Uncategorized News & Rumors

As we've outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Hoops Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don't want to follow all the site's updates, you can follow team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don't have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, you can also easily follow all our updates on your favorite player.

If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Mickael Pietrus as he weighs his free agent options, you can visit this page. If you're interested in whether the Raptors may consider trading Jose Calderon to your favorite team, all Calderon-related updates are located here.

Every player we've written about has his own rumors page. You can find your player of choice by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post where he's discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Calderon's page is located at hoopsrumors.com/jose-calderon.

In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags we use at the bottom of posts. Early updates on the 2013 NBA draft, for instance, can be found on its rumors page. If you want to check out updates on Chris Hansen's quest to bring the NBA back to Seattle, those are all available here.

The James Harden trade was finalized a day before the 2012/13 season began, but since it came almost three months after the Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum deal went down, it makes sense to classify it as the first of the 2012/13 in-season trades. The Bobcats and Hornets pulled off another swap yesterday, and now that we have multiple trades, we'll list them here in a post you can bookmark and reference throughout the season, along with our recap of the trades from this past offseason. For up-to-the-minute news on trades as well as other roster moves, like signings, cuts and coaching changes, follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.

February 21st

• The Bucks get J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ish Smith.
• The Magic get Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Doron Lamb.

February 21st

• The Celtics get Jordan Crawford.
• The Wizards get Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.

February 21st

• The Trail Blazers get Eric Maynor.
• The Thunder get the rights to Giorgio Printezis.

February 21st

• The Thunder get Ronnie Brewer.
• The Knicks get the Thunder's 2014 second-round pick.

February 21st

• The Magic get Hakim Warrick and cash.
• The Bobcats get Josh McRoberts.

February 21st

• The Mavericks get Anthony Morrow.
• The Hawks get Dahntay Jones.

February 21st

• The Raptors get Sebastian Telfair.
• The Suns get Hamed Haddadi and a 2014 second-round pick.

February 21st

• The Grizzlies get Dexter Pittman, the Heat's 2013 second-round pick, and cash.
• The Heat get the rights to Ricky Sanchez.

February 21st

• The 76ers get Charles Jenkins and cash.
• The Warriors get a future second-round pick.

February 21st

• The Hawks get Jeremy Tyler and cash.
• The Warriors get a future second-round pick.

February 20th

• The Rockets get Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, and Tyler Honeycutt.
• The Kings get Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas, and $1MM in cash.

February 20th

• The Suns get Marcus Morris.
• The Rockets get the Suns' 2013 second-round pick.

January 30th

• The Raptors get Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi.
• The Grizzlies get Tayshaun Prince, Ed Davis, Austin Daye, the Raptors' 2013 second-round pick and cash.
• The Pistons get Jose Calderon. 

January 22nd

• The Cavaliers get Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, and the Grizzlies' 2015 first-round pick.
• The Grizzlies get Jon Leuer.

November 13th

• The Bobcats get Hakim Warrick.
• The Hornets get Matt Carroll.

October 29th

• The Rockets get James Harden, Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich and Lazar Hayward.
• The Thunder get Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, the Mavericks' 2013 first-round pick, the Raptors' 2013 first-round pick and the Bobcats' 2013 second-round pick.

You can Like us on Facebook, and receive headlines and links for all our posts via your Facebook account. You can also follow us on Twitter to have all our posts and updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. And our RSS feed is located here, if you'd like to follow us using your RSS reader of choice.

If you prefer to receive updates only on roster moves such as signings, cuts, and trades, you can follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.

FIBA announced sweeping changes to the schedule for the World Cup of Basketball, formerly known as the World Championships, that will take place after the next World Cup in 2014. FIBA hopes the changes will appeal to NBA teams concerned about players taking part in annual summer competitions, according to The Associated Press, but Tom Ziller of SB Nation writes that the new schedule could make it more difficult for NBA players to participate in the World Cup, since qualification will take place during the season.

