Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Griffin, Sacks, Harden, Davis, Nash

August 25th, 2012 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Blake Griffin believes the Clippers have become a "free agent destination," and he thinks player personnel director Gary Sacks is the right man to pursue them from the GM's chair, according to comments he made to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Sacks, along with team president Andy Roeser and coach Vinny Del Negro, have shared the GM duties since Neil Olshey jumped to the Blazers, but Griffin made it clear which one he wants to assume the job full-time. "With the moves that the front office made — and now with Gary Sacks, who hopefully steps into that GM role — that made it easy for me and I think this is the place where everybody wants to come," Griffin said. "I think Gary has a great relationship with all the players and the players like him. If he is finally named GM, I think that's just the icing on the cake of having a franchise that is complete." We've got more weekend rumblings right here:

James Harden believes Serge Ibaka deserved his four-year extension from the Thunder, and while saying he's unsure if he and the team will reach a similar accord this summer, Harden expressed a desire to stay in Oklahoma City, where he feels at home with his teammates, as he told the Spanish website Marca.com (translation via HoopsHype).
Hornets No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis dishes about his time with the U.S. Olympic team, his similarities to Kevin Garnett, and his thoughts on playing with Eric Gordon in a Q&A with Joe Brescia of The New York Times.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star examines the relationship between Lakers point guard Steve Nash and Blazers assistant coach Jay Triano, who are teaming up to lead the Canadian national team as GM and head coach, respectively.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at whether it's worth it for the Magic to wait to make a big splash in free agency until 2016, when Kevin Durant becomes a free agent. Putting aside the connection Durant has with Magic GM and former Thunder executive Rob Hennigan, that seems like an awfully long time to wait.

Odds & Ends: Team Canada, Harrellson, Magic

August 23rd, 2012 at 2:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

A handful of players with NBA ties have been invited to a weekend training camp that will take place soon to give Team Canada officials a first glimpse at candidates for their national team, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Sulia link). Tristan Thompson of the Cavs, Joel Anthony of the Heat, Cory Joseph of the Spurs, Andrew Nicholson of the Magic and Kris Joseph of the Celtics are on the list. Robert Sacre, the 60th pick in this year's draft by the Lakers, remains unsigned, but he's been invited as well. The team has officially named former Raptors head coach and current Blazers assistant Jay Triano as head coach, Wolstat also writes, and Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will also be an assistant with Team Canada. Lakers guard Steve Nash, serving as Team Canada's GM, said he wouldn't have accepted the position if Triano wasn't coming aboard, too, Wolstat notes. Here's more from around the Association this afternoon:

The Heat conducted a workout with Josh Harrellson today, as we heard earlier, but the Timberwolves have no interest in the 6'10" University of Kentucky product, as they prefer a center with more length, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Harrellson is just one of several big men the Heat are considering (Sulia link).
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the options the Magic have at power forward to replace Ryan Anderson.
The Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors all have some significant injury issues with training camp about a month away, and Sam Amick of SI.com checks in on the status of Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and others.
Robin Lopez is recovering from left knee surgery that took place a week after the Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade, but he's expected to be ready for training camp, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports. Lopez expressed his enthusiasm about coming to New Orleans, saying, "I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a young, energetic group. The good thing is we’ve got some youth that has a little bit of experience as well. Hopefully we can parlay that into something special.’’
Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations, traveled overseas with assistant GM George David to watch Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in FIBA Eurobasket qualifying, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.

