Thanasis Antetokounmpo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Antetokounmpo, Allen, Nets

November 6th, 2014 at 8:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Knicks second-rounder Thanasis Antetokounmpo remains a work in progress as a basketball player, but the team is extremely high on his potential, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. As for when Antetokounmpo will be ready to dazzle the fans at Madison Square Garden, assistant GM Allan Houston said, “I don’t think you can put a time frame on a guy like that because you have to just take it as a daily process. I think because he’ll be with us this year [in the D-League], it’s the right approach for him personally. So he won’t get frustrated or impatient if it didn’t happen right away.”

Here’s more from the east:

Houston also added that the team sees Antetokounmpo’s eventual NBA position as a shooting guard, notes Zagoria. “When we saw him in the draft process we saw his just relentless energy,” Houston said. “I think his size [helps] because he’ll be able to guard multiple positions, especially in this league, and I think hopefully if he develops into an NBA player we want to see him be able to be comfortable on the perimeter with guard skills. He shot the ball better toward the end of the year in the D League so we think he can improve there as well. But I think it’s just his impact on the game is high. He finds a way to leave an imprint and I think in this system if he can continue to grow and we develop him into playing in different places on the floor and not be limited to just the wing or maybe a forward position, I think we’re going to keep him equipped and ready to make that jump.”
Free agent guard Ray Allen is visiting Chicago, but his agent Jim Tanner insists the trip has nothing to do with a possible Bulls signing, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Chicago does happen to have an open roster spot, and would be a desirable destination for Allen, as the team is expected to contend for a title this season.
The Nets were reportedly up for sale last month, but majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov had told commissioner Adam Silver recently that he intends to maintain his controlling interest in the franchise, Mitch Abramson of The New York Daily News tweets.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Noel, Knicks

November 5th, 2014 at 7:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

If LeBron James was indeed trying to send a message to his teammates during the Cavs‘ 101-82 loss to the Blazers last night, it’s a risky move that may backfire, Nate Scott of USA Today opines. James had one of the worst games of his career and immediately passed the ball anytime it came to him during the second half of the game. “I’m just trying to do other things,” James said. “I’m trying to instill what it takes to win. My mission is not a one-game thing. We have to do multiple things in order to win. We have to share the ball. We’ve got to play defense. We’ve got to sacrifice in order to ultimately win. Obviously, when you’re going through the process, it’s not the best part of it. But I’m looking at the end of the tunnel.” Scott believes it might be too early in the season for James to try and light a fire under the rest of the team, and it could end up causing issues in the locker room.

Here’s more from the east:

James realizes that many of his new teammates in Cleveland haven’t had experience with winning in the NBA, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “There has been a lot of losing basketball around here for a few years,” James said. “A lot of guys who are going to help us win ultimately haven’t played a lot of meaningful basketball games in our league. When we get to that point where every possession matters, no possessions off, we have to share the ball, move the ball and be a team and be unselfish, we’ll be a better team.”
Knicks second round draftee Thanasis Antetokounmpo said it was a call from team president Phil Jackson during the summer that sealed his decision to play in the NBA D-League rather than overseas, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets.
Nerlens Noel is the early leader for Rookie of the Year honors, Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com writes. The Sixers‘ big man is attempting to duplicate Blake Griffin‘s feat of winning the award after sitting out his first year due to injury, notes the Philly.com scribe. In four games Noel is averaging 8.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG.

And-Ones: Mavs, Koponen, Chandler

September 1st, 2014 at 9:53pm CST by Zachary Links

Two games into FIBA World Cup pool play, Bulls star Derrick Rose is pain free, writes Joe Cowley of the Sun Times. Rose didn’t light up the scoreboard against Turkey on Sunday as he scored just two points, but he looked sharp as he scored 12 points in 22 minutes against Finland on Saturday. Here’s more from around the league..