After the 2014 competition, the next World Cup will be in 2019, with the field increased from 24 teams to 32. Qualification for the 2019 World Cup will be held in November 2017, and in February, June, September and November of 2018, with a final period set for February 2019. Qualification will take place in a home-and-home format, allowing each team to play in front of its own fans. 

Teams will qualify for the 2020 Olympics via the 2019 World Cup and separate tournaments in each of FIBA's four geographic zones. In the past year, NBA commissioner David Stern has expressed a desire to make the World Cup the primary international stage for basketball, and the league has pushed for an age limit that would curb NBA participation in the Olympics.

If you want to keep tabs on all of Hoops Rumors' stories and updates, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe to our feed through your RSS reader of choice. However, if you prefer to only receive news about your favorite NBA team, we have you covered. Below are links to our Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds for all 30 teams.

Atlantic

• 76ers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Celtics: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Knicks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Nets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Raptors: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Central

• Bucks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Bulls: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Cavaliers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Pacers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Pistons: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Southeast

• Bobcats: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Hawks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Heat: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Magic: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Wizards: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Southwest

• Grizzlies: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Hornets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Mavericks: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Rockets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Spurs: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Northwest

• Jazz: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Nuggets: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Thunder: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Timberwolves: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Trail Blazers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Pacific

• Clippers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Kings: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Lakers: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Suns: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
• Warriors: Facebook / Twitter / RSS

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

We've been keeping up with the number of players on each team's roster during preseason, with separate posts for the East and West. As we move into the regular season, the numbers won't be moving quite so quickly, without the comings and goings of training camp invitees. Nonetheless, we'll consolidate the roster counts into a single post, with some updates and added information. This gives you an idea of a team's flexibility at a glance, so you can see whether a team has room to add one of the remaining free agents on the market without having to waive someone.

The total number of players on each team's roster is listed first, followed by the number of fully guaranteed contracts and, where applicable, the names of anyone on a partially guaranteed deal. For players on non-guaranteed contracts and details on the amounts of the partial guarantees, check out this post. If you notice any omissions, please let us know.

Updated 4-17-13

Atlantic Division
Celtics: 15
Knicks: 15
Nets: 15
Raptors: 15
Sixers: 15

Southeast Division
Bobcats: 15
Hawks: 15
Heat: 15
Magic: 14
Wizards: 15

Central Division
Bucks: 15
Bulls: 15
Cavaliers: 15
Pacers: 15
Pistons: 14

Southwest Division
Grizzlies: 15
Hornets: 15
Mavericks: 15
Rockets: 15
Spurs: 15

Northwest Division
Jazz: 15
Nuggets: 15
Thunder: 15
Timberwolves: 15
Trail Blazers:15

Pacific Division
Clippers: 15
Kings: 14
Lakers: 15
Suns: 15
Warriors: 15

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

A host of rookies are making their debuts this week, including several who not long ago seemed unlikely to do so. First-round picks are usually locks to make their teams, but second-rounders face a struggle, and undrafted players have the most daunting challenge of all, having to scrap just for training camp invitations, much less regular-season roster spots.

Several of the players on this list spent years developing overseas after they were passed over in their respective drafts, but a few who were left on the draft board this June managed to quickly overcome the snub and make it to the league for opening night. Many of them are on non-guaranteed deals, so their stays might not be permanent, but for now, they've made it to the big time. 

The undrafted rookies are listed below by team, with their draft years in parentheses. 

• Sixers: Maalik Wayns (2012)
• Hornets: Brian Roberts (2008)
• Knicks: Chris Copeland (2006), Pablo Prigioni (1999)
• Magic: DeQuan Jones (2012)
• Nets: Mirza Teletovic (2007)
• Pacers: Ben Hansbrough (2011)
• Pistons: Slava Kravstov (2009)
• Rockets: Scott Machado (2012)
• Suns: Diante Garrett (2011), Luke Zeller (2009)
• Timberwolves: Alexey Shved (2010)
• Warriors: Kent Bazemore (2012)

In the weeks leading up to Halloween's deadline for fourth-year extension-eligible players to ink new deals, the prevailing wisdom suggested that teams were increasingly reluctant to lock up their players prior to free agency. TNT's David Aldridge and Sean Deveney of the Sporting News were among those who wrote stories attempting to explain why we were seeing fewer and fewer rookie scale extensions.

