Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Dentmon, Curry, Williams, Wright

September 28th, 2012 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are a few Friday odds and ends from around the Association, with opening night just over a month away:

After we rounded up a few highlights from the Celtics' media day earlier this afternoon, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com adds a few more, courtesy of Kevin Garnett's podium appearance. KG discussed Ray Allen, the Heat, and his decision to re-sign with the Celtics, among other topics.
Justin Dentmon has signed with Fujian Quanzhou in China, agent Bill Neff tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Last year's D-League MVP had brief stints with the Spurs and Raptors in 2011/12.
Asked once again about his contract situation in a Q&A with Jason McIntyre of Big Lead Sports, Stephen Curry reiterated that he hopes to remain with the Warriors long-term, adding: "I’m an NBA junkie and I know all of the latest news and contract situations. But I won’t base my decision on 'Oh, this guy makes a certain amount, I need to make more' or that kind of thing. It’s about timing in the NBA and the right situation, and winning more than money. But yeah, I know everybody’s contract, that’s common knowledge, but it doesn’t impact my situation."
The Trail Blazers must decide by October 31st whether to pick up Elliot Williams' $2.37MM option for 2013/14, and with Williams' season over due to a ruptured achilles tendon, he's not sure what the team will do. Either way, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, Williams intends to be ready and healthy for the '13/14 season.
Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside wonders which former D-Leaguers on camp invites have the best odds to earn regular-season NBA roster spots.
We heard earlier this week that Julian Wright was closing in on a deal with Israel's Maccabi Rishon, but David Pick of Sportando says (via Twitter) Wright may be having second thoughts after agreeing to terms with the club.
In a piece for the Detroit Free Press, Dan Feldman of PistonPowered says Joe Dumars' willingness to look overseas to acquire a player like Slava Kravtsov is a good sign for the Pistons.

Western Notes: Rubio, Arthur, Babbitt, Jones

September 26th, 2012 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Timberwolves signed Kevin Love to a four-year extension, rather than a five-year deal, many assumed the team was saving its five-year franchise-player designation for Ricky Rubio. However, Britt Robson, who recently wrote about T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor for Twin Cities Business, hears from GM David Kahn that Rubio is likely to receive the same four-year offer Love did (Twitter link). Here are a few more links dealing with Western Conference clubs:

Darrell Arthur, who was re-signed by the Grizzlies this summer, has suffered a leg fracture and won't be ready for training camp, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It's another bad break for Arthur, who torn his achilles tendon and missed all of last season.
Luke Babbitt isn't sure whether or not the Trail Blazers will pick up his fourth-year option for 2013/14, but he doesn't intend to let his contract become a distraction, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com writes.
Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News believes Dominique Jones, who also has a fourth-year option decision pending, could be a breakout candidate for the Mavericks.
Heading into the season with a newly rebuilt roster and virtually no veteran players, GM Daryl Morey thinks his Rockets will be perhaps the league's most difficult team to forecast. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the story.

Northwest Rumors: Hickson, Morrison, Jazz

September 25th, 2012 at 7:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's been a busy day for current and former members of the Timberwolves. The team officially announced the signing of Louis Amundson, having reportedly passed on Sean Williams and Yi Jianlian. Anthony Tolliver was also in the running to return until yesterday, and today he agreed to sign with the Hawks. Mark Deeks of ShamSports revealed the Wolves can get out of the last year of their contract with Brandon Roy if he reinjures his knees this season, and after an offseason of changes, Kevin Love says he's satisfied with the team's moves. There's news on Minnesota's Northwest Division rivals as well, and we'll round it up here:

J.J. Hickson will start training camp with the inside track to be the starter at center for the Blazers, said coach Terry Stotts, who also gave a nod to the strides rookie Meyers Leonard made over the summer, as The Oregonian's Joe Freeman writes.
In the same piece, Freeman reports that the Blazers will give strong consideration to keeping Adam Morrison for the entire season. The third overall pick in the 2006 draft signed a non-guaranteed contract with the team last week.
The Jazz have added 27-year-old former University of Utah guard Johnnie Bryant to their staff as a player development assistant, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).

