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Anthony Morrow Still Mulling Player Option

June 4th, 2014 at 9:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

9:40pm: While Reid doesn’t foresee Morrow agreeing to the minimum salary, he does believe that the free agent will give the Pelicans the first shot at signing him. (Twitter link)

JUNE 4TH 4:05pm: Morrow has yet to decide what to do about his player option, as his agent, Wallace Prather, tells John Reid of The Times Picayune. The Pelicans likely would attempt to retain Morrow with a more lucrative deal than his existing minimum-salary arrangement, Reid writes.

”We haven’t specifically sat down and discussed it with (Pelicans GM) Dell Demps yet, so we don’t have anything to say about it right now,” Prather said.

MAY 29TH: Sharpshooter Anthony Morrow will turn down his player option with the Pelicans and become a free agent this summer, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. The 28-year-old was set to earn nearly $1.146MM next season, but a bounce-back year behind the arc apparently has him confident he can earn more.

The six-year veteran hit 45.1% of his three-point looks this past season, more in line with the 44.7% accuracy from behind the arc that he displayed over his first three seasons. He only hit 37.1% of his long-range attempts in 2011/12 and 2012/13, leading the Perennial Sports & Entertainment client to sign two-year a minimum-salary contract with New Orleans last summer. The deal included clauses that would have made part of his salary non-guaranteed if he missed time because of back and hip injuries, but he played in a career-high 76 games this past season.

The Pelicans have about $54MM in commitments for next season, so Morrow’s decision preserves the team’s full flexibility beneath a projected $63.2MM salary cap. They can attempt to re-sign him using Non-Bird rights that would allow for a starting salary worth 120% of what he made this past season. I’d be surprised if Morrow doesn’t have his eyes on a larger raise than that, one which would force New Orleans to use cap space or another exception.

Pistons Hire Jeff Bower As GM

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Pistons have formally named Jeff Bower their next General Manager, the team announced. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported Monday that Detroit was on the verge of making the deal final. Bower will serve as day-to-day help for president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, who doubles as the team’s coach.

“Jeff brings great basketball knowledge and NBA experience to our organization and he’s enjoyed success in building teams,” Van Gundy said as part of the team’s statement. “He’s a great evaluator of talent and Jeff will bring solid leadership to our front office.”

Pistons management had to wait until Bower was formally released from his contract at Marist College to make the announcement. Before serving as Marist’s head coach, Bower was in the New Orleans organization for 15 years including a run as GM from 2005-10. He also served as coach of the then-Hornets for the final 73 games of the 2009/10 season, going 34-39.

His record as the primary front office decision-maker in New Orleans had its share of both hits and misses. He acquired a young Tyson Chandler in 2006 for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith, then traded Chandler for Emeka Okafor in a regrettable 2009 deal. The team unearthed Darren Collison with the 21st overall pick in 2009, helping make up for the selection of Julian Wright at No. 13 in 2007.

Still, Bower will serve a secondary role to Van Gundy in the Pistons basketball operations department, having beaten out former Magic GM Otis Smith, with whom Van Gundy had worked in Orlando. Stu Jackson also interviewed for the position, while Spurs assistant GM Scott Layden and former Heat GM Randy Pfund were also reportedly candidates. Bower had been in the running for GM jobs with the Sixers and Magic the past two summers. Those jobs, unlike the one he wound up with in Detroit, would have given him full control over player personnel.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Wizards Sign Randy Wittman To Extension

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:41pm: The deal is official, according to the team, which made the announcement on its website.

“We are pleased with the progress the team has made on the court and with the culture we have been able to build with Randy as our head coach,” GM Ernie Grunfeld said. “We will look to continue that momentum with him deservedly leading this group of dedicated and hard-working players.”

12:47pm: The Wizards and Randy Wittman have agreed on a three-year extension that will give the coach about $3MM per season through 2016/17, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the sides were close to a deal last week. The third season will be a team option, Lee writes.

Wittman’s contract had been set to expire at the end of the month after he led the Wizards closer to the conference finals than they’ve been since 1979, the last time they won multiple games in the second round. Washington also made a 15-game improvement in the regular season, but the coach’s job apparently still remained in jeopardy until the Wizards dispatched the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

Washington is 91-122 in parts of three seasons under Wittman, who’s 191-329 overall as an NBA head coach, having also spent time with the Cavs and Timberwolves. This season was the first time Wittman’s coached a team to a record of better than .500, so perhaps that explains the Wizards’ reported hesitance to commit to him before he’d proven himself in the playoffs. Still, Washington is on the rise, and up-and-coming stars John Wall and Bradley Beal endorsed the coach at season’s end.