Finnish point guard Petteri Koponen, whose rights are owned by the Mavericks, hopes to be playing in the NBA by the 2015/16 season, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. “I always said my dream is to play in the NBA,” Koponen said. “Every summer we talk a little bit with Dallas to see what the situation is and what they think. I’ve got one more year left on my contract in Russia and then of course I would like to come over. I hope I get some options to go there and show I can play at that level.” Team sources tell Stein that the Mavs have not ruled out importing Koponen themselves in the future, but there was no talk of doing that this season with four point guards already on the roster. Of course, they could also deal his rights to another team.
Even though he only played just one season for the Mavs, Tyson Chandler says his heart was always in Dallas, says Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram. “I enjoyed my entire time with the Mavericks and it was a sad process for me and my family leaving Dallas, especially after the amazing experience and amazing run that we had,’’ said Chandler, who was shipped back to Dallas this summer. “As I left I told those guys, ‘You know, I love you and I’ll love you forever and I love everything you have done for me and did for me.’ I understand the (NBA) business and I guess it wasn’t meant for me. But I guess it is meant for me to be back now.’’
The Spurs kept the band together after winning the championship but not every defending champion has been so lucky. Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders looks at some of the worst defending champs in NBA history.
According to Italian basketball exec Gianmaria Vacirca, Thanasis Antetokounmpo had an agreement to play with Pallacanestro Varese before deciding to stay in America to play for the Knicks D-League affiliate, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes.

Eastern Notes: Love, Bennett, Moultrie

August 26th, 2014 at 7:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kevin Love today indicated his intention to stay with the Cavs beyond this season, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com observes, and Cavs GM David Griffin is confident that Love and LeBron James will stick together for years to come, notes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Love and James can become free agents next summer, and Love said today that he hasn’t spoken about an extension with Cleveland, though that only stands to reason, since he can re-sign for more money if he waits until free agency.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

There was confusion earlier this month about whether Anthony Bennett would go to the Sixers as part of the Kevin Love trade, but Sixers GM Sam Hinkie told reporters today that he never had any talks about acquiring the former No. 1 overall pick. Tom Moore of Calkins Media passes along the tidbit via Twitter. Bennett wound up with the Wolves instead.
Arnett Moultrie‘s future with the Sixers is cloudy, but Hinkie indicated today that Philadelphia still wants to give him a chance even though the power forward has to prove his worth, as Moore observes (Twitter link). “Arnett was working really hard last week,” Hinkie said. “It’s been going fine. It’s a big summer for him. He’s got to show what he can do.” Last week, Chuck Myron cast the chances as remote that Philly will up his 2015/16 rookie scale contract option by the October 31st deadline.
The two-year $550K offer that agent Tim Lotsos said Thanasis Antetokounmpo turned down from Cimberio Varese to instead join the Knicks D-League affiliate wasn’t quite so lucrative, as Guido Guida of La Gazzetta dello Sport hears (Twitter link). The gross amount wasn’t quite that much, and the net after taxes was only slightly more than $100K per year, Guida says. A source seconds Guida’s report to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Drew, Antetokounmpo, D-League

August 25th, 2014 at 10:33pm CST by Cray Allred

Former Bucks coach Larry Drew was blindsided by his ouster from Milwaukee, telling Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was taken aback by the process. New owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens were already in discussions with Jason Kidd, who supplanted Drew on the bench, while he was participating in rookie Jabari Parker‘s introductory press conference.

“The whole Jabari thing, putting me in that position, I don’t think it was very professional. I wish it wouldn’t have happened that way, but it did,” said Drew, who is now an assistant with the Cavs. “It caught me in a position when I least expected it. But I know how these things work. I don’t have any hard feelings, any grudges against anybody.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Thanasis Antetokounmpo‘s agent tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that the forward turned down a two-year, $550K offer to play in Italy in order to accept the $25K salary he will receive with the Knicks‘ D-League affiliate. Agent Tim Lotsos says the sacrifice was made because his client is eager to prove himself as NBA-ready. “To my surprise, he passed on it,” said Lotsos. “He’s very ambitious and determined to make the NBA. I didn’t try to force him. I wanted him to make his own decision.”
A D-League expansion draft for returning player rights will take place on September 1, reports Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. The draft will supply the Knicks‘ new affiliate with a starting roster, and each existing team will protect up to 12 current D-League players that the Westchester Knicks can’t obtain.
In the same piece, Pilato does a mock selection draft, projecting which players he sees each D-League team protecting and which players wind up in Westchester.
Plenty of people believe rookie Cavs coach David Blatt will become one of the best coaches in the league, writes Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders in his look at rising coaching names. Brigham views Mike Budenholzer, Steve Clifford, Dave Joerger, and Jeff Hornacek as fellow up-and-comers in the NBA ranks.
In a LeBron James-centric mailbag column, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel asserts that it was James’ contract preferences that led to the Cavs receiving draft picks from Miami in 2010 through a sign-and-trade, and that it was also his contract desires that prevented the Heat from receiving any picks when he returned to Cleveland this summer.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Miles, Antetokounmpo

August 22nd, 2014 at 8:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The United States defeated Puerto Rico by a score of 112-86 in their final home exhibition game prior to the FIBA World Cup. Stephen Curry was the high scorer with 20 points, and James Harden added 13 for Team USA.