When the dust settled after October 31st, however, it turned out that clubs weren't all that reluctant to extend their fourth-year players after all. Ty Lawson, James Harden, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, and Taj Gibson signed extensions during the last two days of October, joining Blake Griffin and Serge Ibaka as players avoiding restricted 2013 free agency by re-upping this offseason. It's the first time that many players have finalized rookie scale extensions since 2008, when NBA teams committed about $372MM to eight contract extensions.

In 2012, the amount of money committed to extensions blew away that 2008 figure, exceeding $400MM. We don't know specific amounts of the summer extensions yet, so we can't nail down the exact amount that teams spent. But if we use the base salaries reported to date and assume that next year's maximum salary will stay the same as this year's (it will likely increase), 2012's eight extensions add up to more than $424MM in commitments.

Here's a breakdown of the rookie scale extensions that have been inked over the past five seasons:

In addition to being the deadline for fourth-year players to extend their rookie scale contracts, October 31st also represented the last day that teams could exercise their players' third- and fourth-year options for the 2013/14 season.

For the most part, these options were exercised without much fanfare. The Cavaliers weren't about to turn down their third-year option for Kyrie Irving, for instance. However, not all of the 55 players with options had their contracts guaranteed for the '13/14 season. Some were waived by their current teams, making them unrestricted free agents immediately. Others simply had their options turned down, meaning they'll play out the year under contract and become free agents at season's end.

Here's the complete list of the players whose '13/14 options were not exercised, along with their teams and the salaries they would have earned:

• Cole Aldrich (Rockets), $3.25MM
• Al-Farouq Aminu (Hornets), $3.75MM
• Luke Babbitt (Trail Blazers), $2.9MM
• Christian Eyenga (Magic), $2.12MM (Waived)
• Lazar Hayward (Rockets), $2.12MM (Waived)
• Xavier Henry (Hornets), $3.2MM
• JaJuan Johnson (Rockets), $1.14MM (Waived)
• Wesley Johnson (Suns), $5.42MM
• Dominique Jones (Mavericks), $2.3MM
• Nolan Smith (Trail Blazers), $1.42MM
• Elliot Williams (Trail Blazers), $2.37MM

For the complete list of 2013/14 option decisions, be sure to check out our tracker.

Beginning on July 1st, fourth-year players on rookie scale contracts were eligible to sign contract extensions with their respective teams and forgo the chance to hit restricted free agency next summer. Most of the players to sign new deals didn't do so until the October 31st deadline approached, which means we saw a flurry of activity yesterday.

Here's a recap of the extension-eligible fourth-year players that signed contract extensions this offseason, removing themselves from 2013's free agent market:

• Blake Griffin (Clippers): Five years, maximum salary
• James Harden (Rockets): Five years, maximum salary
• Serge Ibaka (Thunder): Four years, $49MM*
• Ty Lawson (Nuggets): Four years, $48MM
• Stephen Curry (Warriors): Four years, $44MM
• Jrue Holiday (76ers): Four years, $41MM*
• DeMar DeRozan (Raptors): Four years, $38MM*
• Taj Gibson (Bulls): Four years, $32MM*

Here are the extension-eligible players that didn't sign new deals and will become free agents next summer:

• Rodrigue Beaubois (Mavericks)
• Omri Casspi (Cavaliers)
• Darren Collison (Mavericks)
• Austin Daye (Pistons)
• Toney Douglas (Rockets)
• Wayne Ellington (Grizzlies)
• Tyreke Evans (Kings)
• Tyler Hansbrough (Pacers)
• Gerald Henderson (Bobcats)
• Brandon Jennings (Bucks)
• James Johnson (Kings)
• Eric Maynor (Thunder)
• Byron Mullens (Bobcats)
• Jeff Teague (Hawks)

(* Incentives could increase the value of the deal)