Odds & Ends: Pietrus, Johnson, Raptors, Thomas

September 22nd, 2012 at 12:38pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's today's look around the Association..

While the Timberwolves continue to talk with Mickael Pietrus' camp, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) is told that there is a better chance the veteran wing winds up with a team in the Eastern Conference. This week it was reported that three teams have major interest in Pietrus with two clubs highly motivated to get a deal done. Pietrus also has a viable option overseas that would include an NBA opt-out.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star wouldn't be surprised to see either Amir Johnson or Ed Davis traded this season as one is likely to be squeezed out of the rotation in favor of the other. However, Smith is unwilling to handicap the odds of a trade happening or to predict which one will be on the block.
Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld is surprised to see summer league standout Malcolm Thomas still without a guaranteed contract. Thomas posted a double-double in every Summer League game he played for the Bulls, averaging 17.9 PPG and 12.3 RPG for the week in Vegas.
Eric Koreen of the National Post looks at how the Raptors are using advanced statistics to gain an edge going forward. Toronto has contracted KBAR Consulting to handle the analytics for the front office.
Jim Cavan of the New York Times wonders if Adam Morrison will stick with the Blazers in his latest NBA go-round.

Blazers Sign Demonte Harper, Dallas Lauderdale

September 21st, 2012 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have added Demonte Harper and Dallas Lauderdale to their training camp roster, the team announced today (Twitter link). The Blazers also made their signing of Adam Morrison official, bring their roster count to 18 players.

Harper, 23, was part of the Nuggets' summer league roster in July, having gone undrafted out of Morehead State in 2011. In his senior year, the 6'4" guard averaged 15.5 PPG, shooting 37.3% from three-point range. Lauderdale, meanwhile, played his college ball at Ohio State and also went undrafted a year ago. The big man played for the Warriors' summer league squad in Vegas.

Harper, Lauderdale, and Morrison are all likely competing with Sasha Pavlovic to earn the final roster spot, since Portland's other 14 players are on guaranteed contracts.

Odds & Ends: Curry, Knicks, Jones, Trail Blazers

September 19th, 2012 at 8:31pm CST by Michael Pina

It appears Warriors guard Stephen Curry's ankles are either 100% or very close to it. Earlier today Curry tweeted that he was finally able to participate in scrimmages with his teammates, and CSNBayArea.com's Matt Steinmetz later confirmed the tweet by writing that Curry indeed played five-on-five at the team's downtown Oakland practice facility.

Here's some other news from around the league.

Current Nuggets forward and former member of the Knicks Danilo Gallinari said that the fact New York is rumored to bring Isiah Thomas back into their front office is why they'll never win, writes KnicksJournal.com's Keith Schlosser.
Rockets rookie forward Terrence Jones sat down with Rockets.com's Jason Friedman for an informative Q&A.
Houston Chronicle reporter Jonathan Feigen analyzes what San Antonio's new uniforms could mean for the rest of the league.
SpursNation.com's Dan McCarney talks about what the recent sale of AEG might mean for some other teams across the league, including the Spurs.
In an in-depth season preview for the loaded Northwest Division, NBA.com's John Schuhmman says that the Trail Blazers might be the worst defensive team in the entire league next year.
Lakers head coach Mike Brown recently stated on ESPN Radio that he's excited about the upcoming season, for obvious reasons, writes ESPNLosAngeles.com.
NBA.com's Earl K. Sneed quotes Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle as saying that this is the year Rodrigue Beaubois puts it all together.

Blazers Sign Adam Morrison

September 17th, 2012 at 7:25pm CST by Zachary Links

The Blazers have signed Adam Morrison to a one-year, make-good deal, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Sam Amick of SI.com (via Twitter). The camp invitation was first reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian (via Twitter).

The former third-overall pick last appeared in the Association with the Lakers in 2009/10 where he saw 7.8 minutes of action per contest in 31 games. Morrison hooked on with the Nets' summer league team a few months back and made a strong impression on the club, but ultimately could not secure a deal. The former Gonzaga standout then finished out the 2012 summer league period with the Clippers where he averaged 20 PPG and 5 RPG across five games.