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

The Knicks already have the D-League rights to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, as Gino Pilato of D-League Digest clarifies in an update to an earlier report. Pilato had originally indicated that the Sixers retained his D-League rights because he played for their affiliate last season, but this year’s D-League rule changes give the Knicks his D-League rights because they selected him in the NBA draft this summer, as Pilato explains. Antetokounmpo, the 51st overall selection, has reportedly agreed to sign with the D-League and play for New York’s affiliate.
C.J. Miles will be asked to do a lot more than the Pacers anticipated when they signed him as a free agent back in July, writes Mark Montieth of NBA.com. In the wake of the potential season-ending injury to Paul George, and the departure of Lance Stephenson to the Hornets, Miles will need to pick up a sizable portion of the scoring load, opines Montieth.
The Knicks have a logjam at the shooting guard position with J.R. Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Iman Shumpert, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. In the article, Begley examines the pros and cons of each player starting versus coming off of the bench. Smith weighed in on the situation, saying, “That’s for the coach to decide. All we’ve got to do is play. Whatever they decide, we’ve got to just live with it. Hopefully everybody could put their egos aside and come together for one common goal.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Antetokounmpo, Bradley, Leiweke

August 21st, 2014 at 11:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors readers so far believe the Wizards are the best team outside of the Cavs and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference, but the Raptors aren’t far behind in the voting. Still, there’s change afoot in Toronto, where Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company that’s in charge of the franchise, is set to step down within the next several months. Here’s more on Canada’s team and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

Thanasis Antetokounmpo has reportedly agreed to join the Knicks D-League affiliate in Westchester, but before that can happen, the team would have to acquire his D-League rights from the Sixers affiliate in Delaware, as Gino Pilato of the D-League Digest points out. Delaware still possesses Antetokounmpo’s D-League rights because he played there last season, and that holds even though new rules allow NBA teams to otherwise possess the D-League rights of their draft picks.
The Sixers apparently reached out to Avery Bradley within the first hour of free agency this summer, but it seems the Celtics still beat them to the punch, as the guard indicates to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). “They were the first team that called and — we had other calls — but Boston, I knew I was coming back here,” said Bradley, who re-signed with the C’s to a four-year, $32MM deal.
Leiweke’s upcoming departure is a blow to the Raptors, given the team’s progress during his brief time in charge of the team, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter links). Wolstat credits Leiweke for doggedly pursuing Masai Ujiri to serve as GM and staying out of Ujiri’s way once he hired him.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo To Join D-League

August 20th, 2014 at 7:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

AUGUST 20TH: Antetokounmpo has agreed to play in the D-League for the Knicks affiliate this season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.

AUGUST 15TH: Antetokounmpo has decided to turn down all the offers he has received from European teams, and intends to attend training camp with the Knicks, reports Enea Trapani of Sportando.

AUGUST 13TH: Italy’s Sidigas Avellino is one of four European teams to make offers to Antetokounmpo, but he’s put them all on hold until he has more clarity on his chances to make the Knicks this season, sources tell Sportando’s Enea Trapani.

AUGUST 7TH: Knicks 2014 second-round pick Thanasis Antetokounmpo is deciding between opportunities in Spain and Italy or heading to New York’s D-League affiliate in Westchester, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The Knicks reportedly drafted Antetokounmpo with the 51st overall pick with the intention of stashing him overseas rather than signing him for this season, though a D-League arrangement would probably fit the bill, too.