Odds & Ends: Olympics, Blazers, Jason Terry

August 17th, 2012 at 10:10pm CST by Daniel Seco

With the Olympics in the books and the start of the 2012-13 nearly three months away, we've hit a lull in the year where basketball of any sort still remains weeks, not days, away. Make sure you take a moment to catch up on our features and other original content to help you get your NBA fix. With Friday nearly in the books, here's the latest news and headlines from around the league…

Much speculation has been made about a possible age limit for the 2016 Olympics in Rio where only players 23 and under would be eligible to play for their country. Patrick Baumann, the head of FIBA, conducted an in-house interview on Friday and announced that FIBA has no plans to implement an age restriction for 2016.
Beyond adding three assistant coaches to the mix on Friday, the Trail Blazers will retain former NBA guard Hersey Hawkins as the player development director, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Dan Dickau's future as an assistant to Hawkins remains unclear as he is a part-time employee (via Twitter).
Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld says Jason Terry will be key to the Celtics' title hopes given his experience with the Mavericks. Even though the Heat will remain the favorite entering the season, Ingram believes the Celtics will be contenders as the 2012-13 season approaches.
Celtics assistant general manager Mike Zarren has emerged as a contender for the Sixers' general manager position, reports SI.com's Sam Amick. The position has become more desirable as a result of the team acquiring All-Star center Andrew Bynum via trade earlier this month.

Blazers Add Three Assistants To Coaching Staff

August 17th, 2012 at 6:15pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Trail Blazers announced on Friday the addition of three assistant coaches to Terry Stotts' coaching staff, according to a team report. Jay Triano, David Vanterpool and Kim Hughes are headed to Portland to join Kaleb Canales, who will return as an assistant after serving as interim head coach. Stotts may be in the market to add one more assistant to fill out his bench.

Triano, 53, most notably served as the head coach of the Raptors for three seasons before transitioning into his most recent position as the organization's vice president of professional scouting. After being drafted by the Lakers in the eighth round, Triano headed to Europe to play professionally for three seasons.

Vanterpool, 39, leaves a scouting position with the Thunder to join the staff in Portland. The former St. Bonaventure star served as an assistant coach for CSKA Moscow after his playing career ended.

Hughes, 60, served as interim head coach for the Clippers after the franchise parted ways with Mike Dunleavy during the 2010 season. The former Badgers big man dominated during his time at Wisconsin before enjoying a successful professional career both domestically and abroad.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Coaching Notes: Triano, Blazers, Mavs, O’Brien

August 17th, 2012 at 8:37am CST by Luke Adams

As NBA's training camps approach, teams continue to fill out their coaching staffs with new hires — we heard last night that the Lakers have added a pair of assistants in Eddie Jordan and Bernie Bickerstaff, while Eastern Michigan's Rob Murphy elected to stay at EMU rather than joining the Magic's staff. We have a few more updates to round up this morning, so let's check out the latest:

Former Raptors head coach Jay Triano is expected to land on Terry Stotts' staff with the Trail Blazers, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
Triano figures to be one of a handful of new coaches hired by Stotts, who said earlier this week that he plans to add four assistants in addition to Kaleb Canales. The new coach in Portland said the new staff could be announced one at a time or as a group.
The Mavericks had been eyeing Triano to replace Stotts on their own bench, according to Stein. Former Knicks assistant Phil Weber is still on Dallas' list of potential targets, as is Jim O'Brien, who was the head coach in Boston, Philadelphia, and Indiana (Twitter links).

Odds & Ends: Iguodala, Smith, Gunning, Moser

August 14th, 2012 at 10:28pm CST by Alex Lee

To get an idea of the size and signficance of last week's blockbuster, consider the notion that Andre Iguodala heading to the Nuggets was probably the least publicized leg of the deal. Iguodala was not only an All-Star last season, but he was one of 12 members of a Team USA that has been fawned over by sports fans around the globe for the past month. According to Aaron Lopez of Nuggets.com, some of Iguodala's post-trade quotes were misconstrued and the veteran wing is, in fact, very excited to join what should be an ultra-athletic team in Denver. Let's round up some of the other links and happenings from around the Association on this Tuesday night:

