Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Uncategorized

Central Notes: Bucks, Monroe, Billups, Pistons

April 17th, 2014 at 8:47pm CST by Alex Lee

Earlier tonight we broke down the bevy of news coming out of Cleveland. Here is what is going on in the rest of the Central Division on Thursday night:

  • Once the dust settles from the Bucks ownership change, many league insiders expect the new regime to make changes in the front office and on the coaching staff in Milwaukee, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. As Kyler notes, general manager John Hammond and assistant GM David Morway are both under contract for two more seasons. Head coach Larry Drew inked a four-year, $10MM pact last summer.
  • Soon-to-be restricted free agent Greg Monroe spent what might be his last season with the Pistons keeping his head down and concentrating on his own production, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
  • Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press suggests the Pistons would probably exercise their $2.5MM team option on Chauncey Billups for next season if the 37-year-old elects not to retire, but it seems questionable that the team would commit to that kind of money to him.
  • Several Pistons players conceded that chemistry issues plagued the team all season, with Brandon Jennings admitting that he never would have agreed to come to Detroit last summer had he known how things would turn out, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. Based on player comments, Mayo infers that veteran Josh Smith, the team’s highest paid player, is one of the reasons for the team’s fractured locker room. In a separate piece, Ellis concurs.
Repost Share Send via email

Bucks Re-Sign Chris Wright To Multiyear Deal

April 16th, 2014 at 10:02am CST by Ryan Raroque

WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: The Bucks have officially announced the deal.

TUESDAY, 11:22pm: The Bucks have signed Chris Wright for the remainder of the regular season in addition to a non-guaranteed season in 2014/15, reports Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The 6’9 forward is now expected to participate with Milwaukee’s summer league team and be included in training camp. Gardner adds that the signing will give the Bucks some added flexibility in trade scenarios this summer.

Wright played on a pair of ten-day contracts with Milwaukee this year, one signed on March 14th and the other on April 5th, respectively. In his most recent stint, the Dayton native played 15 MPG in each of the team’s last five games, averaging 6.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and one steal per game to go along with 66.7% shooting from the field overall.

Repost Share Send via email

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

April 15th, 2014 at 1:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

If you want to keep tabs on all the stories and updates at Hoops Rumors, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe to our feed through your RSS reader of choice. If you prefer to receive only news about your favorite NBA team, we still have you covered. You can even get updates only when teams make a move, with our Transactions-only Twitter and RSS feed. Below are links to our Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds for all 30 teams.

Atlantic

Central

Southeast

Southwest

Northwest

Pacific

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Repost Share Send via email

And-Ones: Reed, Pistons, Noel

April 8th, 2014 at 10:36pm CST by Cray Allred

While the names of former NBA head coaches Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Van Gundy pop up each year as rumored candidates for coaching vacancies, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders says that both brothers have promised their families they won’t move (via Twitter). Of course, that doesn’t rule out every opening, and restless coaches often return to the bench despite similar family vows. Here’s more from around the league:

  • LaQuinton Ross plans to sign with agents Jeff Schwartz and Sean Kennedy of Excel Sports tomorrow, per a tweet from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The small forward out of Ohio State announced his plans to enter the draft late last month, and is considered a second round talent.
  • Daniel Orton reflects on his time with the Maine Red Claws this year, telling Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside that he chose to play in the D-League to give himself a better shot at finding an NBA roster spot. “The decision (to play in the D-League) was all about trying to get back into the NBA,” Orton said. “I’m trying to get a call-up. I had offers to go overseas and make some money, but I’m trying to get back into the NBA more so than anything.” The big man has only managed to play in 51 NBA games across his three-season career, and was waived by the Sixers earlier this year.
  • Sixers coach Brett Brown says that Nerlens Noel has made major developmental gains despite sitting out all year. Brown tells Mark Narducci of Philly.com that he envisions Noel becoming polished offensively over a three to five year window. “How many opportunities do you have like this when you have a whole year where you can invest time with somebody?” Brown said. “I think it is a huge part of his development and I am thrilled he is with me and I am glad I am the guy who has the chance to help him.”
  • The Kings have recalled Willie Reed from their D-League affiliate, per a team release.
  • While the Pistons would never embrace the notion of tanking, interim coach John Loyer tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News that being out of contention does give him some flexibility to play and evaluate younger players. “Like I said the other day, you hope to play some of the younger guys,” Loyer said. “But you see how the game goes, how the matchups go.”
Repost Share Send via email

