Week in Review News & Rumors

Iman Shumpert has dominated Hoops Rumors for the last month, but we could have another notable name on the trade block.  The Cavs are said to be shopping guard Dion Waiters as the team struggles early on in the season.  Shumpert, Luol Deng, and Evan Turner are said to be among the club’s targets.  More from the week that was..

• Kobe Bryant and the Lakers agreed to a two-year, $48MM extension.  The deal will ensure that the injured superstar remains the highest paid player in the NBA through 2015/16.
• It’s official: Derrick Rose is done for the year.
• The Kings acquired Derrick Williams from the T’Wolves for Luc Mbah a Moute.  Sacramento might not be done yet.
• The Clippers may have competition for Lamar Odom.  It was previously reported that the Clippers are the only club Odom will play for.
• The Cavs kicked the tires on Omer Asik at some point.
• The Rockets want two first rounders for Asik.  A rival GM described the Rockets’ asking price for the center as “delusional.”  I couldn’t agree more.
• Waiters may be available, but don’t expect to see him in a Knicks uniform.
• League execs expect the Mavs to go after Chris Bosh next summer.
• The Lakers said goodbye to Elias Harris.
• Metta World Peace seriously considered the Clippers after he was amenstied.
• LaMarcus Aldridge appears to be content in Portland.
• Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is confident Dirk Nowitzki won’t seek too much money from the team in contract negotiations this summer.  Dirk won’t ink an in-season extension like Kobe.
• Former Pelicans power forward Arinze Onuaku signed with the D-League’s Canton Charge.
• Kendall Marshall is headed to the D-League.
• Kobe defended himself against criticism of his lucrative new contract.  Meanwhile, he says the two-year pact will “probably” be his last deal.
• Jabari Parker is giving some thought to staying at Duke for another season to team up with former AAU teammate Jahlil Okafor, but it’s not likely.

Bad news Bulls.  Derrick Rose will have surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee on Monday in Chicago and it’s not known when he will return.  There’s no word on whether the former MVP will be out for the year, but it’s certainly a scary situation given his history.  More from the week that was..

• The Blazers have engaged the Rockets about Omer Asik.  Asik is one of the league’s primary trade candidates, and has reportedly made weekly trade requests since the Rockets acquired Dwight Howard in the summer.
• The Rockets want talent in return for Asik, regardless of position.
• The Rockets inquired about Dirk Nowitzki, but that might have been trash talking more than anything.
• The Kings are aggressively pursuing trades.
• The trade buzz around Rajon Rondo continues, but Danny Ainge shut it down.
• The Clippers are considering Chris Wilcox.
• The union and Isiah Thomas are talking.
• The Sixers cut Kwame Brown and Darius Morris to sign Elliot Williams and Lorenzo Brown.
• Shane Battier will probably retire.
• Leandro Barbosa will play in Brazil.
• James Dolan says he has a lot of confidence in Knicks coach Mike Woodson.
• Billy Hunter accused Derek Fisher of conspiring with the owners.
• The Warriors signed Dewayne Dedmon.
• Could Coach Cal be on deck in New York?
• Lamar Odom says he’ll only sign with the Clippers.  It seems pretty likely to happen.
• Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has been active on the phones.
• Steve Nash might hang them up, depending on who you ask.
• Word is that Jason Kidd is safe in Brooklyn.

Omer Asik wants out of Houston, but will he get his way?  The big man has been voicing his displeasure ever since he was bumped down a peg in the pecking order by this summer’s signing of Dwight Howard.  The Rockets have reportedly engaged other clubs in talks, but for now, they contend the defensively-minded center is staying put.  Here’s more from the week that was..

• The Knicks and Nuggets discussed a deal involving Kenneth Faried and Iman Shumpert, but talks didn’t get far as Denver values their forward and they would seek draft picks in such a deal, something New York can’t really offer earlier than 2018.  On Friday, we learned that the Kings might have some interest in Shump.
• If Houston does decide Asik, you can expect the Raptors to have interest.
• Asik has apparently been making trade requests on a weekly basis.  How annoying.
• Within the above story, Sam Amico of FOX Sports reports that there is league-wide speculation that the Pistons are looking to move the expiring contracts of Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva.
• Kris Humphries isn’t demanding a trade from the Celtics, but he’d welcome it.
• The Pelicans signed Josh Childress.
• The Pelicans waived Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku.
• The Cavaliers and Kings are actively seeking out trades.
• The Wolves made both Derrick Williams and Alexey Shved available, according to one report, but Wolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders denied that.
• General Manager Mitch Kupchak says that he’ll stand pat for now rather than find a replacement out-of-house for Steve Nash.
• The Pelicans signed Louis Amundson.
• The Lakers and Clippers would consider Lamar Odom if he can get past his personal troubles, but the forward reportedly only has eyes for the Clippers.
• The Jazz signed Diante Garrett.
• The Bulls auditioned Reggie Williams.
• Josh Akognon is headed to China.
• The Jazz released Jamaal Tinsley.
• Sam Young signed a deal in Australia that includes an NBA out.
• Hassan Whiteside is going to Lebanon.  Lucky guy, I love Lebanese food.
• Luther Head, who last played in the NBA with the Kings prior to the 2011 lockout, is fielding interest from teams in Turkey, Ukraine, and Australia.