New Celtics sixth man Jason Terry spoke with Molly McGrath from Celtics.com and stated Boston's case for legitimate title contention in the 2012-13 season. Greg Payne from ESPN Boston transcribed the interview.
Mark Medina from the L.A. Times spoke with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who sees a lot of similarities between his situation with the Lakers in 1975 and the one Dwight Howard is about to enter.
Power forward Craig Smith, who saw less than 10 minutes per game with the Blazers last year, explained to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com why he passed up NBA offers to play in Israel in the upcoming season. Smith was tired of being an NBA "roster filler" and was willing to take less money for an opportunity to show what he can do with consistent playing time.
The Magic have hired Brett Gunning as an assistant coach, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Gunning, who spent the last four seasons in various roles in the Rockets organization, will join first-time head coach Jacque Vaughn on the Orlando bench.
According to UNLV head coach Dave Rice, Rebels swingman Mike Moser is preparing for what will likely be his last season in Las Vegas, reports Mike Youmans at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Moser is a rising junior, but Rice says he essentially considers him a senior. Moser averaged 14 points and more than 10 rebounds as a sophomore last season for the Rebels and briefly flirted with the 2012 draft. He projects as a late first-round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com writes that the Sixers, a franchise that has historically gotten burned in trades involving superstars, finally got the best player in a mega-deal in Andrew Bynum. Moore is only referring to what the team directly gave up and received, which eliminates Dwight Howard from consideration.

Steve Clifford To Follow Howard To Lakers

August 14th, 2012 at 9:09pm CST by Alex Lee

Former Magic assistant coach and defensive guru Steve Clifford will accept an invitation from Lakers head coach Mike Brown to join his coaching staff in Los Angeles, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Previously this offseason, Clifford was under consideration for the Magic and the Blazers head coach openings before both organizations went in different directions. Clifford was still in the mix for an assistant position in Portland before deciding to join the Lakers.

His decision comes in the wake of last week's blockbuster that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, effectively "reuniting" Clifford with the anchor of his defenses in Orlando. With Howard at center and Clifford on the bench, the Magic never finished worse than 11th in the NBA in team defense spanning five seasons. According to Haynes, Clifford considers the Van Gundy brothers his mentors and models himself after Tom Thibodeau. It should be interesting to see how Clifford's expertise supplements the already defensive-minded Mike Brown in the Lakers quest for their 17th title.

Poll: How Will Brandon Roy Fare In Minnesota?

August 14th, 2012 at 8:23pm CST by Alex Lee

The return of Brandon Roy in Minnesota, after what he termed a "pause" in his career, is something intriguing to keep an eye on in the 2012-13 NBA season. Roy officially signed with the Timberwolves on July 31 and addressed the unique nature of his situation at a press conference that same day. Earlier this month, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com took a detailed and comprehensive look at all the scenarios that could play out with Roy this season, including the impact of those possibilities on the franchises and fans in Portland and Minnesota.

In his prime, Roy was a 20-plus points-per-game scorer and All-Star caliber shooting guard. He averaged over 35 minutes-per-game over his first four seasons before his knee issues limited him to 12.2 points and 27.9 minutes per-game in the 2010-11 season. With over a year of rest, how do you think that Roy will fare this season in Minnesota, where he is the team's only real option at shooting guard?

How Will Brandon Roy Fare In Minnesota?

Solid Contributor, averages around 10 PPG 48.23% (557 votes)

Effective Starter, averages around 15 PPG 38.10% (440 votes)

Returns to All-Star Form, averages upwards of 20 PPG 7.27% (84 votes)

Dissapointment, averages less than 5 PPG 6.41% (74 votes)

Total Votes: 1,155

Free Agent Spending By Division: Northwest

August 14th, 2012 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

After calculating the numbers on 2012 free agent expenditures for teams in the Atlantic, Central and Southeast, we're moving over to the Western Conference. Using Hoops Rumors' Free Agent Tracker, our look at summer spending out West starts in the Northwest Division, where a pair of rivals spent a chunk of July battling over restricted free agent Nicolas Batum, who ultimately landed the largest contract in the division.