Nuggets Notes: Miller, Fournier, Brooks

April 8th, 2014 at 5:38pm CST by Cray Allred

The Nuggets aren’t worried about playoff seeding for the first time in over a decade. Instead, their fans can monitor the reverse standings to see what Denver’s lottery odds will be, heading into a promising draft class. Here’s more from Denver:

  • Coach Brian Shaw thinks the Nuggets have to alter their roster this summer, but he doesn’t think the change needs to be sweeping, as he told reporters today, including Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Shaw is looking for one or two players from inside or outside the organization “to come to the forefront as leaders,” and he’d like to have a perimeter “lock down defender,” Dempsey notes (All five Twitter links here).
  • While Denver plays out the season, losing six of their last seven, Shaw tells Dempsey in a separate piece that what happens on the court still matters,  “There’s a lot of things that we can learn from,” Shaw said. Dempsey highlights recent performances by 21-year-olds Quincy Miller and Evan Fournier, who have been improving their play.
  • Aaron Brooks‘ strong play since joining the Nuggets in a midseason trade has increased his market value. The sixth-year point guard tells Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com that he hasn’t ruled out re-signing with Denver next season, despite the presence of Ty Lawson and Nate Robinson on the roster. “Any place that has me, I’ll be happy,” Brooks said. “I like it here. It’s kind of jammed at the point guard spot, but I like it here. They have a good team coming back.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Features

April 8th, 2014 at 10:15am CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:

  • You can follow all of our updates about your favorite teams or players on your iPhone or iPad using the Hoops Rumors app.
  • As the regular season winds down, many teams are looking ahead to free agency. Our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings list the top 10 free agents for the summer ahead, and you can find a complete list here. We’ve also begun to go in depth with our Free Agent Stock Watch series.
  • We keep an eye on the more distant future with a list of 2015 free agents, and we’ve got the present covered, too, as we track players who could help a team down the stretch this season with a list of current free agents.
  • Our list of 2013/14 roster counts is a convenient tool for keeping tabs on how many players your favorite NBA team is carrying and how many guaranteed contracts are on each club’s books.
  • If your favorite team has a better chance at Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid than a playoff berth, be sure to follow our reverse standings, which are updated daily to reflect the projected 2014 draft order.
  • Our Prospect Profile series examines the next wave of NBA players in detail, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and handicapping when they’ll hear their names called on draft night.
  • We’ve also listed the key dates for underclassmen thinking of declaring for the draft, and we’re compiling a running list of those who’ve announced their intentions to do so.
  • We’re keeping tabs on this season’s D-League assignments right here.
  • Our agency database is a handy reference point for determining the representation for virtually every NBA player.
  • Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed since the 2006/07 season, and you can sort by player, team, year and other variables.
  • We give you a turn in the spotlight when we showcase the best reader comments with our new Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback posts.
  • On Mondays at 4:00pm CT, I answer reader questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of our past live discussions here.
  • Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, used or expires.
  • We’re tracking each team’s use of the amnesty clause. Our complete table shows which clubs have used the amnesty clause and which will have it available in the summer.
  • The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
  • Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere with Hoops Links on Sundays.
  • If you’re looking to catch up, our Week in Review posts compile the top news and rumors from the past seven days, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site’s original content for the week. Both roundups are published every Sunday.
  • Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we explained a link between team options and restricted free agency, detailed how the trade deadline deals worked financially, and looked at teams with dead money already on the books for 2014/15.
Repost Share Send via email

And-Ones: NBPA, Jackson, Irving, Stevens

April 7th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The National Basketball Player’s Association announced tonight that they have hired Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson to head a search committee to find a new executive director, tweets Howard Beck of Bleacher Report.  The NBPA also announced that Kyle Korver has been elected to take over for Matt Bonner on the executive committee after his term expired (link).  The press release indicates that the union’s goal is to have a new executive director in place by the start of next season, which would give them a new leader 20 months after firing Billy Hunter.  More from around the league..