The Cavs signed Andrew Bynum this summer with the hopes that he could come back strong after missing the entire 2012/13 season.  Unfortunately, the big man is struggling to return to his old form and is considering retirement just weeks into the 2013/14 campaign.  “(Retirement) was a thought, it was a serious thought,..At the moment, it’s tough to enjoy the game because of how limited I am physically. I’m still sort of working through that…I’m a shell of myself on the court right now, I’m struggling mentally. I’m trying,” the New Jersey native said. Here’s more from the week that was..

• The Pacers are making it known to Lance Stephenson that they intend to re-sign him.  Meanwhile, Stephenson says he wants to stay put.
• Luol Deng plans to retire with the Bulls.
• Steve Nash intends to play out his contract.
• The Celtics have discussed trades involving Gerald Wallace, but his sizable contract makes a deal difficult.
• LaMarcus Aldridge says that he has no desire to be moved.  Rival execs continue to monitor his situation, however.
• Derrick Favors directed his agent to hammer out an extension and didn’t want to wait until next summer for things to play out.
• Kevin Love says he’s fond of New York.  The forward can hit the open market in 2015.
• Michael Redd and Dan Gadzuric are retiring.
• The Knicks acquired the D-League rights to Jeremy Tyler.
• False alarm: Kendrick Perkins doesn’t want out of OKC.
• The Knicks have talked to Louis Amundson and Jason Collins‘ reps, but they plan to stand pat for now in their big man search.

Here’s a recap of the top stories from this past week:

• Allen Iverson officially announced his retirement.
• Carmelo Anthony and Knicks GM Steve Mills agreed to shelve any talk of a possible extension or Anthony’s early termination option for the time being. Later in the week, Carmelo went on record saying that he’d like to retire with the Knicks.
• The Raptors are reportedly exploring trade options and are willing to deal anyone on their roster other than Jonas Valanciunas.
• There is some belief that the Magic would prefer to trade Jameer Nelson immediately if another team offered a first-round pick.
• The Grizzlies signed Quincy Pondexter to an extension worth $14MM over four years.
• The Knicks exercised their fourth-year option on Iman Shumpert, thus keeping him under contract through 2014/15.
• The Spurs picked up the fourth-year options on both Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph, therefore keeping them under contract through 2014/15.
• The Jazz exercised their 2014/15 options on both Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.
• The Nuggets exercised their 2014/15 options on Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier. There was no word on Jordan Hamilton, who had been eligible for a fourth-year option worth $2.1MM.
• The Rockets picked up the 2014/15 options on Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas.
• The Bulls picked up their 2014/15 options on Jimmy Butler and Marquis Teague.
• The Celtics picked up their 2014/15 option on Jared Sullinger, but declined to exercise their option on MarShon Brooks.
• In addition to declining their 2014/15 option on Jimmer Fredette, the Kings opted to forego extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson.
• The 76ers exercised their 2014/15 options on Arnett Moultrie and Tony Wroten.
• The Bobcats picked up their 2014/15 options on Bismack Biyambo, Kemba Walker, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
• The Hawks decided to pick up their 2014/15 option on John Jenkins, but declined to do so for Jared Cunningham.
• The Knicks’ Chris Smith, Magic big man Kyle O’Quinn, the Nuggets’ Quincy Miller, and the 76ers’ James Anderson all saw their contracts for this season become fully-guaranteed.
• Gordon Hayward and the Jazz failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension by Thursday’s deadline, thus making the 23-year-old small forward a restricted free agent this upcoming summer.
• Just three months after being hired, Gersson Rosas resigned from his post as GM of the Mavericks.
• We heard that Clippers owner Donald Sterling almost nixed the three-team deal which included sending Eric Bledsoe to the Suns and acquiring in J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley, but later consented after Doc Rivers convinced him to change his mind.
• Bobcats owner Michael Jordan offered his thoughts on the topics of tanking and the new CBA.
• The Rockets waived Reggie Williams and Marcus Camby.
• The Wizards released Shannon Brown, Kendall Marshall, and Malcolm Lee after acquiring them along with Marcin Gortat via trade with Phoenix last week.
• Darnell Jackson, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Toney Gaffney are all headed overseas to play basketball after being released from their respective teams,
• Josh Powell, Vander Blue, and JaMychal Green are bound for China, Israel, and France respectively after failing to stick on an NBA roster this fall.
• The 76ers signed Brandon Davies.
• New York is making an attempt to acquire Jeremy Tyler‘s D-League rights from the Santa Cruz Warriors.