The Knicks have agreements with 15 players, as our roster counts show, and when they keep the newly acquired Quincy Acy as planned past August 15th, the date his non-guaranteed deal becomes fully guaranteed, at least 14 of their players will have some kind of guarantee. It’s not clear whether their deal with 34th overall pick Cleanthony Early contains a guarantee, but he probably has the edge for a roster spot over Antetokounmpo, simply judging by their respective draft positions. French big man Louis Labeyrie is the third 2014 second-round pick under Knicks control, but he also seems destined to remain outside the NBA for next season.

New D-League rules this year allow teams to keep the D-League rights to their draft picks, even if they don’t sign them to NBA contracts. Previously, Antetokounmpo would have been subject to the D-League draft, in which any NBA team’s affiliate could have picked him.

Eastern Notes: Caboclo, Antetokounmpo, Murry

August 1st, 2014 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Lee

The Raptors front office staff gave broad support to selecting Bruno Caboclo 20th overall when GM Masai Ujiri brought up the idea to them on draft night, observes Chris Mannix of SI.com. The Mavericks and Celtics were also interested in the unheralded Brazilian prospect, Mannix reveals, and an earlier report indicated that the Jazz and Suns were poised to draft Caboclo, too. Toronto pulled another surprise when it signed Caboclo for this season rather than stash him overseas, even before he impressed in summer league play, as Mannix writes.

“When a guy goes overseas you don’t get to monitor him as closely, to see if he is getting stronger, to see all of what he is doing,” Ujiri said. “Keeping him here, we can do that. When he needs playing time, send him to the D-League. He can play in NBA practices, he can go through a training camp and after the year we will wait to see where he is and what more he needs to develop.”

Here is what else is going on in the Atlantic division on Friday evening:

When the Knicks took Greek guard Thanasis Antetokounmpo with the 51st pick in June, many believed they did so with the intent of stashing him overseas. As Marc Berman of the New York Post points out, the team could also assign Antetokounmpo to their D-League affiliate without giving him an NBA contract, in turn preventing him from taking up one of their 15 NBA roster spots.
The Heat are indeed among the teams with interest in free about Toure’ Murry, a source tells Ian Begley of ESPN New York. Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune suggested as much late last month.
Pistons assistant coach Scott Roth will become the new head coach for Sevilla of the Spanish League, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein, where he will coach 2015 lottery hopeful Kristaps Porzingis. Roth joined the bench in Detroit mid-season in February after three years as an assistant in Toronto. In all, he worked as an assistant on six NBA teams and was also a coach in the D-League. (Twitter links)
Pistons center Andre Drummond is confident that current teammate Greg Monroe will be back in Detroit for the 2014/15 season, writes Vince Ellis of USA Today. We heard this morning that Monroe might not want to return to the Motor City and this isn’t the first time Drummond has addressed his teammate’s status as a restricted free agent. Monroe has the option of signing his qualifying offer from the Pistons and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Knicks Notes: Calderon, Anthony, Thanasis

June 28th, 2014 at 12:54pm CST by Cray Allred

We learned earlier today that the Knicks are feeling increasingly optimistic at their chances of re-signing Carmelo Anthony, and are planning to make a run at Pau Gasol in free agency. Here’s more from New York:

Jose Calderon wants to play with Anthony, telling reporters including Marc Berman of The New York Post that he will soon tell the forward that he can make his life easier from the point. “I’m hoping to talk to him for sure,” Calderon said. “I’d love to make everything easier for him and make the team successful and try to get as far as we can.’’
Calderon added that he would help recruit other players to New York as well. “This is my team,” said Calderon, who has ties to potential Knicks target Marc Gasol. “I’m going to help to improve it as much as I can. Anybody that we can get here or would be interested, I’d be willing to talk to, to try to make them come to the Knicks.”
Thanasis Antetokounmpo may play in Greece next season, where teams are interested in signing him, reports Berman in a separate piece. Antetokounmpo was drafted with the 51st pick the Knicks received in the Dallas trade.
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders runs the numbers on the recent Knicks/Mavs trade. Since Dallas is a non-tax paying team, they were allowed to unevenly match the salaries of Samuel Dalembert, Calderon, and Wayne Ellington for Tyson Chandler, and count Shane Larkin‘s full salary toward the exception. Dallas receives a $1,536,960 trade exception for Larkin’s departure, and New York receives a $3,637,073 exception for Raymond Felton.
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com runs down how the draft moves of the teams planning to pursue Anthony may affect the race to sign the prized free agent.