The Clippers have gotten lost in the shuffle in Los Angeles and it’s not going to get better considering the current state of the team, as Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register examines in a column. Owner Steve Ballmer has threatened to move the team to Inglewood but the Clippers’ lease at the Staples Center runs through 2024, Heisler continues. Seattle would be a natural landing place considering Ballmer’s roots there but he has brushed aside that speculation in the past, Heisler adds.

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers’ Job Seems Safe

December 4th, 2017 at 7:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers coach Doc Rivers will likely hold onto his job the remainder of the season, multiple sources told USA Today’s Sam Amick. Owner Steve Ballmer feels the team’s rash of injuries has made it difficult to judge Rivers’ performance this season, Amick continues. The team’s top player, power forward Blake Griffin, is out at least a month with an MCL sprain. Point guard Patrick Beverley underwent season-ending knee surgery, while newcomers Milos Teodosic and Danilo Gallinari have barely played because of ailments. “You’ve just got to hang in there,” Rivers told Amick. “People get down on the team. They get down on you. They get down on everybody. That’s what happens, and you can’t waver. You’ve just got to keep doing your job, and the players have to just keep playing.”

Other notable items from Amick’s story:

The club is taking calls on center DeAndre Jordan but not actively shopping him. Jordan is expected to opt of the final year of his contract next summer, leaving $24.1MM on the table. The front office believes it can re-sign him, so they’re asking price for any potential deal is high. The market could heat up on December 15th, when many players who signed new contracts last summer are eligible to be dealt. Jordan hired an agent on Monday, which could facilitate trade talks.
The team remains committed to building around Griffin, who re-signed with them over the summer. Griffin doesn’t have an opt-out on his massive five-year, $171.1MM deal until the summer of 2021.
Productive role players, such as guard Lou Williams, could be dealt for draft picks. The team still has its first-rounder in June but dealt away its 2019 pick.

Western Notes: Paul, Thompson, Mitchell, Oliver

October 2nd, 2017 at 7:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had a feeling last spring that Chris Paul wanted to move on, he told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times in a Q&A session. Ballmer’s feelings were confirmed shortly after the season but he didn’t get a final decision from Paul until a phone conversation while Ballmer was vacationing in the Greek Isles. Ballmer has stayed in touch with Paul since he was traded to the Rockets but doesn’t believe the team is necessarily worse off without the All-Star point guard, he told Turner. “Chris is an awesome player. But we’re such a different team,” he said. “We are younger. We are more athletic than we were. We are longer than we were. … But we’re different and we’ll see whether we’re different good or not.”

In other news around the Western Conference:

Klay Thompson said he’s willing to give the Warriors a discount when his contract expires after the 2018/19 season, he told Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami of The Athletic in a podcast that was relayed by NBCSports.com’s Kurt Helin. Thompson hedged when asked if he’d take a $9MM cut, as Kevin Durant did this summer, but asserted that he’s willing to make a sacrifice to keep the core group together. “I would definitely consider it cause I don’t want to lose anybody,” Thompson said of a potential team discount.
First-round selection Donovan Mitchell has impressed Jazz coach Quin Snyder with his defensive tenacity, Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News writes. The No. 13 overall pick enjoys playing defense, as he told Sorensen, and his head coach has noticed. “Donovan’s defense — if you’re on the wing and trying to get open, you better be ready, because he’s going to make it hard for you to catch the ball,” he said. The shooting guard will battle Alec Burks and Rodney Hood for playing time.
Rockets rookie forward Cameron Oliver underwent surgery to repair a fractured right hand, the team tweets. Oliver, who went undrafted out of Nevada, will be re-evaluated in approximately 4-6 weeks, the team adds. Oliver signed a two-year minimum contract that includes a $300K guarantee.

Jerry West Talks Dubs, CP3, Dekker, Ballmer, Lakers

August 22nd, 2017 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime basketball executive Jerry West surprised many NBA observers earlier this offseason when he decided to leave the Warriors for the Clippers. Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, West acknowledged that he was sad to leave Golden State and had been very happy working for the Warriors, chalking up his decision to timing.

Although he’s a consultant for the Clippers now, West still views the Warriors as the overwhelming favorite to win another championship in 2018, telling Kawakami that “everyone’s playing for second place right now.”