Darren Collison To Opt Out, Become Free Agent

May 29th, 2014 at 8:27am CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers point guard Darren Collison has decided to turn down the nearly $1.986MM player option on his contract and hit free agency this summer, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The move has been widely expected after a season in which Collison turned around his career, proving his worth as an ace reserve after failing as a starter the past two seasons.

The client of BDA Sports Management has a strong preference for the Clippers, though he won’t rule out signing with another team, according to Haynes. The Donald Sterling saga clouds the future of the Clippers franchise, and agents have suggested that players will avoid signing with the team this summer. However, the fiasco surrounding the banned owner’s racist comments strengthened the bond between the players in the locker room, and it’s what has Collison leaning toward returning, Haynes hears.

The 26-year-old averaged 11.4 points in a career-low 25.9 minutes per game this past season. Most of his appearances were as a bench player, but he still made 35 starts as the team compensated for injuries to Chris Paul and J.J. Redick. His 3.7 assists per game were well below his career average of 4.9, but much of that had to do with the presence of Paul, the NBA’s leader in assists per game this season. Collison shot 37.6% from behind the arc this past season, his best mark since he was a rookie in 2009/10.

The Clippers were in serious talks about a trade that would have sent him to the Knicks at the deadline, but L.A. pulled out of discussions before they bore fruit. Clippers coach and front office chief Doc Rivers spoke highly of Collison during the season, suggesting he was reluctant to give up such a reliable member of his bench.

He’ll be able to command a raise on the open market, and the capped-out Clippers only have his Non-Bird rights. The most they’ll be able to pay him without dipping into other exceptions would be 120% of his salary from this past season, which probably won’t be enough to keep him. The team has more than $66MM in commitments for next season, though that doesn’t include nearly $4MM in non-guaranteed salary on Jamal Crawford‘s salary that the Clippers will almost certainly pick up. The rise in the projected tax line to $77MM will probably allow the team to use the full $5.305MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level to re-sign Collison or chase another free agent.

Tornike Shengelia To Play In Spain

May 28th, 2014 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Nets and Bulls forward Tornike Shengelia has agreed to a three-year deal with Baskonia of Spain, Lefteris Moutis of Eurohoops.net reports. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia confirms the deal, having noted earlier that the sides were in talks. It’s for the equivalent of about $2.855MM, according to Moutis, although it’s not clear what, if any, NBA escape clauses will be a part of the contract.

The Guy Zucker client was the 54th overall pick in the 2012 draft and wound up with a guaranteed two-year deal for the minimum salary from Brooklyn that summer. He played sparingly for the Nets, appearing in just 36 games over a season and a half before they sent him to the Bulls in a January trade. He saw even less playing time in Chicago, which waived him shortly before the season to accommodate multiyear contracts for Ronnie Brewer, Mike James and Louis Amundson that will help the Bulls assemble trade packages this summer.

Shengelia, a native of the Republic of Georgia, averaged 1.3 points in 5.5 minutes per game across 45 NBA appearances. His talent was on greater display while on D-League assignment, as he racked up 21.1 PPG in 33.9 MPG over 14 contests the past two years for the affiliate of the Nets.

Jason Kapono Retires

May 28th, 2014 at 10:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Nine-year NBA veteran Jason Kapono has decided to retire, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). The 33-year-old last played professionally for Panathinaikos of Greece in 2012/13 after appearing in 27 games for the Lakers in 2011/12. The Cavs acquired him in a trade at the 2012 deadline, waiving him soon after, and a series of workouts the following September with the Spurs was his last brush with the NBA.

Kapono was one of the league’s elite sharpshooters, leading the NBA in three-point percentage in 2006/07 and 2007/08 with the Heat and Raptors, respectively. The Cavs drafted him in the second round in 2003, and he played in Cleveland, Charlotte and Philadelphia in addition to his time with the Lakers, Miami and Toronto. He won a championship with the Heat in 2006, but he played in only one playoff game that year. He had a much greater role in the postseason for the Raptors two years later, averaging 15.6 points per game in 30.4 minutes per contest in a five-game first-round defeat.

The former UCLA Bruin made nearly $28.5MM for his career, according to Basketball-Reference. He drew his highest annual salary of $6.6MM for the Sixers in 2010/11, but he averaged a career-low 4.7 MPG that season.

Grizzlies Sign Dave Joerger To Extension

May 27th, 2014 at 4:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:51pm: The deal is official, the team announced on its website.

“Following an open and honest dialogue with Dave, it became clear that Dave was fully committed to Memphis and we are committed to him,” Pera said as part of the statement. “I look forward to seeing Dave build upon the foundation he helped establish over the last seven years, and we are both committed to bringing a championship to Memphis.”

4:04pm: The fifth-year team option includes a raise over his salaries in the first four seasons of the contract, as Sam Amick of USA Today reports (on Twitter). Joerger has been set to make close to $2MM a year.