The Wizards found a replacement for the injured Emeka Okafor via trade, acquiring Marcin Gortat from the Suns for Okafor and a top-12 protected 2014 pick. The Suns also sent Shannon Brown, Kendall Marshall, and Malcolm Lee to Washington, but that trio is expected to be waived. Fears that Okafor may miss the entire season likely intensified the Wizards’ desire to pull off the deal.

The swap was just one of many roster moves that teams made in a busy week around the NBA as they sought to get ready for the regular season, which opens Tuesday. Here’s a recap, in case you missed anything:

• The Warriors inked Andrew Bogut to a three-year extension with a base salary of $36MM, and incentives that can increase the value to $41.4MM.
• The Lakers and Kobe Bryant are negotiating an extension, and co-owner Jim Buss vows his star won’t hit free agency in the summer.
• Eric Bledsoe and the Suns are also working toward an extension.
• Extension talks have been going on between the Jazz and Gordon Hayward and the Grizzlies and Ed Davis, but it doesn’t seem like either party will reach a deal.
• Sixers coach Brett Brown indicated Nerlens Noel is likely to miss the season, though he tried to walk back those comments later in the week.
• The buzz around the league is Goran Dragic will be the next to leave Phoenix, but Suns GM Ryan McDonough insists he’s not looking to trade the point guard.
• The Suns had yet more business to complete, exercising the 2014/15 options for Miles Plumlee, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris and waiving James Nunnally.
• The Sixers cut Royce White, as well as Vander Blue, Mac Koshwal, Khalif Wyatt, Gani Lawal and Rodney Williams.
• The Jazz signed Jamaal Tinsley and released five other vets: Brian Cook, Dominic McGuire, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson and Scott Machado.
• The Spurs signed Josh Howard, then turned around and waived him. He’ll likely wind up with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate. The Spurs also released Courtney Fells and Dan Nwaelele.
• The Bobcats waived Patrick O’Bryant.
• The Bucks released Stephen Graham, Trey McKinney Jones, and Olek Czyz.
• Camp invitees Dexter Pittman and D.J. White didn’t make the Bulls.
• The Cavaliers picked up the 2014/15 options of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller, and waived DeSagana Diop, Kenny Kadji, Jermaine Taylor and Elliot Williams.
• The Celtics released DeShawn Sims, Damen Bell-Holter and Kammron Taylor, and they didn’t hang on to Chris Babb, either.
• Lou Amundson failed to make the Clippers, who also let go of Brandon Davies.
• The Grizzlies cut Andre Barrett, Melvin Ely, Tony Gaffney and Willie Reed.
• James Johnson, Royal Ivey and Eric Dawson didn’t make the cut for the Hawks.
• The Heat waived Jarvis Varnado, Larry Drew II and Charlie Westbrook, as well as Justin Hamilton and Eric Griffin.
• Trent Lockett came up short in his bid to make the Kings.
• C.J. Leslie, Ike Diogu, Josh Powell, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jeremy Tyler were the camp casualties for the Knicks.
• The Lakers waived Marcus Landry.
• The Magic exercised their 2014/15 options on Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris and Andrew Nicholson, and the team waived Mickell Gladness, Manny Harris, Kris Joseph and Romero Osby.
• Renaldo Balkman, Fab Melo, Devin Ebanks, D.J. Kennedy didn’t make the Mavs, and neither did Mickey McConnell.
• The Nets released Jorge Gutierrez, Chris Johnson (the one from Dayton) and Adonis Thomas.
• The Chris Johnson from LSU also hit the waiver wire, courtesy of the Timberwolves. Minnesota also cut Othyus Jeffers and Lorenzo Brown, and picked up their 2014/15 options on Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio.
• The Nuggets waived Damion James.
• The Pacers let go of Hilton Armstrong, but they’ll keep Rasual Butler.
• Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross will remain under contract with the Raptors through 2014/15, after the team picked up their options. Toronto also released Carlos Morais and Chris Wright.
• The Rockets released Marcus Camby and let go of Troy Daniels, too.
• The Thunder picked up the 2014/15 options for Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III. The team also cut Diante Garrett and Rodney McGruder.
• Dee Bost, E.J. Singler and Richard Howell came up short in their quest to make the Trail Blazers.
• The Warriors exercised their options on Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli, and waived Joe Alexander, Dewayne Dedmon and Seth Curry.
• The Wizards decided to exercise Bradley Beal‘s 2014/15 option, but they won’t pick up Jan Vesely‘s or Chris Singleton‘s. The team also released Josh Childress, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Xavier Silas.