In addition to sharing his lingering fondness for his old team, West also touched on several other noteworthy topics during his discussion with Kawakami. Here are a few highlights:

On whether he knew Chris Paul would leave when he left the Warriors for the Clippers:

“I felt he was. Yes. I didn’t think he was going to stay there. You just get a sense that some players are going to move, you do. You just get a sense… there was all the talk. I know that Steve [Ballmer] met with him. I think Lawrence [Frank] and Doc [Rivers] both met with him. I did not meet with him or talk with him. I just had the sense when I first started talking to them, I asked them, ‘You may not be able to keep either one of these players, him or Blake Griffin.’ I said, ‘How’s that going to work?’ I think they felt there was a chance for sure that he was going to leave.”

On the Clippers moving on without Paul:

“I know some of the people down there [in Houston] and obviously Mike D’Antoni, he’s a friend of mine, he has a place at the Green Brier, and he’s very high on the players we got. He mentioned to me, he said that he thinks they’ll get to play there more and particularly if Sam Dekker can be healthy, he’s a very good prospect. He’s had two seasons of injuries, but he seems very healthy.

“It also gives Doc a chance as a coach to be able to coach differently, more ball movement. Chris was a ball-dominant point guard. [Not having Paul] encourages more movement. When a coach has to do things a little bit differently, that might be challenging but also might be fun for him. Even though we’ll miss Chris, it’s part of the NBA.”

On Clippers owner Steve Ballmer:

“[In] a lot of ways he reminds me of the kind of owners that you want, somebody who’s really committed to trying to build a team. He’s smart, he lets people do their job, he doesn’t think he’s someone who wants to run the team. He’s given Lawrence and Doc a lot of leeway there and they’re going to hire two new people there in the front office. It’s just… I see some changes from the prior regime there that I think are going to be really positive.

On whether he thought he might return to the Lakers rather than joining the Clippers:

“Absolutely not. I had no contact with the Lakers. Honestly, I would’ve never gone back there even if they would’ve contacted me. Never had any conversations, never had a desire there. I knew that would’ve never happened.”

Be sure to check out Kawakami’s full interview with West for more interesting observations from The Logo.

Clippers Rumors: Ballmer, Paul, Griffin

April 28th, 2017 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

With the Clippers looking to extend their season Friday night in Utah, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com has published an interesting, in-depth feature on the team, exploring the last few years in Los Angeles and what might come next for the franchise. The piece features several interesting details and stories on the Clippers and is worth a read in full, but here are some of the highlights from Arnovitz:

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer maintains that he has no interest in blowing up the club’s roster, even if L.A. can’t get out of the first round. “I love those guys, and I want those guys back,” Ballmer said.
Ballmer also told Arnovitz, as he said recently to Matthew Rocco of FOX Business, that he’s not averse to going deeper into tax territory as the Clippers continue to build the roster and re-sign key pieces. Ballmer explained to Rocco that because the value of the franchise keeps increasing, he’s willing to lose a little money along the way if necessary. “If we’re in it and we’re playing for a championship, I don’t mind the tax,” Ballmer said to Arnovitz.
Sources close to the Clippers tell Arnovitz that they continue to expect Chris Paul to re-sign with the team, but Blake Griffin’s future is less certain. One source, “in good humor,” suggested that it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Paul go through a public process of taking meetings with other teams before re-signing with the Clippers, while Griffin is more likely to go through the process privately and perhaps land elsewhere.
Several of Paul’s teammates told Arnovitz that the veteran point guard insists that his teammates are able to “absorb criticism at any moment,” and that you’re likely to keep hearing from CP3 about a blown coverage even if a replay shows it wasn’t your fault. “If I had to go to war, I’m going with Chris every day,” said one member of the Clippers. “I just wish he was wrong more. I wish he would say, ‘My fault.'” Despite Paul’s ornery nature, most Clippers teammates and staffers say that he has “mellowed with age,” Arnovitz writes.