4:00pm: Memphis agreed to guarantee what had been a fourth-year team option on Joerger’s deal and add a fifth-year team option, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.

3:47pm: The Grizzlies and coach Dave Joerger have agreed to a two-year extension, reports Eric Hasseltine of SiriusXM NBA Radio, who spoke with with Joerger this afternoon on 92.9 ESPN Radio in Memphis (Twitter links). Joerger already had two seasons left at more than $2MM, but Grizzlies owner Robert Pera reportedly “improved” the deal this weekend amid a reconciliation that forestalled Joerger from leaving the team to take the Wolves head coaching job.

The deal is the latest outgrowth of Pera’s decision eight days ago to dismiss CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash. Memphis brass reportedly saw Joerger as a “Levien guy”, and Pera was prepared to fire the first-year coach earlier this season. There was supposedly mutual “hate” between Joerger and team attorney-turned-scouting director David Mincberg, whose role within the basketball operations department appeared to grow and just as quickly shrink within recent days.

Joerger, a Minnesota native, interviewed with Wolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders, with whom the Grizzlies coach is close, as well as Wolves owner Glen Taylor. He appeared well on his way to filling their vacancy before he met with Pera this past weekend and, in a stunning turn, agreed to remain in Memphis. The Grizzlies went 50-32 and took the Thunder to seven games in the first round of the playoffs this past season, Joerger’s first as an NBA head coach.

Bobby Brown Signs Three-Year Chinese Deal

May 23rd, 2014 at 9:04am CST by Chuck Myron

NBA prospect Bobby Brown has signed a three-year deal to remain with the Dongguan Leopards of China, but the contract includes NBA escape clauses, and he’ll play for the Blazers summer league team this year, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links). The Chinese website Sohu.com originally reported the sides were close to an agreement. The Clippers appeared to show interest in Brown at multiple points this year, but though he seemed destined to return to the league this past season after a 74-point outburst for the Leopards in December, he didn’t wind up with an NBA deal.

Brown was the Chinese Basketball Association’s second leading scorer this past season with 30.7 points per game, and he also dished out 5.7 assists and grabbed 4.0 rebounds in 39.1 minutes per contest. He’s played in Italy and Germany, too, since last appearing in an NBA game in 2009/10. Still, he remained on the radar of NBA teams, playing in summer league for the Raptors in 2010 and 2012 and drawing interest from the Knicks this past summer. The 29-year-old played regular season games for four NBA teams in two seasons after going undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 2007.

It’s not clear how much the buyout attached to his new Chinese deal would run if he were to find NBA work. His summer league arrangement with Portland seems to indicate it’s less than $600K, which would allow an NBA team to pay the buyout without the money counting against the cap, but that’s just my speculation.

Francisco Garcia To Opt Out?

May 21st, 2014 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:50pm: Garcia says he’s yet to make a final decision about his player option for next season, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).

9:37am: Francisco Garcia is planning to opt out of his contract with the Rockets and seek a new, multiyear deal, sources tell Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The move would be no surprise, since Garcia, who played a significant role off the bench much of the season for Houston, was set to make the minimum salary on his player option next season. Still, Haynes hears from two more sources that Garcia will prioritize long-term security over a raise as he canvasses the market for a new deal.

The swingman averaged 5.7 points in 19.7 minutes per game over 55 regular season appearances for the Rockets, but his minutes dried up in the playoffs. He saw 18 minutes in Game 1 against the Blazers, four minutes in Game 2, and sat for the rest of the series as D-League refugee Troy Daniels seized much of his playing time.

The Rockets have full Bird rights on the Aaron Goodwin client, so they appear to have the inside track. Garcia is probably in line for more than the minimum, but securing a deal that lasts three or more seasons would require him to either find a team with cap space or a club willing to commit at least part of its mid-level exception to him if he were to leave the Rockets. There’s also a decent chance Houston will renounce its Bird Rights to Garcia to clear cap space in the pursuit of Carmelo Anthony or another marquee free agent. Garcia figures to sign later in July, once the more attractive free agents come off the board, but even if he settles for another two-year deal for the minimum, as he did last offseason, that would at least give him a bit more security than opting in for one more season would have.

Charlotte Officially Adopts Hornets Nickname

May 20th, 2014 at 11:44am CST by Chuck Myron

The Charlotte Bobcats have officially become the Charlotte Hornets, the team announced in a press conference today. The franchise will assume the statistical history of the original Charlotte Hornets from 1988 through 2002, when they moved to New Orleans, and those records will also encompass everything the Bobcats did from their inception in 2004. The franchise unveiled its new website and Twitter feed with the Hornets nickname.

So, Hoops Rumors will refer to the team as the Hornets from now on. You can find a link to our Hornets rumors page on the right sidebar, just as you can do with every NBA team, and we’ve updated our Facebook and Twitter feeds, too.