This week, the Jazz took care of one of their major offseason priorities when they agreed to a four-year, $49MM+ contract extension with Derrick Favors.  With the deal, Favors becomes the fifth eligible player to strike a rookie scale extension this offseason.  Next up for the Jazz will be putting a bow on their contract talks with Gordon Hayward.  Here’s more from the week that was..

• The Bucks exercised their 2014/15 options on the rookie deals of first-round picks Brandon Knight and John Henson.
• The Pistons exercised the 2014/15 option for Andre Drummond.
• The Warriors and Andrew Bogut are discussing a contract extension.
• Carmelo Anthony doesn’t expect Kobe Bryant to try and recruit him to the Lakers.  Meanwhile, Melo says that he wants to test free agency.
• Here’s a look at reactions to the Favors deal.
• The Pelicans officially picked up their 2014/15 options on Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers.
• The Spurs cut Corey Maggette as well as Myck Kabongo and Marcus Cousin.
• Evan Turner and the Sixers haven’t discussed an extension yet.
• The Wolves have discussed signing Hedo Turkoglu internally, but it might not be serious.
• Cory Higgins is headed to Russia.
• The T’Wolves could be considering Richard Hamilton.
• The Nets waived Marko Jaric.
• The 76ers signed Daniel Orton and waived Tim Ohlbrecht.
• Sebastian Telfair will sign in China.
• A day after releasing three camp invitees, the Hawks added another player, signing Cartier Martin.
• There’s mutual interest between the Jazz and Jamaal Tinsley.
• The Kings released camp invitees DeQuan Jones and Brandon Heath.
• The Lakers waived Darius Johnson-Odom and he immediately signed a deal in China.
• Four days after being cut by the Hawks, the Nets signed undrafted rookie Adonis Thomas.
• The Nuggets waived Reginald Becton and Kyle Fogg.
• Washington waived camp invitee D’or Fischer.
• The Jazz officially waived camp invitee Dwayne Jones.
• Carl Landry will be out for a while with a hip injury.
• The Pacers have released Ron Howard and Darnell Jackson.
• Allen Iverson will officially announce his retirement on October 30th.
• The Rockets signed Troy Daniels.
• Toure Murry could be closing in on a roster spot with the Knicks.
• The Nets said goodbye to Gary Forbes.

A look back at all the top stories from the past week.

• Former All-Star point guard Stephon Marbury has extended his contract in China.
• Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey hurt his thumb in a car door, and as a result underwent surgery.
• The Grizzlies signed Andre Barrett.
• The Spurs decided to let former Pacers forward Sam Young go.
• The Bobcats let go of Abdul Gaddy and Troy Daniels.
• The Thunder waived Daniel Orton.
• The Warriors waived Cameron Jones.
• The Lakers waived Dan Gadzuric and Eric Boateng.
• The Clippers waived JaMychal Green and Mustapha Farrakhan.
• The Heat exercised their 2014/15 team option on Norris Cole.
• The Bulls waived Dahntay Jones.

After Glen Grunwald was replaced as GM by Steve Mills, many speculated that it could spell bad news for coach Mike Woodson, who was a Grunwald guy.  He’s got nothing to worry about for now, however, as the Knicks exercised his option for the 2014/15 season shortly after making the GM change.  More from the week that was..