Clippers Notes: Griffin, Paul, Redick

April 22nd, 2017 at 9:27pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Blake Griffin, who was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason with a toe injury, can become a free agent this summer, but he may not have many teams lining up to give him a long-term max deal, Kevin O’ Connor of The Ringer contends. O’Connor details Griffin’s injury history, which includes several ailments on each of his legs, and believes it will cause rival teams to be cautious when making the big man a multi-year offer in free agency. Griffin could always elect not to activate his ETO and stay with the Clippers, though the $21.4MM he would receive in the 2017/18 season is less than the annual salary he’s likely to receive on the open market.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

The window to trade Griffin closed over a season ago and the Clippers missed their chance at getting value for him, O’Connor notes in the same piece. The scribe argues that if GM Doc Rivers had pulled the trigger years ago, the team would have much more depth today and players such as Paul Pierce and Raymond Felton wouldn’t be soaking up significant playoff minutes.
Chris Paul is expected to re-sign with the Clippers, but O’Connor (same piece) wonders if the team should be worried about Paul finding a more attractive option in free agency. He speculates that the Spurs could be a threat should the franchise open up the necessary cap space to give Paul a maximum-salary contract.
Sam Amick of USA Today (video link) isn’t sure owner Steve Ballmer is going to sign off on paying luxury tax payments again for a team that doesn’t have a clear path at a championship. In addition to Paul and Griffin searching for max deals this summer, J.J. Redick will be a free agent and Amick estimates that the Duke product will warrant a deal that pays him $18MM per year.

Clippers Exploring Inglewood As New Arena Site

February 24th, 2017 at 4:11pm CST by Milo Taibi

The Clippers appear to be in the preliminary stages of moving into an arena of their own. According to a report from Nathan Fenno and Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times, representatives of Clippers and Los Angeles Rams ownership have had discussions about the Clippers re-locating to Inglewood. The Clippers would join the Rams and Los Angeles Chargers in the “sports and entertainment district” being targeted for a 2019 release date.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer “hasn’t hidden his desire for an arena of his own,” Fenno and Farmer write, as the Clippers currently share the Staples Center with the Lakers and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. The Clippers’ lease at Staples Center runs through 2024.

These aren’t the first rumblings we’ve heard about a change of scenery for the Clippers. According to a July 2016 report from Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN, the Clippers had started to explore the possibility of a move, perhaps to Los Angeles’ west side — at the time, Arnovitz said the club had identified six potential locations in southern California, suggesting that the franchise didn’t love being the Staples Center’s “third tenant.”

Although representatives for Ballmer and Rams owner Stan Kroenke have reportedly had multiple discussions, Fenno and Farmer give no indications that those talks have moved beyond the exploratory stages. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. was unaware of discussions regarding a new arena, and it remains to be seen whether Ballmer would own- rather than lease- the arena land. What’s more, the Times’ report cites the potential conflict of competing head-to-head with the Lakers in selling suites, club seats, and other products.

An anonymous source explained the motives of the prospective move to the L.A. Times:

“It’s too soon to say it would be L.A. Live lite, but if an arena were to bring 200 nights a year, that’s a tremendous amount of foot traffic that would benefit all the ancillary properties.”

Clippers Frustrated Over Gillian Zucker’s Authority?

September 11th, 2015 at 12:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 12:48pm: Rivers denies the content of the TMZ story, tweets Dan Woike of the Orange County Register.

TUESDAY, 8:33am: Several players and key figures within the Clippers organization feel that president of business operations Gillian Zucker is overstepping her bounds and usurping the authority of coach/president of basketball operations Doc Rivers, reports TMZ Sports. One player decided against re-signing with the Clippers because of the confusion over whether Rivers or Zucker has more power, TMZ adds. Zucker became involved in player development and decisions involving playing time, but it’s “painfully obvious” that she doesn’t understand NBA culture, having previously worked in auto racing, players said to TMZ.

Zucker denied knowledge of any such issues to TMZ, saying that the lines are “very clear” between the team’s business department, which owner Steve Ballmer hired her to oversee, and the basketball side. People within the organization who say the issues exist profess that they like Ballmer but are anxious for him to put a check on Zucker’s authority before the situation gets worse, according to TMZ.

Zucker was the impetus for the departure of more than 10 employees within the Clippers who were either fired or quit, HBO’s Bill Simmons tweets. Zucker’s administration is also having trouble with the league, team sponsors, and the team’s TV deal, Simmons adds (Twitter link). The Clippers appear to be $40MM apart on annual local TV rights fee proposals with Fox Sports, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported this week, and are considering a streaming service, as Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reported last month.

Glen Davis, Dahntay Jones, Hedo Turkoglu and Ekpe Udoh are the Clippers who became free agents July 1st and who haven’t re-signed with the team. The Clippers also waived Lester Hudson and Jordan Hamilton, neither of whom has re-signed. Ostensibly, the player who chose not to return to the Clippers because of Zucker is one of those six.