Once again, these figures only take into account free agent signings, so salary absorbed in trades or money used to sign draft picks isn't included in this list. Additionally, not all of this salary is necessarily guaranteed, which we'll try to note as we go along. Here are this summer's Northwest Division free agent costs, sorted by player salary:

Denver Nuggets: $63.875MM (JaVale McGee, Andre Miller, Anthony Randolph)
Miller's three-year, $14.625MM deal is only guaranteed for $12MM, so the Nuggets' overall bill may not ultimately be quite so high, but this is still a good chunk of money spent by an over-the-cap team that's not in a top market. Between their trades of Nene and Arron Afflalo though, the Nuggets have exhibited an ability to shed long-term contracts not long after they're signed, without taking long-term salary back in return. It's unlikely that happens with McGee's four-year, $44MM deal, but you never know.

Portland Trail Blazers: $54.572MM (Nicolas Batum, J.J. Hickson, Jared Jeffries, Ronnie Price)
After missing out on restricted free agent Roy Hibbert, the Blazers settled for bringing back their own RFA, Batum, at a cost of $45MM over four years. The team could end up only paying about $6.3MM for their other three signings — Hickson will receive $4MM, Price receives a minimum salary, to which the Blazers will contribute $854,389, and only Jeffries' first-year salary of $1,475,106 is guaranteed.

Minnesota Timberwolves: $45.666MM (Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy, Alexey Shved, Greg Stiemsma)
After weeks of cap maneuvering and a failed offer sheet for Batum, the Timberwolves signed Kirilenko to a two-year contract worth $20MM, a deal that looked a lot worse before the Olympics than it does now. Still, of the four players Minnesota signed this summer, only one (Stiemsma) played in the NBA this season, making the club's offseason approach one of the more high-risk, high-reward strategies in the league.

Utah Jazz: $8.000MM (Jeremy Evans, Randy Foye)
It was a modest summer on the free agent market for the Jazz, whose only outside signing so far is Foye, for $2.5MM of the team's mid-level. But Utah made up for its restraint in free agency by taking on plenty of salary via trades, acquiring Mo Williams (one year, $8.5MM) and Marvin Williams (two years, $15.79MM).

Oklahoma City Thunder: $7.598MM (Daniel Orton, Hasheem Thabeet, Hollis Thompson)
While other Western Conference rivals like the Lakers practically overhauled their entire rosters, the Thunder have had a remarkably quiet summer, and will rely on their young core to continue to improve. Oklahoma City's 2012 free agent bill figures to amount to significantly less than the $7.598MM listed above — of the three multiyear contracts they've inked, only Thabeet's is fully guaranteed for 2012/13.

Odds & Ends: Magic, Warriors, Stotts, Harris

August 14th, 2012 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

On this date four years ago, the Suns signed 25-year-old forward Louis Amundson as a free agent. Amundson had played only 153 total minutes in 27 games over two NBA seasons at that point, but took advantage of the minutes he received for the next two years in Phoenix, evolving into an adequate role player. Today, at age 29, Amundson is a free agent once again, and was said last week to be in talks with the Bobcats and Knicks, among other teams. While Amundson continues to weigh his options in free agency, let's check in on a few other notes from around the league….

Magic CEO Alex Martins wrote a letter to Magic season ticket holders, as Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel documents. Martins says the team did all it could to keep Dwight Howard and encourages fans to look forward as the team builds for the future. "A primary goal for our basketball team is to achieve long-term sustainability while maintaining a long-term vision," the letter said. "We feel this deal puts us in a position to begin building in that direction. In addition to the six players joining our team, we will be in a position to maximize our salary cap flexibility in the near future, as well as utilize the multiple draft picks we have acquired going forward."
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides some reasons why the Lakers' acquisition of Howard isn't entirely bad news for the Warriors.
As Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com writes, Warriors GM Bob Myers cleared up some recent remarks about coach Mark Jackson, clarifying that he never meant to suggest Jackson's job could be on the line if Golden State doesn't make the playoffs this season.
New Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts spoke to SI.com's Zach Lowe about a number of topics, including some ofhis thoughts on the Blazers going forward.
The Bulls officially announced today in a press release that they've named Brian Hagen as the team's assistant general manager. Hagen had spent the previous nine seasons in the Hornets' front office.
Unrestricted free agent Terrel Harris is drawing some interest from overseas, according to a Sportando report. Harris played in 22 games for the Heat in 2011/12.