  • If the Knicks are going to replace Mike Woodson as head coach, they should put Phil Jackson in his place, Larry Brown opined in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio.”You’re not going to make the Knicks better by living in L.A. and being there half the time and not talking to your coach,” Brown said, according to Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. “Let him coach. He was the best coach probably ever. Let him coach.“
  • Cavs guards Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters are downplaying talk of a rift, writes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.  “I just think, man, throughout this whole year with us two not liking each other, it’s total BS,” Waiters said. “We’ve been friends before we even made the NBA, before any of this. I just think y’all saying we don’t like playing with one another. … Yeah, we still need to learn certain things, but I think at the end of the day, we’re genuinely friends. I love him as a friend, teammate, everything. I just want everybody to know that. I don’t hate this guy.“
  • People around the league have had doubts from the beginning of Brad Stevens‘ tenure with the Celtics that he’ll want to stay for his entire six-year deal, but the coach tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that he intends to fulfill his contract.
  • Former Spurs guard Nando De Colo is making an impact with his new team, writes the Toronto Sun’s Frank Zicarelli.  De Colo came to the Raptors in an under-the-radar deadline move, but he’s been anything but since February.  “[I’m] just being aggressive and playing my game,” said De Colo. “When a shot is open, you have to take it. Whether I’m playing the one (point guard) or two (shooting guard), staying focused on my job and nothing more.“
  • The Cavs believe Scotty Hopson can play a role for next year’s team, particularly if C.J. Miles signs elsewhere, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
  • Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said he and team president Flip Saunders would talk about signing a player, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune.  The club now has an open roster spot following the release of A.J. Price last week.
  • Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News writes that Mark Jackson‘s greatest strength is also one of his trouble spots: a dead certainty that he’s doing everything exactly right.  Jackson’s contends that the recent staff shakeup doesn’t have anything to do with him, but Kawakami argues that the dispatching of Brian Scalabrine after a philosophical dispute followed by the dismissal of Darren Erman must have something to do with the Warriors head coach.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Repost Share Send via email

Magic Up For Sale Soon?

April 6th, 2014 at 4:03pm CST by Cray Allred

SUNDAY, 4:03pm: The Magic aren’t for sale, chairman Dan DeVos tells Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel.

“As a family, the topic of selling the team has not come up,” DeVos wrote in an e-mail. “In fact, we are enjoying the team more than ever. Especially my father. We are very excited about our focus on winning a NBA championship. The family is fully engaged and active with the team. All four generations. The Magic are not for sale.”

SATURDAY, 8:43am: A league source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that in addition to the Bucks, the Orlando Magic might become available for purchase in the near future. Blakely is referring to a majority ownership sale potential, as he doesn’t mention the Hawks, who have already made a minority share in team ownership available. Rich DeVos is the Magic’s principal owner, who has previously stated he intended for his children to manage the team after him.

Aside from the affects an ownership change could mean for the team itself, another majority ownership changing hands in the league also raises the possibility of a relocation. Chris Hansen’s ownership group lost out in the sale of the Kings last year, nearly succeeding in purchasing the team and moving it to Seattle. The Bucks haven’t officially opened up bidding for a majority ownership purchase, and current owner Herb Kohl has repeatedly made it clear that he will do everything in his power to leave the Bucks in the hands of an ownership group that won’t move the team from Milwaukee. Hansen said on Thursday that his investor group is still on the prowl, and in even better shape to win league approval to bring the next available team to Seattle to replace the void left from the sale of the Supersonics, who were bought and moved to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder.