Odds & Ends: Bucks, Thabeet, Redd

September 17th, 2012 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

A few Monday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:

Marquis Daniels, Rasual Butler, and Rodney Carney were among the free agents in attendance at a workout hosted by the Bucks, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Hasheem Thabeet spoke to John Rohde of the Oklahoman about the opportunity he has with the Thunder this season to earn playing time and reach his potential.
Gary Dzen of the Boston Globe takes a look at Dionte Christmas, who he believes has a good chance to make the Celtics' roster with a strong training camp.
Despite rumblings that the Grizzlies might be eyeing Michael Redd, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says Memphis hasn't expressed any interest in the veteran two guard.
Assistant coaches Lloyd Pierce and Bob Thornton have verbally agreed to one-year deals with the Grizzlies for the coming season, tweets Tillery.
Michael Scotto of RealGM.com spoke to Reggie Williams, who is entering a contract year with the Bobcats, about Williams' improbable path to the NBA.

Odds & Ends: Kidd-Gilchrist, Raptors, 2013 Draft

September 15th, 2012 at 7:01pm CST by Michael Pina

During a University of Kentucky charity game that he originally wasn't scheduled to compete in, Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist appeared to show no ill effects from a knee injury that kept him sidelined during July's Summer League in Las Vegas, writes the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell.

Here's a look elsewhere around the league this Saturday evening.

The Raptors are currently entering stage two of the rebuilding process, writes NBA.com's John Schuhmann. Even though the team's big offseason target, Steve Nash, ended up signing with the Lakers, Toronto continues to build around the strength of their talented youth.
Hoopsworld.com and Draft Express give us their top 100 NBA prospects for the 2013 draft. UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad and Kentucky's Nerlens Noel headline the list.
HoopsWorld.com gives us a season preview for the Trail Blazers, a team that's either rebuilding or already talented enough to compete for the eighth seed in the West. Also from HoopsWorld.com, a preview for the Bucks.
The Jazz will enter the 2012/13 season with a new general manager and new faces on the roster, such as longtime Hawks forward Marvin Williams, writes The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm.
Chris Smith, J.R. Smith's brother, will fight for a roster spot with the Knicks in this year's training camp, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

Northwest Links: Williams, Roy, Harden, Jazz

September 14th, 2012 at 10:11pm CST by Alex Lee

The Blazers announced, via Twitter, that Elliot Williams underwent successful surgery on his left Achilles tendon today and will miss the entirety of the 2012-13 season. Williams ruptured his Achilles on Tuesday during a voluntary workout, which is the latest misfortune for the snakebitten former Memphis Tiger. CSN Northwest has more details on the surgery here. Here are some other links from the Northwest Division:

Brandon Roy said on Thursday that he wants to "come in and make an impact right away" for the Timberwolves, writes Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press. Roy has expressed confidence all offseason: "I want to be ready to deliver. A lot of people think I'm going to be limited. I tell them, 'Go ahead and think that way.' I'm not cautious about anything. I'm confident everything will go well." I asked readers a month ago how Roy would fare this year, and about half of you thought he'd average around 10 points per game.
The staff at HoopsWorld published their season preview for the Timberwolves, complete with strengths, weaknesses and predictions. The consensus is that Minnesota will finish right smack in the middle of the Northwest, which would be an improvement from last year's last place finish.
Sean Deveney of The Sporting News looks at five scenarios in play for James Harden and the Thunder. He predicts that the team will wait until next summer to re-sign him as a restricted free agent, getting rid of Kendrick Perkins and others to clear the necessary cap space to do so.
Ben Golliver of CBS Sports gives his offseason report card for the Jazz. He gives Utah a B, concluding that it was a typically quiet but effectively offseason for the team. Golliver says that hiring Dennis Lindsey as their GM was a coup, especially considering the similarity in markets and the amount of current Jazz players that may hit free agency soon.