• Gani Lawal has been on the NBA radar for quite some time with interest from a number of clubs.  This week, the 76ers agreed to a deal with the forward that comes with a partial guarantee for year one.  Lawal broke off his engagement with an Italian team to return to the states.
• Daniel Gibson is drawing interest from the Nuggets.
• The Jazz added three to camp.
• Pau Gasol wants to stay with the Lakers.
• Delonte West signed with a Chinese team.
• The Sixers waived former Raptors center Solomon Alabi.
• The Rockes waived Jordan Henriquez.
• Rodney Carney will camp with New Orleans.
• The Kings are bringing Brandon Heath.
• Lester Hudson will join the Jazz for camp.
• The Knicks signed Chris Douglas-Roberts and cut Justin Brownlee.
• Matt Carroll retired and took a job with Philadelphia.
• The Blazers exercised their options for for Damian Lillard, Thomas Robinson, and Meyers Leonard.
• The Rockets released B.J. Young.
• The Cavs signed DeSagana Diop and Michael Lee.
• The Clippers signed Mustapha Farrakhan.
• The Spurs added Marcus Cousin and two others to camp.
• Shavlik Randolph is headed to China.
• The Bulls waived a pair of camp invitees.
• Grant Jerrett will sign with a D-League team.
• The Pelicans signed former Marquette forward Lazar Hayward.
• The Nets signed Marko Jaric.
• The Cavs are bringing Henry Sims to training camp.
• There’s no guarantee that Shawn Marion will play beyond this season.
• Vladimir Radmanovic is set to retire.
• The Bobcats signed Abdul Gaddy.
• The Bucks cut Junior Cadougan.
• The Heat signed and released Ricky Sanchez.
• Rookie C.J. McCollum broke his foot.

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We've been expecting it for weeks, but the Pacers finally inked Paul George to a five-year, $90MM+ extension.  The 23-year-old was scheduled to become a restricted free agent following the conclusion of the 2013/14 season and but the two sides got a long-term pact done well before the October 31st deadline.  Here's the rest of our look back at the week that was..

• The Knicks shocked everyone when they replaced GM Glen Grunwald with Steve Mills.
• DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings reached agreement on a lucrative extension.  The big man has had some issues in Sacramento during his young professional career but it sounds like the new regime is confident that they'll be on the same page going forward.
• The Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra agreed to a contract extension.  Miami also promoted Andy Elisburg to GM.
• Tracy McGrady already announced his retirement from the NBA and he now says he won't play in China either.
• Corey Maggette is going to training camp with San Antonio.
• Josh Howard is still seeking a camp invite.
• Gilbert Arenas, on the other hand, is going to China.  Here's to hoping he and Stephon Marbury will hang out.
• Hedo Turkoglu won't be in camp with the Magic and the buyout is close.
• Shaquille O'Neal bought a small piece of the Kings.
• Warriors 2012 second round pick Ognjen Kuzmic is closing in on a buyout that will allow him to sign a guaranteed deal with Golden State for the upcoming season.
• An extension for Avery Bradley appears unlikely at this point.
• The Knicks officially signed free agent center Cole Aldrich.
• Lou Amundson will camp with the Clippers.
• The Sixers officially signed rookie Michael Carter-Williams.
• As expected, the Blazers waived Terrel Harris.
• The Spurs signed Sam Young.
• The Heat will audition veteran guard Roger Mason Jr.
• Melvin Ely hasn't popped up in a while but he could join the Grizzlies for training camp.
• Pops Mensah-Bonsu will join the Wizards for training camp.
• The Mavs signed defensive specialist Renaldo Balkman.
• The Jazz signed Dwayne Jones to a non-guaranteed deal.  They also inked Scott Machado.
• The Jazz waived Marquette product Jerel McNeal but added Justin Holiday.
• Undrafted rookie Adonis Thomas will show the Hawks what he's got.
• Charlie Westbrook will join Miami's loaded training camp.
• The Pacers signed Hilton Armstrong.
• Melvin Ely will try to hook on with the Grizzlies.
• The Bulls are bringing in D.J. White.
• Philly signed a pair of frontcourt players.
• Free agent big man D'or Fischer accepted the Wizards' camp invite.
• Mickael Pietrus wants a guaranteed deal.
• Former lottery pick Ike Diogu is going to camp with the Knicks.
• The Lakers signed big man Dan Gadzuric.
• The Knicks are looking at wing players.
• Xavier Silas will accept a camp invite from the Wizards.
• Larry Drew II will camp with the Heat.
• The Suns are bringing James Nunnally to camp.
• The Jazz signed Nick Covington.
• The T'Wolves inked A.J. Price.
• Justin Brownlee is coming to camp with the Knicks.
• Brian Cook will come to camp with Utah.
• The Warriors added two, including Joe Alexander.

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