Blakely details that former NBA player Leon Powe is putting together an ownership group to be active in a future team sale. Other names rumored to be interested in ownership include Arn Tellem and David Kahn, although they have exclusively been linked to the Bucks.

Repost Share Send via email

Atlantic Notes: Odom, Sixers, Patterson

April 5th, 2014 at 9:02pm CST by Cray Allred

Knicks president Phil Jackson met with Lamar Odom recently, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. The conversation could have been about a potential signing, but the nature of the meeting is unclear. Odom, who played for Jackson when both were with the Lakers, had his NBA comeback stalled due to an injury while signed overseas. Jackson earlier met with Metta World Peace, another former Laker from his coaching past who is currently without a team. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Sixers coach Brett Brown says having multiple players on 10-day contracts is a challenge, telling reporters including Tom Moore of Calkins Media it’s hard on everyone (Twitter links). “I want to help them audition, whether it’s for me here or somewhere else,” Brown said.
  • James Nunnally‘s second 10-day deal with the Sixers expires today. He told Moore, “You’ve just got to be confident in what you did and what you’re doing.” (Twitter link)
  • In a separate piece, Moore looks at the possibility of the Sixers not getting the top-overall pick in this year’s draft lottery, going through some of the players GM Sam Hinkie could target.
  • Patrick Patterson is back on the court for the Raptors after a tough injury sidelined him for weeks, and he tells Holly McKenzie of Raptors.com that he’s glad to make it back for the postseason run. Patterson was traded away from the Rockets last year to forestall what would have been his first playoff stretch, but was sent from the Kings to playoff-bound Toronto this season. “Not a lot of guys on this team have been to the playoffs. Those guys who have been to the playoffs have talked to us and told us what it’s like and I think that’s motivation for the rest of us to continue doing what we have been doing,” said Patterson, who has been impressed by the Raptors fan base. “Canada, I figured, of course it’s hockey. I never would have imagined that the fans would pretty much sell out every game we play here. Probably the most surprising thing I’ve seen here since I’ve been here, [is] the fan support.”
Repost Share Send via email

Draft Rumors: Payton, Baker, Walker

April 5th, 2014 at 12:04pm CST by Cray Allred

Oscar Robertson doesn’t agree with the league’s desire to increase the age limit for draft entry, telling Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press that “one-and-done” players aren’t hurting the college game. “These colleges are greedy, man. They want to keep a kid … in school if they start to win,” Robertson said. “They want to keep them in school because it helps them — it helps the coach, it helps the winning percentage.” Here’s a roundup of more draft rumors:

  • Wichita State’s Ron Baker will return to school for his junior year, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Baker explored his draft potential before making the decision, and multiple NBA executives tell Goodman he would have been a second round pick had he chosen to declare for this year’s draft.
  • An NBA executive told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton could go as high as the late teens in the draft should he declare. The junior hasn’t yet decided whether to forgo his last year of college to enter the draft.
  • Florida freshman Chris Walker says he will make a decision regarding this year’s draft after the Final Four, telling reporters including Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv he’s focused on the tournament for now. “I haven’t really been thinking about it,” Walker said. “I’m just thinking about winning this UConn game and staying in the moment and hopefully winning that and advance to the championship game. And then after the season, me and coach [Billy Donovan] will sit down and talk about everything and all the options.” Walker has been considered by many to be a premier 2015 draft prospect, so it would be interesting to see where he would stack up if he declared for this summer’s draft.
  • In a subscription-only piece, ESPN Insiders Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton look at the draft stocks for Shabazz Napier, Frank Kaminsky, and Patric Young, who are all playing for Final Four teams this weekend.
  • Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports discussed the draft prospects of Kentucky’s freshmen in a video from yesterday.
  • We profiled Doug McDermott earlier today.
Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts